Closed A Funny Place to Meet a Zith (Laute)

[Scorn]

88th of Summer, 513 A lot had happened to Scorn in the days since she found Kalinor. She found her lost sister, and she was learning to live with a strange race that she wasn't supposed to eat. That would have been a lot harder if her Zith companion that she'd met last winter hadn't found her. It was hard being surrounded by non-Zith, but the more Zith that surrounded her, the more bearable it was. It would be better if she could have a real colony though. Still, her nights were more peaceful than they had been in a long time. She had a safe place to rest at day, and company to keep her from feeling too lonely. But now that she wasn't thinking about survival at every waking moment, she had time to think about other things. Like that time she met a fish-man, and how easily it moved in the water. How difficult it had been for her to move in the water. She exhaled deeply, frustrated that there was any medium through which she could not easily move. She would never be satisfied until she could fly through the water. And so, she found herself following the salty smell of water. Luckily, it was close enough to the cave city that she thought she'd be able to find her way back. (Usually her sister had to come looking for her if she was away too long, because Scorn had a horrible sense of direction and was always getting lost.) Soon, she cleared a mountain and saw the sea spread out before her, sparkling in the starlight. She dove toward the beach and perched just at the shoreline. She eyes the water in distaste. Wet fur was such an unpleasant sensation, but her pride couldn't stand not being able to fly in water. Finally, she stuck a claw into a wave that rolled up the beach toward her. Cursing at herself to just get it over with, she spread her wings wide and sort of hopped into the foamy water. Her head went under a little, and as she surfaced, she sputtered and spat at the intense flavor of salt. Remembering her trick from her last encounter with water, she laid her wings flat on the surface of the water, using them to keep her afloat. Scorn took a moment to get used to the extremely odd sensation of the water, a much heavier medium than she was used to floating through. She would work on actually moving in a minute.

[Laute]

The city was strange, but familiar. Laute was used to living in caves, in the dark recesses of the earth, but not to these pale creatures that he now shared them with. It was fascinating to watch them sometimes, particularly the slaves they brought in solely for the purpose of breeding. Considering how fragile the Symenestra were, he was surprised their poison and claws were enough to capture so many.

Maybe later he could get one to agree with combat with him.

Stepping out of the cave, Laute glanced up at the silver moon. Sniffing the air, he could smell the salty scent of the sea, the cool breeze ruffling his fur. Looking back, he gestured for Aditi to follow him. Even if he was unsure of the Symenestra, they were more than a match for Aditi and he could not leave her unprotected.

The sea was close enough and he grasped the slave with his arms, before beating his wings furiously to lift. It was harder to carry her, but he was unused to it after months of her traveling by horseback.

She squirmed a little, unsettled by her feet dangling off the ground, and he growled lightly to still her. His arms burning lightly, he flapped his wings and headed upwind to the beach. Fish and other sea creatures would be there, some even on the beach if he were lucky.

Landing on the soft sand, he let go of her and hovered. There was another smell here, beyond the shellfish and crabs that dotted the shore. Another Zith, though he hadn't met one since he left home.

Curious, he followed the trail to the beach's edge and watched in surprise as a dark head emerged from the water. Two wings followed it and he stared in confusion as the body started to float.

What was she doing?

Always one to sate his desires, Laute flew closer to the Zith.

[Scorn]

Scorn's legs dangled idly in the water, but as the currents drifted past them (incidentally carrying her slowly down the shoreline), she started moving them back and forth. At first it was just an attempt to feel more stable, to put her legs back under her so she wouldn't feel like she was about to tumble feet over head. After a few moments of randomly moving her legs, however, she noticed something. She felt more stable, yes, but there was more to it than that. The Zith began to move her legs more deliberately, kicking them rhythmically in the water below her. For some reason, this seemed to help her float better, taking some of the pressure off of her wings. She still did not feel safe moving her wings, but she no longer felt like she was constantly about to fall under the surface and drown. A shadow passed over the moon, and as Scorn looked up in alarm, she finally smelled what she had been too distracted to notice earlier. Zith! A mixture of emotions ran through her then. It was not a Zith she recognized. As much as she wished it, she could not be certain that this would be a new friend. He could be from a rival colony, one trying to stake its claim in this area. Well, Scorn was no longer a lone Zith who had to abide by the territorial claims of other colonies; she had allies of her own now. Of course, none of her allies were with her at the moment. She gave the air another sniff. this Zith was also alone, at least at the moment. If he was not part of a hunting party, then it was unlikely that he would drive her out. She had noticed in her travels that the instinct of a lone Zith was always to seek out and join others. No Zith would deliberately fly solo, not unless they had no other choice. She searched the sky until she found the Zith, hovering not far from her. Under normal circumstances, she would have flown up to meet him, but... she wasn't entirely sure she could fly out of the water, and she didn't want to risk her precarious balance by trying. Besides, if it came to a contest of flight, she was at a severe disadvantage as long as her wings were wet...at least, she assumed so. As it was, she simply made use of the gift of language to greet the strange Zith. In the beautiful tongue that was made up of sounds too high- and low-pitched for other beings to even hear, she asked, "Who are you?" The way he answered could tell her much about how friendly he intended to be.

