With full bellies, on the warm sand, under the glittering night sky, Savith stretched out a few days after the storm had past. It was just after nightfall, in that hazy darkness of post twilight. His hands were folded under his head. He'd flown far enough away that the casual beach-comber would bump into him, but took care to stay within sending range. He'd told Peyote, meaning everyone was soon to learn, he needed some time to time a few things through and would be within sending range if needed, but otherwise would return before dawn. He'd taken some of the fresh meat the hunters had finally managed to bring in, and had finished it not so long ago. For now, he laid back and relaxed. As much as he would allow himself to, anyway.
Of course Dancer had heard Savith wanted time to himself but it didn't sit right with her if anyone other then herself wanted time alone. She took care as she sent lightly to feel for a direction and to follow it. Yes full bellies were nice but Savith removed most of his hair and seemed a bit moodier then normal as of late. The forever nose poking Cat Elf could not let it just rest on not knowing what was wrong with her near brother. *Savith. Are you alright?* The send was clearly concerned though trying to hide how much.
**My ankle does not bother me much,** comes the reply, giving away his location. The send carries with it little emotion one way or another. Savith seems merely to be quietly distant at the moment.
Quickly but as silently as she can Dancer heads for where he is. Quiet on the beach should be easy enough. *Much? That means it does bother you but not enough to complain bout it I think.* Eyes that know the night seek him out if he is to be seen.
Savith's not hiding. He's laying out on the sand, one leg bent up and the knee and the good foot resting on the ground. **I will admit to some minor discomfort, but no, not enough to bother you with, Healer, and it feels little more than just needing some time lying down.**
She just sat and watched him from some out cropping of rock and logs left from the storm most likely. She would like very much to be closer but since he wanted to be alone she would let him. Her new found skill screamed at her to rush over and place her hands on him again but she wouldn't. Doing it once was pressing her luck enough. *We haven't talked in some time either but I don't want to be a bother.* She knew trying to guilt him into telling her to join him had little chance of working but still it was worth a shot.
From that distance, would Dancer note the way his chest rose and fell in a soundless sigh of fatigue? If she didn't, she might not ever know he did that, for he did well in keeping it from his mind's voice. **Then come and speak. If you start to annoy me more than normal, I'll let you know,** he retorted with a hint of humor.
Oh the smile it gave her to hear that and she might have run but kept herself in check as she walked over and sat next to him but giving him a little space still. "Greetings this eve Chief." She grinned at him teasingly.
Savith glanced over, a bit of a crooked upturn to one corner of his mouth. "Evening," he en toned softly, almost murmuring the words
She looked up at the sky and then at the sea. Her mind drifting for a moment to the one who swam in it then back to the one next to her at the moment. "I'm glad the storm is over and we can get out and about again aren't you?"
"hmmm," was Savith's wordless reply as he peered at the stars above.
"Thinking about the sky again Savith?" She looked up. "A longing for something lost to us I suppose." Her voice sympathetic. She knew he longed to go to those stars from past talks. "I would think that a flight one would never ever forget."
Savith turned his head to peer at Dancer with a quirked brow. "Hmm.. whatever you say, Healer," he agreed with a sour note of her being way off. Before she could look his direction, however, he returned his gaze to the stars above.
She frowned a bit not needing to see the face but hearing it in the voice. "So why did you chop off your hair Chief?" Deciding if he was going to call her by her tidal then he would get the same.
"It was hot and starting to mat," he replied, sounding far more nonchalant that the actual act of hacking at it was.
"I could have put it in a braid again for you if you liked." She chuckled looking at his head a bit. "If you like I could shape it up a bit more even for you." She stared at him a while. The lack of hair made him look so different.
Savith frowned slightly, mulling it over before replying with an unhappy sounding, "No, thank you."
Enough chit chat now. Time to start digging. "So what is it Savith?" She knew him better then just his tidal and couldn't help but be more personal with him.
He shook his head lightly, lips still frowning as he let the word he couldn't send drift passed his lips, "Nothing," he said.
She humped with a smile. "That's a lie. Everything about you gives it away."
And Savith let an audible sigh escape him. "Can't an elf reminisce without the lot of you insisting that we talk about it," he questioned in a rhetorical sounding tone that almost begged for an answer.
"Sometimes." Her hand hesitated only a moment but soon found his shoulder. "Something is troubling you though and you can tell me or talk me or yell at me if you like. All in our group are precious to me but only one other is higher on that list then you and to see you pained hurts me as well." She bit the inside of her lip lightly waiting whatever he did next. She wasn't sure what it would be.
Dancer's touch found Savith's shoulder tense, despite the appearance of relaxation the rest of him gave off. He was silent for a time, eyes fixed on the stars. "It's nothing we haven't already spoken of," he said after a time in a voice only a breath above a whisper. "Just had the scab of it picked at is all. Nothing more."
Letting out an exasperated sigh she let her hand fall from his shoulder. "I bet a rock is easier to get answers from then you." She laughed a bit as she teased at him. Letting him stray from the subject for a while if it made him happy. "So we have new water elves. That should make Crosscurrent happy I bet. His own little tribe to be part of."
