Completed A Jaunt Through the City of Bones (Nightly)

[Tinnok]

She watched his face, he was upset with her...and perhaps rightly so. The piglet twitched in her grasp, coarse fur itching against her skin as she held it in her lap. He did not touch the meat either, and the half breed sighed.

"I can feel..." He had called Caiyha a rat before...and saw her markings as slave brands. She wasn't sure if her explanation would help elucidate any details or simply make him more wary to the subject, but...there was only one thing she could do, and it would be to tell him the truth.

"When I touch an animal, a plant, because of the mark Caiyha gave me I can feel and see what a creature is experiencing, not like you, who has a mind of sentience but true animals and plants, we share a link...perhaps like a bond, but more..." She grasped for words he would understand.

"Swift, not long lasting, a glimpse into how a creature sees and feels. I felt the fear, the...sadness of this infant being separated from its mother. It was the weakest of its litter, a runt...perhaps it would have been eaten simply by something else...but no, I don't think it would have been better to kill it."

She ran her hand over the bristles on the pig's back. "But to make a true slave of it...to sell it, or make it a pet. Might that be a fate worse than death by a predator's mouth?" She shrugged. "I don't know."

She rubbed her forehead, her taste for the hunt long gone...and though they had recently woken, the half breed suddenly felt quite tired. "I just feel like...a fool." She often wished she knew precisely what her goals were...where the line was drawn for a witch such as she. Myrians, Dhani, they were hunters. She was both, and she hunted, tracked. It was in her nature, it was how she made a living. But this? Could she truly justify taking a piglet to Taloba? It seemed so hypocritical. Then again, it was not her hunt...but was she not supposed to protect the jungle wilds? Should she not release the runt and let nature take his due course?

[Nightly]

He settled back to the ground, no longer thinking of moving away as she explained it. So strange humans. “I can smell that, its fear as I grip it; a sour tang in my nose and mouth.” He actually shrugged one of his shoulders, an unconscious movement from his feline skin to brush away a bothersome thing. “All prey smells of fear, it is what makes them prey. They run away; brave ones stand fast. I am prey to some, you are too many. Should teeth find you; do you not think the predator knows you fear it?” He looked at the piglet, still not understanding why she would care.

“It will forget its mother quickly.” He watched her, feeling nothing for the tiny creature she held. It was food, alive and wild it was still food; it would always be. Today he had bested the prey; at some point the prey would best him and the roles would switch. It is only because the thing was weak he best it, but weakness was what it was.

Tinnok seemed so pained and Nightly couldn’t help but feel a twinge of dislike for not understanding it; but also that he did not want to. So many things crossed her face; he could not even start to name all what those emotions were. Getting up he moved to her and didn’t stop, simply plucked the piglet up and held it before her; ignoring its renewed scream as he crouched down.

“This is food; prey. I caught it so I live another day. It was caught so it does not live, it will be eaten.” He gave the piglet a small shake, nothing to hurt it but to jolt it to be quiet. “There is no difference, between this prey; and the deer before. There is no difference between it and I, or you. Today, we are not prey, we are not hunted or caught; this can change.” He looked at the Piglet, his eyes like ice as they coldly looked the beast over.

What was it that made her so upset? Even now he smelled its fear, a nasty clinging scent that stuck inside his nose. He looked back at Tinnok, waiting to see what she would do. “Your god’s gift seems cruel to me. If it pains you to eat, does it then not mean your god wishes you to die?” He gave her back the piglet, the little creature frozen stiff with fear. Nightly no more cared for the creature’s feelings then he did for a tree he used to sharpen his claws.

Everything, was either food or danger; shelter or threat, either a thing to use or avoid; there was no reason to think more on it.

(( Pretty new table~ ))

[Tinnok]

oocHaha, used the wrong one on accident actually, but let's just keep it going!

She watched those cold yellow eyes try to understand...yet fail. She was sadder then for a moment. Of course he didn't understand, how could he? For a moment the jaguar Kelvic reminded him of Eagle, yellow eyes were replaced by one's of obsidian as she thought how he would look at her...when a monkey perched upon a shoulder, or she'd lay her forehead against a tree, his eyes that thought too much, trying to figure out what she was thinking.

But there was a wall then, brought up between any witch, and anyone not marked by the Goddess of Flora and Fauna.

"I have never thought of it as a curse, though I suppose when Caiyha opens your eyes wide, you cannot help but see every detail, not just the one's you'd like to see."

