![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walbournTrials
"Tell me again - what's the significance of sleeping in this hut the night before our wedding?" The big human rolled over on the floor, clearly less than comfortable, to face his wife-to-be. "I mean, I've been sleeping in worse places most of my life, but this seems a rather odd way to start a marriage."
Lying a few feet away on a grass mat of her own, Sara put on a mock look of hurt in the dim light coming from glowing moss woven into the walls. "What don't like it? I did spend three days building it."
"Right. Nice work. I particularly like the hard-packed dirt," Dennis responded in a slightly grumpy tone but with a hint of a grin on his face. Thumping his fist on the ground, he added, "A real touch of luxury."
Her expression changed to a soft smile at his joking in return, and she reached out with her hand to softly touch his arm. "I appreciate you agreeing to let Da'Iana do the wedding in a traditional Tarasin style. I realize all this is probably pretty weird."
Dennis regarded her a moment with a broad smile, "As long as my lady is enjoying herself, I'll be happy. Though it wouldn't hurt if the reception at the Cross Town afterward is a complete blow-out. I still think we should have used that invitation to Dorumaa for tonight instead of just for the honeymoon though."
Sara let out an amused snort, taking his hand and squeezing it firmly. "Sorry. I guess you'll just have to rough it for one more night."
Denny returned the loving touch with one of his own, "As long as it is with you, I'll sleep in a mud pit if that's what it takes." They fell into a few quiet moments looking at one another, and the shared silence was eventually broken by Dennis. "By the way, what exactly is this 'pre-ceremony' thing we are doing tomorrow anyhow?"
Looking a bit uncomfortable at the question, Sara shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. It is something only the elders and married couples are let in on. I just know we'll be busy most of the day and the ceremony will take place tomorrow in the early evening."
"Huh. What's the big mystery? People get married all the time." Dennis' brow furrowed as he mulled over the situation, then relaxed. "Oh well. What's the worst that can happen?"
---
Standing blind-folded somewhere out in the jungles of Cularin, Dennis remembered their conversation from the previous night and silently laughed at himself for probably jinxing the day.
When morning had arrived, he woke to find Sara gone and a small pile of gear sitting by his side: Tarasin-made clothes, a spear, a gourd of water, and a pouch of nuts and berries. Poking his head out of the hut, he had found a trio of Tarasin men staring at him. He quickly figured out that they were irritated that he hadn't put on the gear, and after getting outfitted the trio led him to a waiting Da'Iana.
"Do you wish to be married to your betrothed, joined in the eyes of the tribe?" she had asked in an authoritative voice.
"Of course," Denny responded enthusiastically, and probably a bit too playfully.
"Then may the Trials prove your bonds worthy. Find one another, face the perils of the jungle side-by-side, and prove your feelings true." With that a blind-fold was handed to him by one of the Tarasin males, and a curt nod from Da'Iana in response to a quizzical look made it clear that this was in fact the next step in the ceremony.
It had been probably an hour since then, and he had been led by a pair of strong arms guiding him some ways away from the irstat. Suddenly, the claws let go and the soft sound of footsteps faded quickly. A few moments of waiting to see what was next passed when a Tarasin-accented voice spoke in his head, "Begin."
Reaching up with one hand, he lifted off the blind-fold to get a look at his surroundings. He knew they hadn't taken him all that far since he was sure no vehicle transportation had been involved, but otherwise he could be anywhere on Cularin. The jungle canopy was wide above him, and no obvious paths could be seen to leave the area. He had a fair amount of wilderness survival training as part of his military training, so he took a quick assessment of his surroundings, settled the spear in his hand, and choose a direction to fan out in a search pattern, figuring that was the best thing to do next. If they had done the same thing with Sara, he had no doubt she could handle herself and would do the same.
Half an hour of walking later, his growling stomach reminded him that the morning hadn't included breakfast. The pouch of food wasn't large, but it quieted his hunger and the gourd of water was refreshing. Briefly he considered using the food to leave a trail for Sara to find if she wandered across his path, but if her reputation as a tracker was correct then his unmasked footsteps were probably more than adequate. In the distance he heard the sound of falling water, so he pressed on along a narrow game trail through the underbrush.
Breaking into a clearing, the source of the noise was evident: a river was falling over a bluff perhaps 10 meters tall into a pool, creating a break in the otherwise closely packed trees. He scanned the area for any sign of Sara or her having passed through, noticing a dark cavern behind the sheet of water. Moving along the tree line towards the cliff, he strained to hear any movement over the rushing sounds and splashing.
