Rock and Stick sat on a fallen log, desperately controlling themselves from scratching their heads. The long red wigs they wore were itchy, with the long strands poking their skin every time they move. Meanwhile, Smoke, Sun, and Cossack had their make up done by the girls. They made red lipsticks from the berries they found in the forest and combined them with crushed wheat powder.
The women used their delicate pinkies to color their lips and used the remaining lipsticks to color their cheeks to a light shade of red. Then using diluted ink, they brushed the men's eyelashes, heightening the colors while making the lashes curl upward. Then they combed their long hair as neatly as possible. After twenty minutes, they finished their work, "There, now you girls are perfect." Artio said.
"Very beautiful!" Shuja said while holding in her laughter.
"What do you guys think?" Natasha pushed Artio and Shuja aside and presented the three of them to Rock and Stick. "I think they can pass as girls, right?"
"Hahaha!" Stick fell off the log laughing. Rock's hardened self-control kept him calm and collective. Then Sun whipped his hair back and forth before striking a feminine pose at Rock, making him laugh louder than Stick.
"What are laughing about, huh? You think this is a joke?" Sun yelled.
"Hahaha! It's just so out of character!" Rock explained.
"Why you?"
"Stop it Sun," Shuja wrapped her arms around his arm, "It's unbecoming for a girl to yell. You have to be soft and proper if we are going to trick the Maston tribe." She said in a girly voice.
"Hahaha!" Stick rolled on the ground.
"Would you stop laughing already." Smoke said while hiding his face with his black hair.
Artio ran up to Stick, "Stop rolling your wig fell off." She grabbed Stick in place and put on his red wig. "Alright, now that we're ready, we can go."
The gang continued their hike across the forest. They would occasionally stop to take a break under the trees, cooling their body from the hot spring day. But after three hours of walking, the group met women from the Maston tribe patrolling their border. "Halt!" They yelled at them.
Artio pushed Shuja forward to talk for them. "Why me?" She asked.
"You're the only woman goblin here."
"Fine," Shuja walked forward, extending her hand, "Nice to meet you. My name is Shuja. We are just traveling through."
"Really now?" The guard said, "How about you show us your weapons!"
"Ok," Shuja ran back to her group, "They want to see our weapons. What do we do?"
Artio handed Shuja her bow, "They're looking for axes, and if I remember correctly, you guys don't have any."
"Why just axes?" Rock asked.
"Because axes are used to cut down trees."
"Oh please, I don't need an ax to cut down trees. All I need is this," Rock began to flex his muscles.
The brothers handed their weapons to Shuja to show the Maston women. Since none of the women found an ax, they let the group go on their journey, but one of the guards could not keep her eyes off of Rock. She finds Rock far too muscular to be a woman. The other people looked like goddesses compared to Rock. But her long red wig, lushes lips, and lack of beard were enough for her not to examine the overly large woman.
During their hike through the Maston territory, Sun would occasionally sense a presence on top of the trees and behind the bushes. He doesn't know why, but he could sense something hiding on top of the trees, hidden behind the foliage watching them and something poking at his skin, telling him the direction of these sneaky creatures. After an hour of enduring this odd poking sensation, he finally looked at the spot, he saw nothing there but the leaves swaying in the wind. Eventually, Sun blamed himself for being too cautious that he began to feel things moving around them, and as if they were touching his skin.
After several hours of walking, the sun was beginning to set, and the night was drawing near. They searched for a small cave to settle in for the night. Artio and Shuja carefully looked for fallen dry branches and leaves. It was a difficult search due to rain the day before making the ground muddy. "Why can't we just cut branches?" Shuja asked.
"Because that will attract the Maston's wrath."
"They're just branches."
"Still, it's enough for them to justify attacking us."
"They'll only attack us if they see us."
Artio stopped gathering twigs and stood up, "Shuja, it seems like I need to teach you something."
Shuja dropped her stuff and jumped up, ready for action. "What is it, Master? Are you going to teach that magic attack you did." She smiled, eagerly waiting.
"No," Shuja's face turned from excitement to disappointment. "I'm going to teach you how to see without looking."
"What?"
"First, you need to release some of your mana, not a lot. Just enough to leave a trail of invisible mana out from your body, so tiny and insignificant to be noticed. Enough to feel a fly pass through but not enough to slice it in half."
"So, like a spider web but without the catching part."
"Exactly!" Artio walked behind Shuja and placed her hands on Shuja's shoulders, "Be calm, breathe. And then, let it out." Artio whispered.
Shuja closed her eyes and concentrated her mana into her chest before releasing as strands around them. The strings connected to her body and were launched twelve meters away from her body. The mana floated in the air, tethered to a mysterious invisible force present around Shuja. And then, Shuja felt the string move, and before she knew it, she could see a goblin moving the strings. "Master!" Artio gagged her with her hand.
