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A smaller horseman had appeared in their midst almost without a sound save for the crunching of leaves spaced out like impossibly wide steps. Cloaked in deep brown and clinking gold beads and bangles, his arms remained hidden under the folds of fabric. He was very interested in the new surroundings, if somewhat unwilling to keep his feet on the ground. Occasionally, between foraging attempts, he'd lower himself by hovering wings and sink his bare feet into the cold dirt and spring back up into the air again before he started shivering.

When he wasn't being completely distracted, he foraged. Thin tendrils of shadow reached out from his back and slithered along the ground or trunks of trees, reached out for nearby plants to snap off a few dying leaves, small samples of the local flora, and reeled in.

His eyes flickered up above the leaves toward the other displaced horsemen in their strange clothing, wide with curiosity. A grin of needle sharp teeth was hidden behind the makeshift fan of leaves in front of his face.

The horsewoman stared openly at Sal, her hands beginning to shake as she digested his news. Zhi's words did not help either. "Oh no. No, no n-"

Then Fai himself appeared. The war horsewoman stared at him, her shoulders suddenly slumping. Relief was visible on her face as she shook her head. "No, no. My Fai. Faiza? War clansmen?" She looked at them, the lack of recognition on their faces making her frantic once more. "My sister? Looks just like me? Younger? She always liked hearing the stories of this place from the Chieftain and wanted to see it because it sounded so strange to her and she gets into more trouble than she really means to but --"

She jerked, cutting herself off before she dismounted, her horse vanishing into traces of Fear as it dissipated. "Please! Please, tell me you've seen her!" The horsewoman begged, holding her hands out in supplication.

Ah, it seemed they had gotten the wrong Fai.

"I'm very sorry my dear, we have not seen anyone with that description." Sal's voice was as sympathetic as his expression, his arms momentarily vanishing into the folds of his robes. He had to wonder if this woman lost her sister from the fall of the Isles, or if she was just a wanderous thing. Hopefully the latter, and still definitely something to worry about. This was still a foreign land, after all...

"It'll be alright." He assured her, nodding in the wake of his Fai's suggestion. Red eyes momentarily took in those desperately reaching hands, and it was a pitying attempt at comfort that made him reach out to her, trying to catch a hand to give it a reassuring pat. "Don't worry, we'll do our best help you find her. Six eyes are better than two after all!"

"What's your name, darkling? Are you sure your sister came into this area?"

Yuzhi paid some attention to the situation of the new figure that came on scene apparently looking for a Fai that was not the Fai that was currently in the area. Her brow furrowed a little bit and it caused her to take a gander over toward her brother just to make sure he was where she left him that is... Until that male spoke up and her head tilted toward him and her eyes narrowed just slightly.

"While I am glad your eyesight isn't hindered by your great height, Giant, I think it has had some affect on your ability to properly assess people and how they behave," she retorted, "I never connive."

That she could really think of. For some reason now Yuzhi was now mentally going over recent personal interactions to make sure there was no conniving involved on her part.

The clanswoman jumped visibly as Sal took hold of her hands, the movement smearing the red body paint that covered them. There was no dark skin beneath the paltry cover: the dark gray of Insanity marked her before she moved, her hands covering the spots as best as she could. "I would be indebted for any assistance," she told Fai, looking to him and the rest gathered near. "Even if it's nothing more than keeping an eye out for someone like me, any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated."

The appearance of the fellow war clansman was enough to cause the horsewoman to visibly shake and flick her wings, standing up straighter as Sal inquired her name. "I am Radha, Queen's Warrior of the War Clan. My sister, Faiza, is also a Queen's Soldier. This area... it is likely she is here."

She turned from Sal towards the other War clansman in the area. "My sister and I cared for the jungle beasts that chose to assist us. She and I..." Radha stopped and took a slow shaky breath. "We were working with them under the Queen's orders. Our own mounts do not last very long. The Queen wanted those who lack a mount-form or those who cannot summon their mount for long periods of time to have a mount available, and to practice upon said mount for when they could ride on their own. They... bolted. She noticed and chased after them first."

