Closed Heart of a Lion (Annalisa)

[Kalina]

*

16th Day of Spring, 514AV
Dawn

In the early morning light, which trickled slowly over the horizon, bathing the deserted expanse of land in a warm glow of promise, the land was silent and unmoving, save for a young female who was traversing the prairie. As the light climbed up her back, she glanced up and her moss-green eyes, chasms of life that they were, twinkled against the reflection of the pale ground. To the girl’s right, in the distance, her keen eyes could pick out the beginnings of a forest. A few bells ago, when Kalina had first stumbled across this expansive prairie, she considered going there, as, by logic of it being a forest, it offered her more cover and therefore protection against the environment and its inhabitants. Yet there was something about the forest that set her on edge - which wasn't a particularly unusual sensation; the whole island had her feeling nervous. Even from a distance, the Kelvic could see that the forest was dense, and it likely wasn't safe for her, even in ocelot form.

About half a mile to the left, closer than the forest was to her, she saw giant grey hills, taller than anything she had ever seen before, taller than any buildings, definitely. In that direction, she could make out apparent signs of life near the big hills, she even thought she saw people; she definitely smelled them, amidst the scent of decay that had been assaulting her nose since arrival. But other than that, the land was wide and flat, containing little but small bushes, some of which she wasn't even sure were living. There was nothing else around her. As she turned in the direction of the big, grey hills, to walk towards what she hoped was a city , a gust of wind blew past her, and her grey-brown hair came flying around her face as she shivered; her dress was fast becoming too small for her, leaving her legs to feel the chill. Though the worn cloak, which had been given to her whilst aboard the ship, was too long, and it trailed along the dry, dusty ground behind her. She pulled it tighter around her shoulders, trying to drag warmth from somewhere.

The wind had brought in more than just a cold breeze, however, and Kalina’s steps slowed to a halt. With a furrowed brow, she raised her nose slightly in the air - she had caught the scent of something. She was not sure what, and she didn't know whether it was a predator or prey, but it was something, an animal. Pivoting on the spot, her pupils constricted against the glare of the climbing sun’s rays, and ticks passed by as she squinted into the blinding radiance before she finally glanced the horrific black mass hurtling towards her. For a tick the young girl considered standing her ground, but the creature was far away and already much larger than she. Her only option was to flee, and she spun before tearing off towards the large hills.

The child’s heart was pounding in her chest and her lungs began to burn within a few chimes. Her footfalls on the hard ground sent shock-waves reverberating up each leg with each step. In front, silhouette forms of humans were growing larger, but with each tick the pounding of the beast’s strides grew louder and louder. Desperately, she snatched a look behind: her fleeting, blurred glimpse told her all she need to know. The pursuer was catching up. Her hands flew to the loose bow that fastened the cloak around her neck and it fell to the ground as she pulled it free. But that was all the preparation she could make – her mauve dress ripped at the seams as her adolescent human body morphed into that of a grown ocelot.

Much of the material had fallen behind in the change, yet some remained and Kalina was not long into her sprint when a back leg caught itself in the folds of the skirt. When her paw didn’t hit the ground to force her body on, the sudden lost velocity caused her to tumble. Air was forced out of her lungs in a swift, sharp yowl of pain. The side of her torso skidded along the hard ground and long grass, but she used the remaining momentum to drag herself back onto her feet in one swift motion and resumed her sprint. But the beast was upon her.
*

[Annalisa Marin]

The Prairie, it was one of Anna’s favorite places to travel to outside of the Citadel because of how wide and open it was. It was one of the few places on Sahova that the sorceress could afford to let loose with the full extent of her powers, the things that made her a force to be reckoned with even compared to the Warden that ruled here. Her passage into the expansive domain was unhampered and her path was not impeded so far, which suited the tall woman just fine. The less she was interfered with the better in the tall woman’s opinion, though it was likely she’d encounter a monster or two before the day was done.

Long dark hair was orderly and controlled, pulled up and styled into a high ponytail that only added to her regal appearance. She was dressed somewhat commonly, a brown tunic, trousers, and sandals adorning her body with a long sword gleaming at her side. Her composure was confident and the way her eyes roved over the land scape looked rather like a royal assessing her domain. The tall woman placed a hand on the pommel of her blade, an easy access weapon though one she was unfamiliar with it most situations.

