To My Body, I Confine My Soul <Kei Lan, EK>

[nasrin]

Nasrin shrugged slightly at the girl's first question and was about to respond when the strange young woman made a comment on the two men across the room. Nasrin bit back her intial remark and instead studied the girl. Her behavior had already seemed erratic, but after a few drinks she seemed even less subtle in her actions... if that was possible.

The sandbender turned herself around at that point, after obseving that the two men across the room and quieted their exchange under the glare of the wealthy young woman. Nasrin hooked a hand around one of the mugs that the bartender had placed before her and lifted it towards her lips. She paused before taking a sip, though, and uttered quietly, "I think your gems caught their interest." Nasrin tilted her head back then and gulped down nearly half the mug's contents.

Bringing the mug back down the the table and smacking her lips a few times to analyze the taste, she added, "Keep an eye out for those two..."

[manju]

A blank look swept across Manju's face. Never before in her travels had this occured to her. Hearing her newfound acquaintance beside her say "I think your gems caught their interest." evoked these very thoughts in her head. Her angry outburst didn't help a bit, only making things worse for anyone who watched by revealing her stash and even where she kept it.

The gems she carried were only commonplace in Igni culture, the crude, uncut sort an easy find if one were to venture up the slopes of a volcano or past the nearby gemstone mines. Here in the small towns or larger cities of the Earth Kingdom, however, it was a much different story. They were priceless.

She brushed her palm across her forehead, eyeing with her peripheral vision at the two men, who were still muttering to each other. Her suspicions were confirmed; they were indeed muttering about her...

"Keep an eye out for those two..." were words she couldn't agree with more. She could probably defend herself against the two shady characters, but this meant that she had to keep ever more vigilant, lest she lose her sole means of independant wealth that allowed her to travel the land so freely. Granted, Manju wasn't afraid of much, but the small beads of sweat that formed on her brow hinted at a few things.

Without looking back, or down, for that matter, she reached down to pick up her pack. Flailing her arm in a small vicinity, she grabbed hold of one of the straps and hoisted the bag up into her lap. With one arm holding the pack down, spear heads clearly visible jutting out from the sack's opening, she gripped the mug so she could finish off her drink.

After downing some more quickly, she lay the glass back on the counter and turned to the sandbender, in full accord responding, "I have to now. Dey look like trouble t' me..."

Lifting the drink to her mouth again, she washed down the rest of her beverage and wiped her mouth. Leaning to the woman yet again, she smirked and blithely said, "'course, I could take 'em."

[nasrin]

Nasrin watched the amber contents of her mug swirl around and she swiveled it in her hand absently. It wasn't a bad drink. A little bitter compared to the sweeter mead she was used to, but it all-together acceptable. She decided it wasn't a total waste of her money, even as she listened to the girl beside her without even bothering to feign interest.

Her last claim though, at being able to take on the two men by herself drew the sandbender's glance from her mug. Nasrin looked over the younger woman once more, trying to get a read on how formiddable she might be if she actually had to fight for her life. Her appearance was quite ferocious with her tattoos and piercings. Nasrin really didn't recognize them from any particular culture. Her first instinct upon noticing the girl's bare feet was Earth Kingdom, but her features and perhaps her choice of colors made her lean more toward somewhere in the Fire Nation. Maybe she was a bender? If so, then she would likely be able to scare off the two would-be thieves... Though, as Nasrin observed further, this girl did seem to have a certain air of confidence about her that usually only came with the knowledge that one could hold their own in battle.

Nasrin blew out a long sigh and then drained the contents of her mug behind her in one last gulp. As she did she, she heard the shuffling of the men across the room standing from their seats. Instainctively, a hand started to drift a little closer to the hilt of the Jambiya tucked in the back of her sash, but as she listened further, she heard the sound of the door swinging open. The men had simply left.

Placing the mug back on the counter, Nasrin slid the empty container towards the back of the bar. She then pulled a money pouch out of her shirt, held in place by a string around her neck. Counting out 12 copper pieces and a silver coin, she slid them towards the approacing bartender and said, "There's a little extra for the mug." Without even bothering to explain, she scooped up the 2nd mug of ale she'd gotten for her partner and clipped her personal jug back onto her hip. She stood from the bar and took a step back from her stool as she began re-wrapping the linen bandages around her face.

