Flashback Where Do We Go From Here? (Razkar)

[Tinnok]

She held her breath for a moment, watching Razkar, watching the dog. Was she right? Was she wrong and she was about to watch Eagle's spine torn out of his back. No, she wasn't wrong, a thought that was confirmed when she heard growls change to snuffling, and the tension in the air seemed to evaporate, hackles lowering on the alpha and his pack nearly simultaneously.

The Witch smiled at Eagle's expression, a mixture of anxiety and humor at the situation. Strangely, she was starting to get used to this sort of thing, though looking back after the dire wolf mouth clamped around her head...not much could prepare her for that.

But that was seasons from now, in a new time, and now Tinnok was sitting cross legged with all of the hounds taking turns familiarizing themselves with the scent o Leaf, who at this point was lavishing in the attention, rubbing his head across muzzles and vibrating from purring, an action which in itself the hounds found particularly fascinating.

The Alpha, whose task of securing the safety of his pack was complete, went around checking on his companions, first the two scouts, still stationed on either side of the camp, then the rest, saving his Beta for last. TInnok cocked her head to the side, watching them nuzzle each other affectionately before the Beta sounded a commanding bark and the pack assembled around them. They had come, investigated, and found out all the information from this clearing, as well as receiving a light snack on their nightly raid, and it was time to depart back into the night. The Alpha approached Tinnok once more, the Omega seeking some attention from Eagle before they departed.

The Witch and the Hound's forehead's pressed together for a moment, and a mutual understanding passed between two very different predators. Tinnok's lips twitched, and she scratched the Alpha behind the ear. The hound snorted, leaping disgracefully sideways to get out of reach of the Witch's touch, causing Tinnok to chortle. The hound shook himself off, then without anymore goodbyes sent out a full volume howl, Tinnok covering Leaf's ears as they were blasted with the full volume of the chilling call, warning their prey that they were on the hunt again, and the pack disappeared into the forest.

Tinnok looked at the ruined remains of their fire, still creating a low glow between her and Eagle. "Well that was fun." She grinned at the wry expression she got in return, then reached into her pack for some strips of jerky. "Perhaps it'd be best not to cook anything else tonight?" She chewed on the hard strips of meat thoughtfully, dumping Leaf out of her lap, the little cub running over to his sibling.

Tinnok took a swig of her water skin leaning against a rock and staring up at the sky. "And now you can say you met a full Akila pack head on and lived to tell the tale." She grinned.

[Razkar]

What exactly did one do with an inquisitive Akila Hound? Two hundred pounds of gently snuffling carnivore that was sniffling him with every sign of interest, twin jets from his nose blasting against Jorka's face so hard the tiny creature had to close its eyes in surprise... right before it licked a nose as big as his entire head.

Razkar's apprehension vanished in a sudden shock of snorting humor that was all the greater for it being unexpected. The Omega reared back in surprise and pawed desperately at the strange sticky sensation. The Alpha, haughty and on its haunches, humphed once in a fashion that Razkar swore was weary exasperation. Apparently the Omega had a history of this kind of thing...

But the two-leg was a little more intriguing, and withdrawn, apparently. Well, that wouldn't do. The pack didn't keep secrets, and neither should anyone else. The Omega leaned forward and nuzzled against Razkar's neck... and gently... slowly... just to show he was no threat at all... the Myrian pressed his hand to the side of its neck.

There was a tick of stiff, uncertain cords of muscle... and then said two hundreds pounds flopped onto its side like a bidden dog, shamelessly harkening for Razkar's ministrations on, oh shall we say, his belly?

Razkar shook his head, as much at himself as anyone else, when he found himself stroking that comparatively-hairless stomach and watching a leg kick out in ecstasy.

"People are just... not going to believe this."

Then, with all the efficient and uniform precision of a Fang being moved out, the Alpha got his troops together and then on the move. Razkar watched them leave, and realized it was an inaccurate metaphor. The way the big, scarred male cared for his underlings, checked them for wounds, responded to a threat to any of them, not just his Beta... they were a family. Fierce and proud and ruthless when pressed, but a bunch of beings that loved each other.

