Chapter 3- A Guide At Long Last

Pulled up by the side of the dirt cliff that hung over the creek, the body of the beast was laid and dressed. Gane cut the good meat from the body of the creature. He wasn’t much better at dressing an animal then he was at hunting them, but this beast had meat to spare. He cut the good part of the meat into small slabs and laid them on the rock besides him. His fingers going numb as the cold blood and frigid evening wind through the trees. He watched as Yhora walked down to the small bronze colored bomb that she had used to lure the beast. She picked it up and loaded it back in her Tsuk, before launching it far over the treetops in the opposite direction that they had come from. She reattached the Tsuk to the back of her belt and walked back up towards Gane and their kill. 

“You’ve gotta get rid of sweet bombs after you use them, otherwise you’ll keep attracting animals until the thing runs out of magic.” She said as she reapproached him. 

“They’re quite impressive.” Gane responded. He sat for a moment cutting more flesh from the dead beast. This woman’s spirits seemed to have been uplifted. Still knowing very little about her, he decided to prod a bit.“Where does one get their hands on so many weapons like that?”

“I was training to become a ranger. All of this stuff is standard fare for rangers that operate in Kellylin.” She spoke as she reached down and picked up a chunk of raw meat that Gane had cut. She began taking a bite out of it when Gane stuck his hand out.

“Wait what are you doing!? We haven't cooked it yet.” Gane said, holding his hand out trying to stop her.

“What’s the matter, we caught this to share?” Yhora said confusedly as she chewed the meat. She then realized why he was upset. “Oh sorry, we Roni eat our food raw.”

Gane put his hand down and went back to cutting the meat. Trying to briskly move past this bit of culture shock he returned to the conversation. “So you’re a ranger, should I not be out in this part of the forest?”

“Well… I’m not technically a ranger yet, and you’re lucky that you’re not dead, don’t they tell you not to travel through Kellylin without a guide? She sat up straighter and looked closer for his answer.

“I was going to get a guide, but I kind of had to leave the last town I was in in a hurry, and I figured I could make it through on my own.” Gane held back divulging any more detail from that encounter. “I’m headed to Sohouta, and I wandered off the beaten path.”

“You’re lucky you did, those roads are built to stop invading armies. They’re full of traps and lead to nowhere.” She responded. “What gives a beastiarian such a drive to brave the wilds of Kellylin?”

Gane felt a dash of anxiety at this question. “I just really need to get to Sohouta, I guess I was just irresponsible.” He gave an awkward forced chuckle. Gane felt like moving the focus away from his mission and so inquired more on her story. “What is a not-technically-ranger doing out here hunting monsters?” The same look of reflective sadness came over her face again at this question. Gane felt bad for asking and was about to do something to change subjects again when she responded. 

“I was in Sohouta two months ago, learning rangership from my clan leaders when I got news that my home village had been destroyed by a Cu’maru.” She had a thousand day’s stare as she spoke. “I had spent my whole life planning to be a ranger, every choice I made was in pursuit of my destiny protecting the forest and protecting the clan. But in pursuit of that goal I missed my Heiskarn. I wasn’t there when my home was torn down, and that Cu’maru is still at large.” Yhora’s heart sank back to where it had been after sharing this. Thinking about it was hard, but telling it to this clueless stranger somehow made it easier.

Gane felt terrible for having brought this back up, and retroactively worse for sleeping in the ruins. But he was confused by something she had said. “I’m sorry, my Ronic is very basic, what is a Heiskarn?”

“In Roni culture, your Heiskarn is the fight of your life, it is the moment that you were born for. All life that comes before is preparation, and all life that comes after is a reward for you to bask in satisfaction. Missing it is to have lived a worthless life. If the night my family was murdered wasn’t my Heiskarn, then I don’t know what could be. So I’ve been out here hunting that Cu’maru for revenge.” She looked down and lazily set down the half eaten meat. Her appetite gone.

“What are you gonna do after you kill it?” Gane asked concernedly.

“I don’t know… I don’t even know if I can kill it.” She trailed off.

Gane let the silence sit for a second, trying to figure out how to console her, or anything he could say to help. Finding nothing his only choice was to try and lighten the mood. “I haven’t eaten anything in about twelve hours, and raw meat is not good for me. Would you mind if I find a better place to cook this meat I’ve cut?”

