Chapter 15 "Purple Flame"
As the sun rises, Samir sails across the dunes peacefully with his small sand surfer. He had passed Taliyah and the others about a day ago as the winds slowed down near the mountains. An unease dawned on him as he saw the sky was a bleak mix of red and an unnatural violet color that tainted the clouds in the distance. He knew he must have been getting close to the city of Belveth. He had seen Void attacks on small villages before, but nothing he knew about those had ever affected the weather. His skin grows pale as he wonders if coming out here was a bad idea, the fact that he saw no one was fleeing from the city perplexed him also as he assumed the darkness in the sky was smoke from the city being attacked. "AHHH!" Samir yelled as he swerved to avoid running over what he thought was a dead voidling, he was so caught up in looking at the clouds that he failed to look at the sand he was surfing on.
On a second look, he recognized that it was not a Voidling, but it was Kai'sa, face down in the sand unconscious. Samir came to an immediate stop as he jumped off his board and ran to go see if she was okay. "Hey… YO! You okay?" Samir said as he poked her shoulder… she remained still and unresponsive. Samir noticed a bad wound on her behind that was still bleeding slightly… "Kai'sa you need to get up!" He said again, this time shoving her to wake her up. Her suit chattered with a low rumble that increased in volume until it ended with a zap sound. Kai'sa snapped awake at her suits insisting, her head swiveled rapidly in a panic as she charged her weapons ready to fight whatever she had to to stay alive. Samir put his hands up in surrender showing he meant her no harm.
After what seemed like a long 5 seconds of Kai'sa panting heavily under her helmet, she finally lowered her weapons and removed her mask. "Sa… Samir… phew… where are the others?" Kai'sa asked, adrenaline still pounding through her system. " I passed them a little less than a day ago, I'm not sure how far they are behind me." Samir replied. "Thank goodness they are behind you… Belveth is gone, there is no saving it…uhg," Kai'sa replied as the pain from her wound she finally noticed. "Gone… how could it be just, gone!" Samir asked. Kai'sa didn't reply, instead she looked at Samir with a mild aggression, not wanting to explain. "That doesn't look so good, we need to get you to a village to see a healer," Samir said, deciding to not press the issue of the city. "Most Villages in this part of Shurima I'm not welcome, I'll be ok, we just need to get back to the others." Kai'sa replied as she stiffened her back and ignored the pain from her wound.
"Well, lets see if you can stand on my board with me, definitely would beat walking," Samir replied. "Sure thing lad," Kai'sa replied as she stepped onto the board. The two then used a large U-shaped dune to slide down and got momentum, turning around and heading back the way he had come from.
After a long three hours, the sun was now high in the sky and the desert was blistering hot as the winds that carried them slowed to a crawl. "Wooh Wooh!" Samir yelled as they lost balance and tumbled over breaking his small mast for the sail. "Well shit, guess we walking," Kai'sa said bluntly as she noticed his board broke on half. "Uuhg Not My Board!" Samir complained. "Why didn't you keep us straight?" Kai'sa asked aloofly. "Pft, there is no wind plus it was only made for one person anyway," he replied with a temper. "Fair enough, here let me help you," Kai'sa said as she offered her hand to help him stand to his feet. Samir accepted and pulled himself up with her help, "AAGH!.." Kai'sa let out a gasp of pain from putting weight on her injury.
"Isn't that supposed to heal super fast or something?" Samir asked as they started walking. "Normally yeah," Kai'sa replied coldly. "Well, why isn't it?" He asked. Kai'sa didn't answer, her mind scrambled as she knew nothing was normal about what had happened in Belveth, she really didn't want to talk about it, or even think about it. The survival instinct that had burned in her and kept her alive all these years now screamed one thing, RUN, she would want to run as far away from that monster that now took the name of Bel'Veth, but she knew she couldn't, not only was she unsure that there was any place she could run to be safe from Bel'Veth, but she now cared for someone. Should have stayed alone Kai'sa, she thought as she wished she wasn't attached emotionally to someone with oblivion seemingly inevitable. You don't mean that, she rebuked herself in her head as she realized the foolishness of her thoughts.
