The life of the Savanite slave, Fire-Mane, has been very interesting as of late. She has saved her master from certain death, been accused of attempted murder, and then rescued from the jaws of death by a seven year old boy. She has a new master now – Tahir Archelaus, one of three candidates for the seat of the Captain-Astromancer.

Her station has changed as well. No longer is Leeta under the thumb of a cruel master, but now she serves a master who treats her as an equal. But her life has far from settled down. Today, the morning after all the excitement, Leeta is awakened from her room in the slaves' quarters by a heavy rapping on her door.

Leeta awakes with a gasp, her hands jumping up in front of her. Realizing she is in her room, she shakes away the dream and slips out of bed. Grabbing a new robe, she pulls it on as she goes to the door, and opens it.

Standing in the doorway is a technopriest – not one of the lower ranked acolytes, but an actual technician. He's a gray-furred Eeee in blue robes who stands at about eye level to the Savanite. "You are Leeta, correct?" he asks sharply.

The fire-haired Savanite blinks in surprise and nods, lowering her head to a respectable level. She was expecting a slave, not a technopriest.

"Good. I am Brother Ramath, sent here to fetch you and aid you in moving to your new quarters," the bat squeaks, his expression blank. "Gather up your belongings, and leave your clothing. You will not be wearing those robes any longer."

Leeta nods quickly, rushing back into the room for her belongings. She has so few, and knows exactly where they are, such that she doesn't need to light a candle. She grabs her mandolin, brushes, and her family tokens from the bureau then returns to the bat. {I hope he doesn't want me to leave the robe I'm wearing,} she wonders, seeing no clothing with the priest.

Brother Ramath frowns. "I did not mean for you to go naked down the hallway. Just change into something quickly and leave the rest." He mutters something to himself and closes the door, allowing the slave to have some level of privacy.

Leeta searches through her bureau, changing into her oldest robe, then taking her possessions back up again. She returns to the doorway bearing all her possessions again, and joins the waiting bat.

The technopriest nods as the Savanite appears. "All ready? Good, now follow me and listen to what I tell you." He spins on his heel and walks rather swiftly down the hallway.

Leeta stumbles after him, managing to slip her possessions into pockets and her mandolin around on her shoulder so her hands are free. She catches up and walks just behind him, listening to his words.

"Tahir has been very insistent on you becoming his personal servant," the bat says gruffly. "Despite the recent… happenings… here he has remained insistent despite the efforts of others to make him reconsider. He obviously has either bevome very fond of your music… or of you." The Savanite catches a sharp glare from the bat as he speaks the last bit. "Because of this, and because he is so insistent, we have no choice but to bow to his wishes. But you must be made aware of some very vital things while you are in his servitude… "

The slave nods, trying not to tense from the technopriest's strong glare. She follows beside him, listening carefully. {Thank you Tahir, for believing me, for fighting for me. I won't let you down.} She concentrates on her new instructions, committing them to memory.

The bat turns down a corner and walks down a corridor that is rarely used. "I do not know how much the Candidate has told you about himself – but know this. He is easily one of the most important people in the Temple. Those of us who serve the inner mysteries would freely give our lives to protect him. If you do anything to make us fear his security around you, you will sorely regret it." The bat flashes his sharp canines at the cheetah, then quickly composes himself. "He is a very… unique… individual. Because of this he might have viewpoints that contradict with those of today. You must remind him should it come up."

Leeta nods, her tail twitching at the bared teeth. She doesn't sign a reply, but keeps listening to the words. Inside she feels a cold chill, {If they knew it all, they'd never let me near him ever. Oh Star… }

Brother Ramath appears to be leading Leeta down a very long and roundabout route, which slowly seems to be going towards the quarters of the Technopriests. "Your duties will be slightly different than what you are used to. Tahir will require your music of course. But you are also to fetch his books, and return them when he is done. You will also fetch his meals." The bat pauses at an intersection, looks both ways down the ajoining hallway and then continues on hurriedly. "You will also be required to TASTE all of his meals. The last Astromancer was murdered… Poison may find its way into his food after all."

