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The Heart's Choice

Wednesday, June 6th, 739 BSO; 9:42 PM

The jungle was dark, hot, and humid; and even though the female ducking beneath the fronds of a large plant was cold-blooded she was starting to overheat from it all, tongue lolling from her maw as her eyes darted this way and that. She kept a satchel close to herself, grasped in her talons and pinched up against the blue-purple of her chest. She was far from comfortable away from the city and even less comfortable carrying the vials in her satchel. While they (theoretically) wouldn't harm her, it wasn't like she tested them upon herself or others of her kind. But the Feathered Ones, those that ruled from the top of their glittering pyramids? Oh, there was little doubt that it would work perfectly upon them.

There were days, of course, where she wondered how she got involved in this mess. How she, a small-time alchemist in the lower city was contacted by the Bitah'ta. She knew of them, of course; several of her hatchmates were even members at different rungs of the social ladder. But still, that didn't quite explain how she got dragged into it. One day she was fulfilling an order for fungi cures and dyes, and the next she was being told to mix illegal Dilophosaurus venom. She shook her head, clutched that vial-filled satchel all the closer, and trudged onward, toward one of the many ruins in the jungle.

She swore she heard sounds all around her, and not just the usual bird calls or hisses of lesser reptilian species. She swiveled around, entirely uncomfortable with being away from the only place she'd ever called home, and tripped with a cry of panic. Her feet caught on a lip of rubble during her twirl, and she tumbled backward, desperately clutching the satchel to herself while closing her eyes during her downward spiral. It was only after a few seconds that she realized she hadn't hit the ground, nor was she still falling.

Rather she was supported by large, powerful talons grasping around her back. She slowly parted her eyes, peering up at a large snout above her. One wearing a very weary, exasperated look - one aimed directly at her. She grinned in a sheepish manner and slowly righted herself before the Allosaurus that caught her, the large creature towering above her own height of around 4'8". She bowed her head in thanks and the creature before her merely grunted, exhaling sharply through his nose before turning around and rolling his shoulder in what could only be a 'follow me' gesture. The young alchemist, clutching her valuable vials, could only follow the jungle warrior.

In truth, she knew she could have run. She could have smashed the vials hours ago and forgone the whole silly adventure. She could have turned in her fellow Dilophosaurus when he waltzed in the door. With a gulp and a closing of her eyes, she committed herself toward her path: forward.

Friday, May 4th, 739 BSO; 2:56 PM

Ayo adjusted the golden feather before her, rolling it over in her talon before bobbing her head. While silver was the general go-to currency for the lower city, the golden feathers of the upper class were just as welcome. It was a short-term currency, of course, as feathers decayed or lost their luster over time, but their value for that was much higher. She looked up at the nervous looking raptor client before her, a young male with just one brightly coloured feather tied to his wrist, "First time away from your temple, young Master?" she asked, though she herself couldn't have been much older than he. The Raptors, with their softer lives, often grew up slower in the eyes of the other two species of the city. Ayo herself was a blue-purple dilo, sporting splotches of vibrant green, mainly along the twin frills above her eyes and upon one hip.

"Yes, and the sooner I get that dye, the sooner I'll be back in my temple. Today is the Choosing, as even one like you must know," the mottled brown male before her spoke, causing but an eye-twitch of a reaction from Ayo. She was used to such things, to be seen as a lower-class citizen. From the vibrant green feathers the male had on his forearms (his natural ones, that being), she guessed he belonged to the Tuk'ta. The Tuk'ta were, to her, a bunch of stuck up religious nutsos with too much time on their claws if you asked her, but a customer was a customer and she put on a smile; a strained smile, but a smile.

"The Tuk'ta are making their harem choices today? I was not aware, being this far out. In that case," in that case, she thought to herself, I'm going to swindle you out of a few more feathers, "This might be better for you. It will absolutely make the vibrancy of your green stand out and positively radiate to everyone around you," she shuffled the commonly made dye aside from a more luxuriously designed bottle, with the dye inside being indeed a vibrant colouration. It instantly caught the male's attention, his eyes widening for a moment before he tried to swiftly settle into an uninterested gaze again. She had him, but she'd have to play hardball to truly get paid.

