First journey beyond the castle...and it's anything but willing...
Takes place shortly after the division.
Sunset
skekTah again tried to set his wrist free, failing miserably. He couldn't break skekUng's grip at all. The other Skeksis was simply too big and too strong. skekTah had no hope of overcoming him.
At least he could take solace in the fact that he was not the only one being dragged from the castle.
"Hmmmmmmm."
skekTah winced, the sound grating on his ears. It was an annoying noise, that whimper of skekSil's. Worst of all, skekSil seemed to notice this…and kept doing it…constantly…
"Hmmmmmmm."
skekUng came to a stop, whipping around. "Stop with that whimpering!" he snarled, snapping his beak within an inch of skekSil's own.
The leaner Skeksis tilted backward as far as his trapped wrist would allow. Yet his whimper only grew louder and more annoying. skekUng snarled before facing forward, dragging skekTah and skekSil behind him.
They were leaving the castle. Emperor skekSo wanted to know more about the area around their new home, the Castle of the Crystal. Peering out a window revealed forest, far too much green, and a river shining in the distance. skekUng had volunteered for the job and swiftly snatched the wrists of the nearest two Skeksis.
Unfortunately, those Skeksis were skekTah and skekSil. Neither were pleased to have been chosen as skekUng's hiking partners.
Currently, skekUng was probably regretting that choice too. skekSil did nothing but whimper and skekTah had complained far too much about the heat and the bugs and such. The larger Skeksis had never heard so many complaints in so little time.
skekTah wished he had on something more than the thin tan robe he wore. His arms and legs were covered in scratches and his feet ached from the rough terrain. skekSil was no better off, having taken a branch to the beak earlier via skekUng's haphazard way of clearing a trail for them—breaking and pushing and kicking things out of his immediate way with no regard for the fact that those same objects may snap back to strike those behind him.
None of the Skeksis really had much in terms of clothes right now. skekEkt was practicing his sewing and planned to make them all better robes, but that wouldn't be for several days still. Until then, most of them only had on the single layer of light robes that skekEkt had fashioned the morning after the Emperor had cracked the Great Crystal.
Said robes were doing a poor job of keeping them protected from the elements…like snapping branches. One whipped skekTah's shoulder and he yelped. skekSil whimpered, ducking below another branch that skekUng had failed to break.
"Can you stop that?" skekTah requested, looking at his companion. "This is bad enough without you making that noise all the time. What if something hears us?"
skekSil regarded him with a frown before he sneered, teeth on display. "Hmmmmmm. Make me."
skekTah backed down, trying not to trip over roots as skekUng dragged them behind him. skekSil straightened, putting him nearly a head taller than skekTah. It was an intimidating sight. skekTah shrunk back, mumbling a swift apology. He hadn't meant to anger or offend the other.
skekSil shrieked when he abruptly crashed into a tree trunk. Peeling himself from the bark, he screeched at their so-called 'guide' for an apology. skekUng turned and snapped the other's beak shut with a hand. skekSil hissed, eyes narrowed, fingers itching to claw and scratch his way to freedom.
They all heard the loud snort from ahead of them and froze.
skekSil fell silent. skekTah didn't dare breathe. skekUng removed his hand from skekSil's beak, turning forward. He released them both, all four limbs flexing, sharp claws at the ready.
skekTah suddenly missed skekUng's grip on his wrist. While harsh, it had been like a lifeline. skekUng was bigger than both of them. Bigger meant stronger. Stronger than him or skekSil.
Or maybe it was more of the fact that he still recalled the dual nature of UngIm.
An urSkek that was both endlessly caring and impossibly dangerous when angered. The release of the stirrings in him had made UngIm doubly dangerous, but it did not remove his nurturing ability. On more than one occasion, skekTah could recall UngIm lashing out and then moments later fixing whatever damage he had caused, be it to living or inanimate victims.
skekUng didn't seem to have that nurturing nature anymore. skekTah had seen him bellow and roar ferociously. When the Skeksis first woke up in the crystal chamber, skekUng had been the first to attack the urRu after skekYi had died. The urge to rend and destroy ran hot through skekUng's veins.
Perhaps skekTah would never see the same kindness in skekUng that UngIm had displayed, but that behavior wouldn't defend them from the owner of the sound ahead of them.
skekUng, on the other hand, very well might.
The bushes parted before them to reveal a tall creature that was mostly long limbs. It blinked down at them before slowly striding away, steps stiff but quick. It was gone as fast as it had appeared.
skekTah felt breath return to him. "What was that?" he choked.
"Hmmmmmm," skekSil whimpered.
"Pah! Who cares?" skekUng snorted. "Onward!"
Thus the dragging continued. As did skekTah's complaining. And skekSil's whimpering.
At least the trek granted skekTah time to think. Thinking led to discoveries as he dug through his jumbled memories of being an urSkek. This time, it gave the creature they had seen a name—Landstrider, a completely harmless riding beast for the Gelfling.
skekTah couldn't help but feel more comfortable. At least they hadn't run into something that had wanted to eat them.
Hours passed and with it, their journey wound down. skekTah was never so happy to return to the castle as he was that evening. The Greater Sun had just dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in vibrant oranges and pinks to mix with the Rose Sun's light. It was a gorgeous spectacle to witness.
skekUng did not care for it. He was snarling at skekSil. Apparently the whimpering had finally set him off on more than just yelling. skekTah stayed out of their fight, content to stare at the colorful sky as they heading back into the castle to tell the Emperor of what they saw.
He decided that maybe keeping that dark cloth over his window wasn't that much of a good idea. Maybe he'd open it, if only to see this pretty sight every evening.
