Exploring the Market (Cay/Open)

[Miharu Mindi]

79th Day of Spring, 510 AV

Miharu had spent the last two days in the company of her new bondmate, healing and resting and strengthening their bond. It was strange and new, and she often wondered whether or not she was doing it right, behaving correctly, seeing to her needs the way a Kelvic was supposed to... but there was no one to ask, and she told herself not to dwell on it. Siiri was happy with her, and she was nearly ecstatic with Siiri, so better not to worry.

But even Siiri had her own duties to attend to, and Miharu couldn't stay by her side every minute of the day. So that morning she awoke and pulled her emerald-green sarong over her head, ran a comb through her hair, and then strapped on her belt and coinpurse and headed out to the market. She'd forgotten her boots, but then she usually did in cities. But she was hungry, and she didn't want to continue burdening the barracks for her food. So today she would return to the marketplace (which was the only place she knew) and find some food, and maybe some nice present for Siiri. Of course she would need to figure out how their weird currency worked first, but surely that could be handled.

And so she skipped out, and headed through the streets in the direction she remembered, smiling a little to herself as she began this new adventure.

[Cayenne]

Miharu soon found she needn't have worried about boots - apparently, most of these tawny, bark-brown natives seemed to go barefoot around here, their feet beating into the dirt and stone that formed the pathways of this large city. Even when it rained, which, the Kelvic was finding, was ridiculously often. Some places saw rain only rarely. Taloba, it seemed, saw rain every couple days. But this, apparently, was nothing compared to the growing excitement that the prospect of summer seemed to bring to everyone. And then she would really see the rain.

Not everyone spoke Common, it seemed, particularly not the children. The older they were, the better grasp they seemed to have of it, as isolated as they were. One would suppose it would make sense - they were ruled over by the goddess of war, and knowing your enemies was beating your enemies. Brightly-clothed little children were waving weapons--actual weapons!--when they should have been playing with toys. A large number of them were followed around by odd little balls of fluff that hopped after them, traveling in bounds, if they weren't actually being carried or sitting on their child. There were a surprising number of animals around besides those fluffy things - dogs, some of which were odd, outlandish looking things, without a proper snout, but an almost wolfish body, some that were painted, and Caiyha knew how many other breeds and cross-bred mutts; numerous tigers and other freakishly large cats, brightly coloured parrots and other birds. And stranger still were the monsters with the enormous rows of tusks and ridiculous noses. The sounds and smells of the jungle capital still took time to get used to.

She had only been planning to go to the Trading Square, and hopefully, get there unmolested. She had a Myrian bondmate now, which should have marked her as hands-off, more or less accepted by Myrian society. Myrians liked Kelvics. But one particularly small child, a girl, her hair in dozens of braids, each ending with a wooden bead, was staring at her, her dark brown eyes wide. In her arms rested a fuzzy purple hairball, that seemed to be looking right at her from the arms of the child. In the space it took to breathe, the little fuzzy purple critter had left its child's arms, and had become a giant, enraged ball, claws appearing where its forearms should be, a snarl on its bear-like snout, revealing enormous fangs, and it was bounding towards her in giant leaps, emitting a throaty growl.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu had mostly forgotten that it might be unsafe for her in the marketplace - oh, she knew in some corner of her mind, but the mark that Kanabi had inked into the pale skin of her cheeks and forehead had wiped most of that worry away. She was marked as belonging to a Myrian - just the thought of those words sent a thrill of pleasure down her spine - and as such should be safe from harm.

Or at least, harm from other Myrians. Perhaps she should have braided her hair back away from her face to make it easier to see. Or perhaps what happened couldn't have been avoided. Perhaps she was too much wolf, wore the scent of it ever on her skin and the grace of it in her bones.

She did her best to meet the eyes of those who stared at her, mostly just pups who wandered the streets. She'd always preferred human pups to adults, found them easier to talk to, more likely to be honest and say what they meant. So she met their eyes, and offered nods when they stared too long.

One stared even longer, though, and Miharu felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. It wasn't until she looked down and saw the ball of fluff in her arms that she realized it wasn't the child's stare that was setting off her instincts, it was this tiny thing. A low whine caught behind her teeth, and her fingers flexed...

And then the thing sprang and became a monster, heading straight for her.

Without thinking, she pulled at the catch on her belt with one hand and the knot of her sarong with the other, and as they both fell away from her there was a flash of milk-pale skin, and then another flash of golden light that left a bristling silver wolf standing on the pile of her belongings, the sarong still fluttering to the the ground. She gave a vicious defensive snarl and held her position, hackles up and teeth bared. I mean your girl no harm! she barked, not knowing if the thing would even understand Canine, but she didn't wish to engage some child's pet in battle unless she had to. Though from the looks of those claws she might just be forced into it.

