Thread: Beneath the Sands

Khan el-Khalili was just as she remembered filled to bursting with people trying to manage their way through the veins of dirt alleys. Stalls and venues stacked along either side, filled with a variety of useless objects of color and size. Hookas, clothes, persian rugs, bootlegged cassettes, dvds and cds. Then, directly across from the stall with gizmos and techy things were spices and dried chilis, nestled withing burlap sacks as tall as her hip. Through the sunglasses she scanned the crowd, wishing she was taller so that she might look over the bobbing heads, relying heavily on her sense of smell and hearing to cover what her eyes couldn't reach. She didn't look like a tourist, with wide blinking eyes, taking her time amungst the stalls and the goods. She moved with determination, scanning only the crowd as fluid grace had her weaving through the crowds with ease. She was just a little shy of average height, Greek decent to those of a more mortal eye of race. Brown hair, slightly curly was pulled back in a pony tail, hunter green eyes hidden behind the blank lenses of her glasses, and full, seductive lips occationally tilting upwards in a smirk when she caught something of interest. With a white button up T-shirt and khaki capris, she was modestly dressed with an attractive figure that hinted at strength as muscles flexed, shifted and moved. She was beautiful, and while there was confidence in herself, it wasn't haughty of snide not the sort to look down her nose at others and scoff at their faults. Men would follow her with their eyes as well as some women, but she would pass by them without a glance that might distract her from her task. With a sigh, the announcements for the prayers began to play along the speakers. This, was a blessing. Being a prodomonant Muslim population, most of the people began to flock towards the Mosque, their prayer rugs tucked under arm, kicking off shoes where they would ready to bow five times amungst the prayers the women and men taking seperate paths. Less people in the Bazaar would make it easier to track her quarry... if it could be tracked at all. Here, allowing the flood of people to move around her, Keshayla stepped over to a set of stairs and out of the swarm of bodies. Eyes closed as her nose flaired, slowly inhailing, filtering out the thousands of bodies that were human and Others alike, and allowed the wind to shift and swirl around her. She wasn't certain how much time past, but it couldn't have been long. The sun was still beating down in the sky, causing sweat to collect on her brow and dampen her shirt, the prayers, hauntingly beautiful, echoed out of the speakers as thousands gathered to pray, and within the stillness of the city she heart the unmistakenable sound of insects moving. She would have liked to have said that it was far away, that they didn't surprise her, but they were rather devious bastards and she had spent the whole time scanning the surface and not listening to the vibrations of the ground. Earth, packed from millions of footsteps and the unrelenting heat, exploded into the sky. They fell, pelting down on the mass of people that remained, startling screams and shouts from those who were closest to the insects. Keshayla took half a second gloating in her victory about being right, and the other half to realize that these things were indeed attacking. With a rush she surged forwad, vaulting off of the steps towards the closest of the insects. Two hooked barbs on either end of it's front manticals were reaching forward, hooking into the calf of a man who screamed in arabic, calling for help as his hands vainly tried to make purchase in the untouched soil before him. Blood flowed past the green khaki of his pants, and cloth and skin ripped as one as the leg was hefted into the air. His cries pitched just as the Lycan hit the bug leaping high to land on it's extended manticle. It would have been nice to have brought her gun but this was supposed to be scouting and she was confident her abilities to fight. Feeling the carapice below her hands now she knew it was a mistake. It was hard and smooth, like the hood of a car, and underneath she felt tendon and bone shifting as it reacted to her weight and shifted the man lower. She twisted her right wrist releasing a stilletto blade with dropped into her awaiting palm. This was quickly thrust downward, into the white eyes where the shell was the softest. Like breaking stone and high bells it cried out, thrashing to the side, dropping the man and sent the Lycan rolling in a controlled tumble onto the back of it's partner. The blade caught into the tough shell, dragging across it's shoulders, springing forth green blood that smelled faintly of bitter leaves. The two reared and twisted, crawling the rest of the way out of the hole and convulses as her think blade did more damage in her skilled hands than a man twice her height and weight could provide. It didn't take long before she expertly dismembered the insects, breaking free the egyptian man who was being pulled away by three others, and dropped slightly out of breath to stand before them. Get out of here! She shouted over her shoulder in Arabic, waving back with her green covered arm as if that would make them move any faster. The three men hefted their injured comrade, scattering back amungst the dwindling people who continued to shout and scream over the prayer service. The ground shook again, discarding the two dead scarabs to the side as if they were nothing more then tin. The earth moved under her feet, causing the hard pack sand to collapse and wrythe, sending the Lycan sprawling onto her back, kicking her heels as she scrambled to get out of the way of the cave in. Stalls tipped over, goods broke and shattered across the path, and three more scarabs broke the surface, crying aloud before they shifted possition and located the Lycan. She was still for only a moment before she realised they were watching her, after that she was on her feet, running away from the crowd, an attempt to lead the beasts further towards the bazaars center where she would have more room to fight. Good intentions but she didn't calculate her chances correctly. She lept over the two dead, kicking dust up in her wake, moving faster than a human should but these things had an advantage. The fourth was below the ground, waiting for Keshayla's vibrations on the surface to reach them. As she stepped over them, the earth once more began to fall creating a sink hole that released a startled yelp from her mouth before her knife dug into the earth, keeping her from tumbling down into the trap. The toes of her shoes dug into the ground, kicking to launch herself upwards and surrendered the blade for distance. Hot fire burned through her back as one of the scarabs reached her slicing the barbed mantacle across the backs of her shoulders until she dropped back to the earth with an 'oomph', and a startled cry as the leg stabbed downward, piercing her thigh to stake her to the ground. The pain made her sick, and while she would have been comforted with the time aloud to gasp and groan, it was denyed by another hard blow, twisting her awkwardly over to her back, hips rotated. Her wrist flexed again, sending another slim blade into her palm just as the mouth below the exoskeleton lurched farward as if to try to take a bite out of her, She thrust the blade upward, the insect bitting down around her arm, crying out suddenly and loud in those high pitch squeals as her blade bit into the roof of it's mouth. More of that blood fell, splattering across her face and chest in thick globs before a hard jerk came from her arm. The insect dropped, dead, causing the Lycan to cry out startled once again as she faught to free her arm as well as herself under the burdon. It was too hot to be smashed beneath a giant bug. And by the sounds of the approaching others, she doubted she had much time.