The golden skies [open]

[Stranger]

"Give me a leg up will ya'."

Kendrick obliged, throwing her up over the saddle, and taking care to be gentle Rainer settled onto it. The mare beneath her shifted as she gathered the reins, restless flicks of her tail the only sign of her eagerness to go. The movement threw flickers of torchlight over the glossy chestnut hide, smoothed a dull sheen over the arch of the reins. She was a great bulwark of a mare, a massive draft-bred horse born of the foundation lines they had brought from Sayaie; and she showed her health with every shift of a hoof and flick of an ear, with muscles moving easily beneath the taunt skin. Rainer checked the stirrup lengths a second time, then the girth, then raised her head as to her brother as he passed her the rope for a black colt tossing its head behind him.

"Just up the outer slope," he said, voice hoarse in the pale slivers of early light, "Down the winding path past the bakers' and back by the library way...."

He drifted towards the back of the stables as he spoke, the sound of his words fading with him, then strengthening as he returned, "...and maybe a turn around the main junction. That'll do well enough. they'll be out in the paddock 'fore evening, anyhow. Early run'll do them good."

With him was another colt, a bay with a coal dark mane and tail. Rainer nodded as he brought the horse up on her other side, and her hands worked alongside his to tie the rope through the fixed saddle loops with a slip knot. A pull and the rope would go loose, freeing the colts should an emergency arise. The red glow of the torch caught on Kendrick's features and cast them in a harsh light - rugged features, made rougher by the weathered nature of his face, and sharp brown eyes piercing enough to unnerve. Like sister, like brother, it was said; and few matched the old adage like the siblings did. But his fingers were gentle as he secured the lead ropes to the saddle. He twisted the final length into place and stepped back.

"Aye," Rainer said, "I'll be back 'fore breakfast, Save some bacon for me."

"I'll wait for you," Kendrick was already on his way back to the tack room. There would be a hundred and one things to settle before she returned, and the sooner he dealt with them the better. Or he might even miss breakfast if he couldn't. The possibility of having all the bacon to herself cheered Rainer, and with a soft murmur and a light pressure of her leg the mare stepped out with a firm foot into the wain light of the growing dawn.

The dirt road was damp with the past days' rain, but it had had time to dry overnight and was not too yielding for the colts to do skips and leaps as they set out at a gentle walk. Rainer shushed at them as they cavorted, and beneath her the mare let out a sigh. She was too well-mannered to prance despite the long days they had spent cooped up with the rain drumming outside, but by the shudder of her muscles Rainer knew she was feeling as vibrant as the frisky youngsters. It was too soon to do a trot however, and with a light hand on the broad shoulders she held them at a walk until even the colts had settled into observant curiosity of the sleepy world around them - flanked by massive trees, cast with the soft light of a not-yet-risen sun and sparkling with errant drops of gathered dew falling from the high branches above. The heavy scents of wet leaves and old bracken were penetrating, giving a stifling dankness to the air beneath the trees. It would diminish with the growing warmth of the day but only dissipate fully by tomorrow at earliest, when the sun had evaporated most of the moisture into the skies above. Rainer, resisting the urge to cough in the thick air, found herself thinking of the wind in the open platforms of Chydyn above.

They reached the corner of an ancient giant, its buttressed roots wider than the horses themselves, just as the light of the sun broke over the horizon and streamed in thin lines between the covering trees. With a click through her teeth Rainer loosed the reins. The chestnut mare jumped to a trot, placing her hooves as lightly as any performance horse might. Beside her the black colt startled into a canter and then stilled as the lead rope checked him; the dark bay snorted and tossed his head, striking a passage before calming to the ground-eating trot his bloodlines were known for. Rainer sat the trot for two beats before rising to it; a sitting trot was bad for a horse whose back was not yet warmed up, and the exercise would help warm the blood in her own veins.

They were in the main district of the town already - though one would never have guessed it by the sparse buildings placed between trunks and perched precariously on huge buttress roots. Only a handful of rope ladders and sparse iron bars hammered into the trunks hinted that one had to look up to see the town itself: the wide floating platforms and the runways leading from tree to tree, the lowest easily 30 feet above ground level. In Chydyn, only the farms, the animals, and some basic structures for travelers or traders remained on the ground. The rest were built close to the sky. It was something Rainer had not gotten used to even in the nearly two years since moving here; but she was and would always be grateful for the safety the trees provided from koxi.

