"You're free to go back to them."

Faruq would turn in his chair, dismissing Skylar's frankness, as if he wasn't holding her against her will. He never prevented her from returning to them, after all. Now that he had spoken to her about the reality of the situation, she was free to return. And in fact, he wouldn't speak of it any more for a few days, at least. They had waited years already. There was more time...

Outside, however, there was a different man. Older, with a pocked face and scraggly beard, his intentions were... Perhaps, not so kind. His eyes would look hungrily over her, particularly in her current state of dress, and it wasn't difficult to tell what was on his mind. However, the winding tunnels of the darkness made it impossible for her to return on her own...

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Outside the back door of the bedroom was another wing in what appeared to be a small palace, with broken walls that would eventually lead her out into what was once another building, likely a guardhouse of some sort. Old, rusted weapons and armor still littered the area, obviously untouched for years. There was no indication of what pills may be or where they could be found, though.

No one would immediately confront Ishi. Constantine was quickly gone to unconsciousness again, while Skylar was gone to a meeting in an undetermined location. Yet... There was certainly no danger of her wandering into someplace she shouldn't. In fact, very quickly, there would be a certain feeling, as though she was being watched again, much as they had experienced in the tunnels before. In fact, slight glances of a shadowy figure at times would all but confirm that, though no one approached her...

With that being said, she stood and moved toward the door. She paused for a moment, wanting to turn and scream at the top of her lungs, but as of now, she knew that would do her no good at all. With a heavy sigh, she curled her digits around the knob and showed herself out. Not exactly the same hospitality as when she had came....

Outside the door stood another man. His closeness caused her to jump slightly, but she assumed that he was there to see her back, since, she had no idea where she was going. “Oh.” She took a moment to look the man over, he appeared.....menacing.

“Please take me back to my room.” Her words were rather sharp, and to the point. She crossed her arms over her barely covered bosom. Perhaps trying to prove a point by keeping herself in her present state of dress, was more like teasing a pack of starving wolves with fresh meat.

At first, Ishi hadn't paid attention to wear she was going--just ahead, where the only path seemed to lead, only searching for someone else down here to possibly help her out in this quest for pills. It wasn't long before the young girl began to admire these ancient relics, and wonder exactly how long these ruins had been there.

That was a feeling Ishi hated. It was the same as the tunnels, and the same as when she was in Vimal's captivity--the feeling that she was being watched, while not knowing exactly who or what was watching her. Flashes of shadows here and there, but nothing that she could see for any length of time--just glimpses, before those shadows disappeared . . .

It made her uncomfortable, and rightly so. Should she have just turned around and gone back to the room? Ishi didn't know what the best course of action was, only that Constantine was looking for these "pill" things. The lack of people out in the open certainly made this difficult!

Though, the plethora of weapons, albeit old and rusted, provided the potential to make life much easier. Ishi, while still holding the blanket over her chest, knelt down to investigate one of these old relics. It was a short sword, old, rusted, useless for any sort of war, but it matched all these scattered pieces of armor. Just what happened here? Was it a barracks? An armory? Had all these simply been abandoned long, long ago, before everything was seemingly covered in sand, or was there some sort of war?

A short sword, even if rusted blunt, could still be useful, though. Ishi would have to make sure to grab it before going back to the room.

If she could continue forward into this palace of sorts, she would--but if not, then there'd be no choice but to go back. And grab that short sword before she did.

The man nodded, smiling a yellow and twisted smile, holding his arm out to show her where to go in what could almost be considered a polite gesture, if not for the way his eyes looked over her. Then, he would lead her back through the labyrinthine tunnels, moving quickly through the twisted ruins.

He didn't say anything, and yet... It was impossible to get any bearing through the nearly pitch black tunnels, at least for such new visitors to the system. After a while, though, it was possible to tell there was a problem. The trip was taking too long. He was taking her a different way, or to an entirely different location...

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There were more rooms of the palace to explore, but a bigger problem was light. There were few torches throughout the palace, all placed in high racks, where walls and ceilings that were still polished scattered them, but not into every corner of the buildings. On the other side of the small room, however, through a short hall, was another bedroom.

It wasn't as opulently decorated as the first room, but the decor was somewhat more masculine. More ruined weaponry lay across the room, fallen from plaques on the walls, along with several rotted-out instruments. Several dressers and a desk were also present, the dresser filled with what appeared to be clothing for an adolescent male, several sizes larger than Ishi. The desk was cleared off, but the sand accumulated seemed to indicate that no one lived here...

Something about he smile told her the idea of following him was a bad one, but what other choice did she have? He held his arm out to her, as if she was really going to rap her arm through his. The darkness however proved to be a problem, so she grabbed his bicep and left it at that. The mans odor was revolting, and being this close to him proved to also turn her stomach. Soon though, she would be back in her room with Constantine and Ishi.....

“Where are we going?” The nervousness of her voice was apparent, what was more is that, the trip was taking much longer then the initial one. “This is the wrong way....take me back now!...” Her words were fearful now, panic was setting in. Running wasn’t much of an option, it was pitch black, and who knows what she would run into; another one of these men, scarabs? Neither seemed much better then what she feared she was facing now.

