FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 13

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Running swiftly through the trees, the scent of nature all around me, the air still crisp with the morning chill. This was one of my favourite things to do. Ever since Jun'bak first began showing me parkour, I enjoyed the freedom I felt as I ran through the forest. This was the one place I wasn't under constant scrutiny of one Master or another.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated all the effort Master Jun'lao, Master Kami and Jan'zar gave to ensure I received the skills I needed in order to survive, but every fur needs some down time every once in a while.

Running full speed through the forest, I ran along the trunk of the fallen tree, which was held up by the branches of another tree it had fallen against. Once I reached the top of the tree, I leapt towards another nearby tree, extending my body and reaching out to grab a branch. My paws connected with the branch and my talons sunk into the wood. I hung there and stared down at the ground. I was at least thrity feet off of the forest floor, my heart was thumping in my chest from the adrenaline and physical exertion.

I swung my legs back and forth, gaining momentum and let go, propelling myself over towards another branch which was about ten feet closer to the ground than I was. As I descended, I backflipped, grabbed the branch and used the momentum from my fall to swing my body up and over so my foot-paws made contact with the top of the branch. I wasn't worried about which direction I was heading in, allowing the flow to guide me, so just leapt to nearest tree branch, quickly climbed up several more branches before leaping to another tree.

As I leapt from tree to tree, the exhilleration of potentially falling over fifty feet to the ground had my adrenaline pumping. I lost myself in the moment, all my worries, fears and concerns lost as I focused on making the next jump.

I had been training like this for over three seasons now with Jun'bak and the the others. We often came here and raced one another in friendly competions, trying one up each other. I used to lose all the time, but now I was good enough to hold my own, and even win on rare occasion.

Today though I was by myself. I had been given a rare day off from training and lessons. After an hour or so, I stopped to rest by a stream. I dunked my head into the cool refreshing water before leaning back against a rock and bathed in a pool of sunshine. The warmth of the sun felt incredible against my scales.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself!"

The unexpected voice shocked me out of my relaxed state and I stood up and swivelled my head back and forth trying to locate the source.

"Up here!"

I looked up to the tree tops in time, to see a flash of white fur, as a figure disappeared behind a tree. I stared at the branch intently, waiting to see who-ever or what-ever it was emerge from its hiding spot.

"What are you staring at?"

I jumped, the voice had come from right next to me. Standing there, their pelt as white as freshly fallen snow, was a fox with exceptionally large ears and a long bushy tail. They were staring up at the branch I had been looking at before turning to me an smiling. They were naked, but despite having no breasts, they also had no sheath. As far as I could tell they didn't have any genitalia, and any breasts. If they had any then they were hidden beneath the thick, white pelt covering their body. How they could bear the heat of the day with such a pelt was beyond me!

"Who are you!?" I asked, far more timidly than I'd care to admit.

"Hmm..." They rubbed their chin in thought, their large ears bobbing with the slightest movement. "You can call me Loki."

Their voice was not distinctly femine, nor masculine, but their tone and accent was cute and pleasant to listen to. Like that of a playful cub. But their seemingly sexless form made it dificult for me to decide what gender they were, not that that mattered; but it did distract me from some of the more obvious questions I should be asking for a few moments.

"What are you?"

"I'm a fox, or have you not seen a fox before?" They tittered in amusement.

"No I... yes, I know what a fox is! I mean... are you a male or female?"

"Uhh...?" They looked down and his paws began to roam his body. I suppressed a growl. Were they messing with me? "I forgot to put sex organs? Well I guess it has been a while since I took physical form."

"Physical form?" I queried.

"Uh-huh!" Loki nodded; their overly large ears flopping back and forth as they did.

"So you're a deity then?" I asked.

Deities did not generally have a physical body. But they could create one. It required a signifant amount of power to do such a thing, so they only did it when necessary or if they had power to spare.

"I guess I am." Loki tittered.

"What kind of deity are you? Why are you here?"

"That's not important!" He grinned. "I just took an interest in you is all!"

"You took physical form just to talk to me?" I asked skeptically.

He didn't say anything, he just tittered in amusement. He beckoned me to follow him and walked towards the tree line. I felt a familiar tingle in the back of my mind. I closed my eyes and in a moment I was in my mind-scape, which still represented the camp-site where I had spent my first night here in Aaru.

