[Near Taloba] We're all Children of the Jungle (Mihai)

[Naar]

40th of Winter, 511AV [Now that the group was closer to Taloba Naar seemed to have a little more free time to himself. Naturally he was still expected to patrol and watch but closer to the city the Warrior felt somewhat more relaxed and he had been applying the paste the Uhn had created for him to his wound so that he could continue to help it heal. Naar wasn’t actually sure if it was doing anything but it seemed to alleviate some of his pain which had assisted him in performing his duties more efficiently. When the others decided to return to Taloba and return the body of their comrade to her tribe for a pyre and the proper rites Naar had decided to linger on the outskirts.] [Maybe it was due to his mixed blood but Naar had always felt something of a stigma when he was inside the city which is why so much of his time was spent outside of it serving the Goddess Queen in other ways. Naar truly believed that he was better suited to patrolling the shores and jungles of Falyndar, killing trespassers and foreigners, rather than training and hunting back in Taloba itself and the Bloody Talons were better for it as well. Even though his name would likely never be spoken in awe Naar would increase the glory of his clan by sacrificing many in the name of Myri and consuming their bodily organs to evolve through them.] [With his Bagh Nakh fitted into the palm of his right hand, the clawed blades of the weapon extending out from his closed fist, Naar had crouched down near a tree where he used his left hand to brush along the grass looking for specific plants. None of what he saw resembled what he had seen Uhn pull out of his satchel to make the paste but there were other interesting things and Naar would pull them taut before using the Bagh Nakh to cut them free; then he take the flora and place it in a small bag he kept on his person so that he could experiment with what he had found later. There could be something useful here or there could be nothing at all.] [Looking up suddenly Naar would swing around just as a hand had reached out to touch his shoulder, he’d only just barely heard the footsteps of the Myrian as they crept up behind him, and brushing the hand away his assailant would have soon felt the claws of the Bagh Nakh on his neck causing the man to swallow hard once. Naar’s wound stung from acting so quickly but he concealed it behind a mask of indifference when he asked...”What do you want?”...prompting the Myrian to tell him...”You shouldn’t be out here alone. It’s dangerous. We travel in groups.”...then Naar shook his head once and slid the Bagh Nakh away from the man before telling him...”You are here too. Within shouting distance. We are both safe. I will call if I need assistance.” Not exactly what the other Myrian wanted to hear but nodding his head would accept what Naar had told him and move away to tend to his own business while Naar shifted his attention back to the jungle.] [His senses alert the Warrior would be difficult for anything unpractised in moving silently to get close too but the jungle was its own playground. Even this close to Taloba animals were hunting as were other Myrians and the like. Nowhere in Falyndar was safe. Maybe this is what appealed to the sensibilities of the Warrior knowing that the constant threat of danger would keep him on his toes watching and waiting for anything that could occur. Staring out into the jungle foliage Naar heard the scream of an animal, carnivore most likely, and the flutter of birds overhead before everything was calm and quiet once again.] [Letting his eyes wander he would crouch down near a tree that he could use to help blend in to the surrounding area. Natural camouflage was the best and keeping still made you less noticeable to those who were always moving and expecting that others, like them, were also moving; it made people overlook you when you weren’t acting how they expected. Naar wasn’t waiting for anything, he merely enjoyed the solitude and seeing what would cross his path...]

[Mihai]

There were always these odd, long stretches of time when Mihai could not worm his way into the Presence, even to loll upon the ground in the Goddess-Queen's audience chambers, making pert observations to her Myrian Tiger and amusing even Myri from time to time. There were times when Myri did not send him out with this hunter or that, one reconnaissance party or another attack force. He grew bored of sprawling indolently from a tree branch, napping in the sun when he could find it, watching people pass otherwise. Trees gave him a comfortable vantage point, still aloof enough to appease his loner, tigerish nature, but within short distance of the crush and hustle of humanity in Taloba. But he was still a wild thing, and needed to hunt. There were many beasts he could take down without help, and he was currently tracking such a one. But when his nose crossed the path of a human scent, he froze to analyze it. Myrian, so he relaxed somewhat. But then he dropped his stealthy gait, still quiet, but making enough noise to be heard all the same, brash for a tiger of any size. There was no breeze to bring him far off scents or take his own along, and so he kept his ears pricked up and his eyes open for signs of these, his adoptive people.

