First Date

This RP is for:

*Arukardis
*Morganism135

and others that may feel that their characters are relevant to the storyline. -Please note both of us to ask before joining-


Stuff to know:
Adangard - made up human town (if there's already an official list of available towns/cities please tell me, I'm nor aware of it :0) that's home to Rhin and his human family. They leave in the eastern part of Elaisha, in the center region.
Big Fire - literally a huge fire, burning in the middle of Adangard, confined to a 2x2 meter area framed with large boulders and resting on a 1,5 meter deep depression to prevent it from accidently spreading.
Roran - Rhin's 12 year old human brother. He's an adventurous young boy that loves spending time with Rhin and Ahura, helping out on their chores.
Ahura - Rhin's Shinlai "adoptive" brother. Has the same age as him but was only brought to the family at the age of 10. He doesn't seem to remember anything about his past and acts rather childish for his age.


---


The moon was out and high in the clear night sky when Rhin returned from the forest near Adangard. It was one of his chores to retrieve loose bark and large dry logs to keep the Big Fire burning in the town's center.
The dark leather harness he wore rested perfectly on his chest, contouring the overdeveloped muscles underneath his short, trimmed fur. His human brother, Roran, helped him unload the lighter pieces of wood out of the improvised and large leather carrier bag and placed them on a pile next to other buranble objects, like old rags and food waste.


"Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Rhin scolded in a brotherly tone, tilting his head towards the house he called home.

"Mom doesn't know." his brother swiftly replied.

"And you didn't answer my question. Just go to bed or I'll tell mom in the morning, I think I can finish this by myself." he said nudging the small human.

"Fine. But I get to play with you tomorrow afternoon!" the boy quickly ran inside leaving no time for the large Shinali to reply.


Rhin finished placing the wood on top of the burnables pile and carefully tried to remove the harness. It was difficult to take it out by himself, and it usually got tore in several places. This time, just 3 seams burst and a bucle got a bent being repair. "Father will fix it." he muttered to himself.

The night was calm and a soothing breeze filled the air along with the smell of burn wood. The fire was so captivating... he could just watch it for hours. But he had his mind set that night. He wanted to venture beyond the forest's boundries and see what else was out there, what other cities there were, what other places to discover, what other creatures he could find... maybe more like him and Ahura. He didn't expect to find any that night, since he solemnly believed that his kind was rare, besides what their parents told him.

--

Slowly, he padded towards the edge of the forest. Fewer trees pinpointed the ground and the sense of reaching the unkown was overwhelming. "M-maybe I should just go back.." he thought for a while. But quickly he overcame his cold feet and trotted towards the clearence ahead of him. He came to a stop just about when he reached the center of the area. He slowly circled on his spot, examining the newly discovered area. "Seems safe enough."

He started to pace slowly towards anything that seemed interesting and hoped to find something significantly relevant to his purpose that night. He didn't want to stray too far from home for his parents could notice his absence.


(I think I never wrote so much in a post before ;A; sorry for any typos or not-so-good RPing! And lame title, I know, but I don't have good title ideas xDD This is supposed to be the story of how Rhin and Mel met xD)

The forest was dark and the moon out high and clear in the sky as underneath it a small shinlai trod, dragging her feet as she traveled through the underbrush. Melody had only recently learned that her tutor, an old shinlai of light she had considered her shinlai mother, was dead. When she had returned from her masking, she ran to her tutor's dwelling in the troupe, but she wasn't there. Her family had tried to break it gently, but Melody hadn't wanted to hear it. Instead of listening and accepting, she charged off into the forest and had been wandering since.

With a sigh, the shinlai of light and air sat in the light of the moon, her green eyes looking into the waxing* moon and a keen in her throat.

Mel wanted to scream. To wail. To stomp around and have a tantrum...

But she wouldn't've wanted her to...

So she didn't. She sang instead.

She sang a tune she didn't know, she sang with her heart... She sang her sorrow. She sang to the moon as if the moon would be able to bring her almost-family back...

But if it could, the moon sat there- ignoring her song and sat resolute in the sky... After a point, Mel just slowly let her song end, leaving one last glare at the moon before laying down and placing her head on her front legs, with a mumble of, "Yeah, I didn't think it would work, either..."

((*I always found it hard to believe that with moon cycles that 'waxing' means 'growing'... when I hear waxing I think of pain and hair.))

Rhin walked slowly in the shadows' embrace, his keen senses capturing every sound, every glimpse, every touch on the ground. Somehow he felt more comfortable now than before, as if the night and that place were his own to know and explore.

