Disclaimer: Unquestionably not mine.
A/N: I caved and wrote a third fic to follow on from Sisters Under the Skin and Sometimes It's Got to Hurt Before You Feel. I'm having far too much fun with these characters than I really should. I envision having five or six fics in this series in the end, which shall henceforth be known as 'The Nomads Series'. If you want to know what the heck's going on here I suggest you read the first two stories, or check out the entire series as it's listed on my LiveJournal for easy access - obabscribbler. livejournal. com/425690. html
Escape to the Stars
© Scribbler, October 2008.
I'm sick and tired of this so-called life,
Without room to breathe.
I toss and turn in my bed all night;
Am I the only one who finds no peace?
-- From Escape to the Stars by Cinema Bizarre
Isis's eyes snapped open. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. She spent a few minutes calming herself down, becoming accustomed to the darkness of her chambers and realising belatedly that her hands had bunched so tightly in the bedclothes that her palms were chafed. It felt as though her slender finger-bones might actually snap when she unclenched them, each knuckle and joint blanched.
Gingerly she touched her throat, where during the day the Millennium Necklace rested. Of course, at night she removed the sacred item, but still … she could think of no other reason for her disturbing dreams. Only once before had she woken bathed in sweat, and that had been the night the old Pharaoh died, when the Millennium Necklace had cried out to her, as the other Items had cried out to all the priests to tell them of the tragedy.
Tonight, however, Isis's mind filled with formless, swirling anxiety and the fading memory of a warning that tasted bitter in the back of her throat, like she'd drunk stagnant water or undergone childbearing-sickness. She couldn't understand it, and the harder she tried the more confused she became.
Isis had never married, nor produced children of her own. As a priest of the Pharaoh's court she had dedicated her life to the royal family. Just as his father had been, the new young ruler was her son, her husband, her sovereign, and everything else to her now. Unlike his father, however, she felt an even stronger connection to the new pharaoh. When she thought of him she was pervaded with a sense she was his guardian as surely as a mother jackal guarded her cubs. The other priests were guardians too, but it burned brightest in Isis's chest, or perhaps a little lower, bursting out of her unused womb.
She knew some would see it as disrespectful for her to think of the new pharaoh as a mortal boy, but Isis could not totally banish the memories of him as a child learning to walk, learning to stand straight-backed as a prince should, and running around acting as a prince should not when nobody was looking. To be the avatar of the gods was a heavy burden, especially for one so young. Though he had not yet been formally received as king, Pharaoh Atem stirred motherly feelings in Isis that she knew the men of court would never understand. Perhaps when the formal ceremony declaring his ascent to the throne was over she would feel differently, but somehow she doubted it.
None of which explained why she felt as though she'd just used the Millennium Necklace when she wasn't even wearing it – worse, even, because she hadn't felt this bad after using the item since she first obtained it and became used to the rush of its power working through her. Her head throbbed and her eyelids felt dry as they scraped up and down in a blink. Slowly she sat up, but that only increased the pressure behind her eyes. She pressed the heel of her left hand against one, as if trying to force it back into her skull, but it didn't help.
What had she Seen? She had a vague recollection of shadows edging in on her from all sides, like a pack of wild dogs encircling one sickly sheep that had wandered too far from the flock. Mixed in with this dim picture was a sense of running, throwing herself into and through the shadows in a bid to escape some greater threat the loomed above her, too tall and shrouded to be clearly seen. Or perhaps she hadn't been running away at all, she thought as she processed the fragments images left to her when the waking world shattered her dream into pieces and flung them to the far corners of her mind. Perhaps she had actually been running towards someone, trying to warn them of the impending danger. Or trying to hear what they had to say.
There was someone else there, she thought suddenly. Was that who I was trying to reach? Someone … young. The Pharaoh, perhaps? Or perhaps Mahaad's apprentice … Oh, if only I could remember!
It was no use. Her head hurt too much and the remnants of her dream slipped away like morning mist – first grey, then transparent, then gone. Isis was left with nothing but the knowledge that what she had seen portended bad things, and that something was coming that spelled danger for her inexperienced, untested young Pharaoh, who was still too busy mourning his father to be fully aware of the tasks that now fell to him as ruler.
