Chapter 4
Nodyr's Fear
The good news was that the rain was short lived. No more than five minutes had passed before it had reached the peak of its strength, and then fizzled away to nothing. The bad news was that the combination of the freshly added moisture, along with the sun that was just beginning to reappear from behind the clouds, caused the campground to feel like no less than a sauna. The weather was hot enough to begin with, but now the additional humidity made tolerating the heat a futile effort for most. The air was so thick at the moment that one could easily be convinced that he or she could swim through it.
Fortunately for Sarah, she had brought along several ice packs to wear under her clothes, as well as on her wrists and temple. For the humans at this time of year, the packs were nearly a necessity. Some of the mantrins would wear them too.
Upon hearing the rain cease, Sarah stepped out of the tent only to be greeted by the suffocating air. She pulled back a few strands of hair that had instantly begun to stick to her forehead, and then had to lean over momentarily as she was feeling slightly dizzy. As she did so, her hair fell back in her face. She blew it out of her eyes but it did not wish to cooperate and came right back to annoy her.
Muttering a few obscene words about it under breath, Sarah stood upright once more, and then fished into her pocket for a hair band. She was surprised to have not only found one, but to have found three. She pulled out the first one that her fingers fell upon. It was purple and was quickly applied so that most of her hair was in a ponytail, and thus unable to bother her any longer.
With the hair out of her way, Sarah scanned the grounds. There were a surprising number of campers there for such a brutal day. She saw twelve tents just in one direction, and judging from the size of them, they were all owned by mantrin families. Heat aside; this would not have surprised her as the humans were outnumbered nine to one anyway. The ironic thing was that, despite their small numbers, the humans controlled nearly everything and had most of the wealth. Their status often reflected their attitudes too. Too many feelings of human superiority were rampant.
So far, Sarah had been right about who owned the tents. Three families had already stepped out into the open. All three were families of Goureg mantrins. This fact made her chuckle. It was no surprise that the single race that was truly adapted to this climate was the only one that she had seen so far that afternoon.
For now she watched one of them, hoping that he would not see her and think that she was staring. Like all Gouregs he was very tall; even the females could grow to over seven feet at times. All he wore was a pair of shorts, and she could clearly see his lighter underbelly against the slate color of the rest of his skin. The skin possessed very slight variations in color over the entire body. In bright sunlight it would even appear to change hues as they moved and various tones were temporarily highlighted. Without a shirt, she could also see how refined with muscle his body was. Despite the muscle, he also had the appearance of being very sleek, and his graceful movements helped to emphasize this.
She watched him turn around and open the front of his tent. He poked his head inside and spoke, although Sarah could not hear what had been said. Then he stepped back and a female made her way outside, whom she took to be his mate. Even from this distance, Sarah could tell that she was very pretty, and she wore a loose tank top that helped show off her generously sized breasts, along with a form fitting skirt that showcased her shapely hips, rump, and tail. Sarah jokingly wondered if she had seen these two in a modeling catalogue.
This female reached her hand inside the tent and helped a younger mantrin outside; he or she appeared to be around Stith's age, perhaps a few years older. Sarah could not tell the sex of the child, as it was close to impossible to tell young mantrins apart until they spoke, and even then it could be difficult. Until they matured, the physical differences were too minute to be able to accurately judge whether it was a male or female. Sarah assumed that since the child was wearing the more masculine color of blue that it was a male, but she really was not sure. After all, Stith wore blue herself.
Sarah then turned her attention away from this family and back to her own. They were still in the tent. She knelt down and crawled inside, only to find Stith and Nodyr munching away on the last of the birthday cake that they had brought along in their cooler.
"Where'd you go?" Nodyr said, his voice muffled from a generous piece of the cake.
"I didn't go anywhere," Sarah replied. "I was just seeing if it was safe to go out yet."
"Is it?" Smiling, he prematurely swallowed, and then licked at his lips. Afterward, the rest of the cake was aggressively shoved into his mouth, as though he was starving.
"Other than being very hot, yes. A lot of others are going out now," she said.
"Hi, ahmo!" Stith finally said once she had finished her cake.
"Hi, Stith." Sarah scooted inside until she was next to her, and directly in front of Nodyr. "Are you ready to go for a walk?" she asked.
