Cats aren't kind if you step on their tail. (Xnnn)

[Lyth]

Fall, Day 31, 511 A.V.

The atmosphere at the pig's foot was rather quite that evening. Even the drunks, who frequented the tavern with almost religious devotion, were behaving rather well that night. And it annoyed Lyth to no end. He was trying to put himself in a good mood after a nearly failed contract, hoping to catch a bar brawl over some gambling slight. But no, today people wanted to play nice. The half-blood sighed in boredom, trying hard to keep the placid smile on his face, eyes drifting lazily from person to person. Come on, someone throw a punch already! But the small hubbub of the tavern remained at a moderate level, those in a good mood not drunk enough to burst out and bellow, and those in worse conditions pensive and reserved in their thoughts. Lyth had never before seen such passiveness in The Pig's Foot, let alone Sunberth. It just wasn't natural. The man sighed, shaking his head and standing. If he didn't leave soon, he was going to start a fight. That would end badly, most likely leaving Lyth as the more injured party. The only reason being that Merv didn't allow weapons to be used, but that was understandable. Blood was hard to clean up. Drifting out of the tavern, he made sure to give the red headed wench who normally served him a small smile. As much as he detested her, she usually had a good story or two to tell. And since she was the one serving his drinks, it paid off to be nice to her. Now outside, in the dark of the night, Lyth began to feel more at ease. The darkness that followed the moon always seemed to calm his nerves and soothe his mind. The angry thoughts about his earlier foolishness slipped away, replaced with those on his dreams. His dreams being, ultimately, to kill Talcum and then leave Sunberth. However those were far off, as Talcum knew that Lyth wanted to murder him, so the man was ultimately prepared for anything Lyth threw at him. He had taught the half-ling after all. A touch of bitterness graced the smile that Lyth wore, making it seem almost as though it were a real smile. He should probably return home soon, but before he did, he wanted to take a run around the city. On the rooftops; travelling by street meant more obstacles. Content with his decision, Lyth turned down an alley that was a little ways away from the tavern. To reach the roofs, first he had to find something to climb up. That was always one thing he envied about true-blooded Symestra; their ability to climb walls and other sheer surfaces. He, being a halfling, was too heavy to attempt anything like that, even though he had the little barbs required for the skill. So, he was stuck searching the alley for something he could makeshift into a ladder. Normally he would just have to climb out his bedroom window and shimmy up the broken brick, but these other buildings posed more of a challenge. So absorbed in his quest to reach the rooftops, Lyth wasn't paying much attention to the rest of his surroundings, which in Sunberth was the best way to end up getting hurt. Eyes trained upwards, the half-blood didn't see the furred tail he was coming up upon. He was unaware of the presence of another creature until his foot came down on said tail, and the alley was filled with a pain filled roar.

[Xnnn]

