Chapter 5 - Lizards, Sheep, and Speed. Oh My!

Kael slowly opened his eyes, once again struggling against the sunlight filtering from the canopy above. It was significantly cooler than the previous day, but much more active with life. A moan from next to him made him jump.

Kari was blinking at him blearily. Her head on his chest. He recoiled slightly, slamming his head into the tree. She smiled and said with a slurred voice, "G'mornin'…"

"What's up with that!" he shouted. She grinned weakly and +sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Some'un uncomfortable sleepin' 'round girls er sumthin'?"

Kael groaned and got up, stumbling slightly as his legs gave way. Slowly, the two managed to clean up camp and neatly repalce everything in Kari's backpack, which Kael slung around his shoulders. "Where are we going now?"

"Deeper until we can find Kaltuzor. I know he's around here, I caught a scent last night but then it vanished," she replied.

"Erm, I've been meaning to ask you about that," Kael said, grinning.

"Sharp sense of smell, sharper sense of hearing. I feel bad for you Humes, not much of either. I hear your sense of taste and touch are stronger than ours, though."

As they started into the woods, Kael asked, "Will we have to go through a repeat of yesterday evening?"

Kari stopped in her tracks, making him accidently go a few feet more in front of her. He turned around, keeping on a casual face. She shrugged.

"Maybe." She started again, and he followed her by her side.

"So what's this clan. You said you had to prove yourself for one."

"Clan's are the basis of Ivalice. Once governed by laws, anyway. I want to join one just to feel like I'm doing something. I hope I don't get into the civil war, though."

"Hmm?"

"They're fighting for the throne, now. Clans, mostly," she said. Kael nodded. History had told him once a royal family was gone, there was most always struggle for power. Sometimes with the installation of a new government, other times with the same one. Whether it was a good or bad government was in the eye of the beholder.

"And what happens if you do get pulled into it?" Kael asked in a friendly tone.

"I'll stick with it, I suppose. I'm more of a healer than anything, anyway. And I'm not really fond of fighting anyway."

"Then why…?"

"Because I have to."

Kael questioned her no further. She suddenly smiled again. "So, what kind of girls do you like?"

"What?" Kael asked, bewildered. She grinned playfully this time, leaning in closer to his face, her sharp tooth showing.

"Well?"

"You don't ask guys that question!"

"Aw, come on, I don't bite!"

"I doubt it, especially with that fang…"

"FANG! It's a tooth that gives me my cuteness! It won't go away, though…"

"Cuteness? What are you talking about?"

"You…!"

Kael laughed. She stopped in midair with her hand balled into a fist and laughed as well. He loved playing these kinds of games back in Nagasaki, even though he had only done it with two other girls. All his life, he wondered if he would just play those games, never to have a true relationship. He always got mixed feelings about his looks; one day he swore he was the ugliest thing to walk the earth, the next he thought he was pretty good looking. He just couldn't be sure anymore, so he never worked up the guts to ask a girl out, even though he was sure they liked his personality.

For another hour of treking through the wood, they talked about random things, and Kari taught him some of the Viera language. He found the tongue rolls and rather flowing language difficult, most sentences she said she had not paused at all.

When noon came, they stopped and settled in a small part of untamed forest. Kael settled on a stump and leaned back, enjoying the sound of the vibrant area. The trees were slowly growing thicker, but it was as light as it had been in the previous portion. He took a deep breath and drank some water after Kari. They started off again, this time in silence.

"Smoke. Look." She pointed toward the sky. A thin trail of smoke slowly ascended into the pale-blue sky and then faded. Quietly, they made their way to the edge. Cautiously, Kari peered around from behind a tree and nodded. "Look," she repeated.

Kael slowly peaked from his hiding place, one foot on a rock. A small camp was in a larger clearing, but there was no grass and a large fire was crackling in the middle of it. Canvas tents were erected in a circular fashion, and Hume men dressed in green cloaks and white clothing and black boots, looking no older than their twenties, were either working on the camp or just talking. Kari pointed to the far end of the mix of tents.

