Their escape from the Nergui had been sudden, but the opportunity had been undeniable-- and strangely, it had been Adeyemi to push for it. Not exactly a chatty pair, and certainly determined to get far away before they settled down and discussed everything that happened, they were some days out of the horde's territory before they were finally forced to consider activities other than flight.
Scavenging along their way had been sufficient but hunting for themselves had been a treat. Though they were far from peak condition, they were still capable enough to get started. Once fed, it was finally time to talk. And Adanna was the first to crack.
"Do you think they got it?"
Adeyemi was reclined in the shade, enjoying the feeling of a full belly and the freedom to do as he wished-- which, right now, was exactly what he was doing. Ideally, his sister might not be lurking nearby, ready to start some pointless argument with him about the timing or means of their escape.. but this was by far better than their situation had been in a long time.
Though his head was held high, his eyes were closed-- until Adanna spoke, and one eye blinked open. He didn't care for her tone, implying he would already know whatever the hell she was asking about, but he didn't care to argue right now, either.
"What?"
Adanna couldn't be bothered to be frustrated with her idiot brother's ignorance. For a while, it had almost seemed like he knew what he was doing but she was hardly surprised to hear he only knew as much as he needed to. It was apparent all he had noticed was that their guard was minimal and if they were going to escape, now was the best time.
"They were hunting a god," she stated, "That's why the horde disappeared as it did. It's a thing that they do, though I suppose you didn't pick up much about our captors-- or did you accidentally absorb some of the local language?"
Adeyemi opened both eyes when she spoke, but then shrugged and closed his eyes again. He didn't particularly care why the slaves had slipped the mind of the Nergui at the exact moment he happened to be watching carefully for an opening. He only cared that their moment had come.
"If it's really a thing that they do, then probably," he said indifferently, "All I cared was that we got out."
His relaxed demeanor was a sharp contrast to Adanna's own tense posture as she stood, looking at him with narrowed black eyes and her tail swishing behind her. She was somewhat surprised, now that they could talk openly, to learn he hadn't even accidentally learned some of the language. At least it showed he could accomplish something, however stupid, when he put his mind to it.
"You were in quite the hurry, I didn't expect you to take me with you," she said, her tone softening-- though sounding almost suspicious, "I wouldn't have taken you."
Finally, Adanna had his full attention. His eyes opened with a roll and his own tail began to sway back and forth behind him. Still, though, he stayed reclined comfortably on the ground.
"Naturally, I ought to be looking out for myself first and foremost," he said, "I figured if it came to it, you'd be a good distraction if they caught up to us. Improve my odds, you know."
Adanna was unmoved. She didn't buy it, though it sounded very much like something she would expect from him- and that their mother would have encouraged from them.
"We were running out of time."
Adeyemi could see his sister losing her patience, so he offered the truth. His blank expression was replaced with a scowl and he pushed himself up to his feet.
"They weren't going to let us dig holes and move boulders for the rest of our lives, those tasks were designed to break us and it wasn't working. Never mind that somewhere along the way you started caring about all of the other slaves. I was going to fake it and join them, but you were clearly just going to let them kill you."
As much as Adanna wanted to argue with his conclusion, she could hardly deny that she had only been becoming surlier and more determined in their last months with the Nergui- though saying she cared enough about the other slaves to endanger herself was a bit much.
Then, very suddenly, what Adeyemi was really saying struck her: He had risked their escape with her specifically to save her.
"Why?"
"Why what? Why we were running out of time should be obvious enough, and I don't know why for some stupid reason you started thinking everybody ought to be able to escape--"
"Oh, shut up."
Adanna finally gave up. Truth be told, she would have saved him, too.
Adeyemi smirked.
"So, they were hunting a god?" he asked after letting an appropriately smug silence stand between them, "That's very interesting."
"Mhmm.."
Adanna paused, unsure if it was worth bringing up at this point-- but at least now she had the opportunity to speak freely, and she had not been able to share her theory before now.
"In fact," she said carefully, "I think that is how this all started."
He tilted his head and considered her suggestion, though he came to no obvious conclusion from it. If they were hunting a god, the Hongshan wasn't a likely place to find one and they would hardly have bothered interfering if it was just a matter of passing through. And that wasn't how it went down.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I think we had a god hiding in our pride," she said quickly and simply, not terribly surprised to learn Adeyemi hadn't come to a similar conclusion just yet, "Obviously that's not all that there was between the Hongshan and the Nergui, but if we did, don't you think that would have been a contributing factor?"
He blinked and considered it. Harboring a god might indeed be deemed offensive by a group of god hunters, but there was little evidence to support such an unlikely idea.
"Do you know why the Nergui kept us? Gave us as long as they did to try to convert us rather than just killing us much earlier and getting it over with?"
Adeyemi shook his head. He had plenty of theories but none of them serious, why wasn't so much his question as how do I get the hell out of here.
"We're seers," she said, "Both of us. I'd bet Amara was too. If Amara had survived, I believe we would have been the largest family they captured. They didn't do that for our benefit, they want seers. But how could we all possess such a strange gift?"
And how could they possibly know that about us?
The question stuck to his mind but he didn't bother asking, as he stared at her it occurred to him if they wanted seers then they must already have some seers. He had only a minimal understanding of his gift, only recently had realized it, and yet he could easily believe there were others who had more control. He surprised and confused, though, to hear his sister declare that she was also a seer- and to guess that Amara had been, as well. And it must have shown on his face.
"It was Mother."
"... Do you really believe that?"
"You don't?"
He paused and really thought about it. All things considered, he came around to the idea that it actually wasn't that hard to believe about the mother he remembered. She was fierce and confident, sometimes disproportionately so, and often seemed capable of unlikely things. Never mind that she had disappeared almost as suddenly as the Nergui appeared. And some divine source was certainly necessary, in his opinion and even without the knowledge that gods bore mortal seers, if he and his sisters were all seers.
Then, he realized that this meant that he was a demi-god. The reason for his visions was possibly explained and any excuse for his ego was forgiven. His grin changed ever so slightly.
Adanna watched her brother very carefully as he thought about it, going over many of the same details that she had gone over before. The stupid grin on his stupid face said it all: he agreed with her.
"So the past is settled," she said, "What of the future?"
"Well, we know where the rest of the Hongshan were supposed to have gone," he said, "We could follow them, even though the Nergui know at least that much."
Adeyemi had no real idea how much interaction was between the Firekin and Nergui, but he knew enough.
She nodded silently, giving no immediate answer. To join the rest of the Hongshan in the Firekin had always been the plan, but it didn't have to be. And it was certainly nice to be in complete control of their own lives at that exact moment. So she laid down, mirroring Adeyemi's comfortable position.
He waited but no answer came so he let the conversation trail off. They could rest safely for now and worry about the future later.
Fin!