Two Wrongs and a Right (Tinnok)

[Licearsvansan]

Svan danced anxiously back and forth in a rhythmic motion. He had noticed the way this woman had responded to him stating that he was traveling with a Myrian. In all of Svan's experiences he had never seen anyone tense up for a positive reason.

The snake's mind quickly worked to craft the best excuse it could think of as to why a Myrian would be following him. Just as he finally thought up the perfect reason, he realized that the Myrian had stopped talking. "What? Oh um sorry I was just..." Svan paused and let out a long his as his feeble mind worked to form any sort of appropriate apology for spacing out. Finding none Svan simply continued, "Its a phirebird. If you leave the forest and head just two miles north you can find whole flocks of them." The Dhani shrugged his shoulders as he responded. He really had nothing against the species as a whole but this one phirebird was different.

The snake flicked his tongue at the phirebird above and gave it a hungry look. The bird responded by clicking its beak and hopping onto a branch behind the woman. It peaked out over the woman's shoulders and crowed lightly to taunt Svan. The snake sweetly responded by giving the one bird another. With his middle finger that is.

Turning his focus back to the half snake-half snake hunter woman and gave her a irritated look. "In my defense, he usually starts it." Remembering that he had failed to answer all her questions, Svan turned to his sides and flicked his forked tongue into the air repeatedly before pointing at the trees. "They are that way." Svan looked down to the woman and began to clarify, "Or rather I came from that direction. I of course twisted and turned around while chasing the featherbrain behind you, but I can just track my scent back to my....traveling partners, and they can do the same for me. That is assuming they don't try to tamper with the trail in hopes of ditching me in this enemy infested jungle. Half of present company excluded of course." Svan shot a glare at the bird who simply groomed itself innocently. Angered by being ignored by a bird no larger than a large sparrow, Svan gave his best Dhani hiss but cut it short when he realized that it might upset the Myrian between them.

Making a face like a child that was being forced to play nicely, Svan rose up and stretched his aching muscles. After a long tired groan from the stretch, Svan allowed his gaze to roll over to Tinnok's form. He wasn't sure what it was about him traveling with a Myrian that vexed her considering she was sitting here speaking to him as if he were a stranger invited in for tea. However, he falsely concluded that the Myrian was simply worried about the safety of another member of her race. Placing a hand over his heart Svan spoke as clearly as he could, "Don't worry about the Myrian I spoke about earlier. I promise I will not kill, maim, eat, dismember, torture, drown, torch, or tickle the Myrian I travel with so long as she makes no (further) attempt to take my life, or that of my...associate, Samantha." In the back of his mind the snake was kicking himself. While he felt that he had been sincere he worried that his serpent-like accent and form were too untrustworthy to be taken seriously. He would have turned back to his human seeming long ago, but he lack any current clothing and felt that a naked human-shaped snake of the opposite sex might be even more unnerving than his Dhani form.

Having done his best to end what he thought were her concerns, Svan decided to take her up on her offer to ask her some questions. "Okay, I don't really need to know anything more about Myrians or Constrictors aside from 'avoid them', but I must admit I am curious about two things. One, I want to know how you got your gnosis mark."

Svan gave a smug look to the woman and moved his face in closer. "And two, I would like to know the name of the woman I've been speaking to."

[Tinnok]

Tinnok was utterly confused about why the Dhani seemed so irate with the bird. It was a playful fellow certainly, and a bit on the loud side, but none of the intentions that wafted off of the bird were certainly not in any way malicious. It seemed a clever being indeed to play off the Dhani's emotions so effectively.

The Rattler seemed to sense her discomfort with a member of her race traveling with a Dhani, and of course came to the wrong conclusion. Not knowing who this Myrian could be, Tinnok gave not a petching care in the world save for the fact that she most certainly did not want to meet...her? "I not worry. If she not take care of self, is her problem."

The phirebird nibbled at Tinnok's hair, pulling out a strand and making the half breed chuckle. Then it came to questions.

"I am Tinnok of Tempered Steel." She stated matter of factly. She paused after that. It was one thing to....loosely trust this creature, to risk her own skin and converse with him as if he was...well not a Dhani, but to share the story of how Caiyha blessed her?

