Hark, This Way a Traveler Comes

[Traverse]

Hark, This Way a Traveler Comes
54th of Spring, 514 A.V.

There was a lot of hissing going on around Oryani as she was trucked through the jungle. It got annoying after awhile. If that was a language, how could it all sound so similar?

Snatches of speech were in common, an argument between two...females? About leaving the Svefra alive who had sold them the Chaktawe, but Zinrah had enough problems secruing trade with the threat of Myrians squashing every opportunity to kill off those blue eyed humans, so they had lived.

Now the topic was what to do with the strange human. Her build reminded the Dhani somewhat of Myrians, though her skin was fairer, and those eyes. Those seemed magical in and of themselves. She would certainly fetch a high price in Zinrah to some lesser queen or, perhaps even a higher one. This made the Dhani move swiftly, but giant half serpents sliding though the undergrowth made a good deal more noise than was beneficial, so they had all opted for human forms.

It was clear these serpent people did not spend much time as humans. Their gait was awkward, and there was something simply...wrong about them. They were close to human, but some of their eyes glistened unnatural colors, and their tongues seemed to half hang out of their mouths when they looked at her.

There were 6 Dhani in total, four male, two female, and though a lot wasn't clear to the Chaktawe, the heirarchy of the females was. They called the shots, hissed for the others to be quiet, etc. Oryani's hands were bound behind her back, a wet rag in her mouth to keep her from making any noises, two of the male Constrictors slightly behind either of her shoulders should she get it in her head to run.

There was a lot to contemplate as a prisoner of the Dhani, but the most immediate thing Oryani realized was how hard it was to trek through the jungle with your hands bound behind your back. Leaves, thorns, and vines poked, prodded and sliced at her flesh as she walked, and neither of the hulking males behind her made any attempt to help her travel become a little more comfortable.

••••••••••••

[Oryani]

Oryani was in a bad mood. How could she not be? Everything was going wrong. On top of that, it was all plain irritating. You could have bad situations, and you could have bad, irritating, situations. She had the latter. It was actually quite surprising that she had yet to deflate with exhaustion after fuming for so long... but every poke, scratch, and hiss, sent her temper soaring up again. And that happened a lot.

The first problem. Jungles. Who had ever come up with such a stupid idea? You couldn't see anything further than a few meters away. There were trees, trees, and more trees. There were these funny things in the branches that kept howling at her. She could sometimes feel them, and rarely see them, and they were so petching annoying! The ground plants too, with all their spikes and thorns. Sure they were supposed to protect the plant, but it wasn't her fault she was in here. Why didn't they scratch the stupid snake people!

And that brought her to the snake people. What had the Svefra called them? She couldn't remember. But they hissed. A lot. Hiss hiss hiss... were they talking or something? They also changed, which was more than creepy. They were humans now, but she'd seen some as gigantic snakes, or half-snake-half-human things. She didn't want to be eaten by those... but it was unlikely she'd be able to resist. Where had Caiyha gotten the idea for these? Maybe they were just some mistaken freaks of nature...

As for where she was going... well... she didn't care. Honestly, she didn't. The season had passed with people dragging her every which way, and not telling her where. She'd found it annoying at first, but now... who cared? She'd tried looking for openings, but... there probably weren't any. If this forest place was anything like the Sea of Grass, she'd die in a bell if she tried running away. Somehow, she knew that the only reason nothing with teeth had come by yet was because of all the hissing. Maybe it did have a use.

Despite her decision not to run away, she still had her hands tied behind her back, and two big burly men at her sides. Like an escort, practically. It might have been a little easier to walk through the forest like this with hands, but without? It made life even worse. What she'd do for a few Drykas warriors now.. they'd show these snakes their place.

However, there was one thing she was grateful for. Though it seemed obvious enough that she was now some kind of slave, they hadn't done what the Drykas did to show that. Cut off her braids. She still had them, as they had been since the beginning of the season. A little ragged and torn apart, yes (thorns had a grudge against braids, it seemed), but not gone. That gave her a sense of pleasure. It almost gave her a feeling of not quite being theirs, not quite being a slave, if she still had her braids...

