A/N: Thanks to ishotsherlock, crowned tiger and csiaddict2 for reviewing last chapter! Hope everyone reading likes the chapter!
Sara had sent Rhea to brief the entire group of their new plan of action - travelling to visit Mefina the Wise Woman to see if they could restore Rain's power. She, Warrick and Catherine were all crouched over a projection of a map that Sara had produced. Warrick's finger was hovering over an invisible line through a dark patch of the map whose terrain markings showed heavy rockery.
"This is the shortest route." he was saying, letting his finger skim the surface of the projection.
"It feels wrong." Catherine shook her head and traced another route around the dark area "This looks better."
"It will add two days on to our trip." he argued "That's two days we don't need."
"Warrick, I can feel that there's something honestly not...right with that place."
"Catherine..."
"No, she's right." Sara said, fingering a spot within the dark patch cautiously, though almost longingly "Protectors have an instinctual feel for a place, even if it's just by name. Even if she can't explain it, she's going to be partially right every time, just because of who she is." Catherine nodded her thanks.
"So you're saying we should tack two days on to our trip that we could avoid."
"Not at all. I was just explaining why we need to take Catherine's intuition in to account."
"So, you agree with Warrick?" Catherine asked accusatorily.
"I think that this is a decision you two are going to have to come up with on your own. I trust you both to pass good judgement and keep us safe."
"Thank you." Warrick said soberly with Catherine nodding fervently beside him.
"It's time that somebody other than Rhea and I took the reins in some of these decisions," she continued "If we are ever incapacitated or...otherwise...then someone else will need to take control, and you two will make a good team. Warrick, just be sure to listen to Catherine's intuition, and Catherine, remember that Warrick is a warrior, and even if you feel wary about something, we will have protection. Come see me when you have a decision and we'll make the preparations."
"What is she thinking?" Catherine said as soon as Sara was out of earshot. "This is too complex for just us to decide. She could do it herself, or give it to the other, more experienced warriors."
"I understand her reasoning." Warrick murmured, looking back to the map and tracing other possible routes with his finger. "Can you come mark a starting point for me?"
"Sure." She placed her finger on the spot that he indicated and watched him work "So what is her reasoning then, if you know what she's thinking?"
"I don't know what she's thinking, but I know where she's coming from. If she were to be...unable to lead, then she would need someone else to take her place without thinking. Warriors do it all the time; it's one of the first things I learned - never have a new leader out of sight."
"Yeah, but why us?"
"I don't understand that. Maybe she trusts us." he took her arm gently and placed a finger on another point on the map. She smiled and looked down to where she was pointing.
"So what route are you looking at now?"
"I'm seeing if we can go around somehow through here," he guided her hand over a light blue area "but it would add unnecessary time to our trip."
"How about through this forest?"
"No good. That darker area there is a cliff. We wouldn't know how to navigate down until we get there, and if we find that there's no way down..."
"Okay."
"Tell me about this feeling of yours." Gently taking her hand in his, he let it hover over the dark area.
"You are aware that it hurts me a little, right?" she tensed
"It'll only be for a second."
"Alright. If it'll help." she sighed and drew both their hands downwards so they passed through the map. Connected to Catherine, Warrick's hand stung for a moment before she let him go.
"You alright?"
"Fine. Now, as for the feeling...it's hard to explain. It feels like somebody is applying a very slow, intense pressure to your stomach when something's wrong. Almost like being punched in slow motion with warning alarms screaming in your brain."
"And when something is good?"
"It's like feeling every single happy experienced in your life, only amplified by a thousand. You wouldn't even believe how...magnificent it is." Warrick grinned at her shining eyes and glowing face.
"Well, taking this feeling of yours into consideration, how do you want to go?"
"Do you think that if anything happened that we could be protected?"
"Well...by myself I can cover two without a problem, probably three or four if I were pushed. Sara could probably cover...four...maybe five without breaking a sweat,"
"I can cover Greg...and maybe one more."
"And I don't know how many Nick can take."
"So, just with us, that's...eight or nine on a regular basis and seventeen under duress."
