Flashback An Unexpected Encounter (Jagger)

[Tinnok]

An Unexpected Encounter
30th of Summer 512 AV

Her injuries were finally beginning to fade from her trip to Shorn Skulls territory. She had never eaten much, so the stomach wound was nothing the half breed particularly worried about, but the soreness in her limbs and back had only just begun to fade, and she was thankful for that.

It was strange now, having completed her three years in the military, Tinnok had a certain level of freedom afforded to her, but she couldn't help but still feel trapped in the cage that was Taloba. Her duties to her clan, the eyes always watching her every move with wary expectations. Razkar and Ayatah were her beacons of solace...but so too were they to each other, a bond which she couldn't breach, nor wished to, and so in the end, she was simply the useless third wheel upon a horse drawn cart, cut off from her peers as always.

Today she found herself in the city for reasons she couldn't be sure of. It was much more peaceful in the jungle, where her Gnosis allowed communication with creatures who saw her as a disciple of Caiyha, and not some monstrous figure. Before entering the city she covered her skin with mud and dirt, rubbing it along her arms, face and legs to take away the sheen of her scales, and kept a few strand of her loose curls about her face. The tigers at the entrance to the city still growled low under their breaths as she walked by, but...it did the trick well enough, most int eh city were too busy to search for Dhani half breeds that should have been culled at birth.

Maybe she sought the crowds of people because it made her feel less alone, maybe because the noises of the shouts and bartering at the Trading Square drowned out despondent thoughts as her mind mulled over the tumultuous events of the Spring Djed storm, the cavern her and Eagle had excavated...the monster in the woods whose scars she still carried. But if she was purposefully seeking crowds, then why did she find herself at the animal stalls?

The lowing of cows and chirping of birds met her ears as Tinnok made her way to the pet stalls, admiring the animals, wishing simultaneously she could free them, release them into Caiyha's domain. She found herself drawn to the sleepy looking owls, curious as to their thinking, but was interrupted by a commotion coming from nearby...

[Jagger]

Jagger fiddled with the piece of rope he had, trying over and over again to make a good sort of slipknot. He was working on designing a small slip-snare for use in the Falyndar wilds, though he was having trouble getting the knot to function exactly how he wanted. Preferably, he would like to attach one end to a stake, and the other end over a hole camouflaged into the ground. In an ideal world, the small animal would walk over the trap, fall into the hole, and have the noose break its fall. He wasn't so sure if it would work well, though. He needed to place it so he caught the animal by the neck or chest, and instantly killed it instead of leaving it to flail around in agony. He didn't particularly feel bad if something like that happened, but at the same time, it felt disrespectful. Like a lack of skill on his part had caused some sort of insult to the jungle. Perhaps the Myrians were rubbing off on him. He winced a bit as he strode through the village, blue eyes hard as they stared straight ahead.

The half-breed looked like he had been put through hell and then dragged up out of it. His face was bruised with varying shades of purple and yellow, and his lips were scabbed over from dozens of places where they had been split open. The billowy white shirt and trousers that he wore were shredded here and there, with various other bruises peeking through where bare skin showed. A few dirty looks were tossed his way, but he ignored them, used to it by now. He was an outsider, and to stop the stares, he would have to prove himself. He planned on doing exactly that. Setting his jaw, he wove through the marketplace, on his way to buy some more rope to practice with. His hands absentminded worked on the piece that he currently held, tying and untying the attempts at an effective knot while browsing though the different market stalls. He soon reached the animals, and paused a moment, feeling a moment of longing pain through his heart. He missed all the animals of the sea. As if sensing his pain, he felt a nuzzle from behind, his Tavan trying a bit to comfort him. The penguin was a sight to see, and caused more than one savage to pause. It was just a tropical penguin, but it was a tropical penguin who was strapped into a little backpack and wearing a small suit of what looked to be woven kelp. His flippers were comfortably outside the pack, and his webbed feet peeked through small holes on the bottom, making it look fairly comfortable. He silently nuzzled the penguin back, seeking a small moment of comfort in his childhood friend. Pengu had kept him sane through all of this.

