The Aranya

[Ran Yoko]

The sun was dipping down into the western sky, stretching shadows across the ground. The dirt path stretched from north to south, disappearing into the horizon beyond hills. The cart, traveling north, had faded words painted on the side, "Aranya, traveling performers". The two bay mares pulling the cart looked young, out of place with the old cart. The man holding the reins loosely was tall and well built, his dark brown hair pulled into a short ponytail, and his eyes, just a shade lighter than his hair, stared tiredly in front of him.

In the cart, were five people, along with several bags, barrels, pots & pans, and even what looked to an old sea chest. The teenaged girl staring with a bored expression at the scenery had raven-black hair pulled into a long ponytail, her skin was dark, and her eyes were amber-colored. The man with short blonde hair was leaning back with his eyes closed. The woman looking at an old book and scribbling things on a sheet of paper had shaggy pure white hair hanging down to her shoulders, and her eyes were a dark shade of gray. The other man was muttering to himself as he was drawing a diagram of a building, his sandy brown hair pulled away from his face with a leather strip, and his nose and cheeks were decorated by several freckles. The last person, a woman, was the only one who didn't seem bored, had dark blonde hair pulled into a long braid, and her light blue eyes stared ahead of her without changing expression.

The teenager sighed heavily, and said aloud, "Can we stop yet? It's late and I'm hungry."

"When are you not hungry, Karay?" the blonde man said, not opening his eyes.

"When I'm dancing or sleeping," Karay retorted, sticking her tongue out at the man. She muttered, "Smart-aleck-Sharen." Aloud she said, "Can we stop yet, Toan?"

The sandy-haired man, not taking his gaze off the paper, said, "We should stop soon, cause we need to discuss plans."

The dark-haired man directed the horses over to the side of the road, where grass grew abundantly, and gently pulled back on the reins, stopping the cart. Karay eagerly jumped over the side of the cart and started helping him unfasten the horses from the cart. The blonde woman picked up a staff lying beside her, and slowly climbed out of the cart, then stepped aside as Sharen climbed out and stretched.

"Move, Sharen, you're in the way," the white-haired woman said, glaring at him.

Sharen glared back with blue-green eyes as he stepped out of the way. "Why don't you give me a break, Cria?"

"Sorry, but physical violence isn't in my job description," Cria said, smiling thinly as she pulled out four pails from the cart. "Take two, we're on water duty tonight."

"We were on water duty last night," Sharen complained.

"I'll go!" Karay volunteered happily.

"Oh, no you don't," Toan said, climbing out and handing the teenager a large cast-iron skillet. "You're staying here where I can keep an eye on you."

"There's a stream about ten yards to the east," the blonde woman said.

"Thanks, Nadia," Cria said, starting across the path. "Let's go, Sharen."

Sharen followed, muttering about the injustice in the world.

The tall man started arranging stones for a campfire, while Toan lifted out a sack of potatoes and a barrel. Karay let the horses graze while she pulled out another skillet and a large tea kettle. Nadia located a box of matches and brought them over to the campfire, which was ready to be lit.

"Oof," Toan groaned, failing to open the barrel. "Ryon, give me a hand with this, will you?"

Ryon, the tall man, easily opened the barrel, and let Toan take salt pork from it and put it in the skillet. Nadia and Karay started slicing potatoes and layering them in the other skillet. The bacon was sizzling by the time Cria and Sharen got back.

"What took you so long!?" Karay exclaimed, taking water to the horses.

"Well, we got there, but there were some. . .gentlemen wanting a toll for the water," Cria said, pouring water into the kettle.

"What happened then?" Toan asked, glancing at the blood spatters on their tunics and pants.

"We, shall we say, persuaded them to let us have some water for free," Sharen said, smiling oddly.

"Did you clean up?" Nadia asked, not looking up.

"Yes, we did," Cria said, hanging the kettle over the fire. "It simply wouldn't to leave trash in our host's place."

"I miss all the fun," Karay lamented, flopping down by Ryon. "Maybe I should go for water next time."

"It isn't always fun, Karay," Ryon said, stirring the potatoes. But Karay simply smiled.

 

After dinner, they were enjoying a nice cup of tea, when Toan stood up. "Well, then. Let's practice."

"Which play are we doing?" Cria asked. "The Battle of the Desert Warriors? Superstition and Skepticism? The Tragic Love Story?"

"Well, considering King Minos' tastes, it'll probably be The Battle of the Desert Warriors," Toan said.

"Let's see," Karay said. "Toan and Nadia are going to be playing the music and singing. So, Ryon and Sharen are going to be the soldiers fighting over me, so who's Cria going to be?"

"I'll be taking Sharen's place, because he has a job to do," Cria said.

"You do have IT ready, right?" Nadia asked.

"Of course I do," Cria said, waving her hand as if to dismiss the notion that she couldn't finish the item in question. "When have I not had it ready?"

"Let's see, the time in Balroa with the rich merchant, and the time in Filria with the mayor's wife. . ."

"SHUT UP!" Cria yelled at Karay, turning red.

"Well, well, well. You all seem to be having fun," a sinister voice said.

The entire group realized that they were surrounded by a group of ten people, and the man who seemed to be the leader was standing in front of them.

"May I ask who you gentlemen are?" Toan said, smiling pleasantly.

"The leader of this robber band," the man said. "You killed four of my best men. And I want. . ."

His voice trailed off with a gurgle, and he slumped to the ground, a small dart piercing his throat.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Cria said, lowering her hand. "I should have let you finish. You were saying that you wanted revenge for your men, right?"

"Why you little. .!!" one of the men shouted, charging at her. However, he was stopped by Sharen, who slashed a dagger across his throat. With that, all hell broke loose.

Karay dashed to the cart and grabbed two swords out from under a sack of flour and, turning around, brought them up to block another man's sword. She kicked him in the groin, and as he doubled over, jumped over him, stabbed her swords into the man's back and yanked them free, then landed easily. She then ducked to dodge a sword swing towards her head and plunged the swords into the man's chest.

Sharen dodged a sword and killed the man with two swift strokes, then plunged his dagger into a second man's heart and pulled it out.

Nadia brought her staff up to hit a man's arm. The man yelled in pain, and Nadia slammed the top of the staff into the man's chest. The man crumpled to the ground, for a blade had shot out of the staff, and when she hit him, it killed him. She then swung the staff into the chin of a man behind her, then he fell to the ground, where Karay finished him off.

Three other men met their end at the two hefty pieces of firewood Ryon wielded. The last one lost his nerve, and bolted. However, an arrow hit him in the back, felling him. Toan lowered his crossbow with a satisfied smile.

Sharen walked over to the man to make sure he was dead. Everyone heard the man gasp out his last words.

"Just who are you people!?"

Sharen answered as he swung his dagger down. "The Aranya."

 

The next morning, the horses were hooked up to the cart, everything was loaded up again, and everyone was seated in the cart.

"Well, then!" Toan said. "Onward to the capital of Garen and King Minos!"

The cart started down the dirt path stretching from north to south, traveling north. They left behind them a burned out campfire, a large patch of disturbed ground, and the smell of death in the spring morning air.

FINIS

[Ran Yoko]

this was a short story I wrote a couple years back. the basic plot is the same, but I added a few things, dragged out a couple sections that were too short, yadda yadda. basically, I changed a few things. hope you enjoyed it