"Well, that was fun."

Razkar smiled, lost in his own thoughts, watching the softly rustling shrubs, hearing the sounds of snapping jaws and communicating barks grow fainter as the pack spread out on the hunt again. Would he ever hear such things without thinking of this night again? Seeing them differently? How could he?

"Perhaps it'd be best not to cook anything else tonight?"

"Oh, I don't know." He said, smile on his face as he saw the flash of surprise on hers. "Perhaps we could have a tiger around for an early breakfast. Or a family of baboons for a midnight snack?"

He was rewarded with a chuckle and then a charging jaguar cub impacting against her brother in his lap. Leaving the two of them to mewl and battle, Eagle slid around their wrecked fire pit, settling against the same rock and...

"Wow..."

The sky. They could see it from there. By some quirk or chance or design by the Green Goddess, there was a clear patch through the canopy, a miraculous tunnel forging up and up through vines and leaves and thick branches until...

"Not often you see the stars out here, is it?"

"And now you can say you met a full Akila pack head on and lived to tell the tale."

Razkar chuckled, feeling an odd... warmth from those impossibly far pricks of light. His wounds seemed to soothe and vanish under his skin as he shifted, settled, found his place under the rock. He closed his eyes... and the night crept into his thoughts without a word... like his hand in hers...

"Not to mention saved two jaguar cubs." He snorted at himelf. Odd, that he took more pride in that than slaying the grown male that had been menacing them. Damn female was rubbing off on him. "And had one of Caiyha's own disciples get my lumbering arse through the jungle in one piece..."

[Tinnok]

A strange peace settled around the four travelers, two furred, two of flesh. Tinnok felt calm, and at the center of the world, knowing she was precisely where she was meant to be. She understood the pulse of the plants and animals of her jungle, though she would never dare remove the possessive from her Mother Goddess. Here she was strong because she knew all, the thoughts of her four legged brethren, and those with leaves and limbs, she tended to them and aided them, and in return they gave her companionship, understanding and peace in her domain.

And she didn't mind showing off for Eagle either.

The cubs played and attacked each other, mimicking the growls of the Akila Hounds, Tinnok wondering if their development as jungle cats would forever be changed by such an encounter. She hoped they wouldn't attempt to hunt with the canines when they were older...but maybe the exchange of scents and saliva was stronger than even she realized. Perhaps in a year or two Leaf would find that same Alpha and for a moment int he wilderness cats and dogs would not be at each other's throats.

She watched the glowing diamonds thrown into the black sky, only nodding slowly as Eagle remarked about them. It wasn't often the trees split open, allowing any patch of sunlight through, just another gift upon a strangely wonderful night.

At the compliment, Tinnok chuckled lightly. "Don't give me that, if you were by yourself you would have killed them all heroically, gladius swinging left and right, a few injuries gained, but a bloody and triumphant male standing over the pelts of the slaughtered hounds. Me? I'm just the witch who can make another path open where there wasn't one before." She smiled softly, leaf lumbering back over to her, mouth hanging open in a dog's pant. She grabbed the cub up in her hands and threw him up into the air, catching him with both hands, a little mewling squeal echoing through the jungle.

"Now if only I could summon a mother jaguar for you to before we get home and this trip would be complete." She saw a yawn come from Jorka, summoning one of her own from the back of her throat. The half breed smiled and arranged her pack behind her head as a pillow, summoning leaf with a cluck of her tongue. The little male cub pranced, leaping onto her stomach and kneading the cloth he felt there with claws that were not dull until he had found a good position for himself.

Tinnok's head tilted toward Eagle. "Thank you for coming with me, Eagle, it does mean a lot."

She smiled, and then her eyes closed. Rest was needed, for an early start tomorrow was key. Early light would be the perfect hunting time for cats, except they weren't hunting for pelts this time...

[Razkar]

He remembered waking without any shock of realization nor feelings of stiff soreness, which was the norm when sleeping in the jungle. Usually a groan accompanied his entrance back to reality, swimming vision going from blurred green to define green, or brown, or black, or yellow...

