Home? Really?

[femalefred]

Kirratok hadn't been here for years. Not that it showed on his features, what with the amazing aging of the Anors, he had remained just as youthful as when he'd left, with the exception of a smile line around his eyes and mouth or two, but as it was, he hadn't really expected to be returning. He'd never honestly expected to leave, but, he had, and now he was back, small cloth bag hung over his shoulder containing his possessions just as when he'd left to find work one day, his hair tied back into a scruffy ponytail and his clothes in the same state of various disarray.

What was he doing here again? There wasn't really an answer to that question, but then again, the falls were magnificent, huge and beatiful, just as the city that lay behind was - though that was just a memory to the Cat Anor, and memory was all he had left of this place. His parents were.. probably either Sapphires now or gone away to find some position in the lands of humans or elves, and he had only one sibling, and she'd died in the birth of her only child, who'd also passed away.

But to enter, or to remain outside in the sunshine? It was a nice enough day for a nap, certainly, and inside he might not be greeted with a great deal of warmth, especially not in his two-legged form. A cat would certainly provide more "oohs" and "aahs", but then they'd notice his lavender eyes and instruct him to shift back, and then they'd see it was he, Tok, who'd disappeared decades ago and they wouldn't be best pleased. Maybe it was just best to sit outside and stare at the waterfalls for a while.

Yes. That seemed like a good idea.

[Arwen]

A rather large stag might have been heard stepping through the forest a few moments after this lazy black cat lay himself down in the grass. When he appeared from the forest, he was only in this form for a moment though, and then he was a young man, garbed in light brown with hair that near perfectly matched.

His eyes, though, were a most perculiar deep, dark blue, rather than the usual purple hues of the Anorians. For this fellow was a Sapphire, and he knew full well who this cat was.

"Hello there, Kirratok," he voiced softly, almost detatchedly before settling down to the ground beside him. "What brings you back home after so many years?"

[femalefred]

The cat-shift nearly leapt out of his skin, fur standing on end and lavender eyes widening hugely, even letting out an unintended hiss at the sudden appearance of the stag. Perhaps he should have been listening better, he did know full well that there were those who liked to stretch their legs in the forests around the falls, especially the larger shifts like the stag now sat next to him as he tried to force himself to calm down, wondering whether it might be a good idea to shift back or to remain cute. Certainly, the Sapphire had turned himself back and was speaking.

Almost sighing, he shifted again, continuing to stare at the falls in their majesty, inhaling the delightful scent for a moment longer before he spoke.

"Honestly? I'm not quite sure. The same reason that I left, probably."

[Arwen]

"Mmhmm... And why did you leave?"

Of course, it wasn't really all that difficult to figure out, now was it? But hey, might as well get him to say it himself, right? Kirratok wasn't a bad fellow, just... well, he wasn't a bad fellow.

And as a Sapphire, of course Milen was called to see that.

"I'm not going to throw you out of Anoria, especially all by myself, Kirratok. That wouldn't exactly be what I'm called to do, now would it? And I doubt I could forceably drag you out of here anyway, could I? Maybe with some help, but where's the need for that?"

[femalefred]

Another sigh, and this time a sadder one. The hiss, it seemed, might have rather put Milen's thoughts against him, but it had been entirely unintentional, it was just because he'd been spending so much time as a cat recently - not that explaining that would do all that much good to him. Why had he left? Was there actually any reason to it? Yes, probably. Probably because his dear sister had died giving birth to her daughter, who'd died shortly after the birth, Kirratok had always maintained because she knew that her mother wasn't there for her.

She'd been a dog shift, so warm and loving and loyal.. but Kilka wasn't going to come back. But he hadn't really left because of that, had she? He'd left because he'd wanted to do something, and then discovered that when he did anything he was too lazy to focus and get on with it. A curse on his laziness.

"Reasons. I wanted to do things, be away from things and be near to things and I just followed my feet until they said the didn't want to walk anymore and stopped me. So I'm back."

