bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

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    • "No, I actually don't remember ever hurting him, at least not physically", Nayantai mumbled and for some time, there was silence, until he cleared his throat. "He'd never been outside, never touched snow and me, being the cheeky idiot that I was, brought some snow inside. Not that it held up for long, but for some reason, that probably was one of the best gifts I was ever able to give him." Rains face and expression had been priceless, that much was clear, but not only that, he'd loved to bring him more, to drag him outside and build stupid snowmen with him, but in the end, he couldn't do that, not once, until they had to force themselves out of the manor and make their way across half the world, at least it felt like it took that long. However, now that he was back here, without Rain, it felt like something was missing and the sole thought about not being able to actually visit his grave ... did it anger him? Or just throw him seriously out of loop? "Because you're used to it. I could have had the opportunity to learn adrestian, my father always offered it, but I never wanted to. Which was why I basically forced thrian onto you and your siblings, just because I didn't want any of you to feel disconnected from your heritage and knowing two languages is always better than one", he explained. Also, because sometimes, there were things he didn't want to say in adrestian, in front of adrestian people.

      "Don't overdo it or you'll cook the seeds, though. And no, not really. I mean, I was born in Silesse, but there's roots and other things to, but if you always eat what everyone else is eating, there's no real need to envy something that doesn't really exist. If I give that a thought, your father did feed me cake once when I was in Adrestia and I've never had that. I also didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't like it at all, after he tried and failed to find something that I did like to eat and he thought I liked cake because of language barriers", Nayantai chuckled. All of those memories were fond to him, weren't they? But they also were pretty old and with someone that he'd thought would outlive him, despite his physical condition - but they didn't go down together, either. Now he sat there, back at the place he was supposed to call home, with the only son he had left and was musing about good old times. "He was sad, I think that was the saddest I've ever seen him. But I don't blame him, he finally got to see what he wanted, but he also knew he lost his country and he thought his father was done for, too - all the while Caelan was down here, being annoyed by Shuren and his lackeys. But that's not the point - he probably was feeling pretty mixed about all of what was happening." He, on the other hand, hadn't been much of a help either, most of the time, he'd felt like absolute crap and still, they both tried to cheer one another up. "That might be because one, I didn't want to kill Rain with spices and too, I kind of adjusted to cooking like that because I can't taste anything either way, so it's better if others get to enjoy the food, the people that can actually test it. If you want to try it the way it's supposed to be made, I guess I can show you?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "He was... weird back then, wasn't he? Why'd you put up with him?", Richard wanted to know and he also wanted to know why he was interested in that all of a sudden. He looked Nayantai for a moment, he looked happy thinking back, talking about Richards dad, was that the reason? He looked back down on his food, managed to get one piece of meat and succesfully delivered it into his mouth. He cleared his throat after he swallowed the meat, not because he choked on it, but because he felt like he was about to start crying like an idiot over those stories of his father. He missed him, Nayantai did too and he wasn't the only one they missed. "Mh... I guess it helps that I know Thrian... but when they're talking too fast, I can't understand a thing...", he mumbled and for some reason he wasn't hungry anymore, which seldomly happened. He put away the chopsticks and mulled over his plate for a while, before he looked up again with a request on his lips. "Can we... can we put up a cross or something... for everyone? I... it's unfair they didn't get a grave..." Maybe that helped them and maybe that let him sleep better at night, but in the end wasn't that egoistic? They should put up something for their sake, not for Richards and Nayantais...

      "That's... a nice story.", Richard mumbled almost smiling, but only almost. He sighed once more and leaned back, letting his head fall back too. This was exhausting, talking was exhausting and it was hard to keep composed. Wasn't that the reason he was angry most of the time? Because he didn't want to feel like he did now? Sad and lonely, as if something was missing, as if his body had been hollowed out and he was no more than a mere husk. Too bad Richard wasn't mistaken about anyones death. Especially his father, he knew he was dead, they burried him and he watched his siblings die right in front of his eyes. There was no hope for them to be alive somehow. Richard enjoyed hearing those stories in a weird way but at the same time, he couldn't take any more of that so he started to stand up. "No, I... I like the food how it is.", he answered and eventually took his plate to bring it back in the kitchen, he'd eat that later. Then he turned around, searching the room for a rug and the bucket. "I'll go clean my room now. Thanks for... thanks for the food and the stories...", he mumbled and eventually took all he needed back into his room and closed the door.

    • "He was everything I had", Nayantai explained. Those were old scars, wounds with a forlorn cause and yet, they still stung like they had years before and they would keep on stinging, there was no need to hide all of that, he was sure that eventually, he'd figure it out himself, but right now, just trying to figure out how to cope was something that seemed impossile. "And very much the only person I was really able to trust. Sheep were scary and dangerous, but someone like him - he couldn't really hurt me if he really wanted to." That, too, was something that reminded him that not everyone was going to just sit idly by and let wolves be wolves, or let people live, but instead, it all took some kindness and a bit of understanding. "That's fine, you'll eventually learn - practice makes perfect and it is a foreign language that you haven't talked all that much in." Nayantai had made sure to teach his children, but he sometimes, he wasn't around because he had to actually take that stupid role of his somewhat seriously - and that also meant that the only person Richard really had to babble at, in thrian, were Rain and Dayan, one of which was a king and supposed to rule and the other was his brother, someone who'd never be ruling anything. "I thought about that, both for their sake and because we can't visit Rains grave, either", he answered, smiling faintly at Richard - they didn't have a lot of other things that they could share for now, except their grief. "I have plenty of those if you ever want to hear more - or older ones." And with that, Richard was getting ready to disappear once more. "No need to, I'm happy you like the food and I'm happy you liked my stories, it was nice to tell them to someone", the old wolf replied and with that, went about his day just like normal.

