RP:Letters for Kirien, and Pouncings for Rilling

From HollowWiki

Cold Winds

Kirien sits quietly atop a smooth, snow-covered mound close to the cover of some trees. Though the entire construct is obscured beneath a thick layer of white powder and frost, it's clear it is no natural architecture - presumably, at one point, the terramancer himself created this strange little hill that sits to one side of a small clearing in a silent forest. For once he is not singing and simply stares without seeing into the gaps between trees where shadows curl, ice-blue, over the snow, and phantoms pass by occasionally. It seems he is lost in thought.


Satoshi is one of those phantoms passing by, footsteps hardly indenting the snow as she drifts through the forest in absent-minded pleasure. The simple joy of moving among ice-clad trees and snowfall is enough to keep the foxkin from taking much note of her surroundings, coupled with internal musings over the political dramas of the present world. In fact so lost in thought is she, Satoshi very nearly skates right past Kirien, except his shock of auburn hair stands out sharply against a backdrop of snow. With deliberate silence, the kit changes her path and creeps toward where Kirien sits, curious if the layer of snow between her and the earth is enough to keep him from detecting her presence. She'll know in a moment, for he'll catch her or she'll be tackling him from behind with a half-squealed, "Gotcha!"


Kirien , away in some other world of frayed memories, countless possibilities, and pressing thoughts, fails to take any notice of his surroundings or the incorporeal beings drifting here and there. Mostly they're smart enough to leave him be, especially in this place, where the echoes of a confrontation still linger amidst the frozen boughs. Only when the wind changes and begins to whistle through a series of icicles hanging from the branch of a tree does he shift, blind gaze flicking in their direction; for the ice begins to hum and tinkle softly together, and the wind is whispering, and the branch sways slightly in the breeze. Drawn from his internal musings by the sound, he is just in time to turn and capture Satoshi within the circle of his arms - they both go tumbling into the snow at the base of the mound, Kirien's back carving out a shallow trough through the white. "Your mischief gave you away," he tells her with a faint grin. Her footsteps were no more a ghost's touch in his earthsight, but he still has his empathic abilities.


Satoshi looks a confused mixture of pleased a semi-success in Kirien-pouncing, and miffed she'd been caught at the last second. "Hellfire. I'll never figure out how to mask that from you or Kasyr. Curse you, emotions." Smirking, the kit helps herself to a kiss of Kirien's forehead before wriggling away from him, withdrawing enough to sit in the snow in front of the terramancer. Despite the obvious tones of amusement and mischief Satoshi is giving off to the empath, beneath these lurks quiet contemplation, and a vague hint of something important. Unconsciously, the magus' hand rises to rest on her chest, where the crinkle of paper can be faintly heard under the folds of her coat. "You seemed lost in thought, Lark." It isn't a question, but an invitation for Kirien to elaborate.


Kirien can't help a broader grin, the amusement drawn from his sibling's emotions enough to curl the corners of his mouth with something genuine and happy, and relight the spark in his eye. "Anger es a good barrier, so I've been told. I prefer when you're not nauseatingly wrathful though." A slightly slyer tone tints those words huffed out along with a husky laugh. The terramancer pushes himself up some once Satoshi has shifted back to sit across from him and levels an ever-inquisitive gaze upon her face, tracking and sensing the sensation she's giving off more than seeing her outright. "A bit," he answers with an edge of bemusement, shaking his head to dislodge stray clumps of snow from his hair and shoulders. He jerks his jaw to the looming mound they sit in the shadow of. "I was wandering and wondering, but then I stumbled across this again. It's probably fate of some kind." Fond of being infuriatingly vague, he does not elaborate any further and falls silent again, as a look of contemplation crosses his features.


Satoshi follows the gesture given by Kirien's jaw and remains silent a moment to regard the mound. Although she has no way of knowing what it is or what it means to Kirien, she nods in understanding. Like Kirien enjoys being vague, Satoshi enjoys appearing as if she's in the know about everything. Even things she has no right or way of knowing about. Looking back to the terramancer, she grins. "Wandering and wondering? I was doing the same, actually. Just had an interesting... ah, meeting? I suppose it counts as a political meeting. Short, yes, and very too the point, but I can hardly complain. Kuzial Stavret is a most interesting sort of Drow." She drops the name in a completely casual fashion, curious to see her sibling's reaction.


