Deadly Encounters

[Kaala]

Kaala hunched over, trying to avoid some of the biting cold of the wind. She desperately tried to keep a hold on the small black ball of fur hunkered down in her arms. She didn’t know what the small, almost kittenish cat had been doing in the middle of the Hadrac Desert but then again she didn’t really need to know. All she knew was that if left alone, the poor thing would probably die of dehydration.

She bit her lip as yet again Mirror’s wings brushed her leg. That particular portion of her leg had been rubbed raw from constant riding. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, or the night before for that matter. All they cared about was finding Gildor before anything happened. She let out a sigh of relief as she caught sight of their small camp in the distance, closing in fast. She looked a little further out and saw what looked to be a person. She waved to them and grinned as who looked to be Farid waved back. Mirror banked sharply a few minutes later, landing in a cloud of sand next to their small oasis that had become their base.

She leapt off the saddle and, still clutching the black cat, began to undo the now massive straps of Mirrors’ saddle. She grinned at him as the last strap came undone, laughing as she let it fall to the ground. She looked up at him and said, “Perhaps tomorrow, eh? I don’t know that we’ll ever find him in this god forsaken desert...”

“Keep up hope, little one. We’ll find him. I sense he cannot be far.” was all the response she got before, with a tired rush of air, he laid his great head on his paws promptly fell asleep. She smiled a tired smile as she turned, leaving the dragon to his rest. They had searching non-stop since the group had re-grouped almost a week ago and they both were tired. She walked into the camp and began to dig into her bag for a small bowl. She took out a knife and with a shudder of disgust began to carve some of the meat Mirror had saved for her from his latest kill. She set it in the bowl and placed it in front of the cat. She watched with interest as it began to eat.

She rose and began to stroke the fire. She turned and took her pot to the small pool of water. She filled it just under halfway before placing it on the fire. She jumped as a cry arose to the east. She drew her rapiers and made her way to the outskirts of the small camp. To the east she saw a small party of men, their clothing blowing in the wind. She watched as two of them bent down and began to examine something on the ground. The cry went up again as one of the trackers (she assumed) rose what looked to be a staff out of the sand. Kaala looked closely at the staff. It looked familiar somehow. She shook her head and went back to her cooking as the group went on.

After she had the food going she turned, expecting the small cat to be gone. Instead it sat there, head on its’ paws watching her with rather intelligent looking gold eyes. With sudden inspiration she stretched out with her mind to the creature. She was shocked to find, instead of the mind of an animal, a steel wall. She looked at the cat in surprise and gasped as it spoke to her, much in the same way Mirror did. “You know, it’s impolite to enter someone’s mind without their permission.” The voice that echoed in her mind was undoubtedly male, though it sounded rather like a child’s. He looked at her and she could’ve only imagined it but she swore he raised his eyebrow at her. “What are you?” She asked, her confusion evident in her voice. She wasn’t quite sure as the only thing she had encountered something like it was Mirror. ‘Him, not it.’ A quiet voice in her head whispered.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the cat speaking again. “Do you have any spare clothes I might borrow?” He asked, the gold eyes trapping her in their depth. Those eyes seemed to hold more knowledge than anyone she had ever met. She nodded mutely before digging in her bag. She laid the pair in front of him before stepping back. She watched as in the blink of an eye a rather naked boy stood before her. She gasped as she watched him, her eyes holding nothing but confusion. “I’ve never met another werecat before. The only one I knew existed was Maud!” She hissed. She didn’t know why but she felt as though she should stay quiet about this. “I am Loki.” Was all she got before she jumped as a rustle behind her alerted to someone entering the camp. She turned around to hiss at him to get dressed but she noticed he seemed to have gone back to his cat form. She shook her head and sat down next to her pot, stirring the contents with a rather dazed look on her face. She nearly jumped once more as Loki curled up in her lap and was soon fast asleep, purring loudly. She looked up as someone entered the camp, a limp figure in their arms. She jumped up as she recognized the slightly wispy gray hair, not bothering to look at who brought him in. With a muttered curse she pushed the sleeping werecat out of her lap and began scrabble in her things to try and find something to lay him on. She gasped as she took in his appearance, his pinched, almost pained look, sunburn encompassing most of his body that was showing. She reached out to try and feel his magic and felt a wrench in her stomach when there was almost nothing there. “Lay him down, quickly!” She hissed, gesturing to the bedroll she had laid out. “Tell me, where did you find him?” Her eyes narrowed at a small, round stone clutched in his grip then almost doubled in size as she recognized the item. She'd seen one before, and thanked whoever it was that it hatched for her. "He found it!" She breathed, her voice filled with awe. "He found the last dragon egg!"

