It was early in the morning, and the air refreshingly crisp for a late summer day. Akon, staff still in hand and cowl drawn against the growing daylight, made her way to the edges of the town, passing the frences and now harvested farm lands, glancing at the fall crops as they seasoned. She went up to Jeb's cabin and gently rasped a few knuckles against its door in a soft knock.
After hearing the soft knock at the door, the sounds of dishes rattling and a crash of breaking glass can be heard from within the cabin. A voice calls out "Just a minute, please! Oh Abigal, me girl, I was just havin' a taste o' the pie! Then that knock scared me clean out of it and I dropped it. I'm sorry, me girl." The door in front of Akon swings open, and Jeb stands in front of her, half covered in blueberry and half covered in coffee. "Aye, Miss Akon is it? Come for your horse, have ye?"
"Aye. I acquired her, alright. She's the dumpy lookin' white one over there in the corner." Jeb points towards what appears to be a cross between a donkey and a brood mare. She is white, about 11 hands high, and currently chewing straw. Her hind quarter is a mass of flies and a tail that hasn't seen a brush in several months.
As Akon finishes speaking, a shrill scream erupts from a pen behind the fat mare. Jeb rips his glasses out of his pocket, planting them firmly on his face. "Oh well my my my Wrong horse deary. Ol Eloise there ain't look like much, but she pulls a good plow." Jeb continues on to the fence, motioning for Akon to follow. The fence here is a good 15 feet high, in a circle with several leads and bits hanging over the railings. As the two near, a magnificent Mustang, 15 hands high, and black as midnight bucks into the air, letting loose another scream. The horse rounds to where the two stand, kicking at the fence as the boards clammor against the strike. "Might wanna get some help with him. He's a little....rough around the edges."
Jeb looks on at the horse and replies "No. No, I don't name the ones I don't intend on keepin. He needs to know who his mama is. You gotta spend time with him. Every day for around a month, I think would do best. For the first week or so, you want to just stand outside the pen and talk to him, calm like. Tell him how you feel, anything on your mind. Horses are smarter than us. They can sense things. After that week, you're going to want to get some help if you don't know how to tame one."
Cail was flying back towards town as he heard the screaming horse from Jeb’s farm. With keen eyes, he spots the figures below watching the unbroken horse kick at the fence and such. He decided he should see what was going on, so he glided down to the farmhouse and hovered there in front of Akon.
“What’s going on? Where are you off to?”
The woman continued to stand where she was, observing in silence. The only movement that came from her was the turning of her head to watch Jeb, Akon, and the spirited Stallion. She was about to step towards the warlock when a large owl descended to join them and speak with Akon. So, after one small step, the hooded woman kept her distance.
Akon leaned against the fence post, glancing towards Cail. "I...have things I need to attend to. And I need to travel quickly, and as fond of teleporting as I am, where I am going, such would be suicide." She responded, looking back to the stallion. She watched him for a long while, just staying there.
"Didn't think you were getting away without saying goodbye.", Jael said with a hint of sadness though something in his tone gave away the fact that Jael knew Akon was leaving. He stepped out from behind one of the trees wearing pants and maroon tunic. Jael's left arm is done up in a sling and a line of red face paint runs from his forehead down over his right eye ending at his chin. "Hello Cail.", He gave a nod in their direction as a greeting.
He pivoted his head to look at the horse behind him without turning his body as he hovered. “Very… excited, isn’t he?” Cail then shrunk to the smallest owl form he could, about a foot and a half long, and landed on Akon’s shoulder, careful not to scratch or poke her with his talons.
As he heard the movement of the man, Cail turned his head again to look in his direction, narrowing his eyes. “Jael…” he said in return with a lack of enthusiasm. Speaking aloud, not taking his eyes off of Jael, Cail said, “I suppose you don't want to waste time… calming this beast.”
