Flashback Old Foes, New Faces (Svan, Ireth)

[Iskessah]

Iskessah knew that if any real harm came to the girl, the consequences could be dire, but she couldn't help feeling a sense of gleeful satisfaction as she left a few bruises. The Dhani easily overpowered her, but controlling a struggling person was never exactly simple. She forced the girl toward her room one step at a time, keeping a tighter grip than strictly necessary over her mouth. The last thing she needed was another witness to clean up. When they entered the room, Iskessah put her mouth next to the girl's ear and said in a sinister tone, "I do not have time to deal with you right now. If you ssscream or call for help, it will be the lasst sssound you ever make." She then released the girl's mouth so that she could close and lock the door. She looked sharply at the Dhani at his suggestion that the girl was dinner. "Don't even think about it," she snarled. "You are in enough trouble already. You don't want the death of another Ravok ssscitizen to worry about." Iskessah dragged the girl to her bed, reached under neath and retrieved a length of rope. She used it to bind the girl's hands and feet behind her back, though it was a rushed job. Leaving the girl to her own devices on the bed, Iskessah made sure to cover the window. Then, she finally had time to take a deep breath and consider the situation. It was around this time that Joshry regained consciousness. A gagging sound came from his throat, but he was restrained too well for him to be able to do anything about the awful taste of soap in his mouth. He struggled against his bonds, glaring at the man and wishing him to the deepest pits of the Ebonstryfe's mercy. Iskessah was just glad he was not in a position to cause more trouble. She decided to leave him as he was until he calmed down a bit. All other distractions aside, she addressed the Dhani. "Let me explain to you how Ravok worksss. A sscitizen hasss rightsss. A foreigner hasss none. If the Ebonssstryfe find out you have harmed a Ravokian in any way, no matter the reassson, they will hunt you down, and probably kill you. Therefore, I have to get you out of Ravok before they find you. Any questionsss?"

[Ireth Telemnar]

Ireth struggled against her bonds, her fear causing her mind to flutter. The binds might have been loose, but Ireth didn't notice. When the cold woman walked away, Ireth whispered "Rhysol, oh my Rhysol...." Then her throat rebelled against her and a cough racked her body. She curled up into a fetal position on the dirty mattress as best her bound arms would allow her. The spasm left her throat raw and tears in her eyes. She had to twist painfully to look at the criminals, but she needed to watch them. She didn't want them to come for her unnoticed.

Everything hurt, the wretch had done a number on Ireth's body. But when the hissing woman said "the death of another Ravok ssscitizen to worry about...", Ireth started sobbing.

I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die... Lord Rhysol, what wrong have I done? Then out loud she cried "Have mercy on me!" Whether she meant her God or her captors she didn't know, her mind in pain and turmoil.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan laughed at the other Dhani's reply. "I guess you're right." The brown haired man rose to his feet and helped Kess move and restrain the girl. Unbenounced to anyone he did his best to be gentle on the poor girl, and make her capture as smooth as possbile. His smile dipped slightly as he caught sight of the woman's newly acquired wounds. Svan had no problem punishing those who crossed him, or even killing innocent people who had the misfortune of being coming between him and survival. However, while Svan would happily harm another for neccessity, he was less than thrilled to see someone injured for no reason at all. For goodness sake you could have just knocked her out...

Svan sat on the edge of the bed next to Ireth and watched as Iskessah went to get the window. The gagging sound coming from Joshry alerted Svan to the fact that their other captive had just woken. Svan returned the man's glare, and raised it a smug grin.

"Let me explain to you how Ravok worksss. A sscitizen hasss rightsss. A foreigner hasss none. If the Ebonssstryfe find out you have harmed a Ravokian in any way, no matter the reassson, they will hunt you down, and probably kill you. Therefore, I have to get you out of Ravok before they find you. Any questionsss?"

"No questions. I just didn't imagine that the city of the god of chaos would be so....coddling." Svan turned his glare over to Joshry. "And you can stop staring at me as if I'm some sort of baby eater. The men who attacked me were slavers. They were weak and they chose a dangerous profession. They shouldn't have expected even the most pathetic of Dhani to actually allow themselves to be sold into slavery, and they payed for their stupidity and weakness with their lives." Svan tossed his cloak back so that it hung behind his shoulders, and gestured to the blood soaked bandages that were wrapped around his waste. "Tell me human. What would you have done to men who had stabbed you five times and promised you a life in chains? Given them a hug? Perhaps let them off with a stern warning?" Svan scoffed.

