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Maseta: A country with one coastal border is a part of 
Understanding Each Other.
3 Characters Here
Severin Hyden "Sev" LeDelle [1] "Of coirse I did it. Can you blame me, really?"
Una Pumatan [0]
Una Pumaten [0] A Gati from a Puma tribe, whose tribe is now gone
Start Character Here »
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Una walked through the forest, her crossbow loaded. She felt the adrenaline of the hunt course through her veins. She heard a rustling in the b ushes, but was disappointed when only a small squirrel emerged. She was hungry. She would have liked a buck, but she'd do fine with even a large rabbit.
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Sev yanked at the ropes binding his wrists roughly, succeeding only in cutting it into his wrists. One of the three men behind him snarls. "Quit struggling, kid. Make this easy on yourself, and on us, will ya?" Sev doesn't respond, only ceases his struggles. He was just putting himself through unecessary pain, and there was no us to that. Finally, the group stops, shoving him up against a tree. They tie him around the chest and legs to the tree, then bind his ankles together. The eldest of the men pulls out a scroll, clears his voice, and begins to read. "By order of the elders of Nhish, Severin Hayden LaDelle is hereby charged with murder, theivery, vandalism, rape, child abuse, and smuggling elvian drugs. His sentence is death, to be carried through on the last moon of the month, at the designated spot in the Blood Forest." Rolling up the scroll, he looks at Severin over his glances. "Have you any last words?" Smirking, he responds snidely. "Yeah. I have a few words. But I don't think the elders would look upon them very well." The man purses his lips and turns away, the others following in his wake. And as night falls, Sev slumps against the tree. Well, that's that, he thinks sourly. I'm done for. The blackness of the night itself didn't spook Sev; indeed he finds it calming. It's the sounds. Footsteps coming towards him...
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Una broke through a line of bush and brush. Most people didn't hunt at night, though that was the best time to hunt, because of the dark. Una's cat-like eyes, however, allowed her to see in the dark. What she saw now--a young human man tied to a tree-- gave her reason to pause. She knew very little about humans, and wasn't sure whether he was a victim or a criminal or this was some sort of human right-of-passage. "Who are you?" she asked the man. "Why are you here, and do you require assistance?" She kept her cross bow loaded and half-ready, in case she needed to use it. She really hated to waste bolts on non-prey, but she wasn't sure it was wise to get close enough to dispatch him with her rapier. "I shall warn you, I am Gati, and my combat training, both military and street, exceeds that of most humans." It was only a partial lie, but this human did not need to know that she hadn't had formal Gati training since she was nine.
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Sev froze at the silky voice, struggling to locate its source. What the...? Then she steps out. A girl who's a scary kind of beautiful, striking really, just like what he had heard about her kind as a whole. For he had been told of creatures of the sort. It was one of his earliest memories, one that still had his mother in it. Her features weren't really clear to him, and he supposed they never would be. But these recollections were enough. He realizes he's zoning, lost in though, staring into nothingness. Sev looked at her again, struggling to find words to say to get her to help him, to earn her pity. He had always been a master of deception, but he couldn't quite recall how the Gati liked being adressed. Swearing under his breath, he put on a sad, defeated look. "I am LaDelle, O Fierce One. Severin LaDelle. I have had many a pain throughout my short life, and have be cruelly left for dead in this place of terror, this place of blood shed, without regard for my troubles." Of course, it wasn't the whole truth, nor was it a lie. He merely left out the parts about his crimes, leaving it to seem as though he had been kidnapped or such. He had, of course, turned on the charm."Your assisstance would be appreciated, should you find myself worthy of your mercy."
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Sev froze at the silky voice, struggling to locate its source. What the...? Then she steps out. A girl who's a scary kind of beautiful, striking really, just like what he had heard about her kind as a whole. For he had been told of creatures of the sort. It was one of his earliest memories, one that still had his mother in it. Her features weren't really clear to him, and he supposed they never would be. But these recollections were enough. He realizes he's zoning, lost in though, staring into nothingness. Sev looked at her again, struggling to find words to say to get her to help him, to earn her pity. He had always been a master of deception, but he couldn't quite recall how the Gati liked being adressed. Swearing under his breath, he put on a sad, defeated look. "I am LaDelle, O Fierce One. Severin LaDelle. I have had many a pain throughout my short life, and have be cruelly left for dead in this place of terror, this place of blood shed, without regard for my troubles." Of course, it wasn't the whole truth, nor was it a lie. He merely left out the parts about his crimes, leaving it to seem as though he had been kidnapped or such. He had, of course, turned on the charm."Your assisstance would be appreciated, should you find myself worthy of your mercy."