Somewhere along the way the path became harder to walk through. Determined to continue, Rhin trudged through the heavy trees and smaller bushes in his way, stomping harder on the crushed plants as he got over them with his hind legs, to assure an open path for him to return to the clearance.
Halfway through he started to hear a faint, but beautiful tune. He stopped for a while, engulfed by the heavy vegetation around him, trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound. He continued to open the path towards the direction of the tune, eager to find out what was producing it. "Maybe it's a music box like mom has." he though to himself. As he got closer he realized it couldn't be such a device. This was a song. Who could sing so flawlessly? And what would they be doing out there at that time? He slowly padded to the more open and clear up area in front of him, not wanting to startle the singer, whoever it may be.

A slight breeze brought an unfamiliar scent to Rhin's nostrils. "It-it's not human..." he mumbled to himself. He was intrigued and continued to cautiosly walk towards the origin of the sound. Turning right after some old trees he saw a large blue, moonlit figure sitting on a clearence with it's back facing him, singing towards the moon. His eyes and nostrils widened, trying to figure out what he was staring at.

Captivated by the pleading song he unconsciously stepped closer to the creature, inhaling her scent at each step. He came to a sudden stop when she ended her song, before laying down and placed her head on top of her legs. Muffled, inaudable words came out of her mouth.

Curiousity made him slowly approach her and bow down to her level.
"Are-are you okay...? I heard you sing and you-you seemed sad... Sorry if I'm interrupting something..." Rhin stuttered shyly.


((that's really weird, I didn't even know that word! XD))

"Are-are you okay...? I heard you sing and you-you seemed sad... Sorry if I'm interrupting something..." Mel shot straight up to and looked at the newcomer, her blood rising to her face under her new mask, the little dots under her eyes glowing in the darkness.

"I... Uh..." she stammered, slouching into a smaller self as she looked at the male, he had a black mask with some other color that she wasn't sure of with the lighting. His white fur (at least she thought it was white...) had some greyish markings on it, but what really helped catch her attention was his mohawk- it was white but suddenly cut to red. she took a deep breath and said, "N-no... You didn't interrupt anything... I just lost someone close to me earlier..." she looked back at the moon, giving it a little glare before looking back to the male in front of her. "Oh! Where are my manners... I'm Melody of Troupe Versilia, it's a pleasure to meet you...?" She was embarassed he walked in on that little emotional moment, but she's wanted to meet more than the few shinlai she met traveling from town to town.

"I... Uh...N-no... You didn't interrupt anything... I just lost someone close to me earlier..." the female said, slouching in front of him.

Rhin widened his eyes at her response, wondering what could have happened. He wasn't sure if he should ask anyting, and felt it would be best not to talk about the subject since they've just met.

"I'm very sorry to hear that..."

He took some time to examine her under the moolight. She looked like him, only... different. He noticed her peculiar mask with glowing dots under her eyes and a little music note dangling from one of her white curved horns. She was smaller than him, and had a light blue fur as much as he could tell. She looked... very pretty in his eyes.

"Oh! Where are my manners... I'm Melody of Troupe Versilia, it's a pleasure to meet you...?" she said, embarassed.


"I'm Rhinonau... of Adangard. But everyone calls me Rhin." a silence fell while the white shinlai thought about what to ask next. It'd be awkward to go right ahead and ask if she was a shinlai. He didn't want to appear dumb in front of her. "Hum... where did you get such a pretty mask? If you don't mind me asking..." he embarassedly inquired, trying to avoid the earlier subject and also know if she was indeed a shinlai or not.

"I'm very sorry to hear that..." he said, Mel's heart fluttered a little, some guys'd go 'Ah' and walk off. "I'm Rhinonau... of Adangard. But everyone calls me Rhin."

She smiled, "A pleasure to meet you Rhin." she walked a little closer, feeling wet grass beneath her feet.

"Hum... where did you get such a pretty mask? If you don't mind me asking..." He asked, sounding a little embarassed.

"Oh, uh..." she herself was a little embarrassed, "friend of my Dad made it, the troupe picks up a lot of really nice people." she looked around, noticing a bit of an orange glow in the sky. "So, uhhh... Do you live with other shinlai?" she asked, she hadn't grown up with them and was more than a little interested in meeting a few more shinlai.

((my posts have gone downhill D| ))

"A pleasure to meet you Rhin." the light shinali said, approaching him.

"Oh, uh... friend of my Dad made it, the troupe picks up a lot of really nice people." she replied regarding her mask.

"Really? Mine was done by a friend of my dad's too, the town's blacksmith." he replied cocking his head to show it of.

"So, uhhh... Do you live with other shinlai?"

"I live with my br-... well, adoptive brother, Ahura. He is going to be masked soon too, he recently found out his element. By the way, what's yours?" Rhin asked curiously, confident that he was indeed talking to a fellow shinlai.
He was so interested in the conversation with this new 'lai that he didn't even notice the heavy clouds coming closer and becoming darker in the sky above the clearence. Still, the moon brightened most of the ground and themselves.





