Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I'll find out," Isiah huffed. "How long is it going to take you to recover?" He'd wait until broad daylight to ask around.. but he was currently waiting, now, for the deep dark hours of the night when no one would be awake to steal water for him.

He grunted, nodding once in acceptance of the terms. "You'd better be careful," he hissed, warningly. He was starting to sound a lot like Q's mother. "I don't think Kaegan is going to take lightly to you attacking his prodigal son, and I don't think the son in question will take lightly to it either." He looked back out their front door, wincing at the thought. There isn't much I can do for you, he mused inwardly. And I don't know if you can take care of yourself..

Isiah turned back to him, his brow furrowed forward, shaking his head back and forth minutely. "... Why would you do that?" It didn't make sense to him. Why feed the flame with insults? That'd only serve to make the opponent hyper aggressive. "... Were you trying to get him to make a mistake?"

"I'll try to find you a more suitable target," Isiah grumbled, mostly to himself. He was planning mentally, waiting for Q to fall asleep so he could go steal what he needed to steal and find out what he needed to find out.

Isiah waited until Q's breath was level and even before venturing out of their home. It was perhaps three in the morning, and the rest of the settlement- with the exception of a few stragglers and druggies- was fast asleep. He took the soup can with him, setting it on the well's ledge before lowering down the bucket. He filled the can the first time and drank down the soup-flavored swill, refilling it a second time to bring it back to their domicile, with hopefully nay a prying eye to see him, laying the can under the bed against the wall to make it harder for Q to kick over by accident.

He laid down on the cot, one arm hanging over it's edge as if to protect Q from intruders before falling into gentle sleep, the sun's first rays rising just as he closed his eyes.

Isiah woke up, eyes half open. He wasn't exactly fully awake but he knew better than to come clean about Q's whereabouts. He sat up, slowly, stalling, slinging his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing the back of his tennis-ball stubbly head. "I don't know," he began, his voice thick with sleep. "Maybe he wandered off while I was asleep.."

Isiah sighed. He had two options- he could try to hide Bornes, in what little time he had, and face the wrath of Kaegan on his own- or he could set up a fighting situation in which Bornes would stand a chance. He had to find an open space with shade.. he wasn't sure one existed.

"I've gotta hide you," he mumbled, almost inwardly. He stood with a jerk, ducking his head out the doorway. People were gathering, quickly, but he had a little time.. He pulled Q, gingerly, from under the bed. He had an idea. "Get your glasses," he hissed, waiting for Q to obey him before tossing him over his shoulders, jogging over to Cyrus' old cabin, kicking his trunk open. He yanked out all of the drug paraphenalia, gingerly laying Q within. "Don't come out until I tell you to," he hissed, shutting it with a snap before jogging out into the center of the street to face the gathering crowd.

Kaegan wore a deep frown of disappointment, his eyes cut into slits. "Isiah," he groaned, inwardly. "You know better than this."

Kaegan growled when Isiah didn't answer him, rolling his head on his shoulders. "Where is he, Isiah."

"I don't know," Isiah quipped quickly, defensively. He wasn't a good liar or a good actor but he knew his lines and he'd stick to them. "He must have run off while I was sleeping. Don't act like I'm his keeper," he hissed. "I'm not."

"You're lying," Kaegan spat back, quickly. "Where is he, boy."

Isiah's skin crawled. He had little, to no respect for this man. Not like he used to. And to be... talked down to? Oh. Oh no.

"I told you I don't know, old man," he hissed, spitting the last two words. "I'm not his master. Why don't you go scour the desert and find him."

Kaegan couldn't let him talk to him that way- not in front of the pack, and certainly not in front of the young and impressionable Tsurai. He crossed the space between them, looking up into Isiah's face. "You don't want to do this," he warned, under his breath. "You're out of practice. I'll crush you."

Isiah responded with a swift punch to the gut, his elbow poised above Kaegan's head to come down on his neck. Kaegan bent down with the force of the punch, but instead wrapped his arms around Isiah's middle, launching off of the ground to tackle Isiah, forcing him onto his back with force, sitting down on his thighs to pummel his face. Isiah caught his first fist by the wrist but the second connected with his jaw, his head thumping back into the dirt. He tried to yank Kaegan off of him by his wrist- Kaegan fell off but not before he unleashed another punch to his face. Isiah rolled over on top of him instead, wrapping his hands around his throat, moving his knees up his body to rest on his arms. Kaegan turned a deep red, pulling his legs up, kicking up to flip Isiah over him. Isiah landed on his face first, flipping over, scrambling to his feet while Kaegan did the same, gathering his breath.

Kaegan lowered his stance, tightening up, shaking his head back and forth slowly. Isiah growled, lunging at him, fist poised high for a haymaker. Kaegan sidestepped him, grabbing him by the arm to twist it behind his back. Isiah should have known better- he'd done it earlier. Textbook. Kaegan wrapped his other arm around his neck, one knee rising to thrust into Isiah's lower back, bending him in two opposite directions.

"Give," Kaegan insisted, quietly. Isiah frothed at the mouth, breathing hard, his free hand clawing at Kaegan's forearm at his neck, turning a deep crimson. "Give, Isiah," Kaegan hissed, pressing his knee harder into his back.

Isiah grunted, gnashing his teeth before barking. "Give, GIVE!" Kaegan released him with a push, face first, letting him fall down. "Search the homes. He can't make it far in the day time. If he's not here go five miles out in each direction."

Denziens scattered, quietly buzzing with conversation as they did so. Isiah grunted, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, catching his breath. Kaegan walked over, offering him a hand- Isiah gave him a look of pure hate, standing on his own, knees shaking a little.

"You made me do it, Isiah," Kaegan insisted, quietly, gently. "If you tell me where he is, there won't have to be more of this."

"Go to hell," Isiah spat back, brow pushed downward.