RP:Lower Than a Snake's Belly

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Orikahn, while sneaking through elven territory, finds himself unintentionally impeded by a peacefully reclining Xzavior. Discreetly, Kahn sees if the naga will move for him, and Xzavior does, but not without spooking Orikahn into believing the elves have spotted him. The cat hides, and the two chat while they wait for the "elves" to dismiss their presence. Balgruff comes up in conversation, and the two find some common ground in disliking the giant.

Elven Forest

Orikahn slinks low to the ground, winding his way though the underbrush. The feline has no intention of being spotted or heard, especially not with the watchful elves above. After all the heartache he's caused these woodland natives, Kahn can only imagine what the sylvan folk would do to him if he was ever apprehended. Padded mitts and camouflaged fur make quite a bit of difference, true, but the elves have the sharpest eyes and ears.

Xzavior found himself in a new part of the forest and found it quite pleasant. He had seen and sensed a few elves along his way through but paid them no mind as they didn't do anything to him. Today he had with him a satchel which when he reached into it, bought out a book and an apple. He chuckled softly at the combination and the meaning behind it. With a quick look around he found a nook in between a few roots where he sank into his coils and began to read. He hadn't been able to do this in a while and it was nice to finally be able to.

Orikahn knows a safe path through the brush and has used it a few times before to escape observation. It was a little risky, certainly, but what's life without a few risks? Follow the culvert through here, turn at the deer trail and head up until you get to the lilac thicket, under the elm roots and through the nook in the rocks--what's that!? Kahn's meticulously plotted, tried-and-true trail is blocked, but by what? Daring to raise his head, barely peeking above the leaves of the lush ground cover, he takes a quick peek. Ghnn! That snake guy again, the one with the ice! Ducking back down beneath the leaves, Kahn broods. Around him, birds are happily chirping, and breezes are serenely blowing, adding to his sense of frustration and isolation in this hostile would-be-paradise. Ranged combat had ended poorly for the sabercat the last time he'd run across this ice flinger, and pouncing him from ambush would cause too much ruckus. What a pickle. Pained and beaten, Kahn has no other choice. "Psst. Hey. You. Scale butt. I need to slip through here. Shhh."

Xzavior could tell someone was close even before he made himself known, and it was a familiar presence too. Interesting, where had he felt this before? With a shrug he carefully put the book down and went to check it out only to stop in place as the presence spoke, "Scale butt? Heh, I guess I've been called worse," He was going to let him slip by without a problem but just as he thought about it this situation felt very familiar now. Hidden presence, voice out of nowhere, all happening in the forest. Realization crossed is face and he smirked, "You're the guy who shot at me weren't you?" He chuckled and shook his head, "I got to admit you're a pretty good shot! But I've had my fair share of kill attempts." He gave a joking smirk, not really caring if he was still there or not, "And I have snake like reflexes."

Orikahn has to scoot back as Xzavior gets up. No, don't come this way! "Easy. Play it cool. They don't like me here." Nervously, his eyes swing up to peer at the trees, ears upright and listening keenly for any hint of movement in the trees. "I thought you were a grouse," Kahn hunkers lower to the ground. "Good thing you weren't killed. What a tragedy that would have been. A real tragedy. But shh. Keep it down, act natural. Read your book." Stepping very carefully over the tip of Xzavior's tail, the feline crawls on all fours to begin slipping through the nook. "If they spot me, I'll be a pincushion."

Xzavior gave Orik a dry look as he passed by his tail, but he did lower his voice. "Do you understand just how impossible that is?" With another shake of his head he leaned back after the hunter hid himself where Xzavior was previously sitting. "You are not liked anywhere are you? You seem like the kind of person who can piss someone off with ease." He picked his book back up looking as if nothing was wrong. An evil grin passed his face as he got an idea, a dumb one, but very funny. And he felt like he had to get back at the hunter for trying to kill him. "Oh crap! I think I see some elves coming this way!" He points to a random direction, he could be right he couldn't tell with these fickle elves but he just wanted a reaction from Orik.

Orikahn had just begun slinking out of the space between the rocks, was just ready to disappear again into the foliage when Xzavior's warning strikes him. The cat stiffens entirely, fur bristling. He ducks back into the tight, stony space. "Don't look so conspicuous!" The cat whispers back reproachfully, fear in his tone. "They don't want you, so play it cool. You've got no reason to care about elves." His eyes sweep around himself in a moment of desperation. With his ears slicked back against his scull, Orikahn flattens himself down as much as he can. "I'm not even here. I'm part of the ground. Just sit on me." He gathers his things close to himself. "I'm not even here, understand?"