He was just about to lean back and begin relaxing when suddenly Ireth's voice rang out beside him. Having completly forgotten that she was there, Svan nearly went through the roof. "By the Goddess!" Svan swore as he flinched. Angry eyes darted over to the woman, but they quickly grew soft at the sight of tears. Svan let out a sigh at the pathetic sight. His hand moved to wrap around her head and draw it close to his. He lightly pressed his forhead to hers, and whispered softly, "Listen, I'm goning to nedd you to calm down okay? As long as you do nothing to endanger my life, you and I will get along swimmingly." Svan let out a light hearted chuckle as he drew away from the woman. Perhaps not the best term to use after drowning someone, but what ever." Svan patted the woman's head gently, "Don't worry, neither of us are going to hurt you....any further." Svan shot a look at Iskessah, "So tell me kid. Do you have a name?

Because i doubt you would look kindly upon the nickname 'bitesize'.

[Iskessah]

Iskessah frowned when the Dhani revealed his wounds, but said nothing. Fretting over the injury would serve no purpose. Besides, surprisingly, he seemed to be engaged in the useful task of pacifying their captive. Now that everyone was occupied, Iskessah's mind had time to grow paranoid. Was the girl the only witness, or had Ravok's hidden eyes followed them here? Could an Ebonstryfe be walking up to her door that very moment? She had no way of knowing... not in this form. She decided to shed her clothing and begin the morph into her dhani form. She had the foresight to stay behind the captive girl; the sight of the morph would probably be unsettling to most Ravokians. She relaxed as she felt the heatmap come into place. She could sense the warm bodies in the room, and in the nearby apartments. If anyone came down the hall, she would be able to sense them before they knocked on the door. Immediately after than, her sense of smell came alive. Most of what she smelled were the familiar scents of her apartment, and of Joshry. But as the scent of the Dhani filled her nose, she was once again struck with a sense of familiarity, much stronger than before. He was almost certainly a rattler, but she couldn't place him. If they did know each other, she was almost afraid of being recognized, for fear he would want to know what had taken her from the nest, and why she had never come back. With an effort, she forced herself to think of more pressing concerns. The Dhani would need clean bandages. Taking him to the Healing Hand was out of the question, so she would just have to make do with what she had available. She want to the hearth under the window and lit a fire. There was a bucket nearby that she kept filled with lake water, and she poured some of this water into an iron pot, which she then set atop the stove. It would take a bit of time for the fire to get hot and the water to start boiling, but it wasn't like the Dhani was going anywhere anytime soon. She was just wondering what to use for bandages, when the garbled noises Joshry was making caught her attention. She looked his way and found him glaring at her now. She would have raised an eyebrow if she were in her other form. "If you did not want to be knocked out and tied up, you ssshould not have caussed a ssscene," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. She then noticed that the cloth wrapped around his mouth would make good bandages. She unwrapped them from his head, and then turned to dump them into pot without bothering to see what he would do next. Joshry immediately spat the soap across the room. "Bleaugh! Pth! Ugh, who does that? What kind of maniac puts soap in a guy's mouth?" Iskessah was glad she was facing the hearth so that no one could see the grin curl her lip. Joshry should be glad that's all the Dhani did. Because of his friendship with Iskessah, Joshry might be inclined to underestimate the depths of Dhani cruelty. In any case, at least now Joshry was shouting about soap and not about blasphemy and murder. It was clear Joshry still hated the other man, but maybe he was smart enough to realize he wasn't in a position to do anything about him at the moment.

[Ireth Telemnar]

When the murderer first touched Ireth, she shivered. His touch, while soft, was unnaturally cool. Had she not been terrified for her life, she might have found it soothing on her aching head. She thought his swear puzzling, who was this Goddess? The Voice?

It hurt when the man pulled her up to comfort her, if comfort was indeed what he was aiming for. As much as Ireth wanted to be soothed, she was unnerved at building a false sense of security. When he rested his forhead against her clammy one, she came to face to face with his startlingly calm eyes.

