ENDLESS JOURNEYS (O/A)

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The child inched closer to Kerana and tugged at her clothing to bring her a little closer to it's mouth. As quietly as it could manage, the child breathed, "Help me." He then directed his nervous gaze toward Shara.

Alec's ears picked up on the minute whisper. It was enough to make the fur on his ears tense. He calmly positioned himself between Kerana, who was the child, and the mother. He offered the bowl of pasted herbs to Kerana for her to hand to the child as he asked a question of the mother.

"He seems a little shy. What's his name?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec nodded and said to Shara, "Ash is in good hands with Kerana. It would be best if we allowed her to work without distraction. If you would please follow me, perhaps we could get something to eat."  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

The child, now Ash, couldn't help but muse at how appropriate Shara's impromptu name assignment was. Ash actually was a golem forged from the ashes of many children. But that wasn't at the forefront of it's mind for long.

Now it was alone with one of the children accompanying Trinity, and now was the time to start phase two.

"I don't know who that lady is, but she's not my mother. She took me from my orphanage."

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Alec accompanied Shara to the galley and decided to strike up a conversation to keep up appearances. "Where do you two hale from?"  

[Nova Blancke]

I believe I already told the both of you not to trust either of them. Empathizing with either won't do us any good. Do not fall for any of their stories. No matter how heart breaking they must be for you. Nova replied sounding a bit cold. He should have just left the both of them back at the town where he met Trinity. It would have been so much easier not having to think for them. It really was time to stop pampering them and let them find out how dangerous their situation is. In times of peace their qualities would be good...but not now. That naivety will get them killed.

Nova still looked tired. He felt a little better but still looked like death. His face as hard as stone. His gaze looked liked it could kill. Luckily it didn't.
He over heard that woman say Titan Terror...and it made him laugh. What a ridiculous name.  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Alec listened carefully to the words spoken by the woman. Trinity had been with them the last week. There was no way she could have done what the woman said she did. So either she was mislead, or she is lying.

A chill went up his spine as he walked slightly ahead and to the right of the woman. His animal instincts drew him toward the doorway that lead to the room Nova was in. Alec only needed to see the ancient's steely gaze for but a moment to understand the situation. The woman behind him wasn't to be trusted.

A rush of thoughts ran through the boy's mind. First and foremost was the thought that if the woman was Shara, that Kerana would be endangered again.

No, not again. The last time his wolf spirit had to intervene, and that was unacceptable to him and his people. He was going to take the initiative this time. If this woman was indeed a victim, then the fates would intervene in someway and stay Alec's hand.

Alec swallowed hard and took a deep breath as they made their way into the kitchen. To anyone else it sounded like unease at the mention of Trinity's name. "I'm sorry to hear that. Have you been on your own the whole time, in the wilderness I mean?"  

[Rikki Tikki Travi]

Kerana

"Ash and I have been in the wilderness for about 6 months, I want to say. Gathering food and hunting until we could find a place,to stay and get the medical Attention Ash needs." She spoke as if she were remembering their hardships.


"So where is this orphanage? I'm sure my friends and I can get you back there." Kerana asked, still wanting to help the poor child.

Six months? That makes her origin more feasible, but the notion of a sickly child and a woman with no survival training making it for that long was laughable.

He could feel his inner beast stirring, telling him there was imminent danger. But he would have to wait. Their positioning left him at a disadvantage. For the time being he would just have to keep his eyes on her while Kerana looked after the child.

He grabbed a few containers of water and offered one to the woman. "I thought I could make us some tea. Would you mind giving me a hand?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash shook it's head, "I don't know where the orphanage is. They never told us where we were."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The infernal swarm continued to devour the guardian until the arrival of Trinity and the Valkyrie. The insects then turned their attention to the investigating duo and attacked them in earnest.  

[PixelMuse]

As Trinity looked to Hasaii for ideas. He opened his mouth about to suggest something. The swarm took its chance ad went into his mouth. Hasaii collapsed his eye opened and they were clouded in darkness. He was alive, breathing at least. A curse? she wondered. She took him with her through the shadows. She wasn't sure if she should just bring Hasaii to Nova or place him in a more secluded area in case the swarm tries to attack again. She went to a near by ruins of a temple and placed him on the altar there. She took a good look and honestly had no idea how to deal with the matter hopefully there was one man who knew just what to do. "I will be right back."

She drop through her shadow and emerged in a dark corner of Nova's room. "Nova I'm afraid we have a situation." She took his hand and took him to Hasaii and explained what she saw happened. "Any ideas of what we should do?"

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Rikki Tikki Travi

Gael Redfeather

Nova Blancke

 

[Nova Blancke]

Nova was surprised to say the least when Trinity pulled him through the shadows. He almost struck out at her, given the current situation. When they reappeared he saw the state that Hasaii was in. Definitely a curse. He had to be quick about this and have Trinity take him back as soon as possible. That woman chose the worst time to seek his help.

Nova squatted down next to Hasaii and put his hand on Hasaii's face, covering his mouth. The man took a deep breathe before light burst out of Hasaii's mouth and eyes. Light magic was best to deal with these kinds of curses. Holy would have been an option as well but it would lower Hasaii's chances of survival because it would utterly destroy the curse but leave little intact of the host. Light Magic was also known for it's healing properties. So this would increase his chances of survival.

"If he is lucky, he will make it. Now take me back this instance and next time wait for my answer before taking me somewhere. Kerana let Shara and a strange unnatural child into the house. I need to keep an eye on things. Make sure that they do not die."  

[PixelMuse]

"I'm sorry Nova, I didn't know what to do. I just couldn't leave him like that, I couldn't simply let him die, and I wasn't sure how much time he had left before that happened. So please excuse my rush but I didn't want to argue."

She let out a sigh, "I'll take you back but I'm also taking him with us." She took Nova's hand and connected her shadow with his and Hasaii's. Shortly they sank and emerged in Nova's room. "I'll be right back. She took Hasaii to a different room so that he could rest for now. She then returned to Nova. "So, Kerana let two random people in? They could have been bounty hunters, what's wrong with her!?" she shouted in a very hushed tone.