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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:50 pm
Kani had wandered for days. She'd left her father, her brother, and everything she knew behind her and had just started moving where her feet took her. She didn't have a plan, really she didn't even know if she would make it anywhere. All she knew is she needed to get away from what she knew and find something more. Her mind was restless, the fog thick and swirling around her memories. Something had been lost, she felt it, but the loss made her feel a bit better. It made her want to wander and adventure like she never had before. Her father and brother were fine on their own now - they didn't need her help.
When Kani had gotten near the border, her nerves had kicked in. She'd been in Matori most of her life, and taking the next steps into Oba would be a terrifying new adventure. Where would she go? Who would she meet? If it came down to it how would she defend herself?
So now she paced outside an inn, her pet zanteer following back and forth with her. In a sad attempt to hype up her nerves and kick herself into motion, she did what she had done many a time before. She gave herself a horrid pep talk. "Come on Kani, get it together. You have the drive, you can do this. You do not need to panic. Come. On. Goooo."
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:31 pm
(1/10) Morain wasn't running from anything, and yet leaving home was no less harrowing in its own ways. His childhood and teen years were happy in Matori, with his parents and brother and sister; there was only the strife of haunted looks in his parents' eyes, and the conflict of two hot blooded teen boys fighting over the same population of suitable partners.
Then, of course, the family moved to Yael to facilitate the birth of his younger brother and sister, and... everything just stopped. Morain was a young man now, with a... unique look to him that the superstitious youths of Yaeli found taboo and exciting in equal measure, but that could only satisfy him for so long. Girls whose fathers scowled at the sight of him and Siel became impossible to avoid, as were friends or ex partners who wanted something more... serious.
Yael became too... constrained, and when Siel took the first step and left home, Morain knew he wouldn't be long behind him. It was difficult, to leave their parents behind, and yet here he was... barely over the border in a small Oban town he had no knowledge of. His pale skin was covered with as much as it could be, which felt opposite what he should be doing since it was so hot, but that was the advice his parents had given him. He braced himself, and was stepping out of the inn - just in time to hear the pretty lady, pacing outside the door, talking to herself.
He paused, just in the doorway, blinking at her, amused despite himself. Her distress seemed like the perfect distraction from his own anxieties.
So, he made a fist and pumped it, making an enthusiastic noise in agreement. "Yes, 'Kani', you can do this!" He enthused, then flashed her a beaming smile, shameless in his eavesdropping.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:46 pm
Kani let out a noise that could only really be described as a surprised squawk, dropping her staff and bonking Zoryn on the head in the process. The zanteer yelped back, running around her feet and tripping her up, long panicked curses spilling from her mouth. She hadn't expected anyone to acknowledge her out here, let alone speak to her. Sure, she had been speaking out loud in front of an inn. People definitely walked in and out of inns, but that didn't mean they would speak to her. This man had though. Now thoroughly embarrassed by her imitation of a bird in her shock, Kani mechanically turned towards the man, plastering a sheepish smile on her face. "Oh uh....hello there. Sorry I should not be wandering back and forth out here. You must think me bizarre," she muttered, bending down to pick her staff back up. The man before her was....pretty? Handsome? Words did not really describe him well, and she caught herself staring a little bit too long before she glanced down at her feet. She'd been taught better than to stare after all, though she had never seen anyone like him before. Her prior nerves were gone, vanished under the new appearance of the man speaking to her. Zoryn of course knowing no stranger, bounded up to him after the initial shock of being bonked by his owner was over and done with. "I suppose you heard all of that then, yes? Perhaps forgetting it would be good? For the sake of the inn travelers," Kani said in a rush, waving her hand out towards the inn.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:06 pm
(2/10) ... Yeah, Morain felt maybe a little guilty scaring her as much as he had. But her reaction was so endearing and cute that he struggled to feel bad about it. She even cursed! Morain bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, because most people didn't enjoy being laughed at, and instead tilted his head down so he could look at the little zanteer, fingers twitching as he resisted the desire to pet it.
