Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 4, 718
Qit'ria moved the Makubwa Lori with a comfort she'd not felt in so long. Caza was with her Yeye, and she was out on the hunt, finally able to be free. She was healed from birthing Caza, and was ready to get back to business. She took in a deep breath of the musty, earthy scent of the southern forest she trawled through now. The forest somehow seemed bigger than when she was a tiny girl. Maybe she could just truly fathom how massive it was now that she'd traveled up the entire eastern half of the map. And even though it was bigger, it no longer terrified her like it used to.
She had stopped by her sisters' trees, touching their bark, happy to see the trees growing happy and healthy. It had taken her a while to come to their graves, but she'd come with her father. It was a somber affair, but nice. Qit'ria hoped she could have the same burial one day. But as she stood there, thinking about death, her spark stirred. It was longing for a new form, and had been ever since she fought it off during Caza's birth.
It was time to give it what it wanted.
And so now, she moved through the undergrowth, spear in hand, feet moving over the moss and rot fall silently, as her eyes scanned the surrounding forest. There was plenty to hunt, but she needed to find something that would really appease her spark. It was such an excitable entity, with an endless curiosity. If she found it something pleasing, she could stave off its desire more. Though, now that Caza was born, Qit was tempted to be a lot more lenient with it. It might be better in the long run to give in more. After all, there was no point in hiding what she was, not anymore.
Time to truly be free.
And so she sought to find a quarry. And after a break of searching, stalking animals, she could feel her spark getting aggravated. It had no desire for the deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other small mammals she was coming across with ease. Its agitation was feeding into Qit and she had snuck up on a squirrel purely to scare it. It scampered up a tree, and her eyes followed it, when she saw another pair of eyes watching her, nestled in the foliage on a branch. Feline eyes. Qit'ria instantly knew what it was, having seen drawings of them in her youth.
Aidọgba Eairo.
The flying forest cat of Desnind. The panther of the canopy. Qit'ria's eyes could see the batlike wings folded over its body, as the beast stared, not moving. Perhaps it was hoping she couldn't see it. But she did. And her Spark saw it too. And she could feel wave after wave of glee and desire. This was the one. She had a target now. She smirked, and turned away from the cat, pretending that she hadn't seen it. She listened with her echoed hearing, picking out the creature's heartbeat. It was rapid, but calming down now, and wasn't moving.
Qit stepped around a tree and put away the spear. She turned to the tree, and looked all the way up it. Plenty of branches up there. She stretched her arms wide to the sides and leaned against the tree. The bark was thick, rough, and gave her a pretty good hand hold. She clenched her hands, and crouched at the knees a bit. She jumped up a bit, just a few, controlled inches, and she shot her hands up, gripping the rough bark. It held. It was ridiculous looking, but none of her forms were adept at climbing trees, and there were no lower branches, and she wasn't about to damage it needlessly.
So she frogshuffled up the tree, slowly. Her hands were aching from the constant clenching and supporting of her weight but she eventually made it up to the first branch. Once there, she rested, still hearing the cat's heartbeat. She thought back to the positioning of the cat. On the branch of the tree next to her own. Laying in wait, wings draped over it. She turned, facing the trunk of the tree, in the exact direction of the cat. She knew there to be branches there, but she had an idea for dealing with those on her throw.
Qit'ria pulled one of her javelins now, with a bit of cordage wrapped around the shaft near the mid center. She rolled it in hand, yes, this was the one. It had better grip on it. She slowed her own heartbeat, and closed her eyes, focusing on the sound of the cat's soft heart. A deep breath. And on the exhale, Qit'ria leaned out around the trunk, and throw from the hip. She made the extra emphasis to keep a tighter rip on the cordage, and rolled the spear off her fingertips. This gave it a strong spin than normal. This would cut down on throw distance, but it did have one benefit.
The spear entered the foliage of the branches, the spin keeping them from stopping or deflecting the throw. And with a thud, it struck the Aidọgba Eairo just behind the shoulder, piercing its lungs. The beast was sent falling to the forest floor, and Qit quickly made her way down as well. She ran over to the kill, pleased to see the size of it. Nearly as long as she was tall, with a beautiful pair of bat like wings.
Qit'ria's Spark was bouncing impatiently within her, as she set to work skinning the hide and separating the meat from the bones. She wasted nothing, but organized it all out, keeping the organs away from the meat, the bones in their own pile, the blood in the special waterskin she kept for that. Once done, she sat there, examining her work, then reached out, grabbing the separated claws she'd pulled from the beast's paws. Qit'ria looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and smiled, knowing just the totem to make.
She carved a few short strips of thin, membrane hide from the wings, and pulled some wire and a small carving chisel from her pack. Using the little chisel, she etched in a crude image of the beast eyes as it gazed at her from the resting spot in the tree, one eye on each of the many claws. She added in a flourish of dark swirls and lines, whatever felt right as she did the work. Once each was done, she dipped them in the blood, and then punched them through the wing hide. She found this material to be a lot tougher, yet flexible, than she'd expected. She wrapped up the base of the claw with the material and tied it off in itself. She then cut a piece of the stiff wire, and tied it around the base as a setting, and formed a hook. She repeated this for each of them, until she had twenty earrings in total.
