Death, the Dance, and Destruction of Humanity

[Amm]

March, 122PW

So she was leaving. She was not allowed to fly as she would have liked to. She had to walk like the Strangers walked through the land, wearing the castoff clothes of the Strangers whom had killed Hozu. Zuu had had the strongest hunters kill those Strangers, and Amm had gotten some of the bloodstained artifacts. They looked and felt funny, but it wasn't her place to question the need to wear them.

She walked south and west, tramping stomping jumping through water and over tufts of ground, and grew sad when the water-dotted land fell behind her and shrank until she could no longer see it. She headed to the Eyewater, the great body of water that was round like a dragonfly's eye. There she knew she would find the Stranger's traveling trail that kicked up so much dust you could sometimes see it if you flew high enough and looked in that direction. She'd never walked on it before.

She fell beside a narrow stream that rushed happily towards Eyewater, that would happily gorge it down like some fat-bellied frog lapping up a fly. She liked eating flies, too, but frogs were better best -- especially when the meat was tangled in shimshaw flowers and wrapped in reeds and put over the coals of a fire. Her stomach growled. She couldn't see the road. She made a face at the sky but didn't whine, and instead hit the end of her spear hard on the ground, dahn dahn dada dahn, and moved her fingers through Senseless Hunger, which she made up on the spot and she thought was good.

It took another day to reach the headwaters of the Eyewater, and by then she was very more hungry, but she pushed herself to keep going with a big frown until she stood upon the great ribbon of ugly brown. She walked it to where it crossed the headwater, and tried not to stare too much at the Strangers who were also hungry and had great carts of food and useless junk and pretty baubles and passed her with rude mouth sounds when she didn't move to the side fast enough.

She trailed behind them, moving generally towards the rising sun, and knew that they went to a greater gathering of Strangers than just a single tribe, like the Greatmeet. She didn't want to go there. She had to go west. But it would not hurt to stop at the little collection of huts that squatted fat and dirty at the side of the Eyewater, sending out floating cages that the Strangers stood in and caught many fishes. She did not need to eat so many, but she could see that she too could hunt for fish, for the catches were good. She would stay there a day, she decided, and eat her fill before continuing on.

[Arusa]

Arusa groaned as she turned over, face pressed against her pillows with their silken cases, and cursed the morning. A few more moments of lying there, still and peaceful, wrapped warmly in her blankets, one arm hanging over the side of the bed, before she finally convinced herself to open one sleepy eye to the morning light gently streaming in through the lace curtains hanging in front of the nearby window.

With a sigh and another irritated groan, she managed to push herself up, blankets falling beside her, and swing her legs over the side of the bed. Now sitting, she yawned, stretching her entire body slowly, before opening her eyes again to the morning. Her clothes were strewn across the floor, one shoe beside her, the other not in sight, probably lying on the other side of the room.

As she stood, stretched again, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and smiled. Though her hair was a mess and her face revealed her late night, she was still a vision of beauty. Her skin was perfect, smooth and pale, appearing as if it were made of the finest porcelain. Her long, dark hair wildly draped over her shoulders, down her elegant back, over breasts which could only be described as perfect, by men and women alike.

Men all desired her, and women envied her to the point of hatred. Being beautiful can be such a hassle...

After admiring herself for several minutes, she walked to her wardrobe to choose a suitable outfit for the day. She had gone shopping the day before and had several new dresses to choose from. She knew she hadn’t the money to waste, but she’d been saving, and Dalouxiu had some of the best designers in Tian Xia. Besides, she deserved a treat, for all her hard work recently.

She had done two weeks of dancing in Dalouxiu already, and in the next day or two she would be travelling west, eventually performing in towns further west than she had ever worked before. There were many places along the trade routes that would give a lot of Bishani to see her brilliant routines.

She had been studying some different styles of dance recently, incorporating them into her routines, and the audience seemed to really love them. Then again, when did they not love to watch her dance? She was stunning. Anyone with any appreciation for beauty, and even those without, could agree to that, whether they were willing to admit it or not.

After choosing her clothing for the day, including various rings and necklaces, she spent the next forty minutes washing her face, brushing her hair, applying her makeup and admiring herself, before leaving the room to see what could be done about breakfast and finding out when they would be leaving. Perhaps she could even spend her day browsing the markets...

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak dipped a piece of toasted bread into the leftovers of his semi-runny egg, sopping up the remainder of juice as he wiped his plate clean. He barely looked around at the few other early morning patrons in the Wandering Traveler's common room; he rarely looked at anyone who was not a direct threat or an immediate interest of his own.

