"I knew that! I said it hurts if I don't hold it!" Ealykam frowns through their tears at Ler'Zet. "Can't you do anything?"
Ler'Zet suddenly notices a small pricking in his tail. Looking down, he recognizes a small clump of egg-grass - a species whose seed stalks, when broken at their joints, are sharp enough to pierce the shell of a lizardbird egg. The grass is a decent alternative to actual stitches, according to Ler'Zet's relatives who've used it in the field. It even melts into the flesh several weeks after being installed - it doesn't need to be removed like regular stitches.
Relys will shrink sown back to normal size, running to where ban is. She will also attempt to understand what the women said.
Ler'Zet looks back up and nods slightly. "I can help, but you will have to be brave. The wound is bad enough to need stitching. Thiss here will ssuffisse for sstiches, but it will not be pleasant. Are you ready?"
Rivek slams the pedal to the floor as they continue straight off the edge of the bend. The car lifts off the ground for a long second, then, very soon, its passengers see the ground rising back towards them. Rivek notices a rock they hadn't seen before - Khaan's gymnastic pose had blocked their view. But it's too late to change momentum. The driver's side front wheel POPS with a gunshot-like sound, and a horrid metal screeching can be heard. Rivek's head is thrown towards the steering wheel, and the whole dash begins to make a hissing sound like air escaping. The children in the back seat scream in surprise.
Khaan deftly manages to keep balance as the vehicle nearly lurches her from her position.
Leaning towards the burst wheel, she calls out over the screeching "THE DAMAGE IS NOT SEVERE, BUT IT WILL BE IF WE CONTINUE."
In the car:
Jaml's head bonks into the back of the Rivek's seat, but Masaa remembered to put on their seatbelt and is unharmed. Jaml leans over to them, saying, "Tae anak brakd tha puokke ach baek rueng nih ban te?" They then scoot over to the passenger side and finally buckle in.
About 180 feet away from the car's position, on the other side of the canyon, the dogs mob Ban. The smaller long-haired black dogs latch onto Ban's flanks, while the stripey-golden dog bites Ban in the neck, drawing blood.
The other stripey-golden dog, which is on the near shore of the stream and seems to have been fallen in, perks up its ears at the noises. It looks up towards the car careering towards it, seems to consider a moment, and sprints out of the way.
Masaa looks to the larger hotchi with a rueful smile. "I'm sure they can drive it on the road?" They curl into a protective (for themselves) spiky ball.
Relys will shrink sown back to normal size, running to where ban is. She will also attempt to understand what the women said. [Dice= Linguistics] 1d20+2
Relys picks out some Orc loan words, as well as a few of the words she's heard her Aster neighbors use. She thinks the human is calling the deer scary, and telling it to get out of her area and "Go home!"
When Relys appears, wending her way through the corral, the woman looks up, seeming to notice her for the first time. She takes off her straw hat and waves it, and speaks in Orc. She speaks much more loudly than necessary. "Get this damn deer out of my garden! Filthy thing's gonna get its parasites all up in the tuskbear feed. You got a rope to tie on it?"
Ler'Zet looks back up and nods slightly. "I can help, but you will have to be brave. The wound is bad enough to need stitching. Thiss here will ssuffisse for sstiches, but it will not be pleasant. Are you ready?"
Ealykam nods, focusing on Ler'Zet's face instead of their injury. "Just make it quick. And uh, don't eat any of my blood, please."
Rivek slams on the brakes . . . and the car keeps sliding downhill, only marginally reducing in speed. It's all they can do to keep it from outright rolling.
Khaan, still waiting for the car to stop, watches the dogs carefully. Somehow, she thinks they never had a chance to catch the deer. Not before it would be mauled by the dogs at least.
Frog receives Kopo with a pat on the head, and quickly guides her axolotl to Ealykam. Concerned, she looks at the Hotchi and the Snake.
"I can hold him down," she offers.
Though she tries her best not to betray her own lack of confidence, it's clear from the half-hearted attempt to hold down the Hotchi that she's not sure how to help without potentially making things worse.