Tinnok snorted. "Is not safe here, for you or me. Dhani see us, kill both. Myrian see us? Kill both. I Don't want meet Myrian you travel with. We go better place?" It was a question, but not asked as such as Tinnok began moving through the undergrowth immediately after speaking it. This area of the jungle was a bit more familiar to her, and she knew of a small cavern uninhabited by any creatures friend or foe that would serve as a better spot to talk. The Dhani might be a little big for the cave, but he could always change, Tinnok thought to herself, entirely unconcerned with with nudity at this point.

She did not look back to see if the Dhani was following, though she noticed the phirebird swoop off of her shoulder, probably to torment the Rattler some more.

It took her about half a bell to find the spot, blocked off by several massive jungle trees and covered by hanging moss, the entrance of the little cavern alcove was well hidden. Tinnok's steps were careful and quiet, for one could never be too sure in the Wilds, but as she checked the spacious interior, she saw that none had claimed her little hidey hole for themselves, at least not yet.

"This better." She stated, seating herself on the lip of the entrance, and relaxing slightly

"I sorry, I not be able to tell well how I got mark." She said, part of her furious that she was giving her tale that preface. Common felt so strange upon the tongue, however, and she knew there would be no eloquence in the story that followed.

"I was in jungle, in tree, scouting. Two hunters came, carried bags. I found they had killed...what word? Not sure, but many many birds. Red pretty birds, with blue and yellow feathers, big black beaks, can speak? Myrians no see them much anymore, feathers are valuable. They kill entire nesting group they find." It still made Tinnok wrathful to think about it.

"So I attack them, kill one..." She smiled. "The other would killed me, but Caiyha turn him into that bird, we talked, she gave Gnosis. Now look over jungle." Left out quite a bit of the nuances, but there it was. Tinnok realized then that it was the first time anyone had asked her how she had gotten it....even Aya and the Eagle seemed to have taken the story in stride and not investigated more deeply, and her own clan? Well the mark was worth congratulations, but all they saw was an abomination marked by Caiyha, but not by Myri. Tinnok rubbed her face, than glanced up at Svan.

"I serve Caiyha, whole life, long before I get mark. Myri my Queen, but Caiyha my mother, true mother." Her voice held a lot of conviction within, and the remnants of a bitter smile crossed her lips.

"Any other asks?"

[Licearsvansan]

Svan retreated to the stump of a nearby tree and rested himself at its base. "Tinnok of the Tempered Steel", he parroted to himself, letting the words roll slowly off his forked tongue. He wasn't entirely sure whether the "tempered steel" part was a title she had added to embellish her name or had some kind of significant meaning, but didn't feel like asking her so he simply hummed a light note of curiosity before she spoke again.

"Is not safe here, for you or me. Dhani see us, kill both. Myrian see us? Kill both. I Don't want meet Myrian you travel with. We go better place?"

Svan watched as she immediate assumed he would follow her into the savage jungle, and only after it became clear she had little plan of giving him a choice in the matter did he reluctantly follow. Svan made sure to hiss spitefully at being bossed around, but made no other comments in fear that she might decide against telling him what he wanted. He disliked being told what to do, especially by a race he considered inferior, but he admitted begrudgingly to himself that he wasn't fond of the idea of any other Myrians or Dhani finding them.

As he followed the phirebird jumped between the branches of the trees, following closely behind but far enough away that Svan couldn't swing out to catch it. The snake occasionally shot glares at the bird, but the creature only ignored him and continued its game of jungle hopscotch.

After more slithering than Svan would have preferred they reached their destination. Svan stared blankly at the moss covered rock for a quarter of a bell before spotting the small cave that the woman had led him to. Svan's expression quickly changed to reflect his disappointment with the size of the cave. With a grunt Svan dragged his torso into the hole.

"This better." The relaxed woman declared.

"Much", The snake sarcastically replied as if it were a question he had been asked. Svan's large snake tail still hung off the edge and was finding it difficult to find a position he was comfortable in.

The dhani was still attempting to adjust himself when the woman began her story. Almost immediately he stopped moving and turned his head eagerly to listen. He desperately wanted to know what it was that kept him from being marked despite his many years of serving the goddess. He hope that her story would shed some light on what the difference between a true follower of Caiyha and him was. The snake nodded attentively as the woman unfolded the tale in broken common, waiting all the while for it to transform into an epic worthy of a book. He stared at her with child-like wonder with each word, and continued to do so even after the story ended. Mostly because he couldn't believe it was done so quickly. It wasn't until she added the part about Caiyha being her true mother did Svan snap out of his denial.

