The group moved off as one towards the outskirts of the city. Since N’Djamena bordered the Chari River, you could technically classify it as a coastal city. The clean breeze coming off the river was currently moving, which was a relief after the stagnant air of Agra and the oppressive stillness of the Whyte Plain. They didn’t have a lot of money so they wouldn’t be able to stay inside the city proper, they would have to make do with camping outside of it.
He still didn’t have any real idea of how they were supposed to find anything here. It was better than trying to research things from afar. He would have to trust Mary’s new found Scout abilities and hope that they got lucky. Asclepius would definitely help when they moved out and tried to track down wild cackles of hyenas. They would just have to stay put and see what happened. Who knows? They might find some Werewolves here as well. It was worth the effort, and the risk, at least he hoped so.
Malikah moved ahead of the group and slid her arm into the river. Asclepius followed her and buried his snout into the soft waves as they lapped up gently on the shore. The wolf raised his jaws to the air after a long drink and shook his face dry.
“Even though the Yamuna wasn’t far from where we were staying in Agra,” Malikah said thoughtfully, “It has been ages since I’ve been next to a river that I felt wouldn’t kill me if I got wet from it.”
“We won’t reach the city till nightfall,” Aiman observed quietly.
“We can’t stay in the city anyway,” Mary interjected. “Perhaps it would be best if we just camped here somewhere. We have been running non-stop since we left Agra this morning.”
Asclepius whined lowly as he laid down in the dirt looking up at them with a very bored expression on his face.
“Are we all saying that we’re hungry and tired?” asked Acharya. The group all nodded and smiled, except for Aiman, but then again that man never smiled for anything.
“The committee has spoken,” Acharya said with a smile, “Let’s break out the supplies and get a fire going,” he said. “Mary, you and Malikah are on water detail.” The two women nodded and dropping their packs rummaged through to get a pot and water purification tablets.
Acharya continued, “Aiman and I will get a fire going. Tara,” he said looking over at the black haired Sage, “you and Asclepius go scout out the area. I want to know if we are really alone out here. I what to know what kind of animal life we have to contend with, namely poisonous insects, spiders, snakes, and any predators.” The woman and the wolf nodded and ran east.
The area surrounding the river was flat with sparse vegetation. Tara was able to see for some distance. As she scanned the horizon looking for any signs of humanity or animals, Asclepius has his nose in the dirt. The dirt and air here had a smell that was unique, it was something that he had never smelled before. There was an age here, something that he couldn’t quite put an image or description to. He caught the faintest whiffs of a large animal that he was unfamiliar with. He ran off following the scent.
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Tara didn’t need any prompting from the wolf and ran after him. The sun was warm and joyous on her back as she ran. It was always a relief to be out of the Whyte Plain. That place was dark and the home of devils.
She had been brought up on stories from her Apache mother about various monsters. How the brave and strong warrior, Spider, had defeated such a monster to save a girl which he had hidden in his hair. Only to have that same girl tricked into using a sabotaged swing created by Spider’s jealous wife, and when the girl fell into the magic river the girl was turned into a frog.
She had learned long ago that there was no strong Spider to protect her from the monsters in the dark. The Shadows in the Whyte Plain was every monster that she had been told stories about. Sometimes, she and her pack was the wise Spider, other times they were the frightened girl, running for their lives in the dark. Even now, under the warm sunlight, the Shadow’s icy touch was a vivid memory and very real.
Asclepius stopped and tasted the air with his nose raised high in the air. He changed direction and ran south with Tara following close behind. It wasn’t very long before the two found what it was that Asclepius had smelled. A moderate herd of Hippopotami were laying down in the soft mud of the river.
Tara smiled as one opened his huge mouth incredibly wide making a sound that grated on her ears. Asclepius looked up at her and cocked his head to the side.
She nodded to the large animals, “They’re called Hippopotami or a Hippopotamus. They dwell around rivers and other places with a lot of mud. They are incredibly powerful swimmers and pretty dangerous. They can run pretty fast too, if I remember right. Maybe even faster than you,” she said with a wink.
Asclepius answered with a whine and small growl letting her know exactly how he felt about that comparison. Tara gave a small laugh and scratched the wolf’s head between his ears. This earned her a growl and a head shake. Tara knew that the wolf, like all his kind most likely, did not like to be petted without permission. They held a deep contempt for domestic dogs and hated every form of affection that humans bestowed upon their ‘lesser intelligent’ cousins.
She stood up with a bemused smile on her face and looked around. Trees dotted the river bank back toward the west. The place was open but not really flat, there was small hills and knolls all around them. She didn’t know if the hills were tall enough to really hide anyone if they tried to sneak up on them.
She sat down heavily, watching the hippos play and throw water onto each other. They looked so happy. She couldn’t help but smile at the bulbous creatures. Their girth was misleading, she knew how dangerous they were. If she got any closer and they took offense to it, they could kill both her and Asclepius with very little effort. She wasn’t sure that even their Werewolf forms would be much help against them. She had seen nature documentaries, chronicling these animals and what their diet and daily life was all about. She never thought that she would actually see them in their natural environment like this. She wished her mother could be here. But that wasn’t possible anymore and no amount of logic or reasoning was ever enough at times like this and her eyes filled with unbidden tears anyway.
The wolf nuzzled her gently on her shoulder. She looked over at the wolf, blinking away her tears and smiling. “I’m sorry Asclepius, I’m alright. I’m just being silly I’m okay.”
The wolf didn’t buy it and gently pulled her sleeve with his jaws. She knew what he wanted she just didn’t know if she wanted to give him what he wanted. She hadn’t talked about it with anyone, it still hurt so much.