Stith nodded rapidly in response. It took her ears a few moments to realize that her head had stopped moving as they continued to wobble even after the nod.
"We want to go swimming in the lake too," Nodyr said. "Can we?"
"That sounds like a good idea to me, once it cools off some tonight. Now, why did you have to eat the cake before lunch?" she suddenly asked.
Nodyr looked very proud of himself for having eaten it. His chest puffed out, and he grinned goofily and triumphantly. "Because it's so good!" he said.
"Mmhmm, mmhmm," was Stith's response.
"Well," Sarah said as she reached up and wiped some of the icing that was still on Nodyr's lips and then licked it off of her finger. "You're right, it's delicious." She admitted this reluctantly as she did not want to encourage him to give Stith cake before she had had a real meal. For now she let it slide however, as it was Stith's birthday.
"Nodyr, where are my ice packs?" Sarah asked once it was clear that they were done eating. "I can't stay out any longer than I did without them."
"Where else?" Nodyr said as he pushed the cooler over to her.
Sarah made no comment as she took it beside her and removed the lid. Inside was a large jug of drinking water that was destined to be used up quickly; fortunately there was a water pump on the grounds that could be used to refill the jug, as well as to drink from on one's own. Along with the few ice packs that she was going to wear on their hike, there were also a few items, such as lunchmeat, that would not have fared too well under the sun. For the most part however, they had brought food that would not have perished, such as granola bars and beef jerky. The latter was a favorite of Nodyr's.
Once she was ready, Sarah glanced at Stith and then Nodyr. "Are you ready to go for a walk now?" she asked.
Both nodded, however Stith was a tad more enthusiastic about it due to her recent intake of sugar.
The heat had not relinquished itself, much to Sarah's disappointment. Even the two mantrins were sweating liberally as the sun roasted their skin like a Thanksgiving turkey. If there was one advantage they had that Sarah envied, it was their large ears that helped to keep their bodies cool. Just now, she could see several veins along Nodyr's delicate ears as extra blood was coursing through them. Stith and Nodyr were also fortunate to have natural "sunglasses." Both had a dark ring around the eye that helped to greatly reduce the sun's glare.
"Is it too hot?" Nodyr asked with concern.
"I'll manage," Sarah said as she adjusted her headband, which was full of liquid coolant. "These things help. Now which way should we go?"
To answer this question, he polled Stith once the three had stepped out of the tent. Nodyr lowered himself so that he was muzzle to muzzle with her. "Would you like to go through the woods, or to the lake?" he asked. "There are nasty bugs in the woods," he added in hopes of persuading her to stay away because he did not really wish to go that way himself.
Stith stuck out her tongue to this comment. "Lake!" she said confidently.
Sarah grimaced and poked him in the ribs as she spoke. "You gave her such a fair choice," she said with overflowing sarcasm. "Stith, the forest is fine, if you would like to go."
Something was then whispered into the young mantrin's ear, causing her mouth to drop open in fright. "Lake!" she said again, with even more assurance this time.
"Nodyr, what did you say to her?" Sarah asked. Walking behind him, she gave a quick push up under his rump in hopes of getting him to resume a more normal stance. This way he would not be able whisper in their daughter's ear, and thus be unable to influence her further. He was too stubborn, not to mention heavy, for this to have done any good, and so Sarah then applied a forceful, yet playful smack near his tail.
He yelped and rose back to a resting position. "What?" He protested, raising his arms in a defensive gesture as though he expected to be hit once more. His tail swished from side to side heavily.
"What did you tell her?" she asked again as she dug her fists into her hips.
The large mantrin sighed as he looked down his muzzle at Sarah. "I just don't want to go in there, okay?" he said. "I'm still worried about that attack. What if someone from Wyr'Mo'Gwi was here? They would kill you for being with me! They would probably kill Stith and me too! They could still be around. It's safer out in the open! Okay!" His voice had begun to tremble to near hysteria before he had finished. His ears were fully at attention, and his beating tail was threatening to whip someone, had they gotten close.
"You don't need to worry," Sarah said calmly. She brought a hand up to his cheek and patted it before stroking down to his chest where the hand ultimately rested. She could feel his chest rising and falling rapidly from his anxiety. "Calm down," she said and rubbed his chest, which fortunately helped a little. The speed of his pounding hearts relaxed, as did his ears. She watched them gradually lower back to a resting state.
