And life leads me here [Kisha]

[rii]

It shows me, I have never really loved no one but me
Like the time, you slipped through my hands
I'll never understand why I'm such a Selfish Man.

One. Two. Thre — Why do?

Guru flicked his tail against one of the rings lined against the log, watching it teeter toward the edge. It could be that much of a loss if it happened to fall away to the darkness below. His mindmate wasn't even paying attention. Why did they have to count the guady bits of metal anyway? Or more specifically, why did he have to do it? The bronze salamandyr narrowed his eyes, nudging the ring a little closer to the edge with the tip of his tail.

"Cause, y'might get stupid if ya don't practice yer numbers," Quintrell responded lightly in a distracted tone. What absurdity. He'd never succumb to stupidity. "I wouldn't say yer immune." Quintrell cocked his head to teh side as he examined another ring in the faint moonlight. He tried it on each finger before setting it near Guru. Too big.

Confused you are, Guru wasn't stupid, thank you, just lazy. There was a very clear distinction between the two. With one finally flick the bulky ring went roll over the side of the log – only to land in Quintrell's palm instead. The thief stood and rounded on his salamandyr. "I'll never forgive you for choosing that green. That would be the height of your stupidity." The green choose him, so he could hardly tell her no. "Tell 'er no 'cause it put me with some fatso man."

There actually was a touch of ire to the thief's words, enough to make Guru fall silent and Quintresk to lift his head. The blonde glance between both his mindmates before snorting. The bits of rejected jewelry were stuffed into his pockets. Guru was offered an arm to scamper up, "Whatever. Let's go before one o'the wher patrols finds us. If it's that harper 'gain I'm going give 'im a nice shot to the jewels. Needs ta learn ta ask less questions if yanno what I mean."

Because Trel didn't like explaining where he disappeared for a couple or few days at a time. The thief hated being chained down to the weyr, and his brown wher had gotten to the point where he wouldn't leave again.. a compromised had been made. Quintrell went to play around some hold or cothold – sate his need to filch goods (pointless as jewelry was) and the desire to travel – then he'd come back to the weyr so Quintresk could.. do whatever that wher did. Quintrell wasn't all that sure..

[Kisha-Ra]

It was a distinctive thing about this wher and handler pair that they rarely travelled on the ground any more, at least not if they could avoid it by flying or gliding from branch to giant branch in the places where the giant trees of the jungle would easily bear their combined weight. Since that cut down a great deal on the noise that they might otherwise have made, not to mention the fact that it made it much harder to see the pale green wher, it tended to make Yosk and Yoalla a great deal less noticeable to whatever jungle beasts they might be a stalking.

Tonight though what had caught the attention of Lao, the only one of Yoalla’s pets who was considered helpful and the only one was with them, was not a wild feline in need of either eating or chasing off, nor a problem of feral stock. In fact it didn’t seem to be a problem at all since what Lao had found was another wher pair, Yosk’s brown clutchbrother Quintresk and, of course, his handler Quintrell. Deciding to try and sneak up on them had been a spur of the moment thing that had the greenpair back in the air and drifting, with absolute minimal wing movement, in the direction of the other wher pair.

Yosk came to rest as silently as possible on the ground for a change, though Yoalla instantly dismounted and headed back up into the branches. There was no more communication between the pair than shared intent as they stalked towards their quarry and then settled down to wait, Yosk crouched behind a screen of thick foliage and Yoalla settled on a tree branch, leaning against the trunk.

Just in time apparently. Yoalla smirked as Yosk passed on Quintrell’s comment about being found. How sad, they’d already been found, unless they found the greenpair before they were supposed to, that wouldn’t alter the other pair’s foundness but it would put them on equal ground Yoalla supposed. Yosk simply gave a mental snort, they’d better get on with it then before Quintresk spotted them. With that thought Yosk simply stepped out of her cover and set herself in the path of the brownpair, and if the green looked a little guilt ridden, well didn’t Yosk always?

‘Far too late, Quintrell.’ Yoalla’s voice carried easily down from her perch, a tone of smugness in it. ‘And whyever would you want to avoid our resident questioner?’

