The Scorpion of Shan'Gai Chah [closed]

[Naunet]

"Okay then." Hefting K'ile again, Thal began to walk. "We're gonna find that tribe of yours."

[Twinflame]

K'ile groaned when Thal jostled him. He swallowed his pride and allowed himself to be carried, though he still glared at the open wounds in Thal's side. It was a hideous vulnerability. So far everything he'd done to the man had failed to end him. Eventually, something would have to, right?

 

Coming up suddenly beside Thal, K'aijeen managed to bounce despite her rickety body. She swung her staff beside her and gave Thal a anxious sort of smile, as though she was not sure she was allowed to wear such an expression. It showed only vaguely beneath the cloth that was tied about her face. "Finally. Home!"

[Naunet]

"Yeah, no, kid." Thal grunted as he settled back into some sort of an even pace. "You're gonna stay out of sight. I got no want to have to deal with whatever kind of reaction they'd have to you - and I'm betting it wouldn't be friendly, judging by what I've pieced together."

[Twinflame]

"But family isn't like that!" She responded, her voice still choking, but apparently able to speak full sentences and ideas now. "The more hurt I am the more sad they'll be. They'll want to help us!"

[Naunet]

"This guy's family. I haven't seen him wanting to help you at all," he gestured with his free hand towards the prone Tia over his shoulder, grunting as he adjusted the man's weight. "Kind of the opposite. Just... hang back whenever we find them, okay? If things look good, maybe... but don't get your hopes up. I'm probably just gonna drop him off and run."

[Twinflame]

"Nah, let them see her." K'ile muttered. "It'd suit me fine if my tribe ripped you both apart."

 

"No!" K'aijeen groaned in frustration, her shoulders tensing up and her shattered brow wrinkling beneath her veil. "They won't do that. They're family. They're good! They aren't like him!"

[Naunet]

A groan rumbled through his tattered chest; the sound shifted air strangely between gaps in his side, though he tried not to think about it. "Look, both of you just work with me for once, okay? I'm doing the best I can for everyone involved. So, kid, quiet and out of sight. And... you, whatever your name is - point me in the direction of your family."

[Twinflame]

At that, K'ile managed to laugh, and it persisted through the pain of the action. "You don't remember what my name is? By Azeyma, the kid really did a number on you, didn't she?"

 

K'aijeen made a face, grew sullen, and fell back behind Thal.

 

"Hey." K'ile kneed the dead man weakly. "Do you remember what your own name is?"

[Naunet]

"What's it matter?" He was starting to get a bit annoyed, and it bled a little into his tone. He jostled the Tia a bit in warning at the jab from the man's knee, though he hardly felt it. "Never been an issue, anyway."

[Twinflame]

"Ow! Walk steady." K'ile groaned, pain from his head firing through his spine all the way tot eh tip of his tail. He could feel his face swelling from the beating he'd received. "You know sometimes I think there's a completely different person in there, and then you do something stupid. What the heck are you even going to do with yourself, huh? And with the kid? You thinking more than five seconds ahead?"

[Naunet]

"Nope," Thal freely admitted. He didn't feel like he could at this point, even if he wanted to. He knew so little about what was going on that there was no possible way to understand what might come next. Then there was of course the question of whether or not he really wanted to. "So where're your people at?"

[Twinflame]

Rolling his eyes as he watched his hair sway in front of his face, K'ile muttered. "East of Dryboone, south of Highbridge. There's a camp near a pond in Eastern Thanalan."

 

"No." K'aijeen said, sounding frustrated. "You are lying. The tribe is south. They would not leave the Sagolii."

 

"We were starving to death in the Sagolii, so we moved. First good idea the tribe's had in five years." His tail shook. "I told Airos. She didn't let you know?"

[Naunet]

"Who?" Of course, it would be more family he couldn't remember. The bitterness in that thought caught him off guard, so he chuckled to counter it - though the laugh wasn't directed at anything in particular. "East of... oh, that place. Y'know you really threw me under the cart with those people." He looked skyward a bit, trying to remember their path, and then adjusted his walking in what he thought might be roughly the right direction.