Closed [Jungle Wilds] "Reunion" (Oryani)

[Xen]

“This day started off lousy. So, Xen knew what was in store for him in the jungle: a very bad hunt. This strange heaviness with a side of somberness cripples his body, taking away the vital energy he needed. Xen was walking quietly through the jungle, his feet dragged through the mud. He needed to eat something or he’d have to walk all the way back to Zinrah and eat salamander meat and that was not reliably good…at all. Xen sighs, his breath carrying as much sadness and lifeless as his body. He had his mancatcher shield strapped onto his right arm: which swayed next to him backwards and forwards like a pendulum.

The machete sword, his prized weapon, rested peacefully within its scabbard. However, Xen held onto the handle of this sheathed weapon, knowing that danger was always near, always ready to reward him with death. Xen looks up and sets his gaze upon the canopy, it was still bright and the time of dusk was still some time a way. He wanted to avoid spending another night in the jungle, his bed and cavern being much more comfortable than dirt and rocks. The biting insects were a constant annoyance at night: even now they flew around Xen’s face, causing him to brush them away with his hands.

While traversing the jungle Xen thought he heard something in the wind. He didn’t sense anything around him or felt threatened and deems this to be a trick of the jungle. Xen takes a step and hears the sound again, it sounded like a voice. A wounded animal would make easy prey, if this was the source of the strange voice. Xen felt a tug, one which drew in his predatory instincts. There was only one way he was going to find out and if he was going to eat, he had to go!

Xen turns in the direction he heard the voice coming from and runs towards it. He grumbles at his slow pace and forces his body into a quicker motion. This wasn’t the speed he was used to—he had to move faster, faster through the jungle! Xen kicks off the ground with all the strength he could muster. The somberness and heaviness was still there, trying to pull him down but Xen simply takes them with him as he dashes through the jungle. In five chimes Xen believed he knew who the voice belonged to and it made him angry.

The creature that had the nerve to make anyone he knew suffer would pay dearly. Xen uses his frustration to fuel his mad dash. The more he heard the voice, his frustration grew. Who was this? What was happening? Xen was sweating so much at this point and exhaustion was near. When he thought he was close enough he jumps: using the force of his sprint to propel him into and through the air. Xen bursts through the brush and lands onto the ground. He bends his knees to lessen the impact and enters a slide. Xen digs his left hand into the earth to stop his slide and stands to his feet—breathing heavily.


‘‘AKA!’’ Xen shouted!


Xen rushes over to Aka’s side with his robe coated in twigs and leaves. He looks up at Oryani and realizes that she shared the same distressed expression. The situation looked dire until Xen lays his eyes upon his mates bulging stomach—she was giving birth!?”


“ ”

[Soshakuakamamushi]

Aka grunted and groaned as her womb contracted, stretched, and strained, any moment now and her eggs would pop out of her, whether she liked it or not. Knowing this, Aka used more res to create the shape of a bowl just under her waist, slightly in front, for her eggs to be stored. She sure as heck would not allow them to fall into the dirty jungle floor. After this was done, Aka completely focused on getting her babies out of her, literally.

The Chaktawe came back and in her tunneling vision, Aka could see she was carrying two objects with her, she didn't care to interpret them further, she simply need to know whether they carried water or not. "Gah!" A groan was given at her apology, without a care Aka swiped one boot with both of her hands then drank it down, she didn't care if it was a boot, she wanted to ease her parched throat. After that, Aka simply let the boot dropped to the ground, clenching her teeth as she contracted her womb once more. She need this extra push... just a little bit more, she could feel the first egg almost exiting her body.

"Huh?" The sudden scream of her mate was startling enough, that Aka suddenly had the little boost of strength to lay her first egg, the white oblong-shaped shell tumbled out of her genital then fell neatly into the prepared stone bowl, "K... kuh..." Aka didn't have the ability to talk at the moment, she simply slumped backwards as each egg took its turn to exit their mother, Aka kept laying them, filling up the bowl, occasionally twitching and groaning, until about thirty - or slightly more - small eggs, each about the size of a bikka, were piled on the wide bowl, causing the Viper's stomach to slowly relax, she exhaled a huge sigh of relief as the pain slowly subsided. "Uh... I... I did... I did it..." She was not a mother, a real one, she felt proud of herself.

