shiny little bauble. (Fox!)

[Cy]

[/b] She questioned half-heartedly, her free hand moving up to hold her hair back as she looked over the jewelry.

The woman that owned the stall straightened with the arrival, wide-eyed and surprised by the sudden customer, but she managed to stammer out that she was, indeed, still open. She was just about to close. "Everything looks so pretty," she complimented, grin wide and bright upon her features as she studied each piece with an appraising and materialistic eye. The other woman seemed to blush under the praise and she leaned over as well, her words soft and sweet as she spoke to Talia. She thanked her, she asked questions and she recommended pieces, but the dancer needed no aid to know exactly what she wanted as she darted a hand out to pluck up a bracelet. Charms hung from the silver chain, shaped as birds in different forms of flight. It was so pleasant, so shiny. It held no special significance of any sort, a bird was a bird, but it was so shiny. And she bobbed her hand back and forth to the side to shake it, the noise of it proving an entertainment in and of itself. She chuckled, straightening up and lifting her gaze to the seller as she questioned the price, sliding it onto her wrist in a smooth motion of ownership as she reached down for the pouch at her side.

There was little pause to consider whether the price stated was a good deal or an outrageous expectation. The cool weight of the bracelet sliding down her forearm was too good to let go of. She wanted it and she dug out the diasks without further question, handing them over with an exuberant smile. And then she was twirling around on her toes and heading off once more, now moving her arm excitedly to and fro with her stride, listening to the jingle of her new possession.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

Chydyn was a place that K'ean had never quite gotten the hang of; he was Sayaie born and bred and Itnala, well, it was his job to know everything there was to know about the little fishing town. He knew people here, or rather his mother knew people, and most of them were all too happy to see little Kara's boy, all grown up. But knowing people and knowing the town were two very different things. Dressed very simply in a loose white shirt, black trousers and boots, K'ean's aim was to not be recognised as a simourv rider. It wasn't that being recognised was necessarily a bad thing, but for the young man's innate sense of fairness, it always rubbed the wrong way when shopkeepers he was trying to haggle with looked at his riding jacket and harness and lowered their prices. Not all of them did this; only a few, but those few were enough for the redrider to decide quite firmly that whenever he went shopping, he would not wear anything that would identify him as a Rider. You don't think that people might wonder at a fellow who stares into space and talks to himself like a yammering fool?[/color] K'ean's lips compressed into a thin line of annoyance. He would not respond to his simourv's taunt, as encouragement only fueled Seronaph's indiscriminate wit. High up on one of the guard platforms, the red simourv snorted.

On this less than fruitful day. K'ean was shopping for his mother and for his sisters. In a day or two, the young man had planned to visit his parents' home in Sayaie, and showing up without gifts would not sweeten the visit one bit. His mother and younger sister were both in the hunting trade, and his elder sister was a Guardswoman, taking after their father. Appearing at the doorstep empty-handed was just asking for a drubbing. But, so far, K'ean had wandered through the Chydyn market for almost an hour with nothing to show for it. Already the shops were closing, and still the redrider was empty-handed, the pouch of diasks on his belt as yet untouched. He had stopped to look at the smithy for awhile, but the prices had been higher than he would have been willing to pay for such work, decent though it was. He also couldn't deny the part of him that winced at the thought of giving his family's womenfolk any other tools with which to defeat him with. K'ean didn't think his pride could take much more.

Tuning out the sarcastic commentary that Seronaph kept up throughout his walk, the young man stopped at last by a jewelery stall, slipping in beside another customer; a very brightly-dressed young woman. At first, K'ean paid her little heed beyond a first, indifferent glance. He was too busy inspecting a lovely silver cuff, simple in design, but with an attractive, meandering scroll design running along its length. He was too preoccupied to realise that the griping voice in his head had stopped talking. The young woman had paid and left, and K'ean was busy trying to bargain down the price, when Seronaph's voice floated into his mind again, as innocently as sunlight on a summer morning. Mine... That girl.[/color] "Hmm...?" The redrider's assent was distracted. What about her? "How much is this?"[/b] He asked the stall owner, and then, listening to her opening offer, threw himself into the bargaining process with pleasure.

