Private Tales Shifting Sands

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
"They'll hold," Seteta whispered, grinning as she laid back on the warm stone and pulled Vulpesen over her. His mouth moved against hers again, and she nibbled at his lip before deepening the kiss.



By the time they were no longer distracted, the sun had sunk low enough that the trees and hills surrounding the oasis had cast the water into shadows. Seteta lay on her back, happily burying her toes in the warm sand and enjoying the quiet thrum of the earth's magic around her.

Being physically sated was quite pleasing as well.

She reached for Vulpesen's hand, twining her fingers through his, and then pressing their hands into the sand.

"I'll show you how I did the alarm ward," she said, and when she could feel his magic moving along side hers, she extended her senses along the magic she'd laid before.

"It's quite simple really," she explained. "For me, the magic is always present within the earth. While I do have to be in contact with it to start off, for a ward like this where I just need to monitor a place without making the earth do anything, I can just... attach it to my own senses, temporarily."

She fell quiet, trying to think of how to explain it better. "It's like I mentally... tie the magic to myself," she said a moment later. "Kind of like... loosely tying a coin purse around your wrist that you don't want to drop?"
 
Vulpesen's eyes were fixed on the darkening sky, scanning for the first sight of his beloved stars. His hand closed unconsciously over Seteta's as she reached out for him and he enjoyed the feeling of the warm sand running through his fingers before her words finally took his attention from what lay above them. "Sounds like a good idea." While she went about explaining her spell craft, Vulpesen opened himself up to the world around himself, his eyes glowing brighter as ley magic flowed into him.

"Or a spider's web. Feeling the vibrations," he uttered after her explanation. Slowly, he extended his presence through the sand, weaving the aforementioned web between them to feel the shift of the ground under anything that might press down on it. Seteta's spell served as a blueprint and he modeled his own after it, following every turn and path of her twists in reality.

"I can think of more than a few nights where this would have come in handy. Let me relax a bit while manning the picquets."
 
"A spider's web is a good comparison," Seteta murmured. She left her own ward in place, but withdrew a little, letting Vulpesen take full control of his own web.

As he spoke of past nights where the skill would have been handy, she softly stroked her thumb over his knuckles. She shifted closer to his side, tucking herself under his arm and resting her head on his shoulder as she turned onto her side. Her hand settled on his chest, gently stroking the skin over his heart.

"Anything you want to talk about?" she murmured. His time as a soldier must have been harsh. She'd fought in skirmishes, but not any outright wars. And her tribe didn't have an army, just themselves to defend it.
 
Steadily, he wove himself through the sands then tethered himself to it. It was a thin tendril of magic that connected him to the ward, something that would tremble at the slightest vibration. There were lessons in the beasts of nature, and thankfully those lessons were useful even here.

With the spell put in place, he brought himself back to his own body, becoming aware of Seteta's finger dancing across his chest as her body curled up against his own. Pulling her against him, he placed a light kiss to the top of her head, his tail thumping lightly into the sand. "If there's something you'd like to know, feel free to ask. Truth is, I enjoyed my time in the army. Surrounded by my brothers and sisters, fighting for the code, and testing myself in the field. It was right." His fingers started to trace along her spine, moving up and down as he mused on his past. He'd gotten used to his life as a wanderer, but that didn't mean that he was above the feelings of homesickness.
 
Seteta shivered as Vulpesen's claws and fingertips lightly traced her spine, and smiled as she heard his tail thumping on the ground. But she heard the homesickness barely hidden in his voice.

"In the desert, armies mean conquest," she said quietly. Hesitantly, almost. "Nearly every person in my tribe knew how to fight, to defend ourselves which was... necessary far too often, sadly. But there were no vows of loyalty or comrades in arms, so to speak. We were already family, after all."

Her fingers on his chest had stilled, but her hand still rested over Vulpesen's heart.

"It's just... strange to me," she confessed. "To contemplate joining with a group of people solely because one wants to fight."
 
"Zorrens are born to fight. Its in out blood. Some of us do diplomacy. Some of us go into espionage, but there's honor on the battle. But fighting isn't what's important to us. Its what we fight for that matters." His lips pressed lightly against her head before he continued and his tail swept around to take its beloved place around her waist. "We find the tyrannical conquerors and we bring them to heel. The Vitae fight for Life, Freedom, and Unity."

There was an unmistakable fervor in his words as Vulpesen spoke the three words that had defined his life. It was as much a part of him as any limb, and there were times that he would be heard chanting them, even in his sleep. The code meant everything, even in his retirement. He had left his home behind to see the world. But that didn't mean that he had forsaken the beliefs from his old life. "Not a day goes by I don't miss it. That feeling of making a difference on the grand scale."

Seteta
 
AS his tail wrapped around her waist, Seteta reached down with one hand and softly stroked its fur.

