Tenou Graveyard

[Mellie]

A slightly more than frightening area of Atton where many animals seem to come to just... keel over and die. There are skeletons here never before seen, and some recent bodies of things thought to be extinct... What an odd place, the creepy whistling and moaning sounds and the constant flashes of lightning don't help in making it any less creepy.

[Xanthe]

There weren't many places left in Atton where she could go to be completely alone. All over her country the brutes from the outside world had invaded and made camp, leaving little space for her tribe to inhabit. Luckily, this place was frightening enough that not even the country of the dead had settled themselves here. As such, Xanthe was left with atleast one location where she could think without the constant noise of the outsiders buzzing incoherently in her ears. Their language was a strange one, as unlike her own as any language probably could be, and she had very little working knowledge of it. It was frustrating beyond belief to not know what they were saying to her, and then to not be able to reply with words they would understand. Why had they stayed when they realized there were already people living here? Those bloody fools, those horrid beasts, they stayed and tormented her tribe, killed each other and stained her country with their dirty blood, and yet for each person that was killed, two more came to fill his place. It made her want to scream.

Wandering through the remains of many a beast, she found a large set of bones, one of them a relatively flat, wide one that she had used many times as a place to sit and think. Jumping up was no small task, but with a little help from the wind she was soon perched far above the ground on the bone of some long-dead creature, a sea of death below and all around her. She couldn't help but think that this was not the only sea of death in her country any longer. With a sigh, she lay down and folded her arms behind her head, staring up at the cloudy sky and watching the lightening flash. When the sound of thunder was not drowning it out, she listened to the whistling of the wind through the bones and the creaks and groans as the remains shifted, like an old house.

She didn't find it the least bit frightening, however she was glad that the outsiders did. To be honest, she found the sounds comforting. It wasn't hard to forget that at this very moment, men were fighting and dying for the chance to take her country from her and her tribe. She knew that soon she would have to return, to make sure her tribe was safe, to attempt to learn the language of the others, to help train the less experienced of her tribe for the time when they would need to retaliate... but for now, she wanted a moment to forget all that. Just one moment.

[Ashlin Driel]

It was only for a moment, of course. A moment away from the hustle and bustle, just to flit around and explore the terrain that was soon to be under the control of the Bird’s Eye Alliance and soon just Aurcaele – she and Pelly could control the country until the silly royalty of the country itself could do it themselves; and imagine that! She and her best friend in the whole world, rulers of Atton! Well of course, Pelly would most likely have the most say in everything like always, but Ashlin herself would be like a princess! Now that would be really cool. “A beautifully powerful nation powered by the sacrosanct bond of best friends,” people would say. And ooooh did Ashlin like the ring of that!

And with Ashlin’s said best friend extremely busy with these papers and reports about this rumor about Vieri – the warlord of which really must be joking, who would ever want to drop out of the only alliance with even a chance of winning? – she wouldn’t even notice that the small anthromorph was gone. Except…well she might notice, since the young girl hadn’t stopped talking very much these past few days, about the royalty and the new articles by this blooming journalist called Daisy Something-or-other that Ashlin had been following religiously. Pelagia had been complaining about Ashlin’s constant babbling since her head was already hurting from the papers, so this was like…a nice thing to do for her anyway, right?

The small bluebird chirped in agreement with herself and flittered quickly onwards until her eyes finally landed on something of interest; a large expanse of bones, lit up by a sudden flash of lightning. But what was particularly more interesting was the shape of a person down on a large set of bones, just relaxing in the storm. And who else would be that calm in a storm than a Native Attonian? An Attonian with the inability to speak Common?

Well now, that could prove interesting, right? Ashlin would get to teach someone a language! Providing she was able to make friends with the pretty woman down on the tree trunk-sized bone. Ash flew as swiftly as she could towards the figure that seemed to glow a honey-colored light when the lightning flashed, and turned into a girl with a small “pop” right before she came into the girl’s eyesight. “Uhm…” Ashlin let out a hesitant sound of arrival to grasp the woman’s attention, widening her eyes in innocence and waiting for the stranger to look at her before laying her decorative bow and her quiver to the left and slightly behind herself; she couldn’t have anyone stealing it, of course. Because who wouldn’t want such a pretty bow?

