To anyone passing by, Solas can be seen sitting under a large oak tree atop a hill just outside of Jastrey. His eyes are shut. His head is tilted upward toward the starry sky above. His blindfold is draped around his neck, hanging. He wears a blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up in the heat, and black pants. He sits on his black coat like a blanket. Black leather boots clad his feet. His trusty sword, Blind Strike, sits next to him, resting against the tree. In one hand he holds a thin black book, his thumb marking a page. In his other is an unlit briar pipe, half filled with tabacco. He sits, blissfully, under the open night sky.
Solas opens a single eye, regarding the Uordeq woman. He touches his chest a few times with the hand that holds the briar pipe.
"Yep. Still here." he says, dully. He closes his eyes, and rests his head back agains the tree. "Have your eyes always been that color?" He cocks an eyebrow at her, eyes still shut.
"No. They haven't." She replied, completely turning to face him. "They were brown before. No blindfold tonight?"
Katri stood relaxed, sliding the letter in her hand into the bag at her hip. Her spellsteel rested in it's sheath and her bow was nowhere in sight. Her attire was rather typical of when she had first come to Jastrey: loose traveling pants, simple boots, and a forest green shirt with narrow straps topped with her corset-like jerkin. Around her own neck is her mask of black leather. She carries herself somewhat less arrogantly and her tone is almost polite and conversational.
Solas shakes his head against the tree, still not looking at the uordeq girl.
"Not tonight." He says, glowering. He opens one eye again, stealing a peak at the princess. "You look good. Healthy, I mean. What have you been getting yourself into, Princess?" He tries to push a jovial tone into the words, but they seem to come out hollow. He scowls slightly, as though the words taste wrong in his mouth.
"Don't force yourself, Solas." A small smile of humor crossed the Uordeq's face as she let out a small laugh. She studied his reaction and scowl for a brief moment longer before continuing. "You're probably about as happy to see me back as I am to be here. Likely about as interested in what I've been up to, as well."
Katri moved to lean against a odd, low jutting branch of the tree. "I was at home til two days ago, with plans far far from Jastrey. I suppose there's no point in me arguing against your delightfully snide nickname for me, either? Now. What of the wild hunt and the town on the map of every big bad known to orn? Anything interesting?"
Solas opens both eyes, looking up at the starry night sky. A small smile forms at the curves of his mouth.
"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't curious, Katri." He pauses, chewing on the name. "The Hunt is as strong as ever." There's a slight pang in his voice. "Finian is gone. Left, with Doran, the Paladin. Blisdon tends to his grove. And me," He pauses looking briefly at the girl, before turning his head to the stars above, "I have my own work to do." He stops speaking long enough to put the pipe his his mouth, and shove the small black book into his pocket. "As for the town of Jastrey, well, it seems our little town has been the focal point for an Immortal resurgence." He says with a sort of nonchalance that shouldn't be nonchalant.
"Immortal resurgence. How interesting." The thickly accented voice mused after acknowledging his use of her name with another small smile. His manner was somewhat off, but to her it had often seemed that way, so she made no comment on his odd choice of tone. Instead she simply remarked on his vague answer for himeself as he stared at the stars. "Ever the Empyrean."
Never mind that Katerina herself stared up at the sky and sighed a little, a small crease finding it's way to her brow. "I was working toward regaining my home from the Dwarven King. I had set up in my mother's Clan's home. It was slow, but we were doing well enough."
Solas closes his eyes, and nods at the girl.
"Yes, well, that sounds like quite the project. Ever the Cassitran." He says with a smirk. The smile fades from his face. "I never got to tell you, I'm sorry... about your father. I heard what happened and..." He voice trails off, he seems to go silent. "I've never been good at this sort of thing." He pauses long enough to stare up at the stars. Both his palms lay flat against the ground.
