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 Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:08 pm
D E V E L O P M E N T A L x S O L O
Cracked Glass and Paper Fires He did not intend to be in Oba for long, because he could not stand to be in Oba for long.
Or such was what Xilarn told himself, anyway. The trip was never meant to be a long one, a week's stay at most, not including travel times. He would make the journey with his son and their raptri. It would be the first time Akiyal met his grandparents in a decade, and twice as long since Xil had actually come face-to-face with his parents. It should've been pleasant. Tense at first, maybe, if only due to the fact that so much had happened in the in-between, but they were supposed to come out of it stronger and closer and more content with life as a whole by the end of it.
Xilarn should've known better. This country continued to be the bane of his existence, as it had been when he was a teenager. No good came from it, ever. Not since that first war when he'd been uprooted from his home, his older siblings had set out to brave the savage masses of the rest of Tendaji, and a gross and unwanted set of expectations pushed upon him. It was never quite home after that, and he was wrong to expect anything had changed.
Fortunately, he hadn't had to deal with his siblings this time around, only his parents. His mother had been politely curious, but mostly silent, as she always was around his more vocal and abrasive father.
Aamil was not silent. He was never silent, and when he was displeased with something, the world knew of it. He was displeased with Xilarn's living arrangements, displeased with Xilarn's continued resistance to return home and settle with a proper mate now that his first 'hybrid harlot' was out of the picture, clearly displeased with Xilarn's mating choices on the whole, displeased with Xilarn's lack of communication and availability, and forever displeased with the course of Xilarn's life. These were things Xil could (begrudgingly) forgive, if only because he wasn't willing to put forth the effort to change them. Things weren't perfect, but they rarely were, and he was usually fine with where he was and what he was doing.
But Aamil was also displeased with Akiyal.
And Xilarn could not forgive this. He'd never wanted to punch a man nearing on his seventh decade, but by the gods, Xil wanted to then. He hadn't, of course, but it was a struggle to resist the temptation. After a few jarring snaps back and forth with his old man, he'd taken his son and left.
It was too late to spare the younger Wind boy. He was distraught, offended, and felt rightly slighted. Unfortunately, he felt just as slighted by Xilarn as he did by his grandfather. 'Why did you bring me here? Why would you do this? Did you know this would happen? Do you hate me like they do?'
Nothing Xilarn said could reassure him, and he'd taken Naeght and flown home, despite the horrible pit of dread and terror and helplessness bubbling in Xil's stomach at the thought of not going with him to see him back safely.
But that was nearing a week ago, now.
As luck would have it, Aki did make it home safely. His first letter asked Xilarn to give him a few days to himself. He was fine, but he needed to process things. 'Don't follow me, or I will leave you forever'. There were so many things Xilarn should've known better of. Aki did not like or want to be left alone. Xil should've gone home then, but he hadn't. Out of uncertainty and trepidation, he'd stayed. He'd met a dumb young man in the marketplace, consecutively been asked by his parents to see him safely across the lands in his great journey to spread word of his god, and, initially, refused. He had a son at home and his own matters to tend to.
Akiyal's second letter informed him that he was leaving Sauti with Kan and Janella. They would be gone for a month, off doing 'dumb market stuff' in Jauhar and Tale. A short addendum of Jan's also fond its way into the message. 'I'll keep him safe. This will be good for him and good for you. Take this time to relax. Sort things with your family. I'll make him write to you, Attlee.'
'Pleased' that his son was being cared for wasn't quite accurate enough to describe how Xilarn felt about all of this happening without any input from him.
If he had to pick a single word... Rage. Probably rage. Anyone staying in the same inn as him could attest to that. He'd thrown things, broken things, and punched things, spat curses at nothing, shredded and burned Akiyal's letters because what else was he supposed to do? It was too late to prevent his son from doing anything. No one had asked him if it was an acceptable course of action. They just went and did before he had a chance to stop them.