[Xanthe]

Xanthe, having closed her eyes to rest for a while, did not notice the approaching blue in the gray and gold of the storm, however it was hard not to notice the 'pop' amid the otherwise so familiar sounds surrounding her. She opened her eyes, but didn't actually look around until she could confirm that it was in fact as she had feared. Someone else was here. When she heard the tell-tale 'uhm...', she quickly got to her feet and looked over at the woman, who had managed to get onto the bone she herself had been laying on moments earlier ((I'm just assuming she's also on it, because you didn't actually specify)). Interesting, not many people could do that. Lightning flashed and, a moment later, thunder followed loudly behind.

The woman had a bow in her hand, however shortly after Xanthe looked over at her she lay down her weapon and ammo and simply stood there. Xanthe, only really knowing a few full sentences in their strange language, spoke the one that fit the situation the best. "What are you doing here?" It had been said to her often enough to know what it meant. She spoke with a thick Attonian accent and with a rather harsh tone that matched her less-than-welcoming persona as she watched the woman. There was no guarantee that she would understand the woman's answer, however she already knew that the woman couldn't be here for a fight because she had lay her bow to the side. Not to mention the fact that Xanthe had been laying down, so if the woman had wanted to kill her it would have been rather simple to do. Well... that wasn't true, but it would probably have looked like it from the other woman's point of view.

[Ashlin Driel]

Oh! Well that was a surprise, because even though this woman’s heavily accented words were close to inaudible, they were still spoken in Common! The woman was very clearly Attonian, however, and Ashlin was quick to pipe up with a response, speaking up so that her voice could carry through even past the farrago of storm rumblings surrounding the two of them; “Uhmmm…I’m here to help! To be friends! If you can’t understand Common it must be hard to understand what’s going on…?” Ashlin shifted under the woman’s glare, feeling very unwelcome – however, that mustn’t stop her! She frowned slightly, lower lip pulling into a small pout. Didn’t the placement of one’s weapon on the ground mean peace everywhere though? Even in a place as bizarre as Atton? Because nobody – not even Pelly – could effectively hit a target [especially if she could move!] if their bow was sitting on the ground, right?

Ashlin jumped, startled, as an especially loud crack of thunder echoed across the darkening sky. But when the smaller woman seemed unphased, the young anthromorph blushed and straightened up again. “Uhm…name?” She left the question in a single word, because who knew if the other would even know what she had said earlier? She could have like, been like one of those people that says things they don’t mean, just because they heard it and knew it meant something, right? So…if she didn’t know what it meant, a longer question would just be more confusing! For an example, however, Ashlin pointed to herself and said “Ash,” in a clear voice, to show her what to do. It should make sense, right? And, if she understood, she’d call her Ash, just like Pelly did! Like a friend!

[Xanthe]

The girl said something in reply, but the only thing Xanthe could understand was the word 'help', because the peacekeepers had said it to her often enough. They were here to 'help' her. Now this woman was here to 'help' her. Help her with what? Did she look like she needed help? She had been laying down quite peacefully, and yet somehow that seemed to say 'I need help with something'. She didn't have a clue as to how the girl could have come to that conclusion. However, she was nice enough to offer her assistance with.. something... and she had put her weapon down. So she couldn't be completely detestable. Xanthe decided not to kill her.

The woman jumped when some more thunder boomed in the area and Xanthe raised an eyebrow, amused. Then the girl spoke again, except this time it was only two words, the second of which she knew because she had been asked it rather often. However, the girl seemed to catch on that Xanthe couldn't speak her language, and went on to point to herself and inform Xanthe that she was called 'Ash'. Xanthe did not point to herself when she replied. "Xanthe." What a strange name, Ash. She wondered what the girl's parents had been thinking when they named their child. Obviously not intelligent thoughts. Ash. It was vaguely similar to the Attonian phrase 'get out', which she found amusing. She continued to watch the girl, waiting to see what she was going to do or say next.

