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Journey to the East

"Okay," she voice softly. She was confident on the distance to the river that he could make it, thinking it far shorter than it was in her sight of its glimmer through the woods earlier, and yet even in her misjudging of the distance, with her help it hopefully wouldn't be a problem. The road followed the river for the most part and she wished it was even closer that night, but regardless, it would be good for him if he could make it.

They embraced in love and kissed in small amount, but affectionately. Her hands coursed through his hair, but upon pulling back, she could see his puzzlement and knew he didn't understand.

"You kept saying very nice things about me. It made me want to kiss you...a lot" she explained and kissed him again a few times briefly. Elann turned her upper body to grab the deck of cards, showing her limberness, and once having it, brought it to set next to them and flipped over the top card, revealing a five. A small grunt came from her in disappointment and she glared at him.

"I guess lower," she said as she took to lightly peppering his jawline with kisses; just being affectionate.

Journey to the East

Elann could almost see the river as she was setting up her tent before the complete darkness, and even outside her tent she could hear the rush of the water. It wasn't as far as he thought, being half the distance they walked down the road that night. She just nodded though.

"I am more worried about the terrain. We'll have to be careful, but it doesn't seem so thick here...so it might be okay. If you are nervous though we don't have to. I can always fetch some water and we can give you a sponge bath here in the tent if that's better?"

Being neutral in her offering, she looked to him for the answer; completely content with whichever way he wanted to proceed.

He threatened her with loosing and she smirkingly gave him a glare in response to show she wasn't afraid. Elann, while weak, had a rebellious defiance in her, almost a competitiveness that he hadn't seen much of, but usually only came out with play.

As it was, being raised in that life of criticism, his belief of consistently complimenting her was ill founded, and only enforced her negative outlook on herself. The more he expressed his adoration of her features, the more she truly felt he thought she was beautiful. Yet as he defended her character, more than his words saying she was beautiful, it spoke that he truly did feel she was a cut above the rest, and his words were meant. He truly did believe her to be more beautiful than Syliran brides, he loved her voice, her hair, and even her more intimate features. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by love for him and couldn't take it any longer.

As he guessed lower, she rose to her hands and knees crawled over the pile of cards - not crushing them - and longed to kiss him. If welcomed, she would crawl into his lap to straddle him and sit close, wrapping her hands up into his hair as she lingered close to his lips.

"I love you Noah Amuel."

She would let him respond and then would kiss him sweetly on the lips, pressing up close to him in her attraction to his mentality and spirit.

Journey to the East

Elann was glad that he discounted her apology and seemed to feel it was alright. That caused her to smile. She understood that he wanted to protect her; it was why he was with her at all despite their fights they had been having. His ultimate failure to do so she could easily see affecting him, particularly in his weakened state, but Elann saw him still as her protector. Even in his current state, he kept her from death when the bandits attacked and completely showed his ability to fight just as great as any desert warrior for his family. It warmed her heart to think about.

"Good," she said in agreement that they could walk. Though she was still afraid inside, she felt a little better, willing to come to him with her fears and express them. He could feel where once there was terror, now there was a calm comforting buzz from her, and it was only at his words.

Noah's laughter rang out, bringing a brilliant smile to her face as she curiously longed to hear exactly why he thought it was funny. She was serious to a point, but as he explained, she too laughed.

"Yeah...to me, this is even a homeless person's tent."

Her people's tents were huge, spanning some fifty feet in some cases and filled with multiple rooms. This was just a small thing, and while Benshiran made, it was nothing like home.

He rubbed his jaw, the action making Elann think of him as more a man than a boy.

"How about tomorrow we go when the sun is up to the river before everyone gets up and get you a bath, shave you and let you get cleaned up, since we are staying up tonight anyways?"

It seemed like a good idea to her, and due to the forest being thinner here, it was not far to the river and wouldn't be as much of a challenge for him as it would have been before.

Elann was close in her guess and it was clear her mind was not the same as the divine blessing of her fortune telling or else she would have truly been able to cheat and know each card. She was currently winning and couldn't help but chuckle a little at his fake whine.

"I am, and you are going to lose," she chuckled and revealed a ten after he guessed, though his words made her hand linger a moment. In another blush, she looked down until he joked with her. She looked back up with a smile, showing she thought it was funny and took in a breath, subtly mentioning, "I like it when you tell me I'm pretty like that. I grew up being told I was not pretty, too skinny, hair like a camel's back, umm...that I have a voice like a whining dog, and small breasts, not capable of feeding a child. I've been told I'd never have children, and if I did they'd likely be too frail to live in the desert heat." She shrugged, showing it didn't bother her. "So it's nice to hear sometimes when you think I'm pretty or that I looked better than the brides of Syliras, because to me, they are really pretty."

"I guess high again."

Journey to the East

What her husband said at first didn't really lift her up, but when he confessed he too was afraid all the time, she took solace and comfort in his relating to her. She felt the same, a fear that she wouldn't be able to be with him anymore, and she felt that all the way back to camp in her arms until the doctor had told her he would make a full recovery.

