It had occurred to Indar more then a few times that he was in an odd tribe. First, there was whatever was wrong with old man Hibai, and then Izotz took some interloper girl to his bed and married her. That was just really weird in general, not she seemed to be terrible girl outside of being an interloper. In fact, the stick up Izotz’s ass seemed to be a little less jammed up there ever since he had taken to her. Indar was all for anything that made Izotz a little more relaxed. It was a bit of a double-edged sort of situation, though—when Renna was happy, Izotz was happy. However, when someone upset her, even just a little, it was as if Eguzki had shoved an even bigger stick twice as hard up Izotz’s bum. And of course, some guy had to go and upset Renna. And honestly, Indar was in no mood to deal with a crying interloper or her irate husband.

So instead of potentially irritating Izotz even more, Indar had taken off into the night. That warrior, Gergo-whatever had stopped the party at the main camp, anyway. Sitting around and listening to old farts reminisce about their adventures of old was boring the first time around, let alone the tenth time. Plus, he wanted to spend a little alone time with his favorite pipe. With so many people around, Indar hadn’t had a chance to visit with her since he arrived at the Gathering, and he was sure she felt a little lonely.

Finding Indar sem'Odol was always an easy task. Gergori had met him at least once before, though he didn't use the dealer often. The blind warrior liked to take datura without paying whenever he could, which meant he usually avoided people who sold it on the side. Tonight was different however, Gergori hurt in a thousand places, he wanted relief badly, and he was willing to barter for a little of the Baskari drug of choice.

"Where's Indar?" Gergori asked a passerby. The man knew who he meant, everyone knew who you meant when you asked for Indar. The man told him the location somewhat awkwardly, no doubt examining Gergori's wounds. The blind warrior pushed the man aside and set off in the direction he had indicated. A unique blend of smells soon assaulted the warrior's sense, sage and cedar mostly, burning in a well used, well cared for pipe. Gergori had found the right place. He sighed.

Gergori didn't like Indar much. The man was lazy and weak, he tended to sick to tradition no matter the consequences, he was, in short, everything that Gergori was not. Still, his supply of datura was good, and you didn't have to worry about the concentration of it, Indar usually mixed it well, in the right proportions. "Indar sem'Odol!" Gergori called when he could hear the shuffling of the man he had come for. "Indar, I need a little relaxation! I hope I haven't interrupted you." In truth he did hope that, it was Gergori's belief that conflict strengthened weak men, and if anyone needed strengthening, it was Indar. "Let's work something out, yes?""

For the first few moments, he felt nothing. And then, in a sudden whoosh, he saw a butterfly. A pretty yellow thing that was fluttering around oh so delicately. For a moment, Indar thought about reaching out to it, but he held himself back. He wasn’t quite doped up enough to completely hallucinate; likely it was the fluttering of a leaf, but the butterfly was so much more unique then just some leaf. Besides, it was night. Even if there really was a yellow butterfly in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to tell if it was yellow. At least not this bright yellow.

He heard someone call to him, and Indar turned to the voice blearily. Oh hell, he hadn’t wanted company and now the no-fun guy was chasing after him.

“A little relaxation, hm? Well, you certainly have had an exciting evening, Gerg…” Indar laughed nervously. He hoped that no-fun guy thought he had slurred his name, Indar really didn’t want to get beaten for not remembering a name. “I understand the need, you know, I’m out here all on my own to get a little relaxation in. But look—ah, wait, listen, I didn’t bring much extra. I got enough for one pipe. If you want to smoke your own, then we’ll have to return to the campsite, and it’ll be too late to smoke by that time. But! I have a solution!” Indar extended his pipe to the no-fun man. “If you’re in that much need, we can share, yeah?” Hopefully, he’d either take the pipe and enjoy, or he’d just walk away. Indar didn’t care either way, so long as he didn’t get beaten. That was pretty far down on his list of priorities. In fact, it was as far down as talking to Gogo about getting married.

Gergori listened to the man with disdain, he couldn't even get his name right. Still, the blind warrior was hurting and desperately wanted relief. He heard the faint, almost imperceptible sound of burning herbs, felt the way the warm, smoky air moved in the night, Indar had extended the pipe towards him. Gergori snatched it away wordlessly. Deep inhalation brought comfort to the warrior, driving tension of his muscle, already the pain seemed to fade a little. Gergori held the smoke in his lungs while he passed the pipe back, finally he exhaled, enjoying the smoky, woody smell in the air.

"My name is Gergori, you impotent dog..." Gergori said, sitting cross-legged on the ground, but the words were without bite, already Gergori was speaking through a haze. It started off simply, a low, rhythmic thrumming, like the drone of some primitive instrument. The sound was quiet at first, but as time went on- seconds? minutes? perhaps eons?- it threatened to engulf his whole hearing, the sound filling his skull until he felt it would burst. Then, suddenly, the noise stopped, all was silent, all was dark. A wave of panic hit Gergori, had he gone deaf? How would he function? A million tiny insects crawled across his skin, but the pain was gone, there was no pain here, not in this dark world devoid of external stimulus. There was Gergori, no one else.

