dark storms lie ahead

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

Her legs ached and her lungs burned with each breath she breathed, but Saartjie wouldn't stop. She couldn't stop. The girl had no idea where she was or where she was running to, but she knew that she had to keep moving. Somewhere behind her was the man that had snatched her away from her home and had dragged her into the wilds. His shouts were faint, but they were still there, still echoing in her ears, making her blood run cold. What scared her the most, though, was that her captor knew his name. Shaju.

Bruises littered her body from the rough treatment she had endured. Honestly if she hadn't known better she would have sworn she was back in Korofi where it wasn't uncommon for husbands to beat their wives. Where it wasn't uncommon for men to expect women to be meek, speak only when spoken to, and accept command without any argument. Saartjie was no longer some meek little housewife who did what she was expected to do. She was free. Free to choose her own path. Free to choose the life she wanted to live. Free to choose who she wanted to love. Free to speak whenever she wanted and say whatever she wanted. He had not expected it and when she told him to go fuck himself he had smacked her hard. The split lip and the bruised jaw was the result of his temper, but she would do it again. She had already made up her mind that if he caught up to her and captured her again she would taunt and goad him into killing her, even if she really didn't want to die. She had barely even gotten to experience her newfound freedom.

"Ahh!" The surprised shout slipped past her lips as the ground gave way beneath her feet and she slid down into the stream she was running next to. Cold water rushed over her, but she forced herself back up and onto the bank then took off running again. There was no time to let surprises slow her down or stop her. A shout sounded behind her and her heart felt like it leapt into her throat. He was close and she was getting tired. It was only a matter of time before he caught up to her again.

"Follow the stream. Running water usually lead to villages or towns." Saar could practically hear her brother's voice. The night they had tried to escape he had told her that, just in case they got separated. So she did exactly that. She followed the stream, only it didn't lead to a village or a town. Not even a shack. Instead a beach stretched before her and the ocean glittered in the sunlight.  She slowed down and stopped, staring at the water as a sense of dread and helplessness followed by anger washed over her.

"Fok." She whispered. "Fok! Fok! Fok!" Her voice rose until she was shouting while she paced back and forth. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

"Such language." A voice sounded behind her and she froze. He had been closer than she had thought and she had no way to escape. Saartjie turned to face him, her expression blank because she would rather him think she felt nothing at all than know how she really felt -- angry and scared.

"Fok af." She said and he smiled, though she swore she saw his eye twitch. He stepped closer to her and she stepped back, maintaining the distance between them. "There's nowhere you can go." He said, his voice unnervingly pleasant. "There's only water behind you."

A look of defiance spread across Saartjie's face. "I'll drown myself in the ocean before I let you touch me again." She growled.

"No you won't." He said and he started toward her. She turned to run into the water, but he tackled her before she could reach her destination. He grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back. "Ek gaan dit geniet om jou dood te maak." he whispered into her ear. "Ek sal dit lekker en stadig maak"

She struggled under the weight of him, but it only made him shift to press his knee into the middle of her back. This was it, there was no way she could escape this time. "HELP!" she screamed even though they were alone on the beach. Even though she already knew what her fate was.


Translation:
Fok - fuck
fok af - fuck off
ek gaan dit geniet om jou dood te maak - i'm going to enjoy killing you
Ek sal dit lekker en stadig maak - i will make it nice and slow

Saartjie

i saw you comin' with the gun in your hands

The wilds were becoming more and more like home, despite having his own space in the Boondocks. It doesn’t keep him from traveling, searching and spreading out for food, for hunting, to bring back something for their ever expanding home filling up more and more with mouths to feed. This time, though, it’s his first time shifting since his ribs had been broken. The process was painful, and the second that he got into that draconic shift of his, he didn’t have plans of dealing with the process of shifting back until absolutely necessary.

So to the skies he goes, drifting closer toward the ocean’s edge because he’s positive that he’ll be able to find some wayward herd of deer or Ramphire to snatch and bring back home, something to add to their stock. What he doesn’t expect, however, is to see the edges of someone running through the jungle with someone hot on their tail, something that seemed out of the ordinary. Something… Wrong.

