Isolation [ Hipparon Tribe ]

[Lyraciilee]

Azeyma’s will was a strange and cruel thing of late. K’yohko’s gaze turned upwards at the sky, his eyes narrowing in distaste. He had questioned Azeyma’s will many times, but never so had he questioned it like he did in the past years. His eyes faintly turned back towards K’hai and the girl as they spoke. It went without saying K’hai’s weapon would be loaded. It was one of the first things K’yohko had loaded to begin with, and now it sat packed away towards the back of the pack on his Courel.

 

It seemed interesting to K’yohko that K’hai would demand respect on his behalf. So little seemed to still respect him. Yohko looked away again, his eyes drawn to the kills. The injured nunh stepped forward to grasp the heavy tail of a beast and pull on it roughly. Damn beasts were heavy. All of that thick hide and muscle. But the meat these drakes had was better than the wild ones. It was better fed, and the meat would keep the tribe fed, even with its newcomers, for at least two days.

 

Something seemed rather strange however. It was strange that K’ile would return with a stranger and K’luha this day that he also met K’hai. And to hear the girl call K’hai ‘Unca’ brought back a bitter memory for a time before the sky fell upon them. And now, he was called Father? K’yohko did not look at the girl immediately. Instead, he remained stiffly grasping the drake’s tail. How could it be that he met another lost tribe member? How were they all returning to this place? And how could they think to leave this place if their kin was returning to it finally?

 

K’yohko stiffly looked up at K’lhyri. She shared his hair color, and only one of his daughters had shared his distinct color of hair. But now that he looked at her, she seemed so old. The girl he remembered was so young when the Calamity hit. His mind conjured images of the small cub as he looked back when they left for Carteneu. But K’yohko found himself too stunned to say anything. Instead he motioned stiffly to the drake’s neck so that she might aid him by lifting up the other end and helping him toss it on the courel’s back.

[Kailia]

K'hai was stunned to be called unca. Now that he was able to get a good look at her, she looked to be an older version of the cub K'lhyri. How did she get separated from the tribe?

 

There was little he could do, but lay where he was, certain that any movement on his part would cause the bandage to fall off. His attention shifted with K'lhyri got up and moved to help her father. He looked over to where she had sat and spotted the bandage and picked it up. His chest was stabilized. But his arm was another matter that he himself could manage.

 

Lifting his wounded arm, he placed one end of the bandage on it then began wrapping it. He could hear the drakes being dragged along the sand. It would not be long now before they collect him and head back to the camp.

[Medipack]

K'lhyri quickly went over to the drake carcass, lifting it up by the neck. She paused a bit, glancing down the length of the beast and then at K'yohko's injury. She quickly moves herself under the thing's torso so she could support most of the weight.

 

"'ere, ah..." she clears her throat a bit, making sure she didn't talk like some alley thug again,  "I have it. You shouldn't be straining yourself any further." She had to shift her footing in the sand, but the young miqote managed to keep the drake lifted enough to drape it across the coeurl, taking most of her burden herself.

 

"I'm sorry for your arm...if I had not distracted you, you wouldn't be this injured..."

[Lyraciilee]

K'yohko couldn't looked back to K'lhyri, but continued to support the back half of the beast stubbornly to heave it up top. He didn't respond to her comment either, instead moving to stubbornly grab the next drake and start loading it himself. He continued with or without her help, throwing all three drakes atop his courel before he set to securing them on.

 

His eyes stole a glance towards K'hai and he grunted at the other male.

 

"Can you find your chocobo? Or should we secure K'hai to the courel as well? I think he could possibly fit on top..." K'yohko grumbled. There had to be a way to get K'hai home without him walking. Or maybe he could walk. That would be good.

[Kailia]

Finishing wrapping his arm up, he looked over the bandage on his chest. With the support of his harness, it could well hold it in place. Then he heard K'yohko mention tying him onto the coeurl as well.

 

"If I must walk back, I will. Just get me something to use as a walking stick." he called back.

[Medipack]

"We can strap Unca K'hai..." K'yrhi pauses a bit, catching herself, still trying to keep up the pretense of being strangers, "--I mean...K'hai on Beaky." the miqote suggested, before glancing over at her father's coeurl. 

 

K'lhyri slipped two fingers into her mouth and whistles out, a sharp sound bellowing out into the desert. After a second or two there was no response.

 

"...let me try that again."

 

She whistles another time. No result. Even worse, an orobon simply rolls across the empty desert scenery before by a gust of wind, as if to taunt her. The miqote's furrows her brows, clearly losing patience "Oh c'mon 'ya bloody bird! 'ya can't have gone far from 'ere!" she yells in a huff, breaking back into her accent.

 

She gives a huff and starts rummaging through her pouch "...fun, ah suppose 'ya won't get yer greens then?" she asks, pulling out some leaves crushing them with  hand and waving them in the air. K'lyrhi wasn't going to expect much of a response until her chocobo poked its head out from beneath the sands dunes nearby with a shrill cry, causing her to jump a little.

 

"Well, that took a few tries, but there it is. Ah---I don't suppose that coeurl's strong enough to carry one or two more miqote?" She asked, turning back to K'yohko "I still need to see about your arm."

