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Topiara - Chapter 49
By the end of the third day, Jilan was definitely starting to feel the stress levels rising. For one thing, the three of them had run into a hunting party on the second day that had been less than friendly; although – thanks to Farranby's advice – the distrust and not-quite-hidden antagonism hadn't burst into full violence. The next h'suni'il they had come to had been even less welcoming than the hunting party had been, and by mutual agreement the next day, the three had waited until there was hardly any daylight at all before lying down onto the zumi vine pathway itself for the night.
The stress levels between Lyara and Yiren had also continued to be high – and Jilan had not been afforded a quiet, private moment in which to confer with Yiren. In order to keep from sending setting off Lyara's over-stretched nerves and make the journey even more difficult that it already was, he'd decided that, unless Lyara were right there with him, he would have very little to do directly with their Vri'ia'ani companion. This tactic had unfortunately worked only for the first few days. As the welcome they were afforded diminished, their dependence upon Yiren increased accordingly – and soon it was impossible for him to stay aloof.
With no assistance from the local inhabitants to be expected after that agonized third day, Yiren began to teach the two of them basic Vri'ia'ani survival skills – where to look for fruits and small pockets of morning dew on the branches that would be easier to get to from the path. What to look for in a sturdy branch was a vital skill, as was the technique to move from one branch to the other without risking either breakage or losing footing. Keeping one eye on the path, Yiren became the teacher – and showed great patience with her students in skills that she'd learned when she was too young to even remember. Jilan found himself thankful that Lyara was willing to take the instruction without letting Yiren's obvious superiority make her too defensive.
Yiren also began pointing out some of the feathered denizens of the upper foliage that would provide trade resources even when welcome wasn't extended. When Jilan pointed out that his skill in retrieval of downed prey on the thin, lower branches would be minimal at best, she then taught the both of them how to take the fuzz from nearby chu'ichi flowers and spin it into a very thin, light and strong thread that was the basis of so many Vri'ia'ani accessories. This could then be tied to arrows before the hunt and tied to the shi'ili cord at his waist so that they – and any prey they'd pierced - could be retrieved.
On the fourth day, Jilan's tethered arrow brought down one of the brilliantly-plumed birds that frequented the upper foliage, and with that the trio was able to trade for an evening's rest on an outer platform of the h'suni'il, along with sufficient water for that night and morning. There had been no food offered nor Time of Telling spent with the inhabitants of the h'suni'il, and the trio had finished the wooden pitcher of water and departed the platform before more than just a few women were stirring.
Lyara began picking the chu'ichi fuzz and spinning thread as she walked too – and with her collection began learning how to tie the small, tight knots during their rest hours that could make a simple thread into light netting. This netting, if made tightly enough, could be turned into pouches that could be used to gather things such as fruit and more fuzz – and if braided together to form thicker strands, could be tied into a very loose netting that were the sleeping nets that were so comfortable. Yiren leant her skill to the task of collecting fuzz, spinning thread and tying knots; and soon, between them, had helped craft three large shoulder bags – one for each of them. Having the pouches, and thus a way to collect more fruit than they could eat at the moment, meant that they need not be as dependent upon the h'suni'il at all.
"How much further?" Lyara asked on the seventh evening, her back against the trunk of a great tree and her fingers working the thread into more of the netting. Yiren had told her that even that made for potential trade items, and then had shown her how to alter the way she did her knotting so as to create a pattern on one side of the work.
"Three, four days more walk," the young woman replied, reaching for another thread to add into the work she was doing. "Those we meet here still do not speak with the accent of Ta'alanru'an."
"Do you think your kinsmen – the people of your h'suni'il – will allow us to rest a day or so before continuing?" Jilan inquired as he wielded his dagger to the task of hollowing out a long, thick branch so that it could become a water carrier for them. It was a job he'd been working on for more than three days now, while the women had been making their nets and shoulder bags. When the warm rains fell and filled the hollows and cup-like leaves, such a vessel could be filled – thus assuring their independence from outside assistance, if necessary.
Yiren shrugged in the dim light. "If my father is still Ru'an, I'm hoping that he'll be a little less displeased about who you are as you travel in the trees of Ta'alan. If my uncle is Ru'an, however, even I might not be welcomed in my own home." Her voice was guarded, but even Lyara could hear the dread that hid in the corners.
"You WILL have a home to return to, won't you?" Lyara touched the other woman very briefly on the shoulder.
"I've been gone a very long time," Yiren admitted. "Many things may have changed in the turns that I've been away. Uncle was never very trusting of outsiders – and his attitude may have spread past the level of the h'sun."
"I know how that must feel," Lyara commiserated. "I know that my clan still exists, but I have no home with them any longer."
Yiren looked up from her work and into the dim features of the woman next to her. "How did you survive?"
Lyara thought for a long moment. "I was lucky," she said finally. "I'd been given the skills that allowed me to make my own decisions and make my own way in the world. And," she smiled softly to herself, "by the time that I found out that I really could never return to my home and have it be the way I remembered it, I had met Jilan. I don't think I would have survived if he'd not been with me."
