Where Curiosity Goes [Satu]

by **Cayenne** on August 9th, 2011, 11:55 pm

It was an instinctive response that had been drummed into the children since they were infants. Deyhan were for eating. Deyhan were outsiders, and until they were formally accepted into Myrian society somehow, they were the enemy. Deyhan were rarely seen living in Taloba - much less with someone like Oni of the Jagged Blade. The circumstances, as far as they knew, were very convoluted - no one seemed to know why she was staying with Oni, since Myrians did not keep slaves and the story hadn’t yet had time to travel about what Satu had done to her companion.

It was a being-eat-being world. The Myrians respected that. Just like they now respected the painful asskicking that Oni was dishing down on her. They may have been children, but their own teachers had taught them the exact same way. If you wanted to avoid being hurt, learn to avoid the blades. Sound, solid advice. There would always be someone better than you with their weapons. They had to be even better with their bodies.

“Lesson three,” Oni told Satu as she circled the Konti, wanting to make her lose her step, lose her balance, lose track of the muddy pit she was on. The more she made her move, the more the mud would get churned up under Satu’s feet. There was a strategy to everything Oni did - it was instinctive, it was natural, it was what she had been taught by her sisters and her mother and her aunts and great aunts and grandmothers, all the way to Myri herself. “When you see an advantage, use it. Because you never know how long a fight will last, kitten, and a small thing like you will have problems wearing down a bigger opponent in the right conditions,” she grinned mirthlessly in the rain, the rain plastered to her skin. Satu was outsized and outmuscled by the Myrian warrior she was fighting with - with just about any of them she might pick an argument with. If they managed to avoid those whalebone blades, their superior size would soon tire her from fighting against them. She knew how it went. She knew, too, that with the right steps, her weight was balanced. She jabbed at Satu, the harsh bone blade coming swiftly to bear on Satu’s left side, her other blade coming up for defense and in preparation to skewer the Konti if she didn’t move fast in the mud that was now making her sink from the way she had churned it while moving.

by **Satu** on September 7th, 2011, 3:39 am

Satu’s eyes never left the Myrian’s. She tried to read, tried to discern the warrior’s next move through them, but a Konti would never understand the workings of the Myrian mind. Though Satu in her madness came closer than most. The two women were worlds apart in their thought patterns and upbringing, yet the HeartSeer’s emotions began to match those of her keeper, yet it was unlikely she would ever be as strong, or forceful.

At the pet name, Satu bristled, as aggression filled her. She was no pet! And she was not harmless. Her smaller size allowed her quick movements, but the Konti’s unbalanced mind hindered her as much as the clinging mud that grabbed at her feet. Oni knew with certainty what Satu needed as no one ever had. Oni pushed her. Oni controlled her…

Again, Satu dodged Oni’s strike, her scaled body contorting – just a hair’s breathe more and the blow would have sliced her skin. The blood still dripped from her previous wound, and the Konti panted, a sound wild and primitive. “I am not a kitten! I am a woman!” But she wasn’t. The arguments Oni had heard many times before filled her head. And Satu was only a girl who needed to get out of the mud and strike with her weapon! If she could only find solid footing! The duel wield flashed readily from stillness into movement, beautiful yet quick arcs into the air. One suvai to block Oni’s first blade, the other travelled a moment slower and behind, to try to swipe at an arm.

The suvai fighter’s feet moved, normally graceful and smooth, but not so in this mud. Her leading foot landed, only to sink deeper into the mud to become coated with the dark forest muck. Satu tried to release herself, but suction held it in place. At first the Konti tried to force it out as surprise took her, then a strange calmness settled. The voices of the children sounded far away, and the whispering of the Jungle stilled. Wet hair stuck to Satu’s face and neck as time slowed. Without thought, her offhand suvai whispered through the air a second time, a sneak attack to protect herself in the trapping mud. But the movement afforded her a sudden release and off balance, Satu began to slip, loosing her precarious footing.

by **Cayenne** on October 1st, 2011, 1:15 am

“You are a kitten,” Oni taunted her. “With her eyes closed and mewling for milk. You are a kitten. All paws and no claws.” She could tell she had struck a nerve, and she pushed at it - such Amusement never faded for her. So long as Satu could be rendered indignant and angry over such barbs, Oni would continue to pick at them until they were worn raw, until the boils festered and burst. It really was too easy. And if she could do it, so could anyone else with a brain in their head and a decent grasp of the common tongue.

