Thar Shaddin

Rhyn didn't bother to protest as Kaevad started to groom her. But in comparison to the obvious enjoyment of the night before, she was lackluster in her reactions. While it was appreciated, no purring came from her, and she didn't lean into any particular stroke. By the time her fur was gleaming, she felt a little overdone, and wanted to move away. His hands landed on her shoulders, and rubbed briefly. Even as he began to work, Soneya came over for a few seconds. She didn't mind the young girl's brief touch. But that's what it was: brief.

Once Soneya stepped away once more, Rhyn's tail flipped back and forth, tense and uneasy. She wasn't fully comfortable, and Kaevad was all too comfortable touching her body, for a man who turned red whenever she let her fur sink into her skin. Much as cats do, she slid away from his hands, her shoulders arching downwards as she shifted away from him. "Is enough, dragon-man." Her shoulders were far from knot free, but she needed space. It felt closed in, his hands felt like they were trapping her, digging through her fur to reach her skin and muscles.

It was all just too much. Traveling in a group was too much. Constant company was too much... Her fur ruffled a little.

Kaevad knew the reaction better than he knew most of Rhyn's other reactions. "Why not go for a run, Rhyn? The plains are only two miles to the west. There's a village to the North-West we'll be heading to shortly, if you want to check it out ahead of time. For now, why not go give yourself some alone time." The understanding in his eyes was warm and uncomplicated as he stood and moved away from her.

He himself found a boulder in the sun and promptly sat on it. Scooting up a little higher on it, he sat cross-legged and spread his wings to the fullest even as his arms he rested on his knees, his head tilted up and into the sun. He was meditating and soaking in the warm rays once more. No thought came to mind but the drip of a drop of water into an otherwise calm pool. Peace... serenity... peace... patience... his breathing calmed and every inch of him was loose. Everything was right for him, though he kept a sharp ear out for danger and for Soneya's voice.

When Rhyn wriggled herself out of Kaevad’s grip, Soneya knew she would most likely take him up on his suggestion and use the opportunity for some alone time. It saddened the girl somewhat but she could understand the sentiment. For those unused to perpetual company, no matter how well it was meant, it was hard to let go of the more reclusive part of themselves. Everybody needed alone time every now and then, some just needed it more than others. And it wasn’t as though Soneya didn’t understand; heck, she had been the one to run off the night before to be by herself for a while and it had done her good. It was just the way some people were used to spending their time. Getting used to new circumstances quite simply took a while.

“I’ll go for a swim,” she told Kaevad with a smile as she watched him settle in the sun. It seemed like they all needed to just do what they preferred doing for a while without interruptions and without having to watch out for someone else who might not be up for doing the same things.

As soon as Soneya touched the water, she felt better. Water had always made her feel better but lately, that sensation had increased quite a bit. She didn’t take off her clothes, figuring that they’d dry soon enough anyways as the sun was really getting stronger. Just letting herself drift along the water on the slow current, the girl enjoyed the sensation, trying to not think about anything but she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was bugging Rhyn but seeing that the catwoman wasn’t the particularly talkative kind, she wasn’t quite sure how to get the reasons for her uneasiness out of her. Maybe Kaevad had an idea? She would ask him, once she was out of the water, which wasn’t quite yet, unless she really had to.

Rhyn nodded shortly at Kaevad. It frustrated her a little, that he was so very understanding. She didn't fully want to be understood for her time alone. She was so used to not being understood or accepted that it was almost frustrating to be accepted. Her cloak swirled around her shoulders over her harness, and glanced at Soneya.

She snorted slightly. "I will leave a trail for you." She slid into the woods, disappearing despite her light color.

He couldn't tell how long he sat there for... all he knew was the sun was warm on his bones and he was completely at peace. The dragon slept, the human was content and he was at peace. Nothing could be more right for him at the moment.

Soneya wasn’t quite sure how much time had passed but after a while, she could feel her skin rumpling up like a prune, which was a clear sign that it was time to get out of the water. It took her another while to coax Kaevad into leaving behind his sunny rock so they could follow the trail Rhyn had left for them. As much as she would have liked joining the dragon shifter in just casually lying in the sun, they couldn’t stay there forever and sooner or later, Rhyn would be waiting for them and grow anxious if they didn’t appear, because as much as the snowleopard needed her space from time to time, as easily was she worried.

She practically had to drag Kaevad along by the hand for a good portion of the first half of the way as he was walking from one patch of sun to the other and she had to keep egging him on to keep going, and basically just drag him along. How long had it been since he had gotten some sun onto his scales? The shifting had probably taken quite a bit out of him but this still seemed a little extreme to her. At least they were moving forwards, but she had the nagging feeling that this might not be good in case something happened along the way.

But her worries were for naught and even though they spent the rest of the day on the road, only arriving at the village shortly before nightfall, nothing happened and it was a fairly fun walk, quiet for the most part, but it suited Soneya just fine.

