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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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 Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:32 pm
The jungles of Jauhar were dangerous, even for the oldest and most skilled of Alkidike or Shifter... a fact that Lucijah knew well. Only the foolish would live on their own in the wilds, the brazen, the ones that thought they could be more powerful than nature. Lucijah... didn't think that, but she also was loathe to live within Shifter society again, not after living so long in Oba.
But... Oba, while being more familiar to her nowadays, was still... not home. So - she had compromised. She had begun her home after the flood season the year before, only shortly after returning to Jauhar from her near decade in Oba, and had been working at it slowly but surely ever since. Her home was still new - woven from vines that were still mostly green, but it was waterproof now, and she had begun construction on a series of walkways and ladders to the upper canopy to allow for easier gathering.
Not much, these days, brought Lucijah to the jungle floor. But - she had recently gone to trade with the nearby settlement, and returned with supplies. Her hair was tied back from her face, dark skin slicked with sweat as she tugged at the vine-ropes that made the pulley that would lift her goods up to higher ground, the muscles taut and bulging from her arms as she worked. Finally though, with an upwards glance, she let out a breath of relief as she realized it was finally at the right level - and moved carefully to the side, where she began to wind the ropes around a hunk of metal that had been hammered, months before, into the tree -
a secure posting.
She was too invested to look around her, and notice anything - or anyone - coming close. At least for the moment.
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2020 2:22 pm
As a dutiful daughter of Aisha, Ai had returned to her boughs with the Elaria in search of answers. Where many had turned to Elzira as their goddess, Ai had always and would remain ever so loyal to Aisha. She had been weakened over the years because of the blessings asked from her by lesser alkidike, but there was only so much she could do when her children sought to taint her. Elzira was the version of Aisha that could never be; the purest of goddesses yet untouched by earthling blood. It was because of her promise and the future that could be that Ai had returned to Chibale after so many years on Yael. She dreamed of a world where the Elaria could carry on where the Alkdike could not, and as much as she craved to stand by Aisha once more Ai knew it would never be.
Peace was the only answer. A truce, really, between the two tribes of Aishans. As the others returned to Zinris with the Alkdike mystic and her retenue in tow Ai opted to stay behind. She had business left unattended to in Tendaji, and after telling the others as much she set off to Oba. That was the intention, anyway, but Ai didn't make it out of Chibale before an incident occured.
It was easy enough for the Elaria to be excused; in the eyes of the alkidike their cousins had been raised in hate, and thus hadn't had the opportunity to know them. Ai, however, had been consumed by rage after years of watching everything she cared for be corrupted. She'd been fifteen when she left; young enough to have a skewed vision, but old enough where some remaining alk remembered her.
It was those same alk who had tracked her to the Oban border. Ai was a threat to peace, or so they'd claimed. No one else knew of their movements, but like Ai, they too had lasting grudges that simply hadn't faded with time. They didn't want a truce with the Elaria; they wanted them gone! At one time Ai might have agreed with them, but not now. Her pride simply wouldn't allow it.
As skilled as Ai was in battle even she didn't stand a chance against a mob. She'd been able to mortally wound a few of them, but they in turn had done much the same to her. By the time they left her for dead Ai was bruised from toe to ear and just as bloody. Gashes lined her flesh in a variety of depths with the largest being a mighty cut across her gut. Thankfully it wasn't as deep as it looked; big enough to bleed until she hastily bandaged it, but not enough to spill her innards.
Her leg arm was a mess. It had been wrenched out of socket the same time a big brute of an alk snapped it like a dry twig. Bone protruded from Ai's forearm and she couldn't move her fingers at all. Her right arm wasn't much better; an arrow head was buried deep in her bicep and she was pretty sure at least two of her fingers were missing.
Still, she knew if she stayed there she would die. Some predator would smell the blood and consumed her or infection would set in. Will alone pulled the alkidike to her feet and once she was sure she wouldn't bleed out she drug herself out of the jungle.
