==== December 8th, 2013
==== Kyara, Sienna, K'ane, Liareth, Kehemath, Dhioth
==== Kyara and Sienna are out on a night sweep over the desert. Suspicious activity draws them down to the oasis. Yes, that oasis.

Who Kyara, Sienna, K'ane, Liareth, Kehemath, Dhioth
What Kyara and Sienna are out on a night sweep over the desert. Suspicious activity draws them down to the oasis. Yes, that oasis. Segues into this log.
When Late night. There are 6 months and 7 days until the 12th Pass.
Where Lost Oasis

igenlostoasis.jpg

Lost Oasis
Blocked from view in the south by one of the largest sandstone formations jutting from the desert, this lovely oasis is truly a hidden jewel in the sand. Leagues away from any trace of civilization, it boasts a tranquil blue pool of fresh water and shallow stream fed by an unseen spring beyond a dark crevice in the bluff. Trees spring up against the rock, providing merciful shade and filling in the narrow recesses surrounding the water. The height of the outcropping funnels a near-constant light breeze through the place, cooling the air considerably in comparison to the desert beyond.

However, for all its beauty, there is an unaccountable air of fear and uncertainty about this oasis. At night, the otherwise friendly wind can cross the space with a low, unnerving howl, and creatures passing in the shadows do so in nervous, unseen movements. This has, unfortunately, been a place of grisly discoveries for Igen Weyr - most likely due to its out-of-the-way nature.


A night sweep over the northern stretches of the Great Central Desert is largely a rather uneventful affair. This one would seem to be no exception, save for the rather insistent wind pushing across the dark leagues of sand. Pale light from the slivers of both waning moons give the undulating peaks of each dune a faint silver edge in the darkness, drawing long shadows from the scatterings of boulders and sandstone crags that jut from the sand here and there. Tonight, the light also glints faintly on the dark-veiled wings of the two green dragons flying the sweep - Liareth and Kehemath, deftly navigating the stiff breeze above the desert that remains in the wake of the most recent sandstorm. No clouds of grit to be found in the air tonight, but as they approach the oasis, Liareth seems to be sniffing at the air every now and again, yellow-green eyes whirling in slow attention as she scans the landmark approaching beneath.

Kehemath and Sienna have taken another sweep, this time with Liareth and Kyara. It's good for them to get out and remember how to fly and be part of a cohesive sweep, stretch their wings and tire Kehemath out a bit. The green scents the air as well, rumbling softly as they near that oasis. That is a troubled place. She remembers that, her sagebrush thoughts scented with the smell of blood and wet sand.

Troubled it looks, and troubled it sounds, as that stiff breezes whistles sharply across craggy outcroppings above low trees and shallow water, all unseen. But amidst that low growth, under summer-thickened leaves, dim light seems to bob in two dull points. A trick of the moonlight upon the pools that stand below? Or is it just enough to arouse suspicion - particularly with the sharp shadows that seem to accompany them? A passing glance would miss this…but surely not the careful surveillance of two dragons on duty.

As the sweep passes over the oasis, Liareth gives a low rumble; she's seen something, she thinks, and she relays it to Kehemath by image alone as she easily lowers altitude and banks slightly to start a wide circle. This bears a little more scrutiny. Even by looking through Lia's eyes, Kyara isn't certain what she might be looking at, but it's enough to bring her plenty more alert than she was already. Downward to circle it is. Carefully.

Sienna leans forward over Kehemath's neck, peering below as the darkly hued green drops lower to circle as well, positioning herself behind the other green. Her mind is alert as she scents the wind again, sensing…something. Something amiss. Sienna reaches down to make sure she has her dagger, just in case. You never know!

Those lights certainly aren't natural - that much will likely become obvious, as altitude is lost. Nor are they stationary; they seem to be moving with some haste toward the bluffs that stretch northward from the water behind the trees. But with the wind becoming a bit more buffeting closer to the ground and trashing branches about a bit, it's a little hard to tell exactly what's going on…or who or what may be carrying them.

