R U [ I ] N E D

For Once, Stabbing IS Encouraged

The elected leader of the Manabe colony was a man named Dala, and the the first of the creatures to take action in their battle. His Manabe form was part bear (in his face and torso build), part lion (his legs, bushy mane, and ears), and part skunk (whiskered with those distinctive stripes and the accompanying defense mechanism.) It made for lovely coloring, but quite a few of his people had something to say about accidental sprayings. Dala jovially told those who were awake for the return to their settlement— Brady, Phoena, and Sachi— that they were anything but accidental.

The man thought it was a shame that the others had to miss out on his stories, but there was nothing that could be done about the matter. Callan was still working that toxin out of his system, while Erzia and Sol suffered from overexerting themselves. Sol's rest was voluntary, however, while Erzia's was not. Both were much needed, all the same. It was hours of walking, with only a few minimal breaks in between, but no one complained. Dala was the bright light in an otherwise somber procession, but as a good leader should, he was trying to keep morale high. To distract from the loss that his people were feeling.

Adalin, he'd told them. Her name. The name of the fallen Manabe whose heart had been pierced by that frozen blade. By the time they would've been able to do anything about it, she was already gone. Manabe might've had miraculous healing qualities and regeneration, but dead was dead. They couldn't bring anyone back from that— only from the brink. She'd lost blood too quickly for her body to repair, and in the heat of the battle, there hadn't been the opportunity to heal her in another way.

There were four of them, who'd come to the Runeholders' rescue: Adalin, Dala, Kels, and Merritt. Of the three who remained, Dala spent most of the journey speaking with the Runeholders. Adalin had been one of their better healers, but with her death, Merritt had taken up the mantle, watching over the injured. Kels, the last of their group, was the only one who still remained in her Manabe form, using her size to transport the three— and Adalin's body, human again once she'd parted— back to their colony. Kels was, from what Brady could see, a massive tusked crocodile, perfectly equipped to stab him through if he made a wrong move. She was larger than any ordinary croc— long and flat and entirely threatening— and mixed with an elephant and a rhino. Her legs seemed more mammal than reptilian, though her physique was primarily the latter. She had two rhinoceros horns moving down the middle of her forehead, and a pair of elephant tusks attacked at her jaw.

She scared him— not just her form (for obvious reasons) but the anger that was radiating off her too. She blamed them for the death of her friend, but the telepath hoped she wouldn't take any drastic action because of that. He and his own couldn't handle a vengeful Manabe as banged up as they were, and he wasn't sure that either of the others would stand against her. Sachi would, but he was young by compassion and he'd never challenged one of this own kind before. Brady wouldn't want him to either.

"Are we close?" Braedyn glanced at Phoena, whose voice snagged his attention away from the unnerving Manabe woman behind them. Phoe walked along with Sachi next to Dala, and Brady quickened his pace to close the gap between himself and the rest of them.

Dala nodded. "Yes. I know it's been a long journey... we should be back before the sun goes down completely."

Long and grueling, given the terrain wasn't a forgiving one. Just as the Erzia's reports had said, the Manabe colony was tucked off in the swamps by the border. One careless step and they'd find themselves trapped by the black ooze. It made Darla's task a particularly cumbersome one in leading the way.

But true to his word, they were greeted by a pair of Manabe— the telepath's assumptions confirmed with a quick dip into their minds— outside the small settlement not long after the sun slipped below the horizon, leaving a crest of coral and rose hues painting the skies above. If you didn't already know the way, you never would've found the place as precarious and isolated as it was. For Sachi's sake, they were lucky that Dala and the others had found them, amongst other reasons that involved a whole lot less bloodied corpses rotting away in the forest.