[Kyrit]

Yere.... It was hard to tell if he knew what Elindess had said or not. He spoke nothing of it, but he did smile and give a small nod. That always could have been to the thank you though, or even just to the fact that it might have been his way of thanking her for everything she was doing for Kh're.

Kh're... well it was obvious he didn't know. He couldn't hear anything since she could no longer speak, and it wasn't like he would be able to read her lips since she was hugging him as she was. "I'm.... so sorry Elindess." Her nuzzle was soon returned by more of a pounce, as the Hunter didn't exactly have a way to hug her back per say. He nuzzled his cheek against hers, trying to be as careful as he could.

After a few moments of this the crystal beast finally moved away to give her a bit of space, wanting to make sure she wasn't hurt in any way. "You're not hurt, are you? No pain at all?" He did his best to stick to yes or no questions, that way she could just nod or yes and shake her head for no. It'd be the easiest way to start out with talking to one another, and maybe some day he'd be able to carry full conversations without being careful with his wording.

"Well, you two don't have to run off right away. If you'd like, you could stay the night, eat dinner, and rest up." The human form Sky Serraptor moved over a bit closer to the two of them. "It's getting late now, so I could always prepare a room while you two go eat."

[Moofius]

"It's okay I'm fine." She said but there was no sound. She'd never been much of a talker but then she'd found Kh're and had really opened up... Only to loose the ability to speak. Maybe she would find this more frustrating then she'd originally anticipated. Well she still had her body to try nad get her feelings across and she could always write him notes.
What if he couldn't read?

She pushed the worry away for now (I mean he'd been here long enough, Yere would have taught him... right?). She tried to nuzzle back, trying to tell him to not feel bad, to just know that she was happy with the trade. Would he understand this? He... Well he didn't have the greatest respect for peoples personal space, he must be pretty use to others body language... maybe.
She shook her head, smiling up at him; her eyes were watering a little but she hadn't even noticed the blurry edges of her vision. She was fine, it didn't hurt there was just... something that didn't work now. All around she was fine it was just... so sudden and a little hard to work around; at least so far it was.

"It's up to Kh're I don't care too much-" she paused again, realizing she couldn't speak. Another soft sigh as Elindess thought it over. How to proceed? She looked to Kh're carefully mouthing out her words.
'What do you want to do?'

-Post Count Recorded Up To This Point-

[Kyrit]

Okay. That was good. No pain. It seemed as though Elindess had been one of the lucky few that had chosen something to give up that caused no pain. Well... No physical pain at least. For many, being unable to say anything was just pure torture. He just really hoped it wouldn't turn out like that for her as well. At least she wasn't blind though...? Being blind would have made it a whole lot tougher to see the world together. A lot more dangerous as well.

"Oh... Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to wait until morning to leave." He really wanted to hurry up and run out of Basantha, but he knew it wouldn't be safe to leave at night. The temperatures dropped even more at night, and there was no telling what could find them out there. Sure, he'd be a strong protector... but he didn't want to chance anything just yet. They'd better take the safer way about this.

"Alright then." Yerenthor looked over at Elindess and gave a small bow of his head. "I'll allow Kh're to take you to go find something to eat, and I shall go get a bed ready for you." After taking a few steps away, he turned back to look down at her with a smile. "Oh. But the way, you ought to think about looking in to using your mind to do the speaking for you." When he said the word mind, he gave a light tap to his own head. "Just a word of advise. Not everyone can actually do it, but those that can find it quite useful. Maybe you could find someone to teach her." With that he slipped out of the room, leaving Elindess alone with her new companion.

[Moofius]

having not been cursed to dwell her whole life anywhere, Elindess could not even begin to understand Kh're wanting to leave right away, nor how much it must take Kh're to say they'd stay the night. She just smiled, blinking sleepily as if to seal this idea. Her attention turned to the monk, she smiled and nodded notifying her thanks for taking care of her and Kh're and for the advice. Speaking with her mind? How would she even begin to learn that? She wouldn't worry about it now, it was too late and she was too tired.

