Out and About (Volk)

[Talia Cimmerian]

Crack!

The skull shattered against the tree some twenty feet away from Talia, and the girl threw her arms in the air triumphantly.

"She scores!"

She paraded around the clearing near Volk's hovel, arms in the air, singing her own praises in feigned cheers. To some it might have been a bit mortifying that she would punt a skull at a tree, but Talia was anything but sadistic.

The individual it had belonged to was dead. She couldn't care for such things, it just didn't make sense. What did make sense, was that she was having fun.

Volk was off and about...somewhere, and per the usual, her mother was as well somewhere. She snuck out, not that she needed to do much in the way of sneaking, and ventured out to Volk's home within the woods.

Most kids would have been lonely, out in the woods on their own, no one to celebrate their triumphant display of athleticism. The fact was, by other's standards, Talia was always lonely. She just never felt that way, because it was normal.

[Volk]

Are you having fun, little mouse?

The Shistavanen's deep voice rumbled from the forest canopy, seeming to echo from every direction. The last strains of the sun were grasping at the jagged mountain spine, casting his domain into pitch. Night, it beckoned stronger breeds from their rest and soon, the wood was filled with the eerie call of those creatures. The hulking beast dropped down from his perch in the large oak stretching out toward the entryway of his den, his heated breath mingling with the cool air to produce a puff of fog. Saffron eyes darted open, gleaming in the darkness. He did not need the light, as the frail humanoids plentiful on this planet did. But, for the tiny creature he found playing in his domain, he decided to strike up the torches placed sporadically around the area.

There were several hisses as flint was struck toward the torches, halos of light appearing on the ground around them, illuminating the vast number of bones littering it. A massive hind leg shifted in the darkness, a paw crashing down upon a humanoid femur and snapping it like a twig. Turning toward Talia, once his task of lighting the area was complete, he folded his furry but muscular arms over his chest and watched her.

Shouldn't you be off somewhere else, bothering your mother, perhaps?

[Talia Cimmerian]

"She's no fun to bother."

Talia kicked a rock and followed up by stuffing her hands into her pockets. The young Kiffar might have been pouting a bit at the thought, but she certainly wasn't going to admit it!

Volk played back, even when he didn't mean to. He even went through the trouble of lighting up the area for her.

"And my house is so boring!"

She plopped down on the floor with her palms settling onto her knees, listening for a moment to the eerie calm and crackle of the flames.

"Are there any other kids at the temple?"

[Volk]

True enough, little mouse. Volk agreed with the statement about her mother. The human woman was very driven towards her own goals but neglectful in many ways; her child a fine example of that. To leave something so precious and fragile in his care, it was unwise. He'd come so close to devouring her time after time. He would never admit that as she grew, she had earned a place in his spirit; almost as his own pups might, were he still the fathering type.

At the remark about her house, Volk contemplated the living arrangements he'd been offered upon joining the Sith. He'd taken one look at the human sized bed, the wooden furniture, and curtains adorning the chamber and had hurried himself back into the wilderness where he belonged. Where all belonged. He sneered at the thought of those 'creature' comforts and how they softened these supposed warriors.

When Talia plopped down on the floor, Volk set himself to leaning against the tree he'd originally dropped out of. Reaching behind him, he pulled knife and sliver of bone from the satchel attached to his leather tasset armor; then, plying the knife to the bone, he began to whittle it gradually. None that I have noticed. Why do you ask?

[Talia Cimmerian]

Talia looked down and shrugged sheepishly, keeping her blue eyes away from her furry companion.

"I dunno. No reason."

She knew he'd see right through it, even for is lack of social skills, and so conceded her thoughts.

"I've never met another kid like me."

She formed a smile upon resolving not to allow herself to feel sad.

"You'd probably just eat them anyways, huh Volky?"

She rolled to the side and pushed to her hands and knees and then to a crouch. The fingers of her right hand settled in the dirt to form a tripod with most of her weight on the balls of her feet.

"What are you doing?"