The whole place looked of ruin. It made Ishi wonder even more what happened. Everything was old, older than the people that lived here--that much she could deduce accurately. Or figured she could. The girl wasn't experienced enough in life to accurately judge the age of something like this, especially in her current mindset. In the end, all she had were misplaced assumptions that she personally believed.

There were more scattered weapons in this room, and though it was hard to get to with light becoming progressively more and more scant, Ishi had made it through . . . she just had to walk closer to the walls, just so she didn't fall over. Needless to say, she was unwilling to fall over due to the last time she fell over in these tunnels.

Speaking of which . . . the girl had walked more than her body was willing to allow her. She had been limping all the while, figured that she was physically capable of walking, therefore advisable, but in the end it was not. Walking was more unhealthy for her in her physical state than anything else; it could actually permanently damage her injured calf muscle if she used it too often before it healed. Testament to this was the fact that she was trailing blood already, and had been since the first room. It hurt miserably, but she kept walking, hoping that maybe she'd run into someone with pills for Constantine.

In this bedroom, she didn't do much other than finally see a stark necessity in grabbing one of the weapons--another short sword, but one that looked a bit less rusty than the others--and a shirt. It was a button up long sleeved shirt and she practically swam in it, but it would have to do. It was long enough on her that she could reasonably go without pants for the time being, too. This meant she could ditch the heavy blanket and, with the reacquired ability to swing a weapon in case she ran into some unwanted scarabs, Ishi would continue on if the opportunity was present, regardless of how dark it became. No use turning back now . . .

The man wouldn't respond, instead continuing to lead Skylar for a short distance. Briefly, the sound of the scarabs could be heard down an old street, but soon, the distant appearance of torchlight was present. However, it was a different location, away from where Constantine and Ishi were being kept.

"You're going to stay here for a while..."

The room was mostly spartan, containing little more than a bed and chair. Entertainment was limited, leaving little to do for extremely long periods of time...

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Behind Ishi, a figure would step out of the shadow, his demeanor apprehensive. He was young, just short of thirty, and had just returned from escorting Skylar to her meeting. He seemed very shy, though, but Ishi's claiming of her new possessions seemed enough to bring him out...

"You wanted to find a sword? What are you going to do with it?"

His tone was very strange, almost... Childish. As if he really didn't understand what Ishi was going to do with it, or at least what she was going to do with it in the underground. And from what Constantine had said earlier, he had been down here for most of his life, most likely. Since a young age, at least...

His silence made it all that much more uncomfortable. The dank smell of whatever surrounded them make her skin crawl, and what iced the horror cake was the sound of the scarabs nearby, seemingly begging for a meal. Her gasp echoed, until his words filled the stagnant air.

"You're going to stay here for a while..."

“The hell I am.” Her voice shot back at him. Although her fear inside was booming, she surpassed it, trying to show the man no weakness. “You will return me to my room, or so help me, you will regret the choice you are about to make.” She released her grip from his arm, shoving him away from her.

Her mind reeled with any idea that might get her, her way with this creature before her. Something had to ensure that she would find her way back to her “family”: her family that needed her, and the prowess she possessed.

Gracefully, her arms fell to her sides, and the majority of her body was bare, or at least, not hidden well. “What if...” Her voice softened as she spoke to him, a smile stealing the scowl on her facade. “I could promise you what ever man down here wants, but only, you will get the first taste.” Her voice became more sultry as she spoke, her index finger tracing the grime stained chest of the man.

Inside, she was revolted at her thoughts, outside she was putting on one hell of a show. “Take me back to my family, and I will give you what you want. Understand?” She shook her head as she spoke, closing the gap between herself and him. The closer she came to him, the more rancid the smell, luckily, she covered her disgust of him well, very well.

“They need me, and I them. If anything were to happen to them, I would no longer have a reason to go on.” She pressed her body to his now, letting him breath in her smell, which she knew, was much more pleasant then his own. “That would be a shame, wouldn’t it....All the things you could have, have....gone.” Her words were more of a statement, as if she were thinking aloud. She was sure she was getting her point across, but just to seal the deal.....she leaned up and placed a kiss upon the parched cracked lips of the creature. She allowed it to linger.....not for long, but for much longer then she would have if her life, and the lives of others didn’t depend on it....

Ishi quickly and frantically spun to face the one that spoke to her. Fortunately for her, she had dressed before picking up a weapon, which made it much easier for her to hold onto it when she had spun around. She could hold it out in front of her with two hands and not have to worry about clinging to a blanket to keep her decent. It was for the best; now, if someone was to try and pry the weapon out of her hands, it would take much more effort on their part.

Sadly, that was her first thought about it. The matter of decency had only been a side thought, unimportant compared to her initial idea.

Unfortunately for her, Ishi learned the hard way that with the full on damage to the muscle in her leg, her leg was going to give out on her when too much stress was put on it--and too much stress had been walking across the room with Constantine. She was long overdue for her muscle to tense up, shoot pain throughout her body, and collapse. And she did just that. As soon as she was facing him, the girl's eyes grew wide, and she let out a cry of agony. The act of falling had been forgotten--all Ishi knew was that when she opened her eyes next, she was sitting upon her rear, still holding a short sword out in front of her with both hands.

