Leshanna hardly noticed that the boy was staring at her, mouth agape, as she marched towards him and pulled him along with her. She mentioned the cache and he seemed to perk up and told her that he knew where it was, and to follow him. She let him take the lead from her, watching as he slipped by her to traverse the stairs with long legs. Lesh was right behind him, sticking close as she didn’t know who this was and she didn’t trust him out of line of sight - especially with the possibility of loot being around.
Both were alert and tense as they reached the top of the stairs, and the boy checked it first before he glanced over his shoulder at Lesh and told her that everything looked clear. That was all she needed to hear before she slipped past him, bumping him slightly as she did so, though not intentionally. She did her own visual scan of the area and confirmed that it did appear clear; there were no more enemies, at least for now…and the sooner they reached that cache the better.
Leshanna inspected the large chest, noticing that it had no complicated locking mechanism. With the simple press of her fingers, the two locks disengaged and the lid opened to reveal all sorts of items - from weapons to food and mess kits to other items that seemed mundane - like sewing kits. She glanced up at the boy, guarded for a moment, before she motioned with her head for him to come take a look.
“Since you helped me, I think it’s only fair that you get some stuff from the crate.” She said as she reached in herself and began to snag up a couple items-rations, medical supplies, a vibro shortsword, and what appeared to be some sort of armor piece that fitted over the chest - all the while keeping a look out for a black coin to add to her red one. Her attention was pulled and her spear in a defensive-ready position as she heard noise quickly approaching - but the disturbance proved to be Naamino astride his fearsome companion. Lesh blinked upon seeing him, and only him, and she wondered if the others were okay as well - but those fears were quickly put to rest when the others made their appearance shortly thereafter.
The atmosphere and energy between them all was tense. No one really spoke to one another, other than to confirm if the others were okay for the most part, check out the new guy and concede to have him tag along, then grab what gear they needed or wanted from the loot before they all made a hasty exit. There was no reason for them to stay longer than what was necessary.
They moved onward, fresh gear on board, along with food and medical supplies and eventually found a place to set up camp. Lesh noticed that Naamino was rather injured, though not seriously, but she was nonetheless concerned for her friend. Gathering some medical supplies, she marched herself over to the Zabrak and tried, nicely at first, to get him to settle enough for her to tend to his injuries. He was stubborn, more so than usual - and at that point she’d had enough.
“Naamino, sit your karking ass down right now. I’m tending to your injuries, whether you like it or not. Can’t have you getting an infection out here. We need you.” she snapped, no longer playing nice with the surly teen.
To his credit, her fierce warrior friend sat down where he was and was as still as a statue as Lesh did what she could for the injuries that were available to her to tend to. At first, she was a bit rough with her doctoring, being agitated and still on edge from the day’s events, but soon her care turned more gentle and thoughtful. When she had finished cleaning and bandaging what wounds she could, she gave him a warm squeeze on the shoulder.
“Good work out there, by the way. Knew I could count on you and Kivah to take care of those other beasts.”
And what that, Lesh turned away to settle down for the night herself, setting up between Naamino and the new boy, who had introduced himself to her as ‘Haro’. The boy was rather talkative with Lesh; he made sure to tell her how thankful he was to her for saving his hide from the winged gargoyle creature, as well as complimenting her on her skills. His chatter was pleasant and helped ease some of her tensions, and though normally shy, Haro seemed to bring her out of her shell a bit. His compliments did make her blush though, which she was thankful was hidden in the near darkness that surrounded them.
Eventually, the group’s chatter settled down. First watch was assigned, and the rest bedded down - though sleep would be hard to come by as the night was filled with the screams of unlucky souls, and the haunting cries of creatures that lurked within the shadows. It was a reminder that they were not truly safe, and that life and death hung in the balance for them all. Still, Leshanna felt some measure of safety; they had a Tuk’ata with them, and she doubted any of the other participants did. Even with that reassurance however, the girl knew better than to completely let her guard down. One of the most important lessons she had learned thus far since her start at the Academy, is that the only person she could truly rely on…was herself.
Dawning of Day Two
Leshanna awoke not long after Naamino and Micah did, and winced as she moved to sit up. She was sore; muscles she didn’t know existed hurt now. She had a pounding headache, no doubt from the dump of adrenaline and other chemicals her body had released the day prior in an effort to keep her alive. She sat there for a moment underneath her dew dampened cloak, blinking away the exhaustion from her eyes. Idly, she glanced over and saw Naamino talking to Micah in a hushed voice, but his expression was serious and perhaps even angry. A faint frown creased her brow as she watched him take hold of the kit’s hands. There was a further exchange between the two, but the Zabrak would hear none of it, and he turned away from the younger cathar to approach the mighty Myunnah. They had a moment together, and something about what was transpiring made her spidey senses tingle.
What is going on?
Naamino spoke aloud to the Tuk’ata then, and Leshanna’s frown deepened. Was he planning on splitting up? He can’t be serious…
No…he most certainly was. Lesh watched with shock, and growing agitation, as her friend simply turned around and…walked off. Didn’t say good-bye, didn’t say anything.
Seriously?
Leshanna glanced from the retreating back of Naamino to the others still in the group, torn on what she should do. Clearly he was having some issues with individuals in the group, for whatever reason, but to wander off alone? They were supposed to be a team! She debated back and forth for a few moments on what she was going to do, growing more and more agitated as the seconds passed by and he got further away from them.
“Are you kidding me…” she huffed, before whipping her cloak off of herself and turning around to hastily shove what items she had into a small pack she had taken from the cache. The hustle and noise she was making was sure to wake Haro, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was following her friend; no way was she going to leave him alone, without a battle buddy. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in his skills but…they were a team, Bogan dammit!
“Sorry guys. I’m not letting him be a dumbass and go off alone to prove….whatever.” she said to the others, her scowl and tone of voice brooking no argument or dissuasion. Irritated, damp from the night's dew, and still very much tired from lack of true restful sleep, Leshanna set off after Naamino, prepared to rip him a new one when he inevitably turned around to tell her to stop and go back.
Haro Aven
Naamino Zuukamano
//
Kivah
//
Micah tol Powl
//
Myunnah
