Flashback When Fear Becomes Power

[Kaie]

Second of Fall, 508 AV
14th Bell

Prologue

Cold. It was like it was all she ever knew. It was not the painful sort of chill, but rather a numbing one. The kind that spread through her slowly like roots into soil. She could feel a warmth dripping down her body. A soft stream running down the length of her arms and over her hairline. It dribbled across her torso like a sash. A soft pitter-patter along her flesh. Her muscles would not move. She was frozen, staring up and smeared in red. Weakened by a cold paralysis. Above she could see soft light filtering between the jungle leaves above. Noticed how the sunlight seemed to turn areas of the green lighter, exposing the life giving veins running through each leaf. Like only Syna could reveal what they really were inside. And as she stared upward at them, hearing them rustle, she couldn't help but wonder. Could Caihya see through her soul the same way? Somewhere behind her, her predator growled. And for once, she was afraid...

[Kaie]

"You're really not going to come with me?"

Keikyo gave a groan from beneath the skins of his bedding. The persistent twelve year old pursed her lips. Her bronze hands shot out to give him a rousing push, but again her cousin gave a protesting noise and tugged the warm fur tighter about his body. They'd been at it for a few chimes now. She shouldn't have been so surprised by his response, or rather lack thereof. Since he'd passed his Coming of Age trials and been blessed by the Goddess Queen herself, her cousin had been overly committed to his time at the Training Yards. Syna rise to Syna set he'd made the march to and from the military complex. Upon each return he'd come bearing more than his fair share of bruises. Sometimes he'd sit up for several bells into the night to whisper her stories of the achievements of the more gifted soldiers he'd met that day. Other times, like this one, he was too battered from the day's abuse to do more than was required of him. With the wood for the night's fire split, visions of daring jungle adventures were the farthest thing from his mind.

"Why can't you just take your sister along?" Keikyo finally mumbled through his covers without caring to conceal his agitation. The young Myrian girl beside him huffed and crossed her arms as if the answer should've been obvious from the start. "She's too little and you know it." That wasn't entirely true. While her older sister had long since chosen to reside with the half of their clan living in Taloba to be closer to the military, the younger wasn't nearly so young as Kaie made her out to be. They were perhaps only a few years apart. Keikyo had always been her partner in crime, and she was reluctant to change that so quickly. Not when she would be joining him in military service in the next year...unless her parents conceded to let her cross the Suvan with her father to see the barbarian world for herself.

"Can't you just go spar with one of the other kids or something?"
"I already did that today. Several times."
"Well I'm sure there's work to be done. Just let me sleep." The young man's voice was haggard and defeated. Young Kaie, even as stubborn as she was, resigned to trudge away from his bedside and out of the long house. The twelve year old let rip a frustrated growl, and snatched her spear from her own space on her way out. There were still plenty of bells left before Syna too would rest. Through the trees high above she could already see the Sun Goddess was past her peak in the sky, and before long it would be an explosion of color before Akajia's reign. Plenty of time left still. Amber eyes locked on the thick foliage of the broader jungle outside the well-protected borders of this portion of her clan's land. "Fine. I'll go on my own."

And thus began her journey. Bare feet moved relatively quietly along the earthen floor. Bronze hands parried branches and giant bush leaves from her way. It wasn't long until the long houses at her back were almost completely out of view, though she could still hear the shouts of her kin as they wandered about. Kaie gripped her spear tightly in her right hand. It was a well-made spear with a shaft crafted by her more skilled mother with a fire-hardened point. Though she had dreams of wielding one with a fearsome spearhead, she supposed she could wait until she'd learned to properly use the weapon first before she realized such things.

A good enough spot, she thought of the area that sprawled before her. It was a bit clearer than the parts of the forest she'd ventured through, and just at the edge of the clearing was a tree with a branch low enough for her to get a hold of. She knew she should've been doing what Keikyo said. Though she'd done her own share of the day's work, her time could've been spent aiding others whether it be lighting the fires or carving out a spit for her mother's kill when she returned from the hunt. Without her father in Falyndar to mind his sly daughter while her mother was distracted, no one was there to stop her from assuming a larger role. The older girls from her village had joined up with the adults in hunting parties. Just because she hadn't been blessed yet didn't make her less capable.

I'll bring back a kill bigger than all of theirs. The young girl clambered up into the tree with her spear. Step by careful step, she navigated along the strong branches until she was well above the clearing below. Her weapon was at the ready, raising in preparation to be hurled downward should prey make itself known. Now and then she heard a rustle in the trees around her. Howler monkeys echoed about the canopy, birds chirped and flitted from one tree to the next, and the bushes below rustled in the gentle, humid breeze. The youth was growing more impatient as chimes past. Until finally she heard it.

A snort erupted from her hunting ground. Brush parted and shook to make way for the emerging creature. It was a round animal, deep brown in color as far as she could see. Tapir. A wild grin spread across her face. And a big one, too.