The snake's mouth twitched once before he shook himself from his disbelief. "That's it?! You kill one guy, nearly die in the process, and you get a mark for it? I must have done that a hundred times by now, and I've done it a few times without needing anyone to save me! You stop one and a half bad guys and Caiyha give you a reward, I spend 18 years of my life in the wild alone risking life and limb to serve Caiyha and I don't get so much as a consolation prize." The phirebird responded with a loud caw. "Oh shut up you stupid black bird before I hang you over a fire-pit and make you live up to you name. You're a curse from Caiyha if anything." Strangely the bird didn't seem to deny it but instead bobbed its head as if it agreed. It then flew over to a branch close to Svan and looked at him with what the snake concluded was an accusing expression. "What? You think I deserve this? What would you know, I once stopped a man who was trying to incite a riot to kill an entire species!" The bird continued to stare at Svan. "Okay, so I didn't know that those chickens were an invasive species. So what? I still killed this one guy was trying to clear cut as many Talderan trees as he could...though now that I think about it, I remember finding out later that his family had come back with at least 20 other people to cut down the trees since they believed it was a Qumar." Svan began to scratch his head as he raked his mind to think of one purely positive thing he had done. "Well there was this one time I saved a wild horse. Okay, so I technically put the horse down, it was lame, what else should I have done? Let it starve?" Svan folded his arms and scowled. Suddenly a thought crossed head and he shouted, "How about this, I once stopped a forest fi-no wait, I didn't...nearly died in that one too didn't I? Come to think of it I've actually caused two forest fires? Petch."

Svan was now looking fairly melancholy. He preferred not to think about how poor of a follower he actually was. While certainly motivated and enthusiastic, the snake seemed often to be a greater threat to the environment than a boon to it. Svan painfully adjusted himself so that he could look as Tinnok better. "Tell you what Tinnok, I've got a question for you. Why the petch hasn't Caiyha killed me off yet?" He was really less interested in an actual answer than he was in getting advice on how to be a better follower, but he was to proud to ask for such help directly.

"Oh, and can we raise the ceiling or something? I'm practically suffocating in here, and its making me flashback to being knotted around that one tree."

[Tinnok]

Tinnok's eye brows furrowed as the snake began to speak. First her lips pressed together tightly, then her whole body stiffened. By the time he was finished she was barely keeping herself contained.

"YOU THINK THIS CONTEST?!" Her voice was loud, her body came forward suddenly, face close to his, slitted eyes mirrored in his own and filled with rage. Petch this Dhani to Dira's embrace, even if he could kill her with one placed slap of his mishapen tail. "You think, you kill things, you make things right? You asks how I get mark, I tell."

She pulled back then. "You see me as weak, no?" She glanced up at him accusingly, eyes quick and filled with that same Dhani scrutiny. "Dhani see me, see weak. I no change, I not strong." She brushed back a loose lock of hair. "Myrian see me as monster, I tainted with blood of baddest kind. What is word? Disgust. I am disgust, I am...bomination."

The half breed leaned forward again. "My life has been hate. Hate for Myrian, hate for Dhani. But Caiyha...Caiyha not see this. She see those that help, those that hinder. She my mother, care for me no matter what blood. And so my life is for her, for animals, for plants. For real family, jungle." Her hands spread out somewhat, face peaceful all of a sudden.

The half breed sighed, ushering the Dhani out of the cave. It was secluded enough in this small copse anyway, no need to cramp him within. "You strange Dhani, I know not what you do for Caiyha, but even think that Goddess would turn eye on you to kill or gift is...silly. You serve Caiyha because belief, no because of gift. You do this, she come for you too."

She hated common. It was a foul and barbaric language that she only understood in the most basic of terms. Why couldn't he just understand? Caiyha would come when her child was ready and not before? Her final task was not a summation of a hole...and she wasn't going to discuss the other things she had done in Caiyha's name, parading them like trophies for this foolish snake. He did not deserve to hear them anyway.

The phirebird flew down to her shoulder, pecking at the bone earring coming out of her ear. Tinnok smiled softly, removing the appendage and offering it to the bird, who latched onto the decoration, then threw it onto the ground in a huff. Tinnok snorted, reverting back to Myrian. "It is good you keep him in line little one, I am sure this Dhani is a pain in the shyking arse." She smirked, leaning against a mossy boulder, an eyebrow perking curiously.

"How long in jungle?"