Liareth circles as silently as possible, neck craned to keep watching below. The lights move, and there is a smell - people. Yes. Perhaps a runner, but that isn't a certainty. Lower she goes, just a bit above the peak of those bluffs, but still wide. « Mine wonders if it might be good to land, » the younger green says, steam clouding thick and obscuring between shadowed columns and scarce light. « For yours and mine to investigate on foot, while we keep looking from above? » Not that Kyara is suggesting it lightly; it might be a bit foolhardy, but it's not as if she means for them to run in there. Just get a little closer. Though she almost automatically goes feeling for the knives in her boot and at her belt, also.

Kehemath rumbles softly, the sound lost to the winds as they continue to fly. « Mine thinks we should land and stay with our riders. She does not wish us to be separated. »

With a snort of agreement - also swallowed up by the wind - Liareth angles downward for a dip between two dunes that Kyara has indicated, landing nearly noiselessly in the soft soil and immediately crouching to grant her rider easier passage down. They're a bit northward of a notch in the bluffs that would allow entry by foot, as well as below a stretch of sandstone that might've made a good perch for the dragons, had the intention not been to remain unseen. Kyara removes her helmet and goggles, but keeps the thin fabric of her scarf shielding her mouth and nose against the occasional swirls of grit on the breeze, watching for Kehemath and Sienna to come down after them.

Kehemath lands neatly beside the other green, crouching to let Sienna dismount. "Probably just some traders," Sienna says quietly, as she adjusts her jacket and her gloves, patting Kehemath's hide as the green rumbles softly. She is not pleased, that much is clear. Her eyes spin rapidly and her posture is tense.

"I hope so," Kyara murmurs, glancing up at Liareth. Her lifemate isn't too happy with the state of things, either; something is out of place, somehow. "Except this seems really out of the way, especially this late, and something's bothering them." She glances around, surveying what she can between the shadows. "I've seen it here during the day, but it's downright eerie right now." Swiping a bit of sand from around her eyes, she blinks over at Sienna. "I heard W'rin and K'vvan found something bad out here once. Bodies?" Her gaze turns back toward the bluffs, considering. If they can see anything that might shed a little light on that, surely being a little creeped out would be worth it.

Sienna nods. "They did, I think. Or something along those lines. And before that, W'rin and I were out here and saw signs of a struggle. Seems…like a suspicious place," she admits with a frown. "I'll have Kehemath call back to the weyr and tell them we're here." So if things go wrong, they're not totally on their own.

Pulling off her gloves and tucking them into her belt, Kyara gives a nod of her own. "So," she says, looking around again and then gesturing up at the height of the bluffs. They've been eroded smooth, and look a bit steep, but… "Up there would be a good spot to have a look at everything down below. Or else we could get around to the lower end, though it'd be easier for Lia and Kehemath to be seen there." She pulls the scarf down finally, one eyebrow lifting slightly. "I'm for climbing, personally. Just for a quick look at who exactly's down there, anyway."

Sienna shrugs, peering up at the bluffs. "That sounds good," she says, "though I thought we'd just walk up and see what's what. But if you want to be more cautious, that's probably the best way to go about it." Sienna's all for just barging in there.

"Ah…we could," Kyara concedes, rubbing her neck a little and smirking sheepishly. Hello - they have dragons. "I was just thinking that we might be able to find out a little more by observing first. Especially since we don't know how many there are, and if they have anything to do with what's happened here before, they might just shut up in the presence of riders. Or run. Or try to fight us, even with Lia and Kehemath here." She shakes her head a bit; the overthinker strikes again! "Split the difference?" she suggests. "We walk in. Quietly. So we don't get noticed at first." Maybe stealthy just seems more fun to the younger rider.

Sienna shrugs with a grin, gesturing to Kyara. "Whatever you think is best. You're probably right, it's smarter to get a view before we just…walk right in." Which was her totally not that awesome idea. "Let's climb. Then we'll go in."

Kyara chuckles a bit, then sobers quickly as she turns and regards the first sand-scoured boulders at the foot of the bluffs, rubbing her hands together a little. "Right. Doesn't look too bad," she comments, stepping up on the rock and feeling out a good handhold in the scant moonlight before starting to pull herself carefully upward. It's a good dragonlength, and the incline is relatively steep, but the top levels out, narrow and rough - enough for a good perch, of sorts. Once Kyara reaches it, she shifts over, intending to allow Sienna some more space before she peers over the edge into the main hollow that comprises the oasis itself.