An orange, lizard-like humanoid with a bulky tail and long snout was looking deep into a large blue tent, snapping his jaws and lashing his tongue, speaking in English that he could not quite make out. The Bangaa was over a foot taller than he was, and built with much more muscle mass.

"We're going against THAT! The two of us?" Kael whispered. She nodded. "ARE YOU NUTS?"

"Shhh!" She made a cutting motion over her neck. "Fighting may not be necessary. Stay here." She winked and stepped out of the hiding place. Kael grabbed for her arm and flailed his arms.

"You ARE nuts!"

"Just trust me! I don't think the ninjas were his."

Kael released and watched as she went out. He peered around again, and watched as the working Humes looked at her and stopped, then hid again. "Oi! Who're you!" a man called.

"I'm lost," he heard her say with feigned sadness in her voice. "Can you tell me where the nearest road is to Cyril?"

"Not sure meself, girl," another man with a rougher voice said. He listened as Kari pout openly in attempt to get sympathy. How typical, Kael thought.

"Oi! Boss!" another called, sounding much younger. "A girl is here, says she's lost. Must've seen the smoke." Kael risked peering around the corner again, and saw only four men in total standing in the camp. Kari was a few paces away, looking down at the ground and standing with a rather charming pose, her weight resting on one leg and lifting the other slightly, her finger touching her lips as if deep in thought. He whapped his forehead, rolled his eyes, and hid again. Christ…

A low hissing speech became clear. "Who, now? You! Tend to the ssssheep! We need to ssstart collecting wool ssssoon, and that way we can…" the Bangaa paused. "Ssssell it in town to help me buy more sssheep. Yesss."

"Oh, you have sheep? How cuute!" he heard Kari say. He peered around again. The towering Bangaa was closer than the others, only about five paces away from her and inspecting her. Thoroughly. Suddenly, Kari put a finger near her lower back and started pointing to Kael's left and making a circular motion, and then a small cherade of pulling a sword from a scabbard. He understood.

He retreated sligthly into the wood, wary of his steps, and circled around the camp. Once at the other side, he peered around another tree. The men and Kaltuzor had their backs turned to him, and Kari flashed a glance at him when she saw him. He snuck quietly into a nearby tent.

A slightly disturbing smell of dung and raw wool reached his nose, and sheep, some chewing on hay, looked up at him, some disregarding and munching peacefully. Okay, now what? There were about a dozen of them, each different sizes, and apparently not the traditional custom of people who raised sheep having the same kind. He went around them and drew his katana and started waving the broad side of the blade at them. Immedietly, they started flooding out the back entrance of the tent—silently. Slightly surprised, he followed them out, kept them together, and went deeper into the foliage.

They all bolted. Kael gaped and watched as they dashed nimbly into the forest. What the hell!

Panicking, he started after them, stopped halfway, turned around, did it again going for the sheep, then did it over again. Finally, he decided to go back to Kaltuzor's camp. He leaned up against the tree, his heart pounding, and tried waving to Kari. She just smiled. His breath stopped and he raised an eyebrow.

The Bangaa was now barely two feet away from her, saying something he could not hear. Suddenly, a scaled, taloned, three-fingered and one-thumbed hand reached out and touched her thigh, making her giggle. Kael rolled his eyes again, looked back into the wood, and went back around to where they originally came from.

"So sorry," Kari was saying in a sweet, lulling voice. "I can't, as handsome a devil as you are, I must say. I think I'll just go this way, is that okay?"

The Bangaa grumbled and shook his head. "To let sssomething ssso pretty go away? I think not. I can guide you."

Kari was insistent. "So sorry, but I must be going."

Kael nodded to no one, sweat dropping and his heart beating faster. Come on, you piece of cow dung! Just forget it, let us get away, then you can roar at your loss. But why'd Kari just smile when she saw I lost them?

