Touya Khan
A few days had passed and Touya had led April through the wilderness on a hunt for a group of Therian's that he hoped could help her. At first he'd not thought of anything solid, nothing that would help either of them, but then it came to him. A realization that almost made him irate with himself. The place where the Therian's had originated from, the caves where they'd been sleeping for decades before hand. There should still be some machinery left there, and even if there wasn't, he figured that with the approaching winter, some of the tribes may have migrated back to the caverns for shelter from the extreme cold.
With that, he had taken a different route and headed for the mountains, the caves beyond the forest of Creeid. It had taken them the better part of a day to get through the trees. When they made it to the mountain's base, what met Touya was a disheartening sight. The mouth of the cavern where the Therian's had woken from, was caved in.
"Havantha," a voice called from the trees. Touya turned and put his hand out to cover April. Even if it were his own people, he had trust issues, especially if they happened to run into someone from Val's group. A young man walked into the area, his hands raised up as he greeted Touya.
"Havantha," Touya returned and his gaze flicked around, "What happened here?" he asked in their language.
"Val and his band destroyed the mountains opening, my clan and I were nearby, on the other side of the forest when we heard the explosions. We came to see what had happened, but encountered many soldiers. We hid from them, so as not to be detected," the youth answered in kind.
"I see," Touya whispered, "Do you and your clan have a technician?"
The young man nodded his head, violet eyes bright with curiosity as he looked over to April. Reaching back, the boy tugged at his shoulder length black hair, "What do you need him for?"
"My friend," he motioned towards April, "She needs his help."
The young man strode forward, peering at April. Touya lowered his arm and allowed the other Therian to gaze at her. It wasn't but a few moments that he looked at her and he reeled backwards with a cry. Touya, alerted by the sudden sound, stepped in front of her again and reached back for his weapon. His heart beat quickly as he gazed at the youth, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Monster," the young Therian said softly in their language. Touya growled at the boy at the word and leaned forward menacingly.
"She is no such thing."
"But... she is not Therian! She is... human... why, why is she like this?"
"Because the human's did this to her against her will. That is why I'm here. I need your technician to help her to feel better. She has no feeling in her arms, and her body is in pain. You have to help her."
The young man stood there for some times, his violet eyes wide with a bit of fear and some curiosity still. He flicked his eyes back and forth between Touya and April. Finally, after some time, it seemed the young Therian had gathered his wits about him again and he straightened. Reaching up, he adjusted the belts that crisscrossed over his frame, holding slender pieces of metal against his right shoulder and another that just barely peeked over his left shoulder, obviously covering his shoulder blade.
"Alright, follow me then. But on one condition... she won't hurt us... will she?"
Touya straightened and let go of his weapon. The boy was obviously doing something that someone else normally did, the bits of hesitation in his voice were now painfully clear to Touya. Maybe it was his first scouting mission, and the boy was far too naive to think of anything else to say, trusting to easily. Especially since Touya was another Therian. With a sigh, he nodded his head to the youth and looked back to April.
"He's agreed to bring us to his tribe," he told her in the common tongue. He was aware that their entire conversation right then had been entirely in Therian and felt a bit guilty at the fact that she could not understand what they'd said. However, at the same time he was happy that she hadn't heard some of it. Though he was sure she'd deduced something from the young Therian's reaction to her just a second ago.
He took her hand in his and started after the black haired boy who moved swiftly through the trees just to the right of the cave in. It took them some time to make their way through the forest again, but as the day was fading to darkness, firelight was seen ahead and a few minutes after they'd set foot in the camp of a Therian tribe. It was probably the largest group of Therian's that Touya had ever laid eyes upon and felt a bit of pride and released tension fall over him. He had worried about his people for so long, and yet here they were still pushing forward.
The community was nothing short of a small village, with tents of wood and leaves set up and people still bustling around to finish their daily chores. The sounds of metal clashing could be heard at the far end of the camp and the smell of fire told Touya that it was a kind of smithy that had been set up. There were children as well, running to and fro between the tents and the open area that the tents encircled. The young Therian looked up to him and pointed towards a tent that was closed.
"He is there, his name is Grashath."
"Thank you, Havantha."
The boy beamed at him and then his eyes widened slightly, "I'm Sharye!" he blurted out almost as if it were something he'd forgotten to do earlier.
Touya smiled down at Sharye, "Touya, and this is April," he said introducing her as well. Sharye nodded his head to both of them and then stepped away, allowing Touya to lead them over to the tent that belonged to Grashath. Their entrance had not gone unnoticed as several of the Therian's were watching them, a few of the children had even run up to the three of them upon entrance as well. At the door of the hut, Touya reached up and knocked lightly.
"Enter," the Therian words were thick, and old sounding. Touya opened the door slowly and allowed April to pass through first before he followed. Behind him, Sharye came as well and put himself off into the corner, seating himself upon a stool.
"Grashath, I brought you visitors."
"Yes, yes, I can see that Sharye. Young these days," the elder Therian sighed with a shake of his head. His eyes were dark in color, his pale features held some wrinkles and his hair had turned gray, though the long braid still marked him as a warrior of their tribe.
"Havan-"
"Grashath is just fine," the elder said, waving his hand to interrupt Touya's formalities, "What is it you need. Obviously you're not wounded. Is it the woman?"
"Yes. She's a human who was... altered by her own people, unwillingly."
Grashath motioned for them to come forward, "Let me see her in better light."
"Go to him," Touya told April gently, and gave a soft push on her lower back.