The murder of Hope [O]

[Cyd Anae]

She was no longer comfortable with the hot red gash along her shoulder, she was no longer okay with the rough hemp bandages torn from the librarian's robe or her unfortunate lack of anything that could possibly be used to flush the would and clean it out. Cyd Danae, wrapped up in the desolate chill of the desert night, was threatened now with her own doom and she didn't quite approve of that either. Unwilling to simply curl up in the bitter cold to die she swallowed down the last of her meager rations, gave her arm one glance and gathered herself up for a merry jaunt into the night.

The desert was, without a doubt, one of the worst places to come down with a serious injury or illness. With little in the way of immediately accessible food and water, as well as the extreme temperature changes between day and night, simply walking into the desert a healthy, happy man could be deadly. Nearly vengeful the desert always found a way to twist around on itself and bite the hand that claimed victory - unfortunately she also found a way to bite those that attempted to slip under her radar and creep along unnoticed. In her many years of traveling through deserts and scrub, none had been as difficult or unpleasant as this.

Stumbling on she felt heavy and stupid, trudging around through the sand with the desperate hope that her heading was true and the canyon would appear any minute now, arm aching with each jarring step. Ironic how when she spotted the dark cloud billowing from the general direction of the canyon her heart sank, misreading a torrential rainstorm as smoke. As she drew closer to the canyon, face pale and drawn in strange terror she lost track of her own body, moving as if drawn by her nose towards the Beverly Clan.

Within a moment there was a deafening boom, and the clouds lit up with a flash of orange-white light. The tumult that followed, while not as loud as the initial strike, was a mixture of thunder, lightening, and most ominous of all the patrol ships. Within twenty minutes the Darwin Canyon based city was naught but a soggy pile of ashes with the dead and dying strewn throughout the corridors carved into the canyon and the canyon itself. Cyd drew to a silent halt, staring wide-eyed into the blazing inferno of her only hope, disbelief evident on her face. Swaying gently she turned her head up as two streaks of blue lights darted out over her head and into the wild yonder, but not before shooting into the desert carelessly.

The sand erupted into a wave of grit and dust just as the clouds began to boil in towards her position. Thrown like a forgotten doll into the desert Cyd hit hard, partially buried under the debris of the strike, a thick wash of blood painting her face from a new gash along her hairline and trickling from her ear. For a long moment she was still with nary a breath nor twitch however the desert didn't hold its breath - if she was dead, she would become a meal for some bug or fox or little brown bird. If she was alive... well, she would become a meal for some bug or fox or little brown bird. The desert had little in the way of morals when it came to feeding her kin - the living were just as dead as the corpses, if not a shade bit tastier.

As the torrent poured out in buckets across the sand Cyd managed a deep, panicked breath only to find herself slipping under the thick blanket of unconsciousness, thoughts turning to the Beverly clan, savagely denying what she'd just seen. The beekeeper, all too knowledgeable on the ways of the patrol, was desperate to forget the deafening boom of slaughter... and so, she did.

[Milwaukee]

The desert. How distasteful. Milwaukee trudged along, her crude medical bag strewn over one shoulder, she plodded along, her eyes taking in her surroundings and watching for enemies. She was headed to the canyon to cross it once again. She was needed in some other hive cities for some operations... And possibly some jobs but she wouldn't concentrate on those at the current moment. Killing was nasty and dirty... Or was it that killing was nasty and fun? She couldn't never get them straight in her head. There was always a flip flop back and forth. She took a sip of her water and studied it. She still had a decent level of it. Good. She only had two other packs left to make it all the way to the next hive city and that was a long way off.


She stretched out her body and put on a jacket to protect herself from the cold as a slight breeze cooked up. It was always times like these where she wished she had a bloody horse but alas... All the ones she came across were too scared to come near her and the mechanical ones just scoffed at her and ran away. So. She walked. Maybe she would get a goat-wolf. They make good mounts. She had one as a child but... He died before she was old enough to leave her clan and she hadn't gotten one since. Oh well. She'd survive. She always survived. No matter what, no matter when. Survival. The name of the game. Her smarts helped her as well, being intelligient helped to trick people into giving you what you want. It's great. Always has been and she loved it.


Her mind was softly wandering during the quite of the night, reveling in the lullaby that the desert could bring were she not trying to kill you. A song slowly raising itself to a hum along her lips when suddenly her reverie was broken by a loud boom and hissing sound. Her head whipped around to the right and she broke into a run. Dashing down the desert way, feet kicking up dirt and dust, a small cloud billowing out behind her as she went. Her long legs carried her swift and fast but not fast enough. By the time she arrived the attack was over and there did not seem to be any survivors. She pulled her medical bag off of one shoulder just in case and started to walk around, studying for survivors when she heart a breath. Quick and raspy but full of life. She turned and spotted a young woman laying in the sand. A cut on her shoulder and a cut on her arm. She would need help.



