A Strange Aquaintance [closed, Ssedrasshadara]

[Estrios]

49th Day of Winter, 511 AV A Myrian Tiger roared in the distance. He heard a bird fly through the leaves of a nearby tree. An insect quickly buzzed past. Estrios had been meditating the past half hour, under a tree at the southeast bank of Kandukta Basin. He had wondered about the concept of "being one with nature," and it seemed to be quite close to being a literal meaning. Estrios could hear every noise within a few meters. He could depict the smell of every single flower and plant around him. He could feel even the slightest breeze flow over his skin, through his hair. Estrios was there because of a Dhani he had met 4 days ago in the forest.This Dhani was an interesting one. It didn't kill him on sight, and had offered to meet him again, which was why he was here. And yet, he was strangely neutral and peaceful about this meeting. He wasn't sure if it was the meditation session or if it was his naturally calm nature, but he barely registered that he was meeting with one of the most dangerous races in Mizahar. At least, that's what he had been taught about the Dhani. There was a good chance that an ambush would interrupt the meeting at any time, or that they would be attacked by some monster while talking, or a few more deadly possibilities. But he had decided to worry about that when the time came. Right now, he was thinking. Not thinking about anything in general, just thinking. Wondering why birds don't have arms, why water doesn't change colors, why you can't cast spells with a rock. He found the most simplistic and logical ideas and questioned them until he was satisfied that it was indeed possible/impossible. Estrios heard the rustle of a nearby bush, but he didn't care. His knife was in his lap, and his meditation had temporarily sharpened his senses to the max. He would easily be able to take down anyone or anything that came. However, he was curious, and slightly opened one eye to see what had come his way. He saw a small mouse like creature, and thought about killing it. However, he decided against it. He wasn't hungry, and carrying fresh meat around with him would be a waste. He closed his eye again, and got back to work depicting everything around him. Every smell, every sound, everything. To be more broad, he was sitting there. Just sitting, and waiting for his strange acquaintance to arrive. He didn't mind if he had to wait hours, that would simply give him more time to prepare his thoughts, and to think. And so he waited.

[Ssedrasshadara]

Sshadara did not usually show excitement, even to other Dhani. Too many emotions could ruin a reputation, and the social workings of Zinrah were just as dangerous as the jungle. But still, she was excited in her own way. The Myrian sentries were a little difficult to slip past this time, but she had managed, and was now on her way to the Kundukta Basin. She tensed as she heard a Myrian tiger road, but when she heard no heavy footsteps she continued. She caught his scent near the shore and followed it carefully. It grew steadily stronger, and she slowed as she came to the edge of the trees. She peered cautiously through the foliage, and her eyes found him quickly. She watched him for a long time, then began to shift. “Interessting.” Her speech was different. Her s’s, though still pronounced, were les so than she’d spoken to him before, and her voice was rich and smooth. “You sseem to be full of ssurprissess,” she said as she stepped from the trees. She was tall, able to look any Myrian in the eye. Her skin was the color of chocolate, and black hair fell around her shoulder like waves. Her eyes were a vibrant gold and the pupils were slitted, a testimony to her serpentine nature, and her limbs were hard with muscle. She was not ashamed of her nakedness; indeed, she walked with her head high and proud. Her body was its own best advertisement, and it was never something she had been embarrassed about. She approached slowly, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. If it was possible to be ungraceful in a graceful manner, she was doing it. She didn’t like walking, but she had decided that it would be appropriate to meet a human as a human. She lay down before him, resting her chin on crossed arms and blinking slowly at him. “I did not think you would come,” she admitted.

[Estrios]

"I did not think you would come." Estrios was surprised to hear a women's voice. However, he knew she must have been the Dhani he had met, because no one else would greet him like that. He listened for a few more seconds in case of an ambush, and then he opened his eyes. He looked around the trees to see if anyone else was there, and then he laid his eyes on the woman lying in front of him. He was very surprised, but managed to only show it with a blink. Dhani almost never used their human form in the jungle. It was not needed, and by itself it was their most vulnerable form. In cities like Syliras being seen as a Human drew much less attention, but here Dhanis were common, and didn't need to avoid attention. The woman obviously trusted him much more than he trusted her. Estrios noticed that she was nude, but he wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. Like many things, he had never really understood the lust for women that many men possessed. She was quite well built for a female, but at the same time she looked too delicate for the vicious jungle environment. She like a middle-aged adult, with long very dark brown hair and light olive skin. Estrios was still in a kind of far-away and peaceful state from the meditation, but he tried not to show it. Keeping a neutral tone, he said, "And I did not think you would come alone. Or in human form for that matter.

[Ssedrasshadara]

“It sseemed appropriate,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “But it matterss little. I am not interessted in ssmall talk.” She rolled her shoulders and settled into a more comfortable position. “Let uss sstart with namess. Formally, I am Ssedrasshadara, but unformally I am ssimply Sshadara. You may call me whichever you wissh. What do you call yoursself?”

