Strangers in the woods ( Nidae, Seliarus )

[Seliarus]

"I didn't want to insssult anyone'sss cooking...Ssso I apologizse." Seliarus started his sentence, as he seen the frown. He, in a good will, didn't want to insult anyone, but, who knows. He should be careful on what he says. At least for time time being. He took the package he was handed to, and silently observed it. "Csssider?" He asked, not familiar with any beverage. Only thing he got to drink once, was ale. And it was horrible. But he wasn't worried about getting something to drink. There was a pond behind him.

He stood up, and made around five, or six steps in the direction of the pond, and knelled down. With a few hand motions, he removed some leafs from the ground, and uncovered a small hole. Probably the home of a rabbit. He then reached inside the hole, and after a moment, he pulled a leather bond backpack from there, all covered with mud, and damaged by time itself. He then made his way back to the stone, on which he placed the package of food he got earlier.

In that moment, he seen the feral girl already shaping into her animal self, and as she nodded, he lightly nodded in return. He knew that the woods were not poor on wildlife, so he didn't expect it would take long. As the snow leopard slowly vanished deeper in the forest, the Dhani sat down, and his eyes traveled to the Vantha again. He dug his right hand in the deeps of his backpack, and started to search for something. "You two...Know yourssself for a longer period of time? You ssseem quite fond of eacssh other." He spoke, after a period of silence.

Somewhere then, he managed to pull something out of his backpack, and simply made the backpack fall on the ground afterwords. Between his right hand's fingers, was a wooden flute. It did seem quite old, but it still looked in tact. He observed the instrument for a moment. It was a gift from a traveler, in exchange that the Dhani wouldn't eat him. Silly, but still.

He placed the flute between his lips, and blew some air in it. His fingers danced around the holes that were on the top of the wooden instrument, and a plain and simply melody could be heard. He knew he wasn't good at playing, but at least he got something to do when he got bored, and was not hungry. But he quickly stopped, remembering he is not even alone anymore. Who knows what the Vantha might think. "Ssshould I ssstart a fire?"

After a while, the Kelvic, now again in her human form, also arrived back to the camp. He nodded once again at her, so she would see he acknowledged her presence. That is when the deer was dropped on the ground. As soon as he looked at the animal, a few drops of sweat appeared on his forhead. His palms were pushed together in a fist, to prevent them from shaking. As much as he tried to act like a human, he wasn't one. And his hunger for something more fitting was awakened the very moment he lied eyes uppon the meat.

"I..I..." He started, but quickly went silent.He took a deep breath, and grabbed the meat package from the Vantha with his left hand. "Would you..." He spoke, pausing for a moment, his eyes still locked on the deer. He couldn't hold it back. But he also knew he wont be able to shift into his half snake form. He decided he'll get a smaller peace, and simply devour it in his human form. "Allow me to cut a piece out?" He finally asked. He decided that he'll eat he meat package after his instinct is gone.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidassasyae watched intently as Seliarus struggled with himself. She remembered eating a real meal after months of wandering the frozen wastes, tearing into the food with bare hands. Though, it did not seem as though this man was starving, rather that his animal instincts were taking over. She understood that, though the level of his intense hunger startled her. Nidae gazed at him through tangled ebon locks, waiting for him to finish his sentence. The girl nodded, stepping back and gesturing towards the deer. "Help yourself," she said gently, knowing not to startle the Dhani as instincts were starting to take over his actions. She didn't mind him taking a piece, quite the opposite actually. Though she was hungry enough, there should still be enough for her and Nehsmay once Seliarus had taken some. The deer she had caught was a stag, the largest of the three. It had been pure luck, this particular deer had been grazing nearest to her, thus, the one closest when she attacked.

[Seliarus]

The Dhani placed the knife back in the backpack, and took a knife from there instead. He walked towards the animal, and grabbed hold of the right back leg. He kneeled down, and started to pull on it, using the knife to dislocate the bone, and cut trough the flesh and sinew. Quickly enough blood was on his hands, and his eyes sparkled for a moment. His breathing was speeded up, as he slowly, but steadily managed to, with quite some problem, remove the leg from the rest of the body.

After that, he shifted back, a bit away from the both. Taking the meat package with him as well. "Thank you..." He managed to bring from his mouth.His voice was shaking, and he was hissing all the time.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidassasyae simply nodded, a gentle smile on her face. All these other races were hard to understand, they followed a completely different set of principles than Nidae did. With Seliarus at least, if she could not completely understand him, she at least had some idea of what was going on. It was the animal part of him that she understood, but all the human anger and fear he carried inside him was completely foreign to her. Letting the Dhani eat his meal, the leopardess turned to the vantha. "Would you like some? I can set up a cooking fire, if you like," asked the girl.

[Nehsmay]

"It's nothing." Nehsmay said as the Dhani apologized "I believe you may have encountered one of two travelers with abysmal cooking skills, so I understand your mistrust." She grinned "Morwen knows my sister can't cook to save her life." She stopped and looked at Nidae who turned into her leopard form. A flash of pain flared on the Vantha's face as she remember other times, but it dissipated in a second. "Cider is a drink made of apples." She explained "It's quite good, but it depends on one's preferences." She listened to the rustle of the forest for a moment before answering the Dhani's question. "We've known each other for a short time, but we share a common goal though it is due to different motives. We both one to find her family and see those who kidnapped them dead." Her eyes flashed an angry shade of ice blue and her look darted towards her bow... she didn't know if she had in her what it took to kill, but she sure wasn't going to let them walk away on their feet. Nehsmay watched quietly as the Dhani started playing then stopped. Sure he wasn't as good as those in the Snowsong Hold, but the tune held a certain charm. "You needn't stop because of me..." she said than added "If you wish I can help you with the fire." Soon after Nidae appeared with the deer and the Vantha watched the exchange between the two shape shifters silently. Upon looking at the dead stag she frowned and asked Nidae slowly. "Would you mind terribly much if I cook my share?" The idea of raw meet made her slightly sick.