((Crappy post, sorry))

[Ashlin Driel]

“Xanthe?” Ashlin spoke the odd name outloud, to get the feel of it right and remember how to pronounce it so as not to offend this woman in front of her. But it seemed she understood, because it seemed namey enough. And because it kind of fit the person in front of her. Short [in both stature and reply], simple [her clothes weren’t very extravagant; not like her own feathered ballet dress, of course], and strange. All that Xanthe was doing was watching her! Well, she mustn’t have understood all that Ashlin had said, of course, but…well she could have done something in response…right? The only hint of a smile that the young anthromorph received seemed…rather sardonic. Like, dark amusement, but even then it only glanced over Xanthe’s expression.

But! To get to know this eldritch, sour honey girl, she’d need to get to know what she knew in Common! Because it was easier to branch out if a person knew the language, right? And she seemed intelligent enough to pick up something quickly – for example, she knew name, and she knew that Ashlin herself was a good person to not hate, because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t have given her name!

Ashlin bit her lip in thought for a moment, then held her hands open in front of her. “My name is Ash.” She closed her hands, as if an end to the sample sentence, then pointed to her lips and cheerily said; “Common!” The hand gestures were rather random, but she couldn’t very well do that wiggly finger thing to mark quote marks, since they probably didn’t know what the diddly-squat that meant. She repeated the gesture, this time saying “nice to meet you,” before saying Common afterwards again, hoping to get across the name of the language, in case she didn’t know yet. Because the name of something was a good start, right? Ashlin smiled so big that her eyes almost squeezed shut, happy with Xanthe’s cooperation and her own plan for a new friend.

[Xanthe]

The girl repeated Xanthe's name when she heard it, then she went on to repeat her own name, except in a full sentence this time. Xanthe understood what it meant, because many people had introduced themselves to her thus far. Most of them were the peacekeepers, because everyone else generally wanted to start a fight with her. One less Attonian to worry about, right? She was glad this girl didn't seem to think that as well.

After the girl repeated her name, she said another word that Xanthe didn't know. She pointed to her mouth as she said it though, so Xanthe tried to think of what she could mean. Well, mouth for one thing. Teeth? Tongue? Language? The girl spoke again, and again Xanthe knew the general meaning of what she said (although the strange, elaborate hand movements were confusing her a bit), and then th girl once again said the strange word she had never heard before, again pointing to her lips.

Xanthe thought for a moment and decided it probably referred to what she was saying, seeing as how she had spoken and the proceeded to point to her lips. So the strange language was called Common. That wasn't particularly helpful, but she figured this girl had to be going somewhere with this, so she nodded. "Common."

[Ashlin Driel]

Ash’s eye brightened when the woman, Xanthe [it was kind of a cool name, huh?], seemed to go along with her teaching methods, though she looked kind of confused at first, watching Ash with calculating eyes. Ashlin smiled cheerily when she repeated the word Common, because obviously she had understood. These Attonians were not nearly as raffish as Pelly had made them out to be, yet the woman had an odd feeling around her, like something uncontrollable that was able to burst free whenever it damn well felt like it.

Ashlin blinked. She sure hoped there would be none of that though; she didn’t want to shoot this pretty new friend she’d made. Well…if she could call her a friend. Oh! Ashlin mentally exclaimed to herself, new thought forming. If I taught her that the two of us were friends? Oh, but how would I show ‘friend’? But if she started referring to the two of us as friends to people…! Ashlin had to stifle a giddy giggle. It could be so fun! As long as Pelly didn’t find out…

But how to do that? Well she’d probably have to teach Xanthe that word a little later…so what next? She held a dainty finger to her lips in thought, aware that she had left the woman hanging, before coming to a good new word; “weapon.” If they were in a war, couldn’t Xanthe be in danger? “Lower your weapon!” Think how helpful it could be! So Ashlin pointed to her bow – she didn’t dare pick the pretty little thing up, what if that ruined their tentative peace? – and said “Weapon.” However…she needed another example, Xanthe couldn’t very well be allowed to wander around just calling bows weapons.

She stuck her lower lip out in a prominent pout for a few moments of contemplation before she eyed a bone on the ground cautiously, hopping off of their large bench of a femur [she assumed that’s what it was] and grabbed the mid-sized club-shaped bone, holding like a sword. She intentionally directed it away from Xanthe before swinging it down in what she thought would be a very painful blow…if it was actually to hit anything. Then she placed it next to her Aemis and quiver, reaching up to do so before clambering back up to stand in her previous position. She pointed at the new addition to the small pile. “Weapon.”