Xzavior tilted his head back as he tried to suppress his laughter. He didn't actually know if there were elves around but he wasn't going to out Orik out by accident because of it. With a deep breath he slowly released it and said to the cat but looking away from him, "Calm down, as far as I know you are safe. But why the hell are you here if they hate you so much? I don't go jumping into a dwarves cave because I feel like it!" He didn't sit on him either, though he did spread out his tail to hide him better. Why was he helping him? Xzavior was too nice for his own good and it was rather amusing to watch him freak out like this.

Orikahn is able to relax a little, but only a little, as Xzavior tells him he's safe. It's a good question the Naga's asking, and Orikahn finds himself hesitating. "Why, I'm here..." His jaw grits, and Xzavior might sense the cat is searching for an answer. "For the flowers, of course. And the wildfowl." Reflexively, he licks his chops. Laying still behind the naga's tail, he waits and listens attentively. "Some parts, the elves keep a pretty keen eye. Other parts, not so much. So, what'd you do to the dwarves?" The cat decides, against his better judgement, to strike up a little conversation. "Mistake one of *them* for a grouse?"

Xzavior chuckled at his answer, "Never took you for the flowery type." he continued to flip through his book but by this point he wasn't even reading it anymore. He was just doing it for the looks. When he asked what he did to the dwarves he smirked, "I didn't do anything to them personally, my kind and theirs have kind of a history. Mainly involving war. The elves too! Though I was able to convince them I'm not like other nagas, so as long as I don't cause trouble they'll leave me alone."

Orikahn gives a quiet "hmph" at idea. A history of war? "Trouble," Khan mutters after him. "I don't think I'd be able to make any kind of bargain like that. Don't have any 'history' to blame my problems on. I think it's fair to say my life is what I've made of it. How's it looking up there?" The sabercat sounds hopeful. "The coast clear yet." He sniffs to check an see, but then... "Wait." The feline's heart skips a beat, for it has taken him this long to realize that Xzavior was one of the many faces at the Yule Ball.

Xzavior looked around at the question, "Like I said, I don't think you were in danger in the first place. You have a great skill at sneaking around." When Orik had said wait Xzavior looked at him a bat confused before he saw Orik's recognition of him. With a fanged grin he chuckled, "Oh so you remember me putting a spear through one of your undead giants head! I kinda thought it was you. Don't see many sabercats with three eyes every day, you know." He took a bite out of the apple he almost forget about and gave him an amused look, "Don't worry. You might have been on opposite sides but I only know that. That and you haven't done anything to directly affect me or anyone I care about. Other than trying to kill me that one time but I'm over that." He paused his chewng for a moment before looking back down at him with a raised brow, "Unless you are siding with Balgruuf right now."

Orikahn is surprised and concerned when Xzavior confirms their prior meeting, then surprised even further when the snake forgives him so easily. "...over that," Kahn absentmindedly mutters after him, still digesting all that the cryo-mage has said. Several questions surface within him, but the sabercat decides to let them subside again unspoken, and he's relieved when the topic swings over to Balgruff. "No, not siding with Balgruff," he sighs into the dirt. "I haven't heard much about him, only enough to know that I won't care about his causes. He wants..." Orikahn's brow furrows. "Petty things. Sounds like," his three eyes slide up to Xzavior, "you don't like him very much, do you?"

Xzavior sneered at the thought while looking out into the forest, "That is an understatement. I had a run in with a bunch of his unsavory gang and now I am completely unable to go back to Frostmaw." with a dark chuckle he spoke out loud but to himself, "I wonder if that one giant is still picking up his teeth off the ground." With a sigh he let it go and leaned back carefully so that he wouldn't be leaning on the hunter. "His ideals are far from petty, they are down right stupid. He's going to destroy the place I once called home at this rate."

Orikahn meditates on Xzavior's message for a moment, leaving a brief span of silence. "Well," he whispers back up at last, "I think that things here have probably settled down enough. Ice Snake, you are strong and calm," he reaches up and gives a cordial pat to whatever part of Xzavior's tail he can reach, then begins very carefully squeezing out from the rocks. "We need to talk more about Frostmaw, but not like this." His face contorts a bit as his whiskers brush against the stony edges of the crag, and bit by bit, he silently slips free and into the foliage again.

Xzavior shifted to allow him and easier exit, "Whatever you need to know I can give you the best of my knowledge, but I agree that being neck deep in enemy territory isn't the best of places to talk about this kind of thing." he chuckled as Orik finally slipped out from behind him and said, "by the way, my name is Xzavior."

Orikahn makes no reply, and the naga might wonder whether the cat heard his name at all. Perhaps now Xzavior can find the placid solitude he'd begun to enjoy before the feline interrupted him.