The Sirrush and the Scam Artist

[kleineklementine]

Kaya bounded back to the tent when she heard Quinlan call, but stopped abruptly outside of the tent flap. She had the vague idea that they were only separated by the thin fabric of the tent - but tried not to think about it!

"What," she asked tenuously through the closed tent flap, "does not 'completely' naked mean?"

[Lion]

"You can't see anything don't worry.  Nothing's hanging around outside of anywhere,"  he said quickly.  He stuck his head out the tent flap and smiled.  "Do you have anything to eat?  I'm starving."

[kleineklementine]

Kaya nearly leapt back when Quinlan stuck his head out of the tent! And then immediately felt silly about it. Even if he was still naked, that was only his head, after all! But she could see from his neck and shoulders that he certainly wasn't wearing the tunic anymore!

"Sure, I got food. But you have to get dressed properly first! The, uh, the salve won't work properly if you're not wearing anything on top of it! It, uh, dries out too quickly. Yeah. It dries out too quickly." She nodded emphatically to make her point.

[Lion]

Quinlan furrowed his brow.  "But won't that just run it off?" he asked.  He supposed however, she wouldn't let him come out, unless he was covered up.  So with a few winces, he shimmied back into the tunic and fixed it over his legs.  Or tried to.  "Hey this thing doesn't get any lower or what? It's very small."

[kleineklementine]

"Uhh... it's traditional," Kaya lied, not sure what else to say. His own clothes had been torn to shreds; either by the bandits that had waylaid him, or by the elements. Who could say? And it was very important that he at least keep on the tunic! "All our men dress like that," Kaya added, to try to make it sound more convincing. Nevermind that she had linen trousers on beneath her own tunic.

She stayed hovering outside the tent, hoping desperately that the man would not get naked again!

[Lion]

"Ugh," he sighed.  "Fine."  He pulled it down a little more and hobbled out of the tent.  "There. Not naked.  Happy?  Of course you are."

Quinlan held his arms out, as they were still very tender.  But all that was momentarily forgotten when he saw the canyons around them.  "Wow.  We really are miles away from any other civilization aren't we.  Why are you out here alone?"

[kleineklementine]

Kaya braced herself as the man came out of the tent, silently and desperately hoping that he would, in fact, be wearing the tunic. And when he emerged dressed, she could feel herself physically relax a little. She couldn't help but notice, though, that the tunic was very short on him now that he was out here standing up. It took her a moment to tear her shocked eyes away from his very bare thighs. Oh dear.

Thankfully the man commented on their surroundings, though, and Kaya snapped her attention away from his bare, very red legs. She glanced over her shoulder at the desolate desert landscape. From the shrubby hill the tent was perched on, topped with its strange rock hoodoos, they could see the sea of sand, gentle dunes disappearing into dark canyons in the distance. It didn't look desolate to Kaya normally, but in that moment she saw it through the foreigner's eyes. Yes, she supposed, it would look far away from 'any civilization.' But Kaya knew better. The desert was full of life.

"Well, it's only a bit over an hour to the well where we found you," Kaya said, the 'we' of course, being her and the donkey. "I'm out here with the herd," she answered noncommittally. She still wasn't sure if she should tell him about the Sirrush. But she'd have to eventually, if he was going to stay until he was healed! Did he really have to stay that long? And where was he going to go?

"But what are you doing out of the tent!?" she asked suddenly, looking up at the sun. It was getting later, but he could still be burned more! "Back in the tent with you, or you'll never stop being a pigman, you red-skinned abjad!" She berated him, but jokingly, and with a grin. "I'll even find you something to eat."

[Lion]

[Getting an eyeful of his manly legs! bahahaha!]

"Wait a minute, I'd like to see more of your camp.  I've been passed out for who knows how long. You're not a very good hostess if you think you're going to keep your guest confined to a set of sleeping quarters.  We have a word where I'm from for that, 'rude'!" he protested, frowning a little.

That was until her dog had come barking excitedly toward Kaya, and pausing warily but a few feet way.  He barked again at Quinlan, though made no more aggressive motions.  Instead he focused his attention on Kaya and he barked again, tail wagging.  It seemed he was rather excited about someone familiar approaching Kaya's camp.