"Hey look, that must be them!" Samir said as he pointed at a blurry large figure in the distance. The heat rising off the sand made it hard to see what it was, "it could just be a mirage…" Kai'sa replied. "No I bet it's them, they probably just taking a break from the sun," he replied. "I definitely wouldn't blame them," Kai'sa said as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Hey, at least it's making you look like a real Shuriman again hehe," Samir joked as she had gotten a mild tan since traveling with Taliyah. Kai'sa didn't reply, but a small smile crossed her face from what he said, being considered from Shurima and not The Void she definitely approved of.
"You sure that's them," Kai'sa asked it was clear now that something was there but not clear what. "Yes that's them, the black part is the rock skiff and then you can see the mast there," Samir explained as the rock skiff started to come into view. Kai'sa then noticed a figure sitting on the rock that was wearing red garments, the person was still blurry from the heat distortion but it didn't matter, Kai'sa ignored the logic of saving energy in the heat and started jogging, excited to see Taliyah again. Kai'sa's jog came to a stop as she noticed that it wasn't Taliyah, but Kadira that was sitting on the skiff, "Oh hey there troublemaker!" Kadira teased. "Where's the others?" Kai'sa asked. "Down here!" Taliyah said from under the skiff where they had dug a small ditch to be out of the heat. "Taliyah!..." Kai'sa crawled under the skiff and into the ditch where they all were either sitting or laying down, doing everything that could to conserve energy.
"Kai'sa, you're here," Taliyah said, her voice expressing relief but also broken with exhaustion. "Why did you let her push herself this hard?" Kai'sa asked Zaifa with a displeased look on her face. "I told her she needed to rest," Zaifa replied. "I'm fine Kai, it's just this heat." Taliyah responded while laying down. "Bullshit, you look a inch from heat stroke!" Kai'sa replied. "Well sorry, I'm not used to carrying this many people," Taliyah said. "This was a bad Idea, this was all a bad idea…" Kai'sa muttered as she shook her head. "What part was a bad Idea? Crossing the desert in mid-day… I coulda told ya that." Otto replied. "Cough cough… I'll be okay, we just need some rest… how is the city Kai?" Taliyah asked, her tone clearly trying to fake having energy she didn't have.
"We are not going there," Kai'sa said with a harshness in her attitude. "What, whhy? What happened there," Taliyah replied, as she sat up, concerned with what Kai'sa said. Kai'sa stood still a moment not replying as she leaned her forehead onto her own hand that was leaned against the side of the ditch. "I… I was too late… there's nothing left…" Kai'sa finally answered sternly. "What, No NO I DON'T BELIEVE THAT, It's one thing for a small town like Xolan to disappear, but there has to be someone that survived from a city of tens of thousands!" Taliyah challenged, her passion giving her strength to get to her feet.
"I mean, there was some people I helped, several hundred… but then I was knocked out unconscious while fighting, by the time I came to everyone was gone, I don't know if any made it out or not," Kai'sa explained. "We have to go back there and make sure, Voidborn leave a place after devouring it so it should be safe," Taliyah said. "NOOO, WE MUST NEVER GO BACK THERE," Kai'sa yelled, everyone froze for a second, the fear in Kai'sa's voice when she said it all could feel. What could make her so afraid, Taliyah thought. "We need to at least… at…" Taliyah struggled to remember what she was gonna say as her momentarily energy quickly faded. THUD… Taliyah fell over into the dirt passes out.
"Shit… I gotta go get her some help…or at least some supplies!" Kai'sa said as she bent down and picked Taliyah up in her arms "ahh" Kai'sa tried to muffle the feeling of her own injury as the weight of Taliyah made it hurt more. "Wha, where are you going!" Zaifa questioned. "There's a lair I used to use that has some supplies, I'll come back when I can." Kai'sa replied. "Well why don't we all go there then?" Tai asked. "It's not safe, there is a rift close by it, a party of a bunch of people might awaken the Voidlings below, she needs to get out of this heat now, you all don't…" Kai'sa replied.
"Then what should we do, just sit out here in the desert," Samir asked. "You could do that, or you could head north to the nearest village, there should be one along the river, easily can be done on foot… but you probably will want to wait for nightfall," Kai'sa replied as she stiffened her back and started walking east. "Kai'sa…" Kadira said. Kai'sa paused and turned her head slightly to hear what she had to say, "please keep her safe okay," Kadira asked. Kai'sa replied with a simple nood affirmatively as she continued walking away from them.