She dropped her back next to her right as she saw the woman slipping away into the blissful state of unawareness. Milwaukee turned quickly and studied the canyon where she could see debris. She could see some scraps of fabric and a few pieces of metal that she could use to make a medical type tent. She nodded and broke out into a run, bending over to quickly grab fabric and metal bars into her hands, she ran back and got to work. First cutting holes into the fabric, shoving it down on the bars, and then setting it up until the young womans body was covered. She got down on her knees next to her and opened her bag, setting to work examining her. She washed her fingers off as best she could with water and then the womans wound on her shoulder. Dirty, bloody water ran down her shoulder onto the ground to collect into a red, muddy pool next to her side.



She pulled out a needle and began stitching it, her soft voice travelling along to the woman while she slept blissfully, "Be happy you're asleep otherwise this would be hurting like hell." Once done she gently rolled her over and started cleaning the wounds across her face. Hoping that the woman would wake up and not have sustained any serious injuries other than these...

[Lucy]

It was only as the doctor began to tend her head wounds that the young woman jolted away, sucking a quick breath in through her teeth. What was with the lights? For the longest she stared blindly into the night sky, blinking repeatedly in an attempt to normalize her vision, to drive away the horridly brilliant auras cast by just about every little thing. The harsh rattle of water against the wax-treated cloth likely used as a cheery awning in the previously bustling hivecity, or perhaps a festive tent arrange for a feast... By this point she couldn't tell, even if she wanted to.

Rather, it was a relief that she was so badly shell-shocked that her brain wouldn't register anything more than a muffled whispering and that every rattling boom of thunder that vibrated in her chest was but a quiet puff. Her slight chest rose abruptly as she gathered her strength, bursting up from her makeshift bedding with a wildly overshot attempt at avoiding the one treating her, only to fall over, bringing the tent (founded in the now marsh-like sands of the desert the makeshift poles weren't going to support much once the wind got going as it was) down over both women. Almost as soon as the tent came down, Cyd seemed to find her strength.

Tearing her way out from under the slick canvas Cyd made quick exit from the makeshift shelter into the freezing downpour, shivering in a huddled mass as she picked the stitches from her arm with teeth and nails. Shuddering in pain she steeled herself and ripped a second knot free, opening the would and quickly setting to work scrubbing at it in the rain, concentration failing as she managed to put herself out a third time. Thankfully she wasn't out long and had fallen off to her side, however felt a strange sense of peace, studying Milwaukee from the corner of her eye, nape itching in discomfort as she reached up to shield her face, curling up around her damaged arm in a miserable fetal position.

Very faintly above the violence of the storm it could barely be made out a sputtering hive prayer spoken in an uneven, uncertain voice.

[Milwaukee]

Milwaukee's eyes had opened widely as the woman quickly stumbled upward, knocking the already somewhat falling tent completely to the ground and over the top of them. Her hand shot out wildly, trying to keep the woman down but she slipped out away from her grasp into the rain. Anger started to gently rise up in her as she stumbled under the tent, quickly throwing it over her head and standing, eyes narrowed into slits as she looked at the woman. She huffed and put her hands on her hips, the rain already started to work it's way through her hair, making it slowly start to drip down her back and onto the ground. She growled and hissed, her voice slightly raised as she spoke to be heard above the din, "Now listen here. That was pretty dumb what you just did. I cleaned your wound, and stitched it, and doing that little grand escape thing... Well now your chance of infection has just increased and you made yourself pass out again. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you delusional?"




She sighed and shook her head a little as she heard the soft hive prayer being spoken. She slowly started to walk towards the woman, taking slow, even steps as she moved, not wanting to make her panic more. Her voice softened as she did and she smiled gently, "I'm Milwaukee... And I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you. Just calm down and come back over here so that I can finish fixing up your wounds..." She turned and walked back to her pack and held up her food and water, "I have food and I have water.. If you want them.. You gotta come back here and let me fix you. I'm a doctor and I can help you." Her voice was warm and sincere. She really didn't want to hurt this woman... For some reason that insane urge to kill she always had when coming across another person wasn't there right now. Which was nice. It was a nice change. Granted it would most likely come back but she would enjoy it while it lasted.



She took out some of her food rations and nibbled on it slightly, showing the woman that it was safe and not dangerous for her to have any. She held it out to her and waited.. Waited for her to consider her options... Run or trust... Which would this woman choose.. Better get her name too, "What's your name by the way?"