Death, the Dance, and Destruction of Humanity

[Amm]

Amm eyed the bird slyly as he left, her mouth tightened in lasting displeasure. Then she turned to the fish, and made her lips stretch in a good expression. Fish Are Welcome she swayed, and gestured to the door. "Go. Not listen bird. I say you go with: you go."

She did not have to explain the direction of the hunt with a bird. Did birds lay traps and ambushes? No. He did not see what she saw, and he didn't think beyond the fierce dive. To him, fish were only food, and good for little else. Amm thought something else might come from a stranger-fish, and she had little desire to see the bird get his way.

She followed Chez back outside, to the swarming chaos of stranger livelihood. It smelled, and was so unorganized, little rocks scattered this way and that. Amm had watched neater lines of ants marching over the ground, tasked with purpose. There was none there, little will apparent to keep it all functioning smoothly. She was not impressed. The Tera would roll them over, slice deep into their belly and eat out the delicate innards first. Strangers like the bird would fight fierce, but they had not seen the fighting formation of the Tera.

She forced herself to relax boneless and unconcerned.

[Arusa]

"Go. Not listen bird. I say you go with: you go."

Though Arusa did not quite understand all of what the girl said, particularly what she meant by what sounded like "bird", the general message was clear: Arusa was to join the Tera and the elf on their tour of the city.

"Very well," Arusa replied, following the girl outside.

Once there, she looked to the Tera, and asked carefully, "What is your name?" As far as Arusa knew, the girl had not yet introduced herself; her name, when spoken earlier, had not been recognized as a name in Arusa's mind.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak stalked up the street, irritated with himself for letting his anger slip, irritated at the dancer for being useless and still coming along, and irritated at the Tera for her attitude. He remembered the only other Tera he had known as having a small superiority complex, but nothing like this little ... creature did.

He recognized the pettiness of his own thoughts, even as one hand began moving off to one side of his body, describing the town, the buildings, stores. He ignored it, having not allowed himself to be petty in a long time, and instead continued describing things absently as he walked quickly around the town. He knew the speed he was going would make it difficult for the two to keep up with him, but he was still feeling petty.

His fingers and hand danced, in plain view to the Tera if she was able to keep up, describing stores, what was in them, the services provided, where food was brought in from, a brief description of agriculture and farming. He finally turned his head enough to see they were lagging behind, his quick, longer strides having caused them to have to nearly run to keep up. He paused in front of a butcher's shop, with rabbit hides stretched in the window to cure in the wan sunlight coming from the half-cloudy sky.

As the Tera hadn't tried to poke any holes in him with her spear, he slipped the bow stave over his shoulder and into it's holder. His had hesitated upon letting go, as he realized he had not allowed her to catch up since irritating her, but he settled for standing in a warrior's stance, relaxed like lightning was relaxed, poised for the final strike. He looked the picture of a man lounging, waiting for friends, but he was ready on the balls of his feet, knees bent, movement, violent or otherwise, simply a mucle twitch away.

As they approached, his hands danced quickly, briefly, just as quickly becoming idle again. Any questions?

[Amm]

Strangers move fast.

Amm imagined wings and mandibles, running simulations in her mind of fleeing strangers before Tera's hunt. Even she could imagine, though, that the bird was exceptional. Too was the fish, in another way Amm could not fathom. The fish almost knew grace in the form of word-dancing, but there was a certain dumb lack of knowing about her.

Amm trotted to keep up with the longer legged bird. She imagined storks, long skinny legs and necks, and Chezak as a stork. They ate fish and frogs; maybe that was his anger with the fish. Fish are not companions, he might think to himself, they are food. No one takes a fish anywhere. Fish remain in their water to be eaten when you see one. But no, then Amm would have to instruct the stork stranger on a new set of rules. She knew how dangerous a fish could be, even if storks did eat them.

She did not look back to see if Arusa could keep up.

The two of them, her fish and bird, were special. They were colored where the rest of the strangers she saw, mostly, were drab things. They were unbalanced as they moved, ungainly. They had no warrior heart to lend them the savage grace Tera prided dear most of all. It was difficult to classify them. Even flies were precise and quick with their movements -- a worthy prey. None of Amm's prey or predators were as half hearted as were they. She jolted Disgraceful Lazy Worthless Food as she steadily kept ground on the bird, giving her stride an extra bounce as if she was skipping.

