Avengaea Roleplay (Pre-bonding Character Interactions)

[StarFyre]

Treya hummed softly in thought. "That's a long time. Do people really hold grudges that long? And, I taught myself, too, which is probably why I'm not that good." She shrugged awkwardly, "But, by the time I would have begun to need training, there was... no one around to teach me." How did one politely say that they were the only survivor of a one-sided massacre? Treya was pretty sure there wasn't a way. At least at Akelara, everyone just knew what had happened, even if they didn't know the details.

[jess d]

Jelnai is a young pan-thar, anthro-cougar, from Malnev, with a tawny gold coat, faint leopard spotting, and hair that falls to her mid-back. More in-depth description here:
http://www.valmorran.com/malnev/jelnais.html

~~~~~

Jelnai skipped through the dormitory halls, in a great mood. She had just had a lovely visit with her grandfather, and was looking forward to studying a bit more. She had never imagined all the different things there were to learn! Back on Malnev, had she been willing to settle on one of the ranks available to her, she would have learned everything her mentors had to teach her, but she still would have gotten a very limited education.

Here, she was learning about anything she wanted, and many things that were not even available on her world, let alone in her clan. And the other students! There was a vast array of other races, and so far, she had yet to meet any that were similar to her. Or any of the races found on Malnev. Every once in a while, she would get lonely for someone who looked familiar, but luckily, her grandfather was more than pleased to have her company when she got homesick. The young pan-thar was very grateful that he had stayed.

Jelnai was so busy skipping and thinking of all the things she was learning that she almost didn't see the other girl (Belaria) until she had nearly run straight into her. She squeaked and spun to one side, trying her best to avoid colliding with the book-laden human, and lost her balance, crashing to the floor.

Jumping to her feet, she turned back to look at who she'd nearly run over. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention! Are you alright?"

((Hope it's okay that I join in too?
I am in a similar employment state as StarFyre, so I can go as quickly or as slowly as needed... though, it does tend to take me a while to get a post written up how I like it, so slower is probably more likely >.>))

[aireona93]

((No worries, guys! XD! I'm glad that you're all excited! Fast posts are awesome, and if I had time I would totally join in. ^ ^ Xalia, how slow of a pace are you ok with? Cause I would be doing 1-2 posts a day, maybe a bit more on Thursday night- and Friday too, I guess- depending on how long this goes on for. Otherwise, I will cool sitting on the sidelines. :p)

[Xalia]

((Okay...responding from my phone (<3 Android) so my apologies if this comes out garbled...I'll try to keep an eye on my spelling but you have no idea how easy it is to hit three keys when you only meant to hit one! XD ))

Kinsi blinked at Ansel's question. No one had ever really asked her what /she/ wanted to do. "I don't really know what I want to do. I've never really had the opportunity to decide before now. The Gods on my world are very strict...there are all kinds of rules to follow. I can hardly keep track of them all. No fighting, no leaving the continent, no speaking to Goprin, though that one always struck me as kind of funny since no one has seen a Goprin in hundreds of years... Do the Gods where you come from not have rules like that?"

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Belaria shrieked as she was almost bowled over by someone skipping down the hall. She must have been completely lost in thought not to have heard the girl but fortunately the girl aborted her headlong dash and fell to the ground. Still, Belaria was startled enough that she dropped her armfull of books which crashed to ground.

"Ugh, I'm fine, and don't worry I wasn't paying any morew attention than you were." Belaria stuck her tongue out briefly to make her point and then looked at the other girl. "I haven't seen you around before, are you new or do we just not have any classes together?"


((Airy- I'm only managing a few a day myself with my work schedule so I don't mind if you want to join in and be slow... The more the merrier and I don't mind waiting for posts to show up! If Jess doesn't mind going slow too you can join Belaria and Jelnai in the halls... ))

[StarFyre]

((Y'know, it strikes me... characters with PC halos should never walk down hallways loaded down with books/clothes/whatever they want to fill their arms with. It always ends up with someone (almost) running into them, or some other disaster happening to those poor books. =P

By the way: Treya and Ansel, though I just realized that I have Treya as capable of telepathy on her stats, and incapable in the story, whut. ... Maybe she learns it later. (Or maybe I'm just far too tired.)))