Standing across from me was my doppelgänger. In the past few weeks he had begun invading this space. I had freaked out the first time I saw him here. It was a sign that his hold on me had grown, however my training with Jan'zar meant he could not harm me; not yet at least.

"What are you doing here!?" I growled.

"You shouldn't trust that fox!"

"That's an unusual thing to hear coming from you!"

The rare time he did invade this place, we had developed a slight dialouge. Often he wouldn't say anything. The threats rarely came, but I suppose he knew he didn't need to repeat them. He mere presence was enough of a reminder. But I was not afraid of him, not in this place, and that was the greatest weapon I could wield against him.

I don't know if it was because he looked exactly like me, but I felt there was more to him than simply trying to make my body his vessel. His ominous warning about not allowing the Guardian Deities to discover his true identity or they would kill me immediately, always wieghed heavily in the back of my mind. I had never mentioned his comment to them. After spending some time in his presence over the past few weeks, I could see there was more than just malice and destructive intent behind those crimson eyes of his. But I was not foolish enough to allow myself to let my guard down just because of that.

"Take heed of my warning mortal!"

"And why would I do that?"

"Because, whether you believe it or not, I do not want any harm to befall my future vessel." That at least I could believe. But was he warning me away from the fox because he was a genuine threat, or was he fearful that the fox would be able to help me in someway? "Heed my words or not, the choice is yours."

He turned and faded from view, leaving my mind-scape. I closed my eyes, focused for a moment and once I opened my eyes I was back in the forest with the white furred fox. Only a couple of seconds had passed, and I don't think Loki had noticed that I had fallen back a couple of steps. I watched as the foxes white bushy tail vanished behind a tree ahead of me.

"Something wrong?"

I jumped and spun round. Loki was standing there! I looked back towards the tree line where I had watched him disappear just a moment go.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?" He asked, tilting his head to the side quizzically.

"How did you..." I shook my head and ignored my curiosity. I had a feeling I wouldn't get a straight answer out of this fox even if I did ask. "Never mind."

"Well hurry up then!"

I followed the fox a short distance into the woods. I don't know where he was leading me, but I was ready to defend myself if it turned out my doppelgängers warning were credible. After maybe five minutes the fox stopped and turned around. There was nothing but the forest around us. He reached out, I tensed and grabbed his wrist.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm more than capable of defending myself." I said in the best threatening tone I could muster.

"I'm sure you are." He grinned, fearless of my warning. "But I have not intention of hurting you." He smiled innocently.

I pushed his arm away as I released my hold of his wrist.

"Then what were you trying to do?"

"Kneel down and I'll show you."

Hesitantly I did kneel, still wary of the small fox. When down on one knee I was the same hieght as he was. Loki smiled, tilted their head so that his ears bobbed, happy that I complied with the request. He reached out and gently poked the end of my snout with his finger. I looked at him with a confused expression, but he just smiled.

"Tag. You're it!" Loki giggled and took off running.

It took me a moment to realise what had actually happened. He wanted to play such a childish game? I smiled. I would play his little game. I don't know if I'd be able to catch him given that he just appeared from no-where behind me earlier. If nothing else it would be good training. I ran after the bushy, white tail before he was able to vanish from sight into the under-growth of the forest.

I was able to keep up with him, I even shortened the distance between us. I knew he wasn't going as fast as he could, otherwise this wouldn't be any fun for him. Just before I got withn arms reach he suddenly darted to the left and then back past me, giggling at me just out of arms reach. I ran up the trunk of a tree, pushed off and threw my right arm over my left shoulder, making my body corkscrew in the air. I landed facing in the direction of the fox and sprinted after them, using my nen to increase my speed.

Using my nen to increase my speed I was able to cover the distance between us fairly quickly. But he was not worried in the slightest, he was giggling in glee like a little cub the whole time. He was looking over his shoulder with an amused expression as I neared. Before I could get too close he suddenly leapt a dozen feet into the air, a feat which would be impossible for any mortal fur, and landed gracefully on a tree branch. He turned and looked down at me.

"That all you got?" He giggled.

I growled and spread my wings. I was not going to let him have the last laugh without giving it my all! I used my wind bending to propel myself into the air towards him. He made an noise that was something between a laugh and a panicked shriek. He leapt to another tree branch and I landed on the one he had been standing on. It was now a chase in the tree tops! The fox was certainly more sure footed than I was, he leapt from branch to branch with such ease, never coming close to making a miss-step; but I was pretty good myself!

