Closed Hunting the Hunter (Scorn)

[Poison]

Being the naive Symenestra that he was, Nedra did of course expect Scorn to hand the dead eagle right over to him so that he could present it to Soraya. He was already thinking about how he could best convince her that he had killed it – he would just stick one of his arrows into it – when he noticed that the Zith was bending over the bird and ...

„Hey … what are you doing?“ he wanted to know. „You can‘ t just eat it now!“ He watched in horror (and disgust) as she ripped the bird’s heart out. She was a rather messy eater. Symenestra used their venom to liquify their prey, and they occasionally drank blood, but they did it in an elegant, cultured fashion. Scorn had seriously bad table manners (if you overlooked the fact that there was no table in sight)!

Besides, what was he supposed to tell Soraya now? He couldn’t return to Kalinor empty handed!

„Everybody in Kalinor would respect you and love you and admire you!“ he quickly answered her question to change the topic. He had realized that criticizing a creature that could kill so quickly might not be a good idea. „You would be everybody’s best friend, and they would let you eat the best meat and give you a place to live! Wouldn’t you like that?“

Maybe it would impress Soraya sufficiently if he brought Scorn to Kalinor and claimed that she had only come to do him a favour …

[Scorn]

Scorn considered the rapidly talking man, not hugely impressed with his offers. They sounded like the bargaining of prey trying to come up with a reason not to be eaten. Though, first choice of meat was tempting. Tempting, but lonely with no colony. She'd been having the first choice of meat ever since she'd left her colony...first because there was no one else. Somehow, without another Zith to share the meat with, it seemed a hollow reward. She was about to tell him that she'd rather have first choice of his meat, but Scourge claimed her attention with a high-pitched whine. "Please, Sister, just try it, at least for a while. It's a safe place to return to, and it's not so different from what you would be doing hunting for a colony!" Scorn searched her sister's pleading eyes, as if she could find an answer to why Scourge was so keen to barter with prey. "Scourge, now that I've found you we can go back to the colony. We can go home now," Scorn said softly, hopefully. Scourge's expression turned strange. Do you know where home is? Could you get us there? Could the two of us survive the journey alone? We were lucky to make it this far. Better to stay here, where it's safe...and less...lonely." Scorn opened her mouth to argue angrily. How could this be less lonely than being back with their family where they belonged?! But then she noticed the slightly broken expression in Scourge's dark eyes, and suddenly her ribs felt too small. Now that she thought, Scorn didn't know the way back to her colony. She had been relying on luck (which had served her well, so far), but it looked like Scourge wasn't going to leave her safe haven without a guarantee. If only it wasn't just the two of them. Maybe Scourge would feel safer traveling if they had more Zith... She couldn't make sense of it all, but Scourge wasn't going to budge on this. It looked like Scorn had no choice. "Fine," she bit out in the most hostile assent ever uttered. "I will hunt for you." For now.

[Poison]

Nedra made a face as Scorn and Scourge talked in their Zith language again and whined and pleaded and appeared to be angry with each other. For all he knew they were just trying to decide whether they were going to eat him now or later and which one of them got the juiciest parts! Couldn’t they speak Symenos or Common so that he could understand what they were talking about and run before it was too late?

As Scorn finally informed him that she was going to hunt for the Symenestra, Nedra breathed a sigh of relief. He even smiled a little. Everything would be fine now. He wouldn’t get eaten, and he could introduce the people of Kalinor to their newest hunter.

„Awesome!“ he said. „Shall we go back to Kalinor then? I can take you to the Sickle and Arrow if you want to – that’s the headquarter of our hunters – or maybe you’d like to visit Scourge’s place first and rest a bit?“

It occured to him that he didn’t know where Scourge lived. Did she have a house like a Symenestra or did she just sleep somewhere on the cavern floor, among the dead surrogates and whatever animals lived there?

„Where is your place?“ he asked the (slightly) more civilized sister.