[Just assuming that maybe one of Kaya's cousins came to check up on her to see how she was doing?  If this wouldn't make sense, I can fix it no worries. xD]

[kleineklementine]

"Hey! Where are you going?" Kaya squaked at Quinlan. "We have a definition for 'rude,' too - and it includes strangers snooping around other people's business! Especially red-skinned pig men who should be staying out of the sun before they become bacon!"

Kaya didn't have the chance to carry on, though, before the goat dog came to bark happily around her feet. "What's with you?" she asked the dog, still more distracted by the curiosity of her 'visitor.'

The answer came bellowing over the sand dunes, though. A young male voice calling, "Kaya!" And for a moment, the girl froze in place, her eyes large as saucers. Nasr! What was her cousin doing here?! Normally, Kaya would be thrilled! It could be lonely out here in the desert, and no doubt he'd come as a surprise. Especially since this was her first time out here alone with the Sirrush. And normally she would be surprised, and happy, and excited! But here was the abjad... and if Nasr found him...

"Quick, hide!" she hissed at Quinlan, not waiting for him to react before pushing him bodily towards the jagged rocks cropping out of the sand where he could hide unseen. Hopefully! She was stronger than she looked, and it wasn't long before she'd shooed him into the hoodoos. "Don't you dare come out of there until I come get you!" she warned him with a sudden fierceness that shone blazing in her eyes. She meant business!

Kaya shot Quinlan one more look that said, 'I'm warning you, pig man!' before traipsing back towards the camp, calling, "Nasr!" followed by a greeting in a language that would be foreign to Quinlan's ears.

[Lion]

Quinlan nodded to her fiercely and ushered her away.  For a tiny woman she was awfully bossy.  And he didn't really want to be caught by whoever was wandering toward her camp. Her very expression dictated it was someone she did not expect.  Quinlan ignored his stinging skin and instead crouched low within the shade of the rocks, waiting and listening.

But boy did it sound like someone was breathing awfully loud in his ear.

[kleineklementine]

From Kaya's camp down the hill, a lively and animated conversation could be heard in a language Quinlan likely wouldn't recognize, as Kaya tried to hide her 'guilt' from her cousin. But up in the hoodoos, something else entirely was paying attention to Quinlan.

Close attention.

The hot breath on the back of his neck was not the desert wind. As Quinlan crouched hiding, Myshhusu crept up behind the red-skinned Connlaothian. His serpentine-line head was lowered close to Quinlan's, watching both the strange man and his field of view. And when he finally spoke, in a raspy and hissing voice, his dangerous mouth was only inches from Quinlan's ear.

"Bad abjad. Sssspying. Now Myshhusu eats him."

This was a real source of pride for Kaya: not only could Myshhusu speak Common, but she'd taught him how to joke! Though Quinlan might not appreciate that in the current moment.

[[Blegh post, sorry!]]

[Lion]

[Is it bad that I think if Gollum when Myshhusu speaks?]

Quinlan heard those words and that was all he needed to whirl around.  He screamed.  He wasn't going to kid himself! He'd never seen a weird golden scaled horse in his life!  Immediately he dropped to his ass, having lost his balance, and scrambling backwards.  "What the fuck are you?"  He didn't wait for an answer as he took off back toward the camp away from the strange talking horse.

"Kaya!  Kaya!  You! You  HAVE A THING IN YOUR CAMP!!!!"

Already the mini dress was having a hell of a time staying at his thighs.  Quinlan whirled around when Myshhusu followed him, peeking out from between rocks.  The sting of his roasted skin was secondary to his shock.  He kept on his feet however, though he scurried behind Kaya and stared down the curious strange animal.

"What is that!?"

[kleineklementine]

Kaya was just getting into the swing of not telling her cousin the whole truth and edging the anxiety out of her voice. How was it going? Oh, it was going great! Did she get lonely? Sure, but who didn't? And at least, she boasted, she could talk so well with the Sirrush. Anything strange happen out here in the desert? Oh no! Nothing at all. Why would he even ask?

And that, of course, was when Quinlan came screaming down the hill.

Kaya winced, shielding her eyes from the liberally flapping tunic. Nasr, meanwhile, stared in shock, mouth agape, at the lollopping half-naked northerner hurtling towards them.

