Solo The Great Escape

[Tinnok]

The Great Escape
15th of Summer, 513 AV

The morning began as it always did. She woke before Syna graced the horizon and did ten sets of push ups, sit ups, and several pull ups. She took a morning run with Dog, the both of them jogging companionably in the thick jungle. Then took another run without Dog to check the favorite spots the local wildlife had around her little piece of paradise.

Some mornings that would involve taking her long bow with her to hunt, but this was not one of those mornings. She was content to watch the short legged deer graze peacefully, examining a three toed sloth blend in perfectly into the canopy, and trade mating calls with a male chestnut billed toucan, who followed her through the jungle curiously.

When she returned to her hut she slung her long bow and quiver over her back, sliding her dagger belt askew upon her waist. She grabbed two tinamou she had caught the previous day, strung together by a length of vine and threw them over her shoulder. It was a hot day, and her skin sometimes burned even below the canopy, so she covered her face with two black streaks of kohl that went over either eye, making her yellow eyes pop out of her skull.

And then she made the half days journey to the Tempered Steel's lands.

She visited at least once a month, bringing gifts of game to her clan and visiting Rarik, who was slated to join the Taloban military any day now. She generally did not socialize with either her sister's nor her mother, though Kinai often enjoyed taunting her older sister and showing her the shiny knew weapons Krisha had made her. The half breed did not balk at the young girl's insults, for her half sister never had anything inventive to come up with.

She wasn't in any particular rush to get to the camp, but she did want time to get back to the city before dark had truly lingered long, so she made her feet move faster than a walk while not taking a running way.

Half way through her journey she heard a rustling in the shrubs beside her and froze, drawing her bow in a haste, arrow notched and pulled when Dog broke through the foliage carrying a fat agouti in her jaws. Tinnok grinned and relaxed her stance, rubbing the Iganu Deepwood's head affectionately and cutting a large piece of the rodent off for her as a reward.

She enjoyed Dog's company, for the dog was loyal and affectionate, but surprisingly calm compared to others of her race. Rarely did she bark, and she never deigned jump on the Myrian unless they were clearly playing. She was wary of strangers but never violent unless given due cause, and Tinnok knew of a calculating mind behind the soft brown eyes in her tawny head.

So they paced together through the jungle, Tinnok carrying the three kills and giving the piercing macaw call that warned her clan of her approach about 300 yards from camp.

She heard a few calls letting everyone know who it was. Her own clan had the decency of calling her by her name, at least in front of her face, and she marched into camp, tending to greetings for those she had not seen in some time.

It seemed to her that their faces were warier than before, and not so many acknowledged her presence. She saw none of her siblings, but dropped the kills off with one of the hunters who was off duty for the day. They were taken gratefully before Tinnok made her way purposefully to Tinia's hut in the middle of the conclave.

A few elders sat outside playing dice games and discussing strategies for protection against the monsoons as she passed by and entered the leather flap that covered the entry way. Encased in shadows the Matriarch of the Tempered Steel reclined in a bone and wooden chair, a long pipe filled with the latest taloban tobacco filling the room with a dusky haze.

"Tinnok." It was not a greeting, nor a question.

"Mistress Trinia, I come bearing gifts of game."

"As you always do, tending to your clan. But what else?"

Sharp tawny eyes, flickered directly into Tinnok's golden ones, drawing out the thought that the half breed had been avoiding the entire walk here. She heard the elders crooning over Dog outside on the porch of the hut, and she cleared her throat.

"I have come...come to give up the name of Tempered Steel."

[Tinnok]

The old woman eyed Tinnok severely then, but did not appear altogether unsurprised by this fact, which disturbed the half breed more than anything.

"There have been disturbing rumors, of part of a fang killed in the woods by Myrian hands, for Dhani could not wield our weapons. Would this have anything to do with why you leave."

Tinnok took a moment to answer, collecting her thoughts.

"Yes and no." She replied coolly, wondering how easily Trinia saw through the charade. There was no proof she had been the killer, she had seen to that, but it did not mean eyes wouldn't turn to her...and the worst part was, that in their suspicion, they were ultimately...correct.

"The name of this clan has done much to protect me, more than my blood deserves. I should seek protection from no one, and go out on my own, becoming the disciple of Caiyha I am supposed to be. But if the time comes, and those people who would so easily point their fingers to me as traitor come...I do not want this clan being dragged down anymore than it has to."

The matriarch sat in silence, taking a long draught off of her pipe, making sure the lack of noise drew on so long that Tinnok's leg began to twitch in apprehension.

"But this is not only for us, you do this out of selfishness as well."

Tinnok couldn't disagree, but did not reply, and Trinia nodded.

"I am the one who bestowed upon you our name when no one else saw fit to give you anything, child, so it is fitting you come to me to take it away, but I will not allow it until you talk to the woman that birthed you."

Tinnok tried not to let the grimace show, but it was a weak attempt at best, and for the first time, Trinia smiled. "Yes, I think that is a fitting way to leave us, with your mother's words hanging in your mind and memories."

Tinnok gave a low growl. "She is not my mother."

