Jewel of the Jungle [Mao - Open]

[Hania]

Time Stamp: 64th of Spring, 510AV


"How did you get it here?" "I carried-" "Why?" Agitated whispers carried down the longhouse, overlooked by most as the usual family squabbling. "Why didn't you leave it out at the pass?" "What were you doing at the pass anyway?" "My actions are my own." It was almost a habitual pattern the three had adopted when Hania visited. His sister would try to distract her husband who would eventually have his fill of his brother in-law occupying a corner of their house. The three would find a quiet place inside the house and spend half a bell's time calming the man down so as not to create a scene. Han wondered why his sister put up with the man's arrogance, he didn't respect her like he should. "How did you get it past the guards?" "Kelvics are permitted here." And then Han's brother in law said something very stupid. "Not under this roof." Hania's sister stepped in front of her husband with a look on her face. Han took the opportunity to quickly remove himself from their company.

Where the man had grown up to think he could over rule a woman was a mystery to Hania. He chuckled as her threats, and fragments of certain promises, caught in his ears. Several of the bed's he passed along his way out were empty. He didn't need any hints of where they were. Since he'd carried Mao into Taloba on his back he'd only assured himself his original assessment of her was correct; she was more trouble than she was worth. Just getting her past the gate watch mistress was a pain and he'd promised part of his next kill to her, just to get the kelvic inside the safety of the walls. Now he was fighting to keep her in his sister's house, and the small bedroll by the door she occupied.

He hissed at the several kids standing near the kelvic causing them to scatter and hurry back to their beds. "Come here." The oldest girl slowly turned back and shuffled to a stop in front of him. Han looked down at her for a minute contemplating a punishment but just decided to cuff her on the back of her head. "What was that for?" "Just in case. Now go back to sleep." The girl scowled but dutiful went back to her mat and laid down. He passed by the figure laying by the door as he walked out into the night air, only to slump against the wall and sink to the ground. His sister leaned out of the doorway. "He's taken care of." "He's right, I should have my own home." Their wasn't any argument from his sister since they both knew he should have his own place to stay. He glanced up at Leth. He had time to sleep until the next bell before needing to swap out Mao's bandages. Hania was in the last few seconds of consciousness when he realized he didn't have his spear with him and he reached out his hand to grab for it inside of the door, but his eyes shut and his thoughts vanished. Finally, he would get a break from all of the stress.

[Mao]

Sleeping was one thing she feared the most during the year that she had been separated from her bond mate. It brought back haunting memories, and her life of solely living in her feline body, living off the land, escaping from threats that were far larger and more formidable than herself, and running as hard and as fast as she could during the days and nights she was alone. Now here she was, unaware and unconscious, in the house of a stranger she had met days earlier. She awoke with a start, the sweat gliding down her temple and onto the bedroll beneath her. It was quiet, and only the sounds emanating from the jungles surrounding the city eased her anxiety.

She looked about her, taking in the environment she was in which was strange yet exotically beautiful to her. The scent in the air told of others living under the same roof, but despite the relative calmness of the scene, Mao felt as if walls were closing in on her. She scrambled to her feet, clutching at anything she could for support as her legs were shaky and trembling from the ordeal she had to go through. Her muscles ached and her temple throbbed, but her legs willed her forward, and she moved silently along the floor.

Then, there was Hania. She caught sight of him almost immediately, and the sudden rush of adrenaline came back to her. Her emotions were running wild, and she was angry and also grateful for his help, but the sudden sense of claustrophobia was beginning to take affect on her perceptions. In a split second she had him on his back with her hand around his throat, hissing and eyes flashing with the essence of a predator. If it were not for the fact that she was too exhausted to shift into her cat form, he probably would have been mauled in a second.

“Where am I?” She growled into his ear, gripping him tighter. “Do you mean to keep me as some pet to coddle?” And then almost as fast as she had attacked him, her hand eased off his neck and she sat almost like a lost puppy on his stomach. She stared off for a moment, into the distance. “… Perhaps not. You should know walls make me nervous…” Something she had not told anyone in the entirety of her life. Just the fact alone she was revealing this was shocking. “Is this Taloba?”

[Hania]

Attacked. In Taloba! Things had gone very wrong in the world if he couldn't sleep without one eye open in his own city. After the dull thud of initially being thrown back to the ground Han thought he'd just lost his balance in his sleep and fell over. It wasn't until he became aware of the hand around his neck that he did something besides grunt in surprise. His arm shot out and coiled around her smaller neck, the other hand slapped at the wall of the house trying to tear off a chunk of wood to stab his attacker with. But it was all over before he recognized his attacker.

