title: Awakenings.
authors: stana, ian, teri
note: You might have already gotten this-- if so, please forgive. ^_^

     Stana lay there on the ground for an inestimable amount of time.
All 
there was to remind her that the world was still turning was the 
throbbing in her knee. Which rivaled the pounding in her head from the 
shockwave Teri had sent out. She was sure she could move if she tried, 
but 
she wasn't a fan of sadism, so she just stayed still. 
     The whole glade was deathly silent. Even the fire's crackle was 
muted. There was no sound from anything, not even Clip or Teri. 
     ::Clip-Teri--::
     Were they dead? She didn't think so, but there wasn't a way to be 
sure until she 
forced her eyes open and tried to look. She couldn't see them. Maybe 
they were hurt-- Stana made to get up and instantly regretted it as she
crashed back to the ground with a muffled groan. Her entire 
body had just played the 1812 Overture's finale to a standing ovation. 
That was not good. It actually was worse than "not good"-- quite 
agonizing 
really. She gave up on finding synonyms and tried to focus past her
pain.
     "This one's awake--barely." she heard faintly some time later. A 
man's voice? A woman's? no it sounded like a guy-
     "The others?" another voice she was sure was female.
     "A woman unconscious-- and-- someone I think you should see..." the 
male
voice had gotten softer, almost suggestive in meaning that perhaps the 
other really didn't WANT to see but should. A second later the female 
voice let out a sigh.
     "Can we set them up here?"
     "I wouldn't move them right away." said the first voice she had 
heard. "Not until we know what happened here at any rate.I'll get your 
kit."
     "See to it then, Sullam, quickly," the elderly woman ordered to the 
young man at her side. Without another word the lady knelt next to Teri 
and brought her hand to the girl's face. 
       Like a flash the man was off, sprinting through the forest 
with barely the sound of thought. He moved like a shadow, a flash in the 
dark. In the unnatural silence he slowed then stopped, hesitating as his 
head cocked quizzically to the side, probing for something he thought he 
had heard. The sound of voices were closer than he thought and sounded 
like they originated from the camp site. Sullam took a moment to gauge 
the distance before doubling back.
    

   The odd woman moved to Stana next, as the girl rolled her eyes
blankly 
to the sound.
It didn't take long for the source of the human's pain to reveal itself 
with the knee she tried so diligently NOT to move. With a small grin the 
woman moved to touch it.
   Stana's hazel eyes snapped into a bleary focus.
   "Don't" she ordered hoarsly "I'd rather you not go there."
   "Hush child and I'll be quick." the lady replied with a tart tongue 
"you'll get no such promise from that injury." The hands went to her
knee 
and pulled strangely, Stana gasped before passing out.

  Shinji stumbled back to the camp, his hand spasming with remembered
pain from the... dream?... as he ripped branches and ferns from his
path. He could hear the faint crackling of the camp fire somewhere in
front of him, but other than that, he heard nothing. No conversation, no
Teri arguing with Clip, nothing. The faint crackle he usually felt
around Teri wasn't there either. Odd... He shoved one final branch from
his face and froze, as the dying firelight flickered off a hunched form
rummaging around the bodies littered around the fire.
 
     "What are you doing, thief?!" SHinji barked, the rage of moments
before dregging up the last of his reserves.  "Get away from my friends,
now.." He leapt from the brush to skid to a halt by the unconscious form
of Stana, her leg bent oddly beneath her. Shinji spared a
quick-assessing glance at the girl before turning his attention back to
the shadowed intruder. He grabbed the small form by the collar and
lifted it up, turning so that the faint light shone more clearly on the
theif's face--

     Shinji nearly dropped his armload. His eyes snapped wide in
surprise, as they fell upon the pinched face of a tart looking, wrinkled
old woman. 
     
      Sullam took stock at the edge of the wood. He had spotted the new 
individual and watched as he lifted the lady up. That hostile motion was 
enough to propel him forward and attempt a seperation of the two.  There 
was a moment of wrenching disorientation as he struck and it seemed like 
the entire area _stretched_ and moved.
      And then Shinji was staggering back. Sullam pulled in his hand and 
quickened aside the lady. He lifted her gently and hastened her aside. 
The now--unconscious girl he stepped around.
      Once that most immediate concern was out of the way he turned and 
was just in time to dodge and counter a blow that was meant to disable 
him. Sullam absorbed the impact and rolled with the power, bringing 
around a viscious elbow and a snap kick to the knee. Shinji was no
longer 
there to receive them.
      The  two backed off, judging one another. Sullam immediately 
settled into a defensive stance, and watched the other do likewise. That 
was odd. Why would this boy-- either an agressor, or protector of this 
camp-- choose to react defensively? Surely if Sullam and his lady were 
trespassing it would be himself that would be on the defensive?
       He let none of this show on his face as he shifted his tactics 
slightly. Just testing,  he pelted out a combo kick, pulling it before 
impact. Shinji reacted quickly, moving to counter the blow but not to 
strike back. All the indications showed that this fight was going to
turn 
into a contest of endurance...
       Sullam took a step in and wrenched his body aside to avoide a 
smartly executed axe kick. He watched the boy wobble ever so slightly on 
the recovery. His reactions were impressive but were a hair breath's
off, 
as if the boy's mind was reacting too quickly for the body. Sullam put 
two and two together and came to a conclusion.
       Battle fatigue. The appearance of the boy, the disarray, the
blood 
and the general off timing were revealing in their indications. Sullam 
immediately compensated. He took a rapid offensive, twirling in with a 
hurricane kick he would never use against a fresh opponent. the next few 
seconds were flurried with attack and counter, until Shinji broke off
and 
backed away. Sullam allowed it, taking a moment to gauge the boy's next 
likely move. He watched the hips twitch and batted the kick out of the 
way, driving in with arm to slam into the boy's knee. There was a 
viscious snap and Shinji gave out a startled cry, trying to twist out of 
the way. Sullam held on, snapping in with a side snap to the other leg. 
The boy was on the ground before Sullam's leg was back in place. With an 
abrupt move he sidestepped away.
       "Stay down." he ordered sharply. 

         "Do you really think that was necessary, Sullam?"  the old woman said 
tartly
as she straightened her robe. "You'd be better served spending your
energy
finding some way to bring these children back to the house."

        Sullam's eyes widened slightly as he flexed his wrist in cool-down.
"The
house?" The old woman hadn't brought anythign to her house as long as 
Sullam
had been with her-- a considerable number of years. 

        The old woman shot him a cranky and impatient look that told Sullam
that
questions were better left for later, and busied herself destroying 
evidence
of the campfire. Sullam grabbed the boy by his collar and heaved him to 
his
feet.  The boy's eyes flashed with fury, but he remained passive. 

        "Go get me a bushel of very large pine boughs-- and hurry up," Sullam 
said,
and half-tossed Shinji towards the edge of the clearing, "We want to be 
out of here in an hour."