[Naar]

[Naar had crouched down near a tree, quiet and unmoving, as his scanned the jungle that sprawled out ahead of him ensuring that all he could see was foliage before long. The Warrior liked it this way and got a certain thrill out of knowing anything might have been looking, staring, right back at him and he would have never known it. Eyes stared ahead almost lifelessly as Naar let himself sink into his own thoughts where there was nothing but himself; inside his mind Naar had found a place of complete solitude that he’d constructed away from the violent nature of the world. It was the only place he was truly at peace.] [Almost instantly he was snapped back into reality though, startled awake by a sound that was barely audible, and recoiling he would shift backwards and sink behind the cover of the tree he’d been crouching beside in an attempt to remain unseen. Peering out from behind the tree only to see if he could see what he’d heard but there was nothing. Nothing in the jungle ahead of him and nothing on the ground. Around this time is when Naar had let his eyes veer upwards towards the trees where’d stare quietly as though he were expecting to find something. Actually he didn’t find much at all. At least not at first.] [When the noises came again they drew the attention of Naar who would shift his attention in their direction until he could focus on the source of the sounds. There it was. A Tiger! Not a Myrian Tiger though Naar thought as he looked at the beast. This tiger seemed a tad too small in Naar’s opinion. Granted Naar was not an expert on Tigers, not even those the Myrians bred, but he had seen several of them and they all seemed larger. This one could just be younger than the others. Naar was cautious of such a large beast, it was never wise to reveal oneself to an animal that could potential snap you in two, but he was also smart enough to know that the tiger would likely discover him sooner rather than later. Animals had senses heightened beyond those of the human norm and Naar was no master of stealth or concealment so it seemed natural he couldn’t hide forever.] [Ensuring that his Bagh Nakh was fitted into the palm of his right hand, the claws extending out between his fingers, Naar would rise slowly and move around the tree until he was standing in view of the Tiger making it easier for them to see one another. If he needed to Naar could still rush back into cover or call for assistance but he didn’t think he would need to. No tiger not of the Myrians would have been able to get this close to Taloba he thought but what did he know.] [Letting his head tilt backwards as he looked up, at the Tiger, Naar would watch the animal wearily and say...”What brings you here?”...his voice was quiet as though he were speaking to himself though he didn’t doubt he was heard. Observing the beast from a distance Naar would make a quick assessment before speaking up a little and adding...”Hunting something maybe?”...there was a bit of a chuckle that followed before he continued on...”I know the feeling. I’ll be hunting when my wounds heal.”...meaning the cut to his side though Naar also still sported a nasty looking shiner from where he’d been struck in the face by the butt end of a spear. Always fun times when that happens.] [The Bloody Talons were a brutal tribe, they were known for their dislike of most outsiders and an almost reverent kill first and ask questions later doctrine, but they revered many animals for their hunting prowess and skill in battle. Naar seemed quite respectful of the Tiger as he watched it before remarking...”What say I help you? Sound like a plan?”...a curious offer but the Myrian Tigers were renowned for their capacity for intelligence too so if this one was anything like them, or was one of them, then it too may have possessed that astounding intellect. Waiting to see what occurred next Naar would soon find out.] OOCSorry for the lateness. Work and my mojo have been a pain.

[Mihai]

When the man revealed himself, Mihai growled a greeting. Looking him over, he seemed like a man who had just sparred with Myri Herself. At least, that's what Mihai looked like after such a session, but he also grew back stronger, faster, and a better fighter in the end. He nodded his great head, too big for his body, adolescent form growing in fits and starts and not uniformly all over. Yes, he was hunting. He made great cat noises, a surprising variety of sounds, but it was rare that a human understood them well. But this one seemed to intuit his thoughts quite well, and he was nodding again. A companion would be all right. Myri would approve of two of her boys working together when one was injured; there was weakness and then there was injury, and they were not always the same thing. This one might be a wily hunter, which Mihai would respect as much as if he were all brute strength. Different skills and traits for different situations. Moving forward, he batted the man in the hip with his head, but otherwise didn't go in much for the domesticated cat routine. He sat down so he could look up without straining his neck, then stood and turned, tail whipping around, to pad in the direction of what smelled like the best game. He glanced back over his shoulder for a moment to see if the man would come. Mihai would listen to his strategy, used to letting a human take the lead when he was not alone. It was only when there were no humans around, or at least no humans worth listening to, that he could entirely fall back into the self-command he had while hunting alone.

