On the Outskirts [Lusha]

[Carmine Rihl Haerow]

Carmine had been glad of Lord Sylph's company and protection on the way to the peace conference, even if they hadn't really spoken that much on the journey. At the very least, travelling together ensured he didn't get lost or run into any bandits. Of course, once they got there, Carmine kept to the outskirts of the camps as befit his status as a commoner. There, people were peddling their wares, having gathered as was expected around such a large group of noblemen and their entourages.

The painter quickly found a space and set up his old easel, placing his two finished paintings on it: one of the desert landscape surrounding Ingril, and one of a multi-colored bird he had imagined. Neither was really his best work, but he liked them well enough and he hadn't had much time to prepare anything else since he'd met Sylph. He smiled to himself, thinking of the young archduke's generosity in taking him, a virtually unknown artist, under his wing.

Then he took his sketchpad out of his pack and sat next to his easel, pencil poised at the ready, looking around for something to draw or give him a flash of inspiration. In his simple white shirt, brown pants, and leather jerkin and boots, he looked like just some lanky peasant boy, hardly worth noticing, but his blue-green eyes were full of delighted curiosity as he gazed at his surroundings. He had never been this far east before.

[Lusha je D'caarre]

Since she had been given a short leave, seeing as how her services weren't needed at the moment, she decided to head to the outskirts of the camps to see what the commoners had displayed. They weren't allowed to set camps where the conference was being held, so being just close enough to the actual meeting was good enough it seemed. As she entered she saw many tents and people bustling around chatting about what they hoped the conference would bring. They all had a sense of impeding doom, which she had felt the moment she came to this supposed peace conference with her fellow Niendran, but they could still hope that the day would bring some kind of peace.

She held herself the way any male Niendran soldier would, with bride and dignity. It was obvious that she was strong and ready for anything, whether it be war or not. Lusha had trained to fight, so if a fight were to break out she could easily hold her ground and defend her side. Even though she could sense that something may happen, she ignored the bad feeling she had. This was a peace conference, what could go wrong? She shrugged off her worries as she mingled with several commoners before she started meandering her way through some stands. Resisting the urge to buy new merchandise, despite how tempting the offer, she continued on.

Many different creations caught her eyes, but there was one particular bright thing in her peripheral vision that seemed to gather her attention no matter how much she tried to ignore it. Lusha made her way to where the muli-colored painting was, where a man in simple clothes sat. She stared at the painting for quite some time, trying to figure out what exactly it was. With her arms crossed at her chest, her stance strong and sturdy, she stood, her face contorting into a confused expression. Finally speaking, her voice deep, she asked, "What might that be?" She glanced over at the man seated and then back to the drawing, not concerning herself with him to any extent. She was impartial, perhaps.

for carmine
word count 357
notes <3

[Carmine Rihl Haerow]

"What might that be?"

Carmine had been looking in an entirely different direction when the young soldier came over and asked him a question. He turned his face in the direction of the voice, looking up at the man's soft-featured but stern face. The way he crossed his arms and gazed down at him made Carmine feel a little uncomfortable, as if he were being scrutinized. He stood up, a little awkwardly because he did it so quickly, and realized he was in fact a head taller than the soldier. He followed the young man's gaze to see what he was talking about.

Then he realized the other had spoken in Niendran. He'd understood him well enough, having lived near the harbor as a child and picking up the language from sailors and such, and then later learning some from his master as part of a well-rounded education, but he still had trouble sometimes speaking it himself.

"Oh, it is a bird," he explained in halting Niendran with a thick Carthonian accent about the painting, smiling a little. "Well, not a real bird. It is something I... imagined. I have never seen a real bird that is so... colorful."

He grinned at the soldier, the thought not even occurring to him that maybe the other wasn't really as interested in the story behind it as he thought but was rather just curious to know what on earth it was.

"I am sorry, I do not speak very good Niendran," he apologized, laughing a little and bringing up the hand with the pencil to scratch the back of his head nervously.

[Lusha je D'caarre]

Curiosity had her wondering what could possess a person to paint such a marvelous creature. The design was intricate and the colors of the painting so bright. There was certainly no way that this was a creature of actual existence, and if it were she would have to see it herself to believe it. Lusha was getting lost in thought as she though of what this bird would sound like, her imagination running wild. How extravagantly paid one would be if they could catch a bird like this? If it exists, that is. With such bright colors and interesting pattern to the feathers -- she assumed they were feathers since it resembled a bird -- there was no way this was a bird of either Carthonia, Wyeshing, or Niendra. She knew, in fact, that it definitely wasn't a bird of Niendra for she had hailed there her whole life and as a child she and her brother would explore.

