What a silly thing, he had thought. Sleeping like that, right in the middle of the path! Maybe it had gotten tired from running all around, or maybe it had just had something good to eat for lunch (Ouen often took after-meal naps). The slipped past the line of trees to get a better look, thinking maybe that it would be fun to scare the sleeping radaku by tossing a pebble or something at it’s rump. Not to hurt it, of course -- Ouen was sort of fond of the creatures -- but just to watch it scramble and run, all long and sleek and faster than birds.
When his pebble bounced off the gray-blue hide without any result, though, he started thinking that maybe… maybe something was wrong.
A little less careful now, he stepped fully onto the path, facing the radaku’s back. This would be enough, usually, for the clever animals to smell a stranger and disappear. But still this one did not move, and with a funny sort of feeling in his stomach Ouen realized that it was not breathing either.
There was no use being careful now, but he still left some distance between himself and the corpse as he moved around it, seeing first the horns and the snout, then the claws on it’s front legs, and then…
Then a bloody gash in it’s side, left by something like a sword or a big spear.
With a muttered prayer to the moon-goddess, he knelt and reached out, hesitantly, to touch. The radaku’s flank was cold -- cold and stiff, not recently dead but not killed too long ago either (for dead things did not last long, lying out on the jungle floor). But why? Radaku were hunted, of course, but a hunter would have taken the meat and hide to do something useful with; something that was part of the natural cycle of things. And if it was a companion killed in battle (or worse, by accident), surely the owner or even the opponent would have disposed of the body, for those sorts of things demanded respect. But to stab something and leave it there, thought -- that was not the way things were supposed to be.
He stood up again, looking both angry and upset, sand studied the ground around the corpse. The prentice was no expert tracker, but the marks in the dirt and the moss spoke to him all the same, for their message was almost plainly obvious.
Someone had come this way, and that someone was not a friend of the jungle.
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:02 pm
Mirin had been out and about all morning, running from place to place, looking for things to do and animals to chase. Her parents were out of town, going somewhere for something she really couldn't care less about as long as they came back, and her brothers were terrible babysitters, but she wasn't going to let her parents know that. She had freedom when her brothers were watching her. She scoffed and climbed up another tree trunk and into the canopy of the forest.
She had made it pretty far away from the villages, and with some running and leaping from branch to branch she thought she saw something down below. She screeched to a stop and let the trunk of the tree she had jumped onto stop her body's force forward with a hug. It looked like a boy. Like an older boy, but still a shifter. But she couldn't be sure. Naturally she would have to get closer to find out herself.
She hugged the trunk harder and shimmied down to the lowest branch. Yup, definitely a boy. And something else. An animal sleeping? Her brow furrowed and she poked her head closer to him without leaving the branch. "What are you doing down there?"
Stereochrome
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:59 am
kaname423
He bunched his hands into fists, then kicked vainly at the moss on the forest floor. Stupid people. Stupid strangers. But a high, curious voice broke through his sulk, falling on his ears from the canopy above.
“What are you doing down there?”
Well, this was an interesting change. Usually, Ouen was the one starting conversations from trees, hanging upside-down in front of startled ground-walkers. But this time it was he who was looking up into the dark, wide-eyed face of another Shifter. A girl; she was younger than him but apparently just as comfortable in the tree-tops, holding on to a tree-branch and hanging up there with ease.
“I’m looking.” Ouen explained plainly, neither old or jaded enough to dismiss the questions of children. Besides, she was a Shifter, and of this jungle. This sort of thing was her business as much as his own.
“See?” He pointed at the radaku. “It’s dead -- somebody killed it. Right here, with an ugly spear like this!” He stepped around the body now, and pointed at the jungle path. “And see all these claw marks, too. Lots more of ‘em went this way, radaku I mean. But I don’t think they went willingly. Someone was pulling them. On leashes, or chains or something maybe. You can see how they were fighting here, trying to go away down that trail.”
He hopped to the side again, kneeling beside another print. This one was not clawed, though; it was an earthling’s foot. “Someone’s taking a bunch of them all somewhere. You see anyone?”
Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 8:04 am
Mirin listened with perked ears before her face changed to a horrified expression. Dead?! What kind of person with a brain would kill a radaku and just leave it here? The way this boy described it, the radaku definitely wasn't attacking the murderer. She frowned and shimmied her way quickly down the trees. "What do you mean pulling them?" She spat out with gusto. She wasn't one to sit there and speak quietly when something so terrible was happening to the animals of Jauhar. "We need to do something about it! We need to find them." By the time she was done yelling she was puffing breaths and standing with her hands clenched at her sides.
She eyed the older boy standing in front of her. "I didn't see anyone, but if I had I would have knocked 'em dead." Maybe she was overreacting, but she would never see it that way. "We need to catch these murderers!" She was a ball of anger and excitement all rolled into one. Justice! That's what this was! She would make sure that they were brought down and punished. She could do it! Maybe with this guy.
