Trees Carved of Mountains...

[jiminiminy]

The lands of the earth, they're rather repetitive. Each new land melds with the next, until they all seem to be nothing more than a mixed painter's pallate, where all the colours are blended together to make a sort of dull brown. But these lands, they were...different.

The greyish Absol stared blearily at the foliage around him. The trees, they went higher then anything. They seemed to be made of the same stuff mountains were made of, or maybe that's where mountains went, maybe the gods carved them into these trees. The world is old, there must have been many mountains in days of yore to make such a thick forest.

"Trees carved of mountians..." Siscarm's voice rang low and clear, his head turned up as he observed two Treeko racing up a tree. Prying his attention away from the simpler pokemon, he set about walking down the unusual pathway he had found.

It was rather unusual, this massive gap in the trees. He could fit ten of his kind side by side in there. Perhaps it was carved for the purpose of marching an army, but there hadn't been an army in many years. Whomever had carved it must have had a damn good reason, this must of taken years to finish.

"Land makes mountain, mountain makes tree, tree helps mortal, mortal cuts tree. What an odd way to repay them." Siscarm let out a snort, which was quickly absorbed by the trees surrounding. Reality was often infused with a certain sense of irony. Or was it creulty? Either way, it managed to entertain the Absol time and time again.

"Ah, well, I suppose I should do some'in on the topic of getting the hell out of here." Siscarm blankly looked around, and saw nothing. He'd been following the path for a good six hours now, and he hadn't picked the entrance but had found it midway through, so who knews where he'd end up? Nothing left to do but follow the path, and go to god knows where.

"We can only look forward, for behind us is rather dark."

[wynnyelle]

Other than the echoing birdsong spiralling down from far above through the air, it was strangely still down at floor level except for the approach of another, smaller absol. She was gaunt, and somewhat undersized, and there was a frightened, subdued fear in her eyes. There! She had found another one of her kind. After running so long without seeing any other absols, she felt grateful that she had been found. "Oh, master! Master!" she barked after him. "You are the first I have seen since the destruction of my dark clan."

The scrawny she-absol threw herself at his feet.

[jiminiminy]

"Neh?" Siscarm looked down at the small female before him. What odd behaviour, it would seem she had been looking for someone else, but instead of striking up a conversation, she had thrown herself at his feet. While a worse Absol might have taken advantage of this, at least this one had a certain sense of honor.

"Master? Oh ho, that's a good one" For this moment, Siscarm was talking simply to himself. "Still, this isn't correct behaviour. She's likely been here a long while..." Perhaps she's gone insane? It's not like you never have. Yes, that was probably it, though he truly hoped it wasn't.

Prodding her, Siscarm said, "We can't have none of this behaviour to total strangers can we? Who knows what'll happen?" THe larger male motioned for the smaller female to get up. "Get up here now and tell me what happened, we can't have you bowing all day. Can't be good for you."

[wynnyelle]

Was he refusing her? She didn't understand. Still bowing, she dared to glance up at him, then quickly averted her eyes. "Yes master. I will tell you everything. The enemy tribe attacked my clan...taking no survivors. We begged to be taken prisoner! But they took no prisoners. I was bad, yes, I ran despite their orders to kill me. I should be dead. And yet I live against orders. They are coming for me, I am sure. Oh--" She swallowed, shivering all over. "Bloodtribe might be on my trail even now! I apologise for daring to endanger you. I am the last survivor of Bone--Bonetribe. I don't know if they even know if I'm alive or not..."

She shivered where she lay. "My cursing--is Shahgag," she said. "What is your cursing, so I may know the name of my master?"

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm looked down at the female, taking in what she was saying. It was rather odd, how she acted but he assumed that there must be some sort of a reason behind it. "Hmmmmm..." he pondered the words she said. Tribes and clans, how completely unsuprising, they were always finding new reasons to kill eachother. She seemed to have no self confidence though, he'd have to give her some.

"Well, first off, you can stop calling me master, it makes me sound like something I'm not." Siscarm thought for a moment. What was the most outlandish name he could think of off the top of his head? "call me by my own cursing, Ijamaku. Second, look at me when you talk! You're acting like a slave!"

Then a possibility drifted into thought. Siscarm had just entered these lands, and he knew nothing about them, perhaps they had not abolished slavery? Preposterus, all the lands had, even the deserts did long ago.

"Now then, I suppose I can help an Absol in need. If it's protection you want, then I suppose you can travel with me. Maybe you know the way around these woods?" He smiled at Shahgag, giving her a hopeful look.

[wynnyelle]

Shahgag straightened herself up to a sitting position, though she still couldn't look him in the eye. Force of habit combined with fear kept her eyes downcast. "Ijamaku! Yes mas--Ijamaku. But...I don't understand. I am a slave!" She had been born one and would always be one. That was why it was so important for her to find a new master.

[jiminiminy]

Well that explained it. She really was a slave, and years of opression had likely mixed her mind up quite terribly. Well, Siscarm figured that he probably could fix it, but it may take a while.

Moving himself around her so that he was looking in her eyes, the male said. "Tell me, if you are a slave where is your master? If what you say is true, then he is no longer of the land of the living. I am not your master, no one is." Siscarm took a long look at Shahgag, before he convincingly said, "The only master of you now is yourself."

With his words spoken, Siscarm quietly returned to his seated position, letting her ponder his words. It wouldn't be enough to fix Shahgag completely, but it would help give her a new perspective.

[wynnyelle]

The words infused Shahgag with fear. Fear showed on the young absol's face. "The free...all die, they all die...if I have no master, then the pokemon of Deathtribe own me! Oh, the things they will do to me..." She stood up and glanced all around, her tail between her legs. She whirled back around at the absol male. "You have to be my master! Please, i'm begging you!"

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm had enough at this point. Her random outbreak showed the ignorance of the people of this land. He was growing agitated by the moment, and his voice ad become rather strained. "I do not condone to slavery, I will not take you as my slave. You are free, free as the pidgey in the tree, or the bidoof in the river. And I tell you..."

He looked at her with shadowed eyes, not very happy eyes. Eyes that said angry things to anyone who opposed them. "If the free all die, then how do the treeko run without hinderance? How do the trees sway openly? Damnit, if the free all die, how do I still stand here denying the words you speak? The free do not die, at least, not for being free."

[wynnyelle]

"Those in the tribes do," said Shahgag. She wondered if this absol were just trying to lead her astray. "The pokemon of Deathtribe...they might hear your words, my words....our words that say I am free now! They're coming for me..." She paced in a circle with her head down, desperate. "I should just die now...rather than endure their tortures..."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm was rather touched by Shahgag's current predicament, but that reaction was overshadowed by her distinct lack of faith. "By the way you speak, it would seem that those in tribes are not free at all..." Siscarm's voice was low, and it was rather hard to determine whether he was talking to the other or himself.

Sighing, he brought his voice back to a distinguishable level. "The more I hear you speak, the less I like this Deathtribe. If you really want me as a master, fine, but I will not treat you as a slave. If me being your master can save your life, than so be it, I will be your master, but still, don't call me master, and I will not call you slave. If you must think as a slave, than do as such, but I will not think as a master."

[wynnyelle]

"As you wish, master. What tribe are you of?" She spoke as if all absols belonged to a tribe. However, there was fear in her voice, new fear as she began to wonder whether he was an Outsider. Shahgag didn't want to touch that thought, but it would make the most sense out of the things he was saying.

[jiminiminy]

"I am of the..." Siscarm stopped. He was in deep shit now, he'd just gotten here, and he had absolutly no knowledge of any tribes, packs, herds, or anything else of the like. Well, luck seemed to be with him thus far, might as well roll with it.

"I'm of the Kathuna tribe, a mixed cooilition of peoples. We are situated off in that direction." Siscarm indicated towards the direction that Shahgag had been running to. He figured that she hadn't been there either, and hoped she wasn't aware of any tribes. Just to be safe...

"Well I was a part. I was exiled from there many, many years ago. They could have gone anywhere by now, and they were rather small, I don't believe that there is any stories about them. It really is a shame too, there were many, many good times."

Siscarm stopped, making the effort to appear choked up, and as though he could not continue. It had worked twice before, perhaps it'd work here.

[wynnyelle]

Shahgag drew in her breath. He was exiled? Cast out of his tribe to be at the mercy of Deathtribe? "Master! That is a most awful thing. May I have permission to inquire what your crime was?" She trembled, knowing she wasn't supposed to ask such questions, but being exiled from one's tribe meant one had committed something severe.

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm turned back to Shahgag. His ruse was working thus far, might as well continue along with it. There could be no further harm other than what he would already have inflicted.

"Well, I wasn't really liked too much. You see, with my appearence..." He looked down at the stone grey pelt he was cursed with. "...I was unable to hunt efficently, and I was seen as an outcast. At the age of 14, I got in a fight with a second male that ended in me taking his life."

Siscarm looked down, not quite sure if it was faked or from real remorse. Without looking up, he continued, though aware of how the story being told was his own. "Under normal circumstances, I would have been awarded and perhaps even given a high position. But, as previously said, I wasn't liked much. I was held under trial unfairly, and quickly exiled.

"And that...That is the story of Ijamaku." He rose, turning to face Shahgag. "And I told you, don't call me master. My cursing is Ijamaku, and yours is Shahgag. You call me by mine, I call you by yours."

[wynnyelle]

"Yes Ijamaku. I am sorry." Shahgag now understood a bit better. "But--you have been cast out. You are of Notribe now. Notribe...Notribe is the property of Deathtribe. We have to find a tribe that will take us in...if such a thing is possible. It is necessary if we want to save ourselves...our bodies and our souls."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm nodded at Shahgag's comment. Perhaps she was correct, he had been wandering for many years. Maybe he should find a tribe, even if not for him, but for her. He couldn't help but feel dismayed at this Absol's chances. She had an awful tendency to trust every person who crossed her path, if she was to trust someone, it should likely be him.

"Yes, we should find a tribe and seek acceptance. Even so, I have traveled long and far, and I have grown ignorant of the region's tribes. Is there any nearby that would take a pair of NoTribes? Perhaps we should find one, before DeathTribe finds our trail."

[wynnyelle]

"We have to find one," said Shahgag. "Deathtribe is always watching. They will send their messengers to us soon I am sure. And...the longer they wait to, the more horrific their tortures might be. For me more than you. I am but a slave." She sighed. "I guess we could head up towards the north and see what we can find. The Tribes stay spaced out far from each other, except at gatherings, so it may be a while before we find anything. and then...we must be careful, for if they do not accept us they will kill us."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm smirked, but said nothing in response. Motioning for Shahgag to follow, he began to head north, the direction he was going anyways. He found a certain humour in what she said. After a good 100 meters of walking, not checking if she followed or not, he said with a jovianl tone. "I've had people trying to kill me for many years, and the only ones to die were them. I have nothing to worry about, and if you stay near me, you won't either."

[wynnyelle]

"Then...have you faced Deathtribe itself?" Shahgag's voice was full of wonderment, like a kit's often was.

She was hungry, but she knew better than to complain. No matter what, she never complained...she had been trained from an early age that complaining was a grave sin and one that could get her cast out into Notribe.

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm's smile never even faded from his face. "I have faced things far, far worse than Deathtribe, as impossible as that seems. In my exile, I did, actually, leave our lands, and let me tell you..." He stopped, facing Shahgag, gaily grinning as he did so. "There are far more things than you can see here, some good, some bad, but you must always stay true to your home, as such, I'm back, and I'm here with you."

[wynnyelle]

"But...the Outlands...they say that if Deathtribe does not get you, the evil giants will crush you with their feet," said Shahgag. "The Great Mountain Lords are full of wrath for those whose Tribes have cast them out. The Great mountain Lords...the ones you can hear coming when the land trembles."

