Dice had been somehow separated from the group as she ambled on through the forest with painful steps. she was actually quite close to the rest of the escapees, but she could tell. Tripping over a small log, she lay across the ground. her long reddish hair coiling up on the ground. She was fairly muscular, but still quite thin, and of only 15 years.

@Dyece

Rain hears someone or something fall in the woods. She gets up to see what it is as she walks into the woods. She know she give her position away by the dragging chain. She finds a red hair girl that is younger then her laying on the ground, "are you ok?" Her leg is hurting her she guess she had to do something about the chain or eat her foot off.

@Alisdragon911
Dice looked up weakly as her eyes swirled in fear. She coiled back to her knees quickly. A wave of lightheadedness hit her as she caught herself from falling by grabbing hold of the strangers leg. She again pulled back to her sitting position in fear as her lips parted slightly. "uhm..", she managed to say.

@Dyece

Rain sighs that she scares someone again. "I will not hurt you," Rain says as she bnotices a bush full of berries. She pick some for the red hair girl. "It is the only thing I can find right now." She guess it will do for now as she takes a deep sigh hoping to calm this girl down a bit.

@Alisdragon911

Dice straightened up slightly as she reached out her hand for the berries.She 'spoke' in soft tones, "Mew". her shoulders relaxed slightly.

Gregor started to run, then when everyone had overtaken him he slowed to a stop. He watched the others run off without him for a moment, then ducked off the path into the shadow of the treeline and hunkered down behind one of the larger trees, cross-legged.

They had been running all day. They were malnourished from the trip. They hadn't had anything to drink since last night and his throat burned. The sweet breath of freedom could only sustain a man for so long. Truth was, Gregor was exhausted. They were outrunning thew slavers so far, but he knew that was only because of the golden headstart they had on them. That didn't exist here. They wouldn't e able to outrun these native. That was one reason he had ducked down here.

The other is that they had injured the boy. That, he decided, was unacceptable.

He held up the length of chain that had been pulled off of Brinley's ankle. He hadn't had any time to construct a proper fetish out of it, but the exhaustion and the terror were putting him into a semi-altered state and he knew now that there were snakes on the island. He closed his eyes, lowed his breathing, and tried to clear his mind even as he heard the pounding of feet on the wooden bridge.

He forced every outgoing breath out through his teeth and began to gently sway back and forth. He shook the chain gently, a rattling coming from it. He focused on that, and the sound of his breathing. He alternated the sounds, breathing then shaking then breathing than shaking.

Ssssss, rattle, Sssssss, rattle, Ssssss, rattle....

The sound seemed louder than what was natural. They echoed far away, carried across the island on a fetid, rotten wind. All around heads perked up, then slithered as one out of trees, bushes, and dens deep under the ground. Gregor felt something cold and smooth slide against his leg, and smiled.

Snakes began streaming out of the jungle, right into the path of the oncoming native warriors.

@Dyece

Rain looks at the red hair girl is a cat, puppy, or a fox. At least she is not going to hurt her, she wonders if she have friends or just alone like she is. She thought she heard a snake or was it just the wind, "we will rest here intill we get our strength back."

@Alisdragon911

Dice looked into the girls eyes for a moment and then reached out her hand towards her. "Meh?"

Snake heard the sound clear as day, as if a giant snake is following right behind them but he was too preoccupied to care, the natives were on their tail and Oliver was slowly bleeding out right in front of him, every second counts and he did not intend to spend one turning back. He was exhausted from all the running but perhaps something kept him going and helping these slaves, was it companionship, or something more?

---

Meanwhile, back in the elder's lodge, Matahari was startled by the sudden and growing hissing sound coming from down river. The sound was unmistakable to him, he knew what had happened. He gave a slight chuckle and said to himself, "Seems like our escapees aren't what they put themselves out to be..."

---

It didn't take long for the native warriors to arrive, nor did it take long for them to be surrounded by slithering serpents of all shapes and sizes. The snakes striked at the warriors, although they managed to kill a few, they were far outnumbered by the snakes. Some were bitten and laid on the floor in agonizing pain, some could not even make a sound as they were slowly constricted and crushed, the lucky few fled back across the river with nothing more than a dozen pair of holes on their bodies.

Well, the natives were not stupid it seems, sending lookouts proved that much. "Alright, men, keep your hands away from your weapons for now. We don't need bloodshed right now." The Duke glanced at Ulric and nodded his head slightly, like the other man had suggested what he had just said. Then he began following the tracks "Still, I suggest we keep our eyes open for any trouble."

Gregor stopped, breathing out deeply as his eyes fluttered opened. He waited there behind the tree for a few minutes, waiting to hear some sort of rallying cry or shouted warning, but nothing reached his ears but the gentle rustle of bodied moving along the ground and the moaning of dying men. Soon even the moans stopped, and Gregor poked his head out from behind the tree and slowly stood up.

He picked his way among the bodies and the snakes, who parted before him instinctualy to let him through. There were more bodies than he expected, though some were already being slowly devoured by some of the larger constrictors. He hadn't expected them to attack so viciously. He must have let some of his anger seep through into them. "Sorry." He said to the bodies. "You couldn't have, well..."

