Flashback Parting Gift (Ayatah)

[Razkar]

”Hmm…. You’re right. We tend to hunt firstly in the morning, and then fill our day with whatever else needs to be done.”

Razkar nodded slowly at the words, not really surprised. Taloba had a massive market place and food was one of its largest sections, but Myrians preferred to hunt what they ate. Not only was it a guarantee of freshness, but more importantly, it honed their abilities to track and hunt... and kill.

All skills that would be essential when they progressed from stalking beasts to men in the Jungle.

She hopped off him as light as a cat and Razkar spent a few pleasurable moments watching her naked body move and stretch as she hunted for her clothes. He still found himself dumbstruck that such a lithe and beautiful creature had such love in her heart for him. He knew he was not the handsomest of males; he had long since made peace with that, but some small kernel of insecurity always nagged at him.

Yet Ayatah had seen Razkar as something else, something... as beautiful in her eyes and she was in his.

That's what makes her worthy of devotion.

Then he put aside his thoughts and rolled off the pelts and to his feet. His own hunt didn't take long, and clad in only the bare essentials, the two of them strode towards the hubub of Myrians outside, presided over by their matriarch, Quinneth.

“Aah, at last! I had forgotten just how commendable the stamina of a young man is…”

Razkar felt the blush color his cheeks in a scant second, his bearing going from proud and erect to almost furtive in the same amount of time. Males turned to him to looks ranging from amused to suspicious (he didn't even bother looking to see what Bennik's would hold). The females were worse: appraising and even... curious?!

Don't look at her mother, don't look at her mother, don't look at her mother...

”As usual, we will start our morning with a hunt. Bennik, Tenwa, Katyan, Ayatah and - of course - our guest of honour… You’ll go into the jungle and hunt what you can. However, I request that you bring back something that we can skin for clothing. The children are growing far too quickly.”

Razkar nodded at the orders, focusing himself on the task at hand instead of his acute embarrassment. The assembly broke in good order, as he knew it would. Commanded by a strong enough leader, Myrians had an innate gift for organization and the proper flow of action. Quinneth was certainly strong enough, and soon Razkar was being introduced to two new faces... and one unfortunately familiar one.

”Raz, these are my cousins; Katyan and Tenwa. And… you have met Bennik already.”

The first two greeted him warmly enough, not sharing Bennik's passionate protective streak. Razkar was gratified to see the male was behaving himself. He obviously knew they had bigger things to worry about than cock-fighting, and when he suggested deer, Razkar nodded in agreement.

Moments later they were inside a smaller lodge, but one lined and packed with sharpened steel. Not only that, Razkar soon realized, but clubs, bows, slings and blowpipes. An armory worthy of the Barracks, he thought. Though smaller than his own clan, the Scattered Bones had collected, looted or bought enough arms to equip the Shorn Skulls and then some.

”Grab yourself a bow. And let’s go show my clan why we survived a tiger.”

Razkar found himself chuckling, the tingle of her lips still on his, and soon found a composite bow similar to his own. He tested the string, and did not find it wanting. Slinging it over his shoulder with a quiver of arrows, he winked at her and kissed her hand, uncaring of whom was looking.

"It'd be a pleasure, my love."

It didn't take them long to start moving out. Once they had a plan, Razkar knew that Myrians didn't take long executing it. The five of them walked swiftly down the dirt streets towards the Jungle beyond the walls. The home of the Scattered Bones was not more than a few stones' throws from the treeline. The center of the city was reserved for government and sacred buildings, leaving the clans living there to the outskirts. But even they were large enough to support thousands of Myrians.

The sun was rising but not yet high, its bright, round rump still scraping the top of the trees. As they passed through the gate and approached it, the Myrians silently notched arrows, placed darts in blowpipes and stretched muscles in preparation for the hunt to follow.

Razkar eyed the impassive, waiting green darkness with relish. What better challenge that to pit oneself against the Jungle, both their womb and their deadliest enemy? To track and trail any enemy or prey, and bring it home to hungry mouths?

They marched on with bent knees, footsteps falling silent... and the Jungle swallowed them.