::Er... Ansel tried to figure out how to respond to that. The list of rules that Kinsi had rattled off so easily seemed almost unreal, and he was sure there were even more rules that she hadn't mentioned. ::Clan Akelara is made up of so many different groups of people, I'm not sure any of them could agree on any one set religion or rules to follow. I mean, we follow what Revent and Yikaeri, the leaders of the Clan, say, but that's because they're the leaders. Eventually, they'll retire, and another pair will become the Sorcerer and Summoner.::

Flikk gave a slight nod, "If the Myrsilk have Gods that they worship, I haven't seen any sign of it. Though perhaps they do so privately. I grew up with the First Runes as my 'Gods', but they're more forces of nature than sentient beings that make rules for us to follow. In fact, most of the strife on my world is caused by those runes, and by human greed, desiring the power that the runes possess."

[Xalia]

"No Gods? But then, who keeps the order? Who tells you what's right and what's wrong?" Kinsi could feel the edge of panic in her voice and she squashed it firmly, maintaining as close to outward calm as she could. It was really no wonder they needed mercenaries if they didn't have Gods to keep the order. She just had to remind herself that she'd come here for a new perspective and the more she learned the better her new perspective would likely be!

((Just an aside here so you all know...the 'Gods' on Kilandaia are actually the Dragon Council...they've subjugated the Dakani using their magic to add an air of mystery and the supernatural and thus put rigid rules in place to prevent them from basically thinking for themselves. The region that Kinsi comes from is kind of like 1800s English culture but with strict religious rules that govern /everyone/ and /everything/. I really need to start advancing some Kilandaian plots so I can stop writing all these uber-cowed religious characters.... XD ))

[jess d]

Jelnai was excited to meet someone who wasn't in any of her classes and replied quickly to her questions. "I am pretty new; I've been here a few days, but I am in a lot of basic classes. So much to learn here that there wasn't at home! Though, it does mean that I seem to be one of the oldest students in most of my classes, since I didn't have equivalent experiences. But the classes are still fun! I'm Jelnai."

She bent to help the human pick up her books. It was the least she could do, after nearly knocking her over, and causing her to drop them in the first place. "Where are you from? I don't know much about humans; there aren't any on my world. Or, there weren't until very recently, anyways. But I'd never met one before I came here." Sometimes, she couldn't rein in her feline curiosity.

((I'm good with a couple posts a day; no rushing from me I did consider having Jelnai run into her, but thought that would be taking Xalia's original comment "Feel free to have your characters run into either of them" a bit too literally XD))

[Xalia]

Belaria couldn't help but be infected by Jelnai's enthusiasm and found herself smiling as she squatted down to pick up books as well. "Thanks.. Nice to meet you, Jelnai, I'm Belaria, and I'm actually from Avengaea. I've been at the Sanctuary for years now so if you need help finding anything I can probably help you." Belaria flashed a self-deprecating smile before grabbing the last of her books. She frowned at the stack, tsked in frustration at a new rip in the spine of one, carefully smoothing the crumpled pages in another in no hurry to hoist the stack back up, however eager she might be to get it out of the middle of the hall. "What sort of place are you from that humans only arrived recently? I was under the impression that humans were like a plague of locusts, moving in uninvited everywhere they could get to!" Belaria grinned self-mockingly. Spending the past four years getting a dragon education had changed her views on her own species. Not that the Asandae looked down on humans, but getting their perspective sure made her wonder why they didn't. The Asandae had so much that humans didn't have and yet it was the humans who reproduced like rabbits and took over world after world after world... Belaria blinked, realizing she'd gotten lost in her own thoughts again and focused her attention back on her companion.

((Alrighty, then either Airy's character(s) can find Belaria and Jelnai where they're at or they can head for Belaria's room to drop off her books and 'run into' Airy's character(s) on the way... By the way, Jess, thanks for not actually having Jelnai knock Belaria down...with the mood she was in she'd probably have chucked a book at Jelnai instead of smiling and saying hello...isn't it funny how someone /almost/ knocking you down and falling down themselves can turn your mood around? XD ))

[StarFyre]

((Aha, don'tcha love when people decide other people need 'the benefit of their rule' and go about a'smiting and a'conquering?))

