Completed [Jungle Wilds] Song of Nature (Tinnok)

[Radiant]

Bottom of the Twin Mountains, 7th of Bell, 30th of Summer 514 A.V

Trekking in the beautiful, wild, dangerous, jungle wilds of Falyndar, the Half-Breed Witch of the Wilds found herself in the ruined ancient temple far southeast of Taloba, famously named the "Tear of the Clouds". The majestic ruins sat high up between the summit of two mountains, very hard to notice, even harder to traverse to as it was often obscured in thick clouds, granting the location its namesake.

Tinnok would find herself traversing the incredibly steep slopes of the Twins, but it was manageable for a nimble Witch such as her where as the common man would definitely fall down not even a few meters into the steep incline. However, it was just the beginning of her journey, for it would take more than a day for her to reach the top, even for an experienced acrobat. It was a famous location for Myrian children to challenge themselves in their Trials, and it was said that those who made it to the top, then meditate in the temple would find inner peace.

It was a beautiful morning in the Jungle Wilds, and the mist was noticeable even at the far bottom where Tinnok would find herself in, and true to their mystique, the Witch could feel her mark pulsing faintly, drawn to the temple up high above. A growl could be heard, and as the Witch looked to her right, she would find an ethereal jaguar, snarling at her, but not out of fear, caution, or hunger, it was respect instead, respect for a daughter of Caiyha. The majestic lone creature approached the Witch then dipped its head down, then as quickly as it came, it dashed away... to the top of the mountain. All went silent then, even the birds stopped chirping, only the faint howl of mountain winds and Tinnok's breath would accompany her.

[Tinnok]

She had never felt a peace of body and mind as she did now. Despite her sorrow at the events with Rarik the previous season, her unease about the strange undead creature Evalin, these were fleeting feelings. If the undead wench though she could disturb the natural order, thought she had the power to uproot the jungle wilds she was more than foolish, and her age had taught her nothing, and if she was merely seeking to play with the Myrians and the Dhani? Well she could have them, Tinnok no longer cared.

She was both bloods, yet neither, she was not bound by their rules or laws any longer, and with her last ties to Taloba cut and done, she was free to pursue her duties as a Witch fully and with abandon. It seemed only yesterday that she had received her mark from Caiyha, the great Goddess smiling down at her, enveloping her in a brief and otherworldly pain which had led to her Gnosis mark being formed. For many months, as she began to get a feel for what being a Witch did, her most pervasive fear was that she would do wrong, or not enough, and that Caiyha would come and relinquish the mark, leaving the half breed an empty husk. But it had been years now, and that fear no longer consumed her. She felt at one with Caiyha and her land, wandering the jungles keeping the balance of the massive jungles as best as she could, catching little glimmers and signs as she went that she took as good omens, for what else could they be?

And now she felt drawn inexplicably to the Tear of the Clouds. When she climbed up and up into the canopy of the jungle, sometimes she could make out the twin spires when they were not wreathed in fog. Making her way from Zinrah’s blockade, she had set out toward them, determined that this was another sign from Caiyha, that this holy site would be where she would find another piece of herself as a witch of the wilds, and would guide her to where she next needed to go.

It had been a long trek, and as Tinnok reached the base of the mountain, fog curling down from the high slopes, she realized the hardest part was not yet over. She inhaled the cool fresh wet air through her nostrils and sighed, taking a long swig of her water skin before filling it at a small stream, tying it off and standing, only to rotate on her heel when she heard a growl.

There, seeming to emerge like a phantom from the fog itself was an Ethereal Jaguar. Her lips turned up at the beautiful specimen, the fur shifting in an invisible breeze, it’s strange white pupils dissecting her. She was reminded of the first time she had spotted one of these graceful creatures not so long ago, how it had taught her more about stealth than any Myrian she had ever seen, how adept these creatures were at surviving in the wildest parts of the regions. It did not speak to her in the same ways most plants, birds, and insects did. She sent a peaceful thought out to it through their shared gaze, of calm waters, of sleeping in cool caverns. What she received back in kind was a feeling of purpose…though she did not understand precisely what, then the creature was sprinting up the slope on agile quicksilver legs, disappearing into the fog bank just as mysteriously as it appeared.

Another good sign it seemed, it was as if everything in her universe had aligned at this moment, and the rightness about it set Tinnok’s legs into confident motion as she began her trek up the steep incline.

