The Tiger Within

Breakfast options were not the most plentiful in the Bazaar . Actually, with it still being before midnight, nothing was really plentiful . Most the sellers were busy gathering things to make their wares or just tumbling out of bed .

Thankfully there were a dutiful few who rose early to prepare meals for those who sought food . Guardsmen coming off or going on duty and hunters who were prepared for their hunt always made good customers . Not to mention incredibly loyal if the food was warm and the prices were good .

One such little place was known as The Coiled Pot . The owner, a sweet younger serpent shape shifter always greeted her customers with a bright smile on her thin lips . Warm jewel toned eyes in a garnet red could be unsettling but matched with her golden hair and deceptively slender body frame, she looked harmless . Well, that was till she chuckled and the tips of her fangs peeked out from under her rose colored lips .

Advertis.e.m.e.ntKyera sauntered over flashing a wink at the serpent girl who grinned . "Well Well Well Miss Kyera . Bit late for your breakfast isn"t it? I expected you at dawn… now my best goods have gone cold . " the girls words seemed to drip from her tongue like honey . Kyera nodded biting her lip slightly .

"Yea… I slept a little late . I"m sorry Cora . Forgive me?" Kyera whispered looking at the girl with a sweet innocent pout . Cora tried very hard to glare unmoved at Kyera"s obvious ploy . After several minutes of struggling she sighed .

"Yes, I suppose . " Cora replied with a smile shaking her head at the adorable tigress . She often wondered how the cool collected Queen could turn into a naughty little Kitten over a pot of rice porridge .

Kyera glowed "Yea . So I need food for three . " she motioned to the two men behind her . One of whom looked slightly jealous if Cora was any judge . The younger one however looked inquisitively at her wares . Sniffing the warm spiced aromas of her pots .

"Alright…" Cora removed the lid of a ceramic vessel next to her . It was a odd contraption . It was shaped like an egg, and made of clay that had been formed with a small wooden lid to dome the top . Inside at the base was a batch of warm rocks and the remnants of a hot fire that had burned through the night . Now only coals remained . On the inside of the egg were baskets hanging from hooks on the rim . Each basket held several little clay pots, each a different shade . "what type would you like?"

Kyera smiled "Two red and one brown . " she replied firmly and both brothers looked at her curiously . They tended to eat across the way at a butcher"s shack and had no idea what to order here . Verone had only eaten breakfast in town with her a few times, and normally he picked the place so as she paid Cora and took the pots, he waited patiently .

Keeping one red for herself, she handed the blue to Verone and the remaining red to Talis, along with spoons . She tossed another radiant smile at Cora "Care to join us?" she asked noticing the Serpent had only just begun her own meal . The four took a seat against the trees nearby .

"So anything interesting happen last night?" Kyera prompted, taking the lid off her jar and stirring the rice porridge around in its jar . Cora seemed to think for a moment .

"Not really . I mean things were quiet here . The Hunter"s came back early . Apparently there are some hit traps out in the lower woods . " Cora replied taking a bite of her breakfast .

"Hot Traps?" Talis asked curiously, honestly kinda lost . Cora and Kyera paused looking at him a moment . The serpent"s eyes narrowed slightly .

"He doesn"t get out much . Does he?" Cora asked, jerking her head to indicate the boy . Verone felt slightly uncomfortable then, as though he should defend his little brother"s lack of knowledge but… it was true . Talis never left the mountain peak .

"He"s a trainee . " Verone replied, but the explanation sounded weak even to his ears . However Kyera nodded in agreement .

"Talis is a cautious one . Most night folk don"t call them that . " Kyera replied patiently . "A Hot Trap is a trap that jas warmth trapped in the fibers . Normally set by humans, and non lethal . " she figured she should explain since he was her charge .

"Oh, so they are harmless . " Talis spoke as if he was catching on . However the angry hiss that retaliated against his words said otherwise .