Ansel paused to give Kinsi's words the thought they deserved, 'covering' his pause by settling and licking a paw. He'd scented her slight rise of panic and realized immediately that he was treading on broken ice, a paw's-bredth from falling through and driving her off. He hoped he had enough tact to pull this off.

::We keep order, for the most part, messy and fragile as it is.:: Ansel eventually said, thinking about the rifts he'd begun to sense in Clan, of the rift he knew existed between Flikk's mercenaries and Shonakasen's explorers. ::We have mediators that we can turn to when people start fighting amongst themselves, or our leaders may step in and arbitrate if it comes to that. Sometimes people leave the Clan, if they don't feel that they can get along with the way the Clan works.:: He remembered when that Void dragon left when he was young, at the ripple of anger that had sped through the Clan, but no one had done anything. The dragon had given warning, so it was well within his rights to leave.

::As for what's 'right' and 'wrong'...:: Ansel paused and struggled with his thoughts for a moment. He'd gotten the lessons, just like any kid, but how to explain it to someone not a kid? ::There's a set of... of 'beliefs' that we're all taught, that are... are defined by the 'society' you grow up in. Uhm, I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this.::

"No one is, don't worry about it," Flikk murmured, then picked up the thread himself. "Most societies don't have such strict rules as yours, but instead rely on a set of vague 'this is good, this is bad' beliefs that they then use to judge one another. For example, most polite societies believe that murder is bad, and if a murderer is found, he will be dealt with based on how that society views the act. Some will kill him, others will lock him up, still others will exile him. The usual list of 'bad' includes; murder, stealing, abuse, and torture. There are more, of course, and it really depends on what society you grow up in."

[Xalia]

"But then can't anyone just decide they don't like the rules and go off and break them? I mean, like take the murderer...if he leaves the Clan then he's no longer governed by their laws and can go about murdering to his heart's content. Take one of our rules: never over hunt the forests. It makes sense, but say someone got greedy, went out into the forest where no other people lived and starting killing all the animals. We'd all be affected, but if he's out in the middle of the forest and it's our job to find him then think of all the animals we'd lose before we could track him down! The Gods give us rules to follow and they punish those who don't follow them. They're omnipotent, they know all, so it's easy for them to dole out punishments, whereas it would be hard for us to do the same. That way it's not 'messy' or 'fragile'. It's strong and absolute." Kinsi nodded once, sure that her logic made sense and much more comfortable about the whole situation. So far she'd heard some things that alarmed her but she was certain that the issue was just that where Ansel and Flikk came from they didn't have Gods willing to look after them.

((Ah, you gotta love the "This is what I'm comfortable with, so this must be the right way" mentality...I don't think they'll scare her off now, but good luck to them if they try to batter some 'reality' into her head... XD ))

[StarFyre]

Flikk made a shushing gesture towards Ansel, cutting off the impassioned protest the kid was sure to give in response to that little gem. She reminded him of people from the Holy Empire, now that he thought about it, and he wondered if these 'Gods' of hers were just as false as the one that ruled the Empire.

"True, anyone can break away and go do their own thing, and we have little to no way of catching someone if they do decide to just leave and break various rules. But that's part of what we call 'free will', the ability to make our own choices in life, to go counter to what dreams our parents have for us. Our choices determine the paths we take, the people we meet, the things we do. We are imperfect people living in imperfect worlds, but..." Flikk gestured helplessly, then shrugged, at a loss as to what else he could say. He'd learned the hard way what price free will came with, but he wouldn't choose to do any differently if he had a chance to do it all over again.

((Hah ^^ Flikk had to say something at least. The Suikoden games emphasize free will so heavily that it just seems like it would be a part of their 'religion', so to speak, especially for those who get involved with the runes. I'm trying to make Flikk not so drastically a rip like I set him up to be so many years ago, but for a man who fought in two great wars, one of liberation and one of 'omg don't slaughter our people!', he seems like someone who'd cling tightly to the belief of free will))

[Yakima]

[[LOL sounds like Asher and Treya both have one of those 'tragic' pasts type things. Alright...now to lose Tiaos and send him back to guard duty! ]]

Asher winched when she mentioned grudges. Truthfully, he felt like it was fear was responsible for his people's continued slavery. Yeah, so the government was trying to make it look like they were freeing elves. It was only a show. Humans would never want to lose their free labor sources. "Tiaos has actually tried teaching me some of the magic used here. Just simple stuff [though not sure if he could use it very well...JKat may have to bap me on the head here. lol]." He shrugged.

