Curiosity and the Cat [Tiki]

[Hadrian]

6th Winter, 511 A.V. dawn First things first, Hadrian found a secluded clearing outside the city to do his work, and then, meticulous as always, he prepared his space before doing anything else. Bundled up in his winterbane coat and as many clothes as he could fit under it, he looked a bit heavier than he was, and the early morning light was augmented by the whorl of glowing energy that gathered between his hands, growing and revolving in on itself until there was enough and the res was quickly transmuted into Air, which spread out from his hands to spin around him, blowing away the snow for several feet all around him. That done, he took a moment to kneel on the earth and gather himself. It was not a great draw of power, but Air was the newest element to offer itself to him, and so it was still slippery in his grasp. Next, he imagined the picture of the place that was in his head from when he first walked into the clearing, then spun it out to overlay reality with Ionu's power. He was quickly learning to work that godly magic with great skill, but he could only fool one sense at a time, and so he knew it was not a perfect screen against intrusion. Still, one did what one could. Last, the true work, he scrawled a quick summoning circle into the hard earth, the greenish flicker of geomancy clinging to his finger, molding even the frozen turf to his will. The minimal circle was all he needed for a peek into Fyrden, the first glimpse into the world from whence familiars came. Pre-Valterrian wizards had bonded to familiars, and he was seriously considering the same, but he did all things with caution, and this was no different. The dullest of green glows clung to that circle, residue from his minor working. Into the sixteen spaces, he marked the astral coordinates for Fyrden, home of the familiars: 6701984710485453. With a flick of his dagger, he nicked the pad of his thumb and held it into the runic grooves he had carved into the ground, and that trace of res picked up the crimson of his offered blood, bleeding through the energy and activating the circle. It began to glow with a furious light, the world magic augmenting the sacrifice of a little blood and before long the inner circle had gone blank, then shimmered with light, and finally opened up upon a nightmare.

[Tiki]

Breakfast was served… A snow hare had been caught in its little hole, somewhere among the thickening brush and fallen trees. He had only traveled a bit from Avanthal, but it was a new direction. The animals in his usual hunting grounds needed time to recuperate and re-secure themselves, less they all run away or die. Frostfawn hunters wouldn’t appreciate that, surely. So, now in this new hunting ground he had ran off in search of a meal to keep him going throughout the day. It was a bit cheaper this way, so long as he avoided a brawl that was. Medical expenses were just as costly. It was that moment in the silence for his pounce, but he stopped, and gave away all his attention to the distance. A deer had pranced right over the log and his head away from where he looked. The hare got away, and Tiki also thought to flee. He heard it then, a rushing of wind, a most unnatural sound even to his ears. The whole while some feeling radiated from that direction, he could sense it. The change in the wind, maybe, or just instinct for his better good. That instinct failed him as he started running off toward the source of the noise. He had been running frantically for five minutes. Hadrian had an abundance of time to put on the finishing touches to his illusion and summoning circle. When Tiki arrived at the clearing, shrouded in Iuno’s graces, he simply came to a stop. His pack was still over his back willed with his clothes. Small game was child’s play, even with the pack slowing him. He saw the clearing, and where Hadrian and his work would stand there were trees, bushes, and snow. It didn’t feel right. Tiki knew trappers to be clever like this, to bait their prey into pit falls or nets. But not him, not today at least. He started to go around the clearing, careful of his steps and curiously observing his surroundings. There was something here, though he could not quite place his paw on it. The illusion was a work of art, truly, that even a sharp eyed kelvic failed to take note of the inconsistencies. That magical tingle he was getting, it was strange too. He knew nothing of it all the same. The scent of something strangely attractive lingered on the air, and it was in that clearing. Sight did not give Hadrian away, and the smell was not enough. Of course, carving circles wasn’t much of a loud practice either. The animals from the area had fled; save for the black jag that prowled the clearing. It was quiet with the young wizard hard at work. The kelvic was bound to cross his line of sight soon enough.

[Hadrian]

The illusion, at least, had no boundaries. Anyone looking there whose sight could not penetrate illusion would see what Hadrian had seen upon his arrival, even if they tripped over him. Normally he might have sensed the approach of a sentient aura, those most complex of auras, but his attention was focused upon the window into Fyrden. He had not summoned anything, but merely opened the door. Anything that came through would be bound by the magic he had laid, but nothing would be coerced into appearing. It was an attempt to make contact with darkfacer or lightfacer. Now he saw what could only be the Lightface, the ground burning in the unending bombardment of intense sunlight. Things were moving, possibly with a purpose, and he tried to focus on the auras through that portal, but it was a difficult thing, even for one as accomplished as he was. Strange noises, strange odors wafted through the summoning gate, and a heat that was partially blocked, but not entirely. These things -- noises, smells, heat -- could not be masked with his visual illusions. Not yet.

