MUDPIES AND WATER SLIDES [SURMA & VICTORIA]

[SEIJA]

The air was chilled, the wind blowing through the warehouses in a series of gusts and trickling breeze. Seija was sitting outside her warehouse, a sharpening stone on her lap and a piece of leather laid at her side upon the crate she was perched on; items she had borrowed from the stock that the Carna held. Mutterings that were barely understood were said under breath as she moved her blade across the stone, a rough noise filling the air as she went about her work. The last main hunting party had come back for the day and she had assigned skinning and cleaning, while the others were sent to get a small group that she then ordered to do a sweep that was more south and in their cliffs; the retros had been more active lately.

Movement from a bit ahead of her caused her to pause as she tilted her head up and towards the figure, the waves they sent to her stilling as they stopped short of the massive horse that laid before her as he gusted a unfriendly snort and she chuckled. She laid her weapon down as she reached forward to pat the large horses neck, "Surma will not hurt you unless I wish it," she said in her odd, lilting way. She motioned the other to come a bit closer so she could hear them speak.

"Scouting the waters and cave, mam, I saw a storm form rapidly and it's arcing south west from it's position. I know it wouldn't concern us usually but I heard upon coming back hat you sent a scouting party that way not too long ago. They'll be stuck in the middle of it and in the cliffs it's dangerous. I could-"

She sut his off by raising her hand, her grin having fallen to a twisted frown as she looked to the east, as if she could see the storm from here. She sighed heavily through her nose then as she shook her head and sheathed her hunting knife and gathered the stone and leather. Hopping from the crate to between Surma and the male, she shoved the items to him, "Find me a medic to take with me and put these away, in that order," she said as she clicked her tongue and Surma moved to stand and step forward to her side.

She placed a hand to Surma's side and gently ran her hand over his plated back, humming softly before she moved to hoist herself up onto his back as she felt a small figure of a girl join them. "My name is Victoria, I-.." "Come on, we don't have time to waste walking," she said as she offered a hand to the female. There was a hesitation, and rightly so she figured, as the girl probably took in the war horses size. "Now," she practically growled in annoyance before she felt the hand of the other grab her forearm as she easily pulled up the girl in one motion.

Not waiting for the girl to get situated, Surma started forward as the one known as Victoria eeped in surprise, catching her hands on the petite Hunters waist. Seija grinned a bit as she laughed aloud, hushing the girl any further as they moved towards the cliffs.

[SURMA]

For the first time in a long time there was a small allowance of armistice in Surma. If not completely back to her old self, at least his Mistress was about her old habits – and that was as much as the grandiose warhorse could ask for. It had been weeks since Surma had taken Seija away from the Carna, hording her away to let her rest from whatever ordeal she’d survived. She’d needed to heal, reflect, breathe. How much had been succeeded in the healing Surma was not sure of, but Mistress was a hidden rose with many petals, and … okay maybe not a rose … an onion?

Mistress was fiddling with the sharp shiny tooth again, and he had taken recumbence beneath her feet like and absurd, oversized ottoman. Suddenly, Surma was distracted by a scent on the crisp air and he gusting a breath through his nostrils that signaled people drawing near. Despite the fact that they were familiar, his ears laced back to his skull, his unnerving blue eyes narrowing as he rose to his tree-trunk legs. Mid-rise, he felt a small, stilling hand on his pelt – not quite a quelling as much as an acknowledgement and he remained on the ground despite his desire to rise. He reviled being grounded when others were about, it made him feel vulnerable.

There was some nonsensical blather between Mistress and a miscreant, but quite quickly she signaled that she needed him. His large head bowed low as his hefty legs gathered beneath him and he rose to his dinner plate sized feet. Her small hand ran across his belly, before she vaulted onto his back.

Her agility to mount from the ground had taken practice, her fingers snagged his sharp plates here or there expertly in order not to slice her hands open, and once aboard she continued to speak to a Carna-Rat on the ground. Surma’s head bobbed impatiently, then tossed with irritation when another passenger was pulled aboard his back. In display of his considerable displeasure he moved off into a heavy trot without waiting.

Seija had ridden enough by now to be comfortable at any gait, however the bone-jarring trot would be massively unpleasant to a new rider. He would never have allowed another creature safe passage, and even carrying another person for his Mistress stretched his patience - but he did it none the less. After the first mile, he moved into a smooth, grounding eating canter. He knew his limits … although Seija might endure the display of displeasure at carrying another person - she would only tolerate so much before she’d have kicked him into a faster gait anyhow. Aside from that there was indeed a sense of urgency, and with a strange movement up ahead that vibrated through his legs Seija clucked him into an even faster gait.

It was a strange sensation, galloping full tilt into the stinging rain. With Seija’s insistence his forelegs reached out in earnest, his hind legs propelling the massive creature forward faster and faster. As they neared what seemed to be a canyon, the mud created difficulties and Surma was forced to break into a ground eating trot to retain control in the muck. His nostrils blew as his ears flicked forward, his eyes scoping out the trail with expertise as he made his way quickly but carefully through the sludge.

