Please," Celi said, with a sweep of one hand. "I would be most honored.
"I hope you don't mind if I am less than voluble about my personal life. Some people find elements in conflict with their beliefs, so to avoid conflict, it is safer if I remain silent.
"I can say I am much more comfortable out of doors, and all my close friends have four legs."
"Celi. . . I really do not care what you are, only who you are. They are not one and the same. By the same light, I can say I am comfortable on the back of a horse on the open plains, the wind blowing through my hair. That I go where I go, and stay there until I go somewhere else. That if you are a friend, you are always a friend until, by word or action you end that friendship. Do you understand? People have secrets. I have secrets. Very few people bare their whole soul for all to see."
He follows the pointing finger and nods approvingly. The spot seems, from here, to be a good one. Off the road, sheltered from view but close enough to reach the path quickly and to hear and react to anyone passing.
"I expect we'll be done here within the hour. Will send the others then. I may need to remain with Daxia for a time after that. I am not sure if her rite requires her to observe until the fires extinguish themselves, but we must ensure they do not spread thru a random gust of breeze, so I will remain to make sure they are out. Save me some supper, please?"
"Daxia, I uh...I do not know! There are most certainly people in the world that would disagree with what you are doing, but I am not one of them."
"The last time I spoke with Knight Kevin, he told me I would find many different peoples in the world, some Squires and Knights that have been trained to serve Lord Rames, but not in the same way that he has trained me. He bade me to watch and learn, but I think, not judge harshly those that serve differently than I am to."
The firepit has already been setup and contains a fire. A pot of water sits on a rock in the flames heating up, and Darian sits before the fire fletching an arrow. Longtooth rises at Cesare's approach, watching him carefully. Darian turns and smiles, beckoning him to join her.
She nodded to the Squire. "Your Knight Kevin sounds much like Verchovai Gilly. I... well, perhaps now is not the time to discuss the nature of the Deities, their interactions, and their desires for the people who follow them," Daxia said with a smile. "But I would certainly enjoy having such a discussion at some point."
When Mikal approached, she surveyed the site, and nodded. "Da, thank you, Mikal. Squire, if you wish to stay and say your own prayers for the Kierkegaards, I would not mind the company, but know that it is not necessary. Mikal, I assume you have your own rituals for the Jvrillians we found." She looked quietly from one to the other, then took a deep breath and sighed. "Sooner begun, sooner done... and She is about to set," she said, barely above a whisper.
Walking over to the small fire Celi had started, she found a good length of dry wood and caught the flames. Setting the pyre aflame in several spots, she stood on the east side facing Her setting. She drew her sword and held it vertically, blade pointing to the sky and hilt held two-handed at heart level... a salute to those who had perished.
As the fire caught and grew, she said quietly, "My Lady Dayala, I honor those who gave their lives to protect one of Your followers. On behalf of Dawnview Vale, I thank them for their service, their courage, their honor. If my Lady would not find it objectionable, your humble Daughter would ask that thanks be given to Lord Rames -- and Jvrill, as well -- for allowing their followers to serve the Allaine family and Your daughter Innocence." Daxia stood still and silent until the pyre was fully engulfed in flames, then reversed her sword, planted the tip in the ground and lowered herself to one knee. With one hand on each side of the guard, forehead touching the hilt, she closed her eyes.
And thus, the Watch began... and would end when the fire had burned itself out. During the Watch, Daxia would be heard humming or singing wordless chants, the melodies haunting and eerie; she would occasionally open her eyes to measure the fire's progress. Other than that, she would not move.
After getting the pyres setup to Daxia's satisfaction, Mikal goes to the locations where the fallen Jvrillians he'd been able to identify lie. As he'd worked he'd been careful to leave them exactly where they'd fallen and to make sure others who were helping move bodies to the pyres knew to leave those alone.
Now that Daxia has started the pyre and is keeping watch, he thanks Dean and Celi for their help and tells them, and Kadri and Camelia, that they can go relax at camp and help Darian with dinner and getting camp set. He will wait here with Daxia.
He then moves from Jvrillian body to Jvrillian body. He gathers up all the weapons, armour, and other martial gear lying near each body that could reasonably be considered either part of that man's equipment or that of his foes and piles it carefully atop each body. He does not move the body at all, leaving it to lie above ground or partially below, as it was found. Only covering it as completely with the weapons and armour as possible.
As Daxia chants and keep vigil for the Kierkergaard dead, he finds whatever large rocks as he can nearby. Taking them to a spot near each body he removes a small, makeshift, chisel from his pack and carves a crude series of Runes upon each rock. He is not a skilled stonemason by any means, however the runes are reasonably clear. He sets each stone in place by it's body reverently.