He is avatar to the gods, she told herself. He had the might of the Millennium Items and the entire court on his side. Whatever problems arise, I'm sure he will be able to combat them.
Still, once more she couldn't banish the image of the Pharaoh as a little boy, arms outstretched to embrace his father, an innocent, happy and entirely mortal smile on his face.
"We must retrieve them," Elder Chaths says. "They cannot have gotten far, not with that cripple in tow."
"She is not exactly a cripple -" points out Elder Edfu.
"Don't pick at details, Edfu .It's not helpful."
"I merely wanted to mention that their progress won't be as slow as if she really was a cripple. Her legs work, she just can't use them for long periods of arduous exercise. We can't assume she'd allow them down all that much. Plus, they have Joun with them. He is a promising young fighter and a canny survivalist. If anyone can stay alive in the wilderness with three women burdening him, it's Joun."
"Otog told you this?"
"We rely too much on that seer," snaps Elder Sebak with a thump of his staff. The colourful array of feathers and small bones atop it rattle like a gibbet. The bones are not all from animals. There are shards of human fingers amongst the threads – enemies of his youth whom he was particularly proud to have defeated, and traitors and captured warriors from rival tribes he has ordered executed since he became too old for fighting and became an Elder instead. "We're becoming soft. Our claws are blunted. How else could we have let something like this happen? Desertion. Trickery. Rebellion from within. Theft from our own stores. It's disgusting."
"Would you rather we be blind to everything the future holds?" Elder Edfu asks in a much calmer tone. He folds his arms, having no staff to bang to make his point. Not that he would ever need one. Elder Edfu doesn't have Elder Sebak's temper, preferring instead to use soft hands and softer words to tease truths and promises from people. He can convince them to do what he wants and believe they've chosen to do it when they originally thought they wanted to do something else. "Our tribe has been blessed with seers for generations. They are the reason we have survived and remained strong when so many others have fallen to bandits and sickness, or grown weak and become easy pickings for stronger tribes. Would you like us to become as the Black Wing people – all our men killed and all our women made into the wives of outsiders? All our baby sons murdered and our baby daughters raised as if they belong to another tribe, their heritage and pride forgotten?"
Elder Sebak grinds his teeth. "Of course I don't."
"Then don't speak so foolishly. Otog may not be all-seeing, but he's a resource we cannot do without."
"Which brings us back to the crisis at hand," says Elder Chaths. "His apprentice."
Elder Sebak's brows knit. "I cannot believe Joun and Maibe would kidnap the girl from right under our noses; and for what reason? To save a child so useless even a donkey wouldn't kick her. Such treason deserves nothing less than death."
"First things first, Sebak," says Elder Chaths. "Before we can mete out punishment we must find and retrieve the four of them. Unlike you, I am not sure Téana was kidnapped."
"You think she went with them willingly? But why?"
"That I cannot say. I understand why Joun would leave after what Otogi told us of Seren's coming blindness, but Maibe? She always seemed such a sensible young woman. I can only think she followed Joun because she intends to be his wife – or he kidnapped her for the same reason. But there were no signs of struggle, and nobody heard anything out of the ordinary."
"We'll discover nothing just sitting around on our backsides like piles of camel dung." Sebak bangs his staff again for emphasis.
"We need the seer girl back," Edfu agrees. "If anything should happen to Otog we'd be helpless, and we're no longer equipped to deal with that. We need that girl's gifts as insurance. Plus there's always a chance that she could give birth to other seers. It hasn't always worked that way with male seers, but now we have a female …"
"And we need to make an example out of Joun," Elder Sebak interrupts. "The whole tribe has been getting far too docile of late. They like Joun. He's popular. A public execution for his betrayal would remind them who they should be loyal to."
Elder Chaths raises his hand to stop Elder Sebak's tirade. "We shall deal with that aspect once they have been brought back to us -"
"All except Seren," Sebak interrupts again. "No need to bring her back."
"Maybe not, but Joun, Maibe and Téana must be retrieved and the truth of their desertion uncovered before we can decide what to do next. How many can we spare to track them?"