"Are you gonna help me or not?" She lifted a fist like she was rounding up her troops, looking to this boy she didn't know with determination in her eyes.
Stereochrome
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 10:30 am
kaname423
In a heartbeat, the little Shifter had made her way down to the jungle floor, shouting and puffing and waving her fists around.
“We need to do something about it!” She howled, and Ouen couldn’t help but share her anger. Perhaps an older, wiser man would get on his knee and tell her that these sorts of things were best solved by warriors and hunters, not… skinny prentices and little girls. But Ouen was neither old, nor wise, and frankly speaking not even a man yet, and she was right. They were murderers. Murderers and trespassers and a million other foul things. And one didn’t need any special qualifications to bring justice down upon them. And that was what all this was about -- justice!
They were the rightful children of Jauhar, and it was up to them to make sure that the unspoken laws of the jungle were respected.
“Good!” He nodded, grinning now. “We will go together, and they won’t know what hit them! We can follow the trail from the trees. It will be easy -- these ones don’t know anything about hiding. Then when we find them, we’ll… well, we’ll figure that part out when we get to it. Let’s go!”
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 2:54 pm
Mirin was nearly bouncing with energy, both angry and ready. She was fast in the trees. They would help the radaku! Ouen gave the word to move out and Mirin was nearly vibrating in her spot. "You better be fast! i don't wanna slow down and let them get away." She pointed to Ouen and pulled herself up the trees trunk and into the branches. "We're going to get those guys!" She yelled out to Ouen with a smirk on her face.
"And we'll teach them a lesson for sure. They're terrible people!" She was so worked up her little brain was bouncing a mile a minute. "Which way did they go...?" She trailed off only on the count that she didn't know his name. "What's your name anyways?"
Stereochrome
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 9:42 am
kaname423
Ouen joined her in the trees without hesitation. She was a fast one, that was for sure, but with his long limbs and sure-footed balance he could keep up with ease. Besides, he had grown up just like her -- roaming the jungle from branch to branch, quite content with abandoning the ground for days at a time on some occasions.
“Don’t you worry about me.” He told her. “I’ll keep up…”
They both seemed to pause on the issue of names, hovering in the branches over the path. That was a little funny, seeing as they had already agreed to march into battle together.
“I’m Ouen.” He told her. “From Ast. Who are you?”
He waited for the girl to introduce herself, then pointed down at the path in response to her other question. “South. See the tracks? Let’s follow. I don’t know how far ahead they are, but we’ll catch ‘em. The radaku are slowing them down, for sure.” He imagined the panicked animals pulling and yanking against their leashes, doing all they could to go free. Grown radaku were not easy to tame, and no doubt these strangers would not know how to handle them.
They set off through the branches, swift in their determination.
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2015 12:12 pm
Mirin nodded her head sharply. "Mirin." She introduced herself before watching him point out the way. "Then let's move." She almost yelled out. They would save the radaku and get those guys!
She flew through the trees with Ouen, letting him lead the way and watching for a sign that they were getting closer. She was sure there would be the sound of the radaku, right? Unless... unless they were killing more on the way! The thought sent her blood boiling. They would have to hurt these guys for sure.
Stereochrome
Sorry short response is short *not feeling good today*
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 9:57 am
kaname423
no worries! mirin is so cute x u x she's totally going to be like ouen's favorite person.
The little shifter sure moved fast! Ouen worried that she would not be able to keep up at first, but everytime he looked back over his shoulder she was right there -- losing neither her determination nor her momentum, and obviously on the alert. In fact, he was sure that she could have raced ahead if she wanted, but for the time-being she let him keep his lead. They raced like that together for a while, until --
They both stopped, hearing at the same time the sound of unfamiliar voices up ahead. They could not see anything yet, but after they listened it seemed certain that this was their quarry. They were Oban soldiers, angry and tired-sounding, and their voices accompanied the rattle of chains and the sharp, angry snarls of some very unhappy creatures.
“That must be them.” Ouen whispered, peering up at what little of the sky he could see through the canopy. “It’s getting late. These fools are scared of the jungle in the dark, so maybe they are setting up a camp.”
Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:20 am
Mirin screeched to a stop in the trees along with Ouen. She heard the chains and the growls of the radaku and it took everything in her not to yell out insults into the forest. Instead she just bounced in her spot angrily, waiting for the next move.
Mirin nodded her head to Ouen. "What do we do? If we wait till dark they'll see us for sure!" she rushed out her whisper. They would shift and it would be like sending bright shiny targets to them. "We have to show them what's right, right now!" She was back to bouncing in her spot and near growling at the intended enemy.
