Neville dropped more fruit onto the tarp Chrissy had laid out. In the hour Ava, Nathaniel, and Jay had left the pile had grown steadily. The bonfire Travlack had built softly flickered, as the smoke twirled lazily in the wind. Chrissy softly sang on the ground as she awaited their arrival.
"Hyro per eti vix
Kutax per eti mosa
Vera yae-sa nond bachis
Pev ena per irz soqa
Ast irz fuxi ragat
Flaq, mido, dan mosa
Yerva bodas juban
Yae fyo ena vera
Dulis ka-fae laci feyat
Lequi yae-sa culwa dan lequi
Par rexas eti Duli
Ril bachi en mani"
As Chrissy finished her song Neville waddled over to her and sat down. He used his wing to point over to the mound of fruit. She squinted over and saw several half eaten ones on the edge of the tarp.
"I see you've already taxed us for your work, Neville."
He squeaked.
"Do you mind dragging me over a little towards the fire?"
Neville glanced at the fire.
Then he glanced at Chrissy. He shook his head and squeaked.
"Extra pounds - Neville Fairfield Taniel, what are you trying to say?"
Neville and Chrissy started to bicker just as Nathaniel, Ava, and Jay came from the bushes. Nathaniel held two jars of lime green ooze and set one down next to his capastra. With the other, he walked over towards where Chrissy laid on the ground.
"Alright! BBJ!", she cheered. "Slather that on and let's get-"
"I will be rationing, not slathering", declared Nathaniel. "This is not free use ooze. I already lost a jar defending us from an overgrown serpifeli, I will not lose another to liberal use. Sit up."
Chrissy attempted to sit up, but her arms were still too sore to push herself. She chuckled sheepishly before turning to Neville.
"Nevvy, sivey! Please?"
Neville got on her back side and pushed enough to where Chrissy's torso was upright. She could hear Neville struggling as he held her up.
"Neville. I'm hearing more strains of effort than I would like."
Neville squeaked in defiance.
"We will talk about this later", Chrissy said, eyeing Neville.
"If you're done arguing with your bat, stay still", sighed Nathaniel. "I plan on getting this right the first time. Did you hear any skewers?"
The cold application of the bloom-belly jelly sent a shiver down Chrissy's spine. She winced as Nathaniel covered the discoloration of brown on her pale green arms. Chrissy chuckled through gritted teeth, staring at Nathaniel.
"No - and did you say an overgrown serpifeli attacked? Are you referring to Ava's pet or was there another?"
She nodded over to the enlarged Vae, who had coiled around the fire. Ava used Vae's new size to recline comfortably.
"There was another", said Nathaniel. "Enlarged on bloom-belly jelly and definitely not selective about where it got its next meal. This is gonna sting."
He placed his palm on the applied shoulder and began the process. Just as Chrissy went to scream, Neville placed a paw over her mouth. The muffled yell died down just as the glow of the BBJ faded. It was over as soon as it started. Chrissy flexed her newly healed arm and grinned.
"There we go! Hello, my beautiful right arm!"
Nathaniel flicked off the residue and assessed her arm. Once he was satisfied, he removed his shirt. Chrissy looked over to see the chemical burns on his torso from the noko. She recoiled in horror upon seeing the damage.
"FECABRE- Nathaniel, you should have healed those immediately! Those are severe burns and-"
Nathaniel raised a hand in protest. He dipped his hand inside the jar and covered the burns without wincing. Chrissy and Neville stared at Nathaniel as he mended himself without a sound. In an instant his burns were gone, but the discoloration remained.
"I'm fine," he stated. "This is nothing compared to trips with my father. Get your other arm covered so I can finish the first aid."
Chrissy dug inside the jar and hesitated in applying the goo. Neville squeaked impatiently as he walked to her side.
"I'm gonna do it! It's just cold."
She shivered as she spread the jelly over the worst parts of her arm. Nathaniel walked around and performed the same treatment before walking away with the jar. Chrissy stood up and swung her arms back and forth.
"Left arm, good to have you back. Thank you, Bosh."
He checked the seal on the jar and put it on his capastra bag.
"Thank me by listening next time," he said without looking.
Nathaniel walked over to Travlack, but Chrissy was ready to respond. She froze when a tug at her pants pulled at her attention. She looked down to see Neville staring at her with his opaque eyes. He squeaked once.
"I just don't like the way he said it. Accident or no."
Neville chittered uninterrupted for a while.
"Don't care. One, it was an accident, and two - it's the fault of the shot quails. We weren't due to be in their territory for another four days at the least. Something displaced them, and I need to know what."
