Talking from the Soul (Mao/Invite)

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 15th of Summer, 510 AV - Midnight
Location: Beach Beneath Sanctuary
Purpose: Social Introductions with Mao/Healing
Status: By Invite

She remembered rending flesh from bones and the metallic taste of hot blood rushing down her throat. Kavala had felt her claws as they took life after life, washing her world in a sea of blood. She'd ate the flesh of people and raged against her own inner demons until her screams turned into the cries of a great cat. Black fur concealed the dark rosettes patterns that were tucked secretly within the darkness of her coat - as if reflecting the black on black she felt in her own tainted heart. It was a heart that seemed to surround the soul and choke it quietly. Within the same darkness Kavala found release in Navis' arms as he violently coupled with her in the long hours of the night, professing love she'd have sworn he'd never ever felt for her. And as it happened, she strangely rejected Sorian, even if it was his own face hovering over her as their bodies joined - bonded. Together. Whole but not whole since she loved only half the man. Kavala didn't understand it.

And it went on... night piling up after night as the Konti tossed and turned. It became so bad that even Akela's mericless elbow in her rib or Hatot's iron-like arms pulling her against him to gently force her settle wouldn't even sooth her.

Kavala always woke the same way, sitting bolt upright and covered with sweat. It wasn't her though. She knew that. It was someone else, someone who had an incredibly strong mind and the ability to protect her emotions and thinking far outside of herself. She'd end up getting up, either showering or taking a bath, and starting work on something that needed doing. Usually that something was hard work.

But there was nothing to do that night. Nothing at all. And so Kavala fled to the sea, anticipating a midnight swim to clear her head and purge her mind of whomever was projecting such strong emotions. They were dangerous thoughts from an equally dangerous creature. And if she'd been thinking she'd have grabbed more than just her usual belt that held her darts and blowgun, her medical kit, and perhaps would have even taken Dyrid down to the beach with her to keep an eye on things.

But she didn't. She went alone. And when she got there, she left all her things above the high tide line, stripped, and headed out in the direction of the surf intent on a swim.

[Mao]

She didn't understand quite fully why she had left the jungle ridden land that was Falyndar; the very land that had called to her, that she searched for for many months. She only remembered meeting a very strange Myrian and having been cared for after she had been inflicted with several deep wounds that left her bedridden for days. Life in Taloba had been exciting albeit short, but the sensation in her heart and mind was growing stronger: that Navis had survived that fateful night years earlier, and what had she to lose? Her duty as a bond mate and as a Kelvic in and of itself demanded she search for him, and she knew that he would never be able to survive Falyndar or the fearless Myrians. And so it came to be that she set out on the road once again, retracing her steps with the speed of her beastial form until she found herself back in the lands of Cyphrus many weeks later.

The vivid memories of Navis bombarded her as she raced across the Sea of Grass, past their old shelter, abandoned and overgrown, past the scattered bones of victims killed in the heat of bloodshed. And yet nothing came to her but the soothing sound of the crashing waves as she arrived at a beach. It was a new sight for her, for she had never gone this far toward Riverfall, then having only wanted to avoid confrontations with Akalaks at all costs. But the scent of a stranger was in the air, one who was not human, but possibly dangerous all the same. Curiosity forced her paws forward as she crawled across the sand, inhaling the scent on the wind to determine exactly just what this thing was. When her eyes fell on pale hair and the pattern of scales trailing across skin, she determined that this creature was indeed a Konti.

Never had she shed the blood of a Konti, but only, perhaps, because they often realized her intent before she even came close. Either way, this one was alone, and although she had eaten a day earlier, she wouldn't mind tearing this woman apart and using her pieces as sustenance for the coming weeks if she proved to be hostile. The shadow on the sand slunk closer, sniffing through the Konti's belongings and occasionally nudging them aside. There were no blades, no bows, nothing of any kind that would protect this woman should an intruder such as herself decide to assault her. Did she think herself safe while in the vicinity of Riverfall? Mao was not entirely sure, but it was curious.

