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| What cost your pride? It is free, for I can get more. What cost your skill? It is low, for I am a healer. What cost your body? It is high, for I am untouched. What cost your soul? There is no cost, for it is not for sale. |
| It had been almost two ninans since Alae had worn anything but men's clothes, and the soft black silk and suede felt good against her skin. The shirt was snug, but not so tight as to restrict movement should such actions become necessary, and the conforming nature of the suede pants left very little of the curves and gentle angles to the imagination. She admitted to a streak of vanity as she examined herself critically in the mirror. Going hunting? Kael asked with a low, teasing howl. Alae made a face at him, adjusting the collar of the shirt. You be quiet. She told the wolf, turning and slipping through the door, the wraith of a wolf upon her heels. I wouldn't be in this mess if it hadn't been for your delayed warnings in the forest. Digits rose to dismiss a few strands of hair from her gaze - the pale blonde dye having been set into the strands a few hours prior, now leaving their usual pitch and silver lengths a sun-struck, embroiled flaxen. At this point, she was used to the constancy of Change; every town and every acquaintance meant a new figure, a new personality to show to the world. Alae had become very good at playing the parts, as though they were simply varied roles and the world a stage upon which she was showcased. Come on, mutt. We have to find the stables. Kael snorted, his nose wrinkling slightly as he glanced balefully up at his Wolfwalker. With all that Scent you are wearing, we'll be lucky if I can smell the wind at all. He jibed, trotting a few paces ahead so he was out of her striking range. "Flea-bitten, mongrel cur." She muttered, giving one of his ears a good fwap as she paused at the corner. Her gaze dropped demurely as a pair of men walked by, before their sharp ashen depths rose once more, gazing after the two. One had riding boots on, and she swung to the right in the opposite direction, retracing their paths. Hay clouds my nose.. hoofs stomping rotten wood.. Kael had moved further ahead, and Alae nodded at his perceptions, drawing the scent into her own nose. Do not panic the beasts, Grey One. They will not be used to a wolf in their midst. Kael gave her a baleful glance of gold over his thickly furred shoulder. If they make sound and betray our place, they will spend little time regretting it. The mental impression of a toothy grin made her laugh, digits once more seeking the thick pelt of the wolf as she moved out the door and quietly toward the stables. Practiced hands made quick work of the bolts on three of the stalls, and she had two horses saddled and ready before she started in on the third. The young stallion's nostrils flared sharply, and he stomped a forehoof as he caught sight of Kael. Grey One, please back down. We don't need more trouble then we've already had. Kael snorted, but obediently faded back to the shadows of the stable, and Alae moved to the roan stallion's head to measure for a bridle. "Hey you! What are you doing in here?" Alae felt the tension explode back into her form, silver touched gaze rising sharply to eye the form of the male where he stood. His stance alone sent off warnings - what was visibly relaxed to the untrained eye was simply coiled momentum to her; his elbow rested easily upon the pommel of a sword at his left, and she had no doubt that in the length of time it would take her to close the distance between them, he would have it out and aimed at her heart. . . .muscles flexing, claws biting at the dust beneath. Healer! His blood, his bones in my teeth.. |
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| Kael! She snapped back, forcing the tension to ease like water through a sieve from her muscles, leaning back against the stallion's neck with a faint smile to the man, coyly dismissing a strand of flaxen from her gaze. Arms lifted casually to curl about the neck of the equine as she murmured soft sounds to sooth him, as the tension of both human figures was obviously making him uneasy. "I was simply saddling some of the horses at the captain's request - three of his scouts leave at two hours past dawn." She returned smoothly, shooting him a slightly amused sidelong glance with those ashen hues, which held to him like a mudsucker to its meal. The man shifted slightly as his gaze drank up the slight form, but he still did not seem convinced. "The scouts were not supposed to leave until mid day." Alae feigned surprise, frowning and nibbling at her bottom lip. "Then perhaps you should go speak to the captain - either to clear this mess up, or to explain to him why his horses were not |
| ready as requested. I would simply hate him to think it my fault again - do let him know that I remembered to saddle them on time. I'd hate to be punished so severely yet again.." The slight motion of her calf drew his gaze to the milky scar still evident upon its length, where the bone had snapped through like a knife through butter. He blanched. "Alright.. go ahead and saddle them anyway, and I'll speak with the captain." She nodded with another coy, casual smile, tilting her head against that of the stallion as she watched him with gold-touched hues of stormy grey until he was out of sight. Kael stormed out of the shadows with a snarl, fangs snapping at air as though the threat would follow the man to his grave. "Kael, go find Gavin." She murmured, swinging into the stallion's saddle and knotting her hands in his mane. So much for a bridle; placing her knee against the saddlehorn to keep the reins of the other two horses in place, she let her heels fall with a sharp pressure to the beast's side. With a snort of surprise, he shot like a bolt through the open doors, the gelding and mare following closely behind to keep the pressure of their bridles clear. Shouts rang out across the small courtyard eminating from the guild across from the stables, and she recognized the captain and the man who had found her running toward her brandishing what looked to be a sword and a whip. A sharp whistle sounded from her left, and she spurred the stallion onward, narrowing in upon the pair of figures flanked by the dark grey wolf who had appeared at a dead run from the buildings. Without stopping as she passed, the reins were flung to waiting hands, and the quad made quick time in leaving the compound, heading once more for the open trail. Where would they go next? Where would she go, now that her debt of travel had been paid? Waving to the pair as she and Kael branched off, the forest swallowed them like a lover welcoming home their mate. Time to find herself, and her place in the world . . . |
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