[Estrios]

Estrios wondered if it was a good idea to share his name. He knew no one could hunt him down, and no one had any reason too. He was interested enough on what the Dhani had to say, however, that he didn't really care about all the complications. "My name is Estrios," he said. "I do not use it much, but that is how I am known."

[Ssedrasshadara]

She tilted her head. “Esstrioss,” she said, rolling the sounds in her mouth. She looked the human up and down, then nodded approvingly. “A fitting name. Sso, Esstrioss, why in the name of all godss are you in this rainforesst?”

[Estrios]

"Now there's a good story," replied Estrios, "long one too, but I'll just tell you the bulk of it." "Basically, my father wanted me to be a warrior. A jewel of Sylirian knights, kind of. We lived in Syliras at the time, and my father knew that the only training I could get there was just some ceremonial commands and marches and the likes. So, he brought me here when I was about...10?" Estrios paused, thinking he heard something in the nearby bushes, and then got back to his story. "My mother died soon after though, and we stayed outside of Tabola alone. I had lots of great training, and learned to survive in almost all environments, not just the jungle. I knew just about everything about fighting and survival, but I took it for granted and used that knowledge every day." While Estrios was telling the story, he was also remembering those times. Remembering his father, and when they were together in the hostile enviorment. He was talking to himself just as much as he was talking to Sshadara. "My father was a great man. He had unfathomable knowledge, and no matter what happened, he would never stay mad at me. We did everything together, and without him I would have never survived. I could have never asked for a better dad." Then Estrios frowned as he remembered the dreadful day of his father's death. He almost heard his father's last words, as if he was there again. Even if he wanted to, he could never say what had happened that day, so he just took a deep breath and skipped ahead. "Anyways, I've been living here as long as I can remember, so I now everything there is to know about the jungle. And most other things, too. I'm probably the only person you can meet that would say this story, but trust me, I'm not a liar."

[Ssedrasshadara]

It started as a simple shaking of her shoulders, then grew to a chuckle, finally erupting into a delicate laugh. “I’m ssorry,” Sshadara said, trying to stifle her giggles. “But… what in the world could have possssessssed you father to think that thiss,” she gestured at the forest around her “iss a place to train?” Her eyes were more than a little incredulous. “And to join an order of knightss? Do you really think that ssuch men would let you join them after living here for mosst of you life, rubbing sshoulderss with bloodthirssty killerss and ssavagess? After eating what you’ve eaten?”

[Estrios]

Estrios knew that these questions were valid. He had sometimes wondered himself if living here was a good idea. And not just fr because of the many near-death experiences he had encountered in his childhood, but also because of the limitations on a humans abilities in the jungle. But he had always stopped his doubts with a simple question: "Let me ask you something. How old were you when you became a good enough fighter to kill the average monster? In fact, to you it probably wasn't even a skill, but more of a trait or habit. Here, killing is just a minor inconvenience, but when a human is killed everyone is after the murderer. I'm not sure how much you know about my race, but most Humans fear even the smallest insect through most of their childhood. And they're nothing without years of training. If someone were to try and kill them, most would just beg for mercy. You might as well take away their sword and they'll faint from fear. Not that there are a few exceptions, but along with my father, I think that Humans need very specialized training to be able to fight anything and anyone." Estrios leaned back against a tree, and started to examine his knife to make sure it was in it's best condition. He felt that he sounded like a jerk to his own race, and was sure any Human knight or warrior would be pretty angry at what he had just said. But he didn't feel the need to prove himself to anyone. If someone asked for his opinions, he would give his opinions, not the opinion of someone else. "I can understand if you find me more than a little displeased at my races fighting skills. Don't get me wrong, Humans have had a large amount of technological advances, but most of the people that are truly masters at improvisation are criminals, and looked down upon. There are many Human war heroes, but they only fight with one technique, and would easily fall to anyone who were to work their way around it." Estrios's eyes drifted to a tree a few meters behind Sshadara, thinking that there was a flash of red in it. He didn't see anything, and so he proceeded in cleaning his knife, using the edge of his shirt to polish it up. "My opinion is: why own something you can't protect?"

[Ssedrasshadara]

“But… knightss. From what I’ve heard, they won’t be too eager to admit a cannibal into their ranks. Ssurely you know that, at leasst.” She placed one delicate hand on his thigh, perhaps farther up than she should have, and looked into his eyes. “Lissten to me. The jungle iss a ssavage place, and makess nothing but ssavages. If yu truly wissh to embody order and law and ssuch, then I musst assk, jusst what the hell are you doing here?” She waited for an answer, then continued with something else. “Bessidess, if you’ve lived here for ass long ass you ssay, then how could you know what the knightss are like bassed only off of what other people have told you?”