Again Savith hmmm'd softly. "I'm happy for him," was his dull sounding reply.
"Savith" She looked at him for a long hard moment.
Savith angled his head to peer at her, the shorter hair giving his face a youth it didn't normally have. "What?"
*Tell me something good that has happened to make you happy since we all met.* She would not let him avert his gaze and it was clear she wanted the answer in a send.
Savith frowned at sent in reply, **We're playing this game again, are we?**
*It has been a while. You have found nothing? Not one thing that has made you truly happy?* She shrugged a bit and looked at the water. *It's just odd is all.*
Savith continued to frown, turning his gaze back to the sky as Dancer lets his gaze go. **I'm grateful that all seem to have made it through the storm with little lasting troubles,** he replied diplomatically, so much so in fact that the send lacked any real conviction
A hand thumped against her forehead as she chuckled. "That was a very well thought out non-answer. Thank you Chief."
A chuckle-face-palm which earned something akin to a real grin from Savith. His eyes half-closed in almost silent chuckles as he replied, voice once more soft and almost light-hearted. "You're very welcome. Glad I could impress."
"You're impossible sometimes. You do know that right?" She nudged him a bit.
Savith's near-grin widened into a half smile as he nodded lightly once. "A talent I strive to perfect on a daily basis," he added, mood not quite sullen but certainly not happy-go-lucky. The humor, it seems is self-deprecating.
"Savith" again just the call of his name. She knew he must be thinking, "What in the name of the High Ones will she try to pry into now?".
Savith grinned a bit more, almost snickering aloud. "What," he asked again as his name was called. What was his thinking? Good question. I'll get back to you on that one.
"Do you want to show me the sky again?" She chuckled softly expecting him to say firm no. BUT should he say yes, well... she would never turn it down.
Well, it earned a chuckle before he answered with a, "Most definitely not right now."
"Very well then." She smiled. At least he seemed in a slightly better mood. That was enough for the moment.
He leaned his head back into his hands, returned his gaze skyward, watched the moon dust drift by, sighed softly, and let the slight frown return.
There was that frown again. It seemed his frown was as much of him as gliding was. "Can you sit up for me please?" The look on her face was much to innocent looking to be just a simple request.
It was that innocent look that Savith saw when he angled his head to peer at Dancer. Finding nothing amiss, he nodded and obediently pushed himself upright, grimacing impersepably.
Scooting behind him she placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. Yes she was going to work out the stress his mind gave his body. The only way he would stop her is to move away or yell at her. She was a healer as He kept saying and wanted him to feel better. "This will help your body if not your mind."
Savith looked over his shoulder, chin coming to rest on shoulder, as he leaned forward away from the hands, a rueful smirk on his face. "Don't bother yourself," he stated, voice starting off gentle.
She made a little frowning face at him. Not really sad and if he pressed the issue she would do as he wished but she wasn't ready to just yet. "But I am the healer Savith. I want to help your body is all. Just as I do for your foot but I don't need my powers for this. My hands are strong and as the one in charge of everyone's health I would insist you let me do this...... Please." Now her face really did frown a bit fearing he would say no.
Savith eyed the expression for a moment then shook his head, shifting to turn his side to her. But he smiled softly as he refused, adding aloud, "Thank you, but no, Healer. There are somethings you simply shouldn't try to fix."
"Stop calling me that." Was she getting a bit gruff at him now? The tone sounded it. A bit dry and flat.
The tome made Savith pause, soft smile fading. He studied her face a moment, then turned his face away, eyes settling on the reflection of starlight dancing upon the surface of the vast deep.
She sighed a little seeing his smile fade and scolding herself inside for letting herself get mad. "Sorry, It's... It's just that a Healer is what I do. It is not all I am. Just as a Chief or Glider is not all you are. Savith is all you are. You would call me Dancer or you would call me cub or you would even call me hatchling. I guess I just feel like you are pulling away from me is all. If that is what you wish though then I will let you do so. She braced herself for anything that might come out of his mouth or mind. He cut her emotionally before and this time was braced for it.
Savith looked back at her, though not fully, chin turning toward her slightly, eyes sliding in her direction, as she spoke. He frowned lightly, leaned back on his hands, and sighed again. "I will try to remember," he said simply, voice dull.
"So, What did gliders do for fun in the mountain you called home Savith?" Moving back to sitting beside him.
"Nothing that you would recognize as fun," Savith replied, voice still withdrawn and sullen. "I spent my time hunting."
"I like hunting" Her voice lifting to its normal happy enough for the both of them tone.
"You didn't go with Starsong recently, did you," he asked, face turning toward Dancer again. A tiny crease wrinkled between his brows at the question.
"No. I think she left when I was sleeping on one of many occasions. Why?" She crooked her head to one side as a pup might do.
Savith shook his head lightly, turning his face away to look back at the vast deep. "Just curious," was his simple reply, voice a murmur of emotionless sound.