The bird was trying to sign to her, she could see, but the alternating press and flow of the other strangers kept blocking the wide arcs and sweeps of his body language, so she discarded the small bits she could see. As far as she knew he was only babbling water paths, and unless one was looking for prey, what use was water's babble? That was it! The rest of the strangers were water, sort of sitting there unneeded, all streaming in new directions when disturbed. Passive, necessary to some degree, but lacking in the purposeful minds of the birds, fish, and bugs all. It was a little disappointing, but Zuu would be pleased. Too bad she couldn't just poke them all to see if they would run downstream like the bands of water that bled into the Eyewaters.

"Any questions?" Bird had stopped, striking a stork warrior pose that Amm found good. She gave him approval, and turned partially to see if the fish had kept up through the water-strangers.

She should probably ask about all the water strangers.

"Where are the other fish, the other birds? Strangers are all water." She encompassed the busy street with wide, grand gestures, throwing the direction of her body into the nuances. She might have been engaging in some weird, primitive dance to unknowing eyes.

[Arusa]

Chezak had hurried away, the Tera after him, leaving Arusa's question to simply dissolve right there front of her, disappointingly unanswered. Though frustrated by the man's insolence, she had no chance to express herself, instead having to run after the others just to keep up, a motion likely most unflattering. She should be the leader, the one setting the pace. What would this common, pitiful ingrate know about Dalouxia?

At this time of the morning, the streets were busy, filling with those with business and shopping to attend to. She had almost lost the elf and the Tera once when she noticed a jewelery store, but not wanting Chezak to think she had given up, Arusa ran after them a moment before they disappeared around a corner.

Suddenly, with no idea of what Chezak had been trying to show or explain, having always been too far behind to really pay attention or hear the man, Arusa noticed the other two had stopped. As she caught up to them, they looked at her, before engaging in more conversation of the hands. Arusa simply watched and waited... for all of a second.

She frowned at Chezak, hands on hips, as they often were, and declared loudly, "That is hardly the way to show a stranger about! Did she not want to see Dalouxia? Did you ask her where she might wish to go? Honestly, I hope you do not ever plan for a career as a tour guide, for the sake of the tourists."

As she finished speaking, she crossed her arms, frowning even more. The expression did not do her appearance any favours, but she was currently too frustrated to care.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

For the moment before Arusa interrupted his train of thought, Chezak could almost see the city the way he thought the Tera might. The constant ebb and flow of the press of humanity, traffic moving between the riverbanks of shops and houses. He understood why she might call him bird, a creature normally adept at plucking dragonflies from the air, but turned prey when faced with the larger size of the shifter nation.

The fish, a creature also known to eat the dragonfly larva, the young still in the water, a predator in its own right, but an easier meal for a Tera shifter than the bird with it's mobility and greater weaponry of ...

"That is hardly the way to show a stranger about! Did she not want to see Dalouxia? Did you ask her where she might wish to go? Honestly, I hope you do not ever plan for a career as a tour guide, for the sake of the tourists."

Chezak gave Arusa an unreadable look for interrupting his thoughts, but somehow, the Tera's question had given him an insight on what she really wanted to see here. He continued to look blandly at the dancer for a moment, before saying in a quiet voice, "I think I know what she would like to see now. It has been sometime since I've been here," his voice took on a slight hint of sarcasm and something else, "but I seem to recall the guardsman training grounds is five or six streets that way, correct?" He pointed to the northwest, towards the exit leading to the Northern Trade route. He remembered that it was near that exit, as trouble most often came from that direction in Dalouxia.

He moved his hands, barely waiting for the dancers' response. The distractedness in his thoughts came through in the not quite finished movements of his hands, though he would still be mostly understandable to the Tera. We will take you to see more birds, Tera. The water yields few fish in these parts, but you will see the birds. Follow me.

He kept his pace slower this time, moving in the direction he had indicated to the dancer.

