Twenty - Tarka

A sharp pain in my shoulder woke me from my stupor. My eyes fluttered open, and Alden was kneeling above me dabbing a wound I had received in my shoulder. His own eyes flickered to mine with a brief sense of fear but was immediately replaced by relief.

His eyes. "They look so much like Damian's," I thought to myself. I shook my head violently to get rid of the picture cementing in my brain. "Augh! Why am I even thinking about him like that? Tarka, you disgust me."

Alden dipped his shirt back in the creek and dabbed my shoulder again. I had to stifle back a cry of pain; the wound was deeper than I thought. Tears flooded to my eyes quicker than I wanted them to. Luckily, Alden was looking over on the other side of the river and didn't notice. I composed myself before he turned back to me.

"Hey, you're alive, at least! How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. I mean as fine as I can be with a shoulder wound," I said, my voice cracking. I tried to smile just to get rid of the pale, horror-stricken look on his face.

"Yeah. I'm glad you're okay." He sighed and looked over across the river again. "I wonder where they took Tristram? Who were those guys anyway?"

I had to fight back more tears, as I sat up. Angry tears. "They were Viridian soldiers. Good for nothing Viridian soldiers. All they do is attack innocent people and charge them for crimes they did not commit."

"Soldiers wouldn't do things like that without a good reason," Alden reasoned.

I glared at him. "They'll do ANYTHING they want! Don't you get it? The higher up you are in the world, the more you are able to get away with." Memories of the soldiers that night only a few months ago came to me very vividly again. I clutched my knees with my hands and looked out over the rushing water, hoping the beautiful scene in front of me would replace the horrible rememberance.

Alden caught me staring. "I can tell you've gone through a lot. I wish I knew more about you." I turned to him, calming down some. "I want to know why you're bitter, why you won't open up."

"Don't you have secrets? The more people know about you, the more they can use against you. I learned that lesson very well long ago. I made that mistake too many times to make it again!" I realized I was practically yelling. I felt my face cool down as I stood up. "I'm sorry," I said softly, my voice cracking again. I tried to clear my throat but the feeling wouldn't go away. "I need some water."

Alden wrapped his shirt around my shoulder to control the bleeding. He cupped his hands in the river and let me have a drink. After a few minutes, he said tenderly but firmly, "Maybe someday, you can learn to trust me. Maybe you'll learn that not everyone is like that."

I scoffed. "What about your family? Why are you out here anyway and not back home? Don't tell me not everyone is like that! Why is Tristram always on the run? Huh?"

"I don't have a good answer for that right now."

"I didn't think so."

"However, I don't think it's a mere coincidence that the three of us found each other. So far, we've all gone our way to protect each other," he said. "Or at least we've tried to . . ." He started towards the jungle.

I followed after him. "So, where are we going? What's the plan?"

"Well, first we've got to find Tristram before someone else finds us."

I kept following him deeper into the jungle, shaking my head and thinking to myself, "What on earth am I getting into?"

Nineteen - Alden

I looked to Tarka, who wore her typical guarded expression, and I exclaimed, "We have to do something!"

Tarka eyes shifted back and forth for a moment, as if uncertain of whether she would actually want to risk her life for another's.

"Tarka!" I cried, upset at her hesitation. Tristram had fed us and been a loyal friend, and she just sat there contemplating life? I shook my head and tried to say something else when a look of fear crossed Tarka's face, a look I had never seen on her before. Turning back I realized my shouting had caused some commotion with a few of the soldiers, and that they were quickly heading our way.

My hand immediately reached for my scimitar, but froze mid-withdraw when a light hand touched my arm. Tarka shook her head at me, pulling me gently, and yet urgently, through the bushes, the opposite way Tristram had gone.

We ran as fast I could, since I knew Tarka could move much faster. We cut through several different bushes and close-nit trees, my arms and face continually being greeted by the wrath of the Viridian thorns that flourished from the humid climate. I glanced back once, and was relieved to see no one behind us, when I noticed the shake of the trees, and my stomach began to twist.

I regretted looking back, but not as much as I regretted looking forward. Not far ahead of us was nothing. Nothing. The ground ended into a steep drop, where a gushing river could be heard over the sway of trees.