[Cirtolthiel]

Cirtolthiel pulled her hood and headwrap back over her head to avoid the white sand being blown in her face. With her black tunic and black hood, she looked vaguely like a nomad - if it wasn't for her silvery hair showing from the bottom of her hood. She gripped her reins tighter, her eyes tightly shut, extending her sensory magic as far as she could.

And once again, the only things to be felt were her own heart beat and the horse she was sitting on. She sighed, squinting her eyes open just enough to see that it was nighttime. Yet another long day of hopeless searching was almost over. Cirtolthiel was about 15 leagues away from camp, and once again she would have to return empty-handed.

She tugged her hood over her eyes more and glared around, now starting to shiver in the sudden twilight chill. But there was just sand. And sand. And more sand. By the time they found Gildor (if they found Gildor, that is) she would have seen enough of this blasted desert for her immortal lifetime. Cirtolthiel fumbled with a pouch by her side and pulled out a waterskin to take a savoring sip. And then she turned her horse back to the direction of the camp, feeling exhausted and hungry like she always did nowadays.

An hour later, she arrived back at camp. Kaala and Mirror were already there; Kaala was slowly poking the fire with a glum face and Mirror a few feet away, resting. She glanced at a little cat by Kaala's side but didn't take much notice. She wearily dismounted her horse and joined Kaala by the campfire, not needing to discuss if the other had found anything. Because they both already knew the answer.

Cirtolthiel gazed into the bright embers licking the wood. She stared at it for some while, her energy drained and just entranced by the only thing that seemed to be moving. But suddenly Kaala jumped up from beside her, bringing Cirtolthiel back to her senses. Kaala rushed behind Cirtolthiel, who looked over her shoulder as she heard footsteps. Blinking hard and pulling her hood off her head, she followed Kaala to someone who was holding a very familiar person that had been missing for a while...

"Gildor!" she exclaimed - half-whispering, half-shouting. He looked awful: heavily sunburned, unconscious, windburned, and pained look on his face. Cirtolthiel winced and helped him into the camp while Kaala scrambled around to make a bed for him.

“Lay him down, quickly!” Kaala ordered, pointing to the bedroll she had spread out. Cirtolthiel immediately went to retrieve water deep from the ground, taking note that everyone's water supply was low. She snatched her waterskin from where she left it and went to the hole they had made a week ago. She mumbled the magic words to summon the water from the ground and used a good deal of energy stores to retrieve an entire full waterskin. Meanwhile, Kaala was asking what had happened and where Gildor had been found.

Cirtolthiel carried her full waterskin back over, and Kaala suddenly gasped. "He found it! He found the last dragon egg!" Cirtolthiel coughed violently, suddenly getting a throatful of sand. She nearly dropped the water.

"WHAT?" she wheezed, hurrying over to take a look. And the polished stone was there, tightly clutched in Gildor's hands. Cirtolthiel took a tiny sip of the water to wash out the sand before setting it down beside them. "Unbelievable..." she said quietly. She was shocked that Gildor was found - alive, even, she could just barely sense. But this was even more of a shock when the dragon egg was well, here! With him!

[Amerylis]

Amerylis wandered through the desert, barely looking where she was going. “Stupid desert. Stupid Gildor. Stupid council.” She mumbled trudging through the sand, with Arsen right behind her. She wiped her eyes to rid them of the sand and grim. It was her idea that they took turns combing the desert for Gildor.
“He might not even be here. What if this is just a waste of time.” She rolled her eyes and kept up her pace. Behind her Arsen struggled against the reins. She turned to calm him, her hand on her blade. “What is it?” She asked patting him on the nose. He reared back, startling Amerylis. She stepped back, and lost her footing, and fell backwards in the shade of a dune.

Amerylis spat out a mouthful of the white hot sand. She ran the back of her palm over her eyes again and leaned back on her hands. Her hand landed on something smooth. She stood and dusted herself off. She turned around and looked down. She gaped as her eyes fell on Gildor. She bent down and pushed his hair out of his eyes. She put her hand below his nose to see if he was still breathing. She looked up at the sun, squinting. It was almost nightfall. She gathered him in her arms with great difficulty, using magic to help herself lift him. She called Arsen to her and coaxed him to lay in the sand. She put Gildor in the saddle and tied him in so he wouldn’t fall off. She watered Arsen then returned to the saddle, finally noticing the polished stone. She ran her hand over the bluish stone, then climbed into the saddle behind Gildor.