[Ayatah]

They fell silently into the dense jungle, making sounds only when they swiped overhanging branches out of the way. Bennik instantly disappeared to the left, flanking outwards so the hunting party could cover more ground. Katyan and Tenwa did the same, but covered the right side of Ayatah and Razkar, who remained on the same barely existent track

None of her cousins would be far, Ayatah knew. Their people had the uncanny ability to become invisible in the jungle, their dark skin blending in amongst the shadows. For Ayatah, however, concealment was not so easy. Not only was she far paler than her full-bloodied counterparts, but with her gilded skin, she almost shone. It might be poetic, but it was damn annoying in the jungle.

Nobody in particular was leading the hunt; the five of them were simply walking straight ahead. But the jungle was so populous that they were almost certainly going to come across some kind of creature eventually, and if any of the hunters saw something in the meantime, they would catch the attention of the others.

Ayatah paused, pointing to a tree with hanging vines covered in silvery leaves. As she approached the tree, she glanced back to Razkar, ”we call this the Red Stone tree.” The name did not match the tree at all; there was a distinct lack of anything red on it. As she parted the soft curtains of the vines and stepped closer to the bark, however, she continued in a hushed voice, ”the flowers that grow at the roots of this tree create a poison that stop the muscles of an animal. They become paralysed - like stone.” She pointed at the thick base of the tree, and stooped down to pick a small red flower. It looked far from anything that could harbour a toxin, but as Ayatah broke the stem, a creamy pink sap oozed from the bottom. ”It’s harmless to us, and unfortunately to the Dhani or humans. But against deer or the like, it’s pretty useful.” She retrieved an arrow from her quiver, wiping the sticky sap onto the edges of the arrow head. She bent down again, swiping two more flowers and having them Razkar so he could do the same.

A cough made Ayatah glance to the side. Katyan stood there; twitching her head to drive the younger Myrians back out to the jungle. She did not look hugely impressed that her cousin was sharing their clan’s secrets to an outsider, but Ayatah merely shrugged and grinned sheepishly. Some things, she agreed, needed to stay within a clan. But other so-called secrets could only help the Myrian people become stronger, and in her eye, it was stupid to sacrifice the good of their people to simply harbour some clan pride.

They continued walking onwards, pausing every so often to listen out for sounds, or to look at tracks. So far, there were no signs of deer having inhabited this area.

Until Bennik released a sound. Not a sentence, or even a human-sounded shout. But a birdcall; three rapid squawks that sounded a little like a jungle macaw. The meaning, however, was clear; deer, up ahead. The four other hunters shifted closer to Bennik, notching arrows in their bows and drawing them back.

It was only one deer, but it was better than nothing, at least for now. The creature was picking its way through the trees carefully, nibbling at the odd plant before throwing its head up to look around, ears twitching.

The poor thing did not see the five Myrians stalking it, hungry eyes staring and arrows aiming.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Razkar]

Hunting was an art, and in many ways a science, but what people tended to forget was that it was also very, very boring. For nearly a bell the line of silent, slow Myrians didn't even find tracks. The floor of the Jungle was a dangle of every kind of vegetation imaginable, and even finding hoof prints was difficult.

But there was so much life there, bleating and singing and clicking around them, that it was only a matter of time.

Razkar saw a motion to his left and it was Aya, beckoning him over to the tree.

”We call this the Red Stone tree. The flowers that grow at the roots of this tree create a poison that stop the muscles of an animal. They become paralyzed - like stone.”

He watched intently as she picked up the crimson flower, broke the stem... and he blinked in wonder at the pink ooze that slid out of the hole. He drank in her words like a fine wine, as new knowledge always tasted to his mind. He tried to burn the sight of the tree, the color and shape of the flower, the exact spot Ayatah had pierced the plant all into his mind.

”It’s harmless to us, and unfortunately to the Dhani or humans. But against deer or the like, it’s pretty useful.”

Razkar's eyebrows shot up. Pretty useful? Oh, he would say so. Just one good, clean arrow and within a chime your target would freeze as if caught in a sudden blizzard, helpless and immobile. He took the proffered flowers and repeated her trick, nicking in just the right point until... yes... here comes the pink...

He took two arrows and coated each in the semi-lethal sap, on both sides. Then they heard a cough and both turned to the disapproving figure of Katyan, curtly beckoning them onwards. Razkar knew what the look was about. These were secrets of the Scattered Bones, he guessed. Tricks and lessons hard learned and carefully guarded by outsiders.

