Lady of the Desert (M)

[visualspice]

OOC: Is it really horrible of me to be laughing giddily as I think of the horrible twist of fate? They're so screwed X3

IC:


Zarrah could barely see to witness the events of pure horror, but the terrifying shadow that swallowed the nightsky as the sand worm tore across it was enough to make her (nearly) piss her pants (er.. panties?)  Then when the creature dropped back into the earth, she heard the familiar and shared sense of terror come out of her kidnappers throat.

She would have sworn right along with him had her face not connected with the sands, and suddenly she was jerked about, body tumbling and dragging, being burned as she was "escorted" unceremoniously across the sands.

All she could do was grit her teeth, and then stop gritting her teeth when she'd tumble, then found herself face first in the sands-a nd kept her lips closed, breath held, not wanting to eat more sand than she had to as she tumbled along pathetically behind her captor- partially wondering why the hell he wouldn't turn tail and run, leaving her to be a delicious prize for the hungered sandworm, who probably was only partially satisfied after devouring the leopard, whole.

And whens he thought her luck was bad enough, the ground beneath her began to move, rippling and pushing up the sands as the sled came to a tumble and parked itself into the sands, preventing Castor from dragging her any further.  The sand worm was right beneath them!

It was then Zarrah opened her eyes, blearily looking at the rock she had gotten anchored upon.

Rock? She wondered if they had come to more solid grounds as she peered around, seeing if the sand worm had turned away, but could see nothing as her black hair had fallen into a tangled, black mess about her face.

[Lion]

[I think that's better than laughing at this.  Which I have done many times...  I know, I'm a horrible person.]

If there was ever a moment when Castor thought he was going to die of a heart attack it was this one in particular.  Maybe if he'd spent most of his life in this wasteland, maybe he would have been more prepared for this attack.  The worm was fast, moving with the hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of muscles along its body that worked simultaneously to make the massive creature slide through the sand with ease.  Even with the power afforded by Cynwulfen, he wasn't sure he would have the strength to outrun it.

The pass was narrow and seemed to go on forever.  But even that wouldn't save them when the sand worm began to burrow, making the ground soften under foot.  Castor stopped and leaped up beside Zarrah on a rock, breathing like the exhausted man he was.  There was no way they'd be able to reach the end of the pass, now when it seemed as if the creature was about to about-face and turn on them yet again.  Castor looked up, peering at the massive shadow of a cliff above them.  There were plenty of jutting rocks that might aid in a climb.

The rock they found temporary sanctuary on suddenly began to shift with the swift removal of dirt around it and Castor clung to the stone, as it jerked yet again.  He yelled in futile protest before looking to Zarrah.  He knew the bindings weren't going to do any good if all they did was get her killed.  Then all would have been lost.  Still, there was just as much chance she might just push him toward the ever gaping maw of that sand worm.  It was a chance he was going to have to take as the worm had finally turned and was already coming at them again.  Without a word he reached for the bindings that connected her hands and feet and tore those apart with unnatural ease, but kept the ones that separately bound her limbs.

He slipped his head in the loop of her arms so that they were around his neck and turned back slightly.  "Hold on tight!" he commanded.  "But I swear if you choke me, I'll let go of you into jaws of that thing!"  That was all he said before he gave a strong leap and latched onto the rocks of the cliff above, metal on stone and proceeded to climb, carefully.  Pausing for a moment, he looked down and saw the rock they had laid on was swallowed whole by sand and worm.

[visualspice]

Zarrah braced herself as Castor threw her arms around his neck. She was still dizzy from being dragged, but could do little else but hope not to fall off his back as he began to climb.  She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until mentioned for her not to choke him.

It was about that time the rock below them was swallowed whole.

"It wouldn't be lady like of me to kill the man who did just save my life," she answered, her voice against his ear. She looked around, it was still night, and still very dangerous. Though her vision was hampered because of her position, yet that didn't matter, she could hear the sand worm moving down below.

"Got any bright ideas?" she asked. "The sand worm sounds hungry. They can wait for months for a meal," she then informed, staring over the horizon when she noticed a second motion in the sand and her eyes narrowed.  "And it looks like this one isn't alone."

