Walking in Shadows

"Oh! Actually I do!" Laila said quickly. She ran off back toward where there things had flown off to. She was glad she'd taken a look around earlier. It made it a lot easier. She found the rucksack she kept all her belongings and tools in and rummaged through it until she found one of her waterskins. It was half empty by this point but she didn't mind sharing. She returned to Selousi with a triumphant grin.

Rayner watched the whole charade for a moment, then turned his head to the side. There wasn't much he could do to help. Despite having mastered the air element, he had no real healing abilities. Maybe he could pull a little something off in an emergency, if his life depended on it, but he'd never been nearly-dead enough to try. Quite frankly, he hoped he never would be.

But that didn't help the current situation. The larger female was not on the brink of death.
"I'll just... Keep watch."
He mumbled awkwardly to himself. What an odd bunch. This group was a perfect target for Darius' army of mindless slaves. Well, not all of them were mindless, obviously. But some were just plain scary. He twitched, feeling agitated for no real reason, and positioned himself so that he was facing the forest.

Every time one of them made a loud noise he flinched. They were really asking for it, in his opinion. He was tempted to just smother them, but that would be rude. Maybe he cared too much. Would he help fight to defend 'enemy' travelers if the need arose? Rayner wasn't sure anymore.

Selo grabbed the waterskin from Laila, squeezing it so that water would gush down her throat.
"Eugh." Selo said, sticking out her tongue. "Thank you, Laila." She gagged a bit since she chugged down the water quickly.

Wiping her mouth with her paw she turned towards the others.
"Well, while the drug kicks in should we talk? Where are you all headed? Rayner? Vipsora?" She turned the other direction. "Jagter?"
She sat down, keeping her foot propped up.

"I was going to norport to sell pelts and herbs ." Jagter looked and pointed behind himself "I have a wagon over there it's not very big but it will hold."
"I could bring the wagon here but we would have to move you and that likely would be very painful." He said putting his hand behind his head "But once the herbs effect kick in that should be easy." He paused for a moment "but I only have one horse and I don't think it will be able to carry you by itself "
"Vip do think you'll be able to heal selousi's leg completely?" Jagter said questionly unsure if vipsora could do it.

Selousi pulled herself up heavily. She looked at Jagter and the others.

"I'm capable of moving my own. And" Selousi shook her head for a moment, pausing.
"I thi-k herb.... Kick ..." Selo said trailing off somewhat drowsily. " I think it.. Kicking in?" Selo said swaying a bit.

"I can't feel anything, Ja... Jagter what kind of herb was this?..." she gulped. " A sedative...? A h-hallucinogen?"
Her legs began to wobble, barely keeping her up.
She felt her whole body grow incredibly heavy. That's when she realized that maybe she took too much for her size.

She moved a few steps and then sat down. Leg still conciously out. She stuck her tongue out and curled her lips, beginning to swat at her nose with a paw.

"Selousi!" Laila cried out in panic. She put her hand on the Shinlai's nose, attempting to calm her. "Shhh, stop that! There isn't anything there!" She had to jump back to dodge the paws between swings. She shot a look of irritation at Jagter. "You should've warned her that would happen. Some herb salesman you are!" she snapped, surprisingly outspoken.

There was something curious. More than just the current commotion. Something further out, a slight change in the rustle of leaves, soft, practiced footfalls. Not shinlai. Something... From all around. Oh, right.

Rayner stood up quickly and turned around, fur bristling, blue eyes wide and bright in what could have been fear as much as anything. "Sel... Selousi, was it?" He stared at the green female, then swung his head back and forth between the two humans. Whatever herbs Jagter had given her seemed to be doing some heck of a job.

