prayer of the refugee. [Lan; Search!]

[Cy]

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[Lan]

The Northern Sweep had arrived at Itnala precisely on time, as G'len and Alianph had planned. Their brief encounter with the guard had proved shorter than expected as well, as there was nothing incredible to report since the day before. It was a wonderful day, no sign of koxi from the sky, and the fishingtown of Itnala seemed to be teaming with life and sparkling with the bright sunlight that beat down a happy rhythm for the inhabitants to perform their duties to. There wasn't a cloud in the great blue sky and it seemed almost as if summer had come early that year. But, as always with ocean-side settings, there was a playful breeze that billowed about bringing a chill to take the edge off of what otherwise would have been a very hot day.

Finishing up their duties, the blackrider found himself running ahead of schedule, and having allotted his squad a break before the long journey back to Eyrie, he seemed to not have much to do with himself. Alianph was perched precariously at the very edge of the island that was the bed of the watchtower, stretching his neck out to look at the waves that foamed and crackled pleasantly against the large stones that lined the shore. Occasionally he moved his nose so as not to get sprayed with an overly zealous wave, but for the most part he stayed in that same position. G'len was sitting nearby on the ground, pants rolled up to his knees and tunic sleeves rolled up to his shoulders to allow the sea breezes to hit him and remove some of the excess heat that came from being in riding gear all day. His eyes glanced out toward the fishing village of Itnala, dwelling in particular on the docks where the great ships made their birth. Idly he found his mind counting them and estimating their length and dimensions. It was a good enough pastime to keep him occupied when otherwise he might have been bored. His sketchbook lay next to him, open with pencil lying atop it rolling back and forth with the breeze. The exposed page revealed a crude drawing of city of Itnala as seen from his current resting place.

'We should go there.' Alianph invaded his thoughts. The black simourv had taken to glancing at the sketchbook when his rider wasn't looking. His amber eye was now focused on the scientist next to him, though. 'It's only a short hop... and you're beginning to make numbers appear in my head again.' G'len chuckled at the statement. Whenever he found himself idle and taken to matters of measurements and counting, for some reason his calculations always found their way into Alianph's head as well, and it seemed to drive the poor black mad.

'I'm sorry, Ali. I'll try to think quieter next time.' Absently his hand found its way to the black simourv's cheek where he scratched affectionately, intertwining his fingers in black feathers. Alianph crooned softly, leaning in to the gesture and accepting it kindly before pushing his agenda any further.

'Come on, Mine. What else is there to do?' As if pushed to his feet by the very comment, G'len stood, taking his sketchbook with him and calmly climbed into place on Alianph's back. 'Well, then... let's go.'

Alianph was right, it was a very quick hop to the other shore. Soon they were casting a shadow over the docks where a girl seemed to be taking an afternoon nap. Instead of just flying past, however, the black seemed to have other plans, and he began to spiral softly in descent as if to land near her. G'len wondered how he could possibly try to land on the dock when it was so much smaller than him, but instead Alianph took to landing in the water, backwinging greatly to make sure than G'len would get the least wet while trying in vain not to spray the girl on the dock as well. 'You can start your surveying of the city by talking with her.' Alianph told G'len with a very commanding tone. 'Got a good feeling.' He added the last bit with a tone of mystery and extended a large wing to the dock so G'len could slide on it to dry land without even getting his feet wet.

'Hello,' G'len offered, doing his best to remain upbeat although yet again he felt like his simourv was hiding something from him. He placed his sketchbook and pencil in one of the saddlebags, and then with little to no grace he slid off the large black simourv's wing and onto the dock, nearly losing his balance on the landing and falling into the water nonetheless. 'Careful...' His partner called in his mind, gently folding his wing back and dipping his head in greeting to the girl that had caught his eye. Alianph appeared to be staring at her rather intently, only glancing away for brief moments when sudden noises on the docks would draw his attention before steadying his gaze on her yet again. G'len didn't quite know what to make of it.

