Re: Wandering Through Wolsic - 119 4A

[Kara Winters]

Lin waited with baited breath, she hoped it wasn't anything serious. Still, she took her bow (something she didn't get to use all that often) and prepped it in case they did have to shoot something.

[Nara-pyon]

For a few minutes, all was quiet; then there was a soft rustle from the direction in which the six had disappeared. Earendil, Jabek and Sabor each drew their bows, ready for anything.

"Hold up, it's just us!" came Mailon's voice; and his pale hand appeared, waving to show that it really was them. Just behind him were Shoneah, Daeron, Talmon and Wren, but Kyrie was not with them.

[Kara Winters]

Lin lowered her bow as she asked, "Where's Kyrie?"

She wondered if there was someone she was talking to back there.

[Nara-pyon]

"Finishing things up," Daeron said flatly, cutting off any reply the others might give. "She told us to go on without here and she'll catch up within the hour."

Iorlas looked at him, bewildered, as he put one arm around her shoulders. "Something the matter?" she asked him softly.

Daeron just shook his head. "Nothing for you to worry about." He smiled faintly. "Come. Let's go."

Talmon turned to Jabek. "Lead the way," he told him, a bit gruffly.

[Kara Winters]

Lin blinked at the bluntness of Daeron's words. It was clear that they had found something unpleasant, though she couldn't imagine what. Even Talmon seemed to be upset.

"Okay then..."

Miyuki looked between the people who came back, something had happened.

[Nara-pyon]

Andarien was confused, but he had learned not to ask too many questions. He called to his Pokemon, and once the entire group was ready, they set off again, this time following Jabek instead of Kyrie. Of course, since they were going to Jabek's village, it made sense that he would lead them - but only the people who had gone with Kyrie knew what was going on, and it seemed that they weren't talking, at least not for the moment.

They continued on in near silence until suddenly, like a ghost, Kyrie appeared alongside the group. She didn't look happy.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I'll explain later."

[Kara Winters]

Lin nodded at this, "Okay, are you alright?"

With the exception of when Mailon first appeared it was at times hard to tell when Kyrie was just not happy and truly upset. Whatever it was, it didn't make anyone happy.

[Nara-pyon]

"I'm not hurt, if that's what you mean," Kyrie replied, a bit more grimly than she meant it. She sighed. "Please, just wait until we set up camp for the night. This isn't ... this is not the best place to talk about it."

Talmon muttered something no one could hear well enough to understand, and Sabor glanced at him worriedly.

[Kara Winters]

Lin nodded, whatever it was, it sent a blanket of silence over the group as they continued on their way. It was already clear they won't know until they camped for the night and whatever it was bothered those that Kyrie took with them.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie pressed them hard, and it wasn't until it was almost completely dark that she finally let them stop for the night. Everyone immediately set about their regular tasks: Lancaeriel and Wren took care of preparing the meal, Sabor prepared rocky beds for himself and his companions, and the others set about setting up the tent.

Andarien made sure his Pokemon were taken care of, and then he moved to join his parents near the fire.

"Nana? Ada?" he said quietly, coming up beside them. "What happened earlier today?" He hadn't the foggiest notion of what was going on, but it frightened him. He had never seen Kyrie like this, and the group had never been so quiet.

[Kara Winters]

"Not sure," Lin admitted, "Kyrie said she'll explain later."

Though she wondered if it was some sort of trouble, as they probably had moved farther than they would have normally. Kyrie had pressed them hard to travel.

[Nara-pyon]

"But isn't it later now?" Andarien asked, puzzled. "And why won't any of the others say anything either?"

"Perhaps because Kyrie asked them to allow her to tell us in her own time," Earendil told him calmly. "Now be patient."

Andarien sighed softly. "How patient?"

[Kara Winters]

"Very patient," Lin paused for a moment.

She knew the others weren't asking because it was clear it was a sensitive issue, but Eron had mentioned that might be something Andarien might not pick up as clearly.

"Kyrie and the others are quite upset, so it's best to let them tell us on their own terms," she finally added.

[Nara-pyon]

"Terms?" Andarien questioned.

Earendil sighed. "When they feel that the time is right, when they're ready," he explained. "For now just settle down."

Andarien tried, he really did, but the longer he had to wait, the more he seemed to pick up on the negative emotions around him, until at last he couldn't stand it anymore. While everyone was eating, he left his spot next to his parents, crossed over the space in the middle of everyone, and tapped Kyrie on the shoulder to get her attention.

"You said you would tell us when we camp what happened earlier," he said seriously, a bit apprehensively. "We're camped now."

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki looked at Andarien, mainly because he was being very blunt about it. Though she couldn't blame him for asking.

