Both Ways (20181228)

CH44

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    They began their journey almost instantly, trying to get the most travel they could out of the still young day. They had traveled for a solid fifteen miles before settling down for lunch, provided complementary by the AAF. The Shuarans had, of course, never ate an AAF meal. They were, at first, wary of the meal of meatfruit, eggs, and juices, but after they began nibbling at the food, they discovered it was delectable.
    As he watched the Shuarans eat their meal, Varg couldn't help but laugh.
    "What's so funny?" Tavi asked the Ambassador.
    "You see Tavar," Varg said. "The Shuarans spend all their summer preparing for winter, and all their winer chasing small game throughout their plateau. Once they've finally caught something, the females will prepare a meal with spices that are far too hot, and tell the males that it is for their own good." Varg explained as he laughed. "This is probably the best meal they've had their whole lives!"
    "I will tell you that I, for one, do enjoy moderately spicy food." Tavi admitted.
    "When we get to Shuar, we must have you try a home cooked meal. It is... intense!" Varg said.
    "Is that so?" Salazar piped into the conversation, much to Varg's disapproval. "You know what, I'll wager that I can eat far hotter food than anyone else here!" Salazar betted. "After all, you are talking to a three-time hot wing contest champion right here!"
    "Hot wings?" Tavi asked.
    "It's a human thing from earth." Salazar explained. "Small pieces of heavily spiced meat. Bite sized for my stature. You'd probably like them, actually." He finished, leaving their little group sitting in silence for a few minutes. Tavi continued to eat his meal, a sandwich with 'dark' meatfruit with a surprisingly vegetarian complement of lettuce, onion, and tomato.
    "You know, I've always wondered: You guys are all, well, you all look like carnivores, right?" Tavi said. "How come you eat fruit?"
    "Well now... that's one hell of a story." Salazar said, shaking his head. "I'll give a swing at it, anyway. So, a long, long time ago, like, thousands of years ago, we didn't eat meatfruit. The historians and archeologists think that everyone was kinda feral. You know, like what you'd expect from a wild beast: preying on the herbivores" Salazar shrugged. "Eventually, they prey got smarter, grouped up, began farming villages or something like that. It took a bit for the carnivores to catch up, but an evolutionary arms race ensued, resulting in warring carnivores and herbivores." Salazar shook his head once again. "Those were grisly times, I'm sure. Very different from the civilized world we now live in."
    "You used to eat each other?" Tavi asked.
    "I guess so." Salazar said. "It's crazy, because I would never, in my life, eat someone else. Like, that would be beyond me."
    "They were different times." Tavi assured.   
    "Yeah. Different times." Salazar repeated. "Well, anyway, one day in this little rabbit village, there's this wolf that comes along. He's got this cloak on, which is far different from the normal tribal warrior getup of no much more than a loincloth. Which, by the way, is a one hundred percent turn on for anyone. Fool-proof plan to get some fur. Tell your friends." Salazar laughed to himself at that remark. "Anyway, so he goes to this village and pleads the elders to teach him how to farm. 'What do you care about farming?' They asked him. A fair question, since wolves had never farmed before, right? Well, this wolf had apparently found a small bag of what he believed was a magical plant. He promised to spit the harvest of this magical plant with the village if they helped him." Salazar shrugged. "Turned out to be meatfruit, and the rest is history."
    "Well, where did he get the seeds?" Tavi asked.
    "Listen, buddy, I'm a soldier. Not a historian." Salazar replied. "You want a history lesson, your guy is over there." He pointed to Landager. "For the past thirty-forty years, he's been writing it. As are you, right now. Fun stuff, huh?"
    "Sure. As long as we leave here alive." Tavi commented.
    "Oh, come on, now!" Salazar laughed. "We made it out of Aleran in one piece, didn't we? Plus, this escort detail we've got right here, they're the best." Salazar pointed to the group of AAF soldiers minging with a few Shuaran warriors. "You've already met Auror. He's a solid, all-around operator. Good at anything. He's made a remarkable recovery, but still not in the best state. That's why we brought some backup." Salazar explained, then began to introduce the other members of the team. "That fox over there, that's Specialist first class Azorre. That guy's a natural sharpshooter. He's pretty young and shy, doesn't talk much for sure. He can spot a target before they're even over the horizon." He pointed to the two other creatures. "Those two are Technical Sergeants' Teges and Armada."
    "How do you tell them apart?" Tavi asked.
    "Teges is the one with the notched right ear." Salazar pointed out. "They are both hyenas, or gnolls, as some call them. They're pretty rough and tough, as all 'yenas are. Both are excellent riflemen, and are great and close quarters battle and melee combat. Trust me, you are in safe hands."
    "And they are all from the special tactics division, as you are?" Tavi inquired.
    "Why, yes. They are." Salazar confirmed.
    "So, what's their deal then?" Tavi asked with a smile.
    "First of all, not everyone here has a 'deal,' okay?" Salazar defended. "I mean, Auror is pretty vanilla, and Azorre is new, actually his first deployment as part of this team."
    "And they hyenas?" Tavi pressed.
    "Dominatrix." Salazar admitted as he hung his head in defeat. "Female domination. That sort of thing."
    "Those are women?" Tavi asked, baffled.
    "Wow what the fuck? Watch your tone dude!" Salazar admonished. "I know that you, in your primitive ways, may not be used to fighting alongside a female. Now is a great time to get used to it."
    "I apologise for my remark, that was uncalled for." Tavi admitted.instantly. He knew it was foolish and ill fated to argue tradition and morals with the AAF. He knew the Canim, however, were more combative, and certainly did not consider a female capable of being a warrior. Varg and Nasaug wouldn't dare to challenge the AAF. The Shuarans, however, did not fully understand the lethality of the AAF. Perhaps he should warn them?
    "Alright, we should get moving again!" Anag shouted from across the camp, rounding up his warriors, coaxing them up. "The farther we go today, the less we have to do tomorrow!"
    In a minute or two, they had all embarked on their tauruga once again, and set out for the trail.