"Welp, guess we minds will get some rest, we got a long walk tonight," Tai said as he laid down. "This was stupid coming out here," Samir said. "I can agree with that," Kadira replied. "I also agree, I DIDN'T GET TO BLOW ANYTHING UP!" Otto complained. "We were doing what we thought was right, to help save people," Zaifa replied. "Doesn't look like we are doing much saving, stuck out here in the desert," Tai said. "That's a fact, anyway I'm gonna get some shut eye, wake me when the sun is down," Kadira finished.
About an hour later Kai'sa steps off the last dune and onto the hard rocky ground of the canyon plains. Her second skin is still strong at this point allowing her to continue to carry Taliyah without fatigue. However her wound on her butt continued to burn with pain, why her suit isn't healing it perplexed her. She looked down at Taliyah's face and noticed her lips cracking in the heat of the sun. She also noticed that even though she felt fine herself, she had stopped sweating the last few miles, which wasn't a good sign. "Shit" Kai'sa said to herself as she knew a answer to their problem, but didn't like it. Close by there was a crack in the terrain about a half a mile away. The bottom of the crack leads to part of the subterranean world that lurked beneath all of Shurima, mazes and mazes of tunnels carved out by Voidborn. A subterranean world that she knew better than the surface world, but the danger down there was still real, especially when she was having to carry a passed out Taliyah.
Kai'sa stood still and looked across the barren land, up here, it was just a matter of could she make it across in time, down there she was sure it was cool and had water she could find, but whether or not it was empty or was filled with hoards of Voidspawn was anyone's guess, plus there was the every present fear that all these tunnels were connected to Bel'veth's so called Lavender Sea now. "Phew…" she took a deep breath as she decided that she had to descend into the scar. The edge was sharp, too sharp to climb down, "hold on, it will be okay," Kai'sa said, not sure if she was listening. Kai'sa then slid down the canyon wall which after about 60 feet of sliding turned into a 20 foot 90% drop, "Woah!" Kai'sa said, though she was able to land firmly on her feet, her suit absorbing the impact of the large fall.
"Mmmhm, what's going on…" Taliyah quietly muttered, though it wasn't clear if she was still unconscious or not because her eyes were still shut. Kai'sa looks down at her face for a moment, trying to decide if she should reply or let her rest. Kai'sa looked ahead into the tunnel that quickly became black as night. The tunnel seemed empty with an eerie peaceful quiet that made her particularly uncomfortable. Kai'sa decided to snap her helmet shut so she could see in the dark with her thermal vision as she started walking forward into the darkness. "Phew…" Kai'sa painted, as her and her second skin were starting to grow tired from carrying Taliyah in her arms.
About Thirty minutes later…
"Mmhm, wha, ahh!" Taliyah snapped awake, frightened by the complete darkness around her except for the hints of violet light coming from Kai'sa's suit. "Shhhh shh shhh! You're okay," Kai'sa replied, trying to keep her quiet. "Wha, where are we? Put me down please!" Taliyah said as she struggled free as Kai'sa set her feet down on the ground. "Taliyah, you need to relax! Panic is fatal down here," Kai'sa said. "Where is down here?" Taliyah asked. "These are the tunnels that run beneath most of Shurima, just like the ones you pulled me from when we first met." Kai'sa explained. "Why would you take me down here?" Taliyah question. "I had to, it was to hot up there," Kai'sa replied. "I was raised in the burning heat of the desert, I was fine!" Taliyah replied. "No you weren't okay, I've come across a few people wondering across the desert with heat stroke before and you were close to that," Kai'sa explained. "Pffft" Taliyah replied, brushing it off not really believing what Kai'sa said.
Kai'sa ignited her hand with a purple flame for light so they could see as she removed her helmet. "So where to now," Taliyah asked, slightly calmed by the light. "If this the tunnel I think it is… there should be a underground lake it passes by here soon," Kai'sa replied. "You think…" Taliyah teased. "Well they all do kinda look similar, these tunnels," Kai'sa said. "Soo… what happened in Belveth, is the city alright?" Taliyah asked. "I already told you, I was too late, you don't remember that?" Kai'sa replied bluntly, not wanting to talk about the subject. "Oh… yes…sorta, my head feels kinda foggy," Taliyah said. "Here, let me carry you again till we get you some water," Kai'sa said as she bent down to scoop up Taliyah. "No no, I can walk fine!" Taliyah exclaimed. "Taliyah… I'M NOT ASKING…" Kai'sa said strongly, but not in a rude manner.