"What on Elaisha did you take?" He shook his head, too late now.
"Get up. There's no time to wait for this stuff to wear off. We need to get out of here. "

(Oh my god so tempting to reply but I have to wait for Rhav. I don't want to leave her too behind akjgdlhk)

VipSora looked a Jagter when he asked if she could completely heal Selousi's leg.
"I can, but I'll be pretty tired. I don't have a wagon so if their's fits me I can pull it for them." She said. She turned and watched Selousi wishing she would just be still which she didn't have to ask her she collasped.
"Its ok Laila, I don't think Jagter would have offered it if it was poisonous." She said trying to keep everyone calm. "Remember we are in Darkblood territory to much noise we will draw attention and we are pushing our luck as it is." She said this as she settled next to Selousi. She pressed as close as she could. VipSora's power works best the closer she is to what she is munipulating. She then pulled the mists' water to Selousi's leg it wrapped around in a thin viel. VipSora's body trembled some as she urged the healing water to work deep in the wound. Her eyes closed and she breathed in and out.

Selo kept still, knowing what was obviously happen. She could hear the crack of mending bones. Disgusting as it was, she gagged a bit. She still had a little sensation in herself so she could feel the tug of the vapors on her skin, healing it over. She sighed, it would probably still leave a scar. Another one to add to her list. She remained calm for this bit. But a few seconds later she went fully numb. Selo panicked, springing up earth in small tiles and causing trees in the surrounding area to curl. Unfortunately, a dead giveaway for a shinlai of her kind.

"Eep!" She wiggled around a bit, unfeeling. "VipSooooooooooooOOOOOra!" She howled quietly as a fence of rock and grass stains rose around them.
She closed her eyes, then blinked furiously at her. "JAGTER!" she yelled.

She was really out of it.

However, she recognized Rayner's voice, even though it was broken up in her head.

"Get up--no time to wait--get out of here. "

She stared lazily at him.

"Wh-what?" She turned her head, slightly leaning over in the side it was turned.

Next thing VipSora was aware of was a soft call for help and then a lot of rocks seemingly to jump out of the ground around her. Her eyes were wide and she was trembling from the sudden attack from the earth. The water splashed agains Selousi's leg. She looked at Rayner.

"I guess we over stayed our welcome. Laila, Jagter hitch me up to Selousi harness I'll pull the wagon. Selousi if you can please move. I can't carry you." She said trying to get things organized.

(Sorry if I'm rushing it a little, I'm trying to get rid of Rayner since I'm leaving pretty soon and I'll be gone for the next week.)

"Good, good. If she can walk, that would be great."
Rayner nodded, attempting to nudge Selousi to her feet. They sooner they got going, the better.

"There are a number of humans closing in on us from the sides. They may be members of The Circle, in which case we're all in danger. I've suspected they've been keeping an eye on this area for a while now. Hopefully at least one of you is good with directions. You'll need go opposite the sun, towards the east, until you find a stream that's deep enough for horses to swim. Follow it as long as you can before you get to Velocifiero. I'll stay and head them off. Do you think you all can manage?"

Seeing selousi having a trip made Jagter feel guilty "Maybe I should of told her not to eat it all at once." He thought as he brought the wagon
toward them. He brought the back of the wagon towards selousi when she had surged of power. The sudden stream of rocks spooked the horse.
"Woah calm down boy!" Jagter jumped of the horse back and began to make preperations to put selousi in th wagon. "Hey laila could you help me get her in the wagon." Jagter know he couldn't hope to possible hope to lift selousi and would have to coxes her into the cart on a hurt leg.




(Jesus selousi you be tripping hard but its your fault you should have eaten them all. D:)

Selousi shook her head, the only word she had heard was wagon, but she understood. She stood up and limped over to the wagon, curling up in a bare spot in the middle. Surely only one or two draft horses would be able to pull the cart though, she was around 3000 pounds and regular horses were only about a thousand.

She snorted at Jagter and Rayner, who seemed to be in a rush.

Laila went to help Jagter but Selousi had already taken care of getting onto the cart herself. She jogged away, picking up her fallen wares from when the cart dumped them out. She quickly replaced everything back into it, making sure to go through her mental inventory checklist. Not a single piece they'd worked hard on was going to be left behind if she could help it.

"I think I've got everything."

When VipSora saw the horse she jumped back and corward from it. She was terrified of horses. Her hair was standing on in and she was trembling all over. "Pull yourself together it won't kill you," she said between sniff of uncontrolled tears. She forced herself to straighten out and went behind the wagon. There was no way she was going to be infront of one of those again.

"I'm ready whenever ya'll are." She said.