[Amm]

Amm looked to the sky to gather Serenity Despite Hardship. She felt as if she would burst pow like a splash of water. The fish slapped its tail at the stork's gulping maw. Defiance between the two, fighting for something like the control Amm carried by being Tera. It seemed stupid to tell them this, so she let them tussle out their differences as a chief might oversee his people. Irritating, necessary maybe. Information was for Zuu, and she wasn't supposed to muddy it up by interfering.

The stork and fish might not normally speak with the grace and superiority of the Aniz Tera, but some language was universal. She saw their silent interplays in the tenseness of muscle, trying to ignore the hapless word-signals both sent, unaware of their nuanced signals to the sight-focused Amm. They were clumsy and unfit to be Tera -- if anything reminded Amm of this it was their clumsy body language. Every movement they made she had to sift through, determining what was intentional and what was not.

She wondered, as she silently followed them, if she should teach them Tera movement so she would not go mind-sick with the intense concentration she was having to adopt. It was not like she could simply blind herself to them, smear her eyes with dirt and no longer see. Sight was primary to the Tera, advanced beyond the other senses to their detriment. A blinded Tera often begged mercy in the end, for such great misery was a heavy rock burden.

Strangers were plentiful, she noted in an uneasy dismay. They were used to being plentiful, else her guides would show signs of unease as she was. But if most of them were water, maybe there would be fewer birds. Already the bulk of them outnumbered her clan when it was at its full, before Miserable Demise had set in. Maybe at the end of her journey she would test herself against stork in a round of No Death combat.

She was impatient. "Where birds?" She incorporated the question into her walking movements, making it like an undercurrent. Stork may not see her asking the question on repeat, but it made her feel better to demand the answer, anyway.

[Arusa]

"I seem to recall the guardsman training grounds is five or six streets that way, correct?"

Arusa's face took on a look of confusion when Chezak said this. "Yes..." she spoke slowly, unsure of his intention, but he was already continuing in that direction. Thankfully, this time he walked much slower, so it was not such a difficult task to keep up, and she fell into step beside him.

In a tone half-condescending, she asked him, "Why exactly would she want to see the guardsmen training?"

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak walked slowly through the streets, ignoring the press of humanity, instinctively rolling a shoulder to avoid a man walking to close, shifting his hips and slipping nearly sideways between a small gap in the press of people. The market they were walking through, simply called Main Street Market, was full of people. Vendors called to him, asking him to look at their wares: pins, knives, bags for the traveller, weapons. He ignored them, expression blank as he wound his way through them. The market did most of it's business around the mealtimes, and he was nearly accosted by a man with a large tray laden with several meat pies. The man claimed they were beef pies, but Chezak could tell by the smell that they were not. He gave the man an hard stare, and the man swallowed loudly before suddenly turning to find more amenable patrons.

Chez kept an eye on his charges, particularly the Tera, not wanting to lose her in the press of bodies. He waved away the question from Arusa, simply saying, "I'm not sure. It's just a suspicion I have." He wasn't exactly sure why he thought she would want to see the guardsman either. He hoped he was right though, because this little creature could become a heavy burden quickly if he did not show her what she wanted. It would be a shame to have to kill one of the Tera because she thought he wasn't fulfilling his duties as her guide through humanity.

As they got closer to the guardsmen training grounds, the crowd thinned out. There was a small guards barracks in the same compound, enough to house several full members of the guards, the trainers, and the trainees. The main guards barracks were closer to the centre of town.

He led the small group past the front gate, knowing that the three of them would never be let into the compound without first formulating some ruse. He couldn't trust that the dancer nor the Tera would convincingly carry out any ruse he could come up with, so he simply watched the gate surreptitiously as they walked by it. He could hear a voice shouting orders, and the clatter of wooden practice weapons in use. It didn't matter if the Tera stared, and he signed that this was where the birds were, and that he would take them to a place where they could see them soon. She looked enough like a child that the guards would simply assume she was enthralled with the thought of the guards inside.

They rounded a corner, taking them out of sight of the main entrance to the training grounds. A group of young children, mostly boys, darted out of one of the alleyways just in front of Chezak, laughing and chasing one another. They were not much older than five or six, looking a few years younger than Amm. Chez reached out quickly, catching one of the last of the boys in line by the arm and stopping him for a moment. He crouched and looked the lad in the face, who stared defiantly back. Chezak gave the boy a crooked grin, and asked in a soft, gentle voice, "Easy, boy. I just want to know where i could take my daughter to watch the guards in training."