Her grey eyes fell upon something in the distance, an outline more than anything else and the tall woman started walking towards it with squinting eyes. It was small and drawing closer, picking up speed as a black mass started moving behind it and gaining on it. A chase perhaps? Though the question was whom was chasing whom and what did she have to gain from caring overmuch about it? The sorceress kept moving slowly towards the chase, figuring that no matter what it was she would be able to dispatch it with little difficulty. Nothing was immune to magic at the end of the day, most things tended to die when a boulder was dropped on them.

The tall woman’s eyes widened when she noted a brilliant flash of light, and the smaller of the two figures transform. Anna had only encountered one type of creature in her time that could do such a thing, Kelvics and she had possessed more than a few encounters with the wily little creatures. Her walking turned into a brisk jog, the prospect of a Kelvic on Sahova being more than enough to get her moving right along. As she did she noted that a small cat was trying to run from a rather familiar beast, a large dog like creature that had large teeth dominating the majority of its face. A long tongue lashed out about it as it perused the cat, attempting to wrap it around the cat’s leg and drag it closer.

Anna stopped moving and instead smirked at the creature from her distance, pursing her lips together and letting out a whistle. The creatures head whipped around and three beady red eyes fell upon her, its prey allowed to get a little more distance as the sorceress crossed her arms under her breasts. The tall sorceress looked more amused than anything else, remembering having dispatched a few of these beasts with Celeste’s assistance last season.

“Well now, another one of you? Didn’t I blast enough of your kin into oblivion for you to get the hint? Here I was just taking a lovely stroll and once more I find it interrupted by a creature the Nuit couldn’t bother to put down themselves.” Anna said, her voice smooth like honey though she knew the stupid twisted creature couldn’t possibly understand what she was saying.

Anna tugged at the tapestry of her Djed, the beast starting to charge towards her and abandon its previous smaller prey as she willed it outwards from her body. A violet purple gas radiated out from her body, almost seeming to wrap itself around its mistress protectively at first. Grey eyes flashed as she felt a tingle of pleasure course down her spine from the generation of res, sending heat down to her center. There were few sensations as pleasurable as drawing and casting from res, it was a primal sort of feeling that escaped almost all description.

The res was moved outwards from her body and upwards a little, her eyes fixed upon the twisted creature drawing closer to her. Anna willed the purple cloud outwards towards the creature, shaping it into three distinctive spikes, arcing outwards. She then transmuted the purple cloud of res, the air about it crackling malevolently and brilliant purple sparks being birthed from it. This was the only warning the dog like beast would receive before it met its end, likely if it realized the danger it came too late to its mind.

Three bolts of purple lightning screeched outwards, approaching their target with incredible speed and with pin point accuracy. They smashed into the creature, and it simply exploded from the sheer amount of power contained with the three relatively small bolts of lightning. Charred flesh and vital fluids burst outwards from the spot the creature had once existed in, its demise nearly instantaneous. A few pieces landed near her, though the thing had been far enough that she could avoid the spray. Anna did here a bit of ringing in her ears, the product of the impact and aftershock of the whole affair though that little display was hardly something she considered a work out. More a warm up.

Her grey eyes searched outwards to look for that cat the thing had been chasing, scanning around for this thing. Was it a Kelvic that she had put that effort into saving? Anna thought there was a very good chance of that, knowing exactly what a Kelvic transformation looked like and having witnessed more than a few herself. If it was a Kelvic then there was a very good chance that capturing it might very well either get her an interesting new field of research to try out. Or a no doubt valuable creature to sell to Sahova for a few Miza’s.

“Come out kitten. I killed the nasty monster, its safe for you to come out now.” The dark haired woman said, though the truth of that statement remained to be seen.

[Kalina]

*

The monster's hot breath was clammy and putrid, the foul smell radiating from its mouth reaching her nostrils. "Master!" her mind screamed, as if her desperate pleading would somehow bring the man to her, as if she could en saved by the mere thought of the man she had left behind in Zeltiva. The figure in front of her was growing by the tick; it looked like it was approaching her too and, for a moment, Kalina imagined that she wasn't in an unknown place, and she hadn't left her Master behind - he was here, and he would protect her.

The grey dwarf-leopard was tired, her lungs spent; food had been sparse for the stowaway on the ship, and the kelvic had turned her nose up at most of the offerings that didn't consist of meat. The shift into her ocelot form, too, had caused her to spend the last remaining reserves of energy But the thought of a saviour standing not far off, she continued, forcing her legs to fight through the ache that they were beginning to suffer, forcing her lungs to overcome the burning tightness that she had associated with pushing herself too far.