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

[Traverse]

They paused at what Oryani assumed was midday. Two of the males (not the ones guarding her) had ranged outwards, and now met up with the main group, each carrying varying forms of game. One had two tiny deer slung over each shoulder, the other had a large black plumed bird.

The six of them, including the Chaktawe walked a short ways, backing their party along a rocky outcropping. That was when very quickly and efficiently the bird was plucked and the animals were cut up, distributed among the hunters and eaten...raw. The two females ate first and fast, then turned their attentions on Oryani. They were both tall, though rather brawny looking, one had fair skin and jet black hair that coiled in loose ringlets around her shoulders, nearly orange eyes peering through the locks at the captured Chaktawe. The other one had fair blonde hair tied tighly against her scalp, her eyes a deep hazel brown.

They removed the gag from her mouth, the dark haired one offering up a skin of water. "Drink." This thankfully was in common.

The other female offered a raw strip of the bird. "Myriansss drink blood, perhapsss thisss kind of humanoid can eat raw meat?"

"Doubtful." Her companion replied, but allowed Oryani time to respond for herself, gicing her two chances to take long daughts of the water skin before re-attaching it to her belt.

"Tell usss what you are." Said the blonde one. There was no hint of a question in there, only the haughty command of one not used to being challenged.

One of the males spoke up. "Isss thisss wisse? We ssshould be hurrying back to Zinrah."

A single look from the female with the dark hair was enough to silence him.

••••••••••••

[Oryani]

The sun was high in the sky when they stopped, letting two of the men slip off. They returned quickly, each with it's own kind of game, and they settled near some rocks for what was clearly lunch. She watched them pluck the meat, then... eat it straight raw. Oryani nearly gagged. It wasn't the first time they'd done this, however... but it still made her feel sick every time. Only savages didn't cook meat, and these were clearly such. It was... disgusting. She made her feelings obvious on her face, even when she was approached.

The Drykas let out a deep sigh when the gag was pulled out, and she took the waterskin wordlessly. She took a sip, but stopped when a new thing was offered... some of the raw meat. The snake people babbled something in Common, with a large number of funny words she didn't really understand. She did catch the 'drink blood' and 'eat raw meat'. Their accent made translation even harder. Suddenly, she pulled the skin from her mouth, staring at it suspiciously. Was this blood? What kind of person drank blood? A quick sniff, however, relieved her of that suspicion. She'd probably missed something.

Again, the strip of meat... which she certainly wasn't going to consume. "No" she told them flatly, feeling as grumpy as ever. She was hungry, but she wasn't that hungry. That explanation done, she drank heavily from the offered skin. She hadn't gotten a good chance to drink as much as she wanted, and was forced to stick the routine that normal people followed... small quantities, constantly. If she'd get enough at one time, she'd be fine for a few days without them needing to bother giving anything to her... but she wasn't going to tell these snakes that.

Her eyes narrowed at the next question, after handing back the skin. It was a familiar inquiry, so she figured it out pretty quickly. They had no idea what she was... heavier than a normal human, funny hands and feet, and much heavier than she should have been... like these freakishly strong people would have noticed. She contemplated telling them or not, but decided lying was pointless. In such an alien place like this, would they even know the word? "Chatakwe," she said, once again a one word answer.

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

[Traverse]

"Cha-kah-tah-wah, Chaktawe, Chaktawe." The female sounded out the word a few times before her companion nudged her.

"They ssstrange, not from mountain place, not from cold place, perhapsss from desssert?" They both shrugged simultaneously, the meat rejected by Oryani swallowed in a gulp by the one with dark hair. Words were hissed to one of the males and he slithered off again returning a few chimes later with a round bright green object.

The dark haired female approached Oryani with it while the other one undid her bindings. If the Chaktawe thought she was in for a bit of freedom, however, this was short lived as the ropes were removed only in order to bind her wrists in front of ehr body, as she would quickly learn to eat this fruit they had found her.

A loose raven ringlet fell into the Dhani's face as she peeled away the thick green skin of the fruit with a clawed nail, revealing a sweet smelling red meaty fruit within. She passed it to Oryani, and then the hissing began again and they started moving. The decision to eat the fruit was up to the captive...if she could hold onto it while they walked.

