Bast groaned at the pain in her shoulder and arm. She was used to feeling the sting of the shadows, and had become numb to the pain, but this pain in her arm bothered her. She tried to move it and was shocked to find she could not. Lying still, she used the shadows to see her surroundings. With a sigh of relief she located Akifa and Kasiya, barley remembering Kasiya arriving. She opened her eyes slowly to find it was in the morning. Both males were asleep, Akifa lying against Mena's stomach and Kasiya leaning against the wall across from Bast. The older male seemed to have been watching her before he nodded off.
With a slight smile Bast prodded him with her shadow magic. He jumped, causing the horses to glare at him before going back to sleep. Kasiya looked around for a moment before his eyes landed on her. He made his way to her, checking her over for any problems before he spoke.
"Your fever has broken," he said. Bast nodded in reply. "I had to immobilize your arm. You might want to think about using your magic less to annoy me and more to heal yourself." Bast frowned at this. "Tell me what happened, for your friend is not much of a conversationalist." A short laugh came in reply, followed by a hiss as Bast's arm jerked.
"It was the Pharaoh," she said. Kasiya gasped, shock clear on his face. "He sent someone to use the Millennium spell. I do not know how they knew I was the one. The Millennium Items exist, Kasiya. Egypt is safe from harm as long as the Items exist for the Pharaoh." Kasiya shook his head, frowning at the girl.
"What shall happen if someone inside the court turns against Egypt?" Bast shook her head and glanced at the rock above her. "What will you do now? Someone outside our little group knows your secret. If he tells then you could be captured."
"They will not hurt me, Kasiya. The Gods will punish the man who caused this injury greatly. They will punish anyone who is against me." Kasiya nodded in agreement, but still looked worried. Bast lifted her right arm and touched his cheek. "I am safe, brother."
"You showed the boy." It was a statement. Bast nodded, looking up at the rock and dropping her arm.
"It was the only way you would trust him," she said, smiling. "Go rest, Kasiya. The shadows see your weakness." With that she fell asleep.
She awoke later to someone lifting her and placing a goblet of water to her lips. She drank it, noticing the underlying bitterness that told her it was laced with medicine. The small hand on her back told her it was Akifa who held her and she opened her eyes. The boys muddy eyes that were locked on the goblet were hard, looking almost amber. His white hair was dirty and tangled, and his clothes were ripped in a few places. The boy's eyes snapped to her injured arm as he laid her back down, and then looked her over. He was only slightly shocked to find her awake.
"Kasiya told me you were stable, so I decided it was safe to give you some water," he said, turning the bandaged arm and messing with the knots holding it in place. "You must be hungry. You have not been awake to eat in four days. And you ate nothing in the time I was in the city." Bast nodded, the medicine burned her throat and she was afraid to speak. "I went and got some more things. I got some proper cooking equipment and some drinking goblets. I was also able to obtain some more cloth and some patching stuff."
"Kura," Bast ground out. That did hurt. Akifa nodded off to the side and Bast looked to see Kura lying on the stone, apparently asleep.
"He made a bad step last night. Kasiya said he sprained his ankle, but he shall be fine. We were more worried about you at the moment. Kura's smart though, he knew before we did and laid down." Bast smiled as she looked the horse over. He seemed to be well enough. She nodded and turned back to look at her arm. Akifa was changing the bandage while he was talking and as he removed the final strip Bast hissed. The boy looked up in fear that he hurt her. Bast shook her head at the injury. It was never going to heal properly, even with her magic. She cursed, causing Akifa to frown.
"Since when does Bast Magi curse?" asked Kasiya as he entered the cave. Bast looked at him, growling as she sat herself up. Both males rushed to help her, Kasiya mumbling against it. Bast lifted her arm to see it better in the light. She growled again. The cut ran from the outside near her elbow to the inside by her wrist. Her entire forearm was an angry red and she could see the start of the restitching of her skin. She licked her lips and lifted her right hand to hover just above the wound. Pulling the shadows to her and around her arm, she put all of her energy into stitching the skin back together.
The two males watched. Kasiya only slightly worried as he supported her and Akifa watching in wonderment at the extensive use of the magic. Bast bit her lip as the skin began to stretch and sew itself back together, feeling the sting on her back. She felt the scar tissue close as she bit through her lip, Kasiya jumping to wipe it free of blood with a clean cloth. The pain from her lips distracted her from the pain in her arm and she didn't notice it close. Spent, she dropped her right hand behind her to lean back on it.
"I need a cold cloth," she rasped, her throat still hurt from the medicine. Akifa disappeared and returned with a cloth. Kasiya took it and, ripping open her shirt, placed it on her shoulder without asking. He then moved to look at her arm. The skin was healed now, but a scar remained. Kasiya shook his head as he cleaned it free of blood and healed her lip and throat with his own magic.
"How are you?" he asked, worry lacing his voice. Bast smiled as she positioned herself to sit up against the rocks.
"I am fine," she replied. "Just tired and hungry." Kasiya laughed and brought her some leftover meat and bread from their lunch. Bast ate in silence, watching the two males go about their business. Akifa was going through a bag that she did not recognize while Kasiya rinsed the cloths in the Nile. As she finished her bread, she decided to ask Akifa about the bag. He jumped at her question, the flushed slightly.
"There is a village about a half a day's ride away. This was sitting by someones back door. I do not think he heard me." Bast blinked as his words sank in.
"You stole it," she said, surprised. The boy's flush deepened. "Is that how you obtained everything else?" He nodded, not looking at her. He seemed to be worried about something. "Boy, come here." He compiled, sitting next to her. She placed a hand on his knee and he looked at her. "Good job, Akifa. You were not caught." He smiled, and then jumped up as he realized the water was boiling. Bast watched him as he removed the water from the fire and set the pan aside to cool and he began to start his dinner.