Just for this moment, Aka closed her eyes, in this stone fortress she created and the presence of her husband and fellow desertkin, she knew she would be safe, with her children near her, it would take about two months for them to fully hatch.

[Oryani]

Oryani was almost as distressed as the snake was from the yelling, though for an odd collection of reasons. First, why did people even bother reproducing, if it hurt this much? Why did one need to groan and grunt and bring every predator out here down on them? And why did the stupid creature decide to have them here, with her, in the middle of the jungle. Her body was tense as she watched awkwardly, wishing she had something, anything to do to take her mind off this. Get more water? Build a fire? Sure. She didn't know how helpful that would be. And if she left, it would be abandoning this snake here alone... though she wasn't sure why she cared about that so much.

She jumped backwards as another person ran into their little abode, yelling just as much as the woman in labor had. To add to the noise she yelped in surprise herself, instinctively pulling the tomahawk from her belt and ready to fend off any monster that this man might be. His expression showed distress, however, rather than any kind of malevolence... and she honestly didn't trust her judgement at the moment. She didn't really trust herself. She was trying to live with the Myrians, earn their respect and become one of them... and now she was helping this Dhani give birth. She could barely believe herself.

She stared as the first eggs started coming out, pooling into a bowl that had grown below where they would fall. She stared at the bowl itself, polite enough to not look any further up than there. There were so many eggs... ten, twenty, more than twenty. They looked like bird eggs, not something that any sentient being would hatch out of. Nothing the size of a human or bigger, at least. So these things did lay eggs, at least... they really were snakes. She still didn't know what this new man was doing here, who he was, or where he had come from... and she honestly didn't care.

She vaguely considered how pleased the Myrians would be if she crushed the eggs here and now, stopping dozens of new Dhani coming into the world. It would be hard to prove it to them, though. She also doubted she'd get out of this alive, with a magic-using mother to protect them. She wasn't very confident of her skill with the weapon at her belt. She barely considered herself having much skill at all.

Realizing that it was a terrible decision from all directions, she returned the tomahawk to her waist and brought he hands forward to clench them nervously. All she could think was 'now what'. What did she do? She barely knew either of these people here, or what she was doing here. Would they kill her, just for the spite of it? No... the Dhani had liked her because she was a Chatakwe. Would they enslave her for the heck of it and drag her back to Zinrah? She sincerely hoped not, though she wasn't quite sure if she could do anything about it. Being desert kin with someone didn't exactly stop you from that. Killing, maybe... enslavement... heck, it was almost likely, if you wanted to stay close to your 'kin'.

It would have been smarter to leave then and there, get out of the way before either of the two noticed she was gone and decided on her fate. However, she couldn't quite bring herself to move, to leave, do anything other than stare in blank shock at the eggs. They were eggs after all... they weren't supposed to come out of a normal woman's womb.

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[Xen]

“Xen’s attention turns to Oryani upon seeing her raised weapon. He grabs onto the handle of his machete-sword with his left hand while his shield, ready on the defense, was placed in front of him. Xen unsheathes his weapon but not entirely, only allowing a small portion of the steel weapon to be exposed to the sunlight. He was tired from running yet not drained to the point where he could not wield his weapon to defend his mate and children. Xen tightens his grip on the handle of his weapon with the intention to unsheathe it and do away with this stranger. However, even as Oryani lowers her weapon—Xen kept his stance and grip firm.

He knew that this part of the jungle wasn’t safe: it was myrian territory. The Kandukta basin, passing it meant that you were wishing for trouble or searching for new hunting grounds. In Xen’s case, he was searching for fresh hunting grounds and was glad that he decided to come out this far—he was able to discover his mate giving birth to his children. Xen would ask why she was so far out here later: when they were safe and back at home in Zinrah. He moves closer to his mate while keeping his other senses on the jungle and his eyes on his strange guest. Xen figures that Aka knew this women and trusted her enough to allow her to handle their eggs but he couldn’t trust her… not a soul so far from Zinrah.

