[Bronze Wood] Prowling Beasts (Nya Winters)

[Kadarus]

"I know sometyhing about kelvics, too, as well as the way people treat them," Kadarus spoke up as she began to wrap up the story of her parents. He had been listening in thoughtful silence, but the hard, bitter light in his eyes suggested strongly that there was little she could present to the case that would force him to change his life. "They treat us as animals, as well they should. I will readily admit that if given the chance, there have been many a person I would have happily tore the throats from. People are swine. I spend as little time dealing with them as I can." The hunter nodded slowly, tracing the arches of the fish's stripped bones between his thumb and forefinger. When he reached the tail, his fingers shot back up the body and snapped the spine in two with a sharp, brutal crack.

"You're damn right they'd use you. In a heartbeat," he snapped, quick to clear away what little naivety the young one may have. "I've been in Ravok, seen the pits. The Ebonstryfe will arrest you on falsified, trumped up charges, and instead of dungeons or torture, they'll sell you right to the highest bidder. Your choices - I use the term loosely - will be whorehouses or bloodsports. Neither is any life." Finn groaned loudly as he was, once more, taken far away from the bared naughty bits she so treasured. The minute her feet was set back on the grass, he clay arms shot up, her fingers grapsing greedily at the girl again. But before she could take another step, Kadarus' hand shot out and snatched her up, the lone chain link clicking as he hauled her through the air and dumped her on his shoulder. The pycon sulked, taking the lump of clay he shoved into her hands with great reluctance.

Kadarus was only vaguely aware that she had asked him another question. Unblinking, he stared at something unseen over her shoulder, his gaze steady. Freely, his mind wandered, mulling over the small stories she was so happy to share with him. They had the species of their fathers in common; Itrae Lagh'ratham had been a stallion as well. But he had been born from a pure kelvic mating - his inhumanity at birth had been completely expected. In retrospect though, she had been much closer with her parents than he had been with his own; he knew very little about them. Their lives had revolved around Laureolous Eraclaire, who they had bee unquestionably bonded too. They'd been good parents, but Kadarus hadn't been able to even count until Finn had come along and taught him rudimentary math. But the love he had had for them was undeniable; their murders had shaken him to the core and forced him to grow up faster than he should have.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Stupid. Hey." Kadarus blinked, coming back to the present with the pycon jabbing him repeatedly in the ear. He scowled deeply at her, and she laughed. "Ha ha, you responded to stupid! Your name is stupid." The hunter sighed and shook his head, raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

"What now? Oh, right. It was mostly a mixture of luck and patience, truthfully. I spent years listening to the zith talk about the tunnels, watching the stars through the cavern mouth. When Syna and Leth met on their rare day of anniversary, it left the zith disoriented, confused, unorganized. I took my chances, broke my shackles, and fled into the tunnels. They chased me when they realized I'd escaped, but they couldn't catch me. I ran for days and when Finn found me I was very close to death." Finn beamed in pride and swollen ego at the mention of her name, but suspicion still lurked beneath that show. She had always suspected him of telling her only chosen bits and peices of his story; it seemed so very strange that he had survived for so long in the zith's slave pens.

"You fought a zith, you say? Did you kill it?" he asked eagerly. "If not, do you remember where it was? Did it mention more of it's kind being close?"

[Nya Winters]

Nya watched Kadarus, a little fascinated. She'd only truthfully met her father, so another kelvic was fascinating to her. Especially this one, who was one she considered her equal if not stronger due to his age and experience. But there was something about him, or all his rough exterior that spoke of something more inside. There was a quiet dogged determination, and she wondered for a moment what he was like fighting in the pits. Nya knew it wasn't proper, or good for her, but for a moment she imagined fighting in them herself and wondered what it would feel like... what it would be like. Could she win? Killing went without question. She could. She had. But to kill for food was completely different than to kill someone she didn't know for the sport of someone else. And the whorehouses... she knew what went on there, of course, her mother was too scientific, to intellectual, to have not revealed the truth of the biological processes to her. Her first heat was a testimonial to that - a heat she'd lied to Kadarus about. All she remembered was being locked in a tower room for a fortnight while she longed for something she couldn't describe properly. The room itself hadn't fared well, for all that it was reinforced. She had wanted out. Badly. Afterwards, as if taken by surprise, her mother had set about giving her a hasty education in those regards and given her herbs to control future seasonal outbreaks.

