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After a small pause, Niabi nodded her head to her elder. Kerr'ba still seemed to be on edge and it made Niabi's throat tighten knowing that someone who actually knew and was proficient at using a weapon was keeping her eyes out for something Niabi could only guess at. "This way..." Niabi pointed the way and helped with the unpacking and setting up of the camp, trying not to get in the way. Niabi left the fire making to Kerr'ba, not really know how to make one herself, and knowing she would probably anger her elder.

Sitting by the fire after everything was said and done, Niabi had to wonder about what the next day would bring when they would start their hunt. Would Niabi actually be able to shoot anything? Technically or morally: both hung on Niabi's shoulders. Kerr'ba announced her departure and Niabi could feel herself tensing up. "A-Alright. Stay safe, Sister." She said meekly. The last thing Niabi probably should have said was to be safe with how experienced her elder was, but she couldn't help but worry with the woman's earlier alertness.

As Kerr'ba left, Niabi listened for her to be really far enough away before she pulled her own bow and quiver closer to her. She pulled her knees in and put her head down, more than a little paranoid about being alone in the forest at this moment in time. Normally these things didn't bother Niabi, but normally an experienced elder didn't think she saw something that Niabi could only assume was dangerous in the forest. The time continued to drag on, Niabi pulling on her hair and drawing in the sand with an arrow to pass the time.

Niabi felt as thought it had been hours since her mentor left. Standing up, she brushed the sand off of her knees and legs and picked up her bow and quiver. Maybe she should be looking for her? But then the clicking started. It was one click from one spot, and then nothing... but then another click, followed by more that seemed to be closer together, at least in time, but it was as if it was surrounding her. The clicks were from everywhere. Niabi clutched her bow tighter and gulped hard, her throat already had that choking feeling back in full force and her legs felt like jelly. She didn't know whether to move, or stay very still, or run for her life. She couldn't leave Kerr'ba, though she didn't know how she would be able to help even if she found her. She guessed if it came down to it she would have to have a crash course in using her bow, or it could be her life.

Niabi took a deep breath and clenched her fists. Well, she couldn't stay here. She would have to find Kerr'ba. Niabi took notice that the clicking seemed to be a little more furious sounding, getting faster and seeming to be focusing behind her. Scared, she blinked rapidly, wanting her eyes to be able to pick out what it was she was seeing and ran through the forest. At first she was as silent as she could be, hearing the clicking coming from behind her. It would soften, only to get much louder like it was right on her heels. She decided that quiet wasn't the way she was going to find her one person she knew in the forest, so she scurried up into the trees and off of the forest floor and began to call out to Kerr'ba. Now she had wished that Niabi had taken everything seriously to begin with and had some sort of signal or call to find her mentor if they were separated. "Kerr'ba." She hissed at first, hoping she was nearby. Not getting any response. Niabi scurried further up the tree and scouted around, knowing full well the clicking was closing in on her, and called out a little louder.

From far down below and a little ways off, she found Kerr'ba, and raced headlong to her position, hoping the woman was alright and just couldn't hear Niabi.

Niabi stopped short of Kerr'ba, surprised that the woman had not yet responded to her approach when she was being nothing short of noisy and basically rioting through the darkness of the forest.

Her breath caught, noticing the blank stare into the distance, and her mind raced for an answer. She waved her hand in front of Kerr'ba's face, hoping to get any kind of response. She yelled the elder's name, trying anything she could. Though she flinched at the thought, she even tried to poke and prod and shake the elder back into this world. What was happening here? Niabi's eyes flitted back and forth, hearing the clicking coming even closer. What was she going to do?

Her eyes made one more pass in the forest and she looked up to scan the treetops when she spotted something. It was glowing... It was definitely not something Niabi had ever seen before and she didn't exactly know what it was doing. But Kerr'ba seemed to be looking in that specific direction. Could there be a connection? Niabi fumbled for an answer to her questions. It was a long shot, but it could help her. It was too high in the trees for her to get to.

She sighed in dismay and tried to think her way out of this again. She couldn't reach it, but maybe she could hit the cord with an arrow? Niabi almost felt foolish for thinking that. She would have to hit the chord pretty much perfectly to have any sort of influence on it. But she had arrows and this might be the crash course she was expecting.

