Escape from the Fog (Solo)

[Asha]

Time Stamp: 35 Spring, 512 AV


Asha sat on the floor of her father’s home, leaning heavily against the wall. She sighed heavily and her lip protruded out moodily. Asha felt restless and bored cooped up in the house, but outside she feared the aggressive inclinations of her neighbors that she could not understand. Her mother, Subira, sat at the opposite end of the living space, sifting through a bowl of dried fruits and picking out pieces of bark and dirt that had fallen in. Asha’s relationship with her mother had been strained as of late, they had not spoken in earnest for a long while and usually kept a significant physical space between them. She loved her mother desperately yet she often felt filled with irritation and annoyance when in her presence. Subira seemed to feel similarly and often scolded her for minor infractions and seemed agitated whenever a male presence approached them. It was worst when Asha’s father was around; his presence seemed to ignite arguments and agitation among his wives and children. Luckily that morning her father and other family members were away from home, leaving only Asha and Subira in a troubled silence.

Asha couldn’t understand what was happening to drive her family to such strange behavior, but she knew they weren’t the only ones affected. All of their neighbors seemed just as agitated as they were and rumors circulated wildly as to the cause. Asha shifted her weight and turned to watch her mother pick through the bowl of dried fruit she would serve for dinner. The cold weather and general lack of central management had caused the city’s food supplies to diminish rapidly, and Asha’s family had been living on dried fruits and insects for over a week. They were by no means starving, but Asha longed to sink her teeth into a crisp apple. Even some fresh fish from the river would be welcome, and Asha did not usually care for fish. Subira looked up as her daughter sighed again, her eyes narrowed in irritation. Her patience seemed to win out and she turned her gaze back to the work at hand.

[Asha]

Asha heard a faint snuffling sound coming through the doorway and turned her head towards it quizzically. A faint growl rumbled out of her mother’s throat, a sound that seemed strange and out of place for the typically peaceful woman. The snuffling grew louder and as a large shadow filled the doorway Asha’s heart was touched by tendrils of suspenseful dread. A large Jamoura male took the place of the shadow, the source of the snuffling revealed. Asha recognized the male as the son of a neighbor, the male was perhaps a century or so older than her. A growl ripped out of the male’s throat and he leaned towards Asha, sniffing at her body. Subira leapt to her feet and the forgotten clay bowl went flying to shatter against the wall.

“Begone! Get out of my home!” Subira shouted in Jamouran grunts. Asha stared strangely at her mother as the rough grunts and hoots emerged from her lovely mother’s mouth. Common speech forgotten in her anger she had succumbed to the native speech of their people. The male turned towards Subira and growled at her, hints of a snarl creeping into his voice. The male stood up straight to expose his full height and beat a fist on his chest once, trying to show dominance over the women. Asha noted that the male was quite large, though certainly not as large as her massive father. The male was rather youthful and dashing in appearance Asha thought. She shook her head a moment to clear the thoughts from her mind, strange that she could size up the attractiveness of a male who was threatening her family.

“Stay out of this woman!” The male rumbled back in a slur of Common and Jamouran. He turned back towards Asha and reached out a hand to grab at her. Asha quickly scooted a few paces away from him and kicked a leg at his hand. The male grabbed her leg and Asha let out a squeal of terror as she tried to free her leg. Subira covered the space to the male in two large strides. The male immediately dropped Asha’s leg as he became aware of the rage and violence swirling in Subira’s eyes. Subira opened her mouth and emitted one of the most massive roars Asha had ever heard before placing both of her hands on the male’s chest and pushing him out of the doorway with all of her strength. The wall obscured Asha’s vision of what happened to the male after that, but her mother stood in the doorway and roared another minute before turning back to her, the male apparently having left.