"I don't know why you get so worked up over this," Sarah finally said once she was sure that he was calm. "You know there isn't even proof that the group still exists."
"Then why is it that every time something bad happens, it's only against humans? It has to be Wyr'Mo'Gwi. It has to," he said, and then sniffled.
Suddenly, Stith echoed the sniffle. Under the bright sunlight, the tears moistening her eyes were readily visible. "They're not going to hurt us, are they?" she asked with her jaw trembling.
"No Stith," Sarah said. "No one is going to hurt anyone." For further comfort she patted Stith on the shoulder.
Nodyr did the same, and then lifted her into his arms, affectionately nuzzling her cheek. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you," he assured her, and then turned to Sarah, speaking emphatically. "That's why we aren't going into the woods."
"You're paranoid," Sarah muttered, but did not want to press the matter further in case she upset Stith more than she already was. "Weren't we going for a walk?"
"Yes," Nodyr said as he smiled, happy to be off of the subject as well.
Just before they left, Sarah caught two mantrins out of the corner of her eye staring at her and her family. They were Gouregs, much like those she had seen only a few minutes earlier. Even from her vague glimpse of them, she could see the horrified and angry looks on their faces, and she had a very sure idea about what was causing these expressions. If her ears had been honest, she was pretty sure that one of them muttered something about her and Nodyr being disgusting. For a brief moment she considered flashing them an obscene gesture. She decided against it however. Not only because it was not for Stith's eyes, but also because being rude would have only helped to validate what they were most likely thinking about her. Instead, she did something that proved to be far more satisfying.
"Nodyr," she said quickly in a whisper out of the corner of her mouth. "Put Stith down and lower your head. Now."
"Hmm?" he questioned as quietly as he could.
"Do it, trust me. Follow what I am about to do. I have a statement to make. And Stith, when he puts you down, turn around or you are going to be in trouble."
"Okay," he said as he reluctantly set Stith back on the ground, who miraculously obeyed.
The moment he had done this, Sarah leaned into him and brought her lips to his beak in the most overblown passionate kiss that she could perform. They were locked together for at least a minute. During the beginning of that time Nodyr had been completely taken by surprise, but once he had relaxed, the favor was returned generously. Soon she did not even have to try as he began to lick in return, drawing his large tongue over her round cheeks and lips, his eyes closed in pleasure.
There was a disgusted gasp from behind Sarah.
His hands stroked along her back and hips, as did hers along his back, which elicited shivers from both. Sarah's hands also rubbed as far down his tail as she could reach, and then back up using only her delicate fingertips; she felt him happily shuddering against her body, which was only amplified from the sensation of her lips against his leathery beak. Adding to this, she squeezed the rolls of flesh on his hips, and gave him a little peck between his nostrils, both of which she knew he loved like nothing else.
With satisfaction, Sarah caught the disturbed look of the two mantrins that had been watching her. It was probably just the sunlight, but from her viewpoint they appeared at least two shades paler. She temporarily broke from the kiss to taunt them, however, her hands continued to rub at his hindquarters, at one point giving his rump a firm squeeze that caused Nodyr to gasp and blush with embarrassment, despite how much he secretly enjoyed it.
"That's right!" Sarah called to her onlookers with triumph. "We're in love! Now quit staring, or we might show you just how much we really do love each other!" As she said this, her hand began to toy at his waistband, and had Stith not been there, and had Nodyr not suddenly jumped back in surprise, Sarah would have probably continued with what she had been planning.
The look of shock on the two Gouregs' faces was frozen, as were their bodies. The way they were acting, Sarah was convinced that they had seen one of Solbrecht's two moons explode, or something just as improbable. "I said quit staring!" she said again, and this time directed her attention mainly at the female. "He's mine now. Don't be jealous!"
With that, she turned and paid them no more attention, however she heard the male scream "sinner!" at her as they left with as much disgust as he could muster.
"Come on Stith," Sarah said, motioning with her hand as she walked north along the border of the forest.
The young mantrin caught up with them quickly. "What'd you do?" she asked with a spring in her step that was only encouraged by the sugar zipping through her system. Stith repeated herself twice. "What'd you do what'd you do?"
