Kenist Miana Stories: Koaekaeala and Dune at the Abstract Destiny

Dune stood in the hallway of Kenist Miana's cliff-side complex, staring up at the very large door she was to knock on and enter through. Very rarely did she curse her small stature compared to the true enkeyn race, but this was one of those times. She was supposed to be coming across as someone with authority, a teacher and guardian of another, while at the same time being dwarfed by her surroundings and even the individual she was to be conversing with. Most of the enkeyn themselves were respectful of their smaller cousins, but many of them treated the sa'enkeyn like children-- unlearned, innocent, childlike, and not to be requesting anything serious. For many, this was probably apt-- like her own pupil, in fact-- but for many more, it was doing the smaller species an injustice.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it, unfortunately, but to get it over with and hope this particular enkeyn took her seriously. She reared up to her hind legs, made a fist with one forepaw, and rapped as hard as she could, as high as she could. Falling back to all fours, she shook out her paw; "as hard as she could" translated into "mildly painfully", apparently. Her knuckles no longer hurt by the time the door opened, thankfully.

The enkeyn who opened it was a striking one: a plains-bred male, with a rich, brown coat tinged with green and a brilliant though not blindingly bright set of plumage, folded tightly against his sides. A pair of pale blue horns crowned his head, from one of which dangled a pair of feathers. Dune recognized them as memorial feathers, a plains enkeyn custom for marking tribal and familial ties, particularly to the dead. For a moment she stared up into his eyes, black like her own, struck dumb with admiration and nervousness. The fact that he stood more than four times her height didn't help matters.

"Yes?" he asked patiently, his voice a pleasant tenor despite his impressive size. Dune shook herself back into sense.

"Koaekaeala Maeno?" she asked in return, and he nodded once. "My name is Dune, I'm one of the sa'enkeyn tutors in the rehabilitation program. I was told to speak with you about some transportation."

"Ah, yes." Koaekaeala nodded again. "I was told to expect you. Come in, please." He stepped back, quite enough to admit a much larger creature than little Dune, and shut the door quietly behind her as she took the invitation. The apartment was unusually spacious, and opened across the front room to a wide balcony and the open air. Explorer-types probably didn't like to feel hemmed in, so it made sense, though for a plains enkeyn to take a room only on the second level of caves was unusual. Usually they took the highest rooms they could get, so as to have more opportunities to fly.

Koaekaeala motioned her towards the lowest piece of furniture in the room-- a couch that was just raised a single foot off the ground, quite low for someone as tall as he was-- and, thankfully, didn't offer to help her into it. She wasn't that little; help would have been embarrassing. He sat on the floor, short tail curled over his feet and thick mane giving him a stately look, as she settled herself on the cushion. By not choosing to sit on the other couch, himself, he put them that much closer to the same level. It was a courteous gesture, and Dune appreciated it.

"So what is this transportation you wish of me?" he asked politely.

"I'm looking for-- a pet, of sorts," Dune began. "I'm working with one of the rehabilitation students who is having a difficult time, and I think having something to be responsible for would do him good."

"Why not find someone with dragonet eggs to give away?" Koaekaeala suggested.

"I'm hoping for something a little more intelligent," Dune admitted. "Something that won't be entirely dependent on him, or that will be able to articulate its needs rather than be neglected. Something that can interact with him and hopefully keep his mind stimulated."

"A dragonet cannot do all of those things," the enkeyn agreed thoughtfully. "I assume you brought this up to the management of Kenist Miana, then, and they sent you to me?"

Dune nodded. "I was told some of the places you've visited had promising offers."

"You were told correctly." Koaekaeala fell silent a moment, obviously putting his thoughts in order. Dune watched him while he thought, no longer nervous since he was obviously taking her seriously, impatient with the silence but well aware that chatter would probably just annoy him. She kept herself occupied by admiring him, instead of talking.

Finally, the enkeyn nodded. "I think I know what your best choice would be."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Dune exclaimed, pleased. "Where is it?"

"It's not someplace I've been, directly," he admitted, "but I've heard of it. It's called the Abstract Destiny. I'm not sure it's somewhere you'd like to go...."

As his voice trailed off, Dune shook her head, ears flattening half in annoyance and half so they wouldn't flap with the movement. "What's wrong with it?"

"Lots of computers and electronics," he answered succinctly then, at her vaguely blank look, expanded: "It's very different from Kenist Miana, or even human settlements. There isn't much in the way of fresh air, green growing things, or simple animals, there."

"I think I could survive for a day or two," Dune told him wryly. "Just long enough to chose a pet for my student and then come home. Will you take me?"

"I need to make a visit eventually, anyway, to add it to the teleport spell-bank," Koaekaeala shrugged, wings shifting against his back. "If you would like to come along, I have no problem with it. I doubt you will need to be there for very long."

"Thank you, sir Maeno," Dune sighed, relieved.

"Please, just Koae," the enkeyn said, sounding vaguely disturbed. His expression was a little pained, as well, to Dune's amusement.

"Not one for 'sir'?" she grinned at him.

"Apparently not. When would you like to leave, miss?"

"If you're 'just' Koae, then I'm just Dune," she told him firmly. "And tomorrow morning would be just fine, if that isn't too soon for you."

Koaekaeala looked around him at the stone walls of his two-room cave and ledge very briefly, sighed so softly Dune wasn't sure she'd even heard it, and said, "No, it will not be too soon at all. Where shall I meet you?"

"Your ledge outside?" Dune suggested, wondering if he wasn't claustrophobic, or if he just liked to be on the move more than even the average plains enkeyn.

"I'll be waiting," Koae nodded gently.

Dune recognized a polite dismissal when she heard one, and she hopped down from the couch with a little disappointment. She'd hoped, for no real reason at all that she could fathom, to perhaps stay and chat for a little while. She got to know people best while talking with them, after all. Koae rose, as well, though, and opened the door for her again. "Until the morning, then," she said by way of farewell. He nodded in return, again, and shut the door quietly behind her.

Well, socializing wasn't what she had sought him out for. What mattered was that after tomorrow Sevel would have a companion to keep him on his toes and, hopefully, wake him up a little-- and she would have had a little adventure!