"We can make camp here for at least another moon," Elder Edfu tells him. "Perhaps more. Our food stores are high and there are no rival tribes around this area. And as you said, the four of them cannot have gone far with Seren slowing their progress. I suggest we send three of those approaching the Warrior Test after them. It will be a good assessment of their skills."
"I think two untested and one full warrior would be better," Elder Chaths replies thoughtfully. "They will need some experience against Joun's talent. And if Téana was truly not kidnapped she may be guiding the rest of the deserters, or at least being forced to use her gifts to aid their escape and help them evade capture. We will need to compensate for such an occurrence."
"Send Usi," Sebak barks. "He's loyal and a full warrior."
"A good choice," Elder Edfu observes." And to go with him, perhaps Hondo?"
"Wouldn't that be dangerous? He's a friend to Joun, after all." Sebak rubs his chin with one hand. "Hondo's parents helped to care for Joun and Seren after the deaths of their mother and father. There has to be a connection between them after living so closely for so long."
"Hondo is impatient to pass the Warrior Test at the turn of the season, though. This will be an excellent way for him to show both his skills and his loyalty to the tribe. We could even make this a central part of the Test, since it needs high levels of skill, hard work and intelligence."
"Still," Elder Sebak says doubtfully, "I recommend sending Makalani as well. He's a strapping lad, eager to prove himself, and he has no overt ties to that traitor Joun the way Hondo does."
"Excellent." Elder Chaths pats his knees and leans forward over his crossed legs to pluck a dried fig from the plate between the three of them. "Then it's decided. I shall inform Usi, Honda and Makalani before sunzenith and tell the womenfolk to make ready supplies for them. They can take camels to speed their journey. Before the moon waxes full, we should have our lost lambs back."
Elder Sebak's smile is more of a grimace, and reflects his satisfaction that before the full moon his staff will bear the bone of at least one more human finger.
Téana's eyes snapped open. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. She spent a few minutes calming herself down, becoming accustomed to the darkness of the narrow cave and realising belatedly that her hands had bunched in the linen wrapped around both herself and Seren. She felt the other girl stir, murmuring in her sleep. Gently Téana eased herself out of the warm cloth so as not to wake her. Seren's days were full of enough agony and torment from travelling. Téana had no wish to disturb her rest as well. Nearby she heard Maibe turn over, but she didn't wake.
Joun was at the cave mouth. Somehow Téana had known he would be, though he looked shocked to see her. "Téana?"
She wrapped her light coloured robes around herself. They all wore them to reflect the heat of the sun during the day, and kept themselves warm by wrapping their bodies up in the many folds of cloth at night. "I had a Vision," she said simply.
Joun's expression, made clear by the moon, darkened at her words. Téana turned her eyes to the growing disc in the sky. It wouldn't be long now until it was full.
"Before the moon waxes full, we should have our lost lambs back."
"They've sent people after us."
"I suspected they would . That's why I thought we should stick to the mountains where we're more difficult to track." Joun sighed. Téana knew as well as he did that they couldn't keep ducking and diving in and out of caves forever. Eventually they would be caught and have to fight their pursuers, or find another solution that didn't end with them all being killed – or worse. "Who?"
"Usi, Makalani and Hondo."
Joun actually blanched at the final name. "Hondo? And he accepted?"
"He didn't have any choice. It's being made into part of his Warrior Test. If he doesn't bring us back he may not pass."
The fate for those young men who didn't pass the Warrior Test was humiliation and eternal disgrace. Only warriors were fit to give tribeswomen sons, or travel at the front of the procession when they moved camp, or ride any of the animals they took with them. Those who didn't pass were forced to forever do that tasks nobody else wanted, unable to marry or carry on their family line. They picked up after the animals, buried the camp waste, carried the heaviest packs and lived in the oldest, most threadbare tents. They endured degradation at the hands of those they'd once called brothers, and could do nothing to save themselves if someone decided to raise a hand against them. Sometimes they left the tribe, but not as Joun's little group had done – chasing freedom and a fairer way of life. Disgraced men just walked into the desert without provisions and waited for animals or the elements to kill them.