[Laute]

As strange as her movements seemed, it appeared that this Zith was somehow moving through the water. Over the course of his travels he had considered the idea, but not much more than that.

Somehow she had gotten to the point of actually being in the water. For a moment he considered plopping into the water after her but refrained. Without knowing what to do, he was liable to die.

But she was somehow navigating this large unknown. He had tried to taste the water earlier and coughed at the salty content. How she was remaining in the water without drowning in the liquid, he had to know.

Looking at her when she spoke, he contemplated her question before answering.

It had been a while since he had someone else to converse in their native language, and the clicks and squeaks of his voice sounded strange as he gave his Zith name. With each noise, it became more familiar and he smiled.

He hadn't realized how much he missed his own kind till now, the company of another whilst in flight and in hunt. Aditi couldn't compare to the thrill of a race through the night sky.

"The outsiders call me Laute," he continued to answer her question, moving a little closer to the water. His feet brushed the water's surface and he shivered slightly. There was a slight fog on the edges of the water, and he was unable to see too far into the distance due to it. "What are you doing?"

Still slow, brother?

Nimis whispered in his ear and Laute shook his head to remove the sound. No, not tonight. Later, but not now.

He hovered a little lower, and his feet was soaked in the cool water.

[Scorn]

The Zith--Laute--was friendly, Scorn thought with relief. She offered her own name in return, both in Zith and the slave tongue, as she appraised him. He was attractive, and not just because she'd had any shortage of male company lately. She judged him to be close to her age, though he was as big as Massacre, a much older Zith. She admired the scar on his arm, wondering what impressive beast he had fought and defeated, to leave alive after a wound like that. Belatedly, she heard his question. Instead of answering right away, she attempted to maneuver closer to him. It was difficult. She was afraid to move her wings even a little, holding them tensely in their spread position. In the air, they would be relaxed, not to mention she's be able to flap them once in a while, but she was petrified of what would happen if she let her wings fall underwater. Her legs were also not much help. She was keeping her body perfectly upright, so that her lightly kicking legs would propel her only toward the surface. She feared any deviation in this balance would send her face-first into the water. That left only her arms free for navigation. Her arms moved underwater, to prevent Laute from seeing how silly she looked flailing about. If only she could find another fish-man, and make it tell her how to do this, instead of stumbling about on her own! It was even harder with a witness. But at least waving her arms about in the water seemed to be turning her. She could slowly control her rotation so that she was pointed directly at Laute, and did not have to crane her neck to look at him. She was a bit dismay, however, to discover how far from the shore she had drifted, though she tried to hide it. Since she did not know how to explain what she was doing, why the challenge of the water called to her to conquer it, she sought a distraction from his inquiry. She could not smell much over the briny ocean right beneath her nose, but she could detect the sound of a heartbeat, over the sound of the waves, farther from her than Laute, but not too far. Her eyes swept across the shoreline and she spied a human foolishly standing by the shore, watching the two Zith. Scorn inclined her head toward the human. "I'm hungry. Kill us that human over there and we can share, yes?" If he were distracted by a hunt, however brief, it might give her time to escape the water without him witnessing her inevitable flailing panic...if she could even still escape at this point. Perhaps she should have brought Scourge with her after all, if only to rescue Scorn in case she started drowning.

[Laute]

He watched with idle curiosity as she maneuvered toward him. It was clumsy to be sure, but she was still able to slide through the dark liquid somehow. Looking up, he heard in the distance the sound of air spouting out, a water animal surfacing. Despite its large size, it gracefully rose and dove back into the water.

It was hard to pick up its scent through the sea around him and he gave up after his first attempt. It was too far, and though he wouldn't admit it, it was hard enough to be this far from the shore. He had thought it would be easier this time. The sea was smaller than the ocean after all, even if its contents were the same.

But the size difference was nothing when he was hovering above it. For all he knew, it could be an ocean.

Behind him, he could smell a fish on the beach and wrinkled his nose. He had yet to get used to their taste. Raw, they were too slimy and slippery for him, though the outsiders seemed to enjoy it cooked. Maybe he can burn this one and see if the flavour improved at all.

Maybe he could burn them all and be done with it.

Scorn, as she called herself, was looking back at the beach as well. Something had caught her eye and before he could ask her how she was moving, she made her suggestion.

Laute didn't even need to hear his brother's voice to bare his fangs. His posture aggressive, he growled, "She is not to be hunted." He shifted his body closer to hers, his feet trailing the water next to her head. An open threat. "She is not food."

Not yet, at least. A part of him still wanted to be rid of Aditi, to end this attempt to understand Nimis.

The rest of him was not ready.

Staring down at Scorn, it would be so easy for him to shove her under the water, to see how long it takes for the sea to fill her being. Would she taste like fish after that, or would her water-logged body remain the same?

But it had been a long time since he had a Zith companion, longer still since he had met one. He had missed this and he was homesick for a time that would not come back. It would be too easy to end it all so quickly, to go back to the isolation he was used to.