The djed surges through his body and palms as he listens to the subtle sounds of eggs falling and filling a bowl. Xen wanted to hurry away from here and get his wife and children from this dangerous place. He wanted to secure their safety to smile with his mate and celebrate the birth of their children. However, as he prepares the djed within his body—he would see to it that every soul and damnable creature of the jungle, daring to hurt his children, would sink into darkness and meet a slow, painful death within the void.


“I got to see my beloved give birth to my children.” Xen thought


Xen couldn’t display his happiness verbally, as he chose to remain silent within the jungle. He places his weapon into his right hand and extends his left to caress Aka, his beloveds, left cheek. Xen wanted her to be aware of his presence to know that he was watching and protecting over her and their children. He then stood to his feet and places his machete-sword into his left hand. The completion of his children’s birth signaled to him that they had to move—yet Aka was in no condition for travel. Xen turns his attention to Oryani: one who had helped with the birthing of his children and narrows his eyes slightly at his surroundings.


“We have to get moving, it’s not safe.” Xen thought.”

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The Viper hitched her breath, inhaling and exhaling in an irregular pattern, the pain pulsing from her womb dulling her senses, her very being completely focusing to keep her conscious, if she slipped just a little, she would be forced into the dreamscapes and with her being in the middle of a petching jungle, it would be a very poor move indeed. Granted, she was protected by a wall of reimantic earth, but if she knew something about Myrians... was that they were a persistent bunch. Aka would go insane with rage if she lost her eggs just mere chimes after laying them.

The protective mother instinct bloomed fully as the Viper shifted her body, instinctively using her magic to exhume more res from her palms, they traveled towards the stone bowl then manipulated the bowl so it had a sturdy lid, fusing into the existing structure, creating a sphere-shaped bowl, keeping the eggs warm and safe inside until they got back to Zinrah. Aka couldn't find the energy to speak, but she sure had enough drive to protect her eggs, the determination of a mother. The remaining res returned to her body as Aka's blurring vision turned at Xen, how could he know she was here? Perhaps it was a parent's instinct. Whatever the cause, she was glad... Aka gave him a small forced smile.

Then she turned at the unknown Chaktawe who helped her, truly helped her through one of her life's worst ordeal, and to think she didn't even know her just bells ago. "T..." Aka mouthed a soft 'thank you', this woman was a definite proof that good things still lingered in this cruel world.

With her body giving up, Aka sighed as she closed her eyes, finally at peace, knowing her husband and her desert-kin would protect her. She expected to wake up in Zinrah, next to her lovely children.

OOCI think Aka is officially out for the count.

If you guys wanna continue (Socialization and what not), feel free to do so! I'll observe, then one of you can post it for grading.

[Oryani]

Oryani got to a point where she simply couldn’t focus on the Dhani, for some strange reason having a hard time keeping her eyes locked onto the woman’s face or hands or feet. It was odd, but she didn’t complain, instead letting her gaze drift. She stared at the stone walls for a moment, feeling a little shocked once again that someone could build all this, while in labor. The woman had to be a marvelous magician to do something like that… and it actually made her shiver. She certainly didn’t want to get in the snake’s way. Ever. She knew if they wanted to drag her back to Zinrah, she would go… simply out of fear and a little awe. What if she was locked in a giant stone cage like this? What if the woman tossed a boulder into her face, ran a stone spear through her chest, or trapped her feet to the ground? She couldn’t think of any good way to save herself from that.

Her eyes soon found the newcomer, the male who’d seemed so worried about the female. Neither of the pair were anywhere near as tall as a Myrian, and it was almost a relief not to be constantly dwarfed… by everyone. She didn’t think she’d seen a Myrian of less than six feet before. It sounded a little unlikely. She was about a height of this new man, though with the uneven set of ground (and his kneeling) it was hard to tell. He had black hair like anyone else here, but strangely enough, for a man of his youth… there were white strands in it. She couldn’t truly pick out his age, none of his features shouted old or young, but she had trouble believing he would be younger than forty. Unless whatever he was had different aging to a human. Older than forty in perspective, then.