[Scorn]

As Scorn tried to make sense of the stick man's stream of words, Scourge answered him. "Place? I...don't have a 'place'... I have been sleeping in the caves beneath your city. But if there is somewhere else I should rest..." she trailed off uncertainly. Scorn frowned. She did not understand why her sister deferred to this prey. Still, the news of caves nearby brightened her mood. It would be useful to have a safe place to live while she gathered her strength for the return journey. She would allow her sister to show her what she'd found, but later. In truth, Scorn was curious to see these "hunters". "Show me what you call hunter," Scorn declared, sneering. She could not imagine any stick man worthy of the title. In her mind, there was very little distinction between hunter and Zith. To be Zith was to hunt, and she could not imagine that any creature as weak and stupid as the one in front of her could possibly come from a race of predators. Likely, these creatures had never seen a true hunter. Impressing them with her skill would be easy (as had already been proven).

OOCAssume the Zith follow Nedra to wherever they're going.

[Poison]

Nedra furrowed his brow as Scorn informed him that she didn’t have a place of her own. „If you ever get tired of sleeping below Kalinor, you could probably have one of the houses on the edge of the city. They’ve been empty for years, apart from that one ghost that haunts them.“

He realized that he probably shouldn’t have said that. Sanairas Larkspur had overgiven, gone crazy and killed herself with her own magic. She was an unpleasant ghost at the best of times.

„Anyway …“ he continued. He decided to change the topic before the Zith had too much time to think about the ghost. „I’ll show you where the hunters live now. Follow me.“

~~~~

It took the three about a bell to reach the Woven Gate. When the first Zith had come to Kalinor a few seasons before things had been different. One of them had been brought to the Sac, the prison of Kalinor, another one had been constantly followed by the Ochya, people had been suspicious of the Zith, they had feared them and immediately taken their children away when they were nearby.

Now they merely looked at the newest arrival curiously. Some of them even greeted Scourge. They had forgotten what the Zith did on the surface and become convinced that they could become civilized, well educated, productive and harmless members of their society.

~~~~

To Scorn Kalinor would be unlike anything she had ever seen. The city was located in a gigantic cave. The houses were tear shaped, made of a stone like material and hung from the ceiling. There were no streets. Instead the different parts of the city were connected by thick ropes. It was a beautiful place, an exotic place, a colourful place – and it was of course full of stick people.

The Sickle and Arrow, the headquarter of the hunters, was located on the other side of the city. Most of the houses in Kalinor were architectural masterpieces, but this one managed to look plain and boring. It was a dull grey, functional, without any of the silk that the Symenestra often used to decorate their walls. The door was located in the roof of the house, and there were no windows.

Nedra knocked a couple of times, and finally somebody opened the door. The two Zith found themselves opposite a middle aged Symenestra man with shoulder length hair that was dressed in leather. He didn’t look quite as much like a stick as the other Symenestra, but actually had a few muscles.

[Scorn]

Scorn would have complained about the slow pace the stick-man was setting, but she spent the time conversing quietly with her sister, trying to catch up on all that had happened to each other, so she did not mind too much. What she did mind was them treating Scourge like she was a member of their inferior prey colony. She growled, and was about to put them in their place, but Scourge stopped her. Scorn was confused, unable to understand her sister, but before she could talk to Scourge, they arrived at their destination. Scorn was not terribly impressed by the so-called "hunter" stick-men. They might have a tad more meat on them, but still not enough to make decent prey. And it took more than flesh to make a good hunter. Wearing the skins of dead prey seemed desperate; it was like the most pathetic Zith ever carrying around a trophy of something he didn't even kill just to look more impressive than he actually was. Could these creatures even smell their prey? She glared up at the slightly-bigger-than-a-stick man with contempt. "You call this 'hunter'?" she said derisively. She glanced at her sister and muttered, "Pathetic. It's a wonder they're even still alive."

[Poison]

As he heard Scorn’s question, Nedra’s eyes widened a little. He just stared at her for a moment, as if he wasn’t sure how he should react to that. To him Valydor Scarlet and his fellow hunters had always looked very impressive. „Ummm …“ he made, a little uncertainly before he realized that such behaviour wouldn’t get him anywhere. „This is Valydor Scarlet, the best hunter in all of Kalinor!“ he thus informed her with a bright smile. „Appearances can be deceiving. Hunting is about more than just muscles, you know?“

The hunter watched the exchange quietly. Valydor had never been too fond of Nedra who preferred to spend his time drinking, gambling and flirting, but this would be the wrong time to adress that. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing in the company of two Zith. Had he gotten in trouble?