[Xanthe]

Xanthe found herself wondering where the woman was leading with all this talk, and hoped it would be something beneficial or atleast interesting because now that she thought about it, she had been away from her tribe for quite long enough, and she didn't trust being away from them for longer than she had to. After all, when there were only a couple hundred Attonians faced against thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world, it was dangerous for her to leave them alone even for a short while.

They were staying in an area where they were well-hidden from the invaders, but Xanthe knew it was only a matter of time before someone found them out and soon her tribe would be the number one target of everyone else. Granted, she trusted in the strength of her people, but they were no match if they were as outnumbered as they were right now. Maybe if one battalion went after them at a time, they would be able to get through it mostly alive, but if they were swarmed by an alliance there was no way they would be able to take them all on.

As such, it was imperative that she stay with her people as often as possible so she could scout out and make sure that no one found where they were staying. If this woman was going to be taking too much more of her time, she was going to have to leave. Finally, after a long silence, the woman did something. She pointed to her bow and Xanthe tensed for a moment before she realized the girl was not picking it up or anything. She was just pointing. And a moment later, she spoke a single word. Weapon.

So that thing was a weapon then. That was simple enough. She had seen plenty of weapons. It seemed that they, and the sharp metal sticks, were the favourites among the invaders. Xanthe nodded her understanding, but then the girl pouted and jumped off the bone, picking up a smaller bone from the ground and held it like she had seen people hold the sharp metal sticks. The girl, Ash, the proceeded to swing it and smash it against the ground, hard enough to crack the bone she was using. But then again, that didn't have to be particularly hard because the bones around here were all rather old and frail.

Ash put the bone next to her weapon, then hopped back onto the big bone Xanthe was on. When she was back up, she pointed to the bone and weapon, saying 'weapon' again. Did that mean the bone was also a weapon? Xanthe was slightly confused. What did a bone and a bow have in common? Bones could be used to hit someone with, she supposed, as Ash had done to the ground just moments earlier. Bows on the other hand used arrows to attack people. Well, they could both be used to cause someone harm, right? Maybe that was what they had in common. Well, there was one way to find out, right?

Xanthe took a few steps back from the girl and held her hand out to her side, where a flash of lightning came down and materialized into her Key of Atton. She made sure her face didn't show any anger or some such thing, so hopefully the girl would know she had no intention of attacking her. Instead, Xanthe pointed to the key and spoke. "Weapon?" She could hit people wiht it, much like Ash had hit the ground with the bone, so it would make sense if it was also a 'weapon'. Correct? She hoped so.

[Ashlin Driel]

Well! Whether or not her new friend [if she could call her that, of course] was originally planning on getting a lesson in Common, she sure seemed interested. Because as soon as Ash had gone about the process of teaching her the word weapon, Xanthe had been so eager that she had even done some really really awesome lightning-y thingy and materialized this awesomely awesome key thing as another example of a weapon. Ashlin blinked in confusion for a moment however – she couldn’t be sure that that was actually a weapon, but well…if it wasn’t, why would she have zapped her hand with lightning just to bring it out? But ooooh magic was just so cool. If Ashlin had tried to do that, it would require a ton of a help and probably a lot of burning.

But anyway! She scolded herself mentally. Focus, Ash!. Ashlin nodded in agreement. “Weapon!” So now to teach Xanthe the word “lower”, so she could order people to lower their weapons in defense. Ashlin nearly wriggled in delight at the mental image of Xanthe holding out a demanding finger and ordering an enemy who probably thought she’d merely fight back to lower their weapons in a confident tone. But how to teach it? As she pondered, only allowing herself a moment to think, her eyes wandered to the continually darkening sky; she knew it was late, but how late? Was it going to be night soon? Because goodness, when the sky was already black, how the heck was she supposed to be able to tell the time? And well...wouldn't Pelly be wondering when she would be back?