"Did the gliders dance?" Her voice perked now with the question and if he was smart he might just say no.
Who ever said Savith was SMART?! "Some did," he answered in that soft murmur of his.
"Show me. Please." Those eyes widened as a child's might to beg from a parent.
Savith looked over, lips still unsmiling. "I never spent any time really watching them," he admitted, almost sounding apologetic. "And the few times I moved into the room where they may have been, I was either enroute somewhere and so didn't stop, or I had to interrupt them to deliver a message or a summons."
She let out a long over stated sigh. "Oh well. Maybe Llune knows some then." She sat a while looking like she was looking at the stars then said, "Would you like to see a dance now? You have no message to give, none place to be going or anything. You could just sit and watch. But..." And she looked at him rather sternly here. "don't say yes if you don't intend to watch or enjoy it. Don't say yes for me. That won't make me happy."
Savith had been about to give that noncommittal acknowledgement, that heartless go-ahead for Dancer to dance, but as she added her condition sternly, he quirked a brow and said simply, "Another time, perhaps."
[
Her face made a little smirk. She was learning some of his politics and was glad he spoke true to her. In the end it made her happy even though he said no.
her smirk received a quirked brow in response before he again turned his face from her to peer out over the ocean. The frown, which had disappeared while they were speaking, started to find it's way back to his features.
"You know, when you do smile, and I have seen you do it. Your face lights up." She chuckled thinking he would most likely not take the compliment well if at all. "It's so nice when it slips out from behind that gruff old scowl you normally have on."
Savith snorts, the frown dissipating but the grin unable to make its way to the surface. "And you're on a mission to see me to it tonight, are you," he quips.
"That is the best mission to be on isn't it?" She smiled brightly. The moonlight lit her face and shone in her eyes. The face of ever joyful youth looking for that same joy in others.
Savith looks over, lips twisted in a thoughtful curl somewhere between an annoyed frown and an exasperated grin. "One could thing of more useful things to do with one's time, however... you /are/ young."
"Helping someone find their smile is never a waste of ones time Savith." She took a chance and reached over. The back of her finger slid along his pale cheek and then tapped his nose playfully with a giggle. Yes she was young compared to him but she wasn't stupid in everything.
Point: Dancer - A wry half-grin sneaks it way to Savith's face as she taps his nose. He pulled his head away slightly as the grin struggled tot he surface, and didn't make a reply.
She giggled and nudged him with her shoulder. "It's ok Savith. I won't tell anyone you know how to smile."
"Oh good," came the retort, a hint of his true light-hearted nature peeking out. "Now I won't have to gut you." Granted, the hint was only the tiniest of slivers. Most would hear only the cold murmurred tone of his voice, see the unsmiling line of his lips, and the slight narrowed tension at his eyes. But that's where the hint of humor is found, in the mossy green color of hiseyes that he almost alway keeps averted away from the gaze of others. It does well in hiding such emotions... and more.
Dancer just chuckled softly at his remark. She knew he wouldn't do that to her. He would looes his smile then. The thought making her giggle a bit more. She gave him a little quiet time but quiet was hard for Dancer sometimes aand now seemed to be one of those times. "Savith." She bit her lip then asked a question. "Will you sing me a song? You sng something at the gathering and it sounded so nice. Will you honor me and sing something now. Plllleeeeeaaaasssseeeeeee?"
Savith quirked a brow at the cat elf's request, lips puling back into their famliar frown, even though his gaze was turned to the stars above. Leaned back on his hands, a finger gave a but of a tap. Shoudlers lifted then settled back down in a soundless half-sigh. "No," he answered after a long pause. The word was clear, yet softly spoken, without malice. It was simply a refusal to share such a thing again, even though a melody did drift through his mind. The words, the emotions, were still far too personal.
She sighed a bit. "Very well. I won't push you." After just a heartbeat of silence she said, "How did it go again?" and started to try and sing the song herself. Ouch to his poor ears. Dance she could do, singing was another story. She messed up the words and her pitch might put him in mind of a baby bird screaming for food.
The sound made Savith wince, one eye closing as he turned his face away. Leaning on the opposite hand, he brought the one closest to her up and to his ears. "Something not even remotely like that," he retorted in a mutter.
Giggling she looked rather embarissed but still happy. "Well if I had help or something it might sound better."
Bringing down his hand, Savith turned a wry smirk on his face that rivaled a grin. "Hmm. I'm so naive as to fall for that trap," he murmured, though the tone sounded less chilled than earlier.
"Would you like me to try again?" She just grined at him. The threat ready to be carried out she opened her mouth ready to go again.
Savith was quick, reclining back on his thoughts and bringing his hands up to his ears. Stuffing fingers into them after a thought flicked sand away, he grinned and quipped, "By all means."