I swallowed the fear I felt as I chased him as fast as I could, trusting my body to move the way I needed it to, trusting my paws to find purchase on each and every branch. I couldn't close the distance between us though, he was just too fast! All the time I was chasing him he was laughing and chuckling in amusement.

If I wanted to catch him then I was going to have to stop playing by his rules! When his back was turned to me I used my wind-bending to propel my into the branches, higher in the canopy, and immediately suppressed my nen and hid my presence using the technique Callen had taught me so long ago.

I hid behind the trunk of the tree and peaked out to see the fox below looking around for me. He called out to me and then began running back towards me. As I suspected he was coming back, it wasn't any fun for him if I wasn't chasing him. I just needed to wait for the right moment, As he passed below me I began to descend down the tree to get behind him. Just charging up to him wasn't any good, he was too fast for that, I needed to get closer. I took my time, being careful not to make a sound.

"Where'd you go?" I heard the fox asking.

I slipped from branch to branch, careful not to rustle any of the leaves, or make any of the branches creak under my weight. As I descended, he was standing on the branch where he'd last seen me. His head swivelled this way and that, looking round for any sign of me. Once I was positioned on the branch right above them, just a few yards above his head I held my breath, not wanting to make any noise to risk alerting him to my presence. All it would take for him to see me would be to look up, but I needed to get this close if I wanted a chance at catching them.

"You want to play hide and seek now?" He called out, his overly large ears jiggling as he spoke.

I leapt from the branch, and the moment I did I saw their ear twitch. It was in that moment I knew that the little bugger could hear me, and had probably known where I was this whole time! Before I could grab him he had leapt away with a giggle, turning in mid-air to shoot me a cocky grin. I landed on the branch hard, the wood cracking under the strain of the impaact but it continued to support my weight. I knew it was futile to try and catch him now, but despite the futility of it I leapt after him, only this time I used my wings to propel myself towards him. My wings gave me a slight speed boost, but not enough to catch him in time. He landed on the branch, and fell backwards, hooking his legs around the branch and spun downwards onto a lower branch with a graceful flip, as my momentum carried me over the branch and onto the next.

"Slow poke!" Loki giggled up at me, his big ears jiggling and his tail swishing behind him.

I was getting frustrated now. He was just too quick for me, I couldn't get close to him unless he let me. If this was a fight, I could even the score by using my bending skills and attack at range, but this wasn't a fight. This was just a game so there was no reason to go to such lengths. I wasn't going to attack this fox for the sake of my pride.

"You win." I sighed.

I jumped down from the branch, plummeting towards the ground, and used my wings at the last second to slow my descent. I landed on the ground in a crouch and the white fox popped out from behind a tree next to me. He had gotten down to the ground faster than me? Nothing surprised really me about the fox now.

"Awww! Don't give up! I was having so much fun!" The fox pouted. "I'll let you catch me this time! Okay?"

"I don't need your pity." I waved him off. "Besides I have other stuff to do today."

"Please don't go!" He whimpered.

The pathetic, cub-like tone, pout and sad eyes caught me off guard. Wasn't he a deity? This behaviour seemed a little out of sorts for an all powerful being.

"Don't you have someone else to play with?" I asked.

"No." He pouted. "No one likes to play with me."

I sighed heavily. I knew I should just walk away now, this foxes problems were not my own. I had been practising techniques where I could suppress my emotions in order to prevent the spirit from being able to use them against me. And while I had made progress with my training, this fox was really tugging on my heart strings.

Just walk away, I told myself. But I made the mistake of looking at the fox once more. His ears were drooping now. Shal'Naresh curse you! Why did you have to make me such a soft touch?

"Why won't they play with you?"

"They don't like me." He sniffed. "They just ignore me."

"Why don't they like you?" I suspected there was a reason why the locals would ignore the fox.

The Masrur worshipped many deities beyond the Guardian Deities, it made no sense to me as to why they would not include this fox as well. But he obviously had some significant power to be able to summon a body like he had for no more reason than to play a game of tag with me.

"I don't know!" He huffed and turned his back on me.

He was lying. He knew exactly why I suspected, but I wasn't going to push the matter, I knew I wouldn't get a straight answer.

"I do need to go." I said. "But I promise to come back next time I get some time off."