His words confirmed her belief in the fact that it wasn't a real bird of Ceradonia, though if it was it would be a marvelous creature to find. She nodded her head as he spoke, instantly noting that he was Carthonian, with her arms still crossed along her chest. With the painter standing along side her, and taller than her, she felt so small and fragile for a soldier. Moving closer to the painting, she leaned over and squinted, looking at the strokes of the painting before she straightened herself to look over at the painter. "Quite an interesting imagination you have," she spoke before she looked at the other painting. She barely took note of the fact that the landscape was the desert around Ingril -- which she only knew from stories and training -- before she spoke to the man again. This time she was looking at him, "Very interesting."

Now that she was standing in this Carthonian's presence she wasn't quite sure what to expect. She wasn't even quite sure why she was still standing there looking at the bird -- since her eyes seemed to be drawn to the bright colors. Lusha had found out what she wanted to about the painting, and what she didn't want to know about the painter. Though she didn't exactly loath the Carthonian's, she didn't exactly like them either. Of course, this man seemed to be not like the others. Plus, she was at the peace conference, her randomly chopping off the head of a Carthonian painter wouldn't be the best thing to do.

She was tempted to walk away, but he had said something about his use of the Niendran language. "Well, you didn't do too poorly a job for a Carthonian," she smirked at him, her eyes soft and joking. He wasn't too bad for a Carthonian, she had to admit.

for carmine
word count 472
notes she's a softy

[Carmine Rihl Haerow]

Carmine had grown up near the ocean and the harbor, living at his mother's inn, and had been around all sorts of different people, so he had no real prejudice against Niendrans. Not to mention, in his line of business you had to take what you could get, no matter who it came from. There wasn't much room to be picky about the people who commissioned work from you. Of course, he just wasn't the type to hold grudges or stereotype people, anyway.

"Thank you," he said, smiling at the young soldier. "It is much easier for me to understand the language than it is for me to speak it."

He had not met many soldiers. Or at least, he hadn't spoken to many. Usually quite chatty, he was a little at a loss for what to talk about, not knowing what they might have in common. He was intrigued by the idea of making a living by fighting, though he knew that sort of thing was not for him. He was far too clumsy to fight, as he had been shown more than once. Still, he liked the idea of adventure.

"So... you are a soldier? Is it exciting? Do you go many places?" he asked, his enthusiasm shining through.

[Lusha je D'caarre]

it actually surprised lusha quite a bit that this carthonian was much different than all the other ones that she came across while she was there. all the others seemed so rugged and cruel, though the ones that she had met had to be that way she supposed, since they were soldiers. lusha had come across many soldiers since she has been here, both sides bringing enough to fight if a fight broke out and enough to cover the royals if they needed to get away quickly and safely. she didn't quite understand why so many soldiers had to come to a peace conference, but she guessed they weren't all quite sure how it would go down. she probably would have brought back up to if she was a royal.

this carthonian before her seemed kind of gentle. he wasn't as rugged as the others, and he didn't seem to be as harsh or as irrational and hard headed. not only that but he had obvious talent in areas that the carthonian men in the army probably didn't have -- thus they were in the army. this carthonian man had skills in his hands, with a brush to canvas, while others had combat skills that they would put to use if a fight ever broke out. she didn't know what it was, but in her eyes it all seemed like an art form. though she had lived a whole year in the army because of her brother. outside of that she would be lost as what to do with her life.

