[Featured characters: Aila, Alanis, Borus, Geddoe] Budehuc Castle: Ranch This is a very modest ranch, consisting of one large fenced in area and a moderately sized stables. Zexen and Grasslands-style horses both find comfort here, among the narrow little stalls. A storage barn sits beside the stables, filled with bales of hay and assorted boxes. A small well rests just west of the stables, built of gray stone with a wooden cover. Brick and wood make up the stables, and the fence which surrounds the area looks like it was built haphazardly, with the posts tied together with unevenly crossed pieces of wood. ===== Just past the stable stalls and across the fence that separates the horse's roaming area from that of the castle's denizens, Aila kneels, long grasses swaying and dancing around her. Her head is tilted, so that one ear is pressed against the rich soil, hands a foundation to support her balance, and her bow lies, forgotten, to her side; an expression of concentration covers her face, eyes closed in an attempt to focus. Her gentle breathing is so soft as to hardly be dicernible at all, but she is quite alive, and that is undeniably proven when she leaps to her feet, fetching her bow in the same breath, and dashes forward. She stops, falls to her knees again, listens a bit more, then rises, this time more slowly, and dusts off her clothing. Le sigh. It was the pink outfit that Ace had purchased for her back when it was not appropriate for her to appear Karayan, sne she felt so restricted in it. Unfortunately, the bulk of her clanly clothing was covered in sticky, sickeningly sweet syrup, and she had yet to clean it or convince someone else to do the task for her. To further worsen matters, her spare outfit was currently in the process of being repaired - a bit of a hunting accident - and she couldn't wear it either. A pity clothing didn't make or buy itself. Geddoe really didn't have much of a choice but to buy new boots, but to get it in the style he likes he'll have to wait - the sticky stuff seems to have finally gotten off his pants... and looking somewhat odd and out of place is one Geddoe - sans boots. He's leaning against a shady tree, arms propping his head. His one good eye is closed - possibly in slumber. This strange sight greets Alanis as she ambles down the pathway from the main grounds, with a soda clutched in both hands. Geddoe brings a smile to her face, though since he's sleeping he probably won't notice, and the Karayan girl earns a strange look. She knows a Grasslander when she sees one, but those clothes just look... odd, on her. Don't they refuse to wear foreign stuff? Or maybe that's just one of those things Zexens say. She shrugs at the thought and takes a sip of her soda, then waves timidly at the girl. Through one of the dutch doors to a stall, a dark bay horse hangs it head out. The animal's coat tells of good grooming, and its commanding size of 16.2 hands speaks of its role as a charger in the Zexen Army. While most likely bred for speed and strength, the horse is remarkably amicable to its apparent owner, Borus, who can be seen currying the animal's barrel, strangely oblvious to the others who seem to have gathered at the stables. When Aila catches sight of Alanis, she wavers between dashing into the forests or moving closer. After all, the last female she met ended up summoning enough syrup to drive Barts up a tree with fear, and she wasn't certain that it would be worthwhile to take the chance of a similiar occurence happening. After all, this was the last currently wearable outfit she had! What would she have to do, if it too was put out of order? Prance around nude? No, certainly not! Despicable notion! But, ah, well; there was nothing to be hunted at the moment, and the earth spirit was just gurgling unintelligibly as she generally always perceived it to. Inspired by boredom, she dashes to cross the distance between herself and Alanis, coming to a halt before the younger girl, having not even broken a sweat. What's sprinting to a Karayan, after all? "Hello," she greets, bow still clutched in one hand. Then, her eyes dance to none other than Geddoe. Shoeless Geddoe. She has to fight back a chuckle, because, for some reason, it strikes her as amusing! The fearless, brooding Geddoe, fully clothed in armor, leaning against a tree, without boots. Luckily, she doesn't observe Borus, and her disposition remains friendly. Well.... the worst one can suffer at Alanis's hands is a singing from a backfired fire spell... or something... Geddoe hasn't really made any motion type things to indicate that he has heard anyone... Alanis grins up at the Karayan girl - she'd offer to shake hands, but Zexen greetings probably wouldn't inspire any more friendly feelings. Besides, she's carrying her soda! "Hello. I saw you over there just now... what were you doing?" She tilts her head, taking another sip of soda from the straw. There she is, always curious. None of her tutors have told her much about Grasslanders. Hopefully one can forgive her for getting right to the point. The charger lifts its head at the noise of the girls talking, causing Borus to come to the front of the stall and see what is going on. He glares at the Karayan girl--the same one from the Tavern the night before. He remains silent, again forcing himself to obey the order to not cause any problems. Climbing under the animal's neck, he begins currying that side, and keeps a watch on the area outside. Aila tilts her head upon hearing Alanis' question, then returns her bow to its resting place behind her back. In a relatively congenial