During the warm seasons, Rhidi and Cypha spent nights on the outskirts of Elderkeep on a bed of soft leaves, under the cover of carefully stacked and intertwined roots and fallen branches. Most of which Rhidi would have constructed from collected debris. But in the colder seasons, the makeshift shelter provided little warmth. Neither of the two were particularly good with fire, so using the great fire at the center of the Keep seemed the best option. They sat by it most nights, munching on whatever they'd scavenged or stolen.

Tonight was no different. They sat by the fire, Cypha lounging in Rhidi's lap. She was chewing on the dried remainder of a frog carcass that she'd picked up on the way there, and Rhidi's eyes were staring into the flames, dazed, lacking a single thought behind his eyes.

Cypha's ears perked as someone spoke to her, and she looked over to see some kind of mouse thing had reached out and asked her to prod Rhidi into speaking with her human. The mouse itself looked tasty - skinny little legs, but it's round little body surely had some meat in it. She hadn't relayed the message, too busy drooling over the other dyr, by the time the younger Dresmondi interfered. So Rhidi looked rightfully surprised when they spoke to him, blinking the cobwebs away. "Huu--huh?" Was all he managed to mutter, though as his eyes fell on the other Dresmondi, he was immediately taken by their beauty.

"The rat wants you to talk to the human, you idiot. Do it, they've got a rabbit over there. Maybe we can get a couple of those legs." Cypha said, rolling out of his lap and tossing the remains of the frog in the fire, before inching a bit closer, to sit on the ground between Rhidi and Aydin. "Sorry, he's a little slow on the uptake," Cypha said to the other dyr.

"Ahh, it's okay," Rhidi shrugged. "No bother, I mean," he chuckled awkwardly. "Look at us, we aren't doin' anything important." He rubbed his hand on his pants as if to clean it, then offered it to this new, pretty, Dresmondi. "This is Cypha, and I'm Rhidian -- but, but you can call me Rhidi. That's easier."

Feeling a bit uneasy by the way the raccoon was looking at him, Ember had already hopped a bit closer to Aydin again by the time she was leaning to the side to get a hold of the jerboa. They explained what her dyr's deal was, and why he had approached the other Dresmondi's dyr. Then the person returned to her former way of sitting, a cross-legged position, and put Ember in the space between her legs and ankles. She didn't feel uncomfortable talking to people, but most of the time she just preferred not to. It was hard to know who you could trust, and Aydin was rather safe than sorry, so they just avoided talking to people she didn't know. Ember didn't share her sentiments though and always tried to get her to talk to people. The little critter was concerned that his human would become lonely if she didn't talk to someone once in a while. Aydin on the other hand would always say a conversation with Ember was all they needed.

She turned around the rabbit that was still roasting in the fire so it would roast evenly on all sides. They thought apologising would've been the end of it, but the man replied to what she had said, causing her to mentally roll her eyes before casually looking down at Ember. "Look what you've caused now." The rodent chuckled and if he had been a human, he would've shrugged too. He was satisfied by this, his goal was achieved. Aydin was using their voice. Ember then turned to the dyr that had spoken to him. They're just as bad, no worries.

The Dresmondi looked at the man again, putting a careful and shy smile on her face. His dyr was sitting between them, and it was an adorable sight. Raccoons were like litle humans in a fluffy suit. Aydin was a bit hesitant at first, but then lightly shook the hand that was offered to her. "Cypha, Rhidian, or well, Rhidi", they repeated and looked at them accordingly. She grabbed Ember and put him on her knee. "This is Ember, an annoying little critter like you might've noticed by now", she said, grinning a bit. Hey! Ember pretended to be offended by this statement. "And I'm Aydin, nice to meet you." The light-skinned person poked at the rabbit, satisfied by the softness of the meat, and pulled off a leg before biting into it. Cypha had been eyeing the rabbit before, when Ember had just talked to her, and Aydin had noticed it. She looked at the raccoon and then back at the rabbit before looking at Cypha again. "Would you and your human like some?" she asked, lifting the corner of their mouth in a little amused smirk.