The elder gave a bark. "You might like to think that it was Caiyha that has protected you all these years, that cradled you in her arms like her long lost daughter, but you would be foolish to think she is the mother of mortals with minds like you and I. It was your mother that carried you in her womb for two seasons, your mother that harbored the hate and disgust just as you did, and your mother, who you have to thank for being alive today, at least in part."

Her expression was grave, and she waved a hand that acted as Tinnok's dismissal. The half breed turned, walking briskly outward towards the entryway. Her hand was on the wood on the side of the door when she paused.

"Mistress?"

Only a grunt gave her leave to speak.

"Why did you give me the clan name, allow me to stay with the Tempered Steel?"

The silence drew on again, and Tinnok thought she wouldn't answer. After five chimes of waiting she made to leave just as Trinia cleared her throat.

"I was curious to see how long an abomination could survive...and you did well past my guess, that is for certain. Now leave Skurak, your stench makes my head hurt, and do not find yourself likely to be welcomed back to us again."

Tinnok stalked out of the hut. It could have gone worse...they could have killed her, and that was half of what she expected...but perhaps even Trinia didn't think she had killed those Myrians...something she'd be wrong about.

[Tinnok]

She was done with her clan, with the people who she had come to know her whole life. All she wanted was the buzz of the jungle and feel of damp earth beneath her feet.

And by the sounds at the mouth of the camp...these were two things she would not be getting.

The twin chuffs of two massive Myrian tigers echoed in the clearing as Tinnok's two half sisters broke through the foliage atop their mounts.

Reina and Vespar. They were stunning examples of Myrian beauty, even now it gave the half breed a twinge of jealousy that sank into her gullet. Any hopes of leaving the camp unscathed were surely at an end.

Shouts of greetings far more pleasant than any Tinnok had received resounded around the Tempered Steel Longhouses. From the sounds of it, her sister's were just getting back after a few months on a Dhani hunt.

"Too bad I couldn't kill the Skurak that shares my mother's blood." Reina called loudly as her dark eyes espied Tinnok. "Then my hunt would have really been successful."

The half breed scowled and made her way over to her sisters. At the very least their mounts regarded her with nothing more than neutral boredom, Krole even allowing her to pet him once Reina had dismounted.

"You'll be happy to know you no longer have to share a clan name with me sister." Tinnok would have preferred the news to travel from the clan elder, but she saw no way to avoid the news now.

Reina lifted an eyebrow and Vespar's brows furrowed, the motion so in sync Tinnok could have laughed. Vespar was the far quieter of the would be twins. "What do you mean, Tinnok?" And called her by her real name.

The half breed cracked her neck, fingers sliding into that comfortable position, resting upon her belt and the hilt of one dagger. "I am forsaking the name of Tempered Steel so the clan no longer has to deal with the burden of my blood."

"Don't act as if this act is of charity, snake. You should never have been called by our name at all."

Tinnok bristled, but simply shrugged. "Well you have the news, I have to go to Taloba to tell Krisha."

Tinnok turned, but Reina was far from done with the half breed. A strong hand grabbed ahold of her shoulder and yanked the half breed to face her.

"Not so fast, sister. You will give me a fight, now that I no longer have to hold back."

Vespar sighed. "You have never held back, sister."

Reina grinned. "Whatever. Take out that knife and show me what you got."

She hadn't the time for this...but if the last time she saw her sister was walking away in cowardice...Tinnok didn't think she could stomach the thought.

Reina already had her long spear in hand, and Tinnok took out her dagger, flipping it into a reverse grip as the two of them moved to a relatively empty patch of grass. Vespar sighed and took their tigers over to get some water.

"Now you can see how a real Myrian soldier fights." Reina grinned.

"Yes, I've never seen that before. Are you really as much of an idiot to your fang as you are to me, sister? I can't imagine they think much of your intelligence with comments like that." Tinnok smiled inwardly as she saw her sister's face cloud with anger, charging forward with the spear.

Tinnok let out a long breath, twisting to the side of the blatant stab and catching the shaft with her free hand, using the momentum Reina had already put in to pull her sister even farther, punching at her face with the fist closed around her knife.

Her sister ducked beneath the punch, head butting Tinnok and sending them both to the ground, the half breed losing her grip on the spear as they tumbled. Reina was atop her, but Tinnok didn't let that stay for long, sending a punch towards her gut that forced Reina to roll off with a muffled curse.

Just as she had gotten to her feet again her sister knocked her feet from beneath her with a well placed twirl of her spear, and the air surged from Tinnok's lungs as she came back to the ground.

Suddenly Reina was atop her, the shaft of the spear pressed painfully against her esophagus, Tinnok unable to draw in a new breath. The look of glee on her sister's face was evident, her knees squeezing against Tinnok's chest like a vice grip.

And the half breed couldn't take it. Her hands fumbled uselessly around Reina's face as a desperate attempt to push her off, and she could hear the distant voice of Vespar trying to call Reina off without actually stopping her.

A pain surged in her chest as her lungs fought for oxygen, only those dull brown eyes visible to Tinnok's vision, and then something within her snapped.

Her fingers reached down Reina's throat as her sister opened her mouth to laugh or further insult the half breed. She felt a different sensation in the pit of her stomach as Djed surged up and through her, the feeling invigorating and wonderful. Her res slipped like mud out of her finger tips and into Reina's throat, whose eyes suddenly changed from triumph to confusion.

