I give it an expression that could be taken for, “Well, I'm not you... Your Majesty.”
I had seen these panther-creatures before during my travels, I even rescued a smaller animal from one a while back, but that one was a smaller version of the magnificent specimen now facing me.
Seeing that the predator is not making a move towards me, I cock my head to the side, wondering what he is up to. He mimics my head movement as though he is a mirror, and gives out a soft growl..... or is he purring?
Hopefully you've already eaten and are not hungry now?
Well, aren't you beautiful? And as black as midnight! Slowly I lower my knife and put it away. Midnight swishes his tail— I don't know if it is a boy or girl, it just seems to me on a basic level to be a boy.... and Midnight turns off to the east with a flick of his head.
Is it my imagination, or did he seem to motion to me to follow him with that flick of his head? Oh, well. What's the worst that can happen; he leads me into a den with his family for dinner.... and I'm the main course? Sure! I'd love to stay! NOT!!!
I have a friend!..... right? I hope so.
We travel to the east now as I finish eating my apple, along the mountain tops until we head down into a different valley— wait a minute! I check just to make sure that this valley and Spider Valley are not connected..... OK, they're not, as far as I can tell, and this one is not really a valley. I just see miles and miles of forest to the horizon, and another mountain range far off to the east. The wall of mountains to the south just goes back to Spider Valley, I'm not going that way!
I follow Midnight, carrying my burden along, using my spear as a walking stick and carrying my bow in my other hand. A couple of times he looks at me as I come up behind him as if to say. “Must you carry all that junk around with you?”
I think back to him, as though he can hear my thoughts, “Well, I'm not like you... I need all this junk!”
He stops on the trail, a game trail I determined, sits on his haunches and looks off in the distance. I look to where he's now gazing, puzzled at what has his attention now. I don't seem to see what he's seeing and I move around to the front of him and look at him questioningly.
Midnight's gaze switches to me, frowns at me, then made this... mewling/moaning sound and looked off in the distance behind me again.
It seems to me he is telling me that I should head off in that direction... for... what? A village? People that can help me? I'm not too sure of that, but, who can argue with the king of the jungle here? What do I know? Perhaps he is my animal guide on my journey here, gently nudging me on the way I should go...
I want to show him my gratitude, so I open my food satchel and take out the rest of the half rabbit and hold it out to Midnight, hoping he would take it from my hand. Instead, he just looks at it and sniffs it, then looks at me as if he isn't interested.
So, I put the rabbit back in my bag, then gather my voice to mimic a sound his kind makes, and I make sure this time to make the appropriate sound differential that will convey thanks to him: I return a purr at him.
I back away from him a few steps, in the direction he seemed to indicate, watching his body language, which now looks to me to have a very pleasant expression, if these panther-creatures can have a pleasant expression.
I made a friend!
Then I turn around and head off, while Midnight sits there and watches after me.
I kinda wished he would have stayed with me, but, I was glad for the help.... if it was help he had given me... but having a little backup would be nice, too.
Chapter Five
I move away from the mountains that run north and south and down the direction that Midnight had indicated, wondering what was waiting for me at the bottom. If I went to the bottom, or the center, middle, or where ever in this area. I said I trusted my animal friends more than people here, didn't I? So why do I feel a little nervous going into this valley? Or is it that I do trust him, just not the people he is sending me to see?
Meh, at least its away from those demon-spawned spiders.... perhaps this area just has better game and food to get.
I know I left Midnight behind on that last mountain pass, but there were a few times I seemed to feel his presence again. I look off in the direction I thought I had heard his softly padding feet, but nothing was there. Or was it just my imagination again? Wishful thinking? Or was I now sport for him to hunt?
After a while I get tired from all the walking and sit down to take a break in the shade of a nice big tree (after making absolutely sure no spider webs were wrapped around it!). I notice the position of the sun in relation to the rings, yep, I'm still heading east, toward the knife-edged image of the rings above, but now the sun is setting.
I need to make a fire and get ready for the night. I collect some firewood, make a fire ring, and set about making camp. I have some water, take out the plum and portion out part of the rabbit and have a nice meal. After I eat, I take my kilt off before going to sleep and just leave my tunic on for the night. As the sun sets I make sure all my weapons are within easy reach, as always, and hope I don't have any nightmares about going back into Spider Valley as I unroll my cloak from my bag, roll myself into it, and try to get some sleep.
* * * * * * *
At about midnight I awaken. I can tell because it is now darkest at midnight without the illumination of the rings overhead. What woke me up? A dream? Or a sound? I don't know. The fire has burned down to just embers, so I put a few more sticks on it to bring it back to life.
As the flames grow and build back up, my attention is suddenly drawn to a pair of golden eyes glowing in the firelight, accompanied by a soft growl... or is it a purr?
Midnight?
Is that you?
Despite the fire, the panther steps forward into the light to look at me, and I see that it is indeed my friend Midnight.
What are you doing here? Do you ever sleep? Or... are you hungry now and decided to pay me a visit? Or.... have you already eaten and now need a place to sleep?