Jilan's hand found Lyara's shoulder from the other side, and he began to run his hand slowly and comfortingly back and forth. "I was in the process of losing my home too, Lya," he reminded her gently. "We kept each other alive there for a while."
Lyara leaned into him in the darkness, her hands stilling at their task entirely. She'd not considered how it had been for Jilan for a long time. "I think we still do, in many ways," she murmured softly.
Yiren nodded and found herself wishing that she had a tall, yellow-haired man who could help her survive if her family wanted no part of her, knowing that Jilan belonged to Lyara. And again she found herself torn between deep gratitude for the sha'adrah and her desire for Jilan. If only Lyara weren't around…
Lyara frowned as Yiren's steps suddenly slowed ahead of her. "What is it?" she asked.
Yiren turned slightly, and the two behind her could see the large group of tall Vri'ia'ani hunters walking slowly and proudly down the pathway towards them some distance ahead. "We have trouble," she told her escorts in a soft voice. "Hunters never use the path unless they are hunting for other than food."
"What should we do?" Jilan asked from the back of the line. "Should we leave the path to them – avoid the confrontation?"
"It wouldn't help," Yiren told him as she turned back. "If it is a party of chan'vrii they're hunting for, going out onto the branches would only mean that you could fall to the floor of the world that much easier." She pointed to a wide spot on the path between the two parties. "We stop there and stand aside as best we can so that they can pass – and hope that they abide by tradition."
"And make no defensive moves," Lyara grumbled, wishing she dared put her hand on the hilt of her short sword.
"I suggest we not even give them a frown of worry," Jilan told the women, knowing exactly how Lyara felt.
Yiren gestured. "Let's keep moving – showing that we are disturbed by their approach may be all it takes to make them angry."
The trio began walking again, albeit a little more slowly than they had been. When there were only a few more moments before the two parties would meet on the narrow pathway, Yiren signaled for them to halt and pull over to the side. She crossed her arms in the traditional bow of respect, which Lyara and Jilan were quick to imitate.
The Vri'ia'ani hunter at the head of the line of four hunters halted his group just before walking past Yiren. "You keep unsavory company, Child of the Trees," he growled in a rough voice as he glared first at Jilan and then at Lyara.
"My companions may not have been born in the Great Forest," Yiren answered clearly, "but they perform sha'adrah by escorting me back to my home from lands far away."
One of the tall hunters behind the leader spoke quietly into the leader's ear, and the tall man pointed. "Where did you get the vri'ih'sun?" he demanded with narrowed eyes. "You look and walk as if you are chan'vrii."
"We were given our vri'ih'sun in I'ilansru'an," Lyara said in a calm and tranquil voice that betrayed none of her tension.
"We do not honor the decisions of I'ilansru'an," the leader of the hunters declared proudly, "nor those of the Si'nat, who listen to the warblings of a chan'vrii mystic."
"We have no argument with you," Jilan said quietly, "nor do we have any opinion about the dispute you have with the Rotal or the Si'nat. We only travel the trees to return Yiren of Talanru'an to her home, after which we shall finish our other peaceful business and then willingly depart."
"Surely you honor those who perform sha'adrah," Yiren stated with astonishment.
"It isn't sha'adrah if those who escort you do so in order to gain knowledge that will lead chan'vrii onto our paths and into our h'suni'il to carry us off to the floor of the world and certain doom," the leader shook his head firmly.
"Is it not my place, as the recipient of the honor, to decide whether it is sha'adrah or not?" Yiren was losing the patient edge to her voice.
Lyara put a hand on the young woman's arm. "As they distrust all who were not born in the trees, Yiren, it isn't so surprising that they question the sha'adrah."
"As if your assurance would make a difference in our decision," growled the hunter standing right behind the leader. "We have heard enough stories about the willingness of the Tala'andri chan'vrii to state whatever will gain them exactly what they want that we are not swayed by seeming wisdom."
"I think," the leader said after a quick glance behind him at the implacable faces of his fellow hunters, "that you three should come with us and answer for yourselves to the Ru'an of Chi'uli."
Lyara's eyes flashed for a moment, and the gooseflesh on Jilan's arm rose as Rodayn told him in hushed tones in the back of his mind what his i'ilim was thinking. But then he relaxed as he heard her say, "If that will be what is needed to assure you that we mean harm to neither you nor any other who calls the Great Forest home, then we will go with you gladly."
Yiren would have complained but for the expression in the eye of the Kauwlut who had brought her this close to home. "We shall follow," she nodded agreement.
"Your weapons," the leader demanded, his hand out.
Lyara shook her head. "We are no threat to you for as long as you are no threat to us."
"It was not a request," the hunter announced arrogantly.
"It is unreasonable." Lyara was adamant. "We will stand before your Ru'an willingly – and will surrender our weapons at that time so as to offer no threat to your Ru'an. Will that be satisfactory?"
"Lyara…" Jilan warned.
Lyara never saw the blowgun that shot the tiny sliver of wood into her thigh, but suddenly she was very sleepy. She reached out for Jilan desperately, and she saw him reach for her as well – and then she was falling…
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