Anther key bit of skekTah's history and of his post-Gelfling Gathering biology. Poor guy...
Hunt
"Why am I doing this again?" skekTah asked.
"Because castle life is making you too complacent. And I need someone to help me fetch my arrows until I can shoot properly," skekMal replied.
"Oh," the Note-Taker muttered. "…Yay?"
He instantly regretted agreeing to go on this sudden trip out into the wilderness. skekMal had recently taken a liking to hunting and had been practicing with the Gelfling in the field for the past few months. Only recently dubbed the Hunter, skekMal wanted his shots to be precise and had been going out on his own for days at a time to practice in the Dark Wood.
Today, he had brought skekTah along through a series of reassurances, requests, and the recollection of past debts that the Note-Taker owed him.
Sometimes being the only record keeper among a bunch of brutal fighters was more of a boon than a benefit.
Thankfully, skekMal had already hacked away at the forest to make a traversable path for them. It had originally been a game trail that the Stonewood Gelfling used to track prey. Now it was skekMal's path into the depths of the Dark Wood, where he'd been practicing his archery.
"So, I'm just here to fetch arrows?" skekTah asked.
"And any small prey that I shoot," skekMal confirmed.
"…Ew," the Note-Taker mumbled in disgust. He certainly wasn't interested in touching dead things. "Why couldn't you bring skekVar or skekGra out here?"
"Both are too busy helping skekUng with his pet project," the Hunter snorted. "skekSa is out at sea on a trip. You were all that was left."
"Oh…" skekTah nodded in understanding.
He recalled skekUng's pet project now. Since Gelfling essence was discovered to restore youth, the court had secretly been snatching individuals from their guards to keep a steady supply of the stuff. Lately, the Gelfling had begun to notice the large amount of guards that had gone missing in the castle. In response to this, the Emperor had declared that a stronger guard would be put in place to lessen these mysterious losses.
In reality, the new guards would be their new method of capturing Gelfling in the field to increase their essence stock. Garthim, skekUng called them. Huge crustacean beasts with black carapaces and sharp claws and pincers that would react upon command and be given life by the Dark Crystal itself.
Last the Note-Taker had heard, skekUng was directly crafting the beasts while the Scientist focused on bringing them to life with the crystal. Rumor had circulated that these beasts would be left exclusively under skekUng's control. Perhaps this was the route that would finally give the larger Skeksis a title, something he had been coveting for several hundred trine and would at last give him political sway beyond skekTek's shadow.
Of course, the parts required to make the Garthim weren't lightweight. skekVar and skekGra were likely helping to haul and put the parts together, as ordered by the Emperor. skekUng was to get all the help he needed, after all. That had been Emperor skekSo's newest decree when the Garthim were proposed to him.
And since the Mariner was away at sea, that left the Note-Taker as skekMal's only available ally. The Hunter certainly wouldn't seek out anyone else to go with them. Most of the court was useless in the wilderness or out doing other tasks. The only one that might've sufficed was skekNa and the newly named Slave-Master was too preoccupied with the drained Podlings to go out on a hunt in the forest.
Not that skekTah was complaining. He has no interest in being in the same vicinity as the hook-handed Skeksis, whose cruelty streak had tripled since become Slave-Master. Better that skekNa stay at the castle, far from the vulnerable Note-Taker.
The trees parted, giving way to a clearing shaded thickly by the canopies above them. skekTah felt claustrophobic. The forest pressed in on all sides. Sunlight could barely get in.
No wonder it was called Dark Wood.
A few crude targets had been set up, most designed by the Gelfling while skekMal had been training with them. Most were thick wooden poles while others were sacks full of grain or sand, meant to mimic the forms of various beasts. Judging from the small piles of sand on the ground, skekMal had been hitting these targets particularly hard.
There were also puncture wounds and claw marks ripping across the bark of nearby trees, most behind the targets. Likely arrows that had missed their mark. skekMal had been complaining about having to climb to fetch them. skekTah could see where branches had broken, especially lower down the trunks.
skekMal wasn't exactly small or light. That was the Note-Taker. skekMal was both big and heavy, though not as much as skekUng or skekLach. It was enough to make climbing into trees burdensome. If the Note-Taker squinted, he was sure he could see some arrows high up along tree trunks that had simply never been retrieved by the frustrated Hunter.