It was barely 50 yards until the Witch was down on all fours, half climbing, half crawling up the surface of the mountain. She recalled a similar struggle some years back to climb Makutsi’s Falls. The Goddess seemed to have a penchant for beautiful sights of worship steeped in difficult terrain to test the faithful. Also the fact that Tinnok was taking this trick during the Summer season meant that the ground was slick not just from the fog, but the heavy rains. In fact…no best not test fate just yet.

It was laborious work climbing. She kept her golden eyes trained on the slope in search of perhaps any thin trail, left by deer, okapi, maybe even an ixam, but no such luck. Tinnok grinned at herself, chiding the part of her mind looking for an easy way out. Her fingers dug into the rocky crevices, drawing herself up the cliff face inch by inch, foot by foot. Best to make use of the non rain and cool fog, if it did burn off she was in for a potentially sweltering day, and perhaps it was best that she didn’t know how much farther she had to go to reach the top….

While she climbed Tinnok focused on centering her breathing, finding the exertion and her present state of mind helped her focus on the task ahead. She didn’t rush herself, knowing it was a long day ahead, and a whole mountain ahead of her, and so began her trek up to the serene mountain temple.

c

[Radiant]

As Tinnok climbed to the high mountains, the thick fog and mist around her seemed to shift with her, clearing up to give her a clear path, each time a particular batch of mist vanished, the same ethereal jaguar could be seen at the front, climbing the steep mountain with great ease. However, he - the jaguar was male - stopped occasionally to allow Tinnok to catch up, as if he was leading her somewhere.

Here in Caiyha's sanctuary, Nature took its full force as plants and vines covered everything, all around her teeming with life, not a single taint or barren patch could be seen. As Tinnok climbed and climbed higher, naturally, she would find it was harder to breath since the higher she went, the less air was there. The jaguar in front of her was affected as well, his breathing harder and more ragged than before but still within normal measures, just like any other breathing creature who climbed a steep incline.

A few bells later, Tinnok was halfway to the top and by now it was clear that the trip would test her acrobatics and endurance to the very limits. Up ahead, she could see the Jaguar sitting beside a small water spring, so clear one could see the bottom, it was hunching its head down, drinking from it, a few trees baring ripe fruits were around the spring. Once Tinnok arrived, it would pause, urging Tinnok to refill whatever supply she might needed for the other half of the journey.

Continuing their path upwards, the wind was getting heavier and mist even thicker, though they parted as soon as Tinnok approached them, and after a long trek up the mountain, she could see a set of ancient ruins in the distance, nestled between the two mountains. Before she could approach further however...

"Hey"

A voice called out to her, distinctly female... and young at that. When Tinnok looked to her right and tilted her head up, she would find a young girl, about in the middle of her teen years, in a white one-piece dress, the peculiar thing about her was her distinctly green hair and eyes. The girl jumped down from the ledge she was sitting on and approached Tinnok, smiling at her with calming innocent eyes, due to Tinnok's height and the girl's apparent youthfulness, she only reached to just above the half-breed's chest.

"I don't know you, you don't come here often do you?" She asked, curious.

The jaguar beside Tinnok merely examined the green-haired girl with curious eyes, the girl approached the predator, extended a small right hand to brush its cheeks then as if understanding something, the jaguar went away, scampering into the wilderness around the temple. She looked like a fellow witch from this display alone.

However, if there was one thing strange though, Tinnok couldn't sense the mark of Caiyha upon the girl, so she must not be a witch, but unlike Evalin, there was no pulsing uneasiness either.

"Hmmm... do you want to visit Caiyha? I do as well, let's go together?" She extended a right hand for Tinnok to take. "Oh, my name is Tsuya, by the way. What's yours?"

[Tinnok]

There was something eternally comforting about the Ethereal Jaguar, seeing it every now and again waiting for her. It seemed another of good Omens on her journey, and even as her lungs burned from the exertion, her breaths coming more frequently due to the height of her climb, she couldn’t keep the smile that tugged at the edge of her lips from being there. She sucked in another lungful of the clean fresh, if not thinning air, and continued climbing, but when her hand reached up, expecting to find more rock, it fell somewhat downward, brushing against soft moss and tendrils of grass. Tinnok dug her nails into the dirt, feeling a comforting gentle pulse of light emenating from the plant life, and then hauled herself upward, and a section of the mist revealing a level area and the pool with the ethereal jaguar by it.

