Descention

Emotions rushed into Kareta's conciousness. Who was this man? The amulet was hers, wasn't it? Why was Duran leaving her behind, and if he did would Jinn disappear again like last time?

"And where do I fit into all of this?" she raised her voice, standing from where she had been sitting. As though on cue the wind raced through the trees, the trees shaking and the leaves applauding like a forest of onlookers. The night was dark already, and as she looked around for Jinn, as she had grown accustomed to him being there, his eyes comforting and mocking, he was nowhere. She felt her mind latch on to the idea of being left behind, there was no other way, and she hated it. She had lived far too long alone, only to be abandoned again.

"And who the hell is this!?" she thrust her arm at the man, pointing angrily, but when he raised his eyes to her face she knew he'd seen it before. She felt naked, deceived, and abandoned. The start of tears was already welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over, and to top it all off something in the back of her brain was clouding over. A darkness somewhere was sending lightening bolts into the world vaguely, at the very edge of her consiousness. She walked to Duran, every step of her body promising violence, but stood inches from him. She shook with anger and confusion but her eyes betrayed how she felt. Lost. "You take me up into the mountains on some 'quest'" she sneered, jabbing a finger into his chest. "and I think maybe I've got something here. After years of being so ****ing alone, suddenly I have people there for me. You. Ash. Jinn, where ever the hell he is! And then you just sit down and tell us all that you'll be leaving when we get to Ash's village. Just like that, like it's that easy!"

She cast a glance at the stranger who had appeared just minutes ago, he stood leaning back a bit, an amused smile on his face. Ash sat quietly, looking bewildered, and Jinn was still missing. She swallowed hard, fighting against the tears and the desperate buzzing in her head, but she felt the sting of tears on her cheeks. They felt like acid rain.

"You want this? You can have it! I'll do you a favor and leave now before you have to go through the effort of leaving me." She tugged the amulet off her neck and threw it at Duran's feet. It sparkled in the grass and dirt and everyone's eyes followed it. She stood a moment, hear breath heavy and her mind screaming. Then she turned and ran, out of the clearing, away from them, away from the amulet, until the dizzying scream in her head brought her to the forest floor and she was alone.

[Atma-Noah]

Duran stared at Kareta as he watched her dissapear into the forest. Why did she run? I can tell she is confused but such a burst of anger? I did not ask for the amulet back. We are all trying to work everything out. I better go and find her. I'll explain why I am leaving to her aswell. Duran thought picking up the amulet. He watched it spin slowly around and around catching the light of the fire. His eyes wandered from it to the dancing flames and back. Then without thinking he got up and began to walk the same way Kareta did. "I will be back." He said.

The moon gave just enough light to see the outline of the trees. The crunchs and snaps of twigs became rythmical as Duran kept going. He stopped, moving his hair away from his eyes. "I am sorry Kareta. I did not mean to upset you." He paused. " I did not mean to upset you with leaving Kareta. I apologize." That dosen't sound right. He thought deciding to take a moment to rest.

((anybody else?))

Kareta sat a moment on the forest floor and waiting for the blinding pain to subside. She could feel an evil so close by, so terrible that she wondered that it could exist. The ground was soft beneath her and she dug her fingernails into the dirt, thinking perhaps she had been alittle harsh; alittle hasty.

'I won't be left behind again. I don't care, this time I'm doing the leaving.'

As the buzz in her brain and her heart slowed she heard footfalls in the forest nearby. She squinted through the trees but couldn't make out who it was, walking so close. She kept silent and waited for them to pass, but they chose to rest a moment.