Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Three - Catching Up

Savan knew her way across the plains. She didn’t have any maps or a compass, just the occasional glance at the sun, or a squint at some rocks in the distance. The path she led us on wasn’t straight either, being a meandering route that followed the edges of hills and crossed rocky crags with the occasional skip across a rivulet.

“This way, meat friends!” Savan said with a gesture ahead.

I was trying to convince Savan to stop calling us meat, but she kept slipping. In the end I gave up. At least ‘meat friends’ was a nice alternative to just ‘meat.’

“There’s dust ahead,” Amaryllis said with a gesture of a wing towards the sky.

I shaded my eyes with a hand then squinted ahead. She was right, there was a plume of smokey dust rising above the nearest hill’s horizon and into the sky. Something big was moving up ahead. Or a lot of medium-sized things, maybe.

“That’s the hunters,” Savan said. “This time of sun, they should be out.”

It was still pretty early in the morning, though the sun was fully up and shining above. If Savan had run into us after leaving her camp, then she couldn’t have started too far from the camp unless she hunted at night.

Then again, she was a cat-person, so maybe she could see in the dark really well.

I asked her about it, which quickly snowballed into a conversation about the various advantages of the different intelligent species. Amaryllis, of course, gloated about how great harpy were, until Savan asked her if she tasted more like turkey or chicken, which set Awen and I off in a giggle fit that annoyed Amaryllis a bunch.

Just as Awen was mentioning humanity's reputation for being able to eat just about anything, we crested a hill. Out ahead of us, the land flattened out considerably for a long ways, with nothing but a sea of grass in greens and browns and yellows stretching out nearly to the horizon.

After staring for a while, I noticed that the land wasn't quite flat, though. There were still bumps and dips in the landscape, but the ever-present grass made it hard to see them.

A few trees dotted the area, though they were few and far between, being mostly big wind-swept trees that seemed very picturesque in the distance.

“There’s the hunters,” Saven said. “There’s a camp further out that way.” She pointed to what I thought was west. I couldn’t see anything that way, so it must've been farther out than I could see.but the camp might have been a little ways off in the distance.

“Should we go to the camp or the hunters?” I asked.

“Hunters!” Savan said. “That’s where my friends are. Calamity will know what to do. He’s smart.”

With that pronouncement, she started off once more, and the rest of us scrambled to keep up. Savan moved through the grass with much greater ease than the rest of us. She had a way to zig-zag through that didn’t leave a clear trail showing where she came from and which seemed to require less resistance to push through the tall grass.

I was tempted to just bounce along, but the ground under the grass was uneven and filled with little holes. I was worried I might sprain my ankles if I wasn’t careful.

As we approached the hunters, I began to make out more details.

The group had maybe fifty or so members, all either cervid jogging along, or cat-people like Savan on ponyback. Some were riding the cervid. A few of them had long staffs which they were using to bat away the grass, and others nearer to the back were planting poles down with flags on them with different colours.

“What are they doing?” Awen asked.

“Hunting!” Savan said. “Cockatrice can be very sneaky. They’ll lay down in the grass and only pop up when they feel like eating your meat or if they feel like running. The poles are to tell the gatherers where the hunters found poop.”

“Droppings?” Amaryllis asked.

“From cockatrice. For potions,” Savan explained.

I blinked, then considered the few potions I drank in the past. Had any of those contained dragon-monster poop? Should I have been worried?

“Wait, if the hunters are out in a group, then what were you doing?” Amaryllis asked Savan.

“Scouting,” Savan answered easily. “I’m small and sneaky, and the cockatrice aren’t going to be scared by just me. If I find them, then I can tell the hunters, and then we hunt them down as a big group.”

Savan paused her explanation to jump up on a rock that I hadn’t seen through the grass. She stood at her full height, then tied a kerchief on the end of her bow with a lazy knot and waved it around over her head.

There were a few whistles from the hunters, and I noticed a few pointing our way.

“What was that for?” Amaryllis asked.

“Tell them we’re here,” Savan said.

“Yes, I had gathered that, but why?”

Savan jumped off the rock and under the kerchief before stuffing it away. “Because I don’t wanna surprise anyone and get shot,” she said.

That seemed like a perfectly valid reason to me.

We continued towards the group, and I saw what Savan meant by sneaking up on them. Some of the grass we pushed through was taller than I was, ears and all. Big stalks of dry yellow grass that whipped to and fro as we moved through it. We burst out of the tall grass into... less tall grass right before a group of three from the hunters. Two cat people on ponies and a young cervid.

“Hello!” Savan said. “I found meat friends!”

“Hello, Savan,” one of the cat people said. He was a handsome young man, maybe a few years older than my friends and I, with a nice chin and bright green eyes. He tipped his hat at us. “Howdy, ny’all, what’re you doin’ round these parts?”

I held back a snort. That would have been impolite. “Hi!” I said instead. “We’re looking for someone, and also something.”

“Well, we’ve got a bit of both,” he said with a grin. “Savan, where’d you find this lot?”