voice, she explains, "Well, I was trying to hunt, but there's nothing much out right now." As an after thought, she adds, "Oh, and I was listening to the earth spirits, too. Their chatter can be very relaxing, although I don't understand much. Helps one focus, too, and enhances alertness in their environment." She nods sagely, then sends another glance to the fields and bordering woods. "Actually, they've been more quite than usual, lately. Or maybe I'm losing my hearing." The Karayan girl giggles a little at this, then hops over the fence, her landing effortlessly achieved. Geddoe opens his eye a bit, glancing at the source of the talking. He'd been aware of Aila's little hunting exercise, content to ignore it even.... he doe notice Alanis is speaking to Aila this time and watches the two quietly, "......" "You can listen to spirits?" Well now, she's never heard of that before. When Alanis hears "spirit," the image that comes to mind is a ghost rattling its chains in an attic, and the look she gives Aila is mystified. "Doesn't that scare you?" Or maybe not all spirits are like the ones in her books, but... what other kind could there be? Or maybe it's a kind of magic - which only piques her interest more. The talk of 'spirits' intrigues Borus enough for him to lean over the lower door to the stall. He sees the little girl whose clothes and speech tell him that she is a Zexen. "Spirits don't exist, and the mention of them will anger the Goddess" is all he says before returning to groom his horse. "Um, well, no...they don't really say much. If I was scared of them, I'd also have to be afraid of the earth beneath my feet or the trees surrounding. That'd be silly," details Aila, extrapolating upon her spirit hearing. She cannot begin to fathom how spirits could resemble anything terrifying, unless one was speaking of fire. Silly Zexens. They really -are- a misguided people. But she can't blame for that, can she? After all, she didn't know any other Karayans right off hand that took the time to listen to the song of the earth spirits, nor did she know if there were others who could. Puzzling, now that she thinks on it. Raising one hand, she gestures to the Mother Earth rune that is affixed to it, "And I'd probably have to be afraid of this, too. The spirits are part of runes, after all." Borus' words hit Aila like a boulder from above. She leans forward and points at him menacingly, exclaiming, "How dare you say that?! You don't know! You haven't heard them! Just because you, personally, can't feel them, doesn't mean they don't exist! Stupid, ignorant ironhead!" "Aila, control your temper." Geddoe says calmly, he's awake... and there's really at this point no reason to feign that he's still asleep. "The Zexens have their ways... the Grasslanders have theirs." He glances to Borus. "Everyone is entitled to their beliefs - to each their own." Borus gently pushes the horse's head out of the way such that he can again lean out of the stall. He looks at the man with the eyepatch. "We may all have our own ways, but she doesn't need to be corrupting our children with them." Alanis looks at the fire rune on her hand, rubbing at it. A spirit? Well if that's so, it would be nice if that spirit would listen to her more. You'd think it would be more particular about who it hits, too. Poor Geddoe. She glances over at him and, when she sees him watching, smiles and waves - and jumps when Aila starts yelling. Her head whips around to stare. She'd heard him, but... is that... /Borus/? That brings another grin to her face, despite the argument. She hasn't ever seen him this close before. His next words bring a hint of a frown to her face, though. "But there's nothing wrong with learning about it..." Aila stamps her foot upon the ground, a cloud of dust released into the air in response. She glares at Geddoe, then replies, "But...to say that the spirits don't exist..." She almost can't even stand to continue, seething, "It's unspeakable! I'm not delusional, am I? I can hear -them-, but I've yet to hear any so-called goddess. Or do I not, in all actuality, here them at all? Am I just crazy?!" Placing her hands on her hips, she takes a step back and sighs, "Or...maybe both exist. Or are the same." She doesn't see anything wrong with that logic. Everyone interprets things differently, and it's just like a Zexen to skew the facts. Geddoe stands up, dusting off the bits of debris on his armor. "These lands belong neither to Zexen nor the Grasslands. What children wish to learn of the other culture is encouraged here..." he pauses and then says pointedly, "Or was at one point." To aila he replies, "I cannot hear the spirits, but I honor them." Alanis nods at Geddoe's words, looking back up to Aila. "I don't see a problem with it. In Harmonia, they get their blessings from a rune. If you say spirits are in runes..." Her family was never much for the Goddess... or maybe their traveling just makes it easier to forget about her. Alanis herself has never thought much about either one, and honestly... she tried reading the scriptures of the Goddess once, and was bored to death. She even fell asleep during a sermon once. How embarassing. "I don't think you're crazy..." Well, maybe that isn't the best way to put it, but she /is/ a kid. A bright smile graces Aila's lips, and she directs it towards Geddoe. The captain may be silent, but he's open-minded. Alanis receives a smile of kind, but Borus is given the gift of a smoldering glare, compliments of two flickering turquoise eyes. "Thanks, both of you. It doesn't matter what a person's beliefs are, so long as