Soon after breaking camp the talking was brought down to a minimum, hushed if words were shared. Every step the human disguised Dhani took was careful through the thicket of jungle surrounding them on all sides.

The two males took up position behind her again, each one peering at the strangely heavy human every now and again with curious gazes.

••••••••••••

[Oryani]

It was amusing to watch the snake people figure out the word she'd given them, repeating the name of her race over and over again. The final pronunciation was actually quite good, but she wasn't going to say that. She also wasn't going to confirm their remarkable inference that Chatakwe were from the desert. They were perfectly accurate, of course... was it her appearance that gave it away? Though it was hard to tell how much these savages actually knew.

She raised her eyebrows when they untied her hands, but lowered them when they rebound them before her. She had actually been a little worried... had they been going to throw her out into the jungle? That would probably be a nightmare come true... She still felt remarkably safer with these bulky warriors than out there, alone, with no weapons. The thought made her shudder.

The reason for the change was soon obvious. The Drykas was given a funny round green fruit, with a red fleshy bit inside. You didn't find things like this in the Sea of Grass. Still, she made a mental note that it was edible... probably. With people who ate raw meat, who knew what else they ingested. Maybe this was actually poisonous to Chatakwe specifically... but probably not. There wasn't anything else to do, so she raised it to her lips and took a large bite.

She stumbled a little as the group began moving again, mouth still trying to pull something off of the remarkably juicy and sweet fruit. You really didn't find stuff like this at home. It was... odd... but tasty. She wasn't going to admit there were good things about this place, though. That would take a stone out of her wall... and the whole thing would eventually fall down.

The steady large bites continued, and her hands grasped the thing awkwardly. She'd only really finished half of it, the stuff she could reach, but she was already quite full. Maybe it was the strange flavor. While she attempted to peel back more of the skin, they passed over some bumpy ground and through thick brush, where an annoying rock caused her to unwittingly stumble. She was off balance, and tried to put her hands out to balance... but they were tied together. The motion, however small, caused her to loose her grip and drop the fruit, where it was eventually stepped on by one of the snake people. The archer scowled, swearing heavily under her breath, and glared at the earthy ground... She'd eaten enough, but still...

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

[Traverse]

After losing the fruit Oryani could utilize her fingers at least to navigate the treacherous landscape of Falyndar. Her captors kept a slow pace, though the Chaktawe couldn't be sure if this was due to their lack of grace in human form or their attempts at being as quiet as possible.

All the males seemed to be better at keeping quiet than the females, but overall their party made only a faint rustling as they moved, occasionally stampings and snapping branches inevitable. Oryani's legs grew sore as the day wore on, its only passage visible by the way the shadows slowly moved around them. Strange birds whistled and quorked around them, a constant thrum of insects guiding their cautious steps through thick foliage.

They did not stop as the light began to fade, until one of the males hissed something at the dark haired female and she looked in confusion at Oryani. This soon turned to disgust before her voice broke out in heavily accented common.

"We make camp in one bell, find sssomewhere ssheltered and hope the Myriansss don't come upon us in the night."

A bell later the small part did just that. Positioning their party against a rocky outcropping two males were set as guards, the other two went out hunting and the two females sat Oryani down and made sure she didn't try anything funny. Again she was given the opportunity to sip some water, but the two women did not go out of their way to find her any fruit this time around.

They conversed between themselves for a time before the hunters returned, this time with an Okapi and several birds. The hunters got to eat first this time before swapping with the sentries who waited till their superiors had eaten most of the Okapi before taking their fill.

The light was growing low, but Oryani was able to witness Constrictors take their true and most serpentine form then. Both females stretched with an ominous cracking of bones as their forms shifted, and grew exponentially into massive snakes, their tails sliding and crushing foliage to fit their massive forms each forty some odd feet in length. The two sentries were able to snatch one bird away in time to share as both females snapped the Okapi in halves and each swallowed each part whole, the remainder of the birds following.

Once done both of the massive snakes, their color looking black in the dimmin light curled up as a massive scales barrier between Oryani and the jungle and went to sleep as the two males off duty tore the remaining bird apart and feasted in human form.

