Water, Water, Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

Akaelin spotted the group up ahead and immediately felt tensed. Time to be the big bad, 'don't fuck with me' leader again. But then again, when did he not express that kind of attitude? Save for when he was dealing with his mate of course. It never felt like an act to him, but he was starting to think that he needed to put on some form of facade in order to please the masses. Still, acting like he cared was really easier said than done. He could rescue kittens from trees, help little old ladies cross the street, and donate food to the hungry, at the end of the day, he would be the same person, just with a different kind of mask.

He stopped several feet in front of Adyro, subconsciously making sure not to get too close to the hyena. Akaelin didn’t feel all that bad about the way his people reacted around him. It wasn’t like they hated him, he just posed the risk of making them lose both control of their forms and their lunch. Skirting around him, he shifted and came up beside Arlyn with an inquisitive gaze. “It went well,” Arlyn answered. “We arrived in Saboro and got a bit of help. The Fire Ops would’ve been better, but their Naval Fleet should do just fine. It’s better than nothing.”

“Good,” Akaelin replied simply. The older wolf was right, a little something was much better than nothing. He doubted that a group of Henkilo would be pleased about him leading them, but if necessary he would be sure to put them in their place. “The hyenas know of a few tribes off in the desert. However there are some…complications,” he said, using the term complications quite lightly. “I’m going with them along with a few that can fly.” Arlyn raised an eyebrow, curious as to why his nephew was only taking those who could fly. “It’s a long story,” Akaelin answered as if reading the older wolfs mind. “To make it short, if we want the tribes help, then we have to kill these three freaky sand ladies and it’s not good to walk on the sand or they’ll kill you.”

“Ah,” Arlyn answered, shaking his head at the situation Akaelin wasn’t about to get himself into. Not that it was anything new. He was quite used to his kin getting himself in way over his head. At least this time, the older wolf wouldn’t need to bail him out. Akaelin was independent enough that he could take care of himself. He had been doing it ever since he was a child.

((Actually, I got the idea for the sand-creatures from Primeval XD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYjQMZQzRew RUN STEPHAN RUN! IT'S A MUTHAF***ING GIANT SILURIAN SCORPIAN!))

Adyro's eyes opened wide as Akaelin related Sykino's plan to them. Apparently she had hidden the plan from the rest of the pack, knowing that they wouldn't go for it.

"We gonna trya kill thems?!" He asked. "It insane! Rysak almost eaten last time 'round, yeah! Goddess not able blast them away, neither!"

Sykino nodded toward Siva. "It her job be able kill things like thems. We justa need couple others. It better tell Jetta stay back at tunnels and not come for this. Thems tribes got enough Aravos problems even if Jetta not insane."

Adyro flattened his ears and growled, but didn't seem to be opposed enough to the idea to disobey his leader. But he was the youngest of the pack, actually the pup of Lorul and Taren, so it made sense that he would be the most scared.

(( Faorn isn't included in these parts, so I figured that I would wait till later in the thread. Haha, I really need to see Primeval. It sounds really good ))

Akaelin honestly wasn't fond of the idea either. These desert tribes better be worth what the Rebellion would have to go through in killing the three Avaros. "If I thought that this would turn into our mindless slaughter, I'd say fuck the tribes," Akaelin replied. If for a second he doubted that the three post Society women could be killed, he wouldn't take the risk of losing some of their most valuable allies.

Wordlessly, he left the hyenas by themselves, grabbing a couple people he thought might help. Among them, surprisingly was Sayne. Though he couldn't hear, he would be incredibly valuable from the air. He would be able to see the sand stir before anyone else. Falcons naturally had excellent eyes, and for once, Akaelin was glad he was deaf.

((Wait, wait wait. So... Lorul had a kid with Taren, and then wanted in Nathifas pants? That little fucker!! X( ))

((Well, hyenas don't generally mate for life, and they really don't have any human parts. Still, it doesn't really give him an excuse XD))

"All tribes gathered together give us another five thousand, yeah," Sykino said, doing her best to ignore the seething Adyro. "Thems got good warriors, but only able to mass big force and move across desert ifn thems threes are deads."

"If we going, we be going," Adyro said. "No got time talk all day. It good call hover nileboat now."