Ai wasn't sure how long she shambled along. Time blended into itself to the point that she no longer knew when she was awake or dreaming. More often then not she would wake up facedown on the ground so dizzy that she wasn't sure if she was actually laying down or not. A fever had set in some time ago taking the last of her remaining strength with it.
A stubborn will to live was all that kept her moving. The sheer weight of her swords on her hips felt as if she were dragging boulders behind her with every step, and yet, with the state her arms were in Ai couldn't move them. They simply were at this point. At some point her foot caught on an upturned root and she fell once again with a loud clatter, except this time, she didn't get up.
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scarlett arbuckle Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:16 am
[2/10]
At first, Lucijah didn't notice anyone approaching, even in the distance - her pulse was throbbing in her ears from the exertion of tugging the pulley rope, and her mind was consumed with plans on what to work on in the next few weeks. The area was so close to the Neued that she found it unlikely that too many creatures would be lurking... her guard was lowered. But then, as she finished the next pull and tied the rope, drawing her forearm across her sweat heavy brow, a clatter from beyond the copse of trees made her jolt, spinning towards the noise.
From here, she saw nothing - but the noise was unlike anything she'd grown used to hearing out here on her own in the wilderness... a sound that, she swore, was metallic. And there it was... past a series of bundled crystals growing from the jungle floor, the shape of an--
An alkidike. Lucijah hesitated, stories of fierce amazons from her childhood keeping her from moving closer. But ... the grisly sight of the woman's arm, the splash of blood-red against hasty bandages along the woman's stomach, and the painted bruises that covered almost every inch of her made the shifter move closer, kneeling beside her. She was an adult Alkidike... probably a few years older than Lucijah herself, though still young and fierce looking. Her state, though, was harrowing, and judging by the slash at her belly and the chunk of arrow sticking out of her right arm it hadn't been caused by creatures, but other intelligent beings.
The arrow's sheer size suggested Alkidike... but why would Alkidike be attacking one another?
Lucijah slapped her own cheek and shook herself. Nono-- time to focus!!
An undiscernible time, for Ai, passed. Fever swelled, pain crested... but then waned. It had been at least a day, if not longer - Lucijah had, somehow, managed to move the nearly dead Alkidike into the canopy, where she'd been settled in a palette along the well-woven floor of her nest. Blankets were piled atop her, and the crisp bandaging along Ai's stomach and arms denoted the touch of an actual healer, not just the motley guard she'd stumbled into. While the bone was no longer sticking out, and the arrow was gone, the arms were still unusable thanks to the severe bruising and infection that swallowed up both injuries. A foul smelling poultice was held to each break of skin, tied firmly in place by twine stained brown and green with the herbal remedy it had been tied to.
Across the floor of the room, Lucijah sat with her arms crossed, head lolling forward, chin to her chest ,as she dozed, undisturbed by the morning sun that peeked through the flaps of the doorway just feet away from her.
Ai's swords, most notably, were missing entirely.
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:22 pm
The time that passed for Ai was filled with a haze of fever dreams and snippets of memory. At times she would wake up just long enough for the swell of pain to pull her back into unconsciousness and others were so clear that it was as if she wasn't hallucinating at all. Her body labored under the fever burning it's way through her blood. It shuddered, cried out when things became too much, and ultimately succumbed to it's own exhaustion when the time came. Some days were better than others, but eventually, Ai started to mend. It seemed that she had suffered enough on her own, and now under the care of another, she was finally getting enough relief to come around.
The warrior woke in a groggy, fitful state. She tossed her head to and fro with a moan, eyes blinking with all the strength left in her. At first she didn't want to wake at all, and eventually, the alk had simply gone back to sleep. When she tried again hours later things started to really come to her.
Ai ached.