Her muscles quivered as she dragged her weight not so gracefully over the edge, one leg at a time, and collapsed in a huff, letting air fill her lungs in deep breaths several times before rising slowly to her knees, then to her feet, then walking slowly over to the pool, feeling the blood rushing to her legs with every step on solid ground. Her calloused bare feet dipped into the water, and she smiled serenely at the jaguar as she took a long draught from her water skin, before filling it up as the opportunity seemed to suggest. Taking another measured sip of water and splashing some on her face, Tinnok rose, admiring the clear quality of the water, and the silver fish that darted like many stars beneath the serene surface. She didn’t want to linger here too long and waste precious daylight, but a light rumbling of her stomach reminded her that a snack would be good. Her dried mango and almonds were running preciously low, and she didn’t want to delve into them if she didn’t have to, but that was when she spied a Mikmik tree hanging over the edge of the pool. Many of the fruits hanging off it were the under ripe green color, but a few nestled in the shade had a deep magenta to them, and Tinnok twisted one carefully off the stem and sank her teeth into it. The tartness of the fruit hit her immediately, but it was the perfect thing to keep her energy up on her trek, and just in case she grabbed one more, then set off again, realizing there was actually a path for them to follow, the jaguar leading the way once more.

Despite the improvement from cliff to path, Tinnok found her legs burning again within mere ticks of starting off again. The trail was steep and crisscrossed impossibly up the face of the mountains that housed the Tear of the Clouds. She wondered if the jaguar felt such strain in its lithe form, or if it only seemed not to by the way she could see its paws easily scaling the incline. Half eaten Mimik fruit was stowed in a side pouch of her pack so she could focus upon her legs and arms, and not only that, but debris in the way. It wasn’t as if there was anyone to maintain the trail, and as such the wild foliage encroached upon it, rocks had fallen in her path, causing her to climb up over, leap around, or even…crawl under to continue on her way, wind pushing against her body as if trying to convince her to climb back down the mountain and go back from whence she came.

Breath heaving, the fog obscuring her obstacles until she was upon them, Tinnok felt sweat trickling down between her shoulder blades to the small of her back, slowly pooled beneath her bound breasts. She didn’t smile now, only because such an expression required effort, and she was trying to conserve every bit of energy she could. She paused a moment on what could be considered a flat section of trail (at least in comparison to everything else) when a cool breeze washed over her face, causing her to close her eyes. When the two yellow orbs, bisected by ebony slits opened she was able to see a brief glimpse of her…their? Destination. It was still far depending on what the terrain was like from here on in, but even from this distance a strange feral beauty seemed to radiate off the distant stones. It was the type of place whose power and value were made from the journey it took to get to it, as well as the isolated location. Was this a place Caiyha enjoyed inhabiting, looking out over the most plentiful of her lands? Or did she only stay here every now and again, like a vacation from the rest of the world?

Seeing the end of her journey, even in the distance, gave the witch a surge of hope, she lifted a leg to start forward again when a voice made her pivot on her heel, legs bending, eyes wary.

The figure that emerged was so slender…so young to be out here in the wilds, Tinnok’s mouth parted slightly in awe. Her eyes seemed to be the color of the forest itself, and was her hair covered in moss, or was it somehow that color naturally? To the girl’s first question, the half breed could only gape. She couldn’t exactly be mistrustful, because she couldn’t be sure this person was even real, perhaps she was more exhausted then she imagined, and her mind was playing tricks on her.

She watched curiously as the girl touched the jaguar, much like Tinnok would have, the jaguar racing off. The witch glanced at the disappearing form, then back to the girl. She had only met one other witch, the Dhani in the woods, and she had felt his mark, as if it had called out to her own. She did not feel such a thing from this girl, yet the idea of Caiyha sheltering a child, that did not seem foreign, she had heard of the Goddess marking children so they could live in the wild and survive Mizahar’s harsh climates, maybe…it was something like that.

Whatever she was, Tinnok decided to at least loosely, trust her. She had no weapons, seemed friendly, and was going to the same place she was. When she offered a hand, Tinnok took it with her left. “I Tinnok.” She said in her weak grasp of common.