"I like the stars." He says, rather suddenly. "It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, nothing really lasts. But from here, I can pretend." He pauses taking a deep breath, and closing his eyes. He seems to tense up, mostly in the arms in shoulders, as if pushing his palms flat against the ground. "I can pretend that things last. I can pretend that lives last longer than moments. Mortals flicker and flash and fade. Even the Immortals come, and go. Realms and worlds are transient, fleeting things that twinkle like fireflies and vanish into cold and dust. But I can pretend." His shoulder seem to sag, as he picks his palms up, and begins to rub them against his pantlegs. He lays his head against the tree and closes his eyes. "Sorry, M'Lady." He seems to mumble under his breath. He chews on this a bit, and then smiles subtly to himself.
Katri tensed for a moment at the mention of Aleksei. She exhaled slowly and relaxed, ignoring the twinge in the pit of her stomach. She smiled, if a little wryly at first before it became a little more easy and genuine. "Father... My father was filth, even by Uordeq standards. His death was impending one way or another. It... just came as a shock that his death... my vegeance- whether exacted by my hand or not- did nothing for me. Not outside of moving another piece out of my path. His death did not give the relief I thought it would, not over my mother."
The Uordeqi woman chuckled. "It took a lot to see how stupid I was. Not that I know why the pit I'm telling you this. I guess cause I understand, in a way, why you like to look at the stars and pretend. Even for a little while. A new realization for me. From princess to m'lady, your humor never fails you, Solas the Farseer." She added with a snort.
Solas keeps his eyes shut, and winces somewhat at the sound of his name being spoken by someone gifted in the arts, but relaxes.
"I never knew your mother." He says solemnly. "I know you, your brother, his spawn. I even met your father... once. Tell me about her. If it's not too forward." He pauses. "And for the record, I call you princess out of humor. I call you m'lady, out of respect." He seems to say, matter-of-factly.
"I see, my apologies. I'm not quite used to respect coming from the citizens of Jastrey." She replied with open sincerity. "One brother. There are two. As for my mother, it is fine. I have come to terms with it better, recently... She was a terrible Uordeq. She was quiet, caring, and a good mother by standards possibly close to that of other races. She was like... a more consistent and earnest version of Rasiri, really. Only far less irritating. She loved all three of us, even though Rayst and Rasiri were not hers. She cared for me well, and tried to rais me her way. Aleksei drove her mad and she killed herself. A weak, sad excuse for an Uordeq- a wonder she ever married the king, or even survived long enought to marry in the first place. Her redeeming quality: she was the best damned archer the castle had seen."
"As you have said many times before." She responded with a shrug, grin obvious in her tone. More solemnly, she added, "She was my mother. It was a long time ago, long before I began to dare believe I could taint myself with the Arts. All the same, thank you."
She hauled herself up to sit on the tree branch and stared at the moon over head. "This is odd."
Solas smiles slightly, not looking at the uordeq.
"Very." Is all he mutters before standing up. He gathers up his things in silence, throwing his coat over his shoulder, and clipping his blade to his belt. He pats the pocket where the black book is stored, and smiles. He turns toward the uordeqi girl and places a single hand on top of her head. He smiles. "It's good to have you back, Kateria." He turns to walk away, takes a few steps, before calling over his shoulder, "You should really see your brother." He says with a wry, catlike grin, before disappearing into the treeline.
Katri hopped back down from the branch as the Empyrean began to gather his things. She returned his smile, albeit a touch sarcastic in comparison, when he made the familiar gesture of resting a hand atop her head as he welcomed her back. "Thanks."
She watched him begin to walk away, when he paused to make an addition to his farewell. You should really see your brother. The grin on Solas' face told her that there was more to it than just visiting her eldest brother. In fact, the catlike grin made her think that she would either be highly amused, completely mortified, utterly ashamed or any combination of the three. After all... it was him... She shook her head and muttered softly, "Great Shades... what now?" Tugging her hood up, and placing her mask back upon her face, the small Uordeqi woman resumed her walk toward the Shadey Corners.
In the light of the moon, a small form strode from the trees into the cleaing, purposefully heading in the direction of Jastrey. Her path lead her close to the tree where the familar, white haired man sat, though she didn't quite seem to notice him yet. The closer she got, the more obvious it became that she was muttering unhappily under her breath in a mixture of common and something else. It was only when she had just passed Solas, that she paused in her tracks and shook her head as if she had been unsure of what she saw. Violet eyes looked back over her shoulder and she muttered, "Immortals.. you all are still here?"