[Licearsvansan]

Svan smashed hard against the mossy stone wall of the cave. The suddenness of the Myrian's outburst had caught him off guard, and his reflexes had apperently decided that the best course of action was to hurt himself before she could land a blow. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the Myrian did not strike out physically against the snake, but instead chose to wound him emotionally. As if the words were a cool metal blade growing ever closer to his throat, Svan continued to back away until he fell over the ledge, and tumbled out of the cave. Svan looked up at the half breed with his face betraying no emotion, and waited patiently until he thought she was done speaking.

Once she stopped to play with the bird, Svan silently lifted himself off the ground and wiped the dirt that was still clinging to him. Ignoring the bird and woman, the Dhani spun around and began to leave. No sooner had he turned however, than did the Myrian ask him how long he planned to stay in the jungle. He turned his head slightly so that his left eye rested on her face and replied, "Not much longer." His voice was unreadable and empty. Without another word or so much as a wave, Svan turned back and slithered out from the cover of the trees.

For about a bell the jungle was left in an uneasy silence. Not that the jungle was ever actually silent. After a while a faint rustling could be heard coming from behind the trees, bushes shook as a figure moved though them, and finally a lightly tanned man emerged. The man had a loose mess of brown hair that was beginning to fall over his dull hazel eyes. He held a large leaf over his groin in a failing attempt to uphold some sort of privacy, and he wore a face that clearly displayed his discomfort with what he was doing.

The man moved in a few steps then collapsed onto his rear, and folded his legs tight. Resting the leaf across his lap, the bed headed man glared up silently at the woman and crossed his arms over his chest. "There", he said without his serpentine lisp, "Now we are even."

Though he said that, he certainly didn't feel "even" with the woman. While he was technically more powerful than a common human in this form, he looked fairly unimpressive. He was smaller, less skilled, less attractive, and less armed than the Myrian before him, and the fact that she was sitting on a ledge even higher up did nothing to assuage the feeling of inferiority. His glare was little more than a last act of proud defiance that kept his feelings at bay, but if he hoped to make any ground with the woman he would have to let go of his pride. At least for a moment.

Slowly Svan closed his eyes and tilted his head to the ground. He focused all the mental energy that he had to spare to stuff down the urge to protect hide behind his half-feigned pride. With a heavy sigh the man unfolded his arms and placed them to rest on his knees. Then, slowly, he raised his head so that his the brown eyes hiding behind his hair met those of the half breed. He no longer wore the rebellious and proud mask he had previously hid behind, but instead met her gaze with tired but sympathetic eyes. It resemble those of a man who had walked too far, and too long under the promise of false hope. Still, there was a strength in him that seemed to refuse to surrender entirely to futility of his quest.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the woman, Svan spoke calmly without so much as a single "s" gone on too long, "You're right, its not a contest and I shouldn't treat it like one. But its just-" Svan breathed out empty air, unable to find the words. "Listen, I get it. When it comes to races you won second place in the crap-sack roulette. Only a half-dhani, half-zith would have any more right to complain than you. You aren't the only outcast though. In my case it isn't what I was that caused me to be isolated, but who I was. And yeah I know, I at least can change "who" I am, but you don't get that luxury. However, trust me when I say how much I envy that "curse". You may not like what you are, but at least your race is something that no one can take from you. The same can't be said for me. I mean, I used to be a different person. I was a good guy who used to care about others, and tried to help even the people who hurt me. However, that was taken from me." Svan was now staring at the dirt. The faint memories of abuse danced across his vision. "I understand what you mean when you say that Caiyha is your real mother." The man looked back up to the woman with confidence. "Everyone from my nest either looked down upon me or tried to change me from what I was, but Caiyha accepts who I really am. Or at least what I want to become again. So that's why I follow her, even though I lack any marks. My faith in her is what is helping me reclaim what it was I had lost. And each day I'm getting better, I'm getting kinder, I'm getting smarter, and I'm-" The phirebird cawed once. "-getting stuck in trees." Svan's head immediately slumped over, and he slapped his palms to his face.

So close to an epiphany and yet so far.

[Tinnok]

When he slithered off into the jungle the half breed did not think he would return. She huffed through her nose and stroked the phirebird's head with two fingers running along the soft surface.

Her lips opened for a quiet insult when she heard faint rustling, and looked up with surprise to see a man...shorter than she emerge from the forest, barely any clothing covering his form. His body reminded her of the lanky grace a snake had at their disposal, and Svan might not care for his human appearance, but it certainly made the half breed feel considerably more comfortable in his presence, strange mop of hair and all.