Shahgag stopped and paced in a circle, looking all around. "The farther away from one's Tribe one goes the more vulnerable they are to the evils of the land. One's Tribe is where one's heart and soul are tied down to! To leave one's Tribe...by choice or not...is to be cursed with weakness and evil."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm stopped his travel as Shahgag proceeded to have a mental breakdown. At this rate, they'd never find anyone who'd help them. "I saw no Great Mountain Lords as I walked, nor did I feel any wrath. Well, feel any wrath directed from them. If I were vulnerable to evil, would I have take you with me? No, I would have treated you as a slave, not as another Absol. Any curse that has been upon me has not taken effect, as I've fought evil, and never fallen to any sort of weakness. To be cursed with those is to become obsessed with your loss, to prevent them is to try and look forwards, not back. We can only look forward, for behind us is rather dark. My father told me that, and I believed him. I tell you this, and you should try and believe me."

[wynnyelle]

Shahgag struggled to understand how he had done what he claimed to have done. "Then are you part of Skytribe...the blessed ones? You...you must be." She sat down and looked thoughtfully at the ground. The ground had long felt to her like the safest place to look. "You speak of evil melting away from you. I am blessed to be yours. Maybe...maybe I really was spared for a reason." If she travelled with him, could Bloodtribe not ever touch her?

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm smirked again. "Was a part of them. Was. I am still an exile, and even when we find a new tribe, an exile I will remain. Now then, lets set about finding someone that isn't of BloodTribe shall we?" Siscarm really would like to get out of this exact position, he didn't doubt that a tribe with the numbers to completely slaughter another one had scouts out and about. "So long as I'm here, they will not take you, but I'd much rather avoid a fight." He stared blankly down the path. It was rather dark, though whether due to night or tree cover was not known. If they were to find a tribe, it would help to find it, before it found them.

[wynnyelle]

"Yes, Ijamaku, yes. Right away." Shahgag was filled with hope now. Curiously, he seemed to know little of the ways of the tribes, but he did claim to come from a long way away. They clearly did things differently in faraway places. Shahgag had never known that, though. "Skytribe...you are chosen by them, and if you are, you are a part of them whether or not your mortal Tribe casts you out. If you are of Skytribe, you are never truly of Notribe."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm gave a sort of shrug, the best he could with all four paws on the ground. "I'm sure if BloodTribe found us right now, they wouldn't really care if I were truly a NoTribe or not. The two plains try their best to keep apart, and I truly don't think that they would believe me if I were to speak such a title."

But then again...Shahgag had believed every word he had said. If they were all like this, he could put it to his own gain, but that wouldn't be right, and Siscarm really didn't want to risk it.

[wynnyelle]

"Bloodtribe wouldn't hesitate to kill you because you are my new master," said Shahgag. "They see you with me and they will know you have aligned yourself with their enemy. Bloodtribe has been our enemy since...since...ever since the Second Sundering of Tribes, really. But if you are truly of Skytribe...they can try all they want to kill you. They will never be able to kill you."

[jiminiminy]

Siscarm walked now with a certain one-mindedness about him. He had talked for a long while, and was now beginning to grow tired of the noise. "They can always try, they can always fight, but when there is rightousness, there is redemption. I will not be killed, and I won't let you be killed either." With those words, which were spoken with an absent voice Siscarm lapsed into an uneasy silence, with their paws hitting the ground making the only sound nearby.

[wynnyelle]

"Yes...yes Ijamaku. Of Skytribe you must be." Shahgag believed it the more she thought about it. He seemed so foreign...a soul dropped from a sacred place just in time to come to her aid. She had gone from being of Notribe and on the run to the slave of a Skytribe absol. There was no greater honour, no better master one could serve!

Their travels brought them northwesterly, towards the upper end of the valley they had been in. Shahgag soon picked up the scent of the territorial marks of their kind.