[rii]

Quintresk paused, for half a step, as his head lifted to peer into the dark foliage pressing in around them. He sniffed at the air, curious, and after a couple thoughtful side-to-side ticks of his long tail tip, the brown wher continued on after his handler. The thief didn't have long to wonder over his wher's sudden interest before he heard the voice. It didn't scare him, per say, but the impulse Trell did pull back on was the one to duck into the trees and run. He didn't like being caught.

Guru, on the other hand, scrambled down Quintrell's shirt collar at once. Assuring his that it wasn't because he was scared. It was just cold out.

"That so," Trell smirked at the pale wher blocking their path. Yosk - belonging to one Yoalla; and about the only wher handler Quintrell cared to acknowledge. Surely it had nothing to do with there being a severe lack of green handlers that were female. Or heck, female handlers anyway. There was some blue one that was like what, seven? Another one that was three times his age? Feh.

"'less yer gonna come n'pin me down, I dun think you can claim findin' me.." A cautious glance went to Yosk, hoping his brown kept the green wher distracted enough to not get the idea to tackle him. It was more of an invitation to have his lovely (Yes, lovely) captor come out of the shadows and play. "Except if yer with him there. Then tell 'im I'm tired of looking up at his nose hairs when he's try'na be intimidating with all that loom'n while he asks his little questions."

Quintresk ignored Trell's request to find Yosk's handler, favoring to instead move up to Yosk. A pleasant whirl to his eyes as he gently touched his snout against the side of her neck. For obvious reasons the brown thought more fondly of his green sister. It was good to be back, he brushed at her mind, has she been well?

Because Quintresk didn't put it past Eikask to harass Yosk. The silly gold held onto grudges for far too long..

[Kisha-Ra]

Yosk tipped her head up to fix the brown handler with one of her huge, and cheerfully blue/green toned eyes. It was indeed so, the green projected, a note of smugness warring with the usual nervy tone of a broadcast to anyone who wasn’t her handler.

‘Well, yes.’ Yoalla replied without moving. ‘I can see you, therefore you’re found. Don’t need to pin you.’ The greenhandler sounded much more smug than her wher, and much more confident to boot. Unseen she made a face at the notion of sharing a hiding place with Dmitri. ‘I don’t think it’s possible to hide the harper up here with me. He’s a little big for this kind of thing.’ She commented idly, quite aware that the longer she talked for the more time Quintrell had to pinpoint her location among the branches. ‘I never bother to strain my neck looking up him either, I’ll just continue to address my comments to his bellybutton.’ Unfortunately that was very nearly accurate if Yoalla wasn’t the smallest of the wherhandlers she was certainly a close second, and there was little doubt that looming Dmitri was the tallest, so any conversation held between the two of them had a note of the farcical about it.

The greenhandler slid down from her branch, climbing down until she could drop the last five feet or so and land in a crouching position just behind her wher. A smile graced her face as Quintresk approached Yosk. The green wher was pretty much the centre of her handler’s life and Quintresk had endeared himself to Yoalla early on by treating Yosk well. ‘So, how much closer do I have to get for you to consider yourself caught?’ Yoalla inquired standing up and stalking towards the other handler, challenge written in every line of her body. She quite failed to mention that it was actually her mindmates who had found him.

Yosk leaned into Quintresk’s touch and half closed her eyes, touching his mind with the open hearted welcome she saved for her two favourite brothers. She’d missed Quintresk, even though she didn’t see too much of him while he was here. She was well, thank you, hunting guarding, avoiding those shiny clutchsiblings of theirs. All going well. Where had Quintresk been this time? Was it anywhere interesting?

[rii]

Ah, but who would believe she had found him without physical proof or a second witness. In the end it hardly mattered. Quintrell was back at the weyr whether he liked it or not. The latter applied, but since Yoalla was the first person he had encountered since returning, it wasn't all that bad. Up here she said, and Quintrell's head naturally tilted back to peer into the darkness of the branches. Despite having better night vision that most people (that didn't frequent the night), Quintrell would be hard pressed to really find anything without his wher's help.

