Chapter 5
Sunset
Later that afternoon, the weather was not much better. The only thing that made it somewhat tolerable was a comforting breeze that had begun to pick up across the area. It would not last long. It never did unless of course one was near the ocean, which was not too far from where the city was located. To the residents it was nothing special however. Living so close tended to diminish the luxury of the ocean. The furthest community was only about sixty miles. Most lived within ten.
Meanwhile, Stith, Sarah, and Nodyr had long since finished their lunch, and were dozing inside the tent, doing their best to keep cool. Sarah was lying on top of Nodyr, and Stith was lying on top of her. Only the largest of the three was snoring, and he had been out for at least an hour.
Stith was the first to wake. Actually, she had never been fully asleep outside of a few minutes after she had received her bandages. Mostly she had laid there, eyes half closed, and thinking about nothing more than getting in the lake. Her excitement made the wait seem extra long. As she continued to wait, Stith rolled off of her mother, landing to the ground with a soft thump. "Ow," he said in a tiny voice as she landed on one of her bruises. Sitting, Stith crossed her legs. Her tail twitched behind her, and she wondered how they could still be sleeping when something as important as going swimming still awaited them.
She waited, and then waited some more. Several irritated grunts later, it finally began to come to her attention that they were not about to get up any time soon. If they were not going to do anything, she decided that she would herself. Carelessly, Stith crawled her way out of the tent and looked around. She held a hand over her brow and scanned the horizon. In the distance she could see several others out and about, resting, walking, and playing games with each other. She saw a few children, all humans, playing tag. Nearly everyone else was a grown up however. They all looked so tall.
Nearby was a lone mantrin, walking casually toward the forest. He wore no more than a ragged pair of shorts that were tattered along the edges and patched up near his rump. She could tell by the horizontal black stripes down his back and tail that he was an Orkeht. Why does he want to go in there? Stith wondered as he drew closer to the forest's edge. Monsters and bad men are in there. He must be crazy. Crazy or not, he did not look so tall.
In fact, he looked no bigger than a child, at least from Stith's viewpoint anyhow. She held up her thumb and squinted over it, her tongue sticking out comically. No, she thought, he's tiny. The Orkeht was no bigger than her thumb and claw put together. No one else was going to talk to her right now, so Stith decided that she would say hi.
She trotted away from the tent until she was near him. "Hi!" Stith said gleefully.
"Oh, uh hi," he said in a voice that was surprisingly low for someone of his diminutive stature. The Orkeht turned to face her, and tripped over his words like a series of speed bumps as he fidgeted, wearing an expression of one caught doing something naughty. He barely had to lean down to be eye to eye with her.
What proceeded was a barrage of questions. "What's your name? Mine's Stith. Where are you going? What are your pants ripped up? Where's your tent? Wanna see mine? It's over there. I'm bored, wanna talk? Why are you so small?" Stith asked. She rocked back and forth on her feet as she spat out her interrogation.
The stranger nearly had to clamp a hand over her muzzle to get her to be quiet. Just before he spoke, another breeze picked up, catching his large ears in the process and comically blowing them around like frail wind socks. "Easy now," he said, relaxing a bit and laughing quietly. "You only get to ask one question at a time, and to answer your first, my name is Myolu. It's nice to meet you Stith." As he spoke he quickly held out his hand to shake hers. "But I'm in a hurry to meet a friend of mine, so I fear we can't talk much. Have you seen him? He looks kind of like me, but has on some green shorts."
"No," Stith said. "You say my name funny." This was about the only thing of importance to her. He did have a noticeable accent that differed from anything she was used to. She was not sure what the difference was, but it was there. "And you smell funny too."
"Do I?" he asked to both of her tactless remarks. "I think I smell normal while you smell like chemicals. What'd you bathe with?"
"Soap," she said in a tone showing how obvious she thought the answer was. "Ahmo makes me use it."
Myolu suddenly looked over his shoulder off into the distance before returning his attention to Stith. "Well tell ahmo that she shouldn't make you use it all the time. It masks your scent."
"So?"
"Well when you get older, the boys won't like you as much. Eh, you are a girl right?" he asked suddenly, not wishing to have judged her falsely. Or at the least to have assumed something about her that if it was true, would not really be clear until she had begun maturing later in life.
"Yeah huh. Ahmo's mean to me."
"Is she really?"
"Yeah, she hits me a lot," she said, referring to the spankings she would get here and there. It was never anything outside of a little pop on the rump, but to her it was one of the worst things ever.
"Why?" he asked. "Do you misbehave?"
She lied, as all children do when asked if they are troublesome. "No! Because she's mean," Stith said. "Oh guess what? She's a human too. Neat huh?"
"Is that so?" he asked with a sudden concerned air. "I don't really know if it's good for the t—"
"--Mmhmm!" she interrupted. "Oh and she makes me brush my teeth too!" Stith made an over exaggerated choking sound to show how much she disliked this.
"Oh how dreadful," he said, humoring her, and deciding not to say anything more about the human raising her. He was not too fond of the idea, but did not wish to upset her. He considered, and hoped, that maybe it would work out better than he thought. "Who needs healthy teeth?"
"Who's your friend?" Stith said, changing the subject, as she had no answer to his question.
"Uh," he said, looking around nervously before he continued. "Just someone I work with, but I'm much better than he is. I get to boss him around. Oh he wouldn't like your ahmo very much either, so if you see him, don't tell him about her."
"He sounds mean!" she said with disdain.
"Eh guess he can be. That reminds me though. You should tell your ahmo this if she doesn't know. I saw in the news that Wyr'Mo'Gwi might have attacked a place in the city. If they're around, she might not be safe. But Stith, don't worry. I'm sure they're just a myth."
"A what?"