[Volk]

You cannot lie to me. Volk stated simply, not missing a stroke of his whittling with his wolfish countenance remaining focused downward. He could detect her loneliness and he could understand it. He had felt the same gnawing emotion when he'd been exiled from his pack. Now, he had evolved beyond such self-pitying melodrama and replaced loneliness with more effective things; hatred and fury, for example. One day, when she had grown older and wiser, she would move past it too.

His eyes flashed up at the pet-like name she called him, the motion of his whittling coming to an abrupt halt and his lips drawing back to reveal serrated fangs. The little wretch knew he despised such childish talk. I am making use of the last little mouse that called me 'Volky'. He answered again, lifting the sliver of bone to his mouth and picking at his blood stained teeth with its pointed end. Once he was satisfied that he'd picked the last shreds of flesh from his canines, he flicked the sliver off to the side. Then, slipping down onto his claws to match her posture, he licked his teeth; poised to pounce.

[Talia Cimmerian]

Maybe it was the naievety of being a child, but she didn't believe him when he threatened her. He was always threatening her.

She squared off with him and formed a tight lipped smirk on her lips. Both her hands rose upwards in menacing claw-like gestures, mock roaring.

She immediately fell back into a fit of giggles, her long dark hair splaying out across the dirt.

"Why do you stay alone?"

She was forced to. A never present mother, and a large yet empty home. She was forbidden to tread the halls of the Sith Temple, and wasn't really sure she wanted to in the first place.

She rolled over onto her stomach, successfully dirtying her clothes to completion. Her legs kicked in the air behind her, and her finger traced in the dirt, drawing out the form of a wolf.

[Volk]

The Shistavanen observed the child with equal parts annoyance and amusement. Her hands lifted, mimicking the shape of his claws and then she bellowed out a roar that made the hairs at his nape stand on end. Unwittingly, the display caused his black lips to part and his serrated teeth to flash in a grin. When she collapsed backwards in a fit of giggles, he stalked closer on all fours.

I can name a number of reasons, little mouse. I don't have to take care of anyone but myself. And, occasionally, you when your mother seeks to torment me. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I rely on myself solely and that leaves no room for others to disappoint me. You'll find, when you are older, that such things are ideal.

His muzzle lowered, his nostrils dragging in her scent mingled with the dirt she'd rolled around in. A sharp exhale disheveled her dark hair and then he rocked back onto his hindlegs, observing the wolf she scribbled into the ground.

[Talia Cimmerian]

Her hand swat backwards towards Volk as he sniffed her her, the dirt kicked up by his snort both tickling her to a point of scratching the back of her neck, and disorienting her artwork enough to force her to fix it.

"But that's not true. You rely on my mom too. She goes a good job of making everyone need her, huh? Have you met her other Apprentice? I've seen him, but never spoken with him. He needs her too, doesn't he?"

She proceeded to add a stick figure on the back of the wolf, with wavy lines signifying hair. She couldn't help but smile at the image painted, which Volk would no doubt hate.

"I wonder if she wants me to be a Sith like her. What does that even mean? What if I don't want to?"

[Volk]

A derisive snort escaped him and he rose onto two legs once more, glaring down at the small child and silently cursing her perceptive nature. She was the master's daughter and her honest, forthright words reflected that perfectly. With a low growl, he bent and wrapped his massive claw around one of her skinny legs and then straightened; lofting her upside down and holding her at arms length like one might an offensive insect.

I've met him, aye. Neither of us need her. She is a means to an end, one of many viable options. I use her to get what I want, just as she uses us to further her own ends, little mouse. Just as she will use you, one day.

[Talia Cimmerian]

She turned her eyes back toward him as he grasped her leg, and they shot wide as she felt herself being pulled. Her fingertips clutched and dragged at the dirt, creating deep gouges where they attempted to gain purchase for grip.

Her arms swat at the air, throwing wild punches in the space between them.

"Hey! Knock it off!"

Realizing the futility of her actions, she crossed her arms over her chest and just stared at him.

"Well I won't let her."