      Gods, he still felt like crap. Yujin had realized that not long after arriving home, but once he did, everyone seemingly knew what was wrong, where he'd been and he just complained about wanting a bath, not needing medicine and after a hot bath, he slipped into his room, hid in his bed beneath what felt like a thousand blankets and he slept for what turned out to be two days straight, just because he wanted to recover and not lift a finger. After that, however, he found his way back onto his feet and suddenly, he wasn't all that sick anymore, he'd recovered from whatever had ailed him, but it had taken forever, that much was clear. Maybe that was why he just tied his hair up in a high ponytail, why he didn't fancy as many layers as he'd usually wear and why he just went out at the first opportunity he got - why, he'd been away for a while, so he could at least go for a walk, whether it was with his brother or not, but as it turned out, the feeble man wasn't even there, he'd moved on, had gone to visit someone else and that meant that he'd have to go out there alone. If he could find some of his friends, that would be funnier - actually, he could go for a smoke, just to loose himself for a bit, but then again, it was way too early ... so why not try to seek out Ri- no, that guy wanted to be alone, right? Still, he wasn't going to stay home and therefore, he just walked off, not caring or knowing where to.
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Richard had enjoyed that talk with Nayantai somewhat, but at the same time it was exhausting. All of what he tried to hide came back to the surface and the faces of the dead kept haunting him. He wanted to cry, to scream, but he didn't do that, instead he cleaned his room, every centimeter, every little bit and it occupied him long enough to forget about his troubles. Maybe he'd talk to Nayantai again, but first he needed a break from that and the next time they'd be together they either put up a memorial of some sorts, or they'd go hunting together, so Richard would know where and when and what animals there were to hunt out in Silesse. Somehow he thought it was easier with no woods around, on the other hand... probably everything was harder in Silesse. Anyway he spent his day cleaning his room and the next with washing his clothes and some of the fur and pillows him and Yujin sweat on, they were kind of disgusting. At night he caught himself waking up from his usual nightmares, his hand reaching for the place next to him, but neither Dayan nor Yujin were there and he wasn't quite sure who of which he had expected to be there, to cling to. Why was he even thinking about the wolf?

      Richard made his way to town today, trying to get what he wanted, but for now he just paced around. He had decided that asking Yujin was probably the easier solution, he wanted to pay Richard back for letting him stay anyway, right? It also saved him the hussle of talking in Thrian and telling anyone else that he could speak it just fine. Also Yujin had probably connections and knew who to ask to get Richard what he wanted, right? But instead of telling him he wrote it down. Damn, could he even read a list in Adrestian? Well maybe the captain he gave it to knew? At least someone in Adrestia would know what the wolves wanted, right? So maybe he didn't need to explain that he wanted some seeds to grow plants, that was... out of character for him, right? Still pacing around the big castle he eventually caught a glimpse on Yujin who was about to go out. Well he didn't want to catch him like that, but he also couldnt finde until he got back home, whenever that would be. "Yujin!", he yelled out to make a few quick steps in his direction, then he remembered that he shouldn't look like a lost puppy, but rather like the barking dog he was. "You have a moment?"

    • Naturally, he had thought that finding Richard was going to be a hassle, but somehow it wasn't - somehow, some way, the blonde had decided that he was going to join him, present himself on a silver platter and let fate take the rest from there. At least Yujin was content with that, after all that meant he could buy himself some time before he got bored once more and then played with the same thought again. Now, however, he stopped in his tracks upon hearing his name being uttered, yelled all over the place and he wondered - had that really been necessary? Someone was going to hear that and whoever it was, they'd think that their dear prince was meddling with the wrong people again, someone that didn't even care for his title but rather just addressed him by name. Whatever, though. "Oh, there you are!", he said, stopping in his tracks and eyeing the blonde up. Richard definitely was healthy again, he probably also didn't spend all day in bed like he did and he put in some work, didn't he? But still, no thrian clothing here, still sticking out like a sore thumb, like he was a big showoff that wanted nothing more than attention despite being the absolute opposite.

      "Sure, what do you need?", he suddenly asked, eyeing whatever the blonde could want from him. Last time he had said he didn't want any favors, but still, he brought a piece of paper with him and Yujin wondered what that meant, why that was there or why he even put up with that and even asked Richard what he wanted. Well, asking didn't hurt and he claimed to be his friend, so why wouldn't he also comply to his wishes if he had any to begin with. "I mean, I'm guessing it concerns that list of yours?", he suddenly blurted out, looking like he'd already discerned what was going on. If that had been written down in adrestian, though, he wasn't sure if he would be much of a help. Not that he couldn't read it, he very much did, but he also didn't think that the blondes handwriting was any more neat than his, which meant that whatever was on there had to be translated to avoid any mix-ups. "I'm actually heading out to meet up with some friends, you wanna come with? Though, they only speak thrian, I should warn you." Was he even ready to introduce the blonde to those idiots? Was that a good idea?
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Oh there you are? Why did Yujin say that as soon as he saw Richard? Had he searched for him too? Or started to at least, he just came outside his home, so he could only have started. Well and there he had hoped Yujin forgot all about him but apparently not, despite not seeing him a few days now. He reached him soon enough and looked at him with his usual grumpy expression, but who was he going to fool with that? Yujin knew way too much about him and knew that he wasn't always up for a fight, especially not when he was tired, which happened pretty often. Easy when one didn't sleep enough. Now he stood there in front of the prince of Silesse, while he himself wasn't a prince anymore and called nothing his own. Either way, Richard didn't care much and when they met no one even told him who Yujin or his parents were, not even they themselves, so why act differently now? Besides, he didn't really care what people thought of him and since this Shuren character seemed to collect a lot of exotic things, it was probably to no surprise that Richard was affiliated with him too, the only blonde person in all of Silesse, probably in all that lay behind the ice desert.

