So...Once again breaking my own promises...I said I wouldn't add another chapter to this story until I got the World Guide book but that is hopefully going to be my Christmas present this year, but Christmas is two months away and I just don't feel like working on either of my Wolf Stories Chanchalla has quickly become one of my favorite characters so I decided just one little chapter that doesn't go too deep into Dardunah's Civilized Areas where I might need the world guide to know things.
Stepping through the portal, Chanchalla and the Turtles found themselves standing on a dry dusty plain, the winter sky was dark and purple-gray the short grass seemed to mirror the sky also a dusty purple-gray they all quickly realized they were standing right next to a dirt road and immediately they heard the sounds of what sounded like hoof beats and wagon wheels turning.
Remembering what the Ultimate Daimyo told them, the Turtles and Chanchalla braced themselves they hoped this would be the friendly contact and not someone hostile who had beat the contact to the punch.
A wagon came pulled by two graceful chinti which looked like the cross between a horse, and antelope and a grasshopper or as Raph muttered under his breath 'Horse-Bugs'
Holding the reigns was a male black cat Janah, his handsome face was unfortunatly marred by two scars across the bridge of his nose and going under his left eye.
After stopping he jumped down.
"I-I presume you are here for us..." Chanchalla was mentally kicking herself for timidity but she remembered the strange stories of these Wandering Tribes that were not part of the official caste system the most famous of these were the Loruh, inhabitants of the Mountains of Loruh in Ispuria and Gilahi who jelously gaurded the mountain valleys and passes in order to protect the powerful Sittam stones which they regarded as holy...She had heard many stories some fanciful and whimsical others just downright terifying.
The Black Cat smiled and bowed "You have no reason to fear My Child, as the daughter of Piangh it is my sword duty to make sure you nor your strange companions come to harm."
He knew her Mother's name, and then she remembered what the Daimyo had said
"Who are you?" Chanchalla asked "How do you know my Mother?"
"I loved her..." The Cat said wistfully but not with any regret, "When I knew her your Mother seemed to have a love for jewels and treasures more than any man...But she did confide to me in a letter, that when she had you was the first time she learned to love someone other than herself..."
Now from the Turtles perspective they could understand what Chanchalla was saying just fine, because the Spell translated what Chanchalla said for their ears and vice versa but because this new Cat was not part of the spell, they heard the hedeious sounds of what sounded like a cat trying to speak human laguage, Janah sound beautiful to each other, but to humans and creatures that speak human languages they were hearing the feline equivilent of Scooby Doo.
"Um..." Mikey said "...Could we have a translation please?"
Now the Turtles sounded just as Alien to the Cat as he did to them, he winced "Ooh! They are strange! They are clearly Sarpah but their voices sound more like Paksin!"
"We are part of a spell." Chanchalla said "I strange spell that lets them hear what I say in their language and I hear what they say in Nilami..."She then realized this Cat was speaking fluent Nilami with her normally Tishnian is the trande language but she was going with her Mother tongue out of habit.
"I realize I may have to...Cast the spell again to include you as well..." Chanchalla said "...So if I am to do that, is there anyone else I should include in this spell as well? I don't want to have to cast this spell more times than I have to."
"Come with me to Camp," The Cat said "I know at least two that should be included."
"By the way..." Chanchalla said "...What do I call you?"
"I have many names..." The Cat said "...For now you can call me Seven Scars."
"Seven Scars?" Chanchalla said "I...I assume that means you have more."
Seven-Scars laughed "Most of them are under my shirt."
Borrowing Seven-Scars from a character from the comic books series The Autumnlands in that story Seven-Scars is a Bison, the antagonistic but still sympathetic Bison Tribes are an obvious parallel to the Native Americans I was introduced to Autumnlands quite a few years ago by a comic book store clerk when I expressed my fondness for Anthropormorphic Animals and I was instantly hooked the idea of a future world where animals have taken over seemingly after humans went extinct and live in a Steampunk-like world of floating cities seemed like something Elementery School age me would have dreamed up but unfortunatly I learned more about the Author's character and well...Kind of grateful the series seemed to have been indefinitely shelved after two issues because the author's health crisis and the illistrator having to move on, kind of don't want to see how the author's politics would have infected the story further.
