Chapter 2 And so it begins...
I sigh as my mother once again combs my fur.
The thick bone brush in her paws carefully pulling the tangles and smoothing it. “Ma,” the words come out of my throat, each one tinged with a slight purr as she so carefully makes sure I am presentable. “Ma, if we don't go now we will be late.”
She sighs and turns me around, holding me at arm's length to look at me. “You look, beautiful daughter,” she purrs, the whiskers on her face twitching as her eyes half close in happiness. I feel my own chest start to rumble as she says the words, the purr deep in me rumbling up my throat.
“Thank you,” I smile, making sure not to reveal the sharp teeth in my mouth, which could be interpreted as a threat.
I don't remember much about my past lives, only small snapshots, pain, rape, torcher, death. The ones I remember the best, however, are the best ones. Olan, the girl Reesia, and Talhuri. Each of there faces burned into my very soul, scorched there so I might never forget.
And the goddess…
I don't even know why she cursed me, that memory is lost to me, as was all my lives before the curse. It was the price I had to pay to free myself from the never-ending loop of her anger…
The result was me being born as Rinmua, the second daughter of a Khatan Shaman. The Khatan people are a tribalistic people, for the most part, they form clans that roam the upper Poliff valleys and plains three quarters of the year, before settling down in more permanent residences during the colder winter months.
My people can be described as humanoid cats. Soft white fur covers my body, long and thick like the pelt of a lynx, all over my body are grey spots like that of a snow leopard, black grey spots outlined in black that cover my back and the sides of my arms and legs. My chest area and between my legs is a pure white color, as is the inside of my arms and the inner part of my tail and thighs.
Well, to call them paws is not quite accurate, they are shaped like normal hands, even if they are covered in fur and have pads on the tips of the fingers and the palm, I even have a set of rather sharp retractable claws, they come out when I tense my fingers. Even though we are essentially cats that walk on two legs I have actual hair on my head, not just fur, though it is grey and I like to keep it short so it does not get in my way when I do things. And I definitely have womanly curves. My chest is rather well developed for a woman of fifteen if I do say so myself, nothing massive, but a good handful, and I have a nice wide set of hips, long digitigrade legs that are powerful and designed for running.
Though everyone seems to compliment me on my tail most, the damn thing is just ridiculous, and I have contemplated cutting it off more than once… it is nearly as long as I am tall, and is fluffy enough that I often use it as either a blanket or a bed depending on my need at the time.
And it is so damned heavy, the weight of it causes my hips to sway back and forth in a rather eye-catching way, it's not like I am intending to do that, it just causes it on its own you know?
Also, I may have six nipples.
Two are like a normal person's, attached to breasts like any human or elf, but the other two sets are under the fur, and apparently only swell to feed kits when they are needed. I look around the little tent that I spent the past 15 or so years in, our people call it a Cham, it is a big circular structure, like a sphere cut in half with a large overhang that acts as a porch of sorts. Inside there are three rooms, one for my parents, the other for me and my sister. And the largest is a family communal area, where the cooking, lounging and afternoon naps are typically handled/
And man were those afternoon naps nice…
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The Cham itself was a pretty neat structure, and at this point in my life I and my sister could tear one down and put it back up in under twenty minutes. The outside was made of the hid of mountain Juji, which are large creatures over twice my size, that look something like bears, if bears were evil. The monsters eat anything, including us, and have blood red eyes and large horns sticking out of its fur like a porcupine. It takes a skilled shot to the eye in order to take out that monstrosity. Though I have to admit it’s thick white fur is quite pleasant on a cold day...
My sister and I are the only kits our parents have had, not for a lack of trying I might add.
Tent walls are thin you know?
Today was a big day, not just for me but also for the tribe, myself and three other Khatan youths are going on our Hurasi. The Hurasi is the right of passage that is required for those of us that have yet to carve our place in the tribe. Well, perhaps that is inaccurate, seeing as it is not that we have not really found a place it was that there was no place for us.
A tribe is a closed environment, and like any closed environment people had to be careful who they breed with, which meant that the first born children were the ones that stayed, learned the parent’s trades and took wives and husbands in the tribe, any other children were typically raised with the expectation that they would be sent on a Hurasi, which was a journey where we went to other tribes and presented ourselves, showing off our skills and talents, and if we caught the eyes of someone we were offered a place in that tribe.