Thinking of the words he wanted to say to it, Cail sent out a mental burst of thought to the stallion. {Commune Nature}
Akon glanced back at Jael, her gaze lingering on him for a moment, looking at the red. "I'll return, you know that." Akon said, then looking back to the Stalliion. "Jeb said I need to spend time with it first, and then I would need your help. I need to bond with it first, Cail, so I won't need your help quite yet, but soon, I imagine....hmn.....Veldrin.....Veldrin suits him."
Hearing Akon's reply, Cail cut off the link between the animal and himself and sighed. "As you wish," he said stepping off of her shoulder and flying up to the top of the stable, landing on its roof. He shifted to his larger self, finding that being small for exteded periods tended to make him ache.
"But you know, if you bond with it, you won't need my help at all."
Cail gazed at the woman from his vantage point with some caution. Most people that looked upon the Warlock in that way either knew her or were completely ignorant not to notice her particular... aura. The druid had his suspicions, but he wasn't remotely close to being sure about them.
The woman sighed. "I had hoped this would have been a more private affair..." She said quietly then removed her hood. The [Disguised] Ixifar revealed a face of an Uordeq. Pale skin, deep red lips, and calm green eyes that peered over towards Akon. Her expression was sincere and she held her hands in front of her, a gesture to display her good will. "You can call me Kestral, miss Nivarian. Kestral Voimakas."
"We're a small clan, most of which was bought a long time ago. My home is not far from your Shadelands, and one I have not seen in....well, too long. A little birdy caught my ear in that you wish to travel that way, and soon. So, I've come to offer my services in exchange for transport. Nothing more, nothing less." 'Kestral' answered, evenly.
"Really." Akon said, her scrutiny rising. "Ive told three people of my plans of travel, and they often don't publically speak of my plans. And you wish transport with me? Tch. Tol dak ni lothani me lumbrea e me sumaritae." She rattled off the last part in pure Uordeq, her features less than approving.
"Like I said before, I would have prefered this be a private affair. But jos aiomme i chwarae gêm peliä, hefyd chwarae pelata...Vel e tibi aliquid su malea, dommi. Puer sum Saxum." The woman answered, slipping from common to a perfectly accented desert trade language commonly used among the Ixifar, then slipped into a well spoken, but less as strong Uordeq. She looked at the warlock in the eyes, with an expectant expression.
Cail stared at the three with narrowed eyes while they spoke in different tongues. He didn't have an ear for it, nor was he fond of listening to conversations he couldn't understand. So without saying a word, he lifted off from from his perch and flew away towards town, seemingly a little aggitated.
The woman's green eyes flicked over to Jael as he spoke. She arched a brow as a half-annoyed, half-incredulous look colored her features. "Tyhmä ihmisen..." She muttered under her breath, before speaking up to him, "You speak very strange, humie." Her tone of voice was familiar, her usual irritated voice seeping through her disguise.
Cail's sudden lift off caught 'Kestral's' eye, visibly distracting her for a moment before returning her gaze to Akon.
Akon glanced at Jael with a likewise incredulous look. "I don't need your services, 'Kestral.' Besides, I can't leave yet. I was expecting a broken horse, but this one's spirit is far to strong to take me anywhere yet without bonding with it." She turned back to the wild mustange, glancing at him, but seemed pleased. "Just what I had hoped for..." She said more to herself and the horse than anyone else, moving next to the pen once more, and folding her arms to watch him. "Veldrin."
'Kestral' green gaze cooly followed the former paladin as he walked away. She returned her gaze back to Akon and once Jael was out of view, she dropped her disguise. "I didn't mean to hide from you Akon...I just don't trust the others...and I had an idea, but if you're desire is to go alone, I won't encroach on that." Lia explained. She stuided the grazing stallion with an approving nod. "I guess you won't really be alone. He'll make a fine companion."
A taller woman stood a few paces behind her, dressed in traveler's gear of reds and blacks, and covered in a kneelength brown cloak. It's hood was drawn, making it hard to distinguish who it was [Disguise]. She'd followed the warlock out to the farm in comfortable silence.