He smiled anew at the significance of this. He had seen these trees in his clans lands. Now he could use this knowledge to further aid them, not just himself. She trusted him that much, and now he could help so much...

Razkar waited until Katyan had gone, then stopped Ayatah with an arm on her shoulder, straightened up as she turned-

-and planted a quick, soft kiss on her lips. His voice was barely even a whisper when he spoke next.

"Thank you."

And then they were gone again.

It wasn't long before the bird call stopped them in their tracks. Razkar knew its meaning as well as anyone, and reacted like the rest, drawing arrows and moving even slower, lower, using cover more than before, until they had closed with a crouching, staring Bennik. He pointed, just once, and they followed his finger...

It was a female, but an older one. The unwritten rule of a true hunter (one that hunted for survival, anyway, not just for heads on his wall) was that the young were not harmed. The elderly, the sick, the middle-aged and those that had already fathered or mothered were fair game, but what sense was there in wiping out the next generation? Many a time Razkar had found a tasty morsel, but known it would have been wrong to kill it.

The Jungle was chaotic, but there was a balance to her. Upsetting that would earn Caiyha's wrath, and she'd had countless millenia to become very, very vindictive.

Bennik made a few quick hand signals, all learned in the army of Taloba, and the four other Myrians spread out silently, understanding everything. Within a few chimes they had made a half-circle around the deer, maybe eighty feet away.

Razkar took a breath and raised his bow slowly, pulling back with the same care, keeping the metal head out of the light so it would not flash and spook their prey. In... out... in... out... calm and smooth and patient.

Within a few breaths, his aim steadied, arrow head resting right before the grazing deer, immobile but impatient, awaiting to be-

A snap from his right. Katyan? Bennik? He did not know, but the deer's head snapped up and her legs bent and-

Shit!

-he fired, and he was not the only one.

[Ayatah]

Ayatah crept to the side of the deer, placing her feet carefully. When she found a new position, it was opposite Bennik, who she could just make out in the darkness of the overgrowth. He stepped forward. Readying himself--

And looked absolutely furious when his foot snapped a twig. He’ll be in a foul mood now… Ayatah mused, but there was no time to be witty or clever.

The deer leapt leftwards, startled.

Five Myrians released their bows, but only two thudded into the old doe. Ayatah’s arrow - or at least the one she thought was hers - sped past the animal and was swallowed by a bush. She heard a frustrated growl from Katyan, and instantly she knew that the other woman had also missed. Tenwa just looked baffled; Myri knew where his arrow was.

All in all, it was a pretty poor start to the hunt.

But two arrows did hit the deer, and it pleased Ayatah to know that one was Razkar’s. Their culture by and large rewarded those who proved themselves with experience and skill. It would certainly stand in good stead that her lover had managed to embed an arrow into a deer when three of the Scattered Bones had failed.

The deer stumbled and fell. One arrow erupted from her flank, the other on her shoulder. Neither were hits that would kill the deer flat-out, but as the Myrians hovered over the animal, the poison Razkar had wiped onto his arrowhead was taking effect. The deer had struggled back to her feet, and attempted to bolt, but her legs seemed to stiffen suddenly and she fell down as quickly as she had got up. With her legs so rigid, the deer could do nothing but lie there, panting but even her breathing was becoming laboured. The poison not only worked on the skeletal muscles, but over time, it would stop the lungs from expanding to take in more air, and even the heart would be set in invisible stone.

It was not a pleasant way to die, knowing that your own body was turning on you, so Ayatah stooped down and brushed the Deer’s huge ears. Perhaps it was the Eypharian within her that made her more… sensitive to the pain of animals, but she could not stand and watch whilst the deer froze (metaphorically) to death.

”Go to Dira and may she find you peace.” With that final word, Ayatah embedded a blade of her dagger into the deer’s throat, ceasing its pain and fear. When she stood back up, she looked to her fellow hunters with a questioning glance. ”what now?”

They could carry the deer with them on the rest of their trek through the jungle, but it was hard to conceal a dead deer. But leaving the dead animal where she had fallen also had its repercussions: it might attract other predators, or even get stolen by some tiger or other scavenger looking for an easy meal.