"So we should be able to take maybe...ten with us if we were anticipating danger."
"You want to do that? Take the black route with ten or twelve and send everyone..."
"Along the pink route?"
"Seems to be the shortest route other than the black one."
"It'll add a day..."
"I'll take it." she said quickly with a small, triumphant smile, snapping her fingers and closing the projection of the map.
"I think we're on our way to becoming fine leaders." he said with a smile
"Careful, that could be considered treason." Catherine's voice was low and right next to his ear. Warrick shivered at her tone, and she laughed. "Kidding. Come on, we have people to tell."
-------
Sara proved to be more difficult to find than either of them would have thought, and the sun was hanging low in the sky before they came across her. She was seated in the midst of a group of Rhea's warriors, eating something cark pink that looked like a vegetable, though neither of them could tell.
"You're a hard woman to find." Catherine said in greeting, sitting down beside Sara.
"You two found something already?"
"We found something a couple of hours ago, but you weren't here." Warrick said flatly.
"Sorry. I didn't expect you to work so quickly, so I left with these guys." She gestured to the men and women who were currently keeping them company.
"Go anywhere interesting?"
"Patrol interesting to you?" She speared something else with the blade of her knife and popped it into her mouth. With a wave of her hand, the map-projection opened up again in front of them and she pointed to it. "Show me."
"Well," Catherine stood and traced their first route - the black one that felt wrong - with the tip of her finger. "We figure that we can get about...ten people safely through this route."
"And," Warrick pointed to the pink route "The rest around this one."
"Sounds good..." Sara measured the scale with her fingers and put it roughly along both routes "Pink one's longer?"
"Yes. But only by about a day...roughly."
"And the alternatives?"
"Taking the whole group through the black area," Catherine replied "which feels wrong to me. Or we could all take the pink one, which would add unnecessary time to our trip and possibly give the rebels a chance to catch up with our group and cause damage." Sara studied the map for a moment before nodding.
"Good solution. Tell everyone the plan."
"Who's going where?"
"You, Catherine, Greg, Grissom, Nick, Jordan, Our Captive and I will all go to Torr..." she stopped the sentence and regrouped her thoughts "...through the black route. The rest will go with Rhea by way of the pink."
"We can take more." Warrick suggested "Even up the groups a bit..."
"The groups are fine as they are." Sara said vaguely, clearly dismissing them with an almost regal wave of her hand. Catherine stood straighter and bristled, not taking kindly to being treated as unequal. Before she could utter a word, Warrick placed a hand on her arm and shook his head softly. Something about his expression - forceful and commanding yet soft - made her stop and nod back, silently agreeing to leave with him and let Sara be.
"What was that about?" she asked in a whisper "She has no right to treat us like we are servants here do to her bidding."
"There was something wrong, Cath." Warrick replied in the same low voice "Maybe it has something to do with your 'feeling' about the route we're taking, or maybe it has something to do with her patrol, but either way, it would do more harm than good to get in an argument with her right now."
"When did you become so perceptive." Catherine let out a resigned sigh.
"Comes with the territory." he shrugged and led her away.
-------
"You sure you don't want more of us?" Rhea asked Sara for what had to be the tenth time.
"I'm positive." They were standing at the point where two trails split. One led to the black route, and one to the pink. Sara kept glancing anxiously down the path to their route, looking up at the darkening sky and back.
"So we'll meet at Mefina's on the other side?"
"Yes, if we don't find you first."
"We'll stick to main routes as much as we can." Rhea nodded her agreement "See you in a couple days."
"Good luck to you, Rhea." Sara saluted her with a formal half-bow.
"And to you." Rhea mirrored the gesture. They nodded once to one another, signifying split leadership in a subtle gesture as old as their world, though they expected few others to recognize it.