Surma didn’t mind the rain usually. Still, he wanted to snag Mistress with his tail, buck off the Carna-Rat and head home. Around a corner, Seija heeled him upward towards a canyon and he did so, gusting breaths in concentration as he picked up a canter again up the hill where she bayed him pause.

[SEIJA]

The jostle of the trot did nothing to bother Seija, her body shifting fluidly with the rough ride that Surma gave the two females. She knew that time was of importance in this instance, as mudslides were common on the cliff-side, and as they were her men, she needed to get them out of there.

The medic, however, cursed inwardly (rather than out loud so as not to get on anyone's bad side) at the bruising the ride gave her; she knew she would be on her ass later. Why did she happen to be the first one Dimitri found? She'd kill him later ... or at least put a snake in his bed. The boy screamed like a girl when it came to gorgeous creatures and she so was going to take advantage of that.

Seija gripped Surma's plates with ease, even her exposed thighs against the cool metal was easily gripped to maintain balance through it all; the skies opening only moments later with a threatening rumble of thunder and the rain practically soaked them through in seconds. Her "vision" became muddled by the millions of little droplets racing to the earth. She urged Surma up and re-adjusted, using one hand to hold the other girls arms around her waist as she felt her slipping back a bit, her senses stretching as far as they could before letting the girls arms go as Surma found a level area at the top of the cliffs, the steep drop-off to their side was a half filled river of sorts, one that would easily overflow with enough water as it flowed down the side of the cliffs eventually to drop off into the large body of water that served as the domes lake? Ocean? Semantics..

The group was up ahead, she could hear their shouts as she swung off of Surma's back and to the ground, she was feeling even more sightless on Surma in the rain, having to feel things through him was like diluting a solution with water; it just wasn't as good. As she yelled to her Hunters to come this way things began to shift under her feet, not in the audible way that would give a clue to everyone, but to her the ground was unsteady and she didn't like it. As they met in the middle she was told of the girl who had slipped in the rain and twisted her ankle, so two of them had her between them and the fourth was standing off to the side. "Alright we need to move quickly, we can't look at that ankle now," she said as she placed a hand on Victoria's upper chest to hold her back from stepping forward. "Just a quick splint-" "No," she growled low, impatient with the girl as she flipped her hand around to fist into the material of the shirt. "Move your ass now unless you want to get thrown like a rag doll," she threatened and was met with only sound of the pelting rain on them before another roll of thunder shook the ground, and the ground responded with unsettling movements. She swore, they needed to go back the way they came, but further where there was a flat area that wouldn't be affected by the slide she knew was about to happen.

"Pick her up, now! Move! Back this way! Run now!" her voice, if possible, held even more bite to it than normal and she rose her voice over that of the surprised shouting that had began, and she knew the water mixed with earth was on its way down the side of the cliff as she felt them move past her in a rush. "Surm-" as she went to grab the great warhorse to vault onto his back a rush of sludge and water hit her almost chest high, ripping her hands from his plates, slicing through the skin as she gave out a cry of surprise. The sense of being truly blind still happened, especially in anything like a body of water or diluted mud like this was, as there was no vibrations except for the beating of her heart and the steady downpour of rain on her. She lost her footing as as she felt herself be pulled backwards, her head dipping dangerously low in the murky mixture, her head tilting back as her arm outstretched blindly for her rock; her Surma. "Surma!" she managed to cry out as she felt the tip of what she thought was his tail attempting to grab her hand before she slipped beneath the surface and swallowed the dank water in the process, struggling beneath the surface as the water slipped into her lungs. If only for a moment she flailed to the surface again, attempting to take in air as she fought over and over again as she kept dipping beneath the muddy water, a form of undertoe gripping her as close to the bottom it could manage.


OOC; editing done! AFTER the Fe posted anyway too! <33 dawww, THE DRAMAAAA D<

[SURMA]

Surma’s evil plotting thoughts on how wonderful and pleasurable it would be to rid himself of the second and vehemently annoying women astride him were ground to a halt. His expression went from flat eared and cross to alert and restrained in an instant. It was not as if he didn’t know something was wrong. The urgency with which Mistress had pushed him through the mire (that was little more than slippery, six-inch-sludge) was not lost on Surma. Distantly, a small part of him smirked when the he halted and the unwanted Carna Rat half fell off of him in her haste to dismount.

Danger, death, chaos, war, and disaster in general were the Carna specialty … and Surma had long since left any concern that ‘this trip would be more serious than the last’ far, far behind him. Basically – something was always wrong. However, he would do anything for Seija, and she knew it. Everything between them began and ended there.

So, when Surma half slid to a stop, the woman dove from his back, and Seija dismounted … it was not the fear from the Hunters he could smell that bothered him, nor the buzzing of idiotic disarray. It was not the water pelting down on them like a thousand bees, the crack of thunder, nor the sound feel of solid ground even his massive hooves lacked.