"Tarka, what are we doing?" I exclaimed.

"I don't know!" She cried.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Trust me." She whispered, grabbing my hand and tossing me over the edge.

I thought this was it. The wet spray of water touched my face and started to saturate my clothes. I barely had a second to react when I landed on a soft muddy protrusion barely sticking out from the ledge, and I gasped as the air was knocked out of me. After a moment, I glanced up, estimating I had fallen maybe twenty feet. I tried to stand, to see where Tarka was, but instantly lost foothold and slipped, half my body clinging to the side of the ledge, while the other side felt the river's watery hand tugging ever so gently. I pressed my fingers into the mud, and brought my other hand over, allowing that hand to also dig into the soft dirt. Above me I heard sounds of movement, but no voices. As I slowly pulled myself back onto the ledge, keeping my belly against the earth this time, a high pitch noise rang through the air as a Viridian soldier landed into the rushing river.

I had no idea how many there were, or what they could be doing to Tarka, or her to them. I then heard another sound, but it was not like the other. It sounded like Tarka's voice. My hands clenched and I glanced down at my scimitar, knowing what I had to do.

I slowly reached one hand to my scimitar, and then, with more speed and skill than I thought I possessed, I jumped up, running part way up the muddy slope, and plunged my scimitar into the soft terrain, allowing my momentum to push off the sword, giving me just enough height to grab the ledge and leap up onto my feet. I was pretty impressed that that had worked, but had no time to enjoy it as I saw two more Viridian soldiers holding onto Tarka, and another pulling his knife out of Tarka's shoulder.

The three looked at me in utter shock as the muddy boy stood before them. I gritted my teeth and ran at the armed soldier, knocking him right into a nearby tree. He hissed at me, but with one good punch I knocked him out. Scrimmaging for the knife, I took note of the other two tossing Tarka to the side. I launched at them knife aimed to kill, but they easily unarmed me. One of them grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back, and used his tail to wrap around my throat.

The other Viridian grabbed hold of Tarka's clothing and dragged her to the edge.

"No!" I cried, trying to kick the Viridian, but to no avail.

The one that held me hissed in my ear. "Don't worry you'll be joining the little traitor."

They then threw us both into the river's gushing water, and I tried my best to keep my head above water, but being from a desert made swimming a fairly rare experience, and the river was so strong any attempt caused me to be instantly knocked back under. Luckily I came upon a rock, which gave me a second to breathe and locate Tarka. I then shot off from the rock, making sure to get a good hold on Tarka. Her shoulder was bleeding quite a bit when the water wasn't pulling us under, and I couldn't be certain if she was conscious or not, but I managed to find another bolder, and with the last bit of strength I could muster, I took Tarka in one arm, and used the other to fling the both of us onto the nearest bank.

Pulling Tarka away from the bank, I took my shirt off, and, after dunking it into the river a few times, began to dab at the wound on Tarka's shoulder. She looked at me, which let me know she was at least alive. Looking back across the river, I of course had no idea where we were or how we would get back to Tristram. All I knew was the sun was setting, I had lost my scimitar, and Tarka was wounded. I looked back at Tarka, and never felt such a heaviness within me.

Eighteen - Tristram

A streak of purple interrupted the vibrant green of the forest before it disappeared amongst the leaves on my right. I readied my knife. The tell-tale rustle of leaves could be heard on my left and I spun around, jabbing the knife in the air at where the Juke should be. I caught is belly in mid-leap, like I had to so many of his species. I was getting tired of the simple fight, the predictable tactics: be seen on one side, pounce on the opposite. I hadn't had a proper enemy to fight in months. I had been training Alden, and though he improved quickly, he was no warrior. A warrior takes years of training, I'd only been training Alden for a month now.

I knelt down to skin and clean the Juke, first removing some sort of bone it got stuck in its ear. Had it really been a month now? A month since I found my nearly dead redemption? He had grown a lot since then, Tarka too. She was still distant to us, never spoke about herself, but she would walk with us now and camp with us, rather than silently follow in the trees. We had grown on her. An odd group we made. I smiled at the thought of the fish monger in the last village we visited: mouth gaped at as as the fish he was about to butcher started to flop away. While our people weren't strangers, we certainly never interacted, and the Viridi least of all.

