Foray into the Wilds (Pauk, closed)

[Siiri]

Location: Snapping Jaws Clanhome
Timestamp: Mid-morning, 75th of Summer, 512 AV

"...lost another two to injuries at the eastern bank of the Basin, and news from the west..."

The Snapping Jaws warrior orating his report trailed off as Siiri waved her hand in an irritable and dismissive gesture. The matriarch-in-training had been sitting on her mother's chair for half a bell now, listening to the updates of her clanmates who had been sent to deal with the yearly problem of crocodile migration. She had tried her best to maintain interest, but as was natural of her, she grew annoyed as minute after excruciatingly boring minute passed. By now she was despondent, sitting slouched upon the throne of bone, with one leg raised haphazardly upon an arm rest, not truly caring if her posture was inappropriate for the title of soon-to-be-matriarch everyone had been insisting on her.

Her gaze flickered at the man in front of her whom she had supposedly dismissed. Unsurprisingly, he had not moved from the spot where he stood. He seemed unsure of himself, the rigidity of his body betraying his uneasy desire to fidget. His eyes weren't upon Siiri either, but rather on the person that stood beside her.

Tala. Her older sister. The one who, save for a twist of fate, was supposed to be sitting on their mother's throne instead of her.

The elder Myrian heaved a resigned sigh. "Relay to me your report, Tellos. Please wait for me in my quarters. I just need to have a word with Si...our would-be-matriarch." She did not speak again until the male had left their presence to find the indicated room within the clanhome. Siiri could only roll her eyes.

Tala sighed once more. When she spoke next, her voice was soft and tolerant - the tone she usually used when speaking to her more volatile sister. "You're supposed to be listening and-"

"I'm not interested," Siiri interrupted, her own tone short and clipped.

"Siiri, you know it's your duty to-"

"I'm going out."

Suiting words into action, Siiri sprang from the throne, her muscles fairly rippling at the brief movement. Her strong frame was a sharp contrast to her sister's softer one, an indication, perhaps, on who between them held the power, however unwilling, within the household.

"Siiri, you need to stay for your training."

"Try and stop me." Siiri strode towards the longhouse's exit at the end of the hall.

It was obvious she couldn't so Tala tried a different tactic. "It's raining outside. Hard."

"So?"

"You hate the rain."

"Not as much as I hate what I'm doing in here. I refuse to be cooped up because of...duties. Petch that shyke, there are things that needed done."

"Siiri..."

"With my authority as future matriarch, blah blah blah, I give you authority to run the Snapping Jaws clan, yada yada yada..." Siiri declared mock ceremoniously, theatrically waving her hand. She still did not bother with a backward glance at her sister. "We both know you're better at this than I am, Tala. Get the petch out of my way!"

At this point, Siiri had already reached the doorway leading out into the Snapping Jaws compound, and the last part of her words were directed at her two clanmates who stood barring the way. No one usually guarded the door, and Siiri would bet that their presence there was no doubt one of her sister's ploys to keep her indoors.

"Tell them to move or I'll leave them both bloody in the floor," she threatened. Without looking back, Siiri knew her sister had nodded her head in acquiesce. As always. That still did not stop her from shoving one of the guards aside when he moved too slowly for her taste.

Tala could only sigh once more as her sister stormed out into the rain.

==/==

Location: City Gates
Timestamp: Mid-morning, 75th of Summer, 512 AV

It had always been a game between them, this powerplay, ever since the year had started. Two seasons in and Siiri already wanted out, even while Tala insisted that she learned everything there was to learn in managing their clan. She would be matriarch, whether she liked it or not. Siiri still protested that it should be Tala and not her who should assume the role. Her sister was born to fill those shoes while she was better suited in the frontlines, dealing with the Dhani, the Charodae, the deyhan. Everything out there in the wilds. Not what was in the city. Taloba could take care of itself, she knew.

The wilds.

Siiri's eyes drifted towards the direction of the gates, her spirit already yearning to be out there. But after a long patrol earlier in the season, it was her time off from the fang, the army. She had a few weeks to herself, but she had a hard time figuring out what to do. Always the same problem when she was back in the city. Usually, she liked hanging out by the training yards challenging her fellow soldiers in a game of strength and guile, or just watching, or even training, the new recruits. But with the incessant summer rains, the exercises among the grunts were suited for the weather, and Siiri wasn't exactly looking for a sparring match, not with her extreme dislike of being pinned down into the mud.