Sarah looked down at Stith and smiled. "Dear, I was just showing two prudes how much I love your father, and that it's perfectly okay."
"She was making me really happy too," Nodyr said, his voice quivering with giddiness.
"You didn't kiss did you?" Stith said sourly.
Nodyr opened his mouth. "W-"
"No," Sarah said quickly, cutting him off before he could speak. "We just hugged a lot. Like this." As she said this, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his back. Stith could not see, but Nodyr's tail was being rubbed with her legs as well.
"She grabbed my butt too!" he exclaimed quickly, turning to see Stith over his shoulder, and flashing the biggest grin he had had in a long time. His ears were still flushed a deep crimson. Just as he had anticipated, Stith was overcome with giggles. There was something about mentioning one's nether regions that she found hilarious.
The walk soon carried them to one of the many lakes that surrounded the area. It was nearly a mile long and bordered on the north and east edges by the large span of woodland area that officially marked the end of city's limits; no one had bothered to colonize past the forest, not yet anyhow. In the afternoon heat, many were out for a swim. For the first time Sarah finally saw where all of the human campers had gone.
At least ten human families were at the lake that afternoon. Most were in the water, but some were stretched out along the bank, coupled with portable fans and icy beverages to battle the heat. These accessories did little good, and so the more intelligent of the campers had jumped into the lake. The water itself was warm, but much cooler than the air, and was plenty refreshing.
She watched as one very hairy man rose out of the water with his daughter on his shoulders. Quickly, he gave her a little push and she was sent flying and squealing into the water. Sarah caught her joyous exclaims of "throw me again daddy!" over the distance. Before the girl had climbed back onto his shoulders, a young boy with a mess of dirty blond hair had splashed her from behind. He teased her, and then ducked under the water before she could get him. Sarah assumed this was the girl's brother as all three had the same hair color and complexion. Of course the fact that he was teasing her gave it away too. Only brothers could be so cruel.
Nodyr was watching the activities in the lake as well. "That looks refreshing," he said as he took notice of another human on a jet ski off in the distance. It looked like a lot of fun. He wondered why they never made such toys for mantrins. As far as he was concerned, his species could use them too, and just as well. The machine would simply have to be made wider to accommodate the mantrins' wide stance. At least he thought this would work.
Nodyr scratched under his jaw as he returned his attention to Sarah and before speaking. "I sure hope we can go swimming later."
"Of course, the water looks really nice. I would get in right now if I was dressed for it," she said as she looked at Stith. "Did you want to go swimming?" she asked.
"Mmhmm Mmhmm!" Stith said. "I wanna go now too!" She began to trot toward the water but Nodyr quickly snagged her shoulder. She grunted in protest.
"We'll go swimming after our walk," he said. "And if you behave, we'll stay out even longer. Okay?"
Much to his relief, Stith agreed without protest. When Nodyr was finished watching the jet skier, the three made their way around the edge of it until they came to a walking trail that led through another section of forest. It was a natural path that continued for over two miles, and ended at yet another lake that was at the bottom of a cliff. This wall rose about thirty feet above the water. This was a popular, not to mention quiet spot for those that wanted to walk the length of the trail.
Fortunately, the canopy of trees provided some relief from the sun. The dense foliage formed an arc above their heads that blocked a healthy portion of the rays, and thus it was cooler. It was not by much, but it was enough to make the heat tolerable. An additional bonus was that the recent rain left the leaves and branches soaked. This moisture that had not yet evaporated dripped upon the three, much to their delight.
At one point Nodyr reached up to grab one of the branches, and then shook it roughly. A cascade of water proceeded to soak Sarah. She ended up completely drenched as though she had hopped in the shower for a second; technically this was true. Had the shower not been so refreshing, she would have been very angry about the prank. Instead all she did was wipe away a few leaves that were clinging to her skin while listening to Stith and Nodyr giggle. He got off easy with a playful shove in the back. A few minutes later however, she returned the favor, soaking both of them when she disturbed the limbs by tossing a stick overhead (she was unable to actually reach them on her own).