Eron wasn't at all surprised, he could tell that Andarien was confused and everyone's silence probably wasn't helping matters. Though he continued to eat, so not to put too much attention to it.

So did Lin, she understood the worse that could happen was that Kyrie said no (or maybe that Andarien wouldn't like the answer that Kyrie gave). It was a question, there wasn't a harm in asking, even if she wished he had waited until after dinner when it wasn't so public.

[Nara-pyon]

The others all looked at Kyrie - some with curiosity, others with trepidation, and some with annoyance. Kyrie, however, just set her fork back onto her plate slowly and turned to look at Andarien. Her face was expressionless, and the glow of the fire was not enough to reveal anything in her dark eyes.

Finally, she sighed.

"Daeron," she murmured, looking over at him.

Without any further prompting, Daeron took Iorlas gently by the arm and helped her to her feet. "Come on, let's get Amir to bed," he smiled at her.

"But-" she tried to protest, but Daeron just hushed her and ushered her into the tent.

[Kara Winters]

Lin looked thoughtful, if Iorlas was being ushered into the tent, it could only be about two things. Either it was about the dragon they killed or the child she and Dareon adopted. The latter sounded unlikely to Lin, but she knew dragon parts (scales especially) would be quite costly.

Really between the meat, scales, hide and some of the bone, they had quite the wealth with them.

Once Iorlas was in the tent, she waited for Kyrie to speak up.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie's eyes followed Daeron, Iorlas and Amir until they were inside the tent, and even then she waited nearly a full minute to speak. When she did, her tone was low, her voice quiet.

"To begin with, we found out why the dragon was so aggressive," she murmured. "The noise we heard ... was a brood of babies. Young, they probably couldn't have survived on their own ... but ..."

She rubbed her eyes. "By the Valar, I hate when babies are left behind." Suddenly she frowned and put one hand to the image of Uruloki on her stomach. "Yes, I know you hate it, too. But it has to be done."

[Kara Winters]

"I see...." Lin nodded.

There weren't a lot of choices when baby animals that were wild were involved. Seeing as Kyrie came alone, she guessed that Kyrie had to... as some Gaians put it, put them down.

"So it had nested too close to settlements and then got aggressive because people were traveling through it's territory..."

What a mess, but that wasn't unheard of when people came into the picture.

[Nara-pyon]

"Or maybe it decided the settlements were too close, I don't know," Kyrie sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever the reason, it attacked. When there are babies involved, we have two choices. If they're young enough, we can leave them to die on their own, but ... that's the more cruel of the options. Problem is, when they're that young, they're nearly impossible to catch - quick little things. Second option, if they're old enough to fend for themselves, we have to kill them so that they don't end up destroying the communities they're near."

She swallowed hard. "As necessary as it is ... I don't know if there's anything I hate doing more."

Her eyes darted briefly towards Mailon, but she averted her gaze immediately and stared intently into the fire. "Almost nothing," she corrected herself, barely audibly.

[Kara Winters]

Lin nodded quietly, though it couldn't be helped. Better a quick death than a long one and better now than risk the fact they could be a threat to the communities later. It was the downside of dealing with creatures that didn't have anywhere near the sentient being of say a Fluffy Cat or Pokemon.

"Now that, that's out, maybe what we all need is some rest," Lin murmured.

[Nara-pyon]

"Or finish eating," Shoneah suggested quietly.

"First I want to know why we've had to keep quiet about it all day," Talmon said angrily. "They were dragons, not people."

"Stop it," Kyrie shot back at him. "Life is life, whether human, elvish or dragon." She passed her hands over her face, sighing. "Sorry. Look, it's not a task I like doing - not a task most people like doing. But it's also a sensitive topic for some people here, so I didn't want anyone to just blurt it out and cause more problems."

Talmon was no idiot. "Let me guess," he said smoothly. "Iorlas?" Kyrie had refused to speak after all until the woman had been ushered away.

[Kara Winters]

It wasn't like anyone couldn't guess that, though Miyuki hoped that Talmon wouldn't make a big deal out of it. If he did, they could write it off as a cultural thing, they were foreigners to this land after all.

[Nara-pyon]

"Yes," Kyrie replied quietly. "And if you bring it up in her presence you will have me to answer to. Do you understand me?"

Despite the darkness, there was a fire in her eyes that showed how serious she really was.

There was a moment of tense silence, and then Talmon nodded once, a quick jerk of his head. "I got it."

[Kara Winters]

It was quite impressive how intimidating Kyrie could be without words, Miyuki couldn't help but think as she quietly ate her dinner. Watching the adults were interesting (even though she herself was technically an adult).

Though even with Talmon's agreement it did leave a sort of awkward after silence.

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