And the man that had spoken to her was still there.

Ishi backed up as quickly as she could.

"I . . . . I . . . ." Ishi whispered, her voice strained by a whimper, "I . . . I onry . . . rook for pirr--pirr f-for . . . pirr f-for C-Con-stan-tine . . ."

The man would dart forward as Ishi fell, mindless of the sword. His body language was obviously that of wanting to help, and he would come close, offering his hand to help the girl up. The expression on his face was that of almost child-like concern.

"We can find some for him!"

Truthfully, he had no better idea than Ishi where pills might be found. But he was willing to look, and help the girl...

The girl stared up at him, her eyes squinted, a testament to her pain. This was miserable, the current state of her leg. She was going to need something to let her walk, though. Maybe a bigger sword. A longsword, maybe. That could be useful. She couldn't swing something like that very well, but it could still be a decent stabbing weapon, and just what else did she do, anyways? Not to mention the longswords around here, albeit rusty, were long enough that she could practically use them as a walking stick or even a cane. A makeshift cane, but still . . .

"You have . . . pirr . . .?" Ishi asked hesitantly.

And just as hesitantly, she reached up and took the man's hand. Regardless of everything she had experienced, the girl was still a little naive; that she just couldn't help. Someone offered her salvation, and she took the offer. There was a fair chance of this ending in tragedy, though--something her brain was screaming at her in the back of her mind.

"No... What does a pirr look like?"

The man, apparently, had never really been exposed to the concept, nor had he ever heard the word before. He just wanted to be helpful. He was strong, certainly, if wiry- years of running through the underground seemed to have done that for him. Though it hadn't done anything for his speech or maturity...

"Where should we go?"

He obviously knew more than her, but was less capable of deciding...

"Oh," Ishi sighed.

For a moment, she clung to the man's hand and forearm. He was the only thing that kept her from falling over. Unfortunately he had no pills for Constantine, therefore she wasn't going to be clinging to him for very long! Ishi stood there for a moment, investigating the rest of the room. The longer she held onto this guy, the more she wanted to let go of him. In her mind, these people had done something to her. In her mind, their leader was Vimal. Granted, the leader of these people had done something to her--it just wasn't what she thought. Ishi had experienced that certain something: nearly eaten alive by scarabs. Even if what she assumed happened during the time she was unconscious was true or not, the whole scarab thing was more than enough reason to want some distance from these people.

It was extraordinarily difficult to see, but Ishi did her best once she let go of the young man, and with extreme weakness, limped to the other side of the room, blood trailing behind her from her reopened injury, staining the sand. On the bright side, this was much more permanent than bread crumbs. Scarabs could eat bread crumbs. Nothing was going to eat blood that painted the sand. If she got lost, she'd be able to find her way back, definitely.

Once she spotted the long sword she wanted, Ishi hobbled to it and plopped down upon the ground. Unwilling to ditch the short sword, Ishi made it a point to stab it into the oversized shirt she wore, making a hole in the side of it where she could just like it remain. After all, Ishi couldn't use a huge sword that well. She was much better fit to swing around a short sword! The longer blade was then procured, which she used to help herself stand, and then held with the tip down into the sand as a walking "stick." She could lean on this and be fine for a good while.

"I go this way," Ishi declared as she, using the longsword as a means of balance, limped out of the room and back into the corridor, insistent that she continue forward and not turn back 'til she got Constantine's pills.

The man would follow along eagerly, almost in a way that resembled a dog more than anything else. He didn't pull away when Ishi leaned on him, but he didn't try to help her, either. He just seemed oblivious to any of it, and eager to follow and help with whatever he was prompted to do...

"What's your name? Where are you from? What's your favorite food?"

He also seemed curious, even if his questions were a bit awkward, and delivered in rapid succession, as if rehearsed. He was certainly excited to have someone else around, and he didn't really seem interested in what the other men were concerned with...

The other youth's curiosity did in itself pique Ishi's curiosity about him. He wasn't attacking her, nor did he really seem that interested at all in what the others were. They probably didn't even want to know her and Skylar's name. Most of them, at least. Especially the older one. That one was Vimal to her.

This guy . . . not so much. So, she answered him to the best of her abilities:

"Ishi. I am f-rom Cizoku. I rike chocorate." She replied like a practiced non-speaking student of the English language.

That didn't mean she was going to lean on him for any length of time, or at all for that matter. Just because he might have been a nice insect in a den of evil insects didn't change the fact that he was still a gross bug that spewed out white tar for entrails whenever squashed. Or maybe those were the scarabs. Were Ishi more eloquent in her own language, she'd have thought up a much better simile for this young man.

She didn't demand he go away, though. The girl let him follow as much as he wanted so long as he continued to maintain that status of non-threatening, with Ishi ahead of him using a large sword as a pseudo-walking stick. It stabbed well, made it pretty effective. She wasn't going to have to worry about it slipping out from under her, at least!