Completed The Earth is Alive [Kol]

[Tazi]

40th of Spring, 514
Kandukta Basin

The sun was just beginning to rise, warming up the jungle as Tazi moved from the brush towards the edge of the basin. She had set out very early that morning so as not to waste previous light when she arrived. Taloba did not seem to be stirring when she had left, so her exit went unnoticed except by the occasional soldier and guard that prowled the streets. With an empty backpack in hand, she had traveled west, following one of the trickling creeks to the basin. The jungle had slowly come alive with noise as the exotic birds began to sing and distant predators began their hunting calls.

Tazi needed some time out of Taloba. With her new job, she had responsibilities. With these new responsibilities, people were beginning to notice her. She was getting uncomfortable in the capital. The last thing she needed was word to get back to her mother that she had taken up residence in a tent and worked as an apprentice to the medicine workers. Although Traya and many of the others were revered, her Clan would see it as a dishonor. Blood ruled their minds, and was the preferred method of honor when it came down to hierarchy.

As she stepped forward, she reached down and took off her sandals so she could feel the sand between her toes. She laid her pack down and began to disrobe. As far as she was concerned, she was alone. Tazi pulled the leather strip that held her hair back, allowing her silky hair to drop to it’s full length, the tips ending just below her hips. Her white top fell first and her harem pants joined shortly. Naked except for some very simple underwear, she sighed. The first rays of sun kissed her skin as she placed one foot into the cool water. Without so much as a second thought, she slid further and further into the basin, her hair trailing behind her as she walked forward. Barely able to swim, she kept to the shallows, mostly using her hands to “walk” along the shallows.

While she enjoyed the cool waters, the jungle began to stir further. A few hundred feet from the basin banks, a body lay crumbled on the ground. A young Myrian male seemed to have been trapped by a large snare – most likely a Dhani trap. Having been previously hiked up on the air for birds to eat him, the branch had given way to a recent storm. His body was bloated from the rain, juices leaching into the earth. Necrosed and beyond recognition, his death gave birth to a new sort of terror. A flock of birds took to the skies as the ground cracked, leaving the corpse they were feeding. Mounds heaved and fell away as people – if they could be called that – crawled from the earth.

They looked like Myrians, but they were darker, the color of damp earth. Worms wiggled among their black locks as they clawed forward, yipping and yukking. The first few were female, stark naked. Their skin was cracked, rocks littered throughout their body. Once there were a few, they began to help one another out, but only the female. Men were obligated to scratch out of their graves for themselves, and once they got to their feet, were promptly jumped by two or three of the female. The female ripped and pulled, dismembering their male counterparts. Remains were thrown into the empty holes, inevitably leaving seven female Yukman. Although they all looked different, they had the same dark, cracked colored skin and wormy black hair. They were all naked and stood at various heights, all around 6 feet. The horde stared around with black eyes, unsure what to do next. Finally, one female began to twitch and turn, stumbling into the jungle. Like sheep, the others followed.

Tazi lay on her back, floating in the shallow waters. Sure, she had come out here on a mission to find herbs, but at the moment, she was allowed a free moment to enjoy the beauties that Falyndar provided. The cool water blocked the raucous noises of the jungle, and she closed her eyes to block the glaring sunlight. Peace. Was that so much to ask from her clan? Instead, she was the forsaken child, seen as a curse placed on her clan by Myri. Neither loved or welcomed, she was waiting for the day she could leave. All she needed was money and the courage to leave her home, everything she knew, and seek a better environment for a healer.

[Kol]

Waxy leaves and large foliage created a thick shade, the canopy above only allowing for a rest from Syna's light, but not from the unrelenting heat. Kol's footsteps were deliberately soft, and he struggled to lurk among the forest at such a rate. He was hunting, or attempting to. And if anyone knew much about Kol, it was that he was not much of a hunter. He could kill, but... The Myrian was not very experienced with tracking. He had only done so a few times before. In fact, he was only out and about in the jungle in hopes to catch a wild boar. He had been craving the hog for days and nothing at market satisfied him.

