Elira ignored the human. They were always asking questions to which the answers were obvious. It would do them good to figure something out, rather than being treated like yearling kits, unable to fend for themselves. She was embarrassed not to have recognized her home ground when they first landed on the beach but resigned herself to having a poor sense of place.

She was closer to the Myr'l kit who had approached them than any of the rest were. They had chosen to stay on the beach, in the hot morning sun, apparently because they were afraid to move the insect and the sickly human. Elira had moved to the shaded edge of the clearing to keep watch. The bright light would have ruined her chances of seeing movement in the darker forests which surrounded the beach, though she had stayed out long enough to dry out the salt-water that had clung to her hair and clothes.

Tilting her head, she dipped her sword downwards toward the kit, who edged warily onto the beach. His ears flipped forward, then flattened to his head, then perked up again as he very solemnly dipped his sword - barely a dagger, really - in return. The boy looked at her, his blue eyes shining with pride above a scar-pink tattoo which crossed his nose, arching down to frame a young face. She circled to one side, moving the kit away from the ragtag band of mainlanders, holding in a smile when he stumbled over his own feet.

With a determined look, the Myr'l - he couldn't have been more than a season old - lunged toward Elira. Or, more precisely, toward her knee, which was at shoulder height for him. She parried the blow lightly, so as not to disarm him. Striking toward him slowly enough that he could see the move, she carefully hit his blade once more. One of the humans gasped, apparently afraid she meant to kill the boy. Elira rolled her eyes toward her odd companions, eliciting a nervous smile from the kit. In a practised step, both Myr'l disengaged their weapons and moved back.

Slipping her sword into the sheath on her back, Elira dropped into a crouch. "Elira Tashi," She said, putting her hand out in front of her, palm down. The greeting was a sensible one, showing that her claws were sheathed but not exposing her wrist to attack.

The boy knelt, placing the back of his hand atop hers. "Tarim Yitel." His hand was small but proportionally much too large for his body. He would grow up to be a fine size, Elira decided. As it was, the boy - Tarim - looked ungainly. His hands and feet were too large, his ears and head disproportional to his tiny chest. The tattoo marked his tribe, but the colour showed little aging time. His eyes, too, showed his age to the world, though they were mostly covered by the mop of brown hair over his head.

Elira frowned slightly. "Yitel. What territory?" She spoke in the native Myr'l tongue, which tended to convey it's meaning in as short bursts as possible. It felt comfortable, compared to the verbose human language she had spoken for the past two years. Behind her, she heard one of the humans ask what was going on. The tiny, winged one started to mumble the words to something, but trailed off. Elira focussed on the boy once more.

He tilted his head questioningly. "Here. There." He gestured around at the forest, unable to put into words something that was so obvious to him. Elira smiled despite her frustration. She too had never thought in terms of a larger world until travelling to the mainland, where it was easy to get lost. Still, this kit would be no use in directing her back to the port.

She stood up abruptly, causing the boy to bolt into the woods. She heard him breaking through the brush, presumably running to his tribe. Too young to realize he should keep his den site secret, he was also too untrained to silence his movements. There was a moment of silence while Elira stared into the woods. Turning back to the stunned mainlanders, she was surprised to notice that the little insect had collapsed again, lying weakly beside the somewhat-more awake human - what was her name again?

Before any of them could gather their thoughts, Elira barked out "Names. What are your names?" In the half-day that had passed while the frail human and insect had slept, the snake and screechy human had left Elira mostly to her own devices. After setting the fire to dry herself out while it was still dark, she had killed a rummf, named for the noise the bird made when the air was knocked out of its lungs during a pounce. Grabbing some edible plants she recognized, she offered the food to the conscious pair of mainlanders. Elira smiled halfway at the thought. She'd forgotten about humans' strange inability to eat raw meat. It seems the blood had thrown the screamer so far off balance that she'd kept company with the snake for the rest of the day.

The snake answered first, having apparently not lost her senses the way that the humans tended to. "Doku."

