Chapter 7

No Return

Later that evening, after the sun had long passed over the horizon, Tiryso stood with Stith outside of the ghishveht hall. He firmly held her hand, although not tightly enough to either cause her to be uncomfortable, or to begin squirming. Earlier he had decided that perhaps a tour of the grounds would be in her best interest, and that doing it at night when there was minimal activity would be the best time to do it. This way he would not have to worry much about anyone growing suspicious of this new young mantrin.

Despite what he was telling her, Tiryso still had doubts that she would be able to leave, so this tour of Wyr'Mo'Gwi would be in her best interest either way. At the very least it would give them something to do and something to talk about other than how much she hated him.

"Are you ready?" he asked Stith. He glanced over his muzzle at her in her bottom poetyo. He wore the same. Without the threat of the sun, no other part of the garment was necessary.

Stith really did not like her hand being held by someone other than her parents, but for now she put up with it. She sighed, actually bored by the thought of this little tour and finding it very dismal. Being home in bed snuggling her teddy bear, or causing a ruckus in the middle of the night sounded far more enjoyable. Slowly but surely she was beginning to long for Sarah's frustrated sighs. To her, Tiryso was oh so boring. "I guess." she mumbled, looking back up at him. "I still hate you."

"Sorry Stith," he said. It was not the first time he had said this to her, and most likely would not be the last. They began their walk, moving north of the hall. Several yards beyond this was another building. It was much smaller and resembled a stone cube with a crumbling doorway on one side. The dense network of trees around the building effectively blocked out any moonlight, and any thoughts that this was not a deserted, haunted house, were quickly squashed. Old, sticky cobwebs would have only enhanced its appearance.

"I suppose this was not the best place to start," he muttered as they paused in front of the building. "This is where mantrins that misbehave have to go. I hope for your sake that you never go into that room. The ghishveht in charge of punishment can be very cruel, even to little girls like you."

"Erseh would beat him up if he tried." said Stith, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue.

"Beat her up," he corrected, and then tugging on her hand, he continued the tour. "Let us not stay here any longer. My body feels cold simply from looking at it."

"Beat her up, then." Stith grumbled. "I can walk on my own..."

He reluctantly released her hand. There was no point in making her even more uncomfortable. "And I would not try to beat anyone up if I were you, or else you may very well end up in that place."

They took a sharp right and walked along the border of the northern forest for a while. The journey was slow as Stith's tiny legs were no match for Tiryso's much larger pair. Eventually he compromised and began to take more rapid, yet very short steps so that Stith could stay with him without having to run.

Stith kept herself quiet this time, having no worthwhile comeback to Tiryso's words, and even though she wanted to irritate him, down inside she was still a bit afraid, and did not wish to anger him too much. Eventually she had an idea as she did her best to keep pace, something that she had heard more than once while watching her cartoons.

"Are we there yet?" she muttered.

"We will be to our next destination soon," he said. "You may actually be interested in it."

"I doubt it." said Stith. "Its probably boring, like you." Without the response she had hoped for, she gave up her desire to annoy him. A simple "no" was all that he needed to say.

"Not like me at all. Stith, why don't you guess what it might be?"

"Lupit's fat head?"

Tiryso could not help but laugh as she said this. "Stith!" he scolded, but then was defeated with more laughter. "Don't talk about him like that. What if he was around and heard you? And wrong, guess again."

Stith smirked. "His fat tail?"

"Nope."

"Uh," she began, out of ideas. "Ice cream?"

"I wish," Tiryso chuckled. "But we have none of that here. Guess again."

"Then, I don't know..." she muttered.

"Come now Stith. I thought you were smart. Guess again."

"A bathroom?"

"No, ah come on Stith, you'll see," he said as he continued to take painfully tiny steps. Soon they came to a clearing in the trees, taking the left they was now available, and traveling down the narrow path between two walls of trees.

Stith blinked, even more confused by this strange path. She had no clue where he was taking her. She began to grow uneasy from being led so far away from their hall with a mantrin that was still a stranger, not to mention so much larger than she.

A few minutes, and one short walk later, they came to another structure. This one was much larger than the last, being the equivalent of a three-story building. It was also much wider, and as far as Stith could see, deeper as well. It was one of the few structures she had seen that had any real windows and through these she could see the faint glow of several torches, burning away like a swarm of motionless fireflies.

Stith stared up at the building, unsure what to think about it. It reminded her of something from the city with its size, yet it was out here in the woods. To her that did not make much sense, but she shrugged. "What is that?"

"It is our learning center," he said amidst the chirping of various animals in the forest. Light from the twin moons shone down on the building like a spotlight, although a much gentler light it was. The rest of their surroundings were very dark, making the illumination impressive.