"It seems ironic, to me, to go to battle in defense of life when one isn't directly threatened with bodily harm," Seteta murmured. She knew it was usually more complicated than that, but her tribe had only ever fought in self defense. It seemed strange, to her, to think of a group of soldiers who went around and took up arms on behalf of other people. At least without being paid for it, like the mercenaries who wandered the desert too.

"Don't discount the little actions, though," she murmured quietly in his embrace. "You never know what small thing might be what changes the course in the grander scheme of life."

Seteta leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Vulpesen's chest.

"How long have you been gone from your people?" she asked, a melancholy note to her voice. "How do you deal with... missing them? With being homesick?"

She'd only been away from her tribe for a matter of weeks, and while she was enjoying the prospect of seeing more of the world, she missed her mother and father and cousins far more than she had anticipated.
 
"That's because you think of wars as being fought for one's self. Kings sending their pawns out for their own glory, land, honor, and dare I say, sport. My home is secure and hidden. We have no monarch who may declare war on a whim. We don't have to fight for ourselves. So we fight for others. We fight for their lives when they cannot." His hand rose up from her back, tangling lightly though her hair and playing with it as he felt her lips upon his chest.

Her mention of little actions brought a smile to his face, and he thought back to his life upon meeting Varos. "Just like I was doing when you met me. The little actions are nice. And I get some more reward from it when I see the faces of those I've saved." It was her next question that hit him almost like a punch in the gut. In truth, he'd spent so many nights and weeks wandering that time sometimes seemed lost on him. "Five years. Two alone, three as a warlock. In truth, my patron has done a great deal to keep me sane. I send letters home. I keep some thing from my old life, but he's the one who tells me how they're doing. He tells me of my mother's protective prayers. He assures me that he has plans for me once I return. I can't go back yet, but at least I know that they're safe."

As a soldier, he was used to living away from the comforts of his estate. His family's name meant nothing, and he could spend months on a campaign without an idea of when he'd return. But in the militia, he found his family in his brothers in arms. Fathers in his superiors, brothers in his peers, and he protected every man beneath his command like his own son. It wasn't until all of that was gone that Vulpesen had truly taken to the world with an understanding of the word, alone.


Seteta
 
"My people have been hunted for sport by armies," Seteta murmured quietly. "So it's difficult to think of people fighting for... a righteous cause."

She felt Vulpesen tense, though, in response to her question about being homesick, and she snuggled a little closer to him, wrapping her arms around his torso a little more tightly. As he spoke of being able to learn news from home, she felt a small pang of jealousy, though she did not envy the idea of having someone constantly in her head that was not herself.

"It is good you can get news of them," she said. "It's... rather difficult to send letters to nomads who travel all the time. My tribe had worked out ways of communication through the earth--many of us are gifted with this same type of geomancy--but it has limitations. It's not a conversation so much as it is a beacon.

"I hope you get to go back to your family soon," she finished, stretching up to kiss Vulpesen.

Then she sat up and stretched, a smile crossing her face as she looked up at the sky, the very first of the evening stars starting to appear.

"We should rinse this sand off," she said after a moment, "and find some food."
 
His brow furrowed at the though of such an army. For him, it meant little more than a mass of brigands to be exterminated. "Imagine the aid you would have wanted. I only wish we had been there to offer it." Hearing of her beacon trick, he found himself a bit impressed, thinking over the practical applications that might have some into play with his old life. As it stood however, Veradune was likely too far for even her powers to reach, being on the other side of Arethil. "I hope so. But I've still much to learn. Apparently, my master has big plans for me when I return. But I need to become something more than I am."

The press of her lips to his own sent a calming wave through the zorrens body. Away from his estate, friends, and bed, there were comforts to be taken so many miles from Veradune. "Anything bigger than a chuma, or should I look for more of our small fuzzy morsels?" he asked, rolling over and stretching himself out before rising to head towards the water. Nice as his time with her was, the sand had a way of annoying him that he would be happy to be rid of.

Seteta
 
Seteta followed Vulpesen back into the water, though this time she didn't start a game of chase, and simply ducked below the surface to rinse the sand off her skin. When she broke the surface again, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and began to carefully squeeze the water out of it.

"If you really want to hunt," she answered, "there should be gazelle nearby. I'll check in a moment. But if we want to wander back toward the main part of the oasis, there's an inn with dining room, most likely. It's a large enough oasis to support a small village."

She quietly slipped out of the water and began to dry herself off with her headscarf before dressing again. Then she knelt, and spread her senses out once more through the earth. "There's a small herd, a little ways north of us," she said confirmed, though she didn't try to spook them out of hiding yet. No need to disturb them unless necessary. "I'll leave it up to you. We can get a gazelle, or we can go find the inn."

They could have one more night just the two of them, or begin to put themselves back among others.

Vulpesen
 
For a moment, Vulpesen found himself tempted to race off towards the game, though a few seconds of thought brought him back to his senses. He was fast, particularly when he got on all fours, but gazelles could beat out a horse and between him and them were long stretches of sand, and if he was lucky, grass. He was a forest hunter, used to dropping down on his enemy and hunting as a pack if speed became a factor. All factors considered, his chances of taking down a gazelle without a bow or other such weapon were grim.