"Listen, I'm going to need you to calm down okay? As long as you do nothing to endanger my life, you and I will get along swimmingly." His breath stank of a Sliver, a scent not unknown even among Ravok's youth. Ireth resisted the urge to spit, but she nodded and took a deep breath.

The man drew away, though he held Ireth upright. She pulled her legs out from under her, as hurt and bound as they were, and swung them off the edge of the bed so as to sit up herself. Everything hurt and she swayed a bit. The killer patted her on the crown and she shook her head to clear the spots from her vision. "Don't worry, neither of us are going to hurt you....any further." Ireth glanced up to see him casting a malicious glare away, presumably at the woman who'd moved to behind where Ireth was. Ireth didn't dare twist to look for the lady-wretch, she ached too bad.

"So tell me kid. Do you have a name?"

Ireth thought for a moment, then sighed. Perhaps she could have given a false name, but what good would that do her? I'll probably end up dead either way... "Ireth. My name is Ireth, daughter of Zhidynach Telemnar."

[Licearsvansan]

Svan forced his face into the kindest expression he could manage under stress, "Ireth huh? Thats a nice name. I going to assume you live around here, and aren't just an unfortunate traveler like myself." The man turned his head towards the other Dhani in the room. "Well you guys can call me-Petching Goddess!" The serpents hand lept to cover the eyes of the young girl and he glared at Kessah. He harshly whispered at "What the petch are you doing shifting into a form like that with a traumatized girl in the room! You said you said didn't want to kill her, but it looks like you don't care if she dies of a heart attack!"

Svan turned his attention back to Ireth and did his best to position himself between her and Kess. "Okay now listen Ireth... Kess is what we call a Dhani, and so am I. We are snake people. Its kind of like being a kelvic but with less fur. But we have to hide because people try to make slaves out of us. So pleeeeeaaase don't panic."

Suddenly a bar of soap flew across the room and a fit of coughing followed. The now de-gagged Joshry quickly returned to throwing insults at the snake, and Svan responded quickly in kind, "I did it because you panicked, and started spewing horrible slander against me," the snake replied in an unapologetic tone. "I had hoped the soap would clean up your petching language, but its seems I was wrong." Then, as if Joshry wasn't even worth a second more of the snake's time, Svan's attention returned back to the Ireth. "Here is a good tip, learn from the mistakes of others... Svan moved aside so that Ireth could see Kessah in all her scaled splendor.

"...because soap tastes terrible."

[Iskessah]

Iskessah considered the girl's name. She was not familiar with the Telemnars, which meant they weren't among the most influential of Ravok's families, but the fact that she named her father meant that her family had been around more than one generation. So she was a Ravok citizen from birth, and would have the sympathy of the entire city if anything happened to her. Not to mention, she probably had family looking for her. Iskessah would have to somehow convince the girl to keep the secret of the Dhani willingly... ...especially since her wounded friend apparently saw fit to reveal everything. There was no point trying to hide anything from the girl now. She knew enough to incriminate all of them, if she chose. Iskessah couldn't care less about the state of the girl's heart; as far at the Dhani woman was concerned, fear could be used as incentive to keep the girl's mouth shut. She was saved from having to react immediately by Joshry's continuing spat with the Dhani man. She kept quiet for the moment and simply observed, a habit she had picked up during long years in this very room. She could see Joshry's hands moving continuously against his bonds, and she wondered if he was trying to escape them. She was curious how long it would take him, so she made no move to help or hinder him. As much as Joshry was a loyal Ravokian to the core, she trusted him not to do anything to endanger her. She just had to convince him not to endanger the other Dhani. Joshry, in a rare moment of focus, decided not to mention the obvious: that from the sound of it, the Dhani man's mouth was the one that needed cleaning out with soap. Instead, he made a calm and rational argument...for a Ravokian. "It's not slander if it's true. You killed Ravok citizens. You blaspheme against Rhysol. You should be turned over to the Ebonstryfe. The only reason you haven't been yet is because for some reason, Iskessah thinks you're worth protecting." From his tone, it sounded like Joshry couldn't imagine what that reason could be. For the sake of their friendship, Iskessah felt compelled to make him understand. "He isss Dhani. Dhani protect each other above all othersss." She stated this as if it were an inalienable truth, which, to her, it was. Her snake head emphasized the hissing that she was no longer bothering to hide. "I ressspect Rhysssol, but Ssssiku hass alwaysss been the mother of the Dhani." Her eyes flicked to the man who had caused so much trouble with his ignorance. "Of coursssse, it would be prudent not to antagonize people who hold your life in their handsss any more than needed. Dissshonor the lord of Ravok in front of the humanssss again, and I will make you regret sssuch ssstupidity."