"You." In all his life he'd never met such a suicidal individual. She skipped into Faylndar without a care, had the audacity to talk to him like a superior, hunted at night on a wounded foot, tangled with wild cats, and then tangled with him. Not to mention she wandered around outside of the jungle before all of that; everyone knew that it was dangerous to go beyond the jungle. "Look before leap next time. Could land in bad places." He laid their recovering from the massive amounts of adrenaline that had so quickly shot into his veins and trying to recall what she had said to him.

"Get off me." He swatted at one of her wounds to try and scoot her off faster. Had he known her a little better, or had their not been a rock sticking in his back, letting her stay could have been an option. As it was he still felt wary around the emotional kelvic and being off his feet made him uncomfortable. "Yes, Taloba." He pronounced the name slightly different, mostly because of the language difference, but tried to express his way was the right way. He took a few deep breaths, heart still pumping blood at a fast pace. "We all fear something. When it finds us, we face it, defeat it and not afraid now. You should do this. One time you will have to be around walls and if you fear then, you will fail."

[Mao]

There was a distinct hiss then a yelp as Hania struck her wound to make her move. And move she did. She bolted away from him, stumbling into the open and bearing her fangs at him in fury. She had forgotten about the jagged tears that marked her flesh and hindered her utterly. The sudden wave of exhaustion consumed her, and she fell to her knees in defeat. “How dare you…” came her hate-laced words, eyeing him closely, warily.

Then her eyes flicked from side to side, soaking in the scenery around her; the temples, the longhouses making up the majority of living quarters, and the overall peacefulness to it despite the fact that Myrians were known for their savage reputation and treachery. Deep in her heart, hidden behind the instinctual cat that ruled her life, she felt simply safe. Would she be, however? At any moment she knew she could be torn in half, possibly eaten, but for some reason this was not on her mind.

Instead, her attention was directed back at Hania. “These are not the walls of Zeltiva or Syliras. They are more organic, more part of the nature around it. …It’s… more comforting.” She murmured, slowly easing herself up from her position only to find that her legs buckled beneath her and she fell once again. Her cries tore through the air, but she simply tried again. “I will not fail.” She hissed, "I will never fail. I’m still alive, am I not? It’s not my time, I need to keep going… I need to go on…”

With all the strength she could muster, she stood, content then that she could hold her balance on trembling legs, if only for just a moment. "Enough of this.. Will you not show me your city?"

[Hania]

The second he wasn't held down Han scrambled to his feet torquing his arm around so he could pry the stone from between his shoulder blades. "You have problems. You want to come to Taloba, I carry you here, and when you wake up you are mad about it." He eventually used his other hand to push his elbow back just a little further, finally removing the irksome rock. It was considered for a moment before it was sent lazily skipping across the ground.

Han retrieved his spear from inside the dwelling, glanced at it, and twirled it once in his hand out of habit. The Myrian watched the girl flop around like a fish on land curiously studying how quick her temper lashed out at him. He wondered if it was the same way with everyone or if his presence tweaked the wrong nerve. His gut finally told him that, in it's own opinion, the kelvic was afraid of more than just walls; but it would behoove him to keep his mouth shut on the subject.

A low rolling thunder of merciless laughter emanated from his chest and spilled into the night air when he finally translated her words. "Of course this is better! This is not a human city. All the humans want to do is take, take, take." While the man fumed about the other races he marched past the struggling kelvic seemingly oblivious to her plight. A small stave was snatched from it's resting place against the side of the long house. "The first thing they do when they see new things is destroy it, or kill it. Make it their own. This-is-Taloba." The last sentence was enunciated so there was no doubt his home was different in comparison with everything else and the pointed stick was roughly pushed into her hands.

"Taloba survived the Valterrian with only scratches. We rebuild, but the humans had to start over again." He knew his pride for his home and his people was showing through but it was one subject he didn't mind expressing emotion on. He was proud to live where he did, proud to be part of the people everyone feared, it was a sense of power to be respected and feared at the same time. He started to walk away, towards the Tower of Bones at the center of the city, motioning for her to keep up. "Do not fall behind, use the stick to walk. And best manners only. Gods walk these streets freely with us. They come here often, I do not want to die because of your arrogance. And stay away from the small fur balls if you see any, they will kill you too."