"I am not so sure anyone can ever separate who they are from what they are, Kadri ... at least not in the minds of the casual observer. If you see an armored Jvrillian from afar, you do not wonder if he might not secretly be a practitioner of Lady Attera's gifts. You believe what your eyes tell you, and what you have been told about Jvrillians. But a friend ... a friend will have come to know enough of what you are to be able to see the obvious as only one small component of who you are. A friend should be able to differentiate between the various elements that make up the whole of who you are, both obvious and hidden.
"The problem is, I have ... ah, never had a friend. A human friend, I mean. I get along ever so much better with the beasts of the wild. It is ... well, it's a knack. Still ... I would be willing to *learn* to be a friend. Do you have the patience to tolerate an earnest but dreadfully inexperienced student?"
She grinned, and her face lit up like a child seeing a beloved parent. "I am sure I can find something to teach you in exchange for having to tolerate me. I promise not to winkle out your secrets and then spread them about at the nearest inn. If you will promise me the same. And I will try very hard not to burden you with elements of me that might cause you trouble down the road."
"Celi. . I am not now, and never will be, a casual observer. I am who I am. What I am? That has been left behind in the wind and the long grass. A first impression is only a tentative starting point, and is subject to alteration on a whim. I do want to ask, though. . you do understand why . . . there are sometimes problems between what you are and who you are. Not everyone will discern what they think they know. . from what you actually are. Whatever that may be. You must make sure they know and concentrate on the who by hiding the what. . and all that comes with it - so that information doesn't distract them. You sometimes have to lie. . in order to allow people to see or know the truth."
She smiles.
"And now that I have likely properly confused you. . . I see perhaps a point of agreement. . I to talk to an animal and consider one almost as a soulmate - LIsica. Where I am from, a Horse is not merely a steed; They are a part of your family."
Celi stood in front of Lisica for a moment or two, murmuring gentling words as she allowed the black to get a good look. After that, she carefully extended one hand palm up and open to give her a scent, while caressing her neck with the other.
The Heartwood Sunset on the Brementown Road Hasday, The Twelfth Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623
Daxia, Mikal, Darian, Cesare, Bekkah, Celi, Kadri, Dean, Camelia and Romana
To Bekkah's words their new ward simply nodded, offering he squire a curious look for now. For the most part, she stayed silent; in the priestess shadow and only moving once everyone else does, retrieving the reins of her pale horse from whence it had been previously herded.
"She likes to run. It means that we share a desire. Have you ridden across an open plain, only the level ground below in front and behind you, and the empty sky above?"
"I prefer the long grass, when I run," Celi said. "The unity with the land and the life around you, moving silently with Sun on your shoulders, the joy of the stalk, the ... *aliveness* you feel when you make your kill cleanly and can feed yourself and your family. Your prey becomes one with Nature and with you in such moments. I always give thanks to Mother Nature for accepting me as a living part of this beautiful world, to share such perfect moments.
When I ride ... yes, I have felt what you describe. It is part of the world, a most amazing element. How anyone can deny the existence of Sun and Nature, in the face of such elemental beauty is ... well, it is hard for me to fathom."
She watched the strange girl move away to the horse.
*Perhaps it will understand her better.* she shrugged before going off towards Dazi.
She'd do what she could to help both her and Mikal with the dead. She would not say any words for them as her Goddess' expertise was with the living, not the dead. She'd stay by her sister's side as long as it took, resting nearby until she was ready to go rejoin the others.
Dean watches Daxia for some time, appreciating the differences in her rites and his own. He sets to tending his horse and his own ablutions, and, still watching Daxia, he settles in to reflect on the day.
Once Daxia starts the fire and begins her watch, and Mikal has setup the markers of equipment on the Jvrillian dead, he gathers all the others together and points out where Darian and Cesare have setup the campsite.
"You should all go and help make camp. I will stay with Daxia. I have my own rites to perform, as she has hers. I expect we'll not be finished for some hours."
He turns to Celi.
"Would you take Talia with you and see she gets some feed? I don't want her to have to wait for me to get back."
Celi was perfectly happy to take care of Mikal's horse, though she was somewhat surprised that he suddenly found her approachable.
She wasn't certain whether it was because he was trying to be more comradely, or he simply needed someone to feed his horse and she was available. Because of who she was -- and because she had an inexplicable "thing" for Mikql -- it didn't matter in the end. She would have done it under almost any circumstances, just to get to talk to him.
He was busy. He had his ancestors' honor to worry about, though she didn't have the same sentiments he did regarding dead ancestors. IUt was hard enough worrying about live people.
As the evening had deepened, Darian moved to a position where she would no longer be silhouetted by the fire. The small amount of animal life there was fell silent, and Longtooth rose to his feet. She drew and nocked an arrow, prepared to defend the camp if need be...or give them time to flee.
He is crouched by the fire, in a position where he can move easily and also watch Darian's back. His attention though does seem more concerned with stirring a couple of pots on the fire and enticing cooking aromas emanate from them.
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