Dishonored and Disowned

by **Tazi** on May 31st, 2014, 11:22 pm

91st of Spring, 514

Tazi dunked her hands into the washbasin, blood rinsing off of her hand and change the clear water to a brilliant red. It had been a long, yet fulfilling, day full of wound repairs and bandaging. There had been some serious brawling in the arena today, and several groups of children had come with open wounds. The young woman she had just been working on was eager to share the story of the blood bath. Two clans had gotten into it, and the children were eager to redeem their clans in the arena. Sharp rocks, sticks, and even the occasional blunted dagger had been used. One child had not survived his wounds. The tensions between the clans would only increase once this news was shared with the family. Granted, he would receive an honored burial because he died defending the values of his clan. That was more than many children could ask for at their young age, and probably more than Tazi would ever see from her Clan.

Checking to make sure that she had everything, including her medicine bag, she finally decided it was time to end her shift. Her last patch job had not been the best due to hear weariness. All she wanted was to find a nice patch of moss with the warmth of Zaza close to her. Maybe even a cool drink on a warm night such as this. The thought of going to that bar in Taloba crossed her mind, but large groups did not sound enticing to her. As she pondered what to do with the few hours she had left in her evening, she quietly exited the Medicine House. Kiyal did nothing but watch with her predatory eyes as the young woman left. Having been too busy to notice earlier, Tazi was somewhat surprised to find that it was raining. It was refreshing on a late spring evening like this. Summer was soon to be coming around, and the heat would only get worse.

Tazi thoughtfully stroked her tattoos as she walked along the dirt path away from the buildings, heading for the main jungle pathway that would lead back to the city or to the military compound. As she came upon the main road, she found herself eye to eye with another kind of predator. One far scarier than anything she had encountered since she left the clan lands. One she had hoped to never see again.

At the end of the path, preventing her safe passage back to the city stood a tall Myrian woman. She wore very little, which was customary for their culture. Her arms and legs were covered in tattoos, although it was difficult to determine their meaning from this distance. Her hair was long, black, and slicked from the rain that fell from the sky. There were two things that sent knowing shivers down Tazi’s spine. The weapon the woman carried was a glaive, custom made many years ago. A sharp blade, curved on one side and irregular on the other, was imbedded on a strong pole. Held by strong sinews from dead animals and decorated with feathers and bones, the blade seemed to sparkle in the rain. The shaft of the weapon had nicks in it, having seen many battles in its time. Tazi’s eyes went from the tip of the glaive to the woman’s hand, doing a slow inspection. She was strong, just like she remembered. As her eyes inspected the face of the woman, Tazi saw only the slightest mirrored image of herself. It seemed that in her time away from the clan, she had become more of a stranger. It was only when her eyes settled on the strange crown did she know that her worst fear had come true.

It was a crown made of broken bones. Having seen many like it before, Tazi knew that they were made of small animal bones, finger bones of dead Myrians, and the occasional prized Dhani bone. It was a collection of prizes that marked a victory, and only the revered women of the Scattered Bones clan wore them. The oldest woman generally had a more extravagant crown, marking her the matriarch. The councilwomen had varying levels of their crowns. Older women had bigger ones, with more bones, while young women on the council might have two or three bones set into a headband. Aside from the varying assemblage of the crowns, it still marked each one a mother and head of her own family. They were normally strong, fearsome warriors. This woman who stood in front of her was no different. Taking a deep breath, Tazi closed the distance slowly. The opposing woman didn’t move.

When she was close enough, Tazi lowered herself to one knee in a show of respect and submission. Something in the air told her this encounter was not one of chance. This woman was here on a mission, and this frightened Tazi to no end. Having suffered the appropriate amount of time in the mud, Tazi stood up and met the stare that had been boring into her soul for many chimes now.

”Hello…mother…”

by **Tazi** on June 6th, 2014, 4:51 am

The stare had not softened even a little bit the few ticks they stood there, sizing each other up. Naturally, Tazi’s mother was a fearsome lady who ruled her family with a bloody fist. Tazi would not even be remotely surprised if Forai murdered the women older than her to take over the clan. Then, nothing would stop the blood running downhill from the Scattered Bones lands. Knowing what she was capable of had caused Tazi to flee to Taloba, to seek a life that was more suited for her. That, and where she would not fear a knife slitting her throat open for being a pathetic excuse for a Myrian. Of her daughter, Asar had always been Forai’s favorite daughter. Tazi’s sister had always been the perfect specimen of a Myrian. She was boisterous where Tazi had been quiet, strong where she had been weak, and eager to fight where she had shied away. The rain spat from the clouds did not make the mood any better. This encounter was bringing back all the dark memories of being a failure to her family.

“Walk with me,” Forai finally said, turning away from Taloba and heading down the path towards the military compound. The way she had said it was not in the form of a request. It had been too brisk and gravely to be a question. No. This had been a command. Unwillingly, Tazi followed while keeping a safe distance between them.