"This is where young children stay and learn. Think of it like a school."

Stith let out a loud, exasperated sigh. "That sounds boring!"

"Maybe," he said as he rather enjoyed education himself. If there was one thing about the humans' world that he missed, it was the wealth of knowledge that could be found anytime, and almost anywhere. "But the fortunate news for you is that you will probably never have to go there."

Stith grinned, "I don't?"

"Well no, not if you go back to your erseh. And if not I will teach you."

Stith's grin faded quickly, her ill-willed attitude once again coming forward. "Erseh wouldn't make me learn!"

"Well I assure you it would be painless," he said as he turned and went back the way they came."

Stith grunted and turned as well, following him with her arms crossed over her chest. She nearly kicked his long tail as it swung behind him. "Nu-uh!" she said, but received no reply.

"Come on Stith," Tiryso said. ""We're going to go to one of the most active places here, although there should be no one around this late."

Stith grumbled and followed, although she refused to take his hand again when offered. Instead she swung her fist at it, missing, and nearly spinning around from her force. Had she not found her balance, she would have surely fallen on rump.

As they walked, Tiryso tried to think of something to say. His experience with young mantrin girls that had spent their entire life in a completely different culture was nonexistent at best. He had not even lived in the city for twenty years. What new technologies and toys were there? What was the current fad that all of the children were into? In his time returning there for missions, he had not had time to learn what was new. Myolu would know, but the Orkeht was nowhere to be found. Finally he had an idea, although he knew Stith would not like it. Unfortunately he was not sure what else to ask. "What do you think of Lupit?"

"I hope he chokes on a sandwich," she said with a rough cadence, sticking her tongue out a few inches. "I hate him."

Tiryso could not help but laugh at the mental picture she had drawn for him. It was not so much the thought of him choking, but simply the image of Lupit with a sandwich that Tiryso found terribly amusing. "Have you ever seen a mantrin like him?" he then asked as they walked along at a comfortable pace for once.

"No," she said with as much bluntness as an old butter knife.

"No? Never? Do you even know what his kind are called?"

Stith shook her head. "I hate you."

"Yes, I am most aware of that," he said, smirking. "But that is not what I asked." He continued without waiting for her to retaliate. He was about to mention how many thought that Lupit was a different species altogether instead of only a separate race of mantrin, but then realized that she would have most likely been confused from this talk. He tried to say it in the simplest terms he could manage. "His kind is much like you and me. He is known as a Logri and not a mantrin, but he is still similar enough to look like a mantrin."

Still a few feet behind Tiryso, Stith mocked him, mouthing the words and sticking her tongue out again. "Logri are fat and stupid," she said.

He ignored the comment, not giving her the satisfaction of an argument, and then continued. Hopefully she would learn something, even though she did not intend it. "Yeah they're big and ferocious, and they have long, sharp teeth. If you were to see Lupit's kind in their native home, they would seem like monsters to you. And they're a lot bigger than he is."

"Well they're still fat and stupid," she said, arms crossed over her chest. "They should go back home."

Tiryso sighed. "Stith do you know what a whale is?"

"Mmhmm!" she said, happy to be off of the Lupit subject.

"Well Logri are much like whales as their bodies are covered in blubber to keep them warm. Otherwise they would freeze to death."

"Lupit should free-"

"Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking," he interrupted. "Lupit hardly has any blubber because it is so hot here, but he is still big because of his bones. He still has big guts too."

"Eww guts!" Stith said and then laughed. The moment she realized what she was doing, she stopped, clasping both hands over her muzzle.

"I thought you would like that," he chuckled.

Stith said nothing more on the matter, and soon they had found their way out of the narrow path that had led to the learning center. Without so many trees around, it was much easier for her to see. The open plain appeared to stretch out endlessly, and had Stith walked along it, she was quite certain that she would have eventually been around the planet and back to her original spot. When she stopped walking to look, Tiryso did as well, and then they stood in silence for an uncomfortable moment.

"Um," Stith said when it became clear that he was not going to speak. She tugged on his wrist until he looked over his shoulder and down at her. "Why is Lupit here if he isn't supposed to be? He should go home."

"Oh that is a long story," he said. "But long ago humans were exploring the arctic where the Logri live, and a few of them came back, and now their descendents are living here among us."

"No, no!" Stith grumbled in frustration, throwing her fists into the air and punching them about like one would when swatting swarms of biting insects. "Why is he here?!" She pointed roughly at the ground, stomping her right foot. "Here!."

