Closed The natural order of things

[Salumi Ahera]

80th summer 514.

The sky was bright and the sun glimmered with a measure of warmth down on the landscape below.
Almost an hour and a half outside of the city of Riverfall, along the grasslands and coastal trails where bushes and trees had consumed the rocky hills and farmland gave way to wilderness.

Salumi scrambled up the uneven surface of tree roots and teetered past a few bushes, twisting ungracefully out of the way of a thornbush. The basket on her arm wobbled slightly, a few roots and wild tubers were stacked inside the basket; although she was pretty sure they were edible, she wanted to try and find some berries or other, interesting fruits that hadn't been cultivated in a garden. The city was good for finding lots of exotic goods; but really, she found that everyone there served a little too much meat.

'Lumi stopped to bend over a brightly coloured flower bush, sniffing at the blossoms; trying to figure out whether they were edible or not; when she heard a snarl and snapping from the brush up ahead. She pulled back from the bush with a nervous swallow.

A second later a wolf emerged, racing right at the Charodae with a yip. She twisted out of the animal's way with her own click of surprise as the beast rampaged directly for her. At the last second, it veered to the right; dodging the young woman and bolting further into bushes; not stopping or slowing even slightly.

'Lumi gasped and followed the beast with her pearly eyes, not sure why it had jumped out and simply run off- and then she was jumping out of the way of the large Olidosapux that came grunting and growling behind the wolf; well bigger than the predator and clearly charging, the bull didn't notice the Charodae before it returned its attention to the unfortunate wolf and jumped after the beast, trumpetting angrily.

Salumi stared in shock at the reversal of nature; she'd heard of the bull Olidosapux on land- hell, Reedweaver wasn't exactly a normal sized seahorse, but she'd never seen such a large land beast aside from the horses.

The charodae exhaled sharply- and then turned around to the clearing both animals had come from; she could see a black-berry bush ahead; and another of the Olidosapux, sniffing and nibbling on the berries- it spotted her and turned with a grunting noise. Perhaps a mating pair?

"I not being your enemy, furred horse." 'Lumi held up her hands and took a step back, but the beast clearly still felt threatened and twisted, gnashing its smooth herbivore front teeth at her.

[Gillie Dhu]

Why did stuff like this always happen to him?

He'd left early that morning to snare a couple rabbits, only to stumble upon a lone wolf--perhaps sickly--, left behind by its pack. It sensed his presence, and did its best to slink out of sight, but Gillie persisted. He wasn't one to eat wolf-meat (he'd heard it was rather chewy), but he could use the pelt for a new coat. Maybe even a wolf-head-hood. Now that would be something.

But, as things usually did in the life of Gillie Dhu, things quickly took a turn for the worse, as he and his wolf-prey stumbled upon two agitated olidosapux bulls, dueling for dominance. Already stirred into anger, the two bulls quickly forgot their disagreement and whipped themselves into a frenzy after the wolf--a creature known for its cooperation in taking down large herbivores. And, unfortunately, Gillie was caught in the crossfire.

He managed to leap out of the way as the two bulls charged after the wolf, who retreated with a yelp into the foliage. But, as it usually did, curiosity got the better of Gillie, and he followed them. He'd eat for weeks if he happened to take down an olidosapux bull! Maybe one of them would trip and impale the other, or something.

It wasn't hard to track two tons of irritated animal, so he kept up alright.

That is, until he found one of the two brutes glowering at a charoda female who'd wandered out into the wilderness.

"I not being your enemy, furred horse."

The olidosapux plodded forward, snarling and gnashing its teeth at her. Gillie was pretty sure they didn't eat charodae, but he wasn't about to risk it. His mind raced with options. His chest swelling with adrenaline, and his mouth widening into an enthusiastic grin, he slowed his run and skidded in front of the girl.

"Whoa now, big boy," he spoke in common, turning to wink at the charoda female. He raised his hands in an effort to calm the beast, to no avail. It just kept snarling angrily.

"Here's the plan," Gillie said, speaking in a low voice, "on the count of three, you go right, I'll go left. He can only follow one of us. The other will take him from behind."

He smirked. What he hadn't told her was that he wasn't going to move until just after she did, because the beast would follow whichever drastic movement was first made. Luckily for her, he wasn't going to just leave her. He knew that since she was a charoda, she probably wouldn't have a weapon on her. So he'd have to do the heavy-lifting this time around. He slowly unsheathed his gladius--not the most useful weapon against an angry, two-horned behemoth. But it would have to do.

"Ready... Three!"

[Salumi Ahera]

'Lumi started down at the large creature and felt a hard knot in her stomach that she'd only once felt before when she'd been trading her first time on land and someone had said anxiously 'the Myrians are coming'- and people had began to hide. The anxiety had made her feel locked in place, her mouth had dried up and a large iron anchor had tied itself into her stomach. She'd been left with an uneasy feeling afterward that had more to do with the sense of impending doom. If she'd been underwater, she'd have simply outrun a large predator, and indeed, did so with ease, the few times she'd encountered one. But this wasn't the ocean and she didn't know how to avoid the angry creature.

Of course, that was when, in her moment of terror; someone appeared from the bushes and struck out in front of her. He waved at the beast, trying to get its attention, and then spoke to her. 'Lumi listened with an intensity she hadn't known she could possess- common wasn't her most fluent language, but she'd been practising for weeks now on the locals and around town and the quick words he spoke, she caught more of than she might have a week or so ago.

He wanted her to run left on the count of three? She was glad, even though he had a sword, he didn't seem to be a blood-thirsty killer, and then suddenly

"Ready... Three!"

She clicked out a nervous sound in Char before she dashed left instead of right. Always the personal pronouns in common stuck her. She moved past him with the small, neat steps of a dancer and the flexibility of a creature that was all fluid. She did drop her basket, but as expected of her saviour, the olidosapux bull turned and went straight for her, leaving its right side exposed to the human.