No.
It was the deep seeded knowledge that something bad was going to happen. The eerie rumble the earth harbored as it moaned in displeasure sent a churn of molten lava into his core that he had not felt in over a year. He and that feeling were more familiar than he cared to remember, and he knew instantly what it was: Dread.

His great head lifted, his sharp blue eyes glaring down the canyons as if he suspected a great and deadly tiger lurked there. Faintly he heard his Mistress ordering the Hunters on the move, but something … was coming. His world seemed to morph into slow motion. His ears twitched, catching a deep, angry groan more ominous than the first.

Suddenly a wall of brown crashed down the canyons in an unrelenting hunger that fed on and swallowed everything in its path. It was so powerful Surma at first could not look away. It was as if the mouth of hell had opened, and he felt the blood drain from his face and his massive body turned cold. Sound faded, and he heard nothing but his own heartbeat. Shock had not completely released him, but even so instinct manifested into a voice that touched his soul, and it rang a single terrible command: run.

Surma turned to catch sight of Seija as she reached for him, but it was already too late. He saw the alarm on her face, but could not hear his name on her lips. All he could do was curl about her in vain protection as the merciless wall of water, earth, broken tree, and rock slammed into them and swept them away. His tail snaked out to catch her hand, but the greedy tides spirited her away.

He was flipped and shook like a small thing, turned and smashed into the canyon walls as easily as a child with a toy. Once his head breached the surface his nostrils sprayed muddy water from his lungs and saw Seija for only an instant before she went under again. Surma! He had not heard her terrified cry. He’d sensed it. A desperate, horrified whinny escaped him as he kicked at the water and mud that dragged at him.

Arresting panic and fear was pushing at his awareness – at the razor sharp edges that guarded the secret part of his mind that hurt too much to bear, and petrified him too much to face. Nothing had been powerful enough to tempt Surma past those edges. Nothing. The pain was too great, the darkness too rooted. Now – it was a single line of thought …

If I don’t …
Seija was blind. For over a year now Surma had watched his Mistress catch no resistance from life despite the fact that she could not see. She was frighteningly capable, resilient, fearless, resourceful, and unforgiving and she saw the world anyway through pure feel.

… do something …

For Seija seeing was a stream of songs played one by one; the notes singing of people, and land, and skies to paint pictures in her mind. Now the waters must have been like a million songs all playing at once, tossing her into an unbearable discorded cacophony of white noise that made it impossible to do anything.

… she is going to die.

That single line of absolute knowing, and he plowed through those boundaries with brutal abandon to the pure and clear thoughts that formed reason, and linear thought. A strange change happened in Surma then; a narrowing and broadening of his world in an instant that bellowed from the beast in a roar no stallion ever made. His plates receded in those moments, slipping beneath his equine hide that too vanished into nothing and replaced with human skin. Hooves were traded for fingers, and toes, and his mass shrank in a matter of seconds into a man that without hesitation dove beneath the surface.

The water had caught up by now with the slurry, and he no longer had to fight through as much mud to orient himself. His eyes searched in vain for her in the murky water but realized quickly that it would not help. It was far too dark and dingy. His head broke the surface again and he gasped for air. How long? How long had she been down there? He gasped for breath and thought.

He would have to go as his Seija always had to … by feel. His head ducked under the water and determination flared in his blood as he swam deeper, and was tossed and turned by the currents. His fingers reached out, catching and releasing whatever came to hand until they touched something soft and still. He knew. He didn’t have to see her to know.

Strong and sure arms wrapped around Seija, gripping her tightly as he kicked blindly and maddeningly for the surface. His lungs would burst before he made it he just knew it. The tension built in his throat, the bubbles of precious air that could not be replaced escaping from his nose and mouth. Though he could not see it, he knew no bubbles drifted from Seija’s.

The water was quick, cutting through the valley and whisking them away but it was slowing now – losing momentum. Nothing could be seen but broken tree limbs, muddy water, and the endless rain pelting the water’s angry surface. Surma’s head finally burst from beneath the opaque, ruddy water … hauling something dark haired and limp with him. He coughed over and over, expelling water from his lungs.

One arm was wrapped fast around a tiny Seija’s waist. His free arm gripped a log that looked to precarious to be much good for long. He’d gotten to her that was the important thing. Now, he had to get them out … and quickly.

[VI]

Vi asked herself why people were such dumb-asses when it came to "oh hey, there's a storm brewing over here and I know we're supposed to be scouting and setting traps but lets forget the first friggin rule of survival and stay out like losers." Okay, Vi .. maybe not that harsh but it was her inner non-censor self talking; not the one that was in control right now and taking in the situation as they came to meet up with the group. She raked her hands through her now soaked locks, slicking them mostly back and over her scalp and out of her vision as Seija made it known she wanted them to move, but as her half-thought of why the blind female was so urgent began to cross her mind there was a moment of chaos as one of the males shouted and pointed up the cliff side before her eyes followed.