No longer could she tell the difference between the pounding of her small heart in her ears, or the heavy footfalls of the black beast trailing her by inches: they were one in the same. The heavy panting of the canine behind her told her that the beast was wearing out too, if not as much. It had run further, faster, longer, yet it only continued to close the distance between them. The beast's vapoury breath joined her own perspiration and clung to her short fur, adding layer upon filthy layer of warmth against the previously cool morning breeze. She thought she rely something wet tickle her back leg as she ran. She was frightened, but instead of a whine escaping her, she growled a low, guttural sound, though it could barely be heard over the footfalls and panting from both parties.

As she feels the tongue brush against her fur again, it finally occurs to the kitten that she could not outrun the beast; she would die in the attempt. She couldn't fight it either, but her clouded, erratic thoughts were inhibiting her logic. With one final bust of energy, her strides landed wider than before, allowing her to gain inches, inches that might save her life, before she spun, claws retracted and teeth bared, ready to face the creature. But, as she turned, three bright flashes of light flew through the air, though their radiance meshed together, causing Kalina to see only one brilliant bolt of energy, which hit the black beast true. Instinctively, the ocelot crouched, shrinking into the ground and wincing as she heard the crack which told her the bolt had met it's target. The ground seemed to shake as the monstrous canine fell not more than a metre away, though it occurred to Kalina, as her eyes drooped closed, that it might just be her who was shaking.

Dimly, she registered a voice summoning her out from where she lay, and she imagined that it was Amelia's, calling her as she had when Kalina had wandered off in the Wildlands. She was back there: she had only been chasing a buck, and had failed, and now the camp was moving on. Kalina was tired of travelling; she didn't understand where they were going, or why. The novelty of her new-found freedom of being away from the lake-based city's constrictions had worn off and she wanted to go home. And she wanted to get rid of Master's stinking horse. If the travels had taught her Master anything, it was that his slave was a capricious, jealous child, with a natural amorality equal to the conscious choices of those who served his God.

Shakily she rose to her paws to approach Amelia, but as she glanced up, moss-green eyes searching for the woman, she realised that she was not looking at the young woman who had the infinite patience to deal with the ratty child. Instead, a tall, slim woman with lighter hair than Amelia stood in front of her, and it was clear that she was the one who had spoken. Kalina whined; her nightmare had not ended.
*

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna noted the large as it rose shakily, no doubt the thing was terrified from the chase and then from the display of magical power soon after. The sorceress spared a quick look around; the resulting thunder from the lightning probably had carried a fair distance. Likely that meant some of the larger creatures in the Prairie might very well be on their way and zeroing in on their position, which meant more combat and Anna was not keen on the idea. Sure, she was a force to be reckoned with but even she was not invincible if her little spar with Edreina had taught her anything.

The thing trembled when it caught sight of her, a soft whine escaping the ocelot as it was no doubt terrified by the tall dark haired woman. It looked rather like a large cat to Anna’s eyes, though it was still small when compared to the tall human sorceress. The strangely intelligent green eyes met calculating grey ones, fear and uncertainty no doubt existing behind them. If it was a Kelvic Anna would much rather it reveal its human form to her, at the moment she didn’t know if it was male or female and simply had a guess that it was indeed a Kelvic.

Hands were kept at her sides unthreateningly, opting to keep to the unintimidating approach for the moment so that she wouldn’t scare the poor thing off. Anna moved closer to the ocelot, her gaze never wavering and her focus prepared to draw more res to incapacitate if need be. If the creature would permit her Anna would stoop down and slowly draw her fingers down her back, petting at the creature in an attempt to soothe the large cat’s fears. The sorceress was not exactly and animal person, though the Kelvic race had always managed to fascinate her. She didn’t see them as equal to humans of course, more oddities and pets than anything else.

“I’m not going to hurt you, if I was going to see you harmed I would have let that thing deal with you after all. So relax, you can trust me at least that much.” Anna said, though the truth of the words remained to be seen.

“Now, I’m going to ask you to do something for me. If you are what I think you are, you’ll know what I’m asking. I want you to take on your other form so we can talk. I know of a safe place we can go to away from here.” The sorceress said, keeping her tone as gentle as she could and smiling softly to the ocelot.

