Spirits of the Earth

OOC: Tags to rhi!
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As the caravan rolled westward, towards the Niafi river delta, Red Sun felt ill at ease. So much had been happening throughout Essyrn, and to herself, she knew not what to make of it all. Not only did the idea her master had with choosing to mate her over keeping her a warrior had been dropped, but after the unfortunate hanging of two slave masters, he took it upon himself to buy up the female warrior slave who had been discarded and sold off for the unfortunate atrocity.

It was strange, but Karime believed buying another powerful fighter for the Arena, even a tainted one, would bring him more power, more fame. It seemed to work, for his entourage was ever growing, and Red Sun, being a slave of his for so long, had long since lost count towards the extra men and women that now followed him about. It was even said Karime was to take on another wife, a thought that crept through the red haired woman's mind as the wagon wheels beneath them crunched across the rocky and sandy trail.

Essyrn, even outside of the city, smelled of heat, and the travel would be long spent in the sweltering sun. Thank the Gods most of the trail was woven throughout the major cities along the Niafi river boarder, so there was plenty of trees and water to keep both the caravan men and animals sated. But things had been happening so fast, and she, not knowing what to make of Yasmin, her master's new addition, found her aqua colored eyes turning towards the female warrior and studying her in silence. Red Sun was not a woman of many words by any means, and despite both of the warriors being fighters int he ring, Yasmin was not a warrior she had ever fought. It had been considered, but it was always disputed which of their masters pulled out at the last second before the fight had ever happened.

But it was a curious thing to take in, for the seed of doubt planted by Cassius from these weeks past, and now what both Yasmin and the slave-fighter Agrian had done, brought up even more unspoken questions stirring about inside Red Sun's head. Though not a fan of her own life as a slave, she knew better than to question it-

But questioned it now she did. For if looks spoke volumes, the gaze upon Yasmin said much, as it grew tenser and tenser as they were nearing the river's delta, their final destination for the event at hand. The crocodile hunt, a sport that was not uncommon, but was now being made into some sort of a fanfare in the honor of the Shah, and from what she gauged from Karime's ramblings, was trying to save her face after making a mockery of the merchant lords by the recent execution, was the farthest thign from her mind. Fighting crocodiles was one thing- but now to do it with a slave who outwardly stood against his master? What trust could she have in the woman? Thankfully, the pair were in separate cages as the caravan continued to roll through the city and beneath the thick shade of palms.

Red Sun wasn't alone in her observations.

For Yasmin was watching her new slave-sister about as closely and curiously as she knew Red Sun was observing her.

Sitting back in her cage, arms crossed under her breasts, Yasmin caught the girl staring at her (she wondered it she was trying to be subtle about it) and flashed her a bright smile, gave her an enthusiastic wave. It was a clear signal to say, Yeah, I know you're checking me out. But also, that she didn't really mind it; curiosity was natural. While she hadn't interacted with the woman much and knew of her deadly reputation, she wasn't threatened by her, either. The masters were the threat. And while there were slaves among them who were cruel, who did delight in bloodshed, and while some were no doubt born that way as happened with humans, many of those ones were no doubt made.

Yasmin could see how easy it would be to slip down that path, just out of sheer self-preservation, to shield oneself from the horror by embracing it.

But no, heavy on Yasmin's mind were Agrian's words. If they were to live their crazy dream, they needed allies, and she needed to get talking--carefully. She needed to suss out potential friends. She would be spending her life near this woman, now, and so she was to be her first target.

Hopefully, she was receptive. Today might not be the best day for a good heart to heart, considering the competitive nature of the event, but maybe if she could convince her to team up...

Yasmin shifted a little in her cage, her ass sore and her legs cramped. Sweat was slicking her skin from the sun and the heat, and she was grateful when the caravan finally came to a stop.

It would be a right shame if everyone died of heat stroke before the big event!

Red Sun's eyes narrowed at the little wave. Did this girl think this event was a joke? They could die out there. But then again, considering what they were...
They could die any day. 

It was just uncomfortable. To think, his master bought another fighting slave. And another female fighting slave. She sized up Yasmin more obviously now before sighing hotly through her nose.

She would have had more time to be integrated with this so called 'sister', but as it turns out...
Red Sun had been more than a bit cocky lately, and her master sought to keep her in her place. The bruises and whip lashes she now bore proved it. And she supposed, her master investing in someone else had her wondering if he was getting near to being fed up with her and her recent attempts to 'break free'. (Though to be fair, the last time she snuck out was for a couple of drinks...)  Any free man could enjoy those. Too bad that was what she was not.

Today would be a test, she knew. To see which one of his 'girls' could bring home a real trophy. And she knew if she didn't maintain the lethality of her reputation...
There was nothing stopping Karime of being rid of her. And she knew her master would not hesitate to cut off her head- just to ensure no one else could make a profit from his Red Sun.

It felt like forever, but finally the guards escorting the caravan came around to let out the slaves. Several came to tend Red Sun and Yasmin respectively, and Yasmin couldn't get out of that cage fast enough. She scrambled out as soon as the door opened and groaned as she stretched out her cramped legs, which had grown sore from the trip, and arched her spine.

"Sweet goddess," she breathed, twisting her torso this way and that to get out all the cricks. Then she stretched her legs, an athlete getting ready for the big race--only in this case, the "race" was to the river to...kill crocodiles and not die.

Ugh. Leopards were one thing. Underwater critters, however, were quite another. Leopards didn't try to drown you. Leopards didn't rip you apart piece by piece, or pull you underwater, or twist their bodies in a death roll that tore legs and arms from their sockets. Leopards were scary, but they were clean killers: a firm bite to the throat to choke out your life, or a hard bite to the spine to break it. Crocs, though...

Once they got hold of you, you were done. Done, or may as well be done, because you'd be crippled for life and useless.

When she was all limbered up, Yasmin pushed the thought from her head as much as she could--without much success--and then headed toward Red Sun. May as well formally introduce herself!

"Red Sun, was it?" she asked as she approached the other woman with a bright smile, hand extended to offer up the customary greeting. She wasn't sure Red Sun would actually accept it; the woman seemed rather...unfriendly. Not much like the hand-shaking, cheek-kissing sort. But Yasmin bore her no hard feelings and hey, at least she'd offered. No one could accuse her of not trying!

"I'm Yasmin. Sooo...exciting stuff, huh? Killing stuff. Again. As usual. Never gets old, let me tell you!"

Red Sun, too, was elated to be outside of her cage, but while her new companion was more energetically displaying her gratitude to be outside of their confined space, Red Sun remained more discrete, stretching about like a large cat, and ignoring Yasmin as best as she could. She used this moment to study their environment, but she wasn't sure how much this sort of studying would help.  She was a fighter in the arena, putting her on a boat with a spear... and in a boat while she was wearing chains, chains of which she frowned down at that were locked tightly to her wrist and ankles, brought an even more soured frown to her lips.

It wasn't until Yasmin approached did Red Sun lift her gaze to glare at the other woman. She remained silent and when the woman tried to offer her an appropriate greeting, she turned her shoulder to the other woman and faced the Niafi River Bank once more.

"Have you ever been trained on a boat?" she asked, her voice flat as she cut right down to business, her eyes wary and still observing the area like a predator inserted into a new field in which to hunt. She asked the question when she noticed the boats her master stood before.

Boats.. ugh.
She had never much been fond of rivers.

Ouch. This dame was cold. Yasmin glanced down at her own hand--was it dirty or something?--and then let it drop.

"Oh, well it's fantastic to meet you, too, Red Sun! I don't know about you, but I feel like this is the start of a great friendship. I was really feeling it just now, when you didn't shake my hand. Like some sort of connection, you know? Anyway..."

