Stealthy Stories

[Askre]

Chapter 4.

He rose up revealing his height in the process. Well around 6’6’’ at least and despite his obvious age walked tall and straight. In his hand was long thick staff, and around his shoulder was a bluish cape made of dyed wool. The stranger approached us, still smiling.

“Uh greetings, can we help you?” Leonardo asked and sheathed his now dry swords.

“Did I ask for help?” the elder inquired in turn, raising an eye-ridge.

“Ah no,” my blue-masked brother answered a bit surprised by the question.

“Then it does sound a little stupid to ask if you can help me when I don’t request it, don’t you think?” the Cabbat grinned now almost mischievously.

“That would depend I think,” Leonardo claimed.

“Maybe so and maybe not. I am Ducat, who might you five be?” he asked, regarding us all with only a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

“I’m Leonardo of the…”

“Just the names, we can discuss tribes later,” the old Cabbat interrupted my brother.

“Um, right I’m Leonardo, these are my brothers Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo,” he introduced us. “And this is Mizuri, our guide.”

“Yes, three fingers, two toes, moderately flat carapaces, odd names and wearing masks and strange weapons. You are not quite from around here are you?” the elder chuckled then glanced at our guide. “And one Cabbat who has been missing along with his brothers for quite a while.”

“You know who we are?” Leo frowned a bit, the elder smiled now normally and nodded.

“I’ve heard of you and the mischief you and your kind caused few winters ago,” the old one stated and chuckled. “To bad I was far in the east back then, would have loved to see Alo son of Alo getting his ego kicked around.”

By the sound of it, this was one Cabbat who definitely did approve of what we did. I would go so far he was delighting in Mizuri’s brother’s misfortune. We stood there unsure what to do. Finally Leo spoke up again.

“I take it we are still in Northern Cabbat territory?” he asked. At that the elder turned more serious.

“No you are not. Fortunately the Southerners still own this land, but who knows for how long. Not too many sunsets ago, a tribe from the Kelvar tribe area invaded from the North. They are still long distance away from here, but it did cause several refugees to come to the nearby tribe. Many in quite the distress and more are coming with each passing of the sun,” he told us.

“My tribe is nomadic and we tend to keep ourselves in eastern pat of the forest. But we came here only two sunsets ago and offered our help to the local tribe. Some of the warriors of my tribe are on the lookout for trouble making Northerners, or even worse, brigands,” the elder continued his face darkening a bit.

“But we have decided to evacuate the local tribe and the refugees. We have been hearing rumors that Cabbats across the river want to move over. The heading will be further east, closer to the Yli tribe, the big Southerner tribe. They are safe as that part of the Southern Cabbat forest is guarded by the Leskat Tribe area.”

“That is why I was here. I was investigating if any of the rumored Cabbats had begun their advance. But you coming here on a slow pace and not much in a hurry, showed me that at least for now nobody is coming at the moment from the west,” the old turtloid then glanced across the river. “But for how long, none can tell.”

Those news startled us. We had landed in a middle of a boarder conflict. Not quite what we had in mind for this journey. I looked at Leo who was contemplating, probably deciding our next move. Somehow I suspected he wanted to cancel the whole trip. But Mizuri had other concerns.

“You said you had received refugees. I am a healer, do you require one?” he asked heavy frown on his face. Ducat looked at him but didn’t respond right away.

“More healers would definitely be helpful; currently we have only two, the local Southerner and the one from my tribe. We have been getting a steady stream of refugees, some are ill and some are injured,” he answered.

That did it for Mizuri. He could never refuse someone in need, especially his own kind. But the Cabbat then remembered that he hadn’t come here quite alone and looked at us.

“I can’t expect you to come, but I must assist them,” he said.

“You have a daughter at home who eagerly awaits your return. It wouldn’t be fair to her that only we return and not you. Besides, we came here to meet Southern Cabbats,” Leo responded. I half expected Raph to protest, but he didn’t and was surprisingly silent.

“We could maybe help with the defenses? We could even help train some in basics self defense tactics,” our leader then looked at Ducat who seemed somewhat impressed.

“Additional defenses are always welcome. And yes perhaps some of the locals could use some pointers in how to defend themselves. Come then, I’ve already tarried here for too long,” the elder said and started to head for the forest. We gathered our gear and followed.

Despite his apparent age, Ducat walked very purposely and almost nimbly. He didn’t even really seem to need the walking stick. Occasionally he would fix the cape hanging from his shoulders. I wondered about it, so far all Cabbats had been naked. He was the first one who wore something.

“You with the purple cloth, Donatello, come here,” the elder suddenly spoke up. I blinked, glanced at Leo and Mizuri who both shrugged, before complying and hurried my pace to walk beside Ducat.

“Your questions and wonderings cannot be answered,” Ducat said the moment I arrived, he looked at me. “If you do not ask.”

“Well… I figured there would be time for that later or something,” I explained a bit more hurriedly than was necessary.

“Oh we have time for now, it’s still a bit of a walk to the tribe,” the elder told me. “Ask if you wish.”

“Well… I was sort of wondering about you and your cape. You’re the second Cabbat I’ve seen that wears something. Also I have to admit I was a bit surprised to see that you are…” I had no idea how to say this without probably offending the guy. But Ducat laughed loudly.

“Ah you are surprised to see a Northerner helping Southerners eh? Yes I can hear it on you; you don’t have the best impression of us. I do not blame you. Many of them could use some more senses beaten into them,” the old Cabbat then started.

“As for the cape, well my son gave it to me after travelling for a bit to the Lupinar Kingdom. He never explained why he bought it, just said it somehow would fit me,” Ducat explained with a chuckle. “He always had these strange ideas. As for why my tribe is helping, well I have always instructed our tribe leader that compassion and kindness to our fellow creatures will give more than conquest and harassing.”