Sienna climbs up after Kyara, nimble and swift even in the dim light. Below, Kehemath begins to pace, back and forth, rumbling softly in discontent until a sharp mental nudge from her rider has her quiet. Not still, but quiet at least. Up beside Kyara, Sienna crouches and peers forward and down, squinting slightly and keeping low.

From this vantage, there's little besides shifting shadows to be seen around the edge of the pool directly below. A narrow shallow creek - barely worthy of the name - trickles away into the dark undergrowth a short way beyond, present in sound only. Also present: the quick, muted scuffling of boots and heavy breathing somewhere beneath the whistle of the wind. The points of light become clearer, even at this height - soft and greenish, it only makes sense for them to be glows. Denser, sharper forms are being thrown into slight relief in the midst of the leaves. Three? Four? From the speed of movement - still questionable - it would seem someone is taking time with something. Moving something, perhaps?

What Kyara wouldn't give for a little more moonlight to go by right now. It's clear that there's someone down there - bobbing glowbaskets help to make that obvious, at least - but how many there may be isn't as evident as she'd like. And it isn't as though she can ask Liareth to come perch up on the unreachable part of the bluff and look without being seen. Her best asset at this point is her hearing, so she puts it to good use, even going so far as to shut her eyes to concentrate on that. "At least two," she whispers, "and I'd say they're dragging something heavy." She looks down again, eyes still straining in the dark. "Better not be what I think it is. What do you think?"

Sienna squints and frowns down at the oasis, shaking her head a bit. "It's suspicious," she murmurs. "I think we need to get closer and go investigate. On our dragons. Mounted, so we can take off at a moment's notice. The weyr knows, and Kehemath will continue to send them information if things…go poorly." Because she doesn't feel like dying today, that's for sure.

With a nod, Kyara shifts to glance back the way they came, down that incline. Why does getting down always seem harder after a climb? It doesn't help that it's dark. Even so, she's at least a relatively decent climber - perhaps not as nimble at it as Sienna - and trusts herself to get back down just fine, albeit a little more slowly than she got up. Spying a good hold, she lets herself down the rock face a bit to set her foot on it. Sandstone, however, can be pretty fickle when it wants to be, and that solid-looking foothold breaks away, clattering down the bluff and leaving Kyara to scrabble for purchase for a heart-pounding moment. She finds something to grab, going still and hugging the rock for a moment, just listening and catching her breath. That had to have been audible to whoever's down below. And it may have robbed Sienna of a foothold of her own. Not that there aren't others…

Sienna hisses softly when Kyara slips, instinctively moving to the edge as if to grab her…even though she's out of reach. "Are you okay?" she whispers down the incline.

In the hollow of the oasis below, not much is audible over the breeze that rustles leaves and hisses over sandy outcroppings. But that fall of rock coming from somewhere not far off does give one of the figures in the dark some pause. "What was that?" a deep, grating voice questions, and the shuffling and pulling stops for a moment. "Just a rockslide. Caprines, tunnel snakes, whatever," another man's voice returns irritably. "Jus' keep movin'," a third grumbles, and the moving resumes…save for the first, who steps away from the others for a moment to cast around in the dark, closer to the source of the noise. Not that he would see anything from his vantage…but this one seems a little more wary than the rest.

"Yeah. Yeah," Kyara calls back in sharply whispered reassurance, un-flattening herself from the rock once she's sure she's not going anywhere. Grab and shift, grab and shift, and she's now slightly beneath where Sienna is; she slipped further than she thought. "Can you still see them?" she questions. "Unless they're half-deaf, they had to have heard at least a little." Glancing back down again, she spies another foothold and tests it several times before transferring weight to it. This one, at least, seems to be solid.

Sienna twists to peer over the other side, down towards the oasis, and then back to Kyara. "I think they did. Keep moving down so you're not a sitting duck on the side of the cliff." She continues to crouch low up top, weighing her options. "I think Kehemath is going to come get me up here, rather than risk going down that way."

