Death In The Tall Grass (Ely)

[Xnnn]

Summer 2, 511 A.V. The slight breeze moving through the tips of the tall grass rippled their surface, creating the subtle impression of waves on the sea. The shadow cat poised, motionless, even its sensitive ears still, pressed close to its head. Crouched down low to the warm earth, Xnnn waited patiently, muscles bunched, ready to pounce. It had been several days since he had eaten, and the pain in his stomach urged him to spring, to leap and catch and kill with a quick jerk of his powerful jaws, snapping the neck. Or alternatively, to crush the windpipe and strangle the life out of his prey. But his instincts quelled the need to act, to rush in and capture before it got away. Instincts which were all he had to go on – having had no mother to teach him how to hunt. It had been a tough couple of months – very tough. Though he would never have traded his newfound freedom for regular meals, it had took quite a bit of figuring out to teach himself how to find his own food. And he was still far, far from proficient at it. He had lost quite a bit of weight, though what there was left of him was nothing but hard, tight muscle. Still, he looked clearly underfed. So, as hunger battled caution, he thought hopefully of having a full belly once again. If only the prey he had been stalking would move a few more meters to the right . . . His nose told him it was a human. He told himself he didn’t care. It had been too long. He was starving, slowly but surely. He needed food, and a human would probably be easy pickings. This one had been moving at a steady, fast pace for the last half hour, when Xnnn had picked up its scent. Xnnn had managed to circle around before it and was now placed, he hoped, in a position to strike, if only it would keep moving, to the right . . . His hearing was acute. The footsteps were hurried, but obviously the human was trying to move with some stealth. Xnnn did not bother to wonder why, he could only sense the human moving closer, closer . . . almost . . . Silently, he launched himself into the air. He did not have a visual on his prey, but he knew it was there – right . . . there. Bursting through the last blades of the swaying grass, he leapt . . .

[Elymas]

Elymas had spent most of his life honing protective instincts, learning to detect danger far before it was imminent. Those skills were useful on his escape, his attempt to skim across the sea of grass without detection. He had evaded more than one possible danger, and as he became aware of this newest one, he had attempted to do the same. He did not take life casually, and so it would have been better if the giant cat had fallen off his trail and sought sustenance elsewhere. As it were, that simply did not come to pass and so Ely had spent the better part of an hour tracing a very specific pattern, one that would bring their meeting under his control. It worked perfectly, so that he was braced for the attack and perfectly prepared to defend himself. The cat managed to land a single good swipe along his arm before Elymas had used the momentum of their falling to counter their positions. He landed atop the beast with an oomph, and brought his knife up. As much as he wanted to live himself, he wished he did not have to take the life of this, his assailant. Without thinking, the faithful son of Yahal altered his defense. He dropped his hand and instead of plunging the stolen blade into the heart, he sliced a line at the juncture of the beasts back leg. It was a jagged thing with much of his weight behind it, as Elymas hoped to incapacitate the animal so that he could run. The snapping jaws turned to a howl of sorts, of the feline quality, and Ely realized that he had only managed to agitate and wound. He would still lose his life to this creature if he didn't act first. And so, with heavy heart, Ely lifted his hand to strike the final blow.

[Xnnn]

Well, damn. That was about all that went through the cougar’s mind, and that in a much reduced animalistic version, as his ‘prey’ turned the tables on him so adroitly. Flying through the air, hoping to catch the man about chest level, instead the man had crouched down somewhat and Xnnn overshot, catching mostly air and only scraping the claws of one huge paw across a forearm. If the man had then turned and tried to flee, it would have been his death. For Xnnn, though clumsy, would have been on him in two heartbeats. But this one was too clever. Using the cat's momentum to carry them both, the man twisted right along with the cat and as they landed, the man was on top, wielding a sharp fang of his own. Xnnn’s green-gold eyes looked into the man’s as the knife sliced downwards, but instead of a death blow, the human aimed for the cat’s hind leg, slicing deep enough to bring a yowling screech of feline pain from the cougar. The blow that had seemed at first to be guided by mercy, instead then suddenly seemed only to torment, for the knife ascended again and was poised at the top of the man’s swinging arm, ready to deliver the final, life ending plunge. For two months, Xnnn had fought – truly a battle of life and death. For if he did not learn how to hunt and feed himself, he would die. For two months, the Kelvic had lived in the strange body. Though it felt perfectly natural, it also felt awkward and clumsy, and he had to relearn how to live, how to survive. For two month he had remained in his animal form, determined never to shift back, never to return to a form in which he had suffered so much cruelty, and sadness. He wanted nothing to do with humans, nothing to do with his weaker self. But as he looked again into the man’s eyes, he realized. He was a fool. Life was cruel and there was an end to that discussion. Man or cougar, he would not survive. And he wasn’t sure he really wanted to keep trying. All he could think of was if he shifted now, perhaps he could somehow escape, as a man, where the animal could not. And if it didn’t work, well, it really didn’t matter. As the knife began its descent, his form wavered and slipped and nebulized and reformed. The man’s face, visible as if through a milky veil, registered his shock at the transformation occurring under his very fingers, and it was enough. In those few borrowed seconds, Xnnn twisted away, rolled, found his feet and jumped up, ready to run. Two steps and the pain from wound that ran in jagged gash from hip to groin caused him to stumble, and fall flat on his face.