Joun's jaw tightened. "Damn it." The hand not around his spear clenched. He was caught, Téana knew. Hondo was like a brother to him, but Seren was his sister by blood and she needed him. Likewise, Maibe and Téana needed him to protect them now they'd stepped out into the unknown like this. There was no way any of them could go back to the tribe, or wanted to, but by the same token Joun would not want his oldest friend to face disgrace because of him.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? You didn't suggest leaving."
"No, but I could have said no. I could have stopped this." Her own hands bunched into fists as well. "My gifts … my inner eye … I'm still not trained enough to be able to use it properly. My Visions come when they will. If I'd been better at using my talent and foreseen that they would send Hondo after us -"
"There's no use in saying things like that," Joun said firmly. "It's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault – except those cursed Elders," he added bitterly. "It seems like their only purpose in life is to make ours more difficult. Damn them. Vindictive old coots. Would it kill them to just let us go? May scorpions crawl into their bedrolls."
"It's … it's because of me," Téana admitted in a low voice. "Because they want me back. Otherwise they might have let you all go. It's because I'm with you and I'm a useful resource. They want to keep me with them, for the good of the tribe, they said."
But Joun shook his head. "They'd just have found some other reason to drag us back to camp if it hadn't been you. I'm a pretty useful resource myself, and so is Maibe – you can't just throw away a fertile woman and a strong young warrior and say 'oh well, plenty more where they came from'. You shouldn't blame yourself, Téana. If it hadn't been for you telling us which way to go, we'd have all died in that sandstorm two days ago." He shook his head again. His face was taut, and there were dark rings around his eyes. Téana got the feeling he'd spent several nights like this since they escaped, watching the mouth of wherever they were hiding in case they needed to move out quickly. These narrow caves ere wonderful for retaining body heat, but far too easy to get trapped in if they were ambushed. "Damn them all."
"I'm sor-"
"I told you not to say that," he snapped, then softened and gestured for her to sit next to him.
Téana hesitated, aware that she wasn't his intended. Neither was Maibe, but she had a stronger claim on him than Téana did. Or … maybe not. Maibe had some pretty strange ideas about men and women that she'd confessed to Téana and Seren as they travelled. Tentatively, Téana sat beside Joun, keeping her hands folded in her lap. Joun's curved sword sat between them, and though she knew he would never use it on her or any of them, she took comfort in the physical line it drew between their bodies. Joun was a handsome, strong young man, but Téana felt nothing for him and was no longer bound by the tribal laws that said she had to accept any man who propositioned her with marriage once she'd come of age. She turned her eyes to the sky, thinking about all the other rules she was free from now they'd left the tribe.
Otog sometimes said that if a seer concentrated hard, the stars rearranged themselves to show things nobody else could See. Téana had never experienced it, though she and he had spent long evenings outside his tent trying to divine meaning from the night sky. She stared upwards again now, hoping she would find guidance there. Had she done the right thing? It wasn't the first time the question had come to her, and it wouldn't be the last.
When Maibe first approached Téana with the idea of leaving, Téana had been surprised at how eagerly her heart leapt at the idea. Did she really have such little regard for the people who had raised and cared for her? Her parents had given up all claims to her when she became Otog's apprentice, but she'd loved them before that.
Still, she couldn't deny what she felt, nor the peculiar sense of foreboding that had lately followed her like smoke, traceable back to the smouldering mass of interlocking twigs that were her thoughts. She'd felt like she had to go with Joun and his group because they needed her somehow – and they had. It was true that she had Seen the sandstorm coming and directed them to the mountain range and safety in the hidden caves. If she hadn't been there to show them safe passage they would have perished days ago when they first set out. Still, Téana couldn't shake the feeling that this was not the only reason she had been compelled to leave the safety of the tribe. Something told her there was more in store for them – and herself – than she had yet predicted.
As ever, her thoughts went back to the pale stranger who had spent so little time with them, but whose sad eyes had burned a hole in her memory ever since. She'd had the same feeling that there were things in store for that girl – terrible things she couldn't put names to but feared all the same. All her doubts about the tribe and its way of life had started with that stranger. Téana doubted she would ever see the girl again, but the memory of their final conversation followed her around like a phantom.
