A Fish Out of Water (Irriari)

[Kalina]

28th Day of Summer, 513AV The sights, the smells, the sounds. Each one was new to the young Kelvic, and each one had Kalina close to bursting with excitement. Her nine months in the Kelvic Research Institute had not prepared her in the slightest for the outside world. Not in the sense that she was out of her depth - though she was, it didn't bother her. But in the sense that she had experienced very little, and everything around her was something she was desperate to find out about. The only problem was that she didn't have the time or capabilities to take it all in at once. On very few occasions in her short life had the ocelot kitten ever shown any form of restraint or self control, and today was definitely not one of those days. Her underdeveloped mind, still that of a child, only made it easier for her unpredictable and volatil, yet benign, temperament, to flourish in this atmosphere. There was nothing to hold her back anymore, especially no metal meshing, fences, or cages. First there had been the most interesting little creature, swimming in the water. Kalina had seem many different types of animal, but this... thing... was something else entirely. The ocelot knew what water was; having drunk bowls of it daily, but something swimming in it? The feline wasn't brave enough just yet to get in the water and find out more about it. But she was happy to crouch down and creep as far over the edge of the water as she could and dip her front paw in in an attempt to catch the poor creature. Her lack of success didn't stop her persistent dedication to her new goal and it wasn't until another smell wafted towards her, carried by the wind, that she immediately forgot about the water-bound creature. In the Institute, Kalina had no need to keep track of time, nor was she particularly aware of the abstract concept, as important as it was. She had no idea how long she had been out, or how long she had spent investigating all of the exciting new things around her. She might have been able to know by how many new things she had examined, but even that she had now lost track of, the impulsive and whimsical ocelot never staying long with one object or person before forgetting about it entirely and moving on. The people were most interesting of all, Kalina had decided. Some were like the staff of the Kelvic Research Institute; dull and even mean at times. A few had aimed a kick at her in an effort to shoo her away, one had managed to land the kick, well-placed at her side. The resulting whine was the only negative sound she had made all day and it took her a few moments to get back up. But once she was, the incident forgotten to her, she would move straight on to someone else. Some ignored her, but some of them, and these were the best type of person, Kalina thought, would stroke her, or even play with her. In all of her frivolous enthusiasm for discovering everything about the new world around her, the young Kelvic had wandered far enough away and had not yet realised that her new owner, who had taken her out today for reasons unknown to her, was not in her vicinity.

[Irriari]

OOCSorry this has taken me ages to reply to. I’ve thought about the thread a lot, and I just couldn’t figure out what Irri would do when she saw an ocelot. (Hence why my reply is so short). I’m still not sold on her reaction, but I’m hoping for it to feel more natural as the thread progresses and we interact more.

Irriari had spent the majority of her afternoon sleeping and organizing her poisoncrafting kit. Her adventures outside of Ravok had left the once neat kit in a state of disarray. A few herbs had been cut to pieces by broken glass that had fallen to the bottom of the leather pack. Thankfully, her philtering kit remained intact. A few days after purchasing her home, Irriari had decided that the second bedroom could be used as a philtering and poisoncrafting lab. While the dirty room lacked the smooth countertops and cabinetry that the Institute featured, Irriari was thrilled to be able to create poisons indoors. After placing her jars and alembic in the small set of wooden drawers, she began her trek to Ino Vations. There was no telling whether or not Torrel would be open for business, but she needed to restock the glassware that had been shattered during their trip to the Wildlands.

After four chimes of walking, Irriari found herself a few feet away from Ino Vations. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement around the edges of the building. She pivoted to face the creature and found herself intrigued by the unique coloring of the cat. No, it wasn’t a cat. If it was, it was nothing like the starving cats that prowled the edges of the docks in search of scraps and mice. This creature had beautifully spotted fur that was unlike anything Irriari had ever seen in the wilds. While the animal was small, it wasn’t difficult to see the muscles rippling just beneath the skin.

Irriari bent down and extended her open palm towards the creature’s nose. The gesture made her laugh. She wasn’t a friendly orphan that stray pets would be drawn to. If the animal noticed her, it would likely run to the safety of a shadowed alley.

[Kalina]

Something smelled different. Very different, and Kalina had no idea what. Turning from the plant she had been so intent on examining just moments before, her moss green eyes, bright and wide with continued excitement, scan her immediate area for the source, anything she had not previously spotted. Most of the people hadn't moved from where they had been, though some were beginning to walk briskly away from a certain spot. Intrigued, the young Kelvic looks over to said spot, where a woman was now crouching over. She was confused; not understanding why some people had left a wide birth between themselves and this woman, she looked no different. On closer analysis, she recognises that the woman was a slightly darker shade of grey than everyone else. But everyone was grey to her in her ocelot form. Other than the darker grey form, though, the woman looked just like any other person she had come across since being taken away from the Institute. Kalina had not even seen anyone else who was like her. She was beginning to think they were all in that place... she didn't know why though... were they bad? Was the woman bad? The ocelot growls; she didn't like not knowing something. Were the wings what made her different? Was that why people didn't like her? Kalina recognised the motion the woman was making. Hand outstretched, that was a clear invitation for Kali to approach her, which she does without hesitation. With each step, the smell from the woman grows stronger, as does her excitement. She was going to get some attention! She reaches the outstretched hand at relative speed and her nose collides with it. Wasting no time in her new mission, the inquisitive kitten sniffs the offered hand and licks it, trying to work out how she was so different that everyone else seemed to avoid the woman. Smelling and licking her wasn't enough. She ducks her head under the hand, allowing the woman to stroke her, and automatically purring at the appreciated sensation. But the Kelvic doesn't approach any further, spinning in one slick, agile motion and returning to the hand that was still held out. Wanting to know more about her, Kalina reverts to a common animalistic method of finding out what she needed to know? Mewling, she opens her jaw by the hand and leans forward to wrap the offered hand between her teeth. The ocelot doesn't bite down though; she had no intention of drawing blood or actually eating the woman, especially not even knowing what she was. She does, however, nibble lightly, teething, in a way to get a better grasp of he woman.

