The Meetup

It was a quiet, lazy morning. Galina, the copper colored Tatra woke up to the sound of the birds chirping their sweet song and bright sunbeams trickling into the fallen tree trunk that she had made her home. It was almost noon, she slept so long that most Salikos of her tribe were already gone to hunt and patrol their territory. But since no one woke her up, it was obviously a calm day. She's the healer of her tribe so no news meant no injuries and therefore no problems. She went outside, past the stacks of herbs she kept for treating sick or hurt tribemates, yawned and stretched extensively and then proceeded to look around. It was still cool in the shade of the forest, though the little bit of sunlight that managed to get through the leaves made her feel cozy and warm. Her eyes quickly scanned over the area to check if everything was alright and she went over to the male with the cold colored fur, Janus, who was sitting in the middle of the clearing. He's one of her best friends and they knew each other since they were whelps. His gaze was fixed on a fume pigeon which he apparently caught earlier that day and was now happily munching on. Galina strolled over to him and started to smile. He looked up, saw her and began to smile too. «Hey sleepyhead, I was looking for you all day! Thought we might go hunting together but...» «Yeah I'm sorry. Couldn’t sleep last night, was thinking about something, but I promise we'll go tomorrow, alright?» «If you don't show up I'm gonna start rolling your tree trunk around until you're awake. Or I'll just throw you into the lake.» Galina looked at him in horror, then started to laugh and Janus joined in. He offered to share his meal with the female which she gladly accepted. After they were done she got up, sighed and looked at the elders den next to her tree trunk. «What's wrong?» «Oh...it's nothing, don't worry about it.» «Come on, don't be like that.» «Well, as you know Runos hasn’t been well lately. I think I'll need to gather a special herb to cure him and...the problem is that I've heard this herb is difficult to find.» «How hard can it be, I'm sure we'll find a stupid plant together.» «And I've also heard that it only grows on the volcano.» The male looked at her with his mouth open, obviously shocked. «Wait wait wait, you...you mean the volcano in the tropical biome? The one that's on the other side of Ibea?? Are you sure it's necessary to get that? Won't Runos be fine without it?» «To be honest, he has been getting worse and worse lately, I don't know what else to do anymore and it seems some other Salikos are starting to show the same symptoms. But this trip would take a long time and be very dangerous.» «So, when are we leaving?» «What?» «Not what, when.» «You can't be seriously suggesting we could do this?» «Well, who else but us? If this sickness spreads it might affect us in the end after all, so we should get going as soon as possible. And we can hunt together on the way», he winked. Galina considered the thought for a while. They started discussing their options and came to the conclusion that it was the best to at least try to get the plant and hope the tribe would hold out. The healer told her mother Candra about their plan, a copper Tatra just as her, which was one of the leaders of the tribe. She uttered her concerns for her daughters safety, but knew the tribe relied on the herbs so she wished them good luck on their journey. «Oh, one more thing before you go! Stop by the tundra tribe northwest of here and ask for a Saliko called Lavan. He might be able to give you some advice and provisions or teach you about the areas you'll have to get through.» «Lavan? You mean like…lava?», Galina asked. «Yes, he has been traveling to the volcano before, that's why he chose that name. He's a good tutor so go and talk to him.» Since the close by tribe Candra told them about is friendly with their own tribe, the two friends decided to get going right away, even if it was already getting late. They would be able to sleep for the night there and go south early the next day. After them trotting north for about an hour, they reached a calm river that flowed round a little gravel island where the Tundra tribe lived. It had started to snow and the temperature dropped rapidly, so the Tatras were happy to have finally reached their first stop. They met Ymilda, a cutly female that loosely pointed them into the direction where Lavan was supposed to be. They looked around and found a group of whelps, sitting around an older Saliko and listening carefully to his every word. «...and that is why you never carry an eel with you when you're in the kelp forest. Now please find a partner and try out the moves I showed you before. And no teeth this time!» The bubbly group of pupils disbanded, but some ran to the strangers and looked at them with big eyes. «What