Turning her head back toward the creature who was apparently intent on going for a relaxing swim, the panther growled softly, and without a warning, without so much as a decision granted in her mind, she charged toward her. With a leap and inevitable impact, the kelvic had the woman beneath her, heavy paws pinning her by her chest, and her face inches away. Canines exposed and eyes flashing with animosity, she growled in the face of the Konti. But she did not strike for the kill. Her jaws did not tear open her victim's throat, nor did it it rend her utterly into pieces. No, she simply loomed over her, strong tail flicking from side to side, with a stare so intense it projected her entire being; the anger, the passion, the lost child that dwelled in her soul but held no release.

[Kavala]

Kavala truthfully didn't know what hit her. It was stupid, absolutely stupid, to come down to the beach alone. But there was really no one she'd wake to take with her having the sort of dreams she'd been having. One moment she was walking, toes sinking in the wet sand, and the next she was flat on her back, staring up at a vivid pair of eyes that were filled with curiosity and challenge.

Fierce eyes.

A panther. Large claws pinned Kavala's shoulders down and the heavy weight of the furred torso easily held the Konti down into the sand on her back vulnerable. Kavala knew big cats. She'd had experience with several, especially the kelvics who lived with her. And the emotion this one was radiating wasn't hunger or displeasure... it was pure out and out challenge. But there was no challenge in Kavala. She didn't need to fight tooth and claw for territories, food, or mates. Nor did she want to challenge this one, for she could feel the hot breath and deep scent of a big cat washing over her and knew it was only a single breath or heartbeat between being alive and dead.

Kavala did the only thing she could think to do. She relaxed. Turning her eyes away from the cat's gaze, she lifted her chin, baring her throat to the big cat and going limp beneath her. Waves, tossing up on the shore, cascaded against her body suddenly - small ones - and flooded the exposed gill-slits on the side of her neck with sand, causing the Konti to cough slightly. Her coughing turned into soft speech.

"Easy... I'm no threat. I am unarmed..." She coughed again, forcing air out of her gills to try and free the speckles of sand now lodged in her throat. Another wave struck, lightly soaking both of them, and removed the rest of the debris the first wave had carried in and lodged up into her gills. The Konti was scared, and knew the cat could smell the fear... but she also tried to center herself as the cat was making up its mind - no her mind - and kept calm radiating thoughts oozing from her mind.

There was an intelligence about the creature above her, one unexpected by the animal empath that was simply trying to stay alive. "Can you let me up? I'm a healer... an animal healer... not food. I'm tough and scaled. I'm sure you'll find the gulls around here a lot more tastier. They aren't too smart either, so its always a feast. Trust me.. I know a tiger and a fennec fox that love eating them." The Konti said softly, her eyes pleading with the big cat, but focused on her chin... submissively. Already she could feel the cat's claws digging into her shoulders, drawing blood.......

[Hatot]

His eyes fluttered for a moment as they drifted open. In stead of the light golden hue, however, the blood red color were shining through in the Akalak’s eyes, signifying that it had been Radris that had woken, rather than Hatot. Radris usually used this time, during the night, to slip in quick feels to Kavala while she slept, much to Hatot’s dismay, until she would elbow him for doing so. This time when he woke, he found her not in the bed next to him, only Akela lying across the bed with the open space between them. “Heh, Kavala isn’t here.” Radris thought to himself as he slowly started reaching out towards Akela’s breast as she slept. His hand then paused, a frown crossing his features. “Wait, Kavala isn’t here. What the hell kind of work has that woman gotten into now, at this hour no less?”

Radris rose from bed, stretching his arms out slightly as he began stepping lightly across the room, looking back to Akela and Flick. He debated just screaming at the top of his lungs to wake them suddenly, and alarmingly. Eventually, he just shook his head for a moment. Akela would try to cut off his head for such, and Flick would cry, forcing Kavala to lecture Radris to no end over it. He hated hearing the lectures. He couldn’t understand why he bothered even listening to them, when he didn’t listen to his own fathers half of the time. Radris stopped near the entrance, slipping on his pants before his hand reached out, grasping his Lakan. He stared at it for a short moment as the blade curved downward in front of his knuckles, in stead of strait up from his hand. Finally, he slipped it into it’s sheath, stepping through the door and quietly closing it behind him.

