You walk away from the home of the arrogant myth type, glad to get away. Tuuan's attitude just rubbed you the wrong way. You hope that the next encounter with a Raaven Kat will be better then the previous two. Being scared out of your wits and put down by a talking furball did not appeal to you.
As you walk you notice that the scenery around you has gone from forest to mountains and that you're walking slightly uphill. The ground beneath your feet is solid rock. You can't help stopping to look back. You blink when you realize that you can actually see the sharp transition between forest and mountain.
"Having fun wanderer?" Your guide asks with a smile.
You continue to study the area, still shocked. The sound of whooshing noises from above is enough to make you look up. Hovering a short distance above your head is a Raveen Kat. It's feathered wings are the palest shade of pink and it's pelt a light shade of gray with lavender markings. It lands a short distance from you, neatly tucking it's wings back after making a perfect landing. She looks faintly surprised to see you, but pleased just the same.
"Glad to see that you've decided against showing off by diving down and then landing by the Wanderers.. You've improved a great deal since your cub days, but.." Guide trails off, amusement shinning in his dark eyes.
You get the feeling the raveness would blush if she could. "Ah, you're correct." She says, attempting to keep her composure. " I've given up on impressing the visitors with stunts.."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with crashing into that last one, would it?" Guide asks, teasing the poor Raveeness. "I don't think you injured them too badly, but I'm sure you noticed she wasn't happy with the collision.."
The Raveness blinks, looking decidedly sheepish. "Well.. I..." Instead of continuing with that battle, she turns to you and introduces herself. "My name is Atoria, although prefer people use my nick name, 'tora. I'm a Raveen Kat, although I'm sure you knew that, of cloud type, which is sub-element of air.. .. " She pauses there, evidently trying to decide if she's forgotten anything.
It's quiet enough that you hear the quiet chirp. You blink, studying Atoria. There is a small brown and tan creature peering up at you from behind her body.
"What's that?" You ask, referring to the small critter.
Atoria looks around, then realizes what you're talking about and chuckles. "This is Zekoi, or Zek for short. He's my Earth Mimic. In my youth I went on a Mimic search. After searching through an area with exceptionally large trees I eventually discovered this little guy. " She pauses there to run a gentle paw across the mimics head, earning a sort of chirping purr from the creature. "He's been with me ever since."
"In your youth?" Guide questions, grinning.
Atoria's nose twitches, but she doesn't react other then that. Motherhood must have mellowed her, you get the feeling the reaction would have been somewhat different before.
"So where is your daughter these days?" Guide inquires, looking around as if he expects her to be underfoot.
The pale cloud raveness looks around, a slight frown on her features. " Isaura should be around... I'm just not entirely certain where. She spends a lot more time away now that she's grown."
There's a polite little cough from behind you. Atoria smiles at whatever the cough came from, so you take your time in turning to look as it's unlikely you're in any danger. A slim white raveness that possesses more than a passing resemblance to Atora smiles at you. You notice her wings and eyes are mismatched in reverse of each other. Her left eye and right wing are a pale pink while her right eye and left wing are a pale blue.
"Hello, " this new addition, who you assume is the aforementioned Isaura, smiles. A short of awkward silence falls when she says nothing else. You're not entirely sure if her attitude is aloofness or shyness.
There's a slight cough from Atoria, who makes a slight motion that could be interpreted as encouraging.
Somehow, though you can't see it through the thick white fur, you get the feeling that Isaura has blushed in embarrassment. "Uh, my name is Isaura... Though I guess you already guessed that."
It's shyness, you decide. Either the young wind mix isn't comfortable around humans, or she's just not comfortable with strangers period.
You spend awhile longer chatting, then Guide reluctantly informs you it's time to go.
"Oh, Wanderer? If you go to visit Doruun you should be careful." Atoria passes on this information, sounding slightly nervous when mentioning this 'Doruun', whoever it is. "He really isn't a nice Kat."
The slight shiver from Isaura makes you wonder how much of an understatement 'not nice' is, but you're reluctant to ask. With the warning in mind you continue on your way.
When you're far enough away as to not be overheard, Guide says, "Don't mind Isaura, Wanderer. She's just shy. When she was young she had this disturbing tendency to comment on things others were thinking, which you can probably guess got her into a bit of trouble. She's been really quiet ever since, though Atoria tells me she's not nearly so quiet around those she knows well."
You spend the next part of the walk going back over the conversation, trying to decide if you'd thought anything you'd rather not have anyone overhear. It's enough to drive you mad. No wonder Isaura was a bit shy!