I flipped the Juke over and remover another piece of bone stuck in the other ear... Something nagged at the back of my brain but I couldn't quite place it: the fish monger still at the front of my mind. After watching that, Alden had decided we should have fish for dinner. What he meant was he wanted to show off his fishing skills to Tarka. He fell in the nearby river three different times before Tarka took the spear and caught some for us. Those two...

A rustle to my left. I twirled around expecting another Juke, but there was nothing. Looking around, I picked up the carcass and slowly headed for camp, but something was following me. I had spent enough time with Tarka to recognize when something is moving in the trees. That said, nothing attacked or showed itself. I reached the camp only to see another surprise: nine Viridi soldiers in light flexible leather armor, each holding a spear with a short sword attached to their belt. The tenth jumped out of the trees behind be, he had been following me. I glanced around for Alden and Tarka. They stood next to the campfire, opposite the party. I stood just halfway between them, knife still in hand, but trying to show no other signs of aggression.
The one that followed me marched up to the leader, distinguished by two green streaks across the shoulders of his armor, and whispered something. The leader spoke, then, with a deep gravelly voice, that of a general. "You are hereby charged with poaching the kings personnel pets, signified by engraved bones attached to the ears. The mark on your hand distinguishes you and an outcast, thus the punishment is death."

I did the only sensible thing I could. I ran.

Seventeen - Tarka

Even though I could have sat beside the two young men down below, my instincts were telling me to stay up above them in this tree. Somehow, I felt that being up here would make me all-around above the two of them, as well. I had heard their entire conversation. "Just . . . whatever"? Pfft. Well thanks. I didn't think you were all that either. 

"Boys," I muttered. "Who needs 'em?" Well, I just need one. But he's gone. 

I squatted down on the branch for a good few minutes, munching on a piece of fruit when Alden called up to me, "Hey you, will you please jump, er, slide, or uh . . . whatever you do, to get down from the tree? We need to talk with you." 

I hesitated before I gracefully climbed down the tree. What would they do with me? They had pretty much let me be for the most part. If they were to charge at me or chase me, I could outrun the Palkin, probably even take him down. I didn't want to think about what the Brackin would . . . or could do with me. I silently made my way towards them, with my head held higher than my confidence truly was at that moment. They stared at me. 

"What do you want? You look like you've never seen a Viridian before." 

"Well, I know I haven't seen many, if any, before you at least," Alden looked me up and down. "You're really quite, er, fascinating . . ." Tristram gave him a good slap to the arm to shut him up before he went any further. 

"Ow! I only meant your people. I didn't know you were quite so . . . reptilian. It's pretty neat actually." 

"I've seen your people only a few times, as well," bellowed Tristram. He put his hand in his pant pocket. "When I served in the king's army. When we would travel, we would pass by the Viridi jungles, I would catch a few glimpses of some of your leaders making their way out of your territory to greet us."

I nodded in silence, my long dark braid slightly thumping my back. "Well, what do you want with me, then? You wanted me down here for a reason," I grew impatient. 

Alden and Tristram looked at each other. "Well, we want you to come join us down here. We don't want to have you retreat to a tree and disappear until kingdom come," Alden said. "We don't even know your name."

"Why should I tell you that?" I crossed my arms. 

Tristram now put his foot on a stump and leaned on his leg with his arm. "If we're going to all stay together, we've got to at least know each others' names," he reasoned with me as he looked to the side of us. He had a point. "Besides, I'm assuming you don't have anyone to go back to in your village, do you?" he now looked at me and raised his thick dark eyebrows. Another good point. I shook my head. 

"Fine. My name is Tarka. Just Tarka." My heart started pounding without warning. Why did I feel this way? I had only told them my name, but I feel like I had already given them a huge piece of my heart by doing so. 

"Tarka. I like it," said Tristram. 

Alden had a huge grin on his face. "Just Tarka? Interesting name. Rolls off the tongue." 