"Oh just a story that isn't true," he said, leaning his muzzle back and sniffing in the air. "Now I think I smell my friend coming. I have to go Stith. Be a good girl and go back to your tent."
"Okay bye!" she chimed.
Stith trotted off, back to in the direction of her tent. Fear suddenly began to creep up on her as she looked around, unsure of where the tent was. They all looked so much alike, and now there were others in her camping area. She wondered which tent was hers, and began to wish that she had paid more attention to its color. She thought it was a dark red, but could not remember clearly. Making her way into the middle of a long group of tents, she looked around and pondered what might be the right one.
A minute later she found the right tent, not by choice, but because Sarah stepped out of it and caught her. "Where are you going?" she scolded as she grabbed Stith by the wrist.
"Nowhere," she said innocently as she decided that it was best not to mention where she had gone if that was not suspected.
"Well get back inside before your father worries to death. You're lucky he's asleep right now. You know better than to wonder off without us."
"Sorry," Stith said, and then said nothing more. Inwardly she sighed a long sigh of relief from not being questioned further. It was not until they were back in the tent that she recalled what Myolu had told her. She felt like she should say something as it was important. But, if she did, she knew that Nodyr would panic, and then they would probably never get to go swimming. They might even have to go home.
At the least, Nodyr was half asleep. His eyes opened just barely upon hearing them enter the tent and sit in front of his lying form. "Whayadoing?" he slurred, smacking his lips loudly and yawning with his mouth wide enough to give them a healthy view down his throat. His tail tip lazily rocked from side to side, and he scratched at his legs and hips as he continued to smack his lips.
"Well," Sarah began as she reached into their cooler and brought out an icy pitcher of water. After a long refreshing drink she continued. "I think someone here—" she gestered to Stith. "—really wants to go swimming."
"You promised!" Stith said. She leaned with her palms flat against his tummy.
Nodyr grunted from her weight, and then eased up onto his elbows, finally growing more awake. "I know I know," he said, smacking his lips some more. Finally he sat up onto his rump. He leaned forward, stretching his back as he reached down to his lower knees. "But maybe we should wait a bit more."
"No let's go now! You keep saying wait," Stith wined, beating her fist on his leg. "I want to go now."
Instead of berating her for the behavior, Sarah only smiled. "She's right you know," she said to Nodyr. "Let's go now, alright? It'll be evening soon."
"Eh," he muttered. He looked around, in every direction but in their eyes; often his own walked along the floor. For the following awkward minute, all he managed to say were a few uncomfortable meaningless syllables, with uh being a favorite. His toes twitched, curling up in a tight flex. He tapped his claws against the ground, nearly ripping a hole in their cheap tent. "Well," he said slowly after finally noticing Sarah looking at him with impatience and with a bit of irritation with his hesitation.
What finally got him to move was the feeling of ten little fingers tugging hard on the waist of his shorts. "Ah!" he yelped, scooting back against the tent wall. "Stith, don't do that. I might lose something," he said nervously.
"I know!" Stith giggled.
"Careful," Sarah told her. "You know how embarrassed erseh is of himself. We wouldn't want him to lose something, would we?" As she said this, she chuckled and then gave a quick tug at his shorts herself. She could not help but chuckle as he yelped and jumped backward as much as he could. Unfortunately for Nodyr, there was nowhere to go.
"Hmm," she said slyly, and then turned to face Stith. "What do you say he loses something after all if he doesn't let us go swimming?"
She had to think about this for a moment, but finally understood what Sarah had meant. "Okay!" she said, and scooted next to him, placing a hand on his shorts again. Sarah did the same.
"Hey this isn't fair," Nodyr complained. He swatted their hands away defensively and pouted. Eventually he gave up and reached into their clothing bag, pulling out Stith's swimsuit, and tossing it to her. Stith caught it and scooted back to change.
"Sarah," he said sadly as he leaned close to her ear and brought his voice to a whisper. "I'm just worried about things," he said. "I can't stop thinking about that mantrin I saw earlier. I can't believe I kicked him. "
"It's going to be fine," she said in reply, not bothering to keep her voice down. She tenderly petted his leg as she spoke. "It's obvious that he is a fool. You said he doesn't think that we should be together, so what does he know about anything? He's probably too afraid to even bother you again, after what you just did. You showed him how tough you are. Right?" she said encouragingly, hoping to pump up his confidence.
Before he could reply, Sarah looked over at Stith who was struggling with her swimsuit. "Erseh's really strong isn't he?" she asked.
"Mmhm!" Stith said, rapidly nodding her head. "He can beat up anybody!" She flexed and made a few jabbing motions into the air to emphasize this.
Despite his present anxiety, Nodyr could not help but laugh at her antics. "Yeah I'm really strong," he said weakly. He cracked a smile and watched her fumble with the swimsuit, nearly turning herself into a pretzel in the process.
"You are strong," Sarah said warmly and snuggled up into his chest. She was about to say something that would have most likely led to Stith gagging, but the young mantrin in question was holding her attention too well. Stith resembled a kitten fighting too hard with a ball of string, and then getting tangled up in it.
"Need some help?" she asked.
"Nooo," Stith said and continued to struggle. The small tent space was not helping at all. Eventually one of the shoulder straps ended up fastened around her neck, the other was twisted around about six times and on the wrong side, and the entire garment was turned inside out, not to mention being on backwards.
By the time she finally gave up, she was laying on the floor, panting heavily. "Yes," she finally said in defeat. Her ears hung low in shame.
"It's okay Stith." Sarah said and then pointed at Nodyr. "I even have to help him." He promptly stuck his tongue out at her. "And he has to help me occasionally," she added.
"Everyone needs help sometimes. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Help," was all Stith said in response.
"How did you do this?" Sarah asked as she began to unfasten the tangled suit. "It's not that difficult. Only two things to button."
