Timestamp: Vhalar 44, 718th Arc, following this
Qit'ria looked back over her shoulder at the barracks she'd been living in for the last couple of trials. She was still in a lot of pain, but at least she had the energy to move. It was time to get back to her rented room, get back to Caza and Oonah. If she waited another trial, they would leave and Qit might lose them forever. It was the agreement they'd made after all. She looked down at the bed where she'd lain, being comforted and cared for by the man called Andraska. She'd not forget him nor his kindness. It was rare that people were genuinely nice to the woman without needing something from her. He was the only good Rynmeren on this island it seemed.
She slinked out the window and dropped lightly to the bricks below. Pain jarred through her, but it wasn't nearly as debilitating as it had been two trials before. The streets were busy now, the air warm yet not hot. Everyone here was busy with something or the other, heading to work, shopping, spending time with friends and loved ones. Normal, every day lives for these city people. And not a single glance was given the injured cat, albeit cleaned now thanks to Andraska, as she moved along the walls of the building.
Qit'ria wasn't too terribly far from the room she was renting. She kept her head on a swivel as she went, but she truly was invisible to these people. She was a bit smug on this, for in the wilds, no animal could simply move by a hunter unnoticed. But here in the city, it was so easy. Qit'ria still knew she could never live in a city like this, but at least now she knew how to get around without anyone bothering her. No more guards bothering her about her weapons, no more pestersome people who just wanted to talk. Peace and quiet.
She finally reached the inn, a small, but cozy, hole in the wall at the rear of a dead end alley, surrounded by decent, though not overly popular shops. She watched as a man came out, one she'd recognized from a few trials back. He slept down the hall and snored rather loudly. But he was harmless, she was sure of it. She dashed forward, pushing through the pain in her body, and skirted through the door, tucking her tail in so it didn't get caught. She listened around the lobby. Two heartbeats in the kitchen off to the right, one smaller one off to the left, and some subtle noises of people moving about upstairs.
Pressing in close to the counter, she moved along toward the stairs, keeping her eyes to the left, wondering whose heartbeat was there. Coming up on the stairs, she went to hike up on the first step, when a child, tucked in the shadows of a large armchair called out, "Kitty!" Qit'ria froze, staring until she saw the small boy dashing toward her. Eyes wide, she ran up the stairs, biting through the pain as she went. "Kitty wait!"
She ran and ran, finally reaching the door to her own room. Except it was closed. And she had no way to signal Oonah to let her in. Looking around, she saw an open door at the end. She slipped inside, hearing another voice downstairs, "Johnny! You best not have let another cat in here again!" Qit dashed in, the last of her tail being seen by the boy as she dipped away. It was an empty room, not yet occupied. She instantly dove beneath the bed, going prone.
And she started the transformation back to her Sev'ryn form. Qit'ria pulled the essence of her self form out of the totem within her, pulled out the assimilated totems as her form stretched, elongated. She heard the boy's feet across the floor, "Kitty? Where'dja go?" She needed a way to distract him. She focused on bringing out her domain bag first, and it reappeared on her hip. She reached down with a half formed arm, some fingers still paw toes, fur covering the lot, with a couple of Sev'ryn fingers mingled in. She halted the transformation in her arm as she did, continuing it elsewhere. She reached into the bag, fishing about, until she felt a blade cut her hand. Wincing, she didn't cry out in pain, and instead, gripped the offending blade.
Pulling her throwing knife from the bag, she bent her awkward looking arm, parallel over the floor. She saw the boy's feet come close to the bed. If he saw her, with half her face broken, features of cat and Sev'ryn and the monster in between, he'd give her away. This was for his own good. She flicked her wrist forward, and the blade flew out from under the bed. It lightly nicked the side of the boy's left before sticking into the wooden wall behind him. It had been fast enough that he'd not noticed the blade flying by. But the pain was enough.
And the tears began. And the screaming and bawling. He dashed from the room, "Mummy! I gots a booboo!" Qit'ria relaxed, finishing out her transformation in peace. She crawled out from under the bed, retrieved her knife, and went to her and Oonah's room. She licked at the slice across her fingers, stopping the bleeding. And she saw her baby, asleep in her basket. Qit'ria bent down and gently woke the little girl.
"I'm home little one. I'm sorry I left you for so long. Just a little bit longer, and we will get Yeye back."