The dragon drifts closer, just above the tops of the treetops yet still out of view from what occurs, and he tries with all of his might to listen. Perhaps he’s mistaken, perhaps it’s a game. Until it isn’t.

Because that voice, the one that screams for help, is one that he’d recognize anywhere. He’s heard it from his youth. He’s heard it in his dreams. It’s one that would never leave his mind no matter how hard everything else tried to burn into it.

The dragon moves, wings pounding as the shadow of him appears over them, spinning to land in the beach behind the onslaught, sharp teeth bared and a growl coursing through him as he extends his long neck, nose and teeth pressing and scrabbling against the attacker’s back to lug him off of his sister, aiming to toss him a few feet down.

Hopefully Saar would understand that this dragon was her brother. If nothing else, the scars in the scales and the steel eyes that cast over her to ensure he’s not hurt her, might be indication enough.

Still, for added benefit, the dragon inches closer, another growl erupting from his throat as lightning starts to crackle around his jaw and through his sharp, jagged teeth. His own version of telling him to fuck off.

i can't want this, i can't want this

SUNJATA

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

A shadow fell over them and for a split second Saartjie thought it was a stray cloud drifting through the sky, blotting out the sun for a moment. But then she could hear the beat of wings through the air, and feel the rush of it as it washed over her. The heavy thud behind her made her fall silent and her struggling against her attacker stopped altogether. A sense of dread filled her because whatever it was that landed behind her was far worse than the man that had her pinned to the ground.

Suddenly his weight was lifted from her back, but the relief that brought was short lived. He still had a fistful of her hair and when he was thrown she was yanked a short distance, a pained cry passing her lips and tears stinging her eyes. Seconds later she could hear the thud as his body hit the ground. Saar didn't have time to worry about him or the fact that he had yanked out some of her hair when he was thrown. She had much, much bigger things to worry about. Scaly, draconic things.

Saartjie swiped the back of her hand across her eyes then finally looked up at the beast. Her heart beat faster and she trembled as she looked up at the massive dragon that hovered over her, looking at her as if ... as if it were checking for injuries. When it didn't move to attack her she finally really looked at it. Finally took notice of the scars on its scales. The steel eyes that reminded her of Sunjata's. It couldn't be, could it? But then she remembered him telling her that he could shift into a dragon - among many other things. "Jata?" Saar whispered as she pushed herself to stand.

When he turned to the man that had captured her, attacked her, promised to kill her slowly, she became confident that the dragon was, indeed, Sunjata. "Hy wil my doodmaak" She said, her eyes shifting to the man who was now standing, and smirking as if he could fight and beat a dragon. "Well, well princess. Who would have thought you'd have a dragon protector?" He made no move toward them, but instead began to inch back toward the treeline. "Dit sal jou nie vir altyd kan beskerm nie"

Saartjie's expression was cold as she stared the man down. "Kry befok." Even from the distance they were apart she could see his jaw clench and his hands ball into fists. "What's wrong? Want to hit me again? Be a big strong man and come over here and do it." When he didn't move to come any closer she scoffed. "That's what I thought."


translation:
hy wil my doodmaak - he wants to kill me
dit sal jou nie vir altyd kan beskerm nie - it won't be able to protect you forever
kry befok - get fucked

Saartjie

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

He hadn’t meant to toss Saartjie too, but he couldn’t let the man get the upperhand much longer. After all, what if he’d had a knife, poised and ready to sink it into her? A bit of a yank of hair was far preferable, at least in Sunjata’s mind. However, he scans his sister, before his slit steel gaze focuses on the man, teeth bared and snarled, and when Saartjie stands and realizes who he is, there’s a snort that leaves him in agreement.

He is surprised, however, at her response to the man – wondering if it was his presence that had gotten her this confident. Typically she only showed this back when they were completely safe, able to speak their minds – reminiscent of the times they’d run away to spend the night on the beach before their parents knew where they were. How Saar would have to sneak him out with claims of ‘getting a midnight snack’ before the two would slip through the blindspot in the kitchen to the great outdoors.