"You mean Wyr'Mo'Gwi then," he said, and then continued walking out across the large field. "Are you sure you really want to hear it?"

Stith caught up with him before she spoke. "Yeah so I can know how stupid you are."

"Of course," he humored her. "If you must know, Lupit started the group because he wanted the humans to leave our planet."

"It didn't work!" Stith exclaimed, trotting along behind him.

"No, not very well," Tiryso said. "Originally this community tried very hard to get rid of them, even resorting to murder. You see, we lived in the city long ago, but had to flee because of the crimes. We were lucky to find this abandoned settlement here. We had some additions to make, but for the most part we moved here and made ourselves a new home. We never mentioned we were leaving, so the humans probably still think we are in the city. I can't seem to convince Lupit of this, even though our spies, like Myolu, verify that my belief is correct. They have no clue that we are out here now."

Stith began to whimper as she stopped in her tracks. "You-you killed somebody?"

Tiryso did not look at her when he answered. "Yes I have," he said with a heavy sigh. "I am not proud of it, but I have. More than once. It has only been in self defense Stith. I assure you of that. Lupit knows that I will not kill without being threatened, but others of us will, and they are the ones who have those missions. The ones I lead are more for sabotage."

Stith did not answer. She stopped walking and sat, looking away from him. When Tiryso tried to step in front of her, she turned so that she was still facing away. "Why do you have to do that?" she asked, sniffling.

He sighed heavily, sitting beside her, although he could not get her to face him. "I never enjoy it. In fact I hate it, even if it is a human," he said. "But Stith, if someone was trying to kill you and your friends, would you let them? Or would you fight back? And what if the only way to keep those close to you from being killed was to kill another? Would you do it then, or let them die?"

"I don't want to kill people!"

"Even the one that killed your ahmo?"

"I don't know, stop it!" Stith screamed, holding her hands tightly over her ears and curling into a ball. "I don't care just take me home!"

"That was probably not the best thing to tell you," he muttered, looking away from her. "But, you asked. I apologize if I frightened you Stith."

She did not respond to this either and went silent for a long while. The two mantrins exchanged sighs for roughly thirty minutes before Stith finally stood and went trotting in the direction that they had originally been walking. "What other stupid stuff is here?" she asked and looked over her shoulder at him.

Tiryso rose to his feet and followed her, eventually leading the way once more. "Over to your left is the lake. This is the part where all of the boys bathe."

"Together?" she asked, grimacing.

"That is often the case, unless someone comes out here by himself. But it is rare for that to happen."

"Eww. Do the girls have to get a bath together?"

"Yes. Where you would go if you lived here is a place on the other side of the learning center."

"I'm not doing that!" Stith protested. "Take me where you did!"

"That is my plan," Tiryso said with a smirk. "I promise I won't make you bathe with the others."

"You better not!" Stith said, stopping to stomp her foot and glare at him.

However he did not see her venomous eyes, as he was busy gazing over the lake that stretched to the southeast for nearly half a mile. Moonlight frolicked over it like a group of fairies as he had often heard the humans say. The water was very calm that evening. The only disturbance came from the occasional fish leaping in the distance. A cool breeze worked its way over the water, sending a fine mist onto his chest. It was refreshing, especially in the sticky humidity. "It's beautiful Stith, don't you think?"

"No, it's just water," she said. "Who cares?"

"Well you should. It's part of your planet. It's part of who you are Stith. All animals need water to live, and you should feel blessed that Solbrecht has provided it for you."

"If you didn't live in this stupid place, you could get water from a sink, like normal people!"

"Oh Stith," he said, laughing quietly to himself. "Where do you think the sink water comes from? It is all from our rivers, lakes, and streams."

"That's not true! It comes from the faucet. You turn the knob, and you get water!"

"Yes the water comes from a faucet, and that faucet is connected to pipes, and those pipes lead to a storage facility in the city for the water, which comes from where I just said. And every time someone in the city dumps garbage and poisons into the water, you are drinking it. I can assure you that our water here is far cleaner and better for you."

"Uh," she began. Stith's face wrapped into various contortions as she tried to process what he had said. "It's, it's still stupid!"

"If that is what you think," he said. "Now follow me, I want to show you where the others live."

In silence, Tiryso led her along the edge of the lake, eventually taking a sharp right at the same moment that the water began to take a sharp left. Stith remained behind him, and every so often he had to cock his ears to hear if she was still there. The angry footsteps told him so. His ears also caught the distant sounds of nocturnal animals calling to each other, far away in the forest. That was one sound in particular that he knew he would never hear, had he still lived in the city.

