"Jabari stop squirming." Millikan growled out as he tried to get a good grip on the wooden spike sticking out of the tarks leg. Chuma pinned his shoulders down while another held onto his ankles. Jabari was twitching and squirming, pained snarls coming from his snapping maw. His skin was turning red and sweating so much that his clothes became soaked. "I can't get it out if he doesn't stop moving."
"He's burning up Mill, I think he's been poisoned." Rain was sitting near the entrance, making sure no outsiders try to sneak there way in. Millikan pressed the back of his hand against Jabari forehead, he was hotter than normal. He looked at the wooden spike, it must be laced with the same stuff that was on the needle.
"What should we do?" Chuma asked, sounding worried for his friend. Jabari stops squirming yet his breathing was still labored as his body continue to burn up from the inside. Millikan took the opportunity to grab on the spike and yank it out of Jabari leg. Everyone in the cave flinched when Jabari let out a loud cry of pain that ampilified from being in the enclosed space of the cave. Idi immediately rushed over with a torn piece of his own shirt and pressed against the wound to stop the bleeding.
Millikan gets up and leaves the cave, carrying the spike with him. Rain looks at the other tarks before leaving the cave as well. Rain grits his teeth and wraps his arms around himself, it was getting chilly all of sudden. Could be the forest itself or just the sudden weather changing, either way he didn't like standing out here. He looks in Millikan direction, seeing that he was observing the wooden spike in his left hand.
"What is it Mill?" Rain walks over to Millikan side.
"Were usually immune to poisons. Whatever making Jabari sick is something new…and life threatening." Millikan tossed the spike to the ground and walks off. He looks around trying to find the dead man but he was long gone. Either he wasn't really dead or he had allies. "Shit."
"Our best bet is to get out this forest as soon as possible Millikan. We don't exactly know how many of them are out there." Rain watches Millikan crouch to the ground and picks up a piece of blood covered grass, lifting it to his nose to sniff it. His left brow raising as Millikan licks the grass as well before standing up. "Oh no you don't."
"I have to find them. They might have an antidote and well they need to be stopped before more tarkata get killed." Millikan sniffed the air, catching the scent of blood nearby. He heads west, tracking the scent with ease.
"Millikan." Rain rushed after Millikan, grabbing his arm to stop him. "You really think you can take whatever they are on your own. Sure you took down one but what if there's more then you can handle."
"You're right." Millikan backs to the cave entrance. "Chuma, Benzi and Idi, you three come with me. The rest of you stay and take care of Jabari."
"I can't believe this." Rain shivered, tightening his arms around his body as he followed Millikan in the others.
"You can just stay behind you know." Millikan looks back at rain, grinning slightly at his shivering form.
"Keep grinning like that and I might just go back." Rain snapped at him. "We need to come up with a plan for when we do find them."
"Kill them." Benzi piped up. Millikan points at Benzi with a nod. Rain rolled his eyes as he walked up beside Millikan, standing close enough to where there arms touched.
"It surprises me that you traveled around for so long and you still get sensitive to the cold." Millikan wraps an arm around Rain shoulders, holding him close as they continued walking. Rain stayed quiet, not feeling in the mood for a retort at the moment. He leaned his head against Millikan, able to get warm enough to the point that he was no longer shivering.
"Smell that." Idi snorted, taking a few steps ahead of the group. "Smells like Ashon…burning."
"They are cooking him." Chuma choked out.
"Oh how shocking it is to cannibals when they smell their own being cooked." Rain whispered under his breath. Millikan gave Rain a pinch on the shoulder then removes his arm from around his shoulder, stepping away. Rain frowned a bit at this, almost following Millikan until he smelt it to. "We should see how many there are before we go in."
"Yeah…Chuma gura." Millikan motioned to Chuma who nods and runs ahead of them. Disappearing into the trees. They all stood around and waited for Chuma to return. Several minutes passed and Millikan was starting to worry a bit. It wasn't like Chuma to take this long to get back from s simple scouting. Especially if the location was just a few blocks away. "Come on." Tired of waiting, Millikan rushed towards the direction Chuma went, tracking his scent.
The smell of burning flesh was getting stronger along with fresh blood. Millikan spots small flame in the distance, running towards it as fast as he could. "MILLIKAN WAIT." Chuma was seen running back and nearly collides into him.
