lost. {kalling kitkat&kalyth}

[phunke]

you

found

me

Many things were going on in the forest on that August evening.
Tree boughs hung in damp canopies, still dripping from the morning's rain. Each leaf hung lazily from its twig, laden with innumerable water droplets. Roots twisted and jutted awkwardly out of the ground where before there had been only soil, now eroded away.
Many of the animals who had stayed dry in their dens now emerged. Rabbits, squirrels, and various birds all exited their homes to sniff the area which was washed clean. All of them quickly returned to their safe spots, however, as the pronounced two-time beat of hooves on pine needles grew closer.

Addy noticed nothing of the forest. Not the scurrying animals, nor the quick patpatpat of bird wings displacing air, the drip of water off sleepy leaves, the hoofbeats that sounded from underneath her. Her eyes and ears and mouth were closed to the world.
Yet she had an exquisite sense of her world, which comprised of herself and the horse underneath her. She ran her fingers over his soft red coat and entwined them in the coarse fibers of his mane. Her whole body was centered on the feel of this horse. She could feel the placement of every hoof, the contraction of every muscle. She could feel the growing fatigue in the droop of the neck and the thin sheen of sweat.
And Addy could smell, too. Not the smells of the forest. But the horse, she could smell him. And she could taste it too, the horse smell. She could taste it even though her mouth was shut tight. Her nose was pressed against his warm neck and she tasted and breathed in his smell of dirt and sweat and horse.
In and out.
Her face was pressed so tightly to his warm neck and she breathed and she thought that maybe no air would enter, only dirt and sweat and horse.
In, out.
In, out.
And that would be okay.
It would be okay to die here, she thought.
To suffocate and not be able to breathe in air.
It would be ok, she thought, but she knew that she would not die.
And that was okay too.
In, out.
In, out.

you

found

me

[kitkatter]

Don’t come back until you’ve found ‘im! Selwyn yelled after Kalyth, with laughter on his old, wrinkled face. Oh, how this contrasted with the scene just three years before. His own mother, telling him to leave for good. And look where he was now. Who needed that good-for-nothing scumbag? Not Kal. Now, he had wings like an eagle that took him far, far away.

Kal casually strode to the back, where the birds were tethered to a post that ran across two trees. The regal falcons opened their wings in greeting and he threw them each a cube of meat. One, two, three, four. Engold was still missing. The noble red-tail hawk was smaller than the others, but by far, the fiercest and most loyal. He had particular significance to Kal, being the first bird he had caught and trained myself.

Searching the endless forests of District Five could take days, weeks, without ever even finding what you were looking for. Kal reached for the silver chain that hung from his neck. Luck would be with him today, he just felt it. He dropped the cool metal beneath his loose tunic and headed into the inviting forest. A cascade of cool moisture fell upon him as he weaved throughout the trees. The soft bed of chestnut pine needles softened his step, creating a beautiful silence to the untrained listener. To Kal, the forest was alive with the little things that no one would think twice about, the constant cricket chirps, the harmonious bird songs, and the slight whistle of an evening wind kissing his cheek.

Kal surveyed his current position, glancing at all the trees in sight. After careful scanning, he found his prize, a small piece of blue string tied around the trunk of a tree a few yard away from him. By dividing the forest into smaller chunks and color coding them, the boy always knew about where he was in the great forest. The project had taken a whole year, but was fully worth the outcome; Kal knew this forest like the back of his hand. Blue string. He was near the heart of the forest now, where the prey was abundant, where his precious falcon was most likely to rest.

Walking towards the direction of the faint sunlight shining through the leaves, Kal soon stopped in a small grassy clearing, emitting a feeling of total calm and peace. Putting down his pack and drawing out a thick leather glove, he whistled a two-note call. Almost instantly, he saw the signature red tail of his hawk in the sky. It circled down slowly, and dove out of sight. Second later, the graceful bird landed on his arm, its talons gripping the glove tightly. Kal took the large vole the hawk had retrieved and tethered its legs to his arm, slipping the leather hood over its head. Good Engold, good job. he whispered to his hawk.

[phunke]

why'd you

have to

wait

A shrieking falcon snapped Adelaide out of her reverie. She sat up, seatbones bumping along on Comet's back.
The girl opened her eyes, and her ears, and became of the world she had so peacefully tuned out.
She began to really notice things - a passing breeze which grabbed the trees with surprising force, the burbling trickle of a nearby brook, a bird's nest full of blue-speckled eggs, a piece of blue yarn tied to a tree.

