How long had it been since Eden was able to clean the dirt off between her toes, or the blood that had rested between her fingers and under her claws? Even longer than her freedom hunt was all she could think of, and between them, there was no place for her to clean up aside from the the days the sky cried, which was a small rarity. She felt lucky being able to find time to rest as she was always on guard from whatever dangers she thought was around her while making sure her hunts gave her the food to sustain herself. It was not until the roar of falling water did the kinfolk even think about getting cleaned up, and when it did, she was sure enough to seek the source out immediately. It had been a while she had a drink anyways, so it was something that could possibly kill two birds with one stone.

Treading through the woodlands with her massive mass of steel resting on her shoulder, she was soon able to spot the source itself. The water was clear and the smell was relaxing, even if the roaring water flooded her hearing from anything else. Kneeling down at the edge of the water, she rested her weapon on the floor before dipping her hands inside, forming a bowl with them before pulling out, taking a small handful of water to sip. Despite the dirt inside, the taste was delightful to her throat, removing the parched feeling with a few more scoops.

With a light sigh, Eden hoisted herself back onto her feet before throwing off the dirty and torn fabric that had covered her for who knows how long before discarding the rest of what covered her. Even if she knew how to really clean them, she was sure they would simply tear up more if she tried just by the other tears and how thin the fabric was getting. The only item she could not discard of was the metal collar, her "reminder" of what she was… at least, that was what she was told. She had no real way to remove it, so the next best thing would be to ignore its existence.

Stepping into the water, she felt the coolness rush up her legs, revealing more of the temperature much more than by her hands alone. Still, she pushed forward until she felt the tips of her hair begin to float on the surface before she dipped down herself.

It was truly a beautiful spring day. Rizka had never had much of a reason to go deep into Laeto Forest on her own, but following the trails of light that had been appearing all over Revaliir seemed like a good way to explore safely. She had never seen so many tropical plants and flowers and often her journeys would take her past this place. Never had she and her brother ventured inside though. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulders as she carefully stepped through the undergrowth with sandal clad feet. She was careful to keep her skirts from catching on plants and branches. She had also heard that wood from the trees of Laeto forest could be used to make some of the finest woodwinds found in the world. 

She watched as frogs of different colors darted past her into the undergrowth, and though she was curious, she knew better than to touch. She knew many types of reptiles and amphibians were dangerous because of toxins in bites and on their skins. As she walked and stepped over tree roots and vines, her foot caught on a stone and she went sprawling. 
"Ow," she said to herself as she picked herself up and began brushing off her skirts. She had scrapped up her hands and arms pretty good in her fall, and one of her knees had a small trickle of blood stream down from it. With a wince, she limped towards the nearby river, looking for a good place to sit down and clean up. She had to walk quite a ways before she reached the waterfall and found a suitable place to sit wash her hands and arms. As she scooped up a handful of spongy green moss and used it to dab at her bleeding leg, she noticed articles of slightly tattered clothing and a heavy metal weapon resting on the ground. Clearly she had interrupted someone's bath, and the looked around curiously to see who might have been there. 

Pulling her head out of the water, she felt her mess of hair cling to her back as the cold steel once again touch her bare neck, with every minor move causing the lingering chain links to rattle. Still, her eyes remained closed as she pulled herself back to a stand before shaking her head left and right, turning her hair into a mess as she tried to shake out the water that resisted in the tufts of fur in her ear.. It was not until she could hear the waterfall behind her before she came to a stop, forcing her hair to rest everywhere on her before opening up her eyes.

and the first thing she came to see would be a woman sitting by the water's edge. Wish a slow step back, her fingers opened wide, holding her right in front of her body while the other remained sunken in the water. Who was this woman, and how did she did the jump on her? How could she had not known of her presence? Was it the sound of the water that drowned her out? Was she under for much longer than needed?