"Hey, Deyhan." The rough Myrian insult poked at his ears, and he curled his lip, instinctively tensing his muscles and snarling in the direction the insult had come from. A stall owner met his gaze, grinning sharply, bared teeth making Jagger's look puny by comparison. The half-Svefra didn't back down though, blue eyes glittering rebelliously, showing that some of his bruises had probably come from the amount of fire sparking inside of him. "Have fuzzy pet for you. Perfect for Deyhan and small Myrian children." The Myrian spoke broken Common, almost a way of mocking Jagger. They seemed to think that outsiders thought of them as stupid monkeys, and often talked like they were dull and then laughed about it. Jagger ignored the constant jabs, cautiously heading toward the stall to peek inside. He was met with a hoard of little purple, orange, and blue balls of fluff. The Svefra simply couldn't help himself, and the tough facade faded away to reveal sparkling blue eyes and a very wide, playful sort of smile. "D'aaaaw." They were so cute.

The Myrian roared with laughter, and Jagger flamed red, realizing his mistake too late. His eyes instantly hardened again, and the fire sparked once more as he stepped forward and spoke loudly. "Funny, I didn't think a Kotakbil would have any luck catching animals. Could only round up the fluffy ones, eh?" A few heads turned, sharp grins eager at the prospect of what could possibly happen. The Myrian stopped laughing, raising an eyebrow at the Deyhan and his accompanying penguin. Hadn't he learned not to be mouthy yet?

[Tinnok]

Riamms. She had always liked the strange creatures, their brightly colored fur and snouts peeking so cutely from their fur. They seemed to be everything Falyndar was not, up until the point that they transformed into those hulking beasts that could shred a Myrian limb from limb. She had never owned one, never asked, but as some noise came from across the the gravel path near the Riamm stall, Tinnok's head turned to look at the one called 'Deyhan'.

His skin color was different, his hair tinted lighter and...redder than any Myrian. Some features seemed akin to her brethren, limber muscles, height, and a disposition for tattoos, but when the man glanced around she saw a glimpse of bright wild blue eyes. Tinnok racked her mind for a moment, wondering what type of human had those...for he surely was human. Was it the one's of the sea? or the one's that flew on giant birds? Ach, or maybe the one's on horses...it was so petching confusing when it came to the types of them, she could never keep it straight.

But his insults were very Myrian, even if they were spoken mostly in common. The half breed paused, wondering if she should intervene. It would be likely that both shopkeeper and foreigner would regret it if she did, but the way he was looking at the strange man meant a fight was brewing.

"Don't want to rile the Riamm, aye?" Her voice said causally, half way between the two stalls, hair still covering her treacherous eyes.

"And what's it to you?" Shouted the shopkeeper, his face red around the edges from being insulted by the Deyhan.

"I like all of my limbs on my body, and that little guy looks...agitated." In fact the Riamm looked fine, and was still snuffling around the table, it was the one's in the cages that looked upset, as if their thick fur was absorbing the tension between the two males.

[Jagger]

He was ready to get his ass handed to him. The half-breed was full of fire and sass, but it was mostly hot air. Just about anyone in this city could manhandle him, even some of the children. But what was he supposed to do? He wasn't just going to roll over and let them have their way with him. No, he would put up a fight and then let them have their way with him. It was the only way he was going to gain even an inkling of respect, with his blue eyes and red hair. He kept the snarl on his face even as the Myrian advanced on him, preparing to throw one or two wild blows before he lost a couple of teeth. Thankfully, a female voice interrupted the advancing menace, and both men (and a penguin) turned their heads to soak her in.

Jagger wasn't the type to find her interruption offensive, and instead grew instantly curious. She was tall, very tall, and that was something slightly odd to see. That, and he felt... agitated about her. Not quite angry, not quite afraid, but just on edge. He sensed the Myrian next to him bristling as well, but they both knew their place around a member of the opposite sex. They both bowed their heads in unison, glancing down at the ground, giving the woman a nod of respect. The Myrian was managing to keep any further shouts held back, but still darted a few angry stares at Jagger every now and then. They were both distracted by the woman's next words though, which caused both of them to glance back at the little Riamm. Their fur was bristling.

