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Miache Gahiji
With all the former Royalists? I thought this was a rebel camp!

He pursed his lips and did his damnedest not to look annoyed. Reemus was trying to help....he WOULD help, but it still felt a little foolish. He lifted his arms to show just how caked his shirt was in blood and mud, his pants fared no better. "What I have is what I have.....my lusus generally carries a kit with spare towels just in case, however all he has left in a new pair of gloves which...." he looked at his ripped and stained gloves, "I look forward to changing when I have the chance to clean up..."

Miache swallowed nervously, putting his chained hands to his throat. "Is....is it that bad?" he asked. All he felt was blood and marks where claws had dragged over his flesh. The bleeding felt like it had dried, but touching it again the wounds seeped a bit of fresh blood. That probably wasn't a good sign.

That small troll looked familiar. He scrunched his face in thought. Something about another messy job that he couldn't quite remember. Actually.....where he'd first met Tamiya! They were so young though. He shook the thoughts aside and stepped back to give a full view of Keionx. "She will be okay. She just needs to get patched up and cleaned off.....I don't suppose either of you knows of any clean water? I'm feeling a little dizzy.......it seems everything is catching up to me." He had to give his head a bit of a shake when another wave of vertigo hit him. The adrenaline had kept him going, but with the safety familiar faces offered it was leaving him fast. "P-perhaps it would b-be beneficial to find y-your friends."

Alexin wasn't in the best mood, shall we say. Running high on emotions and lack of sleep and what could only be called fear. Fear for himself. For his lusus. But most prominently, for Keoinx. In other words, he wasn't in any mood to be told "Calm Down." Nobody tended to be, when upset, but it had to be mentioned that Alexin wasn't the best at being told to do when in full control, let alone in his current state. The result of this turmoil, and the fact that Reemus looked far too calm was that Alexin turned, narrowed his eyes to slits and dipped his head threatingly, sharp horns levelled at Reemus, and /snarled/. There was no other word for it - a guttural, threatening sound. Levelled from a child to a teen however, it probably wasn't the best idea.

Which seemed to clock in Alexin's brain about two seconds after the snarl, when the fear and embarraassment of even trying it kicked in. Immediately he stepped back, hands raised and face bright blue as he realised what he'd done. The movement made him see Keoinx behind the two and his face crumpled even as he apologized.

"S-s**t. Sorry. I just."

Tears rose in his eyes and he wiped them away furiously.

"I just. I'm so worried about her. And an-"

A hiccuping sob before he bit down hard enough on his lip to draw a bead of blood as he pulled himself together and went for his satchel, seemingly managing to compartmentalise his feelings for now. Drawing out a large box that seemed mostly empty, he opened the clipped lid to reveal what was obviously a (semi-depleted) medical kit. Taking a deep breath again he brought out butterfly stitches, the remainder of his rolls of bandages, a small pair of foldable scisssors, tweezers and tape.

"Miache, how is your neck wound - does that need treating? And Keoinx's - " (his voice wobbled on her name) " - wounds, do they need cleaning or just stitching up? I don't have any more antiseptic or clean water so is there any around? And I don't think we've met, but are you injured, also?"

A highblood was growling at him. Part of Reemus, despite defying a greenblood and biting him, still wanted to submit, but this blueblood was a pipsqueak and a general wreck. He looked at Miache, the highest-ranked here, and that was enough to reduce that flare of wanting to lie on his back. Reemus just returned the threat with his own deep growl. He wasn't messing around. Even if it was a kid.

If Alexin hadn't immediately backed down upon realizing the snappy actions, Reemus likely would've shoved the little guy down. The yellowblood's patience had worn thin. Instead, he grunted and looked away as Alexin got all emotional. "Yeh, it's been a hard time fer all a' us." He scratched the back of his head, trying not to show a hint of embarrassment.

This was ridiculous.

He sighed. "It's gonna be okay, mate. It's a big 'ol tough spot fer all of this," Looking at Kei, it was obvious that some had it way worse than others, "n'-" Oh, was that medkit? Did this child seriously have what Miache had been looking for? Reemus blinked. "Well that's convenient."

Reemus grew quiet when Alexin asked Miache about the injuries at hand. He hadn't been addressed, and the colder-blooded folk might have a better idea of what they were talking about than Reemus did. He just knew trolls only had so much blood and shouldn't lose too much of it.

"Mm?" Reemus noticed he was being spoken to again. "Me? I guess 'm okay. Nothin' can be done about anythin' at this point. Ain't lost a limb 'r bleedin' all over." Reemus pointed to Miache and Keionx. "Just worry about them fer now. I'm just..."

He frowned, confused. Reemus looked at Miache. "What am I doin' as a part a' this lot?" They would give him something to do, right? He wasn't going to follow the train of suffering just twiddling his thumbs, was he?

