::Kari awakens the next morning, once again to find Sane still fast asleep beside her. She slips carefully out of bed and pulls on a silk robe. The chill morning air meets her as she steps out onto the balcony, her eyes gently passing over the valley, taking in it's peaceful essence. The sun is just barely peeking over the horizon. Her thoughts stray and her hands move to the scar on her side where Ferus's blade had made it's mark. She stands there, deep in silent thought for a long moment::
*Sane stirs in the bed and reaches over to his side. Finding Kari not there he opens his eyes and smiles. It was a new morning and a new begining. Sane gets up from the bed and goes behind Kari putting his hand on her side where the scar is tracing around it.* Morning love... Beautiful day... A very beautiful you... Can I ask for anything else? *He plants a kiss on her neck and smiles.*
::Feeling his lips on her skin, she smiles, her thoughts wandering back to the present. She puts her hands on his and turns her head to him, pressing a kiss to his lips:: You could ask for some fresh clothes. Terah has not delivered them yet. She should be here soon though. Until then, we'll just have to manage in our nightwear.
*Sane smiles* I think I can manage that... *He plants his lips on hers* Lets not rush the girl... I'm sure she has a lot to do. *Sane grins and goes over to sit on the corner of the bed.*
::Kari grinned, agreeing. She moved back inside and picked up an ebony comb from the dresser. Pulling it slowly through her hair, she moved over to the bed and sat down beside Sane, pulling one leg up onto the bed while the other was left dangling off the side. She hummed quietly as she smoothed her black hair, which seemed to have grown about an inch or two since their arrival in Velnarre::
*Sane looks at her sitting there and smiles. It brought joy to his heart just to watch her. He layed down on the bed proping up is head with his elbow listening to her hum. He runs his hand through his own hair which hasn't grown much but still you can see the diffrence. He keeps on watching her letting the butterflies flutter in his stomach.*
::After a moment, Kari feels his eyes on her and she turns to him, her humming ceasing. She meets his eyes with her own and smiles gently, her voice soft:: Why do you stare, my heart?
*Sane snaps out of his daze and smiles.* I don't really know Kari. Just watching you makes me happy. So that's what I do... *He scratches his head and shrugs.* Sorry if you don't like it I won't do it...
::She smiles cutely with her eyes closed:: No, it's fine. It doesn't bother me. I just don't understand how you could take such meaning from just seeing me, that's all. ::She stood, setting the comb down on the table, just as the door opened and Terah rushed in with fresh clothes for them::
::Setting them down, the Elf girl turned to Kari:: I brought appropriate clothes for our first lesson, Milady. And fresh cloth for Milord as well. ::She smiled and nodded respectfully to Sane as she addressed him. She looked back to Kari, who spoke::
Kari: Thank you, Terah. Now go finish your duties so you will be on time.
::Terah bowed:: Yes, Milady. ::She rushed out, closing the door behind her. Kari moved to the pile of clothes to find loose black pants and a fitted, black, sleeveless shirt for her. She smiled. They were the same clothes she wore at her Trials, the intense last phase of training she endured::
*Sane grabs the clothes he was given and goes behind the screen to put them on. As he lowers the shirt onto his head he stops to finger the scar on his side. He smirks and than drops the shirt onto his back. When he's finished dressing he walks out wearing a pair of black boots, which go along with his black tight pants and shirt. He raises an eyebrow as he looks into the mirror and smiles.*
You know what Kari? You look stunning in everything you wear yet me... Gosh I can't even begin how wrong I look sometimes.
*He grins and scratches his head before adjusting the belt on his pants and tieing his boots just a bit tighter.*
::Kari took her turn behind the screen, emerging in the black baggy pants and fitted shirt. She sat down on the bed and laced up the boots, then proceded to wrap her wrists with the black glove-cloth. She stood, looking Sane up and down. She smiled, laughing a little:: I think we may be wearing each other's pants, my heart!
*Sane scratches his head and laughs.*
I was just going to say that...
*He looks down at his pants and raises and eyebrow.*
They are pretty uncomfortable. Maybe we should switch?
*Sane grabs her pants trying to pull them off playfully not really attempting though...*
::Kari laughed and jumped back to avoid him. She moved behind the screen and removed the large pants, tossing them over the top to him, speaking with a humored pitch to her voice:: There! Put them on and give me mine!
*Sane grabs the pants and than tosses Kari's over the screen to her. He smiles as he quickly puts on his pants and sighs in relief. He finally had some space where it mattered most to him.* I kinda liked your pants better love.
::Kari put on hers and came out from behind the screen. The pants meant for her were still loose on her, but not hardly as loose as his had been. She found she could move in her own much more easily. She looked him up and down, smiling amusedly:: That's much better, for the both of us! Come, we should be going. ::She led the way down and through the stone courtyard to the the East Temple. The sun was at it's first quarter in the sky. As they stepped into the open-air stone temple, Terah already awaited them. The girl leaned against one of the pillars, dressed in white shorts, a white chestcloth, and the two long white strips of cloth tied around her biceps, which was the symbol for an apprentice. She wore no shoes. Terah straightened and bowed her head respectfully to the both of them. Kari returned the gesture and smiled slightly:: Are you ready to begin? ::Terah nodded, a serious expression hardening her face::
*Sane bowed back and stood on the sidelines so to speak watching the two. He might learn something as well although he already had been taught how to fight he rarely did. He smiles as he watches the two of them, focusing his eyes more on Kari than the other girl. Sane sits on the ground and twirls a dagger on the ground.*
::Kari and Terah moved to the center of the stone square temple and stood a few feet apart, facing one another. Kari spoke firmly:: Attack me.
