After the bleakness of the Desolate Band, the Savan seems positively singing with life, especially after the rare rains. New grasses sway in the sunlight, teeming herds moving among them, and oases overflow with precious water, drawing beast, bird, and insect alike. Even the sun seems jubilant rather than oppressive like it usually is here, casting greening trees and rich plains in golden light, the color deepening the closer it comes to the horizon.

Umeko has taken the afternoon and evening for herself to survey the land she now 'rules', even if it is only a temporary assignment. At least, that was the excuse she used with the Nagai military when she went out into the Savan planes. She assured them that her alliances with the locals would make it safe enough, not to mention her own prowess in combat. The real reason she went was to search out her friends, the tribe of the Burning Sands. If she must leave these lands to meet with the Emperor, then she will at least one more time spend the evening with them and take part in their customs. So, amongst the plane grasses the robed Kiriga now walks; this time cleaner than she has been for a long time. Even her hair has been neatly brushed out and pinned back. When she is far enough from the military ships, the golden reptile bends down and starts work on a makeshift torch; fire to hopefully attract the tribe. "Will you come to me this day?" she whispers to the winds as the torch finally lights and flickers in the breeze.

With daylight still overhead, the torch that Kin eventually manages to get lit seems wan in the light of the sun, even its smoke fairly understated. It doesn't seem much use for a signal, but Long-Shadow said fire was all that was important. And so Kin nurses the flame, and time passes. The sun creeps lower, and the buzzing of insects becomes louder, carried on clean savanna winds. The heat of the plains seems to soak into Kin, touching her to the bones, invigorating. But still no Savanites, yet. Until… Kin can feel she's being watched, much as she felt what seems ages ago, on a dusty winding road through the Savan. Yes… shining eyes from the tall grasses.

Though night has begun to fall before the sensation of being watched creeps across her spine, she is not dissatisfied. It has been far too long since she has been able to simply exist and listen to the world around her. When the sensation returns, the Kiriga stands slowly from where she had been resting amongst the grasses. She looks out over the sea of grass. In a soft voice, she calls out in standard, "I am a friend of the Burning Sands; known to Glowing Coal and Long Shadow. Will you speak with me? I know your language a little."

And then it hits her… the grasses shiver with a burst of movement, and a lanky, tawny, spotted form erupts from them. The familiar scent of fur and sweet smoke fills Kin's nose as Long-Shadow stoops to gather the golden Kiriga up in long arms to a lean body, not even minding the torch nearly singing him. A few more Savanites emerge from the grass as well, though not nearly as fast, wearing black-lipped grins and wiggling ears.

If it had been anyone else, Umeko would have probably reacted with a fighter's instinct … but somehow Long Shadow, the way he moves, his scent, and his playfulness eases that instinct to sleep. Up into his arms she goes without any resistance. Her arms wrap lightly around his neck, though care is certainly taken to not burn him with the torch. There she buries her face into his neck for a time. But eventually her head draws back and as she balances the torch in one hand, she playfully signs with her free hand, "Having already swept my heart away, you seem to have now taken the body." To the Savanites around them, she smiles back and even does her best imitation of the ear-wiggle, even if it does look strange with her longer, web-finned ears.

The tall Savanite leans back to support Umeko on his stomach and chest, her feet dangling off the ground, and all he does is smile happily and hug fiercely, arms too full to sign. Eventually, he relents and sets the Kiriga down again, bringing his hands up to speak. "I couldn't help it. To see you are alive and whole is to exchange smoldering worry for a blaze of joy. Glowing-Coal spoke of the fires he read, so far away… burning wood and bodies. It sounded horrible."

"It was horrible. It was a battle not only for the lands, but for the future of many, including mine. I endured things that … well, the woman you know almost became very different," Umeko signs in all honestly to her friend. "But, I should not dwell on what happened, but on what is yet to come. I live and these lands for now should have some peace to them as the raiders have been defeated. And more personally; the future that had been planned for me has been silenced. I am free." She looks amongst the smiling, tear-streaked and spotted faces, then adds, "And tonight … I wish to spend it with you and the Burning Sands, if you will have me? Another journey awaits me … but at this moment all I want is some time with a people that made me feel alive."