She gathered them up in her hands, and leaned back against the tree, focusing on the image of the beast, as her spark lunged out of her, diving into the earrings. She remembered talking once with a woman who cooked food for a living. She would soak meat overnight in sauces, and it would make it taste that much better when cooked. She called it marinating. Qit smirked, finding what she was doing to be similar in practice. She was marinating her totems with her soul and with her spark's magic.
Several breaks later, the totems were done.
Qit'ria pushed the wire hook through the pierced holes in either ear, one earring each. She packed the carcass off, and began the journey home.
Qit'ria finished feeding Caza while her dad prepared the food she brought home. But Qit wanted to try her new form. So she stepped out into the evening air, and went to the outskirts, away from the most obvious of people. Satisfied she was alone, she tapped into her new totems, slowly dragging their essence out, and beginning to spread it through out her body. As she did, she had a curious thought. She spread the essence into her clothing as well, finding it flowed just as easily there too.
Once her body was soaked in the totemic flavored ether, she initiated the transformation. It wasn't as harsh of one as typically, for the creature was roughly the same size as her. Her bones snapped and moved beneath her skin, her organs rearranged, black fur began shooting out of her skin, and her skull molded into a new shape. She continued to focus on the image of the creature, and two of her ribs shot out of her back. The ribs began to grow and spread, becoming the wings of the creature.
And in mere bits, Qit was the Aidọgba Eairo. It was interesting how much faster she'd gotten in her regular transformations. She looked down her body and was pleased. She felt powerful, she let loose the telltale scream of the feline in the night, and flapped her wings once, trying to get used to the motion. It was awkward. She wasn't used to having extra limbs, let alone wings. She could already tell she'd have to practice a lot with them, just like learning to walk. But the darkness was following, and she needed to be getting back. She wanted to play with Caza.
As she started the change back to her Sev'ryn form, she had an interesting idea. As she rebroke her bones, she kept her wings strong, pushing her spark out of them, adjusting the bones as she stood upright. She found her ether draining more to hold this unnatural shape during her shift back. But she pressed it. She held on until her clothes grew out of her skin, and she was back to normal. Save for a large pair of batwings on her back. She smirked. This was going to be extremely useful. And so, she headed home, knowing Yeye would be in bed soon, and she could cuddle her baby again. She always woke up before him, so he wouldn't even notice her change. It would be a good night.
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Saun 4, 718
Qit'ria moved the Makubwa Lori with a comfort she'd not felt in so long. Caza was with her Yeye, and she was out on the hunt, finally able to be free. She was healed from birthing Caza, and was ready to get back to business. She took in a deep breath of the musty, earthy scent of the southern forest she trawled through now. The forest somehow seemed bigger than when she was a tiny girl. Maybe she could just truly fathom how massive it was now that she'd traveled up the entire eastern half of the map. And even though it was bigger, it no longer terrified her like it used to.
She had stopped by her sisters' trees, touching their bark, happy to see the trees growing happy and healthy. It had taken her a while to come to their graves, but she'd come with her father. It was a somber affair, but nice. Qit'ria hoped she could have the same burial one day. But as she stood there, thinking about death, her spark stirred. It was longing for a new form, and had been ever since she fought it off during Caza's birth.
It was time to give it what it wanted.
And so now, she moved through the undergrowth, spear in hand, feet moving over the moss and rot fall silently, as her eyes scanned the surrounding forest. There was plenty to hunt, but she needed to find something that would really appease her spark. It was such an excitable entity, with an endless curiosity. If she found it something pleasing, she could stave off its desire more. Though, now that Caza was born, Qit was tempted to be a lot more lenient with it. It might be better in the long run to give in more. After all, there was no point in hiding what she was, not anymore.
Time to truly be free.
And so she sought to find a quarry. And after a break of searching, stalking animals, she could feel her spark getting aggravated. It had no desire for the deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other small mammals she was coming across with ease. Its agitation was feeding into Qit and she had snuck up on a squirrel purely to scare it. It scampered up a tree, and her eyes followed it, when she saw another pair of eyes watching her, nestled in the foliage on a branch. Feline eyes. Qit'ria instantly knew what it was, having seen drawings of them in her youth.
Aidọgba Eairo.
The flying forest cat of Desnind. The panther of the canopy. Qit'ria's eyes could see the batlike wings folded over its body, as the beast stared, not moving. Perhaps it was hoping she couldn't see it. But she did. And her Spark saw it too. And she could feel wave after wave of glee and desire. This was the one. She had a target now. She smirked, and turned away from the cat, pretending that she hadn't seen it. She listened with her echoed hearing, picking out the creature's heartbeat. It was rapid, but calming down now, and wasn't moving.