"I can't reach the back," she said in an apologetic tone, as though she were in trouble for something.
Sarah mimed the motion of reaching for the back strap and suddenly became aware of the awkwardness of doing so. "Oh, that is hard," she said. "Sorry Stith, I didn't mean to make you feel stupid, but you know we've always helped with it in the past and I never even thought about whether or not it would be difficult."
"Well it is!" Stith said angrily.
"It is," Nodyr said to back her up. "You've seen what a pain it can be for us to get into everything but shirts."
"I have," she said, and then glanced at the pile of Stith's clothes in the corner of the tent. "Much easier than getting out of them it seems."
It was not long before Sarah had straightened out the swimsuit and properly applied it to Stith. It looked like a typical woman's attire, with the main difference being that the shoulder straps connected over the shoulders instead of being one piece. The other difference was an opening in the back for the tail surrounded by a ring of elastic to help hold the tail snuggly. There were also a few snaps on the sides so that the suit would open down the torso. The way it came apart allowed for it to be put on much more easily; all the mantrin had to do was sit on it like a diaper and connect the front and back. Otherwise, the long legs made it near impossible unless he or she was as flexible as an acrobat. The only drawback to the design was that it usually required an assistant. Of course there was the standard two-piece, but that was not what Stith had.
Nodyr's suit was similar, however it stopped around his belly, snapping at the sides of the hips. Many males also wore the Speedo variety of swimsuit; however Nodyr did not, and had made no plans to do so. What he had embarrassed him enough with the way the suit was not afraid to show off his thighs, and how it tended to hug his groin a little too much for comfort. He chose a dark blue color just for this reason (Stith wore purple and red.) What made him feel a little better about the swimsuit was the knowledge that all of the others had to wear the same thing.
He envied the human males that could wear shorts for swimming. He always imagined that their straight, short legs could that only had one knee would make life so much more convenient at times. His were always getting in the way. He wondered why things could not have been made more convenient for his species. If the humans were going to practically take over the area, they could at least make things more accommodating.
When he stepped out of the tent, Sarah and Stith were all dressed and waiting for him. Sarah was coated in sunscreen with a coconut scent, a scent that Nodyr had never smelled naturally as there were no coconuts on the planet. In fact, there was a great abundance of scented items featuring products that were native to Earth that had never actually been brought over to Solbrecht. Jasmine and lavender were two such scents.
"Wow!" Sarah said as her eyes scanned the length of his body. "You look great in that." She made a fanning gesture by her face and smiled.
"Sarah please," he said bashfully, feeling his cheeks and ears growing hot.
"I can't help but tell the truth. Stop being so modest and take a compliment you big baby," she said, poking his thigh. "We're going to have to get that out of you somehow," she added, "even if it does make you really cute."
He smiled weakly. "Eh thanks, I think," he said as he tapped his fingertips together and looked just to her side to avoid eye contact.
Sarah countered this by firmly placing her hand under his muzzle and directing it so that they were eye to eye. "Look at me," she said. "You don't need to be embarrassed when I say things like that. I wouldn't lie to you. You're very attractive to me." After giving him a light kiss on the front of his leathery beak, she released his muzzle. "And I'd hope you felt the same."
"Oh well of course," he said a tad defensively. "I-I just don't like talking about it in front of Stith."
"Are we going swimming or not?" the young mantrin finally said, digging her foot into the ground. Her face was covered in an angry pout.
"Yes right now!" Nodyr said. "Would you like to ride?" he asked, and then lowered his body so that she could climb on his back. The answer to his question came in the form of two tiny arms wrapping themselves around his belly, and two legs swinging themselves over his own.
The afternoon was well past its adolescence, and soon the blistering sun would disappear behind the horizon. Already, one of the planet's two moons could be seen rising in the east, its expansive cratered surface resembling a speckled egg in the evening sky. Soon its cousin would be seen traveling behind, a little late as always, with the exception of the rare periods when its orbit would overlap the other. But for now, the sun was still out, and likewise it was still hot. Not as hot as earlier that day, but still unpleasant for a non-Solbrecht native like Sarah.
A human passed them on the way to the lake. He was alone and dripping wet in a red swimsuit. He smiled and waved at them as he passed and said nothing more than "hi." A few seconds after, Nodyr turned his head back toward the human and said hi as well. He had been taken back by the lack of repulsion from him. It took Nodyr a moment to realize that all he had done was greet them. He had nearly expected to be told how awful he was for the second time that day.
"Well he was nice," Sarah said. "I was worried he would say something rude."
"So was I," Nodyr said. "Maybe he just kept his mouth shut because we have a young child here."
"I wouldn't be so suspicious about it," she said. "There's no reason he can't just be nice. It isn't that uncommon you know."
It was not long before they arrived at the lake. A small number of swimmers were there, less than what they had seen upon passing earlier that day. Most were near the coastline; however some were still far off in the lake in various watercrafts.
"I'm going to swim out into the lake," Sarah said. "Take care of Stith, alright?"
"That's never something you have to ask me to do," he responded with a chuckle as his chest swelled with pride. "No one takes better care of her than I do."
"Other than feeding her cake for lunch, of course," Sarah teased.
Both Nodyr and Stith stuck their tongues out at her. "Well," Nodyr eventually said, "I think making her happy is part of taking care of her. Besides, cake never hurt me any." He gave his belly a hearty pat as he said this.
"Hmm." Sarah tapped a finger against her thin lips, trying to think of a witty reply, but nothing terribly inspiring came to mind. "I did say I was going to go swimming, so I am now," she said, and then turned to walk into that lake after giving him a quick peck on his muzzle. Not turning back toward him, she waded a few feet into the water to test it out, and then slid further out into the lake.
