Amongst The Trees (Ari'Yahal, Aman)

[Hirem]

65th of Summer, 510 A.V.

Hirem found himself looking up once more to the horizon, found his gaze once more tracing the lovely trees and plants that dotted the landscape, a strike of bold color upon the drab desert sands. He sighed, and let his head fall down to the ground, his sandals creasing over the sand swiftly as he made his way along the camp perimeter. He had been selected to patrol around the caravan in case any bandits got any bright ideas or another poor lost soul needed aid from the caravan master, and Raziel had wanted to come along and do a great service to his travelling companions, which in turn meant that Ari'Yahal was also accompanying them. The caravan master had lamented the waste of a good worker going into a patrol, but he acquiesed immediately.

It was only once they got a good way from the camp that they had seen the trees on the horizon, far off from their circular run of the campground. Hirem was all too happy to watch the trees though, as he knew what this red dash of vegetation on the desert floor was, or at least, he surmised that he did. The Keerdash Grove, the sanctuary of the Tatsuwaat Chaktawe. He had never heard much about the Chaktawe or the grove compared to other places in the desert, but he knew that the grove was best avoided than traversed. The Tatsuwaat were supposed to be protect, but other stories claimed they were simple artisans that dwelled within the tranquil shade of the trees, and that other, more powerful beings protected the place, ones that eluded explanation or definition.

Whatever the case, Hirem took to heart those warnings, and that was why he stayed the course in his path instead of venturing over to the grove. He craned his neck to look behind him, and observed Raziel and Ari'Yahal walking behind him, the boy apparently having a grand time in this exploration of the desert, keeping his gaze alert for the possible sight of bandits. Hirem doubted there would be bandits here, though. They tended to be a superstitous lot, and the Keerdash Grove was a good repelling agent as any other ancient, spirit infested location. In hindsight, perhaps the caravan master had known that, and plotted their course as such. He did seem to know many landmarks in this vast place, landmarks that Hirem could just begin to recognize, let alone remember, and the Keerdash Groves were very memorable.

He caught a look with Ari'Yahal and motioned for her to walk beside him. He was having the creeping sensation that someone was watching them, and stories of the Chaktawe once again floated through his mind. The Tatsuwaat weren't known for violence, but other tribes were, and they proved to be very territorial. If the Tatsuwaat were here, they definitely wouldn't like three Benshirans straying this close to their sacred ground. He wanted to discuss matters with Ari'Yahal first before getting too cautious.

As she approached, he whispered in a tone that Raziel would not hear, "Do you think Chaktawe are in the grove at this time of year? This place is supposed to be hallowed to them, and I think we should hurry if they are here." He didn't think that Raziel needed to be bothered with his suspicions and doubts when he was having fun, and he wouldn't even notice their course altered until they were back at camp, safe and sound.

[Aman]

Aman In the grove Aman was taking a rest. It was hot, and he preferred to hunt at night. He was lazing about, and to tell the truth had been for several hours. He was in the nook that a root created. "This grove is paradise" "There is water, granted it's limited. There is food, also limited. But most importantly there is shade..." he thought to himself as he shifted positions.

[Ari'Yahal]

Ari'Yahal tugged at her shortbow nervously with one hand as they neared the Keerdash grove, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the crimson foliage. Her other hand was caught up with the small fingers of her son, who was brandishing a stick he had found, conviction written on his face. When Raziel had heard that Hirem was to be sent on patrol, he begged to be allowed to go with the Benshiran man. No doubt he was envisioning the two of them returning as heroes after taking down hordes of bandits, and she wasn't about to burst her son's bubble, with one small condition: that she accompany them. Ari, who enjoyed Hirem's company but did not trust him to the level wherein she would let Raziel wander off into the desert with him, had been happy enough to break from caring for the livestock. The dangerous beauty of the desert had always entranced her, and she had to admit she was curious to see the wonders of the Keerdash grove. The Tatsuwaat were known to be the friendliest of the Chaktawe tribes – but that didn't mean they were the only ones who called the grove their home. Ari'al, too, had heard stories of the strange and perhaps divine forces that guarded its secrets and played tricks on hapless travelers.

Catching Hirem's look, she moved up next to him and leaned in to hear his muttered words. “I don't think the Tatsuwaat camp here until the fall season,” she told him in low tones. “But who knows? It's late enough in the summer that if there were problems at their previous campsite, they might have moved on to here by now.” She glanced back at Raziel, who was still happily scouting the desert, stick clasped in both hands now. “And I certainly don't want to go messing with anything that's hallowed. Wouldn't do to go sticking our noses into the business of gods and goddesses. It's supposed to be a gift from Eywaat to his favorite wife, that's what I've heard. My grandfather's tents at Jamilah sometimes traded with the Kalanue tribe, and they always told the strangest stories about this pla-”

She stopped, seeing a rustle in the foliage at the edge of the grove. “Wait. Did you see that, there?” Ari put a hand on Raziel's shoulder, drawing him in close. “It looked too big to be a bird, or a small mammal...” Her heart began to pump a bit faster as she peered at the red fronds, looking for any other signs of movement.

