[IC] Journey to the East

[snelss0]

Elann had never thought of animals as having mentalities as the bird seemed to display with Noah. As it came toward her, her eyes went wider but still she didn't move. If the bond had been open between Noah and Elann, he would have felt extreme caution on her part as fear overtook her. Ultimately it seemed their little bird friend didn't intend to do anything with her, just look. If it had hopped at her she might have jumped off the wagon in fear, but it seemed nice enough.

As long as it stayed on Noah, she was fine, and once it began to hop back after tweeting her name, it departed. By listening, it did almost seem like he was teaching it and encouraging the little bird to sing out something, so when he revealed her name with the pitch, she remembered it. Not only could Elann whistle very well, but she had pitch perfect hearing from singing all of her life.

She grinned to him, but he looked away to the grass. A moment later, she produced the pitch much like him in a whistle and tried to remember it. She hummed, showing interest and then slipped off the back edge of the wagon to walk behind. Her eyes trailed for Aimee and then she just walked with the wagon once having seen her. She was quiet with her hands behind her back and an occasional skip in her step. She was giving him a tiny bit of space and decided to just enjoy the air. If he tested their bond, he would feel love was still there, but she was just being quiet to herself.

Elann figured if he wanted to talk more about the bird or her whistle, he would instigate it. She just took the time to think and pray to her God in that time, asking him about faithfulness and if what she was doing was being faithful still to Noah. Elann cared a lot about her promises, and so the promise to remain with him was the most serious bond she had ever forged. It was destroying her to separate herself from him after their big fight, but it seemed like everything she did annoyed him to some degree or was not received as well as it could. She just took the time to check her heart and to make sure that she was still deeply in love with him, it was just hard because she didn't want a relationship just like her own parents who rarely spoke to each other, who enjoyed spending the days and evenings alone and then spent only a short time in each others presence. She wanted more, but that wasn't happening. Her only desire was that by giving him space, at some point he would show how much he wanted her near him.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah’s ears opened to Elann producing the similar pitch, repeating her name in his bird-speak. It wasn’t until she slid from the wagon down onto the ground did he look at her though. Elann was quietly walking behind the wagon, her hands behind her back as she subtly skipped from time to time. There was a lull that he liked, and though he couldn’t tell what she was thinking, he could see the gears turning in her head. It was a quiet he appreciated. What little wind there was in the overcast sky was moodless in its blow, nothing discernable to be gleaned from them.

In the past few days Elann’s quietness had been relaxing to the Kelvic. Whether she knew it or not, she was entirely too intense sometimes. Lately it had been at a new level of intensity, their bond having no rest except for when they were sleeping. He wasn’t a creature like that though, and it was where they seemingly conflicted. She wanted conversation, constant stimulation; he wanted to live in quiet existence, able to come and go with a piquing interest that could wane just as quickly as it came. His end of the bond couldn’t take the flooding emotions she could pour out into it. She was hardly calm for long, to him, whereas he was seemingly floating in tranquility consistently. Any calm that she exuded onto the bond was quickly banished when she felt a surging emotion that instantly travelled its way to him. It was, without a doubt, jarring.

That wasn’t to say he couldn’t be sensationally heightened himself. The differences were it was difficult to get him to those states. A fester middle-ground of emotional rarely happened, and when it did it was onerous for him to deal with. Plainly speaking, his emotions were softly felt until they weren’t: he could be happy, but his happy would be a quiet hum of soft joy; he could be angry, but his anger was torrential, explosive, and relentless. Obviously, he preferred the former over the latter as the latter could be entirely too exhausting to the lightweight who was kindly-minded by default. Want all Elann could, more was an immense request.

As if roosting, Noah watched the world around Elann before watching the Benshira herself. It might’ve been a familiar sight, his silent and rarely blinking stare, to her. Noah rest his head against the wagon’s frame to his left, eyes slowly going over Elann and her physique, taking in her hair and how it moved in a similar way to the garments she was wearing; her eyes, which were deep like sapphires; and her walking skip. Unspeaking, he watched on.

[snelss0]

Every time Elann seemed to skip, a small silent chuckle came from the driver behind her. It was nice to see her seemingly not depressed and in the back of the wagon. Something had changed and he didn't know what it was. Even Noah seemed to be admiring his bride with deep set eyes, though to the driver behind, it was not normal for him to do so.

Elann decided that as he continued to silently watch her, she would do what she could to entertain him. She was joyous, having an internal happiness that just wouldn't quit despite the situation; even if that situation was one where he didn't seem to want to talk to her. As she began though, his eyes were set on her. She didn't return the gaze, only seeing it in her peripheral view. Instead she acted innocently unaware of it as she began to skip a little more.

With a hop, she jumped over a divot in the ground that the wagon had avoided and then spun into a little twirl afterward, then kept on walking like it was nothing. It was clear she had slowly but surely been practicing dance since she was able to do it significantly with more balance.

His wife continued that way for a little while and then, as if seeing something, she jogged out of sight ahead of the wagon and off to the side for some reason. There in a meadow before her were a bunch of white flowers with little yellow centers to them. She plucked one and put it into her hair and then return to his sight to skip behind.

She then revealed in her hand she had another flower and she began to twirl it in her fingers as she walked and watched it. Elann would continue like that for a while, but eventually she would know it was time for Noah's medicine and would climb inside to give him a drink of the tea.