The bartender flashed her a contemptuous look that she was taking one of his mugs, but after a quick tabulation of the cost versus the payment, he realized she'd paid him more than fairly for a simple earthen mug and gave a grudging nod. Nasrin returned the nod of understanding just as she finished resetting her bandages. She gave a final glance toward the young woman still sitting at the bar and said quietly, "Enjoy your drinks..." As she left, she took a final moment to notice the large, heavily bandaged man further down the bar who'd been quiet this whole time and then started out the door.

Nasrin pushed aside the swinging half-doors and stepped out into the sunlight, her headcloth providing a little bit of shade to her squinting eyes. She glanced to her sides before starting down the road toward the trading post where she could see her fellow sandbender hunched over in the same spot she'd been sitting earlier. She shook her head slightly at his childish behavior and continued on. However, as she past the edge of the tavern, she noticed the two men from inside were standing in the small alleyway between the tavern and the next building over. She didn't turn her head to look obviously, but her shifted gaze did manage to catch a glint of steel.

Nasrin kept walking forward and reminded herself that it was not her business. "About time!" she heard her partner call out to her, standing from his seated position. "I was keeping your spot warm," he explained, dusting himself off. Nasrin offered a transparent token laugh, to which the older man smirked and held out a hand to recieve his mug of ale. Before he'd even taken his first sip, Nasrin was already slouched back in her previous spot against the wall of the trading post.

[manju]

Manju nodded her head at the woman's statement, then watched her pay the bartender and leave. She decided that it was high time she did the same, even if there were no other pressing matters she had to attend to. She reached into the satchel in her pocket with one hand, grabbing a few crudely polished garnets for payment, and with the other hand slung one of the straps of her traveling pack over her right shoulder. She placed the gems on the counter and sneered playfully at the barkeep. Springing from her seat, she stumbled slightly due to the slight buzz she felt from the alcoholic drinks she drank just minutes ago, but she regained her composure and began making her way out the tavern.

Turning back for a second, she poked the shoulder of the tall, mysterious bandaged character of the Fire Nation with whom she conversed earlier, saying to him "'ey you...take care, now." Swiveling herself back toward facing the building's entrance without even taking time to note the man's response, she sauntered to the door.

Just before swinging it open, she noticed for a moment the seats where the two men who had whispered about her since she entered, seeing that their seats were now inhabited by a rugged-looking local woman and her husband instead. Those two men, the cowardly perverts she made them out to be, had left for any given reason, but she didn't much care.

Swinging open the left side of the wooden half-door, she stepped out onto the dusty street before the tavern in this small, quaint town of Kei Lan.

[nasrin]

"Stuff's not bad," the male sandbender thought out loud, taking another light sip of the ale Nasrin had gotten for him. "A little bitter, but still tastes all right." Nasrin didn't bother to voice her agreement with his evaluation, and instead she simply leaned foward, placing her arms over her bent knees and let her head rest against her forearms. This tow was so bor-

A rumble shook the ground around her and the sound of shifting rock reached her ears. A shout was yelled from inside the trading post and a moment later, one of the merchants that Nasrin and her comrade had been escorting was flying out of the door. The front of the man's shirt was slightly browned with dirt and blood was starting to leak from a cut on his lip. Nasrin's head popped up immediately from her slouched position and took in the sight of one of her employers laying on the ground. From inside the post there were more yells as several of the other desert merchants rushed out of the building, the last one of them being helped on his way by a chunk of rock that sweep out the back of his legs and sent him into an awkward backflip.

Within an instant, Nasrin was up on her feet and putting some distance between herself and the doorway. Her fellow bender had already begun moving out wide to stand near the middle of the street and on the opposite side of the entrance. A few moments later, a large man stepped out of the building with several of the traders behind him, though they maintained a respectful distance. "You'll regret trying to swindle us!" one of the traders said, standing behind the larger man and waving a fist at the battered desert merchants who were just beginning to rise. The two others who had run screaming from the building were already half way to the sand sailer on the edge of the town. "Trying to pass off that junk as ivory... Feh!" the man muttered and spat toward the desert merchant.

Nasrin didn't honestly care what the dispute was or who was at fault. Her attention was focused solely on the large man, obviously a bender, who was standing before the town traders. He was thick around the waste, but not terribly fat. He wore a vest with no shirt underneath, a pair of loose baggy pants and no shoes. He sported a bushy black beard and a thick short of hair that made his look quite wild. From all appearances, he was the traders' bodyguard. Under most circumstances, Nasrin would never think to pick a fight with such a man. However, she was a bodyguard too.