Call it arrogance, Chezak had enough for several elves. Call it introspection, as a visit to a homeland will cause any lost soul who is unable to return will turn inwards at such a rejection, even if it is of their own device. He had already paid the waitress who suddenly appeared by his side to whisk his plate away, and the tally of Bishan he had spent on this meal had nearly drained the last of his money, the currency conversion being larger to the local currency especially in taverns and inns.

Chez took a deep breath, nearly chewing on his lip, then let it out in a vexed sound. He couldn't stop thinking of his visit to the city of his birth. The city of his exile. To him it was one and the same. To them, it was as if he did not exist.

Chezak slipped through the undergrowth, crouching low as he approached the edge of the elven village he had once called home. His heart ached, but he ignored it, concerned only for the welfare of the living. The exile he had wrought on himself relegated him to one of the dead, in the eyes of the elven city of Guang Wan, and many of the smaller elven villages in Tian Xia. Even those on Darleone Island would ignore him as if he weren't there had word of his exile traveled that far. Any elf, even those on their own travels, would likely ignore him, had they not been exiled themselves.

His eyes hardened as they watched an elderly elven man cross the clearing in front of him. Crouched and stooped, not like most elves ever were, it was obvious there was something weighing on his mind. Chezak's father, Kyrth, was that man, perhaps weighed down by angry words said to his only son, and that son's response to those words. Another man, Chez's uncle, his father's younger brother trailed behind unobtrusively, there for if Kyrth needed him, but otherwise attempting to appear there of his own accord.

His uncle Yerek's eyes moved slowly to the brush at the end of the clearing, pausing near where Chezak crouched. For reason unknown to himself, Chez stood, putting his upper body into full view, and ignored the startled and angry look that crossed his uncle's face before Yerek's eyes turned away as if Chezak didn't exist. Chez also turned, walking away as if nothing had occurred. Even the slight acknowledgment in Yerek's eyes was not supposed to happen, but surprise could do funny things to what people knew, or thought.

Blinking rapidly ... and those were not tears ... Chezak forced the memory to the back of his mind. Though his consciousness knew that this would be the result of any type of return, covert or otherwise, his subconscious had obviously hoped for more.

His mind registered a break in conversation at the same time his eyes registered a motion on the stairs leading down from upstairs. Chez hadn't gotten up early, as was usual for him, and he was well aware of the beautiful elven woman dancer from the evening before entering the room from the stairwell. Chez was not particularly impressed with her looks; another woman still took precedence in his mind. Whatever had happened to Maeve....?

[Amm]

They are like the beasts, and not like the Aniz. They coddle their young, and take several years to be anything but stupid. They have special regard for their young. Do not fight them.

Zuu had signed that to her.

It failed showing how irritating the young were, for they were tall as she and had thought, somehow, she was perhaps one of them. And that was more annoying, for with that they believed her beneath them, barking squealing something about her clothes. Somehow. They jabbered at her with their clumsy mouth gashes, fingers stiff and used to pick up rocks. Rocks, which were then used to throw at her.

She considered options.

She could keep moving.

She could keep moving and get them out of the sight of the village, and then kill one or two of them.

Zuu had signed don't fight them and if she killed them before they could fight it would not be fighting, just quick mercy. With what dumb they showed, it would be honor for Amm to stick them so they bled bled bled. She brightened immediately, and held her spear aloft as she skipped agilely over the grasses of the Eyewater, thinking wistfully of marsh. She eeled her body through insults and accusations made crude without hands and fingers to add grace, but the children only laughed and flapped their mouths more, so it was clear they didn't understand. Stupid stupid.

One by one they peeled off and ran back home, until by the time she could not see the stupid stupid village they had all run home.

They'd all be dead in a few years, which made her happy.

Now she was much closer to the place like the Greatmeet. She stood up tall, upset that she could not fly over it. Standing was too limited. She frowned.

She would fish and grow her belly full with food. Then she would watch the Strangers moving in and out on the big road. There were many to see. She had much to be learning. She stood in the Eyewater and held her spear strong and still in Water Calm Stillness so the fish would come close and closer to her. Maybe she should see the Stranger Greatmeet.

Time later she walked barefoot between the greater huts made of stone and other, and was awed at the great many Strangers who moved around each other like the balls of flies congregating in the marsh at night. Somehow, like the flies, they did not collide. Maybe they were not so stupid stupid. She thoughtlessly slurped flesh from the fish carcass she held, and let the pebble scatter stream of people carry her through.

