Evyn raised an eyebrow as they approached after their big "adventure", seeing Roan and Shadow sitting civilly across from one another in the grass.  Just sitting.  Doing nothing but sitting and waiting for them, so it appeared.  He wasn't sure why he shouldn't feel completely at ease, if not elated, but... there was just something there.  Nothing big, though.  Obviously she'd held her own and he hadn't run away.  That last part could have been made better, but...  "Food!" he called cavalierly.
        Shadow looked up and appeared pleasantly surprised.  "Did the big fellas give you trouble?"
        "Yes."  Taerlyn stressed before her brother could say anything.  "They were fast."
        "We only got two..." Evyn admitted gracefully.  "But they're big."
        "Whatever works."  Shadow was rather impressed they'd gotten one, let alone two.  And the suckers were big.  Scary, fuzzy, fat little animals. 

        Taerlyn was clearly not present for the bleeding and butchering.  She didn't really... have interest in it.  Neither did Evyn, but he figured he was one of the "men" so he belonged in the immediate area, anyway.  Shadow herself never had experience with this sort of thing... but she'd seen a hell of a lot of it on TV.  Roan watched her carefully, doing absolutely everything but actually verbalizing his amusement.  So, upon her sharp suggestion that he make himself useful, he took over the skinning.  And, without too much surprise, he was very good at it.  What were they going to do?  Not take advantage of this situation?  So, Roan did all the work.  And Evyn was completely, utterly amazed.  Most certainly when the boy only handed the knife back by the blade afterward rather than taking to trying to gut the rest of them.
        Cooking the meat was another issue, however.  It wasn't fatty in general, but if it got too close to the flames it would spontaneously erupt in a strange purple fire.  Shadow found great amusement in that fact.  Eventually they discovered the proper distance at which to anchor the meat and let it cook, however.  Not without one more spontaneous combustion incident, but that wasn't so bad, really.
        The meat itself... well, it was meat.  It was one hell of a far cry from chicken.  Or beef.  Or pork or fish or anything remotely familiar to any of them.  But it wasn't bad.  Just... spicy in not the best of ways.  A lot better than what they had been eating, though, so they shut up and indulged.  At least it was tender and not greasy.  Shadow, never in her life one to use steak sauce, would have given her left shoe for a bottle of old A-1.
        Necessities taken care of and everything straightened up to the best of their ability given the circumstances, they headed out again.  Off, out into the world once more.  But this time Shadow had just a touch more hope for them.  Not any impossible expectations or anything, but... she felt better about things.  She didn't trust Roan any further than she could throw him, which she figured probably wasn't all that far anyway.  Scrawny boy though he was, he was probably quite a bit heavier than she was.  The thought of hurling the boy was somewhat satisfying, but that wasn't the point at hand.  At least he'd helped.  Without being asked, in fact.  Without being forced or threatened, or even lashing out afterward.  Astounding.  Worrying.
        Little by little, the ground they were traveling began to change underneath them.  The grass was thinning and the trees were getting smaller and more mangy looking.  Soon they were discovering little patches of sand with nothing at all growing around them.  Then there were little pits which eventually opened up into shallow gulches and even less hope of vegetation.  Headed for dryer land, it seemed.  Not a pleasant thought, but one they could do so little about that it hardly mattered.
        Hm.  There was one bad thing about this meat, Shadow found.  There was a piece of it wedged securely in the back of her teeth.  At first she pondered just reaching for any old stick but... who knows where they've been?  But she'd done it before.  A look at the twigs they were coming across, though, and they were all too dry and crumbly for the task at hand.  Instead, she meandered over to Sandy's side and rummaged in her backpack.  Hey, she'd packed blindly.  Maybe she'd thrown a toothpick in or something.
        "Huh."  Shadow commented, grasping something in one of the inner pockets that she hadn't realized had been filled.  A can of Coke.  Honest to god real name brand Coke.  Hot, but still in one piece.  What she'd give for a refrigerator...
        Roan watched her reaction closely.  She looked at that can almost hungrily, lustfully.  He glanced just to their left, where a long, shallow gulch lay in perfect position.  Daintily, as though he hadn't gone over the plan again and again in his mind before he carried it out, he "accidentally" hit her hand.
        Only one thought went through her mind as her grip loosened: Coke.  She dove for it, knowing if she was quick, she'd have no problems grasping it before it fell out of reach.  It may have been a relatively short fall to the bottom, but there was still the great possibility of breaking a bone; something they could not afford at this point in time.  She wasn't completely certain something like that could be healed so easily, and she sure as hell didn't care to find out.