"Humans, eh?" Cypha said, putting on her friendliest of facades. Anything to get a little food. "Not sure what they'd do without us." It was clear to Cypha, at least, that Rhidian would have perished long ago without her nearby to take care of him, and push him into uncomfortable situations for his own sake. She couldn't tell if this little mouse felt the same, but all humans seemed to need a lot of help from her standpoint. And the competent ones? Well, their dyrs were lucky.

In contrast to Rhidi's cold hands, the hands of the Dresmondi before him felt warm and soft as she took his greeting. So warm and soft that he didn't want to let go, though he did quickly because he knew that coming off like a creep wouldn't help you get any food. "Wow..." he leaned down slightly, his head near Cypha, to look at the little dyr. "I bet it doesn't take much to feed Ember. Cypha eats like..well, people." Rhidi commented, amused by the sight of such a small animal.

"What is that supposed to mean? You think I eat too much? I eat no more than you do!" Cypha said, whipping her head around to glare at her human. Rhidi shrugged, then sat back up as properly as 'hunched over' could be.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Aydin," Rhidi responded, ignoring Cypha's complaints as he often did. The raccoon huffed and spread her legs out between the two humans, flattening her belly lazily. But she perked back up quickly when Aydin offered them some of the rabbit. That was much easier than she'd expected it to be. It was a good thing other humans were nicer and more giving than Rhidi, or else the two of them would never eat anything fresh.

"Oh...are you sure?" Rhidi feigned for a moment. "If you don't mind..."

"Yeah, we're starved," Cypha told the other dyr. "You and your human are great, Ember. We haven't eaten all day -- well, except that old frog I was chewin' on earlier, but it didn't have any meat left on it." Cypha's little hands rubbed at her belly as it growled at the prospect of food. Already she was drooling at the thought.

Embers ear twitched nervously when Rhidi was looking at him. Aydin? Help? They chickled, amused by both Ember and Rhidians remark. "That's true, but Ember only eats plants and insects so we do need to go on special little hunts for this guy." Ember turned to face her. "If I could I'd eat your stupid bunny but you know I can't.

They had introduced themselves to each other and shaken hands. It was more human interaction than Aydin had had in probably a week and a half. They had only nodded in someone general direction lately, and her only conversation partner had been Ember. Now there they were sitting, the four of them. Aydin didn't want to admit it, but they were grateful that Ember had forced them to talk to the man. Of course she was still cautious, but it was nice to actually talk to someone for a change. The past couple of days she had been able to catch quite a few small animals so they could definitely miss some of the rabbit.

"Of course, I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it", they replied with a little smile. Aydin offered the leg they had just ripped to Cypha, then tore off another leg and offered it to Rhidian. A frog? That sounds horrible , Ember said to Cypha. Lastly, they pulled some meat off the carcass for herself. "I caught it earlier today, it's pretty damn fresh." Aydin was proud of her hunting skills.

As Cypha was handed the rabbits leg, her little fingers gripped it and pulled it quickly to her mouth to begin ripping the meat from the bone. She made little noises as she ate, unintentionally letting her love of the meal be known. "Frogs can be pretty tasty when they're fresh," Cypha said, still chewing. "But when they're not, there's just no flavor." Well, if there was anything Cypha could talk about, it was food.

Rhidi took the leg offered to him in a similar fashion, though he didn't tear into it quite like Cypha did. "Thank you," he said with a little bit of excitement he couldn't hide. "You caught it yourself?" He asked, clearly impressed. "Wow, rabbits are fast. That must've been hard." He said, completely genuine and honest. There were hunters in all caravans. Some better than others, sure. He'd known lots of good ones among the Kushti, and some had tried to teach him, but he was just no good. "I bet your aim is great, huh?"

Thinking back to what she'd said of the little mousy looking dyr, named Ember, he reached over with greasy fingers and prodded Cypha in the belly. "Make somethin'."