And that was a weakness. Any insult that could be pushed to coax an emotional outburst was a weakness, and that weakness had to be purged. If Satu wanted to survive beyond these walls, beyond the humid, dark depths of the jungles of Falyndar, when she eventually left - Oni was under no misapprehension that Satu would stay permanently - then she needed to be strong. As it was, it was all too easy to send her into an unbalanced rage. The Myrian slipped away from the whalebone, so swift in her movements that the Konti had trouble following her as Oni gave her a taste of what the Myrians could really do in the mud and rain, what they who had earned the approval of their Goddess-Queen were capable of. Oni was in the mud in less than a heartbeat, her foot lashing out as Satu went down, and the Myrian only helped her lose what little balance remained. She went down into the mud in a crash, and now that she was down there, she was covered in it, and the Myrian was on her, then, pushing her down into it. Oni could suffocate her with it, she knew, just by pinning her down and keeping her pinned down.

But Oni didn’t force her head into the mud. The rain made it hard to keep a hold on her suvai, and she realized she had lost one in the fall... and the Myrian who guided and looked after her was quick to force the other one from her fingers with a strength that threatened to break the bones before tossing the suvai away, her own swords back in the sheaths now that Satu was unarmed. “Now what?” she challenged Satu as she pinned her down, forcing her to sink. “Yield?” Her grip wasn’t tight - Oni was testing her even as she dominated the smaller, lighter female. Satu knew beyond a doubt that Oni wanted to see the fight in her. Because when she gave up, she lost what respect she gained from the Myrian, and it was not easy to bring her back around. And with Oni being her only ally here, being on her bad side was an invitation for her guardian to turn her back and let those who Despised her reduce her to a meal.

by **Satu** on October 10th, 2011, 4:36 am

Amusement! Amusement in Oni’s Heart! Oni laughed at her still! Laughed at her efforts! The Konti was easily goaded, easily pushed. She had no self control, not yet. It was too soon. Her emotions got the better of her, making her rash and careless. And because of that Oni’s well placed kick made Satu’s landing more off balance. The Konti slid deeper into the mud with her flailing momentum. A suvai was lost in the process, and Satu tried to scramble for it. Avalis! The Myrian was fast, and it seemed the warrior woman was upon the overmatched Konti before she could even move. Large hands gripped her, held her down and the pressure ignited memories Satu had no wish to revisit. Other hands… Other faces swam in her vision with sorrows upon sorrows. If the suvai fighter seemed wild before, something else shown in her eyes now… and Satu thrashed wildly as she tried to nick Oni’s flesh.

But Oni squeezed mercilessly, and the pressure was almost beyond bearable. Satu hissed like the kitten Oni thought she was, as her fingers were forced open. Shakily she released the remaining suvai and it dropped to the ground. The Konti’s body jerked toward it, in a last effort at retrieving it. The suvai had always been her safety! Oni’s hands pushed, and the mud easily surrounded Satu, as its slowing heaviness licked at her limbs and darkened her white hair to blackly thickness. If it had been water, Satu would not have minded, but this oppressive mud… it disgusted her and stuck in her gills. The panic of potential suffocation beat at her senses.

“I will never yield! And you will see this kitten’s teeth!” Satu hissed. Her scaled chin streaked with mud lifted proudly, arrogantly, even held beneath Oni as she was. The Konti twisted in the Myrian’s loosened grip, her leaner, smaller body suddenly rolling to the side. And Satu tried to sink her teeth into one of the thick arms that held her. If she managed to latch on, she would not let go until that dark arm released her. And her legs drew up, bent at the knees to give her smaller body leverage, to react when that happened.

by **Cayenne** on January 29th, 2012, 10:37 pm

The rain beat down, ricocheting off of Oni’s dark, inked skin as she stared at Satu, knowing that the gaze just pushed her further towards her breaking point, much like it upset a cornered or injured animal. The Myrian strove to push Satu’s buttons - it hadn’t taken her long to figure out just how to do that, either - she hadn’t known the Kontinese kitten for that long, but what she did know was enough for her to push and prod and frighten, goading and coaxing and forcing that anger and frustration into a crescendo that would either result in an epic beat or a complete and total headache.

She let the Konti writhe under her, trying to figure out a way to free herself. “Kitten,” she teased as Satu hissed, letting the Konti bite down on her forearm. She had been bitten by others before - a jungle cat and she had fought over the kill she had made for her Tiger Trials, and her other arm was lined with scars from the creature’s teeth. Still, as Satu locked on, Oni pulled her arm back, pulling Satu with her, doubling up her fist, and punching her in the abdomen, looking to force her to drop her. But now Satu was free of Oni’s weight on her, which had been her goal. “Flat teeth only pinch,” the Myrian taunted her. “Can you imagine what I could do to you?” she grinned at her - four of Oni’s teeth had been filed into points, resembling her tiger’s, in honor of the Cat God who blessed the Myrians through the partnership with his feline children.