He seemed calm, nearly sullen when he began speaking, and Tinnok listened attentively to his words. Her lips were pursed by the end, but his final comment made her smirk.

"You strange Dhani." She repeated, as if either her or he needed reminding. "But I strange too." She said, finger lying upon her own chest.

"Caiyha likes strange servants me thinks." She was not sure what it was then...this creature had come into her jungle with noble intent, but he was a monster, something to be killed by her and her kind. But as he had said...she was her own race, and if the Myrians would not accept her, than why should she obey their rules? She was just as much of a monster as he, after all. But it still ran against her being when she rose and walked towards him, mirroring his position and sitting down, legs folded inward, back stooped slightly.

She lay her hands upon his knees, gently, and closed her eyes. "Caiyha has plans for all children. You believe as I do, you find her."

Her eyes opened slightly, golden yellow orbs showing a faint amusement as she drew back her hands. "Dhani live long, maybe she just giving short lived servants chance to catch up." She smiled, then frowned, face curious again. "You say you not stay long. Why?"

She wasn't sure how precisely a Dhani, Myrian, and Kelvic tiger could survive in the jungle with each side out to get them, but it seemed if he wished to live within Caiyha's embrace, easy to do within the Jungle Wilds, it would require more than just a vacation. Slowly the half breed realized the strange contact she had made with the Dhani, and slid herself backwards, biting her lip. It was strange for her to show affection of any kind, but she had also never found another being that was so devoted to her Goddess either, to seek her out far from home.

[Licearsvansan]

[The brown haired man peeked out from his finger when the woman approached him. While glad to be seeing her at an even level he was still caution due to being so vulnerable in his human form. The snake quickly un-tensed however, when he noticed that there was no malicious energy drifting off the woman. He was no aorist, but even a blind man could tell that the woman had originally held a fair bit of contempt for him. Now it felt different though. Perhaps it was his human form that put her at ease, or maybe the admission of his weaknesses. Whatever the case, she no longer felt like a threat, and Svan was able to breath a bit easier.

"Dhani live long, maybe she just giving short lived servants chance to catch up" , said the half breed

Caught off guard by what he believed was a joke, Svan laugh and took his face completely away from his hands. The Dhani had always been a bit dramatic, but even on his worse days it took very little to break him from his brief bouts of self pity. The fact that it was a Myrian trying to cheer him up only made it even more effective.

When Svan looked at the woman clearly he was taken by surprise. She was smiling. Or rather she had been smiling. The brief flash of mirth had disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.

She was now looking at him in a confused fashion. "You say you not stay long. Why?"

Svan, was about to answer when suddenly the woman seemed to realize her own kindness and retreated from him. "Oh come now", he said while doing his best to keep his lisp at bay. "I won't bite. Well at least not in this form at any rate." Svan laughed lightly at his own joke before giving the woman a teasing smile. The smile grew warmer as it continued and Svan's expression grew softer. "You really are a follower of Caiyha. Its pretty clear that you have been fighting the urge to skin me alive, but here you are trying to make me feel better." Svan hopped a little closer to her. "Thanks, most people don't bother to even hear out a Dhani, let alone a person with Myrian blood."

Svan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Now as for why I'm not staying long...well, lets face it. I'm not welcome here. Constrictors, and Myrians alike would come together for the first time in years to hold hand in hand as they tear me into two. Ah, nothing unites people quite as well as a shared hatred." He spoke jokingly, but there was an obvious bit of concern at the edge of his words. Svan leaned back to give the woman her space back and placed his hands of the ground to support his weight. "Who knows though. Perhaps you could help get me accepted under some kind of ceasefire. You know, like the one the Myrians have with the Constrictors. We all know everyone obeys that rule." The man made a half smile and looked up towards the canopy. The phirebird was now high in the trees and the snake was struggling to see him amongst the leaves "It doesn't matter though. I'm headed to a place that is said to be second only to Taloba and the Spire in its relations to Caiyha. There's an animal there that I hope to learn more about. An Okoma or something like that." Svan shrugged and returned to the woman's serpent-like gaze. "Its a pity though. I can't say I hate you. Its unfortunate that we will have to go our separate soon."

Despite the obvious danger he was in, Svan wasn't blind to the benefit of having a friend amongst the Myrian. He would have to return someday and it would be nice to have a friend in the jungle.