"I'm sorry I pulled so hard. I've never been more afraid. The bear was so big and scary, and so close. She roared at me and I thought the vibration of the roar would stop my heart. All I could think in my mind was that you were my husband, my protector. You would help me, but she was so close...and the falcon."

"It was just a bad situation, but I don't think you made a mistake. I'm sure any other time you would have been able to fish from the river and I could have walked around that rock. The momma bear just happened to be there. I don't blame you in the least. It was just a bad situation," she reaffirmed.
"While I'm still a little afraid...I'm sure like you said, many things can happen and do happen all the time in nature, or else nothing would get killed and eaten. It has just really shaken me and I've been trying to get over it. You see...I love hunting with you. It is my favorite thing I've ever done, and I don't want to give up on it because I enjoy the fact we can do it together. I want to hunt a deer...I do...and I want to be a predator like you, but I'm just so new and well...I'm kind of nervous to try again. Do you think we could start smaller again sometime when you get feeling better? Maybe even just a walk in the woods? I think I'll feel better if we do that..."

On the subject of his dressed up costume during the wedding, she she nodded largely to him that she was attracted to him. "Silly or not, I think back to that day a lot when we are making love. It reminds me of how handsome and attractive you are, how much you loved me that you would dress up like that, and devote yourself to me legally- when I know the bond was enough for us. It meant a lot to me, and you dressed like that makes me a little crazy..." she shyly confessed, a big reddish blush coming over her face. She knew he would think of her as silly, but she really was attracted physically to him and just him playing the part of the groom at their wedding was a huge turn on to her.

"I tried to look the best I could for you that day, like the brides of Syliras. Though I think you think I'm more attractive now without anything: no makeup, no perfume, no styling...like now. I look homeless," she chuckled a little, but was curious to see what he was going to say.

He pointed out how Liam helped pick out her gift and her palm displayed it for the both of them. Her eyes lifted upon his compliment and she flared in love for him. It was seen in her face and she too licked her lips. In that moment, she really just wanted to kiss her husband, but let him speak about his sister, giving him a nod about the classes. He prodded her for the answer to the guess and she thought it would be a nine, and so guessed, "High please." Though her eyes rest upon him instead of the deck, viewing his neck, his cheeks, and the beauty of his eyes. She was not so interested in the card game, but more about; his words "brighter than you" echoing in her mind.

Journey to the East

"Mhmm...we can do that," she said concerning the deer, though there was hesitation in her. She paused as if she was going to say something important, spurred on by his invitation.

"I have been repeating in my mind over and over what happened that day you got hurt. I'm trying to be tough, but the thought of hunting again is really scaring me."

She wanted to be honest with him and didn't even really notice him flip over the card at first.

"I know you didn't see it, but Noah, I came around the corner face to face with a bear. It tried to kill me, and if it wasn't for Yahal's guidance, I would be dead. Then some lady appeared out of nowhere and..." Terror filled her bond then as she recalled her roar. "She wanted to kill me...I could see it in her eyes. I think she was a Goddess...a goddess of bears...and she sent this bear after me...as big as a house, but I think Yahal scared her away. I just keep thinking about it, and then how I couldn't help you without shooting you...I don't know if I can handle hunting right now...I'm really afraid."

She bit her lip nervously as she thought on such things and was definitely in need of comfort. She was on the verge of tears from the memory and how it all affected her. She wanted to be brave, wanted to see the world as he saw it, but it was hard. The bear goddess had such a malice in her eyes that Elann wondered if she would seek vengeance some day. Nothing Elann did was intentional however, so she hoped that her feeling sorry was noticed by the goddess.

"No! You didn't look crazy at all. You were very handsome. Don't you remember how I felt then? I was very attracted to you in those clothes." She played with the card, almost turning it over, but asking instead, "You really thought I looked pretty?"

Her other hand was playing over the mangalasutra that still hung out of her dress in a thoughtful way, a way that showed the connection between him and the gift. She caressed it as if it were him with her thumb. She knew aspects of her were beautiful in his eyes as he had said so, but she had not felt an attraction toward them, more often being mistaken for an attraction to her other qualities.

He called the card and she flipped over a three, and making a scowl face, she showed that she wished he had guessed right instead of celebrating her win and rubbing it in his face.

"Aimee was saying I should take some classes. I've never been in a classroom except at the orphanage. I wonder what it would be like?"

Journey to the East

"Mhmm...I remember. I'm used to shooting larger things like wolves, coyotes, lions and even the occasional snake, but small fast things like the hare I'm not so skilled with. I wouldn't say I'm deadly accurate with the slingshot, but really, you just have to hit them on the face or in the ribs and they will run away, particularly if they don't see where you are at. At least all the predators I've experienced will shy away when they are likely to be injured. They usually hunt the weaker or young from our herds than the rams with large horns."

She enjoyed the fact he was being more open in conversation, and whatever subtle tension was in her was slowly fading away more and more, particularly as he asked her things.

"High," she said nonchalantly, likewise segueing into her answer.