Tiaos cleared his throat. "It's getting late, Asher..."

"Oh, right," the elf said, eyes wide as he realized that the niteshan needed to get back to work soon. "I guess we'll be going..."

"Well, actually..." Tiaos managed to look a little embarrassed and sly at the same time. "I was wondering if you liked it here...not that I don't mind you staying at my place but, well...you might be able to learn more here then waiting for me to bring you books."

Asher stared at him. "You want me to..."

Tiaos nodded, grinning now. "Yes. I'm pretty sure they won't mind another student, especially one as willing as you are. And, you never know, you might find yourself being considered for bonding!" Asher's mouth fell open. He glanced at Treya. Tiaos wanted him to stay here? Then he glared. "This is why you brought me here! You were testing me!"

Laughing, the niteshan held up his hands in mock defense. "Okay, okay. Sorta. But I was thinking this might be a more logical place for you to be, given that I really can't teach you any more. It is why you came, right? To learn about Avengaea?"

The elf resigned himself. "Yeah..." he muttered. For a moment he pondered the idea then grinned. Yeah, he had come here for that reason. He was no longer a slave. He was free. And he could do whatever he wanted. Holding himself a bit taller and straighter, he nodded to Tiaos. "Yeah, it is..." then he glanced at Treya.

[[Okay, need to stop now before I write a chapter...*facepalm* Don't ask Asher or me why he's looking at Treya...he just is. To be honest, I'm trying no to spill out all of Sentra's history on Treya's lap but if you want/need to know, I'll let him tell it from his view. ]]

[Xalia]

The concept of 'free will' was so lost on Kinsi that she frowned. Like a horse that bangs on his door until he breaks it then stands just outside his stall munching on grass until someone comes to lock him back in, she was impatient with convention, but not ready to challenge it and blind to the world beyond her own. It was for this reason that her mentor had sent her here, maybe not to learn about free will, but to get outside her controlled little world and learn to think for herself. "But, don't people get hurt that way?"

((Gad it's hard for me to argue this side... I don't know what sort of response someone would give if they didn't know what free will was so I'm going with that lame-oid excuse for a reaction... XD This is really good for her, btw... I was intending her bond to teach her some of this stuff but if your characters lay the ground work it might just make things that much easier for me! XD ))

[StarFyre]

((Yeah, Treya has a 'tragic' past ^^;; I basically decided to run with my single declaration from yyeeaarrs ago that 'all Myrsilk clans went poof at around the same time, and no one knows what happened' and actually start to flesh it out a bit with real survivors (not just people that weren't around the Clans at the time the Bad Thing happened) and visits back to some of the empty Clan Homes. Though I never got around to seriously addressing it in Treya's story. Boo. Bad Starry. That was supposed to be her entire story, and then I got distracted with her joining the Devyrs.))

Treya watched the interaction between Asher and Tiaos, noting the way Asher pulled himself straighter at the mention of being a student, then grinned brightly at him as he glanced her way again.

"Ansel and I have been learning some while we're here, too," Treya offered, "Though, Ansel's being a spoilsport about it and grumbling about how boring the book learning is. He'd rather be out and about poking his nose into things. I'm just happy to have someone to explain things to me, when I can't understand it myself."

She glanced around the hallway, then back to Asher and tilted her head, "I think there are some empty rooms near where Ansel'n Flikk'n me are. Would you like me to show you?"

((Totally not sure how the Complex goes about assigning rooms =P I'm sure it's not as simple as what Treya suggested, but I'm equally sure she doesn't care. Because it would never occur to her that people might want to keep track of empty rooms. To her, they're empty, why bother?))

____________________________________________________________

((And it's hard for me to put the free will argument into words. I mean, seriously, how do you explain something so vague and fluid to someone who's never heard of it? Just saying 'you get to do what you want' is hardly a suitable answer. Still, it's fun to try!))