His red's voice came back, still suspiciously innocent and now somewhat amused. Oh, nothing.[/color] K'ean's brow contracted in a faint frown as his attention split between the woman who ran the stall and his pesky lifepartner. He didn't respond with words, only a sense of warning and an image of what he imagined roast simourv would look like. It garnered a derisive burst of laughter from the Red, but he relented and told K'ean with his voice dripping sly laughter, You just missed a candidate for Eceph's clutch, K'ean. Let her walk right by you.[/color]

The reaction was instantaneous. K'ean's spine straightened from where he had been leaning forward in anticipation, and his head snapped around to see if he could still spot the girl's brightly-coloured skirts. No such luck, and the young man swore quietly under his breath. I can't see her, Seph. Can you find her?[/b] He asked his simourv, absent-mindedly tossing far more than the asking price onto the woman's table, and picking up the cuff and two necklaces. Hastily stuffing them into a pouch, K'ean thanked the stall-owner and waved off her offers of change. High above them all, a large red simourv launched himself off the guard platform, amber eyes fixed on a brightly-coloured dot threading through the streets of Chydyn. One last derisive thought flowed down their connection to a harried K'ean. Useless...[/color] And then, before the redrider could tell the simourv not to, an orange-red streak plummeted down to their level a few feet in front of the girl, the buffet from Seronaph's quick backwing stirring up a veritable dust storm. It was a tight fit for the large creature, and the red had to hold his wings half-lifted to avoid their getting caught on awnings. Swinging his massive head down to peer at the girl with fierce amber eyes, Seronaph's voice boomed, speaking straight into her mind, without even the courtesy that most other simourv showed to humans not their own. Stop.[/i]He never really cared for those niceties anyway.[/size]

[Cy]

[Fox]

K'ean swore under his breath as he saw the large red form of his simourv plummet down to street level, and pushed himself into a run when the slim figure in the bright skirts stumbled and fell in the face of the fierce beast. Seronaph's sense of drama was sometimes a bit of a pain to have to pick up after, and the young man was somewhat tired of it. He darted between the forms of the last people who were scrambling away from his red, in time to arrive at the woman's side just as she levered herself slowly to her feet. Immediately, instinctively, K'ean grasped her elbow lightly in case she might fall again, his blue eyes searching her frightened face for a moment before turning to glare at the red standing sternly in the middle of the street. He was blocking traffic, but it wasn't as if Seronaph really cared about such small, inconsequential things.

"Seronaph!" He snapped, leveling a blue-eyed glare up at the simourv. "Did you really have to do that?" It wouldn't do at all to frighten the new potential candidates; what was the red thinking? What if she wouldn't agree now? K'ean felt Seronaph's disdain at the thought. Why would she not want to bond to a simourv? It was an honour! Yes, I did. [/color] Subtly, the red preened at a job well done, and at the attention-- negative or not-- that he was receiving from the citizens of Chydyn. People were staring, and it was making K'ean's skin crawl uncomfortably. He hated it when people stared. Deciding to ignore his infuriating bonded, the young man turned towards the woman, once again giving her a once over for any sign of injury. "Are you alright?" He asked, concern knitting his brow together. "I'm sorry if my simourv frightened you; he can be an ass like that."

Above them both, Seronaph inspected the girl once more, confirming in both his and K'ean's mind that she would indeed stand for Eceph's clutch. No one knew how the simourv chose these candidates, but K'ean certainly wasn't one to refute it. He was, however, far too slow for Seronaph's liking. It wasn't as if the woman would take any injury from falling on her tail. Huffing impatiently, the simourv lowered his head, fixing this brightly coloured woman with an amber gaze. His voice when it slipped into her mind and K'ean's was considerably softer than when Seronaph had commanded her to stop. Little one, I am Seronaph. This is my K'ean. Would you like to perhaps bond with a simourv? I think you would be suitable to stand for milady Eceph's clutch, just now on the sands.[/color] If the large red could be gentle, that was as far as he got. Beside the woman, K'ean shook his head in mild consternation, but he couldn't deny that Seronaph had very neatly sliced through all the inconvenient pleasantries and small talk to get straight to the point. [/size]

[Cy]

[/b] Her tone of voice was quiet, questioning. She understood what was meant, on some level. So many people had been taken from Chydyn, packed their bags and moved to the Eyrie. Rumours had spread like wildfire long before even the first had been selected, that the riders were searching for candidates. Yet it had never occurred to her in any of her dreams, not even the most extravagant, that she’d be one of them. And in that regard, she felt that she couldn’t possibly be understanding them at all.[/ul][/size]

[Fox]

The woman was confused, disbelieving, and K'ean almost felt sorry for her. It mustn't be very easy to uproot yourself from a life that you loved; K'ean himself and most of the first riders had not had that problem as much since they had chosen to go on the expedition that had eventually led them to the wild gray and her clutch. These candidates, they left their families and their livelihoods behind them to come to Eyrie, all for the foggy chance of bonding to a hatchling. And they did it willingly. K'ean wondered, if Impression had not been thrust upon him, whether he would have agreed to candidacy. Even he wasn't sure, but he knew now that he wouldn't give up Seronaph for anything else in the world.