Some quick talk and bartering later, and the customer walked away with one Dilo-spit made dye, and Ayo grinned as she held four golden feathers. She'd need to exchange them quickly into silver, or else spend them before their luster faded, but for now, she could just bask in the glow of swindling a naïve raptor. Oh, she had no true hate for most of them, but those so stuck up that their head was in their cloaca? Well, she didn't feel bad about getting a few extra feathers for having to deal with him.

She turned around, carefully placing the four feathers into an air-tight bag made of jungle leaves and synthetic materials before she heard the jingle of the bell above her door chime once again. She hissed faintly to herself, expecting the young raptor male to have come back in and argue about the price of the vial some more, but when she turned around all the menace in her stance melted away.

In the door frame wasn't the egotistical, self-assured raptor, but rather a grinning snout of another Dilo. She screamed her delight at seeing him and raced about her counter to embrace him, tucking her head submissively and comfortably under his jawline. And, to give her credit, she was definitely familiar with her space of work, as that massive tail she sported didn't so much as tap a single object within the confined space of her shop.

"Brother! When did you get back? Are you hurt, are y-," she was silenced by a single talon pressing itself to her lips, her brother wearing that grin still.

"Hush, little sister. Were you always so full of questions? Let a man come back to civilization a little before you remind him why he left!" he teased, but he still wore that wide grin. Ayo stepped back from the embrace and after a moment of being frozen in the spot, she rapidly animated, pulling a stool up from behind the counter for her brother, Amadi, to perch upon.

"To answer your question, little sister, I just returned last night. And yes," he held up a talon as Ayo's snout parted, "I have seen our parents. Mother is thrilled to see me, of course, and Dad was... well, he was dad," the dilo shrugged with a sheepish grin while his sister huffed.

"I don't blame him. If you hadn't just come home, I'd have probably cuffed you upside the head myself. Joining the Bitah'ta! What were you thinking, Amadi?" Ayo stood up from her perch, pacing back and forth with her tail lashing. Now she was a tad less careful, and several (empty) vials toppled toward the ground, many shattering and making Ayo cringe before glaring at her brother as if it were his fault that they fell.

"I was thinking that we shouldn't live in the slums any longer, little sister. Call it 'lower city' all you like, but we live in their refuse and trash!" Amadi hissed, showing the two reptilian fangs of his upper jaw. "I was thinking I should dedicate myself towards something worthwhile, rather than making... fungus creams and," he tossed an eye to a vial upon a shelf, "Heat-inducers," he gagged on the word. "Really, trying to help them breed? As if they don't fuck enough already!"

Ayo flushed, the blue-purple of her cheeks turning momentarily red before she turned on her brother with a flash of rage in her eyes... then closed them with a deep breath. "We can talk about my choice of career and your own later, Amadi. For now, I'm just happy you're alive and in one piece," she frowned, a question nagging at the back of her skull. One she, for the moment, ignored. "Come, you must be hungry after the long trip back, and I doubt you wanted to eat at home with father being there," and, as if on cue, Amadi's stomach rumbled. It was, for a time, his turn to look sheepish as he gave a bob of his head. "Then come, come. I doubt you have any coinage, and I," she sighed softly, making her way toward the sealed bag of feathers. So much for that purchase, "and I just came into enough money to feed a small village. Or at least one hungry brother."

O ne trip and two golden feathers later, and the siblings were sitting before a table littered with empty dishes, Amadi slurping down the last of a seasoned broth before belching loudly, much to his sister's chagrin. Ayo reached over, smacking Amadi on the arm, "I see that you haven't changed a bit in that jungle. Two years! Two years without seeing your ugly green hide!"