“Shall I bite you, kitten, and show you how a true tiger fights?” She repeated this in Myrian, she must have, because it brought hoots of laughter and ripples of Amusement echoed with Curiosity from the little children through the rain around her. Satu couldn’t know the blessing her HeartSense gave her here - for all that the Myrians could show emotionally nothing in a fight, and most of them either displayed a vicious Satisfaction with their efforts, if used right, and she were in a stable state of mind... it would be a powerful weapon indeed. "You strive to be equal with me, but you fall easily. Are you too weak for me to strengthen?"

by **Satu** on February 21st, 2012, 3:47 am

Water dripped from Oni’s braids to spatter Satu’s face and dot her heaving chest. The Konti was as dark as the Myrian now, her opalescent skin and scales coated with jungle mud; though it was doubtful she would ever be confused for one of that race with her smaller stature and leaner musculature. Oni stared, with her piercing gaze, as she always did. And it galled Satu that her keeper appeared unconcerned that she clung by her teeth, like a wild beast, to Oni’s arm. The Myrian pushed hard, physically and emotionally… and Satu’s last reserve burned away… yet with it, the need to prove herself, to fight harder grew. The suvai fighter would not give Oni satisfaction by letting go!

But so strong was Oni, that when she jerked her arm, Satu’s lighter body was dragged through the mud by the movement. And like a worrisome dog with eyes rolling madly, the HeartSeer refused to let go… Until one of Oni’s large fists connected with her stomach. Immediately the Konti’s mouth opened with a forceful exhale and a whimper of sound as the air left with the punch. Mud splattered as Satu fell, hands holding her stomach tightly, body curled into fetal position. If she had wanted to make the blow appear worse, there was not much more she could have done. The pressure was heavy, thick and her diaphragm contracted with pain. Almost she retched from the blow.

Oni’s teeth! Out of the corner of her eye Satu saw the horrific things displayed prominently; many were the times she had seen them before… when the warrior growled or harassed her to push harder… She couldn’t let the Myrian intimidate her! Always it seemed Satu lost against her keeper, no matter what the contest; and each time a difficult lesson had to be relearned. So it was not surprising that the Konti now refused to give in, even curled painfully on her side, she whispered through gritted teeth, “Looks like kitten teeth to me…”

It was near impossible to pull her arms away from her stomach, but Satu did - as if in effort to crawl away in fear from Oni’s wrath. Long, delicate fingers gripped the mud for purchase, but hidden by her perceived weakness, Satu slowly and stealthily clutched handfuls of the dark muck. She turned, only slightly and threw her prizes at Oni’s eyes, as she quickly jammed a hard heel at Oni’s knee. Grunting like an animal, Satu attempted one more kick, this one towards Oni’s sex before she tried to frantically scramble away, this time in earnest as she yelled over her shoulder, “Weakness is my strength Oni – you have always underestimated me!”

by **Cayenne** on April 17th, 2012, 3:40 pm

“If you do not want to be hurt, avoid the blows,” Oni lectured her again as Satu whimpered from the pain. When she washed herself that night, she would be covered in a fresh round of bruises, especially on her stomach. “I take it easy on you, little girl. You call them kitten’s teeth... shall you try them?” her grin was taunting and sadistic all at once, like she was eager to bite into Satu’s skin and taste her tenderized flesh. Or so the stories said. Satu had watched and witnessed as the Myrians caught, sacrificed, and ate people. She hadn’t been here long, but she had been there long enough to witness such killings. But surely Oni didn’t plan to do that to her. Oni was many things, but a treacherous snake she had yet to reveal herself as.

She took the faceful of mud, blinking it, shaking like a dog as she listened despite the pounding rain for Satu’s location, one of those long arms reaching out as she used her fingers to scoop mud away from her eyes, helped by the hard rain. Just like it had against Satu, the mud provided a brief distraction for the Myrian woman, but it turned out to be a very brief distraction. Oni had lived her whole life in this, and getting mud in one’s eyes was the oldest trick in the book. She could have avoided it, Satu knew, and shown her and their audience how to do so, but there was another point to why she let her hit her with it - to show her that it didn’t faze her. The Amusement grew around them, even as some of the younger children stopped paying attention to the sparring match and began slinging mud at each other, trying to emulate the warrioress in the circle. The heel struck Oni’s knee, but failed to find purchase, sliding away as it gave the Myrian Satu’s location without seeing her.

