Uncertainty's hold, West of Ravok(Open)

[Osaleni]

91st day, Spring 512 AV.

For those who might try and imagine, it was without merit and so nothing had yet sought to. Taken as her usual form, humanoid in guise and beauty to surprise her form almost glided across the scape of the wilds. Not tall but fair and light of skin, pale almost, with black hair and eyes to rile any she approached. Her red cloak hugged her loosely just as her dress beneath kept her warmer than most enjoyed. The dhani traveler enjoyed the almost redundent heat. She was no human, though her guise and mannerisms would show otherwise.

Her eyes drifting as the currents of air changed in her surroundings another figure appeared within her pupils reflection. Saivone Masaiken was the figure's name, a man, her companion, her slave. Allowing him a brief smile she turned away and trudged forwards. Each footfall bringing her ever closer to her destination, Ravok. She had heard much of the city some things pleasant...many other things less so. She knew she'd have to be on her guard and not reveal her true nature, otherwise there'd be trouble that she didn't particularly want.

Even with this issue evident in her mind she moved on but then she swore she felt something and so she stopped walking and frowned a bit. Glancing about she eventually shrugged and continued, nothing. If only a couple moments later it happened again as the air currents shifted and her tongue darted from her mouth to taste the air, a habit she had developed and was working on. The taste was familiar but she couldn't seem to identify it, what she did know is that it was unlikely to be friendly. She stopped again, this time glancing to Saivone "Saivone...check for tracks." Unlike her usual playfullness she was quite serious, almost threatened, predatory even.

[Masaiken]

91st day, Spring 512 AV

Having been traveling for some time now since last night, Saivone Masaiken was beginning to feel rather warmed up-- not to mention the sunlight peeking through the canopy helped matters. It was becoming cooler now, he had noticed. It didn't bother him too much, but he was worried for his master's safety and comfort-- a cold Dhani was a sleepy one. He did not want to have to carry her again-- despite her small, dainty frame, the idea of extra body weight, no matter how soft, on top of his backpack and haversack wasn't a thrilling one. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as his master stopped and assessed their whereabouts.

Saivone had already been tracking as they traveled-- a pastime he took up to starve off boredom; however, it often helped him be quick to the task whenever she decided she was hungry and ordered him to fetch her a snack. As of late, she hadn't been interested in hunting or even taking the killing blow-- he wondered if she was becoming sick again. At least, according to that last guide, they would both be very close to this place... this Ravok, wasn't it? Odd name. He didn't like how it rolled off his tongue. Speaking of tongues... a meaningless flick of hisses and other sibilant noises caught his ears.

The Kalanue slave perked up, his eyelashed black eyes peeking out from under his dark coat's patched-on hood. They weren't meaningless to him-- having been Osaleni's slave for 9 years, Saivone had become quite fluent in the Dhani snake-tongue, albeit he never spoke it out of respect for her. Of course, he wasn't even sure if she cared-- it was funny to him how he tended to do things like that; forcing his choices and deeds through a filter based on interpreting how others perceived him.

"Yes," he smiled gently, speaking quietly in common in case someone was watching or listening for them.

He did not dare call her by her name or proper title-- an action not formed from disrespect, but caution. Information, he had learned, was power, and there was no need to volunteer tidbits of power to eavesdroppers, their intentions be damned for all he cared. He paused, leaning his weight onto his left leg. Standing about 10-ft from his master, Saivone subtly maneuver his hands at his sides, their palms outward and fingertips drinking in the air currents. He could feel various things-- critters, grub, creepy crawlers, and the like-- breathing in the river of air around him, slipping and crawling past what he called dead rocks. These were trees, boulders, and other things that tend to choke out his readings.

That was the first step-- next, he let his half-shut eyes open fully, so as to not cloud his vision. Saivone was careful with his eyes-- he absolutely hated dust and other irritants that stung the windows to his damned soul. He ventured close to her and slipped off his backpack and haversack, placing them quietly at her feet. He was essentially using her as bait, but it was not against her will-- not all bait was harmless, after all.

Then, ever more cautiously, his feet as slick as a wolf's paws, he darted off the designated trail to Osaleni's right-- it was an old trail, noted by its hardly beaten but noticeable brush. He had suggested taking it in lieu of the more common paths encountered earlier in their travels eastward-- it had been his understanding that although traders use those paths for ease of travel, so did hungry, conniving bandits.