[Seliarus]

Seliarus crawled behind one of the many trees, just to hide himself from the both of them. He took a deep breath, as he couldn't even control himself anymore. "When...I finisssh with thisss...I..I..'ll make sssure the fire isss on." He said, taking several breaks between words. He closed his eyes, and a scale or two appeared on his neck. He opened his mouth, and it looked like he dislocated his jaw. A some sort of not fully done transformation was done, as he started to, not exactly eat, but devour the leg of the stag. Taking it slowly, inch by inch. At that moment, he had no control of himself, and he didn't even try to change that. The feeling, of blood dripping down his lips, and the meat slowly filling his throat, was just too much. His breathing calmed down, as he continued. Unable to think about anything else.

Around him, however, a pool of blood appeared. As the rest of the blood that was in the leg left the stag's limb. His recently washed hair was coloring red, as did his clothes.

It didn't take long, however, circa ten minutes for the Dhani to fully devour the whole leg, and another five minutes of waiting so he could move again. In that time, most of the blood already dried over him, and his hunger vanished.Even the scales disappear and his head changed back, He stopped shaking, and he calmed down. He could now enjoy the package of the Vantha in peace, and ease his more human-like needs, to taste something that wasn't running around five minutes ago.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidassasyae laughed, the silence completely broken by the Nehsmay's question. "Why should I mind? All you people have such odd tastes, but I suppose cooked meat does have its virtues. Here, I'll skin and gut it just outside the clearing, I'll be back with your share in just a second." She gathered some dry wood, building a nice stack in the center of the glade. She got her flint and tinder, and struck a fire. Once Nidae had a good blaze going, she turned back to the deer. Nidae hoisted the deer onto her shoulder and disappeared behind the dense undergrowth. If people had such squeamish stomachs, who knew what would happen if she butchered the animal right in front of them? The leopard supposed that someone had to butcher people's meat, otherwise how could they cook it? It all confused her, so she focused on preparing the meal. Finding a tree with a nice low hanging branch, the girl lashed the deer's hind leg to it. This could prove slightly more difficult, now that Seliarus had taken one leg, but she thought that she could manage. Using the tip of her dagger, she cut a small slit above the knee, and sliced through the skin all the way down to the deer's main trunk. She made other various slices all around the body, then grabbed the skin at the deer's back hoof and pulled down, the hide coming away from the carcass. Her arms bloodied, she searched around for a nice stick. Finding a fallen branch that suited her purposes, she impaled the meat with it, and approached the glade. Walking towards the fire, she looked at the deer, then back to the fire helplessly. "Umm... how do I cook this? Do you want to do it, because I have no idea what to do next." The extent of Nidae's knowledge of cooking was that there was food, and fire involved.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay sighed in relief when Nidae took the dead deer away to skin it, although she shuddered slightly upon thinking at the disgusting task. It was one thing to skin a rabbit, horrid as that was, but to skin a stag? Brrr.... Seeing that both her companions where nowhere it sight, the Vantha started humming one of the few songs she knew, trying to chase the homesickness away. When Nidae returned she jumped startled and turned to face her friend. "Don't worry, I'll handle it from here." She searched the forest for two thick sticks with their edge spread in two parts and impaled them in the ground on each side of the fire. She then took the stick with the deer and put it on top of them, making sure she was able to maneuver it so that the deer would roast evenly. "Ok!" she clapped her hands gleefully "Here we are. And we can pack some of it and serve some cold meat tomorrow and maybe the day after as well." Cooking wasn't exactly her specialty, but she remember how to do this and that from watching her mother and occasionally helping her cook for their family.

[Seliarus]

Seliarus now slowly leaned back on the tree he was hiding. He knew that he had a couple of days, maybe weeks until he'll need to do something like that. And so he was relaxed. A smile appeared on his lips, but the fact that his face was covered with blood, made him look like a psychological mess.

Mess or not, he finished both of his meals now, and decided it would be for the best to get the blood from him. He stood up, and walked towards the pond. The water was cold, so he had to hurry out once he was in. He stepped into the cold liquid, and soon enough sat down in the water, and pushed his head in the water. He stayed under water, for less than a minute, but the blood was washed away. He went trough his hair a couple of times, before he finally stood up. Most of the blood on his face and hair was gone, but a few stains on his clothes remain. The Dhani then made his way out of the water. He was soaked wet when he returned to the place where he last seen the two travelers. Seeing as they started a fire without him, he decided he'll go dry himself up.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidassasyae handed the stick with the deer to Nehsmay, grateful to give the work to someone else. If left to herself, Nidae would probably have tried to cook it by just holding the deer over the fire, as one might toast bread over a hearth. It would have ended in disaster, thankfully the vantha seemed to know what she was doing. She watched, entranced by the dancing flames, as Nehsmay cooked the deer. Her stomach grumbled at the smell of the sizzling meat, and she blushed, though she licked her lips when she glanced back at the meal. She had tried cooked meat when in Avanthal, and the taste both interested and annoyed her. The cooking had given a whole new taste to the meat, which she sometimes enjoyed. However, it held no contest against being able to lick the blood off your lips. "How long does cooking usually take?" asked Nidassasyae. When she heard someone approaching, she turned away from the fire, her eyes settling on Seliarus. The Dhani man was soaked, apparently he had taken a dip in the pond? She looked down at herself, covered in the deer's blood. She absently licked the blood off her hand, watching as he approached the fire.