"Danger!" a familiar voice called out in his mind and he whirled around to see a large raptor-like creature sneaking up behind him. He ducked just as the lizard snapped at him, raising the spear to set for the next attack. Over his shoulder he noticed a figure was falling along the cliff face. Sara landed at the base, recovered her footing and readied her own spear.
A few sharp jabs at the creature made it back up a bit, but Denny knew that it was not likely to be dissuaded for long. Backing up towards Sara, he was unhappy to see two more lizards at the far edge of the clearing. "You know, we just might be in a little trouble here," he yelled, hoping to be heard over the nearby falls.
Nodding in agreement, Sara looked around, and then waved the point of her spear back towards the cavern.
Meanwhile the first kilassin had regained its courage and charged at Denny. Expecting the attack, Denny had set the spear to catch the beast. The creature's bite missed him as it twisted to avoid the tip, and Denny took the opening to deliver a sharp kick to its flank, leaving a large welt. Enraged, the lizard bellowed out a roar and furiously clawed at Denny. Deftly avoiding its attack, he rolled around to the creature's side and jabbed the spear deeply into its flank several more times.
The other two lizards charged into the clearing towards him, but were slowed by a patch of underbrush that had suddenly sprouted in their path. The large man decided that three to one wasn't good odds despite having managed to wound one of them, and began to back up towards the cavern. Sara had moved closer to him, and was yelling, "Let's back up!" More plants were springing up in the path of the on-coming lizards. The pair took the opportunity to make a dash for the spot behind the waterfall, while the three kilassin continued to close.
The cavern turned out to be fairly small. Pressed tightly together, the couple was forced to squeeze uncomfortably while being soaked by chilly water spray. Peeking out at the three kilassin converging on their position, Denny commented, "Three enraged lizards? Laying it on a bit thick for a 'test', aren't they?"
Sara shrugged with a wry grin, "Maybe they just heard you're a bad-ass, honey?"
"Right," he snorted as he felt Sara's hand on his shoulder. Her touch grew warm and he felt most of the battle fatigue fade. Gripping the spear, he readied himself as one of the kilassin pushed into the opening. "At least this way, we only have to deal with one at a time."
Side-by-side, the couple traded blows with the lizard trying to reach them. Squeezed into the tight space, Dennis easily caught the creature with the point, driving it hard into it's shoulder. Sara's spear also found it mark, flashing slightly as it entered deeper than Denny's hit, drawing gouts of blood. Roaring in frustration and pain, the kilassin staggered back into the pool. Looking beyond the opening, Dennis saw that the clearing now had a half-dozen of the lizards roaming about. The smell of the wounded lizard, however, drew their attention and they descended upon it.
"Huh. Well, that I didn't expect," Denny muttered, honestly surprised by the frenzy with which the pack of kilassin now fought one another over the dining order. Glancing around the area, he looked to see if there was now an opening they could make a dash for.
"Well, unfortunately this little cave doesn't go anywhere."
"I noticed. I'm open to suggestions." Dennis asked, not liking the odds of out-running the enraged lizards.
"Sure. I'll put you upstairs out of their reach."
"You plan on flying up to meet me?" Denny responded with a disapproving tone.
"Nope. But at least only one of us will be pinned in here trying to find a way out."
"Not happening," the big man practically growled.
"Hang on," Sara said, shifting around him to gauge the path Denny had just dismissed. "Looks good," she said as she turned to face him, "Denny, my love, do you trust me?"
A bit taken aback, he responded, "Is this really the time to have this conversation?"
Smiling at him, Sara continued, "Just answer the question."
"Yes. Of course, but I'm not leaving you behind."
"You have to, but not for long. When you get up top, head south," indicating a direction along the cliff face, "about 100 meters and be ready to help me up the cliff."
"And what about the meat-grinder outside?"
"Don't worry about them. I'll be fine. Trust me."
Sighing deeply, trying to remind himself of all the worse scrapes his love had survived before, "I trust you, Sara."
Nodding with a smile, she raised her right hand and moved it in a pushing gesture towards him. An unseen grip surrounded him and he found himself being thrown out the opening, up the cliff, and dropped unceremoniously above the water fall. Quickly regaining his balance, he moved to the edge to look down. Several of the kilassin had taken a large chunk out of their fallen comrade, but others of the pack noticed Denny and began moving closer to the cavern to roar and snap at him. Filled with worry for Sara and wishing he had a blaster rifle handy, he could only watch and wait. In a blur of motion, Sara shot out from under the waterfall cavern, past the kilassin before they could even react, and into the tree line. One of the lizard creatures spun to give chase as she disappeared into the trees. Remembering the plan, Denny started running south as fast as he could move.