        With the edges of her fingertips, she caught a hold of the esteemed can of Coca Cola and pulled herself away from the edge, standing back up as if nothing had happened.  Ignoring everyone and everything, she turned the can in her hand several times, then held it to her chest like a favorite stuffed animal.  Regardless of the blank looks she was receiving, she carefully placed the cherished item back in the safety of the bottom of her backpack.  Then, satisfied, she turned to Roan, who watched her actions with puzzled amusement.  "You are really starting to piss me off."  She announced.
        "Is that some kind of magical medicine?" he pretended not to be interested.
        "No.  It's Coca Cola.  Don't ever touch the Coca Cola.  I'll tear your freaking legs off and beat you with them, if you ever touch the Coca Cola again."  She paused to regain herself and glared at him.  "Besides, magic and medicine don't go together in my world."
        Evyn started to fear the Coca Cola.  "Uh... what is it for?"
        "Happiness."  She grinned emotionlessly, teeth gleaming.
        "A drug?" Taerlyn asked, half amazed and half amused.
        "Something like that..." she responded, petting her backpack lovingly.  Then, with the dirty look Sandy gave her, she began to pet the steed, instead.  "A good drug."
        "I was taught pain was the best drug."  Roan purred maliciously.
        "Second only to Coca Cola."  She returned the sentiment with a very wicked expression.  "Did I mention if you shake the can hard enough it will explode right in your hand..." she whispered gruffly, directing the comment toward the prisoner.
        That didn't sound... exceptionally safe.  But Evyn decided a great big blind leap of faith was better than anything else they had at the moment.  He made a mental note to stay away from the Coca-Cola.  Just in case.
        "I think we're really getting into the desert now."  Taerlyn said softly, looking further ahead at the completely disappearing plant life.  "We might want to bring some fire wood with us."
        Evyn stared at her for a moment.  "Won't it be hot in the desert?"
        "Not at night..."  She responded in a helpfully suggestive sort of manner.  "It gets cold in deserts at night."  She took a deep breath before continuing.  "Father taught me that."
        Being suddenly reminded of the dead parents they'd left behind made her brother's stomach twitch.  That's right; he remembered being told that long ago.  His father had come to the edge of the desert when he was just a boy himself, with his own father, to watch the wild horses back when they were still plentiful.  An old wound opened up and hurt again, stung, bled with emotion.  He took a deep breath, trying to still the nagging thoughts.  Now was not a time to mourn.  And certainly not with that demon boy watching.  "Yeah."  He answered simply.  "Let's get what we can, then."
        "Even you."  Shadow mouthed to the prisoner.
        He grinned and pretended to be a good little servant.  For now, this was his best bet.  He'd get food, a place to sleep, warmth in the cold, and even protection with living shields, should it come to that.  This place he was in now was certainly in his best interest.  Regardless of how sick it made him to help these idiots, it would simply make his life easier for a time.  That made it all a little more worth while.
        The "wood" was more a collection of thick twigs and chunks of bark.  It was better than nothing, of course.  Shadow wrapped what they'd come up with in one of the blankets and tied it onto Sandy's back.  She hoped sincerely the creature would know how to handle the sand.  She knew it wasn't easy for a horse, let alone one that had no horseshoes.
        And so once again the long walk began.  It seemed they'd decided to gather their necessities just in time, too; over only the course of three hills, the ground steadily changed from dirt and gravel into a black, glistening sand.  Desert indeed, the horizon was black meeting a blue sky.
        We're headed for a big bruise.  Shadow thought sardonically.  Miles upon endless miles of black sand.  Beautiful at first, but once they started to walk on it, it became a quick nightmare.  The first couple of miles were nothing special.  They sunk, all of them, every once in a while.  That was a bit disheartening.  At least it seemed Sandy was getting no more stuck than any of them at any given time.  The heat began to rise, but it wasn't so bad just yet.  The sand was absorbing most of it, though they knew soon that would not be a good thing.  It would be like walking across hot asphalt.  Although, Shadow liked to think, it would probably smell a little better.
        It was when they came to a place that seemed a lot more stable that their leader's inevitable bad luck began to overtake them.  Certainly at first, they were quite elated to find they were no longer sinking into the sand.  But then, increasingly, the ground seized.  It was the strangest thing.  Like the earth itself had a growling stomach.  There were these low tones, then movement below ground.  Just a little at first, once in a while.  Only enough for them to think they had experienced it.  Then a little more, a little louder.  The vibration was soon felt through their feet, and even made the sand seem to shiver a little in their immediate area.
        Sandy paused at one of the louder, harder tremors, glancing around.  They were somewhat trapped out there.  Going back did not seem like any better an option that going forward at that point.  The shaking seemed to have come from behind them that last time, so maybe that was a good sign.  Another moment of pause and Sandy began to walk again, slowly.
        It certainly gave Evyn shivers.  He'd never seen or felt anything remotely similar to the ground shaking before.  But as he glanced over at Roan, he saw something distinctly different--a knowing glint of satisfaction.  The two didn't mix.  Not until--
        Something was breaking the surface in front of them as though the sand were a vast ocean.  It was too fast, moving slick and smooth like a snake through water; too utterly frightening to have planned for.  Something rolled sand from itself and shot up directly in front of Shadow... taking her with it.
        Her companions were struck so utterly by surprise that they could do nothing more than watch this great, disgusting worm-like creature erupt from the surface of the sand.  It was like a giant, thick red-purple rope with bands of wiry hair between each body section, clasping the human form between coils.
        The thing lifted her high into the air and began to squeeze her midsection.  She clenched her teeth when the pain began, but it soon died into a desperate need for air.  She threw her head back and tried to breathe as the thing constricted again, harder and faster than before, winding itself around her chest.  The moment her head fell back limply, the end of the worm monster snapped open to reveal two large serpent teeth, both of which found quick and effective marks in the side of her neck.
        Evyn and Taerlyn glanced helplessly at one another in terrified shock.  Sandy was frankly so utterly freaked that her jaw just fell open.  But Roan stood there quite easily with his arms crossed, knowing exactly what the beast was.  He'd seen them a million times, being very effective for killing in the most painful, devastating way possible.  The first gush of venom would rush through the body and blind the victim (the "fear factor", his master had called it), then the second burst was perfectly bred to be so thick and acidic that it took hours to reach the heart and finally kill the victim, burning horrible streams of pain the entire way there.  He watched thoughtfully as the worm beast attacked, and wondered if it would really be in his best interest to save the bitch.  Certainly he'd hoped to be as loyal as he could manage until Aunger found him, then present his prizes and be well rewarded... but would it have been so bad to let his competition perish?  He sighed to himself and decided he would probably wind up with a punishment rather than a prize if he let her die.  He certainly surprised his captors when he pulled a sword from Sandy's back and chopped at the monster.
        The first burst of venom traveled through her body so quickly that she wasn't even aware of exactly what had happened, and by the time it had taken effect, Roan had already severed the worm in half.  She gasped and suddenly felt herself falling; then realized that she couldn't see it happening.  She couldn't see anything she understood with a hard swallow; her sight had been completely taken away.  The utter confusion distracted her from the pain only until she felt the rough impact with the ground. Then the searing of the second venom began.  She gasped and felt like her entire neck had been set on fire, gritting her teeth with a quiet, agonized hiss.  Great.  Fucking great.
        "What's happening?" Taerlyn whispered.
        "She's gotten herself bitten." Roan grumbled naturally.
        Evyn stared at him with hard eyes, realizing that he knew more about what had happened than they did.  "Do something!" he shouted.
        Roan looked back at him slowly, purposely making Shadow stand the agony in as much silence as she could manage.  Her focus on merely not making a sound of pain was so strong that she barely heard their voices, let alone their words... and the prisoner was enjoying it.  "You mean, remove the poison?"
        "Yes!" Evyn shouted.
        "You trust me to do that?" the wicked boy grinned.
        "Just do it."  Taerlyn growled with a Shadow-esque intensity.
        It was a very interesting pain, Shadow would think later, well after she was done suffering from it.  Her neck felt like it was baking; a million times worse than a strong acid burn, in a terrible heat unequaled by any whip or chain strike.  It was enough to completely make her forget about the blindness, though her eyes were already closed, teeth clenched tightly.  She somehow felt the air move dramatically beside her even through the rest of it, and stiffened.
        "What is it?  Don't you trust me?" Roan's evil voice sliced into her.  Before he gave her the chance to react, he slipped his hand under her head and gripped her hair in his fist, pulling her head back and exposing her throat.  In a swift, smooth movement, he pulled the knife she had given him and pressed the flat hard against the side of her neck right under the bite wounds.  Evenly, with a stinging pressure, he drew the blade upward slowly.
        To Evyn's amazement, he saw the white poison seep out of the holes, followed by two thin streams of blood.  He watched as Shadow unclenched her body, shivering in relief, and took a deep breath.  The pain wasn't completely gone, but the searing had been extinguished.  Only erratic pinpricks akin to a limb being woken up after a long time of circulation loss tormented her for the time being.
        Roan laughed that grating, bitter sound and wiped the venom away from her pierced throat with the back of his hand, then sheathed the knife without cleaning it.  "Am I redeemed?" he grinned through exposed fangs.
        "Enough to get food."  She responded.  "Now let the hell go."