She sat back, a bit of mud peeling off as she scratched her scalp. "She does not want me to die, or she wouldn't have marked me, but I must realize with every kill the life I am removing from the cycle she creates...it makes it heavy...but also makes my kills meaningful, I know I will not waste a drop of blood...and if I do the jungle will take what it needs."

She tried to calm the piglet again, but this time he was inconsolable. She could feel the pulse of his heart against her hand, tiny and desperate, and the half breed curled him against her chest with a sigh.

"Life...the life here is so intense, so...huge. Hundreds of things are mating, living, dying right beneath our feet in the ground, tiny and insignificant to you or I, yet they help grow these massive trees, and feed the birds who spread the seeds of fruit from one place to another, to grow more life..." She trailed off glancing at the Kelvic and laughed.

"I'm sorry, I could speak till Syna and Leth were reunited in the sky about the jungle. Come, let's head to the city then with our..." She glanced at the little piglet in her arms. "...things to sell."

[Nightly]

He didn’t understand, he couldn’t. It was too big, too large for him to even try. His life was nothing but now, past did not matter; future was meant nothing. He lived now, breathed now and ate now. To think of more was maddening, sending cold shocks of fear down his spine, yet Tinnok spoke of things he would rather run from, as if she spoke of nothing more than it raining.

“Of course there are many things, there will always be many things and just one thing does not matter. One leaf won’t stop a tree from dying.” He looked at her, but he couldn’t begin to grasp what she thought of, acted on. “If all humans think like you, it is a wonder you have not all gone insane from fear.” He shivered, giving his head an agitated shake.

Still as she looked again to the piglet, Nightly lifted his lips from his teeth in a silent snarl. Once more he plucked the creature from her grasp, and then set it down. With a flick of his wrist he batted it and the piglet set off the way the others went. She seemed so hurt over just that one thing, it was not mercy that kept him from simply killing it; it was the simpler choice.

He enjoyed Tinnok’s company, but he did not think he could stand her unhappiness over such a thing. With a snort he stood and grabbed the dead adult pig up, neither of them having touched it but for Tinnok, who just cut the thing open. With ease he tossed the thing over his shoulder, uncaring of the blood that splashed down on him from the open cavity. “I will get my bag first.” He made no motion to even acknowledge he had ever had the piglet. As far as he was concerned, it had never happened.

Looking to the female he waited for her to start walking, his expression again clear and calm and his wild eyes showing nothing more than impatience to move. He would see this city and see if more of the humans spoke about maddening things and of names he could not hope to know. Syna and Leth; he wouldn’t even ask. It was fast becoming obvious to him at least, that even though Tinnok answered, he didn’t get what she explained.

(( Oh, well it looks good mistake of using it or not. XD ))

[Tinnok]

She watched the piglet flee into the forest after its mother, wondering if it would make it that far. Such stubby legs could carry it further and faster than it would appear, but still a few trials might await the piglet as it ran. Regardless of its survival, Tinnok couldn't help but smile. Her hand reached out for Nightly's shoulder...even if he didn't understand what she meant, he understood her pain, and that was enough for the half breed.

her fingers stretched toward his strangely pale bare skin, but never made contact, as the the Jaguar hefted the older peccary over his shoulder, part of some intestine flopping over his shoulder. Tinnok lowered her hand and raised an eyebrow. She did not want to press the Kelvic to eat, however. If he was truly hungry he'd stop himself, and perhaps it would be prudent to reach his bag first.

So instead she started forward, leading them back towards the city, pressing the foliage out of their way in an attempt to help the Kelvic through the thick brush, taking a care where she stepped...yet not being as stealthy as she could have, given the circumstances.

She opened her mouth to speak several times, but no words came out. It seemed strange to stay in silence with Nightly now, after she had told him so much, most of which he barely comprehended. But to answer his questions, or even reply to his suggestions just seemed likely to bring up more confusion...often it was easier to show, rather than tell, and the Kelvic would get quite a lot of that once they reached Taloba.

So she stayed silent instead, wondering what the jaguar was thinking as he walked behind her. What would he do once they had sold their goods int he market? Would he follow her out as easily as he did in? And what was she to do with him besides?

Her mind occupied, her fingers running unconsciously over the hilts of her daggers as she walked, Tinnok fell into a deep pool of thought, the rhythm of two pairs of feet driving a beat to her mind's tumult.