But oh! Ashlin snapped back to attention as she realized how to teach Xanthe the word lower. Or well, she hoped it would. So she gently picked up her Aemis, and keeping her expression cheerful and leaving the quiver of bows on the ground [because it was silly to be scared of an unarmed bow], before saying “Lower,” and setting it down again. She paused for another moment of thinking before picking it back up and facing to the right – not away from Xanthe, but not towards her either. Speaking slowly and clearly, she spoke to the empty air; “Lower your weapon.” Then she turned the opposite direction, facing to the left, and lowered her weapon as she had ordered, placing it on the large bench of a bone. She turned back to Xanthe and watched for her response, wondering whether it had made sense – because well…it might have been a little random of an act, but what else would have worked?

[Xanthe]

Evidently Xanthe had in fact been correct in assuming that the key was a weapon, as Ash agreed cheerfully (though Xanthe wasn't sure how much her cheer could count, since she had pretty much appeared cheerful the whole time) when she made the claim. Xanthe allowed a pleased smile to show on her face for a moment. It would take a long time before she could actually have a conversation in Common, but atleast she was learning things that she would need to know. Like weapon. There were lots of those around here these days.

After a small wait, Ash went on to pick up her weapon and Xanthe instinctively tensed, though the girl did not attack her. Instead, she said a word, then put down the weapon. She then picked up her weapon again and said the word she had used, then said weapon. There was a word in between them she didn't know, but she tried to remember it because it probably had to be said for the sentence to make sense. At any rate, after saying it, Ash then put down her weapon again. Xanthe thought she knew what Ash was trying to explain, but just to be sure she figured she should try a demonstration, like she had done when she had gotten her key. This time she went over and picked up Ash's weapon and gave it to her, then she stepped back and spoke. "Lower your weapon."

[Ashlin Driel]

Ash was grinning so much that she thought her mouth just might fall off – every time she said something to Xanthe, or tried to teach her something, the pretty girl would always watch her, barely struggling to comprehend; perhaps she had learned another language before? Ashlin hoped not – it would make this experience less memorable and awesome. But that wasn’t the point! She nearly wriggled in giddiness when Xanthe lightly walked over to her [and goodness, Ashlin loved how light she looked, she looked like she wasn’t putting very much weight on the bone beneath them…ew, bone] and picked up Ash’s Aemis again, placing it in her grasp, then repeating the command.

And Ashlin did so – she lowered her weapon, placing it gently back down on the bone as she was told. And well of course, as all good things deserve, Xanthe needed to be congratulated, right? But how the heckles do you praise someone who doesn’t speak your language? Ashlin pondered for a moment, wiggling her toes out of habit – she didn’t like sitting perfectly still for too long. Pelly usually noticed things like that and pointed them out when the two of them were filling out paper work…oh. Pelly! What was she going to think if Ashlin wasn’t back to the camp soon? But she couldn’t very well just leave Xanthe here without a proper explanation or even just a bit of praise…“That was good,” Ashlin said simply, speaking clearly, with an obvious light tone and trying to sound praising. But she was taking a huge guess with that phrase – it wasn’t really likely that she’d know what “good” meant, let alone the phrase as a whole…but she couldn’t pick out a way to mime the meaning.

“Good,” she repeated, pointing to her face and smiling. Because good things made people smile…that made sense, right?

[Xanthe]

Xanthe was confused. The girl had just been talking about weapons, and lowering them, and then she was talking about this new thing, which seemed to have nothing to do with anything they were previously speaking about. The girl said 'good', then pointed to her smiling face. Xanthe didn't know whether she was talking about 'happy' or 'smile', so she figured she could ask. She smiled and pointed to the smile, questioning, "Good?"

[Pelagia Xista]

Pelagia sighed in utter exasperation as she hovered lazily through the electrified air of Atton, the high electric density leaving a buzzing sensation against her transparent wings. How many times had she told Ash not to wander off without saying anything? She was certain she had mentioned it at least a dozen or so times. And now was really not the time to be wandering anywhere - the media was in an uproar about the discovery of Attonians, to which Xista refused to comment on until she could properly conference on it with the rest of her alliance, along with her *Queen* (she thought the word with utter disdain). The Setsuwans themselves, while not quite so interested in the Attonians as the news panelists seemed to be, were also now looking at the war with suspicion, and she was quite concerned that the people of Aurcaele were beginning to doubt her and their cause.

