Wildlands: Strangers [Nadala]

[Grace]

Timestamp: 16th Day of Winter, 510 AV Location: Wildlands Status: Closed, tag Nadala In passing, they would barely warrant a casual glance. Nearly invisible, the small stone crags that jut from the earth could easily be mistaken for simple stones, and the faint writing, carved into the surface, taken for the paths left behind as earthworms wind their way through the dirt covered surface. To any other eye, the buried ruins would be ignored, but to Grace, they were a thing of beauty. The ruins held answers to the past that she craved, once found, she would pour herself into it relentlessly until it gave her every secret. The ruins were well secluded, emerging from the edge of lush forest. Only a few remnants reached from the cover of the trees, as though grasping for their freedom. Grace had been riding with Jasper, referencing her fathers notes as her eyes scanned for these very stones. That had been two days past, and now with her camp set; she lay in the dirt, using a fine swirling brush to reveal her treasure. Lying on a spread blanket in front of her tent were the spoils of her discovery so far, most of it looking like junk that the cheapest charlatan would avoid. There were strange keys, simple utensils, broken pieces of simple glass and various other treasures that Grace could not wait to investigate. She sang little tune to herself and Jasper, pausing to blow softly on the place that she worked, puffing away some of the loose dirt before returning to her song. She wore her glasses, too big for her face, but perched on her nose as though they belonged there. She paused to try and read some script that was revealed by her dusting, looking at the scrawling loops that had been carved into whatever it was she was uncovering. Her patience was great, taking her time where others would ravage through to get to the prize. She was lost to the world, in her own private paradise.

[Nadala]

The day prior, Nadala had been in the woods hunting. She just caught her prey, a grey rabbit, when her ears caught the sound of movement somewhere near her. Her head shot up, furry ears perked up to listen intently. Distracted by the sound Nadala let the rabbit escape from under her paw. Slowly she made her way to the sound while keeping to the bushes so as to not be seen. The sound had been the movement of a horse, atop it was a girl. A strange device lay on her face, glass circles above her eyes. For whatever reason Nadala was extremely interested. It was not usual to find a girl roaming into the wilds by herself, she was either stupid or able to defend herself.

Normally Nadala would wish to put this to a test, jump out at the girl and test her skills. But not this time. This time Nadala wanted to see why she was here. And so the kelvic followed, staying close to the shadows and keeping herself low to the ground and out of eye sight. She followed the girl for a day or so.

Now Nadala watched from the bushes as the object of her gaze sifted through dirt and stone to find a collection of small items. The girl had a body very similar to Nadala's, tall, thin yet toned, a body that while may look delicate to the common onlooker was probably quite durable.

Leaving the cover of the bushes, Nadala made her way towards the girl. Her body was still kept close to the ground as she almost crawled to the girl. Her tail was lifted up, waving leisurely in the air. Nadala neared the human girl and tilted her head to the side as she watched what she was doing amongst the rubble.

[Grace]

Jasper let out a quiet nicker, and began dancing in place even before the cat appeared. Grace looked up from her work, pushing her glasses up her nose and scanning the trees nearby. "I see nothing Jasper.. " The horse continued to dance, growing more anxious. She tried to calm him by speaking softly, cooing sounds that usually settled him. She looked back at the ground, to mark her spot and set aside her brush. She saw the tail first, snaking into the air like vine climbing to the sky. The breath caught in her throat as she took in the rest of the cat. She'd never seen anything like it, and were she not on the receiving end of its stalking she would have considered it quite beautiful. But for the moment, her hand reached for the blade at her hip. She remained very still, continuing to coo soft sounds to try and give Jasper peace. Her eyes lay ever on the cat, unsure how to react now that it was nearly upon her. When it stopped and quirked its head she made no move of aggression... frozen in curious captivity. She remained still as a statue, watching the cat with a mixture of tension and wonder. The cat seemed as equally fascinated with Grace, giving her reason to pause, reason to look more closely at the eyes that stared back at her. She locked eyes of the cat, as she stared into the endless gold there seemed to be sentient question amidst the animal curiosity. She looked around the sight, released her grip on the hilt of her blade with some caution and then picked up her brush. With a look to the cat, a shiver of nerves crept across her skin and she returned to her work. Twisting the handle of the brush to expose the worn lines of script carved into the stone. Jasper let out a quiet whinny. "Settle Jasper.. you're fine." She kept glancing at the cat as if to confirm her assumptions. To make herself feel a little more relaxed, she began speaking, explaining herself... though she knew the cat wouldn't understand it made her feel more calm to talk in a conversational voice. "I use this brush because the softness does not do any damage. " She looks over at her guest. "This one.. " She points delicately at what she'd begun to uncover with the pointy end of her brush. " See here.. the script is still in tact." Her voice begins to grow passionate as she speaks about her work. "If I can just read it, who knows what it will tell me." She grins at the cat, looking a little startled as she remembers that it is in fact a beast to which she speaks. But that does not stop her,feeling that by introducing the cat to her life it would break through some barrier into this strange company. Unless it decides to attack her, then it would cease to be a break through and turn into a very unfortunate decision on Grace's part. She swallows a lump that has developed in her throat and looks over at the cat.

[Nadala]

Nadala was observant, her eyes and ears missed things very rarely. So when the horse made its complaints, she heard. When the girl touched upon her blade, she saw. Nadala was very much a predator and observation was key in catching her prey. She, unlike many of the other wildcats, did not possess great size or massive strength. When she made her kills they had to be calculated and quick. But this was not one of those times, she'd no interest in feeding on the girl or her horse. Horse tended to be too large and muscular and rarely went down easily and humans always put up a fight, pesky little things.

As she neared the girl Nadala ignored the horse. She'd heard they were very loyal beasts but in her experience they weren't the smartest. Any animal that was fine with letting others mount it with reigns and spurs was bound to not have the sharpest noggin. In any case, Nadala sat there looking at the girl, watching what she did with her brushes and tools. Listening carefully as the girl spoke, Nadala's ears twitched.

Uncovering lost scripts, Nadala could not decide if it was wondrous and exciting or useless and disappointing. How wonderful would it be to discover a great spellbook, a map to a forgotten city, a legendary weapon but how sure were you that these would be your finds? It must have been much more common to find broken vases and pieces of old buildings that had once been part of a city that no longer stood.

Slowly Nadala stood up. She walked behind the girl, her long limbs moving slowly, walking to the girl's other side. Once she was adjacent to the human once more Nadala had shifted, her naked body unabashed. Long messy hair hung over her breasts as the girl crouched down, looking back at the remains of the past.

"Have you ever found anything terribly interesting?" she said, turning her golden eyes to meet those of the woman beside her.

[Grace]

Grace lay very still, going about her task. She did not look up immediately upon hearing the movement beside her, and to be honest, when the very soft footfalls shifted from four to two, an uncomfortable lump grew in her throat and a snug tightness snapped into place across the plane of her stomach. The moment she heard the spoken word, her mind raced to grasp any explanation, tossing aside thoughts like they were scraps of half written parchment until she finally stopped on the one that fit. "Kelvic. " She spoke the word in little more than a whisper, almost as if she wished to hear it aloud as she turned to look at the woman, formerly a beautiful, exotic cat and now a long-limbed woman with a wild look about her. Her eyes were met with the spellbinding gold of the woman's and she found herself staring without pretense, captivated as much by the sight before her as she was with her work. As she watched, she heard her own voice answering the question, it was calm and even, much a contrast to the nervous energy that jolted through her body, making her feel a little like an exposed nerve. "Yes, to me anyway." She rolled onto her side, and slowly pushed up into a seated position to take away a little bit of the disadvantage she felt in their postures. With her hands resting in her lap and a curious sparkle in her gray eyes, she continued. "I do suppose it would depend some on perspective though. It holds my attention because it gives me a window into the history of this place. " Her eyes flick to the collection of 'found items' and then back to the woman. "I search through what might seem mundane to others for those pieces that stand out." She casually reached over and rode her fingertips over the exposed script. She offered a gentle curl of her lips, a beguiling little smile. "I also just like a good mystery." Having answered the question at hand, Grace was more interested in her visitor, returning the focus to her. She drew one arm in to hug around her chest, and with opposite hand, began absently playing the chain around her neck. "I'm Grace." Jasper shifted a little and her eyes darted to him with a quick glance before settling back on Nadala. "I have to say, I am surprised you didn't attack me...why is that? "

[Nadala]

Nadala's ears heard the name of her race as though it had been shouted. She liked the sound of it though she merely stared at the woman without much of a response. This hadn't been as large a discovery as the relics of the past that the girl must have looked over, after all, not many things changed from human to animal on a whim.

The woman didn't seem uncomfortable with Nadala's nudity, that was good. The kelvic often felt that those who didn't pay it a second thought were the ones who were truly civilized as opposed to the people who shielded their eyes or averted their gaze. Yes, she was getting a bit cold but one of the perks of being a cheetah was that her blood ran hotter and faster than most which usually kept her from shivering. "How wonderful it must be to know the past. One could often predict the future with such knowledge, history repeats itself so often." In her animal nature knowledge and adaptations were passed down from generation to generation, it was what kept all animals alive. Due to their shorter lifespans, this knowledge was much more important to kelvics than it might have been to the longer-lived races simply for the fact that they had much less time.

"You are a woman of books, no? Education emanates from you." Though Nadala spoke to the woman, she didn't keep still. Some part of her body was always in motion, whether it was head slowly looking around the area and back at the human or her hands playing along the soil, fingernails coated in the dirt, or just her entire body smoothly swaying in her feline movements.

Grace, her name. It seemed a fitting name. Her eyes were a color Nadala could easily describe and graceful and serene. Eyes said a lot about their owners. She could tell when a creature would strike by looking into their eyes, or if lust or fear lingered in them. Sensing the gaze, Nadala quickly her head turned away from the ground and again her eyes locked onto those of Grace. "Despite common misconception most kelvics don't attack humans without reason. I've never attacked one to eat them and the only times I've heard of kelvics doing so was because they were really hungry." The way she said it may have seemed a bit weird. Human's rarely felt comfortable thinking of themselves as prey but the truth of it was that to a kelvic predator, most things were prey. "I myself prefer smaller prey, though you did cost me my meal."