The whole operation was moving pretty fast, but it still wasn't fast enough for Mirin. They had to stop them before they killed again!
Stereochrome
Hahaha I hope I can keep up with her. She's gonna be so spunky the older she gets lol
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 9:42 am
kaname423
<3 <3
Ouen nodded -- she was right. It would be nice to escape in the night, when the shifter children and the radaku would have an advantage over the Obans. The Oban enemies would not move quickly in the darkness, and if they tried to they would no doubt trip over every root and vine that blocked their way.
But as for sneaking up, it was just as Mirin said; night would make them shine in the shadows, far easier to pick out than their dark skins were now. Besides, now the Obans were busy setting up camp, making noise and paying a lot less attention to everything around them.
“Yeah, we move now. Let’s get close enough to have a look-see, then think some more. Quiet now!”
Sticking to the trees, the two crept forward until the makeshift encampment came into view. There were some tattered tents and maybe five or seven Obans. The radaku were visible too; four of them, each on a short chain. Ouen guessed that an Oban had pulled each chain on their trek, but now they were all tired out and had strung a thick rope through each of the radaku’s collars. The rope itself was knotted to a strong jungle-tree; but it was a rope, and that was good news.
“We can cut the rope,” he whispered to Mirin “but not without going right in the middle of their camp. We’ll have to distract them somehow!”
Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 6:14 pm
Mirin crept forward, hugging the trees with Ouen taking the lead once more. The camp came into view and Mirin grimaced. Monsters and dirty people. Look at their tattered tents! How did they live like that? They lived like that because they were evil, that was how.
"Cut the rope!" Mirin rushed out in a whisper. "Good idea!" But how were they supposed to distract them? It was the toughest question Mirin had run into that day so far. It was a no brainer to choose to save the radaku, and it was easy enough to choose to be freedom fighters during the day instead of at night, but now what? Mirin pursed her lips in thought. A distraction...
"I can be a distraction! What if I rustled the trees that way?" She pointed away from the camp and away from the radaku. "I can run back before they even know it's me." It was a weak plan, but it was all Mirin had. If the older shifter had something better planned, now was the time to say something. Mirin crossed her arms in waiting.
Stereochrome
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:33 am
kaname423
But Ouen had no better plans. There were only two of them, and while it seemed quite dangerous to send a little girl off to distract a whole band of Oban warriors… surely it was more dangerous to have her stay behind and cut the rope? At least under the cover of jungle foliage, she had plenty of places to hide. If someone caught her creeping in the middle of the camp…
No, her plan was probably the best option they had. Besides, if she wasn’t afraid, why should he be? She was the one choosing to take the risk, and he was no meddlesome mother, to worry and fret about every little thing.
“Yeah, let’s do that. You’re little -- they probably won’t see you at all, as long as we don’t wait around for the sunset. And anyway if they find you, just cry and pretend you don’t know what’s going on.” Surely the Obans wouldn’t hurt a small child, as wicked as they were towards the radaku?
“I won’t let them hurt you, I promise -- if it comes to that. Which it won’t, because we got this. This is gonna be easy."
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:22 pm
Mirin nodded her head with enthusiasm and with an ok sign she bolted through the trees and ran to where she could distract them. They were gonna get the Obans and teach them a lesson about hurting radakus - or any animals!
She stopped where she was, knowing that this was the best spot and started to shake the branches and drop nuts from the treetops, making as much noise as she could. She could hear the Obans in their camp, wondering what was making all that noise and she smirked. Of course it was her!
She kept shaking the trees before moving to a new spot and shaking the trees there to distract them. Ouen better do his job, that's all she could say about that!
Stereochrome
kaname423 Crew
Offline
Stereochrome
Lucky Wrangler
Offline
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 7:46 am
kaname423
They parted ways for the moment, both creeping around the camp. Ouen found a good hiding-place with a clear view of the tree that the radaku were tied to, and pulled his narrow knife out of his sash. Then he waited, crouching, for Mirin to do her part.
Very soon after, the trees across the clearing began to shake and knock about. The Obans stood up, alarmed. It was working perfectly! Nuts and fruits were dropping off, making thump-thump-thump noises like approaching footsteps. In a few seconds all of the Obans were on their feet and reaching for weapons, circling around to that side of the camp. They did not, however, seem all that willing to step any deeper into the foliage to investigate.
“What is that?” One yelled.
“Probably some other jungle monster!” Groaned another. “Watch out!”
Hmph. Cowards! Oh well, at least none of them were looking his way. Figuring he would get no better opportunity, he crept forward towards the tree.
The radaku watched him approach - guarded, but too tired to growl. Unsure if he was a friend or another enemy, they limped away from him as he made his way to the tree and began to hack at the rope.
He was almost halfway through when one of the Oban guards finally decided to glance around… and saw the shifter boy with the knife.
