KIREENA

[OOC: She will be boosted to FR member and can wander away rank request hasn't been made yet]

Ryker had given her the green light to leave the territory of Firnen. Kireena had a few things on her list to take care of before she moved to claim a space for herself within the territory. The red giant made her way towards the borders of Firnen, pausing as if she expected to be jumped before stepping over and into the jungle. She hadn't lied to the rainforest monarchs - she did find the territory pleasing and truthfully did enjoy it.

For now, the giant would call for someone she hoped but didn't know would be near. First, @Kovirah to see how he was after his fight... To demand answers to questions that burned within her gut and her heart. She felt..things for him and she didn't know how to place them. Fear and worry were foremost.. but anger? Anger was there..but something else burned low and beneath it all. Something that had her heart tripping at the thought of the dark maned male falling under Rykers talons.

Kireena called for him, pacing slowly into the swamps of the jungle hoping to be far enough away from Firnen that he would be safe but that he was close enough to hear. She struggled with her writhing emotions and fought tooth and claw to keep her expression neutral. After this, she would need to go collect her treasures...and then make the trek to the peaks of the Summit and call for those she considered friends.

As she moved, her limbs shook ever so slightly, nerves gathering in a hard lump within her breast. She had never before had someone come LOOKING for her.. and it made her wonder why? How has he known? Shed missed the conversation in its entirety only arriving when the meeting had turned bloody. Though the dark king had said there was no poison she still wanted...no. she needed to see that for herself.

code by flea, art by irish

The swamp was absolutely awful, and a great mistake he had made in coming here. He waded though the murk, still in search for the source of the poison used during Firnen’s latest challenge. He’d all but been healed now, scabs falling off and leaving behind nary a scar. It could have been a lot worse, he thinks. He could have been dead—a rotting, bloated corpse in the middle of nowhere, no one to find or care for his bones. Once, that was a thought that gave him comfort; to die away from the horrors of his life’s burden, soul free from a body commanded to kill. But now?

Now, it was building to become his greatest fear.

And fear, dear reader, was something Kovirah was unfamiliar with. It left a disgusted taste in his mouth—metallic and acrid like bile. Perhaps then, it was best for him to remember his place in the natural order, and that he didn’t always know what was best—even for himself. A scowl had made itself home upon his features, almost permanently since his mere squabble. The only light had been seeing Maia again.

Its in his own drowning of wounded pride that he hears his name—and called by a voice he hadn’t heard in over a month. Ears perk, he stills himself to hear it again, closer this time. Kovirah finds he cannot help but move—quickly now—through the murk and the mud despite it splashing upon him in rather unsavory ways. The swamp begins to break again, paws finding footing on more solid land when he catches the sight of her—the red giantess, the one he stargazed with, one who woke him up. He supposed ‘little spark’ wasn’t a good enough nickname, size and all. The excitement melts then, he gains control of himself. Steadies himself. Breathes deep. Above the stench of the swamp, he finds her scent, though far more tropical than he remembered.

And then, he finds his voice. ”Kireena” he gives her a gentle ghostly smile ”I’m glad to see you up, how do you fare” he wonders, just how bad the poison had been, and maybe if she could help him identify it.

@Kireena ♞
code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

KIREENA

She took a few moments to try to gather herself after she had called - hoping @Kovirah would answer. But the real burning questions was why? Why did she hope he'd answer? The red giant was in the midst of struggling to reconcile her emotions and the tumultuous feelings when he arrived. There - she paused and let her bi-colored gaze pass across his form. Hearing Ryker tell her he hadn't been poisoned was one thing..

But to see him? Here - alive, well and relatively healed? It had her limbs shuddering with the wash of cold relief before she was moving mechanically through the muck towards him. Stopping just shy - a mere step away, Kireena forced herself to go no further, rooting herself with talons hidden under the muck sunk deep into the loam of the earth below.

"Kovirah..." Ears fell against her skull - gaze searching his for something - but what she wasn't sure. "I'm alight.. but... you.. What were---... Are you okay?" She felt her words struggle past a constricted throat - passing a healers gaze over his hide, taking in the injuries she had seen him take fresh and then back to his face. "Why...?" There were a thousand things she had wanted to say - to do. But her heart and her skull warred for supremacy - instead only leaving the conflicted giant with strangled words and half questions.

code by flea, art by irish

The space between them feels like a chasm.