As if that would help. Now her voce filled his very mind. He could stuff trees in his ears and it wouldn't stop the off tone wobbling voice from filtering through in a send. *Insert bad singing here*
Savith turned his head, in fact the whole top half on his body, as a groan escaped his lips, "Ack!" The bad singing, so unprepared for it as he was, cuahgt him off guard, and he dropped heavily onto the sand, landing on his side and elbow. Odd, isn't it? How a fully trained, Head of the Chosen, made to function fully with the wraith of Winnowill's Blacksending ringing in their ears could be so quickly felled by something so simple as bad singing.
She stopped and tapped his shoulder lightly. *Should I try again?* Her grin widened now. It almost looked like she was enjoying this to much.
Savith pushed himself up to his elbow fully, turning to look at Dancer with a panied sort of half-grimace. **High Ones, no,** his mind replied, even as he braced himself for the next onslaught. Bring it.
A saatisfied little sigh escaped her, "Maybe if a better voice was avaliable I wouldn't have to try so hard."
"Must that be my only recourse to prevent you from rendering my mind senseless with you squawking," Savith asked, voice taking on a darker tone as he falls back into his training. The discomfort and pain shall be thy strength and from it fuel your mind and body beyond what is easily within reach. "I could just Fly," he added.
Now she frowned little. "I don't want you to go. I'll stop if you like." Her knees pulled up nd her elbows rested on them. Her hands held her face as she side nothing.
Savith straighted, frown returning as the cat elf frowned. Tension danced about his eyes, and he brushed the sand from himself and returned his gaze to the sky. He was silent for a goodly long time before he did sing. It was soft, airy, sad yet hopeful at the same time.
"In your dreams,
magical thoughts...
All things are real
unless you dream they're not.
In your dreams,
love is the plot
carried on wings of hope.
Each of our souls
intertwine, when we do.
Instantly we see it
the time to grow and be it
when everything is pinned on a hope.
Let rise the dreams of your heart,
that innocent youth
careless and kind.
Free to roam the breeze in love
only when two
brilliantly shine as one..."
She sat quietly the whole time. She was busting inside. So happy he sang for her. Oh well he might bean her but when he was done she gave him a big squeeze. "Oh Savith that was beautiful. You have a wonderful voice. Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Savith sighed, body tense as she hugged him. "Alright, enough," he stated, pushing himself up and into the sky above.
*I'm sorry. Come back down. I was just happy is all. I won't pester you anymore I promis.* She ment what she sent. No lie spoken here. She would just enjoy sitting quietly with him now and should he want to say something then she would be here to hear it.
Savith hovered over head a bit, as if considering, before finally drifting back to the sand, albeit out of arm's reach. He settled himself down, leaned back on his hands, and once more turned his gaze skyward.
It was hard. Very hard but she did as she said she would and sat quietly. Now and then she drew in the sand or inspected a crab that scuttled by or seemed facinated by the bubbles that spirted up from the wet sand now and then but said not a word or a send.
For long long moments, the glider sat, lost in his own thoughts. Once in a while, a thought seemed to hit him, and he'd take a breath, as if intending to speak, only to remain silent, exhaling in something like a sigh.
At the moments it seemed he would say something Dancer looked at him with wide eyes. Wanting to be his friend and have him feel he could trust her with his thoughts or ramblings. When only the sigh came she would turn away and find something to distract her mind.
An hour passed... ((Gliders are boring, huh?))
Daancer sat, laied, rolled to her belly, looked at staars, looked at animals and looked at things till she thought she knew every gran of sand in the area. How could he do it? How was he able to just sit. Sit and let him mind fill with chatter, questions that he had no answers to or contimplate the universe. Who knew. It was to much for her. Hours passing made her stir crazy. "I can't think of anything more to think about." She finaly said breaking the quiet.
Savith glanced over, a smirk on his face, amusement dancing lightly in his eyes. She lasted an hour. He was mildly impressed, but then, she was as full blooded as he, so to be more expected from her than Dewpaw.
"Savith?" Her voice was low. She knows she was to be quiet but it just couldn't be.
"Yes," he asked in reply, still smirking.
"Are you going to leave now that I spoke?" Her voice sounded worried just slightly.
Oh, what a wonderful sound it is to hear Savith chuckle with honestly felt amusement. "No," was the word spoken amid the softly bubbling laughter.
The sound of his true laughter was not lost on her ears. It made her smile wide. It made her silent for some time longer. Of course that was after she said, "Oh good."
Savith chuckled a moment longer, then returned to his silent stargazing with only one significant change: a half-grin-smirk sats on his face.
Oh her face beamed as they sat in silence. She was content now. If he took notice he migh realize she was stealing glances at his lovely smiling face and sitting still above all else.
Savith was coyly snatching glances at the very still cat elfess out of his peripheral vision. It made him, unbeknownst, grin a bit more, and he continued to sit and think, but at least now much of the darkness was disspelled about him.
As the night pressed on he could see her yawn from time to time. Still she didn't want to just walk out on him. In more time her head started to bob now and then but then it happened and she couldn't help it. She fell over and her head landed against him. She was out but if he shook her or slapped her face she might just open her eyes. Should he let her stay leaning against him he would see she fell asleep with a smile that seemed stuck to the youthful face.