Kirien continues almost as an afterthought, "It's hollow. There was a home of a sort in there," as if this admittance will suddenly clear up all the obscurities. Whatever the case, he shakes his head again after a pause in which he regards the snow-covered construct in silence, and reaches up to pull free a stray twig that had gotten itself caught in his hair. Listening to Satoshi speak with absent interest, still tangled in his own web of thoughts, Kirien visibly starts at the mention of the infamous drow patron and blinks, wrenched away from anything internalised that was splitting his attentions. His eye widens in recognition, just a little. Then, perhaps to some surprise, his features soften and in a moment of weakness edges with relief, he agrees, "He is very interesting, oui.." Without thinking his hand has fallen to brush his fingertips across the ruby surface of the amulet he always wears - it is difficult to remain so guarded around his sister, whom he already trusts with so much but has still not revealed this one secret to.


Oddly enough, the scorching purple light flails itself from the Kelay area southernly towards the swamps of Gualon before disappearing once more.


Kirien starts and adds quickly, "What did you talk about?"


Satoshi is getting thoroughly sick of this damned purple lightning. Could the Leech -be- anymore flamboyant about his lack of masculinity? Scoffing at this thought, the kit is momentarily distracted from Kirien's question and absently reaches into her coat to retrieve the letter, which is then handed to him without ceremony. "He wanted me to give this to you." The idea that she might have to read it aloud to the blind empath hasn't crossed her mind yet. Instead, Satoshi's thinking about her and Kuzial's discussion on ants and idiots, the recollection drawing a smirk onto her face.


Rilling had finally reached Frostmaw, after numerous weeks it seems that she has finally gone in the right direction. She was so happy to have not descended into the nameless desert again. She really tried her hardest, but had a poor sense of direction. Despite the stereotype of white's having the best memory, Rilling herself was absolutely horrid when it came to remembering places and how to get to them. The whelp was able to remember people quite well, yet this was only due to her ability to remember specific details about a person and using them to associate who is who. Slowly she continued to walk through the frigid lands of her hatching. She absolutely scored the weather and could not believe how much she had missed it. To be in such warm climates for so long she had become accustom to feeling light-headed and fatigued. That all changed in Frostmaw however as she quickly traversed the plain without a care in the world. After a while she starts to feel an ominous breeze upon het, it gives her a sinking feeling. Rilling tries to wrote it odd as hunger, yet deep inside, she knows it just has to be something bigger. Whilst traveling with her head low to the ground trying to get a general 'feel' for the area, Rilling spies a couple two-legs in the distance and slowly begins her approach to meet these peculiar strangers...


Kirien , as usual, pays no mind to the curious violet flashes simply because he cannot -see- them, nor truly sense their presence at all, so high above in the sky. However, he does look up when Satoshi laughs to herself with scorn, a soft frown drawing his brows together in a questioning look. Then, back to the magus and-- a letter. Careful hands relieve her of it and Kirien spends a long couple of moments simply holding the thing, staring down at it as though he thinks he might be able to feel its contents without ever opening it - he does, eventually, break the seal after tracing a finger over the wax, and slides the letter out from its envelope. "Oh, thank goodness, he wrote it in something I can read," he murmurs more to himself than anyone else with a laugh that speaks of his quiet gratitude to the drow for being so considerate. Then, he begins to 'read', running his fingertips across the paper to pick up on the words penned into it. Reading quickly at first, he soon begins to slow, his hand trembling as if weighed down by some unseen force, as if it strains him greatly to hold it there over those words. Features lose their colour and turn a faintly ashen hue, and a rolling wave of unreadable emotion leaves Kirien in a single, powerful burst. It is simply indecipherable due to the fact that so many emotions are meshed into one, turning it into a confusing melting pot of sensation. It takes Kirien a moment to realise he's crying, that his throat has unconsciously tightened, that his heart is tugging in his chest with longing and love. Shaking, he manages to inhale a breath and sniffs, blinking back a deluge of tears that fall despite his best efforts. The approach of Rilling goes unnoticed as he's too caught in his own maelstrom of emotion to see much beyond it. "...This is..." He chokes on the words and clutches the paper to his chest, feeling it crinkle softly between his fingers, but never, ever tearing.


Satoshi's brooding comes to an abrupt halt. Empathy she lacks, but that does not mean Satoshi is oblivious to sudden tensions of a body, hitches in breath, and the salty scent of tears. Without pausing to think or ask what's upset Kirien, the kit hurls herself at him, flesh and ice arms alike encircling the terramancer in as fierce a hug as such a small foxkin can manage. It's wordless and possibly not much use, yet it's the best Satoshi can muster as means of comfort. Devoted as she is to her sibling's whirlwind of emotions, Satoshi too is not aware of the little dragon's approach just yet--save for the faint flicker of an ear, as if unconsciously catching the sound of scales in movement.


