Luke the Teacher plowed through the tall grass at the edge of the forest, trying and failing to ignore the very loud noises of the night.
Quendra was right; there was no way he was going to make it to Aisell and Lezah, not at this time of night. But what choice did he have? It was this, or leave the Tribe to whatever fate they faced. He was probably giving his life for them. He accepted it.
He didn’t particularly want to give his life to save them, mind you. He was rather hoping that he’d make it to the Marises unscathed, that they’d be able to help, that they’d find the Tribe, and that Quendra….
…he hoped against hope that she would understand, when she had a chance to breathe. To look at the world without the loss of the Tribe blotting out everything. He hoped that she would know why he had set out for Aisell – and that it was not because he hoped to rekindle romance.
They had one night together, and it was a fun one. And perhaps, just perhaps, there was a moment it could have been more. But that time had passed. He didn’t want that. He wanted Quendra, and wanted her to want him.
He liked Aisell very much, and he liked Lezah very much – but not the way he loved Quendra.
He froze as he heard a chittering sound; he lifted his cane into a defensive position. It was probably ridiculous to do so, but it was the weapon he had at hand. He stood fast, until the noise abated, and continued on.
His leg was starting to ache a bit, and the scar on his side felt tight. He was probably in shape enough to get to Aisell’s house on a clear day, with Quendra at his side…but alone?
It didn’t matter. He had to keep going. He could spend all night counting the many reasons this was a bad idea. None of it mattered. It was the only hope they had.
* * *
The Tribe tried and failed to keep from being tossed about as a few burly TETH volunteers offloaded it. In a corner of the room, Lesis looked on, shaking his head.
“This is stupid,” he said, to nobody in particular.
“What’s that?” Leny asked, walking by.
“I said, Leny, that this is stupid. What are we going to accomplish? People are going to assume it’s an elaborate show.”
“Oh, Lesis, you worry too much. We’ll have them demonstrate their skill. Give them a chance to hunt tupps, that sort of thing. You’ll see, it’ll be a huge draw. A game-changer. Just the sort of attraction we need.”
“What about what they need?”
Leny stared daggers at him. “We are what they need, Lesis. They can’t lobby. They can’t vote. They can’t get the attention of the public. If we fail, they lose. So they need to get on board – as do you, I think.”
Lesis shook his head. “I don’t know, Leny. I mean, I’m not quitting…but this wasn’t what I wanted.”
“Tough, Lesis. It doesn’t matter what you wanted,” Leny said, and walked away.
Lesis looked at the humans struggling to their feet in the terrarium. They looked scared, confused…some of them looked angry.
He didn’t think this was what they wanted, either.
* * *
Luke turned onto a path that wound through the silagas field, trying to keep his bearings as best he could. Quendra had never showed him the signposts that marked the safe trail, and he rather doubted she would be in the mood to do so now. Still, this footpath for the Titans was like a broad superhighway; a bit bumpy, but easy to traverse.
He looked up at the sky. He could see dawn starting to creep up on the eastern horizon; Selana was high in the sky, half-full, giving plenty of light. He nodded to the head of the tupp, and began walking.
And then he froze.
He felt the low growl in his feet; the rumble of satisfaction that indicated it had found its prey.
He turned, and saw it, laying in the grass, watching him carefully. A shaar.
It wasn’t the same shaar that had attacked them before – that shaar had died of the wounds Quendra gave it, and good riddance. But it hardly mattered; a shaar was a shaar, and it had Luke in its sights.
He realized, belatedly, why it was rather foolish to walk down a clear path made for the Titans. But he didn’t have time to rue the decision; he probably never would.
The shaar crept forward. Luke pulled his cane up, and grabbed the one knife he possessed in his other hand. He got into something of a defensive stance, cane raised, knife at the ready, and faced the beast.
He hoped Quendra would find the tribe. He hoped she’d find someone to love her as she deserved. He hoped that she would have the happy ending that he was not destined for.
The shaar leapt forward, and swung its tail. Luke dove, and brought the cane down with all his might against it. It shrugged off the blow, and whipped the tail around again, just missing Luke’s roll.
The shaar adjusted its angle, and stared at Luke; it was sizing him up. Toying with him. Playing cat and mouse.
He raised the cane. “Come on, you bastard,” he muttered. “You want to kill me? Come get me.”
Suddenly, there were three quick whooshes, followed by three quick thwunks. The shaar screamed in anger, and turned. Two more whooshes, two more thwunks, and the shaar howled in pain, and scampered away as fast as its legs would take it.
Luke stared after it for just a moment, and then turned to the origin of the whooshes.
She stood there, looking past him, making sure the beast was truly gone. When she was certain, and only when she was certain, she lowered the bow from its anchor point and pulled the nock from the bow string. She put the arrow back in her quiver, slung the bow over her shoulder, and when she had done all this, carefully, patiently, when she had done all this as she had done a thousand times before, only then did she look at him, and only then did she race to him and throw her arms around him.
Luke wrapped his arms around Quendra tight, holding onto her as if letting go might cause her to fade away. Finally, she brushed his cheek with a kiss, and said, “You’re an idiot, Teacher.”
“I know,” Luke said, softly.
Quendra let go, and smiled softly up at him. And wordlessly, she reached behind her neck, and unfastened her adornment. With trembling hands – the only time Luke had ever seen her hands tremble, the only time he ever would – she folded it into the shape of infinity, and she handed it to Luke the Teacher.
Well, that was not quite correct. She handed it to Luke the Teacher, husband of Quendra the Elder Huntress.
Luke grasped it carefully, and kissed her hard on the lips.
She fastened her adornment around his neck, and he fastened his around hers.
“I wish there was time for more,” Luke said, kissing her softly, after they had concluded.
“I do too, Luke. But if we get killed on the way there…or get killed by them….”
“I know, Quennie. I’d much rather die your husband than live without you.”
She kissed him once more, and said, “Well, let’s hope we have the chance to tell the Tribe about this. Luke…you really think they’ll help us? You think they’ll help us find the Tribe?”
Luke looked off into the distance, toward the house. “I do. I don’t know if they’ll succeed…but if Aisell and Lezah are the people I know…they’ll try.”
“All right,” Quendra said, quietly. “In the name of the Great Spirit, let it be so.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in the Great Spirit?” Luke said.
“I don’t,” Quendra said, “But we need all the help we can get.”
* * *
Thurfrit looked along the edge of the plexiglass prison for the dozenth time; he had no more luck than the previous eleven times, but he had to check.
“Any luck, chronicler?”
Thurfrit turned. “No, Leader.”
Drugar put his hand on Thurfrit’s shoulder. “Rest, Thurfrit.”
“How can I? When we’re trapped! When Quendra and Luke might be dead!”
“Because if you do not, then you won’t be ready when we have a chance. If you found a weak spot right now, what would we do?”
Thurfrit sighed. He knew Drugar was right, but that didn’t make it easier.
“I understand you helped calm the people you were with, in the machine,” Drugar said, softly.
“Someone had to.”
“Yes. But someone could be anyone. The question is who will step forward when someone needs to do something. You did. Thank you, Thurfrit.”
“For what good it does us,” the chronicler said.
“Mant said that you asked who was hurt, asked who needed help, right?”
Thurfrit nodded.
“We are a Tribe, chronicler, because we can offer each other help. Because we can help each other when things are dire. So that we can sacrifice together, celebrate together, and if it so happens, so that we can die together. Those things that bind us, Thurfrit – those are what have kept us alive. If we forget that…only then are we truly lost. You helped remind us of that.”
Thurfrit looked back at Drugar. “I…I just….”
“You reminded those you were with that they look out for each other. This is a horrible time. But the only way we survive is to stay together. Don’t say that you did no good, Thurfrit. You did all the good in the world.”
