Flashback "Trust Me"

[Merevaika]

38th Fall 509



“We are not lost!” The petulant scream rose into the air, quickly snatched away by Zulrav, “Give me a boost, To’res, I can’t see past this grass!” Hand on her hip, scraggly hair flapping in front of her face and eyes full of determination, the girl stared at her brother waiting.


He drew in the dirt with the toe of his boot. Unlike his sister, who seemed to have the stubbornness of a mule, he gave up rather quickly, resorting to hoping that drawings in the dust would help. A map would too, but none of them had been clever enough to think to bring one. None of them had been clever enough to think of anything.


“Shut up, Vaika, it’s your fault we’re in this mess,” Erik growled from behind them, pushing past and continuing along the imaginary trail they were following, “We should have never left the combe. We all knew how to get back from there.”


“You shouldn’t have made the bull angry then! It’s your fault we had to flee down that steep slope - it was that or be flattened!” Merevaika snarled back, marching straight back up to lead the trio, “Besides, Endrykas is this way!” She turned sharply, disappearing behind a clump of rather thick grass, almost vanishing from view.


To’res, sighing, reaching in after her and snagged the hood of her cloak. In response, an arm swung out, clobbering him across the shoulder. “To’-res! Get off me! I’m trying to go home!” she whined in response, turning to face him properly, “We should be going west, so that’s that way.” She gestured vaguely in the direction she was pointing at.


“West would be that way,” he pointed sharply towards the opposite direction, “And how do you even know? We’ve been walking round in circles, it’s almost night and we’re incredibly lucky that some glassbeak or nightlion hasn’t spotted us yet. Have you noticed we are completely weaponless? What were you thinking to do when it got dark?”


Merevaika laughed, the noise so unexpected in this part of the wilderness it shocked a flight of birds that erupted into the air. “We would be back before dark if you didn’t keep worrying. Just trust me.”


“Last time you said that you were about to scale a cliff. Clearly, that doesn’t work,” Erik chipped in, “We wouldn’t have to worry if you learned how to climb without causing a rock slide!”


“It was an accident!” Merevaika whined again, “How was I meant to know that bit of dirt was loose? You would have done the same.”


To’res broke into their arguing again, sighing deeply. “You could have gotten yourself killed, mana. Couldn’t you tell? And now you’ve got us killed even more by getting us lost.”


Erik grinned, running his fingers through his hair, “See? Your brother agrees with me!”


“No, I don’t Erik. Your constant bickering with her is driving us all crazy. You don’t have to pick a fight all the time, especially not now.”
“Me? You’re telling that to me? Have you met that girl?” he grumbled, Merevaika flicking her hair at him and marching forward, ignoring her brother’s protests about stumbling blindly in the dark. They wouldn’t get anywhere if they didn’t move. She knew where she was going. Roughly. Maybe.

[Merevaika]

Grass snapped back from where she walked, masking her path but the boys managed to keep up, moaning and grumbling as they hobbled behind her. Her ears picked up a noise, and she turned quickly, half-halting. “Where is that?” she hissed, listening out for the rushing of water. If they found the river, maybe they could gain their bearing again. Erik gestured vaguely to their left, and Merevaika darted in that direction, crashing through the grass with almost excitement.


“See! We found the river again!”


“We found it a bell ago. We should be heading the other way!” To’res whined, taking in his surroundings quickly. It was a slight bend in the river, with an outcropping of rocks opposite them and a small bush that reached over towards them. “We’ve been going in circles! We’ve been here before - don’t you remember the rocks and the shrub-”


“Nonesense,” the girl muttered, pushing past them to wade across the river, “The rocks were a different shade - and I swear on Zulrav there wasn’t a bush.”


“There was a bush,” Erik muttered behind her, and she shot him a deadly stare, determined to kill him if he decided to contradict her.


“There was no bush,” she snapped, although she was pretty certain that there had been a bush. And the different colour might have been due to the light. No, that wasn’t right - this was a new river bend, and new rocks. “I’m going to take a look from on this rock.”