But not blue. Never blue. Can you blame him for thinking he was still asleep?

Razkar's eyes opened to that beautifully clear patch of sky that Wolf had unwittingly found for them. His mind was gloriously empty for those first few moments; when dreams were still fresh but slowly dissolving, and all the concerns of the day were still a long way off. He smiled up and wondered if there was a god of the skies.

Maybe the barbarians have one. They have one for the Air and the Storms, but... they're like... clouds. They're just part of it. All moving across it, like Syna and Leth. The thing itself, the... like the sea. But even the sea at its deepest has a bottom. The sky, now...

Soft, subtle movement against his side; a rippling of warm flesh on warm flesh. The young male glanced down and his odd little smile turned into a terrified rictus.

How did he not notice her arm thrown across him?!"

Eagle's face become a very, very careful "O" of concentration as he lifted her arm up... with two fingers... very slowly... c'mon... c'mon, now...

Then Jorka ruined his stelthy progress by leaping onto Leaf's back as he snuggled on Tinnok's chest, the impact and the flurry of outraged furry fury making Razkar curse, Tinnok jerk awake, hands going for a weapon-

-which was swiftly at Razkar's throat... just as he had her wrist in his hand.

He gulped... very, very carefully... too hard and his Adams' apple would be sliced open... and then managed an incredulous smile.

"So, ah... water sources, yes? Probably a good place to start..."

[Tinnok]

It was nice to sleep in for a change. Years with the military got one used to waking up hours before dawn, but Tinnok didn't mind rising with it. As she felt her body moved, however, the sense of peace that she had felt was changed into a worry of particular danger. A dagger was in her hand and against Eagle's neck in an instant, yellow eyes snapping open to assess the scene, which was her...particularly close to the male, an act which she hadn't intended, and he, simply trying to push her away. She flipped the blade into a reverse grip and stowed it away in an instant, then rolled over and sat up in one fluid motion, scooping up leaf with one hand.

"Yes, water, they'll be thirsty before or after hunting." Since her pack had been her pillow, the half breed was all packed. She slipped another piece of jerky out of her bag and softened it up in her mouth before pulling out small strands for Leaf to nibble on as they walked.

At first, Tinnok walked fast, to distance themselves from the scent and trail of the previous night's Akila pack. Surely no self preserving jaguar, tiger, or leopard would put themselves anywhere near such canines if they could help it, so she was less focused on finding a trail as she was getting away from an old one.

A couple bells passed in relative silence, concentrated on the task ahead, almost as one both hunters slowed their pace as they reached the bank of a fairly large river, and spread out to have a higher chance of finding tracks, Tinnok's eyes darting from leaf, to ground, to tree bark for any sign of claws, feces, or signals of a large creature passing through. When mewling broke out over her shoulder she paused to water Leaf, droplets of condensation collecting in the fur around his face and chin, then pressed onward.

She felt a thrill of potential when she found bark clawed by sharp claws, but this faded when she saw the color of the bark underneath and realized the indents were far from recent.

Her mind drifted to thoughts of last night as she searched, the playful, yet serious hounds, the faces Eagle had made, and how on earth she had managed to roll so close to him int he span of one night. She shivered, it was like petching magnetism.

A bird call from Eagle perked up the distracted hunter, and Tinnok jogged over to her compatriot, eager to see what he had found.

[Razkar]

"Shit! We're in luck!"

It occurred to Eagle a few ticks later that Wolf was probably not expecting him to be using nearly exact wordage in this instance. But when she appeared from the shrubbery, Leaf peering curiously over her shoulder, and aw him crouching over a steaming pile of-

"Looks recent, doesn't it?"

Note the lack of mention of smell. This may be a male trait that is common the multiverse over. Oddly enough, the scholars of all worlds give it little study.

Razkar, however, bent down close and felt the heat of the festering ball. A constellation of flies buzzed angrily around him, insect voices only Tinnok could hear sharply telling him to sod off and find his own damn dinner. But when he came up, the male was grinning.

