"Proof! Do you see? Do you see?" Gaz screeched from the tunnel.
Two of his followers scampered off to spread the news. The rest surged into the alchemy round, swarming Don. The fruit was stripped from his hands as the frenzied monsters dragged him towards the entrance.
"Stop!" Sik squeaked at them, getting ready to spray them with a stink bomb. Gaz hissed at him, opening his mouth wider than should have been possible as a pair of wicked-looking fangs swung down from their hiding place. He pounced on Sik and bit him savagely before he could unstopper the gourd.
Don's heart sank, leaving a hollow spot in its place. Gaz held his bite and after a couple of brief seconds of struggle, Sik fell limp and was dropped to the floor. After that Gaz turned on Don and it was a blur of accusations, scratches, and nips as Don was half pulled, half herded down the tunnels. When they finally reached the cooking round, the mob dumped him unceremoniously in front of Grey.
Don uncurled from his defensive posture and dared to look at the angry circle of monsters jeering at him. Black eyes bulged, and lithe, feathered bodies squirmed with agitation.
"Traitor!"
"He brought the bad things!"
"He should go!"
"We should eat him!"
The sharp crack of Grey's staff on the stone silenced the mob.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded, though Don could see she already knew. Gaz strutted proudly up to her and proffered the fruit.
"Big stupid breaks rules. Big stupid brings bad. Tribe comes first, weak and stupid must go!" He delivered the stunted speech with all the gravitas of a practiced politician. Grey took the fruit and made a show of examining it. She made a subtle sign and Kat, who was lurking behind the mob slinked away, unnoticed in the commotion. Grey sighed heavily, keeping the attention of the unruly children.
"We fed you, we healed you, we sheltered you, we even trained you, and this is how you repay us? By bringing calamity down on our doorstep? We can not shelter you any longer. Gaz is correct, you must leave." She put the fruit down gently but with an air of finality and fixed Don with her one good eye. Don withered under that gaze.
The grave pronouncement took Don by surprise. He thought Grey would have defended him, explained her plans to have Don try and drive off the 'bad things'. Instead, she folded at the first sign of trouble. Don wanted to object, to defend himself, but the words stuck in his throat. All too soon, Don was being forced through the tunnels again. His short trip ended with a splash in the underground river.
Don barely had the wits to pull himself out of the icy water. He lay there, legs still in the water as the last vestiges of light left the sky, and tried to understand what just happened. Then a bump on one of the branches moved.
"Get up lazy glutton, There's no time to waste. We have to clear out before the others leave the nest." Kat hopped down to the ground and pushed Don for emphasis.
"What are you doing? Go away!" Don rolled away from Kat, presenting his back to the ColoColo.
"This is no time for moping. Get up and follow, or stay here and be eaten by Gaz." Kat snapped before retreating back into the treetops. The grace and speed of the little monster were astounding. He barely made a sound as he vaulted from a root to a knot, and then up a succession of branches, never faltering, never doubting his steps.
What do you think? Don asked Cel. She didn't answer. Don looked around and saw a small patch of light drifting down the creek.
Cel! Don splashed back down into the water, scooping up his partner and bringing her back to dry land. She wasn't breathing and after a few seconds, she dissolved into motes of light which drifted off in different directions. Don stared at his empty hands in complete shock.
Sik, gone. Cel, gone. An angry flame bloomed in his chest. It was one thing to kick Don out of the refuge. He might have even deserved that but it was another thing entirely to kill his only friends. Don didn't even pause to wonder when he had started considering the two strange creatures his friends. He just dwelled on the unnecessary injustice of it all. He would make Gaz pay.
Don followed Kat into the darkening jungle, feeding that flame in his chest with scraps of memory. It consumed them eagerly, growing ever hotter. He recounted every run-in he had with Gaz and each one fanned the flame a little higher. He was an irredeemable monster and nothing would save him from Don's wrath, but for now, if Don didn't retreat, he would be overwhelmed by ColoColo when they left for their nightly foraging.
Don followed Kat through the jungle with ease. Compared to the last time he went out, it was like night and day. His strong legs found secure footing with ease and propelled him faster and further than they ever had before. His balance was uncanny, and his stamina was comparatively bottomless. They ran for over 12 minutes before Don needed to stop for rest. When they finally did, he demanded some answers.
"What the void was that? I thought Grey wanted me to help you!"
"She does!" Kat spat back "What do you think would have happened if she refused Gaz? She had no choice but to go along with the mob."
"What do you mean she had no choice? She's the leader. She could have just told them to leave me alone!" Don raged. Kat snorted at his ignorance.
"You think Gaz would obey her if she did that? You really are a hatchling. Gaz would have just eaten her and taken over."
Don was stunned. That's not the way things worked. It couldn't be.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Luckily for you, Grey is wise. She knew this night would come and gave me instructions. You will continue your training. I will teach you how to survive the jungle, and you might just live long enough to grow into something useful. This whole thing has been a disaster if you ask me but I am loyal. I trust that Grey is smarter than any of us. I believe her stories about the old ways and want to see the home from those stories. If training you is how I can make that happen, it is not too high a tree to climb."
That was by far the longest speech Don had ever heard from the taciturn ColoColo. He still couldn't quite wrap his head around the casual way Kat spoke of insurrection but he was more than willing to learn how to survive.
The next few hours consisted solely of running and resting. Despite his large hunger penalty, Don gained a point in agility, something Cel used to cheer over. He missed the fairy. He almost chuckled. While she was around Don thought she was irritating and harsh, but now that she was gone, those same memories turned sweet.