“Wait… you can instruct the tribe leader?” I blink; somehow I always had the impression that whatever the tribe leader decided, that was it.

“Oh yes, some tribes if they have old enough members in their community, have Ancients. Those are old Cabbats, old warriors or healers or hunters that guide and instruct the tribe leader, especially if he or she is young. Not all tribes with elders have Ancients, but most of them do,” he told me.

“W-wait you’re an Ancient?” Mizuri peeped from behind since Ducat had been in the lead.

“Oh right, that’s why I didn’t want to mention the tribes,” the old Cabbat muttered, I raised an eye-ridge unsure what to think. When I glanced back I suddenly saw our guide trying not to look too much at Ducat, like he wasn’t permitted to.

“Let’s just say that in my 30 winters as an Ancient of the Arada tribe, I’ve never gotten used to that,” the elder sighed and pointed back to Mizuri with his thumb.

“Get your head up, look straight and don’t flinch when looking at me. I’m no holier than the next Cabbat, all I do have is a title and I help the tribe leader,” Ducat then snapped and Mizuri complied, although a bit reluctantly.

“Younglings, it’s alright to respect your elders. But I draw the line at groveling,” the old one then muttered.

It was almost impossible not to chuckle at this. Ducat clearly was not your ordinary everyday Cabbat. He clearly didn’t expect people to just buck and bow for him due to his title. And he told me soon the reason.

“Respect is good but respect should be earned,” he nodded then he peered at me with narrow eyes. “I think we got side tracked here somewhere. Why don’t you tell a bit about yourself and your family? As much as you wish to tell that is, no need to go into all the details. We still have some time.”

For the most part I kept my story basic. Ducat was already aware that we were not from around here, so I did not keep it secret that we came from another world. I went then into a bit more detail when arriving at the point where we had our first encounter with Cabbats. The elder listened with a heavy frown and only occasionally nodded. I then recounted the events when we had the “pleasure” of meeting Alo again and how Mizuri came to live at the farmhouse.

“Idiots all three of them, though Accrel probably just did what he was told,” Ducat muttered before smiling at me. “You have experienced much even though you have not lived many winters. Quite impressive.”

“Thanks,” I nodded.

I looked up when hearing the distant noise and frowned. I glance back at my brothers who had heard it to. It was no mistake, those were howls of pain. Ducat frowns accelerates his pace, so does Mizuri. Before we know it we are pretty much on the run.

It didn’t look like we would be meeting our first Southerners under peaceful circumstances. The moment we reached the village and saw all the injured my brothers and I froze. The two Cabbats on the other hand kept going; Mizuri didn’t even hesitate and jumped right into tending the wounded.

The large center of the village, probably under normal circumstances used for the tribal gathering in the evening, had essentially been transformed into a crude hospital. Were injured and ill refugees were being tended to. There was both the smell of blood and herbal remedies. I did note that even if it was broad daylight, the fireplace was lit.

“You. Take this bowl and give her some moisture,” suddenly a Cabbat male only slightly taller than me appeared in front of Mikey. Before any of us could protest our brother was dragged off to kneel near a sickly looking Cabbat female. There he was given some moss and told to dip it into the bowl and apply it to the woman’s mouth.

“We better help and not protest if ordered to do something,” Leo suggested, Mikey was already doing as instructed and tried to spark a conversation with his patient.

“You help me move him!” another Cabbat appeared and dragged Raph off. He was then put to work to carry a male who was wrapped up but his limp look hinted that he was either unconscious or worse, dead.

Leonardo had also been “abducted” by a Cabbat who needed help putting bandages on a badly injured kinsman who groaned softly in pain. So far it had all been Southerners who had arrived and napped my brothers away. As Mizuri had told us they were small, only a bit bigger than us. But it was a Northern female that approached me.

“Come along purple cloth, there is work to be done,” she told me in a no-nonsense voice and I decided just to obey.

“What happened?” I decided to ask as she had me help tending a severely injured female Cabbat.

“Brigands attacked the latest arrivals of refugees,” the Northerner told me simply, while skillfully wrapping bandages made from skin on our patient. I was told to keep pressure on some of the worst wounds until she could get to them.

The female we tended looked young and she cried in pain, fear shone in her eyes. I tried to talk soothingly to her, tell her everything was going to be alright. But she didn’t seem to listen to me. The Northerner didn’t say anything, though she looked at me with approval. Guess I was so far on the right track of handling things here.

I think I can only thank my ninja training and the fact that I have had to tend to my injured brothers from time to time, that I wasn’t going mad in this place right now. There was stress and tension in the air, cries of pain and fear. But even so I felt a tinge of panic come over me, it was one thing to witness a mass scale of injuries in the television, but experiencing it was a whole another.

But as we were making the finishing touches on our patient I heard Mizuri speak. What he said just sent chills down my spine.

“We have to cut it off. I am sorry. Ready a sword!”

I take glance back and see our guide where he is near a severely injured Cabbat male. His right arm doesn’t look right in fact it is horribly damaged, he is in hysterics and it takes four of his kinsmen to hold him down. Then it dawns on me what the fire place is for, already someone is putting a sword right in the flames. The only way these people probably have to sterilize tools. Mizuri is then handed a sword and with a regrettable look he raises it.

The scream from the poor Cabbat is nearly deafening. I turn around before the swords fall, unable to watch the amputation. I feel ill when then hearing Mizuri yell for glowing amber to burn the wound shut. I knew they didn’t exactly have modern day medical technology but seeing was different than knowing.

“Hey! Wake up, we have more to tend,” I get loosely slapped on the cheek by the Northern female.

“Sorry… just not used to these kinds of situations,” I mutter an apology.

