o/~ Over the Mountains o/~

by Shadur t'Kharn

Hotel room Early morning, the next day

Shadur shrugged once to settle the straps of his pack better into his wingridges and looked over to the rest of the group. Everyone was in a state of packed-up-and-ready. Selvane was discussing some last-moment itinerary details with Nexxus in the back of the room while Aris, clad only in a unitard that incidentally radiated so much energy into the shadowplane that his head hurt just looking at it, checked her weapon and Phoenix fidgeted by the doors, impatient to leave. Finally he called out to Nexx, who replied with "I'll be right there!" and hurried up with her gear across her back.

"Everyone ready to go? I thought we'd let Aris and Selvane lead the way to the mountains, since I haven't been there in years," Nexx explained.

Phoenix looked puzzled "No maps?"

"Nope, at least none that I'll have a chance in hell of getting my hands on." Nexx replied.

Aris sighed. "Oh, terrific.. what would really make the day is some nice secret little trail that'll lead straight into Marraketh without running into another ape-thing...." she grumbled.

Shadur looked up. "What ape-things?"

"It's not likely--" Selvane butted in. Both Shadur and Aris ignored him.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that it was warded and it really messed up my senses..."

Nexx interrupted them. "The mountains have plenty of surprises worse than that, Aris... The good news, though, is that there /is/ a trail leading to Marraketh...."

Everyone in the room looked at her.

"I ran across it on a training mission about 10 years ago. It's been a long time, though, and it was already overgrown when I found it so don't get your hopes up."

"We'd better leave, it's 7 AM already." Selvane said, gesturing at everyone.

"He's right"

"Let's get going."

"Marraketh, here we come!"

Halfway up the mountains Evening, same day

{ o/~ It's a long way / to Tipperary..... o/~ }

* o/~ It's a long way / to go.... o/~ *

It was a lengthy trek, but Shad found himself actually enjoying it. The area reminded him a lot of his lair in the Schwarzwald.

*... on the other hand, maybe I feel that way about every forest* Nexxus and Selvane walked point, followed by Phoenix and Aris in the middle and himself in the rear.

No apes had attempted to attack them so far. For that matter, no one had spotted any animal larger than a bird in the bushes.

{Odd. You'd expect more in the way of predators around...}

*Probably nocturnal. This is going to be a busy night...*

{Yippee. On that matter.....}

"This looks like a good place to camp for the night. I vote we stop here, have a bite to eat and get some rest."

"Da."

"Good idea."

"Why not?"

"Alright."

Shad grinned and unhooked his backpack, letting it fall to the forest floor. "Cool, I'll be right back....." With that, he stalked off between the trees.

"SQUEEEEEE!" *THUD* *DAMNIT!*

Dinner was giving Shad a hard time in the getting. What passed for boar in this dimension looked a lot like earth pigs, but had six legs, *very* fast senses and an astounding turn of speed. The usual stalk-and-pounce routine had resulted in nothing more than frustration and a clawful of snow and dirt.

{How the fuck did these pigs get this fast?}

*Evolution's a wonderful thing....*

{Har har har. One thing that worries me about that, though...}

*... That being?*

{If they evolved into something *this* fast that usually means that there's something even faster that eats these.}

*I think you're right.... wonder what it is.*

In fact, 'It' had been silently observing for quite some time, unsure what to make of this strange new creature. Some odd instinct told 'it' this meat might be dangerous, but hunger and being accustomed to having no predators urged 'it' on.

'It' jumped, jaws open and ready for the killing bite. Landing perfectly on target, 'it' closed its maw over its victim's neck. Its first hint that something was not right was the fierce agony when its fangs simply snapped instead of sinking in. Oblivion followed a split second later when a claw twice again its size grabbed it and snapped its neck.

Shadur eyed the corpse of the (furry snake with legs? Stretched-out panther?)

{Guess we found 'it'.. Think it's edible?}

*Dunno. Let's ask Nexx*

The dragon picked the corpse up with his maw and walked back to the camp.

By the time he got back to camp, Selvane was just erecting the second shelter. Shad looked around for the others, but succeeded only in spotting the small black cat chasing a bug on the other side of the clearing.

"The pigs here are awfully fast. Couldn't catch 'em, and then this bugger here jumped me. Nexx, how's the eating on one of these?"

Nexx yelped, tail twitching. "Shad! Those are *THE* most poisonous things on the planet! If it'd bitten you you'd be.."

Shad picked the corpse up in a claw and shook it until the broken fangs fell out. "It tried that. Good thing I got thick skin.... But is it edible?"

"Oh, they're edible as long as you avoid the head."

"Gotcha."

With that, he extended a talon and swiped the head off. Selvane, who had looked up at the first comment, said "Better take that somewhere far away from camp...."

"Right, or we'll be up all night fighting off scavengers." Shad picked it up and carried it off, returning just as Phoenix and Aris appeared, arms full of firewood. With a thought, Shad stacked the firewood into a circular pile in the centre of the clearing, then set it ablaze with a minor puff of flame. Pretty soon, 'It' was roasting nicely.

'It' tasted surprisingly good. After dinner, lots were drawn and Shad got first watch, Nexxus second.

TBC in " o/~ Down in the valley... o/~ "