Adapt or perish: Sevival of the fittest.

[Anonymous]

The wind was strong today, and thick with the sickly haze that few ever dared to venture out in. The barron ground is dry and cracked. What parts of it that weren't solid rock crumbled to powder under the clawed feet of a reptilian creature who moved swiftly across the empty expance known as the Wastlands. What trail the creatur left in it's passing was soon blown away, leaving scarcely any sign it had ever been there. This eight foot tall creature was a Darrka Beast, a resident of the Wastlands, rare and scarcely seen. Remnants of an ancient speicies once though to be extinct, but mutated with time by the detructive ways of human kind. Part reptile, part bird, and part mamale, adapted for a life in a land where few else can servive.

This particular Darkka Beast however, was not alone. His name is Tornak, and is the companion of another Wastland dweller. Haruka sat securely on the back of the running darkka. He wore a special saddle she had designed and made herself to hold both her and whatever suplies they carried. Haruka, though she looks human, is actuly a mutant herself, as she lives out in the open even in the worst of conditions. She uses a mask only to guard her face against the blowing winds and dust. Also so any human she rarely crosses paths with will not think her anything other than one of them. Without it they might get suspicious of her, its happened before. It was both her fourtune and her curse that few so-called normal humans ever dared to wander far from their protected cities and dwellings on foot. Most humans seemed to dislike mutants, especially any mutants who lived out here. Dispite how much they may actually may be related.

Haruka pulls the raines, bringing Tornak to a halt at the edge of a ridge over looking a vast plane that spread out flat below them. The city of Teinar, or what was left of it, was somewhere off in the distance, but couldn't be seen from here. She had seen people come and go from the ruins many times, and asumed that at least some must still be living there. She rarely wandered that close to them though. Haruka was smart enough to know that they didn't want to be found, so she kept her disance. Except when her curriosity got the better of her. Today however, this was about as close as they would get.

There wasn't much there for her and Tornak. The only reason she ever bothered with traveling that far in the first place was to see what the humans might have done lately. On occation her venture would yeild an item of intrest that was dropped by someone traveling from one of their settlements to another. She had quite a collection, though she never let herself be seen by them, if she could help it, as she scavenged along their roads for the latest finds. It's not that she was afraid of them, its just the less they know the quietter. All things considered it was just better this way. At least, that is what she tried to make herself believe.

[Anonymous]

A heavily hooded figure with a staff clasped tightly in a gloved hand limped across the wasteland. The figure was perhaps five feet tall at most, the black cloak masking most of her features. Her dress could be seen at the bottom of the cloak, a worn, hand woven brown fabric that reached all the way past her ankles, though it was a little on the tattered side. She seemed out of place, as if she had walked out of a history book, which wouldn't have been so far from the truth actually. Magic. Never anger a dark mage, particularly a mage who is a known murderer.

She paused in her limping walk to cough, though by it's muffled sound, it was likely she had a mask of some kind herself under that hood. No skin was exposed to the sun, but she had always been fair skinned, and the sun was harsh, not to mention the toxic air that could potentially soak into her sensitive skin. No, best to avoid it all.

She looked over the side of the mountain. There was supposed to be an entrance, but she didn't see a way in. Her eye was drawn to the horse. How had she missed that? Her reaction was to drop to her knees and look very meek and humble and hope the noble on the horse would simply pass her by-- or possibly toss her into the caves. That would be helpful, especially as she was starting to feel rather light headed.

[Anonymous]

Tornak lifted his head catching the sent of someone, or something, nearby. His senses are quite strong, and rarely wrong, so when he said something was out there you could be sure there was. Haruka never ignored his warnings. Shifting in the saddle she turns, looking for whatever the beast had picked up. Several yards off a cloked figure seemed to be wandering in their general direction, though it it didn't look as if the person had yet seen Haruka and the darkka she road. Keeping Tornak still she waited, hoping the traveler wouldn't notice them. At first it seemed they hadn't, but then the figure's searching gaze fell apon them. Unsure whether or not to approach she only watched as the stranger fell to the ground.