He spent the next several chimes, checking Sanctuary and the gardens outside of it. A frown crossing his features as he began to think where else she might have been. Finally, he began looking down to the road that lead to the beach, and a slight scoff escaped his lips. “She better be pulling out some more clams if she‘s swimming.” Radris said as he began moving down towards the beach, his feet landing heavily. “I wonder is he does this in her sleep or something?”

It wouldn‘t be long before Radris was searching the beach, his bare feet sinking into the sand as he searched the waves at night for Kavala‘s head to pop up from under the surface of the water, like some temptation water vixen, beckoning drunken sailors to come embrace their drowning. Then his eyes squinted slightly as he first noticed the silhouettes His eyes then grew a slight wider, his brow knotting up into a angered frown when the silhouettes became clear, and Radris noticed the large black cat, resting along Kavala. He didn‘t even know what the cat was, or why Kavala was offering her throat, all he saw was Kavala in danger, Hatot‘s fondness for her tugging lightly in the pit of Radris‘ stomach, hinting at what Radris could only describe as concern. His feet suddenly began thumping deep into the sands, pushing his frame forward with great speed.

He was on the large black predator before it could even fully turn it‘s head to see what was approaching. Radris‘ large, strong hand grabbing a handful of it‘s neck and skin along the back of it‘s neck as he yanked back with the full of his strength. Kavala‘s body was lifted slightly as Radris did so, it‘s claws still gripping her shoulder slightly until flesh gave way to force and was simply torn. The panther‘s legs flailed as it was hoisted in the air by Radris, one of it‘s forepaws catching him along his left arm as he turned while pulling the jungle cat back, causing three long gashes along his skin before the panther was tossed a short distance through the air, rolling along the sands one rotation before landing along her feet.

The pain in Radris‘ arm infused him more with anger as he looked to his arm. A short glance was then given to Kavala, noting her own injuries for short moment before Radris finally stood between her and the Panther. His right hand slipped behind his back, grasping the hilt of his Lakan, pulling it free as the sharp edge glimmer for a moment in the moon‘s light as he raised it up. “Okay then pretty kitty,” Radris said with a venom in the tone of his voice before he began licking the flat of the blade, “bring those sharp teeth to my Lakan.”

[Mao]

How her eyes shone with curiosity. Up close, the Konti was indeed quite beautiful under the pale light of the moon. Even as the woman spoke, Mao had leaned her head forward and nudged the skin on her neck with her nose. It was only a small taste, she decided, as her tongue scraped along the scales on the surface. The Kelvic did listen to her words, but they had little affect on her when she could sense the undercurrents of fear present in her tone.

Yes, that is how it should be. She cooed in her mind. Then came about the projection of calm the Konti emanated as if from her very being. It affected Mao, quite so, despite her efforts, and as she looked down at her potential victim, she felt no desire to kill. For the first time in her life, she would allow someone to live. Why was this so? What could possibly be in this woman that forced her to stay her hand from slaughtering her? But the thought was fleeting, for only a few minutes had gone by before the panther felt the skin on her back stretch and the pain shoot through her spine as she was lifted off the Konti and tossed like a heavy sack.

Still she landed on her feet, and turned with a furious growl toward the intruder that had the audacity to intercept. Blue skin met her gaze and in a flash, she was reminded of Navis. But this was not him. This was a much taller Akalak with the clear intention of protecting the Konti she had attacked. As if unsure, Mao's eyes darted between both of them, weighing the possibility of success against a two versus one encounter. The Akalaks stance was confident, and he appeared as if he was born a fighter. Mao had no chance of survival against him. But the Konti, she had not wept in agony as her claws dug into her shoulder, nor did she cry out in utter fear although the panther had surely felt it in her words and witnessed it in her eyes. She was strong, there was no doubt of it.