He got up as she did, watching her gaze go back down to his shirt. There was still blood on the front of his chest, a dark teal that was starting to flake and he frowned. It was gross but there wasn't much to do right now. Oh, but what was she saying? Something about holding his breath. "I'm sure I'll be fine," He shrugged, following her out of the hive. She seemed to know what she was doing up here and well, if she wasn't falling he was probably okay to follow her actions.

"You just described everything I do," He deadpanned, but eventually just grinned at the bad joke. "I read a lot, actually. I like to, have ever since I was a kid. Always a variety too, like stuff for my tattooing, or astronomy, or even stories sometimes. Just whatever seems interesting. I draw too, although it hasn't been as frequent lately." Anguis hadn't actually wanted to draw lately, always thinking about something or the other, but that he didn't really have to relay.

What about you?" He asked, realizing he didn't know much either.

Rasali couldn’t say a hike through the swamp was how she wanted to wind down after a long bout of hiking through the swamp. Still, she wouldn’t complain so long as she didn’t have to do anymore swamp-based running. Their little group were way too far out to catch the attention of any royalists that happened to still be on patrol—especially if they were using the same janky tracking technology they were. Any royalist unfortunate enough to have wandered out this far would have to be too lost and too tired to be much of a threat, anyway. Rasali walked along at a comfortable pace, toting what little supplies she had remaining and had been able to sneak from the new basecamp. If anything it would do their little party some good to pace themselves and look around for useful plant life.

Rasali would have killed for something to ward off the bugs. She was seconds away from helicoptering her weapon in the air. Blood-loss via mosquitos probably wasn’t an actual cause of death, but Rasali would be sick with shame if that was what finally took her down in the end.

Rasali was blessedly distracted from her thoughts of bug bites by Tevini. The question gave Rasali pause. She wasn’t sure what the best way to answer was. Byakko… Byakko was a tough one. Rasali admired and trusted their leader, but she couldn’t help but feel the sickening pull of beliefs indoctrinated by their collective culture. Mutantbloods were just that. They were aberrations in the genetic slurry. They certainly didn’t just breed and pass down their genetics like normal trolls, they just happened. There was something eerie about that. A kink in a system as expansive and resolute as the hemospectrum was not to be taken lightly.

Then again, what was the Phoenix Initiative fighting for? Mercy from the Queen’s hemospectrum that was what. Byakko knew the horrors of highblooded persecution better than anybody. The fact she’d lived as long as she had was a testament to her strength of character. Rasali respected that.

”Byakko is out leader.” Rasali announced resolutely. ”She’s been so since before I started with the Initiative. I know she was close with the former leader as well, but that’s something of a delicate issue... Anyway, the senior members are just that. They’re the older trolls of the group. They’ve got the most experience and they’ve known Byakko the longest. It’ll only be a matter of time before they catch up to us at the village.” Hopefully, Rasali didn’t add.

”It’s obviously not an ideal camp, what with the total population death, broken buildings, total isolation, and manual sopor retrieval. It’s a hell of a lot more difficult to find than the last base, though, which is our main priority after what happened to the last one. Beggars can’t be choosers.” Rasali looked down at Cerpin.

It wouldn’t do the Phoenix Initiative’s image any favors to spout off about how the ambush had been a complete catastrophe and everyone had been blindsided by the mutantblood thing. Rasali would stay vague, but she could hardly blame these kids for being anxious. They all were.




Sorry for the delay! We can do a time skip or whatever whenever you guys feel like you're done chatting with Rasali.

Muerte wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but stairs definitely wasn't the trivial warning he thought he'd hear. Their conversation had since switched into a comfortable silence, and while Aprife had pointed out obstacles that were harder to maneuver, something inherently constructed hadn't quite made that list. Branches, rocks? Sure, but— "Stairs." he didn't sound disbelieving, but the deadpan question sounded incredulous regardless.

"To what?" He perked slightly, tired eyes trying to find shapes in the trees as his foot toed around for the first step. "Are you saying there's buildings here Ap—"

He had spoken roughly at the same time as the yellowblood, and the reason his voice was caught off was much the same. It was hard not to immediately bristle at the sounds of the altercation, and quite frankly the only thing that kept him from such was his exhaustion and the state of his vision. At least he was reacting, body posture ridged, already alerted. He darted inside quickly out of necessity; hand still clamped on the yellowbloods sleeve.

He let go as the situation began to unfold, watching from a small distance. Aprife was talking—rather dogging whomever was the cause of the commotion. The troll seemed short (but anyone next to Aprife looked short), and he already dismissed them as a threat. The greenblood relaxed his posture as he observed the scene, absentmindedly wringing the horn-ring-turned-bracelet around his wrist, satisfied at the light. He wasn't about to get in the middle of this; it was sort of hilarious actually. Muerte stopped toying with the ring to stifle a snarky snort sort of laugh with his hand. He'd been on the receiving end once before, sure, but he had absolutely no sympathy for the tealblood.

