Flashback Jungle Fever

[Ayatah]

3 Summer, 508AV. Kandukta Basin

She had her eyes on her target. Fortunately, his back was to her so Ayatah's victim would not see her low and quiet approach. She crouched down, her steps carefully placed on the more solid parts of mud to avoid the unpleasant squelch sound that would undoubtedly catch the attention of her prey. He stood in the shallow waters, his entire body tensed ready to catch any fish that dared to swim too close.

Little did the predator know that he was being hunted, as well.

Ayatah came closer and closer, barely daring to breathe. Her muscles were tense, her joints flexed. Everything was going well - she was going in for the kill.

Only she did not think about the ripple of the water that her steps would make. Despite her slow, controlled moves, as soon as Aya's left toes broke through the water's surface, it buckled and rippled, betraying her presence.

Her prey noticed the dancing water; he glanced down.

It was now or never if Ayatah was ever going to make her kill. With a Great War cry, the half-breed leapt, kicking off with her right foot. She sailed through the air with a complete lack of grace. Her landing would be humiliating, if not incredibly painful.

Thankfully, her companion turned at the last moment and caught her. Their bodies slammed together, and the two young Myrians would have fallen over had Tutwa's feet not been planted deeply in the water silt. As it was, they merely swayed in the water before Ayatah planted her feet down.

"You heard me?"

"And saw you approach." His voice betrayed the tiniest amount of genuine irritation. Tutwa of the Bloodies Hands gestured to the glossy green-black liquid below. "The ripples in the water betrayed you, but so did your usual lack of grace."

"Well." Ayatah stammered out, quite unsure how to other react to such an insult. She recovered well though, and sidled up to her male companion, holding herself close to the warmth of his body. "I won't bother next time, then."

Tutwa growled lowly, but his free hand - the one not occupied with a spear - snaked around her waist and pulled Aya even closer. He bought his face to hers, but did not kiss her. Instead, Tutwa inhaled deeply, momentarily drowning in the Eypharian scent that wafted from Aya's skin and hair. "The Gods should damn you, woman. I'm trying to fish."

"So try, then." She declared cockily, arching a brow and sweeping her hands to the fish-infested waters of the Kandukta Basin. "I'm not distracting you." An innocent smile played on her lips just long enough for Tutwa to pull away and resume his previous stance. She admired his form for a tick: back stooped over the water, his spear arm raised whilst the other pointed towards the water to guide the weapon into a fish, should one appear.

But one didn't. Instead, Ayatah crouched low again. The water gobbled up her calves, knees and thighs. Soon the warm water filled her stomach and breasts. With a deep breath, she submerged her entire head. Ayatah lingered in the water for a maximum of two ticks. Then she stood up sharply, breaking through the water and into the jungle humidity again.

Tutwa turned towards her, his eyes already rolling sarcastically at her childlike boredom. But then he glanced down her body, drinking in how the water ran down her body and made her leather war clothes cling to those curves. He swallowed deeply and grunted, "oh, petch it."

[Ayatah]

The spear was thrown into the shallow water, stabbing nothing but silt and sand. Ayatah glanced at it, surprised by the male's sudden lack of patience. She would have asked what was wrong - indeed, the words were forming on her lips. But he silenced her before she could make a sound. His lips crashed against hers with aggressive passion. His fingers grabbed her arm and hips, pushing her so Ayatah had to walk blindly backwards. Meanwhile, she returned his kiss with equal ferocity, and her hands were already roaming his body hungrily, a woman starved.

At some point, her feet tripped and her knees gave way. The two Myrians tumbled down. Tutwa landed with his face in the water, and rolled over spluttering. Aya thankfully hit the ground with only her lower body in the water, the waves lapping up to her bellybutton. Her hair and the entire back of her head became covered in sludge. Not that it mattered, of course.

Tutwa rolled over, his arms either side of Ayatah's shoulders and his legs between hers. Drops of water fell from his nose and forehead onto her face. "Well, now you have my full attention."

The half-Eypharian squirmed under him, tossing her head left and right to try and avoid the wettest and largest water droplets. "Aren't I the lucky one?" Her voice was coy, spoken in a tone that Aya knew would play on Tutwa's most primal urges. When she bucked her hips upwards to push against him, the young male groaned breathlessly into her ear. His desire was more than obvious, and it fed Ayatah's ego until she felt full and proud.

How long had it been since she had started attaching sexual attraction to her worth as a Myrian? Some would call it shady, or even desperate. But to Ayatah, her experience as a half-breed had only been mollified when her fellow comrades - the males, at least - became distracted by her attractiveness and her smell. Instead of calling her filth, they held her close and requested her company. Of course it was all physical: none of her male partners particularly cared for her personality or mind. But for Aya, any forms of positive attention were better than what she was used to.

Tutwa was no exception. In fact, he was perhaps a particularly bad example. They had known each other for at least ten years, having attended the primary form of Myrian schooling together as children. To begin with, he had made her life just as miserable as the rest of her classmates, spitting on her and bruising her caramel-coloured skin -- all whilst laughing. But then something had happened. Shortly after Ayatah's body had changed from a girl's to a woman's, the insults stopped and compliments came. It was bizarre: and for quite a while, Aya did not know whether her male comrades had simply come together to form a particularly well-thought and cruel plot.

[Ayatah]

But there had never been any plotting or cruel intentions behind the change behind her male comrade’s behaviour. It was something far more simple and primal: lust. Desire. Want. Passion.