"When do you think that will be?" He asked excitedly.

"It'll be a little while." I said. "This is the first day off I've had in weeks."

"Aww... okay." He pouted. "You promise you'll come back to play?"

He was such a little cub. It was hard to believe that he was actually a deity.

"I promise."

"Okay! Till next time then!" He suddenly cheered up with the mention of the promise. With the fox cheered up I began to walk away. "Remember, you promised!" He called after me.

I waved back at him confirming my promise before taking flight and heading back towards the village.

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I landed just outside the village. I had flown over it before landing to see if anything out of the ordinary was happening; there wasn't. The village was busy as usual. The villagers busy going about their daily tasks. I enjoyed walking around the village when it was like this. It reminded me of what life back home in Zangar was like. Here I'm just constantly training from dusk till dawn. I rarely get the chance to see the typical day-to-day hustle and bustle of the Masrur villagers.

"No'das yu Malakye." A large breasted Masrur greeted me as I passed by her hut. Her name was Jula, she was a weaver.

"Yu'ibe Jula." I responded.

Thanks to Coltan and Fras I had become competant in speaking the local tongue of the Masrur, which back home we called Old Tongue; a language which was now only spoken by nobles and upper classes who could afford to educate their cubs back in the Mortal realm. I found it easier to read and write the language though, as the pronouciation of each word was important, a subtle change here or there could completely change the meaning of what was being said; I had unitentionally offended more than one warrior this way. Thankfully Coltan or Fras were usually there to help smooth things over for me when I'd been learning the language. But I was getting better. Very few of the Masrur were able to speak my native language.

"You look tired." Jula said, although I think she had implied more with her comment, but I wasn't able to work out what else she was trying to say. The language was just too complex for me to understand completely just yet. But I was getting better with each day!

"I was doing some training." I smiled.

"Make sure you rest plenty."

"I will." I nodded as I kept walking.

I liked Jula. She had this motherly air about her that made it difficult not to feel close to her. But given the fact she had four young cubs to look after, and a few older ones who were know starting their own families, she was a mother through and through. Her mate, Tonga, was a hunter; head hunter in fact. I had only spoken to him a few times but he seemed friendly enough.

In fact nearly all the Masrur were incredibly friendly towards me. There were only a pawful didn't seem to like me for some reason. Maybe they were jealous of me, given the special treatment I seemed to get from the rest of the tribe. I knew most of that was from the tribe trying to keep Jan'zar happy by treating me the way they did. I tried to stay humble, and thank everyone for what they did for me. I could see why someone might become concieted in my situation.

But there was one other possibility as to why they disliked me. And that was the friendship I had forged with one of the most sought after females in the village; Shasmar. She was definitely good looking, but I had no interest in her in that way. Okay maybe not 'no' interest, I like sex as much as the next male. But a relationship with her would not be good on several levels, and I've already turned down her advances once before. Jan'zar had forbidden me to forge any intimate relationships until I had gotten far enough into my training, and when she had approached me it was early on during my stay here in the village. Not only was I concerned with what Jan'zar would do to me if I had taken her up on her offer, I also didn't want to get on the wrong side of Harlock; Shasmar's older brother, and the villages head warrior. She seemed more surprised than upset about the refusal, but we became good friends when she realised I wasn't after her for her body.

"Malakye!" I heard the familiar voice call.

It was Shasmar. She was carrying a basket full of freshly picked fruit, figs, I think they were called. As usual she went around topless, not an unusual occurance among unmated females. Her body had the same powerful build the rest of the Masrur had, which was what made them formidable warriors, but she carried herself with a femine elegance and grace that most of the other female Masrur couldn't pull off.

"Shasmar." I waved at her as she approached. "How are you today?"

"I am well." She smiled back. "Are you finished training already?"

"I have a day... off." I said, struggling to remember the right word for a moment. "I'm going to go and seem Reema, and see if she can train me today."

Reema was one of the village elders. From time to time she helped me practise how to play the viol, a musical instrument which I really struggled with. Jun'lao insisted I learn how to play an instrument, as part of balancing out my personal training regime. I wasn't sure why or how it was meant to help me, but I didn't object to learning how to play an instrument. I actually quite enjoyed it, it was relaxing. And I always admired the way musicians could play music so effortlessly. My main problem was time. I just didn't have the time to practise the viol to get very good at it, but I was improving albeit slowly.

