Game Of Scales (Tinnok)

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru looked around another time as he headed towards the cave opening. There was a lot of failed knowledge to be gained in the tomb but at the time, there were other matters to take care of. Tinnok was on the move again, wanting to get to the cleansing as fast as possible. The trickster made his way to the hole in the roof where Tinnok extended a hand towards him and latched on to pull himself out.


"Perhapsss we sshould jusst burn the tree along with them. No? Let'sss continue on then and burn thesse ssad creaturess."


He left as Tinnok, did and went in another direction to find the driest sticks and logs that he could. They needed a big fire, or at least one hot enough to burn the remains quickly so that they could move on before anyone or thing noticed their presences. He was able to find enough, and what was lacking, he broke from the branches above his head. Mamoru looked around cautiously just to make sure that no Myrians had snuck up on them and continued to gather supplies. With that collected, he returned to the bodies and first stabbed long stakes through them to keep them together, then stuffed others around the sides. Keeping the fire burning on all sides would also help to quicken the spread.


"I'm ssure that thiss will do, now where isss that halfbreed?"


Mamoru looked around again, searching the ground of the forest and expecting to find her crouched somewhere low as if she were a cat. But she wasn't around not as close anyway. He decided to wait for her to return and while he did, he went ahead and searched out what they would need to start the fire. The trickster did own the proper tools, but as he had been in snake form, there was no way to carry them. He searched the ground for a good walk until he located two solid, dry rocks that hadn't grown soggy. Standing up, the trickster smashed them together and noticed a slightly spark appear.


"Thesse will do nicely.."


He returned to the site once he had what he needed and waited for Tinnok to come back. If he didn't know any better he would think she had skipped out, but that would be a sin to Caiyha. And just as he suspected, the woman returned shortly. The trickster stared at her, supple feminine curves, tone muscles all covered in Dhani ooze. He imagined that she would want a good bath after they were finished, but he decided not to speak on it just yet, and held up the rocks for her to take.


"Your move.."

[Tinnok]

Her wrists were numb when the first spark took to the dry wood of the bonfire they had formed, Mamuro's suggestion in her ears. Should she just set the tree ablaze? But she had felt life pulsing within it...it's dried cracking bark and yellow hued leaves didn't spell death, only illness. Her eyes closed, and in the time they did she heard a tell tale crackling and a whoosh of flames as their edges caught the superbly dried branches that inhabited the water starved glade.

Tinnok took a step back and glanced at the Dhani. She wondered if they had not had a deal...would he have stayed with her? Was his faith to Caiyha at all like hers, or were there other Goddesses and Gods much more pressing to him? She wanted to ask, but simultaneously was not sure she wanted an answer. perhaps it was best to know as little about him even if she hungered for the knowledge.

Her gaze traveled over him thoughtfully, then back at the flames, which had caught upon the lower, smaller branches, and had begun to lap up the rotting flesh. The smell of brunt flesh was no more appealing.

"There is a stream bed, dried." She began, glancing towards the patch of forest she had come from.

"Before we condemn this place I want to see if it would be possible to divert a water source here, to cleanse what was left of whatever horrors they did in that cave, and to restore this place back to what it was." Her tongue ran across dried lips, corners tugging upwards as if reading the Dhani's mind.

"Also...to remove the stench of dead Dhani would be welcome." The ground was clear around the fire they had started, orange flames reaching for Syna. Tinnok began walking back the way she had come, re-tracing her steps to the stream bed before proceeding up it, following the path of smooth stones and large rocks to what she hoped was an opportunity to bring some water to the glade.

The trip was not long in comparison to many journeys in the Jungle Wilds, barely a bells worth of walking to find the source of water. It was a large pool, slightly too small to classify as a pond, to which several small waterfalls fed into. Tinnok dipped her hands into the clear water, throwing it upon her body and scrubbing away some of the debris left from her work, eyes glancing around to find the source of divergence: A damn in the form of a fallen tree, large in scope that created a wall blocking off the flow of water to the bed, creating another smaller river on one side from the overflow.

"Petch...I was hoping the problem wouldn't be so...large." The half breed gazed forlornly at the massive tree, then poked down below the trunk, scraping rocks out the way in an effort to allow a passage under the tree for the water to flow. She could see the slightest trickle, but it dissipated long before forming any kind of current, and the witch knelt in the dried up stream, brow furrowed. What now?