As she thumped against his side, having seen it coming, Savith turned his head and smiled that soft parental smile of his. Moving gently, using his mind to ease her body, he shifted her into his arms and floated upright. He peered down at her for a moment, the smile turning sad and bittersweet before it faded and he made it way back to the cave to get her tucked in for the night.
Of course Dancer had heard Savith wanted time to himself but it didn't sit right with her if anyone other then herself wanted time alone. She took care as she sent lightly to feel for a direction and to follow it. Yes full bellies were nice but Savith removed most of his hair and seemed a bit moodier then normal as of late. The forever nose poking Cat Elf could not let it just rest on not knowing what was wrong with her near brother. *Savith. Are you alright?* The send was clearly concerned though trying to hide how much.
**My ankle does not bother me much,** comes the reply, giving away his location. The send carries with it little emotion one way or another. Savith seems merely to be quietly distant at the moment.
Quickly but as silently as she can Dancer heads for where he is. Quiet on the beach should be easy enough. *Much? That means it does bother you but not enough to complain bout it I think.* Eyes that know the night seek him out if he is to be seen.
Savith's not hiding. He's laying out on the sand, one leg bent up and the knee and the good foot resting on the ground. **I will admit to some minor discomfort, but no, not enough to bother you with, Healer, and it feels little more than just needing some time lying down.**
She just sat and watched him from some out cropping of rock and logs left from the storm most likely. She would like very much to be closer but since he wanted to be alone she would let him. Her new found skill screamed at her to rush over and place her hands on him again but she wouldn't. Doing it once was pressing her luck enough. *We haven't talked in some time either but I don't want to be a bother.* She knew trying to guilt him into telling her to join him had little chance of working but still it was worth a shot.
From that distance, would Dancer note the way his chest rose and fell in a soundless sigh of fatigue? If she didn't, she might not ever know he did that, for he did well in keeping it from his mind's voice. **Then come and speak. If you start to annoy me more than normal, I'll let you know,** he retorted with a hint of humor.
Oh the smile it gave her to hear that and she might have run but kept herself in check as she walked over and sat next to him but giving him a little space still. "Greetings this eve Chief." She grinned at him teasingly.
Savith glanced over, a bit of a crooked upturn to one corner of his mouth. "Evening," he en toned softly, almost murmuring the words
She looked up at the sky and then at the sea. Her mind drifting for a moment to the one who swam in it then back to the one next to her at the moment. "I'm glad the storm is over and we can get out and about again aren't you?"
"hmmm," was Savith's wordless reply as he peered at the stars above.
"Thinking about the sky again Savith?" She looked up. "A longing for something lost to us I suppose." Her voice sympathetic. She knew he longed to go to those stars from past talks. "I would think that a flight one would never ever forget."
Savith turned his head to peer at Dancer with a quirked brow. "Hmm.. whatever you say, Healer," he agreed with a sour note of her being way off. Before she could look his direction, however, he returned his gaze to the stars above.
She frowned a bit not needing to see the face but hearing it in the voice. "So why did you chop off your hair Chief?" Deciding if he was going to call her by her tidal then he would get the same.
"It was hot and starting to mat," he replied, sounding far more nonchalant that the actual act of hacking at it was.
"I could have put it in a braid again for you if you liked." She chuckled looking at his head a bit. "If you like I could shape it up a bit more even for you." She stared at him a while. The lack of hair made him look so different.
Savith frowned slightly, mulling it over before replying with an unhappy sounding, "No, thank you."
Enough chit chat now. Time to start digging. "So what is it Savith?" She knew him better then just his tidal and couldn't help but be more personal with him.
He shook his head lightly, lips still frowning as he let the word he couldn't send drift passed his lips, "Nothing," he said.
She humped with a smile. "That's a lie. Everything about you gives it away."
And Savith let an audible sigh escape him. "Can't an elf reminisce without the lot of you insisting that we talk about it," he questioned in a rhetorical sounding tone that almost begged for an answer.
"Sometimes." Her hand hesitated only a moment but soon found his shoulder. "Something is troubling you though and you can tell me or talk me or yell at me if you like. All in our group are precious to me but only one other is higher on that list then you and to see you pained hurts me as well." She bit the inside of her lip lightly waiting whatever he did next. She wasn't sure what it would be.
Dancer's touch found Savith's shoulder tense, despite the appearance of relaxation the rest of him gave off. He was silent for a time, eyes fixed on the stars. "It's nothing we haven't already spoken of," he said after a time in a voice only a breath above a whisper. "Just had the scab of it picked at is all. Nothing more."
Letting out an exasperated sigh she let her hand fall from his shoulder. "I bet a rock is easier to get answers from then you." She laughed a bit as she teased at him. Letting him stray from the subject for a while if it made him happy. "So we have new water elves. That should make Crosscurrent happy I bet. His own little tribe to be part of."
Again Savith hmmm'd softly. "I'm happy for him," was his dull sounding reply.
"Savith" She looked at him for a long hard moment.
Savith angled his head to peer at her, the shorter hair giving his face a youth it didn't normally have. "What?"