That was a sure way to get a handful of teeth marks, in most cases. "Oh, for the sake of the travelers. Of course." Morain nodded seriously, then beamed at her again, adjusting the straps of his bag so he could hold it more comfortably. "Nothing wrong with a pep talk though, my friend. Everyone can do with a bit of morale support, here and there."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:15 pm
"I for one need an abundance of moral support at the moment," Kani admitted, hesitantly wandering over to the stranger. Zoryn huffed at the stranger, bumping his head against him before returning to Kani's side. Her fingers grazed his sleek fur, trying to pull any sort of confidence she could from the creature. "The road ahead - I'm nervous about going you see. I've never been this far out on my own."Spilling her thoughts to a stranger was not something she had planned on doing today, but she guessed her nerves really were getting to her. Overall he seemed pretty nice, more than she was expecting of someone on her journey. She hoped he wasn't trying to sell her something or convince her to go somewhere. "You look like you are a traveler as well, though more prepared than myself."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 11:00 pm
(3/10) Well... at least that Morain could understand. Honestly, if a random person had a laugh over a moment of stress, he didn't think he'd be so eager to talk to them, so it was a relief that she came closer to speak to him properly. Her familiar, meanwhile, seemed to be doing its best to appear cute and approachable; Morain's fingers twitched briefly with the urge, once again, to pet it when it bumped its head into him, but it had darted back to its friend before he could be bold enough to do so.
He'd always enjoyed familiars, but his baba's old raptrix had been more than enough for his parents to want to handle.
"Hmm. I'm not sure if I'm overprepared, or perhaps I have junk that won't be any real help out there." He pat the bag slung over his shoulder with a huff of laughter. "But I'm just as green at this as you, miss. Where are you headed? The best piece of advice I've been given is to try and find like-minded people headed in the same direction. I'm going north, to Tale, but there's..." He turned his face towards the road that led out of town, "A terrifying amount of desert, between here and there."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2023 7:48 pm
"Where am I going? Where am I going....I don't know. I was just trying to get away. Wandering as it were. A plan was not in my future at all," she laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "I've never traveled before." At least not of her own choice. She'd only traveled once before, and that was escaping, and even so she was much younger so planning was not something she had done. The desert sounded harsh, but it was something she hadn't experienced before. Maybe the desert is where she should head? What was the worst that could happen there? "Do you have any recommendation on desert travel? Maybe I will go there."
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2023 8:32 pm
(4/10) She didn't know? Morain arched a brow at her, head tilted slightly as she explained. That... wasn't quite what his situation was, but he also felt he could relate, at least a little. It wasn't as if all his memories of home were terrible, but he was ready to set out and experience something new.
... Yet, even he was hesitant to traipse his way across the desert. It wouldn't be the first time, exactly, but doing so without his parents there to take care of the arrangements had its own level of stress. "The desert? Ahh-- well." He tapped his finger against his chin as he regarded her, the girl still brimming with nervous energy. "I'd say find a group to go with. The desert is a dangerous place, and if you don't bring enough water and food with you - uh. Might not be a pleasant trip, if you know what I mean." Despite the morbid nature of his words, he flashed another bright smile at her. "But you know, north is Tale! And Jauhar, and plenty of places to see and explore. So it's not a bad direction to head in."
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:00 pm
"Find a group to go with?" Kani repeated, frowning as she considered his words. Her group consisted of her and Zoryn. That was it. She didn't have anyone else. She didn't have a whole lot of food and water either. Kani grabbed hold of her pack, tugging it open and peeking at her miniscule amount of food and water stored inside. Glancing back up at the beautiful man she let out a huff of breath. She didn't know what she was doing. Maybe it was best she went home? "Do you have any....recommendations on locating a group? I'm afraid I only have myself and Zoryn here to come with me," she explained, trying not to sound too desperate.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2023 7:55 pm
(5/10) The pretty girl, Kani as she'd called herself, looked so concerned at his advice that for a moment he worried he'd said something wrong. But when she spoke, his worried frown smoothed out into another placid smile as understanding hit him.