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru stared at the burning bodies with a bored expression upon his pale features. He wanted to know what they had been up to, why they were doing so, and why it didn't work. He learned that he had been right in the past, Dhani who spent their entire life in the depths of the nest knew nothing of the outside world and what had taken place there. He was learning this more himself, when even with random searching he stumbled upon ruins, rituals, attractive half breeds, and even Myrian ghost


He could see her watching him, her mind obviously as curious about him as he was of her. The Dhani wondered what went on in that mind of hers, as she probably wondered the same of him. The woman might not have realized it, but he would answer if she asked, though that answer may be obscure, leaving her to come to her own final conclusion. The trickster continued to stare into the fire waiting, and it was only when she spoke that he decided to also.


"It wasss only an option...burning the tree that isss. And a little joke, but never mind that. I'm here to aid you. That isss our deal right? I'll follow your lead, whatever you feel isss besst." There was a smile on his face as he spoke, a knowing smile, as if to say that he already knew what he would ask of her, and what he expected her to do. "But I agree we sshould remove the odor. Your friendsss do enjoy smelling thingsss, if thisss ssetss too long it might draw them out."


Mamoru followed Tinnok to find her source of water. There were water falls in the distance, all leading down into a single small pool that reached out just before their feet. Looking on as Tinnok stepped in and started to wash the dirt and grime off her body, the Dhani flicked his tongue from his mouth and lightly dragged it over his lips. He turned away afterwards also searching for a way to get the water to where they needed it. The source of the cutoff from the main flow turned out to be a tree that had fallen and stopped the flow of water from coursing along it's path.


Moving closer to it, he looked at the bulk of the mass and the length at each side. His gaze also trailed to each end to see if there was anything blocking the tree from moving. He had an idea, but it wouldn't be easy and he was looking to earn himself a bit of pain in the process. But they had a deal, and he would do his part no matter what. Mamoru started to shift himself into Dhani form, the invigorating feeling washing over his body as scales started to peek from his skin, his muscular frame grew larger, and legs melted together into a long thick tail. Popping his neck, a not so subtle twitch in his shoulders as he rolled his upper form and bright yellowish eyes stared at the half breed.


He wondered if she had ever witnessed a Dhani's full transformation, and if so what she thought of it. He would imagine that like the Myrians, she might find it gruesome and disgusting. However, if she was serious about one day taking that form, she had to know what it looked like first before she could attempt it. The trickster released a sigh of pleasure as he continued, the last if his bones snapping into place, and what was felt of his pale, human skin was buried into harden scales. He stood tall in front of the woman in all his Dhani glory after thirty ticks and allowed her to look upon him before he would move again.


"Now then..letssss ssee what can be done about thisss tree."


Mamoru clinched his fist together, first slamming them into his chest and then bringing them apart at his side. He concentrated on his djed now, willing the power from inside him to expand and wrap itself around the full length of his tail. He felt a tickling sensation in his lower half, a feeling that grew into a throbbing pulse as his bones started to snap and reform themselves. It wasn't quick, but the body parts worked as one and the moment the thick thigh bones protruded from his waist, they were quickly covered in muscle then flesh and finally scales. A leg sprung out from each side of his body, and slammed down upon the ground where human-like toes pointed out from scaled feet.


But he wasn't finished yet, the trickster pushed himself even harder, bringing the flow of djed to cover his upper body, where his arms grew bigger and muscles were strengthened. His chest rose, abs tighten and the scales at his back grew wider and thicker with a muscled tone. The shape of his scaled neck filled out as well and protected it from being snapped from blunt force trauma should he hurt himself. He didn't sneak now, instead remained concentrated on what he needed to do, and with that in mind, Mamoru took a few steps forward, lowered his shoulder and slammed it directly into the tree.


The tree rocked, but it didn't moved an inch from it's spot, leading him to believe that it had been there for a very long time, or was caught on something at one of the ends. Mamoru gripped the tree with both arms, shoved his body forward, thick muscular legs bent as he pushed against it. It took a few ticks, be a sound slowly creeped from beneath the tree as it slowly started to move backwards. The slight trickle offered more water now, but it still wasn't enough. He had to think, and the tree was too heavy to move completely.


"Now I see..."


Shifting to one end, the one that didn't feel as stuck in place, the trickster shoved his shoulder into the trunk, locking his arms around it as he pushed against it. The new attempt wasn't to push it backwards, but to turn it to allow the water to pass around it on both sides. His feet dug into the earth, water lightly splashing against him as he squeezed the body of the tree and continued to slowly turn in one direction. The tree swung around very slowly, but it was moving, and inch by inch more water started to flow freely until it was enough to cause Mamoru to slip and land with a splash in the new wandering waters around him. He just hoped it was enough.