She would have to fix that for sure. Perhaps a meeting with The Four was in order - those pompous, religious windbags were still of use to her at the moment. Perhaps if she could feed them a story about some sort of religious mission or gain for the One True Goddess, she could get them to publicly back the war? That would certainly whip her citizens into rabid support. She'd make the announcement herself, but as "Holy and Devout" as most of her people viewed her, they knew she was not directly in charge of religious affairs.

But that was just one of several problems. Those annoying Peacekeepers has recently been upping their efforts, setting various roadblocks around encampments and arming several forest areas with magical charms to impede travel - they were determined, clearly, not to allow hostile company advance with any degree of ease. The Attonians themselves were also becoming more tenacious - exterminating them was becoming quite the hassle. In addition to that, there was unrest stirring within her forces, many of her soldiers growing intensely bored with the lack of action (as if she could take any at the moment!) and calling her leadership into question (apparently, the fools seemed to think a proper leader led invasion after invasion with no thought on the matter).

But most annoying of all was the recent announcement from Eirik Wendelin, Warlord of Vieri and representative of one third the Bird's Eye Alliance. The imbecile, the foolish, intolerable, crazy, imbecile, had actually gone to some nameless Journalist with the announcement that Vieri was intending to drop out of the conflict for Atton, and was instead planning on joining up with that Tree-hugging Feofil Peti, and his saintly lapdog, Illythia Fenn. This was infuriating news.

She had to get into contact with Wendelin yet, and hadn't heard anything from Tiira, either. This war was developing into a mess.

So now, of all times, NOW was not the time for Ashlin to disappear! She had thought the Anthromorph was only stepping out for some air when she left the tent, babbling about one of those blood-sucking media whores, Daisy so-and-so, but after nearly half an hour and not a peep from her, Pelagia had grown curious. That curiosity turned to annoyance when she was informed by one of her men that Ashlin had wandered off through the forest. Pel had elected to go searching for her on her own, figuring that she could use some air herself, and also because it created the illusion that she was actually doing something important, which her more restless soldiers would appreciate.

She had been wandering for around ten minutes, looking from one boring tree to another with no luck, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of something that was gleaming and white in the distance. Bingo. Anything that noticeable would have easily attracted Ash's attention. Pel proceeded toward it with renewed vigor, and as she came closer, she came to find a veritable maze of skeletons and skulls. She stopped, lowering herself to her slippered feet as she took the place in. One giant Graveyard, from the looks of it. But no sign of Ash...

And then she heard it. That familiar voice that chimed at an easily recognizable high pitch. "Good," she cried in apparent happiness. Pelagia stepped forward, moving toward the sound of the voice; a very, very large animal skull rested at her side, obscuring what lay on the other side, but it certainly sounded like that's where she would locate Ash.

"Good?"

Pelagia stopped. That voice was unfamiliar, new. It had an accent to it, something slightly rough in execution. Pelagia's fists tightened immediately, and she pulled her wings inward, folding them as tightly as she was able, and began to advance forward at a creeper's pace. When at last she reached the end of the large Skull, she placed her hands gently on it and peered around the corner. There, indeed, was Ashlin Driel, face to face with what could only be an Attonian woman. She could see Ashlin's bow laying at her feet, abandoned, and the girl was all smiles as she looked on at the honey-colored woman.

Pelagia's first instinct was to attack. But, she quickly stuffed the instinct aside in favor of rational thought, considering the situation. If Ashlin's weapon was on the ground, and neither of the were armed, that was a sign of peaceful negotiation, wasn't it? On what authority did Ash have to negotiate with these people?! Again, Pel cooled her temper and continued to think. This Attonian apparently had some grasp over their language. That could mean that she was of some sort of important position among her people, yes? Pel wouldn't have exactly COUNTED on Ashlin for anything like tactical negotiations, but she knew the girl wasn't stupid. Could she possibly be trying to gain the trust of this woman, so that she could be led to the rest of the Attonians?

Yes, that did seem logical. And if it was, Pelagia may be ruining a golden opportunity to conquer if she revealed herself now. But at the same time, she was filled with disease and irritation at he situation. There was nothing else for it; she decided it was high time to intervene.

"Ashlin." she called, sounding authoritative, but not overly commanding or rough. She didn't want to spook their guest (too much, anyway, as her sudden arrival was bound to startle her). "What brings you out here? And who is our guest?" she asked with a slightly curious tone, placing a bit more kindness into her voice as she addressed the woman, looking upon her with her most disarming expression as she stepped closer to the pair, stopping at an appropriate distance to rest her weight on one heel.

