Lamentations of the Wild

[Lief]

[Kida Ravos]

The halls were empty. Even from inside the temple Kida was able to hear the rush of water as it cascaded down the mountainside, the soft hum of electricity pulsing through the cables toward some sort of outsource, yet no heartbeats. The little girl had become rather fond of hearing the life rush through the veins of her two companions, even drawn comfort from it, and her hearing was great enough to pick up on it when in another room.

But there was nothing now. No hastened breaths or scuffed footsteps through these most ancient halls. Never having been one to enjoy the confines of buildings, Kida was at first overcome with joy. She had fled the bounds of the Sanctum's Temple and descended onto Laekia like a madman, rolling in the undergrowth, dirtying both skin and clothes, and rushing through the jungle. Soon she was amidst nature, as had always been intended.

And yet something felt wrong. Where was Jax? And Furry? Why could she not recall where they had disappeared to? The little girl sat there in the tall grass for some time, distress settling about her person. She was accustomed to Furry's presence as he tried to teach her to walk, to Jaxton's attempts at getting her to make noises. With a whimper the girl curled herself up at the base of a tree and closed her eyes. They would come for her... Certainly?

They had to return at some point!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


For a change, Siobhan was not meting out slaughter. Nor was she attending Firemane business since she seemed to run most of the company these days. Or visiting book clubs. No, she was making her way through a forest on the beautiful planet of Laekia, which was mostly a world of oceans and forest biomes. Firemane had operations set up on the planet, but aside from business she was mostly here to take a break from things and ignore galactic affairs for a while.


Along with marital quarrels. Things were not exactly sugar and roses there. However, because Siobhan was the showoffish sort it would not do to simply walk like normal people. Or people with common sense. Instead she had decided it would be the cool thing to do to use the Force to propel her into the air and fly as if this were some sort of Superman movie because that was the way she rolled. So she was happily levitating through the sky, which to the unitiated observer might make her look like a particularly big bird, since there were many of those flying around. She would very soon come closer to the ancient temple - and thus where, unbeknownst to her, Kida was.

 

[Lief]

Whoooosh.

Kida's most sensitive hearing was able to pick up on the flying presence in the sky, the way the air cut around them... And more importantly the lack of beating wings. Curiously the small child lifted her head and sniffed the air. There, in the sky, she could see a figure emerging. Oh, a bird? Excited she got back on all fours and began to run in a circle, still keeping her head lifted in amazement. That was one big bird!

Her attention now fully caught, she pawed at the ground and tried to think of a way to get that bird down from the sky. It would make a very tasty treat! She began to whimper and growl in frustration as it grew closer, still she had no plan for how to make it come spiraling down to the ground. Her little tummy grumbled hungrily. Birds had to rest too, right? Maybe if she followed it she would be lucky!

So it was that Kida began to pounce through the undergrowth, prowling after the large creature in flight. Oh this would be so much fun!

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


And so the little girl chased the bird! Maybe Siobhan was a big eagle. That comparison would probably flatter the vain Countess a lot. Being that Siobhan was flying quite high and there were plenty of trees, she probably did not quite understand that the adorable little girl thought she was a tasty bird and wanted to pull her down from the sky. Hearing noise and sensing a presence, Siobhan dropped down slightly as she lowered her altitude.


Something seemed to be prowling after her. An animal...a child? Well, this was a tad weird. As Siobhan lowered her altitude and descended a bit, she realised that the child was apparently moving on all fours. Confusion crossed Sio's features. She recalled her first encounter with Galina, only her adoptive daughter had run away when she saw her sweep through the sky.


Already feeling the strain caused by flying Siobhan slowed her speed as she flew and slowly dropped down to the ground, the Force cushioning her fall when she landed on a tree log. Little did she know that very soon a litle menace might pounce her!

 

[Lief]

The moment that the bird landed Kida was ready.

Wriggling her bottom she made to leap, pouncing upon the strange creature before she even had much of a good look at it. A low growl emitted from her lips in the same instance, only there were no feathers beneath her hands. No she knew what they felt like, and she also knew what skin felt like. The growl became much louder as she glared down at the woman with a fierce intensity. She was like a female Jaxton, only without the strange blue fur and pink flesh. Like Furry then?

Sniffing at her prey Kida took note of the color of her fur. She felt soft, much softer than the scary monster she had once met. He had been very painful to pounce upon!

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


Bam. An animal had pounced her. Wait, not an animal, but a very feral but adorable little girl. It was good that Siobhan noticed the difference just in time, for otherwise she might have done something unpleasant and felt bad about it because hurting kids was so not cool. It was mean and gave you Dark Side Points. Well, she was dark side, but she did not want to get yellow eyes and veiny skin.


Caught by surprise, since even Precog does not make you magically omniscient, Siobhan tumbled over when the girl pounced her. Well, that was embarrassing! At least she had not fallen into a puddle. The little girl growled at her with feral intensity, then...sniffed. Presumably she'd end up sniffing Sio's rather expensive perfume. It was a lovely scent.


