Early morning cast its soft rays of light across the horizon. Another sunny day for Jastrey. Lia sat outside the tavern on one of the tables at the edge of the woods staring up at the ever brightening sky. One hand clutched her necklace, the other was used to prop herself up, and she gave a long tired sigh. "No early morning prank this time...who knew I'd miss that so much." Her voice was soft, and somewhat sad, but not the usual sort that came from this Ixifarian woman. Lia reched up a hand to her feathered neck. Scratching at it for a bit, her fingers slid over one long and crisp feather. Gently she plucked it and tucked it under her sun visor at the side of her head. The look of familiarity she held spoke of this being a long standing ritual of hers, in one way or another. "Happy Birthday, feather-brain...Love you too, Ther." She whispered.
Bel smirked. "Every morning we are born again when we wake to a new days breath." Bel took out his pipe and packed it methodically. He looked up to Lianna and commented, "you seem too young for the melancholy in your eyes, well the meloncholy I see at times in Lia."
"This is Lia. And if I have any say in the matter, so it will stay." She corrected firmly, but not in a unforgiving manner. The Ixifar was beginning to get used to people's uncertainty, and refering to her as one of her 'others'. Her blue eyes stared out before them for a moment, lost in thought. "Perhaps I am too young. But this world is harsh mistress, and makes no distinctions between persons no matter the age. I'm 23 years now, but I've faced more than a number of people more than double my age."
"Aye" Bel nods his head in understanding "I myself lived a very easy life for a long time. But the toll Jastrey has taken on me." Bel shakes his head in disbelief "What a couple of moons can do to you. Long forgotten is the care-free shepherd taking care of his flock in the patures. The wolves I worried about are now manticores after drinking tainted water, the biggest dangers have magnified, and yet my responsibilities are the same, I have found that we were made for a reason, and that reason persists in all circumstances and shards. I will be a shepherd until I die. Just like you will be what at your essence the immortals made you to be." Bel lights his pipe and puffs slowly making lots of airomatic smoke.
Belemrys looks intently at Lia, her body language showing hostility, not at him but what he stands for...pensively he lets some quiet moments pass so as to let the possible hostility in the air dissipates.
"The immortals are real, and I can assure you they are coming back. I would look hard at your essence and figure out your purpose. Because when the time comes you will play a role in it all. You better be prepared."
Bel gets up and dumps the ash our of his pipe and puts it away. He pulls his cloak close around him and with startling conviction in his eyes he stares into Lia's eyes, as if looking into her soul and judging her worth...
"Never said they weren't. Just they can stick themselves for all I care." Lia replied plainly, her expression a hint of definiance and disrespect common to her. Though, as the ixifarian man emptied his pipe and took a stance infront of her, she flinched some under his scrutiny. Unable to pull her bright blues from the gravity of Belemry's own dark eyes, she stared back opening herself up to him. Peering in told of a long, troubled struggle. It showed deep sorrow and great loss. And an unyeilding well of strength that had hardly been tapped. And more that lay buried under the surface.
Bel's eyes soften as he comes to understand more of whom she is and what she feels. "I don't know the facts surrounding you past Lia, but I do know about faith and belief. There are two reasons for someone to not believe and trust in that which they do not control; intellectual ones and emotional ones. It is easy to intellectually disabuse you about misconceptions concerning the Immortals. But the emotional damage..." Bel shakes his head in sadness, "...there is little anyone can do to heal those wounds except be a good friend and show how the Immortals do have plans for us, and they do have redeeming qualities...even when we plead for their help and only hear silence in the void."
Bel looks at Lia and says, "You will always find a friend in me."
With that he smiles at her and begins to walk in the direction of the Tavern.
Lia eyed him, somewhat hesitant. Uncertainty marked her face, but her lips remained closed. As he turns she says softly, "I'll...try to remember that. Though..." She slips down off the table, and pats off her back side. "I hardly even know about my own kin. I don't know how much I'll learn about your Immortals."
Bel turns his shoulder around briefly and says gently, "They are your immortals too Lia...and maybe one day I can tell you about where I am from and you can better understand the Ixifar kin you don't know...Happy Birthday Lia Saxum" He then continues his walk towards the tavern.
A black clad Uordeq crossed the path of the retreating Ixifar as she passed the tavern, bow on her back and a still twitching field rabbit in hand. Owlish eyes looked over both Belemrys and Lia from the opening in her mask, her neutral gaze quickly turning to an unsettled glower at the word 'birthday.' She continued on in silence, disregarding the two and turning her eyes to the treeline.
Lia grinned despite herself. "Maybe." She added lightly. Afterwhich, she let the 'shepard' be, resuming her quiet, contemplation, leaning up against the table. Her eyes caught the sight of a familar Uordeq archer crossing Belemry's path towards the treeline. The movement in the woman's hand drew the Ixifar's attention to the rabbit she must have just caught. This set a low rumbling in Lia's stomach, at which she sighed. "That's probably a good idea..." She muttered to herself as she pushed off the table and started to make for the road.
Desiderio walks up the road, torn clothes and blood everywhere. He is pulling a small cart with something large and covered towards the tavern, then he spots Lia. With a slight smile on his face, he makes his way up towards her. Giving nods in acknowledgement toward the two uordeq on the way over. He is walking with a slight limp.
Des stops pulling and drops the handles of the cart, making it shift forward. He chuckles a bit, lazily and states between gasps of air, "Hey... birthday bird! You won't believe what I got us for lunch!"
He stumbles over the handle of the cart to circle around it quarter way and then grips the cloth that is wrapping around what is in the cart. He stops for a moment to catch his breath. Then pulls back half way to uncover a dead, full grown striped wildebeest. It has it's neck really distorted looking as if broken. But there are no holes that it is bleeding from.
The Ixifar crosses over to the cart with a curious bounce in her step. Leaning in on its edge, a wide surprised smile spread across her face as she peers in. "Where...? Des you stupid horn-head." Still beaming, she jumps up to give her friend a tight hug. "You should know better than to hunt one of these off on your own! Immortals! They've got a nasty buck!" Her hug tightens, and her head turns closer to his ear. "Thanks Desi." She says hardly more than a whisper.
Des hugs her back tightly with a smile, though he's still struggling from the pain. "Yeah... I killed about 3 the easy way--" He releases his hug and sits on the edge of the cart, "--before I realized it wouldn't preserve well on the trip back. So I had to find a way to strangle one and snap it's neck." As he speaks the word neck, he turns his head to crack his. He looks toward Binx and in a low voice toward Lia states, "Maybe I should have asked for a LITTLE help." His voice perks back up again, "But yeah, have this dragged to the cooks in the tavern and we'll have a feast for all our friends tonight. I gotta go to the Healer's Den." With that he stands up and heads on his way.
Bel noticed Lia, or was it Lianna today? She seemed in good humor. He walked up to her table sat down next to her softly as to not startle her. "How did you know it was my birthday?" Good humor spread across his smile as it was obviously not his birthday.