::The young Elf girl looked confused:: What?
::Kari repeated, her expression as solid as her voice:: Attack me. ::When the girl still didn't respond, Kari's hand moving in a flash, drawing one of her daggers and pressing it to the side of the girl's neck in less than a second. Terah's eyes were wide, opposed to Kari's, whose were flickering dangerously. A silence passed between them before the half-Elf spoke again:: That was your head. ::She lowered her knife and sheathed it:: If you hesitate, you die. Now attack me.
::Terah slid one foot back and took up a sloppy fighting stance. She then lunged at her mentor, throwing numerous punches, all of which the woman avoided by either dodging or blocking with her own hands. Finally, Kari caught both of the girl's fists, holding them firmly, and planted a knee in the girl's gut. Terah fell to her knees, clutching her stomache, a pained gasp escaping her through clenched teeth::
::Kari stepped back, looking down at her with a solid expression:: Get up. ::Terah struggled to her feet:: Learn to accept pain. Learn to ignore it. Learn to use it to channel your own strength and throw it back at your opponent. ::She paused, her rock-hard appearance faltering a bit:: Are you alright? ::Terah straightened, lowering her hands to her sides, and nodded. The softness faded from Kari's face again:: Good. We'll start by teaching you a few basic attacks. You have good reflexes, but you don't trust yourself enough to use them correctly. ::Kari proceeded to show Terah a few simple offensive strikes and practice them in slow motion a few times before trying them out for real. The mentor moved in front of her apprentice once more:: Now, attack. ::This time, the girl didn't hesitate as long, only a few seconds. Kari blocked the attacks once more, and stopped the girl in the same fasion as before. This time, Terah only fell to one knee, gritting her teeth. To the woman's surprise, though, the girl didn't stay down. Instead, the Elf girl leapt at her teacher and threw a solid punch that caught Kari off-guard and landed firmly on the woman's jaw. She stepped back with one foot to absorb the blow. Realizing what she had done, Terah stepped back in fear. Looking back at her apprentice, Kari tasted blood. A small stream of blood trailed out of the corner of her mouth. Surprisingly, she smiled at the girl:: Good.
::Sensing that the lesson had come to a close, Terah bowed silently, still unsure what to make of the situation, and moved swiftly off to return to her duties in the Hall. Kari walked over to Sane, turning her head sideways and spitting out a bit of blood. She wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and her hardened appearance began to soften once more::
*Sane stands up and puts away his dagger. He frowns and his eyebrow wrinkle with concern when he sees that Kari has just spit out blood.* Are you okay? *Sane touches Kari's cheek with his thumb and forces a smile. He didn't like to see people get hurt. It always brought back memories from the past.*
::Kari smiled softly, meeting his eyes. Her own had stopped flashing brightly and now glowed a calm, deep, emerald:: I'm fine. ::She turned to watch her apprentice fade into the distance:: She's a fast learner, and she has excellent instincts. She's got guts too. Very determined. ::She looked back to Sane and grinned again:: I should get cleaned up. Come on. ::She started off back toward the private wing of the Hall once more::
*Sane follows her close behind smiling to himself and humming tune. He was still a bit worried but he didn't want to show it on his face.* Yeah, you do need to wash up a bit. *Sane spoke teh words without much feeling... He loved her but he was scared something would happen that could hurt her.*
::They reached the room once more and Kari took off her knives and boots, along with her shirt, leaving her in her pants and chestcloth. She turned to Sane:: I'm going to the hot spring. It isn't far from here, and it's indoors. You may join me if you wish. ::She proceeded down the hall and into another private room with a large stone pool filled with steaming water set in the middle of the room. She smiled and stripped off her pants, leaving her in her undergarments, and slipped into the hot water. Relaxing against the side of the bubbling, steaming pool, she sighed and began scrubbing the sweat from her hair and skin, singing quietly::
*Sane walks after her he stops near the spring and smiles. He needed somethign relaxing these past few days have been stressing him out. All these new customs and people. He takes off his shirt revealing his muscular chest, he turned around and took off his pants which only left him in his bottoms. He fingered his scarred back, he shrugs and enters teh sprign sitting across from Kari, he sighs and closes his eyes for a few minutes before opening them and wetting his now longer seeming hair.* The water feels nice... *Sane leans back and soaks himself*
::Kari smiled, also leaning back to wet her now long black hair. She relaxed a bit and enjoyed the hot water and Sane's company:: Later perhaps you would accompany me to the archives? I'd like to see if there is any documentation on my father. You can join me if you wish.
*Sane smiles and washes his face with the hot water noding.* Sure Kari I would love to help you out in the search. I hope we can find something on him. *Ane grins but inside he's torn apart because he's supposed ot be searching for the one who killed his dear mother... Yet here he was passing the time. BUt than again things could wait... He sighs and leans back relaxing letting the thoughts vanish from his head.*
View User's Journal
These journals are backwards, so if you want to read the story start to finish, go to the Archive and start at the bottom!
 |