"Goddess, you can still smell the meat in it. Three... four bells, maybe." He shrugged modestly, the thrill of some kind of trail seeming to add to his nervous energy, finally having some kind of thread they could grab onto, leading them to their prize. "But finding it..."

Well, that will be quite definite, he thought as he silently scanned the choking foliage, and that's the problem.

Jaguars were ambush predators, and their senses were far keener than any Myrian could hope to be. They laid in wait for hours, often flitting on the low branches rather than leaving tracks on the ground, only doing so to defecate, mark territory and feed. The only time they'd see one, up close, as it were, would be... well... it would be abrupt.

"Last time we got lucky." Razkar said with a rough edge to his smile now, sighing as he realized his own limitations... but recognized another's were much more useful. "Looks like you're our secret weapon again, Wolf... but at least we're using it to... restore balance, hmm?"

He hoped that she appreciated that. They took so much from the jungle, did the Children of Myri... but, unlike the barbarian races, they did try to put it back. For all his grief and bitterness towards the Green Goddess, Razkar remembered now the... gratitude, he felt, that had been bred into him all his life. For without Caiyha, they would have nothing; be nothing, not even a race to be welded together by the Goddess-Queen.

Now we have a chance to save two lives and bring a mother two more children. If anything, that should appease her... but even if there were no reward...

"... 'tis the right thing to do."

[Tinnok]

She peered at the feces. She didn't mind getting close to the stuff, even sticking her fingers in and examining the contents of said feces, but why the petch did he have to look so damned excited?

Tinnok leaned down to examine the droppings in question, or dropping if one wanted to be most accurate, listening to Eagle's words. "You're right, if it's just eaten, perhaps sticking by the water is our best bet, it might be thirsty after it's kill, or lounging low in the trees." She glanced up even as she said it, but cats didn't have the tendency to stay around their leavings for long, that was more a canine thing if she recalled.

Staying quiet, she approached the edge of the river and began stalking down it. Her gifts indeed would be needed if they wanted an event that wouldn't tear Eagle limb from limb. She put a finger on Leaf's head, suggesting the hey to silence in this moment with a thought of the dark cave he once shared with his brother and sister.

It wasn't long, but when an end was upon you, ticks dragged onto chimes, chimes to bell. It was probably only half a bell's time that passed, but Tinnok's feet, moving softly and slowly across the earth, felt the soreness of a half day's walk behind them by the end of it. She saw Eagle on the opposite side of the bank than her, moving in tandem along the water's edge, eyes peeled for any traces of wildlife, and when she saw the flash of fur, at first she didn't even realize what it was.

Because there wasn't the strange splotches of a jaguar she saw as the feline leaned out over the river, on Eagle's side lapping up the flowing water like the most regal of Caiyha's children. It was a petching tiger.

She, and Goddess did Tinnok hope it was a she, glanced up with dark slittted eyes, water dripping languidly from a wet chin. A warning growl escaped the tiger's throat, and Tinnok drew a bit closer so she could begin the process of communication through eye contact.

Well she was a female, and was simply patrolling hard earned territory. Tinnok at first decided to make sure the tigress didn't attack Eagle, and move on swiftly, yet an idea occurred to her then, and she slid into the river's water, holding Leaf in her arms as she crossed. This...this was a long shot even for her.

[Razkar]

Razkar would never cease to be stunned at how still they could be. It just seemed so... unreal, something that big, that powerful, hundreds of pounds and a dozen feet from nose to tail or raw, unrestrained power... and yet when it looked up-

Nothing moved. Not a twitch from its tail nor a blink of its eyes. Only a few stray droplets of water plopped back into the river as it glanced in something quite like surprise at the two shaved apes intruding in her territory.

Jorka snuffled worriedly at his back, smelling but not seeing this new development. Razkar stifled it with a scratching hand, trying to calm the creature down, not daring to tear his eyes away...