So, yes. Rage and helplessness and a sense that nothing he did would have any reason behind it until Aki returned. What was he supposed to do with himself? Not 'sort things with his family.' Not go home and be faced with nothing. There weren't a great lot of options to choose from. He didn't want to stay in Oba, didn't want to return to Sauti, didn't have any reason to go-
If he hadn't met that kid (what was his name?) hardly a day past, he really would still have reason to be angry.
Xilarn inhaled a slow breath as he lay on his bed, staring up at the red clay ceiling of the inn. He had his reservations. It sounded like Damissan had a penchant for getting into trouble and a mouth that could only make things worse. But his parent's said he'd be bored and ready to return home in a month. Akiyal's letter said he would be gone for as long, and as the Fire man considered it, the likelihood of this occurring simultaneously seemed very minimal. Like it couldn't possibly be a coincidence.
But there was nothing else it could be. Despite his initial refusal, Xil found himself warming to the idea. Not out of want, but necessity. He would need something to keep him engaged during this time.
Meeting Damis in the streets of Sulburi was, while not ever to be admitted aloud, a very small, coincidental blessing.x
x
Results: Xil doesn't like it when plans change.
Word Count: 1093
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:10 pm
P R P x R E F L E C T I O NThe Quhar Whisperer So there was even less planning and communication that went into this half-baked idea than I originally thought. But at least it's nice to know that Damissan's tactical failures are a familial flaw and not a learned one. If I was even a fraction more careless or impatient, I probably wouldn't have caught him at all, and he could've enjoyed his journey solo for as long as he survived. 'Enjoyed' probably isn't quite the right word, but the fact remains that he would've been alone, it wouldn't have even been my fault, and it probably wouldn't have ended well.
Regardless, I did find him, and I can already tell we're going to get along just extra well and have a voyage free of strife and complaint. And, perhaps more importantly, I don't expect either of us to be bored.
But we've a long way to go yet, and I'm not entirely convinced boredom isn't preferable to annoyance.Results: Xil and Damis start their adventure together.
PRP Posts: 11
JR Word Count: 157
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:12 pm
I don't generally care for festivals, for multiple reasons. And frankly, being at one with Damissan is just asking for trouble. Because if what I've seen of his crowd skills are any indication? They aren't great. I was not enthused going into this mess (any part of this mess), and I stand by those feelings. However, regardless of this, that, or anything else... There were probably worse ways to spend my time. I'm still not sure of the exact reason for this cross-cultural to-do, and it seems like a huge waste of everyone's time, and probably not worth the travel most people dedicated to it, but I had something very similar to fun.
Admittedly, winning is never not fun.
And, in my defense, if I go in with low expectations, at least I can't be disappointed. Which I wasn't. Mission success. The people weren't unbearable, the food wasn't the worst, the tournament wasn't a terrible idea.
None the less, I'm pleased to have this experience behind me. Because for every day that passes is one day closer to being out of the desert, one less day that I need to deal with Damis, and one more day survived. As you can see, I am optimistic. Nothing too dreadful has happened yet. I'd like to keep it that way.Results: +1 RP/Battle credit, +1 Versatile Point; stage three tournament victor.
META Posts: 8
JR Word Count: 218
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:14 pm
P R P x R E F L E C T I O NSandstorms and Fish This kid wears me out.
It's been a handful of days, and I have avoided Damissan, when I can, but since I am basically employed to him, straying too far doesn't seem like the best course of action. I'm still convinced he's probably safer speaking to people in Oba more than anywhere else, so long as he doesn't go out of his way to insult the masses, so there doesn't seem to be any great need to remain at his immediate side. That'd get boring and annoying pretty quick.
In the entirety of our stay in Jatine, I don't suppose we've shared much conversation at all. He can manage his business, I can manage mine. The only downside being that our schedules, particularly where departure plans are concerned, don't often match up. I should have expected him to be a 'by the seat of his pants' fellow. And nosy. And rude. And stubborn. And too stupidly forthright for his own good. There are a lot of disagreeable things about Damissan Mataou.
However... Once you get past the carelessness (and probably rightful upset at purposeful antagonization), I suppose there are worse people to be stuck with. He's not unintelligent or impersonable. Just a brat, but that much is a given.
