A 'Family Meeting'

[booklover]

I shall tell you my name once I've healed you, but it's only proper if you tell me your name as well," She had said. Fair enough, he thought. She put his arm on her shoulder, and he shifted uncomfortably. Then she inserted her finger into the wound, and healed it. Problem sovled. He didn't know why everybody made a big deal out of it. His eyes lit up, whenever he was excited, and they did that now, without him meaning to. Then they faded to their normal level, giving off a warm glow.

Locks of his thick, wavy black hair dangled over his face, hiding part of his eyes. He tilted his head, and they slid out of the way, only to return a few seconds later. The source of the neighing finally made itself clear, as a horse with hair as black as Sarias's galloped gracefully over the hill. She was a very beautiful horse, and she loved Sarias as a brother. She slowed to a walk, and reached him. She buried his muzzle in his neck; he was very tall. He stroked the precious hair of her body, while his other hand combed through her mane. A glow of lovingness entered his eyes as the gentleness with which he treated her greatened.

"Tarrack. My horse. Oh, I almost forgot," He added, as if coming out of a doze, "My name is Sarias, Niniel. And concerning the magic, I do mean the Ancient Language. And I'll learn whatever you'll offer."

[Niniel]

Niniel smiled at the gorgeous horse; it reminded her of a horse that she had once befriended back home. "My name is Sarias, Niniel. And concerning the magic, I do mean the Ancient Language. And I'll learn whatever you'll offer," Sarias said.

She ran the name through her mind a few times, it suited him. She looked at him curiously, his hair lying across his eyes, and him affectionately stroking the horse. He was a different sort of human, one who could turn from killing one minute to showing love in the next; she didn't quite understand it.

"I'll be sure to teach you as much as I can then," she said and then began to walk towards Aberon, "Care to join me, Sarias?" she asked without turning around.

[booklover]

Sarias wasn't surprised by her sudden departure; he was used to itafter it had happened at least thrice. He smiled at his horse, and gave her a mental picture of riding through endless meadows as they had in the old days. The horse looked at him with excitement in her eyes, and then he started walking after Niniel, Tarrack walking beside him.

The sun came out from behind the clouds, and seemed intent on roasting them alive. Sarias, never one to complain, glanced at his waterskin, then at Niniel. He shrugged to himself, receiving a curious look from Tarrack. He gestured to Niniel, then gave Tarrack a questioning look. She slowly nodded her head, and so her took the waterskin, and jogged to catch up with Niniel. "Care for a drink?" He asked, shaking the waterskin in his hand.

While he looked at her, the smallest evidence of sweat formed on his forehead. His hair now seemed silky, because of a much needed amount of moisture. It didn't look wet, nor was it, but it helped to cool Sarias down. With his free hand, he ran his hand through his hair boyishly, and flipped it ever so slightly. It seemed to flow like water back to his forehead.

[Niniel]

Niniel walked wordlessly along, enjoying the beautiful rays of the sun on her skin. Aberon would be atleast one, maybe two days walk, and so she enjoyed herself as much as she possibly could. She heard Sarias jog up next to her, "Care for a drink?" He asked, shaking the waterskin in his hand.

She looked at him in time to see him run his fingers through his hair, another practice she didn't understand about him. She looked at the waterskin, "I'm fine at the moment, but I suppose that I will be polite and take a drink nonetheless," she said and took the waterskin from his hand. She tilted her head back and allowed a mouthful of water to dribble into her mouth. After she had closed the waterskin, she handed it back to him, "I thank you," then she turned back to continue her walk. She had no idea how to act around a travelling companion, she hadn't had one in such a long time. While she knew it was rude for her not to speak to him, she could not think of anything worth talking about. She searched her mind for a moment, then said, "The woman at the bar, is she your lover?" She felt the question was innocent enough, for that was how they appeared to her, and so she figured that talking about something that he loved would make the conversation easy for both parties.

[booklover]

"I am fine at the moment, but I suppose that I will be polite and take a drink nonetheless," She said. He looked at her kind of funny, but mentally shrugged it off. Once she had drunk her fill, she said, "I thank you." and handed it back to him. He nodded to her and tucked the waterskin back inside the little pouch inside his cloak. The sun shone down on them for a couple of seconds, and it occured to Sarias that she wasn't used to traveling with a partner. Finally, to Sarias' surprise, she asked him, "The woman at the bar, is she your lover?"

Sarias almost stopped in his tracks, but with a great effort kept moving. Then he chuckled, and replied, "No, she is my sister, Maria. She's a sweetheart, though," The sun began to warm up his bones, and he felt stiff, apparently because he hadn't stretched at all. He couldn't have stretched while it was cold outside, or he would have pulled a muscle. So he took the time to do it now. He stopped and, assuming she'd keep walking, started to perform complex movements that would seem physically impossible to a man.

Sarias took pride in his limber body, the main reason he was good at hand-to-hand combat. Then he did something that no human he'd ever known could do. He bent straight over, and laid the flat of his elbow on the ground, while his legs stayed straight. This still caused him pain; a sign that he hadn't mastered the movement yet. "That's better," He said, now feeling loose and alive.