Either way, the dragon approaches Saar, hovering over her shoulder and watches the exchange with a glower. And once the man’s inched back enough that Sunjata felt like it was safe, he shifts back into himself – albeit slowly, given his ribs, and an incredibly possessive arm wraps around her and tugs her in close against his side. “Jy sal net soos hy eindig. Op die bodem van die see.” He calls out to the man, before he steps forward and effectively blocks the view of her from the attacker, confident in his ability to keep Saartjie safe. His hands hover on her shoulder, steel gaze scanning her up and down.

It seems they both have new scars from the last time they’d seen one another. And here Sunjata had simply assumed she had been safe in Torchline.

How wrong he was. How terribly wrong.

Concern sparks in his gaze as he huffs a sigh and tugs her in against his chest, arms wrapping around her tightly. “I’m sorry.”

---

Jy sal net soos hy eindig. Op die bodem van die see. - You will end up just like him. On the bottom of the sea.

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

It wasn't just Sunjata's presence and the sense of confidence and security that it gave her that made Saartjie so confident, though admittedly it didn't hurt. She had backtalked quite a bit the entire time she'd been in the bastard's company and had paid dearly for it. The bruises that littered her body were evidence enough of the anger that she'd drawn out of him. But she was tired of being treated like she was less than human. Like she was just an object or a plaything.

The man continued to inch back, little by little, but then he stopped and a wolfish grin spread across his face. "Ahh, the traitorous son." He said, only to be cut off as Sunjata spoke. Shortly after her view of him was blocked and she was left standing face to face with her brother, his hands on her shoulders as he looked her over. Saar knew that she had to look horrible, after days of being held captive, being smacked around, and her headlong run through the woods to the beach.

The concern in his eyes didn't go unnoticed, but before she could tell him that she was okay now that he was there, he tugged her tight against his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist and she turned her head so her cheek rested against his chest. Like that she could hear the steady beat of his heart. It was ... calming. For the first time in ... Saar didn't know how long she finally felt herself start to relax. But as calming and relaxing as it was, she couldn't forget about the man that still lurked somewhere behind Sunjata. "He's one of his followers." She warned.

But the warning came too late.

He had taken advantage of Sunjata's back being turned to him and had crept up closer ad closer rather than disappearing into the woods like he had been trying to when face to face with a dragon. He grabbed for Jata's shirt to yank him back while attempting to shove a knife he had hidden into his back. "Ek sal jou net eers doodmaak, dan die klein teef."

translation:
Ek sal jou net eers doodmaak, dan die klein teef - i'll just kill you first, then the little bitch

Saartjie

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

Relief spreads through him as her arms wrap around him in turn, a comfort given that he should have known where she’s been. That he shouldn’t have left her, that he should have tried checking in with her. The fact that he hadn’t has the pit in his stomach growing larger, his protectiveness from his dragon shift within him growing stronger, a fury of frustration that swirls within him at the audacity this strange man who spoke their language had for attacking his sister.

Her words supply the information he needs, yet also unlock a new hidden bout of fear. How many more of their father’s followers were out there? And would anymore of them come for her or Nate or his children? He swallows hard, letting her hear his heartbeat a split second before he’s being tugged back by his shirt, and perhaps it’s a good thing that this piece of clothing is relatively stretchy and there’s the bandages that sit under it to protect his middle and his back, because the most that happens is Sunjata immediately lets go of his sister, and despite the pain, the man becomes a panther – sleek black fur and sharp claws and dangerous teeth.

The most that happens is the knife’s blade nicks through one of the bandages that was wrapped around his center. And now he’s got a much bigger problem on his hands.

The answering snarl is one that’s feline and every inch that traitorous son he’s so dearly called, turning to immediately lung at the man, claws extended and teeth aiming to wrap around the wrist of the knife, aiming to crush and break and ruin whatever this man’s plan was.

And perhaps it’s the fury that sparks within him that keeps the man from fighting him back, how much of a blur it feels, especially when he lets go the second he has an opportunity so he can take the man down and sink his teeth into his throat, tearing and thrashing and snarling all the while.

