Why were they there? Edorta, a naturally peaceful person, was not someone that enjoyed the prospect of fighting. Through his eyes he saw the world as a beautiful place and the very idea of needless blood on the ground, burning the the grass and seeping into their waters hurt him. Although it might not have been a physical pain, Edorta found it damn near impossible to admit that he didn't want this to happen. But, he was only Edorta. There was nothing he could do to bring peace upon what was going to happen. He was not stupid, not like people thought. His eyes, veiled by a wanton innocence and the need to survive in the best possible world, two spirits churning within himself, he had to view the world differently. But they didn't listen. Or so he felt. He was learning, slowly and surely, how to become a master of herbs, how to contact those spirits. For some reason Egzuki had trusted him with two spirits, had chosen him to carry the burden of becoming something important; something that even he could not comprehend.

But he had come with them. Xanti had opted to stay back in the Endiki camp, in fear of being put face to face with the family that thought him to be dead. And he missed him. The nights just weren't the same without those strong protective arms that held him as he slept, keeping him from some invisible harm. And for the past few nights he had lay awake, completely restless, wondering if Xanti felt the same fate.
Edorta wanted to meet Zeru. That was his one desire, the only thing he had been thinking about when he had agreed to come here. He had wanted to meet the man that had sired the love of his life, even though he would not tell him straight out that Xanti was alive. All Edorta knew was that a moment speaking to him would be enough, at least to know if he was approved of. Why it mattered he had no idea, but it did. Xanti was his now, and working his way to being one of the Endiki if Edorta could help it, he would not return him to the Zerui. They could not have him.

When Indar was flying high, he would sometimes see something so bizarre and ponderous that he would think for hours afterwards. Sometimes, he understood why the Endiki believed what they did when it came to datura, but Indar has smoked enough to know that most things he saw were just that—things. Nothing important—anyone could believe a tree was talking to them when they were that doped up.

Indar had not smoked since the two tribes had decided to gather together. He had certainly tried, but the glares of the Endiki made him a little too nervous to smoke. So he certainly knew he was not drugged when he caught sight of a very feminine man--but still a man nonetheless—dressed in women’s clothing, and looking like he wore them regularly.

Holy shit.

Maybe he was the victim of older sisters? Indar knew that feeling and could sympathize, but he was more then a little bit older then Indar was when his sisters dressed him in drag. Indar hoped the man had lost a bet, but he looked too comfortable for Indar to believe that fully.

Indar caught himself staring. He knew he hated it when his sisters paraded him out in front of the then-Hibaii in Nahia’s clothing. Damn awful memories. “So, uh, you got sisters too?” Indar said, rather lamely.

Silence had always been a comfort to him. Of course, he was never alone to his own thoughts. One voice was always with him, some were always with him. He generally had the information he needed to speak with himself. Edorta was never alone. Today, like most days, his female spirit was the most active. She hummed in his head, pulling him to the more beautiful places of the land. For some reason, one he didn't totally understand, Edorta had found it easier to give her control. She was the one that was protective, anyway. Edorta felt a general admiration for her mainly because she kept the male side more restrained than if he were on his own.

But, of course, not all comfortable silences could last. Edorta relaxed within himself, placid as the lake on a windless day, his minds wandering away. It was at that point did another man make himself known. A Zerui by the look of him. He was someone that Edorta did not know, which, of course, meant that he was a Zerui. He would have known Edorta, at least, if he were of the Endikai people. Mainly because he was a holy symbol to them.

"Sisters?" he asked in a dreamy voice, turning his brown eyes up to the taller man. A sweet smile spread over his face and a small laugh escaped him when he figured out the implications that this male was referring. "One." he said quietly, thinking, of course, to his female spirit. "But," the young male countered, glancing up at the sky, "no sisters in the physical sense." He was always so happy-go-lucky when he was around people he knew, sadly enough, though, when he was near other people from the Zerui, people that were not Xanti, he became nervous.

There was a fear, of course, that he would let something spill about Xanti. That would not be good. He wondered if it were completely unheard of for him to be in feminine clothes. Xanti had seemed pretty accepting to his clothes but, then again, Edorta had saved him from the raging river without a care to his own safety. There was love between them, a deeply rooted one, even when one considered the short time the two had been together.

Edorta glanced up at the male before him with a smile upon his face, this time slightly more confident than the last one. He knew for sure that he could escape without hurt. Although the Zerui looked at the Endikai way of life as something completely odd, Edo knew how to handle the tempers. Xanti was a peaceful lover, but Edorta knew how to stop him when he got angry. It more than likely was not the same thing for the others of the Zerui people. "Why do you ask?" He questioned, a laugh in his higher voice, graced by the woman spirit playing in his vocal chords.