The fire-haired slave swallows, and nods at this. {I think I would rather face a knife again, than die by poison. I guess at least I'll get to eat well.} She isn't very cheered by her thoughts. The rest of the duties are fine and ones she would enjoy doing, the music most of all.

"There is also one final duty," the technopriest says. He stops in his tracks and whirls around to face Leeta, grabbing her arms.

Leeta freezes, staring straight at the bat.

Ramath's eyes narrow. "If he faces an assasin… will you be willing to give your life to save him? The Temple has many enemies, and it is well known by now how much his death would hurt the Temple." His grip tightens just a bit.

{Yes! Yes!} Fire-Mane nods, staring straight at Ramath, {I risked mine for a master I didn't like, why would I even hesitate with one I did? Even more, for a friend.} She can't sign her thoughts, or reply, she just stares back at the bat and nods, holding his gaze and hoping he sees it in her eyes.

The bat releases Leeta and turns back around. He smooths out his robe and walks down the hallway as if nothing had happened. "We will be watching you, of course." He turns another corner and walks forward briskly. Up ahead, the familiar conglomeration of the elite guardsmen who stand watch over Tahir can be seen.

Leeta shakes, feeling almost as if she's seen the knife again, and rushes to follow Ramath. She slows as she nears the guards, remembering their previous and necessary suspicion, and not wanting to alert it. She shakes off the feelings and composes herself, keeping her head bowed as she approaches.

Brother Ramath digs in his pocket and holds up his signet. "The candidate has requested that she be moved to his quarters. Do you need to search her belongings?"

A helmeted head swivels to look at Leeta. "Yes," comes the response. The guard holds out a hand to the Savanite.

Leeta worries at the question, and answer. Among her few possessions are the keys to all things that make her dangerous to the candidate, the ties to her family. Leeta reaches into her pockets slowly, drawing out her brushes first. Then she hands over her mandolin in its case. When the guard takes that, she brings out the last things, the first things she owned as a slave: the tokens and trinkets left from her life as Fire-Mane.

The guard looks over Leeta's belongings while Ramath impatiently taps his foot. To most anyone besides a Savanite, Leeta's trinkets are mere junk – and it appears that the guards sees them as nothing more than that, either. He growls something through his helmet and hands the items back to the slave. Another guard cycles the door to Tahir's quarters open.

The technopriest gestures through the door. "Everything has been prepared. Go in; he is waiting."

Leeta neds no further prompting, taking all her items and entering the candidate's quarters. She manages to contain her impulses, standing properly beside the door, with her head bowed. She waits for her master's attention, as a good slave would.

The door slowly cycles shut behind leeta. The room is almost exactly as Leeta remembers it, except that there are a great deal more books, an extra dresser, and a cot on the floor. Tahir is at his desk as usual – but he appears to have dozed off while reading. His head is cradled in his folded arms as he breathes peacefully.

As soon as the door is shut, the fire-haired slave moves from her position against the wall. Putting her mandolin down, she goes quietly to the desk, taking a piece of paper and pen from his desk and writing 'Thank you Tahir'. She puts it where he will see it when he wakes up, and crouches opposite him on the desk. With a bright smile focused on his strangely furred head, she makes a happy chirp to wake him.

The human stirs, mumbling softly to himself, "Shouldn't have landed… the captain… lost control… expedition." He suddenly sits bolt upright and looks around with wide frightened eyes.

Leeta gives a small bark, trying not to show a worried expression, and reaches out to touch the young human's hand.

She moves around the desk, beside the candidate – touching his arm, letting him know she's there and he's here, and not in his dream.

"Mut-" Tahir blinks and looks around. "Oh… a dream. It was only a dream" He sighs to himself and then smiles up at Leeta. "Hello there. My apologies, I must have fallen asleep."