"Right," Nathifa closed her eyes and repeated the silent summons in her head. Before the group the long boat began to materialize. "All of you that cannot fly or come with us should set up camp here. It will be that safest place for you until our meeting is over."

As soon as Nathifa mentioned the word 'fly' Seff seemingly popped out of nowhere in front of Akaelin, a hopeful gaze in her eyes. "Don't you even think about it," he growled. "Didn't say anything," Seff said happily. "You're not going," Akaelin added firmly as Seff started rocking back and forth on her heels. "Wasn't planning on it," she replied, a wide mischevious grin spreading across her face. She turned around and skipped off, hair bouncing from side to side.

Akaelin watched, making sure that Seff was far away from them before stepping in the boat. Among them flying was Sayne, Keyl, Akiza and ((whatever characters you're taking Kitai. XD)).

Siva and one of the Salinas guard that had come with their group, the crane, sprang up into the air to join the others that were flying as the hyena pack piled into the boat with Nathifa. After giving it a couple moments of thought, Quill sprang into the boat just as it lifted off the ground, leaving her hellcat mount behind.

"So, any particular reason why we're not walking?" Quill asked. "Or are we just playing some inconvenient game of don't touch the ground?"

"Yes, the ground is a big pool of lava and we can't touch it or we'll burn," Akaelin replied sarcasticly just a teensy bit pissed that Quill was with them. Knowing her, she would probably be a glory hog, blow up all the Avaros, and then rub it in their faces that she was the shit, could kill any of them with a single glance, and had absolutely nothing on her. Oh wait, absolutely was too big of a word for her simple, low key, one track mind to even begin to possibly understand. He was half tempted to push her off the edge of the boat as they flew over the desert and have one of the Avaros eat her. The mental image brought the slightest hint of a smile to the wolfs face.

Seeing this, Sayne frowned, knowing that when Akaelin smiled, it usually spelled certain doom for someone else.

Quill exaggerated the casual motion of laying her hand on the side of the boat, guessing what Akaelin was thinking. That was her own way of communicating 'Push me off this boat and I'll blow it up for all of you as well'. "Lovely," she said. "Anyone care to inform the rest of us the real reason?"

"Perfect opportunity, yeah," Sykino said. "We over hunting grounds now, and look."

A lone camel was plodding along the sands toward an oasis that was visible in the distance. The shifting of the sand wasn't visible from this high in the air to one that didn't have super eyesight, but the camel was suddenly grabbed by something and disappeared below the dunes with a twisted shriek of terror. No trace but its footprints even hinting that it had once been there.

Can anyone inform us as to why you're here? Akaelin thought to himself. Oh that's right, because your a skank who is so insecure about herself that you feel the need to portray this fake image that just pisses everyone off.

"Satisfied?" Akaelin asked, though he truly didn't care about the answer.

Sayne had a habit of looking downward when he flew, always enjoying the thrill of the landscape underneath him. However, staring at sand was rather...dull. Just before he went to lift his head from the camel, he had seen the half second stirring of sand just before the camel dissapeared. For all he knew though, the shift had probably just been caused by the camels weight. At least, he thought that until the creature vanished underneath the endless vast of pale gold. Eyes widened, he looked down at the boat just below him. No one seemed to notice though, so he let it go for now. He hated not being able to speak more than not being able to hear. There was nothing more annoying to him than not being able to put his opinion into a conversation.

"So when hyena here was talking about 'not being able to kill them', I'm assuming he's talking about that thing and whatever others of its kind there may be?" Quill said, already knowing the answer. "Sounds fun. Guess we'll just have to explode it then."

"Not gonna work" Adyro mumbled

"There's where we go." Sykino said. She pointed with her nose toward a large outcropping of rock that had about 100 people gathered on it plus the pelts of the rest of the hyena pack visible.

Akaelins eyes narrowed in concentration as he peered over the edge of the boat at the crowd of people. Must’ve been a pretty giant ass rock to be able to hold all of them. “So what? We go in and do a little song and dance about how we ‘fight for a noble cause and are just and pure and if they join us we’ll kill the Avaros’? From everything I’ve heard you say, Sykino, that seems to be pretty much it.” Needless to say, the façade didn’t sound as much fun as the killing. He was quite pleased that simply blowing them up apparently wouldn’t get rid of the annoying little sand worms. Hopefully, Quill would decide that she was useless after all, and that her life would be better spent fucking whatever guy she could get, in hopes of maybe finding someone who didn’t mind the fact that the smell of fish permeated the air every time she opened her legs.