((no they didn't xD Don't worry, my posts won't be as the previous ones either, I have tons to study for my finals D: I don't even log on DA anymore, just here from time to time xD))

"Really? Mine was done by a friend of my dad's too, the town's blacksmith." he said, showing his off. Looking closer, it was a very nice mask, it seemed to fit him just fine.

"I live with my br-... well, adoptive brother, Ahura. He is going to be masked soon too, he recently found out his element." Rhin said, then asked, "by the way, what's yours?"

Mel smiled, "It's great that he's gonna be masked soon!" then his other question sent her a little off guard, "Oh, I'm a shinlai of balance... or I think that what my tutor said I was..." she mused to herself, her heart becoming heavy for a minute before she continued, "my elements are light and air... Though I'm better with air." she smiled before asking, "and you?"

She cast a glance up at the sky, the clouds overhead darkening and closing in. She was worried for a second, but figured if worse came to worse they could always book it to the troupe... She wondered if any of the pavilions would be big enough for Rhin, he was very tall!

((lies, your posts are still great! and good luck with your finals, you'll do fine! ♥))

"It's great that he's gonna be masked soon!" Mel said with a smile.

"Oh, I'm a shinlai of balance... or I think that what my tutor said I was... my elements are light and air... Though I'm better with air. And you?"

"She has a tutor? Maybe he... or she knows about my element too..." he tought for a second before hearing the rest of her reply.

"I didn't know you could have two elements... I think mine is fire, that's what my masker said. I uh... don't really know much about the subject actually..." he sat on his haunches and looked away, regretting his reply. He didn't want to sound like a dumb 'Lai in front of someone he'd just met. Yet, he just did.

"Uh... is it me or is it starting to rain?" he noticed some raindrops hitting the grass while looking down, making the ground damp and not so comfortable to sit on anymore. He quickly got up and swished his tail to get rid of some of the water that was starting to pour from the heavy clouded skies. "Do you know somewhere close where he can shelter?" he asked Mel, not wanting to admit that he didn't quite remember the way back to his own house. His short white coat turned grey as the water soaked it, yet his bright red mohawk seemed unafected by the weather and stayed bright and in place.



((Thank you hun ;A; One of them is already this friday and the other one is next tuesday! Gah, I hate finals Dx))

"I didn't know you could have two elements... I think mine is fire, that's what my masker said. I uh... don't really know much about the subject actually..." Rhin said, sitting down and looking slightly embarrassed at what he had said.

Mel tilted her head to the side with a smile, "Don't worry about not knowing about your element... I had no real idea about my element until my family met some shinlai who liked music... when they explained it to my parents, they started looking out for my elements... We always thought I was a shinlai of light until I sneezed that one day at practice..." her voice progressively got quieter as she drifted to remember her tutor's surprise then the shinlai in general.

As busy as she was remembering, she didn't notice the rain until Rhin mentioned, "Uh... is it me or is it starting to rain?" to which the light blue shinlai looked around.

"Hu? Oh..." she said looking up, flinching back as a raindrop fell in her eye, "Yes. Yes it is raining." she looked around for some shelter around the two shinlai, subconsciously shifting toward the larger shinlai, who had stood up when she hadn't noticed.

"Do you know somewhere close where he can shelter?" he asked, his white fur tgreying though his mohawk stayed a bright red.

Mel shook her head, "Nope, but..." she looked behind the fire shinlai and smiled, "We can go in that general direction... It'll lead somewhere sometime." she concentrated and a smallish pale blue sphere of light flickered into existence, surprisingly bright for its size. "Shall we get out of the rain?" she asked, her pale blue fur turning even paler.


((No problem, hun! •3• And who doesn't?))

"Don't worry about not knowing about your element... I had no real idea about my element until my family met some shinlai who liked music... when they explained it to my parents, they started looking out for my elements... We always thought I was a shinlai of light until I sneezed that one day at practice..."

Rhin had the urge to ask why she sounded sad about her one of a kind find, but he thought it'd be best to look for a dry spot first and then get to know the light and air shinlai better.

After confirming it was indeed raining, and hard, the female replied:
"We can go in that general direction... It'll lead somewhere sometime. Shall we get out of the rain?"

"Yes, let's go, I really dislike rain." the male said, shaking some of the water off his back in a quick motion.

Rhin gently moved several branches and twigs out of Mel's way so she could pass through the vegetation with ease.
After walking for a couple of minutes, and being soaked to the bone, the large male spotted a small cave-like indent on a rock surface that seemed large enough for both to rest in. Without going in, Rhin gathered a few fallen twigs that seemed rather dry and brought them inside. After two failed attempts he finally spit a steady flame and lit a small fire to keep them warm.

"Sorry, I'm still getting used to my element. It takes a few times before I get it right. Is it getting warmer over there or should I gather more twigs and make a bigger fire?" the male asked while desperatly trying to dry his mohawk, that was soaking wet and all over his face right now.


((xDD well, finally a post! Sorry it sucks D: ))