Turning toward the river, Yasmin shielded her eyes with her hand and looked out over the water. "Your question. You want the truth or the lie?"

Despite hearing all of the jabs Yasmin gave back in response to her cold shoulder, Red Sun only glanced at the woman when she offered her the last question.

"I'd prefer the truth," she told her, narrowing her gaze almost poisonously upon her companion.

Yasmin flashed Red Sun her brightest smile.

"Nope!" she said, planting her hands on her hips and rocking back on her heels. "Never even been in water deeper than a bath!"

Red Sun gave her companion a soured look. She had been on boats for travel, but this was different. Trying to kill an animal in a river....
She knew it wouldn't be easy, and if they didn't deliver to their master's expectations, Karime would show no mercy, and even at such a thought, she could still feel the stinging wounds of the whip lash still healing on her back.

Turning her glare away from Yasmin, her green eyes searched the area and she noted the boat Karime was hoovering around and proudly displaying before his entourage. He was going on and on about crocodiles, and Red Sun was curious just how these beasts would react in their natural habitat, and just exactly how she was to kill them- and..
Bring back their dead bodies on such a small boat. But as she studied Karime, she noted more than one boat around him. She supposed he'd bring his slaves to row that one. And it was rather large. He must be presuming he'd be getting a LOT of dead crocs.

Yasmin followed Red Sun's gaze, staring out at the boats her new master had prepared. The smaller one they'd be using, and...a far larger one. Someone had high hopes.

With a sigh and shake of her head, Yasmin wiped some sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"You nervous?" she asked Red Sun. Maybe that was why she was so...distant. Could be she was just scared! And rightfully so. Yasmin was acting all nonchalant, but damned if she wasn't freaking out a lot at the idea of getting in that bloody boat and trying not to get eaten while also trying to please the master!

Red Sun cut a glare at Yasmin.
"Nerves will get your killed." And she kept her look on Yasmin for just a bit longer before peering over towards the boats.  "But I was not trained to do battle with creatures in the river."
She supposed today she was going to learn. And it didn't help that a lot of eyes were upon them.

Nerves? Yeah, she was probably nervous, but she wasn't ever about to admit that. She'd die before showing that sort of weakness.

"Don't underestimate fear," Yasmin said as she squinted out at the boats that they were slowly bringing closer to shore. "You forget your fear, you forget your mortality, and you start to slip up. Don't get cocky, but don't let it paralyze you. That's the key."

She clapped her hands together and beamed at Red Sun. "Guess today's gonna be one giant learning experience, huh? Fantastic. Dunno about you, but I was getting bored of fighting in a ring!"

Red Sun's irritation was evident as her companion went on. But she didn't like this woman calling her out on things that were close to being the truth (or were the truth, in some (or most) cases.)
With an even deeper glare, she looked out to the waters and kept silent. There was no reason to keep talking to this girl. She would keep talking for herself anyways, being spoken to or not.

"Yes, a learning experience," she said through a small scowl, a scowl that grew when her master Karime began to approach his two slaves.

"Marvelous to see you two becoming so acquainted!" Karime went on, clasping his hands together in seemingly mock admiration. Though he was taking Yasmin's grin to be a good sign because.. well, he owned Red Sun long enough to know she scowled at everything.

"I hope the pair of you are ready to kill some crocodiles. Now, this is far different than what you're both used to. But of you are prime fighters. I know neither of you will fail to impress," he said, flashing a toothy grin at the pair as he beamed.

Gringringrin!

Yasmin kept the grin plastered on her face as Karime approached, though anyone that knew her would have noticed the way her grin shifted from sincere to insincere, the way it didn't reach her eyes. For Karime, though, it would do. Yasmin had found her masters never really cared enough to discern when she was being genuine or not. Maybe it was because they really believed she was just that stupid, or maybe it was because they just didn't care, so long as she was obeying.

And maybe Yasmin was feeling just a tad bit bitter and ornery, and in a 'testing limits' mood, because she flashed the man a beaming smile and swept down in an elaborate, flourishing bow that could rival those she'd seen foreign nobility perform.

"For you, master, only the largest crocs!" she said, and straightened back up. "I'm always happy to serve!"

If looks could kill, both Karime and Yasmin would have been dead ten times over, but she simply bowed humbly to her master and said, "As you wish."

Karime, satisfied with them both, barked his orders to his men to prepare the boots.
"It's time to do a little hunting."

Naturally, Karime would not dare put himself out in harm's way, so his most trusted of servants and hired men would steer the boats and bark the orders. Though none of the other slaves observed on the sandy banks were in chains, Red Sun would remain in her shackles, a stifling means to keep her safe, and also making it pretty difficult for her to consider killing crocodiles with efficiency. Though Yasmin was not spared this shame either. The only thing thankful about these shackles adorning their wrists and ankles were that they seemed to be light weight. Though where Red Sun wore a collar, Yasmin wore none.

Once the command was given, Red Sun stepped into one boat, and before Yasmin could board with her, a large man placed his hand on her shoulder and jerked a thumb to a smaller boat beside hers.

"This one's yours, slave," he said gruffly. And Red Sun turned to witness the act as the boat lightly bobbed beneath her form and the moving waters of the Niafi.

Yasmin couldn't believe they were actually going to put her in shackles for this. And keep them on her!

But she kept her mouth shut as she was adorned with the stupid things, and instead strode to her boat, a proud, flippant bounce in her step like she wasn't dreading this entire day, and like this was just another average day. You know, heading out on a tiny boat, ready to fight crocodiles. As one does.

How on Earth did Karime figure they'd be able to kill crocodiles in chains? Did he want to kill them?!

But she boarded the boat, even though it rocked beneath her and pitched her forward, making her yelp and stumble. She grabbed onto the edge and held on, knuckles going white.

"Wow. This chain is sure not going to be weird and restricting and make it hard to maneuver at all! But who needs range of motion when hunting crocs?" she said, as though speaking to herself, but pitched her voice loud enough to carry. "In fact, I'll bet this could double as a weapon! I could probably wrap the chain around their necks and strangle them all, eh master? Would you like that?"

She batted her eyelashes at him.

Karime glared daggers at the defiant little slave.
"Keep up that tongue, new one, and those chains will be around your throat as you hang from the gallows." ANd to his men he now turned and snapped his fingers, and soon the boats were pushing off the shore.

Red Sun didn't like the shackles either, and it was a pathetic thing to do to the pair of them, knowing they were hunting such a fearsome predator, but their master would take no chances.
She turned her back to her 'partner' and stared off towards the river bank, eyes distant as she became lost in thought, but it was evident something was troubling her, for her gaze was intense, like a fire of green.

Cassius wasn't much of a sailor, but he knew enough to manage a rowboat. The Croc Hunt was coming up and he wanted to get some practice in. He did not have an expert crew, but two male slaves that he had picked up somewhere. They would handle the rowing and all of the menial stuff that Cassius couldn't be bothered with while fighting extra large reptiles.

As he was preparing to get out onto the river, he saw two other boats go out into the water. He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and squinted so that he could get an early assessment of his competition. It was hard to make out the finer details and the passengers on the boats from this distance, but he knew that red hair anywhere. That was undeniably Red Sun. Wouldn't she be thrilled to see him.

Cassius turned back around to continue with boat preparations to find that his two slaves were staring off at the other boats as well.

"Back to work," Cassius barked at them.

The two slaves both jumped with a start and immediately went back to what they were doing with renewed urgency. They didn't want to end up being croc bait.

She felt her skin crawling as she looked around, and swatted angrily at an insect buzzing in her ear. And it was then she spotted Cassius and his boat entourage. And the insect returned to buzz in her ear, and she crushed it in a venomous grip. She should have known he'd be here. She could only pray he'd not row over to harass her. She wasn't much fond of water, and didn't want to appear like a fool before him. She had to remain cool and confident, lest she wind up in the belly of a crocodile.  Or worse...