A somewhat impulsive thought, very unlike him, it drove Kol further into the jungle, until he had stumbled upon footprints entirely by accident. A stroke of good luck. He had seen pigs feet at the butcher, and what he was looking at in the rich soil gave him the impression that he was going in the right direction.

In reality, he had no idea how old the foot prints were, or if they were even of the right animal. There was plenty of things in Taloba Kol did not understand but hunger was always one he understood. With his dagger in one hand, and his whip in the other, the male weaved his broad shoulders through the vines, careful not to step on broken branches or large pile of leaves. His back ached from leaning forward so long, and his knee began to hurt as they balanced his weight in silence. A light sheen of sweat built up under his tunic and between his shoulder blades.

Stealth was not his strongest suit.

Kol heard a small rustling and lowering himself even further, he tensed, preparing himself for battle. Looking around, he saw the bark on a nearby tree shredded, and an image of the boars husks came to mind. I am close now. Around him, the ground was softening, and he moved behind a tree, carefully leaning to the side to get a look at his prey.

He was promptly met with a pair of breasts instead.

Kol's mouth slacked and he nearly dropped his dagger when pants were discarded. A Myrian woman was taking a dip into the waters, naked, and the ears of the 6'3" male began to burn fiercely. He had... not expected this. He turned away, vanishing behind the tree again, heart beat suddenly increasing.

Focus.

He pinched his eyes closed, attempting to shake the image of the woman from his mind. Kol would move on, and not think twice. He might not have had much experience with woman, but he shouldn't have been so thrown off guard by her body. This was foolish.

Kol composed himself, putting his straight face on, and looked past the tree again. She was on her back floating. Her hair billowed around her, and Kol's head involuntarily leaned to the side in observation. She had curves and held a peaceful expression. She...

Something was close and approaching. Kol's thoughts instantly snapped away from the woman, and his determination to take home dinner took over. Was it a boar? He raised his whip, looking past the woman, further down the basin. A smirk briefly flitted across his features and he moved out to the open, disregarding whether or not the woman would be upset if she saw him. She hadn't been his goal.

And Kol never lost sight of what he wanted.

[Tazi]

Tazi allowed herself the time to be peaceful. This was an area where she could be herself, where blood and war did not rule society. As a Myrian, Tazi was an oddity. She was not a good fighter and preferred peace over war. Now she had a purpose, having taken a job at the medicine house under Traya's wise gaze. Although she had been sent out here to dig around for herbs and plants they could use, she had come extra early to enjoy the peace. Rolling back on her front, she swam away unknowingly from her guest. Her hands dug into the sandy bank, searching for anything peculiar or useful. When nothing seemed to turn up, she turned, turning back to where she had left her supplies.

With a splash she pushed herself back into the water up to her nose. On the beach, not 20 feet away from her things, was a man A rather hadsome Myrian man. He seemed focused on something else at the moment, but she highly doubted that he had not seen her at least once. Taking a brief look around, Tazi was relieved to note that he appeared to be alone. Of course, that relief was short-lived. A flock of birds went screaming from the trees behind her, taking flight. Looking at the disturbance from her tucked position, Tazi did not seem surprised when women came spilling out of the forest.

It was only when she took a second to watch them did she note something was off. They stumbled forward and made weird 'yuking' sounds. They were also naked, although they had very dark skin for Myrians. When she caught the right silhouette of them, she noted large abnormalities sticking from their bodies. It looked like sharp rocks or branches, the occasional root as well. It was this striking feature that made her blood run cold. She recalled hearing about these things in stories her father would tell her. They were normally the types of creatures that scared little kids into listening to their parents. Yukmen.