Wait.

Blue yarn.
Falcon.
Creek.

Addy easily halted her gelding, who was exhausted from hours of trotting down forest paths, and began to really think.

Blue yarn.
She had never, ever seen any color yarn tied to a tree. And she had traveled fairly extensively through District 5; it wasn't like she was just a mile or two from home.

Falcon.
There were no falcons in her immediate area. It was too lightly wooded; they preferred the true forest, where prey abounded.

Creek.
The only creek within five miles of her family's land was one in the opposite direction from where she had been heading today.

I am lost, Addy thought.
I am at least ten or fifteen miles from home, in a forest I do not recognize.
The girl soothed herself with rational thinking. She knew which direction she had come, and she knew that she was, at least, still within district five.
But rational thinking did little to quell the sheer terror biting at Addy's heart. She was alone, but for Comet.
Lost and alone.

I need a plan, she decided.
First, I will go to the stream. I will let my horse have a drink and then I will see if this yarn leads me anywhere, she decided.
Someone must have put it there, so I will walk for a while, and pitch camp when darkness falls, she decided.
My parents will not worry, for I have spent the night under the stars with Comet before.

And still, the terror bit at her heart, mercifully leaving her mind unimpaired.

So the fourteen-year-old dismounted, and led her horse, using only her hearing to guide them to the creek. The horse drank, and she drank some too, for it was a stiflingly hot August day.
The girl even splashed some water on the gelding's sweat-covered coat to cool him off.
Then she spotted the blue yarn again, and they kept walking, treading carefully on the crunch summer pine needles, until she found another piece of blue yarn.
And another.
Until she reached a clearing, grassy and breezy.
There was a person there, a boy. Though he looked to be about Addy's age, he was tall, with a pointed face and long limbs.
The first thing that the girl noticed about him was his falcon. It was beautiful, really, with its tail of red feathers, as it perched on the boy's leather glove. The second thing she noticed was his hair. Though it was a deep, coppery brown, it seemed oddly juxtaposed in contrast with his pale skin. His skin. It was not unlike her own, though Addy had freckled in the summer sun, wheras the boy seemed unchanged from its rays, aside from a light pink tint.
Abandoning the cautious, quiet tread, the teenager pulled her feet through the grass, seeking the conspicuous rustling sound that would alert the boy to her prescence before he even looked at her. She dropped Comet's reins, leaving him to graze in his rope bridle.
Closer and closer.
In, out.
In, out.

'Hello,' she said.
'My name is Addy, and I'm lost.'

to

find

me

to find me

[kitkatter]

where were you

when everything started

falling apart

A high pitched scream.
Then nothing.
Silence.

What did you do Kal? Mother screamed at me, her face red, hot with anger. Almost as hot as the fire raging behind us. The scene was ironically beautiful, small tendrils of flames eagerly licking up the thatched roof and larger flares slowly eating the wooden exterior. The blaze was alive with joy in destruction, dancing this way and that, boasting of magnificent bold colors of red and orange, and fainter ones of white and blue.

It would be that last time I would see this dreadful home, filled with terrible memories of the past.
The last time that others would look down on my pathetic self, whispering, seeing the harm done to me, yet not acting upon their thoughts.
No one in the world is going to help, I must do that for myself. I ran into the thickness of the woods, my mother staring coldly into my back. I didn’t look back.


Kal felt the talons of the small hawk squeeze the glove. It looked around nervously, scanning the immediate area, and then freezing in place. Used to the typical warning signs, he took a deep breath, preparing for a possible danger in the seemingly peaceful forest.
Last time, it was a hungry bear, looking for a meal in them.
The time before, himself.

Grabbing a small steel blade, the boy turned slowly, eyeing anything that moved. His eyes flickered towards a flying butterfly, then a small sparrow taking off in the distance. Then, he saw red and continued his search for danger. Wait. Kal’s eyes readjusted to the awkward lighting in the meadow and he found the outline of a.. a girl, maybe a little younger than he. Her light auburn locks radiated in the cascade of light, conveying a picture of vitality, warmth, happiness. It stuck great contrast to her piercing eyes, an iron blue that looked like they could see through you.

Her shape came closer and closer, apparently walking towards him. Now, he could really see how strong she really looked, with well-defined muscles in contrast to his rather skinny, but huge body.
And look.
She talked.
Oh boy.