Flikk ran the backs of his claws over his chin in thought. "Yes, people get hurt that way. Free will means freedom to choose yes or no, good or bad, to save or kill. Free will means knowing that if you save this person, that person over there might die. Free will means that doing the right thing can sometimes be useless, and doing the wrong thing can sometimes be priceless. Free will has led to people on my world leading armies across nations and attempting to conquer the world, and has led to people laying back and accepting it without resistance, allowing their fellows or families to die because 'one person can't make a difference'. But free will also allows the people of my world the chance to find their loves against all odds, and lets people of two different nations to meet in peace to forge a lasting friendship."

[Xalia]

"But that sounds horrible! Well, so all of it doesn't, but a lot of it does... But, this 'free will' thing is only on your planet, right? I mean, everyone doesn't have it..." Kinsi sounded very confused, probably because she was. She felt like she'd spent her whole life in a room and someone just told her there were other rooms out there that she couldn't see. All of this was probably exactly why Octavo had sent her here though, to make her think. He was always saying she didn't think enough before she acted.

((XD Poor Kinsi...her little brain's doing loop de loops... A change in subject might be in order to keep her head from exploding... XD ))

[Yakima]

[[lol. that's okay. I'm good at the tragic thing and going on and on until I bore myself. lol]]

"Great!" Tiaos beamed, clapping the elf on the back as he beamed at Treya's suggestion. "I'll bring your things over this evening during my break, eh?"

"I still think you're trying to get rid of me," Asher mutter. "And I can answer for myself."

"Awww," Tiaos teased. "Scared of a young lady?"

"I'm twenty-eight," Asher hissed. "I'm not scared of a young lady!" He said, but he did blush a bit. Leave it to the niteshan to be this annoying in front of a new friend. He crossed his arms.

Tiaos grinned again, waving a hand dismissively. "Just teasing, though I would check to make sure they don't want to put you somewhere else." He frowned. "I'm just a city guard. I don't know anything about all this stuff. But I'll be late if I don't go so," he mock saluted the elf, "I'll leave you in the capable, I'm sure, hands of this young lady and be off."

With that, Tiaos left, leaving Asher behind. The elf sighed, rubbing his temples. "How can someone so annoying be so...so..." he struggled to think of the word.

[[Their! Got rid of Tiaos, though I do really like him. lol. I don't know who people have to go through for rooms and stuff at the Complex so...yeah...unless JKat pops in to give us a pointer. And sorry about Tiaos's little comment. Asher is 28 humans-type years but he looks about 18-20 years physically. ]]

[aireona93]

((OK! I am convinced! Hope you guys don't mind the awkward entrance... heh. Anyway, my character is Galasthornen- he's an Elf (yay). His page has all his info:http://www.testasodofenda.com/galasthornen.html ))


Galasthornen felt very… “clothed” as he wandered his way through the dormitories. Avengaean Humans wore all sorts of interesting things, and he had become too interested in their style not to try it for himself. He still managed to look out of place, even though he had changed out of his Fenda:soan clothing, but Galas couldn’t help but notice some of the appreciative looks that had followed him down the streets.

Humans had a thing for Elves… he couldn’t explain it, and now that he looked a little less imposing, people seemed more inclined to open up to him in one way or another.

He was on his way back to his room at that moment, a bit tired from the meandering walk through the city that he had taken, when he found himself staring down that hall at a human and what appeared to be some sort of feline humanoid. He wasn’t sure that he had seen the exact species before… but then, he never professed to be an expert on these sort of things. If Beha Rehn had been there, she might have known the species, homeworld, and culture of the two just by looking at them… but she was off saving lives, while Galas waited for the hatching.

“Do you two need any help?” He asked as he approached them. He had noticed the two of them cleaning up the human’s books off of the floor, and though they seemed to have situated themselves- it would have been rude for him to ignore them in such a narrow hallway. Not that he would have wanted to. Galas enjoyed meeting new people.

“My name’s Galasthornen, by the way,” he added. “I hope I haven’t intruded on anything.”

