Chapter 13 "Pesky Tricks and Pointy Sticks"
After spending nearly two days at Colony Phi, Noah, Mio, and her allies Bowan, Lennick, and Moraine were back on the road to Colony Rho. It'd been a contentious visit, punctuated by the swordfighter's severe mistreatment. Considering that Noah was the lone Kevesi on Agnian turf, however, the sparing of his life was perhaps the best outcome for which he could've hoped. As for Mio, restoring her friendship with Taion, Colony Phi's commander, left her feeling satisfied as the group descended Lomi Hill towards Riez Tarn. The water rippled from a sweeping gust, its surface reflecting no shimmer of sunlight due to the overcast sky.
"Looks like we'll have to hop across," Mio studied the dwindling path ahead, having stopped just past their former lakeside campsite. The gravelly banks gradually receded into the water, however, there appeared to be enough rocks between them and the cave entrance for which they were heading.
"Time to test our senses of balance, huh?" Noah observed the antsy expressions around him.
"I'm sorry," his running mate brought her hands together, "but this is the only detour I know around Colony 18."
"We're aware," Bowan spoke for her allies. "The main path would've taken us right into their territory."
"We ought to avoid any colony, considering the mix of our group," the lone Kevesi advised his Agnian cohorts.
"Our options will be limited from here on out," she had a warning of her own. "If everyone's ready, then let's go." Nodding not quite in unison, the other soldiers followed her across the rocks to the grassy bank on the other side. With their boots still dry, Noah, Mio and company entered the tunnel to commence the detour.
A dank, almost humid odor greeted them almost immediately. The five pairs of footsteps began echoing the deeper they went, a reverberation soon complemented by the crackling of a few sequestered torches. While there were no platoons deployed along the way, a band of Tirkins and some gust vangs kept the soldiers vigilant. Within the hour, a fork in the road presented them with a choice to make.
"Two paths?" the blue-finned Agnian tapped his chin. "Mio, despite the daylight coming from the right, you'd indicated we should turn left here, yes?"
"Correct, though my intel is outdated by about four years," the zephyr briefly consulted her map via her Iris. "I don't know if the tunnel's still clear."
"Only one way to find out." The ponytailed soldier walked ahead, however, he quickly realized that nobody was following. "Hmm? Is something wrong?"
"Um… I thought Mio was leading us," Lennick shyly slid his foot across the ground.
"It doesn't matter," she looked around for what she hoped were faces of agreement. "We're all going together, aren't we?"
"Guess we're still getting used to being with a Kevesi," Moraine confessed for her trio. "Sorry…"
"It's okay," the odd man out remained unbothered. "I know it's not something you can simply internalize overnight."
"As I said before, it took me some time to adjust myself," Mio attempted to allay their lingering qualms whilst retaking the lead of their hike. "Honestly, I'm a little surprised none of you asked him to leave."
"It's kind of like what Commander Taion said," the ether-lined Agnian referenced their former host. "We value your opinion, and you value him."
"Though, I will admit I'm a bit skeptical of your… uh, mission," Bowan eyed both deserters as everybody continued down their chosen tunnel. "Are you actually intent on challenging our consul… just to avoid your homecoming?"
"I am," her tone evinced her unwavering conviction.
"But… what would that mean for the colony's future?" her lavender-skinned comrade fretted.
"It could mean that you guys and any new recruits we receive won't have to worry about homecomings, either," the moonblades-wielder conjectured with hope on the brain.
"Assuming we live that long," the defender couldn't completely shake off his cynicism. "Colony 5 might overtake us when they see we're the only ones left."
"I'd rather die on the battlefield than by my consul beheading me," Lennick unwittingly rubbed his neck.
"That's how I feel, too," Moraine's countenance mirrored his.
"Wouldn't you all rather die naturally?" the cat-eared Agnian posed what seemed like an easy question.
"Well, of course," Bowan's voice bounced off the walls, "but there's no way we're making it that far with our consul around."
"Hence why removing her from the equation means we can fade away peacefully," the oldest soldier of the five felt herself losing her grip on the conversation.
"Although, if a new consul replaces her and reestablishes the homecoming policy before your time's up, then we may have an additional fight on our hands," Noah recalled the warning from Randol of the City folks.
"Ugh… don't remind me," she subtly shuddered in revulsion. "I can't stand the thought of there being more consuls."
"I'm sorry…" her travel partner slightly slouched beside her.