A hunt.

It had been too long since she went out hunting by herself. Ever since that strange, magical storm at the beginning of the year, the storm that destroyed plenty of lives and property after its passage, the creatures inhabiting the jungle and turned more vicious and ferocious, attacking anything and everything, even a fully armed fang. It was deadly out in the jungle right now. Dangerous. And Siiri wanted to taste that danger. She needed it, to get her mind off of home, the duties that were forced onto her, and, well, the heart-wrenching events of the past year. She had been doing her best not to think about that, but they tend to trickle into her thoughts, especially when she was alone and not doing anything.

Such as now.

Presently, she started jogging towards the city gates, which soon turned into a full blown run. Physical exertions always got her mind off such matters. She enjoyed the rapid beating of her heart, the sound of pumping blood in her ears. It would even be better if she was actually chasing prey. Siiri soon lost herself in the motions of her flight, from the steady pumping of her legs to the controlled intake and release of her breath. Every step she took sent her farther away from her home, her problems. A good fifteen chimes passed before she caught sight of the stone walls that protected Taloba from the encroachment of the jungle outside.

The place was empty, of course. Because of the rain, everyone would either be at home or at the city's center, enjoying whatever obstacle course had been put up for this year's Quoalelye. The guards would be on the other side of the tunnel leading out, and the archers manning the ramparts couldn't be seen from where she stood. There was only her.

Her, and a tiger prowling back and forth at the base of the wall, near the tunnel's entrance.

[Pauk]

It was pouring. Pouring as if Makutsi had taken all of the water of the basin and was dumping it onto Taloba, and everywhere else. It was humid, hot. All of that along with heavy fur, (even with the loss of hair for...all year,) he was uncomfortable. Wet and uncomfortable. He liked swimming, sure, but he also liked his air and water to be separate. He had been trying to force himself out into the jungle for what, a bell now? Two? All he knew is that he was hungry and deathly underweight. He didn't want to change back into a human purely for the fact that, if he did, he wouldn't have enough energy to get up. For hunting, though, perhaps he'd be able to catch something and eat it. But he was so scared to go out into the Jungle Wilds by himself. What if another storm happened again? Another Djed storm? What would he do? But he was so hungry...and he needed the exercise. Right now his skin was literally hanging off of the sharp angles of his skeleton, and he was very malnourished. Even with his hunger, he couldn't force himself to go through. Why was he scared? Why couldn't he have been one of the large Myrian tigers? Then he wouldn't be scared. They weren't scared of anything. It was then he noticed the Myrian woman approaching the gates. Could he get himself to walk through? No. He growled at the gate, then let out a full roar at the damned thing. He just had to get some food, and then maybe he wouldn't starve to death in his bed and rot until someone notices the smell and goes to check.

[Siiri]

As she got closer to the tiger, Siiri saw that it was a specimen that was smaller than the ones she had been around with, though its soaked coat may have something to do with it. It was thin though, dangerously so, and she briefly wondered if it was one of those tigers whose master had died from the djed storm. A long time to go without a master, since that event had happened more than a season ago. The tiger looked very neglected, an almost unthinkable condition for one that lived in a city that revered its kind.

Her earlier troubles momentarily forgotten, the Myrian approached the creature, but she stopped short as the tiger let rip a loud roar, one directed at the gate. Siiri wasn't intimidated by the sound at the least - she could probably put it to shame with the aid of her special pendant - but she did sense the frustration behind the tiger's cry. Was it waiting for some from the outside? Or was it actually trying to get to the other side? No one would stop it if it had wished to enter the jungle. She hoped this one wasn't left out in the rain by its master.

"Hey!" Siiri called out, picking up a pebble and throwing it at the creature's direction in an attempt to catch its attention. It was no Myrian tiger for one thing, so she assumed it wasn't as smart as the blessed felines. Those creatures had a surreal intelligence about them, seeming as if they could even understand speech. She prayed this one could at least determine that she was no foe. Siiri would hate having to put it down (or any felines for that matter) if it turned out to be a deranged cat.

"Hey!" she said again. "You lost or something -" A quick glance at its hindquarters revealed it to be male, easy enough to distinguish with its g'iib-tah hanging between its legs. "-boy? Where's your master?"

She pointed at the open tunnel leading to the other side of the stone wall. "Looking to go outside? is she out there? Or...You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Without torches to light the place up, the closed confines of the place did seem forbidding, though she had never seen a cat who had problems with darkness before.

