The next two days didn't feel so much like "winning" anymore. It was becoming tedious and hazardous. First of all, the sauren mounts they had acquired became skittish and ill-tempered the farther they rode them and it was becoming increasingly difficult to control them. The Sith were starting to wonder if they might not end up with another incident like the one back at the Hokhae corrals.
On top of that, the water in their water sockets quickly became brackish. It was drinkable, but barely. The part which confused them was that they had dumped out the old water and refilled it with fresh water before they left. At one point Raezyr suggested that maybe the water they refilled it with was bad, but Trychon pointed out it was the same water they had consumed when going the other way. The only thing they could figure is that there must be some trick to filling the water sockets to which they weren't privy. From now on they'd have to appropriate new water sockets at each village, which meant they probably weren't going to be able to slip by a village or oasis in the middle of the night.
The half-siblings approached the second village they came to with caution, but they needn't have. The natives there were lying in wait, and as they entered the dense underbrush surrounding the settlement at the oasis, the warriors of the village attacked. They didn't present much of a threat to the Sith as none were as well armed as the Guards back in the city had been. Raezyr had given his reins to his brother and quickly cut down the opposition. Taking a new supply of water sockets, they moved out, not wanting to stay in the oasis where someone could sneak up on them.
The second evening was much the same as the last as they were attacked once again by a number of the red-skinned humanoids. This time it was Trychon's turn, using his double-bladed lightsaber to fight their way to the well at the center of the village. In each of the villages they had looked for more of the saurens to trade out, but these smaller villages didn't seem to have any, or if they did, they didn't keep them close to the oasis. Recalling what Gavrik had told them about the beasts habits, they assumed the corral must be somewhere out in the desert, and Raezyr and Trychon didn't have the time to spare wandering about in search of it.
The brothers commandeered new water sockets once again, not wanting to take any chances on their water going bad. They had to fight to get their mounts to cooperate, but finally the sauren let them swing into the saddles. The Sith turned their beasts back toward the desert, conscious of the eyes watching them from the deep recesses of the huts and shanties, waiting for the 'Wahnri Rahz' to leave.
"So far we've backtracked the exact route we took from Vathka Rados' village to the city," Raezyr said, formulating a plan as he spoke. "Each village we've come to has attacked us, including the ones who've been friendly toward us."
"Cool story, bro," Trychon mocked, giving his brother a thumb's up sign as well as his usual grin.
"No, seriously," Raezyr continued. "Stay with me: The next few towns on our route are a bit bigger, and it stands to reason they will not only have more people, but they may have better weapons."
"I'd considered that," Trychon said, being serious for once.
"What if we took an alternate route?"
Trychon considered the idea in silence for several moments. "I guess I can't see that it'd be any worse," the elder brother surmised. "We can pretty much count on opposition this way, but the unknown may offer the opportunity to bypass some of that."
Luckily for them, Gavrik had shown them maps of the area on their journey to the city, in an apparent attempt to show them how impressive his knowledge of the area was. From those conversations, they knew there was another road over the steep hills to the north which ran in the same general direction they needed to go.
It took them longer than they had anticipated to cross the hills, but eventually they were able to locate the town they had seen on the maps. It had taken them a little over a day and a half to reach and they had been out of water since before midday.
It wasn't so much a town or even a village than it was a small collection of huts surrounding a spring which sprang up from a crack in some rocks then trickled back down below ground. It was clear the village was barely inhabited, yet still the two Sith approached cautiously.
As their mounts walked into town, head's lowered from fatigue and thirst, the few villagers approached cautiously. One lanky Meisosian with a beat-up stone sword approached. "Who you?" the alien asked in thickly accented, broken Basic.
"We are 'Wahnri Rahz,'" Trychon replied succinctly as he swung down from his sauren. He figured there was no point in beating around the bush.
"Ah... you are wanted killed... why?," the native replied. Both of the Sith assumed he must be the elder of this village since he spoke the 'Language of the Elders.'
"We were accused of murdering Seiress at the big meeting of the tribes; We did not," Trychon replied, figuring that being up front seemed to be working so far.
"What?" the elder replied, seemingly confused. Trychon was about to repeat what he had just said when the old alien continued. "A meeting of the tribes was not known to me. It is great dishonor to not be... to be looked over." He blinked slowly and looked at the ground for a moment, then back at the Sith, holding his chin high.
"I am sure is was merely a mistake," Trychon said. He wasn't sure why he said it, other than this was clearly an honorable alien he was dealing with.
"We require water, food, and shelter for the night," Trychon stated plainly, changing the subject.
"I do not think we can help you," the elder said. It was clear his Basic was coming back to him as his speech was becoming more fluent. It was also clear that the native was considering giving them aid just to spite the other tribes. Being forthright had clearly been the correct call in this situation.
He decided to be even more so. "You should know that we are not just strong in the Weave, but we are Masters of it. We could easily have ridden in here and taken what we require by use of force."
Trychon heard Raezyr chuckle slightly under his breath. '... use of THE Force,' his brothers thoughts corrected him.
Trychon continued. "We have no wish for unnecessary violence."
"You Wahnri Rahz could not have made it this far were that not true," he said. "We have no wish for violence either..."
Suddenly a much younger alien, the equivalent of Trychon or Raezyr's age maybe, suddenly began yelling at the elder in their own language which was still a blur of gibberish to the Sith. Finally the alien spoke. "Please forgive my grandson. He will be the elder when I am gone, so he understands what we've said, although he rudely refuses to speak it.
"While he is incorrect in his wish to try to kill you, he is correct that we would only bring more dishonor to our tribe if we assisted you," the old Meisosian continued. "We must ask you to leave our village."
"Very well," Trychon said. There was something about this old alien that Trychon liked. "We'll refill our water sockets, feed our mounts and leave."
Suddenly the young native roared in rage and charged them wielding a wooden club over his head. Trychon's hand dropped to his hilt, but Raezyr calmly stepped forward, put his hand out and made a pinching motion with his hand. Instantly, the young would-be leader of the tribe stopped in his tracks, fell to his knees and began clutching at his throat. Gurgling noises were all the sound he was making.
"I find your lack of hospitality disturbing," Raezyr said, watching the young native slowly choke.
For a moment no one moved. Finally Trychon spoke. "Release him, brother. I think you've made your point."
Raezyr put his hand down, walked over to the small spring and began to fill his water socket. All the while the alien still choked. Finally the big Sith Warrior released his Dark Side grip on the alien. "As you wish."
The alien fell to the sand, gasping heavily for air. The overall emotions of the small village turned from hostility and curiosity to fear in the blink of an eye. Trychon knew they'd not offer assistance now, but neither would they offer any resistance.
They quickly gathered a few meager supplies, then set up camp a few clicks down the road.
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