He heard a gasp for breath, and a struggle. He shot his head back out to look, and saw Kaltuzor gripping her by the throat, but gently. His thin black eyes narrowed at her. "I'm afraid that I mussst inssisst," he snarled. A longue tongue escaped from his jaws and moved toward her, dripping with saliva.

Kael leapt from the place and charged for him. Immedietly, Kaltuzor released his grip and pulled a huge sword from the scabbard on his back, shaped like an Arabian sword, put it to her neck, and pulled her into his body. He stopped the charge, the three other men leaping in front.

This time, he was ready. Kael flipped the blade over, and, although it made swinging more difficult, hurled himself at them. Without difficulty, the blunt side smashed into the side of the middle Hume's neck, making him groan then collapse. Kael ducked as two swords swung that would've lifted his head from his shoulders, and did a spinning low-kick. Both of them fell. Feeling more confident, he drew a dagger from one of the men's belts and hurled it at the Bangaa's leg.

Kaltuzor barely flinched. He smirked, showing a vast assortment of sharp teeth. "Make a move, and she dies."

Kael was defeated. He looked up, and noticed Kari's clenched teeth as she struggled for breath and struggling for freedom. She was now off of her feet.

"She's my friend!" Kael yelled. "Why are you doing this to her? I lost her!" He lied, hoping for it to work.

"Ssshe's ssso pretty, why ssshould I leave her to you?" He said. Kael froze in surprise. He hasn't thought about the sheep!

"Then why'd you threaten to kill her?"

"Becausse it always worksss."

"Heh."

Kael stood erect and sheathed his sword, wary of the other men. This is what his sensei had taught him. The second form of the kamikaze. It wasn't even close to the original meaning of the Japanese pilots that commit suicide by crashing into American structures and ships, or even to the typhoon's that stopped the mass Chinese invasion of Japan. This was "true divine wind", he was taught. To move so fast, no one could see except those highly trained enough.

For over three years he had been in kendo, he had mastered this, but kept it secret from everyone else. He closed his eyes, and the Bangaa stopped breathing.

"What're you doing?" he asked.

Kael snapped his eyes open and felt his body weight shift forward. In an instant, he was behind Kaltuzor, the wind rushing through the long dangling and scaly ears. Kael lifted his blade and slammed the hilt into where the kidney should be, whipped around and slammed him in the neck. With nothing more than a gasp, it released grip of Kari, sending her collapsing to the ground and coughing. More gasps for air, then the giant collapsed, sending a mild tremor in the area.

Panting, Kael stood from the squatting position, and sheathed his sword. Kari was now looking at him, panting heavily, sweating immensely, and staring at him in fear. Kael wondered why. He walked over to her, but inspected the Bangaa first. He was breathing slowly. The two other men had gotten up but bolted for the forest.

"That was…incredible…and scary," Kari breathed, smiling. "We got the bounty."

"Yeah," Kael said, much happier this time. He didn't kill any of them, although he was sure the two he had knocked out would be hurting pretty badly soon.

"To take down a Bangaa like that…ow!" She yelped as he helped her up. "Thanks. To take out a Bangaa like that was incredible by itself. But so far, no one's been able to move with as much speed as you just did."

"It took a lot out of me, that's for sure." Kael was starting to feel more fatigued, panting more heavily. "Nice…er…seduction.

"Oh, that's not the word I'd use, sheesh!" she said. "Come on, let's take him to what we supposedly call a 'government.' The road is a little west of here."

"Kaltuzor?"

"They'll be here to pick him up. And I can get into a clan! You too, get to the same one I'm going to!"

"Do I want to do that!"
"Please?"

"Hm?"

"Oh, just do it!"

"Why?"

"For me," she said, beaming at him. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly before Kael could respond. A pigeon flew from the trees and landed on her shoulder, cooing contededly. She filled the tube with a tiny scroll and launched it. The pigeon circled once before darting southward.