It was not long before Stith had to speak. "Is Kiryee Lupit's girlfriend?" she asked. The thought had been on her mind the entire day, and she was frightened that it was true. She had seen them nuzzling more than once, they appeared to be extra kind to each other, and Lupit was always very defensive of her. Stith recalled one of the others in the receiving a violent tongue lashing for making a flirtatious comment toward Kiryee. All of this made her wonder, and she feared her suspicion was correct. How could someone like her love someone like him?

Hearing this, Tiryso laughed. "Oh no, no," he said. "I don't think Lupit has an interest in females anymore. They're so close because he raised her since she was an infant. Her erseh vanished when she was an infant, and you know about her ahmo already. Lupit thinks of her like a daughter, and protects her as such."

"Good because he's stupid!" she said, grinning from the news. "So why does he hate girls?"

"He doesn't," Tiryso said. "But, he has no interest in a mate. I think he is still hurting from losing his long ago. Her name was Turii. He is also getting old. Logri don't live as long as others of our kind."

"Where'd she go?" Stith asked.

"She had lung cancer, and it killed her. She smoked Earth imported tobacco very often. It's a foul habit, but he could never get her to stop, even after losing her pregnancy from it. Lupit blames the doctors for not saving her, but it was not their fault. There was nothing that could be done. What I don't understand is how it can not be a crime to sell a product that can kill."

"I thought she left him because he was-"

"-stupid, I know," Tiryso said, finishing her sentence. "And Stith, don't mention her around Lupit. He is very sensitive about it."

It was not long before they arrived at the hall for the regular members. It was a very long, narrow building made of the same stone and wood as the others. Every several yards there was a opening covered by a curtain, and then a smaller one used as a window. This was also covered by a curtain, and nearly every room had it closed. A glow from firelight could be seen from within on the few that did not. The rooms continued as far Stith could see in the darkness, but eventually the building turned at a right angle and continued in the direction of the ghishveht hall.

Tiryso gestured at the building with his hand. "This side is where all of the boys live," he said. "Each room holds nine mantrins, and we add on as needed. All of the children stay at the learning center until they are forty-five seasons old. Then they move here. If you were to live here longer, you would move way down there." He pointed to the area where the hall turned north. "That is the girls' area."

"But I'm not!" she said, and bravely poked his tail.

Tiryso grimaced from the touch. "Of course not, and I'll ask Lupit in the morning."

"This is boring, can we go?"

"Yes," he said, thankful to be off of the subject.

ooo

Stith awoke from a miserable sleep the next morning. Even without her mind furiously racing from the events of the past few days, she would not have slept more than two hours. The grass-filled mattress and pillow itched her skin as though she were lying on a blanket of insects. Tiryso insisted that she would get used to it, but Stith could not understand how that was possible. Every time she rolled over, which was often, more grass would poke through the pillow and irritate her skin. This was especially so when it got into her delicate ears.

Without an air conditioning unit, the room remained extraordinarily sauna-like, and Stith's sweat irritated her skin even more than the grass. She would have been able to do without covers, if not for having to sleep in the nude. Tiryso had said that during the summer it would have been too hot and uncomfortable to sleep in the poetyo, and after stubbornly trying it anyway, she quickly learned that he was right.

What Stith felt she needed was a security blanket, such as her teddy bear. Her only option was to hug her tail. It was a nervous habit that she had developed while at the adoption agency, and it had never fully left. The social workers there had scolded her on more than one occasion for sucking on the tip, but she continued to do so. Having something warm to hold and snuggle put her at ease, even though it did make her look "un-lady like" as the social workers had said.

Stith held her tail tightly to her chest throughout the course of the night. Stith used to bring the tail between her legs and up towards her body, which was fine for a short period of time, but holding it in such a manner throughout the night cut off the circulation, quickly leading to uncomfortable numbness. She decided to lay it across the top of whichever leg was the highest as she slept on her side, and held it that way. She did not like doing it this way because she could not hold as much tail, but it was more comfortable. With the way she was feeling, anything would have been more comfortable than her bed.

She did not understand how Tiryso could sleep so soundly when she was so miserable. He had the exact same sleeping conditions, yet was not bothered one bit. He had fallen asleep within moments of climbing into bed. Isn't he hot and itchy?! Stith wondered. The good news was, he did not snore. If he had, Stith knew that shewould have never been able to sleep.

