A trail less traversed

by Nexxus Kline

"I'm gonna miss this place." Nexx spoke aloud, packing up the last of her equipment. "But not as much as I'll regret staying so long if we don't get to Marraketh in time to help Kat." She sighed, side stepping Selvane as he went over travel plans for what seemed like the billionth time, and continued to curse the past and things she had no control over until she heard someone calling her name. It was Phoenix, probably the only other person in the group who could truly appreciate Chi-Lin for the technological society it was. "I'll be right there!" she shouted, grabbed her pack and made her way into the living room. Everyone was waiting on her.

"Are we all ready to go?" she addressed the group. "I thought we'd let Aris and Selvane lead the way to the mountains, since I haven't been there in years and I'll need time to get my bearings." she explained.

"What about maps?" Phoenix asked.

"Nope, no maps." she replied. "At least not any that I'll ever have a chance in hell of getting my hands on."

"Wouldn't it be great if we ran across some secret trail along the way?" Aris spoke up. "One that led us safely to the other place without having to run into any more of those hairy apelike things."

"What apelike things?" Shad asked.

"It's not likely." Selvane interjected.

"I'm not sure, all I know is it was warded and really messed with my senses." she continued, ignoring Selv's comment.

"There's plenty of stuff, much worse than that, to worry about Aris, and there *IS* a trail leading to Marraketh" Nexx admitted. "I ran across it once, about ten years ago, on a training mission. But it's been a long time and it was overgrown when I found it. Don't get your hopes up."

"It's almost 7 A.M.," Selvane interrupted. "we should get going."

"He's right." Phoenix agreed.

"Alright then, let's get going." Nexx replied, standing. "Marraketh, here we come."

Many hours later, the group was picking it's way through forest. The going was getting a little easier, the snow cover was not as deep under the thick cover of trees but the temperature was starting to drop due to the lack of sunlight and the increased altitude. They hadn't run across any aggressive wildlife yet. The forest was a quiet place during the day, with only the odd bird or rodent to run across. Night was an entirely different story, with quite a wide variety of animal to worry about, and it was beginning to get dark. The group hiked in silence, as they had all day long, everyone spending their energy on getting as far up into the mountains as fast as possible. It was 8 P.M. before the topic of setting up camp was mentioned.

"This looks like a good place to camp for the night." Shad spoke suddenly. It had been so quiet up until that point that the sound of his voice caused a bird to cry out and flap away. They'd only stopped a couple of times for about 30 minutes to drink and to decide which direction to head. Everyone agreed with the suggestion at practically the same moment. "Cool." he beamed, dropping his pack on the ground near a tree. "I'll be back." And he wandered off before anyone had the chance to ask where he was going.

"Where's he going?" Selvane demanded.

"He's probably off to hunt down some food or something. You don't honestly think the measly rations in the VR packs are enough to sustain a dragon, do you?"

"I hope he doesn't get lost or in trouble. We don't have time to go looking for him." Selvane complained.

"I don't think there's anything in these mountains that eats dragons," Nexx replied, adding, "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I don't blame Shad, these things are not exactly gourmet." Phoenix noted dryly, as he inspected one of his rations.

"I know, and if I'd thought of it, I'd have gotten us all some rations while we were in the city." Nexx agreed, regretting that she hadn't. "It's too late now. I'm sure we'll live." she finished, as she collected the last of the canteens and headed off to replenish their water supplies from a nearby stream. Phoenix and Aris headed in the opposite direction, to collect firewood, while Selvane began erecting shelters.

Nearly a hour later Shadur returned, Nexx heard him but didn't look up from the bug she was chasing. If she had, she would have noticed the large carcass in his mouth. "Pigs here are awfully fast... but then this bugger tried to jump me. Nexx, how good's the eating on these?" He asked, dropping the carcass.

"Shad! Those are *the* most poisonous things around in this entire dimension! If it bit you, you'd..."

He reached down and shook it, several broken fragments of fang dropped to the ground. "It tried that. Good thing I'm thick-skinned... but I take it they're not edible?"