“Hungry?” She asked as they began walking. “Have Mikmik.” She produced the second uneaten fruit and offered it to the girl. “This is first time come here. Have only heard story. Do live here?”

What must it be like living only in the wilderness with jaguars, plants, fish, and birds to keep you company? Tinnok had dreamed of such a thing all her life, perhaps she could stay here like the girl, but her mind shook the daydream away. If she were to be a witch she needed to travel the length and breadth of the land, to go where the land and animals needed her.

c

[Radiant]

"Oh? Tinnok!" Tsuya quipped cheerfully when the half-breed introduced herself. Then true to her 'forest' child appearance, the girl suddenly approached the taller woman even closer, she appeared to have no sense of personal space, raking up Tinnok's form up and down, "You look like a Myrian, but..." her green eyes glanced up, locking them with Tinnok's yellow black-slitted reptilian eyes, "Your eyes don't look like a Myrian, they look like Caiyha's granddaughter's people, what was their name again? Ah! The Dhani, ehehe~ You're odd, I like you!" She rambled on, excited by Tinnok's odd appearance alone like a true young girl.

"Hmmm?" The green-haired girl slightly tilted her head when Tinnok offered her the Mikmik fruit, she gingerly took it then munched down on the fruit, "Mmm... Ei dwo," She tried speaking with her mouth full, but soon realized her folly then swallowed first before continuing, "Ehe, I do! I like it here, Uhm... but I'm curious though, I have never went past the mists before," She implied that she lived here all her life, "But they tell me stories! So I know about Myrians and Dhani for example, and oh oh! Big and small animals with funny-looking long nose and large flappy ears!" Tsuya gestured with her hands to imitate a Tskanna and Astha as best as the could.

Seeing that Tinnok was comfortable with her, Tsuya gingerly took Tinnok's right hand with both of hers then pulled her towards the temple's direction, "Come on! Come on! Let's see if Mama is here today!" Not waiting for Tinnok's reply, she went into the temple, if Tinnok followed her, she would keep holding her hand, if not, she would release her then went off on her own.

Not long after that, they arrived at the mystical ruined temple, well ruined in a 'human' sense, for it was teeming with Caiyha's creations, plants grew everywhere, small flows of spring water here and there, the chirp of birds and beautiful butterflies filled the scenery. Tinnok could feel her mark being eased greatly, like all of her worries washed away just by being in the temple alone. The white-clad girl beside her merely hummed along as she idly swayed her head left and right.

At last, they arrived at the center of the temple, it was just a medium-sized room overgrown with green vines, at the end of the room was an altar, naturally made out of vines creating a small pool with the pool being filled with clear water, creating the assumption that someone indeed shaped the vines to be such, Tsuya went behind Tinnok then lightly pushed her back, "Go on, go on! Pray! Maybe Mama will tell you something~" Tsuya looked at the 'altar' excitedly, looking at the alter then Tinnok, back and forth.

[Tinnok]

The girl had lived here all her life, barely knew the word for Myrian and Dhani. How had she learned common then, if she was entirely on her own? That would imply of course that she wasn’t. Perhaps she was born a barbarian in another land and somehow came to be here? Maybe she was not human at all, but something else. The contact of her confirmed her realness, at least in a sense, and Tinnok was glad that she ate the fruit. If she required sustenance it meant she was a being she could understand.

“I Myrian and Dhani.” She explained patiently, for here the mixing of her two bloods didn’t seem to matter. As for the Ashta and Tskanna, Tinnok laughed, an expression she hadn’t done in quite some time. “Tskanna very big.” She said moving her arms wide. “But very gentle. Ashta small, also gentle.” She glanced around. “Maybe too hard to climb up for big feet, that why you no see them. But jaguar…” She gestured ahead to where the Ethereal Jaguar had disappeared. “Only seen one other all life, rare where I come from.” She smiled, it didn’t seem as if the girl was sad not to have seen the big elephants, but perhaps knowing the cats only lived up in cloud forests like this would help her know that she got to see what few others did living where she was.

When the girl referred to Caiyha as ‘mama’ Tinnok stiffened somewhat. It was strange, she referred to Caiyha as her true mother, but…she didn’t know if she’d ever dare use a more casual phrase for her relationship with the Goddess. The girl was young of course…could she actually be Caiyha’s daughter, as Siku was? The thought made the hairs on the back of Tinnok’s neck prickle. If that was the case, the girl she was talking too might very well be a young deity. But she was determined not to treat her differently, whatever she was, she seemed happy here.