It was early yet, and the walkways beneath the floating city were all but empty. They wove past two fallen boughs - splintered limbs showing how the heavy rain had brought them down sometime during the past few days of bad weather - and round another bend along the winding pathway. Rainer did not have to look up to know that, somewhere above, the largest bakery in Chydyn was passing them by - the wooden storehouse of wheat and flour they went by told her that well enough. The air had lightened enough with the growing morning to relax her somewhat, and with a soft breath she settled in to sit the trot and prepare for a slow canter when they reached the straight stretch beneath the library.

High above, peeking through the trees, the sky was golden.

[zeis]

It had been a while since he had been able to stand in the breeze, and watch the gargantuan leaves of the trees around him sway and whisper. A while since he had the time to look out over Chydyn at night, and see the lights of the city like thousands of fireflies resting in the branches. No other time compared to morning though. As the sun rose, light would shine through the tree cover, and dapple the city and ground below with almost dreamlike beams of light. K'huna did not often appreciate beauty, but this city, his city, was beautiful. His appreciation of the forest was his own, shared with no one, not even Canph.

He and the red had arrived last evening, stealing whatever moments they could in between lessons to go out on search. They couldn't stay long, and were planning on leaving a couple of hours before noon to arrive in time for lessons. As such, he had woken up almost unforgivably early to walk the city, meaning to enjoy it in private while he could. Canph still slept peacefully on the guard heights, and K'huna was grateful for the mental and physical silence as he walked the ground level of Chydyn. Somewhere ahead of him was the steady beat of horses hooves, a calming methodical sound. He had forgone most of his riding gear in favor of plainer civilian clothes, though his short sword was still strapped to his hip. He knew better than to go anywhere unarmed, especially when his great red protector lay sleeping.

The only other people who kept these hours were farmers, and travelers. He suspected the approaching sound of horses was the latter, and he had done his business with the former already. The real purpose of his walk down here had been to arrange a cow for the great simourv to feed on before they left, and with that done he was free to enjoy himself albeit with a lighter diask purse. He breathed in the smell of damp earth and farmland, and simply let himself relax, the tensions of Eyrie life and responsibilities draining from him in a rare moment. He valued this physical and mental solitude as the sound of horses drew inevitably closer, and he caught first sight of the traveler.

He squinted faintly as the rider came into view with a fine looking mare, and leading two spirited colts. The red-rider was called out of whatever thoughtful dream he had been entertaining as the distance between them closed. He moved a little off to the side of the path, giving the woman room to pass if she desire. He nodded a respectful greeting to her as she approached, and smiled faintly at the skittishly playful antics of the colts. "Good morning. Those are some fine animals you've got there."

[Stranger]

Some mornings were quieter than others, and this one was positively stark in its absence of humanity. Rainer was used to seeing others on her exercise runs with the horses: a farmer here tilling his crops, a woman there readying the carts with her husband, maybe a child or two running with the early supplies to the family businesses. But today the roads were devoid of people; peopled only with birds and moths and the odd stray dog along the side.

So it was that she noticed the man on the road as soon as he was in sight, eyes drawn to him as one might note a flower in grass. He was tall, well-built, black-haired and sporting a light beard. Likely a man accustomed to physical work, if his frame and the cut of his limbs were anything to go by. A farmer perhaps, or a hunter or laborer. Perhaps it was the unusual solitude of the morning, or maybe he stood out exceptionally well in the dawn 's light, but Rainer found her attention wandered to him wherever she might glance. That in itself tingled her nerves, and the half-finger of her left hand closed tighter on the reins. Bandits were rare in Chydyn; unheard of, in fact, this deep into the town. But bandits were like koxi - one never knew when one was safe. And this man, as she closed in, clearly carried a short blade of some sort at his belt. Her thoughts strayed to the long knife at her own hip, and catching her mood the mare beneath her flicked back an ear.

Whatever the stranger might be, however, he seemed...relaxed. There was no tension in his body as he looked towards their approaching hoofbeats, no terseness that might indicate he was thinking of accosting her or taking her horses. Now that she was nearer she could see his scars. He was certainly no stranger to skirmishes. He moved aside to clear the path as they came up, and nodded with a faint smile as he spoke.

"Good morning. Those are some fine animals you've got there."

The colts, alert and jittery, pricked ears at the sound of his voice. The closer of the two was the black, and he pulled aside to sniffle at the stranger. Taken in by their curiosity, the mare sidled to a walk as well, ears forward as she wuffled at the man. Clicking through her teeth, Rainer returned the other's friendliness with a smile and, though still wary, ventured words.

"Morning to you too, and my thanks. Always good to hear a kind word in the morning."

She slid her hand back gently on the reins, pulling back the mare who was trying to snuffle right up to the stranger, and just as a matter of politeness continued, "What brings you out so early, anyway? You don't look like one of the farmers or suchlike 'round here."

[zeis]

K'huna paused at the rider and her horses drew near, looking from the horses to meet the woman's gaze eye to eye as she spoke with him. He thought perhaps noted a hint of concern in the woman's manner, some mild restraint in the way she held herself and her tone. It was a wise way to react really, as he was no stranger to the odd bout of crime that reared its ugly head in the larger settlements of Spiderland. Times were hard, and Koxi attacks until just recently regularly robbed people of whatever they had worked for. Desperate people do desperate things.

The red-rider himself was not a desperate man, and his attention turned back to the curious colts, particularly the adventurous little black that approached him. He smiled faintly and slowly held out a hand toward the little creatures inquiring nose to sniff. He'd meant what he said. The animals may or may not have been thoroughbred, but they were healthy and strong looking creatures all the same. The colts apparently yet untrained, but with potential. He nodded at her response, and lifted his free hand to wave a bit dismissively. Kind words where kind words were due as far as he was concerned.

The man would have been entirely content to leave their interaction at that if the woman had wished it, as there was no obligation to continue talk between strangers over such a passing compliment. When the rider paused however, and questioned his presence here, he was willing enough to answer. He smirked faintly at her last comment, and glanced briefly down at himself before returning her gaze, and speaking. "Came down here to deal for a steer for my partner. Just enjoying a walk in while I have the time." He glanced from her up at the high and numerous walkways above them. "Don't suppose you're a native? I haven't spent much time here the past few years. Is the Setting Sun tavern still open? Or have any new places opened up?"

[Stranger]

Had her horses not taken such a shine to the man, Rainer would have been happy just to simply haul up and out of the situation. A natural talker like all her kind, she was uneasy conversing with strangers on a quiet road (and leading two obviously valuable colts while doing it). He lifted a hand to wave, dismissively, at her response; and by its roughness she was reminded once more that his man was no stranger to menial tasks. Or rough ones, perhaps. But he spoke just then, and the horses, examining him, pricked their ears again.

"Came down here to deal for a steer for my partner," he said, "Just enjoying a walk while I have the time."

A steer. That was reasonable - she knew of at least three farmers who would oblige, even if the buyer were an oddity from afar. Her horses were another matter altogether though - any seller with ethics would think about where the animals were going before agreeing to a sale.

"Don't suppose you're a native?" he went on, "I haven't spent much time here the past few years. It the Setting Sun tavern still open? Or have any new places opened up?"

She cocked her head at him, amused. Was he a traveler, a fellow peddler, one who wandered the ways and came 'round the big cities only occasionally? Either way, he seemed to know his way around - or had used to. A quirk of a smile turned her lips as she spoke.

"No, not really; lest', can't call me one when I've been here but a couple o' years," she glanced down the empty dirt path behind him, "Setting sun's still open though, popular as ever. Nowadays there's more joints up too though - the Dancing Dice, or the Rider's Tongue. That one t'was a bold 'un, opened recently by a relative of a rider, they say. Draws the crowd with some of the best mead too."

The colts shuffled back as she spoke, heads turning to look around them once more now that their curiosity was sated. She turned her gaze back to the man as her mare glanced sidelong at him, "If you're looking for your steer you'd best come down later, anyhow. Farmers'll be out in a bit, but for now they're all in chores and no time for a buyer."

[zeis]

K'huna maintained easy eye contact with the woman as she spoke, smiling faintly at the barely noticeable echo of their voices off the widely spaced gargantuan trees. He nodded at her first answer, suspecting as much. He had only left home a handful of years ago when Canph fell in his lap, and he hadn't recognized her face. Still, Chydyn was a big city so it was possible he hadn't seen her, should she have been a lifelong resident. Besides, she had the slightly weather beaten look of a traveler, a look he knew well as it was often the one he saw in the mirror.

He laughed at the mention of the rider's tongue, looking amused and his attention visibly perking. The man withdrew the proffered hand from the colts as they lost interest, glad he had bathed that morning and the smell of Canph still wasn't clinging to him. Frightening a strangers animals wasn't the most civil thing to do. Smiling, he crossed his arms over his chest thoughtfully. "Really? That way is it, the Rider's Tongue?" The redrider tilted his head slightly to peer past her and her quadrupedal charges, down the empty road she had indicated. There was not a rider alive he wasn't familiar with, and if one of their relatives was using them as a claim to fame, it was worth checking out. At the very least maybe he could get a discount on some good ale. "I'll have t'pay it a visit. Don't suppose y'know if the rumor's are true?"

"The few I asked did brush me off. I'll take your word and come back later." He snorted faintly, though he didn't seem truly offended. A mental twitch tugged as his attention, and he gazed in the direction of the Guard Heights with a slightly distracted attention. Canph was stirring, rising gradually from his slumber and the unconscious stirrings of mind that often touched K'huna's own, giving him fragmented and temporary glimpses of the red's dreams. Damn. He'd been hoping to have the animal before the simourv woke up. He exhaled in a half sigh, and turned his attention back to the stranger, and her horses. Even if one task was delayed, he had another one in mind.

"Do you deal in animals?" He asked civilly, his voice restrained and polite but interested. The man nodded his head toward her three beasts, and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Or are these beauties spoken for already?"

I always wanted to try horse. A tired but anticipatory voice seeped gradually into his mind, the thoughts slow and muzzy from sleep. His response was immediate. I'm not asking for you, you flying stomach.

[Stranger]

The stranger's easy eye contact, his natural laugh as she mentioned the Rider's Tongue, his calm smile - they all gave her reason to relax, even if only a notch, and at an ever-so-slight shift of her weight the mare sidled a half-inch closer as he spoke.

"Really? That way is it, the Rider's Tongue?"

There was thoughtfulness in his words; too much thoughtfulness for a mere interest in good mead, and something nagged at Rainer. She couldn't place it, but...perhaps he knew a rider himself, to have reacted so.

"I'll have t'pay it a visit. Don't suppose y'know if the rumor's are true?"

No doubt about it - he was related to some rider or other; or perhaps he was just a rare connoisseur of mead. An absurd thought. She shrugged, fingers flexing on the reins, letting her answers be as ambiguous as his question had been.

"No idea - never been there myself, and have no inking o' the owners. My brother's been though, says the mead's good."

He snorted as he went on to respond her comment on the area's farmers, and Rainer held back a wry smile. She could imagine the scene: the flustered, miffed farmers and the nonplussed stranger with his undone deal. Perhaps he had never dealt with Chydyn's farmers before, but...surely a former resident of this town should have known better? Whatever calm K'huna had inspired before was lost as the thought sank in and became suspicion. The hairs on her neck prickled uneasily again; the feeling only worsened as he glanced distractedly towards the distant Guard Heights. He turned pale honey-brown eyes back on her, his tone civil as he continued.

"Do you deal in animals?" he nodded at her horses, "Or are these beauties spoken for already?"

The prickling in her shoulders became a note of alarm. So he WAS interested in the horses. One hand, she realised, had strayed from her reins and was resting on her long knife's hilt. The right hand, the stronger one; her half-fingered left remained on the leather strap. She wished, not for the first time, that she had brought Fang or one of the other farm dogs with her; there was precious little she could do if the stranger suddenly lunged at her, or called out accomplices from some nearby hideout. The mare, picking up her unease, pawed the ground with one foot. She stilled her nerves within with no more outward sign than a flicker in her eyes, there a moment then gone; no point jumping to conclusions, and if anything she would prefer to talk her way out of a situation rather than fight, risking injury to her precious livestock. Besides, if he had wanted to take the horses by force, wouldn't he have done so already? Her voice, schooled through long years of peddling horses and haggling with traders, remained collected.

"Aye, that I do," it hardly mattered to a bandit if the horses belonged to her or were for re-sale, anyhow, "These young 'uns are coming out for a bit of exercise; rain of the past days kept them all cooped up."

She cocked her head at him, taking care to keep her horses in her field of vision; at the slightest sign of alarm from them she would draw the knife. By his question she knew he likely intended to make a bid for the horses; whether a bid by diasks or by force, however, remained to be seen; and until she knew more he would get few straight answers on their availability from her. She continued.

"And yourself, Sir? Do you deal in animals too?"

[zeis]

He nodded at the answer to his first question about the Rider's Tongue, his interest still not satisfied but at the least piqued. If he had free time later, he'd have to stop by. The presence of such a place seemed encouraging, as he was more than aware of the often tooth and nail arguments that Ro'za and G'len had with the politicians of the larger human settlements. He had no mind for politics himself, but it suggested some acceptance of their presence. For much less nobler reasons, his throat ached for a drink. Such indulgences were few and far between since his acceptance of his post as Wingletmaster.

Unaware he had caused her any alarm, he kept up his easy, if slightly distracted manner. Canph, now fully awake, watched curiously through his riders eyes, taking second-hand stock of this ragged woman and her four-legged companions. K'huna considered the horses as she confirmed her profession, sizing them up, and estimating what he imagined a fair cost. He was of course, not an expert trader by any means, but he procured beasts and other such resources for his fellows before. The womans last question made him pause, and chuckle as he tried to figure out how to answer it.

