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Atem · **09-08-2013, 04:47 PM**

"Easy there hunter, you wont catch anything if you run out of breath from eagerness."
She scratches her hair and shakes her head making sand fly around. "I probably could have given you a name and direction of our pray a long time back but these days?"

There is that same concern in her face that the elder hid away so well.
"We are out there longer and longer and come back with less. Many grief that there are fewer of us now, but we could not feed everyone." K'gori looks to the horizon then back at the camp.

"You should pick up everything that you deem necessary. Plan for days if you think youÂ´re gone hours. We all help of course if you feel like you forgot how food looks befor its cooked" A snarly laughter and the huntress jumps down the rocks in a few bounces, heading of towards the tents.

Kailia · **09-08-2013, 05:00 PM**

K'ailia scoffed as the hunter jumped down and headed for the tents. It dawned on her then, that was why the elder sent her to learn from Gridania. The tribe lacked the skills needed in the post-calamity world.

So K'ailia leapt down from the rock and headed towards the supply areas. She would look to see what the tribe needed the most. To her dismay, the tribe truly was suffering. What used to be a tent filled with many carcasses of prey, only two were strung out, still being processed as the workers cut the portions smaller than how they used to. The water of course was dangerously low.

K'ailia shook her head. Had the supplies always been this low since she left? She left the supply tent heading to the tent used by all the elders when they held council. She needed information.

Naunet · **09-11-2013, 11:50 AM**

K'deiki had remained observing as the tribe tended to its wounded and its hunt for some time, features stoic and body seemingly unmovable amidst the bustle of bodies. The wind shifted direction then and with the deep breath of one hefting a great, internal weight, she turned with it to shuffle across their small encampment, towards a low, wide tent.

Inside, the thick hide of the walls muffled the chaotic sounds of daily life until they were merely a faint, persistent drone. Lamps, their light diffused by the pounded thin skin stretched about them, cast the inside of the tent in a dim yellow glow. A few decorations of historical and spiritual significance furnished the broad room, meant to remind those within of their past, present, and future. The room smelled strongly of incense, though nothing burned presently. She noted two figures already present, knelt off to one side on a few, soft furs, and moved to join them.

"K'luha's child has returned," she spoke as she lowered herself to her knees on the furs - items brought back from Ul'dah during a better time, a time when the tribe could spare two or three to travel across the desert and present items for trade in distant towns. Now, however, all focus was on survival.

Yellow eyes, which had retained the intensity of their former youth, looked up at K'deiki and then narrowed in a heavy frown. "One more mouth to feed," came the aged, masculine voice, tone carrying an underlying weight of anger. Resentment towards their current situation.

"And one more set of hands to help feed us all, K'jhanhi," the other figure spoke, head lowered and shoulders hunched in a posture both weary and crooked from age. Behind thick hair that still held a few, thin patches of the fiery red it had once been, the harsh white of intricate tattoos glared out at the room. K'takka Jihm, ever the voice of reason, did not look up directly, however, instead letting her comment linger in the air between them.

K'deiki nodded, to both of them, and let her bones settle into this new position on the ground. "We will see," she finally spoke and wove her fingers together in front of her. The three elders returned to silence then, sifting through their own thoughts on their own time. For K'deiki, this meant allowing herself a rare moment to think of a daughter lost to the tribe and grandchildren lost to the world; for K'jhanhi, it was a worry of practicality paired with fury towards the gods. As for K'takka, she chose to take this long silence with all the stoicism of one who has accepted their fate and settled her thoughts and eyes on the bright outline of the tent's door, waiting.

Kailia · **09-11-2013, 08:25 PM**

K'ailia approached the entrance of the council tent and took a deep breath before entering the tent. She looked about at the decorations.

"Elders, are you busy? I wish to speak of the tribe." she said in a low voice so only those in the tent would hear.

Naunet · **09-11-2013, 08:33 PM**

Thin lips pulled into a small smile, and K'deiki closed her eyes at the soft voice coming from the entrance. Her tail shifted on the furs to curl loosely along one leg, and she bowed her head.

K'jhanhi took this as a cue and turned yellow eyes towards the door, expression hard through his wrinkled face, and spoke with enough volume to carry, "Enter and speak what you will." He ignored the sideways chiding look from K'takka, and then both schooled their features into careful neutrality.