[Arwen]

Milen recalled quite well the death of Kirratok's sister, but he too, as well as the Cat-shift himself, knew full well that that was not really the reason this Anorian had left. So the next words did not surprise him.

He nodded slowly, placing his elbows on his knees, legs spread ever so slightly as he gazed into the water, then pulled up a few blades of grass, frowning slightly in thought.

"Understandable. Very good reasons actually. What I'm curious about moreso though, is why you seem to be so nervous about returning? So you left, and now you're back. Oh yes, huge issue isn't this?"

His frown turned into the slightest of smiles, a single brow lifted as he turned to glance at the other fellow again before picking on of these pieces of grass, laying on his back, and positioning it between his thumbs. Then, in a particularly immature fashion, he pressed his thumbs against his lips and began a most annoying high pitched buzzing sound, threw that blade off to the side, and selected another place, which he began to play a now only slightly ear-splitting rendition of a popular dance tune.

[femalefred]

"It's awkward."

A simple reply, but a good and truthful one. Awkward it was, trying to explain to his parents (if they were still here) why he'd disappeared and why he'd suddenly returned, and it had been awkward explaining even to Milen that he'd gone because he'd gone and that he was back because he was back.

"It's so very.. difficult to explain to people why I went, and then they want to know why I'm back and that's difficult as well because most of us" here he gestured to the falls themselves and the Anorians that dwelt behind "don't really understand that sometimes there's no reason to do things, but you just want to."

As he finished, the grass buzzing began, and he winced a little. Some of his cat traits remained behind for the few minutes after he'd shifted, and that was painful - probably painful to an Anor without cat intensified ears. But at least he wasn't the only one with irritating musical habits - though Tok's could hardly be called musical.

[Arwen]

Milen paused his buzzing a few minutes later, obviously thinking as he sat up again, resuming his position with elbows on his knees once more as he carefully studied Kirratok for just a moment, pondering his words.

"Very true, sir, very true. Well spoken. For some do not quite realize this, it is true, even the wisest.

"But tell me of your travels, then, Kirratok. Any interesting happenings while you were out in the world away from here? Well, surely something, but anything of particular interest to yourself or anyone you know?"

[femalefred]

More buzzing, really? And this fellow was a Sapphire? Well, it was true that Sapphire status wasn't judged on the irritating qualities you possessed. Even more irkingly, the buzzing ceased just as the final bits of his cat senses had faded, but at least the stag shift wasn't buzzing anymore. But that was an interesting question, wasn't it?

It looked for a moment as though Tok were about to answer, but then stopped, leaning his elbow upon his knee and scrubbing his hand through his scruffy hair - that was the one thing no one had understood about his cat shift though, he just didn't have that great a vanity to him - contemplating for a moment. To Kirratok, none of it was all that interesting because it had already happened to him, and so if it happened again it would be less exciting. But Milen hadn't been there, so some of the tales must be interesting at least to him.

"Well... most recently, I discovered a little market that has a stall that sells the most delicious roasted meats and vegetables, but before that.. I talked to a mage in a human town once who said that he'd seen dragons. Huge, apparently. I wasn't sure to believe him or not though," he added, shrugging vaguely, hand retreating from his hair to rest at his side again.

[Arwen]

"Ah. Nice. Very nice. Dragons, eh? Oh yes, highly likely," he muttered dryly, shaking his head with an odd smile across his features. "Well then, that is interesting, isn't it?"

((AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'm BRAIN DEAD!!!!!))

[femalefred]

((*patpat* There there. My post didn't really leave any open doors for you xp))

Nodding, he stood, stretching in a feline manner, as always taking on some of the traits of his shift, glancing down at the paths down into Anoria itself, then around to the forest, and then back to Milen again.