Just as Tinnok felt the last of the res eeking from her fingers she let the substance become water, one hand grabbing her sister's nose to seal it, the other covering her mouth.

And suddenly both of the sisters couldn't breath. Reina's eyes widened in shock and bewilderment, and it was Tinnok's turn to grin. The spear shaft was released from her throat and suddenly Tinnok gained the upperhand, shoving her sister onto her back and holding her on the ground, limbs flailing and shoving at Tinnok as she tried to force the water out.

Reina's face turned red, eyes bulging, and for a moment the half breed imagined how wonderful it would be to watch those pompous eyes roll back into her head, life extinguished because of a throat full of water.

Then Vespar's hands grabbed each of her shoulders and yanked her bodily backwards.

Reina rolled over and half puked, half coughed up the water, body heaving upon the ground. Tinnok rose slowly, and a bit shakily from the ground, shoving Vespar away.

"Tinnok...." She said in a tone that implied she wanted to say something more.

"Don't." The tone was filled with warning. Vespar hadn't rushed to her aid when that spear was at her throat...

She did not wait for Reina to recover, did not wait to see what the gathering of her former clan members had to say about the fight, and she felt so much like a small child as she sprinted from the clearing, not wanting to see any of it, ever again.

[Tinnok]

She kept running, even when her lungs screamed for respite, and her legs stung from the branches and twigs whipping against her bare legs. It felt good that kind of pain...it released her from her sore neck, and felt much more real than her stupid fears. Reina surely wouldn't chase after her...wouldn't pull anymore attention to the embarrassment of being bested by her half breed sibling, but the dormant child in the corner of the half breed's mind still imagined her sister, just as lithe and beautiful, but younger, pummeling Tinnok with rage and hate that stemmed from their shared blood just as much as the parent they didn't share.

So even though her body screamed, Tinnok gritted her teeth and kept running. And she ran all the way to Taloba.

She knew the shape of the jungle before the hundreds of feet carved out around the gate, and slowed her pace, chest heaving up and down, hands quaking. It would do no good to look out of breath and falling to pieces when she had to move through the gate, not when it presented the perfect opportunity to continue her morphing practice.

The idea brought a smile to her lips as she thought of the Dhani who taught her just how to morph, then frown. Two Dhani two weeks apart, one who had taught her magic, kissed her...the other who had caused so much trouble...forced her hand in her war between Caiyha and Myri.

By the time Tinnok strode out towards the black gate, guarded by the Myrian guards and their massive orange mounts, the smile was gone, replaced by a somber and serious line in her lips.

She kept her head low, hands curled upon themselves as she drew out the energy from her chest that allowed her to morph. It brought her back to that day in the market with Nightly, how much such a simple idea had affected her...and all she had done was change her eye color.

She guided that energy...her djed up through her chest into her throat, feeling it surge upwards, like a strange cool sensation against her skin, drifting up past her nose to some part of the skull behind her eyes. She willed it to pool there, and closed her eyes, pace slowing as she imagined the dark near coal black eyes of her Myrian brethren, this time summoning her sister's own enraged gaze from their fight only bells prior, pulling the idea of them into the djed that now floated, waiting to transform her retina.

"Mistress?" The voice called out hesitantly, alarmingly close. Tinnok realized she had walked up to the entrance with her eyes tightly shut, hands curled into fists, as if she was about to explode, and as her eyes snapped open, she saw both guards, male and female, look hesitantly at her. Perhaps she had captured more of Reina's fury than she had meant to.

She kept her brows furrowed, partially because it seemed to help her concentrate on maintain her transformation, and partly because it gave her face a dour expression that brooked no nonsense.

"What male?" She barked, one hand sliding to her dagger as if he had physically threatened her. The soldier shook his head rapidly as if to dispel his previous words and Tinnok spat, just as so many guards had done to her on her way into the city before storming past them into the dank hole that would lead her to the city.

Her skin glistened with sweat as she entered back into Syna's light, striding confidently across the dirt pathways that wove like ant roads through Taloba. She knew her way to the barracks just as well as she knew the scales on the back of her hand, and Tinnok shoved and beat her way through the crowds with the rest of her belligerent brethren, shouting her fair share of curses and insults on the way.

But all of her swagger, her confidence, evaporated just as swiftly as a light rain on the canopy above as she strode through the wooden gate of the Training Yards and took a right toward the smithies. She let her eye color return to normal, slowly letting the djed ease out of that pinched space between her eyes, dissipating like steam, and let out a long breath that she hadn't been aware she was holding before stepping into the wooden structure holding the forge where her mother was surely at work.

"Krisha of the Tempered Steel?" Her voice was suddenly light and airy...and Tinnok wished she could take back the words as soon as she had spoken them.

She took a hesitant step into the hot shadows of the forge, not hearing the usual sounds of metal upon metal, or the rumbling of a forge fire. The voice at her back made her spin like a wooden top.

"What is it, snake child? I am busy."

And there, upon a wooden bench attaching a leather hide strap to the handle of a newly forged machete sat Krisha...the half breed's mother.

