A.W.A.K.E.N.I.N.G

T

Tazmin

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There was silence in the beautiful grove. Trees where casting their shadows on the loamy earth and all of its inhabitants. It was a sad day indeed, for the tribe of Akinara had lost one of their own. Tears streamed down the faces of the women and the men were stoic. Apart from a few muffled sobs, the place was quiet. That is until the chief took center stage.

''Kohana is gone, but do not worry brothers...sisters. In spirit, he lives on''

His words were uttered in the traditional language and like a soothing balm, they washed over the small group. But the sadness was still there. Kohana had been a very important member of the tight-knit community. He had been a son to the brother of the chief, and since the chief himself had only sired females, the last of the great chief's line. He was seen as a major factor to the well-being of the tribe. Such a burden was placed on Kohana's shoulders because it was only the males in his family that could one day harness the power and magic of ''Atuma'Khor'', which basically meant the aura and essence of all matter that was veiled in the spirit world. And even though he had always scoffed at the notion of magic, it was in his destiny to be a great shaman.

In the particular corner of the grove, there stood an old woman, worn and wrinkled with age. What surprised and slightly angered anyone who happened to glance her way was the fact that she was smiling. She walked slowly towards the chief and some women gasped at her audacity. She had not even greeted the chief in the proper way, the one designated to him due to his heavy position.

''Do not grieve. He shall awaken."

The chief frowned but did not answer. All eyes were trained on the elder. Suddenly everyone was wondering where she had come from for none had ever seen her before. She slowly ambled off and the chief soon motioned for the people to move. Tonight they would leave. It was no longer safe here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - AWAKENING- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kohana woke up with stars in his eyes. They were teasing him with their brilliance but the moment he reached out to touch them, they would disappear and he would be left feeling exasperated. Where was this place. He sat up with a dull pain in his side, wondering why he was slightly dusty. The place was utterly quiet. For some reason that scared him.

Where were his people?
 
Katasha slowly hummed to her herself as she danced under the midnight stars. She loved to be out here at night alone. Nothing but nature would surround her...or so she thought. As she hummed to herself she noticed off in the distance a shadow like feature. With curiousty she slowly headed towards it thinking it was a wounded animal in need of help, as she got closer though she noticed it was a man. Quickly she stopped in her tracks staring at him. She had a agger in her boots and if her took one step towards her she was going straight for it. Her deep blue eyes started at him with worry and curiousity. She waited for him to speak.
 
His skin was filmy with sweat and his heart was racing. It felt like a dull thud to his ears, like his heart had taken a break and had come back unwillingly. Kohana touched his chest, and his fingers came away dusty, in fact his whole body was filthy, even his treasured deerskin trousers had succumbed to the filth. He closed his eyes, trying vainly to remember what had happened. One minute he had been on a hunt and the next minute...here. And he had no idea where he was, it was very disorienting. Kohana took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. He felt as weak as a newborn kitten. I wonder what Isu would think if he saw me now. Him and Isu had been rivals for ages but Kohana had always managed to come out on top in everything, especially with the ladies. It used to drive his rival insane. He ran his fingers through his unruly brown hair, wondering when it had become unbound.

That's when he noticed the young lady staring fixedly at him. He paused, trying to place her face. He came up with a blank. The girl looked skittish though, as if any sudden movement from him would make her bolt. The longer she stared at him, the more uncomfortable he became. He wasn't used to speaking with strangers and this girl certainly wasn't from his tribe. She had pretty eyes though. Kohana sat back down, still a little too weak to fully stand. He finally decided that he would talk to her. Hopefully she understood his language.


'I am Kohana. Don't worry, I couldn't hurt you even if I wanted to,' He ended with a rueful grin.
 


Seith was out at night. The whole tribe was grieving over Kohana's death. The atmosphere was heavy and it made Seith feel uneasy and frustrated. They all would miss such a great member of the clan. After the burial, she met with the rest of the group that went hunting with Kohana during his last hours. They all witnessed the cruelty of animals. The cruelty of that particular one. The predator was also a reason why Seith left the village unnoticed. She wanted to hunt down the creature, she wanted to shoot it, stab it, gut it, do anything with it just to let her anger out. Everyone from the group blamed themselves for not doing anything while the catastrophe happened. It was too dangerous to shoot from a bow because Kohana and that animal were fighting and were entwined. However, Seith knew that she had at least on opportunity to kill the animal.