Tinnok paused a moment when they reached the Temple, glancing up at the ruins, supported by thick vines, trees, and moss. Slowly she disarmed herself, leaving her bow, quiver, spear, scimitar, and all of her daggers in a pile outside. Here she felt utterly at peace, she could almost feel serene waves emenating from her Gnosis Mark. She would come to no harm here, from any being around, of that she was certain.

She looked at the strange pool surrounded by vines, and at the girl’s urging slowly fell to tired knees, staring into the clear water. She wasn’t sure if she should pray aloud, feeling a bit strange having an audience, but if she had been alone she would have…only the vines and whatever insects that crawled among them to keep her company. Her hands were splayed on the vines that bordered and made up the pool, feeling the life thrum within them, the calm, strong nature of a vine seeping through her skin, feeling the coolness and peace that these plants basked in every day in the shade soaked temple. A long breath escaped her throat, despite her calmness, a strange tension rising in her breast that here she could be as close to Caiyha as she had come four years ago.

“Caiyha, I come before you seeking guidance. So much has changed, so much I have learned wandering the wilds. I have seen so much life, so much wonder thanks to your gift, and embraced the death in the world too. I have found rot, and disease, and helped eradicate it, I have been tested on my journeys, but my faith in you and the jungle has brought me through, brought me here back to you. This jungle has always been my home, has shown me the most bitter of defeats, and the greatest of triumphs. But I feel as if something has changed…as if something is pulling me out of Falyndar, to leave and see the lands of Mizahar beyond this one, the other places and creatures it holds, it is why I sought you out here, in a most sacred of places, for I do not know if I am ready, if you think I am ready for such a task…”

Her head bowed low, her eyes staring unblinking into the cool clear depths of the water, breath catching in her throat. All her life she had been turned away from those she had loved, now her love was imbedded in the jungle. It felt somehow wrong the idea of leaving it, that idea that had been blossoming in her mind for so long, that she was unwilling to acknowledge, but if she wanted to serve Caiyha, to become a better witch, she could stay in this cradle which provided her so much comfort forever, and she had to be honest with her mother, her true mother.

Word Count819

c

[Radiant]

As Tinnok prayed into the 'altar of nature' with all her heart, she would find peace and calmness washed over her being first, the silence - only broken by Tsuya's occasionally humming of a song - kept up for about three chimes, yet Tinnok would not feel boredom or anxiety for she knew this was her mother's private domain and here, no Myrian nor Dhani would disturb her, nothing would harm her.

Then... three chimes passed, Tinnok's sight would blur and her body froze, then she would feel as if she was leaving her body, an out-of-body experience up, up, and upwards into the sky. She could do nothing but watch as her 'vision' looked down upon her own body and Tsuya, then the temple, then keep rising upwards until she could see the entirety of the Twin mountains from the sky.

No verbal sound would greet her or talk to her, but merely feelings and emotions, similar to what she would get from her gnosis, first, the feeling of acceptance and confirmation to her words, then the mysterious presence took on a serious aura, like what it was about to show could not be ignored. Tinnok's vision would 'fly' through the jungle, very swiftly, traversing through the foliage, animals, and everything in-between. Finally, it stopped... overlooking a particular Myrian fang, doing their usual patrol in the jungle, they looked to be an ordinary fang at first, but then... the vision locked and zoomed-in into one Myrian, and then, right then, Tinnok could feel an overwhelming sensation of disgust washed over her, similar to what she would get in Evalin's presence, only much much more real and pronounced.

The vision didn't stop there, it kept switching between one, two, three, until the whole fang was 'profiled', ten Myrians in total, the disgust only grew with each Myrian. At last, the vision locked in to the fang's commander, a large and tall female Myrian at first, but there was something odd about her eyes... her eyes were in the color of blood, very similar to the strange girl who was beside the flaming Viper.

Then the vision flew back into the mountains, into the temple, then it zoomed-in to the green-haired girl, who was still cheerfully humming a song, Tinnok would feel an urge to take the girl with her... in this task to eliminate the enemy of all nature, the cult of Returned, who had managed to worm its way into the ranks of one Myrian fang.

Finally, control returned to Tinnok's body as the 'vision' zoomed into the Half-breed Witch.

