Somewhere in the Desolate Band – Day 4

Technically, it's the fourth day since the motley group of Lapi and Kiriga (plus one Savanite) ventured into the Savan, and then further north to test their mettle against the vast and inhospitable Desolate Band. However, the sky is still dark, and the air still remarkably chilly, as desert nights have proven to be. Only a hint of light has begun to show at the horizon.

"I miss sleep," Xander mutters, hugging his knees to his chest.

The chill in the air has triggered Umeko's metabolism into its endothermic mode. This has had two effects; she's not cold and she's very awake. She stands on the top of a small dune in the desolate band and looks out towards the horizon. "Destiny rides upon the wind, Xander. Sleep can wait until we have left this world," she comments.

Lilac, after having fed on whatever she was given (and whatever she could snatch and/or convince people to hand her), took a nap under the wagon. There she lays, sprawled out on her side, snoozing away. Every so often she'll make a soft whimpering sound, pawing at the sand as if to ward something off.

"I miss not having sand in my fur," Anisa asides to Xander, standing close to Kin as she looks down on the settlement, "but you don't hear me complaining." The doe squints out at the distance, her ears focused on the town as well for any sounds of life.

Sound carries well over the desert, but as yet there doesn't seem to be anything reaching Anisa's ears but the swirl of wind across the dunes.

"Come, it is time to seek out what lies ahead. The future awaits us to tread its path. What has already passed is gone and cannot be undone. We will leave the wagons and animals here and continue on foot. They stand out too much," Kin says as she heads back towards Xander. She offers a hand down to him to help him up, asking, "Are you ready to face your future, Xander?"

"You make it sound so… short," the Fire Mage notes, but accepts the hand and help standing up. "Warm… " he comments.

Gibson looks a little groggy as well, rubbing his eyes. One ear is crumpled oddly, sticking off at an undignified angle. Still, he doesn't complain, simply gathering up what needs gathering, and gently patting Lilac when he passes the wagon. Long-Shadow is considerably more alert, the angular Savanite squatting at the top of a dune and surveying the desert, his spear laying across his lap.

Anisa shakes her head. "I can't make anything out, we must still be too far away." Turning, she follows Kin back to the camp, and reaches under the caravan to nudge Lilac with a foot. "Wake up, sleepyhead. We're about to press on."

Lilac's head shoots up, ears alert, and mouth agape slightly. She darts several looks around, trying to find the source of the nudging in her sleep haze. "Rrr?" Once she spots Anisa, her head cocks to the side, then she yawns and begins to stand up.

Kin pulls Xander close to her body, the irony of the mammal being colder than the reptile right now not lost on her. "We should travel as light as possible," she says, "We need to move quickly and quietly. I only hope the city is less than a day travel. Long-Shadow, would you be able to find this spot again when we need to return for our wagons?"

"So I guess that means leaving Buttercup behind," Anisa sighs, tying the drokkar to the back of the wagon. "You sure seem chipper, Kin. You haven't been at Master Tooth's stash, have you?" The Lapi grins, walking back over towards the high dune.

Xander doesn't complain about being kept closer to Kin. He can't maintain his held ritual and cast a minor spell of temperature resistance in his current state. (Meditation is fine for resting the body, but isn't a substitute for real sleep as far as the brain is concerned.)

The Savanite's fingers flick. It's only been a few short days, but the intensity with which Kin applies herself to anything she cares to learn has made the signs more and more clear with each passing lesson, and Long-Shadow has certainly been happy to oblige an eager pupil. "Easy." He says. "Scouted around, and can guide by stars."

"I'm sure Lilac and smell the drommies from however far away we're going," Xander remarks.

Long-Shadow glances at the horizon, and adds, "Sun too."

"Rrrf," Is Lilac's answer to that, whatever "rrrf" may mean. She pads over to sit beside Gibson, hefting a hind leg and scratching at her behind.

"Excellent," Kin says as well as signs to the Savanite. To Anisa, she says, "Just a benefit of my family, Anisa. My body can adapt at some level to climate changes. It has the effect of, well, being stimulating as well. The downside is I will need to eat a lot more than normal. How long before everyone will be ready to move? I will see to Sensei Long Tooth in a moment, when Xander recovers more."

In response to Kin's question, Lilac simply wags. It looks like she's ready to go.

"I'm fine to travel," Xander says, standing up a little straighter.

"Ehhh… " Gibson's voice comes from inside the wagon, his hindquarters hanging out. "With regard to the old timer… this doesn't look good."

Dusting off her paws, Anisa comes to stand by the others. "I'm ready as I'll ever be! Oh wait… " The doe does an about face, and runs back to Buttercup. After rummaging around in her pack a bit, she eventually pulls out her skedat shell, along with an intricately carved bow and quarrel of arrows. Slinging the quarrel onto her back, she sprints back to the others. "Okay, now I'm ready."

Anisa's ears swivel back towards her brother. "What is it, Gib?"

"Ah, then I can let go," Kin says with a small grin and releases the chocolate Lapi. She goes and sticks her head in the back of the wagon, saying a bit worriedly, "Sensei Long Tooth, the horizon shall soon give birth to the child of the new day. We will be moving in a few minutes."

The old master is lying on his back, his bony feet sticking up in the air. His tongue hangs out the corner of his mouth, and partially along the floor of the wagon, resting there in a small pool of froth. A small flask is clenched in one hand.

Kin reaches over and takes the flask, then sniffs it. "What have you been drinking?" she asks worriedly.

Whew! Whatever it is, it makes Kin's head swim. It smells like mineral spirits.

Anisa comes to stand behind Gibson and the Kiriga, standing on her tiptoes to see over the two at the sight inside the wagon. "Is he… is he alive?"

Lilac wanders over to see what the commotion is about, then suddenly hops on Gibson's back to peer over his shoulder. A few more sniffs, and she lets out a distintly worried sounding whine. She paws the bottle, whining more.

"Ugh. What is this?" Kin asks and holds out the flask far away. "Do any of you know what this is?"

Xander doesn't like the sound of things, and peeks into the wagon as well. "Oh Dagh! He didn't drink my… he did! That stuff is for breaking down charcoal!"

"Will it kill him?" Kin asks Xander rather bluntly.

Xander pokes at Tooth's stomach with a toe. "Errr, not 'will', I'm afraid. But on the bright side… he hasn't exploded."

Gibson nudges the old man worriedly, and the body doesn't move much. It seems quite rigid, in fact. "Oh… I'm so sorry, Kin. I think the question is moot."

Kin climbs into the wagon and crouches down near Master Long Tooth. She holds her hand lightly over his mouth, feeling for any breath.

Not even the faintest stirring can be felt.

"Let's not nudge him any more," Xander says, exiting the wagon. "I've seen how he wakes up, and I'm not certain he isn't still dangerous in death."

Anisa wrinkles her nose, quickly pinching it shut with a paw. "Phew! Why in the Star's name did he drink that stuff? It smells like the stuff mamma uses to wash her clothes!" Hearing her brother's words, the doe gives a startled expression, then sets her ears back in respect.

"Give me a moment, please," Kin asks, her voice dropping into the cautious neutral she tends to use when she is trying to not show any emotion at all.

Lilac balances on Gibson's back now, staring at Tooth fixedly. After a moment, she leaps in to the wagon and begins snuffling the old man, before pawing at him. Paw, paw, paw, she pushes and pokes at him.

"He might have just… gotten too cold," Xander whispers to the other two Lapi.

The orangy cadaver doesn't move very much at all, bony feet wagging back and forth a little in the air.

"Please," Kin repeats quietly, "Give me a moment alone with him."

Giving Kin a nod of understanding, Anisa wordlessly backs away from the wagon, and returns to the dune overlook. "What a way to go," she mutters to herself.

After a bit of poking, Lilac gives the old man a look, head tilting and ears askew. She barks once at him, then turns tail and exits the wagon. Outside, she resumes scratching at herself with a rear leg.

When the others have gone; Kin's practiced neutrality breaks down. With gentle respect, the Kiriga tries to make him look a bit more … respectable in death. Or at least she tries to close his mouth and make sure his eyes are closed as if in sleep. Once done, she places one of the spare bits of cloth over his aged form and bows down, pressing her forehead gently to his neck. She speaks in quiet Imperial, and though those outside with keen ears may not understand it, the waver and cracking in her voice says enough, "Sensei Long Tooth. Honored teacher. Honored friend. I know the world laughed at you. I know about how people spoke behind my back about my studying under your hand. Take with you into your next life the knowledge that not all the world thought poorly of you. You believed in me when others did not. You taught me to stand for what I believed in; you never let me back down. I will never forget you, old friend. Thank you for sharing part of your life with me. Until we walk in the halls of the afterlife together, goodbye. You will not be forgotten."

Kin slips out of the wagon and draws herself upright, face tense as she holds herself together. "I will bury him properly when we return from what lies ahead. We do not have time to do it now and he would not wish us to spend the dawn for that which has passed. Thank you for giving me a moment," she says to the others.