He had not really responded openly to her care thus far and so she just held out the glass to him with eyes that spoke for him to take it and she secretly bit the inside of her lip in anxiety to see if he would, or if he would fight her on it.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah looked at Elann with a face unchanging, though his eyes shifted to her movements and took in her ever-moving frame. He watched her hop over the dip and land, her frame seemingly flowing back into its walk. She then ran, jogging up past the wagon and out of Noah’s vision. Curiously, he stayed watching and waiting for her return, and when she did, she had a flower in her hair. It was easily picked up by his keen sight, yet aside from the distraction his gaze went back to her and her movements. Despite his looking, where she once would’ve looked at him in reply, feeling his eyes upon her, she behaved as if she didn’t notice in the slightest. It was then that he took his eyes off her and looked to the driver of the wagon behind them. Their eyes met, and though the man blinked, the Kelvic didn’t. In fact, his face hardened slightly enough to be noted as a glare by the man in the deadlock. Having gotten his point across, Noah relaxed again to quietly roost, his eyes going back to Elann as she walked, twirling a flower in her fingers.

Noah didn’t know how much time passed since Elann started walking, but she stopped and ventured back towards him and the wagon, clambering in to walk towards the front of it. Noah didn’t follow her this time, instead looking to the driver behind them again with a passive face, much softer than the first time their eyes met. Slowly, the Kelvic turned into the wagon, keeping his left side facing the outside and resting his back, very delicately, onto the wagon’s frame. His eyes skimmed the wagon’s interior and noted his sister lying on the other side of it huddled in his blankets, her form rising and falling to denote her heavy breaths of sleep. She had said she would be down for just a nap but it looked like it would be more than that.

Elann was in the front. He could hear the clinking of dishes before he saw what she was doing. There was a little sadness in him when it came to her filling a cup with another dosage of painkilling herbal tea. She came to him but didn’t say anything, simply raising the cup and giving him a quiet look of coaxing. He took the cup without protest with his left hand and brought it to his lips, drinking it slowly until half was gone. He didn’t want to fall asleep again. That’s all he had been doing. With a full cup he couldn’t fight off the effects of the herbs, but with a half cup he determined he could at least try. He was content to be in pain than to sleep away the day like he had been doing. He felt so lazy and lethargic all the time, and he didn’t like it, not when it wasn’t of his own motivation.

Noah set the cup down on his left side, close to the edge of the wagon but his hand was over it, palm pressed over the opening while his fingers grasped like talons along the sides. He tucked his right foot beneath the back of his left knee, licking his lips as he looked back to Elann. He looked entirely passive at that moment, though he was bored and down over his grounding, it didn’t show as well in his brows and eyes, the most expression-filled features of his face.

[snelss0]

A calm smile crept over Elann as she watched him take the glass, drink half of it and then held the rest off to the side. At some point when gathering the tea for him, she had set the other flower that was in her hands up above the other flower. It was to free up her hands. Noah didn't say anything to Elann about his intent, so she figured he would drink the rest of it. He was just digesting the bittersweet concoction.

She then hummed at him, much as she would have done in their bedroom when wanting a kiss, but a finger came up to lightly dab the medicine away from his lips. She didn't want to taste it. Once the offending concoction was gone. She gave him a romantic kiss and then pulled away.

"Not long now." She then curled a finger toward herself. "Let me look at your back."

She had seen her own hand be gashed with a cut much like what was on his, except instead of a razor sharp piece of talon digging in, it was a thick slice of searing hot metal, dull and yet in her fall was able to pierce her skin. Never before had she felt such a pain and thought her hand had fallen off. This though on his back looked quite bad. It wouldn't take long before he could be walking. Likely the next day, but it was all in how much he could tolerate for pain, as walking indeed would hurt even if he could do it.

If he let her see his back. She would nod and let him sit back.

"I'll go let the doctor know. I will be back in a little. I have to check on some things, but if you need me love, just open the bond and I'll know okay?"

She would then hop out the back carefully, being cautious not to hit his body or jostle it, and being silent for Aimee's sake. If he didn't protest, she would go to tell the doctor on his condition, and after that, would head to check on some kids she was going to watch to give the parents some free time to themselves. It wasn't what she wanted to do though. She wanted to be close to him. It was hard not to feel like she was abandoning him, but everything she had been feeling was confirmed by him never asking for her to stay. Her husband wanted some space from her. She knew that didn't mean that he wanted her to completely ignore him, so she showed him her love before she left in hopes to repair whatever she had said that had hurt him so badly. She tried to recall all of her failings and use them as lessons for changing, but it was hard to remember everything he had said to her. She just hoped it was enough then to please him.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah saw the small smile on Elann’s face as his eyes came to her again, refocusing. She hummed her telltale hum and went to lean in, stopping to bring up a finger to rid the remnants of the medicine his tongue may have missed when he licked his lips. She came in full then, pressing her lips to his before he reacted in kind to let her savor her romantic kiss before pulling back. His head came back to rest against the frame of the wagon as it rumbled beneath him. Her words came to which he nodded to, turning again to let his legs hang out of the wagon so that she could see his back.

After her moment, he moved to sit back again, swinging his legs back up and into the wagon to sit with them slightly spread apart as his back and head slowly reeled to land gingerly on the wooden frame again. She was going to let Emery know something and said she would be back in a little while, she needed to check on some things. She told him to open his end of the bond if he needed her. “Okay,” he said softly in reply, watching as she began to slip away from him.

Noah did open his mouth to protest her leaving. He enjoyed the quiet interaction, the kiss, and the quiet care she was giving him. Yet, he stopped himself from speaking as her feet landed on the ground just outside. He felt as if the quiet wouldn’t last if she stayed, even if he did want her to. So he shushed and settled back onto the frame, listening as her footsteps sounded into dullness and then a hushed whisper.