The young female is taken away and we turn our attention to another patient. This time an older male who has an arrow sticking out of his thigh. I managed to take another look around and saw that Raph was still in the duty of carrying limp Cabbats. I could only wonder how many patients would die later, despite all the care now given to them. Mikey and Leo were nowhere to be seen, but it was possible others blocked them from view.

As the day processed the list of severely injured got shorter and we soon found ourselves focusing more on minor wounds. I see where Leo is holding gently a small child while a Cabbat applies skin bandages to its right leg. Raph is still helping moving those who did not survive, I had it finally confirmed what his duty was right now. Mikey on the other hand I saw running further in the village, with a horde of kids after him. Apparently my orange masked brother had volunteered to entertain the children and keep them away from the sick and injured.

The sun was setting when I finally found myself in the quietest duty so far. I had a bowl of sweet smelling liquid and occasionally applied it to the forehead of a young female Cabbat with a skin rag. I was told she was ill but they were not sure of what. This Southerner was only a bit smaller than me, her carapace was flatter than mine and the plastron did look thin. She only occasionally shifted weakly but never said anything.

“How are you doing?” Leonardo crouched down beside me.

“Haven’t lost one yet,” I said and began applying the rag to the female’s forehead. So far her eyes were closed and she seemed to be asleep.

“I heard that Ducat’s tribe members are standing watch on the outer edges of the village or scouring the forest for bandits, but the plan is to evacuate immediately tomorrow. There are rumors of unfriendly Northerners and now these brigands,” my blue-masked brother tells me.

“I’m not sure any of these people are in any condition to be moving,” I frown a bit.

“Well that is not our decision and they do not really have a choice Don. They got enemies all around them, and this village is small and Ducat’s tribe is not enough to protect them forever,” Leonardo says and glances around. “I have met the tribe leader of the village and Ducat’s tribe. They told us that we did not need to aid in the evacuation but thanked us for the assistance in tending to the injured.”

“I… can’t we can’t just leave them like that. We can fight, we can help,” I said, surprising myself a bit. But right now just up and go and leave these people just didn’t sit right with me.

“Yes I know and I agree. I told them we would go with them and make sure everyone gets to safety,” Leo smiles. “Raph is already showing some of them few new movies. Mikey’s been busy now herding the children to their parents. The Southern kids are much like their Northern cousins; protest loudly that they have to go to bed.”

“What about Mizuri?” I ask.

“Last I saw him he was tending to some sick patients. I think he’s trying to ignore his back. He’s clearly in pain,” he tells me.

“W-water…” a voice whispers. I look down and see that my patient has woken up. I reach for my water bottle and give her a sip. She half closes her eyes while drinking weakly. Leonardo leaves, letting me tend to her in peace.

“What’s your name?” I ask gently and apply again the rag to her forehead.

“Alana,” she looks up at me, her voice was barely audible.

“My name is Donatello,” I then introduce myself, she smiles weakly.

“Y-you a healer?” the young woman asks.

“No, not really,” I confess, Alana just nods.

Two male Southern Cabbats arrive holding a gurney made of carved tree branches and animal skin. They put it down near my patient; I recognize one of them again as the local healer.

“We have prepared a place for her with the others,” the healer tells me.

I nod having already noticed that other ill Cabbats were being moved. But suddenly my hand closest to Alana is grabbed by her. The grip is weak but the female does her best to keep her thin fingers around mine. I glance at her and frown when seeing the fearful expression on her face.

“P-please… don’t leave me,” she whispers.

“Alright I won’t,” I say and glance at the healer who just nods. The three of us then get Alana on the gurney. The healer and the other male Cabbat lift it but I stay by her side, holding her hand.

We take her to a large structure that seems to be mostly just a roof with four vertical tree logs holding it up. I guessed it was temporary shelter to house those who survived the attack before everyone would be moved tomorrow. I notice larger Cabbats in the shadows around, probably Ducat’s Tribe members standing guard. They were too big to be Southerners.

Alana is taken to one corner of the structure and laid down. They are going to let her sleep on the gurney and wrap a woven blanket around her since she’s no longer near the fireplace. I never leave her side; keep holding her hand and that seems to calm her down a lot. I’m given again a bowl and a rag and told to keep applying it for now. Someone will replace me when I go to sleep.

I glance around, there is just enough light thanks to lanterns hung on the tree trunks. I notice a Cabbat male sitting upright where he is sleeping. He is nearly completely wrapped up in bandages. His left hand is gingerly caressing, I cringe, the bandaged stub that used to be his right arm. There were several amputations done during the course of the evening, this was one of the unfortunate ones to lose an arm.

One can only wonder how tomorrow will be, once all those injured and sick Cabbats will be moved to who knows where.

End chapter 4.

Yes things have turned a little bit more serious
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Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[engelina]

yay, ducat! i really like that Cabbat.

it also is done with the calm, and they walk right into quite a mess there in that village. poor Cabbats. and i got a strong feeling there is much more to follow.

and looking forward to reading more.
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[Fishy716]

Very intresting characters in this chapter :) Must say that Ducat seems like a wise and nice fellow.
All those poor Cabbats in the village Felt really bad for the ones that had to have amputations...

Can't wait to read another chapter
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"Life at best is bittersweet."

[Askre]

[Askre]

Here is chapter 5

Chapter 5.

I woke up lying beside Alana’s gurney, the sun hadn’t risen yet. A blanket made of animal skin had been put over me at some point, so I guess I must have fallen asleep without realizing it. I’m not alone by the Cabbat woman, someone else had taken over the duty of applying the contents of the bowl on her regularly.

But it wasn’t a Cabbat, the person was tall and humanoid but with wolfish looking head. He had gray fur covering most of his body but around the head grew normal looking hair that almost formed a mane around it. Parts of it even extended down the neck and to the chest. He was mostly naked but wore a loincloth and a belt.

“Uh hey,” I greet the stranger who looks at me and smiles.