The Note-Taker recalled Drenchen Gelfling having flying eels that could fetch thrown weapons for them. Muski, right? Perhaps the Hunter should attempt to acquire one at some point.
"Now sit there and watch. My aim is getting better," skekMal boasted, pulling out his bow and notching an arrow.
skekTah sat back quietly and watched his ally open fire on the targets. While most did not hit the painted X that marked the kill spot, skekMal got increasingly close with each attempt. Only a few zoomed into the forest, all hitting the ground close enough for the Hunter to fetch them himself.
Almost two hours passed before skekMal's confidence got the better of him and, aiming at a bird flying overhead, missed and landed his arrow in a tree.
"I'm guessing I have to get that," the Note-Taker said, rising.
What had skekMal been thinking? Sure, he'd hit a few small animals that had wandered into the clearing, but a bird was a completely different kind of target. Even the Note-Taker had realized within a moment of the arrow being loosed that skekMal would miss. Birds were simply too swift for the Hunter's current archery skill.
skekTah approached the tree, which stood on the edge of the clearing. Looking straight up, he couldn't even see the arrow. He hoped he recalled exactly where it had struck the trunk at—rather high up, unfortunately. This tree towered perhaps a hundred feet into the air.
Casting a bitter glare at skekMal, the Note-Taker began to carefully ascend.
He cursed himself for being small. For being light. For being the least likely to plunge from a broken branch in a tall tree. For being the best candidate for skekMal to take hunting with him. This wasn't fair. He was a writer, not a climber or an arrow fetcher. skekMal should be doing this himself!
But…he was being useful…right?
As a record keeper, he had little use in his alliance beyond gathering information and passing secrets along to his allies. He wasn't big or strong. He wasn't a fighter. He wasn't even intimidating. Maybe if he used his tail more, made it known to his allies, he could be viewed as a bigger threat…but as is, he was just a weakling writer that happened to get in amongst the military alliance thanks to a metalworking Skeksis that was now long dead.
Why was he still in skekVar's alliance, anyway? Why did they continue to tolerate his presence now that skekHak was gone? He hadn't brought in any groundbreaking information. No big secrets had been discovered that could change their alliance's position in the hierarchy. He was just there, taking up space and time that the General could put to better use elsewhere.
Yet skekVar kept him close. The General didn't out him from their alliance. He went out of his way to make it clear that the Note-Taker was allied with him. He kept skekTah in the know if something happened. He made sure the Note-Taker was okay.
And it wasn't just skekVar. His whole alliance did it.
skekSa took him out to sea a few times. skekGra told him of his travel plans as the newly-dubbed Conqueror to claim landmasses around Thra in the Emperor's name. skekMal took him out hunting today.
They could've easily abandoned skekTah now that the Machinist was dead. They had no obligation to keep him among them.
Yet they did.
The Note-Taker climbed higher up the tree. He could see the arrow now. He had to be fifty, sixty feet off the ground. The branches were thicker and studier up here. It was easier to find handholds to support his weight, lighter than most of his fellows but still heavier than anything else the tree had likely held.
As he climbed, he thought. His mind spiraled in perpetual circles.
He hadn't permitted himself to think too deeply about skekHak since he died over two hundred trine ago. After the funeral, he clung viciously to his alliance and carried on with life. He never forgot the Machinist. He just didn't let the other rule his thoughts, as he had those three horrible days following skekHak's death.
Yep, there was the arrow. Another twenty feet, perhaps. He called down to skekMal to let him know that the arrow was nearly in reach. Then he continued to climb.
He remembered something skekMal had told him on the trip into the Dark Wood. When you climbed, never look down. skekTah could imagine why. He had no intention of ever looking down. Not from this high up.
Ten more feet.
skekMal was shouting something. The Note-Taker couldn't hear it. He'd make the Hunter repeat it on the climb down.
Five more feet.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
skekTah's hand closed around the shaft of the arrow, easily tugging it loose of the trunk. He smiled, shouting down his victory to the Hunter.
And felt the branch under his feet give way.
The Note-Taker had no clue how or why the branch broke. Only that he instantly lost his grip and had no way to regain it. Panic surged through him instantly. He was falling the seventy-something feet to the ground far below.
And skekTah had no clue how he was to survive the drop.