[Tiki]

Tiki has been patrolling around the clearing for a while now. The immediate change in the setting verified his suspicious of something being off, but his specific theory was disproven. Of all the obscure things he had come across, from the Bronze Woods of Sylira to the icy sheets of Avanthal in Taldera, these sensations were something new. He became more uncomfortable. The heat that escaped the portal, paired with those devilish sounds and obscene odors, proved to suggest something of danger to Tiki. As if peering into the dark shadow of a cave, blind to what lurked within its cavernous deep (though he might as well have been as he was so blind to the illusion), Tiki withdrew from the clearing more. He was careful to back away, growling low with his ears pointed back, and teeth bared. He tried to ward away the force that lay within the illusion, naively, with a taunting snarl. Whatever it was, it seemed to snarl back, louder; it sounded bigger. Tiki roared wildly as he backed away still. Unknown to all but him, and those few deities who look into the minds of mortals, he was scared and conflicted. He had been through these woods for a time, not as far from the city as he was now, but close enough, and had marked his claim. If he was anything like his wild kin, he felt the urge to stay and fight, to defend what was his. You don’t survive too long wandering into the territory of others’. Furthermore, the danger was greater trying to invade, the unfamiliarity, combating the home-field advantage. If he was truly a jaguar, he would stand his ground and scream to those who trespassed against him that this was his land and he’d die fighting for it, no matter how wrong he was. He roared again, his voice on the border of a resonating bass and the squeal of a cub. Whatever came out of that clearing, that foreign realm hidden behind twisted perceptions, he would fight.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian was leaning over his circle, peering into the portal that opened onto the Lightface of Fyrden, actually seeing the place. Even this passive viewing was helpful, he thought. It was information, knowledge, which he could, with effort, parlay into wisdom. But when he heard growling and then a strange, cracking roar behind him, he knew that something was not right. It was not abnormal for strange sounds to come out of portals leading to other worlds, but within his own, that was a bad sign. Nothing had come through his summoning circle, so it was the matter of a thought to banish it. When the portal dissipated and the glyphs dug into the hard earth destroyed themselves, he stood slowly, turning around, and pulled the Illusion back into him, which was to reveal himself and a gently smoking little crater where his circle had once been. Such was the wages of a hastily banished circle. Hadrian had little talent for battle, but he immediately Fluxed reserves of djed into muscle and sinew, nerve and bone, strengthening and speeding up that of which his body was capable. "How now," he called, "who goes there?!"

[Tiki]

That low growling of his rattled off one last time before it faded to nothing. It wasn’t quite that dark out, not that it mattered too much to him, but it had its difficulties. For one it must have been tough to spot him, for a human that was, even against the white fur. More than a human, he seemed to have possibly stumbled across a Vantha – or not. Tiki calmed himself, and though he was still low to the ground and slow moving, those ears of his didn’t shoot back anymore. He just gave Hadrian that characteristic look that felines do. Infinite curiosity; that was it. It was a blank stare with eyes forward. It took a worthwhile stimulus to take a cat from its object of curiosity. That stimulus was loud, obnoxious, and seemingly dangerous nine out of ten times, Tiki would bet. So there he was, crouching and moving slow toward a human he knew nothing of. Not only had he hidden himself in the snow, but he appeared from a smoking crater. Could he be an Ethaefal? They fall from the skies, right? By the Gods he did, he did find an Ethaefal! He didn’t glow like he thought they would. Maybe this one was doing it wrong. There was only one way to find out, and he couldn’t do that too well as a cat. It’d help his cause to get out of the snow. He began to move close to Hadrian with his head hung low. How tall he was became more apparent, in addition to the fact that he was no Vantha. When the snow beneath his paws had receded and only the stone dirt, forever frozen in the north, beneath him, he gave Hadrian a better looking at. Yup, definitely not a Vantha; too tall. The space between him and Hadrian was kept. It was a nice buffer for personal space. Wild people running around the woods and falling from the sky were best approached with caution. Definitely. He looked at Hadrian with his head hung low, looking up with his golden eyes. He didn’t get company out in the wild, and it was where he felt at his best. He shifted his shoulders, and his bag slid to his left side. He waited for Hadrian’s move, his tail swishing in the early morning air.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian's entire body was tingling with a readiness to flee, or fight if flight was impossible. Many a weak-willed wizard had probably succumbed to sweet whispers from the Flux, for one felt truly powerful with every nerve and muscle flushed with djed for the burning. It was, he supposed, like a drug. Somewhere between his optical nerve's improvement and the sudden flood of information from his Auristics, he caught the disparity between the large cat's body and its soul. His soul, for it was male, and too intelligent for a cat, so most likely a Kelvic. Young. Not necessarily hostile. Well, sure. He was worming his way closer in an almost subservient manner, which lent itself to his decision that this was a Kelvic. The djed was a little wild around him, skittering about after his abortive Summoning portal shattering too quickly. "Hello," he said in quiet, but firm Common. His words as they snaked through the air between them, were laced with harmless hypnosis, his voice calming, authoritative, seductively promising that not only was Hadrian not going to hurt him, but that he could protect him if he was in danger. With his body flush with djed he was humming with a higher frequency of energy that an animal might sense without realizing it, anyway. Perhaps it was that power that made the cat come forth upon his belly, posing no threat himself. "I am Hadrian. You startled me, but I do not wish to fight with you."