Without even considering that he was a man, Tazi picked herself up and started splashing back towards her gear. She would not have time to dress, but she would find enough time to pull her throwing knives out of her sack. She needed some sort of defensive item. Once she made it to shore, Tazi went bouncing up the beach, skidding to kneel by her stuff. Once her fingers settled on the cool metal of her borrowed throwing knives, she shoved herself away from her gear. Stumbling backwards, she closed the distance between herself and the other Myrian.

"Why are you here?" Tazi growled angrily. Maybe it was this new person that instigated the Yukmen to come out of the jungle. Not to mention, she wondered if she was being tracked and stalked. How did she not notice him before? It made her really uneasy.

It surely did not help that he was pretty. That surely was distracting. Not to mention, she was very naked and now very cold from the morning air.

[Kol]

Yukman stumbled from the bushes, and Kol took a step back, a cold fear suddenly gripping him. He stared forward, body tense. He had never seen anything like them and the sound coming from their lips made him on edge.

Their nudity was distracting, but in a grotesque, horrid way. Branches and open gashes made him inwardly grimace, and the woman's words surprised him. Wait. Was she mad at him? His head did a double take, glancing at her before returning to the approaching enemy in haste.

"What?" his deep voice came out more of a demand, the situation at hand not allowing his words to hold their usual calm. He scowled at her question, not understanding why she was interrogating him. He jumped back when one of the creatures came at him, instinctively swinging his whip, the shards of metal and bone woven into the leather making contact with the monster and wrapping around one of its arms, digging deep. The Myrian gave a harsh yank, swollen flesh coming off in chunks.

A harsh shrill filled the air and Kol charged, throwing his weight at the decomposing woman. His shoulder slammed into the female's chest, throwing them both off balance. He grunted, landing on top of the Yukman and struggled to keep her under him. The dagger that was previously in his hand had dropped from his grasp, and he scrambled for it, the strength of the creature taking him by surprise. Strands of hair fell from his ponytail, and he desperately tried grab the dagger, cutting his hand on the blade, finally wrapping his fingers around the hilt. The mimic grabbed his throat in its hands and began squeezing. Its eyes bulged, and Kol felt the pressure on his windpipe. He lifted the weapon and viciously brought it down repeatedly, his aim sloppier the more oxygen he was deprived. The pain of metal clashing against bone vibrated up his hand and the blade loosened from his grip. Luckily, his attack was not in vain and while his vision was getting spottier, Kol was released, and he sucked in air, coughing and choking. He looked up from his kill quickly. The attack had not lasted long, but the panic still left him shaken.

He pushed himself away from the woman, trying to stand and stumbling backwards away from the others, looking over at the only other true Myrian. Kol shot Tazi a look. One down. Only a dozen more to go.

[Tazi]

There really wasn't enough time to backlash him with her tongue, although he has sparked the small streak of true Myrian in her. How dare he speak back to her like that? First of all, she did not know him, and second, she was a female and he was a male. That naturally made him lower on the food chain. Of course, it made him lower on her food chain just because he had been so rude at first encounter. There she was, naked, the two of them getting attacked by Yukmen, and he simply replied with 'what?' Not even a 'hello, let me help you' or 'I shall be your man in shining armor.'

A woman could hope, even if she was Myrian.

He lunged into battle about a breath before she launched herself into the fray. Winding up an arm, she pulled her body in a rapid spinning motion before launching the throwing knife at a nearby Yukman. The dagger imbedded itself in the shoulder. She grumbled as she went bowling into the woman. Cold hands gripped her shoulders as she found the hilt of her knife. Ripping it from the shoulder, she tried to come down with a heavy strike to the woman's head. Instead, her arm was stopped. Gnashing teeth lunged at her, causing the throwing knife to fall from her feeble fingers. Clumsily she put both hands to the woman's face, pushing it away from her face and neck. They were much stronger then was told in the stories. From the corner, she saw the male Myrian kill the first one. Before she could acknowledge his victory, she was overwhelmed.