By some miracle we made it out of Jatine and beyond, and while I'm not looking forward to the coming days by any means, they might not be as bad as I originally feared.Results: Forced bonding time?
PRP Posts: 20
JR Word Count: 243
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:21 pm
O R P x R E F L E C T I O NSins and Virtues This was the type of dream that felt extremely disorienting to wake up from, the kind that you don't know where you are or what you're doing or why anything. You just wake up confused, alone, and clueless, and as soon as you open your eyes and take in the world around, the memories of the night's adventures are just... chased away. I'm sure it wasn't important. I'm not the type to believe the things conjured by the mind in the dead of night have any significant meaning.
But it felt more peculiar than usual. Long, winding, and unnecessarily complicated, and I have an uncomfortable sensation that nothing (or perhaps just not much) good came of it.
Not that I expect as much. I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm not interested in 'dreaming' anymore. Not when I'm asleep, because I don't need anything to help keep me up at night. And not when I'm awake, because it's nothing but a waste of time and hope and want. If I was going to make my dreams come true, I would've done it already. I wouldn't be traveling with some random market-child, away from my home, ignoring my problems, and blaming something else for all of it. But every time I think 'I shouldn't be doing this,' I always convince myself that 'it'll sort itself out.'
That hasn't been true, yet.Results: Xilarn dreams.
ORP Posts: 8
JR Word Count: 233
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2016 12:40 pm
Damissan fainted in the forest and had to be carried to a suitable camp like a helpless princess.
Snnnrk-
Ahem. I suppose this is as much as can be expected of an inexperienced noble bratling, though. Facing off against giant, unfamiliar insects does tend to inspire not-wholly-positive responses. Comical or not, I ought to be grateful worse didn't happen, because it could've, and the chances seemed more for than against. As is becoming customary, the day started off rocky and progressed from bad to worse before ending on well-enough terms. We did make it out of Oba and into Jauhar, which is a plus I can be thankful for.
Overall, things turned out rather well, I think. Damis did sustain an injury that might slightly hinder our progress, but for the most part, things are surprisingly manageable. We didn't stop far from the town of Neued. Perhaps we can travel through the morning- or for a few hours after leaving camp, anyway (it's hard to tell time on the forest floor)- and by evening we can enjoy the blended Shifter-Oban settlement of a not-too-small, but also not-too-large town.
I do like Jauhar, after all.Results: +224 exp
Word Count: 5495
JR Word Count: 194
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 4:13 pm
P R P x R E F L E C T I O NIt Runs In the Family XILARN'S THOUGHTSResults: ???
PRP Posts: ???
JR Word Count: ???
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Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 4:15 pm
B A T T L E x R E F L E C T I O N[Jauhar] Xilarn vs Ziari ...
(N/A - NRP battle)Results: Won the battle.
Word Count: N/A
JR Word Count: N/A
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:41 pm
B A T T L E x R E F L E C T I O N[Jauhar] Callum vs Xilarn ...
(N/A - NRP battle)Results: Won the battle.
Word Count: N/A
JR Word Count: N/A
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:06 pm
M O U N T x S O L O
Meet Me at This Spot Twenty Years Ago Mmm… The rainforest was hotter and stickier than he remembered. Xilarn plucked lightly at the fabric of his shirt, airing it out with a soft hum as he stared up toward the leafy green roof of what passed as an ‘inn’ in these parts. This, his first night in Neued this decade, brought with it a strange sense of contented lethargy. He was out of Oba, away from Sauti, and unconcerned about things that happened in those places. Nevermind that previous nights in Jauhar hadn’t lent themselves especially well to sleep. Perhaps that was an added factor, as well. And it was blissfully quiet, with just the soft rustle of leaves and distant hum of far-away Shifter chatter.
The hot wasn’t so bad as it had been in the desert, either. Enough to limit how much he actually wanted to be active, of course, but since the sun wasn’t a great nuisance at any part of the day (never mind the evenings), the intensity of the heat wasn’t so bad. Just an encouragement to aid the night along. Xilarn tucked one arm behind his head and reached the other out to smear his fingers through the feathers on gadot’s neck.
