Fall 33rd 519AV
Ines had always been drawn to Indigo, but rarely did they have time to speak. Her demeanor and voice were familiar comforts to the Kelvic, and not many else could speak Myrian. The few times they did interact, the witch learned that she had lived in the Maw long before the settlement, and from then on she knew that this half-blooded Myrian would be the best teacher to learn the lay of the land and the denizens within it.
Her devotion to the Ashta, elephants reminiscent of the Tskanna whose cycle of life and death were the originator of her Phylonura mark, felt lacking. Not to the Ashta, but to the Goddess herself. Strange machinations and fogs of wild djed were plaguing the region. Ines was here and, without outside help, was unable to venture far enough into the tropical forest to do anything about it, whether to learn, analyze, or uproot whatever strange forces lied in the tangled vines beyond the line where jungle met the sand. She had to learn what was going wrong so that she could cut off the corruption at its source, and for that, she needed to learn how to survive on her own. She had approached Indigo with this request, though it took some time to realize that the gilded, six-armed woman was the Myrian she sought. To be fair, Ines's own form was now much taller and much more purple. Adeliz recognized her first, after comparing Ines's memories and looking at the shape of her face and style of hair rather than a normal Indigo in this time of abnormal.
Indigo packed lightly but efficiently. Tents weren't useful in the jungle as they were on the beach, but a bedroll and tarp had their uses. Ines brought her hammock, whistle, and bundles of tinder, too, as well as several pouches of Myrian salts. The witch also brought her machete, just as Indigo brought her machete and her bow. The half-blood insisted they didn't need much else, as the land would provide plentiful shelter and food. Ines knew this to be true. Anyone raised in the jungle knew that it was Caiyha's land, more so than anywhere else. The bat thought of Caiyha as her mother more than anyone else, Myri and her true birth mother trailing behind. Like any mother, Caiyha rewarded and punished her children as she saw fit.
As the duo, (or trio, really), ventured into the jungle, they were immediately suffused with the life of it. The witch was not well-traveled in the slightest, but she couldn't imagine there was anywhere else in Mizahar that contained the multitudes of vibrancy that Falyndar had. Ines had never been out of shape, her life-long work made sure of it, but the feeling of the tropics took her breath away. Adeliz, too, never got enough of the first half-bell after crossing the threshold from the open, breezy beaches and into the sheer, immediate density of the rainforest.
Indigo tapped Ines with one of her free arms to get her attention, drawing her from her lost thoughts. "Do you see where we're going?" She asked the question not for her benefit. She hadn't been paying attention to their route, but that wasn't what the half-Myrian was asking about, either. The bat focused on their surroundings, now with purpose. Adeliz, like a whisper in her ear, pointed out the trail of disturbed plants and muddy footprints.
"We're following the game trail." She replied. Indigo nodded, crouching down near a set of paw prints, freshly pressed into the earth. The one paw was the size of her hand. "Do you know what animal left this?" The ranger asked, another test. Just one print was comprised of five parts - four fingerpads and one paw pad. The paw pad was heart-shaped, though smushed and organic-looking. The toes arched around the paw, the second one sticking furthest out. Without the presence of the points of the claw points, the witch could only assume it was a cat. The print was much different than the ones left by Myrian tigers around Taloba. Tiger prints were more symmetrical than these.
"Big cat paw, but not a tiger." Ines said. They both stood up, Indigo leading them along the game trail. She had an interesting advantage in the jungle with her transformation because she could both cut their way with the machete, hold the bow, and still have multiple hands free for carrying and gesturing. Her control over the six arms was fluid and natural, evidence that she time practicing. The half-blood didn't want to waste the use of four extra limbs.
"It's a leopard. Hiding, somewhere. Maybe even watching us from the trees. He is camouflaged too well for me to find out." She stopped to sit on the massive root of a tree ancient enough to reach the canopy, and the bat joined her. They alternated one of their waterskins between them, sipping on the water to replace that which had been lost in sweat. It had been nearly two bells, and they covered only a mile. The humidity made it seem like three.