[Tinnok]

She was elegant, tanned, and hard muscled from years of working in the forge. One arm was completely covered in black ink, a variety of tribal designs inset with weapons Krisha had slowly mastered over her lifetime, a large anvil upon her bicep. Deep brown eyes that looked black in the shadows studied Tinnok's face without a hint of emotion good or bad, but the half breed could see the curiosity at the back of her mother's features, showing in the way her full lips were pulled taut and one slender eyebrow rose slightly above the other.

Tinnok cleared her throat, praying her voice would come out...just the slightest bit more confident now. "I have just returned from the Tempered Steel longhouses, delivering my final gift of game to my former clan." She paused and waited for her words to sink in, seeing Krisha's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly. Before her mother could intercede, however, Tinnok decided to continue. "I have spoke to Trinia, who has given me permission to forsake the clan name, on the condition that I speak with you about it before it becomes final."

"Of course most children would come to their mother first with such news." Krisha said in a bored tone. She was slicing a hole int he leather to make a tie for the strap around the handle, gaze focused downward.

"I think we can both agree, I am not like most children." Tinnok replied curtly.

"And you always liked it that way, didn't you, snake?"

The half breed was taken aback. She had expected rage, anger, hate, a shouting match where neither part one...but her mother's tone held...a strange sort of resignation. Not disappointment...but... "What does that even mean? I would have given anything to be a full blood."

"Would you have?" Dark eyes locked onto the half breed's yellow ones, holding them in a grasp quite physical. "You hid behind your walls of hurt and hate your entire life, fleeing to the wilderness instead of facing what you were...but I am your mother, snake. You liked being different. Perhaps not the hate, the racism, the prejudice certainly but-"

Tinnok stopped her mother with a finger. "Do not pretend like you know me, Krisha. You made it clear to me that you were no mother of mine. You never treated me the same as my siblings, you never...." Tinnok trailed off.

"Never what? Loved you?" Tinnok flinched at the word. "Yes of course it is easy to write your own mother off as the monster that birthed you, the true villain, but I ask you, child. Was it I who did not love you, or you that did not love me?"

This wasn't at all what Tinnok had been prepared for. Years of confusion and bitterness were being questioned in one of the longest conversations she had ever had with her mother to date. She took a step back and her gaze hardened.

"How could I love someone who showed me no love in return?"

She saw something sad in her mother's eyes then, but the Myrian female turned her head away. "Do you really push away your memories so much, only remembering the bad...and none of the good?"

The question hung in the air, Tinnok unable to answer, but suddenly Krisha stood and strode over to her forge. "You have made your point clear, snake. You are no longer of Tempered Steel, and I shall not be the one to hold you here. I will inform Trinia that you held up your end of the deal. You may go."

I may go? Tinnok thought, standing frozen in the middle of the smithy. She had come here for closure and all she had gotten was...a sorrowful mother? A mother who claimed to have loved her...and suddenly the half breed found herself in the wrong. Had she been wrong? Wrong to despise her mother so much for so long? She was wrong about wanting to be different...wrong about a lot of things, but Tinnok wasn't sure she was wrong about that last part.

She was getting a headache...and it wasn't from her morphing. She strode quietly from the forge and into the light, shutting her eyes and summoning up her energy again. This time it rushed up to her head to fast, her body too eager to hide her eyes and she cringed in pain, leaning against the outer wall of the training yard before getting the Djed into its controlled spot where it hovered behind the bridge of her nose.

Her steps were shaky and slow at first as she felt the transformation take place. She was getting better, but was still so far from practiced. When she opened her eyes and strode through the entrance to the yards, however, she knew it had been successful. The guards might have known who the yellow eyes freak was...but they did not recognize the glistening of her skin when two black eyes stared haughtily at them as she passed.

She walked briskly towards the Tskanna Training Yards, for there was one more person she wished to speak with before her departure...one who could help lift this veil that had fallen over her.

[Tinnok]

She recognized his back from twenty yards, not because of the tattoos, but the way his skin almost took on the color of red clay in the sunlight. When she approached Kohl of the Sinking Stone was rubbing a salve upon the haunch of a young calf, a curious trunk feeling up his large bicep.

Tinnok stopped several paces back, letting the Tskanna caretaker do his work, but as he rose, urging the little calf up, she cleared her throat.

He was a strapping man, even for his age, his face seemed to be carved from stone, which cracked under a long smile, his eyes lighting up like coals in an overnight fire. It wasn't hard to see the beauty of the man inside and out that Krisha of the Tempered Steel had found in Kohl, and Tinnok tried to absorb some of his warmth and kindness in the back breaking hug he delivered to her.

"Goddess, Kohl, can you just give me a regular greeting?" Her tone was a whine, but her return grasp revealed it for a lie, and she heard him chuckle in surprise at the strength in her own embrace.

"What can I do for you, Tin?" He looked down at her, arms still around her. The half breed pulled away, reveling in the embrace of one of the few individuals who did not mind showing affection for a half breed, and lowered her gaze.

"I actually came to say my farewells, Kohl."

"Oh?" There was no doubt, or accusation...barely any surprise either. Tinnok looked up into his mahogany gaze that just sought answers from ehr.

"I have let the name of Tempered Steel go...no longer should the clan have to hold me, and my duties to Caiyha pull me farther away from the city every season. I need to be free and go into the jungle...and there...there is little to keep me here." The word anymore hung in the air like a shade, but Kohl merely nodded, clasping a hand on her Gnosis covered shoulder.