Broad hands grip Umeko's slender shoulders, squeezing them lightly before the sign again. "You will come with us, Sun-Scale. The rains have brought the herds to the watering holes and made them fat. We will run, we will dance, we will feast, we will hear stories and watch embers mingle with the stars. Run with us, now. Run hard, just to feel the earth and wind." A few of the Savanites have already turned and begun to lope back amongst the grasses, bounding and springing without any real need to do so.

"Alas, I cannot run as beautifully as you can, but I would be honored to run with you," Umeko signs, smiles, then reaches up to lightly tap his nose. "For tonight I wish to be one of you." she adds. And then as if to tease, she actually runs off after the others with a more rolling instead of loping gait … seemingly that she intends to outrun him!

The Savanite's eyes glitter, and he throws himself into a run to catch up, feet kicking up little plumes of fine earth. A few long strides quickly bring him alongside Umeko, but he certainly doesn't seem inclined to outpace her, very much content to lope alongside her while the others quickly vanish ahead. He seems to take a simple joy in watching the Kiriga's graceful rolling gait. Though Kin can't match the top speed of a Savanite, she finds the earth and shrubs really do begin to just flash by, both Kiriga and cheetah dodging around, over, and past stone and plant. Every so often, Long-Shadow reaches out to give Umeko's hand an encouraging squeeze, or sign, "Not much further!" and with the clean Savan air filling her lungs, the light of distant fires comes into view sooner than one might think, among roomy tents of stretched and painted hide.

The run is one of the times that her duo-thermic body comes to her aide; allowing her the energy to keep up the pace as they pass over the landscape. At some point she reaches back and unhooks her mane. It ripples out behind her, flowing along with cloud-like grace. Eventually, she does feel her muscles burn and tingle from the exertion of the run … but coupled with the clear air and the friend at her side, it isn't a burn that wears, but one that makes her whole body feel alive. When the tents at long last come into view, she tries to push herself a bit further, trying to go to the limit of speed that her body can manage. A final burst of pure joy as the two head towards the camp.

A towering bonfire has already been built, and the tribe busily bustles around it, carrying baskets of gathered roasted Savanite insects, or carrying slabs of freshly hunted meat on spears between them, setting them into spits for cooking. Umeko gets plenty of stares as she arrives, but none of them are unwelcoming, accompanied by smiles or open paws of greeting. When Long-Shadow slows finally, coming to a trot among the tents, he's grinning, his nose pad shining from the exertion of the run. It isn't long before another familiar face appears, an old but still spry Savanite walking from around the fire with hands spread in welcome. Glowing-Coal signs, "Sun-Scale returns to us!"

The exertion comes crashing down upon Umeko as she enters the camp. Her run fades to a slow walk and her chest rises and falls deeply as she drinks in the air and scents of the camp. As she passes other Savanites, she waves and smiles to them in greeting, even returning the open hands gesture of welcome to them. When she spots Glowing-Coal, she stops and takes a few moments to just breathe, her body slightly hunched over as she recovers. When she draws back up straight, she signs, "And gladly so. I have missed your shining smiles and beautiful people. Alas, I am only here for the night, but … a night can seem a lifetime when spent with people dear to my heart. I am sorry that I have worried you so."

"Indeed we did worry, but we see that you burned too fiercely to be snuffed out," signs the shaman, a smile of satisfaction on his worn face. Long-Shadow kneels down by Umeko to lend some support until she catches her breath, and the big cheetah adds some signing of his own. "Too fierce, too bright. She can even run with us. She was too much for her foes."

Glowing-Coal nods agreement, the feathered ornaments around his head wagging. "Yes indeed. With those people gone, what will become of this land now, Sun-Scale?"

"That … I have to determine. For now it is my duty to see to these lands and their welfare until the Emperor decides otherwise," Umeko signs a bit haltingly after she draws herself back upright. "The towns that remain need to be stabilized and the people need to feel safe. That means rebuilding homes and securing their farms and water supplies. These tasks will not be easy, nor quick. I also want to ensure that these lands will forever remain a safe home for you as well. The Imperials that remain will be reminded that your people are to be treated as equals and respected. Whether or not they will always honor that command … I cannot say. But I will do what I can to protect your people as if you were my very family."