After a few moments, he emerged with his blowpipe in hand, his right hand holding the center of the 4-ft long weapon, whilst his left hand, steady as unfractured ice, at the mouth, which rested on his left cheek. A 8-inch long needle, eager for a sip of blood, protruded halfway out the weapon's mouth. About 10-yards ahead of his master's right, he signaled her with a subtle nod and retreated back into the shroud of the wilderness. He was now doubling back, looking for tracks that indicated flanking movement and a signs of an ambush gathering. Of course, he found none, but it was an overall healthier paradigm to be safer rather than sorrier.

Coming up behind her, about 15-yards away, his lean, muscular body jogging with power, he stopped, about 5 yards from her and nodded again. "It is fine, master," he assured in common tongue.

He hoped so anyway-- he kept his blowpipe armed as he shouldered his two packs and waited for her to lead the way once again. A bead of sweat slipped down his forehead and danced off of his nose. It had been some time since he had been able to take a run-- it was his favorite form of fitness, but lately it hadn't been an ideal pastime to pursue, what, with the various tracks of monsters that he had sadly observed.

"We should get more supplies in this Raavawk place," he added, glancing at his right, and then clarifying, "we've run out of medicine and other physical aides."

[Osaleni]

91st day, Spring 512 AV.

The boy, far taller than she, stalked and slinked his way round and moved with the silence of a cat and senses to suit. She had to smile slightly as she watched him, sensed him, and knew him to be executing the best of his crafts. Tracking was his forte, likely his most developed of talents and she appreciated it greatly. Though she seldom said so it was true that many a time she, and by extension him, wouldn't have eaten for a lengthy period without his tracking skills.

Many a creature had fallen prey to their joint tactics and her natural skill in hunting. It made her shiver as he rounded back, her senses piqued while he left her side to not be taken as surprised. No beast would catch her unawares, not while she remained more vigilant than the mountains she had heard tell of. For how could one escape the view of a mountain? It was as impossible as evading a god, especially those such as Caiyha and Siku, the goddesses of her kind.

His voice whispered into her thoughts and floated a moment before she nodded and the tightness in her muscles was allowed to slacken. She took a step forwards and turned looking him over with a slight smile breaking out on the right side of her mouth. "Good" she said simply and then glanced away looking to their destination and then turning her eyes again in the direction of her true goal, Sahova. Her smile seemed to slacken as her muscles did but her eyes, multihued as they were, bristled with liveliness hidden from the gaze of any. Saivone had never dared look to her eyes, though admittedly she was glad for this. Many men could not withstand her and became crazed by the sight of the strange jewels that lay so elegantly in her face.

Her tongue flitting out slightly and with one more sniff of the air she looked again to her slave as he spoke. "Yes...I intend to," her voice held a kind of determination that was rare, she had learned "come. We need to find shelter before nightfall." Again her eyes lifted to see the sky and she laughed moving along the path once more, things would go well. Maybe she would not have to worry...or maybe she would, she could not tell the fates, Lehx was too crafty and whimsical for that. Her laugh resounded louder and then she cleared her throat and silence resumed. "What do you think of these lands Saivone?" she would question the boy, she found amusement in his musings and wondered how he'd respond to her questionoing.

[Masaiken]

91st day, Spring 512 AV

Saivone caught his master's smile-- again. She seemed to be smiling more and more lately, in general and at him. He wasn't too sure why this was, considering the temperature's cooldown-- it was his understanding that Dhani, from constrictor to viper, were quite irritable in such climates. He had been mentally preparing himself for any abrupt lashing outs.

Perhaps Osaleni was simply putting on a show for him, for his sake. If she was, he didn't know why she felt it prudent to do so. He adjusted his bacpack, thinking he was over-analyzing things again. He knew he was prone to such behavior whenever he was nervous. He didn't like these woods.

He grunted at her encouragement to find shelter, though he did not share in her laughter-- merely glanced up, with a scowl for the stars. He found no solace in the stars or the whimsical interpretation he had overheard others peddle out for a gold miza or two. Her question then prompted him, steering his brooding mind clear of continued hating toward such crooked thieves.

Walking besides her now, Saivone looked ahead as he talked, his tired dark eyes scouring for a suitable spot to set up camp. "I don't like these woods, master-- it makes my skin crawl like ants."

He hoped that was a sufficient answer for her. His right hand reached back behind him, hunting into his haversack for a waterskin. Bringing it before his eyes, he realized, even in the darkening sky committing into dusk, that it was the big one-- the family heirloom. Well, probably. He knew it was of tribal Kalanue craft, but whether or not it belonged to his family was another case. One that he felt no hope in being able to solve. Not without returning...