K'deiki would not lift her head when K'ailia approached, though her ears would flick back in acknowledgment. She kept her eyes closed, face turned downward towards withered hands clasped together in her lap.

Kailia · **09-11-2013, 08:53 PM**

K'ailia stepped further in, taking a seat before the elders and collected herself before speaking.

"I had a chance now to look at the camp, and how it seemed to of changed. The winds and Earth speak to me..." she paused a moment to let it sink in.

Finally she looked at each elder, "Years ago, this tribe traveled to areas when food became scarce. But now... from what I have seen, everywhere is drying up. Even the very beasts we hunt are starved and looking to other sources for food... mostly us. What's more the Amalj'aa have increased their activities in these lands. The winds speak that they are summoning their primal..."

Another pause before closing her eyes a moment and then opening them, "Elders... I think it is time the tribe moved to newer hunting grounds... the lands north of the Sagolii hold much vegetation..."

Naunet · **09-11-2013, 09:27 PM**

A thin breath escaped K'deiki's lungs as she took in the words, though she did not yet lift her head. Her counterparts, however, reacted far more demonstrably.

"Leave the desert? Who are you to come with us with these suggestions, as though we didn't know how to care for our own?" K'jhanhi's voice rumbled deep in his throat, offense clear in his features and the way grey-fuzzed ears set forward aggressively. He didn't move from his seat on the furs, but his old frame seemed to swell in that spot.

"This is our home," blue eyes set in a maze of tattoos looked at K'ailia plainly. When she spoke, her tone was one of an elder attempting to communicate reason to the unreasonable, "It is your home, too, and it has always kept us. This is only a poor time. We must ride it out."

K'deiki let out another breath and twisted her fingers in her lap before finally speaking without looking up, "You think we have nothing left for us here." Her words were quiet and then, firmer, "Perhaps you are right, child. But the others have spoken well their protest - and you have not yet proved your full worth to the tribe." She could feel the other Elders' gazes turn on her, and had she not spent nearly a century with them already, their weight would have crushed her. "What makes you think these problems would not trouble us elsewhere just as they do here? Has not all of Eorzea suffered since Dalamud's fall?"

Kailia · **09-11-2013, 09:47 PM**

K'ailia bowed her head, "I meant no disrespect elder. I worry about my brothers and sisters. I worry about how we can sustain ourselves."

She then looked up at K'jhanhi, "I am not suggesting we leave the desert. And I know I still must prove myself."

She then looked to K'deiki, "Yes, the rest of the world has been heavily hurt by the calamity. And I do not like the idea of leaving the Sagolii myself. With your permission, I will set out now to hunt the Sundrake that had nearly destroyed our hunters."

She bowed her head once more, awaiting the elders commands.

Naunet · **09-11-2013, 09:56 PM**

The three Elders' eyes met then, and a silence ticked over that lasted through several seconds of subtle communication that to one who had not spent the same decades together as these would seem nothing more than staring.

Finally, both K'takka and K'deiki relaxed their posture, the latter offering a brief nod towards the third who, in a solid gesture with both hands, spoke, "To do so would bring honor to yourself and security to your family. A worthy hunt, if you can complete it." His yellow eyes, wrinkled and aged, watched K'ailia with intent and challenge. "Go then. Don't return until you can assure us it will harm your brothers and sisters no more."

Kailia · **09-11-2013, 10:24 PM**

K'ailia nodded and stood to her feet and gave a bow before heading out of the tent. The moment of her ultimate test was now at hand. She proceeded back to her rock, where she climbed to the top and sat listening to the wind. She let the scents of the desert fill her nose. Turning her head she continued focusing on the wind, trying to find the quarry she sought.

It was then the blood of her sisters and brothers mixed with that of a Sundrake alerted her. It was a ways out, but still close to the hunting grounds. She rose to her feet and lept down from the rock, proceeding to the edge of camp.

Outside the camp, she let forth two sharp whistles. From the distance, two beasts strolled over to K'ailia, the first being a female chocobo she named Lily, a chocobo she had earned while in Gridania. The second, was a beast she had healed in the black shroud that not even her mother knew about. A gorgeous white unicorn.

