Btw Tai, don't think she's loosely based on you, think she just happens to has same "name" as you have.
And shame on me, my main project has been halted. Why? Because of this:
Young man, or still a boy, tried too carefully and thus hesitatingly to get a grip of his opponent, a boy few years younger. Opponent got firm grip of his arm and wrestled him over. Pained scream echoed in the cliffs.
"He's no warrior, let him be," middle-aged man snapped to the laughing youth, silencing them immediately. Man was clearly tested in many battles. There were scars all over his body. Standing there with only loincloth on, he was dreadful sight. "Stand up, boy."
The boy was little skinny. His left elbow and knees were bleeding and he had still tears in his eyes. Man watched him a moment and raised hand to his shoulder, shaking it a little and then sending the boy on his way. Warriors were warriors, this boy wasn't. It would be unnecessary and even foolish to keep torturing him on training fields. He concentrated to others, more hardy boys, which of some were quite promising ones.
Rough training day was turning into evening, when the skinny boy came back carrying a pitcher and backpack full of food. Elder man was at a stream washing his face and other boys used their opportunity and mocked the boy. The boy dropped his load to the ground and turned back, tears in his eyes. One of the boys threw a stone after him, hitting back of the head.
Elder man saw boys scattering when he came and tried to see what was the reason. Then he saw the food and the pitcher and guessed partly right what had happened. When he saw bleeding boy crawling on the ground, vomiting, he glanced fiercely other boys and hurried to help. Slowly others gathered around them.
"Who hurt him?" man's voice lashed the air.
"Sir, I did. I threw a stone, but I didn't mean to..." guilty one replied and tried to explain.
"Silence! You'll help him back to the camp. Others can start eating, but no wine today. I've tried to make you men, but it seems all I've succeeded so far is to make you bullies. Fine. We'll do it the hard way then."
Ashamed boy helped skinny boy up and supported his walk downhill. Others began eating and elder man alone drank little wine. Dinner was silent and short. Then they headed back to their camp.
Tai Cara had noticed she had some strange connection with Beludor. Of course they loved each other and big cat was very intelligent, making them very tight pack. In many ways she didn't think they were different at all. They were growing akin. But there was something more, something far more deeper between them. She had noticed reacting simultaneously with Beludor to voices.
Now they reacted to distant groaning and they headed towards it. It ended soon, but then they were already able to hear footsteps. Two adors, walking unstably. She was so used to it, that she didn't even wonder anymore how she could recognize voices so accurately. Soon she got a glimpse of them. Young boys, which of other one was injured.
"Hi!" she said after reaching closer. "Do you..."
Injured boy fell to the ground when the other one abandoned him there, face paled, scared to death. Tai rushed to help the injured and immediately recognized the wound and symptoms. It took only a split second to remember what she could use to help the boy. First she checked the wound and noticed it wasn't bleeding almost at all. She needed a fireplace and...
Beludor warned her with a low growl. She had been too concentrated to notice there were others coming their direction, but quite far away. Boy on the ground gagged and tried to look up, to see who she was. Suddenly his eyes grew larger and terrified, and he tried desperately to get away. Tai felt really bad deep inside. Was she that disgusting sight? Subconsciously knowing the boy would survive, she stood up and ran into the woods crying.
She ended up to a small pond, kneeled down and cried. Alesha had told her she of her own youth and how she had been very beautiful, but nothing compared to Tai. Why had she lied? Tai had known their looks were somehow strangely different, though there was clear resemblance with her mother. She watched to pond's still water and saw so familiar face there. Now, after seeing the boys, she compared them to herself. There was something she couldn't specify, that made them different.
Beludor covered her with his mane and licked her cheek. Well, at least Beludor still liked her. Breaking the image in water with her fist she decided she wouldn't give up. She had to find a husband and she would. But suspicion in her mind asked how could she ever get a noble one?
Couple ten days later she had been spying the camp and its inhabitants. They were hunters, away from their homes, it seemed. She had heard their speech and it had comforted her, even though she hadn't dared to close them enough to hear much. Because of that she hadn't got very good picture who they were and why they were here? Only building was a storage dug into ground and it was surrounded by tents.
She decided to take a risk and go closer. There were only two women, both elderly, and all others, thirty or so, were men of all age. If they were refugees of some sort, perhaps they'd need more women. But first she wanted to get a better picture. Led by Beludor and his superior senses they climbed into nearby tree, a huge and old oak. From behind the foliage they could follow camp unnoticed.