The body is cool to the touch, but it at least gives enough to be moved into a more dignified position, craggy face impassive and stern, white eyebrows flowing over the floorboards of the wagon. With his hands folded across his chest, he looks more at peace, safely stowed in the wagon. Long-Shadow trots up to Kin's side as she comes out, a look of concern on his face, but he doesn't try to sign anything other than a gentle touch on the shoulder.

Lilac hops up to her feet, then pads around in a slow circle before butting her head against Kin's leg. She whines softly, wagging her tail low and slow.

Even though she tries not to, Anisa can't help but swivel her ears back in the direction of Kin and her old master. Not understanding the words, but plainly understanding the emotion behind them, her ears droop in sympathy. When the Kiriga re-emerges, the rabbit turns to give her a small smile. "We understand fully, he meant a lot to you."

Gibson nods as well, rubbing the back of his head and shifting his weight. "The old guy was one heck of a fighter. I know he'd be proud of you, Kin."

"More than I could ever explain," Kin says to Anisa as she reaches up to place her hand over Long-Shadow's. "Thank you, all of you, for caring. I know to many of you he was an odd old man, perhaps crazy. Perhaps he was. But he taught me to believe in myself and stand for what I knew in my heart to be right. It is my duty to carry that forward and pass it on to the generation that follows as he passed it on to me."

Xander seems uncertain about the whole thing. He's listened to the old man's stories, and isn't about to rush to bury him.

Anisa gives Kin another smile, followed by a quiet pat on the shoulder. She then slings her bow across he shoulders, and starts off towards the lights in the distance. "I guess this is as good a time as any then. Let's go."

The canine-monster that is Lilac pulls away from Kin, taking a moment to bite her robes and gently tug the Kiriga towards their eventual destination before heading off that way. On her way, she pauses to suddenly nip at Xander – then breaks off in to a solid dash!

Kin takes a moment to wrap an arm around her Savanite friend and hug herself to him, cheek pressed to his chest. She pulls away and follows after Anisa. "It is time, yes," she says.

"I think she wants us to chase her," Xander notes, and dashes off in pursuit!

Long-Shadow folds Kin in his arms, burying her face in downy white chest fluff, holding her for a moment. Reluctantly, he releases her, gesturing after the canine and Lapi that kick up sand as they forge ahead. Following along at a steady pace, it doesn't take long before Lilac isn't the only one who can note signs of… well, if not civilization, then at least the presence of people. Columns of smoke in the distance are the first signs, only barely seen where the light of morning is still struggling into the sky. The terrain grows increasingly rugged as well, chunks of rock thrusting through the sand, cleaved in almost crystaline shapes, like basalt.

Anisa treads carefully, but keeps her pace up out in front of the group, eager to get nearer to the strange settlement. Pausing behind one of the basalt slabs, she strains her ears forward, listening for any sounds of life to go along with the columns of smoke.

As the group walks, Kin keeps her attention mostly on the ground. She's looking for footprints; indications of what sorts of races may be ahead in wherever they are going. Or possibly signs of recent battles. "Can any of you hear anything?" she asks.

Stopping behind another outcrop, Xander shakes his head. "Too much wild magic static in my head to hear from this distance."

If a beast could carry money, Lilac would certainly give Xander a good run for his. She's even faster than he is, undoubtedly due to having 'more on the floor' than the Lapi. Sevena minutes in she slows down, then another half an hour later of steady loping and signs of civilization come in to view. A low bark heralds the smoke in the distance, Lilac wagging proudly at her discovery.

There are no distinct footprints in the loose sand between outcroppings, but the sand has definitely been churned up by the passing of many feet, some normally sized, some large, some VERY large, and some that apparently had long dragging tails, leaving behind snaking tracks.

Xander looks up, scanning the sky for any airships.

"I still can't hear anything," Anisa says back to Kin. "Its quieter than I'd expect it to be. Dagh, it looks like a lot of people came this way."

No airships to be seen at the moment, but the sky is still rather dark. Nothing close enough to bother with, at least.

"There has been a lot of people coming and going," Kin notes as she looks up, "Some with tails, some without. Some huge. Expect anything ahead." She rubs her chin for a moment, then asks Xander, "Can magic silence sounds so that the keen of hearing cannot hear them?"

"Shadow magic can, and Air magic can affect sound," Xander notes. "Same for illusion."

"The Cinders have mages. If they wish to keep a place hidden, they may use such. Can you detect if such is active?" Kin asks next as she walks over to stand near Long-Shadow. She's been staying close to him ever since the morning. Perhaps she finds it comforting. Or perhaps she's just worried.

"The whole landscape is active to me, Kin," Xander says apologetically. "This is an area of Wild Magic."

Moving back onto the path, Anisa continues forward, readjusting her quiver in agitation. "I just wish we'd find them already, this sand is rubbing my feet raw."

The Savanite gives some reassuring signs. "Think we're just still some distance away. Big caravan moved through here." He squints at the tracks some more, putting his foot in one of the long tail ruts. "Maybe dune giants." This last the name he gave the large lizards.

Lilac pauses to inspect a rock formation, hopping on to her hind legs and putting her front paws on the vaguely crystalline shapes. There, she sniffs at the thing.

The formation smells like rock, and has the rough texture of normal stone. It seems to have 'grown' in big, squared-off chunks, broken and weathered with time.

"Can you tell if they recently came or left?" Kin signs to Long-Shadow. To the others, she says, "A caravan came through. We should keep moving, but we may want to send the best scouts ahead to look for guards and scouts from the town. Otherwise we may find ourselves captured."

Apparently losing interest in the stone, Lilac steps away … only to squat and mark the stone. At about this time her ears splay, her mouth goes agape, and she suddenly looks around as if to see if anyone noticed.

"I can go up ahead if needed," Anisa says, slowing her pace down to meet with the others. "It's not really my thing, but I've done a bit of spying here and there, and I can always fight or run if I have to."

"Spying?" Xander asks, with perked ears. "Peeping in on guys, eh?"

"If you feel comfortable doing so, Anisa. Your ears may help protect you," Kin says with a dip of her head. "We will continue forward unless you signal us to stop."

Lilac slinks away from the rock quickly, tail tucked, giving anyone who looks what might be an innocent look on something with fewer lethal appendages.

"I'd feel better with Lilac going ahead alongside Anisa," Xander notes. "Ears are good, but ears and a nose are better."

Anisa just rolls her eyes at Xander, fighting back a wordless smirk. To Kin, she nods. "I'll try and keep within sight of you at all times, and if things get hairy, I'll be right back." After a quick readjustment of her gear, the doe makes an about face, and swiftly takes off down the path.

"You may wish to go with her, Lilac," Kin comments as Lilac tries to slink off. "Your nose seems to be more effective here than their ears." To Xander, she asks, "Is there any threat of the magic here affecting us?"

Lilac whines a little, but nods before rushing off after the Lapi. When she's caught up beside Anisa she bounds along, looking over at her with her tongue lolling.

"Ummm, yes?" Xander replies, then shrugs. "It's Wild Magic. Not quite as bad as a Forbidden Zone, but it can cause mutations after prolonged exposure… "

"What sort of mutations? I like my body the way it is," Kin notes, sounding a bit worried.

With a bit of a start, Anisa turns to regard Lilac, and just gives her a grin. "Race ya!" The Lapi picks up her pace.

Lilac answers with an excited bark, and then she's off like a bullet! The black monster tucks her wings and lays her ears back, moving like a black wind.

As the others follow after Anisa and Lilac at a more leisurely pace, Kin signs to Long-Shadow, "Have you had much contact with my kind?"

With those with the sharpest senses going on ahead, Anisa and Lilac do soon begin to pick up more signs. Anisa's sensitive ears can hear the snap and rustle of cloth, like banners. Lilac picks up woodsmoke, charcoal, leather, water, and the scent of many people and draft animals. Not to mention the "dune giants".

As soon as the sounds hit her ears, Anisa slows her pace considerably, eventually coming to a halt. Darting behind one of the rocks – and motioning for Lilac to do likewise – the Lapi swivels her ears in the direction of the sounds, trying to make out who or what may be behind them.

Long-Shadow shakes his head, signing back. "To be honest, we were about to ambush you. We have never met scaled folk that would deign to speak with us, much less dance with us. We only know of one who supposedly lived at the City of Hands, the shiga of many names, Laughing Mask, Siltskin, and so on. I don't think he exists."

Slowing, Lilac nips at Anisa's clothes to slow her down as well until it becomes apparent the Lapi is already ahead of her. Behind the stone, Lilac begins writing in the sand. A stick figure is drawn, followed by another, and another, and another, until there's a small mass of them. Some stick animals are added, too, including several that are much larger than the others.

Anisa watches Lilac's tracings, keeping her ears focused on the camp as she gives the canine a nod. "I can hear some flags or something," she whispers. "I don't hear anyone talking though. That's odd."

"I am glad you did not ambush us," Kin signs as she walks, glancing ahead regularly to try and keep an eye on Lilac and Anisa. "I would not have wanted to harm you or the others. I am sorry that my people have not been kind to you. Not all of us are like that; but it is many that are cruel, I am sorry to say. I know I must look like a monster to most."

Lilac swivels her own ears towards Anisa, nodding. She then hops on her back legs and puts her paws at her side, like a warrior about to draw a sword, before pointing a paw at Anisa and giving her a quizzical tilt of the head.