She shakily pulled her bow and an arrow from its quiver before notching it and drawing it back. She let loose the first arrow and it went impossibly wide and low. Niabi fumbled for the next arrow and brought it up again. Drawing the bow back, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and waited for just a moment. Focus was what she needed, and though she was completely fearful, she could at least manage that for the time being. She released her breath with the chord of the bow and watched for this arrow. Again it went wide, but she was at least getting closer.

Her next arrow flew with enough accuracy to hit the rune itself and she lowered her head, feeling like time was running out and she wouldn't be able to get much more done. But something happened. The arrow had hit with enough force that it split the rune into four pieces, all but one tumbling to the forest floor.

Niabi held her breath, hoping that this would fix Kerr'ba and she wouldn't have to do this alone any longer.

Niabi wanted to shake her elder, she was nearly overcome with fear at this point. "Who is back, Sister?! What are those things?" Niabi's words rushed out in a sharp gust of air. What was coming for them? Niabi would have to have been an idiot to not notice how weak and fragile Kerr'ba was right now. She wouldn't make it if Niabi had to leave her alone and go to the elders.

She pulled on Kerr'ba's arm. "Sister - you need to come with me. We need to get out of here together. We can hold them off." Niabi wanted nothing more than to flee, but she couldn't take Kerr'ba up on her offer to go. Either Kerr'ba was coming with her or she wouldn't be able to live with herself for the rest of her life.

Kerr'ba shook Niabi off of her. "Niabi. Leave. Now."

Niabi stood for a moment, the time seeming to drag on. What was she to do? She shook her head, tears already forming in her eyes. "No Sister. We will leave together." She had finally found her voice and she wasn't going to leave Kerr'ba here to possibly die. "Come quickly. We can skirt around them with any luck." Niabi grabbed a tight hold of her bow in one hand and grabbed a hold of Kerr'ba with the other hand around her wrist. She gave a tug and hoped that her Sister wouldn't resist.

Kerr'ba seemed to be too weak to fight Niabi off for long, and that worried Niabi even more, knowing that she might have little help if they had to encounter those things. Niabi took a deep breath and ran through the forest, tugging Kerr'ba along behind and hoping that neither of them tripped. That would be horrible timing. Niabi kept her head moving back and forth, scanning the surrounding area for any sign of those things. It wasn't before long though that they made their presence known. A large fireball came out of the darkness in the forest and launched itself toward the two of them. Niabi moved to dodge when she realized that Kerr'ba wasn't moving out of the way fast enough. She nearly tackled her elder to the floor, the fireball's heating grazing her flesh and having her yelp out in pain. This wasn't going well at all.

Niabi and Kerr'ba rolled together on the floor of the forest, her tender back feeling every harsh impact with the earth. She took a deep shaking breath in and pulled Kerr'ba to their feet. "Sister. What do we do? They've found us." She looked up to Kerr'ba, her eyes pleading for an easy response.

Kerr'ba looked up into the forest branches, straining her eyes for something that couldn't be seen. Her breath was ragged already and her limbs were visibly shaking. "Niabi. You have to get out of here. Forget about me. I will hold them off." Kerr'ba took out an arrow from her quiver, seeming to have trouble notching it, her eyes still on the unseen around them.

Niabi followed her Sister's eye line around the forest, her vision blurred with fresh tears, this time from the pain in her back. This wasn't how this was supposed to go down. This wasn't how her trip with the Elder was supposed to be. She was supposed to trip up on her bow, not be able to catch anything, fail horrible and be shamed for not going to practice when she should have. Nothing about this was supposed to end with the two of them dying in the forest by some unseen evil and its clicking noises. Niabi wasn't ready to be a martyr.

She crouched down, allowing herself five seconds of fear, tears, and anguish. When that was over, and the clicking had come alive in the forest, Niabi rubbed the tears from her eyes and stood straight, taking an arrow from the quiver and notching it into the bow. She took a deep breath, trying her best to suck all of the oxygen into her lungs.

As time past the grip of the spell was rapidly fading from her but Kerr'ba was now badly burned on one of her arms. There was no way she would be able to shoot now, despite the pack handed to her by her ward trying to bandage herself up during this chaotic time seemed almost laughable. The fact Niabi was so insistent on trying to help her...was frustrating. Kerr'ba wasn't so concerned about her own life, but she didn't want to see someone as young as Niabi die a pointless death.

