The Tales of Tamil - Uh, Talimor

"Chan eil fios aige." Tarra says.

"Bidh e ag obair gun eòlas aige." Mia pleads, passionately. You're completely lost now.

"Seadh." Tarra concedes. Mia looks very upset, on the verge of tears. You comfort her with a gentle pat on the hand and a smile.

It's dark by the time you leave, and Tarra's mood, if it were possible, is even more stern and serious. She pauses at the door of the tavern, grasping Mia's arm and pulling her near. In a motherly, chastising tone, she speaks to the young girl, while pulling her hood up to hide her face.

Why is she hiding her face?

With Mia once again wrapped around your arm, Tarra leads your party through crowded alleys and dense roads. The Warrior Woman brushes people out of the way casually, making a path for the two of you. You have no option but to follow blindly.

Tarra pushes aside a large man, middle aged and heavy, who glances up indignantly as she shoulders him out of the way. You try to skirt around him with Mia in tow, and he glares at both of you. As Mia passes him by, his face changes, his scowl fading away. You notice her hood has fallen. He calls out, his face amazed.

"Bana-phrionnsa... Mia, bana-phrionnsa!" He says. Before either of you have time to react, Tarra is on the man as quick as lightning. The Warrior Woman comes behind him, and her arms wrap around him in a choke hold. She drags his large body to the ground as he chokes and sputters. You look on in shock as your fierce warrior companion whispers something in the man's ear. Fighting for air, he nods fervently. Tarra releases him, and they both stand, the man dusting himself off. She stares him down, even though he's nearly twice her size. A small portion of the people in the crowded street have stopped to watch, and the man waves them on.

"Dìreach mearachd." He says to the crowd, faking a laugh despite his shaking hands.

Your mind is racing as Tarra pushes through the crowd ahead of you.

Maybe you've made a mistake. This woman could be dangerous. Should you run now? Head back to the waterfall with the door and try to travel back home?

No, You knew it would be dangerous to stay, but you chose to do it anyway. Besides, Tarra was just protecting Mia. Maybe the man had said something inappropriate. He seemed to know her...

You find yourself hustling through the side door of a large building. Inside, you see an arrangement of pews, a large, vaulted ceiling overhead, and a raised platform to one side. You quickly recognise a church with an altar.

Behind the altar, you spy a statue of what you assume is the deity of their religion. The statue is only about three feet tall. It shows a man, powerful and fierce. He carries a fruit in one hand and a knight's shield in the other. The statue looks familiar, but you can't put your finger on it exactly.

The building is empty and dark. A few candles provide a low, eerie glow to the large room. Kneeling by the altar is the room's only occupant, an aged and stooped man in ornate black robes, no doubt a priest of some kind. The priest approaches, and as with all your other interactions, Tarra is the one who speaks with him.

You understand not a word of it, but their mannerisms speak volumes. He's hesitant to do something, and Tarra gestures at you, pointing and raising her voice. The priest peers through the darkness at you, disbelief on his face. He looks at Tarra and asks a single question.

"Is esan an tè?" He gasps.

"Seadh." She replies, nodding firmly.

Are you going to take part in a ceremony? It's late at night, so this would be a strange time to hold service. As long as it's nothing crazy, you'll go along with it.

Mia looks at you with a weak smile, squeezing your hand gently. You smile back and shrug, as if to jokingly say 'I have no idea what's going on.' Understanding your meaning, she looks hurt, perhaps guilty. She shakes her head mournfully.

"Tha mi duilich," She says, her voice a sad whisper. 'I am (something)'. You don't quite catch it.

Tarra calls you by name, perhaps for the first time ever. She's directing you to the front of the church. You follow her, ready to be done with whatever strange religious event the women have in mind.

Tarra makes it obvious you should kneel in front of the statue, and so you do, hoping you won't have to say any words. Mia kneels across from you, looking somber. The priest begins speaking, his keen, high voice carrying well across the emptiness of the church.

You feel like the center of some kind of ceremony, that's for sure. If it takes too long, do you just stand up and leave? Tarra has her arms crossed nearby, watching you with a stern glare. Probably best to just go along with it. At this point you're either getting inducted into the church or married.