'Umm... hi.' G'len said again, grasping for the right words to say. It must seem odd and a bit terrifying, he thought, to suddenly have some man riding a giant beast land none-too-graceful right in front of her and suddenly begin unprovoked conversation. He hastened to find the right thing to say. 'Lovely weather you're having here.' It was a lame attempt, but according to his experiences in other normal conversations it seemed the right small-talk topic to bring up.

[Cy]

[/b] she returned, with a slightly emphasis on her own salutation. Her grin was wide and open, welcoming and kind. Her laughter had faded away, but it was still trapped in the dimples of her cheeks and the wrinkles by her pale blue eyes. Her light eyebrows rose in wonder at his comment. It was simple, mere and polite, and it seemed rather out of place compared to the grand entrance he'd made upon his simourv. She flowed with it though. "Only just the best Itnala's got to offer," she chirped, soon tipping her chin up and thrusting her hand out politely, angling it in such a way that her palm was facing mostly downwards. "I'm Amira, it's a pleasure to meet you." Her introduction was a pleasantry at best, but it was sincere. He was a Rider, it could be absolutely nothing but a pleasure to meet him! She was truly honoured. [/size][/ul]

[Lan]

As the girl before him suddenly chimed into a peal of laughter, he was at first taken aback. She was laughing at him! And rightfully so! He had rather made a fool of himself. Yet, at the same time, her laughter made whatever anxiety he had ease and he smiled easily as her grin quickly became contagious. She was nice. No wonder Alianph wanted him to talk to her. For a moment his eyes drifted away to examine the dock they stood on and the shoreline, but his attention quickly returned in full to her as she introduced herself.

'Nice to meet you, Amira. I'm G'len. And this here is Alianph.' He gestured to the black simourv currently preening himself as he bobbed up and down in the waves. At his introduction Alianph paused his cleaning and looked directly into Amira's eyes with his large, amber ones. This gaze held for a moment, then he nodded his head in greeting and returned to his business. 'I like her,' He told his bonded, 'she has honest eyes.'

'I actually have a confession to make... Alianph is the one that brought me here... well, to you. He likes you...' G'len glanced between the black king and Amira, then did a double take and continued, 'Not that I don't like you... Because I do... But Alianph has a certain thing with people.' After standing for a moment awkwardly, eyes more focused on the wood of the dock than at the person he had been addressing, the rider proceeded to sit at the edge of the dock, sticking his bare feet in the water as she had been doing moments before. He looked at her, and then looked to the spot next to him, then gestured as if he wanted her to sit next to him.

'How has fishing been this season?' The brunette then asked, all but dropping the previous subject to make small talk again. Next to him Alianph had ceased preening and was taking in the vast horizon. It was a pleasant view, especially for his all-seeing eyes. But he wouldn't like to live here. It was far too open. he much preferred the mountains and the canyon of the Eyrie. Still, it was a nice place to relax after flying sweep for a few hours.

[Cy]

[/b] she prompted after an awkward pause, eyes narrowing and head turning slightly. "You like me, but Alianph just likes me more, right?" White teeth flashed with her smile, betraying the tease of her words, but her gaze sat upon the angles of his face as if she were truly accusing him of something.

With laughter lighting up her gaze, she watched him take the liberty of moving aside and sitting at the edge of the dock. She turned slightly, but didn't move until he invited her to the space beside him. She'd have joined him anyways, but invitations were a nice thing to have. It was good to know someone wanted you around, regardless of whether they had a choice in the matter or not. With a small chuckle, she moved over to the edge of the dock as well. She smoothed her hands over the back of the skirt of her dress as she moved to sit, dipping her toes into the cool water. She braced her hands against the wood on either side of her position, shoulders hunching forward and chin tipping up. At his question, she beamed. "Oh, it's been great. Much better'n last season, I think." She replied with an affirmative nod, turning her head to look over to him and tilting it at a small angle. "You know much about fishing?"[/ul][/size]