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The heated argument between Ranger and Dara had grown to loud volumes once they were far from Logata City. They were nearing Bybourne Forest to the West, trees already randomly growing around where they walked.
"You know death is something I do not joke about. I may not care too much for Stari I don't know, but those of them that fought with me, matter. Rhykim got them killed by sending them with us, it would be wise to turn back to the Stari now that the allegiance is broken."
"You speak of treason."
"I speak of truth! He got them killed."
"He didn't get anyone killed, Ranger. He simply gave the order, and you and Nyx failed at completing the mission. It happens."
"They had been warned! We were ambushed, and against a greater number out in the open, we stood no chance."
"That still doesn't make it Rhykim's fault. You're not thinking straight. You've supported his cause ever since you first heard of it."
"Yes, but he promised a glittering empire, showered with rains of gold and diamond, peacefully united and filled with magic; a place where the Stari tribe could thrive in the open without any outside hatred. Instead I see a broken castle, a kingdom falling apart, rebellions popping up around the land, death and murder. I rode for three days straight, Dara."
"I know, I ran next to you."
"For three days I held a dying boy in my arms who was clinging on to dear life, only to have him die as we reach the castle. And why? Because we were racing away from Goron revolutionaries. Gorons! Just because Rhykim wanted us to disturb them and raid them. That does not seem very golden-showered to me."
"So you would just run off without a word?"
"I would slay a hundred men and tear down an empire, of course I would just leave."
"And what about Nyx?" Ranger stopped and looked at his hands, small cuts around his palms.
"I would do a lot of things to get in Nyx's favor, but if she stands with Rhykim," he turned to the cheetah, "then she stands with him." Dara breathed heavily. "If there were another way I would listen to it but at the moment my eyes are only capable of seeing the options laid out before me."
"But there is another way, Swiftongue. Your uncle has just died."
"Yes, I am well aware of that, Dara. Thanks for the news."
"Listen. Your uncle died, and he had but one son, one heir."
"Yes, it was my cousin who broke the allegiance with Rhykim now what are you getting at here."
"You're not thinking, Ranger! The chief is dead by chance, your father, his brother, is too, your cousin leads now. And if chance were to take him too, what then? Who would be the heir then?"
"The closest male of same blood."
"And what does that make you?"
The air was getting colder. Ranger wrapped his cloak tighter around his body. Leaves rustled behind a tree nearby. Without even turning, Ranger knocked an arrow, aimed, and fired in the split second it took Dara to blink. A groan followed from the tree. He moved slowly toward the figure that had fallen to the ground with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder, clearly in pain. Standing over him, he looked down. Blonde hair, white face, pale blue eyes stared back. A Stari. "Why were you following us?"
"I wasn't, Ranger, I swear." Ranger smiled, and with another lightning-fast movement his left hand drew the hunting knife he carried and his right clutched the throat of the man tightly, his thumb on his vein. He held the knife against the bottom of his chin, tightly, drawing blood.
"I have no recollection of you, yet you carry my name with you and release it as freely as the breeze flies through the leaves of the forest. You'd do well not to lie to me, boy, for I am adept in the skill and would slice your throat as easily as bread without blinking. So answer me, who sent you?" The Stari gulped.
"I swear, Ranger, no one sent me."
"Then why were you following me?"
"With the allegiance broken, I am torn between choosing the Imperator who I believe in, or my kin. I could not decide."
"I am still waiting for you to answer the question."
"You led us against the castle when we first attacked, Ranger, sir. You earned my trust, and my admiration as a Stari leader. I would do as you would whether you chose to stay or not." Ranger stared, calmly, at his eyes, then dropped him back against the ground, straightening up and sheathing the knife.