Kicking a root of a tree, she let out a frustrated sight. How long would this hunt her down? Probably for the rest of her life. Seith looked around and tried to hear any noice that an animal would do. No, the whole forest was quiet as if it was regreting such a loss of her clan too. In order to see anything at all, Seith climbed up a tree so that she could see few meadow from her spot and maybe, if luck would be on her side, there could be something to hunt down. Getting to the very top, Seith looked around. Suddenly her eye caught a movement. It was on a meadow not that far away. Due to the moonlight which was brigther than usual and her perfect sight, Seith could make up the general appearance of the shadows. They were human like. Narrowing her sight and using all her will, Seith made out even some details.

Her throat tightened. That couldn't be true. She almost fell down from the peak of the tree if she didn't tightened her grip. No, that was not true. That couldn't be! But then the old woman said... Seith climbed down the tree as fast as she could, receiving few scratches on her arms as she didn't care about those small twigs. When it was safe, she jumped down, rolling over to ease the impact. Standing tall again, she silently run towards the place. She couldn't afford to be heard. No not at all. Seith wasn't the quickest runner, she wasn't slow either, but in few minutes she reached her destination. Hiding on the edge, between the trees, her eyes opened wide. So it was true! Bless be the woman! But wait...who was that girl? And why did she hold a dagger? Instinct told Seith what to do.

I am not going to lose you again, Seith thought and with the certainity of an experienced hunter she quietly got her bow and put arrow, aiming at the center of the girls chest. If she would make a move that would signalize an intention of hurting Kohana, Seith would shot without a second thought. She would do her duty for the sake of her clan. However, she still remained hidden in the forest. It was better not to be seen or heard when the prey was about to be hunted down.

((ooc: Seith is not in love with Kohana. She just feels it as her duty to protect his life with her own))
 

Katasha smiled at Kohana. She knew exaclt what he was saying, she studied this language since she was littlt. Even though she studied this language for a long time she still wasn't great at speaking it. She pointed at herself and said, "My name Katasha." When she felt as though she was safe she moved her hand away from the dagger. "You are hurt..come with me" She said wth a comforting smile. As she reached out her hand for his she heard a bird chirping not to far from where she was. Quickly she grew very quiet and her gaze fell in the direction of the woods. Waiting to spot another human like his. She could feel the presence of someone watching her and couls tell it was not a dangerous animal. If the animal would have been dangerous then the bird would have flown away. When she couldn't hear or see anything she turned her gaze back to Kohana. "Please come with me.. I help you." She said knowing her people would let him in with open arms. "We have..." She hesitated trying to think of the word in english. "We have... foo...foo...food!!! Yes we have food and medicine for pain." She said.
 

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"No, I don't think he will. At least, not alone and with you," Seith said from her hiding place, spitting the words out. She didn't believe that woman and wouldn't believe her for anything anyone could give her. She slowly reached the edge between forest and meadow so that she was visible to the girl but not to Kohana due to staning behind his back. However, as she was leaving her hiding place Seith was still aiming at the woman's chest. Her eyes were narrowed, her posture still as she stopped few metres from both of them. She wouldn't let Kohana leave alone with her.

"He can go back to the village he came from. I can take him there. We're of the same clan," she said and suddenly remembered that the girl didn't speak their language with confidence. So then she probably was from a different clan. Her clothes could have hinted that to Seith. Hoping that the girl understood something for what Seith said, she preserved her position. After a while Seith made few more steps towards the two of them never leaving her target for a second. She wanted to be closer to Kohana so that in any case she would be able to protect him from anything or anyone. With each passing second the chilly feeling under her skin increased. It happened whenever the adrenalin was running through her body. For few more seconds, Seith was quiet. She didn't dare to speak to Kohana for she still couldn't believe that he was real. It was more likely Seith was dreaming. Moreover, if she would speak her voice would probably tremble or she would stutter which wouldn't be good because it might undermine her image of strength and determination.
 