But Nya knew she could never survive without choices, without the freedom of a forest close at hand, or at least a wild place she could prowl. Every day she made them and became stronger for it. Whether it was taking the herbs, killing or not killing a hunter that was too greedy, or venturing into the city for the human contact she so mysteriously craved. Cities ate at her soul, little by little, for she was what she was without question. And she admired those qualities in Kadarus as well. She could see it.. and there was proof enough that he was here hunting, fishing, and interacting with his own kind.

Nya watched Finn's capture and deposit on Kadarus' shoulder, and tilted her head to watch them interact. Friendship. It almost brought tears to her eyes. She wanted a friend that badly, someone to talk too, but there was no one here, no one who wasn't a hunter or a knight or someone already busy with their own lives. Nya blinked, tossed her mane of brindled hair, and shifted again. Easily distracted because of her youth, she turned her thoughts to the boar they were going to kill. The hunt would be exciting. There would be blood, and she could already taste it warm and salty in her mouth. There would be danger, and that brought a flush to her skin because in some secret part of her being, she loved such things.... just like talking to Kadarus was just a little dangerous. Nya purred suddenly and refocused. Kadarus was talking about his escape.

"I remember that day... the sky went weird... like darkness in the day. I was very frightened myself. You were wise to take advantage of their confusion. " And then she thought of Kadarus running... how sleek and powerful he'd be as his wolf, and she smiled. "I would like to run like that with you sometime. Not for our lives, but for the joy of it." She admitted. It was something she did often. Nya wasn't a powerful runner, but she could lope for miles and cover great distances. There were other cats, especially those out on the grasslands, that could max out at phenomenal speeds running. But she was content to go at the speed her body could, and leave the rest of the world behind. "Have you ever carried a rider? I would like to I think, sometime...." She said, turning her head to lick and nibble at her bare shoulder where a fly had landed moments again, biting her sharply.

But at her comment about the Zith, Nya watched Kadarus come alive. "His name is Atrophus. He was alone. We did tangle, but I didn't kill him. They don't look edible. And I don't kill things unless I'm going to eat them or they are going to eat me... " She said, looking thoughtful. "He's around here. But not now, only after dark." She added, then flushed knowing Kadarus would know that far better than she would.

[Kadarus]

"Atrophus," he repeated in a careful whisper, his eyes again seeming to focus on something beyond which Nya could see. Slowly, he leaned back, resting his weight on his hands, and smirked. "Odd name. Wonder who gave it to him..." The hand nearest to his sword twitched in a manner that was near imperceptible if one was not looking for it. It almost seemed as though he were struggling, focusing to pick out the small flecks of shining evidence in the silt of the world to back up the girl's claim with his animalistic senses. His nostrils flared, to catch the scent of caves, of blood stained fur, and he licked his lips, aching, suddenly for the taste of blood bursting across his tongue. Finn had resumed to poking him in the cheek, and finally sighed in exasperation when the kelvic didn't snap at her.

"Grrrrreat. Now look at what you did! You had to mention the damn zith around," the pycon grubled, smoothing the top of her last lump of clay, rounding it off. It looked like a curious, round sandwich, its top speckled with small seeds, a thick patty in the middle topped with crudely formed vegetables. She shoved it into her face, half of it vanishing in the curious manner the species ate. "Mmf ur unning - " Finn made a hurried gulping noise, "If you're wanting more intelligent conversation with Mr. Lagh'ratham here, you've lost it. You see, his little pea sized doggy brain can't focus on more than one thing at a time, especially when you're talking about food. Sit here for about another five minutes and stupid here will start drooling."