During the next days she realized that camp wasn't normal hunter group's camp. They spent too little time in the woods and more time in preparing for winter, which was coming. Beludor had already began growing winter fur and he had turned from light brown to noticeably lighter. Soon, close to the time snow would come, he'd be bright white.
Tents were reinforced and Tai estimated they might do one more hunting trip to close woods trying to fill their stocks. Everything seemed improvised, but at the same time to be quite well in order. They would most likely survive over the winter without big problems. Tai had reduced her preparations for winter to only gathering fruits, berries and mushrooms. Snowlions hunted around the year and unlike other animals, had very little difficulties during winter.
One day Tai decided to unveil her to the camp and she climbed down from the oak in daylight. Until that she had lived days in the tree and came down only when night had fallen. Now guard reacted immediately to her and shouted alarm. Tension grew and warriors lined up, javelins ready and staring them in awe.
"Halt!" one called when the distance between them was still signifcant.
"I come in peace, please lower your arms," she relpied smiling gracefully.
"Send the beast away!"
"He's no threat..." Tai tried to convince.
"Send the beast away, if you don't want to cause its death!"
Tai felt clearly that Beludor wouldn't leave her alone, unprotected. Men had to trust into her and the lion, or she had to move on.
"We will stay together, but we want to respect you and ask you, could we make a camp near yours, so you'd see that he is of no harm?"
Men glanced each others, still clearly watching out Beludor. They tried to whisper in secret, but Beludor's sharp hearing revealed everything to her. Unfortunately it was rather difficult to separate so many voices at the same time to make sensible sentences, but she understood they were very afraid of her. She startled, not the lion but her! Why? Fear of beast she did understand quite well, but why her?
Men spoke of spirits of woods, evil enchantresses and many others, which of she had never even heard. Two men, clearly of high status, spoke silently to each other, glancing her every now and then. Then the badly scarred one approached Tai. His eyes kept staring at Beludor, but there was no fear in them. Man had clearly stared death into eyes before, many times.
"Your name?" he asked turning his eyes to Tai.
"Tai Cara, sir. I promise, we don't cause you any trouble. Beludor is an excellent hunter and we can share some of his prey."
"What are you? You clearly are and are not ador."
"My mother was ador, my father I never met," she dodged the question. Her mother had advised her to not reveal her father.
Man thought a moment, before turning eyes into the lion.
"And this beast? How do you command him?"
"I don't, he follows me for love. His father protected my mother when she waited me."
Suspicion grew in man's eyes. Tai tried to be as small and unthreatening as she could. She really wanted to know these people and get their acceptance. Man glanced behind before making his decision.
"Fine, beastlady. Keep the beast in distance and you two can camp next to us, but not closer than this. And this is the border your beast mustn't cross. If you want to trade, you'll have to come into our camp alone, or wait until someone comes here."
"Thank you sir. Would you tell me your name and who you are?"
"Pirador. We are refugees from south. Lemens are advancing and they have already seized Six Stone's Cradle."
"I'm sorry, Pirador, but what is Six Stone's Cradle?"
Pirador glanced her suspiciously.
"It was Dor's home. After the defeat we fell back to there and tried to stand ground there, but in vain. After seventeen days of siege they broke in and we were defeated. Only few of us made out from there, sneaking past the siege in the night. Ever since the lemens have grown power in North and advanced slowly deeper into our lands."
"Did you ever see Dor?"
"Hah, I fought on his side, though I was nothing compared to Andor or the other heroes. They were the last ones to fight, but in the end Dor sent them as messengers. It is even rumoured that one of them was sent to his secret wife and their daughter, but most don't believe it. Why would he had hided his wife and daughter?"
"Perhaps he prepared for defeat? If lemens knew he had a daughter, they'd had tracked her down and killed her."
"I've heard that before and that's the only reason I don't know what to believe. Maybe he saw into future. But now I have things I must take care of. Perhaps we'll continue this conversation later. Remember the boundaries I've ordered."
From her fireplace she saw her neighbors keeping an eye on her. They were on the run, hunted and thus suspicious of everything. No wonder. Beludor had been hunting and brought a deer to her. Some time ago, before encounter, he had hurted his paw and Tai took a closer look of it, but found it quite well healed. Low growl warned her again. Suddenly she thought she had seen Pirador coming towards them. Turning her head she shivered: Pirador was indeed coming round.
"Evening," he greeted.