She did know that hunters in general wanted to leave Basantha, and she did feel a little bad they couldn't leave right away. How could she...? OH!
An idea struck her out of nowhere and she quickly patted Kh're's side, hoping to grab his attention.
Still looking sleepy she smiled and opened her mouth to say something before quickly closing it. D'oh. How was she suppose to express her idea?
She closed her hand so she had two of her stubby fingers out, making a walking motion for Kh're. Stopping that she put her hands together, flat and next to each other. A little like when you play rock, paper scissors. It was the paper shape, two papers side by side that opened outwards. Walking? Doors? Walk to Doors?
She threw her hands up, tipping her head back to show... joy happiness fun! Good, no doubt there. Then the door sign again and walking fingers.

Go outside, play, then come back?
'Want to play? Outside?' she mouthed, wording it slowly to try and make it clear.

[Kyrit]

It was quite obvious that the hand signs had him completely and utterly confused. He sat down where he had been standing, head tilted to the side slightly. What... was she trying to do? Well, he understood the walking motion. Everything else was where he was tripped up though. When she meant to show joy, he thought frustration. Thought she was silently screaming at her inability to talk.

Things slowly changed as she tried to mouth the words. It took him a moment, trying to register in his mind what she had said, but the moment he did understand he jumped to his feet with his tail trashing around behind him. "Really?! You aren't too hungry? Yere said to take you to go get food... Wouldn't you rather do that? I mean, I'd really love to go outside and play! But are you up to it? You see kinda tired." It was probably hard to hear everything he said, considering he was just throwing out word after word, streaming them together.

[Moofius]

His words came out in a jumbled mess so she only really understood the intent, not the words. He was worried about her and wanted to make sure she really wanted to go out. In all honesty she was tired, hungry and hated the cold but she wouldn't mind giving up one night of discomfort for Kh're how had been cooped up in this place his whole life. She just hoped that he wouldn't decide to sleep out there; not come back in at all. She'd get cold whether she was in her human form or not.
Her human form! Right, she really should get into that before they went outside.

So she quickly nodded, smiling. Yes, yes she wanted to go outside and play for a bit. Hey, maybe she'd even enjoy the snow. Kh're seemed to make everything more fun and less scary. Still smiling Elindess gave him the 'one moment' sign and shifted into her human form. It was weird to her as she rarely used it which explained the lanky floppy ness to her arms. She was use to them being so much heavier, here she was very twiggy and, she felt, very unappealing. I mean she was lanky and short and she looked frumpy. But she was still something of a cold blooded creature. Her body was human but she was chilly to the touch, eespecially when it was cold around her. If she was in the sun her skin was cool and soothing but when it was cold or you were trying to sleep Elindess toes would wake you up really quick.
For her arms the arm warmers offered a bit more bulk and the slightest bit more weight for her to feel comfortable with herself and actually seemed to help in her lanky clumsy self. Well, they helped a little bit.

Her one human hand raked through her short, funny green hair as she remembered Kh're had never seen her like this. She felt uncomfortable, hideous even. Maybe Kh're would regret bonding to her? The thought was upsetting which had Elindess hiding her face with one hand (and the associate arm warmer); she chewed nervously on the arm warmer and shifter nervously before wordlessly heading off towards the front doors of the shrine.
Even if she had something to say it wasn't like she could anymore.

[Kyrit]

Kh're's main worry was if she would really be up to going outside. He didn't want to see her have to go through anything that she hated for his sake, and he knew that the cold wasn't exactly something she could handle very well. After all, when she first came in she was so much more sluggish than she was now. Well, maybe not too much more sluggish, but she had already become more.. active since she had warmed up a bit. She was erm.. cold.. blooded, right? Didn't that mean she needed the heat? "I promise we won't stay outside for long!" Just long enough to get to play in the snow for a bit. Yeah, he could get by with that. Go outside, pounce around in the snow for a little while, and then he'd bring her back in so that she could get warm again. It had taken him far too long to find a friend to travel with to let anything happen to her.