*Tell me something good that has happened to make you happy since we all met.* She would not let him avert his gaze and it was clear she wanted the answer in a send.
Savith frowned at sent in reply, **We're playing this game again, are we?**
*It has been a while. You have found nothing? Not one thing that has made you truly happy?* She shrugged a bit and looked at the water. *It's just odd is all.*
Savith continued to frown, turning his gaze back to the sky as Dancer lets his gaze go. **I'm grateful that all seem to have made it through the storm with little lasting troubles,** he replied diplomatically, so much so in fact that the send lacked any real conviction
A hand thumped against her forehead as she chuckled. "That was a very well thought out non-answer. Thank you Chief."
A chuckle-face-palm which earned something akin to a real grin from Savith. His eyes half-closed in almost silent chuckles as he replied, voice once more soft and almost light-hearted. "You're very welcome. Glad I could impress."
"You're impossible sometimes. You do know that right?" She nudged him a bit.
Savith's near-grin widened into a half smile as he nodded lightly once. "A talent I strive to perfect on a daily basis," he added, mood not quite sullen but certainly not happy-go-lucky. The humor, it seems is self-deprecating.
"Savith" again just the call of his name. She knew he must be thinking, "What in the name of the High Ones will she try to pry into now?".
Savith grinned a bit more, almost snickering aloud. "What," he asked again as his name was called. What was his thinking? Good question. I'll get back to you on that one.
"Do you want to show me the sky again?" She chuckled softly expecting him to say firm no. BUT should he say yes, well... she would never turn it down.
Well, it earned a chuckle before he answered with a, "Most definitely not right now."
"Very well then." She smiled. At least he seemed in a slightly better mood. That was enough for the moment.
He leaned his head back into his hands, returned his gaze skyward, watched the moon dust drift by, sighed softly, and let the slight frown return.
There was that frown again. It seemed his frown was as much of him as gliding was. "Can you sit up for me please?" The look on her face was much to innocent looking to be just a simple request.
It was that innocent look that Savith saw when he angled his head to peer at Dancer. Finding nothing amiss, he nodded and obediently pushed himself upright, grimacing impersepably.
Scooting behind him she placed her hands on his shoulders and squeezed. Yes she was going to work out the stress his mind gave his body. The only way he would stop her is to move away or yell at her. She was a healer as He kept saying and wanted him to feel better. "This will help your body if not your mind."
Savith looked over his shoulder, chin coming to rest on shoulder, as he leaned forward away from the hands, a rueful smirk on his face. "Don't bother yourself," he stated, voice starting off gentle.
She made a little frowning face at him. Not really sad and if he pressed the issue she would do as he wished but she wasn't ready to just yet. "But I am the healer Savith. I want to help your body is all. Just as I do for your foot but I don't need my powers for this. My hands are strong and as the one in charge of everyone's health I would insist you let me do this...... Please." Now her face really did frown a bit fearing he would say no.
Savith eyed the expression for a moment then shook his head, shifting to turn his side to her. But he smiled softly as he refused, adding aloud, "Thank you, but no, Healer. There are somethings you simply shouldn't try to fix."
"Stop calling me that." Was she getting a bit gruff at him now? The tone sounded it. A bit dry and flat.
The tome made Savith pause, soft smile fading. He studied her face a moment, then turned his face away, eyes settling on the reflection of starlight dancing upon the surface of the vast deep.
She sighed a little seeing his smile fade and scolding herself inside for letting herself get mad. "Sorry, It's... It's just that a Healer is what I do. It is not all I am. Just as a Chief or Glider is not all you are. Savith is all you are. You would call me Dancer or you would call me cub or you would even call me hatchling. I guess I just feel like you are pulling away from me is all. If that is what you wish though then I will let you do so. She braced herself for anything that might come out of his mouth or mind. He cut her emotionally before and this time was braced for it.
Savith looked back at her, though not fully, chin turning toward her slightly, eyes sliding in her direction, as she spoke. He frowned lightly, leaned back on his hands, and sighed again. "I will try to remember," he said simply, voice dull.
"So, What did gliders do for fun in the mountain you called home Savith?" Moving back to sitting beside him.
"Nothing that you would recognize as fun," Savith replied, voice still withdrawn and sullen. "I spent my time hunting."
"I like hunting" Her voice lifting to its normal happy enough for the both of them tone.
"You didn't go with Starsong recently, did you," he asked, face turning toward Dancer again. A tiny crease wrinkled between his brows at the question.
"No. I think she left when I was sleeping on one of many occasions. Why?" She crooked her head to one side as a pup might do.
Savith shook his head lightly, turning his face away to look back at the vast deep. "Just curious," was his simple reply, voice a murmur of emotionless sound.
"Did the gliders dance?" Her voice perked now with the question and if he was smart he might just say no.
Who ever said Savith was SMART?! "Some did," he answered in that soft murmur of his.
"Show me. Please." Those eyes widened as a child's might to beg from a parent.
