Trial by Scales (Mamuro)

[Tinnok]

Trial by Scales
35th of Fall, 513 AV

She felt like she had been climbing for days...months. Up and up through canopy, arm after arm, hand after hand. When she reached the top she would sit, rest for a moment, then descend and begin again. Watching, observing, climbing, thinking. It had been an entire season of this pattern and she still didn't feel any closer to the answers, but she was drawing close to that glade, the glade where she had struck the deal with Mamuro.

That made her pause. Of course she wasn't certain he would be there...after all when she left they had never agreed upon a date, just this season...but it would be a season to the day since they had parted ways, and the Dhani was clever...clever, devious...handsome.

She ran a hand over her face. Had she missed him? A whole season had passed and rarely did Syna make her trek through the sky without Tinnok thinking of her fate that lay within the Dhani's supple grasp. But what they had formed was not something she would classify under a relationship...at least not traditional.

She dropped herself down a branch, bending her legs and pushing her weight forward, waiting until she had swung up the full amount before releasing her grasp and flying into the sky. She was getting better at this monkey thing, but she wasn't the best, something she constantly realized as she fell through branches, scratched her scaled skin, and took more than one branches like fists to the gut. This time was executed, however, her hands finding a branch perfect for her fingers to curl around as she made another flying leap into the foliage.

And that was when she saw the glistening pool of blue below her.

She landed awkwardly upon a thicker branch, one foot landing on target the rest of her body slumping over the appendage as she struggled to find balance. She gazed down curiously, at first not recognizing the patch of land Mamuro and her had worked together to create one season ago, for it was transformed. Dead and dry plants had been replaced with lush green foliage crawling up around the base of the great tree under which the cavern had been. The massive roots reached like small bridges across the moat of water that surrounded the tree and flowed on through on it's journey down the once dry stream bed. A small collection or orchids, bright and yellow, had sprung up in the lee between two roots. She took in the sight, the sight she had traded for an infant in her womb for a moment, then began to descend through the canopy, wondering when Mamuro would mysteriously appear, as he was most apt to.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Pale yellow-green eyes stared upward through raven colored strains of hair that cascaded down snow white flesh. Equally dark robes draped across his shoulders and extended down to the sandals that covered his feet. The glade looked completely different now than it had a season ago when he and Tinnok had saved it.The transformation was awe inspiring and he was surprised at how much it had changed over just one season.


The waters ran clean now, all the loose dirt and mud had been washed away, leaving only clean flowing water. It was a beautiful sight to see the good that they had done, even though he did so for selfish reasons. The trickster often thought about it, how Caiyha might have felt about it all.


Tinnok was a true child of her Goddess and did whatever it took to save the tree, even agreeing to exchange a life for a life with Mamoru for his help that day. Whether she would go through with the deal was yet to be seen, but either way she had done what she needed to save the glade.


Caiyha should be proud..


But how did the Goddess feel about Mamoru, is what he wondered. He was a child of Siku, and a follower of Ionu. He didn't follow Caiyha's teachings and he had, was about to take advantage of one of her chosen. He supposed it was a mote point, for as many Myrians as he had killed and as much as he had cursed Myri openly, she was yet to attack him and she was the Goddess of war.


In any event, the trickster was sure that he was free to continue his plans for Tinnok, if she showed. If she was half the Myrian she thought she was, the young woman would be back in Taloba by now. However, if her Dhani blood tingled in just the right places, he might see her again.


The half breed had piqued his interest mentally and physically and he was looking forward to another encounter. It was exciting to see what would happen, or if anything would happen at all. He had left so much open, so much unsaid just to make their game more interesting.


If Tinnok didn't show, or had gotten the date wrong, perhaps she wasn't the right one after all. However, if she did show, maybe he would keep her this time, instead of letting her wander off again. The trickster wasn't sure what he wanted to do and that was also part of the fun.


Anticipation was a wonderful and dangerous illusion and Mamoru found himself wrapped tightly within it. He had decided to arrive around the same time of day that he had met with her the season before, though he wasn't sure what exact time to expect her return. There was a sound in the canopy nearby, something close in size with the monkey's of the jungle, though not as stealthy.