Out of everyone there, though… he had to be the most human. Looking at eyes, hers were midnight black, with no whites or pupils or colors to be seen. The female Dhani’s were a freakish red, sometimes seeming to almost glow. She also knew that the woman was certainly not human. The lisp gave away one part, but… no human gave birth to eggs. Ever. If they did… well… they wouldn’t. It was just flat out impossible and absurd. This man’s eyes were nothing too special, though the color was truly hard to pick out in the gloom. Dark, slightly… blue? It was hard to tell. He seemed to really know this snake, however… maybe he was one of them? Having two small Dhani seemed a little silly, though. She thought all of them were as big physically as Myrians, though… maybe those from different areas (like Ekytol) were of different sizes. Like humans. But still… she couldn’t believe that luck would have it that three people originally from the desert would end up in this same little stone fortress in the middle of the jungle. The jungle was the important part. The deserts of Ekytol, though she’d never visited them, were most certainly not as lush or forested, or… anything. She felt like they were more similar to the Sea of Grass. Her mother had always said so, at least.

When it seemed like the female was asleep, a silence grew over the small room that exceeded just them. It felt like the whole forest had quieted, after all the commotion. Quiet in the jungle, she’d been told, generally didn’t mean good things. If the birds stopped singing, you were in trouble. Thinking on that, she waited tensely for a sound, ears straining to hear something, anything. She didn’t like the idea of a big cat or bear or something creeping silently around their stone walls, looking for a way in. She was suddenly absolutely grateful for them, though kept a wary eye on the entrance, just in case. A bear wouldn’t have been able to get in, but a cat? Those things were flexible.

Then a noise. A tweet, light and airy drifting on the wind. Another one came, and soon the air was full of the usual dusk noises, from cicadas to parrots to the odd monkey here or there. She hated monkeys sometimes, though. A few could be so loud, you thought your head (and the monkey’s head) would explode from all the noise. Still, the sounds were welcome, mostly dispelling her fear of a predator coming to rip their throats out. Now all her suspicion and attention could be locked on the two here, who she was sure were probably equally dangerous. She didn’t know who the man was, or what he was… but she would be careful. Very, very careful.

Their own silence, however, quickly grew tight and tense, despite the almost relaxing sounds outside. She still didn’t understand this man, and now it was just the two of them, apparently waiting for… something. For her to leave was one possibility, but she still couldn’t seem to bring herself to do that, despite the intense want to retrieve her bow and quiver from where she’d left them. Other than that… they were probably waiting for the female snake to wake up, so the Dhani and the eggs could return home nice and safe to Zinrah. She almost winced at the thought. The future at the moment, her future, was so cloudy she didn’t want to think about it. All she could do was sit and wait for fate to play its hand.

Instead, she spoke, a quiet word almost muttered at first. She had to repeat it, sure the dark haired man wouldn’t have heard her. ”What are you?” she asked in Common, simple and blunt. There was an obvious question in her voice, but she kept it soft, like she still felt like loud sounds would bring hell onto their heads. Which she did. Only Myri knew what would find them, eventually. Something always found you.

Gods… she was even using the Myrian goddess’ name. She truly was adapting into their culture. It was almost disturbing. Still, she’d never really had a true deity of her own, so it wasn’t as much of a fuss as it could have been.

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[Xen]

“Then there was silence and afterwards a convening of sounds. The sky was growing dimmer by the tick and before Xen could try to grasp an understanding of what time it was, dusk was upon him. Xen sits down beside his mate and was lucky enough to witness her gentle smile. Xen returns the smile and sighs afterwards—he knew it was impossible for a busybody like Aka to avoid trouble. He then relaxes while beside his beloved and rests his unsettled spirit. The night was a dangerous hour to roam in: even the myrian’s, as wild and explosive as they were, would not dare venture into the jungle at night unless they were really desperate for food.