They walked on for a while longer, not speaking much, and mostly enjoying nature. Every so often a cool breeze would pick up through the trail, rustling the leaves, branches, and the two mantrins' ears which blew around like wind socks; the breeze was especially soothing considering the moisture on their bodies. A bed of leaves along the ground crackled under their feet. Bird like creatures called to each other from the branches with their own imitative songs, and at one point, Nodyr nearly had a collision with one as it flew low across the trail.
A few minutes later, there was a sudden rustle in a bush nearby. Nodyr, who was still leading, suddenly stopped, his left foot momentarily hovering in mid air before bringing it to rest. He looked back at them with a cautious glance, as if to say "don't go any further."
"What is it?" Stith asked, trying to hurry ahead to the bush until she was stopped by Nodyr's outstretched leg.
"Wait," he said very sternly, a sudden change of demeanor that surprised both Stith and Sarah. "It might be something dangerous. Get back." He reached behind himself and gently pushed Stith backward a few paces. "Wait," he said again when he felt her resist.
The young mantrin protested. "But I want to see it!" she said to the back of his swishing tail.
"No!" he scolded, raising his voice in a rare moment. "Stay behind me."
With concern, Sarah stepped forward until she was at his side. She took Stith's hand firmly in hers, and then looked up at him with confusion and a slight bit of anger on her face. There was no reason to yell at their daughter like he had just done. "What was that for?" she stammered.
"Sshh!" he replied as he quickly whipped his head around atop his thick neck. His teeth were pressed together as he spoke. "Be quiet. You don't know what that was."
Bringing her voice to an irritated whisper, Sarah stood on her toes so that she could be closer to his ear. Her hand still firmly held onto Stith's, who was squirming to try to get away and satisfy her curiosity. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Dear, I hate it when you get like this. There's nothing to worry about, it's just some animal. She patted him on the top knee in hopes of reassurance.
"It's just, I'm just worried about things, okay?" he said, choking out his first few words.
"What?" she asked, still in a whisper. "If it's Wyr'Mo'Gwi still, there's no way it could be anyone with the size of that bush. Why would they be out here anyway?" Upon saying the name, she saw his body stiffen before giving into a shiver that ran from his ear tips all the way to his tail tip.
"Shh," he said angrily. "You don't want them to hear us. You remember what just happened in town." Nodyr watched the shrub intently. Three painful minutes had passed before there was another rustle. This movement caused him to step backward, pushing his family with him. His arms were outstretched and turned toward them to form a barrier, although it would have done little good in the event of an attack. His ears were standing erect, not only scanning in front, but all around from fear of being surrounded; they swiveled back and forth to catch any sounds.
His focus maintained on the bush as his eyes narrowed to a paper-thin aperture. "Go away!" he shouted. "Leave us alone!"
"Nodyr, calm down," Sarah said pleadingly. "Please. You're scaring Stith. Me too."
"But," he began, but then trailed off upon hearing another shift in the plant. His ears quickly swiveled toward the source of the sound. The movement was so rapid that it was nearly painful. He brought a hand up to one of his ear bases and grunted as he rubbed at it.
After yet another rustle, an empty nutshell rolled out of the bush. Following this was a small animal that teetered from within. It emitted an irritated squawk, and had it not been for the animal's comical appearance, the utterance would have been taken seriously. Its body was tiny, yellowish, and shaped like a pear. Its legs were about the size as the rest of its body and were about the animal's only notable asset; they could be used to leap great distances if needed. There were no forelimbs, which helped add to the comical appearance. Along with this, the tiny nose at the tip of the animal's flat muzzle never seemed to stop twitching.
"You got all worked up over a yoble?" Sarah asked.
Nodyr lowered his brow and gnawed on his lip. "Sorry," he said in embarrassment as the yoble squawked at them again. "I'm just trying to keep you all safe."
"Yes I know," she said, "but you sometimes overreact. Like just now." Sarah then leaned down to console Stith, who appeared to be one half of a bad feeling away from tears. "Stith, he didn't mean to yell. He isn't mad at you."
"Sorry Junebug," he said, not looking back at her, and simply lowering his head in shame. His hands were firmly shoved into the pockets on the front of his shorts.
"Okay," Stith said weakly, and then added, "Can I pet the yoble?" as though allowing this would be a way of making up to her.