The raptrix had also taken to laying on his back, paws in the air, mouth open, airing out the loins, and he did not look especially pleased about it. Regardless, when Xil’s fingers made contact, his tail wagged.
Over the course of the last twenty years, it was a reaction Xilarn had come to expect.
Literally nothing else in his life was so consistently positive. Peppy, friendly, optimistic, and ever-loyal, Xilarn cherished Gadot like a best friend. They’d basically grown up together, or at least spent more time together than apart. The Fire man let out a short, soft whistle and patted his chest. The beast rolled to his side, cocked his head, then shimmied close enough to rest his chin atop Xilarn’s stomach. His large, brown eyes flicked to the man’s face, then closed. Gadot let out a stiff puff of air.
“Good boy...” Xil hummed softly, ruffling up the fur along the back of the creature’s ears. “Such a good boy...” Not much about him had changed at all from lo those many years ago. He was about the same size, ate just as much, cared for the personal space of others as little as he ever did.
But Xilarn had the impression Gadot wasn’t as useful to any previous owners, or he wouldn’t have been confined in a cage in the middle of an Oban camp. A companion, courier, guard, and tracker, the things this mutt had learned in the span of two decades were actually greater than Xil originally expected any animal to manage. Even if he was completely useless and stupid, he was still the only constant In Xil’s life, and that would’ve meant something on its own.
It had been surprisingly difficult without Gadot at his side during the trek from Jatine to Neued. A necessary evil, but one Xilarn didn’t have much interest in repeating anytime in the near future. Not for the first time, he thanked whatever gods were listening for the longevity of a raptrix’s lifespan.x
x
Results: Puppy bonding.
Word Count: 535
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:43 pm
G R O W T H x S O L O
Chance Made Us Jauhar came with a need for just a fraction more diligence than its eastern neighbor. Obans were at least predictably violent and distempered. Damissan had grown up with that all his life. He should know how to handle it, barring a few anomalies. Xilarn hadn’t felt pressed to stay by his young charge’s side during their desert adventures.
But it was different here. Even if Xil generally thought better of a Shifter’s temperament as compared to an Oban’s, he couldn’t help but feel ever-so-slightly pessimistic in regards to how the Jauhar natives would feel about Fire Earthlings. Especially where Damissan’s ‘god’ was concerned. Xilarn almost wished he’d paid more attention to Damis’ tactics in their earlier escapades, just so he’d have a more accurate idea of what to expect now. Because as it stood, he was perpetually unimpressed and exceedingly wary. Could you really just wander around, speak to strangers about topics that many didn’t want to be questioned over, and then expect anything good to come of it?
Xilarn didn’t think so.
Neither did he want to be within spitting distance of any such conversation, but he couldn’t let Damis run amok in this unfamiliar territory. He hung back as the younger man mingled, not close enough to hear anything, but close enough to see everything. The perfect balance. Admittedly, at this particular moment, his concerns felt mostly misplaced. From his vantage point with his bum on the ground, back to the trunk of a thick tree, and his fingers picking idly at stray stems and leaves, there didn’t seem to be much need to worry.
Gadot took a more active approach, amicably approaching nearby Shifters with his tongue lolling and tail wagging. He plodded between them inquisitively, sniffing about for free snacks, presumably. Many avoided him with soft gasps and quiet yips and hissed exclamations of, ”Goddess Serin, where did this beast even come from?” Xilarn chuckled and was briefly pleased he had something besides Damis to pay half a mind to. Then the raptrix’s nose collided with the backside of a short, dark-skinned woman voraciously bartering with a nearby merchant.
Gadot woofed. Xil’s full attention flicked to the woman and the mutt. She turned with an indignant huff, haphazardly throwing out an arm to shove the beast’s nose away. “Do you mind? Hey!” The woman’s gaze roved over passerby. Xilarn’s expression pinched in unfortunate and immediate recognition. “Does this belong to someone?” She pushed at Gadot’s chest, to very little effect. He responded with a myriad of short bark-huffs, and his muscles bunched as if he might jump on her.