“So, what injuries have you sustained of late?”

Tazi rolled her shoulders back, walking tall. This season, she had suffered a decent share of injuries: a sprained wrist, a broken nose and several lacerations across her body. She had gone up against a pack of Yukmen for Myri’s sake. Although, Kol had been there to help her with the pack. That bit of information would have to be avoided. Knowing that her daughter had required help from a male would be a huge disgrace to Forai’s ego. She would blame herself as a mother. She might even go as far as blaming Zaso, Tazi’s father, for poor genetics and influencing weak habits. “I have suffered some injuries this season, Mother. You would have been proud of my fight in the jungle against some Yukmen.”

“You must have had help then. Yukmen are formidable creatures. Not something a runt such as yourself could handle on her own.”

Tazi flinched at the words, her heart plummeting. She said nothing. Instead, she seethed. Why couldn’t her mother just be happy that she had tried to take on a Yukmen? Why did she always have to assume that her daughter was frail, stupid, and incapable of holding her own? That’s because all your life you let her believe that, stupid girl. You became everything that she said you were, all because you listened to her chastise you. “Keep up, girl.” Forai’s voice broke Tazi’s train of thought. She had not realized she had slowed down in her anger, and made a few long strides to catch up to her mother. Anger still bit at the edges of her mind like a chained dog.

“I don’t see you bleeding at the moment.”

“I am not injured right now.”

“Then why were you at the medicine house?” Forai questioned. Tazi couldn’t help but notice that the tip of the glaive refracted light menacingly. Almost as if it was warning her to choose her next words wisely.

So this was what it was all coming down to. Tazi should have known. Forai had never loved Zaso, but he had proven worth to couple and reproduce with. How he had proven himself worth, neither Forai nor Zaso had told the girls. Yet, if there was one thing that Forai liked least of all had been Zaso’s fascination for plants, remedies, and healing. His ineptitude at fighting she tolerated, as she allowed him a handicap for being male. Yet, to stoop so low as to heal the injured and tend to the sick had been a breaking point for Forai. Deep down, Tazi knew that her mother would rather see the diseased and broken die in a ditch somewhere in the jungle. This thought really began to grind on her. Tazi stopped dead in her tracks, glaring at her mother’s back. She was not surprised when Forai stopped two steps later, looking over her shoulder at her weaker daughter.

“I wasn’t there because I was injured. I was there because it is my job. I heal the injured, tend the sick, mind those that need to be minded and those that want to be minded. They pay us good money for remedies for maladies they never realized could be cured. Old, traditional, blood-thirsty hags like you would not understand what it is to be weak. Yet, I am not weak Mother. Oh no. I am strong of mind and wit. I do not need to be physically strong if I have that.”

By now, Forai had turned around to face Tazi whom was bubbling with anger. Even though the sun had already set and it was pouring down rain, Tazi noted an unfamiliar facial expression playing on her mother’s face. For a tick, Tazi didn’t believe it. However, when the woman’s face did not change, she had to believe it. Forai was smiling at her. A wicked, terrible smile, but a smile none-the-less.

“I always knew you had it in you…”

by **Tazi** on June 7th, 2014, 3:39 am

“I always knew you had it in you…”

The words hung in the air between the two women, balancing on a the light breath that Forai had uttered it in. Tazi stood her ground, putting on her stoniest look that she could muster. She did not understand what her mother met, but she wasn’t about to be baffled by her. Forai had always been a clever, sneaky, conniving woman. If she could help it, Tazi would not allow her mother to best her.

Before she could even utter a retort, Forai had spun around in what could only be taken as a bright and hopeful mood to continue down the path they were heading. Unwilling to stay and too curious to go, Tazi ended up falling in behind her. For a moment, she could have sworn the rain had started coming down faster, a symbol of Forai’s brightening and Tazi’s darkening moods. There had always been a saying that the apple never fell far from the tree. When it came to Forai and her daughter, Asar’s apple had nestled into the safe roots of its mother while Tazi’s apple had plunged off the cliff, into the ocean, and was carried away on the current. Never once had she made her mother happy. They were so different, all Forai had ever been able to express to Tazi was anger and disappointment. A bright light stretched across the sky, followed by a mighty roar that could mimic one of Navre’s large cats.

The weather had only gotten worse when Forai stopped at the top of a hill that looked down into a large, Myrian-made clearing. Tazi had to step up alongside Forai, which made her uncomfortable, to get the view that Forai had. Below them, the Myrian military compound stretched. An arena, barracks, and all the fixings a warrior and ones army would need. Even though night had fallen and the occasional roll of thunder drowned it out, Tazi could still make out the sound of steel on steel. Warriors that had already slept, needed little sleep, or were being punished were training down in the yards. Lightening flashes reflected off the blades of various weapons, little points of light from the distance that the women were standing at.

“I have a proposition for you runt.”