      Richard followed Yujins gaze to his list and handed it over right away. "Er... yeah. I... want some things from Adrestia, I figured you'd know who to ask.", he explained. So the only favor he asked for was that Yujin talked to the right people in Richards behalf or at the very least told Richard who to go to with that list. "I'll pay for it. Just tell me what's it worth to whoever is going to get that to me. Or just refer me to the right person." He wasn't keen on speaking Thrian to anyone, but if he had to he would. Maybe Yujin could also translate him that list and Richard could just hand it over to someone, who in turn wrote down the price and Richard would try to read it, or ask Nayantai to translate it for him. He learned reading and writing Thrian, but he didn't remember much... maybe a few signs of it was all. "Uh... no. I just wanted to ask you about that stuff I want. If you don't have time right now, that's fine, I'll come back another time.", he answered and reached for his list again, then he'd just go. He didn't want to meat anyone especially not when it meant he either shut his mouth or he told everyone that he indeed understood whatever the wolves were saying.

    • Having the blonde run right into his arms was good, that much was clear, but that also was about it - they couldn't spend all of this time together, they couldn't just glue themselves to one another and yet ... didn't he exactly want that? Be with Richard, not let go for a while and just form his own opinion on this guy? That, among other things, was probably the best thing he could muster right about now anyway and while the two of them stood there, he wondered if he'd even fit in with his friends. All of them were loud and rowdy kids, something that Yujin did appreciate from time to time, but sometimes, well, he found it to be less funny if everyone kept yelling and nobody had a definite opinion on anything - it was almost boring. "Sure do, let me see", he asked, looking at the piece of paper and he squinted at it as soon as he did. Something abouts seeds, about earth ... what the hell was that? Plants? Growing something, out here? "So that's what it is, I think that should be doable", he commented and then looked up at Richard, who probably wasn't keen on this conversation to begin with, but someone had to hold it, if they wanted to or not, didn't they?

      "I'll get that to you and I'll tell you the price when I get it, no idea, I'm not a merchant and I'll have to ask the right guy, if he ever arrives in the harbor", Yujin answered, scratching the back of his head and pocketing the sheet of paper he'd received, to hold onto it and to actually get around to doing that before he went off with his friends and spent his entire day ... doing what, exactly? Sometimes he didn't know himself, but there were things that were almost painfully clear. One of them was that he wasn't going to have fun if he only ever stuck to the basics of life and Richard wasn't either. "No, no. They don't even expect me to come over, I have plenty of time. It's way too early for their bullshit anyway", he explained to his wolf-sheep friend and stretched. "Care for a walk around the harbor then? Maybe we'll see the right person. No need to talk to 'em, though, I'll do that if you don't want to." Richard hadn't much of a choice when Yujin grabbed his hand and started walking, though. If anyone saw them, this sight was enough to stir up rumors, but he didn't mind that, rumors of any kind very pretty good for a lot of things. "How's that sleep of yours going?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Well apparently Yujin waas able to read Adrestian, or he just acted all smart and had no clue what was on that list, either way, he didn't ask any questions regarding that and Richard was glad he didn't. He didn't want any stupid comments about that not being possible, or that it was weird of a guy to plant plants in his kitchen, he wanted none of that. At least Yujin said that it was possible to get that stuff somehow, have it shipped over here. How long did it even take a ship to travel to Adrestia and back? Weeks or rather months? Richard had no clue, if Myriad had traded with Thria then with the parts that weren't past the ice desert, it had been easier for everyone and everything else probably went between wolves that bought Adrestian stuff and sold it to the merchants of places like Silesse. It would probably take quite some time until Richard could try to grow something out here and then it would take some time for the plants to grow and bloom. He only now realized that this project was a bigger one than he initially thought but on the other hand he didn't mind watering the plants every day.

      "How long will it take?", Richard wanted to know. So the right guy had to be here and then he had to travel to Adrestia, do his business there, get some seeds and soil and then travel back to Silesse. Richard wasn't very patient, but he'd make do. He couldn't do anything other than wait now anyway, so he better got back to-- "A walk? No. I just came by for those things...", Richard mumbled but already got grabbed by his hand and dragged along. He was already looked at by everyone for his hair and clothes, now he held hands with one of the princes of Silesse? He gained too much attention already, but looking around and searching for someone to save him was futile and he didn't want to make a scene right here and now. Richards face didnt exactly scream happy, but he tumbled after Yujin, down in the direction of the harbor to search for who knew who and to be seen by the whole fucking town probably. Up until now he had minimized the contact to the outside world, but that went down the drain right here and now. At least pretty much no one understood what they were saying. "Sleep? As always? Can we pretend like last week didn't happen?", he asked grumbling, Yujin knew too much. Now that he thought about it, Yujin looked better right? His nose too, it wasn't all swollen anymore and it also regained a normal color. Richards eye looked better as well.

    • Being able to fake his way to through plenty of things wasn't exactly a bad skill to have, albeit ... he wasn't exaclty really keen on admitting to things to begin with, wasn't he? Sure, he'd have to come up with something from time to time, but strangely enough, Richards handwriting was somewhat easy to read, so it only followed that he'd have to admit to something eventually and that meant that neither of them were good at playing hide and seek to begin with, which, in all honesty, was a bit of a shame. But anyone who was willing to adapt could learn and if his father expected him to learn, well, he wouldn't mind that all that much, after all, if he thought about it for a while, there were things that were way worse than anything else. "No idea, but I'm not a merchant so we'll have to ask the guy in question!", Yujin replied but he knew himself that it ought to take a week or four, maybe even longer, depending on who was going were and if the port that they went to even sold the right kind of seeds. "Too bad, now we're walking already." Yujin was a cheeky bastard from time to time, that much was clear, but just because two men held hands and were obviously going somewhere, that didn't mean much.