There was a great and terrible temptation to do nothing except stand and leave. Gadot would follow when he realized Xil had departed, and it meant he wouldn’t have to engage with people he had little interest in.
But against his better judgement, he made his way toward the pair, and synched his fingers in the thick feather-fur at the back of Gadot’s neck to encourage him to remain down. His rust-colored gaze trailed back to the woman- narrowed, suspicious, displeased. “Ahdaia,” he muttered stiffly. “You’re a long way from home.” Of course his animal would recognize the similarity in scent that came from shared blood. Dumb mutt. He had no concept of which people were worth approaching.
It took, perhaps, too long for recognition to fully settle across her features. As expected, his sister’s immediate, initial response had been decidedly unpleasant, likely a command that he keep a better hold on his beast. But before she vocalized any such thing, her eyes dropped to his, her features softened, and an instant later, she was throwing her arms around his shoulders. “Xilarn…!” Xil felt no special need to return the embrace, and instead stood stock-still glowering over the Fire woman’s shoulder. She peeled back to look at him, touched his face, and smiled (despite his own deeply unimpressed expression). “Oh, I’m so glad to have found you. Mother said she expected you’d be near back to Sauti by now, so I imagined a much longer journey ahead of me. This is a surprise.”
That didn’t say much for why she was here, and Xilarn found that he didn’t much care. He layered one hand across Gadot’s neck, folded the other behind his back, and stood a touch straighter. “It turns out that I had unexpected errands to run before returning home. They’re taking longer than I planned for.”
The general mood of the encounter was starting to reach Ahdaia a bit by this point. “I suppose it’s good I didn’t have to go much farther than Jauhar, if this is how you feel about seeing me after so long. Come. Smile. I missed you, little brother, and felt concern for your well-being.” Xilarn squinted, lips puckering. “And I was disappointed you didn’t come see me, during your visit, by the way. It’s one thing to leave Father’s home in a huff, but don’t impose your feelings toward him onto me. You should’ve stayed with my family. You haven’t yet met-”
Imposing. Somehow the word rubbed him wrong, as if any dissatisfaction toward her was unmerited. “I’m not ‘imposing’ any sort of undeserved feelings onto you,” he cut her off with a scowl. “You couldn’t possibly think I’d want to stay with you. We’ve never gotten along.”
“That isn’t true!” She snapped back instantaneously, the temper Xil was so familiar with starting to spark. “We used to do a great many things together, until-”
“You went to war.”
“-I grew up,” Ahdaia retorted. “I got a job that I had to dedicate a great portion of my time to. I was good at it. I was helping our people, and at the time, there wasn’t much other choice to be made. It is what you would’ve done, if you’d only stayed-”
Xilarn’s own already-riled-by-just-the-sight-of-his-sister temper started to respond in kind. “Don’t tell me what I would’ve done,” he hissed. ”I wouldn’t have made the same choices you and Cether did, and even if I could go back and decide otherwise-”
Ahdaia held a hand up to his face, and she was rewarded with the stark, if not very brief silence attained from doing something unexpected. In the interim before Xilarn could catch his words and spit them out at her, she asked, “Do you want to not do this here?” Her eyes darted sidelong, toward the scant ‘crowd’ of the Neued market. “I did miss you,” Daia went on as Xil huffed out a sigh. “And I want to speak with you. But not here, and not like this.”
With concerns over the success of his previously assigned mission falling to the wayside, Xilarn reluctantly agreed.
The pair found themselves back in the privacy of Xil’s rented room. Daia perched on the edge of the mat that served as his bed, smoothed out the blankets around her, then tugged her knees up to her chest. She glanced to him, opened her mouth, and-
“Why did Mother tell you where she ‘expected’ you to find me?” Xilarn demanded as crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall facing his older sister.