The boy glanced back at Amm, then at Arusa, and back to Chezak. He still stared defiantly for a moment, then pointed down the street. "Bout two blocks down, mister. There's a buildin' nearly 'gainst tha side wall of tha grounds where some of us go ta watch them. Has a stair way up one side, an' ya can climb over ta tha roof of 'nother buildin'."

Chezak nodded and smiled slightly, slipping a coin into the lad's hand and letting his arm go. "Thank you, boy. Go now." The boy hustled off after his friends, exclaiming and showing the group, who had stopped several paces away, his new prize. They hooted and laughed, clapping him on the back before running off. Chezak was already striding purposefully up the street.

A few minutes later they reached the structure and Chezak climbed up ahead of them. The balcony at the top of the stairs afforded a somewhat obstructed view of the training grounds, but not enough to see much as a large portion of the barracks was in the way of the grounds themselves. Besides, there was not enough room for more than one adult to stand and watch. He hoisted himself to the railing, balancing easily on the thin piece of wood, which seemed sturdy beneath him, then leaped the short distance to the slightly angled roof next door. He waited for the others to cross, both making the journey nearly as easily as himself, neither really needing the guiding hand he placed on them as they landed.

He turned and surveyed the training ground, watching the guards drilling as they practiced sword use. He climbed up higher on the slightly slanted roof, settling himself nearly on the peak to watch the guards, and the Tera.

[Amm]

The queries she had repeated over and over went unanswered, not that she had really expected them to be acknowledged. The strangers were not as sight detailed as the Tera. Telling currents of water passed through their fingers, and they did not even look. Perhaps, perhaps there were hawk among them, but as she watched their blooded dancers trade blows she thought that maybe then they were not so helpless. These were not as dedicated as the whole of the Tera. They did not seem to try to achieve Flow and Ease. Nor did they train as one, each open to the other. Most of them formed currents of water. These were separated. Culled? She sensed they watched in secret. There would be no free milling here. They had no equivalent of the All.

It was almost sad for her.

"We go." She said, and signed, "West." She waved vaguely in the direction she remembered it to be, and stared up at the strangers she had claimed. She scowled. She was not happy with the idea of being so dependent on strangers. She had good sight, and good memory to back it up. . .yet following Chez she had not been able much to look at her surroundings. She could remember the crazy patterns of legs, and the familiar shape of Chez's back, but she had had to hustle to keep up. She was lost. It irritated her.

But this was the hunt of information, and she would wait and hide and let her prey make its mistakes so she could carry them with her to Zuu. So she waited, and let the acid sting of impatience chew slowly at her.

[Arusa]

Arusa continued to follow them along quietly, unsure of what else she could add when anything said to either of her companions would be an obvious waste of breath. The elf was a clearly an arrogant fool, and the girl was... well, Arusa did not know if she could even understand.

She did not particularly dislike the child... or tera, or whatever she was meant to be. No, the girl could not help her lack of knowledge. Chezak, however, could easily be blamed for his own stupidity, too proud to listen to the words of one clearly wiser than he. Never mind that, she told herself as she followed along Let him do as he wishes for now, and you can take control of the situation when he is tired of his own childishness.

When they finally reached their destination, Arusa was losing her patience, and became distracted by an attractive guard nearby. Hm... Being a guard, he would almost certainly be an idiot, but... Then she realized that Chezak and the girl were already moving on, and quickly followed.

When the man, followed by the girl, climbed a ladder attached to the side of a building, before jumping across to another building next to it, Arusa could not help feeling surprised. Do they really expect me to climb up there in there skirts? Well! But then, did she really want to look weak in front of that pig of a man? He might even gloat about it, and that was certainly not a pleasant thought at all. No, she would just have to follow them, regardless of how unpleasant it may be to do so.

With a sigh, she resigned herself to that decision and climbed up with ease. The jump was also not a problem for her, being so fit from dancing so often, but the long skirts still made it uncomfortable to do. The dirt which it gathered also displeased her, though she could not do anything about it now.

