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#FreedomFalls – September 27, 2015
Ethos was have a casual stroll through one of the high hill trails just outside of Freedom Falls' central area that ventured near the dam. He was wearing his long black cloak that had elegant designs etched into the chest. There was a light breeze and the sun shined warmth over everything it touched. He always liked being in higher places where he could see everything. The trail went
Jackie was sitting on a log further up the hill, dressed in a dull red t-shirt and black jacket, as well as a black pair of jeans. She let her black and white husky off of it's leash, letting her run around while the human rested. The dog, of course, knew well enough not to run too far away, and to regularly check on her human often enough to make sure she was
doing all right. The dog discovered the wandering drell shortly after finding a suitably large stick for carrying around. She sat for a moment, staring at the drell with a curious look on her face, before apperantly making a decision, and hurrying back to her human.
Ethos had instinctivley paused in his walk at the sound of something approaching him from the woods. The mysterious creature seemed to peer at him from a short distance as they maintained eye contact. It was not an animal he had ever seen before. Perhaps it was a native to Aite. As the animal bound away from him up the trail, he began a slow job to see if he could catch up to it without
spooking her. Upon reaching a clearing in the trail, he spotted a human woman sitting on a log in the distance. His eyes scanned the area curiously, a paranoid leftover from his old profession. When it seemed unthreatening, he he called out, "Greetings, human." He figured anyone else out on this nature trail must have a similar quest of relaxation in mind.
Jackie smiles as her dog comes back to her. Too soon to be tired out from running, it must mean that there's someone else here. She gently strokes the dog's fur as her assumptions are proven correct by the sounds of approaching footsteps. "Hey." She says, a friendly smile adorning her face as she turns to regard the voice addressing her, though not quite making
eye contact with the owner of said voice. Hm, low, raspy, could be a human, but the greeting suggests otherwise. No subharmonics, almost certainly male, ah, a drell? That's certainly something new.
Ethos grinned softly to himself as he took the return of greeting and smile to welcome him to come closer. "It's a pleasant surprise to meet another who enjoys this place as much as me." His voice came out tender and welcoming, a genuine curiosity. Since he didn't know the capabilities of the animal that the human was petting he chose to keep a generous distance. "Your animal intrigues
Jackie chuckles. "It's Tracer that likes this place, mostly." She says, patting her dog's head, who's still watching the drell with suspicion. "Though I do like the peacefullness. You almost forget there's a growing city a few miles away." She chuckles at the comment about the animal. "She's a husky, a breed of dog, native to earth. And don't worry, she won't
hurt you unless you do something threatening." She grins slightly. "You sound too nice for anything like that, anyway."
Ethos nods and looks down at the dog. She managed to bring a creature all the way from the human homeworld to Aite? "The tranquility that the hills can offer are better than anything that the city can offer." He said just as a careful breeze rolled through, rustling the leaves of the surrounding trees and the ones fallen on the ground. It makes the cool air that much brisker. "Your
companion seemed to be quite afixed with me." The smile could be heard in his voice. He knelt down and produced a wrapped strip of meat that he got from the town just before venturing out here. "Perhaps a peace offering?" He held out the snack for Tracer should he chose to accept it.
Jackie chuckles. "She's protective of me. It's a side effect of us being from a big city on earth." Tracer sniffs the drell's offering, before eventually deciding to take a small bite. Satisfied that it wasn't poison, Tracer happily takes the rest of the meat from the stranger, lowering her head to the ground to eat, and finally breaking her judgemental gaze on
the drell. Jackie chuckles as she hears the all too familiar sound of Tracer chewing. "That's kind of you. I'm sure she'd be thanking you if she could." She strokes her dog's fur once more before moving her head towards where the drell's voice is coming from. "I'm Jackie Grey. Good to meet you."
Ethos thought that the way the human first looked towards him but not at him was a little peculiar. He figured it might have just been a social anxiety but he could tell from her gaze that it was unfocused and distant. He smiled at the realization and stood up again, placing the empty wrapper back in his pocket to let Tracer enjoy the treat. "She deserves it as a job well done. You
treat her like an equal and she returns the favor. It's very honorable of you." He said with a small bow of his head towards the dog. "My name is Ethos Iakhi. Would you terribly mind if I shared this pleasant afternoon with you?"
