• Closed • Tender Whispers

[Gangui]

Vhalar 18

It was a cool and sunny autumn day in Yaralon. Very cozy and comfortable for a change. Unfortunately, Gan was having one of his terrible moments and this unusually pleasant weather was lost to him. Anger and sadness coursed through his veins almost as heavily as the wine he had been drinking.

It was not easy dealing with his pain. When he was working he felt fine, simply losing himself to the task at hand. However, on his days off he had a hard time forgetting the past. And there were a lot of these days in Yaralon.

Indeed, that fine morning was one of the days he could not schedule any work for the crew. After pestering all the established merc companies with no results, he decided to amble around the burhos in hopes to find a job. Of course he couldn’t just do such a task without being drunk.

Thoughts bounced around the madman’s head in no logical order. He remembered his brutal childhood in the mine. He believed that when he told people about the threat of the Immortals they would respond with courage and conviction, but that rarely happened. Ellen’wyn’s kiss on the moonlit pier was amazing and he had screwed it all up, why was he so stupid. He should have taken action against the birdman when he first met the vile tyrant instead of allowing him to get his forces up.

He twitched silently in anger at these thoughts. For reasons unbeknownst to him, he couldn’t get over them. The alcohol didn’t help either, however he was able to maintain his composure fairly well, though his face looked cross

“Gangui…” a whisper echoed down the streets of the northeastern burho.

The warrior was way too concerned with his own misery to notice at first, but as he continued his walk the voice got louder, “Gaannguuui…itssss meeee”

The bearded man stopped in his tracks and looked around. He still wasn’t registering the voice fully. Weaving through the crowd, he ignored the tickle in his ear from the strange and distant whisper. After walking a couple more blocks on the large road, he turned down one with less traffic. There he saw a couple small benches. Far from being a plaza or park, it was at least a small alcove for those in this burho to sit. Gangui took a seat on one of these rocky benches and took advantage some time alone, away from the hustle and bustle of the main-street.

After taking a swig of the wine-flagon, Gangui put his head into his cupped gauntlets. He just wanted to get revenge against the Immortals and be successful, but this made him angry. He had worked so damn hard at it, but was still not nearly close enough to victory. The worst part was he putting himself into these horrible situations. And the what was even more sad in his opinion, was the fact he was feeling like this. No Yari native would act like this and this made him feel weak.

Suddenly the strange whisper returned, seemingly carried by the breeze to the very open space in between the streets that Gangui now sat.

“It is meeeee… it is meeee your good friend...”

Gan nearly jumped out of his seat, “What?!” He could have sworn on everything he had heard Niv’s voice. But that couldn’t be so, for Niv had been killed long ago by the villainous tyrant Noth.

“Gan….gui… it’s me…. Niiiiiv...”

The bearded warrior almost lost his shit. Standing up he looked around he saw nothing. He yelled something incomprehensible, but there was no response. After a couple minutes he decided to chalk it up to drunkenness. Before he could return to sulking however, someone was approaching. He could hear them around the corner, but couldn’t see them yet.

Gan beckoned in confusion and suspicion, “Is that you Niv?”

[Rabu]

The world outside the safe haven of Desnind was far harsher than Rabu realized. The Tunawa would never consider worrying about people locking him in a cage for simply being himself. The Tunawa convinced himself It was a blessing of the immortals that him and his donkey made it to Yaralon intact with all the obstacles he encounter along the way. However, Rabu was only starting to realize that he had really just became a fly trapped in a spiders web. Leaving Yaralon was not going to be an easy task, at least not on his own.

“Whats the matter Gogo?” Rabu used his native Xantean language to ask the donkey who had abruptly halted from pushing his cart. The Tunawa tugged gently on the reins but it was no use, the donkey had planted itself firmly in place.
“Tired?” Rabu replied, receiving no answer but assuming it to be true. Gogo always did this when ever she wanted rest, food or she saw something she wanted. Since Rabu saw no sign of anything a donkey might nibble on, he could only assume she wanted to lay down.
“This way, come on Girl.” Rabu whispered softly as he tugged on the reins of the main road. The donkey stayed frozen as people walked past them, giving quizzical looks at Rabu for his bizarre exterior. Even for a tunawa his size, colourful bark and cranial growths made him quite the spectacle.

The gawking onlookers were making Rabu uncomfortable and he had to hop off the cart to be at the donkey's level or she would never move to somewhere without the audience. He approached Gogo before making soothing noises and stroking the soft fur of the donkeys chest until Gogo finally began to go where Rabu lured her. Rabu and the donkey moved into a lesser travelled alley, away from the busy street of onlookers. When things got a bit more quiet, Gogo lowered itself to the ground and rested her tired legs. Rabu sat down beside her and stroked her head softly as he made soft cooing noises to relax her.