[Hirem]

Hirem nodded at Ari'Yahal's response, and watched the grove intently, hoping to spot one of these spirits or spectres or whatever it was that controlled this grove. As much as he had travelled it over the years, Hirem was still a visitor in the desert, a man privy to none of its secrets. True, he had seen many things in his travels, but one great gust of wind and it can change instantly. As for this grove, if it was a gift from a higher being, then it was best preserved as it was. No sense in mucking it up.

Unfortunately, Hirem had not caught the same movement that Ari'Yahal had, and when he tried scouring the tree line for the mammal in question, he was unable to spot the thing. He attempted it once more for luck, and then finally sighed in exasperation. "I can't spot it. I don't think that whatever it is will attack us... we should probably just leave it alone." And that was when he finally spot it, a brown form underneath the dark patch of shade that a tree formed. For the life of him, he couldn't tell what it was, and he felt an overwhelming desire to know what it was, like a man that saw a flicker of light in the heavens and desperately needed to see it.

"I'm going down to see what it is." He knew that was contradictory to what he said earlier, but he wanted to know what this thing was. Who knew, it could be useful. "Keep Raziel close." With that, he started down the dune, keeping his eyes trained on the animal as he walked down, hands clenched into fists in case he didn't need to defend himself. Something this big didn't look like it would be deterred by simple fists, but Hirem had fought worse. He made his way quickly down the dune, but anytime he spotted movement he paused immediately and made sure the thing had not spotted him, and then continued down the slope again.

[Aman]

Aman Aman had finally drifted into a state of rest. He wasn't quite asleep, nor was he fully awake. He vaguely smelt something in the air but in his dreamlike state he didn't recognize it. Turning to the other side, he attempted to fall asleep in earnest. A few seconds later he started to smell a distinctive odor. This time he snapped into waking. Taking a deep whiff of air he finally pinpointed the smell.... "Humans" he thought.... Turning he saw a man coming toward him. Wearing the garb of a desert Nomad. He stood up on his hind legs, and growled angrily. "What right do they have to disturb my nap" being the pugnacious creature that he is, Aman started advancing on the man. Growling menacingly as he approached...

[Ari'Yahal]

“Hirem, I don't think that's such a -” But he was out of earshot already. Ari sighed. “Just don't say I didn't warn you if you go charging in there and get struck down by Eywaat,” she muttered at his retreating back. “Here, Raziel, behind me.” The boy complied quickly, a glimmer of fear and excitement in his eyes now that he was facing a real enemy. The two of them had encountered desert wolves and jackals before, so she knew that Raziel understood the rudimentaries of how to handle himself in this sort of situation. But what would they do if whatever it was charged them...? Alone, Ari'Yahal could protect herself. But the chances were slim that both she and Raziel would escape unscathed if whatever lurked in the Keerdash Grove was bent on their destruction. True, they had Hirem, and she knew Hirem wasn't unskilled at combat. That assuaged her fear somewhat, but it still gnawed at the pit of her belly. It's probably nothing, she thought as she surveyed the grove, just -

That was when the dog-sized creature came loping out of the fronds, growling and baring its teeth at them. She didn't recognize what it was, but barely had time to process that before instinct kicked in. Her left hand went for the shortbow shouldered over her tunic, her right for an arrow from the quiver slung over her back. She notched the arrow against the string and pulled it taut, aiming, then paused – the creature was near enough to Hirem that she didn't feel certain enough to let her arrow fly. The desert wind could sometimes prove detrimental to an arrow's trajectory, and striking Hirem in the back was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

“Hirem!” she shouted, trying to make herself heard. “It's too close to you, I can't shoot!” She could feel Raziel's fingers digging into the back of her thigh as he clutched at her in fear.

[Hirem]

A desert wolf was believable. A Tatsuwaat warrior artist, that was stretching it but Hirem could understand why that would attack him. He would even understand if the raging spirit of Eywaat himself burst out from the Keerdash trees, intending to strike down this foreign Benshiran man. Yet a large mongoose the size of a large hound, now that was a different story. A story that Hirem didn't seem to be able to understand, staring in dead surprise at the huge mongoose that bounded up to him before he finally readied himself for combat.