”l’ll take it.” Tenwa stepped forward, shrugging his shoulders, ”after that piss-poor performance on my behalf, I think I better return home before I shoot one of you accidently.” He gave a toothy grin, and hauled the dead deer onto his shoulder. He was a squat young man, but was almost comically broad and strong for his (lack of) vertical height. An old doe would not slow him down too much, and he would be back within the rest of the Scattered Bones before they had made a second kill, most likely.

The remaining four watched him march back the way they had come. Ayatah threw a smug grin to Ketyan, ”good thing I showed Raz the Red Stone, really.” The older woman merely rolled her eyes, but wore a smile at the same time.

”Yes. Good… Shot.” These words came from Bennik, who nodded formally to Razkar but still did not smile. It would take him a while to accept the fact that this male was in his dear little cousin’s life, and meant a great deal to her. After spending the majority of his own life trying so hard to be a father and protector to Ayatah, it was certainly difficult for the slightly older male to be happy in the knowledge that this stranger was bedding her. Even if - and he knew this as well as the rest of the Scattered Bones - there was more between their relationship than sexual lust and desire.

”We should get moving. Other animals would have heard the doe’s swansong, and it would either scare animals away or… Bought them closer.” Her obsidian eyes glanced around, wary of any movement from the surrounding jungle. There was a heavy price on being unaware of what was happening around you, and Ayatah did not wish to find this out. ”I don’t want to face two tigers in such quick succession.”

With that, the Myrians moved on, flanking out once again to cover more ground between them. They listened cautiously for sounds, pausing as a macaw screeched in annoyance at some other bird. Ayatah prowled through the jungle, eyes darting left and right to catch sight of any movement around her. She steadied her breathing and smirked as she concentrated, completely enthralled with being in the jungle, bow and arrow in hand and searching for prey.

Myri, how I love the hunt.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Razkar]

Razkar's jaw dropped as he saw his arrow fly true and thud into the deer's shoulder. Another one pierced its side as a trio of others overshot and missed. Startled, wounded, bleating, the deer jumped, started to run, feet and legs...

... stopping.

His surprise turned to a horrified fascination as Razkar watched the Red Stone sap take effect, the other Myrians joining him. It started from the legs up, spindly limbs twitching more and more uselessly until they stilled completely, deer toppling over... and the limbs stayed stiff. Its neck and chest heaved madly, utterly bewildered and scared, until they ceased also, bodily functions stopping...

Razkar's fascination at the poison working so well soon turned into a grudging sympathy. He could only... no, actually he couldn't imagine that kind of terror, and did not want to. Your body stiffening, betraying you, eyes forced open as you watched dark, deadly figures surround you, lungs and heart slowing and stopping in your chest...

”Go to Dira and may she find you peace.”

He shot Ayatah a thankful glance when she finished the doe off. There was a short, decisive discussion about who would take the kill home and cheerful Tenwa volunteered. Six inches shorter than Razkar but easily half again as wide, he shouldered the doe like it was a small child and was soon trudging back towards the Scattered Bones' village.

”Good thing I showed Raz the Red Stone, really.”

Razkar made a point of turning to scan the Jungle when he heard that, if only so Ketyan and Bennik didn't see his smug little smirk. But then his head whipped back around at the next, male-voiced words.

”Yes. Good… shot.”

Bennik. Bennik had said that. Razkar resisted the urge to look around for flying tigers or an Akalak chorus line, further evidence that either he was dreaming or the world had gone monkey-poop. When his stunned silence stretched into impoliteness, he finally and gave a slight smile back at the male.

"Just practice... my friend."

”We should get moving. Other animals would have heard the doe’s swansong, and it would either scare animals away or… Bought them closer. I don’t want to face two tigers in such quick succession.”

Fortunately, Ayatah's shrewd words saved them from the awkwardness of the male moment, and a chime later the four were on the move again, stretched out in a shorter line but just as watchful as before. He flicked a glance to his right and saw Ayatah there, half-hidden by foliage and shadow, pitch-black hair touched by occasional glances of sunlight. Focused. Deadly. Beautiful...

He smiled and heard something creak ahead of them... and above.

Something big.