A few moments of running later, Denny stopped where he thought the spot Sara described was and saw that the drop-off continued to run through the jungle. Sara yelled from below, "Denny! You up there? You might need to catch me!"
"Catch you?" Denny muttered to himself, leaning over the edge. Below he could see Sara standing at the base maybe a dozen meters below him, with three of the lizard creatures crashing through the underbrush after her. "I'm here," he yelled, "Watch your six!"
Backing up a few paces from the cliff, she ran forward and leapt impossibly high into the air, her hand reaching toward him - not quite making it clear to the top of the cliff. Throwing himself to the ground, he reached out and slapped his hand onto her arm as she began to fall back towards the pack of kilassin hungrily waiting for their dinner to return.
Easily hauling her up over the cliff edge and rolling over to face her, he noticed blood coming out of her nose and like tears from her eyes. She was breathing heavily, eyes closed, lying limply on the ground.
"Sara? Sara! Are you alright?" Wiping the blood from her face, he checked her for any recent wounds.
Opening blood-shot eyes, she smiled weakly at him as her breathing slowed to normal, "Sorry, had to push that last jump pretty hard. There were more of them out there. I'll be alright. Just need a bit of rest."
"Damn woman. Apparently they thought *you* were the bad-ass, but let's not do that again. Okay?" Standing, he gently picked her up and started moving directly away from the cliff, to put more distance between themselves and the rather large pack of predators circling around below.
Resting in his arms, she decided against trying to insist on walking and leaned closer to him, putting one arm around his neck to make it easier for him to carry her. "No problem," closing her eyes she continued a bit weakly, "next time we'll make sure they come up with something involving blasters and explosives just for you. Lots of them."
---
A short while later, a party of Tarasin catches up with them and guides them safely back to the irstat. Da'Iana greets them, and expertly tends to Sara's wounds. "I'm terribly sorry about losing control of the trial. There should have been only one of those creatures, not an entire pack."
Having assured herself that both of them are none-the-worse for the experience, she stands and again addresses them in an authoritative tone, "You have both done well. Love brought you together, but more than love binds you together. Family is the foundation of the tribe, and a couple that finds true harmony in one another is the best foundation of a family. We will fetch you both for the ceremony in a few hours. Now, rest." Adding in a more cordial tone and a smile, "You'll need it."
"Tell me again - what's the significance of sleeping in this hut the night before our wedding?" The big human rolled over on the floor, clearly less than comfortable, to face his wife-to-be. "I mean, I've been sleeping in worse places most of my life, but this seems a rather odd way to start a marriage."
Lying a few feet away on a grass mat of her own, Sara put on a mock look of hurt in the dim light coming from glowing moss woven into the walls. "What don't like it? I did spend three days building it."
"Right. Nice work. I particularly like the hard-packed dirt," Dennis responded in a slightly grumpy tone but with a hint of a grin on his face. Thumping his fist on the ground, he added, "A real touch of luxury."
Her expression changed to a soft smile at his joking in return, and she reached out with her hand to softly touch his arm. "I appreciate you agreeing to let Da'Iana do the wedding in a traditional Tarasin style. I realize all this is probably pretty weird."
Dennis regarded her a moment with a broad smile, "As long as my lady is enjoying herself, I'll be happy. Though it wouldn't hurt if the reception at the Cross Town afterward is a complete blow-out. I still think we should have used that invitation to Dorumaa for tonight instead of just for the honeymoon though."
Sara let out an amused snort, taking his hand and squeezing it firmly. "Sorry. I guess you'll just have to rough it for one more night."
Denny returned the loving touch with one of his own, "As long as it is with you, I'll sleep in a mud pit if that's what it takes." They fell into a few quiet moments looking at one another, and the shared silence was eventually broken by Dennis. "By the way, what exactly is this 'pre-ceremony' thing we are doing tomorrow anyhow?"
Looking a bit uncomfortable at the question, Sara shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know. It is something only the elders and married couples are let in on. I just know we'll be busy most of the day and the ceremony will take place tomorrow in the early evening."
"Huh. What's the big mystery? People get married all the time." Dennis' brow furrowed as he mulled over the situation, then relaxed. "Oh well. What's the worst that can happen?"
---
Standing blind-folded somewhere out in the jungles of Cularin, Dennis remembered their conversation from the previous night and silently laughed at himself for probably jinxing the day.
When morning had arrived, he woke to find Sara gone and a small pile of gear sitting by his side: Tarasin-made clothes, a spear, a gourd of water, and a pouch of nuts and berries. Poking his head out of the hut, he had found a trio of Tarasin men staring at him. He quickly figured out that they were irritated that he hadn't put on the gear, and after getting outfitted the trio led him to a waiting Da'Iana.