[Nightly]

He had missed that she had reached for him, instead he blinked when he caught her hand near him but not moving. He had even missed her smile at the release of what might have been a nice bit of food; he failed to see the creature any other way then an escaped chance. As she started to move he followed, he was thankful for her moving away the plants; but still he earned more scratches as the moved.

He could shift, but he was unwilling to let this food go. The deer was lost as was the piglet; but this one was not to be let out of his sight. As they drew closer, nightly paid more attention to the tree’s till finally they came toward the city; and his home. “Here it is.” He was looking up however, to the tree’s. He had left his bag in one of them; he just had to find it.

He moved the pig from his shoulder and let it drop with no care to what got into the food. He was simply looking up, tracing the tree’s branches. "You can come with of course, nothing there but my bag and leaves.” He looked at Tinnok for a brief moment, wondering if she could climb a tree like this. It was high; the branches thin and weaving into the branches of another tree making something like a net.

“Or you could stay here.” He glanced at her hands, wondering if she could make those claws happen to climb the tall tree before them; then move through its branches. He had a number of things in the bag, and he knew from watching, that the horrid bit of cloth would be needed to enter the city unless he didn’t plan on speaking the whole time.

[Tinnok]

Eventually the silence returned to something calm, almost peaceful. The walk was long, but there was no premise of hunting to interrupt their journey, and the two of them made good time.

As Tinnok saw the first vestiges of Taloba: wider trails, a few scant patrols around the perimeter eyeing the naked male and the near naked female with dark eyes, she watched the cat Kelvic with interest.

The Peccary plummeted to the ground as if forgotten, and Tinnok decided that, it would be easiest to sell the beast in this form rather than parcel it out and try to sell different parts to everyone. A tanner would most likely take most of the meat and bones along with what would prove to be a thick and durable hide, perfect for making weapon sheaths or sections of armor.

He spoke so factually...his words weren't devoid of emotion, but it was still strange, like how an animal might speak if they had the throat and chords for it, without a care to simple things outside of pure survival.

Tinnok glanced up at the tree. She could morph and use her claws, but she had an entirely different idea in mind for that particular magic today, and it would help her not at all to waste her energy on climbing. "You go on ahead, I'll wait down here and watch the pig."

She espied a puddle not too far away and approached it, yellow eyes reflecting back at her like two small moons centered in her face. She grimaced for a moment at the face, watching the reflection return the look with rippling malice. After the long staring contest with herself, Tinnok closed her eyes, and for the second time that day she thought of Eagle. His eyes weren't actually black, but they were so dark they might as well have been. Rather ashamed of herself she realized she knew the color of his eyes better than even Aya, whose own irises seemed to escape her at the moment, but not his...those dark thoughtful depths that would stare at her funny and crinkle around the edges when he wasn't actually mad...and-

She was getting away from the point. Tinnok growled to herself and stopped thinking of the man behind the eyes, it was only the color she wanted after all. She imagined her reflection in the water, rippling with a slight breeze, and felt a rush of djed surge up from her chest, warm coils of energy sliding through her neck up her nose and almost painfully into the front of her skull. She knew her own eyes well, and she knew his just as well...now all there was was to swap the two. She let her mind drift, merely images and colors flashing in her thoughts, face curled in a grimace as she felt something...something happen to her eyes. The feeling was strange to be sure, as if a different liquid was pooling up into her eyes. Knowing it was her own essence made it strange, and she wondered if the magic was truly working.

"Oy, Myrian, what's your name, and what the blazes is that thing doing up in that tree?"

She did not get the chance to check her handiwork in the puddle before she rose, straightening her back like she did in the service, one haughty eyebrow perching itself atop her forehead as she addressed a male scout.

She knew it had worked when her neck leaned forward, and her height proved evident to the lesser male. She saw him back away slightly, and it wasn't because of the snake eyes that were her own...but because of two black pits of coal that had replaced them.

Tinnok smiled, the expression filled with no humor. "That thing is a Kelvic, and he is my companion. My name is Liosha of the Tempered Steel, and we are coming to the market for trades." She stepped close to him, so their chests nearly touched, a strange dizzying sensation reaching her head as she realized suddenly the power at her command.

"Is that alright, male?" Cowed the scout muttered something and stalked off. Only once he was gone into the underbrush did Tinnok turn back to the puddle, gazing down into its mirror surface.