At the bottom of the bluff, Liareth is waiting, giving her rider a light, impatient snort and some mental rejoinders for…well, basically being stubborn and foolish. Kyara peers down to find the pretty green pressed up again what she can get at of the rock face, looking up with orange-eyed tension at her lifemate. Well, with Kehemath set to go up after Sienna, and whoever is in the oasis alerted to something of their presence, Kyara decides to just forego any further stealth she might have planned and lets go - a now-purposeful slide for a short distance until she kicks away and catches a strap to haul up onto Lia's neck. The green rumbles a bit, still scolding for a moment before prowling around toward the notch in the bluffs. « We can cut them off here, if you come from the other side, » she suggests, pausing to watch what the older green will do.

Once Kyara is safe on Liareth's neck, the dark green surges upwards. Nimble and sleek, she soars over the rim to the top, hovering there while Sienna swiftly hops up onto a foreleg and then scrambles up her neck to land in the straps, hastily clipping herself in. To those below, it's nearly impossible to see that the green picked someone up. Rather, it just looks like a dragon hovering above the rim, watching them. She rumbles softly and then swoops down to land neatly with a flick of her wings, muzzle dropping down. A good length from the closest man, Kehemath crouches low to the ground, wings spread, ready. On her neck, Sienna lifts a hand and calls, "Hello? Sweeps from Igen Weyr; do you require assistance?" Nothing suspicious there, right? Just a lone greenrider on sweeps checking in.

The suspicious one down near the edge of the water certainly does notice the appearance of the dragon at the rim, shuffling backward toward his fellows. "Sweep rider!" he hisses as the dragon swoops in and lands. There's a good deal of sudden shuffling and rustling going on in the shadowed brush as the dragonrider calls out -enough to make the man nervous, since he can't very well tell those with him to quiet down without questions being asked. Which they likely will anyway. "Ah…no, no trouble here," the man calls back as another emerges from the trees to stand beside him. "Jus' a few traders, holin' up for the night." Except there's still a good deal of shuffling and whispering coming from the darkness beyond him. Maybe he thinks the wind will hide it?

With Kyara sitting low to her neck, Liareth comes around and slinks through the notch in the bluffs, quiet as she's able. This brings the pair up alongside the water within, just after Sienna and Kehemath touch down. It doesn't seem she and Lia have been noticed yet, so they continue their approach slowly until Liareth is crouching down low. The noise in the brush doesn't escape her attention, and therefore not Kyara's. "Where's the rest of your caravan?" the greenrider questions easily after clearing her throat a bit. "Long way out of the way, for just a few of you. Where's your wagon?" Her gaze slides in the direction of the noise in the brush. "Whoever's there, would you mind stepping out here a moment, please?" On high alert, she waits for an answer, straining eyes into the darkness.

Sienna rests her hands on the straps, patting Kehemath's neck as the green shifts beneath her, her weight moving smoothly from one paw to the other. "What caravan?" she asks, turning to watch Kyara approach briefly before her attention returns to the man she's speaking with.

Clearly, this lot wasn't expecting two dragons, and certainly not one approaching from ground level. The man doing the talking gives a startled flinch at the sound of the other rider's voice. "Uh. Um. We-" This is clearly doing nothing for his nerves. The one beside him takes over. "None as are heading Igen way, rider," he states shortly. "Thanks for the concern, but we're fine. Leave us to our business, eh?" In the brush, the noise has stopped for the moment…but no one else comes forward. At least, not in the direction of the others. Movement around behind them, near where the second dragon came along? It's slow, but it's there.

"It's a simple question," Kyara states with a shrug, leaning folded arms forward onto the neck ridge before her as she regards the two men between her and Sienna. The apparent antagonism in the second man's voice draws a small frown. "Even if you're not headed Igen way, we can help if you need it." A flicker of movement catches her eye, and she snaps her eyes sideways. "Unless, of course, it's more than just shelter for the night that brings you here." A bit louder, to the still-indistinct shadows nearby, "Hold it there, gentlemen. You won't make it far, trust me." She still can't see how many there are, but no matter. Liareth is more than capable of blocking their progress.