Exhale.Inhale.Exhale.Inhale. It was a mantra that played in Kohana's head as his lightheadness persistently increased. He was glad however, that the girl-Katasha, had seen him as no harm and was actually going out of her way to talk to him and try to help him. It would have been decidedly unpleasant if the opposite had happened. And even though her grasp of his language wasn't perfect, he understood her well enough. The problem was that as each second passed he became more and more numb. His head was spinning and for a moment he wondered if this is how it felt like to die. That's when another voice shattered into his conciousness and he managed to dredge up the strength to scour his memory and find out who it belonged to. He knew that voice. It was Seith and it seemed like she was right behind him. For a moment the simple beauty of familiarity washed over him. This was someone he knew and the relief he felt that he wasn't actually alone had him reverently thanking any Godly entity that existed. That was until what she was actually saying actually penetrated his brain. Kohana frowned slightly and though he couldn't see her, he spoke to her.

Or rather tried to. That's when the pain began, a pain so excruciating that he fell to his side and his tongue bled as he tried to muffle a scream. However, he couldn't stop the convulsions that racked his body. Everything just hurt so much. He truly was dying.
 
Seith was way to concentrated on the girl that she missed how Kohana tried to speak to her. Only when he collapsed she noticed that something wasn't quite right. Suddenly a set of contractions went through his body and at first Seith panicked. She dropped her weapon and ran to her clan-mate, kneeling next to him when she got close enough. Examining him with sort of calm gaze which was still a little bit startled at the suddeness of how things went on, Seith searched her little sack that was strapped to her waist for a little jar that contained a poweder which she usually used with the newbies when she taught them how to fight. They all had this awful habit of passing out once they were attacked by something that reached higher then their waist.

"Damn it!" she hissed. Finding out that the jar wasn't in there was really frustrating. What else could she do? She couldn't watch Kohana die again. Or did he die before when he was attacked by the animal? Confusing....it was all very confusing but she had to push these thoughts away now. She had safe the life of the great-shaman-yet-to-be. Looking around, Seith's mind was working as much as possible. Night was cold yet she was feelin hot. The breeze brushed throught the forest moving the branches slightly. So far, she couldn't see anything that would help. At last, her eyes settled on the girl. At the moments of despair, sometimes you had to believe in even a complete stranger.

"Please, try something," she spoke out clearly to the girl so that she should be able to understand, her voice was firm. No, Seith didn't add any threat because it might only make the girl nervous and also before she would say it, Kohana might already be dead. Placing one of her hands on Kohana's shoulder, Seith waited for what the girl would do, watching every movement she did.
 
Katasha watched as a woman came out with a weapon pointed to her chest. She did not get mad though she simply remained calm. These people were confused and scared. Katasha was about to speak when she saw Kohana fall to the floor blood splurting from his mouth. She was about to leave when she heard the girl ask for help, with a nod she knealed by Kohana's side. She opened to his mouth to see where the blood was coming from and then looked at the cuts the boy had. He was shaking furiously and his body was growing very hot. Katasha had witnessed this twice. It was a poison and she was confused how it winded up in Kohana. Quickly she pulled out her dagger and looked at the girl. "I know you no like me. That I understand." When the boy began to scream she plaeced the dagger on the side of his neck right above his shoulder. "He has strong poison in him, I seen this twice a horrid tribe keeps this poison. I no clue how he got it in him, but me know how to fix it." She looked down at the boy and then the girl. "You must trust me. I mean no one harm... it's the only way." She took the girls hand that held the arrow moving it closer to his chest. "If you think I lie you can kill me." She said looking at the girl hoping she would trust her.
 
To try and escape the pain in the present, Kohana tried to think of all the good things that had happened in his future, a time when he was markedly happier. He only got as far as his mother's smiling face before the convulsions took over. And as the pain seemed to triple, he couldn't hold back a groan. It felt like something was pulsing and growing within him. And when Katasha opened his mouth in what seemed like a vain try to help him, he almost passed out. In some weird way, everything felt so twisted because even though she was trying to help, it felt as though her fingers were made out of flames. It was more than he could handle, trying to open his mouth and tell her to just stop touching him so he did the only other thing that he could. He passed out.