      In the end, to the people around them, they both stuck out like sore thumbs - a wolf with blue eyes and a sheep with blonde hair, nothing that was unseen down here, but he was pretty sure the last time that any wolf that wasn't busy travelling through or to Adrestia had seen blonde hair was, well, when that Caelan-guy had been down here? That was some years ago, wasn't it? Whatever, no one had seen someone like him in years either and now he was almost omnipresent, so it only followed that Richard was going to be the weird one that followed none of the rules. "I mean, that's not because of last week, I don't remember much anyway - I'm just trying to be nice", Yujin informed Richard, whom he now was dragging to the port. For a second he stopped, looked over the area and seemingly wanted to find a specific boat, but alas, there were enough to get lost easily enough and that meant, for on reason or the other, that not everything was going to go that smoothly. "Have you ever been on a boat?", Yujin asked, just to make the silence more bearable, before he indeed spotted what he was looking for and dragged Richard right along, but into the wrong direction for now - why get something over with when they could take their sweet time?
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • Richard wasn't sure if Yujin didn't know for real, or if he just found an excuse to have Richard tick around if he wanted to find out. Actually Richard knew nothing about Yujin, nothing at all, only that he lived here in Silesse and that he was a prince, that was all. Yujin seemed to know much more about Richard, for some reason he had managed to have him tell a lot of things he never even wanted to talk about. Who Yujin was in return was a mystery and he was unpredictable most of the time. He didn't even know if he was really able to read what was on that list or if he just acted like it to play the all knowing, educated guy. At least Richads handwriting was pretty good, he had to learn it, had to write like a true Adrestian noble. No matter how sloppy he started, not his handwriting would be able to be used in books. Dayan had to learn it too, even though he wasn't really a prince of Adrestia, or a noble by blood. Richards father had adopted him though, making clear however that he wouldn't inherit a thing, not because he wanted his own son to be king, but because the rest of Adrestia wanted it that way. He'd always felt bad for it, because Dayan was the oldest, but Dayan probably was happy about not having to deal with the crown. He still needed to learn to tame his handwriting in that regard Richard was the more talented one however.

      Richard till got held by his hand and dragged all the way to the harbor. Richard felt the gazes on him, but he acted like he didn't and Yujin probably didn't care. Still, he was no child also not Yujins boyfriend. "Can you let go of my hand?", he therefor asked trying to pull it back, this was embarrassing enough already. "You don't remember?", he asked, but it was probably better to leave it like that, although he believed Yujin wasn't completely honest there. He'd seen and heard so much, about Dayan, about Richards nightmares, he couldn't have forgotten all of it. Suddenly he started talking about boats though and Richard looked to the side where all those lay in bay. "A boat? I was on some ships in Stenz, no Thrian vessels though, why?", he asked almost a little bit worried. What did Yujin plan? Richard didn't want to fall into the sea again and he also didn't want to make a trip out on a boat. Boat was also basically the right word, because compared to Adrestian ships these were really small. Most of them here were probably for trading or fishing and there were no other vessels than those from Adrestia and Thria out at the northern sea, so they didn't need to be able to put up a fight probably, but still they were really small.

    • Yujin didn't even know what he wanted to do now that he had had Richard by his side and was dragging him around like they both were at the harbor for the first time and hadn't seen anything of this world to begin with. Maybe he was being stupid, unreasonable or all sorts of confused about what he actually wanted, but the first thing that came to mind was actually questioning the blonde, actually thinking about what he'd want to ask him about and still, didn't he already know everything he wanted to? Was there even a need to ask too much about certain situations or was it all in good faith to begin with? Whatever the reason, the wolf was sure he'd come up with something for both himself and Richard, for something that didn't sound like he was just trying his earnest to fish for information. "I don't want you to get lost in the crowd and I'm sure when you stick to me like this, nobody will bother us", the wolf elaborated. Sure, nobody would bother them like this because they didn't have the gall to, but even if Richard was alone, his scowl would be enough to drive off plenty of people that just wanted to ask him a simple, nonsensical question. More time for the two of them to spend together without any interruptions though, wasn't it?

      "Uh, no. Not everything, I mean, most of it is a blur but that's mainly because I don't think I really was awake most of the time. I got home and slept two days straight, then I felt better", he actually told Richard. There was no harm in having him know and there also was no need to figure things out to begin with. The two of them were fine, they had nothing to worry about and the only escapade that the two of them could face right now was, well, if he pissed Richard off again for some stupid reason. "Just curious. But why put someone like you on a boat? Did you have places to go or just for curiosities sake?", Yujin inquired once more. Not, that he tried to figure out things or to pry information from Richard, but a walk like this was always nicer when there was smalltalk to be held and if they were lucky, maybe they'd run into someone that could join in without having to force Richard to speak thrian. The only person that came to mind, however, was his older brother that probably wasn't wandering the harbor and both of his sisters were most likely still asleep, at least the youngest of the two. "Now that I think about it, we did talk about that stupid coming of age ritual, didn't we?", he asked, furrowing his brows - he still dragged the blonde along, didn't he? "You sure you don't want to go through with it?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "I'm not a child, I won't get lost and it's not like Silesse is very big to begin with, here aren't even many people around. Have you ever been in a real city?", he asked still being dragged along by his hand, following Yujin a few steps behind. He didn't even know where they were going and the blonde wasn't sure if the wolf knew, or if he just took a stroll with him, because he wanted to. He wondered if he had been that entitled when he was back in Myriad, Yujin didn't really take no as an answer, did he? Probably because all he ever wanted he got, nobody denied him anything and what didn't exist out here, he didn't know, so he didn't ask for it. Silesse was tiny compared to Myriads capital, actually compared to any capital, even Fhaergus was bigger although only having really one town to begin with. If Yujin would visit Myriad at some point, he'd probably get lost for real and end up in a ditch, because he had no idea how to get back home and all the people were probably scaring him too. Sometimes the streets were so full you needed to use your ellbows to get through. Maybe not as a prince, but they'd not always been out telling everyone who they were.