"Whoa!" Kh're jumped up slightly, mouth agape and legs slightly spread further than normal, like a surprised animal... which, well, he was. "Elindess, that's so cool! The only person I've ever met that was able to do that was Yere. It must be nice to be able to transform like that. Able to grab things and such. Well, you can grab things in your normal form... Still! That's so awesome! Maybe you could teach me to do that some day?" Oh boy. Once again the Hunter was rambling on. He seemed to get so excited so easily, and then once he was excited he just had to keep on rambling like this. Either way, it was safe to say that he didn't see her as hideous, and he certainly didn't regret bonding to her.

Having ended up behind the now human form Teigu, Kh're bounded after her, the sound of his crystal body slamming against the ground every time he roughly landed echoing through the hallway. "Is it warmer like that? Is it easier to walk?" So many questions filled his head. He had never really been able to feel what cold or warmth was really, what with being living crystal. It was truly amazing that Hunters had genders really. Living crystal...

[Moofius]

"Whoa!"

It echoed in the halls and it echoed in her mind and she was almost crying when she turned to look at him, peeking out from behind her arm warmers. The way he was standing, the surprised... statement had her eyes watering. Then he started nattering and walking and she kept up with him, blinking away her tears. She was a bit surprised but very relieved that he didn't hate her now. Maybe she was just being silly; Kh're was so nice.
But then she hadn't knocked anything over yet. She kept her arms in closely folded against herself to keep herself from arming anyone or anything as they walked.
"Um, maybe," she mouthed to his question about teaching him. It had taken her a long time to learn. Most could do it since they were little but she learned late in life which was one of the reasons why she wasn't very comfortable like this. Confidence on actually being able to teach him was pretty limited but maybe she could try. The two of them had enough time to do so after all.

He crashed loudly about the shrine and Elindess would have told him to keep it down but... Well, one: she couldn't talk. Two: Kh're had just been released from a curse that had been placed on him... Well who knew how long ago! If Elindess had been in his shoes she'd probably be excited too.
When they reached the front hall a few lurking monks glared distastefully towards Kh're (those who looked on fearfully were those who had been Kh'res pounce victims when Yere hadn't been there to keep him in line).
Elindess smiled shyly (which earned her a few confused looks) and she turned towards her new friend, grabbing his shoulder to get his attention.
"I won't be slow outside because of the cold." she said, not telling him that she would be cold outside. She'd be back here in no time and she could warm up then.
"As for walking..." she frowned, "I'm not the best at it. Lets not knock anybody over and go outside!" She was smiling, really happy to see him so excited (too hell with those old fuddy-duddy monks!) she opened her arms wide as if she were stretching but a lot faster, happier. She was exuberant.

The candlabra crashed to the ground behind her. Two of the three candles hand gone out, the third was still a light, rolling away towards the front door of the shrine.

She covered her face with her arms, this time in embarrassment as her blunder echoed audibly about the front hall of the Shrine.
Her mouth was moving in feverish apology but because of the lack of voice and lack of mouth visual (silly hands) they went unknown.

[Kyrit]

Even if she were to knock anything over, why should he care? He knocked Yere over all the time without really meaning to. Sometimes he knocked other things over too, generally when he was running around. Sometimes his being playful just turned out destructive since he didn't realize when he needed to be more careful around certain things. He would be more careful with her though. She was precious. Even if she weren't his bonded, she were his friend. His only friend other than Yere.

Oh, oh. She said she might teach him how to transform?! He hoped she would. That'd be really nice. He didn't have opposable thumbs since he was a feline and all. What would a Hunter look like as a human though? Would the human be made of crystal as well? Surely not. Elindess wasn't covered in scales in her human form, so maybe... he'd look normal too? Maybe. There was no way to tell unless she did agree to teach him and he succeeded in transforming.

While Elindess smiled shyly at those that scorned him, Kh're only continued on his happy way. He knew people disapproved of his nature, but why should everyone always be so gloomy? Sure they didn't have to be as hyper as he was, but they should all smile more often. It'd do them some good. Who knew. If more of the Hunters were only slightly more like him, certainly not fully like him since that'd be a handful, they might find a bonded a lot sooner. Even though it had taken him a long time, he had always lived in Basantha. There were some Hunters that were born in Craiss Caverns yet had ended up hear. He found someone sooner than them, right? They just needed to smile more often. Yeah.