Amerylis returned to the camp a few minutes before nightfall. She stopped Arsen by the water to let him drink. She pulled Gildor off of Arsen and carried him into the campsite. She glanced around as the campsite was sudden ly filled with life. She watched as Kaala scurried to make him a bed. Her arms began to ache as she held him and Cirt swarmed to him.

Amerylis ignored what they were saying and brushed past them as Kaala finished making the bedroll and stepped back. She gasped and said something, then heard Cirt gasp and cough. She took the rock from his hands (with great difficulty) and set it beside her without a second glance. She put the blankets over him and pulled her pack to her. She pulled out some cloth and her waterskin and wet the cloth. Then she wiping off his face with the rag, silently. She put the cloth beside her, beside the stone and sighed.

[Gildor]

Hot, sticky, sandy, and something about a tea party. That was all Gildor could remember. He might have dreamed up that last one, or maybe the second, but for now it seemed perfectly reasonable. Clearly he was still delirious... maybe. Nothing and everything was making sense in his head, but how was that any different from any other time? Wait... what?

Something cold and wet was touching his brow. And the stone, his rock friend, the only companion he had throughout this wild journey. Where was he? She? It?

He tried moving an arm, and found it was numb and heavy as lead. He tried speaking, and discovered his voice as dry and his throat parched. Someone lifted his head and poured a mouthful of gritty desert water between his chapped lips. It was sweeter than any faelnirv he'd ever had in his life, though that was probably just because of dehydration. It was all he needed to give him the necessary energy to smack down whoever stole his rock... verbally.

"Listen here you pestilent, traitorous, c-cow-hearted, mushforbrains, yeasty codpiece."

If he had been speaking to anyone else, those may have been his last words.

"Either you give me back that stone this instant, or I make you wish I was never born. I will-"

And with that, he broke out coughing.

[Cirtolthiel]

Cirtolthiel waited for Amerylis to pry the egg from Gildor's deathgrip. Exhausted, she set it beside her and leaned back, oblivious to Cirtolthiel's and Kaala's audible exclamation at finding the egg. Once Amer finished wiping his face off, Cirtolthiel proceeded to gently raise Gildor's head and pour a little water into his mouth.

Cirtolthiel sat back, waiting for a response from the probably unconscious elf. But Gildor's eyes squinted open ever so slightly. Cirtolthiel brightened, grabbing the waterskin again to pour more. But before she could force more water down his throat, Gildor broke out in a painfully dry rasp.

"Listen here you pestilent, traitorous, c-cow-hearted, mushforbrains, yeasty codpiece," he managed weakly, with all the force he could muster. Cirtolthiel glanced at Kaala, wondering briefly if she should take him seriously. She held the waterskin, waiting patiently for him to speak more - if he could.

Apparently so. "Either you give me back that stone this instant, or I make you wish I was never born. I will-" he broke off coughing, and Cirt sat down, watching with interest. From what she could gather - this stone, which was actually the egg, as Gildor was blatantly unaware (and probably Amerylis) - was Gildor's source of companionship. She actually chuckled a little.

"Gildor, Gildor," she said quietly. "It is only us, your long-lost traveling companions. No need to use such foul insults," she added. "But if you really want your rock back, then here. Hold it for a little while...you'll be surprised it's quite a bit more than you think it is..." she trailed off. And with that, she reached over him and picked the heavy egg to place it back into his hands.

[Kaala]

Kaala stumbled a bit as Amerylis pushed her out of the way and scowled slightly but it soon left her face as worry for Gildor replaced it. She oversaw Amerylis’ attempts with the cloth and sighed with relief as he responded. She watched as his brow knitted slightly and his hand twitched, as though he were trying to move it. She noted that the all three of them seemed to be at least a little relieved, united, for once, in at least one thing.

She rose and made her way over to the large silver dragon lying on the outskirts of the camp, making sure to keep Gildor and the others within her sight. She nearly jumped as she heard a loud voice that could only belong to one person.

"Listen here you pestilent, traitorous, c-cow-hearted, mushforbrains, yeasty codpiece," She took a moment to stifle her laughter and turned to look at Cirt only to find that she was looking right at her, worry written on her face. She shook her head, letting the other woman know not to take it to heart and began to dig in one of the bags, looking for some herbs to make tea. She snickered as she heard him continue his tirade.