      "Good then...", Richard mumbled, it was only in his interest if Yujin didn't remember most of the things that transpired when he was staying with Richard. "Sometimes we traveled to Stenz by ship, sometimes we just visited there and took a trip. My grandfather had friends there.", Richard answered and raised an eyebrow. There was something he wondered for a while now. "Who taught you to speak Adrestian?", he wanted to know. There were not many people out here, his fathers couldn't speak it and yet Yujin used words that weren't all too common to bring across a point he could have made with simpler words and structures. They couldn't ship in a sheep, because it would have died, so who the heck could that have been? For whatever reason though they came back to this ritual, while Richard had wanted to do the one in Stenz, which he and Dayan did when they were 14 years old, now he had no reason to do a wolf ritual too. "I'm sure. A lot of people that don't know me either not coming or feigning interest isn't my thing, as well as I don't want anyone to read my future, because I don't believe in that. It sounds like a party and I don't want to have one." Dayan would have been first right? He's birthday would have been in a few weeks... "And I'll be going hunting plenty, nothing special about that either."

    • "I'm thrian, Richard. Where the hell would I find an adrestian city?", he laughed, knowing that Silesse was probably one of the bigger, more structural places that Thria had to offer. Sure, they also were the ones that gave up the nomad life first, but there hadn't been much to it - according to his father, they hadn't built many houses out of wood or stone to begin with an instead they went for the ice that surrounded them, that wasn't going to leave them, ever. The day Silesses ice would melt would probably also be the day that this world went down in flames, so if anything, Yujin was not only not really concerned, he also couldn't give less of a fuck about all of this. Naturally, he could just try and be someone he wasn't, try to come up with a suitable solution for his people to advance all of this further, to make Silesse more attractive, but ... this was a brick of ice, a slumbering city that wasn't his to govern and once they sorted their bullshit out, their titles would shift around, too. Whatever or not one was allowed to follow in the footsteps of the reigning king or queen would no longer be a topic for all of them to fight about, wouldn't it?

      "Why? Was there something you'd want me to forget?", Yujin blurted out, knowing well enough that there probably was, that Richard wasn't being like this for nothing and that all of this had a reason to it. Sure, maybe he was just interpreting too much stuff into it, who knew? "Ah, well, that makes sense then, still, I don't think I've ever went to a lot of places." He hadn't been to Adrestia, that much was for certain, but even his trips around Thria were kind of short and if he went, he barely did go anywhere - hunting trips, or visiting family and with most of them down here, there was no need to venture into the warmer parts of Thria or even go near Adrestias borders. "Wouldn't you like to know?", he asked, instead of answering and grinned at the blonde. Yes, that was a good question indeed. "Jokes aside, I grew up with it, but I can't exactly tell you who or what taught me. I think it might have been Xu's mother, what do I know. Now that I think about it, she was around for a while, even after I was born, but I can't tell you if she's half-sheep, no sheep at all or a whole sheep - you might want to ask my brother." If he gave it another thought, it only could be her and his older brother, because she hadn't been around when his last sister was born and that, to some degree, also meant that the only people that were teaching her adrestian were her siblings, which, all in all, sounded somewhat depressing. "You don't like parties? That's sad, but it can't be helped", he answered, then waltzed on and on. "Hm, any idea what or where you want to hunt? I guess I'll have to come with you sometime."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "It's not like you are a prisoner here, you can go places. Adrestia has been opened for wolves. Your father was there at some point, right? And he never took you since?", he answered. Well unlike him, who was a prisoner, who wasn't supposed to go back home. Nayantai probably somehow made sure that no one would fetch Richard a ride over the sea, that he'd stay here were he was supposedly save until someone figured out where he was and tried to end what his enemies had started. Richards face darkened, he hated it here didn't he? And a stroll around the harbor didn't make him feel different. It was all ice, he was already cold from waiting around the castle and most of the boats here were pretty unimpressive. Most of which was brought in here was fish, fish and even more fish, some traded meat, or some roots but that was it. Richard remembered Myriads harbors and he remembered Stenzes, or even better Olettes and Laverns. They ha been full of life and so many people sold so many goods, yelling above everybodies heads what they had to offer. Goods from Thria that made it that far, goods from around the country, Wezette, Fhaergus, Alster,... and even things imported from the south, like foreign fruit or precious stones. Here nothing of that existed, it was boring and empty compared and if Yujin tried to show him something he'd maybe enjoy, he failed miserably.

      "Doesn't matter if you can't remember.", Richard answered and slowly but surely was done with being dragged around. This place wasn't as big, how hard could it be to find whoever Yujin searched for and why did Richard have to be around? He gave him his list, so what more was there to do for him? "Can you let go of me now?", he asked again after catching a weird glance from a woman they'd passed. He wondered what people knw about him already, what they thought, if they knew who he was. He wasn't even sure if Nayantai got recognized. "You can't remember? Your memory is pretty shit, is that possible?", he asked with a scuff. First he didn't remember last week, then he didn't remember who assaulted him and now he didn't even know who taught him to speak Adrestian? It wasn't like he could have learned it with one year of age when his memory was still mush but continued improving it without a teacher, right? Xu was Yujins brother right? Well Richard didn't intend to meet him again, let alone talk to him. It was Yujins life and he didn't know about it? Was he an idiot? "Do I look like a party person?", he asked after Yujins conclusion, because the thought of it already didn't fir Richard, did it now? Even if he had liked parties, he had no one he could invite except one lousy guy that wanted to be his friend and that was just pathetic. "Family secret.", he said. For now he didn't know where he'd hunt, but Nayantai would take him to his usual spots. It was their livelyhood so he wasn't going to expose Nayantais hunting grounds to anyone. "Huntin alone works better, I don't think you can shut up for long."