"And now I remember why I left home! Between dad being constantly disappointed and my ravishing sister telling me how ugly I am all the time, my heart couldn't take it any longer!" Amadi placed a forepaw upon his brow and feigned fainting, rolling back in his chair with a satisfied little giggle as Ayo snorted in displeasure.

"Either way," Amadi continued, sitting up once more to meet his sister's eye, "I have changed some," he looked away, as if uncomfortable in just how he changed. He took a deep breath and then met Ayo's gaze once more, "And what about you? I see you got your dream shop - did you ever get your dreamboat of a Dilo? What was his name... Aman.. Anam?"

"Anan," it was Ayo's turn to flush, but at least she kept eye contact as she did so. She chalked that up to a personal win, and shook her head, "No. He ended up with another. They had their first clutch two months ago," she frowned, as if imaging herself in such a position and being the mother of his clutch, before shaking her head, "Still; there are plenty of other dilos in the sea. I'm sure I'll find someone eventually. What about you, huh? Find a jungle babe to knock up and raise little insurgents with?"

Amadi snorted, groaning at his sister before shaking his head, "Breeding is forbidden with us. We take vials that," he frowned, "You're my sister! I don't need to talk about my sex life with you. But, no, I haven't made any 'little insurgents'."

Ayo grinned widely, showcasing those snake-like fangs of hers in the process before she leaned forward on her chair, feetpaws curled and gripping tightly to the rail at the base of it. "I've had a nagging question. One I've been trying to ignore. But it won't go away," she frowned to herself, parting her snout to speak before her brother interrupted.

"Why am I really back? I know you well, sister, just as you know me. No, this isn't a social call. You know as well as I do that the Bitah'ta don't let their warriors come back without a specific mission. As much as I'd love to just see your lovely hide once again and converse of old times, I am here for a reason. And that reason is you," if there was a creepier way to say something like that, Ayo couldn't think of one. It sent a chill down her spine and caused her to bare her teeth at her own brother before he raised a forepaw in a calming gesture.

"No, I'm not dragging you back to serve as wench or even trying to enlist you. I know your heart is here, in this city, and that is why I've come to you. You're an alchemist in the lower city, one of the few with the knowledge needed to profit in this hellhole. But you also want to see this city flourish for everyone, not just those feather brains at the top of the pile. So that is why I'm coming to you," he leaned forward, "I suppose I am trying to enlist you, but only for information. You can go places where we can't."

He shifted the pouch at his hip, slipping out a single square card. Upon it were a few key details, two of which she noticed right away - her name, and her address. The card was obviously a forgery as otherwise she would have had it delivered by a raptor, not by her brother. "What is this?" she asked, being unable to resist the urge to reach over for the document before her.

"Your entry," he spoke cryptically, staying silent for a period of time as Ayo moved the card about in her talons. The first thing she noticed was that it was well made, without a single flaw giving away that it wasn't government made. She had, after all, seen government documents. In fact, she had one hanging up in her shop, declaring her a legal store owner. It had every t crossed and i dotted, but she still had no clue what it was for, exactly. She had never seen this exact kind of document before.

"My entry for what?"

"For the Choosing of the Clans; we need someone on the inside and obviously none of us can enter," the government did a census of civilians and their names at least once a year, removing from the record anyone who did not answer. It was their way to record the dead and the exiled. And as such he couldn't attend, as his civilian record was effectively deleted. As far as the Clans went, Amadi no longer existed. "But you, sister... you can."

There was a long, pregnant pause while the information processed in Ayo's mind; a pause that Amadi took as a moment of hesitation and pressed the issue further, "Please, sister? All you have to do is go to the showing and report back on any alliances made or changes to the hierarchy. We aren't asking you to kill anyone."

Ayo frowned, rotating the forged government pass in her talons, admiring the workmanship of the document while tuning out her brother's voice. He kept talking, trying to press her into it, but there was another part of her that had wanted to go anyway. After all, she would likely never get to see an event like it legally in her lifetime; only servants acquired (and usually bred) by the Clans attended such meetings. But this was a pass to attend as a hanger-on to a raptor, one who she had never heard of. Which wasn't surprising, as she and others of the Lower City rarely payed attention to the politics of the Feathered Ones. She raised her head, interrupting her brother's tirade of dialog, "Who is Kibwe?"

