Although obviously safer than walking on the ground, traveling from treetop to treetop was a slow process with its inherent dangers as well.
On his way to the lake ZaiWin caught a glimpse of the twins, down bellow, calmly sitting against a tree, heads leaning together, eyes closed as if they'd decided to simply take a nap. At least they weren't going around setting deadly traps for the rest of them, ZaiWin sighed. But, besides them, he didn't see or hear anyone else. That is, until he reached his initial destination.
With a curse ZaiWin quickly laid down, his belly pressed against the wide tree branch, and he silently peered down, trying to analyze the whole situation before he acted.
Well, of course he wouldn't be the only one thinking that the lake was a good place to start that day's quest. But, according to his map, the lake was rather large, standing at the edge of the their hunting grounds. And so he had hoped that the others would take a bit longer to reach it and, should they get there at the same time as him, that they would still be far enough so he wouldn't have to cross paths with them.
And it had to be CarFan!, he clicked his tongue in annoyance the moment he identified his blond hair. The girl from before was also with him, standing at his side, with a tense expression on her face.
Of course, compared with FeiWan or CalWan, CarFan was much weaker, be it in terms of physical strength or the power of his daitai, which should make him easier to deal with, if it ever came to that. But somehow, since the day before, something had changed within the other boy's state of mind, and it had clearly been a change for the worse. Before he had been just another arrogant prick, bullying those he deemed weaker than him. Now there was this dangerous, crazed look about him that made ZaiWin's daitai vibrate in alert at the mere sight of him.
FeiWan might hate him, CalWan might despise him, but none of them would actually dare to kill him. ZaiWin even ventured believing that even the twins would think twice before attacking him. The El'Gin had all been thoroughly taught about the consequences of their actions, and their different mothers, more than their father, had without a doubt made sure they would never forget who they were, and that there was a certain golden crown they had to set their sights on.
But the CarFan ZaiWin had fought the day before was no longer able to keep any of that in mind, his unjustified hatred escalating at the mere sight of him. He would not hesitate to shoot him down if he saw him standing there.
Down below CarFan put down his spear and grabbed his bow, setting and arrow and drawing the cord to its full length.
Had he found something to hunt?
At his side the young girl shook her head, urgently holding his arm, clearly wanting to stop him, but he roughly pushed her away, making her fall back. ZaiWin frowned when he saw the girl trying to get up, obviously unwilling to give up.
Following the direction that his arrow now pointed, ZaiWin squinted his eyes and tried to see what kind of prey he had set his eyes upon. But he couldn't see anything. Or so he thought.
A small movement amongst a small patch of bushes heavy with small red berries suddenly caught his attention. And then a small head popped up.
From up there, where he was. everything at ground level looked incredibly small but he still could easily distinguish the pale color of skin. Human skin!, he immediately realized looking back at CarFan, his heart suddenly beating hard against his chest. If ZaiWin could see it from up there, there was no way CarFan couldn't see it as well!
The girl grabbed his arm again, pulling him, a pleading expression on her face as she said something to him, but was harshly pushed back again, this time even harder, as CarFan quickly corrected the aim of his arrow.
ZaiWin looked back at the little person in the bushes and instinctively reached for his own bow. He was a considerably good shot. He would have no problem hitting an arrow mid-flight. Much less problem hitting CarFan's hand! That was … if it weren't so damn windy up there, he quickly considered, giving up on his initial plan. Would the one in the bushes hear him if he shouted loud enough? He could not fly, like ZenTar could. He could use the air flows to move quicker on his feet, even rise himself a bit from the ground, but he'd have to be down there, on the ground, for that to actually work. He couldn't possibly jump from that high and expect his daitai to stop him from turning into human bloody mush once he hit the ground.
And then it was too late.
Even though he couldn't hear what the girl kept saying he could somehow clearly hear the sound of the bow cord being released, and the whistling sound of the arrow as it cut through the air.
Panicking, he looked at the small person surrounded by green leaves and bright red berries. Whoever it was they would be dead soon. Unless he could somehow reach them in time.
Closing his eyes he forced all his energy to flow and concentrate on the only daitai on his back he was yet to control. The burning sensation made him grind his teeth but he steeled his will.
Take me there! Now!
The words made his blood warm up and then a fierce blast of wind brushed over him, forcing him to close his eyes.
He stumbled, dizzy at the sudden sensation of solid ground beneath his feet, and quickly reached back for his own bow. Eyes still closed he focused on the sound of the arrow now flying straight at him and, stepping to one side, hit it off course with his bow before it could reach its mark.
The sound of his own rushed breathing filled the air around him, and then he finally opened his eyes, the dizzying sensation only getting worse before the overwhelming sight of all that greenery dancing in front of him.
He had made it, he thought, still bewildered, blinking and steadying himself. It had worked! He had tried it many times before without success, no matter how many times ZenTar had patiently tried to make him understand how it should work. Of course the only thing that ZenTar knew about his daitai were mere theories, and sometimes theories were as far from the truth as fire and water. Not to mention that things are normally easier said than done. Anyway! He had made it! And he hadn't ended up stuck inside some tree, or buried in the ground. He was actually standing on his own two feet!
Slowly turning back he was faced with a pair of huge black eyes.
Just as he'd thought. The little one was no more than a child.
With maybe four or five years of age, the child was so dirty that he couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Probably a boy? It did have very short hair. The only piece of clothing covering his small body was a loose tunic, clearly too large for him. It reached bellow his skinny knees, the collar sliding down one of his shoulders. His hands and round cheeks were smudge with dirt and something red, ZaiWin guessed berry juice. And he had been there collecting those same berries, ZaiWin noticed, seeing the small pile or small red balls gathered a top a large leaf.
Trying to reassure the small thing he made his best to place a gentle smile on his lips.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you," he declared, but the black eyes jut kept staring up at him. Strangely enough the kid looked more bewildered than afraid.