[Tiki]

That was weird…this guy, Hadrian, was weird. He seemed weird at least. Tiki having been recently startled wasn’t much help either. Regardless, Tiki took his words as truth, despite all senses suggesting otherwise, his own perceptions at least. Tiki was but a few feet in reach before he stopped and settled down on the cleared round. He sat and yawned. His mouth was open and his tongue showing. He was looking around at the clearing. Hadrian was a weirdo; that’s for sure. He couldn’t draw either. The circle looked messy and littered with other unnecessary shapes. He seemed to yawn and shake his head a little before finally shutting his mouth, licking his lips, and looking up at Hadrian. he let out a brief purr-like growl. Hadrian was welcome. Even if he didn’t eat in the wild today, he’d have to resume hunting soon. He could eat when he returned to Avanthal, and probably would at this rate. Should the hunt fail, he had dusk to make up for it. Hadrian’s words danced over Tiki’s mind again, his claim of not wanting to fight. Who would want to fight? It sounded pretty stupid to Tiki, who himself was certainly not looking for more conflict than the challenge of hunting. He thought of a million ways to make his work easier, including not doing it, but never would he be able to perform such impossible feats. He had startled Hadrian; that was funny too. Prey got startled, easily at that. In his mind, Tiki was in charge, yet unaware of Hadrian’s power. He was confident, amused, and warm on the inside. Being the cat he was, two going on three, perhaps considerably still a kitten in some ways, he got comfortable quickly. His head turned as he looked at Hadrian and his makeshift workshop in the woods, and turned back again the other way. For a cat even, his face seemed highly amused and heightened in its senses. He looked back at Hadrian and let his head bob up and down a little. He then lay on his side and stretched out. Not long from then way he on his back-side, front paws curled to his chest, with his head rubbing on the ground. He looked at Hadrian upside down wanting to be rubbed, itched, and petted. Everyone likes cats…everyone! Who could possibly resist the opportunity to rub a big kitty like Tiki as if he was a tabby lap-cat? He tried to persuade Hadrian in return, letting out a low purr. The bag on his back was still stuck over his limbs and being rolled on the ground. The soft fur inside shifted easily in the sure sealed backpack with no pinching or binding either! Tiki was an odd cat indeed; if only his spots could be seen in this dim light. Then Hadrian would surely think him a freak. He was only further amused in such a thought.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian blinked. That had worked better than he could have hoped, and he wondered how old the Kelvic was to act so kittenish, or if it was some strange reaction to his hypnosis, the which he kept as a steady, calming buzz in the background to keep things as friendly as possible. Well, if he got away with giving the great cat some scratching and rubbing, that would be fine. And there was always the close study of new animals to form models for his Morphing! Cheered by that, he knelt down beside the great beast and began to give him a bit of a rub down. He wasn't sure whether big cats were supposed to purr or not, or if that was a Kelvic thing, but he would appease the powerful beast and keep his own skin. Or perhaps he would change his skin too. Beneath his hands and the intense scrutiny of his Auristic sense, he learned a great deal about feline anatomy. His hands were careful, clinical while still looking to keep the big cat sedated with pleasure. Peering into the beast's eyes, he poured djed into his own, dying them golden, slitting the pupil. It took a little time, was slow going, and so the cat might not have noticed. But his vision didn't seem to change. There must be some internal structural element he was missing, but for now he was content with surfaces. One had to master the obvious before delving into the internal mysteries.

[Tiki]

Big kitties purr…loud. Hadrian had magic fingers alright, and they itched that deep itch beneath his fur. It was nice to have something warm penetrating to his skin out here as opposed to the cool breezes. Tiki’s movements became sudden at some points, not to scare Hadrian, but to make the most of his pleasure. He rolled back and forth a few times to help guide Hadrian’s hand a few times then they found the g-spot. No, not that… weirdo… He was still with his eyes closed a little while before Hadrian became curious of his body all the more. He shifted his hand slightly in his study, but Tiki only meant to wonder why. His eyes broken open a wee-bit and squinted back at Hadrian (who observed and analyzed him with such scrutiny). Then he saw it, the eyes changed colors. Perhaps he was a tall Vantha out for a – WOAH!!! Tiki growled and gave Hadrian a quick swat of his claw on the arm. The cut might have let loose blood, he had not meant too, but he was startled. Tiki hissed again and got on his feet before he started to back away and roared at Hadrian more and more. The slit in his eyes was not of Vantha quality. If anything, a dhani maybe, but not a Vantha, or even an ethaefal. Do ethaefal have slit eyes…? Probably not! This thing was not good to look at. He looked pretty scary with those eyes actually. Tiki naively failed to realize the look he had shown to so many others, being Hadrian was modeling Tiki’s eyes. The awkwardness of his hypnotic trance became more apparent and broke. This was not a calming, warm moment. It was scary. What sort of person can do these things? He only could wonder. It’s not like Hadrian had hurt him, but there’s just a different psychology to cats, some fight, others run. Tiki was a fighter. Hopefully Hadrian did neither, but explained himself else he becomes foe or prey.