Emery came with his little girl, Alena, and checked in on Noah. Emery gave Noah’s wounds an examination while Alena showed him her dolls, giving Noah one to play with. She kept her movements slow so that he could keep up. At first he was just waving the doll along with her, but upon observing her pitched voice to pretend she was the doll, Noah did the same for the other. They engaged in a small play session while Emery put a topical ointment on the injury. He said it would dull some of the pain and promote healing. Later, when Noah was healed more, Emery said he would put another cream on to ward off heavy scarring. While Noah didn’t particularly care about that, he assumed the doctor had many patients who did. Quietly, Noah accepted, waiting to be bound up in a new set of bandages that would be taken off in the evening. Before departing, he gave Noah a poultice to drink, setting the vial back into his medicine bag when it was empty. After that, Alena and Emery departed.

Noah felt as if he could fight through the drowsiness that came as a side-effect of the herbal tea, and he could, yet there was nothing to stay awake for. He had only drunk half of it, the cup was sat on the bench opposite of Aimee and him. He lied down on the bench over Aimee and fell into a shallow sleep, waking up when Elann returned if she did at all.

[snelss0]

Elann would be gone for most of the day. Whatever feeling that trickled through her bond with Noah seemed to dull, and upon that point, she went to check on him and found him sleeping. She did not enter the wagon, but instead let him lay there. Elann went to check on the bear pelt and spoke with Jennen who was busy tanning it for her. He said for the most part it was a perfect pelt. He didn't understand how the arrow was able to pierce the skull like it had, but Elann played it off as just a blessing from above. It had been a few days and he was nearly done with prepping it. It hung there dried out and scraped already and had become hard as a rock. Evidently by talking to her, he figured she could use it as a blanket for the trip, and if later she wanted some kind of a fur insulated clothing, it could be cut up for that later.

Giving him a little nod, she agreed and asked him how much it would cost her. He told her it was free, that it was keeping him occupied, but she rejected it. She didn't feel right for him doing his work for free.

"I will make you a rug in trade for it."

"Alright, I mean if you are sure."

"Mhmm. Any specific colors you want?"

"No, not really. Just whatever you feel like making. I'm not picky. Maybe something that is a bit rougher. I tend to get a lot of dirt in my places I work so...can you make something like that?"

"Oh sure. That's even easier."

Having their business agreed, she would silently head back later in the day to the wagon and would crawl in as silently as possible. Eventually she would sneak out her materials and by the time it was evening, she would be found there when his medicine faded and in her hands was a half done up rug.

[Illumin0sity]

The longer Elann stayed away, the deeper Noah fell into what was supposed to be a light sleep. The poultice given to him seemingly amplified the effects of the herbal tea, even though he had drunk only half, and pulled the Kelvic away from consciousness with each passing moment. Noah was hardly comfortable when he first lied down on the bench, but it didn’t seem to matter as he was going further away from the buzzing of the world outside of him. While his sleep was dreamless this time, thankfully, it was deep enough to make him ignorant to the world around him and Elann’s sneaking into the caravan. One would’ve thought Aimee took the same poultice because she was asleep in much the same way.

Eventually, Noah did stir, his mind telling his body that he was supposed to be waiting for Elann to return. His lids cracked to the newly dim light as afternoon turned into evening. The temperature had dropped as the sun waned, yet the overcast persisted on, turning from pale grey to a mixture of faint oranges and pinks as Syna began to fall away. Shirtless, the Kelvic’s skin was decorated with goosebumps, the only indication that he was outwardly cold. The bandages on wrapped around his torso kept those parts minutely warmer than the rest of him, but it was something.

He took a sleepy breath, opening his eyes further to the wagon’s interior. He could see Elann’s frame out of the corner of his slitted eyes, but could also see something that wasn’t entirely familiar. He stirred all the more, using his left arm to push himself up to sit on the bench, his feet coming down to the floor as he righted himself. He fought the urge to stretch dramatically, but the stretch that did come was tight and still pained him. Noah had no choice but to grunt and whine at the pain that came from a process he couldn’t stop entirely. Still, in the end, it felt good and hurtful at the same time.

His hand came up to wipe at his eyes, blinking thereafter to focus them on the room and Elann and what appeared to be a rug she was working on. At his feet Aimee lied. He looked down to her and the mound of blankets she seemingly encased herself in, hibernating like the bear that was slain days ago. His arms came to hug one another, hands gripping at the elbows to warm himself again. He looked to Elann, peering curiously at the rug she was forging.

“Who is that for?” he said quietly and sleep choked.

[snelss0]

It was warm when Elann had started her rug, and Noah being one with nature commonly enjoyed being nude. She figured him warm enough when she had entered the wagon, yet getting into the groove of making a handmade rug made Elann nearly forget about him, let alone notice the darkening of the skies as time had passed. When Noah finally shifted and stirred, she came to. The bond flared to life in those short moments and once again, hit her hard with pain.

There was a pause in her work as she mentally had to deal with it before he faded their bond once more. She knew how desolate it had made him and really didn't understand why he was doing it to himself. It had driven him to tears and caused a huge storm for her just closing off her bond a little before. This time he was shutting out the huge pain racking his body, but did it mean he was any less affected by the emptiness?

Once Elann cleared her head of the fading pain, she watched him wipe his eyes and how he stretched. It made her wince to see him stretch and she felt such compassion for him. Her heart burned to see him better, to see him be able to act normally. Elann had that type of heart that hated to see injustices and people in pain. While Noah got what was coming to him for entering into a foreign bird's territory, it didn't mean she liked to see him suffer. She was just glad she was there. Noah couldn't understand how happy she was to get him safely to the doctor, and if he hadn't closed off their bond, he would know how intense her concern was for him even still.

