Groaning woke up Forge. Third night in a row that Kalahari came in battered and bruised from his practices with Sorcha. It was late, but the dry summer air was making his tongue stick uncomfortably to his teeth and the roof of his mouth. With a heave he got up, Kalahari merely flicked an ear in his direction as he left their hidden sleeping tent (couldn't have anyone notice the fabric from the road, despite how far they were). The walk to the still flowing stream was cool, and as he got closer mist wafted over him like a blanket. He was mid drink when a voice next to his ear startled him.

"You're up early, or late, if you haven't slept yet," Kaily said, clearly enjoying startling him with their silent approach.

He shook his head, "I don't know how you do that. I didn't even see you disturb the mist as you approached."

Kaily grinned at him, "And who's to say I wasn't here the entire time?"

That got a chuckle out of him. They both laid down on the edge of the stream, enjoying the cool air, or at least, he was.

"So, what brings you out here at this time of night?" he asked.

They thought for a moment before speaking, "We're running low on supplies. Some of the things I was expecting to come in on the cart weren't there. My contact couldn't fit them on without raising too many eye brows as they left one of the outer lying cities."

He raised his brow in question, but Kaily continued before he could ask.

"The variety of supplies, and the nature of some of the items already made it difficult for them to get through the customs. This contact's been taking some heat recently for some other goods they've been hauling discretely. But, not having those items means we'll need to scrounge some of it up ourselves. Mostly food, and medicinal herbs. Oh, what's that look for? Did you think we'd be rescuing these people and then sending them off on their way no matter their condition? Most of these people are many many leagues from home, if their home is still standing. First priority after we get them to relative safety is tending to their immediate needs, for many that'll be proper nutrition and medicine. From there we can find out if they still have a home they can and wish to return to, and if not, finding places for them to rebuild if at all possible," Kaily said.

"Collecting things tomorrow morning then?" Forge asked.

"Who said anything about waiting until morning?" Kaily piped back with a grin, then they got up and walked off. Presumably to wake up teams to go out gathering. Goody.

---

Kalahari felt like he'd only just fallen asleep when Kaily came bursting into the tent. He didn't quite hear what was said, but knew he needed to be up. His body protested as he stood and he couldn't help the soft groan that came out. Forge poked his head in, and Kalahari put on a weak smile in greeting. Forge just snickered before going back out. Kalahari couldn't quite decide if he liked the toa or not. Regardless, he was needed, and he wouldn't make his grumblings anyone else's problem. He gathered with a handful of others, some clearly filled with sleep still. He didn't feel quite as bad for being clearly exhausted.

"Listen up! Two things. First, we all need to get on a night schedule to prep for the rescue. Think of this as practice and getting your bodies used to it. I warned you all before you signed on that everyone would need to be on a night schedule before the rescue. Second, we are sorely missing some supplies that will be needed. Mostly food, but some medicinal plants as well. You'll be broken into sweep teams to scour the areas leading away from the slavers' camp. Everyone will have a list of plants and goods to keep an eye out for. If you see it, and it's on the list, grab it. If you see something that you know can be useful to the people we're rescuing, grab it if you have room. Prioritizing food and medicine right now. The good doctor here will hand out eir lists for you all," Kaily's finished, and then let the doctor take the lead.

Kalahari used to wonder why all the specialists who worked with them never gave their name, but one day he realized. Harder to track if no one knew your real name. Made it harder to trace them back to the cities and settlements that they usually lived in. A shoulder bumped into his and he glanced over. Forge was there, and between his teeth he had some baskets and straps to throw over their backs. Kalahari shook his head and chuckled, clearly I don't get to choose who I work with here. He took a set of baskets and threw them over his back. He was struggling with the straps when Forge adjusted them for him. He murmured a quieter than expected thank you. Get a grip Kalahari, you can't afford to be tired. Sorcha then seemingly appeared before them both like a shadow.

"Mind a third?" she asked softly.

Kalahari smiled at her and nodded his head. Forge chuckled and agreed, trying to sound gruff but failing. He looked around and saw other teams breaking off as the Good Doctor left eir list with them. They were next as ei approached them.

"Here's a list of all the plants to look out for, and uh, anything else you can pinch if you feel it's warranted," ei said.

Sorcha nodded, and took the list from eir hand, tucking it into a pouch around her neck. Huh, didn't realize she had that, he thought. Sorcha resettled the straps on her back holding the baskets in place as they rotated silently with her movements. Fancy. After what felt like both a blink of an eye, and an eternity, they were wandering the dusty plains looking for supplies. His body was alert, but his head still felt like a fog. Lights in the distance caught his attention. A few clicks to their southeast was a settlement. Sprawling one from what he saw when he first made his way to the rendezvous. He quietly called out for his partners and told them his plan. A part of him felt guilty for what they were going to do, if they could without getting caught. But, he reminded himself, this is going directly to the people taken by the slavers. I'm not taking it for myself or my own gain.

