[Eve]

//

[Ayliyra]

She had avoided spending much time reflecting on things during the journey here from the desert with so many strangers being so close but once she'd had space to think she did so reflecting on how surreal and how eerie things had become for her. It was strange, no it was beyond strange and stirred up feelings she could neither name nor even describe. She had wanted to find the desert pack herself though what she would have done if she had found it well and whole rather than abandoned she didn't know. She would hardly have been able to ask them if they were Nardir's ally as that would have been far too risky, too revealing and to ask if they were the pack she'd heard of while still under her father,Zvulun's rule, would have probably been pointless. Despite all of that though she had still wanted to find them but it seemed it was never to be. There were those who had lived there of course but even though their own pack was gone the problems posed by asking those questions were not so she would file those questions away as she had others like them into the if only section of her mind before moving on to the other complex musings.

Such as the dog whose coloration reminded her of Alana but was not pristine the way the Nardiran Monarch had always been. Not that the dog was dirty but rather she was covered in scars where Alana was not. It made her wonder if her experiments with healing remedies had gone awry and she was merely dreaming or imagining being here with an individual that seemed so similar to what had been while being different enough for it to not be impossible for her to classify it under what is. Of course there were others on the journey that were to be reflected on that also seemed to reflect times past to her but then so did the weather. Really this entire place, what she'd seen of it at least, seemed to reflect her past in some form or fashion reminding her of all the things, some small and some not so small, that had brought her here.

She could not simply sit and do nothing but dwell on memories though, she had learned that long ago and so she did as she always had and set herself in motion moving through these lands of Gemini and learning what she could from observation. It was not long before luck, or perhaps it was irony, stepped in with one of the reflections she had been thinking of appearing before her. Well not directly before her but the proximity was still close enough to make her wonder whether the dog would fade away or somehow transform into Alana if she touched her. That would hardly be a suitable action though and as for speaking..she knew she should be, she knew she should take this opportunity to learn what she could, to ask questions but she also knew questions could not simply be asked here of an individual belonging to a pack the way they could be asked of a loner. No. Questions in these situations required conversation that the questions could then be woven into but starting a conversation here seemed harder somehow than it had on other occasions.

Perhaps she would wait until later when she was more prepared to have a conversation with a ghost of reflection in this land of mirrors. That too was apparently something that was not meant to be for as she was preparing to turn and leave the dog spoke to her making it clear her presence had not gone unnoticed. There was nothing to do now but to try and navigate this eerily reflective tapestry woven from threads of the past and present. "Yes". She answered with a slight nod of confirmation to the question of Lyra being her name. She had used it for so long now as such that she was able to respond as automatically to is as she would her full name, or perhaps even better at this point. Then she was posed the question of how was she finding things here, such a question it was. She watched the dog sit while she tried to figure out an answer.

She could hardly ask if this place was real or if she were merely hallucinating, they would think she was ill and who knew what would happen then. She couldn't ask them if they were hiding any dark secrets, like slaves or prisoners either though. Asking questions that might reveal more about herself than she was willing, at least at this particular time, was also something she wanted to avoid. Also on the list was anything that might make being here even more of a risk than it already was so that left her with..work she supposed. It was how she usually started conversations, if they could be called conversations since it was more geared towards work, or what she pretended to work as. Or could she really even call it pretend work at this point? She wouldn't call herself a healer but didn't she know enough by now to be considered one by others? Or at least a healer in training? So could she really say she was only pretending to be a healer any more? That was perhaps another question for her to think upon further but at a later time for now though.."It's..the grass is..grassy". Well that was probably the stupidest thing anyone had ever said and she was already wishing she could take it back and replace it with something more intelligent sounding especially since even she wasn't sure what she meant by that but there was alot of grass here despite it being cold so it was what she had though of and well she really wasn't the best at small talk and having normal conversations especially in unusual circumstances so..How the dog would react to her statement of the grass being grassy she had no idea but it was too late to do anything about it now.

[Eve]

//

[Ayliyra]

The other just looked at her a bit..probably wondering who was stupid enough to use grassy grass as an observation. She was definitely going to have to work on her small talk skills..sometime. For now she would simply try and get through this without sounding even more ridiculous. She listened to Eve's statement of finding new things to see despite being in Gemini awhile which made her wonder what sights those might be. That would give her some thing to talk about right? Maybe? Hopefully. She certainly couldn't get through the conversation with more statements of grassy grass..or well she supposed she could but doing so was really not exactly tops on her list of things she wanted to achieve. More intelligent talk was what she was going to be aiming for..though whether she would succeed in that..guess she would find that out. Then came the question about what she was doing in the desert. It wasn't exactly something she had entirely expected to be asked but at the time she hadn't entirely expected to not be asked why she was where she had been. It was a desert. It was hot, and dry and was an environment that those who did not know better might call or consider as being devoid of life  and far too lacking in water and prey for anything or anyone to survive there. It was of course incorrect but she doubted anyone would rushing to call a desert a paradise any time soon.

"I guess a desert isn't what you would call a normal place to find someone hm..". She said acknowledging that it probably was a bit strange for someone to be wandering around in a desert. "I was there because I'm a wandering healer and have been trying to expand my knowledge of healing as much as possible. I know deserts don't have what could be called plenty of resources but as a wandering healer not having plenty of resources is fairly common, at least in my experience. Usually you have to just make do with what you have on hand and with whatever knowledge you have and sometimes you run across things that..don't seem to be helped by herbs or methods that would normal be helpful in which cases it can be useful to know things that aren't normal..and well..extreme climates like deserts tend to be..not normal". Well that sounded at least a little more intelligent but probably not by much since while she was more comfortable talking about medicine it was usually in the form of trying to make a diagnosis and well..she could hardly ask her host to please be sick with something so she could work on diagnosing it in order to comfortable now could she? No. So she would just..try and keep things going despite the lack of having a patient to treat.

Maybe that could be remedied though..."I came here to see if maybe you had pack healer I could learn from?". She answered the question posed by the other, while simultaneously asking one of her own. She would stop there though oh no. If she was going to get something she knew she had to offer something so.."I could help treat any patients your pack has in exchange if it is desired of me of course..I don't know what else I could offer. Your fellow made mention of specific knowledge being sought out by your pack there in the desert but I don't know what specific knowledge your pack is looking for so I don't know how much I offer where that is concerned but I would like to do something..to be able to contribute something to your pack as long as I am here". There offer made and it was a genuine enough offer it just left out that she was also here fishing for information about this pack and whether they were as they seemed or whether something darker lurked below the surface, a sinister secret carefully woven and cloaked by satin and silk waiting to be revealed.

((so like is it too soon to say that this is one of my fave Aylie threads? I just..I am already loving this thread))

[Rieal]

((so I know i'm not exactly the epitome of active but just in case I would like to continue this so if you're okay with that? then..ya know..I'm also okay with short form stuff if thats easier for you just..this is one of my fave threads so..yeah))