"Either you give me back that stone this instant, or I make you wish I was never born. I will-" he broke off coughing and Kaala quickly left her bags and rushed back to their sides just in time to hear Cirt shush him gently and whisper to him.

"Gildor, Gildor," she said quietly. "It is only us, your long-lost traveling companions. No need to use such foul insults," she added. "But if you really want your rock back, then here. Hold it for a little while...you'll be surprised it's quite a bit more than you think it is..." she trailed off and Kaala kneeled there, watching as she gently place the egg back into Gildors’ hands.

She gently placed her hand upon it and smile softly as she felt a faint heartbeat pulse under her hand. “Hello, Little one.” She whispered, her voice filled with the faint reminisces of her own encounter with a hatchling. “May you be as good to your rider as mine was to me.” With that she moved away slightly and drew the dagger from her boot and a sharpening stone from her bag. She began to rasp the block across the blade in that calm rhythm she had become accustom to. Slowly her mind began to wander and she calmed, allowing her to relax for the first time in awhile. Suddenly she jumped up, dropping her block and placing the dagger back in her boot. She quickly began making her way to Mirror, telling the others what had crossed her mind.

“One of us needs to go back. It will be best if it is me since Mirror is the quickest.” She noted their confused looks before shaking her head and telling them only two words. “His staff.” With that she stroked Mirror’s head, bringing him to rumbling wakefulness. “I need you to make one more side trip, my friend. We need to follow Amerylis’ tracks back to where she found Gildor. It appears as though his staff was left behind.” He yawned and lumbered to his feet, shaking some sand from his scales and not even bothering to reply. She reached up and grabbed on of his head spikes and pulled herself up bareback. A moment later they were gone, the rush of air on her face thrilling her to no end.

She grinned a little before focusing her sight on the ground, just able to pick out the tiny pinpricks that were Amerylis’ foot prints. They followed the trail for about thirty minutes before it seemed to just disappear. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to figure out what happened. Mirror hovered for a moment, turning his great head to look at her. She nodded and he began to descend, wind stirring up the sand. She let out a sigh of relief as the footprints were unharmed. She followed them upward and then slipped, rolling down a large dune and coming to a stop. She hissed and clutched her hand, keeping it tight against her chest. With a muttered curse she realized it was broken. Wincing slightly she went about her search, digging one handed through the sand. She would have to have Amerylis or Cirtothiel heal it when she returned to camp. Her magic was okay for slashes and cuts, but she had never been able to get the hang of mending bones.

She stumbled around for a few moments before she felt her hand run across something smooth and round. With a cry of triumph she pulled the staff from the sand. She looked it over to make sure the feathers were still there before looking up, her eyes just making out the figure of Mirror on the rise of the dune. He jumped off and glided his way down, carefully landing so as not to aggravate her hand. She struggle a bit to get on but eventually managed to pull herself up and not scrape the staff. She congratulated herself on her achievement until Mirror took off. She hissed and gritted herself against the pain. Turning her head to avoid the wind she noticed what appeared to be a group of tents and fires a ways off. She made note of the location before crouching even lower down, focusing on the uncomfortable feeling of the scales rasping her legs rather than the pain in her hand.

The trip seemed to take infinitely longer on the way back than it did to get there. She gave a sigh of relief as the camp came into view, clutching desperately to one of Mirrors’ head spikes. She bit down on a cry of pain as the landing jostled her injured hand, catching it before it could alert the others. She dropped the staff on the ground below before sliding off of him, trying to keep her hand from rasping against him. She reached out and stroked his brow, giving him a soft, if pained, smile. She heard him rumble before dropping to the ground and trying to go back to sleep.

She entered the camp and moved over to the group, laying Gildors’ staff at his side. She looked between the two women and calmly asked, “Could one of you spare a minute to heal my hand? I never got the hang of mending bones.”

She smiled ruefully through her wince and reached for a water skin. She gratefully drank a small sip before sighing and looking over at the others once more.

[Koloblicin]

Arabelle was completely exhausted. She had thought that her first day of riding would have been the worst; she could not have been more mistaken. Each progressive day her muscles became more and more sore and then stiffer and stiffer. She had actually started to stretch before she had started her day. Aside from that, her legs had been rubbed extremely raw from the long periods of riding. Arabelle had become doubly thankful for her desert heritage since that first night after riding. Her knowledge of how to keep from getting dehydrated had kept her from having to worry more about herself. She relaxed her back a bit and sighed, slumping down slightly. Within the past two days Arabelle had finally started recuperating that alone was enough to make her resonably cheerful, however continuely missing Gildor contered that cheerfulness for the most part. She was sure that everyone elses tempers were fraying just about as much as hers was.