The passion she spoke with Taliyah found rather weakening, as she finally yielded and let her pick her up again. Taliyah looked away to hide her blush as she bit her lip while Kai'sa hoisted her into her arms, she could definitely tell she meant a lot to the Void Hunter, and even though she didn't show it much, Taliyah found it really endearing when she did. "Mmhp" Kai'sa slipped out as her wound started hurting again from the weight she was carrying. "Wha, Kai, You're hurt! Why are you hurt?!" Taliyah exclaimed as she leaned over and saw the wound on Kai'sa's behind. "I got stabbed, I've had worse, I'll be okay…" Kai'sa replied. "But that doesn't look like a normal wound," Taliyah replied as she saw that the wound glowed with a blueish color differing from the rest of her purple suit. "It looks, infected…" Taliyah said. "We can worry about me later, nothing we can do about whatever is wrong with me," Kai'sa replied firmly. "But…" "But Nothing!" Kai'sa cut her off and continued walking. "Here, where at the lake," Kai'sa said after about 30 minutes past. She then gently set her down on the ground, Taliyah at first couldn't see anything, her eyes being not adjusted from having the flame Kai'sa held close to her face.
After about a minute, the full scale of the underground lake came into view as Taliyah saw it span at least 300 yards across. The water was still as can be as it appeared to have a smooth mirror finish. "It's almost a shame to disturb it," Taliyah said, not wanting to make any ripples on the lake. "What do you mean?" Kai'sa questioned. "How beautiful and still the water is," Taliyah replied as she gently scooped up some water to drink. "I never thought about it that way, never a good idea to linger anywhere down here," Kai'sa explained as she walked into the lake which quickly got shoulder deep. The move shocked Taliyah abit, as the tiny ripples she made from drinking were completely overshadowed by Kai'sa washing her hair in the lake.
"Is the water safe?" Taliyah asked, unsure of what lurked down in these caverns. "For the moment it should be, the Voidborn are either hunting or dormant, no in-between. Since there has been nothing left alive down here for a while, the Voidborn rarely pass by, unless something rings the dinner bell." Kai'sa said while washing her hair gently as to not make a lot of noise. "Phew, my head is finally starting to feel better," Taliyah said as she crossed her legs and sat down. She looked over the massive cavern her eyes studying the little bits of purple light the lit the walls sporadically as the only other light in this place was the intricate glowings from Kai'sa's parasite, "this place is…" "Wierd?" Kai'sa said, assuming she knew what Taliyah was going to say.
"Oddly Beautiful," Taliyah corrected. "Hmm, danger often is beautiful for some strange reason, like how the pretty snakes are the deadly ones," Kai'sa said. "Or like you," Taliyah said with a small teasing smile that hinted affection. "Oookay…that's too corny a flirt for my tastes," Kai'sa replied with a small chuckle. Taliyah laughed also as she realized it's was a little cheesy, "shhhh! We still need to be quiet down here," Kai'sa said as Taliyah laughed a little too loud for her comfort. "You done?" Taliyah asked as Kai'sa stepped out of the water, her hair a absolute mess as a lot of it hung over her face. "Yeah I'm done, you ready to go?" Kai'sa replied. "But, your hair is a absolutely travesty," Taliyah replied as she stood up and brushed it off her face.
"It's okay, it will dry as we walk," Kai'sa said. "No no no, here…" Taliyah replied as she ripped a small piece of red cloth from one of her clothes and placed it in her mouth as she combed Kai'sa's hair back with both hands. This action brought a soothing feeling that Kai'sa hadn't felt in a long long time as foggy memories of her mother brushing her hair she recalled. "Just be patient with me for a minute, it's really tangled up." Taliyah spoke softly as she continued to knead all the knots from Kai'sa's hair, Taliyah noticed that Kai'sa was leaning into her hands with every brush like a cat that needed a scratch, she clearly was really enjoying it even though Kai'sa wouldn't say anything to imply such a thing. Finally Taliyah brushed Kai'sa's hair into a finished ponytail and took the piece of red cloth from her mouth and tied her hair up. "There, I bet that feels better," Taliyah said as she gave an expression like to say I told you so.