Asha was startled to see that Subira’s rage had cooled only slightly as she looked upon her only daughter. Asha felt fear curl around her heart and she froze in indecision. She had no idea what her mother might do, or why she was so upset with her. It made no sense, but then again nothing did these days. Subira turned away from Asha and paced the floor a few times, her shoulders heaving as she attempted to breathe deeply and calm her fury. She stopped at the far end of the room before turning to face Asha. Asha had never before seen the mask of contempt and disdain that her mother now wore, and was startled to realize that it was directed solely at her.

[Asha]

”I am a wife of this household. You are not!” Subira spit the words at her and Asha lowered her eyebrows in confusion. What could her mother possibly mean? Of course she was a wife that was clearly obvious to Asha.

“Of course you are, I don’t understand what you…” Asha’s voice was barely above a whisper as she replied. She felt immensely confused and mildly hurt by the way her mother was treating her.

“You are trouble! You bring strange males into my home!” Subira threw out the accusation and Asha felt indignation well up in her chest. It wasn’t like she asked for that male to come and attack her, she had no idea what he wanted. It wasn’t her fault and she couldn’t understand why her mother was blaming her for it.

“I didn’t ask that ape to come here, you know that. I didn’t do anything wrong! I don’t even know what he wanted!” Asha spat back, half of her words hoots and grunts. She rose to her feet and crossed her arms around her chest. The two women stood facing each other for a few moments as silence passed and the tension rose higher.

“He wanted YOU, you dullard. I am the wife of this house, not you! Go be wife elsewhere! My home! You bring trouble here!” Subira’s rage grew as she spoke, her grammar disintegrating and some of words were replaced with Jamouran grunts. The concept clicked in Asha’s head and she realized that the male had come for her to claim her as a mate. Asha had never much been interested in the opposite sex and the realization made her feel embarrassed in her innocent ignorance.

“It’s not my fault! And I know you are the wife here, don’t forget that you are my mother as well! If you knew me as well as I thought you did you would know that I’m not causing trouble.” Asha half-yelled half-hooted at her mother and she felt tears well up in her eyes. Confusion and anger blended together into a strange combination she had no experience with. Subira merely growled in reply and struck her fist against the nearby wall in agitation. To Asha’s shame she felt a tear roll down her cheek and soak into the fur at her neck. She had not cried in front of her mother since she was a small girl, and knowing that her mother would offer her no comfort made the feeling even worse.

“Fine then! If you really think I’m going to bring you trouble!” Asha flung the words into the air and turned towards the door. She turned her head towards her mother, waiting to see if she would try to stop her and comfort her with sweet words as Asha wished she would. But Subira did nothing, she stood and watched her daughter leave in stony silence. Asha walked the few paces to the doorway and left the home before breaking into an ungainly run, tears dripping down her cheeks.

[Asha]

Asha’s family home rested on the Petal of the Watching Owl, and she ran to the edge of the petal before stopping to breathe heavily. Running was tiresome, particularly for a large creature like a Jamoura. She didn’t know where to go or what to do, all she knew is that she wanted to leave. Heavy rolls of sorrow and anger rolled through her chest in deep waves, almost overwhelming her. Over the past two weeks she had begun to feel her emotions on an intensity that she had never experienced before, and she didn’t know how to handle them. Sobs wracked her chest and she tried to put the image of her silent mother out of her mind. She would have to deal with that sorrow later. She had to leave, and leave now. The Spires hardly felt like home anymore, and waiting for things to go back to normal had thus far proven ineffective. She didn’t know where she would go, but that wouldn’t stop her now.

Asha spun as she heard a growl from behind her. It was that male again, he must have waited and watched her run away from her home. Asha suddenly felt alone and afraid. Her mother may had been upset with her, but she had protected her child from this male’s advances nonetheless. Now Asha was alone, and there was no one to protect her. The shock of aloneness hit the collectivist Jamoura hard and rough, the concept of her singularity was almost more painful than the burning last image of her mother. The male advanced a step and growled again, waiting to see if Asha would be aggressive or give in to his advances. Asha stepped back and felt the edge of the petal with her heel. She couldn’t face this male, he was too big and she was too scared. Escape was the only option. As the male paced forward again, Asha inhaled deeply and spread her arms out wide. Swallowing back her fear, she leaned back until she dropped over the edge of the petal. Asha heard the male roar in frustration as she disappeared from view.

