Layers of Truth

JP with Cindy and White_Caribou

The group had traveled not long before Shalia grew a little agitated at the silence. Having that taste of conversation now starved her for it, but would let the burn be slow and gradual. Likely, the young redhead did not feel in the mood to talk anyway and she hoped not to press her too far on anything. Not today.

She clicked her tongue before thinking of what to say. “Islana, you…had a question last night? What was it?”

Her question last night? Not sure if it mattered any longer and now she had far more than one.

"I wanted to know what was going to happen to my friend?"

It might have seem odd, to an outsider, that her first question had nothing to do with her own fate but was regarding someone she would likely never see again but it only went to show the kind of compassion the redhead had for others.

“If the Kumik are anything like the rest of the clans, he will be enslaved. If he survives his current state.” She said plainly. “He looks like he could handle himself, so I have to wonder what it is you two endured prior. But you won't meet again, at least not for a long while. You go where I go and I don't exactly move around often.”

Perhaps her friend would one day end up like Balt. Hopefully not as infuriating to her if they crossed paths again, but with some security and his life. A short set of whistles sounded signaling their complete departure from the area.

“Why were you all in the mountains? It is not smart for foreigners to come up here with a woman like yourself. Or at all.”

Both Hunter and Islana had escaped slavery only to be returned to a similar fate. What was the likelihood that would have been the fate of both of them.

She said nothing to having to go where her now owner went, it wasn't uncommon or unexpected.

Islana knew the next question was probably coming, there was no point in lying.

"We were running from someone dangerous. He had poisoned my friend with spider venom, paralyzing him. I tried to defend us but was tossed through the air, that is how I injured my arm."
Islana continued.

"We had been with a group but couldn't get back to them so we went in the direction of the mountains rather than going back and being trapped by the man that was after us. I was desperate to get my friend help. We came across a man who was traveling alone and agreed to help us. My friend was doing terribly by the time we came across the village. I decided to take a chance and try to get help in the village. The stranger though turned out to be out for revenge and sold us."

Well this had layers.

Seemed she was in brighter spirits than Shalia intended. She took in everything Islana said.

A group. Friends who would look for her. A man on their tail. And another one of them had wronged.
This was certainly a mistake. It reeked of chaos and yet she could not bring herself to turn the horses around and leave her right back in the village, abandon her mistake and scramble to fix it all pleadingly. But that would be foolish and the elders would think her even more incompetent. She had to prove to herself and Koshnem that she could handle the weight of her actions. This one was heavy.

~Fuck!~, she clenched her jaw in frustration. ~Of course people would one day come looking. Of course she had some skeletons in her closet. Did I really think it was going to be this easy?~

If they were long gone to Armat Caravanserai in the days to come and then back to the Aghul village, the trail would be too complex for anyone in their right mind to pursue for long. Maybe they weren't in their right minds at all. She did not know who this group of Islana’s were or the man after them, but she greatly doubted their loyalty or fortitude to brave the rugged mountain without clear direction or safe passage.

This woman seemed to attract danger. A danger that Shalia presumed would bleed into her own future somehow. Concerning.

She pushed the thought aside to respond. “Mountain folk are determined. If they can’t help by shoving goat milk and herbs that taste like dirt into him, they’ll beat it out in time.” What humored her fell flat upon realizing that Islana certainly did not want to hear anything like that. Quickly she moved on. She wanted to keep talking as many questions were to be asked. Firstly she would inquire about the danger. The more personal questions could wait.

“The man chasing you sounds ruthless--who is he?” She looked at the path ahead and her horse snorted. The witch gave him a gentle pat on the neck and ruffled her hand into the mane.

Islana wondered if maybe she had said too much but lies would probably had been caught, at least eventually. It wasn't that Islana was in a mood to talk it was more she knew better than to deny the order. Her face fell upon the comment about what might happen to Hunter.

"To be honest am not sure I know. He first claimed to be a prospector named Alcuin but then he said he was a bounty hunter but he wanted us to suffer, it was as if he took pleasure in it."