Xnnn had not been completely asleep. He was far too nervous, the city after sundown being far too noisy still, and too alarming, for his senses to quiet back into slumber. It was getting on time for him to get up anyway, to go back out – into that confusing maelstrom of stimulants. His nostrils flared, his ears twitched and behind closed lids he saw only an image of the man he sought. Every fiber of his body seemed to be both alight and aching – alert for danger, and yearning to find the one possible source of comfort that he knew was somewhere – somewhere – in this foul smelling, clamorous, dreadful place. To be in Sunberth after months of the open wildlands was like being in a pen again. A large pen with no visible fence – but one that held him captive all the same – a captive of his heart – or maybe his soul – or whatever part of his kelvic nature had been bound so strongly to Tarn. The day before, he had stood mute while Tarn turned for a final time and walked away. Xnnn’s instincts were at war with each other – loyalty and a deep seated need to stay with the human compelled him to follow Tarn. Duty and obedience told him to stay behind, as Tarn had told him to, despite the fact that the command made absolutely no sense, to Xnnn. So, he had simply stood, watching Tarn grow smaller as he walked towards the city, torn and confused and trying to decide which course to follow. Finally, the man was beyond even the Kelvic’s superior vision, and Xnnn looked away wistfully, back over his shoulder and the road that would lead him to the hills and beyond. Several times, his head swiveled, forward . . . back – forward . . . back. To freedom, or to servitude – even though the man no longer wanted or needed him. One or two passers by made a derisive or questioning comment to the naked man as he stood like the village idiot, as if he was rooted to the earth. Xnnn paid them no heed. One last look towards the city, and Xnnn had sighed, turned, and began walking back in the direction from which he and Tarn had traveled that morning. It had taken several hours. His state of being unclothed seemed to attract far too much attention. So, even though that was exactly the issue he was attempting to address, it took a while. Knowing it was unlikely that he would be able to procure any garments whilst in cougar form, he kept to his human self and finally, with a quick snatch here and slipping into an untended cottage there, he had managed to find trousers that were too big in the waist and too short in the leg, a bit of twine, and a shirt that was snug but wearable. Footwear was totally bypassed as Xnnn had never worn shoes or boots in his entire life. With his slightly odd ensemble on, he returned to the road and walked the relatively short distance to the city gates, his heart pounding. Right or wrong, he did not know what else to do. Tarn belonged to him now, or vice versa, he wasn’t exactly sure how that went. Tarn might not know it, but Xnnn was his and the Kelvic was determined to find the man. Not to press his case to him again – Xnnn realized that Tarn’s mind was made up, for now. But Xnnn, like most animals, was patient to an extreme. How many times in the past months had he crouched motionless, sometimes for hours, waiting for prey? This would be no different. He would enter the city. He would locate Tarn. And he would wait, until Tarn realized that Xnnn was supposed to be there, at his side. Just how that epiphany would come about, Xnnn had no idea – nor did he worry about it. He just needed to find Tarn, and shadow him, and somehow it would all come right. As he had entered the city, he was both glad and dismayed that he was in his weaker form. He despised being so vulnerable. But he had enough smarts to see that a cougar would have attracted far too much attention. As it was, he was, for the most part, invisible – just one of many milling about the gates. His outfit got a few odd stares and a comment or two, but largely, in a city of misfits, he fit right in. That Xnnn had never been in a city before was quite obvious from the inherent belief that he had that it would be relatively easy to find Tarn. He soon came to understand how mistaken that belief was – though it did not deter him in the least from his plan. He quickly realized that the overpowering mixture of smells would have defeated even his feline olfactory system, in terms of trying to find that one odor that was now so familiar, amongst this haystack – or dung heap – of a hundred thousand other smells. So he had wandered about, randomly, taking in the sights, trying to avoid being noticed, and constructing a mental map of the layout of the city, based in sound, smell, taste and sight. In his human form, he was limited. But once the sun set, he found a place to stash his few garments, and shifted to cat form. The abundance of stray mongrels roaming the streets and alleys of Sunberth provided him with an easy meal. As he finished, he rose and spent the night slinking through the shadows, his great cougar eyes seeing much more than a human’s, and his nose twitching with every new scent. Somewhere - Tarn was somewhere – amongst all this confusion of sensory over stimulation. And Xnnn was determined to find him, no matter how long it took. Eventually though, sensing the coming dawn, Xnnn had returned to where he had dumped his clothes, curled up in a hidden spot nearby, and slept, in cat form. From sunup to dusk, he had slumbered, undetected, though his sleep was fitful and uneasy. There was too much going on around him, too much going on his head, too much emptiness inside, for him to relax. As the sun set for the second time since his arrival in the noisome place, he woke more fully, and waited. When it was full dark, he would go out and stealthily scour the city once more. Well before the man entered the narrow alley, Xnnn was aware of his approach. Expecting the footfalls to go right on past the entrance to where he was hidden, as so many had already done in the past twelve hours or so, Xnnn became slightly alarmed as they paused and then turned. The human – or humanesque – creature was heading towards him, walking in a tentative way, based on the pause and catch of his footsteps. Xnnn, curled up inside an old crate, froze. There was very little in the alley to attract anyone’s attention, or desires. Why was this person here? Should he shift – would his human form be safer? His clothes were at hand, but surely if he shifted and dressed, the man would hear him. Perhaps it would be better to remain motionless and the human would go away. What did he want, anyway? There was nothing here . . . The footsteps just kept getting closer and closer, though it seemed the human - or humanoid, for the thing had an odd overtone to its scent – must be looking for something, or someone. For he walked slowly and slightly at random, with no even pace. Xnnn’ ears told him the guy was no more than a few meters away. Too late to do anything but stay hidden and hope that he would go undetected. Closer came the steps. Surely, surely, the man had no idea that the Kelvic was crouched inside the crate. Surely, he could not possibly mean Xnnn any harm. With his instinct for self-preservation leaping up to beat down his instinct to be servile to humans, Xnnn felt his heart constrict. The man was right on top of him . . . Literally! The pain in his tail was by far not the worst that Xnnn had ever experienced. In fact, it was mild compared to some of what Shade had put him through, or the wounds inflicted on him in the wilds. But it was unexpected. Having no idea why the human thing was attacking him – and why, of all places, his tail – Xnnn leapt from the box, snarling and let out a blood curdling yowl, as only a big cat can. With lips pulled back from ivory fangs that glistened in the darkness of the alley, his paw came up, claws out, ready to strike down his assailant.