Even though Elann overwhelmed Noah quite often with the intensity of her emotions and raw feelings, she did have some control over them for his sake. He had trouble experiencing her edited emotions. She loved him so purely and deeply that to feel it would surely have driven him mad. She had always been that way since a little girl. She had grown in love with Yahal at a young age and laid her life down for his purity and faithfulness. It meant she had a good perspective of how deep love could go and it was far deeper than many felt. Often it could be mistaken for obsession or clinginess, but really she just found fascination in Noah as her husband and didn't want to be without him.

Noah's curious eyes trailed over her and down to the rug. His voice, sleep-choked and more deep than normal, asked her who the rug was for. In a quiet voice, she answered.

"The tanner. He harvested the bear skin for us and has been drying it out to turn into a blanket. He did it for free, but I told him I wanted to trade a rug for it as a thank you."

Her eyes trailed over him and she perceived that he was cold. Since Aimee was in all the blankets on the floor, Elann moved to sit next to Noah on his good side and provided him close and warm comfort. He had after all done so for her many many times. She would even let the rug lay on his legs if he let her as she tied her knots. Though she moved, though she talked, her hands never stopped their rapid fire tying.

"We are probably going to stop soon. Did you want to walk around camp and maybe sleep in the tent for a change tonight?"

The wagon was hard wood, and Elann's beds in the tents were like soft air; cushioned beyond what was thought possible by stacking rugs and pillows a certain way. It was warmer and was closer to the earth.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah hummed in acknowledgement to Elann and her explanation on who the rug was for. His curiosity sated, he looked out of the back of the wagon and noted the horses drawing the wagon behind them. His eyes trailed up to the driver who appeared to be partly distant in another realm of mind. Coming back into the wagon, his eyes went for Elann as she rose with her project, coming towards him to sit on his left side. He watched her fingers and their fast movements, silently fascinated by the actions even though they seemed to repeat after a moment of observation.

“No,” Noah said in reply to her question. “I just want to lie down and eat.” He looked from her hands to her face briefly. “I’m hungry.” His voice was still sleep choked but the plainness of his statements persisted through it.

“Are you getting another blanket?” he asked, looking back to her hands. In the next breath his eyes were drifting elsewhere around the wagon. Aimee lied down at their feet, probably very warm, while Noah still warmed up from his sleep. He would warm soon enough, he knew, but since he wasn’t moving it would take longer.

A quiet wind whistled into the back of the wagon directly, curling around inside before being dispelled. Despite the wind, Noah didn’t cower in his cold, partially because Elann was beside him with the rug, but also because he was listening to the words upon the breaths of air. He turned to Elann, scratching at the bottom of his chin.

“It’s going to rain,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’ll start when the tents are up.”

Noah scratched at the side of his arm after that, turning his head to face front again as he scooted up onto the bench all the more. Scooted, he brought his legs up and crossed them without using his hands, shimmying a little back in forth to make sure they were tucked properly and comfortably. On the ground, Aimee twitched and stirred, moaning as she rolled onto her back in the blankets. Her hands slid out over her head as she stretched and yawned with closed eyes, opening them slowly to blink at her surroundings. Her large light eyes found the Benshira and her brother on her flank.

“Good morning,” the wolf said, scratching at her scalp.

“Evening,” Noah corrected quietly in Fratava, looking down at his sister. “You said you were going to nap, not die.”

“Did I?” Aimee replied in Common, feigning ignorance. “I’m sorry, I was just too tired, I guess.”

“Worry not,” Noah replied kindly.

Aimee looked to Elann at her brother’s side and waved to her with one of her outstretched hands before they slid back beneath the blankets she was under. Looking to Noah, she communicated silently with a passive look.

“Not yet,” he replied. “We’re stopping soon.”

Aimee nodded, rolling back onto her stomach to pull the blankets over her head. “Wake me up when we get there,” she said, the lump of her body fidgeting until a comfortable position was found.

[snelss0]

Elann nodded to his request for food. She figured he would be hungry. He had slept through lunch and it was moments away from being dinner. They were likely just going until they came to a familiar resting spot. His words sounded so sad to her; not in tone, but just how he wanted to move on to the next day. One day closer to his freedom.

She took in a deep breath and said, "Is there anything special I can make you that you want?" She had made many recipes over the past months and he had seemed to like some more than others, but she was sure that he just wanted something to stuff his gullet.

"Yeah," she answered. "This one is a bit thicker, so I'll likely only use it on really cold nights or he suggested that if I can't use it as a blanket, to bring it to a tanner and he could line some clothing for us." She shrugged, showing it was all up in the air. "I like your blanket you got for me though, it's much prettier and softer than a bear."

She looked out the back toward what he was looking at, but he was just scanning it seemed. As she looked back to him, she too felt the wind swirl in, but didn't understand what he did from it. Curiously she looked to him as he stated it was going to rain and she had to trust him. It was nice to not have a storm blow through that was of her causing. It brought a steady relief to her.

"I'll just stay here with you then."

She didn't want to set up the tent just to have it get everything wet. Granted no water would get in the tent, but it wouldn't exactly make packing it enjoyable. She instead decided to stay in the wagon with her husband and sister, sleeping on the floor.

Aimee finally woke up, speaking in Fravata as she did to Noah. Elann couldn't help but laugh as she actually understood completely what Noah had said, but drew silent shortly after as if it had been involuntarily released. She let the two continue on and she found it harder and harder to continue her project with a lantern.

Elann decided it was best to give up on her project for the night and instead waited with Noah for the stopping of the wagons. Once they were off the road, Elann woke Aimee gently. People began to set up for dinner and went about completing their tents. Elann instead went straight to cooking food for Noah. She didn't waste any time and wanted to make sure he had food to eat, and that she was back inside the wagon before the rain began to fall. It was amazing to see his prediction come true, if you could even call it that.