He wasn't sure what it was, but it was coming closer to the glade. Moving from the place where he had been observing the area, the trickster stepped out looking up into the trees where he spotted a familiar, and very beautiful woman climbing down and he smiled. He wasn't sure if she had saw him yet, and decided to wait before he moved or spoke.

[Tinnok]

She took her time getting to the ground, after all it was a final action in the part she had to play, the sealing of her deal once she saw the Dhani's pale features again. Taking the last ten or so feet she dropped down onto all fours, standing up swiftly and pivoting to face outward, catching sight of Mamuro almost instantly, casually watching her as if he had been waiting in the glade for the whole season.

Despite herself, Tinnok's lips began to curl into a small smile that she managed to squash just in time before taking in the robed figure. Well this time they were both clothed, each anticipating this moment for reasons entirely different, or perhaps not so very. She wondered if he was at all surprised by her actions, or if she had simply played right into his clawed grasp all along, it seemed impossible to tell.

"I hope I didn't keep you long." She breathed in a mixture of Common and Myrian, as seemed to herald their line of communications. Her head cocked to the side, and she took a single step toward him, the suppressed smile slowly sliding out across her lips.

"So is the part where you ravish me?"

He was a Dhani...lived for centuries, planned for decades, surely whatever constructs he had about the world had little to do with her, and were simply a small flash in his long life, but why then the words from before? Why did he seem to want her so badly, and why did she also want him? Surely it had something to do with whatever he had done to her, whether it be drugs or magic or...maybe even those pheromones that Ayatah had spoken of. Did Dhani have those? Was she susceptible to them because she had half of their blood? It was all so petching confusing, but Tinnok knew that it wasn't purely attraction that had brought them together, she just wished she could peel apart Mamuro's scalp and reveal that conniving little brain of his for just a chime to figure out what it was he wanted. Because surely it couldn't just be her,

because no one...no one had ever wanted that...

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru watched her as she took her time in her descent. She moved much like the monkeys, but with more grace which he would assume came from her Dhani blood. She was so much like them, those howling Myrians that littered the lands they walked on. But there was also something serpent like about her that he did like, and something else. Something unseen and possibly at the core of her being that he wanted to search and explore.


And sso you return...queen of the jungle.


The trickster chuckled inwardly as he thought about the situation, the deal, and what was to come. Against all odds, and possible wiser thinking, Tinnok returned to the glade to meet with him and to seal their deal made a season ago. The fact that she returned after a full season said something about her that no one could deny. It was interesting, the woman had all the time in the world to get away, but she came back. Either Tinnok wanted this as well, or Mamoru was more powerful than he thought.


"Hello again.." He said, speaking in the common tongue.


Mamoru cackled at her first words, finding them to be humorous. The Dhani had plenty of time for many things, and even longer to contemplate more doings. Time meant nothing to him, and this particular Dhani had spent the first hundred years of his life inside the nest before he saw the outside world. To wait a season to claim his prize was like waiting a cycle. He took a step forward himself as he looked over the woman and a crisp smile spread across his lips as she spoke in a teasing matter.


"Interessting chioce of wordss. Iss that what your malesss do? Ravissh the women?"


Tinnok looked tasty to say the least, and one could pull two different meanings from the chosen word, and they would both be right. She would like that.. he thought. For the trickster to dive on her and take her right then and there in something that could only be described as a mad, passionate frenzy. He wondered if he should, give her exactly what she needed, or if he should continue their game from before, only this time have her come to him and tell him what she wanted.

[Tinnok]

He was so petching confident, that was the problem wasn't it? A lifetime of kowtowing males that knew their place, and how to meet the status of such a thing, and then a being that seemed to exude it from his pours. Her eyes seemed to undress her and keep her at bay at the same time. He laughed, but perhaps he did want to ravish her. He had time, but also he had surely never been with a woman like her, even if that was just a reference to her blood and nothing else.

Or maybe it was he that wanted her to? That idea almost made Tinnok snort. Perhaps she should tell him she was a virgin, but she simply wasn't sure how...Oh Mamuro, by the way, Myrian males thought I was the scum of the earth and so I've never petched before...just so you know.