Without that moment of freezing fear she grabbed the closest male and wrenched him to follow her, back along the way that Seija had urged them to go, noticing it not only arched out but then dipped back to separate them from the slide. Seija was a little more knowledgeable than she let on, she knew, but this was one of the few moments she had noticed it; not really having been exposed to the blind-girl before except for brief moments. 'Kurtis! Leo! MOVE YOUR ASSES!' she sent the message forcably into their brains, giving them a shock out of their transfixed gaze before Leo hoisted Leia up and then both ran in their direction, leaping onto large boulders to avoid the first hit to jump again to the area that she waited at. The boys helped Leia get situated before Vi whirled around, her eyes scanning the rapidly moving brown water before she spotted the large horse erupt from it's depths. She thought she saw Seija come from the water as well but whatever it was vanished quickly.

Soon she had all of the others at her side looking to the river-like flood below them, watching the scene unfold and practically holding their breath. The oddest thing was that they watched Surma dip under the water once more before a man came up from the river, soon after diving under the water.

"Who WAS that?!"

"You think it was Surma-"

"No way, Surma is a normal-" laughter ensues with this statement from the others, "-okay well, MUTATED horse. The Keepers are freaky man."

"I mean, there wasn't anyone else around here that we know."

"Hey guys-"

"Maybe he's a Bellator? Ever think of that? I mean, mostly animal with the ability to turn into one of us? Now that's weird."

"Heey guyyss-"

"I honestly think he's just some lab test that the Keepers concocted out of some sick twisted-"

"GUYS!"

They all looked to Victoria then as she pointed down to where the man was down below, hanging onto a barely wedged tree between two rocks. Gasps were heard before she held out her hands, "Alright look, we need someone to run back and give an update on what happened, you three are sticking together anyway so go, me and Greg will stay and help them." People started complaining and she just sighed and put her hands on her hips, "look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, and the hard way just involves wasted time and hurt egos, we need to help Seija now."

As they headed off in the direction of the Ring, she nodded and her and Greg slowly began to set up camp. She knew that since they were out now, they'd make their way back this way; at least she hoped.

[SURMA]

The current was strong - hauling not only on Surma’s body but Seija’s unconscious one as well. The rapid water and rain, thunder and wind swirled into an overpowering roar that drowned everything else out. He had to get them out of the water, had to get her breathing, had to get her to safety. His breath came in sharp gasps as his eyes fell on her still, pale face. Her head rested on his shoulder lifelessly as if she were sleeping. He had looked on that face a thousand times but never had it been so still. His expression hardened with worry. There was a snap, signaling that the log anchoring them was going to give any moment.

Movement from the corner of his eye called his attention to the branch of a tree that the rough water crashed and wedged against a settlement of rocks not far ahead. Without further thought he released his hold on the shelter of the log and went for it. Immediately the water sucked them under, churning and twisting them around until he was unsure where the surface was – but he refused to allow the current to take the woman from his arm.

Finally, his free arm thrust above his head – catching the tree branch. His hands were slippery from the water and mud, but his knuckles whitened from the force of his grip and his arm hauled Seija out of the water and lifted her onto the rocks. Once both hands were free he pulled the heavy length of his body from the water. Half drowned himself, he paused just long enough to carefully collect Seija back into his arms and over his shoulder before leaping to another rock, and another to the muddy and slippery shore.

His feet were immediately sucked down, and it took patient work to crawl three-limbed across the sludge to where the mud met with more solid earth. Only then did he lay his precious cargo down. Her lips were tinged an eerie shade of purple, her eyes were closed, her body still.

He had to get her breathing. Distantly he recalled another life that had no value to him, excepting that it had taught him something useful: CRP. Cautiously, he tilted her head back in order to keep his breaths from filling her stomach – a fact voiced by a ghost long gone from his broken memory – and without hesitation is lips pressed to hers and forced air into her water-filled lungs. Three times he breathed, or should it have been two? And with one hand lain over the other his fingers intertwined, and, placing them on her sternum he thrust down hard four times; Nothing. He breathed for her again, and compressed her lungs another four times; Nothing.

Desperation built within him with each failing succession, and finally erupted in a wordless frustrated growl. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, and when he gained no response his fingers rapped her cheeks. They did not flush as flesh should, and gently he grabbing her jaw – willing the life into her. The bottom half of her still face cradled easily in his large hand, and a noise between a wheeze and a strangled cry escaped him. His forehead lowered to hers as he swallowed hard and closed his eyes. Not like this, she couldn’t go like this. He wouldn’t let her. His eyes snapped open with new determination … if he had to crush the water from her lungs he would.

Again he breathed into her lungs: long, forceful breaths and his fists came down on her sternum one, two, three, CRACK … with the noise Seija’s eyes snapped open. Brackish water spilled from her lips and he helped her to turn over as she vomited, coughed, sputtered, and squinted unseeing eyes at him. Her shallow, raspy breaths were the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard and he folded her into his arms and sat for one long moment. She was alive. After the moment, he took a deep breath. The danger was not over. He might well lose her yet.