"There's the rain," she muttered to herself in Fravata as she let Noah eat the food for himself. She had a small portion herself and fed him what she didn't want to finish. There was a plate for Aimee as well if she wanted it, but if not, it'd go to Noah.

[Illumin0sity]

“Not really,” Noah said uncaringly. “Whatever you choose is fine.”

Elann told him about the blanket, saying it would be for cold nights. He assumed she meant while they were camping because by the time they got to Zeltiva, the heat would begin to rise and the sun would begin to beam and it would become increasingly humid. As it were now, Zeltiva was being graced by brisk salty winds or cool ones blowing down from the mountains at Zeltiva’s rear. He hummed at her saying she liked his blanket more though. “I’m glad,” he said quietly, looking to Aimee again.

The tent was retracted after he said it would rain and he was sad to hear it. He would’ve liked to be in the rain, regardless of the tent’s soaking. On the matter though, he remained quiet letting Elann retract the topic. They would sleep on the wagon’s floor again in the blankets disappointingly. “Okay,” was all he said in reply.

If there was nothing else said he would rest quietly in his cross-legged position, thoughts idly wandering around until the caravan was pulled off to the side of the road to start the evening’s camping set up. Elann left the tent with Aimee as she woke up and Aimee went off into the woods, returning several moments later before the rain began. She had eaten already when Elann came back with the food and so, her portion would be given to Noah.

Before Elann returned Noah positioned himself at the edge of the wagon, sitting cross-legged awaiting the rain. This wasn’t a storm as much as it was a downpour, Zulrav’s lightning and thunder entirely void of the skies. All that was were the god’s sweeping winds that battered the wagons with pelting rain, and Noah too since he sat at the mouth of the wagon’s back. It didn’t bother him that he was getting wet whenever a wind blew towards him, he was perfectly content feeling the wind and falling water on his skin. It was a feeling he was thankful to feel after so many others seemed to be devoid of him. He was quietly joyful, not soaringly happy. He wouldn’t dance in the rain as much as he would silently revel in the downpour’s presence.

He ate where he sat, retreating some small ways in to keep rain out of the two dishes he ate. He ate them slowly, watching the rain as it was a captivating thing. He turned to Elann, wherever she was, and motioned towards the front of the wagon. “Can I have a stormgem, please? A small one.”

[snelss0]

Elann had no idea Noah had wanted to stay in the tent. His lacking communication on what he wanted made Elann think that he meant no to both things. He said okay instead of asking to sleep there, likely due to his unwillingness to fight on anything, so Elann was none the wiser and went about her business.

Aimee had gone off into the woods to go hunting and by the time she had finished cooking and the rain began to fall, she was coming back. Elann followed her to the wagon and upon her entry and eventual changed, she found out she had already eaten. Noah got two plates full of the bear meat, though it had been seasoned and added to with fat to make it extra tasty for him. Elann, through her compassion, felt he needed something to pick him up, and a good home cooked meal like she normally would make in Syliras hopefully could do that.

She sat apart from him on the bench near the front of the wagon, her legs stretched out as she leaned back against the wood of the driver's chair. She ate nice and slowly by herself and let Noah enjoy the rain. The feeling within her, normally hating the rain, had almost grown to an enjoyment of it. In her homeland it would have put the whole camp in an uproar and each of them would fight to get to high ground with all of their animals as the valleys would flash flood and carry away anything not on dunes. Here, nothing of the sort was happening and she was finally at peace with it. In her heart she even wished Zulrav would come and increase the storm for Noah's sake, to entertain him and lift him up. Such were her silent prayers, though she didn't know if the God ever listened to her.

Zulrav seemed to care for her well being only because she was the wife of Noah, but would he hear her? Would he care? She could sense the silence of her husband over the past couple days and his depressed attitude, even if it was not easily obvious. She knew she couldn't do anything for him to cheer him up, so hopefully Zulrav could. It would speak volumes to her if he did hear and come. Such were her thoughts as she ate in silence.

Noah then asked her for a Stormgem, to which he was met with a smile from the dim shaded Benshira. She set her plate down and quickly recovered one for him. The bag was easy to get to as it was still on the top from the last time he had messed with them. She didn't give him the smallest stone - her stone - but she did give him one just about as small in size and then returned to her spot to watch him curiously.

[Illumin0sity]

Aimee rested in her feral form on the bench, head down atop her paws as she laid, looking out of the back of the wagon where her brother sat, his frame slightly wet and his hair wind-whipped. Being from Zeltiva, and having two of her family members being particularly fond of rain and storms, made her at ease as well. The sounds of the rain plopping down outside were enhanced to her ears, and the winds whistling was sharper still to her senses. The aroma the heavy clouds kept in the air lingered all the more in her nose, and the wetness of Noah’s skin tickled her snout all the more.

Noah waited for Elann to grab one of the gems for him. When she came to him, handing the gem to him, he set his dish aside and looked to the gem as it glowed in his palm. “Thank you,” he said in a whisper, turning his attention to the weather outside.

He extended his hand out into the weather tentatively, bearing through pain as it came slowly, the gem in his flat palm. The water came down on it to no outward effect. Disappointedly, Noah urged it to do something, and it seemed his will was enough to spark a change. The spark was literal, the lightning infused in the gem crackling out along the surface to dance along his palm’s sensitive skin. Unlike last time, the feeling was only a tingle and tickling, nothing violently shocking as before that seemed to burn his fingertips.

