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The Jungle Book [Rhi-Rhi]

Started by Zack, October 02, 2014, 07:57:04 PM

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Zack

Caillte wiped his brow thoroughly as the sweat mixed with the light rainfall. Looking up at the darkening sky, he noted with worry that the storm appeared to be gaining in strength. "Well, guess today's my lucky day." he said to himself under his breath, a habit he had picked up from journeying alone time and time again.

Trudging through the underbrush, he flicked a couple spells in front of him to bend the larger plants out of his path. Though promoted to carry a machete with him at all times by fellow travelers of the jungle, Caillte hated to hurt nature in vain. Geomancy was useful enough in that regard as it were, and he doubted he'd have any serious threats to his magic like a Mordecai to worry about in these parts.

His mind ran over the events of his travel. He had gotten a letter from a man who left no name, only a sack full of coin and a letter of instruction. Not one to jump to tasks for something so trivial as money, Caillte took the man up on his offer. Connlaoth had been making some innovative new exploration gear, and he was interested in picking some of it up for himself when he got the coin. This would be a VERY large step in the right direction, granted he wasn't being set up like he had been in the past.

The instructions were simple; penetrate deeply into the jungle of Kishahn and find a noteworthy tome of ancient origin. Not familiar with the book, Caillte had done some hard research for a week and a half before taking the offer. Para Domar Los Arboles he repeated to himself in his head. A tome of powerful nature magic that disappeared from history shortly after the cataclysm of Fell. Likely destroyed by ancient Connlaothians, but rumored to have been hidden in the Kishahn jungle by the mage Alegria Gloria.

Scratching at an itch behind his ear, Caillte smiled to himself unconsciously. This was one of the oldest books he'd ever been sent to retrieve, and he was literally itching in anticipation of retrieving it from the vast wild of the Kishahn jungle. He struggled further through the brush, and marveled at his good fortune at not stumbling upon one hostile beast or another.

Rhindeer

Caillte was not as alone as he might have thought.

In the trees above him, a young jaguar picked her way across the thick branches, her soft paws silent on the bark, her movements graceful and practiced. She was a hunter who had brought down prey larger than him; she knew how to move like a ghost. But this one was lucky, because she wasn't hunting him, because he was Human.

Instead, Raxta followed him, her ears perked and eyes wide and curious. He wasn't the first human she'd encountered, and her few experiences had been odd and varied, some good, some bad. It was the bad that made her err on the side of caution now, and it was the bad that made her wary and a little nervous of his presence, because he was carrying a big blade, and it was the bad ones with the blades that hunted and trapped her kind--a fact she had only learned recently, when she had barely escaped a hunter's net.

She paused as he started through some thicker bush, and she waited until he was several steps within it and distracted with it before she bunched her muscles up and sprang from one branch to the next, landing securely on the next branch, though it rocked and rustled and made more noise than she would have liked. She climbed further up the trunk, vanishing where the leaves were thickest, and froze to watch him some more. He was an odd one, to be sure. He had a sharp knife, he could cut the foliage to make it easier for him! But he didn't, which was odd, and--

Oh.

Oh no.

Raxta's breath caught in her throat, because from her vantage point she could see what the human couldn't.

Just up ahead, just through the bushes he was pushing through, a small group a peccaries foraged for food.

A small group of peccaries that not even Raxta would mess with, ever, and that would tear the human to pieces before he even knew what happened.

For a second, she debated getting involved. He could be a Bad Human in which case, no loss! But what if he wasn't? And did it matter either way? It wouldn't be her fault he got eaten alive by the pigs, it would just be the natural way of things.

But that was certainly a horrible way to go...

With a low sigh, Raxta shifted from leopard to human-ish, and shifted her weight and adjusted to her new center of gravity--and, you know, having to balance on a branch without claws, though she still had her tail to help. She reached up to snap off some smaller twigs, then took quick aim and tossed them at the man in quick succession to get his attention.

"Pssst. Hey," she hissed, leaning down over the branch. "Don't go that way."
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Zack

Having experienced first hand that it was always wise to always expect danger when in a place you were unfamiliar with, Caillte nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt something small pelt the back of his head. He whirled upon the source of the twigs he that had barraged him with fists cocked and mind focused, but immediately relented when his eyes set upon a woman in the trees, at least partly anthropomorphic at first glance.

His ears perked up when she told him not to progress in the direction he had been traveling in, but he took what she said with a grain of salt. Suspicion seemed to be the natural decision.

"And why wouldn't I want to go that way...?" Caillte questioned, his legs tensed up to dash away if the cat-woman showed herself to be any kind of threat. It only occurred as an afterthought that she likely would be able to outrun even his best efforts with little difficulty.