There were times when intimidation was called for and times when a softly spoken word could achieve what harsh threats could not. The tools of a disciple of the Defiler were manifold indeed, and Annalisa was learning just how to apply them in his service in her trial in Sahova. That was what this place was in her eyes, a test of her faith to him and her ability to place her life into his hands. She had doubted him once, she had faltered and stumbled along the path as any follower might but she had also found her way back into his arms on her own.

Anna’s mind flashed to Zeltiva when she had met a number of other races, here on Sahova race was not so much the divide as it was to living and undead. The Nuit outnumbered everyone else; though the sorceress knew well how much power a living person could hold on Sahova as evidenced by Goron Silverheart. She hated the petching Sub-Human, yet her path was taken to surpass him upon this island and claim power that no other pulser had dared to dream of on this cursed island. She had made a promise to Rhysol, and it was one she intended to keep.

[Kalina]

*

Kalina stared, and the woman stared back. For the briefest of moments, the young kelvic had trusted to hope, hope that those she knew cared for her would always be there, hope that she wasn't alone, hope that her very existence was in danger of shattering where she stood. Instead, an unknown stood before her, cloak billowing in the early morning wind, and the beast was lying prone, unmoving beside her. The experiment-born child was not a stranger to the dangers of females - if anything, they were liable to be crueler than men, such was the case at the KRI. One danger, the black creature, was over, but circumstance led her to believe that the beast had been brought down by the tall woman. Kalina didn't know what, but she knew that something had come from the woman to cause the horrifying mass of flesh and fur beside them to expire. A flash of light, which had been bright enough to shine through her closed eyelids, and maybe even some heat, Kalina thought, had flown towards it. And then it had fallen.

Jumping to conclusions, green eyes darted down to the woman's hands, which rested unthreateningly at her sides. But that didn't stop a whimper from escaping the greyscale kitten. Her mind raced over her options: fight or flight. To fight would mean that Kalina would suffer a similar fate to the canine-like creature.. sure, her claws were sharp, and the woman's skin would not survive the penetration of her teeth, but Kalina knew that she probably wasn't fast enough. If she ran, she had a better chance, but she had nowhere to go, and the woman could clearly cause damage no matter how far away her target was...

Animalistic instinct took over, and Kalina stepped back, her paw brushing over the dry, weedy grass that patched across the prairie. Her body fell an inch or so towards the ground, making herself seems smaller, weaker, and she exposed her neck. These actions were unconscious, as the woman continued to speak to her: her voice was still low, level, calm, unthreatening, and it grounded the ocelot ever so slightly. Despite her fear, Kalina believed the woman when she said that she would not be harmed. Her stance relaxed a little, though she remained open, a position that might be associated with an omega in the animal world.

When asked to transform, however, she dropped further to the ground and whined. She wasn't not sure what, but something felt wrong; if she morphed now, she would be exposing what she was to the woman, and that seemed bad. The scar lining her neck tingled, a physical warning that what she was was not always good. Yet the woman had asked her too, and the woman was powerful.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she shifted into her prepubescent human form. Her eyes fluttered open; the chase and the morph had worn her out, that much would be evident to the woman. "Thank you..." she whispered, her voice shaking, as she remembered the social niceties that Amelia had impressed the importance of upon her. She wondered if her friend would have been proud of Kalina being so polite.

Eyes never leaving the woman, Kalina tried to gauge a reaction. Her energetic disposition had slipped away, pushed aside by the emotions and exhaustion left behind from the chase. Normally one to speak endlessly without any thought for what she was saying, the thought of talking didn't animate her in the way it typically might... but the idea of somewhere safe to go was appealing enough that there few things the ignorant kelvic wouldn't to to realise such a place.
*

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna’s eyes lit up when the Kelvic transformed, bright lights flashing before her to signal a shift in forms in the ocelot. In its place was a small naked girl child, one that looked exhausted and rather frightened still though Anna was hardly focusing upon that. The fact that she was a Kelvic was rather interesting and was no doubt quite a valuable little piece of knowledge to have, cute little thing but she was mostly an animal in the sorceress’ eyes. Sub-Humans were typically what she regarded non-humans as, though the Nuit were the only exception as her time upon Sahova had shown that they were at least worthy of hate filled respect.

The sorceress stared at the Kelvic for a good long while, thoughts about the creature playing out behind her eyes. Options were what she was weighing, pondering over the worth of such a creature upon the Island of the Undead. There were likely a few Wizards or Masters that might be interested in acquiring such a creature, Maelstrom, Amaryllis, and perhaps even Master Cryptly came to mind. They were the ones Anna knew the best, though somehow she doubted Maelstrom would be interested in the young Kelvic.

