The Roselands

Chapter 15

   We walked all day and as the sun sank behind the tops of the trees, I mentioned that we should probably set up camp. Jeepa and Dusty scampered around the forest collecting firewood while me and Zazil tossed the blanket up over a thick branch and we weighted down the ends with big rocks. Sprite and Blossom carried bundles of pine needles to line the ground beneath it and soon, Dusty and Jeepa came back, ladened with sticks and twigs.

   Dusty had definitely proved his cleverness by laying the longest sticks across his antlers, enabling him to carry almost twice as much firewood than Jeepa, and he was only half her size. Zazil went over to the fire and pulled out a medium sized rock and then a small knife  from his belt. He rubbed the blade of the knife against the rock and sparks flew onto the tinder in the fire pit he'd made. In no time at all, we had a roaring fire in the center of our camp. We all sat around it and ate small portions out of our food sacks in silence. No one wanted to speak for fear of bringing up the Ginger topic.

   Blossom and Jeepa finished eating first and they went over and curled up under the tent. Dusty soon followed and balled up at their feet, looking like a helpless little fawn when he curled up like that. Sprite had been sitting beside me for dinner, but she curled up on my lap and soon she was asleep as well, her head tucked up under my chin. I glanced over at Zazil and felt a rush of guilt, remembering the Beerth I killed. I closed my eyes and sighed, looking at him. "Umm…I wasn't gonna say this, but I think I just have to. I killed a Beerth before I came here and you have a striking resemblance to him. I don't know if he was your father or not. I thought I'd just get it out and over with."

   Zazil gave one of those pig snorts and his lips curled up in a grin. "Did he have a scar across the end of his snout that went down the length of his lip?"

   I thought for a moment, recalling the crisscrossing scars on the Beerth's face. "Now that I think about, he did have that particular scar mingled in with the other ones."

   Zazil chuckled and shrugged. "Yeah. He was my dad. My mother, Zaka, was being attacked by a Drago and my father, Carzil, leapt in to save her. He told me when I was little that he fell in love with her, but when I was conceived he had to go into hiding. He timed my mother's pregnancy and came back when I was born. He named me Zazil, a combination of my parents name's which is custom with Beerths, then left. He only came back once when I was twelve and that was to see if I was becoming the son he wanted. I wasn't becoming the type of hybrid he wanted and so he punished me by giving me this earring."

   As he said his, he reached  up and fingered the huge loop earring in his ear. "It's customary for Beerths to get this when their fifteen, but he was mad and wanted me to feel the pain. I always hated him for it, but never got my chance to get back at him. Thanks for ending his life. Why'd you kill him?"

   "He was trying to rape my mother."

   Zazil chuckled and gave me a funny look. "So he was trying to make us stepbrothers, aye?"

   I threw him a look, but we suddenly both started laughing at his little joke. "What's so funny?"

   Eprite shifted on my lap and looked up at me, but I shook my head. "Nothing. Maybe you should go and sleep under the tent."

   She shook her head and yawned, curling into my chest. "No. I'm fine here."

   Before I could try and put her in the tent, she was sound asleep. "You've got a great girl there."

   I glanced over at Zazil who had made the comment and the Beerth was gazing at Sprite with a smile. I nodded and pulled her to me, feeling her light breaths expanding into my chest. "Yeah. I'm surprised she wasn't taken already."

   Zazil shrugged and poked the fire with a stick. "Most hybrids don't date or show affection. That's why Dusty didn't know what a kiss was. He'd never seen hybrids show that kind of affection before. The only hybrids that really ever show affection for each other like that are Olkets and Marhets and they prefer to go for their own kind if at all possible."

   "What about you?"

   He glanced up at me and then let out a deep breath through his nose, looking down at the ground. "Well, I've had a little crush on several girls over the period of time I've been here. I started out with a crush on Sprite, but then I noticed that she saw me as a brother. Not a possible choice. Then I had a little crush on another Beerth, name Doolie, but she didn't like me. So then I started having a secret crush on…"

   He paused and an unexpected blush ran over his cheek bones. I leaned closer and cocked my head. "On who?"

   Zazil sighed and glanced over at the tent. "It's on Blossom."

   I paused, but then shrugged. "You know it shocked me at first, but she is pretty."

   Zazil nodded and looked up at the sky, studying the stars through the branches. "Yeah. She's pretty, funny, sexy, and just all around likeable. I've liked her for just about a year now, but I know that if I told her the truth, she'd reject me and never let me live it down. I've always kinda made fun of her for liking so many guys and I'm sure that if I told her the truth, she'd start picking at me the same way."

   He heaved a gigantic sigh and put his chin his hands. I looked closely and saw the worry and depression in his eyes, showing just how much he wanted to tell her, but also how much he feared it. I reached over and patted hos shoulder, giving him a supportive smile. "I'm sure it's not gonna be as bad as you think. Ask her tomorrow, I'll assign pine needle duty to Sprite and Jeepa. Me and Dusty will get firewood. She can help you with the fire and you can ask her then."

   Zazil smiled and then glanced at me. "Thanks. I owe you one."