The cheetah's ears wiggle as if Kin had made a joke. "You are the color of the sun, and your hair is the clouds. You dance like fire itself. You are beautiful."

Anisa's own head tilts in slight confusion, not quite understanding the canine. "Do I hear any soldiers? No… or do you mean do I have any weapons?" She hefts her bow to gibe Lilac a better look. "Well, I have this… "

From where Anisa and Lilac are now, the ground inclines down, and the rocks become more prevalent. A ridge ahead cuts off the view below, an artificial horizon.

Xander tries not to stare at Kin and Long-Shadow's 'conversation', but can't help but wonder if they're flirting with one another. "Ahem," he says. "I think Anisa and Lilac have stopped up ahead."

Lilac drops on all fours and heaves a sigh. She then begins writing in semi-annoyed fashion, pawing the ground with some amount of force, "Ambosh." The canine blinks at the word, paws out a letter, and fixes with, "Ambush?"

Kin looks positively lost on how to respond to that, outside of bowing her head in an unusually submissive manner for a bit. "I thank you for your words. Truth be told, I found you and your people beautiful and it was an honor to share your dance. It was a joy to feel alive, welcome, and safe. Part of me wished I were one of you that night," she signs to him before Xander interrupts and stops walking herself. She peers ahead intently and worriedly.

"Oh," Anisa says, recognition dawning. "Ambush them? I don't think that'd be smart – we'd probably be outnumbered." The doe darts from behind the rock, and starts off towards the ridge. "Or do you mean they'll ambush us? Well, they don't sound like it… "

Lilac nods, then nods again. She walks off with Anisa now, ears perked and nose sniffing.

Astride the ridge, the landscape seems to fall away below into a vast valley…

Almost everything below is the color of sand, but it doesn't blend so well that rows and rows of tents can't be made out. They nestle amongst more of the rocky features, but on peering a little longer, it's evident the stones down there have been hewn… ruins! A haze of dust rises from where drokkar and Dromodon mill about, and numerous small fires burn, but it doesn't look as though there's much activity yet, explaining the lack of voices. Vivid against the sandy landscape stand tall pennants, snapping fiercely in the wind, poles bent. The dune giants Lilac had smelt are indeed here, on the outskirts where their enormous size cannot upset the sprawling bivouac. Near the center and the largest collection of ruins, larger pavilions and even the beginnings of newly constructed buildings nestle, their designs curiously Jadaian in architecture.

Dropping to her knees, Anisa peers down at the seen below. "Holy Star, what's all this?" She glances back to Lilac with a look of disbelief, then turns back to the ruins. "Can you make out what symbol is on those little flags?"

Lilac squints, standing up a bit to get a good look. After a moment of peering in to the blackness, she drops back down and begins writing. From the looks of it, she seems to be copying pennants, for she pauses every so often to look back at them and apparently refresh her memory.

Anisa watches the canine copy the symbols, but their meaning is lost on her. "Those don't ring any bells. They look like Nagai-type buildings, maybe Kin will know what they mean." Scooting back from the ledge, the Lapi gets to her feet, and starts off towards the rest of the group. "I'll go get them," she says to Lilac, "you make sure nothing sneaks up on us!"

Xander waves to Anisa as she approaches.

The beast barks once and wags to Anisa, which probably means, "yes I'll do it!" in an excited Lilac voice.

"What is up ahead?" Kin asks As Anisa approaches. Her hand slips down to her main sword. "Is there trouble?"

After a brief sprint, Anisa skids to a halt in front of the others, taking just a moment to catch her breath. "We found something," she says, shaking her head at the Kiriga. "No trouble – yet, but there's a bunch of old buildings up ahead, and some squatters or something." The doe stretches out a leg, then another as she continues. "They have some banners, but I don't know who they belong to. They kind of look like your people's type of stuff, Kin."

The keen eyed lookout waits for the others to return, eying the ruins with the focus of a hunter. That is, until a beetle scurries by. She hops back, then begins pawing at it and knocking it around.

The sand beetle kicks feebly, and tries to bury itself.

"Let me go see, then. What would Jadai be doing out here? It could only be Hakuu," the Kiriga says and heads quickly towards the point near where Lilac is. Carefully, the reptile kneels down and peers out over the 'city' below. "It is not Hakuu," she says, expression growing darker. "The style is Jadai, but the meaning is Razer. This is the warlord's banner. But … I know of no Jadaian that goes by such a name. This makes no sense. Why would a warlord in the wastes be mimicking Jadai?"

Lilac hops around the beetle, giving it one more swat before letting it escape. She then yawns, and looks around for languidly.

Not wanting to be left behind, Xander follows Kin, while asking Anisa, "See any guards?"

Anisa shakes her head, "I didn't see anyone, just some pack animals and some smoke." She follows behind Kin, dropping back down on the ridge, her ears swiveled forward once more. "Maybe it's aJadaian outcast?"

When the others near, Lilac's ears shoot up! She quickly turns and stares down at the town, quite intently. Almost, too intently. She even stands tall and rigid, with her tail up. Kin would recognize the pose as that of one of the guard statue-dogs found in Jadai, ones noted for their eternal vigilance.

Peering over the ridge at the encampment, Xander lets out a low whistle. "That is… a very 'target rich' environment… "

"Target rich?" Kin has to ask.

There's plenty of draft animals down there all right. And yes, oddly, no people to be seen, at least not easily and from this far away. Would everyone really be sleeping without posting guards?

"Does anyone else sense something bad happened here?" Kin asks, looking grim. "Remember the devolution described. How many draft animals are down there and does it seem reasonable to have that many… ? Are they perhaps what is left of the people?"

"Fabric, big tents… close together… " Xander says, his eyes bigger than usual.

"Are they all inside?" asks Anisa, starting to creep closer over the side of the ridge. "You'd think they'd make some noise – do Jadaians not snore at least?"

"We should sneak down there and look. Something is wrong," Kin says as she stands up.

Once it's apparent no one's paying attention to her, Lilac wanders over to the others and sits down, looking up and wagging at Kin.

The scale might be deceptive from this high up. There look to be enough tents in that valley to house thousands of men. Conversation probably can't carry far enough up.

"Which of those big tents do you want me to zap?" Xander asks Kin. "The fire should spread upwards and outwards to some of the others… "

"None of them right now, Xander. We do not know what we are facing down there. I wonder if it would be possible to blend in. Unlikely, but," Kin says and crouches back down. "I am not sure what to do. There are far too many for me to fight. As noble as it would be to charge in, it would also be suicide."

Lilac paws Kin, then hunkers down and begins moving slow and low along the ground, in a sneaking fashion. Then, she looks up at the woman with a classic head-tilted questioning look.

"Do you want to dig-in here and watch them wake up?" Xander asks.

"You might be able to blend in," Anisa says to Kin, "but I doubt we could. There probably aren't many Lapi in your garden variety Jadai army."

"That may be necessary. As for me blending in … unlikely," Kin notes, "I am female and of noble birth. Both would be obvious to any Jadaian. Now, if it is a group of general mercenaries you may fit in; that is what Gibson did."

Brown ears suddenly shoot straight up, and a finger goes to Xander's lips in the traditional 'shush' gesture. He then points down towards the rocks.

Anisa starts to say something, but is quickly cut off by Xander's gesture. She looks to where he points, hunkering down a bit lower behind the ridge.

Kin freezes briefly then whispers, "I thought I saw something in the nearby rocks." Worried, the Kiriga starts to slink in the direction she thought she saw something for a better look.

Lilac's head swivels, and she eyes the rocks. Several sniffs later and she paws out, "perfume" in the sand.

Moving out into the rocks, Kin has to slip back and forth around some boulders, but eventually she's rewarded with the sight of… her own face.

Xander blinks at Lilac's message, and even crosses his ears momentarily, unsure of how to take it.

Kin stops and her hand quickly flicks down to her sword, prepared to draw it. She holds a strike, though and slowly looks up, then down. "Who is there?" she asks in Imperial and with her usual jadaian inflection.

The image of Kin's face emerges from the shadows amidst the boulders, a sinuous body beneath it clad in fine Jadaian silks. Held in one hand is a crystal lens. Another mirrored face emerges from behind the boulder, seen in profile, its wearer also dressed finely. A third figure makes her presence known perched high above on a spire of basalt.

Kin's katana is drawn slowly from its sheath. "Please, who are you? I do not wish to strike down those who are not my enemies," the Kiriga says, standing tall and proud. One thing she also does is try to get a look at their hands and scales; to guess their possible breeding or heritage.

"She's talking to someone," Anisa says, stressing her ears in Kin's direction, her fur suddenly frazzling, "and it sounds like she's taking out her sword – Dagh!" The doe gets up, seemingly about to run to Kin's side, but then spies Gibson. "What in the name of the Star is he looking at?"

A reply comes, but it's not from the one in front of Kin. It's from another trio of mirror-faced Kiriga that alight delicately on the stones above. Of the three, one of them is carrying a lens, and it is she who speaks, in Imperial.

Xander tries looking in every direction, even up, just in case. "Gibson?" he says quietly, hoping the other buck will reply.