“Greetings. You had fallen asleep so I took over your duties here,” the wolfoid explains to me.

“So I see, how long was I out?” I ask and began sitting up, sometime during the night Alana’s hand had slapped from mine.

“The rest of the night, the sun will soon began to rise,” he tells me. “I’m Cal son of Ducat.”

“Ducat? You mean the Cabbat Ancient?” I blink in surprise; Cal smiles wider clearly used to surprised faces.

“I am adopted son of course. He took me in when I was still a young boy. Brigands had attacked the village I lived in but the Arada tribe arrived to chase them off. But they were too late; most of the villagers were either slain or dying. I was the sole survivor,” he tells me.

“But what about others of your kind?” I frown and wonder why he hadn’t just been brought to others of his species.

“Other Lupinars would have taken me in naturally if I had been brought to them. But Cabbats think differently from the other creatures of Kalaria and the humans,” Cal chuckled, revealing his species. So he was a Lupinar as I was already starting to suspect.

I could see how Jala could have been mistaken for one. She was one of the few rymskas who opted to get some hair on her head, having gotten extensions. Also rymskas were fairly humanoid just thin; Cal on the other hand was well built and muscular. A rymska could have passed as a thinly Lupinar with a tail. I noticed that Cal didn’t have one.

“They didn’t consider that our village was part of one nation, the Lupinar Kingdom. As far as the Arada tribe was concerned I had lost my tribe and family. They chased the Brigands off and if any adults had survived would have helped them rebuild the village or even taken them to another one. But almost everyone had been wiped out safe for me, thus as far as the Cabbats were concerned there was nothing more they could do. They cremated the slain and Ducat adopted me, their next path would take them back into Cabbat Forest and not to any Lupinar settlement,” Cal continued to explain.

“So they figured they were doing you a favor anyway. Taking you in?” I wonder, the Lupinar nodded.

“Lupinars and Semandas are the only ones that can claim to be on fairly friendly terms with the Cabbats. There is the occasional human village that is not under the domain of Randver Island or the Halcons, but otherwise humans and Halcons are considered enemies for the most part,” Cal said giving me more names to ponder. Now I figured I knew why Alo wasn’t shy of expressing his interest on Jala, if the Lupinars were considered friendly it was probably not unheard of that a Cabbat married one.

“I’m Donatello by the way,” I finally introduce myself.

“Yes you’re one of the four turtles who arrived with Mizuri the Healer,” the wolfoid nodded. He probably had either met one of my brothers or already heard about me from others.

“Dada,” a small voice whispers, causing me to look towards the end of the gurney. I hadn’t noticed but there lay a small child there now, covered in fur and blankets. The bundle moved and small furry head peeked out.

I raise an eye-ridge in surprise. The child had gray fur but her head resembled a Cabbat’s head except with small wolfish ears. The rest of the body was very Cabbat like, except the shell looked softer and kid did not have a carapace.

“Good morning Jaka,” Cal smiles warmly and hands me the bowl and the rag. He then picks up the child that yawns and rubs its eyes tiredly.

“This is my daughter Jaka,” the Lupinar introduces me to the child. “You have met her mother; she is the Healer of the Arada tribe.”

“Oh right,” I remember the Northern Cabbat woman I had assisted yesterday. Jaka looked around and scrunched her fuzzy little beak.

“W’ere grandada?” she asks and sounds so disappointed.

“He’s probably with the tribe leaders making final preparations for the move,” her father explains to her. Jaka folds her chubby little arms and pouts, Cal only chuckles.

“I take it she loves her grandfather,” I smile at the antics of the child.

The Lupinar nods in confirmation. Jaka doesn’t look at me with any surprise, probably in her young mind I simply register as a Southerner. Then I notice Leonardo and Raphael approach, they look around for a second before spotting me and immediately walk over.

“Don they want everyone who is able to wield weapons to report to the center of the village,” Leo informs me, I can see that he’s slightly confused about this order. But Cal seems to realize what it means.

“We are preparing to leave, everyone who is healthy enough to walk and fight back just need to be informed of how things are going to be,” the Lupinar tells us and rises up holding his daughter. Neither of my brothers looks with questioning glance at him, so I think I’m safe to assume they have already met him.

I’m reluctant to leave Alana, especially after her strong reaction yesterday. She had seemed to need someone beside her. But I figured we would be quick and she hadn’t awoken so far, so I followed my brothers and Cal to the center of the village.

Already it was filled with Cabbats, both Southern and Northern. The sun was beginning to peek and send some proper light, so now I really could see the differences between the two. The Southerners were definitely smaller and more similar to me and my brothers in built, the differences were more fingers and toes plus the males had the big dome shaped carapace. Some almost looked, I’m not sure how to put it, bit jittery, but there were several who looked just about as fierce as their much larger cousins.

In the dead center of the village I could see Ducat and with him was another old Northern Cabbat. They stood slightly behind two other Northerners a male and a female. The woman was tall, probably 6’5’’ and had a white cape made of animal fur and wielded a halberd much to my surprise. The male was well over seven feet, probably 7’3’’ or 7’4’’ he had this commanding overlook over him. But even so he kept himself slightly behind the woman, which from what I understood meant she was his superior.

A fairly tall Southerner, slightly bit taller than Raph and Leo then approached them. But he didn’t say anything, just went ahead and took his place beside the tall Cabbat woman. The newcomer had this strong no-nonsense expression, almost as if he was the one in charge.

“My fellow Tribe Cabbats!” he suddenly bellows. “There are brigands about and with the latest number of refugees come rumors of Northerners that unlike the Arada tribe have come to claim territory. We are forced to head east and to the Yli tribe and hope we can establish a new village somewhere closer to it.”

“We will be traveling with sick and injured, young and old. Everyone who can now wield a weapon must have it at hand. We will be surrounded by enemies on all fronts!”