[Gillie Dhu]

Right, dang it! I said 'right'! his mind screamed. Having anticipated a well-executed maneuver, his new acquaintance's failure to correctly follow through stunned Gillie a moment longer than it should have. He was a quick-thinker, but his body followed his mind's reaction a split-second later than he needed it to. He wasted a precious moment because of the error, and now feared he'd waited too long.

He couldn't help it. His body sprung into action. With sword drawn, he hurled himself at the charoda female, and slammed her out of the olidosapux's path. The tip of his blade grazed the beast's upper lip and nostrils in a diagonal cut. It snarled and skidded head-first into a tree. Gillie acted quickly. He hoisted the charoda girl to her feet and held up her right hand with his left. "This is right," he said firmly. Then he lifted her left hand with his right. "This is left."

The bull came back madder than ever, and was already beginning to charge the two of them again. "Go right!" Gillie exclaimed, whirling to the left. He was light and agile on his feet, and so completed the maneuver before the bulky animal could make a turn towards him. He broke into a quick sprint, thankful then for the experience his muscles had gained from years of jumping and climbing.

As he ran past the creature, he extended his blade and allowed it to gash the olidosapux along its right side, earning an enraged, gurgling bellow from the creature's mouth. The four-legged beast whirled at him, baring its double horns in an attempt to skewer him. But Gillie moved quickly, and dropped into a backwards roll, narrowly avoiding certain death. The olidosapux collided with the thick foliage and tumbled to the ground.

Gillie broke into a run. He took the charoda girl by the hand and pulled her along. "Run! Let's get the heck outta here!"

[Salumi Ahera]

Lumi startled as the human grabbed her arm, pulling her to safety at the last second when the beast charged her again. His rough grip on her arm was enough that she dropped her basket although, she hardly had time to comment when he pointed out the directions. Had she picked the wrong way? But his next instruction was clearer; go right.

She twirled right as instructed this time, her arms snapping up to control the graceful movement and hold her momentum. To the left, she heard the olidosapux's grunting and enraging as the man sliced at the beast again, drawing its attention. Lumi winced at the pain the beast must have felt; but her attention was all for the running now as her rescuer had caught her hand again and was pulling her with him.

She was small and agile, certainly, and she kept pace with him as he dragged her away from the little clearing. She jumped over a tree-root in a sort of instinct and dared to glance behind them. The bull was snorting and winding up for a heavy charge. Salumi took the lead and pulled her arm that the human had a hold of toward the north. "Side-and-side, it be uh... heavy running."

[Gillie Dhu]

Salumi took the lead and pulled her arm that the human had a hold of toward the north. "Side-and-side, it be uh... heavy running."

"Heavy-what?" Gillie snapped, now finding himself pulled along by the swift-running Charoda. He glanced over his shoulder at their pursuer. The olidosapux was thundering toward them. "Ohhh. Side-to-side. Zigzags. Got it."

The two broke apart, sprinting as fast as they could and still maintain their stability. They needed to make quick cuts left-and-right to keep their much larger, much less-coordinated attacker on its toes. So they ran, and cut in opposite directions, being careful all the while to avoid running into each other. Such a collision could prove fatal in the path of an infuriated bull.

Gillie's heart pounded in his chest as his adrenaline rose to new heights. He could feel his arms and legs twitch with each quick turn. He was thankful for the agility he'd inherited from his mother, and for the basic acrobatics he'd practiced for years. These were a saving grace for him now. He skidded and nearly tripped more than once on this overgrown terrain, but didn't stop running and turning, running and turning.

Their assailant, unable to keep up with their sporadic turns, had slid and fallen several times, but still would not give up the chase. It had lost a lot of blood from its two sword-wounds.

These things were so irrational.

Gillie felt his legs burning. He hoped the stupid beast would give up or collapse soon. Before he did.

[Salumi Ahera]

Salumi dodged under an overhead branch as Gillie and she broke apart, she almost fell flat on her face as she tumbled around another root raised out of the earth and quietly clicked a few choice words about seaweed and fish-guts in Char before she got back on her feet. She winced as her shin was bruised, but she kept running and dodging the surroundings. It was a lot less fun, running on land, than her forays in the city had been; it was so much more cumbersome and difficult to weave her way around the undergrowth than in the ocean. Right now, she wanted nothing more than a nice cold wave of water to float away in, and give her a measure of extra direction to pick.

The beast seemed to be wearing down, blood trailing steadily behind it as it ran down at the two fleeing humaniods and 'Lumi darted to the left, veering around a tree, the olidosapux smacked into the side of the tree as it chased her right around, wheezing with effort, the white film of exhaustion on its nostrils flaring.

The Charodae spun gracefully out of its way; while the olidosapux wasn't built for stamina or speed, she at least had a little of both. Her thin body heaved lightly with her own laboured breathing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the beast's. Her cheeks had a sort of purple tint to them from the effort of her weaving and scuttling, but her eyes were focused. She caught up again with Gillie, reaching out a hand to help pull him along, since he seemed more laboured than she. "Perhaps... be the stabbing me- uhk-, animal in the side... again." The personal pronouns still caused her trouble there. Hopefully he would understand.

If they kept running, surely it would only weaken and cause the beast more pain. She didn't like to see it enraged and so angry- it would be a mercy to let the creature die faster. She'd never had to think of killing an animal before, and now, with her heart thundering in her chest and the fear of agony and pain at her back, she wasn't keen to, but it was them or it. And the olidosapux had started this.

Later, she might have been troubled by the suggestion she had just made; how cruel and heartless it felt to her, but right now, right now she was running on adrenaline and some other primal instinct her family thought they were beyond.