Quickly, her eyes skimmed the other person before her. There was no weapon on her… at least visible, but she was next to her sword. Then again, it was crafted to be extremely heavy, which made gladiators struggle to lift it. Was… was she not out for her? Her fingers relaxed a bit, but she still held her stance, just in case.

Almost as soon as she had noticed the articles of clothing and the weapon, Rizka heard the uncharacteristic splashing, suggesting the water was being disturbed in a way that was not normal in comparison to the gushing of the waterfall. She looked around and saw the young woman hiding in the water, and seemed to be standing in some sort of defensive stance. Rizka slowly raised her hands from where she sat, the universal sign that said she was unarmed and meant no harm, the only thing she held was the moss she had been using to clean her scraped up knee. 

"I didn't mean to disturb you," she said calmly and gently, just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the waterfall. "I hurt myself, I just came over to clean it," she said, pointing to her knee, which was still red, and trickling a tiny bit of blood. "I will just finish and be on my way," she promised the young woman. "What's your name?"

It was not until the other held up her hands did Eden drop hers. Even in the arena, that was a sign of submit to the other, as if offering their arms to be taken away from them if they tried any moment of betrayal, and for a warrior, the arms were a very important tool. She had surrendered to her, even if she was off guard herself, which meant she accepted she stood no chance as well.

Though she did try to explain herself, her words fell upon empty ears… or at least unknowledgead ones. Instead her eyes followed her arms, directing to her knee where the small sight of blood leaked. It was almost a pathetic amount to worry about, why even bother? Her eyes closed once more as her last question about the name was sent before she dipped her head into the water once more, sitting the moment before rising up again, closer to the edge of the pool before stepping out, sitting on the stone, dusty floor as she strained the water out of her hair with her hands, ears flicking to dislodge what she could and her tail laying lazily on the floor. It was not like she had any cloth on her (aside from her dusty, turn-up rags she called clothes) to dry herself off with.

However, her eyes once again darted back to the other woman, looking at her a bit… blankly. Maybe confused as to why she was there in the first place. She was not sent to take her in, considering her surrender, so why did she stay?

The strange woman seemed to not have heard her, and Rizka held back a gasp when she saw that the woman's ears were not normal. They sat upon the top of her head, and flicked the water away much like a cat's. It was fascinating, but Rizka didn't venture anymore words, nor did she move closer. Once the scrape on her knee was cleaned she leaned in and lightly blew on the injury, and it immediately healed up. Doing this granted the other silent woman enough time to dress and have a little bit of privacy. 

After a moment or two, Rizka felt eyes on her and she looked back over at the woman who was just staring at her blankly. She seemed, if anything, confused, and she still hadn't said anything. Rizka slowly turned to face her. 

"What's your name?" she asked again, the smile still on her lips as she lightly tossed the moss back into the water. "My name is Rizka. Are you from around here? This place is really pretty…"

Without much to dry the water off her skin, Eden simply sat there bare, taking in the sun's rays as it slowly dried her off. Then again, she never had time to simply rest and enjoy such a simplistic pleasure, as anytime she was anywhere outside, she was still trapped, forced to face dangerous opponents, under the mass hysteria of cheering crowds. However, that was no longer her life… at least… no longer the life she wished, but the damn reminder kept haunting her with every rattle of the remaining links.

When she felt like she had dried enough, he picked up the thin set of pants, throwing them on first without any underwear to put on underneath before the loose, torn up top. She gave the other another look once more, getting more curious why she lingered about with her. Just… what was she after?

She spoke again once more, her voice ringing out a familiar sound. "Name." Her previous owner never bothered to teach her the meaning of the word, but it did place a burden on her throat. Her memories of other folk lifting the steel collar up to see the sloppy Dwarven engravings that marked her. Easily a case of Orcish writing, along with an emblem, as if to remind those who she belonged to. the painful thoughts from that sound make Eden choke a bit, holding her throat just above the steel ring as she coughed a bit for breath…

Rizka wasn't one to be shy. She had lived on the road most of her life, and had often enough had to go an bathe in the company of other women who were part of the caravans that she and Justice had traveled with, so the strange woman with feline ears did not make her uncomfortable in the slightest in her state, though Rizka did her best to offer her some privacy by not staring. It hadn't been lost on her the scars that marred the woman's skin, nor how strong she was physically. If that massive sword was in fact hers, Rizka knew she was more than capable of taking care of things if it proved needed. All the more reason to give this woman her space. She waited while the woman dressed and like the scars, couldn't help but notice the true state of the clothing that was barely more than tattered rags at this point. 