"Hm?" Tsuya finally spoke, approaching Tinnok on all fours, crawling like an excited child, "What did Mama tell you? Ehehe~ Can you tell me?"

[Tinnok]

Tinnok waited patiently, hearing the humming of the girl, the faint echoes of her words ring out in the strangely comforting temple, at peace as her hands ran over the smooth vines that formed the pool and alter in one.

She gasped, but that noise was not in her own body as she was pulled out of it and away. It was so strange peering down at herself, and for the first time in seasons she got an idea of what she had become. Her body was relaxed, toned, scarred, but fit from her new way of traversing the jungle, of living a life on the run and in hiding. The girl seemed to notice nothing out of place, and continued to pitter patter around her, Tinnok struck for a moment by the realization that this must be what regular children were able to do, and she had never gotten such a chance.

But this was a flashing thought of many as she rose above the temple, high into the sky. It didn’t feel like falling, or flying, though the event was exhilarating. It was almost like seeing through the eyes of someone else, someone who had such access always, unlike her mortal form, bound to the ground. She tried to drink in everything, the way the canopy of the jungle looked like a massive green blanket, the way the fog seemed more like clouds when high above it, but her observations were drowned out by the feelings sweeping through her. Her prayer had been heard, all was well.

But even as she felt these things, a feeling that all was not well rose up in her throat. She wasn’t being taken up on high to experience a bird’s eye view…there was a purpose here that was meant to be discovered, and soon it was revealed in the form of a tough looking Myrian fang.

Tinnok could practically feel her Gnosis back in her real body prickling in distaste as she looked over the fang. They all made that queasy disgusted feeling re-emerge in one way or another. Almost instantly she regretted aiding Evalin in obtaining her new body, and felt a pang of guilt for this as well, yet that woman had had powers Tinnok could barely comprehend, and she was clearly not an immediate threat to the jungle itself…or Caiyha’s message would be to eradicate her, and not this strange cult of Myrians that defied the jungle’s laws.

The gasp finally did escape Tinnok’s throat when she was returned to her body. Her vision swam, head ringing as she recovered from her journey. First she tried to recall the distance away the Myrian fang was. Back down the slope, but not the way she had come, further in the jungle. She rose, unsteadily, but with renewed vigor. She had been given a clear objective, and she meant to eradicate that fang.

When Tsuya spoke, the half breed turned. She had been included in the vision, the message. Tinnok opened her mouth to reply, trying to piece together an apt response to her question.

“Caiyha…she show 10 Myrian ways from Temple, all…all strange, red eyes, not…not right in mind, not like others. They must die, and…I must take you with.” This part ran counter intuitive to her thoughts. This girl seemed precious, almost to the point of naivete. If she barely knew Myrians and Dhani, how could she hope to help Tinnok fight them, how could Tinnok manage to keep such a girl alive when there was just one of her, and 10 of them? But everything she had been shown was clear, and she dared not ignore any part of the message. If she was to take Tsuya, there must be a reason, and it would all be revealed in time, she must have faith…

“I will protect.” She said to the girl her yellow eyes catching and holding the green ones with firm resolve. “We must be off now, before dark comes.”

She strode out of the front of the temple, collecting her weapons and strapping them to her body swiftly, removing the half eaten Mikmik fruit from earlier and taking a few huge bites out of it. She would need her strength for the fight ahead.

When Tsuya emerged Tinnok would make her way around the temple in the direction she saw the fang heading in, her legs striding long steps, but throwing a glance over her shoulder to make sure she didn’t lose the girl. “Can you fight, Tsuya?” She asked, a small sliver of hope in the idea that the child may not be as helpless as she seemed.

Word Count775

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[Radiant]

"Oh... are they bad?" Tsuya asked innocently as she slightly hunched her head down, her voice spoke of innocence yet... for some reason, Tinnok would feel that the strange green-haired girl knew this was coming, that the notion of eradicating abominations of nature was not alien in her mind. Tsuya fidgeted with her fingers, but in the end, she followed Tinnok, albeit her demeanor became more placid than before for obvious reasons. At the Half-breed's reassurance, her right hand extended to grab at Tinnok's left, "Okay..."