So she was up in the trees - it made the thief wonder how much she had over-heard him talking to his salamandyr. Considering she was teasing him about being found, and not about who the 'fatso man' had been, Trell was willing to bet on 'not much' had been heard. Quintrell slowly moved along the path, his gaze in the trees as he followed the sound of Yoalla's voice. He smiled, shamelessly so, when she finally came into view.

"Oh you'll hafta get pretty close," the thief shifted his wait over one foot as the green handler stalked forward. He had two choices, either spring away like some wary alley cat to avoid being 'caught'. Or.. "At least you will if ya wanna find out what I brought-cha back." Cue grin. It could be a lie, it could be the truth; the thief was more than ready to elaborate on some spur of the moment story. On the other hand, he could just be trying to lure Yoalla close enough to catch her instead.

Quintresk rumbled pleasantly to Yosk, taking a moment to look back over his shoulder at the two handler. The brown didn't see what why His was having fun playing at whatever 'game' they were doing. The long tail tip flicked in a dismissing matter - it was pointless at times to try and make sense of the folly that went through his handler's mind. Quintresk stepped forward, brushing shoulder lightly against Yosk's in passing and silent invitation for her to join him in a walk.

He shared with her the scents, sounds and sights of the town he and his had visited. It looked a lot different than the weyr, he added along with images of the rows upon rows of buildings built of wood and stone. No caves, no river. Scent paths leading every which way, and at night the humans were replaced by small creatures - feline and canines that roamed the streets looking for scraps.

The people there, though, were very unkind when they happened to spot a wher walking the streets.

[Kisha-Ra]

Yoalla’s mouth quirked up into a half smile as Quintrell all but beamed at her, either he was actually pleased to see her or something hilariously dreadful was about to happen behind her, and odd to relate Yoalla didn’t think it was the second one. ‘Are you that relived I’m not above you anymore?’ Yoalla teased the brownhandler as she stalked up on him, although since he knew she was there and was looking right at him there was hardly any point in stalking.

Yoalla cocked her head one side curious despite herself, was this a ploy that would buy Quintrell the time to either evade her or capture her himself or was there really something in this comment? ‘Steal me something nice did you?’ she asked in a casual tone, not slowing her approach though her eyes were by now alight with curiosity. The careless mention of theft held no edge of censure to it, Yoalla still stood by the dubious morals of he childhood in Bitra; if some could afford to lose it and left it lying around it was fair game. Of course while she had been strictly an opportunistic petty thief back in the day Quintrell had a much wider range of talents. ‘Or is it just that you’re hoping to stave of your inevitable capture?’ She continued, taking the last few steps toward the brownhandler in a rush, however she didn’t make any attempt to grab, just stood there with an inquiring expression on her face. Had the ploy worked? Maybe…

Yosk snorted softly as her brother’s attention wandered back to the humans, no need to join in their strange game, right? The green was slightly amused to note that Quintresk’s had managed to make a move her handler wasn’t expecting but it wasn’t enough to hold her interest for long and Yosk soon turned away to pad alongside Quintresk, their handlers could probably play without supervision.

Yosk listened attentively to all that her brown brother had to share. What a strange place indeed! She could hardly fathom the concept of a place that wasn’t based on caves around the river, wasn’t that the most sensible way to live? Why build caves out of wood and stone when there were caves right there to use? Where did their water come from if there was no river? The pale green’s shyness was all but forgotten as she questioned Quintresk about the things he’d seen.

Oh, Yosk’s curious questions cut off abruptly as the brown mentioned the response to whers in the streets. Was it wrong to be in such a place, and if the humans and other animals wandered them why would it be? Oh there were so many strange things outside the Weyr! Yosk was glad to be here where people did things the sensible way.

[rii]

"I don't mind havin' you above me."

Innuendo at it's finest, and Quintrell's grin said it best. Between a former doxie and a thief he failed to see any reason to pretend either of them had manners. Admittedly, Yoalla did have the lessons to act like she was raised proper. Quintrell knew otherwise. His backfoot slid backwards in anticipation of the green handler trying something to capture him. All habit and reflex, truth be told, because if she did make an attempt Quintrell was likely to let her to win. He had no desires to make Yoalla annoyed (which could not be said for all the male handlers of the weyr that Trell liked to irritate if they even so much as approached him to say hello).