"No, I'm eating," Cypha said, already gnawing at the bone.

Scratching his own head, he shrugged and plucked a hearty chunk of meat from the rabbit leg and offered it to her. Cypha reached for it, and he pulled it away. "Just a little somethin'." He didn't even realize he was saying it out loud. The raccoon flopped, groaned somewhat, and then a single plant sprouted beside her. The stalk of smooth brome was plucked by Rhidi, who handed Cypha the meat, then offered the stalk to Aydin. "For Ember."

A smile formed on Aydins face when the other's dyr took the rabbit leg and eagerly bit into it. It was clear that the little booger was content with the food that was filling up her stomach. Ember's ear twitched again, still a little uncomfortable. The raccoon didn't make him feel threatened, but still, a bigger animal that loved talking about eating meat made him a tad bit nervous. "I think frogs remind me a little too much of myself to form an opinion here", he responded sheepishly.

Rhidian was a little more well-mannered and didn't bite right into the meat like Cypha had, although who could blame such a cute little gal for enjoying some food? He seemed to be impressed by the fact that she caught it themselves. "They sure are fast, but not fast enough to withstand the power of a bow", the person replied, patting around the ground to feel where she had left her bow. It was lying next to her, on the other side of where Cypha and Rhidi were sitting.

Aydin shrugged. "I suppose so. I've never really hunted with someone else so I can't say I've been able to compare my aim to someone else's." She took a bite of her part of the rabbit and avoided making eye contact for a bit. They only looked up again when they heard Rhidi talk, although it didn't seem like he was talking to her, so her gaze dropped until she saw Cypha making a little plant grow besides her. Slowly she lifted her hand to take the stake from Rhidi, her fingers lingering a moment before she handed the stalk to Ember. "What do you say, then?" they asked the little dyr out loud as a way of showing her gratitude to Cypha and Rhidian by talking out loud so they could hear her. The little mouse-like creature grabbed the stalk and started gnawing on it, ears twitching with happiness this time. "Thank you, Cypha." He was happy to be able to fill up his little stomach too, although he knew that Aydin would've helped him look for some bugs later if he had been hungry after their meal.

"A plant dyr, huh?" Aydin said, moving her eyes from Cypha to the man again. "That must come in handy when you're looking for a quick bite." They smiled, then took another bite of her rabbit.

"Oh, yeah," Cypha noted as she chewed her rabbits leg, eyes temporarily moving back to the other dyr. "Guess you are kind of frog-like yourself, aren't you? Your legs look really jumpy, like a frogs. Nevermind all the stuff I said before." Playing nice with people she thought she might get food from in the future was Cypha's specialty. She might not mind being mean to Rhidian, but that was her prerogative. He was her human, and anyhow, he deserved it. But the dyr seemed a little too sensitive. Sure, if they were in the wild, Cypha might have eyed the little guy for a snack. But they were civilized. Not like those wild animals.

Rhidi looked to the bow by them, as she patted the ground. It looked like all bows looked to him. A piece of bent wood, with a string that was too hard to draw. He knew they were right. A lot of animals couldn't out-run a bow, not a good one. Why else would so many people use them for hunting? But that didn't make it seem any less impressive to him. Especially when Aydin was so small and the bow seemed to be over half her size. "Well, I think if your aim is good enough to take down a rabbit moving fast like that, it's gotta be pretty good. Hitting something that isn't even moving is hard enough." The few times he had tried, the only thing he'd been able to hit was the dirt. Well, and a wagon, that one time.

The stalk of grass seemed to please both Aydin and Ember, and that made Rhidian smile. Being thanked for it was even better. Rhidi just nodded. He'd stay humble about it, of course, but it was only fair for the little dyr to eat while the rest of them did.

"No problem," Cypha said, with a much less humble tone. "You ever need a little snack, Ember, you just let me know. I'm your girl." Easier said than done, sure. Getting Cypha to do anything was like pulling teeth, and when she finally did do it, she was insufferable about it. But at least she'd do it eventually, Rhidian supposed.