[Elymas]

When reality started shifting beneath him, literally, Elymas was startled enough to halt the attack that he had intended only to protect his own life. And then the vicious animal he had been about to murder as a man, one who monopolized his surprise and managed to escape because of it. Elymas blinked after him. It wasn't until the now human frame collapsed that Ely was shocked out of his stupor. His first instinct, his initial reaction was to help. He still held the bloody blade in his hand, but it hung limply by his side as he found his feet and quickly approached. He nudged the fallen frame with a foot, just to be certain the same intent to kill did not reside in the human version of this assailant. When there was little response, and certainly no hostility, Ely dropped to a crouch and gripped a shoulder to roll the unnamed stranger to his back. "Fool," he complained, eyes darting from the pained expression to the bleeding wound. It didn't look that deep. At least, Elymas didn't think any arteries had been damaged - which was a terrible danger in that area. He had no ability to heal and absolutely nothing with which to tend the wound. Watching a human frame suffer because of his own deeds was difficult for Elymas, who looked on with a grimace. "Who are you?" he demanded, albeit in a less than threatening voice. His hand moved, and with it the blade. Instead of inflicting harm, though, he moved to slice off a strip of the simple clothing he had managed to escape with. It wasn't as if he had much to share, but how could he not?

[Xnnn]

Xnnn felt the foot in his ribs – not a vicious kick as it might have been – just a tentative non-verbal inquiry. In the confusion of having finally shifted after all this time, and knowing the man held a knife, he froze, unsure of whether to try once more to flee, to try to shift, or to plead for his life. If the human had really intended to kill him, this long moment of uncertainty surely would have been the death of him. One swift stab to the back could have easily done the trick. As the blow did not come, when Elymas knelt and touched Xnnn’s shoulder, the Kelvic flinched but made no real resistance to being turned over. But the movement sent a sharp stab of pain through his side and leg, and instinctively he clutched at it, even as the man spoke in he common tongue. Though born and raised surrounded by the Zith, Xnnn’s exposure to the various humans and occasional other races of slaves captured by his masters had been enough for him to have a working knowledge of the common language of Mizahar. So he understood enough to know what the man said. His own answer, though, had to be in Zith. In his pain he did not even consider that the human would probably not understand him – not unless he had somehow learned the language of the bat people. “Xnnn” He hissed through clenched teeth – partly because of the pain, but more so because that was how one pronounced the generic and far from polite word that was his name. As he spoke, he attempted to curl himself up in a tight ball, though the pain in his leg made him groan softly.

[Elymas]

Elymas flinched at that word, that sound, that name. The language was all too familiar. He had never learned to speak the strange language of his captors very well, but he could understand it with some decency. If he hadn't picked up that skill, he likely wouldn't have survived as long as he had. He sat back on his haunches and stared down at the bleeding Xnnn. It only made sense that an animal who could take on a human form would have been a prisoner, too. Escaping, perhaps? Elymas felt worse for the wound he had caused, now, and still just as helpless. "Forgive me, Yahal," he breathed as he moved towards the living thing he had wounded. "I have caused so much pain." Elymas used the rough, somewhat dirty slice of fabric he had cut from his own insufficient clothing to wrap around the wound and this he tied tightly. "I am sorry, Xnnn. I was only attempting to protect myself. These wildlands are dangerous. I am Elymas." Fingers tinged with red that came from the wound he had created, the Benshira extended one hand in offering. A proper greeting. "You come from Xy?"