"And you sh-," a pause as his brain caught up to the question, "Who?" he asked, before grunting as his sister tapped the name of who she was meant to accompany. "He is a new power in the Heart clan. Seemingly, he fought the old leader for control of it and won by Rite of Conflict, and some political harem merging of his underlings," he paused with a frown of his own, "though many say he doesn't have a harem himself. He's another one of our 'interested parties' we want you to report upon."

"I see..." she continued to play with the forgery in her talons, working it over nervously as her brother now sat quietly. She sighed faintly, "How can I ever say no to you, brother?" in truth, it wasn't just his request that made up her mind. When would a dilo in her station ever get to see such an event, let alone as a guest rather than a servant? Truthfully, she was thrilled; but she hid that behind a gloomy expression. "I won't help you again after this."

"Yes, yes of course. Tomorrow you'll come back here and meet with another contact of ours. Look for an Allosaurus in here; trust me that he'll be hard to miss. That is who you'll give the details to," he stood up, sliding the chair back and brought himself to a stand with a groan, stretching upright for a moment before resuming the semi hunched-over posture of every other creature in the undercities. He held his arms apart and Ayo, slipping out of her chair, grudgingly hugged her brother.

"No pressure, sister. Honest."

"Yes, of course, I believe you," she snorted. As if.

Friday, May 4th, 739 BSO; 7:39 PM

A few hours later and a few dyes applied truly bring out the green upon her crest, Ayo found herself presenting the forged document to the raptor stationed as a guard outside the Heart temple. He looked at her and his registry several times, before grunting almost as if he was agitated that he couldn't find a reason to keep her out, "Next," he called out unceremoniously, letting Ayo in. She could hardly believe it.

As she stepped into the elaborate temple-compound she felt the butterflies that had been gathering in her belly slowly fade. She was in! Her brother's forgery worked and was now dangling from her neck by a chain, thumping lightly against her chest. Each press of it against her hide on the way up felt like a sentence on her life, and she felt that pressure melt away with each step inside the walls she took.

By the time she was gestured toward her group, she quickly discovered that she might not fit in as much as she hoped. For one, she didn't see a single non-raptor. Not even a servant! She knew that the Heart clan was the largest and wealthiest of the clans, so she expected to see dilos everywhere. But they were oddly absent. She didn't even see a single allo, only an endless sea of feathered raptors conversing and tossing her a quite-hostile look. She gulped, clutching the forgery around her neck tightly in her talons. It went from being a death sentence to being a form of protection instead.

Kibwe, as it turned out, was hard to miss. The raptor was striking even from a distance, and the closer that Ayo got, the more he stood out from the crowd. His feathers were black as pitch and he was a monster. Most raptors stood at roughly six feet tall, give or take a few inches. Kibwe easily cleared seven feet - he towered over all those around him. And many, Ayo noticed, were females that were fawning over him. It made sense, as tonight would be about building up the different clan harems, but she saw something else. He was bored. He didn't care one iota about the females praising him and trying to one-up each other.

Ayo was shoved forward, and only then did she realize that she had been hardly better than they. She had been staring. She flushed for a moment before approaching the large male and raising her voice, "Kibwe? I'm... I'm Ayo, I was sent from the lower city to... to," she stopped as Kibwe's attention swiveled momentarily from her back to another raptor that had interrupted her. She almost hissed at the raptor for that interruption, and it was the flare of aggression that Kibwe did notice, turning toward the smaller female with an arch of his brow.

"Ayo, was it? I don't recall the lower city saying they wanted me to be their patron, but I assume that is why you are here?" the raptor that interrupted earlier tossed a dirty look at Ayo, though he kept it much quieter. Ayo wore her smug pride on her snout until Kibwe cleared his throat.