She tried to move; if she could just get up and relieve some of the pressure on her ribs then maybe this pain would go away...And yet, when she rocked to the side the alkidike cried out and curled in on herself. What the hell...? Fully awake now, she looked to see her left arm completely wrapped in a thick layer of bandaging and splinted. When she tried to touch it with the right she found it wasn't much better. While it wasn't splinted the upper portion of her arm was wrapped tight and her hand...her hand was practically on fire.
And her chest...why did it hurt this bad? Wha-?
Memories of the attack came flooding back to her. She should have been dead, but there were blankets...And as if she were just then figuring out where she was Ai looked around, unable to really see anything or anyone over the mound of blankets piled atop her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:11 pm
[Scar via Discord]
Lucijah might have slept through the sun and the ambient noises of the jungle around them, but it was impossible the sleep through the cries of the woman across the room from her. She jolted just a bit as she woke, bleary eyed and confused, but after a moment to orient herself she realized ... the alkidike was waking up.
It wasn't the first time she'd thought the woman was lucid again; where the alkidike had jolted awake, making noises of protest and pain, until ultimately she was dragged back under again by either the medicinal drinks Lucijah had been told to brew for her fever, or the pain itself.
Lucijah stretched with a soft groan, then shuffled across the still somewhat unrefined flooring of her nest-like treehouse, keeping a healthy distance from the woman as she came into view.
Lucijah might be compassionate enough to spend more time and effort tending the alkidike's wounds, but she wasn't as naive as she used to be in thinking that had earned her any loyalty. "If you're awake, you should eat something. Probably." She pointed out, bossily, kneeling by her bedside, leaning sideways to grasp for a basin of water to pour for her.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:19 pm
If having her wounds tended was surprising to Ai, seeing a shifter come into view was outright disarming.
Her instinctive reaction was to curl her lip in a snarl, to jolt upwards as if to attack, but the moment her torso contracted Ai let out a scream of pain. For a moment everything faded to white before dots of color came back to her. The alkidike flopped back onto her back with an unrestrained cry that quickly faded into a moan the longer she was down. Her body quivered; whether from the aftershocks of agony or barely veiled bloodlust it was impossible to tell.
"Wha-" She hated the way her voice quivered, but there was no helping it. With the ragged way she was breathing thanks to her latest act it was no wonder Ai couldn't talk straight. "Wh-what do....you want...from me..." What use would an earthling have for her other than something terrible?
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:35 pm
[Scar via Discord]
... Huh. That was... a reaction. Lucijah had tensed up as the massive woman surged upright, ready to fling the clay pitcher in her face if she came any closer - but before she had to, the other woman curled in on herself in agony, and Lucijah's on edge expression shifted to an unimpressed stare.
Was this... one of the extremists? Lucijah had thought those were all banished, years ago...! "Well I didn't fancy you rotting under my tree and attracting beasts." Lucijah said, flippantly.
It wasn't the first time she'd had to convince an enemy that she meant no harm... and franky she didn't have the energy to invest into it this time around. Instead, she resumed pouring the water into a glazed cup, then shifted closer.
"You want water? I'd just give it to you but-" She looked blankly at both of her splinted arms. "And I don't think pouring it on you is gonna do much good."
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:41 pm
Ai narrowed her gaze and snarled once more, this time in a lower timbre that vibrated in her chest. It wasn't so much the shifter's words so much as it was her tone that put Ai on edge. Everything was so instinctual with her that she didn't even think before reacting and if she'd had the use of her arms she would have -
"My swords-" Craning her head, the alkidike looked around, hoping to spot them, but seeing everything but. If she'd hidden them then Ai would be in a bind the moment the earthling decided to strike. The simple fact that she wasn't chained up somewhere was enough to confuse her, but now she knew why. There wasn't much of a chance of her running away, and without weapons Ai would be at a serious disadvantage.
"Choke on your poison, vermin," Ai seethed, which was...substantially dampened given her physical state. Whatever that water was laced with she wanted no part in it!