"to be great we all must struggle first," she smiled as he spoke of how it was much easier to listen to the language of the niendran than speak it. he had the same idea as she, she knew well how to listen to the tongue of a carthonian but nay the ability to speak the tongue of a carthonian well. there languages were so diverse that she'd have the same problem as he, her native tongue would be so heavily accented over the tongue of the carthonian in which she would try to speak that it wouldn't sound as well as it should to thine ears.

so... you are a soldier? she resisted the urge to be a sarcastic twat about how obvious her being a soldier should have been. though if she were in his position she would have asked the same question, just for clarification. instead she opted to simply answering his questions. "indeed i am," she smiled kindly at the painter, "i have been doing this for almost a full year now, it can get rough to say the least. i've been hurt many times during training, but lucky for us we have a healer in our group that heals the large scale injuries that we may acquire. like gashes from accidental contact, or fractures." she smiled remember when she and another of her comrades were in a training scuffle and she was injured in her midsection. the smile was irrepressible on her face as she spoke, "i've been all through niendra, for training on different terrains... but i have no been out of my homeland before now."

she snickered as her eyes went from the taller male to the painting -- which for some reason she could not take her eyes off. "so... you are a painter, no?" she asked with a joking smile on her face.

for carmine
word count 573
notes lost it, rewrote it, i'll go through and fix the lack of caps later. maybe >3<

[Carmine Rihl Haerow]

"To be great we all must struggle first."

Carmine smiled at that. "That sounds... like poetry--poetic," he said, searching for a moment for the right word in Niendran, then grinning wider when he found it. "Are you sure you are a soldier?" He liked to write bits of poetry himself, when the mood took him. He hadn't expected to hear something so profound from a soldier. Maybe this one was different from the rough, no-nonsense types he was used to seeing around. He certainly hoped that was the case.

His eyes widened with excitement when he heard about travelling all over Niendra, his love of adventure igniting. "I have always wanted to see Niendra. Is it as beautiful as they say, with trees and flowers everywhere?"

He cocked his head to the side at the soldier's question about him being a painter, then laughed. "Yes, I am, although I have only been on my own for a little over a month. My name is Carmine, by the way." He grinned and stuck out his hand to shake, his manner naturally friendly and enthusiastic.

[Lusha je D'caarre]

inconspicuously biting her bottom lip she laughed nervously. she hadn't expected his reaction to what she had said, but then again she was beginning to find a lot of things surprising the last couple of days. for lack of better word she simply nodded and said, "uhm, thanks..." she smiled, her expression seemed to soften a bit as she continued to stand talking to the carthonian painter. normally she tried to stay from conversation simply because people judged her based on her ideals or the things she said. apparently she's a little less manly than she was when she first started out in the niendran army, though they let it pass because they know that she'd still getting over her "sister's" death. as if she can still sugar coat that as much as possible. "i am pretty positive that i am a soldier," she laughed, "though sometimes i do question my reasoning’s why." she spoke that quickly, in all honesty she hoped he wouldn't catch it. and if he had she hoped he wouldn't question her on it.

she watched as his expression changed when she spoke of niendra. she hadn't once come across a carthonian who actually wondered about her homeland, it was quite inspiring. "it is a beautiful land, though i am biased," she smiled softly. "you should definitely see it for yourself one day," she nodded invitingly to him. she thought her homeland was beautiful, and she thought everyone should get a chance to see it when they had the chance. "i hear carthonia is rather pretty in it's own light, as well," her voice was soft as she motioned to his portrait of his land. "if it is as pretty as you portray it to be i will one day have to see for myself."

at his response to her mundane question she laughed as well. it was almost as if he weren't a carthonian and she weren't a niendran soldier. they were equal somehow, no matter how different and separate that were. it was kind of nice making conversation with someone who did not judge her straight away or because they thought it best to belittle someone who could, in lack of other terms, easily take them down. right now, where they stood, it didn't matter how different they were or where they came from, they were still people. though as he introduced himself and stuck out his hand she instantly felt nervous, but she couldn't not find herself declining this kind man a simple jester as a handshake. shaking his hand as firmly as a soldier could she introduced herself as, "lusha."

for carmine
word count 438
notes i apologize that it is lowercased again, i am using notepad so i do not lose any of what i have written and it seems that it's an impulse thing for me to just write in lowercase. i'll fix it if it becomes an issue.

[Lusha je D'caarre]

fin/dead thread.

anna and i have discussed this. since the peace conference, and the fight broke out, we have decided to leave this the way it is now. we assumed, for the pc and for the sake of this thread, that they continued to have halting conversations in niendran and that carmine had drawn a portrait of lusha as a strong soldierly figure. of course, eventually they parted ways blah blah blah. and then the peace conference breaks out and bam. so we assume they are familiar enough with one another to rely on that alone, and to trust each other to help the other. so thus the peace conference. so this thread is finished/dead. (: