The Tears Have Long Since Dried

[Anonymous]

Cairo wrapped her sun cloak around her, the sun starting to bother her.  She had just begun moving again and it was approaching evening.  Moving at night was better than being still.  She kept moving rhymically, unconsciously.  Thoughts pursued eachother in her mind, distracting her.  She had only a few hours to prepare for the journey, when the Elder gave his final work to her and a dozen others.  Going with another wasn't an option as if either of them had the disease it could spread and kill more.  Each was given a direction to take and she followed to stars northeast.  Each were to quarentine themselves for four days and nights before even attempting to meet anyother life.  Today was Day Five.  

The sun behind her cast her shadow long before her.  Her eyes stared against the horizon, waiting for something to be seen besides the consistent landscape.  The desert she was used to; the loneliness was foreign.  She set her jaw and picked up a trot to burn the nervous energy shivering through her.  Each leg struck the ground in a two beat pattern, each hoofprint matched by the one following.  She became more aware of the landscape, as the dangers of quicksand or a soft dune could cause her to break a leg and her life.

She began to hum a sort of tune, keeping her thoughts away from anything.  No thought to where she was going, or what she would do when she got there.  It was too soon for that yet.

[Anonymous]

'Lleannen!!!'

The flames licked at her legs and torso, people surrounded her, fighting and pushing each other back. She gasped in the heat, sweat pouring down her body. Through the smoke of the fire she could see a still figure, a sword held high above their head. She tried to move towards the figure but it was no good. The flames were getting higher and encirlcled her completely. Besides, she was firmly bound.

The sword was unsheathed, the blade glowing with it's own light. People in the crowd began to move towards the figure, trying to reach the sword. The light grew brighter and brighter, until it engulfed even the flames that burned in Lleannens eyes. The heat was unbearable, the smoke flowing into her lungs with each breath, the cries of the people and the cracking of the fire drowned her, and still the light of the sword grew brighter and brighter....

'Lleannen!!!!'

Lleannen kept her eyes closed. She had been sleeping fitfully for days, her legs covered in sand, her wings stretch over her back and head to keep her shielded from the sun. She was gathering her strength, trying to cast her memory back before the fire, before the swords light... but there was nothing but darkness.

All she had was the sword. She had found it on the first day, when her eyes were still closed, her hand had brushed against the hilt. Now she lay with the sword pressed against her body, the metal cool despite the hot air. She was thankful for it, and clung to it while she dreamed.

The light was fading, she could feel it growing cooler. The heat of the days and the cold of the night were all she had to mark the passing of time. Soon she would have to move, she needed water and food. Soon... soon...

She began to drift into sleep again.

[Anonymous]

With the approaching evening, the desert seemed to awaken.  Small mammals scrabbled out of their assorted dens and nests, rustling in the tufts of hardy grass that sprouted here and there.  The moon was big and bright tonight; the moonlight causing a blue sheen to reflect on the sand.  Activity was bustling, insects, reptiles, and birds all coming out into this different landscape.  

Cairo was able to focus on the surroundings more, no longer a still picture that never changes no matter how matter steps have been taken.  She enjoyed, if she would ever analyze her feelings to that point, being so close to nature.  Nature was based on survival and fortune.  Religion based life on the will of deities, judgement, and forces beyond worldly control.  Nature was her preference at this leg of the journey.

She saw a form near the horizon and had taken it for a rock, much more interested was she in the aerial display of brilliance of some desert larks as they gathered insects and called to one another.  Only as she moved closer did she see the glint of metal, quite unlike the glass-like shine of the sand.  In her path, she did nothing except walk straight as the details, distorted by the slant of moonbeams and reflections around, of a person was able to trigger her mind.  

She stopped and studyied the creature, uncertainty rising.  She first watched to discern the rising and falling of the chest, she noticed the small stature and thin frame, she noticed what had caught her eye to begin with; the sword.  Her conscience danced for a while before a decision was reached.  She would not touch her, but she built a fire within close proximity.  She left her hare-skinned flask next to her as well as her supply of Semmal, traveling biscuits.  Then, she took this oppurtunity to try and gather a supply of fresh food.  