As the boat cast off, Yasmin worked to keep her balance and took up her spear. At least she didn't have to row and fight! Though she was really, really not looking forward to this. One wrong move and she'd be overboard, and then it was over. It would be hard to board a boat this rocky from the water, at least without tipping it over, and if it wasn't the crocs that got her, she'd drown.

She took in some deep breaths, focusing, and kept her eyes to the water, looking for the swish of a scaly tail or the glint of eyes above the surface.

With all of the preparations made, Cassius finally got his boat out onto the water. Unlike Red Sun and Yasmin, Cassius had experience with boats and was able to stand up in his boat without any trouble. The only real concern he had was trying to swim with only one hand, but he figured that if he fell in the water he'd be dead anyway.

With a spear in his hand and the slaves rowing the boat, he kept his eyes on the water for any sign of the scaly beasts. Crocodiles were quite territorial, so he knew it shouldn't be much longer before at least one of them showed up.

Two eyes popped out from the waters surface, lingering in the sparkling reflection of the sun. Red Sun's eyes were scanning the area, as they usually did in that predatory way before a fight in the arena, so it didn't take long for her to spot the thing as her grip on her spear tensed as she observed it.

"Remain calm. A crocodile approaches." And her eyes remained locked with it, as if the woman were to stare down the beast, and as the boat slowed when they neared, it suddenly disappeared beneath the water in a series of tiny bubbles.

Red Sun swore and looked around. Where did it go? It looked to be a big one from the looks of it, and she'd be damned if she'd let such a prize escape!

Unaware of the crocodile Red Sun had spotted, Yasmin was busy directing her boat toward the reeds. Surely there would be some hiding amongst them? If nothing else, there would be nests hidden among the banks, and the crocodile mommies would come bustling back over as she encroached on their territory.

Maybe it wasn't the smart thing to do, but it would attract crocs, and they were here to hunt crocs. Yasmin just wanted to get this over with, so she could get back on solid, stable land.

Feeling a little foolhardy, Yasmin reached out into the reeds with her spear and used it to shake the reeds and slap the water with the tip. Then she pulled back and waited, ears straining.

She heard it then. A soft, sliding sound followed by a splash as something slipped into the water. Yasmin tensed and adjusted her grip on her spear, then squinted hard into the reeds, waiting.

But she didn't see it approach.

Instead, she felt it as it rammed into the side of her boat and sent it twirling, and sent her toppling backwards onto her ass with a yell.

Whirling around inside the boat, her eyes caught sight of Yasmin and the rocking boat, and also that of the large shadow of the crocodile that tried to capsize them. With a bark of command, she had her own boat turned around in the water fast, and now they were speeding off towards the crocodile, but it seemed they wouldn't have to make chase, for the crocodile turned around as just the ends of its jaws were exposed briefly before it rammed into Red Sun's small boat.

Red Sun was barely able to catch herself, the chains confining her clanging off the side of the wooden boat. Her long red hair fell into a mess about her face, which she quickly pushed aside the moment the boat was beginning to slow in it's chaotic rocking and she gripped her spear tightly and turned around- spotting the crocodile about to ram Yasmin's boat a second time.

"Behind you!" she barked out, and gestured for her men to paddle faster towards it.

Cassius watched as the other two boats came under attack by the crocs and directed his slaves to start heading in their direction.

"We can't let them have all the fun," he told his slaves. "Surely they'd be able to spare a croc or two."

Just as Red Sun barked out her warning, the crocodile struck, this time it knocked one of the men in Yasmin's boat over, oar and all. The man let out a scream as he splashed into the Niafi, and Red Sun cursed between her teeth. She had been distracted enough with commanding her men to paddle faster. If she could rescue the servant,... but before she could even get near him, the crocodile came back meaner than ever and snapped open it's jaws and took the drowning man down with it in one turn and dove deep into the river waters.

Red Sun held up a hand for her men to pause, and the river went silent. She couldn't even see the crocodile's shadow. But moments later, she saw the rising of rich red blood, and she moved away from the edge of the boat. The man was obviously gone.

Her eyes went to Yasmin, but that's when something else caught her eye, and she saw Cassius paddling their way. And for a moment, she wasn't sure what was worse- to lose a man, or to have him so boldly approaching them. And the look she cut him was more potent than the venom of a snake.

It was like Yasmin's worst fear come true. A man from her boat got knocked over, and while Yasmin was still clinging to the edge of the boat to keep from going over herself, he toppled into the water. With a cry, Yasmin jerked back to her knees and was ready to reach into the water--but it was too late.

The churning red waters showed the man was dead.

Yasmin clapped a hand over her mouth and took a deep breath. Oh, she'd seen death plenty, but this man hadn't been another gladiator, just an innocent bystander--and there was something different about seeing someone dragged under the water and torn apart by a scaled monster. It had happened so fast, and there was nothing that could be done.

Fall into the water, and you were dead. End of story.

"I hate water," Yasmin muttered, taking a deep breath in and out. Well, nothing that could be done now. Like always, she just had to keep pushing forward--and after that, as far as she was concerned, that crocodile was dead.

Rising to her feet again and lifting her spear, she watched where the waters churned red, and when she saw the flash of a scaly tail, she stabbed into the water with her spear.

And instantly, the water thrashed and bubbled, churning more violently, before a huge, tooth-filled head whipped around out of the water and bit onto her spear.

Red Sun's eyes immediately turned to where the action had begun. She saw Yasmin had successfully harmed the beast- and it was mad. Readying her spear, she waited for her boat to near it, and just as the crocodile went to snap it's jaw again, she thrust the spear forward, and stabbed it in it's left eye.

She gave the spear a good thrust and turn before yanking it back out as blood and water dribbled down her spear, and the water was soon turning red all around them. It looked like hell. But it was them or the crocodiles, and Red Sun had no time to pity such beasts.

Cassius continued to watch the action as he neared. It seemed as though both of them managed to wound one of the beasts, but that wouldn't stop it. They were at the point of no return. The beast was severely wounded and it would fight to the death. Cassius had come much better prepared than Red Sun and Yasmin. In addition to a spear, he also had a net and a harpoon with him. He found it typical that Karime would send his slaves out ill-prepared.

Cassius' boat came up to box in the croc between his, Red Sun's, and Yasmin's boat. He took up his harpoon and jammed into the beast's scaly hide as hard as he could. Wrapping the rope that was attached to the harpoon around his hand, hook, and arm, he ordered his slaves to the other side of the boat to weigh it down so it wouldn't tip. With all his strength, Cassius hauled the croc to the surface of the water by the rope. If the other two didn't catch on, then this would be a short hunt for him.

"What are you doing?" Red Sun hissed, whirling around and aiming her bloodied spear at Cassius.

"It seemed like a nice day to go fishing," Cassius said as casually as he could manage while holding a crocodile in place. "What are you doing?"

"HEY!" Yasmin shouted, whipping around on Cassius about the same time Red Sun did. She hefted her spear, which the croc had released when Red Sun stabbed it, and glared at the man.

"Back off! That thing's ours!"

"So are you going to kill it then," Cassius asked. "Or are you interested in how long I can hold this thing before I fall off the boat or my arms give out?"

Red Sun bared her teeth at Cassius like an animal- and she appeared about as livid and wild as the crocodile itself as it thrashed beneath Cassius's hold. But she wasted no time in turning around, steadying herself quickly, despite her rocking boat and thrusting her spear forward with an angered roar. The spear jammed clean into the crocodile's head, and she roared again and barked over to Yasmin, "Help me spear it!" Before yanking the spear out and jabbing into it again, this time, going deeper, and twisting the end. And as the struggle went on, the entire waters around them were turning a ripe, ripe red.