Bast was watching the males eat later that night when Akifa surprised the two elders by jumping up from his meal and running over to the saddles. Opening Mena's he pulled out a small box and took it back to where the three had been sitting. Kasiya put a hand to his head to indicate stupidity of his own as Akifa sat down and handed the box to Bast. She frowned as she opened it with her good hand, the frown being replace with a gasp.
"It's a gift from the goldsmith. Runihura forged it for your mother in return for saving him, but was unable to finish it before her capture. He asked my father to deliver it, and he tried. You never stayed around long enough for father to give it to you, so we had Akifa deliver it." Bast lifted the necklace out of the box and turned it over in her hands.
"I do not deserve something this beautiful," she said. Kasiya laughed at this.
"My friend, you are just a beautiful as that necklace. And who better to wear a sapphire than a cat?" Bast smiled as she tried to put the necklace on. Her arm still was not cooperating with her. Kasiya laughed and helped her. The sapphire caught the firelight and shone through the darkness. Bast blinked and looked up at her two friends.
"If the palace finds that I have this," she said, not wanting to finish. Kasiya placed a hand on her shoulder.
"They would have to fight you and my father for it. And I would not want to fight you." He stood and went over to his horse. Patting the beast, he began to saddle it and gather his items into his saddle bags. Bast frowned while watching him. "I have to get home. You are well enough to be left alone."
"I have to pay you," said Bast as she begun to stand. Kasiya waved his hand at her.
"No need," he said, turning back to his horse. "Your friend gathered a few items that my father would like and gave them to me. Judging by the items, it should be enough to pay for your stay a while back as well." He mounted his horse and, with a farewell, rode off into the darkness. Bast stood and made her way over to the bags and found a new shirt, sliding it on with difficulty.
"We need to move," she said as she grabbed a water skin. "If we do not want to be found we need to move upstream, away from the city." She saw Akifa nod and stand as well, moving to gather some items. "We will have to sell some of this stuff as well. I'm sure we can find somewhere to do so, but we will need money."
"We still have ten silver left. Kasiya had to use five to buy an herb." Bast nodded and urged Kura to stand. She located the sprain and healed it, watching with a smile as Kura tested it. When they had both deemed it better, Bast tossed his saddle on with difficulty and strapped it down. He had lost weight since that night. Shaking her head she tied her saddle bags on and went to help Akifa with the rest of the stuff.
It was beginning to lighten when they were ready to leave, so they mounted and rode northbound. Well into the morning Akifa pointed out the village he had been visiting at night. Bast laughed as she realized that the village was actually a small town. She headed for it; why not sell their stuff back to them? They dismounted outside the town. Akifa stayed with the horses while Bast carried several items into the town. Seeing a small bazaar, she went over and exchanged the items. It earned her five gold, twenty silver and six copper. She returned to Akifa and the two set off.
When she told Akifa of the man she sold the items to he started laughing, and explained that he had stolen most of the stuff from the man. Laughing, Bast shook her head. They rode along the river, speaking often about Kul Elna and the hatred they held for the pharaoh. As the sun began to set, they began to look for a place to rest. Bast suddenly stopped and Akifa turned, stopping as well. Green eyes widen as the shadows reacted with danger. She leaned forward and grabbed Mena's reins, pulling the horse close to Kura.
Within seconds the two children were surrounded by rouges. Bast wrinkled her nose at the smell of them and the horses pawed the ground. One laughed, pointing to Bast's neck. She growled as her right hand went up to protect the sapphire.
"Pretty stone you have there, girl," said one. Obviously the leader, for the others sneered at his words but kept quiet. "You hand it over maybe I won't hurt you too bad."
"Go to hell you piece of scum," Bast replied. Akifa glanced at her with an obvious 'are you stupid' expression. Bast grinned, showing off her teeth. The leader guy snarled. "Oh, look, Akifa. He thinks he is a bad guy. Just because he stinks and has muscles." Leader pulled a sword free from somewhere and pointed it at her.
"Who do you think you are talking like that? You're a skinny little girl, and your friend don't look so tough either." Bast smiled wider. Green eyes began to slit as Bast handed the reins to Akifa and slid free from the saddle.
"Akifa, leave them to me, alright?" she said. Akifa nodded, patting an angry Kura on the neck. The men, more interested in Bast's necklace then Akifa, encircled the girl. She closed her eyes, letting them get close, and removed the bandages from her arm. They would only slow her down. When the men had gotten close enough, Bast snapped her eyes open, her pupils expanding before contracting into slits. The leader stopped in fear as he realize what she was.
Akifa bit his lip as the rouges got closer to Bast. She had her head down, her hair hiding her face as she removed the bandages. Finally, her head snapped up and the leader of the group stopped, his face contorted into fear. Then, she moved. Akifa didn't see her move, but he knew she did, because she was no longer standing there. He saw flashes of her hair and eyes and distortions in the air as the rouges fell one by one. Finally, all that was left standing was the leader. He stepped back, falling, as Bast appeared before him.
"Heh, that was fun," she said. Akifa could hear the laughter in her voice. "I miss being able to move that fast." She leaned down over the rouge. "Now, am I a weak, skinny girl?"
"W-w-what are you?" The laugh that erupted from her was sadistic.
"I am Bast. I am Shkemet." Realization hit both the rouge and Akifa a second too late. Bast moved again. When she stood from killing the rouge, she turned to Akifa, frowning sadly. "I am sorry, Akifa. I did not wish for you to see that." She looked up, her eyes slit and canines bared. She bit her lip as she approached Kura, who placed his head on her shoulder. She took the reins from Akifa and mounted, not looking at him. She stirred Kura into a walk and rode away.