There would be no fleeing from the Kelvic. She was stubborn, but she was also deathly tired. She refused to show it, but the long travels without ample rest had left her with half the strength she would have if she had only slept for an adequate number of days. This was her determination when it came to finding her bond mate, and she had assumed that being an Akalak he would at least visit Riverfall, even if he was not himself while doing it. But merely searching would not be enough. Social interaction and questions were necessary, and tonight would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

Without so much as another warning, the panther took the form of the young woman many victims have never had the pleasure of laying eyes on. Slowly, she raised herself off the ground from the crouch she landed in and eyed the Konti questioningly. Her hair was dripping from the crashing of the waves, and the wind that came forth from the water buffeted her body, but she stood still, defiant to both the Akalak that stood between her and the Konti as well as the elements themselves.

"I'm searching for someone." She began, her voice as steady as she could manage, yet her strange accent was quite noticeable from her lack of social interaction. "Do you know a Navis?"

[Kavala]

As she laid there staring into the big cats eyes, Kavala was inundated by the strangers feeling of strength mixed with soul deep exhaustion. Searching, seeking, and slightly confused as to why she was sparing the stranger when there was nothing in her but killer - Kavala read the female's emotions like a scholar read the words of an ancient text. And she had to wonder, in that moment before the cat chose life or death for the konti, if that was what the panther's creator intended. For among those emotions, Kavala could sense a fringe of humanity, a way of thinking that didn't fit with the normal thought patterns of a feline.

Kelvic.

And she was tearing holes in Kavala's shoulders. The pain was intense, but it was one Kavala was willing to forego because it would mean nothing after she was dead. And making no mistake about it, this creature did kill. Everything about her oozed killer. It scared Kavala in a way that Dyrid or Flick never had. She had no idea what to do... what to say... and was grateful at least that it would be quick if it did come. Cat's where honest that way. They killed to eat, killed to play, and killed to protect. Kavala sensed that Mao was a blend of all three...

And prepared to die, quietly, out in the darkness of the wet sand beach.

So it startled Kavala, straight into a cry of pain, as the cat was ripped from her and tossed lightly aside. She sat up, her arms going for her shoulders to stem the flow of blood from the wounds rent there. She caught a flash of blue, and her gaze briefly met Radris' in the near darkness. She knew he could see perfectly in the inky blackness, while Kavala was partially blind. She rolled to her feet, swayed, and stared as the cat shifted shape.

Kavala dragged in a breath. She was surprised Radris was between her and the feline - apparently defending her. To the Konti, the individual men were as different as night and day even though they wore the same skin. Sorian and Navis were obvious in their transitions as well. Hatot was humble, reserved, with a quiet strength that oozed calculating intelligence. Radris was rough-hewn power barely contained with an edge that spoke of whispered pleasure in the violence he was fully capable of. And though she shouldn't, she trusted him. Kavala had trusted Navis too. Neither dark halves had ever let her or their quiet strong light brothers down.

And in watching him defend her, Kavala felt something in her soften slightly, as if an awareness she hadn't realized she had broke loose.

And just as that knowledge filled her, the cat shifted shape, became a woman, and said something that utterly shocked her. She knew it was true... every word of the woman's statement. She was searching. Every moment of her body language said it was so. And she was looking for Navis.

Kavala paused, trying to read the reason why she was looking. It wasn't clear. Threat? Maybe. Anger? Certainly there was some of that in her. But exhaustion was first and foremost. Kavala stepped forward until she was so close to Radris that he could feel her soft translucent hair blow against his skin as the seawinds teased it.

"Yes, we know him. Why are you looking for him?" Kavala asked, hands still crossing her chest, pressing the wounds in her shoulders to keep them from bleeding. The question was a loaded one. And Kavala's tone was neutral - neither giving a hint if it was a 'good' knowing or a 'bad' knowing. Navis, while having an enormous capacity to be an ass, didn't deserve to get eaten by a feral kelvic with a wilder form that was as dangerous as this creatures was. Navis was her friend. Even if he pretended to hate her. And Sorian was as well. If this girl was planning either of them harm, Kavala wasn't certain what she was going to do.