The threat should be enough to keep the slave safe and satisfied, he rose up. Still angry, he considered flying back to the shore for now. The fish was still there to burn. The forest was waiting to be hunted in. The water was cold and uninviting and he pulled his foot out.

Making his choice, he rose up and started to soar back to the sandy banks.

[Scorn]

Scorn, under normal circumstances, might have placated Laute in apology for the perceived slight against his slave. Unfortunately, his refusal to let her hunt the human reminded her sharply of her sister recently forbidding her from hunting the pale stick men. She let out a shriek of frustration,, slapping and clawing the water as if she could wound it. "No one will let me hunt anything!" she raged. With her concentration broken, her wings relaxed,,, and with a sense of panic, she felt herself sinking. She gave a yelp of fear, and instinctively flapped her wings as hard as she could, while kicking and clawing her way free from the ocean which now seemed a monster intent on swallowing her. She could feel the water on her fur and wings dragging her down, but she was stronger that it, and despite the uncomfortable slimy feeling of being soaked, she was fully able to fly. She was spraying water with every flap of her wings, so to display her displeasure, she flew right past Laute, sprinkling him with cold drops of salty seawater. She continued flying toward the slave, and just let him try and stop her! Of course, she had no intention of actually hurting the slave, but Scorn saw no harm in scaring it a little. She flew right over the slave, doing nothing more than screech at it as she continued toward the mountains. Not for the first time, she resolved to get out of this place, and go someplace where no one would tell her what not to hunt. She would never be able to leave her sister for long, of course, but sometimes Scorn needed to be a true Zith!

[Laute]

Her protests meant nothing to Laute and he languidly soared through the air. Slowly, his anger began to ebb--Aditi was safe and he still had the whole night ahead of him. They could leave the sea and its dangers to Scorn, he had no use of it. Not anymore. Somewhere in the woods he could hear a deer, a few rabbits, a stealthy cougar. Tonight's hunt. The deer was closer, only five minutes of flight, but the big cat was far more of challenge. Laute tilted his left wing up, angling himself in the direction of the puma.

Behind him he could hear a furious flapping, waterlogged wings making tremendous noise in their attempt to move. Scorn was flying, then.

He turned just in time to get sprayed to the face. Blinking, he shook his head to remove the cold droplets. Some salt had hit his mouth and he cringed at the taste. That stopped when he realized she was heading for Aditi.

The annoyance turned to angry and with a growl, Laute chased her. With her soaked wings and smaller frame, she wasn't all that fast. Within minutes he caught up and, angling his wings back for more speed, he tackled her in the air. His claws raked her back as he pushed her and they somersaulted through the air. Taking advantage of the confusion, he gave a hard nip to her neck, the final warning he would give her. Disentangling himself, Laute positioned himself so Aditi and the shore were behind him.

[Scorn]

Scorn was at least half expecting the attack; in fact, some subconscious part of her had deliberately provoked it. As the claws dug into her back, her primary concern was staying aloft. Partly, she was still unfamiliar with exactly how useful damp wings were, but also she did not fully expect Laute to kill her outright. After all, fighting was a common occurrence among Zith, and one she had missed deeply. He was, annoyingly, behind her, which made it extremely difficult to retaliate. She waved her claws behind her head, on the off chance she could catch his face or otherwise bruise him, but she knew she would have to face him if she wanted to do any real damage. She tried to turn in the air, but her wing buffeted against his, causing them both to drop a tiny bit. Before she could come up with a more effective attack strategy, he bit her neck painfully and let go. She turned sharply in mid-air, more than ready to counter attack. She had long forgotten the slave they were allegedly fighting over by this point. Now, she attacked him because she was too stubborn to submit. She shot through the air like an arrow, striking him head on. She scratched at him with her feet, and tried to grab him with her claws, to prevent him getting away from her again now that she had a less disadvantageous position. She aimed to bite his neck, purely in retaliation, leaving her wings to keep her steady in the air. Scorn's attacks were clumsy and unpracticed, but decidedly non-lethal.

[Laute]

Laute was ready for her attack--he had fought with his brother often enough and he was always one for head on confrontations. Scorn was similar in that way, and the way she lunged at him, Laute half-suspected she wanted a fight. However, she was smaller than his brother and it had been a while since he fought with a Zith. He almost rolled back when she reached him.

Hissing when she scratched him, he grappled with her claws as she tried grab him. Quickly, he was forgetting his surroundings, focusing only on the dark form in front of him and the blood pounding in their veins. His world was a mass of fur and sound. As her head came forward, her fangs no doubt ready to sink in his neck, he tried to pull his head back. Just enough that she grazed his chest instead--he wasn't willing to let go of her arms just yet.

He wanted to nip her back. Another bite, to prove his strength and dominance. But it wouldn't work in this position. He'd have to move her first. Trying to stun her, he headbutted her, wincing slightly at the pain as their skulls crashed.

His wings were large, almost brushing against hers with every beat, and he tried to kick her body with his feet. Away from him and hopefully toward the earth, where it would be easy to lock onto her vulnerable back.