[Ashlin Driel]

Well now that wasn’t right! Her new companion – no, she was kind of like a friend, right? The only other friend Ashlin had really had was Pelagia, but she was pretty sure this counted – didn’t catch on to this one as well. See, because how are you supposed to suggest something is “good” to a person without knowing what they like? Because even though Xanthe was right about smiles being good, they weren’t called good. But the question was, how to help her understand? First though, Ashlin shook her head quickly so she didn’t keep thinking that way.

“Uhm…” She hummed in thought before she was interrupted by another voice. A voice that was definitely not Xanthe’s. “Pelly!” The Anthromorph spun around and lost her balance, ballet shoes wobbling on their tips before she toppled backwards, arms spread out and eyes wide in surprise. “What are you doing here?” She didn’t bother to be formal in front of their “guest”, because well, she probably had no idea who the two of them were! Poor thing.

“This is ah…this is Xanthe! I was thinking…you know, that she might be able to help us with communication between the Attonians. Because they were isolated for so long that we have noooo idea what they’re ever saying, so I was trying to communicate with her!” Ashlin chirruped, hopping up off of her back end and pulling her skirt back down and into position before she hopped back onto the giant bone. And well! She really wasn’t lying to her superior – she was trying to communicate with her, and she did think she could help them communicate and benefit them in the war, however…she didn’t exactly feel the need to mention to the warlord that she had also intended for Xanthe to become her friend.

“She’s very nice, though. And a good learner, too! Watch,” she said, bouncing over to Xanthe and leaning in, whispering into her ear. “‘Lower your weapon,’ remember?”

[/i] Then she hopped back to her former location and picked up her Aemis, leaving the quiver behind her, before looking back expectantly at Xanthe.[/blockquote]

[Xanthe]

Xanthe stopped smiling when Ashlin shook her head. So it didn't mean smile then. Did it mean happy? She would have to ask, but how to formulate that question? She could look happy and then question again, she supposed, but there was always the possibility that Ashlin would think she was being stupid and asking again if 'good' was equivalent to 'smile'. That wouldn't do. She frowned slightly and Ashlin 'uhm'ed, and a movement in Xanthe's peripheral vision caught her eye. Someone else was here.

Xanthe immediately summoned the Key of Atton and stood ready to attack if the woman took so much as another step. But the woman didn't. She stopped far enough away that it seemed like she wasn't planning on attacking them, but Xanthe didn't stand down. Who knew what the woman was thinking. When she spoke, it was to call Ashlin's name. Clearly the two knew each other, as Ashlin replied enthusiastically. A bit too enthusiastically though, as she fell off the bone in her attempt to turn around.

The woman spoke to Ashlin again, but whatever she said was lost on Xanthe. Ashlin replied and included Xanthe's name in whatever she said, so from that she concluded one of the questions must have been an inquiry as to who Ashlin was talking to. Whatever else Ashlin said, Xanthe couldn't understand but she couldn't help but feel a tinge of paranoia. After all, they could be saying anything at all (except for the few phrases Xanthe understood) and she would have no idea what they were saying. They could be formulating a plan to attack her right at this very moment and she wouldn't be the wiser.

Ashlin then jumped back onto the bone which she had so recently fallen off of and spoke again to this 'Pelly' as she had called the woman earlier. More words Xanthe didn't understand. Then Ashlin came over and whispered words that she did understand in her ear before going over and picking up her bow. She didn't touch the arrows though, so Xanthe wasn't concerned. She kept her attention on the new arrival while she said what Ashlin had taught her, not wanting to be attacked while she was distracted. "Ashlin. Lower your weapon," she ordered the girl. Gods help her if it didn't actually mean what she had taught Xanthe it meant.

[Pelagia Xista]

Pelagia exerted all her physical effort not to tighten the line of her smile. She needed to look approachable, friendly even. This was a very delicate situation, after all. However, the flames of her inner rage were igniting with every moment. Ashlin, based on her reaction, had clearly not been expecting to see her. This, naturally, made Pelagia suspicious of what the girl was up to. Keeping secrets from Lady Xista? No, this would not do. Soft spot or not, Pelagia would not tolerate insubordination. Duty and Obedience came before friendship, and Ashlin may have been violating both.

