The Sands of Time

Ammon withdrew his hand as the vision ended. "Wow," he stated, obviously in awe of what he had seen. His eyes remained on the amber for a time yet before he looked up at Nour. "I might have an idea...but I will need time. If you will allow."

"By all means, help him if you think you can. I just want to get him back to his wife and daughter" Nour said as she looked to the mantis before turning her attention back to Ammon. She carefully mixed some honey into the tea, allowing it to dissolve slowly. Nour poured some tea for the both of them, handing Ammon his cup before pouring a third cup and setting it before the mantis. "I know he can't drink it right now, but I'm sure he appreciates the gesture."

Ammon nodded his thanks for both the opportunity to help the Mantis god and the tea. He returned his gaze to the amber before he began to sip on the tea. "I'll help you, Lord," he said, directing his words towards the Mantis. "If you'll allow me."
Ammon knew the rules of the gods. He knew he had to ask permission before attempting to help a god. It was the way.

The mantis simply looked up and down a few times as if it were nodding, but that seemed to be the most it could move. It did seem like the mantis wanted help though, that and it seemed like he really wanted the tea that he had been offered because of a tiny amount of drool that appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Ammon nodded back to the mantis and continued to sip on his tea before he laid his empty cup off to the side. He proceeded to lay near the amber to sleep.

After Ammon fell asleep, Nour cleaned the dishes and put them away before falling asleep on her pile of pillows with Nuru curled up against her chest.

Since Ammon was sleeping so close to the mantis, and since he had promised to help the mantis, the mantis appeared in his dreams, showing him the beauty of Southern Africa, of rolling planes and the animals that called the land their home.

Ammon smiled in his sleep at the sights he was given by the Mantis god. He seemed to relax, sleeping peacefully next to the amber which held the trapped god.

Nour woke up early the next morning and prepared some tea for the both of them before beginning her training. She ran the obstacle course perfectly, and landed near expert strikes on the training dummies but it was clear that she was just working out her anger from the meeting with the gods.

Ammon woke shortly after Nour had finished with her steam-let off. He stretched his arms over his head before he turned to the Mantis and offered a small bow. "Good morning, my Lord," he said with respect dripping from his voice.
Ammon had all but forgot about his mark on his back and when he stood up, his robes dropped to the floor, revealing the jackal eating a snake. And it was in full view of the Mantis god.

The mantis smiled, or at least looked like he did, when he saw Ammon's markings. He wished he could talk to Ammon, tell him that a snake was the reason he was trapped like this, but all he could do was move his head.


Nour arrived with two wooden training staves, and smiled when she saw Ammon speaking so respectfully to the mantis.
"I'm sure he appreciates all of this" Nour said with a small smile. "From what the traveller managed to explain, mantis was tricked himself by something without legs."

Ammon turned in time to see Nour come back, his skin uncovered at the moment. "Something without legs," he repeated slowly, as though tasting the words as they fell from his lips.
"That's quite odd..."

"I don't know, we just acted things out to each other so I'm not sure if I understood him correctly. It was actually kind of funny looking back at it" Nour said with a chuckle. She fed the young mongoose an egg which he eagerly devoured. "All the gods where he comes from are actual animals, they don't have human forms."

"That's interesting," Ammon said in complete awe, his gaze returning to the amber that housed a trapped Mantis. "I wonder what other animal gods they have...I'd love to learn about them." He seemed genuinely interested in the South African gods.

"It is rather interesting to think about" Nour said with a small smile. She haded Ammon a bowl of grains and dried fruits before sitting down beside him to eat. "I was thinking that we could could some sparring today so we're ready for the mission, maybe some light training exercises too."

Ammon gained a smile that spread nearly from ear to ear. "That'd be great, Nour," he exclaimed, pulling his robes back up around his shoulders, hiding his mark in the process.

Nour smiled at Ammon, she really liked his company, more so when she was having problems with Seth. She grabbed to wooden training staffs, and handed one to Ammon.
"Don't hold back" she chuckled before taking on a defensive stance.

"When do I ever," Ammon questioned, a grin spreading across his face as he took the training staff from her outstretched hand. He twirled it for a good minute or so before he struck a pose with the staff being held behind his back and his eyes locked onto Nour. He was watching her body language as well as her eyes.

Nour circled Ammon slightly, searching for any sign of sign of weakness. Had they not been holding weapons, it would look like an elegant dance emphasized by the flowing of Nour's robes. Finally, she attacked. Nour initially moved to hit his arm, but quickly changed and moved to stoke his legs.

Ammon sensed the oncoming change in Nour's attack strategy and immediately feigned to block her attack on his arm while his leg muscles tensed and he jumped up with all the grace of a jackal leaping to catch its prey. When he descended back to the ground, his staff hand came around, the end of the training staff swinging around in a wide arch to catch her across the back.

Nour allowed Ammon's staff to strike her back, leaving a red mark on top of her markings. She quickly came up with a plan before leaping over Ammon, hoping to hook her staff around his neck to pin him down. She didn't care if she won or lost, she just wanted them to be on the top of their game for all of their upcoming missions.

Ammon felt the pressure of her staff pressing against his neck and fell with the motion she had given. Instead of struggling like anyone else would have done to get free, Ammon simply brought his staff in a large arch across the floor in the hopes of catching Nour's legs and sweeping them out from under her. He, too, didn't care if he lost this training round. He knew practice like this would keep them on top of their game.

Nour fell and landed with a thud thanks to Ammon's quick thinking, the impact knocking the air out of her. While on the floor, Nour thought up a quick attack, and quickly kicked at Ammon's knees, hoping to send him crashing to the ground.

Ammon side stepped for a moment before he brought his staff up and pointed the butt end of it at Nour, an eyebrow lifting in a questioning manner. It seemed as though he was asking her if she was going to dare try and get her way out of this one and a grin spread across his face.

Nour chuckled and smiled cheekily at his gesture before reacting. She quickly used her staff to knock Ammon's out of the way before swinging her staff at Ammon, quickly changing it's angle at the last second in the hopes that the bottom end of her staff could make contact with his thigh instead of his groin.

Her staff did indeed make contact with his thigh, but it wasn't enough to deter him from reacting to her reaction. Instead, Ammon sidestepped in the opposite direction and brought his staff up in the hopes of making contact with her chin, though doing his damnedest to not put his full strength behind it.