His blue eyes followed the canyon wall that offered no trail, and little but a muddy hillside to climb. He stood with resolve, his mind working on options until he decided the only route was straight up. Surma collected the unconscious Lead Hunter into his arms and, slinging her over his shoulder again, stepped up to the muddy gradient and began to climb.

~

The evening’s harsh rain had relented into an easy shower, and the heat of the earth escaped into the crisp morning air causing a thick fog to envelope the land. The tents had been set up, a large pavilion tent that was usually brought as a medical structure had been raised, along with several smaller tents for the other Carna when they would return.

In the distance, a shadow turned into the outline of a broad and tall man carrying a woman. The stoic, humorless expression the man wore was only highlighted by his stern ice-blue eyes and the mud that seemed to cover almost every inch of him. The woman was in no better shape and lay still in his arms as he walked straight into the camp as if it were his.

The fortune that it was a Carna camp was lost on him. It could have been any Ring’s camp and Surma would have strode in immediately to the largest tent (as he did now), without the least concern. Any persons that spoke to him were immediately brushed aside as Surma marched into the pavilion and carefully lay Seija unto the first cot his eyes settled on.

The moment she rested on the made up cot, the stress and anxiety Surma had kept at bay caught up with him. Shifting into his human form for the first time in almost two years was too much, and in the next second he shifted back into the one-ton war horse dragon-equine that was these days his normal state. Too much was attached to his human alternative and just now getting Seija warm and keeping her safe was priority.

As it was, the pavilion tent barely contained Surma. The shire horse-spliced shifter would have been hard pressed to fit in a household bedroom let alone a tent deigned for four people at most. Regardless, he eased himself to the ground with a grunt and, curling into a protective and warm circle around his Mistress, allowed himself a small reprieve. The recumbence was the most he would allow himself, and devoted the remainder of his attentions to guarding the entry way and listening for any persons that decided they were stupid enough to bother the exhausted pair.

[SEIJA]

There were multiple things that went through Seijas mind as the darkness surrounded her mind; the burning in her lungs spreading to a warmth that made her relax in both body and mind. On the edges of her subconscious she felt someone, Surma?, before she went numb to everything. She found herself soon becoming aware of a floating feeling and opened her eyes, looking to the water around her as she frowned ... She couldn't breathe underwater? Spotting a figure floating ahead of her she swam to it, just now realizing she could see ...

This had to be a dream, right? Or maybe she was dead?

As she came closer the figure turned in the water to face her, an iridescent slew of colors shining over their skin. Her skin? Was she looking at herself? She looked down at her hands she had rose to investigate to find no colors before dropping them to her sides once more and lifting her gaze. She turned her head to the side in confusion, her mirror-self doing the same before her (and her reflections) eyes widened in realization - it was her sister. 'Fen?' she didn't speak, though she heard her own voice in her head echo ... and the 'reflection' nodded back; confirming her suspicions. She frowned and sighed, bubbles floating from her mouth in a large burst before she came forward more; now noticing the bruising on her skin she hadn't noticed before.

'Who did that to you?' Fen shook her head, a slight flare of color blooming over her skin. Seija frowned in frustration before she looked away, the calming waters around her pulsing as she felt a slight discomfort in her chest. Just then she realized that her sisters skin was not normal and looked up to ask her before pain lanced through her once ... twice ... the third time was so intense she doubled over and she felt like a vacuum sucked her out of this reality; forcibly and with no remorse for the pain that flared through her chest and body.

She found herself barely hovering above the wet ground, her body shaking from the cold - or maybe it was the pain that was still left from the trippy dream she just left? - and she somehow could hold herself up. No. It was the large hand that were supporting her as she emptied her stomach that kept her steady. She reached for her savior weakly, she could make out a Carna scent in her haze so this was a good sign. She was easily hoisted over his shoulder and a soft whimper came from her mouth as her ribs rested against his back, her hands in fists at the hem of his jeans as she pressed her face into his back - her expression twisted into a painful one as she breathed shakily, feeling herself loosing consciousness. Though something in her mind stirred and it took her a moment to realize it was the male that carried her that sparked it's familiarity, her brows easing their furrow but still knit in concentration as her mind desperately tried to grasp at the thread that seemed to taunt her .. flittering just out of reach before everything went dark and her body succumbed to it's exhaustion.

[VI]

Greg and her had finished setting up and Vi had straightened things up as best she could, setting the perimeter and making a pit for the fire once it finally dried out. Greg was off in search of dry-ish dead wood somewhere as Vi set up her own tent, thankfully that had a bottom as she sat inside, the front flap open as she looked out in the distance - her tent facing away from the direction the pair came from or she would've been up sooner than when she found herself staring at a particularly large man strolling into their camp with their Lead Hunter draped over his shoulder in some he-man like fashion.