[Tinnok]

She didn't notice him at first, though he examined the pool as she did, then the tree. Her head gazed at the greenery above her, eyes closing at what she might have to do to cleanse the land, and then her lids flashed open as she heard something that sounded like the popping of a joint in a socket. She stood up slowly to watch the transformation take hold of the snake, watching his legs lengthen and fust into a tail, scales shimmering up his flesh like a veritable river. She found his form surprisingly muscles for the wiry human he was, but even his monstrous form she could see evidence of man within...or one side of the snake within. Her lips hung open, forming a lopsided 'o', but not of disgusted or surprise, but a diagnostic, an assessment of the form, and how the shift took place, bizarre and beautiful in equal measure.

So when his transformation didn't cease, the half breed's mouth opened further. Legs sprouted out of his torso, giving a much more lizard like quality when suddenly his arms thickened even more, muscles compensating upon his chest...and he attempted to lift the tree. At first she barely noticed his actions, too busy was she realizing how skilled the trickster had to be to transform so much, so quickly...he was a morpher, and a deal better than Svan. Then she snapped back to reality.

"Mamuro! What are y-" She stopped, watching him strain, thinking of the potential harm that could come to him. He was doing this for her. Doing this so he can pethcin' use you, you mean. She blinked, shaking the thoughts away. She watched the tree trunk shift somewhat and her feet scrambled into the rocks, looking for any debris she could move out of the way to aid him. Her lips slid apart in happy surprise when cool water splashed around her legs, filling up the stream and spilling over and down the path laid out for it.

A rock jutted long and large out of the stone, right in the tree's turning radius and Tinnok dashed over and yanked it back with her fingers curling around the edges, even as Mamuro pushed the trunk against it, his strength shifting the bulk of the tree inch by inch against the sturdy object. Working from the other side, Tinnok pulled, feet kicking away the surrounding rocks as the Dhani strained on his end. She wasn't sure how much of a help she was being until a definite dislocation of earth slid the stone towards her, a torrent of water sweeping her off of her feet and dropping her onto some rocks a couple feet down. Scrambling to get upright Tinnok held onto a rlarge rock nearby for support as Mamuro shoved the tree the few more feet required to place its trunk in the center of the old stream bed, wherein a flood of water exploded out of the damned up pool, sweeping Tinnok off of her feet and carrying her in a massive wave of water down the stream.

Her breath was ripped from her lungs and replaced with water as her body was tossed like a toy. Her hands reached toward what she could feel was the bed of rocks and tried to grab onto something, anything to keep her stable for long enough.

It happened to be a branch from another fallen tree that saved her by barreling into her stomach as she tumbled forward.

Tinnok raised her head out the water, gasping and coughing, a sound which turned from hacking to laughing once she had enough air to accommodate it. She didn't have much concern for the Dhani, who was probably in better condition to whether this little flood than she, and she was too excited to be concerned for her own injuries.

"You did it, Mamuro...you did it." But before she could gloat...she needed to get back to the clearing, and without waiting to find the Dhani that half breed crawled her way to bank and clambered up, following the stream from beside it instead of within.

[Kalesserimamoru]

The Dhani's tail slashed about violently in the flowing river as his limbs fought to find purchase on something solid. He was soaked from shoulders down and all the dirt and muk that had collected upon him during his cave diving had been washed off. Sleek scales rolled in and around in the waters in a fashion not unlike that of the gator when ripping the flesh from it's kill.


"Flamesss!"


Mamoru cursed, snapping his head up from the waters as he spat it back out. It was more annoying than anything, and the fact that he had exerted so much strength and use of djed just to hold his morphed form long enough to move the tree, had already taken it's tole and weaken his body. He thrashed around another moment then finally stopped and let the waters consume him whole. The trickster drifted under, limbs loose as he released his djed having no more need for the extra limbs or upper body strength.


Any and all sounds were mostly drowned out by the raging waters, but even in this, his joints did pop and his hips shook in a twitching motion as his newly formed legs shifted and worked themselves back into his tail. If anyone could see, it might appear that he was sleeping or dead as he didn't move or even blink during this time. Finally once his body was reformed, Mamoru waved his tail around, turning himself into a roll and finally sending himself in an upward darting motion. Breaking the seal of water, a explosion sent bits of droplets into the air as he burst from underneath and landed on the ground with a plot.

"Petching tree...No where is that halfbreed?"