are you?» «Are you Kumba? I heard Kumba are evil.» «Did Dementos send you?» «Why's your fur so weird?» «QUIET!» The teacher shooed the youngsters away and turned towards Galina and Janus. «What is your business here, foreigners?» «Uh my moth...I mean Candra sent us here. Do you happen to be Lavan?» «Yes, it seems I am. So you are Candra's daughter, huh? The resemblance is hard to miss.» At first glance the Tundra seemed grumpy, but the copper one quickly noticed that he was just a little reserved and offered him a smile. He looked back at her without changing his serious expression and Janus jumped in. «Long story short, we need an herb from the tropical volcano to cure our sick and we heard you can help us find the way, is that right?» The older one looked at them for a minute. He seemed to process what he just heard or maybe he was thinking about what to say, but it took him a while to answer. «Is that so? Well, I would love to help you but I'm busy with watching the whelps even though I have far better stuff to do grumble grumble so I'm afraid I won't be able to...HEY DROP THAT YOU LITTLE...!», and he ran off after one of the young, the Tatras close behind. «Please, it's important! I'm sure the whelps will be fine for a while, there's other Salikos around that can watch them, right?» «No, that's the problem. Most adults are after a giant, rampaging Mandaringo that has been terrorising us for a while or are hurt from the encounters with it, so there's hardly anyone here. But you could...» «Oh no» Janus sighed. «...help us to chase him away.» «Knew it.» «See, you help our tribe and I will look after yours while you're away, how's that sound?» «I guess...» «Great, then get going! You'll find a group of our tribe at the cliff northeast of here, they're gonna leave soon.» Galina and Janus looked at each other in confusion and ran towards the cliff. Next to them, the river was winding towards the open sea and some thick-plumed seagulls were calling overhead. In the distance they saw three Salikos talking to each other, planning their moves and oddly enough, one of them happened to be Ymilda. After a short introduction, the Leader of the small group instructed the strangers to «stay in the back as you landlubbers would never be able to outswim a raging Mandaringo» which everyone agreed to. The Tundras all jumped into the water with a grace that the woodlanders could only dream of. The cliff was high and they both just awkwardly dropped into the water. Still, they weren't bad at swimming, just not as great as the Salikos that were basically raised in the sea and something else that no one thought of at first, which became apparent after a couple minutes, was that compared to the two Tatras, the local tribe was able hold their breath underwater much longer, so Galina and her friend stayed closer to the surface. They watched as the group started to dive deeper and deeper until they disappeared into the dark. For a couple minutes nothing happened. Just as they wanted to suggest to each other that they might dive down too, a giant shadow pierced through the water and shot up the cliff. The Tundras enraged the beast and lured it on land to get a little advantage - it was too mighty in the water. One of the Salikos got injured and bled heavily so Galina helped him onto land and cared for him while Janus swam after the group and joined the fight. The seal was roaring and thrashing it's tail around. Its mouth, full of sharp teeth, snapping close to the Salikos. Janus barely dodged fast enough not to end as seal-food and was able to smell the warm and foul, fishy breath of the monster. The leader of the group jumped on the back of the Mandaringo and bit it, trying to annoy it enough to make it leave, but the monsters thick skin didn't seem to make the teeth of the tiny Salikos hurt at all. Galina showed up with the third Tundra who jumped right back into action and lured the Mandaringo around in circles until the big one seemed to get dizzy. The fight went on for a while but the creature just didn’t seem to get tired or hurt at all. «We can't win this, what do we do?», Janus cried out. «Keep at it!» yelled the leader back. Suddenly Galina ran off again and disappeared behind a snowy hill. Janus charged at the beast when it turned it's back on him and bit it in the tail-fin. He noticed that he hardly pierced the skin and tried to bite down even harder. He seemed to have gotten the seals attention as it whirled around and threw him off, but his teeth were sunk in so deep now that Janus ripped out a small piece of flesh from the giant predators tail. The Tatra flew back and landed on his back with such a force that he was left breathless. A bloodcurdling roar cut through the air and the beast charged at the defenceless Saliko. An orange flame shot over the monster and landed in front of Janus. Galina had