She climbed upon the unicorn's back and the three set out towards where she last sensed her quarry. It was some distance away, but over one rather tall sand dune, she soon found the Sundrake. It looked starved, and yet much larger than most sundrakes. The hunt was now on. She climbed off of the unicorn and creped around the sand dune to place herself behind the Sundrake.

Focusing on the creature's back, she began calling upon earth which lifted a sizable chunk of rock from the ground beside her and with a flick of her arm, the boulder sailed through the air striking the beast in the kneecap with an audible crack of bone. She then whispered to the earth that created a torrent of wind around the Sundrake that began making tiny cuts along its scales as it turned and started limping towards her. The chocobo though was on it, grabbing the beasts tail holding it while she channeled earth again, this time making several pillars of earth rise up under the sundrake and slam together before shattering into sand, causing great injury to the beasts remaining three limbs.

It flicked its tail sending the chocobo into the sand dune as it continued trying to drag itself towards K'ailia, with drool dripping from its maws. K'ailia quickly backed away and channeled another stone, sending it towards the beasts head. The beast reared its head in agony, as she cast Stone II upon it's body followed by another Aero spell. The creature flailed and thrashed under the magical assault. The time was now to end the creature's suffering. With one final cast of stone upon the beasts crown, the skull gave in and the creature moved no more.

K'ailia fell back onto her bottom panting. She then whispered her thanks to the elements of Earth and Wind, for their assistance before rising to her feet once more. The elders bade she not return without assurance the beast would cause no more harm to her brothers and sisters. She smiled, there was proof right before her, and the beast though starved it was, would help feed the tribe.

Pulling some spare rope out from Lily's saddle, she fashioned a makeshift rope harness around the chocobo, and the fallen Sundrake. But not before ensuring the creature wasn't merely unconcious, she used a knife she got from the leatherworkers guild to cut the throat of the drake. She let it bleed out while she tied the beast to the chocobo and then mounted the Unicorn. Normally many hunters would be assisting in carrying the carcass back. But she did not have that luxury.

------------------------------------
After several hours travel, K'ailia finally arrived back at the camp, riding into camp on the unicorn, the chocobo dragging the Sundrake behind it, they went to the center of camp.

"Brothers! Sisters! I present to you the Sundrake that had injured our hunters on the last hunt!" And with that, she climbed down from the Unicorn, and began untying the drake for inspection by the elders.

Nauta Lyehga · **09-12-2013, 03:57 PM**

The journey back to the Tribe had been slow and weakening in the extreme heat of the day. Still, herself and her daughter had made it back without too terribly much trouble. Of course, K'ailia had gone to see the elders and prove herself and her place within the tribe which left K'luha standing nervously off on the edge of camp, awaiting her daughter's return with news. She stood with her own chocobo, K'yori; cleaning the beast's feathers from the uncomfortable sand.

K'luha paused in her cleaning and looked up to the shimmering sky, its blue cloudless color wavering with the heat of the day. The desert was hotter and dryer than it used to be. There was less and less prey every day. When she had looked in their stores, she was disturbed to see such few things there. Her home was frightening her, but what frightened her more was the idea of leaving the Sagolii. The place that had been her lifelong home.Â

She closed her eyes and tilted her head down towards the ground, thinking. Everything was changing now. K'ailia was no longer her cute little daughter, but a strong woman. Even if the elders refused to admit it, K'ailia had changed so much. She had matured so much, so much that it frightened K'luha. She was afraid her daughter wasn't going to need her any longer, and the truth was that she probably didn't need her already.Â

K'luha finally shook her head free of her lamentable musings and lead K'yori over to camp, were she ducked under a tent for shelter from the heat.

Naunet · **09-12-2013, 04:28 PM**

As soon as K'ailia had left, the three Elders had fallen back into a lengthy, heavy silence. At some point, K'deiki stood, leaning against her staff for support, and walked the length of the tent, pausing at a shallow, broad bowl carved from bone. In its surface had been etched a half-globe and rays depicting the sun, and in the center of the bowl there sat a small pile of burnt incense. A shrine to Azeyma, the Warden, the guardian who had kept their tribe on a true bearing for generations.
With K'takka and K'jhanhi in silence behind her, K'deiki knelt before the shrine and bowed her head.

***

Hours passed and not once did the Elders in the tent stir - not until a commotion from outside pushed past the insulating walls of their isolation. It began as one voice, high and challenging, and then there came others as everything merged into a din of excitement.

