Wanna Scuffle, Hoss?

georgia hasn't held a baby in nearly forty years

As a midwife and glorified babysitter for a tribe called the Whispers, that's something Georgia used to do all the time. Never just one, either; she'd be carrying three or four at a time, in slings on her back and underneath her arms, while she led a veritable formation of children to and fro across Whisper territory. she wasn't really comfortable with being waited upon as the tribe's living goddess, so she put her heart into taking care of the children while their parents farmed and foraged for food and trade.

The ringing in his ears drowned out the rest of the world-- although there wasn't much to listen to down here, beneath what might as well have been miles of earth and stone. Still, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him, worn boots pounding against the floor of the dimly lit tunnel.

Dead Sea tried, vainly, to remember the direction he'd been carried-- in reverse, of course. Left, ten paces, right, fourteen paces, right, eight paces, left, fifty paces straight ahead-- and an elevator. Where was the elevator? The tunnel had no answers; the darkness loomed ahead of him. Hands grasped along the rock wall, fingers carefully grasping and flexing as they ran over remnants of broken lightbulbs.

He needed the lights to see. She did not.

One more step-- then another half-step-- before he felt a sickening lurch in his stomach. He was on the edge of a cliff face, the toes of his boot hanging out over the void. Was it a five foot drop? Fifty? He was about to find out. Reflexingly, impulsively, with the dexterity of a frightened animal, Dead Sea spun on his heel, arms extended with the intent to grab the cliff wall as he fell.

Two pinpricks of green light stared back at him, leering and hungry.

His downward motion was cut short; slender fingers wrapped around his wrists, holding him above the void like a worm on the end of a hook. Part of him wanted to squirm, but an animal instinct held him still. Dead Sea couldn't even see Georgia's face through the darkness; all that illuminated them was the glow from her eyes, focused on him with such an intensity that he could begin to feel tears accumulate at the corners of his vision.

     " D-D-Did ya th-think ya could rrrrr-run? F-Find yer way home?"

The green drew closer, dominating his field of view until it was his entire world. Her voice lowered, dripping down to a slow crawl that wrapped around his ears like tentacles, dripping with insidious intent.

     " Y' are home. 'N' n-n-now ya n-never-rrrr have to l-leave. "