"Erm, yes. I'm one of three attending the Choosing tonight," that much Ayo knew was true. One was with the Seers and the other with the Claw clan. They were meant to apply what little support the lower city could offer to the Clans in exchange for future help. Public works projects or servant promotions for family members; usually it did go in the way of personal favors and few changes truly blanketed the lower city.

"I see. Well, Ayo, I'm pleased that one as young as I have gained the interest of the lower city," he bowed his head in an almost humble fashion, but Ayo noticed that he kept the edge of his snout higher than every other head purposefully. He was being humble, but not too humble. It was also then, during the flourish of his arms, that she noticed the feathers on his wrist and she gasped aloud. The reaction merely made Kibwe chuckle.

A raptor that completed its education had to undergo an instinctual trial. Many hated it, and several died. It returned them back to primal animals, rather than the thinking creatures they had become. It was a powerful narcotic fed to a group that would become a pack. The pecking order was swiftly found, and they were put on a path to hunt game. The creatures of the forest were to any lone raptor a death sentence, and even a whole hunting group could easily go missing; but upon completion of the hunt, they were given a vibrantly bright feather from one of the Seers, as proof of their education. It was tied to their forearm, and generally, a raptor would earn two or three of them during his lifetime, submitting themselves to the drug to further their position.

Kibwe sported twenty. She had never seen so many on one raptor before. The number of hunts he undertook was utterly baffling, let alone the fact he was so young. He couldn't be any older than she was, and yet he had more feathers than even the elders of the Clans had obtained in their entire life. Now she understood his clan title, his last name - Feralheart. He truly was closer to the animal than any other raptor if he would subject himself to such a thing that often.

Before she could ask him another question, his attention was truly stolen by a herald from the Tuk clan, no doubt coming to talk to the new leader about what was expected of him. And Ayo didn't even get the chance to sit and stare, quickly swept away with many others toward the main pyramid at the heart of the city. The religious and social center for every species in the massive Temple City, the Great Temple of Tuk'un, the Sunshard; while every species was technically welcome, those from the lower city very rarely were allowed clearance past the various checkpoints. The fact that she was not only going to see it - semi-illegally or not - but actually be inside that sacred space was a once in a lifetime event. Her own parents, to her knowledge, had never been allowed inside the hallowed walls of the Temple.

The trip took longer than she expected, as the group she was stuck with came to many stops along the way. It didn't bother Ayo, however, as while she was impatient to see the Great Temple itself, she was equally eager to look around at a sector of the city she never truly got to see. Oh, she had been to one of the five Temples of the Clans before, on call for a sickly raptor, but she had never been to the beating heart of the Feathered One's society.

The temple itself was seemingly made out of pure gold, though she was sure it was gold inlaid overtop of stone. It was multi-tiered, as many pyramids were, and the entrance to the chamber they were being ushered to was closer to the top than many of the pockets down below, forcing them to go up a long, winding staircase. Each entrance they passed caused the group to show their government document, and her group was pushed higher and higher, all witnesses and members of the highest branch of the Choosing.

Along the way, she was distracted from her sightseeing by those around her, talking and gossiping. Specifically, because the gossip had turned toward Kibwe, "I heard," spoke one of the female raptors around her, "that any female he beds can't walk straight for a week. He's hung like an allosaurus, he is," the words made Ayo flush. Not only because of that information but because she, for whatever reason, imagined herself as being unable to walk straight for a week. She bit her bottom lip to control her instincts and continued to walk on.

"I hear he prefers males. It's why the Seer clan is going to present one to him tonight," spoke a vibrantly eye-catching gold feather, who had died a multitude of his feathers multiple colours. He looked like an oversized rainbow to Ayo.

"You're both wrong. Yes, I've seen that he is hung like an Allosaurus and I know he has at least an equally interest in females! But I also know he's still a virgin," spoke a third.

"Him? A virgin? Come on now, I'm sure he had hunt-high females hiking their tails for him after they caught their quarry!"