"Don't just stand there!" she heard the desert merchant behind her. "Do what we paid you to do and protect us!" Nasrin caught a look from her comrade and the two shared a slight nod. They'd take him together. Nasrin dropped her stance a bit, bending her knees into a slight crouch as she positioned herself more to the man's side. The other sandbender was doing likewise, shifting his position so the earthbender would be unable to face them both at once.

The bodyguard seemed to catch on to their ploy immediately, though, and decided not to let them take his sides. With a sharp jab into the ground with one foot and a swing of the arm, he brought forth an angled spire of rock to the male sandbender's side and sent it rushing towards him. Nasrin's companion was forced to dive forward to avoid the strike, but in that moment of attack, Nasrin was free to attack. With a step forward with her right foot, Nasrin swept her left arm forward and out, followed by her right, repeating the circular morion once more until a man-sized dust devil of sand had formed in front of her and she sent it swirling towards the bodyguard.

[manju]

Manju took a few steps away from the tavern door, when she suddenly heard a great ruckus arise between some businessmen, louds noises of a skirmish abounding. She noticed the androgynous sandbender woman with whom she spoke not long ago being involved in the argument. Creeping back toward the wall of the tavern to watch the thing, she turned her head to see everyone either running out of the buildings lining this dusty street or looking through the windows to watch the whole ordeal.

The Igni couldn't resist watching the scuffle, the one between the locals who she assumed were earthbenders and the desert sandbenders, and perhaps even adding herself to the fight for no apparent reason other than for her own enjoyment, of course. But of course, until anything arose, she remained up against the wooden wall of the tavern.

Sidestepping a few feet from where she stood, her gaze fixed on the uproar, she was caught off guard from behind, feeling a man forcefully put his hand on her mouth and jerking her head back while he held a crude metal dagger to her throat. The skin on his hands was dry and haggered, clearly that of an older man. Breaking her attention on the skirmish, she now feared for her life and felt a serious rush of adrenaline.

"Shh, shh, quiet down, honey..." whispered the man into Manju's ear, doing so in an all too familiar voice. It was one of the drunken perverts who she bothered earlier and saw her stash of gems that she kept in her pocket. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, but she made no attempt to thrash about like a lunatic, instead remaining still for the time being.

She heard a man say something to the man holding her captive, his voice shrouded by the sounds of the other, much louder skirmish taking place. As she presumed the man's head to have turned at this to look at his companion, she raised her bare foot and, throwing caution to the wind, she slammed it down at his kneecap. He let out a brief cry, dropping his weapon and falling to the floor in anguish. She back up, looking at the man with a fierce glint in her eye, panting.

The other man had disappeared in this moment, nowhere to be seen. Manju thought he may have run away scared like the coward he probably was, but she couldn't take any chances. She backed up while glaring at the other man, who still lay on the floor, writhing, while she felt a hand slip into her pocket and grab her satchel of gems, doing so so quickly that she had no time to retaliate.

She swung around as fast as she could, seeing a young man running with her bag of gems. Those jerks must 'ave sent a young thug... she pondered as she took off after the thief. Running down the street, she impulsively grabbed a couple of rocks and threw them at the young man, hitting him in various places, one hitting him directly on the crown of his head, causing him to rub his head and look back for a second at the angry woman barreling down on him before he continued fleeing.

The young woman pursued him and caught up to him quickly, ultimately getting about a yard and a half behind him before performing a jump kick which hit him in the back and knocked him forward and the satchel out of his hand. She ran forward and grabbed the strung-up leather pouch from the ground about two yards from the prostrated young man, sliding it into her deep pocket. As she walked by the young man again, she mercilessly kicked him in the side and went on her way, dust and sweat all over her exposed skin and a look of contempt on her face.

She saw her traveling sack untouched, right where she left it, as the fight continued. She snatched it from its place and swept her hand across her neck, only to see her hand with a thin line of blood from where he must have grazed her lightly. The man still lay there, though now he appeared to be unconscious. She figured as much. In a series of agile movements, she swung herself up onto the roof of the tavern to watch the ongoing fight, now seeing a burly earthbender man battling the more lithe sandbender woman.

[nasrin]

The traders' bodyguard turn back to face Nasrin's dust-devil a moment before it struck. With a hard jab forward with an open palm, he used the force of his bending to blast apart the whirling cone of sand. However, in doing so he filled the air with a lingering cloud of dust which made him blink furiously to keep his eyes clear. Nasrin couldn't really see past the shroud of dust that surrounded the earthbender, but she figured he couldn't be far from his last location and decided to attack again.

