Welcome to Gaia! ::

((oh well then whhops))

(( rolleyes )) Lily stared through the darkness at Themba's face. His features were slightly distorted in pain, and his breathing was shallow and ragged. "You should have been the Traveler," Lily whispered. "You are selfless, and brave. Not to mention you're a warrior. But me?" She shook her head. "I haven't got an ounce of bravery in me. On Cloral, all I could think about was getting back home, because I was worried. And I may be smart, but I haven't got even the tiniest bit of common sense. The first thing Press told Jake after he became my acolyte was to never use the flume... I should have known right there. Now if everyone dies, it's my fault!"

Alan nodded and said,"Correct, I am Alan of Denduron. You must be Cloral's traveler?" He then looked around toward the other travelers in his presence. He nodded to them as if in greeting and turned back to Izzy. "I haven't heard any explosions latley, surley we should be on another territory. And also, is there more travelers or just you?" He seemed confused, his father hadn't told him ever detail of his job as a traveler or what all he had to do. "How many more territories are there anyway?"

((Finally!!! Hurry up! Themba is dying!!))

((I'm dying too! I'm a very impatient person... and I'm dying of anticipation, so hurry up or you'll face charges for my murder! xd ))

Ilandere sat nervously in the flume, awaiting her arrival on Zadaa. Nervousness was not the only thing she was feeling though. There was a strange sensation she felt around her injuries. It was indescribable, and all the pain seemed to ease away. She reached under her white tunic and swimskin and unraveled the tight bandages around her torso. She was healed. It was almost as if the flume had sped up the process of healing.

It was just another riddle to the traveler game and she was quite intrigued. Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft musical notes meaning the end of her flume ride. She was placed down in the dark cavern and she immediately felt around for the hand and footholds carved into the soft sand. She found them sand started climbing.

It wasn’t long until she reached the trapdoor and pushed it up. She climbed up and looked around for the weapons she had left before leaving for Cloral. As she had expected they were gone. She was just about to cover the trapdoor over with sand when she heard someone call her name.

“Ilandere!”

She whipped around to see Themba standing before her. She wanted so much to run up and hug him, but something didn’t seem right. The air about him was different. It was cold. And his eyes, they weren’t the same.

“Themba?”

Themba nodded, “I’ve been so worried! Hurry, we have to go. Saint Dane could be here any moment.”

He took a step closer to her and stuck out his hand. Ilandere stepped backwards, avoiding him like a disease. He cocked an eyebrow.

“Ilandere, take my hand. Don’t you trust me?”

She stared at his hand unsure of what to do. This was not Themba, she knew this much. She was stuck in a deep rut, regretting that she had left Cloral so soon.

“How did you get away from Saint Dane?” She asked.

“That’s not important now,” Themba replied, “We have to get out of here. Take my hand.”

“What did JinRah eat for dinner on his last birthday?” She said quizzitavely, “You should know this, you were there.”

“This is ridiculous, Ilandere. We–“

“No, your attempts to get me to join you are ridiculous... Saint Dane.”

Themba stood back and gave a cruel cackle. “You are so clever. I thought you would never find out. But, alas, here we are.”

Themba/Saint Dane bent low to attack. Ilandere was ready for him, but he didn’t spring like she expected him to. Instead he pulled something from his boot and threw it at her unarmored body. She reacted one second too late and watched as a knife pierced her shoulder. She let out an anguished cry and fell to her knees, clutching her shoulder.

Themba/Saint Dane hit her across her face and kicked her in the gut. He then threw her back to the floor and stepped on her chest, pinning her down.

“Like I said,” he hissed in a whisper, “In what world could you have ever beaten me. One that is none short than perfect. And now you will die.”

((Yeah... Sorry, can't help you there.))

Ilandere struggled to get Saint Dane off of her but the pain in her shoulder was too great and he only pushed down harder. It was getting difficult to breathe and she began feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

“Why struggle?” Saint Dane said maliciously, “Themba is already dead anyways.”

“No…he’s n-not!” Ilandere gasped.

“Oh? And what makes you think that?”

“I-I can…still f-feel him.”

Saint Dane transformed into his usual figure, putting more weight on Ilandere’s chest. “I must not have hit him hard enough then.” He seethed, “But it doesn’t matter anyways. Once one of you dies I will be sure to keep the other alive, just to make their life miserable. Surely one without the other is not as great as the couple.”

Something clicked in Ilandere’s mind and she stopped struggling. She ignored the pain and tried her best to keep breathing. She lay there limply but felt calm and peaceful.

“It slips like sand through my fingers
The water from the well
I see the mask that hides my features
Am I crying, I cannot tell
The tainted tears drip from my face
They ripple my reflection
I make a wish just for a kiss
A wish just for deception
I trick myself into love
Then later do not understand
Why I was poisoned, and forsaken
And buried beneath the sand.”

Ilandere got stronger with each line and began saying it louder and louder. She caught a glimpse of fear in Saint Dane’s eyes but it left as quickly as it had come. He started to push down harder and harder but couldn’t keep her down. Then, with the last word of the song, Ilandere took the bloodied knife from her wounded shoulder and plunged it into Saint Dane’s gut. He let out a horrible scream and she began turning the blade, grinding his stomach to a pulp.

“Now my blood will forever be within you, Saint Dane!” She shouted with the last of her energy, “I am a part of you!”

Saint Dane stopped screaming and held his stomach in pain. Quick as a flash he took the knife from his stomach and began to transform, into what Ilandere didn’t know. Suddenly the large Ghee warrior from Cloral was standing before her. The wound on his stomach was gone and he looked more menacing than ever.

“Don’t you hate it when I do that?” he smiled. Ilandere tried to get up but Saint Dane gave her wounded shoulder a kick. She screamed with the pain and collapsed to her knees.

“You’re making this too easy.” He said, hitting her across the head. She hit the ground and tried to keep awake but she could see darkness crawling in on the edges of her vision. She finally gave in and slipped away into unconsciousness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Themba kept drifting in and out of consciousness, subtly aware of Lily sitting by his side. He was unsure of how long he could hold on. He was already very weak from loss of blood. He didn’t know if he would live, but his thoughts began getting clearer and clearer. He didn’t know if that was good or if it was the calm before the storm.

He heard Lily speaking to him and tried very hard to register what she was saying.

“No, Lily.” He said in a pained whisper, “Do not doubt yourself. You were chosen to be a traveler because it was the way it was meant to be.”

He didn’t know how long he had kept himself awake but after a while he heard footsteps coming towards the cell. The door swung open with a creak and a clang and a figure stood in the doorway.

“I just thought you guys could use some more company.” He heard Saint Dane’s gold voice say. There was a thud as something hit the ground and Saint Dane shut the door again. Themba opened his eyes to see a slim figure with long blonde hair lying on the ground.

“Ilandere!” He exclaimed, trying to get up and go over to her. At his first attempt he got very dizzy and had to sit back down, but the second time he was just barely able to scoot over to her. He laid a hand on her back and felt it moving with her breath. Though it was shallow, she was still breathing.

“Lily, help me.” He said weakly.