Asha had not fallen off of a petal since she was very, very young and she had forgotten the sensation of freefalling that long, long distance to the safety nets below. The wind whistled through her fur, and she could see only the bottom of the petal and tree branches receding as she fell belly-up. The fall seemed to last forever, and Asha’s thoughts were suspended as she fell, unable to think or cognize in the unnatural descent. When the eternity ended a few moments after she dropped off the edge Asha landed on the rough safety nets below and the breath whooshed out of her chest. Asha lay back on the nets and closed her eyes, simply breathing a few moments as she relished the security of something solid beneath her body. Opening her eyes, she flipped over and crawled to a nearby tree that the nets were connected to. Stepping onto the slugsuckle stairs, she descended the last distance to the ground safely.

[Asha]

Standing on the floor of the forest, Asha was unsure what to do with herself. Where should she go? Where could she go? With little direction and even less resolution she simply started walking. She didn’t know where she might be headed, but it was better than being back there. Step after step she began to feel more confident with her decision. She wasn’t in a much safer situation, but at least she was doing something. The restlessness of waiting around the Spires and hoping for a return to sanity had been torturous and she felt relieved to just be walking somewhere, anywhere.

The time alone in quiet gave her time to think about the way she had left her mother. The thought brought on those strong emotions again, and Asha had to stop more than once to weep in sorrow, huddled amongst tree roots for safety. She hadn’t even said goodbye to her other family members before leaving. She didn’t know what would become of them, but she hoped they would understand her decision to leave. Asha eventually came to the realization that her mother wasn’t truly mad at her, she was just scared. Scared and threatened by Asha’s sexual maturity and the implications of it in the chaos that was the Spires. Asha was dangerous for her family. That male had not been the first to sniff strangely at her recently, but he had been the most forward thus far. It was not unreasonable to imagine that as time went on things would only get worse and the males would only get more aggressive and bring violence into her family's home. Clearly there was something wrong with the residents of the Spires, the only question was what that was. Her mother was obviously affected and thankfully, or perhaps hopefully, was not in her right mind when she raged at Asha. Despite their heated exchange earlier Asha still loved her mother dearly, and wished that a solution could be found so they could be reunited in peace again.

A bell into her walk Asha heard twigs breaking and the gentle padding of feet. Turning quickly to scan the area for safe shelter, she spotted an indent in the ground between two protruding tree roots. Asha hurriedly sat in the indent and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Asha quickly examined the tree bark at her back to lock the exact shade into her mind. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the deep red of the bloodwood tree bark. Red, red, red she thought. Without opening her eyes, she knew that her fur had shifted to match shades with the bloodwood bark at her back. She kept her eyes closed tightly; she could not afford the movement breaking her concentration and thus her camouflage. Asha stayed perfectly still as the tread of feet drew closer and closer. The creature causing the noises passed within ten feet of her hiding place but continued on without noticing her. Between her natural camouflage abilities and the thick rolls of fog weaving throughout the trees she was had managed to stay hidden from whatever had approached her. Once the pad of feet sounded distant enough, Asha cracked her eyes open to see what kind of creature had caused her worry. She giggled in relief as she saw a bobcat fading into the distant fog. Her hold on her camouflage broken, she stood to continue her journey. She felt absolutely silly having been so worried about a little bobcat, but it was always better safe than sorry she knew. And at least the little scenario had given her reprieve from the swirling thoughts of her family and the condition of the Spires. With a sigh of resignation she continued walking.

Asha walked for another bell, banks of fog rolled around her stuck damply to her thick, black fur. She had begun to feel wildly frustrated and had a sinking feeling that she had walked in circles a few times, having passed by oddly familiar rock formations. The Jamoura woman wondered when it would end, when suddenly she walked out of it. She took a few steps before noticing the lack of fog and then turned to look behind her. The bank of fog rolled thickly through the trees as far back as she could see, but here it stopped. The fog had been a presence in her life for weeks now, and the sudden lack of it was strange and alarming. Now that she outside of it, she began to question the naturalness of it. Before she could think about the fog further, she heard a throat clear behind her.