"You're always working or studying." Shasmar scolded me. "You should have fun!"

"I do have fun." I pouted, not meaning to come across as childish as I did. She just laughed at me.

"If you say so friend. Tonight is the Caara." Caara was a ritual, more of a celebration, which was held every few weeks to honour the Guardian Deities. The entire village would gather, break bread together, drink together and dance together. "Will you dance with me?"

"Shouldn't you pick someone else? I'm not that good a dancer." I smiled.

"I want to dance with you." She insisted. "There is no tension, no expectation."

Of course she was referring to the fact that every male wanted to claim her as their mate. I didn't mind dancing with her, and it certainly made things easier for her, but I was always aware of the cold stares I got from the other males.

"I will dance with you." I assured her. "But you shouldn't hide behind me. I'm not going to be around forever."

"I know." She sighed. "But... I don't like the other males, they are strong yes, and would make good mates... but I don't love any of them."

Harlock had allowed his sister to pick her mate, an unusual stance amongst the Masrur culture. As the head male of their family it was Harlock's responsibility to find his sister a suitable mate and marry her off; females didn't usually get a say about who their suitors were. But anyone who knew Harlock knew, that in his eyes, no one was good enough for his sister.

"I will see you later." I said, not wanting to repeat this same conversation with her, as I had dozens of times before.

"Yes!" She beamed. We said our goodbyes and went about our business.

I found Reema shortly after. She was talking with another one of the elders, a male called Kashna. She noticed my approach and smiled at me before finishing her conversation a few moments later. Kashna bowed his head at me, which I did back in return, before he turned and departed.

"Good day to you Malakye."

"You as well Elder Reema." I bowed.

"Are you here for a lesson?" She asked.

"If you're free." I nodded. "I haven't had the time to practise all that much of late." I admitted.

"You need to practise if you want to improve!" She scolded. "I suppose I can spare a short time. Come."

I followed her. I didn't have my viol with me, that was back at Jun'lao's camp. But she was aware of this, and it was not a problem as she had one I could use here in the village when we had our lessons. We went into her hut, which was pleasantly cool inside. Without having to be told I went over and picked up the instument and sat down in my usual spot.

Holding the instrument had become more natural to me. I placed it under my muzzle and pressed down to hold in in place, while I tenderly placed my fingers on the strings to change the notes. I lifted the bow and pressed in onto the strings, the immediate resistance between the strings and the bow was the first thing I noticed each and every time. When Reema played she made it look like the bow moved over the strings like water, but playing it yourself was a very different experience. My first few lessons had been just learning how to move the bow over the strings correctly.

"Now show me what you remember from our last lesson!" She commanded.

And so I did. The hut was filled with melody, far from perfect, but at least I didn't make myself cringe at the sounds I produced. I tried to remember the notes of the melody she had taught me. It was rough, but at least you could hear the melody I was was trying to play.

Learning how to play the viol was benifical to me beyond just expanding my skill set. Jun'lao had explained to me that manipulating the flow was much like playing a melody. By changing a simplest thing you can affect the melody in unexpected ways. If I could learn how the simplest of changes affected a melody, it would help me learn how to manipulate the flow, rather than just being able to predict it.

In all honesty I wasn't sure if it was helping me at all, but that didn't change the fact that I enjoyed the experience of learning to play. When I managed to string together several perfect notes I felt something inside me swell. It was an exhilerating experience, and it pushed me to find out where the true heights of that sensation lay, and how I would feel when I reached that point.

"Not bad." She nodded. "But not good either. Continue to practise!"

And so I did, repeating the melody over and over and over again. Time and again Reema would chime in with a command, telling me to increase my tempo, to watch my finger placement or to berate me when the bow scrapped across the strings with an unpleasant sound. She rarely stopped me, but when she did it was to ensure my full focus was on her explanation and commands.

In comparison to Jan'zar, her scolding of my mistakes never made me fear repeating the mistake, but instead I always felt guilty about disappointing her. I'm not sure which method made me work harder if I'm honest. She was a good teacher, and I always walked away from every lesson feeling as though I had improved in someway.

After a couple of hours she called our lesson to an end. My fingertips and right shoulder were sore from the effort. As ususal she offered me a hot drink at the end of the lesson, and after a casual chat we parted ways. She had her duties as elder to complete, and I had a few hours left in my day to spend doing whatever I wanted, before the Caara tonight, where I would have to dance with Shasmar.