Xen allows his eyes to adjust to the dimly lit jungle, his pupils expanding and filling the white ring in the center of his eyes. Yet, there was something rather perplexing—why was the strange young woman staring at him? Xen sets his gaze upon Oryani to find that she had…jet black eyes. This unique characteristic of Oryani’s eyes captures Xen’s interest but he averts his gaze to avoid the creepy staring-at-a-young-lady-with-a-smile factor. Xen sheathes his machete-sword and sighs softly in the fading light.


“ Looks like it’s going to be salamander for dinner tonight…great.” Xen thought with a hint of despair.


Salamander meat was terrible; biting it was like chewing a giant slug and on one that was still alive. Xen grimaced at the thought and was more content with hunting dangerous prey! He would be fed at the end of the day and be covered in bruises but he’d be covered in bruises while free from hunger! Xen sat back and dreams of the day he could eat some really good meat as he looks into the jungle. In the silence of the jungle and his thoughts, Xen feels something crawl up his arm. When he looks, he notices a small white moth poking his skin with its proboscis. This doesn’t bother Xen until more and more moths gathered around, triggering a swarm.

He starts fanning the moths away but more of them came and collected on his body to devour the tasty pollen on his skin and in his hair. Xen did not find this to be strange, he was constantly running into flowers and caused them to spill their pollen onto him. He allows the moths to eat off of him and amongst the bustling wings and their flapping; he swore heard someone say something. Xen looks at Oryani with his hair filled with moths and stares as a one would during a studious inspection. He could not hear her exact words due to the moths turning Oryani’s audible words incoherent mumbling.


“Hmm? Your question? Xen asked, his words being innocuous in nature.”

[Oryani]

Oryani scowled at the man when he asked her to repeat her question. She’d already said it twice, the second time much clearer than the first. When she got a good look at him, however, she raised her eyebrows high, finding the black hair now turned white from a large collection of moths. Was he one of Caiyha’s, to attract the animals so? Or was he just covered with food? Food was always a great attraction for animals, she knew. Including moths. He actually looked rather amusing, slowly and irregularly flapping wings covering his body. They were all over him, though the hair had been the most obvious, on arms and legs and hands. She let a small smirk touch her lips at this, amused by the scene before her. She was rather surprised he let them stay… he probably knew the local fauna better than herself, at least. She smacked away any and every bug that tried to touch her, in case it was dangerous or poisonous, or… well… she’d been told a lot of stories.

She repeated her question again, word for word, trying to pronounce every word clearly and loudly. ”What are you?” she asked, making sure she had his attention this time. The man seemed oddly content to sit and watch the not so pregnant snake, making it more obvious that the two had some kind of connection. She’d only met these two today, and had ended up dragged into this utterly absurd situation. Almost habit driven, she glanced over at the bowl, where she knew piles of tiny eggs sat, ready to eventually give birth to more little Dhani. It was creepy, but also sweet in a way. She shook her head and scowled at the ground at that thought. No, it wasn’t sweet. They were snakes, slavers and monsters and brutal. They ate Myrians, she’d seen it… they were too dangerous to be ever considered ‘sweet’. She tightened her lips and turned back to watch the armed man, waiting expectantly for an answer to her inquiry.

After whatever explanation was given, she would realize it would be a good point to introduce herself. If they were already talking… it would be best not to think of him as ‘man’ and put a name to the face. If he was in joint with the female Dhani, it would be those two who decided what happened after this. She wasn’t sure if making friends with them was a good or bad thing. She could think of many reasons for the latter, but they didn’t really matter in the situation. If they were friends, maybe out of good faith they would leave her alone. However, if they were friends… they might want her to… ‘tag along’. Which she certainly did not want to do, but knew she had no choice if they wanted to force it. A powerful reimancer and a man who seemed more at ease with his weapon than she did? She was helpless.