Kai'sa paused for a moment as she looked at herself in the reflection of the water, "yeah, it does, thank you." Kai'sa finally admitted. "So where to now?" Taliyah asked. "There's a little, lair of mine I used to use about a mile ahead," Kai'sa said as re-lit a flame in her hand to give them some light while walking. "HHUUUH, You have a lair!?" Taliyah said with giddy excitement. "Oh please stop, it's a hole in the wall with supplies," Kai'sa snapped back. "Still, I wish I had a lair, hehe" Taliyah replied. "What are you ten?" Kai'sa teased back. "What, do you have no sense of humor?" Taliyah teased. "I do, it's called y…" Kai'sa froze as she felt a unsettling tingling sensation rippled throughout her second skin. "It's called what?" Taliyah asked as she turned around and finally noticed that Kai'sa had stopped moving.
Instinctively Taliyah followed suit and stopped moving as well as her eyes studied Kai'sa's face to try and get a reading on what she was sensing, "don't… move…" Kai'sa quietly said. "W ha t… is it…" Taliyah asked as quietly as she could. "Something big, and very close," Kai'sa replied as her suit amplified the biosignals coming from something very large, she could hear the strange purring of energy "it's definitely a voidborn…" focusing deeper she could feel the pounding of a strange heart and… breathing. "It's it under us, above us?" Taliyah asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice. "It's underground probably, it would have noticed this flame if it wasn't," Kai'sa replied. "So we walk out of here slowly?" Taliyah asked. "Ye…" Kai'sa's words were interrupted as she sensed something else, a foreign breeze that caused the flame to flicker a bit. Kai'sa looked closer at the flame she held and noticed the breeze had a rhythm to it, a breath…
"LOOK OUT!" Kai'sa screamed as she grabbed Taliyah's arm with lightning speed and pulled her aside as she snapped her helmet shut. A massive impact lands right where Taliyah was standing a moment ago though she still can't see what caused it. Kai'sa charges up and fires a powerful double blast from her cannons, the blast explores, its shockwave rippling across the surface of the screaming Voidborn horror that was camouflaged in front of them. Taliyah's eyes widened as she saw the beast in its full form as it dropped its invisibility, it's head neck was long and slender, but do to its massive size slender was relative, it's neck and strange head with three eyes were still the size of a full grown crocodile, and its body reminded her of a dragon with no wings, the flesh of the beast had a strange rotten texture to it, and on the side of its neck were many smaller heads sprouting off like cactus limbs. The beast took a deep breath as it challenged them, "GET BACK!" Kai'sa yelled as she shoved Taliyah so hard that it sent her flying some ten feet into the air landing her into the lake as the beast let out its breath as a searing purple flame. Kai'sa was shaken by the attack, she was sure it was going to hurt, but as the flame passed she remained unharmed, protected by her suit.
Kai'sa leaped forward from her defensive stance as soon as the fire stopped, unleashing a barrage of blasts and missiles all targeting the beast's head. The horror shrieked in pain as it swung its tail to break her attacks. Kai'sa quickly dashed behind the beast and continued pummeling it with everything she had. "Kai!" Taliyah exclaimed, her voice muffled by the water that she was struggling to stay above, she really didn't want to distract Kai'sa who was clearly fighting for her life, but fear quickly set in as the memories of being thrown into the sea by the Noxian captain filled her mind as she gasped to stay above the water once again…
"COME ON!" Kai'sa yelled in frustration as she challenged the beast to attack her with its full force instead of hesitating like it was. Finally the beast lounged after her, Kai'sa jumped over its jaws and landed on the back of its head. She outstretched her hand to fire a blast into the back of the horrors main head, to Kai'sa's surprise, a razor sharp tentacle shot out from her hand piercing right through the beast's head. She had never seen anything like that before from her second skin, it shocked her as blood from the beast splattered all over her helmet. Straight away, she felt the suit's hunger and began draining the Void energy from the beast, Kai'sa braced for the pain the usual incurred from her second skin feeding but strangely, she felt none. A strange euphoria came over Kai'sa as she lost focus of what she was doing, by the time her mind cleared, the beast was dead, hollowed out of all power. Kai'sa took a moment to try and understand what she had just done as the tentacle retracted back into the suit. She had devoured a massive amount of Void energy, yet she felt great, and her suit seemed to fade into a more blueish color, resembling a purple-blueish mother-of-pearl look.