"You are lucky your pulse doesn't betray you, boy." He thought for a moment before continuing. "It would be wise of you not to follow my lead. I might slay men and women, raze towns, betray kings, murder, all if it was meant to be for my own purpose, the safeguard of my own life. It is not a life for someone else of the Stari to lead." The man gulped. "Now, tell me, what is keeping me from chopping up your tongue as to keep everything you've heard from me today from ever reaching another ear? And keep it short, I am done with listening to stories today."
"I...um...fear?"
"You say you fear me or what I would do to you? Is the idea of a coward carrying secrets of grave importance supposed to reassure me for surely they would be safe within him? Pathetic."
"No! I mean, I don't fear you. I mean the fear of letting you down." Not having been expecting that response, Ranger's eyes widened. He stared at the throbbing vein in the man's neck, pulsing with heartbeat after heartbeat, a steady rhythm, never faltering. The truth. He sighed.
"Go to the forest now, find Najiri, a small tree whose leaves are green with purple edges, easy enough to find. Mash up some leaves and mix them with water, and drink it. The tip of the arrow is poisoned, you would die within the hour. And don't let me catch you following me again for I could remove your legs so that it not happen a third time." The man, fearful that Ranger might change his mind, hurried away to the West. Ranger turned back to the East and began the journey to the castle.
"Did his words soothe your soul and warm your insides, Swiftongue?" Dara mocked Ranger. He didn't look at him or change the serious emotion in his face as he walked.
"No, words are eternally meaningless to me."
"Then tell what it was that changed you, for I haven't seen you spare the life of someone following you in years, if ever. Why did you spare him?"
"Najiri is a trivial name for the Gutlock tree, whose leaves are so poisonous if they were to be ingested you would die in seconds." He finally turned to Dara with the still unchanging expression. "I didn't."
---------- Post added 02-02-2014 at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-03-2014 at 02:53 AM ----------
Ranger had made up his mind. If he was to manage to get all of the Stari out of the conflict, first he was going to have to lead some of them straight into it. He needed Narus' trust, and when he had it he could both use it to take revenge on Rhykim's poor leadership qualities, as well as gain control of the Stari tribe. And he knew just who he needed to see first to kickstart his plan into action.
*Ranger leaves for The Negotiations*
"You know death is something I do not joke about. I may not care too much for Stari I don't know, but those of them that fought with me, matter. Rhykim got them killed by sending them with us, it would be wise to turn back to the Stari now that the allegiance is broken."
"You speak of treason."
"I speak of truth! He got them killed."
"He didn't get anyone killed, Ranger. He simply gave the order, and you and Nyx failed at completing the mission. It happens."
"They had been warned! We were ambushed, and against a greater number out in the open, we stood no chance."
"That still doesn't make it Rhykim's fault. You're not thinking straight. You've supported his cause ever since you first heard of it."
"Yes, but he promised a glittering empire, showered with rains of gold and diamond, peacefully united and filled with magic; a place where the Stari tribe could thrive in the open without any outside hatred. Instead I see a broken castle, a kingdom falling apart, rebellions popping up around the land, death and murder. I rode for three days straight, Dara."
"I know, I ran next to you."
"For three days I held a dying boy in my arms who was clinging on to dear life, only to have him die as we reach the castle. And why? Because we were racing away from Goron revolutionaries. Gorons! Just because Rhykim wanted us to disturb them and raid them. That does not seem very golden-showered to me."
"So you would just run off without a word?"
"I would slay a hundred men and tear down an empire, of course I would just leave."
"And what about Nyx?" Ranger stopped and looked at his hands, small cuts around his palms.
"I would do a lot of things to get in Nyx's favor, but if she stands with Rhykim," he turned to the cheetah, "then she stands with him." Dara breathed heavily. "If there were another way I would listen to it but at the moment my eyes are only capable of seeing the options laid out before me."
"But there is another way, Swiftongue. Your uncle has just died."
"Yes, I am well aware of that, Dara. Thanks for the news."
"Listen. Your uncle died, and he had but one son, one heir."
"Yes, it was my cousin who broke the allegiance with Rhykim now what are you getting at here."