The shaman beckons both Kiriga and tribesman to walk along with him. "And you are. I wish we could have helped you more. You are the only one of the serpent folk who bothered to speak with us, and you did more than that… you spoke AS us, with our hands, and even now you make for us a place. Whatever the Naga god-king chooses, we will survive, and we will only show ourselves to those we wish to see us. We always have done this. But you, who chose to step across the divide, you will be Burning Sands, and always welcome among us. We will give you our colors, if you will wear them."

Umeko bows her head, then takes her place walking beside the shaman. "You helped me more than you realize. When I left my home, I walked into a world where nothing made sense to me. I was so isolated. People helped me, were friendly, but … I never felt that I was truly part of them. Meeting your tribe changed that for me. As I was willing to learn to speak as one of you, you looked beyond what I was on the outside. You gave me a family and a place. You showed me that though I left one home, it did not mean that there were no others that would accept me. In truth, I have never felt as welcome on the islands as I did here. You said I burned fiercely and that I did. But not just because I had an enemy that sought me for terrible things … but because I had others to fight for, to protect. You were part of the fire that drove me," she signs slowly as she tries to think through the proper signs to express herself. "I would be honored to wear your colors. They will be the reminder that no matter how far my journeys may take me, I have a place I can always return and a people I can always run with," she signs in completion.

The elder Savanite draws Umeko along with him, and settles cross legged onto a blanket by a fire, much as he did the first time she met him. One hand bounces rhythmically on his knee, a small plume of smoke snaking between his fingers in odd ways while his free hand reaches into the coals of a small fire in front of him. He comes up with fingers blackened with soot, and the bouncing hand stops to reach up to cup Umeko's chin. Long-Shadow hunkers down beside the Kiriga, gathering her loosened mane back away from her face and shoulders, and she can feel something light touching her collarbones. It's a twist of cord suspended with bright stones and long red feathers.

Umeko's legs fold beneath her as she gently kneels upon the blanket. Her hands fold together and come to rest upon her lap as she sits up straight and proud before the elder. Gently, her serpentine tail snakes around her legs, wrapping them and keeping it out of the way. Her eyes flick, watching with curiosity, as her head remains motionless. To the shaman's touch when her chin is cupped, the golden scales are warm; her body still riding the waves that had driven it in their run across the Savan. At Long Shadow's touch, her lips ease back into a light smile. At the touch upon her collarbones, she almost reaches up to feel it, but instead manages to glance down and just catch sight of what it is. Her eyes return to looking at the shaman, looking deep into his.

Those eyes are deep and serious while the shaman concentrates, applying his thumbs to a point under Umeko's own eyes, and rubbing them downward with a slight curl. Umeko can't see them, but she can feel fine soot adorning her face in distinctive tearmarks. The shaman touches his thumbs to his tongue, and then daubs at Umeko's brow, leaving a pattern of spots there, and also along the sides of her jaw. When he's done, Glowing-Coal leans back a bit to survey his handiwork. "There. Tonight, you're one of the silent ones." he signs. "Now, for a night at least, let's live as the Savan's bounty lets us live!"

Umeko's fingers rub lightly over each other as the soot is applied, the tearmarks and spots taking shape upon her face. What she wasn't expecting is the feeling that follows, a warmth in the pit of her stomach. It's excitement of a sort, as if she was given a gift she had wanted her entire life. When Glowing Coal finishes signing, her hands finally move as she reaches over with hers to cup his for a moment. Releasing them, she signs, "Tonight I am in appearance … but I will always be one of you in my heart. Even though the sun may rise and the markings fade, Sun-Scale of the Burning Sands will endure." She taps over her heart for emphasis. And as her lips pull back in a smile, she glances back to Long-Shadow, adding in sign, "And of course where there is Sun, I hope there will always be a Long-Shadows dancing with her?" Her ears wiggle again in her playful imitation of their gesture. "Now, yes, let us live!"