She circled in a radius of less than 300 yards and every so often she was certain to cross back into the makeshift camp area to see if the creature had awakened.

[Anonymous]

Fire licking at her body, her legs, her face....

'Lleannen!!!'

Slowly Lleannen joined the concious world. The sword was still beside her body and for the first time in days she opened her eyes. FIRE! She panicked, pushing herself up from the desert floor, feeling the sand pour off her wings and legs as she moved. Her arms were still weak, and she slipped back down, sand from her hair getting in her ears and mouth.

As she spat the sand out she realised the flames were several feet from her, cackling away in a small fire pit. She sighed and laid down again, her breathing rapid. Her body was still weak but her mind was alert. Fire ment someone else was near. She scanned the ground and her eyes landed on a flask and several round cake-like objects. She reached out and grasped the flask, the soft leather gripped in her sand caked hand. Greedily she pulled out the stopper and drank, the water splashing across her face and dripping from her hair.

When she had drunk half the flask she closed it again, clutching it close to her chest next to the sword. She rolled onto her back, careful not to crush her wings beneath her, and she looked up at the stars. The events of the last few days, along with the hopelessness of her situation caught up with her, and she began to laugh.

[Anonymous]

With night fully underway, Cairo began to head back toward the camp, a slim hare thrown over her shoulder, one pierce of its skin to mar the sleek fur.  In her other hand was a bundle of dry reeds, dead moss, and some brittle sticks, the only kindling she had been able to find.  It may last through the night.

As she approached the camp she say the disturbance in how she left it and assumed the humanoid had awoken.  She approached from the side, curious about what awaited her.  She could of just walked by, she realized.  But, it's not like she was going anywhere.  She had some moral sense to her.

She called out while she was still several yards from the circle of thrown light from the fire, in order to not cause surprise.

"Hello.."

She still approached, laying down her gatherings as she entered.

[Anonymous]

Lleannen stopped her laughing and rolled over, looking to see who approached. Her grip on the sword didn't slacken, not that she would have been able to use it, but it made her feel less exposed.

She was not expecting the creature that entered into the light of the fire. It appeared to be some sort of hybrid; part horse, part woman. It - she, Lleannen realised - was an intimidating sight, but Lleannen relaxed as the horsewoman lowered her weapons and placed them beside a freshly killed hare. It was obviously her camp, and Lleannen realised she owed this 'woman' her life. She pulled herself up on one elbow and tried a smile.

"Hello..." she said, her voice croaky from lack of use. She looked down at her hands, one of which still clutched the water bladder. "Thank you, for the water" she said.

[Anonymous]

This was the first meeting with someone outside her tribe on neutral territory and she was unsure on how to act.  The situation was not what she had imagined, much more like the reverse.  The girl, or, at least she looked young...or at least small...but then again Cairo herself was rather large.  Not quite as big as, say, the grassland Uma cavallo, her tribe was usually more slender, as to suite their enviroment.  Yet, her equine withers were the equivalency of about 4 and a half feet and her torso adding another 2 and a half, she still towered over the humanoid, especially while she sat on the ground.

She realized this may appear dominating and aggressive to some so, while still a few feet away, though within easy talking distance, she lowered herself to the ground more gracefully than would of been expected by her large mass.  She reclined with her human torso up and her equine legs resting under her.

Uncertainty was still dominating her thought space and it took her a moment to respond to Lleannen.  She nodded, making eye contact for a brief pause before averting her gaze.  

"You are welcome.  You may have the rest of the flask, though it would be good to take small parts."  

A pause.

"My name is Cairo of Dakhla"  There was a slight hiccup to the name of her village, but her face remained neutral.  Neither welcoming or hostile or defensive.

[Anonymous]

(OOC - Sorry for the delay, been a bit flat out lately! Didn't mean to leave Cairo in the lurch!)

Lleannen examined the strange woman before her. At least, she thought of her as a woman. In truth, well, she had never seen anything like her before. And she was a guarded person, Lleannen would read a flicker of an emotion on her face, but then it would be gone, replaced by smooth composure. She didn't know what to think yet.