“They were camping to the southeast,” Savan said. “They’re looking for a lost cervid boy and a lost airship.”

The leader of the little band perked up. “An airship?” he asked, excited.

“Oh boy,” his two companions said in stereo before they shook their heads.

“”Ny’all are lookin’ for a ship round these parts?” he asked. “Because I swear on the dirt we’re standing on that I’ve seen one. It crashed... ‘bout that way. Maybe a day’s ride yonder.” He pointed to what I suspected was north.

“You saw a ship crash?” Amaryllis asked.

“Two of ‘em!” he said. “But where’re my manners; my name’s Calamity. Calamity Danger, at y’er service, ma’ams. Best shot in the Trenten Flats. I can swat a fly off y’er nose with the feather of an arrow from a hundred paces.”

I clapped. He was very cool.

“I’m Broccoli Bunch, and these are my best friends, Amaryllis Albatross and Awen Bristlecone.”

“Albatross,” Calamity said. “Like the airship manufacturers?”

Amaryllis blinked twice. “Yes, in fact, just like them.” Her chest puffed out a little.

“Calamity, we should get back to it,” the cervid said. “Daylight’s burning.”

Calamity nodded. “Fair. Now, I don’t want to leave you misses standing out here all on your lonesome.” He swung his leg up and dismounted his pony. “Savan, can you lead Blinky here back to the others. We’ll follow along shortly.”

Savan grinned. “Horse meat!” she cheered as she scrambled up onto the pony and grabbed its reins. She ‘hyah’d’ quite loudly and took off at a gallop back towards the main formation of hunters.

The other two ran after her, obviously somewhat annoyed.

“Is she... normal?” Amaryllis asked.

“Savan? She’s as normal as she wants to be, I suspect. Which isn’t very much at all, no,” Calamity said. He grinned and raised his hat to comb his fingers through the fur atop his head. Unlike Savan, Calamity was more of a tabby, with black bands of fur on his face over more greyish brown fur with a few odd white speckles. “But she’s good folk.”

“Are you in charge of the hunters, then?” Amaryllis asked.

Calamity laughed. “Goodness no. I just stick my whiskers where they don’t belong often enough that folk turn to me to fix things. I’m just along for the pay and the adventure. Now, Savan said you were looking for some ships?”

“And a cervid called Deiter,” I said. “He’s from Riverstart, a little village to the south.”

“I know the one,” Calamity said with a nod. “I think I even remember the lad you’re talking about. Tall, gawky fellow, bit on the skinny side? Mom had lungs like a banshee that got its tail stepped on?”

“Banshees don’t have tails,” Amaryllis said. “But yes, that sounds like the right person.”

Calamity grinned. “Poor lad saw one of the hunter does and fell in love with her on sight. I think she insulted his mom too. Might be back at the main camp. Haven’t seen him around since Riverstart though.”

“Thank you!” I said. “That helps a lot. And the airships?”

“Hmm, those came down way off to the north. Gonna be hard to point you in the right direction, honestly. Might be able to guide you over, if nya tell me why nye’r looking.”

I glanced at my friends and earned two shrugs. “Well, a whole bunch of important people - a diplomatic envoy - were taking a big airship to Sylphfree, but it never arrived. It should have had an escort. We’re out here looking for it now.”

“Huh, that’s mighty interesting,” Calamity said. He glanced back at the hunters, then back at us. ‘Alright, look misses. I’m keen on showing nya to the spot where I saw those ships go down. I have been ever since I saw them from afar. Everyone here knows I’ve got a real love for airships.”

“Which is normal,” I said. “They’re awesome.”

Calamity nodded seriously. “That’s right. Can’t just shirk my duties though. If you misses don’t mind, you can trail along with the rest of the group. We stop at around high noon to find shade and fill up. I’m sure I could lead you off northwards around then.”

“So, what, you just want us to follow you until noon?” Amaryllis asked.

“I bet we can make it to the crash site and back before sunfall. If nya want we can borrow a couple of ponies. It’ll make the ride a fair bit faster. I’ve got Blinky, of course. If we can’t all ride then at least we won’t need to lug y’er gear around.”

“That sounds really great,” I said.

“Bit convenient,” Amaryllis muttered. She eyed Calamity suspiciously, but didn’t say much.

So I stepped up and extended a hand to the cat...man. “I’d love to work with you, if you don’t mind.”

“Ah, but before that, we need to talk remuneration,” Calamity said.

“Of course,” Amaryllis said. I think it actually made her less suspicious though, that Calamity wanted to be paid. “Let’s haggle now before Broccoli starts insisting on... reverse-friend-discounts or something.”

“Wha?” I asked. “But I haven’t even asked Calamity if he wants to be friends yet... do you?”

Calamity laughed. “Sure! But a good friend’s a payin’ one!”

Calamity Danger

Dream: To become the coolest sky pirate

Desired Quality: Someone who’ll be by his side through thick and thin

Whoa! He was so cool!

***