Welcome to Gaia! ::

Khnui sort of startled Tax, as he had just turned around, and there he was. At hearing him speak, he raised his brow in confusion. The lad still did not completely have it together, and such a barrage of kind acts toward him was foreign indeed. A bath? Food? More medical attention? And knowing that someone had to have secretly changed his wrappings during the night he could only deduce one thing. These people were like...saintly ninjas. Or they just treated all newcomers like royals...no. The royals were the problem of this country- if a royal were here Tax was sure they'd get the s**t beat out of them. So he was still just a little, befuddled.

"Thank you...?"

After that staggered thanks, he shook his head and raised his right hand to his brow. That wasn't in good manners, control yourself man. Peering out to Khnui in the space where his last two fingers would have been, he gently smiled.

"I mean...thank you. I just haven't received such nice treatment in awhile."

With a pause and a drop of his hand, his yellowy eyes gave his host a concerned look.

"What you have to do with me...?"

Was this a trap, or something? By the names of the Gods he hoped that this wasn't some more elaborate and cruel form of torture implemented by the Monarchy...a pleasant illusion before a brutal death...

((Okay, that's fine))

“In here, Rosette!” Blaise called from the kitchen. She had finished eating and was sitting in the chair by the window with Ciaran in her lap. There was a bald spot in the trees that allowed just enough sunlight through to cover the entire window so Blaise could sit in its warmth.

“There’s some food for you on the table, Rosette.” She said, “Once you have finished eating we’ll head down to the training bunks and get us a space to practice. We’ll start out with the basics and when I feel you are ready I will bring up the pace.”

((Khnui, if you don't get a chance to reply to this, I'll just work around you, ok?))

Riana popped her head back into the bathing room. "Miss me again boy and it will be you who needs to miss the swing aimed for your head." She had run to the kitchen right quick and given Orik a note to take to the Storage Master to request some new clothes for Chrono. He was a clever dog. Now she strode back into the room and motioned Chrono into the open. She looked him up and down, suprised by his transformation from lanky to well built. The lack of wounds and scars was odd, one eyebrow raised invoulontarily, and her finger tapped her lips, but she dismissed the matter. "I'll just look you over and go on a few errands. There are towels or shorts to wrap yourself in untill I get back with some new clothes and things, and you may use the kitchen at will." Taking charge with her rough but still gentle ways she put his arms up and checked his sides, turned him around and looked over his back (marveling quietly at his remarkable healing), and turned him back to face her. A quick look into both eyes and she was satisfied that the cleansing bath would be all he raelly needed, aside from a nice rest.

"You seem quite well Chrono. Remarkebly well. Now you need to soak for at least twenty minutes. It will be relaxing and good for you. Try not to sleep and drown or anything stupid, and I'll be back soon." Nodding her head in a self saisfied way she added, "Then perhaps we can talk some more." Before she left she produced a canvas bag and tossed some of her mixtures and things inside. She was still out of the room in a heartbeat and on her way to Khnui's to look after Tax before she went off to gather some decent clothes for the boy.

She reached Khnui's place in good order and just walked in, as was her custom. Realising her mistake, aware of Khnui's dislike for barging in, she knocked on the back of the door and called out, "Hey Khnui! It's Riana, I'm here to look over that Tax fella." She leaned intot he doorway fo the forge and waved. "I won't be long." She climbed the stairs in her rather arrogant way and found Tax there. She grinned confidently, noticing the sleepy air of Tax and his dishiveled look. She reached up and placed his head in her hands and turned his face this way and that while she told him, "You are so groggy becuase I fed you a small amount of a drowsy drug so that you could get more rest than a normal nights sleep and would allow me to tend to you while you slept. Hope you don't mind." The note in his hand caught her attention and she sighed a little. "Betcha a nickle you can't read yet. Sorry about that. You will learn while you are here." She released his head and smiled. "I'm Riana, can you remember last night at all?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow at Rosette’s reply.

“Guilty? What for? Sure I’m mad about you sneaking out but I’m not going to hate you forever. You might begin to hate me after training starts, but that’s a different story. You also might end up hating yourself if you don’t eat. We are going to have a long day and if you think I’m going to warm you up by going slow at first you are dead wrong. But, anyways, there is nothing to feel guilty about…Unless you are not telling me something?”

Blaise smiled.

“I won’t have to teach you to be careful. That’s a nice plus. It’s okay, all it is is dried apples, pears and peaches with a blend of nuts and other fruits. I don’t want you to be puking your guts out later today because I gave you a heavy breakfast. I don’t care how much you eat, just eat. I hope you have a good stamina and a lot of energy because it’s going to take a lot to keep up with me.”

“Oh joy. Another trainee who’s going to eat me out of house and home.” Blaise said sarcastically. She pushed Ciaran off of her lap and headed back towards the store cabinet with Rosette’s empty plate. While she was putting more food on the plate, Ciaran jumped into Rosette’s lap and pushed against her warmly.

Blaise returned with the plate and set it on the table. “I think he likes you. Or at least I hope he does. He ate my last trainee’s hair while he slept because he wouldn’t pet him.”

Well...

At Khnui's remarks his paranoia eased, but only to make way for something else. Was he a...burden? Tax was fully prepared to die the previous evening, he even thought that he would just help Khnui smuggle Chrono out and then fend off their pursuing guards. But the way in which Khnui had operated, his strain to save both Tax and the other boy made him feel a bit guilty. Looking away, he also thought it strange how he was so easily trusted. A place to live and training for a spy of the Monarchy, for all they knew. Some spy he would be. Would never be. But perhaps he was just being callous and critical...his host's words were afterall of genuine compassion. He could probably get used to that around here. Before he completely realized it, upon glancing to the stairway again Khnui was gone and a rather brash Riana approached and held his face as if she did so everyday in daily inspection. He was turned this way and that, and told things that rather astonished him. To her smile, he gave a wry look of his own.

"Dear woman...are you like the mystical nurse of this place? Popping up mysteriously to help the injured, and then to vanish in the blink of an eye? I hope such a harsh business pays something better than small coins and teeth..."

Kidding at that point, and relating to a familiar old lore...?

Ciaran meowed affectionately and flicked up his tail to caress Rosette’s face. He moved it back and forth from cheek to cheek as he rubbed up against her hands.

Blaise took a peek out the window to see where in the sky the sun was. It was still early but getting too late for Blaise’s preference. “We should probably head over to the training bunk. We don’t want to have our spot taken.” She said, “But before we leave, I have to change the bandages on my back. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be out of my room in a moment or two.”