He watches her closely, blue eyes washing over her in return to check for damage. Further, damage, he might add. But again he sees nothing—nothing but the kind woman he’d met out in the prairie that night. Yet something about her makes him consider her angry or perhaps it’s anxiety? Ugh he was over trying to identify what he felt, it was getting him no where—and fast. He shoves down his need to clarify and allows only the smallest hints of his emotion show—sparkles, flickers of it within pastel toned blue.

The why she so desperately wants isn’t something he can give. Not that he wouldn’t even want to but—Kovirah didn’t have a why. Not in the sense that he could vocalize what needed to be said, to purt words to what he experienced watching her fall like she had. There was a moment where he thought her to be dead—and she had the gull to ask why. Wouldn’t the normal response be elation? Appreciation? No, he told himself, this was all just heated in his head. She was here, wasn’t she? Roles reversed so now @Kireena ♞ had been the one doing all the searching. Kovirah cannot help but stand and stare at her—

”Do you know what posion he used?” he changes the subject with out even giving her an answer. Kovirah didn’t want to say it right now, he was a man on a mission he was. ”I’ve been searching, it must be nearby. The Rainforest is similar to Aniadar”

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

KIREENA

She waited as @Kovirah worked through his own war of emotion, her breath catching in her throat as time seemed to stretch. To her own ears it was dead silent - only the soft creaking of the rope as it strained between them. Kireena dared not move even if her entire being wanted to throw herself towards him to make sure he wasn't a mirage.

The answers she so sought weren't forthcoming, but instead a question of the poison that had been used against her. It was almost an audible snap of the silence her mind made up for her that stood between them. Jaws worked, soundless, her breath frozen in her throat. What? W-why was that important? She was alright wasn't she? Had Ryker really poisoned him but he hadnt had the wounds to make it so spectacularly obvious?

"I-It grows on a tree. My family used to use it during times of war..I don't know the name of it here but I could show you if you'd like." She shifted slightly, a half step taken backwards, searching the grove in which they stood to find the familiar bark. It appeared that the dark maned male had more interest in the poison than answering the questions she herself felt curdling in her gut.

Still Kireena would help him and do so willingly. But after? She wasn't sure...she felt...even more confused than before, truth be told. The red woman wanted to shake the man, demand answers but there was a part of her that lived in shade and shadow that said 'if he wanted to tell you he would' so she chose to leave well enough alone to stubbornly slam her emotions down and focus on helping where she could.

code by flea, art by irish

He chokes down the rising need to comfort her, to apologize for being uncouth in the midst of this sudden revelation. But he doesn't. His gaze averts hers in fear of seeing it linger there. "Please" he urges @Kireena ♞, teady to trek through the muck again if it means solving parts of the puzzle.

But then again, maybe be shouldn't. Maybe he should turn around and leave it behind him. A rematch with the sovereign wouldn't do anyone good, and likely only piss off the people in the area. Could he afford to paint a target on his back? So far his old acquaintances hadn't been seen hide nor hair, but that didn't mean they weren't still present. Did he want to tempt fate again?

The very least, he could learn to counteract it. Kovirah takes a few steps forward ready and eager to seek it out.

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

KIREENA

A nod was @Kovirah's answer and Kireena pulled back before she turned, leading a silent trek through the muck and the kid. The world inside of her skull was beginning to feel similar to the realm beyond. Muddy, murky... The way twisted and uncertain. She slowed near the Manichineel tree and looked towards the flora before stepping to the side. "The worst symptoms are internal and external hemmorage." The rest wasn't exactly a cakewalk either but she knew the worst was the threat of exsanguination.

"Here you are. I'm not sure what you call it but we called it Redfin...". The woman stepped another step back so that Kovirah would have space enough to pace around the foliage and get a good look at the plant that had such a way of causing so many problems. Her gaze would land on and follow him, trying to figure out what to do next. She felt not unlike the first time she'd encountered the swamplands of Amaryllis.