“The Arada tribe will continue our assistance,” now the woman spoke. “We will assist you in battling your enemies and clear your path east to safety. Our presence should deter any hostile Northerners; unfortunately the same might not be the case of brigands. They may fear Northerners but they do know how to fight them.”

I frown a little as I think this over. So far I haven’t seen much in material wealth on the Cabbats. Some have bladed weapons and some wear clothes, but none of them seem to carry any jewelry and they strike me as people who are dependent on what the land offers them. I look at Leo and wonder if he’s managed to gain some information that I hadn’t gathered.

“Do the Cabbats really carry anything of value that might interest brigands?” I ask him quietly.

“I was wondering the same thing, I haven’t seen anything that…” suddenly Leonardo frowned as he remembered something. “Wait, the woman that first brought us to this world, Dia. She said slavery was an accepted practice here.”

Then it dawned on me, of course, slaves. I take a look around and cringe, a Cabbat was clearly a durable creature and strong. They would be ideal people for hard labor. But somehow I couldn’t picture slavers being able to make slaves easily out of an adult Cabbat, not as head strong and stubborn they looked and behaved.

But what about the children? I notice that Mike and few other Cabbats are standing with a group of kids. Now they would be a whole different matter, they could probably far more easily be forced to accept lives as slaves.

“So if brigands attack, they are after the kids,” I narrow my eyes, Leo nods having now the same idea and I.

I notice that the five Cabbats who had been in the middle of the circle approaching us, in front walked the white caped female Northerner and the Southern Tribe Leader. It was clear their business was with Leo because they both had their eyes fixed on him.

“Leonardo of the Hamato Tribe, have you instructed your tribesmen on what they must do?” the woman addresses my brother sharply.

“My brother Donatello is the only one I had yet to talk with Tribe Leader Tava,” he addresses her. I feel a little uneasy when she looks at me; her eyes seem to bore holes right through me.

“Then see to it, Tribe Leader Korak and I will wait for you by his hut,” she snorts and heads off, the Southerner goes with her but the big Northern Male, Ducat and the other old Cabbat remain.

“Um, yeah. Since I’m technically speaking the leader, I’m supposed to walk with the Tribe Leaders,” Leonardo looks at me chuckling. “We have to divide ourselves around for the move. Mike and you will be in the center with the kids and the sick and injured. Raph is going to be on the outer guard, and well you know already where I’ll be. Up front with the leaders.”

“Thora here, Tava’s mate, will be leading the Northern Cabbat Guard around the kids, sick and injured,” Leo then gestures to the huge Northern Male who just grins down at me. He has a large broadsword.

“Um, nice to meet you,” I really have to strain my neck to see his face. I was wrong; he has to be 7’6’’.

“The pleasure is all mine Donatello. I’ve heard you don’t have exactly the best history with us Cabbats. I hope your stay here in Kalaria is helping puttting your mind at ease,” he addresses me and is surprisingly polite both in voice and mannerism.

“I must admit it has been an eye opener,” I tell him. Thora chuckles and nods at my answer.

“Well we two better get going, you have to help with carrying the sick and injured, and I have gather the warriors I selected to protect them,” he tells me and starts to head off. I glance at Leo who just shrugs, so I hurry after the huge Cabbat.

Our ways parts though as we arrive where the injured and ill Cabbats lay. Thora heads off calling names but I go to where Alana is. Cal is already there and the young female Southerner hasn’t woken up yet, still sleeping peacefully.

“Where is your daughter?” I ask the Lupinar.

“Her aunt stole her away from me,” Cal chuckled. “She is to be with the other children when we move.”

“Which is going to happen soon,” I nod and look around. Already several Southern Cabbats have arrived and are starting to pick up the stretchers and gurneys that had been made for those unable to walk. Some of the injured growl and rise up on their own, claiming they will walk.

“Alana’s fever is down and I think she’ll make a full recovery soon enough, she won’t need more of the medicine,” the Lupinar tells me. “How about we two carry her?”

“Sounds good to me,” I say and crouch down to pick up the handles next to Alana’s head, Cal takes the other end and we carefully lift the young woman up.

“Hm?” Alana’s eyes start to flutter open as we begin to move her, disturbing her slumber.

“We are heading off Alana,” I tell her.

“You didn’t leave,” she smiles weakly and still seems half asleep.

“You, you know how to fight?” suddenly a Southern male Cabbat appears next to me.

“Uh yeah,” I tell him confused.

“Then you walk beside us, I’ll carry,” he tells me. “The only thing I know what to fight is fish in the lake. Better that you don’t need to drop her in order to defend her.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic and I trade places with him. So instead of carrying the gurney I’m walking beside Alana. Cal looks back but doesn’t look surprised at this exchange and just nods. I then notice that there are several place trading happening around, Southerners who are unsure if they can fight take over carrying those unable to walk while those who can get a weapon in hand.

“Better have that staff of yours at ready, never know when we will be attacked,” the southerner that traded places with me suggests. I agree and pull out my Bo staff, so far I had only taken it off for either cleaning purpose or the simple fact that I can’t always sit with it strapped to my back. This would be my second time in Kalaria using the Bo for its intended purpose. But I hoped I would fare better this time, last time was when I first came to this world.

Several large Northerners begin to surround our group. The guard that would make sure no one attacked those unable to fight back. I realized suddenly that technically speaking I was part of it and somehow I think Thora had the same idea because suddenly he appeared in front of me, shouldering his sword.

“Donatello of the Hamato Tribe. You will be here in the center, if an enemy gets past our defenses it will be up to you, Taran, Horak and Karak to send them right back where they came from,” he tells me and he points to me few other Cabbats near me. Taran and Horak were Southerners, wielding spears but Karak was a Northerner holding a spiked club. “You understand your duty?”