My eyes widened at the all-too familiar memory of Damian. Tears filled my eyes way too quickly before I could force them away. I turned around and ran off into the jungle where the two men wouldn't see me cry. 

I kept running until I almost couldn't hear Alden defensively questioning, "What did I say?"

Sixteen - Alden

Tristram came back with a smug look on his face as I attempted to make our small fire a little bigger. He sat down, giving me a knowing look that I knew nothing about.

"What?" I asked.

"I just want you to know that I am here if you ever need any advice." He said, resting his hands against the back of his head as he leaned against a tree.

"Right..." I said, pretending to understand what it was he was trying to say.

"Girl can be tricky things, I've had my fair share of experience."

"Girls?" Suddenly I understood what it was he was implying and I grew furious. "Are you stupid!" I got up in a huff. "I'm going for a walk." I managed through clenched teeth.

I made my way down the path with the two intertwining trees, safely tucked away from the glow of the fire, and slid down beside a strange looking bolder. How could Tristram even begin to think that? We were two completely different species, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. I crossed my arms, feeling my face growing hot regardless of the fire's absence. Glancing up at the trees, I did have to wonder if she was watching.

Maybe Tristram was wrong about the whole love aspect, but I suppose I did feel a similarness between the girl and I. Her eyes, while supposedly hard as Viridian eyes should be, were not. They looked like they had seen too much, just as I have. Perhaps I would be the only one to understand the pain behind hardened eyes, that there was always a reason for it and it was never a joyous occasion.

I sighed to myself, "She's stupid, I'm stupid, it's whatever!' I exclaimed, trying to convince myself none of this mattered when I heard something within the trees. I jumped up. "Who's there? Are you there?" I cried, but the trees were quiet with only the descent of a couple leaves. I stepped closer to where the leaves fell. "I'm sorry." I said, in a sincere tone that I'm not sure I'd ever taken towards another person before. "I don't know what it was, but I'm sorry." I stood there a moment, a hand resting on the rough bark of a nearby tree, taking in the smell of the musty land and trees. After a minute or so passed, I decided to head back to Tristram, with any luck he would already be snoring and my episode would be forgotten.

Fifteen - Tristram

I thought for sure our plan had failed. Alden kept yelling his lines ("I'll be taking that back!" and "Okay, whatever you say") to assure that the thief heard us but he sounded so obvious! Of course I had no idea what the heck was going on, I had just woken up with his scimitar in my hand, but after he told me the ruse a couple minutes later, I was sure he had given it away. Alden knew right away that I hadn't taken the sword. I was asleep when he left the camp. There was no way I could have been running through the forest one minute, then asleep another: the thief had to have been much faster. That, when added to the green glints we kept seeing, led us to conclude that our thief was a Viridi. Creating a trap was simple too. Now that we had our thief though, what to do with him...?

... Her?!?! The thief was a girl? As Alden  untied the trap I swooped in and tied her up. Then an awkward silence ensued. Honestly I had doubted we would have caught the thief, again I thought Alden had given it away, but now that we were here... what to do... With her soundly tied up I sat down by the fire only to notice Alden hadn't moved... in fact neither had the girl. They were looking at each other. Not glaring, not leering, but dazed; not wholly conscious of the world they inhibit. A look I myself have experienced when I met Elane.

I coughed, unlocking their eyes, bringing them back to reality. Alden blushed and muttered something under his breath about never seeing a Viridi before, something I truly doubted. The girl, however, took on a guilty look. She didn't blush but perhaps realized once again that she was trapped. I picked up some juk meat and knelt down by her. "My name is Tristram and this is Alden. We aren't going to hurt you." I offered her the food but she refused to acknowledge me. "What's your name?" I asked. No response... I sat down, relaxing  my knees, and thought for the hundredth time, what are we going to do with her. We can't kill her, we probably can't even harm her. Two banished foreigners have next to no privileges in Viridi territory. I guess there was only one this left to do: let her go.