Or an omen.
"A circle may seem to have no end and no beginning, but everything has an ending and a beginning. Some are just easier to see than others. You were kind to me. I call on the spirits of the ocean and of my homeland to guide your path straight and true, from your beginning to your someday end."
The stranger's voice echoed in Téana's head, her words accented because she'd learned them only by listening to the slavers who brought her to Egypt. "What should we do?" Téana didn't look at Joun, and only listened to his reply.
"Keep one step ahead of them. What else can we do? I know Hondo. He's as good as me at survival techniques and a pretty good tracker. Plus they have Usi leading them, and he's as vindictive as the Elders. He won't give up even if he's got a jackal hanging from every limb and an eagle clawing out his eyes."
Téana couldn't disagree with this. She'd never felt comfortable around Usi. His hulking frame masked a cruelty that chilled her to her bones when he talked about choosing a wife. He was greedy and manipulative, and arrogant enough to think that because he was one of the strongest warriors he deserved the best of everything. More than once he'd looked at Téana and she'd read the designs on his face. They had sent her scurrying into Otog's tent, even though she didn't see Otog as potential husband material either. Still, letting people think the two seers may someday wed was all right if it made Usi leave her alone. Usi took pleasure in hurting others like they were sheep being readied for slaughter. Any woman he took to his bed would be little more than a piece of meat to him.
Maybe there was more to Maibe's ideas of women being more than just wives and mothers than Téana had initially given her credit for.
Suddenly, as her thoughts wandered this unfamiliar and slightly frightening path, Téana's eyes widened. High above her, the stars seemed to shift of their own accord. They flickered like fireflies, and as she watched they tugged at their mooring the way boats did on the Nile when hippos brushed against them. A few burned brighter than the rest, swivelling out of place to form a line across the sky. Then they streaking away, leaving a green imprint of their path on the backs of her eyes. Téana blinked, watching four tiny stars follow this fading line at a much slower pace, and three other small stars following them in turn. When the four reached the end of the path they found a writhing mass of light and joined with it, soon becoming lost amidst the iridescence, so that when the three remaining stars arrived they skirted around it aimlessly, obviously bewildered.
"Téana?" Joun's voice cut into her reverie like lightening cutting the sky in two.
Téana fell back into her own head. When she looked up again the stars were as they'd always been, as though they'd never moved at all. "I know where we have to go," she said breathlessly.
"What?"
"I know where we have to go," she said again, turning to Joun and meeting his bewildered gaze. "The great walled city. The Pharaoh's city. We have to go there. No tracker will be able to find us in a place like that, no matter how skilled they are. In the wilderness Usi will be able to pick us out like a black goat on white sand, but in a city with so many other people around it will be easy for us to hide, and they can't chase us forever. When the season changes and the tribe move camp they'll have to leave us alone."
She could see Joun processing the idea. "That might just work," he said at last. "But could we do it? We've never been in a city for more than a day before, and even then it was only for trading, and we had adults with us who knew what to do and how to act. Egyptian ways are not our ways. Could we really live there for as long as we'd need to in order to lose Usi and the others?"
"I think we could. And there's no way the Elders could blame anyone for not being able to find us in the Pharaoh's city. They couldn't find their own backsides with both hands in a crowded place like that."
Joun's eyes rounded. "Did you really just say that?"
Téana blushed and averted her eyes. What was wrong with her lately? She'd been acting so unlike herself. Then she realised Joun was chuckling. She raised her eyes again to look at him.
"The world has gone mad," he said. "But I'm glad. Madness may be the only way for us to survive in these dangerous times. And at least your kind of madness has some seeds of sanity in it."
Téana gave a small smile. "Perhaps," she said softly, looking back at the stars and their eternal, unwavering light. "If we can't put our faith in sanity and the ordinary, then why not put it in madness and the supernatural?"