He shook the burning ember of a thought from his miserable mind.

Sighing, Saivone allowed his distraction to overwhelm him, effectively ruining the quality of their campsite. There were dead trees around that could fall. A small boulder on an incline could roll down onto the spot. There were bugs. The slave failed to notice these things.

"How about this spot, master?" he asked Osaleni, staring at the ground.

He tugged slightly at his worn-out pants-- a call from nature upon his bowels. His face, strained a little, nevertheless appeared adamant to wait on his master's reply. Of course, the last time he did this, he actually waited too long as he listened to her. The smell had been a most unholy monstrosity-- and after cleaning himself, his master felt it was necessary to beat him with a stick until he learned to go when he needed to go.

Obviously, the stick had screwed up his memory, too.

[Aoife]

91st Day Spring 512AD

Aoife rolled back onto the balls of her feet in a lithe crouch as she waited for the boar to come closer to the tree that she had chosen to watch from, with the lack of humans nearby she would have to settle for boar meat or starve to death, something she wasn't really fond of. Slowly and cautiously she reached behind to the ties that held her leather harness that secured her two spears- one short, one long- to her back before untying and settling in a comfortable stance with her short spear.

The boar came crashing closer through the undergrowth, nearly into her range and so Aoife signalled Chrism, her hawk, to go and distract the creature and startle it which would give her an easy target. She shivered slightly and cursed herself for only bringing a tunic on her travels, she had forgotten how cold it could be away from Taloba and adjusted her grip on the spear shaft.

She watched with keen eyes as Chrism flew close to the boar and passed quickly in front of it's face, to Aoife's chagrined surprise, instead of flinching momentarily as the beasts usually do it squealed and took off in another direction. Growling under her breath she dropped soundessly to the thich undergrowth and followed the glorified pig at a sprint, it wasn't hard, the pathetic beast left such an obvious trail. She ran past a flash of something strange, it might have been skin but she disregarded that thought as she crashed carelessly after the creature.

As it came into her vision she slowed her run down momentarily in order to adjust her grip on the spear to move it into her right hand which would make it easier or her to throw. As she threw the spear she exhaled to staedy her arm and slowed down when she saw that the boar was impaled and blood stained the green of the wilderlands. Aoife let a smile play onto her lips and cried aloud for a short second at her victory. she pulled out her spear, with some difficulty, and cleaned it before it joined it's sister in the harness. Reaching to her thigh she pulled out her dagger and began to skin the dead boar, already smelling the sweet flesh cooking in her mind.

[Osaleni]

NoticeThis post is to finish up loose ends with a character who's player was permanently banned from the site. If this is somehow in violation of the rules please notify me so I can change what it is needed.

91st day, Spring 512 AV.

Frowning slightly as he picked such a dismal location but she shrugged and waved him off to go pass whatever bodily process he needed to excrete. She glanced about finding the scenery of the forest and the path to be...dangerous. As if to afirm this believe a score of sounds reached her ears and she stood stalk still waiting until, out burst a boar and after it a woman. A blur in her movements, fine tuned, a hunter surely, she chased the beast. Osaleni's eyes narrowed, maybe they had been followed...he must have missed something. She would slap him later and as he returned from his indulgences with nature she looked at him fiercely. "It appearsss, that you misssed ssomeone you dolt!" it came out in an angry hiss and she quickly took off to avoid a fight.

As Saivone and his master turned around a bend, they had to navigate a narrow path between the river bank and the large river to their left. It was a deep one that stretched perhaps 30 ft across-- there were many large rocks over which the speedy, rushing water traveled. Saivone was helping Osaleni watch her step when he suddenly slipped himself and landed headfirst in the water. There was a loud crack and a spray of blood that instantly colored the river crimson. His backpack had fallen off of him, landing just near the river's edge.

And this was the unfortunate end of Saivone Masaiken, Kalanue slave of the Dhani rattler Osaleni. He served her with faith and strength for 9 years and despite his skill in wilderness survival, the wilderness was nevertheless treacherous to all that traversed its many pathways. There were no gaurantees. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that despite her slave's untimely death, he was able to help her travel close enough to Ravok-- the Docks were only a mile away.
- - - - -
Even as she noticed his fall Osaleni attempted to turn and catch him only to slip and almost hurt herself as well. She caught herself before this happened only to see the blood taint the water and her own features become so much less serene as well. The last thing she had said to him had been of implied insult. A frown first creased her face and then a look of intense sadness only for her to bite her lip roughly and almost draw blood. Her jaw clenching she realized this must have been the hunter's fault, that person had followed them and spooked them enough to flee into this very situation. Osaleni would not tolerate it, and even though her common sense would tell her not to fight the individual, she now wanted to if not only to avenge Saivone in some indirect way.

