I blew into the reed as I stared into the snake's eyes. They flashed dangerously, and as I moved, so did the deadly serpent. He moved with a certain languid grace that any snake charmer/belly dancer/story teller/secret sorceress/psychic/gypsy such as I could respect. He was, of course, predatory in his movements, but most carnivorous animals were. I gave him the respect due for his greatness, in turn, he gave me mine. He, his race, and the whole Animal Kingdom would always be superior to us lowly humans; we dirty filth that gradually murder the wonderful, thriving earth of Mother Nature around us. I am ashamed to be called human, ashamed that that was what I am.
I watched as his scales danced in the firelight reflecting off of them, the writhing firelight setting up the ethereal beauty that he truly held. I blew into the instrument and moved my fingers, creating a type of music that was the slightly off-key in the Music of Life, as he moved in the eternal Dance of Life; predatory, peaceful, and dangerous. I truly did not understand why people killed and harmed his kind, let alone feared them. Our own species was much more dangerous than his could ever be.
My eyes picked out our audience; a brunette who dressed in rich green and a blue-haired fellow dressed in black. They sat on our finest cushions, drinking our finest wine; nothing less for two kings of different human kingdoms. Their servants and entourage were behind them, enjoying the sight of our small group but keeping a courteous distance from their respective kings. It was disgusting, I thought, that they always expected the greatest luxuries in their life just because they had a golden crown on their head.
I closed my eyes, giving in to the music pounded into the air.
Dum. Dum, da dum, dum, my best friend on the drums. I pictured her in her loose sky-blue, navy, and dark purple garments, smiling flirtatiously at the two men who were our audience for the night. Her blond hair would be in its usual ponytail; her ice-colored eyes dancing in the firelight. Her loose sleeves would flap slightly in the gentle breeze as she beat the rhythm on the drums.
Fwoooo, fwoooo, the dark-haired woman of the bunch, blowing softly into her wooden flute, accompanying the two other instruments played by myself and the blond. Her silvery/purple pupil-less eyes would gleam slightly in the firelight, though they could are more likely to be closed in concentration than open.
The brunette and sandy-blond haired women of our group would be dressed in their respective colors of white-and-crimson and dark purple-and-crimson. They would have their normal dancing outfits on; tops only covering their breasts and tops of their shoulders, loose pants that came to just above their ankle, and their chosen satchels, belts, and scarves with beads and coins and bits of metal sewn onto them. They would move their bodies in a certain way, capture their audience with their eyes, and dance like no one else. Their spectators were captured the moment they laid eyes on the performers. Their viewers were their prey.
I inwardly sighed; I had seen it all before. The two men would ask the dancing women to their private carriages, the women would refuse, and the men would pay for their performance, thank them for their hospitality, and then leave or ask if we had any spare room for the night. Pompous bastards.
I continued to play, despite the varied thoughts and images echoing in my mind.
The beat of the drum grew faster, the flute began to whistle like the howling wind, my own instrument began to play faster, as well. The two females that were currently dancing in our group began to twirl and whirl faster. As the beat quickened evermore, the two began to dance together, their bodies seeming one, as we were trained to do so. If the audience had not been captivated before, they sure as hell would now.
I let my body and mind relax as my instincts did the playing. After a short time of picturing the serpent's beady black eyes that danced in the firelight, I was inside his mind.
'Who are you?' he hissed in curiosity/mild fright.
'Jnarnel' I mind-whispered back. Animal-tongue-human, it meant in actual animal tongue.
'I see. No need for that language. Our minds speak as one' his mind answered. Ah; an older snake, probably more experienced in the ways of life.
'What is your Human name?' he asked. It was proper that he speak first; after all, I had invaded his mind, so that granted him courtesy.
'Blossom' I replied.
He mind-hissed in response.
'That is your performer name! I want your true name, Human!'
I withdrew from his mind immediately. True names were things you did not tell anyone, if you even knew your own. It was dangerous to know your own true Name, as once someone or something, animal or human, got hold of it they had complete control over you. Such a cunning snake.
I snapped open my eyes and watched the serpent. I was safe until I stopped playing my instrument. We had a few hours yet.
"Where are we headed next?" I asked the sandy-blond. She was our navigator, so we usually followed her directions as we aimlessly traveled in search of an audience.
She smiled back at me, and she replied "Suna"
I smiled back at her. She was a gypsy along with the rest of us. She knew how to fight with fists, swords, and pretty much anything that could be converted into some sort of weapon. She could dance and play and instrument as well as any of us. But she had royal blood; she was the princess of Suna. Her brothers were furious when they heard her decision, but they let her join us, because she was their sister, and they were happy as long as she was happy. And as long as she stopped by for a visit at least once every year or two, for a minimum of one week. Luckily for us, she liked to stretch their patience thin, but she kept a tight travel schedule, so we were due in most towns at a certain date or season.
"Suna, huh?" I whispered into the air. Temari was already fast asleep in the hammock next to mine. The other three were at different places in the camp.
"Mornin' sunshine!" the platinum blond of the group yelled in my face happily.
"Loud-mouth" I mumbled, complying and rising out of the hammock anyway. I stretched in my normal manner; like a cat, in the whole back-arch. It was a habit picked up after spending so much time in the woods near animals and in animal minds.