Tazi had never liked the nicknames her mother had given her as a child, but she suffered them anyway knowing that she could do worse than name-calling. She said nothing and did nothing, not entirely sure that she wanted to hear this proposition that her mother had. Not that Forai was looking for permission anyways.

“You have a choice,” Her mother started, that gravelly voice remaining even and terrifying. “Go forth and serve Myri in her army on your own free will. Build your strength, learn your weapons, refine your skill. After a few years, when you have redeemed yourself, your clan, and your family, return to the clan lands as an honored warrior. One clothed in scars and decorated in tattoos.”

Tazi folded her arms, droplets of rain running down her face and dripping off her drawn in brows. That did not sound like a path she wanted to take. She had served her time as all Myrians had to. Although she was not a master with her dagger, she understood the basic concept and could defend herself enough to get away. She had been revered for her medicine, not her fighting prowess. In this day in age, with so many young Myrians serving, medicine would only get her mocked. Even her age would not stop the youngest from picking on her. “What is the other option?”

“You disappoint me Tazi,” Forai huffed. Not that this was unusual. “It is simple. If you choose to way of the weak, you will no longer be welcome amongst us.”

“So what is the difference then? I’m not welcome now, and I never have been.”

The way the atmosphere changed in ticks between them probably would have knocked Tazi off her feet if air were as physical as they were. Forai turned to glare down at her daughter, boring again into Tazi’s very soul. Of all the looks, strikes, mocking she had taken from her mother, this stare alone seemed to gouge a place all its own. Tazi took a step back. Maybe, maybe today was the day that she would die at her mother’s hand.

“You don’t understand the gravity of the situation. I will disown you and mark you dishonored to our clan. You will be marked for kill on sight if you ever even step over our borders with intent to come home. I will slander your name in Taloba, making your life more difficult than if you were a Dhani walking through the streets. You will not be able to survive even in the capital. You will be forced to exile yourself, and I will see to it that you do.”

Now that, was a threat.

by **Tazi** on June 7th, 2014, 5:12 am

If it had been anyone else other than her mother, Tazi would have laughed outright. No one was capable of making a Myrian less than a Dhani! No one…except her mother. Forai could have used her glaive tear out Tazi’s heart right then and there, and it probably would not have hurt nearly as much as the threat of having your life ripped from beneath your feet while your being forced to watch it fall a part. Tazi did not want to be alone. It was one of her greatest fears. At the moment, she had Traya and a few others to smile at while working. Kol had been a highlight of her life and his sister seemed to only brighten that aspect. All of it would be gone. Yet, to abandon her father’s teachings would have been equal to being cast out of society. Everything she had worked towards for the past twenty-five years would be for nothing. Zaso would spin in his grave to know that Forai had one by taking the one thing he had that she never would. Either way would break Tazi’s heart.

Taking a few steps away from Forai, always mindful that she never turned her back, Tazi managed to take a breath and gaze down at the compound. Could she do it? Could she change to stay in Taloba for the few people she liked? Traya had done her a service, allowing her to work in the medicine house. Even Kiyal was nice in her own little way. Then there was that fire that burned between the two acquantainces. Kol’s touch always made her feel alive; however, she knew that if she walked down to the military compound, even that would not awaken her dead spirit. Tazi’s whole world would change if she walked down the path of servitude.

The path was freedom was the only option. Tazi would throw away everything she had to maintain a past she knew and was proud of. That was it! Rolling her shoulders back, it dawned on Tazi. I am proud of my past. I am proud of everything I’ve done. I don’t need Mother’s approval. I never have and I petching never will.

”Exile…” The word slipped out of her mouth before she could even stop it. It was light, almost airy, but it was confident. Tazi stopped in her tracks, staring down at the compound with narrowed eyes.

“What did you say?”

Thunder rolled as Tazi turned to face Forai, squaring her shoulders with the armed woman. “I choose exile. I won’t lose myself to impress you.” Tazi practically growled these words. Her eyes were filled with hate towards her mother, for making this the turning point. She would try and stay, to stand up to her mother. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to carve out her own life with people that respected and cared about her.

“You are making the wrong choice Tazi,” Forai said evenly, but Tazi could tell she was mad. Good. She started this, so now Tazi must end it.

“It is a choice that I will happily live with,” she hissed. Then, she started backing up the way that she had come, promptly spinning on her foot to turn her back on her mother. If there was one lesson in respect Zaso had drilled into Tazi’s mind, it was never turn your back on the matriarch of the family. Especially when it came to Forai. She almost always took it as a personal insult. Just like she had been taught, Tazi was overjoyed to hear her mother screaming at her from a few paces back.

“How dare you turn your back on me? Come back here this instant you ungrateful whelp!”

Tazi stopped, allowing her mother to build up hope that she would change her mind. Just before she took off running for the city, Tazi looked over her shoulder and screamed, “You can’t tell me what to do anymore. You aren’t my mother! You just said so!”

by **Catastrophe** on June 11th, 2014, 4:09 am

Tazi :

Notes :

Solo Dishonored and Disowned