Tazi fell back onto the beach, the naked Yukwoman clacking her teeth as she fell on top of her. Now a pile of rock, earth, and bare skin, Tazi and the Yukman rolled around on the beach. Tazi spent a majority of her time pushing the hungry mouth away from her flesh. She winced as the hand dug into her skin, puncturing into deeper tissues as her opponent gripped harder. For a split second, she thought she was going to be Myrian flavored Yukman chow. Rotating her hips and flexing her legs, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the flat side of her feet were now connected with the abdomen of her opponent. Tensing herself, she put everything she had into kicking the Yukman off of her, propelling it into the basin. Breathing heavily with a few trails of blood rolling down her arms, she got back on her feet. Her tanned skin was red in areas from rolling around with the Yukman, and she had patches of soil that had transferred to her from the Yukman.

This was going to be difficult. She quickly picked up her dropped throwing knife, looking at the pack that continued forward. These two were the first one that had walked out of the jungle, but there were several more behind them. Already winded, Tazi knew this was going to be a rough battle. They were going to have to play smart. Turning, she ran towards Kol, getting very, very close to him. She placed herself right next to him, her cool skin probably just barely touching his as she crouched.

"Here is what I suggest. We run. We can pick them off in the jungle. We can't handle them in a pack."

[Kol]

Breathing was painful and he coughed, his lungs struggling to stabilize. Swallowing caused a long pain to go down Kol's throat and his heart beat was loud in his ears. The world seemed to grow louder and move so fast he wasn't able to keep up.

Adrenaline was pumping through his body, spinning his attention to a thousand different things. The other Yukman were coming closer, Tazi was wrestling another while all he saw was flesh against flesh in a furious struggle. Unmarred skin meeting decay. The filth that had been clinging to the enemy was already covering his fighting companion, and a flash of approval lit up his face. He nodded, casting his gaze to his weapons when she moved from her defeated opponent and approached. His heavy breathing was enough to focus on and he listened to her suggestion.

He nodded, "Yes," her skin may have been cool, but he was sure she was radiating heat, or maybe it was the rhythmic pounding thrill of battle. Kol tightened his grip on the daggers hilt, pressing it tightly against the would so the pain would ground him,"Good idea." His voiced sounded cracked. Raspier.

Kol tried to think of a game plan, straightening up and double checking to make sure he held both his knife and whip, rotating his shoulders as he did so. He could already feel the bruises beginning to form. The male looked at the Yukman, then to the jungle and back to the woman next to him. His eyes involuntarily lowered and he threw down his weapons, regretting his decision. He yanked off his shirt, the blood from his palm no doubt leaving an interesting pattern on the fabric, and he placed it in his mouth, grabbing his whip and dagger, running forward into the foliage. He sheathed the blade and tore the shirt, just enough at the mid drift for a bandage. He tucked it into the pocket of his trousers.

The rest he held up as he moved, unsure as to whether or not it would be useful. He ran alongside Tazi, not sure if he should offer the rest of it as a covering for her. This was one of those times when knowing what was socially acceptable would have been beneficial. Still... He couldn't keep fighting with her running around willy nilly. She needed... armor? An amusing thought.

The further they moved into the jungle, the harder it was for the Yukman to keep up, but they were learning. "Here." Kol held out the bloody fabric, his dark eyes locking on her face. Distracting.

One of the creatures had learned quicker than the others and was not far behind them. The 'yuks' sounding in the air proved the horde wouldn't be far behind and it sent a chill up his spin. Kol threw the fabric at Tazi -- she could take it or leave it -- and purposefully fell behind, letting the closest Yukman focus on him, and he derailed to the side, leading the mimic after him. His breath was labored and sharp, the choking that had occurred still hindering him.