The Myrian shook his head, glaring again at Jagger, murmuring more threats underneath his breath as he moved over to speak soft and comforting words to the agitated little beasts. Jagger glanced back and forth between the shopkeeper and Tinnok, and then brashly spoke up again. "How much for one of the... Riamm?" He still spoke in a mix of Myrian and Common, smoothly switching between languages in a way that was probably comfortable only to him. His selection of Myrian words were notably much fewer than his Common, though. The shopkeeper sharply spoke, his voice both harsh and darkly amused. "4 bikka, Deyhan." Jagger furrowed his brow in annoyance, but kept his composure around the oddly imposing aura of Tinnok. He dug around in his pocket for the 12 dirty Mizas, and handed them over to the shopkeeper. The man snorted at the sight of the Deyhan money, but pocketed it nonetheless. He selected a bright pink one out of the flock, and with a toothy grin handed it to Jagger.

Jagger was completely clueless to the fact that he was discreetly getting mocked again, and eagerly accepted the handful of fluff. An odd little coo escaped his lips as he held the thing, and he turned quickly to Tinnok. He was absolutely beaming, a stark contrast to the fiery man of before, with blue eyes glittering in child-like amusement and a broad grin stretching his face. "I am Jagger, it is a pleasure. You seem familiar with these little beasties. Want to give me a tutorial on how to take care of one?" The Riamm wiggled in his gentle grasp, giving an enthusiastic chitter. Nearby, the agitated Riamm's were still watching closely.

[Tinnok]

Tinnok was surprised how swiftly the fight went out of both of the males. Perhaps it was her gender, perhaps it was the strange allure of the brightly hued creatures sitting upon the table, cooing and wriggling about, but in her opinion, what mattered was the brightly hued fluff balls staying at their present size.

The stranger then proceeded to buy one and then to address her...

Tinnok took the time to study this 'Jagger' more closely as he approached her. It looked somewhat as if he was a Myrian dipped in Syna's light for a bit too long, lightening his skin, eyes, and hair. Her eyes dipped down to the cooing ball of fluff in Jagger's hands, offering two fingers in way of greeting to the Riamm. It's little snout peeked slowly forward, inspecting her fingers and studying them, smelling the scents unique to the half breed. A small cough escaped from the fur surrounding the creature, but it crept forward a little, Tinnok wondering if it was because of her Gnosis. She reached forward a little and placed one finger upon a protruding paw, mind sifting into the thoughts of the young Riamm. It was excited with the new scents, the new people, even the sound of Common it liked, body practically quivering with all the new information it was having a chance to process. The rapid fire thoughts and images that Tinnok received from the little beast cause Tinnok to chuckle, her eyes glancing towards the penguin strapped to the man's back for a moment before taking back her hand. He had spoken in common, a tongue she wasn't well versed in, but she wasn't sure how well his grasp on Myrian was, so she decided to muddle through it in her broken way.

"I Tinnok, of Tempered Steel." she began, then gestured to the Riamm "Riamm? Eat all things, no worry what feed it, but color?" She ran her hand lightly over the fluff. "It change...when eat..." she struggled to find a word "what fruit makes fur...change" she finished lamely. A thought occurred to her and she gestured to Jagger to follow her over to the Fruit Stalls, gesturing to a bright mango compared to a coconut, hoping it would illuminate the purpose. As they walked, Myrians glanced warily at the pink ball of fluff, identifying the Deyhan holding it and openly scoffing. Tinnok had had enough looks in her life to easily ignore them, but she took a step away from the fruit and smirked.

"Should know. Riamm child pet, protect, guard. Get one as grown up?" Her eyes looked one way then another, meaningfully around. "It not look good..."

She smirked and shrugged a section of hair falling aside with the motion and revealing a singular large, yellow eye that contained a bit of her smile in its expression.

[Jagger]

He had once had a hard time adjusting to how society worked here. The males were painfully submissive to the females, though he eventually had understood it with one glance at who they worshiped. He had easily fallen in line, not at all opposed to it, just not used to it. Sometimes it came in handy though, for a lot of the females he had met were a bit more level-headed than the males. Usually they were just as fierce, if not more, and just knew how to keep it sheathed. The deadliest steel was the one you didn't see until it was buried in you, or at least Jagger thought.