Well, this was weird. Gently Siobhan took the girl by the shoulder to pull her away. After all, she did not want to hurt her. "Hey there," she said slowly, unsure whether the girl could speak Basic. Or even speak any language. "Can you talk Basic? Not an animal. Not gonna hurt you."

 

[Lief]

Kida wrinkled up her nose. This one didn't smell right, where was the earthly scent usually attributed to birds? Even if she looked like a Jaxton or a Furry she had flown, which made her a bird! Without warning the bird moved her away, how unspeakable! Since when did the prey control the predator? Oh that just induced yet another growl from the gi--

-- then the creature spoke. A brief flash of recognition entered her gaze, and she tilted her head curiously to one side. The words were not ones she had become overly familiar with the meaning of during her time with Jaxton, but she knew that they were the sound of the uprights! Had Jaxton come back for her?

Without warning the hyped-up little girl began to run around the bird, excited and seeking out her pink-skinned friend. Only there was no Jaxton waiting, his scent wasn't on the woman either. With a whimper the child backed up, having done several circles around the woman. There was always the chance that she was going to be taken to him, though, right..?

[member='Siobhan Kerrigan']

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


The feral child seemed totally hyped up and was running around in circles. Alas, Siobhan could not know that she had been thrown into confusion and was searching for her pink-skinned friend. So for a few moments Siobhan watched her in complete puzzlement, trying to figure out what she should do. Galina had been...less feral when she met her.


Still, she was obliged to help and so when it seemed the girl had calmed down a bit, Siobhan pointed to herself with a finger. "Siobhan," she said very slowly, hoping the girl would be able to understand her. Then she slowly reached into her pocket and got out...a candy bar. She removed the wrapping and held it out to the girl. "Food. Yours."

 

[Lief]

She tilted her head curiously to one side as she heard the rustle of wrappers, her gaze shooting across to the red bird almost immediately. Prowling closer she sniffed at the air, recognizing the scent of candy from a life before this, before the Temple, back when she was Daux of Endor! There had been another, the big scary monster who was actually really very nice, who had tempted here with the self same thing.

As the woman vocalised something, the little girl did as she always did whenever Jax introduced a new word. She tried to mimic it. Badly. Very badly. "Siiii" she cried out as she neared the woman. "Siii-oh!" This time she sniffed the candy bar directly, before grabbing it between her teeth and attempting to pull back. Naturally she would not eat too close to someone who might take her catch from her!

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


Siobhan was obviously a lot softer than HK. Moreover, she had magnificient red hair! However, she gave the girl a bright smile when she tried to mimic what she had said. It reminded her just a bit of Galina. Except her adoptive daughter had never been this feral and wild. Hopefully this girl's life had been less hellish. "Yes, Sio. My name," she said softly.


"Yours?" she asked again, pointing at the girl. Seeing that the girl seemed to be afraid that she might steal her snack from her, Siobhan let go and pulled away, slowly getting up. "Eat. Yours."

 

[Lief]

Oh she was most definitely softer than HK! Still the connotation remained where candy was concerned. Then again, HK had been more of a climber, who did a good portrayal of a Daux cat. This one, Sio, was most definitely a bird she had deduced! Curling up on the ground a few feet from her, Kida began to chew on the candy bar which was locked between her jaws.

Her gaze was trained lightly upon Sio, listening to the rise and fall of her voice from afar. As she pointed to Kida the child tilted her head to one side. She had known how to say at least part of her own name before, but that seemed so long ago now! None the less, she placed down the candy bar from her teeth and murmured a very faint "Kii-a!" before glancing around.

Part of her once again expected to see Jaxton, momentarily forgetting that she herself had been the one to utter part of her name. "Jaaaa" she whined, eyes frantically searching, saddened, "Jaaaa!"

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


"Jaaa? Is that a friend, a family member?" Siobhan asked confused, though she did not think that the girl would understand her. It seemed a lot more difficult to comunicate with her than with Galina. Lacking magical meta knowledge, she obviously did not make the connection between 'Jaaa' and 'Jaxton Ravos'. She had met the Zeltron a single time, but only very briefly, so he had made no deeper impression on him.


She wondered this 'Jaaa' had been a family member. Perhaps even the girl's father or mother. Or a friend. Had she been abandoned then? It would explain why she had gone so feral. Obviously Sio was very much in the dark about Kida's past. Poor lass. "Kia," she said softly. "I am sorry. I don't know where your friend is," she said very slowly.

 

[Lief]

The woman repeated her noise, however in Kida's mind what she had said was a perfect 'Jaxton' instead of 'Jaa' so she furrowed her brows in first confusion and then frustration. Rather than try again she simply growled, turned around and picked up the snack again between her teeth. As the woman tried to say her name the girl crawled closer to her, with a small yip of approval. The treat was good, not on the same tier as a good bird would have been... But beggars couldn't be choosers.