Stith wanted to kill him, and during the night had thoughts of doing so, even though she really would not. She had too much of a heart to kill, no matter how ill she felt toward him. Regardless, she thought about it. She thought about killing him with one of the gourds. by dropping it on his head. That was quickly ruled out, as she could not lift one that was heavy enough. Then she thought about suffocating him, but decided that his muzzle was too large to cover with her hands. She then began to hope that maybe, just maybe, Tiryso would choke on his own saliva, however that was far from likely. The ideas after that gradually became more and more ridiculous: The ceiling caving in and crushing him, a flock of birds coming through the ceiling and eating his brain through his ear, along with others, each idea growing in absurdity. She even imagined having infinite strength and kicking him in half.

Finally, the sky began to lighten as the new day began, and the light from the rising sun slowly seeped into the room through the four skylights. The room was fully lit by the light of the virgin day within an hour. However, she did not hear the familiar chattering of birds that morning, to which she had grown accustomed. It was because she had been too busy concentrating on what she could do to get Tiryso to finally ask about Nodyr. To Stith, he was beginning to be the most stubborn mantrin she had ever seen. She wondered if he would ever go ask; he had said several times the previous day that he would, yet he never did. Over time he seemed to dodge the subject more and more, for reasons that she did not understand. She finally decided that he was doing this to make her stay, and this made her hate him even more.

It was another hour before his eyes opened. Stith had been hoping that he would never wake. Had he not, or so she thought, she would have been able to leave and find Nodyr on her own. Stith was about to scurry back under the sheets when she remembered that she had already dressed herself. It had taken her about thirty minutes to get it right, and even then it was rather sloppy. Worried that it may slide off, she continued to clutch the cloth at her waist like a towel.

"How long have you been awake?" were the first words he spoke after a few minutes of silence. The words were mumbled, and he was very groggy. He slowly sat up and pivoted on his rump so that his legs were on the floor. He stretched out, all four of his knees popping, and then grunted and cooed as it forced blood into his legs.

Stith groaned and averted her eyes upon noticing that he was not dressed yet. Finally she answered him: "All night! I hate my bed! It's itchy and nasty."

"I'm sorry, Stith. You'll get used to it." Standing, Tiryso picked the strips of his poetyo off of the floor and applied the appropriate piece to his waist. "Stith you can face me now, I'm dressed," he calmly added.

Stith reluctantly turned back to face him, with a scowl painted on her face. She pounded her fist on the mattress, sending a few blades of grass onto the floor. "I can't sleep on this itchy thing! It's stupid," she said while scratching one of her irritated ears.

Tiryso stood, stretched his back and arms with a grunt, then popped his jaw on each side. "Stith, this is the way our species has done things as far back as we can remember, as I believe you've been told many times by now. I'm surprised that your adoptive erseh didn't teach you about all of this. Did he?"

"No." Her ears lowered, and then perked right up into the air as one of her feet stomped the ground. "You need to go find him!"

"Yes, yes, we should," he said, looking away from her, and then going back to the subject from which they had strayed. "He should have taught you these things. It's good to know about your culture."

Just as quickly as he had changed subjects, he did so again. "Are you hungry?" he asked her, knowing that neither had eaten since the previous afternoon.

It was then that Stith noticed the emptiness her in belly. She had not really enjoyed a decent meal since breakfast with Nodyr a few days ago. "Yeah," she said with a sigh.

"Okay. I'll get you something. Just sit right there." Stith looked up to see the curtain to the storage closet settle back into place.

Stith spent the next minute or so thinking about escaping. In fact, she was beginning to spend all of her free time thinking about it. She had already decided that, in spite of Tiryso's warning about what would happen to escapees, that she was going to leave in the middle of the night when no one was looking, if he would not help her find Nodyr very soon.

It all seemed so perfect in her mind. Once she escaped, Stith was going to leave and find him, and then all would be well. She was concentrating on that at the moment. I'll leave and run really fast so they can't catch me, then I'll find erseh and he'll be happy to see me, and I'll tell him what happened, and he'll tell the police on them, and they'll make them go to jail, and eat their nasty jail food, and—"

"Here you go." Tiryso's voice cut through her thoughts. She looked up to see that he was sitting on the floor, on the rug, and alongside a few gourds and bowls, two of which had already been filled with fresh water. There was a larger bowl in the middle that was partially filled with the same berries that Stith had eaten earlier. Tiryso reached into one of the gourds and pulled out several pieces of jerked simr, which he then placed into another bowl and pushed up beside the one that contained the berries. "Please sit," he said. He smiled and motioned his slate colored hand towards Stith, and then to the other side of the rug.

The young mantrin did as she was asked, not only because her stomach commanded her but because she was too tired to argue. Tiryso took a sip of his water as Stith sat on the rug. "What's that mean?" she asked, pointing to the markings in the center of the rug.

"You don't know?" Tiryso decided that he should not have been surprised. Stith knew hardly anything about her culture. "I guess you weren't taught about this, either."