"I am glad you told me, Tin. HAve you told Rarik?" He asked not about Krisha, for which she was thankful, and as to the question...Tinnok felt a pang of guilt well inside her.

"He is in active service...and...I don't know if I could find him. I wanted to.."

Kohl shrugged. "S'between you and him then."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, Tinnok knowing she had to depart, but unwilling to finalize it. Then Kohl broke the silence. "Before you go, I was wondering if I could use your gift, we have a sick cow in one of the outbuildings, and no one has been able to help comfort her, we're not really sure what the problem is."

Tinnok shrugged. "I can try."

Kohl smirked and gestured for her to follow him, striding swiftly over the dusty ground into one of the massive buildings large enough to house the elephants. Within, just as Kohl had said lay, all four feet curled beneath her, head hanging low, ears drooping. An attendant was throwing buckets of cool water over her back, but her ears only twitched in response. As Kohl approached she lifted her trunk and extended it towards him, nostrils flaring as the end of the snout inspected Kohl briefly, then turned to Tinnok, wrapping tentatively arpund an offered hand.

Instantly the Witch was overrun with feelings of pain and anguish, her eyes shutting in discomfort as she tried to control the food of sensory input her connection with the Tskanna gave her. Flashes of darkness and pain, what Tinnok gradually came to know as the cow's sleepless nights in this room flooded into her mind, and the half breed had to take a step back, seperating herself from the trunk.

"...Tin?" Kohl's voice was soft, and Tinnok held up a hand.

"Give me a moment." Her eyes opened, and her mind tried to focus, then she reached back out for the trunk and wrapped it slowly around herself, approaching the Tskanna with the appendage. She felt the pain again, but now she tried to find it's source. It couldn't be the entire body after all. Food hurt...drinking water hurt...even the saliva in her mouth hurt. Now her stomach hurt as well.

"She hasn't been eating?"

"No, she hasn't"

Tinnok let go of the trunk, and stroked the large female where it met her skull, fingers reaching down to her mouth, asking her politely to open her mouth, to which she complied. As a preface for her next action, Tinnok drew back the memory of the pain, feeling the Tskanna wince beneath her. She promised she would try to be gentle, but as her hand slid down the cow's throat she suggested...not biting down on it like food.

As soon as she felt the spot, both she and the Tskanna knew it, and a loud trumpet and curses followed as Tinnok's hand shot out of her mouth just as it clamped shut. Kohl jumped to her side, but Tinnok just laughed.

"It was my fault, not hers. She has a cut in her throat, hasn't wanted to eat, and now she's sick because she hasn't been..."

Kohl stared at the Tskanna a minute then chuckled. "Well it'll take some fixing, but that seems a manageable enough problem." He squeezed her arm gratefully, and Tinnok smiled softly at him.

"Anything for our gifts from Caiyha." She rubbed the forehead of the female. "No hard feelings, aye?" A gentle trunk upon her arm signaled that their relationship hadn't been marred by the throat thing, for which Tinnok was glad. Kohl's and the half breed's hands clasped one final time for good bye, then Tinnok turned her gaze out toward the well traveled place that was the Trading Square...she had need of some supplies before returning home. She didn't want to press her morphing, as it sapped too much of her strength, so instead she covered her arms and neck with dirt to covert he glint of her scales, and made sure a heap of her hair came over her eyes...it would be easier that way. Then with shoulders a little higher the half breed decided to do some shopping.

[Tinnok]

She hated the crowded quality of the Trading Square. Tinnok did not consider herself claustrophobic, yet there was a heaviness to the air when so many bodies were collected in one place, and the noise...the noise seemed to fill your eardrums and reverberate throughout your whole body.

To focus Tinnok made a mental list in her head. She wanted armor, a spear, rope, and dried goods in case circumstances left her unable to hunt or forage.

She decided to obtain her goods in order of weight, so she made her way to the food stalls first. There were a lot of mouthwatering options, the smell of roasting peccary with a braise of spices and marinades sank into her nostrils, roasted and candied fruits spinning on skewers waiting to be consumed then and there, but unfortunately Tinnok's purchases required a certain element of practicality, so instead she stopped at a fruit preservers stalls and bought a lab bag of dried mango slices which went into a side pocket of her backpack. Another 2 lbs of smoked deer meat were added shortly after, and Tinnok took a few paces around the nut stalls before choosing a bag of almonds, a perfect source of protein if she was losing energy in the jungle.

She took a moment to arrange her new goods in her sack, taking a few almonds and stuffing them into her mouth before making her way to the weapon's sellers. She was surprised by the amount of ceremonial goods they had on stock, amazingly beautiful glass and copper spears, swords, and spears, that would be next to useless in real combat. She paused for a few chimes to browse the bejeweled goods before approaching the practical side of things once again. She had her scimitar, long bow, daggers, and enough arrows, but she stopped to watch a woman bent over a table, fletching an arrow with brilliant purple feathers and a nearly midnight black arrow shaft.

"That's beautiful work." Tinnok said despite herself. She had meant to stay silent during her transactions, better if no one took a second glance at her...but the elegance of the arrow the female was crafting was beyond question.