Aww... He couldn't knock any of the old grumps over? He really wanted to. Just because he could.. and because of their looks. It'd be fun to show them that he liked them even though they weren't very nice, and that he wouldn't mind showing them that being playful from time to time wasn't going to kill anyone. Oh well. He gave a small nod and kept to the female's side, not being quite as loud with his movements as he had been just a little while ago.

At first the sound of the crashing candelabra seemed to freak the Hunter out, his body tensing up and his eyes darting away as if looking for danger. Well.. He had to be careful. Even if he was with her, there was no telling when a Mekkayena could show up. Surely they wouldn't show up when they were out in the open with all the monks like this though, right...?

The third candle rolled by him on its quest toward the door, and like a kitten Kh're pounced after it, crystal fangs closing down on the little wax cylinder. With his prey now caught, he looked back at Elindess with a smile(although that was hard to see with the candle in his mouth) and a wagging tail. Did he do good by catching it for her?

[Moofius]

A few of the monks closest to the group jumped, some turned to look but most ignored it. Elindess nervously set the over glorified candle holder up and looked to Kh're who had the third candle in his mouth. She smiled and told him thank you but there was always no sound as she took the candle from him and put it back in the candelabra. Only then did she notice the bite marks he'd left in the candle and it's soft wax (or, at least, soft compared to his crystalline teeth). She smiled widely; she didn't know why she found that so amusing, it really was beyond her, but amusing it was and she turned back to Kh're. The teigu had already forgotten about this embarassing little mishap now finding herself thinking only of Kh're and his playful nature. He hadn't seen anything wrong or embarrassing about it so why would she?

When she pulled open the doors to the shrine the heads of the monks turned. She was with the hunter but... Hadf they bonded? It happened so rarely even the gryumpyy, quiet, never-nosy monks couldn't help but show some curiosity as Elindess motioned towards her new found companion. One hand held open the door which allowed the sharp cold wind of the Fe'gan mountains to play across the stone walls of the inner sanctums of Basantha Shrine.
The outside was a sharp contrast between light and dark; the sky a deep navy blue and the snow a soft pastel blue, the colours of the world a monocromatic blue scheme by the full moon that sat in a cloudless sky. Up here in the high altitude the stars twinkled, unhindered by the heavier atmospheres or the bright lights of civilization.
The cold and solitude of Basantha did have some perks after all.
To Elindess, who had cursed the cold and who had felt so terrified and alone and scared on her way up to this place, was surprised by how different it looked now. Had something changed?

Then she wondered: How could I have forgotten Kh're?

Of course something had changed! A whole heck of a lot had changed! Before she'd been unsure if this would be good, or easy to do. She didn't doubt it would be hard but... It had been right; the mint teigu knew deep down that this was right.

Enough with the mood! They were suppose to play in the snow! She hadn't realized she'd been by the door some time. Was Kh're already out in the snow? Man she had really zoned out! Her cheeks, already turning pink from the cold, brightened a little more for getting so wrapped up in the moment.

[Kyrit]

There wasn't much that could be embarrassing for Kh're. After all, he tended to just block out the scorn of others. Once one didn't mind what others thought it was easy to not be embarrassed. Maybe if he made a big slip up around Elindess he would be though, but that was because he cared what she thought. His current mind set was that he was helping her retrieve something that had fallen, and in such there was no need to be embarrassed.

While Kh're didn't exactly feel a change in temperature since that sort of thing never really clicked with him(he wasn't sure if it was just because he was made of crystal or if it was just him), he did feel the wind coming in through the open door. His eyes widened, staring out at the mounds of snow surrounding the building. This staring didn't last very long of course. Then again, nothing seemed to last long for him. He was always moving from one thing to another since he didn't have the greatest attention span.

