Stalked (Crook)

[Kiana]

7th of Spring

Kiara in her short time here had realized the Archway was the best place to fish. Fish were almost always there- easy to find and easy to kill with her trident. The sky was full of clouds, today- though some would’ve been sad about the fact that it was, it was good in her eyes. Less people were going to be coming with no sun. She set off to her first fishing hole, setting her bucket down and tightened her grip on the trident. Her first hole was one of the best she found- it was shallow, making for easy fishing for her trident.

Few fish were swimming along peacefully, unaware that a predator was lurking among them. She tried to predict where the fish would be once she would smash her trident into it. Thinking about this, she readied her trident, making a guess, and the fish soon was under the trident. She smashed right upon it, and raised it up, only to see the trident but no fish. She could hear Liam’s voice in her head, remembering advice from long ago- “Always aim lower- water changes how things look.” She might have no ghost physically following her, but she felt like she had one stuck in her head.

The fish swam away from reach, but new fish were soon coming by. Thank Laviku for making fish one of the dumbest creatures in the world. With Liam’s advice in her head, she raised her trident again, predicting the path of the fish and slamming it down a bit lower. She swung the trident up, seeing a medium sized silver fish caught on the points of the trident. A feeling of satisfaction went through her, and she smiled slightly at the bloody fish.

"Thanks, Liam.” She said, voice soft, the words only for herself.

[Crook]

The Archway- the path between the Dhani territory and the sanctuary of Black Rock. It was a dangerous place to be, between the Dhani, the ghosts, and the natural danger of walking through a temperate marsh. There were aquatic snakes slithering through in places they shouldn't logically be. They slipped through puddles and wet ground and even underneath your feet, if you weren't careful. They were toads here and there and everywhere; luckily most of these caused no harm. They were impossible to avoid. Most terrifying of all were the birds. Swans, ducks, and beautiful songbirds, but also scavengers. The terrifyingly carnivorous birds, circling, just waiting for something- or someone- to fall over dead so that they could dive in and take it for their meal.

Yes, the marsh was frightening as most of the Taldera region. It was cold-hearted and didn't care for anyone. And the marsh, not too far from the aforementioned Archway, was exactly where Crook stood on the morning of the 7th of Spring.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the sopping ground and tried to make out the imprints. If he were tracking some form of docile, nonvenomous snake, he should be able to capture it and keep it to sell later. However, if he were tracking an aggressive snake by accident- or Dira forbid, a sentient being- well, that could be a fatal mistake.

Shaking thoughts of Dira from his mind, Crook kept his nose pointed toward the ground. Judging by the way the mud was pushed out and back, it seemed the creature was headed opposite of him. Crook turned about face and studied the marks once again. Yes, everything said they had to be going towards the Archway. Fear bubbled in his stomach, but this too was pushed aside, and the boy slowly began to follow the tracks.

As he walked, it seemed to him that the trail of the snake became larger. Either that, or he had lost the original trail and was following a new one altogether. Crook stopped abruptly and glanced at his surroundings. The boy was well out of the marsh now, and was undoubtedly close to the river. He was turning over in his head the idea of leaving and finding a new trail to follow when the sounds of splashing from ahead drew him from his mental reprieve. The splash was a small one, the sound as though it might be from a small aquatic snake entering the water, albeit a little less than gracefully.

The sound came again, softer this time, and Crook eagerly pushed forward toward the sound. This was it- he was finally going to catch something, after tracking nothing for at least a bell. Crook reached around to the small leather pouch which hung on his left shoulder and, ever so delicately so as not to frighten the snake, gripped his hunting knife and tiny trap tightly.

Crook knelt down and placed the tiny trap at the trail's end, making sure it was secure, before moving on toward the sound, knife still at the ready (just in case). But just as he was about to leap from the cover of the marsh's foliage, the poor half-Zith dropped the knife onto the ground. The fall of the knife gave a soft dlop sound, which seemed to echo in Crook's ears. It was loud enough that, surely, any animals nearby had run off. If he was lucky, something might have run into the trap, but then again, when had he been lucky?

"Petch!" Crook swore, not all that quietly.

[Kiana]

Any sounds that Crook made were easily lost by the sounds of her trident being thrust into water, fishing picking up. The gods had lined up a good day for her, it seemed. Kiana was content, catching fish for the rest of the day. There was something peaceful here, despite its dangers of wild dogs and poisonous snake. The view was nice here, another good reason why this fishing hole was good. Her thoughts went to other mundane things- how much coin she would get for the amount of fish she would get ( not much ) and the gutting of the fish.