“Do you think that mud bothers me?” Oni teased her as she moved with surprising ease through the sucking mud that clung to Satu’s legs. In their wrestling and moving, it had been churned up, and was now up to her calves. The extra weight did not bother the Myrian. “I underestimate nothing. To me, you are nothing, Konti kitten. Do you want to see how the tiger bites?” There was nowhere for her to go, not with the ring of savages surrounding them, forcing her to either go in circles or go back towards Oni. She knew beyond a doubt that any act that looked even remotely threatening towards the little ones would likely get her impaled before she could utter another breath, not only by their elders, but by the little ones themselves. Oni could see her now, her skin slick with the rain, as she cut across the ring towards her. “Where do you run? Why waste your energy in foolish moves? You will tire of that before I do, silly girl,” she faked a lunge, giving Satu the opportunity for a mad scramble to dodge or attack, whatever she chose, armed with only her fists. “Silly brainless kitten.”

by **Satu** on May 6th, 2012, 6:14 am

With each action Oni made, Satu’s confidence fell, it shown on her face as it slide away in small increments. Oni proved to be the more experienced, and the more controlled. The Konti understood this was where Oni always won – for the HeartSeer could not keep her own thoughts in line for long. The mud had not worked; it had not given the Konti the much needed edge – not even for a moment. And something in Satu answered to Oni’s power, the Myrian’s superiority that beat Satu down. Again. But the Konti would not yield, “This time!” Satu vowed, “This time!” The suvai fighter tried to find balance in the churned up mud. But there was little to be had with her lighter weight. She had no better luck finding mental stability against Oni. And again she was hard pressed to hold her focus, as once more she was labelled “kitten”.

Satu circled with renewed effort, moving slowly, her torso lowered slightly and hands held at ready. Her bare feet hit muddy slickness and the girl teetered, but was able to right herself with wind-milling arms. Past the children she circled, away she moved, ignoring them, yet not wishing to have her back to the little, wild things that might jump upon her at any moment. But the Konti tired, as the mud forced her to work harder, and Oni pushed the edges as she always did. Satu’s movements were slower, and her lighter body just did not give her purchase in the foreign mud.

“You think me insignificant. But I am not!” The Konti would fight, she would not willingly concede. And while her psyche had been twisted by past events, she had not broken. The Konti could not see reflections of this in her attitudes and ramblings, though it was likely Oni saw it all. “I will make you see my worth!” Satu yelled with soft voice, as she lunged angrily, once more losing her temper. Mud mixed with blood dripped down her legs and torso as the dirty Konti charged straight for the Myrian. But at the last moment, she pivoted, or tried to pivot – but again the mud took her feet and instead of coming at Oni from a different angle, the suvai fighter slide sideways, smacking into her opponent in an ungainly mess of limbs. Scrambling to recover, Satu threw an elbow towards Oni’s face, and kicked out with a foot - but she was off balance… and she twisted, eyes holding Oni’s for a moment before trying to scramble away. The Konti would not yield, not even when she hurt, not even as she was exhausted. “I will never give into you!” She pleaded, but her voice broke… just a little.

by **Cayenne** on June 2nd, 2012, 3:33 am

Oni teased and taunted and tormented her like she was poking a bee’s nest. She did it to provoke her, to show Satu again and again that it was a weakness she left exposed. Most Konti that the Myrians had come across had that problem, it wasn’t simply this specimen. They felt things very, very deeply. And until she learned not to give into the frustration and the goading and to find some place inside of her that was calm and reassured and confident, then she would have no luck. Still, she had had some successes - in the time she had been in the jungle, her stamina had increased, growing better seemingly by the day. The hot humidity and pouring rain didn’t leave her staggering or hiding amongst a shelter. That was impossible, because Oni would find her and drag her out into the rain to toughen her up, chastising her. She claimed to love Makutsi, did she not? Then how could she insult her by hiding from her cleansing rains?

It was impossible to deny that in the mud, Oni’s decades of experience, strength, and stamina gave her a considerable advantage. Satu may have been lighter, and very possibly on dry land faster than the mohawked woman, but this was not the case. That was the lesson. She had to adapt. She couldn’t always fight her battles in terrain that would be friendly to her. If it was? Great. But most of the time, it would not be that way, and in that case she had to adapt. If she could not change the rules of the game to suit herself, then she needed to learn to work within those rules.