"Now you know why we must be careful," She whispered to Shuja, "They are watching us. And they will continue to watch us until we leave."
Artio released Shuja, "But what about Sun and the others,"
"It's fine. Their long hair is convincing enough. The problem is Rock and Stick. Their wigs are the only thing convincing the Maston that they are women. If they had fake boobs on, then maybe we don't have to worry. But enough about that, let's finish this up."
"Ok, but what was that? What exactly did I do?"
"People from the south called it Anansi senses, or spider senses. But we call it Isiptali. It's a technique that allows a person to sense the presence of others."
"Woah, but when are you going to teach me that attack? I won't see you ever again after tomorrow, and I mastered that technique to move arrow midflight, you know the one where the arrows strafe off its path."
"But did you hit the target."
"No,"
"Gotcha," Artio giggled.
"Oh my god, fine!" Shuja grunted and returned to her task.
After they found what they needed, they returned to the cave and set up a fireplace. Using flint and stone, they lit the flames, lighting up the damp cold cave. Sun, Cossack, and Smoke left earlier to hunt. Just as Artio said, their long glossy hair would be enough to convince Maston women patrolling the night that they are women. The dark night can hide their masculine features, and as long as they do not harm the trees, they will not attack the men.
The rest stayed the night at the camp. Even if their hunters do not find food, they still have some yams to eat. What's essential was finding clean water. Fortunately, they brought pans with them, which they can use to boil water, clean it of bacteria, and use a clean garment as a filter. They sat around the fire, listening to Artio's stories of the war while they wait for the others to return.
"Wah," Rock yawned, "I think I need to take a leak." He stood up and exited the cave.
"I'll come too since nature is calling me." Stick jumped up from his seat.
"Wait, let me come with you," Artio said.
"What?" Shuja said in disappointment, "I want to hear more of the siege of that castle."
"It's alright. I doubt anything bad will happen." Rock placed his wig on his head. "As long as we wear this, we should be fine."
Artio released her mana, activating her Isiptali, but she sensed nothing nearby. "Well, alright," Artio gave in, "But be quick and don't go anywhere we can't see you."
The brothers left the cave, "Careful out there!" Natasha yelled at them before they disappeared in the dark.
The two rushed out the caved and into the thick trees. Hidden under the cover of night, the brothers released their water for the world to accept. They let out the sound of satisfaction after the waterfall dried up and walked back to the cave. "Man, this wig is annoying," Rock took off the red wig and scratched his head.
"At least your spikey hair could block the wig. I probably have a rash on my bald head because of this thing. What exactly is this made of to be so irritating?" Stick took his off and examined the wig.
Once they returned to the cave without their wigs on, Artio ran up to them and smacked their heads, "Are you guys, idiots, what if they saw you."
"Ow, that hurt!" Stick yelled.
"Mom, she's hitting me," Rock called out to his mother for support, but instead, his mother joined and scolded him. While the women were busy reprimanding the brothers for removing their disguise, a small ball was thrown at Rock's head. The ball broke into pieces and released green powdered gas that filled the cave. When the brothers, Artio, and Natasha inhaled the toxic fumes, they dropped to the floor unconscious. "What the?" Shuja yelled as she watched everyone collapsing on the ground.
Shuja ran up to her mentor and tried to wake her up, but the gas around her began to cover her body. Eventually, she drowned from the same toxic fumes that put everyone to sleep, and she joined them on the floor.
Meanwhile, the hunters returned after hunting a small deer. It took them longer than expected because they were trying to protect their make up. "We should have just jumped on them when we had the chance," Smoke said. "I could have smashed the deer's head with the club and be done with it.
"But the make-up my love worked so hard would have been ruined by our sweat!" Cossack argued.
"We wasted time luring this deer to your trap. Besides, it's too dark out for anyone to see our faces clearly."
While they were arguing, Sun noticed the cave had no light, and the worst-case scenario appeared in his head. Sun ran to the cave and saw nothing but a warm fireplace. Their bags were missing, and green dust littered the floor. "Nobody move!" Sun yelled, "We need to find clues where they were taken."
"My love! My love is gone!" Cossack began to pace around the room, panicking.
"I said, don't move!" Sun grabbed him in place. "Smoke, look for green footprints around the cave."
"On it." Smoke summoned light from his palm and searched the cave floor, and found small footprints similar to the size of green goblins. He followed the footprint's trail and saw a dozen more scattered outside the cave and leading towards the forest. "And I found their trail!"
"Alright, get your weapons ready. We're going to rescue them."