The sound of something falling cut her out of her dream-like state, and she quickly turned, trident ready to be thrust. What was it? Her eyes narrowed, looking intently at the spot where the sound came from. Wild dog, perhaps? There were rumours about that dog that stole people's catch going around. The loud, hard to miss "petch!" cut through the silence, and automatically, anger was beginning. Animals would have been easily dealt with- a hit with her trident and they would be done for. But people, oh, they asked questions and looked at her as an exotic animal. And men merely wanted to sleep with her, she knew. And she wasn't allowed to kill them. Shame.

She walked towards the man. Young, the man was. Everything about him was black, it seemed, except his skin- pale as marble. Now, how was she going to mess with him? Either she'd do it from the start or she'd pretend that she was an actual nice being. The second one, obviously. It sounded more fun.

So she started. "Oh, by the gods, are you alright?" Her voice was soft and gentle, accented by something foreign. "What are you doing here? Dogs have been around here, you know.." Her act wasn't so great if Crook looked carefully in her eyes, however- there was a certain fire in her eyes, showing annoyance.

[Crook]

The woman came at him from out of nowhere.

Her eyes were large and full of a strong, icy fire that made Crook look away almost immediately, but when she spoke, her voice was soft, understanding, even comforting. She spoke to him as if he were a lost child- and that he was- but he had not expected her to treat him as such. As he grew comfortable, Crook slowly met her eyes once more, and found himself enraptured by her beauty.

The woman was an Ethaefal. Deep green horns curled on either side of her head, intertwining with the soft brown hair falling down her back by the handful. Even the light shades of brown were a stark contrast to the pale color of her skin. Her tall, muscled frame held what must be a fierce soul, for her light blue eyes were the color of cold, unforgiving steel, and they drilled into the boy.

Crook held onto the hope that he could stay on her good side, and nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, sure. I'm fine. I needn't worry about the dogs 'cause I brought my-" The boy broke off as his hands closed upon empty air. A moment of panic hit before he remembered to recover the knife from the dirt. "My knife." He finished.

"You needn't worry either," The boy continued, with a hint of bitterness, "You should be able to take on a wild dog just fine. Hai, you could probably scare one away. Sure gave me enough of a scare there, coming at me with a trident like that. What are you doing out here anyway, Miss...?"

[Kiana]

The boy at first seemed to be wary of her, which she understood. If one wasn’t afraid when there was a weapon, they were fools or good with their weapon. After her speaking, however, he seemed to visibly relax, which made her smirk in her head. Her plan was going well, it was. The boy reminded her of a child with the nod. That nod, only reserved for kissing up for people. Combined with his next sentence, she was almost certain that he was a child. A small laugh escaped her lips- amused. “A dog would likely jump you, bite your neck before you could even get a blow. Unless you’re somehow brilliant with that knife, which I highly doubt.” A breath. “Though I suppose there are people here, to keep you safe.” Maybe the boy would take that in the wrong way, but it was civil by her standards.

She was growing soft, damn it Or maybe it was just a good day. Yeah, that, combined with the kid’s innocence just made her soft today. That was it. With the kid’s compliments, she could feel her ego rising. Perhaps he wasn’t half bad. “Kiana, and you?” Gods, was she speaking like a mother.. “Just fishing..” As she said this, her eyes darted to the bucket, and she walked over to the river, more fish swimming now. “What were you doing on the ground?” Perhaps he was looking for his common sense, the nasty part of her brain thought. Who would think going to the woods with a mere knife was a good idea?

She tried to shake it off, not wanting to destroy the kid. Perhaps in a worse mood she would be flinging insults at him to make him cower and enjoying it thoroughly, but not now.

OOC: I think if she starts blowing him off now, then it’s likely that Crook’s going to get away, and Kiana will let him. So just keep going like this for awhile and when you want to end this, make Crook accidentally push her bucket or pester her with questions, perhaps?

[Crook]

The woman's- Kiana's- bitter words left a stinging sensation on Crook's skin. Her sharp, no nonsense attitude and already suspicious story of being out here "just fishing", when combined, left Crook feeling slightly uneasy. He rose from the ground, brushed himself off, and gripped his knife tightly in one hand.

"My name is Crook." The boy said. No further explanation needed.

"But, Kiana, you said you were fishing, and all I see is that trident. Do you fish with a trident? Who taught you that? And does it work better than a pole?"

He absolutely knew he was being nosy. If she was going to treat him like a child, then who said he couldn't act like one? When she turned her back on him and returned to fishing, he crept closer to her.

"And, if you wouldn't mind my asking, have you seen any snakes around here lately?"

[Kiana]

Crook? Who named their child that? Her eyes darted upwards, pausing for a second but going back to the water soon enough. He was strange, wasn’t he?

