keevathescaledshadow:
Keeva felt Jhaan take her hand in his. She wasn’t used to such simple contact. For the last 50 years she had limited physical contact to others, and even within the tribe that was sparse. She was shocked to find the simple gesture so comforting given its unfamiliarity. She left her hand be warmed by his and smiled at him as she listened.
~”For me, in my line of work, it’s all about who you know. And where you can find that big cash out so you can wander for… 5, 10 years?”
Her heart ached at his last statement. She longed to travel and explore the world for even just a year. Glasswater was the farthest she had been in 50 years. She wondered what she could have seen if she had spent that time traveling.
“It certainly isn’t my normal environment to be sure.” She sighed. “That is the main reason I came. It is something new and exciting, even if it can be a bit… overwhelming.” The constant barrage of new experiences was thrilling but had quickly become almost too stimulating for Keeva. She was grateful for the quiet peace of the patio. “But I suppose any new experience could prove as such. My tribe has very little interest in new experiences. I am not sure if they even know this ball is happening.” She shook her head, laughing lightly. The thought of some of her wildling family trying to navigate the ball was entertaining, she was sure her own attempts were strange enough.
“What is it like? Being able to travel all the time, see new things. Go wherever you want. It must be wonderful and exciting and terrifying all at the same time.” Keeva was a bit embarrassed she had let her excitement rule her mouth and flood Jhaan with questions. However, they had settled into such a comfortable company so quickly that she couldn’t help herself.
Jhaan couldn’t help but sigh as he thought of how to answer her question. There was so much he could say. There was so much that he loved about the travels that he took. It was hard to describe it. Yet he wanted to. He wanted to talk to the girl, to tell her everything he could about the wide world that he lived across. He knew he couldn’t tell her everything. He never would be able to.
“I don’t know if I have the words to explain it. It’s freedom. In the purest way possible. I can sit on a mountaintop, and stare out at the land, and look around the four directions... and I see it all... all the opportunities. All the places to go, people to meet, people to be. When you’re up there, you realize that any bonds and constraints that have been placed on us... they’re all artificial. We can go and be who we want, do what we want, love who we want. That all it takes to do anything you could possibly dream is to set your mind to it, stand up, and go and do it. I love that feeling. More than anything. That feeling of just... total freedom.”
He let the moment sit. His eyes glanced to the sky for a moment, to a far off mountaintop, one unrivaled by nearby pinnacles. One where he could sit and see for miles. Then his eyes slowly came back down to the smaller hand in his, the woman’s. A smile returned to his face as he looked at her. “You should come with me.” He breathed out, too fast to even stop himself. “We’ll find our lives on the road.”