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Sev froze at the silky voice, struggling to locate its source. What the...? Then she steps out. A girl who's a scary kind of beautiful, striking really, just like what he had heard about her kind as a whole. For he had been told of creatures of the sort. It was one of his earliest memories, one that still had his mother in it. Her features weren't really clear to him, and he supposed they never would be. But these recollections were enough. He realizes he's zoning, lost in though, staring into nothingness. Sev looked at her again, struggling to find words to say to get her to help him, to earn her pity. He had always been a master of deception, but he couldn't quite recall how the Gati liked being adressed. Swearing under his breath, he put on a sad, defeated look. "I am LaDelle, O Fierce One. Severin LaDelle. I have had many a pain throughout my short life, and have be cruelly left for dead in this place of terror, this place of blood shed, without regard for my troubles." Of course, it wasn't the whole truth, nor was it a lie. He merely left out the parts about his crimes, leaving it to seem as though he had been kidnapped or such. He had, of course, turned on the charm."Your assisstance would be appreciated, should you find myself worthy of your mercy."
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Una switched her crossbow into her left hand and drew her rapier with her right. She kept the ranged weapon trained on him as she walked over and cut his bonds.
"There," Una said, shifting the crossbow back into her dominant hand. "I have saved your life. By Gati custom, you are now my loyal retainer until such a time as your debt is repaid." She wasn't sure she wanted this man as a retainer, but she tried her best to follow the code of her people." She glared at him. "Though if you prove my kindness unwise, I shall take the life which I have spared and which, for now, belongs to me."
OOC: I will be going on a long weekend, so it may be Tuesday before I am able to respond again.
"There," Una said, shifting the crossbow back into her dominant hand. "I have saved your life. By Gati custom, you are now my loyal retainer until such a time as your debt is repaid." She wasn't sure she wanted this man as a retainer, but she tried her best to follow the code of her people." She glared at him. "Though if you prove my kindness unwise, I shall take the life which I have spared and which, for now, belongs to me."
OOC: I will be going on a long weekend, so it may be Tuesday before I am able to respond again.
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((Sure thing. :) Have fun!)) Dusting himself off, Sev stands up straighter. His white shirt is dirty, his tan trousers wrinkled and torn. His bare feet are not worth his attention, as they had long since toughed, hardened as they grew blacker. "I have saved your life. By Gati custom, you are now my loyal retainer until such a time as your debt is repaid. Though if you prove my kindness unwise, I shall take the life which I have spared and which, for now, belows to me." Sev stops short, his body tensing as he looks up to meet her eyes. Instantly uncomfortable, he adverts to looking at her weapon. "Excuse me, Miss?" he says in disbelief, before swearing under his breath, inaudibly, at what he had just walked into. Why couldn't he merely find away to free his own self? "Are you declaring me your slave?
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Una shook her head. "Not at all. I will pay you for your duties, and giver you vacation time, and treat you well. The Gati do not believe in slavery. I do not own your life. You simply owe it to me. I suppose the difference may be too subtle for a human such as yourself to understand." She reached into her pack and pulled out a small handkercheif. She handed it to him, along with her canteen. "You should wash yourself as best you can. I dislike uncleanliness."
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Sev frowns at the cloth and water container. She dislikes uncleansiness? Really? He takes them slowly, cautiously, eyes fixtated on her as though to detect a trap or a double-crossing of some sort. Even when his eyes can detect none, his suspicion holds strong and true. Even as he accepts the items, he is cautious in using them. Rubbing up and down his arms, legs, and face, he keeps his eyes on Una. Even as he hands her items back to her, he can hardly believe that it was simply a gesture of complete innocence. For this girl... This girl is not the picture of innocence by any stretch of imagination, what with her crossbow, fierce eyes, superior stature, and overall presense. No, surely she is one to be reckoned with. Sighing, Severin sets his jaw, holding back a string of swear words. While her explanation eased him slightly, he's still quite unhappy with the arrangement. "Alright then. There. Happy now?"
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Una looked him over. It would have been better with soap, but it would have to do for now. Suddenly, something rustled behind her. With cat-quick reflexes, she whirled about and shot the doe; the bolt peirced its heart and it dropped to the ground. "Are you hungry, Severin? If it were only me, I would not have bothered with a doe. Too much meat for one person. But perhaps we can have a decent meal tonight and have some meat on our journey later on, as well." She dropped to her knee and took a daggar from her boot to gut the animal. She did not seem to care that she had otherwise dropped her guard completely."
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Sev frowns, brows furrowing in suspicion, concern, and wonder. How could a girl who looked (fairly) normal be so... Different? But he supposes it is to be attributed to her Gati heritage. He frowns at the thought, trying to force his brain to recall something, anything about the odd peoples and their way of life. He glances down to the dead deer, which Una is already well to work on. "I suppose so." Watching her, a sudden feeling of quesiness overcomes him. "You - you don't eat them RAW do you?" His stomach churns, adding to the naseating thought.
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Una wrinkled her cat-nose. "Gatus, no!" She sounded appalled. "What we don't eat tonight, I'll cook up with salt, sort of like jerky." she finished cutting the meat from the bones faster than most humans could; her status in her tribe had been hunter. "I'd like to tan the hide, as well. It would be a waste, otherwise. Would you mind starting a fire?"