they don't openly insult the validity of other's. Everyone has the right to believe what they may." It doesn't matter whether or not it's clearly wrong and illogical, does it? Whatever makes the believer happy. Aila's just happy that she's on the "right" side of things. She leans against the fence and looks to Borus, wondering if he intends to apologize for his derogatory comment. He started it, after all. Geddoe comments idly, "Sometimes... the wisdom of old is found in the ideals of a child..." It's a musing tone of voice. He glances to Borus... well... everyone is entitled to their opinion. Borus drops his currycomb and picks up a stiff haired brush, which he uses in long, firm, strokes against the horse's sides. He has been hearing all of this discussion, and calls to the group, the closest thing to an apology or a compromise you'd expect from him. "So be it. As this land is neither Zexen nor Grassland, perhaps both ideals are allowed to stand at this castle." Alanis takes another sip of her soda, and the telltale slurping sound indicates that she's about done with it. Darn. She's tempted to wander back down and ask Mamie for another one, but she really shouldn't waste her money, if she's going to save up for a rune, and magic school, and all of that stuff. "Do you think..." She casts a sidelong glance at Borus. It wouldn't be good to appear, well... sacreligious, but... "Can you tell me more about it? The spirits? I've never seen anything like that in books. It sounds really interesting!" Much more interesting than the Hundred Verses, or anything that came out of church in Vinay del Zexay. Wait a second! Who's Geddoe calling a child? Surely not Aila. All right, so it probably was intended for Aila, and this detail riles her a bit, "Please keep in mind that, by my clan's standards, I am no child. It would be polite of you to respect that." Recently, she'd decided that responding to the accusation with fury didn't exactly paint her in the right light. Then, she turns to Alanis, smiling, and she nods, "Sure. I don't really know much about them, though. Maybe we can research them together?" Zexen and Karayan unity, right? "Oh, and some of the girls from Alma Kinan might know about it! They're deeply tied to the spirits, or so I've heard." Borus continues to brush his horse. While the whole idea of siding with barbarians is distasteful to him, some of this comraderie may not be bad at all. He listens to the children's conversation, but refrains from offering any more "suggestions." "One of the guards at the Great Hollow told me a story about them..." Alanis muses, taking an extra slurp of her soda to get the last little bit. She'll have to remember to take it back down to the cafe, or else Mamie'll get mad. "It was really sad, though... and it sounded really... fantastical." Is that the right word? It sounds like it, but... oh well. "If there are really people from Alma Kinan here, we should talk to them. I don't think we'll find anything in the library... most of it is Zexen stuff. My tutors didn't know much about it either." In fact, most adults she knew liked to pretend Grassland didn't exist at all. Why? It sounds so interesting, with talking to spirits, making friends with griffons... well, Hugo did, anyway... Borus finishes brushing the horse's coat and takes a treat out of his pocket for the beast. He holds the carrot flat in his palm and waits for the animal to accept it. Aila arches an eyebrow at Alanis. She didn't think that the Lizard clan was normally so open with ones of Zexen heritage. Perhaps there was more to this girl than she had at first surmised? "What knowledge the Karayans have of the spirits is passed down through word of mouth, and so many of the people that knew about it have died...but Chief Lucia or Luce might know a bit about the subject. Those from Alma Kinan are still the best source, though." Grief for those that were lost in the destruction of Karaya's village throbs in Aila's heart, and she spins to watch Borus. How could the beast tolerate the man? Calling out to him, the warrior inquires, "Ask yourself, Zexen! Do you value your dignity over your consciense?" She then smiles to Alanis and waves, "We'll meet later, all right?" Without waiting for a response, she leaps the fence and dashes towards the shelter of the surrounding woodlands. Alanis blinks and watches Aila run off, holding the soda glass limply by her side in one hand. Well... Budehuc isn't /that/ big, so surely they will run into each other again. It would have helped to have a time and a place, but maybe that was just the way people did it in cities. She isn't really sure about Karaya... Hugo is pretty vague about his plans too, come to think of it. "Hmm..." She turns around to look at Borus. That last comment surely couldn't have made him happy. Borus looks up at the girl as she speaks to him. With a heart full of self-hatred, he curls his hand into a fist and slams it into the wall of the stable. The girl's words have the annoying accuracy of truth that hits him quite frequently these days. After a deep breath, he regains his composure and gives a wane smile to the Zexen girl. By now, Aila has disappeared into the woods, leaving behind only a light track of footsteps. It is evident that the girl doesn't care to be pursued; then again, she doesn't expect it, either. The deeper meaning of that exchange is lost on Alanis. She knows Karaya Village was destroyed by Zexen troops, but Hugo hasn't spoken of it, her father refuses to mention the war in her presence, and the Lizards had been tight-lipped about it as well. It's slightly