The two mantrins watched as she swam out several yards before finally sinking under the water. She resurfaced even further out, shook her head to get the dripping hair out of her eyes, and finally dove under again. She resurfaced and repeated this a few more times, appearing in a slightly different location among the other swimmers each time. A few minutes later, she swam a little closer to the bank and called out to them. "Are you going to stand there or come swimming?" she asked. "You two were the ones that wanted to do this."
"Oh yes," Nodyr said suddenly. He leaned forward a little so that his hands were near the ground. "Your beauty just had me enraptured," he said wryly.
"I'm sure it did," Sarah said with a pinch of sarcasm. "Now come on in! It's warm and feels great in here."
"Yeah erseh, I wanna go swimming," Stith finally said. She began to drum on his back to get him moving.
"Okay, okay," he said, looking back at her. "Don't beat me to death please."
Stith laughed and held on tight as he made his way into the lake. Mantrins were not really built for swimming. The legs were hardly streamlined and tended to do nothing but drag through the water. However, since their weight was not much of a factor under water, many mantrins, especially those of the Goureg race, could stretch their legs out for a short time and walk along the bottom at depths much greater than what humans could do. The other alternative was simply to bob around in the water like a giant cork, but then the only real swimming they could do involved kicking out with the legs in the manner of a frog. This method was more trouble than it was worth. Generally however, most mantrins tended to stay out of the water apart from bathing.
Nodyr walked out into the water until it came up to just past his first knee. Any further and Stith would not be able to stand comfortably, and force her to rise up on her legs which she could only do for a few seconds. The water was indeed warm; it did not chill him at all as it would do later in the year. He took a few side to side steps; letting his feet playfully splash around in the water. His legs resembled those of a large water bird the way they bent at the ankle, and with the large, three-toed feet.
Still on his back, Stith spoke up enthusiastically. "Throw me!" she said, remembering the girl she had seen earlier being tossed by her father.
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking back at her through the corner of his eye.
"In the air," she said very matter-of-factly, as though the answer could not be any more obvious. She tugged on his ears a bit to get him moving. "Into the water."
"Oh yeah," he said. "You'll have to get off of me first."
"Okay!" Stith said, in the same breath dropping off of him into the water with a loud splash. She nearly slid down the back of his tail like a fleshy slide; had it been able to support her weight, she would have. Stith looked up at his back grinning, her tail rocking back and forth under the water. Just as Nodyr was turning to face her, she scrambled under his legs, sitting beneath his wide stance. As she looked up again, she met his eyes as he leaned over and looked between his feet at her.
"I think I lost you," he chuckled, and then reached forward to pick her up into his arms.
Squealing Stith scooted backward a few paces, getting bumped in the head by his tail and managing to get just out of his reach. She gave his tail a quick tug, causing him to yelp and topple over in his attempt to get away from her grasp. He fell into the water with an enormous splash that not only soaked Stith, but a few others nearby.
After shaking off and apologizing to those around them, Nodyr looked at Stith. "Careful," he said uneasily. "You might hurt me."
"Nooo," Stith said, not really believing it. To her, her father was invincible. Backing up this belief was the fact that she had never seriously hurt him. There was the time she bruised his shin from a little roughhousing, but she did not remember that occasion. Stith stepped over to his side in the shallows, and then leaned against him. "Get up," she said.
Nodyr leaned his had back and grunted. His ears relaxed, dipping into the water so that the tips became wet. He let his hands tap dance on the surface momentarily, and then pushed off with them so that he was seated. The water came up just over his rump; it covered all but the base of his tail. "You might have to help me out then," he said, not really needing it. He only wanted to make her feel sorry for knocking him over. He also had a little scheme in mind.
"How?" Stith asked.
He held out his arm to her. "Take my hand and pull," he said.
Stith did as she was instructed, gripping his large hand with both of hers, and pulling back as hard as she could. Grunting and straining, her wide feet dug into the muddy water beneath. It only took her a few moments to realize that she was not going to be able to lift his weight and give up the task. "I can't do it," she complained, letting her arms flop down to her sides.
Nodyr looked up, sighing in defeat. "I guess I'll be here forever then," he said. "Unless you want to try again. Try once more. Really hard. Okay?" Of course he knew that she would never be able to lift him.
"But I can't!" she whined.
His ears drooped in faux disappointment. "Aw Stith, I thought you were a strong girl. I don't want to sit here the rest of my life. Please try again."
Shrugging, Stith took his outstretched hand again. After all, she could not let him stay there forever. She pulled and tugged and snarled at having to use so much energy. She leaned her head to the side and closed her eyes tightly, pulling as hard as she could. Suddenly, she felt a hand under her rump and her feet lift off of the ground. She looked down in fear at her dangling legs hovering just over the water below. The next thing she knew, she was hurling through the air, only to splash into the lake several feet away from where she had been.
Stith bobbed to the surface, shaking the water off of her ears, and spitting out some of the water that she nearly swallowed. Once she managed to find her feet, she stood up and looked in Nodyr's direction. He was standing tall and grinning at her with his arms loosely in front.
"I thought you asked me to throw you," he chuckled as he saw her pouting and spitting out a bit more water.
"I," she began. What she had expected was something a little less surprising. Something a little less sudden would have been nice. "No," she finally said after a long pause where her mouth was held wide open in preparation to finish her sentence.
He laughed again, and then walked over to her. "I could have made a bet that you did," he teased. "Weren't you just begging me to?"
"Not that way!" Stith stammered. Her instinct said to argue and complain, but she forced herself to swallow the urge in a rare moment of self control. What prompted it was a sudden idea of how to get him back. She reminded herself to do it soon, but not until his mind was off of what had just happened, and when several people were around. That would be the best time, she decided, hiding a twisted grin.