Gogo’s eyes nearly drifted to sleep when the sudden yelling of a nearby man startled both Rabu and Gogo. It was a painful wale that made Rabu’s heart pound in his chest and caused Gogo to shriek in panic. Gogo was about to go into a frenzy but Rabu did his best to sooth him.
“Be calm Gogo, I will see what is the matter.” Rabu spoke softly and stroked the frighted animal before going to investigate the disturbance.

Walking down the street he saw a distraught looking bearded man lumbering about in the street. The man glanced in Rabu’s direction and said something strange.
“I is ..not dis Niv dat you call, Rabu is what I be” Rabu stumbled over the words in the common tongue but used hand gestures to get his meaning across. “Upset you are? What is dis Niv you say?”

[Gangui]

“Niv? Back from the dead?” Gangui asked with an upturned eyebrow when the mighty Tunawa approached him.

Gan recognized immediately that there was something special about this Tunawa. The little one was two feet tall with “skin” colored of red and green and silver like the mystical metal that sometimes was crafted by skill armorsmiths. Nestling in his white hair were two long ears, making the Tunawa actually appear a full three feet tall. Compared to all the Tunawa that Gangui had known, this guy was robust and “athletic” looking.

The Turkey warrior dropped to his knees at looked at Rabu’s glittering face, “No, you are not Niv,” he shook his head, “Niv was a strong Tunawa, but no where as mighty as you,”

Gangui introduced himself as “Tunawa Friend”. He did not give Rabu any special consideration for being a small person and clasped the entirety of the tree child’s hand within his palm when he shook it strongly, almost lifting him off the floor when he did so. The warrior did not believe in treating Tunawa any different than any human, as it was exactly how his dead friend Niv would have been expected all Tunawa to be treated.

The next words that Gan spoke that did not match the somber expression on his face, “Rabu what did they feed you growing up? Jujub Berries and Gomba Loomps? Wow you are so big!”

He tried to plaster on a fake smile trying to be as friendly as possible, but he couldn’t get his mind off his dead friend Niv. Shifting onto the floor, he sat down cross legged next to the child of Moseke. Eye to eye with the Tunawa, he spoke his mind, “Rabu… I swear to you… I heard my friend Niv yelling just now. She was calling out to me, her voice as clear as day… but then you appeared instead.

Gan double face-palmed while sighing, his voice muffled, “I knew I was crazy, but not THIS crazy!”

[Rabu]

Meanwhile floating above Rabu and the strange man, were two mysterious entities watching from the the sky. Their bulbous eyes glared maliciously as they eavesdropped, with twisted minds undoubtedly spiralling with malicious ideas.
“Did you hear that sister?” One turned its avian head to the other, its words slithering out of its mouth like a treacherous snake.
“I did Brother, that poor foolish mortal thinks that our little putrid pile of cowardly filth is…” Sister chocked on the word she was about to say. “..Mighty.”
The two looked at each other and cackled loud enough that their two subjects might hear from the sky.
“We will certainly have to change his mind.” Brother added when he recovered from his giggling fit.
“Of course brother…but before we do, can we talk about how attractive that mortal is.” Sister wiggled her forehead and smiled lecherously at Gangui. “I do adore the sight of a man losing his mind in the gutter.”
“You disgust me sister.”

——————————

Rabu was taken back by the strange man’s bold introduction, they hadn’t met but this “Tunawa friend” seemed to behave like they were old comrades. He nearly tore off Rabu’s arm with his robust arm shake but Rabu smiled despite his sore limb.

“Juju berries? Gomba …loops?” Rabu tilted his head and scratched his chin in confusion. “dese make tall folk..not deh small?” Rabu had never heard of these berries but wondered if they were ritually eaten to promote growth, how else could everyone be so tall?

“I sure you not deh crazy, Niv is tunawa dat you not know where is? Maybe I help wid deh finding?” Niv surveyed the area for any clues of where this Niv might be. It was then that he spotted a golden chest with his name spelled out in dazzling gems and metals on the front. It was a mirage that cold only be seen by the Tunawa but it was more than that, it drew Rabu in like a fly to a fly trap. Rabu’s gaze went blank and he shambled forward as if in a dream like trance. When he got close enough the mirage faded into a real flesh and blood squirrel at it was angry. The squirrel’s fur shot up as its back arched in readiness to pounce. Like a flash of lightning the creature shot at the tunawa wasting no time in clamping its tiny jaws and nails into Rabu’s bark.

Rabu screamed in agony at the surprise attack and tried to free himself but the creatures hold was like an unbreakable vice grip.