Perhaps this hadn't been a good idea after all.
---
Myrian

[Tazi]

She smiled slightly, focusing her gaze back on the Yukmen. It did make her happy that he could appreciate the plan that she had come up with. This planning thing was getting to be one of her strong suits it seemed. Of course, if they were going to stay ahead of their pursuers, she was going to have to leave behind her clothes and empty pack. The fighting had warmed up her inner being, but her skin was taking longer to warm up since she had been in the water. Tazi sighed, about to turn and run into the forest when he dropped his weapons. Pausing, she was about to question his sanity when he took off her shirt.

If she had been running when he did that, she probably would have tripped and face planted. Most likely into a tree, because that was her luck. Somewhat in a daze for this distraction - although it seemed only fair since she was half naked - she picked up her feet and followed him down the beach. Thankfully, running barefoot made it easier on the beach. The sand gave way between her toes and accommodated her shifting weight easily. Soon it gave way to denser dirt as the found themselves beneath the canopy of the jungle. As they ran, Tazi taking a moment to look back. By Myri, these things were loud. If there had been any prey around, it was long gone.

"Here."

Tazi looked at the scrap of clothing, somewhat shocked as they ran. So that was why he had taken off his shirt. He had been doing justice by the fact that she was mostly naked. Before she could take the fabric, the sound of approaching terror prevented her from grabbing it. Then the fabric was in her face. Tazi, fumbling to collect the fabric, had not noticed Kol slow down to bide her time to put the shirt on. She took a few more steps before stopping and working her way into the shirt. Then she looked for her companion, shocked to see he had veered off to draw away the first predator. His breathing drew her attention, the medicine woman inside of her mildly alarmed. Had he been breathing like that the entire time they had been running? At least it would be easy to keep track of him.

Before she could alter her path to catch up to him, a Yukman came stumbling from a nearby bush. Having caught her off guard, it pushed her against the tree she had taken shelter behind. A gasp shuttered from her as it pinned her to the tree. Once again, she was struggling to keep its chewing mouth away from her throat. It pressed itself towards her, making the distance between them small. Tazi used this to her advantage, putting her bare foot on the creature's abdomen. Using all her strength, and praying to Myri for a little help, she kicked the creature backwards into another tree. It stumbled, tripped, and fell against the trunk of the tree. Like a voracious predator, she lept at the creature, driving her knife into the head. For good measure, she took the knife out and drove it in one last time. It stopped moving.

Breathing heavily, she looked around. Quiet. It was a little too quiet. Tugging at the loose fabric, she moved in the direction she had heard him go. Even though she wanted to call out for him, she deemed it too dangerous. If there were any Yukmen close, she did not want to be the center of attention.

-----
Myrian

[Kol]

Run. Duck. Spin.

Kol would have liked to imagine his movements were so graceful, but his weapon kept getting caught on treacherous vines and soft soil nearly caused him to slip and fall a few times. He struggled to breathe and buried himself deep into near by brush. The sounds of the Yukmen grew close and soon Kol found himself holding his breath, his self discipline locking the air into his lungs. His body hated him for it, but he waited. And waited. Just as the gasp for sweet oxygen nearly burst his lungs, the unholy creature came into view and jerked around, searching for its prey.

The Myrian pounced. Kol tried to come out swinging, his whip craving contact, but it was pulled from his hand, tangled in the leaves and branches. As his hand up came up bare, surprise flashed upon his face. Kol could have probably counted the number of times his signature weapon had left his side, and being without it always left him feeling exposed and vulnerable. He had every reason to feel that way now.

It was then that the Yukman attacked.

Shoulder coming into direct contact with his abdomen, he barely had time to tense before he was slammed into the ground. If more wind could have been knocked from Kol, it would have been. Struggling for oxygen a third time, white flashed in his vision, his head meeting the ground. It was more of instinct than skill at this point. The Yukman has used his own move against him, and he could barely see straight to keep the monster's mouth from clamping down on his skin. He pushed, the wound on his hand causing blood to smear across the creature's face, and hot drool fell from cracked lips. The glob of saliva fell on his cheek, and Kol punched the dead looking female in the face, bucking underneath the weight, trying to toss her off.