Instead she sighed, leaned against the stone wall, and began to bring more conversation into the little fortress. ”I am Oryani. Oryani Darkeye. You…?” She left the question hanging, hoping for an answer to the generally obvious question. The man wouldn’t actually be able to pick apart her name, especially the last one, as it was purely in Pavi… and would probably sound like meaningless drivel, with the exception of the fact that she pointed to herself as she said it, and then angled a finger at him. She would hopefully be able to ask the female snake’s name later, if it was true that the two were acquainted… though she wasn’t entirely sure. One could never be absolutely sure about anything. Again, as the thought came to her, she glanced over at the woman, eyeing the sleeping form. Everything had gone from chaotic to oddly peaceful, though it was a stressful peace, to be honest. Stress about these two people she knew nothing about, stress about being stuck in a quickly darkening jungle, without knowing if something was secretly stalking them and watching their every move.

She let out a deep and tense breath, trying to tell herself to relax. Hopefully, if something very big with many teeth came along, the female would wake up and burn it to pieces, or something. Otherwise they were kind of stuck, if it could get in. The man had a sword, and she her tomahawk (which she could barely use anyways), but they’d also have to protect the Dhani and the eggs, which would be a trial unto itself. She winced at the thought of a tiger or something slipping in, especially if it was a big tiger. Those Myrian tigers would probably take up half the space in their little fortress. A Myrian tiger came with Myrians… and Myrians would help her, right? But… no. Actually, no, they wouldn’t. She was an unknown barbarian, calmly sitting in a room with two snakes, and a bunch of Dhani eggs. She’d look like she was consorting with them, plain and simple… and she’d be given no time to prove or explain herself. And she had nothing to truly prove she wasn’t a Myrian enemy. Petch.

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[Xen]

““ This one’s a bit uptight…” Xen thought with a tad bit of concern.


Aka with all her strange friends, he couldn’t imagine the amount of people she knew. Xen hardly knew anyone besides Yuki, Kihlissorayls, Nessorousslindyls, Tinnok and Aka. Okay, maybe he does know a few people. Xen could see Oryani’s edginess; it was like she was ready to bolt away from him. He couldn’t understand this strange person and observes the gestures she made as she spoke to him. Xen believes this was another language or a way she communicated with others. He did however understand her first question. Xen found this moment tempting, he could shift into his dhani form! That way Oryani would see and understand what he was.

There was also a slight chance that Xen wanted to take advantage of Oryani’s nervousness and scare her for a bit of fun but that was just his predator instincts talking; he didn’t have the courage to frighten a young-maiden. That and he would probably be hit upside the head with a tomahawk: which would be bad. Xen points to his chest with his thumb and then moves his hand in a serpentine fashion.


“My name iss Xen. I’m a sserpent.”


Xen hopes he mimicked Oryani’s movements properly. The language she displayed was different from what he’s experienced in Zinrah. There was only common and snake-tongue in his nest with so few dhani knowing ancient-tongue. Xen believed he was the only dhani that spoke ancient-tongue but the world was a big place, it was only a matter of time before he met someone.The moths on his body were disturbed by the sudden intrusion of large flying-gecko. The lizard was attracted by the swarming moths and jumps from the tree it was occupying to glide through the air. The gecko lands on Xen’s face with a loud splat and proceeds to eat the moths in his hair.

This doesn’t bother him at all; it was bound to happen anyway. Predators were always attracted to large numbers since there was always a chance of catching prey. Xen sat as though he was a tree or slab of rock to avoid disturbing the gecko's meal and the faint shuffling in his hair meant that the gecko was probably trying to make use of Xen’s messy hair: a nest maybe?


“What brought you to the jungle? I don’t get the feeling that you are use to it.”


The gecko pokes its head from Xen’s hair and stares at Oryani as though it was interested in her response.

[Oryani]

Oryani frowned at Xen’s response, getting the first part, but not the answer to her question. Serpent? What was that? She didn’t know the word in Common. She thought over his answer for a few moments, however, repeating it in her mind, until she caught the crucial detail. It was funny how she saw it in one snake, but not the other. That pinpoint slur on the ‘s’. So she was dealing with two Dhani here… lovely. She was probably screwed after this. These two didn’t look as physically big, in human form, as the other six she’d seen, but… she didn’t know about their snake forms. Those were frighteningly big. There would, luckily, be no room in here for one of those to transform… so she was relatively safe from that.