She seemed to understand something Rizka was saying, as if the word 'name' was painful to her, but she reached up to touch the thick metal collar that was about her neck, and for the first time, Rizka noticed the rather unsophisticated scratchings upon the dirty metal. From the distance she though that she could make out a letter of Dwarfish, but it would require closer study to understand what it truly said. 

"May I?" Rizka asked and slowly moved towards the woman, her hands gently outstretched, showing she still meant more harm. She pointed at her own neck and made a ring with her fingers, trying to mime across the idea that she wanted to examine the collar. "I just want to read what it says," she said, trying to get her intention across. She crept slowly forwards until she was just a few feet away from the woman. A thought occurred to her, and she reached into her pocket and retrieved an apple she had been carrying for a snack and offered it to the woman. She couldn't have been sure when the last time this woman had eaten was, but she hoped that the woman would see that she was trying to be friendly, to earn her trust. 

The last couple coughs escaped her throat before giving it a light massage, closing her eyes to take in a bit of breath and have the irritation fade away before opening them once more, opening her eyes to see the other had moved closer to Eden, causing her to jump back a bit from surprise. How… how did she get so close without her noticing. Sure, she was distracted, but surely, this was not something she was used to. Was it because she surrendered herself that Eden dropped her guard? No… she was always on guard for those sneaky backstabbers with their sneak attacks. Maybe… maybe since she never really had the feeling of malicious intent that she was able to push that much closer to her. Instead, it was a strange feeling of… comfort. If it changed, she would know and would need to retaliate quickly.

More sounds came from her, before she motioned at her throat… repeating them, she felt the many scratches run through the tip of her finger before the carved in gashes., pushing the couple rings around as she did so. Soon, she was offered a small payment to have it be looked at. All without a drop of malice. Her hand then raised to about halfway, pausing as she hesitated for the moment before quickly snatching the fruit up and looking down at it. Soon, her eyes dazed up back at the woman, before a hesitant gulp before lifting her head.

Still, her body unconsciously tensed up, as if expecting to be choked once more through brute handling of the metal item. At least the deep carvings were more viable. It was of few carvings, as if giving her a simple name for room before her master's emblem was scratched in. Though sloppy, it was clear what the intent was: EDEN… Was it a name meant to reflect on the master's wanted paradise?

If it was ever asked, Rizka never used her powers for anything but good, and in this case it was still true. The sense of comfort that the strange feline woman was feeling, she would admit, was actually Rizka's natural gift of charm. She was capable of subduing even some of the toughest, harshest individuals, especially when she played and sang. Clearly the music was not being used in this situation, but the calming aura was still there, growing stronger as Rizka inched closer. 

Rizka didn't flinch and was patient with her as she hesitated, but she smiled gently as she snatched up the apple from her hand and hesitantly allowed Rizka to come and inspect the massive collar that was about her neck. She gave her as much space as she could still, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. She did, however get close enough to notice the marks and marring on her neck from the collar, and the deeply scratched word in then Adeluna Trade Language. 

"Eden… how pretty," she said softly. She couldn't have been sure if that was the woman's name, or if it was the name of the one who owned her, but in looking at the woman, it seemed to fit her quite well. 

Rizka gently reached out and touched her on the shoulder. "Eden," she said firmly, touching her to indicate that the word was meant to represent the woman. In turn Rizka returned her hand and pointed at herself. "Rizka."

She repeated the pointing and touching, reinforcing that Eden was Eden and that she was Rizka.