Legends of Belariath

Jinx

Jinx and the Dragon

Jinx rides on her cart slowly, patting her ass's ass as she proceeds deeper into the forest. She licks her lips, her cloak wrapped around her shoulders with her jacket under that and her dissolved shadow weave beneath that. She has her leather pants clinging to her legs with her vambraces and greaves over her legs and arms. Around her face, her black scarf hides her white fur from those who would see her. She is a glob of black. She slows her cart, slipping off and tying the reins to a close by tree. She then pets her donkey, telling him she will return with some kill. She then takes her crossbow and backpack and moves off into the early morning of the forest.

Jinx walks slowly deeper into the woods, trying to scope out a place to set up as a hunting ground. She finds a nice clearing though and begins setting a trap. She goes to a tree and takes out a piece of stag from a previous hunt and ties it to the tree trunk. She then takes a few mushrooms and litters them to the ground before climbing into tree opposite the tree she tied the piece of meat to. She settles down, getting into position on her haunches in the tree, readying her wrist crossbow before hunkering down to wait and watch for a creature to stumble upon her. Jinx sits for a few minutes and then sees a large turkey slowly waddle into the clearing, smiling as he begins pecking at a mushroom, her trap obviously working. She giggles as she slowly lifts her wrist, aiming her bolt towards the creature, licking her fingers and then sliding them across the head of the bolt. She then counts to two before firing her bolt at the animal! Jinx grins as her bolt finds its target so easily. She slides from the tree, running over to check the turkey, finding it completely dead. She takes rope from her belt and ties its feet up. She then begins stringing the turkey up the tree and then slits its neck. She grins as she then looks around before going back to her hunting tree and climbing back up the tree to settle in and wait for another animal. Jinx stays silent in her tree, not believing she is going to be killing these creatures and not make money from it. She then remembers that one must give back for all the good things that come their way, just as she paid for the basket of items to the emperor, because of his rulings, she had become successful in this land. She thinks this would be greatly appreciated as well by those at the ball.

Jinx thinks about her costume, needing to send a note to the seamstress at the Belladonna about her dress and whether it is ready. She nibbles her lips gently as she thinks, almost not noticing the smaller fowl wander into the clearing. She looks at him and realizes it must have been the child of the creature she had just killed. She feels a twinge in her heart for killing its parent but decides the humane thing is to kill it as well. Jinx raises her bow, having already placed the bolt and licks her fingers, rubbing them across the tip before pausing for two beats. She then fires her shot at the little bird. Jinx watches as her shot hits the ground in front of the animal, spooking it and sending it running back into the cloak of the woods and brush. She leans back, loading up another bolt, thinking maybe it best to leave the animal to grow and become a big turkey like its parent. She begins to wait for another animal to stumble by.

Jinx begins going back within her mind, thinking once more of the ball and her costume. She needs to also send a message to Arshes, telling him that she needs the jewelry by the next day, realizing she had not mentioned this. She remembers their conversation, a smile breaking over her lips at the thought and how it had brought them closer as lovers. Jinx stumbles back into the scene in front of her eyes as an older fawn male walks into the clearing, having smelled the mushrooms she had laid as a trap. She smirks and raises her crossbow, aiming at the flank of the creature. She licks her fingers and runs them across the bolt's head before waiting two beats and then firing at the large fawn. She grins silently as she watches the animal fall at the hit of her bolt to its flank.

Suddenly from the behind a tree, a woman walks out, a girl to be more specific, looking to be about eighteen or nineteen years old. She had pale skin that her long, waist-length hair offset in a beautiful way. She looks at the fawn, the dead creature not moving whatsoever. She bends, picking up the carcass, before looking up to see what might have downed the young deer, seeing the cat girl there, nodding to her. Slipping from her perch in the tree, Jinx sees the girl for the first time since having walked from the trees. She perks a brow, "That's my kill" she announces to her, pulling her crossbow over her back before crossing her arms, "I would like it back..I have a table that needs to be fed." The young girl smiles to her, throwing the fawn over her shoulder, though, at her stature, looking like such an action impossible. She nods towards the huntress, her amber eyes finally finding her violet ones, unblinking and mesmerizing. She then begins to turn; showing her intent is to leave, with Jinx’s deer.