The priest says something to Mia, and she holds her right hand out. The old man gently wraps a length of cloth around her wrist, and then motions to you. You extend your hand, and with the remaining length of the same cloth, he begins to wrap your wrist.

Married. You're getting married.

"Uh... hold on a second," You start to say. The old priest ignores you, and Tarra shushes you sternly. You glance back at the Warrior Woman, incredulous. She shakes her head purposefully, frowning, a hidden threat in her eyes. You turn back to Mia, who winces apologetically, as if she understands what you're thinking.

The priest continues for a few more minutes while you contemplate what the hell is going on. Your knees start to hurt, and you grow tired of holding your hand out, but that's the last thing going through your mind. You've gone from shocked to irritated, to angry. You can't be sure what's going on, but it does seem like you were just coerced into a marriage.

The ceremony concludes with the priest dripping some water on Mia's forehead from a nearby basin. He does the same to you, and concludes the ceremony.

"Faodaidh tu a-nis bean na bainnse a phògadh." he says, and you don't understand a word. You start to unwrap your wrist impatiently, but Mia catches your attention. With her free hand, she gently stops you.

"Please," She says with a thick accent. The beautiful blonde woman closes her eyes, leaning towards you with pursed lips.

"Oh, hell no." You say, withdrawing instinctively. From behind you, Tarra grunts, so low and guttural it's almost a growl. Mia opens her eyes.

"...Please," the young woman sounds desperate, her eyes brimming with tears. Tarra leans in, pressing a knee in your back to push you forward.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone in this world?" You're almost shouting, though no one understands you. Exasperated, you lean forward and give Mia a quick peck on the lips.

"Is that good enough?" You ask the priest, but of course he doesn't understand.

You hurriedly finish unwrapping the cloth on your wrist and stand. Tarra moves to the door hurriedly, beckoning for you both to follow. Mia stands next to you, unwrapping her own wrist. She hangs her head, looking like a scolded puppy. You make no effort to hide your scorn when you glare at her.

From the door, Tarra calls again, a little more forcefully.

Should you leave? But there again, where would you run? You'd be lost, probably starving and alone without Tarra and Mia in this strange world. You still think about taking the door back home.

But... maybe that strange ceremony wasn't a marriage. It was different, for sure... it included a kiss, but maybe it was just some kind of dedication to their god? You should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Besides, you've no idea how to get home anyway.

You follow Tarra, irritated, ignoring Mia's pained expression. The Warrior stops Mia as you leave the building, chastising her. Once again, Tarra pulls Mia's hood up to cover her head.

Tarra leads you across a street and down an alley, saying nothing. It's extremely dark by the time you arrive at another building. The brick structure is lit by an oil lantern, the first you've seen since arriving in this world. Tarra makes whatever arrangements she needs to make with the proprietor of the establishment. You stand with Mia outside of the building, watching strangers flit by in the night. The people are only briefly visible, coming into the halo of the oil lantern before moving on. Mia keeps to herself, arms crossed, withdrawn. Your anger burns out after a little while. You tap her on the shoulder. She looks at you, though still trying to hide her face.

Why is she hiding her face?

"It's okay... I'm not mad anymore." She cocks her head to one side. You sigh. Frustrated, you try to put together a sentence in Volvish, cobbling it together from phrases in the journal. It's something like 'Angry, not much,' and you shrug. You hope she understands. She nods, thinking.

"Thenk Ya." She replies. It warms you a bit that she's trying English.

Her thick accent is pretty cute, you have to admit.

Carrying a candle, Tarra leads you to a room on the second floor. As you walk in, you examine the modest little room, a bed, a chair and mirror, even a little wash basin. She's booked a hotel tonight, which brings joy for your saddlesore thighs and tired neck.

In the hallway, Tarra and Mia have started arguing again. Their voices are so hushed, it's difficult to hear them, and harder still to understand a language you barely know ten words of. It's not clear who has the upperhand in the argument, but in the end, Mia joins you in the room, determination written across her face. From the hallway, Tarra calls your attention. Once you look at her, the warrior points two fingers at her eyes, then at you. As if the message wasn't clear enough, she makes a slashing motion across her neck before handing Mia the candle. The younger woman rolls her eyes as the two of you are left alone.

Wouldn't it make more sense for Mia and Tarra to room with each other? They've known each other longer. Maybe there was only one room available and Tarra was sleeping in the street?

