"GYAH!" Ishtaq landed with a soft thud in a pile of leaves, dislodged so suddenly she hadn't even had time to react. Or maybe it was a combination of that and the sudden shock of Tana's words that froze her up right there. In any case, soon enough she was rolling over onto her stomach and pushing herself up to her feet, bare arms and legs scuffed with the moist soil that was smeared along the leaves. What...what was going on with Tana?? She...she had sounded like...like Rakkalepta there for a moment! And...talking to her...?
Oh no...she was acting like...like someone was talking to her. In her head.
And Rakkalepta...
Was she as merged as they all thought she was?
No, those questions could wait. She had taken off! She was running somewhere now like a spooked animal, and who knew where she was going or how far she'd gone? She probably wasn't thinking straight now! Panic tended to do that, and with those huge wings of hers, and since she probably didn't know where she was going...oh, she could really hurt herself! She could get lost! She was no Rakkalepta in that respect, she couldn't take care of herself! And then she'd be all alone and scared!
"Raijah! Raijah, we have toâ€"!" She spun around frantically to face himâ€"and was surprised to find he wasn't there. But her ringing ears suddenly picked up the sounds of running, and twisting around again, she was just able to make out a flash of blue as light reflected off dragonfly wings, before the forest swallowed Raijah from view.
Alright. Maybe he wasn't as dumb as she thought.
Well, then again...it was just his nature. He would protect anyone that needed it, or that he felt was in need of it. He was distant...but he was also compassionate, even if that didn't really show because it was burried so deep down inside him. Stupid regressive tendencies...
Brushing her legs and arms off, she spread her wings carefully and took to the air. She'd follow after him, just to make sure everything was okay...but this time, she would let him handle this one on his own...
Raijah was cursing mentally as he followed the path Tana had taken, both because he hadn't realized how fast she was, and because she had gotten pretty far ahead of him before the shock had worn off and he had followed suit. And because, well, he was, once again, horribly confused, thrown for yet another loop. Damn! That had been Rakkalepta! He could recognize that attitude anywhere! But weren't those souls merged, and that was why...well, why they now had the fae called Tana? She certainly wasn't anything like Rakkalepta, so the change in personality and tone for that split second had been...jarring.
And then there was more. Tana, screaming, pleading with something to get out of her head...
But...it just made no sense! If she was a merge between souls, why was she still aware of the other souls? How could a merge of souls be aware of separate souls, when there <I>were no separate souls? At least...that was what Raijah could assume...that the souls weren't acting very merged if they were...speaking to her. And through her.
He was completely lost.
And he was doing a crap job at helping her.
But for now, all he could really focus on was finding her. Shit...she could go anywhere! And if she wasn't careful, and was running blindly...there were just too many opportunities for her to wind up in a dangerous situation. He should have kept a better watch on her. He probably should have been more supportive, and he sucked at that, he knew, as Ishtaq had told him time and time again, but he couldn't help it! But maybe then she wouldn't have split. He wasn't making her feel very welcome...he knew it...damnit, damnit, damnitâ€"!
He came to an abrupt halt, a familiar colorful figure coming suddenly into a view, a figure sitting on the earth and wincing, ankle stretched out. And he let out a deep breath, the tenstion that had clutched at him receding with that breath. Thank Gods...she was okay. From the looks of it, it didn't look like she had completely escaped injury, but things could have been much, much worse. And perhaps this would be a lesson to her not to run offâ€"
Damn, he was starting to think like Ishtaq. Speaking of which...she apparently hadn't followed. How subtle of her...
Taking another deep breath, he slowly made his way over to her, and instinctively crouched down beside her without a word. Well...what was he supposed to say? asking if she was hurt would be a stupid question, and had invoked Rakkalepta last time. Not a good question to ask, especially since she kind of obviously was, given the tender way she had shifted her ankle. But silence was awkward. More awkward than words, perhaps...
"Hey..." he began, looking over at her, violet eyes concerned. "So...do you...ah, think you're through running for now?" GYAH! Stupidstupidstupidstupid! Very smooth. Just what she probably wanted to hear after having some sort of crazy soul-based attack. "I mean...ah..." Damnit, where was Ishtaq?!