"Only when they've been given permission." Tinnok joked, using one of the more cutting insults of a male by carousing females. Of course, she was sure Mamuro would enjoy that bit of humor.

He stepped forward, and Tinnok gazed into his eyes that matched hers. She also took a step forward, faces not too far apart. He would like her to give into her desires, whether they were generated by him, or his magic, or her....but he would love that, being so irresistible. Tinnok instead leaned back, her eyes closing in seriousness, before flitting open and staring deeply into Mamuro's gaze.

"Whether ravishing happens or no, I will hold up my end of the deal, but I have to ask..." Tinnok glanced away, then back, pupils mere slits. "Am I just one of your games? A little play thing? I have been a plaything for a long time, so it would be nothing new if you said yes." Her stare was blank, expectant, hands curled loosely at her sides.

Tinnok wasn't sure what she wanted. Some admission of love or care that as a Dhani with a half breed, he had no reason to offer her? Some mystical hope of a life where she was just desired, and not judged? Perhaps these desires were driving this strange enterprise she had with Mamuro, but she just wished to discover the truth, which held a deceptively tempting idea that she refused to cling onto without proof.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Mamoru cackled at her joke and threw his head back as he did. She had a sense of humor, this half breed, and to the trickster there was never a woman so dull who couldn't look out at the world around her and laugh. It really was all one big joke. But Tinnok seemed to understand this enough and it possibly due to the life that she had led because of her unique nature that gave her this obscure observation.


"I ssee, and isss that what you're doing now? Giving me permisssion to ravissh you?"


The trickster couldn't deny that he wanted to, that he yearned to taste her flesh and share her warmth. To enjoy the vibrations in her body with every tremble, twitch, or shiver that occurred when he did something right, wrong, or just surprising. It was all fascinating to him. When one had the life time of a Dhani, there was an eternity to explore and learn. He wouldn't admit this to her, but he did find interest at how this encounter was shaping.


Mamoru wasn't sure of how they would proceed with their deal, what would be said or asked, or that she would show at all. But when she did show, and he watched her climb down from the tree, he had to wonder what would happen next. If he were to judge by her demeanor a season ago, he might come to the conclusion that she was only for-filling her end of the bargain. If this were true, she would probably want to get it done and over, unless that wasn't completely true.


Either way, the possibilities of what this half breed would do had him captivated. Would she simply drop down on her hands and knees like less than sentient beings, or would she crave something sensual on a higher plane? Mamoru stared into the her eyes as she did his, arms loose at his side, fingers moving ever so slightly as if anticipating ripping the cloth from her body. "A little play thing?" The trickster asked with a grin. "I wouldn't put it that way. I doubt even the grand tricksster would go through sso much trouble for jusst a..play thing."


He reached up, bringing his hand to her chin, and allowing his thumb to gently trace her full lips. For a moment it seemed as if he would kiss her, that was, until he released his hold and turned away towards the glade again. "I am curiousss, you don't sseem much interessted in thiss anymore. Have you come back here before now? I would think you'd want to check on it, ssince you went through sso much trouble to ssave it."

[Tinnok]

She watched him. Just like before when he spoke of getting the child in order to keep her, he answered, but didn't answer simultaneously, a thoroughly frustrating affair. Her eyes stared into his as he brushed her lip, his form leaning forward as if he was about to...

And then he addressed the glade. Perhaps she shouldn't tell him it was a little hard to concentrate on the beauty of nature when she was set to procreate with him because of their deal. Instead she took a long look out at their surroundings and let out a deep breath. "I have not been back here, for it holds a mix of memories for me, but all I did was restore an imbalance in nature. Most of the time it is better for nature to be without sentient contact, this was just one of the few times where that wasn't the case."

She smiled though. "I admire all of Caiyha's natural beauty, however, so I hope you don't find that callous." As if that was her greatest concern. She stepped toward the water, sitting down upon the soft bed of grass and dipping her feet into the cool clear water that circled the tree like a moat. Glancing down at the stones below, she could even make out a few silver fish darting this way and that, searching for insects and bits of protein in the river. One more place that found its center. She did feel pride for what she had accomplished here, but it was tainted by the cost. She glanced up at Mamuro, studying him through curious slits, then something occurred to her that he had said.