[Naar]

[Naar didn’t speak Tiger and the Big Cat didn’t seem to speak his language either which was made evident when he made those great cat noises. Nonetheless the two of them seemed to be on the same page as the Tiger, now moving towards him, came ahead and batted Naar against the hip with his head prompting the Warrior to reach out with his left hand and scratch the massive beast on its crown once while remaining respectfully aware of the predators power. Naar didn’t have much to say just then but he’d tilt his head down so that he could look back at the Tiger as he sat and looked up at him before standing back up and padding away. Leaving the Warrior to watch briefly.] [It only took Naar a moment to follow behind the Tiger when he looked back over his shoulder. Now the two of them would hunt together. Naar, making distance, would move closer to the Tiger until he was just behind and to the right of it before whispering quietly...”Lead on. We’ll see what the Goddess intends for us to hunt today.”...meaning Myri of course and then he would crouch down as he moved so as to present a smaller target and less noticeable figure. Naar, too, would use the natural subtleties of the Tiger to lead him as the great hunter was likely much more adept at moving through the jungles of Falyndar than him.] [At the moment there was no strategy. Naar would voice his opinion when he knew what they were hunting, whether it be another predator or prey, but the plan would come quickly regardless and both of them would play their part. Lowering as they moved into the jungle Naar would watch their backs, turning his head so that he could see behind them and ensure that they were the only two there, he felt eyes on him but he ignored them knowing that half the time it was all an illusion of the environment. The Jungle was watching, it had its own eyes, and it saw everything that Naar and his new companion were doing; the Jungle let everyone who traversed its depths know.] [Tightening his right hand around the Bagh Nakh that he held there the Warrior was ready to strike, his muscles coiled like a snake that was ready to come undone, but Naar was also light on his feet. Pausing when he looked back before moving ahead again and making occasional sweeps of the ground ahead of himself so that he could step over sticks and fallen branches seeing as how he didn’t possess the natural grace of his comrade. Indeed to be a tiger and stalk silent as the night would be something else. Naar watched how the Tiger moved occasionally thinking maybe with enough practice he could mimic those motions.] [When he heard the sound of a bird flying over head Naar would look up and twist his body to catch sight of it before feeling the subtle sting that was a reminder of his wound. Internalizing the pain he wouldn’t wince. Glancing to the Tiger too then Naar who had been mostly quite would say...”You are quieter then I am. Let me know when the prey is ahead with your tail so that I do not disturb it.”...they both seemed to have clicked so far so he reasoned the Tiger would understand. Naar didn’t want to alert what they were hunting until the time was right; there were some animals you just couldn’t afford to let know you were coming.]

[Mihai]

With Naar's cooperation, Mihai led the way, tracking scents, sounds, and visible tracks as well. The man's injury slowed them down, a bit, but it also allowed Mihai to pay closer attention to what he was doing, applying some more human logic to what his feline instincts were telling him, trying to integrate the two facets of who he was into a, hopefully, better whole. When they stopped again and Naar spoke, Mihai paused in thought, finally doing what he must to make sure their hunt was successful and neither was further injured: he changed. With a brief flash of light that was swallowed by the lush jungle foliage, he stood before Naar, a naked adolescent, and smiled a crooked smile. "Mihai," he said, tapping his chest, in his barely passable Myrian. He was going to have to spend more time in human form and practice their native tongue, because while he heard it enough to understand it fairly well, his speaking was rather abominable. "Mihai circle." He tapped himself and pointed in the direction they had been heading, but curved his hand around, attempting to augment his communication with sign language. "Need ten minute. Then man walk loud. Big loud. Scare prey. Mihai kill. Mihai and man make food eating. Yes?" He was not the world's most brilliant strategist, but he could take down food, and Naar could help best in his injured state by flushing the prey, distracting it from the death-from-above, a tiger dropping from overhead branches to crush and kill.