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:55 pm
[Scar via Discord]
Well. This... wasn't what she'd expected. Bemused, Lucijah moved off of her knees and, instead, sat cross-legged infront of the woman's pallet, the cup held in her hand. The woman infront of her was practically feral, and... literally growling at her!
Lucijah didn't so much as twitch at the demand of her swords. Others might have unconsciously swept their eyes to the hiding spot, but Lucijah kept her gaze securely on the other woman. She'd hiddent them for a reason, after all... even if she'd hoped she wouldn't need to. "You'll get 'em back once you've learned to play nice. Until then--"
And, to that, the alkidike advised her to choke. Lucijah let out a startled bark of laughter. Damn... she'd been around those uppity Obans way too long, if sneered words of disdain didn't have any effect on her anymore.
It wasn't he first time she'd been called vermin, and probably wouldn't be the last. Instead, she shrugged and sipped at the cup of water instead, not having much faith that it would convince the woman - she'd probably claim that Lucijah was a poison master, who had built up an immunity or... something.
"Okay, well. Next time it rains I'll drag you outside and you can open your mouth and get water that way, I guess. Unless you drown..." Lucijah snorted at that mental image, rocking back a little where she sat, hands dropping to settle against her ankles.
"Look, you took a real beating, is all. And... maybe if you tell me someone nearby who can look after you, I can pass you to them, get you out of my hair. But letting you go now isn't gonna magically make your arms work."
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:06 pm
[5/10]
Play nice?! So they were being withheld from her, and in return for her cooperation they might be given back? Ha! As if Ai was going to believe that. It was a bait and she knew it. And as if the entire situation wasn't enough to rub Ai raw that stain had the gall to laugh at her! When I get my swords back I'll gut you from navel to throat and wear your skin as a cloak.
Still, it wasn't as if the shifter was lying about the situation. Even if she somehow managed to escape this one more would follow and Ai wasn't in any position to fend them off. It would have been hard enough to fight with just one of her injuries, but to do so with the lot would be a suicide trip. And yet, her pride would have carried her through it.
"The rest of my people are in Zinris." Maybe it was dangerous to say as much, especially given the state of things, but she would be damned if Ai was looped in with the other Aishans. There was no one she could count on to come to her aid, no one to get her out of this and yet, there was a thought. A terribly, horribly, evil thought. "I need to get to Oba. Tell me where to go and I'll be out of your hair."
Yes, there may not have been anyone who would want to see her, but there was someone who would "benefit" from a visit.
Her eyes couldn't help drifting over the cup and while the pupil less orbs may not have given her away, the way Ai licked her lower lip did. As much as she wanted to fight it her throat was unbearably dry and every time she spoke it seemed to drag it's way up.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:18 pm
[Scar via Discord]
"Uh-huh. Zinris." Lucijah said.
'I have no idea where that is.' She thought, blankly. But the way the woman said it, almost proudly, only seemed to confirm that she wasn't a local Aishan - so. Extremist. Definitely. But - then, suddenly, the woman announced that she would go to Oba- and Lucijah finally looked at her again, really looked, confused by that announcement. The woman was so messed up that Lucijah couldn't imagine her being able to move... and, even if she did, if she fell she had no working limbs to push herself back up again.
"Look. I know you're a big fierce Aishan, and could probably snap my neck with your thighs- but take it from somebody who knows. You almost died, and you definitely could die if you try to go to Oba like that."
Jauhar itself was dangerous enough in such a state, but the desert...? Then, if she greeted Oban traders like that, they'd finish the job themselves, treaty or no.
Not that she expected this person to listen to logic, but- she clearly thought Lucijah was a captor, or somebody determined to kill her.
"... Okay. You tell ME what to do. What can I do to give you water that you'll feel safe drinkin'?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:29 pm
I will snap your neck with my thighs. Ai mentally groused. If the shifter would just move a little closer she might actually try. "I know; I've been across the desert before, I know what could happen." Still, there was less fire in her tone than earlier and whether that was from the lack of adrenaline or a sense of resignation Ai couldn't say.