Pushing further back into the lake, Stith drifted until the water was around her armpit. As she looked upward once more, she saw that Nodyr had walked to her place; while standing in a resting position, the water did not even reach his rump. She also looked around at the other swimmers. A lone Goureg mantrin was far out in the lake. She watched him sink under the water head over tail. It made only a petite splash. He was down for an impossibly long amount of time. Eventually she saw him resurface in nearly the same location, and with a large fish in his mouth. Even with that she could see the wide grin on his face. Her eye then caught two humans that appeared to be about her and Nodyr's age. The young boy was on his father's back, riding on him like a raft as he swam.
As she watched, the two made their way over to where she was. The man stopped between her and Nodyr and stood, letting his son climb down first. He was of average height and a little pudgy, about like Nodyr. His chest hair was thin and formed a tiny V in the center of his chest that led to a thin mat of hair on his belly. On his side was a large scar, showing the signs of surgery, probably an appendectomy. He wore a silvery swimsuit that matched his equally silvery eyes. The hair on his head was dark, full, and threatened to cover his eyes as it clung to his forehead, weighted down by water. He had a dark complexion, most likely from the sun; had it been possible to see his ankles, Stith and Nodyr would have seen that they were as white as paste.
"Hi there," he said, extending his hand to Nodyr. "I saw what you just did. That was some throw!" He laughed heartily. "Oh and my name is David. This is Zechariahs," he said as he pointed at his son, who was shyly clinging behind his father's leg. "We just call him Z though. Eh that was my wife's idea. She's weird."
"Hey!" Stith growled, sneering at him about the throwing comment.
"Relax Stith," Nodyr said, lightly holding his hand over her muzzle. A number of muffled words followed, along with some swings of her fists. "Eh thanks" he finally said, turning to the human. "I guess. And I'm Nodyr."
"Sure," he said. "Nice to meet you, Nodyr. I've never seen anyone throw their kid that far. Eh, she is yours, right?"
"Yes!" Stith answered for him with a very snotty tone as though the man were a complete imbecile for not knowing this.
"I see where she gets her feistiness from," David said. "I'll bet she'll be just as strong as you one day."
"Maybe a little," Nodyr said nervously. He did not honestly feel that he was that strong, and in fact he was not, but he agreed for his daughter's sake. He did not wish to disappoint her thoughts about him.
"Don't be modest," he said. "Hell I bet you could kill someone with your bare hands."
Nodyr's mouth hung open in shock. "What? I'd never do that. That's a terrible thing to say, especially in front of children."
"I'm just kidding," he said, giving Nodyr a nudge in his side. "No need to be so sensitive about it."
"Excuse me?" Nodyr said. "I don't think I ever said you could touch me. Stith I think we're going to go."
"Well sorry, no need to take it so personally," the man said.
"It's too late now, we're leaving. I don't want her hearing such things."
Stith watched him trudge through the water next to her, towering far above for a moment. To her, he appeared very angry as he popped her out of the water, held her in his arms, and walked away without another word. She heard him grumble something, and then felt the heat of his breath as he snorted. It was not until they were many yards away, and in a more isolated area that they came to a rest.
"That man wasn't very nice, was he?" he asked Stith who was still in his arms.
"No," she said reluctantly, not really having an opinion on the matter.
"Let's go find ahmo," he said, and then began to look around for her.
It did not take long, and in fact she found them instead. As Nodyr scanned the horizon, she popped up in front of him, nearly sending him back into the water from surprise. "Are you having fun?" she asked both of them.
"Hi Sarah," Nodyr chuckled. "Stith keeps trying to beat me up. She's been a bad girl today."
"No I haven't!" Stith said defensively.
Sarah quickly turned to her and spoke out of the corner of her mouth. "He's only kidding," she said, and then returned her attention to Nodyr, locking her arms behind his back at the hip, and lightly brushing the base of his tail. "I was wondering," she said as she looked up at him, "have you seen your friend yet?"
"My friend?" Nodyr said as though he had no friends to speak of, and that she was crazy for thinking that he might.
"You know," she said," the one you got in a fight with earlier? The one you were all worried about? The whole reason you were afraid to go swimming?"
"Oh," he muttered, suddenly glancing away from her and poking out his bottom lip. "No, no I haven't. Have you?" His eyes darted from side to side as he pondered the possibility that the Goureg could be out there.
"Well," Sarah said, her thin lips forming a smile. "I don't know what he looks like, but I still haven't seen anyone with a 'Kill Nodyr' sign. It seems you were worked up over nothing again." Her eyes quickly took a survey of the area around her. "No 'Nodyr must die' signs either."
"No, haven't seen any of those," he said, weakly chuckling as he tried to pretend as though it was nothing. Inside it was still bothering him however, and he honestly wondered why he had not seen anything like what she had just mentioned. "I'm sure he's just waiting on me to go back to the tent. Then when I'm all alone he'll pounce."
"Oh will he?" Sarah challenged as she brushed her wet bangs out of her eyes.
"Yes," Nodyr said, lowering his voice along with his eyes. "Just, like this!" He made as though to tackle her, but just as she began to defend herself, he ducked under her outstretched arm with much agility and snatched up Stith right from the water. As she squealed, he took several long, reaching steps further into the lake, and with the momentum still with him, tossed her several yards, resulting in a hefty splash that prompted more than one swimmer to turn around in surprise.
Sarah glared at him in astonishment. "I can't believe you just did that. I thought you'd be worried about hurting her," she said.
"What?" he said, in response to her scolding look. "Water won't hurt. Besides I already did it once. She keeps asking me to throw her."
The two watched as Stith broke the surface, shook off, spat out some water, and then turned her gaze toward Nodyr, her eyes full of much venom for one so young. "Hey!" she squawked. "Why'd you do that?" She splashed a tiny wave of water in his direction, which did not even come close. With heavy steps, she sloshed through the shallows until she was once again close to him. Her ear tips were directly between his knees.