No one responded to Quinlan, but Nasr responded loudly, switching to Common, "Kaya, you have a MAN in your camp!!!"

Though Nasr was no older than she was, he already stood taller than Quinlan and had a curved blade belted at his waist. (He was also, Quinlan might notice, not wearing a minidress.) Though why Quinlan would worry about the teenager when the Sirrush was still eyeing him from the rocks, who could say.

[Lion]

Quinlan too was mesmerized by the Sirrush, just as the Sirrush was curious about him.  However, his panic would have to take a backseat to the voice that next caught his attention.  He looked at the man that had been speaking to Kaya.  Quinlan blinked at gim, but already he could see the indignance in his face, the horror and  Quinlan doubled backwards when Nasr pulled the sword from his belt.

"Name yourself, abjad.  Or I will shave off that red skin with edge of my blade.

Quinlan gave a smirk.  Surely this man couldn't be serious.  But then again he was the one with the sword in his hand and no wearing a mini-dress. 

"You smile abjad?!?!  Kneel, scum! Now!  What are you doing in my cousin's camp?  Did you touch her! Answer me!"

Those were a lot of demands to be met on short notice.  But Quinlan said nothing still and slowly went down to his knees, taking his time about it and seeing that such insolence was making Nasr impatient.  Quinlan watched him and for the split dug his hands abruptly into the sand and flung it up into Nasr's face.  Kaya's cousin threw his hands up and that was when Quinlan threw himself on Nasr, knocking him to the ground and pinning him with all his weight.  He then pressed the sword back against his throat.

He looked rather ridulous in that mini-dress, holding Nasr down.  At least he made no move to injure Nasr further.  "I'm sunned raw, a little dazed, and wearing a dress.  I was lucky for your cousin to have found me and helped.  But over all I'm not having the best of days."

[kleineklementine]

Kaya had been prepared to defend the poor, stupid abjad to Nasr. She was going to explain that he'd been half dead and hadn't done anything inappropriate and he was just staying until he was better enough to carry on. She was going to say that Nasr should stay until then, then nothing inappropriate could happen, and Nasr could escort the man to the nearest village. But that was before Quinlan turned to dirty fighting and attacked her cousin!

Attack her cousin?! And expect to get away with it? Hell no!

Quinlan might think Kaya was just going to stand meekly by, like some helpless abjadi woman, but Kaya was an Awali. And Awali women are just as fierce as their men.

She threw herself at Quinlan, taking advantage of having the element of surprise and  tackling him off of Nasr. Once he was off Nasr, she scurried to her feet and kicked him AS HARD AS SHE COULD! in the ribs. And for a small thing, she could still kick pretty hard! Not unlike others of her bloodline, Kaya was stronger than she looked. "You STUPID ABJAD!" she yelled at him, as she kicked him again. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Nasr, in the meantime, scurried back to his feet and picked up the scimitar. But he didn't get in the way of his cousin's kicks. It was Myshhusu that appeared, silent as the wind, and nudged Kaya aside. His golden, taloned foot pinned Quinlan against the sand. Only has firm as he needed to be to keep Quinlan down. The Sirrush, it seemed, was more nuanced than the Awali.

"Now Myshhusu eats it? Roassssted pork. Myshhusu favorite."


[[Let me know if that's too much liberties taken on Quinlan. I'll change the post!]]

[Lion]

Quinlan laid prostrate beneath the Sirrush's claw - mostly because he was too tired to have his intestines spill out that day - and he just panted, a little exhausted from the scuffles and just stared up at Kaya.  "Can I have some water?  I'm awful thirsty.  I didn't mean to uh, hurt, your cousin.  But he said he was going to skin me.  He still might."

And at that thought Quinlan just laughed, staring up at Myshhusu.  "Hello.  Don't eat me until I've had some preparation please.  I'm not quite tender."

[kleineklementine]

"YES YOU DID!" Kaya yelled, kicking Quinlan hard in the ribs again. "You could have just ANSWERED HIM, you IDIOT!" Like hell he didn't mean to hurt him! He put a blade to his throat! Did he think Kaya was stupid? That made her even angrier. That this man thought just because she was nice to him once, she'd let him do whatever he liked in her camp? Including threatening her family? Nuh-uh.