.o.o.o.o.
urTao's speech cut off so suddenly that even the slow thought processes of the other urRu noticed. Long heads slowly turned toward their fellow, wondering why he had ceased to speak. It did not sound as if he had finished his request yet.
urTao the Planner lay sprawled on the sandy floor of the valley, unmoving. His dark gaze had dulled faintly. His breathing was shallow beneath his robes.
urIm the Healer and urNol the Herbalist abandoned their thoughts to check on the other. urIm was cautious with running his hands over the other. It took only moments to decipher the problem by touch.
"Broken," he stated. "From his other half."
"It will take much time to heal," urNol agreed.
Carefully, the urRu gathered to lift the other and moved as a unit with the prone urTao atop them. If urIm moved swiftly, he should be successful in killing the pain.
The damage, on the other hand, would likely be irreversible.
.o.o.o.o.
skekTah woke up to a burst of white-hot pain and skekMal's shouts. He blinked, the world suddenly too bright. The Hunter loomed over him, shock and terror on his face.
"skekTah! Can you hear me?" he demanded.
Why couldn't he nod? Why couldn't he move? All he felt was pain. What happened?
"skekTah!"
"Uh… A-ah…" All he could force out were choked sounds. He felt like there were shards of bone stuck in his throat. It took a few tries to make words form. "Wha…appened?"
"You fell," skekMal said.
Fell? Why did he fall? A fall shouldn't hurt this much. He'd tripped and fallen before.
…Oh.
Now he remembered. The tree. The arrow.
The arrow! Could that be why he was hurting? Had he landed on it?
"Can you move?" skekMal asked. "You have to try. If you can't…"
If he couldn't, what? What was skekMal so worried about? Of course he could move!
It was just…taking longer than usual…
skekTah closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. Then he poured all of his strength into his shoulders, his arms, his hands. Move, something move! Anything, just move! A fall shouldn't disable him this much!
skekMal gasped. "Good, good! Try something else!"
The Note-Taker focused downward, toward his legs. Even his tail if needed! Just move something. Anything at all!
"Oh, thank Thra! I thought your spine…"
skekTah opened his eyes. There was relief in the Hunter's eyes. Then he moved away, peeling off his heavy hunting cloak.
"Just keep moving a little, Note-Taker. I'll fashion a stretcher and get you home. Just don't stop trying to move!"
The situation had finally dawned on skekTah. He had fallen from the tree and, rather than dying, he had to have broken his back. That's why movement was so hard. But not impossible. He could still move. He had not broken his spine.
Already, the pain seemed to be ebbing. Probably the urRu tending to urTao. That felt nice…
skekMal rapidly fashioned a stretcher from his cloak and two sturdy branches torn from nearby trees. skekTah bit down on a wadded chunk of his own sleeve, torn from his arm by the Hunter, while skekMal quickly but carefully moved him from the ground to the stretcher. It would be a bumpy trip back since half of the stretcher would have to drag along the ground, but skekTah resolved to survive it.
His spine was not broken. He could still move.
.o.o.o.o.
The damage would heal, but his back would likely never be quite the same. This is what the Scientist declared upon checking over the Note-Taker for nearly two days. Even copious amounts of essence and time under the Dark Crystal's light could not undo the damage, only make the permanent parts less debilitating.
skekTah would be able to walk again, given enough time and care. But his back would remain crooked and painful, likely for the rest of his life. skekTek would design a brace to keep it from re-breaking and to support his spine against further damage. The Scientist had done all he could.
It would take upwards of three months for his back to heal properly. Until then, he was confined to his quarters, which remained unlocked so that skekTek could check up on him when required.
The pain was kept at bay by herbs that skekTek had been experimenting with to increase their healing properties. The experiments had failed but the plants could still kill pain, though to a lesser extent than desired. These, mixed with mintvine to keep his anxiety down, served as skekTah's medical staples.
He was kept in the know by his allies, primarily by skekVar. skekMal hunted for mintvine and skekTek's nameless herbs with every hunt he went on, vanishing for days on end in his hunts. skekTah didn't see much of the Hunter during those three months.
skekTah remained calm thanks to the mintvine. He was not dead. He would survive this. He would walk again one day.
Though permanently wounded, he would never let his back decide his actions. He would not be manipulated by pain.
He would live.