"My thanks." A soft voice replied. Two hazel eyes glanced up from their work and eyed Tinnok curiously. The half breed saw the woman assess her bow and quiver in a single glance, assessing Tinnok's chances of being a paying customer. "See anything else you like?"

The witch decided to give the stall a second glance, and in fact...saw many things that she liked indeed. Arrows ranged from simple bland colors to intricate works of art, she even saw the fine headed points of armor piercing shafts, sleek tips for fishing with a bow and the wicked curved heads of barbed arrows. Her expression must have conveyed an infant faced with several delectable treats for she heard the woman chuckle softly even as she stooped back over her creation. "Take your time, I'm in no hurry."

Tinnok pondered a little while longer, but already had in mind what she wanted. "Can I have 20 of the barbed, and 20 of the flight arrows? I can see both coming in handy."

The woman nodded and moved behind a thick tarp where Tinnok could only assume the brunt of the arrows were kept. She returned with two bundles wrapped in cloth and tied with leather strips, peeling back a corner of each to reveal the tips for what they were. Nodding with approval, Tinnok handed over her bikkas with a quiet word of thanks, and turned to make her way from the stall.

"A moment, female?" The voice called form behind her. Tinnok turned curiously to see the woman holding a single arrow up for her. It's head was simple steel, the shaft of a dark ashen color and the fletching of the yellow, green, blue of a macaw's feathers. Tinnok stood uneasily, unsure of what she was to do, and the woman tapped her upon the chest with the head of the weapon.

"Take this one on me, perhaps it'll bring you luck, Skurak." The half breed blanched, but though the woman put emphasis on the phrase, she did not seemed offended, put out, or angry. Tinnok, instead of trusting a mouth which would surely blather something incoherent, merely accepted the arrow and gave a low bow of thanks before whirling off into the crowd, for once thankful of the pressing mass of bodies.

Getting a simple long spear was easy enough, there were whole barrels filled with them, though Tinnok did take the time to test the weight and feel of a couple of the long wooden shafts before picking the one that she would be using, tossing her money to the maker before using the weapon like a walking stick as she returned to the crowd.

Having forgotten about the hemp rope, Tinnok pivoted, working against the mass of bodies to collect a 60 foot coil of the stuff from a grumpy looking male that looked as if he'd rather strangle Tinnok with the stuff than actually take her money.

And last of all, Tinnok went to Suka's Leathers. She entered the building slowly, letting her eyes adjust to a sudden lack of light and began browsing the wares slowly. Most of it were items she was uninterested in, but soon she found a corner completely taken up with different sizes and styles of leather armor. Her fingers brushed the material lightly, looking for something in her size. One was just as good as another, she supposed, and it was this kind of light armor she'd be best suited to, but none of them struck her fancy.

Suka himself was seated behind the counter, watching her with a dark glance. Tinnok merely grunted a greeting, but something behind the leatherworker's table caught her eye and she approached the counter.

"What is that?" She gestured to a set of armor upon a wooden hanger out in back of the shop. At first she had not seen anything there, for whatever material had been used to make the armor was extremely dark. Suka followed her gaze and shrugged.

"Its an old piece, my mother made it, said she learned it from those spider people." He snorted derisively then. "Try as I might can't make another one, but it's not getting sold until I do." Suka didn't seem to care for the droop in Tinnok's shoulders, but she took a step back.

"Your mother not around to ask then?"

Suka eyed her intensely. "Witch wouldn't have told me even if she was."

Tinnok nodded knowingly. "I have a mother like that...but I always got her back by learning something even she didn't know, why not make a different kind of armor, show your mother up?"

"You just want the bloody thing for yourself."

The half breed grinned. "You got me there, it just kind of called to me you see..." She shrugged. "I'll give you twice whatever it's worth."

Suka looked at her long and hard, Tinnok sincerely hoping her eye color was shrouded enough in the shadowed shop. After a chime or so the leather worker simply snorted, throwing a hand up in the air.

"25 bikkas and its yours."

"Done."

Tinnok did not done what Suka called the 'Night Armor' yet, but she did take a good couple chimes just outside the shop entrance ot look over her buy. It was sleek, dark, and even in the bright light of the Trading Square it looked shadowed, as if it was sucking the rays into itself. It was a supple material, though she still wasn't sure precisely what it was made out of, and lighter than rregular leather. Tinnok's eyes twinkled witht he victory of armor that would help her stealth technique before folding it neatly into her backpack, forcing the new arrows to poke out beneath the flap of her backpack. She checked over her newfound goods one last time before slipping out of the Square and taking a more seculuded trip through unused and over grown trails back out to the entrance of the city. Her mother had always told her, armor nor weapons make the warrior, but a warrior needs the best to be the best. She had never quite understood the phrase, but suddenly she had an inkling of what she meant...


Ledger1 Lb of Mangos (Dried) 1 GM
1 Lb of Almonds: 3 GM
2 Lbs of Smoked Deer Meat: 8 GM
Hemp Rope 1 GM
20 Flight Arrows: 3 GM
20 Barbed Arrows: 10 GM
Long Spear: 10 GM
Night Armor: 75 GM

total: -111 GM = -37 Bikkas

[Tinnok]

It was a slow uneventful walk back to her little hut in the woods. Tinnok took her time, stopping at familiar trees, climbing small saplings to check in bromeliads for errant life, and feeding a wandering Agouti another handful of almonds, which she enjoyed watching get clutched in tiny hands and munched on contentedly. She wound around her usually route, approaching the camp from the east, and a small smile was upon her lips, even with the weight of her actions still hanging upon her shoulders.