Her tone was slightly sharper than normal, but it was due to her pain and the slight confusion of the lack of sleep.

"You are the one in my dreams. The one keeping me awake. The one he loves." She said softly, confused, her brow furrowing slightly. It made so much more sense now - a kelvic. Even though it made no sense at all that she hadn't been with him and that Kavala had originally found Sorian and Navis in the shape he'd been in.

"He never mentioned you. But... the damage of you being gone was always there. I just didn't see it. There was no way anyone could have guessed." She took a breath, glanced up at Radris with confused eyes, and knew she sounded like she was rambling. She was. None of it really made sense. She only had pieces, bits of a dream, and clues from knowing Sorian and his pain.

[Sorian]

As if he had been listening to the conversations that had been taking place in the white-sand beaches that night, in a flash, he was there, dripping wet from head to toe. Salt water coated his hair with the smell of the sea, and in his powerful hands were gripped a large bass that wiggled and struggled for its life against solid bones and merciless strength. What he was would not have been immediately familiar to those present had they not known who he was in the first place.

Throughout the night there was not a stir to be felt from the ever-familiar presence of Sorian or Navis, not until the scent of a memory long buried under hidden pain and dejected failure entered a jaded heart and set it back on fire. He had been quietly and busily hunting in the blackness of the depths, looking for a bit of danger as if he owed it to himself to seek death. Death had refused to claim him by natural means--he has lived far too long and yet had received more than his fair share of trouble for it--and the night he lost Mao, he lost much of his bloodlust and his desire to wreak havoc around. While he would try to stir some commotion every so often, it was not nearly as strong as it was before, and along with a prolonged semi-residence in Sanctuary he became more gruff and passive than cruel and bloodthirsty.

He had been desperate and full of self-loathing, so much of it in fact that he had done much damage to poor Sanctuary on the rare occasion that he had come by during the day. Once he had cracked the bathroom wall with a single blow from his arms. Another time he almost victimized Sivak the stallion before he was victimized by it, receiving a solid kick to the chest as a reward for doing a rather nasty, distasteful thing to its rear end.

Even from the depths and coverings of the sea, his heart of fire and rage trembled with glee and rejoicing as felt Mao draw nearer and nearer to where he was. The moment she leaped for Kavala's throat, a long dead heart that had been floating dormant in sleep sprung back to life. The wide stretch of the sea began to break into the form of his massive body, slowly emerging from the surface, displaying a pair of flashing eyes that appeared bewildered and containing in its indescribable joy.

"Is that you...? Is it really you? Mao... At last, you've come back for me..." He mouthed as his form stood still against the soft padding of the waves at his feet. He had thought her long gone, and even though he had tried, he has not had the strength to carry his search to the borders of the great unknown. He never even knew that the jungle regions of Falyndar existed at all; he has never stopped to ask anyone about Mizahar's geography, and neither did he care much about it. Not until tonight. Approaching her closer, he dropped the bass to the sand, where it continued to convulse for lack of air.

Kavala had probably never seen him so soft and so pliant, and Radris certainly never has. The two resident Akalaks in Sanctuary had never even met face to face before, although chances are he knew as much about Sorian and Navis as they did about him from Kavala's narrations. He had listened eagerly to these stories at the back of their mind, almost enjoying every bit of pain that Sorian had to go through to change his views and his way of thinking, all for the konti's sake. If it wasn't for the fact that he was also hurting inside, he would have simply jumped right out of Sorian's consciousness and laughed at them both hard for their drama.

"It has been so long. I thought I had lost you forever... It has been far too long..." His eyes were soft and full of longing, wanting to touch her and take her into his arms just like they had before for such a small speck in his troubled lifetime. They spread wide, ready to receive her. "Please forgive me, I had searched for so long, and so far, only to meet with failure, time and time again..."

When he saw Kavala and Radris in the corner of his eye however, his joy quickly became washed away by distaste, then devolved into outright fury when he saw the unsheathed blade in the other Akalak's hand. He looked back and forth between Radris' intent eyes and his lethal weapon, wanting to make sure there was no mistake about his intentions. He knew there was none; he was going to hurt Mao, maybe even torture and kill her.