[Yakima]

[[lol. I find it kinda funny how many types of elves (or elf-like) humanoids are in the Nexus. I have...well, three worlds with elves. lol Okay, end OOC comment. lol]]

[StarFyre]

((I had to bite my tongue very, very hard to not have Ansel or Flikk say "But you're exercising free will right now, aren't you? You're choosing to talk to us, the same way it's a choice for you to stop talking to us. You could choose to run screaming down the hall, but you've chosen not to so far." But I figured that would break her brain (or make her run screaming down the hall), and leave me with a broken husk to attempt to play with (or chase), so I resisted the urge =P ))

Ansel tilted his head to the side, then bumped Kinsi's side again and gave a deep, rumbling purr. At least he was lion enough to purr! ::Well, most worlds I've learned about have it, or something very similar. Nyracii certainly has it, and that's not Flikk's birth planet by any means. Mmm... I guess, really, the only places I've heard about that don't have it are those places with absolute dictatorships.::

He gave a feline-shrug, then reared up on his hind legs, planting his front legs on Kinsi, and stretched up as far as he could go, rubbing his chin against the highest part of her that he could reach. Ansel normally didn't play up his beast-form, but he rather felt that Kinsi would appreciate a bit of mild humor, and if that meant he acted a bit uncharacteristic, then that was fine by him. ::There! Now you don't need to worry about free will, because I've claimed you. A cat always needs staff, after all, and Flikk is hardly enough for such a regal feline as moi.::

"Watch it, kid, or I'll sic Vikktor on you again," Flikk 'groused', though his voice was warm and he was smiling faintly.

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((Heheheh, Asher is over a decade older than Treya. Poor silly little girl, getting herself involved with 'adults' all the time. Then again... guess she's not really that kid-like in the long run. She had the shiny beat out of her a loooooong time ago.))

Treya chuckled softly at Tiaos' actions and comments and, well, Tiaos himself, really. "Cute? Adorable? Gallant? Helpful?" She attempted to help Asher come up with the word he was searching for, as she continued to scratch Kyar on his head around his ears. She let the remark about age pass without comment - after all, most of the people she associated with were much older than her, and it was no surprise to her that Asher was older.

"So what do you like to study?" She asked as she shooed Kyar and Mrrak back down the hall and started moving towards where her room was.


((As for the elves/elf-like humans. As Airy mentions, we humans love elves =P We're silly like that. Though, now that I think about it....... I don't think I have any worlds with elves 0.o;; or even many (any?) elf-chars that I made myself. Huh. ... Weird.))

[Yakima]

[[lol. My favorite elves are the Sentran elves. They're more 'human' then my Treval or Reririan elves. yeah, they have magic but not like the others. I'll have to find time to explain that later...Don't worry about the age...elves mature slowly, too, after they reach 20. After all, Philippe is/was about 800 something and he still acted like an imature teenager...lol...or maybe that was from hitting his head on rocks...hmm...hard to tell with that one. ]]

Asher gave a rather nervous laugh as Tiaos walked away. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Tiro warbled, tilting his head to the side. "Helpful, perhaps. The rest, well no. Except gallant in a small way. I prefer pest."

He started to follow her down the hall, feeling a bit nervous with each step. Was this really happening? He was really going to stay here. "Actually..." he stumbled on the words to her question. What was their to study here? "I'm kinda open to anything. I like plants and gardening. I was a gardener for a big estate back on Sentra. But I like the culture and even geographical stuff, too. I've only seen Avengaea and Pern, where Tiro is from." He paused, looking at her as he thought about the people he had met on Pern. "Do you know...if there are other elves in this Nexus thing? Or are they only on Sentra and Anarendor?" Not that he knew how much Treya knew but he felt comfortable with her enough to talk and talking was much better at chasing away his nervous feeling then anything else. What if they didn't want him here and Tiaos really had wanted to get rid of him. Or was the niteshan up to something - again?

[[perhaps they can bump into Ari's character to confirm that question, eh? *nudgenudge* but we can let her get him situated in his current...situation first or something. *shrug*]]

EDIT: (Mwahaahaa...loves the fact I can hit 'back' on the browser and still get the original post before the edit.lol)

[StarFyre]

((Hitting your head on rocks repeatedly might indeed make one act like an immature teenager, yes =P ))

"Well I think he's cute, in a...," Treya gestured vaguely, frowning, "little yappy-puppy-dog way. Yes. That sounds about right. Though pest works for the same thing."