Tsuya simply looked into the horizon as Tinnok rearmed herself with her weapons, she went perfectly silent, only turning her head when Tinnok began to walk then she began following the Witch on her right side, slightly behind. "Hmmm... I uhm..." The girl put both of her index fingers together as she fidgeted with them, she wasn't sure on how to answer the question, "I can't though... my friends can, I think? Ehehe, don't worry, Tinni," She began calling the Witch with an affectionate nickname, "My friends can protect me." As if on cue, a high-pitched shriek, though friendly in nature, could be heard behind them.

A creature suddenly appeared from behind a tree, galloping fast with its two legs, its striped tiger-like pattern blitzing fast to Tinnok and Tsuya's side. The Mry'uana then stopped beside Tsuya, the green-haired young girl, extended a right hand to rub its neck, "Hey, he said he can take us there!" Tsuya grinned at Tinnok, as if understanding what the Mry'uana wanted, like a witch, "He's fast and brave! Don't worry! He'll help us!" Without waiting for Tinnok's reply, Tsuya gingerly hopped to the Mry'uana's back, rubbing her cheek on the creature's neck as her small arms hugged around it while her feet firmly placed on the two-legged carnivore's sides.

Another Mry'uana suddenly appeared not far from Tinnok, just behind a bush, female this time, it used its snout to playfully poke at the Witch's shoulders then its eyes spoke of acceptance, Tinnok would be its master and rider for the duration of this task from Mother Nature herself. The creature would follow whatever the Witch commanded, within reason of course.

Normally, it would take Tinnok about one day to reach the patch of jungle where the cursed Fang was located, but with the Mry'uana's speed, it would just take her a few bells at worse, its ability to climb or descend rocky mountainous terrain also greatly helped Tinnok's case here.

"So, stripy," Tsuya spoke to her ride, pointing at Tinnok, "Follow wherever Tintin goes!" She said excitedly, the Mry'uana let out a high-pitched shriek in acknowledgment. If what the girl said was indeed true, then she must have a lot of other 'friends'...

[Tinnok]

Her ears pricked, almost thinking she heard a noise when Tsuya began to speak. ‘Friends?’ All was revealed barely moments after the girl spoke, however as a massive creature Tinnok had never seen before exploded through the foliage. It was tall and lanky, with horns and stripes, it looked like a tiger, a horse, and some other creature mashed into one. Suddenly at least one aspect of the girl became clear. Tinnok was not sure how she was able to summon and utilize such friends without a Gnosis mark, but it explained the Ethereal Jaguar watching her. When a second one appeared Tinnok took a measured step back, studying the creature who had a slightly larger coat, peering between its legs to identify it as ‘her’ before its muzzle rubbed up against her shoulder. It would allow her to ride it, and she sensed a submissiveness within that she didn’t entirely approve of. What she could tell from these beasts, the teeth in their maws, their limber forms, they seemed to be made for survival, she would never refuse aid where it was given, but neither did she like the idea of directly controlling the creature before her.

So her own mind sent back signals of calm, of a more measured equality between her and the large beast. She would not send it off to die, and she thanked it immensely for its aid now to reach the fang. If they worked together, perhaps she could truly conquer this Myrian fang and end the strange grouping once and for all.

Tinnok did not the first thing about riding anything. She had been on an Ashta and Tskanna’s back only a handful of times, usually only for a few chimes apiece, so the prospect of this much more slim creature was more than a bit daunting for the witch. Glancing over to see how Tsuya mounted, she made a haphazard attempt at copying her. Her hand still on the creature, it seemed to sense her unease and bent forward, its front two legs bending at the knees so she could more easily slide upon its back between the shoulder blades. She settled her rump in place, making sure all of her weapons were tightly fastened before putting her hands on either side of the animal’s neck, her legs pressing loosely against its sides, letting it know she was ready when it was, and giving the birds eye view of the location where the Myrians were. It took the creature a few seconds to translate this view to its own ground bound form, but it seemed to get an idea of where they were going, and started off at a trot before launching into a full blown sprint.

Tinnok clung tightly to the creature, her head bent low against its neck, feeling a measure of panic from herself as its body bumped and rolled beneath, as well as some exhileration from the creature through her Phylonura mark that kept her anxiousness at bay. As they ran she contemplated the Myrian fang. 10 individuals, against her, these two beasts and perhaps more ‘friends.’ She had a chance, She would defend this jungle with everything she had, and the idea that the creatures of it would join her…well that filled her heart with a wonderful feeling.

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