A monstrous place the Chaktawe had found herself in indeed.

••••••••••••

[Oryani]

It was a little easier for Oryani to move after dropping her meal (accidentally of course), mostly for the sake of better balance. They did a little to help push things away, but… not much, when you could only move branches, say, about a foot away. Rather, with her hands behind her back, she always felt like she would fall over backwards if she didn’t lean forwards. With the appendages in a more comfortable and natural position, she felt a little more relaxed and able to deal with the rough terrain. Hopefully… she’d be able to keep it this way.

It was tiring… more tiring than riding all day, which she was more used to. Riding was much better… oh how she wished she had Khal with her. If only to pet, and rub her face in his mane… but he was gone, gone to the Sea of Grass, to allow the cycle of life to continue without him. The memory brought a more sober feeling to the Drykas, rather than a grumpy one, and she sighed in a melancholy way. Khal and… Alaril. That memory nearly brought a snort. Yes, Alaril, the coward eagle. She’d been told once that eagles were brave and honorable birds… but her golden one had proved that wrong. So wrong. In the middle of a fight she simply flew away…

Her face contorted into a disgusted expression, wishing she could blame it all on that one eagle. What if Alaril hadn’t left? She wanted to think they would have all survived. But… that was wrong. It was. The bird had left when it was obvious there was little salvation, even after those Akalaks… no matter if they’d had an eagle on their side or not… nothing would have changed. How could they have changed it? By not leaving in the first place? That was probably the best one.

The disgust turned into depression again, and she frowned at the ground. She preferred being angry to sad, however, so glanced up at the snake people around her to scowl. Them and their annoying hissing. They were doing it now, discussing something as the forest darkened. In fact, they were approaching a similar place to the one where they’d stopped for Lunch… apparently halting for the evening? She was so unfocused on the people around her that she missed the comment in Common, except that vaguely familiar word… Myrian. What did it mean? What was a Myrian?

She settled down where she was told, finding a comfortable position with her knees pulled up and bound hands looped around her legs. It allowed the Chatakwe to rest her head on her knees and watch the coming scene… which was not a pleasant one.

Hunters were sent out, and came back with some more funny creatures. She’d have to learn what they were… so unfamiliar in this strange land. She also wanted to know what that fruit was, other than ‘edible’. She knew how to survive in the Sea, but not here… and that was something she wanted… no, needed to learn. The men ate first, but left quite a portion of the larger animal to the females. Would they even be able to eat all that? The whole raw meat thing was still disgusting. However, something even worse came around.

Both of the women… grew. That the only way you could describe it. Grew and changed… it was a little familiar, as she’d seen it once or twice before… but it was still horrifying. It was such a slow, gruesome progress that she wanted to stop watching, but couldn’t bring herself to. Half a chime later, the woman had become giant snakes… things that could snap up a Strider in one bite, if it wanted to. Good thing they didn’t live in the Sea of Grass. They did just that with the last bit of food, biting it in half and sharing the meat. No wonder they ate it raw, if they looked like that…

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

[Traverse]

The massive snakes seemed to enjoy making the Chaktawe squirm, one of them placed her massive head right before Oryani and hissed something unintelligible to her before closing massive eyes. All Dhani were rather monstrous, but Constrictors, the biggest of all sub species gave off a particular aura, and it was almost as if the Chaktawe had been plucked from her comfortable grasslands into a horror story in the thick claustrophobic scene of Falyndar's jungles.

And this was only just the beginning.

Ssepia was what they called the dark haired female, who in serpent form had ebony scales mismatched with light and mahogany splotches. She was the leader of the party, though barely, and only because her tracking and land navigation skills were far superior to her other female companion. It was a long and dangerous trek back to Zinrah, and she sought to make it shorter by cutting close to the Kandukta basin. This, however presented the party with the fact of skirting a bit too close to Taloba for comfort, a source of great argument with the rest of her peers.

As it was now they were about a week from the City of Bones, and even that was more than a gamble, despite the relatively large number of their scouting group. 6 Dhani were a force to contend with, able to take down at least three times as many Myrians then their own forces.