[Xnnn]

Xnnn heard Elymas’ words, though they were muttered softly. But they made no impression on the Kelvic. If other slaves of the Zith colony where he had been birthed and raised had called upon Yahal, he did not recall it. For himself, he had no gods, no goddesses to call upon – or to curse. Life happened and you made the best of it, or not, and that was that. The man’s apology to him directly, though, registered with some meaning and Xnnn was, to put it simply, dumbfounded. No-one had ever apologized to him before for inflicting pain upon him. That was just what happened – frequently or not, depending on, seemingly, nothing. Abuse was common and random. It had reached a crescendo after Shade lost Xnnn’s mother, and the son had become a substitute for the Zith’s almost lunatic rages. That this man, who had moments before stabbed him, should now feel contrite, was an absolutely foreign concept to Xnnn. On top of that, he thought the man must be mad, in his own way, for caring to feel bad about trying to wound someone who was just about ready to kill him. Xnnn was thoroughly confused. So when Elymas extended his bloodied hand, Xnnn could only stare at it, wondering what he wanted Xnnn to do, or not do, or say, or not say. His hazel eyes turned to the bright blue ones, as he tried to sort through what had happened. He frowned, at last deciding that Elymas wished for him to clean the hand that he had, indirectly, soiled. It seemed a task he could accomplish, though with no water his options for doing so were a bit limited. Taking the proffered hand, he first rubbed it across his chest, smearing most of the most liquid blood there. He then lifted the hand to his lips, his tongue darting out and licking the first finger from base to tip.

[Elymas]

Elymas was stunned into compliance, at least while the stranger rubbed his hand across a bare chest, smearing most of the crimson liquid onto the smooth skin. It wasn't until the moisture of a pink tongue explored the length of one of his digits that Elymas' reverie was broken and he recoiled quickly. "No, no..." he refuted lightly. He wiped his hand across his coarse clothing. "I only meant to make your acquaintance properly. To shake, you see?" Unable to tell whether his words were making sense to the prone form beneath him, Elymas gave up with a little sigh. He wiped a dirty hand across his face and glanced around at the land that went on for miles and miles in every direction. The heat of Syna was stifling and though he had precious little in regards to food or drink, the piety which governed Elymas' life also propelled him to do good unto others. Especially those he had just gravely injured. How could the Benshira not attempt to make amends in such a way? "It is hot. We should find shade. And you're hungry," he stated as a fact. "Since I have no plans to be your dinner, I shall supply you with some instead." Ely extended his hand. This time, to avoid confusion, he reached to grasp the other's directly. "Let me help you."

[Xnnn]

The words did blur together quite a lot. Most of the slaves Xnnn had been around growing up had spoken common at one level of fluency or another. Many kept to their own languages for everyday communications though. Most were not around long enough for it to matter much. Xnnn’s mother had spoken in the language of the horse people. And then, when they had both been stolen away by Shade, there had been little talk at all, mostly crying and screaming and tears. After her death, Xnnn had only heard his master’s voice and the Zith tongue, and then he had killed Shade and fled and been an animal for more than two months. So even as he tried to comprehend what Elysar was saying, Xnnn struggled to sort them out in his mind. Hot. Hungry. Dinner. These sounded familiar. One word almost made him jump out of his skin. Shade?. No. No Shade! Why would they want to find Shade? Besides he was dead – or . . . at least . . . For a horrible moment, Xnnn’s mind leapt to the thought that maybe Shade wasn’t dead! Maybe he had sent this man to find him – and fetch him back! With a startled look, Xnnn backed away, scuttling quickly on his hands and feet, like a crab. Shaking his head vigorously, he said in a low voice, that was half growl still, “No! No! I won’t go back!.” He wished with all his might that he could shift back again to his cougar self and leap away into the tall grass. Why had he ever thought to stalk this man? What trick was being played on him? Finally finding his feet, he scrambled up, somehow, and though he could not run, he began to walk as fast as he could. Away from Elymas. Away from any chance that he would be returned to the cruel, dead Zith. All he could think was to move – to keep moving and not stop, despite the blood that flowed from his side.

[Elymas]

Elymas was just as startled with the misunderstanding as the kelvic was, albeit more ignorantly. He only blinked for a moment as the wounded young man attempted to hobble off. And then, realizing himself, he found his feet. "Hey, wait!" he called. This only seemed to spur the frightened soul on, and Elymas began to jog to catch up. "I didn't mean ... I don't mean you any harm! What did I say?" Nothing except fear and retreat. Elymas, healthier and easily able to overtake the other, finally grasped Xnnn by the shoulders and forced him around to face him. Recognizing, perhaps, the language barrier, he simplified his meaning as much as he could manage. "Never. Never would I take you back. I'm not going back, either." Of course, he had no idea if they were trying to escape from even remotely the same thing, but it didn't matter in this context. He had a point to make. Having said his peace, he dropped his hands and held the palms upwards. "Let's find a cool place. Sit, eat."