The past week had been a continuous hunt for Gildor and the Dragon Egg. She had thought she would never think this, but the Hadarac's near barenness was starting to become rather... well, dull and Arabelle was actually longing for more vegetation like how it was outside the desert.

Soon the party stopped for the night. Everyone was relieved that the could stop and take a rest, Arabelle had found today's ride particularly trying and very tiring. Nearby Kaala fed a black cat that she had had for a short while. Arabelle relaxed letting her muscles uncoil and loosen. She began unburdening her horse of the things it carried. After quickly completing that task she set herself to unpacking her things. Halfway through that she heard cries to the East and there were a few men, clothes billowing in the wind, inspecting something in the sand. She figured that they had found some water or something, nomads usually got excited for nothing less. She quickly disregarded the fact and finished unpacking.

About a little less than an hour after she had arrived at camp excitement burst over by the campfire. Arabelle quickly jumped up and rushed over. On the way she heard and especially excited yell, "Gildor!" Arabelle literally tripped over her own feet in astonishment. She practically bounced of the sand and dashed over to where Amerylis, Kaala, Cirtolthiel, and Gildor were. The others attended to Gildor as Arabelle merely stood in shock. Subconciously Arabelle had doubted they would either find or catch up to Gildor in the great reaches of the Hadarac. Apparently her subconcious had been wrong.

Amerylis took Gildor's rock, but he swiftly popped out a degrading remark demanding that it be given back to him. Cirtolthiel said a calming remark that alluded to... That rock was the dragon egg! Arabelle continued to be silent and hang a little back.

The excitement died down immensely and Kaala said a little something to the little dragonling within the egg. With that the excitement had completely blown over; the egg was clutched in Gildor's arms and Kaala had slipped into a day dream. In the meantime Arabelle moved her things a great bit closer to the fire and where Gildor lay in case he might need something at any point in time. Soon thereafter Kaala realized that Gildor was missing his staff and she soon left, riding Mirror, to go find it. While she was gone Arabelle napped and Kaala returned a while later.

When she arrived she looked at Amerylis and Cirtolthiel "“Could one of you spare a minute to heal my hand? I never got the hang of mending bones.” She immediately collapsed into the sand after that. Arabelle rushed over to Kaala, the distance was shorter for than for Amerylis or Cirtolthiel, and reached her first. She quickly, and carefully, checked the rest of her condition before turning her full attention to Kaala's hand. She looked at it and quickly realized that she would have to let one of the others tend to it for she didn't really have much of an idea of how she would heal a bone. That fact aside she was exhausted and it would be foolish of her to try and heal something like that when there were two elves very close by. She opened her mouth to speak but changed her mind checked on Gildor once one of the others had gotten to Kaala.

[Amerylis]

Amerylis blinked in surprise as Gildor mumbled a few insults, directed at her. She took her hand off of the egg and let Cirt give it back, and whisper a few words that were supposed to calm him down. She looked to Cirt and stood up. “He should be hungry.” She said, turning to face Kaala. “I can tend to that for a while.” She said, replacing Kaala by the fire.

“One of us needs to go back. It will be best if it is me since Mirror is the quickest. His staff.” With that she stroked Mirror’s head, bringing him to rumbling wakefulness. “I need you to make one more side trip, my friend. We need to follow Amerylis’ tracks back to where she found Gildor. It appears as though his staff was left behind.”

She heard from behind her. Amerylis’s eyes widened. How could she forget his staff? Was it even there? Her mind drew a blank. It was probably covered with sand by now. She sighed and looked into the broth, which was now bubbling. She sat like that for a while, looking into the broth and stirring idly until she desided it was cooked well enough and she scooped it into a bowl. She returned by Gildor’s side and sat cross legged beside Cirt. “How’s he holding up?” She asked putting the bolw down between the two.

Amerylis heard the faint beat of wings and a loud thud. She looked over her shoulder as Kaala mumbled. “Could one of you spare a minute to heal my hand? I never got the hang of mending bones,” followed by another softer thud. Amerylis tilted her head backwards, indicating that Cirt should do it. She leaned forward and examined Gildor yet again. “Gildor?” She said softly, trying to coax him back to conciousness. She wiped his hair from his face and lowered the waterskin to his mouth again.