“You did that last time, and said it was pointless. You couldn’t see anything other than a sea of grass. Surprisingly.”


“Shut up,” she snapped again, finding a hand hold on the rock face and hoisting herself up halfway. It did feel familiar, she had to admit. Not out loud of course. Scrambling with her feet, she managed to grab at the top and half roll over onto it, leaning on her side as she kicked at the gravelly stone. Taking a breath, she rose onto her toes, balancing precariously on the edge as she pressed her hand above her eyes, taking in the surroundings. Just like To’res had said, it was just grass, rolling hills, and grass.


“Hey, I see diahk!” she called out, watching for their reactions. To’res, who had slumped against the bank of the river, fiddling with the stones, rose quickly, face bursting with relief. Even Erik, who was trying to act cool, clearly seemed excited, wading briskly through the river and soaking his whole trousers with the sudden movements. With a laugh, she shifted to perch on the rock, loving their expressions. “Idiots, I was joking!”


Clearly, neither were happy with her little joke. To’res growled at her, while Erik attempted to join her, snatching at her feet to drag her down.

She kicked out at him, until he stopped, leaning against the rock she sat on. “Now what?” he finally asked, exhausted from their useless wanderings across Cyprus, “Please don’t pretend to have a plan, you cultahk, because we all know you don’t have one.”

[Merevaika]

Actually speechless, Merevaika remained silent, staring out into the horizon. Was this her fate, to die lost in the Sea of Grass, eating by a glassbeak or swallowed by Semele because she never returned home?


Like she would ever accept that fate!


She gave out another laugh, strangled, and got a dark look from her brother, who still remained the other side of the river, refusing to join them. “Why are you laughing? Do you think this is funny, another one of your little adventures? You bore me sometimes, with your ideas that you can just do anything and get away with it.”


Sinking her head, she looked away from him, but not before glaring at him hard. There had to be something to do. She tried to think back to her father’s advice, remembering all the things he had taught her. When night fell, she could find the north star. Now, she could watching the direction the sun fell in. But none of that helped if she didn’t know what direction she wanted. Rubbing her trousers where they were still muddy from when they had fallen down the cliff, she tried to picture their journey, but cursed herself for not paying attention to the journey they had made. Now there wasn’t even a chance of going back there, in case their parents went there first.


Sighing, she made a mental note to do that next time. Because there would be a next time. Not only would she make it out of this, but she would repeat it, all over again. It was fun - a break from the boring routines of real life and chores and being part of a pavilion. Even if it did put her in danger.


She glanced back at her brother, who was still moping around. Something moved behind him, catching her eye, and her gaze shifted up sharply, noticing the shapes in the grass behind him. It wasn’t clear at first - then perfectly clear. Wolves.

[Merevaika]

Bursting up suddenly, she jumped off the rock, landing hard in the river and scraping her knees as she stumbled with the fall. Darting forward, her hands swooped down and snatch up a handful of rocks and gravel, throwing them up over his head at the shapes in the grass. To’res rose quickly, moving backwards towards her with fear in his eyes.


Growling deeply, she yelled out at the shapes, “Leave my brother alone!” Just as she she yelled that out, the beasts burst out, teeth bared. She pushed her brother back, moving to leap at them and knock them away. She hit one hard in the muzzle, before someone yelled out and the wolves backed off. Her leg was scratched and there was a light bite on her arm, but it wasn’t bleeding too bad. She spat at the creatures, crawling back and using her brother’s arm to help herself back up.


Looking at the man who had called away the animals, she recognised the windmarks and knotted hair as one of a Drykas. And on closer inspection, the wolves weren’t wolves, but large hunting dogs, grey shapes in the falling light. “What are you kids doing here, attacking my dogs?” the man started, before realising they were completely alone and the injuries on Merevaika. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to wander in the plains alone? It’s late, I’ll take you back to my camp.” He gestured vaguely towards a horse, some evidence of a hunt thrown across it. “I can’t get those sorted now, but my wife has some skill in that sort of thing.”