A smile that vanished when she stepped into the clearing of her home.

It was destroyed, demolished, and burnt. The strange little ingrown hut was caved in, the fire pit looked as if it had exploded, and the ground was trampled and torn up as if hundreds of feet had past over it, or perhaps just a very determined few. But those things did not bother Tinnok even a fraction of a percent as much as the body lying in the middle of the clearing did.

Dog.

She was long dead, the body rather cold to the touch, fur stiff with death, and glassy eyes staring out at the world blankly. Her neck had been snapped, though several cuts and stabs showed she had not gone down without a fight. Her stomach had been sliced open, and organs lay like a grotesque design on the ground surrounding her. Tinnok stood blankly, staring down at her former companion, wondering if Nissila met a similar fate, but imagined that the boa was probably hiding somewhere in the trees, as perfectly camouflaged as a series of leaves upon a branch. She walked stiffly back to her hut, slowly taking debris and moving it to the side piece by piece. At first it was just a medium rock, a bit of branch, but gradually more emotion and effort went into Tinnok's movements until she was hurling clods of dirt and branches, covering herself with debris int he process. Making a hole big enough to fit into she slid into her cabin and searched for the one thing she wanted that could be left: her journal. Buried beneath the dirt, filled with strange flowers, bits of bone (including her father's fang) and precious letters, she found it, still in one piece, and blindly shoved it into her backpack before struggling back outside.

Where she was faced with that corpse again. Tinnok shut her eyes, then opened them again, forcing herself to take in the seeds of what she had sewn. Dog had lived much longer than she would have under Tinnok's care...but not a full life, and that was her fault. She kicked aside a section of small intestine and knelt beside the dog, placing a hand over her eyelids and shutting them with a bit of effort, laying her palm upon the dogs sticky forehead. "Caiyha forgive me for not watching better over my own, and Dira I ask as your humble servant that you guide this bright soul into a wolf's body to run free and wild, maybe in the land of snows, or upon the desert dunes where it can forget about it's last life."

She felt the tears billowing up at the corners of her eyes like rain clouds. Her heart hammered in her chest. She didn't have the time to bury this body, for whoever her tormentors were would surely return, yet she felt something else needed to be said...no...shouted.

Summoning up her djed, Tinnok's mind drifted back away from this scene of death and to a very different one with her hunting party not much more than a couple seasons ago. She recalled the great dark wolf in the night, who had begrudgingly returned to her home, and lonesome howl that cut into the night during her departure. The feral cats of Falyndar could make ferocious noises, but nothing that encased such a beautiful loneliness and desire within it. Slowly Tinnok guided her djed up into her throat, pulling and pushing the strange substance along the lining of her esophogus and collecting a pool of it upon the back of her tongue. She was sure no Myrian or Dhani throat could accurately portray such a haunting noise without a little help, and her morphing seemed like just the aid to do it.

Concentrating her magic on amplifying and changing the tenor of her voice, Tinnok opened her mouth and out came...

"Herk-" Something like a dog being choked upon it's own leash. Tinnok coughed, dispersing some of the djed, and concentrated again, eyes closed, hand clutching a handful of Dog's fur, she needed to let the sound flow freely out of her throat long and load, to capture the essence of a canine in a singular moment.

She arched her neck, and threw back her head, lips parting and a different sound exploded from her mouth...

"AroooOOOOOooooooo"

She almost ceased the noise altogether for she didn't recognize it as coming from her, so foreign it sounded, but she knew she had gotten something right, and held the last note for as long as she could, a few tear drops falling into the thick fur of the deceased canine.

THWACK

An arrow sliced across the clearing and careened into a nearby tree. Tinnok's mourning session was over...her attackers had returned and now...they wanted her.

Lunging up Tinnok dashed off into the forest, her feet pounding against the ground, heartbeat escalating wildly as she began running for her life through the jungle wilds of her home.

[Tinnok]

What was by far the most alarming part of this chase was the silence. She could hear her labored breathing, her feet aimlessly crashing through the foliage with little grace, so clumsy and heavy. But she didn't hear insects chirping, nor birds,and most importantly she didn't hear the whistles of a Myrian scouting party communicating with each other using animal sounds.

That meant they knew of her time in the army, and that whatever this plan had been was pre-meditated. Did they know she had murdered those Myrians? Did they just want the abomination gone from the edges of the city? Was her running away a sign of guilt? And through all of this her mind flitted to the very real thought that she hoped they chased her, deep into her forest, her jungle, where the creatures knew of their witch, and she was safe, where she could find a safe place to hide and murder each every one of the beings that had anything to do with that barbaric display they had left upon her campsite.

She wanted to kill them. But if she killed this group of scouts, there would be no question of her treachery, and it was a slight that the city of Taloba and its savage armies would not take lightly...especially when just like Rekhuna, they had always claimed to know her true heritage, but she was not the petching monster, they were, she was just trying to survive.

And survive she would.