some plants, feathers, powder and other gatherings in her mouth and was waiting for the seal to get closer. It was slow on land but one single of its bites could easily kill her, still it had to get closer to her. The Mandaringo lunged forward, it's mouth wide open. The shattering impact of its weight on the slippery surface made it hard for the healer to keep her footing, but she jumped towards the predator and threw the mix into its face. As it hit its mouth and eyes, the beast started to flinch and turn away, being blinded and its mouth itching and burning. Furiously it snapped around itself and quickly disappeared back into the sea. The sudden silence felt heavy and Galina noticed that there was no time to feel safe, she had to check if everyone was alright. The Tundras seemed stricken but fine, so she ran to Janus and listened for his heartbeat. «You...you stink», the male joked weakly. «Thank Mother Nature, you're fine!» Galina smiled and nuzzled Janus, then hit him on the head. «Don't you ever do that again you stupid fluffball! You could've died!» «But I didn’t. And I got this for you» he pointed at his trophy, the piece of seal-fin. The female tried not to express her disgust and thanked him politely. Finally, the group slowly walked back to the tribe and told the remaining Salikos what happened. Lavan was sure that the Mandaringo would not return so soon and instructed some of the healthy Tundras to go gather more of what Galina used to distract it, in case it would return another day. The Tatras were so exhausted, that they just stumbled into the nests that were prepared for them and immediately fell asleep. The next morning after they tried to down one of the fish the Tundras caught and gave up because of the scales, Lavan explained to them where to go, what to take with them and whom to watch out for. «I'm sorry I cannot join you, but you will surely find allies on your way which will help you. Your journey will lead you southwest first, through the mixed woodlands. On your way you might meet some unfriendly tribes of Salikos or the ever so dangerous Kiri-Kiri, so watch out. Once you reach the desert your main goal will be to just survive the harsh climate. There are some rivers flowing underneath, so you can travel from oasis to oasis, but it won't be easy to find them all the time. Just trust your instincts. Also always remember to travel at night and sleep during the day when you've found some shelter though, as the night can be quite pleasant, if not cold compared to the daytime. Oh and roll in dirt if you can, it will keep you cool too. You might not be able to meet them, but there are some Kumbas I know amidst the red mountains. Should you see the rocks in the distance, go there and look for help and you'll receive it, though the Kumbas can be a bit...harsh sometimes, but be steadfast.» «Is this the same way you went when you got to the volcano?» «Pretty much yeah, only that I took lots of detours and met many many dangerous creatures», the minty one laughed. «So. From there on go straight west. You'll eventually enter the tropical biome and reach the icy bridge which will lead you to the volcanic island. From there on you'll be able to easily find your way. While you’re on the volcano make sure not to…fall into the hot magma, alright? We need you alive, not crispy. I think I’ve seen the flowers you’re looking for and sadly, they’re pretty high up so you’re gonna have to climb the mountain.» «How long will this all take?» «I'd say a couple weeks at least until you're back, but with some aid you might be able to do it faster.» «WEEKS??» Janus' eyes widened. «This will be good for you youngsters, you'll get to know Ibea and its inhabitants a lot better. And you will be able to understand what makes it so beautiful.» The Tatras didn't look like they believed that statement was true after all they heard. «And never forget,» Lavan continued «to always go with the flow. Like a fish in the water, it will carry you to your destination eventually. Be peaceful and immovable, soft flowing and still powerful as a waterfall bla bla bla...» Ymilda showed up behind them, in a better mood than the day before and whispered to them: «He will never stop talking, you just have to interrupt him and leave or you'll never get going, trust me.» She winked at them. «Good luck, you'll need it. And thanks for the help, I don't know if we would've been able to do this without you.» And as surprisingly as she had appeared, she left again. Lavan was, just as the female said, still talking and so Galina and Janus did as they were told. They said their goodbyes, picked some provisions up that the tribe gave them as a thanks and began walking south. «Do you think we can actually do this? And in time?» Janus wasn’t so sure about that trip anymore. His friend answered: «I am certain we will. We just have to.»