Sienna shrugs a bit. "Regardless, you're still in Igen territory so we have a duty and a right to know what you're up to. Since, you have to admit, it seems rather suspicious." With a small smirk, she pats Kehemath's neck and the green rumbles softly, the sound low and rolling, more felt than heard as she digs her talons into the baked earth. It's a subtle threat, more intimidation than outright challenge.

"Suspicious for traders t' be lookin' for shelter in the one hospitable place in all this desert?," the second man snarls in question. "Didn' know it to be so. But if sweep riders think it so-" The first man cuts him of with a backhand to the arm. "Ain't no use arguin' with a rider; we been seen from above already," he hisses to his companion before turning back to Sienna. "We'll move along if it's so much shardin' trouble, riders. Wagon's not too far from here- Oy! Hodge, don' be daft o'er there. Ain't no use!" But nervous as the others that Kyara spotted are, they don't seem intent on being smart about their situation. One crouches briefly, coming back up with something in his hand.

Kyara hmms a bit, sitting back up on Liareth's neck. "Especially since you feel a need to be covert about whatever brings you here," she adds, eyes still on the men she caught coming around her way. Then one shadow is down, up…and something goes whistling past Kyara's shoulder, eliciting a startled curse, and she reflexively twists away as Liareth growls and rounds on the men. "Oh no you don't." Did she really just get a rock thrown at her? By someone on the ground, while she's on her dragon? Someone has a bit of a deathwish, it seems. Or is just so scared as to be that stupid. The pair nearby pelts off into the brush again, and Lia moves to prowl after them - as much as the growth will allow.

Sienna shrugs with another grin. "Suspicious because you're acting suspicious," she says, before she's jumping in startlement when a rock goes flying at Kyara. Kehemath roars her fury at the insult, and Sienna swings down from her lifemate with a hand on her dagger. "Enough," she snaps. "On the ground, hands behind your head, now." Kehemath's thoughts reach back to the Weyr, curling around other dragon's minds, calling others to the oasis to apprehend this group.

Well, at least the two nearest Sienna aren't going to be as stupid as the others, it seems. The more nervous of the pair does exactly as Sienna says, while the other stands for a moment, sneering as he sizes up the greenrider…almost belatedly taking into account the dragon he ought to be sizing up as well. That clinches it; he drops as well, cursing under his breath. In the meantime, the other pair is still crashing through the brush, trying to lose the other dragon and rider pursuing them. It would appear that they're heading straight for the sheer face of another bluff, at this rate…but that would mean getting outright pinned, if they're truly going to be that dense about trying to escape.

There comes a point where the trees get rather unwieldy, and Liareth roars frustration before Kyara is urging her to let her down. Lia crouches just long enough for Kyara to unclip and hit the ground running, then immediately jumps airborne to see if there's a spot to cut them off. For her part, Kyara is doing some sprinting of her own, shoving branches and broad leaves aside, ducking and spinning past anything too difficult to simply push away. "STOP! NOW!" she bellows after the retreating men still crashing along somewhere in front of her. But they aren't, so she certainly isn't…and something large and heavy trips her up, sending her to her stomach before she's scrambling back to her feet. It wasn't a root or a rock; she makes a quick mental note to go back and look at that, if she gets a chance. Abruptly, she's aware that the footfalls in front of her have died considerably. They can't have gotten that far in those few moments. Especially since Kyara now finds herself looking up at the bluffs. She halts, listening intently for a direction to follow. Meanwhile, Liareth lights on the bluffs above her, tail trashing and eyes whirling angrily red as she searches about for the runners as well.

A night sweep over the desert, and Sienna and Kyara have found themselves out at the oasis after seeing a suspicious bit of light and movement below. A group of four men, there for purposes yet to be determined, have been drummed up by the two greenriders…though whatever they're doing, it isn't good, as the current situation shows. Sienna has charge of two who have given up in light of who they're facing, while Kyara and Liareth are chasing after the other pair dumb enough to have attacked and then run…and for the moment, they seem to be eluding the younger green pair near the bluffs marking the northern edge of the oasis.