"Do you wish to be married to your betrothed, joined in the eyes of the tribe?" she had asked in an authoritative voice.
"Of course," Denny responded enthusiastically, and probably a bit too playfully.
"Then may the Trials prove your bonds worthy. Find one another, face the perils of the jungle side-by-side, and prove your feelings true." With that a blind-fold was handed to him by one of the Tarasin males, and a curt nod from Da'Iana in response to a quizzical look made it clear that this was in fact the next step in the ceremony.
It had been probably an hour since then, and he had been led by a pair of strong arms guiding him some ways away from the irstat. Suddenly, the claws let go and the soft sound of footsteps faded quickly. A few moments of waiting to see what was next passed when a Tarasin-accented voice spoke in his head, "Begin."
Reaching up with one hand, he lifted off the blind-fold to get a look at his surroundings. He knew they hadn't taken him all that far since he was sure no vehicle transportation had been involved, but otherwise he could be anywhere on Cularin. The jungle canopy was wide above him, and no obvious paths could be seen to leave the area. He had a fair amount of wilderness survival training as part of his military training, so he took a quick assessment of his surroundings, settled the spear in his hand, and choose a direction to fan out in a search pattern, figuring that was the best thing to do next. If they had done the same thing with Sara, he had no doubt she could handle herself and would do the same.
Half an hour of walking later, his growling stomach reminded him that the morning hadn't included breakfast. The pouch of food wasn't large, but it quieted his hunger and the gourd of water was refreshing. Briefly he considered using the food to leave a trail for Sara to find if she wandered across his path, but if her reputation as a tracker was correct then his unmasked footsteps were probably more than adequate. In the distance he heard the sound of falling water, so he pressed on along a narrow game trail through the underbrush.
Breaking into a clearing, the source of the noise was evident: a river was falling over a bluff perhaps 10 meters tall into a pool, creating a break in the otherwise closely packed trees. He scanned the area for any sign of Sara or her having passed through, noticing a dark cavern behind the sheet of water. Moving along the tree line towards the cliff, he strained to hear any movement over the rushing sounds and splashing.
"Danger!" a familiar voice called out in his mind and he whirled around to see a large raptor-like creature sneaking up behind him. He ducked just as the lizard snapped at him, raising the spear to set for the next attack. Over his shoulder he noticed a figure was falling along the cliff face. Sara landed at the base, recovered her footing and readied her own spear.
A few sharp jabs at the creature made it back up a bit, but Denny knew that it was not likely to be dissuaded for long. Backing up towards Sara, he was unhappy to see two more lizards at the far edge of the clearing. "You know, we just might be in a little trouble here," he yelled, hoping to be heard over the nearby falls.
Nodding in agreement, Sara looked around, and then waved the point of her spear back towards the cavern.
Meanwhile the first kilassin had regained its courage and charged at Denny. Expecting the attack, Denny had set the spear to catch the beast. The creature's bite missed him as it twisted to avoid the tip, and Denny took the opening to deliver a sharp kick to its flank, leaving a large welt. Enraged, the lizard bellowed out a roar and furiously clawed at Denny. Deftly avoiding its attack, he rolled around to the creature's side and jabbed the spear deeply into its flank several more times.
The other two lizards charged into the clearing towards him, but were slowed by a patch of underbrush that had suddenly sprouted in their path. The large man decided that three to one wasn't good odds despite having managed to wound one of them, and began to back up towards the cavern. Sara had moved closer to him, and was yelling, "Let's back up!" More plants were springing up in the path of the on-coming lizards. The pair took the opportunity to make a dash for the spot behind the waterfall, while the three kilassin continued to close.
The cavern turned out to be fairly small. Pressed tightly together, the couple was forced to squeeze uncomfortably while being soaked by chilly water spray. Peeking out at the three kilassin converging on their position, Denny commented, "Three enraged lizards? Laying it on a bit thick for a 'test', aren't they?"
Sara shrugged with a wry grin, "Maybe they just heard you're a bad-ass, honey?"
"Right," he snorted as he felt Sara's hand on his shoulder. Her touch grew warm and he felt most of the battle fatigue fade. Gripping the spear, he readied himself as one of the kilassin pushed into the opening. "At least this way, we only have to deal with one at a time."
