Burning Nile Scene 02 - In the Crocodile's Jaws

Tefri's words echo in his mind. He turns and spits the taste out of his mouth. He does not turn back to avoid looking at his master's face again Fool! You will surely die for this outburst! To dare chastise your master at all let alone in front of others...what man would abide that? He clearly must keep up appearances in front of the others, but it's only a matter of time before his knife finds my throat.

Adom nods briefly to Ipwet as they examine the bodies together, glancing up at Sabra's back as he follows the trail of the drag marks in the blood. That one would bear watching. He had not even flinched. And something about his attitude seems more intense to Adom, though it could just be his own fears projecting themselves.

Adom looks over a few of the large chunks, following Ipwet's gaze to a line of small puncture wounds on each side of the flesh. "Have you ever seen something like this? Bite marks, I am sure of it. But not the bite of some mongrel dog wandering the streets. Whatever did this must have been large, and powerful, with a maw full of close set small teeth..."

Ipwet goes through a surprisingly wide array of emotions in a very short amount of time with Adom's observations. First she assumes a guarded stance as someone approaches her from the side and comes close to her personal space. Then at the 'mongrel dog' comment she lets loose a flash of anger in Adom's direction, Mongrel dog?! If that's what he thinks of me he'll find out just how a mongrel dog treats those-- Ahh, Crocodile! but it quickly turns into wide-eyed realization as she follows the priest's logic to its logical conclusion. Finally as she realizes she was just spoon-fed the answer her bitter, cynical presence pops out once again.

Ipwet makes a slow, pointed glance to one of Sobek's reliefs carved into a nearby pillar, then turns back and casts a disparaging gaze at Adom with a snort. "Oh... you mean like a crocodile perhaps? Brilliant deduction, Priest." Her voice is dripping with sarcasm, but with none of the razor's edge meant to intentionally harm that was present at their introductory conversation. Rather, this sarcasm has an undercurrent of familiarity... possibly even playfulness?

Ipwet stands back up from her crouched position and steps over the remains to follow after Sabra. Her retort is said with her back to Adom, her voice reaching his ears as an echo rebounding off the stone blocks of the temple walls. "You are right about one thing, Adom. A 'mongrel dog' would have finished her entire meal and licked the plate clean. She does not know when or from where her next meal will come."

The priest is oblivious to her reaction until she speaks. Adom's jaw drops as Ipwet points out the obvious, the glaringly obvious, conclusion. His cheeks redden as he realizes he should have thought of that. This is, of course, Sobek's temple.

The embarrassment feeds anger and... confusion. Before the anger can build itself up from an inkling to a true feeling, the change in her tone strikes him. He knows that tone. A toothless sarcasm. The last person to use it with him now wants him dead. And now this woman, who had apparently considered him nothing but a waste of water just a day ago, is now offering him... what? A playful jibe? He doesn't know what to think, so he simply watches her as she stands up and begins to walk away.

It is only when she speaks again, startling him, that he realizes he has been staring. He is thankful she did not turn around. His cheeks are aflame. He had not really considered it before but in her own hard-bitten sort of way she is attractive, a bit like the raw ferocity of a feral... oh. That's when her words sink in. She is, of course, correct. Again. But there is something both vulnerable and defensive in what she said. He thinks back to the way she disappeared expertly into the alley. Is she... some sort of guardian of the street urchins? He doesn't quite understand yet, but the half of his mind less focused on her and more focused on the more literal meaning of her words follows the logic to an interesting, horrible conclusion.

"Ipwet, wait. I..." He seems about to say one thing, but then decides to say another. Her name sounds strange in his mouth now. "You're right. But a crocodile would normally drag its victim to the water before... disassembling them there. Whatever this was tore them apart here, out of the water. Crocodiles are dangerous and unpredictable enough, but this... We should warn Sabra. If Sobek is expressing his displeasure through the beasts, we should be wary."

Ipwet stops at Adom's observation and thinks for a moment, staring at the bloodied piles of appendages and body parts. "Hmm, perhaps there is in fact more to the gods then I have been privy to in my life's experiences... If that is true and we meet one of them, I will surely have some questions as to why they've allowed certain atrocities I've witnessed in my days to go unanswered." She shakes out of her current train of thought and looks back to Adom. "Regardless, you speak wisdom Preist. If this was indeed a realization of Sobek's anger then this beast will not act as one would expect." As Ipwet turns away she notices the Nubian seems lost in his thoughts. "Tefri! Don't dawdle man, lest you be caught alone and end up like this poor bastard!"

Ipwet moves to catch up with Sabra. "Oy, Farmer Elf! The Priest seems to think if this was a minion of Sobek it may not behave like a crocodile, best not to wander off alone unless you are comfortable tangling with an angry diety's manifestation by yourself..."

Wait! Wasn't this temple intended to flood?

Tefri catches up to the rest. He avoids making direct eye contact with Adom. This floor was built to allow flood waters in and out. It may not be so odd that a crocodile attacked here.

Ipwet follows Tefri's gaze to the flood gates.

Adom collects himself as much as he can. He tries to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. His ambition has led him here, in service to Anubis, but also, as Tefri said, in large part to himself. And the evidence of what happens to those who displeased their gods lies in a bloody heap in front of his eyes. Feeling broken and confused, he looks up toward Ipwet and Tefri, carefully avoiding their eyes.

"You may have a point, Tefri. The waters are yet low, so it would not have flooded by the natural means, but such a creature would have easy access and not be out of place."

Adom looks up, startled. This is not good. He glances quickly toward Tefri and Ipwet, then walks quickly up to Sabra. Speaking with a veneer of calm, he says "Let us leave the beast to itself, Sabra. We have no specific quarrel yet with the creature of Sobek and we may pray it has none with us." The deaths of the priests of Sobek is a tragedy, surely, but not necessarily a direct responsibility of theirs. Maybe. He glances nervously at the beast and attempts to guide Sabra by the shoulder back with him to a safe distance.