He hadn't seen or heard from Tinnok since he started to move the tree, but he figured that she was already hard at work with the next stages of her plan. No need to worry about him, he was just the muscle. Lifting himself up and balancing on his tail once again, Mamoru looked around at the streaming waters and direction it went, and he knew then that it had worked. Now a sinister smile rose upon his scaled lips and he slowly slithered back the way they had come.

It was almost time..

[Tinnok]

What started as a casual walk became a slow jog and transformed into a sprint, the spirit of the water bubbling, foaming and rushing beside her spurring tired legs onward and down the river bed.

The water was murky and grey brown from all the debris swept up in the flood, but she knew in time it would clear and become the teal blue color of the pool they had released it from, her arms pumped in time with her legs and as she reached the opening of the glade her body skidded to a halt, eyes wide at the sight of it.

The river had careened fully into the glade, slipping down into the cavern beneath the great tree's roots and continuing out through a hole that must have been somewhere in the darkness she hadn't seen, making the stream actually flow through the tree, collecting in a large pool amongst the roots and carrying onward, its brown trail already lost in the woods. Crackling happily a short distance away from the river was the bonfire, blackened twisted bones the only remains of the grotesque bodies. Tinnok leaned in close to see the partially formed human ligaments intertwined with the bones of a Dhani tail, and strangely molded skulls, half human, half Dhani.

The effects of their work wouldn't be felt immediately, but she felt her Gnosis pulsing calmly beneath her skin, and knew that this was what was meant to happen: An act she wouldn't have been able to complete without Mamuro.

She stood there thoughtfully, then as the twigs and branches crackled behind her turned with calm yellow eyes to face the other half of her deal with him.

He knows what he wants, surely...now there is just to illuminate me. He was still in Dhani form, massive and slithering, but she did not show any fear. Dhani were fearsome, but he didn't mean her harm in the traditional way if nothing else.

"You held up your end, Mamuro." She said, thanks evident in her voice. "Now it is my turn."

[Kalesserimamoru]

Slithering his way back to the way that he had been led by the half breed, Mamoru saw that very woman running along side the stream. There was something youthful about her gallop through the jungle, and her anticipation to see the glade cleansed.

Such spark she had.


He followed the stream, and the woman chasing it all the way back down the riverbed until they reached the glade again. It was a sight to behold, and even the trickster knew that with the rushing waters, the glade would be clean and fresh nutrients added to bring the tree back to health. He still wondered about the markings on the walls of the caves and what they meant. Myrians, Dhani's with four arms? It was an interesting idea to explore, much like the image of the drawing with wings.


Back at the camp, The Dhani looked upon the charred bodies of the deformed Dhani. It was a bizarre sight from the beginning and something that he never wanted to happen to himself. He imagined that she would want to bury them now, though if that was their next move, he would have wanted to leave at least one out as bait for a Myrian trap. Mamoru looked to his fairer companion and noticed the look on her face. She seemed pleased with their work and thus meaning that he had fulfilled his end of the deal.


and now...


He met her gaze when she turned to him, ready to do her part. The trickster smiled and slithered closer to wrap himself around her. He didn't squeeze her hard,adding just a bit of pressure to remind her of who she was dealing with, that or he just couldn't wait to wrap his scales around her. He leaned in closer, meeting her at eye level and letting his slithering tongue taste the flesh of her full lips. He knew what he wanted and as she had stated, it wouldn't put her life at risk.


"One thing, yess? One thing from you and you will do whatever I assk asss long asss it doessn't put your life at rissk?" he said as a reminder. " I'll make it ssimple then, what I want from you Tinnok isss a child."

[Tinnok]

She couldn't hide her pupils turning to mere slits in the yellow abyss of her eyes, nor the way her breath caught in her throat as he finished his sentence, his request. Her breath came out somewhere between a surprised cough and a snort, and two fingers rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyes shot for a long moment.

Tinnok's head was bowed, but there was a smile in her voice when she spoke. "Clever."

He had weighed all of his options, how to get the most out of the situation. Had the deal been even? Well that was dependent on how much she valued the balance of this glade, she supposed, for it was in trade for the birth of her first child. She supposed she should take it as a compliment. He wanted to create an infant, three quarters Dhani, one quarter Myrian, even more of an abomination than she, or less depending on where one's perspective lay. Perhaps he wanted to to train it, to make it into something even stronger than he, torture it? Simply see what it would become?

She looked upwards, contemplating, studying his face with careful eyes.Would he cherish it, or turn it into a Myrian murdering tool? There were so many options, and Mamuro's true wishes were hidden in the strange veil of his mind.

The half breed took a step back, hands at her sides. "What is the deal, I carry the child for three seasons, give birth and then you spirit it away, for me never to see it again?"

