Two Eyes Cenote [m]objective: survive

Mature Content Warning

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Gore, mentions of child abuse. Injury descriptions can be found at bottom of post

Fleshy ribbons, was what it came to.

Heat shining off the sand-

Hanging loose from his throat, his jaw, one of his ears. Was it real? Was any of it real?

A distant black shape, moving-

He rasped a breath through blood in his throat. A fellahin, by the door, looked up to see him. Hello, my dear, I seem to be in something of a pickle! was what he wanted to say, but all that came out was a groaned, bubbling wheeze. The fellahin stared. And stared. And rose their voice, high and screaming.

A single eye, burning hatred, burning madness-

Tav- He tried to choke, tried to scream, tried to call @Tavina , his old friend, his only friend, but the word gurgled through gallons until it spilled onto the sand with the rest of his blood.

Teeth around his muzzle, trying to suffocate, even though he was already dead-

His legs stayed steady, somehow. He felt no pain.

He knew this feeling, the stranglehold, and he had always vowed to never do it to anyone else, not like uncle, not like his teacher-

It was all distant, a vague memory he could laugh about.

Alone, as the shape screamed and threw spittle at ghosts only it could see-

Akhtar’s throat was a mess of burning bile and dripping blood, his right eye swollen shut, but he shambled like a living dead thing.

the jackal, the ibis, the set beast, the eye-

Injuries, most to least by severity: Deep lacerations to throat, left ear tattered, broken ribs on right side, moderate concussion, tooth marks beneath eyes towards nose

A scream cut through Muat-Riya.

A mangled, torn body on the floor in gray. A pelt spilled out upon the floor, bloody and disfigured at jaw and slashed at the throat. Bites, littering his face and his ribcage heaving with every shaken breath. He gurgled and groaned, and death invaded her nose before it arrived.
Yet he lived as a corpse. Alive.

From the shadows, the imp lurked. Quiet, watching, with big curious eyes and a tilting face. This picture had played out before in a dance. Melody too, shredded and bloody, gored from the inside out, but she had been dead. This one not so.

She did nothing.

They would come.

And yet she was so interested here. Such way that her mind ticked and turned, with cogs and wheels that played a game. Legend didn't understand the game. Legend also did not play. But she knew the board, and she knew the pieces, she saw them move, she saw the faces. She liked to watch. Liked to learn. As a raven did, with ill innocence.

she had come for nazli's celebration, and had chosen to stay in muat-riya for a time before she went in search of ashikaga. she was quiet, alone in the halls, until — zaahira felt a wordless terror climb her throat at the unmistakeable war drum of death.
running, clamoring through the dimly lit halls with an urgency she had never before known. who? who was hurt? the sand stung her eyes.
the stoic jodai nearly fainted at the sight of him, color rushing from her face in shock, jaws parted in an imperceptible, silent scream. not him. not him.
legend, too, is here. she had found him first. but she only watches with morbid curiosity, and for a moment it made zaahira burn with anger. what the hell are you doing? panic, churning. the ruddy fur along her nape flares. get @Tavina. and @Eset. now.
her own head tips in a call, a strained note for @Toula and for @Rashepses; senmut, too, for he knew akhtar better than anyone.
akashingo and muat-riya were being targeted.

peace, for a time. and for a great stretch of it, too—the Gods had provided to their fellows a perfect honeymoon, truly, where they wanted for nothing. Toula found herself only further drawn to her King, and was loathe to part from his side—
these days, this time devoted to one another, there was no need to! Toula felt as though she lived in a dream. this morning, after singing her praises and prayers to Ra, she moved to murmur something into his ear—but a fellahin came, in a hurry, gasping and fearful and concerned.
Toula wasted no time, moving to follow after them and stepping alongside her husband. whatever this was she would soon know, but the fellahin was at a loss for words. 

approaching post, so that Legend can intercept if she pleases to escort and tell them about it!

A great cacophony in the tunnels, in such a way that his head does a dizzying spin and his stomach twists into great knots. He blinked, dopily, the entire world slowed to a crawl. His vision a mess of colors and shadows, the two women broken into fundamental shapes. Some unholy geography that he can’t put a name to, but sets him on edge.

He looked to them both after what appears to be some great struggle to do so, blinking several times.

Hello! he wants to say I think I was attacked quite viciously by someone I’ve definitely seen before somewhere, but I’m not too good with faces! Please help!. All that comes out is a gurgling cough, blood drooling out of his lips and down his chin. He’s a mess, he realized with a start, a drooling mess. He tried to use one of his paws to swipe at the mess, to clean it before someone thinks of him as some oaf, but all that really seems to do is unbalance him. Akhtar forcefully put his foot back down, staring at the paw as if it, and the blood running rivulets towards it, had personally done him wrong.

Watching. Watching. Watching. Watched him wriggle and gurgle. Groan and twist. Her head, lower and lower as her tail twitched and shivered while she leaned her stomach towards the ground floor. He reached for the blood, the mess he had made in the palace of Muat-Riya. Behind him, the singing ripples of spillage in scarlet. Legends tongue swiped over her inked lips until her mouth went dry in an antsy repetition, over, and over, and over. Her belly churned.

Zaahira.

What the hell are you doing?

Turning her neck around, her front legs splayed forward and her belly dropped lower. She dipped her head, whines from her mouth and throat as her owlish eyes sifted through the Jodai's. The imps tail beat close to her stomach. Then, beat off like a dog, she was sprinting forward and beyond the halls. Bounding in an assassins grace towards the royal chambers, the alarm from her mouth was there to gather attention. Eyes, scanning an intense survey and looking to center upon the first to come. The first of importance.

The first she saw, the Pharaoh. Coming to a halt before the divine one, then to a slow trot at her side, she spoke. Swift to lead. "Akhtar has been found bloodied in the palace halls, my Pharaoh. It is a gorey sight. You may not wish to see."

"oh, akhtar!"

tavina did not wait. she began to bark orders, pushing beyond royal and guard alike. he was to have the blood soaked from his wounds, cloths held to the deepest lacerations as he was supported to her examination room.

once inside, more strips of hide drenched in water for mouth, for cleansing. herbs mixed; chewed; and all the while tavina's voice was a steady guidance.

they had lain the priest on his left side; she ran her paw over his ribcage to see if any jutted through the skin. more wrappings, harder bindings.

a syrup of blackberries and poppy given at the last, to shut akhtar into oblivion for a time.

her paws were stained with blood. she looked around at them all in grim silence, settling on toula.

wicked spirits rose before muat-riya.

as akhtar's blood filled the air with its scent, senmut grasped his paw and began a song of power, one which the older priest himself had taught the prince as a pupil.

"you will not die, old windbag," he said in tight voice that wished to jest, and all at once senmut was seized in anger.

cameo!

the cat attends.

bast is present. their paw is upon the heaving shoulder, their purr a song of its own.

dream, priest. Anubis is not yet ready for you.

her eyes were warm upon Legend. I am unafraid of such things, she consoled and comforted, take me to him, please, she urged. and when Legend did, Toula did not balk. there was anger within her, and a sadness too—who would do such a thing? why? 
to Legend did her gaze turn again. her Jodai engaged, she suspected Legend might need to keep moving—to do what she did best. we must double the patrol. should you see or smell anything suspicious, anything familiar, bring them to me, her tail lashed behind her. tell the other Mazoi, all must know her will.
her eyes turn to Tavina, and she moves to assist her in silence for only a short time. she knows what to do—she provides to her the things that are needed; and then she begins to pray, as she always does in these times—but the words are ones Akhtar has taught to her. 
she is comforted by the presence of Bastet. it is to Her she prays, too!