Merevaika
25th Winter 517
The Commons were practically empty when the women returned. It had taken them a while to stumble up and regain strength in their legs, Merevika needing to lean against the charred trees for support. With all that had happened, she had forgotten why they had come here - those dratted trees, which they still didn't really understand, that had gotten them into this horrible situation. She pulled her hands from the ashy wood, placing them on the unaffected bark in a hope to distract herself from all that. They had to get out of the jungle.
Slowly, using the trees for balance, they picked their way back through the bushes, Merevaika mainly directing with pauses to allow Jade to correct her if she thought they were straying. Eventually, with the slight wind of their path and their shaky legs, they managed to emerge onto the beach, after far too long.
In her right hand, she gripped the gemstones hard, not wanting to see it.
The Commons seemed to be the best place to start looking for someone who might have seen the gemstones before. Merevaika stumbled through the sand, hands darting out occasionally to catch her balance. "What did they do to us?" her voice picked up as they had moved closer towards the Commons, close enough to possible others to feel safe to speak more. Jade was close behind, wasn't she? "To make us drop like that? Did your vision go blue? It was... I've never had it like that before. It was different - I could still hear things even when I couldn't move or think."
It wasn't a nice thought, that someone could do that to her. So quickly and suddenly too. There were real enemies in the jungle and next time she ventured in, she had to be on guard for not just wild animals, but wild, dangerous figures too.
They had reached the Commons. Where she had been hoping to see a busy area, with every resident of Syka flooded to meet them, there seemed to be no one. Her heart sank instantly and she almost chucked the gemstone away from her, frustrated at their bad luck again.
Then the noise of someone she hadn't noticed caught her attention, the footsteps against decking, and her face lit up again. She thrust the gemstone into Jade's hands, before jumping up, grabbing the side of the Commons like she always had done. Normally, she managed to pull herself up to clamber up over the fence, but her arms were still weak and shook a little as she hoisted herself up halfway.
She couldn't do it. Face red with embarrassment, she hoped no one could see in the lighting and moved on a little. With the use of the trunk of the tree the deck was built up on, she kicked herself up and finally made it. At least, to the outside of the fence. Clinging to the railing, she kept her face straight while fighting the out of breath feeling that had flooded to her lungs. Her limbs hadn't quite regained all their strength.
Hopefully, Jade had gotten up to the platform the long way round, so she could pass Nya the stone.
Because that was who was sitting up there. The cat Kelvic. "Do not go in trees," she stated quickly, staring her down with warning. She didn't want to seem scared, or even as if she cared for the well-being of the Kelvic. But she had to get it out there. "See Jade. The stone... The stone..."
She was too out of breath and in a panic to really explain anything. If Nya didn't recognise the stone straight away, would she really need to?