[Ayatah]

Bennik opened his mouth, most likely to say some sort of passive-aggressive put-down. Ayatah gave a tight smile to her cousin, but her eyes carried a warning: don’t be an ass and muck this up for me. Eventually he seemed to get the message, and his jaw snapped shut and he gave a curt smile to Razkar. Satisfied, Ayatah nodded and moved on.

Despite the general darkness of the jungle, it was still possible to see the passing shadows of low flying birds, or things in trees as they climbed over you. It was a little unnerving, but for the most part the overbearing shadows were just that: birds, or even the treetops shifting with wind. They were usually no cause for concern.

Unless the jungle hushed, and everything and everyone in the jungle held their breath with fear and anticipation. Paira had differentiated the noises of the jungle into three broad (and imaginatively names) groups: ‘Fear: animals cry out, birds squawk. Generally, this means that our people are killing something’, ‘Quietness: Our people are hunting. Birds and animal converse normally, and insects buzz and tick’, and finally, the third group: ‘Holy Myri that’s big: something that poses a danger to our people is in the jungle, and everything falls into a complete silence, waiting for something to happen’.

And it was that third type of silence that washed over the jungle now. The complete lack of any sound - not even insects chirping - Ayatah glance up, and a little to her right. Something was moving within the trees, and it was no bird.

She shifted automatically closer to the rest of the hunt, and the four Myrians met a few good feet away from whatever the hell was in that tree.

Now any social awkwardness or resentment had completely dissolved; it was phenomena that Ayatah had experienced plenty of times herself. Even the comrades who despised her half-blood seemed to accept her for one of them when they were in battle, or preparation for it. It was as if the ‘half-blood means less Myrian’ argument had been put on hold, just for a while.

They readied their bows, shuffling a little closer, breaths held. The dense jungle made it near impossible to see the into the tops of those trees, but as Ayatah lent to her left, a thin slice of sunlight fell into her field of vision and behind the mysterious form.

Her head tilted to one side; that typical habit of hers to display confusion. She stepped forwards, breaking the line of the four other hunters. Her bow dropped a good few inches as she stared into the leaves.

”Ayatah!” Bennik lurched forwards, grabbing his cousin with wide and fearful eyes, ”what the shyke are you doing.”

She did not reply, but shrugged off his desperate clutched. The thing in the tree was breaking through the heaviest of the leaves, in an intimating slow manner. It was coming, coming, but Ayatah had already guessed what it was.

”A sloth.”

The creature looked lazily towards the sound, scratched itself and yawned.

”A sloth.” She repeated, just for good measure, a smirk on her face.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Razkar]

The shadow moved, and the space it cast over the ground was large enough to cover two or three Myrians, easily. Razkar felt his eyes widen as it moved with (what he assumed was) deceptive slowness, as if stalking them from above.

Branches as thick as his torso groaned under its weight. He felt a thrill of fear rush through him as he raised his bow in tandem with the other three Myrians.

”A sloth.”

Razkar felt his jaw drop a second time in less than a chime. Shaggy and sullen, the dark-furred creature wandered with utter calm along the branch above them. Well, "along" would be incorrect. It was upside down. Razkar squinted and could see that it was so old and so slow that its fur was actually growing downwards, and fungus and mold was mixed in with the fur.

The sloth turned placid brown eyes to the four Myrians... and blinked... and yawned. Then it scratched itself, and Razkar felt an insane flush of indignation at its lack of fear. Didn't he know they were Myrians?!

Don't think he cares, anyway.

Razkar sighed, a little regretful. There was no great honor or challenge in bringing down such a slow and peaceful beast, but it was large enough to provide food for a dozen people, easily. Sloth stew was a Myrian staple, lasting, nourishing and, when prepared right, able to be stretched out to feed many. But the male still shook his head and felt himself hesitate.

The Jungle is what it is. He felt a voice rise in him, sounding like his parents, unyielding and unapologetic, just cold truth. Everything preys on something else. Out there, sympathy can kill you, quick or slow. Now do what must be done so your brothers and sisters may eat.

"Make it quick." He whispered, raising how bow and aiming for the sloth's neck. He felt another pang as those uncomprehending and placid eyes regarded him in an almost friendly manner, but now his aim did not waver. "He need not suffer."

A muted chorus of agreement and four arrows were soon leveled at the creature.