The face that stared back at her seemed infinitely different than her own. The grey mud had dried in her dark hair, giving it silver streaks, slowly chipping, also doing well to hide her scales, a detail she had not considered till just that moment. She was tall and lanky, but muscled, and her chin was higher than she had ever held it before, the image of a proud Myrian female who knew her place in the world. It pleased and disgusted her equally, and finally she couldn't bear to stare at the image any longer.

She glanced over to check Nightly's progress, rubbing her forehead where she could feel the pinch of magic that kept her eyes this way. She had to keep feeling the part, pulling on that to keep it flowing or it would surely disappear...and at this point, her very life might rely on keeping her identity secret.

In order to aid with this Tinnok took a strip of cloth and wrapped it around her Gnosis. It was a distinctive image, and one that might easily be connected to her despite her changed eye color.

[Nightly]

Nightly looked at her for a while, gaging if she really meant just to stay. Then he shifted and set himself to climbing the impressive tree. His claws easily found purchase, sinking into to toughened wood with no more effort than it was for flesh. Getting it out was the hard part, often bark flecked away and he had to shake a foot to dislodge it from his claws. It took a bit but he managed to reach the tops and he was soon slinking through vines and leaves.

Here is where he did his best, his lithe body twisting on itself to move between places to tight for any human to fit through and not drop to their death. He finally came upon his bag, nestled between branches and hidden carefully. He grabbed it up in his mouth and headed back, but it was much harder; and Nightly had a few times where a paw dropped between branches and it was only his back claws that saved him.

Grumbling he came to the tree’s base again, and looked down to see Tinnok looking at what appeared to be water. Seeing her look at him, Nightly chuffed and stepped forward; a tiny mistake. Not that he would admit it. He tripped, his whole body nearly falling forward; the bag in his mouth was let go and made the plunge to the group with a nasty thump, but Nightly was clinging to the tree, only facing straight down. It wasn’t a problem, since he would have done this but near the end.

His tail thrashing, he turned himself around and slowly climbed down. When he was half way down he simply turned and jumped; landing with the same thump his bag did. Unlike the bag he got up and shook himself, sending flecks of blood and mud around him. He was really happy he had managed not to fall this time. Usually it’s how it went, but he had an extra little kick to want to try and impress Tinnok. She could do a lot of things he couldn’t, but he could climb; sort of.

He was pleased though, he hadn’t fallen and he actually landed on his feet. He didn’t bother to shift, he stuck his head into the bag and grabbed up what he was really after. A rabbit hide ball was clutched into his mouth as he looked at Tinnok. His was surprised when he did not see her eyes. In this skin it was impossible to see anything but the brightest of colors, everything else were shades of black gray and white. He was use to Tinnok’s eyes and for a brief moment he wondered if she had been attacked and lost them.

It was a thought that was fleeting, there was no blood. He shifted, his ball being dropped; but then he saw her eyes were still there. “What happened to the yellow?” He sat down and brought the bag to his lap to shift through it. He tugged the bone comb out, he hadn’t yet found its use; but he also tugged out the clothing he had stolen. “I have these, they will work?” He held out the vest, holding it like it might bite him any minute. “I saw no one that went in was without the hanging skins.” He was glad now that he had took these from the body he had found.

(( Hehe, little snakies. If Nightly's talking gets to hard to understand, I can put the meaning in a little oc note or something. >< I know its broken and a bit scattered, but I think thats how he would talk, also his attention span is really short. XD ))

[Tinnok]

She gestured to her eyes. Already the strain of keeping them this way was taxing her body, sapping her strength. She closed her eyes for a moment, focusing upon Eagle's face, studying the eyes in her mind, then re-opened them, one hand on her chest. Just like trying to grow the fur she felt a pang in her lungs, as if she had just completed a short sprint.

"They are just like the claws."

She smiled at him. "Nice trick in the tree, by the way, I certainly can't jump from that high up."

She glanced at the clothes, presumably stolen as he didn't seem to like them much. They seemed a hybrid of human and Myrian garb, with a ball? Tinnok couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, those will do, we call them clothes."

She had never dressed a man before, but then again...Nightly wasn't precisely a man either. She picked up a pair of loose cotton pants and handed them to him. "All you really need are these, its too hot to cover much more than your..." She gestured between her legs, grinning. He may not have seen the humor in his reproductive parts, but Tinnok found that very trait the most amusing.

Once his pants were on, Tinnok smirked. He was ghostly pale, vaguely emaciated, but he had the raw predator look befitting a Kelvic, or one who wanted to survive in Taloba. She gestured for him to follow.