Jackie chuckles. Must be a drell, he's got that hanar politeness. "Course, feel free to join me on my log." She responds with a smile. After finishing her food, and satisfied that this drell was probably not a murderer or anything else quite so horrible, Tracer goes and runs off along the path, though still keeping close by just in case. "Well she's my guide.
Neither of us can really get by without the other." She says with a soft smile as she listens to the familiar running noises from her dog.
Ethos sat down gingerly on the log a companionable distance away. He watched Tracer run off down the path he came from before looking back to Jackie. Ah, so his assumption was correct. He grinned softly as he imagined the two walking together. "Of course. I figured that's what might have been the case when you looked at me." The smile in his voice was still there. "The strong bond you
two share is unbreakable. I can sense it even without knowing." He looked up towards the sky, lamenting slightly that she can't enjoy the same view as him but he knew better. She enjoyed the world the same way as him just in a different way. "Do you live down in Freedom Falls? I've only just arrived on Aite myself but a week ago."
Jackie raises her eyebrows as her new conversational partner speaks. "Ah, you're a newcomer too then? So are we, just got to Freedom Falls a few weeks back." She hums thoughtfully for a moment. "I hope you don't mind, but you're a drell right? Sorry, it's hard to tell on voice alone, and I can't say I've met any drell before."
Ethos nodded understandingly. He quickly realized his mistake and couldn't help but smile to himself. "Your assumption is correct. A drell born of Kahje. It's a pleasure to be the first of my kind that you meet. I hope that I can do them justice." He paused to think for a moment. "I left my home in search of... new enlightenment. Freedom Falls is a wonderful locus in which I hope to
Jackie smiles and nods. "I figured you were from kahje, or some hanar world, you got that hanar politeness." She stands up as her dog comes back to her, reattatching Tracer's harness leash. "Are you still walking this way?" She asks, gesturing further up the hill. "We could do with the company."
Ethos stands up when Jackie does as Tracer returns. Hanar politeness... He supposed that were true but he knew the other side as well. "I'd be delighted to." He said with an instictive bow of his head. It was just natural for him to do it even when they couldn't see it. "I admit I delight in solitude but I am eager to share my love for nature with others." He began to walk up the trail,
giving Jackie and Tracer enough space to walk since she was simply following the dog's lead. "Do you hail from your homeworld, Jackie?" He asked casually as they walked.
Ethos stands up when Jackie does as Tracer returns. Hanar politeness... He supposed that were true but he knew the other side as well. "I'd be delighted to." He said with an instictive bow of his head. It was just natural for him to do it even when they couldn't see it. "I admit I delight in solitude but I am eager to share my love for nature with others." He began to walk up the trail,
giving Jackie and Tracer enough space to walk since she was simply following the dog's lead. "If you wouldn't mind me asking, would you tell me of the city where you both hail from?" He asked casually as they walked.
Jackie smiles, though not her usual happy smile, this one seemed... humorless, unpleasant. "Cape Town, South Africa, not sure if you know it or not. I was situated right in the metropolitan centre..." She sighs unhappily. "As you can imagine, I didn't have an easy time of things."
Ethos shook his head as they walked. He could see the way Jackie's expression changed at mention of her hometown. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it. However, your tone gives away a lot about it." A hateful city which preyed about the weak, he imagined. He hated to admit it but Jackie was most likely someone he took advantage in one of his missions. Not a physical punishment for
information but perhaps a payoff of the needy to assist him in clinging to hiding in plain sight. "It is a shame you had to endure it but I can imagine you are much happier here as well as Tracer." He said solemnly with a glance down at the dog.
Jackie smiles softly. "Yeah. It's a great city, don't get me wrong, it just... blind orphans don't really get happy childhoods in places like that." She shakes her head, dispelling the thoughts from her mind, and hopefully the topic from the conversation. "So what about you? What's kahje even like? If you don't mind sharing of course."
Ethos knew that every city had its good areas but those were reserved for the rich and powerful. He knew the real parts of cities that most tended to avoid or simply not talk about. "Kahje..." He muttered softly. "I admit it's a little too wet for me." He said jokingly. He cleared his throat before continuing. "We drell lived in biodomes though. We much prefer an arid climate that Kahje
simply can't offer. Clouds cover the sky at all times. Seeing the light from out star for the first time was breath-taking."
Jackie chuckles at the drells joke, smiling as he describes his personal adventures. "I can imagine. For me the big shocking moment was my first, and, so far only, mass relay jump. The shaking of the cabin, the sound... it's a one of a kind experience, to be sure."