"No. Probably because it's stupid." Stith frowned as she reached for a few berries and began munching on them.

"Stith, just because something is different doesn't mean it's stupid."

"Uh huh."

"No, it doesn't." He moved the bowls aside so that she could see the markings a bit more clearly.

He breathed out heavily, causing his well developed chest to sink, and lowered his eyes. "I don't know where you learned to think like that." He paused. "Yes, I do. The human that raised you didn't teach you to think like that, did she?"

"No." Stith scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I didn't think so," he said with a smile. He then pointed at the center of the designs, continuing. "These little symbols are how we write. Surely you've seen them."

"No," Stith said, her voice trailing off as though she was ashamed of her response.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He reached into the gourd at his side and pulled out a piece of the simr. "Care for any?"

"Ewww, no. It's not cooked. Get it away," she snapped.

"Okay, okay. Back to the writing." He once again pointed a claw at the center of the rug. "I don't suppose you want to learn how these form words, do you?

"No I don't," Stith droned as she clasped her fingers in between her toes and rocked backward on her tail.

"I didn't think you did." He bit off another piece of the simr before continuing. "Stith, these are the names of my mate and daughter." His eyes looked very distant for a moment.

"Oh." She stared blindly ahead for a moment before looking up at Tiryso. "Where are they?"

"They," he began and then let out a weary sigh. "They passed away many years ago, from an illness. I was fortunate enough not to have been affected by it, but they were not so lucky. Poor Aupit was so young. Her body succumbed to it in just over a day." He stopped there, looking away from Stith with his eyes nearly closed. His body gave a sudden shiver as though an arctic wind had blown through the room.

"Well that's what you get for making this stupid place," she snapped.

"Stith, I didn't," he said with a sigh. Slowly he returned his attention to her. "I thought you would be able to understand how I feel after what you have lost. I guess not." He sighed once more, and then after a quick bite of his jerky, changed the subject and spoke in a tone as though he did not care if she listened anymore. "Very well, I think we were talking about how I write.

"I used the juice from those berries that you're eating to dye this on my rug." Tiryso placed his claw on a shape that resembled a diamond with one of its sides curling outward. "Stith, see this?"

Stith nodded, but then had to complain again. "I don't care! You said we're gonna find erseh so let's go!"

"Stith! Even if we can go, we can't right now. I have to discuss it with Lupit first. I'll ask after breakfast, but for this moment you are stuck here, so how about trying to learn something? It doesn't appear that you were learning anything at all about your culture at home. This is good for you." He paused to take a deep breath in hopes of calming his temper. He knew how violent it could get, and the last thing he wanted was to show it in front of her, no matter how upset he was with her lack of remorse. He then tried to continue, whether she listened or not.

"You read this as 'yol'. It makes the first part of my mate's name, which was Yola."

Stith nodded indifferently, and then wiped berry juice off of her beak before taking a sip of her water.

"How is it?" he asked her.

"How's what?"

"The water."

"It's good," Stith coyly admitted.

"See, it's perfectly clean, unlike the city water that you are used to drinking. That has all sorts of nasty things in it, as you would say." After the brief detour, he returned to the writing, tracing his claw around the symbols in a clockwise motion. "Now this next one, the diagonal line, is read as 'a.' Put the two symbols together and you get 'Yola'." He sighed and looked down at Stith, who seemed to finally be paying attention; at the least she was looking at the rug. "Do you understand?"

Stith nodded a third time. "The rest is Aupit, I know," she said.

He chuckled quietly. "Well, just the next three symbols, which are, 'au', 'pih', and 't', respectfully.

"The rest is a phrase that you probably don't know, since it doesn't really translate into English, and from speaking with you, your Preidogian isn't very good. It says: Syneht wier khi gahmo ot, tehir sherii gwi os"

Seeing the muddled look on Stith's face, he added, "The closest thing in the language you are used to would be, 'I'll love you until I die'. Unfortunately, it's completely stripped of its meaning that way.

"Oh," she said, tracing her fingers around the characters. "How do you write my name?" she asked after a moment, trying to sound as bored as possible.

Tiryso's eye ridges rose as she spoke. "Oh, so you are interested."

"Nuh uh."

"But you just asked me how to write your name. Surely you care."

"No."

"Of course." He humored her, continuing the lesson. "You write it like this." Not wanting to use his rug, he reached over and grabbed a piece of his poetyo that was not in use, this he laid flat in front of him. He then took a few berries out of the bowl, crushed them in his fingers, and covered the claw on his middle finger with the juice so he could write. On the cloth he made a small rectangle, followed by what appeared to be a capital T on its side and finally, directly under it, a straight horizontal line with a hook at its right tip. "There you go, Stith--"he turned the cloth so that it faced her "--that's your name," he said proudly.

