B.M.R. Year 0 Exodus Part 03

• Posted by Sotek January 23, 2016 - Filed in TSC: Classics - 2,975 views

  

   

  Quentarii gathered up the three girls then started herding them aboard the small boat, the ‘Spring’. Once she had made certain that each one was settled in their seats and the young hatchling was as happy as he could be in the arms of Vele’nara, she secured the hand cart to the middle of the decking with the aid of Nireli Farys who would guide them through the waters to the harbour of Sadrith Mora.

   

  Quentarii muttered to herself when she took her seat due to the simple fact that Aruzzel had literally disappeared off the face of the earth. She looked around franticly for him but there was just no sign of him at all. Her nervousness clearly showed once Nireli moved towards the stern of the boat and prepared to cast off.

  “I’m sorry. He’s wandered off, I can’t leave him behind”.

   

  Nireli gave her a slight nod along with a knowing smile.

  “It’s ok Sera! We have a good hour before we miss the tide”.

   

  The fact was that Aruzzel had indeed slipped off the face of the earth. Off the earth and into the water for he was currently several feet below the boat, swimming in the sea. Two slaughterfish homed in upon him from different directions. He stopped swimming and the water around him settled within moments giving him ample time to detect the faint movement of the fish as they closed in.

   

  On a boat he was the clumsy fool but once he was in the water, he was in his own element and he was king. Drawing his two Chitin daggers, he flicked his tail sideways, propelling him through the water. The first slaughterfish snapped its vicious elongated jaws at the tip of his tail but he spun around in a tight corkscrew slashing out at the fish, striking it in the side several times.

   

  The second fish swam straight for his face but he quickly stopped spinning around and turned towards it. He shoved his hand in its mouth with the daggers blade protruding forth. A single thrust of his dagger in the maw of the fish was enough to kill it. With a hard kick of his feet and a whip of his tail, Aruzzel darted through the water and headed upwards as fast as he could towards the boat while the two fish lay limp in his hands.

   

  Vele’nara knew Quentarii was getting flustered and wound up with Aruzzel due to him going off so she approached her mother and tried to take her mind off him. The best way she thought was to give her something to preoccupy herself. She pulled back some of the fur so she could peek a look at Sotek as she whispered to him.

  “I have a use for you little brother”. She carefully approached her ‘mother’ and called out to her to get her attention. Sotek was ignorant to Vele’nara’s plan and just swished his tail about while he rocked his head in unison.

   

  “Maa!! Sotek won’t stop wriggling. She shook him gently just enough to aggravate him so he thrashed about more. “See!”

   

  Quentarii rolled her eyes and huffed to the oldest sister.

  “Oh very well. Come to me Little-Foot. What am I going to do with you hmm?”

   

  She stepped towards Vele’nara and took the bundle of fur and scales off the girl so she could take care of the Hatchling.

   

  She had only managed to take a single step when the water on the starboard side of the boat started to ripple and quake. She peered over the edge of the boat while she held tightly onto Sotek.

   

  Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, Aruzzel burst out of the sea, making Quentarii scream in fright. Aruzzel cleared the surface of the water by several feet. His intention was to land on the boat but he didn’t realize that where he chose to surface was exactly where Quentarii was standing.

   

  The male Argonian collided into Quentarii taking her and little Sotek with him over the other side of the boat while the three girls and Nireli looked on with shock. As Quentarii fell backwards into the water, she just had enough time to see Aruzzel’s petrified face as he fell on top of her and hear a high pitch ‘hisss’ above her as Sotek flew upwards out of her hands to finally plummet into the sea several feet away.

   

  Quentarii shoved Aruzzel back away from her so she was free to twist around in the water and search for Sotek. Aruzzel knew full well what had happened and he knew of the urgency to find the hatchling. Slaughterfish were dangerous and if they found the young Argonian then they would quickly tear him apart in a frenzy of feeding. He shot past Quentarii in the direction that they had seen Sotek fall and quickly saw the bundle of wraps ahead of him. What concerned him as well as Quentarii, was the fact that the bundle wasn’t moving.

   

  He reached it just before Quentarii and pulled the furs towards him but they unraveled into empty sheets. He shrugged his shoulders at Quentarii franticly as he spun around to try to see Sotek.

   

  A small shadow in the water to the north caught Quentarii’s eyes and she signalled to Aruzzel, while she pointed in its general direction. Although swimming came naturally to most Argonians, swimming was something they had to develop as well as learning to use their gills almost like a human switching from breathing through their mouths to their noses. As one they closed in to the green scaled hatchling.