[Gildor]

Gildor managed to stop his coughing fit with a series of deep breaths and calming thoughts. Pummeling the rock thieves was one of those, if you can call that calming.

However, as he found he was still unable to lift his lead-like arms enough to proceed with said pummeling, he decided to go with throwing a couple more bluffed threats instead... Or at least he would have if one of the thieves hadn't already begun to speak.

The voice was feminine, so of course that was promising to Gildor (Sexist? Of course not!). It was also eerily familiar as it whispered softly through his half-conscious head. The person knew his name, mentioned something about lost, travailing pansies, fowl, and insects, and then something else about his rock. Before he could ask what in the blazes she was talking about the smooth, glassy surface of polished stone slipped beneath his fingers, and suddenly he found strength enough to grasp it tightly once more. He wasn't going to lose it again. No. Not when everything he ever strived for depended on it's safe delivery...

So perhaps he knew a little more about his friend than he was letting on.

Some time passed, but how much Gildor couldn't tell. Every once in a while he could make out more sounds: feminine voices, faint masculine whispers, the crackle of a campfire, a violin, the distant beating of dragon wings, his mother crying. Save for that last one, it was difficult to tell which ones weren't just the echos of his mind.

"Gildor?"

Now that one was certainly real, though he couldn't find a way to respond with his body as numb as it was. Gritty desert water filled his mouth, and it stunned him back to wakefulness so he'd swallow and not choke. This was a bit difficult to do lying down, and he coughed up a good amount of it in surprise. Though some was better than none, and it was infinitely refreshing despite the slightly sandy flavor. Still keeping a firm grip on his stone, Gildor was suddenly determined to wriggle his way up to a sitting position if it meant more water, even from who he still believed to be strangers and rock thieves...

[Cirtolthiel]

Kaala flew off with Mirror to go fetch Gildor's staff. Cirtolthiel looked up in surprise - how could Gildor have forgotten his beloved staff so quickly and replace it with his new rock (er...egg)? She pondered this for a moment and Amerylis went up to get food for the two of them. Cirtolthiel continued to give Gildor water every now and then.

Cirtolthiel watched Kaala return, as she stumbled off Mirror and dropped the staff nearby. “Could one of you spare a minute to heal my hand? I never got the hang of mending bones," Kaala groaned. Cirtolthiel saw Arabelle reach her first, but then caught sight of her expression of bewilderness. Amerylis shot Cirtolthiel a look to go help Kaala. Cirtolthiel nodded. "Sure," she murmured, and pulled herself up to go take a look.

Gently, Cirtolthiel examined Kaala's broken hand. The break wasn't too serious, but it would need to be treated. "Well, well. Not too bad, but not just a little fracture either," she murmured as she carefully turned over her hand to inspect the other side. "It will take just a few minutes." She tugged at her magic reserves and said the healing words, content at its product. "Oh, it might be slightly uncomfortable while it's mending. Don't move it too much right away," she added. They walked back over to the campfire and sat down. Cirtolthiel closed her eyes and rested for a little while.

[Kaala]

"Well, well. Not too bad, but not just a little fracture either,"

Kaala winced slightly as Cirt examined her hand, and struggled to contain a gasp as she turned her hand over.

"It will take just a few minutes."

She shot a discrete glare at her before Cirt whispered the words and her hand felt as though it had been placed in a bowl of warm water. She let out a sigh of relief as she slowly closed her fingers, wincing as she felt a twinge of pain in the muscles.

Oh, it might be slightly uncomfortable while it's mending. Don't move it too much right away,"

Kaala scowled and muttered under her breath in elvish. "Couldn't you have said something before I moved it?" She moved to sit by the others at the fire and picked up the black kitten. He opened his eyes which flashed amber in the firelight before setting up a light purr. She set him in her lap and closed her eyes, leaning slightly towards the warmth of the fire. She looked up as Amerylis tried to get Gildor to drink from the water skin.

She frowned as Gildor went into another coughing fit and gave Amerylis a sharp look. "You can't just try to give him water all the time. I know you're worried but at this rate you'll do more harm than good." She took on an edgy look as Amerylis ignored her.

It seemed as though her fears were unfounded however as Amerylis once again fed him some water and he swallowed. She looked a little relieved at first and then hissed as Gildor began to struggle to sit up. She had the cat out of her lap and was at Gildor's side in an instant.