Sienna and Kehemath prowl forward to the two men on the ground. "Hands behind your backs," she reminds them before she crouches to tie first one, then the other, securing hands behind them while Kehemath looms and watches with a low, angry rumble.

Above, there is a glimmer of reflected moonlight: Dhioth bursting from ::between::, hanging frozen in place for a heartbeat before broad wings sweep to keep them aloft. A quick accounting of the situation has the bronze winging after Liareth with only the slightest of hesitations, curving a broad circle to approach the direction Lia and Kyara are honing in on from the opposite side.

Dhioth reaches with slashes of silver and refracted moonlight, crushed-gem beauty underlying a voice like diamond gravel. « What has happened? »

Of course it would echo right about where Kyara is standing. Nothing's ever easy! Fortunately, her ears don't fail her, and neither does Liareth prowling along the edge of the bluffs above. Shadows flicker unnaturally off to the left, and Kyara sees them, scrabbling along the back edge of the trees near the water. Liareth drops into the pool below, getting as close as she can and snarling even as she briefly looks above to spy the other dragon arriving. Kyara is relieved at the unmistakable sight of Dhioth, but she's running again, trying to find the straightest path to the man nearest her. Sprinting, ducking, splashing through shallows and slipping slightly before finding traction again. Almost there…

Kehemath answers as swiftly as she can, the words coming easier with long practice. « One threw a rock at Liareth's. We are taking them back to the weyr for questioning. »

Sienna looks at her lifemate and says, "Stay," sharply, pointing to the men before she turns to sprint after Kyara, her dagger drawn and ready. Kehemath growls at the two men and stares at them, just daring them to make a run for it.

Liareth is all flaring firelight amidst rolling, hissing steam, arguments echoing in bright lit corners and off stark, dark-streaked marble. « We found them and were suspicious, » she tells Dhioth, her normally even voice dangerously low. « One dared to attack mine, and she follows! »

Dhioth is the calm of the storm, though ire in rubies lights at the concept of Kyara being attacked. « Mine chases. » It's a simple statement, and testament to the bronze's lack of facility in close corners and acceptance of such a fact.

Who's going to move with a dragon looming over them like that? Not the two Sienna's tied up, for certain. Though that doesn't stop the stream of cursing and arguing between them that follows. The pair that are running, however, fully intend to keep doing so. They're even reasonably sure they've lost the rider following them…until she appears behind them at a closer distance than they'd like, and they're off again. "Go, shaffit, go!!" the one trailing urges the other. Just where do they think they're headed? It seems like they don't have many choices, though there's one place where the shadows deepen rather sharply. A cleft in the rock? Some sort of cave? The arrival of yet another rider and dragon has the one in the lead hollering in rage, with the other close enough to shove him onward…

So, so close! Kyara doesn't know where they think they're going, but the one nearest her isn't getting there if she can help it. With a yell and a leap forward, she dives at the man, fingers slipping and finding no purchase until finally wrapping around an ankle, and she pulls in spite of the sudden pain in her side from the landing. Naturally, he struggles, and she grapples him right back, nearly matched in size. A dig of her elbow into a kidney brings a strangled yelp from the man, and while he whips a fist down and catches her pretty squarely upside the head, he doesn't do much more when there's suddenly a knife's edge in view. "Oh, you're a right idiot," Kyara growls down at him, coming up to her knees. "Roll over. Now." Glancing up, she sees no trace of the other. "Where'd your friend get to, then?" she questions harshly, glancing round about even as she drags his hands around to his back to be bound.

Sienna runs after the others, her dagger in her hand and ready as she follows. As she runs though, her eyes sweep the ground and the shadows, searching to make sure there are no signs of an impending ambush.

K'ane swerves at the sight of Kyara grappling with the miscreant, pulling up close right about when she's getting the guy's arms bound. He's not really blowing after the run, but breathing a little harder than normal: "What th' — are y'okay?" That's to Kyara, his eyes finally adjusting to the light. His eyes sweep towards where the shadows darken along the bluffs. "Was there another 'ne?"