"Oh, you can eat them, just avoid the head." she said, turning in time to see Aris and Phoenix return from collecting firewood. Selvane, who was making a few adjustments to one of the shelters at the time, also made an appearance. Shadur shrugged, extended a claw and removed the creature's head with one swipe.

"Better take that somewhere far away from camp." Selvane noted.

"Or we'll be up all night fighting off the scavengers it attracts." Shad agreed, picked up the head and hauled it off to some undisclosed location far away.

That evening, around a roaring fire, the Rangers discussed plans for rescuing Kat. Their biggest problem would be getting through the city without alerting the captors of their presence.

"That has to be the way." Nexx commented, deep in thought. "Calc, Theseus, Bryn, Maru and Red should be approaching Rhye even as we speak. We'd do best to team up with them once we get to Marraketh, being a larger group should improve our chances of getting to the castle." A murmur of agreement amongst the group followed.

"But what's to stop them from offing Kat the minute they notice we're coming to save her?" Shad suggested.

Nexx faced him. "You have a better idea?"

"Yeah. You guys sneak into the castle quietly while I cause a ruckus outside. With a little luck all the guards'll be fully occupied with watching the skies to notice a couple of humans walking around...."

"Let me guess." Aris cut in. "You're going to torch the city?"

"Don't be ridiculous, that'd take way too long. Just the military stuff." Shad explained. " That ought to be enough to keep 'em busy for a while."

Aris grinned. "Keystone Cops, 1200 A.D. ..." Phoe chuckled, Nexx exchanged a blank look with Selvane and shrugged.

"Okay, that's what we'll do. Better get some sleep, folks. We leave tomorrow at dawn." she ordered.

Shad volunteered to take the first watch. Nexx didn't need sleep in the same way most people did, and smiled. "Cool. Wake me up halfway through the night and I'll take second watch...G'nite." Morphing back to feline form, she clambered on to Shad's back and curled up while everyone else said goodnight and headed to their tents. She watched as Shad smothered the fire with a wing and settled in for the night. She yawned quietly, pulling her tail around her tightly, and closed her eyes only to open them a few minutes later. "Shad?"

"Hmmm?"

"The orange moon eclipses the blue one about halfway through the night, would you wake me up when they get really close to each other?" she whispered, careful not to wake the others. "I'd like to watch it." She'd been gone so long she'd nearly forgotten the nightly eclipses. Something inside told her she might not get the chance to see it again for a long time.

"You got it." Shad whispered back.

"Thanks." She replied, drifting back to sleep. "G'nite."

Nexx dreamed of a secluded beach, pacing the shore in the middle of the night. She was waiting for someone, but who? Who was it that kept her waiting night after night? More importantly, what was she doing here? Nexx recognized this particular place, but it had been abandoned, she'd never told anyone about it. This disturbed her, someone else knew about...

"Nexx."

She twitched awake, Shad was calling her name. Stretching, she yawned and climbed gingerly to the top of his head. Her tail wrapped around her paws loosely and dangled in his face. "Any visitors so far?" she asked, looking down.

"Couple of those pig-like things, but they can sniff a predator pretty easily and they decided to be not here." Shad tilted his head ever so slightly. "Almost time. What are those moons called, by the way?"

"The orange one is Niloc, the big blue one we call Telahs."

"Ah." he replied before directing his attention to the sky.

Nexx watched in silence, possibly for the last time, a sight she once thought she'd see every night. It's funny how plans get changed and things you once thought of as permanent suddenly become a faded memory. Her train of thought was interrupted by a bird flying off into the night. Shad spoke shortly afterwards.

"That was truly beautiful, Nexx. Thanks for sharing that."

"You're welcome. I'll take watch from here, you better get some sleep." she replied with a tailtwitch.

"G'nite." he answered in agreement.

She crawled across his neck and back to her favorite spot, as he laid his head down and closed his eyes. She watched him sleep for a few moments before she began purring quietly to herself. Purring was the quietest form of entertainment she could indulge in without waking Shad aside from batting at an occasional bug as it flew past her. And so she spent the remainder of the night.

TBC in "Song birds; Breakfast of Rangers."