She stares at the girl, pursing her lips, "Lady! I have to get enough meat for a Palace Ball!" she says approaching her, "It's really early, I don't feel like fighting...Just drop the deer and I won't have to kill you" she says, pulling her mithril dagger from her thigh sheath, showing her the shiny weapon, "I’m a pretty good shot on the run as well" she says, referring to her crossbow skills. The girl pauses in her exit, half turning to look at the cat girl, who seems to be threatening her. Those eerie, unblinking amber eyes lambent under partially lowered lids staring at her, looking a bit bored but also slightly amused. She moves the fawn a little, getting it more comfortable over her shoulders. She then reaches up to its flank, dislodging the crossbow’s bolt from its body, offering it back to the cat girl, as if saying, ‘Here, this is what I will return to you…The fawn, no.’ Jinx looks at the girl, shaking her head, "You're pretty gutsy aren't you lady? Ya know, you may be new here but people are killed for looking at others the wrong way! I know from experience" she says as she steps forward, "Just give me my carcass and head on your way" she says once more, trying to let her know that she will attempt to kill her if she did not drop her prize she had worked to bag. The girl smiles gently, gesturing at Jinx with the bloodied tip of the bolt, speaking for the first time since emerging from the woods, "You would lose your life for a simple deer, Jinx? That seems rather silly, don’t you think?"

Jinx stares at the woman, suddenly more confused, a twinge of fear and foreboding squirreling into her mind, "How would you know my name stranger?" she asks, her eyes getting suspicious, "And it is not about a deer...In this land, one must stand up for themselves or they will look weak to all that follow. I may be a cat person and as people assume because of that, I am weak. I am not though; I will fight for what is mine. I have had to fight my entire life for what I want. What I believe is right" she says as she points her dagger at her, "I don't know who you are or how you know who I am but I am willing to fight you for my claim." The girl chuckles softly, "Jinx Onak of the clan Sozoku, light-fingered cat person. That would your father say if he knew you were as out of your depth as you are now? I am sure he would not be secretly pleased at your adeptness." Jinx clearly twitches at the woman's ability to tell her exactly who she is. She takes a deep breathe as she looks at her, knowing this woman is something more, something much more. The closest she had ever gotten to tell a soul about her past was to Arshes and of a prize she once claimed, nothing like her last name or her clan. She slowly adjusts as she lowers her dagger, "My father would be proud of the life I have created for myself here. He would be proud I have become legit and without crime leading my life." she lies about her noncriminal life, thinking this woman will know differently but needing to say such in case she is some kind of super investigator for the guard or emperor himself. The girl arches an eyebrow and then lets out a deep, rumbling chuckle, "Well, little Jinx, you are nothing if not…would curious be the correct term? Does not curiosity, proverbially, do bad things to cats? So perhaps, curious would not be the word. Perhaps brave, stubborn…scared…be better words? Tell me Jinx of clan Sozoku, what more do you need for the table of this ball?" She eyes the girl, anger filling her that she can see the fear within her. She grits her teeth gently, trying to push that fear away and hide it from her, "I need enough meat to feed a ball that the entire empire is invited to" she says, perking a brow with a slight smirk on her lips, trying to act as if the woman could not possibly produce that amount of meat. But within her, deep within her, she had a feeling that this woman who somehow knew her and of her past, might be able to do just about anything. The girl gives the slightest of nods, "And this ball is going to be held when, Jinx Onak? You had better start hurrying up, else I am sure lords, ladies, masters, and mistresses will be going hungry. Do you have enough bolts for this? You don’t mind teeth mark in your catches do you?" She gestures, once more, behind the cat girl, trying to get her to turn and look. She looks at the girl, her brow furrowing, "The ball is tomorrow" she mumbles before finally turning and looking, her eyes widening as she stares at six large timber wolves, dropping kills on the ground. She swallows hard before turning to look back at the woman, "Who are you?" The girl’s smile broadens, her lambent amber eyes fixing on Jinx, "Me? I am just a dream. But tell me, who are you?" Jinx takes a deep breathe, "I am Jinx...Only Jinx" she says, with a bit of sadness and foreboding behind her voice, "Jinx Onak died a long time ago… are confused." The girl shakes her head, "No, she did not. She may be asleep but she is as much a part of you as your right hand is. You are the sum of all your parts, physical as well as non-physical, all the good as well as the bad. Embrace them all, that is the only way in which you can be content and in balance." Jinx swallows hard, feeling tears begin to bristle her eyes. She takes a shaky breathe, "I am not sure what kind of dream you are or spirit or some other type thing. It is much too difficult to accept something like my past once more, I disgraced my family when I left my village...I disgraced my mother and father with my disobedience. But it is nothing I could help...It was not right what the elders decided. I left and only spare infrequent thoughts towards what I did. I have made a life for myself here, a life I can be proud of. I can be who I was destined to be, who I was born to be without a sexist elder to refuse me." The girl nods, "Yes indeed, little Jinx. Life is like a journey. Unless you know from where you have started it is difficult to know which way to take. And, getting to the end can be a little bit of a shock or disappointment. The paths you have chosen to take, and regardless of any duress there are ALWAYS choices, seem to have been, for you, usually for the good. Your parents may have been disgraced by the others, but do you not think they felt pride toward a daughter who was not willing to cow-tow to anyone?" She trembles gently as she feels tears slip down her cheeks, hurriedly brushing them back with the back of her gloved hand, knowing tears were for the weak, "Maybe" she says, her voice trembling as her emotions gain the better of her, "I buried Jinx Onak but I look back at where she came from and it drives me in my decisions, to become better, to become great. I have been in this land but a year and I own two plots of land and a grand house. I am the assistant manager of a thriving, popular store as well a friend and ally to many powerful people. I disgraced them in my leaving but I work everyday to make them proud of me once more. I do not know if they were proud I left...I have not seen them since my departure years ago." The girl then says with certainty, "When you sleep tonight, little Jinx, or rather just before you sleep think of your home, and you will dream of your home and your parents - you will see them but they will not see you, but you will see and hear what is not what you think or dread may be. If you do not wish this then do not think of home before you rest, the choice, as always, is yours. And there is one more thing that you are that you do not know."