Rhyn enjoyed the sun as she moved through the woods, marking the trail. It wasn't long really, for her to be apart from the two friends that she had made. But the silence was pleasant. Only natural sounds reached her ears and it helped her relax. She could feel knots unwinding in her shoulders, and she stretched. With ease she fell into a relaxing lope, looping around trees and through spaces. It was nice to run, to feel free.

as she ran, her thoughts ran through the night before and the last week on the road with Soneya and Kaevad. She really should have just stayed near Marn, her search for Bradley's son was not yet completed. instead, she found herself laying claim to a dragon that she did not have claim to, protecting a young, puradyne girl who was not hers to protect, and foolishly throwing herself into battles...

Fool! What would Mother say! The mountains would have taken me for their own, were I so foolish as I am being now. She dug her claws into a tree, sharpening them in the manner that cats did.

She reached the village and quietly, arranged for sleeping space in their single inn, before settling down at the table that was free, a mug of nutty ale and a bowl of thick stew in front of her. She had clearly marked the trail. Even Soneya would be able to find the village.

Being led around like a child was both entertaining and degrading - it wasn't his fault he hadn't felt warm sunshine on his scales in ages... well okay it was, but hat didn't mean he had to be led like a child, hand in hand, occasionally half dragging. But it felt so lovely, and warm... and... he purred languidly as Soneya dragged him through a particularily sunny patch. So lovely.

It was when the sun began to fall that Kaevad clicked into gear mentally and simply followed Soneya without complaint, humming a jovial tune and keeping their fingers intertwined. It wasn't long before they reached the village and already Kaevad knew there would be trouble. Male scent intertwined with male scent. Very few females... oh shit.

He walked closer, more possessively, and calmly followed Rhyn's scent to the Inn, where they met her at the table. Kaevad grabbed himself and Soneya a bowl of the stew and sat down with a rumbled groan. "Sorry about taking so long - it was sunny and lovely..." He smiled wryly at Rhyn.

“Mhhh, I had to lead him here like a pet,” Soneya grinned, knowing full-well that she was going to regret it. Ah, revenge was a sweet, sweet thing and she knew Kaevad wasn’t going to let this sit. Though of course, revenge was a dish best served cold. Nevertheless, she couldn’t pass by that opportunity at a joke. “Thanks for the markers, by the way. It made it really easy for me,” Soneya smiled at Rhyn, happy to see that the woman was well and that nothing seemed to have bothered her along her trail. “How has your day been, Rhyn?”

Before long, her attention was completely on the bowl of stew, the smell too lovely to pass on trying the dish for too long. Their entry, of course, hadn’t gone unnoticed but Soneya was too hungry and too tired to care. The stew really was delicious and Soneya savoured every mouthful of it, slowly appeasing her somewhat abused stomach. She didn’t manage to finish the whole bowl however as it was quite large and she simply wasn’t used to a lot of food. Loving good food sadly was not enough to be able to stomach it, especially not with her condition of skipping meals on a regular basis. Headaches simply did not go hand in hand with a healthy appetite. At least she didn’t have a headache pounding in her head at that moment, which was a nice change and she hoped for a quiet, enjoyable evening with her two friends. But of course, things always turn out different from how one might want them to be.

Rhyn's ears turned back to listen as Soneya and Kaevad entered. She let out a small sigh of relief to know that they had made it safely, and looked up as they joined her. She nodded at the young woman. "Was good." Her simple reply was followed by her return to eating the large bowl of stew. It was not an odd answer for the cat. She had returned to her quiet, but friendly enough manner.

Her eyes scanned around the room, aware suddenly of the stares of different men that had followed Soneya's path to her. The inn doubled as the town's tavern, so many of the men came, after a day's work, to get a drink, maybe a meal, before going home. Her nose worked to untangle the knots of scent she could smell, but it was all so thick, covered in smoke, stew and the lowlands, that she couldn't smell anything properly. But there was something wrong.

Kaevad noticed the stares long before the women did, and he fought to keep his hackles down. He did, however, sit between his two women and drape his arms and wings around them possessively. The men glowered. Yeah... he was used to this. "We may have to play match-maker, ladies." Kaevad murmured, keeping his voice low. "I hadn't realized that this town was mostly males. So..." He looked at the two of them. "You're welcome to actually take a mate. Or I can pretend to be a very, very lucky man and have you both as mine, again. That is, of course, until we can manage to convince them to go to the other village and take their pick."

‘Take a mate?’ For a moment Soneya thought the dragon shifter was joking but his demeanour was serious and her eyebrows raised in surprise once she realised it? “We should just go ahead and pick one just for the sake of it?” Soneya shook her head. “No way.” She hadn’t actually looked around the inn at the men yet but their stares were boring into her by now and she felt very uncomfortable. “I’d much rather convince them to go to the other village with all those crazy females.” Of course, this was not the only thing she wanted to reply, but she wasn’t going to openly admit that she’d much rather be with Kaevad. No way in hell was she going to admit that, certainly not somewhere he could actually hear it. Plus, she wasn’t even sure that was what she really wanted. Their relation – if it could be called that – had been somewhat off the last couple of days and it had gone from very close to very distant and somewhere in between, and consequently, she had no idea. She shouldn’t be thinking about this anyway.