Baring his teeth in a sudden, animalistic growl, his muscles began to wind together, crackling the bones and making his skin, tendons and veins crawl and heave in fury. Abruptly he coiled his legs down, ready to pounce, to make war if he made so much as a wrong move on Mao. "Don't you dare threaten Mao with that blade, you pup!" He roared. "I can have your head on a spit, Hatot, and you will be wise to lower that!"

Turning his eyes on Kavala, he hissed his words out with a threatening spite. "Kavala! Tell that boy of yours to sheathe that blade before I ram it down his throat!"

[Hatot]

Radris gave a subtle scoff as Mao shifted to her human form, the blade still raised until he felt Kavala’s hair brush his shoulder as he passed by him. It was then just lowered to his side, but gripped tightly as he observed the two as they conversed. His voice grumbled slightly as he then just looked to his arm, blood trickling down slightly from the claws marks that Mao had given him previously. They weren’t that deep, at least not as deep as Kavala’s, and would likely only hider him for a short time.

When Kavala looked up at him, confusion filling her eyes, he then just gave a subtle shrug. “Don’t look to me, I don’t even know what you’re saying half the time when you have a full nights sleep and are coherent.” Radris said in response to Kavala’s expression. “And the other half of the time I simply don't pay attention.”

Radris’ eyes then caught the shifting of movement to the side as he then turned his head to the tall figure approaching, his eyes soon revealing the figure to be Sorian. His gaze followed up and down Sorian’s frame for a moment, sizing him up as Radris normally did when seeing another Akalak. His gaze then fell back down his arm, noticing the slight trickle of blood pooling in his hand for a moment when Sorian greeted the Kelvic, apparently knowing him on friendlier terms. The need for violence had apparently passed, and now Radris was more interested in his new wound.

His eyes then shot back to Sorian he directed a threat towards him, reinforcing it with a statement to Kavala after. A slight chuckle escaped Radris’ lips at that as a certain amusement settled in his gaze. “Well, look who’s playing the conquering hero after the fact.” Radris said in retort as his free hand fell to his waist. “You have a habit of showing up late when you‘re needed. Had it been a patrolling guard that discovered your kitten digging her claws into Kavala instead of me, she wouldn’t have had the luxury of being threatened. She would have just been dead.”

“Still, if you want to play your Zith shit bravado?” Radris said, slipping his Lakan back into it’s sheath, taking a couple of steps away from Kavala, creating enough space to prevent her from becoming collateral damage in the possible fight. His stance in hand to hand was then taken, his frame turned sideways slightly, his knees bending just enough to give them a spring in his step and his arms raises as open hands were extended in front of him. “There isn’t anything but space and opportunity on this beach, and you’re wasting both with your words, fossil.”

[Mao]

There was an evident scowl on the Kelvic's face at the Konti's response. She did not wished to speak more to these strangers any more than she had to, and the fact that the white haired woman was not directly answering her question meant she had to pry more, something she would rather do with actions than with words. Even despite the looming Akalak that was hellbent on protecting her.

It appeared, however, as the waves broke apart and revealed someone she had not seen for over a year, that the Konti's answers were not required any more. Navis' appearance had stirred in her the renewed bloodthirst she lacked on her journey back from Falyndar. But it would not be directed toward the strangers that stood across the sand. His words, his voice, caused the sensation in her heart to swell, but it was not the sensation she was looking for.

He had changed. Perhaps because they had been parted for a while, but she sensed in him a passiveness that she found revolting. Where was the beast she fell in love with? Where was the cruel Tormentor she'd mated with on that memorable night long ago? She listened to him with rapt attention, but only because she wanted to detect the hint of his inner self hidden beneath that layer of sappiness she so detested. "Yes, I have come back for you. But you are not as you have once been." She hissed, circling around the three of them slowly, eyeing them one by one with a vicious glare. Perhaps she too, had changed; become more feral, less subjected to people's emotions, and far more merciless. When the two Akakaks began to confront each other Mao sprinted toward Kavala in one fluid movement and held her neck in a vice like grip.