"You're not thinking, Ranger! The chief is dead by chance, your father, his brother, is too, your cousin leads now. And if chance were to take him too, what then? Who would be the heir then?"
"The closest male of same blood."
"And what does that make you?"
The air was getting colder. Ranger wrapped his cloak tighter around his body. Leaves rustled behind a tree nearby. Without even turning, Ranger knocked an arrow, aimed, and fired in the split second it took Dara to blink. A groan followed from the tree. He moved slowly toward the figure that had fallen to the ground with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder, clearly in pain. Standing over him, he looked down. Blonde hair, white face, pale blue eyes stared back. A Stari. "Why were you following us?"
"I wasn't, Ranger, I swear." Ranger smiled, and with another lightning-fast movement his left hand drew the hunting knife he carried and his right clutched the throat of the man tightly, his thumb on his vein. He held the knife against the bottom of his chin, tightly, drawing blood.
"I have no recollection of you, yet you carry my name with you and release it as freely as the breeze flies through the leaves of the forest. You'd do well not to lie to me, boy, for I am adept in the skill and would slice your throat as easily as bread without blinking. So answer me, who sent you?" The Stari gulped.
"I swear, Ranger, no one sent me."
"Then why were you following me?"
"With the allegiance broken, I am torn between choosing the Imperator who I believe in, or my kin. I could not decide."
"I am still waiting for you to answer the question."
"You led us against the castle when we first attacked, Ranger, sir. You earned my trust, and my admiration as a Stari leader. I would do as you would whether you chose to stay or not." Ranger stared, calmly, at his eyes, then dropped him back against the ground, straightening up and sheathing the knife.
"You are lucky your pulse doesn't betray you, boy." He thought for a moment before continuing. "It would be wise of you not to follow my lead. I might slay men and women, raze towns, betray kings, murder, all if it was meant to be for my own purpose, the safeguard of my own life. It is not a life for someone else of the Stari to lead." The man gulped. "Now, tell me, what is keeping me from chopping up your tongue as to keep everything you've heard from me today from ever reaching another ear? And keep it short, I am done with listening to stories today."
"I...um...fear?"
"You say you fear me or what I would do to you? Is the idea of a coward carrying secrets of grave importance supposed to reassure me for surely they would be safe within him? Pathetic."
"No! I mean, I don't fear you. I mean the fear of letting you down." Not having been expecting that response, Ranger's eyes widened. He stared at the throbbing vein in the man's neck, pulsing with heartbeat after heartbeat, a steady rhythm, never faltering. The truth. He sighed.
"Go to the forest now, find Najiri, a small tree whose leaves are green with purple edges, easy enough to find. Mash up some leaves and mix them with water, and drink it. The tip of the arrow is poisoned, you would die within the hour. And don't let me catch you following me again for I could remove your legs so that it not happen a third time." The man, fearful that Ranger might change his mind, hurried away to the West. Ranger turned back to the East and began the journey to the castle.
"Did his words soothe your soul and warm your insides, Swiftongue?" Dara mocked Ranger. He didn't look at him or change the serious emotion in his face as he walked.
"No, words are eternally meaningless to me."
"Then tell what it was that changed you, for I haven't seen you spare the life of someone following you in years, if ever. Why did you spare him?"
"Najiri is a trivial name for the Gutlock tree, whose leaves are so poisonous if they were to be ingested you would die in seconds." He finally turned to Dara with the still unchanging expression. "I didn't."
---------- Post added 02-02-2014 at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was 01-03-2014 at 02:53 AM ----------
Ranger had made up his mind. If he was to manage to get all of the Stari out of the conflict, first he was going to have to lead some of them straight into it. He needed Narus' trust, and when he had it he could both use it to take revenge on Rhykim's poor leadership qualities, as well as gain control of the Stari tribe. And he knew just who he needed to see first to kickstart his plan into action.
*Ranger leaves for The Negotiations*