[Arusa]

As she entered the room, gliding gracefully down the stairs as if weightless, the whole room fell silent in appreciation of her presence, as she had noticed was now a regular occurrence. She was pretty famous, so it was no surprise.

Glancing around the room, she could not see Heranalia anywhere. She was a short human girl with red hair who had agreed to accompany Arusa as her assistant during work. Hera had a good sense for business and she was willing to accept a very small wage, being more interested in traveling, it seemed, than making a fortune. Not something Arusa could understand. After all, she was certainly unwilling to settle for one or the other.

Then again, she had the talent to take her anywhere she wanted to go, so perhaps for those less fortunate, this sort of thing was more difficult.

As she walked across the room, looking about for that distinctive firey halo of hair, something stopped her. Her gaze fell upon an elf and she frowned as she felt as though she recognized the man. Perhaps she had seen him last night, if he was staying here, but it seemed as though there was something else there, at the back of her mind.

Well, whatever it was, it was hardly of any real importance. Unlike the whereabouts of that stupid human girl. She had better not still be in bed. With a long sigh, one hand on her hip, she took one last look about the place. Where on Tian Xia is the girl? Ah... She was sitting at a table in the corner of the room, lost in concentration reading some silly old book.

Arusa approached the table, turning heads with every step she took, and took a seat beside Heranalia. "Feigning disinterest in my well-being is incredibly rude, Hera. I should fire you for that alone."

Weeks of this was starting to get to the girl; it showed in the looks on her face, first at Arusa's arrival, then at her words. It was obviously a struggle to hide the irritated looks that crossed her face. Of course, Arusa didn't notice at all, too lost in her own little world. Hera sighed and slipped the bookmark between the pages she was reading, placing the book back in her bag before replying.

"What would you like for breakfast, Arusa?"

Arusa stopped contemplating her oh-so-perfect nails to look at Hera. "Do you know that man sitting over there?" she asked, completely disregarding Hera's question. "He seems familiar somehow..."

Glancing in the direction Arusa had pointed, Hera looked at the elf and shrugged. All elves looked the same to her, and they were all ridiculously arrogant. Arusa was even worse than that, irritating to the point where Heranalia had sweet dreams of sneaking into her room and smothering her with her damned silk-covered pillows. Why did she bother putting up with the stupid woman?

Besides not having the means to get to Eyropa alone...

"I don't recognize him. Perhaps he was at last night's show. He does stand out a bit, after all."

"Certainly not as much as myself though," Arusa added with a smile. To her, it must be incredibly amusing, and she felt no shame in laughing at her own jokes. As Arusa often said, "It's hard not to laugh at something so obviously humorous", as if she were the funniest person to ever exist on Pal Tahrenor. But of course she was; Arusa Nyll Lyrre was the greatest person who ever lived, and she could do anything.

Hiding her smile, Hera finally managed to get Arusa to decide on breakfast, and thankfully today it was something reasonable. Perhaps this would not be such a painful day after all. She could send Arusa off into the city to do whatever it was she did with her time, wasting money on colourful stones or ridiculous outfits, acting like the princess she likely believed she should be.

Then Hera could finish her reading, and prepare for spending the next few days traveling with the evil queen of Guang Wan.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak watched the graceful dancer's glide across the room, not in awe or in any way envious, but instead as something only slightly more interesting than anything else in the room. When she reached her destination, oddly some human with red hair, Chez's interest waned and he turned back to introspection. He didn't expect her to notice him, as most elves even as far as Eyropa had heard of his exile, and even they ignored him. A cool glance that slid directly off him was all he expected, followed by a steadfast refusal to even look anywhere near him. It was often what he got from those elves who knew of his situation.

As such, he did not notice both of them looking at him, though something about the elven woman wanted to move from the back of his mind to the front. Perhaps an accent spoken, or a familiar way of moving unique to ... something. She was a good dancer, though, if not a stunning beauty that would take her far in Eyropa or the areas around Thar Shaddin.

Chez continued to sit at the table for some time, not waiting for anything, and barely thinking beyond the occasional stray thought of his parents, the place of his birth, and the outraged look from his uncle. It didn't hurt much anymore, even though it had only been a few days since he was near Guang Wan. He was tired from continued walking from Marn to Guang Wan with little rest, and his current plan was to stay in Dalouxiu for at least another day. Piled on top of the physical exhaustion was also a mental exhaustion, the toll of which had been particularly heavy over the past few days.