[Naar]

[Naar was particularly surprised when the big cat transformed in a veritable flash of light and an adolescent male was left standing, naked, in the foliage of the jungle with the Warrior. Initially Naar was confused seeing as how he hadn’t expected a Kelvic, he thought that was what they were called anyways, never having witnessed a beast change into a man before but it took only moments before the shock began to wear off. Almost instantly afterwards Naar was looking at the adolescent from head to toe gauging his potential, sizing him up as it were, before he heard him identify himself in what was a broken Myrian.] [Mihai was his name that much was certain. Naar, likewise, would get the introductions out of the way quickly and tell him...”Naar.”...by placing his hand on his own chest and speaking albeit in a much more thorough Myrian than the Kelvic had. Once they both knew each other’s names Naar would listen to Mihai’s plan which was simple but effective. Naar would cause a distraction and flush out their prey while Mihai played the role of silent hunter and struck from above. Very nice and if all went well they would have a fresh kill in no time.] [Nodding once more Naar would signify that he was ready and crouch down. Allowing Mihai to move ahead and veer off to the side as he’d indicated he would before fading into the lush foliage of the think Falyndar Jungle. Crouching down Naar would use the foliage to his advantage while waiting, Mihai had asked for ten minutes time so that he could position himself, and camouflage himself by blending into the vegetation that was all around him. Naar was only a novice at camouflage as it was but the naturally thickness of the jungle could only aid him in his endeavour. It wasn’t uncommon for men who weren’t looking to walk right by others who had concealed themselves successfully.] [Waiting down under cover Naar would start a silent count that helped him keep track of the time since Mihai had left. Alone ten minutes could seem to take an eternity to pass, especially when you were waiting for it, and the sounds of the jungle were all that you had as company. Naar heard the sounds of a bird squawking and flying above causing him to look skyward momentarily so that he could try to admire it but the rich canopy of the jungle was too thick for him to pierce and the Warrior was left staring at the green of the trees. Admiring what he saw briefly Naar would eventually shake his head, check his surroundings and look ahead again quietly while taking a breath.] [According to the count he had been keeping in his mind ten minutes passed, give or take a minute, and Naar would slowly rise up to his feet once again. Pressing a hand over his wound once when he felt a bit of discomfort radiating from it. Limbering himself by rolling his shoulders back and forth and bending his knees he would then move ahead, slowly at first, so that his footsteps would begin to take him further into the belly of the beast as it were. The Bagh Nakh still held in his right hand he’d tighten his hold on the cross bar while he moved ahead one foot over the other just long enough for him to check the area again.] [Breaking out of a routine that saw Naar walking as silently as possible unless he were attacking and chasing a fleeing enemy was somewhat difficult at first but then he got into a rhythm and his movements came easier and with less reservation. It was just as Mihai and he had planned. Naar walked loud, big loud as Mihai had said, and purposely stomped his feet, kicking through brush and snapping twigs and branches under foot as he went. Taking low branches as he moved too Naar would break them instead of moving them out of the way as he went so that he could further alert anything in the vicinity that he was coming.] [Acknowledging that his role was to flush the prey Naar would grit his teeth as he moved and growl once, if his companions skill at speaking Myrian was abysmal Naar must have sounded equally terrible trying to mimic animal sound, but nonetheless it wasn’t long before Naar thought he had heard something. Running in the near distance, maybe just out of a range of his vision blocked by the foliage of the jungle, an animal likely but what kind he couldn’t discern. It sounded like it was running away so tightening his legs Naar would pick up his pace briefly, moving faster despite a lingering ache from his wound, so that he could encourage whatever was it was to flee and draw itself into the trap waiting to be sprung.]