Lilac also begins towards Kin's side, but unlike Anisa, she doesn't stop. Slipping through the rocks, she attempts to scent out her friend.

Gibson's nose twitches. "What? I thought it was coming from this way." He spins around, looking confused.

"Who do you claim to belong to?" Kin replies in a quiet, calm, tone. "Why are you here?"

Frowning at the distraction, Anisa darts off after Lilac, trusting the canine's senses to 'sniff out' her friend.

More soft voices, lilting in elegant Jadaian dialect. Three more women slink from the shadows, coquettishly fanning their faces with broad zolk fans that are ribbed with chitin, the tips looking disturbingly pointed. The total are nine now, the middle one with her lens speaking.

"It does matter to me. You are the servants of Hakuu, are you not?" Kin asks in a calm tone. Her eyes dart to the fans and she recognizes those all to well. Her second, shorter, sword draws out. "I have business with your master and he with me."

"Anisa… " Xander starts to say, but she's off already. So he tries to follow, keeping as low and flat to the ground as he can.

The woman wearing Kin's face murmurs something, reaching down to undo the sash binding her knees, her fellows doing likewise. With a snap, she unfurls her fan.

A shadow leaps out from behind a rock, skidding to a stop beside Kin and turning to face the approaching women. It's Lilac! She bares her teeth in a snarl, hackles raised, and wings unfurling to their full length. A jagged expanse of many, many glistening teeth greet the mirror-faced Jadaians.

Kin lets out a loud whistle to the others. "As am I. I did not wish to harm you," she says in standard. "Know then who you face. I am the dancer of the Autumn Harvest. I am the jewel of the Tsuguri family. I am Umeko Tsuguri, betrothed of Hakuu and I will be your escort to the lands of the shadows. So, shall we dance?" The Kiriga backs up a few steps and crouches low, holding her shorter blade as a defensive weapon the longer one ready to strike.

Not far behind Lilac is Anisa, although the Lapi halts quite a few yards away from the others, drawing her longbow and readying an arrow at one of the masked ladies. "Who are these fops, friends of your's, Kin?"

Following after Anisa, Xander puts a hand on her back. "Anisa, see how one in each group holds a crystal? They're magic, probably their means of seeing through the masks. Can you hit those?" he whispers into her ear.

As if to punctuate Kin's words, Lilac utters a feral roar! She hops away from Kin, giving her room.

"I can try," Anisa says to Xander, drawing back the bowstring and closing one eye to focus on the nearest crystal bearer.

With a creak of fine ashwood, Anisa draws the bowstring, and gives it a smooth release. The Kiriga women seem to flow around the arrow the flies at them, all nine of them intent on their charge now, unfettered by their zolken restraints.

"How'd they find us?" Xander mutters as he moves away from Anisa, to give her more room. The might be able to dodge an arrow they can 'see'… but what about magic? He focuses on the trailing trio's clothing, and prepares to launch his Fuse spell.

Kin glides forward into thr group, prepared to dance. Her sword dances and snakes in towards the central woman, only to be brushed aside by the fan. Her opponent's fan flicks out, the chitin tips sweeping close, but not contacting. The other two women strike out but Kin is ready, Falling Leaf faces and sweeps, easily deflecting away the arcs of the fans towards her.

Three of the warrior women – the ones Anisa had previous fired upon – divert from the main group, and make a beeline for the Lapi. Notching her bow once again, the doe lets loose two more shots in rapid succession, or as rapid as she can make anyway. Although the second of her shots sails wildly off course, the first hits its mark: one of the strange crystal lenses being held by the women.

Lilac leaps at one of the mirror faced women that turns on Kin, bringing her razor-sharp talons towards her face – only to have her paw pushed aside by a quick block by her target! The monster hops back as the woman turns on her, Lilac giving the mirror-face a defiant snarl.

Realizing that the attackers are now closing in on her, Anisa quickly slips her quiver from around her shoulders, tossing it and her bow to the side while she gets down in a defensive crouch. "Bring it on, glassjaws!"

Yet, the women charging at Anisa seem momentarily disoriented. The arrow that struck the lens puts a heavy scratch on it and knocks it from its bearer's hand, and with a cry the girl stops short, her two companions staggering a bit. The masked bearer quickly finds it again, shaking sand off and holding it aloft once more, allowing the other two to close with Anisa.

As the masked bearer hangs back to reacquire her lens, her two compatriots close in on Anisa. The Lapi quickly darts to one side, putting her back up against one of the stone faces and preventing the attackers from flanking her. For now, the three combatants merely face off, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Waiting for the final trio to bunch a little closer together, Xander finally lets off his Fuse spell at them… hoping their clothing isn't inflammable.

There's a flash of flame, and a dull 'whuff', and suddenly the Kiriga in the middle of the trio that were sprinting at the menfolk is enveloped in a sheet of flame. Her scream is high and piercing, the flames racing around her body, quickly spreading to her glossy black hair and consuming the zolk in her fan. The other two women are more fortunate, but not by much… tongues of fire lash at them and alight their own kimono, which cause them to shriek and drop to the sand to try to smother the flames.

Gibson and Long-Shadow, who were crouching to prepare for the onslaught, exchange glances with Xander, a little taken aback.

"Cover me," Xander says to Gibson and Long-Shadow, and immediately launches into casting a new spell. He's more confident of this one: it's his namesake Hotfeet spell, one he's gotten down to just a few minutes.

Kin sweeps in and takes the strategy her friends did, she goes for the crystal with her sword. Alas, it was not to be. The woman holds the crystal high and her friends dart in. There is a flurry of sword and fan as the reptiles dance their dance of death. They do not hit Kin either, but they come close, forcing the Kiriga to deflect and dodge as she spins herself out of the path of silken death.

The snap of fans folding and unfolding, and the eerie countenance of those polished masks make Hakuu's painted women frustrating opponents, fans fluttering distractingly and catching attacks on their zolk and chitin ribs, only to whistle as sharpened chitin tips pass close enough to force a hasty defense. The one fighting Lilac in particular proves disconcerting, Lilac's own face snarling back at her."

The masked woman and Lilac square off, each unleashing a flurry of blows against each other only to thwarted by the other's defense. Lilac slashes with talon and tooth, ripping superficial tears in the woman's fan and clothes, while the woman returns the damage by giving Lilac a few shallow cuts. Facing her own face unnerves the beast. She's never seen herself like this before, and although deep in a near-mindless rage, some part of her still wails at seeing herself like this.

Finally breaking the standoff, Anisa zeros in on one of her attackers, and goes at her full force. The Lapi lets loose with a barrage of hard jabs and swings, zeroing in on the mirrored woman's gut before she has a chance to react. Things are going well for the doe, and she forces the warrioress to retreat, but it seems she focuses a bit too much on her single foe – the other combatant sees her opening, and slashes at the rabbit with a few well timed fan slashes. Anisa just barely manages to parry the attack with her skedat shell, and is soon forced back against the rocks herself.

Meanwhile, the splashes of sand spray from where the once-dignified jadian women have fallen to thrashing about on the ground. Gibson and Long-Shadow grimly keep their distance from the wailing Kirigai, and one remains huddled in the sand, patches of her bright blue china-like scales burned away to show raw red flesh. The other two aren't seriously hurt, though their kimonos are ruined, and they scramble about until one finds the lense, clutching it.

Kin continues to face off against her opponents. The mirror like masks are appropriate in several aspects. It truly is as if she's fighting herself. Fans and blades dance, trading blows that each have to be parried off or slid under. Neither side gains the upper hand and Kin can't help but think this could have been her future. It still may be should they fail.

Lilac's struggle with the mirrored woman goes on in a stalemate, until the fan-wielding assassin suddenly gains the upper hand. Like water against the shore, the two wear each other down, swiping and slashing, slowly causing the other to weaken. Then, just as Lilac is about to swing again, she catches it: the full on view of what she's become. The soul-deep shudder stuns her but a moment, and it's enough. Te woman takes advantage of the beast's distraction, forcing Lilac back as she parries and hops to avoid the flurry of blows.

The combined onslaught of the three women is starting to tell on Anisa, two fresh fighters making up for the beleaguered one that is only just barely staying ahead of Anisa's powerful strikes.

Anisa keeps her onslaught focused on the same opponent, trying to merely fend off the other two for the time being. Unfortunately, dealing with the trio from all sides is starting to wear the doe down, and although she scores several hits on her intended target, her parries become increasingly sloppy, and she just barely manages to dodge a few harsh blows. "Dagh blast it all… "

Gibson throws a look over his shoulder. "Sis!" he yells. The tall black Lapi gives Xander an expression that's mixed between worry and apology. "I gotta help her." Off he charges, barreling toward the fray where Anisa battles. Long-Shadow has already abandoned the mage, spear leveled at one of the mirror-faced Kirigai's backs, the zolk-clad women intent on bringing Kin down.

Xander backs up a bit, keeping up his chant.

Though Long-Shadow's spear only manages to provoke a forearm batting it away, it draws attention off Kin. Without her two cohorts at her side, the crystal-bearing Kiriga seems much harder pressed to hold the Lady Tsuguri off. Where she began on the offensive, her grace and skill begin failing her, Kin's deadly blades swiping closer and closer with each pass, showing Kin her own face in the mask less often as the other woman is forced to twist and dart away.