K'jhanhi was the first to speak, his once powerfully muscled form lifting to his feet as he lumbered towards the entrance, "That cannot be another hunting party, not so soon." There was expectation in his voice, tempered with a certain caution. His ears, all but hidden in the thick mane of grey sloping down his head, flicked back and then forward, listening.

K'takka looked across the room towards where K'deiki still knelt, silent. In the diffuse yellow light of the tent, her tattoos and blue eyes cast her weathered features in an eerie tableau. The woman at the shrine did not look up from her thoughts; instead K'deiki said only, "Go and meet her return. I will be along shortly."

The former nunh said no more to them, pushing through the flap of hide that served as a door and into the orange and red tones of a desert evening. It took longer for his eyes to adjust to the new light than it would have in earlier years, but he did not let this slow him, instead making straight for the source of the commotion, where a small but not insignificant crowd had begun to gather. His steps in the sand were uneven, harried by an old limp, and tired, but certain. On the air there was the scent of blood and dying flesh, and the tang of sweat from a hunt well made.

"What is this we have before us," his low voice rumbled, and many of the miqo'te immediately near him fell silent, turning eager faces in his direction. They fell away and K'jhanhi took in the broken body of a massive sundrake, its scales shattered where rocks had pelted its form, flesh scraped raw and ragged where wind had made its inexorable mark; white bone splashed in the red of gore and dirtied from its trip back to the camp peeked out from ruined leg joints. The creature was undoubtedly dead, and standing before it, with a stance befitting the confidence of a seasoned hunter, was K'ailia.

Kailia · **09-12-2013, 04:38 PM**

K'ailia stepped before K'jhanhi and knelt down, "I present to you proof of my hunt. This beast will trouble our hunters no more."

The Unicorn clopped its hoof in the ground while Lily, the chocobo did the whole chocobo teats and wing flaps in celebration.

K'ailia looked back up at K'jhanhi, "Will you have me prove myself more? I will meet any challenge you wish to bestow upon me."

Naunet · **09-12-2013, 04:53 PM**

K'jhanhi looked down at the girl for some time, silent, and then closed his eyes. A lukewarm breeze kicked up sand from a nearby dune, and he could feel the tiny grains brushing past his wrinkled skin. Letting out a long breath and standing like a frail pillar in the wind, K'jhanhi thought back to a time when he could have run along with that breeze, when the air itself had urged on life even as the heat of the desert sucked it away.

That time was passed, he thought, and opened his eyes to squint past K'ailia, at the odd, white beast behind her. A few members of the tribe stood near it, watching the unicorn with curiosity.

"I have seen enough, hunter," the former nunh, physically a shadow of what he had once been but with a mind still as sharp as the blade he had once used to battle the sire before him. He drew a breath and sought to make his voice carry, though it took more effort now than it once had, "The others will agree. You're no child any longer."

"We would welcome you home," came a second voice, crackling with age but pleased, and from behind him K'deiki stepped forward, her hunched form moving to stand at his side. "As a full member of our family."

Nauta Lyehga · **09-12-2013, 04:53 PM**

K'luha had fallen asleep for a short time beneath cool tent. It was more comfortable to lay in the dusty sand beneath that tent that it had been for all those times on those fluffy city beds. Of course, her comfort was short lived as a buzz of noise from the camp slowly grew until it awoke her.Â
She grumbled softly and rolled over up onto her feet. Rubbing her eyes she slipped out of her tent and towards the noise without much of a thought, until the noise seemed to stop and she picked out the voices of her daughter and her grandfather.Â

K'luha had to blink a few times to take in the scene. Her child on a... white unicorn? With an excitable chocobo and a dead Sundrake between them all. Not to mention her grandfather, and elder, K'jhanhi standing to examine her.Â

Out of instinct, K'luha shoved her way towards the front of the crowd, pausing only when she realized her worse fears were indeed becoming realized. She halted sharply and slunk back a bit, watching with wide eyes and baited breath.

It wasn't long before K'jhnahi spoke, followed by K'deiki. K'luha looked between the two of them and back at K'ailia before carefully stepping back and slinking back towards her tent. Her daughter had really grown up...

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The return to the Tribe [Hipparion Tribe RP]

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes