Sibling Separation (Open)

[hisdivineshadow]

Anko gave a mild sigh as she walked through the gate. "Well, back again. At least this time we're just passing through."

Adarr, pack slung over his shoulder, gave her a slightly reproving look. "I kind of like it here. Ilyamen's not all that bad."

His sister smirked. "Well, you can live here, then. I know I'm not sticking around."

"Well, neither am I. I mean, I have to get back to mother . . ." He glanced once again at his new Mind sign, curling his hand into a fist to touch his fingertips against the sign. For a moment, he could hear the thoughts of everyone around them, and he had to release the power almost immediately before it made him dizzy. The wolf Beast let out a sigh. "Hopefully she can tell me what to do."

Anko smiled sympathetically, and gave Adarr's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sure she can. And you'll have to tell her I'm sorry for getting you involved in all this."

He whirled on her quickly, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What? But I thought you were coming with! You're not still chasing after that vampire, are you?"

Her smile turned a little sad, and she shook her head. "Nope. But I . . . I'm not ready to go back to Seere. I decided back in Ronduin, but I wanted to come with you at least this far." She looked past him at the city. "Find a good place to stay the night, rest well, and then you should be able to make it home within a couple days."

Adarr wanted to protest, wanted to insist that she was coming back with him, back home with their friends and family. But he recognized the look in his sister's eyes, the subtly stubborn set of her jaw, and couldn't think of any words that seemed sufficient. Finally he just shook his head and sighed. "all right . . . but take care of yourself. I don't want to lose you, too." The last he said in an undertone, barely audible, but a slight twitch of Anko's ears told him she'd heard.

She looked at him tenderly for a moment, then drew him into a tight hug. "I love you, sib," she murmured, then pinched his ear and pulled away, laughing. "But if you start thinking I can't manage on my own, I'll hafta pound some sense inta you."

The siblings shared a few more moments of wordless farewell, then Anko gave a jaunty wave and turned to leave the city, leaving Adarr to reshoulder his pack and turn somewhat resignedly back toward the center of town. He'd be rather lonely by himself, but he, too, could manage on his own if he had to.

[Deleted]

Nayomi stretched. She had run away, finally, she had done it. That ranch was irritating and keeping slaves even more so, but that didn't matter now. She was far away from Ekaitz and never going back. At least not if she could help it.

But this city was new to her and she hadn't yet been able to find her way about and she found a sigh escaping from her lips. Hesitantly, turning around, she snagged the arm of the first person to pass by her, "Excuse me, might you be able to help me?"

[hisdivineshadow]

Adarr blinked, his ears twitched, and he turned to look at the young woman. "Ah, hello miss," he greeted her with an easy smile. "I'm not sure what I can help you with, but I'll try."

[Deleted]

She tilted her head and then gave him a large smile. "Thank you. You see, I've just moved here from quite some distance away and I was wondering if you wouldn't be able to help me around?"

She looked up at him and wished that he were a little smaller, or perhaps she were taller.

[hisdivineshadow]

The wolf affinity chuckled, one ear twitching. "Well, I can't say that I know the town much better than you. I've only visited once before, and only briefly." He tilted his head and smiled down at the girl. "Shall we explore it together?"

[Deleted]

She brightened. In Ekaitz, these people were slaves. Worth nothing more then what they could do in the fields or house. This was her first time actually interacting with one normally. "Yes, I think that would be most fun!"

[hisdivineshadow]

As they began walking together, he held a hand out toward her and introduced himself. "Adarr Nejem."

[Deleted]

"Pleasure," she said and took the hand for a brief shake. "My name is Nayomi Shirai. So what are you doing here?"

[hisdivineshadow]

"To be honest, I'm only passing through. I was traveling with my sister, but she chose to part ways." He sighed a little sadly at that.

"I plan to find a hotel for the night, and then tomorrow I'll be on my way back to Seere . . ." He trailed off. For the first time, he was feeling ambivalent about returning home for good. All this traveling, it seemed, had started to affect him. Maybe, he thought, maybe after I visit Mom I'll come back. Either here, or somewhere else. It could be fun.

[Deleted]

"Huh," she said, tilting her head to the side. Studying his face for a while, she then spoke up, "Why not stay here?" she asked and then looked ahead to avoid running into something. "I mean," she continued, "Everyone seems really nice here, so far."

[hisdivineshadow]

He blinked, surprised at how Nayomi seemed to be reading his thoughts. He was used to other Beasts being able to read him easily, as he'd never been good at hiding his tells. But in his limited experience, other elementals didn't usually have the body awareness to pick up such details. "Uhh . . . well, my family is in Seere. And . . ." He grinned and held up his right palm, showing her his new sign. "I'm looking forward to showing them this. My mom's a Mind, but up til now all my siblings have been Beasts."

[Deleted]

"So you gained a new sign, then? That's amazing! I've heard it's really hard to do that," she was amazed at how easily she found talking to him was.

[hisdivineshadow]

"Well . . ." He scratched his chin and laughed sheepishly. "Fact is, it just sort of happened . . . My sister was in trouble, and I knew I had to do something to help her. And without knowing what was happening, I was suddenly using this sign." He paused for a moment, then said matter-of-factly, "Then I passed out."

[Deleted]

She laughed. She tried not to, but it was impossible as the laughter just bubbled up and out of her. After several minutes, she calmed down. "Oh...oh," wiping a little bit of tears from her eyes.

"Oh, sorry," lightly tapping her chest, she shook her head. "That caught me off guard."

[hisdivineshadow]

The wolf-Beast chuckled. "No need to apologize, I had a good laugh at it later, myself." He considered some of what she had said, then asked, "Are you planning to live here now, yourself?"