[Cayenne]

The berserking of a Riamm wasn't something that was easily ignored in Taloba. The little pets were generally quite good at gauging threats, and if one of them got so large and so aggressive, it was for a reason. And with so many children running around, it was no surprise to anyone that almost every Myrian pulled out a weapon of some sort, looking to see what on earth the purple beast was charging. The fact that the threat had apparently come from nowhere had the alarm even higher... only to die back down again once they realized the Riamm was targeting a Kelvic.

A Kelvic that was bonded to a Myrian.

A male moved to intercept, and fast as he was, the Riamm needed very little time to cover very little ground, and it launched itself at her. Clearly the thing didn't speak Canine. If it did, it wasn't listening right then. It was snarling, and it presumably meant something to whatever language it had, but the body language was universal. It meant business. The claws lunged for her, curved and sharp, made for hooking, tearing, and ripping. Despite her thick fur, pain flashed through Miharu's world as she felt skin tearing from her shoulder and down towards her chest. That, of course, put the big fluffball within range for biting.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu held her position for as long as she could, could feel the movement of the people around her and knew that they at least knew that this was all a mistake. She'd hoped that someone would intercede - and held out that hope for just a hair's-breadth too long.

She tried to dodge to the side, and that might have been the only thing that kept her from taking the claw to the face. Instead those sharp talons scrapped over her shoulder and, as she flinched away, down the front of her chest. The pain was intense, and she let out a snarl as she managed to get the thing's claws out of her flesh.

Blood poured down the front of her, but she didn't have time to think about that. The thing would finish her off in a few moments if she didn't do something. Siiri!!! she howled in her mind, pain and rage and fear of death flooding the bond between them - though she knew her bondmate was nowhere near enough to do anything to help. She would have to save herself this time, as she always had before.

There was too much fur to find the organs, the talons too sharp to try for the throat and leave her belly exposed to them. So as she twisted away to the side, she turned back quick as a flash and buried her muzzle in the Riamm's fur, sinking her teeth into the arm that those deadly claws were attached to and trying to circle her back legs behind it - hoping to at least keep its talons and fangs at bay, using the creature's own body to shield herself. She tasted it's blood and locked her jaw, tighter and tighter, until she felt a snap! reverberate through her skull and knew she'd crushed the bone.

[Siiri]

Siiri was in the Scout’s Roost, pouring over a map of Falyndar and discussing with one of Scout Leader Heda’s subordinates the possibility of taking her half of the fang to a short romp in the jungle. The last couple of days, while fulfilling in terms of developing her relationship with her newly acquired bondmate, had worked up her desire to do a little work. She couldn’t wait for Eena to return to complete their fang, her need for action required her to carry out a physical activity other than endless practice of swordplay and unarmed combat in the training grounds.

She was in the middle of choosing an area to scout out with her troupe when she felt pinpricks of pain crawling from her shoulder down to her chest. Flinching, she excused herself from the conversation to inspect herself. There was no wound of any sort upon her, not even a bug sting. Only then was she able to distinguish the ‘phantom’ quality of the pain – she could feel it but it wasn’t hers. Panic flooded her being as she realized it could have only come from her bondmate. The sensation bled enough pain through their bond that she knew the girl’s wound wasn’t just superficial.

Miharu!

Apologizing to the scout coordinator, who seemed confused at her sudden behavior, Siiri promised to return later to resume their meeting. She didn’t wait for the man to reply to her words, running out the building and trying to second-guess where her bondmate was as soon as she hit the streets. She wished their bond allowed each to know where the other was. The girl could be in any number of places.

Miharu! Where are you?!

The Kelvic couldn’t be at the barracks or the immediate area, she wouldn’t spend her time there alone anyway. Where else would she run across trouble? The markets? Outside in the jungle? Already? Or… the sacrifice table in the temple? Siiri shook her head. She didn’t need thoughts like that to make her feel worse. Checking out the market first would be the best option since it’s the only other place in the city she showed the girl. She’d worry about looking into other places if the girl can’t be found there. She just hoped Miharu really wasn’t in the last two places she imagined.

OOC-CayI hope this is okay? I know this thread's already grandfathered but you gave leave before. If not, just tell me and I can delete this no problem.^^

[Cayenne]

The Riamm roared in rage and pain as Miharu bit down into its arm. She had chosen her mark well – had she bit anywhere else on the body, she would have just found mouthful after mouthful of thick, spiky fur in her quest to find somewhere she could bit into and do some damage. As it was, the Riamm’s arm was far more vulnerable. Rich, sweet blood coated the inside of her mouth and her tongue, and as she kept trying to keep their backs to each other so that it couldn’t grab her with its free arm, she felt the berserking horror lift her up, broken arm and all, as she dangled, all four paws off of the ground, and brought her down hard. When she didn’t let go, the Riamm slammed her against the ground again, its other clawed paw reaching to twist and reach her to gouge her side.