"One of us need to get to the elders and warn them. " Kerr'ba hissed as she attempted to wrap her burned arm but found that the skin was peeling and spots had bubbled due to the intense heat. Touching it sent multitudes of waves of intense pain to her brain. "We can't lead them to Aisha, we need to separate and hope that they lose interest." The pain had apparently snapped her out of her groggy state but it was also making her light headed if she bumped or accidentally touched her wound.

Standing up she looked to Niabi, sweat pouring down her face as she then handed the girl her quiver. It was useless in her hands now, though she did slip a few of the arrows out and tucked them into her belt. "Try and head towards the shore but in a roundabout way. If you find they are following you to that point don't get in the boat. Make sure the coast in clear before you travel back." Kerr'ba stated with a finality in her tone, using one arrow she had gathered and dipping it into nearby flames as Niabi had done before. "I will distract them. Now go!" The older woman looked fierce despite the wounds she was inflicted with and turning she began to flee deeper into the forest. Using the arrow like a lantern and to hopefully lead the bug mages astray.

[Kerr'ba is using herself as a lure to distract the mages from Niabi's task. Niabi was ordered to go back to the isles and warn the elders, but at what cost? Write out how Niabi reacts to Kerr'ba's self sacrifice. Does she follow orders? Or make a valiant attempt to rescue her elder? The odds seem out of her favor and she is outnumbered. All the bug men have followed Kerr'ba except for one that had been set on fire by Niabi herself. This one wants revenge and seems intent on getting it. Niabi is to 'deal' with this mage prior to anything else whether it be fleeing or facing him. The ultimate goal is to get back to the islands and warn the elders of the danger. You may write until you get back to the islands or until she finds Kerr'ba (if she decides to try and rescue her).]

Everyone at the shores of their home looked up as the boat came to shore. Some smiled and waved, as they were too far to notice the look on Niabi's face, nor the condition she was in. The few that were closer looked to their sister with alarm on their face and rushed over to her side. Questions flew at her, asking what had happened, and why she was alone.

The elders bodyguards came quickly to push the slowly growing crowd aside to allow Niabi to move freely. "Word of your arrival has spread quickly." Spoke one of the gaurdswomen, "The elders are expecting you." One of the women spoke as she turned to face Niabi whilst her comrade continued to glare down the crowd to keep them at bay.

"I will escort you to them." She continued, it was obvious that she wanted to get Niabi to the elders before more people tried to stop her and ask her questions.

The elders were gathered, speaking quietly and urgently to each other. They were alerted by Niabi's entrance as their guard proceeded inside first, drawing the door closed behind the young alkidike once she had entered and then stood guard. Three pairs of eyes looked to their charge, the task they had set upon her..had not gone as plan that much was already evident. First Niabi had returned alone, and that could only bode poorly.

Silence.

It stretched on for what felt like minutes, though in reality it was perhaps an awkward thirty seconds. Perhaps it was that they feared to ask her what had happened, for by all accounts by looking at Niabi they could only guess and speculate the worst.

"Tell me Niabi....what has happened? Where is Ker'ba?"

The elders were giving her a hard look, but when 'bug men' were mentioned they looked alarmed. Two of the three immediately began to discuss amongst themselves whilst the third stood up and approached Niabi quickly. Her words were gentle but there was a sense of urgency as she drilled Niabi for all the information she held. Once satisfied she gentle took Niabi's hand, trying to console the young girl but pressing that a search party would be sent out to search for Ker'ba and they wouldn't rest until she was found.

"Niabi, though this had meant to be a test to find your warrior instincts, instead tragedy has befallen you. You have proved to us without a doubt that though fighting isn't in your nature, you are brave enough to face the dangers of the world. Welcome back Niabi, with your new rank amongst your sisters. Keep the arrows, hopefully once Ker'ba is found you can return them to her personally." The elder smiled, although it seemed a bit on the fake side, as if she truly didn't believe they would find any trace of their sister.

A formal search party had been sent out in the location Niabi described, signs of a struggle was evident though they couldn't find any trace of the woman anywhere. A slim amount of hope was that she managed to escape and was merely in hiding. It was on the fourth day they found her bow, the string was broken, but the weapon itself seemed intact. Retrieving it it was handed to Niabi for safe keeping.