Magic was originally gifted to women for healing and protecting their families during the dark times while the men were away.
...Until a boy emerged, able to preform the arts. Resenting the women for refusing to teach him, he decided to steal the k...
The man was gone all morning, but he specifically instructed her to stay inside until he returned. All the girl could do was sit and stare out the window, watching a blue jay and squirrel battle over an acorn.
So is this what life is about? A struggle between two forces just for the sake of survival?
It was a few hours until the door creaked open. Tria strided to the entrance, but she froze in terror as a figure walked in.
She stared into multi-colored eyes. One a blazing, fiery orange; the other a cold, dark obsidian black. His messy hair framed his face; waves of gold yellow, orange, and charcoal gray in a perfect mix overlapped his narrowed brows. Scars were splattered on his face, down his neck, collarbone, and perhaps deeper down. Some were knife cuts, others were hasty stitches desperately trying to close gashes, and some looked as if they'd been made by claws....or fingernails.
He was part beast, his ears were animal, furry and placed atop his head like a tiger's. Tria's eyes traced down to his lethal weapon. It wasn't in his hands....but a part of him. He had a tail, furred in the beginning, zig zags of black and orange. But the tip of his tail had a barb like a scorpion's. No doubt it carried venom. Splattered in scarlet blood, the man made Tria freeze in her tracks; unable to fathom this horrifying, sinister demon.
His lips parted into a sinister grin, revealing sharp teeth that weren't human. His tail twitched, silence filled the dreadful atmosphere. But, as if he was listening to something, his grin turned into a frown.
"I told you to stay inside, girl." His baritone of a voice was cool, as cold as his expression....and disturbingly familiar. Tria realized with a flinch that this was the man that brought her to the tree-cottage. He drew her in with his act of a doting man, and she fell for every second of it.
"I-I did," Tria squeaked, clasping her hands behind her.
The man looked unconvinced for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay," he brushed past her towards the table, his lethal tail slithering behind him as he walked. He carried a sack over his left shoulder, the size of a pillow. With a grunt, he dumped its contents onto the chestnut table. Tria's eyes widened. A snake flopped onto the table, blood flooding out of it. It hissed raspily, struggling to escape. The man grabbed it by its head and teared at its throat with his teeth.
The snake squirmed, whacking the man in the face with its tail in defense. Tria realized that the creature had no fangs. Did the man snap them off? She recalled that her eldest brother, Kuto, would do that to any snake that approached his younger brothers.
The man, clearly angered by being slapped in the face, slammed the reptile back onto the table. He stabbed his tail barb into the creature over, over, and over again. The snake's only response was a gurgle. The girl swallowed back the bile rising up as she watched blood and guts fly all over the place
She returned her gaze to the man, who's wide eyes were sparkling with cruel pleasure, his smile wider than any ordinary human's. Finally, Tria couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! Stop it!" She cried out. The man froze in mid strike, lifting his head to her as if he'd forgotten she was standing there. His bangs fell over his eyes as he gave her an indifferent expression, like he wasn't just sadistically killing a dead snake in front of a child. But this didn't stop Tria from shouting, "Can't you see it's dead already? Just leave it be!"
She quickly shrank back as he scowled. Then he shifted his gaze back to the dead snake, tilting his head. "You can never be too sure." His voice sounded disturbingly nonchalant. "It wouldn't end well if we happened to be eating a live snake."
Tria took another step back. "E-eating?" A small smile crept up the man's lips.
"But of course."
The girl gulped, feeling uneasy as she looked back at the snake. Was it poisonous? Was it bitter? ...Was it even edible? The man's personality had changed drastically since last night. No way was it all an act. Tria was convinced that this was not the same man from before.
She found herself sitting at the table, dragged her sleeve across the surface to rid it of crimson splatters. She found herself being calm about all of this, which was surprising. But she'd been through worse after all.
The man sliced the serpent up and brought out plates. He teared at his piece right away while Tria picked at hers. "So what's your name, lass?" He asked with a mouthful.
"T-Tria," she responded, pushing her plate away warily. The man wrinkled his nose, as if the name didn't suit her. "What's yours?"
The man studied her for a moment and then tapped his chin. "It's about time I had a new one. I was contemplating either Skip or Skalanx."
Tria couldn't pronounce the latter if her life depended on it, so she decided to go with the former. She didn't know why he needed a new name, and she didn't wish to know. "Skip," she mused. At his new name, the man gave her a grin. Although the snake blood tainted his teeth. In some weird, terrifying way, he was handsome. Only if one ignored the scars, tail, and frightening personality.
Then he grew serious again. "You were hiding."
"Hmm?"
"In the forest. You were....hiding from your fellow humans." He elaborated, using his finger nail to get a scale out from between his teeth.
The girl sank in her seat with a sigh. "They...." She fought the lump in her throat, tears threatened the corners of her eyes. "...Wanted to hurt me." 'Hurt' was clearly an understatement.
The man's ears flicked up as he stared at her with newfound interest. "Why's that?"
Tria swallowed hard, it all felt like a distant dream. "I don't know." It was somewhat of a lie, but mother taught her to be wary of strangers and not talk to them too much. Even if they did allow her to spend the night. Suddenly, she thought of mother. It was a mistake because before she knew it, tears splashed onto the table.
The man, Skip, stared at her in disappointment, like his favorite play suddenly ended at a good part. He made a 'tch' noise and scooped the girl into his arms. He steadied her on his lap and patted her head, not caring if he got blood in her hair. "So you can't return, eh?"The girl shook her head as she wailed. "I don't like the name Tria." He said abruptly.
"I think I'll call you Saiyah, it means shadow." He smiled. "And you and I will get along nicely."
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