[Moofius]

Elindess
Basantha Shrine

They had spent a single night together - as friends - in the temple, Kh're almost too restless to well, rest. But he managed it, if only for Elindess' sake.

The next morning they left bright and early. A little disappointed she hadn't had time to explore the temple further but feeling mostly excited as she headed back down towards the village near the base of the mountain. Other travellers passed on their way up, ecstatic to see a hunter up close and bonded. A few asked her what she had given up, which she answered by opening her mouth and tapping her throat. A few murmured condolences and their attention would turn to Kh're who was just bursting with energy as he answered all of their questions.

She really couldn't expect people to pay much attention to a mute girl (it was much easier to walk up in her human form, mostly for the height of the steps she had to take through the fresh snow drifts covering much of the path). What could she offer to the conversation?

At the village she rented a room and flopped back bonelessly onto the bed. She had never been a chatty girl, but it was getting to be frustrating that nobody was even trying to listen to her. Even Kh're seemed to ignore her a lot of the time...

Not that she wanted to feel such a mean feeling! He was just... He was just so excited to be free, he sometimes forgot to look back to see if she was there, or wouldn't wait for her to finish making her symbols.  She wasn't exactly great at charades, and Kh're wasn't a great guesser either.

Right, a note pad! She sat up and scooted over to the bed's bedside table, looking for a pad of paper and something to write with. Menu, channel guide, Book of the Tirumvirate...

[Kyrit]

The world outside of Basantha Shrine was so much more exciting than he could have even imagined. The sky WAS blue, Yere hasn't been lying. There were just so many new things to take in all at once. Perhaps even too many? It was so easy to lose track of himself, and it always led to his companion getting left behind.

Now that they were in a room though, there were fewer things to steal his attention. A lot more that he was familiar with, even if the lodgings were still a bit nicer than the rooms back at the shrine. He had been a bit distracted by things like the tv at first, but it wasn't long before movement caught his eyes and he trotted over to Elindess, watching each of the things she grabbed closely.

"Need something?" He'd clearly already forgotten about finding her a memo pad to write in, but he still seemed eager to help with whatever she was looking for based on his posture.

[Moofius]

She looked over her shoulder at the big cat and frowned, nodding. She only opened her mouth a little before she started to gesture:
One hand flat, the other acting as though she was holding a pen, she ran her pen gesture of the palm of her other hand.

Then she went back to the drawer suddenly slapping the pad on the top. Pad found! Now all she needed was a pen...

But the drawer was empty and there appeared to be no pen at all. She considered replacing all the items but paused and offered... everything to Kh're, offering him a questioning look as she gestured to the menus and books. This would be so much easier with a pen...

[Kyrit]

Believe it or not, for once he was able to easily understand a hand signal. Perhaps it was because it was something they had previously talked about, or perhaps he was actually getting better at this. No, it was probably that first one. There was almost certainly no way that he was just getting better at understanding. "Memopad!" he exclaimed, quite happy that he felt he was able to actually understand. But it seemed she was able to find a memopad, and at first he didn't understand that she also needed a pen.

He looked confused though when she suddenly held out all the various papers to him, not knowing what she was getting at. His eyes trailed back to the counter though, and it finally caught on that there was no writing utensil. "Oh oh!" another exclamation. "Do you want me to go out to the front desk and ask for a pen? I can do that!"

[Moofius]

Well she actually also wanted to know if he needed anything but...

Elindess nodded eagerly and clapped her hands together. A pen would really help communicate what it was she needed or wanted to ask. They could talk a bit better since, yeah, this was a lot harder than she had expected!

She didn't regret losing her voice, Kh're was so happy, but... She threw herself back on the tall bed to wait, kicking her feet to get rid of a few unkind thoughts. She was just adjusting, Elindess reasoned, and so was Kh're. Things would get easier. Especially with a pen.

Without more sound than the passage of air past thin lips she sighed, body sinking into the bed. Soon things would feel better, she just needed to be patient.

[Kyrit]

None the wiser that he didn't actually understand what she had truly been asking, Kh're bounded out of the hotel room (after minor troubles with the door and getting it open with just his paws) headed for the front desk. Thankfully there wasn't a waiting line, but there also seemed to be no one at the desk.

His front paws landed roughly against the desk, never one to stop and think about the noise created by resting his full weight against anything. Eyes looked back and forth, still no one. There was a bell though, which he tried to just tap slightly with a paw, which turned out harder to do than he thought. There was no response to the bell either. Perhaps they were out to lunch.

There was a container of pens though, likely for guests signing in. With no one I'd tell him not to, he snatched one (actually, a few, he couldn't be precise with his mouth like that) in his jaws and headed back for the room.

Room key. Right. Probably should have thought of that. He tapped his claws against the door a few times, hoping Elindess would catch that it was him.

[Moofius]

She heard him struggling but didn't have the heart to get up and help him with the door. It was hard keeping her cool. This was scary, she'd barely even though about the effects of her choice before she made it. Most people who went up hoped to find a Hunter to bond with and left empty handed. She had gone up to find herself and had gotten a rediculously uneducated crystal cat AND had lost part of herself!

Had she done the right thing? She screamed, silently as she did everything now, and kicked her feet against the wooden frame of the bed.

Come on, you can't have these thoughts! Thinking this way... Well it wasn't going to change it. You couldn't go back and get your voice, that's not how it worked. Come on, it was a good idea at the temple, think back to that.

Elindess had her face covered with her hands and was trying to even out her breathing when the big cat had finally returned, locking himself out. She went through the motions of apologizing as she pushed herself off the bed and ran to the door, fumbling a bit with the handle, her lips turned up in a wobbly smile. Well at least she didn't have to try and not talk, she couldn't and it wasn't expected from Kh're. She just stepped aside and allowed him in before taking the pens from him and giving him a pat on the head.

She had a few back ups, though it was more likely she'd run out of paper before she would run out of ink. She took the pad of paper and wrote in her neatest letters.

Do you want anything to eat? Or need anything?

Then she offered the paper for Kh're to read. ... Wait, he COULD read, right?