A Meeting of Beasts (Zareah & Nastarai)

by **Zareah** on June 14th, 2010, 4:44 pm

She pulled her knees up to her chest, folded her arms over them and rested her chin on her arms. She began to drift off, his voice was deep and monotonous, it blended in with the soft sounds of the river and forest and she was full. But then she heard something behind her and came fully awake, you didn’t survive long in the wilderness without learning to go straight from sleep to wakefulness at the first out-of-place sound.
"Someone's here. Can you smell it?"
“No but I heard it,” She replied as she dashed behind the man and peeked around him to see what the sound had been. A woman stood in a clearing behind them, frozen, her eyes wide with fear and clutching the reigns of a prancing horse, which the girl recognized as the source of the noise in the back of her mind.
In the dim the woman’s pale hair and skin seemed to glow like the moon, and her eyes were almost ice, with just the slightest hint of green.
The woman’s beauty frightened her as much as the wolfman’s masculinity had, too often she had watched beautiful things kill. She stepped back from him, if he had to fight she didn’t want to be in his way. If he has to fight… why am I so sure he won’t run and leave me? But she was sure, so she waited and watched with eyes glowing green out of the darkness.

by **Aiken** on June 14th, 2010, 7:45 pm

Aiken stood slowly, staring at the Konti woman. The yellow in his eyes had come out in the moonlight, drawing out the fierceness in his form. A low growl formed in his chest as his arms crossed over the thick pectoral muscles. He couldn't tell if she meant harm, and it didn't matter to him. She was invading on what was his territory now, plenty vulnerable.

But attacking wasn't something he was up for at the moment. The magic that let him shape shift had also left him weaker. That, combined with lack of a big kill for almost 3 days now, left him at a disadvantage. But he was intimidating enough, just standing as he was. His height alone left him almost a foot taller than the intruder, which gave him plenty of confidence towards his intimidating qualities.

by **Nastarai** on June 15th, 2010, 1:27 am

Nastarai tugged the reigns with her left hand, still panicked. Namali turned a bit, but continued to rear and buck. The gildling took off suddenly, Nastarai still clutching the reins. She was jerked forward several feet before she lost her grip and fell. Her head slammed into the ground and her suvai grazed across her shin. She turned over, groaning, and blinked as the world slipped away.

by **Aiken** on June 15th, 2010, 7:26 am

Aiken walked slowly towards her unconscious body, smelling the air constantly. She didn't look to be faking, but the weapon in her hands made the wolf-man edgy. He crawled forward on all fours, eying her carefully. She looked... almost human. But she had gills, and didn't smell like any human he knew. "She's not from here. I don't know what she is either."

He stood up, taking the dagger away from her and held it away from himself. He wasn't good with weapons, so he didn't want to end up stabbing himself. A few steps back made him feel safer about her, but he still didn't trust her not to attack him; he did seem to be overly threatening.

by **Zareah** on June 15th, 2010, 2:53 pm

Now that the woman had been safely approached and had her weapon removed, she was curious, she trotted forwards until she got to Aiken, she skittered away, because of the blade, and then inched up closer to the woman. She crouched above her head, ready to spring away, and sniffed her. She had been out here long enough to pick up a bit of the smell of the forest, but not much. Predominantly she smelled of horse, dead wood, and a lot of unrecognizable things. She had the smell of humans on her as well, but she was not herself, human. The woman’s own smell was nearly hidden, but she didn’t know it anyways so it didn’t matter to her. “What should we do with her? I don‘t know what she is, but I didn‘t know what I was either,” The small Kelvic reasoned, more to herself than her new friend, and leaned over the creature. She really is very pretty.

by **Aiken** on June 15th, 2010, 8:54 pm

"This seems like it was her only weapon. It looks weird. But so does everything the humans make. We'll stay here until she wakes up. If that doesn't happen by sunrise, we leave her."

Aiken looked around, listening closely. There were animals everywhere, but none seemed to care too much about them. He smelled mostly herbivores and bats, nocturnal scavengers and tiny hunters. They would be safe if they stayed here for the few hours that remained in the night.

by **Nastarai** on June 17th, 2010, 1:50 am

Nastarai opened her eyes and saw the strange blue glow on the edges of her vision that happened occasionally while she was dreaming. She had a tarot card in one hand and her suvai in the other. The world around her was silent. Nothing moved, the only smell was of the sun-warmed grass beneath her bare feet. She looked at the tarot card. The Star. The blue began to fade and she drifted into another dream.

by **Zareah** on June 17th, 2010, 2:53 am

Sunrise, that felt like a long way away. She went back to the water and splashed around, occasionally sitting still and waiting for something to chase after. She managed to catch a fish in her hands, getting her teeth into it before it could wiggle loose. She threw it towards the clearing, it still thrashing, and took off after a rabbit, shifting mid-stride. She came back a few minutes later without it and ate the fish, then went to Aiken, she chattered at him playfully, turned a cartwheel (yes they can do that), and began running around him.

by **Aiken** on June 17th, 2010, 4:36 am

Aiken had since put the Konti and a more comfortable position and sat down against a tree, still keeping watch for the howling wolves of earlier. They hadn't moved too far from that spot, and wolves from nearby were usually inclined to investigate. Luckily, they knew his scent and remembered to stay away from him. As memories came by, he pushed them away for another time, and entertained his mind with the cat's playfulness.

With the introduction of acrobatics, a smile bit at his lips. A real smile, something he hadn't felt for quite awhile. He had only knew his mother as another Kelvic, and tended to feel alone anywhere he went. He still felt alone, but it was like she was a beacon in the dark. Something to walk towards without being lost. He sighed and laughed. He needed to sleep. He was going on twenty three hours since his last real sleep, and even blinking was starting to be a strain. He put the strange weapon in his hand off to the side and closed his eyes.

"I don't know your name, but it would be pretty nice if you could keep a watch for me. I need the sleep. If she wakes up, go ahead and wake me up if you want to." Just as he finished up, he yawned once and fell asleep.

by **Nastarai** on June 17th, 2010, 7:14 pm

Consciousness flooded back all at once. She opened her eyes, but in the complete darkness it seemed like nothing changed. With a grunt she sat up. Her head swam and pounded. She didn't really remember why she was knocked out at first.

The girl, the wolf, the horse the river... She grimaced as the memories came back. Her bag wasn't on her back. She leapt to her feet, looking futilely in the dark for the backpack and harp case. She stopped suddenly. Something large seemed to have appeared from nowhere from behind her. She moved to grab her suvai. It wasn't there.