He leaned forward still and grasped at the stone, pointing it towards the sky as the light static crept out of the stone and enveloped his hand. Like the finch earlier, it traveled over his wrist and started to snail down his forearm. Noah wasn’t afraid of the static though, willing it to do more to see just how far it would go. He squeezed the stone in his palm, pressing more of the erratic static out apparently. Then, he pressed his arm out a little more, gritting against the pain of the motion. With that, the stone showed a whitely hot glow before discharging with a sliver of lightning which shot past the treetops, singeing the leaves and branches, and traveled to the sky.

Upon impact, the lightning disappeared and a second later the clouds rolled with the static that was on Noah’s hand still. He pulled back some as he watched the display. The lightning stayed in the clouds but rolled underneath the cover to be visible to the Kelvic’s perceptive eye, and all those whose eyes weren’t as keen. He creased his brow in some determination as all the lightning did was crackle in roll. Again, he extended his hand out and shot the lightning forward from the gem once more, sending anther slivering bolt to the sky. It impacted near the same spot and sent another wave of lightning rolling through the clouds.

Noah loosened his grip on the stone yet the static remained, tickling and licking at his skin as if it was a friendly fire. He kept his eyes trained on the sky, waiting for a deeper reaction. He got one as the sky clapped suddenly in piquing anger. He had brought thunder to the sky, and he was almost elated. The deepest emotion in him though was wonderment and his eyes were large as he looked on still. He observed the lightning roll underneath and within the clouds and felt the rumbling thunder as the sky growled down at them.

Aimee took an interest, hopping from the bench onto her stilted legs to hurriedly make her way to sit beside Noah. She slid to her haunches, looking up at the sky as the magic was worked. Because of the lightning source so close to her being, her fur was tugged in the direction of the static emitting stone. She didn’t mind; what was happening in the sky was several times more concerning and intriguing.

Noah managed to turn a rainstorm into a mild thunderstorm. The rain didn’t lessen, but the skies were angered and fueled with the storm encased within the gem. Some power released, the stone’s emitting static lessened, as did the white hot glow that fought to be freed from Noah’s tightly closed fingers.

The Warden pulled back into the tent. The more he loosened the stone, the lesser the divine magic became until it was no more. All that remained was the now faint glow of the stone as it shimmered with rain water. Satisfied, the Kelvic was an audience to his work, looking to the skies as he seemingly did what he believed only Zulrav could do.

[snelss0]

It was nice to see that Noah was not giving up on the gems, and whatever inspiration was in him at the moment was different than his depressed attitude the past couple days. She watched quietly from where she was sitting and slowly picked up the meat with her fingers off her small plate of food. Noah had not even seemed to care about the loving affection she poured into the food for him. He was too distracted by the rain and instead just wanted to focus on his gems. Perhaps he had a concept in mind. Elann just rested back and stuck the cut chunks of meat in her mouth and waited patiently.

It seemed her sister watched him too. Every time Noah seemed to strain in pain, Elann felt horribly for him; pouting in sadness and compassion. She would have spoken out against the frightening action of ripping his stitches, except something was happening, something strange. Her hair was already frizzy from the rain, feeling heavier than normal as moisture stored in its depths, but then it began to stand and pull as electricity hummed in the air. It was a subtle difference, nothing as pronounced as Aimee could feel, but Elann noticed it.

When the thinned lightning bolt shot out, she dropped the piece of meat in her hand and could hear an electric hum. She had never heard the sound before, but could tell it was a very electric sound. There was no thunder clap, but instead was over and done with in a flash. Those outside in the camp who were not huddled in their tent's either figured it for distant lightning, the frequent transformations of the Kelvic's or that a tiny lightning bolt had struck somewhere close by, but when no thunder was heard, they shrugged it off. Elann and Aimee however had a front row seat to the strangeness of what had just happened.

Now the storm clouds above seemed to thunder and lightning with tiny affect, just like the stone itself was small. It made her fear the larger of the stones in the bag. Noah pulled back inside and she came to him and bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so proud of you."

She knew how long he had been trying to figure them out, and to her, it meant a lot more than Aimee perhaps could understand. Noah and Elann had both experienced their deity, more than once, and to find out something deep and powerful like Noah just did, meant a great deal; especially since it had taken so long. She then pulled back, and if he wanted her to put the stone away she would, but then she quietly returned to her corner in the front of the wagon to finish her meal.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah was entirely captivated by his work, so much so that he didn’t feel Elann coming to him until she was there, pressing her lips upon his cheek and saying she was proud of him. He turned his head to say something to her in reply, to thank her and share his quiet happiness, but she was already pulling away to retake her corner in the wagon. Noah closed his mouth and turned back to face the newly broiling storm. He wondered how long it would last; this was another test of the stormgems, only one of the probably numerous secrets worked out at this point. He had willed the gem to fire but wasn’t sure if the rain was the causation for the effect or if it was him, and him alone, which caused the firing.

Noah’s wet hand came to his cheek to rub at where Elann had kissed. His hand was slightly chilled, the cool rain slowly robbing him of the heat he was so accustomed to producing. He tucked the stormgem behind his back so it didn’t roll out of the wagon, then his hands came to clasp one another, resting in the hole of his lap, as he looked outside. It was growing darker still and soon only the rolling and intermittent lightning was lighting the skies briefly, flashing to illuminate Noah’s face and dripping frame. It did the same for Aimee who remained by his side, watching the storm with the front of her muzzle beginning to drip with the rain water.

After several more chimes Aimee turned away to retake her position on the bench, hopping onto it with her stilted stride breaking into a quick jump. Noah remained where he was for two bells more, hardly flinching or moving as the storm rolled over the area in its slow pace. To his observant surprise the lightning and thunder continued on in its small degree, the storm fueled enough to last until the rain finally lightened and stopped coming down altogether.