Kai'sa snapped out of her self examination as she opened her helmet and looked for Taliyah, "Taliyah!" Kai'sa yelled as she remembered where she had pushed her. Kai'sa dove off of the dead beast into the lake where she saw Taliyah sinking to the bottom, she swam as fast as she could, grabbing Taliyah by her shoulders and pulling her up to the surface. "HUH, cough cough" Taliyah snapped awake, spitting out a good amount of water as she tried to catch her breath. Kai'sa quickly swam back to the shore of the lake, keeping Taliyah lifted out of the water while Kai'sa paddled with her feet until the water was shallow enough to stand up and drag Taliyah onto dry ground. "I, I'm soo sorry! I didn't know you couldn't swim," Kai'sa said, her voice trembling with guilt. "Its, ok.." Taliyah responded, her breath extremely weak as she continued to take deep breaths to try and recover. Not knowing what else she could say or do, Kai'sa gently took one of Taliyah's hands and held it between both of her hands as she leaned her forehead over.
The whole situation was way too close to a call with danger, both the beast that she had to kill, and then Taliyah almost drowning. "What happened to your…" Taliyah asked as she pointed to Kai'sa's second skin, noticing the color change. "I don't know, it, doesn't matter now…. I need to get you to safety," Kai'sa replied as she knelt down to scoop Taliyah back into her arms. "Safety, is there such a thing anymore…" Taliyah replied with a weak giggle as she leaned her head into Kai'sa's shoulder. The words she said hurt Kai'sa because she feared them true with what… who, she saw in Belveth. Kai'sa looked down to her wound, it didn't hurt anymore with her body feeling invigorated, but the wound clearly wasn't healing, but instead held a glowing bluish mass that seemed to be either infecting or merging with her symbiote, she wasn't sure. Maybe the second skin is just adapting to the different type of void we faced, Kai'sa thought optimistically. Though she realized that it could also be some kind of poison Bel'Veth stabbed her with.
It served Kai'sa nothing thinking about it now, instead she pushed forward as she saw the stairs leading up from the Void caverns was insight ahead. "What are stairs doing to this place?" Taliyah asked quietly. "There used to be some kinda tombs down here, they go deeper, but the Void tunnels buried the entrance to them," Kai'sa explained as she started walking up the stone stairs that were cut into the side of the scar in the earth. "What's down?" Taliyah asked as she noticed that the scar plunged much deeper than the tunnel they had been walking in. "Hundreds of creatures like the one I just killed are down there, you don't want to fall," Kai'sa replied as she continued walking up the stairs.
About twenty minutes later still some 50 feet from the surface, a small room appeared on the side of the stairs, "here it is," Kai'sa said as she brought Taliyah inside and set her on her feet. "Huh, this," Taliyah said as she looked around the small room, a pile of furs lay on the ground as a makeshift bed, a relatively fancy mirror leans against the wall, several soaps and unlit candles and a stone bowl all sit on the ground in front of the mirror while a bunch of pottery filled with supplies was stacked against the other wall. "It's not much, but no one comes here, so I don't think any of the supplies have been touched," Kai'sa explained. "What are you talking about, this is incredible! Where do you get all this stuff?" Taliyah asked. "When people run from the Xer'sai they often trash everything from their caravans that they don't need to survive, and some, don't even make it still… so anyway you can find a lotta stuff out there in this desert." Kai'sa explained.
Taliyah made her way over to the wall of supplies and peeked through them for a bit as Kai'sa took an old rag that was on the floor and wiped the sweat off her face with it. "Here! For you" Taliyah said as she offered a glass of preserved peaches to her. "Thanks, but I was kinda wanting to save those, don't find them so often," Kai'sa replied. "You don't need to save anything, I'll buy you all the peaches you want!" Taliyah said laughing and then insisting that she take the glass jar. Kai'sa finally yelled and accepted them, "Thank you Taliyah," Kai'sa replied. "We need to get some rest, we are going to have to meet up with your friends tomorrow." Kai'sa added. "Okay, let me just find something to eat here then I'll go to bed," Taliyah said. "You can have the bed," Kai'sa replied. "Are you sure? There room for us both," Taliyah asked. "Yes, I'm sure," Kai'sa said.
The two sat and enjoyed some food, not saying much as Taliyah could tell Kai'sa was not in the mood for chit chat. They pulled out a small animal fat candle and lit for heat as they enjoyed the relative peacefulness of the moment. Taliyah wanted to do something to break the ice and get Kai'sa to express what she was feeling, thinking, or anything, but Kai'sa did nothing besides occasionally smile at her. For now that would be enough for Taliyah as she was sure that Kai'sa needed to work on her communication skills, but at least a smile means she's happy, and that makes me happy, Taliyah thought.