"You'd think so," Rhidian shrugged, finishing off the rabbit meat and handing off the bone to Cypha, who snatched it greedily and began to gnaw it like she'd done her own. Then he popped the tip of each finger into his mouth, sucking off what was left of the greasy flavor. "But growing food stuff for people is real hard. Grass, sometimes flowers or like...like vines? That's easier. But fruits and vegetables are complicated 'cause we can't..." he shook his head from side to side, then reached down and took a handful of loose sand in his hands.

"We can't create it from nothing, and not much grows naturally in Elderkeep anymore, yanno, 'cause the lands all dried up? And turning plants into other kinds of plants is super tiring for Cypha so we don't do it much. We have some seeds we keep for the days we're really hungry. Meat is better though. It's more filling."

"You're rattling on again, like you always do. Gonna put them to sleep."

Rhidi prodded Cypha in the belly with one finger, then pointed toward Ember. "What does Ember do?"

"I guess", Aydin shrugged. It's not like she had a choice. Ferren had taught her how to hunt soon after the kid had been old enough to stand on her feet. If she didn't know how to hunt, she wouldn't be able to eat. They didn't have the money to buy meat from any of the vendors so hunting was just something they had to be good at. There was no other choice. She thought back to her times with the old lady and her dyr, and how much they had taught her. They had loved and treated her as if she was Ferren's own child. But no, Ferren had died childless somewhere between the two wars with Coheed. It brought Aydin some solace to know that Ferren had never had to endure the Eldouir's reign.

Ember jumped down again, letting his body drop low to the ground next to Cypha. He was very small compared to her, but he preferred sitting closer to the one he was talking to. I'll keep it in mind, he said, twitching his nose a bit.

Apparently Cypha's gift wasn't as useful as Aydin had supposed it was. Rhidian went on to explain that is was difficult to grow fruits or vegetables. The kinky-haired person sighed, nodding understandingly. "You're right. Dresmond isn't what it used to be." She then smiled again. "Well, if you even need to buy some meat, just find me. I'll sell it for less than the other vendors do. I mostly hunt for myself, but every now and then I have some leftovers." Ember looked up at her. Since when do you offer help to people? Aydin glared down at her dyr. "Isn't that what you want?" If he was capable of it, Ember would have shrugged before facing the fire again.

Rhidian then asked what Ember does. "He can manipulate earth. It mostly comes in handy when we need to move large rocks, but it's useful when I hunt too. He creates little hills of sand for me to hide behind." She looked at her dyr with a smile on her face. He didn't use his gift very often because he couldn't let plants grow or anything like that, but when he did, it was always helpful. Aydin finished the piece of meat she was eating and put a smaller bone in front of Cypha in case she was still hungry. "And what do you do?" they then asked, in the same manner they were asking about each other's dyrs, pretending like Rhidian himself had some kind of special gift while she was really just asking how he kept himself busy.

"You do that, little one," Cypha said, taking on an almost motherly tone as if she had any idea what being motherly really was. She'd helped to raise Rhidi, of course, but by the looks of the man, that was hardly an accomplishment.

"Well, ya know, when the Kushti can't do their work, this is what happens," he shrugged. They were meant to travel the lands and enrich them, to grow them, water them, give them sunshine and fresh air and newly turned soils. None of that was happening with them all locked up in Elderkeep. But Rhidi didn't particularly mind. He kind of liked being in one place.

Aydin's offer to trade their meat for cheaper than others was appealing. If they were ever in a pinch and had anything to trade, he'd make use of it. The two were more likely to get it elsewhere for free, of course, but it was a nice gesture. "Thanks...that's real kind of you. Not a lot of kindness left around here anymore, so it's nice to see."

As the bone was placed in front of Cypha, she grabbed it up. Trading it out for the one Rhidi had passed her that she'd already sucked dry, she began to treat this new bone with the same hungry tenacity that she'd started with, as if still starved. "Yeah, I like this one, Rhidi," she said, gnawing. "We should seek them out more often."