Watching as she made a new friend of the little pink Riamm, he tried to imitate it's noises, offering little chirps and coos that matched it's own surprisingly well. He grinned down at the little thing as it slowly felt around Tinnok's finger, letting out a few disappointed cooing sounds as she pulled back. He reached up his other thing and scratched around where he thought it's ears would be, trying a few more of the chirping sounds to try and sooth the little pink Powderpuff. Glancing up at Tinnok as she struggled through a sentence, he waited and then replied in that rough mixture of Myrian and Common, trying his best to help her out. The male Myrian looked on, cautiously peeved, a mixture of self-restraint and irritation at Jagger's continued presence. The half-breed himself just continued to casually stand there, his words coming out slowly. "I like pink. I'll have to find it fruit to keep it pink. It is a pretty color." The shopkeep snorted, and Jagger shot him a glare, a burst of aggression radiating from both before they both glanced toward Tinnok and once more calmed down. They were soon seperated as Tinnok led Jagger elsewhere, who followed eagerly along. He wasn't used to being talked with so very easily. It delighted him.

The half-breed seemed to make a point of snarling towards every Myrian who chuckled his way, making faces like a proud little baby tiger among a crowd of jungle monsters. He was certainly full of spark, and his mangled appearance showed that he wasn't afraid to throw it around. At her suggestion that it didn't look good that he had the children's pet, he gave her a scowl and then tossed the scowl around to all onlookers, squeezing the little pink ball protectively to his chest as if he was afraid they would take it away from him. "I don't care. I like him. His name is Powderpuff. Her name. His name." He paused, and lifted the little ball up in the air, squinting his eyes as he turned it all around. It chirped in delight, apparently amused by the ride as Jagger unsuccessfully tried to tell it's gender. After a moment, he sat it back down in the crook of his arm, eyes narrowed. "Its name is Powderpuff. Or Puggles. I haven't decided. The penguin is called Pengu. Say hi, Pengu." The little penguin lifted a flipper from his perch on Jagger's back, letting out a loud squawk of greeting.

At the sight of her odd eye, Jagger tilted his head and stared right at it. After a small moment of silence, he spoke quietly, his face expressionless. "Your eye looks like the eye of a snake." He paused a moment, and then flashed her a toothy grin, eyes glinting playfully. "It is pretty. Where do I find pink fruit? Where in the jungle. Is there somewhere close?" He tilted his head, abruptly changing topics, slowly revealing quite the hyperactive personality.

[Tinnok]

She watched him for a moment as he eyed her, catching the glint of yellow in her gaze. He was hard to read...perhaps just quite excitable by the way he was so entranced by the little Riamm, but it seemed her secret was safe with the half breed for now, so Tinnok decided it was best to not linger on the details of her bloodline.

She glanced around, watching Jagger snarl at a passing Myrian giving them a weird look and rolled her eyes, attempting this strange hybrid of common and Myrian he had been attempting to piece together a more whole sentence.

"There is a lot of fresh fruit this time of season." The words were slow, halting, but much more clear. Instead of gesturing she started leading Jagger through the winding streets towards the entrance of Taloba, taking the duly named 'Powderpuff' gingerly from his grasp and flipping it over. The thing made a small whine of protest that she rubbed away, running two fingers along its back to calm it, using a singular finger on ehr free hand to comb through the mass of fur.

When she returned the creature to Jagger she smiled. "It's a girl. And it is nice to meet you...Pengu." She extended a hand gingerly towards the penguin, who playfully snapped at her fingers then shook slightly in his harness, though whether that was greeting or a warning, Tinnok wasn't entirely sure.

"You do not need to find fruit that is...pink to keep the color of her, just fruit that is...how you say...bright?" The half breed wove through the dirt pathways, seeming to be adept at avoiding the gazes of her brethren, walking quietly, but swiftly so that each individual would have only half a tick to look at her if they even tried.

"Does Pengu enjoy fruit? Or just fish?" She asked curiously as they walked. She didn't know much of aquatic creatures, especially not penguins, most of which she had heard, resided in places where rain froze in the sky and fell like crystals to the ground...which was simply ridiculous. She paused a moment in her journey, taking a moment to realize precisely what she was doing, which was taking the half breed into the wilds of Falyndar to find fruit for his bubbling infant Riamm, and stopped, turning toward Jagger with a quirked smile.

"Apology, you can buy the fruit if you want, or I can show you some of them. I not like spending much time in the city...but that is only I."