"I wouldn't say I'm very good at it. I'm still learning, but I've become quite competent at it in the recent months. I think I do it because I find it so useful more than out of enjoyment. I enjoy making clothes and dresses for myself, and I maybe one day want to make clothes for weddings, like your outfit you wore on our wedding day."

As she mentioned it, there was a very strong memory of her attraction toward him physically and he would feel that desire.

"You looked very handsome..." she mentioned with a slightly shy trailing off of her voice as she looked to see what he flipped over.

Journey to the East

As Noah flipped the card over, giggles burst forth from Elann at his laughter, which she stiffled with her hand over her mouth and brought the other one over the deck to await the guess he was to give.

"Yeah, I was still doing it as an adult. It was really scary sometimes. I've had a whole pride of lions come down from the plains far to the north to hunt our livestock. You have to be very quiet too or else they can see you and attack. A lot of times we would use some form of thorn to keep them away, but they are smart, they find ways around it. So I just would shoot them before it got to that point."

Noah's conversational habits would drive many a man or woman mad at times, but Elann had learned how he was since that day and really tried to be okay with it. He would slowly learn or he wouldn't, but she just knew herself and what made her feel comfortable, just as her words soothed him. One day he would see that.

She flipped the card, revealing a four.

"I think you cheated on that one," she playfully stated with a sly grin; though the same could be said for her unbelievable guess.

Journey to the East

Elann couldn't help but notice that she opened up about her past a bit but he didn't say anything to her about it. It had been a light conversation evening. Fairly often, Elann noticed he would be silence more than other times. She was just trying to learn who he was and instead of poking and prodding him to comment on what he thought, she just let him think on it. Part of her wished he conversed normally, but he was the man she married and she would have to get used to it. Elann just came from a very open relationship with her mother, essentially the only person she ever talked to other than customers, and since she didn't have that relationship with anyone in Syliras or with Noah, there were times she felt lonely because of it.

Now with her push to not force him into being any certain way, she was having to learn patience and to reserve herself. He offered to play cards with her at least and she nodded.

"Sure."

He went about explaining the game, and to her it seemed quite simple, like a game one would teach a child, but still fun. He finished and she nodded, showing she understood, playing along with his silence. She gave him an okay as he explained about aces and then took in a breath, considering that the numbers were more than likely on the low end, she figured it would be low. However, in her rebellion and hopes of risk/reward, she laid out the opposite guess of logic.

"I'm going to guess it's higher," she said with a defiant look, as if she had just taken a bet that would likely win her some large payday. Really it was just her being silly and she knew in all likeliness she would lose.

Journey to the East

"Hello," she was greeted with as she came back inside the tent, and her eyes found him with the deck of cards nearby and her journal in his hands. His chiming hello brought a smile to her face and she returned it.

"Hi there."

He asked if she was staying up with him and a small shrug danced upward off her shoulders as she moved to plop next to him.

"I don't know. I think for a little while. I am too awake right now to sleep, but maybe in a bit. I used to stay up all night and watch the goats when my father was gone. I would have to ward away lions, jackals, and many other predators with my slingshot...even as a little girl, so I'm used to staying up all night if we want to."

"Are we going to play cards?" she asked him happily as he toyed with the deck. "You should teach me some games you know, that your family plays maybe?"

She wasn't sure if they played cards with him, except for Aimee that is. She nestled in close to him, but if they were going to play cards, she would set herself to face him opposite with her legs crossed.

Journey to the East

The fact trees had flowers seemed to excite Elann quite a bit. She let out an excited hum at the thought and her eyes had a bit of further excitement in them as he explained the colors. In the desert, everything was drab. In Syliras as well, everything was grey, but the forests around were green. It was only in rare instances, such as when she picked the flower for her hair that she saw much color. Often in the desert, her people would wear color to defy the lack of it. The thought of trees being orange, pink, and blue- ripe with flowers, blew her mind.

"I want to go!" she buzzed excitedly.

She demanded his gaze then, bringing a hand up to his neck in a loving gesture and would communicate then a longing love for him in her heart and stare. She didn't want him staring at he fire, but instead at her. He had noticed she was cold, and wearing a shorter dress, it was even more so. While her upper body was warm, her lower body was dead-like with the cold of the grass and air.

"Mhm...You go in, I'll return these bowls."

With that, she sat up, rolled over onto her knees and hands, and in effortless energy - compared to his strained - she popped up and darted off toward the fire, all too happy to be near its warmth to hand off the bowls. Once there, she would also say goodnight to people, including Aimee should she be there, and then would head back.

Inside the tent, hanging from the center pole was the lantern and on the rug covered ground was their bed, the comfortable mess of pillows, rugs, and blankets in the form of a mattress. It had served them comfortably and probably moreso than a mattress would. She herself had her journal laid down on the bed with inkwell nearby and the deck of cards should they wish to stay up. Inside, the tent was a bit warmer than outside surprisingly. It had retained the heat of the fire, but not the cold of outside. As Elann came in, she wasn't shivering, likely to have stayed by the fire for a second to warm up while handing off the bowls. She looked for her husband and what he was doing as she closed the flap behind her.