B.M.R. Year 0 Exodus Chapter 06

  •  

    Quentarii, a middle aged Argonian, walked across the water using a water walking potion. In front of her, she pushed an old hand cart that had seen better days. All her belongings, mere rags to outsiders, were stored inside and sitting on top of it, wide eyed and inquisitive was a dark green, scaly, Argonian Hatchling called Sotek. He snapped his teeth together as he tried to bite a dragonfly which strayed too close to the cart while his saviour, Quentarii, shook her head at him and spoke softly, soothing the restless hatching.
    “Enough Little Foot! You’ll have food soon enough”.

     

    They have been traveling for several days. Their journey brought them from Black Marsh when the hatchling was barely two hours old. Slowly they made their way across the sea to Vvardenfell, to a large city called Ebonheart. From there they travelled on smaller vessels along the coast line of Morrowind to reach the town they had just left, Sadrith Mora. Their eventual destination was to the far north of Morrowind. A town called Vos. Even when they reached the city, they still had further to go, until they could finally rest at a place called Ahemmusa Camp where they would make their home.

     

    The water walking potion she took, only lasted for thirty seconds but that was enough time for her to reach the small island which lay across the stretch of water. The sea itself was vast and yet many islands, most of them as small as barely fifty feet across, dominated the landscape, creating an Archipelago of almost inter connecting land masses. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the wheels of the cart gain resistance as she pushed it beyond the water’s edge to dry land once more.

     

    Aruzzel, Quentarii’s Argonian partner and the three young Argonian girls, Vele’nara, Kat’rini, and Kut’ara, all taken in by Quentarii and Aruzzel, broke the water’s surface together and spread out along the coast. Before Quentarii could even call the girls back to her, they had scattered across the whole tiny island, giving Quentarii the layout of the land mass they were on.

     

    The male Argonian who was about the same age as Quentarii, scuttled about, examining various holes and undergrowth. He quickly traversed the coastline surrounding the tiny island then gave his report to Quentarii.
    “Well the islands small”.

     

    “Really?” Quentarii stated as she glanced over her shoulder. She could see how big the island was from where she stood. “I was kind of hoping for a bit more than that!”

     

    “Oh… Ok. Ermm…” He tapped his hand against his leg as he pondered on what to say about their current location. He could see it was barren but then so could the three girls and Quentarii. If he was going to impress her then he would need more than that. She started staring at him heavily as her foot tapped away the seconds. Aruzzel gulped then glanced down at the ground.

     

    A flash of inspiration struck him as he remembered looking at one particular hole in the earth. He turned around, putting his back to her as he pointed towards the shoreline.
    “Well, there’s a Scrib tunnel but apart from that the island’s secure. I didn’t see any Cliff Racers along the coast or nearby either. Maybe we could rest here for a while?”

     

    Quentarii never answered him. He waited for a few more seconds then turned to face her. Sotek was laying on the ground, on his back, snapping his teeth together as he chewed on a Kreshweed leaf. As for the three girls, they were all by now sitting on a crate while Quentarii fixed a large thick sheet over them to help protect them from the weather.

     

    Aruzzel sighed then approached the hatchling. He was about to pick him up when Quentarii called him over to her.
    “He’s fine. That plant won’t do him any harm. If anything, it’ll restore his luck. Maybe then he’ll be able to catch a dragonfly or two. He certainly seems to have an invested interest in them. Gather some rocks from over there and set out a camp fire. There’s a few old trees nearby so firewood is in ample supply”.

     

    “I’ll do that!” Aruzzel said in a rather positive manner. Quentarii cast a weary eye at him and studied the man for a few moments. He was out of his element and she guessed he felt rather useless. Something which she knew wasn’t far from the truth. This never bothered her though. She was always the smarter of the two. He had his uses though, one such thing was he never seemed to get down. He kept her spirits up even during the darkest of days. Another thing he was good at was getting in the way.

     

    As Quentarii tried to cook a basic meal of Kwama egg, Aruzzel dropped a log on the fire, coating her with ‘fire sprites’. She cursed out at him and brushed her robe before it started smouldering.
    “Oh, you idiot! Hmph!”

     

    Aruzzel backed away then piled up a few logs. He went to say sorry, but he felt it best if he just stayed out of her way. The three girls seemed happy enough watching their ‘mother’ while Sotek had finally managed to pull down enough leaf so he could have a good chew on it. Picking up his dagger and spear, Aruzzel slipped away to the water’s edge and slowly sank below the surface.

     

    Several minutes had passed by when Quentarii called out to him. Upon receiving no answer, she turned around to finally realize he was missing. She guessed he moved off to give her some space but inside she felt worried. They didn’t know where they were exactly, and it was all too easy to get lost as one land mass looked the same as any other. They only had two Kwama eggs, so she divided up one between Vele’nara, Kat’rini, and Kut’ara while the second egg she split in half. She picked up the hatchling who seemed to resent being disturbed, but his manner quickly changed when she cut a thin slice of egg and fed it to him.

     

    She hadn’t even started to eat her own meagre meal when the girls finished their egg. The three girls looked at one another expectantly then Kat’rini nudged Vele’nara, who was the oldest out of the three of them. She sat up right and timidly asked her mother for more food.
    “Ma, we’re still hungry. Isn’t there anything else?” She hated asking for more food and at the age of seven she had a good idea on their situation, but she could feel her stomach rumble and she knew her sisters still craved for substance.

