Daughter of a Clan Triptich engineer and a Tsan Nu weaver, and given at an early age by her mother quietly and permanently back to her father Marcel. There was something "odd" about this child that Marcel had sired, and her mother knew it right from the start.
Diva's hair is a rich brown-black, and is always cut short around her neck. Her eyes are a dark green color, and her skin is a milky yellow-tan, her mother's looks are strong in her, even if her personality is that of her father.
Marcel escaped Faustas' shortly before he met Diva's mother, and she harbored him at Tsan Nu when House Faustas was looking for him. His whereabouts are unknown at this time, though he stops in with the rest of the wandering Trippers from time to time.
Diva lives for these little moments with her family. Her mother is adamant that Diva never return to Tsan Nu, however. Her little problem with kleptomania is embarrassing, however rarely is it serious. She has stolen from everyone in the Triptych clan nearby at least once, but it's when they come into proximity to other Houses or Clans that it becomes a problem for everyone.
Diva wants to try stopping herself from stealing, though she's not going to have an easy time. She might have better luck helping her best friend Carrolyne with her weight problem.
But this wasn't gambling, and Diva knew it. She looked at her strong fingers. They were too quick, too easy to move. In fact she wasn't certain she even really had to touch something to get it into her hand anyway. The rumor was that she could move items with her mind - or more likely her deeper desires would do it without any hint at asking her 'mind' about it. She'd just wander through the encampment, and things would appear in her pockets later.
It was an embarrassing secret - one which she dreaded anyone learning. But that was where Carrolyne was such a pal. She didn't seem to know - or care - about it. She always just brushed off the obvious 'where did you get this from it's not yours' comments that others would say, and go straight to just returning whatever she'd stolen to its rightful owner.
At least Diva didn't tend to take anything twice.
So here was this lovely goblet. The wandering lordlings were already well on their way to their next destination and Diva knew that the Trippers would be heading the opposite direction within several weeks at most. That was both a relief and a concern for her. Maybe she would be able to sell it, claiming that it had merely been left behind - but then again... no one ever believed that line.
No one. But Carol did. Okay, so maybe Carrolyne wasn't really the brightest of the bunch, but she was a good girl. And she always had something new to wear - and Diva never had to steal those things! They were hardly the same size, height wise, but if Diva wanted a dress she could always try on one of Carol's skirt-shirts. They'd fall lower and still be snug around her hips and chest. That girl was so thin...
She heard something at the leather flap to the hut, as usual it was the exuberant Carrolyne.
Diva frantically moved around Carol's inert body, and finally decided that she'd get her into the bed. Hefting the strangely-shaped girl up to her shoulder, Diva muttered, "Well at least you're easy to lift this way. Too light. Oh, girlfriend, what is gonna happen to you..."
In Diva's mind, there were few things she could do to help. She was no healer, no medical skills had been taught to her. She was a thief, and the worst kind too - the kind who couldn't even control her urges to take. There was nothing to remove from Carrolyne's body. She drew her fingers across her friend's furry brow, and whispered, "hold on Carol, I'm going to get some help."
She bolted from the hut, hoping that no one entered it and found a half-human creature there...
"If Drake were here -- oh why did you have to go to Talor?! Drake!" Diva yelled, as she stumbled around the rocky terrain looking for someone to help. She gasped when she heard someone else's voice.
"Drake's still at the Caer, Diva. What's up? Why are you so--" It was Wade, known as Buck to some of the people around but he only allowed his 'closest' friends to call him that. The big black man looked worried.
"Wade! It's Carrolyne!" Diva blurted out, "she..." dare she say it? Well, they were supposed to all be hunted for a reason anyway - "she shapeshifted and then passed out! She can't shift back to human!" Her voice rose high, squealing, "what are we going to do!?"
Wade stood there blankly wondering what in the world she could mean, and then lowered his head close to hers. "Show me."
They arrived back to the hut to see no one else nearby. Out of breath, Diva panted and sat down near the bed again. Her friend had not really stirred, and had not come back to her human shape. If it startled Wade, he made very little deal of it.
"She's breathing, so shallow," Diva said, "do you think ... she'll die?"
"Not while I'm on guard duty," Wade announced. "Stay here. I'm going to get Angela. Maybe she'll know what to do. If I can't find her, I guess we'll have to figure something else out..."
Diva sat with her hands clenching around each other, concern for her friend destroying any hint of composure that she often wore. Within minutes, Wade had returned with Angela in tow.
The pale skinned woman with the big red birthmarks stood with her eyes wide, and Diva slid out of her way. "Can you help her?" Diva asked, her voice shaking.
"I'll see. It's not..." Angela knelt beside the bed, and placed her fingers on the furry shoulder. There was only a flicker of amazement in her blue eyes when she saw the odd inhuman girl. She furrowed her silver-colored eyebrows and said, "this is not a wound. I cannot do anything for her, Diva." Angela whispered. There was sorrow in her voice, more than anything.
"But she'll DIE!" Diva yelled, standing frantically. When she did so, one of the local elders threw open the flap to the hut. There was a moment of stunned silence, as everyone realized that he'd be seeing Carrolyne in her half-human form.
"What's going on here?" He asked sharply. He was clearly related to Dave and Dane, with his blond hair and striking blue eyes. He looked at Carol, and frowned when Diva explained what happened.
She did so carefully, and used simple words - but she left nothing out.
"How long has she been like this?" He asked.
"More than an hour," said Angela, "she's sleeping, or in a coma."
The clan elder nodded, his medical experience was obvious. Dean looked at Carrolyne as the others held their breath. "Diva, Angela, relax. I have an idea." He rose and left the hut, and came back quickly enough. He held a long rubber tube in one hand and what looked like a funnel in the other.
"Go get some broth, there's always some cooking in the gather-yard," Dean instructed Diva. She was loathe to leave her friend - especially now, but... She did as he asked. It seemed like the only solution - to get food into Carrolyne's stomach they would have to actually put it there themselves. Force feeding her sounded so ... barbaric. But...
Diva bolted out, and ran to the center of the Triptych caravan gathering. It was true, there was always something brewing. She decided that colder was better - hot liquid going down Carol's throat might hurt her too much, and that would probably end their friendship. Diva grabbed the first jug of it she found, one which was placed on a sill to cool, and she heard a vague yell from the inside of that caravan. She didn't care. This time, she wasn't stealing it, she was using it as per Dean's request, and if she got into trouble it would be on his head this time, and not hers.
Diva came back, breathless, to the hut, where Dean had pushed the finger-thick tube down the still-unconscious Carrolyne's throat. It looked horrible, but they'd only this chance. As he attached the funnel to the other end, Diva opened the jug of broth - it smelled quite good and it obviously had only been made hours before - and handed it to him.
"Pour it, carefully," Dean said, not having enough arms to go around. He instructed the others to hold Carol's head up, and Angela was certainly interested in this all from a medical point of view - plus she could tell if Carol was choking.
"She's doing fine," Angela said, a moment later, "she's breathing all right." Her eyes were closed, there was a strange tingling sensation coming from her. Diva felt it, probably everyone there did. She carefully started pouring the liquid into the funnel, and they waited for the results.
Continued on Carol's page!