I wandered through the village, tossed and kicked a stuffed animal hide back and forth with some of the Masrur cubs for a few minutes, before heading to the training ground. At the time of day most of the Masrur warriors were either at home resting, or away completing their duties. The only ones who remained were the warriors in training, and the warriors training them.

I sat on the wall surrounding the training grounds and watched them train. The way the Masrur trained was not all that different to how the Zangarian warriors back home trained, but the biggest difference was the Masrurs pride in their physical strength. They were naturally more powerful, far stronger than the average warrior back in the mortal realm. Only the larger species back home could hope to match their strength. But this pride was also their biggest weakness. Possessing strength was one thing, but knowing how to use it effectively was another. Garr was easily the physically strongest of all the Masrur, the strongest fur I had ever laid eyes upon in fact, but the way he fought did not rely on his strength; that was the difference between him and the other warriors here.

Thinking of Garr led me to wonder how Khaine was getting on under his tutelage. And that line of thought made me think about Callen. I no longer thought of Callen each night, imagining his embrace, his scent or the sensation of how it felt when we made love together under the starry sky. My feelings for him had not lessened, but had simply become buried under the layers of mental and emotional training Jan'zar had put me through during my time here. I still needed to keep an emotional distance from other furs lest the spirit use those relationships against me. It was difficult trying to keep that distance with furs I saw each and every day.

Once I had advanced enough in my training perhaps we could be together like we were before, but there was every chance that that moment would only come to be when I had successfully suppressed the spirit within me, to the point that I no longer needed to remain in Aaru. At that point I would need to make a choice. Would I choose to remain in Aaru with Callen, or would I return home? I had pondered this choice many times, but I had never came to a descision. Did I actually have a choice in the matter? Would Callen want me to remain in Aaru? Did he want that kind of relationship with me? As a deity he would live forever and he would be forced to watch me grow old and die. I could only imagine how painful an existence like that could be.

As much as I wanted to remain here with Aaru, I also longed to see my friends and family again. I was here in order to learn the skills I needed to protect them from myself. I had once sworn an oath to protect those I cared about from harm. But how could I do that if I remained here in Aaru for my own selfish reasons when this was all over?

"What are you doing here?" A voice behind me asked. I immediately recognised the voice as Jan'zar's.

"Just thinking." I said without looking back at her.

"Self reflection is important, but there are better ways to attain that than sitting on your ass!"

I couldn't help but smile. It may not seem like it to most, but this was her trying to be nice. She was just never able to drop her pride long enough with anyone to see her tender side. Maybe it was different with her brothers and sisters, but I had yet to see her be vulnerable with anyone.

"Okay." I smiled and stood up.

I walked over to one of the weapon racks and grabbed a spear. I had received intensive weapons training during my time in Aaru. Swords, maces, spears, halbreds, daggers, morning stars... even some other weapons I had never heard of before; nunchucks were probably my least favourite, I was always afraid I'd hurt myself more than my opponent. But I was confident that no matter what weapon was placed in my paws, I'd be able to use them. But a spear or quarter-staff always felt the most comfortable to me.

Knowing that she was watching me I moved to a spot away from the Masrur who were currently training, ensuring I had enough space to practise. I was aware of the fact I was being watched by a number of the Masrur. I had garnered a reputation as a strong fighter, and so I was treated with respect, but many of the warriors kept their distance from me for one reason or another. I began running through drills with the spear. The sensation of the iron shaft running through my paws as moved through the sequence of moves strangely relaxing. I allowed myself to clear my mind and just let my body move by itself.

"You're good." A voice said, snapping me out of my trance like state.

I stopped and returned to a normal standing position, resting the spear against my right shoulder. Standing before me was a finely dressed Masrur; clad in fine white and purple robes. I didn't recognise him, so he was a visitor to the village; possibly a merchant.

"Thank you." I bowed my head slightly in thanks. "My name is Malakye Anaris"

"I know." The Masrur smiled.

I didn't know what to make of him. Most Masrus would have introduced themselves after I had introduced myself. In Masrur culture, to refuse to give your name after another had offered you theirs was the height of rudeness.