[Tinnok]

She saw the lines in his face ease. Something told the half breed that the Dhani could uphold a smile, even fake, easier than he could a frown, and wondered curiously if the one he gave her was genuine. As a half breed, she could falsify emotions, but had never been very adept at it. She blinked, somehow knowing that just as her own expression was briefly genuine, so too was his.

She smirked at his comment. "I kill strange Dhani, I be...what word? hypo...hipp...do thing I not spect others do." She finished lamely. "Ach, Cannot kill servant of Goddess, that what I mean."

She nodded at his explanation. "It logic." The half breed laughed dryly at his comment about getting him accepted. "Ha, no Myrian, no Dhani, listen to me, you have more luck asking Caiyha herself."

She cocked her head to the side as he explained where he was traveling to next. Yellow eyes widened. "Okoma?" She smirked. "This jungle home, but I know Caiyha ask me to leave someday, if I serve well. Mayhaps I find you out there."

She rose slowly. "So this...goodbye?" It was strange, it had been only a couple bells and she realized if the snake left now she would be left alone, still curious and suddenly alone again. It wasn't sorrow that she felt, but a strange kind of regret hung there. She placed one of her hands upon a patch of moss lying on the bark of a tree, centering herself in that moment.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan laughed as the young woman mutilated the word "hypocrite". "I don't think you would be a hippo unless you ate me after I was dead." The snake smiled a little more when he remembered that Myrians were not above eating other humans. Would it still count as canabalism if she ate me? Maybe it would be half canabalism. Does that exist? Svan stopped his wonderings short when he realized he had failed to answer the woman's question.

The man stared down at the ground and grunted a yes. He was feeling the same kind regret that Tinnok felt. He had just finally started to know this woman and already they were going to have to head their seperate ways. He was used to leaving people behind, but he was also used to not growing attached to anyone. Yet somehow this woman had managed to make Svan feel some kind of attachment to her in such a short time. He wondered for a moment if he was simply attracted to her. He normally regected the idea that humans could be attractive, but this one seemed even more snake-like than a pureblooded Dhani in its human form. He however, quickly shook this idea from his mind. There had been many other woman he had been attracted to in the past and the feeling when he left them behind was far different.

Svan remained silent for sometime thinking about why he felt this way until something she had said before lept into the front of his mind. "Mother" he muttered almost silently before looking up. "You said that Caiyha is your mother, even before Myri. The same goes for me and Siku. Siku, and Myri may be the rulers of our people, but for us Caiyha is our real mother." Svan cautiously placed his hand next to hers. He was doing his best to try to be friendly without agitating her natural distaste for the Dhani any further. "That makes us family. Right?" The man gave a meek smile to the half breed. "We are a family within Caiyha. I don't know if that means anything, but I think it does. After all, you could have killed me, but something must have stopped you. Right?" The man kept smiling as he stood up. "This is good bye, but I'm sure we will find some way to contact each other." The bird above them cawed and Svan shot it a glare. Petching noise bird, he thought to himself, Just because I'm willing to accept the half Myrian as family don't think I will accept you. For now at least Svan was willing to put aside a century old hatred between races because of the strength of his beliefs, but to ask him to let go of a personal grudge was still a little too far out of his ability.

Svan's face relaxed once again and returned to Tinnok. Looking her in the eyes he held out his hand to shake her farewell. If she accepted it she might notice that his shake was not only firm, but all together refusing to let go. There was after all one last thing he wanted to add before they departed.

[Tinnok]

She found herself smirking at his joke, her eyes widening in surprise to see he was responding in kind to her change in personality. Strange...from hate to a shaky understanding in about a bell's time. She wondered if screaming at all Dhani would have a similar effect, but somehow doubted it.

As they rose she could feel the finality of the gesture. They stood rather close and Tinnok almost wanted to tell him to let his hand go, she hadn't a care about modesty, after all, she was Myrian and Dhani. BUt she refrained.

Suddenly his hand gripped hers in a way of goodbye. Quite unlike a Dhani one might think, but then again, Tinnok observed, this one was unlike most other Dhani...just as she was unlike any Myrian in more ways than one.

She smiled softly. "May haps I find Dhani in...strange city when Caiyha calls me from jungle?" She had only the slightest grasp of the scope outside the jungles of Falyndar, but even she doubted that it would be so easy.

They stood for a moment then, acolytes of the same mother, hand in hand in a jungle that carried more life than most regions combined, both attempting to make their way under her gaze. Tinnok was confused as to why he kept his grip, and her golden eyes met hazel ones, her lips twitching. "Do all Dhani like hand holding much as you?"