Ler'Zet laughs, an odd, hissing sound. "Why would I do ssomething like that?" he asks.
He reaches down and pulls up some of the egg-grass, carefully breaking them at their joints.
"I am ssurprised the dogs attacked," he comments as he begins working. "Usually they would not attack ssomething sso large as a cart, esspecially after being attacked in return. Perhapss they are ssimply dessperate."
In the car:
Nab kicks at one of the long-haired dogs behind it and tries to gore the golden dog with its antlers. Unfortunately, both dogs dodge out of the way, and the little white dog runs in and bites the deer's foot. It doesn't seem to have broken the skin, though.
By the field:
Ealykam scowls at Frog, suddenly petulant. "I don't need to be held down!" They acquiesce eventually, but are squirming even before Ler'Zet has collected all the grass pieces. "Why are you wearing a shell?" they ask Frog.
"Perhapss they are ssimply dessperate."
"Yeah, our family has had wild dogs attacking our sheep, too. I think they're hungry. Very hungry."
Ler'Zet frowns slightly as he continues working on Ealykam's arm. "Sstrange... ssomething musst have changed..." he murmurs.
By the field:
Ealykam nods again. They seem to nod a lot. "Maybe it's 'cause of the dry season? My uncle always said that wildcats head up into the mountains when the dry season comes, and maybe dogs do the opposite. Still, it's weird that they're attacking people, right?" The academic dog discussion seems to be calming the kid down somewhat - they barely flinched at the last egg-grass stitch.
In On the car:
Lyra's crossbow bolt finds its mark in the hind leg of the soggy stripey-golden dog, slowing its escape to a hobble.
Rivek keeps the brakes down and the car skids down the hill, leaving big furrows in the sand. At one point during this descent, the vehicle goes over a rock that wasn't quite as shallow as Rivek was expecting, and everyone on the outside hears a shrill metal grating. But finally, the vehicle comes to a halt. Rivek sets the parking brake, grabs the equipment they need, and get to work replacing the tire. It doesn't go too well.
Khaan pulls out from her cloak a small vial. Without hesitation, she swigs the contents and replaces the stopper. From between her lips and from her eyes, a pale smoke pours without end, swirling down her chin and throat. Cloud tendrils slip under her cloak and creep along the lengths of her arms and cane. She pulls the sword free, and these same tendrils lash themselves around the blade. It's impossible to tell if Khaan can even see through the smoke, though seemingly she moves with the same grace as always.
Jaml unbuckles their seatbelt and slides over to the passenger side of the car. They pick up Masaa and place them on the roof.
Meanwhile, the two small black dogs and the larger stripey golden one continue harrying the hotchi's deer. Nab manages to shake off two of them, but one of the black dogs hangs on to its leg.
The golden-colored dog that Lyra just shot continues running downhill, apparently having had enough of any conflict with humanoids for the day.
Masaa waves a little hand up in the air and begins shrieking. Only after a few seconds does everyone else realize that they're trying to sing. The song has no words, and barely any rhythm, but Nab perks up its ears.
In the canyon:
Nab looks around it, seeming to search for the best path through the slew of feral dogs towards the hotchi child it'd been running away from just a minute before. After a moment, it leaps around the yellow dog - but doesn't seem to notice the white one, just under its feet. The white dog grabs a leg again, slowing the deer just enough that the larger yellow dog can jump up and bite hard into its prey's throat. Nab falls to the ground. The dogs pile on.
Jaml turns away from the scene. They say, "Masaa, min meul tow."
Khaan stops their pace, takes a little too long to register what is happening, then sheathes their blade, the white fog dissipating around them. She seems to spit something onto the ground, from which the white smoke continues to rise for a few seconds, then walks slowly back towards the car. There is not a hint of emotion on her face.
"WE MUST R E T U R N TO THE OTHERS. THERE IS NOTHING TO BE DONE."
Relys will exit initiative knowing that there is not much else she can do but return to the car.
In the canyon:
"That would be, good I think," Jaml says. "Maybe we can still catch Ban."