"Is this death?" Gergori heard himself say, and awareness flooded back to him painfully. Every sensation was amplified a thousand times over, he was laying on his back now, every ache in his body was like a ragged axe wound. He could hear Indar's breath, his heartbeat, the flow of blood through his veins. Even the dealer's presence was a sensation for the blind man, Gergori knew the man's every dimension perfectly, was that Indar's thoughts he was hearing?

"You have poisoned me, Indar." Gergori said, his words slow and deliberate. His mind had split into two entities, one was caught in the strange, datura-influenced landscape, the other was stuck firmly in reality. He had never tripped so hard before, his rational mind had the answer: Indar had a much higher tolerance than he did, it made sense he would smoke a mixture with a higher content of the actual drug. Gergori groaned, letting his rational mind be overcome by the bizarre, frightening effects of his trip.

Indar almost snatched his pipe back from... Gergori. No-Fun Man was a better name, Indar decided, and more appropriate. But Indar had his pipe back, and he felt that much more comforted. This was his favorite pipe, well loved and well worn. It had taken several days to design the pattern that was etched across the bowl. It was a costly favored, but not one he regretted. If No-Fun Man had smashed it or stolen, Indar may well have cried. Or done some manly form of morning.

Indar was comforted by the return of his pipe until the high came over No-Fun Man. He was quite sure what No-Fun Man was seeing, or feeling, or sensing or whatever it was that the prick did, but it wasn’t anything good. Indar had had more then a few unpleasant experiences with datura, so he understood the absolute terror it inspired in the user. And now he understood it from the view of the observers. Now, Indar was terrified that No-Fun Man would turn into Hit-Indar-Lots-and-Lots Man. Talking about dying and poisoning, and damnit, Indar did not poison anyone! The rest of his tribe, maybe, but not Indar. Murder was too much damn work for Indar to deal with, plus he had no reason to go about it!

“Settle down, man! I’ve done nothing different then what I normally do—if you’re a little sensitive, you shouldn’t be taking it without knowing how much is in there.” Indar took a step back. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t leave No-Fun Man behind; if he did, No-Fun Man would have a damn good reason to come and fight him, and if Indar died like that, then his death couldn’t really be avenged. At the very least, if he was killed out here, then he may at least have some chance for vengeance.

Besides, if it was him on the other side, he hoped someone would stay and make sure he didn’t drown in the river.

Gergori could hear Indar talk and yet, he found himself unable to respond. Words spilled from his mouth in a barely perceptible murmur, weariness ravaged his mind like a wild animal. Gergori's mouth was dry, he could have guzzled an entire river it seemed like, his head pounded. The blind warrior groaned again, this was not pleasant. The warrior pointed his eyes skyward and soon, the darkness was not only in his eyes, but in his mind as well.

Gergori woke to a rhythmic rocking sensation, he was mounted atop some beast. The beast brayed, it was an ass, and the place he rode it through was unbearably hot, unbearably dry, a desert. Something told Gergori that the desert was unbearably large as well, there would be no escape from this place, the warrior knew, and yet he continued to ride slowly onwards. A profound silence struck Gergori, he was alone in the desert, he and the beast he rode, stubbornly picking its way over some barren trail without end. Suddenly the sound of the asses hooves changed, no longer did it walk over an endless expanse of sand and rocks, instead it trod on skulls and broken bones. Gergori, oddly, didn't react to the change of terrain, these remnants were just another part of his past, the reminders of some plan gone awry. The warrior let the steady crunch of the beasts hooves in dismay, suddenly weary from some intense emotional strain.

Gergori's body twitched occasionally, but was for the most part still. This was in contrast to his eyes, which rolled and shuddered violently behind his lids. The warrior murmured every once in a while.

Finally the ass stopped its eternal march, coming to rest before what Gergori sensed was some great maw in the earth. As the warrior dismounted the beast it keeled over, perhaps dying of exhaustion. Gergori payed it no mind, creeping to the edge of the massive pit. despair spilled out from that awful hole, it's profound darkness rivaled that of the warrior's sightless eyes. Even as fear raged in his heart, a sense of duty drove him forward, and, with arms stretched wide like a man nailed to a tree, Gergori stepped over the edge. There was anger here but at the bottom: rebirth. There was blinding light- Light?- yes, vision, color, shape, movement, Gergori could see everything that-

He awoke. His headache was like a knife blade in his eye. His tongue seemed to be covered in cotton, Gergori groaned and rolled to one side.

"Indar, is there water?"