[Ireth Telemnar]

She flinched when he slapped his stone-cold hands over her eyes. The force made her gasp, but a chill began to grow around her. The little hairs on the back of her neck were standing up and the man raised his voice, at the hissing woman Ireth supposed. He focused then on Ireth, his tone hurried and tense. "Okay now listen Ireth... Kess is what we call a Dhani, and so am I. We are snake people. Its kind of like being a kelvic but with less fur. But we have to hide because people try to make slaves out of us. So pleeeeeaaase don't panic."

Ireth curled her lip before the man released her. Kelvics. Snake kelvics. Snakes weren't foreign to her, she'd seen plenty of those silly water moccasins that found their way into the city from the Lake's shore. But she'd not yet heard of a snake kelvic. Surely they deserved a special place in the KRI, right?...

When the cold man pulled away, Ireth couldn't help but look directly at the woman. Or, what had been the woman. Where the wretch once was now stood a horrible beast, the like of a mix between a human and a snake. Scales. The head of a serpent, a muscular but lithe torso. And a tail. A tail easily longer than Ireth was tall. A brown the color of rainwater in mud. Ireth felt her composure flee as she opened her mouth to shriek. NO! her brain shouted, and Ireth flipped around to bury her face into the man's shoulder. She bit her lip until she drew blood and, in her terror, slipped her rope-burned wrists from their weak binds. Ireth clung to the man, sobbing and shaking.

"Rhysol, have mercy. Rhysol, have mercy. Rhysol..."

For some ticks, she sat there, until she regained the sanity to realize that her wrists were free. Her eyes red and the man's shirt wet, she sat back up and massaged her hands and listened to the submissive man, the one now speaking harshly.

"It's not slander if it's true. You killed Ravok citizens. You blaspheme against Rhysol. You should be turned over to the Ebonstryfe. The only reason you haven't been yet is because for some reason, Iskessah thinks you're worth protecting."

"I ressspect Rhysssol, but Ssssiku hass alwaysss been the mother of the Dhani. Of coursssse, it would be prudent not to antagonize people who hold your life in their handsss any more than needed. Dissshonor the lord of Ravok in front of the humanssss again, and I will make you regret sssuch ssstupidity." The snake-woman hissed, her accent much more noticeable than it was when she looked human.

Ireth looked up. She trained her eyes on the man next to her. "Sir? Umm..." She struggled for words, and her voice cracked from crying. "Perhaps you could see that Rhysol is our Lord? He's so good to those who worship him, even you. He'll see you. And... you could be Ravokian? Our gracious Lord loves his city, and if you live here, perhaps he'll love you too?" She tried to think of all the wondrous things that her mother had taught her about Rhysol, but her mind was weak from all that had happened. "Our Rhysol is great..." Ireth leaned against his shoulder again. Murderer or not, he was the only one here who'd listened to her.

[Licearsvansan]

Svan let out a grunt as the woman collapsed into him. While he was glad that the woman had the sense not to scream, he still couldn't help but cringe when the woman began begging Rhysol to have mercy on her. Though he doubted the god of chaos would really intervene for the sake of these two humans...the possibility that he would enter purely with the goal of killing his boredom was very real. And Svan was not looking forward to being on the receiving end of Rhysol's 'mercy'. To quiet the girl Svan placed his hand gently on her head, and began stroking it like he would a cat. The other hand he wrapped around her back, and allowed the girl to pour out her tears to her heart's content.