She rubbed her forehead with her left hand, mentally groaning. When the Drykas looked up there was another amusing sight, though at first she flinched when it happened. The Dhani, seemingly perfectly at ease with nature around him, was hit full in the face by a funny flying lizard thing which immediately began eating the moths. She was almost a little sad… the moths had been rather pretty. This thing was not. Very not so. It was simply lizard-like, with a lot of excess skin and scales. Having had bad memories of scales and the things that wore them, it wasn’t a really appealing sight. Her next thought was more Myrian in style, showing her obvious and growing assimilation. She knew a few Drykas who would consider it as well, and she would as well, given time. But… this was a little quick. She decided that, if the thing had landed on her… it would have been a perfect chance to pull it off, smack it against a rock, then cook it and eat it. She had tried lizard meat once before in the Sea of Grass, and another time as a quick lunch in Taloba, and she’d kind of liked the texture.

What was strangely odd was Xen’s complete and utter lack of reaction to the thing. She knew she would have yelped and tried to drag it off, thinking of it as an attack. She didn’t like strange things hitting her. The snake had to be rather confident with himself and his abilities, and his knowledge of the jungle to simply be able to sit still and let the thing nibble at his hair and moth covering. It was kind of impressive, and after a moment she raised an eyebrow. If she knew him better, the Chatakwe might have slid down to sit, relaxing and being closer to believing that she was safe. However, she wasn’t, and this was truly one of the peaks of her lack of confidence in… everything, especially herself. She rarely ever felt truly safe anymore, in an unfamiliar world, without Khal. She managed to ignore it sometimes, forget about it, but at others… she couldn’t help but twitch at everything, stare at the darkness in the bushes and wonder if something, someone, was there planning to leap out at her. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was growing slightly paranoid, despite the fact that she was also becoming more used to her surroundings.

The Dhani seemed much more fluent in Common than herself, and his next words were hard to decipher. She didn’t actually know the word ‘jungle’ in Common, only in Myrian and barely in Pavi, having picked it up… somewhere. Her Common vocabulary was slowly growing into an odd mix of Myrian, mostly because of all the new terms she was learning in the Taloban language. Poma had been giving her basic lessons as well, for the past twenty or so days, and she was getting somewhere at least. Despite the hole in the first sentence, she was able to grab the basic idea. ‘What brought you…’ blank. The ‘brought’ was also heard as a kind of form of ‘bring’, since it was simple a past tense version of the verb. So, despite the complex words, she was able to figure out the rather simple and common question. The second sentence was harder, though it sounded more like an addition to a question rather than really another important statement, so she deigned to ignore it. If it was important… she’d probably end up answering it anyways, or at least it would be repeated.

”Here? Mm.” She wondered what to say to him, to be vague like she had with the female, or to tell the full truth. The full truth was that slavers and Dhani had dragged her here, to this jungle… but she didn’t know if another snake would be quite happy about that. It had been her reason for omitting it earlier. It was better to be safe than sorry, however, so she went with the version she had before. Oryani shrugged, shoulders drifting up and down, as she let her gaze wander a little. ”Hard. Eh… Svefra, boat, slave.” She didn’t mention that it hadn’t been the Svefra who’d brought her through the jungle, just to it in the first place. She could have stopped, but it seemed like a good way to keep the conversation going. Her question, however, was… should she add the Myrians as well? All Dhani hated Myrians, and vice versa, and mentioning she was friends with their enemies would be bad, or even worse, than mentioning she was enemies with their friends. As other Dhani could be mutual relationships, but Myrian? It was all personal, in that way.

She frowned, and gave up. What was the worst that could happen? The conversation end? It was possible to end if she didn’t continue anyways. A scowl, or a hiss. If she had a good humored Dhani with her, Xen might even laugh. She sighed and tucked her hands behind her, though kept one resting near her weapon for general safety reasons. ”Myrians help, kill slavers. Go to Taloba, stay.” She gave a weak smile, though she didn’t exactly feel very positive. She felt more stressed, oh so stressed.

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