She couldn't hear the feet of whoever pursued her, but she knew they were their, probably forming a semi circle around her, sending their fastest member to the front to slow her down. She needed to use what she knew of Myrian tactics and turn them on their head...but she couldn't afford to slow down yet, not so close to the city still.

Fumbling with her pack, Tinnok took a long swig of water, rivulets streaming down her face and chest, before shoving it back into its pouch on the side. Her eyes darted one way then another looking for a piece of land that would suit her purposes. A giant fallen tree served her well, and she dashed to the side, circling around the great plant and finding a shallow hole beneath its great bulk. This time when she summoned her Djed it rose up to her throat much more swiftly. She coated the sides and imagined the Tiger Training Yard with the snarling roars of playing tigers, the sound of wild cats fighting in the wilderness, the vicious snarl that warned Myrians with their weak flesh to flee or die.

She snarled, loudly, letting the call echo out from beneath the tree. She still wasn't sure the distance of her advesaries from her person, so she let out a few more warning growls and snarls, liking the feel of the sound as it dripped out of her open maw. No wonder Myrian tigers were so full of themselves...

A thought for another time. Now she released her control of the Djed in her throat only to re-direct it into her hands, funneling it into her finger tips to form claws, feeling a sweat break out upon her forehead for performing these actions so swiftly in conjunction with each other. The claws were the sharp hooks of any jungle cat, but she made sure to increase their size, harden the nails and turn them black like a tigers, which would be needed for her ruse to work. Once she was happy with the side she raked them into the bark of the tree, upon the ground and shredded a few of the plants around her, trampling the ground.

Panting heavily, as if she had only just stopped running, Tinnok tiredly let the transformation go, her nails reverting to normal. Now was the most important part. Instead of sprinting away and letting them pick right back up on her trail...she needed to be stealthy.

Tinnok looked for the nearest patch of foliage to get lost in and chose on that was occupied by several giant ferns, which never rustled as loudly as other leaves. Crouching low to the ground she made a quick dash across soft earth, slowing her pace as soon as she got lost in the ferns and making her way a quiet as a mouse. Her hands were ready to catch every branch and vine, slowly depositing it behind her as she passed, feet finding soft wet leaves or patches of earth free from treacherous leaves and sticks. She slowed her breathing and twisted and turned through the jungle. Her progress would go at a snail's pace, but her ruse was sure to confuse and distract her pursuit, and even if it was only for a single chime, that might just be enough.

Her body seemed so calm as it wound its way through the greenery, her steps slow and thoughtful, even her lips set in a calm even line that spoke of a need for concentration, but her heart...it beat furiously in her chest, knowing that one wrong move could mean her demise.

[Tinnok]

She felt like a deer or other animal of prey. Every muscle in her being was telling her to shoot out into the foliage and simply make a run for it, but she couldn't, not yet, not now. She heard the distant rustling of foliage, heard hushed voices, and new her bait had been taken. She half wanted to summon the energy for another tiger roar, but the idea of it could backfire just as easily as it could succeed.

Her body slowly continued through the foliage, watching the sun dip towards the horizon. Her last hope was darkness. In that time she could easily hide upon the ground, in the trees, and her hunters would surely pass her by, or...provide her with the perfect opportunity to pounce upon them like a black jaguar. The thought made her smile despite herself.

Stowing her thoughts away Tinnok focused back on the real problem of gaining ground upon her pursuers without giving away her position, and while moving at such a slow pace. Her neck was getting sore from staring so intently upon the ground to ensure she didn't give herself away because of an errant branch or root.

She breathed in slowly through her nose, and out of her mouth, and her heart beat had slowly calmed the longer she wasn't discovered, though she could still feel it within her chest. Foot by foot she made her way, farther and farther from the tree, when the foliage cleared she crouched, finding the shadows of the looming jungle trees, and every noise caused her to flatten against the ground, eyes searching wildly for her hunters, only to softly curse her paranoia and leap up again to continue.

Then she heard it, one long whistle. It was a distance away, and signaled a new formation. Her eyes narrowed. They hadn't used any noises before, this could simply be them attempting to predict what she would do with their instructions. An altering of formation usually meant they had lost their prey and were trying another tactic, but it could also mean just a rotation of jobs. Her nose curled in worry and instead of thinking anymore about the true meaning of the sound, Tinnok continued padding softly through the jungle.

Syna seemed frozen in the sky, though with every fiber of her being she willed Leth to rise and take her place. She prayed to Makutsi for rain, Leth for darkness, Caiyha to guide her steps, and Myri....Myri she contemplated for a moment, then threw the thought away. She was no longer her Goddess Queen, not her ruler, not her mother, and perhaps she had never been.

And she continued to creep. Another call, this one of a Nightjar. Close in.. Petch, did that mean they knew where she was and were just circling around, or were they hoping for her to bolt because they didn't know where she was. Her heart thudded like a hammer against her ribs, and Tinnok dashed across and open patch of ground, leaping over a long arm-like root and tumbling in the crease between two roots. Her bow was off of her back in a flash, and her hand ripped a barbed arrow out of its wrap, grabbing three more and laying them at the ground at her feet. She made as small of a target as she could, curled into herself, bow at the ready. At least if they came they couldn't sneak up behind her. Now to find out precisely what the NIghtjar call had meant...