Ahdaia gave him a look like this was the most absurd question she’d ever heard. “She was worried about you, of course,” the older woman murmured. “And reasonably so, I’d say, after the way things happened…” There was a pause. “Everything I’ve heard about you since you left Oba, I’ve heard from her. And, honestly, I must say I’m not impressed with the current state of things…” Before he could respond appropriately aggressively to that, she continued. “Mother told me about your visit, and you must know she would never offend you, herself. Don’t be cross with her, Xilarn.”
Heat flared from his throat to his face, first in anger (not impressed with his life?), then in abashment. In reality, he knew he had no business being upset with his mother. She’d done nothing to- Except that was it. That was what offended him; she’d done nothing but stand at her husband’s side while the old man mocked, belittled, and spat at her son and, more importantly, her grandson. No, she hadn’t said anything derisive herself, but that seemed like as much a crime as if she had. Xilarn exhaled and shook his head. “So you understand why I wouldn’t want to stay with you. You have his ideals,” Xil shot at her.
“You have not spoken to me in twenty years. You don’t know my ideals. I would’ve loved to meet your boy. My nephew. Would still like to meet him, actually…” Daia’s gaze fell to her well-manicured nails drawing idle patterns across the blanket. “Is he here?”
“No,” Xil quipped. “He isn’t.” When her red eyes traveled inquisitively up to him, he elaborated. “He was angry at me for Father’s outbursts and decided to head back on his own. He wasn’t interested in my company.”
If possible, the commentary made her crack a smile, but she tucked her chin to hide it. “He has my little brother’s sense of forethought, I see…” Children running amok without their parents. It sounded remarkably similar to Xilarn’s teenaged adventures, though she doubted Xil realized it, himself. Daia straightened her back and rocked forward, perching nearer to her younger brother. “But in all seriousness, you oughtn’t let him get away with whatever he likes. You used to be so very good at putting your foot down, so…”
”He’ll leave me,” Xilarn muttered. ”And I don’t know what I’d do if he did.”
“So you should be around family,” she said earnestly, unfolding her legs and leaning even nearer. “We can help you; I can help you. I want to, and there’s nothing else in Sauti, anymore. You-”
”My home is in Sauti. I have lived there longer than anywhere else, and I don’t want-”
“Oba is your home! And you should’ve returned as soon as your lover died!” Ahdaia snapped. Xil quieted. She glared at him. He stared back, and after a second of that, the older woman eased back on a sigh. Fingers threaded through her tight braids as she fidgeted to straighten them. Her tone was quieter when she continued. “You can’t continue to be angry at me for things that happened when we were teenagers. I know so much has happened, and so many things have changed, but holding this grudge when you need your family is unreasonable.”
It hadn’t felt like an option. Xilarn’s lashes flit shut, and he slid down the wall to take a seat on the ground. He couldn’t go back to Oba. Before the war, he was a ‘traitor,’ and afterwards… Well, the impression of it stuck. He couldn’t go home. His family hated him. He’d said he didn’t need them, and he didn’t. His forehead dropped to settle on his bent knee. ”I didn’t know all this would happen. I shouldn’t have needed to come back, and at this point, there’s no reason to.”
Daia shrugged. “You could come back for me.” He squinted skeptically at her. “Meet my family. My children. I have two daughters who’ve never met you. Who don’t know much about you at all because I don’t have anything positive to say.” He scowled. Another shrug, and she tipped her head back to stare at the leafy arrangement that made up the ceiling. “Even if good things do make it into the letters you send Mother, those aren’t the bits she relays to me. She worries over you. And because of what I’m told, so do I.” She quirked him a hesitant grin. “And really, it isn’t fair that I have to hear about all your problems while you’ve no idea what’s going on with me. It’s unbalanced.”
”I’m sorry if I’m not as reliable a listening ear as you would’ve liked.”
She reached forward and flicked his nose. “Dolt. That isn’t what I meant. Write me. It’s a more reliable back-and-forth that way, I think. Visit me. You’re my baby brother, I deserve at least a fraction of the time you spend talking to Mother… Just a fraction. You don’t have any grounds on which to hate me.”