She picked up his nervousness from his body language... or what little of it she could read, to be honest. Maybe she was only imagining it. But wasn't it natural to be nervous about new situations, or was she alone in that regard, too beast-like in her habits to be a real person? She shook the thought off and ran what he had just said through her mind again.

"I'm only taking basic courses right now. You know, overviews of large topics. It's not the most interesting thing in the universe, but I kinda like it." Really, what she liked was the chance to get formal lessons. When she was little, back before her Clan was destroyed, she hated lessons, just like all kids her age. Now, years down the line, she longed for it, found it comforting in its own strange way. "And... elves..." She let her gaze unfocus a bit as she thought, dredging up memories new and old, before nodding a bit to herself. "Actually, I think elves are almost as common as humans in the grand scheme of things. I heard from some people at Akelara that there had been some little tiny elves that stood to bond once." She held her hand out at about four feet off the ground, then moved it down a bit lower, "Apparently, one was little-little, too."

((Oh Shard and your miniature-elves. They're like lawn-ornaments, only living! And likely to shred me for calling them lawn-ornaments. =P ))

[Yakima]

[[heh...maybe I better go add the elf bit in again...i took it out but I can re-add it. *facepalm* But, no, Philippe lost his memory in the beginning of his Nexus exsistance. He 'fell off a cliff' which was always attributed to losing his memory but it was just his personality that made him immature. lol Someday, I'll bring that stupid elf back to torture K'man again. lol mwaahaaahaa! Heehee, yeah, Shard has LOTS of elves...sadly, I can picture Shard's lawn now but with a bunch of elves running around instead of the gnome guy. heehee]]

Asher's eyes widened. "Really! Well, it's good to know I'm not alone." He moved Tiro back to the crook of his arm as they walked so the fire-lizard wouldn't fall. "So...Treya...um...what is your world like?" he asked, rather hoping she wouldn't ask for details about Sentra because in his mind, Sentra was a very boaring planet best forgotten.

[[has decided Asher needs to find himself a winged wolf...or a wolf needs to find him...hmmm where to find one....]]

[jess d]

Jelnai politely ignored the fact that her new companion seemed to "zone out" for a moment, and thought about Belaria's question. "My world has people like me, mostly. I'm a pan-thar; there are at least four other races there. Or there used to be; the wolv, faax and lyynx are pretty common, but the beyr are believed to be extinct. Though, there was a rumor not long ago that one had been seen on the islands. No humans on our world, except the ones that have recently started arriving with dragons. I met a pair of Askans who suggested I come here, when I decided to go offworld. The female had bonded a wolv who came here a couple years ago; her brother decided to go with them when they came back to Malnev. If you've been here for years, maybe you met them, or the wolv? Featau said they bonded three years ago I think."

She paused; she didn't want to talk too much, which she knew she had a habit of doing. Continuing, she added, "Our world doesn't have a lot of tech, or dragons, until recently, so I don't think many humans paid it much attention." The young pan-thar would probably have continued rambling about her world, but a new voice offering assistance drew her attention. She glanced over to see the newcomer, and her eyes widened when she saw him. An elf!

"Hi!" Jelnai exclaimed. "No intrusion, I don't think. I was helping her pick up her books, since my almost running into her is what made her drop them. I'm Jelnai." She hoped she wasn't being too friendly; she'd heard it could annoy others. But meeting so many new people, who all looked so different, was exciting!

((If you want, Belaria can have met Mercure, Featau and Tenaso, since their time there would probably have overlapped a bit.

Galas would have looked very familiar to Jelnai, had he been dressed like his pic! Most of the clans where she's from dress similarly XD

I love the elfquest/otherforest elves! That is all >.> ))

[Yakima]

I love the elfquest/otherforest elves! That is all >.> ))

[[[Drat, Jess, now I can't stop reading it. At least I may understand the elfquest versions of Segs and I that Shard made. lol ]]]

[StarFyre]

((Hah, I didn't even look at your post again after I first saw it and copy/pasted into notepad to write a response =P Sorry))

Treya tilted her head thoughtfully, staring off into the distance as she thought of the place she'd grown up. Maybe if she didn't go into detail of who she had grown up with, Asher wouldn't notice the lack? It was worth a shot, at least.