The monks were probably thrilled to see the Hunter running outside. It would have meant that they were finally free of him, but they didn't know that he'd be back inside after a bit of playing. He wouldn't stay, but he'd be back. So much for getting their hopes up? Oh well, at least they would get a bit of peace for the time being.

Front paws colliding with the snow covered steps leading up to the shrine, Kh're quickly found that the snow made the steps rather slippery. Slippery enough that his paws slipped right back off the steps and down to the next one, which in turn sent him sliding down a few feet. As his body had hit the stairs before sliding, the ground shook slightly and the sound of the crash rang through the air. A small bit of snow even fell down from the shrine, where it had been stuck until the ground shook.

Trying to get to his feet, Kh're fumbled around for a few moments. Snow and ice covered stone wasn't quite as easy to walk on as he had been expecting, so it took him a good while. Once he got his footing he quickly jumped off the steps so he landed in a few inches of snow. This was a bit better, since the steps weren't under him now.

Letting out a nervous laugh, the Emerald Hunter looked back at the door to see if Elindess had followed him out. Quite possibly, this was one of those rare moments that he might actually be embarrassed. He probably would let it show though.

[Moofius]

Elindess smiled and laughed. Awhile passed before she realised there was no sound, no laughter from her. Her face fell slightly; it would take some time to adjust completely to this. It was weird to think about as she'd never been chatty. Quiet and in the background Elindess had thought she wouldn't have missed her voice. Now she felt she had much more to say; to feel.
She stepped carefully down the slippery stairs (after closing the large door) to join Kh're in the snow.
'Sorry I didn't warn you about the ice.' she mouthed, smiling and patting his shoulder before running off into the snow. Leaving the main path she suddenly fell so that the snow reached up to her waist almost. The change was so sudden she froze, arms in the air before turning around to face Kh're.
'COLD!' she gasped, though it was obvious by her facial expression that she was feeling some sort of extreme. She flapped her hands in the air, her mouth a perfect 'O' shape before she started laughing and lifting her legs high in an attempt to take steps forward. She looked rediculous as she stomped around in the snow.

Everything was blue. Her skin was almost white in the moon light. She wanted to scream and shout and laugh and she counldn't. This fun was almost frustrating because the teigu could no express this new joy. She'd never been really sad in her life but she'd never experienced this kind of joy. Now that she was she didn't know how to express herself!
Elindess so wanted to cry. How could she be so happy and so frustrated and upset at the same time?
With a soundless sigh she flopped back into the snow, dissapearing completely from view.

[Mojave]

It was at that moment that two figures came up the mountain, one almost invisible in the blue-white surroundings, almost invisible against the blueish snow, the full moon doing nothing to illuminate her stone hide. "Come on, Taita! You're falling behind." She laughed, obviously feminine and quite young. Though no answer could be heard, a dark green hunter topped the rise beside her, nearly twice her size and obviously male. Clearly in his prime, he too was difficult to see, an almost black green in the blue night. What he was doing with such a young female was questionable and he seemed to be well aware of it. "Do you have to be so loud, Rez'ka?" He asked in a tone that said quite plainly he was sure she must, he seemed used to her, though didn't seem to enjoy her company all that much. He had replied with his eyes shut to prevent her from seeing him roll them, but when he opened them and saw the other Hunter standing in the snow, he paused. He didn't miss the signs of someone else being out here, the foot prints and the trail some body had left as it struggled through the snow.

Rez'ka had begun to follow him after she let him take the lead, but also stopped when she saw the other hunter. She remained behind Taita, tail and head down as she always stood when around elders. "Good evening." Taita remained silent, his tail crooked at the tip to the side, ears straight up and alert. "Someone else is here." He stated, not making it a question to force the other hunter to answer.

(Sorry, I'm falling asleep while typing, but here's my crappy intro post. @__@)

[Kyrit]

The Hunter laughed as he saw the shocked expression on the woman's face after she sunk deeper in to the snow. Crouching down a bit before pouncing through the snow to catch up to her. When he sank down much like she did, there was no shock from the cold to freak him out. Instead he started to 'swim' through the snow. Or at least that was what it resembled closest. He was trying to walk normally, but that certainly wasn't what it looked like.

