The cave was built into the side of the cliffs that lined most of the Terminus Sea. It wasn't particularly large, just a little cove that a few large animals could seek shelter in. It was a cool refuge from the hot summer sun, with slightly dampened walls, though the source of the moisture was nigh undiscoverable. Except for one or two boulders and some small rocks scattered throughout, it was empty. There were no inhabitants except for those who passed by.
Like Silas.
He stood a couple of yards back, just out of reach of the moonlight that shone down into the cave's entrance. His paleness was enough on its own to illuminate the beginning of his form as he faced out toward the sea. He had spent a good few hours there, resting from the sun's heat. Though now in the darkness he found himself growing increasingly restless, though without much of an idea of what to do, or where to go.
Luckily -- if luck is the name you'd like to give it -- he was presented with a distraction. A large, strange-looking beast passed by along the tide's edge. He was painted, literally painted, it seemed, in strange colors, to go along with a strange mop of mane and a skull across his face. In fact, Silas wasn't really sure what species he was looking. Curiosity piqued, he stepped out into the gaze of the moon.
He had only followed the stranger a couple of minutes, if that, before he his presence was a marked change from the status quo. At first the skull-wearing equine -- for equine he was -- spoke in a strange language, and Silas cocked his head to the side, deciding that he was definitely not familiar with it. Then, words he recognized. 'Speak your name.'
Silas continued his way forward toward the stallion, whom he was increasingly intrigued by. A small smile danced across his lips as he speaks in velvety words. "I am Silas. Please, don't mind my intrusion. Your presence was hard for me to ignore and I find myself insatiably curious to know you." He's not turned off by the stallion's brusque tone. Instead, his golden eyes glitter with interest and... something else that cannot quite be named.
A strange mixture of scents wafted into the pale kirin's nostrils. Smoke of burning trees- a lovely scent that he could wrap himself into for days- plus a rich floral odor. Then finally, and most curiously, the peculiar coppery scent of blood, nearly tangible on his tongue. It was coming from the stranger.
There was an uncomfortable weight between them, or at least, Silas sensed that the other, very strange stallion was uncomfortable. He himself held no opinion on the matter. He kept his distance, not being the touchy, feely, cuddly kind. The eyes that met his, the words of warning and distrust. All Silas could think Was that he had made no promises. A loophole in language.
Despite that distrust, Turhan introduced himself, and seemed on the whole rather open and inviting. It was peculiar. Still, the offer on the table was for Silas to pick his brain. Picking it for real might have been fun, or perhaps picking those teeth... Silas found himself momentarily distracted as he realized the pearly whites flashed at him were even sharper and pointier than his own. ’Fascinating!’ Perhaps he’d just found his first question.
"My, what sharp teeth you have!" A flash of his own grin. “Tell me, what causes you to have such crocodile teeth? And your mane the decoration? Your face the skull? A stranger sight I haven’t seen in a very long time. Is this normal dress for those in this land?” The questions were, of course, completely genuine, as was Silas’s curiosity. He knew nothing of Novus, not even its name, and this beast was quite the oddity.
At first it wasn't clear to Silas that Turhan was blind. There were so many things to take in about the older giant, and at urban had mastered the disability so well, that it had completely slipped Silas's notice. When the strange-looking stallion began to turn his head from side to side, Silas finally caught on. 'The dumb fool... He cannot see!' The kirin knew better than to think that a horse so old let something like blindness hinder him. And yet, a childish giggle slipped past his lips. Turhan's sigh was ignored.
Silas had no idea what a "coo" was. 'Obviously, something the old man killed.' A sarcastic thought. Those teeth, however... Silas had not been given his teeth by s healer. His were goddess-given-- and not in the normal, congenital way most would think. He ran his tongue over the sharpened bones while his golden eyes glittered with mischievous thought."It all sounds rather odd to me, but how could I possibly refuse such an invitation?"
Silas wondered who these Ilati were, and if they were more likely to be friend or foe. He had no doubt that Turhan could be a powerful enemy, but it also seemed that he could be easily manipulated. There was a world-weariness to him, but that life experience seemed more like a past life than any active engagement in the now.
Silas let these thoughts drift away and inclined his head politely. "Please, it seems like there is so much for me to learn. Lead on and I shall follow."