The greenblood took his unspoken cue and carefully made his way carefully inside, gravitating towards the yellow blob in his vision. He wasn't about to stop Aprife from continuing, but he still found it proper to give him an inconspicuous nudge to his arm as he took his place beside him, eyes staring down silently Forera, judgmental.

"Did you honestly think the idiots around here think before they speak?" It was a quiet whisper shot at Aprife, but given the close confines of everyone present in the room, it was hardly a secret one.

Zariah Rutace
With two lowbloods and two highbloods....oh boy.

Oh thank the stars. Zariah lugged the usable pots out of the hive, as much as he could carry. The stove in the hive didn't still work, but maybe they could find or make some fire to boil the murky swamp water. After he'd left the hive (his heavy cargo bundled ini his arms) he started at the sight of his twin. Bleeding. A lot. He paled. He'd seen her injured but she wasn't moving. He ran over and dropped the pots and lids, kneeling by her side. "KEI!" he choked out, hands torn between reaching for her and not wanting to make her injuries worse. He knew she'd been hurt....but she looked even more banged up than before! When he saw the blueblooded teen he peeled away and narrowed his eyes, instead directing his attention to Reemus. "I-I can get her clean water. Um....a-any chance one of you can help me w-with a fire?" he asked, eyeing Alexin. He was one of Kei's friends as well, right? Geeze....she had a lot.

He pulled his hands back to bunch in the fabric of his pants, unable to know what else to do with them. He had to be strong. She didn't want him to be weak any more, he was supposed to be learning to take care of himself at least a little, sadly the courage he'd found in the Swamp was leaving him far behind.



Miache Gahiji
With a puppy, a spaz, and the clones!

"Reemus, how about you go help with retrieving water? You're bigger and stronger than anyone else, you'll be able to carry it," Miache said, nodding to the pots the orangeblood had brought. "Alexin if you can help with the fire maybe we can move into one of the abandoned hives and set it up there....if we're lucky there will be somewhere to rest her while she's cleaned." He straightened himself and fought down another wave of nausea and vertigo. Not yet. He couldn't let himself be overcome by the lack of cleanliness yet. As soon as they set up the clean water station he could get clean and they could tend everyone's wounds.

Miache's eyes fell back on Keionx, concern pressing his lips briefly. He couldn't pick her up...not with his hands still bound. He internally cursed himself for his foolish capture before looking again at Reemus. "If you wouldn't mind taking her to a hive first though..." he added somewhat lamely. Although.....with clean water he would be able to clean some of his small hand towels his lusus brought! That was certainly at least somewhat a bright side. He went to his lusus and grabbed to towels still ride with swamp water, feeling at least a little triumphant. Sure they'd been used earlier for what seemed NOW like a foolish reason....but at least he still had them.

"I'll go. If stuff starts falling, you better dig me out." Cerpin's tone took on a haughty sound to it but he grinned to show he was clearly joking around. Crawling into a dark cramped cave that clearly had a tendency to cave in made him nervous but he channeled that energy into walking rather than cowering. The rest of the camp was counting on them for this. Ducking into the hidden passageway Tevini had found, he focused on where he was placing his foot next as his eyes adjusted. Trolls had dark vision, sure, but it was much darker in here than it had been outside.

"It's here! It's in here, we found it-" His voice finally spoke up again after about a minute of silence as he took stock of his surroundings. It was a little ways in but they'd managed to locate the hidden sopor spring of the mystery village. He unclasped one of the bottles he'd brought with him and filled it up with the familiar green slime. The purpleblood had never really thought much about the stuff before beyond the typical normal everyday life but right now it was an item of comfort and pride. He'd probably still take it for granted a little, the idea that certain aspects of troll life he expected to be handed to him easily, but he had a new appreciation for what the trolls of the past had had to live through. If he really did make it out to space... he'd be doing a lot more roughing it and scavenging for shelter and necessities, wouldn't he? Something to think about.

"See? I'll start filling up the shell." He'd emerged back out to the others and beamed at Tevini and Rasali over his success. The contents of the bottle poured into Scuttle's shell and he cleared his throat as if a little hesitant to say something to the older troll. Would she get mad if he tried to ask her to do things? He'd been told in the past that he came across as if he were ordering people around instead of asking nicely thanks to his commanding and flashy personality. His eyes flickered to the caved in rocks though and he pointed to them.

"Tevini and I are going to run out as much slime as we can with these containers to fill Scuttle but... it might be good to clear an entrance for the future..."

((Feel free to timeskip them filling up the turtle in your post! I just wanted to give Rasali a chance to show off her awesome strength by clearing away the debris should she wish to! : 3 ))