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

It happened so fast that, at first, Saartjie didn't know what was happening. One minute she's hugging her brother and the next he's let go of her and being yanked back, away from her. In the comfort and security that he provided she'd managed to temporarily forget about the man that had held her captive. "NO!" she yelled as she remembered that he was there, lurking like a coward, waiting for an opportunity.

She had no weapon to try and protect Sunjata, but then again he didn't really need to be protected. The only thing Saartjie could do was stare as he shifted, surprisingly quickly, into a panther and hope that he was quick enough that the knife missed him completely. The snarl that came from Sunjata as he lunged for their attacker was one she'd never heard before, but it was definitely one that would stick with her as would the sound of bones crunching under the force of his bite.

Screams of pain joined in the snarls and sand flew as the man was knocked to the ground and began to struggle. Sunjata was relentless in his attack and it was clear that the man wouldn't be walking away from the fight he had gotten himself into. Not unless Sunjata showed some mercy, but she doubted that would happen. No, he would die on that beach, his blood would stain the sand red and anyone who found him would wonder what had happened there and who he was.

"Jata..." Her voice came out in a whisper as she heard the gurgling and gasping. Gaal had made the same sound as he lay dying on the floor of their home, gasping for breath as blood filled his lungs and spilled onto the floor. Honestly it made her feel sick to hear it again. Jata." Her voice was a bit stronger that time, but he didn't seem to notice as he continued thrashing and tearing the man's already ruined throat. "Sunjata, stop!" Saartjie had walked closer, closing the distance between them and she placed a hand on the bandages that were wrapped around her brother. "He's dead."

Saartjie

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

He doesn’t know how far he goes – he only realizes that he’s in a fight or flight, that he’s chosen to fight rather than let the attacker back at his sister. And so he gives into the panther shift within him, letting it take over his instincts completely until there’s nothing more than blood soaking the ground beneath his paws, dripping from his maw, coating his chest. He’s only brought back by the touch to his back, the tender touch of his sister and her words come flooding in, that the panther withdraws – shaking his head from the blood that pours from it.

He withdraws, backs off, moves to peer at his sister before looking to the woods and wilds surrounding them, before he trudges over toward the ocean from the beach and clears off the blood from his paws and chest and face, before he shifts back to himself, drawing up to his full height and turns to look back at Saartjie. “I’m sorry.” He manages quietly, his jaw feathering lightly. “I wasn’t… Paying attention.”

He hadn’t been, he’d given into the shift entirely. But he’s back now – mostly, mind torn between the here and now and the body still lying on the sand. “We should get you home. And looked at.” He finally decides after a moment lost in his thoughts, knowing full well that Saartjie would understand it more than anything – that faraway look in his gaze.

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

If anything, Saartjie didn't expect Sunjata to stop attacking and back off so quickly. She had watched his trial when they were both back in Korofi. She had seen just how relentless he had been, how vicious he had been during the fight to stay alive. She had watched and kept track of just how many lives he had taken to keep his promise to her to come back alive. This fight reminded her of that and for a long while she stood, staring down at the body. At the shredded throat. At the blood soaking into the sand and staining it crimson. She couldn't help but wonder how different their lives would have been had they not grown up in Korofi. If Jata had not been forced to kill to stay alive and if she had not been forced to marry a man that she hated enough to kill.

The sound of her brother's voice was background noise at first, but when he spoke again she finally looked away from the body and toward him. The look on his face was one that she recognized. It was the same one he wore when he had come back home from the trials, battered and bruised, his clothes still stained with blood from the boys he had been forced to kill. She had that same haunted look in her eyes as she stared at her brother. Saar had not been forced to go through a trial like her brother had, but she had killed. The gurgling as he had choked on his own blood and bled out as his throat had been shredded had brought back memories of a night that she wanted to forget had even happened.