Tornak's reptilian gaze eyed the unknown person with an intense stare, like a wolf eyeing a deer. She knew he wouldn't eat a human, if this person was in fact human, but it hurt to let the stranger think he might. Just incase they were unfriendly. Haruka pushed forward a few strides to get a closer look, but still kept a safe distance between them and the stranger. Raising her arm she attempts a greeting...

((Tornak: aka Darkka Beast. Just so you know. lol))

[Anonymous]

Louhi had not even noticed the creature on the mount wasn't human, but with it's guesture of greeting, she allowed her lavender eyes to shift up to look it over, though most of her face was hidden in shadow. "I...I beg your parden if I have tresspassed on you lands" She said hardly above a whisper. She was actually less scared because of the reptilian appearance than she would have been had it been a human on a horse. Her eyes swept to the mountain side again, hoping for some glimpse of an opening. Someone had told her it was here.

((sorry, I misread the post earlier. I thought she was watching the darkka beast, and riding a horse))

[Anonymous]

Getting a responce from the seemingly lost woman, Haruka lifts her mask just slightly to speek. "Do you search for something here?" She asks in a somewhat suspicious but fully human voice. Though she says nothing as to whether or not she owned the land. She didn't, by any human laws, own land. Here or elsewhere. She mearly traveled where she wished, but there was no reason that this stranger needed to know this.


({Tis ok, cant say I haven't done it myself on more than one occasion. You can read my info on Darkkas in my char profile if you want, I made the up myself. The pic is actually a species of bird-like dinosaur thats is only around 16 inches tall, lol. But for here they are 8 feet. ^_^ })

[Anonymous]

Did she dare reveal what she wanted, or what she was? No, it was probably best not to...after all, how was it supposed to remain a secret if people went around asking boldly about it? "My name is Louhi...I seek...refuge." She finally managed to get out, though her voice trembled.

The wind caught her hood and nearly knocked it off, but with surprisingly fast reflexes she caught it and jerked it back into it's proper place, holding onto it now to prevent its escape.

She seemed young, but somehow...ancient at the same time. Perhaps it was the life experiences that caused that illusion, or, perhaps it was because she simply didn't belong in this time period-- though her speech had caught up with the times somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Tornak shifts uneasily, bobbing his head slightly and uttering a soft call that sounds like a cross between a bird and an allagator's growl. Haruka quiets him down, but her own suspicion was growing. "If it's shelter you seek, than you are yet far from it." She knew of nothing out here that would draw anyone so far from the safety of their sheltered buildings, espeicially on such a toxic day as this. "I can take you their if you like. On foot it will be a long journey." Though she would not take her to Teinar, but Daanu instead. The smaller settlement was easyer to approach, she found, not to mention closer. Yet still what did she want out here?

[Anonymous]

All she wanted was to get underground where she might possibly be safe. "Really? I would be so grateful" She said soft as she carefully rose to her feet, making heavy use of her walking stick as one leg wasn't cooperating very well at the moment, but then kneeling wasn't conducive to a bum leg anyway. She kept her head lowered, a sign of respect in her mind, though it also kept the sun off her skin, and her face shadowed. There wasn't anything really so un-human about her just by looks. She was pale, but a child who was rarely seen outside of her cloak was not expected to be tanned. Her eyes, while human enough in appearance, had a tendancy to change colors, though they had remained lavender so far.

"Wh....what would I owe you?" She had long learned that not many simply did things out of their own goodness. The tended to want something in payment, and she was well aware that she didn't have much in way of payment.

[Anonymous]

Looking over the cloked woman for a brief moment, it didn't seem that she had much, least of all anything of value. Though there really wasn't anything she actually needed. Thinking it over Haruka decided it wasn't important. "Tornak, ne'd legge!" She says as she pulls the raines back gently. The darkka complies with sort of cooing sound and lays down. There was plenty of room on the self made saddle for atleast three people, even large people. As long as Haruka was there Tornak would except any additonal riders she asked him to.