Especially not when one of the men suddenly got up and boldly walked over to their table, disturbing them not only in their conversation but also in their meal. So apparently manners were not really important around these parts. “Which one of you ladies would want a drink?” Without thinking, Soneya shifted closer to Kaevad and kept her gaze away from the man, not wanting to give him any ideas. How was she supposed to react to this? If she said no, it was an offense, if she said yes, she was fair game. She wanted neither of those options and wasn’t sure how to find a middle way. How glad she was to have a strong male sitting at the same table. This fact would hopefully keep trouble at bay.

Rhyn snorted at Kaevad's words. Take a mate? Like hell. She felt slightly uncomfortable with Kaevad's wing extending around her protectively, let alone if they pretended once again to be something that was not. She didn't speak as she continued eating, until the stranger approached them boldly. Her hackles bristled slightly underneath her cloak, and her round ears disappeared into her fluffy fur.

Swallowing the last bite of her stew, the shifter rose to her unimpressive height, and stared at the man, her pale eyes dangerously cold. "Both have drinks, stranger. Leave us in peace." she shoved her bowl out into the center of the table, and with a soft grunt, shifted, taking her mug of ale with her as she fought inner panic. There were too many people... but not by the fire. Her tail swayed in aggravation as she stepped away from Kaevad and Soneya, brushing past the crimson wing without pause.

The stranger, taking her response as invitation, obviously, followed. "I meant of something stronger than the house ale, kitty." Rhyn's tail lashed once as he stepped after her. Her voice was still quiet. "Only fools drink." Her voice was thickly accented as she felt the urge to shift fully to cat, from which she could easily maul the man who was bothering her. But like her shy cousins, she was more inclined to run. Her paws padded towards the hearth fire.

Kaevad watched the man warily, watching as he stalked after Rhyn. This would not end well. His time to play guardian it seemed... He stood, dragging Soneya up with him (he couldn't leave her alone) and tucked her up as close to him as he dared. "Someone's trying to take my pet from me, my love..." he rumbled, loud enough for the others to hear, though is sounded like a man grumbling to his woman.

He sidled up to the woman, acting the player and hating every minute. "She is quite lovely isn't she? So's the lass on my arm... bet you want them for yourself." Kaevad's smile was as oily as the man's hair. Of course the dolt nodded and the others roared their agreement. "Sadly, you can't have them... but there is a village of only women, not too far from here." "Bullshit!" One man crowed. "No village could last with only women!" The crowd roared in laughter. "Alright, alright, there is a man or two there, but they're taken. There are plenty of single women there... they were fighting over me at points." He voice was cocky now. The men looked at each other.

"Where's'it at?" One called. "I'll show you tomorrow. For now... my mates and I need to retire... they require... rest." He waggled his 'eyebrows' causing the men to hoot in approval. Keavad bent slightly and gestured for Rhyn to go up the stairs, following closely when she did, still keeping Soneya pressed to him. It was only once they were safely behind closed doors that he released her reluctantly.

"Well... I wasn't expecting that. Sorry ladies..."

When the man stalked after Rhyn, Soneya was glad that he let her be but at the same time, she knew it was bad news. Either Rhyn was going to lash out or Kaevad was going to pull his guardian card, both of which could cause quite a fuss in this place. Then again, she didn’t know what else to do at the moment either, so she stuck close to Kaevad, clinging to him as best she could and hoped for the best.

However, her courage piped up a little bit when the men finally believed Kaevad and inquired about the village. She would even have given them details about it, already wanting to chime in that there had been a real bitch fight almost, but she didn’t dare after all and merely nodded to Kaevad’s words to stretch the truth contained in them. She still wasn’t quite sure whether the men had believed them or not but at least they were interested enough in hearing more details to let them leave the room in peace. Of course, that was no guarantee for quiet but soon enough they were in their sleeping quarters, and on their own. For now.

It was reluctantly that she accepted Kaevad letting go of her as well. Shivers were running up and down her spine as she thought about the men downstairs. There had been something savage about them and it made her extremely uncomfortable to know that they were not far away and that there were so many of them. She knew Kaevad would be able to handle them all, but at what price? It would be better if they were all to just go to their own homes and wait until the morrow when Kaevad would show them to the village.

Looking at Rhyn, Soneya wondered how angry the snowleopard was at the whole situation. The invasion of her privacy from both the stranger and Kaevad had probably been quite taxing after a day of solitude, but she hoped that the woman was fine. She didn’t go near her however, not wanting to impose herself, fearing that the incident might still be nagging at her. Instead, she wandered over to the bed furthest away from the door and slipped under the blanket, arranging the cushion so that she could comfortably lean against the wall with the blanket wrapped around her.

“Are you just going to tell them where to go or are you going to show them there? And are you really sure it’s a good idea to send a bunch of overly needy guys into that village?” In all honesty, she wasn’t quite sure whether she was more worried about the men, the women or the general implication of these two villages clashing.