Rilling rapidly advances toward the pair eager to learn more about them and what it is exactly that they are all about. Her head is serving with thoughts and curiositys that must be explored. She thinks for a moment that it would be boundless entertainment for all if she didn't make her presense known right away. Slowy she lowers her body one inch above the ground and traverses the tundra's terrain as quietly as dragonly possible. The clear scaled dragonette wasn't exactly a master of stealth, yet she did have the advantage of being in a terrain and environment perfectly suited for her natural abilities. 'So far do good' she tells herself now about a foot away from Kiren and slowly inching forward whilst trying to minimize the scratching of her claws upon the ground despite still being loud enough for her presense to most likely of been compromised.


Kirien 's chest is wracked with the sort of mindless agony he would expect from a fatal wound, though there is no blood to explain the immeasurable hurt. A soft sob escapes him, a sort of keening sound that's probably pathetic, but he does not care enough about things like dignity to try silencing it. "He's such an idiot," the empath cries before the breath is knocked out of him by Satoshi's embrace; and he loses himself to sensation and wordlessness in that instant, the letter caught between himself and his sibling as he wraps his free arm round her and buries himself in her comfort. It's worth more than she might think, that contact, though the pain only worsens despite it all. Never did he realise his heart, its soulful beat claimed by unlife, could still experience this torn agony. Unchecked emotions roil freely in the air, influencing and drowning out everything else - anything nearby is likely to be affected by this raging wave of feeling and its most prominent sensation of fierce love, giving one a glimpse into what the terramancer feels for Kuzial Stavret. Breathing harshly, shuddering, he falls silent all of a sudden when a sharp -crack- resounds around them, like something just splintered, or a slab of ice split - except the rupturing sound came from within him. A weight seems to grow beneath his sternum, flesh hardening, becoming glossy, though outwardly there is no change. After a moment, Kirien swallows and draws in another breath, his face hidden in the fur of Satoshi's coat. "I love him," he admits to her at last, the words so very quiet but as solid as his crystal heart.



Satoshi offers no words, having none to give, instead choosing to silently stroke fingers through the terramancer's auburn locks. Her heart is not so frozen as to not understand what the foxkin feels, both the joys and agonies of love. She feels them both herself every day that she's away from Kasyr, her Calico, her Knight, her One & Only. It doesn't take a psion or a genius to guess what the drow's letter consisted of to produce such a reaction from the normally well-ground Kirien, and Satoshi's guesses are backed by the conversation she'd shared with Kuzial. The thought of losing Kasyr is enough to cripple Satoshi, and she has the comfort of knowing that, at some point, he'll return to her again. She cannot fathom what it would feel like to know there is no return for the drow if he fails his self-appointed task. Sighing, Satoshi rests her chin upon Kirien's shoulder, staring absently forward...and catching the flicker of movement, the glancing of light across ice-colored scales different from the way it shifts off the snow, painting the outline of the dragonling that's creeping closer. Satoshi blinks. "Erm. Hello, little one." She's... not entirely sure what else to say, than that.


Rilling step by step is getting closer to Kiren. She wishes to make her presense known with a bang, she I'd so zoned in to her hunting instincts that she does not quite catch that the woman's comments were indeed directed towards her. Ready for her assault, Rilling brings her head back as her wings begin to flap rapidly. A loud snark is heard before she jumps full force into the man. She intends to knock him down in all good fun. This kind of stuff was simply so joyful and entertaing. She is to caught up in the moment to realize that a random dargonling pouncing a stranger could be as interpreted a little more viciously than 'hey fluffy person , let's play.' after tackling him, she intends to stand upon his chest to get a better look of him. For some reason his eyes filled her with glee and excitement and she was torn between attempting to stare at them for hours and the other... dragon alterternare for all situations. Tearing the ears off, freezing them, and devouring him to feed her hungering growing tummy.