Small riding boots thumped against the far door as the body swung slowly back and forth. He had been dressed for a countryside ride today, one of the many hard military activities of their father that Gregor had never taken too. Now the boys white coat was stained red with blood dripping down from where the cord around his neck had dug into his skin. His once bright face was pale blue. His hands and feet were bound. Gregor felt his notes slip out of his grasp, a sudden gust of wind carrying the loose papers deeper into the house.

He shook off the memory, placing a hand against his pale forehead. "You couldn't have know what you were doing when you did it." He stooped down to one of the men, reaching out for his waterskin. "If I had a proper fetish I could have been a little more precise," he said, ripping it from the mans belt. With his other hand he grabbed up one of the dead snakes, head cleanly severed. He uncorked the water skin and gripped the stump of the snakes neck over it, letting the blood trickle and drip down into the skin. He put his thumb over the hole and shook vigorously. "But that takes time to make. Too much time than I've had lately. And remember, you came at me." He tipped the skin to his mouth and drained the whole thing in one go. He lowered the skin feeling like a real man again. "So you can't complain about how this turned out!"

He stood suddenly and whirled at the rest of them. "That goes for all of you!"

The corpses offered him no reply.

He moved among them, taking what he needed. A few more water skins. A few pouchfulls of assorted fruits and dried meats some loving wife or mother had given them this morning, which were immediately consumed. A sharp stone knife and then, after thinking about it, a second sharp stone knife. A leather bag. A long black snake, to go in the leather bag along with the shackle. A proper belt to hang it all one.

Satisfied, he started making his way after the group at his own pace.

@Dyece

Rain takes her hand as she is curious about this red hair girl. She wonders what this girl is going to do. Rain nods as she trust this new girl and wonders where they are going next.

@xChrome

Willow continued running beside Snake.

@Marcus XVI@Kelewen

John glanced at the two men, frowning slightly. This noble also irritated him to no end. He acted as if the man didn't bother him however and he pressed on.

@Alisdragon911

Dice held onto hr hand and stood up slowly. A baby smile crept onto her face, then disappeared as it came. "Mmm!", she made sign language to indicate that she was thirsty by cupping a hand by her mouth and then running a finger down her neck. She then pointed to the girls hand that she was holding, hoping to be taken to a place with water.

@Dyece

Rain stands up and smiles shyly as she understood the red hair girl she may knows a place to get some water. She leads the girl to a pond with a waterfall. She scoops up some water in her hands and slowly drinks some.

Oliver looked up, and concentrated. "Weh aw re?" He frowned at his inability to speak clearly, but was astonished that he could talk. He had never tried, but he was just sure he couldn't talk. He was drowsy from blood loss, and started to drift out of consciousness.

It was only a matter of another few minutes before the tracks led the hunters within site of the native village. Ulric paused, still aware of the figures shadowing them. No sense trying to skirt around the perimeter since their presence was already known. Plus it was likely enough that their quarry was still inside the village. He kept his hands well clear of his weapons as he continued forward.

---

Brinley sprinted along the riverside trail with the others, not even daring to pause long enough to look back. She had been frightened before... of being caught by the slaver, of being lashed, and of being put back in the hull of the Crimson Eel and doomed to a life of servitude. Now she scared for her life. But she was only beginning to realize the dangers the jungle held.

Beside the trail, something large moved just behind the fleeing group, surprisingly quick and stealthy for its bulk. The previous night it had built its large and sticky web across the trail, hoping for some tasty morsels to find their way into it...

@Alisdragon911@Dyece

Esmond had been sent in search of a suitable tree for a ship mast, for the front mast of the Crimson Eel had been snapped off in the violent storm. "Too twisted... too thin... too gnarled... too heavy... could that one work?" he muttered to himself as he walked. He headed toward the one that looked like perhaps it might work, but paused as he heard what sounded like female voices.

He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, so moved forward quietly. If he'd found the runaway slaves, there might be a bonus gold piece in it for him. He spotted the pair quickly enough getting a drink from a small body of water filled by a short waterfall. The sound of the running water helped mask any noise he made as he approached them. He might not be able to capture both, but one surely! As the one was putting her cupped hands to her lips, he broke free of the foliage and lunged for her, intent on getting his arm around her shoulders before she had a chance to flee.

@Alisdragon911

Dice kelt beside the falls. Her eyes swirled to a stop and no longer held any fear. "Mhmm". She drank from the pools quickly, and then simply looked over at the girl who had lead her, and just kept looking. After a while, she pointed to the girl. After this, she also pointed to her own chest. Holding up her pinky finger, she met it with her thump, as if to say something of this sort in literal terms; your heart hold. She was asking for the name of the one who had helped her. But would this girl still understand her signs, she wondered? Suddenly, she caught up her feet however , falling into the pools at the sound of a man.

@Kelewen@Dyece

Before Rain could tell the red hair her name or the sign of her name, a guy wrap a hand around her shoulders tightly. "Let go, I don't want to go back for one of you to rape and beat me." She slam her leg with the heavy chain wrapped around it into the guy's shin. She is worry about her red hair friend, could she swim, first she had to get away from this guy before jumping into the water.