In the end though, it was Lleannen who was in the vulnerable position. She had no choice but to accept this woman's help, at least until she learned more.

"Lleannen. My name is Lleannen." She made a decision. "But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. I don't know anything else myself". She tried a smile. "I don't suppose you know where I came from, or where I am?"

[Anonymous]

Cairo took the hare and her pack that was next to her.  She laid out a dark and subtle skin and placed the rabbit onto it.  She began preparing the body, knowing the fire probably would only last until day break and if she wanted to smoke the meat so it would keep better, she would have to start soon.  Using a small hatchet she cut off the head, and with her knife, she began to skin it.  

She kept her eyes moving about her, making eye contact with Lleannen as she spoke and shook her head at her question.  

"No, I am sorry.  I am new to these parts myself.  I have been going northeast for several days now and have not come across anything save you. "

She tried to force a smile and, while it was more or less genuine, it probably didn't come out right.  She didn't want to make Lleannen to feel anxious or anything; she had nothing to worry about from Cairo.  But her face had not been used to that motion for a long while now, her muscles seemed stiff.

(( It's alright and understandable.  Made me realize I should make another character though =P ))

[Anonymous]

Lleannen watched Cairo preparing the hare for a while, and then looked around her. The firelight cast a circle of light around them, but beyond the light the desert was dark, with nothing but startlight above them.

"I'm not suprised you didn't find anything save me, there doesn't seem to be a lot around here" she said, pulling herself slightly closer to the fire. She tried to fold her wings flat against her, but they were sore from being extended for days while she had sheltered beneath them, and she was so covered with sand that it was too uncomfortable.

Taking another swig of water she sighed in the silence, nothing but the fire crackling and the sound of Cairo working on the hare.

"You must be from around here," she asked, making conversation. "There doesn't seem to be much water out here, and you couldn't have been walking that long. Besides, from the looks of the hare, you seem to know the desert pretty well."

[Anonymous]

Cairo had finished skinning the hair.  She took the skin and laid it on the packed sand beside the fire.  Taking a few handfulls of sand and pebbles, she covered it and left it there while she returned to the meat.  She cut the meat into medium sized pieces, laid them side by side, and wrapped them in the skin once she cleared it of debris.  Then, using her knife and the help of a stick, she made a hole almost under the fire.  She placed the back there, covered it with sand, then moved the fire ontop of it.

She nodded.  "If you keep going straight, you're bound to find something.  Deserts cannot last for ever."

As she finished what needed to be done to the meat for now, she moved back to the skin.  Using a circlular motion with her hand, she rolled the pebbles and sand into the flesh side, ridding if of bits of endodermis that stubbornly clung, as well as blood vessles, bits of fat, and the such.

"I've been going straight for six days now.  Usually I do not drink the water from the flask, but gather it in the evening and dawn as dew from plants; as well as from insects.  I have always lived in the desert, though it is not quite as parched as this where I am from.  Perhaps I should of requested another direction to go in."

When she was satisfied with the skin, she set it on the ground, usuing the weight of the sand and small rocks to keep it more or less stretched.  

"If you are strong enough to travel, and if you want to, you may come with me."

[Anonymous]

Lleannen watched Cairo work on first curing the meat and then preparing the skin. She was fascinated by the task, admiring how Cairo used every last bit of the hare, letting nothing go to waste. At her mention of requesting a different direction confusion passed over Lleannens face, but she let it slip away, making a mental note to ask her later, when they had become more aquainted.

She smiled at the offer of company. "I would definitely appreciate a guide of any kind. I really am lost, in more than a manner of speaking. I know that something happened, something far away from here" she rubbed her temples as a headache flared into being. "But whenever I try to remember, I just get nothing. Nothing but a headache."

She brought the sword around and laid it across the sand before her. She ran her fingers over the hilt and blade lightly. "All I have is this. And I don't even know if it's mine. It feels like mine, but... I don't even know if I can use it". She looked up at Cairo and shrugged. "I won't be the most coherrent travelling companion, but I will be honoured to travel with you."