"What took you so long?" Millikan growled at Chuma as he held him up. He sniffed and looked down to see the bottom half of his shirt soaked in fresh blood. "Chuma…" He looks up once more, just as Chuma fell over into his arms. Millikan checked for a pulse and found nothing. He laid Chuma on the ground and runs off into the direction Chuma was running from.
Rain and the other two ran after Millikan in a rush. The tarks extending their arm-blades just in case. Millikan reached to what looked like a small camp set up. There was a campfire with a leg sticking out of it. Several tents scattered about. The worst part was the upper body of Ashon hanging from a tree, his innards spilled out to the ground below. So shocked by the scene before him, Millikan was unaware of the Centaur charging towards him from the right side.
Rain happened to arrive just in time to stop the centaur from running Millikan over. Spraying a a strong jet of water at the Centaur side, knocking it off balance. Millikan finally comes to and jumps back just as the centaur passed him. "Asasnte." Millikan looks at Rain who nods. Millikan looks at the centaur, knowing there had to be more than just this one around.
The centaur turns around, baring his teeth as he looked around at the others before charging at Millikan. At that time, four men dressed in the same tarkatan skin kilt and bones came running out from all directions, wielding arm-blade as swords. Rain and the other tarks fought off the oncoming men as Millikan dodges the charging Minotaur like a matador.
Millikan jumps to the left as the Centaur charged at him again and misses. Huffing and stomping its hooves, the centaur tail whipped through the air before aiming at Millikan. Three balls of spark shot at Millikan feet, making him stumble back and bump into a tree.
"Need help?" Rain called out as he knocks out one of the men with a roundhouse kick. Millikan shook his head as he regained his balance and snarled at the centaur who turns around to face him. The centaur stared Millikan down with his dark eyes as he trotted backwards.
"I want that one now." The centaur points at Millikan with a shout. The other men that were fighting the tark suddenly pulled back and ran towards Millikan direction. Rain teleports beside Millikan and sprays them all down.
"Any ideas?" Millikan backs up against Rain, now back to back as they looked around.
"It's obvious that centaur is the leader, we need to take him down." Rain sprays more water at the men as they tried to get back up only to slip and fall again. Idi and Benzi lunged at the falling men and stabs them, piercing their hearts before killing the third one with their teeth. Now there was only the centaur left and he seemed to realize his predicament as he took a few steps back.
"How do you kill a centaur?" Millikan whispered back to Rain.
"Like everything else, through the heart." Rain looks at the centaur. "Though I never killed one before in my life."
"The heart it is, distract him." Millikan ran off to the left. The Centaur scoffed watching Millikan and ignoring the others. Rain raised his right hand up high and clenched his fist before making a downward motion, a bolt of lightning comes down right in front of the centaur.
"Arg." The centaur reeled back on his hind legs to avoid the bolt. He turned his attention to rain and aims his tail at him, shooting off a barrage of sparks at Rain who easily dodges it. Millikan ran over to the fire and holds his left arm-blade over the fire. Making sure the centaur was still distracted as his arm-blade heated up. After a few second the end of his arm-blade had turned white hot just as he wanted it to be. He needed to time this right or else they all were going to be trampled by the centaur.
Rain continued to dodge and spray the centaur, while the other tarks pretended to jump at the centaur only to jump back just out of range of hoof or flying tail. The centaur stomped his front hooves in irritation and as he looked between and the other tarkata. Unaware of Millikan sneaking up behind him.
Rain calls down another bolt of lightning, this time it hits the centaur with little affect. Only causing him to raise his arms to block out the bright flash. Suddenly he feels a weight on his back. He turns his head to see Millikan sitting on his back, his left arm-blade reared back.
"Aaaahh." The centaur couldn't even buck as he felt the hot arm-blade pierce through his back and out of his chest. His gurgled roar echoed through the air as he looked down his own heart beating on the tip of the blade, smoke rising from the flesh being cooked. Millikan pulls his arm-blade back and jumps off just as the centaur stumbles and falls over on its right side with a loud thud. Rain and the others walk over to Millikan side to stare down at the dead centaur.
"Mill, one of them is still alive." Idi points to the one Rain knocked out moments earlier.
"Bring him over here." Millikan commanded. Idi and Benzi walk over to the unconscious man and drags him over to Millikan. "Wake him up."
Benzi looks at the man before smacking him across the face hard, waking him up instantly. The man panicked and tries to pull away but the tarks had good hold on him. Millikan pressed the tip of his bloody arm-blade against the man throat, tilting his head up.
"Are there anymore of you out there?" Millikan asked.