"Hey!" she scrambled to her feet, her hands squelching into the mud as she straightened to wipe the sludge from her hands and swearing as she would know have to wash them (granted she would anyway if she were to check Seija for wounds and the like). By the time she looked back up they were past her and continuing towards the medical tent. "HEY!" she said as she leap-skipped a little to catch up to the man's long strides. "You gonna slow down tree-man and talk to me how you know Seija or at least let me look at her instead of just walking-- WILL YOU STOP?!" she threw up her arms as the silent-brooding-type walked through the flap of the tent before she let out a frustrated, and yet girly, mix of a disgruntled scream and a squeal; her teeth grinding together at the end as she stomped her foot and breathed heavily through her now clenched teeth. Men.

She was staring at the entrance to the tent, trying to count to ten calmly before there was a shift inside the tent before the sides bulged and a tail curled out to just a few feet in front of her - and it all clicked. She breathed through her nose before her hands found themselves on her waist as she was staring at the closed tent.

"Surma." A huff of hot air that disturbed the front of the tent was her only answer as she found her eyes narrowing - only after they rolled once around in her sockets. "You're gonna have to let me in there." The bite in her voice was not as sharp as it could have been since she was attempting to have a civil tone to her voice (and failing). There was silence for awhile before she strode two steps towards the tent - and over the flicking tail of said dragon-horse that lay waiting inside. She took a slow breath, a hand lifting to reach up and take one finger to pull the flap of the tent only a hair open to reveal one eerie blue eye that was none to happy to see her. "Look Surma, I just need to get in there and look-" as she went to make a step in the tail of the giant animal snapped at her like the crack of a whip but with five times as much force that sent her flying almost into the tent across from it.

"Godda-UGH!" she pushed herself up, a nice ache in her back-end from landing on it as she lay there, half-propped up as she blew the hair out of her face. Her disgruntled expression flickered between anger and annoyance as she moved to get to her feet, flicking off chunks of mud on her clothes and shaking her hair out as she stood back up. "Frickin horse," she muttered as she stepped up to the tent again.

"Look ... Horse." Snort. "I need to see her to see if she okay. Ya know? You don't want her to die from the stress her body just went under." She paused. "But you either have to move or shift back to your man-self cause there's no way I can even start to see with you taking up 99% of that tent ... okay maybe like 97%" she said as she sighed as she began to look off to the side of the tent, a bad habit she had since she was little was looking off while talking with someone. She learned from the first attempt and waited.

[SURMA]

There was no room for compromise. Surma’s protective stubbornness wouldn’t allow for it. Once Seija had been eased into the cot and Surma had shifted into the great beast, all that was left was exhaustion and defense. His large equine ears flickered as he heard movement outside of the tent, and his mass curled protectively as an enemy approached them.

His name was said on foreign lips – and his ears laced back as his blue eyes glared. His massive head tossed, his teeth showing as if to chomp something. The creature had been pushed too far. Who knew what anyone else would do to his Mistress. He wouldn’t allow them close enough to try. He shot a blast of air through large crescents strongly, warning off any who might enter. Still, they were stupid enough to move forward.

Surma’s leviathan tail was stepped over carelessly, the flagrant hazard disregarded as if they stepped over a tree branch. Surma’s long, impossibly strong tail was one of his greatest weapons. The person that moved over it so casually might as well have been stepping over a spring loaded wrecking ball. It twitched almost of its own accord, irritated at being so nonchalantly brushed aside.

When the tent flap moved, Surma’s head lowered over Seija’s body – his entire mass coiling ominously. She spoke more useless bather, and when her foot shifted to move in further his brow hardened and his tail flicked. The effort extended was the charity akin to flicking a bug from one’s skin; however … she went flying. It was not long before she returned, and in anxiety Surma’s head bobbed and swung, hovering over his unconscious Mistress.

Soon enough the miscreant was again threatening to irritate him. He snorted angrily, but this time – at least – she was not stupid enough to simply walk in. No one was coming near her. He knew what the Carna were like, and hated all of them. The one outside could be trying to kill her for her position. It was only to Seija that he was loyal, and she loved her people. Surma didn't have to. The soft velveteen of his lips caressed Seija’s face. She was breathing, warm, drying, and sleeping … and she had gone through enough for now. She needed rest. Surma hunkered down to wait.

The only glue holding the half-mad and broken shifter together was the precious being he safeguarded on the cot. The rest of the cots and possessions had been caught between his bulk and the tent canvas when the dragon-horse had shifted. There they remained, and from the outside of the tent one could see the shapes of a chair, supplies, several cots, and other unidentifiable objects and around them, the outlines of the war horse’s plates.

An hour or so went by. More blather from outside the tent was lost on Surma, but curiously she remained outside the tent. Still, she did not try to enter. Somehow he had wrapped his giant body around so that his head lay on the ground next to her cot, the mass of his skull large enough that from the entrance of the tent one would not have been able to spy the sick Huntress over it. She coughed, and immediately Surma’s large eye opened to peer at her. She shifted to her side and coughed more. Surma lifted his nose to run his sensitive lips and hairs over her body and face. She was warm, but a touch too warm and Surma blew through his nostrils in thought. She needed different help now than he could provide.