[Mao]

Mao studied him with her head tilted to one side. He was shorter than she, yet he acted as if he was high and mighty. A race that dominated everyone an anything. A deep growl rumbled in her throat. If she hadn’t felt so weak or had she not been in a foreign city she probably would have snapped at him there and then. But she wasn’t stupid. She understood her circumstances. She was in enemy territory, albeit one that she felt oddly at ease in.

And then he laughed. She raised a brow, then scoffed at his remark. “Not a human city, and yet you look just like a human. You don’t smell like one, but you look exactly the same. What’s so different besides your height? You’re tiny for a male.” She grinned, elongated canines exposed, a reminder she was not quite as stable as she might have appeared. Although her appearance was rather wild to begin with.

“Is that not what every race does? They destroy, they take, but I agree. Humans are treacherous creatures, and they all deserve to die.” She hissed the word out, fueled it with the deep hatred that motivated her utterly. This conversation oddly reminded her of the one she had with her bond mate… But he was no longer with her. He was gone, and she had to accept this.

When he shoved the stick in her hands she stared at it for a fraction of a second. Was this meant to help? A cane? Mao rolled her eyes. “They had to start over, but I plan to dwindle their numbers. Pathetic creatures…” All this talk of them had her heart racing, and her hands clenched around the stick, knuckles whitening. When Hania began to move, Mao struggled to keep up, although the fact that she was following anyone irritated her, her curiosity quickly overcame it. “So many rules you have.” A pause, “And I’m not arrogant.” She snapped. “It’s not as if I’ll freely cause a commotion in a foreign city. You’re underestimating me, Hania.”

But the view, the buildings, the temples, they were beautiful. Their surroundings screamed untamed wilderness, an untamed race proud of their heritage and their people. She had to smile softly to herself. Hania was a jerk, but she appreciated his hospitality. “Have you been outside of Falyndar?” She asked, stumbling along as quickly as she could.

[Hania]

There was no real intent to actually hit the kelvic but he turned, lazily swinging the pole end of his spear at her anyway, if it did hit it wouldn’t leave more than a sore spot; just a gentle tap. She’d put one too many sarcastic remarks into her comments for him to take, without standing up to them. It was just to let her know he’d heard every word, and she wasn’t on good enough terms with him to say such things, or tease him of his height yet. Indeed Hania might have seemed cold, or even heavy handed, but it was a good sign in actuality. It meant he thought it was worth making the effort to talk, and share his opinions. A finger pointed out the looming tower in the distance, guarded as it was, that still glowed a deathly white from so many years of bones baking in the hot sun. “I do not. You underestimate these rules. The few we have in Taloba are here to keep you alive.” He finally slowed his pace, taking in the sight of the monument to Myrian strength and culture. “We keep Faylndar since it is ours, remove any intruders we do not like, and rebuild Taloba. The trees, and the city, are enough. Tell me how many cities the humans need to be happy. They suffer from greed.”

He glanced up at the Kelvic. “You are new, you can not know all rules yet. When you are not new you will understand. It will be easier for you to live here, than if I lived out there.” Though the nod was towards the garrison his real meaning was towards the rest of the world. Slower steps lead them around the tower, by the training yards where Hania nodded in that direction. “We train there, all the time. Watch long enough and you will see Myri come to teach. Fun to see.” Had Mao been in better condition Han would have asked for a match, never having fought a kelvic before. Maybe when she was better he would return to the thought, or if she was still alive. As for now he was just making conversation and surprisingly excited to show someone new how wonderful his home was, to show there was more to Myrians than just an appetite for flesh.

The walk continued though, not stopping at the training yards, closing on another building. This one was wide and round with over hanging roofs. A random trickle of people came and went in and out of the building, many looking as if they had just gotten back from the jungle. His eyes lingered on the building for a while. “I have seen…..maps, of what is beyond the jungle. It is a big world. Many places.” Again he cut his eyes in Mao’s direction, suddenly wondering if she found his home to be as marvelous as he did. She had seen more of what he’d only heard stories of, and looked at maps of the land she had surely walked across. Whatever her past, she had experienced more opportunities in a few years, than he had in his whole life. Envy and respect vied for position, gradually coming to a head and settling into equal parts. “I have not been farther than where I stumbled across you. What is it like, out there?”