Shaken out of their revery, the two humans spoke overtop of one another, garbling their names. With a quick glance at each other, the screamer spoke first, absent-mindedly kneeling beside the prone insect. "K- Ria."

Elira raised an eyebrow "K'ria?" That didn't sound like a human name. The sickly human also looked confused for a moment, frowning at the screamer.

"Ria. Just Ria." The girl looked embarrassed about something, but Elira shrugged it off. Humans were an odd bunch, worrying about strange, unimportant things. Swimming in that dress had likely addled her brains, combined with the hot sun of the day.

With one last, suspicious look at the one called Ria, the other human turned back to Elira. "Devon." She looked as if she wanted to say more, but could hardly hold her thoughts together. Devon seemed to be rolling her shoulder distractedly, staring at it in disbelief.

Ria looked at the insect, who was stirring weakly again. "That's Damia. She tried to... I don't know. I think she was trying to do magic, but she just collapsed." Ria smoothed the insect's hair, and was rewarded with a wing kicking up sand onto what was left of her dress. Elira smiled mercilessly. Dresses were hardly appropriate for anything, let alone for surviving a battle and swimming half the night.

She took stock of the group. None of them looked particular pleasant - herself included, she assumed. Much of their clothing had sea salt dried on it, and some of the more elaborate items of clothing had been torn when they were thrown from the boat. She frowned at the thought of that, but decided the odds of winning that battle on the ship had been far against her. At least here, on Myr'l, she had more control on the setting for the game.

Doku interjected a question into Elira's thoughts. "And your name?" She didn't look that interested. Elira had trouble remembering names, even after they were given more than once, but apparently Doku had no such problem.

"Elira." Turning to the the sickly human - Devon. Elira chastised herself for not calling her by name - she answered the question from when the kit entered the clearing. "We are on Myr'l Island." Forestalling any further questions, she continued. Humans would interrupt forever if you let them. "There is one port on the island. I don't know how to get there, and I don't know the tribe whose territory we're in. That kit has likely notified them that we're here, and we can expect a challenge when the heat goes down, if we don't get out of here." She paused a moment to let that sink in, and continued with a grin "But hey, welcome to my world."

A wave of questions washed over her, and she dropped down to lounge on the beach while answering them. Any complaints about her inability to lead them to the port she ignored, annoyed enough about that already. It wasn't her fault she'd never explored the entire island. The other tribes were not exactly hospitable to strangers, as the mainlanders would surely learn.

She held up a hand to stop the barrage of questions a moment. "The boy said he was of Yitel. I'm of Tashi, and we have no contact with Yitel." She thought about it, and explained further. "Myr'l tribes are based on the den mother. My mother is Tashi Tashi. Only the daughter most likely to reproduce and survive carries the tribe name on. But I've never met or heard of Yitel. We're likely on the wrong side of the island. The port lies near my territory." She smiled to herself. "It looks like you're about to get an up close and personal tour of Myr'l Island."

The questions started again, but she stopped playing with her claws in the sand at Devon's bitter tone. "So why are you helping us?" Elira looked up in surprise.

"You're my best route to what I need to do." She said the words in a jovial tone, but realized there was a growl under them.

Devon took no notice, speaking almost in a daze. "What you need to do? What's that, kill some more innocents?" She'd been mumbling things in her sleep, accusations about something that sounded like 'K'lan' to Elira.

Elira stood, her full height giving her a slight advantage over Devon. She tried to hold her temper, but her ears flattened back and her tail bristled. Devon took no notice, apparently lost in her own thoughts, her eyes half-closed. "Back to killing people who are only trying to do what's best. People who-" She took a step toward Elira.

"People who cut the throats of sleeping men." Elira snarled suddenly, forcing Devon back. "People who drug the wine, people who cheat honest men out of their lives." The cargo hold flashed through her mind, the bright sounds of steel meeting the dull sounds of flesh. Of corpses hitting the deck. Of Talis, stabbing the sailor attacking her, even as his own blood drained to the floor. Of her claws raking across the face of the man who killed him. She hissed the words through the haze of red in her eyes. "People who lie." Devon paled a shade, and Elira pulled herself back together, taking a step back.