Kin surges in a blur of blades and golden scales. Something in her just snaps, and it's the desire to protect those dear to her. Long-Shadow, Xander, and Lilac are all in danger now and that is something she can not accept. Her opponent discovers quickly how passionate the Kiriga is as her assault is unrelenting on the crystal-carrying woman, tearing down her defenses quickly, causing the mirror-masked woman to falter.

Heedless of the other woman's precarious situation, the masked combatant dealing with Lilac presses her advantage when the shock her reflection causes makes the cursed canine falter. Snap. Swish. Bat. Curved claws get tangled in the zolk of the Kiriga's fan, a graceful flutter coming down to intersect Lilac's slash, and answered with a savage kick to the bardess' ribs, sending Lilac sprawling.

Lilac skids from the kick, talons digging in to the sand to stop her backwards moment. Evident by the way she limps forward, the kick hurt the monstrous canine. Despite this, Lilac gives another defiant snarl, and leaps forward with all her strength!

But, it is for naught. The mirror-faced woman meets the beast's charging leap with a deft sidestep and a circling slice of her bladed fan. Lilac lands in a stumble, beginning to circle again … but the gash on her side is prominent. Blood trickles as the beast limps towards her attacker, snarls, and with with an agonized howl collapses to the ground.

Her target visibly tiring, Anisa decides to make an end of it. Rushing the lizard, the doe connects a hard right straight into the masked woman's face – using the paw that holds her skedat shell no less. The opponent goes flying, and Anisa quickly turns to divert her attacks to another member of the party, her blows barely parried.

Cracks spiderweb the mask where Anisa's chitin-protected knuckles connect, and the woman's head wobbles in the manner of those who are unconscious before they've hit the ground. The masked Kiriga's fan falls from nerveless fingers, and she falls flat on her back, lying still in the clouds of dust.

One of Hakuu's strange minions that was peeled away from Anisa begins to tussle with the larger Gibson now. Still fresh to the fight, the black Lapi's skedat whip sings, whirling about zolken Kiriga, and rebuffed by waves of her fan. "Not so tough one on one, are you?" pants Gibson. "How about WHOA." He's suddenly forced back as the slender, scaled women lifts off the sand with whirling kicks, each alternating foot barely seeming to touch back down when the other lashes out. Gibson wisely adopts a more defensive stance after this.

One can't see the expressions on Hakuu's strange cadre of women warriors, but the body language is clear enough… nothing but contempt as she whirls to face the Savanite. Long-Shadow gamely jabs at her, and pierces the center of the fan, which the woman merely closes. The tribesman still hangs onto his spear, and manages to block the kicks that now rain down on his head.

Xander completes his spell by making an arcane gesture towards each of the still-standing masked women, and then fires it off with a word. While the spell can't actually cause physical harm, the Fire Mage hopes the burning sensations will at least incapacitate the women long enough for the others to finish them off.

The two that had already been burned immediately drop to the sand again, thrashing about to once more try to extinguish the flames, though this time they aren't real.

Bleeding and down, Lilac is quiet. Whatever magic that held her in her monstrous shape begins to unravel as, more slowly than usual, she begins to revert to her human form. Paws begin to shrink, claws retract, and her muzzle starts to recede.

Xander starts chanting a maintenance cantrip to keep the distracting spell going on masked fighters, and scoots towards Lilac. He's already starting to unfasten his robe to cover her with it.

With precious moments bought by Xander's spell and the drive due the dire situation, Kin presses in with a whirl of blades. She tears into her opponent. At first, the masked woman is able to deflect her strikes, but that only lasts for a second. With serpentine twisting and blurring of her body, Floating Blossom cleaves across the woman's midsection, leaving a long red gash. When the girl starts to crumple up, Falling Leaf arcs upward, sinking deep and sliding along the woman's neck. That's it; Kin's opponent is down. As the woman falls, Kin snaps out with her arms and catches the lens in her hands, nestled right between the two sword hilts.

Kin's lips pull tense and eyes narrow as she looks to the crystal. "Time to try to end this. How dare you harm and threaten my friends," she hisses at the stone. Temporarily holding both swords in one hand for the moment, she draws back with the crystal and takes aim at a boulder that somewhat of a distance from the Kiriga near Lilac and the Kiriga near Long-Shadow, lest this thing doesn't break and one of those two goes for it.

One of the kimono-clad women still has Long-Shadow's spear trapped in her fan, the Savanite hanging onto his weapon for dear life while the other masked minion sashays toward Lilac with chitin spikes unfurled, looking for all the world as though she's simply strolling down a hall with a tray of tea. Both of the Kiriga suddenly freeze as Kin snarls into their fallen leader's lens, and their heads turn. Whatever they say in Imperial can probably easily be understood as, "No!" but it's much too late. The lens flashes once in the air, streaking into the side of a stone and shattering into glittering shards. The effect is immediate, both Kirigai staggering and disoriented, clearly struck blind.

Xander dumps his robe over Lilac, and is relieved to see the approaching assassin effectively stopped. "Are you okay, Lilac?" he asks quickly.

Lilac, now half-human, half-beast, makes an incomprehensible whine of an answer in response to Xander. She's fallen on her side revealing a long red gash across her chest, paired with angry looking purple bruise marks.

Xander winces at the sight of the cut, and tells Lilac, "This is gonna hurt, but I'll see that a Life Mage fixes it later okay?" He starts a new cantrip, his standard 'warmth' one, but he focuses it completely into the tip of one finger claw to make it hotter.

From the corner of her eye, Anisa watches as Kin shatters her opponents' lens, and makes up her mind to follow suit. Quickly turning on her own group's lens bearer, the rabbit springs, raining blow after blow aimed at the lizard's hands. Like a shock of white lightning, she seems to go berserk, and sends the lens flying, also landing several hard hits to her target as well.

Lilac mouths something as her muzzle continues to recede, Xander's sensitive ears catching feral-sounding nonsense. The woman doesn't resist, indeed, she doesn't seem particularly aware of anything.

The white Lapi's opponent responds with grace, taking measured steps to stay ahead of the onslaught, but Anisa's fury is too much to stand against, and the Kiriga takes a step back, then another, then is pressed several more. A folded fan blocks Anisa's skedat shell each time, but so much is focus is spent on holding the weapon off that the slender, scaled woman only realizes Anisa's true target when it's knocked clean out of her hands. She gasps and staggers, then rights herself as the lens lands with a thump, edge down and half-buried in the sand.

The Fire Mage keeps building up the heat on his claw, and tries to hold Lilac's gash closed with his other hand – not easy when the patient is changing shape at the same time.

There's a brief pause as Anisa and her opponent look to the crystal, and then back to one another (well, Anisa looks, anyway – the Kiriga seemingly just goes through the motions), followed by the two women making a break for the lens. With each combatant more focused on reaching their prize than on fighting, the 'battle' degenerates from a brawl into more of a slap fight, as the racers attempt to keep the other from reaching the artifact first.

Backed up to some jagged rocks by the zolk-clad whirlwind after him, Gibson suddenly finds his foe misstepping, the Kiriga yelping and dancing in pain and dizziness. The black brawler wastes no time in his bid to turn the fight around.

Long-Shadow fares even better. He yanks his spear away, and his foe takes a few wild swings but merely topples onto her hands and knees, blind and helpless."

The Kiriga that was headed toward Lilac and Xander with murder on her mask has stopped short, standing out in the sand some distance from everyone and cowering now, unsure of what to do.

"I don't have anything for you to bite down on, sorry," Xander says to mostly-human Lilac, and pinches the edges of her gash together while running his 'hot claw' along the seam to try and cauterize it.

Lilac's eyes suddenly snap open, and she yelps in a strangled inhuman cry. Desperately she flails her paws, eyes wide in terror, breathing short and panicked.

"Just a few more inches, Lilac," Xander says. "Please don't hit me… "

Kin rolls her shoulders and takes a few steps towards the opponent that was heading towards Xander and Lilac. Without a word, her sword flips and twirls in her hand and she brings the butt of the hilt down hard on the back of the woman's head with a rather nasty thunking sound. Safe for the moment, Umeko draws in a breath and visibly relaxes, fingers playing upon her weapons' grips. "Please continue to look after Lilac, Xander. I will deal with the others in a moment," she says quietly and with a worried glance to her fallen friend. She draws in another breath, finding her center and readying herself for more.

The stricken handmaiden of Hakuu flops forward, pitching her mirrored face into the sand and lying limp and still, her fan fluttering down next to her.

"I'm working on it," Xander mutters, hoping his welding job will hold. He digs through his pockets for the two things no Fire Mage should be without: a small jar of burn salve and his flask of Cold Shower. He applies the salve to Lilac's wound, then opens the flask and puts it to her lips, saying, "Drink this, it will help."

Lilac's frenzied flailing forces Xander to duck and dodge, but she doesn't seem to be aiming for him. When he's almost done the woman opens her jaws, reaching down to camp on his arm with little strength, and with teeth nearing upon human. It makes his arm a little sore, but she doesn't seem to have the energy or the form to actually harm him. When he finishes, her bite relents, and her head drops limply to the dirt.