Savith looked over, lips still unsmiling. "I never spent any time really watching them," he admitted, almost sounding apologetic. "And the few times I moved into the room where they may have been, I was either enroute somewhere and so didn't stop, or I had to interrupt them to deliver a message or a summons."
She let out a long over stated sigh. "Oh well. Maybe Llune knows some then." She sat a while looking like she was looking at the stars then said, "Would you like to see a dance now? You have no message to give, none place to be going or anything. You could just sit and watch. But..." And she looked at him rather sternly here. "don't say yes if you don't intend to watch or enjoy it. Don't say yes for me. That won't make me happy."
Savith had been about to give that noncommittal acknowledgement, that heartless go-ahead for Dancer to dance, but as she added her condition sternly, he quirked a brow and said simply, "Another time, perhaps."
[
Her face made a little smirk. She was learning some of his politics and was glad he spoke true to her. In the end it made her happy even though he said no.
her smirk received a quirked brow in response before he again turned his face from her to peer out over the ocean. The frown, which had disappeared while they were speaking, started to find it's way back to his features.
"You know, when you do smile, and I have seen you do it. Your face lights up." She chuckled thinking he would most likely not take the compliment well if at all. "It's so nice when it slips out from behind that gruff old scowl you normally have on."
Savith snorts, the frown dissipating but the grin unable to make its way to the surface. "And you're on a mission to see me to it tonight, are you," he quips.
"That is the best mission to be on isn't it?" She smiled brightly. The moonlight lit her face and shone in her eyes. The face of ever joyful youth looking for that same joy in others.
Savith looks over, lips twisted in a thoughtful curl somewhere between an annoyed frown and an exasperated grin. "One could thing of more useful things to do with one's time, however... you /are/ young."
"Helping someone find their smile is never a waste of ones time Savith." She took a chance and reached over. The back of her finger slid along his pale cheek and then tapped his nose playfully with a giggle. Yes she was young compared to him but she wasn't stupid in everything.
Point: Dancer - A wry half-grin sneaks it way to Savith's face as she taps his nose. He pulled his head away slightly as the grin struggled tot he surface, and didn't make a reply.
She giggled and nudged him with her shoulder. "It's ok Savith. I won't tell anyone you know how to smile."
"Oh good," came the retort, a hint of his true light-hearted nature peeking out. "Now I won't have to gut you." Granted, the hint was only the tiniest of slivers. Most would hear only the cold murmurred tone of his voice, see the unsmiling line of his lips, and the slight narrowed tension at his eyes. But that's where the hint of humor is found, in the mossy green color of hiseyes that he almost alway keeps averted away from the gaze of others. It does well in hiding such emotions... and more.
Dancer just chuckled softly at his remark. She knew he wouldn't do that to her. He would looes his smile then. The thought making her giggle a bit more. She gave him a little quiet time but quiet was hard for Dancer sometimes aand now seemed to be one of those times. "Savith." She bit her lip then asked a question. "Will you sing me a song? You sng something at the gathering and it sounded so nice. Will you honor me and sing something now. Plllleeeeeaaaasssseeeeeee?"
Savith quirked a brow at the cat elf's request, lips puling back into their famliar frown, even though his gaze was turned to the stars above. Leaned back on his hands, a finger gave a but of a tap. Shoudlers lifted then settled back down in a soundless half-sigh. "No," he answered after a long pause. The word was clear, yet softly spoken, without malice. It was simply a refusal to share such a thing again, even though a melody did drift through his mind. The words, the emotions, were still far too personal.
She sighed a bit. "Very well. I won't push you." After just a heartbeat of silence she said, "How did it go again?" and started to try and sing the song herself. Ouch to his poor ears. Dance she could do, singing was another story. She messed up the words and her pitch might put him in mind of a baby bird screaming for food.
The sound made Savith wince, one eye closing as he turned his face away. Leaning on the opposite hand, he brought the one closest to her up and to his ears. "Something not even remotely like that," he retorted in a mutter.
Giggling she looked rather embarissed but still happy. "Well if I had help or something it might sound better."
Bringing down his hand, Savith turned a wry smirk on his face that rivaled a grin. "Hmm. I'm so naive as to fall for that trap," he murmured, though the tone sounded less chilled than earlier.
"Would you like me to try again?" She just grined at him. The threat ready to be carried out she opened her mouth ready to go again.
Savith was quick, reclining back on his thoughts and bringing his hands up to his ears. Stuffing fingers into them after a thought flicked sand away, he grinned and quipped, "By all means."
As if that would help. Now her voce filled his very mind. He could stuff trees in his ears and it wouldn't stop the off tone wobbling voice from filtering through in a send. *Insert bad singing here*
Savith turned his head, in fact the whole top half on his body, as a groan escaped his lips, "Ack!" The bad singing, so unprepared for it as he was, cuahgt him off guard, and he dropped heavily onto the sand, landing on his side and elbow. Odd, isn't it? How a fully trained, Head of the Chosen, made to function fully with the wraith of Winnowill's Blacksending ringing in their ears could be so quickly felled by something so simple as bad singing.