"Gildor, wait!" She looked around helplessly. She knew he shouldn't be sitting up yet but no one seemed to be doing anything but helping him. With a frustrated groan she stood up and stalked over to the outskirts of the camp. She moved up to Mirror who reflexively raised his wing for her to get out of the wind. She snuggled into his side and was greeted by a wave of warmth.

[Koloblicin]

Gildor seemed to be doing fine and since she had nothing else to do she went to sit by the fire. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. She was exahusted and felt like a great burden to the group. She stared into the fire and tuned out most of what was happening around her, although she continued to watch Gildor. Meanwhile, Cirtolthiel examined and dealt with Kaala's broken hand. Cirtolthiel suggested that Kaala not move it while it was healing and Kaala grumbled something, wincing in pain.

Amerylis poured some water into Gildor's mouth. He spat most of the water back out, but seemed to swallow some of it after a bit of coughing.

Kaala shot Amerylis an irritated look, "You can't just try to give him water all the time. I know you're worried but at this rate you'll do more harm than good." Arabelle agreed with what was said but not with the tone that it was said with. Amerylis ignored her and poured yet more water into Gildor's mouth. He drank most of it that time and seemed to struggle up into a sitting position. Kaala lept to his side in an instant, Arabelle was suprised, but did not leap to her feet.

"Gildor, wait!" Kaala said. She looked around, and after a brief moment she got an irritated look and walked off to the outskirts of the camp.

Arabelle stood and walked to Gildor's side and kneeled by him. "Gildor?" she said quietly. Lay back down," she urged, "you ought to be resting." She knew he needed rest, but knew better than to force him to do so.

[Amerylis]

Amerylis scurried to help him up into a sitting position.She rolled her eyes and shot an annoyed glance to Kaala. She crossed her arms as Arabelle urged him to lay back down. “He’s a big boy now. If he wants to sit up, let him.” She said in a mock-motherly tone, that turned into a sort of growl. She leaned in closer to him, trying to ignore Arabelle the best she could. “Gildor?” She waved her hand in his face awkwardly, then snapped, remembering it was no good to test him visually and in his state he wouldn‘t sense it anyway. Still, his expression remained the same. Amerylis let out a frustrated groan. She gathered her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. There had to be some way to stir his senses. She soon wore the same goofy blank expression as Gildor, as she tried to find a solution to their problem.

Her mind raced as she struggled to catch the thoughts that were dancing around. Then it hit her. She jumped to her feet and blew past Arabelle, her mind moving ten tmes the speed of her body. She stopped by her bags and rummaged around in them. When her hands reappeared they were clutching onto a wineskin that she had been saving for this very reason. She rushed back to Gildor and sat back in front of him, uncorking the skin. A bit of the strong smelling liquid splashed out and landed in between her and Gildor, but she paid it no mind. She lowered the wineskin to his lips and turned it up enough for him to drink without choking. She pulled it away after a few seconds and studied his face.

[Kaala]

She drew in a sharp breath, her lungs protesting the action and her throat burning as the air was sucked through. She felt the itch build it her throat and cursed the desert heat as she began to cough, a few droplets of blood mixing with the saliva that flew from her mouth.

She drew in another raspy breath and felt skin cracking in the back of her throat. She spat and blood flew from her mouth. She look up as muffled laughter came from in front of her. She glanced up at the three natives who were tasked to guard her. Two of them were laughing at something the third said. One of them glanced at her, his eyes a dark hazel. She narrowed her eyes at the native, shaking her silvery hair from her face. She went to speak but all that came out was a rasp which caused another coughing fit.

She couldn't remember exactly how long it had been since the tribe caught her but she knew it had been almost a week. They barely fed her and could only spare enough water to keep her alive. She knew if she stayed here much longer she would die. A flash of silver in the sky caught her attention and she swung her head up, unbelievingly making out the shape of a silver dragon. 'Who ever it is, it's a varden rider. There are no silver Empire dragons.' She squinted at the dragon and made out a small lithe figure clinging tightly to a saddle. She shook her head and tugged at her bindings. She hissed as a spear prodded her side, the guard weilding it giving her a dark look. She sighed and lowered her head to her shoulder, hoping that somehow she could get out of this mess.

[Koloblicin]

Amerylis folded her arms, "He’s a big boy now. If he wants to sit up, let him.” she said in a tone that Arabelle did not like in the least. Amerylis leaned over Gildor; she was doting on Gildor and it was starting to get really annoying.