“I wish it was more,” Thurfrit said.
“And I wish that I had some glowberry wine, but we take what we can get. Now, Chronicler, rest. Tomorrow will come soon enough.”
Thurfrit nodded. “Yes, Leader.”
Drugar walked away from his Chronicler, and headed off to talk to a few more members of his Tribe. He would need those who had stepped forward as leaders to keep doing so. He didn’t know how long he could keep them together. He feared that it would not be long before people began to give up, before people began to despair. But he would keep them together as long as he could. And he would pray to the Great Spirit for a miracle.
* * *
Quendra stared up at the massive structure, her heart in her throat. The early morning light made it, if anything, more ominous.
She was terrified.
Every instinct was telling her this was an awful idea. A terrible idea. A terrible, awful, horrible, staggeringly imbecilic idea. She looked over at her husband, and he looked back at her.
“It’s okay, Quennie,” he said. “I promise, they won’t hurt you.”
“Let’s get this over with,” Quendra said. “The longer we wait, the more I want to run.”
“Okay,” Luke said.
They climbed the steps to the porch, and Luke pointed up by the door handle.
“See that square there, to the right of the doorway? That’s a doorbell. Combination chime and speaker. Hit the button, and there’s a noise inside the house, indicates someone’s here to see them.”
“Or we could just sneak in,” Quendra said.
“Yes, we could. But we’re asking for help. We need to get their attention. We need them to see us.”
Quendra shook her head. Her entire life had been ordered around keeping them from seeing her. She looked back at Luke, who was looking up at the buzzer, thoughtfully.
“I’m not sure how to reach it. Maybe we could climb….”
He was rather surprised when an arrow launched with a wheet, and ricocheted off the doorbell above, causing the tell-tale chime to sound.
“If they make us into pets,” his wife said, “I will kill you in your sleep.”
“Fair enough,” Luke said, and he waited.
* * *
“Who in the Emperor’s name could that be at this hour?” Lezah said, stirring the porridge carefully.
Aisell looked up from her pad. “Beats me,” she said.
“Maybe Lyroo, come back for vengeance?” Aezhay yawned.
“She isn’t that stupid,” Aisell said.
“Well, I’d best get it,” Lezah said.
“No, you’re cooking, and Zhay is lazy,” Aisell said, getting up.
“Hey!”
“You want to get the door?”
“No.”
“Well then,” Aisell said, straightening her shirt unconsciously. “I will.”
She walked to the door nonchalantly, and opened it; nobody was immediately evident. “Hello?” she said, pushing the screen door open and taking a step onto the porch.
She turned slightly, looking downward, and suddenly, she froze in her tracks. Her breath caught, and she was unable to make a sound.
There were two humans there, one male, one female, wearing clothing that had clearly been tailored with care. The red-headed woman stared up at Aisell in abject terror; the dark-haired man leaned on a cane, regarding her with utter placidity.
She slowly lowered herself to her knees, too startled by their presence to do anything else.
“Hi, Aisell,” Luke said.
“Luke?” she half-whispered.
“Yeah, it’s me. And this is my wife, Quendra the Elder Huntress,” he said, gesturing to the woman at his side. “Aisell…we need your help.”
Everyone that’s saying “poor Aisell” because of Luke ending the love triangle and choosing Quendra. You gotta remember that although Luke may have feelings of love for Aisell, SHE never really reciprocated them. She cared about Luke as a friend and was sad because she thought he was dead and it weighed on her consience, but I don’t think she loved him in that way…
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Aisell say she “loves” Luke. AND Lets not forget that she also flat-out friendzoned him after their drunken one night stand. If Aisell ever even loved Luke then she had plenty of chances and let it slip by… Yeah, Luke is good with who he ended up with, Aisell was always JUST a good friend.