Wait, what? So he was helping them? The anger in Yasmin's eyes soon faded, replaced with surprise--but then Red Sun was calling out, and she refocused. Now wasn't the time!

Steadying herself in the boat as Red Sun stabbed the struggling croc, Yasmin plunged her own spear into it, getting it right in the guts as it twisted and writhed and exposed its soft, pale belly. Again and again she stabbed it, and she couldn't help but feel pity for it as it struggled and thrashed its tail in the frothy red waters until, finally, it went still.

Cassius grinned as the croc finally went limp.

"There we go."

Cassius hauled the beast into his boat.

"There now. Here's one for me, and you two can have the next one," Cassius said with a devious grin. "Unless of course, the next one happens to be larger. Then you can have this one."

It was then Red Sun hefted up her spear and pointed it directly at his throat, and she didn't even bother to say a word, just glared at the man threateningly.

A second later, and Yasmin's spear joined Red Sun's.

"You'll reconsider that, won't you?" she asked with a cheery smile, though her eyes remained cold. There was no way this leech was stealing their kill! They did all the bloody work!

"I might," Cassius said stroking his chin. "That is, if you can learn to swim in the next five seconds."

Cassius then nudged their boat with his foot causing it to rock back and forth, but not enough to make either one of them fall over.

"I have better equipment, I can swim, and most importantly I don't need your help to get this done. So, we do things my way, or I can watch you two make fools of yourselves. There's no point in competing if I don't have any competitors."

Red Sun nearly fell over, and she would have cursed Cassius forever if she had. She did NOT want to appear a fool before anyone, especially not him. And if he were to kill her by drowning...
An even more foolish way to go. Though she was a slave, she had her pride. And with an angered roar, she launched her spear at his boat.

Cassius stepped aside to avoid the spear and then chuckled as it bounced off of his boat.

"This ain't no cheap boat like Karime gave you," Cassius told her. "This thing is solid oak. It was no easy task bringing it all the way here."

"Just like it was no easy task in hunting that crocodile!" she spat. "Bring your boat back over here so I can properly challenge you for it." Because despite his rank, and she- well, carrying none, she was NOT about to let him get away with this!

"You can't fight me on the water," Cassius told her. "You can barely stand. What makes you think you can fight me?"

It was at this she was seeing red, and perhaps would have the opposite effect she had hoped. But nothing could stop her from what she did next, as she leaped off the boat- and soon plunged under the water.

To be consumed by this much water had her panicked, and though she had seen others swim before, she herself had never really done it. But she'd do anything to one up Cassius- anything, and as she floundered about beneath the waters, powerful arms and legs kicking wildly, she began to panic some more. She wasn't familiar with the concept to hold her breath, so she couldn't hold it well. Nor did she know how to move herself efficiently through the waters. But as she began to inhale the water, anger quickly over came all logic as she realized what Cassius must think to be able to witness her drown.

Strong legs kicked and kicked again, as powerful arms, so used to fighting, to killing, pulled her forward through the dark waters as she opened her eyes to look at a blurry world of moving shadows. She could hear nothing of the world above, for the water's noise was deafening, and it was hard to see as the waters were clouded, and stung at her eyes. But she could make out the shadows above her, and as she choked on more water, she was quick to figure out which boat was Cassius's, and was determined to get on it and wrestle the man into submission.


And moment's later, she came gasping out of the water, clinging onto Cassius's boat and nearly taking it in with her. The crocodile, in that moment, nearly slipped off, but miraculously, remained on the small boat. And though it took an effort, Red Sun was now on his ship, crouching down on her knees and breathing hard- long red hair plastered to her face, to her body, and her clothing, almost non existent when it was wet. And as she rose, her green eyes blazed with a powerful hatred as hot as the sun.

She was still coughing out water, trying to catch her breath when she charged him- as stubborn and powerful as a bull. Cassius would pay!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Yasmin yelled when Red Sun jumped into the water. Water that was infested with crocodiles! Angry crocodiles! And more would likely be attracted to the spot around their boats now that blood had been spilled!

Red Sun might have been crazy enough to dive into infested waters without knowing how to even swim, but Yasmin was not. No way! She knelt near the edge of her boat, picking at her fingernails with anxiety, and waited, expecting to see the red waters turn a darker shade at any minute. She couldn't help Red Sun here. She didn't know how to swim, so there was no way she was pulling some stupidly heroic move and getting them both eaten or drowned. Still, it was a helpless feeling--and she also couldn't help feeling angry that her teammate would pull such a stupid stunt!

But then, by Hakeshna's grace and mercy, Red Sun surfaced.

And climbed into Cassius's boat.

Yasmin nearly wilted with relief, rubbing at her temples.

This was going to end well.

But while Red Sun charged at Cassius, she turned her back on the two and went back to watching the waters. She wasn't going to watch! Nope! She was not going to be complicit in Red Sun murdering the guy. She'd gotten in enough trouble on that front already. Instead, she shifted over to the other side of her boat, hefted her spear, and waited.

And sure enough, the surface rippled as a dark shape moved beneath, attracted by the blood and the thrashing, and Yasmin took careful aim and then struck like a viper.

Let them fight.

She was going to bag herself a croc!

Slightly impressed but undaunted, Cassius simply flung a kick at the sputtering Red Sun. Was she insane? This was definitely the most foolhardy thing he had ever seen Red Sun do, especially since Red Sun still had the harpoon in his hand. If Red Sun wanted to fight while she was at a severe disadvantage, then let her.

She couldn't evade the kick, she was in no position to, and found herself falling ontop of the dead.croc, of all things! And if she thought things were going terribly wrong now.... The very crocodile Yasmin went to speer became enraged and began to charge head first at the boats.

Cassius stood over Red Sun.

"That was quite unlike you to do something so foolish."

Before Cassius could say more, one of his slaves shouted a warning. Cassius turned and saw another croc coming in at top speed.

"Looks like your friend found another one. On your feet, Sunny, it's go time."

Sunny. She hated the name. And without warning, she struck her leg out, hoping to knock Cassius clean off his feet.

Unfortunately for Red Sun, Cassius always kept his feet firmly planted whenever he was on a boat. When Red Sun kicked him, the combination of his sure footing and the fact that he was heavy kept him from moving.

"Now you're just being annoying," Cassius said with a scowl. "If you don't shape up then you're going in with the crocs, and you know full well that I'm capable of making that happen, so don't test me! You want a croc? There's one coming this way. If you want it, you best start behaving yourself."

She growled through her teeth. "We've already gotten our croc!" And rising to her feet, she yanke a spear from a man nearby and slammed it clean into the dead one on his boat- and glared at Cassius with a challenging look.

"What if that one is bigger," Cassius asked her. "I bet you would be wanting that one then."

Red Sun growled. "The idea of this hunt is to get as many crocodiles as you can! And if you were to rightfully kill it, it would be yours!"

"You probably wouldn't have even gotten this one if it weren't for me," Cassius shot back. "I would be led to believe you might be a little grateful that I stooped so low as to help a slave."

Growling at him, she cut back, "You mean steal from a slave!" And if they wanted to be correct about it, he was technically stealing from two slaves.

"You want it," Cassius roared grabbing hold of the dead croc. "Then go get it!"

Cassius tossed the scaly beast out of his boat and into the water with a mighty splash.

The second the crocodile corpse splashed into the water, the boat rocked. Red Sun merely stared, wide eyed at what Cassius had done. She could have slugged him! Would have slugged him, if it wasn't for what happened next...
As the crocodile Yasmin had been hunting suddenly came barreling underneath Cassius's boat- and soon it was turned over.