Still awkwardly sniping back and forth at the mirrored woman as they both sprint for the crystal – and after dodging a lucky jab – Anisa finally decides that she's had enough, and simply sticks her enormous rabbit foot in the Jadaian's way. The masked warrior clumsily flails around as she rockets down into the sand with an 'oof', after which the doe makes a successful dive for the crystal. "Ha! Mine now – nyah!" she taunts, hinting at a bit of overconfidence.

Xander flinches from the bite. "Dagh, that's the most passionate reaction I'll ever get out of her too," he mutters, then tries to wrap her up in his robe.

The handmaiden windmills her arms, wide sleeves flapping as she tumbles into the sand. She quickly rolls and recovers, but by then it's too late to keep Anisa from claiming her prize. In desperation, the Kiriga gets to her feet again and charges at the rabbit… apparently, she can still see the doe through the lens!

"Eep!" Still sitting in the sand with her prize, Anisa looks this way and that, slightly surprised at the Kiriga's charge. Remembering what Xander had told her earlier, the doe quickly crams the crystal into the sleeve of her shirt, and rolls to the side to remove herself from the attacker's path.

It's as good as blindfolding the reptilian woman. As used to strange perspectives as she might be, the inside of Anisa's shirt is just too alien or blinding white for her, and she sails right past the doe, taking a few more tottery steps before going to her knees in the sand, hanging her head. Her shoulders rise and fall with labored breathing.

All the fight seems to leave Gibson's opponent as well, a now-clumsy swing simply sidestepped by the black buck, who takes the fan from the Kiriga and gives her a little push. The handmaiden falls onto her rump, and doesn't bother to get back to her feet.

"So," Xander says, sitting next to the bundled-up Lilac. "Did we win?" He eyes the remaining trio of masked women, the ones that got hit the worst from his spells.

With Xander preoccupied, the two spellbound handmaidens lurch painfully to their feet, one carrying their salvaged lens. It's her that shouts something in a high, plaintive voice, and the other crouches. Both turn long tufted tails, and make to flee!"

"Uhhh," Lilac moans, curling in to a ball and wincing. "Rr… rr, Krinny?"

"They seek to warn Hakuu, stop them," Kin yells and takes off after the two Kiriga.

Getting back to her feet, Anisa starts over towards her now helpless opponent, trying to think of some way to take her prisoner. Her ears soon shoot upwards at Kin's cry, and with a grimace, she sprints off after the fleeing warriors, making sure to keep her own crystal safely tucked into her shirt.

Gibson is off like a shot as well, with Long-Shadow in hot pursuit, and the speedy mammals more than up to closing the gap with the fleeing warrior women. Still, some distance is covered, bringing them to the edge of the ridge overlooking the camp, where the sun greets them.

Kin follows in their wake, not being nearly as fast as her companions. "I do not understand why they serve him so," she murmurs to herself.

Eyes opening slowly, Lilac groans in pain. "Wha- … Where?" She blinks blearily, nose sniffing. "I smell … Xander. Oh," her ears perk a little, " … am I talking?"

"Lilac!" Xander yelps, turning to the woman. "Are you in pain? You're human… ish… again. Try not to move too much."

"I have sand in my toes," Lilac tells Xander, head wobbling as she tries to get up. With a whine, she falls back to the sand and groans, "I feel like my side is on fire. Oh, wow, this hurts."

"Here, drink this," Xander says, offering the flask of Cold Shower again. "It'll dull the pain a little. And whatever you do, do not look under the robe at your injuries until it's started to work."

Lilac sniffs at the bottle, but drinks up anyway. Half of it runs down her mouth in to the sand, mixed with partially dried blood.

"I'm going to tie up the survivors," Xander tells Lilac, and goes to recover the zolk bindings the women discarded at the beginning of the battle.

Lilac murmurs something incomprehensible, then pulls the robe around herself and curls back in to a ball.

Anisa's skedat whip snakes out to catch one of the fleeing Kirigai, the chitin barb snagging in some zolk, but the handmaiden shrugs it away, and bats it off with a loft of her fan. It seems she knows she won't get away… but the lense can! In an apparently practiced move, the woman flips the heavy glass disc in the air, and her 'sister' snatches it up and makes for the ridge while the other turns to face their pursuers.

Black Lapi and black-spotted Savanite give chase, following the glittering bauble they saw change hands.

Cursing a blue streak in Skeek, Anisa watches with supreme irritation as the crystal eye is lobbed to the other jadaian. Her eyes fixed on the object, the Lapi nearly barrels into the confronting warrior, skidding to a halt mere paces away.

Oblivious to the excitement that surrounds her, Lilac wiggles her nose under the robe. "I smell cooked meat. Is it dinner yet," she inquires in a mumble.

"Ummm, not yet," Xander says, as he tries to bind the fallen women (that are at least likely to get up again). He also tries to see how their masks are attached.

"Aww." Lilac pulls the robe down so she can see, staring across at one of the fallen women in shock. Eyes wide, she inhales sharply. "Xander," she whispers feveredly, "she tried to kill me!"

Gibson's own skedat barb lashes out, forcing the new lens-bearer to defend herself, but it turns out not to be the threat that Long-Shadow is. Each jab of his spear forces the handmaiden to twist away, until she can retreat no further. Teetering on the brink of the stone ridge, she topples off with a little spray of sand, but no outcry.

"They tried to kill all of us, Lilac," Xander notes, poking at the edges of a mask. He's afraid to pull, giving the condition of this one's neck – or what's left of it.

Lilac sits up with a wince, holding her side. "Oh, Gods, I'm naked! Ugh, and I'm covered in blood … " The woman looks down at herself, then shakes her head in a mix of amazement and disgust. "What happened? I remember fighting, and, and … her, then I remember being really furious, and then … pain and nothing. Ow, I hurt all over." Carefully, she tries to scoot over to Xander and see what he's doing.

Now blind, the kimonoed woman facing Anisa swipes at the doe with her fan. Chitin tines whistle harmlessly through the air.

"You protected Kin," Xander explains. "But you got hurt. I… uh… had to close your wound. The trauma turned you back to your human form. Did he glue these things on or what?"

"I did?" Lilac sounds a little surprised, but her tail wags a little. That is, until she winces. "Ow," she whines, "I guess I … lost. What are you doing? Oh." Lilac peeks at the fallen woman, then nods. "I remember these women. I, I though I should have helped them escape, back in Hakuu's Mansion, but I … I didn't. I was scared, and I didn't know how, and … " She whines again, more worried than hurt. "Do you think this is my fault?"

"Huh?" Xander asks. "How can it possibly be your fault?" The Mage moves to the woman with the cracked mask, trying to see if he can pry a piece off of it. "These masks are linked to the scrying crystals somehow. A major enchantment, really expensive. I want to know if these women still have normal eyes at all."

"They're magic? The one I saw had her … tongue … cut out. They live in a small room below Hakuu's inner chamber," Lilac explains. She doesn't say anything more about it being her fault, but she does leave her ears down and tail tucked in a guilty fashion. "Maybe they … have no faces."

Hot, tired, and irritated, the Lapi doe is in no mood for any more of these lizards' shenanigans. After the Kiriga makes a few futile swipes at her with her fan, Anisa leaps upon the warrior, knocking her down with a hard knee to the chest, and pinning her to the ground. Still cursing angrily in that high-pitched mouse language, the rabbit proceeds to pummel the lizard with blow after blow: left fist, right fist, left fist, right fist…

Finally reaching Anisa, Kin sees the Lapi pounding away on her opponent. "Anisa, it's over," she says quietly and calmly, trying not to startle the Lapi. Away too go Kin's swords back into their sheaths. "I think the other one fell."

The Kiriga falls to her back with the Lapi on top, and she can only hold her arms up to try fending off a few of the blows reflexively before her hands simply flop back, her mask covered in cracks, multiple facets reflecting Anisa's rage. The doe can feel the Kiriga's body go slack under her.

After grabbing the Kiriga's robe collar and slamming the warrior into the ground a few times for good measure, Anisa finally comes back to her sense, ears swiveling in the direction of Kin's voice. Realizing that her opponent is completely out of it, the doe gets back to her feet, dusting off both her pants and her paws. "Hmph! Serves them right, just attacking us like that. Did Gibson and Long-Shadow get the other one?"

"I think she jumped off the ridge," Kin says as she cranes her head to look over towards the ridge where the other two went. "We should drag this one back to where Xander is and interrogate them quickly, then move out of here in case this alerted any scouts."

Prying off piece of the fractured mirror, Xander finds hard ceramic underneath. "Polished stone over ceramic, tough stuff," he tells Lilac. "Still can't see how it's attached, unless it's connected to the bone itself somehow. I think these masks may not be masks at all… these are their faces now. Maybe."

"She went over… the ridge? Dagh!" Anisa runs over to where Long-Shadow and her brother stands, carefully peering over the side of the ridge. "What if they saw her fall? Those guys down there could be on us at any minute!"

"Not any minute, it would take some time for them to get up here," Kin points out. She kneels down and grabs the unconcious woman's leg and starts dragging her back towards camp.