"Three... Two... One-"

All four bows twanged and let loose at the same time-

-as something long, scaly and hungry lunged out from above the sloth.

"Goddess!"

In a mess of squealing, bleating, hissing scale and fur and blood, the two animals fell from their perch and crashed among the Myrians.

[Ayatah]

"Make it quick."

The words were barely a breath, but Ayatah heard them. She flashed a smile to her lover, soft and appreciative. He had echoed her own feelings. Such a slow creature would never be a threat, despite the sloth’s respectable size. It seemed wrong that they were so ready to kill a large and peaceful creature. He’s happy with his upside-down living and leaves.

Bows were raised, arrows were notched. They stood in a line, making minute adjustments to their aim in order to make the kill quick and as painless as possible.

"Three... Two... One-"

The arrows were released in perfect unison, but a sudden at an angle.

The sloth was knocked to the ground, landing with a dull thud. But he was not alone. A huge constrictor - impossibly lengthy and thick - embraced the tree-hugging animal. Scales and fur rolled on the ground together for a few moments, the Sloth trying to escape the snake as fast as he could (which… was not speedy, to say the least).

The four Myrians watched the scene unfold, with a mixture of surprise and amusement on their faces. The snake was not biting the Sloth, but doing what constrictors do: constricting. It wrapped itself lazily around the bleating Sloth’s body, tightening itself with every pathetic noise that it’s victim made.

”A sloth and a snake.” Ayatah corrected eventually, glancing at her fellow hunters.

”A normal snake.” Bennik added. The Dhani would not even attempt to journey through these parts of the jungle, not even in their pure-lizard form.

”What do we…?” She let the question hang. Part of Ayatah wanted to save the Sloth from the killing hug of the constrictor, yet she knew that it would feed her family well. And the fur is thick, perfect for Ismae and Tronx…

Her cousins answered the question by raising their bows once more. Newly notched arrows were in place, and their faces were hardened and focused. Ayatah mimicked them, pulling another arrow out of her quiver and sliding onto her bowstring.

The snake was busy killing the Sloth, but it watched the Myrian hunters warily. Should one of them make a step towards it, no doubt the lizard would shoot its great head forward, non-poisonous (but still incredibly sharp) fangs poised. The snake would have to go first, Ayatah assumed. If they killed the sloth, the snake could easily evade them, whereas a sloth was less likely to do so.

She trained her arrow on those scales, those huge muscles that rippled as the snake wound tighter and tighter around the whining Sloth.

Four arrows flew from four bows, and the snake hissed and the sloth whinged.

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||

[Razkar]

One of the great misconceptions that the barbarian peoples made about Myrians was that they were honorable warriors. Broadly, Razkar supposed, this was true. Reaving and pillaging and wholesale slaughter for their own sake were repugnant to them, although sacrificing prisoners was a norm. They had their codes of conduct, despised lying even when it was necessary and if the parameters of a duel were decided, they would not break them.

But when in the whirl of battle, regardless of its scale, they were utter pragmatists. Their Goddess-Queen was that of War and Victory, and there was no small print in there about how the former was won and the latter was gained.

She also appreciated cunning, remember?

So when the two animals crashed to the ground and the constrictor continued its slow, brutal crushing of its squealing prey, the four Myrians kept their distance, notched fresh arrows and opened fire.

The constrictor's head reared up in pain and anger as the four arrows ploughed into its flesh, interrupting its meal. Razkar was struck for a moment at how long its fangs were, easily the length of his finger and razor-sharp. Eyes that were impossibly devoid of any emotion at all. Not rage or hunger or pain... it may have felt these things, but when Razkar looked into those wide, staring slits, all he saw was his own reflection.

"Keep firing!"

Bennik's wise words broke the spell and he reached for another arrow. The snake was starting to unfurl itself, but the weight of the sloth was immense and half of its length was trapped under its crushed, dying form. The Myrians stepped back a few paces, aimed and fired again.

At that range, it was pure murder, and they were perfectly fine with that. Razkar had seen these monsters kill before, and knew if it got close enough to anchor its fanged head onto your flesh, you were dead. It could whip and lasso its muscled coils around its prey in the blink of an eye, and at that point, it was over. Even decapitating the monster would not stop its muscles squeezing.