Long-Shadow's arms wrap over Umeko's back, signing in front of her as if they were her own hands. "And everyone knows you can't out-dance your shadow!"

"I would rather embrace mine, anyway," Umeko counters playfully. Her tail unfurls from her legs. It curls backward, lightly wrapping around Long-Shadow's waist. Her feet shift as she now starts to stand, lightly tugging him to do the same.

The cheetah stretches his long legs out and stands as bid, taking a moment to arrange the necklace of fiery red feathers, tiger's-eye glinting in the flickering light, and his smile and eyes are both just as bright as the stones. There's no hubbub of voices like one would hear in other places where the mood is so festive, but somewhere in the camp, a tribesman thumps a hide drum and gets an answer. Soon, a flute's melody has wound itself into the intricate rhythm the drums begin pounding out, and the younger Savanites twirl firesticks, the sun finally low enough to see the streaking flames.

Umeko stands with Long-Shadow, smiling brightly, her arm lightly wrapped around his thin waist. For the moment, she seems content to watch the camp come further to life. As she reaches up to the necklace after he adjusted, a thoughtful look creases her now spotted brow. Her head nods as she seemingly decides something. She taps his side, then steps away. "Will you excuse me for few minutes?" she asks in sign. "I promise I will be right back."

The tall hunter looks briefly puzzled, but bemused, and gestures with an open palm of assent.

Umeko reaches up and taps his nose lightly. The Kiriga then slinks off into the camp, disappearing behind one of the tents. A few minutes do pass before the Kiriga returns; only this time she slides up beside Long-Shadow, having apparently made a small circle around the camp so that he wouldn't immediately see. "I was not dressed appropriately," she signs, still smiling brightly. She's shed her robes somewhere in the camp. They've been replaced with the same sort of cloth and skins the other Savanite women wear. Multi-colored feathers have also been woven throughout her mane and the necklace around her neck shines that much brighter. "Your tribeswomen were kind enough to loan me something more … fitting," she signs, her eyes half-lidded and sparkling, "Do you approve?"

When Long-Shadow sees Umeko again, he looks distinctly surprised, but his grin returns bigger than ever. "Yes, this is what to wear to dance, to feel the wind around you and the heat of the flames!" He reaches out to take Kin's hands briefly, openly admiring the streaks of vivid color along her snowy mane, and the sleekness of her graceful golden form, crossed over with brightly dyed hide and course weave that otherwise does little to mar the line of her body. He lets go again to sign, "I just hope I won't have to wear those heavy bug shells the Naga like. Please forgive!"

Umeko shakes with silent laughter at the comment about wearing bug shells. "No, no, you look perfect as you are," the Kiriga signs before she takes his hands again. Her head nods towards the dancers that have begun gathering and dancing to the rhythmic drumbeats and haunting flutes. Without another word, she leads him towards those dancers and joins in with them. The dance flows and flickers like flame; and indeed the feathers do much to imply the tendrils that so often dance above a fire. And though she dances with all the tribes people that surround the fire, her eyes are most often on her tall friend and she forever draws close to him; two spires of fire dancing and turning around each other.

And so the dance happens, not even clear on exactly when it started, not like the formal gatherings on Jadai a lifetime ago. A Savanite begins to weave, or make her flute sing for her, or beats a drum, and suddenly the dance seizes them, pulls them into a meeting music with movement. The sun finally gives way on the horizon, but towering bonfires now rage high enough to throw all the figures around it into silhouette. Tonight, the tribe fears no slaver or raider, and the fires can burn as brightly as they may. Kin finds herself moving in a surge of spots and tawny fur, and she and Long-Shadow don't dance by themselves… rather, she finds the rest of the tribe often bumping past her, brushing past, sharing a smile or a touch, twisting along with her and her dance partner for a while before moving on. The feathery adornments fly around her as her serpentine body plays like the fires, and she finds that new ones are being added to her, loops of string slipped onto her carrying tiny clay charms, flowers woven together, or iridescent scarab shells.