As loud as Taloba was, the jungle city sounded like there was a fight going on in the streets – something that Myri had absolutely forbid amongst Myrians. That meant something else was going down, and Siiri knew the Riamm enough to know what an angry one sounded like. She had no problem finding its source – it led to the trading square, the big outdoor market. As she came up the broad street, she saw the purple fur of an enraged Riamm as it raised the white, furry body of her bondmate over its head. She heard the unmistakable THUMP as Miharu hit the ground for the second time. A little girl was shouting in Myrian for Ladna, probably the Riamm's name, to stop.

Despite the way her head was spinning and she was feeling dizzy, Miharu might have been aware of other bodies, one of which was grappling with the second arm that was coming down for her, blocking the beast with a staff. He was on the shorter side, but he was thick and burly, with tattooed vines on both of his exposed arms, from his wrists to his shoulders. He was bald, but for a long, dark braid, and wearing only a pair of loose leather leggings. “Let go,” the male Myrian ordered her sharply in the common tongue, keeping the Riamm’s arm raised up with the heavy-looking wooden staff even as it struggled to free itself, roaring all the while. They couldn’t separate the two animals if they couldn’t get one off.

OOCSiiri – it’s fine.

[Miharu Mindi]

Miharu kept her grip on the creature's arm as long as she possibly could, knowing that if she let it go it would be on her again, and she'd be lucky to get just a scratch. Scratch. The gouges on her shoulder were bone deep - she could feel in the way her right front leg was slow to respond, kept buckling when she put her weight down. But she still had her teeth, and so she held on.

The first time the beast lifted her, she scrambled and kicked at it in an attempt to keep her belly protected, and was caught off-guard when it seemed content to simply slam her against the ground. She hit hard, and was knocked nearly senseless, but instinct kept her jaws locked tight. When it slammed her again, she felt her ribs crack with a sickening thud. A pitiful whine echoed out of her blood-drenched nose, and she wasn't sure she could withstand another.

And then, finally, someone stepped in. Golden eyes stuck to the Myrian as he raised his staff, and for a horrifying moment she thought he meant to hit her with it - but instead he caught the Riamm's other arm before it could savage her further. His words were like thunderclaps sent from the gods to save her.

She immediately let go and scrambled away, though she collapsed twice in her efforts as her leg refused to support her. Five feet, then ten, before she fell and couldn't get up again, another whine of pain escaping as her blood began to pool in the streets.

[Siiri]

Siiri cursed under her breath as she watched the lupine form of Miharu come crashing down on the ground at the end of a riamm's arm. The creature was enraged and it was attacking her bondmate. The Kelvic was wounded; Siiri could see patches of her fur matted and stained with blood from a slash dealt to her. To one side was a girl shouting at the Riamm to stop.

That must be the child it's protecting!

The woman rushed over to the girl and scooped her up in her arms and, as soon as Miharu released her bite from the creature, set the child in front of it. She had to calm it down somehow, show it that its ward was safe. She didn't wait for its reaction however, instead moving to kneel by her fallen bondmate's side. Instinctively, she positioned herself between the wolf and the riamm, effectively hiding Miharu from the berserking creature's sight as well as putting her in position to defend her bondmate in case the riamm decided to persist in its attack.

There was a lot of blood; the wound must be deep. Siiri took off her blouse, stripping down to her upper undergarments as she began to tear the cotton shirt into strips.

“I'm here, I'm here,” she said to Miharu. She wasn't really sure if the girl could understand her words in her wolf form but she needed to speak. Her own words kept her focused and she hoped it comforted her wounded bondmate as well. “Don't move and don't try to shift, it will stretch your cut and I'll have a bigger wound to bind.”

Gently, Siiri lifted Miharu's head as she began to wrap the wound with the makeshift gauze. A crowd had begun to form around them, nosing about at the commotion. To the closest one, a teenage boy, she shouted, “I need a healer, or a medic! Get me one, hurry!” Blood still seeped through the wrappings. She had to stem the flow of blood somehow until help arrived. She hoped one would come soon.

