Reamere Event: 4

Hungry.

Cold, tired and also hungry.

Sahari stared into the flames that consumed some of what was left of the Nullabor as she, her mother, her rider, and the captain of the formerly-a-ship, now a wreck Wayre sat, trying to warm themselves up before they once again set off in search of a village the captain said was somewhere around here. She was really, really wishing that she'd stayed home back at the stables. She'd be warm. She'd be dry. She'd be fed. And she wouldn't be lost or scared in some wasteland looking to find clues as to why all the fish were disappearing in this part of the world.

She pulled her head in, and tried to ball up as much as possible to maximise her warming up.

This was quite possibly her worst day ever. And she'd be very happy to never come back this way ever again.

Wayre did not seem to notice Sahari's misery. Or anyone else's, for that matter. He was too busy prodding the fire to keep it going for as long as possible; not daring to let himself fall asleep for fear that it would go out and they'd all freeze out here.

"I can tend it," Kalina offered. The man needed to rest, especially at his age. "I don't mind."

"I really can't ask you to—"

"Please? I came out here to help. This is helping."

"I— Well. I ... suppose you could," he said, handing her the prod so he could wrap himself up in what was left of the sails and go to sleep. "Just for a few hours......"

She'd give him more than that, the tigress thought to herself as Wayre drifted off to sleep.

*******

Kalina must've dozed off herself sometime that night, as she was being shook a bit to get her to wake up. She yawned, then looked guiltily at the captain who was frowning at her.

The fire hadn't gone out, thankfully. But it could have, thus the reason for his disapproval.

He sighed, then shook his head.

"It's daylight again, which means it will be much easier to find the village." He paused. "Perhaps we could use your birds to fly us there, what with the fact that there's two of us and two of them."

Sahari looked up, blinking her eyes against the morning light. What was that about a flight?

"Um. Well. I don't think we can," Kalina began. "Sahari—"

"She's not hurt, as you said last night. There shouldn't be a problem with her being able to fly us there."

"That's not..."

She trailed off. How to explain this one?

"Sahari doesn't fly."

"What do you mean, she 'doesn't fly'?"

"That's just it: she doesn't fly."

"She looks like she's able to fly."

"Believe me I know. I've examined her myself. Sahari is, in theory, fully capable of flying. The thing is, though..."

She looked away. Then back.

Sahari was watching the exchange with interest. She was being talked about, after all.

"She doesn't seem to want to."

That... That was not something the captain wanted to hear.

"Why does your bird not want to?"

"I don't know. She... She had a bad hatching, and she's a little odd in her mind, but I'm not really sure why she's flight-adverse."

Wayre looked defeated. He knew there was a village around here. What he hadn't said was that it was somewhat far away, and that he was hoping to fly there, since flight would be the quickest method of travel. And, well. He wasn't expecting to be told that Sahari was a bird who deliberately chose to stay on the ground.

If Kalina knew what he was thinking she would sympathise. It's why she'd come to his city in the first place. Not the city she'd meant to go to.

"She can still carry a rider," Kalina offered, perhaps a bit too brightly. "We can still ride them to wherever we're going."

"I... I suppose we could..."

*******

Much later, the pair of Kalina and Wayre were out riding Kalina's stryx. Wayre was astride Veraz, whom Kalina had initially considered riding herself. But if Sahari happened upon something that would spook her, Wayre might not know how to calm her down. Or worse, he'd do something to exacerbate the problem. So he was given Veraz instead, while Kalina sat atop Sahari.

It was a bit of a trek, and the four of them had been walking for hours with no sign of a village anywhere. But it was getting colder, what with wind blowing the chill from the frigid sea towards them. And everyone was really missing not having a fire handy to warm them up.

And on top of that, the visibility was getting rather poor. A fog or something was rolling in, and Kalina began to worry about getting lost out here in this unfamiliar place with only a bird who wouldn't fly as her sole means of getting back to the city.

"We need to stay together!" Kalina called out.

"Agreed!"

He paused for a moment, then added,

"I think the village we're seeking isn't far from here."

"How can you tell? I can barely see anything!"

"Lady, I've been out here more times than you could ever count. No fog is going to fool me and lead me astray!"

She hoped he was as confident as he sounded. Fog was dangerous, as her experience of riding stryx had taught her. A bird could easily get hurt from colliding with the objects that fog obscured. Or killed. And riders generally didn't fare much better, especially if they were high up.

Sahari, though, didn't seem to be too worried about the change in weather. Fog was spooky, but in a good way. Unlike her mother and rider, the long-leg had only ever encountered fog on the ground, and she'd found that foggy conditions were excellent for all kinds of games. Something she wanted to do right now: play a game.

Then, from somewhere out in the water came a low, mournful groaning sound. Some sea creature was calling out, perhaps to others of its kind.

"The beast we'd encountered before my ship was destroyed!" Wayre shouted, steering Veraz towards the source of the sound.

The one who wrecked it because you attacked it, Kalina thought with great annoyance. They were supposed to be looking for a village. Not considering chasing sea monsters about this part of the world.

"Captain, we need to—"

"Forget the village! We need to follow that creature! The sea is counting on us to heal her!"

Veraz, despite not wanting to, was urged to run towards the sea.

"Captain that is my bird you're riding—"

The fog was getting thicker now, and not only was it swallowing up anything that could be seen, it was swallowing up sound as well.

"Captain!" Kalina cried, fearing for her beloved Veraz. "Captain!"

There wasn't much choice.

She'd have to chase after Wayre, wherever he went, hoping that he wasn't endangering Veraz in the process.

She urged the long-leg forward into the fog.

"Come on, Sahari; we need to find him!"

The fog began to really close in around them as they pressed onwards...