Heart within the beast

[Ixidor92]

Faora shook her head before sitting down near the entrance to the tent.


"Kurogan's no outlaw. If anything, he's the exact opposite. For the last two cycles he's been in a self-imposed exile, refusing to come back to his place of birth, ironically enough, to keep your species safe."


She glared at the two of them as if it was their fault that Kurogan didn't come back


"Because Beowulf wants blood."

 

[Ricia]

Sage grind, "Oh so your saying he's a rebel?"


Rhea looked upset at the answer. They want a war? She was not sure how well that would actually go down... "What did humans do... to make you hate us so much?" She asked Faora.

 

[Ixidor92]

If looks could kill, both Sage and Rhea would have been dead from the glare that Faora shot their way. It was as if an entire lifetime's worth of hatred was behind those eyes.


"What did you do?! You destroy our homes, forcibly take over this earth, kill any of us who come into your clutches, and you have the GALL to ask why we hate you?!"


The feathers along Faora's arms were spreading, as the talons on her feet extended slightly, digging into the ground.

 

[Ricia]

"I didn't do any of that to you." Sage said using one hand to almost 'sweep away' Faora.


Rhea looked a bit scared though, she hated how Sage was just... flat out baiting into her.


"I don't blame your whole race for almost breaking my ribs, just the bunch who abducted me." Sage told her as if to give her an example.

 

[Ixidor92]

"Of course you don't."


Faora's teeth clenched, it was clear she was forcing herself to not rip Sage's throat out where she lay


"You didn't even know our kind existed until Kurogan entered your lives, did you?"

 

[Ricia]

Rhea shook her head, "I just... don't see how blood is going to solve this.." She tried to reason with the girl.

 

[Ixidor92]

"Really?"


Some of the bite came back into Faora's voice as she glared at Rhea


"And jut what would you propose? You're kind seem dead-set on killing anything that isn't either useful to you as slave labor or is human, and where nature gives a forest, you see land to be cleared and build your abominations upon. If you're SO certain that blood isn't going to open your kind's eyes, then what would you suggest?"

 

[Ricia]

"I don't know everything... but blood is not an answer!" Rhea said a bit braver. "There is never a answer that is going to be prefect... but this is wrong... and humans have wrong you.. but wrong us isn't going to fix anything!"


Sage was a bit surprised with how brave Rhea was in that moment.

 

[Ixidor92]

Faora stood up slowly, then walked in front of Rhea. Unlike Kurogan, she wasn't that much taller than the young woman. But she made up for it with flexibility. In a second, Rhea found one of Faora's talons wrapped around her throat, the claws just shy of piercing the skin


"And why should we give you that chance? You're short-sighted. You're obsessive. You're blind. And you're weak. All I have to do is squeeze, and your life would bleed out into the forest below. The naive idealism of one sheltered and blind human isn't going to change anything. I don't know how Kurogan puts up with your stench."

 

[Ricia]

Rhea's hand went up to the girl's talon and gripped at it. She breathed a bit hard from adrenalin. Sage tried to get up and help her, but her side made her falter back onto the bed.


"I may be weak... blind...You can kill me without trouble... but I am not naive..." She told the girl, "Kurogan... He is my stone... and he gives me strength and hope... I... just wanted him to be happy... I can't fix the past.. but I can help strive to the future.."

 

[Ixidor92]

"Can you bring the dead back to life?"


Faora shoved Rhea away, the young woman falling on her rear from the force


"Because otherwise your kind has already destroyed your chance of striving to the future."

 

[Ricia]

Rhea's hand came up to her neck, "Shouldn't I hate the human race too?" Rhea asked Faora, "It took away my most important person... If I could bring people back to life... I would. I want to be a doctor... so I could save lives..."

 

[Ixidor92]

Faora was silent for the first time since she had started raging, her back turned to Rhea


"She said the same thing. The person who took me in and calmed my anger after my parents died. But she's dead now. If you must blame someone, blame your own species for killing her."

 

[Ricia]

"Would she want you to take them?" Rhea asked Faora seriously. Rhea stared as intently as she could at Faora.

 

[Ixidor92]

"I don't know what she would want."


The answer was simple, but seemingly hollow, as if the hawk-girl was trying to distance herself from her emotions in the process


"Some still preach that we should seek peace, but the will of our elders is clear. It's the reason Kurogan left in the first place."

 

[Ricia]

"This can't be an answer... there will be so much death!" Rhea said, "Please..." Rhea actually reached out to Faora.


Sage actually gasped and tried to grab Rhea before she actually launched herself to Faora.

 

[Ixidor92]

Faora shifted when Sage leapt at her, the young woman falling to the ground where she had been moments before. The shift lasted only a second, Faora landing a few steps back from where Sage was now lying on her front.