"Pardon me, Kevesi," the blue-finned Agnian interjected, "but what do you get out of this?"
"Um…" the swordfighter glanced at Mio whose expression remained saturnine. "Should I tell them?"
"If you want," her shoulders shrugged. "The answer isn't mine to give."
"But it started with your… death wish," he spoke softly in her ear.
"I'm okay with it, now," Mio assured him before addressing everybody else. "I think we should take Taion's cue and be forthcoming, since we're traveling together now."
"Right." Stepping ahead, the pacifist turned to face the group which had stopped again. "As you know, I'm a proponent of peace who refuses to take life. Although I've caused injuries during battle, I've never killed anyone."
"Had you not betrayed your own colony to save us, I wouldn't believe you," the ether-lined Agnian inserted his thoughts.
"Yeah, but surely you realize the injuries you've caused to our compatriots likely led to their eventual deaths," Bowan squinted at the lone Kevesi.
"I'm aware. I carry the guilt with me." Heat built under Noah's collar, even with his eyes on the person with whom he was most comfortable. "When I cut Mio down, I… hated myself like I'd never have before."
"Good thing I was around to save her, then," the defender didn't beat around the bush.
"Yes, I'm glad you did that," the ponytailed soldier squeezed out a momentary smile. "Anyway, subsequently learning Mio's story moved me, immensely. I'd already planned on deserting the war by that point, so supporting her cause seemed like the right choice."
"You're risking your life just to help her?" the healer contorted her face in puzzlement. "No offense, Mio."
"None taken, Moraine," the zephyr waved her off, "and honestly, I still can't fully understand his selflessness, either." Noah fumbled for a response, feeling the judging stares pecking at him from all directions.
"I'll say one thing for you, Kevesi," Lennick prevented the tension from thickening, "you're pretty resilient for sticking with us after what'd happened at Colony Phi."
"Thanks," the swordfighter decompressed at the compliment, "but you don't have to keep calling me that. You know my name is Noah."
"R-right, Noah," the ether-lined Agnian chuckled nervously.
"You all haven't been properly introduced to each other, have you?" Mio came to realize of her motley crew.
"Do we need to?" Bowan shifted his weight, experiencing the slightest of aches in his legs.
"Perhaps," she crossed her arms. "It might help make everyone feel more comfortable around each other."
"I agree," the lone Kevesi nodded to her. "I'm already grateful you all don't see me as your enemy."
"Considering your actions, you're the exception to me," the blue-finned Agnian reaffirmed his incipient trust, despite being the wariest of Mio's allies. "Guess I can entertain the idea. When else might I get to know a Kevesi?"
"That's what I was thinking," Moraine voiced her interest, sounding more willing than he was.
"Yeah, I'll play along, too," Lennick consented with a hand modestly raised.
"Good," their cat-eared comrade led them to a dusting of grass. "Let's have a short break while we're at it. Taion and Isurd packed us lunches, after all."
"If you can count dried fruits and nuts as lunch," Bowan sat with his back towards the fork in the road, the others soon completing a circle with him. "I can still taste breakfast… somewhat."
"Well, since it seems like you're not gonna eat, maybe you'd like to go first?" she grinned at putting him on the spot.
"Fine then," he faced his former enemy, clearing his throat. "My name is Bowan, ninth term. As you saw when I rescued Mio from… uh, you, I wield a heavy sword so nobody dies on my watch."
"Nice to formally meet you, Bowan," Noah bowed his head at him before digging into his dried rations. "Thanks again for making an effort with me. I know you'd trusted me the least, back at Colony 25."
"It's my protective nature," the defender shyly stroked one of his blue fins.
"I suppose that makes sense," the pacifist looked around for the next volunteer.
"I'll go now," the ether-lined boy straightened his back. "I'm Lennick, seventh term, almost eighth. My Blade used to be a sword, but I switched to a sharpshooter."
"Oh?" the lone Kevesi found an opportunity to make conversation. "What made you change it?"
"I wanted to try something new," Lennick started fiddling with his fingers, "considering we only live for ten years if we're lucky."
"I hadn't thought of it like that," the perennial swordsman instinctively glanced at Mio before moving onto her third ally.
"And I am Moraine, eighth term," the lavender-skinned girl took her turn. "I don't really have any combat skills, so I've dedicated myself to healing with my wand."
"Healers are very important," he praised her class choice. "I take it you use a wand rather than a staff since the latter involves fighting."