Kirien would not have had the words to answer Satoshi with, even if she had offered her own. His feelings, which he has not tried to suppress at all so far, have smothered him under their shifting ties and he vanishes beneath the choppy waves of sensation, dragged into the depths of his own subconsciousness and slumping slightly against his sibling in the process. He crystallises within. Still unconscious when Rilling tackles him, he ends up flattened by the playful dragon - considering how close he was to Satoshi, it's highly likely she's suffered the same fate. "Mmh?" Kirien blinks back into reality, feeling that added weight in his chest. It's a different sort of weight to the heaviness that has burdened his shoulders of late with unfulfilled promises and the threat of war. He could lose everything. They all could. But this does not feel like that. "What's sittin' on me.." And where's his letter-- ah, no, there it is. Quickly Kirien grabs at it and stuffs the precious piece of paper into his coat pocket, before addressing the young dragon in a somewhat muffled tone, like one with a cold, "This es uncomfortable, tu know." He wipes his face clear of tears, frowning a bit.


Satoshi seconds this with an even more muffled, "Oui. Gerroff me." Had this been a true draconic attack, Satoshi would have react far differently. However, all the body language she'd seen from the whelp suggested play was the culprit, and it'd spared Rilling a potential skewering by icicles, or a severely hostile foxkin Snow-stepping into an attack position. Spending so much time around dragons of various ages has taught Satoshi how to read the signs of their bodies, where they'll move when certain muscles bunch or uncoil, what specific flicks of tails at various angles mean, and so on. Hatchlings are especially 'vocal' in their body language, having not had the time or know-how to learn masking intentions, and so Satoshi had little trouble determining Rilling's intent and preventing herself from having a violent reaction. ...at the cost of being smothered beneath terramancer and whelp. Maybe violence -was- the answer after all.


Rilling filled to the absolute brim with excitement, is unable to contain herself whatsoever. On top of the kit she proceeds to claw into him lightly while starring intently at his ears. She was fixated and mesmerized. Her eyes were beaming and glowing elated with other's company. To think she has been lonely foe such a long time who would of believed she's such an extravert. Essentially it appears that she is trying to dig into him in the sammilar fashion you'd attack the ground to produce a whole in the ground. The constant aura surrounding her body begins to grow more potent and concentraited causing those around her to feel a sharp drop in temperature. Currently she is debating whether she wants to eat his ears or not.


Kirien , too, spends enough time around dragons and their kin that he can read their body language, and he might have dodged her leap before had he been aware of it. His adopted daughter of a sort often pounced him in a similar manner when she was smaller. "Hey, c'mon," he urges the whelp, wincing as sharp claws scrape at clothing and slice at his flesh - bringing up a hand he tries to carefully push her off, finding his palms covered in frost as the temperature plummets. Rilling's emotions are clear enough that he can sense her indecision, and the white-tipped ears she's so focused on twitch a mite as Kirien considers the situation and murmurs an apology to Satoshi. A sharply-spoken word rents the air with the crackle of terramantic energies; the earth shivers and two great 'arms' of dark stone burst out of the snow nearby, shifting to try and wrap round Rilling's body and lift her off. "They're not for eating," the empath states with a huff.


Satoshi gives up waiting for the situation to resolve itself enough so that she can stop being squished. With a twitch of whiskers, the kit altogether vanishes from beneath saurian and terramancer with only a dusting of snow left in her wake. Hardly a second later, Satoshi reappears in a burst of ice shards, seated primly atop the smooth snow mound Kirien had occupied earlier. "Well then," the magus states with another wiggle of whiskers, the movement so haughty as to be comical, "no one here es for eating, I'd think. And you, little dragon, should be more careful who you decide to pounce." Although Satoshi turns a stern eye on the whelp, there isn't a great deal of scolding present within the otherwise dulcet voice.


Rilling upon being grabbed by the giant stone hands starts to panic. She wiggled and squirms whilst fidgeting like wildfire. She is not happy and is trying in desperation to get free. After a few minutes of struggling she gives in and starts to think over the situation over for a while. Having an idea, she makes haste to implement it. All of a sudden, Rilling's body begins to glow growing brighter and brighter. Once the white thick glow fades she falls out of the hand's grasp to the floor. Now much different, she appears as that of a human child around three or so of age. She scratches at her long white hair for a moment before stumbling to her feet and running out to the pair looking at them confused and astonished with her head cocked at a 90 degree angle to the left.