She could stake a claim on the girl, take her under her protection and give her a bit of guidance on the island. This option seemed a bit more interesting to Anna, feeding the child honeyed lies to take advantage of her. It seemed a rather apt thing to do as the girl looked alone, however it could be she was sent out by another wizard as a slave. It was a situation worthy of pondering, the kelvic was rather weak looking however circumstances had showed Anna that nothing upon Sahova was as it first seemed. Even this meek little girl could be a threat, so Anna tempered her thoughts with the barest amount of caution.

“Oh you poor little thing… we should get you to the Citadel right away. The Testing Grounds can get rather dangerous, child.” Anna invited.

In the grander scheme of things Anna vastly preferred the Testing Grounds to the Citadel as at least here the monsters were obvious, where in the Citadel they wore their masks of lies. The sorceress had learned from experience how very dangerous Sahova could be even in the more civilized areas, the answer was beyond dangerous. There were things that walked the ancient halls of Sahova that could haunt the dreams of most people, horrors that were beyond description.

“Here, you look exhausted. Let me help you.” Anna said, stooping down and motioning to scoop the tiny thing up in her arms.

The tall woman was not exactly the most affectionate of individuals; in fact she was rather icy and cold in most situations. The times she was not she was passionate and fiery, the remainder of the human aspects of her that Sahova had so tried to stamp out but had not yet managed it. Anna hated the Nuit for what they had managed to do to her, there was no petching way she would let them lay claim upon the other aspects of her mind. Being human was a weakness in many ways, but Anna viewed it as her greatest strength as she possessed passion and drive to succeed.

Anna was rather hoping the Kelvic would be too frightened by the Testing Grounds to protest being picked up, as well as possessing a desire to get to a safer place. Of course for all she knew the girl would react poorly towards being taken up in her arms, in which case she’d settle for just escorting the girl to the Citadel. Fortunately, thanks to her adoptive daughter Anna had received a lot of practice with handling young children. Though this Kelvic was likely less… colorful than her precious daughter was.

[Kalina]

*

The grainy ground rubbed at her bare legs, the straw-like grass scratching at the sensitive skin; all senses were still heightened and the normally comforting feel of grass against her skin was now borderline painful. Her now human heart, which was working twice as hard as it should be to compensate for what her ocelot form could handle more easily, pounded in her ears, Apis was as if she could hear the blood rushing around her body. Likewise, her breathing quickened, as she gasped in the air into her poorly adapted human lungs. Never before had she changed soon after a sprint, and the fight-and-flight response was still leaving her body, and mind, on edge.

Only now did it occur to her that there was a difference in her two forms, besides the outward appearances. She had always been aware of some changes, such as her sense of smell, which was more heightened in ocelot form, but never did she think that her insides were better equipped to running when in one form, rather than the other. As her peripheral vision dimmed slightly, narrowing her vision, the sensations combined left her feeling claustrophobic. Heat rose to her cheeks, and she scratched at the silvery-cream jagged line that circled her neck; a scar which had become aggravated by the sweat and heat radiating off of her body.

A whine escaped the child's lips; it was just yet another reason for why she didn't want to be in this form - the irritation and pseudo-pain of each natural object touching her, the poor capacity of her human body... but most importantly, she just did not feel safe in this form. She was less aware of the dangers around her, of which she was sure there were many, and she was far less capable of defending herself in the unlikely event that her senses detected a threat in enough time. However, she had been asked to change her form and she had been trained well enough by Marcus to know better than to refuse a direct command from him. Though she knew that the being she was seated in front of was, in fact, a woman, her confusion had overlapped with her desperate desire of it to be her Master standing there, and so it didn't occur to her that she had no actual obligation to do as asked here.

But, when the woman spoke, the voice remained soft and unthreatening, which Kalina's tired and naïve mind associated with a gentle demeanour for the woman, a suggestion that no further harm would come to Kalina, even without her Master to watch over her. There was no fight in the child when she was scooped off of the ground and, though she had never once been held like this, she instinctively wrapped her arms limply around the woman's neck and rested her head against the other's shoulder. The last morph had taken too much out of her: even internally, she did not question where the woman was going to take her - the "Citadel" was utterly meaningless to the kelvic.