[Lyraciilee]

Beaky...? Was that the name of her chocobo? K'yohko faintly cringed at the name. It sounded degrading for a chocobo. He had always disliked 'pet' names for anyone or anything. The name 'Beaky' fell into the category perfectly, and it did not surprise him in the slightest when the Chocobo did not immediately come with she called. Was 'Beaky' a chocobo from the Tribe, or from elsewhere now? And where had the girl been for all these years?

 

K'yohko stole a sideways glance at K'lhyri, his eyes coldly traveling her form and seeking for something familiar. But the only thing he could recognize about her was her hair; his hair. And he had but a single daughter with that hair whom was lost in the Calamity. K'yohko frowned and looked away from her again. He could not remember his lost daughter K'lhyri with a clarity that he would like. She lingered in his mind only as a small girl with purple hair consumed by the fires with a missing body.

 

A small but heavy sigh escaped his lips, and K'yohko turned back to K'hai, purposely ignoring the remark on his arm. There was no need to let her see it. It would hang on just fine until they returned. The news of Amal'jaa so close needed to be swiftly delivered.

 

The Nunh made his way to K'hai, taking smooth deliberate steps across the stand. His weight barely made indents in the soft sand, and all too quickly seemed to smooth again with the soft breeze.

 

"K'hai." Yohko called to his brother and narrowed his stony gaze at his injured brother. He felt he did not need to explain what he would do. K'hai would ride Beaky back to the camp and Yohko and... K'lhyri would walk. Yohko glanced back to the chocobo and the girl standing off a ways now and waited for them to near so they could load K'hai up on the chocobo.

[Kailia]

K'hai heard K'yohko approaching and carefully sat up and looked. He could tell by K'yohko's pacing, he wanted to get back to camp as quickly as they can.

 

"Right, help me on that gods forsaken bird and we will head back immediately." he replied, letting K'yohko when he finally got to him, help him to his feet and back towards the chocobo to be loaded onto the back of the bird.

[Medipack]

K'lyrhi led her chocobo over to K'hai, helping the injured miqote atop of it. "A'ihght Beaky, ah want you to follow that coeurl over there." She says, pointing over to her father's current beast of burden. Unfortunately, the bird didn't seem to be following what she was saying...or perhaps choosing to ignore her.

 

K'lyrhi frowned at that, pulling the bird's saddle reins towards her and staring at it face to face. One was liable to accidentally have their eyes pecked out getting so close to a chocobo like that. It seems like they were about to engage in a staring contest before K'lyrhi pulls out what ws left of her greens and offers it to the bird.

 

She then proceeds to repeat her previous gestures, turning it to face the coeurl and pointing at her mount and towards. "Follow that and you get what ah got left 'ere, deal?"

 

She could only hope the bird scarfing up the leaves out of her hands was a sign of agreement.

[Lyraciilee]

That girl was... hopeless. He couldn't remember K'lyhri being like that. For Azyema's sake, they raised chocobo. How could... K'yohko rubbed faintly at his temples. He required time to think on things. Some peace and quiet would be able to clear his mind. His anger at K'ile was all but washed out with the new tidal wave of events. But the task of informing the rest of the tribe still lingered on the tip of his mind. That was the most important, next to getting K'hai back safely and returning with the drakes to serve as food.

 

Yohko allowed K'lyrhi to load the injured K'hai onto her equally hopeless chocobo. He tamed his face into a neutral expression and stepped forward to survey the land. The scent of his own blood filled his nose and blinded him to the scents of the desert. It was as if walking blind through hostile territory, but his feet new the way home even when his nose did not.

 

Purple ears twitched in the direction of home, and he looked back to see his Courel stalking up slowly behind him.

 

"We shouldn't waste time." He said briefly in K'lyrhi's direction before starting down the slope of the sand dunes. It would be a difficult walk back, but they would be back within the hour before the setting of the sun.

[Kailia]

K'hai grew frustrated with the bird, the girl obviously had no control over it. Finally he grabbed the reigns and looked to the girl, "You have much to learn about these birds. I will guide it to follow my brothers coeurl, or it will wish it followed directions."

 

Expertly he pulled the reigns as any of their tribe would when training the chocobos, making sure the bird knew who was in charge and directed it to follow the coeurl. He could tell the bird wanted to protest, but a few expert jolts from him with the reigns, the bird seemed to figure this out.

 

"If you even think of trying to bolt out of control, think twice. Because I will not allow you to take me from my brother, or endanger my life." he commanded to the bird. He suspected he was the first true professional to ride this chocobo in some time. He ignored the pain from his chest and focused on keeping the chocobo in line as they moved out with the kills.

[Medipack]

"Well..the porter passed Beaky over to me on a discount..." K'lyrhi says, before pausing in her excuses, "But yeah...I still need more practice."

 

Beaky, for once, actually listens to its rider. Though K'lyrhi can tell by the nervous glance the over-sized bird gave her that her recently reacquainted uncle is a lot more harsher than she is. Though that doesn't really much to the miqoye, K'lyrhi just gives a happy grin and waves as she sees the bird off on its journey.

 

...serves it right.

 

K'lyrhi's ears perked up as she's called, she quickly followed to catch up to K'yohko. At least, for all her faults, she can still keep pace with the Nunh like a regular member of his tribe.