    • "I'm not supposed to go places, that is all", he answered Richard and gave him a smile, as if that was going to change anything at all. "My parents made it clear that I better not leave or they'll send someone to hunt me down and drag me back here. As long as I stay in or close to Silesse, it's a fair game!" Were they afraid of sheep or just stupid? Whatever that may be, Yujin had never questioned it and there was no need to go anywhere, there never had been and therefore, he also never thought too much about it. If he was honest, he'd never even given any of this much of a second thought. However, wasn't the harbor boring? Richard didn't seem to be in a good mood, but that was fine, he seemingly never was and just because of one minor inconvenience, his plans weren't going to change. "Sure, they both were there at some point, but I don't think they travelled much after the war ended to begin with. They had other things to take care of and they aren't exactly their own nation - we do have a queen for that, you know? I haven't gotten to the bottom of things, I also don't really care, but whatever it was that happened in Adrestia kind of turned them away from ever wanting to actually set foot there again." Not that anyone had really told them, though.

      "Does it now? That's good." Whatever Richard was getting at, Yujin didn't really know, but if it didn't matter to him, it probably wasn#t really important anyway. All that mattered was, that they had fun, wasn't it? "Uh, why? Your hands are pretty cold, I'm just trying to keep one of them warm? Or are you afraid that two odd people like us are going to stick out even more if we stick together?", Yujin wanted to know. He'd seen them all, their weird glances, the ways their faces contorted when they took a closer look at something they weren't used to, but instead, Yujin just pulled Richard further and actually in the right direction this time - this was going to be over in no time. "No, I was just too young and I don't remember her face, at all. She's been dead for a while", he added, almost as if it was a fact he was handing out, rather than the sad reality. Xu's mother had passed away a long while ago and that, albeit sad in itself, had kind of not hit anyone except his brother, hadn't it? "Xu teached me most of it anyway, but that's just who he is." Soon enough, they'd be where they wanted to be and their idle chitchat would be over, but Yujin wasn't going to give up this conversation because Richard was going to be all pissy in no time. "Not exactly, but first, you could stand to go outside a bit more and second, I think you'd be happy if you just got away from your old man for a while and won't be left alone with your thoughts. Give it a try, you don't have to say shit." That was all there was to it and then again, Richard was the one making him chuckle. "Whatever, guess you just suck at admitting that you're not going to be able to hunt down more animals than me."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "What?", Richard asked and actually stopped in his tracks, only to be pulled right after and set in motion again. "Only because you visit Adrestia doesn't mean you'll never come back. I made trips all the time, to Adrestia and Thria." Why wouldn't they let their son see anything else? Why wouldn't they even allow him to visit other tribes in Thria? They both had fought in the war, they both had come to know Richards father and they sure as hell did know Nayantai even before all of that. Why exactly had Richard never seen those two in Myriad or somewhere he went to visit in Thria? He hadn't been to Silesse, but he had never questioned that, because it was damn cold and far away, that sounded like a reason to not agree to a journey, but it didn't explain threats that were made only to keep Yujin locked in here. "So... they hate us.", Richard concluded. "Me included, as the only sheep out here, or half sheep, but that doesn't quite matter right?" Did they even want Yujin to spend time with Richard? Well in the end they brought him with them when they visited. Richard actually asked himself how many people that stared at him when he passed hated him, because he was a sheep quite obviously and because Silesse or what it was before would have never been touched by war if Nayantai hadn't asked for help. None of their land was attacked, but people died and the tribes from beyond the ice desert were probably the ones that sent the most help, therefor probably a lot of them died. But if Yujins parents didn't know what war meant, then they were stupid, so that couldn't be the reason to shut Adrestia out of their lives? "Where you on one of these boats before?", he suddenly asked seemingly out of nowhere. For some reason, just for a second Richard thought back to that gigantic scar that Yujin had. He wondered if that was the reason his parents feared for him to go anywhere, but if he remembered correctly he was kidnapped from his home. Then again, maybe the hunting down part was taken a little bit too literal? No that woul be crazy...

      "I'm not a child, you don't have to keep me warm and how could my hand not be cold out here?", he asked but he still wasn't let go of. Did they change directions? Why did they run back now? Where was Yujin even going? "You're not odd. You're a prince, most of them automatically respect you, nobody cares about your stupid eyes and when you run by no one even sees that. So all they have is their prince with a sheep and a lot of questions." He had been out here way too long anyway, on display basically for everyone to start thinking about how they'd want to deal with someone like him, who he was, why he was not dead and if another washed up sheep out here meant that another war wasn't far. That probably was true, but if Yujin described his parents correct, Richard doubted they'd help fight another one. "Does anything bother you? Anything at all?", Richard suddenly asked. H was trapped here, his brothers mother who kind of raised him too died, Richard was going to be king but robbed of his crown and war might be right in front of Thrias door again and there was no reaction to any of it whatsoever. It drove Richard mad, as mad as last time when he needed air, because he was reminded of the killers that might lurk somewhere and try to kill him, while Yujin almost got killed and didn't even care who'd done it. "I won't celebrate me getting older, there is nothing to celebrate about that and I don't want to be around any people I never want to call friends, I don't care if I have to talk or not. You might be happy being stuck here but I don't intend to stay and once I left I'll never come back.", he informed Yujin and all of this would rather happen sooner than later. He didn't even want to spend a whole year here, it already had been too long. Why did he even start his projects with the plants? If everything worked out, he'd be gone before this shipment even arrived. "You're just trying to make me go on a hunting trip with you. Mind you, I hunted in woods where animals actually can hide, so I'm better than you at this and I don't have to prove it."