Though the woman had asked no questions of her, or said anything to elicit a response, Kalina murmured unintelligible words to the woman, a sign that the true, energetic nature of the young kelvic was not worn away by the fear or exertion from the chase. Her eyes fluttered closed as the relative rocking motion did enough to soothe the remainder of her fear. Despite this, she refused to actually fall asleep, as a small part of her mind warned her against the woman who had, until now, shown her nothing but concern and kindness, and she blinked furiously in an attempt to stay alert, which she succeeded at.
*

[Annalisa Marin]

The child was obviously tired as she offered no resistance to the tall woman as she picked her up, though she had noted a whine beforehand. The sorceress had to wonder how much a young kelvic would be worth upon Sahova, the idea of selling her off hardly bothered her as in Anna’s eyes Kelvic were animals. Lesser creatures really that possessed a short lifespan, as a human Anna’s own race was short lived but likely this Kelvic would be physically older than her in a few years’ time. Besides, she could always use a bit more money lining her pockets on this island for a rainy day.

Ensuring her grip on the Kelvic was stable Anna started walking in the direction of the Citadel, humming a bit softly as she pondered whether to run some tests on her first. The child was exhausted after all, best to take advantage of that while she could and learn what she could from the creature. Then she could worry about selling or keeping her as a test subject. Racial differences often provided a bit more willingness to do horrid things to other creatures, it was a sad truth of the world but it was true for the Nuit towards the living really.

Her steps carried them through the barren wastes of the Prairie with each step resembling the one before it, her gaze moving towards to sky to judge if they were indeed heading in the right direction. Judging by the sun’s direction the Citadel was indeed where she was headed. It was not exactly an easy thing to judge out here in the Prairie, which possessed barren terrain and was rather inhospitable. The Prairie Wardens were certainly a group of crazy petchers; Anna would not have worked in this place for extended periods of time for all the Miza in Sahova.

Finally they would reach a patch of forested terrain, a symbol that the Citadel was likely nearby or at least the path leading to it was. After a bit more walking they would reach a rocky dirt road, up the path one could make out the shape of the massive Sahovan Citadel. Anna started up that way, adjusting her grip upon the Kelvic once again and grunting slightly as she did. Her arms were getting tired with their new bundle but at the very least there were getting closer to their destination.

As they drew ever closer to the imposing structure looming over the pair ominously, Anna found herself wondering just what the petch a Kelvic was doing here of all places. A good question to ask no doubt, the creature could no doubt provide at least some answers in that regard. Best to use her sweet lies and façade to try and get a bit more out of the tired Kelvic, at least before the tests started. Something told Anna there would be very little gratitude left in the child once things really started going, but such was the way of things upon Sahova.

“So tell me, child, what reason were you wandering the Prairie? Why are you here upon Sahova? Surely you realize that this is not the safest place on Mizahar.” The sorceress inquired as the Citadel drew ever closer.

A smirk fell over her lips; her arms were not the safest place either considering her plans for the Kelvic were anything but pleasant. A child she was, but not a person really more of a pet at the best of situations and a test subject at the worst. Kelvics were naturally inferior to the human race in the tall woman’s mind; she had every right to do as she pleased. It was simply the way of the world in her mind, it was how things were.

[Kalina]

*

It was a long walk, and Kalina was, for the most part, happy to lie there, limp in her saviour's arms; it was warm and she felt safe, protected, and her mind drifted back to memories of her long journey from Ravok. Her Master had never really been one for open affection... he was not cruel - he never rebuked his slave without just cause, and he gave her the freedom that she had never had in the Kelvic Research Institute, but he had not shown her the physical affection that her young mind craved so badly. Amelia had been different in that area, and had soon come to fill the gap in the ocelot's desires.

As she thought back to early mornings curled up against the older girl's side, Kalina assumed that it was something only women did. This woman seemed to be the same, apparently uncaring as to the fact that she was carrying the naked form of a dirty prepubescent child. The similarities continued further - just as Amelia had saved her from cruel men in the lake-city, Annalisa had saved her from a much more dangerous threat. The only reasonable conclusion that her immature mind could draw from this was that she would be eternally safe.

The landscape slowly began to change as the woman continued to walk: the flat, nigh on barren land became obscured by rows of trees and bushes, which lined a path, blocking out the sun. The kelvic shivered as she squinted, looking up towards the sky, through the gaps in the leaves to find the sun's light. The exhaustion was wearing off as Kalina lay in the woman's arms, to be replaced by a tired restlessness. Never still for long, the child became somewhat agitated at her lengthening time of remaining still; her own wriggle coincided with the woman heaving her up to gain a better grip, and she began to fidget, playing with her hands, remembering that her Master didn't tolerate excessive movements.