"Want some slime?" the blond asked. It was our word for wood-wine. It sounds disgusting, but it's really good. It's made out of pine sap, maple sap, honey if we could find some, and assorted herbs, usually whatever we could find in a large amount the week before. So oftentimes we had no herbal things in our so-called 'slime'
"Please, Ino" I replied. She beamed, and set to work pouring some into our hand-made clay mugs.
I walked into the woods to do my morning rituals, like emptying my bladder and scrubbing my teeth with water in the nearest clean stream I could find, and returned to my saddlebags to grab some clothes from said bags.
After changing I grabbed the held-out 'slime' from Ino and drank it. Ooh, it was really good today. Someone had found some basil and honeycomb; it's definitely an odd combination, but good nonetheless.
We all had a (mostly) vegetarian diet, so we ate herbs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But occasionally Gaia, the Earth Goddess, would send one of us a mental image and a direction to go in to find our rare carnivorous meal to share around the fire. Usually it was animals near their death that she deems in too much pain to have a drawn-out death, so if we are near she asks us to end its misery. Though on the occasion she would send us a vision of a perfectly healthy animal that wishes to give itself up to the natural cycle of predator/prey relationship.
"So, Ino" I started, leaning back on the side of our roofed, wooden cart.
"Yeah?" she asked, leaning back on the opposite wall, chugging down her slime.
"Did you get any....images...from that snake last night?" I asked. I was nervous. Ino had a gift; she could glean the thoughts of animals and people, though only their foremost thoughts, not the innermost ones. Though it was still useful, as most did not know how to guard their minds.
"No, why?" she asked, giving me an odd look. I stared back at her blankly. Realization dawned on her, and her face clearly showed it. "You got in its mind again?" she asked. I nodded. That was my gift; to get inside animals' and humans' minds. I couldn't see their thoughts, as Ino can, but I can converse with them in their own heads, which often makes their thoughts and mind-speech blend together in fright. It was, at first, amusing, but I have not so far met anyone with the same gift, nor anyone who doesn't take advantage of the temporary link for their own use.
"What was it like?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. Normally this wouldn't bother me; I get into minds all the time. I just rarely tell them about it unless something was bothering me.
She saw me hesitate, and she laid a warm, comforting hand on my shoulder. "You can tell me anything, Sakura" she said, looking straight into my emerald eyes with her sky blue ones. I stared back, and my hesitation disappeared. "He asked for my Name" I told her.
She stared at me blankly. "So? What's wrong with that?" she asked. I shook my head in exasperation.
"No, Ino, you don't understand. He asked for my name" I emphasized. Since she still looked blank, I added "my true name"
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Shit" she breathed. I nodded.
"It's becoming a problem. We were connected for about two minutes and he asked for my true name. It might just be him, but as courtesy and everything else, you just don't ask for anybody's true names, even if you're a king"
She nodded, and I could tell she was already deep in thought and wouldn't respond to anything anytime soon. With all the mind-reading she did, she gained an immense amount of wisdom, so our group always went to her for advice (though we had to separate her gossip-given advice, which normally wasn't reliable, from the mind-gleaned advice, which was truly helpful)
As the cart rolled on, I watched her. Her facial expressions changed rapidly, so one minute she would look sad and the next gleeful or frustrated. Normally it was rather funny, but on such a serious matter it wasn't.
I leaned back further on the wall and exhaled. The cart lurched to and fro on the old, beaten path through the woods. I closed my eyes, but it didn't help my queasy stomach. I think Hinata had the right idea; lay down in the hammocks inside the sleeping room while Temari and Tenten steer the horses. They would wake us up if need be.
He woke with a pounding head and battered pride. He had drunk to the point of a blackout yesterday and gotten into a fight with a woman, which he had sworn to never do if he was A) either inebriated or B) she couldn't defend herself. Last night both factors were in play.
He groaned and rolled over in the bed. The fight would be excused; the king was kind and warmhearted, not exactly what the kingdom needed. Wait. Let's rephrase that. What the kingdom didn't need was exactly what it got: a king that would release a murderer from an execution if he said sorry. The king was a pathetic, shriveled old man, way past his prime in both a physical and mental way. He looked like a feather caressing his skin would knock him over. Thank god that the man was his father, too.
He glanced over at his insomniac-of-a-brother. "Hey, Gaara!" he called from across the room. Said redhead glared at him.
"What do you want, Kankurou?" he asked/stated, his voice cold and emotionless like it always was in the mornings. Kankurou shrugged it off. Gaara never was a morning person and probably never would be.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm missing Temari coming in and beating our faces in for not waking up earlier" he replied.
Gaara's heavily-lined jade eyes stared at him blankly, though there was a hint of amusement in them. "So you're telling me that the tiny part of your brain that isn't thinking of rum and beer, women, or sex is actually smart and is remembering that our sister is going to be arriving soon?"
Kankurou took a moment to process that. "Hey! That wasn't nice, Gaara!" he exclaimed. Gaara merely smirked in return.
THIS IS NOT A GAASAKU UNLESS YA'LL WANT IT TO BE. It's a cute pairing, just not for me to write. Anyways, there's no definite pairing in this, not until the vote is over. But this is what I'm talking about when I said gypsy-style Sakura assassins-kings-and princes and knights fic. It'll turn out well, trust me. But.....this is what I meant. Tell me if you like it or don't, have suggestions, questions, or requests, and LEAVE IT IN A REVIEW. I'm sorry, I just LOVE those things! Click the green-lettered box, you KNOW you want to leave the authoress a nice, long review
