Someone to Love (Koa, Atzi)

[Atzi]

Fall 10th, 510AV

Atzi had only just hunkered through into Tabola, it seemed that few people gave her much notice, her tiger form was intimidating, but these people did not seem easily intimidated. The woman figured if she moved with purpose, as if she knew where and what she was doing, she would be left alone.
Truth be told, the Kelvic hadn’t the slightest idea what to do. She had fulfilled the dying wish of her master, she was bondless, she had no obligations, no one to follow, to protect. The Kelvic felt her chest fall, she was alone, she was truly alone for the first time in her time, and she had no one to go to, no mission to complete for someone. Atzi’s golden-green eyes scanned the area, she was near the market, the scent of people, and goods filled her lungs as her paws slowly padded the ground. The people that occupied the area held no interest to Atzi, their faces all blended together.

The Tiger continued into the city, her ears listened to idle chatter, movement, critters, the daily life of the city. Then her ears picked up a sound which drew the woman’s attention, the sound of fighting, training. Golden eyes searched, her ears twitched as her pace quickened. It did not take long for the Kelvic to stumble upon the Military Training Yard. Atzi froze at the edge of the compound. Sharp eyes landed on a tall, strong woman, wielding a long, sharp ended weapon, it was a weapon Atzi had never seen before. The Kelvic found herself mesmerized by the woman’s actions, the way her muscles tensed with strikes, the way her hair moved with each motion, the way her face contorted as she practiced. Atzi sat down slowly, dropping the small bundle of human clothes that she owned.

The tiger remained along the edge of the compound; the woman was close enough for Atzi to hear the noises she made as she striked the practice dummy, solid hits, each time causing a loud “Thump” noise to emanate from the shaking doll. The woman that practiced was quite strange and stunning to the Kelvic, the ferocious flame that lingered in the woman’s eyes drew Atzi to her. While Atzi felt drawn to the fighting woman before her, the Kelvic stood her ground, sitting a dozen or so paces away from the woman, observing.

[Koa]

Today had been just as any other day in the life of a Myrian warrior. Koa was hard at work stretching, training, and occasionally teaching the younger trainees at the art of hand-to-hand. The Myrian had rarely contacted anyone from her Fang throughout the entire time she’d been poised in front of the training dummy, hand grasped tightly around the hardened bone of her unique weapon’s handle, jade eyes trained on her target, muscles tensed.

This is what she was here for, this is what her mindset was. To improve, to strengthen, to dominate! So when dawn broke, she had taken her customary leather leggings, her leather halter top and her glaive, all that was necessary for the coming training session. The loud thumps that emanated from her came from the swings the dummies returned. Koa blocked them with one arm then brought her sweeping glaive at a downward angle, slicing through a small portion of the toughened bark that composed the outer shell. It hadn’t been exerting work, so the Myrian was barely breaking a sweat, but that did not mean her concentration wasn’t entirely focused on her current activity.

When the spinning arm came back once again, Koa ducked, twisted her body around in a circle then brought her right, glaive wielding arm in an upward sweep at he targets legs. A satisfying smile graced her lips at the sight of the badly splintered wood from her attack, and she stood, wiping her brow with the back of her wrist. Ten minutes of relaxation time is in order. Koa was just about to bend down to grab her small rag when she noticed the odd sight of a tiger sitting across from her, and what appeared to be… staring at her?

The Myrian glanced from one corner of the yard to the next. There seemed to be no Tiger Riders that she could discern here, only the usual trainee or lower Fang member, but why would a tiger be so concerned with the training yard? Cautiously, but curiously, the warrior approached her, holding up a hand in peace, and when she spoke, she spoke in the Myrian tongue. “Now why would a rider leave their tiger here unattended. Do you need to be escorted back to the tiger house, pretty girl?”

[Atzi]

Atzi watched closely as the woman shredded the wooden dummy, splinters of wood exploded from the “legs” of the thing. The woman had defeated it, Atzi’s tail twitched back and forth happily, with admiration golden-green eyes continued to watch through slits. The woman wiped her brow of what sweat had built up, a smile was present on her face as she seemed to relax. Then the woman did something Atzi was not expecting, the Myrian noticed Atzi, and suddenly, she seemed perplexed.

Atzi tensed up, unsure of what to do, was she somewhere she was not supposed to be? Was this strong woman going to come and beat her? The tall woman approached the Kelvic slowly, her hand raised, like an offering of peace, towards Atzi. The Kelvic knew what that motion usually meant: pets. A quiet purr began in the creature’s throat as the woman spoke. Atzi understood the Myrian language, but she was not fluent. The Kelvic was able to understand the Myrian, but she still found herself confused. ”A rider leave a tiger unattended? Tiger house?” Atzi blinked a few times and stared at the woman, dumbstruck.

Atzi’s mind wandered to strange places suddenly, she began to notice the Myrian’s hair, the way it fell and shifted softly in the breeze, the look of her skin, soft, strong, tough on her palms, but not the kind of tough that would hurt. Then, Atzi stared at the woman’s face; Atzi felt like her legs had melted as she stared into the Myrian’s Jade eyes.

After almost a full Chime Atzi snapped herself out of it, had she been in the flesh of a human, it would not be surprising if the young woman’s face was a bright shade of red. The purr stopped suddenly and Atzi suddenly looked down, her tail stilled as well. “What..?” The Kelvic felt strange, what was this? Was she sick? Did she eat a critter that was disagreeing with her? Atzi looked back up, and in a small, pitiful way let out a small noise, a mew of sorts as the Tiger gently nuzzled her snout against the Myrian’s thigh and arm.