Unbeknownst to them, someone else was watching with seeking, probing eyes. The shadows of the night hid her well and she had to put her hand to her mouth to suppress the joy she felt because it would surely be manifested in laughter and she wasn't quite ready to reveal herself to these mortals. She scoffed when one of the girls made the mistaken diagnosis that it was poison but as the woman thought about it, she had to admit that it was poison of a sort. Just that it contaminated one's soul to the very core. She moved from behind the tree and walked towards the three figures. She recognised one of the girls from earlier, during the little mockery of a funeral for Kohana. The girl herself would also know who she was because she was still wearing the form of an old croon.

'You silly little girls,' She said, her voice dancing in merriment, 'That's not poison, at least not the kind that you can cure.'

Then she focused her attention on the girl from his tribe. She looked so very scared. The woman cocked her head to one side, she could feel her fear, almost taste it.

'And you, did you really think I would bring Kohana back to life out of the selflessness of my heart?' This question was accompanied by a mocking laugh. 'I did tell you he would awaken...but the man I was talking about is quite different from the one who you thought I meant. You shouldn't have stayed, why do you think your chief saw this area as a danger? Hmm? Can you hazard a guess?'

 
Seith's hand darted towards the girls' with dagger. She gabbed her wrist and moved it away from Kohana's neck. Only after that she listened to what the girl told her. A poison? How could that be? Did she want to kill him? Was that the only way she was talking about? Seith teeth clenched. However, when she was given the arrow and told that she could kill the girl if she wouldn't like what the girl was doing, Seith's lips made a thin line and she severly jerked her head in something that resembled a nod. Letting go of her hand, she grabbed the arrow and was ready to kill in any moment. Before anything could happen and that girl could help, Seith heard a voice. A voice that sounded familiar. Looking over to the side, Seith recognized the woman from the funeral. A poison that can't be cured? What was she talking about? However, as she progressed with her explanation, Seith began to understand what she meant. Seith was no shaman at all, however some people in the clan had only a little bit of power within themselves. She, herself, only could understand the terms and how things worked but she couldn't work magic.

"You're saying that he is possessed by a creature that you want to bring to live?" Seith spat out each word hatefully, all her fear fading away. Once more, Seith felt ready to kill. Her posture was relaxed and her eyes got sharp. In her mind several methods how to kill the woman began to appear and disappear as they were either impractical or way too dangerous, Seith slowly began to dismiss each one of them. At the end, Seith decided that attacking wouldn't solve anything because she didn't even know her opponent and if she would kill that witch, what would it help to Kohana if she didn't know how to save him?

"Why have you done that? For power? Are you some kind of wicked forest spirit?" Seith asked in a calm voice that didn't carry any sign of what was going on inside her.
 
Katasha grew confused the female who came through the darkness now speaking to them looked very familer. Also the fact that she said he was not poison also threw her off. She had seen this twice before in her villiage, was that some kind of trick or was this female lying. She looked down at Kohana who had passed out. For the first time in a long time she looked from one person to another unsure what to do.

"Any soul can be removed from another. I have seen it done many times." In this case though she didn't know how strong of a soul they were dealing with. Unable to take the boy to her villiage for help she became irritated. She looked at the girl who once held a arrow at her chest. Searching her eyes for any ideas, any type of plan. Then when she could find nothing she looked back at the one standing. "Many cases the soul can only exit a body or finish transformaition with help... Your help." She read in books that if you could kill the one trying to free the soul then it as well could be destroyed. She kept her eyes on the girl waiting for the best time to pull her dagger out. If what she said was true then all they would have to do is finish this girl off.
 
Oh my, the woman thought with relish, this one is a feisty one. Her thoughts were directed at Seith and she could see that the young woman was trying valiantly to control her emotions. It wouldn't do her any good however, because in any case, what was done was already set in stone and nothing could reverse it. She looked at Kohana, her beautiful puppet. She had chosen well and the fact that he had the innate ability to interact with those of the spirit world had played a major factor in him being the 'one'. And then she had sent her favorite beast to do the rest. It had been painfully easy.