Still holding her hand, Sarah looked down her round nose at Stith. She did not actually believe what she was about to say was possible. "Sure, if you can catch it," she said with a smirk.
The yoble must have understood what had been said, because just then it let out another squawk and bounded off down the trail. And Stith must have taken her seriously, because upon seeing this, she finally squirmed out of Sarah's grasp and took off after the frightened animal. Like all mantrins, the running was a kind of bounding side-to-side motion, much like a speed skater. The legs could generate a lot of power and had a great deal of reach that could give the mantrin a lot of speed in quick bursts; trying to run with such large legs took a lot of energy, and so the body could only run for a short while. The rare exception was Stith, who was still experiencing a sugar rush, and could thus run forever, or at least until she was threatened with a time out.
Stith had already disappeared down the hill in front of them before it had sunk in to her parents they she had actually just done what she had. "Stith get back here now!" Sarah screamed. Within the same breath, both she and Nodyr dashed along the trail after her. The large mantrin quickly outran her.
When they finally found Stith, which did not take long, she was curled up at the bottom of the hill from which she had originally disappeared from their sight. Even from the top they could hear her crying very loudly; she was using her shirt to catch the tears, which had become quite moist near the collar. One of her legs was twisted into a very uncomfortable, not to mention unnatural looking position as it lay backward and under her body. The young mantrin did not even notice them until they were right above her. She looked up slowly to see Nodyr staring down at her over his muzzle.
"I fell," Stith whimpered, continuing her sobs. "Oww."
"And your little friend got away too I see," Nodyr said as he lowered himself to help her stand. The yoble was nowhere in sight. Upon closer inspection he saw the real reason that she was crying. Between the knees on her right leg, there was a very long stripe of blood where the leg had been skinned from the fall. Along with this, there were several bruised on his legs, shoulder, and on her cheek. This was all on top of the painful contortion of her left leg.
"Is your leg broken?" Sarah suddenly interjected in fear. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Stith whimpered after trying to fight back her tears for a minute. "It hurts a lot."
Very gently, Nodyr scooped a hand under her back, and helped to ease her to a sitting position. He heard Sarah wince from behind, sucking in a thin, high pitched breath through her teeth as her eyes focused further on Stith's leg. He then very carefully lifted her from underneath her arms until her leg was freed from under her body. Both hung limply below her, and fortunately the movement did not seem to cause her any pain.
"I think she's alright," Nodyr said to Sarah. "Remember how flexible our legs can be."
"I hope so," Sarah said. "You know you can't assume things."
As he held Stith, Nodyr nuzzled against her soft ears, eliciting a tranquil coo that temporarily took her mind off of the pain. "Are you ready to stand now?" he asked her.
"I'm okay," Stith choked as she shook her head in agreement. However, this did not stop the tears that were still racing down her cheeks. "Ow," she suddenly said again, and held a hand over the bruise near her eye.
"Are you sure?" Nodyr and Sarah said in unison. Afterward they looked at each other curiously and nearly laughed, but were dissuaded by the troubled situation.
"Mmhm." Stith nodded. She wriggled about a bit to show she was ready to be released. She was set down promptly without any severe complications. However, she did wince momentarily upon applying pressure to her leg. Fortunately, the pain did not last, and she was able to walk as normally as one would expect after tumbling down a hill covered in stones and branches.
Once it was clear that she would be just fine, Sarah knelt down to inspect her cuts. The large skinned area down the front of her leg was not hindering movement, but it certainly was unpleasant, and could lead to an even more unpleasant infection if it was left untreated. Sarah shook her head sadly. "We need to go back to the tent," she said, knowing full well that there would be protest.
She was right. "Why?" Stith said, threatening to start up the tear factory again.
"Because," Sarah said," we need to bandage that leg of yours before it gets worse.
Nodyr was in agreement. "Yes, let's go Stith, and then we can go swimming. Okay?"
This seemed to make everything much better. There was no further objection from Stith, much to her parents' relief. On the way back, she ran around to prove her good health. Stith dashed back and forth, running around them in figure eights, even trying to scamper up a tree at one point. A fully-grown Sogowan could have reached the high branches. Her legs were not long enough however. It would have to wait until she was older.
