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 Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:02 pm
 Orta sat on the frosted grass outside the HQ just beyond the edge of a patch of trees. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to go in. The Bryna girl said it was a good place to spend some time if you didn't have anything else to do, and that she could meet more people and that it might help her get used to things here... but Orta was uncomfortable to be doing these things by herself. Always before there had been someone at her side when she went to a new place...
She shifted and the broken chain on the thigh shackle she still wore from her first days jangled quietly. Orta canted her head to look down at it with a soft sigh. Everyone had been so kind here, so far. Even Caim, in his rather rough fashion. But some things you don't just shake off because you meet a few nice people. No matter how much she wanted to trust them, and how much she wanted to believe that she wouldn't be persecuted or chased in this place as she was in her own world. It was all she'd known aside from the few times she could afford to spend time with what true friends she had made. Ah...
She examined the building again. Its size was intimidating to Orta, who had never stayed indoors in a space larger than a small hut. Aside from when she and the dragon had attacked those Imperial airships, but that was... a lot different, to her mind. And knowing that if she ventured very far inside she would be far away from the freedom being outside offered made her nervous even before she set foot inside. She didn't like feeling trapped...
She puffed out a breath into the chill of the early morning air. At least it wasn't as cold here as it had been up on the Mountain. The frost on the grass would melt as the sun rose higher, and the air would stop showng her the smoky apparitions of her breathing. She decided she would stay outdoors. It was nice... to see trees and grass and plants. And they wouldn't come to life and attack her, either. Orta, skinny slip of a thing that she was, lay down on the grass with her head between her paws and tried to dismiss her nerves and just enjoy the day.((Can't get her certed image to load for some reason... o.0))
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:15 pm
Nearby of where the silver kitsusagi lay, there was a slight pop sound, and the half-Nobody stumbled as he appeared in the clearing, clenching his wand in his paw. He ground his teeth angrily, trying to shake off the awful feeling of Apparating. "And that's what I'm not doing that again." He muttered angrily under his breath. He had hated the pressure ever since Ayako had took them along on Side-Along Apparition, but she had insisted that he try it.
He groaned, holding a paw to his head. "I'm sticking to portals." He said aloud, brushing his dark hair out of his eyes. And no one else was about to persuade him to try it again. It wasn't long after Xanul's golden eyes had noticed the other, and he grinned sheepishly when he realised that he had not been alone after all. Sheesh.
"Um hi? Are you okay?" The male padded up to the other, peering down at her in concern.
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:37 pm
Orta started at the pop and stared blankly at Xanul for a moment when he appeared from thin air. She wasn't as shocked as she might have been at first... the Bryna girl did things like that almost constantly. The pop she was unacustomed to, but since she had identified the source she was not as alarmed as she might have been.
His kind words and concerned expression made her turn her head down to stare at her feet. "I am... well. Just trying to get used to things. I am... new here." One of her tails flicked, jingling her chain again, and she peered up to take a better look at him. He had interesting fur patterns, and kind eyes, but what really caught her attention was the chain around his neck. Without thinking she reached up one of her small paws to touch it gingerly. "Were you locked up too?"
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:45 pm
He shook his head again to clear it of the slight dizziness. Sure, Ayako had said it needed some accustoming to, but he wasn't about to try it again. No way. Apparating was out of the picture for now.
"Ohhhh..." His golden eyes took in her outfit. "You're another one from the past lives! My Dad and grandparents are too!" Then, looking rather embarrassed at that outburst, he tried to salvage it with an introduction. "I'm Xanul. What's ya name?" This was punctuated with a grin and wave of his tails.
"Uh?" He started, looking down at the chain he had worn since he was a kit. "Locked up? Nah! Though I think Dad wishes we were." He joked, laughing, then realizing she was entirely serious, sobered slightly. "You...were?" He asked gently, sitting down on his hind legs beside her.
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:58 pm
Orta self-consciously covered her thigh shackle with her tails at Xanul's question, causing the chain to jangle again. She also flushed just slightly and looked down at her paws, wondering if her cuffs were recognizable as shackles and not just decoration. "The... Before. That is what the people who took me in here called it... I was locked up there." She rubbed nervously at one of the shackles with her opposing paw. What was odd was that she'd probably be less nervous if she was faced with hostility. At least she was used to that! All this kindness... made her feel strange. "I am sorry... for assuming. I just associate chains with captivity."
She sat up, once again causing her chain to ring softly. "Xanul... it rolls well from the mouth. My name is Orta." So many odd names here! But then, there were many different peoples here, even from what little she had seen. So why not many tongues and many names?
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:20 am
"Don't worry about it." He assured her with another kind grin. "I've heard that...weird things happened in past lives, or what you call the Before." He shrugged, having much family members who had that problem.
Xanul beamed slightly as she complimented his name. "You should thank my mother for that." Really, his mother was awesome. Then again...all kids thought their parents were, right? At least that was what he thought. "Well, hello Orta." He smiled again, dark tails curling around himself for a little warmth. "Welcome to the Realm."
