It was soon that the feel of the brush vanished entirely before she felt Rizka weaving her fingers through her hair, separating them into bundles and crossing each of them over from where her hair began to droop down to the eventual bottom edge where a small strand of cloth was tied to hold everything together. She did not really understand why she even bothered though. Was it meant to make it easier to take care of, or was it more-so fitting her new clothes and "image"? After all, as she held up the reflective object, she did state it would be difficult to recognize her… outside of the giant metal shackle around her neck.

Still, she was right about the lavender's strong scent, as that was all she could smell! Her nose was being clogged up by the scent that it was difficult to smell anything else. She only prayed that she would adapt around it to be able to track anything else…

Still, it had been nearly forever since she had seen her own reflection so well before, as the image stayed still for her to be able to even observe her details. However, it also came to note about the steel collar itself that rested around her neck… the carvings etched it shouting at her of her "role in life." Her fingers went back to those etchings and carvings once more, tracing each of the orcish letters before pausing at the emblem… The symbol people used to attach to her dead owner…. to who she had belonged to. Her fingers went to creep over the crest to try and cover it up from sight, but the feeling of the etches were still there at her fingertips…

Rizka could tell that Eden was concerned about the collar by how she played with it, fidgeting with it to try and hide the orcish etchings engraved in the metal. She started thinking on how they could maybe disguise the ugly metal band, but came up short. There was little they could do, short of trying to make it look more like a choker or an accessory rather than an ownership collar. Her thoughts were scattered by the sound of a horse nickering as it approached and she moved to the window to see who it was. There was a creak as someone stepped on the stairs of the vardo and the door was pushed open. 

In the doorway stood a tall, lean muscled young man, with long blonde hair pulled back into a roguish ponytail, and bright intelligent eyes. He was dressed smartly, more like a noble than Rizka's own eclectic conglomeration of colorful scarves, skirts and corsets. On his hip glinted a rapier and he was wearing thick leather riding gloves. Upon seeing Rizka with the tigerkin, his hand flew to his weapon almost out of instinct. 

The creek of wood also caught the ears of the tigerkin, her ears flicking back first as it caught it before turning her head over to see its source, and before them was a male figure, arm moving towards his waist nearly immediately upon seeing them. She almost expected him to rein an aura of malice, but instead, it was defensive…  She couldn't think on how to properly respond to this… If he was feeling malicious, as if to take what was here, she would have no issue dispatching him right on the spot, or at least emulating being the alpha in the scenario. But no… instead,  he was doing what she would have done, treating her like a threat. In such context, there was only one thing she could do…

With her head drooping, she raised her arms, showing nothing in her hands and her nails not claws. Her massive weapon was outdoors, and while she did have the strength to take him on as she was, she submitted on the spot. After all, there must have been a reason for the new entry to be more defensive about her appearance…

He had been doing some trade with the local outposts when he had first heard about the escaped tigerkin slave. Some bounty hunters of sorts, the ones that were specifically meant to chase down runaway slaves had been there, and had explained who they were after and what for. This tigerkin had killed her master and fled from the gladiatorial pits of the Mo'mey Steppes. She was a warrior, strong and capable of taking just about anyone in a fight, and she would be identified by the sword she carried and the manacle that would be about her neck, with the mark of her former master. It was thought she was hiding out somewhere in the rain forest, but with so much acreage to try and cover and the thick density of the jungle itself (not to mention the crazy natives), the bounty hunters were going to have to try and catch her coming out somewhere on the other side. 

Now, Justice hadn't said much, but he had listened carefully to the description, while appearing to be nonchalant when finishing his business with the outpost trader, and loaded up his saddle bag before he climbed back up on the horse he had brought with him and headed back for the vardo. 

He hadn't expected to run into the tigerkin at all, but when he saw the massive blade sitting outside the vardo as he approached, he naturally feared the worst. This tigerkin woman was supposed to be dangerous, and Rizka wasn't a fighter. He reacted as any big brother would when he burst into the house-wagon with his hand on his rapier. 

The tigerkin immediately surrendered, which shocked him as he advanced, but when Rizka threw herself bodily between him and the escapee, he was calmed. Rizka was unhurt, and the tigerkin appeared to not want to fight him. Perhaps because her weapon was still outside, or perhaps she really meant them no harm. 