Yhora smiled slightly at his remark, she wasn’t looking to be pitied, and was glad to have the subject changed. “If you can manage another hour’s walk, I can take you to a rest stop. They can cook it for you, and we can sell the extra.”

Gane considered for a moment, but a guide to a rest stop was the best deal he’d gotten in this whole trip. “I suppose.”

The two picked up their supplies and Gane moved the stack of a dozen meat chunks into his bag. He felt squeamish about how bloody and soaked his bag had become. Thankfully there was almost nothing left to be ruined. He kept his notebook and money in his pocket to protect it from the mess of meat, everything else could be washed.They set out, with Yhora leading the way and Gane keeping pace behind her. They traveled through similarly tough terrain from before. Yhora had no trouble maneuvering over large roots and rock formations. After a little while she offered to carry the bag for him. No amount of pride was going to stop Gane from agreeing to this. 

With the considerable weight off of his back he walked quicker now as he looked across the forest and wrote down everything that he saw in his notebook. Damselflies darted around and milkbees sucked honey from large flowers that bloomed in a magnificent pattern of light pink and seafoam green. He scrawled out little sketches of the creatures and marked down every bit of information he saw. -Average sized bee, white with black stripes. -Thin violet damselfly, incredible speed and precision, always lands upside down on bottom side of leaf. There was an unmistakable whimsey of colorful leaves and flowers that drifted lightly in the sweet tasting wind. Unlike the forests of Nierlyben, the woods here made no attempt to hide from a visitor. The small animals that he passed moved not with the twitching fear of a common rabbit, but with the content mosey of a neighbor. All but waving hello as he passed. Gane’s grandfather’s stories of this strange and wondrous place were not exaggerated. Kellylin was the land of dreams.  

Yhora watched as Gane walked to keep up with her, his gaze spinning around and changing interest like a kid in a magic mine. She admired his dedication to his craft, but they would have to speed up. “Aren’t you starving? It’s just a little farther up this way.” She watched as Gane got his second wind and jogged up the hill she was on. “Wait here, I’m just going to make sure it’s safe.” Gane gave a slightly concerned look to her as she leapt up six feet and grabbed the branch of a mighty brickwood tree. She swung herself onto the branch and then bounded her way up the trunk with ease. Reaching near the top where the branches go thinner she wedged each foot on a different branch and looked out ahead of her. Sticking out among the canopy of massive trees was the bow of a mighty battleship. At the tip of the bow was a flag bearing a yellow and sky blue banner, drifting softly in the wind. Yhora sighed a slight relief. It was safe. She pushed off from her spot in the treetop and fell down about a third of the way before catching herself, she repeated this process until landing squarely on the ground in front of Gane. “Everything is fine. This stop is safe.”

Gane looked at her with a confused expression. “Is there something I should be worried about?”

“No I was just making sure there hadn’t been a change in ownership since I last saw the place.”

“So who does own it?” 

“Nohanja Clan, my clan. Just stick by me and you’ll be fine.”

Gane was in no real position to be cautious, he was going to eat his own hand soon if he didn’t get to eat at this rest stop. 

He followed Yhora down the small incline and as they rounded a large tree he looked out and saw a massive warship. The Boat was stuck into the ground, half buried. Its bow stuck directly up in the air and had a small banner waving from it. Lanterns hung from the sides of the ship’s hull and moss grew all over it. The mast stuck out far across the forest floor about eight feet off the ground. It was adorned with blankets and coverings which made it into one long tent-like structure. The crow’s nest at the far end of the bow was supported by a wooden pillar to keep the mast up. There was a stable built into the side of the massive ship with around six strong elk kept in their pens next to their saddle equipment. Carriages filled with everything from exotic hides, brickwood lumber, and intricately carved Neirn clocks, to bushels of oranges and sour peaches. The whole area smelled strongly of cheap ale and campfires. The scent grasped hard at Gane’s senses after having spent so long on his own. Sounds of laughter and revelry leaked through the hull of the buried ship and flowed through the air around it. There were several Roni outside, some sitting around and admiring the fire with a cup in their hand, others tending to traders and collected payments for lodging, more still sat and weaved or carved under the shade of the mast tent. Gane stopped short at the sight of this lively structure.

 Seeing his astonishment, Yhora turned back to him and said with a smile on her face. “Welcome to The Wreck of the Albatross.”