'The creature is already alive. The moment Kohana opened his eyes, it was alive.' She told Seith. Her pale blue eyes gleamed with morbid pleasure, she had always enjoyed the chore of giving bad news. She looked at Kohana, who was now completly still. If one didn't know better, they would think that he was dead. The thought put a slight smile on her face. In a sense, he was dead...it was just a bit of his soul that remained. The only thing keeping him here was the entity attached to his essence, one that was all powerful. He was just taking his time to wake up.

Her gaze traveled to the one that they called Katasha and as she talked, the old woman cocked her head to the side. It tickled her to hear these two try to come up with theories that were completely wrong. This one definitely wasn't for the textbooks. She hadn't had this much fun in a while. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. It was time for her to leave. But she had to impart a bit of advice to these two before she did so.

'Leave him here. If you value your life and the lives of those you love, leave him'. She turned away from the little threesome and headed back towards the forest the same way she had come. She walked slowly, wondering if one of them would try to kill her. She hoped so.
 
Seith noticed Katasha's gaze. Yes, she had been thinking about the same but couldn't come up with anything reliable, anything that would really work. After all, this woman might be a powerfull shaman and any try to kill her might resolve as being killed yourself which was the reason why Seith held back. Deciding, that she would let it be and let the woman answer her questions first, Seith was about to ask. However, what the woman said next changed her mind. Anger rose within her and she didn't bother hide any of it. So she planned it! That was what Seith deduced from the woman's words. She fooled the whole of Seith's clan. It was disgraceful and that was also the reason for what Seith did next.

"Fight," she said towards Katasha and in a quick movement grabbed her bow, set an arrow in and fired. Seith was consider as one of the best archers in the clan so her arrow was aimed on the left side of the woman's back exactly at the spot where the weapon would slide through her ribs and pierce her heart. Seith didn't wait to see the effect of her blow. Taking her long dagger she ran at the woman, convinced that she would take her down and slit her throat.
 
Katasha nodded at the girl and pulled her dagger. She was not the best fighter but was good at picking up what other people were thinking of doing. While Seith distracted the girl with her dagger Katasha slid on the dirt, at the same time she kicked the girl in the ankle quickly jumping to her feet. When she stood she faced the girls back dagger now in her hand.
"Do it!!!!" Her mind kept saying over and over. Katasha couldn't find herself to stab the girl in the back. She was not raised that way. To her people stabbing someone in the back or attacking them when they did not expect it was a sign of unfairness and weakness. Katasha looked at the dying boy on the ground and quickly pulled herself together. She saw Seith running for the girl and waited to see what the girl might do next. Ready for anything.
 
The moment Seith decided to attack, the woman felt it. She felt the beginnings of a smile tug at her face as the arrow cleanly pierced into her ribs, it hadn’t reached her heart, but it was close. She slid down to her knees, the smile having turned into laughter. Katasha’s kick had her eating dust. God, these young ones were trigger happy. She had counted on Seith’s need to help her tribe mate and try to learn how she could get that demon (because that’s what it was) out of him to win over her compulsion to kill anyone who posed as a danger but apparently, she had over-estimated her. Seith had no such control. She could hear her foot-steps now…coming closer to give the finishing blow. But it wasn’t really necessary. She could feel her life’s blood draining out of her and when Seith was close enough to see, she smiled one last time.

‘Now you have the death of an old woman on your conscience. Did you really think you could kill me??’ Before Seith could answer the old woman convulsed once before an eerie mass of blue light seeped out of her now brown eyes. It disappeared before it could touch the ground. The old lady lay still, facing upwards but with unseeing eyes. Dead.


(OOC- Hey guys, it’s kinda weird but this story has sort of taken a life of it’s own. I didn’t really have any big plans but for it to move forward, I think we’ll need more people. It’ll be sort of like an evil vs good thing and all that. Would it be fine with you if I put it on hiatus for a while and looked for more players then moved it to the fantasy section? )
 
(OOC: Fine with me. I'll answer later then when you have more players)