If she stayed in Jauhar she would die. If she stayed here she would die. If she went to Oba she would die. The options were limitless, but Ai wasn't scared enough to just lay down. She'd started out with a goal in mind and until that mission was secured she would fight to stay alive.
"...Let me smell it." It was curious enough that the shifter had already taken a drink from the cup, but there might be something more to it. "We share the same cup and I don't drink anything that you haven't already."
It wasn't much, but if she didn't relent at all Ai would just continue to deteriorate.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:47 pm
[Scar via Discord]
Well... that only reaffirmed what she'd started to realize, that this woman seemed to think Lucijah was some sort of... interrogator, or something.
"Makes sense. I can do that." She agreed, after a moment of consideration. A childish thread pulled in Lucijah's mind, a smirking voice that wanted to point out that for all her haughtiness the woman was still going to share a cup with an earthling. Wasn't that like... a cardinal sin for an extremist? Still, Lucijah wasn't stupid - there was murder in this woman's face, and Lucijah had long ago realized that saving someone's life didn't guarantee you any sort of loyalty.
Shaking the thought away, Lucijah moved closer, keeping the cup set down. "I'm gonna just sit you up a bit." She waited until the alkidike seemed resigned to that decision, then carefully shifted her arm behind her, pulling her upright - then hastily stuffed a rolled up blanket behind her, for her to lean back against. If she didn't like how she was sitting, she could use her feet to push herself further up.
It probably hurt like hell, tugging on the slash in her stomach, but the healer had done it before, and had Lucijah try and trickle water down the alkidike's throat, so she knew it was... somewhat safe.
When the pain hit, the woman lashed out, and quickly Lucijah moved back, and out of her range, clutching the cup between them like a charm until the woman calmed again. Then - she held the cup under her nose for her to sniff, feeling ridiculous - it was water. Scentless.
"So? What's the verdict - gonna have some?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:58 pm
[7/10]
A part of Ai tensed at the mere thought of being handled by an earthling. Her body manifested that thought, locking itself the moment her body was touched and until Ai forcibly relaxed enough to be moved with minimal pain it didn't go away. The seating position was awkward at best, but with the roll at her back Ai was able to skootch backwards, using her heel in the bedding to help straighten her up. She still wasn't entirely straight; the pull of her wounds wouldn't allow for that. And yet, it was enough to make her feel less vulnerable.
Were it not for her sheer will Ai may have given up entirely, but the same determination that had gotten her into this mess kept her upright. The indignity of having a shifter help her to drink...it was almost too much to bear. Every movement was enough to set her skin on fire and when it was too much she lashed out. For a moment Ai simply focused on breathing; hurried inhales and panting exhales.
When she had calmed enough to sniff the water she did so. And when she deemed it 'safe', Ai simply nodded instead of replying.
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Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:09 pm
[Scar via Discord]
Frustration probably was splashed over Lucijah's face for a moment there, but she didn't verbalize that feeling. Instead, she locked her jaw and kept her eyes averted as the woman fought for breath, unable to blame her for her outburst, even if it was... frustrating.
After all, the wounds had been horrible, and even now she knew the tear in her stomach was deep, held together by a few thin layers of healed skin, well wishes, and a layer of that poultice that was trying to fight back infection.
Once it was approved, Lucijah sighed in quiet relief and helped the alkidike drink. Less liquid spilled than one would expect - then again, she'd literally spent years pouring wine down Oban throats , so she felt she'd had more than enough practice at it.
Once done, Lucijah leaned back again. "So... I can heat up a hearty soup for you, later, if you want. It's uh-- fish, mushrooms, some other vegetables - the healer said you need food in your stomach soon as you can, and there's a tea you can drink that can help bring down your fever. Other than that, you're supposed to rest until your gut heals more. I also should change your arm bandages at some point and put on some new medicine."
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