One… and “not in the physical sense”? What was he talking about? He looked a little dazed—maybe he had overdosed on datura on his spirit quest or whatever that was. And maybe his spirit was the spirit of a woman. Indar nearly bust out laughing at that image, but managed to keep it back to a small smirk. If that were the case, the man-woman would probably not appreciate being made fun of. While Indar really couldn’t say he liked the Endikai, he certainly knew better then to laugh at one of them when they were trying to make an alliance. It may be someone important’s son… daughter he was laughing at.

He was so nervous. Maybe his sister had married some important warlord, then had a wild affair. The girl must have been discovered and then outcast, and he was used to replace her! Indar thought that this was a great theory, and completely possible. He knew that the Izozi were widely considered a bit more then nutty among the Zerui, and the Endikai were considered even weirder by the whole of the Zerui, so keeping a man as a concubine was plausible.

“No reason, it’s just,” Indar struggled to find something nice to say, “my sisters dressed me up in my biki’s clothing when I was younger, so I figured your sisters may be doing the same.”

Edo smiled, looking up at him with a smile, biting back his own smile at the contemplative look that crossed over his pretty face. There was so much going on behind those eyes that Edorta spent time thinking about Xanti. Had he known this guy. "Did you know Xanti?" he asked quietly, rather sure that he was going to have to come up with something rather quickly to cover up why one of the Endikai would know. Of course, he probably knew what he would say. His lover, techniqually, had known Xanti. He was Xanti. But still, he'd not come for a reason and that was to know, exactly why Edo thought. Edorta bit his lip, shaking his head. Xanti hadn't come for fear of upsetting his family. He was a homosexual, that would hurt his father.

Edorta kept that serene smile on his face, waiting, for a moment, that he would wait for him to just accept whatever he said. Of course, he had known full out that he would not, in the end, but he could decieve himself with his lies if he felt like it.

A giggle escaped him. "It is her choice in what we wear every time we dress." He said, thoughtfully, that playful grin slipping back to his pretty face, "She gets so testy when I put on something different, but, then again, she is the one that is around the most. I adore her but she does get testy." Edorta nodded his head, glancing over at him. "I'm Edorta, by the way, Edorta sem'Argi. I am the Ekain- Endikai two spirit." Because he had grown up Ekaini, the idea of being Endikai was still new to him. He wasn't used to it at all.

"It's odd for you, I know." he said with a feather light laugh, "but it's easier to understand if you're one of us. I was gifted you see," he strugged, finding a way to explain it, "Egzuki created me with two spirits inside of me. One male, one female. The two of us are in complete harmony with one another." The youth held up his two spirits, both carved in wood, for the male to see, "One is flame, the other river. As opposite as could be, but the love and closeness that we share is very real. I know it may sound ubsurd to a Zerui warrior, but my friend says that it is facinating, especially when he's seen me argue with my other spirit." He wasn't smiling now, merely awaiting an assessment. Would he think the young Endikai mad? Ah, well, that was why they were in two groups, anyway.

“Xanti? As in Xanti sem’Zeru?” Indar blinked. Man-woman had probably heard about the scandal or whatever that had taken place with the main camp. Curiosity was a healthy thing, but Indar couldn’t help Man-woman out on this one. “I knew of him, saw him a couple times, but I never knew him personally. I’m from da’Izotzi, not from the main camp.” Indar decided to call the tribe by its new name, and not by its old one. He didn’t know if this Endikai was too aware of the rumors about the Hibaii, but one could never be too careful.

“Her… choice.” Man-woman was quite clearly nutters. But what he…she, whatever was saying was pretty accurate. Even Nahia would get cranky if she lost some do-dad she wanted to wear, and then rampage on Indar, saying it was his fault that she couldn’t find whatever it was.

So, his name was Edorta. Indar didn’t really have an issue with the name, but Man-woman would always come first when he thought of him. So Man-woman Edorta would probably be what Indar called him, like how Izotz was really Stick-Up-the-Butt, but Indar called him Stick-Up-the-Butt Izotz to make sure that he never actually called Izotz Stick-Up-the-Butt. Izotz tolerated a lot from Indar, but Indar didn’t think that would go over too well.

“I’m sure it is very fascinating.” But weird as fuck before it was anything else. To have two spirits, whatever, but to have the spirit of a woman? That was weird, and also highly embarrassing. Indar respected women—he had eight sisters, he had too—but one could not be both man and woman without some issues. Creepy issues, at that.

“Your friend? Who’s your friend?” It had to be a Zerui, maybe someone’s concubine?