[Lyth]

There was a sickening moment when all his thoughts just ceased, and the deafening roar filled his mind. Lyth felt his heart drop into his stomach, abandoning his search for a way up to turn and see what exactly was making that sound. Most intelligent humans would have taken off running, not caring what it was that threatened them, only worried about self-preservation. The half-blood seemed to have a bad habit of running head first into situations that he would be better off avoiding. Suffice to say, Lyth had not been expecting a wild cougar. They lived in more mountainous regions, and there was no chance that one would come to a city like Sunberth. And yet, here he was, staring wide eyed into the snarling jaws of a wild beast. It seemed as though he was standing there forever, locked in place by the fear that wrapped itself around his heart. It wasn't until the claws flashed in the dim lift that he was broken out of his stupor, stumbling backwards just as the cougar swiped at where he had been moments before. Lyth's back hit the cool wall of the alley, staring wide eyed and slack jawed at the wild cat, wishing dearly that he was able to scale walls. He inched his way slowly along the wall, never taking his eyes off the cougar. By instinct, his hand reached for his dagger, fingers brushing the handle. "O-Okay Mr. Cat, just..calm down.." He didn't know why he was talking to the beast, doubtful that the animal could understand him. He hand't felt this terrified in a long while, and never so worried about losing his life. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry..." Was he apologizing? That was new, though people were known to do unusual things when they were frightened. Lyth took a few steps back, finding himself pinned between a stack of crates, and the golden glare of the cougar. Maybe he should pray? Which goddess was it that ruled over nature?

[Xnnn]

After the initial shock and his instinctive reaction to it, Xnnn had time to better evaluate the situation. Being a large predatory cat with long, sharp claws and teeth gave one that advantage. At least it did when your potential adversary was underarmed and as frightened of you as you were of him. For at heart, Xnnn was frightened. The city had been an overwhelming, confusing experience for him. And though he had the might, the muscle, and the claws and teeth to rip humans to shreds, his very basic impulse was to serve and protect humans. He wasn’t out for blood – only self-preservation, until he could locate Tarn. That’s all he wanted. It wasn’t his fault this man had come along and stumbled upon his hiding place and then trampled on his tail. He just wanted to be left in peace. But he was beginning to see that Sunberth was not the type of place to find much of that commodity. The odd smelling human type person was speaking to him. From the half-ass apology, it was clear that he didn’t even realize that he had stepped on Xnnn. As it was obvious that the guy hadn’t been pursuing Xnnn – and in fact had had no idea that the cougar was even in the alley – the Kelvic relaxed a bit, though that probably wasn’t apparent to Lyth. But he had seen, too, that hand reaching for something, and Xnnn caught the smell of metal and knew the man was armed with something. He’d been jabbed with a knife before, and it hadn’t been pleasant. He had no wish for a repeat. Xnnn was conflicted, not wishing to harm the man if he didn’t have to, but also not wishing to be skewered. Perhaps . . . he could reason with the guy. Convince him that he meant no harm and ask him to just leave, nicely. But to do that, he’d have to shift, and that he was reluctant to do. Slowly, warily, Xnnn lowered his great paw and he ceased snarling. Even as Lyth had backed away, he too backed up a few paces, giving himself run to run if needed. One moment, there was a cougar – the next, a naked human stood, watching Lyth cautiously. “Don’t stab me, human. I don’t mean you harm.” Xnnn said in his strangely Zith-accented common. He raised his hands palms outward before him to show his peaceful intent. “You stepped on me. It hurt.” He didn’t take his eyes off the man but he tilted his head a bit, in the direction of the entrance to the alley. “You can go. I won’t hunt you. I ate yesterday. Dog.” For some reason a thought flashed through Xnnn’s head, and he added, “Do you know where Tarn is?”