Eyes twice the size of his own stared twin holes into him like a sword would through mud. Unblinking, uncompromising... that was a predator, Razkar would always remember. Something... pure. Unshackled by hesitation or fear, for what could so grand and terrible a creature have to fear in Falyndar? Even Dhani gave them a wide berth, and the Myrians regarded them as worthy of worship.

Splashing. Wading. Waters parted... and Eagle glanced over to see his partner apparently committing suicide.

"Wolf...?!"

All that drew was another rumbling retort of thunder from lips that could swallow his head like a melon, and Eagle did not press his luck any further. Whatever followed next was up to Wolf; his skills, his prowess... they would mean nothing up against such an enemy.

But this is her gift. Her wyrd enables her to commune with Caiyha's children, and this tiger is but a high-ranking example of them. She will prevail... she always has...

With that flash of fierce pride in his breast, Eagle tentatively stepped into the cold water, though his nerves were far too consumed by the tiger to notice it as such. A thousand icy needles bit as his shins and he barely noticed, wading in a slow, shuffling gait as one would approach a monarch. Scrambling, ever-more frantic claws began to paw at his back and finally Eagle just gave a mental "fuck it" and reached around-

Two. Two of the stunted younglings now before her, the second held before the... yes... the male. Carried and cared for, even more bizarrely, by the dark-furred apes that wore the skins of others and carried sharp sticks and shining stone. The tigress had never seen the like, and some spark of curiosity stilled her ever-ready claws and nigh-pneumatic jaws.

A tongue like a bath towel licked her nose absently, and she took her watch... waiting for the one who put words in his mind and peace in her warring heart to approach her...

[Tinnok]

The scenario the witch had pictured in her head was that of a story mothers and elders might tell clan children around a midnight fire. The reality that could surely come from such dreams could not be what her mind formed, but Tinnok refused to bring these cubs to the city. This trip had been in vain from the very beginning when her fingers had grabbed that female jaguar's scruff and seen the cubs in the first place. Part of her knew that, yet she couldn't let her hopes die, no matter how fantastical or childish. She had to hope, because that was all the abomination ever had.

The tigress settled slightly, she could feel the presence of the scaled one's Gnosis. She didn't quite know what to think about the male, or the two kittens that smelled of one of the insignificant smaller cat breeds she had encountered in her lifetime ruling this section of woodland.

Leaf mewled pitifully at the heavy musk of the female, knowing her for an enemy. The tigress chuffed, unconcerned in response. Tinnok didn't know exactly how to proceed, so she held out the cub, struggling in her grasp, first calming him with thoughts of his mother. The smell, the stripes, the shape of this cat was different, but she wouldn't eat him, at least...she hoped the tiger wouldn't. Much like the Akila hounds there was a moment of recognition. A large black damp nose approached the much smaller one, taking in it's scent before snorting slightly and pulling away. Leaf, emboldened by the fact the jaws hadn't eaten his form, chirruped in Tinnok's grasp.

First greetings out of the way, Tinnok tried to put her mind's impression upon the tigress. Two cubs stranded, motherless, hungry, without way to learn or grow. The tiger's thoughts came back startling and solid. Clearly these two were the mother's of the cubs, as they were carrying them and their scent now stank of Myrian. Tinnok's eyes widened, then instead began to search the tigress's own memories. Was she with cubs? No, had she been before? No.

The witch grew confused. The tiger was fully mature, a female, but had never had cubs? She strode closer, sitting down upon the bank where the female had dropped down on her back legs, and let Leaf go. A new cautious moment between the great cats, one adult, one small, passed again, but this time, Leaf licked the tiger's paw, lapping some of the water off of it. The paw was taken back and punted the small cub back towards Tinnok. At first the witch was alarmed, before she realized no claws had been used in the attack, and the kitten's snarl was one she and Eagle had beome familiar with when Leak and Jorka played. Leaf pounced back onto the paw and a small game ensued with the female tiger easily dodging and returning the attacks, her large dark eyes unblinking as she watched the cub with a mixture of what Tinnok could only see as curiosity and bemusement.