Yasmin had been aiming her spear, lining it up with its head, when it suddenly dove, vanishing beneath the murky waters--

And turned over Red Sun and Cassius's boat.

Soon the waters were churning, the beast thrashing, and for a second Yasmin stared in horror as the waters turned redder, blanching because she was certain it was gnawing on one of them--but then it surfaced, and in its gaping maw held one of the dead croc's legs. It had been attracted to the blood, and, like the opportunistic cannibals they were, decided to take advantage of their kill. Lucky for Red Sun and Cassius, it didn't care about either of them.

Yet.

But that didn't mean other crocs wouldn't, and soon, at this rate.

Cursing under her breath, Yasmin took aim again as the beast went into a full-body roll, intent on tearing chunks of flesh from the dead animal, and that was when Yasmin struck, plunging her spear deep into its soft belly.

"Stop fighting, you idiots, and get out of the water!" she shouted to Red Sun and Cassius as she gave her spear a vicious twist.

Cassius cursed loudly as his boat was overturned, dumping all of his gear into the water. Acting fast, Cassius immediately grabbed hold of the upside down boat and climbed on, the two slaves that had been accompanying quickly did the same. Luckily, Cassius had been smart enough to bring slaves that could swim. However, all he had to kill crocs with now was his sword. He had dropped the harpoon when the boat was tipped and it was undoubtedly resting at the bottom of the river. This was a fine mess.

Perhaps it was the concept of what goes around, comes around- but Red Sun's anger definitely needed to cool off. And for her foolishness, it seemed Hakeshna wanted to punish her-
for before she could even try to swim to the surface, the thrashing crocodile that rolled around in the waters gave a heavy blow to her head, sending her down deeper into the Niafi River, and inhaling more water than she would have liked.

Cassius watched as Red Sun seemed to have gotten knocked out and started sinking.

"Damn it, Sunny," Cassius mumbled.

Knowing that Red Sun's companion could not swim and that his own slaves were definitely not planning on going after her, Cassius dove in. Despite only having one hand, he was still a decent swimmer and it didn't take him long to reach the sinking Red Sun. Cassius slid his hook beneath her collar and began swimming to the surface. Hopefully that croc would be distracted long enough for him to get out of the water.

She wasn't sure what was happening- the world around her was thrown into chaos. But when she felt a pull, she suddenly lashed out with whatever strength she had left. If a crocodile was to eat her, at least she could fight to the end. But the moment she began her underwater battle, her eyes opened and she gasped.

Cassius?
And by then she had taken in too much water that it finally began to choke the life out of her as her eyes rolled back and she went still.

The cock thrashed beneath her spear, but Yasmin held it steady, gritting her teeth and leaning all her weight into it. Adjusting her grip, she gave the spear a quick, vicious twist, and the croc spasmed violently and then went still, save for some twitching. It always took a while before reptiles realized they were dead.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest, because during all this, she wasn't unaware of what had happened. Red Sun was in the water, Cassius had gone in after her, and meanwhile she could see more movement in the waters around them as more and more crocs were attracted to the blood and commotion. But Yasmin could do nothing to help them; she wasn't going in that water!

The only thing she could do was try to keep the other crocs occupied, to fight them off as well as she could.

Not before she got her kill, of course.

She pulled the croc's body toward her boat, planted her foot on its belly, and wrenched her spear free. Then, reaching into the water, she hefted it into her boat with a grunt. It was smaller than the last one, only about six feet with the tail, but sill formidable. Then, standing again, she watched the waters with her spear raised and ready, her stomach a mess of nerves. She didn't know either Cassius or Red Sun longer than this afternoon, but she still didn't want to see anyone get torn apart by a giant lizard! She wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

"Hurry up, you two..."

Cassius hauled himself up onto his overturned boat with Red Sun in tow. It looked like that other slave that Red Sun was with managed to get a kill. Perhaps now they would leave him alone.

Cassius drug Red Sun up onto the boat next to him.

"Alright, Sunny, wake up," Cassius said nudging her. "Fun's over."

But she didn't wake up, and remained a limp pile on his boat, her too long of hair a soggy heap all around her, looking very much like a large, bright red clump of sea weed clinging to her form.

Cassius nudged her again, harder this time.

"Come on, Sunny, this isn't funny. We're going to die. Let's go."

Despite his prodding, Red Sun still didn't move. Was she dead? Red Sun touched his two fingers to the side of her neck to check for a pulse. He didn't feel anything.

"Goddamnit, Sunny," Cassius mumbled.

Cassius turned to Yasmin. He was going to ask her if she knew how to do mouth-to-mouth, but then he figured that their was no way a slave would know that. Cassius knew plenty of people that would rather die than have a slave put their lips on them. All of a sudden, Cassius was in control of whether Red Sun lived or died. Should he revive her? If he did, then all of his credibility as a slave trader would be last. It was already badly damaged after the whole giant snake fiasco. Should he let her die? If he let her die then he would lose the closest thing to a friend that he ever had. Sure she hated his guts, but she at least talked to him, which is more than anyone else ever did. He would also never get to face her in combat again if she were to die by drowning.

Cassius sighed. He was absolutely certain that he would regret this. Brushing Red Sun's hair out of her face, he sealed their lips together and blew into her mouth. After two big breaths, he pushed on her stomach five times before blowing into her mouth again. He could not believe he was actually doing this.

Her chest rose, her lips parting when suddenly, she was spitting out water and gasping for air. The water threatened to return to her throat, and she jerked to the side, and continued coughing out water and gasping desperately for air, her face churning through shades of blue and red.

As soon as Red Sun began her coughing fit, Cassius immediately straightened up and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Hopefully she wouldn't ask about the specific details of her rescue.

"About time," Cassius said to the sputtering Red Sun. "We're being surrounded by several unhappy scaly things that are looking for a snack."

Still coughing out water, she groaned and peered up at him,t hen at the world around her. For a moment, she looked lost, then she looked pissed as her head darted around, "Where is my spear!?" How the hell could she fight off any approaching crocodiles without it? But as she tried to stand, she stumbled and the boat rocked lightly- nearly tipping her off into the waters again, but she managed to catch herself at the side, just in time to watch the angry mouth of a crocodile snap at her from the waters. Out of habit, she reared back and grabbed at it's biting jaws, throwing it aside as she fell onto the bottom of Cassius's boat, which made it rock again.

While trying to catch her breath,s he growled, "You fool! Where is my spear!?"

"Down there," Cassius told her pointing at the water. "You're lucky you're not down there with it."

Red Sun grit her teeth as that moment all came flooding back to her. And she cursed. But then as she thought back to it she looked towards Cassius.
"You went after me?"
Maybe he really was a fool.

"There was no way I was going to let a body of water steal the glory that is to be mine," Cassius told her.

The crocs were getting closer. Since Cassius' boat was turned over, all they had to use was what was left in Red Sun and Yasmin's boat. Cassius still had his sword and Yasmin had her spear, but that wouldn't mean much against and entire horde of angry lizards.

Red Sun glared at Cassius. She could have hit him!
"If you wanted me dead you should have left me down there!" And she was so pissed about it, that when another crocodile snapped at the boat nearest to her, she released an angered growl and punched it square in the snout.

"That wouldn't have been any fun," Cassius replied. "Where is the honor in drowning?"

As Cassius spoke, he turned and kicked a croc off of the boat as it tried to lunge at him.

"Besides, if you had drowned then you would have missed out on all this excitement."

Yasmin had been doing her best to stave off the crocs, and had almost gotten her leg bit once by a bold croc that reared from the water and at her boat. That had been her near-mistake; she'd been half-distracted by the drama that played out in the opposite boat, and there was only so much she could do to keep away the crocodiles on her own!