Ria nervously looked at them. "I... I think we're all a little tense still." Elira nodded tiredly, her energy spent. Devon looked taken aback, but somehow comforted. Elira didn't care to think about it, instead looking at Doku, who seemed to bear pain in her eyes. The snake had revived her strength when the heat of the day finally reached them, but both she and Elira had stayed up on watch, opting to let the human - Ria - sleep with the others.

Elira had taken the first watch, since Doku seemed to have slowed in the cool night. When Doku woke to take her watch, Elira saw the same pain in her eyes. It wasn't her business, though, so they had changed watches silently.

Returning to the moment at hand, Elira brusquely said "Come. We're leaving here." She checked that her weapons were firmly attached to her and walked towards the woods, halting when the mainlanders didn't follow her.

"What? Why?" Ria looked distraught, as she helped Damia to her feet. The insect twitched her wings, and a layer of sand fell from them. She looked much more healthy than she had moments before. Elira wondered for a moment if the bug could keep a lookout for them, but realized that any Myr'l tribe worth their swords would also carry bows. She growled under her breath at the loss of her own bow, abandoned to the hold of the Karanene.

Speaking slowly, Elira explained "Those of Yitel know we're here. We're large enough to be a threat, and knowing kits," A small laugh escaped her, belying the seriousness of the situation "Tarim has told them we're giants with three heads who he singlehandedly protected his tribe from." She traced her blood-red tattoo with one claw, thinking. "If we stay here, they'll hide in the trees and shoot us." The smile faded from her face. "As Talis would have said, it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel."

Doku nodded her agreement. "We will go. Where?"

Elira sighed. "I don't know. They'll find us no matter what, I'm just hoping we can find somewhere that we'll at least have a chance of surviving the meeting." She glanced around the camp they had made, and made a decision. "We'll leave it like this. The Myr'l know we're here already, but maybe they'll think we're coming back here if we leave it a mess." She shrugged a little "It can't hurt, and it might buy us some time."

"Come on. We're racing against time." With a trace of humour, she added. "And this time has teeth."

--

Green life blossomed around them, with tall trees providing a canopy of shade over their path through the forest. Elira breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of dirt and plants and life. Human cities smelled only of stone and waste. The woods were humid and light, even as the afternoon progressed, and the constant movement of smaller creatures through the knee-high plants reminded Elira of how healthy a world could be, even if it seemed to make the mainlanders nervous. Except Damia, who seemed happy hovering just above the low plants which were soaking Ria's skirt.

The forest seemed endless, and it had quickly become obvious that there was very little advantage to be had for fighting on any particular piece of land. After a quick discussion with Doku, they chose a reasonably large hill as their base. Even if the fight would quickly reach them, at least their attackers would be visible to them beforehand, and they would waste more energy running up to a fight.

"Now, who can fight?" Elira looked at the group with a raised eyebrow. "Do none of you even have weapons?" Ria looked down and blushed while Devon tentatively held up a dagger, wincing at the movement of her shoulder. Useless humans. The insect, at least, seemed to have some magic in her control. The Myr'l would be cautious of that.

Elira frowned to herself. "We should have left her," She nodded at Devon "rather than wasting the fairy's strength on her. The human is a liability. She'll just get herself killed."

Devon jumped to her feet, but Doku restrained her. "We all have opinions."

Ignoring the effect of her comments, Elira turned to Ria. "Here." She pulled a dagger out of the sheath on her calf, and tossed it to the human. "It's my only extra. Try not to lose it." Ria caught it out of reflex, juggling it slightly but somehow avoiding cutting herself. She touched the sharp blade in wonder.

Elira started to walked away into the forest as Ria cried "Wait, I don't know how to use this!"