I make no move for my weapons, I just lay there using my elbow to prop myself up and look at him, trying to understand what is happening. Midnight then looks around, as if deciding that this was a good place for a camp site, then lays down on the opposite side of the fire from me and curls up to go to sleep.
Odd.... I thought animals were afraid of fire because of the destruction it can do to the forest. But, Midnight seems to be immune to that fear... or perhaps is it because I made a small controlled fire.... can he understand the difference? Are they that intelligent?
I shrug, this marks the first time I actually share my fire.
Then I lay down in my cloak and close my eyes....
* * * * * * *
I awaken to the sound of roaring—
My eyes snap open and I see Midnight stretching and yawning.... oh, so it was him yawning.... ugh!
I sit up and stretch myself, and give out a yawn that was close to his (in my ears, anyway). He looks at me when I do that and I smile back at him.
Midnight then shakes himself vigorously, starting from his head all the way down to his long tail, then looks at me as if to say, “Let's see you do that, Little One!”
To which I politely decline, then get up, don my kilt back on and start collecting my items and making sure everything is in its proper place. I make sure the fire inside the ring I made is completely out, then check my water skin; it will need to be refilled soon, today. I start arranging everything to carry—
Out of nowhere this monster comes charging out of the brush right for us!
A razor-grizzly!
Midnight is a sight to behold in size, graceful movement and speed, but this monstrosity is twice the size of him! Brown fur, razor sharp claws, and saber tusks coming out of his upper jaws. And massive, massive muscles about the shoulders.
The razor-grizzly had charged directly for me, but because of Midnight's lighting quick reflexes, he intercepted the grizzly in full charge to take the brunt
of the attack.
When I realized what was happening, all I saw was these two titans in a flurry of motion as their respective colors were blurred together as they fought. While the razor-grizzly was massive with brute strength, my panther friend had speed and agility and cunning.
I had seen razor-grizzlies before.... hence, the name I gave them, but always way off in the distance, but this was the first time I had seen one up close, and was I glad Midnight stopped by last night to keep me company after all!
It is frightening to watch as each is trying to kill the other, with the sheer ferocity and violence I am witnessing, and the deafening roar that each is giving the other as they struggle.
But the razor-grizzly manages to get off a lucky paw and brushes Midnight off to the side, making him land on his side with a sickening thud.
Midnight!
Don't you hurt my panther!
I watch as Midnight gets back up, but with movements much slower than before, and he glares and hisses at his adversary. Is he hurt? Aw... Or is this part of his strategy? I don't know, but I'm not going to sit by my and watch my new friend get hurt!
I leave my bow and arrows down, and reach for my spear. My sword was already strapped to my back before the razor-grizzly made this attack, and I have it for a back-up if I break my spear using it on this thing.
The razor-grizzly turns its attention on me as I had reached for my spear and had it at the ready. I had distracted it.
Its first mistake, as its attention is on me for that moment, and that is all the time Midnight needs to launch his attack on the razor-grizzly.
The razor-grizzly turns back to face him, too late, then I strike, using my spear on its back.
It roars louder than before from my strike, which I can't believe it can get any louder, then makes a blind swipe in my direction which I duck under, and stab it again in the side.
Come on, spear! Hold together!
I'm afraid the wood of my spear is about to break as I can hear it creaking from the weight of this beast, then all three of us fall over to the side as one, with this monstrosity nearly landing on top of me! I get clear of the brute, manage to pull my spear back out of it, and I notice Midnight is on top of the thing, with a killing grip on its throat. But its still not going down easily. With its powerful legs it tries to force my panther off, but Midnight is not about to let go! He has a death grip going with his jaws that could crush any lesser creature! I rush back in to help him again, and make one stab in the shoulder with my spear, then grab my sword off my back and plunge it into the flesh of the other shoulder.
Finally, it stops struggling, and after Midnight is certain it will never rise again, he releases it, takes a couple steps back away from it, panting from the exercise, and looks at me as if to say, “Good job, Little One! Breakfast is served.”
I blanch at the thought. I never considered razor-grizzly flesh to be good to eat. I would think it would be tasteless and tough.... but.... whatever. When in the wild....
With that, I take my sword and spear out, clean them off and put them away, take my kilt back off and put it away for the grisly business of cutting some of this carcass up. Wearing only my tunic and boots (my undershorts, too, but does that really need to be said?), I look at this monstrosity, and I am taken in by the sheer size of it and how it moved. It's brute strength.
Midnight licks his lips in anticipation of sinking his teeth into all that flesh, and looks expectantly at me. He's even letting me go first, to get what I want....
Well, I'm not going to skin the whole thing, that would just take all day, nor should I need to gut it. I'll just take what I need and let Midnight have the rest. I decide to take the meat from one of the shoulders. I cut into the fur, and slice it open to reveal the meaty part inside, and as I work to cut the meat out of the carcass, I am marveling at how much is here! This guy was an absolute brute with all this muscle! I take enough to fill my food satchel and just a little more, roast all of it (after I had to start the fire, again!) before putting it away in my bag, then have the rest I reserved for myself as Midnight begins his feast of the razor-grizzly. And, the meat... is not that bad at all. Much more tender than I would have thought!