The with extended a cautious hand, and pressed it into the tigress's fur, feeling a thrum at her touch. It wasn't a purr, as this was the witch's first meeting with the cat, but it wasn't a growl either. She searched, sending images of males mating, the process that led to cubs. It seemed as if the female had had several suitors over her lifetime, yet none had produced any cubs. Tinnok could only assume it was this tigress, and not any of the males that had been barren. She sent a wave of sadness through to the tigress, but without ever knowing the warmth or companionship of her cubs, it seemed the tigress had no sadness or regret in her, yet as she played with this cub, Tinnok knew she could feel the motherly instints inherent in any animal surfacing if just for a moment.

She beckoned Eagle to come closer. Perhaps just a bit more time and this could actually work.

[Razkar]

The male was sweating like a Zith at an Akalak banquet, but he still had enough will to not think about the last two experiences he'd had with the Consorts of Navre. The most recent was a hunt with Aya, a desperate, whirling bedlam that ended with them both battered and only mortally wounding the thing first had granted them victory. The first, though...

Razkar shuddered and gritted his teeth and Goddess, didn't these things smell fear? But the memories came unbidden and undeniable, black blotches that swam into focus, sharp and visceral as the day they'd happened.

A long patrol to the south lands. Razkar and a handful of others, separated from their Fang... and ambushed. The Children of Myri were warriors beyond the pale of most barbarians; their reputations were whispered as warnings to naughty children and the measure of true battle-forgers throughout the world.

The tiger killed three of them in ticks. Razkar still bore the marks it had gouged into his flesh, ragged and ugly wounds never properly healing. He'd managed to hinder it with a lucky swing, but if the rest of his Fang hadn't arrived, his end would have come with the fetid, blood-choked breath of those gaping jaws.

And now I'm staring at another pair. Wonderful.

But this time, he had a secret weapon by his side... or in front of him, more accurately. Much as Eagle was fixed rigid in the palling water, he still had a glint of wonder in his eyes as Wolf fearlessly offered Leaf to the hulking tigress. It leaned forward and snuffled, jets of air he felt even from a few yards away, eyes screwed shut for a moment as a brain the size of Eagle's head tried to process all of this.

You think we're having an experience? Imagine what it's like for her...

But Leaf was withdrawn without missing any limbs (who are you kidding? one bite and she'd take everything but her tail!), and Eagle just about noticed Wolf's casual, tiny gesture with her hand. He bullied and cajoled his legs into moving forwards, sliding over the stones made smooth by eons of water... and that shaggy, multicolored mess of a head swung his way.

It occurred to him that tigers didn't see the world as his kind did. There were no nuances to emotions, no feelings of angst or boredom that tormented them. Their lives were stripped down to the brutal necessities of survival: food, shelter, reproduction. Everything was either a threat or food... and when you're a tiger, there aren't many of the former, and pretty much everything that crosses you is the latter.

But... there was something more...

Jorka made an odd little cooing sound that clashed so greatly with the fear Eagle assumed he would feel. But no, he was squirming, struggling, eager to get close to the snout inspecting him with detached curiosity. The Myrian struggled a little to give him some space and-

-Jorka's front paw reached out with casual speed and swatted-

-no-

-it stayed on the tigress' snout. Wide, unfathomable yellow eyes stared long and thoughtful into black coals that were Jorka's innocent windows. Eagle's jaw slowly dropped as something... swam to the surface in the massive female's eyes... something being twisted and pulled, like...

Yearning.

But it was only a glimmer, and when Jorka's tiny claws made some kind of appearance, the tigress withdrew with a speed nothing so vast should have possessed. She shuffled and resettled on the ground, laying down but with her head straight in that undeniably imperial pose all of her kind seemed to possess. A tail as long as Razkar's torso twitched absently like the hose of a regent's hookah. All she was missing was attendants and a chamberlain.

Eagle swallowed and tried to catch Wolf's eyes. Unlike her, he had no idea what primal thoughts lurked beyond the haughty gaze of the tigress. For all he knew she would kill them all in a moment... but part of him doubted it.