Fighting this thing would be tricky, he could already tell. Hirem wasn't a master in combat, but he recognized when the time was to fight and when the time was to run, and this was a running time. Fighting jackals and dogs were bad enough, but a mongoose? He didn't know how to fight something like this, but the age old philosphy of "kick the dog in the teeth" seemed appropiate enough here. Whatever happened, he knew he couldn't run. Behind him was a mother and her child, and Hirem would never be that cowardly. Conflict was in his blood, and his heart was pumping heavily in his chest.

He heard Ari'Yahal's warning and considered what to do now. The thing was steadily advancing, growling and hissing at him. Ari'Yahal could put an arrow right between its eyes, but he was too close for her to take the shot. He could try standing his ground and fighting the thing on his own, but the mongoose could bowl him over and rush straight to Raziel, ending his life. No, he needed a plan, and needed one fast.

As the animal came closer and closer, Hirem started to back away, moving to the side to let the woman have a clearer shot, but he kept the creature's attention on himself with his direct eye-contact and moving figure. "Now, let's all be calm now." He said in a reassuring voice, keeping a tone that echoed animal trainers trying to talk down their rampaging animals. He hoped that he was imitating that tone anyway; he was basing this tactic solely on an act that he had witnessed in Ahnatep from a professional-looking animal trainer. "Come on now, lets go. Let's not do anything rash here, okay?"

[Aman]

Aman Aman could smell the man's fear, he took confidence from it. He kept advancing thinking to himself "If I was just a tad closer I could bowl him over with a quick burst" So in mind of this thought he kept advancing. Then he heard her voice. There was more!? Starting to become nervous he looked around, only to realize that the she-human was only carrying a short bow. One that from 30 yards away would be ineffective. He had learned to gauge the distance an arrow could fly by painful experience with the chaktawe. So he shifted his course slightly in an attempt to drive the male to the left. Aman was surprised when this male decided to take a stand. The fear-smell was still present, but it was overpowered by something else. Something that he couldn't distinguish. He crouched lower preparing for the spring. As of yet the man had shown no weapon. This gave Aman a sense of security as he thought "There's no man alive that can best me without a weapon". He tensed as he knew the time for a charge was coming, and his growl got slightly calmer. Then in a burst of speed, almost faster then the human eye could register he bounded towards the man in an attempt to bowl him over. He didn't want to hurt the human, merely to scare him, but none of this was visible in the ferocity of his charge.

[Ari'Yahal]

Ari'al waited, all her muscles clenched, as Hirem tried to talk down the giant beast. Yahal save us, she thought. Hirem's tactic showed no sign of working; the animal was crouching, preparing for a leap, and as the Benshiran man moved aside to try to allow her room to shoot, the creature moved with him. Odd, that. As if it knew what Ari had said to Hirem. If what Hirem's doing doesn't work, then -

And then it leapt, propelling itself towards Hirem like a brown-furred bullet. Ari'Yahal let her arrow fly but it went far wide of the target, landing back amongst the fronds of the Keerdash grove. She stood paralyzed for a fraction of a moment, wondering what her next course of action should be, until she heard Raziel's high, piercing scream. Instantly she let her bow clatter to the sand and turned to Raziel, snatching him up in her arms. Running away was the only option she could think of now, and she hoped the same idea had crossed Hirem's mind – if he was even in a position to do so. But she couldn't spare a backward glance to see what had befallen him. Adrenaline lanced through her body, and it was telling her to flee.

But as she tried to run, her headscarf came loose and sagged in front of her face, blinding her. Ari'Yahal stumbled, tripping on the edge of her long tunic. She pushed Raziel under her, trying to shield him with her own body, and pushed her fallen headscarf out of the way to try to see whether the creature was continuing its headlong charge towards them.

[Hirem]

Hirem had really been hoping that his calming speech would deter the mongoose from attacking him, but he was no animal charmer, and the thing continued to follow him, showing no sign of calming down. He knew that it was going to attack him soon at this rate, so he stopped trying to talk down the thing and prepared to lash out at the charge that was sure to come for him. I'll kick it as soon as it charges at me... I just have to see it move and I can hit it straight on.

Then, everything happened all at once; the animal burst forward towards him faster than he could have ever predicted, an arrow sailed through the corner of his vision into the grove, and the high scream of the boy pierced his mind like a blade. He was so distracted in processing this sudden yell that he wasn't able to bring his foot up to bear, and the mongoose rammed into his chest at full speed.

Hirem fell backwards and landed on the sand like a felled tree, his mind moving too slowly to recognize what had just happened. He managed to pull himself up into a half-crouch, half kneel, and prepared to defend himself from further charges from the beast. He wasn't sure why the animal wasn't already on top of him, but Hirem was going to do his best to defend himself from this point onward, though he wasn't entirely sure if he could fight off an attack like that in a position like this.