[Asha]

Asha whirled around, dreading what she might find behind her. Bobcats certainly couldn’t clear their throats. She was met with the sight of two large Jamoura holding staffs, members of the Hahk’Shatara. The two gazed at her silently for a moment, sizing her up and trying to glean any information her body language might be able to convey.

“Did you just come from the city?” One asked firmly but not unkindly. Asha nodded quietly and gripped her left elbow with her right hand nervously. Where had they come from? Why were they here? Why weren’t the Hahk’Shatara back in the Spires bringing peace to their people? A thousand questions rolled through Asha’s mind and the sharp sting of confusion rose up in her chest again and coalesced into irritation. One of the males noticed her shoulders become more rigid as she became more irritated and gripped his staff more firmly.

“You will have to come with us. All those who come from the city must be quarantined for observation and safety. You will be placed in a cage until we deem you safe enough to be let out. Please comply peacefully. Come with us.” The other male said and took a step back, motioning for Asha to follow. It annoyed her how these males suddenly showed up and started ordering her around. She had grown up to always respect the authority of the Hahk’Shatara, but at the moment she was confused and angry with them. She wanted answers and she wanted them to return immediately to the Spires and keep her family safe.

“Why? Why should I be caged? I’ve done nothing wrong!” Asha said, a little more loudly then she meant to. A couple of her words were grunted in the old Jamoura fashion and felt rough in her throat. She stamped her foot in irritation and glared sullenly at the staff wielding Jamoura. The two males exchanged looks.

“All will be explained in due time. We are only going to quarantine you for the safety of yourself and others. All who come from the city are sick and becoming out of control. We do not wish to harm you. Marn has set up a camp not far from here for all residents who have fled the city. It is safe there, we wish to take you there. You must understand that you are sick and need to be quarantined. This is the last time I will ask you to follow us. If you refuse, we shall force you.” The first male intoned again, this time his voice was quiet but hard. Asha knew he meant what he said, and she had no desire to be handled roughly. She tried her best to swallow down her irritation and nodded her acceptance.

Asha followed the first male as the second male walked behind to keep an eye on her. Questions swirled through her mind but she kept silent, she was too annoyed with the Hahk’Shatara to speak with them. They walked quickly for a bell before they crested a small hill bringing the Base Camp came into view. Roughly built structures and milling people brought the glitter of tears to Asha’s eyes. Safety. She had not felt truly safe in a long time. The relief of safety and an end to walking aimlessly in the foggy woods washed over Asha and she trembled as she tried to keep the strong emotions from overwhelming her. Here she might find safety and perhaps even a few answers to the questions bombarding her mind. Her family was not far from her thoughts, she had already forgiven her mother and longed for the comfort of her embrace again. Clearly there was something wrong with Subira, and Asha would not hold her strange behavior against her. She knew that somehow she would have to do something for them, but for now she must think of herself and trying to return to normalcy.

[Creeper]

Skills Detection: 2 Observation: 2 Unarmed Combat: 1 Persuasion: 1 Intimidation: 1 Running: 1 Escape Artist: 1 Camouflage: 1 Wilderness Survival: 1 Interrogation: 1   Lores Aggressive Jamoura Male Mating Rituals Escape Artist: Using the City Nets to Flee Nagging Thought: Will My Family Be Okay? Geography: Paths From The Spires to Basecamp   Other A note concerning Jamoura's Camouflage Ability: The actual ability is totally automatic, and requires no thought on the part of the Jamoura. This only works when away from civilization, and not only adjusts their fur, but also makes them impossible to detect by smell. It's not a problem in your thread, I just wanted you to know how it works. Well done! One of the most enjoyable threads I've read in The Spires! Keep up the good work!