Unceremoniously, the tent flap opened to the girl waiting outside. His tail held one side of the entrance aside to admit her and when she stepped in he let it fall again. He and not moved an inch. If she wanted to look at his Mistress she would have to climb over his limbs and sit on his curled foreleg to do so. More blather from her caused Surma to shoot a hot round of breath into her face, and as if to say ‘get on with it’ from nowhere a medic bag was shoved into her chest almost knocking her over. Then, his tail wrapped around her and quite forcibly set her on her feet immediately to the side of the cot. It was the only square six inches free. On the far side of the cot was Surma’s plated ribs, and behind her lay one of his giant hooves. To make things even more crowded, Surma’s head lingered just to her right – watching every move she made with a hard, uncompromising icy stare.

[VI]

Vi was forcing herself to be patient, although it was getting harder and harder to not become fidgety as her stance shifted from one foot to the other while she waited for the stubborn equine to make up his damned mind. She heard coughing from in the tent as the mass that was Surma moved about, her eyes staring at the tent before she turned at her waist to look behind her as Greg dumped wood and pine branches a few years back in the center if the camp where he had already set up a stone circle. He gave her an inquisitive look before she shook her head, "stay away from this tent, but would you go to mine and grab the bowl that's in there, full it with water, and then grab a blanket and rag and bring it to the tent ... But stay out of range," she said with a head tilt to the dragon-pony tail that lay off to the right of the entrance. The fellow ring mate nodded as he looked past her to the comedic looking tent that was bulged out before he nodded and turned, a small grin on his face, to head over to her tent.

As she turned back around she was surprised to find the tent flap had been opened to let her enter, her feet taking her forward of their own accord before the tent flap closed behind her. Surprisingly she could see inside the tent, thanks to a plastic roof window that let what little light left there was in the day to filter in from above. Letting her eyes adjust she took in the horses hulking mass before she side glanced at him and looked to the small form that was Seija. "Well this is going to be not awkward at all ... now I know how people with claustrophobia feel," she muttered before hot air caused both her eyes closed and her hair to fly back. She had already felt nervous around the horse before but now her heart skipped a beat as she peeled open one eye to look at the steady blue gaze before she grunted in slight pain as a pack was tossed into her abdomen forcibly. She coughed around her words, "Alright alright you impatient-WOAHPUTMEDOWN." She practically had a heart attack as the serpentine tail of the horse wrapped around her waist and lifted her from the ground. It seemed like forever but she found her feet touching the ground only moments later.

Breathing to steady her now racing heart she looked down to the unconscious Lead Hunter before to the space around her, pausing as she found Surma's massive head right next to her. She sighed lightly, easing the tension from her shoulders as she set the bag down and finding no where to sit except the horses forlegs, she crouched to sit lightly against the horse. Leaning forward she began by lifting the females shirt and listening to her lungs by pressing her ear to Seijas back, closing her eyes as she soon found herself going through all the motions automatically, her nerves having disappeared as she worked. Lastly, her hands were splayed to the side of Seijas rib cage, her eyes closed in concentration as she let her healing energy flow into the girl, beads of sweat forming on her skin as she breathed slowly through her nose, then mouth. Mending bones were five times as hard as any laceration or tissue damage she had ever healed before; besides the fact there were usually multiple people to lend their help as well. Finishing, she felt a bit dizzy as she opened her eyes, her cheeks were flushed and her normally light tanned skin had lightened to a pale hue as she sat back shakily onto the horses legs she had been using as her seat throughout. She patted the horses leg next to her lightly as she swayed a bit, catching her breath before she spoke. "Her rib is mended and her lungs have no more water in them, anything more I just don't have the energy for," she said with a slight slur to her voice as she then moved to stand and grab the pack as she went.

There was a moment of hesitation before she found the horses intense ice blues in the half - lit tent. "Care to give me one more lift?" she asked with a slight raise of her brows.

[SURMA]

There was no sense of care with this stranger, this insect, no need to be careful. It was not that she was precious in any way that Surma safe kept her; rather it was because she was an integral part of keeping his Mistress healthy and alive. So he was cautious with her.

As she worked, Surma watched. Any words or irritation she expressed toward him was water off a ducks back. He was impenetrable in every way, shape, and form. Accept one: Seija. She lay there, helpless, hurt, and drained. Few would understand the devotion the large shifter held in the very fibers of his being for the Lead Huntress. If she died? Everything died.

He had been dead already that day. Terror, anguish, and rage was thick and hot through his veins. He knew nothing else. He neither understood, nor cared to understand. She made him care the smallest amount. She made him understand so much. He shifted for her … he’d die for her. For Surma, it might as well have been one and the same. The backlash of memories and torments that was opened could have only been paled by this present (and much dire) situation.