To Egypt, then, and whatever they may find there. Whatever it was, it had to be better than what they were leaving behind. Besides, maybe this was how they would build their future – not scampering across rocks like rats and snakes, but as part of the empire their nomadic tribe had always shunned. It was possible. To Téana, who had woken filled with dreadful thoughts of death and hopelessness, the world seemed suddenly filled with a fresh sense of possibility.
Otog Strange-Eyes didn't snap his eyes open. His lids slid back slowly, revealing the wide green irises and tiny pupils that had given him his name. He'd always had extraordinary eyes, unlike anyone else's in colour or form, though he'd been able to see perfectly. It wasn't until his second sight manifested that 'strange eyes' became an accolade instead of an insult – Otog Strange-Eyes, the tribe seer and the one everyone went to for advice, even before going to the Elders.
His breathing was even, though a little shallow, as it always was when he'd recently emerged from a Vision. He spent a few minutes processing what he'd seen, realising belatedly that there was a dull ache in his head. He'd overstretched himself. He reached up and pressed a hand to his forehead, relishing the coolness of his own fingers even though the desert at night was cold, and a sharp breeze blew outside his tent.
Unlike Téana, Otog had possessed his second sight from childhood, and understood how to use it for more than just looking into the future. Indeed, he understood that the future itself wasn't something one could look into and know as one did the present. It was a fluid thing, unstable as water and about as easy to hold onto with the mind as trying to grab handfuls of river with your hands. The past was nothing but stories and memories, the present solid, and the future a range of possibilities you could glimpse but not live in.
It was difficult to explain the sprawling nature of infinite possibility to those who didn't share his gifts. It had been hard enough trying to explain it to Téana when her own gift appeared as she began the change from girl to woman. It was unusual for a woman to be a seer in their tribe, much less a girl, and equally unusual for second sight to emerge so late. Still, Otog had done his duty and taken her on as his apprentice, even though, technically, he was only a few years older than her. His gifts sometimes made him feel like he was older than even the desert itself, but Téana's innocence and eagerness to learn had reminded him otherwise and he'd enjoyed spending time with her.
Maybe that was why he was exerting himself so much now. He felt a loyalty to Téana that eclipsed even his tribal loyalty. They were two of a kind, able to understand each other in ways nobody else could, and so Otog wanted to warn her of the things he'd seen in his dreams and the danger heading her way.
He didn't approve of Téana's decision to leave, but he understood it better than anyone else and he didn't want her to be hurt. She'd come to him after the strange girl with white hair arrived in their camp, her soft heart aching with a desire to help someone her traditions said she should have kicked sand at and spat on. Téana had asked him for help, begging him to make the Elders take the stranger in, but Otog hadn't been able to grant the request. He couldn't lie to the Elders, and when he looked at the strange he sensed only destruction and sorrow trailing behind her like a pennant. She was destined for only sadness, and even if the world had changed overnight and the Elders had offered her a place among them, that girl was chasing something else and would continue to do so until her dying day.
Téana hadn't understood, though. She was always too gentle for the life they led. Afterwards she'd withdrawn into herself, worrying Otog with her constant preoccupation and the reserve she displayed when dealing with other tribesman. She was a friendly, outgoing soul, forever ready with a kind word and an encouraging smile for whoever needed it. Even the failed warriors received the same treatment as everyone else from her, and the change in her following the stranger's departure had disturbed Otog.
It had taken time for Téana to confess that she no longer felt like she belonged in their world. Not that she'd put it in so many words until he teased the realisation from her, of course. She'd fumbled about, waving her arms and trying to make him understand what she barely did herself.
"I just … I can't help it," she'd said, sitting across from him in his tent and twisting her hands in her lap. "How do you explain suddenly not wanting to be who you've always been? It's wrong, I know, but … I'm constantly trying to remind myself of how good my life is here – I have a home, I have people who care for me, I have more status than most women because of you and my gifts. Even so … I look at the faces of those around me and I see cruelty where before I saw none. It makes me feel physically ill sometimes. I don't understand, Otog. Why have I become this way? Am I cursed?"
Otog had shaken his head and said no, he didn't think she was cursed. "I can see no black cloud shrouding you that would tell me you're under an enchantment."