    • "They ... not really, no. You got the wrong idea." Why wouldn't he? Richard didn't know Muhan or Shuren, he didn't know how life was down here and he was quick to assume things that didn't matter in the end. What did matter was, well, that he stayed where he was and didn't do anything stupid, that he spend his time here and moved along, that it wasn't important if he ran or didn't and that it made no sense for him to think twice about it if he couldn't. "They don't hate sheep, if they did, I wouldn't be talking to you in adrestian right now, would I? They, well, Shuren hates not having control over the situation. He can do whatever he wants down here, but he very much can't when I'm far away from him." Security was, what he called it, but maybe, just maybe, he wanted to go somewhere, wanted to defy his parents sometime, wanted to see the world that Richard was talking about and like that, something sprouted in his head, a stupid idea that Richard wouldn't agree to if he could or if Yujin ever voiced it. "They don't hate sheep - if they did, they'd have to hate both of your fathers too and from what I can tell, my parents are quite fond of both of them. Take it from someone that never questioned much, but if Shuren is willing to actually get injured for someone, or do something for someone, you can bet your ass that whoever even tries to hurt you is going to get their head loped off." His father always took care of things ridiculously fast and even if he wasn't willing to touch upon them himself, Muhan was right there and just needed to hear one word - they both had a strange relationship, now that he thought about it, didn't they? "No, why? It's not like they'll lead to somewhere that's close to Silesse, which sucks."

      "But I want to ... hm, you want some gloves, though? They might be useful!" Some merchant around these parts ought to be selling some, maybe even something adrestian, so that was something that Richard was going to, uh, like? They had nothing to trade for it though, but that just meant that Yujin had to be creative or pull a promise out of his ass that he couldn't keep anyway. "People care more than you think and I mean, you aren't just a sheep though! You're important too." Not that Richard had much to his name anymore, but who the hell even cared? Most of the people in Silesse had nothing to their name, had no life to live and therefore, they were kept on edge with what little they could see of the many things that they didn't even realize existed. "You're asking because I don't flinch when I tell you that kind of stuff, right? It's not that it doesn't bother me, that'd be a lie - sure, I want to go somewhere sometimes but I can't, sure I miss the people that have moved on and sometimes I feel like maybe, just maybe, gouging my eyes out of my skull would be the best way to get rid of useless commentary, but I stand above that. I smile through the pain and you, well, you scowl, don't you?" That was actually a genuine question, but he knew the answer to it already, Richard wasn't going to give him one and that was fine. They had time, they didn't need to bother working things out right about now, they could just ... be, couldn't they? "Who said I was happy? Hm, I get it! I'll just come with you when you leave Silesse!" This was getting ridiculous and all in all, he suddenly stopped, only to pull the list out and hand it some random guy that he didn't even say anything to. "I'm trying to see if you're a wuss, Richard! Also, I grew up here, do you think I can't hunt?", he laughed, before eyeing the guy at the dock that he just had handed the list to. "Can you get me the things on that list? Any idea how much it's going to be or when it's going to be here?", he asked and the guy eyed him, scratched his head and then went on and on, needlessly so, in another, different dialect. "That ... should work, I'll come by when you come back, is that alright? Yes?", was all there was to it, before he gave the guy a wave and pulled Richard away. "You got that or do you need a translation?"
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Teaching you Adreastian might just be a way to prep for the next war.", Richard said, pulling out an Adrestian saying like that, but maybe it held some truth. Sure Yujin knew his parents better than Richard, so he probably was right with whatever he assumed, still Richard was pretty sure about the fact that not everyone here liked sheep or Richards father to begin with. "He can't control everything you do at any time and locking someone up isn't a solution. Given that he knew my father he should know better than that, but if you're fine with it, well good for you." Yujin was weird but at some point Richard started to believe that all that happiness and content was only n act because he had given up and it made no sense fighting it anyway. Whatever, it wasn't Richards problem, he just knew that locking someone up hadn't helped his father and it wouldn't have helped Richard. It was better to lern how to deal with the cards that they got when they were born, even though Richard up until now never had to deal with it alone. Dayan was always there to catch him... well it didn't matter, if Richard was going to die because he fell down a cliff or had a heartattack in front of a bear, that was just how it was going to end. "You think he's going to protect me because Nayantai asked him too?" That was probably the reason he was here and not somewhere else, but he didn't believe that he was safe here. "That's the point, idiot.", Richard sighed and rolled his eyes. "So you don't know how to handle one.", he concluded eyeing the vessels that lay here.

      "Why would you... why would you want that?!", Richard asked and the fingers of his free hand started to rub his forehead, Yujin was the same sick or not sick, overly touchy and friendly. "I had gloves... but they sank to the ground with my other coat, thank you very much.", he answered as if it had been Yujins fault. Well it was, wasn't it? "Important? I'm not important, most of the people hopefully haven't figured out who I am anyways, not that it is worth anything.", Richard replied. His title was gone, Nayantai forfeited his, so Richard was nothing, just an outsider and stranger. "So you just settle with what your parents want and fait. You don't even try to fight it? Well it's your life.", Richard asked almost in disbelieve, he was always raised to have hs own head, to make his own decisions and let nobody tell him what he can and can't do, yet Nayatai did exactly that now. Well, but Richard didn't take it just like that. "I don't think what unhappy means.", Richard voiced and then shook his head. "I won't take you with me." Nobody could go with him, that was his fight and his alone. "I also don't think you have many useful skills, yeah.", he replied, but was cut off when Yujin started to talk to a random wolf and handed him Richards list. He understood what Yujin was saying but the rest was... what?! Richard was pulled away again and a few steps later he just stopped, he was done with this. "No idea what he said, I told you I can't speak Thrian." Yujin didn't remember, right? Well even if he did, Richard had no clue what this guy had said.

    • "Eh, so be it. Stop being only the negative things", he said, elbowing Richard in the side. Now, this wasn't exactly what they were going to do, what they wanted to do, but they had only gone to the harbor and already had picked up on plenty of topics that were ridiculous enough to talk about, even if he just thought about it for a second. Maybe he was a bit too antsy? Or was it because he knew that Richard was going to be mad at him either way if he didn't keep his stupid trap shut? "Never said I was fine with it, but ... he isn't locking me up, he's just setting boundaries. I'm not too surprised about that though, especially considering what happened." This was, actually, not even wrong. His father could just be scared shitless for all he cared, but something told Yujin that it wasn't exactly that either - he'd figure it out if he ran off for a while, wouldn't he? That, without a doubt, was most likely the only thing he could do anyway to provoke a reaction. "Trust me, he will. With or without your father asking." Why, well, Yujin didn't know himself, but that only meant that there were more secrets to uncover that he didn't understand just yet, but his time would come eventually, wouldn't it? "Sorry, no. I could try and figure it out, though, not that it looks like too much of a hassle - just tell me where you want to go. Home?"

      Something as small as that wouldn't get them anywhere except out in the open sea, stuck there and then have them starve or drown, whatever came first, so Yujin was not exactly keen on trying it to begin with. Who would, though? No one really liked to give up their life for a failed attempt at something they weren't even adept at. "Would I want what? Hold your hand? To keep you warm, idiot", Yujin grumbled and if he thought about it, this must look ridiculous, especially to everyone around them and anyone that knew that he had a girlfriend and wasn't supposed to be doing, well, this. "Eugh, I'll make it up to you, then. Anything you want? What about some sweets from Adrestia?" They had talked about that before, so ... there had to be someone that could deliver something to them or cook them up with the ingredients they had, wasn't there? After all, even Silesse wasn't impartial to change and the only way to figure all of this out on their own was trial and error. "I tried to and got shut down faster than you can even muster a counter-argument, but ... maybe that's for the best. They'll ... no, forget it. I mean, you're here now, so you can tell me about Adrestia if I can't see it!" This was getting out of hand again and once more, he was expecting Richard to do something for him that, absolutely, made no sense at fucking all. "And what if I make myself useful until you leave? I can't cook for shit, but I can patch you up!" He also couldn't brew tea, but that was besides the point. Now, what to do with the rest of this uneventful day? "He said it's going to take two or three weeks to get the whole bunch here, he'll let me know when he's back and I'll get to pick the stuff up - he also said that he'll have to figure out the price because barely anyone asks for something like that. But that aside, anything else you want to do? Or are you going home? My offer still stands."
      Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.

    • "My whole family died except one and he trapped me here, not exactly anything positive to look at. Besides, it's better to prepare for the worst than be hit by it when it arrives, trust me.". he replied grumbling and more detached than he thought he could be. But it was true and now he sat here all alone, having nothing left he could call his home and generally having nothing left to live for except the plan to kill those who made his life as miserable as it was now. "You mean your scar? That happened here did it not? My siblings got killed in our home, my father almost got killed in his too, after he was locked in there for over twenty years. He never would have dared to do the same to me, even though I could very easily drown or fall off somewhere, because my body won't... move anymore..." Richard got more silent at the end, didn't Yujin forget that and didn't he want it that way? Now he was remembering him of that fact, great. "My point being anyone can die anytime no matter where they are, limiting you to a tiny cold shithole like this is stupid and it's reckless in case you ever found yourself somewhere else. But I guess it doesn't matter anymore now, because I doubt wolves are still welcome in Adrestia now..." Which meant Richard wasn't welcomed there too, even if he'd not be the crownprince who better died to kill any revolt that might use him as its head figure before it even started. "Don't sweat it. I handled bigger ships myself, I will figure it out. And yes I want to go home, but I'd have better chances sneaking on one of the trade ships. What you should do is get one of those boats and drive as far as you can to see how far you get until someone catches up with you." Richard sounded like Dayan right now, did he not? Always the one with stupid and reckless ideas and always the one trying to force his ideals on someone else who he deemed to be in need. Was Yujin that? Did he need to get away just because he wasn't allowed to? It was none of Richards business, maybe he just wanted to get as far away as possible himself and maybe he wanted to prove something.

      "That's... ugh... why would you want to keep me warm idiot? Besides, holding my hand won't make my whole body warm up, that doesn't even make sense.", Richard replied with a deep sigh. Why did they always start discussions like that? Why did Yujin always give those stupid answers? And what about his girlfriend? "I don't need anything. I'll just get new ones...", Richard grumbled. "Myself!", he soon added, he didn't want Yujin to buy anything for him, Richard just needed to work for his own stuff and he couldn't do that if Yujin dragged him around all day. "Fine, I'll forget it. I don't care anyway. If you want to know something about Adrestia read a book." No he definitely wasn't going to get into some kind of arrangement where he explained Yujin what the color green was and how a flower looked. That was ridiculous and he had no fricking time for something like that. "Patch me up?", Richard asked confused but it didn't matter. He didn't need anyone and he didn't intend t return from his trip anyway, he'd die at some point and that was fine, no need to drag anyone else into this. "Your offer? Meeting your friends? No thanks. I have to pay for my stuff eventually and some people do have to work to afford things." He only had a few weeks right? Not that he thought getting soil and seeds would be expansive... but at some point maybe the trade routes got cut off and then everything from Adrestia would become expensive even something they had plenty of anyway. Also he really hoped Yujin would just take no for an answer. Maybe Nayantai wanted to go hunting today, or at least show him around the area, because in the end Richard didn't have any plans for the rest of the day.