NoteSiiri is speaking in Myrian.

[Pauk]

He wasn't bothered when she threw the pebble at him. It wasn't aimed to even touch him, just so he could see it and she'd get his attention. So he turned his head and looked at her. He couldn't just turn into a human and talk to her, so he decided to use his head. When she asked him if he were lost, he shook his head as if to mean 'No.' He was trying to get through, so he nodded 'yes' to that. He wasn't afraid of the dark, he was just afraid of...outside. Of the Jungle. Terrified of the Jungle and what could happen to him. He wasn't the strongest, anyone could tell by how he looked, but he was still that of a predator, and he had no fear of being attacked by Myrian hunting parties. Yes, the Dhani were always a threat, but he'd probably be able to go hunt and bring down a meal without becoming one for the horrid snake-people. He wondered if the Myrian woman knew if he were Kelvic or not. Someone who didn't know might be confused if he started nodding or shaking his head.

[Siiri]

The tiger seemed to understand her, nodding or shaking its head in response to her questions. Siiri frowned. Even the most intelligent among the cats she had been around with had never done such things. The movements were too deliberate and not at all instinctual as one would expect from a wild animal. She could only immediately recall one other that behaved in such a way, though she was no tiger but a wolf.

Miharu.

The sudden remembrance of her missing bondmate pulled at her heart, reawakening her awareness of the emptiness within her soul left by the wolf-girl's absence. Siiri swallowed the lump that seemed to have formed unbidden in her throat. The rain falling all around them hid the few burning tears that escaped her eyes. Shoving thoughts of the plae-skinned girl to the back of her mind, reminding herself that she was here to forget thoughts of her, even for just a while, Siiri acknowledged the tiger for what he was.

"You're Kelvic."

Her voice coming out a little too harshly, making the statement sound accusatory. Siiri couldn't help the bitterness and pain that had surfaced upon the realization of what the tiger was, but she also told herself that such feelings, while caused by it, weren't the tiger's fault.

"You're Kelvic," she repeated more softly, finally succeeding in bringing her emotions under control. "So what's your problem in getting out?"

She peered into the dark tunnel, just making out the silhouettes of the guards standing on the other side. At first, she thought that there must be some sort of threat outside the gates that prevented the tiger from venturing forth, but everything seemed to be normal, the two guards having a rather animated discussion between themselves. If there had been a threat, the archers atop the wall would have set out an alarm long ago. So what was it that scared this cat?

"No one's goign to stop you if you want to go out, you know," Siiri said conversationally. It came easy, talking to an animal like that. Her time with Miharu made it second nature for her. "What, you need an escort out? Picky kitty. Come on, follow me."

Siiri started for the tunnel, stopping just at its mouth as she waited to see if the tiger would follow.

"Come on."

[Pauk]

Of course. She must've had a Kelvic bondmate sometime or another. It wasn't uncommon. But he was too scared to follow her. Just the...gate and the...the outside. He didn't want to go outside. There was obviously nothing going wrong, nothing was there to send out an alarm. Really? What was he scared of? And if he went with this Myrian...well, maybe she could help him hunt and then he could finally eat, maybe shift into his human form again and buy more food. He was slow, following her. He moved reluctantly, as if he really didn't want to go outside the city...which he did and didn't at the same time. It was uncalled for, to be this paranoid about something bad happening. And if something did happen, then...it was meant to happen. His tail twitched and he moved a little faster, following her through the gate. It was dark, but he could see fine in the darkness with his feline eyes. He could smell the jungle, wet from the many summer rains it went through, including the current one. And there was mud, a lot of mud. He still hadn't decided if he would roll in mud to cover his fur. While it was beautiful, it certainly wasn't camouflage for hunting.

[Siiri]

Siiri waited until the tiger started forward before she turned and ducked her head into the tunnel. It was darker than usual due to the overcast sky and its confines smelled strongly of moss and mildew. The stone floor was already a inch-deep from the rainwater that had flooded in. Fortunately, it was a short walk, no more than twenty paces for her, just as long as the wall that housed it was thick. A few short glances to her back told her that the tiger still triled her, albeit reluctantly. Siiri could only shake her head. It wasn't like any tiger she had ever met. Not even the kelvic Mihai, who had vanished during their search for his sister and Siiri's bondmate, had ever appeared so...hesitant.