There was a confliction of emotions going on in the hazel eyed man's head at the woman's display of weakness. He knew better than anyone how it felt to be weak, scared, and be surrounded by monster's. It had been that way for most of his childhood, but he wanted to give her what he never had in those times. He wanted to give her something that would make her feel safe. He was trying to be that warm light of safety in a world covered in vengeful darkness, however shot lived of dim that light may be. Strangely, Svan felt himself growing jealous. While the knowledge of how it felt to be at the mercy of monsters made him more understanding of the girl's situation, he also felt a light rage building within him. He hated those memories, and this girl was stirring them back up. he also felt jealous. Why had this woman been so blessed to have someone to comfort her? Where had such a person been when Svan needed it. He grit his teeth in frustration, careful not to let anyone know how severely this made his heart ache. Then the snake slowly turned his head to the other two.

Even while Joshry spoke, his eyes remained on Kess. He cared little more for Josshry than he did a fly, and the only reason he hadn't swatted him yet was because it wasn't worth the other Dhani's wrath. She was the only one of importance here. Even Ireth, the woman he held in his arm, had little importance compared to the snake lady.

As the two finished bickering and Kess turned a threat towards Svan he smiled. He didn't bother to say it out loud, but he was confident his message carried. Kess did not have power over him. Or perhaps more accurately, he would not allow her to have power over him. He had spent far too many years kneeling down to others to allow himself to do so now, and especially not for the sake of a few human's feelings.

That was until a third voice chimed in. Svan looked down to the woman at his side and his smile grew warm. She was so ignorant of the evils of the world it was downright adorable. He had half a mind to tell her that just so that he could see her adorably deny it, but his better sense caught hold of him. "Your right Ireth, Rhysol is a great and powerful god. No other race knows the value of chaos quite as well as the Dhani," he said, carefully keeping himself from specifying that it was 'rattlers' that valued chaos even more so than their cousins. "However, Svan turned a damning eye towards Joshry, "Its not Rhysol that I have any qualms with. The one that I intended to mock was not the god of this city, but its citizens. The way you act as if the men I killed were worth even a fraction of your gods concern sickens me. The weak have a place in society, but a slaver's life is not it. They chose a job that they had no place taking and suffered for it. And somehow you have the gall to find fault with me for it? Perhaps I should not have used your god's name as I did, but you are just as concerned with that as you are with me taking 'innocent' lives. You worship the god of chaos. Do you think he cares for a pair of fools who didn't even have the sense to know their own place? Just as Rhysol, our mother Siku is known for being a severe but loving god. However, in Dhani society the weak either learn their place, or grow up. And the very few who fail to do so are ignored, beaten, and certainly not morned."

Svan turned his eye towards female snake. "Isn't that right?....Kessah.

[Iskessah]

Joshry fell silent as the man's words sunk in. He had never actually been forced to listen to the sentiments of a foreigner before, and some of what he was saying made a disturbing kind of sense. It was true that Joshry did not always agree with his fellow Ravokians. For instance, most Ravokians believed non-humans to be inferior, even though neither Rhysol nor the Voice had ever suggested anything of the sort. The man had broken the law by killing Ravok citizens, but he said they were slavers, and somewhere in the back of his mind where he tried not to think too much, slavery has always unsettled Joshry. He still has plenty of reasons for disliking the stranger, but the reasons he could actually use were dwindling rapidly. Luckily, he was saved from having to reply right away, because the man addressed Iskessah directly. Iskessah looked down at the Dhani as she replied, "Naturally. There isss no plasssce for weaknessss, ssscertainly not among Dhani." She might have considered saying more, even though, in her mind, there really was nothing more that needed to be said on the subject. But she noticed the faint bubbling sound that indicated the water boiling. She turned back to the pot, removing it from the hearth to let the bandages get cool enough to touch. With her back turned, everyone could see a pattern of scars across her back, several long gashes that looked like marks from giant claws, so old that she had forgotten about it herself. Joshry, meanwhile, was very close to getting one of his hands free. He wanted to keep the man distracted long enough to get free. He still did not trust the stranger as Iskessah seemed to. "Look, maybe I was too quick to judge you. If Kessi wants to help you, then I will too. Let's start over. Hello, my name is Joshry. Nice to meet you..." He waited for the man to fill in his own name. If things went south, Joshry wanted to know who to report to the authorities.