[Lion]

Relying on the moonlight to light his path as he slowly and surely climbed the cliff’s face, Castor grunted with each effort.  It would have been much easier to climb with just himself…and he momentarily entertained the idea of dropping the load he had strapped to his back.  Goodness, what had gotten into him in those past ten years.  Castor, carefully pressed his body to the stone, sliding off to the side as he momentarily glanced below, the height getting to his head, vertigo threatening to set in.

He reached up for another jutting stone, as the clamor of the sand worm sent shivers through his spine.  If he was afraid of anything, it might have been being eaten alive.  For once he was thankful for the gauntlets, or else his hands would have certainly been raw by now from securing his grip.  Another grunt and he lifted them to another ledge.

But as he reached up and she spoke so close to his ear, he couldn’t hide that shiver.  His grip faltered and he was stuck one handed upon another ledge.  He growled at her, a little irritated at his reaction.  “Not really,” he replied to her question.  “You know you’re not really helping the morale here.  I don’t plan on hanging here for months.  Let’s just reach the top and move on from there.”

The cliff gradually inclined upwards and outwards, making everything all the more difficult.  He tried to move around it, but the rock was far too smooth and the ledges seemed too few and far between on the side of the incline.  He reached for it anyway.  It was a hell of a lot better than trying to fight gravity, a woman on his neck, as well as worrying of slipping and falling into the mouths of sand worms.

"You know when we reach the top, I still plan on trading you.  No amount of flattery will change my mind."

[visualspice]

Zarrah smirked at his comments, but was thankful for his efforts. Whatever it was he was trading her for must've been worth a lot.  Perhaps it was his wife?  If Rassar was in this man's position, he would have done the same. Perhaps, if she thought of things a little differently...

She internally shook the thoughts away and stared up at the moon, but the noises from the sand worms below grew more intense. She chanced a glance over the edge, and found herself biting into her lower lip.  It was a long ways down... hopefully this man didn't slip.  Perhaps if he was lucky...
No, she had to stop thinking about using herself in that manner- and sleeping with the enemy wasn't an option. After all, this man was on business.

"I hope whoever you're fighting for is worth it," she told him, again, her words going into his ear, but was distracted by more noises down below. It was then she looked down to witness a bizarre act, two of the sand worms had unearthed themselves and were battling.  She held her breath, watching the two vicious animals attack one another, when suddenly one of them retreated, while hte other pursued, and soon they were twisting together and writhing upon upon the sands. it looked as if the sand worms were killing one another, until a blush warmed her cheek as she realized what they were doing.

"I don't think I can ever claim to have witnessed sand worms mating until know," she commented, and turned back to rest her head against Castor, as the strain on her neck was becoming too much.
"It was always rumored they would battle one another before the actual act of mating, then the female would submit herself before the two beasts are said to join bodies by rolling in the sand..." She thought of it and it was beautiful, really- to think of such creatures finding a reason to judge their mates through a vicious mating battle.

Though, the noises continued until a loud moan was heard down below, and eventually the two worms slithered away beneath the sands.
Zarrah held her breath.

"Perhaps they'll forget about us more quickly than a few months," she commented wistfully, a smirk tugging at her lips.


OOC: You know that awkward moment when you're carrying a sexy, half naked woman on your back and she talks about mating animals... lol.

[Lion]

[Lol!  It seriously could NOT have come at a worse time!]

Castor grimaced at her insinuations, but he couldn't say his mind didn't drift to the thought.  He didn't look down to watch the two sand worms celebrate the miracle of life.  He wasn't into that kind of thing.  Well, it certainly explained the viciousness of the attack on the male's part he assumed.  Didn't want them getting in the way of his conquest.  Castor scaled the smoothed surface of the cliff, reaching back a little then striking the surface with the fingertips of the gauntlets, making his own grips instead of reaching for doomed and brittle rock.

"What, not who," he clarified.  "It's something valuable to me, and you're the perfect asset to trade."  He continued to scale.  But the sounds that they were making below, Castor began to feel his face become very flush.  He stopped climbing, letting his face press against the cold stone, trying very very hard not to listen to the disturbing sounds.  Until at last there was one final eruption of sound.

When they were done, Castor pulled his face away and looked back at her.  "I thought only humans made noises like that.  I wonder whose moan that was...the male or the female."  He smirked and continued to climb.