He hadn't wanted to scare her out of exploring, far from it! But he also didn't fancy imagining her in the desert, lost and alone with no water.
"Zoryn hm?" And now, he had a name for the little creature. He tilted his head towards it, then back to Kani again, nodding eagerly. "I was looking for one myself! A good rule of thumb is find some tradespeople, and pay them a bit of coin to escort you. They're used to the trip, and know the best routes to follow, which makes them the safest option, yes?"
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2023 8:32 pm
"Oh? Is that so?" Kani smiled, hesitantly moving closer to the man. Zoryn bounced at the sound of his name, bumping into him in his excitement to greet the man again. He appeared to be trustworthy, despite her initial worry about him. Really that was her overall distrust of people, not necessarily anything against him in particular. But if he was planning on going in the same direction maybe she could travel with him for a while. If he wanted to. "That is a reasonable assumption, yes. Do you...plan on going to find such a group? Mister...." Oh she felt very bad for not even beginning to ask his name before speaking with him more. That was so rude of her! She felt her face flush as she pressed her hands to her cheeks, mortified by her inability to remember such basic manners.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2023 5:33 pm
(6/10) Hah! What a cute familiar. Morain's hand twitched, tempted to stoop to pet it, but instead he loosely folded his arms against his chest, keeping a friendly smile on his face. Though... he wouldn't blame her if she found his attempts at helpfulness a bit disturbing. No one should be that nice, right? But he'd traveled with enough groups, alongside his fathers and siblings, to want to have a bit of faith in people, even while keeping careful and watchful of duplicity.
Mister... oh! "Oh, yes! Morain. I'm Morain." He bounced a bit on the balls of his feet, grinning when he noted her embarrassment. "Don't you worry! I eavesdropped on your name, so it wasn't really fair, was it? But yes, that's absolutely what I'm going to do. I've em... not traveled on my own either, so I don't really trust myself to cross a desert alone!"
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2023 6:51 pm
Kani nodded in agreement, muttering Morain's name softly to herself as she felt out the tone of it. "Your name is pleasant. But yet uh....crossing the desert alone seems dangerous." Though she had certainly been considering it beforehand. He didn't need to know that, however. At least not now. "So....if we are going a similar direction....if you would like, would you want to travel together? Maybe?" She felt embarrassed for asking, especially considering she didn't know him particularly well. But she was trying to branch out and be better with people! Hopefully it just wasn't trying to reach out to the wrong person. Scarlett Arbuckle Sorry if this retags you was checking something
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 10:18 am
(7/10) Even if he'd just introduced himself, there was something about a pretty girl repeating his name that made his cheeks feel warm. He let the bloom of energy out in the form of a bright smile that made his cheeks hurt. Being happy to meet someone new had never steered him wrong before, so he hoped she wouldn't be too unsettled by his energetic introduction!
Haltingly, she continued - and made a suggestion he had been none-too-subtly been trying to slide forward to her, throughout the conversation. After startling her so badly though, he hadn't wanted to drop the idea himself, in case he seemed a bit... too eager, and scared her away from what otherwise would be a safer option for both of them.
"Together?" He echoed, putting a fist to his chin as he pretended to think about it. "Well! I think that's a great idea! We can watch eachother's backs, now that we're friends, yes?"
Okay. Maybe... THAT was a bit too forward?
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 4:11 pm
Kani perked up at the easy way Morain agreed to travel with her. It was surprising to her, especially when he suggested they were friends. Was it really so easy to claim a friend? Before it would have taken her many encounters to even decide if someone was her friend, but she felt warm when Morain said it. So yes, she figured they were friends. And friends did travel with one another, especially when things were a bit dangerous! Having someone around to help watch both her and Zoryn's back was reassuring. "Yes. We are friends. We can watch each other's backs," she nodded, peeking over at his back and then glancing away shyly. Maybe she wouldn't stare too long. But she would guard it.
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