Then the woman spoke, and she averted her eyes to look over at the woman's face, an effort to avoid distractions from her surroundings. Her brow furrowed in confusion as the woman asked her questions; the sailors had told her this island was called Sahova.. what was 'Mizahar'? She asked that question first before answering the woman's own ones. "Got lost and didn't know how to get back," she said, her voice still monotonous, but a little louder than it had been when she had first spoken, "at Zel-va I was on a boat and it left the port thingy and I couldn't get off 'cause there was no more land and I've only been swimming once and I'm not very good at it and I don't like big water."

With more energy, and her levels of comfort around the woman rising, the Kelvic, though not nearly as animated as she normally would be, offered more information than was necessary, as was a tendency for her to get carried away and babble. "Ravok has big water, and no trees and stuff, but it had bits to stand on, you know, so it's okay. That's where I from. But the boat didn't goed to Ravok, so they putted me here."

Falling silent for a moment, Kalina picked at some of the dead skin on one of her fingers, wincing at the momentary pain as she slowly dragged it away from the cuticle. Her eyes narrowed as she examined it for a moment, before flicking it away, "Master's in Zel-va, with 'Melia. And Blanky. They don't know I came here... do you think they worried?" Next, her free hands turned to play with the woman's long locks of hair, smiling at the similarities in length and colour with her own, though hers had more grey running through it. It was just another thing that the girl could latch onto as she desperately searched for familiarity in this frightening place. "I am Kalina, who are you?"
*

[Annalisa Marin]

The sorceress frowned at the question regarding what Mizahar was; as if the child had no idea what the ground beneath her feet was named. Then again, she was a Kelvic and Anna had not attributed a great amount of intelligence towards the race of shapeshifters given her experiences with them in the past. She merely shook her head and opted to explain as best she could, though she felt silly for having to explain what the petch the world was called. Did she know what the region was called then? Or the name of the cities in the region? Clearly she was not overly knowledgeable.

“Mizahar is the name of the world on which we stand, child.” Anna explained simply.

Kalina’s next explanations earned a bit more interest from the tall woman as she started up the steps proper to the entrance of the Vestibule. Zel-va… Zeltiva maybe? She had mentioned ships so it seemed likely given her home city was known as being the greatest port city this side of the world. So she had gotten onto a boat and somehow ended up on Sahova then? That was a rather strange bit of information to swallow, Anna guess she had stowed away but she could not know for certain. She opted not to pry at this point in time on that matter.

Ravok. The name sent a tugging through to her connection to Rhysol, the scar over her heart seeming to pulse ever so slightly and tug at her mind. Any and all thoughts about selling this Kelvic were completely dismissed from her mind the second Ravok entered the conversation; this Kelviic had obviously either been there or lived there. That was worth far more to the sorceress than a handful of gold rimmed Miza’s would be for a pound of her flesh. The holy city of Rhysol, the place that teased at her dreams ever so slightly whenever she dreamed of pleasant things.

Master, she mentioned a master, so she was perhaps a slave or former slave then? Other names were mentioned, though they did not hold the same degree of respect that the other title did. Who was this master of hers and more importantly how could she use him to gain a bit more sway with the young Kelvic? Further information on him was necessary to construct a useful fabrication to get the Kelvic under heel; if she was good about it she might even be able to claim her without resistance. She did appear to be a little girl after all.

“Kalina, that’s a pretty name. I like it. My name is Annalisa Marin, but you can call me Anna.” The tall woman said by way of response as they finally passed through the massive entranceway into the Vestibule.

The entrance hall of the Citadel was massive, golems moving about on squeaking wheels on this task or another and the shuffling steps of a few Nuit echoed throughout. The inactive remains of the TAR golem laid in the middle of the chamber, Anna moving to pass it by without a second glance. The question was now, where did she take the girl? To the Quarters? Perhaps request Amaryllis to take her to work under guise of being a human to divert attention? It was a myriad of options that were open to her at this point, but Anna opted to first gain more information.

“So, Kalina, tell me more of Ravok and your Master. Is he looking for you? Also, what were these others you mentioned like? This... 'Melia and Blanky?” The tall woman inquired as she stepped through the Vestibule and was making a path toward the Courtyard next.