Where Rumors Grow [M] [Giraffe]

[Goldie]

Jelani rushed to Pyla's side and drew her blade across the man's throat for good measure. They couldn't take risks and she wouldn't want their presence, or how easy it was the lure them out, to reach ears she'd otherwise hope to remain deaf.

"Pyla." She lifted her chin with her hand and hissed at the angry line across her neck. It didn't appear to be deep where it would kill her, but it also wasn't small enough to be unconcerning. She pulled her pack around off her back and rummaged inside to look for her first aide kit. First came the alcohol based cleaning agent which she poured mercilessly onto the wound before pressing a clean cloth to help staunch the bleeding. Once clean she'd be able to determine what to do next.

"We're the extremist to them." She replied softly, pulling the rag back slightly to inspect the wound, "It's easy to hate what you don't understand, and if they knew the holy task with which we've been tasked, they would fight us all the more vigorously." She frowned and pressed the cloth back before pulling out another small kit with the other hand.

"You're going to need stitches, but otherwise it doesn't look life threatening if we move quickly."

[wandering_giraffe]

She winced when Jelani poured the cleaning agent onto it, but took it like the soldier she was.
"I understand that, but they tried to ambush us and kill us! That seems rather extremist to me." Pyla kept a sharp eye out on the desert, she didn't trust the eerie silence.
"Stitches?!!? I don't need stitches, just bandage it or something," Pyla protested.

[Goldie]

Jelani pressed the cloth against her neck and reached her other hand to hold the back of her head so she could hold her in place while glowering directly into her eyes.

"Be still." She snapped, "You'll serve neither of us dead from bloodloss."

She released Pyla suddenly and began the process of threading the needle with sterile wire, "You'll need two or three at most. Do I need to tie you to a rock?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Ok, Pyla thought, it must actually be somewhat serious.

"Ok, I'll be still! Or, at least, I'll try to be...I'm not exactly fond of needles," she admitted, warily eyeing the needle Jelani was currently threading.

[Goldie]

It wasn't the worst wound Jelani had ever seen, not by a long shot, but she didn't know what else awaited them in this desert and she wasn't about to take the chance that the injury could get worse and ultimately claim Pyla's life. People died from seemingly small injuries all the time and the neck was delicate. If they were home, perhaps a nice bandage and some rest would be all that was needed, but out here? No. Where the blade had started was the worst of it, then it tapered off to a shallow line. It was that deeper part that gave Jelani pause.

But she was also no healer. She knew the basics of battlefield aid, maybe a bit more than the average soldier, but she couldn't do much more than tourniquets and stitches.

"Hold still." She moved with the agility and deftness of someone with extensive practice and the deeper part of the slice was stitched in only a few minutes. Then she slathered it with a balm and proceeded to wrap a clean bandage around Pyla's neck to keep it free of sand and dirt.

"When you're ready we can investigate further."

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. She really, really, really hated needles.
Jelani worked fast, to her credit, and before Pyla knew it she was done.
"We can investigate now, I'm ok..."
Except her fear of needles made her lightheaded...so when she stood up, she promptly collapsed.
"Fuck...I'm ok, I'm ok...just not as ready as I thought."

[Goldie]

"Pull yourself together." Jelani snapped, grabbing Pyla by the shoulders to keep her from falling on the ground. How had she made it through so much training and injuries over the years that this is what got her? It would get them killed if they were attacked again and she couldn't have it. She also wasn't one to coddle anyone.

"You are Mtetezi. You are only as good as your weaknesses. Stand up."

[wandering_giraffe]

She was right...she was a Mtetzei...she was better than this.
"You're right, you're right," she muttered, gaining her footing and pushing down any thought of needles.
"Ok...so what's the next move? Do we go back to the library and try to find some clues?"
Pyla then remembered Zephyr.
"Oh my gods above we need to go back to the cave...Zephyr is still there!"