[Mihai]

When Naar agreed, Mihai flashed a grin that was both gleeful and feral. He was not a tame tiger. With a flash, he was feline again and bounding off to enact his plan. When he was deeper in the foliage, he began to move with more caution, the better to go without alerting their prey. He was swift, having spent a good portion of his life now here in the jungles of Falyndar. Sometimes it was difficult to even remember the forests and mountains of Taldera when the jungles were in front of him. But eventually he figured he was near the path any flushed prey would take and he circled around a tree to approach from downwind, leaping up and climbing to settle on a strong branch that overhung the animal path. Keen ears heard Naar from far off, the growling, the imperfect stride. At least with Mihai there, he could be an effective hunter despite his injury. This made Mihai glad, but it was quickly dispersed by the hunting high. His attention focused on the path, on the sudden breaking noises in the foliage of prey running. He readied himself, haunches bunching up, claws digging into the bark of the tree for ready traction when he did make his move. There was a disturbance in the foliage just a moment before another strange jungle herbivore broke cover, and the tiger dropped just in time to land upon its back, skill and instinct combining as he snapped its neck with its head in his jaws and a quick twist of his head. The other animals had come into view, were swerving to avoid him, but he leaped from the dead one to tackle another, this one more difficult as it was aware of him, but he had weight on it, and it was only a matter of time...

OOCSorry for the delay. Life happens.

[Naar]

[The Warrior listened following the disturbance he had caused. Nothing out of the ordinary at first but then there was the beating of hooves as the herd of herbivores in the vicinity ran and broke cover. Naar was already jogging ahead slowly after he heard the sounds emanating from the jungle ahead of him. Using the noise to help track the location of the animals as they fled through the jungle Naar would give chase slowly, he never ran completely due to his injury, so that he could drive them towards Mihai in the distance wherever the Kelvic had hidden to ambush the prey.] [Eventually Naar would have seen Mihai in the distance. The Big Cat had taken down one of the herbivores on his own and was now working on another causing Naar to sprint ahead. By the time Mihai had used his weight to bring the animal down Naar was nearby and rushing across the last small bit of distance he’d press the attack on the downed herbivore for the kill. With Mihai holding onto it Naar could plant a knee on the animals neck to hold it down while using his free hand to jerk its head aside as much as possible. The Bagh Nakh gripped in the palm of his right hand was plunged downwards and raked back over the throat of the herbivore to slice its neck wide and begin bleeding it out quickly. Anything Mihai did would only expedite the procedure.] [Not a bad hunt at all for the both of them. Two dead animals. Good meat. Mihai would be able to feed himself well and Naar could take a bit for himself too. Looking at Mihai while he held the herbivore through its death throes Naar would nod once before saying...”You hunt well Mihai. You are a strong hunter.”...it was a compliment as much as it was recognition for his skills seeing as how Mihai possessed abilities that Naar did not nor could he ever. Mihai would make Myri proud with those skills there was no doubt at all in Naars mind.] [When the animal was still, dead, Naar would release his hold off the animals head and lift his knee off its neck. Glancing towards the blood that had pooled beneath its body before rising to his feet and rolling his shoulders Naar would also look towards the other fallen beast that Mihai had downed alone before saying...”We need to give our thanks to Myri now. We will eat the hearts and brains of the fallen animals as homage to the Goddess Queen.”...Naar had hoped Mihai would understand this practice but time would tell. Surely the Kelvic had seen the Myrians performing ritualized cannibalization with other foes though, this was much the same only it involved eating the organs of animals instead of men but animals deserved respect too.] [The Bagh Nakh was slid from Naars palm and placed on his belt then before he was looking at Mihai once more and waiting to see if he understood. Patting the side of the dead animal with his hand once Naar knew exactly where to find the heart and imagined that Mihai, looking like an animal now, would have little trouble ripping through flesh and bone to claim the organ himself. It was right as well seeing that he was the master of this hunt.]

[Mihai]

Mihai dipped his head at the compliment, and again in understanding. He was already tempted to lap at the beast's blood, so he was only too happy to eat some of the tasty bits. Leaving Naar's kill to his own devout hungers, Mihai padded over to his first kill, the bloodless kill, its back broken in several places. His jaws stretched wide to encompass the beast's skull, crushing it with all his might, then feeding on the grey matter within. The brains were not the tastiest bits, but they weren't bad. Sometimes meat was meat. The brains devoured, he glanced up at Naar for a moment. Really, Mihai only hunted to eat. He did not generally take anything for later. But human hunters did; Mihai just didn't want to drag the carcass all the way back to Taloba. It would just get dirty and he would be sore from all that undignified hauling. He began to tear at the beast's breast to get at its heart. This was a form of worship he could get behind!