It kept the bloodlines diversified, and prevented war between the tribes of the upper Pontiff. All in all a good thing, and quite the elegant solution to a number of problems, I, however, was not going to be participating in it. I might act like I was going to, but as soon as I was free of the tribe’s hunting ground I was going elsewhere. As I walk out of the Cham I see my older sister, well I say older, but she is from the same litter as I was, only she was born first. She has already started to learn the ways of a Shaman from our father, a task which I also excel in.
Well, at least in the medicinal portion of.
Apparently, when I tore my soul apart I damaged it, which is to be expected to be honest. The result was that I cannot use magic, not even to the smallest amount, which was a disappointment to my parents, who both had from what others told me had excellent magical talent. I had no way to gauge, seeing as I don't know what passes for good or bad in this world. I, however, was not some failure that brought shame to my parents, I was after all the best hunter in the tribe, in fact, it was a title that I had earned and held since my first hunt almost seven years ago.
No one could beat me when I used my bow and arrow, I could drop a Juji up to a quarter mile away given a good line of sight and the proper weather conditions. I had also gotten quite skillful with my claws, good enough to take down a Juji when I did miss, which was rare.
It was not a feat often attempted, but I had taken down almost seven of those monstrosities with my bare hands. Which had stopped the harassment I had been receiving from males, who always seemed to have their eyes glued to my tail, all I had to do was flex a claw and inspect it and they would avert their eyes so fast it was like they never even looked my way, which was good seeing as I was not interested in men.
I don't know why, every life I can remember I was a woman, and despite that, I found myself physically attracted to women. Not that I had told anyone except my sister. I glance at her and smile, she looks so much like father, think black fur, gold eyes, yeah, and with that Shaman’s headdress of feathers and beads on her head she really looks like a smaller version of father.
I look at her, and before I can move she springs forward and starts nuzzling my neck, purring softly as her tail intwines with my own her arms wrapped around my head as she holds onto me for dear life.
“Turu, there is no need to hold your sister so, she will likely be picked up in the Gweilin Tribe, everyone knows of her hunting prowess, she won't be that far away,” my mother chides her. Turu, however, says nothing, she knows, she knows that I won't just be one tribe over, a short distance away, after all, I have been talking about doing this for the past ten years to her. Slowly she nods, not looking at Ma as she reaches down and hands a small rough leather sack to me. Curious I open it and find something I haven't seen this entire life.
Clothes.
The Khatan as a people don't wear clothes, there is no need, seeing as we are covered in fur, everything is hidden, except our top set of nipples, but here in our culture, they are not seen as sexual objects, as for our actual private parts well the fur there covers everything. Khatan males are more like cats than people in that way, with penis that retract back into their body when not in use.
And they are barbed.
Barbed,
No thank you.
I look up at Turu and smile, of course, she thought of that, we might be isolated in this upper Pontif valley, but it was not strange to get traveling merchants that came to trade for fur and bone, so most of our people are aware that others in the world wear clothing. Inside was a bright red pair of what looked like shorts, and a red hood, which looks like it was meant to be tied under the arms of the wearer to attach it to and make sure it wouldn't come off, it is long enough to cover my breasts and part of my upper stomach. It is a kind gesture, and the cloth couldn't have been cheap, not based on what we get per pelt, and it was not like Turu was the best of hunters…
She sure worked hard for my sake…
I lean in and nuzzle her on the neck, breathing in her scent deep as I purr against her. “I'll visit, I promise,” I say as I slip a small letter to her, it is meant for mother and father, but knowing Turu she will read it to. It doesn't matter, it is to explain to them why I left, not in detail, but it should do.
And in it, I promised to send more letters to them.
“Good luck little Rinmua,” my father purrs as he claps a large paw on my shoulder. “Make us proud yea?” he says, handing me my hunting bow and a leather quiver of around twenty arrows or so.
“Yeah, I'll be safe,” I answer, and nuzzle him and my mother one last time, before spreading the toes in my paws to distribute my weight over the snow so I can walk on top of it without sinking, striking off on my own version of my Hurasi…