Elk Impostor

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

34th Fall 515

The drykas shifted into the Sea of Grass, body sunk low to the ground. She wore a dress, a retched thing that felt so unnatural. It itched at her skin and felt weird when grass brushed against her bare legs, hidden under long pieces of fabric. It was horrible, but useful. Very useful. It was easy to take on and off, slipping it with one quick move. Less time naked, less time vulnerable. Kelvics didn't have that problem of that much bare skin, but Merevaika did. It wasn't natural, even if she knew no one was there to see her.

She trailed through the grass, following the elk prints down the trail, listening out for noises. Nothing. She had half expected to here elk bugling, calling for a mate, but she supposed that she was still a few weeks early for that, thankfully. She wouldn't want to know what happened if she was a female elk during mating season.

The tracks were new, as she had seen the herd the day before, but now, in the gradually increasing heat, they seemed to have disappeared, no longer in sight. Merevaika had hoped to discover them again, and to try join them, examine the form she had taken a little, and the ways of the elk more, to better understand them. For the hunt, and for herself. Both were intertwined.

There. The Sea of Grass had a dent here. a large valley were a small stream was found, meandering its way through among rocks and bushes, slightly wider at the spot where several cows and calves drank, sipping at the water and enjoying the cold air found around the stream. Still human, she shifted towards a nearby rock, picking it as a location to store her clothes. Her dress. She would take it off and change, and when she wanted to transform again, hide behind it and quickly adorn the garment again.

Her movements were slow and steady, not wanting to alert the herd, however far away they were. How much could they hear? See? Smell? She would have to check when she took their form, an impostor among them. Luckily, the wind blew into her face, very light, brushing her back and dress with it.

The sun beat on her back, and while the breeze was rather refreshing, she found the shade behind the rock even more pleasant, and rested there a few moments, wishing she had brought a waterskin with her, tongue parched from the distance she had traveled. Merevaika supposed that it would have been better if she had left earlier, as then the elk would be closer and it wouldn't have been as hot, but very soon she would be able to join them to drink by the river, and examine them to the fullest.

Merevaika brought herself back up from where she had leant against the rock, taking a deep breath and finding her fingers begin to trace the antlers on her thigh, the mark of her newfound ability. She exhaled, slipping of the dress and depositing it in a crevice, away from where anyone could possible notice it. It was only possible to see if you knew it was there, and Merevaika was the only one who did know. After all, she didn't want anyone stealing it or wondering where the owner was.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and she no longer stood as a human, but as an elk, four-legged with different senses, a different height, a different body to see from with different eyes. To the other elk. She would work out what to do from there, but first, she wanted a drink.

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

The elk stumbled out of her hiding place, struggling to adjust to four legs. After a while, it would seem natural, but she knew that she'd always have that moment just after changing, a moment where she felt like she was in the wrong body, a human fighting for dominance in the shell of an elk. But now, a few moments after, she felt ready, the legs doing as she wanted.

Merevaika looked at the herd, wondering how they would react to a strange, foreign elk coming to join them. There were no males, the more aggressive type (as far as she knew), but females with calves were unpredictable. Would they accept her once they saw she was one of them? Fight her off? She had no idea, but it was good to know, so she slowly made her way over, examining her senses as she did.

Her eyesight was good, but not exceptionally, focusing more on the surrounding area than the distance. The elk in the distance looked like lumps of brown, no clear distinct shape. She supposed she understood the reason why: in the wild, there were millions of moving creatures, other elk, deer, birds, horses and hunters. It would be hard to keep track of all of them. A few hundred yards away, it wasn't clear, enough for a predator to slowly move towards them, but up close, they would no. Merevaika noted this, remembering it as a good point for the future.

However, sight wasn't the only sense, and unlike humans, animals relied on the other ones much more.

Noises, such as the wind and the stream and the grass, were gone, completely cancelled out, subconsciously ignoring the normal sounds. So a hunter, if they were skilled enough, could approach, the light rustles easily ignored as the wind.

But it was scent that overpowered it all. The elk were clear scents, but so were the other animals, birds and mice and more, scents that were old and new and something in between.

Merevaika moved forward, eyes trained on her goal. Her thirst had grown, and now she just wanted a drink, to quench it. She reached the stream a little from the rest of the elk, afraid to go near them, but instead stayed there, head lowered to drink, the cold water satisfying. The colder air by the stream satisfied her too, and once she was happy, she focused on joining the herd to study them.

They hadn't paid much attention to her, glancing in her direction once to check that she was no danger. She stepped in their direction, and another glance to check. They stayed alert, but not threatening, allowing her to slowly make her way towards them, slow and steady in her steps.