[Cayenne]

The enraged Riamm struggled against the male Myrian, and for a terrifying moment, it looked like he was going to lose, only for the creature to be tackled from behind by another, a tall, limber female with red-brown hair that gripped at the furry monster with strong legs that didn't go anywhere near around it... hinting at just how big the protective pet really was. But she'd worked her arm around and under the Riamm's, forcing its arm back and off balance in a holding maneuver. It was hardly enough to stop it, considering the difference in size and strength, but it was enough to give the other Myrian a chance to recover. He was scolding the Riamm in Myrian, telling it to calm down, standing between the child and Siiri, then, in another defensive stance. The child pressed herself into the fuzzy belly of the Riamm, and the creature, its entire frame heaving, struggling, seemed to give up. The little one was talking into its thick fur, and the fight seemed to go out of the creature as fast as it had enraged as it shrank. The female who had been hanging onto its back hit the ground with a thump, and lifted the Riamm, now a little fuzzball, and held it out to the child, who took it, hugging it carefully and hurrying off in another direction.

"You send a doctor!" the woman shouted after the child in Myrian, and Siiri knew where the child would be going. No doubt to the Temple, where the herbalists and doctors of the city learned and studied. The woman, in the mean time, was pulling out a roll of linen bandages, folding and pressing and packing, guiding Siiri's hands from time to time. Her tattoos identified her as belonging to the Raging Storms family, and her leathers indicated she had been getting ready to go scouting or had just come back from it. "Brave wolf, silly wolf," she shook her head, speaking in Common for Miharu's benefit. "Pack that in there," she gave Siiri another roll of bandages. "Now you know what Riamm is. You see one, you run," she told the Kelvic, speaking in Common for the girl's benefit. The male Myrian who had intervened first was standing by, holding onto his staff, almost leaning on it, chest heaving, and watched the proceedings. A fight with a Riamm could take a lot out of anyone.

The crowd was beginning to disperse, fight over, and that seemed to be the end of the interest in the spectacle. Bloodshed in the streets wasn't common, after all, and now that the fight was over, that was that. Neither combatant had died, and none of them seemed to consider the wounds fatal. Besides, one didn't hardly eat a Kelvic, not one that had a Myrian bondmate. It seemed like a bell, but it had only been a few chimes before a middle-aged Myrian, with black hair and equally black eyes, came trotting down the wide street, scattering the lingering onlookers left and right as she cut a path towards the knot of bodies hovering over the Kelvic. She set the leather sack she was carrying down with a thump, tapping Siiri's shoulder. The scouts of the Tangling Vines and the Raging Storms made to leave, then, talking between them about crazy Kelvics and the insanity of a dog standing her ground against a berserking Riamm.

Siiri had dealt with this particular herbalist before. This was Tingu of the Crimson Sun, a barren female who, accepting her childless status, simply chose to devote herself to her craft. The female was abrasive, and that was putting it mildly - some said she was more bitter than any bittermelon Caiyha had ever produced. However, she was dedicated, and her base of knowledge was quite quite broad - encompassing not only Myrians, but she was usually sought after to stitch up or look after the cats, including the large tigers, and dogs of Taloba. If anything, Miharu would be in good hands now. "Move out of there so I can see," she told the young warrior briskly in Myrian, taking Siiri's place almost immediately, and opening her leather bag as she surveyed the damage the large critter had done. She put down the heavy-looking clay mortar and pestle, setting those in front of her as she shifted from the balls of her feet to rest on her knees. Bright flowers, yellow, blue, red, white, three, four, five kinds, were ripped in half, going into the mortar. Large, waxy green leaves were brought to Tingu's mouth, and she ripped them into pieces, popping them in and beginning to chew them up. These were spat into the mortar along with the flowers, and a small clay bottle of thick, nasty-smelling green unguent was emptied into it. The herbalist stuck the mortar between her knees and began to mash the contents with the pestle, adding two more mouthfuls of leaves as she began to peel back the bandages.

Tingu made no sound of wonder, disgust, or anything else as she worked the mixture in the mortar and had a look at the Kelvic's injuries. "Pick shape you want to stay in," she warned Miharu briskly in Common, "for several days. No changing, or broken bones again and again. Pick now." Once she had decided, the many-tattooed herbalist set to work, cleaning out the deep gouges with what looked like water from another jar, only to start packing them with the nasty, stinging paste. Miharu would find, though, that despite its strong, almost minty smell and the painful burn, that the pain soon subsided and gave way to relief. Lots and lots of relief. As Tingu worked, she merely pointed out the injuries to Siiri. Four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder that was simply forced back into the socket. She had more than enough bumps and bruises than anyone had a right to have. But most worrisome were the four bone-deep gouges running from the back of her shoulder to her chest. The Riamm had only narrowly, narrowly missed her lungs and her jugular.

These deep lacerations were packed with the poultice that Tingu had made to burn out infection, and now the woman had taken a bone needle and thread made of spun flax, beginning to stitch the layers of torn flesh together. She was vaguely aware of the needle as it went in and out of her quivering flesh, but the shoulder had hurt far more going back in than Tingu's handiwork now. "She will be fine," the herbalist told Siiri grimly as she stitched. "She will be fine."