"Wouldn't you like t'know?" the newly-bound man spits back at the rider who has him, glaring as much as he can over his shoulder at her and the newly arrived other. "Gone. Scorch you lot. Do what you're gonna do." He emphasizes that with one last shove against the bonds the hold him and the rider pinning him, but otherwise goes still. The fourth man seems to have vanished into that split in the bluffs nearby, and the wind is now gusting enough that nothing can be heard beyond it but the howling over the hollow.

That last shove from her prisoner earns him one right back from Kyara, who growls a bit as she slowly comes to her feet and finally blinks over at K'ane. "Yeah," she answers, rubbing at a stinging cheek and giving a small shake to a head beginning to ache slightly from the blow. "I'll be fine. There was a fourth…but I don't see him. Maybe one of the dragons can sniff him out?" Hearing footfalls from behind, she turns to spot Sienna heading their way. "Sienna!" she calls back toward her friend. "They ditched something back there; I tripped on it. Can you see it?" It certainly wasn't a rock…but she dreads to think what it might be.

Sienna slows, lifting her voice a bit. "If Liareth wants to watch the other two, Kehemath can sniff him out I'm sure." It's what the green is good at after all. Peering around, the greenrider considers for a moment before she nods. "Yeah, let me look around and see…" Grabbing an abandoned glow basket, she begins to look. Also, "Hi, K'ane. Thanks for coming."

Liareth carries no less anger in the heated fog of her mind; Kyara took a blow and was beyond her reach, and there will be nothing to prevent her ire at the fact. Still, that anger is checked and repurposed as the young green glides to where Kehemath is, rumbling and briefly whuffling at the other green. « I will watch if you will hunt. Your nose is far better than mine, » she says, settling into some statuesque looming of her own over those detained here. Then she looks up, rumbling at the bronze as well. « Thank you for coming, Dhioth. »

K'ane is good for one thing, here: he roams towards the bound prisoner with a scowl darker than the night air. The big man reaches down to fist a hand in the prisoner's hair to lift him from the ground by that leverage. "What did y'say, ratass?" His voice is flat and dark and grim, eyes lifting to Kyara momentarily. "Dhioth can watch if y'need." He gestures briefly at the bronze who hovers. "Where'd y'partner go?" He'll give a shake to that head of hair he grips, as effortless as a dog would shake a rope or a piece of gristle. His look to Sienna is a raw, humorless smile.

Dhioth hovers yet, a patient presence in the skies. « You are both most welcome. » His voice is tinged with an exasperation at his inability to do much to help, but keen support bolsters at Kehemath, a wordless expression of the bronze's trust in Kehemath's tracking ability.

Hauled up by the hair, the man starts at a snarl and ends in a pained yowl, though his malice remains undeterred. Teeth bared, he only glares up at the bronzerider in spite of the pain. "Dunno. Didn't plan that far ahead," he grunts. "Guess you'll have to keep guessin', eh?" He hollers again at being shaken, eyes squeezing shut. "Aaaaah, FUCK!! I dunno, I DUNNO, shardit!!" Feet scrabble at the sand, trying to ease the pain of that hold he's in.

"Maybe have him circle? See if the other guy got beyond the oasis?" Kyara suggests of Dhioth, eyeing the man K'ane has by the hair and wincing. She has half a mind to ask the bronzerider to let go of him now…but the throbbing in her cheek has her looking away with a scowl and not saying anything instead. She's pissed, and the guy can have what K'ane's giving him for all she cares at the moment. "Let's put him with the other two," she says, her voice grating a bit as she turns to search out Sienna again, trying to remember just where that thing she tripped on was.

When Liareth approaches, Kehemath surges into the sky with a roar, soaring towards the cleft where that one vanished. Landing heavily in front of it she sticks her muzzle in and breathes deep before snorting a long exhale into the crack. Then she rises again, seeking an exit, following her nose as she lands again. Sniffing and prowling, if nothing else it must be terrifying for the hidden man. Rumbling low in her chest, Kehemath sniffs and catches a scent, and begins to claw at the cliff with another rumble and snort. "He'd better come out before she brings the mountain down on him," Sienna says blandly to the man K'ane has by the hair. She makes no effort to stop Kehemath's digging as the green really gets into it, pawing at the earth and sending great handfuls of it behind her. Instead, she just keeps searching for…whatever it is she's supposed to be looking for.