The cat girl swallows hard as she looks at the woman, her tears flowing freely now, unable to stop them so not bothering to wipe them away. She sniffles as she wraps her arms around herself, looking at the strange woman, "What is that?" she asks softly, barely able to speak through her tears, wondering exactly who this woman is and how she can promise such powerful things. The girl then laughs, a huge, deep booming laugh that rustles the autumnal leaves of the trees, causing some to even shake off and waft to the ground. The wolves look from the piles of animals, lifting their snouts to the sky to loose a counterpointed set of howls. Finally the girl quiets her laughter, speaking one word while the wolves still howl, "Uneaten." Jinx stares at the woman, as she laughs, causing her to break in her emotions, wiping her eyes as she listens to her single word. It causes her to smirk a bit, "That a threat?" she asks, the fur on the back of her neck standing on end as the wolves howl. The girl shakes her head simply, "We do not threaten, Jinx Onak. We are," she says, gazing at the cat girl still with those unblinking amber eyes. The huntress swallows as she stares back into those beautiful eyes, feeling goose bumps rise over her skin, "Who is we exactly?" she asks, wanting, needing to know who this woman was, who she identified with, what is her purpose. The girl replies with a smile, "That is too long a tale to tell, are we not the sum all that has gone before? If so, you would be dead and gone, the land laid to waste, even were I to speak quickly, as what I, we, you are, exactly, changes from moment to moment." She nods her head, maybe only slightly understanding, "Well then...In this moment, what are you?" she asks, watching her closely, trying to see if she could get any kind of information from the woman at all. The girl rumbles out a low chuckle, "Did I not say I was a dream? You really need to remember what is said to you, little Jinx." She smirks, "A dream...Alrighty Miss Dreamy, why are you here at this moment?" she keeps following her questions with the moment so as to try and obtain true answers. Most of her answers though seem to be things that require more questions. She studies the woman's face, trying to engrain it into her mind to ask a few others if they may have seen her before. The girl who claims to be a dream laughs, "And where is here?" She then gestures to the desert around us, low warm winds sending a fine spray of sand spiraling around like small dust-devils, then points to the mountain peak so distant and yet so clear in the frigid air, firm snow underfoot unmoved by the brisk icy fingers of winds that gust. With a soft chuckle we are back to being in the forest, Jinx's clothes lightly covered with specks of sand and a light frosting on her eyelashes.