You assess the small bed. There's no way any two people will fit without getting very intimate...

...Maybe that strange ceremony actually was a wedding.

You drop down onto the bed, exhausted. Burying your face in your hands, you try to replay everything that's happened today. Mia calls your attention and you look up. The young blonde woman is holding her hands together, opening them like a book. She wants to see the journal. You pull it out of the folds of your tunic, turning it over in your hands.

She sits next to you on the bed, studying the journal with you in the candlelight. There's still a good bit of the journal you haven't yet read, but you decide to make language priority. You need desperately to understand the intentions of your companions.

The candle begins to burn low after some time. You've studied together, practiced a few phrases, and begun to learn the structure of her language. Many of their words are contractions, even more so than english. Whereas in English you'd say 'He goes down the street,' In Volvish, that could be one word with the proper conjugation and contraction.

Mia begins to pick up on English slowly too. She seems to enjoy the word 'woman', and calls herself such several times. The candle is almost gone, and she sets it down beside the bed, turning to face you. She seems nervous, like she wants to say something. You wait for her to speak.

Maybe she's going to talk about bed arrangements. It looks like that's going to be an issue. Perhaps she's trying to apologize for whatever that religious ceremony was. Maybe she's saying goodnight.

She pulls her top off, exposing her chest. Her shirt drops to the floor in a pile, and her hands fall shakily to her sides. You stare, unable to stop yourself, at her perfect, pale breasts.

"Woman," She says.

"Uh... wow." You respond, caught off guard. She takes a step forward, haltingly, and reaches a hand out, as if asking for yours. You hesitate, but give her your hand. Mia pulls your hand to her chest, rubbing your fingers over her breast. The soft warmness of her breast arouses you instantly, and you can't help but lose yourself in the happy feeling of fondling a beautiful woman. After a moment, you regain your senses, pulling your hand away.

"Is Tarra going to break my legs if I don't do this, too?" You ask sarcastically. Mia doesn't understand. She frowns, withdrawing slightly. She doesn't need to speak English to understand your meaning. You can tell you've hurt her feelings. Exhaling deeply, you try to release the stress of the day.

"I've been through a lot," You say, not caring who understands. "I don't know if this is a good idea right now."

"Please." She says. You run your eyes over her nude chest again, admiring her form. You can't help but notice the curve of her hips, feminine and inviting, and just a bit of her rib cage that looks made for kissing. She leans forward, looking you in the eye. One of her hands sneaks forward, resting on your thigh and running over the leg of your flannel pajamas. You almost can't even stop yourself.

"Man," she says, pointing at your chest, "Woman," she points at herself.

"Yeah, I got your meaning." You cringe a bit. She's bent over slightly, and her breasts hang down, catching your eye. Her striking, beautiful eyes gaze at you longingly. She's very good at seduction. Your odds of successfully rejecting her are dropping by the second.

Well, it probably isn't a good idea. But that's never stopped a man in this situation before. You're not sure you could resist anyway.

You gently cup one of her hanging breasts, squeezing gently. She jumps a bit, but smiles, leaning in closer for a kiss. Her kisses are timid and soft, small kisses on the lips at first. Giving yourself slowly over to your lust, you push your tongue toward her mouth, and she opens her lips to let you in. You continue to passionately kiss for a few minutes, exploring her body with your hands. You feel her smooth stomach, running your fingers to her hips and holding them gently.

Mia breaks the kiss, backing up a bit. She works the tie holding up her skirt, pulling it loose. Within a few seconds, she's completely naked, leaving her clothes on the floor. Your heart is racing as you look over her petite, curvy body. She's thin all over, but her hips and waist are perfectly proportioned and alluring. Her crotch is unshaven, a bit of inviting dirty-blonde hair covering her vulva.

You watch as she crawls onto the bed next to you, kneeling. Her backside is pointed out from the bed. With her shoulders pressing into the mattress, she reaches behind herself, spreading her thighs and labia.

"Please." She says, looking over her shoulder at you with longing eyes.

"Holy hell," You say. "This is... quick." But despite your jokes, you're already halfway undressed, pulling off your new clothes to discard them next to your pajama pants. She's stupidly gorgeous, wonderfully seductive, and desperately ready for you. The sight of her bent over on the bed, ass in the air, begging for your attention is completely irresistible.

