Yhah'a Nelhah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ameowrosis) wrote2025-05-29 04:53 pm
ameowrosis) wrote2025-05-29 04:53 pm
(no subject)
[it's been an unremarkable day, but not unremarkable enough, as far as Yhah'a is concerned. anything to do at all is too much to do, and earning his keep is a burden kept with no shortage of contempt, even if he understands it by design and respects the order of things. it's more having resentment towards no longer being cozied up in the shroud with his clanmates, ever yearning for simpler times.
but naturally, he has to keep himself fed—his companion as well, who he walks with, gripping the lead from his beak. Marbles's large steps displace the dirt beneath his claws, and Yhah'a follows quietly beside him. he can smell it on the cooling air; it's to rain soon, and Marbles's subtly nervous shift in behavior confirms this as well. Yhah'a has no such anxiety, but rather just more ire—yet another inconvenience. he knows he'll likely have to ride to shelter before the storm if he should be so lucky.
gnats buzz in the humid air, which Yhah'a has been feeling cool around him. it's well past dusk now, nearly dark.
Yhah'a pauses—even through the starchy fabric of his wide brimmed hat, Yhah'a's ears are quite sharp—even for a shroud Keeper. he pauses, then pulls gently on Marbles's reigns, redirecting him despite Marbles's confused (and maybe slightly irritated) head bob in resistance. he obeys, walking with Yhah'a off path. a scent meets him before too long, and Yhah'a's footfalls still. face obscured partially in shadow by his hat, Yhah'a offers a fanged, friendly smile; his tail lifts and hooks at its tip in a similar manner.
another Miqo'te—male, he thinks. he'd heard this stranger's footsteps long enough to clock them as uncertain.]
By what Gods might be the chances?
[Yhah'a lets go of an airy laugh, tilting his head as his pale eyes squint along with his smile. he's maybe encountered male Miqo'te a couple of times in passing, but it's certainly rare enough to be quite novel all the same. they tend to be solitary, of course, so it's always like passing ships.
Yhah'a is much the same, despite his resentment for his position in his culture.]
I hope you haven't found yourself lost, brother of my kin.
but naturally, he has to keep himself fed—his companion as well, who he walks with, gripping the lead from his beak. Marbles's large steps displace the dirt beneath his claws, and Yhah'a follows quietly beside him. he can smell it on the cooling air; it's to rain soon, and Marbles's subtly nervous shift in behavior confirms this as well. Yhah'a has no such anxiety, but rather just more ire—yet another inconvenience. he knows he'll likely have to ride to shelter before the storm if he should be so lucky.
gnats buzz in the humid air, which Yhah'a has been feeling cool around him. it's well past dusk now, nearly dark.
Yhah'a pauses—even through the starchy fabric of his wide brimmed hat, Yhah'a's ears are quite sharp—even for a shroud Keeper. he pauses, then pulls gently on Marbles's reigns, redirecting him despite Marbles's confused (and maybe slightly irritated) head bob in resistance. he obeys, walking with Yhah'a off path. a scent meets him before too long, and Yhah'a's footfalls still. face obscured partially in shadow by his hat, Yhah'a offers a fanged, friendly smile; his tail lifts and hooks at its tip in a similar manner.
another Miqo'te—male, he thinks. he'd heard this stranger's footsteps long enough to clock them as uncertain.]
By what Gods might be the chances?
[Yhah'a lets go of an airy laugh, tilting his head as his pale eyes squint along with his smile. he's maybe encountered male Miqo'te a couple of times in passing, but it's certainly rare enough to be quite novel all the same. they tend to be solitary, of course, so it's always like passing ships.
Yhah'a is much the same, despite his resentment for his position in his culture.]
I hope you haven't found yourself lost, brother of my kin.
no subject
though looking properly, he was pleasantly surprised to find another male Miqo'te, and a moonkeeper at that. he had rarely met any others let alone talked to them, and while he certainly had wanted to it was far too risky. they may be kin but Toki'to had come from a place much further than the shroud, and that empire's name wasn't exactly well liked here. whether he had fled it or not, the suspicion would stay. it could get dangerous if the other Miqo'te was able to tell. his smile was reassuring though, and the pale eyes quite striking, if they hadn't been in the shroud then maybe...
Toki'to abandoned the thought and returned the fanged smile with one of his own.]
Ah, perhaps a little lost yes. I was looking for my companion but he wandered somewhere I don't quite recognize.
[Toki'to was truthfully not too worried about Clementine, if anything he was probably the one worrying the Vierra right about now. he really should've paid more attention when they traveled through here before, but with the dark settling in Toki'to had little hope of recognizing anything they had seen during the day. all he could tell was that he had probably circled the same set of trees for a while now. he really should be asking for help at this point, lost as he was.]
Would you mind taking me...
[he paused.
...
he really should have paid more attention to where Clem said they would reconvene.]
...Actually, I don't think I even remember where he was headed.
[he laughed as if embarrassed, rubbing the back of his neck to emphasize the gesture. while sometimes met with annoyance, playing the hapless fool hasn't failed Toki'to yet. though right now he really didn't have to act it up all that much.]
You wouldn't have happened to come across a morose looking Vierra on your way here have you?
no subject
[Yhah'a blinks, smile dropping as his expression shifts to one of surprise. Marbles adjusts his footsteps, and Yhah'a pulls his reigns to remind him that it's time to be stationary.]
Can't say I've encountered such a character. A Vierra and a Miqo'te man in the same day and I might soon test my hand in the cast of parlors, [Yhah'a jokes, eyes gone soft with smiling again.
of course, even if he weren't blind, it wouldn't be so easy to tell if this man were of the moon or sun—but it doesn't matter. his displacement and his past makes him feel uniquely alienated. even if he were to meet another Nelhah, they likely wouldn't be as close to the shroud as Yhah'a was. it's funny to be so bitterly apolitical about it all; he counts himself lucky to at least have his life.
sometimes.]
The two of you must certainly stick out as a pair. Surely some short reprieve with another Miqo'te man couldn't be much stranger.
[which is, of course, an offer to help; the right thing to do, though Yhah'a is aware of the inherent danger as well. there are times when playing unassuming does well for him, and times where it doesn't. such as traveling alone, obviously in acolyte attire. hopefully, this stranger hasn't yet gleaned that he's blind.
but, there's also a sort of confidence in traveling alone as a disabled healworker that to those who are savvy and seasoned may take as a threat of its own. Marbles is no weak beaked bird, as well.
being cautious is smart, but Yhah'a isn't too worried. he's sure the tension is mutual.]
If you walk my path, I can at least take you to the following city.
[Yhah'a lifts his palm, however, as if testing the air for rainfall. he doesn't move his gaze, though reflexively, the chocobo turns its eyes through the tops of the trees, like he's trying to find the sky between the shattering dark spots of leaves.]
Unsure if my luck will get us there before the rain comes to fall and drop our ears with sky's weight, unfortunately—even if we both took my steed's back.
[Marbles's gaze snaps towards Yhah'a, as if offended at the suggestion.]
In exchange, perhaps you can keep your eyes keen as we go for suitable shelter to two cats and a bird.