"The great trickster?" she repeated. Was that a Dhani, or perhaps a God, it seemed strange to her for a Dhani to follow a god apart from Siku, but many Myrians worshiped other deities apart from Myri, so perhaps such a thought was not so strange. The idea of Mamuro kowtowing to anyone was a bit hard to believe, but there was always someone weaker and someone stronger than you, her mother always pointed out.

[Kalesserimamoru]

The trickster stared at and around the fresh greenery before him and smiled. He understood exactly what the young woman meant when she said that she had mixed feelings about the place. What had she given up just to save the glade? Did she truly know? Mamoru smiled to himself, he so enjoyed these sorts of deals and bargains.


"I ssee, Caiyha musst be sso happy."


It didn't matter really, it was just a curiosity brought on by his observation at the time. "And no, I don't think you callousss, but you are a fasscinating little play thing."


He cackled lightly, deciding to have a bit of fun with her and the earlier assumption that she had made. He watched her with careful eyes as she moved and licked his lips when his eyes fell upon certain areas of her athlete form. "Hmm, well yesss. That too...agreed the tricksster isss great." he replied to her question about the great trickster. Mamoru had actually called his God grand, but great was another way of saying just about the same thing.


"Never heard of thisss, hmm? I'm not ssurprisssed. Your kin aren't ssmart enough to undersstand the work of ssuch greatnesss. But Ionu isss all around uss, ever watching and sso playful I musst ssay."


He said nothing else about the god and stepped into the waters and finding his proper footing. "I can help you to undersstand. I can help you to undersstand many thingss." He reached out a hand for her, and if she would take it, or simply follow, Mamoru would lead her to an area where they could better see their reflections in the waters below them. "Ssince I met you, I've wondered what you plan to do with your life. Living between the world of the monkeysss and the Dhani ssoundsss harsssh at besst."


Once he found a good spot, Mamoru slipped an arm around her hip and moved behind her so that as they both looked into the waters, they could both catch her reflection at the very same angle. "What callsss to you mosst? What doess your blood tell you?" Smiling, he gripped the flesh at her hips tightly as he leaned into her and teasingly bit at her neck. "Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you were full blooded?" He didn't say Myrian or Dhani, expecting her to think of both, one way and of the other.


The trickster's grip on her tighten, as a snake's would when working it's body around to slowly strangle and crush their prey. "I can sshow you, I can help you realize your true purposse. What ever that may be." One hand fell away from her, palm down and fingers spread as he waved his hand over the face in her reflection. The gnosis mark on his shoulder breathed life into the illusion and once his hand moved, Tinnok would notice a change in the face staring back at her from the waters. Dark brown eyes and rounded pupils instead of the bright yellow eyes she was used to.

[Tinnok]

Tinnok stared into the water thoughtfully, feeling Mamuro's presence come up from behind and loom above her. Her head tilted when he addressed his deity. Ionu. Now that was a name she had never heard before, she wondered if it was a male or female. Tinnok was so used to being surrounded by the Goddesses of Death, War, and Nature, save for Navre and Leth, the Myrians almost entirely worshiped a female pantheon.

But it seemed as if, like most things, Mamuro was unwilling to share much more than a name, and instead he just reached for, her, and to her great surprise, she complied. His touch was cool, but welcome, even if her eyes narrowed at the bit about being a plaything.

In the water about waist deep with the Dhani, she looked at him, her eyes incredulous at what seemed like some well rehearsed selling point. As he told her about her dual nature, and which called to her, Tinnok's pupils narrowed to mere slits, though whether this was in anger or simply contemplating was hard to tell, for her mouth stayed in a straight even line across her face.

Of course she had wondered. Surely she would have her first mark of Myri by now, and be climbing her way up the Taloban army, or perhaps working in the forge with her mother. If she was full Dhani? Well she knew significantly less about that. What precisely did Dhani do when not attacking Myrians, raping and pillaging their outlying towns to show they weren't dead yet, and even though Caiyha prevented Myrians from wiping them out, they were still hell bent on taking back the Jungle Wilds single-handedly? Would she be one of those soldiers, tearing Myrians apart? Or would she be some simpering Queen down in the tunnels making other little pests slither around for her, doing whatever the petch one did in a dank cave underground?