((*is having too much fun ripping on Quill* x3))

"No, meeting actually probably not going go so well," Sykino said, looking toward the rocky area with the tribes' representatives. A wide path marked with stones every few feet or so showed the area that the tribes were permitted to walk on to cross the hunting grounds. "Me think that why they choose rock clump in middle of prey area. Thems probably thinking we gonna trya force thems join, and thems thinking me and my boys no tell you bout scorpions. If yous turn hostile thems gonna force you into sand is probably what thems planning."

Nathifa's eyes widened at what Sykino was saying. "And we're going to trust these people?" she asked. "If they'd just as soon feed us to Aravos as join us, then why bother?"

"Wes not won thems loyalty yet. Iffen we succeed thens them gonna follow. Main problem is only three people able fight them at time, one for each. If more are on sand then thems take one each at time, leaving ones left not able fight either."

The boat began to descend toward the rocky surface that was kept clean of sand more than a couple inches deep. Siva swooped downward and lighted on the ground, folding her wings into her body as they turned back into her arms.

"Then we'll have to select those three carefully," Akaelin said, letting out a long slightly frustrated sigh. Time to put on a happy face. He stepped out of the boat towards the rocky surface and stood near Siva, who had landed just a moment ago. He faced the desert tribes with an emotionless expression. It was about as close as he was going to get to looking happy just now. "I'm assuming by the gathering that you all know why we are," he said calmly, giving the people a fair amount of space. It was one of the Elains subconcious ways of trying not to be forceful. "If I'm wrong in that assumption, then please allow me to explain." Dear god he had said 'please'. "We're in trouble here. All of us. The Rebellion, the clans in the east, villages in the west, even you here. Long story short, the world you know will be destroyed unless the issue is stopped. We have taken measures to prevent this, but we need help and it is your help we would like to request."

Some of the dark-skinned people there understood English, and a few actually laughed when Akaelin asked for their help. The rest waited for Lorul to bark out a translation of what the leader of the Rebellion said to the representatives gathered there. Some of those laughed as well when he finished. Still some yet had took notice of Nathifa and wore unfriendly expressions on their faces, feeling that the gods were trying to control their lives or force them to worship deities again. One of the taller men, who had many feathers braided into his hair, stepped forward and spoke in a similar style as the hyenas to Akaelin.

"Much you ask, little proof to show," he said. "You ask us leave families here fend for themselves in danger. You bring with sun-walker when thems try to force our thoughts. How we know thems in Rebellion strong enough to fight threat, if threat exist? It not be first time that sun-walkers lure us out for take over, yeah?"

A few murmurs of agreement accompanied what he said as those who could understand told those who couldn't the translation. The man who spoke up looked to the east and paused for a while, as if deep in thought. He finally turned back to Akaelin. "Two dunes due east here, there is rock on surface of sand like this place. If yous meaning what you saying, then walk there. Iffen yous able get to rocks and bring back egg of one of birds that nest there, then we carry news back to tribes. Thems might decide come along"

"Now we come to it," Nathifa sighed, using an unspoken spell to keep her words between herself and her mate. "They saw us flying here and know that we know what is under the sand. What they ask is impossible even if you were to step lightly, which means we'll have to send the people we plan to have fight. Sykino told me that they always attack in formation and the higher ranks get first pick of the prey. I attacks in the middle, II on the right, and III on the left. I don't know who else we could send since they obviously won't allow me to go, but we should put Siva in the middle. Though the Society would never send XVII out alone against an Aravos of rank 1, that's what we'll have to do."

Akaelin raised an amused eyebrow at their laughter. Still being laughed at was better than risking their chances with the tribes by him acting like a son of a bitch. "If you wish for proof, you simply need to ask," he said simply, not really caring whether they understood or not. "Who else should we send?" Akaelin asked, turning his words towards Nathifa. "Quill is strong, but amazingly reckless. Sayne can see the sand shift before the attacks, but could be a liability in the actual fight. I know little of the two gryphons."

((short post is short.))