Soon they had returned to the tent with Stith held firmly in her adoptive father's arms. About halfway back to the tent, he had decided to carry her, due to the trauma that she had just been through, even though she had just proven that she was all right via her antics. To a mantrin of Nodyr's size, her weight was no burden, at least not for the first few minutes anyhow. By the time that they had returned, his lower back was aching plenty, and his arms were beginning to feel like pasta, however he did not complain. Although as he set her down, he did say, complete with a grin: "I'm not going to be able to carry you next year if you don't stop growing. "
Stith made no promises.
Nodyr watched as the two disappeared into the tent. What came next was an uncomfortable period where he heard Stith complaining about something stinging, and then yelping as it was applied. After a return of the tears, the complaints finally settled into quiet, save a few weak sniffles here and there from within the tent. He waited, his ears cocked to attention while he listened.
Silence.
This soon became too unsettling. Nodyr peered his head into the tent to see if anything was wrong. What he found was Sarah sitting up with Stith in her lap, eyes closed, and curled into a ball. "Shh. I think she wore herself out," Sarah said, with an extended finger to her lips. She smiled with relief.
"Oh," Nodyr said in surprise. He brought his voice to a whisper. "I think I'm going to walk around for a few minutes, okay?
"Alright, hurry back," Sarah said, and then did her best to keep Stith asleep.
Nodyr returned to the heat of the day. The campground was becoming a little livelier, with more campers arriving, and others stepping out of their tents for once. Off in the distance he saw two human families. They both appeared to be small; one had one young child, and the other had none. Or maybe they did, he thought. Those two appeared to be older; perhaps they were grandparents.
He walked around for a while, not straying too far from the tent. He was still rather nervous about the news of the recent attack in the city, even though there was no evidence about who had actually done it. He knew who most likely had down it however, even though, as Sarah continued to remind him, there was no way to prove that Wyr'Mo'Gwi even existed any longer. He also knew what they could do, or at least he thought he did. When he was only a small child, long before his parents had disowned him for his relationship with a human, they had told him many things about the organization.
Much like his parents, he knew how much they hated humans. He knew how they had killed many when the group had started; Nodyr had not even been alive when it began. He knew how their criminal activity had forced them to vanish long ago. It was believed that they were all gone for good, but to where was the question. The members were known, but they were never seen. What was known however was that many activities, very similar to the ones that Wyr'Mo'Gwi had enacted, still happened every so often. Yet, there was never any capture or evidence of the criminals.
Nodyr tried his best to shake this out of his mind as he walked around the area.
After a while he saw a mantrin approaching him; he was a Goureg. Nodyr did not know this, but he was the same male that Sarah had seen earlier before the walk. This time he was more freely dressed, wearing a loose white shirt, and a short skirt-like bottom. The latter garment was very common among mantrins in the city, simply because it was much easier to get on and off than a pair shorts, or pants even, which were even worse. Mantrin legs were simply not designed to allow human clothing below the waist, and their typical pair of pants was an awful mess of buttons and/or snaps so that the garment could unfold like a diaper. Otherwise, they would be impossible to apply.
His mate was not along this time.
"Uhreaht," the Goureg said, greeting him in Preidogian. He continued speaking in this local mantrin language, and did not wait for Nodyr to respond as he adopted an aggressive tone. "My mate and I witnessed you fraternizing with that human woman. You should be very ashamed of yourself." He stared toe to toe with Nodyr, looking down at him as his tail beat from side to side. Even for a Goureg, this mantrin was huge; from the distance Sarah had seen him, he did not appear to be so tall. His green-blue eyes nearly appeared to glow in the sunlight.
Not wishing to be so close, Nodyr stood back. He looked to the side so that their muzzles did not have to be so close together. The feeling was very uncomfortable to him. "What does it matter?" he said. His lip uncontrollably curled up to show his teeth. "I'm not ashamed."
"Because it's disgusting and unnatural," he spat. "And we don't appreciate our wonderful day being ruined because you don't have the sense to stay apart from that alien. The humans are starting to think we're a bunch of immoral perverts. Do you want that?" He shifted his weight forward, as though he were about to pounce, and then added as his eyes narrowed: "And don't snarl at me. I don't take threats from your kind."