"There will always be more of us out there. As long as people are willing pay for a tark, we are always supplying." The man gagged as Millikan pressed the blade closer to his neck.
"Who's in charge of this?"
"Like I tell you tarkata. All I can say is my boss would pay good koin to have you."
"Im not merchandise and neither are the rest of us. Now before I let my men make you into an appetizer, tell me about this poison you use to hunt us."
"Why?"
"You must have an antidote."
"There is no antidote because it's not a poison per say. More like tarkatan essence but it works from the inside."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me guess, one of your other tarks are having a fever…oh you should of never left him alone." The man chuckled then gags as Millikan grabs him by the neck and lifts him up high. "Whoever you left him with…are probab…bly…dead now."
"Fuck." Millikan clutched his hand tight around the man throat and twisted, cracking the man neck. "We got to get back to the others." Millikan drops the dead man to the ground and runs off.
Millikan was the first to arrive to the cave entrance, the smell of blood overwhelming his senses as he got near. "No…no…" as he got closer the smell grew stronger and there was the sound of tearing flesh and bone. He peeked inside the cave and saw what could be compared to mass slaughtering. Everyone was lying dead, their throats chewed up and chest covered in stabs and claw marks. One tark was still alive and was knowing away on Jabari intestines.
"Millikan…" Rain grab Millikan shoulder and pulls him back away from the cave entrance. The sound alerted the feasting tark. He stops knowing on the intestines and steps out of the cave and looks around before his eyes landed on Millikan. His upper body covered in the same claw marks along with a few bite marks as well. "Mill."
"Ndugu…I can't do it." Millikan shook his head. The ravaged tark snapped his teeth and lunged at Millikan or at least tried to. Idi and Benzi jumps onto him and pins him down to the ground.
"Mill, you have to end it." Rain tells him. Millikan looks down at the ground, overwhelmed with emotions. He almost lost his whole horde in one day, what kind of leader was he? "Mill."
"I can't do it. I can't." Millikan shoved rain hand off his shoulder and stomps off. Rain looks at the other tarks and nod. Benzi and Idi exchanged looks before taking hold of the ravaged tark head and twisting it hard til it cracked, rendering him lifeless.
"You two should burn the bodies."
"We can't do that without Mill permission." Idi responds, looking in Millikan direction. Rain sighed and shook his head.
"I fear he is not in the right state of mind to be giving any permission at the moment. So go on and burn the bodies quickly…pendeza?"
"Alright fine. But you will have to tell him that it was your call." Idi nods to Benzi and they both go into the cave to retrieve the other bodies. A bonfire funeral for the dead tarkata. Rain walks off to go check on Millikan. Spotting him not that far away from their location.
Rain watched as Millikan attacked a tree with his bare fist. Punching and clawing at it, grunting and snarling as if it was the worst thing in the world. He been going at it for a good five minutes now and Rain was debating whether or no he should stop him or let him continue to take out his anger on the tree. Millikan swings a right hook, cracking the bark of the tree with ferocity. He swing a left and does the same thing, this time leaving a dent in the side of the tree.
Maybe his father was right, he wasn't ready to lead. Then again, they lasted for almost 2 weeks, twice as long than any other Jambazi. That was beside the point now, most of his tarks were dead and there was only two of them left. The youngest, the babies of the horde. What the hell was he thinking taking the youngest tarks with him? Idi wanted to go because his big brother Haji was going. As for Benzi, he was just a cousin who Baraka adopted as his own after his father passed away.
"Hai." Millikan punches the tree again then reels back with a whimper as his knuckles cracked. This only made him angrier and he pulled back, getting ready to punch the tree again only to be stopped by Rain grabbing onto his wrist.
"I think the tree had enough of your abuse Mill." Rain says in a calming tone. Millikan turned his head to look back at Rain before snatching his arm away. He turns around and slumps back against the tree and slides to the ground, ignoring the feel of the bark scraping his back. Rain looks down at Millikan with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "It's ok to cry you know. There is no shame in that." He sits down beside Millikan and leans against his shoulder.
"Tarkatans don't cry." Millikan sniffled, head down and dreads swaying in the wind.
"Is this a tark thing or something your father told you?"
"Both." Millikan looks at his left hand, stretching his fingers with a few cracks. The knuckles were raw and bloody from his punching the tree. His a few of his claws a broken off from his scratching the tree as well. The middle one in particular had ripped off from the cuticle leaving behind a bloody stump where nail use to be. Rain grabs hold of Millikan left hand, he rubbed the knuckle with his thumbs. Water trickling from his fingertips as he used it to sooth the burning pain away. "Why are you still here?"