"I am Haruka. Come. You do not want to be out here after dark." She says as she extends her hand to the woman. Even when lying down the darkka beast was still kind of tall, atleast for someone who appeared to be injured. She noted as Louhi stood up.

[Anonymous]

((growls at post eating forum))

Louhi accepted the offered hand and swung herself up into the saddle. Whatever the injury, it seemed she had learned to live with it, even if she was a little slow in getting up from a kneeling position....and mounting a creature significantly taller than herself. She sighed just softly. She could recall a time not so long ago in her mind, when she had climbed trees without a thought. She brushed the thought away. It would be a bizzare conversation topic indeed.

She shifted herself to get a more steady position, adjusting her cloak and her previously unseen travel parcel, all the while holding her staff in one hand as if it were her lifeline.

"How did you find yourself here?" She asked, her voice betraying her youth and innocence. The other seemed so at home in this place, while Louhi herself was confused and lost as usual. After all, this was nothing like home, even earth, before it had been destroyed, was nothing like the home she had known.

[Anonymous]

Haruka waited untill Louhi had settled herself before getting Tornak up and moving, only giving the items she carries minor notice. He rose quite smoothly, especially compared to a four legged riding creature. "Spase'ra langsom, Tornak!" She says with a pat on his long neck. The darkka takes off at a smooth trot as they head off in the direction in which Daanu lay. Haruka considers the question carefully, not knowing where this woman's views lay. "I was patroling for lost travelers. Even with the warnings many think they know better and wander off only to get lost when the weather turns."

And it was true. She often came apon wayward humans who hadn't thought ahead before venturing out. Like in this case. It was the most contact she usually had with them. Luckily most were greatful enough to have ride home that they didn't give Haruka and her giant lizard a second thought. "Hold on!" She says as they aproach the edge of the ridge and what looks like narrow and hardly noticable downward sloping path. One she had traveled several times before.

[Anonymous]

Her hands automatically went to the woman's waist as it was the most available place to hold on. Her grip was surprisingly firm, though she seemed to know her strength and made sure not to hurt her. "That's...very kind of you" She said as they started down the slope. "It's easy to get lost out here...Especially with bad directions" She commented softly. The air in front of them seemed to be cleaner than usual. A pocket of breathable air it seemed, though it was hard to pinpoint, and possibly coincidence.

She was glad not to be interogated, especially since in Louhi's mind, if anyone had a right to question, it was the 'rescuer'.

Her eyes drifted to the sun for a moment, checking the postion as she self conciously adjusted her cloak.

[Anonymous]

They reached the bottom of the ridge fairly quickly. As the path began to level out Tornak picked up speed. Darkkas were built for speed, lacking the great strength of larger wasteland preditors. His long legs carry the two across the desolate yet familar land, landmarks prehaps known only to him and his rider slipping by with hardly time enough to even notice them.

Hardly any time passes as Haruka turns off the path through less traveled land. "Not much further." She says over her shoulder. Though she wasn't planning on going all the way up to the settlement, she would get as close as she dared. Rounding a small rocky mound Daanu came within sight, small compaired to the Teinar city ruins, but atleast their passenger would find her shelter there. She brings the darkka back to his trotting pace, keeping her eyes open for other humans who might be watching them.

"Langsome stopp-en, Tornak." She says again in her odd sounding language, and Tornak complies as he slows and stops a few yards from Daanu's enterance. "Ne'd legge." The darkka lays down once again so Louhi wouldn't have so far a dismount to the ground.

[Anonymous]

Louhi smiled slightly from under her hood as she slid to the ground and almost fell as she put weight on her leg at the same moment her staff caught a rock and slipped. "Oop...clumbsy me" She murmured as she gathered her footing, blushing deeply. "Thank you....from here, I just go through there?" She asked, looking a little nervous again. "I don't have to know a password or anything?" She wasn't looking for a fight, or a weapon being brandished at her. She just wanted to head underground where she might be safe. Relatively safe anyway. "And...you don't stay here?" Her mouth went dry. What if they only wanted to help humans? She couldn't pass forever. Eventually, she would get worked up and something would go haywire and give her away.