[visualspice]

At the realization her slight fantasy he might be doing this for someone else was broken, she felt a knot twist into her gut.
So she was right to assume he was no better than the rest.  After all, he was going to easily hand her life over for some object.. typical of the men she loathed.

Then at his comment, she couldn't help but smirk in return.
"I guess we'll never know," Zarrah played, her breath warm against his skin.  "Though it's probably the male." SHe paused a moment before she added, "I hardly know any man who could make a woman moan quite like that.  The worm must be lucky." Because of the way she was resting against him, he might have been able to feel her smile as her hairs tickled against the back of his body when a cool wind swept through it. Though she wasn't the one doing any of the work, she was sweating as much as he was, because his body heat was rather intense from his work, so their sweat was easily mingling together upon his back.

She'd feel terrible baiting the man this way, but she found it rather exhilarating and fun-
Perhaps it was the idea they both were about to die and were in primal form, and also she was bound against her will...
There wasn't much more she could do except torment him, and this method was what currently amused her.

So Castor would just have to suffer this fate!

[Lion]

She must have had a death wish if she kept trying to flirt with him the way she was.  Castor looked up to see how far they had to go, and thankfully the distance was quickly shortening.  He kept digging his hands into the softness of stone with as much force and tenacity as possible to get his mind...well, off certain things that she kept mentioning.

"And how exactly would you know that?"  Castor successfully suppressed a shiver that time, keeping his focus on climbing, every muscle working in tandem now, from this arms to his legs and even his back.  He was more than well aware of her presence and he knew what she was trying to do; very well, he could play games as well, and might very well be as aware of the power of his body.  But still, he kept his mind focused on reaching the top.  "But you're right. I don't know any woman that moaned like that.  All the ones I knew were much louder."

The ledge was almost within his grasp. 

[visualspice]

Oh, so he wanted to play, did he?

Knowing full well he was at the edge of his rope with strength, and they were just about to reach the top, she made sure to press herself against him in such a way, and let her hair blow closer to his body when another cool wind tried to relieve them- except it would carry the soft perfumes from her hair, as her black hair tickled and danced against his shoulder and cheek.

"And what animal were you witnessing during their mating season that time?" she jested, and wore a much fuller smirk.  "Perhaps a dragon in heat?" Her lips brushed against his ear.  "I heard it gets very hot around them during the spring..." and that wasn't the only thing that got very hot as she used a deeper, heated breath against his ear.

OOC: She is HORRIBLE, but I thinks he has a death wish, ha ha.

[Lion]

Castor swallowed hard on a dry throat as the ledge finally came within his reach.  He was tired, but his strength knew no bounds and when his fingers were dug into the dirt there, he let his feet dangle for a moment, hoping the flushness of his face came with exertion of climbing and not because she was trying to manipulate them.  But it was obvious they both knew better than that.

He actually laughed at her attempt.  "I've been known to breath fire in times of great duress.  It grows naturally in my belly," he said smiling back.  With that, he pulled himself up solely with the power of his arms, vaulting up with little effort and landing on his feet.  He looked out to the horizon, seeing an expanse of dusty badlands sprawling out before them.  At least they wouldn't have any fear of sand worms up here...for long that was.

He set her down, since their height was close and pulled his head out from underneath her arms.  The cool breeze that blew across him was a welcome relief to the sweat that accumulated from climbing.  "You were trying to make me fall weren't you?" he said with a raised brow.

[visualspice]

When she was set aside, she too, took a moment to close her eyes and enjoy the coolness of the air against the sweat on her skin.  His body had soaked her through, to the point her clothing was nearly translucent, but thankfully she was facing away from the moonlight as shadows hugged her form and the silver from the moon glistened in her hair.

"There are many ways a man can fall," she baited.  "But I suppose I should be thanking you for being generous enough to carry me to the top.  But I suppose I'm worthless as a corpse, or, swallowed by one of those mating worms." Her eyes sparkled with challenge and mirth, before they cast towards the desert towards the every expansive horizon of desert and stars.

"So what's so important to you that you'd hunt a deadly woman?" she asked absently, still staring at the starry skies.