Xil sighed, dropped his head against the back wall, and raked his hands through his hair. ”I don’t hate you.” ’It was just easier to-’ He swallowed, and blinked back the heat threatening at the corners of his eyes. ”It was just easier to disregard you and everyone else. I couldn’t have handled Father if I’d returned after… Kennet. It was easier to not think of you at all. Or anything, for that matter.”
“And now?” She prompted.
He rolled his eyes and huffed softly, before fixing his clay-colored irises on her. Xilarn stood, turned, and took up a seat at her side. ”I suppose it’s been long enough.”x
x
Results: Xilarn has been accumulating unresolved issues since he was a teenager. For the most part, he tends to ignore his problems and let them get progressively worse until they’re unreasonably disproportionate to the initial issue. He’s not in touch with his family, not over his dead lover, struggling to raise a child that doesn’t respect him, and has been just adamant about making zero forward progress with his life, despite the years that have passed since anything happened. Cether and Ahdaia have been an ongoing problem for him for nearly two decades. Xil has been combating his siblings and his perspective of them for the past twenty years, while managing to say literally nothing to either of them, at all, ever.
By some happenstance and parental finagling, Ahdaia managed to catch up to him. She holds no grudges and has no ill-will toward her little brother, despite Xilarn’s own feelings. Over the span of their encounter, Xil comes to realize this and does adopt a sort of grudging acceptance of Daia and forgiveness toward his mother, though the same can’t be said for his brother and father. In addition to this, Daia also brings up several of Xil’s other problems, that while he isn’t exactly resolving at this moment, does force him to at least give a fleeting thought to them: his son, his love life, home. Things he should be starting to fix here in the very near future.
Word Count: 2142
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:10 am
We'll probably never escape the great train of festivals that seem to be following us around. I can understand and expect as much noise from Oba's population, but I hoped for a little more quiet serenity once we made it into Jauhar... And we've had anything but 'serenity,' since making it over the border.
Still, this is probably better than the alternative: strolling through marshlands and being attacked by whatever happens across our path. At least Shifters are relatively peaceful and they seem open enough to having foreigners take part in their yearly celebrations. I can't say I really believe their goddess actually listens to and grants their prayers, but their floating treetop lanterns do make a nice show, and it is something new, interesting, and probably worth seeing at least once in a lifetime.
Still, I can't get out of here soon enough.
Whether I like Jauhar or not, it doesn't change the fact that we weren't supposed to make it through the jungle at all. This feels like plenty far enough, with time still so that I can dump Damis back off in Oba then return home before too long has passed... I'm sure Akiyal is fine, though. And we'll be back together soon.
Hopefully sooner rather than later, anyway.Results: +1 Versatile Point; Xil and Damis aren't sure which of them is better with their mouth.
META Posts: 7
JR Word Count: 212
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Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 4:23 pm
B A T T L E x R E F L E C T I O NDamissan vs Xilarn [Jauhar] ...
(N/A - NRP battle)Results: Won the battle.
Word Count: N/A
JR Word Count: N/A
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:46 pm
Damissan has this unique talent where he can ruin practically anything with his mouth. We've been traveling together for some time now, and at this point, I ought to have expected just about everything he could come up with. And I certainly ought to have expected to not be surprised by anything he might've done prior to our arrangement.
But I didn't. And I was.
And now I have to go out of my way to ignore his unfortunately appealing backside, made only moderately easier by the most absurd piece of artwork that anyone has had the misfortune of permanently stamping across their skin. Maybe that was part of the reason more invasive topics concerning my sexual escapades were met poorly, but I'd venture that no, it's more likely because Damis' dumb questions and continued nosiness just piss me right off.Results: Xil and Damis eat bugs and talk about sex.
PRP Posts: 10
JR Word Count: 141
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 7:09 am
B A T T L E x R E F L E C T I O N[Jauhar] Kian vs Xilarn ...
(N/A - NRP battle)Results: Won the battle.
Word Count: N/A
JR Word Count: N/A
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