"She probably won't die if she guards her neck well," Nathifa said. "Which seems to be her only weak point. The tribes might also like the fact that we have a non-Society mortal that can reattach limbs that come off. Plus she's already dead technically. I don't know about the two gryphons, could you maybe talk to them and ask if they would be willing to do it, or if they could? As a last resort Rysak can try to rescue someone if something goes wrong, but that will probably cause us to lose whichever of them that we haven't already killed. Right now we have the element of surprise since they have know idea who we are or what our capabilities are."

((Try to forgive Akaelins sudden shift in attitude. The hiatus gave me a ton of time to think a few things over about this scene.))

Akaelin folded one arm across his chest, rested his elbow against his wrist, and leaned his head against his fist like the thinking statue. After a few moments, he drove his knuckles into his right eye, feeling a slight pain beginning to pulse behind the orb. "Want to know my honest opinion?" he grumbled. "Fuck this." He turned towards the group with him, strangely passive and calm despite the storm brewing behind his eyes. "We're just going to leave now."

"Why?" the one gryphon asked. She hadn't known Akaelin long enough to learn the lesson in not questioning him. "Because," he started, then stopped himself. The wolf slithered closer, lowering his voice so that only she would be able to hear. "This people are unorthodox, immature, and I won't risk peoples lives because they can't see what the fuck is right in front of their faces. If they wanted proof in the form of a test that was less suicidal, then fine. But this? No. I won't have it." Several others in the group had tried to lean in closer to hear what he was saying, only to draw back after a few sharp glances that clearly said, 'Don't fuck with me'.

Akaelin looked up towards the sky and waved, a beckoning gesture. Enthea had been circling the sky, high enough to look like a large bird, constantly peering down with raptor like vision. Seeing the motion, she descended slowly, landing in an awkward fashion to the left of the tiny portion of Rebellion. Curiosity glistened in her large, chocolate brown eyes, but she breathed not a word. Quietly, she waited for her command.

((.....I forgot where most of my characters are XD))

The eyes of the apparent leader darkened as Akaelin refused the test he had been hoping for. The tribes would have been a lot better off if these outsiders got rid of the ones who ruled them. But perhaps there could still be a way to use these light-skinned people to get rid of their tyrants in the end.

"Fine," he said. "If yous not want to do simple thing like walk on sands, then other thing needed for prove strength, yeah. Yous give forward best fighter to take our best warrior in rite of thunderstorm. Iffen yours win, I talks to warriors and try to gets bit help, yeah? One condition - fighter you choose gotta be normal. No silver-witch, no sun-walker, no immortal. Iffen we see your strength, we might helps, yeah."

"Explain this, 'Rite of Thunderstorm' and I'll think about it," Akaelin answered, a little bit pleased that the Tribe guy had toned down the test. But who was their best 'normal' fighter? Enthea was normal, so were the Gryphons. Siva, Quill and Nathifa were definately out. Sayne was normal, but still deaf. He didn't think that the tribes would consider him normal. He didn't have the powers of the Society - or if he did he never used them and completely forgot about them. He didn't age, but that didn't make him immortal. He could be killed just like any other regular person. So far, between Sayne, Enthea and the gryphons, the one he trusted most would've been the falcon, despite the handicap. "Who the hell here is normal?" he whispered, shooting his words in Nathifas direction.

((aliendalfhiehielajdila so short. >.>))

"It what they do when someone want challenge leadership, yeah," Adyro replied. He was a lot more relaxed now that the leader seemed to be content on not having them kill the three Aravos. "They set up circle in sand and two or more fighters go into it. No weapons, only bare skin. No animal form either if have it. Only allowed fight human-human unarmed. Point is stay in circle - this how thems make monthly sacrifices I say about, yeah. If you get outside circle, yous get eaten. You probably gonna haffa watch from air, Nathifa. The Aravos respect the rules because it free food thems don't gotta hunt, but might feel suspicious if goddess around."

"I think 'normal' would apply to anyone here but me, you, Quill, and Siva," Nathifa said. "In the sense they're using it anyway."

