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Well...now what?

Na'ima sat atop a large rock and stared out at the horseman reserve, jasmine-scented smoke swirling lazily around her head. She idly twirled a long, elegantly carved pipe in her hand, occasionally sticking it under the veil that covered her face and then blowing the smoke out with a little sigh. No more island, no more home.

No more research?

Hm...no. She still had everything she had brought with her off the islands, so she could just continue on from there. She could just do what she no longer had again, start anew..it would be frustrating if she dwelled on it.

Good thing that wasn't her style.

Na'ima had seen a few faces she recognized in the gatherings she had passed through, giving them polite greetings before just finding this perch that gave her a wonderful view of their new 'home'. It was very...plain in comparison to their homeland. A shame. But there was only one thing she really missed.

Where was her old mentor?

She frowned underneath her veil and her shoulders sagged a little, her head bowed and her eyes closed. Was he gone? She had seen Mahir, she had caught a glimpse of other alchemists, but she had yet to see that scarved horseman she had learned from. He was important to her. Even as a Sage his opinion had been very important to her, and now he was..gone? She didn't want to believe it but she had been here a few days now and had yet to find him.

She was...disappointed.

Na'ima sighed and turned her pipe upside down, gently tapping it against the edge of the rock she was perched on and emptying it. "Oh...my lamps," she suddenly realized with a soft gasp. "I had been collecting for so long..." Na'ima lifted her head and looked toward the reserve again. Did this place have lamps, perhaps?

She hadn't noticed someone approaching behind her at first, too absorbed in her own thoughts. Plans, she had to decide what she was going to do next. How she would continue on with her life. There was no point in dwelling on the dead, the gone, the lost. She twirled her pipe in her fingers with practiced ease, lazily lidded eyes gazing out ahead of her.

The twirling stopped when she heard her name.

No, when she heard a voice.

Na'ima turned to look over her shoulder, her eyes, the only visible part of her face, wide with surprise. Salbei. He was alive! He was okay! He was here! Oh, she was so relieved, overjoyed even. "Salbei~" She crooned, climbing off the rock. As she moved the coins and bangles and other trinkets she wore jingled and clinked. Her mentor was alive. She hid her joy well, though it was clear she was still happy with the hurried pace of her movements and the way she came up to stand before Salbei, reaching out to touch his shoulder as if to make sure he was real. Yes, he was. Good. He wasn't a figment of her imagination or anything like that.

She smiled behind her veil. "Oh, it's so good to see you, mentor. How are you? Have you been well?"

The hug startled Na'ima at first but it quickly became a welcomed action. She would have returned the sentiment had her arms not been pinned to her sides by the older horseman, not that she was complaining it still felt just as nice to be crushed against him like this. Her smile grew fonder as she closed her eyes and rest her head against him, tucking her head under Salbei's chin. "I was off doing research. I missed the whole thing!" She wriggled in Salbei's arms, not to free herself but to at least free her arms so she could cling to her former mentor. He was still alive, this was a step in the right direction. He could show her around, help her again.

She fell quiet and just let herself cling to the other Sage, basking in his presence with the most serene smile. She had one person who meant something to her if nothing else. That was enough. She would miss their home but no amount of mourning would ever bring it back, only action would. Was that a goal of the others, perhaps? Did they wish to bring back the former glory of their homelands? Or to perhaps build a new empire? That could be fun.

Though that sounded like so much work.

Ah...work. Almost all of her work was destroyed.

Annoying.

"Almost all of my work was destroyed, Mentor," Na'ima lamented in a somewhat whiny voice. All that work! Ruined! Years and years of research for nothing. What annoyed her most was that it meant she had done work for nothing. It was bothersome, she did not appreciate wasted efforts.

Afflictions? Na'ima's eyes fluttered open as she turned them up to look toward him without moving her head. "No afflictions as far as I am aware. Is there something I should be concerned about?" She hadn't noticed anything too strange upon her initial arrival but if there was something she needed to look out for..

At least it wasn't just her work. And he was right, his words did bring her a bit of comfort and relief. She could start anew, she could perhaps even find new test subjects; she didn't dare use a horseman unless they volunteered, but last time she had gone to the human world she had come back to nothing. Could one really blame her for not being eager to leave yet? "I would love to see what you've begun here. Is it anything like your old work still?"

The tightened hug had her closing her eyes again and smiling once more, simply enjoying the feeling of being in her former Mentor's arms. It was familiar, comfortable, it made this better. "It is wonderful to see you again as well, Mentor. I only returned recently, I am truly sorry for worrying you. I was also rather worried when I did not see you among the others when I arrived. How long has it been?"

Na'ima was very interested in meeting these other alchemists, to see if perhaps any that she knew before still thrived in this reserve they were being forced to call home. She was curious where his skills were being used, but she was sure he would tell her in time. For now Na'ima simply wanted to catch up, to learn what there was to know about this place. Children? She had never been good with children. Na'ima made a slight face behind her veils at the prospect of meeting young scarelings and all she could imagine in her head was a crowd of crying and screaming little things that couldn't take care of themselves and demanded their attention.