Hello, my name is Addy. So her name was Addy. And I’m lost. Kal almost laughed out loud, and couldn’t help but throw out a wide grin. She was lost. How upfront she was about that. He extended one of his hands in greeting. Now wouldn’t be a bad time to make a friend. Hullo, I’m Kal. He stopped short, awkwardly pausing. There had to be something more to say. And I’ll help you find your way out.

[phunke]

,you

found

me.

Every blade of grass in the meadow was still saturated with moisture.
To take her eyes off the strange boy she was drawing closer to, Addy studied the shiny, damp toes of her black riding boots. But she could not distract herself for long; soon her head had snapped back up, and she began to study the boy more observantly. She turned her head just slightly to the left in order to compensate for her half-blindness.
She immediately noticed how very tall he was; almost a foot taller than herself, certainly. Maybe nine or ten inches, if she had to hazard a guess.
The girl looked from his unnaturally dark hair, to the faint scars on his forearms, which were very toned - ooh, muscles! - from, she presumed, years of working with falcons. He was obviously very practiced at being around them, as he had the necessary equipment and a demeanor which suggested he was comfortable enough not to focus solely on the large predator clinging to his arm.
Again, her eyes traveled up to his face. For the first time, she really looked at his eyes.
Wow, she thought.
Those eyes.
They were green, very green; and when they caught the light, they swirled with intricate patterns, as a gem does with its many surfaces.
Addy had always thought that eyes are the most important part of the face. Not because they convey emotion particularly well; she had never been able to look into someone's eyes and read their mind, as many claim the ability to. She knew well that the emotions were found in a slight juncture or rise of the eyebrows, in the tightness of the lips, the flare of the nostrils. Yet she loved the eyes most of all.
Eyes are what connect you to someone, she thought.
You look at someone's eyes and they look at yours and then everything you say can actually mean something, she thought.

Speaking of which, had she really just said 'I am lost'?
Really?
The blood was already rising in hot threads to the girl's cheeks when she spotted the falconer grinning.
That is not a mean grin, she decided, not a mean grin at all.
So when he held out his hand in greeting, she took it, finding it to be warm, firm, rough, and gentle, all at once.
How queer, she thought.
'Hullo,' he said. 'I'm Kal.'
Alright, thought Addy.
Now I know the name of the boy with the green eyes and the falcon.
Should she speak now, press her need for help, perhaps ask if he could maybe suggest a good way out of the forest? But at a further glance, he seemed to be casting for words.
'And I'll help you find your way out.'
A blunt reply to her original blunt statement.
That was good, she thought.
She fixed her gaze on his eyes, trying to discern his motives.
Yet his clear, green eyes were widened just slightly, she observed.
A sign of innocence, of a genuine desire to help.

'I would love some help,' she replied, trying to put as much warmth into her voice as possible. 'But I should not leave tonight; I have had very few good experiences of riding through the woods at night.'
Addy shuddered slightly, squeezing her eyes shut and pushing back the memories of fear and darkness tried to work their way into her mind.

Looking to further the conversation, as well as maybe to find out more about this boy with the falcon and the green eyes, she voiced the first question that came to her mind.
'Are you the one who put up the blue yarn?'
The girl's eyes were fully opened once more, inquisitive, pushing themselves into his gaze, eyebrows barely coming together with curiosity.

in
the
end.

[kitkatter]

but in the end

everyone ends up

all alone

[/b][/color][/center]



Kal eyed the shorter girl again. There was something strange about the way she looked up at him from nearly a foot below, gazing at his eyes. It was almost as if one of her marble blue eyes was looking over her shoulder, while the other focused on him, giving off an unnatural look.
She was blind?
He opened his mouth quite noticeably, to ask about it. That’d be rude, he told himself, and faked a yawn, stretching his arms over his head dramatically. Kal smiled again; he had never been much of an actor. He concluded that Addy was half-blind and decided to leave it at that. But, how striking her eyes were..

He must have been zoning out, hearing only a fragment of a sentence. …very few good experiences of riding through the woods at night. She trembled, squeezing her eyes shut while he looked on. How cute… Kal thought, unsure of what to do at that particular moment. And not understanding what exactly she was talking about.
However, if he wanted cute
Kal would have gotten a puppy.