Ready to leave for good, Nodyr took yet another step back and turned so that his side was facing the other mantrin. "My kind?" he muttered to himself with confusion lingering in his voice. He chewed on his lip as he pondered this, saying the phrase again more emphatically. His face scrunched up into several contortions as he tried to keep himself from doing something stupid. What he really wanted to do was run, and in fact his legs continued to twitch as though they would take off without him, but at the same time, he wanted to say something to defend himself.
The fight and flight responses should never mix. "I'm not natural? And those things you're wearing are natural!" he finally shouted, catching the Goureg by surprise as he received a violent kick between the knees on his left leg. Nodyr watched in horror as the other clenched his teeth and eyes tightly while he clutched at his wounded leg. He quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen what he had done. Everyone appeared to be gone now. The place was deserted. Still, he worried, that the agonized yell from his antagonist would have been enough to summon those even far away in the city.
About two minutes later, he had made it back to his tent, panting heavily, and leaning over to catch his breath. His hands rested on his top knees for support. What did you do? he thought. Nodyr had never attacked anyone before, even for saying worse things. Now he's probably going to come back for you. Nice going. Oh no. Suddenly, Nodyr felt a deep chill from within, as though death were resting on his shoulders. I bet he's from Wyr'Mo'Gwi. That's why he hates Sarah so much. And now I've upset him. He's going to come after us now, or even get his friends after us. He felt a very sickening sensation in his gut.
Nodyr suddenly stood rigidly, scanning the area for any signs of the mantrin that he had upset. He was nowhere to be found. In fact, no one was around at all. He wondered where they had gone. There were just a lot out here, he thought. Maybe you were just seeing things. He looked around some more after shaking his head a few times to try to clear his mind. He still saw no one. He began to wonder if they had all seen what he had done and gone to get help, or even fled in fear. He continued to ponder the situation, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt his hearts racing. Sweat was breaking out on his temple and palms.
Taking a deep breath, he finally ducked his way into the tent. Sarah was sitting up, appearing half asleep, with Stith in her lap. The young mantrin, surprisingly enough, was still asleep as well. She was curled up with her head rested on Sarah's far thigh.
"What's wrong?" she said in a whisper so as not to wake Stith. "You look like you just saw someone get killed."
"Well we might. I think we need to go." He did not bother keeping his voice down, and remained in a low crouch. One foot pointed toward the tent's entrance.
"Why?" she said in surprise. "Earlier you were telling me we weren't going anywhere."
"Look," he said hastily. "I ran into someone from Wyr'Mo'Gwi and I hurt him because he was insulting you and he's really angry and he's going to come kill you."
Stith, who had begun to stir moments earlier, suddenly burst into tears again. She clung tightly to Sarah, the little claws pricking her adoptive mother's skin. "They're not going to hurt ahmo are they?" she asked, terrified
"Nodyr! And no I'm going to be okay," she quickly said to Stith, patting her on the shoulder, and dabbing up the tears. "Don't frighten her! I don't know who you saw, but you don't know where they're from. I really doubt they're from that place. It's just another camper. I saw someone earlier too that was giving us sour looks. Relax, it's not like it's the first time we've had problems."
His mouth hung agape as he appeared very offended that she would not take him seriously. "Look, he was really angry. And you can't ignore things. Remember what happened to Alison's mate!"
"Yes," Sarah said flatly, and then winced. She said no more on the matter as it was not for a young girl's ears. "But we still don't know who did it. Stop being so paranoid."
Nodyr growled in frustration, and then lowered onto his rump. Part of his tail still rested outside of the tent. "I'm sorry for trying to keep you safe then."
Sighing, Sarah shook her head sadly. She cupped a hand on the side of his jaw and gave it a little pat. "I know you are, but I think you're just overreacting to this. Calm down." She leaned forward, bringing her lips next to her ear, and then whispered. "It is still Stith's birthday. Please don't ruin it. Calm down for her, if nothing else."
"I…" Nodyr trailed off, gnawing on his lip. He made a few frustrated faces for a moment while he tried to think of what to say. "Okay," he finally said, quite reluctantly. Forcing a smile, he looked at Stith. "Would you like to go swimming now?" Even if he did not wish to go himself, he would have been very receptive to the notion at that moment. Getting away from their tent and being around others seemed much safer.
"Mmhmm!" Stith nodded happily.