"Riz, did she hurt you?" he heard himself asking frantically of his sister as she was trying to force his hand off his rapier. 

"No, I'm fine. I found her at the water falls. She had no clothes so I brought her here to give her something to wear!" Rizka insisted as she pulled Justice's hand away from his blade. "Her name is Eden, and I don't think she'll hurt anyone unless she's provoked. She was very patient with me when I brushed out her hair," Rizka explained. The blond man looked at his sister incredulously, but relaxed a little bit. He suddenly recognized the old clothes that the tigerkin was wearing and he sighed. 

"It was a bad idea to bring her here," he sighed. "There are bounty hunters looking for her. She's a runaway slave. She killed her master," Justice informed her. 

"So I gathered from the collar," Rizka replied, sounding a bit exasperated. "But she can't speak. She doesn't understand the Trade Language very well, so I wonder if she is used to hearing Orcish. Her collar has orcish etchings," she said pointing to the collar. 

Justice looked at the collar. "It would make sense. Those bounty hunters said she was from the Mo'mey Gladiatorial rings," he commented. He heaved a heavy sigh. "I hate speaking Orcish," he muttered looking from Eden to his sister. 

Rizka shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm hopeless at Orcish," she reminded him. He chuckled slightly as he turned his attention back to Eden. 

When he spoke this time, it was guttural, harsh and almost crude sounding as he spoke in the Orcish tongue that was common in the Mo'mey region.
"I understand you don't speak, but can you understand what I say to you now?" he asked Eden, hoping that this might work. 

Hearing the commotion between the two, Eden lowered her arms back down before turning around and watching the scene between the two. The male was definitely in a panicked state as the other tried to stop him herself, blinking a bit as she watched the scene before them calm down, the man finally accepting the facts and releasing his weapon. It was around then the two discussed what to do next (she guessed) before the male went over to address her directly.

His voice alone suddenly caused her tail to rise and eyes to slit, keeping her fists by her side as she tried to hold back her claws.

After being away from it for so long, and meeting so many people, hearing that voice aggravated her, her mind flashing to his face before returning back to what was in front of her. Though her arm shook, she fought her instinct to strike at that which reminded her of those times. She had to remind herself he was not out for her. Still, he asked a question she could recognize, and responded with a nod. However, before anything else could be stated, he pointed to his waist, where his rapier rested before flicking her finger away from him.

She wanted to make sure she was not going to get threatened like that if things started going south.

She reacted poorly to him speaking to her in Orcish, which Justice couldn't blame her for, though he did take a step back in case she decided to strike out at him. For a moment there, she acted as though it was not he that was speaking to her. She did manage to gather herself enough to know that Justice was just trying to speak to her on a level she might understand better. When she motioned to his blade and flicked her finger away, he stared at her for a moment before he realized what she wanted. He sighed and sat back, undoing his belt before he handed the rapier in its scabbard to Rizka, who then promptly hung it up on a hook where it belonged. 

Justice turned back to Eden at that point, and sat down on the floor across from her, sitting cross-legged, putting himself into a position where he could not reach the blade, a sign of good faith to Eden. He spoke softer this time, though still in Orcish. 

"You don't like this language, I can tell, but you at least understand some of it," he said to her. "Your name is Eden? You killed your master and ran away?"

While she still felt bitter to hearing the Orcish voice any more than she wished, she did ease up when the accent was dropped. A bit strange, but enough for her to remove more of that connection and ease her hands and tail, though her eyes still stared sharply and her claws protruding outwards. She she made no effort in attempting to strike now as she listened to his next question. She started with the name, where her response headed back to her collar, following the traces carved inside and drawing it out, as if stating that was how she got it. It certainly sounded ugly in that tone, though, and preferred the way Rizka spoke it.

To the other question, she brought her finger to the few remaining chain links around her neck and pulled them up, as if stating the detail was obvious about her position before imitating this to her wrists as well, where scars from the cuffs can be seen. She then ended it off with her arms raised up, wrists dangling downwards to make the final note about what her life was like: chained to a wall.