[Niniel]

Sarias chuckled, and replied, "No, she is my sister, Maria. She's a sweetheart, though," he finished and then stopped and began to perform different moves that Niniel assumed were stretches.

She stopped and watched him slightly interested as he balanced his body on his forearms. Finally he stood, "That's better."

Niniel waited for him a moment so that he could catch up to her, then she spoke again, "Your sister, I'm sorry for my mistake. She looked very nice, she's very lucky to still have contact with her older brother," she said quietly, then shook herself. Sentimentality was not something that she wanted this man to perceive from her, it would mean that she was soft, and that was far from what she really was.

[booklover]

"Your sister, I'm sorry for my mistake. She looked very nice, she's very lucky to still have contact with her older brother," Niniel said. Sarias smiled, and raised an eyebrow. Was that..... emotion he detected? Did she think it would demean her if she expressed any sort of sentimentality whatsoever? He was determined to make her see the light. Sarias thought of it as a.... sort of mission to accomplish. Well, better to start with the information you have. He assumed she had and older brother. So, even if she didn't, and said no, he could ask another deadly question.

"Who was your older brother?" He asked, masterfully hiding a smile. Back behind him, Tarrack was galloping playfully, an interesting site to see.

[Niniel]

"Who was your older brother?" He asked her suddenly.

Niniel was a little surprised by the question, but she realized that he had detected her emotions. She cursed herself inwardly, but remained calm and composed on the outside. She thought for a moment on how to answer then said, "His name is Aldous, and I have not heard anything of him for well over 60 years now. I assume that he is with the Varden now, and that is why I am trying to find them, to find him," she said simply. She didn't think there was any sentimentality in that, it was a truthful answer for his question. Once she had said it and her mind fell on her brothers memory again, she had to turn her head away briefly so that he could not see the small frown that had appeared on her lips.

[booklover]

Score. He had her right where he wanted her. From here, it was easy, unless she was as determined to be emotionless as he was to get her to me sentimental. She turned around, and he knew there was something she didn't want him to see. Why does she do this? It's so unimportant, yet it can ruin your life. He thought about how to word his next question. He didn't want to make it too obvious, but he didn't want her to be completely clueless as to his intentions. The sound of hooves reached his ear. Tarrack.

He caught up with her, so that she could hear his question better. "I bet you miss him a lot."

[Niniel]

He caught up to her and then said, "I bet you miss him a lot."

Her stomach turned into knots and she felt a lump forming in her throat. She blinked her eyes a few times to clear them because they seemed to be watering, then she looked directly into Sarias' eyes, "I-" her voice cracked. What was wrong with her? She must have been ill or some such thing because she never acted like this. She cleared her throat and then started again, "I miss the opportunity to get to know my kin better. He left while I was very young, and so I don't know much about him at all," she said and a single tear fell from her eye. She turned away quickly hoping that he wouldn't see it and then wiped it off of her cheek and stared at the wet streak on her palm. A tear...

[booklover]

It was true. He didn't know why he was making a big deal out of this. He took hold of her shoulder, and gently turned her around. He saw the remnants of a tear there, and he softly brushed them away with the back of his index finger. He smiled then, and his eyes lit up for some reason unknown to him. The sun shone on them and they had a sort of niveous radiance to them.

"It's all right to have feelings, it doesn't make you a worse person," He said reassuringly to Niniel. He almost laughed at how stupid he sounded, but he didn't regret saying it. He wasn't a very deep sort of person, and this was unfamiliar to him. "Tell me about your brother, maybe it won't hurt as much." He suggested, while he looked in her eyes for emotion.

The sound of hooves was louder, and it was getting annoying. "Wait.... wait just a moment," He said, more to himself than to Niniel. There was more than one horse there.... actually there were very, very many. Who could they be? Sarias' sharp ears picked up the sound of harsh voices shouting. Was it the Varden? Then, a picture entered his head, a picture he received from Tarrack's mind. Counting the number of cloaked men on horses would be a waste of time.

"Enemies! We have to go," Sarias alerted Niniel in a piercing whisper. He whistled like a mocking bird, and Tarrack crested the hill, galloping as fast as the wind towards him..

[Niniel]

Sarias turned Niniel around slowly and then brushed what was left of the tear away. No one had ever treated her like this, and she wondered why he felt it necessary to wipe away her tear, then he spoke, "It's all right to have feelings, it doesn't make you a worse person. Tell me about your brother, maybe it won't hurt as much," he said, then, "Wait.... wait just a moment."

Niniel tried to keep from laughing at his statement, she didn't hurt at all, she just had regret from not knowing her brother, and perhaps a bit of fear that he might not be alive any more. She tried to remember his face, and the only thing that she could picture was a slender elf with chin-length blood hair, and eyes that seemed to be continually smiling.

She smiled for a moment then Sarias voice brought her back to reality, "Enemies! We have to go," he said and then whistled loudly. Niniel watched as Tarrack came over the hill towards them, but she didn't wait to watch Sarias mount her.

