Redemptor Adventures - Haunted Safari

4 - DEMI - Taking Chances

"Take them down," came a woman's voice. From the net where Rene and Nariah hung, Chambarra turned to the voice. From behind a large trunk, Demi stepped forth. As she stepped out, the fern leaf swung back and whacked her head backside. "Oh, gosh." She stumbled a bit, steadied herself.

"Or what? You'll overwhelm me with your grace?" said Chambarra. Chambarra unsheathed two knives and flashed the blades through the air.

Demi raised her hands. "I'll admit. You have knives. But do you really want to waste their, um, sharpness on something as little and harmless as me? Surely we'd all be having a much better time if we could all go off together and get a bite to eat? Have you had breakfast yet?"

Chambarra's narrowed eyes set on Demi, who smiled uncomfortably and gave a little wave and did a little jig from where she stood.

"I'm hungry?" Nariah chimed in from where she swayed in the net.

Chambarra laughed. She back-flipped and her knives whistled through the air. The net ripped open and Rene and Nariah went tumbling down, went, "Yipes!" 

Putting her knives away, Chambarra crossed back to Demi and, looking her up and down, said, "I was going to let them out anyway. You wouldn't scare a cactus-fly."

"Granted," Demi shrugged, "But what I lack in corporal might I make up for in wily wit." Chambarra sniffed her. Demi drew back. "I-It has been said. By me. Who just said it." 

"We were looking for breakfast," Nariah said. 

"Hunting breakfast?" asked Chambarra, one eyebrow arched. 

As Rene brushed the dirt from his front, he noticed Demi standing next to him. She smiled at him. He looked down, looked away, looked back to her, who was still looking at him. He gave an awkward wave, took a couple steps away and started brushing the dirt from Nariah's dress. 

"What's 'hunting' mean?" whispered Nariah to her father crouched before her. 

"It would mean," Rene whispered back, "to break one of our rules: 'Render no destruction.' So, no, we're not. And we weren't. And we wouldn't."

"Rules, ghouls, fools," said Chambarra, leaned against a tree trunk, her arms crossed over her chest. Nariah looked back at her. Meeting her stare, Chambarra crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth. Nariah giggled. 

Nariah held out her hand. "I'm Nariah. Nice to meet you." 

Chambarra shook Nariah's little hand. "They call me Chambarra." 

"Who's 'they?'" Demi said, then added, under her breath, "Degenerates?" 

"Sooooo," said Chambarra, her eyes darting from Nariah and Rene to Demi, to the woods, and back again to Nariah, "what-ya doing here-ah?"

"Me and my daddy are a shinseon, which means like a wizard, and I have this magic braid and we're going back to Tetrapolis to save everybody."

Rene gently clamped his hand over Nariah's mouth and he smiled awkwardly. "She's very trusting."

Chambarra pointed to Nariah and bopped her fingertip to Nariah's nose, but then she twirled the pointing finger to point at Demi, saying, "Annnd you?"

"And me? I'm Demi." Demi gestured down the path. "Here on special assignment. I'm scouting new locations for Takke Stores. You know, expansion is the future of commerce and 'the best benefit of big business is the, uh, something-something-something,' I forget how the rest of it goes, but it's a whole thing. That's a saying. That people say. In business. As I am."

Nariah pulled her father's hand down from over her mouth as her eyes lit up. "Takke Store? You're from Tetrapolis too? Did you escape too? We used to go to Takke Stores all the sentos! Did you ever see my dad arm-wrestle a guy and beat him and take his food because he's so strong?"

Nariah went running across the path to Demi, laughing. Chambarra tilted her neck left, not believing Demi's tale. She knew a fellow liar when she met one, and this was a skepticism she made sure to broadcast to Rene, but it was the kind of skepticism a liar would broadcast in order to shift skepticism away from oneself and over to an innocent party, which is what liars can sometimes do, as Rene knew, but could he let Chambarra know that he knew she could be doing that, as, in fact she most likely was?

Demi was opening her mouth to respond when there was a roar and Chambarra watched as the father was tackled back by a great, fast force. Nariah screamed. So did Demi, who instinctively grabbed the child and pulled her close to protect her. Chambarra, however, was already gone.

And Rene was on the sparkly ground with the Urgula over him, about to eat its breakfast.