"Nice as it'd be to stretch my legs, I think another taste of the local dishes would be a bit nicer, and perhaps more feasible." With a push of his legs, Vulpesen would then glide through the water, washing the sand from his body as he glided through the pond. His tail flicked and thrashed beneath the surface, doing its best to dislodge the grains from his fur.

Cleansed of the irritating sand, he then went back to the stony shore to dry off and redress. His rations had kept him, but as he thought of what awaited at the inn, he couldn't help but enjoy the idea of eating something that wasn't roasted over a fire with little to no spice or flavor.

Seteta
 
Seteta laughed quietly as she saw the pull of a hunting instinct in Vulpesen's eyes for a moment, but she just smiled when he decided to do the inn instead. As he finished washing up, she gently squeezed the water out of her hair and carefully combed out any snarls, then braided it to keep it out of her face.

When Vulpesen was dressed again, she took his hand with a smile, and lead him back around the oasis' shoreline to the main road, and began to follow it around the water.

"Tell me about your family," she requested. "About your home. What it looks like. What the ground feels like."

That last comment, she realized, was very much something only a geomancer would say. But she knew what sand felt like, and stone. The foundations of the mountains, and the aquifers buried deep within the desert. But she'd rarely seen trees other than date trees, or soil that wasn't so dry and light that a brisk breeze could sweep it into the air.

Vulpesen
 
As the pair headed towards the trappings of civilization, Vulpesen focused himself inward, weaving a net of magic around himself to hide what features would announce his race to the outside world. Before Seteta's eyes, his ears would round and his tail would shimmer before fading from sight.

"My family is... interesting," he offered. "My father works in the courts while my mother tends to" he paused as he searched for the right words, "less conventional businesses. Together, they ensure that house Torrevaso stays one of the more prosperous families in Veradune." There was an unmistakable pride in Vulpesen's voice as he mentioned his family. "As for Veradune itself, I've told you about the forests. Its nothing like the desert here. The ground is solid and covered in grass. If you sense the ground around you here, you might get a few chuma and other things. Out there, your head would probably be swimming with all the animals you'd sense."

It would be difficult to overstate just how different their two homes were from each other. From vast expanses of sand to towering trees teeming with life of all sorts. "A lot of those animals are pretty big. You'd be amazed at the amount of things that prowl about ready for some hapless person to turn into its latest snack."

Seteta

 
Seteta's stride was relaxed and easy. She was hungry, but not in a desperate rush to reach the inn, happy to take the time to enjoy these moments with Vulpesen. She watched as his form shimmered, and his ears changed and tail vanished. She was a little sad to see that he was hiding his true form, but whatever reason he had for it, she wouldn't argue. But she'd enjoyed getting to know and see who he really was for the past several days.

As he spoke of his family, she listened and smiled.

"Aren't all families interesting, to some extent?" she commented with chuckle. She was curious about what he meant by his mother's 'less conventional businesses'. Seteta assumed it was either something not appropriate for a woman of her status within his culture... or possibly something not-quite legal.

As he spoke of the creatures in Veradune though, she tipped her head back and laughed, squeezing his hand fondly.

"Believe it or not, we've been traveling through a more... inhabited part of the desert," she said. "So much of the wildlife stays scarce. When you go deeper, though, into the sands where only we Abtati know the paths, there are plenty of creatures that can swallow you whole."

The quiet chatter of others was beginning to fill the air around them, and when they rounded the next curve in the path around a set of date trees, a sprawling inn made of clay bricks with oil lamps cheerily lit in the windows came into view. There were more people about than Seteta had expected, but the presence of about a dozen camels explained it. A caravan must have just arrived, likely from Maraan, since they hadn't encountered one on the road from Kherkhana.

"If we want a room, rather than sleeping in your tent again tonight," Seteta said, tugging at Vulpesen's hand as she quickened her steps, "we better hurry."

Vulpesen
 
Beneath the glamour, Vulpesen's ears flicked at the idea of more creatures to witness. Varos' gifts had offered him some rather unique skills which expanded with his own mental bestiary. "Perhaps next time, I travel through this area, I'll take a detour. Always a pleasure to test myself against the forces of mother nature and learn of my neighbors within her realm."

As the pair passed the treeline, the wilder found himself surprised as well as he saw the small outpost of civilization. In retrospect, it made sense that any path Seteta brought him would be travelled by others, but he still didn't see the desert as a necessarily populous place. "It would be nice to wake without shaking sand from my tail," he agreed, allowing himself to be brought along while his other hand plucked his coin purse from within his cloak.

Even as they moved, his eyes swept over the merchants of the caravan and their beasts. Idly he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to ride a camel. Most of his time had been spent on horseback, or on the few exotic beasts that his people had tamed for maneuvering through the forest.
 
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