"Let's goooooo!" Selo howled. Not sane enough to keep her voice down.
She whipped the long fur on the back of her tail at Lailas nose. Giggling a bit. She was out of it, but getting drowsy. Selo began to lie limp and her eyes closed loosely. She had fallen asleep.


(SORRY I WAS WAITI G FOR SOMEONE I AM A HUGE BUTT)

"Sheesh, glad she's asleep," Laila said with a sigh of relief. She rubbed the tip of her nose where Selousi's tail touched. She took one last look around to make sure she didn't forget anything. When she was certain she didn't, she looked to the others. "Okay let's get to Norport. Fast. Before Selousi wakes back up and shouts so loud everyone in the area hears."

She noticed the tears as they ran down VipSora's face. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

VipSora looked at Laila as she asked if she was ok. "I'm...I'm...scared of horses." VipSora said shamefully. Her head was down and she was still cowering from the horse. "We better get going before the Cccircle rears its ugly head."
Staying behind the wagon she waited for it to start moving. She would not dare go infront of another horse.

"The Circle?" she asked. Laila never heard of them before, having heard terms like "Dark Bloods" and "Dailians" tossed around much more frequently. She walked beside VipSora, glancing around them as they went. She didn't want to be caught unaware.

(Sorry for the wait. ^^;)

"Well Shinlai don't like to talk about the Circle much because they seem more alien then Darkbloods." VipSora said. "That and we know more about the Darkbloods. I can't even fathom what the Circle's goals are."

VipSora felt a little more at ease after some talking. She was a chatter box and she enjoyed sharing what she knows or even what she does not.

A shudder ran up Laila's spine but she didn't acknowledge her intimidation. Instead she forced herself to relax in order to keep VipSora from being nervous again.

"That sounds rather scary... I wouldn't want to run into them if we don't even know what they want," she agreed. She toyed with the Shinlai fur cord of her necklace. As usual she couldn't help but wonder which Lai the fur belonged to. There were plenty out in the world of all sorts. For all she knew it could've been a Darkblood.

She glanced over at Selousi who was still out and smiled a little. The shinlai was so silly sometimes. She retrieved the waterskin she'd let Selousi drink from earlier and opened it. "Excuse me," she said to VipSora. She went over to Selo and dumped the rest of the water on her face.

Selo shuddred a bit before kicking her legs out in the back, nearly hitting Vipsora in the muzzle. She writhed in place for a few seconds then lifted her head up to survey the area. She turned all directions and then faced Laila and Vipsora. She scowled, sneering at her then turning away and shaking her head off. She hated water. Even more than she hated a stale, stringy mushroom. She snorted, clearing some water from her nose and the holes in her mask. If her new mask hadn't been polished the day before, surely it would have been ruined by the water. She lifted her head back to face Laila, a neutral look was spread completely across her face.

"So you want to play games, Laila?" She smirked slightly. "Consider it already set and match then."
She turned her head slightly away.
"You'd better watch your back." She said with a full grin this time. Still somewhat shaky, she lifted herself up and jumped off the cart, slightly spooking the horses and causing them to stop and neigh in place for a few moments. As soon as she was off, they were fine again.
"So, did you talk about anything while I was out?" She asked.

When the horses spooked so did VipSora. She ran behind a tree and watched the horses from there. All her hair was raised and her posture was very defensive. She looked at the others her purple eyes glowing with fear.

"Pl..please, make them sto..p.p.p.." VipSora begged.

Again from the woods came Rayner, more confident now that he, with luck, had not been followed. He strode through the undergrowth, sporting a limp and an arrow stuck in his shoulder. The feathered end had been broken off by snapping jaws, but that seemed a lesser concern, and he ignored it with pleasure.

But when he saw VipSora cowering there behind a tree, his mouth twisted and a faint snarl appeared.
"What do you fear now?" He growled, the feathery fur on his back bristling slightly. His narrowed eyes caught on Selo and Laila, and he stared at them for a long moment, as though they had done something sinister.
"A human, or inhuman terror? If you were Darkblood you would need no fear." He mumbled, remembering now that by logic he should try to convert all these fellows, prime and ripe in just the wrong territory.