Arabelle fixed Amerylis with a cold stare, "Don't patronize me Amerylis," she said darkly. Amerylis ignored her and Arabelle rolled her eyes and sighed walking off leaving Amerylis to be a doting 'mother'. If she stopped rutting for him for five seconds she'd realize that he would be better off resting instead of having water poured down his throat every minute. Amerylis rushed past Arabelle as she was on her way back to her things. Oh great, whats she getting for him now? Arabelle thought. Amerylis had apparently found what she was looking for and rushed back to Gildor's side. She gave Gildor a sip of whatever it was and then stared at his face apparently studying his reaction. Arabelle turned away; however he reacted to it she didn't really care, so she sat by her things thinking of something to do to pass the time.

[Gildor]

In his dazed state, Gildor could only make out the protesting tones of Kaala and Arabelle's voices, but not the actual words. He still couldn't tell who the owners of these voices were, though they were slowly becoming more and more familiar to him. These people couldn't be too bad, whoever they were. They had made him comfortable, they kept giving him water every few minutes, and from what he could tell they were all women, (that was always a plus in Gildor's mind). However, these thoughts were still jumbling aimlessly around for he was still fading in and out of sleep. The desert heat had gotten to his head long before his rescuers got to the rest of him.

The person who had taken over water duties suddenly returned to his side in a hurried huff, which momentarily jarred his mind and senses back to consciousness. He was about to slip off in a daze again when something strong and fiery was poured down his throat. Surprised, he suddenly sat up, coughing hard as the liquid burned down into his stomach. It was a good feeling though; exactly what he needed to snap back to full awareness. Well, almost full awareness.

"W-where... am I?" he asked slowly, still gripping the egg tightly to his chest.

[Kaala]

Kaala sighed as the angry voice of Arabelle carried over the camp. She was pretty sure that Amerylis was going to piss off the entire camp at this rate. 'She’s beginning to be as bad as Farid.’ She thought, wondering what it was Amerylis had done this time. She tapped Mirror’s wing so he moved it and stood up angrily, looking over in time to see that Gildor had sat up and was coughing violently. She gave a cry and ran over. “What did you do?!” She snarled as she pushed Amerylis slightly out of the way and kneeled down next to him. She watched him swallow before his voice croaked out.

"W-where... am I?" he asked slowly, still gripping the egg tightly to his chest.

She gave him a shocked look before glancing at the flask in Amerylis’ hand. ‘That explains it.’ She thought to herself before turning her attention back to Gildor. “You’re in the Hadrac Desert. You’ve been missing for almost two weeks, ever since you abandoned us in Surda. It’s a good thing we finally found you. Much longer and you would be dead. Now, we can return to the Varden and clear your name.”

“Tell me. Do you remember anything at all?” she pressed, needing to know what he remembered so she could fill in the gaps.

[Amerylis]

“What did you do?!”

Amerylis rolled her eyes once more. “I swear if you people would just let me work I could get something accom-.”Her words turned in to inaudible whispers as Gildor began to speak.

"W-where... am I?" He rasped.

Amerylis grinned and resisted the urge to leap at him and hug him. She shot Arabelle a smug smirk, then turned to Kaala with a raised brow. “Told you.” She said playfully smiling at Kaala before getting up and going to the fire to fetch more soup. She scooped it into the wooden bowl and stood up.

She took a few steps back to him, then stopped. “And Arabelle. Don’t take it to personally. I just know that no one can make Gildor do something he doesn’t want to do. But don’t doubt me again please. I have lived many more years than you, and though I may be considered young to my people, I am in no way an idiot. I know much more than you could ever dream of knowing. So let me handle this, okay?” She said without turning to look at Arabelle.

Amerylis returned to Gildor’s side and put the soup beside him. ”Are you hungry?” She asked pleasantly, crossing her legs in front of her.

[Koloblicin]

"W-where... am I?" He asked slowly still gripping the egg tightly to his chest.

Gildor was now clearly concious. At least she did something right. Arabelle thought. Amerylis turned and threw Arabelle a smug look making her even more angry with Amerylis than before. Amerylis then turned to Kaala and with a smug voice said, "Told you."

Amerylis told Arabelle not to take it personally, at which Arabelle almost laughed, and then finished saying that she knew more than Arabelle ever would. Arabelle bit back a snappy response. Arabelle turned to Farid "Is she always this infuriating?"