When the show was over it was overly dark just outside the wagon and the smell of rain wafted about the entrance, furling into the wagon past Noah every now and again. Noah sat for a few chimes more, watching the lingering bouts of thunder as they came to flash in the clouds. The winds were sweeping the system away though, and the tail end of the clouds could be clearly seen in the sky.

Noah pushed up to sit, raising entirely from his cross-legged position with only his legs, untwisting them slowly as he worked to keep himself from jostling much in the movement. He turned just as slowly then crept towards the front of the wagon, the stormgem used to fuel the storm clutched dully in his hand. He moved towards the chests and worked painfully slow to get the gem back into the sack with the rest of them. He managed to do so and bear through the pain of the motions for the sake of being independent in the action. When that was done he reached further into the chest, moving to his tiptoes so he wouldn’t have to stretch his arms entirely, and plucked one of his shirts out. He had worn shorts that day, but now they were wet and sticking to his lower body in the front and there was a clear stain of wetness outlining his behind as well.

Noah fell back to the heels of his feet and brought the shirt up to his face, wiping the wetness from it, then slowly rubbing the fabric over his chest to bid the flesh of water as well. The shirt was placed over the edge of the open chest as his attention shifted to his wet shorts. He brought his hands down to pull at the tie holding the shorts around his waist. Thankfully it was a simple pull, otherwise he didn’t think he could’ve taken the wet things off by himself. That would’ve been embarrassing to him. Even though the waistband folded down, newly loosened, the shorts still stuck to his thighs and behind. Seeing as his legs were unafflicted, he carefully worked them down by shifting his weight and gently shaking his legs until they fell all the way down to his ankles.

Finally done, and newly nude, he took a breath as he recovered from the meticulous ordeal. His wounds had a fresh ache to them but he felt good on the inside having done as much by himself. He basked in the small victory, turning slowly to view the rest of the wagon again. He spotted his set-aside dish near the wagon’s entrance and figured he would go to it and finish eating, even though the rain had stopped. Noah walked carefully still, expertly sliding back into a cross-legged position to retake his dish.

[snelss0]

It was extremely comforting for Elann to rest in the sound of the rain and it seemed to want to lull her to sleep. Only her interest in watching Noah spurned her on. By the time the storm had ceased and Aimee went back to laying down, Elann stood to wrap one of the blankets around her so that she was nice and toasty warm if she wanted. They had plenty of blankets, and while her fur seemed to keep her warm, most animals she had known enjoyed being extra warm. It was just a sign of affection since she had seen hardly anything of her since the fight.

Elann then sat back down and waited for the storm to end. Most people were in their tents by that time, having finished their preparations and not desiring to be wet any longer. In a way, despite a few others, they were the only ones still outside. With loving eyes she watched the rain lightly patter down behind the frame of her husband and it warmed her to think of him. When he pushed to sit up, her eyes trailed to him and watched as he slowly moved forward next to her where the chest rested and her eyes quietly watched what he was doing.

As he began to go about pulling out a shirt to wipe his wetness away, Elann settled in a quiet state of watching him. His physique had grown considerably given his fighting and weight training from the man she had first met. That man she hoped to see again sometime in the future, but for now, she knew their verbal fighting had hurt him, she just didn't realize how much. Standing there in his true human form, devoid of the garments that falsely made him seem more man-like, he seemed to appeal to her compassion. That was who he was.

Any attempts Elann had made to change him had come crashing in on her and she didn't know what it would look like if she began embracing him as the man he was instead of the man she wished him to be. He sat there in silence, enjoying her food by himself on the far side of the wagon from her and she had had enough of it. Given most people were gone from sight, and Aimee settled down. Elann silently stood, unbuttoned her dress, and pulled it off. Stripping out of her underwear and breast band were hard on her given the wagon flaps were open, but she wanted to relate somehow to him.

Naked and bare as the day she was born, she came up beside him and lowered herself just as he did and looked out at the darkened nature around them. The moon had shone down on the valley they were in and seemed to make her creamy skin a dusty grey. She played her hair forward and looked lovingly toward him. She sat there until he was done with his food, and then when the plate was set aside, a hand outstretched to rest between them for him to take if he so wished. It was cold, as revealed by the many bumps and risings on her body, but she didn't seem to care in the moment, only wanting to share a quiet moment with her husband, her real husband.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah was enjoying his meal in silence, recovering from the strain on both his mental and physical capabilities given he was still wounded. Even now, his movements were restricted as he slowly brought each chunk of meat to his mouth. The clouds continued to move onward and it was becoming hard to see them as they passed overhead. They were headed in the way of Zeltiva, he thought, having come in from Syliras and the ocean the castle city sat on. The cloud cover fell away to reveal the tranquil and shining night as the moon, Leth, shone down on the world. The stars twinkled beside the spherical nightlight, aiding in the twilight glimmer that overtook the world in its silence after the storm.

Noah heard Elann moving behind him, figuring it was her since his sister looked as if she would be fast asleep soon. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder, and spotted Elann draping Aimee’s furry form in a blanket, something that the wolf probably drew deep comfort from because she would remain warm. Noah looked forward again after that, noting Elann going towards the front of the wagon. In the next moment, as he ate, he felt her presence come up to his side. He turned to look at her, scanning over her nude body with whispering quizzicality. He would’ve pointed out the obvious but his mouth was full as he was chewing.