[Lion]

Castor wasn't the kind of man to hold a debt.  Well, not one that came with securing a life.  Especially not one as valuable as hers.  He didn't answer for a good long moment before dropping down to her feet and undoing the bindings thus, tearing the rope from her swollen looking ankles.  He looked up at her from below, her silhouette against the stars, but he still said nothing.  Only stood with the rope in hand and dropped it back over the cliff.

He looked down for a moment, knowing he left their supply of water as it were and he didn't know how they were going to make it without water.  He could only hope to find a spring or stream out here, but he doubted that was likely if at all.

"Deadly?" he raised a brow at her and scoffed a little, if only to mock her.  "If you were deadly...wouldn't I be dead?  What I'm looking for is far more valuable than you...or than you could know.  It's imperative that I get it.  Information, no matter how small, has it's value."  He pointed out ahead of them.  "Walk."

[visualspice]

She only smiled at his jest of her self-given title and would have shrugged if she had the strength, but if you were bond for the length of time she had been, you too, might find your limbs useless.
Closing her eyes, and did not rise.

"You'll have to forgive me and give me a moment," Zarrah said.  "I don't think you've ever had the pleasure of being bond that way, but when you do, you'll come to realize that once one is set free of such bonds, their limbs are useless."
She stared over at him, curious if he cared of her predicament or if he still wanted her to walk.
If so, he was out of luck for the time being.  He'd have to wait for the feeling to return into her legs, and it was starting to already, a sharp, prickling sensation forming in her finger tips and toes.

OOC: She makes nothing easy! Even when she's been free of her bindings! but in all honesty, it's kinda not her fault :P and sorry for the short post D:

[Lion]

Castor frowned at her, not in the mood for anymore play time, though she didn't seem to know when to quit.  He had to give her props for persistence, however.  But he never considered himself a man that spent all this time surrounded in the pleasures of the flesh.  He knew work, and hardship, and the will to fight if one was going to accomplish their goals in the slightest.  He couldn't let her waste precious time.  The sun would be up, and soon they would be at its mercy.  No water, not even a place to rest.

"In fact, I do know what it's like.  But you wouldn't care much about that.  As far as you're concerned, I'm just another greedy, selfish man," he said matter of factly.

He reached down and plucked her up from the ground, throwing her over his shoulder and started to walk himself.  "You're stalling," he said simply.  "You can regain from bloodloss while I carry you.  A hundred feet.  Then you walk."

He stalked away from the ledge, almost jogging now, attempting to utilize what moonlight they had left.  It could have very well have been a few hours, to half the night.  If he could beat the sun, then he might still have a chance to make it.  He counted as he walked before plopping her down, grabbing her gruffly by the arm.  "Can you walk now?"

[I don't mind.  He just wants to get there in one piece!  If only she'd let him.]

[visualspice]

Their flirtation was short lived as his impatience got in the way. Pity, she was having rather fun teasing him, but in reality, they were enemies. She shouldn't be enjoying this, and before she knew it, he was carrying her.  She could do little to resist, and wriggled her fingers as he walked,a nd after the promised amount of paces, he set her down.

Looking down at her arm,s he looked back up at him and snatched back her arm, though lost her balance when she did and braced herself against a wall.

"I'll manage," she said bitterly, glaring at him as she tested her legs, and began a wobbly walk. It felt weird to use them, but they would be fine within a few moments as she tried to return to a more prideful stance.
"So I take it you know where you're going?" she asked, staring at him expectantly. 

[Lion]

Castor could not help the dumbfounded look on his face when she asked him.  He didn't know where he was going.  In fact, he didn't think he'd end up on some desert hillside overlooking vast plains of nothingness.  "No," he said plainly.  "For now, perhaps the best plan is to get off this cliff and find some place to rest.  I'm sure your legs could use it."

He stayed behind her, relooking at his belt to make sure that her knives were still there.  He didn't need her trying to pull any fast ones.  He took them out and placed them into the straps on his thighs.  He paused for a moment.  He frowned at the thought of needing to actually ask his baggage for help.

He looked back at her, eyes narrowed and speculative.  "You obviously know this place better than I?  Take us to some place we can rest.  Remember, cooperate and it'll be easier for both of us.  And relatively painless for you."