"Yes, bond. There are twenty-five eggs on the nesting sands back in Eyrie, and if you wished to come with us, you might become a rider. Like me." His voice was gently, mirroring Seronaph's earlier tone, and at the last he offered a lopsided grin. Glancing at his simourv, he gestured briefly to the hulking form of the red. "No one knows how they choose candidates, but if he says that you're suitable, then there's probably already an egg on the sands waiting for you." This was the first clutch ever to be had in Eyrie. The first in the history of Pohono. If the girl agreed, she and all the other candidates would have the honour of being the first riders out of Eyrie. It was an honour separate from that of the original riders, but no less esteemed for it.

Seronaph himself watched the girl with all the focus of a hunting hawk watching prey. She had to agree. There was no other way to it. In the red's mind, no sane human being would turn down the chance to bond with a simourv; what else would they do with their lives knowing that they could have been a rider and said no? And besides, that would mean that whichever hatchling was waiting for them would be without a rider, and Seronaph would not stand for that. No hatchling of Eceph's would go wild if he had anything to say about it. Ask her her name, Mine.[/color] He reminded his rider, not wishing to intrude himself on what looked to be absolute confusion. "I don't believe I know your name...?" K'ean asked in response to Seronaph's nudge, flashing the girl a small, encouraging smile. He hoped, frankly, that she would not be too troublesome. So many of the girls he had already searched were. [/size]

[Cy]

[/I]; depending on how many others had been selected – and not all that many, from what she’d heard in the gossip circles, had been taken from Chydyn – then her odds of bonding would be excellent. She very well could become a rider, like this man. His lopsided grin was charming in its crookedness, boyish, and she felt a little more at ease for noticing it. Her features began to lighten and, with his gesture, she turned her dark gaze back over to Seronaph. The red thought her suitable and so there was probably already an egg waiting on her. Some little simourv chick was curled up at that very moment, growing and waiting. For her. Slowly, a smile began to uncurl itself upon her lips, dancing at the corners of her mouth. She liked the sound of that.

”Talia,” she responded, her voice sounding clear for the first time since the red giant had plunged down from the skies. Turning her head, her gaze swept over his features curiously. ”And you’re K’ean?” She questioned, using the name that Seronaph had given her, catching his eyes with her own and raising her eyebrows as she awaited confirmation. Once it was received, she brightened, her fright from mere moments before rolling off of her like it was nothing. ”Let me go pack some things,” She purred, smile now present full bloom upon her lips.[/ul]

[ sorry it’s so short! XD ][/size]

[Fox]

With an immense swell of satisfaction that rose mutually from both rider and simourv, K'ean and Seronaph watched the slow smile uncoil and spread across the woman's face. Yet another candidate; and this one had hardly given any trouble at all. The rider released her arm now that it seemed she was stable and thinking about this, but the tiny smile that pulled at his lips widened. Sure enough, the woman- Talia, a pretty name to be sure- turned to confirm his name, and K'ean nodded briefly in response. Not much more was needed, after all, and since this woman had plainly accepted the offer of candidacy, all that was left was to bring her back to Eyrie with them. The redrider was just opening his mouth to suggest they leave when she spoke again, quite effectively shutting his mouth for him. But of course, as she requested, she would need to pack some things. He was rather embarrassed to have forgotten that one tiny detail.

Stupidity at its best. You're getting old, Mine.[/color] Seronaph's voice in his mind-- and thankfully only in his mind and not in anyone else's-- went ignored, though a flush heated K'ean's cheeks. It couldn't be denied that the red was extremely pleased, though. "Of course. Seronaph and I will wait for you at the Northernmost Guard platform; meet us there when you've got your things." Again, he shot her a crooked smile and sketched a shallow bow, before a gust of wind from Seronaph's wings and a triumphant screech cut him off as the red launched himself into the sky, not waiting for his rider. Heads turned to watch as the red's bright feathers caught the sunlight before his climb brought him out of view. Plainly, K'ean mused wryly as he watched the rapidly disappearing dot that was his simourv, he was going to be walking to the Guard platform.

(Yeeah, short too. No worries. ^^[/size]

[Cy]

[/b] She questioned lightly, raising one trim eyebrow at him with her curiosity. Shaking her head, she playfully ticked her tongue against her teeth- tsk, tsk. ”That’s quite a shame,” she mourned, turning away from him to move aside, bending over to pluck up her sandals from the ground. Straightening up, she continued forward, slowing just enough to allow herself to safely look back over her shoulder at the man and wave a hand outwards. ”Northernmost Guard platform, I’ll be theeere!” She sang out happily, grinning broadly before turning back around to skip merrily off to home.[/ul][/size]

[/EOT]