Nasrin stepped forward and wide, dropping her back knee and driving a hard palm into the ground before her. Where her hand touched, a burst of dirt and sand erupted and shot forward along the ground like a fault line, tossing up small chunks of the earth as went. The attack disappeared into the cloud of dust, but there was no pained yell or any sign that it had hit its intended target. Nasrin strained her ears, listening for some hint as to what was going on.

The rumble of the ground, followed by a painful grunt clued her in that the fight was not yet over. A heartbeat later, she saw the beige-clothed form of her fellow sandbender thrown off to the side where she could see past the dust cloud. he hit the ground in a poor attempt to roll, but he was still attempting to stand. "You o-!" she started to call out, but was interrupted by the sight of a fissure racing its way toward her from the direction of the slowly settling dust cloud. Still in her crouched position, she was too extended to leap away and instead, she only brought her feet closer together. The ground beneath her suddenly lurched forward and then rose up sharply. The nimble woman managed to keep her balance, but she couldn't avoid being launched nearly a dozen feet into the air.

Nasrin uttered some form of incoherent grunt as she twisted herself in midair as best she could so that she wouldn't kill herself on the landing. Unfortunately, the odd rotation wouldn't allow her to put her feet underneath her. Quickly deciding on a change of strategy, Nasrin spread her feet out and held her hands extended under her to slow her spinning, and as she came down in a sort of belly-flop, she struck the ground hard with a pulse of bending power. The hard dirt under her was instantly turned into soft, powdery sand.

She hit the ground hard, though, and the force nearly knocked the wind out of her lungs. Around her, a mushroom cloud of dust began to rise into the air, somewhat obstructing her view of any possible follow-up attacks. Nasrin sputtered a bit as she picked herself up, and she could hear the laughter of the burly earthbender behind her. He apparently found her sand-covered appearance amusing.

"Go back to your sand dunes!" he taunted her. "You can challenge me again when you learn what real earthbending is!" Nasrin glared at his smugness and resumed a fighting posture. The earthbender did likewise, settling into a low horse stance and beckoning the woman to continue. However, the man suddenly gave a yelp of surprise as the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned soft and loose, sinking him to his knees in sand. Behind him, Nasrin's fellow sandbender had re-entered the fight.

She smirked under her bandages and thrust her right hand forward, sending a stream of sand toward the immobile earthbender. To his credit, he didn't complain or give up, and raised a slab of stone in front of him to stop her attack. Although, Nasrin quickly stepped forward and swept her same hand down and back up with an arcing gesture to the side. the stream of sand swerved on its course through the air, swung around the barrier and blasted the earthbender full in the head and chest. He wobbled back from the strike, where the other sandbender quickly sank him further into the ground with another show of bending. The man was left completely buried, save for his head, and unable to bend his way free.

Nasrin stood up straight, feeling the fight was over, and she began to dust herself off.

[manju]

Sitting on the apex of the angled wooden roof, Manju watched the fight intently, not breaking her focus even for a second. Being so absorbed in the fight, her muscled were tensed and her movements began reflecting, in some ways, what moves she wished the combatants to make.

The Earth Kingdom dwellers infrequently exchanged taunts and employed powerful techniques, some that appeared to be rather painful, by Manju's viewpoint. The battlefield was shrouded in dust not long after she began watching, so she could really only see a vague outline and shadows cast by the two figures.

At one point, she saw the sandbending woman fly into the air, causing Manju to let out a short laugh followed by her wincing as she realized the woman was probably not as skilled in acrobatics as she herself was, though she appeared to be attempting to fall in a more graceful manner to perhaps lessen the impact. The lady could have gotten hurt, after all. With a thud, Manju recoiled, thinking the sandbender may have been injured, but she was relieved when she saw the woman relatively unscathed, though covered in sand. She was rooting for the sandbender.

Suddenly, unexpected by the Igni, another sandbender joined in the fight, thus adding to the thrill of watching this take place. The battle ending not long thereafter, with the enormous earthbender gradually being buried in the sand, first to his knees, then to his head. The fight appeared to be over, and Manju softened her focus on it all, soon after crawling down the roof and sitting with her legs dangling over the edge for a second.

[nasrin]

The first person to speak was one of the two remaining desert merchants, looking on from the fringe of the battle. "Bwahaha!" one of them cackled, the head merchant of the caravan, if Nasrin recalled, and the first one to have been thrown from the trading post. He strode forward, wiping away the blood on his lip with his sleeve, and he stood between his two hired protectors. From the entrance to the trading post, the Kei Lan traders looked on in shock as their own hired muscle was incapacitated "That's what happens to cheap traders!" the desert merchant continued, throwing a rude gesture at the other men.