Neville squeaked once and waddled towards the fire where Jay and Ava were talking.
"We'll get to the noko. But as a ranger I can't ignore unnatural migration patterns. I won't. Bosh will understand."
"I heard my name", Nathaniel said, walking up with Travlack. "What will I understand?"
Chrissy started to speak but faltered as she saw Travlack and Nathaniel's casual attire. Nathaniel was wearing a simple shirt, shorts, and sandals as he sipped from a flask. This starkly contrasted against the full safari getup he was wearing minutes ago. She looked down to Travlack who was out of his armor. He had opted to wear a sleeveless skin suit with shorts and no shoes. In his hand, Travlack was halfway through eating a giant grub. She found herself staring as he placed a section over his tusk and bit into it. Chrissy tried to find the words but faltered each time before finally speaking.
"You're just eating that? No cooking or preparation at all? Nothing?"
"Chrissy, let the man eat his food", interrupted Nathaniel. "What will I understand?"
"Right - we know that shot quail territory shouldn't have been for another three or four days. The fact that we ran into them here only supports that they've been displaced. I was going to figure out what-"
"No", Travlack stated.
"Absolutely not", agreed Nathaniel.
Chrissy blinked rapidly in disbelief.
"Excuse me, no?"
Travlack and Nathaniel looked at each other and back to Chrissy.
"No", they said in unison.
"Can I ask as to why you're telling the ranger to not do her job?"
Chrissy folded her arms as she waited for a response.
Nathaniel took a sip from his flask before speaking.
"This is a survey. While you're right to speculate their displacement, we have a duty to Miss Sinclair. Meaning we can log this, and then keep going. She's the prize winner, not the field crew."
"Also," rumbled Travlack, "It's dangerous. Useless."
"Nothing is gained-knowledge is gained, Travlack", countered Chrissy. "We could be walking into danger if we don't understand why."
Nathaniel sighed. "Or we could follow the trail of the noko and get our tents, emergency equipment, and tools back. The trail we can easily locate and find. That trail."
"And it's because that trail is so easy to find, we can always come back to the noko", snapped Chrissy. "Easy detour, we find the answer, and we leave. It'll take me a day, tops. During that time you just give Ava a tour of the surrounding area!"
Nathaniel took off his glasses in annoyance.
"The surrounding area I blasted a serpifeli in? Absolutely not. We pursue the noko in the morning and get our supplies back. That's final.You will find me sitting by the fire if you have any concerns, Chrissy."
Chrissy's fists balled and trembled. Just as she went to respond, Travlack raised a hand. She looked down at his tusked face in annoyance.
"And what is it you want, Travlack?"
"Don't cause delays. Log it, come back later."
He walked off without another word, polishing off the last of his grub. Chrissy stood with her hands on her hips as she huffed.
"Everyone is just telling the ranger what to do now? How does that work? It doesn't. Chrissy Amanda Carlita Taniel does what she needs to do, and that's it. Neville! Verya!"
Neville responded to the command and flew over, landing at her feet.
"Wake me when everyone else is asleep. We're doing a bit of investigation."
Neville squeaked and saluted.
"And while you're flying around, grab me some fruit out of the pile, please."
Neville chittered as he waddled away.
"You have one more snide comment before you become a hat!"
She threw one of her boots over at Neville, who dodged it and chittered angrily.
The rest of the night went without much note. The group ate, Nathaniel discussed the noko rescue plan, Jay serenaded the camp with his piccolo, and Chrissy wrote in her journal. When the fire had gone out and everyone was lying down, Chrissy overheard Nathaniel speaking into his pocket vinyl.
"...the reckless actions of Chrissy Taniel forces us to change routes. We will pursue the noko the next morning…"
She sucked her teeth as she squinted her eyes, pretending to not hear him. Chrissy nodded off shortly after hearing her name slandered. Hours later, Neville was shaking her awake, chittering softly. She groaned as she willed the scent sacs on her neck to secrete, releasing a stimulant that knocked any sort of fatigue from her body.
"I'm up! I'm up!", she whispered. "Let's go do this thing."
She grabbed her hooks from beside her and went to grab her boots. She realized the one she threw at Neville earlier was across camp.
"Fecabre," she uttered. "Looks like we do this the Yervite way. Neville, salz."
Neville climbed onto her back as they slipped into the darkness. Chrissy had grown up in dense forests, and had no problem maneuvering in the dark as her eyes adjusted. She had entered the forest from where the shot quails had assaulted them earlier. She started to feel around for tracks with her feet.
That was a stick.
That was a plant root.