The frenzy was evident in her eyes, but she meant no harm. Only the trembling tone of her voice was swept away into the salty wind. "What have you done to him, witch?! You are friends, you know each other! Tell me!"

Yet she could feel herself gradually release the Konti as she sunk onto the sand, unaware and uncaring for tonight that her exhaustion was evident. Still she turned her head to the one called Hatot. "Fight him. Make the Navis I knew come out and take control. Make him suffer in his own blood." Mao did not mean to be so cruel, but that was the way she was; ingrained in her mind and her soul. Even to her bond mate she would toughen him up to her liking, even if it meant harming him. This was her nature, one that deep down, she resented and abhorred.

[Kavala]

It was one of those pivotal moments in life, reflected by how Mao paced around the three of them. Change hung on the cusp of one creatures feral sanity. Sorian appeared, as he often did - part of the land or from it - and seized the situation, drawing the men's attention from Mao and onto each other. Kavala's attention never wavered though. Radris nor Navis were the threat here - they were kin whether they knew it or not. No... she saw it clearly. Mao was the threat. Mao oozed damage and violence like fire oozed smoke. It almost chocked the Konti with the intensity of the emotions that engulfed her, radiating off the cat. In the back of her mind, Kavala somehow filed away the awareness that Mao perhaps had a Konti-like gift of projection, because her inner voice was so strong, so easily read. It almost hurt. It almost made the Konti want to throw a punch. And what it was saying to Kavala wasn't good. Damaged. Mao was damaged - and she herself resented and abhorred that fact whether she realized it or not. In her own way, Mao was screaming for help and the healer was reading it loud and clear.

Only, the cat was larger, stronger, and definitely a threat when shifted. As a human, she was more manageable. Kavala had to keep her from shifting to keep the situation under control. The men could sort themselves out. For now, she had Mao to deal with and that wasn't going to be.... fun.

Sorian's challenge to Hatot gave the kelvic the momentum and distraction she needed to lunge for the Konti and take her by the throat. Surprised once, Kavala wasn't going to be surprised again. She had nothing though, nothing but a tough strip of white leather that kept her pale hair bound up in the ponytail that normally kept her face clear of her straying hair. So when Mao went for her throat, slim hands wrapping around the Konti's scaled neck, Kavala made her own move. Her back arched, and webbed fingers caught the leather thong in her own hair and pulled it free even as the panther wearing human skin failed to commit to the kill. Kavala locked eyes with the cat, holding her attention even as Mao cut off her wind. With the leather in her hands, she let them fall to her sides where she flicked out the length that almost resembled a boot lace. All the while her soft azure gaze didn't leave Mao's blazing green eyes.

But she didn't respond to her question... not yet.. not now. As she sunk down Kavala followed her down, lunging and taking the only chance she could. Arms hardened from self-enforced labor and honed by Hatot's classes snaked out and the leather thong was wrapped around the kelvics neck. Kavala pulled it tight, throwing herself on the distraught feral creature, attacking with a ferocity that even surprised her. A scaled knee drove into the girls midrift, designed to wind her, even as Kavala kept her focus, looping the leather around itself, yanking it incredibly hard, and then knotting it once, twice, and three times as the cat struggled to fight it.

Being a healer, fast impossibly hard knots were one the things her training had taught her to do.

The leather wouldn't restrain Mao's movements, but it was too tough to rip from her neck with the cats own bare hands (and not to mention tight) nor was it thin enough for her sharp fingernails to slice readily. Cat claws could have torn through it in a heartbeat, but shifting with a makeshift collar would be impossible. The cat's neck would break with the leather binding it. Kavala stayed on top of Mao, her wounded shoulders screaming in protest as she struggled with the cat, trying to capture her arms and pin them as well. Kav wasn't sure if she could, but she'd try, using the pressure points Hatot had taught her. The only thing that really mattered was that she get the kelvic unable to shift - unable to kill either herself, Hatot or Sorian.