First however, she needed to move, bury, or hide him. The scent of blood would surely attract a fair amount of dangerous predators. Of course, she was forced to drag his body out of the water and extract his possessions, that which she needed and could carry, and store them on her own person instead of his. As she got him on dry earth and did so she ended up brushing some of his hair from his face to see his now distant dulled eyes tare upwards into nothingness.

A gut wrenching pull came in her chest and stomach and she turned and wretched what little was in her stomach. She had just missed his body and she felt wetness on her face, was she...crying? She did not remember the first time she had cried, if at all, had she even done so before? It made her angrier with herself and blindly towards the hunter who she now believed had caused this whole catastrophe. She could not bare to leave him here and burying him would take too long. So instead, she decided, she would burn him.

Finding fire would she quickly assembled a pyre, not all that large, but hopefully just sufficient enough for his body. Each stick piled onto the construction made her nothing but pained and each movement weighed down on her like the sky if it had weight. Finally, after around 15 minutes had passed it was ready and she was able to light it with some difficulty, his body already upon it. She watched in desperation as the body began to burn and didn't even bother to plug her nose at the unpleasant scent. She felt it would be insulting and she found herself sitting on her knee's having almost collapsed from the ordeal. It would burn for a time and maybe it would attract more attention, maybe the hunter would notice, but she did not care and her common sense was dashed to the wind till she was able to retrieve it. He may have been a slave, but he had been with her for 9 years and she was finally able to fully admit that she had grown attached to him. She closed her eyes and muttered these words as the fires finished engulfing his form "...and to think, all you ever got from me was grief" tears fell, the fire burned on, and the world continued to go about its business...unchanged.

[Aoife]

Aoife had just finished packing away the hide and meat of the boar in her pack and was just trying to find a comfortable looking tree to crouch in and sharpen her dagger when her nostrils quivered with the smell of burning flesh, "fools" she thought "how stupid do you have to be to let your food burn." She pushed her way through the thick leafy undergrowth towards the smell, after about two minutes she saw the edge of a small clearing and nimbly lept into the lower branches of one of the trees near the edge. She saw a pyre instead of the cooking fire that she had expected and climbed higher into the tree so that she could check out the area.

She lay casually on a thick branch with one of her legs dangling down and pulled out her whetstone, drawing her dagger from its sheath she grimaced at the notches in the blade which she immediately ventured to fix. After about 5 minutes she called down to the figure that she could see in the clearing, "that's a waste of flesh y'know, that could've fed someone for a week at least."

A fly whizzed past her ear and she swatted at it, causing the wooden beads and bones in her hair to rattleominous sound if you couldn't see the source, while still drawing the whetstone across the blade, causing the metal to ring in the air.

[Osaleni]

NoticeMore loose ends being concluded. More or less I need her to move on as Aoife's last visit was May 30th, 2012...so I kinda assume that she's gone for now.

91st day, Spring 512 AV.

Sighing to herself as she watched pyre begin to dye down a voice called out, likely the hunter she'd seen prior to this tragedy. "that's a waste of flesh y'know, that could've fed someone for a week at least."

She lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes, using other senses to attempt at locating the hunter. She winced slightly, wiping the tears away gently and glancing up with a frown. That sounded like stone on metal, a grating sound almost. Frowning she fetched her things and turned away, noting where Ravok ought be by their former plans, the ones she had made with her companion. She missed him already.

Walking away and towards Ravok she called out simply, looking in the general direction of the voice and sounds, her senses better than most humans --though not so much as they'd be in her other two forms.

"Do not follow me, and if you do, leave me be, keep your disstance sstranger," there was a slight hiss to her tone, but it could be easily attributed to the emotion of annoyance and an emphasis on those sounds. With that, she turned away and continued walking, not daring to shift forms and make easier her journey. She did not deserve it, she'd walk the rest of the way, and she'd survive. For now she felt she had to live for two, herself and her...her dead companion.

He really had been wonderful, he really had. 'I wish you were here Saivone...I-I wish you were here....' it was her silent plea as she walked, a plea to go unanswered.

END

[Verilian]

. . Thread Grade Pending Greetings! This is just a notification that for one reason or another this thread cannot be graded. I have sent you PMs detailing why the thread can't be awarded. Once you respond to these PMs and correct whatever I have asked you to do, the thread will be graded. Thankyou, ~V