[Tskanna Training Yards] From Tail to Trunk (Quzon)

[Tinnok]

From Tail to Trunk
51st of Winter 497 A.V.

No one looked twice at the dusty young Myrian girl that ran like a leopard through the packed dirt pathways of Taloba's back streets. They didn't realize mud and dirt had been carefully placed on her arms and legs to hide the strange sheen of her skin, her hair placed every so carefully to fall messily in front of her eyes so no one could glimpse the tint of her pupils.

Despite the careful efforts to conceal her identity, Tinnok bore a shyke eating grin on her face. She longed for these days, when she had done all chores possible in and around Tempered Steel longhouses, and when Krisha would escort her daughter the half day's journey it took to reach the city. Here she could visit Kohl, her stand in father figure who worked in the Tskanna yards and learn things from him about how to care for the massive yet gentle creatures.

She loved the Tskanna dearly. Their trunks were always gentle, their steps always cautious as if to make sure they weren't ever stepping on the much smaller Myrians that kept and fed them. The calves were playful and curious, the adults calm and thoughtful, even the bulls...though not always.

She was careful to shove the gleeful expression carefully away as she entered the yards, head down striding forward in attempt to blend into the scenery while also appearing as if she belonged there. She noticed a few feet walk past her and hurriedly went into a shed that housed the strange round bales of dried kudzu vines and grass collected from around the edges of Taloba. Grabbing two bales and making sure her face continued to be hidden she tumbled out the door and started toward where she hoped Kohl would be.

Of course covering your face made it hard to see where one was going and suddenly Tinnok found her bales tumbling out of her grasp having run into a rather Myrian shaped object. She bent over hurriedly, glancing up through her hair she eyed the individual in question.

"S-sorry."

[Quzon]

The situation was less than ideal which, truth be told, seemed to sum up the entire circumstance of Quzon's short life. He had been born with sickly pale blue skin as a sign of his isurian heritage, and made him stand out as less than worthy. However, his parents had been quite thoroughly pleased with him despite what others thought. In all honesty, it seemed to Quzon that the situation was much more likely to get worse before it was going to get better, and there was no way around it. He couldn't change who he was so he wore his skin proudly which often led him into small scuffles with other children.

He didn't mind the fighting when overzealous spars turned brutal, but to avoid constant conflict he chose to spend many of his days in the jungles, with Barbed Earth clan mates, or among the Tskanna in the yard. It was the latter where the young nine year old currently found himself wandering around trying to stay to himself as he walked through the compound of the Training yard. Quzon only wished to peek into the massive stables to view any Tskanna that might be within. He wore a simple loincloth and vest, and despite his obvious mixed blood nature his only true noticeable features were his green eyes and the dull gray color that covered his entire left arm.

When a young Taskanna Calf approached him, The mixed blood brushed his fingers gently and lovingly along the sides of its body and forehead down towards its trunk, encouraging it to play, the trunk curling around his hand. It let go of his hand when the girl approached him from behind, more interested in the food she held than Quzon.

Retaliation. That was the thought that flooded Quzon's mind now; shaped by instinct rather than contemplation. Retaliation. A bump for a bump. He spun around to see who had pushed him expecting to see someone else who wanted to make fun of him. He spun with a quickness with balled fists at his sides with his lips forming a gnarling frown.

Her apology had caught him by surprise. He blinked at the dirt covered female and tilted his head, supposing that she did not deserve the disdain in his countenance. Wrinkling his nose faintly. His expression softened to a normal curious stare.

"That is alright, but you should watch where you are going female."

[Tinnok]

One bale tumbled out of her hold, stopped by a small trunk that curled partially around it and pulled out a loose vine for insertion into a soft pink mouth. The gesture tugged at the corners of Tinnok's face. The ten year old girl wore a loose shift over her hips and a tendril of cotton wound around where breasts would someday apper, though there was certainly no evidence of them now, and the half breed somewhat doubted if there ever would be.

Her smile vanished at the look the boy gave her. His brow seemed deeper, more intense, his mouth curled in anger. Her eyes shifted behind her hair, toward the ground, lids partially closing, expecting the insults to come, but there was only a pause long enough to make her look up again before he spoke. His tone was...not rude, and by the time her yellow eyes found his green ones, his face was simply curious, no longer angry.

"Yes I should, just...excited I guess." Despite being a female, Tinnok had always been the underdog in Taloba, so she had gotten used to bowing low to male and female alike. It would only be a matter of time until this boy with piercing green eyes and...strange skin. She swept the hair out of her face to get a better look at him, a small spattering of dust getting wiped off of her brow. Golden eyes, split apart by rounded slits eyed the strange boy. His skin was a little too pale, his eyes the wrong color. One of these things wouldn't have meant much, but both of them together spelled out something different.

"Do you work here?" The tone was a little incredulous, because of course someone as young as the two of them wouldn't work...formerly here at least, but she didn't recognize the boy, and with skin like his, he would be hard to miss. Of course...the same could be said for her.

As she spoke she reached a hand behind the Tskanna calf's right ear, getting a little murmur of approval from the calf who was still munching on a vine. Her other hand reached out to rub his snout, examining the strange blue tint of the creature, trying to figure out whose calf it was. This young they didn't grow moss on their leathery skin, which was how the half breed normally determined the Older Tskanna's identity. She bent low and peered throught he calf's legs, identifying it as a 'she'.

"Where's your mama little one? Getting a bath? Out working?" The words were more of a coo. She felt a bit self concious in front of the boy, but at the very least she decided if he liked Tskanna, he couldn't be all bad.