Kaya scowled, then spit on him. "There, there's your water, you filthy abjad. I saved your life!"

Myshhusu hissed something at Kaya in his own language, and she stalked off, scowling and muttering to herself in Awali.

Nasr, meanwhile, shook his head and glared daggers down at the man. "Now, will you state your business here, foreigner? What are you doing in my cousin's camp? And why are you wearing a woman's tunic if you haven't done anything to dishonor her?"

[Lion]

Quinlan just sighed.  He wasn't content to lay on this hot ground.  He felt like salami.  Yes, salami.  And all this work for nothing, only to be fried salami on the ground and eaten by a scaly golden horse.  This was definitely a Sirrush, Quinlan thoughtfully deducted.

He peered up at Nasr and then to Myshhusu.  "Tell him to get off me first. And you'll have your answers."

"Then we eatssssit?" the Sirrush asked.

"No, no eating.  Not yet."

"Weeee were not asssssking pink man."

"No, stand on the stupid abjad," Nasr snarled at Quinlan.  "Answer me.  Or you will be eaten!"

Quinlan just huffed and sighed.  Boy that horse thing was kind of heavy.

"She found me lying around.  Half-dead I guess.  She brought me back to life.  You should be grateful to know her.  As should I to have met her.  But nothing I offer is going to get me out of this.  She is very kind.  You should be happy to be related to such a person."

[kleineklementine]

"OH, I DON'T THINK SO!" Kaya ran up, kicking Quinlan hard again (again!). "You can't just flatter your way out of this, stinkin' abjad! You think we're STUPID? You FILTHY HORRIBLE MA-"

She wheeled up to kick him again, but Nasr pulled her back by the shoulder. "Kaya, is he telling the truth? You brought him here... as a guest?"

"Yeah, but-" Kaya stared at Nasr, mouth agape. Like many desert peoples, and like many nomadic peoples, the Awali had a strict code of hospitality. It was core to their culture, and to their religion. It's what Nasr was reminding her of now. But no way! She'd brought him in and he'd TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF HER! Sort of. But he'd attacked Nasr! "Yeah, but, Nasr!" she protested.

What followed was a heated argument in their native language, with lots of shouting and arm waving. All the while, Myshhusu kept Quinlan under his claws, studying the man with his golden eyes. He lowered his head, sniffing Quinlan, then even flicked out a snake-like tongue against the salty burned skin. As if interpreting the cousins' argument for Quinlan, he explained, "No eating guestsss."

Finally, Nasr and Kaya emerged from their argument. Nasr looked unhappy, but moderately composed. While Kaya was clearly fuming! She looked like a spitting wildcat, ready to spring on Quinlan if only she had the chance.

"Myshhusu, let him up," Nasr told the Sirrush, who flicked his tongue at Quinlan again, then grudgingly stepped back, releasing Quinlan. Nasr turned to Quinlan once the Sirrush stepped aside. "It's dangerous for you outside in the sun, brother. Come into the tent and have some tea."

Nasr didn't look too happy about saying this, and it was clear he was speaking from rote. Kaya, meanwhile, was having to keep her mouth shut at risk of breaking every tenant of the ettiquette of hospitality and verbally, and perhaps physically, assaulting the man again.

[Lion]

Quinlan was very tempted to make small talk with the Sirrush, this fascinatingly strange golden horse with scales all over his body.  But that thought quickly went out of his mind when the sirrush proceeded to get a taste of him.  That tongue wasn't at all pleasant - and even less so on red raw skin.  Quinlan shuddered and made a sour face up at the creature, it's declaration to not eat guests not meaning much to him at all.

Maybe he had manners, but once he was all healed up and was no longer a guest surely it was no longer rude to make the abjad a tasty meal!

Quinlan got up when at last he was free, already feeling dizzy from the sun glaring down on him.  He huffed and leaned unsteadily against Nasr.  The dull pain that lingered in his ribs was slowly going away.  She kicked hard, but he didn't linger on it.  He did attack her cousin after all.

"I just need to lie down," was all Quinlan could say before staggering back into the tent and collapsing onto the soft bed of rugs he'd occupied before.