"That's when it happened." Her wings pressed close to her side as she crossed her arms, hugging herself. Radha's back was rigid as she stood still, War's pride fighting against her sheer need to curl into a ball and hide at the very memory of what had happened.

Zhi watched the War horsewoman with growing worry, her brow furrowing and her lips puckering slightly. Her eyes, trained to detect any differences in paint textures and such things, immediately flew to the sudden color discrepancy of the War woman's hands. Gray...? Her head tipped slightly, as if she was trying to recall if there was a dying ink that could turn a surface to such a strange coloration. Her thoughts were interrupted when the searcher spoke up again. They could assist. Good, good. Zhi was tempted to summon an ink creature to go scout around for a few seconds, an action that would make good use of it's plentiful eyes, but she resisted bringing forth one of her creations. Now was not the time.

When the introduction was made, Zhi gave another bow, acknowledging the other's rank. It was only polite and respectful that she offer her own in return. "I am Zhang Zhi, ah, but most not of my culture would call me Zhi." Zhi was her first name, but she didn't want to go confusing the others any more than her introduction normally would anyway.

The explanation came afterward, and Zhi found her vision flicking to the ground in search of animal tracks. If this Faiza worked with the animals, she would most likely be with them now, correct? Track down the animal and track down the girl, yes? She also noticed a few bones, and her mind immediately jumped to the idea of dragon statues for Diplomacy. Instinctively, she reached down and scooped them up into her wide sleeves. Perhaps she would be able to carve them, someday...

She returned her gaze to the shaken Horsewoman, trying to find some resolve she could give to the other. To feel as if one had escape their Isles' destruction with a family member, and then be faced with the chance of losing them here, after everything. Zhi would do anything in her power to try to make sure that didn't come to pass. Her jaw set, and she gave a nod. "I will search with you. Is there anything we should know about the mounts? Environments they might favor? If we find them, perhaps your sister could be found near by." The Conquest Horsewoman asked, searching the ground again for any signs of tracks. She looked back up to Radha, trying to support the other with her eyes alone. "Ready to start looking?" The question was aimed more towards everyone, but it was more of a formality than everything else. Zhi was already searching the area with her eyes as she spoke, after all.

Zhi's Gathered Supplies

1x Pine Needles
1x Tree Bark
1x Large Hollow Tree (Dead)
1x Bones of a Dead Minipet

Marushii

Zhi looked up from her inspection of the earth as another spoke up again. She had to keep looking up, her neck craning slightly as she tried to find the face of the War Horseman so far above her. As he nodded to her question, she gave a short, quick bow/nod in return, and began pulling her long over-robe's 'tail' up a bit, securing it off the ground with the thick belt-like accessory around her waist. That should keep her from hindering herself during the search, at least. She looked back to their growing search party, her eyes drifting to the paint on the War man's torso. Faintly, she found herself wondering what sort of paint it was, what it was made of, and why had he stuck it on himself in such...interesting designs.

Now really wasn't the time to ask though, so she filed the information away for future use. Maybe later she could ask him about his paint, after they'd found Faiza. She too turned to look back to the one who truly knew the missing figure, waiting for Radha to let them start in their search. Surely it would be unproductive to run off immediately to search, before checking to make sure there was not some key piece of knowledge missing. Once she confirmed there was nothing else she could say, they could begin looking. She stepped to the side slightly, onto a wide slab. It gave her a tiny bit more height to look around from, in any case.

Ol-j-man

Zhi's Gathered Supplies

1x Pine Needles
1x Tree Bark
1x Large Hollow Tree (Dead)
1x Bones of a Dead Minipet
1x Large Slab of Stone

Shik could feel the eyes on him but paid no attention; one got used to looks when you wore so little clothing, and certainly among War horseman he was no special one. He did, however, notice a lower hanging branch of pine needles just above himself and Radha, and he plucked a few of them off to add to the bag. "You could stand to roll up your sleeves, Imp," he told Yuzhi, gesturing to the artisan as she secured her longer tassels into her belt. "This might get too dirty for your Conquest tastes."

Why Zhi had bowed was beyond him, but then again the cultures of other clans were baffling at times to the executioner. It would be a rocky road of learning.