Yeah...the rabbit was good, he replied, eyes widening a little as he tuned back in to Aydin speaking, realizing that she had begun to answer his question. Nodding, he put together that Ember was an Earth dyr. "Oh, Earth...and you're nice. Were you in the Kushti caravan, then? You seem like you would have fit in...there." He was going to say 'with us,' but he realized that it didn't feel right. He'd never really felt like part of the Dijila or the Kushti, even if the latter had taken him in. Now, with all of the caravans broken and everyone either having fled, been killed, or kept to Elderkeep, the caravans were really just a thing of the past.

"Oh, we don't really do anything," he said, shrugging. "Never got taught a trade and never had a wagon of our own or anything, so we just kind of...float, ya know? It works out okay."

The mention of the Kushti made her frown for a moment, although it weren't the man's words that caused this frown. The Kushti had been a whisper throughout all of her childhood. She could hear the children saying how she didn't belong to the Rashai, and how their parents must have been members of the Kushti who were too cowardly to own up to birthing Aydin. They didn't want to care for her, and the Rashai let the other caravans know where they could find them at each Conclave, so her parents must have travelled to the Rashai in the middle of the night to drop off their little bundle of joy. It was true that Aydin had never felt like they belonged with the Rashai, but there was no way of knowing who her parents really were or to which caravan they had belonged. Were they even still alive? The person doubted that she'd ever find out. Little did they know that Rhidian also had never felt like he had belonged to the caravan that had taken him in.

Once more Aydin shrugged slightly, not sure what to say in response to him mentioning the lack of kindness in the world. "It's the least we can do in this godforsaken kingdom", they replied. Don't be such a killjoy, the little jerboa said. They poked Ember, causing him to take a step to the side in order not to fall over. Stop it! he shrieked.

They opened their mouth, then closed it again, sighed and opened it again. "No, you'd think so, but I was part of the Rashai caravan. I didn't really feel like I belonged there, but I'm not sure this is a much better alternative." She looked around, taking in Elderkeep and shook her head a bit. "More people to talk to, but like you said, kindness is rare nowadays." She put up a leg, leaning their arm on it and pushing their thumb lightly against her lip, gnawing on her nail. Did anyone really remember the days before the Eldouir? When nobody had to display those marks on their arm? The three she had were very visible now that she had put her arm up and the scarf around her shoulders wasn't covering it fully anymore.

"That's a dangerous way to live, being dependent on other people's skills", Aydin said, not meaning to sound rude but simply stating the truth. "I mean, I'm glad it's working out for you two." They tried to show a genuine smile. "Best to learn how to defend yourself against those redheads, although I'm not even sure the dyrs powers can compare to what those killing machines can do."

"Oh, well, I never met many Rashai, but they seemed okay during our meet ups at the Cave," Rhidi said with a shrug. "I know what you mean, though. I started in the Dijila, and...well, look at me," he laughed, holding out his hands too wide and nearly sticking his left hand right into the fire. He jerked it back, laughed awkwardly again, and continued. "I'm no fighter. So we ended up with the Kushti, and they were all real kind and all, but still didn't seem to fit. Not sure I woulda fit in any of the caravans. Guess there's just some of us like that."

Was Elderkeep the best alternative? Well, probably not. If he had to choose, they'd have Elderkeep still, but without the Eldouir there to boss them around and threaten them. The Kushti could still be kind and feed him and let him sleep in their wagons, and everyone would get along. No more cold nights exposed to the elements. Yeah, that seemed cool. "Yeah, people are real stuffy now. Guess they've got good reason."