With a sigh, Elira groped for the best way to explain fighting to someone who clearly had no clue which end of a dagger was up, but was interrupted by Devon. "I'll show you." Her expression twisted, as if the words themselves had tasted bad, but she moved to demonstrate how to hold a knife. Leaving the fairy and humans to their own impromptu teaching session, Elira strolled farther into the forest once more.

The woods were relatively young here, as was true of most of the land close to the shore on Myr'l. The island was buffeted by storms throughout the rainy season, which often flooded areas like this or blew down trees. It provided both advantages and disadvantages for their group. On the plus side, it meant that there was more low cover - the Myr'l fighters wouldn't bother with their bows, since they'd be unable to get clear shots. But, on the other hand, the forest was also their home ground, and the Myr'l would certainly use the shrubs to cover their approach.

Elira sighed. It was unlikely the group would survive this intact. They had neither the instinct or training to fight together as a whole, and the Myr'l would seize that advantage to try to trip them up.

She jumped as Doku touched her shoulder. Elira cursed to herself, willing her tail to stop bristling. It was sheer folly to be so lost in one's own thoughts that you forgot the outside world. With only a little arrogance affecting her, she reminded herself that her mistakes could cost the lives of this little group she'd been forced into. Whether she had chosen to fight with them or not was irrelevant - she'd said she would lead them through the island, and she would. There was never good enough reason to go back on your word.

Doku kindly did not comment on her jumpiness, forestalling an argument. "We must fight together. We may not have much time, but we have to try." Elira arched an eyebrow, surprised first that the snake had crept up on her, and next that she raised a valid point. If the two of them didn't learn to fight as a team, they would be barely an annoyance to the Myr'l.

With a thought to her life on the island, Elira picked an exercise that she had once perfected with two of her elder siblings. Pointing out an area with more densely packed shrubs, she explained the goal briefly. "Keep moving at all times. Don't let the plants touch you unless you are striking them." She unsheathed her sword and struck one of the shrubs with the flat of the blade; the intertwined branches caused other plants to move in turn.

Doku nodded understanding. "Protect each other."

--

"What are they doing?" Damia burst out from her perch in the boughs of a nearby tree, causing Ria to look at her. Devon struck the dagger from her hand and frowned as it landed in the dust.

"Pay attention! We don't have all day." The waiting was wearing on Devon. She imagined cat-people watching from all of the trees, remembered the wounds on the rogues bodies. Her mind seemed torn between being anxious and being angry at the turn of fate that had brought them here. Still, looking out at the forest was somehow relaxing, even if the humidity was oppressive.

Elira and Doku seemed to practically be dancing among the chest-level plants, some distance away, hitting the branches and then swinging out of the way. Occasionally Devon could see one of them drop to the ground, at which point they would halt and start again. They'd been at it for what seemed like ages.

Shaking her head at the sheer oddness of the situation, she turned back to Ria, who was stooped to pick up the red-gripped dagger which Elira had lent her. Devon frowned, contemplating the girl. What did she know about that phrase? Atticus wasn't involved with the king. She shook her head a little harder, clearing her mind. This wasn't the time. She steadied herself.

"Try attacking me again."

--

Elira could feel the sunlight waning against her skin. She raised her hand, halting Doku's movements. As the battered plants returned to their resting position, she gestured a distance away from the base of the hill. There was no visible sign of anyone there, but instinct told her that there would be shortly.

"They come." Doku paused a moment, then nodded silently, apparently having come to the same decision in some other manner. She quickly moved to reach the others, speaking to them briefly before returning to Elira's side. Elira stayed back from the top of the hill. Any advantage gained from the high ground would be lost of the approaching Myr'l could simply pepper them with arrows until they dropped.

She had explained to Doku that the kit would have truthfully reported his encounter with Elira, but might not have been able to accurately describe the rest of them, if he remembered them at all. That was the hope, anyway. If the Myr'l thought they were dealing with one, perhaps two renegades in their territory, they would send only two or three fighters to deal with them. That, she and Doku might handle. A full tribe, ready for a war? They wouldn't have a chance.