"Well, not really, seeing as he was probably lying or dreaming them. Dabbled in alchemy, I believe, some of the vapours can give you hallucinations. I did see someone riding an alk whilst not in the forest of the alk, though," he added, still stretching his limbs out slowly and evenly, a look of remembrance crossing his face as he tried to concentrate on the image. "A young lady, I believe. Didn't talk to her, she was going too fast and I'd only just woken."

[Arwen]

((*hugs femalefred plushie* Great Scotts I love you! And I'm still braindead))

[femalefred]

((Aw, is ok. I might go to bed in a minute, it's late here, but I can't be bothered to sleep.))

[Arwen]

"A woman riding an alc? And not in their forest on the mountain? How strange... I do not doubt, however, what you say about the fellow. Vapors will do just that at times, won't they?" He watched as Tok stood, stretching, and yawned himself, gazing over his homeland ponderously, then back to the cat Anor.

"Well, shall we head down and see about finding a cavern for you, if your old room is not still at the ready? As much as I hate to contribute to your nature, if you'd like, I'll give you a ride--only if it will make you come. We shan't let you run off before truly coming back for a bit, shall we?" With these words, he stood, shifting to stag form and shaking his head, prongs pressed to the ground a moment before he glanced up at the fellow again.

[femalefred]

"I was surprised too," he replied, his own gaze following that of the Sapphire's around the forest and down the cavernously plunging falls. "Especially if you're playing with mercury, that stuff does bad things to people," he added, nose wrinkling in disgust at the very thought of it. He hated mercury, hated the smell of it and hated the way that it drove people mad just by working with it.

"I doubt my old cavern's still in use, but I'll stay for a while. And you needed carry me down, I'll manage myself," he added with a grin, aware that his laziness wasn't just well known, it was almost infamous, stretching again and yawning once more. "You don't mind if I shift for this, do you? I've always got better balance as a cat." It wasn't a great explanation of his habit of following the slightly slippery paths down behind the falls in his shifted form, but it was at least an attempt at one.

[Arwen]

The stag nodded his head slightly, not really caring. "Do what you wish, though I am surprised," he replied with some effort and a wry tone through his much changed features, rasping slightly and with a tone that seemed to hold the same pitch as a bellow. "If I hold my shift, why should you not?"

[femalefred]

"I'm just a little slower when I'm a cat," he stated, stretching once more before he slipped into the furred feline form, slipping his head through the loop on his small cloth bag, apparently in a manner he was quite used to doing, and sitting, his own voice much changed and rather more like a yowl as he replied. "Everyone is suprised when I decide to do things. I never quite understand why."

[Arwen]

"Perhaps because you rarely do anything?" the Sapphire-stag replied quickly, though in a light manner, bending down again to nudge the cat slightly as he could not smile in his joking manner to make it more clear that he was joking. "Come, then, I suppose-- I have a missed meal calling me, and I don't suppose you'd like something to eat as well? The food has changed no more than the rest of the land, I assure you... It is still delicious, and we have some wonderful fruits at this time, as well as the usual fine meats and cheese. And there may now be some freshly baked bread, if you wish. There is also a new shipment of rum from Avalbane."

[femalefred]

He mewed only lightly in protest, utterly aware that what Milen said was true, sticking his tongue out in response to the nudge and standing with another little complainitary miaow, though the sound of a meal was highly appetising to him. "The meats and cheese haven't changed? Excellent. I shall have to have meat and cheese with some rum followed by some fruit," he replied, a happy and rumbling purr already breaking out in his stomach and chest, beginning to wander towards the path down to the falls, as ever encouraged by the prospect of a decent meal. He hadn't had one in what seemed to be forever. It was good to be home, sometimes.

[Arwen]

"Ah, but of course. A dish of milk on the side for my feline friend?" he asked again teasingly, enjoying egging the fellow on, and knowing full well what that mew had been for. "I am sure we can handle that simple request. Meat, cheese, rum, fruit. We'll eat in my quarters while your room is ready, if that's alright?"