As they parted, a sense of heightened responsibility seemed to settle on the shoulders of every member of Sara's group, recognizing that they were each required to take on a larger role than they had now that their numbers were smaller. As Rhea and her group travelled further and further out of sight, it seemed to sink in that they were now more alone than they had ever been in this land - still strange and partially foreign to most of them. It didn't help at all that Sara's mind seemed to be somewhere else. Her eyes darted around them as if she expected something to pop out of the forest at any time. As it got darker, she strangely seemed to get calmer and more agitated at the same time. It did nothing to comfort those of her group who were apprehensive about their travels and uncomfortable in the pitch black of the night. Finally, to the general delight of all who were with her, they saw a lightening in the sky on the horizon. As they all relaxed, Sara stiffened.
"That, in the distance, where it's more grey, is where our route begins." She explained in a tight voice "Despite what you may think, it will not be easy, and will not be in any way more reassuring than making this trip towards it. Though there may be more light, the things you will see will be with you long after we leave them. Keep that in mind as you relax, and never let your guard down, for you never know what may be lurking in the shadows, watching, waiting, ready to come out." She left them on that dark note and moved ahead, separating herself from the group as she continued to lead them forwards, ever closer to the unknown land that now looked far more sinister than it had a moment before.
An immeasurable distance passed beneath their feet as they followed Sara along the worn dirt path. The lightening in the horizon was getting closer and closer, lighting up the leaves of trees slowly as they approached. The trees themselves - in fact all of the greenery - didn't look sinister at all. In fact, despite Sara's warning, they were all relaxing more and more as they passed leaf after leaf, waving gently in the wind in a dance of red, green and orange. They autumnal colours were contradicted by the warm wind blowing down the path, gently guiding them towards the horizon. Every time the wind blew, it brought with it a comforting, fresh scent that was different every time. It blew vanilla, cinnamon, rain, lemon, wood, hay, summer...all scents familiar to the team, Jordan and even Akona. Each of them breathed in every time the sweet smelling breeze passed them, making them slowly more docile and calm, more relaxed and friendly. As an unlikely sun burst over a ridge they had just walked over, it cast an ethereal light on everything below, and the entire group, save for one, gasped in awe.
They were standing on a hill overlooking a beautiful meadow. The long, lush green grass blew softly in the sweet smelling wind, that, as they descended, blew the soft, innocent scent of wildflowers softly towards them all. The scent, along with the warm summery wind, wrapped around them and caressed them all. In turn, without even realizing, they each closed their eyes in sheer joy and serenity, allowing their hands to drop and run through the long grass, or bend down and pick a brightly coloured flower from the ground. The sun warmed their faces, the breeze softened their demeanour and the sight made them feel safe. All except for Sara. She was shrouded in a cover of black mist, blocking out the sun and, when they caught a glance through, all of the gorgeous sights before them. Her mood was equally as dark, and still tight. Every time she heard somebody sigh happily behind her, or the wind whispering through the grass, she would stiffen and her scowl would deepen.
Then, as they neared the start of the route, she inexplicably started to relax. As they left the beautiful meadow behind them, the wind turned cold and cut through their clothes like a knife. The sweet, comforting scents disappeared and were replaced a damp, musty scent. Every chilling gust blew away some of the dark mist shrouding Sara, and her facial expression relaxed as she saw where they were, though logically she should have been getting tenser, as were the rest of her group. Even Nick, in his strongest, most fearless form felt uncomfortable. When they passed the border into their allotted route, they could all tell. A wave of something unidentifiable passed over them, making them all stiffen and look around in concern. What they found as their eyes passed over the terrain was that their concern was warranted.
The sky - blue and sunny only minutes before - was grey and cloudy. The musty smell clung to the damp, heavy air and hung around them like gaseous lead. As predicted on the map, the ground was covered in rocks and boulders of all sizes, and any vegetation that managed to sprout up in the infertile soil between the rocks was either brown or grey and clearly decaying. After the beautiful lush field they had grown accustomed to, this was a shock to say the least. Sara, though not completely at ease, was smiling tightly.
"This," she explained "is why I blocked the meadow. It makes it worse in the long run."
"What is this place?" Greg asked, his mouth agape as he took in his surroundings.
"This," Sara's tone darkened, bringing upon them a sense of foreboding "is Torrenta."
A/N: Please R&R!