Kirien makes a soft 'oomph' sound when Satoshi vanishes from beneath him and he finds he has another few inches to fall before he hits the snow again. Picking himself up, he dusts himself off with idle motions while squinting up at the struggling dragon, shaking his head. "I warned you." By the time Rilling has transformed herself and escaped the clutches of stone, the terramancer has turned, trudging through the snow and headed back east toward the city. "I'm going to...sleep," he calls back to Satoshi, then winces. "And tell Chasz." His brow furrows. That'll be fun. He continues onward for another few seconds before pausing again, if only to glance back and offer his sibling a small smile and, "Thank you." He's wondered for a while now and the letter at least soothed that particular worry.


Satoshi calls after Kirien before he can completely get out of earshot, "He'll fall to no bug, Lark." In truth, she has no way of knowing how things will turn out but this feels like the right thing to say and Kuzial's confidence is infectious. Nodding matter-of-factly to herself, Satoshi looks toward the dragon-turned-child with a curious expression. "Form-shifting, huh? So you're sentient. Good good~. What do you call yourself, then?"


Rilling looks up to the ice fox curiously starring into her eyes. Blinking a few times she tries to think of a way to show her understanding, yet also let it be known that she's not the best when it comes to common. Unable to think of a way, she just nods towards her while starring deeply.


Satoshi stares at the whelp a few moments longer in patient silence in case the ability to speak is simply long in coming. When nothing is said, however, Satoshi hazards a guess that this saurian is not yet old enough for speech. "Goodness. You're that young and out on you're own? You're probably hungry, eh?" Without waiting for an answer, the kit digs in her satchel a moment before pulling out a bundle of oilskin to be unwrapped. Within it are three small salmon packed around ice to keep them preserved. These are offered to Rilling as Satoshi continues, "Y'know, you're not far from the Eyrie Outpost. We look after dragons young and old there, if you're ever wanting a bit more security, and a few more meals."


Rilling curiously looks at the fish. She actually is mighty hunger. Baby dragons can't even be described as hungry as horses, such would be an understatement as Rilling will eat her own weight in food if allowed. Quickly she grabs at the fish anemones onto them tightly in her hands intent on eating them later. Trying to think of the common word for it having a feeling Draconic would definetlt not work. In her quiet and soft voice she replies "Thank you." before falling behind the frost kit. Following right behind her so closely that to the point that each time Satoshi stops, Rilling crashes into the women's leg.


Satoshi leads Rilling through the main streets of Frostmaw and eventually to the towering spire of ice that makes up the Eyrie's northern outpost. Dragons, gryphons, pegasi, and other winged creatures can be seen flying like see many bees in and out of the cavernous 'windows' dotting the tower. Satoshi halts--and receives a dragonling collision with her leg--near the base of the Outpost, where a large, elderly Red dragon dozes. "Oi~. Old Red~. Youngling for you," Satoshi calls, having to stand on tip-toes to bring herself nearer the dragon's ear. Grumbling, the Red cracks upon an eye heavy with cataracts and turns it upon Rilling, silently regarding the little dragon a moment. After a pause, the Red brings her snout down to where Rilling stands and offers her a lick with her enormous, raspy forked tongue before murmuring in Draconic, "If you seek food, shelter, safety, and company, you are in the right place, little one."


Rilling timidly continues to follow the women whilst carrying the fish along with her. When she eyes the massive red dragon, she hides behind the fox's leg fearful of what's to come. Upon being licked she loosens up a bit, bit still she stays behind Satoshi feeling a sense of security from her to protect her from the Red. Quietly she talks to the Red in Draconic. "I'll... stay here.. Thank you very much." Increasingly worried, she throws all the fish the Red's way and latches onto Saroshi's leg with her oily hands tightly not letting go.


Satoshi laughs, both at the little dragon's hiding and the unhappy expression the Red adopts. "You've no need to be afraid. Old Red here looks after the young ones. The only danger you're in is being given too much food, the overgrown hen." Satoshi shoots the Red a feigned look of severity, as if she doesn't condone coddling hatchlings. Lightly the kit tries to coax Rilling from clinging and to approach the waiting Red, the motherly old dragon eagerly but patiently waiting to guide the White to a comfortable nest.


Rilling upon being urged and reassured decides to trust the Red despite the two naturally being conflicted. That being they tend to fight over lairs and by fight I mean the White's run and very quickly at that. Yawning she slowly approaches the dragon elder whilst still in her human form. She starts thinking over all that has happened today and quickly comes to terms that it's time to move back home and stay here on a pernament basis. Her face slowly starts to move from portraying fright to that of a smirk which slowly grows into a smile.


Satoshi bids the pair of dragons good night, making a mental note to check up on the little White soon.