Niniel took off at a comfortable pace towards Aberon; perhaps they would get there sooner than planned. Her breathing was steady and even as she ran, and her hair flew behind her gracefully; next to swimming, she loved to run because of the freedom that she felt. She looked behind her to see if Sarias had made it onto Tarrack all right, and noticed a large cloud of dust that seemed to be getting closer to them by the second. It was then that she decided to pick up her speed to just below sprinting, and she hoped that Tarrack would soon catch up to her.

[booklover]

Without warning, Sarias simply took off running after Niniel, with Tarrack following in suit after him. He had amazing stamna, having run almost 24/7 when he was a child. He feet moved in long, lightning fast movements. Tarrack, who thought this was all a game, decided it would be fun to race Sarias. He galloped a bit faster, and Sarias easily matched it. He went further than that: he left the horse far behind, and caught up with Niniel. She seemed to be relaxing, and at such a quick pace. He slowed down to exactly her pace, when he got an excellent idea.

He simply jumped onto Tarrack's back without stopping, and he began to clear his mind of all thoughts. Horses, when they communicate, they have a mental network going on, so they can coordinate while also focusing on running. Sarias broke into the network, undetected, and tried to think of something that would scare the horses to death. He was about to send them a mental picture of having to eat a rotten apple, when he thought better of it, and rather made a sounds that might scare them.

He meditated on the sound of a midnight banshee that he had heard, when camping beside the mountain Marna, on his way to Gilead. Even remembering the horrible sound made him shudder. But, when he had fully recalled the noise, he blasted it inside their minds.

It worked. Their minds became jumbled, thoughts were working their way through so quickly, that he began to get dizzy, and quickly retreated. When he came to, he specifically heard sounds of harsh voices shouting in frustration. He smiled mischievously, a smile which lit up his ( very very handsome) features.

[Niniel]

Niniel slowed her run slightly when she heard the frustrated shouts, and she turned around to see a group of cloaked men on horses. The horses, however, were not cooperating with their riders; they seemed to have been spooked. Niniel looked up at Sarias who was now riding Tarrack, and couldn't help but smile a little at his mischevious smile.

She turned away from him and settled into a comfortable pace once more, and let her mind wander. She wasn't sure of what to think of her new companion. He certainly wasn't like a normal male human, there was a different air about him. She sometimes even felt as if he were an elf just like she was, but she didn't feel that connection all the time. It was easy to tell that this man was trustworthy, and was a very good travelling companion. She decided that she liked having his company, and hoped that they would be able to travel more regardless of whether or not they found the Varden in Aberon.

[booklover]

Sarias' smile lingered as he sighed. He shook his hair again, and slowed Tarrack down to a trot. He loved the open sky, and the freedom it seemed to give him. He looked up at the sky. The cloudless sky. His eyes, famed for their glow, were now shining so brightly that he could see the reflection of them on the ground quite a few feet away.

He gave himself to daydreaming at that moment. He pictured himself, with an army of the Varden, storming Urubaen, and he himself beheading that pompous idiot Galbatorix. He dreamed that he could end this war, and spend time with his sister, talk about what they used to do. And, after many, many more dreams, he came across his final one.

His eyes grew troubled, and their light went out. He didn't know why he had thought about that, the very thing he hadn't thought ever before. Being so busy with trying to avoid it, he never thought that it would happen to him. This is silly, Sarias thought to himself, it's not as if I wanted that to happen. He looked briefly at Niniel, and wondered if it might have been.

He had visited some witch. What was her name? Tangelo.... Alishan.... Angela! That was it. But she had been a fraud, nothing more. Nobody can read anyone's future, not anyone. That's why he had thought of it happeningl because she had gotten it on his mind. It was her fault, it'll never happen, and I don't want it to.

While Sarias kept chanting this to himself, Tarrack quietly exited his mind.

[Niniel]

Niniel continued to run in silence, only glancing over at Sarias and Tarrack everonce in a while. After about two hours of running, she decided to slow to a walk; no need to pass up so much beautiful scenary anymore, they weren't in any immediate danger.

As she walked, she quietly hummed a song that her father had sung to her when she was young. Her eyes closed, but she continued on her straight path, and lost herself in the smooth, peaceful music. She thought of the words as she walked; they spoke of the stars and the moon, something that her family spent much of their time studying and observing. The song itself had be written by her mother, it was the only real thing of hers that she had: her words.

When she finished humming, she opened her eyes to see how far Sarias and Tarrack were ahead of her, and was ready to run a bit more to catch up to them if she needed to.

[Metri]

((You guys should probably make a new thread for this since it's no longer A "Family Meeting"))

[Niniel]

((We're getting there.. I think we're going to get to Aberon, then we'll make a new thread, don't worry Metri))

[Metri]

((Lol i don't just checkin up but i trust you guys so its all good ))

[booklover]

((Hmmm... should we go now? I mean, there's nothing important to do here.))