frustrating, and all because of her age. How unfair. "Are you okay, Sir Borus?" she inquires timidly, approaching him slowly. This is the first time she's talked to one of the Six, and he looks rather unhappy. Maybe these aren't quite the best circumstances to meet him. The blonde knight lifts his head at the mention of his name in the child's soft soprano voice. Such innocence she has to approach him, the one everyone sees as a monster! He forces a smile for her. "I'm all right. Just banging out the brush. What is your name, child?" "Alanis." She shifts on her feet, biting her lip, and finally offers her hand. He seems busy, but it's the polite thing to do. "I'm sorry if I appeared disrespectful." Her father would probably side with the knight. It makes her wish they would both open up a little and see reason. But she's just a child, and it isn't her place to say something like that, especially to a knight. Borus leans over the lower door to the stall and takes the girl's hand. Children aren't his first choice of company, but in this place full of savages, a face from the same nation is a welcome change. "Nice to meet you, Alanis. You are from Zexen, then?" Alanis nods once, sending her pigtails swaying. "I was born in Vinay del Zexay. We don't spend very much time there, though..." It isn't very heartbreaking, but there /is/ something nice about strolling around in the place you were born. It has the feeling of 'home,' which no other place can replicate. "All of my tutors are Zexen, though, unless we're in Harmonia." Perhaps that will explain her lack of dedication to the Goddess? One can hope. She doesn't want him to think she's completely heathen. Borus takes a small metal comb out of his pocket and begins pulling the horse's mane. He wraps the thick black hair around the comb and then _yanks_ until it comes out. The horse doesn't seem to mind. As he does this, he continues the conversation with the little girl. "I see. What subjects do you study?" Alanis takes a few steps to the side, so she can watch him. She hasn't ever had to take care of her own horse, so it's new to her. "History, literature, sometimes mathematics... normal things. Sometimes my father will allow me to have a magic tutor, but it depends on where we are at the time." And on whether or not he knows the right people, she has begun to suspect... it actually costs /less/ to learn in Greenhill, or Gregminster, yet he almost always waits until they're back home, or in Crystal Valley. She hasn't been able to figure out /why/ yet, though. "And etiquette," she adds as an afterthought. Another pull, another yank, and another bunch of black horsehair falls from the comb. Borus really doesn't know what to say to this little girl, and it shows that conversation is not one of his strong suits, but at least he's trying. "Those are good subjects. You travel a lot then?" "My father is in trading. We travel with the flow of business." So her father tends to put it. Her mother is of the opinion that he simply can't sit still for very long - an opinion Alanis shares secretly. He does look twitchy now and then if they haven't moved on for a long time. "I have my own horse, but I've never had to take care of her. Why are you doing that?" She indicates the comb with her free hand. Borus looks at the comb full of horsehair. He sounds a little bit like a textbook as he explains the mane-pulling. "This? It keeps the mane from getting too long and shaggy. If you cut it, it doesn't look right. Pulling it thins it down and makes it even and neat. The horse can't feel it." Following another yank, he asks, "What does your father trade?" The horse can't feel it at /all/? She would feel it if someone decided to yank her hair out! But he seems to be right. "My father? Mainly textiles. Luxury fabrics, weavings from the Clans, and special orders. My mother draws a lot of business in Crystal Valley with her designs and embroidery." That skill is something Alanis envies, just a little bit... but not as much as she envies the children she sees at the acadamies. She sighs, and fingers the edge of her collar. "Things aren't going so well with the war." Borus combs through the hair this time, checking to make sure the pulling has left the mane even. His voice is quiet as he responds to Alanis. "I can imagine. My family makes and trades wine. I don't think they are doing so well either." Satisfied with the mane pulling, he looks up and smiles at the girl. He imparts a sentiment one would not expect from the infamous Swordsman of Rage: "Hopefully it will all be over soon and we can go home." Alanis nods again, firmly. "Definitely! I don't like this war. It makes everyone so sad." No war makes for happy faces - at least, she doesn't /think/ so - but this one started out all wrong. It makes her heart feel heavy just thinking about it. She's happy to have the chance to meet so many people, but her family isn't the only one suffering. There's also Borus, and Hugo, and poor Iksay Village, and probably thousands of others. Every place is dangerous, now. She isn't allowed to even leave the castle grounds, so even exploring is bad, during war-time. "And it's hard to have a good adventure when there's a war going on." Borus gives a geniune laugh at the little girl's sentiment on missed adventures. He likes the way she thinks! With a final pat to the animal's neck, he steps out of the stall and brushes off his clothes, which are covered in horse hair. Another smile to child, and then a farewell, "Nice to meet you, Alanis. I hope to see you again sometime. Just be careful about who you play with."