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Sev let's out a breath of relief. Well, if he had to deal with servitude until he could escape, at least this "Una" is civil enough to know how to and to have the incentive to cook meat. Her request also seems simple enough. Severin studies her for a few seconds, baffled by this girl and her demeanor thouroughly and utterly, before obliging. "I do not mind in the slightest, I assure you." He reaches into his pocket for the stone he generally uses for his own fires, thankfully that his persecutors didn't care much to search his person, quite foolishly, really. He piles some brush, keeping a sturdier stick for the initial flammation. Twisting it into the nitch in the stone rapidly, he speaks without looking to the Gati girl. "The burning leaves will make quite a stentch, but the do assist the wood in catching." As though to prove his point, a spark catches on the edge of his stick. He throws it onto the brush pile, and it alights steadily without further assistance. Tucking his stone away, he stands up. "There we go."
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Una pulled a smal cast-iron cookpot from her pack, which had a slight enlargement on it. Out of the pack fell a few books that had been lying on top of the pot. "Matron bless," she swore, picking up each book, checking it lovingly, and setting it in her bag. Then she put some venison in the pot and removed something wrapped in silk from another pocket of the pack. Upon unwrapping, it was revealed to be a carving of a mountain lion. Una muttered something to the statue, making an offering to the Matron, the protector and founder of her tribe,
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Severin settles near the fire, yet in the shade of a nearby tree, watching the cat-girl's every move, listening to her every word, her every utterance. He frowns slightly as he examines her odd appearance. An oddity of nature, to be sure. But perhaps she thinks the same of him, he hasn't a way of knowing or even having a simplistic clue for sure. Maybe she thinks he's the weird one, the uncharted ground, the potential danger. Who knew? Studying the statuette the girl had extracted from her bag, Severin's frown deepens as he wrinkles his nose in slight disgust and confusion. "What the Hell is that thing supposed to be?"
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Una replied calmly. "Each Gati tribe has a Matron, a female cat who founded the tribe and protects it. Since I am the last remaining member of my tribe, it is my duty to see that Mother Puma gets proper tribute." Una's calm melted away as she glared at her companion. "I don't insult your religious practices, so please letmine be."
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Severin shrugs carelessly, her words not in the slightest way perturbing him. "Whatever you say. I was just curious." He glances out into the darkness of the woods, sitting Indian style on the grass. It's foreboding, ominously silent. "As for religon, never cared much for it. I've never followed one, I never will. But You can have at it all you want, I couldn't care less." Grass sticks to the hand he had been propped up with, forming untidy criss-cross patterns across his pale, hardened skin. He studies it with a frown.
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Una rolled her eyes. "Didn't you say that you're from around here? You'd think you'd be able to recognize carnivorous grass." She pulled a book out of her pack and consulted it, then pulled a pouch out and sprinkled some bitter-smelling dust on the grass, which caused it to release Severin and shrink away. Una could have sworn she heard it shriek. "You should move before it regains consciousness," she said nonchalantly, putting her books and Matron statuette back into the pack. Then she started dropping bits of salted deer meat into the cook pot; they sizzled as they fried.
http://morethanamemory04.deviantart.com ... -412304360 -- Una is the one on the far left, with the book. Just in case you wanted a visual reference. :)
http://morethanamemory04.deviantart.com ... -412304360 -- Una is the one on the far left, with the book. Just in case you wanted a visual reference. :)
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((Okee dokee :) )) Severin jerks his hand away rapidly with Una's declaration. "Carnivrous GRASS? Yeah, I'm from around just not from around HERE." He moves like she told him to, studying his hand intensely. In all his travels, all his years traveling and on the run as a fugitive, he'd never seen or heard of such thing as carnivrous grass. Ever. At all. What else could be here, enough to bafffle him greatly, to put his life at risk? He decides to stick along long enough to get the feel for this weird placed; no longer, no shorter. But he shall see.
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Una looked up. "Don't worry, the carnivorous grass is fairly rare." Once the meat had finished frying, she wrapped it up and put it in her pack. Then, she began to make a venison stew with what was left. She poured in a packet of dried herbs and seasonings and stirred the soup. "It should be done in an hour or so." She laid on her bedroll. "I suppose you probably don't want to tell me about yourself?"
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((I'm so sorry. Dx I post from my phone and there was issues with my cellular internet service for a while. So, so sorry.)) Severin shrugs, trying to find a way to pass off her inquiry discreetly. "There's not much to tell; I'd only succeed in boring you. My life isn't one of much excitement, honestly." He lies with great ease, used to having to dodge questions such as the one Una had asked. What can he say? It's a skill he was (and is) blessed with.
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Una saw the boy's pupils contract, a sign of dishonesty, but she didn't say anything. If he didn't want to talk about himself, it was fine with her. She served him some stew and ate her own in silence. She didn't much want to talk about herself, either.
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Severin lets out an inward breath of relief, truely relieved that she didn't press the issue. What would she think if she knew she had rescued one of the biggestl outlaws in the country? She seemed to be seperate from normal society, so it should be easy to keep her from finding out about his past. Severin stirs his soup in silence before taking it to his lips. He watches Una curiously out of the corner of his eye.
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Una, immersed in her book, did not speak until it was too dark to read. "This part of the woods are relatively safe, so a watch is not necessary, but I wouldn't sneak off if I were you. Carnivorous grass is by no means the only strange creature here." She settled into her bedroll but did not close her eyes.
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