Side-by-side, the couple traded blows with the lizard trying to reach them. Squeezed into the tight space, Dennis easily caught the creature with the point, driving it hard into it's shoulder. Sara's spear also found it mark, flashing slightly as it entered deeper than Denny's hit, drawing gouts of blood. Roaring in frustration and pain, the kilassin staggered back into the pool. Looking beyond the opening, Dennis saw that the clearing now had a half-dozen of the lizards roaming about. The smell of the wounded lizard, however, drew their attention and they descended upon it.
"Huh. Well, that I didn't expect," Denny muttered, honestly surprised by the frenzy with which the pack of kilassin now fought one another over the dining order. Glancing around the area, he looked to see if there was now an opening they could make a dash for.
"Well, unfortunately this little cave doesn't go anywhere."
"I noticed. I'm open to suggestions." Dennis asked, not liking the odds of out-running the enraged lizards.
"Sure. I'll put you upstairs out of their reach."
"You plan on flying up to meet me?" Denny responded with a disapproving tone.
"Nope. But at least only one of us will be pinned in here trying to find a way out."
"Not happening," the big man practically growled.
"Hang on," Sara said, shifting around him to gauge the path Denny had just dismissed. "Looks good," she said as she turned to face him, "Denny, my love, do you trust me?"
A bit taken aback, he responded, "Is this really the time to have this conversation?"
Smiling at him, Sara continued, "Just answer the question."
"Yes. Of course, but I'm not leaving you behind."
"You have to, but not for long. When you get up top, head south," indicating a direction along the cliff face, "about 100 meters and be ready to help me up the cliff."
"And what about the meat-grinder outside?"
"Don't worry about them. I'll be fine. Trust me."
Sighing deeply, trying to remind himself of all the worse scrapes his love had survived before, "I trust you, Sara."
Nodding with a smile, she raised her right hand and moved it in a pushing gesture towards him. An unseen grip surrounded him and he found himself being thrown out the opening, up the cliff, and dropped unceremoniously above the water fall. Quickly regaining his balance, he moved to the edge to look down. Several of the kilassin had taken a large chunk out of their fallen comrade, but others of the pack noticed Denny and began moving closer to the cavern to roar and snap at him. Filled with worry for Sara and wishing he had a blaster rifle handy, he could only watch and wait. In a blur of motion, Sara shot out from under the waterfall cavern, past the kilassin before they could even react, and into the tree line. One of the lizard creatures spun to give chase as she disappeared into the trees. Remembering the plan, Denny started running south as fast as he could move.
A few moments of running later, Denny stopped where he thought the spot Sara described was and saw that the drop-off continued to run through the jungle. Sara yelled from below, "Denny! You up there? You might need to catch me!"
"Catch you?" Denny muttered to himself, leaning over the edge. Below he could see Sara standing at the base maybe a dozen meters below him, with three of the lizard creatures crashing through the underbrush after her. "I'm here," he yelled, "Watch your six!"
Backing up a few paces from the cliff, she ran forward and leapt impossibly high into the air, her hand reaching toward him - not quite making it clear to the top of the cliff. Throwing himself to the ground, he reached out and slapped his hand onto her arm as she began to fall back towards the pack of kilassin hungrily waiting for their dinner to return.
Easily hauling her up over the cliff edge and rolling over to face her, he noticed blood coming out of her nose and like tears from her eyes. She was breathing heavily, eyes closed, lying limply on the ground.
"Sara? Sara! Are you alright?" Wiping the blood from her face, he checked her for any recent wounds.
Opening blood-shot eyes, she smiled weakly at him as her breathing slowed to normal, "Sorry, had to push that last jump pretty hard. There were more of them out there. I'll be alright. Just need a bit of rest."
"Damn woman. Apparently they thought *you* were the bad-ass, but let's not do that again. Okay?" Standing, he gently picked her up and started moving directly away from the cliff, to put more distance between themselves and the rather large pack of predators circling around below.
Resting in his arms, she decided against trying to insist on walking and leaned closer to him, putting one arm around his neck to make it easier for him to carry her. "No problem," closing her eyes she continued a bit weakly, "next time we'll make sure they come up with something involving blasters and explosives just for you. Lots of them."
---
A short while later, a party of Tarasin catches up with them and guides them safely back to the irstat. Da'Iana greets them, and expertly tends to Sara's wounds. "I'm terribly sorry about losing control of the trial. There should have been only one of those creatures, not an entire pack."
Having assured herself that both of them are none-the-worse for the experience, she stands and again addresses them in an authoritative tone, "You have both done well. Love brought you together, but more than love binds you together. Family is the foundation of the tribe, and a couple that finds true harmony in one another is the best foundation of a family. We will fetch you both for the ceremony in a few hours. Now, rest." Adding in a more cordial tone and a smile, "You'll need it."