The poor cat girl shakes slightly, in shock and awe of being...transported to a desert and then to the snowy mountains. She stares at the woman, "Are you Gaea?" she asks, in awe of the woman, unable to think of her as a mere mage at doing something like that. She knows of the dimension door spell and that was certainly not it. The girls smiles sweetly, "I am a dream, little Jinx, and everywhere dreams in some way so I can be, and am, everywhere in some small way. But to answer the question that is burning in your mind, no this form is not my own but others will recognize it and some will tell you of meeting me. It is a form I have borrowed from one long passed away and who answered many questions. And no, to answer your spoken question, I am not Gaea." Jinx swallows and nods, "Why are you here, talking to me? You must have some other much more important tasks...You are...quite powerful and...The trouble between my past cannot be that significant to a woman...a dream like you" she says, unsure how else to ask why she was here, talking to her about her issues with herself and her prior life. The girl looks at her quizzing, "So, now you are unimportant are you? Who decided that? Did someone tell you, one day, Jinx Onak of the Sozoku clan, you will be nothing of any merit or import? Did they say that one day you will speak to a dragon? When did you decide that you are less than many others? I am speaking to you, and to others, seeing their dreams, guiding their dreams. All here, all now. But also there and there and there." She swallows hard as she stares at her, a sudden genuine smile spreading over her lips, "I guess you decide what is important and who is as well?" she asks, raising an eyebrow, "Where are you guiding me Miss Dream? What is my destiny?" she asks, thinking it the best time as any to try and get a read on the future if it is possible. The girl laughs, shaking her head, "Me? Why should I decide who or what is important? All are important. Just in different ways. A tree is important, who is to say that burning a specific tree will not mean that in years to come it will not be available for providing a home for a family of squirrels and countless insects? There are too many differences between things to be able to rank them - are you more important than that tree? Can I say, can you say? You can think you are, but to know? That is beyond us all. All you can do is to decide on how you see your role and part in what surrounds you and just how and what impact you have on others." The huntress nods her head slowly, watching the woman, trying to understand. She thinks of other questions, wanting to know if this woman approved of her life, if the woman could give her advice on becoming more powerful, wanting to know if power and importance all really mattered in the world but she cannot think of a single way to word her questions, ending up just staring at her, speechless. The girl cants her head, smiling and beckoning the cat girl to her, "Come here, little one, and I shall whisper a secret to you."

Jinx looks at the woman, swallowing hard before stepping closer to her, standing right in front of her, looking into her amber eyes, her violet ones still wet with moisture, sparkling in the near afternoon sun light. A breeze flies by, causing her to shiver slightly with the chill of it. The girl bends, turning her head to whisper softly into Jinx’s ear, "You are Jink Onak, born of clan Sozoku. Be thou proud, Jinx. You are the most important thing that you have. Cherish each moment that you have. Your life is like a stone cast into a mountain tarn, the ripples go on forever and touch upon everything else in however a small way and sometimes they ripples echo back. You need not change the way you live your life. Be yourself, be Jinx Onak late of clan Sozoku and you can do no wrong." The cat girl feels the warm breathe of her whisper to her ear, listening to her, tears once more clouding her eyes as she hears her words, taking them to heart. She nods her head slowly, "Thank you Miss Dream...For your wisdom" she whispers, looking to her, wiping at her eyes once more, trying to stay the powerful person she sees herself as, "I am unsure how to repay you for your kindness but I will say that I am indebted to you. Please call on me if you ever need a favor" she says, nodding her head once more, biting her ruby red lip. The dream girl smiles and lifts her left hand to cup Jinx’s chin, tilting her head up a little, "You may always dedicate a dream to me." She grins as she looks up to her, "I will Miss Dream" she says, her eyes watering up yet again. The amber-eyed girl nods firmly, taking a step back, turning with the dead fawn still over her shoulder, looking back to Jinx and nodding before disappearing in a burst of sparkling motes of light that form the shimmering outline of a dragon on the wing before they drift and fade away. The wolves, by now, have ducked away, but the game on the path remains

The huntress stares at the place the woman had stood. She turns to see if the wolves remained but they were gone as well. She goes to look at the game, all different kinds littering the ground. She shakes her head slowly, trying to think of how to transport these things to her cart. She begins taking lengths of rope, pulling more from her backpack, tying all the animals and stringing them up to trees, trying to keep them out of reach of predators. She then begins running, having not strained herself in her hunting, easily gliding towards her cart and donkey. Jinx finds her donkey, grazing by the tree she had tied him to. She grins as she quickly unties him, leading him towards her hunting clearing. She finds a few birds already trying to garner her kill as a feast but she scares them away. She pulls the top tarp on her cart back and then begins to slowly lead Coal around, lowering the animals into the cart until it is nearly too heavy for him to pull. She grins and kisses her donkey's head as she begins leading him back home to begin cutting the animals up, ready the meat for a delivery to the ball as well as getting the furs and feathers ready for sale. She smiles, beginning to add up the items in her mind.

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