A barrage of questions followed, most easily answered except for one. Her eyes snapped up again, almost automatically thinking, Damn, why was I nice to him again? She looked back at him, eyes filled with that fire again, but she refrained from blowing up. He was a man, wasn’t he, not a child? Just when she was about to speak, he had to ask another question- something about snakes. Why snakes? She hadn’t seen them sold for anything at the market, and it was hard to see why anyone would want anything to do with one. They could be poisonous and snap at you before you could do anything… He was creeping up close to her, and she felt uncomfortable, like the feeling of someone watching you as you read a book. She shifted slightly away.

“You may fish with a trident, yes.” Her words were careful, now, almost no hint of the warmth from earlier. She ignored that second question, pretending it wasn’t there for his sake, and went on. “I don’t know, really. The trident is quicker, but you earn bigger fish in the deep waters. And no snakes I’ve seen- though they might’ve snook up behind me.”

[Crook]

Crook's head visibly snapped back at the steely cold in her words. His eyes widened in what could easily be mistaken for fear, but was earnestly wonder. He noticed her shift slightly away, but he stayed put as he pondered.

What kind of woman spoke both like a mother, and like a warrior, both in the same breath? What kind of woman cared for children out in the wild, and stabbed fish with a trident without a second thought? He wanted to ask more questions, but knew he should not.

Despite himself, he found his mouth opening again. "Was it your mother that taught you?" Without letting a tick of silence pass, he barreled on, following the question with his train of thought, so that she might not get lost. "My mother left me, so she never taught me anything, so I wouldn't know. I had to teach myself how to track and trap and all. That's why I'm not very good at it, and why I'm all alone out here, looking for snakes.

"I guess you must've been lucky to have had someone like that."

[Kiana]

Enough silence passed for her to think that Crook might've left, hunting more snakes that were deadlier than him, but she turned and he was still there, looking vaguely in fear. That was good, maybe he'd actually leave soon- but from what she'd seen, he probably wouldn't be leaving until all his questions were answered. And he had so many questions. She should just push him to go now, before she got too wrapped up. About to lash out, she opened her mouth, only for him to speak first.

"Was it your mother that taught you?"

No, she abandoned me instead. The thought was laced with poison, thinking of Syna. As she thought this, she looked up at the sky, Syna not obviously seen. Syna was hiding. The boy quickly went on, taking advantage of the silence. He quickly explained his story of his life-sad. Another person abandoned by so called family. Love was a weapon used against people, though it had a few perks at first, love always went away. The last statement, however, caught her attention- was she lucky to have Liam? Oh, yes she was, but at the same time it was unlucky that she had been captured by pirates. Syna at least could've gave a gnosis to help, or some other kind of gift. Something to make her days easier.

"That someone was one of the few breaks the world decided to give me, yes. The world seems to enjoy my every step of hating.." She paused, about to say 'this world' but that sounded so massive, so wrong, though it was the truth. "This place. I swear to you, Crook, that all things you love will betray you. You think the gods won't betray you,leave you to dust?" A wolffish sneer crossed her face. "That's what happened to me, darling. The goddess made me fall here, back to Mizahar, leaving me to pirates. Seasons went by with only my friend to keep me company, but no word from her, the one that once treasured me. They aren't above it. They will abandon you if it is easier." The words were said with bitterness and a strong hatred, the fire in her eyes now coming out to life with her words. She should be afraid of a god appearing, she knew, but she was fine dying, now. There was nothing to live for. Fishing was forgotten, now, as she turned to Crook, eyes absolutely burning with hate. Her hand was held tightly on the trident, like something she was releasing her anger on.

[Crook]

The way her eyes burned, alight with a fire that only came from love, or past love, Crook knew he had hit just the wrong spot. She spat and snarled as she talked, more feral than ever before. Any notion of her motherly attitude was gone with the wind.

As tightly as she gripped her trident, Crook gripped his knife, but he knew that if it came down to it, he had already lost. He had- at the very least- fewer years of experience. If this woman was an Ethaefal, then she might have hundreds of years on his mere decade.

Crook's tongue fought him as he tried to find the words to comfort her.

"I didn't...I'm sorry. I don't think...It couldn't have been everyone, could it? I mean, you're here, right? So you must have someone on your side."

It was all he could think of to say, and still, it had come out sounding like an insult. It sounded as though he wanted to throw her words back at her, and mock her misfortune in life, when all he really wanted was to give her comfort in the fact that he, too, was a child of misfortune.

Putting on his best, wide, childish puppy eyes, the boy looked up at the hissing woman and said softly, "At least me. I'm on your side. I'm here for you."

And yet, behind his back, he gripped his knife ever tighter and tensed his legs to run.