She stopped and tapped his shoulder lightly. *Should I try again?* Her grin widened now. It almost looked like she was enjoying this to much.
Savith pushed himself up to his elbow fully, turning to look at Dancer with a panied sort of half-grimace. **High Ones, no,** his mind replied, even as he braced himself for the next onslaught. Bring it.
A saatisfied little sigh escaped her, "Maybe if a better voice was avaliable I wouldn't have to try so hard."
"Must that be my only recourse to prevent you from rendering my mind senseless with you squawking," Savith asked, voice taking on a darker tone as he falls back into his training. The discomfort and pain shall be thy strength and from it fuel your mind and body beyond what is easily within reach. "I could just Fly," he added.
Now she frowned little. "I don't want you to go. I'll stop if you like." Her knees pulled up nd her elbows rested on them. Her hands held her face as she side nothing.
Savith straighted, frown returning as the cat elf frowned. Tension danced about his eyes, and he brushed the sand from himself and returned his gaze to the sky. He was silent for a goodly long time before he did sing. It was soft, airy, sad yet hopeful at the same time.
"In your dreams,
magical thoughts...
All things are real
unless you dream they're not.
In your dreams,
love is the plot
carried on wings of hope.
Each of our souls
intertwine, when we do.
Instantly we see it
the time to grow and be it
when everything is pinned on a hope.
Let rise the dreams of your heart,
that innocent youth
careless and kind.
Free to roam the breeze in love
only when two
brilliantly shine as one..."
She sat quietly the whole time. She was busting inside. So happy he sang for her. Oh well he might bean her but when he was done she gave him a big squeeze. "Oh Savith that was beautiful. You have a wonderful voice. Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Savith sighed, body tense as she hugged him. "Alright, enough," he stated, pushing himself up and into the sky above.
*I'm sorry. Come back down. I was just happy is all. I won't pester you anymore I promis.* She ment what she sent. No lie spoken here. She would just enjoy sitting quietly with him now and should he want to say something then she would be here to hear it.
Savith hovered over head a bit, as if considering, before finally drifting back to the sand, albeit out of arm's reach. He settled himself down, leaned back on his hands, and once more turned his gaze skyward.
It was hard. Very hard but she did as she said she would and sat quietly. Now and then she drew in the sand or inspected a crab that scuttled by or seemed facinated by the bubbles that spirted up from the wet sand now and then but said not a word or a send.
For long long moments, the glider sat, lost in his own thoughts. Once in a while, a thought seemed to hit him, and he'd take a breath, as if intending to speak, only to remain silent, exhaling in something like a sigh.
At the moments it seemed he would say something Dancer looked at him with wide eyes. Wanting to be his friend and have him feel he could trust her with his thoughts or ramblings. When only the sigh came she would turn away and find something to distract her mind.
An hour passed... ((Gliders are boring, huh?))
Daancer sat, laied, rolled to her belly, looked at staars, looked at animals and looked at things till she thought she knew every gran of sand in the area. How could he do it? How was he able to just sit. Sit and let him mind fill with chatter, questions that he had no answers to or contimplate the universe. Who knew. It was to much for her. Hours passing made her stir crazy. "I can't think of anything more to think about." She finaly said breaking the quiet.
Savith glanced over, a smirk on his face, amusement dancing lightly in his eyes. She lasted an hour. He was mildly impressed, but then, she was as full blooded as he, so to be more expected from her than Dewpaw.
"Savith?" Her voice was low. She knows she was to be quiet but it just couldn't be.
"Yes," he asked in reply, still smirking.
"Are you going to leave now that I spoke?" Her voice sounded worried just slightly.
Oh, what a wonderful sound it is to hear Savith chuckle with honestly felt amusement. "No," was the word spoken amid the softly bubbling laughter.
The sound of his true laughter was not lost on her ears. It made her smile wide. It made her silent for some time longer. Of course that was after she said, "Oh good."
Savith chuckled a moment longer, then returned to his silent stargazing with only one significant change: a half-grin-smirk sats on his face.
Oh her face beamed as they sat in silence. She was content now. If he took notice he migh realize she was stealing glances at his lovely smiling face and sitting still above all else.
Savith was coyly snatching glances at the very still cat elfess out of his peripheral vision. It made him, unbeknownst, grin a bit more, and he continued to sit and think, but at least now much of the darkness was disspelled about him.
As the night pressed on he could see her yawn from time to time. Still she didn't want to just walk out on him. In more time her head started to bob now and then but then it happened and she couldn't help it. She fell over and her head landed against him. She was out but if he shook her or slapped her face she might just open her eyes. Should he let her stay leaning against him he would see she fell asleep with a smile that seemed stuck to the youthful face.
As she thumped against his side, having seen it coming, Savith turned his head and smiled that soft parental smile of his. Moving gently, using his mind to ease her body, he shifted her into his arms and floated upright. He peered down at her for a moment, the smile turning sad and bittersweet before it faded and he made it way back to the cave to get her tucked in for the night.