And thus became the foundation of Ayatah’s place in Myrian society. Or at least, within the micro-society of her fellow warriors. Far from ideal, yes. But better than nothing.

Tutwa lay naked beside her, his leather loincloth embedded amongst the wet sand and silt of the basin. The Myrian stared at the green canvas hanging above them, but eventually he spoke. “You read a lot, don’t you?” His dark eyed slid over to Aya, then roamed down her body for a tick. She was also naked, her skin faintly stained with dark water. “I know you do. We used to make fun of you when we were kids, remember?”

How could I forget?

She said nothing, merely waiting for her comrade to come to the conclusion of whatever little speech he was making. “Only, I was wondering…” He hesitated yet again, closed his eyes and wiped his face with one large hand. “What do your books say about what’s beyond the jungle? Like wherever you’re mother met your f—“

”He’s not my father. He’s not a parent.” Ayatah’s interruption was sharp, making Tutwa raise an eyebrow in silent question. But he knew better than to say anything. She may only be a half-, but Aya’s temper could flare like any other Myrian woman. Particularly if anyone asked her about her heritage, and especially for any specific details about the man who had squirted her into Paira of the Scattered Bones’ belly all those years ago.

But secretly, Ayatah yearned for more information about that man and his strange, desert world. Yes, she read books. She read countless books about anything and everything, but especially the world beyond the jungle, and Ekytol in particular. But she needed to be careful in how she replied to Tutwa’s question: to be honest, and admit her interest would be also blasphemous against Myri and the Myriasn culture. But she could not lie; that would be almost as dangerous as being honest.

So Ayatah shrugged, drastically downplaying her interest and knowledge about her father’s home. ”But yes, I read. My mother met him in Riverfall, but that’s not where he was from.”

“What’s Riverfall like?”

Ayatah did not reply immediately, though now her hesitance was not out of fear of her own answer, as it had been before. Instead, she was curious. Tutwa’s response to her statement - his follow-up question - had been wholly unexpected. Nobody outside of her clan had ever asked for further details before. Carefully she said, ”my mother said it was… cold. And there were nowhere near as few trees. And the buildings were made of stone.”

Tutwa rolled onto his side, facing Ayatah and watching her lips move as she spoke. He was equal parts fascinated with the mixed blood’s physique and her biological background. But more aptly, he was intrigued in the world outside of their jungle home – did all women look like Ayatah out there? If so, Tutwa could easily convince himself to leave the safety of the jungle to explore those foreign lands. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, imagining the hundreds of desert women he would meet and… conquer.

[Ayatah]

”Are you thinking of leaving?” Ayatah asked for the third time in as many chimes. When he did not respond, she grunted and elbowed Tutwa sharply in the side. He yelped loudly and demanded what her problem was, so Aya explained in a cool tone, ”you’ve been lying there staring at me but not listening. Did you even hear what I said?”

In truth, Tutwa had not. He’d been too busy thinking of the female delights places like Riverfall could offer him. Barbarian women were no doubt as filthy and sinful as he’d been told, but that did nothing to make them less irresistible to the young Myrian male. “I was thinking.” He said with a sigh, supposing that barbarian women would not demand and nag at him like his female counterparts seemed to so frequently. “What did you say?”

Ayatah bristled, stood up and began to dress herself. The pleasure of Tutwa’s company always seemed to sour as soon their passions would subside. Ultimately, he was distractible, grumpy, and always seem to have his eye on the next best thing. ”I asked if you were thinking of leaving the jungle after your service.” She repeated, turning her back to him in order to fasten her leather armour top.

“Maybe.” He said earnestly, remaining where he was on the sand, his hands cupped behind his head. “To see what’s out there.”

”Really?” His honesty came as a surprise; few individuals would admit so quickly to having a desire to explore the barbarian lands. Though some did, it was always expected that a Myrian would only leave Taloba to somehow conquer the lands outside. Even her own mother rarely spoke a kind word about her time beyond the jungle, though Aya knew she had made many special friends in Riverfall.

Tutwa grunted. “What about you?”

”Maybe.” Ayatah shrugged, once again acting far more indifferent to the idea than she truly was. Of course she wanted to explore the lands beyond Taloba! She always had, in order to explore where her mother had travelled and where she had been conceived. But she had never admitted such a desire, not even to her clan mates. ”I don’t know why I’d bother.”

“Don’t be silly, Ayatah. Of course you will.” His tone sounded accusatory, and the half-Eypharian winced in prepararion for the onslaught of racist abuse that was surely about to come. But no: instead, Tutwa pressed his lips to hers and said, “why else would you read all those books? We may as well both be honest. I want to explore one day, and so do you.”

She nodded, silently fearful that should she make a sound, Tutwa’s apparent trustworthiness would melt away like the illusion it must be. But yet again, he proved her wrong. The male, who had once spat in Ayatah’s hair and pushed her into a pile of mud, merely took her hand and led her back towards the main camp of their fang. “Maybe we can leave together, one day.”

[Dravite]

Ayatah

XP Award:

• Stealth: 1
• Swimming: 1
• Flirting: 2
• Seduction: 1
• Logic: 1
• Socialisation: 1
• Rhetoric: 1

Lore:

• Stealth: Basics of moving through water
• Seduction: Distracting Tutwa
• Tutwa: Remembers the past
• Tutwa: Interested in travel
• Tutwa: Good for one thing

Notes: Nice little thread, I find your character very interesting. Let me know if you think I have missed anything here and be sure to edit your grading request!

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