        His taunting expression neither ceased nor moved.  "But I rather like it this way."  He leaned forward as he spoke, getting so close that Shadow could feel the heat of his breath on her jugular.
        "Let her go."  Evyn said sternly.
        The boy looked back at him, the grin dying into something of a distantly amused expression.  Seeing Evyn not move an inch from his demand, he then released her hair and got up without helping her.  She stayed on the ground, staring blindly at the sky, feeling the wonder of what had suddenly become so little pain.  "But she'll stay like that through the night at least."  Roan said quietly, very satisfied.
        "Like what?" Evyn demanded.
        "Blind."  Shadow stated dryly, still staring at the darkness that was her sky... ground, and whatever else.  "This isn't very fun."
        Taerlyn gasped and left the boys to battle it out on their own, kneeling next to Shadow.  "Are you... completely blind?" she asked with great worry, waving her hand over the distant eyes.
        "Yep."  She sighed.  "I knew I hated worms."  She paused and took a deep breath.  "One may be known to ask, 'Why me?'..."
        Evyn growled at Roan, something he didn't even known he had done.  The prisoner regarded him with a delicately wicked look and a simple, "I couldn't have helped that if I'd wanted to."
        "I doubt that."  Evyn said bitterly.
        Shadow lightly reached to the bite wounds on her neck and closed her eyes.  The blue fire came and went as usual, but still no eye sight.  It was disappointing but not unexpected, and she growled to herself in frustration.  She was just glad to have Sandy around to "handle" Roan for her should the need arise.
        The horse herself was still somewhat swaying in the desert breeze in shock.  Granted, she had seen a lot of odd and disturbing things in her time.  But never had she so much as imagined... that.  And now that Shadow was blind...  She shook her head and tried to regain herself.  She'd definitely need to watch that boy.  And, if need be, keep everyone from tearing him apart.  Until they could use him, that was.
        "You know," Taerlyn whispered, "Under other circumstances, this would be really funny."
        Shadow unwillingly felt herself grin.  "I knew you didn't like me much."
        "I really don't."  The girl joked with a small smile.  She put a hand behind Shadow's back and helped her to sit up.  Satisfied that she was okay in every other way, she stood and pulled their leader to a stand with her.
        Sandy softly pressed her nose into Shadow's questing open hand.  She snorted and bumped her chest lightly in a show of support and understanding, then laid at her feet.
        "I can't ride you, girl."  She said softly.  "That just wouldn't be fair."
        "Do you want to go tripping over everything?" Taerlyn asked.
        "But what about the weight?" she asked thin air in the general direction of Taerlyn.
        "She can carry Ter and I, plus supplies.  I think it'll be alright."  Evyn offered.  One eye on Roan, he carefully readjusted the blanket holding their firewood so there would be enough room for a passenger.
        She still looked uncertain, unwilling to be unfair and sit the entire time the others were walking in the heat, but sighed and gave in.  She definitely couldn't just go around tripping over everything and wandering in separate directions.  That just wouldn't work out.  All of the dunes they had to climb would probably just get her buried or slowing everyone down too much.  In a place with giant freak-worms, that probably wasn't a very good thing.  She slowly climbed on Sandy's back and wove her fingers into the soft mane.
        Though the steed lifted slowly and gently on purpose, Shadow discovered something else unpleasant about the poison.  "Oh, motion sickness.  What a lovely side effect."
        Roan chuckled darkly--until Evyn drew his fist back.  Shadow heard Taerlyn squeak as she rushed to hold her brother's hand, and heard a low growl from the demon boy himself.  She swallowed and could only guess what may have happened had Taerlyn not been watching closely.  She didn't blame Evyn at all; in fact quite wished Taerlyn hadn't interfered, but it probably would have been a lot more trouble than it was worth.  Quick thinker, that girl.  A hell of a lot stronger than she looked to keep Evyn's hand back, too.
        "Are you threatening me?" Roan's mocking voice rumbled.
        "Yes."  Evyn stated, obviously very aggravated.  It was a rare tone of voice for him.  "Yes I am."
        Roan's curt, coughing fit of laughter prompted Shadow's hand to reach to her side, draw her knife, and throw it.  She was quite surprised at her hand's reaction, as her brain had not told it to do anything but hang on.  She was more surprised not to hear a scream of pain from someone she hadn't meant to strike, but a dull thud and a sudden, complete silence.  She wouldn't have known that the dagger landed right in front of Roan's boot, thrust downward.  Nor would she have known just how much the action had genuinely surprised him.  He just stared down at the gleaming metal that had just barely left a crease in the leather.  Another inch, and he'd have been cost a toe permanently.