     

    Quentarii gasped for breath, fighting back a tear as she looked away, so the girls wouldn’t see her distraught face. She knew they were hungry and yet there was nothing left in the basket. She looked at Aruzzel’s meal, half the Kwama egg and sighed. With her knife, she cut up her own meal into three pieces and divided it up between the girls.

     

    Kat’rini, the most timid and youngest of the three looked despairingly at her mum who she knew hadn’t eaten. She took a single bite from the scant piece of egg then held it out for her mother.
    “I don’t want any more”. She said, fighting back a tear. Her stomach hurt and yet she knew her mother would be thankful.

     

    “So, you don’t want a fish then?” Aruzzel said as he came into view. Water dripped off his leather armor while eight slaughterfish hung in pairs from the end of his spear.

     

    Quentarii sighed with relief and nearly burst into tears, not for the bounty which he had brought but just the sight of him.
    “I was worried. Why did you go off? Never mind… Warm yourself by the fire. Vele’nara, gather some sticks and we’ll start cooking the fish”.

     

    As Aruzzel sat down, Quentarii moved next to him and rested her head on his chest. She wrapped her arms around him, ignoring his wet clothes as she gave him a loving hug.

     

    Soon enough, the fish were cooked and the three girls were stuffing their bellies with warm food while Quentarii and Aruzzel ate four fish between them. For some reason, Kut’ara started moaning at her sisters for being too close. She seemed to get irritable and snappy. Quentarii watched her for a few moments until she realised what was wrong.
    “Don’t eat the scales… Only the flesh. Here, let me skin it for you”.

     

    Soon afterwards, Kut’ara seemed to settle down once more and she meekly re-joined her sisters. Quentarii gave her a smile and explained about her behaviour.
    “Slaughterfish scales affects your personality, it makes you depressed and irritable. It soon passes though, unless you eat more of them, so don’t, hmm?”

     

    “Sorry mother”. Kut’ara said as she was playfully set upon by her siblings. As for Sotek, he was content to suck on a piece of fish as he lay on his back in a basket. Above him, he could see the clouds in the sky and he would often pause with the fish sticking out of the side of his mouth as he watched the ‘fluffy cotton balloons’ pass by.

     

    As the evening sun past beyond the horizon, Aruzzel laid out a few old furs for the children to lay upon. He left the last one for Quentarii and he sat cross legged by the fire for warmth. Not that the climate was cold, but the drawing of the night brought with it a dampness in the air. Quentarii watched him settle down and she rebuked herself for snapping at him earlier. She decided to join him and laid down, resting her head on his lap. He pulled the fur over her, but she moved it so they both could share in the furs warmth and protection.

     

    Hours later, the whole camp erupted into life as a heavy ‘thumping’ could be heard. Aruzzel jumped up and grabbed his spear as he boldly stepped forwards to seek out the intruder. Unbeknown to him, a scrib wandered past his foot and brazenly scuttled into the camp. The smell of half chewed Kreshweed drew the beetle like animal towards it like a moth to a flame.
    Quentarii watched it in fascination as it began feeding. She knew of such a creature and knew it to be harmless, as long as it was left alone. The tail thudded down, making the banging noise, disturbing the three girls. They all sat up and stared in disbelief at the silvery large beetle like creature. All except Kut’ara who screamed.

     

    Sotek jumped with fright, his arms shook, and his tail whipped around as he burst out crying. Quentarii picked him up and draped him over her shoulder as she comforted the hatchling.
    “Kut’ara, calm down. It’s a scrib. They are harmless as long as they aren’t provoked. Hush now Little Foot. Hush…”

     

    He sniffled just the once then started hissing at anything that came near him for several minutes until he found his natural calm. Once again, he was placed in the basket and he peeked over the edge to watch the strange scrib as it scuttled past. It thudded its tail down several times and suddenly paused as a second thudding sounded out. It tapped its tail three times and heard another set of three bangs, as if a second scrib was answering it. Quentarii watched in disbelief as Sotek mimicked the noise by slamming his tail down in time with the scrib.

     

    Unable to locate the second scrib, the animal scuttled off to its burrow, leaving the camp in peace except for a single male hatching, who kept disturbing everyone throughout the rest of the night with a steady, yet often an unexpected ‘thump’ of his tail and on the odd occasion, a high pitched ‘hiss’.

     

     

Comments

4 Comments   |   Meli and 3 others like this.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  July 17, 2018
    Heh. Foot-Hissing-Little  - I know! but just couldn't help myself shuffling the words a bit - won't even let them sleep. So they have plenty to eat, but I gotta ask. What do they drink? It's all sea around, right? 
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  July 14, 2018
    Baby Sotek! 
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  July 14, 2018
    Water dripped off his leather armor while eight [slaughterfish] hung in pairs from the end of his spear.


    Quentarii moved next to him and rested her head [on] his chest.


    Quentarii watched him settle down and she ...  more
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      Ebonslayer
      Ebonslayer
      Ebonslayer
      Water dripped off his leather armor while eight [slaughterfish] hung in pairs from the end of his spear.


      Quentarii moved next to him and rested her head [on] his chest. ...  more
        ·  July 14, 2018
      Fixed the errors Ebonslayer. Thanks for that. 
      Scribs are ok, Aela hates the Kwama Foragers.