Finally, Saar forced herself to walk away from the body and toward her brother. As she reached him she lifted her hands, ignoring the way they trembled and she held Sunjata's face for a moment before she turned his head this way and that, looking for any indication that he had been cut. When she didn't see anything she circled him to look at his back and make sure that he hadn't been stabbed. A sigh of relief passed her lips when she didn't see any fresh bleeding. It didn't surprise her when he said she needed to be looked at, he had always been one to worry over her even with something as simple as a bruise -- granted being held captive by a crazy person was far worse than a simple bruise.

Standing in front of her brother once more, Saartjie looked up at him, her gaze studying his face. "What happened to you?" She asked as she reached out to touch where she had seen the bandages wrapped around him.

Saartjie

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

He’s fine. He’s always fine, even when he isn’t. So as she steps around him, looking him up and down, he keeps that mask – unable to open himself up a bit more fully, despite the fact that she’s his sister. There’s a part of him that doesn’t want to let the memories it dredged up weigh on her shoulders just as it weighs on his.

She approaches him more fully after circling him, finding nothing more than a slight hole in his shirt but not his skin, the blood on him not his. And soon enough she’s looking up at him, taking his freckled face into her hands and Sunjata works his jaw as his steel gaze flickers to meet her own bright gaze. Eventually, she moves on though, poking at the bandage that’s wrapped around his torso.

“I, uh…” He pauses, wetting his lips before he huffs a quiet sound and shakes his head slightly. “Betrayed Safrin. Her demigod paid me a visit.” He murmurs lightly, gently, working his jaw once more before he moves to wrap an arm around her shoulders, to tuck her in and guide her away from the body lying in the sand for a path that’s far more vibrant, far less dreary. "I'm fine, though, really. Just a few broken ribs. Nothing I haven't dealt with before."

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?

even if i could go back, i don't belong there anymore

Saartjie knew her brother and that was something he would do well to remember. He had been a constant figure in her life growing up. She had seen him at his strongest and she had seen him at his weakest, at his highest and at his lowest. As she held his face in her hands she studied him, taking note of everything -- his eyes, the way he worked his jaw when his gaze finally met hers. That told her everything she needed to know. Rather and say anything right then she moved on and questioned him about the bandages he had seen, no doubt in her mind that he had managed to get himself into some sort of fight. What Saar wasn't expecting to hear was that he had betrayed Safrin.

"You what?" She didn't bother to even try to hide the disbelief in her voice. Of course her demigod would pay him a visit. Of course he would end up in a fight. Saartjie said nothing else as she allowed him to turn her and guide her away from the gore, but when he said it was 'just a few broken ribs' she stopped and refused to go a step farther. "Nothing you haven't dealt with before?" she repeated, her head lifting so she could look up at him. A look of disapproval was set firmly in place on her face.

Of course she knew that he was right, he had dealt with broken ribs back in Korofi before, but the medics there had done more than just wrap a few bandages around his middle and hope for the best. Saar stepped away from her brother then and turned so she could stand facing him. "Did you even fight back?" she asked him. "Or did you just take the beating as punishment for betraying Safrin?"

Saartjie

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

He nearly trips when she stops, her words of surprise hitting his ears a bit belatedly and he works to catch himself as his ribs tweak with how he manages to stay upright instead of falling like a lumbering tower of bricks. He turns to her then, all amusement in his face as he flashes her a small, playful smile. “No not really. I was swallowed by a mud monster once and nearly drowned again. Got a bit crushed in that process too.”

But she goes on, and the truth of the words cuts through his amusement – the mask falling off in such a stark surprise that he almost shudders under the weight of her gaze, a hand rising to tear through his longer hair now, to run to the back of his neck, to scratch at a phantom itch there. “No, Saar.” He admits quietly. “I didn’t fight back. I deserved it to an extent…  But not only that, I’m weak now. In comparison to him? What could I have done?” He asks her, waving that hand at the back of his neck in front of him and summoning a bubble of water, one that he takes to make a stream that spins around in circles in front of her, in the space between them.

“I have my shifts, yes, but he has more. I have this magic when he can literally explode like a star. What else could I have done but wait until it was over?” He asks quietly, letting the water drop to the sand, wetting it in streams of dark, ashy brown while his steel gaze focuses on her face.

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?

