A tale of two sisters [M] [Archived]

[Medievarad]

"Just run.. Survive.. The desert moves in mysterious ways," she smiled faintly. "I'll watch over you.."

[DragonSong]

"No." Zahra shook her head determinedly. "Whatever we do, we do together. It's always been that way."

She forced herself to her feet again, one of Shria's arms around her shoulders. "Come on. Lean on me, we can do this."

[Medievarad]

"Sorry sis.. But you're gonna have to.. Drag me out of this one," at that, she slumped forward as she lost conciousness again. Too weak to even remain concious.

[DragonSong]

Zahra huffed out a sharp breath as she just barely managed to catch her sister. She looked around desperately. She had no idea where they were.

But the oasis was still fairly close. The only source of water and it was infested with slavers.

She didn't know what else to do. As quickly as possible, she dug a hole into the side of a sand dune and pulled Shria into it with her, waiting out the night.

[Medievarad]

Shria remained still for the remainder of the night. Not even waking at sunrise.

[DragonSong]

As the sand began to heat up around them, Zahra  pushed herself up and shook Shria's shoulder lightly. "Sis? Can you hear me?"

[Medievarad]

A hitched breath left Shria, but she didn't wake up.

[DragonSong]

Zahra bit her lip. "C'mon, sis, don't do this to me," she muttered, cradling Shria's head in her lap so she could see her wound.

[Medievarad]

Thick, crusted and bad. Those were the words to describe the wound on the back of her head.

"She's in a bad condition, eh?" A voice came from above her. A shadow loomed down. The shadow of one of the slavers. "Come with us and we'll take care of her. And of you." He said with a dangerous glint. "We won't harm you."

[DragonSong]

Zahra cried out and shrank back from the sudden presence, clutching Shria protectively to her chest. "G-go away!" she shouted, voice shaking. "Just leave us alone!"

[Medievarad]

"Sure, I don't care either way. Whether she lives or dies." The man shrugged. "But you know she's going to die."

[DragonSong]

Zahra looked down at her sister, unconscious and bleeding. "You- you can heal her?" she whispered, hating herself for even considering it.

[Medievarad]

"If you two come along quietly, yes," he answered with a snort. "I'd rather have that bitch die right here and now since she took down some of our friends. But you're both worth some money. So if we patch her up, you'd fetch a proper price," he hummed softly. "Take it or leave it."

[DragonSong]

It was the worst choice she'd ever had to make.

"Alright," Zahra said after a moment, closing her eyes. "Deal."

Gods, Shria was going to kill her.

[Medievarad]

"Fine," he answered, extending a hand. "Put her on and get on," he looked over to the desert, spotting several of his fellow slavers.

[DragonSong]

"No." Zahra clutched her sister tighter as she stood. "I-I'll carry her."

[Medievarad]

"I wasn't asking," he replied with a bitter hiss.

[DragonSong]

Zahra glared. Her whole body was shaking in fear, but she stood her ground.  "No," she repeated. "We'll go with you, but I won't let go of my sister."

[Medievarad]

The man put his hand on the hilt of his mace. "I'd hate to have you ending up like her," he said with a threatening tone to his voice.

[DragonSong]

She was positively trembling now, but she held firm. "Slaves will sell more if they're healthy," she whispered, clutching Shria a little tighter. "Y-you don't want to hurt me- or her, anymore."