Tale of a Khati Sha.

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Rhatha
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(4/25/02 3:31 am)
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  Tale of a Khati Sha.
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An excerpt from the writings of Rhatha Sha`Naya, once called Rhatha Swiftpaw, of Shar Vahl:

Part One: Who is My Family?
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I was born and raised in Shar Vahl with many other cubs. We played all the usual cub-games: hunter and prey, king of the hill, wrestling. Every day we would run around our homes in the city, even after it was pitch-black, until our mothers herded us inside and off to bed with a story. I did not know, then, why my mother looked at me so sadly every night when she thought I was asleep. Then, it didn't matter. The new day would come, and we would be off to play again.

Some of the guards watched us during the day. We thought they were simply bored of standing around all day, but as we grew older, they began to take more interest in our games, singling out those of us who did very well. Those lucky few were sometimes invited to the palace, and offered training as Khala Dun. I was never one of the ones chosen, although I did my fair share in the games. This was around the time I was of thirteen years. As time went on, I found the games less and less exciting, preferring to sneak off and listen to the storytellers who were in the city proper. I was not doing anything wrong by being there, but I somehow knew that the other children would laugh, and drag me back to their games. And so I went alone into the city. I heard many tales during those days: tales of heroes and kings, tales of magic and power, tales of love and peace. But the ones that I loved, more than any others, were the tales of the great hunters of our people, who could sneak through the forests and thickets of Luclin, striking swiftly against any that would harm us. I began to yearn for the outside world. Soon I learned to slip past the guards into the Thicket south of the city. I had naught but a play spear, but I found young hoppers straying from their parents, and speared them, thinking of myself as a great warrior all the while. Soon, I moved to Cht'Thk beetles emerging from their shells. These were more dangerous, and provided better sport, for the bloodlings kept close watch of them, and I knew that I could not stop one of them. Things went well for a long time as I improved my techniques, hiding from Vah Shir trainees and guards all the while, until the day I was seen.

I was watching a young hopper, ready to strike, when I was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of my neck and pulled to my feet. Whirling around, I saw an Animalist standing over me, clad in hopperhide armor and holding a pair of horns in each hand. "What," he said, "is a cubling doing in the thicket?" I protested, saying that I knew well the danger and would have had the beetle if only he had not come. He simply pointed behind him, saying, "That is what would have become of you." Turning, I saw a warder, a beast of legend, standing over the shredded corpse of a needle-clawed hopper, and realized that it had been watching me all the while. I quickly turned and tried to run, but he grabbed me tightly and escorted me back to the city. The guards were astonished to find that I had slipped past them, and demanded to know how long it had been occurring. "Two years," I said, and their faces grew grim. The Animalist ordered a new guard to be placed so that none would sneak out again, and took me into the city, saying only, "I will take care of this one." Upon hearing this I feared the worst punishments a young child can. He took me back to my house in the city amidst the stares of the other children. My face grew hot as we continued down the road. It seemed an eternity before we reached my house. My mother came to the door, and was taken aback to see me in the hands of an Animalist. "I cannot stay for long," he said, "but we must deal with your young one." I was sent off to my room with the door closed tightly, and I could hear the breathing of the warder on the other side, ensuring that I dare not leave.

After a time, the Animalist came into my room and sat on the floor beside me. He said, "I have spoken with your caretakers and determined what we shall do with you." "Do you not mean my parents?" I asked, frightened by this strange speech. "No," he said, "for your parents they are not, and never have been. You have been raised by these people because they were deemed caring, and had no cub of their own." I knew what he referred to, it being a common practice for Vah Shir to support one another, but I still protested that it could not be true, that they must be my parents, that I was simply born as a single cub and not in a litter. But he shook his head. He took my arm, then, and rolled up the sleeve, to show a scar. "This," he said, "is a mark of your kin. Find it, and your shall find others of your true family." He then looked me straight in the eyes. A more terrible and awesome visage I have never seen. He said, "do I frighten you, child?" I nodded slowly. "I am a Khati Sha. Do you know what that is?" I replied that I had heard the tales of the storytellers, and he said, "then why fear me? For do the Khati Sha not protect our people, as do the Khala Dun of whom you have surely heard?" I said that I feared punishment, that surely his warder would eat me for being such a naughty child. At this he laughed until tears came out of his eyes. "My warder would not harm a hair on your body unless you tried to attack me," he said. He bade me come and run my hand through its beautiful fur, and I became less afraid, although no less puzzled at why I was not being punished. The warder purred happily, and I had a sudden desire to run off with it at my side, back into the world. But it was not to be. The Animalist rose then, and I heard no more of him for many years.

I walked out into the common room of the house, and looked my mother in the eye... and she looked away. That was when I knew all of it to be true, and I ran into my room and lay on the bed, crying until there were no more tears.


Part Two: Life in the Thicket
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It was in my twentieth year that I was sent to the palace and began my training as a Khati Sha... but that is a tale for another time. To this day, I have not yet found another Vah Shir with the scar, and I keep it under my armor, now, so that none will ask me about it. Since I have left Shar Vahl, I have not asked any of my companions if they have heard of such a thing... it seems my quest is hopeless... yet some day I shall find another with the mark, and perhaps learn of my true family, and why I have never known them.