"Hmm?" Rain continued to massage Millikan hand, wiping away the blood as it started to heal up. Millikan lifted his head to look over at rain.
"You could have went ahead without us. The fortress isn't that far away."
"I thought we were supposed to go there together. That was the plan."
"Yeah but…never mind." Millikan looks down at his hand to see it healed but didn't pull away from Rain. "Thank you."
"For?"
"Coming. I know you didn't need to travel with us since you fully healed the next day. I was expecting you to disappear the next morning." Millikan teeth clicked as rain stops massaging his hand. "Not that I was saying you were going to betray. You said it yourself, you could have survived without my aid."
"Yes…I could have survived without your assistance. And yes I could have just left the next morning. Trust me, I had my doubts."
"Then why you stay?" Millikan stared directly at Rain face. Rain went silent as he kept his head down, his hair blocking Millikan view. "You can't tell me the answer, I can take it."
"You say that like I was going to say something awful." Rain lifted his head, flipping his hair back a bit. "I stayed because I chose to Mill. I maybe an assassin of shao khan but I do have principals, honor. At first it was just to repay a debt for aiding me. I mean you and your men could have had me for dinner instead. But instead you proved that all tarkatans aren't savage beasts as most people claim you are." He took a deep breath and sighed. "At first I thought it was just intrigue, something new to discover as the days passed. I was curious about you from the start, after you told me who your parents were I did fear that I was counting down the days."
"You really thought I was going to have you killed?"
"Can you blame me?"
"No, not really." Millikan shrugged.
"As I said you intrigue me and I started to grow a liking to you which is rare. Because I try not to get attached to those I travel with…because of the world we live in and the chance that me or the other person could die at any moment."
"Morbid but true."
"Like I said I tried to not get attached but I guess that can't be helped sometimes."
"Well, I'm glad you did you decide to stay. I could be dead without your guidance." Millikan chuckled, feeling slightly better than before.
"And I would have been bored without your prying questions." Rain smirked as Millikan frowned at him. "You do ask a lot of questions though."
"I can't help it that I'm curious and that you are walking book of knowledge."
"Pardon me?"
"You don't look your age though."
"Are we still going on about age?" Rain sneered. Millikan just shook his head no. "So my age doesn't bother you then?"
"No, almost half of the populace in Outworld is quadruple my age."
"That I already knew." Rain shifted, turning more towards Millikan. "Will you entertain me for a second?"
"Hmm?" Millikan turns his head toward Rain who seem to be giving him a strange look. "Nini?"
"Promise you won't bite me."
"Uh…ok."
"I need to hear it."
"Ahadi." Millikan snickered. Rain reaches over and slips his hands through Millikan dreads, tucking a few strands behind ear before lightly clutching the back of his head. Millikan stiffened up, eyes wide at rain actions.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Rain smiled a bit as he leans in and presses his lips to the front of Millikan teeth. Millikan was frozen, not sure how to respond at the moment. Rain was kissing him and that, was out of nowhere. Rain pulls away and removes his hand. "Maybe I was wrong."
"You just kissed me." Millikan whispered.
"I did and I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable. I was just curious." Rain licked his lips and reaches up to pull his mask over his face.
"I…liked it." Millikan hooks a finger under Rain mask and pulls it back down. "I was just…not expecting it."
"Oh." It was Rain turn to be surprised as Millikan leans in and pressed his teeth against Rain lips, then ever so lightly slipped his tongue out to lick Rain bottom lip. Millikan reached up to slip his hand into Rain hair, tilting his head slightly to the right as he nibbled and licked on Rain bottom lip. In return Rain licks back, their tongues pressing against each other. Millikan finally pulls always, licking at his teeth. "Kissing a tarkatan, that's a first for me."
"I'm an experiment now." Millikan snickered.
"No…no you are not." Rain shook his head, running a hand through his unruly hair. Millikan wanted to kiss rain again but the smell of burning bodies got his attention. He stood up and saw the large bonfire in the distance. Idi and Benzi tossing the last body into the fire. Rain stood up and turns around to see what Millikan was looking at. "I told them to do it."
"Asante." Millikan was really great full for that because he wasn't sure if he could give the order to burn the bodies himself. He walks over to stand by Benzi and Idi, patting their backs. Rain stood just few feet away watching the three tarks bow to the fire, paying their respects to the dead.