"Let's give you a tour, aye?" The half breed strode towards the city with a confidence she had rarely ever felt in her life, a pinching sensation between her eyes letting her know that the effect was still upon her.

When they reached the city Tinnok slowed, two warning growls emanating from the massive Myrian Tigers sitting like fiery orange statues to either side of the entrance. Yellow eyes appraised her and their stiff backed guards did likewise. Tinnok strutted past them with nary a word of greeting nor insult, and the guards said nothing.

In the dark passageway to the city, that was when Tinnok's concentration broke and her eye color returned to normal. She gave a sigh of release as the pinched feeling disappeared, and leaned against the stone wall for a moment to catch her breath. She felt Nightly's eyes upon her and smiled at him, gesturing to her eyes again.

"See? Back to normal."

She grinned and led him into the city, drawing up a makeshift hood that she had sewn into the collection of cloth that covered her breasts. It may have been conspicuous, a Myrian covering their hair, but it was less so then bright yellow slitted eyes...so she was just going to have to make do.

The light of mid morning shone down upon the two companions as they exited the thick wall and entered the City of Bones. The outskirts were thinky populated by a few clan longhouses and some guard patrols, but Tinnok led the Kelvic smoothly down the well trodden dirt paths towards the trading square, tines in one hand, Nightly with his peccary. It grew louder, and more crowded as they walked, the half breed making her way towards the trading square. Massive buildings built into trees and constructed from wood and stone towered around them. The Myrians, covered in little but ink and jewelry seemed like a river of bodies, making even Tinnok uncomfortable...she much preferred to be crowded by plant life than people.

After a chime or two she glanced back towards nightly, curious as to how he was faring in the massive city.

[oo=ooc]I think I can figure it out, but I'll let you know if not![/ooc]

[Nightly]

He nodded, but it seemed odd. He could understand the claws; after all he had them even in this skin; but her eyes changing? Then again, she had made fur of sorts. He looked at her and flashed his teeth in a sort of smile; pleased as could be that he had done something. “If you change to me, you could to. I fall a lot, but getting better.” He wondered if he could jump from this skin, looking at his spindly legs he did not think so.

His eyes moved from his legs to the thing he held. “Clothes, what’s a clothes? Are these not stolen skins?” He took the next bit of cloth, tossing the other one to the ground uncaringly. Looking to her he huffed. “I don’t see why, I don’t have to while I am a cat,” but he stood and let her help him drag it on. When it finally was; he shook one leg then the other. This was horrid!

With a sullen glance to Tinnok he gathered up the stuff into his bag and followed her. It was useful to have hands; the bag really didn’t taste nice. He bent and took up the pig carcass again, but there was no blood that sloshed onto him, already drained or dried. “Okay.” What was a tour? Didn’t matter, she had yet to do something to hurt him so he would just let her do it.

Nightly did not react so aloof at being growled at by the striped cats. He pulled back his lips and hissed, even managing to growl. He slinked between them, nearly unable to move forward; but he wanted to follow Tinnok. Still he glanced back and spat, then imploringly look at Tinnok only to see her smile and her eyes normal again. “You look better with yellow eyes, much nicer." He looked back to the gate again. "Those cats are too high and mighty, just because they have flashy colors and are bigger. Big isn’t everything.” He was rather lanky and small as a cat; not yet having enough food to grow.

The cats were not stalking him, but Tinnok kept moving and it gave him little chance to glance once more to be sure. As they went further into the city, Nightly grew more panicked. So many humans, they were everywhere! He hadn’t known there were this many. Then there were the buildings, odd caves with people streaming around them. One person got to close to him and Nightly hissed and would have smacked them if not for the full hands; but his large pupils gave him away. He was by no means angry, he was scared

Ants, that’s what this was; it was a hive of angry ants scuttling about. His head was hurting and buzzing, so many smells and colors; so many different sounds. Then the pants were not helping. They kept brushing his legs and he would turn to see if something was there. Finally he made a low whine and crouched down right where he was on the tips of his toes. Miserably he looked up to search for Tinnok, he wanted to shift; but he didn’t want to drop the food or his bag which held his important ball. He had taken the clothes easily, he was sure someone could take what he had just so.

(( So, I think Nightly would look a lot like this as a Jaguar. Click here Young, but not to much so. Course he would be black but I could not for the life, find a young adult black jaguar picture. Also like a spazz, I spent all of today looking at the first page, having forgotten we had been on the second. Fail. ))