"Don't try it, you'll just end up hurting yourself further. You'll stay here until Kurogan comes back--back for the first time in two cycles."


Just as she finished, the tent flap was pushed back to reveal a somewhat elderly woman. The wrinkles on her skin suggested she was at least fifty or sixty, though she seemed quite spry for such an old age. Unlike several of the beast-kin, she wore a cloak that covered most of her form. One could see yellow fur along her forearms, but anything else was hidden beneath the cloak. Her hair was the same golden color as her fur, albeit with some gray mixed in. The scowl on her face when she entered was quite evident.


"Faora! You know the laws of the clan!"


"She moved herself old one. I did nothing to her."


"I'm sure child, "


The old woman rolled her eyes slightly, as if she already knew what had transpired


"Go outside and keep watch, I will attend to matters here."


"Yes, old one."


Faora left the tent in something of a huff. If the tent flap had been a slammable door, she probably would have done so. The older woman visibly relaxed and picked up Sage with surprisingly little effort


"Up you go girl, let me have a look at you."

 

[Ricia]

Sage sucked in a light breath as she was picked up, "Sure thing, are you the doctor?" She asked. She gave Rhea a criticizing look to shut up, but it didn't look like she was paying much attention. Sage groaned on the inside as her friend kept pressing the issue.


Rhea stood up from falling over and looked at the older women, "Please... War isn't a good option..." Rhea started after Faora left. She didn't want people to get hurt... or Kurogan to get blackmailed into hurting people! She couldn't fix the past, but she could try and fix the future.

 

[Ixidor92]

"Hush child."


The woman seemed to be speaking to both Sage and Rhea as she set Sage down back on the bed.


"We're not at war. Not yet."


Sage's shirt was pulled apart at the front, where she started to gently run her fingers over Sage's torso.


"You're lucky, it doesn't seem that anything is broken."

 

[Ricia]

(New lap top and finally home after being stuck at the air port from 9am to 8pm! two cancelled flights, ridiculous xD )


"Yeah that is what Rhea said when she looked at it. But she wasn't sure." Sage said, she was glad this women stepped in when she did, Rhea could have gotten hurt. Rhea did hush, but she looked upset still. She didn't want people to get hurt and fight... she didn't want Kagura to fight against his own people.

 

[Ixidor92]

The woman ran over Sage's torso for just a little longer before scowling a little. One of her hands shifted into what was clearly a lion's paw before she ran one claw through the bindings over Sage's chest.


"All these do is tighten your ribcage. It will slow your recovery speed, besides which they do no good to your health."


The claw shifted back into a hand after the brief moment, whereupon she started to put together a poultice from seemingly nowhere. Whatever she used seemed to come from deep within the folds of her robes. After a few minutes of mixing, she started to rub it over Sage's torso, where it initially stung before seeming to blanket her with a cooling sensation.

 

[Ricia]

"Y-you broke them! You could have asked nicely and I would have taken them off!" Sage defended, now lightly upset at the new women for busting her binding. Though the thought of the claw running through her chest was terrifying as well. "Ah... I can't figure out if that feels good or bad..." Sage said softly.


Rhea shrunk to the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I just don't want Kurogan to get hurt..." She told the women softly, "Specially over me... I just wanted him to be happy."

 

[Ixidor92]

The woman threw a thin blanket over Sage, making sure the young lady kept her arms at her sides.


"You need to let your chest breathe. Trapping it will only slow the healing process. I've done what I can, but ultimately your body will heal itself. And as for you young lady--"


The woman took a firm hold under Rhea's arm and pulled her to her feet before guiding her over to a bench.


"Let me have a look at you . . ."


She pulled up Rhea's sleeve, revealing a bruise that was starting to form. It perfectly matched where Faora had grabbed earlier. She pulled out a different salve and started to apply it to a white cloth


"I'm afraid you've fallen for the wrong man if you wanted him to remain unharmed. That boy has a tendency to throw himself into whatever he believes is right, not what he believes is safe."

 

[Ricia]

"Fallen?" Rhea asked softly with a light blink, though her hand remained held out, even as the women let go of it to apply more salve to a small cloth.


Sage made a sound and she rolled her eyes, "I thought you were the smart one..."


Rhea flushed deeply, "There... is not time for that. It's not just that... Everything would have been find... but now that they've taken me.. he's... going to come here... I wish I wasn't so weak... I've depended so much on him since he came into my life. There has to be a way to stop this!"

 

[Ixidor92]

The woman started to wrap the cloth around Rhea's wrist, it seemed to harden into a cast of some sort when it touched her skin.


"The boy's been stopping it for two years. He had to come and face it at some point."


She let go of Rhea's hand once she was finished, brushing her hands off on her robe afterwards


"Judging by your tone, I would guess you don't understand what's going on."