And now I look back on the past again. The memories are still fresh; full of sorrow, and indecision, and hopelessness. I remember running out of the house we shared, into the Thicket. The guards tried to stop me, but I ran past them, and hid until they had gone. Those who had cared for me (for I could no longer call them my parents) came out of the city themselves, looking for me. But I was not ready to be found. I did not want to go back.

I found little solitude in the Thicket, but I did not go back. I had nothing when I left... no supplies, no weapons, no protection. I lived off of the land, for a time, picking the payala fruit under the trees, and drinking what little I could find. But hopper eggs and berries are little sustenance for a Vah Shir. It was at this time that I felt a stirring in my soul, in a way I can not describe to anyone who has not felt it, save by saying, I knew I was not alone. It was not frightening, despite the fact that I'd not felt anything like it before. It carried a.. reassurance, that I would survive, that -we- would survive, though I knew not who -we- were.

And so I lived for some years. I could not bring myself to go into the city, though I did not avoid all travelers. The bards that passed on their way to Shadow Haven often stopped, wondering why I was outdoors and alone, and they often had a flask of water of crust of bread to share while I told them my tale. The Khala Dun I avoided, for they would have taken me to the city, and the Dar Khura for the same reason. The Taruun, however.. they saw me, but left me alone. And I did not see a Khati Sha, for they walked not on the roads, but across the country.

As time passed, I began to catch a glimpse of a tiger, following me from afar, staying hidden. He was only seen when he meant to be, and it scared me to have such a beast tracking me down, for though we are alike, they would see me as food. But every time I turned to run, I was reassured by the odd feeling, and when I turned and looked again, the tiger was gone. This happened for many passings of Norrath through the sky.

As time went on, I began to find hoppers lying near the places where I slept, killed and stripped of their hide. I was wary at first, but hunger overcame me, and I began to eat the meat, thinking a Jharin was leaving me food. I saw the tiger again, coming closer and closer while I ate, until he stood right next to me. I dared not move. He looking into my eyes, and I into his, and that was when I understood, for the first time, that this was no mere beast. I still remember my first look into those golden pools, deep and dark and the caverns within Luclin, yet having a spirit and vigour that heartened me. From that time, the tiger ran at my side as I snuck around the Thicket, and we had fresh meat every night, for he hunted for us both, small though he was. And yet, at times he would disappear, for an hour, or a day at a time, and I could not find him, though I searched high and low.

Life then was good, or at least it felt so: I was well-fed, and had little to fear in the Thicket. My clothes, though weathered and torn, kept off the elements, and my tiger-friend kept me company in the times I thought of home. But all good things must come to an end. One day, I saw something I'd not imagined... the Saurek Claw Beast, strongest of the Saurek until far out in the thicket, and taller than some of the Khala Dun. It came toward the city, moving along the hills that encompass the Thicket, sniffing under the rocks to find food. It drew ever nearer to Shar Vahl, until it was in the place where the needle-clawed hoppers breed, where new Vah Shir citizens often hunt. There was only one trainee there this day... I wonder, sometimes, what would have happened if there were more. It crept closer and closer to the young warrior, but he did not see it until it was too close to run from. He let out a scream, a cry for help, but he was too far from the tents surrounding the city for it to be heard. The hopper toyed with its prey, slashing first his legs, so he could not run, and then leering over him while he feebly tried to hit it with his sword. I watched all this, paralyzed with fear... and I whispered to myself, "I must help.... but what can I do, save perish myself?" And then I felt movement at my side, and saw my tiger-friend charge and jump on the back of the beast, holding for dear life with claw and fang. And I knew what I must do, though I was afraid. I ran forward, watching the Saurek shake it mighty head, trying to fling my friend loose.. but he was too fast, jumping off and clawing at the beast. Many marks he made in the rough, gray hide, but none penetrated to the flesh beneath. I grabbed the warrior and began to drag him toward the tents while the battle went on. I had almost made it to the closest one, when I looked back at the Saurek, and saw it pierce my friend's side with its claws. I screamed and ran back, but it was too late. The warriors under the tent, alerted by my cries, ran out and saw the beast and its prey. Within moments there were five Vah Shir chasing the beast, fighting it with dagger, sword, and claw, bringing it to the ground. But I had eyes only for my tiger... I ran to him, and cradled him in my arms, blood seeping down into my lap, and I watched his eyes grow dim. I closed my eyes for a moment, and sobbed there on the ground... and then I felt a lightness in my arms, and looked up, and lo and behold! The body of my friend was gone.

One of the Vah Shir came up to me then, clad in hopperhide and bearing a scimitar. He said he was a captain of the Khati Sha, and wondered what had happened. I told him, tears running down my face, for now the only companion I had known for many years was gone. He took my face in his hands, and looked me in the eye, then said, "I think you should come with me. Sadhi will surely want to hear of this." And though I protested, I had no will to resist as I was taken into the city for the first time in many years.
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The rest of my tale can be found here, in my lair. It is quite extensive now, though it is truly behind the times. I hope that some of you will read it, enjoy it, and perhaps learn something, about me, about you, or about the world we live in. Thank you.

- Rhatha

http://darklance.freewebspace.com/custom.html
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Rhatha Sha`Naya and Swiftclaw
42nd season Khati Sha and Warder
Rhatha's Lair
Fhara Sha'Naya


Edited by: Rhatha at: 4/25/02 2:32:45 am