"Good evening," Tai replied smiling.
"What were you doing?" Pirador asked looking Beludor's paw.
"Oh, Beludor hurt his paw some time ago and I just checked it."
Pirador shook his head. He knew well that wounded dogs could be dangerous, what would far more larger and vicious snowlion be?
"His name is Beludor? Dor's bannerbearer's name was Beludor."
"I know..." she startled. What should she be knowing?
"Tell me, how come you know some things, but you've never even heard of Six Stones Cradle?"
"Me and my mother lived alone with the lions in a small island. She told me a lot, but she was the only one to tell me things."
"Haven't you met others than your mother before?"
"Well, one messenger came by... No, sorry, no I haven't."
She cursed deep inside! She had to be far more careful. This man had today spoken of Dor and his messengers, mentioning a rumour about secret wife and daughter.
"Have you or have you not?"
"Well, when I was smaller I kept dreaming of a messenger coming to tell my mother we could go back to her village. It felt so real I sometimes believe it really happened," she lied.
Man stared at him suspiciously. Then he took a winebag and offered it to Tai. She took a sip from it and offered it back thanking. Man drank before continued.
"I hope you understand that we're suspicious. We have hard time in trusting each others, let alone some odd stranger coming in, with a snowlion! I don't know have you noticed, but we're closer to group of bandits than a clan. There are only two or three carrying similar clan symbols. As an outcast I think you can understand what it's like?"
"I'm not an outcast!"
"But your mother was, wasn't she? At least you said something like that. Doesn't that then make you too an outcast?"
"But..." she started, but closed her mouth. Maybe man was right. Maybe she was an outcast, but she hadn't done anything, she was innocent.
"Well, anyways, you know..." Pirador began, lust in his eyes, touching her knee. But he withdrew it immediately, when Beludor began growling loudly, stepping up and revealing his fangs.
"Beludor, don't!" she shouted and tried to forestall Beludor.
Beludor halted, but made perfectly clear, in some strange way, that he wasn't forced to, he was pleaded. Pirador backed off holding his axe ready.
"I told you to make sure that beast doesn't threaten anyone!"
"No you didn't. You told us he couldn't come closer to camp than this. And he's only protecting me!"
"You are an enchantress. I should had believed my men. Guards!" he suddenly turned shouting.
Now everything went wrong. Tai stood up trying to understand what had happened? This man had been friendly and speaking with her, but all of the sudden he had gone crazy! And his look before that had been different. Some primitive instinct kept telling her it was lust she had seen, but she couldn't believe it.
All because she didn't understand that it was the lion others had shunned, not her.
Beludor roared loudly, making Pirador back off even more, protecting Tai gathering their belongings. It didn't take long and she ran into night, followed soon by Beludor, who offered to carry her. After a while they were quite far and Beludor halted, wanting Tai to step off from his back. She dismounted and made a camp.
After several days she began to understand. They had kept moving and she had gave a deep thought to everything that had happened. Everything became clear when she spied other camp, where were more women, including younger ones. They weren't so much different and she thought she understood why she was different, but still beautiful. She had images of herself, which she realized were really Beludor's, wherein she radiated some deeper strength.
Images were fascinating, beautiful, but still intimidating. And so was her ability to occasionally see through Beludor's eyes! She sat down, leaning to Beludor, closed her eyes and tried to feel Beludor's presence. It wasn't even difficult. And all of the sudden she saw, heard, smelled and even felt what he did! Not far away were his feelings, his thoughts and he seemed to be happy, though little disturbed of Tai's intrusion.
Tai Cara realized that she had powers far beyond her imagination. Or did she? Indeed she had the powers, no doubt, but far beyond her imagination? No, not really. She had always thought of them, dreamed of them, but she had never believed she really had them. She felt a presence nearby, a by flying bird, and concentrated deeply. But no, she didn't succeed in getting into bird's mind. She only got a glimpse of fast moving surroundings from height. For a moment she felt sick.
She kept experimenting for some time, before began to think how she could make contact with others? In the end, she decided to cover herself with cloak and hood. Later on, she began to study could she veil her, so others wouldn't find her as attractive?
Edit2: Corrected quite a few typos and stupidities.
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taikara, on Jul 10 2007, 01:08 AM, said:
*, and I really enjoy his story. I like the way he describes things. 
This is final. For now at least. Maybe in some very distant future I might come back to this and refine it, if I had a chance to get it published. Again: This is only sidestory.
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