_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--at the hidden Northern entrance of the pass--
to ALL
: *I had woken early, knowing that today, me and my Talunas would scout out this part of the jungle, which was, as yet, unknown to us. trina was already up and about, most likely, as was her way, dilligently going about her duties. But there is something else going on with her, and between us, that I don’t quite understand. However, I have more important things to deal with right now, so I try to put it out of my mind to gear up to take on today’s jungle challenges.*
(17:21:33 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--at the hidden Northern entrance of the pass--
to ALL
: *As I dress and arm myself, I find myself spending the better part of a minute looking for my boots, before I remember that I gave them to the barbarian girl. A vision comes to me of the tarns winging away in the mists of distance, her lifeless corpse dangling from the claws of the tarn female. I bite the first knuckle of my index finger, an accupressure trick a Healer had once shown me to calm myself when I felt too much emotion.*
(17:32:16 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--at the hidden Northern entrance of the pass--
to ALL
: *But I just can’t. I had liked the girl. She had spirit, and a good sense of humor; even understanding so little about what had happened to her. And I had held her warm body close to mine on the saddle, and felt more than just intellectual and emotional fondness; but real attraction. And then Gor pops up and deals a fresh hand, and the Leader has to Lead strongly, and it’s a good thing we just lost an almost valueless slave, instead of somebody important. Just move on to the next task, the next duty. And I can, and I did, and now it’s long enough in the interim that nobody will know what I am crying about, and that’s better.*
(17:41:14 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas of the grasslands where Jungle plants grow in patches--
to ALL
: *I had felt this melancholy, blue mood coming on even in the last dreams I had before and while waking, and had hoped to alone in the jungle somewhere, before it hut full force. Briefly, it occurs to me that maybe it will still get worse, that I haven’t experienced the full force of my grief yet. I wipe the corners of both eyes with the backs of my wrists, and all down the forearm to the elbow, and still they are not dry, nor drying. But still, I manage to dress, arm myself with my usual knives, my lance and askari shield, and get away from camp, still weeping silently, without drawing much attention.*
(17:45:48 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas in the deep jungle, where it rains so much that only jungle plants can survive--
to ALL
: *The jungle thickens up quickly. This is an area where thick jungle reaches right up against the mountains, only thinning where it runs out of soil, on the rockface. I cut a blaze in the first big tree I see at an angle towards the northeast, leaving info for the Scouts about what vector to look for me on, if I need to be found.*
(18:03:15 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas in the deep jungle, where it rains so much that only jungle plants can survive--
to ALL
: *Each one is all of them, every time. Away from everybody, I can let the tears flow freely. Nobody can console me at these times, and people who care about me, it breaks their hearts that they can’t, so there is nothing to do but get away and get it out, and get over it again.*
(18:21:25 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas in the deep jungle, where it rains so much that only jungle plants can survive--
to ALL
: *Sometimes you know, and sometimes you don’t. I mean, you always know, but you don’t always know exactly. Like with cupcake. This girl, l’américaine, I had never been with a dark woman before. In a sense, she was so barbarian and in another sense, so civilized. But she felt good in my arms, and I could feel it when that tarn stomped her.*
(18:38:36 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas in the deep jungle, where it rains so much that only jungle plants can survive--
to ALL
: *Salazar was a good man. I told him not to go. Men are fools. I played it off. Lucky me, I got a ship now. shona, night in the city, kajira goes missing. Did she run, was she taken, did she just beg collar at the nearest paga den to have a normal life. Cupcake, did she fall overboard, or did she jump? She’s the one that sill lives in my head as a ghost. “No Panther-leader has ever lasted this long. They get killed, or they did inside.” Maybe because I’m different than them. I don’t try to be hard until I break, I bend. I weep. This weakness, it’s also my strength.*
(21:31:55 )
_______Forest Bird______
[PIC]
Kimba
PantherClaw Taluna Lair
--areas in the deep jungle, where it rains so much that only jungle plants can survive--
to ALL
: *As so often happens here, the sky opens up like somebody opened a trap door under a watertank, and I am immediately soaked to the bone, the tears washed away and invisible as more fall. For Lansharra, Ayasha, jessenia, Casha, beanbag, Branwyn, Gisele, sherry, Chienne, Brandy. And more tears for the faces without names, the most faded handprints on the cave wall.*
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