But Dhani were prideful of their superior size, and form, and Myrians had perfected the art of hunting their most ancient and hated enemy.

Oryani may or may not have been awake when it happened. The two females were still coiled around each other, making a massive scaled barrier between their captive and any escape, unless she was going to try to scale the sheer rock face behind her.

The males swapped scouting shifts throughout the night, venturing only slightly out of their protective lee to make sure no Myrian monkeys approached from the unprotected front.

They were not, however, watching the rocky cliff face, where half a fang of Myrians had gathered, sneaking slowly up to the lip of the cliff to spy upon the massive serpents below. Slowly, so that the sound was not heard over the rustling of branches in the wind, nor the sounds of nightjars or insects, bows were notched and drawn. A bird call closer than the others set the two current Dhani watchers on edge, their eyes gazing this way and that in the darkness. Within 30 ticks each male had transformed into their larger Dhani form, their nostrils flaring, heat vision detecting nothing out of the ordinary.

All at once, however, the small refuge they had found, was alight. 7 arrows, lit and released from their bows rained down upon the sleeping female snakes, each one finding its mark on one female's body or another. Even as pained hisses woke the other two males, serpent bodies flailing in the night, another round of arrows, more this time came from both sides, pelting the four Dhani enclosed there.

Oryani's position with her back to the cliff face did much to protect her as vicious warcrys rang out in the black night. Flames caught upon nearby plants, lighting up a scene that would soon become one of utter carnage as twenty some odd Myrians flooded towards the unsuspecting Dhani.

••••••••••••

[Oryani]

Oryani had decided that, if she'd been given a dinner at all... she'd have been put off it in ticks. Luckily, it was not so, and no food was wasted on a freaked out Drykas. When they finished eating, however, that was not the end of it. One of the massive creatures slowly turned towards the small humanoid and slithered forward. The Chatakwe's eyes widened with each meter, and she shrank a little back against the stone, as if she could sink into it. She considered herself brave, but you couldn't be brave against this. You just couldn't.

The huge jaws sat uncomfortably near her face, and the breath... oh gods, the breath. It made her close her eyes and gag, it was just... bad. Raw and rotting meat mixed together on dagger-like fangs... it was all too much. The snake hissed something -why did they always hiss?- then finally, happily, left. The archer let out a huge breath, thanking Caiyha, Eywaat... everyone... from keeping the thing from simply snapping her head off. She did not want to be on the wrong side of those things.

She had a fitful, short, sleep. Half the time when she closed her eyes she saw that giant face staring at her, laughing at her... if snakes laughed. She wasn't scared then -okay, maybe a little- but more... angry. Why were they laughing at her? She'd done nothing stupid, right? ...Right? She wasn't sure. She worried. She scowled, and then she woke up at the slightest sound, to stare at the darkness. She'd be so tired in the morning it wouldn't be funny... but there was little else to do.

Hisses woke her for the fourth or fifth time, causing Oryani to sit up with a start. It wasn't just one hiss... there were a lot of hisses. Then... hisses of pain? Surprise? How could you tell if hisses even had emotions? The next, un-snake-like noise, explained more than it didn't. War cries. The Drykas had war cries, just simple yelling, or profanities and insults. They didn't compare to this, however. This was just... bone chilling.

Again she pressed against the rock, hoping that whoever, whatever, was attacking... did not turn to her. The enemy of your enemy was your friend, right? Well... not always. Nature was everyone's enemy, and everyone's friend. Did it count here, though? Or would they just consider her one of the snake people, and deal with her right there? Well... there was little she could do, bound, cold, and blind. She could feel the movements, but nothing too close... except...

Light! Maybe fires wouldn't be so welcome in ten or so chimes, but they were welcome now. Or... not now. The scene was not a pleasant one. Giant people -well, they seemed giant from her angle- fighting giant snakes. Hacking, slashing, shooting... Her captors were clearly out numbered... though they were powerful, surely they couldn't stand up against this? Knowing that the snakes would face eventual demise... Oryani was pleased. Very pleased. It was... a satisfying revenge, even if not by her own hand.

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -