ROLEPLAY

The Misadventures of Lessah and Ravenh, Part 16

Parting Ways
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Ravenh was still visibly upset about the camp they had just left. He was stomping his way through Nexus Minor to the portal, hacking away at some overgrowth that was blocking their way along the path. They finally made their way to the portal when he turned to Lessah, “Can you believe those homins? Why are they all in the same camp? This can’t be good.” He had completely disregarded her mentioning that it might mean peace among the factions. “They are up to something. I see a war coming.”

 

Lessah was following Ravenh as he lead the way to the portal.  She noticed his stomping, and knew he was still angry.  She was planning to wait until he was calmer before she complained about how rude she thought he was to the homins.  After all, they gave them a map, fed Moose, and tolerated her amateur explanation of the scrolls.  She struggled to keep her opinions to herself, until Ravennh brought it up himself.  “So? So what if they are at the same camp?” she questioned as they approached another cavern. “They were just a bunch of scholars looking at scrolls!  Sometimes Ravenh…you just assume the worst of homins, you know that?” she said while crossing her arms.

 

They were too busy arguing to notice the cavern they entered was similar to the Prime Roots they had left before. Ravenh stopped in his tracks and threw his arms up in the air, unable to say anything to Lessah. He just stood their with his mouth open, but no words would come out. He finally just shook his head in disbelief and turned letting out a loud grunt. This was the moment that he realized they were in another land that looked just like the dangerous one they barely escaped, “Oh great… your little scholar friend directed us right back where we came from. I guess him sending us to our inevitable death was an innocent move on his part.” 

 

Lessah watched Raven throw his hands up the air and stare at her with his mouth open.  Had he finally snapped? Then, Ravenh’s grunt echoed off the cavern’s walls, which drew her attention to her surroundings.  As she looked around, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Ravenh’s comment. “See?  This is exactly my point Ravenh.  Yes, they lead us to a deathly path that is somehow worse than the one we were traveling, right?? I suppose the hay they gave Moose was poisoned too huh?” she questioned angrily while gesturing to a bored Moose, who just looked between Ravenh and Lessah as they argued. 

 

Ravenh points at her Mektoub, “Well I guess we’ll know when he falls over dead.” He then turns his point toward the portal, “All I know is that I am NOT going back to your scholar friends.” He turns around and begins to walk into the dark cavern, “I’m going this way, probably to my death. You can come with me if you want….” this whole argument was eating at his insides, because he truly did care a lot for Lessah and didn’t want to see her turn and walk back through the portal. All he really wanted was for them to be back to civilization. He let out a growl, “You can be very frustrating.”

 

Lessah held her Mektoub’s head and glared at Ravenh as if he threatened Moose himself.  As if she wasn’t already offended by his actions, did he really have the nerve to suggest that SHE was the frustrating one? Oh no…he didn’t. “Listen, Ravenh.  Since you seem to know EVERYTHING, why don’t you just take whatever perfect path you seem to know.  I’ll take the path of my ‘scholar friends’ and if me and Moose both die, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you were right!” Lessah shouted, her words getting ahead of her thoughts.  She grabbed Moose’s reins and marched into the cavern, taking a right and heading North, though she meant to go South.

 

He couldn’t believe what she was saying. She had never been mad enough to say things like that let alone mad at all. His blood was boiling now and he yelled at the top of his lungs, “FINE!!!!” He then turned and started walking south, though he really had wanted to go north, but sure as hell wasn’t going to now, since she chose that way. Sometimes his actions were very spiteful. His anger actually subsided fairly quickly, but mostly due to survival mode kicking in. He traversed the paths very carefully, avoiding menacing creature after menacing creature. He stopped to rest a moment, and wait for a small group of Varinx to pass by, “This is a lot easier without having to worry about someone else and that stupid Mektoub clomping around making noise.” he muttered to himself.

 

Lessah made her way North, having to tug on Moose’s reins as he repeatedly looked back at the direction Ravenh went.  “No, Moose. Come on. He isn’t coming” Lessah said before lowering her voice to avoid attracting some unwanted attention.  Lessah mounted Moose, figuring their best way out was to make a run for it.  With increased height, she was able to spot a primitive tribe a few meters ahead.  She had experience with these kinds of tribes in the past so she knew she’d have to sneak around them.  As she considered her path, the fight she had with Ravenh kept intruding on her thoughts.  Had she been too harsh? No, stop it.  He’s the one whose unnecessarily harsh. He’s always causing trouble, yeah. She pet Moose on the back and told herself she was right to separate paths from him.

The Misadventures of Lessah and Ravenh, Part 17

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

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Ravenh sat in the same spot for several minutes. He kept looking over his shoulder in the direction Lessah had gone and just sighed while shaking his head. “You're a real jerk,” he mumbled to himself, “What are you gonna do if you find out she got killed?” He shook his head and sighed one more time, before pushing himself back up to his feet and turning back in her direction. He scanned the area then took off, weaving between plants and hills, avoiding groups of angry creatures, trying to find Lessah and Moose. Was he really going to apologize to her?

Lessah studied a primitive tribe of Cutes, while trying to find the safest way out of Prime Roots. Still sat on Moose's back, she tried to ignore a tide of guilt swept over her. “Well Moose. Between that aggressive tribe and all the mean creatures, I don't see how we're going to make it out of here without a fight.” Moose let out a long exhale in reply. “Well, maybe we can go back to the homins in Nexus Minor and ask for an escort?” she asked Moose, as though he would actually have some insight to share. Lessah turned Moose around to find a distant Ravenh making his way toward them. She couldn't help but smile.

Ravenh spotted Lessah sitting atop of her Mektoub and let out a sigh of relief. Still running, he made his way into the clearing she was waiting in. He stopped in front of her, breathing heavily from his rapid trek, “Good...you're okay” he stated before bending over at the waist, trying to catch his breath. He finally stands up and looks at her, with an awkward look on his face, “Look, Lessah.... I'm...” he hesitated. Apologies are not one of Ravenh's strong points. “It's just that, it's very unusual for the different factions to congregate together, so it caught me off guard.” That was a good start, but still not an apology. “I didn't mean to offend you or risk your life by taking off like I did.” Closer, but still no. He stood there a moment, in silence, trying to get the words out. Finally lowering his head, and kicking the dirt a bit, “I'm sorry.”

Lessah nearly interrupted Ravenh with her own apology, but bit her lip since he was struggling with his. When he finally finished, she took a deep breath. “I'm sorry too, Ravenh. I should never had let an argument divide us like that. I want to stay by your side always.” she kinda blurted out. “I'm glad you're okay” she added before abruptly jumping off Moose and into Ravenh's arms for a hug. Moose stood silently as they reunited, seemingly still anxious of their surroundings.

Ravenh was surprised by Lessah's hug attack, but didn't hesitate to hug her back. He finally looked around, noting the number of impassible ways ahead of them. “Seems we have a challenge ahead of us, Lessah.” He studied the different dangers and finally nodded, if only to himself. “Okay, this is what we have to do.” He instructed Lessah to get back on Moose and when she hears Ravenh yell 'run', she should run her Mektoub passed him and toward safety. Without waiting for a different plan, because he knew she'd try to talk him out of this, Ravenh took a deep breath and ran toward one of the groups, drawing his sword on the way. In a moment, she heard Ravenh scream “RUN!!”

Lessah was waiting for a break in Ravenh's instructions to object but before she could even get comfortable in her saddle, she heard Ravenh's distant scream. Seriously? There was no time to argue, she snapped Moose's reins and made a break through the clearing Ravenh made. Moose was more than happy to obey since he loved to run and jump. As the two approached the exit to the cavern, Lessah looked over her shoulder to see Ravenh closing in on them with a parade of angry creatures behind him.

Ravenh had quickly realized that he had bitten off more than he could chew. This plan was not a very good one at all. As soon as he noticed Lessah and Moose get past him, he quickly turned and ran as well. He was not out of danger. Not even close. Something in him was triggered....adrenaline, perhaps... no doubt from his fight or flight survival reaction. He started running at an incredible speed. So fast that not only was he closing in on Lessah, but he was now passing her. He simply looked over at her and as calmly as he could, stated, “Run faster.” A couple of the creatures had given up the chase, but there was still a good sized group chasing them. He too spotted the exit and ran toward it, stopping at the edge of the portal and waving Lessah through.

Lessah was impressed both with Ravenh's speed and his courtesy to wave her through the portal. Without command, Moose jumped through the portal, nearly knocking her off his back had she not hung on so tightly. As soon as she got past the portal, her senses were assaulted with dry heat and blinding light. She squinted as her eyes adjusted, finally finding Ravenh standing next to her. She glanced back at the portal quickly, only to be relieved that the creatures had suddenly stopped chasing them for some reason. Lessah could sense that Moose was shifting his weight a lot, and she looked down to see that they were standing on sand. Moose appeared to be dancing, as he attempted to cool his feet from the hot sand. Though amused, Lessah looked around and felt more lost than ever. She glanced at Ravenh with a confused face. “Where are we now?” she whined.

Ravenh was immediately blinded by the bright sun as he exited the portal. He took a moment, shielding his eyes with his hands until they adjusted. He heard Lessah's question and took a few more steps forward, surveying the area. It finally donned on him where they were, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THE DESERT?”