Aisell may have never said the “love” word, but her feelings were more than just friendship. After that drunken night she reacted with a slammed fist and a half-yelled denial when Luke kept saying that what happened was more than just alcohol, showing that he hit a nerve. And the rest of that chapter makes it clear that she only denied him because she thinks it’d never work due to him being a human instead of a titan. She actually tells him “If things were different… If I was Human or you were Titan…” Then a while later Aisell displays jealousy at how well Luke gets along with Lezah, culminating with Aisell accussing Lezah of moving in on Luke during the argument caused by emotions running high that the sisters had after Luke’s disappearance.
I guess it was a long time ago when I read those chapters. But still, I never really got the impression that Aisell actually LOVED Luke. Even that Lezah thing, I took it more as: hey why are you stealing my friend?
She’s a REALLY good friend, no doubt, but a love interest? For Luke, certainly! Like he said, even NOW he has feelings for her. But to Aisell, I don’t know…I guess I must have misinterpreted the signs.
But even if she did love him, my point still stands: Aisell had plenty of time to make a move, not only that but she shot Luke down when HE tried to make one. To be honest, since I’m a macrophile, I’m actually biased towards Aisell/Luke, but my realist side says that train is long-gone.
In my opinion, Luke and Aisell became stronger characters because they weren’t made a couple, especially Aisell.
Yes! We finally get to see them meet. I can’t wait for the resulting conversation.
Also, Aisell can fix up what remains of Luke’s injuries.
Finally Luke goes back to the house. I’m happy for Luke and Quendra being married, but now I feel bad for Aisell. I hope she find someone to love.
She gets along well with Eyrn, so Twatell would be a good option.
Ehhh I’m not sure she rolls that way. Eyrn for sure does not..
The long-awaited reunion. Too bad it’s not under better circumstances. Anyway, for everyone in the Maris house: “Rise and shine y’all, it’s going to be a long day!”
Can’t wait for the next chapter. I’m wondering what everyone is going to do next. It seems to me that after Aisell and the others figure out that it’s TETH who took the Tribe, their only real course of action is to steal the Tribe back. Easier said than done.
And Lenyalana in particular, is as misguided as ever. Does she even realize that she’s treating the Tribe like animals instead of people? An HOS suction device, a terrarium, talking at them instead of with them, “pups” (although maybe she didn’t hear that one). TETH cannot be what humans need if even they don’t see humans as equals. Of course that’s probably the heart of the matter. There is a wide space between ‘humans are animals’ and ‘humans are equal’, and I’m afraid that a majority of TETH’s members don’t regard humans as equals but places them somewhere inside that space.
Also, “Give them a chance to hunt tupps, that sort of thing.” With what, their bare hands? That’s never going to work. And if you give them equipment, any spectator is going to dismiss it as the equivalent of a circus act with mice.
By the way, three chapters in as many days! I’m loving it.
I wish I could edit my posts. Aside from correcting my writing errors, a great shout-out just occurred to me:
Also, “Give them a chance to hunt tupps, that sort of thing.” With what? Their bare hands? This isn’t Colossal Cave Adventure.
Been waiting for this for sooooooo long ! 😀
It’s nice that the Luke/Quendra relationship is secured before doing this. Still, I know time is of the essence because of the Tribe but please, don’t rush this reunion JS, we’ve been waiting for it for months. Please make it lasts with lots of dialogue ! 😉
“Lyroo’s vengeance” ? Ah ! So Darren is already with the sisters at this point ? Good. Giving him a human problem to focus on might do him some good.
By the way, I think Gae is gonna get an earful from everyone (but especially Aisell and Quendra) when they figure out that she’s the one who led TETH to the Tribe. And from Lezah for not telling her about the Humans in her forest.
After Bedra, this is yet another case of a well-meaning Titan’s carelessness screwing Humans over.
But since Gae keeps saying she wishes she had died instead of Yamma’s girlfriend, I’m wondering if this is a foreshadowing of Gae’s (or Yamma’s) death…
I agree, interesting idea about the foreshadowing, I hope it isn’t true though personally, I’m still upset over Charlie getting eaten by Trell.
