Xenofos — Warrior With One Boot
????, Dark Season, Season/Movement Week
Context
Dark Season/Movement Week/Waterda Day/After Yelmrise. [[[s02:session-21|Session 21]]]
Events
Varanis stands silently next to her cousin for a short time before stepping away and into the movements of her drills. She moves with deadly grace as she progresses through the series of increasingly more complex sword work. It’s as though she is driving away the world with the sweep of her bronze blade.
Scholar is lost in dark thoughts of being called out for deception. Berra remains alert despite her deadly concentration on the blade.1 Xenofos fail scan. Berra pass battle and scan.
The small form of a very young boy comes charging towards Xenofos from between the yurts. Sturdy little legs carry him forward with determination.
“Look right,” Berra calls to Xenofos, pausing only a moment.
Xenofos turns right.
Orgfal crashes into his legs and falls back in the snow, beginning to wail. He face is red and snot bubbles from his nose.
Xenofos looks at the boy, lifts him to his feet from the snow and then looks if his mother is following.
Berra stops what she is doing. She sheathes her sword, and takes a look around to find out what danger the boy flees.
“X’fos **!” he cries, trying to attack the Esrolian again.
Xenofos gets unbalanced when trying to dodge the little one and slips in the snow, falling to his back.2 fumbled dodge
The child is speaking only in Praxian, and with the angry tone of the very young, he is incomprehensible to the foreigners around him.
A young woman comes through the yurts following the path Orgfal took. She stops in dismay on seeing the scene.
Berra looks at the woman, and at the boy, and at Xenofos, and back at the woman.
His little fists are surprisingly strong as he drives one home between Xenofos’ legs.
“Orgfal!” the woman calls, rushing forward. She gives Xenofos a look of deep dislike as she snatches the child up. The little boy struggles and yells, but can’t escape the firm grip of this practiced auntie. She hurries away without speaking to any of the adults present, though she murmurs soothingly to the crying child. 3 Berra: Hmmm. Follow, or see to Xenofos… He IS my friend… Varanis:Go ahead… follow the woman with the crying child back to Neela’s yurt. :eyes: Berra: I did roll it. Curious but loyal to Clan.
Berra watches the woman go, but asks Xenofos, “You alright, brother?”
Varanis, who had stopped her drills when the child attacked Xenofos, watches from a short distance away. She looks decidedly unsympathetic.
“I’ll live” he grimaces as he gets himself up from the snow.
“I did not recognize a single word, but I think I have idea of general meaning. That was Orgfal, son of Neela, a Bison warrior of small stature but great heart, who seems to hate me now.”
Varanis follows in the path of the auntie and stops to scoop something from the snow. She walks back to Xenofos and Berra, a child’s boot in her hands. When she’s in range, she tosses it at him, though not hard. She’s probably not trying to hit him with it.4 Berra (( I’m going to try to catch that, if it doesn’t seem like just snow. ))
(( Scan says I spot it, DEX x 5 to catch? )) Varanis ((Sure. You just can’t help yourself, can you? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:)) ((I want X to roll too. See if you two collide trying to catch it.))
Not having any idea what Varanis is chucking Xenofos ducks.
The reflexes of a bodyguard propel Berra, left hand out, to catch the boot. It blats into her palm, and she blinks at it then looks at Varanis, quizzical.
“Bison poop?” asks Xenofos.
“Boot.” Berra responds
“Orgfal’s. It fell off as he was being carted away.”Varanis scowls at Xenofos. “You should return it.”5 As a side note, I rolled 96 on love family.
Berra keeps hold of it for the moment.
Xenofos looks at Varanis and raises an eyebrow ” What happened to avoiding her to not add hurt, Varanis? But you are right, he should have his boot back.” Scholar raises his hand to reach for the shoe his tone is sharp.
“Not from you,” Berra says. “Unless you’re staying away for the night.”
“Give that boot to me, you heard Varanis.”
He is holding up his hand and his voice remains sharp when talking to Berra but looks at Varanis.
Berra looks down. “Well, I did just say no,” she says. “And I’m not always good at changing my mind.”
“You really couldn’t see her interest in you? You played with her child by her uncle’s hearth. You let her cook for you.” The Vingan shakes her head. “You praised her. And then you praised her again, even as you rejected her. Honestly, I don’t know if you should be the one to return the boot. But I think I’m done helping you with this.”
She turns on her heel and walks away.
“Yeah. Sometimes those things are hard to see.” Berra is speaking to Varanis, although not particularly loudly. She does not look pleased.
Xenofos glares at back of Varanis, but it seems fight is draining out of him.
“I did not see any of that Berra” he says quietly.
“We should give it to someone who can give it to them, or else maybe you should take it back in person and stay with her. And yeah, I know. It’s not your fault – there isn’t a fault here. Illusion’s the seeing of the world differently by different people. Can’t help that, sometimes.”
“I will take it. But I am not going into that yurt, since I was told not to.” Xenofos holds his hand for the shoe.
“Nah.” Berra holds it, a stubborn, rebellious little thing. “Because the only way you can take this back and make things better for her, you stay for a while. Otherwise, I caught it. It’s my responsibility. And plenty of people know where he sleeps.”
“He dropped it when trying to attack me, my responsibility.”
“No.” Berra gives him a little smile, and looks around.
A few people of the clan linger, watching the foreigners while pretending to do other things.
“Please? Either she get’s chance to reject me when I approach, which may be salve for her reputation and feelings, or, if she chooses to talk with me I can say some things that might help both our feelings. Not that it would undo the hurt.”
Berra shrugs, and just like that has changed her mind. She tosses the boot over. “I’d make sure you’d be welcome if you’re going to go,” she says. “But sure. Good luck.”6 Awww. Fumbled Darkness.
“I have been told I am not.”
“Yeah. So you don’t approach directly. You get someone else to. Someone she respects, or at least, won’t have her father chuck out.” Berra did not get the memo on which yurt Neela lives in.
“That would be wise.” He nods to her and salutes with the boot “but if I was wise I would not have hurt her in first place…”
He turns and starts walking towards the Black poled yurt.
“Nah, that’s not wisdom. That’s noticing stuff. That’s different,” she calls after him, and then sighs, and goes to collect all of the practice weapons that conveniently got left behind by everyone else.
- 1Xenofos fail scan. Berra pass battle and scan.
- 2fumbled dodge
- 3Berra: Hmmm. Follow, or see to Xenofos… He IS my friend… Varanis:Go ahead… follow the woman with the crying child back to Neela’s yurt. :eyes: Berra: I did roll it. Curious but loyal to Clan.
- 4Berra (( I’m going to try to catch that, if it doesn’t seem like just snow. ))
(( Scan says I spot it, DEX x 5 to catch? )) Varanis ((Sure. You just can’t help yourself, can you? :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:)) ((I want X to roll too. See if you two collide trying to catch it.)) - 5As a side note, I rolled 96 on love family.
- 6Awww. Fumbled Darkness.