Erik beamed politely at the man, starting a long and boring bout of thanks, as well as explaining their situation (most likely blaming Merevaika for all of it), while To’res stared shocked at his sister. “Thanks,” he finally muttered out, definitely surprised at her reaction. She was too. But she tried not to show it.


“You’re doing my jobs around the pavilion for the rest of the season,” she brushed it off, following the man swiftly with snarling glances towards the animals she had been grappling with a chime ago.

[Merevaika]

They moved in silence across the plain, until they had settled into a steady pace. “See, you should have trusted me,” she smiled after the man had explained that they were lucky that he always passed that rock, on his way out to hunt or back, as it was such a good landmark, “I knew that someone would pass by eventually - it was clearly obvious.”


Erik snorted with disbelief - for a good reason, too, considering how badly she had pulled that lie off - but surprisingly didn’t add anything, content in walking in silence.


“Don’t laugh, Erik, I knew what I was doing,” she tried baiting him, missing his argumentative nature. Did those chimes in the wild scare him, or something? The coward. “Clearly, you didn’t. Wonder who the better Drykas is.”


Erik gave in, rolling his eyes hard, “You’re impossible to argue with. But I’ll say it again - it’s your fault we were even in that mess!”


Laughing with joy, Merevaika rose to the challenge. “Yeah, or so you say. But either way, I got us out of that. I didn’t see you helping.”


“Helping? Is that what you call your little jokes?” But he couldn’t help laughing either.


It was only once they returned to the man’s camp that her injuries began to sting, but that may have been a result from the salve his wife insisted on slathering on as soon as she got there. “The dogs must have felt threatened - I heard you gave them quite a beating,” the woman had snarled, but Merevaika snarled straight back.


“Wouldn’t have had to if you trained them better.” It was clear she had no interest in getting along.


The three kids were given a compartment in the tent to rest in, snuggling under a shared animal skin, fur brushing their fists and bare feet. There was a small lantern in one corner, and carefully embroidered cloth hung around them, light filtering through there as they sat in near silence, apart from the occasional baited comment from Mervaika or Erik.


The man who had found them peered in after a bell of being on their own, passing them some meager rations. “I’ve sent my son to give a message to your parents, but it would be safer for you to stay. We wouldn’t be able to travel fast enough across the plains to reach it in any sane time. Get comfortable.” He wasn’t the nicest, but at least he let them stay inside, in the warm, with a little for their empty stomachs.


“Night, you idiots,” Merevaika teased, settling down to sleep. That night she dreamt of wolves and wild things and never leaving the plains. And surprisingly, it suited her.


The next day, however, didn’t go so well. Her father was waiting outside restlessly with Erik’s, making fake conversation with the woman who had tended to Merevaika’s scratches so violently. With the sight of his daughter, covered in blood and mud, clothes dishevelled and torn in places and hair sticking up in all directions, but eyes glinting with the thought of repeating it all again, he decided it wasn’t enough to wait until they returned.


He snapped sharply at them, mostly directed at his daughter, who clearly didn’t care. “Do you know how dangerous it could have been? You could have died! We had no clue where you were, if you were okay - anything!”


She mocked hanging her head in shame, still grinning slightly from the adventure.
He knew there was no point - she wasn’t going to listen.


“I won’t do it again.” She finally muttered out, feeling like she had to. After a moment of silence, she added: “Trust me.”


But Tunc knew his daughter. That was the most that would happen.


The minute he turned his eyes away, she’d be gone. Sighing, he gestured for all three of them to join them.


The real punishment would be their mothers.

[Jasmine Stormblood]

Let me know if I missed anything dear

 

Merevaika

XP

• Brawling: 2 XP
• Socialization: 5 XP
• Intimidation: 1 XP
• Leadership: 4 XP
• Climbing: 1 XP
• Land Navigation: 3 XP
• Negotiation: 1 XP

Lores

• Merevaika: stubborn as a mule
• To'res: quick to give up an argument
• Climbing: be careful of loose rocks
• Land Navigation: always make land marks
• Leadership: never show doubt
• Look for the North Star at night
• Merevaika: protective of family
• Merevaika: never backs down