She grinned. "Or since you said a child do you want me to steal a Myrian babe from its mother's teat and bring it back to you to be your slave?" One hand on her hip her head cocked to the side. "May I ask your plan, or is that not part of this?"

She seemed calm...or at least as calm as one could be when they made a deal with a Dhani. She didn't see herself on the losing side, not when she could feel a steady pulsing of life from beneath her feet as they walked int he damp dried grass surrounding the massive tree. The fire was dying around the remains of the Dhani, and she wondered if she should leave them or take them.

She walked thoughtfully over, tearing off a blackened claw from a bony hand, bringing it over to the brown murky water and clearing away some of the soot and grime to leave the yellowed bone behind. The holes in her ears were big enough to fit about a third of the claw through, and she slid it in as a token of her deed, then turned back to the snake, eyes alight with curiosity. Having put her hands and faith in Caiyha, leaving her will up to another didn't seem like such a hard task, though she still wasn't sure his true purpose...even now.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Tinnok had responded exactly as Mamoru had imagined she would. It was a shocking thing for him to ask a woman that he barely knew as well as given the history of her own birth. In the end it shouldn't matter, he was no more her Dhani father than she, her Monkey of a mother. But what did matter was their deal and if she would do her part.


Was it a fair trade, maybe, maybe not depending on how one looked at it. But in the trickster's eyes it was never meant to be a fair trade. He had only to make sure that it was within the rules of their deal and unless she had birth complications, this wouldn't result in her death. But what it would do, is create a bond between he and the half breed, a bond that even his hypnotic powers couldn't form.


"Having ssecond thoughtsss Tinnok?"


Mamoru asked, and with an exaggerated yarn, the Dhani's body started to twitch and jerk. It started with his head where prickles of raven hair started to stick out and slowly grew and extend across his head. His neck popped, appearing as if it had broken on it's own. The strange and yet beautiful transformations of the Dhani was something to see and something that felt even better to the Dhani themselves. The trickster released another sigh of pleasure, even seeming to cackle a bit as his legs jerked out from his hips, and his feet slammed onto the ground and he retook his human form.


"Maybe you like thisss form better, hmm? Lesss likely to eat you...or am I?"


The Dhani cackled again at her question. He could tell by her words that she still had a very Myrian way of thinking about things. Of course they would assume the worse of any and all races that weren't their own. So typical were the monkeys with braided hair. "Iss that what you think? And here I wass thinking you'd want to be rid of it asss fasst asss posssible. But no, you would be free to ssee our child asss much asss posssible. "


Mamoru cackled loudly this time, finding the strange thoughts and ideas of the woman to be funny. She wanted to figure him out, he could tell and her quirky questions was her way of getting answers out of him one way or the other. He didn't answer her at first, and just watched as she went about creating some sort of earring for herself. "I ssuposse that I could tell you my plan, but I don't think that you are taking thisss sserioussly. Not at all."

[Tinnok]

oocapologies for the delay!

She watched Mamuro shift with steady eyes, taking in the show once again. Was there some secret to morphing hidden in the Dhani's innate ability to do so? She'd like to think the answer was yes, and so yellow eyes drank in the show, until before her was the naked man, with long hair and a look in his eyes that might make a Myrian tiger squirm. It certainly had such an effect on her.

"I suppose the question is, which would you want more?" She mused, taking a pace backwards as if to survey the Dhani in all his glory. "Perhaps you'd rather want me involved with the child, to train it, care for it while you are up to your...plans in the jungle." She cocked her head. "Or maybe you'd really prefer me to be out of the picture, but are afraid to push lest I cling onto the babe."

To be honest her tone had almost a mocking tone to it when Mamuro spoke, and perhaps it was lighter than it should have been, but when the Dhani spoke of not taking this seriously, her lids seemed to narrow, eyebrows deepening into a close knit furrow.

"Not taking this seriously? I have taken everything seriously from the day my mother birthed me out to now. Every step has been taken in seriousness, every action done with intent because otherwise I might not have been able to justify my own existence." She pointed a finger at him.

"You ask much of me, but nothing I did not offer with our little deal. Do not think for one instant, however, that I was not serious, it is the only reason I have not fled and started what might have been the most enjoyable game of cat and rat you have probably had in some time."

Her arms folded across her chest. "And you, who seem to play games for your living, are also quite serious, or you would not have asked for my child, so..."

She spread her arms apart, a silent offering. "Do you wait to take from me at just the right moment, or are you looking for your prize here and now?"