Chezak placed an elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, the very picture of introspection, as he plotted a course back to Thar Shaddin. He knew approximately how many weeks it would take him to make such a trip, having done a round trip already. He still found it hard to believe that only two years had passed since he was self-exiled; such things seemed much longer when they emotionally haunted a person from the time they happened.

Another idle thought popped into his head, and was dismissed as quickly. I wonder if she's from Guang Wan.

[Amm]

Strangers were rude. Uncouth. Noisy. The last was the greatest of their sins, though it tied with the collossal stink that soiled the air. No Greatmeet was their setup of big huts; a tangle of refuse and deafening roar. No way to take it, and moving moving moving else be caught by stinking bodies; a fly in the basket of many legs, savaged by constant sound.

She shook, proud warrior, dismal spy, and could not get ahold of herself. Some fat waddling toad bent down to her level, mistaking her for a child, and she stared horrified at his mouth as he spoke to her. Spoke! Almost in slow motion she watched the glistening strings of saliva connect and break behind his lips, and felt a need to be sick. He reached out to touch her, and she gave a hiss like clattering of dragonfly wings and ducked around him, casting herself from the stream of bodies and against a rough wall.

She was dismayed, but not entirely surprised, when it bucked inward and cast her stumbling into one of the holes inside their stinking dens. It was a quieter noise from the streets, but she put a hand on her spear anyways. Threatening. Angry. Scared. Nerve strummed too hard and close to breaking.

But no one really paid attention to her. Not a killing attention, though she drew gazes with her awkward posture, and straightening seemed a better option. After that, confusion, and a strong smell of something that made her stomach warble despite its allowance of fish. It was no food she recognized, and she sidled sideways to see if she could find the thing producing such a smell.

[Arusa]

Arusa barely glanced at the girl who stumbled into the room. Her only acknowledgment of her arrival was to frown and declare loudly in Hera’s direction that the children in this city were so poorly disciplined and she was very glad she would never have the burden of raising one herself.

“Although, with a mother like me, they would turn out much better, I’m sure. Not one of these spoiled little brats left to run about the city like stray dogs while their parents waste time on this and that, drinking and gossiping about all their nonsense. If only people were more responsible, instead of wasting all their time on such pointless things.

"For example, I ordered that drink hours ago and that silly woman is likely sitting around talking about this and that and completely disregarding her duties. I suggest we refuse to pay for such atrocious service.”

“Arusa, we have to pay,” Hera cut in, trying not to sound too irritated. Arusa was always doing this, getting worked up and complaining about nothing, about how no one does anything right - except herself, of course.

Arusa folded her arms and glared at Hera. “Says who?”

“The law? If we didn’t pay, it would be considered stealing. You know that.”

“Stealing?! They are the thieves; not us. However, I suppose you're right. We don’t want to get into trouble. But you should at least tell them that, unless we are given some sort of compensation, we shall never even consider staying at this horrible establishment again.”

With that, Arusa stood and placed her hands on her hips, “Now, if you will excuse me, I am going for a walk. I’ve had enough of this place and the staff’s incompetence. Perhaps the markets will be less disappointing. You pay for our meals and such. I’ll meet you back here when I get bored.”

Hera rolled her eyes at Arusa’s back as she strode away and returned, somewhat relieved, to her reading. At least she would get a little peace and quiet for a few hours... hopefully.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak's head whipped up as the front door flew open, depositing a young girl inside. She looked startled and upset. Oddly, her hand went to a spear as she looked around, as if expecting danger.

A spear?! Chezak's eyes narrowed as he looked harder at the child. There was something about her, a way of moving, that made him think that not all was what it seemed. Firstly, a child did not have such an intensely ferocious look in their eyes, and would not react like this when accidentally stumbling into an inn. Even those poor souls who had been abused and on the street from the beginnings of their lives. Secondly, children did not usually carry a spear that looked more serviceable than toy, and even when they did, they did not grip it like they knew exactly how to use it. And this one looked like she was ready to use it.

Chezak's frown went over his shoulder to the obviously spoiled and irritating young woman who had been on stage the night before, as part of her conversation carried to him. Beyond arrogant, he thought, the irony of his words lost to his mind. He simply wasn't arrogant in his own eyes.

He turned back to the young girl, his mind registering her skin color. It seemed she had spent some time in the sun recently. Something at the back of his thoughts tugged at him, but he couldn't force it to the fore to examine it.

His inspection of the child continued, waving away the waitress when she asked if he would like anything else. He was to leave soon, but he was in no hurry to go anywhere.