A few paces behind him a pair of Masrur stood at attention, clad in dark coloured steel armour with purple cloaks. They had swords sheathed at their waists. They were obviously guards, but most caravan guards would remain with the merchants stock, not the merchant themselves; unless he had enough guards to spare. Meaning he was either an incredibly successful merchant, or he was in fact a fur of some importance.

While I certainly didn't want to insult him, I certainly had no intention of granting him any more of my time until he offered me his name. I returned my spear to the weapons rack and turned to leave the training grounds itself.

"You're just going to walk away from me?" The Masrur asked, a tone of annoyance quite evidient in his tone. I kept walking. "How dare you!"

How dare I? That made me stop in my tracks. I turned and glared at him. That got his attention, and the attention of his guards as well. They stepped between us and grabbed the hilt of their swords but didn't draw them. If they did then I would have every right to attack them. But I didn't look at them, I kept my stare on the rude Masrur who had not only interrupted my training, but had the odacity to accuse me of slighting him in someway!

"How dare I?" I growled. "And what have I dared to do?" I asked, pausing to see if he would respond to my question. But he stood there with an unpleasant scowl and remained silent. Most of the Masrur in earshot had stopped their training and were now watching. "I offered you my name, and you did not give yours! If you shall not offer me your name, then I have no time for you!"

"Offer you my name?" He said, before laughing. "Surely you jest!"

"Do I look like I'm jesting?" I snapped, which cut his amusement short.

"No, I suppose not." He scowled before smiling. "I suppose I'm just not used to having to give my name. Everyone knows my name."

"So you're some self-important blow hard." I retorted He scowled once again, his maw slightly agape, shocked I had dared speak to him in such a manner. "Now if you excuse me I have better things to do with my time." I turned and continued walking away from him.

"You will regret your words!" He called after me.

I didn't respond, I just kept walking. Ignoring the threat the Masrur had yelled at me I walked into the village to see if I could grab a bite to eat. I was starting to get hungry and it was still a number of hours before dinner. The smell of freshly baked bread reached me, my stomach cramped as it made its desire for the fresh bread known.

I followed the scent to the hut where the warriors meals were prepared. I peaked my head in the door to the hut and saw a number of females busily preparing tonights dinner. One of the younger females, Yu was what everyone called her. She spotted me and smiled sheepishly at me. She seemed to know what I wanted and after a quick glance round to make sure none of the older females were looking tossed me one of the rolls.

I snatched the roll out of the air, it was still warm to the touch, shot her a smile and quickly retreated so no one saw me, and prevent her from getting in trouble. I devoured the roll in two large bites. It was so warm and soft and quickly satisfied my hunger for the time being. I would have to make sure to thank her properly later.

With my hunger gone I began to wander round the village and after a while spotted the pompous Masrur at the same time as he spotted me. He was still surrounded by his guards, but he was also with three of the village elders and another older, finely dressed Masrur, with some more guards clad in armour of blackened steel and purple cloaks. They pointed at me and said something I couldn't make out. All the Masrur looked at me. Part of me just wanted to keep walking, but I wasn't going to let that asshole push me around. I had done nothing wrong, and if he had felt offended by my actions then tough. If he wanted to challenge me with an official kinyar then I would gladly accept and show him his place! I stood my ground and glared at him. One of the elders, Tau, walked over to me. Tau was one of the more level headed Masrur I'd met. One of his most prominent features was that he had one pale white eye, and a large scar across that eye socket.

"Malakye."

"Elder Tau." I bowed my head respectfully towards him.

"It seems that you and Young Frans have already met." He didn't say anymore, obviously wanting me to give him my version of events.

"We have. He refused to offer his name after I offered my own, even after I challenged him on it." I explained. "So I walked away from him."

"He also said you insulted him."

"I may have told him my opinion of him." I admitted.

"Very well. I think I understand the situation." Tau sighed heavily. "I won't ask you to apologise, because you have done nothing wrong to justify making you do so."

"If he is that offended, I will accept any Kinyar he wishes to put forth. So long as he agrees not to use any champions in his stead." I said. "I'm more than willing to teach him a few lessons on proper decorum."

"I shall pass the message along." Tau smiled. "You may continue on your way. If he accepts your offer I shall let you know."

"I'd be surprised if he does." I scoffed before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

Hoping to avoid any further contact with Masrur who was apparently called Fran, I headed towards Jun'lao's campsite. I may have the rest of the day to do what I wanted, but right now I just wanted to avoid that ass of a Masrur for as long as possible!