"That's exactly why," Moraine was both surprised and impressed by his perceptiveness. "Guess I hate fighting, same as you."
"Huh," it heartened him to hear her say that, "and I once believed I was the only one who felt that way."
"Me too," Mio chimed in before gnawing on a handful of granola. The chatter started attracting the attention of a few of the indigenous Tirkins, but they kept their distance for now.
"In any case, you all know me as Noah," he reintroduced himself now that her allies were done sharing. "I've recently begun my ninth term, and somehow I made it this far without killing anyone… but you already knew that as well."
"Can you tell us something else about you that even I don't know?" his running mate suggested, enjoying the interaction more than she'd anticipated.
"Sure, uh… let me think…" his brows dropped in rumination.
"Do you always keep your hair tied like that?" the sharpshooter pointed at the back of the contemplative Kevesi's head.
"Hmm?" Noah's hand ran through both sections of his hair. "Most of the time, yes. I don't want it to get in my face."
"Wouldn't it just be easier to cut it, then?" Bowan asked what his comrades were pondering, finally unzipping his rucksack for a peek.
"It probably would," the ponytailed soldier observed the defender's shorter, light brown locks, "but I like it this way."
"That's fair," the healer accepted his answer respectfully. "How about you, Mio?"
"Mmm?" the moonblades-wielder was caught midchew. "Oh, I think it looks good both ways."
"No, I mean it's your turn," Moraine corrected her, nearly giggling.
"But you all know everything about me," Mio started to fuss with the attention suddenly flowing in her direction.
"It's not like any of us were on the same team back at the colony. Surely, there's one fact or another we can learn." The blue-finned Agnian partially enjoyed seeing her flustered reaction after she'd previously egged him into going first.
"Alright, fine," her fingers curled under her jaw, "I'll come up with something."
"Can you tell us about your ears?" he watched them twitch at the sound of his query. "I never did ask anyone else at Colony Rho who had them."
"Do they actually allow you to hear better than the rest of us?" Lennick was equally curious.
"Er, well… it's true," she self-consciously fondled them, briefly catching a nearby Tirkin in her peripheral vision. "I can pick up on things from afar."
"That's pretty neat," Bowan expressed his approval, though he soon realized that she was still nonplussed. "How come you seem ashamed of them?"
"I'm not ashamed," her cheeks became rosy, "but people used to make fun of my ears, soon after I'd transferred."
"You don't think people sometimes made fun of my fins?" the defender attempted to alleviate her apparent distress.
"The consul of Colony 25 put my veins on full blast," the ether-lined boy added, softly rubbing his face.
"And Noah's freckled friend called my beauty marks rocks," their lavender-skinned comrade joined in the commiseration.
"I'm sorry for Denize's remarks," the pacifist's palms came together. "You look fine to me."
"Thanks," the indirect apology was good enough for her, "and… I guess I didn't need to drag your gray friend into it, either."
"Yuzet thought you all were strange, so I guess it's even," Noah shifted in place, now sitting cross-legged. "After our first night of guard duty, my salvage team and I marveled at how different we soldiers are."
"Yeah, besides the gray tones, I noticed some Kevesis have wings, too," Moraine mimed with her outspread hands connected at the wrists.
"Nobody with them can fly, though," he swiftly shot down the notion.
"Do you Kevesis have gems on your chests like this?" Lennick wondered as he pulled down the collar of his uniform.
"No," the swordfighter stared tentatively. "I hadn't even thought to ask Mio about it."
"Every Agnian has one," the healer revealed hers, too.
"We're born with them, thanks to the queen no doubt," Bowan patted his gem without uncovering it. "They give us a boost in battle."
"I see." In the spirit of show-and-tell, the ponytailed soldier reached for an object on his belt. "We Kevesis have to use power frames just to keep up wi-"
"Ay! Watch it!" An abrupt shout from Mio startled everybody, including the individual to whom it was directed.
"Kraa!" The lurking Tirkin that she'd seen earlier fled the scene after having snuck up on the snacking quintet.
"How did nobody notice…?" the blue-finned Agnian swiveled around. "Wait a minute, it's taken my rucksack!"
"I'd had my eye on it while everybody was showing off their gems," she rose to her feet, as did the others, "but I didn't expect it to lunge for Bowan's bag as quickly as it did."
"I'm not letting it get away!" he summoned his Blade, everybody now giving chase. "I didn't even get a nibble, yet!"