"Then what's wrong with me? I've never felt like this before; but now, when I think about the tribe all my thoughts summon are that girl and Seren, and how unfair it is that I'm not allowed to help them, and how unfair the Elders are for casting them out."
"You've Seen a Vision of them casting out Seren?"
"I didn't need to. It's obvious that's what's going to happen. And it makes me so angry that I just want to … to burst." Her nails had cut half-moons into her palms as she spoke, and though she'd kept her eyes lowered Otog could see the fire burning in them. She used to burn with a similar fire when he taught her new things about her gifts, but she hadn't for some time now. It had been both refreshing and unsettling to see it burn again.
"I think," Otog had said contemplatively, "that your gifts are telling you things your gut has already guessed." He would say no more on the matter, instead leaving her to divine for herself what he meant. A seer who couldn't interpret her own gifts' messages was one who would not last long.
Even so, Otog was disappointed when she finally figured it out and left. He suspected Joun had been the instigator for the departure, since they'd taken Seren, and he knew enough about Maibe's heart to know that she was a much stronger personality than the tribe usually produced in its women. Maibe was too independent, just as Téana was too compassionate and Seren too frail. None of them truly fitted in here – not that this was any excuse to just let them escape without reprisal.
For a second Otog felt a flash of hatred for the Elders. It surprised him, and he sat up with a frown. If it weren't for them Téana wouldn't be facing the kind of danger he'd sensed in his dreams – a towering shadow that leaked evil the way a man stuck full of arrows leaked blood. Something was coming, something huge and devastating, big enough to rock all of Egypt with its power.
Otog had tried to seek out Téana's mind and show her the threat so she could prepare herself and her companions, but her thoughts had been too jumbled for him to force his way in. Instead, he'd found another mind and briefly touched it with his warning. This person was no natural seer, but her soul had still somehow shown the scars and pockmarks of experiencing the same gifts as himself and Téana. She had absorbed his message like it was water after a long drought. Otog didn't know what to make of this, except to hope that somehow whatever Vision had kept him from Téana's mind had been the same one he'd Seen, and that she was already aware of the impending darkness headed to towards Egypt.
Otog Strange-Eyes rose and breathed deeply. He had to tell the Elders what he'd Seen. It would then be up to them how the tribe should proceed – whether they should stay where they were and await the return of Usi's party (and, they hoped, their lost seer and her 'kidnappers'), or whether they should break camp now and leave before it was too late.
He paused and looked up, imagining the stars peppering the sky above his tent. Be safe, Téana, he thought anxiously. Whatever you're doing and wherever you're going, be safe and trust in your gifts. I hope you find whatever it is you couldn't find here, and I hope you live long enough to enjoy it.
Hondo's eyes snapped open. His breathing was shallow and rapid, until he realised he wasn't under attack. Makalani's eyes peered down at him from between the folds of his howli; the headdress made from long folds of linen they each wore to protect their faces against the sand and wind. Tufts of dark hair poked out from Makalani's hastily wrapped howli, and Hondo found himself staring at these as his eyes became accustomed to the near-darkness.
"Time to rise," Makalani whispered.
"What? But it's barely dawn! There are still predators about, and the camels won't be fully rested from yesterday yet."
"Usi's orders. He wants to cover as much ground as possible before the heats of the day sets in. Watch out for snakes and scorpions. I found one only a handbreadth from my face when I woke up. Nearly soiled myself." He sniggered. "Uh, don't tell Usi I said that."
Hondo grumbled but sat up and busied himself with the breaking of their tiny camp. There wasn't much to do, since they were travelling so light, but with each task his heart became heavier. He faced yet another day of chasing the four runaways, with nothing but the prospect of disgrace if they didn't catch them, and the death of his best friend if they did. He and Joun were close as brothers, and it chafed Hondo like a badly fitting bridle that it had fallen to him to bring Joun back for execution. And for what crime? Caring for his sister? Not agreeing with the Elders' decision to murder her? Hondo liked Seren. She may not have been wife material, but she was kind and good. He always felt better about himself after talking with her, and her sorry plight was a constant reminder of why he should be grateful for his own blessings. She didn't deserve to be cast out simply because fate had dealt her a bad hand. And what of Maibe and Téana? What kind of punishment did they face when the Elders got hold of them? He shuddered to think, especially since he knew it was likely Maibe would be ritually scarred as punishment for running away, and Téana would probably be awarded to Usi as his wife for him bringing her back. Having heard Usi talk with theother men when drunk before, Hondo wondered whether death would be a prefereable option for her.