But it seemed Red Sun would live. Which was a relief, since though she didn't know the woman, she was all she had in her new life, and also a surprise.

Cassius had saved her?

And he may or may not have known it, but he was the only one among them who could have. Yasmin didn't know mouth to mouth, and she couldn't have crossed over to that boat even if she did! If she'd tried, Cassius would have had to rescue two drowning victims!

But though they were both alive, they were hardly out of danger, clinging to an overturned boat, Red Sun unarmed, excited crocs trying to latch onto them. Red Sun seemed to be doing okay with her bare fists! (Yeesh.) But the crocs also just kept on coming...

It was only a matter of time.

With a sigh of frustration, Yasmin smacked a croc away with the side of her spear as it lunged for her, and then turned to the other slaves manning the boat. "Get us closer!" she ordered, and soon the boat was moving, approaching the overturned one.

"Red Sun! Get on," she called, but said nothing of Cassius, and didn't even look at him.

He was, after all, a slaver. And saving Red Sun didn't change that.

Red Sun cut a glare his way before turning to Yasmin and leaping, as best she could, into the boat. She landed in a crouch and was quick to rise, ordering a new spear. And soon she was armed and at Yasmin's side, thrusting her spear towards another croc that dared to snap at them.
"Hakeshana's name, are these crocs pissed. Aim for their eyes! They can't kill what they can't see!"

Cassius scowled as Red Sun leaped to her own boat. Typical. Behind him one of his slaves were nabbed by a croc and drug screaming into the water to be torn apart.

"Stay in the middle," Cassius ordered his remaining slave while drawing his sword. "It's time to show these bastards that I'm not on the menu."

Just then, a crocodile made a leap for Cassius. Cassius caught the reptile in the mouth with his hook, lifted it up, and stabbed its soft underbelly before shoving it back into the water.

"Come on, you overgrown salamanders! Show me what you got!"

"I'd be pissed, too. Wouldn't you?" Yasmin said, right as she took careful aim and plunged her spear at one of the croc's eyes. It missed when the croc turned just in time, glancing off thick scales instead.

"We kind of did come into their nesting grounds and shake things up. Which makes for angry mama lizards."

Red Sun made a noise, which almost could have been called a laugh.
"I'm not a mother so I can't sympathize." Though even she knew it was wrong.. it was just the way of things. The slaves obeyed their orders like dogs. And if theyre to kill, they kill. And she was long over due to make her master happy and the whip lash marks on her back were proof of that.

When the crocodile returned, she gave an angered call and thrust her spear with all of her might, and jammed the thing clean into the croc's eye.

This was definitely an experience that Cassius would remember for a long time. He was fighting crocodiles on an overturned boat in the middle of a river. This would definitely be conversation worthy if he actually conversed with people.

As he continued beating off crocodiles, one came up from behind him. Cassius' remaining slave jumped onto the beast and began pummeling it with his fist as hard as he could, giving Cassius enough time to turn around and do away with the scaly beast. The slaves eyes lit up as Cassius gave him a nod. Coming from Cassius, a nod was the greatest compliment he had ever received. However, it was short lived as yet another croc arrived and plucked the poor soul from the boat in an instant.

"Aw come on," Cassius shouted after the croc. "He finally did something useful."

With a sigh, Cassius continued fighting for his life. How was he going to get himself out of this one?

Seeing the crocodile chomp at Cassius's slave, she turned from her own croc, grabbing a second spear and threw it forall she was worth. And it landed right between its eyes, and the slave, who was about to become lunch, cried out as its arm was bit off and his blood turned the waters red.

[omg I'm a derp who was trying to be nice and wait for other people to post and just realized everyone was waiting for ME! xDDD *facepalm*]

Yasmin grit her teeth, and for a moment she wanted to put a spear in Cassius! A man just got his arm torn off and was now going to drown or bleed to death, and the bastard was going on about his usefulness?

She couldn't help it. She knew she should keep her mouth shut, but as she stabbed at a croc that was swimming toward the bloodied waters, eager to get the rest of the slave, she shouted, "What's wrong with you?"

"What kind of question is that," Cassius retorted. "I think it's pretty obvious that a bunch of crocs are trying to eat me alive."

Cassius spun around landed a kick on the side of a crocodile's head.

"What's wrong with you?"

Red Sun growled. This was crazy, all of it, but she wasted no time in grabbing up a paddle and steering her own boat towards the bleeding man- having already cleared the path of the large crocodile that wanted to eat the poor man for it's supper.
The man was using his last good limb, and both his legs to keep afloat, which only aided to the chaos all around them.

Once she was close enough, Red Sun put out her hand.
"Here! Take my hand!" But when the man went to reach for it, he grabbed onto Red Sun's shackles instead and jerked her forward. Thankfully, she caught herself on the lip of the boat, which rocked beneath her's and the weight of hte man she was trying to save as she held on for dear life.

Growling, she began to pull the man forward, hoping to get him into the boat-
when from the deep- the large maws of a crocodile came up and snapped him, pulling him down into the water, and half pulling Red Sun along with!

"What's wrong with me?" Yasmin shouted back as she tried to keep the crocs back while Red Sun fetched the slave. But she knew he might not make it even if she got him on board; he'd lost a lot of blood, and without anything to cauterize or bind the stump, it might be a lost cause. "I don't know! Why don't you tell me? I'm just an ignorant slave, after--"

She cut off, because that was when another croc, one she hadn't seen, came from the deep and grabbed the man, and Yasmin dropped her spear into the boat so she could wrap her arms around Red Sun's waist and pull her back.

"Let him go," Cassius shouted. "He's dead either way. Don't be stupid."

Cassius looked around. They were still coming. How many of these damn things were there? Between the three of them they had definitely killed quite a few, but that only seemed to make them angrier. Was there no end to this tide of crocs? Was this how he was to die? Cassius tightened his grip on his sword. Well, if this was how he was to die, he was going to take these crocodiles down with him.

Red Sun fell back into Yasmin, the pair falling into the boat as it rocked upon the bloodied waters. And just like Cassius, she had to wonder why the crocodile swarm seemed endless. Peering around, she grit her teeth.
"We should fall back!" Since, despite what she did earlier, she wasn't entirely suicidal. Getting to her feet, she barked to her men.
"Row us back to shore!" And as a croc bumped against the boat, Red Sun had enough. "Now!!!"

The other slaves lurched into action, taking up their oars and beginning to row, though they clearly looked frightened--with good reason! To row, they had to get close to the boat's edge, and soon they had crocodiles snapping at their oars! One croc managed to grab hold of one and yank it out of the slave's hands, nearly taking the slave along with it, and Yasmin cursed. If that kept happening, soon they'd have nothing to row the boat with. They'd be stuck out here, and who would come to rescue slaves?

She rushed to the side of one of the rowers and began to focus on keeping the crocs away from them. "Guard them!" she barked at Red Sun. "We're going to lose the oars!"

Red Sun didn't need to be told twice. Picking up her weapon, she jabbed it at any crocodile that dare get near, and for now, it seemed their plan to deter them was working. The crocodiles, though drawn to the blood and hungry, did not like being jabbed by spears too much, and soon the boat was breaking away from the bloodied waters and pushing out into the middle, deeper part of the Niafi.

Cassius cursed as he saw Red Sun and Yasmin rowing away while he was still stuck on his own overturned boat.

"Hey," he shouted. "What about me?!"

Red Sun cut a look back to him. Though she was still pissed at him, he did save her life. Gritting her teeth, she turned to Yasmin.

"Turn his way." And then over to Cassius she shouted. "Get ontop of your boat and tried to push this way!"