We sit together by the fire, enjoying our breakfast and looking at each other, and I flash back to my memories of the battle. And after watching Midnight's lighting quick movements during their fight, I realized that my lightning quick reflexes were pale in comparison to his own... which was probably why, when I first met him and whipped around to throw my knife at him, he was completely unconcerned about my ability to hit him with my knife at that distance.
I am so glad he's my friend!
After we finish our meal, I once again douse the fire with dirt and check to make sure all my belongings are here. Yep. But I get to looking at the razor-grizzly's paws; the claws on them are just magnificent! And shiny black. I wonder.... if they can be used in some way as a tool.... or another weapon.
I don't know, but for now I decide to take the claws off the front paws as a trophy. As Midnight leisurely grooms himself (I don't know why he does that; he has no fur!), he watches with mystification at what I am doing with the claws. I have some extra leather strips from game I had hunted over the past few months, so I tie them together with the claws and make myself a necklace with the claws. However, the claws are easily 4 to 5 inches long! And there is no way that I can use all the claws this thing had, so I decide instead to take only three for my trophy and use them for my necklace, with the longest one in the center. And, checking the strength of the claws, they are like iron and, yes! razor sharp! As I make my necklace, I purposely leave enough space between them so I can easily slip them between the fingers of my fist and, presto! I have another weapon to use! A claw of my own. And I have enough leather to braid together as part of the necklace to make a long part that goes around my neck without having to tie it together, and more leather braided together among the claws for my fingers to wrap around if I need to use it in that fashion.
I reach for my kilt.... and notice that there is blood on it anyway from when I helped Midnight kill the beast. I mean, its now covered in blood....
Ugh!
I know my tunic is also covered in blood when I was getting what meat I wanted out of it, that's to be expected, but I had hoped I spared my green kilt from having to be washed again so soon. Oh, well.
Well, I was needing to find a stream anyway to refill my water skin, might as well take a bath and wash my clothes, too!
Midnight looks curiously at me at seeing my frustration with my garments, not comprehending what my problem is.
I remember that mewling/moaning sound he had made at me the day before, so I try to make that same sound to him, hoping I am conveying my need to find water to get these stains out of my clothes. Then I take off my blood stained tunic, go into my garment bag to get the other short sleeved one, the dark brown one, and take my brown and red kilt out and put those on. I repack everything and get everything situated on me (the razor-grizzly claw necklace is going to take a while to get used to as it crowds the straps of my bags for space on my small body), I take my spear in my right hand, my bow in my left, and set off in one direction.... north, I think.
Midnight makes a sound, like a sharp, barking snarl to get my attention, and when I look at him, he starts going off in a different direction. East. Again.
I sigh.... does he know what I'm wanting?
OK, I'll follow you....
So the pair of us, king panther and child warrior, go through the woods together. As I walk behind him, I notice how his feet meet the ground, and despite his size and weight, hardly makes a sound at all. With my boots on, I wonder if I can be as silent as he is.
I end up tripping over my feet as I try a different approach to making my steps quieter and land on my face. Ouch. I use my arms to push myself up off the ground and blow my long hair out of my face, only to see Midnight looking back at me.
I know! I know! I only have 2 le
gs and not as fleet of foot as you are, my expression says to him. I get back up, dust myself off, and we set off once more.
After a while, as we journey, I continue to practice making my foot falls quieter, and I am starting to get the hang of it. Even Midnight glances at me a couple of times when, I guess he couldn't hear my steps? And he's making sure I am still with him? Or... am I only kidding myself, and he can still hear me coming 10 miles away?
Then I hear something.... the sound of water? A stream, or river? I hope its clean enough for me to drink and fill up my water skin.
Just before we come out of the cover of the trees at the water line, Midnight pauses with his ears pricked up, and looks from side to side for anything. I see how he uses his tail, as a flag to me to say, “Wait, let me check it out.”
I set down my bow and lean on my spear with both hands as he steps forward into the clearing, then lowers his head to the water and takes a few laps of the water. He looks around again, then turns to look at me over his shoulder. I guess that is my signal to come out.
Cautiously I step out of the shade of the woods, look around, then take all my trappings off, then I proceed to take a hand full of the water and sniff it, then I take a drink. OK, it should be good. I take my water skin and fill it up, then, taking my clothes off again, I take out my blood stained clothes from my bag and take a bath while cleaning them, too.
Midnight lays down on a nearby boulder as I splash about in the water, and watches both me and the surrounding area with a casual eye. He may look like he's relaxing while reclining there in the sun, but I know he's like a coiled spring, ready to deal with anything that would dare to harm his charge…. his.... cub?
Is that how he sees me? He knows I'm young, and has taken me under his wing—paws? At least until I can get to the protection of people?
Avarii- the Golden Child Page 3