As the dance goes on, Umeko draws away from Long Shadow now and then to dance with others of the tribe, intertwining with men and women alike for brief moments. Their smiles are met with hers and as she spins away to rejoin Long-Shadow, she brushes her fingertips lightly against them. As more and more of the adornments are added, it only encourages her do dance with more energy so that the firelight catches each of them as they tinkle and flash against her golden scales. Finally, she takes a moment to work into her gliding and twirling movements a signed question to Long-Shadow, "Do these adornments have meaning?"

Long-Shadow's ears flit with good-natured bemusement, as if the answer should be obvious. "They mean we like you," he signs, a little hard to understand because he's a body in motion. "They're little things to make and share, like any of the things we have here." He stops signing, because a gourd has been thrust into his hands, and he tips it back to drink deeply. Another is pressed on Umeko by a grinning Savanite girl, who has several more bundled together.

Umeko returns the answer with a grin, now understanding. When the gourd is offered, the Kiriga accepts it. Her head bows slightly to the Savanite girl in thanks, then she now tips it back and drinks deep. She doesn't even know what it is, but doesn't hesitate a moment in drinking.

The stuff is sweet but not cloying, and refreshingly cool. Dirt on the gourd seems to have indicated it was buried someplace to cool, though the neck was wiped off to drink from. Food comes along as well a moment later… nobody's even sitting down to eat! Long-Shadow simply cheerfully takes bites off a shank of meat, then tosses the cleaned bone into the bonfire. Eventually, many of the spotted cats do plop down to have a rest, and the mood calms, though it's still very cheerful. The older Savanites sign at each other and take draws from long pipes, exhaling long streams of smoke with contented sighs. A few of the hunters seem to have gotten a hold of some gourds marked with red and yellow streaks… evidently not for drinking, because they make sport of holding up firesticks to blow clouds of flame that billow up into the night sky.

Though dressed in native garb, not all of her 'civilization' has left the Kiriga. She too eats some of the meat that is brought, though her way is to use her claws to cut it into thinner strips before chewing. The bones at least she throws into the fire in a similar fashion. With the day waning, she draws in a long breath, then releases it in a quiet sigh. She looks over to the lanky Savanite near her. Her brow ridge crinkles a bit as she seems to be thinking something over.

The bonfires burn low, still bright and cheerful, but no longer the towering blazes when the dancing began… just enough to provide warm yellow light to bathe huddled forms as they converse in their quiet ways, play some lingering snatches of music, or simply laze. Long-Shadow rests comfortably by Umeko, stretched out with his back to a sand embankment, a leg crossed over one of Umeko's ankles, and his gaze directed at the stars above. He rolls his head over to note the Kiriga looking at him, and he makes a single-handed gesture that translates something like "Hm?"

Umeko's eyelids flick as she realizes she's been staring. "Ah, forgive me," she signs, "I was thinking things I should not. Such as … asking you to come with us when we leave these lands. There are other places and items like what was recovered in the canyon here. This was just one battle of a greater fight to protect the world. But, this is your home. It would be unfair of me to ask you to leave it to come with me; you have your family here." It's now her turn to lean back and gaze upward for a time before adding, "I guess I was just thinking on how much I will miss you."

The Savanite pulls himself upright, scooting back to sit cross legged and lay his hands briefly on Umeko's leg before bringing them up again to sign. "If you believe this threat to the Savan and beyond, I would believe you, and I would help if that is what was asked of me. For you and for the tribe. But… " He pauses, and looks out over the vast plains of the Savan, dark as they may be. "But we're a simple people. I'm a simple man. I can run and hunt, and I will do so until I die. These battles you've fought… what good would I be?" He looks back into Umeko's eyes, his own dark and serious. "No flame burns forever. The Sands know this. Someday, we will burn away, and will be known by our ashes. It is important to burn in the brightest way you can until that day. The Savan is what we know, and it is how we burn. You… I know you're meant to burn brighter still, brighter than I ever can."