Her comments went over his head, as far as concerns went. He knew it wasn't the best way to be, but he didn't have much of a choice. He was who he was. He didn't know how to hunt, or build anything, or make leather, or smith, so what could he do? No one had ever taught him. "It's pretty dangerous," he agreed. "But I manage. Lived this long, and I'm pretty old," he smirked. "No defending against them, though. I mean, once they've made up their minds...it is what it is. Just gotta go day by day and hope you can avoid them or hope they're in a good mood when you run into them. Or their soldiers, for that matter."

Sometimes the Dresmondi who the Eldouir had trained were even worse than the Eldouir themselves. Rhidi just tried to avoid all of them, but most of all, they all tended to see him as so pathetic that he was hardly worth killing.

Cypha finished chewing that bone, then picked up one of the others. She was content with her bones, and had little to add. In Cypha's mind, Aydin was right. Rhidi would have been better off to learn to defend himself, but they both knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He'd sooner cower at their feet than lift a blade to fight them. "Would -- would you try to fight them? Are you and Ember really strong?"

She frowned for a moment. Changing caravans? It wasn't unusual for someone to change once, but normally then the person would pick a caravan that fit them. Changing multiple times was something that people generally frowned upon. It didn't sound like Rhidian had done that, but it was still an odd concept to her that someone would become part of another caravan and still not feel like they belonged their. "You-- you left your family behind?" they asked, not in an accusatory tone, but with genuine interest. She was aware that family was a strange thing in Dresmond, knowing that parents raised their children until they were twelve and then the child would see the entire caravan as their family, but they couldn't imagine leaving your direct, close family behind. Perhaps that was because she never had a real family of her own. After her ceremony, and after they had turned eighteen, they stayed with the Rashai, because Ferren was there, even though Ferren wasn't biologically related to her. "I never gave changing caravans much of a thought." She removed the nail from her mouth, looking at the jagged edge of it with a soft tsk-sound.

They chuckled softly, shrugging one shoulder. "Well, I'm glad it's working out for ya, I mean, who am I to say how you should live your life." Their soldiers were indeed dangerous as well. Their dyrs powers perhaps weren't as strong as the Eldouir's Gifts, but they surely were trained in combat. Rhidian asked if she and Ember would fight them. "I doubt we're strong enough for that, especially on our own", they said, laughing. "I understand where the soldiers are coming from though, why they'd fight for the Eldouir, I mean. It seems like a smart choice to be on their good side", she added, refering to the previous topic. She scratched her neck, leaving a little mark from the jagged nail. "But it's still the Eldouir. I don't know." Joining was a thought that occurred to her from time to time. Maybe it was a good way of surviving. Ember wouldn't like it, but she thought in the end, he'd understand. Still, it wasn't something they had made up their mind about.

"Well, I didn't have a choice," he answered plainly with a shrug. "We all go somewhere, right? My parents and siblings were all water and ice, but then I was plant, and plant goes to Kushti. I'm sure they were glad to get rid of me, anyway. Like I said, I wasn't a fighter and when you're in the Dijila..you're a fighter. Crazy, huh?" He laughed, like it was comical, though it was more pitiful than anything. "I didn't mind, either. They were kinda mean." Her follow up thought, about changing caravans, made him sway a little. He didn't often think about anything very deeply, but he gave that one more thought than most.

"Even if you did change, you dunno if you'd be happier in the Kushti than the Rashai. Maybe? The Kushti were really nice, but I think some of us just don't belong anywhere." He repeated it, having already forgotten that it was a thought he'd just voiced not that long before. "Not that I've talked to anyone else who feels like that, but I'll be there's others too."

They said they doubted if they were strong enough, and Rhidi agreed. Not maliciously, but just because the soldiers were always so much stronger. He'd seen them too many times. No one seemed able to stand up to them. "Yeah, it's smart to get on their good sides, make them happy. I mean. I know some people don't like it. It's not like...ya know, great. But I think it could be worse. The soldiers, though," he shook his head. "Well, I've heard stuff. About how they get trained. Like...beat up and put back together. It sounds rough. That's why Cypha and I never joined. We're not tough like that. I think if they broke us we'd stay broken. So we just try to make them happy when they're around."