Plus we get to see Darren meet Luke and Quendra.
Actually I doubt it. There is a good chance that Darren was in the cab headed for Medzina which left last evening.
FINALLY! YESSSSSSSS!!!
…
Great job! Can’t wait to see where this leads now. What a way to end this arc.
Ahahahaha.
Poor aisell hope she find someone to love her too
She has Darren….so it would be Darrcell? Hmmm sort of has a ring to it….As for moi I would still go for the burger chick……
I don’t see it. Sure they get along but not exactly expecting the two to suddenly come together. Nah Darren and Aisell will find separate people to couple with if, if they ever do.
This is just what I’ve been waiting to see. I’m kind of glad you resolved the love triangle before they reached the door. So now it’s time for Luke to be “Let me explain… No there isn’t time. Let me summarize…”
I wonder what they have time to go over.
Next words are;
“Hey Kiddo, sorry for that disappearing act a few months ago, I really couldn’t help it. Ya see the wife here saw me in that cagey thing and decided that she just had to have me. So she took me and carried me back to a Tribe of wild humans living in a giant (to us) Tree near the edge of your property..Then a whole bunch of stuff happened blah… blah…. blah… not really that important and then we were discovered by other Titans who decided to take (kidnap) our entire Tribe. So in desperation I had to come out here and seek your help. Was going to tell months ago but we got waylaid by shaars and I got injured….and stuff…….and oh yeah we recently got married (on the way over) so after this incident is fixed we would like to invite you to our wedding reception…..”
Yep that’ll do it……..
I only say this when I’ve read something really brilliant (like these two great chapters, back to back).
HOLY SHIT MOLASSES IN THE WINTERTIME! 😀
Well now that the romance is settled, lets save the The Tribe.
This should be interesting. Seriously call Gae, she’ll have a better idea of what to do.
After she gets over her guilt for informing TETH of their tribe in the first place.
Lesis feels bad, maybe he’ll tell her. However there is no time to feel bad, only time to act.
Thank you for settling the Luke/Quen/Aisell triangle once and for all.
A little diasppointed but considering how long I’ve accepted that this would happen, its impact is somewhat blunted by the time it took.
I gave up hope after he scraped the “a” into the rock. I knew it was over then. It was basically both of them moving on.
This chapter was awesome!
MOAR!
I half expected Aisell to faint, hell I still do! Thank you thank you thank you for updating these last three chapters these last three days. I think I would have gone mad waiting the normal amount of time.
Loved every bit. Loved that Quendra didn’t hesitate to exchange necklaces, love the couple banter, love that the first sentence Luke says to Aisell introduces Quendra as his wife!
On the other side Thurfrit’s becoming something of a leader the talk between him and Druggar was handled quite well.
Please update as soon as possible, I fear I’m becoming addicted.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We have been waiting to see this for so long! And letting them marry on the way was an elegant solution to the awkwardness around Luke’s relationship with Aisell. This was great! (Although, as my husband says, it ended too soon. Now we are waiting for the next chapter already.). So thank you VERY MUCh. ;-}
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next chapter cannot come soon enough!!
Well, you will have to appeal to JohnnyScribe; this marks the end of my part of Nomad. (Rubs hands, cackles maniacally….)
What a way to go out. Awesome run man.
Ouch JS has three stories on his plate now. Good luck.
More “Continuing Adventures” then? Love me some episodic Izzy action.
I may have something. Code named “ToA”
Can’t wait to see it. ToA= Tales of Avalon?
Side note, are you going to add the side stories for Nonah and Nas’s favorite Games?
Godfather………
Your contribution here is most certainly appreciated…Fraido and I had our differences but we both agree that this installment was very good…
Btw Vinny the Thumb sends his regards…….
AHHHHHHH!!!!!
http://4gifme.com/gifs/excited_gif-2062.gif
Seems appropriate.