"It's not moving too fast for us." Noah observed the frantic Tirkin running for a cavern at the end of the path which they'd declined to take before. Within seconds, the hurrying soldiers caught up to it, only to find themselves surrounded by an entire feathered tribe.
"Did we just run into a trap?" the cat-eared Agnian summoned her Blade and stepped beside Bowan whose heavy sword had expanded like a shield.
"Trap?" the snatching bird hobbled around to face them. "What need trap hoomans for? Just want food."
"Glad to know we don't fit your diet," Moraine interpreted from its heathenish dialect.
"Look, that's my bag you've got there," Bowan didn't let the dispute drift away too soon. "You can't just take things that don't belong to you."
"But you leave food to waste while others eat, so I thought you not want," the Tirkin reasoned with surprising coherence.
"Haven't you heard of saving for later?" the defender spouted over his bulky Blade. "We've got a lot of hiking to do, so I'll need my sustenance."
"Sus… ten… what-what?" the confused bird stared at him unblinking with its beady eyes. "Hooman words sometimes too long for Tirkin brains."
"I said give me my stuff back, or else there'll be trouble!" Bowan delivered his ultimatum which prompted the Tirkin tribe to present its armament of unpleasantly sharp objects.
"Hold it!" Mio hollered into the expansive, hollowed space. "This is absolutely not worth fighting over."
"Hooman with big sword very skary, kraa…" a smaller Tirkin stepped out from behind the filching one.
"Make threats shows poor manners," the instigator of the confrontation shook its beak in apparent disappointment.
"P-poor manners?" the blue-finned Agnian was almost at a loss for words. "So, stealing is polite, now?"
"It very nec… ess… ary… for us to eat, too," the Tirkin contended, momentarily flaring its tail feathers.
"What's the matter?" the swordfighter softened his stance. "Is there not enough to go around?"
"Dat right," the smaller of the two talkative birds hopped once.
"We Tirkins have trouble when look for food lately," the bigger, thieving one explained as its brethren slowly lowered their spears and bows. "Rain bad for feathers and mud bad for feet."
"Rain?" Noah peered upwards, catching a glimpse of ominous clouds through the opening in the cavern ceiling. "Can you not hunt in the rain?"
"Not during, not after." The Tirkin seemed pleased with the understanding but remained atwitter over the predicament. "It soon rain again before ground have chance to dry."
"Summer must be tough on you, then," the pacifist sympathized with it, "having erratic weather and all."
"Ahem…" Bowan sidled to him with his heavy sword still active, "Noah, what're you doing?"
"Negotiating," the lone Kevesi responded confidently before returning to the Tirkin. "Will you give him back his bag if we let you keep the dried fruit that's inside?"
"B-but…" the defender quickly protested, "I was just starting to look forward to tha-"
"Deal, by kraa!" The appeased bird dug into the rucksack for the bartered contents, handing back the rest to a dithery Bowan. "Dese tastiest of all!"
"Oh, tease me more, why don't you?" Bowan wrapped his arms around his recovered belongings.
"I thought you didn't want any of it," Mio tilted her head at him.
"It's fine," her travel partner continued to play the peacekeeper. "He can have some of mine later."
"Thank you, hooman," the Tirkin raised a wing in appreciation. "Now family won't starve."
"Family?" Now it was Noah's turn to get stuck on a foreign word. "Er, you're welcome."
"Come on, we should get back on the road," the zephyr led the group back to the tunnels. "This was only supposed to be a short break and we've somehow backtracked."
"You're right," he recognized her concern while a few droplets trickled behind them.
"Say, Noah, that was pretty smooth of you, back there," the sharpshooter lauded his intervention once they'd put some distance between themselves and the Tirkins.
"Guess we've learned something else about you today," the lavender-skinned girl smirked with her fingers on her lips, "that you're a good negotiator."
"Yeah," Lennick clenched his fist enthusiastically, "suddenly I feel better about our chances if we run into any colony units."
"Somehow, I get the feeling that they'd be harder to deal with," Mio wasn't quite so optimistic.
"Why is that?" his positivity neutralized.
"The idea of mortal enemies doesn't occur to Tirkins who simply want to survive," the ponytailed soldier answered for her, gazing emptily at stalactites above. "If we encounter any Kevesis, they'll want to kill you guys. If we encounter any Agnians, they'll want to kill me."