Kadarus blinked, seeming to come out of his revery, and whipped his head towards the pycon, glaring at her fiercely. Agitated breath hissed through his teeth, and he turned his eyes towards the patches of sky in anticipation. The horizon was darkening with a blue the hue of an Akalak's skin, though the soft, warm dusky colors of red and salmon still hung above it. As though summoned by his mere mention, the ghostly, pale round edges of Leth could be seen amongst the lingering clouds, waiting patiently for Syna to retire. A wild beast reformed for godhood, his approaching presence was something of a comfort to the hunter; he only lamented that the satellite was not rusty in hue. The bloody eye hanging over the two kelvics in the hunt would have assuredly brought good luck - it was what superstition hinted at, at the least.

Again, he scented the air, his ear twitching slightly, straining to pick out the sounds of flapping leather wings. He growled, slightly dissatisfied as nothing came to him, and he slowly climbed to his feet, picking Finn off his shoulder and putting her back on the ground. "We should be going...soon." It had taken some time, but finally, Kadarus' mind had fallen upon the hunt. The fish had done little to whet his appetite - if anything, they'd made him hungrier. At his sides, his hands clenched into fists, then relaxed, and repeated the motion - a steady, ceaseless habit of starving anticipation. "If what you've said of the boar is true, you're right in the fact that we'd never taken him coming at him head on, gnashing our teeth. It would be wise...if one of us took him by surprise."

His eyes narrowed, and he looked down to Finn. "You...stay here, guard our things. And stay out of my money." Restlessly, Kadarus begin to pace, glaring into the darkening arms of the forst. "You know this land very well, I'm sure, and admittedly, you are most likely the faster one out of the two of us. I'll approach him, take the attention. Then, either flank him, or leap upon him from behind in a pincer attack. If he turns his tusks on you, I'll have his neck in my jaws faster than he can squeal." He paused momentarily beside Nya, looking down at her on the grass, still lounging as though she was not wearing her disguise of flesh and humanity. "Does this sound good, or do you have another idea?"

[Nya Winters]

Nya nodded and rose. She'd gone quiet when Kadarus obsessed about the Zith, knowing full well that they were dangerous, and moreso how narrowly she had avoided any problems because she met one alone rather than one with his fellows. She could take Kadarus later, to the tree where the Zith had perched, and though it was a season later, the odds were good that the creature, if it was still in the area, would have laid down some scent for Kade to follow. But that was another hunt for another time. This time... here and now... was about pork. And Nya wanted some badly.

She rose, stretched, and nodded to Kadarus, giving only a cursory glance at the Pycon. "Yes, its best if she stays here. And your plan is a good one." The female kelvic said, going over his idea in her mind. It should work, especially with two of them. With only one, they'd be in trouble for boar was not something she'd mess with alone... even with the size difference. Nya also failed to point out that was her original suggestion, one Kadarus was just reiterating, but said nothing because he was after all, a canine.

"Alright. Enough talk, lets go find him." She said, then started off, wading back into the water and crossing the stream to the other side. Nya waited for Kadarus to follow, then started off in the direction she'd indicated earlier, leaving the Pycon in the makeshift camp. It was a good brisk walk that carried them along the streambed, following Syna's fall across the sky. They soon came across wild pig sign, tramped down enbankments, the stench of pig, and the sounds of pigs forging in the distance that gradually eased as the sun went further down. It was well into twilight when they arrived a the destination Nya had described to Kadarus... a field of grass on the edge of the stream that went into a thicket that had large cavernous trails leading into it. They were far too small for the Talderian shifters to forge into unless they wore their human guises... but Nya was ready for that.