She didn’t say anything, simply showing him a look after pushing her hair forward. Noah looked out of the wagon again, placing the last few pieces of meat into his mouth in time with his fingers. His mind quietly reeled in consideration for Elann’s bare actions and exposed showing. It didn’t mind him, but he had assumed it bothered her very much. They were visible out of the back of the wagon, and though no one was wandering around the camp, someone could decide they needed to walk around at any moment. What if they were particularly nosy, he thought. Would Elann be bothered? She seemed to hardly be able to stand being naked in the hotsprings of Syliras even though everyone around her lacked clothing to either an extreme or approaching an extreme degree.

Noah looked down onto his plate when his fingers seemed to grasp air and not the meat he was expecting. It was gone and he was finished. All that remained were the sauces the meal had produced, mixed with the small amount of rainwater that managed to get into the dish. Given there was some room in front of him between himself and the edge of the wagon, he leaned forward unhurriedly and set the plate down, listening to it lightly sound as smoothed wood hit the plank of the wagon’s floor. He licked his fingers afterwards, turning to look at Elann again in the moonlight.

He brought his hand down to rest over hers, the chill of the back of her hand shocking his palm. Noah was serenely appreciative of her efforts, understanding it was taxing on her to be bare there with him. She might’ve thought herself exposed though, whereas he didn’t, for both him and her. He couldn’t understand entirely why most of society seemed to shun the embracing of themselves. He was, in a way, thankful for Elann’s actions, just silently so.

Noah looked at the moon, recalling the small saying he had told Elann, the Fratava expression of love for calling their lover their moon in comparison to Syna and Leth, two gods in love. In the thought, his resting hand shifted more into a grasping hold.

[snelss0]

There were times when Noah could just stare at his sister and communicate something to her without even saying anything. As her husband took her hand, at first lightly, she was comforted, and it sent chills up her back, but as he squeezed her hand, it was that form of silent communication that spoke of his love still for her. He was now grasping her hand and to her it spoke volumes.

Her hair, being shoulder-length was hardly a comfort to warm her body, so as the cool night's breeze blew over her, she began to silently shiver and used her free arm to cover her chest. Despite her valiant effort's to be with her husband, until it was 90 degrees at night, she wouldn't likely be able to stay naked a long time with him. She was still a desert woman, and her body was not like his. Her people seemed like humans, but were tied more to the desert than Noah knew.

The warmth she stole from him in his hand seemed to bring her enough to get by for the moment, but she really just wanted to be wrapped in his arms underneath a blanket, a warm blanket. Her eyes followed his to the moon and she rapidly looked back to him, having seen what he was looking at.

"My moon," she said in Fravata to him and she set her eyes upon his. There was a natural beauty about the desert rose before him. Something unique about her in the night's moon. It was not only that she seemed ashen grey in her skin's appearance, but her eyes still seemed to have that brilliance to them and seemed to almost be a sapphire blue. They normally were an ocean bluish green, but in the moonlight they took on a different quality, one that almost seemed like a blue day's sky. He likely would have noticed them before should the moonlight have penetrated their apartment window through the buildings better, but this moon was large, clear, and unobstructed from shining on her.

A breeze swirled lightly around them, having seemed to come from nowhere and while Elann was trying to enjoy the presence of Zulrav like Noah, it froze her to death. Her shivering, silently and small before, grew larger and more prevalent, but still she looked into her husband's eyes, communicating her deep love for him. The breeze blew what little was left of the rose powder on her into the air as it shuffled through her hair, and instead of the fragrance he normally smelled of her perfumes and such, it had been steadily replaced with the perfumes of nature and the smells of the grass she had often walked or skipped in.

It was clear she was trying to be defiant of the cold she felt so that two of them could share in the moment, but she was struggling. Still her gaze was undeterred by her feelings of cold.

[Illumin0sity]

Noah looked to Elann as she spoke, saying his dear name in Fratava. He looked back to the skies and noted the stars shining in the darkness of the sky. Though she was there by his side, and though her appearance was slightly different, his eyes were on the newly calm skies. His attention, in a way, was still on her, as he was thinking about her relation to the phrase and how he had told her of it yet rarely used it himself. It didn’t mean she wasn’t his moon or world, but the most he had called her was ‘love’. Other than that, he called her almost entirely by her name.

He looked at her again, setting eye contact as hers didn’t seem to wane despite his looking away. The breeze came, moodless, as a test of Elann’s perseverance. Noah was seemingly warmed by the breezes, peering at her undisturbed as he noted her intense shivering. His own eyes seemed paler, almost palely gray, in color, yet the look was darkened as the shadows played across his face. Elann remained though her struggle was more than apparent. She figured her sensitivity to chills were because of her desert roots. The winds lost their chilling bite against him with his blessing because his god wouldn’t want to discomfort him, at times they would warm him even, levitating his mood should it be heavy. It was how Zulrav’s cursed would find no shelter from wind or rain regardless of shelter; the Warden, or blessed, swelled in the breezes. Should Noah have been more emotive, then his mood would’ve been easier to read. Since he wasn’t, his face remained passive, his thoughts quiet.

Noah raised his hand, releasing hers, and moved his fingers to rub the backs down her goosepimpled skin. He smiled softly, mirthfully, as he pulled his hand back. His own skin was void of the telltale bumps of chill, but his skin wasn’t as warm as he usually was. The rain had sapped his heat, much like Elann; it hadn’t been replaced yet.

“Here,” he said quietly, turning his hand to grip at her arm lightly, pulling her towards him to settle between his legs as they opened to accommodate her. He was careful, and knew she would be careful about his wound. Each of his movements held the consequence but he did not whine, bearing through it as he had been, just careful enough to not break any of his stitches.

When she was in his lap, his front pressed to her back, his arms came down to hold her lightly around her midsection. It was an action whose purpose was to provide warmth to Elann’s cold skin, to strip discomfort from his bondmate.