And just like that, she succeeded again, even if Satu didn’t realize it. She had been provoked, again, into making those glaringly obvious mistakes. And the poor, pale female probably didn’t even realize it - but Oni was using her as an example for the children. If you goaded someone into action, they may make mistakes. If you were goaded into action, you would make mistakes. She had set herself to let Satu charge into her, her own weight braced for impact, only to watch, even as a little girl positively shrieked with laughter, only to be slapped lightly in the back of the head by an older female who was watching the fight, as Satu apparently tripped and headed for the ground. She avoided the elbow was humiliating ease, just leaning backwards. Satu was flexible, but these Myrians were far more dexterous than normal humans. Their agility did not leave much to be desired - and Oni displayed it now. The fight had been a good warm up, and now she was just stretching. One good push on the back of that elbow for good measure, and for the upteenth time that morning, Satu found herself back in the mud.

Oni seemed to sense, however, that she had had enough for one day, and she grinned at her, showing off those fearsome teeth sharpened for the purpose of ripping flesh. “Don’t worry, kitten,” she whispered in her ear as she lifted Satu out of the mud, holding her up with one hand and scooping handfuls of mud off of her. “You’ve had more than enough for today. It will be our little secret.” With that, she slung Satu over her shoulder, firmly smacking her on her muddy derriere, and retrieved her suvai, knowing how to avoid the spikes as she waded from the mud. Apparently, the show was over, and the Myrians parted for the warrioress of the Jagged Blade family to pass.

Oni carried Satu through the warm rain, holding her firmly in police. “You did well,” she told her quietly in Common. “Not as well as you -could- have, but somewhat better,” Oni allowed. “You still allow your emotions to get the better of you. Maybe that’s normal.” Trauma did funny things to people. “Fear is all in your head,” the Myrian tried to explain it to her as she carried Satu into one of the bathing huts and dumped her rather unceremoniously in a wood-lined tub before using her foot to work the bellows underneath it to help heat the water. “If you allow it to grab you and turn you around, it owns you. It’s the same with every other emotion.”

by **Satu** on June 19th, 2012, 3:15 pm

With a guttural cry, Satu hit the muddy earth hard, sliding on her forearms and belly away from Oni. Mud splattered and coated her further. Flailing, the Konti twisted in the dark slickness, trying to slow her pace. When the momentum stopped, she slowly lifted her head, white hair hung heavy with the sloughing muck and watched the barbarous Myrian. There were days when Satu could hear the lessons Oni tried so violently to teach her, and many times the Konti took wisdom from her words. But today, this day, all was difficult and mistake after mistake had been made. With each frustration, Satu had become more reckless… The struggle against the Myrian had weakened her in the terrible heat, and the wounds still bled and ached, though they could not been seen, coated as they were with the muddy stickiness. The laughter of the children stung and she glared at them.

Tears threatened to form in her eyes, as Satu realized, she couldn’t force herself to stand once more. Both mentally and physically, she was exhausted. And like the child she was, if only for another year, she looked away from the Myrian and refused to accept that once again she had lost… But her neck was bent and her head bowed as Oni wiped the mud from her body. Ineffectually, Satu’s smaller fists hit Oni’s chest and then back as she was unceremoniously slung over the Myrian’s shoulder. She struggled against her larger opponent, but it was half hearted at best, as Satu’s body also knew it had reached its limits, though she jerked to feel the slap on her slick bottom. The others watched them go, but Satu could not see them well from her hanging position. And she only watched through her dirty, swinging strands of hair, as the warriors large feet padded easily through the training yard.

Oni spoke encouraging words as she carried her to the tub, but Satu waited, not speaking until she was placed into the tub like a child… or a pet. The sides were high, and she gripped the edge of it with those impossibly scaled fingers. Looking small in the basin meant for the much larger race, the captive looked at Oni with a puzzled expression. Softly, as if returning from a far away place, Satu answered, “Fear is not in the head – it resides in the Heart… As all the emotions do.” Her eyes were clearer than they had been all day; lucidity returned slowly as the madness retreated, once more burned away by the physical acts of conflict.

Still, the Konti’s breath came heavy, and she tried to explain, if she could gather her thoughts… but how? How to describe the emotions of HeartSense to one who had not felt one of Avalis’ gifts every moment of her life? It was a secret burden… these gifts, beautiful and magical but wearying at times. “Emotions are here” she touched her breast upon the gnosis mark, her eyes sparkled wetly. It was a burden… at times terrible to feel everything, to feel what the world felt. “They move. And dance, living and flaring… They have power, expecially after… after… They never stop. I don’t know how to make them stop.” The admission came easily and without thought, as Satu’s words slipped towards a dangerous direction. And her forehead lowered to the edge of the basin. Drainira had released her, those men were gone. Her shoulders shuddered without sound as the tub began to fill. Satu only wanted to feel safe again… And somehow Oni gave her that security and the Konti was only just beginning to realize it, even if she could not understand it. “You make them slow…” she whispered, even as she wondered.