Her arms dropped down as if she had lost energy in them before making a sudden claw swipe in the air. After all, she was a fighter. Her role was to fight for the entertainment for the others. Her other hand imitated holding an apple, bringing it to her face and biting into the air. She fought to eat.

She then leaned back in her chair, head drooping back, as if looking like fallen prey, staying like that for a moment before pulling back up and imitating the eating motion once more, though pulling the "fruit" away before her teeth could bite down before headed back into the hanging pose. If she lost, she was denied food and pinned away, as it were…

Her body shook as her mind was once more flooded with the images of her life, finding herself curling her arms around her stomach as she drooped her head down. She was surprised how much that was a normality for her. She was practically a lifeless doll until that stranger broke her free just because she was teased with a glass of water. She could remember the thoughts that flooded her mind as she nearly drowned herself in that glass… before she practically turned feral and attacked those that got in her way… fighting those who were as broken as she was before taking that orc's life…

Justice watched quietly as Eden proceeded to try and explain by way of pantomime all that she had gone through. It was a difficult process and took a lot to try and actually figure out what it was that she was trying to communicate. It wasn't very clear because what she was trying to portray was not based in any true sign language, but Justice was able to work out that she at least had to fight to eat. It only made sense to deduce that she didn't eat if she lost a fight. However, if by losing a fight she still maintained her life, she must have been quite the winner. 

It was Rizka who noticed when Eden began acting strange, curling up with her arms clutching her stomach. "She's withdrawing into herself, Justice. This isn't good for her," Rizka said as she came and sat down by Eden and pressed her hand gently to Eden's shoulder. "Don't make her recall anymore. It was traumatic!" she said as she gently tried to reassure Eden that she was safe. She gently pressed a hand to Eden's head and a warm energy left her hand, fortifying Eden's mind hopefully bringing her back out of the memory regression she was suffering. 

"Right of course. I think I understand what happened now in any case. There should be no reason to ask her to relive it," Justice said as he slowly got to his feet. "She wants to remove the writing from the collar, so that she can no longer be identified," he told Rizka. "And based on what she just told us, and what I saw through her eyes just now… I think I'm inclined to see that happen," he said as he moved around the two women and placed his hands flat on the counter top. 

"We are in a hard spot here, though," Justice admitted. "Mo'mey is between us and Sularia. And as far as I know, Lord Drae has not exactly made easy access to his domain here in Canelux yet. If we can find one of Lady Angela's Archways, we can get to her domain, and from there we should be able reach Tar Eisalae," Justice said. "In the meantime, we'll use our abilities to disguise her collar…"

While she could feel hands wrap around her, she did not may them any attention until one of them emanated a small source of warmth. It washed over her mind, the scars soothing over, letting Eden catch her breath. Her nails were once again normal along with her eyes, as she looked back up, the pair talking in the sounds of unknown. Still, the air was filled with worry as the two talked about what to next at the very least. Was it because they had to head back to where she was before? She did not want to see it ever again, but it seemed they had to at least make some travel there to do what she wanted…

Still, it did not stop herself from looking in the direction of where she came from, her hand grasping the chain links as if acknowledging what was coming up. However, instead of looking more north, the direction of Mo'mey from where they were talking about, her eyes were more directed to the south-east….

"She isn't from Mo'mey," Rizka quipped looking up at her brother from where she sat with Eden on the floor. It wasn't Eden's looking to the south-west that had brought this to her attention. Rizka had actually read the etchings on the collar. While Eden's master had been an orc, Eden's collar had indicated that if she was found she was to be returned to Vilpamolan to the slave pits there. 

"Her master was working the slave pits and gladiatorial rings in Vilpamolan," she pointed out on the collar. This made Justice raise an eyebrow. 
"Huh, I stand corrected. It must have been the dialect that threw me off," Justice admitted. "Regardless they have already started looking this direction, so it is only believable that we'll run into other head-hunters on the road, especially if she has a bounty," he said. 

"But at least we aren't going to be walking right past their den," Rizka replied with a light giggle. She put a reassuring hand on Eden, sensing her fear. "Don't worry, we are going away from Vilpamolan," she said. She pointed to the south-west and shook her head, then pointed to the north and nodded.