Okay... So that definately left either Sayne, Enthea, or the two gryphons. So which one did Akaelin trust most with the task of fighting the tribes best warrior? He looked each one of them over for several long minutes. The gryphons were talking amongst them selves quietly. Enthea was still standing awkwardly at the edge of the group and Sayne was pushing some dirt around with the toe of his shoe. Eventually, the wolf approached, grabbing the tan skinned falcon by the collar of his shirt. Sayne whirled around to face him, looking both curious and annoyed. Akaelin explained everything carefully and slowly to the point where the tribes probably thought the falcon was retarded. "So I need you to retract the wings and remove all weaponry," he finished. Sayne held out his hands in a 'hold' guesture. Akaelin did so, as the falcon began to unload all hidden weapons. There was a small pouch with some funny herbs in it, a Zulu axe, some kind of leather stringy thing whose purpose Akaelin couldn't even begin to ask, as well as other such things that were completely foreign to him. What he was really curious about, was where was Sayne keeping all of this. Finally, after the wolf had aquired a handful of various objects, the falcons wings slid underneath his jacket. If this was anything other than a one on one fight, Akaelin would've forced himself to trust in Enthea. However, in a closed area, there would be nothing that the other fighter could do that Sayne wouldn't see.

"Is this a fight to the death?" Akaelin inquired, turning his head towards Adyro so the falcon couldn't see. He didn't think that Sayne would be too happy if it did indeed turn out to be just that.

Adyro nodded and replied, not having to worry about Sayne being able to read his lips. "If you get pushed out of circle, right away get eaten, yeah," he said.

A couple tribesmen advanced warily out onto the sand with a kind of instrument made out of sticks and stones. As they reached the end of the outcropping they hit the instruments against the sand in a certain pattern to create a distinctive rhythm that sent ripples of sound down through the sand. They got about 20 feet out from the rocks when they began laying down stones to mark the outline of a circle. When this was done, one of them looked out over the horizon in fear and both men dashed back to the outcropping. It was clear that the drumming was meant to summon the Aravos and inform them of their free meal.

"You should get in air now, yeah," Adyro said to Nathifa. She nodded and climbed back in the boat, letting float up about 20 feet beyond where the Aravos would be able to sense her presence.

A shout came from someone within the tribes and all looked toward the circle that had been marked in the sand. Three things were moving toward the stone circle, leaving a trail in their wake and a bump in the sand where they were. Apparently this was some sort of the Aravos acknowledging what was about to happen since they could travel undetected under the sand. When the ridges came to a stop in a triangular formation on the far side of the circle, three scorpion-like tails snaked out of the fine grains to mark for the tribesmen where they were so that they wouldn't worry.

"They allow fighters safe passage to ring, yeah," the seeming leader told Akaelin. "Thems gonna let our and your fighter go to circle."

At the apperance of the scorpion tails, Saynes eyes widened for just a fraction of a second. The movement had been so fast, in fact, that Akaelin wasn't sure he had even seen it. However, as the falcon looked over at him, he knew that Sayne was slightly alarmed. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Just don't fall out of the circle, and you won't have to deal with them." Sayne wanted to slap his leader on the back of the head. And he might've, if he hadn't been afraid of the wolf breaking his wrist or something.

"Well?" Akaelin asked, turning back to the village cheif...leader...whatever. "Are you going to present us with your best fighter?" Or were you going to stand around all day, reveling in the fact that you don't speak English and think it's so funny that everyone else does? Fuckin' assholes needed to go jump off a mother fucking bridge.

The sun was still blazing and it made the wolf even more bitter than usual. Heat had that kind of impact on his kind. It made them irritable and sick. There was also the fact that in human form, he couldn't sweat. To cool himself, he relied on panting - a common act found in the animal kingdom. But that could only be done as an animal. However, against his better judgment - as well as his health - he refrained from shifting. These tribes had already dared laugh at a human form. He doubted that they would have any more decency towards him if they saw him as a talking animal.

"Him over there," the man said, pointing to the path leading to the circle. The man that stood there was tall, muscular, and dark-skinned like the rest of the tribespeople. Conforming with the tradition of this battle, he was unarmed. "Where is your fighter? Thems will walk together to circle."

Siva looked over the three scorpion tails with a calculating eye, trying to figure out as much as she could about the Aravos from what little she could see of them. Even if it wouldn't be required to fight the three to possibly get the tribes to join with them, they still might play an important part in the war. She considered the possibility of being able to drive the enemy back into the desert and onto the sand. Siiva wondered what Akaelin and Nathifa would think of that plan, even though it had a low possibility of working. Maybe if they won this war Jetta, herself, and some others from the remnants of the Society could come back here and take care of them.

((sorry for shortpost))