Part one of SaiKat's trade story. I hope you like it so far Kat. >.<
It looks long, but its only four pages so far..
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A fierce wind whipped silver hair and flowing clothes while distant dark blue eyes surveyed the mountain valley far below. Down there the wind was not cold and did not assault the body like whips...down there it was a gentle breeze that caressed like a lover and whispered of warm summer days and soft things. The mountain winds spoke harshly of ice and snow and slapped you around like a play thing. Not that Zephyr minded, he was one of the mountain people and the cruel wind was a friend and not an enemy.
He had come down from the stormy peaks, from the icy city of Tirjith in the north. He did not know why he had come so far or what had compelled him to move towards the balmy lowlands, but it was an desire to be satisfied that he could not explain. So he had put on his best and warmest clothes, strapped on his sword and dagger and set out without looking back, only accompanied by his faithful wolf Onycha.
And now he faced his first green valley and from where he stood, poised on a narrow cliff like an eagle, he could see a settlement far below, little wisps of smoke rising up from tiny houses and little people going here and there, looking like so many ants. His stomach twisted a little in fear...Zephyr had never seen any other people outside of his own race, a race of Glacier people with silver and white hair, blue eyes that flickered silver in the moonlight and olive complexions paired with sharp faces and sharper teeth. He had heard of other races from traders but traders were notorious liars and he always took what they said with a grain of salt.
"Well...shall we go down?" his voice was a soft whisper and the words were carried away by the howling wind and dashed against the rocks.
The great black wolf at his side took little care to the wind and looked up, her cold blue eyes watching his mouth before ducking her nose into his palm and whining softly. The vibrations from her throat tickled his gloved fingers and he nodded.
"Then lets continue on." he murmured, caressing her muzzle before hopping off the rock he was standing on and continuing down the narrow, icy path that traversed the cliff face.
It wasn't long before Zephyr and Onycha had reached the gentle slope leading up to the mountain and dropped down into a narrow ravine with clear, cold water in it. Onycha dipped her muzzle and lapped at it while Zephyr followed suit and scooped some of the water up with his hands. The temperature was already noticeably warmer, forcing him to shed his heavy fur coat and tie it into a bundle on his back.
Man and beast were soon satisfied and continued on their way, following the gurgling brook down into the flat lands. Zephyr found himself forced to shed another layer of clothes and his boots were starting to get wet from sweat, but he paid that little mind as they walked through a field of grass that reached up to his thigh. He had never seen such greenness before...and the smells! Such smells that made his head swim. Fresh warm smells that he couldn't even describe. Onycha, though panting with her heavy black fur discovered that mice lived down here too and soon had snapped up several as a little snack. Mountain mice were hard to come by as they lived in the frozen rocks and crevasses. These valley mice however, lived in soft borrows in the dirt, easily dug up and easily tracked.
They came upon a wagon road and followed it south to the village, which was just in sight; Zephyr could hear the sounds of people talking and working, children laughing. Children did not laugh in the mountains...they grew up fast and cold and hard, cold as the mountains. They watched everything through wary eyes, defensive constantly. If you were not strong and willing to fight, you would die.
With a small thoughtful sound, Zephyr tugged open the top laces on his silvery wool shirt, exposing toned chest and shoulders, then wiped his sweating face. He paused along the road side as a man and small boy appeared walking towards them. A little bit of nervous apprehension rose in his throat at the thought of finally having to encounter someone of a different race than himself. What would they be like? Would he had to exchange some sort of common greeting? His hand drifted down and stroked Onycha's head to calm his nerves and continued walking. He couldn't just jump into the grass and hide, he had to face this, the same way he had faced the half starved tuuk who wanted to have him for a meal. It’s soft gray fur was now his own coat, a fitting end for the beast whom man had conquered.
The man and boy were close now, close enough for Zephyr to see that it was a grizzled old man who was smiling benevolently at the chatter of the small boy who danced around on bare feet. They both had long slender poles over their shoulders and the old man carried a basket. Zephyr fought the urge to hide as the boy spotted him and pointed...he was sure he was an odd sight to these farmers in their simple, thin clothes in drab colors.
His own clothes were silvers and rich blues combined with white and chocolate furs and leathers. At his side hung his sword, also silver with a single blue gem at the top of the hilt. His hair was long and held back by a leather tie with a single braid running from his temple back behind his ear where it was tied off with a silver bangle inscribed with black lettering. His boots were tall and heavy and his footprint left behind pocks in the ground from the iron spikes in his soles, designed for traversing the icy mountains. An of course, by his side was Onycha who's sleek black head reached up to his hip. She was a big wolf, even by Glacier standards.