Leeta smiles, her ears wiggling as she crouches down to his eye level. "I should have let you sleep master, but I wanted to thank you, Tahir," she signs, even as she remembers he doesn't know. She gives him the hug she's been holding back all night – the one she wanted to give clinging and begging when he saw her in the hallway, and that she can't suppress in thanks now.

"Ooph!" Tahir says in surprise as the Savanite hugs him. Obviously he's not used to treatment like this. He spies the note on the desk. "Ah, you're welcome. I thought you might be safest here."

The Savanite lets go of the young human, realizing her inappropriate actions. She nods, smiling in response to his words.

Tahir closes the book on his desk and hops down from his seat. "Sit, please. It will be much easier to communicate this way until I learn that handsign language of yours."

Leeta slides into the seat, taking up the pen and starting to write. 'Thank you Tahir, again and again. I could write 'Thank you' all day and it still wouldn't be enough. The technopriest told me how much they don't want me here, and how badly you fought for me. You've done so much for me, I am still reeling from it all.'

A light chuckle escapes from the Candidate's lips. "You are most welcome, Leeta. It has been nice to have a friend in these cold walls. Children need playmates afterall." He looks down at his short body. "And I am apparently a child now."

'Of course, what else could you be?' the Savanite writes.

The human smirks. "I am many things. Bits and pieces put together. But if what the teachers tell me is correct, then I am a very very old man indeed. Simply an old man in a young body who has been asleep for a very long time."

'The technopriest told me you were unique,' the fire-haired cheetah writes, 'They also told me to remind you of the things that are different now. I don't understand how you can be both very old and young. You are not like any child I've known, so it must be so.'

"Things are different… things are different. Yes, my teachers remind me of that every day." Tahir strokes his chin thoughtfully. "Such as the Savanites being a race of slaves here. There is so much that is new to me. But perhaps that means that this form is best suited for me… for many things are new in the eyes of a child."

Leeta touches her collar as he speaks of slaves, then writes some more, 'I wish I lived in your memories Tahir; they sound much better than things are. I hope as you grow older you do not grow used to things in the new way. I had to when I was taken, and I am not sure the lessons I learned are ones you should.'

Tahir rubs a hand down the front of his robe. "Many before me have adapted to the task, many quite like myself. I shall simply endeavor to not allow myself to become a bitter old man." He winks. "Now then… are the accommodations I've had prepared for you alright? The only pitfall I've seen is the lack of privacy, but you may go into the washroom when you wish to change. This room has been equipped with plumbing."

Leeta looks curiously at Tahir. 'Plumbing?' she writes. She looks around the room, and sees the space made for her and smiles, 'I do not mind at all, there is no place I would rather be.'

"Er… you're unfamiliar with… " He laughs again. "Of course. Well, it's a bit more complex to use – but you don't have to fetch water in the morning to wash yourself with. I'll show you later. Until then, is there anything that I may do to aid in your comfort here?"

'Oh, the water pipes!' She thinks of her former duties, 'Yes, I am used to more manual methods.' Leeta pauses in her writings, blinking at the question, still trying to get used to a master, no… her friend, asking her what she would like. 'I can't think of anything right now, Tahir.' Her ears wiggle, 'Unless you have found a speaker.'

The human shakes his head. "I have had my reading requirements increased… but have found nothing in the records that even mention the speaker. I am currently looking into outside sources instead. It will take time of course, but I shall keep looking."

Leeta nods, getting a new piece of paper and rubbing her hand before writing. 'It is okay, Tahir, it would probably be faster to teach you all the signs. I could show you some now, but do not wish to interrupt you, if you have much reading to do.'

Tahir laughs. "I will always have 'too much reading' to do, I fear. My treachers see to that. But I assume that it is for the best, considering that I am several thousand years behind on my history."

The Savanite grins back at the human, then writes, 'You will have to run through it all, or you will be old before you are even near finishing. I will play for you, if you are ready to study it again now.'

"Indeed," the human says. "I am also anxious to learn handsign. All of the books I find on the subject appear to be written by Nagas. Very wordy creatures."

