silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Kat was silent again, then said, "when very young, a pack of wolves hunted me as game, then something far worse hunted me years later. The first, that is how I developed my love of being up high. They could not get to me up there."
Kiko nodded at her and avoided the bit about wolves. That was already putting Kat on edge before she'd come home.
A fine tactic. Watching from a higher position.
Kiko had spent several cold nights huddled up in or around trees long before coming to Wistvale.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Post by silverdust on Nov 10, 2011 23:42:45 GMT -5
"Hiding in a higher position. I did not like having to hide. And then I learned why I should have learned to love hiding, when the Raiders came through. I did not know who or what they were, but their hounds sniffed me out soon enough. I killed two of the Hounds before they caught me. After that..." Kat shrugged and focused on her food. "Ero scopata."
I don't know these Raiders you speak of Kat, or hounds. But, I know this area. I've seen no such thing here. As Grayell has said, nothing will find you here above.
Kiko felt sorry for the girl. Especially if she had been constantly running from these Raiders and their dogs. It made her wonder, though. Why? Did her being a thief contribute to that or was it a by-product of some larger issue. And, would the Raiders follow her here.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Though before she had been quite hungry, Kat now only picked at her food. Her hair fell about her face, hiding her glowing-pale skin in darkness. She continued softly, as if she hadn't even heard Kiko, "oh, but this was a long little while ago. They caught me, and in return for the deaths of their hounds they used me in a baiting."
Kiko glanced at the Wolf. He had not said anything and seemed to have decided to let Katerina talk, or her. Kiko's voice, when she spoke, had soften by several octaves.
Baiting?
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Kat gave one of those soft, coughing growls, "a starved, half-crazed wolf set against their attack dogs. Replace the wolf with a feral, scared panther-girl who doesn't understand any of what's going on?" Kat's fingers brushed softly over her leg, tracing the same line over and over again.
Kiko sighed softly. She did not know what to say. Oh, she knew the agony of survival. She was well acquainted with overcoming adversity to stay alive. She was even coming to terms with many of those old scars. She had a bucket full of tenacity too.
Kiko would rather die than give up. The next set of words was pushy, prying, and probing.
They used you to train their hounds to hunt?
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
Grayell indeed said nothing. It was no time for him to interject and offer some sage advice or other crap. No, she had a past and it was as painful as any he'd heard. She needed to get it off her chest and so, he listened.
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Post by silverdust on Nov 11, 2011 20:40:56 GMT -5
"Trying to train them to kill, mostly."
Kat slowly chewed a strip of rabbit meat and took a swallow of tea. "So I followed my instincts. I fought and killed." Her fingers traced that same line on her leg again. "And then there was the sound of harness on horse, and rough voices... I do not know what they were saying, but the hounds were called off. I thought I was saved."
Kiko nodded. Though, by now, Kat was not even looking at her. Gods. She would much rather listen than prompt people to talk. The tension was putting knots in her spine and neck. Tension she had to control and master, along with keeping her voice to a soothing tone. She had done everything she knew to do.
But, even with that Kat had to have it a thousand times worse. No matter how gregarious you might be, ugly memories were hard on anyone to talk about. Kiko didn't want to assume. She also did not want to stop the girl from talking.
And then?
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
"And then I found out I was wrong. I only pieced together what happened afterwards... at the time I was but an animal, and did not understand. Their leader had returned... he did not want me to be wasted on such things, but some of the ones whose hounds I had killed wanted revenge. Their leader thought I was much more valuable as an attractive piece of fodder for the Arenas in Graelmore." She fell silent -- or thought she did -- and closed her eyes as the viewed the sharp memories once more
Thrown into a cage. Reeking of fear and anger. Pulled back out again for the long wound down the inside of her left thigh -- courtesy of the teeth of a hound whose neck she broke soon afterwards -- to be stitched closed. Many suns on the road. Healing, fed enough to keep it up.
An iron collar sealed around her neck, chained to a post and whipped to run, to exercise so she'd be in good form for the auctions.
Drugged to keep her quiet at night.
Days blended together, one the same as the next, only the surroundings changing, until finally she was thrown into a different cage, surrounded by others. All different people, different races, united by the look of naked, hopeless futility.
Kiko listened quietly. There were several times when she wanted to break the narration and she throttled that desire. Kat didn’t need questions about her past she needed to get it out. Kiko had bottled up too many emotions for way too long. She was still dealing with the consequences. And, so was Kat, clearly.
In fact, Kiko wasn’t even sure Kat realized she was speaking out loud. Her words suggested that she, if anything; was speaking to herself, not other people.
Unusual.
Perhaps it was her coping mechanism. Distance or separation from the person she was to the other after this "Angelli della Notte" entity rescued her.
.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”
silverdust [M:0:0:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?board=ci&action=display&thread=314]Mess with the panther, and you get the dagger in your throat.
Kat was silent for a few moments as she picked at her food. She took a long swallow of tea, cleared her throat and said, "I am sorry. I completely stopped listening. Lost in memories, you know. You were saying?"
Kiko controlled her astonishment. Was Katerina unaware of what she had just said; as it seemed she must be? The catgirl had taken a quick swallow of tea, but any expectation of a reply to her story, or even an indication that she had been heard was absent from her face.
Kiko was baffled. She recovered quickly, throwing a glance toward the Wolf to see what he thought.
I was saying that we should head into town and find you a home.
Eternity
“Put some clothes on, you weird, yellow-eyed, table-dancing, werewolf-training, cryptic, stare-me-right-in-the-eyes-and-don't-even-blink wench.”