Nodyr craned his back so that he could better see her. He wore a look of complete innocence. "Well Stith, I thought you wanted me to do that. You're not hurt are you?"
"No," she said, pouting, and stomping one of her feet with a loud plap plap.
"Good. I didn't think so," he said. "You know I'm just trying to play around. You threw me in the water too, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but, uh." Stith looked up and groaned, not really able to say anything in retaliation. She was beat and she knew it. Just then, she remembered what she had thought of moments earlier after he had surprised her the first time. Not wishing to give away her thoughts, she turned her sneer into a smile and walked up to his torso, giving him a hug. "Sorry," she said. "Are we still friends?"
"Well let me think about it," Nodyr said, looking up to his right and scratching at his chin. He continued to hum and mumble something as he pretended to be in deep thought. His eyes continued to scan the heavens, which was just what Stith wanted. Suddenly, he felt several tiny fingers gripping his swimsuit as his ears perked from the sound of several snaps popping. The sound was preceded by a sudden cooling sensation of the air against his belly and groin.
Stith nearly fell onto her back from giggling so hard. "I can see your orwi!" she shouted as she pointed at his long genital slit. A number of swimmers turned to see what was happening upon hearing her exclamation. She heard a few gasps from behind; one woman's voice was heard, hastily telling her children to close their eyes. Another voice shouted something condescending about mantrins having no shame.
Just the opposite, Nodyr was the model for shame. He was the child that showed up at school in only his underwear, only far more embarrassed. As his face turned the color of a tomato, he held both hands over his groin, and was not sure whether to fuss at Stith, or curl up and whimper for help. He wanted to do both. He lowered himself a bit in a subconscious effort to look smaller, and his eyes perused the water for his suit, which had landed right below.
To the rescue was Sarah, who ducked under his nearest leg and came up in front of him, standing against him to protect against any roaming eyes. She was blushing a bit herself, mainly from knowing just how uncomfortable her mate was. She did her best to laugh at the situation, even though she knew that he was only seconds from dying from embarrassment. "Be glad it's inside you right now," she said quietly, poking a finger near his slit in a manner so that no one else would see, not even Stith. "Males of my species would not be so fortunate. It'd be out in the open for the whole world to see. You're lucky."
All that he could do momentarily was emit a few high-pitched whimpers, much like a frightened puppy. His eyes returned to the sky. If anyone saw, he did not wish to know. "That's nice but could you help me?" he pleaded, barely above a whisper, and speaking very quickly.
"Of course," she said, smiling. "Though I kind of like this look better."
"Sarah!" he yelped.
"Okay, okay," she said and began to fish for the suit. "I'm just trying to make you smile. That's all." Soon she had it in her hands, and with a little help had fastened it back on his body. The process was slightly awkward as he should have been sitting to do it, however with four hands working it was less of a problem.
Once it had been reapplied, both Nodyr and Sarah turned to Stith. The little mantrin slunk backward, wishing to disappear beneath the water. Nodyr opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah put her hand up to stop him. She would handle it herself. "Come here Stith," she said, and then added upon seeing her terrified expression, "I'm not going to spank you. Please come here. I just want to talk."
"Promise?" she peeped, taking a step backward.
"Yes I promise," she said. "I hope my fingers and toes turn into itfe toads if I lie. Erseh promises too." The saying was something that she and Stith had made up at one time, just as a funny way of showing sincerity. The animal in question was a Solbrecht native, and resembled most closely a toad, hence the name. It was a tiny, foul smelling creature that ate microbes from the water, using a filtering system much like a baleen whale. It was not a pleasant animal to be in contact with, but it did help keep the waters clean, so they were tolerated.
At a painfully slow pace, one that would make a sloth jealous, Stith dragged her body toward her. By the end of the hour, she had made it, and then slowly brought her head up to look into Sarah's eyes, which were not overflowing with anger as she had expected. Instead they were calm and understanding.
"Stith," Sarah said, placing a hand under her jaw so that she would not look away. "That wasn't very nice what you did, was it?"
"No," she said with the hint of a whimper.
"And how would you feel if someone did that to you? Would you like it?" Sarah asked in a stern tone, although she placed a comforting hand on Stith's shoulder.
"No." The young mantrin looked down at her feet, or at least the spot where her feet disappeared under the water. He ears drooped low, lower than they had in a long time.
"So why did you do it? You made erseh feel very bad."
"I don't know," Stith said, still looking at the water. In reality she did know, however the two reasons why would not have been justified. Revenge certainly was not, considering that she had asked to be thrown in the water in the first place. That had been her fault, as much as she did not wish to admit it. Her other reason was that she thought it was funny, and that would have never been an acceptable excuse.
"Stith, you need to think about how others would feel before you do something. If you wouldn't like it, then others probably wouldn't either. What if we had just done that to you?"
"I'd be mad," Stith said after a long pause. She stepped back a few feet and slowly brought her eyes back up to see Sarah, then over to Nodyr, then back to Sarah, and finally back to water. She knew what she had to do, as much as she did not want to do it. She opened her mouth, releasing a choked utterance, and then retreated as her muzzle came to a close. She tried again, not having much luck. Only a few "uh" sounds were heard. Her eyes returned to her parents again. Both appeared to be growing irritated with her. Finally, she spat out as quickly as she could, "I'm sorry!"
"Stith, I think you made that a little more difficult than it had to be," Sarah said, and then turned to Nodyr. "Do you accept?"
He nodded without hesitation. "I just can't stay mad at her," he said, cracking a smile.
"Am I in trouble?" Stith asked meekly.