But Salbei said they were fascinating.

"I suppose it would not hurt to meet them, then. You will introduce me to those you know?" Why not. If Salbei had the patience for them then perhaps they weren't all bad.

Still...children.

Her smile returned as she shook her head, releasing Salbei as he let her go and simply moving to his side to wrap a skeletal arm around one of his own. "I have not! I needed some peace before I ventured into it, but I believe I'm ready now. It's...certainly different from the Famine Isle.." Na'ima was thankful for the veil that covered her frown. Did this mean there would be no more of the activities she had come to enjoy during breaks from working? How many horsemen had been trapped on the islands when whatever had happened had happened?

That was a story she most definitely wanted to know.

"Not a grain of sand to be seen," Na'ima lamented with a mournful sigh. But Salbei was right, it was better than nothing. She looked around them as they walked at the various tents and living arrangements she had merely given a passing glance beforehand. She would need to get herself one of those..

There was a fond smile behind Na'ima's veil when Mahir and Faiyum were brought up. "I look forward to catching up with Mahir. Will Faiyum remember me?" It had been so long and so much had happened, but Na'ima liked to think she was memorable. There was a lot to do now.

"I'm not one to..mourn or dwell but...what happened?" The horsemen had been a mighty empire. They were perhaps more feared than any in Halloween! Centuries and millennia of work and power...reduced to what? A small handful of refugees and a tiny plot of land in comparison to their magnificent islands? Yes, it was better than nothing, but what kind of disaster could have driven them to this? Na'ima was having trouble wrapping her head around it.

At the mention of Falair she fell silent, briefly holding Salbei's arm tighter before forcing herself to let go of that thought. Na'ima simply cleared her throat and looked away as if simply taking in the scenery around them without actually looking at it. Finally she spoke again, "I have not seen Falair, but I also did not see you upon first arriving." She shrugged as if she wasn't bothered by not being able to find any of her family whom she loved dearly. If they were dead..what could she do? She couldn't bring them back as painful as that thought was. She didn't like this place, it was nothing compared to home. It needed more shifting sands, more heat, more sun. It was too dark and dreary to be considered home.

Na'ima listened quietly to the story of what had happened, raising a brow at the idea of scarelings from this place being brought to their islands. How interesting. What did that have to do with--

Oh.

Her rage was silent but it grew stronger and stronger the more she heard. Surely he must have been joking. The Hunters were fools, easily destroyed and a nuisance at best. They were powerless idiots who thought they knew everything and that they had strength when they had nothing. There was no way this could be true. It was a lie. It couldn't be true. Her lips curled behind the veil that covered the majority of her face, fingers clenching slightly.

And finally the disease, the infliction Salbei had been worried she had contracted. Her eyes widened. Mahir? Oh no...what had come of him? Now she was almost afraid to seek out the other Sage. "They took our homes..murdered...hundreds..and then tainted us?" Na'ima hissed, her nails digging into Salbei's arm until she realized what she was doing and released him with a quiet apology. "They did this..the Hunters." She almost wanted to laugh. It was absolutely ridiculous. "How could they have possibly..I don't understand.." and that was a feeling Na'ima was not pleased by.

A hand raised to cover her eyes for the moment, her thumb and middle finger rubbing her temples. So this was their fault.

"So that's it. They're just..gone. Everything. Everyone. And anyone who did survive there is infected." Na'ima sounded almost in disbelief, finding herself having difficulty accepting it. Maybe if she said it to herself a few more times it would really sink in. She dropped her hand away, eyes narrowed as she looked up at her Mentor again. "And what has become of us since then? I am not sure I can accept simply living on borrowed land in a place like this." It was already starting to cause her stress just thinking about everything she had lost, how she would have to start over almost completely from the beginning. All of that work for nothing.

"How has progress been toward finding this cure?" Na'ima wasn't sure how to feel about the children being involved in this. How did they contract all of this?

She was glad to hear everyone was still working hard. It was a comfort. But still..the children? But the talk of a lair increasing in size got her attention. They had access to their lairs still? Oh, that was wonderful news! She clapped her hands excitedly. "You must show me the entrance to this lair soon." It was not the same as home, it would never be the same as home.

Na'ima's joy calmed when Salbei said they would pay them back. Yes. Yes, they would. She had never used any of her experiments on a Hunter...perhaps she could soon.

She fell quiet, her smile falling into a slight frown behind her veil, and then she looked out at the tents again.

Was this home now?

"Mm.." Na'ima sighed. "I am..tired. It has been some time since I had a decent night's sleep. Do you have a tent I may rest in for now, Mentor?" Yes. For now. Until they had their home again.