This is turning out to be a strange and bothersome day, she thought as she cast her gaze over the view below.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak watched the ebb and flow of the guards' movements, waves crashing against each other. He was surprised how easily he could use the new context of the Tera's thoughts on humanity, the comparison of nature sometimes surprisingly apt.

He looked down at the Tera as she spoke, following the movements of her fingers and the wave of her hand. West.

Chezak's brows drew down into a frown. He was heading in that direction anyways, but he wondered why she would want to go that way. It made little sense, but he didn't think he would be able to understand her thought process, and whatever reasoning had brought her into a human city, until he was better able to communicate with her. He nodded his acquiescence, placing a hand on Arusa's shoulder as he approached the edge of the building.

"Amm says it is time to leave, dancer. She wishes to press westward. I believe she means today." His gaze took in the scattering of light clouds in the sky, the distance until the sun was overhead. It was nearly noon, and he felt his own eagerness to be out of the city and back on the road, travelling again. He had meant to be on the road already, but the Tera had distracted him from that goal.

He looked back to Arusa, his eyes questioning. "I believe she means for you to come with us. I don't know why she would, but I am almost certain it is so."

Chezak's eyes cut back to Amm, his fingers moving, flitting through movements not nearly as sharp and precise as Amm's, yet still mostly readable despite all of that. Is the dancer to come west, Tera? Her items will need to be taken from ... His fingers paused, lines creasing his forehead slightly as he tried to think of a way to describe the inn to the Tera. There was no word that he was aware of that would fit the description of an inn. Finally, he finished lamely, ... from her sleeping place.

[Amm]

Amm was satisfied in her choice. Though they might not have the smarts of her kind, the two she'd picked were big. Bigger than most of the other ones. There seemed to be a huge difference between the tallest of the strangers and the smallest -- which were definitely lacking the qualities of the bigger ones -- and she seemed to have picked two of the biggest. But sometimes they still made her wonder just how dumb all strangers were.

She stomped a foot. "Fish? Fish is no dancer. Stop wasting time. Prepare yourselves, I will watch until you are done. Hurry."

That they had items to take was interesting. Amm wondered if it was similar to the things she'd needed to take, such as weapons and skins for water. Lots of water. Water was very important. She eyed her companions. She would not share her water if they did not bring enough.

"Go." She said to Arusa, clearly impatient.

[Arusa]

They watched the training guardsman barely long enough for Arusa to make herself comfortable, when the other two suddenly decided it was time to leave. In fact...

"She wishes to press westward. I believe she means today."

"Wait, you mean we are to leave the city? Today?!" Arusa could not hide her surprise. It was not that she had not become used to traveling, even on short notice, at times (though most often by her own notice). She had even been planning to leave soon, herself, of course, also westward, but...

She glanced over the man and the small girl, her eyes questioning the sincerity of their request. They were strangers to her, and not those you could easily trust. In fact, to many, they would seem to be quite insane. Perhaps they were attempting to con her, to steal her jewels or even to murder her. Perhaps they were working for her competition! There were surely many dancers who were starting to hear of her success and her beauty, and they would all certainly feel envious of her.

But then again, perhaps they were being truthful. Perhaps this was a member of a race not heard of in quite a time. Perhaps Arusa could find a way to be credited with the discovery of a tribe of these people, or learn their delicate language and incorporate it into her dance, or... well, surely there would be some way to make a profit from the effort! No, she could certainly not walk away with so much possibility.

There was a long pause as she was thinking this over, but finally she spoke.

"Very well. I shall return to the inn and prepare for the journey, and we will all meet downstairs and discuss the situation," Arusa declared, as though she were the one in charge of the three of them.

Standing carefully, she climbed back down to the street, and without looking back, returned to the inn, leaving the Tera and the elf to follow or do whatever else they pleased until later on.

*******************************

It had taken only three hours for Arusa to pack and to change into more suitable clothes for traveling. They were perhaps not the most glamorous skirts, but at least she was prepared for the possibility that they would leave immediately. They were comfortable and, more importantly, she would not mind if they happened to be ruined. On the road, she had no need to look her best, unlike her time spent in the larger towns and cities.