Masaa climbs down off the hood, eyes averted. They run up the hill towards the road without a word. Jaml calls, "Masaa!"
By the field:
The irate woman with the straw hat wave-shrugs at Relys as the painterlily turns her back on the garden and heads back uphill towards the road and the field. "Hey weirdo! If you don't come and get your damn deer I'm gonna sell it at the market!"
Ler'Zet finishes putting the last stitch in Ealykam's wound. The hotchi looks up at him and Frog. "Thank you. I think this could've gone a lot worse for me if you all hadn't been here."
"Hey shell-lady, can you stop holding me down and help me up?"
Jaml looks at Lyra. "No, it didn't. Thanks."
They look down at their injured side. Their voice is cold, but dazed-cold, not holding-back-anger cold. "Now I want to go home." The hotchi turns and starts slowly walking up the hill after their smallest sibling.
"Yes, sorry..." Frog says as she suddenly lets go of the fixed hotchi.
"And I wear the shell because all of us Choujin do." She gestures to Ealykam's spikes. "Like those, ne?"
Frog extends a hand to help Ealykam up.
Ealykam takes Frog's hand and gets to their feet. They seem a little wobbly. "Ohhh. Do you ever wish you had something different though? Like I've always wanted to have wings."
"You are welcome," Ler'Zet replies as Frog lets Ealykam up. "Now, let uss ssee to thiss farmer, yess?"
Rivek finally gets the wheel changed and does a risky 5-point turn before pushing the car back up the slope and onto the road. Khaan, Lyra, and Sterling catch a ride as the vehicle, now bearing several notable scratches, vmmmms down the road. It catches up with Jaml and Masaa just as they meet Relys. Masaa refuses to look at anyone, seeming to still be very distraught.
The group climbs down the embankment and goes to the northeast corner of the corn+bean field, which is about as far as Ealykam, Frog, and Ler'Zet have gotten. Ealykam is leaning some of their weight on Frog's outstretched arm, and is moving quite slowly with their injury.
Down the hill about an eighth of a mile, the party can still hear angry yelling.
Heading down the hill, the party meets the upset farmer, and manages to smooth things over. The process involves both inspiring a sense of pity (the farmer immediately stops yelling when she sees the injured children, taking them into her hut and offering them a healing tonic) and bribery, with Khaan eventually having to fork over 25 gold pieces for damage done to the farmer's front garden. Relys snags a hold on the errant deer and leads it back up to the road to prevent any additional crop theft.
Frog gets to go inside with the other children, where she gets not just a draught of healing potion but a slice of homemade caramel pie. The farmer serves this without washing her incredibly dirty hands. While the farmer and the hotchi kids talk (in Orc, which the farmer apparently understood this whole time), it comes out that the kids come from the same village that the farmer buys her wool in. She says she could take the kids up there before nightfall today, but she doesn't have the space in her brain to try to wrangle the deer. She hates most animals besides her own tuskbears.
Frog works up the courage to suggest the party take the deer to the hotchi farm while the hotchi get a ride with the farmer, and it turns out that everyone likes that plan. She and Lyra take turns riding the deer behind the car as the seriously battered group of travelers makes their way further up the Wall.
After several hours, during which they see increasing concentrations of sheep on the hillsides around them, the party comes to a quiet village gathered around a stream. They return the deer - Lyra managing to explain how they came by it without causing the childrens' parents any unnecessary anguish (though there is still certainly some anguish) - and camp just outside town, Rivek pulling over in a dry pasture filled with months-old lizardbird patties. Relys goes into the village and buys everyone some cheese and bread.
The party continues their climb the next day, cresting the pass around midmorning and looking out into the sun-bleached haze. The horizon, if one looks past the nearest mountains, is a nearly perfect flat line. Ler'Zet points out a distant promontory that could be a mirage, and a dark spot a little closer than that. He says the party could make it to a hot springs by nightfall, if they hurry. So everyone piles back in the car (Kopokopo still just riding on the roof). Rivek begins playing a hopeful symphony. And the travelers begin their long, winding descent into the Glassfield Desert.