Even with the immediate and noticeable change in Don's pace, the progress felt hollow, meaningless. His previous goal of challenging the giants didn't move him anymore. If the ColoColo were so vile, maybe they should be wiped out. Why should he help them when they kill each other and exile people just for ignorance of their taboos?
Don was beginning to grow angry at their failure to teach him properly in the first place. That anger added to the fire in his chest and burned away the guilt he still felt over attracting the giants to the refuge. The next time they stopped, Don pulled the remaining Saween fruits from his inventory. He shared them with Kat.
The ColoColo was hesitant to take the offered fruit but once he did, it disappeared in a flash.
"How did you do that?" he asked, juice still dripping from his chin
"What do you mean?"
"How did you pull fruits out of thin air?" Kat asked suspiciously
"That's my inventory. it's like an invisible bag." Don explained. Kat looked skeptical so Don grabbed a handful of leaves off the ground and put them into his inventory one by one, then he pulled them back out again. Kat was suitably impressed.
"Very handy" he admitted, "Do you have more fruit?"
"That was the last of it"
Kat paused to think for a moment before deciding.
"We are probably far enough from the refuge now. We should start looking for valuable resources. How do you think we should do that?" Kat asked. Don shrugged
"Last time I just walked around until I found some."
"Wrong!" Kat said "Very wrong. You might find some food like that but it's an extremely unreliable method. To find resources consistently, you must know where they are likely to be found. Kaeru trees for instance, like lots of sunlight but are relatively short, so you can usually only find them where the trees are less dense. They also like drier soil so you can expect to find more at higher elevations away from rivers. On the other hand, BloodMoss can only be found in very damp areas. It's best to search for near slow-moving water or in the low, shadowy points between hills where mist lingers. Understand?"
Don nodded. He had no trouble following the impromptu lecture and it was easy to remember the details Kat shared with him.
Apparently, in addition to the properties and preparation methods, each ingredient had its own preferences for growing conditions.
Kat Challenged Don to use his newfound knowledge to determine a direction to go in search of food. Don couldn't see very far through the trees so looking for thinner branches wasn't a great strategy. He resolved to continue more or less in the direction they had been going but he shifted course slightly so they were climbing a slight but steady incline. The soil became rockier and steeper as he progressed.
Kat stayed silent, following Don and watching his every movement. He silently cataloged what Don noticed and what he missed.
When they finally crested the hill, they stood on a rocky outcropping that looked out over rolling hills. Twilight had given way to full-blown night. The millions of blazing stars gathered in unfamiliar constellations gave Don the willies but he forcibly reminded himself that he was safe so long as he was surrounded by such healthy plants. Now that he had time to calmly examine them, he noticed a telltale wavering shimmer, betraying the planet's turbulent upper atmosphere. A pale blue crescent hung low over the horizon and the Jungle itself was an undulating carpet of black and silver. It was beautiful in its own strange way. A particularly low point of light caught Don's attention, something that did not escape Kat's notice.
"That is the tower. We do not go near it, at least we are not supposed to. It's better if the people there never learn we exist. Do you see any food?"
Don scanned the jungle below him. He couldn't tell where one tree ended and another began. As far as he could see, the land was hidden under layers of foliage, dancing and waving in the eddies of wind.
"I can't see anything from here," Don admitted.
"Do you see that dark area?" Kat asked, pointing to Don's left. He squinted into the night for a minute before replying.
"I think so. It looks like the side of that hill is in a shadow."
"Good, that is what it looks like when the canopy is sparse. More starlight will reflect off of a healthy, full canopy. When you see a shadow like that it means there is less coverage. Now how do you think you will be able to get there from here?"
Don took his time thinking over his answer carefully. Kat was clearly testing him again and if the intent was to get Don to think for himself he would take full advantage of this chance to improve.
"If I just try and head straight there, It will be too easy to get lost among the trees." Don reasoned, remembering his first excursion into the Jungle. The memory of Cel stung at his eyes but he pushed the feeling away and refocused on the task at hand.
"If I make my way along this hilltop, I can descend into that valley over there and follow the lowest point to the base of that hill."
Kat nodded.
"And how will you know when you have arrived at the correct hill?" He asked.
Don was stymied.
"Will I see thinner tree cover?" he guessed
"Not from the base of the hill." Kat waited patiently for Don to come up with a solution.
"Should I climb the hill and take another look around?" Don thought the idea was sound but Kat shook his head.
"Not every hill has a bare top like this one. Many hilltops are covered in trees which would block your view."
Don fell silent and Kat let him think as he tried to spot some landmark that would be visible from below the shifting leaves. Eventually, he had to admit his failure but he wasn't happy about it. He threw up his hands in exasperation.
"I don't know!"
Kat nodded. "Correct! Remember not to fall into the trap of thinking that you have to do things on your own. The strength of the tribe is borrowed strength. I borrow strength from Sik," He indicated the gourds on his harness "and he borrows strength from me" He waved a paw indicating the jungle which hid all sorts of valuable ingredients. "Together, we are stronger than we would ever be apart. With my knowledge of the jungle and your invisible bag, we should be able to gather more food together than we can separately."
It was a good speech except for one problem.
"Sik is dead."
"What?" Kat snapped his head around in confusion.
"Gaz bit him really hard, and Sik didn't get back up," Don said. Kat relaxed.
"Then he's fine. Gaz wouldn't kill the only alchemist in the tribe. Even he knows the value of potions. We have wasted enough time. The night will pass us by at this rate. Follow me hatchling, and we will prove your worth to the tribe soon enough." With that, Kat leapt off the outcropping, landing in a tree 15 feet below. The leaves rustled and he was gone.
Kat's head popped out of the leaves and he beckoned Don onwards. It took the demon considerably longer to get down but then they were off, running through the jungle once again.