He chewed his lip and looked up from himself to observe the others. The man wore light breeches that only reached the knee and little leather slippers. His shirt was thin as well and open at the chest and on his head was a gray cap of some kind. The boy was similarly attired, minus the cap and slippers. Other than the poles, Zephyr could see no weapons of any sort on them.
"Greetings stranger."
The old man had raised in hand and spoken and Zephyr found himself at a loss. He could understand other races, Glacier's were capable of that sort of thing, but as far as speaking in another language....their own language was hardly spoken as it was. So he opted for simply mimicking the gesture and raising his hand.
The duo stopped and took him in, the little boy watching him with big brown eyes that were full of curiosity.
"Where do you hail from?" the old man asked.
Here was a reply he could speak. "Tirjith." His voice was soft and smooth.
They took a few steps back, suddenly wary. "Ah...well we had best be on our way. Come on then lad."
Zephyr blinked and watched them hurry away, looking over their shoulders at him as if expecting him to attack suddenly.
"I blame you for this." he said, looking down at Onycha wryly.
She looked up at him pointedly, then turned to trot on down the road and Zephyr chuckled a little, following after her at an easy pace. Walking on flat ground was a new experience and his legs felt a little strange. He was used to walking up slopes or down them, going over and around ice and rocks and snow, scrambling across slippery shale patches on steep mountainsides and cat walking along narrow paths cut into cliffs.
At the easy, ground covering pace that the two set, they soon found themselves on the outskirts of the village that they had seen from the cliffs above. Along the way, they passed several fields with workers in them and shied away to the other side of the road, trying to ignore the strange looks and loud whispers. Zephyr paused at the first building, taking it its seemingly weak structure of plaster and beams, and took the pause to gather his scattered courage. Onycha had draw closer to him, settling to walk behind him with her sharp muzzle against his leg, as if they were attached.
"Well...here goes." he whispered down to her, as he started walking again, taking slow, cautious steps into the village, his senses on high alert in case they should be attacked.
He knew from experience that beings fear what they do not understand or know and often will attack based on that fear. In his mind, he was the predator and the valley people his prey, or at least that was how he imagined them seeing him.
A few children were playing with a ball in the village square, while their mothers sat around the well in the middle, chatting and drawing water, washing dirty clothes in big tubs. Across the way, a blacksmith pounded away at his anvil, causing the square to ring with each strike. Pausing at the entrance of the street he was on, Zephyr took the scene in and noticed that other than the blacksmith, there were no other men. It made him feel slightly more at ease, although if provoked, the smithy could put up a decent fight. Onycha whined softly at his heels and he reached down to stroke her head. The square was, all in all, a rather dead place; he had expected more activity.
Wiping the sweat from his face, he stepped out and cringed as the children suddenly stopped playing and backed off. Their ball came to rest against his foot and he looked down at it for a moment, then up as the women stopped talking and eyed him with trepidation. The smithy continued to pound and for that, Zephyr was grateful.
He looked down at the ball again, then the children, before nudging it with his toe and kicking it across to them with what he hoped was a friendly expression. When one of the littler ones ran out to catch it, he took a few more steps forward and motioned to the well, then touched his throat, hoping the women would understand his request.
The women looked at each other for a moment before a younger girl with long brown hair stood and dipped a gourd cup into the bucket of water she had just drawn, then hesitantly brought it closer. Her hand shook, spilling some of the water and her eyes were wide with fear, but also curiosity. Once she was close enough, Zephyr reached out and took the shaking cup from her hand, dipped his head in a gesture of thanks and took a long sip of the cold water.
The girl gave a shy smile and nodded back, watching him as he drank, taking in his clothes, sword and face with interest, ignoring the calls of her friends to come away from the stranger.
Zephyr finished the water and wiped his mouth on his sleeve before handing the cup back to the girl, nodding again.
"Davoshtay." he murmured.
She smiled softly again and slowly turned to walk back to her companions, pausing once to look back at him as he turned and made his way along the outside of the square, staying away from the center and close to the buildings until he was to the street that lead out of town.
Once the pair had made it to the edge of the village, Zephyr paused and took a breath, releasing it slowly.
"Well...that wasn't to bad." he stated, reaching down to fondle Onycha's ears. "I suppose we'll follow this road and see where it takes us."
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Next chapter when I type it.
-Kas