   

  Sotek was laying on his side suspended in the water, three feet below the surface. He wasn’t moving at all, just lying there on his side. Quentarii felt terrified as her hand reached out to grab him. She was sure he was hurt or even worse dead. As she closed in, Soteks eyes flicked wide open almost like he had been listening to them in the water. He started kicking out as his tail swished back and forth. As he was on his side, all he managed to do was swim in a large circle. Every so often a few bubbles floated upwards from his mouth and nose clearly showing Quentarii that he indeed was using his gills to breath.

   

  Aruzzel pulled her back a bit to give the hatchling a bit of space until Sotek saw Quentarii watching him. He tried to turn towards her but his sense of direction was messed up so he had to turn various times so he could home in on her. He stopped a few feet away from her and grinned broadly as the tip of his tail flayed about excitedly. As he opened his mouth several bubbles escaped from his maw and rippled upwards towards the surface. Sotek tried to give chase but Quentarii grabbed hold of him before he could get anywhere.

   

  She swam to the docks and climbed out of the water while the three girls fearfully looked on. Aruzzel quickly gathered the fish and followed her towards the boat. She threw him a filthy glaring stare as she shook off the excess water then returned to the boat without saying a single word to him.

   

  He sheepishly glanced around the boat at the girls then to Nireli who silently pointed to an empty seat. He sat down quietly and glanced over his shoulder to Quentarii who had her back to him.

  “Don’t bother looking at me. Why I ought to strangle you! What in all of Tamriel were you doing? Tell me damn it!!”

   

  Aruzzel gulped as he held out the fish.

  “I wa…”

   

  Quentarii’s hands shook with anger, either that or the cold. Neither one mattered. She yelled back without giving him a single chance to explain.

  “Shut up! Just sit there and shut up!!”

   

  Vele’nara took two furs which were wrapped around herself and her two sisters and promptly offered them to Quentarii. She took one and threw the other one at Aruzzel then pointed to the two fish.

  “Vele’nara! Take those fish and gut them. Share them with your sisters”.

   

  Vele’nara nodded and picked up the two fish. She started to gut them using Quentarii’s knife but Nireli interrupted her.

  “You can’t cook them here!!”

   

  Quentarii turned around on the seat as she rubbed the fur against Sotek’s back to dry him off so she could explain a bit about the Argonian diet.

  “It’s ok. We will happily eat raw fish. They will be fine once their bellies are full”.

   

  Kut’ara took a third of the fish but then glanced back towards her mother. She felt guilty as she knew Quentarii hadn’t eaten much the day before while she made sure they had decent sized meals. Even if it was raw fish which she wasn’t keen on. Fish tasted a lot better with butter and steaming cheese sauce.

  “Don’t you want any Ma?”

   

  Quentarii stared back at Aruzzel while she responded as calmly as she could.

  “My dear Kut’ara, if I had some of that fish I would shove it down his throat”.

   

  Kut’ara sat back on her seat and quietly bit into a piece of raw fish. It tasted salty and had a slimy texture which made her cringe. Vele’nara shook her head at her young sister and pulled out a piece of Marshmerrow stem then offered it to her.

  “It will help with the taste. You’re weird. We all like raw fish”.

   

  Kut’ara snatched the length of Marshmerrow out of her hand and bit into it hungrily while she shook her head.

  “Raw fish is yuck!”

   

  Kat’rini left her seat and carried her portion of fish over to her mum. She offered it in outstretched hands along with a plea.

  “Please don’t choke Aruzzel with it…”

   

  Quentarii looked up in surprise. Her anger melted when she saw the young child’s pleading eyes.

  “Hahaha… I won’t. Sit here with me and eat. Come on”.

   

  As Kat’rini ate the piece of fish, Quentarii stood Sotek up on her lap so she could finish drying him off. While he was being held up, Kat’rini pointed at his naked body.

  “He… he has two tails. Hey Vele’nara! Sotek has two tails…”

   

  Vele’nara and Kut’ara started giggling at each other while they pointed at Sotek.  Kat’rini felt confused and watched Quentarii who shook her head as she hastily wrapped Sotek up in a clean dry fur. She looked down at the young girl and whispered to her.

  “That’s not a tail…”

   

  Kat’rini tugged on Quentarii’s drenched cloak to regain her attention.

  “What is it then?”

   

  Quentarii gulped then quickly looked around at Aruzzel who had no idea what to say either. They were both saved by the intervention of Nireli who called out to them.

  “What is it? It’s time we were going before we miss the tide!” With no further ado, she cast off the rope and pushed the boat away from the harbor’s gangway.