[Lyth]

The large paw was lowered, the threat of being ripped in two by cougar claws diverted, for the moment. Lyth felt his heartbeat start to regain its usual rhythm, still very wary of the beast, but feeling less threatened by its presence. Perhaps it would just let him walk out, finding him not suitable enough for a meal. He doubted he'd taste very good, anyway. The half-blood thought he was in the clear when the cougar backed up, giving him the room he needed to leave. Before he could take the opportunity, however, there as a bright light that left him momentarily blind. When it died down, and he had blinked the spots out of his vision, Lyth was surprised to see not a cougar, but a man standing in front of him. For a moment, his mind couldn't process what had happened. Had he been seeing things? Had someone slipped something into his drink? People didn't just change from animal to man...Unless they were Kelvic. With that realization came immense relief, letting the tension leave his body. He raised his hands up in front of him, showing the other male that he wouldn't draw his weapon. The man spoke in broken Common, but it was easy enough to understand. "I won't hurt you." He affirmed, feeling a strange giddiness flow through him once the fear began to drain away. Despite himself, he felt his grin returning, stretching across his lips. "What are you doing? Walking around the city as a cougar!? Do you know what would happen if people actually decided to do something about you?" Lyth ran a hand through his pale hair, fixing his eyes on the Kelvic, narrowed in slight confusion. Who was Tarn? "No, I don't know a Tarn." He answered, frowning slightly. "Is he your..oh what's it called....bondmate?"

[Xnnn]

The humanoid was visibly relaxing and Xnnn’s still sensitive nose picked up the change in his scent as well, reinforcing the man’s claim that he had no more evil intent towards the Kelvic than Xnnn did towards Lyth. Lyth's semi-cautionary words were lost on Xnnn, however, once he had stated that he didn’t know Tarn. Disappointment washed over the Kelvic. The term Lyth used was an unfamiliar one. “No. Tarn is not my mate. Tarn is human.” Xnnn had almost added like you, but he knew that this individual was not quite human, not as Tarn was. “We came together, to the city. It’s where he was birthed. He told me to go away. But . . . I can’t. I need to find him. I’m supposed to be with him.” Xnnn was looking at Lyth expectantly, as if maybe he could wave his hand and suddenly – there Tarn would be. He knew some humans, and others, possessed magic skills. This one might. Maybe that would be a way to find Tarn. “Are you magic? Can you help me find him?” he asked, with a childlike willingness to believe anything. “I can’t pay you – I have nothing. But . . . would you help me anyway?” His voice was not pleading, it was very matter-of-fact – as if whatever answer Lyth gave, Xnnn would accept without further ado.

[Lyth]

Lyth felt the beginnings of frustration coming on. The language barrier between the two of them was difficult at times, and miscommunication was going to be likely. He just hoped he wouldn't say anything that the Kelvic would find offensive. Wouldn't want to have those claws turned on him again over a misunderstanding.

While he hadn't understood the half-blood's question, the kelvic had provided him with an answer all the same. He was already bonded, but his human had left him. Well, that cut a few options; pity, having a kelvic around might not have been such a bad situation.

Lyth almost laughed when the man asked him to find Tarn. For free. No one did anything for free in Sunberth; all favours took money. Or some other form of payment. The halfling stopped himself from saying no, thinking over his options. The kelvic couldn't pay him to find this Tarn, but maybe he could work with him until they found the man.

A slow smile touched the lips of the pale man. "I'm not magic, but I will help you find Tarn." He offered. With his work, they were bound to find the man eventually. Though hopefully not too soon. "But, I'm not doing it for free. If you want my help, you'll have to help me with my work."

[Xnnn]

Xnnn looked unblinking at the man. He understood that the man had said he would help find Tarn. But he had no idea how he would help the man in return. He had no skills, other than how to take care of human cattle – feeding them mostly, and then the butchering. Was that what Lyth meant? Or . . . perhaps, like Tarn, this person was unable to feed himself, and needed Xnnn to hunt for him. But the only thing to hunt here were dogs, or cats – or humans, if this guy ate humans like the Zith did. Xnnn had gotten the impression from Elymas and Tarn that humans didn’t eat one another, generally speaking. Maybe that was the peculiar undercurrent of scent that came from his new acquaintance – perhaps he was part something that did hunt humans. That would make sense. “I don’t know what work you do.” Xnnn said slowly. “But I will help you, if I can. I can hunt, and I can take care of humans for you, if that’s what you need. I know the easiest way to kill them.” He shrugged, not knowing what else he could offer. “Would that help? Would that be enough for you to help me find my human?”