That was a cridas. The shell of which was blunt and unforgiving.
"Ow-move out of my way!", said Chrissy.
She nudged the calcified bug with her toes as she carried on. Finally, she stepped onto the dirt with strange impressions. Chrissy knelt down and felt the tracks of the shot quails, all rallying in one direction.
"There we are. Now… what drove you so far this way?"
There was movement on her back. Neville was tugging Chrissy to get her attention.
"The tracks don't go that way, Nevvy."
Neville continued pulling on her shirt. He chittered softly before adjusting his position on her back.
"What? How far?"
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
"Fecabre, how did I let them get so close?", she whispered. "Eight steps? Eight? How did I let them get so close? Is it a poacher?"
Cht, cht, cht.
"You don't know? Is it bipedal?"
Cht.
"Alright, so it isn't an animal. Are they big?"
Cht, cht.
"A small, bipedal threat. Am I about to get robbed by a child?"
Cht, cht, cht.
Chrissy kept walking in the tracks of the shot quails. With one hand she pretended to feel around trees, with the other she rested on one of her hooks. The soft dirt of the forest cushioned her steps, making almost no noise as she walked. However, in minimizing the volume of her own steps she was still unable to hear the steps of her pursuer.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Six steps. They were gaining on her. Chrissy's hand tightened around her hook. If her opponent had a range advantage, why weren't they firing?
Click.
Click.
Click.
That was close enough. Chrissy drew one hook and gripped the other as she spun around.
"Ranger Chrissy Taniel - you'd better have a good reason for follo- what?"
It was Travlack. He too was barefoot, but his weapons remained sheathed. Chrissy flickered a small sprite of resonance light, illuminating the trees around them.
"Neville", Chrissy hissed, "You didn't tell me it was Travlack."
Neville squeaked defensively.
"Neville, I understand the confusion, but they do not all look the same."
Chrissy looked to see Travlack's face in its same unreadable state. She noted how his ears drooped at Neville's comment.
"I- we're working on Neville. He doesn't see many Igosi. I have plenty of Igosi friends though, great people."
"Enough", declared Travlack. "Back to camp."
"No offense, Travlack, but I have a duty as a ranger to do. If you ran into DLF's most wanted on this trip, I wouldn't tell you how to do your job."
"Quails not most wanted", he said through rumbling tusks. "Prize winner first. Quails later."
Chrissy sheathed her hook and put her hands on her hips, craning down to establish their height difference.
"This is why I didn't join the mainline DLF, because if it isn't according to protocol it doesn't matter. This matters more than you know, Inspector. So I'll see you back at camp, and-"
Travlack covered her mouth as he snapped his neck to the tree line. His ears stood at attention as he made micro adjustments in their positioning. Chrissy rolled her eyes as she removed Travlack's hand from her mouth and went to speak. In an instant, Travlack snuffed the resonance light and grabbed Chrissy's hand. He led her off the trail of the quails and behind a tree.
"Travlack", sighed Chrissy, "If you think making up a threat in order to get me to return to camp will work, then-"
Neville chittered as he rested his head on her shoulder. Chrissy furled her brow as she met Neville's eyes.
"What? No I didn't hear-"
Neville quickly raised his paw to her mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she used her index and thumb to remove it, glaring at him.
"The next person to physically silence me is losing their repoca. What is it we're looking for?"
Chrissy heard the drawing of weapons from Travlack. She saw as his ears were on alert, twitching constantly as he tried to get his bearings.
"Many. Small.", he uttered.
"How many? Let me just cast a light and-"
"No. No light. If we see it, it sees us."
"Then how do we know it isn't already in front of us?"
"Good ears. Normal eyes."
Chrissy exhaled and tapped her finger tips together.
"And for those of us with normal ears and eyes?"
"Trust me."
Chrissy sucked her teeth.
She started to click her tongue.
Then she tapped her right heel into the ground rhythmically.
"Nevvy", Chrissy whispered, "How many steps away?"
Click.
Click.
Cli-
Turning to her, Travlack grunted. His ears continued swiveling around.
"No noise. Silence. Complete silence."
Chrissy turned to Neville with a complete look of disbelief.
"I will not be made useless on my own research. I'm getting eyes on this-"
"No-!"
Chrissy flexed her hands and flashed the environment in front of her. In that one moment of luminance, a wall of eyes stared back.
Shot quails.
Chrissy turned to Travlack.
Travlack's ears flattened in annoyance. Neville's ears drooped in the same way.
The darkness of the forest dissipated as pearls of light formed in the mouths of the poultry. Chrissy reached for her hooks but was stopped by Travlack, who shook his head.