"Indeed," spoke the third with a bob of her head, "I was one of them. He sniffed curiously, yes, but he left all the same. And that is how I saw how hung he is," she licked her lips and the other two raptors in the group laughed aloud.

Ayo hardly noticed how many flights of stairs she had traveled up until she finally was ushered into the chamber at the top of the temple. When she entered the chamber and was ushered to her seat in the front row of the Heart section, however, she felt utterly exhausted, slumping back against the oddly hot stone. And when slumped, her eyes caught something to her side that made her go from slumping to practically prone, splaying herself on her belly in its direction. The Sunshard.

She was far from the only one. While a multitude of the creatures in the hall ignored it, merely conversing with one another, an equal number proned themselves before it, lying on their bellies or kneeling as best they could before the holiest of symbols in the city. They all, however, snapped out of it when a withered staff smacked the ground three times, causing every soul to stand and look in the direction of the Great Prophet.

The leader of the Tuk clan was the religious leader of the Children and Ayo had heard that he was ageless. Or, in the very least, that whoever was named Prophet aged much slower than any other raptor. While most lowered their eyes in reverence of the Prophet, Ayo's curiosity made her look all that much closer at this supposedly great raptor. Her eyes scanned over his form and she noticed two things rapidly: one, that he was dressed, an oddity for most raptors, even those of the Temple. And two, he wasn't just old, but rather he was ancient.

The robes he wore covered much of his body, yes, but what Ayo saw when he flourished around was green hide, rather than healthy feathers. And it wasn't green like her dyes produced; rather it was sickly and faintly glowing. It made him look unnatural and it made Ayo uncomfortable. But for all of that, the Prophet's voice carried as if he was still a young male, booming out over the hall as he declared the Choosing underway.

The next hour to Ayo was rather boring, with each clan shuffling around its members, trading harem members for political favors or standing. Ayo smiled slightly as she saw a drab looking, brown-feathered male with green highlights proudly stand before a female of the Talon clan and get picked as her newest harem member. She liked to think it was her dye that ended up getting him selected for such a high position.

She did notice two things straight away, however; each choice had a member of every foreign clan except for the Tuk. Heart, Claw, Talon, Feather, and Seer all were exchanging members, but the Tuk clan at the center didn't. They were neither accepting new blood nor cycling out their lessers to other clans. Even Ayo, who wasn't part of a harem system due to her species, found this rude and standoffish.

The second thing she noticed was that Kibwe looked utterly bored, only nodding his head or getting involved when he had to, uttering ceremonial words of welcome as his lessers played their political games within his clan. But his boredom faded when the withered staff of the Prophet landed upon the stone and Kibwe's name was called. The last Choosing of the night. Ayo hardly noticed it, but her talons were curled and digging loose furrows into the stone under her feet.

"Kibwe Feralheart, new Clan leader of the Heart, you are here to honour generations of tradition and Tuk'un law," the Prophet spoke, starting off the ceremonial choice the same as every other. Each of the clans then stood in order and sent forth a single member from their ranks to be their willing offering. Every clan but the Tuk.

The four stood before Kibwe, their heads bowed and their bodies on unashamed display with tails lifted slightly and form on full display. Three females and one male, Ayo noted - the male from the Seer clan. Kibwe inspected each in turn and nodded his head before them, but he lingered before the eye-catching male the longest, and Ayo thought it was a done deal.

The male thought as much, too; his purple plumage fluffing out and the male adjusting his stance to show off the power of his thighs and the shapely curve of his hips, knowing exactly where his position in the harem would be if he selected: underneath a thrusting Kibwe.

Kibwe nodded and stepped back, following the traditional ceremonial speech before he chose and Ayo's mind tuned out the noise, as she was sure the vast majority in the room did the same. She'd report to her brother that the Tuk refused to accept any new blood and that the Heart clan - and Kibwe specifically - picked the Seer clan. But she and everyone else in the chamber were sucker punched as Kibwe finished.

"And if I am forced to pick, my pick is Ayo, Clan Member of the Lower City."