[Goldie]

Jelani's demeanor softened at Pyla's concern for the bird. She might think he needed better training, but that didn't negate the fact that he was still a brother-in-arms and deserved the same respect as his human handlers.

"Go. See to him." She pulled out a locator ring and pressed it into Pyla's hands, "I'll go further in for reconnaissance - it will be easier for one to sneak around than two. Follow the thread that connects these rings when you're able. If it grow hot it means danger is imminent."

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla did not like the idea of Jelani being by herself.
"But you're the leader of us! You shouldn't go off by yourself..."
But then Jelani pressed the locator ring into her hand and Pyla's fingers reluctantly closed over it, taking it with a sigh.
She embraced Jelani tightly.
"Be careful," she whispered, and released her, running towards the cave where Zephyr was.

[Goldie]

Jelani watched her sister disappear back towards the cave and then began the arduous task of searching the bodies. With any luck they would be carrying something that might give some inclination as to their intentions.

A swift kick with her foot flipped the first over and she set to work rummaging in pockets, under clothes, and only walked away with a few pieces of silver and no answers. The next was the same, though he was also wearing an expensive looking bracelet that would sell for a good price. It was difficult work. Bodies were never easy to move around and they were getting stiffer with each passing second. Soon she was breathing heavily and while her purse grew heavier, her knowledge remained the same.

"Who are you?" She growled over the last man - the one who had been holding Pyla. This one was better dressed than his companions and she prayed that Hakeshna would be generous.

Her prayers must have been heard because inside the right breast of his sleeveless shirt was a rough-sewn pocket that might have been invisible had it not been for the slight bulge. She ripped it open and pulled out a folded piece of parchment.

She scanned its contents and her blood went cold. She needed to find Pyla. Now.

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla had gotten back to the cave without trouble.
But Zephyr was nowhere to be found.
"Zephyr?" Her voice trembled.
She had left him here! She desperately looked around the cave. No sign of him.
Pyla went to the back of the cave, just in case she missed somewhere.
She turned around, and a blur hit her straight in the chest, knocking her over.
Her heart skipped a beat. It was Zephyr!
Zephyr burrowed into her chest, embracing as best as he could, tears in his eyes.
"Zephyr! I'm so sorry I left you! Jelani and I had to take care of something."
An ominous feeling settled over her. She'd taken too long in looking for Zephyr. She got up.
"We've gotta go find Jelani!"
And she took out the locator ring and headed out of the cave.

[Goldie]

Jelani ran as fast as her legs would take her in the desert sands with the list of every name of every Mtetezi that had gone missing held tightly in her hand. This was more than just some fringe group trying to show women their place. This was so so so much worse.

Some of the names had been crossed out and she didn't even want to take a moment to linger on what that had to mean. Her friends were on that list. Her mentors. Her sisters. There were symbols next to their names, some repeating, like they were split into groups.

She was going too slowly. Gods, Pyla...she was going too slowly!

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla was running, following the locator ring. But up ahead...there was a form lying still in the desert, unmoving.
"Oh no...please don't be Jelani, please don't be Jelani!"
She skidded to a stop, next to the fallen figure. There was a cloak covering the figure, and it looked to be facedown.  Zephyr was anxiously tugging on her shirt.
"Not now, Zephyr, someone's hurt!"
She knelt down by the figure, anxiously grabbing them by the shoulders and turning them gently over...it wasn't Jelani. Pyla breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Hello? Are you ok?"
The man didn't move, limply lying there. He could have heat stroke, multiple things. But Pyla didn't see any visible injuries...she put her head to his chest to see if she could hear a heartbeat. Then rough hands grabbed her and she reached for her weapons, trying to get up. The man on the ground had her in a vice grip, and three other men had emerged from behind the small dunes in the meantime.