At the thought of leaving Dalouxia, Arusa could not contain her sigh. It was lovely to see new places and perform for different people, increasing her fame and adoration. Still, she could not help feeling a little disappointed to be leaving; the city was where she belonged, especially with the incredible jewelery one cou- Knock, knock! "Arusa?"

It was Heranalia.

Arusa had forgotten about Hera in her rush to decide on what to take with her. Well, she hadn't completely forgotten the girl, deciding that she could prepare to have the rest of Arusa's luggage taken to the next major town along the trade route, wherever she was next to perform. That way Arusa was free to spend her time keeping an eye on her two new "companions" and see what information she could gather from them.

Hera would keep her clothing safe; yes, Arusa trusted her to do so. Now all she had to do was make the arrangements with the girl.

"Come in, Hera. It's open."

Arusa remained at the mirror, again making sure that her hair and clothing were more than adequate, turning left and right and wondering if she had been gaining weight lately. She heard the door open and close, and footsteps as Hera's reflection came into view behind her own. With another heavy sigh, she turned to face the girl, who waited patiently to speak. Her face showed the same bored expression it so often did. "What is it, Hera?"

"I just came to ask when you wanted to leave Dalouxia," the human replied, with little apparent interest. "So I can make sure all the arrangements are made before then."

Arusa nodded as she donned her coat, again checking her appearance in the mirror, and even as she turned to pick up her belongings, and make sure that all was in order, she did not once make eye contact with her assistant.

"Yes, thank you. I trust you can make all the necessary arrangements. However, I will require you to travel with my luggage to... where was it we're going next? Oh, never mind. I'm leaving today and I am leaving my possessions with you. You may stay here another night or two, if you need to do so, and I would like you to wait for me at the next town we are to stay in. I have left you enough money to cover all expenses, and I expect you to wait for me at whichever inn you choose to stay in once you arrive. Leave a message with the town guards or an establishment of note, so I know where to find you."

And with that, Arusa opened the door to leave. Hera, for a moment, stood speechless, though the creak of the door woke her from that daze. "Wait, what? You're leaving now? With who?" she said with clear astonishment at the sudden announcement.

Arusa paused for a moment before finally meeting Hera's gaze. The red-haired girl looked caught between shock and irritation, though the elven dancer barely noticed at all, her mind wandering to the journey ahead. "With whom, I think you meant to ask, and that is none of your concern. However, if you must know, I have met... a man, and he has asked me to travel with him. I accepted his invitation. If I do not see you before I leave, I wish you luck on your journey. Good day."

So as Arusa walked quickly down the stairs, to the ground floor of the inn, Hera fell back onto Arusa's bed and sighed with anger and resignation.

[Chezak D'Maroe]

Chezak lifted a brow slightly at Amm's insistence that Arusa wasn't a dancer, but didn't push the issue. He supposed that for a creature who's sense of things was so vastly different from elven or human kind, dancing may be something far different than what she had seen from Arusa. He wondered what Amm would think if she did see Arusa actually dance. She wasn't the best he had ever seen, but she did have a unique grace that he felt was interesting.

He didn't say anything when Arusa finally agreed. He could see the questions behind her eyes, but he could also see her curiousity. His preference would be that she didn't come along, but it was clear the Tera wished for her to come as well. He was only slightly surprised that Arusa didn't put up a fight.

He nodded to Amm, indicating she should cross to the staircase, then followed, deftly leaping the short distance and landing on the railing, not using his hands to catch himself, but instead walking slowly along the railing before hopping down to the steps and following them down. His assumption was that Amm would want to go with Arusa, and since all of his items were currently gathered and ready, he could do nothing but follow the two.

The wait was long, as he knew it would be, almost to the point where it wasn't worth leaving the city tonight. He made a few motions to Amm, sensing her frustration, asking again whether she really wanted the fish to come along, then asking if she still wanted to leave. He didn't quite sigh at the answer, instead simply standing and walking up the stairs, following Arusa's hired hand upstairs. He lounged outside for a few moments, then raised his hand to knock, stepping back suddenly when Arusa stepped out before him.

He didn't say anything more than "It's time," before he turned and headed back downstairs.