[Gangui]

Like all things Yaralon, the common tongue did not have words to describe the events unfolding before Gangui.

Normally the appearance of the squirrel attacking Rabu could be categorized under ‘random’, however with the strong presence of fractures in the area this concept didn’t apply in the slightest sense of the word. Anyone with an acutely perceptive mind could realize this; different laws where at play when considering emea. Being ignorant to these facts were a source of great frustration. The problem was that without being able to explain things as random, forced one to rationalize these occurrences as being caused by forces outside human perception. One could not make logical sense of causes and effects. None could trust anything their intuitive mind suggested when thinking about these magical occurrences, because all the rules of reality they had lived by previously did not apply anymore.

To Gangui’s knowledge, all that could be done was to proceed forward with what humans called honor and learn more. Thus, a gauntleted first grabbed at pesky squirrel and squeezed it until the crunching of its bones could be heard from under his palms. There was no glory in this action so he discarded the crushed corpse like a banana peel. At least Rabu was safe again.

Short term memory played a role here, a tool used by warriors to disregard traumatic events —like crushing tiny creatures with your bare hands— so that their mind would remain strong.

He talked as if the squirrel attacking Rabu was not a big deal anymore, “This is a complete frubblewomp!” Gangui uttered a strange word that had never been uttered before. Actually, it was more of a sound, a sound that Gan felt describes the whole conundrum of not understanding the true nature of the Emean reality.

Rabu seemed to question Gan’s word choice so he tried explain, “Brave Tunawa, you know what I mean right? All this... fumbleloomp?”

He hoped that Rabu intuitively understood what he meant, because he did not have the skill, nor the mind, to explain the mental place one finds themselves in when one could not make accurate judgements on reality because the laws of the space around them didn’t follow the familiar rules of one’s usual inhabitance.

“You know how it is?” Gan tried again, “First I hear voices of an old Tunawa, a Tunawa appears, you get assaulted for some reason... It... It just doesn’t add up. It all maloopery” Gangui face palmed, “You know what I mean right? What’s it called?”

[Rabu]

There was a loud crunch as the tiny creatures bones snapped in Gangui’s hands and Rabu felt the life leave its body. Rabu was frozen for a moment as his mind digested what had just happened. The squirrel attacked the tunawa without justification but a golden tears still welled up in his eyes. Rabu knew the squirrel was an illusion but he couldn’t help but feel for it, did this make him weak? Rabu wasn’t considered weak growing up, but the city of Yaralon seemed to have different definitions. Constantly fighting and holding in your emotions were seen as strength in this new city, Rabu couldn’t ever be like that.

“Dank you..” Rabu looked at Gangui, he was about to tell him to avoid unnecessary violence but bit his tongue. Gangui was a grown man who was likely set in his ways and this was not the time to give him life advice.

“Frubblewomp?” Rabu squinted his eyes slightly in perplexity at the odd word Gangui used to describe the situation. The context was clear but he’d never heard that word and wondered if it was another language he had not encountered. “I dink I do…Frubble is bad ting?”


“Uh yes yes, Maloo..Pery dis is.” Rabu smiled and nodded but was a little worried for him. He was talking strangely and had already heard voices of his dead friend.

“What happen before dis voice be heard? deh one of dis Niv person.” Rabu leaned in and scratched his chin in focus. He narrowed his gaze on Gangui and looked for any thing that might lead to a proper diagnosis.

“Stop wit deh speaking for dis time.” Rabu said abruptly, he looked down in embarrassment at what he knew was a rude interruption after he had just asked the man a question.

“Wat I meaning is dat we should go to a more um..Zaza la Floosa place. you understand?” Rabu tried his hand at making up a word, he added a few hand gestures that to him represented a relaxing breeze or a snuggle with a fluffy cat. Whether these came across was totally up to Rabu’s use of symbolism and Gangui’s understanding of them. In any case a cold wet alley wasn’t a place for much of anything especially if Gangui was sick.

[Gangui]

It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to say that the mustachio felt slightly confused at the myriad of facial expressions the mighty Tunawa displayed. At first he cried, then he focused suspiciously on Gangui’s words, next he called for silence, and finally he began to laugh and smile again. The commander choose not worry about it, because he didn’t want to bust Rabu’s chops within a few ticks of meeting him. He remembered a lesson he learned from hanging out with Niv back at the Landing: always be physically gentle with Tunawa (might snap a twig), but always treat them as equals in every other regard. Niv and her girlfriend Freemen were the only Tunawa he knew and despite being tiny she was brave, bold, and tough, the complete opposite of the sissy Freemen. Thus, he decided to remain cautious until he figured out Rabu’s disposition. Not all Tunawa where as daring and cocky as Niv.