Rhindeer

Raxta let out a slow, exasperated sigh. Why did he have to question her?! Stupid human, didn't he know any better?

She struggled to keep her tone even and patient, not wanting to snap at him in case he was skittish. Sending him into flight mode would be a very, very bad thing for everyone involved. Mostly him, since she was safe in a tree.

"Because if you keep going that way, you're going to die," she bluntly said, her tail twitching in annoyance.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Zack

Caillte relaxed somewhat, lowering his fists and breathing deeply to calm his beating heart. The woman obviously showed him no ill will, if she wanted to hurt him she could've done it before now.

"Okay, I'll take your word for it." He flashed a light grin her way as he uncorked a flask hanging at his side, taking a small sip of water. He hadn't noticed how dry his mouth was until he began talking.

"I apologize for any annoyance I may have caused," he commented, putting the stopper back on his bottle and wiping his lips with the back of his hand, "I tend to err on the side of caution. My name is Caillte, a pleasure to meet you. I'm hunting for a book I heard was deep in this jungle, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't exactly know where I'm going." As a gesture of good faith, he extended his flask towards the feline femme. "Thank you for your help."

Rhindeer

Raxta looked curiously at him, then at the flask, and back. He had drank from it first, so it couldn't be bad! And so, with a small shrug, she flipped upside down, hanging from the branch by her knees, and stretched out to grab the flask.

Then, realizing she wasn't exactly going to be able to drink upside down (whoops), she grabbed the branch with one hand and flipped down like an acrobat, tail lashing wildly, and landed gracefully on her bare feet with a soft grunt.

She took a swig from the flask after sniffing it. "There were peccaries that way," she said, handing the flask back to him. "You should lower your voice."
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Zack

Though he wasn't about to admit the panic he felt to this new woman, at the mention of peccaries, Caillte was sure he visibly paled enough for his face to speak for itself. She's certainly... limber Caillte remarked to himself without any connotation, blushing slightly as he felt shame at his thoughts. He decided to change the subject instead of thinking like a dirty old man.

Lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, Caillte continued. "You seem like you know this jungle, or at least can handle yourself pretty well in this environment. I've only ever been here once, and that was with a handful of companions and a reliable map." Reaching into a sack that hung from his shoulder down to his waist, he pulled out a map that looked like it had experienced a great deal of wear and tear. "Not to say this map isn't that reliable, but it's old and a lot of it is hard to read. I need to get into the heart of this jungle, and I don't know how I can repay you, but I'll make sure to do so in some way were you to help me navigate to my objective."

Rhindeer

"The heart of the jungle?" Raxta repeated, scrunching up her face and wrinkling her nose with thought. She stepped closer to the man, leaning over his shoulder to get a look at the map--which meant nothing to her. To her, it looked like a lot of scribbles and odd markings.

"Well, it's no wonder you can't find the 'heart of the jungle'," she finally said, placing a hand on her hip and letting out a small scoff. "Silly drawings won't help you and besides, the jungle doesn't have a heart. It is alive, yes, but it lacks organs."

And she lifted an eyebrow as she said it, giving him a "DUH!" sort of look.
Adamaris // Aderyn // Aki // Alexander // Angel // Axieva // Beatrid // Briar // Cadmus // Corryn // Einin/Owl // Emery // Fang // Faolán // Faris // Frost // Hayate // Ife // Jayari // Jirou // Juniper // Katxiel // Khaiya // Kota // Kyran // Liam // Makani // Max // Maya // Mei // Nakato // Naovi // Nasrin // Niaaki // Niamh // Noor // Pepper // Qiana // Qismat // Quinn // Raxta // Riyarin // Rook // Sachi // Sahar // Siobhan // Simonea // Sita // Song // Summer // Valor // Yasmin // Yiroa

Zack

Caillte tilted his head in a way that could only be called quizzical, but righted himself before looking incredulous. He didn't mean to offend this woman, especially since she offered help.

"Ah... yes, I see what you mean. When I said the 'heart' it was sort of a... figurative thing." He scratched at the stubble on his sweaty neck as he thought of how to explain things simply. "I meant more like the center of these woods. There would be ruins, or old buildings of some sort. Probably an entire group of them, old husks of what they once were." He didn't bother to argue with her about the map; though he disagreed on points, it really hadn't helped him get to where he wanted to, so he couldn't say that she was wrong.

"But, would you be kind enough to help me? I need some sort of guidance. I'm not even sure I know how to get back out of this place at this point."

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