Four more arrows slammed into it, piercing organs and ripping through scales. Razkar took careful aim at its swaying head, fired-

-missed. Far too small a target, and it was getting loose-

-until another arrow flew straight into its open, hissing mouth and exploded out the back of its head.

The Constrictor stayed up for a single, disbelieving moment, and then fell forwards with a muffled thump. Silence, broken by the wheezing of the dying sloth, and Razkar slowly turned his head... to see Ayatah, who still had her bow in her hands, shock over her face.

She had fired the fatal shot. At minimal distance, true, but still... a fine loose.

"W... Well..." He finally said, swallowing heavily and trying get his heart pumping normally again. "At least we have supper taken care of, too..."

That pitiful groaning again, and Razkar knew their work was not yet done. Approaching cautiously, carefully, he drew Ayatah's... no, his... double-headed dagger and circled the tangled mass of scales and fur. The former was unmoving, not even twitching, tiny brain destroyed and life gone. But the latter...

He crouched over the sloth, and saw a deep pain and sadness in its eyes. These creatures had emotion, had feeling, this much was plain. Perhaps they were what men once were, he wondered briefly, even as he raised the blade.

And even if they want, they did not deserve this slow, choking death.

"Go on to the next world, my friend, and find peace."

The dagger jerked down in a blur, piercing the sloth's eye, impaling its brain and killing it instantly. A great screeching and flapping erupted above them, shadowy winged creatures flying away, as if lamenting the gentle beast's passing.

[Ayatah]

"At least we have supper taken care of, too..."

That stirred light chuckling from the Scattered Bones present, and Ayatah was glad for a break from the seriousness of the hunt.

Yet there was that familiar twinge of - what, guilt? - when the Sloth finally slumped still and died. It was always uncomfortable to watch a creature of the jungle die (unless, of course, that creature was the Dhani). And something so harmless as the Sloth, which had looked at them with almost a lazy smile on his face…

Dira will take care of him… Although where exactly sloths would be sent for their afterlife, Ayatah was not quite sure

”We should head back.”

But the task was easier said than done. The sloth would be carried back in the same way as any animal; tied to a pole or branch. The snake, however, would have to be carried as it was. An animal of that length and girth was sure to weigh huge amounts. The serpent was a good nine feet long, if not nearing ten.

Ayatah paused to admire the lizard. In some gruesome way, Siku and her freak nestlings had chosen the perfect animal to marge with. The snake was formidable: strong, fast, deadly, silent, easy to camouflaged. She had been bought up, like any Myrian child, to detest the snake-people. But there was a tiny voice in Ayatah’s mind, perhaps rooted from her long-term friendship with a fellow half-breed, that admired the serpent people.

But she enjoyed slaying them all the same, of course.

The hunting parting quickly began to execute their latest challenge. Katyan found and dragged a thick pole towards the slow-moving animal, whilst Ayatah and Razkar began to tie those three-toed feet together with vines.

”Ready?”

”Ready.” Bennik was circling the snake, and eventually, he nodded to Razkar, ”if we take the snake, and the others take the sloth?”

They paired up: women carrying the huge cloth and the men handling the snake. If she were to be honest, Ayatah was relieved. She was not as physically strong as her pureblooded cousins, and she hoped that if Bennik approved of Raz’s carrying skills (yes, her cousin was that pedantic), then he might be a lttle more accepting.

The journey home went quicker when they had departed, and they covered the same ground in half the time. Syna was proudly in her heavenly seat by the time they emerged back from the jungle. They were greeted by applauds and cheers, especially when Bennik and Razkar appeared with a snake carcass.

”Tenwa has showed us your previous kill - but a snake and sloth? Very impressive.” Her words were earnest, and the smile on her wrinkled face showed as such. ”I’m sure we will find some use for this creature. All those bones? We’ll have a field day.”

The clan laughed along with their matriarch, before returning back to their own jobs. It gave Ayatah just enough time to turn to Razkar, grinning. ”They are impressed with you,” she said, fingers tracing invisible patterns on his palms, ”even Bennik.”

oocYou can give us a couple more things to do if you like, thought I'd leave it all pretty open for you to decide

|| Ayatah's speech || Ayatah's thoughts || Others' speech ||