The guards at the other side quieted down as they emerged, though they resumed their conversation - something about the frequency of outsiders chancing upon Taloba's location by accident - but at a more subdued tone after a moment. Siiri ignored them, taking in instead the scenery before them. The two hundred foot perimeter clearing mandated by the Council, an area surrounding the city walls bereft of plant life, was back in place, thought the difference now from before was that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of tree stumps dotting that range. The area had become overgrown overnight during the djed storm last spring, and the Myrians had been hard at work cutting down the trees and pulling out smaller plants - all to eliminate any possible cover for any person or creature trying to approach Taloba at any point other than the city gates. The work was not yet done, however, for there were still parts around the perimeter that were not completely cleared of plant life. Still, any tree that could have been used to jump over the walls had been the first to be taken down.

Siiri gestured at the surrounding landscape. "See?" she told the tiger. "Nothing here. Nothing to worry about, anyway."

Not really expecting an answer, she pulled out her greatsword and gave it a few test swings. The weapon wasn't the most useful weapon when it came to hunting - she wished she brought her spear for that - but with the inexplicable aggression of the wildlife lately, she knew it would only be a matter of time before some wild animal came charging right at her once she had stepped into the trees. Slayer would be good for smashing skulls in and hewing limbs off of them, at least.

"Up to get some blood into those claws of yours, boy?" Siiri asked. "I'm going for a hunt. And you look like you could use the meat."

Without waiting for a reply, the Myrian jogged off towards the trees.

[Pauk]

Yes, nothing to worry about. He couldn't hear or smell anything amiss, but who knew. Hunting by this Myrian may prove helpful to both of them, too. He glanced around, felt the muddy earth with his paws. He'd never seen anyone hunt with a greatsword. Myrians usually used spears or bows, while he used his claws and teeth. Blood on his claws and meat sounded amazing. He was hungry, very hungry, and only the fact that food was so near was it quelled. Fear was a silly human emotion, anyways. What was he to be afraid of? He was a large predator, a Jungle cat, a tiger. Too big for fear. He ran after her, alongside her, ready for a hunt. The hunt. He felt as if he could take down a Dhani - but he didn't really want to test fate.

[Siiri]

Siiri could not help but grin as she first sensed, then caught sight of, the tiger trotting beside her, matching her steady pace towards the tree line. He already seemed to have forgotten the heavy coat he wore, soaked as he was for staying too long out in the rain.

Kelvic or not, you can't deny what you are, she thought. Suppressed images of her bondmate - former bondmate now, but she refused to think of Miharu that way - came unbidden into her mind. How the wolf girl disliked using things Siiri herself took for granted such as weapons or clothes, and her trouble in coordinating her human body whenever Siiri felt the ith to teach her the Snapping Jaws grappling techniques. Above all, her wolf-like behavior that she could not hide even when in human form - like the playful nips she would give Siiri's fingers whenever they found enough time alone to share an intimate moment, or how she would rub her cheek against Siiri's arm to show affection, or...

A pang of emotion rose up within the Myrian, and she made a visible effort to push the memories back in the darkest recesses of her mind.

Hunt! she ordered herself. Siiri pumped her legs all the harder, picking up speed as if trying to outrun her thoughts.

She and the tiger crashed through the foliage at the same time. If the open expanse right outside Taloba was gray due to the overcast sky, the jungle was downright gloomy. The thick canopy of leaves above darkened the world beneath them and the innumerable trees surrounding them muted what little light was. The ambient sound differed as well. Where the pitter patter of the rain pounding the ground outside the jungle produced one long, continuous sound, it was regularly broken now by all sorts of cries, growls, howls and buzzes of animals both large and small, distant and near.

And somewhere out there, one unfortunate beast would die at their hands.

"Caught scent of anything, boy?" Siiri asked absently as she ducked under a large frond. Her sword served to tip leaves and branches away from her as she moved through the vegetation.

[Pauk]

His fear of being in the jungle wilds clashed with the feeling of safety he felt around any Myrian. Especially one as strong as this woman, with seemingly endless stamina as they ran through the jungle. Perhaps the only reason she could match his pace was because he was malnourished and starving, but she appeared as if she could run as quickly as any tiger. Scent? Yes. Pauk could smell many things, but he had yet to smell any considerable prey. There was no telling scent of snake, either, which meant there were no Dhani near. They had slowed, and Pauk took the moment to roll in the mud. If anything, it would help him blend into the forest, but he hated the way it stuck to his fur and felt so heavy. The rain had done that anyways, but he still didn't like it.