"Second Home is..." She paused a moment, searching for the words. "It's a beautiful place, with trees that soar and soar towards the sky, brushing the bellies of clouds with their limbs. They gather water that way, and it trickles down the smooth bark, to pool in little cups along the trunk, and animals come by to drink and bicker and compete, and everyone scrambles high into the trees when the kouletti come by. The kouletti are huge, hulking felines, with great big saber-fangs and fur that sprouts from under tough scales, and they don't usually hunt the little ones, but a quick meal is still a quick meal." She smiles faintly and continues, "And the sun is this great, brilliant white light, and the sky is this beautiful violet color during the day, instead of blue, and when it rains the drops are huge and heavy, and the trees bow with the weight of water, their limbs brushing the ground, and you can climb and climb up into the storm clouds and watch the drops form and fall."

((Mmm ^^ Low gravity worlds, because that, combined with magic, is literally the only way Myrsilk could have gotten so big. Weee.))

((Hah! I totally distracted people with the elfquest/otherforest comment! Wootwoot, go me!))

[Xalia]

Kinsi couldn't help but giggle at Ansel 'claiming' her. "I don't want to be your servant, but I'll be your friend... Oh!"

A light of comprehension flashed on Kinsi's face but then she frowned, still not sure she understood completely.

((Yeah, so, saying that would probably have made her head explode, but I got a kick out of reading it! XD ))

___________________________________________

Belaria nodded, "I think I do remember them vaguely..." she trailed off as an elf strode down the hall towards them. After Jelnai had made her introduction Belaria added, "Nope, no interruption, Galasthornen, I'm Belaria. But I will accept your offer of help if you don't mind. You two wouldn't mind helping me carry all my books back to my room, would you? I don't really want to leave them sitting in the hallway much longer..."

[StarFyre]

((*bows* I do what I can to serve and entertain.))

Ansel gave a very please purr as he dropped back to all fours. That small flash of comprehension was... satisfying. He didn't expect her to completely come around to his world-view within the space of one conversation, that would be like holding his breath and wishing for it to rain fishes, but he liked the idea that he and Flikk had planted little seeds of thought in her head. ::Good, because I like friends better than servants, and I'm only half-cat, so I can say that. See? Choosing things isn't so bad, now is it?::

[Xalia]

"I don't know... What if you make the wrong choice? What if someone else makes a choice that affects you in a bad way? Still sounds pretty scary to me, but I'll think on it." Kinsi smiled, still uncomfortable, but willing to at least try to understand.

((No idea where to go from here now... XD ))

[StarFyre]

::If you make a wrong choice, and all of us do, then you own up to it and learn from your mistake.:: Ansel said with a bit of thought. ::And next time something like that happens, you know not to make that same choice. As for the choices of others... you really can't control that, so you just learn to, to deal with it as best you can.::

Ansel's stomach chose that moment to rumble, and if beasts could blush, he would have. As it was, he winced and shifted in place. He hadn't been eating all that much of late, what with Flikk being unconscious for a week and all, and while his beast-form was perfectly capable of existing without food for long periods of time, it really didn't like to. ::Er, sorry. I think the most I've eaten is a sandwich or two in the evenings these past few days. .. Wouldyouliketogetfoodwithus?:: Ansel said in a rush, head slightly down and ears back in fear/embarrassment/anxiety, this obviously being something he found difficult to ask. But maybe if Kinsi was along as another friendly face, it would be easier for him to face the crowds.

((Me neither, so I tossed something out >.> Poor Ansel has such a complex about his form. He loves it, he hates it, he's not sure how to react to it, in the long run.))

[Xalia]

Kinsi closed her mouth around the response she'd been about to make and had to force herself not to grin in amusement at Ansel's stomach grumbling. She saw he was self-conscious about it so she just let it pass. "Sure, I could do with some food. I- I hope they have something here that I recognize...I can't imagine they have the same food we have back home!"