At some point, teeth sunk deep into his shoulder, and he let out an angry sound, somewhere between a sound of pain and a curse. Lifting his leg, Kol managed to get it underneath the creature, he and kicked as hard as he could, sending the monster flying backwards. He swore it took a bite of his flesh with it. Blood splattered.

A crack of bone was faint in his ears, Kol was too preoccupied scrambling for his whip that laid tangled on the jungle floor. Kol pulled desperately, his vision red. After a few panicked attempts, the whip was free and he turned. The Yukman must have come down on its leg, the bone jutting through grey skin, and it struggled to move towards him.

Kol showed no mercy.

His whip was unforgiving and the monster's flesh was split open, unrecognizable shortly after he began. Its movements slowed and he threw his whip to the ground and straddled the mimic. He unsheathed the dagger and began to do a crazed job of slitting its throat violently. When he was convinced it was dead, he took its arm in his own mouth and returned the favor of biting it. He spit the flesh in the corpse's face.

Kol gathered his things and tried his best to weave around the forest. He needed to find the Myrian. He grunted, feeling exhausted and beat up as he struggled through the jungle. Sounds imitating his own cry from before began to rise into the air and Kol moved onward. He didn't make it far before he slouched against a tree for a breather. His hands were shaking, the adrenaline making him feel alert. Too alert. Nauseous.

As the cries of imitation died down, he struggled to pull the fabric he had tucked into his pocket. He needed it for... Which wound was worse? He opted for his hand, putting away the blade and tucking the whip's handle under his arm. Blood was all over him. Dark, fresh bruises and scratches had already started to form on his neck, arms, shoulders. It hurt when he breathed and he didn't know if it was from his throat, a sore rib, or just a mixture of the two.

He looked like shit.

No one could ever say that Kol ran from a fight. He fumbled as he tried to tie the makeshift a bandage around his hand. When that didn't work, he tried to bandage his arm. The sting of it all made him grit his teeth to stop himself from shouting out. A sound of someone, or something approaching made his tense, and he dropped the fabric. His dark eyes lifted immediately and he crouched.

Myri help him.
---
Myrian

[Tazi]

Silence, that was all that she heard just after her fight. Where had he gone? He couldn't have gotten far. Tazi stumbled in the general direction that she had seen him go. Somewhat lost and helpless to his location, she paused to sit against a tree. Clothed in what could be the last possession left of her companion, she pondered what she should do next. Three creatures had already been slain, more most likely if he was still alive. Taking in a deep breath, she was suddenly overwhelmed with a sweet smell. It was a very familiar smell, something that warped her from the present to an enjoyable time in her childhood.

"Do you know what these are Tazi?" Zaso stated, holding a strangely shaped red and yellow flower gingerly between his fingers.

"No. What is it? Does it have healing powers? Or maybe we can use it to make a sweet jam for Asar and Mother?

"Even better. Watch," Zaso laughed, pelting it against the trunk of a tree. It popped loudly, causing Tazi to shy away. But then she laughed. The sound had been sudden and loud, but she understood immediately what it could be used for. This was even better then sweets. It was a toy that could scare people. To her, even though it was a plan and a physical thing she could hold, it was like magic.

A loud cry pulled her from her trance. Her companion was in trouble. Tazi picked herself up quickly, using her nose to drag her towards the parrot beaks. As firecracker flowers, she could use these to get the Yukmen away from them. Of course, when she would have to find the plant first, and then find her companion. As she moved closer to the sweet scent of honey, she ripped another strip from the already tattered and bloodied shirt she wore. It was a way to carry her devious weapon. With the scrap of cloth in hand, she continued scenting and tasting the air. The honey smell was becoming stronger, and it practically hit her in the face when she rounded a tree. Dangling from their parent plants, the red and yellow flower beckoned her. Quietly, and very quickly, she began harvesting the parrot beaks, wrapping as many as she could carry.