Leeta nods, writing 'They say they gave it to their slaves, and some of those slaves escaped and taught it to the wild ones. It was long ago, who can say? The part of that story that is hardest to believe, is that a slave escaped,' she almost drops her pen, 'and lived long enough to teach other Savanites.'

"History speaks in favor of those who write the history books, dear Leeta." Tahir brushes a lock of copper hair from out of his eyes.

Leeta pauses and contemplates those words for a little while, nodding and brushing at her own mane. She takes up the pen again, 'Yes. Well, the books may not always be right. If they are written by Nagas they likely say there are two forms of sign, when there are really three. There is Formal, City and Wild.'

The human raises an eyebrow. "Interesting. I take it that the latter is what's used by those of you who are not slaves?"

Leeta nods, writing, 'It was what I used in the jungle. It is the fastest, and more than just hands are used, ears and tail as well. You move alot, sometimes it is almost dancing. In comparison, City sign is very flat and restrained. There is no emotion to the words signed.'

"Er," Tahir says, peering around at his backside. He is obviously lacking in the tail department, and his ears aren't all that mobile either.

The Savanite grins, 'You can get a piece of cloth, and pretend it is a tail.' Her thoughts go back to the cloak around the Templar last night, 'But do not ask for a real tail; some slave would probably lose one.' She flicks her own from side to side around her ankles, 'Wild Sign is not much different from City Sign, and it has many accents. The slavers do not like to see the new slaves using it, they think it means they are undisciplined.'

Leeta writes, 'And they enjoy teaching slaves how wrong it is to use the Wild Sign.'

The Candidate chuckles. "And my teachers would see me as being undicliplined if I'm seen walking around with a false tail tied to my rump."

Leeta's ears wiggle, 'City sign is almost entirely the same. Though some master have special codes only their slaves know. I have not known many non-Savanites that understood it. The Naga all seem to know it, masters who respect their slaves know enough that they can question them. It varies. The Arch Inquisitor didn't know a gesture, my master before him knew a lot, but he was very good.'

Tahir picks up some of the discarded sheets of paper Leeta has been using to write on and stuffs them in his furnace. "Just a precaution," he notes. "Please continue."

'They said they would be watching.' Leeta looks around the room, then writes, 'Last, though really first, is Formal. It is the oldest, and it is very slow' She pauses in her writing, and gestures with one hand moving through several signs, then takes up the pen again. 'That was the sign for what I just wrote. Only one hand is used, and it does not have gestures for many sounds. I can not sign my new name in it, just my old one.' Fire-Mane.

The human clumsily mimics the gesture with his own hand. "Watching? Oh… they were probably just trying to scare you."

Leeta smiles, signing again very slowly, Fire-Mane, and watches the candidate.

Tahir attempts the sign a second time. His hand forms the words, Fire-Wind, the sign for 'wind' being just a small finger adjustment away from 'mane'.

The Savanite reaches over and touches the young human's hands, moving his fingers to fix the last sign. She lets him try the word again, as she writes the translation on the paper. 'Fire Mane. I was called that because of my hair.' She brushes a hand through her namesake.

"You are the only Savanite I have seen with red hair. Although it is known to me that there are fluxes on the ground that cause changes in those that live below the island."

Leeta nods, 'It is just a colour, it doesn't mean anything special.' And yet… 'It is a gift from the Star, to keep me brave.' She looks at the paper, hearing Reseth's words again, then Blasek's. 'Some marked slaves are very good, and some are very bad. On the surface one that is different is taken as a good sign. I have not heard of any being born to slaves though.'

"You must be brave indeed to have befriended the Candidate," Tahir says with a wink. "Without me, nobody shall know which way Rephidim shall fly. I wonder if my two brothers have fared as well as I. I do not see them very much."

She grins back at the human, her ears wiggling as she writes, 'Yes, you're so scary, I've never seen anything like you before! Oh, it has been so long, I have not seen some of my family in ten years.' Leeta blinks at the words she has chosen, then writes quickly, 'What are your brothers like?'