Qit stepped around a tree and put away the spear. She turned to the tree, and looked all the way up it. Plenty of branches up there. She stretched her arms wide to the sides and leaned against the tree. The bark was thick, rough, and gave her a pretty good hand hold. She clenched her hands, and crouched at the knees a bit. She jumped up a bit, just a few, controlled inches, and she shot her hands up, gripping the rough bark. It held. It was ridiculous looking, but none of her forms were adept at climbing trees, and there were no lower branches, and she wasn't about to damage it needlessly.
So she frogshuffled up the tree, slowly. Her hands were aching from the constant clenching and supporting of her weight but she eventually made it up to the first branch. Once there, she rested, still hearing the cat's heartbeat. She thought back to the positioning of the cat. On the branch of the tree next to her own. Laying in wait, wings draped over it. She turned, facing the trunk of the tree, in the exact direction of the cat. She knew there to be branches there, but she had an idea for dealing with those on her throw.
Qit'ria pulled one of her javelins now, with a bit of cordage wrapped around the shaft near the mid center. She rolled it in hand, yes, this was the one. It had better grip on it. She slowed her own heartbeat, and closed her eyes, focusing on the sound of the cat's soft heart. A deep breath. And on the exhale, Qit'ria leaned out around the trunk, and throw from the hip. She made the extra emphasis to keep a tighter rip on the cordage, and rolled the spear off her fingertips. This gave it a strong spin than normal. This would cut down on throw distance, but it did have one benefit.
The spear entered the foliage of the branches, the spin keeping them from stopping or deflecting the throw. And with a thud, it struck the Aidọgba Eairo just behind the shoulder, piercing its lungs. The beast was sent falling to the forest floor, and Qit quickly made her way down as well. She ran over to the kill, pleased to see the size of it. Nearly as long as she was tall, with a beautiful pair of bat like wings.
Qit'ria's Spark was bouncing impatiently within her, as she set to work skinning the hide and separating the meat from the bones. She wasted nothing, but organized it all out, keeping the organs away from the meat, the bones in their own pile, the blood in the special waterskin she kept for that. Once done, she sat there, examining her work, then reached out, grabbing the separated claws she'd pulled from the beast's paws. Qit'ria looked at the bracelet on her wrist, and smiled, knowing just the totem to make.
She carved a few short strips of thin, membrane hide from the wings, and pulled some wire and a small carving chisel from her pack. Using the little chisel, she etched in a crude image of the beast eyes as it gazed at her from the resting spot in the tree, one eye on each of the many claws. She added in a flourish of dark swirls and lines, whatever felt right as she did the work. Once each was done, she dipped them in the blood, and then punched them through the wing hide. She found this material to be a lot tougher, yet flexible, than she'd expected. She wrapped up the base of the claw with the material and tied it off in itself. She then cut a piece of the stiff wire, and tied it around the base as a setting, and formed a hook. She repeated this for each of them, until she had twenty earrings in total.
She gathered them up in her hands, and leaned back against the tree, focusing on the image of the beast, as her spark lunged out of her, diving into the earrings. She remembered talking once with a woman who cooked food for a living. She would soak meat overnight in sauces, and it would make it taste that much better when cooked. She called it marinating. Qit smirked, finding what she was doing to be similar in practice. She was marinating her totems with her soul and with her spark's magic.
Several breaks later, the totems were done.
Qit'ria pushed the wire hook through the pierced holes in either ear, one earring each. She packed the carcass off, and began the journey home.
Qit'ria finished feeding Caza while her dad prepared the food she brought home. But Qit wanted to try her new form. So she stepped out into the evening air, and went to the outskirts, away from the most obvious of people. Satisfied she was alone, she tapped into her new totems, slowly dragging their essence out, and beginning to spread it through out her body. As she did, she had a curious thought. She spread the essence into her clothing as well, finding it flowed just as easily there too.
Once her body was soaked in the totemic flavored ether, she initiated the transformation. It wasn't as harsh of one as typically, for the creature was roughly the same size as her. Her bones snapped and moved beneath her skin, her organs rearranged, black fur began shooting out of her skin, and her skull molded into a new shape. She continued to focus on the image of the creature, and two of her ribs shot out of her back. The ribs began to grow and spread, becoming the wings of the creature.
And in mere bits, Qit was the Aidọgba Eairo. It was interesting how much faster she'd gotten in her regular transformations. She looked down her body and was pleased. She felt powerful, she let loose the telltale scream of the feline in the night, and flapped her wings once, trying to get used to the motion. It was awkward. She wasn't used to having extra limbs, let alone wings. She could already tell she'd have to practice a lot with them, just like learning to walk. But the darkness was following, and she needed to be getting back. She wanted to play with Caza.
As she started the change back to her Sev'ryn form, she had an interesting idea. As she rebroke her bones, she kept her wings strong, pushing her spark out of them, adjusting the bones as she stood upright. She found her ether draining more to hold this unnatural shape during her shift back. But she pressed it. She held on until her clothes grew out of her skin, and she was back to normal. Save for a large pair of batwings on her back. She smirked. This was going to be extremely useful. And so, she headed home, knowing Yeye would be in bed soon, and she could cuddle her baby again. She always woke up before him, so he wouldn't even notice her change. It would be a good night.