"I'll let you go if you promise to stop stealing our things and messing with us." After a long moment, she nodded her head, stiffly. I untied the ropes and as soon as there was enough slack, she sprinted up a tree. We could hear her climbing away. This wouldn't be the last we saw of her. Not by a long shot. I'm familiar enough with that look to know that she won't be able to stay away... and Alden wouldn't let that happen either. Alden, the boy is huddled by the fire, still confused by the looks of it. I guess it's time to counsel him. I look once more at the tree the girl climbed up. I'll leave some meat there in the morning, perhaps even leave an obvious trail. She'll be back, and who am I to stop young love at it's first blossom?

Fourteen - Tarka

I sprinted through the green leaves and branches surrounding me on the jungle floor. Alden was not used to running through this kind of area like I was, and even if he were, he would be the pathetic type that wasn't used to running at all. I don't know how it happened, but I kept a good hold of the scimitar while running at what seemed a billion miles per hour. It kept slashing through branches to the side of and in front of me, but that helped me all the more.

I finally dashed up a tree before Alden caught up to where I had been. He slowed down to a stop, scratched his head, looked around the trees and even looked up at one point. Luckily, I had hidden myself well enough to where he didn't see me. He let out several large huffs of breath before finally starting back to camp.

It dawned on me that I could potentially have fun with this. I was quicker than Alden (AND Tristram probably as well). They didn't know I existed. "I wonder how many things I could steal from them? I could make them think it was each other . . . Now wouldn't that be a sight?" I thought to myself and chuckled. Why not give it a go?

I swiftly flew from tree to tree ahead of Alden towards camp. When I saw that Tristram had fallen asleep sitting against one of the trees, I hung from one of the lowest branches and dropped down to the ground. Being cautious and making as little noise as possible, I slipped the scimitar's handle in one of his hands resting in his lap. I was also careful to point it towards the ground, so that if he awoke suddenly, he wouldn't stab himself. When I heard the sound of Alden's footsteps coming up behind me, I scampered up the tree again and waited for some fun to begin.

Alden stepped into the campsite and stopped. He glanced at Tristram snoring. His eyes widened. "So it was YOU that took my scimitar! I bet he's only been pretending to sleep, " he said to himself and the sleeping Brackin. He sped his footsteps up, bent down and slapped the Brackin. Tristram awoke with a start. "I'll be taking that back!" said Alden rather loudly.

Tristram furrowed his eyebrows. "What're ya talkin' about, Alden? I don't know how that got into my hands, I promise!"

"Oh yeah, sure."

"Honest! I've been asleep the entire time."

"Okay, whatever you say," Alden stated very loudly again, but he still didn't seem convinced.

I stifled another giggle. I went away from the campsite for a while to find something to fill my growling stomach; I didn't want it to give me away! About an hour or so later, I was able to find some fruit to keep me filled for a bit. I made my way back through the trees and climbed back up in the one overlooking the Brackin and the Palkin.

The two men had built a fire, eaten some fruit they found in a tree and some squirrel or rat thing that Tristram had caught, killed, and skinned. As the moon rose in the dark sky, they drifted off to sleep. I looked around at something else I could take. Something of the Brackin's this time. But what?

I found it. Tristram's knife; it was laying out in plain sight by the fire on one of their unused blankets. It was perfect.

I slid down the tree and landed soundlessly on the ground. I tiptoed with my scaly tail held up so it wouldn't drag and make noise. I stepped onto the blanket.

Before I could grab the knife, I felt myself being lifted up, almost catapulted into the air. The blanket engulfed me, and I couldn't see anything. I bobbed up and down in the air. "Shoot! They set a booby trap! I should've known. They probably set it up while I was gone. Curses!" I thought to myself. I tried to wriggle my way out of the trap but it was no use. I was stuck.

I heard rustling beneath me and then both of the men chuckling. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A THIEF!" Alden exclaimed.

"It'll think twice before it decides to steal from the two of us again!" Tristram agreed.

"That was a great idea to set up that trap, Tristram."

"Ahh, well I've learned a thing or two from being a Brackin."

I felt myself being pulled down and set on the ground. I struggled to get myself free, but the blanket was still wrapped tightly around me. Finally, the blanket opened above me.

My green eyes finally met with Alden's very blue and very confused ones.