"No," Sarah replied. "However, you really embarrassed him, and should he decide that he would rather we all leave right now and go back to the tent, then that's what we'll do. I don't want any crying if we do."
"No, we can stay," Nodyr said as Stith nearly fell over from relief. He was extraordinarily embarrassed, but did not wish to be the one to disappoint her. He considered that if they could only move elsewhere in the lake, that it would be fine, provided that the nearby swimmers did not follow.
As another hour passed, the day began to wane. The sky was a canvas of yellows, oranges, reds, and purples as the sun gradually set, bringing relief to all and treating the few remaining swimmers that evening to a breathtaking display. There were only a few clouds in the sky, all thin and wispy as unique interruptions across the colorful canvas. Before long, the sun had disappeared over the horizon, leaving only a distant reminder that it had been there with its last trail of light.
The three were currently lying on their backs in the grass, feet in the water, and in the case of the two mantrins, their tails as well. Since Stith's little prank, the day had gone by smoothly, and for the past half hour they had said little. They were content to simply enjoy the sunset as it signaled the end of their day together. As the stars finally came into view, Nodyr's eyes walked along the celestial canopy in fascination.
"So which one of those is Earth again?" he asked, waving his hand across the sky in a broad, sweeping gesture.
"You can't see it," Sarah said. "Remember? But look up there, past those three stars in a row. Do you see them?" She pointed to her right in the sky.
Nodyr did his best to follow her outstretched finger, but could not see what she was trying to get him to see. He squinted tightly, but had no luck. Somehow he was missing it.
"Over there," she said upon noticing that he was having trouble. She place one hand on his far cheek and helped to direct his eyes in the right direction. She continued to point. "Right there, just look over your beak. Do you see it?"
He squinted again, looking intently, and then finally saw the three stars. "Yes!" he said happily, and then got Stith's attention. "Do you see them?" he asked her; she quickly nodded in agreement.
"Okay, just past those," Sarah said in a near whisper. "Over to the right. There's a really faint star. See it?"
"I think so," Nodyr said.
"Well that star is our sun, and Earth is three planets away. It's ninety-three million miles from there," Sarah said. "That's a long way."
"How many is that?" Stith asked.
"Oh it's many, many," Sarah said, laughing. "It's farther than you could walk in your whole life."
"Oh," Stith said as her ears fell backward. "I don't want to go there anymore."
"Well I do," he said. "I'd love to see the human's world, just once." He leaned his head back on his arms, gazing upward as he entertained the thought. As he daydreamed, he thought about what it must be like. Of course he had never been, and neither had Sarah; she had been born on Solbrecht. However they had both heard about Earth, and seen pictures that had been brought with new arrivals from the planet. He knew that the planet resembled his own, which explained how their species could be so compatible with their living conditions. He also knew that there were a few minute differences here and there. Earth rotated faster and thus had shorter days and a slightly higher gravity. It also had many continents, whereas Solbrecht only had two, plus some scattered islands here and there, and then the two poles. Earth also tended to not be so hot, except in a few locations. This he could certainly learn to live with; extreme heat was no one's friend. Suddenly, Nodyr sat up, wrinkling his muzzle in confusion. Just as quickly, he lay back down, curling against Sarah.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's nothing," he laughed. "I just thought I saw the star move for a second. It may have just been a passing spacecraft. Who knows?" After he spoke, he nuzzled against her, brushing some of the hair out of her face with his muzzle. "I'm trying not to let it bother me."
Sarah cooed from his touch as she turned into him, resting a hand behind his back. "Good for you," she said. She snuggled against him, her head resting by his neck.
They rested there for a while longer, (all three had grown tired from the swim, not to mention the heat) Sarah lazily rubbing his back and tail, and Nodyr continuing to nuzzle her, licking from time to time. Stith remained quiet, either having fallen asleep, or being too occupied by the stars to speak. Either way, it brought a thankful moment of peace to her parents.
After a while, she finally made herself noticeable once more. Stith hopped onto her feet, did what resembled a quick tap dance, and then leaned against Nodyr's back. "Let's go swimming again!" she said with sudden enthusiasm.
"Again?" Sarah asked. "I was about to go back to our tent. But you and erseh can if you'd like."
Nodyr grunted. "You're leaving us?" he asked her in disappointment.
"Yes, I'm really tired and fear I have sunburn. I need to put some ointment on it," she said with a sigh. So I'm going back, alright?" she said, giving him a kiss between his nostrils and a little pat on the cheek.
"Well, okay," he said reluctantly, licking her in return.
"Bye," she said to them both.
It was then that Stith decided the best way to get him back in the lake was to pull his arm from the socket. She grabbed hold and began to tug, grunting a little. "Let's go!" she said, nearly demanding.
"I'm coming!" he said as he finally took his eyes off of his mate as she vanished into the distance. Nodyr slowly rose to his feet, and then lowered himself so that his rump was near the ground. "Climb on," he said cheerfully, turning to face her.
Soon Stith was up on his shoulders. Nodyr held onto her wrists to help keep her secure. Without any need to rush he stepped back into the lake, giving his body a chance to gradually become reacquainted with the water. Once he was deep enough for the water to touch his lower set of knees, he took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the wet sand and mud through his toes; he wiggled and flexed them, letting the sand squish between them, and drawing unseen patterns with his large toe claws.
A little further out, Nodyr held onto her tightly and then pushed off of his feet, floating momentarily in the water like a large piece of driftwood. When he was deep enough that his feet no longer touched the bottom, he paddled with his hands in a "dog paddle" as Sarah had shown him once. He used his long tail as sort of rudder to help steer and move through the water, much like an otter. Having partial Goureg blood, his tail had grown a little longer and stronger like theirs, and was rather effective when swimming. He continued to float under the moonlight with Stith hanging on to him tightly. He had not heard her speak since getting in the water, and he began to wonder if she had fallen asleep.