"It is true that in combat you lack the knowledge that I have," Umeko signs reluctantly, "But not all stands on such skill. You brought me many things here. Friendship and acceptance being two of the largest. I made it through the challenges here in a large part because of you. Because of all my friends in the end. So, whenever you wonder what good you are … you were one of my inspirations. Before I met you I came here to stop a man who sought to warp my very body. After I met you, I was fighting to save your home. that meant more to me than trying to save myself. You inspired me, Long-Shadow. That is how you helped me." Umeko signs, her gaze returning his, unwavering. "So, please, do not ever think of yourself as someone who burns less brightly than I do. It isn't true. You burn differently, but with no less intensity. So… " The Kiriga pauses there and leans forward, her hands gliding over his legs for a moment, before she returns for signing, "So, I know what help you can be to me. Will you be my ambassador to your people? I know I am part of your tribe and accepted as one of you. but … to other tribes, they may not recognize that. So … will you work with me to help the Savan and your people? I will need someone here who can tell me what you need and what is happening."

The Savanite considers this only for a moment, before offering a black-lipped smile. "It would be a true honor. I would fear whether I was up to the task… we had set ourselves apart, even from the City of Hands. But I would do my best to be your eyes and ears here."

"Not up to the task? Well, then just consider this. When we first met … your tribe could have attacked us, even after I had tried to communicate with you. But … instead you were patient and tried to understand and then to teach me. You were willing to give a 'scaled monster' a chance," Umeko signs, then reaches over and taps his chest. "Even if you kept yourself apart, you kept an open mind and a willingness to listen. That is more than enough to make you up to the task." As she leans back, she does the imitation ear-wiggle, then signs, "And, it does give me an excuse to invite you to perhaps my homeland some day to at least show it to you as you have shown me yours. Among other things." And with that, the Kiriga smiles.

The hunter's smile widens. "Then this is what we will do." he signs, the last words trailing so he can rest his hands on Umeko's waist and lean forward to give her a fond brush of his muzzle.

Umeko's eyes droop closed briefly. The Kiriga eases forward with a serpentine slithering motion until she's sitting in his lap and pressed lightly against his chest. There she rests against him, content to just be for a bit. Easing back, she signs, "Now, I have a couple favors to ask of you. Silly ones. Seeing as how I'm … wearing the clothing of your people and it covers less than my robes do … I find I am in need of more spots if I am to be one of you tonight." She flashes a playful smile, then asks the second favor, "And would you tell me what you were thinking when you were looking towards the embers in the sky?"

The grin on Long-Shadow's face grows playful, and he gathers Umeko up to himself, letting her settle against his lean, lanky frame. With his arms around her, he signs on the other side of her, his hands a little awkward to read but still understandable. "We will go to one of the charcoal pits to see you dressed as a proper huntress then, from clothes to skin, head to toe, nose to tailtip" he says. "And I just thinking about the stories of how the embers caught there. Every tribe has a different thought on how they came to be. We know that everything returns to ash one day, so our stories say that night is the soot from the day, and the stars remain to light the day anew. I don't know, myself. They seem to be in the same places every night. Is the sky the same where you are from?"

"My people have many stories about them as well. The most popular is that they are the spirits of our ancestors, watching over the children they left behind when they passed from this world," Umeko signs in front of herself so that Long-Shadow can see. She looks upward for a bit, thinking. "They are in similar positions from where I remember seeing them in my island home. They just look a bit … shifted. And a huntress, am I? Long-Shadow's prized Sun-Scale?" Her head tilts back as she returns that playful smile.

Black-edged ears wiggle with mirth. "Every bit the hunter that I am," Long-Shadow signs. He contemplates Umeko, gathering her up to scoots closer to one of the charcoal pits Glowing-Coal had occasionally taken fine soot from. He fetches up a gourd and mixes some of the contents with the soot until it produces an inky paste, and when he signs again it's with darkly stained fingertips. "Maybe more than a huntress. Are you the prize, or am I?" That ear wiggle again, and Long-Shadow settles at Kin's back, the Jadian woman still more or less resting in his lap.

"Well, I consider you a prize," Umeko replies, her own wears wiggling a bit as she tries to hold the rest of herself still outside of her hands. "But I must also admit the idea that you captured me has much charm to it as it reminds me of many tales I have heard. Perhaps I should write this as a poem some day, the young Kiriga captured by the wild warrior and made one of them by morning… " Again she flashes that playful smile.