Saartjie

As he turned toward her, a look of amusement on his face and a playful smile on his lips she just stared at him, her look on her own still showing her disapproval. She knew what he was doing because she knew him. Typically she allowed his humor and playful manner to distract her from whatever problems they were facing, but it wasn't going to work this time. So while he talked about the mud monster that swallowed him and getting a bit crushed she remained quiet until she was finally able to ask the questions she wanted to ask.

Immediately the mask fell and she could see the surprise there and that was just proof of just how right she had been. When Sunjata fially answered she wasn't surprised ... at first. It was when he said that he deserved it that she reacted. "Wat de fok, Sunjata." But he continued on, saying that he was weak in comparison to the demigod, and asking her what he could have done. The only thing she could do for a few minutes was just stare at him in disbelief. Weak? Deserved it?

"You could start off by remembering that you're not in Korofi anymore!" She said, her voice rising just a touch. "You don't have to take beatings as punishment anymore!" Saar turned and walked a few steps away from Sunjata then turned back to him once more. "Jy het gegaan van om ons pa toe te laat om jou te slaan as straf na een of ander halfgod toe te laat." She shook her head as she stared at him, wondering what had happened to the Sunjata that had joined the rebellion to try and make Korofi a better place for everyone. Honestly ... she was disappointed in him.

He summoned a bubble of water between them, and then spoke again and all that did was make Saartjie scowl at him -- something she had never done before. I have my shifts, but he has more. He can explode like a star. "Sounds like excuses to me, Sunjata."  And then he asked the question that made her shake her head. "So you just had faith that this demigod sent by the god you betrayed would just stop beating on you? Is jy dom? What if he hadn't stopped? What if he kept going until you were lying on the ground dead -- and don't you dare tell me it doesn't matter because he did stop." She crossed her arms against her chest as she stared at her brother. It was time he remembered who he was and realized that he didn't have to abide by Korofi laws anymore. "You have a family to go back to, don't you?" Shouldn't they be important enough to fight for? To fight to get back to instead of leaving your fate in the hands of another?

Translation:
Wat de fok - What the fuck
Jy het gegaan van om ons pa toe te laat om jou te slaan as straf na een of ander halfgod toe te laat. - you've gone from allowing our father to beat on you as punishment to allowing some demigod to
Is jy dom? - are you stupid?

i don't want your money or your crown
i've come to burn your kingdom to the ground

SUNJATA

angel loves to keep me spinning, much too high to see
that all these chains have started thinning & hell is breaking free

Already the looks she gives him remind him of their mother, the disapproval hidden within that only came out so rarely, but so rarely in fact that when it occurred, he realizes quickly that he’s in deep. That he’s fucked up immensely. And he swallows hard, watching as she starts on her tirade. He works his jaw again, feeling his teeth press against one another in a small grind. And when she gets to their tongue, he swallows hard, folding his arms across his chest momentarily before he offers to show her the magic he has in his bones now.

“Don’t you start on that.” He snaps, his gaze narrowing as the frown tugs at the scar their father had given him, one that flexes and tugs with each time he clenches and unclenches his jaw. “Don’t tell me that it’s excuses when you can’t give me a better answer. I know he was going to stop. I know because he was my best friend.” And she’s right, in a sense, that this isn’t Korofi anymore. He doesn’t have to worry about those closest to him angling to place his head on a spike regardless of how much they might want to at times.

He shows her the magic and lets it fall into the sand, though, before he takes a step toward her, brows inching together as he reaches for her. “It could have been worse, Saartjie, and it wasn’t.” Not yet, anyway, according to timelines, but that’s beside the point.

An exasperated sigh cuts out of him, shaking his head, a humorless laugh leaving him as he steps back from her, stares out into the woods that he had found her from. “Yes. I do.” He does have a family to go back to, but it does little when faced with the wrath of the Huntsman if the Flood were to instigate and ignite it further.

His hand rises to pinch the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “You’re right, though. This isn’t Korofi. I’m not sure how not to be that version of me, Saar. I don't know.”

every choice, every lie, demons that he kept inside
angel now that i've stopped spinning, could you come clean?