„Nedra is right“, he informed Scorn and Scourge. „A good hunter needs more than just strength. But let us not talk about it. What can I do for you, Scourge?“ He looked at Scorn’s sister. „I assume that she is your relative?“ He briefly glanced at Scorn. „Have you come to join us?“

There had been quite a few Zith in Kalinor recently. When the first Zith, a woman named Shausha had arrived, Valydor had had his doubts about the race, but they had turned out to be skilled hunters, and with a little effort they even managed to act like halfway civilized people.

[Scorn]

It was only Scourge's pleading whine, too high-pitched for non-Zith ears, that prevented Scorn from proving right then and there just who was the best hunter. Instead, she growled in response to his question, "She is my twin, and I am here to bring her home." Scourge grabbed Scorn's arm and pulled her a bit away, whispering harshly to her, "I told you I don't want to leave. It's too dangerous on our own; we'd never make it! These people can help us stay alive. They can be a new colony." "These will never be Zith!" Scorn growled, upset and badly homesick. "We both survived on our own long enough to get here. Who's to say we can't get back?" Scourge bit her lip, but it was the fear in her eyes that caused Scorn the most concern. What had happened to her? "Please," she whispered, "just give them a chance. I know they're not Zith, but they can still be like a colony. It's not so different, just hunt like always, and bring some back like always." Scourge pressed her hand on Scorn's arm, her eyes begging Scorn not to fight anymore. Scorn could see that she wasn't going to win this argument today. She didn't like it, and she wasn't going to just give up and adopt a fake colony like Scourge seemed to have done, but she would have to stay at least long enough to convince Scourge to leave. She pressed her own hand to Scourge's, a gesture of reconciliation and affection. "For now," she allowed. She hadn't given up. She would just have to come up with a better plan to convince Scourge. Relief and gratitude flooded Scourge's face, and the dark twin turned back to the Symenestra and said, "Yes, my twin will stay, and she agrees to hunt for you!" The buoyant happiness Scourge displayed caused a pang in Scorn's heart. More than anything, Scorn did not want to stay in this place, but there was no way in earth, sky, or sea, that she would ever abandon Scourge.

[Poison]

„She does look like you“, Valydor remarked as Scourge informed him that Scorn was her twin. „It’s good that you have brought her here. We could use another one like you, besides it’s dangerous out there, even for Zith.“ He didn’t intervene as the two started arguing in Zithanese. In his opinion it would be better if they solved their problems by themselves.

Nedra looked as if he wanted to say something, but Valydor touched his arm and shook his head. „They are most likely just deciding whether they want to work with us or not“, he told the man whose lack of experience in dealing with Zith was obvious. „Whatever they do, it is none of your business.“

„Do you speak Zithanese?“ Nedra asked, surprised. Valydor smiled slightly. „As much as you.“ This was clearly not the answer that Nedra had expected. If Valydor hadn’t mastered the language of the Zith, how could he have any idea what they were talking about? Maybe he had made a joke?

„Tell your twin that I appreciate her decision“, Valydor told Scorn. „And tell her that she will of course receive her share of the prey as well as a few golden mizas.“

[Scorn]

Scorn felt a wave of dismay at the mention of more of the heavy rocks she'd spent so long lugging through the sky. Luckily, Scourge nodded at the stick men and got Scorn out of there before there could be any further conflict or misunderstandings. Scourge then led Scorn to the caves under the city, where they would make their nest. Scorn cast an judging eye over the cavern, but it was serviceable enough, if a bit far from the sky. There were even trace scents of other Zith, and Scorn was excited for a moment, until Scourge told her that the others had left. Scorn's face fell, and Scourge tried to cheer her up by suggesting that more Zith were bound to stumble into the city soon. Somehow Scorn could not muster the same optimism.

OOCI think this thread is done, if you agree.