The human taps himself on the head. "They look exactly as I do. We have been mistaken for one another on numerous occasions. We each serve under a different branch of the Temple. I serve the Inquisition. My brothers serve the Technopriests and the Bridge. Whoever shows himself to be the most appropriate for the Astromancer title shall be chosen. The remaining two will serve under him."

'How will I tell you apart?' the Savanite writes.

'You will be the Captain Astromancer,' Leeta's ears wiggle, 'because your brothers will be so jealous of your slave they won't be able to study.'

Tahir laughs heartily at Leeta's writing. "Perhaps. Now as to how you can tell the three of us apart, well… " He gestures to his robes. Pure white with deep purple trimming. The trimming has golden thread delicately embroidered into it. The colors resemble Leeta's own new collar. Enameled white with a purple and gold band running through the middle. "My brothers dress differently. I have my colors, and they have theirs."

'I cannot change my spots,' the cheetah writes, 'but you can change your clothes. What if they dress up to look like you? I remember things very well, but if you are exactly the same… '

The human perks his head sideways, "Now why would they do something like that?"

'To steal me away from you?' Her ears wiggle, but then Leeta's expression turns more serious, 'I don't know, Tahir. Working for the Arch Inquisitor has shown me there are many secret motives in the Temple. Even the assassin last night, was a Templar dressed as a… Lady of the Night.'

'They said I would have to taste your food for you, in case it was poisoned,' she adds. 'There are many dangers surrounding you.'

"My brothers are fairly trustworthy," Tahir says as he sits on the edge of his bed. Close enough to still see Leeta's writing. "My enemies are not within the Temple, but are outside of it. Who in the Temple would gain from harming me? Only my brothers and I can properly chart the island courses, and we do not hold any particular power beyond that."

Leeta writes, 'I don't know Tahir, I don't know. I am worried and afraid for you, but there is so little I can do to protect you. I am a Savanite, and we escape harm by running away. Even I could not run fast enough, so how can I teach you that lesson and hope it would help at all?'

"How about this then?" The human holds up his hand, signing Fire-Mane. "This will be our signal. It will be our private greeting should you think I am being impersonated. Is that helpful?"

Leeta smiles and nods, Tahir, then writes, 'Yes. I will teach you all the signs, and then I will never be unsure.'

'Only my family and a few other slaves know me by that name.' The red-haired Savanite writes, 'I think it will not be easily found out.'

The human nods. "There are normally no candidates. But I have been told that recent times have been rather harsh, so they decided that there should be three of us – so that one may replace the other should the Astromancer meet an untimely demise."

'What have they told you about Temple Politics, anything?' The Savanite writes, 'I have watched a few signs in the office. My master went to the Captain's funeral, but I don't know anything about what happened.'

"They have told me avoid politics at all cost and simply study and do my job," Tahir replies as he stuffs another load of papers into the furnace. "As to what happened, well… one of the technopriests finally told me. Apparently someone in an area called 'Darkside' held a grudge against the Temple and hired an assassin known as 'Shadowspite' to murder my predecessor. That is why I am under such heavy guard."

'I have not been there, a slave would not last very long if sent into that area. I'm not even sure where it is.' She watches as Tahir moves around the room, 'I am glad of the guard, and I will help you study any way I can. I think they allowed you to have me simply so you could stay in your room more, and I would run to get things for you.'

Leeta writes, 'There is not much room to play in here, at least the games I know. Tag and Hide & Find, they would not be too challenging, they work better in the jungle.'

The human smiles. "Not to mention my handsign tutoring."

Leeta grins, her ears wiggling, 'Would you like to start with Formal… ' then she slides from her seat and with a flourish dramatically signs, "Or shall we skip straight to Wild?" A Savanite from the jungle would have found her wild-sign very restrained, showing just a mild pleasure. They would be wrong, though, for as Fire-Mane starts to tutor Tahir, she is the happiest she has been in ages.