Short chapter this time, life still playing us around. Until the next one's ready, enjoy.
This time the return to consciousness was somewhat less traumatic, Aikane stirring and finding her headache had abated in the hours she'd been out cold for. It seemed considerably less wet this time too, and as she cautiously opened her eyes and sat up, she took in her surroundings for the first time.
She found herself in a tiny, dingy cell, thick stone walls surrounding her, while an ominously solid door stood in the corner. What little light there was was coming in through a tiny barred window, Aikane hesitantly stretched, peering up at it. She noticed two bowls by the door, one containing a cupful of stale, brackish smelling water, the other something Aikane chose not to try and identify. There was a ragged blanket beside her, and she suddenly noticed that the water that had been there earlier had somehow been drained away. She shakily tried to get to her feet, using the wall to brace herself as she finally managed to rise. She ran her hands along the smooth walls, searching - though she already suspected that it was fruitless - for a flaw or crack of some kind that she could use to escape - or even just gain a hint as to where she was. Her fingers hit a rough patch and she looked down to find some scratches, scratches that looked as though they'd been carved out by somebody. She bent down to get a better look, twisting so she didn't block what little light came in - and saw that something that looked like a name and a date had been carved into the rock. Using her fingers as well as her eyes, she slowly made out the date - almost 300 years earlier - and then the name.
"Raigi?" she wondered out loud, peering at the name again. "Well whoever you are, I hope you got out of here,"
Expecting no reply, she turned back to peer up at the tiny window. She considered it for a moment and wondered, measuring it against herself. It would be a tight fit, she decided, but in a pinch, she could probably make it and spirits only knew that she was in something of a pinch. She was about to pull herself up to get a good look out but froze when she heard heavy footsteps from the other side of the wall. She waited for them to stop outside the window, but they continued on until they faded into nothing.
"Should have thought of that," Aikane muttered, leaning against the wall and sliding down to sit on the floor. She waited, listening intently for the footsteps again. Three minutes passed before another, slightly different set of footsteps went by. She kept waiting, and counting until what she thought was the original pair of footsteps passed again. She would check a few more times, she thought, but it seemed as though there might just be enough time between the patrols to make an attempt at escape.
xXx
"That's the last of it,"
"Hm?"
Gali nodded towards where Onua and Pohatu were hefting a couple of large sacks.
"The last of the supplies. Soon as the tide turns, we can be on our way,"
"That's good," was Reshana's absent reply as she kept turning to look down the path.
"She'll be okay," Gali said, following her gaze. A faint grin crossed her mask as she added;
"Or is it Nokama you're more worried about?
"What?" Reshana asked, startled, then chuckled reluctantly. "What?" Reshana asked, startled, then chuckled reluctantly. "Perhaps? Though I am sure Nokama is more than capable of taking care of herself,"
"Oh, you have no idea," Gali said reminiscently. "She'll take good care of Solis though,"
"You think she will stay?"
"I think she might be needed here. If we weren't so desperate to get Aikane back I'd say that we should leave more…"
She trailed off, realising that continuing to voice what she thought would probably not reassure her worried companion in the slightest. It didn't seem as though Reshana had picked up on her awkward trailing off, so she continued.
"It'll be good to have one of us here anyway, there are a few people I don't trust alone for more than a day,"
Reshana glanced at her with a slightly concerned look.
"Should I ask?"
"You have met Matau, yes?"
"What about Matau?"
Both Toa of Water looked over as Nokama re-entered the garden, Solisha trailing behind her looking somewhat sheepish. "Just speculating on how much trouble'll go on while we're not here,"
"Not on my watch," Nokama muttered under her breath as she gave Solisha a gentle shove into the garden. She motioned for Gali to follow her into the house, then shook her head as Solis and Reshana made to follow.
"You two should talk," she said, glancing back to Solis as she added. "And then go find your closefriend and talk to him, before he causes any more trouble,"
xXx
"…the annoying thing is, he probably has gotten himself into trouble," Reshana muttered as they headed down the street.
"…he does that a lot?" Solis asked hesitantly. Reshana glanced at her in confusion for a second, then winced.
"I…spirits, I just keep forgetting that you…" she muttered, then sighed. "Uh, yeah, a little. Only now I guess, he's big enough to get into real trouble. Before, Shenu could just kinda…put him out of the way,"
"Put him out of the way?" Solis choked, somewhere between laughter and horror. "What, up a tree or something?"
"Uh sort of…I think this is one of those things Malie is just going to have to tell you about himself," Reshana replied, grinning back.
"Oh, you should be,"
The sisters turned to face a smirking Sheranu and a strangely abashed looking Malie.
"You loud-lose your temper one time… he signed half heartedly.
"He says one time,"
Malie raised his hands to reply, but Sheranu was too quick for him. He grabbed his brother by his shoulder, and in the same motion, seized Solis and turned them to face each other.
"I think-guess you two-pair have some things-stuff to discuss,"
"Apparently we do," Solis muttered, grabbing her closefriend's hand and dragging him off. Sheranu looked at Reshana who shrugged, "I'd forgotten how much that protective streak of his annoyed her," she said, leaning tiredly against the wall.
"Ah, those were some fun-loud arguments," the Toa of Air replied in a would-be joking tone as he gestured for her to follow her back to the main part of the metru. Both had recalled what had happened the last time they'd had that particular argument, and neither wanted to follow that train of thought.
"She'll be great-fine here," he said a few minutes later after he heard Reshana sigh.
"I know…but thanks,"
xXx
The rain had started again by the time they had all gathered by the docks, and a chill had moved in. The very last of the supplies had been tied down, and everyone was beginning to say their goodbyes. Hahli, Nixie and Macku were huddled under a small umbrella, talking to Amaya and Gali while Tahu and Takanuva conversed with Vakama. Reshana nodded to them as she passed down the wooden jetty, looking to say goodbye to her sister. "I wouldn't," Sheranu called after her as she passed, then shook his head as she ignored him. "Don't say I didn't warn-alert you!"
A minute later Reshana discovered just what he had been talking about. She backed away, heartily embarrassed as she came across the pair. "Well this is awkward," she muttered, sitting on a bench far enough down the path the she could no longer hear the pair.
A few minutes later a blushing Solis came down the path and sat beside her, while Malie waved to them both as he headed back towards the boats. "I was coming to tell you that we're leaving in a few minutes, but I think someone beat me to it," Reshana said, watching as her sister's blush deepened.
"So they did" Solis answered quietly, though Reshana could spot the small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.