Long-Shadow's hands become too occupied to reply as he begins pressing stained fingertips to Umeko's back. The spots are anything but random… Umeko can feel a careful symmetry being played out. Playful as the Savanite has been, he isn't haphazard in his application of Kin's new skin. It begins with a number of smaller dots created with the very tips of his fingers around the Kiriga's graceful neck, along with some long smudges to darken the tips of her earfins. He continues down her shoulder blades and back, pressing harder with the pads of his fingers and rolling them to make larger spots, each carefully mirrored on either side. It gets a little ticklish when he marks her ribs in the same way. More get placed in the small of Umeko's back above the wrap draped from her waist.

Umeko's signing stops for now as she lets Long-Shadow's fingers dance. Her eyes even close as her attention moves to each touch of those fingertips. Throughout she definitely tries to hold still, but now and then her back tends to roll in reaction to the pressure of his fingertips When it becomes ticklish, though, she can't help but emit a small snorting, odd, hiss of a laugh periodically.

The Savanite patiently works, every so often giving Umeko a squeeze when she squirms too much, though he seems just as amused as she is. At some point, the hunter's tail curls around to lay across Umeko's lap, and a few moments later Long-Shadow gently brings Umeko's tail around with it to show her where spots have crept down it to become rings near the tip, black stripes that stop just before the end like his own tail. His head dips over her shoulder, so he can see his handiwork, fingertips now applying speckling to Umeko's powerful legs, making matching patterns on the outside of each thigh.

Umeko's own hands pet gently over Long-Shadow's tail in her lap. When her tail is also brought around, she smiles, then lifts her hands to sign, "Beautiful." When he starts work on her legs, the Kiriga does something unexpected, even for her. She actually unhooks the wrap a bit and pushes it up so that he can spot the outsides of her legs as correctly as possible. She can't help but wiggle her ears in amusement to the spotting. Her head tilts from side to side now and then as she watches with interest.

The Savanite pauses for a moment, but seems all too happy to continue the work up along leg and hip, the pattern completing itself. The big hands that Umeko is watching take a moment to speak. "Our spots are a little like the stars, don't you think? Just dark on light instead of light on dark. Now you're a little bit of sky reflected on earth too.

Long-Shadow's observation causes Umeko to pause in thought. "I never thought of it that way but … since you have said that I do see what you mean. Perhaps it means that your people are the stars of the day, meant to allow us to always see their beauty even when the sun shines above," she agrees. "I find your people beautiful and graceful. And even if it is just paint … to share a night as one of you is beyond words."

Broad hands smooth their way down Umeko's slender arms, careful to touch with the palms rather than the fingertips so as not to smudge. Fingertips press down as those hands work their way back up, leaving dots in their wake. When they finish at the shoulders, Long-Shadow hugs Umeko from behind, then glances at the white of his chest and belly. No smudges… this stuff dries quick! Satisfied, the Savanite signs again. "We are a good match, Sun-Scale. Both swift, both lean. We aren't so different."

Umeko reaches up and gently hugs his arms when he hugs her. "No, we aren't so different," she agrees. Her hands each back for a moment to caress his neck before they ease back so she can sign, "Are you asking me to be yours, my lord of the Savan?"

The Savanite brings his head down to touch the pad of his nose to Kin's brow. Gestures are subtle, the movements of Silent Sign having a certain intimacy when the hands are held this close. "I could not possess such a jewel any more than I could call myself a lord, but for as long as you would wish to run at my side, to share my warmth and my breath, the flames within me will leap higher than any bonfire we have stoked before."

For a time, Umeko's hands trace long the Savanite's cheek and neck, feeling the sinewy muscle and warmth beneath the short coat of fur as she leans back against him. "I will run with you and share all with you for as long as you will have me," she finally signs, "This may be the last night we see each other for a long time, so let us not spend it sleeping. Tonight … I wish to stoke that fire within you; we shall share everything with each other. The embers in the heavens will bear witness to those reflected in us as we dance together in unity."