And then they set off towards the distant lights.

---

Kaily watched as a group made their way towards the settlement. Smart choice, if you know how to get what you're looking for, they thought. After making sure their own bags were secure across their back, Kaily followed them, making sure to keep pace as they approached. Good opportunity to teach them how to nick something without being caught.The vast distances on the open plains made things seem closer than they were, it was nearly an hour before they reached the settlement. Cool night air with the sounds of rustling grass was soon replaced with the hush of city's outskirts. Kaily watched the group slink along the houses filled with sleeping Akadri. They'd already scouted this settlement as they followed the slavers' trail. Lots of resources that were left open, at least, those with a careful eye. A faint smile twitched at their lips. Let's see how far they get by themselves.

Keeping a mental note the direction the group went, Kaily went a parallel route. Weaving between increasingly manicured gardens, they slunk into the garden of a particular home. The humming of machinery inside tipped them off that this home would be very rich indeed. Kaily pulled out a small pouch and from within pulled out even smaller tools that looked like they shouldn't fit in their claws. Within seconds they were squeezing themselves through the door. Unlike some of the other homes in this high end neighborhood, there was no motion activated light. All the better to do this without being seen, they thought. They scanned the room and narrowed in on a large and tall box. It had a faint but persistent hum. They knew what it was, and hopefully their primary target would be inside.

With a delicate claw Kaily opened the door, and cool air came rushing out. The smell of food and herbs and other delicious things filled their nostrils. First, the food. Their bags were lined with a waterproof liner and insulation, perfect for nicking food and medicines. Kaily kept it to a minimum. Not enough to that the homeowners would be alarmed that all their food was gone. Oh no, that would only bring too much attention to any who passed through the area. And one thing they didn't need was more attention. They quickly picked through the refrigerator to find the items that would keep the best, before moving on. They quietly shut the fridge door, and moved on to the next house they had on their list. Kaily skirted the edges of the street lights before reaching the large door leading into the kitchen; a colorful ketucari would be like a beacon, no matter the time of night.

This house, too, lacked the motion activated lights outside. Their heart skipped a beat as they picked the lock open on the door, waiting for a hidden light inside that they might've missed. The door swung open on silent hinges, and the room stayed dark. A few cautious steps and Kaily was in. Now, if I wrote it down correctly, this house has medicines. Ones that will be very useful for the condition the people were in. This house's refrigerator was a long box on the floor instead of upright. They carefully crept over towards it and opened the door. A soft light blinded them for a moment, squinting while their eyes adjusted. Various bottles of medicine and other concoctions were arranged in neat shelves and baskets. Quickly reading labels and gauging what they could take, they placed the bottles in the other basket. Creak. Someone was moving upstairs. Kaily shut the door quickly and crept out. Crack pop crack. Kaily latched the outside door as softly as possible before flattening themself under the window.

A bleary face looked around and scratched a fuzzy chin, snorting. The akadri mumbled something Kaily couldn't quite make out and then shuffled off back towards the stairs. They hissed in relief. Maybe it's time to check up on the newbies, they thought. If I was almost caught on my second house... they dismissed the thought. Keeping a closer eye and ear on their surroundings, Kaily went off to find the group.

---

Sorcha had a small lock picking case (everything seemed small in her claws), and was trying to open up the gate to house on the outskirts. That is, until a voice whispered 'hello' in her ear making her jump in surprise, also dropping the case. Both Forge and Kalahari were as surprised as she was, seeing Kaily seemingly materialize out of the dark.

"Want some help?" Kaily asked, grinning.

Sorcha picked up the dropped case, "if you can give pointers, I'd love some. But I'd rather attempt this myself."

Kaily cocked their head, "And you know there's no alarm on the gate?"

Kalahari nodded, "No alarms, but it's too high to safely jump over, Forge found out the hard way about the sharpened grate on top."

Sorcha flinched at the memory. Forge thought if he could get enough height he'd be able to grab the grate and climb over. Instead he had a large gash across his chest. It wasn't deep, thankfully, and he mumbled something about being disappointed it wouldn't leave a scar. Kalahari had chuffed a laugh at that one. The smell of his blood put her on edge, however. It made the danger of what they were doing significantly more real.

Kaily leaned back over and pointed out a few tools and why they were good for this type of lock. It took several tries, but she heard the click and her heart beat in excitement. The gate swung open with a soft creak. She stepped into the garden first, followed by Kaily, then Forge, with Kalahari bringing up the rear. The smell of plants here was even stronger. Soft garden lights were like stars in this walled garden.

"Wow... look at all the herbs here! Good Doctor will be tickled pink if we can bring some of these back!" Kaily whispered excitedly.