Ethos had been on many trips through mass relays in his fourty years of existance. The memory of going through his very first one was easily recalled and exciting. He had learned to be able to hide his outbursts of reliving memories through simply reliving it quietly in his head. It typically made him go quiet and his eyes closed faintly. "Very much so." He finally said when he came
out of it. "Mine was less exciting because I believe I had fallen asleep shortly before making the jump. I had woken up in the middle of it, just in time to see the stars race past us and instantly stop as we finished the jump."
Jackie smiles and nods, her dog leading them back down the hill the other way. "Quite a thing to wake up to. I'm sure in my half-awake, delirious state, I'd think the ship was crashing." She chuckles slightly. "Though, if the ship's pilot hadn't informed us of the jump, I'm sure that I would've thought that my first time anyway."
Ethos allowed a chuckle to escape him. It was a pleasant and low sound that mixed in with the moving leaves of the trees. "I don't think I could even explain it very well if I tried." He paused to take in the view of the trail. The curiosity got the better of him. "This may seem like an odd question, Jackie, but satisfy my inquisitiveness." He turned to look at the woman when he asked.
Jackie chuckles, stopping for a moment to think. Tracer obediently stops as well. "Well, sounds, touch and smells mostly. It's true that the world isn't really designed for the blind, but the ability to hear quiet footsteps from a block away certainly helps. And you'd be surprised by the kind of technology exists in the world to help me along." She takes a
second, her head turning as if to look over the area around them. "I'm sure you see something beautiful out here, the trees, the sky, the clouds. I also percieve beauty, though it's more through the peaceful sounds like the birds in the trees, or hearing Tracer enjoy herself as she runs around."
Ethos stopped as well when the pair halted. While he had no desire to be blind, even though it might be a fitting punishment for what he's done, he couldn't help but feel envious of her. He wouldn't have the chance to be able to interpret beauty without sight. Sure he could close his eyes and pretend but his perspective was already skewed by his memories of what he's seen. "Tell me what
you 'see' when you hear me." The question had an eager curiosity to it like a child learning something new from a museum.
Jackie grins. Curious. That's not new, though usually such questions are saved till people get to know her better, ah well, differing cultures and all that. "I don't really... see much in cases like that. I mean I know where you are, I know that you're probably a little taller than me... I could get an idea of your face if I felt it, but for now you're just... a
Ethos shook his head. "Not at all. It tells me a lot of something I couldn't hope to understand. Perhaps your perspective of me will change in time. Forgive me if I pry too much." Another instictive bow of his head to try and not offend. "My mind is always looking for new views and I have never had the pleasure of conversing with someone such as yourself. Maybe that is why Arashu brought
Jackie chuckles. "Sorry, it's hard to really describe. It'd be like you describing to me what it's like to see." She smiles as she finds her feet meeting concrete once again, a quick tap at her omni tool and a voice speaks in her ear, telling her that she's a few blocks away from home. "And here is where we'll leave you. Before I go, mind if I feel your face?
It's totaly fine if you'd rather not, it just helps me get a better understanding of the people around me."
Ethos nods to himself in understanding once again. It was disappointing that they should part so soon. He tilted his head as he looked down at the woman next to him. He subconsciously put a hand to his face as if trying to figure out how she could read him before putting it back to his side. "I find it only fair after the questions I've asked you." He said with a smile, positioning
Jackie nods gratefully. "Okay, this'll just take a few seconds." She carefully brings her hand up, having to search for a moment before it reaches the drell's skin. She traces her hand over it, a contemplative look on her face, as if she's commiting every inch to memory. The scales feel quite a bit different from human skin, but she doesn't say anything about it
. Her hand is gentle and thorough, finally pulling away, satisfied. "Well, I've not touched a drell's face before, so I'll reserve judgements on your appearance." She says in a joking tone with a little smirk. "Goodbye, Ethos, hope I run into you again."
Ethos had closed his eyes for the few moments that Jackie created her mental map of his face. The joke made a smirk of his own paint his face. "We're all beautiful in the eyes of the Gods and Goddesses." He rebuttled. "I greatly enjoyed our time together. I hope that we can run into each other again." He said before kneeling down to Tracer. "And you as well. I'll have something for you
again, I promise. Take care, Jackie Grey." He said just before standing and turning around to disappear into the town.