"Sure, but if they're Kevesis, maybe you can reason with them," Moraine remained hopeful regarding the worse of the two possible scenarios.
"I'd rather we don't meet anybody before arriving to Colony Rho." Now facing forward, Noah noticed raindrops falling just beyond the tunnel's exit. After hinting all day, the unsettling clouds had finally let loose their heavy loads upon the tableland. Before the soldiers' expressions could sink at the dreary sight, squawks of more Tirkins were heard coming from outside. Seconds later, they began filling the tunnel in a wet-feathered frenzy.
"Whoa!" the healer gawked at the bombardment. "The rain really ruffled them up, huh?"
"It may also stall us, too," the moonblades-wielder considered the implication. "If I recall, the land rises sharply before the vall-"
"Kraa! Is hoomans again!" One of the Tirkins didn't appear to take kindly to the quintet's presence in its refuge.
"What do you mean by again?" Moraine questioned its wording as everybody stopped in their tracks.
"You attak us Tirkins yesterday!" the dampened bird accused them.
"Eh?" the ether-lined boy slowly shook his head in bafflement. "We weren't even here, yesterday."
"When hoomans hit Tirkins, we hit back!" The Tirkin reached for its spear while its fellow fowl equipped their bows and daggers.
"But we never hit, er, attacked you!" the blue-finned Agnian likewise summoned and spaded his heavy sword in the ground. By now, everybody in the tunnel had their weapons ready.
"Clearly, some misassumptions have been made," Mio dimmed her eyes, irritated by the impasse.
"You think we false? Kraa!" All at once, the disgruntled bird led a clumsy but nonetheless dicey assault upon the soldiers.
"Look out!" Bowan's Blade widened to shield his party from harm until the adversaries ran out of arrows and breath. "Bah! I've had enough of these Tirkins' pesky tricks!"
"Not to mention their pointy sticks!" the lavender-skinned girl huffed over his shoulder.
"Pesky tricks and pointy sticks!" the Tirkin nearly sang, seemingly forgetting what was happening. "Has nice wing to it, no?"
"Er… it rhymes, I guess…" Lennick eased his posture, his sharpshooter now downturned.
"Time out," the swordfighter slipped past Bowan to initiate another round of negotiations with the locals. "Let's get to the bottom of this, shall we?"
"But bottom so far down," the bedraggled bird bemoaned. "Is rougher neighborbrood."
"I mean let's sort this out," Noah leaned forward to converse more closely. "What makes you think we attacked you yesterday?"
"You wear same dark cloth!" the Tirkin aimed its spear at him implicatively.
"I think it's talking about a random Kevesi soldier," the cat-eared Agnian postulated quietly, "maybe a bunch of them."
"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," her running mate nodded to her before returning to the Tirkin. "You'd said multiple humans attacked you, correct? Were they all wearing dark clothes?"
"Dey were," the enervated bird relaxed its screeching.
"Have a good look at my friends," the pacifist scooted aside. "Do their clothes appear dark, too?"
"Kraa?" the Tirkin examined the Agnians, its beak slackened. "Light cloth on other hoomans?"
"See?" Mio took Noah's cue as everyone lined themselves alongside her. "We're a different lot."
"We make mistake?" the bewildered bird almost dropped its pointy stick.
"Can you tell us what happened?" the swordfighter withdrew his Blade, as did everyone else.
"Yesterday, hooman like you spy us from cliff," the Tirkin began its woeful tale. "Drop something round and shiny. When hooman kome down to retrieve, dey see us and attak."
"Round and shiny?" A power frame came to the logical Kevesi's mind. "Anyway, I'm sorry they hurt you."
"We Tirkins fend for each feather 'til hoomans climb back up ladder." The lead bird proceeded to waddle past the soldiers with its brethren in tow. "Maybe dey be nice to you."
"Hey!" the defender nearly followed them. "You're leaving without giving us an apology?"
"Bowan, let it go," the oldest soldier sighed at him.
"The Tirkins inadvertently gave us something, though," Noah cast his weary gaze outside, "a warning."
"Yeah," his running mate did the same, "sounds like there're Kevesis in the valley."
"No telling if the rain will drive them away," he sensed her anxiety mounting.
"I hate to say it, but we probably should camp here until conditions improve," she resigned herself to the present situation, silently cursing the timing of everything. Despite wishing to reach Colony Rho in a timely manner, Mio wasn't about to risk her friends' safety to do it.