She might regret this later, but she had a feeling she'd regret it more if she didn't.

"How the hell am I supposed to push it," Cassius replied. "I don't have any oars, and I sure as hell ain't getting near the water."

Another crocodile tried making its way onto Cassius' boat only to be stomped on and driven back into the river.

Red Sun cursed and shouted her command louder, "Row faster!" And the other slaves could only oblige, the boat gaining speed, despite the fact they all wished to turn the other way. When they were close enough, she put out her arm.

"Come on and take it before it gets bitten off by a croc!"

Wouldn't Cassius like that? Then they'd both have only one arm.

Cassius sheathed his sword and took a step back.

"Just hand on and don't fall in," Cassius told her.

With that, he jumped from his boat into theirs with a splash.

"That wasn't so bad."

The splash happened to get Red Sun right in the eyes, and irritably, she wiped it away and glared over at the man before commanding the slaves to return to their oaring- to get them ALL the hell out of there!

"Why save a man like that?" Yasmin muttered under her breath, arms folded across her chest as she sat down in the boat as it rocked enough to nauseate her. All she could think about was how he'd responded to the dying slave, with not a lick of compassion.

Red Sun only growled in response, "Why save a slave like me?" She had been doomed earlier, but either way she felt she and Cassius were now even. And as they were rowing off into the deeper , clearer waters, she refused to look or even talk to Cassius.

"When the crocs finally calm down, we could probably go back out there and take our pick of the dead ones," Cassius commented.

Though Red Sun returning to rescue him was surprising, it wasn't unexpected. He had saved her life, so it was only fair that she save his. Though he could tell she obviously wasn't happy about it, and neither was her friend. Cassius kept his eyes out on the swarm of crocs, not bothering to look at those in the boat with him.

Ignoring Cassius's suggestion, even though she knew it was a good idea.. (after all, the point of this while thing was to bring back dead crocs!), Red Sun kept the rowers on a steady course away from the chaos. But as she did so, she noticed a familiar entourage on the shore. Lord Hassar... Seemed Karime wasn't going to just sit around all day. Figured.

If looks could kill, that man would be dead, but instead, she turned her eyes back towards the crocodiles to see bloodied, still waters. Then, in a commanding tone, she barked out the orders, "Turn this boat around! " And she cast Cassius a venomous glare. "We're going back for those crocs." And she added, so that Cassius remembered whose boat he was in...
"And the crocodiles we bring in will be under Lord Hassar's slaves."

"Lord Hassar can kiss my ass," Cassius said. "I'm getting at least one of them."

When Cassius saw Karime, he felt those same homicidal urges that he always felt when he was around that scumbag. He wanted so badly to just cut Karime in two. It would be easy too. Karime couldn't fight at all, and yet he had power. The strong should be the ones in charge, not these lazy fat bastards. It was such a corruption of the natural order.

Red Sun cut him a look and challenged, "You forget whose boat you're on. Any crocodiles brought back belong to him."

"You forget who I am," Cassius replied. "If he wants my croc, he's gonna have to fight me for it."

"Oh, I'd pay to see that!" Yasmin said with a wide grin, glancing over at Cassius. "If I owned any property or money, that is. Being a slave puts a damper on that."

Red Sun cut both of them a sharp look.
"The crocodiles are Lord Hassar's, and you'd have to fight me to claim them."

Yasmin looked at Red Sun, eyebrows rising, but she bit back what she wanted to say. She wanted to ask if she truly felt that sort of loyalty to their beast of a master--but thought better of it. It might not have anything to do with loyalty, but with logic--if Cassius tried to take their kills, their master wouldn't fight him. Their master would make them fight him.

And the conversation regarding loyalty or lack thereof was not one she should be having in front of a slaver.

"You would have to fight us both," she said instead.

Red Sun then turned her back on Cassius and commanded the men to row faster. The quicker they gathered the dead, the better.

"I'd fight an army if I had to," Cassius said. "That bastard has no power over me, not while I can break him in two. A man who has to hide behind slaves is not a man at all, just a coward."

Red Sun ignored him, she always did. He spewed the same thing everytime she saw him. And though she hated to admit he had a point, she knew her place and nothing would change that. She'd deal with Cassius on dry land, for now... They were approaching the crocodile corpses and as soon as she was close to one, she called over to Yasmin to help her pull it onto their boat.

While the slaves went for their kill, Cassius spotted one for himself. Since he didn't need any help, he pulled it close and heaved it into the boat by himself. He then drew his dagger and carved a 'C' onto the back of its head.

"This one is mine," Cassius announced.

Red Sun just kept her gaze away from him. Her disposition was greatly soured, but as she went to work at hefting up another crocodile onto the boat- she purposely let her hand slip as she elbowed Cassius in the gut.

"Oh, clumsy me."

Cassius scowled.

"Bullshit," he muttered, rubbing his stomach. "You're lucky I want to save my strength. I'm not letting this croc go without a fight."

 "Lucky? I'd hardly call myself lucky being stuck in a boat with you."

"You're still on the boat aren't you?"

"Yes, and I'm hating myself every minute I'm here," she told him dryly. "Why don't you focus in bringing in those dead beasts? I'm sure Karime will be thrilled to see all you've brought him to shore on his boat."

"He won't be so thrilled after I break his nose," Cassius grumbled as he began pulling in another croc.

Yasmin rolled her eyes at the bickering and helped Red Sun haul in another dead croc. "Children, children," she said, "it sounds like someone needs a nap."

And she left it vague as to which one of them she was talking about.

"I bet if we clobber him over the head we could force him into one. That way, we'd have some peace and quiet." And she paused, for effect. " And to ensure he'll return with none of our crocodiles."

"Try it," Cassius said cracking his knuckles. "See what happens."

Cassius was pretty confident in fighting them on a boat since neither of them could swim. It shouldn't be too difficult.

"I already know what'll happen. You'll drop to the boat floor like a plank of wood." But she then returned her focus on procuring more crocodile corpses. She didn't realize how many had swarmed them and how many they'd killed.

"Keep dreaming, Sunny," Cassius replied.

"If you both don't stop bickering and start hauling these lizards up faster, I'm going to puke all over you," Yasmin said, fighting against the nausea the rocking boat gave her as she hauled up another croc, this one smaller than the others. "Then no one will be a winner and everyone will be unhappy."

At Yasmin's remark, Red Sun actually smirked.
"Go ahead. I'd welcome anything to make this slaver mad."

"If you puke on me you're going into the water," Cassius said.

And that's when Red Sun found herself challenging him. "What if I puke on you? Your arrogance does make me ill."

"Then you will go into the water," Cassius replied. "And I know for a fact that you can't swim."

"That doesn't even make any sense," Yasmin said with a laugh. "You'll be covered in puke. You should be the one getting dumped in the water."

"And I know for a fact if you were planning to make me drown you wouldn't have rescued me from earlier. Maybe when I tell Karime, he'll let you keep more than just a croc."

"Well maybe I should have just let you drown, you ungrateful slave bitch," Cassius spat. "And as for Karime, I'm going to break his nose as soon as I'm back on dry land."

"If you can survive making it back to dry land," she teased. She didnt know what possessed her to push Cassius's buttons like that, but she did. And as she was dragging in another dead corpse, she let out a curse and dropped it, hugging onto her wrist.

And it was one of the rowing slaves that managed to catch what happened.
"Water snake! She was bitten by poison water snake!"

Red Sun cursed, clutching onto her bleeding wrist and hoping the applied pressure would slow the poison.

Seeing Red Sun not responding, the man turned to Yasmin.
"Shall we row back to shore?" There were still at least three more crocs to collect, including the one Red Sun had dropped and was reaching for in hopes to drag it up with her chains while she still held fast to her wound.