Nasrin rolled her eyes at the display, realizing that the merchant was simply making up for his bruised ego after being caught with faulty goods. She patted down her clothing, using her hands and a little bit of bending to remove the sand from the folds of her shirt and bandages. Her fellow sandbender had likwise pre-occuppied himself with solidifying the earth used to trap the traders' bodyguard. The burly earthbender himself was not saying much more than a few grunts as he continue to struggle to break free. Nasrin respected the fact that he didn't complain about an unfair fight.

"I should have my benders ransack your shop for all its worth after the insult you've given me," the desert merchant went on, pointing a menacing finger at the traders. It was an empty threat... After all, Nasrin and her comrade were contracted to defend the caravan and its good, not go on vendettas against enemies the merchants had made. For the two sandbenders to actually heed that command would require a very large sum of additional payment.

Nasrin let out a muffled sigh as she looked around the town once more to see a few faces peeking out of the doors to see what the commotion had been. She also happened to notice that the pair of men she'd seen waiting outside the tavern were now lying unconscious on the ground. The sight made her eyes quickly dart around in search of the strange girl and she found her moments later perched on the edge of a nearby rooftop. How or why she'd taken such a seat was really beyond the simple bender, but she tossed the girl a slight nod of recognition as the desert merchant continued his tongue-lashing of the traders.

[manju]

She perched on the overhanging section of the tavern's wooden roof, dangling her feet for a few seconds before dropping herself off of her perch and falling about seven feet or so to the ground. As she landed gracefully to lessen the impact, the dust on the street around her rose into the air, though not raising nearly as large a cloud as did the sandbender woman did with her colliding with the ground.

Upon her impact, the contents of her travel sack spilled onto the ground. Fortunately it was only her two spears that did such, as they were the only items in said pack. She then quickly grabbed her weapons as she was still crouched low to the ground.

She rose, not dusting herself of because she didn't care she was still covered with dirt and sweat from earlier, and headed to the female bender who nodded at her a moment ago. "Hey!" she said in recognition of the woman while she was about two yards away. While approaching quickly and sprightly, she said to the desert-dweller, "nice battle." and nodded in approval. Manju ultimately stopped about two feet away from the woman, who probably stood about two inches taller than the Igni, but seemed taller because of her turban.

"I never told y' my name...I'm Manju"

[nasrin]

Nasrin watched the approach of the strange girl from the tavern with mild interest. The little slip with her travelling pack had revealed that she was indeed armed, but there wasn't much to suggest she intended any harm. And as she complimented Nasrin on a battle well fought, the sandbender unclipped the jug at her side and took a small sip of the potent liquor she'd acquired from the tavern.

"I never told y' my name...I'm Manju" the strange young woman introduced herself, coming to a stop within arm's reach. Nasrin raised one eyebrow ever so slightly at the name, thinking it just as outlandish as Manju's appearance, and corked her jug before clipping it back onto the rope around her waist.

"Well met," she replied after the burning taste from the liquor had subsided. She neglected to return the introduction, but instead asked, "I didn't happen to see, but did you take down those two guys outside the tavern?"

Nearby, Nasrin's fellow sandbender had stepped between the desert merchant and the Kei Lan traders before his foolish insults caused another fight to break out. The male bender was guiding the merchant away from the trading post and in the direction of the caravan. "Nasrin!" he called out as he moved, "It's time to be going... Unless these guys want to go home empty-handed, we're going to need to find another trading post."

Nasrin managed to hold back a wince as her partner mentioned her name. She'd been hoping to avoid exchanging names with Manju. She was dreadfully strange, and the last thing she wanted was for the odd girl to be able to find her again.

[manju]

Manju nodded after the sandbender questioned whether or not she had taken down the old men, presumeably because she saw the one old man passed out near the tavern. The young woman, her light skin still brushed with the dust that flew through the air but minutes ago, was about to reply if not for the fight that nearly broke out moments later.

"Nasrin!", she heard from the other sandbender, the middle-aged man. Manju concluded that it must have been her name, since the man clearly wasn't calling to any other person in the vicinity. She instantly turned to look at Nasrin, only to note that her usual apathetic expression changed not one bit whatsoever.

The man hurried closer to Nasrin and Manju, away from the thugs who were about to initiate another fight probably due to the man's thoughtlessness. "It's time to be going... Unless these guys want to go home empty-handed, we're going to need to find another trading post."