“Yes I do,” I nod.

“Good, I’ll be up in the front of the circle of the sick and injured. The children are being encircled by guards very close to us. We are to help keep an eye on them as well, the brigands will be especially interested in them,” he tells me, confirming my fears of what it was the Cabbats had of interest to others.

He didn’t continue because a horn was blown somewhere nearby. Thora looked at me, Taran, Horak and Karak nodding before disappearing to the front. I take one last glance around and see that outside the circle of guards that I form with the others are Southerners shouldering bags or carrying other things. Some have weapons and others do not. Then we move off and head what must be east.

The moment we enter the forest it comes less clear just how large our group is. Some of the Cabbats are now obscured by tree and other plant life. But I have no doubt that they are around us, the sounds of their movements is unmistakable. It’s hard for a whole tribe, heck two tribes together to move silently through a forest.

For now I keep myself close to Alana who has fallen asleep again. The Southerner who traded places with me looks nervous. Cal is calm and looks at home on the move, but since he’s part of a nomad tribe that isn’t too surprising.

“So uh what’s your name?” I ask the Southern Male.

“Uh, Caliban,” he responds.

“I’m Donatello,” I introduce myself, he nods quickly. “You alright?”

“Well… no not really,” he tells me and eyes around. “This is the second time I have to flee because of Northerners.”

“Ah, I see,” I wonder if he’s part of the village we arrived in or part of the refugee flow that came to it. I hear Karak snort and glance back; he’s walking few paces behind me.

“You would think the damn forest is big enough,” he grunts. “It stretches west and east and to the north for several months of travel. You can walk for many sunsets without encountering a tribe. Why some of us have to go south and rob territory is beyond me.”

Interesting, I frown a little in thought. Karak seemed to be one of the Cabbats you do not want to mess with. He was over seven feet tall, well built and had this permanent scowl on his features. His walk and talk reminded me more of Alo and those other Cabbats I had first met, rather than say Mizuri.

“Well I’m glad to hear that some Northerners agree that it is not right to press the Southerners away from their lands,” I say though I wonder if it was the right thing to say. I would hate to get on the bad side of one of the guys who’s supposed to help me guard the people around me.

“I’ll let you on a little secret Donatello,” Karak grinned suddenly much to my surprise. “We the Cabbats here around you don’t worship Dular.”

“It’s true,” Caliban shoots in. “Many Southerners and Northerners of the West in the Leskat and Janas tribal areas do not care much for Dular.”

“Dular was a god brought to us by outside influences over 6000 winters ago. Before that we worshipped Un. In fact the Arada tribe is a worshipper of the White One,” Karak tells me.

I truly wonder if different religions actually play in the attitude of the Cabbats. I know that thanks to the Dular worshipping, Alo’s Cabbats did not want to kill me or my brothers. So in some strange way there is respect for other turtleoids there. But on the other hand they were also not shy of using physical punishment on us.

“Tribe Leader Jolan declared us the followers of the White One after the Arada tribe came and helped us. Before that we never really had any well preference… in fact I hardly believe myself in any divine properties,” Caliban confesses.

“It’s not important to believe in some powerful being Caliban,” Cal enters the discussion and takes a short glance back smiling. “What is important is what guidance you wish to follow. Un tells us that being compassionate and kind to others is important and we have chosen to follow that. Some of us do believe that Un watches over us and others don’t.”

“Interesting attitude to take,” I comment, not sure what to think of this. But I remind myself that these are aliens speaking about alien religion. I’m not sure I would help much by adding in what I know about human religious practices.

“What do you believe in Donatello?” Caliban asks me suddenly.

“Ah…” I blink as I consider the question. “I’ve never really thought about that. I guess I do agree with what on my world is called the golden rule, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. But I’m not exactly one you would call a religious turtle. In fact I’m a bit skeptical about some of them. But I am not unwilling to just dismiss out of hand the existence of other powers, but I would want to try and find logical explanations for them.”

“Ah Donatello is a turtle of science and logic,” Cal chuckles, apparently that word is familiar on Kalaria.

“Ah yeah I guess I am,” I chuckle.

“Always have to find answers for everything, just have to know how things work,” Karak laughs familiar with the phrase too.

“You guys have me all figured out,” I shake my head, that generates laughter from those around me. I have to admit that right now any misgiving I had about Cabbats is nearly forgotten.

“Brigands!” is suddenly yelled from somewhere and everyone tenses up. I grip my staff tighter and can hear shouts and clashes of weapons.

“They are pressing on, guard the center!” a voice much closer to us shouts. Then I hear the roars, both Cabbats and others.

Then I see them. They are humans and I’m not sure why I’m surprised to see that. They wear skin clothes and armor, both chain mail and other types. They carry swords, spears, pikes and several other types of weapons. They attack the Cabbats just as fiercely as the large turtleoids do.

“Stand your ground, let the outer guards handle this,” I hear Karak say, not sure if he’s addressing me or others.

Suddenly a human breaks through the outer circle and another and the third, soon a whole battalion of brigands comes pouring towards us. The Cabbats are desperately trying to hold them off. The sound of battle is all around. Karak roars in anger and I go into ready battle position as the first humans near us.

This was not quite my idea of a research trip.

End chapter 5.


Before anyone asks, yes I had to end it here
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Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[engelina]

and its time for the move... and the four turtles are being divided around a bit.

also nice to see more familiar names sneaking in, tava, thora and caliban. its nice to see those familair cabbats around in this fic, on their homeworld kalaria.

too bad the calm never seems to last. the brigands have found them, and are determined to get some prisoners/slaves, it seems.

i hope everyone, or at least most of them, will be okay.

and looking forward to the next chapter.
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[Fishy716]

Oh dear, and Donatello thought this would be a trip for research and explanations. Guess the calm and quiet couldn't last forever. Here comes the action and violence 0.o You left it off at such a cliffhanger lol
Excellent chapter and can't wait for more
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"Life at best is bittersweet."