[Amm]

The spear was allowed to remain idle. The strangers had seen its potential, and had shivered away from it. Maybe shiver was too strong a word, but the few whose attention she'd had were no longer watching. They babbled and made awkward, rude speech. It was a den of heathens. But the smell went well with the rumble in her stomach.

She approached a table a stranger had removed herself from, and another had arrived at to drop a platter that echoed the smell she'd first been attracted to. The food was eons from what she typically ate, and its smell was odd but tantalizing. It should have smelled disgusting from its looks, some sort of sloppish bile overridden with browned slabs of something that did not look natural.

She laid a hand along her back, reaching with tippy tops of fingers to sidle along the reassuring wooden length of her spear, and reached out for one of the brown slabs. She had to feel it, touch, taste, understand why she was so attracted to its smell and form. She, who ate frogs and fish and gulped them down whole and alive.

[Arusa]

Arusa frowned as she passed the child, noticing the long spear she carried with her. What sort of irresponsible parents would allow such a young girl to run around the streets with something like that?

As she reached the door through which the girl had entered the room, she stopped and turned back to look at the child again. She was standing next to a table, staring longingly at someone else's breakfast. Perhaps the poor thing is homeless, she considered silently. Although it's hardly any of my concern...

Another glance at the man she had noticed earlier, that voice at the back of her mind still telling her she knew the elf, and Arusa opened the door to leave. But then she hesitated again. What am I forgetting?

Oh, Bishani!

She sighed as she turned to walk back to her room to retrieve her handbag, something she generally did not forget. Stupid children, distracting me and wasting my time...

[Chezak D'Maroe]

"Oi, kid, leave me breakfast alone!" the older man exclaimed as the young girl's hand reached towards his breakfast stew. He leaned forward with a hand half-cocked, almost looking as if he would backhand the girl. A short moment later, and with a brief look around at the mostly empty common room where he and the girl are now again the center of attention, the man lowered his hand. He grumbled under his breath and waved the girl away, beginning to work on his breakfast.

Chezak, slightly distracted by the return of the dancer to his line of sight, missed the beginning of the exchange. When he returned his attention to the table in question, the man had begun looking around. Their eyes met briefly, just long enough for Chez to lift one brow ever so slightly to show the man his displeasure should the act continue. The man subsided, and Chez again looked to the girl.

Only then did he notice her reaction.

[Amm]

Amm had backed violently from the table, hissing a sound that approximated a snake's warning rattle. There was not enough space in the room to gain the height she so desperately wanted, but she had made pact that she would not fly. She was no breaker, to casually sunder such an exchange of wills. She was Aniz Tera, and that held more to her than a single room of filthy strangers with their burbled words and ways.

She turned, half blind with anger and seething blame for the misunderstanding, and bumped into Arusa on the way. Immediately blood suffused her face, though with hatred rather than embarassment. In a flurry she signed accusation and insult, fingers and hands trembling the movements badly, belying her as Graceful Word-Dancer she was.

And then she placed a hand on her spear, while the other shivered out challenge to the accosted elf.

[Arusa]

Arusa had almost reached the stairs when the commotion from the middle of the room caused her to stop and turn once again. The little girl was getting herself into trouble, trying to steal someone's breakfast, from the looks of things. Is she really that stupid?

The child seemed terrified, hissing at the angered man like some wild animal. Almost concerned, Arusa considered helping the girl, but quickly dismissed the thought. She was busy, with important business to attend to. Such as retrieving my bag from my room without getting distracted aga-

Her eyes had been on the stairway when she'd felt something push against her legs, and so she hadn't noticed Amm's approach. Looking down to find the girl, she cursed her luck. How many times is this child going to interrupt my day?

She took a step back as the child began waving her hands about angrily, her face flushed and slightly dirty. "You should look where you're going," she told the girl, her tone betraying her impatience. "Where are your parents? Are you lost?"

Hera was still sitting at their table, reading and ignoring the room. Perhaps she can deal with the child, find out where she lives or something... Arusa didn't even notice the girl's hands reach for her spear.

[Amm]

Perhaps the too tall stranger was not as big a threat as Amm had first decided. Instead of preparing as any true warrior would, the stranger spoke in the tongues of half-wits and imbeciles. Awe and good impressions fled fast. There were none worthy of the An then, and this was proof some among them had committed Shame and Wrongdoing Against the People. She felt the shapes buzz out to her hands, but she stilled them, and released her spear.

So, instead of spilling blood as she was not supposed to, she glowered up at Arusa and kicked her in the shin.