Gibson and Long-Shadow are peering over the ridge as well, both looking quite puzzled. "Sis, I swear I saw her go over this," says Gibson. Below, jagged rocks jut menacingly from the side of the stone shelf.

"Hmmp, I used to feel really sorry for them, but now … I'm really mad. I don't think I've ever hated anyone, except Hakuu before." Lilac reaches over and digs her nails around the mask, giving it a hard tug. "Let me see your face! I remember mine, I … You. Show. Me. YOURS!"

Anisa drops to her knees, paws gripping the side of the ridge as she stares downwards for any sign of the jadaian. "This isn't good – I don't see hide or scale of her." The rabbit leaps back to her feet, exchanging a worried glance with Gibson and Long-Shadow. "We'd better clear out quick, and find somewhere else to make camp. If she tells them about us, they're sure to come this way."

The mask clings tightly, but enough of Lilac's frantic jerks makes something give, apparently some straps hidden in the dragonish woman's thick, dark hair. The mask comes free, and the Kiriga's head rolls back. Her face is young, quite pretty really, with a delicate snout. What looks like thick eyelashes at first turns out to be stitches.

"Calm down, Lilac," Xander says. After a bit more study, he says, "No magic in the masks that I can sense. Must have all been in the crystals. I wonder how the girls were attuned to those? Outside my field."

"Wah," Lilac cries, not entirely prepared ti actually pry the mask off. She flails a bit, then falls back with a sharp yelp. "Ow! Stupid woman! I … " She flails a bit with her hand, trying to reach the unmasked Kiriga. "Xander! Hit her for me!"

Grunting a bit when Kin gets back to Xander and Lilac with the downed woman. She releases her legs and sighs, then runs a clawed hand through her mane. "Lilac? You sound better. Are you intact?" she asks and heads towards the human.

Gibson follows along, and his eyes widen a bit. He picks up his feet, trotting over to the bardesses side. "Lilac! You changed back! And you're hurt!" After stating the obvious, he kneels down, looking worried.

  Sprawledin a heap of tail, robe, and mask, Lilac smiles weakly up at Kin. "Kinny! You're okay! I tried so hard, but I … " She waves the cracked mask at the woman, "I hurt all over! I don't think I can get up – my side is on fire! Oh," her tail wags a little, "are we going to eat soon?"

"Gibson!" Lilac reaches over an pats Gibson's foot. "I forgot to pat your foot … I feel terrible."

"You did wonderfully," Kin says to the human as she kneels near the unmasked and downed woman, letting Gibson care for Lilac. She leans in, inspecting her face. Frowning, she reaches in and carefully tries to cut/pick the stitches from her eyelids using her talons.

Not far behind Gibson is Anisa, the doe giving a look of surprise when she spies Lilac. "You're back to normal! Dagh, are you alright? I heard your howl, but I-" She stops, noticing Kin messing with the warrior. "Are her… are… what's wrong with her eyes?"

"I do not know yet," Kin tells Anisa as she works.

Gibson strokes the bardess' hair. "You're going to be alright. We'll get you out of here."

"I think I lost," Lilac tells Anisa, not bothering to get up from where she landed. "I have her mask, though. I'd hit her, but … I hurt a lot and I can't get up."

Xander looks at the still unconscious woman, then looks to Lilac. "Uhhh," he starts to say, but luckily Kin distracts Lilac.

"Thanks, Gibson." Lilac pushes her head against Gibson's hand, much as she did when she was still a 'dog.'

Looking a bit weirded out, Anisa makes no move to come closer to the unconcious combatant. "I don't think hitting her anymore will do much, Lilac."

"Are we taking them all prisoner?" Xander asks, gesturing to the tied up fighters.

Picking the stitches away is laborious, they're finely and tightly sewn, but Kin's sharp claws are able to worry them apart. The lids pull back, though only white shows, the eyes rolled back in unconsciousness.

"I'd feel better," Lilac explains, sounding a little pouty.

"We should. They may have useful information. We do not what those below learning about us," Kin says. She also lets out a sigh of relief as she discovers her eyes are fine. So, she starts picking the other one free as well. "Her eyes are fine. They were just sewn shut. Can someone bring me that mask? I would like to see it."

"Did you recover the crystal this one was seeing through?" Xander asks Kin.

Lilac sort of waves the pried off mask in Kin's direction, unable to get up or reach her. "Kiiiiin."

Anisa sets her ears back as the eyes are pried open, but a look of relief washes her face as she realizes the actual eyes are still in their sockets. "I have one of their crystals," she says, patting her chest protectively, "but I don't think we should take it out until they're all tied tight."

"I do not have one. Maybe Anisa still has one," Kin answers as she continues the delicate work. "We will need to strip the ones who can walk of their masks and free their eyes so they will be able to walk."

"Can you bring me the mask, Anisa?" Kin asks.

With a nods, Anisa walks over to Lilac and takes the mask, examining it herself as she walks back over to Kin. "I don't really get it," she says, handing the object to her Kiriga companion, "this doesn't seem like the best way to have your people fight. Everyone sharing one eyeball?"

"No, but you must admit it is 'artistic'," Kin comments rather dryly. Once done with the other eye, Kin takes the mask from Anisa and turns it over in her hands so she can see the inside.

The last of the stitches come away, leaving the handmaiden looking more or less normal unless one were to look very close to see the scars the stitches left around the fine scales surrounding her eyes. If they hadn't just been fighting them, the unconscious woman might look perfectly normal, beautiful even in repose.

"Maybe they can see things – like special things? The future, the flow of time, our fate. Legends are dotted with blind creatures who can 'see' something beyond," Lilac offers. She then adds, "It's so nice to be able to talk again. I was so frustrated."

Out of curiosity, Kin sets the mask over her own face to see just how it fits. "Well, it's not uncomfortable," the Kiriga comments.

"Take that thing off," Anisa says to Kin, her fur very visibly on end, "it makes you look like one of them. That's just eerie."

Xander whispers to Gibson, describing Lilac's injuries to him (and hoping he's better at doctoring than the mage is).

Kin slips the mask off and tosses it to the side. She gets to her feet and walks over to one of the ones that was tied up by Xander, but conscious. "Hold still while I remove this," she says in Imperial to the woman.
Gibson nods a few times, looking over Lilac's cauterized wound and the angry bruise near it. He touches her side gingerly, then gently begins scooping his arms under the bardess. "I think you're mostly winded, Lilac. You lost some blood, but at least your ribs aren't broken. I'm not much of a doctor, though. Let's get you out of the sand at least.

The handmaiden doesn't resist Kin, though she doesn't really help either. Rather, she just seems to sit stoic and silent while her mask is removed.

"If Hakuu had his way I would have been of them," Kin comments to Anisa and shrugs slightly. "Or worse. He wished to marry me."

"At least their… condition… isn't as bad as I was expecting," Xander says, gesturing to the sewn-shut eyes. "After the whole Babel mess… uh, never mind."

Off the mask comes with a bit of work and Kin tosses it to the side. Like with the unconscious one, one, she starts picking delicately at the stitches in the woman's eyelids with her talons.

"Ow," Lilac complains, without much strength. She wraps an arm around Gibson, laying her head against his chest. "Thank you for treating me like a person, Gibson. I really appreciate that. I've never been able to remember what it was like, before, but I remember now. I remember feeling like I was … less than a person."

Anisa sets her ears back. "This Hakuu guy – is this who we're dealing with down there?" The doe looks over her shoulder in the direction of the camp, as if for emphasis, then moves to stand behind Kin. "Why did he do this?"

Awake, the maiden is able to flinch with each stitch cut, but she doesn't resist this either. Bit by bit, her eyes can be peeled open. This one's scales are chocolate brown, and her eyes are dark, nearly black. They seem to have difficulty focusing, at least at first.

"I would assume he is down there since they are here," Kin answers, "As for why, I do not know. I am expecting them to tell us." When the eyes come free, she asks the woman in Imperial, "Can you see me? Can you speak standard?"

The previously masked attendant blinks a few times, squinting against the harshness of the rising sun, which has by now appeared over the horizon. She looks at Kin, eyes gradually adjusting. "I can," she answers to both.

"Then we will speak standard so that those with me will understand," Kin says calmly as she inspects the face of the woman carefully. "I assume you know who I am," she says.

Lilac's lip peels back a bit when the woman starts talking. It's a snarl, but on a short human woman it's more comical than fearsome.

"Tsuguri," the woman whispers.

"Well, she still has her tongue," Anisa says, squatting down to peer at the captive while Kin interrogates her. "Not a friend of your's, is she?"

"What is your name and family? Also, do you know what Hakuu seeks here and what role, if any, he expected me to play?" Kin asks next. To Anisa, Kin shakes her head from side to side. "I do not know her."

"Ask her if they've got a Light Mage down there," Xander whispers to Kin.

"If she has her tongue, she's not the one I saw in Hakuu's home," Lilac notes.

Those dark eyes stare intently at Kin, and the maiden's voice is low and soft. "I do not have a name. It is enough that I live for Master Hakuu's house. We are his most beautiful, and reflected all the glory of his house. You are to be more beautiful yet."