Curling up in the grass again the little girl yawned a little. Part of her wanted to change into her Daux form, climb into a tree and watch for real birds, since this woman clearly was no such thing. Her gaze lifted to the red-haired woman as she inspected her for a minute; definitely no wings. "Kii-daaa" she said again, trying her best to emphasize the name the way Jaxton had. It was elongated as per Kitty's ways, but for once she had correctly uttered the second syllable.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Snowflake"]


Siobhan concluded that 'Jaa' was probably only part of the name. This was an astounding revelation. Alas, she could obviously not make the leap of logic and find out that it stood for 'Jaxton'. After all, it could just as easily mean 'Jacen' or 'Jaina'. But she smiled slightly when the feral girl crawled closer to her. At least it seemed like the wildling was not afraid of her or about to run away, though that left Siobhan with the question of what to do with her.


Or even communicate. "Kida," Siobhan said, having paid more attention this time when the girl spoke her name. The smiled on her lips brightened. Evidently speaking Basic was not natural for the girl. She got the feeling that the girl must have been a feral for most of her life. "Nice name," she said slowly. "Still hungry?" she pulled her last snack out of her pocket.

 

[Lief]

Kida's head lifted the moment her name was uttered, ears twitching in excitement; it took a few moments for the voice which uttered it registered in her mind and she realised yet again that it was not Jax's doing, but the red-furred woman. Her attention span was short, to say the least. In her mind barely any time had passed, when in truth it could have been years. Her body and mind had remained untouched by time, however, preserving her innocent and feral state.

Turning back toward the woman Kida approached; usually when Jax or Furry said her name it was because they wanted her attention. And that meant no mucking about, as much as she had the urge to roll around in the grass. She had quite the unreachable itch on her back! The moment that the snack was revealed, however, all self control was thrown out of the window. Kida leapt at the woman, fully intending to knock her to the ground and snack the food before it could be taken from her.

Who knew what would happen, though.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Kida Ravos"]


And suddenly the little feral pounced! Siobhan should have probably anticipated that, given that the girl was driven by instincts. However, though this had taken her by surprise, she was not unprepared. Suddenly Kida's leap would come to a sudden halt when an invisible hand gripped her.


It did so very gently, for the last thing Siobhan wanted to do was hurt her. But it would guide Kida back to the ground, slowly and carefully to ensure that she would not be hurt. In the same moment Siobhan had undone wrapping of the snack and passed the candy bar over, dropping it right before Kida. "No jumping me," she said gently but firmly. "Food. Yours."

 

[Lief]

The child yelped as she was pulled back down by some unseen force and held in place for a moment. Her eyes were wide, yet there was a slight glint of recognition with regard to the Force also. J

ax had tried to get her to understand it once upon a time, although his application had been much smaller... It had been telekinetic, too, and she sensed the same, or similar, thing now. With a low howl she waited for the moment to be over... She recognised the word no, and associated it with being put back down. No jumping?

Slowly the girl crawled to the food and began to eat again, not even pouncing it as she had last time. It seemed that feral little girls could understand a few things after all!

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Kida Ravos"]


The slight hint of recognition did not go unnoticed to Siobhan. The girl had yelped, as could be expected, but she had not been frightened. It seemed to Siobhan that for all her feral ways, Kida was not unfamiliar with the Force. Had her friend, the one whom she was clearly very attached to, been a Force-user? Clearly there was more to her than met the eye.


Now that Siobhan was focusing she stretched out with her mind and, lo behold, she could sense the hint of Force potential emanating from the girl's aura. Still untrained and unrefined. She banished the speculation from her mind and focused on the immediate. Would be easier if I knew what I was gonna do with her, Siobhan thought to herself. Did she even have the right to? Her instinctive reaction was to take the girl with her...but would that be right if she was so used to the wild? There was also the question of whether she could take care of her in the first place, or wanted the responsibility.


Sio, damn your mother complex. She gave Kida a bright smile when she began to eat. "Good girl," she said warmly. Slowly stretching out with her hand, she began to gently stroke the girl's hair. Presumably it was quite dirty, but Sio did not mind. She reckoned that actions and body language would speak louder than words and set the girl more at ease. Sio's empathy was very weak, but she mustered what warm and fuzzy feelings she could, transmitting them over.

 

[Lief]

The child growled as the hand neared her, but she did not nip or back up. Instead she remained in place, and as she began to feel the fussing sensation she associated with safety the little one genuinely began to purr. Her eyes closed and she began to move closer, leaving the remaining candy bar where it lay. "Sii-ooh!" she murmured, nudging her forehead against the woman's arm. She was quite different from her Furry and her Jaa, she smelt funny and her fur was a vibrant other color... But all the same she gave off a comforting presence.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Kida Ravos"]


Kida purring made the smile on Siobhan's face widen further, The same applied when the litle girl nudged her forehead against her arm. For the moment at least the little wildling seemed to feel safe and more comforted than before. "Friend. Safe." Come on, Sio, you're not getting attached! No, I'm not. I know that look. And I know I'm not in the mood to talk to myself! While this internal dialogue continued Siobhan wrapped an arm around the wildling. Since she was taking care not to hold her too tight, she kept the embrace rather loose, allowing Kida to rest her forehead against her arm, while she kept stroking her hair. I so need Chesna here. Maybe she can communicate with her, Siobhan wondered to herself.