But it only got worse when she tried to explain that she was educating the savage. This was both a good and bad thing - on the one hand, the idea remained that Ashlin may have been trying to get this woman to lead her back to the Attonian hideouts so that the Aurcaeli army could wipe them out once and for all. On the other, Ashlin seemed quite a bit too excited regarding the prospect of this venture, and the girl was no actor - she may have been genuinely trying to teach this woman things she should not know.

"She's very nice though. And a good learner, too! watch!"

And watch is exactly what she did as Ashlin plucked up her unloaded bow, whispered in the Attonian's ear, and then waited.

"Ashlin. Lower your weapon," the woman, Xanthe (or so Ashlin had said), spoke, not taking her eyes off of Pel. Ashlin did as she was told, placing the bow on the ground and smiling her usual chipper grin.

Pelagia remained smiling, and brought her hands up to applaud lightly. "Very good, very good! You taught her that in such a short span of time? Just how much do you understand, young lady?" Pelagia asked, turning her attention fully onto Xanthe. How much will you know I'm saying if I talk about destroying you?

Unless Ash was giving the performance of the decade, it seemed pretty clear that she had been legitimately trying to help, to befriend this Attonian woman. And for that, she would be sure that she would be appropriately dealt with later. For now though, weather intentionally or not, Ashlin Driel had provided an unprecedented opportunity to weed out the savages once and for all.

And once they were out of the way, it would be Pelagia who would take this country for her own. The Natives were her biggest interference, as they were with every faction, and their greatest weapon up until now had been their many secret hiding places all over the Country. Pelagia would find them, would find resources and locations that no other army had been able to access. And with that on her side, her enemies would fall one by one to her forces.

The Four be damned, if she could seize control of this place once and for all, she would not need them. Her Beloved Queen would be enough to provide the go ahead for future operations from that point. Pelagia smirked inwardly, her mask of friendliness and curiosity remaining firmly in place as she faced the Attonian woman.

"Oh, and where are my manners?" she asked, with mock embarrassment. She then extended one dainty, deceptively powerful hand. "My name is Pelagia Xista." she spoke her introduction slowly. "Nice to meet you, Xanthe."

[Ashlin Driel]

When Xanthe did as Ashlin instructed, she couldn’t help but bring her hands together, fingers and palms stretched flat as a board as she clapped them together ridiculously quickly. “Xanthe! That was so good!!” However, much to her surprise, she heard a similar, however slower, sound of applause and approval coming from her Superior behind her. The fact of this was made even more stunning due to the strain that Pel had been putting on her emotions just a few moments before.

Just because Ashlin was happy, it didn’t mean she was dumb. Well, at least she didn’t think so. But Pelly’s smile definitely looked off, like she wasn’t really happy about this whole thing. But why not? It totally could have ended positively, had the Seanglex not come and distracted them and possibly messed up their friendship possibility.

“Pelly, I don’t think she knows that much,” she pointed out, glancing over at Xanthe when Pelagia posed such a broad question about Common, and then even held her hand out and introduced herself. “I’ve only just met her like…half an hour ago, maybe?” What had gotten into her Warlord? Pelly wasn’t actually being so nice to Xanthe, was she? I mean, Pelly thought the Attonians were really lame and stuff. I think. So why be so nice? Ashlin pondered this over for another few moments until a plausible alternative popped up.

Maybe Pelly’s jealous? And that’s why she looks so unhappy? Yeah, that was definitely it. Ashlin bounced over to Xanthe's side, not behind her though, of course. Because someone you didn't trust should never be let out of sight, and she didn't want her new friend to feel trapped or cornered. "C'mon, Xanthe, I'll show you what she's doing."

Because who knew what to do about a handshake if you've never seen one before? And when would the pretty little Attonian have seen one before? So Ashlin took Pelagia's outstretched hand first, grinning at her friend in the process before stepping back and letting Xanthe have her turn. Hopefully the jealous Pelagia would forgive Xanthe and they could all get along.

It was worth a shot, right?

[[OOC: Sorry it's a bit short, but it'll get the ball rolling, at least.]]