Emi awoke to a sort of rhythmic movement. He arms were tied with rope around the neck of a horse. Her feet obviously tied to the stirrups or something else down there, as she couldn't move them. She looked around her, being careful not to alert her captors.
"Jozef, Jachim, she's awake." came a female voice from behind her.
Emi looked back and saw the woman in blue on a horse behind her. A horse came up on the other side of Emi, so she moved her head onto the other side of the horses neck and looked towards it. A rough looking man sat on the horse there, wrapped in a cloak that seemed to bend light around it. It reminded Emi of the alien from the Arnie movie. The man pulled out some sort of bladder and tipped water down onto Emi. Some went into her mouth, the rest all over her face. Another made rode up, also dressed in a colour shifting cloak. He said something to the woman before riding off ahead. They soon continued their journey, heading south-west (so long as the sun rose and set in the same direction it did on Earth.) The woman pointedly ignored Emi and all of her questions, except when she had questions of her own. All of which Emi refused to answer. Emi noticed during the first few hours of the trip that there was another horse, carrying Emi's bag, katana and naginata, along with a number of other things.
They must have travelled quite a way in that first day, although they must have set out after mid-day. Once night fell, the two men busied themselves rolling out swags and setting a fire whilst the woman dismounted lightly and rummaged around the packs, finally emerging with a largish book. She sat down on a blanket, leant against a tree and began to read. Emi watched the woman so intently that she did not realise that the men had gone, but did when they returned. One carried a stick with three rabbits hanging from it, the other carried a bow. Emi returned her attention to the woman to find her looking at Emi appraisingly. Emi stared at the woman, who did not show any emotion but instead returned to reading her book. The next time Emi's attention was dragged away from her was because of the wonderful smells coming from the fire. The two men were cooking something in a large pot, and it reminded Emi painfully that she had not eaten for sometime. One of the men soon undid the bindings at her feet and let Emi down from the horse, whilst the other served up dinner. Emi wolfed it down, it was wonderful, marvelous! Rabbit stew, with potatoes, onion and a few other things that Emi could not identify. At a nod from the woman, one of the men filled up her bowl again. After dinner, one of the men (the one that didn't look so rough) led her to a space between two trees. He tied her arms to one tree and her feet to the other. Emi didn't care, she felt full, beside a fire and very very tired.
Emi slept peacefully, dreaming of the woman who had introduced herself as 'Aiel.' And she awoke with a great sadness weighing upon her. She opened her eyes to look briefly around and gasped when the first thing she saw was the face of 'roughy'.
"She's awake!" he called out across the campsite.
The silken woman walked over to Emi's trees, spread out a blanket and sat herself down upon it. She looked like she had been awake for hours and had managed to find herself a shower and a clean set of clothes from somewhere. Emi meanwhile, felt the dirt covering her.
"Who are you?" Emi asked the woman, who replied with the same question.
Emi refused to answer, she would no longer give out any information to her captors.
"Well then." The woman stated, "Perhaps you will answer my question if I answer yours"
Emi thought for a moment, before nodding.
"I am Ilana-Sedai." the woman said, after a moment.
"My name's Emi, Emi Watson." Emi answered and spent a moment thinking of another question, "Why are you holding me captive"
"Because you killed Knights of Shienar." Ilana answered then questioned again, "What were two Aiel doing this side of the Spine of the World"
"Tanil was coming to get me, I was needed." Emi replied, "What makes you think that I'm Aiel"
The woman raised one eyebrow, obviously taken off guard, "There are no other peoples with red hair and such height. If you are not Aiel, then where are you from"
Emi was not sure that she wanted to reveal all just yet, but she had other questions that she wanted answered, "Rosebud, on the Mornington Peninsula. Where are you taking me"
Ilana watched Emi carefully when she replied, "Tar Valon." Emi was sure that she noticed the lack of recognition in her face. "Why are you needed"
Emi felt a tear roll down her cheek, "Tanil said that If I didn't return with her then all of the Aiel would die." Emi thought for a moment, then stated to Ilana, "I think that we have shared enough answers for the moment"
The woman, Ilana, nodded and rose. She walked back towards the horses, motioning to rough and not-so-rough. The two men walked towards her and untied her from the tree.
Emi felt a sudden pressing in her bladder, she coughed then told the two men, "I need to go to the toilet"
One of the men looked up towards Ilana, who nodded to him. The men undid the bindings on her feet then led her a short distance away from the camp before undoing the bindings on her hands. Emi started to walk towards a nearby bush. She was stopped short by a gruff "Here." from 'rough.
"Are you shitting me?" Emi asked the man, who replied with a simple "Then you don't go"
Emi narrowed her eyes at the man, but he didn't relent.
"Fine! Turn around then." she ordered. Then men looked at each other and both turned around simultaneously.
Emi did her business and noted whilst she was doing up her pants that neither man had yet turned around. She moved quietly up behind 'rough', dropping him briefly with a quick punch to the lower back, launching a kick at 'not-so-rough'. Notso was already turning around, sword in hand, when Emi's kick (aimed also at his lower back) connected firmly with the delicate spot between the man's legs. Realising that he would be some time getting over that, she turned back to rough giving him a quick blow to the neck. Emi heard the rustle of branches and the snapping of twigs from the direction of the camp, and realised that Ilana must be on her way. Not wishing to be caught with that 'invisible bear hug' again, Emi quickly climbed a nearby tree. She watched as Ilana rushed to the two men and jumped down as the woman was bending over 'rough'. Emi's feet landed directly between the womans shoulder blades, knocking her over the prostrate man. Emi quickly kicked 'notso', before checking all of their pulses. All were unconscious, but breathing and alive. For that Emi was glad, she hated that she was forced to kill the 'Shienar Knights', and after all, these people had fed her.
Emi ran towards the camp, moving her bag, katana and naginata to 'rough's horse. She spent a moment to rummage around in the other bags, coming out with a loaf of bread and the bladder of water. She untied the other horses, slapping them on the flank to force them to run away before mounting her own horse and heading off into the forest to the East.