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:55 pm
Orta smiled softly, thinking of Ifrit and Valefor. "Weird... past lives. Yes." She pawed at the ground absently. "Strange to those from other lives, at least."
Orta glanced up at him at the mention of his mother. "Your mother?" There was a sadness there, though she smiled again. "She must be a wonderful woman." It was easy to smile back at him when he smiled so easily. "And thank you..."
Her tails began to flick absently as she lost herself in thought for a moment. "This seems like a very... nice place. Everyone has been so kind... It is strange for me."
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:07 pm
"Yeah, with magic and heartless and all." He shrugged it off with a grin. The two mentioned were about his family after all.
"Oh, my mother's awesome." Golden eyes brightened up considerably. "She's a really skilled witch and healer." And for that, he admired Ayako; some of the spells he practiced couldn't seem to go right for him.
"Being kind is...strange?" He repeated, confused. "Why would that be?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:48 pm
Orta's ears flicked forward curiously as Xanul mentioned that his mother was a witch and a healer. Somehow she got the feeling that it wasn't the same thing as what she equated a "witch healer" to be. For once her expression was open and full of curiosity. "A witch... and healer? What does your mother do?"
His question to her though made her frown. "Well, I was locked up for a very long time without knowing why, and I can't remember anything before being locked up. And when I was freed, I was hunted, and my few friends were hurt because of me. So... I am not used to being treated with kindness." How much was too much of her story to tell? Did it even matter here? Xanul, and the others, treated her kindly, some even with affection, even though she had not asked for it and had done nothing to earn it. Even the Wormriders she'd had to prove herself to. It was nice... but it was disconcerting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:03 pm
"She does magic." Xanul said simply, brandishing his own willow wand as an example. "With this. And she's much better than I am. Or ever will." He looked guilty for a while; after all, he hadn't practiced much when he was young. "And she had healing powers, see? She inherited them from my grandma. She's the best among her siblings." He beamed in pride.
"Oh..." He said quietly, not really knowing what to say next, or whether he could comfort her. "Well, you'll meet new friends here! Like me!" He liked making friends after all.
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:12 pm
Orta canted her head again to peer at the wand. "Magic... with a stick?" How curious. "Healing powers sound like a useful thing to have..." She certainly could have used them for her friends numerous times. "What sort of magic do you do with a stick?" She didn't really want to follow the other line of thought.
She stared in shock for a moment when Xanul announced that she would make new friends and that he was one of them. Friend?... Really? "You want to be my friend?" Could it really be so easy?
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:54 pm
"It's a wand." The male kitsu said patiently. "It is quite. I broke my leg once and mom healed it for me." He didn't bother to explain that he broke it while trying to climb up a tree after an annoying kit. Stupid flower brigade. "Um...spells, charms, whatever." With a flick of his wand, a flock of birds emerged from the tip, flying up into the sky. "See?"
"Sure." He shrugged. "I mean, it's better to make friends than enemies right?" Beside Tuuli and Lace, of course. No matter how he tried to convince them he was not an evil prince, they still thought otherwise.
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:09 am
Orta stared in abject wonder at the birds that burst from the tip of Xanul's wand, utterly entranced as they darted around in the air above and finally disappeared over the treetops. "Oh... that was beautiful!" She turned her eyes, a pair of pale, dusty-gold orbs to look at him with a sort of childish delight. "Oh, what were they? I have never seen such wonderful little creatures before..." No... her world didn't have birds. At least, not like the birds Xanul knew.
She tilted her head just slightly at what he said. Yes... friends were better than enemies. But was it really as easy as simply saying 'Let's be friends!' and expecting it to happen? She supposed it was worth a try. "I think I would like a friend..."
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Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:58 pm
The male grinned at her reaction, putting away his wand, not before rubbing some grubby marks on it with his paw. His expression turned to puzzlement before it shifted into understanding. She didn't know what birds were? What a strange...strange world she lived in. "They're birds." He explained.
"See?" Xanul smiled. "'Course, it does take a while and all to have a real friend. Oh and..." A thought crossed his mind and he frowned. "Don't come near me during the full moon, kay?" Though he stayed at Saix's at that time, Lune might still venture out.
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Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:34 pm
Orta watched the wand in fascination until he'd put it away and then gazed off at where the birds had disappeared. "Birds?" How fascinating! She'd heard stories told among the Wormriders about birds and things, but they'd been passed down from before the time Ancients and no one had really had any idea what they were... "Are there more things? Like the birds?" She'd been told there were animals aside from the kitsusagi here, but that she wasn't likely to see them with the cold. She was tempted to go try and find some of them now.
She was confused for a moment both by Xanul's comment about "real friends" and his request not to interact with him during the full moon. Though she supposed the "real friends" bit did make sense... you could try to be friends, right off the bat, but it would take longer to know how good of friends you would be, right? The other though... Well she knew that human women went through cycles during the moon, and no one had mentioned anything here about such things happening with the kitsusagi, but perhaps it wasn't one of those things one generally thought about? "Does the moon do something to you?" She wasn't trying to pry... she just didn't understand how things worked around here, and she was trying to put things together in a way that made sense.
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