Between The Crystals

Ch 70 Gossip at the Guard Station

I stretched again, not used to spending this much time bending over. Nor were there enough greens in one spot to sit while picking. The two-hour effort hadn't even filled a quarter of my carry net. I sat on a log and took a drink from my water skin.

As I nibbled on some greens, snuffling near my elbow made me jump. The blue Saursune gave a squeaky hum that I guessed was an apology. The adult by the crystal had disappeared sometime in the last few minutes, although the green youngster was stretching as it got up from its nap.

Both of them followed me as I continued picking greens. The blue one helped, although the green one seemed to grow bored soon after and nudged my hand. I pet its neck a few times as it thrummed.

Crouching down, it began sneaking up behind its sibling and pounced on it. The blue one squalled, and the wrestling match was on. In a flash, the greenish-blue Saursune leapt over a bush with bared teeth and a deep growl.

The teeth disappeared even before her hands hit the ground. Her huff sounded less than impressed, and it had an immediate effect on the youngsters, who sat with lowered heads. She looked around, and I took an uneasy step back when her eyes landed on me.

She dipped her head in a bow before turning to the youngsters. As she trotted past them, they followed after her while glancing back at me. Soon, all of them disappeared into the forest.

I breathed a sigh of relief and kept working. They were cute and had helped, but their guardian made me overly nervous.

~

The wandering hunters returned earlier than usual since I had to go check on the ones I'd left at Blackbird Marsh. They brought back a couple of carry nets each, mostly greens, but not as much as they had found in the past. Those from Keywa Village must also be going deeper into the forest to collect greens.

No Saursunes had appeared all afternoon, which I found strange. It also dashed my hopes of trading some energy for food. I took the first group to the Guard Station, wondering if Janette's group had collected enough to make up for our lack.

The air hazed over, then cleared. Only two groups were present this early; and as I had hoped, Janette and her companions had beat us here. Their carry nets of corn cobs and greens easily held twice as much as what my group had collected even though her group was less than half the size. As I came over, I could also see a wild pig beneath two nets.

I sat beside Janette, who was laying on the hides. When she opened her eyes, I asked, "How did it go?"

She yawned and sat up. "Better than I'd hoped. They weren't too sure about us at first, but when we didn't go near the field, they came to investigate. After they took some of my energy, they kept swinging by with cobs of corn. There were lots of greens in that spot too. I'm more than willing to go back there tomorrow. Guess what else they brought."

"I see a wild pig that will fill a lot of soup pots."

Janette held up a small cream-colored clam-like object. "They also brought me some sort of salve for the sunburn on my arms. It works really well."

I blinked, only just noticing that the red tinge on her scars had disappeared. "Oh, nice. I saw they were getting pink the other day."

A shimmer by the crystal heralded another group's return. When it cleared, Mark from Briar Village leaned against the people he'd just brought. The others carried two sheep and a dozen carry nets full of greens.

When Mark spotted me, he grinned and gave me a tired thumbs-up. "We tried that sheep farm you went to yesterday. Didn't take long for the Saursune to appear with a couple of sheep, but he sat there and waited until I came over."