Elira's ears twitched, following the sound of someone walking toward them. She watched Doku's eyes trace the same path, though how she kept track with such useless looking ears remained a mystery to the cat. The creatures of the forest quieted down at all this movement, leaving only the distant birdcalls audible. Elira smiled despite the tension. She was home.

"Odds are on our side." She said it under her breath, and almost as a question. The snake ventured a small smile, though she didn't look very confident yet. Elira agreed with that sentiment. There were more Myr'l on the way. No one would send one person to hunt for an intruder.

The rustling in front of them stopped. Elira took one step forward, slamming her blade into the surprised guard of a male Myr'l. His surprise lasted only a moment - he hadn't seen them, thanks to the peak of the hill - and he began to attack in earnest. Their swords were similar, but not identical in form or function. He wielded his two-handed, bringing more force to bear against Elira's swift strikes. Typical man, she concluded. Always assuming power will win out.

Doku stayed back from the two Myr'l, who stalked back and forth, attempting to find some sort of weakness. Elira agreed with the choice, having decided that the male, while stronger than her, would quickly tire himself and make mistakes. His strikes were unimaginative, though deadly. Elira parried another blow, the force of the impact making her sword arm reel, and swung her body around to bring her claws to bear against his forearm. Myr'l tended to leave their arms bare, as a concession to the heat.

He danced back, eyes narrowed to a pure focus. His tattoo glowed a dull red in the waning sunlight. Younger than she was, then. Perhaps the same age as when she had left the island. He was clothed in the same lightweight materials as she was, though the greens of his shirt and shorts were brighter to match the lively undergrowth of the area. She watched his eyes study her even as he tested his hand to make sure there was no loss of function from the cuts.

Elira felt Doku tense behind her, even as she heard the quiet approach of someone to her left. The Myr'l in front of her bared his teeth, knowing he would not be alone shortly. Elira's grin became wide as she moved to stand back-to-back with Doku. Under her breath, she murmured to herself "Double or nothing."

As the Myr'l hit them - one from each side, though she had not heard the approach of the smaller female who had hit them from the right. As she and Doku danced through the blades, she smiled broadly. She had missed this. This was a game worth playing. The Myr'l fought together beautifully, as if of one mind, but were taken aback by the unarmed methods of Doku, who would slip through their guard over and over to score blows against them, and Elira, who merged the elegant Myr'l fighting with moves from drunken brawls.

Still, Elira and Doku had never fought together before, and they made mistakes. Elira exhaled a hiss of breath as the small female Myr'l scored a cut against the bare skin of her midriff. Doku too bore cuts from the blades, but did not seem slowed by them. Finally, Elira's blade slipped up under the first male's ribcage. He fell forward, wrenching the sword from her hand and leaving her off balance. A blade whistled down, cutting into the flesh of her leg. Her vision blurred a moment, as she watched a foot slam into the blade wielder's face.

Pain struck Elira hard, and she gripped the hand which held the sword still in her thigh, crushing her sharp claws into the soft under-flesh of the wrist. She pulled both the hand and sword away from her, thanking the sharpness of the pain for keeping her awake, even as she lost blood. Her vision tunnelled, forcing her to look only at her attacker - the female Myr'l. She turned the female's wrist hard, forcing her to release the hilt of her sword, which Elira grabbed with her other hand.

She withdrew her claws from the Myr'l's wrist, watching the fighter's eyes cloud over as the shock of having her wrist slit open hit her. Elira put the blade through her throat without remorse. The female wouldn't have hesitated to do the same, given the chance.

Turning, she saw Doku's opponent stumble backwards from a blow, glance at his fallen tribe mates, then turn and run. Elira's vision darkened, but she moved to shove the large male over onto his back, cutting his throat to be sure. She drew her blade from his chest and wiped it on his clothing. Carefully sheathing it as dizziness overwhelmed her, she sat down hard onto the ground of blood and dirt.

She smiled as the birds began their songs again and closed her eyes, not feeling the ground when it rushed up to meet her.