Silence had commanded the jungle again, and Tazi strained her ears for any kind of noise. Then the mimics took up the sound she had heard earlier. Again the forest came alive with noise and she froze. They were somewhere to her right, and she gingerly followed it as it moved. Lowering herself behind the brush, she noticed that there were broken branches around her feet from the bumbling oafs. If they had come this way, they thought her companion must have to. Tazi waited, listening and smelling for any odd smells that could be useful. Her eyes landed on a plant with strange looking leaves. Again she approached it, reaching forward to touch it. Although she had never used it herself, she remembered seeing fellow workers in the medicine house talking about the strange bird shaped leaves. Although she could not confirm because it was not flowering, she was suspicious that it was the Xelma flower. Concerned with her lack of ability to identify it, she noted its location just in case she had to come back for it.

She moved again, a branch cracking beneath her foot. Freezing, she waited for something to happen. The predators seemed to have moved off, but there was rank scent on the air. It was a mix of decaying flesh and the metallic smell of blood. Pushing through the brush, she could nearly dropped her knife and the flowers she was carrying. As she fumbled to prevent everything from falling, one of the flowers dropped from the cloth. It hit the ground with a massive SNAP. Multiple coils of fear gripped her. Would they come back? How serious were his injuries? What on earth could she do?

She knelt, setting down the intact flowers as the honey scent began to permeate the area they were in. Somewhere in the distance, there was a cry similar to the ones they had both heard earlier. How much time did they have before they turned around to the noise? Placing her finger on her lips to make sure that he would stay quiet, she advanced. He was missing a chunk of flesh from his forearm, several lacerations in various locations, and the bruises around his neck made her sick. Tazi had not realized he had suffered that much damage. Picking up the strip of cloth he had dropped, she held it out in hopes he would give her his hand to bandage. When they got somewhere safer, she would have to start all over, but staunching the blood was highly important.

”Can you move? You should go back to the basin. I can lead them off with the poppers. Then we can deal with your wounds. Maybe there are some other plants around here I can use…” Tazi rambled, working on bandaging his hand if he allowed her to do so. Her brain was going and going, trying to remember what she had learned from Zaso, and recently from Traya. Yet, the urgency of the situation was overwhelming to her. There were still Yukmen out there, probably moving back towards them.

[Kol]

The sight of his companion -- Were they companions? -- made Kol almost instantly relax. A strong relief washed over him, nearly as strong as the sweet scent that followed her, and a rare smile lit up his face, white teeth bright against the dirt and blood caked on his skin. He straightened up, taking a stiff step towards her. He hurt, but he could move, "Yes."

Kol wasn't much of a talker by nature, but speaking made his windpipes ache, "Basin." He nodded, holding out his hand so she could work. His hand was large, dirtied, but otherwise unblemished despite the open gash on his palm. It would need to be washed and he needed to catch his breath, have the bleeding stopped. The thought of hunting had left his mind, and he watched the female.

He didn't know her name. Was she a healer? What clan was she from? Kol removed his hand from hers when she finished bandaging it, and observed the work. He would need a different one. Perhaps something cleaner, but it was tied well and put enough pressure on the wound. He went to clear his throat and instantly regretted it.

This stranger... she seemed stressed. For good reason, too. Still, if she was going to help him, Kol would try to return the favor. "Relax." Kol eyed the plants she had gathered. She must have been some kind of herbalist. He began to walk slowly, careful not to make much noise. Awkwardly, he looked around, and he heard the Yukmen call again. Some of them were fainter than others. They must have been spreading out. Still, he estimated they were somewhat safe, but his next words were whispered for good measure, "Are you hurt?"

Kol stopped, turning to face her. This was far enough. She said she would be drawing them away. He waited for her plan, his expression both intense and expecting. It looked like she was going to be the one making the plans. Now what?
---
Myrian
Thoughts