One of the elk called out, body changing to convey more of the message. It was questioning, with tones of both elk and human to it, and Merevaika pieced together the question. "Why do you smell of human but look like elk?"

The answer to that was simple: she was human. However, she couldn't tell the elk that, knowing that first it would threaten them, second, it would confuse them, and third, she didn't know how to. Simple things, she could communicate, but not something this complex. She didn't answer, taking another step. The elk that had called out moved between Merevaika and the younger ones, a warning not to harm them. Giving up, she made a noise for being lost and hunted, which caused the other elk to look alarmed, lifting her ears and looking around for danger.

Merevaik, realising her mistake, corrected herself, adding three more words to it. "Previously, no longer." The other elk remained tense, but let her closer, joining the rest with their meals. They muzzled around in the ground, shifting dirt and plants, obviously eating something. As she came over, she realised they were uncovering roots, foraging for food as well as eating the tough grass. She took a bite of it, curious as to the taste. All in all, not actually too bad, not to an elk's senses. It was common, with a slight bitterness to it.

One of the younger elks came over to her, sniffing at her. It didn't seem to like the smell, stepping back a little. Suddenly, ears pricked up, and she found her own swiveling to focus on the noise they had heard. A light twig snapping, coming from the underbrush on the other side of the valley from where she had come. The noise was deadly clear, despite the distance, and Merevaika tensed, realising that she might be in danger. They all were.
"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

She sniffed, taking in the smells. The hunters had been foolish, as the wind was against them, blowing hard into their backs, and carrying their scent to the elk. Humans, a mix of a smokey stench that drifted towards them, with horse strongly behind. Her eyes trained on the area, spotting the hunters as the other elk did. A party of five, all on horse back, all armed with spears.

Her heart froze, wondering what to do. She could stay elk and risk being hunted, the predator becoming the prey. Or she could change to human, and risk her cover among the elk, startling them and becoming an enemy that they may attack. Shifting would lead to one conclusion for the hunters too, that she was kelvic, and she didn't know how they would react to it. Besides, shifting would leave her naked, and her dress was up the side of the valley. That was what she needed to reach. If she ran away from the main herd, perhaps she would manage to reach it and transform and put the dress on before someone caught up with her.

It was too late for any more thoughts, as the hunters, realising their cover was lost, began to charge, spreading out to drive the herd as one large group rather than scatter them.

The hunt was on.

Her heart paced as the elk legs carried her off, following the herd with strides matching their own, the elk bounding around her. Her life was in danger, from the very people she was part of, and she didn't know what to do. Her best chance was to stray from the group up to the rock to change back, so she did.

All of a sudden, she darted out to the side, heading up the valley rather along it. Her legs seemed to fly above the ground, the ascent smooth and steady. She burst through grass, dodging rocks and ditches as she went, her eyes set on the goal.

But someone had followed her. It was a lone huntress, who had broken off from the group, and she followed steadily, horse managing to keep up with her strides. Thankfully, it wasn't more who decided to chase the elk who had strayed, the common target. The rest would have made a mistake if she was a real elk. In this case, the girl was the one who made the mistake.

As she ran, Merevaika didn't look back, but could hear the horse and rider following right behind them, spear in the girl's hand. She pushed forward, struggling to outrun the Strider, fully aware of the spear aimed at her. If that Strider was bonded, or decided to use the speed of the web in its run anyway, she would be caught. Thankfully, it didn't.

With all her strength, she pushed forward, diving behind the rock with deliberation, forcing herself to take her human form. She grasped out wildly to find her dress, which she fought with, struggling to pull it over her head. It had reached her knees by the time the huntress had reached her, and she slowed by the drykas, who quickly pulled it down fully.
"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

See elk? she signed, but after glancing around and discovering nothing, she pieced two together in her head, and added another sign, Kelvic?

Merevaika realised why the girl would think that, but she shook her head, turning slightly so the windmarks on her arm were clear, the horse and dog clearly tattooed on it. No, drykas.

The girl wasn't convinced, certain that the elk hadn't run off, as it had disappeared, in the place of this woman. Her spear moved to point at Merevaika's chest, ready to stab, a quick movement that would kill the woman almost instantly. She tried to move back, but the smooth surface of the rock blocked her path, trapping her to the girl. "Where is my elk then?"

Merevaika hung her head in shame, trying to come up with a good enough reason before realising that by now, lies would be pointless. There wasn't a good enough reason. "I'm not kelvic, but blessed by the son of Caiyha. He gave me the power to shift from my form to one of an elk. Even as she said it, it seemed crazy, an excuse to hide the true reason. The girl had an idea about what Merevaika could be hiding.

"Morphing?"