Sorcha walked up to one section of plants, with the others doing the same. Her ears flicking around listening for anything that could mean they were about to be caught. She carefully began to cut pieces off of plants, not enough to be noticeable, but not so few that the effort was pointless. For the herbs that required the whole plant, she chose specimens from the outskirts of clusters. She kept them as organized as possible by wrapping them gently in paper. Carefully uprooting them, brushing dirt off, then wrapping with paper before placing into one of her baskets. She gently brushed the soil back to make it look less disturbed at first glance. Kaily walked over to ask if her baskets were full. Sorcha shook her head no. Kaily then emptied the contents of one of their baskets into hers. Food, specifically food that didn't need to be kept cool to keep long term. Then they went back to filling their newly emptied basket with some more delicate plants. Ah, that explains, she thought.

They finished up quickly, and Sorcha latched the gate. As they left in the general direction of their camp, she didn't feel as weighted down as she felt she should. Her baskets weren't entirely full, but, it would have to do. The lights of the settlement faded behind them as they loped across the grasslands, taking care to avoid the roads. She kept thinking in circles about how she wasn't doing enough when a muffled bark caught her attention, and a hiss of pain. Kalahari was almost flattened on his side, with a very angry pinchypollie pushing him into the dirt. An idea formed in her head.

"Is their meat good to eat?" she asked.

Kaily hissed a muffled, "yes," as they struggled against the pinchypollie determined to wear a hole through Kalahari. Sorcha joined in on pushing it away.

They both managed to push it away enough for Kalahari to get free. He scrambled away, limping. After he was safely away Sorcha saw Kaily try to knock it away again with a body blow. I knew they'd be out here, but I didn't know that they'd be this close to a settlement, she thought. It slammed its body into Kaily, who didn't have enough time to dodge, but enough to keep it from being a direct blow to their side. With a growl Sorcha threw herself at the pinchypollie. Her body reverberated with the force of her attack. She scrambled for purchase on its plates, but her claws only slid off the chitin. The animal balled itself and bounced a few feet from her with her last swipe.

With a snap it was unrolled and focused on her. I just need to stun it for a few seconds, then we can finish it off. It slammed into her, pincers bleeding holes into her skin. Forge came barreling up and rammed it with his head. It balled up as it flew through the air, bouncing undamaged into the grass. Fresh blood dripped down Forge's chest. Without a thought she flung herself at it again. Aiming to pin it on its side where she could hook her claws where the creature folded in on itself. This time, she was ready for the force of her body hitting her target. A satisfying crack sounded underneath her as one of the chitinous plates gave way.

---

The pinchypollie tried to get away, now realizing that its armored shell wasn't enough to keep it safe. Forge followed it and when it rolled back up, he dragged it to meet her and the others. He seemingly saw how she cracked one of the plates, and attempted it himself. Rolling the creature onto its side as he slammed into it as hard as he could. Crack crrRRACK. More plates cracked as he repeatedly slammed his body into it. It still wasn't dead yet. He began throwing himself as hard as he could, but nothing else was breaking. Kaily nudged him aside and tried to pry it open, but it was still firmly curled in a ball. They ground their tusks together as they strained to pull it open and felt things pop in their target. Not enough. They reared up and threw themself at the creature. Snaaap crack CrrrRRRACK. This time more plates were broken.

Hooking their claws through the broken plates Kaily reared up and threw themself onto the ground, target first. This time, they felt it go limp. Finally dead. They ignored the growl in their stomach as they pried open the ball. No longer curled as tight as a steel rod. Kalahari limped next to Kaily, breathing more labored than they liked. Damned thing probably broke his ribs, they thought.

"Care to do the honors?" Kaily asked him, half joking.

Without hesitation Kalahari proceeded to dress the carcass to take back to camp. His claws pried off the outer shell, but careful enough to not pierce the membrane underneath. The others were cracking jokes amongst themselves, especially about cracking things. Kaily joined in a few times, but mostly they sat there thinking about how to adjust the plans to account for Kalahari's injuries. He couldn't be cut out entirely, but depending on how badly he was injured taking on one of the ketucari guards was out of the question. After he was done Kaily had the carcass thrown onto their back to carry to camp. The trek back to the camp was merrier than they expected. Nothing like shedding blood and fresh food to get the spirits up, they chuckled to themself.

As the group made their way into the camp, Kaily noticed they weren't the only ones to bring back a bounty of meat. Other pinchypollies were seen, but not quite the size of the one that they'd brought in. Birds too. Kaily proceeded to direct where the carcasses should go for butchering, where the meat should go, organizing the rest of the food, and giving the medicines and herbs to the Good Doctor. Ei was very happy with how much was brought back by everyone who went out. Once that was all settled, Kaily moved on to the planning board. Wooden pieces were laid on the map the scout had brought back.