Stith picked up the cloth and studied it, trying to figure out how her five-letter name came from just three symbols. "I don't get it," she said, cocking her head to the side. "Um," she began. "That's—" she about to say it was neat, but caught herself. "—stupid!" she finally said.

"If you wish," he said, not having any desire to argue. "So, do you understand? Any questions?"

"Yeah," she said, grinding her fists into her sides. Her tail swished angrily. "When are you gonna ask when I can leave?"

"Oh, right," he said, standing and slowly making his way toward the exit. "We can do that right now I suppose. I wanted to wait to be sure that Lupit would be awake, but okay, okay, we'll ask him. The sooner we take you home, the better."

"You better," Stith grumbled.

It was at that moment that Tiryso realized that they would not have far to go to see Lupit. Just as he was about to take another step, there was a rough rustle at the curtain. He looked down to be able to make out the tips of Lupit's black toes barely poking into the room.

"Come in," Tiryso said, and then added: "I thought you were asleep."

Lupit tugged the curtain aside, and soon his large figure was in the room, only a few feet away from Tiryso. "I had a problem. That is all," he said flatly, not really showing any emotion. He then turned his attention to Stith, arms crossed over his chest. "How is she?"

"Considering the circumstances, she's fine," he replied. He waited through a brief silence in which he exchanged glances with the abwot: Lupit's expression slowly went from flat to annoyed. "Oh!" Tiryso suddenly said. "I apologize for being rude." He stepped closer to him, touching their muzzles together in a respectful greeting.

"Yes," the Logri said, not seeming too interested in making a big deal out of the situation. "If she is alright, then we should think about getting her moved with the others."

The Goureg stepped back, nervously scratching at the back of his head. "That will be a bit of a problem I fear. Stith wanted me to talk to you about it."

He cocked an eye ridge. "Why? There is not much to discuss."

"What are you talking about?!" Stith interjected. "When are we going to find erseh?"

"You're staying here," Lupit said to her, about as bluntly as possible. He then turned his attention to the Goureg. "Tiryso, you know the rules. She can't leave. Do you not have any sense?"

"I-" he began, stuttering. "-I guess I had hope since this is a unique situation. Her erseh is still alive. He's a mantrin Lupit. I think she needs to be returned to him."

"No," he said without even taking a moment to consider it. "If you push the matter, some of us might start to question your loyalty to our way of life.

"I really don't see the harm," he replied. "I think she would keep quiet in return for taking her home."

"Tiryso have you forgotten that we're responsible for the death of her parent? We can't count on her to ignore it. We can't trust her. Think about it," he said roughly. "You're one of the smartest mantrins here, so this shouldn't be difficult."

"You better let me go!" Stith shouted, not showing any fear.

Lupit gazed at her with a scowl. "I said no. You're staying. Try to escape and I'll make sure your life is short." To emphasize his point, he flashed a mouth full of long, carnivorous teeth.

Stith retreated in fear, not realizing how much different he really was, as well as his potential to be dangerous. Too frightened to strike him, she turned and gave Tiryso a vicious kick to his leg, right between the two knees; he yelped but did not defend himself. "Let me go!" she yelled again as she began to cry. "I want to see erseh! Please let me go!" she added in desperation.

"No!" Lupit shouted, turning to Tiryso. "She has an erseh?"

"She keeps saying so, yes," he said as calmly as he could. "But he would be in the city because there is no one here. Can we just pretend this never happened and take her home?"

"That is not an option," he snarled, not making an effort to control his temper. "If you insist on treason, maybe you too do not value your life. If she leaves, you will be held responsible."

The Goureg looked away, clenching his eyes tightly along with his fists. He summoned every ounce of willpower that he could manage to avoid striking the abwot. It would have been certain death, as doing so at the moment would have been a signal that he refused to agree. Hearing Stith's miserable wails only made it more difficult to control himself, but it was all he could do.

"Fine," he eventually said.

"Good," Lupit said. "Tiryso, do not give me a reason to lose trust in you."

"That would be a mistake," he muttered, looking away.

"I am pleased to know we agree," he replied. Without so much as a good bye, Lupit began to make his way out of the room. Just before leaving, he glanced over his broad shoulder. "And Tiryso, mention this to me again, and you will lose your ghishveht status. Possible traitors are not worthy of special privileges.

"I know," he said under his breath, and then released a heavy sigh as he watched Stith. She was curled up on his rug into a tight ball, whimpering. "I'm sorry Stith. I thought he might make an exception."