You stand behind her, penis hard. With a finger, you gently trace her labia. Giving a tender push, your finger presses inside of her warm vagina, coming out moist. You rub the moisture on your cock, repeating until you're lubricated enough to enter her. Taking hold of her hips, you push slowly into her. She squeaks, a soft sensual chirp. As you enter her deeper and deeper, you can't help but groan loudly yourself, overwhelmed in the ecstasy of the coupling. For a brief second, you worry that you were too loud, and picture Tarra breaking the door down, followed by your legs.

But you're too deep, literally and figuratively, to go back now. You slowly withdraw your hard cock from her warm, wet vagina, then press back in. Each inch of movement feels like heaven, a warm, tight wetness gripping your shaft firmly. You begin to thrust more quickly, holding her in place by a stout grip on her hips. Below you, she vocalizes, saying something in Volvish. You wonder if you should stop, but her moans of joy tell you no translation is needed.

The slapping of your hips against her buttcheeks quickens, and your grip hardens. Mia begins to repeat herself.

"Seadh. Seadh. Seadh!" Her voice rises into a scream. Your thrusts become erratic and fast as you climax. When your orgasm finally arrives, you push into her all the way, bottoming out. You let out a low moan, a primal growl of pure pleasure as you pull her ass against your hips forcefully and dump your load deep inside her.

You're still for a few seconds, feeling pure ecstasy. When you finally pull your softening cock out of her, a dribble of your cum slides out. She lays down to one side of the bed as you roll yourself on your back next to her. Both of you lay quietly, breathing. It's dark now, and you can't see. You feel her moving around on the bed, and do your best to make room for her.

Eventually, she lays down next to you, curling around your arm. She kisses your shoulder tenderly, and whispers in your ear.

"Happy." She says.

You'll worry about what you just did in the morning.

You sleep much better than the previous night, dropping off almost instantly and sleeping through the night. You awaken to sunlight coming through the glass window. As soon as your eyes open, Mia sits up next to you. She smiles, rubbing a hand across your chest. You see she's still naked, and the memories from last night flood your mind. A range of emotions roll through you as you start to consider what you did.

Did you just get this woman pregnant? Did you catch an STD? An otherworldly, magical STD? If that weird ceremony WAS a wedding, you just consummated it. Should you feel bad about leading her on? No, she came on to you pretty strongly...

Your train of thought is broken as she leans down for a kiss.

Ah, damn it. You might as well at this point.

You kiss her gently, and she smiles at you.

"Happy," she repeats.

"Yeah. It's not too bad, I guess." You smile back at her. Rolling out of bed slowly, you gather up your clothes. The two of you dress quickly, and you double check to make sure you have both your flashlight and your journal. You follow Mia out of the room, with no clue of where to go next.

The two of you practically trip over Tarra, who is asleep in the hallway, laying against the outer wall of your room. As she startles awake, you're embarrassed for two reasons. One, some old fashioned part of you feels unchivalrous for taking the bed while a lady slept in the hallway. Two, there's absolutely no way she didn't hear you last night. Mia pulls Tarra to her feet, and the warrior woman stands up wearily. She looks absolutely exhausted, frowning even more than usual.

Mia is oblivious, assaulting her gayly with chatter. You can't catch any of it, the young woman speaks so quickly. She's almost bouncing up and down as she talks.

"Tha mi nam boireannach a-nis!" The young girl cries, no doubt testing the patience of her mature friend.

"Chuala mi." Tarra is more deadpan when she replies. The Warrior Woman looks at you, eyes red with weariness.

"Amadan brònach thu." She says, shaking her head. You smile.

"Good morning to you, too." You reply.

Tarra takes the lead. Wherever the two women are going, that's your destination now too. Mia is glued to your side, snaking her arm around yours. You've grown more accustomed to her proximity, so you don't stop her. In fact, after last night, you lean into her a little more, stroking her hand gently. Tarra takes you back to the stable, picking her way carefully through the crowded streets. Mia has carefully covered her face again, and buries her head into your shoulder as you walk.

Are these women criminals? Why else would she hide her face? You did follow them unquestioningly... If they're serial killers, you are a ridiculously easy target.