What exactly should he do with this girl? She obviously didn’t want to ride through the forest at night. From the look of her and her copper horse in the distance, both sweating profusely, it was unlikely they could ride the 10 miles back into the town, which he inferred they were from. Selwyn’s house wasn’t exactly spacious, with barely enough room for the two of them.
It’d probably be easier if he just led her to the main road and leave.
But he couldn’t do that.
Before he thoroughly thought through this dilemma, she asked a question. Are you the one who put up the blue yarn?
It was a very random question. She was lost in a middle of the forest with a stranger and she asks about yarn? Of course, it was probably just to create conversation, which he wasn’t doing an especially good job of.
Yeah, it’s how I find my way around this forest. He stopped there, wondering if describing any further would sound like he was bragging. See over there? He pointed at a tree in the distance with a bit of yellow yarn. That’s the way we have to go to get out of the forest and to the main road. Kal started walking in that general direction, not looking back to see if the girl, Addy, was following.
If she wanted to find her way out, she didn’t have a choice.

[/size]

[phunke]

ooc;; You Found Me is getting old, especially because that song has about 20 lines, and 15 of them are "you found me, you found me".
Switching to Please Wait Up For Me by Sherwood, fyi.

bic;;

honey
i'm
an open

book

Yeah, it’s how I find my way around this forest, the boy said.
Really, thought Addy. After all, she thought, I wouldn't have found Kal if not for the yarn. It was a good, if simple idea; after all, these woods were very easy to get lost in.
See over there? The girl's followed his hand to some trees bordering the meadow; among them, she could just discern a piece of yellow yarn.

That’s the way we have to go to get out of the forest and to the main road.
Excellent, she thought.
I can get out of here.

Even before Kal had turned and begun to walk away, the girl strode over to her horse and took the rough reins, pulling him towards the yellow yarn, where the tall boy with the falcon was already dissappearing among the trees. She followed after him, quickening her steps beyond their normal pace to catch up. She tugged impatiently at Comet, who was sauntering along, reluctant to leave the lush grass of the meadow.

So he will take me to the main road, she thought, and we will part ways.
Comet and I can sleep anywhere near the road, so long as it is well-covered and reasonably comfortable, she thought.
After that, I will go home, and never again see the boy with the green eyes, she thought.

Addy's sight fell once more on the falcon on his arm.
'How did you learn to handle falcons? Where did you find this one? Do you have more?'
The questions burst forth from her mouth before she could stop herself. After all, falcons weren't exactly commonplace in District 5. Or anywhere, that she knew of, for that matter.
Literally biting her tongue, the girl managed to stem the onrushing tide of questions itching to leave the confines of her imagination.
But she still wanted her first three answered.
I'll admit it, Addy thought.
I'd like to know more about the boy with the green eyes and the falcon.

a little
hard
to read

{that may be true}

[kitkatter]

you found me

when no one else

was looking

[/color]

Kal turned his head to quickly glance at the girl, Addy. She was pulling the reins of the glossy red horse, following behind him. The horse was not as big as the ones the Peace Keepers around here rode, quite big and heavy. However, it seemed much more prideful, with its head held high, nudging the girl's hair intimately. They seemed to share a deep bond. Like him and Engold.

How did you learn to handle falcons? Where did you find this one? Do you have more? Hmm... It seemed it was impossible to show her the way and be gone without having to talk. While being sociable wasn't exactly his strong point, this was a little more than he was used to. Did she ever run out of questions? He sighed just slightly, hoping she could take a hint, while not making it all too obvious of his growing aloofness.
Umm... I live with Selwyn, who's the falcon master in District Five. The falcons can hunt and they bring game for us. He paused, waiting for a question along the lines of, What do you mean by living with Selwyn? You're not from around here?
And he would try to tactfully avoid the answer, that he had run away from home.

I caught Engold in the clearing we were just in and trained him myself. There's four other falcons, but Selwyn mostly takes care of them. Kal abruptly stopped, staring at the dusty road, running all the way to the center of town. Brilliant color suffused into the darkening sky, not a cloud in sight.
Selwyn's house is down that way, Kal say, pointing at a rather small dot in the distance. Even from here, it was quite visible that it wasn't anything grand. If you want, you can stay with us until sunrise. He immediately questioned what he just said. How unlike him. Too late now to take back what he said.

how did you know

just where
i'd be?

[/size]

[phunke]

ooc;;
I photoshop'd a beauteous pictura of Kal.
Lemme know the thoughts.

(It's Jim Sturgess, the dude who was in 21.)










edit;;
I made another one and I kinda over-pshop'd it, but it still looks cool, right?
right?

[kitkatter]

omg
Those.
Are.
Awesome.

I really like the second one, with the shadow of a falcon in the background. It's amazing. It looks exactly how I thought Kal would look.