"You said I could go," she choked. "I hate you."

"I cannot ask for more," he said, sighing again as he rested on his bed. "It is my job to care for you now. I will do my best."

"Just go away," Stith said, and then spoke no more.

ooo

The remainder of the day passed without a word from Stith. In fact, she did not even move from her spot on the rug. Out of spite, she urinated on it, and then continued her refusal to move. Her only movement was lashing out with her legs, should anyone stand near her. She would not even eat, no matter how hungry she felt. At one moment, Kiryee had stopped by for a visit, however even this did not cheer up the young mantrin.

It was not long before Tiryso decided to give her some space. He did not bother her, not speak to her after the last failed food offering, and after being kicked more than he could handle. He did not leave his room either, staying in bed the rest of the day. There was nothing to do, and the only time he was not sitting in silence was when someone walked past his room, talking to a friend.

Soon night fell, and as he lay in bed, he was relieved from the terrible boredom as he drifted to sleep. Unfortunately it was a very restless one. He tossed and turned with the thoughts of the day filling him with anger, guilt, and fear. Each time he woke he sniffed the air to make sure that Stith was still there. Each time she was.

Finally his fatigue was too great, and the sleep overcame him. He was out for many hours.

ooo

Stith woke up around the equivalent of eleven at night from a nightmare that she had had, even though she could not recall it fully. The dream, coupled with discomfort from the rug quickly woke her. Whatever the nightmare had been, it left her with a sick feeling in her stomach. She wanted to leave, and to leave immediately. The desire to leave outweighed her fear of death, and so she stood to make her escape. It would have been her best opportunity, or so she thought.

Carefully, she listened for Tiryso. His light breathing told her that he was asleep. This along with the pounding of her frightened hearts was all that she could hear.

It was dark. Stith had never known this kind of darkness, which seemed to absorb her, and tease her fear of the dark relentlessly. From within the room, there was not even the light from the stars to illuminate her surroundings, as Tiryso had covered the room's skylights before going to sleep.

Ever so slowly she dressed, so as to be as hushed as possible. She moved so slowly that she was not even sure if she was dressing properly. The longer she took, the louder her hearts began to pound. In her head, she told them to be quiet, but they would not listen, thereby defeating her purpose for moving slowly. Then, at an even more gradual pace, she tiptoed toward the door. About halfway there, she realized that she had forgotten something very important. She did an about face and walked back toward her bed, holding her breath so it would not make a sound, and then passing the bed to push through the certain that led to the food storage room.

Doubts filled her mind about whether she would be able to find the gourd that contained her swimsuit in the suffocating darkness that filled the room. She went to side of the wall that contained the correct gourd. All that she could do was feel around with her hands until they rested on one. After a tense moment of brushing the air, she found one that she thought was correct, although she would not know for sure until it was opened. This she did. Much to her annoyance, the waxy seal took an impressive amount of force to break. Once it did, she stumbled backward, and she found herself covered with dried berries. Stith frantically shoved herself to her feet, stumbled as quietly as she could to the door of the room, and listened for Tiryso.

He had not stirred.

With much relief, she groped along the wall again to find the gourd that was next to the one she just opened. She opened it, this time careful to lean against a wall so she did not find herself on her rump again. She felt inside to find cloth. What she felt was most unlike the poetyo. She knew it had to be her swimsuit. Quickly recapping the lid of the gourd, she stood, and cradling her treasure like a kitten, continued the mission.

Once she reached the curtain to the hallway, she attempted to brush it out of her way. It did not move. She put the gourd on the floor and felt for the rocks that she had seen on each side of the curtain to keep it closed. She carefully drug them aside, picked up the gourd, and this time brushed the curtain out of her way. Suddenly, there was a loud creak as a board beneath her feet shifted. Stith gasped in panic and began to run at full speed, no longer worrying about being heard.

The hallway was lit with a few small torches, similar to the ones in the corners of Tiryso's room, although the light was still very dim. It was just enough to help Stith find her way to her destination. She dashed down the hallway, breathing heavily. All of the curtains were down as far as she could see, much to her relief. However, this was the last thing to which she was paying attention.

The twin moonlight illuminated the grounds much better than the torchlight. Stith could see her destination, which was the forest past the lake. Without pausing to admire her surroundings, she continued at full sprint.

She was barely thirty feet past the hall when she began to hear footsteps behind her. Her hearts leapt from her chest, but before she had a chance to run faster, she felt two powerful arms around her. She was hoisted into the air as a hand wrapped firmly around her muzzle, choking the scream that she was about to give.