"Ready? I will wait in the treeline at the edge of the meadow.. and you go bait him out just by being there, making a lot of noise. They are aggressive and territorial, he'll think your hunting his sows. If you let him chase you along the edge here, just this short part, where I will be waiting... I'll jump in and .... I'll run along the edge of the trees and flank him downwind where he won't know I'm lurking. When I pounce, he'll turn to engage then you should have him. It doesn't matter who's faster.. if I hamstring and you grab his throat, we'll be okay." She said, outlining the plan and gesturing along the route. The thicket held the pigs, and they were fond of them for protection since they could run for miles and be cleaned out under the protective thorns for perfect pig habitat. "He's about five or six hundred pounds though, so be really careful. He's not fast, but hes mean... really mean." She said, shifting shape and stretching her long legs, getting ready for the hunt.

Then she turned her great head and started sniffing the wind until she caught his scent and huffed in Kade's direction, nodding her head to where she thought he was.

[Kadarus]

Kadarus gave her only a cursory glance as she returned to the body she so often stalked these woods in. Any other man would perhaps be dazzled by the brilliant lightshow, of the inexplicable, supernatural shifting of woman to predator, but he had lived with his own abilities for many a year a year. He nodded at her directions - his words were not needed, he understood them well enough, and he had no questions, no doubts. The large cat nodded her head toward the north, up the stream, and he took a brief second to catch the scent one more time with his human nose.

Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath of cool air. When he opened his eyes and exhaled, the breath rolled out in a heated pant over enormous, meat cleaving teeth, and he shook his head fiercely, shaking water from his thick red fur. Again, he sniffed the air, and the picture given to him by his nose was a far different one, closer to the ground, on all fours - the boar was exactly where the other kelvic had gestured towards. The wolf turned its head towards her, leaving her with a huge, toothy grin, part excitement, part hunger, and began to pad away, stones shifting under his paw.

Seconds later, he began to run, long loping strides that ate up the grassy distance that seperated him between his fatty meal. He thought, for a moment, on what she had told him; the thing was heft, huge, nearly six hundred pounds. Though with its selfish, hedonistic habits, most of that weight was most likely lard; while its sheer size gave it the advantage of bulky, powerful muscles to carry its frame, it would be slow, a lumbering, arrogant tank. While Kadarus was no sleek, graceful forest cat, he was certainly far from a waddling lump of brainless strength. As far as its attitude...there was only one way to deal with prey that fought back, and that was to just simply be the most vicious bastard under the sky. The wolf's blood surged through his body, his mouth watering already.

A small group of idling sows grew from dots in the distance to personal targets. An angry snarl ripped out of Kadarus' throat as he darted into the stream, splashing noisily, rounding around them in a long curve before hurling forward. The animals squealed in terror as he rammed into one of them, throwing her to the ground and scattering the rest. He whipped his huge, shaggy head to the left and the right, barking loudly and obnoxiously. The sow he'd hit first had rolled onto her back, and she thrashed at the air with her feet. If he'd had the capacity to do it at the moment, the wolf would have laughed; the animal squealed and squirmed with a renewed terror as dropped one heavy paw onto her stomach.

A loud snort and heavy thumps drew him away from the fear blind sow and he whipped around - only to be staring one of the biggest boars he'd ever seen, right into its beady, black, greedy little eyes. Kadarus chuffed and lowered his head, baring his fangs, his body rippling with tense, powerful muscles as he stepped to the side. He wasn't sure how, but the thing had managed to come up between him and the stream, and slowly, he began to circle around the behemoth, keeping his golden eyes fixed on the thing.

With a sudden, furious snort, the boar tossed its head, ripping at the ground with its tusks, scattering dirt everywhere, and began to charge. The wolf spun about face and slipped easily into a sprint, though was mildly startled - the fat thing was a little faster than he had estimated. Panting, grinning wildly, his eyes searched for the treeline Nya had indicated, tearing across the meadow with the boar in thundering, hot pursuit.