[phunke]

Yeah, I thought this dude is perfect because he has such an angular face, and his hair has sort of a feathery quality to it. I had to make the eyes green though.

[phunke]

and i would tell you

everything you want me to

tonight

Umm... I live with Selwyn, who's the falcon master in District Five. The falcons can hunt and they bring game for us.
Wait, she thought.
That is strange, because he does not sound like he is referring to Selwyn as a parent, she thought.
Addy had only met Selwyn a few times. He seemed to her just a gruff, sometimes grumpy man who had more scars than she could count.
And on second thought, the girl realized she had heard of this boy. A few years ago, he just sort of appeared. Naturally, the gossip spread like wildfire around school. Some idiot had even started a rumor that Kal had stowed away on a hovercraft and ended up in District Five.

Silly rumors like that are amusing because they are so laughably impossible, she thought.

The girl was still debating on whether to ask him about this curious living arrangement, torn by her desire to figure out the mystery and her knowledge that he was already getting annoyed by her neverending questions.

After all, Addy had been told more than once that she was far too inquisitive for her own good, and that she ought to restrain the questioning bounds of her imagination.
Before the teen even had the chance to open her mouth, he was speaking again.

I caught Engold in the clearing we were just in and trained him myself. There's four other falcons, but Selwyn mostly takes care of them.
Huh, she thought.
That is interesting that he has trained 'Engold' himself, she thought, much the same way I have trained Comet.
She glanced to her right, where he was walking beside her. Now that she thought of it, Addy found his face to be rather birdlike, in a way. His features were angular, with high cheekbones and sharp, alert eyes. Kal's hair, too, had a sort of feathery quality, brown and windblown and untidy.
In a good way.

The two arrived at the road.
The road that leads into town, she thought.

Selwyn's house is down that way.
The boy was now pointing down the road, in the opposite direction from town, but not too far away from their current standing point. It was clearly not a large house - more of a hovel - though if she was being honest with herself, a house of any kind sounded much more appealing to Addy than sleeping on the wet ground of the woods.

The girl glanced down at the ground, at a small grey rock resting just in front of her feet.

Why had Kal told her this?
It's not like he's going to offer me shelter for the night, she thought.
He is probably just telling me for reference, she thought. So I know which direction he will walk away while I walk toward town.
The town square was visible from their current vantage point, thanks to the flat and unimpeded horizon between the two locations.
Yet the light was quickly leeching from the sky, leaving drained pink hues floating lifelessly over the sunken remains of the sun.

If you want, you can stay with us until sunrise.
Well, that solved that problem, Addy thought.

Ok, she said.
I'd love to, actually, she said.

And with a tentative smile on her lips, she took Comet's reins in one hand and began the walk away from the fading lights of the town square, away from the last dregs of sunlight.

Watching the long, graceful shadow thrown in front of her.
Hearing the gentle drag of tired hooves across damp soil.
Feeling the boy beside her, wondering how she had so easily come to trust a total stranger.
Smelling the wet timber and the grass and the horse and a faint odor she thought might have been bird poop.
Addy smiled.

but please

wait up

for me

[kitkatter]

The boy and girl walked alongside the road, their animals in hand.
It was strange, how the silence was a given, how they took that time to study each other in depth.
Kal had seen Addy at school before, but not more than a glance, known to him only as 'that girl with red hair.'
With little contact with the female race in the past years, he had no idea how to assert exactly what he meant to say.
Yet, he found himself inviting her to his own home for the night.
Apparently, he had no control over anything he was doing at this point.

Kal readily welcomed the sight of Selwyn off a little ways in front of their abode, waving excitedly.
He hurriedly shuffled over, leaving Addy to follow at her own pace.
Selwyn, I found Engold in that clearing at the heart of the forest!
Any composure he had gained from his unending silence was broken as he talked to the old man, who was nodding, approvingly.
Good, good, Selwyn said, gruffly. I have something of my own to share. Remember the nest of falcon eggs we were watching? They're finally beginning to hatch! Color filled his wizened face in pride.
That's great! I'll go look at them now! Kal jumped into action, apparently very excited for this bird-related event.
Wait, are you not going to introduce me to this fine young lady here? Selwyn nodded in Addy's direction, smiling at Kal's impatience.
Oh, that's Addy. Addy, this is Selwyn. He paused, looking at Selwyn meaningfully. Can I go now? Kal asked, slowly pacing towards the back of the house, giving no heed to whether he said yes or not.