[Irriari]

Irriari waited, hoping that the cat wouldn’t run away in fear or become distracted by something else. There were precious few things to occupy her time when she wasn’t busy crafting poisons or taking classes at the Institute. Ravok was entirely different from the colony. There was no Sea of Grass to explore in, or a stone forest to harvest reagents. The owner of the Black Tar had mentioned a few plants that could be harvested from the city canals, but such pursuits bored the zith. Most days, she went to her classes and explored the city at night. While her daytime jaunts in the docks were rare, Irriari found them manageable, so long as she stayed around buildings and away from the sun.

Suddenly, the small cat bounded up to her hand. The zith was unable to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. The sun made flying impossible in the daylight hours, so the zith found herself even happier when she was faced with entertaining encounter. The small creature collided with her clawed hand fearlessly. She chuckled at its bravery, wondering why it was so inquisitive. The dock cats were a surly lot, and she doubted that any of them had ever considered letting any stroke their head like the one in front of her. Irriari rubbed the top of the creatures head gently, mindful of her claws and the cat’s sharp teeth.

It moved quickly, and the zith frowned slightly. Had she angered it? Perhaps it didn’t want to be petted after all. The zith had sparse knowledge of domesticated animals, but she was unaware of how to behave around creatures that weren’t wild. Most of the woodland birds and rabbits she encountered operated on fear alone. While she doubted that this cat operated on fear, the amount of bravery it showed was somewhat unnerving.

“You know, I could have hurt you. You should be more careful.”

Irriari knew the cat couldn’t understand the Common tongue, but she felt better speaking to it. At least it didn’t run from her, or criticize her accent. Now, the oddly colored creature was gnawing lightly at her hand. The pressure wasn’t enough to break skin, but it still took the zith by surprise.

“You’re playing with fire. There aren’t many people that have bitten me and lived to tell the tale. And the only ones that have happened to work at the House of Immortal Pleasures.”

Irriari withdrew her hand and gazed at the cat, wondering what it would do next. More than likely, it would move on to the next diversion.

[Kalina]

The woman speaks to her, but Kalina ignores most of it. For the most part, the three season old Kelvic didn't even understand the words being spoken, so there was no point in trying to pay more attention. She does, however, catch the words 'hurt' and 'careful', but does not understand why those two words were even being spoken to her. Having grown up in a small cage, with meals handed to her and every moment outside of said cage being monitored closely, Kalina had no sense of self preservation and little concept of danger A growl reverberates from the back of Kalina's throat as the woman removes her clawed hand from the clutches of the ocelot Kelvic's own jaw. In the short time that she had had the hand in her teeth, thought, she had been able to learn something about this strange woman who people were walking a good few feet around to avoid. The woman was different, that much was obvious; Kali's tongue could feel the hair on the woman's hand, which appeared much thicker than that of the average person, from Kalina's experience. She had no idea what that meant, but it meant something. Thinking about it, Kalina knew that she was a different species to, say, someone like her Master, but she didn't know what that was. This woman was something different yet again, and that excited the ocelot kitten; not only was she meeting someone knew, she was meeting something new. For the first time, in occurred to the the young creature that there were so many more different types of people than just herself. The little Kelvic's heart drops in worry, though; if the woman had removed her hand, did that mean that she no longer wanted to play? No no... Kalina wasn't having any of that. She growls a second time, this time though it was a more angry, almost desperate, growl. The ocelot paws at the woman's calf and knee; whilst she hadn't stood up yet, Kalina had a chance, maybe she wouldn't be left alone again. Thoughts of her Master, whom Kalina had lost earlier on amongst the crowd, had now been driven so far from her mind. No longer was she even remotely interested in searching for him, as she had been before she spied the winged woman. For now, at least, the ocelot was entranced by what was before her, and all she wanted to do was play.

[Venser Rush]

Grade Awarded!

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Kalina

Award :

Skills

+3 Observation

+1 Socialization

+1 Tracking

Lores

A New Animal in the Water

Irriari: Gray Skin! Is she bad?

Irriari: A Woman with Wings

Irriari: Hands that are Hairier than a Human's


Miscellaneous

N/A

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Irriari

Award :

Skills

Withheld

Lores

Withheld


Miscellaneous

N/A

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Notes

Irriari, if you decide to return, please consult your local ST.

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