Light reflecting from the two moons danced on the water. "Fairies," as some liked to call the phenomena. At this time, the lake was nearly deserted. Only two others were around, and they were off in the distance. Nodyr wondered why, as everyone was missing out on a very peaceful evening.
He remained relatively still, just in case Stith really was trying to sleep. "Are you awake?" he asked quietly.
"Mmhmm," she said.
"You were so quiet," he said. "I wasn't sure."
Nodyr drifted around in the lake a while longer, enjoying the quiet. As he looked around, it suddenly occurred to him that the rest of the swimmers were now gone. The sensation he received was a tad eerie, while at the same time comforting. No one was around to bother them for once. They had the lake all to themselves. Their only company that evening was a scattered bunch of chattering insects deep in the surrounding forest.
"Have you had a nice birthday?" he asked her, looking over his shoulder. His tail flicked and splashed in the water while he waited for a response.
"Mmhmm," she said again.
"Is that all you can say?" he asked.
"Mmhmm."
They both laughed.
For a while, Stith said little else. Nodyr could feel her growing sleepier and sleepier on his back as her motion began to slow. When his arms began to grow tired, he stretched out his legs to see if he could reach the bottom. They did, just barely, as his nails tapped the sand. He tiptoed a few steps, moving closer to the shoreline so that he would have room to let his feet fully touch. Even in the water, he would not be able to hold his legs extended for long.
A fish bumped against his ankle. Nodyr yelped in surprise, but quickly figured out what it was. He breathed a sigh of relief, but just then several more fish darted past nearly knocking him off his feet from the force of the bump. He wondered what could be causing them to get so excited. There were no real predators in the area.
As he pondered this, he heard a loud splash from the far shore. Nearly at the same moment he heard a voice, a low female's. "I got one!" she shouted in Preidogian. Nodyr looked over his shoulder in time to see a completely nude Goureg female leap out of the water, a huge fish in hand. Without even looking in his direction, she took off running toward the forest.
"That's not normal," Nodyr muttered, unsure of what else to think about it. With his eyes still on the forest he thought he saw a few other figures off in the distance, just past the first few rows of trees. As far away as they were, he was quite sure that it was just an animal or two, yet what he was seeing looked so large. At least he thought it did. They darted from tree to tree, as though playing a game of hide and seek in the dark.
"Stith, do you see those?" he whispered, pointing out in the forest.
"Huh?" she said, smacking her lips. "Oh, yeah, some mantrins. Over there." She waved her hand over to the right, the opposite direction of where Nodyr had been looking.
He followed her fingertips to find two mantrins walking together near the coastline, and heading in the direction of the forest. Neither was wearing a shirt, which gave Nodyr a clear guess as to their sex. Both were male Orkehts and about the same height, although one appeared just a tad taller than the other. This one had on a pair of shorts that appeared dark green in the moonlight. The two were yelling at each other in their native language about something, although Nodyr could not hear them clearly. One thing that was clear however was that the smaller one was very irritated about something. He was wildly gesturing with hands as he spoke, and sounded far more riled.
Quickly, Nodyr's eyes jumped back to his left to see more movement behind the trees. His ears leapt to attention as he thought he heard laughter coming from them. "Stith," let's go back, alright?" he said nervously. He could feel his chest beginning to pound. All of this was a little too strange for his comfort. He looked up to see the two Orkehts had already made it the forest's edge.
"Why?" she asked.
"We need to check on ahmo," he said hastily.
His still alert ears caught the distant sound of chattering, and then another wave of laughter. Without even thinking, he grabbed Stith's wrists and ran at full force out of the lake, and then across the open field back in the direction of their tent. By the time he had made it, Nodyr was so out of breath that he felt in danger of fainting. He took a moment to catch a few breaths as he leaned over to let Stith climb off of him. "Get in the tent now!" he said, coughing from how winded he was. His hands were trembling as he placed them on her shoulders. "Get in there and help protect ahmo. Okay? Don't come out until I tell you."
"But why? I want to stay with you!"
"Now Stith!" he said. Nodyr leaned over and licked her on the cheek. "Please, get in there. " He gently pushed her toward the tent's opening. "When I come back, we'll have some birthday cake, okay?"
"Alright," Stith said reluctantly. She slipped into the tent and sat down. No one was there. She could not see as it was pitch black, but she knew. She could not catch her mother's scent. Fumbling through the darkness, Stith felt the flashlight, and quickly flicked it on. She sat against the far corner of the tent, holding the light in her lap and waiting, her eyes locked on the tent's entrance.
She waited and waited some more. She continued to wonder what had upset him. She wondered where Sarah was. She wondered how much longer they would be.
Her young ears suddenly grew alert. Her other senses were nearly useless. There was nothing to smell, and in the darkness she could barely see. The flashlight beam only let her see to the opening of the tent, and that was only if she aimed it directly there. She listened. All was quiet. She listened more carefully. There was too much silence.
There was a rustle. She heard footsteps. "Erseh?" she said timidly. There was no answer. "Erseh?" she said again. Still no answer.
Wait, he had said. As much as she wanted to get up, his words continued going through her head. Normally she would have been bold enough to disobey, but she was growing too frightened to want to do so. Darkness could be crippling to one so young. Waiting was all she could do.
Gradually, she began to hum to herself to break the silence. She hummed nothing in particular, only random, directionless sounds, anything to keep her mind from thinking up horrible things. But then, her mind did not need to do anything. A sudden scream cut through her song. It was distant, but she heard it.
She knew the voice. It screamed the name of her father.
Overcome with fear, Stith grabbed a nearby blanket, buried herself in it, and turned off the light. She lay under the blanket in a tight, shivering ball, hoping no one would find her.