"Hakuu's an evil monster of a man," Lilac yells, glaring at the woman. "I've seen what he does! I've seen his statues, and his poor women! I won't let him hurt Kinny!"

"Answer the second question," Anisa says, crossing her arms. "What are you and your master doing here? You could just as easily play little miss mirror back home at his place."

"You have a name. All have names. He may have made you forget yours, but you have one," Kin replies with determination as she looks deep into those dark eyes. "And what do you mean, 'more beautiful yet'? What does he plan?"

The chocolate Kiriga looks away, dark hair falling across her face. "I do not need a name. You will not either. What you will be will be evident without the need for petty words. You should go to him, and leave these others behind. Give yourself to him."

"The only thing Kinny is going to give him is a gut full of sword," the human woman insists, struggling feebly as if she were about to leap at the unmasked woman.

Xander says, "Drink the rest of that Cold Shower, Lilac."

"You have need for a name," Kin says quietly and reaches over, pulling her face back around so she can continue to look in her eyes, "Because you have a choice to make. You may be taken prisoner and we will lead you from here so that you may start a new life. Or, you may choose to end your life here honorably with Floating Blossom. I promise you that I will not allow you to suffer should you chose the latter. And if you choose the last I will need to know your name so that I may tell your family you died with honor."

"Cold what?" Lilac's ears flatten.

Pulling on his ears first in frustration, Xander recovers the flask from where Lilac left it and checks to see if there's any tonic left in it. "Maybe it doesn't work on humans," he mutters.

The maiden folds her slim hands together, billowy sleeves resting over her legs where she kneels. "There is no other life for me. Tell Hakuu's family you slew me. They will know who I am."

"Slay you? Are you nuts?" Anisa looks at the captive lizard with a puzzled expression. "You're beaten, just stay down. There's no need for you to die over this – just tell us what we need to know, then we'll eventually let you go."

"So be it, then," Kin says with a small bow of her head. Even with all of Kin's practiced concealment of emotion, the Kiriga shows signs of being upset, the way her eyelids seem to droop and the position of her ears. "Anisa, it is our way. To return in defeat is worse than dying," she says quietly, perhaps to convince herself of this as much as to explain.

"They're different, Anisa. Jadaians are … Different," Lilac says, in a softer voice. "I can't explain it well, but honor means a lot to them – a whole lot. Kinny will know what to do."

"Wait!" Xander yelps at Kin, and nearly throws himself at her. "What about our lives? Did they know we were up here? Do they have a mage? We need to know these things, and they are more important than her honor!"

Anisa just stares at Kin in disbelief, slowly getting to her feet. "Are you telling me – honestly – that you're just going to kill her? In cold blood?" The doe backs away from the Kiriga. "What in the Star's name is wrong with you? She's a prisoner – that's murder!"

"I did not say I was going to do it now, Xander," Kin tells the buck when he lurches towards her. She, however, doesn't move. To the woman, she says, "Answer his questions." To Anisa, she shakes her head slowly. "No, I will not. She will end her own life. I will simply ease the passing so she does not suffer. It is the way of the warrior," she explains.

The handmaiden looks up, disdain on her face now. "You do not understand, outlander. I will not leave or betray house Hakuu. If you let me leave, I will find and kill you. If you do not let me leave, I will die rather than remain in disgrace. This is the choice I am offered, and it is a fair one."

Xander squats down and tugs on his ears. He's surrounded by obtuse females, and he gave all of his Cold Shower to Lilac already. "Not betray? Not betray? Then you don't get to die!" he mutters.

"Kill herself?" The doe's jaw drops. "That's supposed to make it better? What's the point?!" As the prisoner speaks, Anisa regards her with a violent shake of her head. "You're insane – your whole species is insane! I'm not gonna have any part of this!" The doe holds her paws up, ears back in anger. With a final look at Kin, the doe spins on her heel, and stomps back towards the ridge.

Xander gets up and goes over to the handmaiden that's curled up in shock from being burned, and tries to see if she's conscious… and if her wounds are going to end up killing her or not.

Lilac sighs, dropping her head back against Gibson. "I don't like it either," she whispers to the buck, "but I agreed to follow Kinny, and I've seen their world. I guess I'm kind of the same way, too, right?" She reaches up and feebly tugs at her collar.

"Gibson," Kin says, visibly trying to prevent herself from looking hurt, "I want you to take Lilac, Xander, and Anisa from this place. Home if you like. I am sure Long-Shadow could show you the way. These are not your people or your ways, I should not expect you to witness or accept them. I will finish this battle alone."

Large patches of the burned woman's flesh are raw and bare, skin and scales seared away. It's already begun to look leathery in the sun despite the sheen, the wretched creature dehydrating.

"No, you finish it in front of us, Kin," Xander counters. "Hiding it won't change anything."

Xander sighs at the condition of the burned woman. Raw flesh is painful, after all, so the first thing he does is begin his Hotfeet spell again – in reverse. It should take away the pain of burning instead of inducing it.

"I don't have a home, Kinny," Lilac protests. "I'm staying with you."

Kin sighs and shakes her head slowly from side to side. "You are all fools. You rage against my ways, yet will not leave when asked. I was a fool to involve you. This woman before me was a fool to even begin to believe she would have a purpose once Vandringar finds what he seeks and is through with the Artist. He would just as likely remove Hakuu due to him being a threat than allow him to remain around."

Long-Shadow comes trotting up. It would seem he's missed most of the conversation, but he appears to think something else is more urgent anyway. "The camp is stirring," he signs rapidly.

Lilac lays her ears back at being called a fool, then, suddenly, she glares. Struggling against Gibson, she says, "Don't you dare call me a fool, Kinny! Don't you dare leave me! I don't care what you do to her, but don't act like I don't care about you!"

Gibson, for his part, just lays his ears back, holding Lilac securely.

"Long-Shadow says the camp is awake," Kin says as she gets to her feet. "And I never said you didn't care about me, Lilac. But perhaps your caring is misplaced. Perhaps Anisa is right and we are all insane; we are all monsters."

Almost as quickly as she disappeared, Anisa returns with a sprint, her angry expression now one of deep concern. "Look guys, I love drama as much as the next girl, but we better get moving." The doe comes to a halt, her heart obviously beating wildly as she looks back towards the ridge. "The camp is starting to wake, and they're up to something."

"Shut up! Just shut up and … and kill her! Let me go!" Lilac struggles more, reaching feebly towards Kin's swords. "Don't, don't stand there and act like this isn't important!"

Xander interrupts his spell casting to say, "Gibson, kiss Lilac until she calms down please, or she'll tear open her chest wound." Then it's back to chanting over the burned handmaiden.

"Shhh," says Gibson. He ignores Xander. All he does is cradle Lilac more inward against himself, making it more difficult for her arms to reach out. "We should probably just go. I think we've seen what we need to. We've got some thinking to do about things bigger than us."

"Rrrrr," Lilac growls, although she stops struggling and settles for laying her ears back.

Kin draws her long sword from its scabbard. She looks around at those gathered, reptilian, golden eyes flicking to the gathered mammalian ones. Her sword goes back, held high and level over the kneeling woman's head. There's a pause there for a moment and the blade sweeps down.

Only Kin doesn't strike the kneeling woman with the blade; she strikes with the butt of the hilt onto the top of the woman's head, trying to drive her into unconsciousness.

The handmaiden drops senseless onto the ground, her glossy black tresses fluttering down a second after her and spilling across the sand.

Kin's blade is sheathed. She retrieves one of the removed masks, though. "You win. Let'sgo," she says, then starts walking away.

Xander speeds up his spell as much as he dares, and then casts it on the burned woman.

"Kinny?" Lilac sounds confused, ears splaying.

"What?" Kin asks and looks over her shoulder.

Looking back from the ridge, Anisa spies Kin just in time to see the reptile raise her sword. The Lapi gives an audible feminine gasp of distress, covering her mouth with her paws as her eyes go wide. When Kin switches to the hilt of her sword, however, the rabbit's look of shock only deepens, and she stands there for a moment, speechless. "Um, y-yeah," she finally says, "let's go." Giving the Kiriga another quick glance, the runs to reclaim her bow and quiver, slinging them over her shoulders as she takes off for the caravan.

The burned Kiriga was shivering a little as if cold, but now at least settles down. Long-Shadow doesn't look like he entirely understands what's going on, so simply trots ahead to find a path as he is comfortable doing. Gibson hefts Lilac again to carefully secure his hold, then follows along.

Xander leaves his canteen with the woman, and then grabs one of the dropped fans. "Might be handy for sweeping away our trail at least," he mutters, and then follows the others.

"Um, nothing," Lilac replies, but she does wag a little.

"Kinny?" Lilac wags a little more, then smiles. "I'm glad you're okay."

Kin turns and walks onward. "Why do they not understand? Why can they not see? I do not delight in death; I do not wish it on others. I did not want to kill that woman;s she and I are not so different. Gods and Ancestors, I wanted to cry when she selected her preference. I wanted to see her walk free; I wanted her to have a life," the young dragon thinks as she walks. "And why couldn't I follow through? Why does it matter so much what they think of me? I … I am the fool as they are all I have left in this world. Frustrating mammals … but they are my family."