K'ane gives another shake, this one just as idle as the first. He lets the man get to his feet, though, if the fucker can get enough leverage between his scrambling feet and K'ane's grip in his hair. "Go." His voice is steel, and he pushes the man towards where Liareth is. "Try t'run and I'll have Dhioth sit on you." He chin-nods upwards to where the bronze yet hovers, his backwinged strokes causing little torments of sand-whirlwinds at the edges. He glances over towards Kehemath briefly, but focuses on getting the bound man with the others.

"Then 'e gets buried. Don't bother me none. Just paid to do a job, not save 'is ass." Beyond that, the man simply regards Sienna with a cold stare before being shoved toward his partners in crime. The one who ran…has run out of places to wedge into, weaving through narrow, eroded crevices in the sandstone bluff until he reaches a dead end in the form of a digging dragon. One more way to go presents itself off to his left, and he takes it…except it deposits him a short distance away from that dragon. He runs again, but likely in vain; tired and scraped up, he won't get very far, should Kehemath spot him.

Kyara gives a snort of disgust as she listens to the man and steps away, between a couple of trees, scanning the ground and feeling in the shadows with her feet as she progresses. "It was big," she informs Sienna as she continues on. "Solid, but…it had give to it." She grimaces, glancing back at the other greenrider. "I won't be surprised if this becomes incident number three."

Kehemath springs nimbly after the running man with a rumble of triumph, bolting forward and cutting him off with a low growl and tense posture. Is he going to go meekly? Or does she have to scoop him up in her paw? Closer to the water Sienna looks around again, casting the greenish glowlight against the water and on the shore, and then she swears. "I found it." There, half in the water and half out, is a wrapped thing. It…well. It looks like a body but maybe it's just a sack of potatoes? Please let it be a sack of potatoes. Expensive, black market potatoes. "I hate this fucking oasis." Crouching down, she grabs the bundle by the 'shoulder' and pulls on it, only to have it suddenly twitch and thrash, squirming with muffled sounds. Sienna drops it and stumbles back with a cry, only to freeze with a sudden gasp. Her back to the shadows she stands still and frozen, eyes wide with a sudden flush of fear.

Oh shit. K'ane doesn't hesitate — his path takes him alongside of where Sienna is searching, anyhow, and he plants a foot in the bound-man's lower back to push him down off his feet (poor fucker is getting thrown around like he's the sack of potatoes) with a half-shouted, "Stay down!" as he moves towards Sienna's position, still grim-faced and ready to haul the…person? Wiggly bundle?…upwards in an effort to keep his own body between the bundle and Sienna. Once a guard, always a guard.

The would-be-escapee beyond the bluffs isn't going to try anything against a dragon; he's dumb, but not that dumb. Stumbling backward lands him flat on his rear in the sand, and there he stays for a good long moment, just staring in terror at this new guardian of his. Meanwhile, the not-so-dead body is revealing a few things: alive, moving, trying to breathe and therefore hollering about being stifled - rather unsuccessfully. Another man, by the sound of things.

Kyara jumps back as well when the thing starts moving, eyes wide. Her tripping over it didn't wake it up like that! Or maybe it did, and she was too busy giving chase to see it. Regardless, she's ended up back beside Sienna as K'ane comes over, staring in bewilderment at the living bundle before noting that it's tied. Perhaps against her better judgment, she steps around the bronzerider, edging forward with hands outstretched. "Hold still!" she calls, pretty well convinced that it can't be anything other than a person by the sounds it's making. "Hold still so we can help!"

Ah, but it's not the bundle that's the problem, as Sienna stays stiff and still while Kehemath surges aloft, abandoning her charge, to roar her fury. "Stop right there," a low, commanding voice says from…behind Sienna. Whoops? The voice is smooth, confident and quiet. A voice that's used to being obeyed. Kehemath lands heavily on the shore, growling with her tail lashing at the shadowed man who dares threaten her rider. Her mind flashes with the sharp point of a blade, conveying without words just where that knife is. "I said stop."

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