Oh, shit shit shit. Indar had never seen anyone trip this badly before. He’d seen a few that were unable to take the stresses of datura, but nothing so bad as this. He was sure that Gergori had smoked before; the man was too familiar not to have visited Indar before. He must have been familiar with the effects, but maybe not how bad it could get. Indar only really knew because he had dealt with it so many times before himself.

Gergori’s head tilted back, and Indar began to panic. Was he going to have a seizure? Indar knew what to do when someone was stabbed, cut, or when a horse stepped on their foot, but seizures were things he relied on Nahia to treat. It would be great, as a matter of fact, if Nahia were here. She’d know what to do.

But she wasn’t, and he had to deal with the twitching, babbling man on his own. Indar crouched, and waited pensively. Gergori twitched occasionally—he looked like he was dreaming. Indar hoped desperately that he was dreaming of killing lots and lots of interlopers before reaching lots of beautiful, grateful captive Zerui women, whom Gergori would promptly ravish. And then he’d ravish all the frightened Thiasan women. Indar was pretty sure that was the kind of dreams that men like Gergori had normally, so maybe it was all just happening in his head with a few random quirks.

Indar was still crouched by him when Gergori woke, asking for water. “Yeah, yeah,” he responded, handing Gergori his pouch of water. “If that’s not enough, there’s a stream nearby. If you’re feeling like shit when we get back, then I’ll take you to see Nahia—she’ll patch you up real good.”

Gergori mustered up an amount of energy he didn't think he had and snatched the water skin from the dealer's hands.The water did nothing, his tongue still felt like the expanse of sand from his dream, this was not unexpected. Gergori thought to his dream as he finished chugging down the water. Had the "visions" meant anything? Some said Eguzki spoke through dreams, but the warrior knew that many dreams were merely twisted recollections of past events and feelings. Gergori scoured his memory for anything that might have triggered his dream, besides the datura and the fight of course. There was nothing, Gergori felt disturbed. The things in the dream had shaken him badly, such awful feelings of loneliness and desperation. He would have to puzzle it out once his head stopped pounding. Gergori finished the last of the water and threw the puch beside him. He was still thirsty.

"Relax, Indar." The man's obvious concern was a bit irritating. "I was foolish to ingest so much, bad trips happen to everyone, no?" He pushed himself off the ground, standing on two shaky legs. " I'm stronger than you think, in both body and spirit, I suppose testing one's limits is a good thing every now and then."

Gergori's strength was returning, he turned away from the dealer, pointing his sightless eyes into the night. Everything seemed... brighter somehow, though Gergori had no idea how such a thought could even come to fruition within his mind. Still, this seemed to happen every time he partook in the powerful herb, light seemed bright, even if he couldn't see it.

"I think I'll go sleep some more, Indar." Gergori stated as he began to walk away. "If you ever want payment come find me, though my physical possessions are meager."

Indar watched as Gergori drained the skin. He seemed to be thinking about something, which almost surprised Indar. No-Fun Man seemed to be more about hitting then thinking. Indar wondered what the man must have seen when he was sleeping.

"Hey, I'm not doubting your strength. I bet if even old Zeru took enough in his prime, he'd be knocked back on his ass, too." Indar held back from commenting on testing limits. Datura wasn't about testing limits--only idiots tried to test their limits with datura. It could be more then a little deadly, after all.

"Look, if you still feel bad, there's no shame in seeking some help. I mean, you don't go charging into battle right after you broke you leg, right?" Possibly the wrong comparison, but oh well. "My sister, she's used to this kind of thing. She's good at what she does, too. She won't go gossiping about how you had a headache or whatever." Indar almost went on to mention how pretty Nahia was, but decided against it. He wanted to make sure No-Fun Man was alright, but not that badly.

Gergori began walking away, and Indar chased after him. "Don't worry about paying me back for now. But you'll think about it if I need a favor, right?"

Gergori snorted. "If the time called for battle, I would charge in no matter the circumstances. To be a warrior is to pledge to Eguzki that you will defend the Baskar no matter the costs. There is no duty so strong as this." He flexed his muscles, running a hand over a large bruise on his right bicep. He touched the bump underneath his eye tenderly, yep, it hurt alright.

"The wounds of the body serve to strengthen the body, the wounds of the mind serve to strengthen the mind. And beside, no bandage could heal the scars of the psyche. No, Indar, I have to decline, rest and time will be the surest cures for my injuries." He scratched at the soil with one toe, Indar seemed to be holding a lot back in his statements, but Gergori ached too much to beat him, it simply wasn't worth it. No, he had to return to his home and mull over the dream, perhaps if he slept he would repeat the dream. Gergori sighed.

"Just find me and ask me, it's only fair I suppose." Gergori rubbed at his throbbing skull. "Now I think I'll take my leave, rest calls to me, and I don't want to interrupt your hobby." And so Gergori shambled off into the darkness, thoughts filled with deserts and donkeys and endless pits.