"Hondo." As if on cue Usi's deep baritone pierced the early morning air. Then Usi himself appeared, his broad shoulders and thick dark hair making him appear handsome until you saw his face. He had well-made features offset by heavy eyebrows, but there was no warmth or sincerity there. Hondo looked into Usi's eyes and saw nothing but arrogance with an undercurrent of malice staring back at him.
"Yes, sir?" Usi always insisted they call him sir to differentiate himself, the only one amongst them who had passed the Warrior Test.
Usi's voice was deceptively affable. "You know Joun better than any of us, don't you? You've been great friends since you were children, haven't you?"
"Um, yes sir," Hondo replied, wondering where he was going with this.
"Close as brothers. You must know his mind inside-out. What do you think would be his next logical move at this stage?"
Hondo hesitated. He desperately wanted to advance up the ranks of the tribe and become a full warrior. It was the best way to gain respect and prove himself a man. He and Joun had dreamed of the day when they passed the Test, and had made plans of how much they would eat and drink to celebrate. It was cruel and unfair that the only way Hondo would ever make their dream a reality for himself was to rob Joun of all his dreams. For a second Hondo wondered if he should lie to Usi. He could say Joun would be heading for the nearest oasis, or trying circle around, back towards the camp to throw off any pursuers. He could say anything he wanted and Usi wouldn't know the difference.
"Hondo?" Makalani cut in. Hondo looked helplessly at him. Makalani's dreams of passing the Warrior Test hinged on this as well. He'd done nothing to deserve the disgrace of failing.
Hondo sighed. I'm sorry Joun. Seren. I'm sorry Maibe and Téana. "He'd stick to the mountains to avoid leaving any tracks. That way they don't have to travel so fast and Seren won't be pushed to her limits too quickly, since they didn't take any pack animal for her to ride. She's both his greatest strength and his biggest weakness – she's what keeps him going, but what ultimately slows him down."
Usi nodded, apparently satisfied with this answer. He gave a small but fierce smile, and Hondo wondered whether he'd known the answer all along and just been testing him. "Then we follow your informed judgement until we find more tracks to guide us. Come now. The chase awaits."
Hondo moved off with a nauseous sensation in the pit of his stomach. He reminded himself how badly he wanted to become a full warrior, how Joun was the one who'd abandoned the tribe, how there could only be one consequence of that and how Joun must have know this when he made the decision to leave. Joun had brought this on himself – and on Seren, Maibe and Téana. He had. It was his own fault, not Hondo's. Hondo was in an impossible position and just trying to make the best of it. Why should he have to sacrifice everything he'd ever worked for just because Joun had done this at the last minute? Why should he have to pay just because Joun loved his sister enough to die for her?
Hondo hoped that if he said these things enough times they'd eventually block out the feeling that he'd betrayed his best friend and condemned him and his three travelling companions to death and fates far worse than that.
Fin.
I've always been the one to speak my mind,
Strove against the stream;
Take on the system or leave it behind
And you will find a new reality.
-- From Escape to the Stars by Cinema Bizarre
A/N: As far as possible I've tried to use genuine Egyptian names for the past-selves of existing characters. In addition to the characters from the two previous stories, in this fic we have Hondo (meaning 'war'), who's obviously Honda. We also have Usi (meaning 'smoke'), who is the past-self of Ushio, the crooked hall monitor who beat up Jounouchi and Honda, prompting Yuugi to defend them and thus starting their friendship. The third member of the hunting party is Makalani (meaning 'clerk'), which is a play on the dub name Mako Tsunami (Ryota Kajiki in the original Japanese version, though I have to say he's one of the few character whose dub name I actually prefer).
Reviews very much appreciated on this one, people! Seriously! I'm writing so very far outside my comfort zone with this stuff, so feedback is heartily encouraged.