 In the commotion, Zephyr had flown off unnoticed, screeching for Jelani

"Let go of me!" Pyla yelled, but the men had the element of suprise. Her wrists were tied behind her back and she screamed as loud as she could, yelling for Jelani, her voice tinged with fear.
"Somebody shut her up!" The guy holding her yelled.
And that was the last thing she heard before something crashed into her head and her vision went black.

[Goldie]

Jelani was too late. Zephyr found her, but she still had a ways to go and she was already going as fast as the sand would allow. Her breath was ragged, her blood pumping in her ears. And then the sand began to swirl around her as a storm began to brew - a storm not of her own design but a true desert storm.

Hakeshna help them...with Zephyr's distress she knew, she knew Pyla was in trouble. She knew these men had taken her. She also knew that the storm would make it nearly impossible to follow their trail.

Zephyr stopped and swooped around, skeeing frantically around an area of desert that was darker than the rest.

Blood.

The storm loomed closer, but Jelani was able to see the trail before she was forced to take cover. They were going west.

[wandering_giraffe]

With the sand storm, Pyla's captors couldn't make it very far either, and they managed to hole up in a very small cave.

The sand storm was harsh, and even with the cover of the cave, the harsh, biting sand still swirled inside the cave.

"Fuck, did you kill her when you hit her? I said 'shut her up' not 'kill on sight', you bastard!"
The leader anxiously leaned Pyla against the cave wall, inspecting the wound on her forehead and checking her pulse.
"If she's dead there's going to be hell to pay."
The offending guy, bearded and very muscular, angrily leaned against the wall, folding his arms.
"Well next time be more specific!"
The leader angrily drew a wicked looking dagger, forgetting about Pyla and lunging at the bearded guy, putting his dagger to the guys throat.
"You backtalk me one more damn time and I'll throw you outside!"
The bearded guy merely held up his hands placatingly, and the leader, after a tense moment, let him go.
Pyla groaned, anxiously leaning up and after a second opened her eyes.
She didn't even waste a second.
"You bastards release me! You have no idea who you're messing with!" And she affixed the leader with an angry, icy glare.

[Goldie]

"Sit. Down." A voice cold as ice bit through the chaos as he appeared from just outside the cave. He was speaking to Pyla, but even the men who had grabbed her stopped bickering and looked abashed.

"You embarrass us all." He growled, shaking the sand from his coat and pulling the wrappings and goggles off his face that kept him safe from the biting storm that raged outside.

He stepped forward and spit at Pyla's feet before crouching to look her in the eye. He had a scar that extended from his temple to his collarbone along with an eyepatch that clearly was covering what that blow had taken from him.

"You killed too many of us, slave. But we'll make sure you behave. And if you don't."
He grinned and touched the large scimitar at his side, "We'll take your hands."

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla involuntarily sat down when he spoke, but she didn't break eye contact with him for a second.
"Slave?" She asked incredulously.
"I think you've got the wrong person, Patchy," she snorted.

Her eyes darted around the cave. Only one entrance. This one was even kindof chilly, and there were a few stalactites and stalagmites dotting the cave.

No sign of Jelani, so that means Jelani was still relatively safe.
So far there were five men...five against one weren't the best odds. Especially because she had no idea where any of her stuff was. The bastards. They had taken all of it. Her weapons, her knapsack, all gone—-Zephyr! Where is Zephyr! He wasn't in here either.
"Where are you taking me? You'd be a fool to go back to Essryn."

[Goldie]

He looked into her eyes with an iciness that could freeze the soul and his lips remained in a nondescript line.

"Men. The slave thinks it can speak." He said slowly, still crouched before her, eyes still staring directly at her. There was a tension in the air that grew by the second as the silence continued after his words.

"Do you know what happens to slave who speak out of turn?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Pyla once again made unwavering eye contact with him.
The problem with Pyla is she is stubborn. It was a trait that's gotten her in trouble.

The tension that had settled over the cave was dangerous.

"I don't think you heard me the first time. I'm not a slave."