The rusty blade of her old dagger scrapped along the bottom side of the large green leaf. Zoran-Theia moved the blade carefully, and continued to scrape the underside of the leaf for a moment, until a white dust began to fall and accumulate upon her fingers. She lifted her fingers just below her nose, and inhaled the powder. Her eyes closed and she let a slow breath fall from between her lips. Then, she looked up. 

"I found a good one Tarek." She mumbled to her companion, the large winged wolf which crouched in the bushes nearby. The wolf threw an aggravated glare back at his master, when she spoke up and startled off the prey he had been stalking. But, she didn't seem to notice. He let out a huff, and a low yip, to let her know he was going off to hunt. 

Zoran-Theia continued her work below the large leaves of the Kopal Bush. This time, as she scraped the underside of the leaves with her blade, she collected the fine powder into a glass container. It would make her a good profit once she got it to the market in Eve. The powder was a natural drug, which while at the same time it had a calming effect, it also worked to promote focus and energy. It was good to make you forget your worries, and distract yourself, basically. She should know, she used it quite a lot. The whole leaves could be crushed and brewed into a fine tea, which would give you brilliant hallucinations, if you were into that sort of thing. Zoran-Theia was convinced it was Kopal Tea that the ancients must have been drinking when they came up with so many wild ideas of gods and goddesses. But she usually kept that theory to herself, for most people among the nations held very strong belief in the mystical beings. 

At any rate, she was lucky that the Kopal Bush could only be found on a few of the uninhabited islands, which most people were neither brave enough nor capable of traveling to. She wasn't even sure how many people actually knew what the Kopal Bush looked like if they did want to find it. Whatever the case, it meant good business for her. 

[I]HOME[/I] was a small house nestled in a lonely, dark spot of the great forests of Eve, far away from the towns and even the outlying villages. It had been many months since she was last able to travel to the populated areas. War had shaken the nations into such irrational fear that innocent civilians became the target of attack. On the last day that she traveled to the market, as she walked into the outskirts of town, she could see the unusual rush and bustle of the people. Then, right before her, she watched as soliders and civilians violently harassed a family from Kantle who had been stuck here on Eve since they came to buy goods from the market on the day the roads were destroyed. Zoran-Theia knew the family somewhat, the mother was a rather frequent customer, and whenever she would come to buy tea, she would talk of her loving husband and dear son. The people of Eve bludgeoned them to death when they struggled for their freedom. She saw first hand that day, what fear does to people.

She had been able to retreat back into the shadows then, without being noticed. And living as a recluse has served her so far, for the people of Eve have not yet found her. But she knew it was only a matter of time before she was forced to leave, before they did find her, for the sake of her own life. Until then, she had one connection to continue selling her Kopal. An old man who's loyalty lies more in profit than in his kingdom, buys from her to take it to the market and sell it himself. No questions. Usually no words between them. And in a time of war, when fear and grief overwhelms the masses...well, it makes business booming for her and the old man. After preparing and packaging the powder and tea-leaves, Zoran-Theia whistled for Tarek. Sitting upon his broad back, with a pack slung over her shoulder, they went to go meet the old man.

The great Sinka Tree which was the largest tree on this side of the island, marked their usual meet up spot. Sure enough, the old codger sat beneath the tree with a cloak hood pulled over his head, waiting as he always was. With a quick look around the area to insure there were no wandering hunters near, she commanded Tarek down from the sky to land next to the base of the tree. As she stepped closer to him, the hood slowly raised as the old man picked up his head to look towards her. His dark green eyes met hers, but he looked weary. As she made another step forward, a strange feeling came over her...something wasn't right. As the old man still watched her eyes, he outstretched his hand to take the pack, yet it trembled slightly. He sighed, and then spoke softly. "I'm sorry dear." 

"Shit." She turned quickly, while Tarek let out a sudden howl, but it was too late. Three large soldiers of Eve stepped out from the surrounding forest, with spears aimed her way. Her blue eyes cut back towards the old man coldly. He did look upset. 

"They found out what I was selling and questioned me about how I got it..." He spoke soft and sorrowfully. "I tried to put them off but..."

She nodded and turned to the soldiers. "These bastards forced it out of you." She looked to each of them bitterly. But then she heard the feeble old voice behind her again.

"Well everyone knows you from the market, but no one knew how to find you. They told me there was a bounty for your arrest." He hesitated as she turned and met his gaze again. "You're worth quite a lot, dear." 

Hate flashed her eyes. "I should have never trusted you." She spat the words. "I only trusted your love of the money I could make you, but I should have known your greed would get me killed." She stepped slowly towards the man as she spoke, and though the soldiers watched her carefully, this was no concern of theirs. She stood just in front of the man now, who looked up at her with watery eyes. "Worthless piece of shit." Her voice was filled with the hatred within her. With one fluid motion she drew the dagger hidden on her hip, and stabbed through one of those sad greed eyes, until she could feel the blade buried into the trunk of the tree behind him. "I am a fool for trusting you."