His next words alarmed her much more than the first. How precisely was he going to help her? Did he want to teach her to morph so he could parade her around Zinrah? Perhaps use his powers on her to butcher more Myrians? Her eyes widened somewhat as she saw her reflection alter, deep brown eyes staring back up at her. She sighed softly.

"And how precisely are you going to help me realize my true purpose? By putting a baby into my womb that's 3/4 Dhani and 1/4 Myrian?" She took a step back, slapping at the water with a hand, and destroying her reflection. "You see my Myrian half as weak, and horrid, just as Myrians saw my Dhani half as an abomination...saw me as skurak."

She growled and stood in the water, and her head snapped up. "No perhaps that isn't right...my knowledge of Myrians is quite useful to you, no? As your plaything. All you have to do is help me achieve my true purpose, which I'm sure is one tiny step in the plan towards achieving yours."

She leapt out of the water, shaking herself off like a dog, and glared at the Constrictor. "I am strong not because I am half Dhani, or because I am half Myrian, but because I am both, and I know the strengths and weaknesses of my blood. You and your Ionu, may trick and play, but I would rather live my harsh life out in the jungles then be one of you schemes."

There, that was out. Tinnok's mouth opened a little wide, but no she had been right to yell, to get angry. She could only be pushed around and guided for so long, and this Constrictor, despite lavishing attention upon her, was also threatening to destroy that precious sliver of freedom she had lost so much to gain.

[Kalesserimamoru]

Some in the nest might say that the trickster was good with women. That he knew them and had a way to get them comfortable with him and even closer. Those people were all tricked by a very thick illusion. Mamoru knew nothing about women and how one should go about pleasing them. If he did, if the Dhani had any idea, by now he would have a mate, and children back in the nest. But he didn't know, and that was the reason that he was in the jungle making deals with a woman that shared the blood of his sworn enemy.


But he did what he could, constantly trying to make his way through the world while fighting against overwhelming odds at every turn. However to paint him as a good guy would be a lie, because he wasn't. Mamoru would do what ever it took to get what he wanted, though the question remained, was he this way because he wanted to be, or because of the life that he had led. In the end it didn't matter, he was who he was and the Dhani had made a very slick deal with a woman who was none too happy about it...or at least that was how it seemed.


Sssoon, I will make you mine.


They were waist deep in the waters and with her so close, he could feel her warmth fully and it reminded him of the last time that he had held her so close. Some of those times she pulled away, preferring to keep her distance, but others times she didn't move, and it was then that he was able to taste her, and to explore her just a bit. Mamoru watched her expression change as she looked into the water, and for a moment he thought that he had her. That was until she snapped at him and pushed away, after splashing away her own reflection.


"That wass unexpected, what sspirit you have. Though whether thisss sspirit isss Dhani pride or Myrian arrogance, I can't tell jusst yet." He had more to say, but instead only folded his arms and allowed her to finish. It appeared that this had been in the making for some time, and the attractive half breed had probably been thinking of telling him this for a full season. What torture that must have been....and what a relief she must fill now that she got it out.


Mamoru stared at her, piercing eyes though his facial expression remained plain. Once she was out of the waters and had finished her speech, he too stepped out of the rushing waves and stood on the bank a few feet away.


"Are you done?" he asked coldly.


"Let me remind you my dear Tinnok, we made a deal, it was not forced upon you, and If I remember correctly, it wasss you who thought it up." A smile rose upon his pale lips and his eyes narrowed as he continued. "I'm sure that my sside of the bargain caught you off guard, but it wasss within the agreement. And...I alsso gave you and out. You could have never returned here. It wassn't asss if I could have found you. Not with all your friendsss around waiting to ssskin me alive. No, you returned of your own free will didn't you?"


The trickster licked at his lips, yellow-green eyes washing over her frame and noting how her clothing clung to the lower half of her body. "My offer to help you wass out of kindesss, ssomething that I didn't have to do. But if thisss iss how you truly feel, then I will ssimply take what isss owed and be on my way."