[Askre]

[Askre]

Chapter 6.

The fighting style of the brigands was very basic, hit and block, dodge and duck. Try just as hard as they could to get an opponent down. Their opponents were large reptiles with natural body armor and probably ten if not twenty times their strength, armed with swords, staffs or clubs. The humans only real protection were their numbers, they didn’t seem to bother with carrying shields.

I had already taken down three brigands with ease; they had barely managed to swing their weapons at me. My Bo staff went swinging into action, some of their armor was so rusty that even my simple wooden weapon went right trough it. I was not complaining much about that, it made my job easier. Keeping those ruffians away from the sick and injured.

But the brigands kept coming and coming, they had clearly broken well through our outer defenses somehow. Unfortunately it meant it weren’t just humans whose numbers were thinning. Already I saw two manage to bring down a Northerner, using some sort of a pike with a strange hook they used to entangle the Cabbat’s neck with. Karak was only seconds too late to assist his brethren, but he could avenge him as he tore through the brigands with his club.

Taran fought beside me impaling attackers with his spears. The force of his thrusts was so much that blood from the opponents was splattered all over him. Horak had disappeared on the other hand and I could only hope he was still fighting somewhere. Cal and Caliban had put down Alana’s gurney; the Lupinar produced a long knife and jumped into the battle since it didn’t seem to be taking any end.

Finally I spotted a red mask flashing by, with a roar Raph barreled into a brigand who had tried to sneak past us. My sai wielding brother spun his weapons quickly before plunging them into the gut of another human. Then quickly spun and kicked four away, Cabbats around cheered and roared in pleasure.

“Hey Raph!” I greet him as I jam my staff into the jaw of my current opponent, causing his head to snap up and then crumble to the ground.

“Hey yourself!” Raph quickly snapped as he leaped over a human and kicked him hard from behind.

“What happened?” I ask since he had been with the outer guards.

“Bastards lay in ambush. Hid in bushes and trees and just jumped all over us!” he growls and head-butts human who got too close and was only armed with a knife.

“You alright Caliban?” I take a quick glance back. The Southerner is standing guard over Alana’s gurney, we’ve so far managed to keep the heat of the battle away from the sick and injured.

“Uh yeah,” he winches when seeing a Northern Cabbat tear apart a brigand.

“Leo is on the other end of the fight, think they ambushed from there too,” Raph managed to take a second breather before jumping into the fray again.

“These humans definitely know how to fight Cabbats,” I grunt and block a sword from a particularly large brigand. But I manage to crouch and swing my staff hard, sweeping him from his feet. But before I can do anything, Taran arrives and plunges his spear into the man’s gut killing him.

“Thanks,” I have no time to even consider this action of the Cabbat. We were fighting an overwhelming battle and teamwork was obviously the key to win here. I was already in matter of seconds facing another large brigand.

“Raph! Did you see Mikey?” I call, recalling that our orange-masked brother was watching the kids.

“Saw him brain three idiots who tried to reach the kids!” Raph yells and disappears out of sight.

“There are so many of them!” I hear someone shout.

“Then let’s cut their numbers!” Thora yells and arrives barreling with a loud growl. Following him are five more Northerners who charge right into the growing horde of humans. They hack and slash madly, blood and body parts fly around. I hear Karak roar and arrive from the other side with few more Northerners and Southerners.

“Taran!” Caliban yells. I whirl around and gasp. Two brigands had managed to entangle Taran in the same hook pike and had been used already to kill a Northerner.

“Oh no you DON’T!” I yell and race towards them. The humans have already managed to force the snarling Cabbat to the ground when I ram my staff into the brigand with the sword and intended to deliver the killing blow. The force throws him away and knocking him up against a tree. But I’m already swinging my weapon on the other and crack his skull as the man is sent flying. Taran rises up growling and coughing as he removes the hook from his throat.

“Let’s get rid of this swamp scum,” he snarls, grabs up the sword his assailant lost and charges for the brigands.

After making quickly sure that no imminent danger is to those we are set to protect I follow him. But I’ve started to worry, back when Alo’s Cabbats were fighting the Rytonas at the farm house, the numbers had been pretty even but neither party really knew how to fight one another. The smaller Rytonas had stood very little chance and the brunt of their battle had been on by the larger ones. This time the numbers were unknown and both parties knew very well how to fight one another.

“Karak, how are we doing?” I spot where the Northerner has engaged brigand with the dratted throat-hook-pike.

“Could do better!” he snarls and managed to evade the weapon and send his club crashing into the man’s head, cracking the helmet and probably the entire head as well. He has enough time to look at me. He has many bleeding wounds on his arms and face. “They managed to outflank us.”

Oh damn, I cringe but can’t worry about it for now as another brigand arrives and I must fend him off.

“They were just waiting for us, they must have gathered their numbers while we prepared to move,” I hear someone say but I can’t spot who it was.

I block a strike from an opponent and kick him away. I’m about to turn to assist another Cabbat when I think I spot something suddenly land on a tree branch. It was dark yellowish in color; the head reminded me of a frog or a salamander. The arms and legs were thin and the fingers had balled tips like on some species of frogs. The creature was clad in a brownish/greenish robe with a hood on it.

What the, I whirl around when I hear the whistling sound of arrows. Suddenly several brigands drop dead with arrows in their throats. I glance at the source and blink, a tall Lupinar stands suddenly there on an elevated area of the forest with a bow. He’s rather similar to Cal in basic appearance except he’s wearing a skin shirt and trousers. On his feet are shoes that are strapped to his legs with leather bands.

But I can’t wonder for long about this unexpected assistance, a brigand tries to jump me and I am fully engaged in him for a moment before knocking him out. I then spot that the new Lupinar has shouldered his bow and has drawn forth a rapier that he uses to attack the brigands.