"If you want her to live, yes you should," Cassius interjected. "Or one of you could try sucking out to poison right now."

The slaves looked at one another, evidently confused by the options set before them. Suck out the poison? Slave to live? This coming from a man they just watched discard one of his own like they were nothing. And did he actually mean to even phrase it as though it were an option?

Red Sun was just pissed and ignored them all, and continued dragging in the crocodile with her chain. The dripping wet and bloodied beast fell onto the ground with a hard plop.

Shiiiiit! Now a bloody snake?! And, of course, everyone was being so slow about everything! So while everyone else stood around talking about what should be done, and Red Sun did the stupid thing and kept exerting herself, Yasmin dropped her own croc and whirled on Red Sun.

"Row to shore, now," she barked at the slaves, echoing Cassius. "And you! Stop that!"

Yasmin grabbed Red Sun by the wrists, pulling her away from the dead croc before she could grab for any more. Did she not realize she'd been poisoned?! "Stop moving! You're going to make it worse! You need to take deep breaths and slow your heart-rate! So I need you both to be quiet and stop bickering for five minutes."

Grabbing for her sash, she pulled it free, and though her robes came undone in the process, she certainly wasn't one to care. Moving fast, she tied it tightly around Red Sun's bicep--tight enough to dig into her flesh and cut off the blood flow. In truth, she didn't really know what she was doing. She'd just seen this done to a child prior to her own enslavement. Cut off the blood to hopefully cut off the poison before it got to the heart...then...suck it out.

"Hold still."

Cassius merely sat by and watched the events unfold. Red Sun's friend seemed to have everything under control. He could just enjoy the ride back to shore and think about how profusely Karime's nose was going to be bleeding after he broke it.

Holding still was something Red Sun had difficulty with, but after Yasmin proved to be more hospitable than most she ever knew, she bit back her tongue and simply ignored Cassius. Sure, she loathed the bastard, but perhaps ignoring her own risks was just stupid. So she simply obeyed and looked at the wound.
"You won't have to suck out the poison," she told her. "So you don't risk your life anymore than you have, I'll do it. It was my foolishness that got me here anyway."

ANd her foolishness that brought Cassius on board, too. Yeah.. she knew she'd live to regret that one.

"There's no danger in sucking it out," Cassius commented. "Snake venom is only dangerous if it gets in the blood. Swallowing it is perfectly safe."

Yasmin looked between Red Sun and Cassius like they were both mad, because both were just talking when the poison needed to be taken care of! And so even though Red Sun had said she could do it, she wasn't doing it, and there was no time to waste!

So without further adieu, Yasmin turned Red Sun's wrist over, put her mouth to the wound, and started to suck.

Red Sun stiffened when Yasmin went to work at the poison. Gritting her teeth, she shook her away and went to suck on the wound herself. And what she did next was stand up, with poison and saliva in her mouth, and spat it right onto Cassius.

"That's it," Cassius roared.

Cassius got to his feet and immediately swung a punch at Red Sun. He had been able to control himself up until that point, but no longer. Now he was pissed.

Yasmin spat out the mouthful of blood and poison she'd drawn out--

And actually decked Cassius, right in the face.

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!" she growled. "You bloody IDIOT! Both of you! YOU!" She glowered at Red Sun. "Do you have ANY idea the danger you're in?! Do you value your life at ALL? You're going to DIE if we don't get that poison out so SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND BE AN ADULT FOR FIVE SECONDS! And you! Back the fuck off!"

It wasn't often Yasmin lost her temper, but she'd had it. The girl was poisoned by a highly venomous snake and she clearly had no idea of what her life was worth! And they were both acting like imbeciles!

Red Sun growled, ready to knock out Cassius teeth, but when Yasmin intervened, she simply glared daggers.

Cassius wanted to punch Yasmin now as well, but he did not. He would probably have to fight them on shore for his croc anyway, so he would punch them both all he wanted then. For now, getting to shore was the most important thing right now.

And somehow they all managed to make it to shore. And with a boat full of crocodiles, they began to get quite a crowd gathering around. By then, Red Sun was feeling ill- and she wasn't sure if it was the poison or just being on the rocking boat filled with pretty smelly crocodile corpses. But thank the Gods when they were finally able to step on dry land-
But the moment they did, the crowd began to cheer at Cassius- assuming he was the one who brought in all the prize crocs.

Cassius merely ignored the crowd. He took the croc that he had designated as his and threw it over his shoulders. He then started walking away with his croc.

Yasmin ignored the crowd, and simply grabbed Red Sun by her uninjured wrist. Fame and glory meant very little to her--and though Red Sun wasn't a friend by any means, she wasn't going to just let the girl die.

...Girl. Hakeshna! Red Sun looked older than her!

"Come on," she said, pulling her out of the boat. "You have to get that looked at. Don't mind him, his cheating won't mean a thing to you if you're dead."

Red Sun just obeyed. She felt too green to care about that damn arrogant asshole. ANd being the two gladiators were away from the boat, it left the poor unfortunate rowers to deal with the crocodile corpses- and boy where they confused on what they ought to do! Though it didn't take long before one decided to go ahead and find Karime, but it was of little consequence to Red Sun as she peered over at Yasmin and grumbled a gruff, "Sorry. I know I was foolish back there."

But her hate towards Cassius...
It was as strong as ever as she managed one last glare his way as he marched off by himself, crocodile in tow.

"Don't apologize to me," Yasmin said, arching a brow. "You're the one who gets to suffer the consequences. You should be apologizing to yourself."

Yasmin knew she probably shouldn't be doing this. They should probably check in with Karime, not take off without him. But with them both wearing chains, it wasn't like they could get far or escape or anything, and so Yasmin started heading for the healers that were stationed further up the bank--who were already treating several wounded.

"Don't you care about yourself at all?"

Red Sun said nothing, simply walked beside Yasmin as they neared the tent.
And when the healer asked them what was the problem, Red Sun put out her wrist and said.
"Snake bite."
And the man gaped at her for a.moment before finding her a mat to sit on.
"How long ago was the bite?"

"About five to ten minutes," Yasmin said, and added, "It was a water snake. The venomous kind. I tied off her arm and we sucked out some of the venom, but...I'm not sure how much we got."

And with a look Red Sun's way, she chewed the inside of her lip. Red Sun was looking pretty green around the gills, so to speak.

The man's brow furrowed more. Seeing how she was just a slave, he wouldn't have cared so much but Karime...
He knew better than to just wait for that man's wrath, so away he went in tending to her wounds, using a few herbs to disorient Red Sun so she wouldn't move around alot while he tended to her, and went about cutting open the wound to let her 'bleed' out.

By the time both were administered and through, Red Sun looked worse for wear but the man assured Yasmin, "She'll be fine and survive.. assuming she'll wake up. She has a bit of a fever now to compliment what had happened, but you can go on to tell your master we've taken care of her and the rest is in Hakeshna's hands."

Yasmin stayed with Red Sun the entire time.

Though she hadn't known the woman long at all, and though the woman seemed to hate everyone, she felt responsible for her in a way. She needed friends. She needed allies. If she and Agrian were to actually accomplish something, they needed more people to see what they had seen, more people willing to take risks, and Red Sun was the one person Yasmin was going to be around a lot.

So as much as she was genuinely worried about the woman's survival, it was also strategic, awful as that sounded. Maybe after this Red Sun would trust her just a little more, after she'd been willing to suck venom from her wound and drag her off to be tended to, when Red Sun could hardly help herself.

When the healer announced he was through, Yasmin sighed with relief. "Thank you," she said with a bow, and gave Red Sun one final look before she turned and went to Karime, ready to give him the news.