The magic wasn't common to Merevaika, but having knowledge of it made the girl's clan obvious. It was the sapphires who knew magic, and the colours on her yvas and spear reinforced that guess. But that still didn't explain what morphing was to Merevaika. "Morphing? I do not know. This isn't magic. You can't learn it."

She was still suspicious, but she moved the spear, returning to her dominant position. Merevaika pulled herself back up, realising her submissive stance. She wasn't weak, it was just that the girl had the advantage with a mount and weapons. If they were even, she wouldn't have been pressed against the rock like she had been, avoiding the sharp point of the spear at the liberty of the girl.

"Tell me, drykas, or kelvic, or whatever you may be, what's your name?"

She gave it quickly, expecting an exchange, but more questions came.

"Merevaika, just Merevaika? Pavilion? Clan? Anything? Or are you a lone wolf just as much as an elk?"

"They're dead. My pavilion is dead. I am a Stormchaser, of the Amethyst clan."

There was no sign of sympathy or empathy in the huntress' expression. "Lone wolf, elk impostor, anything else?"

"What do you want with me? " Merevaika asked back, feeling more confident without a spear by her chest. Still, the girl could easily attack, even in this less aggressive position. Merevaika had to tread carefully, and that was hard.
"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Merevaika]

Merevaika

"You stole from me." Her statement wasn't a question, but just that, a statement. A flash of confusion appeared in Merevaika's eyes as she tried to remember all those she had previously stolen from. Not many, and the few that she had were older, less likely to spot her, less likely to do anything. Merevaika was certain that she would have remembered a young sapphire girl. Though perhaps she was referring to Merevaika stealing from a parent or family member. But Merevaika didn't remember.

Her eventual response was denying, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Just now, darling, unless you're a thief who steals from everyone." Merevaika held back a smile to that comment. "You owe me an elk."

The woman's eyes widened in disbelief, not certain if the girl was serious. She didn't owe her an elk - even if the elk was a real one, there was no proof that she would have been able to catch it. And on that note, a real elk wouldn't have separated from the group like that and wouldn't have done the things Merevaika did. There was no way she owed the girl and elk. "Why? For being drykas, for being a human? No! No, I do not owe you an elk!"

"I wasted my time chasing you when I should have been helping my pavilion. Now we may return empty handed because of you, because you separated me from them."

"Just because you chased me might have not made any difference! Whether you were there or not, the outcome might still be the same. You have no way of proving to me that I truly spoiled your hunt. And anyway, I didn't force you to chase me. That was your choice," Merevaika smiled, "Your fault. You should owe me something, for trying to take my life. You should be punished for attempted murder."

The spear moved forward, nicking Merevaika's chin, a small dribble of blood running down it. The warm red liquid warned her not to act like that, but Merevaika didn't care, glaring at her.

"What do you want with me?" she repeated from before, trying to make an escape which was quickly blocked by the spear.

"You know what I want." The girl was unmoving, dead-set on what she believed to be right. The problem was, Merevaika was just as stubborn.

An idea in her mind formed into a plan, and she began it, working carefully to avoid suspicion. "You know that I don't have that." She tried not to smile, but a small, sly one appeared. The girl saw this, but didn't seem to act on it.

"Then get it."

"I can't, not like this. Not with you preventing me from leaving here."

With reluctance, the girl fully moved her spear, shifting it to her other hand so it was completely out of the way. Merevaika stepped to the side warily, watching for any tricks. "You will bring it to me on the 50th day of Fall, that should be long enough for even someone like you to hunt down a creature that big. Take the elk to the most western point in Endrykas, to the tent with dark blue fire on it. Ask for Vera Thrushfire, and don't be late. On the 13th bell, exactly."

Merevaika nodded, absorbing the information despite knowing that she wasn't going to do any of this. It was stupid and foolish, and this girl needed to learn that sometimes, she wasn't right. Perhaps she would punish her properly, but this would have to suffice until then.

"I will find you if you don't turn up. Be there, or else."

Merevaika didn't even ask "or else what?", not caring. She had already disappeared behind the grass, running as fast as her legs could take her.



"Pavi"
Grassland sign
"Common"

[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Merevaika

Experience

• Tracking: 1
• Observation: 3
• Logic: 1
• Stealth: 1
• Detection: 1
• Deduction: 1
• Running: 1
• Endurance: 1
• Rhetoric: 1
• Socialisation: 2
• Persuasion: 1

Lore

• Tracking: The shape and size of Elk prints
• Merevaika: Naked and afraid in the Sea of Grass
• Merevaika: Four legs feel different than two
• Observation: Sight, scent, and sound
• Merevaika: One of Caiyha's children
• Merevaika: Hunted
• Merevaika: Blessed by the son of Caiyha
• Vera Thrushfire: An intimidating woman

Notes

Super fun thread; loving the power of those antlers! Enjoy the rewards.