What was lurking below? Would she find solid footing beneath the mud and the muck? Was a large reptilian jaw poised and ready to drag her under? The nomad was used to seeing the path ahead, knowing where to place her feet. But here? Now? She felt as if she had been thrown into a pool of ink. Scrambling to figure out which way was up. Why? WHY did she care about why he had done what he'd done? Hadn't she learned growing up that you took care of yourself if you were able?

She had gone into a fight and lost. By all rights should have been left behind - that was after all the nomadic way of life. The young and the old were protected but if you were otherwise healthy and fell behind...you were left behind. Why hasn't he left her behind? What had compelled him to seek a fight with Ryker at the borders? And why...why did she care? Why was the need to know burning like fire in her belly leaving her heart trembling?

code by flea, art by irish

She leads him to a tree almost with our hesitation. Something though, seemed off about her. He watches as she leads on but his own steps are shortened, until he is at a stop. She takes some more strides and finds the tree he was seeking, confirming the suspicions he had before when encountering it. His gaze falls from the tree to the red druidess, and his brow furrows. A sudden feeling of conflict fills him. Like two sides were ripping him in half, starting at the gut.

redfin he memorizes it.

Then finds his words, finally "I have been rude, apologies my friend." he offers, returning to the more cordial side of himself. "I didn't answer your question, but I am fine. Nothing but wounded pride, I assure you" he says, and pauses for a long, quiet while. A question rumbling in his brain. "Why have you come looking for me? How did you know I was here in Aniadar?"

Had he been followed after all? The sudden surge of paranoia was real, and he had to steel himself from letting the panic take hold. No, no he would've known had he been followed. Kovirah had been very careful to cover his tracks when retreating from the borders. Nothing but maybe a few specks of blood, he was sure. Blue rested up on her, still wrestling with these feelings. And he didn't understand a single one.

@Kireena ♞

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit

KIREENA

She waited, heart hammering in her chest as @Kovirah inspected the tree. When he turned to her, apologizing, she felt her ears fold against her skull, eyes dropping before they lifted again. "Because...I had to know." She swallowed, and had she a tail it would have been lashing at her ankles. As it was, the stub she owned simply stood motionless.

"And...I smelled you.. Your scent..it's thick here if one knows what to look for.." She wasn't sure why she cared. She didn't know why she needed to know and worried so much about him. "Why did you come back to the jungle? Why did you fight Ryker?" Had it been for her? Had it been for himself?

She'd accept it being for himself easier than for her.. That made more sense than just doing it for someone like herself. Someone who had tried and failed at something. It went against.. what she'd been raised to do.

code by flea, art by irish

"Why did you come back to the jungle? Why did you fight Ryker?"

Out of all the things she was telling him, this hit the most. Why, indeed, Kireena. Why indeed.

Kovirah looks at her, his mask up and strong. But inside he is a conflicted man. One who wrestles with good, with evil, with understanding his own consciousness on a level never before attempted. Maia had been that guiding light, and Kireena...what had the red giantess been? What was she truly, to him, other than a stranger who happened to find him in a moment of weakness? Kovirah was not a white knight--hell, he wasn't a knight at all. He was a murderer.

A cold hearted, uncaring, stone walled, stoic weapon.

So, why did he ache upon seeing her wounded? Or when Maia found him again? Or even now, as he stood but feet from a woman he'd gladly take to bed if she just asked, all because she was nice to him?

He was a goddamn fool, he was. And he wanted to throw himself off of a cliff because of it. Should his old colleagues see him now, they'd surely laugh. Probably never live it down, back home. Good thing they were nowhere to be found. And yet, there was something hollow in his stomach concerning it all. At least there, as miserable as it was, provided some semblance of familiarity and comfort.

Here he was alone, left to make choices without a master to dictate what should be done.

His mind comes back to the present, his mask cracking just so. But Kovirah manages to grip tight to it, despite it all. "I wanted to know if you survived. he replied, quietly "Ryker attacked first, after I attempted to join"



@Kireena ♞

code by daanyan, Art by Rabbit