[visualspice]

"Cooperate and you'll take me quicker to my cell," she replied simply, and walked right past him, then paused as she glanced over her shoulder.  "It looks like there's a narrow path ahead," she pointed towards it, where a small trail cut into the rock and disappeared inside a gaping mouth of a cave. "They say these caverns are interconnected, Maybe we can use it to get safely back to the deserts or make camp." Then she turned to him and raised a brow.  "Got any sort of light?"  If not, it would prove difficult to navigate a cave in the dark.  "I think that might be our best and smartest option." She stared over at the horizon, where a narrow strip of purple began to burn.  Frowning, she turned to Castor.

"The sun will rise within the hour," she stated. "If there is one thing to know about the desert, it's not to catch yourself out there in the mid-day sun. We could travel for a time, but not for only a few hours." She then folded her arms and stared at him expectantly.

[Lion]

[MacGyver anyone?]

If circumstances had been different, Castor would have felt a pang of remorse for what he'd been doing, or was about to do.  He knew the kind of fate he was delivering this woman toward, or at least the idea of it.  If it was anything like what happened to his—no!  He couldn't think of her now, of all times.  He couldn't think of regret or the possibilities of a fate in a cage.  He steeled himself, hardened his brow and pushed all feelings away.

He listened to her knowledge of the caves.  And knew they had no real source of light to navigate by.  Immediately he regretted throwing that rope piece off the cliff.  He looked at the remaining binds she had on her wrists and reached for them, carefully undoing them and pulling out one of her knives.  He wrapped the rope around the blade end of it and knelt in the ground.  He knotted it securely, despite its thickness.

"Hold it down, angling the rope end to the ground," he said.  Reaching over to a rock he saw, he plucked it and pressed his left gauntlet to the edge of the makeshift torch.  Without a second thought he struck the rock down onto the metal, sparks flying from the impact.  It took a few strikes, and with minimized pressure so as not to crush it, but sparks eventually began to smolder on the rope.  He blew on it a little, as the flame began to take the rope.  He lifted it by the handle.  "Will this do?  Lead on."

[visualspice]

She watched him cleverly create a 'torch' and afforded him a rare grin for his efforts. Tossing her hair off her shoulder, she turned away and replied, "That'll do," and continued to wear her smile as she stepped into the open mouth of the cave. Though she hesitated, her eyes tracing the ceiling and walls around them as she listened. 

Quiet.

Quiet meant safe... at least for now. She then gestured with her head for him to follow.
"It's best we move with caution," She whispered, andhoped he'd follow suit, One did not want to speak too loudly in the caves, for fear of a cave in, awakening bats, or even awakening some foul beast that might be sleeping within.

The deserts were a very dangerous place, and the maze like caves were no different.  She gestured again as she cautiously moved forward.
"We ought to stay close and share the light,"s he suggested, though peered over her shoulder to see if he would argue her on her logic. 

She couldn't deny she was formulating a plan to escape, but she also couldn't leave him high and dry either- after all, he technically did save her life.

"So do you mind me asking what's so important to you that I'll be giving up my freedom for?" she asked, turning away from him as she lead him onward, stepping under a shallow drop int he wall, to step out to the other side where she found herself coming to a fork in the road which caused her to pause as she slowly examined both options.

[Lion]

Follow her he did, carefully and as quietly as she, though it was more difficult for him who was much larger in size. The cave entrance was much wider than he expected it to be, and he looked up as the light from the makeshift torch was a swallowed up the height of the cavern.  This place truly was big.  But if she knew what she was doing and was not going to get them killed, by all means, he would let her lead on as she pleased.

He didn't stray from her side, tailing her as if he was a part of the tresses of her disheveled clothing.  He glanced at her.  Or lack thereof.  How could a woman walk around like that and not worry about getting sand in places that were difficult to get rid of?  He might have asked her but knew it was probably better to be silent.  He didn't know what resided within these walls.

As they came to the fork, Castor glared at her persistence in finding out just what it was he was after.  "Persistent aren't you?" he said.  "What I'm after is a location, a map to be more specific, of a place very far from here.  A tomb that holds great treasure.  You wouldn't understand."

He looked down the left path, tempted to take a chance on it, but he paused right before the entrance.  He held his breath, listening for sounds.  Then he heard voices, very faint as it were, distantly perhaps.  They talked amongst themselves, though he couldn't make out what they said.  "Perhaps the right would be better," he whispered.