Regardless, in the back of his mind he was assaulted by memories. Thoughts, ideas, things that told him he wasn’t just Surma: Seija’s companion. What he had been running from for so long. He wasn’t just The Ice Dragon those in Carna called him, and most of himself couldn’t care less. Most of him.

It was the memories. His past, what they …

Seija began coughing again, and his nose worried over her without regard to the Carna Rat’s work. She made a noise of annoyance, but waited (impatiently) for Surma to move once more. She was okay. The Carna Rat was helping her. She had cried out in pain but, the little he cared to filter through his brittle mind was that she’d had cracked ribs. That was from him, from breathing life into her lungs.

Dully he recalled his fists … hands … human hands … that he Surma had possessed himself … those hands that had once –

… and they came DOWN, forcing the water from her lungs that made her live. She was tough. She could handle broken ribs in order to breathe once more.

Finally, finally - the Carna Rat was done with her work … or so she thought. It was obvious that she had exhausted herself healing Mistress, for Seija’s color was better; she was warmer and her breathing was far less labored. In this, the woman's value to Surma quadrupled, and when she requested a lift his tail gently set her in the crook of his hind legs. It was warm … the curve perfect for back support, and she would be safe; safe to help his Seija when she needed it. His tail whisked away he medic bag, and over her he lay a blanket.

She was as valuable as a glass window that allowed sunlight for his flowers. He would care for that window, make sure it did not break, clean, and care for it until his Seija was strong enough. It was a hazardous care, for he felt no affection, but rather valued her as an object that would heal his Mistress. Seija, was what mattered.

Hours later, a stranger voiced more unimportant blather to Surma, and the moment his fingers touched the canvas of the tent, Surma’s tail sent him flying as he had the first Carna Rat before she proved useful to him. No one else would come into this tent. No one. Ears laced back, he shot an angry breath of air through the entrance of the tent – daring anyone else to enter …

Which was exactly when the Carna Rat awoke between his hind pillars, and began to squall. Blue eyes fixed on her and tolerated her chattering until as the first time he shot a gust of hot breath into her face. This time, his head leveled, bringing the entirety of his dome a mere inch from her entire body. Blue eyes fixed her with an uncompromising look that spoke of need, demand, desperation … and unpredictability all daring the brass Carna Rat to do whatever it was against Surma that she though she could.

Just then, Seija coughed and both heads looked to the sick female on the cot. Immediately they parted, and as the woman climbed back over Surma’s legs his head moved to allow her room. Now was the time that she proved her worth to the great dragon horse.

[VI]

She had been drifting in and out of consciousness, the warmth that the horse radiated was pleasant and made her want to sink underneath her lone blanket and not come out for some time - but plans never went how you wanted them to, did they? She had her eyes closed, but her senses were aware enough around her as she mulled through her semi-sleep hazed thoughts to what needed to be done and the time frame for getting out of here exactly. She didn't respond exactly when she heard Greg call out for her, a short yet hardly audible grunt came from her throat before her eyes snapped open a moment too late; her mouth quickly snapping a few obscenities at the oversized horse as she heard the yell and thud that Greg made as he was sent flying in a similar fashion to how she did the day before.

She threw the blanket down as she stood, her hair a bit disheveled from sleep as she pushed it out of her face, her fingers then deciding to rake the tresses back over her scalp as she motioned to the flap of the tent with a wordless shake of her arm and a strangled cry of frustration coming from her throat. "He was only friggin trying to come and get me fore something honestly, he's the only other one here and he's Carna! Or can you not frigging tell you dumb oaf!" she seethed before hot air was blasted in her face and she lifted her mouth to the side in a half-hearted snarl. His massive head came to stare her down, though she did not move either as she lifted her hands, which had curled into fists, to place upon her hips in a standard I'm-not-giving-up-so-easily fashion.

Seija interrupted the stand-off with a cough; instantly breaking the tension between the two as they were now focused on her.

Vi moved back to Seija's side, bending back over her to listen to her chest with her eyes closed - no rattling to tell of fluid, good. She pulled back and placed her hands under the girls shirt to her ribs, feeling gently as she reached out - checking the newly mended bone and came back with a nod of her head. Even if she tried to heal more, she was not fully healed herself and would quickly drain even faster than yesterday - this would be no help to anyone. She looked to Surma and smiled a little to try and ease the tension the stand-off had left them before, "she's fine. A few days rest and she'll be back to normal - even light activity is fine but I"m sure nothing Seija does is ever 'light' activity. She is basically going to be sore for a bit," she said as she pondered if he could understand her. Seija always talked like he could understand but she did it in a command-fashion .. much like you would any animal she supposed. She picked up the medic bag then as she stood to move over the horse and stilled by the tent flap for a moment, if only to murmur "now I gotta see if my ring-mate doesn't have more than a few bruises from a big over-protective equine," before moving outside.

END THREAD