Alkina let out a small sigh of relief as the others either appeared to accept her request, or at least didn’t seem to mind it too much - or at least that was what she imagined their facial expressions and silence should be interpreted as. She tried to smile encouragingly to the small group now surrounding her, but she wasn’t sure how they would take it. Afterall, she did have a rather specific reputation within the tribe and she could only imagine how it felt to have her suddenly interrupt their meeting and ask to be able to join their little adventure - she knew that if she was in their place she wouldn’t allow her to join.
Throwing these negative thoughts out of her mind she smiled encouragingly at the small group once again, before she took Yala’s outreached hand graciously, adding a thin “thank you” as she led Yala lead her out.
With each step that they took towards Kwilana, Alkina could feel a sense of excitement envelop her: each step lead her away from the prison that had been her home for 17 years, and closer to the adventures she had dreamed of for so long - and yet, with every step she felt an uncertainty growing within her. Afterall, she had never tried to stand on her own two feet; she had always been guided or handled by the Elders in the tribe. This was her first time that she actually did something that made her feel alive - however sad that truth was.
Yet a smile had appeared on her face without her knowing it - she felt that she was doing something worthwhile for once, something exciting.
As the small group stopped outside the hut of the witch known as Kwilana Alkina could almost taste the group’s sudden uncertainty in the air - and it wasn’t because of her heightened senses, no, it was clear that it had suddenly hit their small group who they had just hurried towards and who they were about to interrupt.
Luckily before they could regret their decision a voice interrupted the silence and uncertainty that hung heavily in the air.
"Enter, little ones. You won't find the answers you seek standing out there in the heat", a voice spoke from inside the hut. If she could, Alkina would have glanced between the different group members in order to see who dared to move first - luckily even without her ability to see, Kwelek decided to move first and entered Kwilana’s hut, and as the others followed him the voice spoke again: "So, you hear the call of the mountain as well?"
No one answered for what seemed like an eternity, the silence in the small hut was deafening - and perhaps even more so for Alkina as she couldn’t technically ‘see’ the interior of it. Because of the silence that threatened to deafen her, Alkina decided to do the second daring act of the day - only Kedalup knew what made her do it, but nonetheless she licked her dry lips and opened her mouth.
“They-...” Her voice was even weaker than last time she had spoken, but she swallowed and started over. “We have discovered this… object that…”
She stopped, how was she supposed to explain the current series of event that had lead them to this moment? Would the lady known as Kwilana even trust her? Her? The perhaps most alien and odd individual in the group, that was also blind?
Alkina closed her eyes behind the white clothing piece that covered her eyes, and as she opened them again - something that was purely psychological as it didn’t actually help her to see any better - she started over.
“We have discovered this… object, or artifact-” she motioned towards the object that was still held by Kwelek without thinking, “and it seems to speak of the forbidden mountain, which has lead us to your hut: we seek guidance…?”
The last part of her sentence began to disappear as it escaped her lips and without thinking about it Alkina had turned it into a weak question that echoed towards the others in the group - after all Alkina had only eavesdropped to their initial discussion, so she really wasn’t sure if she had understood the situation completely. Because of this she decided to wait for someone else to speak up and clear the situation.
