Originally Posted by Pax
Reply With Quote
The words being shared during the exchange were entirely lost on the Wild’Har. She could understand their language just fine if she focused, but she really saw no relevant point and instead had been reading through their movements; the way they stood and moved towards one another. She had prickled with interest at the exposing of the whip, it’s graceful length slapping across the dark floor like the Dezo snake’s of her region that sprawl out in the sun, laying long and seeming unprotected in their false sleep and then jarring to life with a deadly uncoiled pounce.
And then they had begun talking again.
Her arm that Iano had been gripping had nudged into his side, almost playfully until he released her. There was no point in holding her back from this tiny two-toned eyes tirade that she assumed was like a peacock waving it’s feathers at the coyote in an attempt to look big. She’d seen similar displays in nature, though usually the hunter grew bored and would rip through the façade created by the lessed beast. The only reason her attention remained is that she hoped the Dezo snake holder wouldn’t be tempted by the flashing colors and would quickly chose to devour the little thing, but the ranting peacock continued to cluck and flash, so Lin began taking in the food idly out of the corner of her eye.
She didn’t progress towards it; she simply gave it an appreciative sweeping of her gaze. The smells were startling and exotic, cooked food was such a rarity in her experience. It seemed wasted as it sat unportioned out and in large holders, calling to a stomach that was accustomed to being full before the sun had broken through night’s remnant fog through her own skill and prowess. She also seemed a bit weary, unsure how the tickling smells would taste after such a ranged diet of raw creatures and plants.
Then the sleeping snake awoke with a ferocity and curled itself around the girls neck, she caught only the arching of the whips back before it pulled tight and brought the girl to her knees where she belonged. Her body tensed at the surprise of such a quick attack, like someone who had been awaiting the moment in a planned attack, yet still filled with shock and gasped when it inevitably struck. She would have felt foolish for being surprised, but the lithe Iano shared such a small space with her form that she felt his body tense in response as well. Had both of them been day dreaming or was the whip wielder really that fast? Then the leader of this tribe released the “rat”
…and started talking again.
Lin was utterly miffed at this point and her face became a scrunched disapproving mess. A sharp exhale of air seemed to chime in her disproval of the continued conversation between the two. While she did not feel the urge to challenge such an alpha’s choices, she silently admonished such a leader showing what could have been interrupted as kindness weakness. She felt she would have already pinned the girl, bared down on her until the little one showed respect or she would have ripped her throat out with the very teeth that now grated impatiently behind such deceivingly sweet lips. Simple. And then it started to cry. To say that Lin had had enough of this display was quite an understatement. She would not have challenged the simpering child, no, she would have allowed one of their young to chain it and turn it into a pet, for it lacked the nobility even for death. It should have at least tried to gain some dignity with silence and reserve; even animals grasped a capability to die with honor.
As the human hunter found her eyes they were not those of sympathy or understanding, sadly she had no recourse to align herself with the revelation Daisy had. Before Lin caught Daisy’s expression her look had been only of boredom and distaste, though having caught Daisy’s look she seemed, confused. Truly chaos was embodied in such a beast that flitted from rage to this now, she couldn’t even place the look that was being offered from the human woman, but she wasn’t sure she approved. With the offered smile she did return a subtle bow of her head towards the other allowing her eyes to flutter close for just a moment to show a trust or bond would be allowed to be formed, it was her own show of respect. It was the least she could give to one who seemed to embody her philosophy but momentarily lapsed into a caring feeling. Maybe the human female was ill and therefore felt weak? Maybe she was checking to see that Lin would be behind her if she chose to pounce the little one? Both would be affirmed or understood in the gesture though Lin doubted either was very plausible. If Lin had know the newfound thought process that Daisy was experiencing she would have been astounded with the pity that this little thing was bringing into the tribe. It was creating a downfall in alpha/omega order; it was embodying everything that Lin did not grasp in human nature.
As she watched Daisy, pleased that the woman did not placate the others with some long winded speech, it came to light in Lin’s mind that Daisy may be the second in command of this tribe. She was telling the little one it needed to pay respect to the snake whip woman before they destroyed it. But then the Alpha was offering gentle tones to the “rat” one now who even had the gall to reach out and touch Isabelle, like an equal, and this it seems, was the point that Lin disconnected entirely from the exchange. If she didn’t she would surely choke on the disbelief that was rising within her like bile. Her last response was the narrow her eyes on the weak two toned eyes child, if that one was permitted to live Lin would watch it. She didn’t trust it and she definitely didn’t trust the weakness that it was brining into the tribe that she was seriously considering joining. A rat she had heard it called, she knew of rats from her time aboard the pirate ship with Iano, rats would drown their kin to stay afloat when the boat seized. She knew of rats from wandering the streets in search of Iano, rats would eat their kin to fill their bellies. Her people had no use for rats.
If not for Iano next to her she would have walked out, probably long before the exchange reached this level, but now she focused on him, lips slipping to brush across his forehead that had come to rest on her shoulder as she smelled him, long multi-colored feathers of the Gillarie bird, the same that composed her flights, tickled across his face from their proud placement in hair otherwise containing no solace for color but black. She was thankful that the little two-toned eyed child hadn’t crushed his sensibility with its pathetic display, and she was thankful that her friend was one she definitely would not associate with the rat-like qualities that now tainted the half-breed, bearing a thick wound on her neck that would scar and speak volumes of the tribe’s kindness for quite some time to come. As he spoke to her she conveyed her pleasure in her taste of kin by offering him a slightly twitchy smile. Boredom was only one of the things she radiated, but he was good in that assumption, though he didn’t seem as displeased as she about the survival of the rat which gave her the feeling that she had missed some subtle exchange that explained why it should have been granted life, she let it traipse from her mind as he complimented her physique which was accepted with another smile and a tightening of her form that pulled her shoulders back and her chin a bit higher. ”Yes, the world offers much more room to please the Gods than does a cage.” She afforded him the same once over, though she had already done so multiple times. ”I saw you fight, you let an old man beat you.” She sent a thumb towards his mentor and exhaled a quick push of air like a “ha” that showed she found humor in what she said and her expression showed no loss of respect for her well trained friend, only a sparkle of playful chiding in her eye. She seemed to have forgotten the show that had just played out before them entirely as she beamed at Iano.