"In a way of speaking, I s'pose I do, ma'am." He smiled faintly, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I buy horses, and livestock for my associates, but those beasts aren't my trade. Most of my experience lays with him." The man turned and gestured up at the Guard Heights, where through the branches a great red simourv could be seen crouched on the edge of the wooden platform, watching them with keen eyes. About time you used me to impress some girls. She's pretty, I say go for it. K'huna's face faltered into a frown, and he turned back to face the horse traders with a slightly wry expression. "Sadly, I couldn't teach him any respect." At this Canph gave a bellowing call, sounding like indignance mixed with laughter.

[Stranger]

There was no change in the stranger's cool, mildly absent manner; perhaps he hadn't noticed her unease, or maybe he simply did not care. In fact, he looked distracted - his mind was elsewhere, occupied with something else. Rainer could not shake the sense, somehow, that she was being watched; and her horses, prey animals by instinct and make, shared her feelings. Both colts were now standing stock still, the half-tilt of their ears indicating unease. She looked on, wary, as the stranger looked them up and down, seizing them up. he chuckled.

"In a way of speaking, Is'pose I do, ma'am," he smiled, still thoughtful. It was very like the thoughtfulness of a buyer considering livestock, a familiar sight to her. She disliked being addressed like she was a senior, but before she could say so he contionued, "I buy horses, and livestock for my associates, but those beasts aren't my trade. Most of my experience lays with him."

He gestured towards the Guard Heights. Rainer, head turning to follow his hands, found herself suddenly confronted with twin brown-huedeyes. Through the interlocking weaves of branches a great feathered bulk - vivid crimson and very...imposing - was visible. Shock ran through her; she froze and the fidgeting mare beneath her locked into position at her sudden tension. She never saw how K'huna's face became a frown, but she heard him clearly enough.

"Sadly, I couldn't teach him any respect."

The mare jerked forward, head thrown up, as the beast's replying bellow echoed through the trees. Rainer caught her just in time to prevent a full-out bolt that would have run down the stranger, but the colts were now cavorting wildly beside her and dragging at their leads.

"Woah woah woah," Rainer's voice carried low, firm but gentle enough to be calming as she reined the mare into a circling walk, tightened reins and deepened seat disallowing any attempt from the prancing horse to bolt again; the colts' lead ropes held despite their attempts to break away, and fortunately they were still young enough that the mare's weight alone was enough to hold them both. She kept them circling, working out the panic with the movements; gradually the mare's head began to come down, her hocks and back relaxing. At length she was finally able to get in a few words for the red-rider.

"You didn't say..." she turned a raised brow on K'huna from a sideway glance, still walking the horses as she spoke, "...that you were a rider."

[zeis]

K'huna took a few cautious and wary steps back as the rider's horses reacted to Canph's bellow. He has no desire to be forced to bedrest by being kicked by a horse, or any desire to deal with the teasing the tale would no doubt cause back at the fortress. He cursed low under his breath, and shot the observing simourv a glare, noting that his beast looked smugly curious. What the hell is the matter with you? Don't scare someone's beasts, especially while they're riding. There was no harm done. She seems very competent if you ask me...

"I didn't. I'm sorry he spooked your horses, you have my word it won't happen again." He replied in all seriousness, returning his honey colored eyes to hers. Though he felt some slight defiance from Canph in this, the emotion the red simourv received was steely, and the rebellion was short lived. The man shook his head, and ran a hand over his hair. "... And it's easier to deal with people when you don't go pointing it out right off." He offered bluntly, scratching at his stubbly chin with a faintly boyish smile. "You just don't know how people are going to take it."

She's taken it well so, hasn't she? The red remarked with interest, stretching out his neck to its maximum length to bob his head and study Rainer far below on the forest floor. Didn't run off screaming. Calmed her horses right down. Brave, perservering... What are you trying to say? K'huna replied with a sense of deja vu, narrowing his eyes slightly to study the rider, as though looking at her in a new light. I'm saying if we took her back, at least she'd already know how to ride a horse. The reply was slightly exasperated, as though what was obvious to him should be equally so to his partner in life.

The red-rider observed her a moment longer, before nodding and making a satisfied noise in his throat. It wasn't his place to question who Canph believed was destined for a chick or not, but this was one of the happy occasions where he was inclined to agree. The woman seemed a hard-working law-abiding citizen, whereas the pair had previously searched candidates that were criminals in the making. He crossed his arms over his chest, and spoke confidently. "So it seems I've got two proposals for you. First, I'd be interested in hearing a number for one of your colts." He indicated the young bay with the dark mane and tail. "Second, I'd like to offer you a job. Sudden, I know, but just listen to what I have to say."