She sat down on the bed, holding the groggy little girl. She began to feed her, humming a song her father used to hum to her when she was but a babe. Qit'ria never learned the words, only knowing the melody. And while her child suckled, Qit'ria felt her spark's annoyance. She cast her own annoyance back at it, wondering what it was upset about this time. She felt a warmth in the cat totem upon her wrist. She pulled ether through her soul, and investigated the totem, to see what was upsetting her spark. Once the ether was within the totem, she could feel the many injuries she'd sustained while in that form.
She mentally shrugged at her spark. And it was not happy at that response. It "swatted" at her ether, taking some of it from her. It then applied the ether to the cat form's eye within the totem. It held it there, and she felt its annoyance at her once more. She pushed some of her own ether into the eye as well, feeling the injury even more dominantly, worried she might end up hurting her own eye through this. The spark pushed the image of the cat's eye into her mind, and Qit'ria accepted it, curious as to what her spark was trying to tell her. Maintaining the image, Qit'ria felt her ether begin to stitch the eye back together.
Qit'ria's brow wrinkled in surprise. The eye didn't so much regrow or heal like one did normally. Rather, she used her ether to rebuild it the way she knew it to be, to return back to the natural state. It was slow, and it was draining. So much energy to repair an eye, she was already beginning to feel the fatigue. But still, this was amazing. She continued to focus on the perfect visualization of the eye. The yellow coloring, the perfect curvature. As she did this, she learned more details of just what made up an eye. She learned how the black part in the middle was a covered hole, like a window over a well. She didn't know what to do with that information, but she knew it nonetheless.
Once the eye was repaired, she stopped. That was a large draw on her energy and she needed a break. But she could heal her forms. She grinned, that meant so long as she didn't die, she could always heal. And that changed everything for Qit'ria. She was always careful, but now she had a much more reckless style available to her. This was a lot of new potential. Many of her actions so far had been erring on the side of caution, for fear that she might be too damaged to return to her daughter. But now, now all she had to do was change forms, and with enough time, she could always heal and return home. Her plan now was simple. Heal her cat form, find Charlie and Sprinkles. Then return to the King, and teach him she was not going to take her defeat lying down.
Once Caza was done feeding, Qit'ria burped her, rubbing her nose to the happy girl's, bouncing her up and down a bit, much to the girl's delight, before pulling her in close to an embrace. "The kitty is going to be all better. And I will slaughter the King."
And Caza giggled.
Qit'ria looked back over her shoulder at the barracks she'd been living in for the last couple of trials. She was still in a lot of pain, but at least she had the energy to move. It was time to get back to her rented room, get back to Caza and Oonah. If she waited another trial, they would leave and Qit might lose them forever. It was the agreement they'd made after all. She looked down at the bed where she'd lain, being comforted and cared for by the man called Andraska. She'd not forget him nor his kindness. It was rare that people were genuinely nice to the woman without needing something from her. He was the only good Rynmeren on this island it seemed.
She slinked out the window and dropped lightly to the bricks below. Pain jarred through her, but it wasn't nearly as debilitating as it had been two trials before. The streets were busy now, the air warm yet not hot. Everyone here was busy with something or the other, heading to work, shopping, spending time with friends and loved ones. Normal, every day lives for these city people. And not a single glance was given the injured cat, albeit cleaned now thanks to Andraska, as she moved along the walls of the building.
Qit'ria wasn't too terribly far from the room she was renting. She kept her head on a swivel as she went, but she truly was invisible to these people. She was a bit smug on this, for in the wilds, no animal could simply move by a hunter unnoticed. But here in the city, it was so easy. Qit'ria still knew she could never live in a city like this, but at least now she knew how to get around without anyone bothering her. No more guards bothering her about her weapons, no more pestersome people who just wanted to talk. Peace and quiet.
She finally reached the inn, a small, but cozy, hole in the wall at the rear of a dead end alley, surrounded by decent, though not overly popular shops. She watched as a man came out, one she'd recognized from a few trials back. He slept down the hall and snored rather loudly. But he was harmless, she was sure of it. She dashed forward, pushing through the pain in her body, and skirted through the door, tucking her tail in so it didn't get caught. She listened around the lobby. Two heartbeats in the kitchen off to the right, one smaller one off to the left, and some subtle noises of people moving about upstairs.
Pressing in close to the counter, she moved along toward the stairs, keeping her eyes to the left, wondering whose heartbeat was there. Coming up on the stairs, she went to hike up on the first step, when a child, tucked in the shadows of a large armchair called out, "Kitty!" Qit'ria froze, staring until she saw the small boy dashing toward her. Eyes wide, she ran up the stairs, biting through the pain as she went. "Kitty wait!"