“Zaza la floosa!” Gangui rumbled and repeated twice more to himself, feeling the tongue scrap the insides of him mouth. He tried to think of what sort of place would cause him to exclaim in such a fashion. Despite not truly understanding where Rabu wanted to go, Gangui liked to trust his gut instincts so he stood up and prepared to travel once again in absolute confidence that he knew where to find a place that was floosa enough.

“Let’s go Rabu!” Gangui began to march noisily out of the damp and gray alley towards the main road. The ‘nawa was correct, it was all bad juju up in that little section of the burho. Walking onto to the nearest "floosa" would take some time, especially with the crowded streets.

On the main street of the burho, there were countless wagons and people and locally domesticated beasts of all sorts. Gangui stuck true to his vow to niv, giving no regard for Rabu’s tiny legs as they marched quickly through the crowds. The warrior focused on the destination and let up for no one. Dodging big bodies, stamping through dozens of clove-hooves, throwing his arms up around shorter people, he stepped through the maze of people with grace. The rustling chain armor rarely hindering his cut-through procession, except for the little snag hear and there. Gang was smooth, but not smooth enough to slip through people silently. bot that it mattered, everyone he bumped into yelled at him. He didnt actually hurt anyone of course, because he didn't want a duel popping off for no reason. There was one time that he had to duck under some strange Emean touched camels, however it wasn’t anything a limber warrior could not handle. He almost stopped at a vendor with done handled knives, yelling the yari word for “enchanted”, however he knew that Rabu was right behind him expecting the “floosa”.

“Zaza la floosa!” Gangui yelled when they arrived, “Much better!” when Gangui talked, it seemed like he was focusing on Rabu and no one else, as if the present moment was all that mattered.

Holding his hand up, he showed Rabu the burho’s water well. It was a deep hole in the ground, with masonic fortifications and magical rues carved into it. It was guarded and it was busy, however it was a lot less creepy than the ally. He waited to see Rabu's reaction.

[Rabu]

Rabu eagerly followed his new friend Gangui to the “Zaza La Floosa” type place. He didn’t know the human enough to know what would constitute as “flooza” enough for Gangui but the tunawa was excited none the less. Rabu stumbled behind the much larger man’s strides as they weaved their way through the crowds. Rabu didn’t have much trouble with this as his small and thin frame allowed him to slip through the tiniest of gaps. Gangui had the unfortunate privilege of being a giant burly man making his way through a sea of large burly and aggressive people. The journey had to be put on hold a few times when Gangui upset someone by simply bumping into them. They would yell all sorts of obscenities but Gangui would ignore them. Rabu yelled back apologies as they continued on their way, not wanting to be rude.

Other than a strange floating camel there wasn’t much other things that stood in their way before Gangui finally turned to Rabu and yelled “Zaza La Floosa”. Rabu looked to see a small body of water like a pond but It was completely devoid of life, no frogs, lily pads, fish or even mud in it. It was however crystal clear, something rabu had only occasionally seen in ponds made by Sev’ryn. The lack of fogs and mosquito larvae to eat was a bit of a disappointment but Rabu did like water of any kind and this was Gangui’s “Zaza la Floosa” not his.

Rabu smiled up at Gangui and repeated the funny word they had made up together. “Zasa la Floosa.” He was happy knowing Gangui was in a safer and more pleasant place. At least until his eyes bulged open in shock as he realized he left Gogo in the dark creepy alley way alone.
“I Go now! Donkey alone!” Rabu shrieked and ran back as fast as he could.

[Varthakh]

Rewards for the two-legs's

Gangui

Points: 15

Knowledge:
- Rabu: Mighty Tunawa
- Rabu: might be crazy enough to be Gangui’s friend

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: +10. You bumped enough people on the street that they're probably going to remember your face, coupled with shouting on the street and saving the colorful Tunawa from the squirrel.
Magic: None

Rabu

Points: 15

Knowledge:
- Linguistics: Using symbolism to define a word.
- Linguistics: The sound of the word can be a hit to its meaning
- Animal husbandry: Don't leave your donkey alone
- Animal husbandry: Calming down a spooked donkey.
- Persuasion: Convincing someone into a healthy change scenery
-
- Gangui: Friend of the Tunawa
- Niv: Gangui's dead Tunawa friend.

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: +10. You're very colorful and strange for a tunawa, odds are that people are going to recognize you if they see you again, they're also likely to remember the squirrel incident or your politeness apologizing to people that Gangui disgruntled.
Magic: None

Comment: This was a fun and cute read. I quite liked the way these two interacted and hope to see more of them in the future. Also- When did Niv die? I'm so out of the loop! Also, hi Gangui. Long time no see. Enjoy the rewards both of you.

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