Another creature arrives but this one is completely unfamiliar to me. He is humanoid but the head is like that of a falcon with a very sharp yellow beak. The body has brown feathers and on the arms are a line of feathers that are long enough to almost make them wing like. The hands have four fingers and are more like the yellowish talons of an eagle and so are the feet. The newly arrived wore a sleeveless vest showing that his chest feathers were gray. He also wore black trousers with short sleeves.

The new guy carried a short sword and a shield and he didn’t hesitate to engage the brigands. I wondered for a moment if this was a Halcon. But if it was then why was he fighting the attacking humans, weren’t they enemies of the Cabbats as well?

Suddenly I saw a huge Cabbat arrive from behind the enemy lines with a horrifying roar. He wields a big double bladed axe that he swings around himself throwing brigands around like rag dolls. His upper canines were so large that when he closed his mouth they poked down like he was a saber-toothed tiger.

I glance up again and spot the frog-guy in the trees. He’s watching the battle intently, but he seems so small and fragile that I guess he won’t be joining the battle. He looks unarmed as well. But once more I’m pulled out of my observations as a brigand runs for me.

But I don’t get a chance to fight him. The Halcon butts his shield into the man, throwing him off course. The brigand can’t stop himself and is sent hurling towards the Lupinar who with one swift strike of the rapier cuts my almost opponent down.

Things turned around, the brigands seemed to have finally lost their nerve and started to run. But now the Cabbats began surrounding them, I decided not to join and kept my guard with the sick and injured. Most of the Southerners who bore weapons did the same. So it was mostly the Northerners who began pressing on their enemies.

“Are you alright Donatello?” Caliban addresses me. I glance back and see him still standing by Alana’s gurney. The Cabbat woman is staring at me, bit frightened yet slightly relieved.

“Just getting tired,” I admit, I’ve no idea how long this fight has been going on but I’m definitely starting to feel it.

“VICTORY!” I hear shouted and then the whole woods around us echo in victorious roars of the Cabbats.

“About time,” Mizuri suddenly stumbles into view, he has few cuts and his back is protesting very much the movements.

“You okay Mizuri?” I run over to the Cabbat healer.

“When I get to sit down,” he says and promptly goes to do so. “I thought those brigands were never going to give up. They should have fled the moment the element of surprise was used up.”

“There were more of us than they expected I suppose,” Cal now arrives holding his bloodied knife. He has few wounds and the Lupinar looks tired.

“Hey Cal, who is the Lupinar and the others who arrived?” I ask. Cal looks ands spots those I am talking about.

“Oh the Lupinar is Carden, he’s part of a small group of wanderers lead by the Cabbat Mohk who is the one carrying the axe. Their party also consists of Laris the Halcon and Zeki the Semanda,” he tells me.

“I thought Halcons and Cabbats were enemies?” I frown in confusion.

“Laris is the only Halcon welcome in Cabbat Forest,” Cal tells me. “I don’t know the full story though, but he seems pretty devoted to Mohk.”

“Well fought Donatello!” I turn around and see Thora stand by me. Not that far away is the Cabbat Mohk, he seems to be waiting.

“I just did what I had to do,” I shrug. Thora laughs and pats me hard on the back; I barely manage to keep my balance. He then leaves and Mohk follows him, they are joined by Laris and Carden. Then I see Zeki jump from the tree, it was confirmed that the frog-guy was the semanda.

“Tend to the wounded! Prepare to bury the slain we have no time to burn them!” I hear the loud clear voice of Tava order.

We had lost several Cabbats in the battle and most of the brigands had been slain. Harok was one of the warriors that were lost. I was surprised though to see that the Cabbats didn’t just bury their comrades, they did so with the brigands as well.

I finally got to meet up with all my brothers. We all had some minor cuts and bruises but nothing serious. Mizuri stubbornly was the one who patched us up, claiming to be responsible for taking us into this. I kindly did remind him that it was my idea to come to Kalaria in the first place.

“Man it was wild. But nobody got too close to the kids, so nobody was hurt there really,” Mikey told us. He had managed to break the handle of one of his nunchakus. My staff had seen better days as well.

“They just sprang out of nowhere, we were in a full fledged battle before we knew it,” Leo said shaking his head.

“And they were tough, one hit wasn’t always enough to bring one down,” Raph snorted.

“I guess for the brigands, four ninjas was just an extra challenge,” I remark and glance around. The Cabbats work very swiftly at the burying process.

“Yeah, like fighting seven feet turtleoids wasn’t challenge enough,” Mikey chuckles.

“Yes but these humans know Cabbats and how to fight them,” I tell him and pick up a discarded hook-pike-weapon. The long stick is sturdy yet flexible, probably made so a Cabbat wouldn’t just manage to break it in half immediately. I throw the weapon back to the ground, not really wanting to hold on to it for too long.

“We better get back to our respected posts, I think they are ready to move one,” Leonardo says while glancing around. Mizuri was long gone having had to tend to other patients with his healing skills.

“Sounds like an idea,” Raph nods, I could see he was on the edge and kept eying around. He was obviously not going to let any brigands do a surprise attack on him again.

Mikey and I just nod and hum our agreements before parting and head to our respective groups.

End chapter 6.
_________________
Confusing the heck out of the world since 1983.

[Fishy716]

An update?! No wai!!!

Lots of action coming from the turtles and the cabbats Awesome chapter, can't wait for the next one! :)
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"Life at best is bittersweet."

[engelina]

First: YAYS , update!

i am glad they win the fight, and i am happy to see they got some help. yay for mohk and his small group of friends. ((and yes, i did recognize them. ))

makes sense for them not to stick around, just in case those brigants come back with more of them.


and i hope to see the next update soon!
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