"No. We run. Now."
Chrissy took her hands off her belt and rubbed her hands together. The wall of light kept growing as more shots were primed.
"Travlack, I would like to apologize."
"Later. Run, now!"
"Neville, saxca!"
Neville took off first. Chrissy and Travlack followed behind as beams of resonance tore up the ground behind them. Chrissy ducked behind trees and leapt over ditches as the white hot streaks flew by her ears. As she took solace behind a boulder she caught a glimpse of Travlack sprinting by with his shield raised.
"Travlack! Over here!"
Chrissy saw his ears adjust towards her call. In an instant, Travlack pivoted and dove at Chrissy's feet. He scrambled up, panting, as his ears stood straight up. He sheathed his shield and addressed Chrissy.
"Where is the bat?"
"He's scouting ahead!", shouted Chrissy. "If we keep running in a line we'll end up like Jay's afro! With all this fire I can't hear him if he's calling me, can you listen for him?"
Travlack relaxed his posture and worked quietly. His ears were violently twitching as his eyes glossed over. Chrissy stared in awe as his vertical eye slits slowly twitched.
"Right. Weird eyes. Forgot you had those…"
Travlack shook his head and glared at Chrissy.
"Sorry, I just don't see many of you. Please, continue or else we'll die."
Travlack grunted and began to zone out again. The shot quail fire intensified as chunks of the boulder began to fly off. The poultry was gaining ground.
Travlack gasped and rubbed his ears as he shook his head.
"I hear it. Good ears?"
"Nevvy has great ears! But he may not hear us over these birds!"
"Cover ears. Travlack is loud."
"What can you possibly-"
Travlack stuck his fingers in his mouth and let loose a deafening whistle. Chrissy recoiled in pain as she slammed her palms onto her ears. Seconds after Travlack had finished, the ringing in her head had not ceased. Chrissy strained to see as Neville tumbled to the ground in front of them. He was chittering angrily as HE waddled to Chrissy's leg and clutched it.
"Neville Fairfield Taniel, now is not the time! What did you find?"
Neville climbed Chrissy's side and started to squeak. Her head cleared just as another chunk of rock blew off their cover.
"You found a cave? How far?"
Neville chittered.
"Perfect! Travlack, can you blitz?"
"No. Just run."
"Feca- alright! Travlack, get on my back!"
"No."
She whipped around. Her eyes shot darts back into his.
"I'm trying to help! You can't blitz, and we're going to be exposed. Keep the shield on your back to cover us, and get on NOW."
Travlack's ears drooped as he hoisted himself on to Chrissy's back.
"Neville, carlize!"
Neville let himself be cradled by Chrissy. He squeaked as he nuzzled himself into her arms.
"Nevvy, I should never hear you say anything about extra weight again!"
Neville began to bicker with Chrissy before an entire section of their cover hit the ground.
"GO!" Travlack ordered.
Chrissy inhaled as she focused her resonance into her legs.
Her legs began to shimmer.
Then they vibrated.
Finally, she took off.
Chrissy did not recognize the distance she had covered until she hit the exposed root of a tree. It was the moment her shoulder had connected with the ground that her mind had caught up to her body. She had thrown Neville before tumbling through the air, opting to form a ball of her own as she skidded across the cave floor. When she looked up, the shot quail projectiles were still coming in full force.
Chrissy moved to get up, but her legs failed to respond. Luckily, Travlack had already recovered from their tumble. He took his mace and smashed the sides of the cave opening. The spotlight of the moon started to dissipate into sharp rays as the rocks piled up and sealed the opening.
Travlack panted as he sheathed his weapons and sat down next to Chrissy.
A snicker escaped her mouth.
Then it was a chuckle.
Finally, she went into hysterics as Travlack stared at her.
"What?"
"I just - ha!", she snorted. "I just wish I could have seen what it looked like! A Yervite carrying an Igosi?"
Chrissy howled in laughter as she dragged herself to sit upright. Travlack sighed and walked deeper into the cave. Chrissy ceased laughing as he disappeared into the darkness.
"Trav- Travlack! Come on! That's funny! Don't leave me here!"
___
Language Translation:
Kutaxia:
Chrissy's song:
Hyro of the people, Kutax of the sky
Free your enslaved brothers, hear all of them cry
As they came together, Plains, desert, and sea
Yervite people rejoice, You will all be free
The giants have been cut down, Raise your heart and stand
Two against a mountain, Three brothers at hand
Sivey = Up
Verya = Here
Salz = Place
Repoca = mouth
Saxca = scatter
Carlize = carry