After a few moments of this wading through the snow, Kh're managed to pass up Elindess before turning back around to try to bound back over to her. His plans had been to pounce out of the snow the moment he got close to her, pushing her down in to the snow. Something seemed to distract him though, as he trudged on right past her for a few inches. There was something... shiny coming their way. The feminine voice calling out was the first thing to claim his attention, followed by the sight of something that seemed to be shining many different colors. Nothing really clicked though until the Malachite Hunter could be seen. Eyes widening, Kh're's tail started to flop about behind him. Hunters were coming this way! But... why? He didn't know of any Hunter that had come back to Basantha after they got away from there. Then again, he also hadn't ever seen a Hunter like either of them.

Without thinking, Kh're ran toward the other two Hunters. It wasn't that he had forgotten about Elindess, but curiosity had gotten the best of him. Curiosity killed the cat, right? Well, Hunters were felines. Probably wouldn't spell good for him some day. As he approached the two of them he stared in awe at the other male for a moment. He was so huge! Would be be that tall some day? Right now he was probably just a small bit bigger than the shining female. Somewhere between the height of the two of them.

"Hi there! Who are you? My name it Kh're! What are you doing here? Why come back to Basantha? Are you meeting up with a friend?" It was probably best if they just tuned him out after he said his name. If allowed to he'd probably keep rambling and the two of them would never manage to slip in a single word. The only reason that he did stop for a moment was that it had dawned upon him that he left Elindess in the cold snow alone. Turning his head back to look at her, he smiled with a waving tail. "Look, Elindess! Hunters! Like me. Well.. not like me in color, but Hunters!"

[Moofius]

Elindess sighed, her breath coming out in tiny clouds that lingered for a good while. It must be pretty cold out which meant she would have to go in sooner rather then later, or risk causing herself serious harm. Being cold blooded really sucked; even in her human form she was more susceptible to the cold then the average person, but still better with it then as a teigu.
She could hear Kh're galumphing around but he wasn't saying anything (which was weird) which, right now, was fine by her. Laying here, deep in the snow starring up at the night sky... It was nice... Basantha has a great view and being so high up the clouds were rarely a problem. Not to mention the moon, the moon was so close she felt she could just reach up and touch the craters, feel the rocky surface.

The other voice was muffled by the snow and Elindess, off in her own world, was happy to add the voice to the background noises (though there wasn't many, all of them subtle).
Another soft, silent, sigh from Elindess, though this one wasn't unhappy. She was noticing a lot of beautiful things recently and right now she was enjoying one of the new beauties; the moon. It wasn't really new but she'd never really appreciated it, or the stars in the area. She felt... small.
When Kh're started supposedly speaking to himself that's when Elindess came back to herself.

At first she'd thought he was talking to her but it, in fact, sounded like an introduction. Or, well, a string of questions to get an introduction out of somebody else, anyway. Who was he talking to? It couldn't be her, he knew why she was here and her name and everything. Kh're also knew that Elindess couldn't speak, so there was no point asking her unless he was close enough to read her butchered version of sign language.
This brought her to the simple conclusion that there was somebody else out here besides herself and Kh're. This was only confirmed by a depper, very masculine voice stating that somebody else was present.
Right, she wasn't exactly visible at the moment. Trying to fix that problem Elindess pushed herself up into a sitting position and from there tried to stand. It was harder then one might assume and it took her a few tries before she finally got it.

Oh whoa, that hunter was big... And dark and and... big. And there was another hunter too, smaller then Kh're, almost dainty (if you could call a big, crystal cat "dainty", anyway) and her colour was hard to see against the glarring white snow. She was very beautiful all shimmery and shiny and... Pretty.
Elindess felt sort of bland in comparison. She was human at the moment and she was... lanky and awkward looking with a baby face and short, shaggy hair of a mint colour which most people thought looked like an old dye job that had not been touched up.
Elindess waved towards the two new comers before starting to awkwardly make her way back to the main path as she waded through the snow.