Suddenly, Manju formulated a plan, and a good one at that. She didn't want to stay in this town any longer because of those old men who tried mugging her. She couldn't help but think that they would try it again...

This great opportunity for Manju that she wanted to jump on as soon as possible. It would coincide with what she told her father she would do, which was to establish connections with Earth Kingdom merchants, the closest of which were just about to leave. She moved a half circle around the sandbender woman, casually looking partway to the ground, and, after a long pause following the period after Nasrin actually asked, she said, "yeah, I took 'em out. You were right, dey were after m' gems..."

Shifting her amber orbs up to those deep brown eyes of Nasrin's, Manju seriously replied, "I need to leave town now. Dey might send more t'ugs after me...can I come wit' you?" Looking down again, she scratched the back of her head and anticipated a negative reply.

[nasrin]

"Can I come wit' you?" was the last thing Nasrin expected to hear. Her left eyebrow twitched upward for a moment as she stared at Manju, trying to guage the seriousness of the question. Her posture indicated that she at least realized how strange of a request it must have seemed, but then, why would she ask if she didn't want to go?

"Let's go!" called the older male sandbender, a little further down the road at this point. He turned around after the desert merchants had begun heading back to their caravan and looked at his partner with his arms held out to the sides in a questioning manner. Nasrin's mind was quickly running through a handful of options and weighing them each against each other. "What's the hold up?" the other sandbender asked, casting a quick glance at the traders a short way back down the road as they began to excavate their bodyguard from the ground.

Nasrn blew out a heavy sigh, finally making a decision and she said to her comrade, "She's coming with us." She nodded her head in Manju's direction to indicate her. The older bender visibly recoiled at the announcement.

"What?"

"She's coming with us," Nasrin repeated, starting towards him, but slowing as she passed by the strange young woman and said, "and she'll be paying for our transportation and guiding services." The bandaged woman let her eyes linger on Manju's for a moment after she stated the terms of the arrangement. If the jungle girl wanted a ride, she'd have to part with several of her gems to do it. Nasrn wasn't greedy, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to get paid a little extra on this trip. They were already likely to spend more time with this caravan than they'd originally planned thanks to this little mishap in Kei Lan.

She held her step, keeping her eyes on Manju as she waited for some kind of response before she rejoined her comrade.

[manju]

Manju recieved a delayed response due to the hustle of the desert merchants who were soon to depart. However, the reply that Manju recieved from Nasrin in the midst of the merchants' clamor was one she'd wanted to hear; "She's coming with us."

Manju smiled excitedly, even after hearing that she had to pay for all expenses. She didn't mind one bit. Her gemstones were apparently as rare as rare can be in this land, and worth more than than most of these small townsfolk could ever dream of earning, even though that probably could be considered somewhat of an exaggeration.

She ambled a few yards ahead of Nasrin, following the merchants as they headed to their caravan of mammoth-camels. This would be a big step, but it wouldn't be the only time the Igni had embarked on such journeys. After all, she wouldn't be here in the Earth Kingdom if she wasn't the sort to make major decisions in a pinch. Turning back to the female sandbender, she nodded and said, "T'ank you."

[nasrin]

Nasrin Ran a hand over her headcloth, scratching her scalp through the fabric and her matted hair. Already she was second-guessing her decision to let Manju join them, but she reminded herself of the pay-off and forced her feet to keep marching forward. She offered only a slight nod in response to the girl's thanks, and within a few minutes they had reached the caravan.

There were about a dozen large mammoth-camels lined up beside a well on the edge of town. Many of their saddles were laden with cargo, though a few also sported tent-like arrangements that provided comfort and shade to the leaders of the trading party. Nasrin and her fellow sandbender had spent a good deal of the initial journey travelling on foot and flanking the caravan, though there were still several available seats on the two-humped creatures' backs.

Within another 15 minutes, the desert merchants had completely assembled and put their mounts back into motion. They didn't have a heading just yet, but at the insistance of the sandbenders that were hired to keep the caravan safe they had put some distanmce between them and Kei Lan. Manju's presence was a bit of a shock to the Si Wong natves, but a quick flash of her impressive wealth had convinced the majority of them to tolerate her presence.

Nasrin was unsure of where their travelling would lead them. Though considering the day's events and the addition of such a strange young woman to their ranks, it was almost certain that she would be needing a refill on her personal stash of liquor by the time they reached the next town.