"What" pant "the fuck" wheeze "do" huff "you" huff, deep breath "think you're doing!?!"

I recognized the voice, one I'd heard countless times during my childhood, and then quite a few more times after I went through my Binding ceremony and left the clan lands. I'm not sure it was possible for me to forget my nhara's voice. But, I certainly never expected to hear that voice where I was at the time, which was standing in the middle of the marketplace in the largest human city within a day's ride from the boundary between human lands and the clan lands.

Da'syrr did not leave the clan lands, unless he happened to be doing things like guarding the Syrr Temple elder on the way to a certain prince's Binding, and that was an exception, rather than the rule. Particularly, Da'syrr did not show up in the middle of a human city, especially considering the fact that the people around me weren't panicking. Da'syrr in the middle of a human city should have caused a panic, unless he was in human form, and that, like Da'syrr being in a human city in the first place, was something that just did not happen.

I had never even seen Da'syrr's human form. I didn't think that Da'syrr's irha had seen his human form. I was fairly sure that the number of people who had seen Da'syrr's human form could be counted on one hand, and there would still be fingers left over. But, that didn't change the fact that I was standing in the middle of a fairly large human city, in the middle of a crowded marketplace, without a panic happening around me, and I had just heard Da'syrr's voice.

I turned slowly, trying to come up with some sort of explanation that would make sense (and failing), and faced the person standing to my left, panting and out of breath like he had just run the length of the city without stopping. He was bent over, trying desperately to catch his breath, with his head hanging down, so all I could see was the top of his head, covered with hair the same black color as my own.

"Da'syrr?" I asked, hoping against all hopes that he would answer in the negative, or at least look confused, which would also be a sort of negative answer in this case.

He panted a few more times and then straightened himself out to look straight at me. He was quite a bit taller than I was, with the same eyes as Da'syrr, which did not seem like a good sign for my attempt to find some way that he wasn't my nhara. But most of all, he definitely recognized me, and was trying to stare at me like he thought he was infinitely better than I was, which Da'syrr did think of me, yet another bad sign.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me, not bothering to answer my question.

"You are Da'syrr, aren't you?" I asked him, not wanting to let him get away without answering the question, even though he seemed a little too preoccupied to answer. And this time, rather than answering me, he growled in frustration, and finally grabbed me by the arm and started dragging me with him. Seeing as he was quite a bit bigger than I was, it wasn't too difficult, though he seemed out of breath (again) before long.

I decided after a bit that he had to be Da'syrr, even though I had no real reference, and that it would probably be a good idea if I cooperated with him, rather than making him drag me the entire way, not that I was sure where he was taking me, or why he was so angry with me. So I walked, and continued to be confused, hoping that he would arrive at his intended destination before long so I could figure out just what was going on.