She ran and ran, finally reaching the door to her own room. Except it was closed. And she had no way to signal Oonah to let her in. Looking around, she saw an open door at the end. She slipped inside, hearing another voice downstairs, "Johnny! You best not have let another cat in here again!" Qit dashed in, the last of her tail being seen by the boy as she dipped away. It was an empty room, not yet occupied. She instantly dove beneath the bed, going prone.
And she started the transformation back to her Sev'ryn form. Qit'ria pulled the essence of her self form out of the totem within her, pulled out the assimilated totems as her form stretched, elongated. She heard the boy's feet across the floor, "Kitty? Where'dja go?" She needed a way to distract him. She focused on bringing out her domain bag first, and it reappeared on her hip. She reached down with a half formed arm, some fingers still paw toes, fur covering the lot, with a couple of Sev'ryn fingers mingled in. She halted the transformation in her arm as she did, continuing it elsewhere. She reached into the bag, fishing about, until she felt a blade cut her hand. Wincing, she didn't cry out in pain, and instead, gripped the offending blade.
Pulling her throwing knife from the bag, she bent her awkward looking arm, parallel over the floor. She saw the boy's feet come close to the bed. If he saw her, with half her face broken, features of cat and Sev'ryn and the monster in between, he'd give her away. This was for his own good. She flicked her wrist forward, and the blade flew out from under the bed. It lightly nicked the side of the boy's left before sticking into the wooden wall behind him. It had been fast enough that he'd not noticed the blade flying by. But the pain was enough.
And the tears began. And the screaming and bawling. He dashed from the room, "Mummy! I gots a booboo!" Qit'ria relaxed, finishing out her transformation in peace. She crawled out from under the bed, retrieved her knife, and went to her and Oonah's room. She licked at the slice across her fingers, stopping the bleeding. And she saw her baby, asleep in her basket. Qit'ria bent down and gently woke the little girl.
"I'm home little one. I'm sorry I left you for so long. Just a little bit longer, and we will get Yeye back."
She sat down on the bed, holding the groggy little girl. She began to feed her, humming a song her father used to hum to her when she was but a babe. Qit'ria never learned the words, only knowing the melody. And while her child suckled, Qit'ria felt her spark's annoyance. She cast her own annoyance back at it, wondering what it was upset about this time. She felt a warmth in the cat totem upon her wrist. She pulled ether through her soul, and investigated the totem, to see what was upsetting her spark. Once the ether was within the totem, she could feel the many injuries she'd sustained while in that form.
She mentally shrugged at her spark. And it was not happy at that response. It "swatted" at her ether, taking some of it from her. It then applied the ether to the cat form's eye within the totem. It held it there, and she felt its annoyance at her once more. She pushed some of her own ether into the eye as well, feeling the injury even more dominantly, worried she might end up hurting her own eye through this. The spark pushed the image of the cat's eye into her mind, and Qit'ria accepted it, curious as to what her spark was trying to tell her. Maintaining the image, Qit'ria felt her ether begin to stitch the eye back together.
Qit'ria's brow wrinkled in surprise. The eye didn't so much regrow or heal like one did normally. Rather, she used her ether to rebuild it the way she knew it to be, to return back to the natural state. It was slow, and it was draining. So much energy to repair an eye, she was already beginning to feel the fatigue. But still, this was amazing. She continued to focus on the perfect visualization of the eye. The yellow coloring, the perfect curvature. As she did this, she learned more details of just what made up an eye. She learned how the black part in the middle was a covered hole, like a window over a well. She didn't know what to do with that information, but she knew it nonetheless.
Once the eye was repaired, she stopped. That was a large draw on her energy and she needed a break. But she could heal her forms. She grinned, that meant so long as she didn't die, she could always heal. And that changed everything for Qit'ria. She was always careful, but now she had a much more reckless style available to her. This was a lot of new potential. Many of her actions so far had been erring on the side of caution, for fear that she might be too damaged to return to her daughter. But now, now all she had to do was change forms, and with enough time, she could always heal and return home. Her plan now was simple. Heal her cat form, find Charlie and Sprinkles. Then return to the King, and teach him she was not going to take her defeat lying down.
Once Caza was done feeding, Qit'ria burped her, rubbing her nose to the happy girl's, bouncing her up and down a bit, much to the girl's delight, before pulling her in close to an embrace. "The kitty is going to be all better. And I will slaughter the King."
And Caza giggled.