As she rushed, Quintrell stepped forward to swing one arm around her waist and the other took one of her hands in - a dance? The thief spun them around, using the oddness of the move to mask the way a bracelet slid from his wrist and onto hers. "I did in fact pinch a few things I thoughcha might fancy - if not the items, ye might like the story of those that had the misfortune of bein' robbed." Because it was entirely normal to suggest a woman enjoyed the tales of other's misfortune. Well, the people he took from usually had it coming. A man or woman that flaunted their wealth in the streets deserved to be robbed.

He lightly squeezed her hand; the motion done to try and estimate the ring size of her fingers. He was fairly sure he had a few that would fit. "'Course, that be true only if ya dun turn me in." Bad catcher, miss if didn't catch you. "N'yea, he does have a point. Yer not very good at this capturin' thing."

Quintresk patiently listened to Yosk's questions, filing each one away to shuffled into order of importance and answered properly. They had holes in various spots around and in the town. Big stone holes that if you poke your head into you can smell water. It's too far for a tongue to reach, and too dark for his eyes to see it, but somehow the people get their water from the rock. Quintresk's own brand of excitement wove into the images and smells. It was a puzzle to him, and while His had said it was called a well, that didn't explain how it worked. If Quintresk hadn't been so large he might have tried to crawl into it to see where the water came from.

As for the strange reactions of the humans, Quintresk paused before attempting to give a rational reason to Yosk. The people in the towns rarely saw things bigger than themselves, so he was quite sure that they let anything smaller than them freely wander the streets. Anything bigger and they got scared if it wasn't tied up like they did to the runners and burden beasts.

[Kisha-Ra]

‘Lots of people have said that to me.’ Yoalla responded to the innuendo with a semi suggestive quirk of one eyebrow. What was innuendo to her, after all?

However the smirk was soon wiped off the greenhandler’s face as she was captured herself. It seemed the ploy she’d had in mind hadn’t worked at all, or at least nowhere near as well as she would have liked. A frown of confusion developed between Yoalla’s brows as she was swung around in an impromptu dance. The reason however became obvious when a warm metallic object slid onto her wrist.

Yoalla gave a wicked little grin as she pulled her had free and examined her latest adornment with the critical eye of one who had seen a great deal more gilded copper and glass gems pass through her hands than anything of value. Eventually she raised both eyebrows at Quintrell in a gesture of disbelief. ‘So someone was just wearing this out on the streets were they?’ She queried after finding the item to be not amazingly valuable on the grand scale of things, but at least genuinely what it claimed to be. ‘If they were it’ll be quite an interesting story, hmm?’ Well any tale of idiocy on the part of others would be mildly amusing. ‘Given that I suppose I’ll let you keep your freedom. For the moment.’ She added with a twisted little smile.

The salamandyr would have been ignored; Yoalla was practiced in ignoring salamndyrs after all, if Quintrell hadn’t agree with him. ‘Well you are experienced in escaping after all.’ She replied, giving Lao a mental prod. Hey, Lao, ‘Trell was hiding a lovely bronze ‘mandyr about his person. ‘I don’t want to risk the mortifcation of going to turn you over to the new management only to find you’d escaped.’ Yoalla was probably always going to refer to the wasteland riders now in charge as the new management, often with a semi murderous edge.

Yosk gave Quintresk the same kind of disbelieving look that her handler had given his. Water from stone holes? How would it get there, rain did make water collect on stone but how would that work? Yosk decided to ask Yoalla about these… wells later. Her handler would know obviously, because she was very wise indeed.

Oh. Yosk considered this with an air of surprise (and why not when were much bigger things about than whers?). That was rather strange, didn’t they understand that Quintresk wasn’t going to run away like runners did? Maybe he should put a rope on himself to make them think he was tied up, if they were silly enough to want things tied then they’d believe in the rope. Yosk was quite pleased with this idea, there was bound to be a flaw in it somewhere though, there usually was.