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    The sun hovered only a few inches over the Western horizon of the Shuaran plateau. The evening had drawn to a close on their first day of travel. The group had stopped near a grove of thin trees, an uncommon feature in the bleak terrain. The Shuarans disembarked and helped the guests hitch the taruga to the trunks of the more sturdy plants, then they set up a small camp to get some rest in. With the sunset imminent, the temperature began to drop rapidly; the cold stone ground was incapable of retaining the heat. They set up a few small campfires to illuminate the night and provide warmth in the evening hours.
    After a medium dinner, the AAF soldiers prepared some dessert in the form of 's'mores.' Tavi found them a fun little treat, with a mushy marshmallow and tasty chocolate sandwiched in between two crackers.
    "You've got to just get it to a light browning." Armada instructed Tavi, handing over the metal rod she was using to roast a marshmallow. "That is how to get the best results." She pointed to Teges, who was holding her rod just short of the fire, carefully rotating it to ensure an equal roast.
    Tavi glanced across the fire to Salazar. The hybrid lazily dipped his rod directly into the fire, pulling it out a few seconds later and observing it. The marshmallow was, in fact, completely engulfed in flames. Salazar watched as the bottom half burned to a crisp, then rotate it so that the flames moved to the unburned portion. Once he was satisfied, he simply blew out the flame, and slapped it onto the cracker.
    "Now why would you do that?" Teges asked.
    "What do you mean?" Salazar asked back. "I am making my s'more."
    "That's not how you do it!" She replied. "You've burned the thing! You need to just get it brown."
    "No, I was told this is how you do it by an experienced camper!" Salazar stood his ground.
    "When? During your romp in Reno?" Armada laughed.
    "No! During my romp in Chicago, obviously." Salazar corrected. "Midwesterners are the subject matter experts of camping tradition. Besides, I remember nothing from Reno." Salazar snorted in laughter. "Nothing!"
    "That's the one where you bit yourself?" Tavi asked.
    "Sure is." Salazar confirmed, shoving his s'more in his mouth. "Never again."
    "You know that tastes like burned sugar and chocolate." Teges said.
    "It tastes great, you just don't know what you are missing!" Salazar defended himself. "What do you think, Azorre?"
    "I don't like chocolate." He said quietly. "It makes me anxious."
    "Ah, okay then." Salazar said awkwardly. "Auror?"
    "I have to go with lightly roasted." Auror admitted. "I don't have good luck with burning as of late."
    "Oh come on!" Salazar fumed. "Does no one here believe me?"
    "Just admit you are wrong, and that roasting is far superior to burning." Armada instructed.
    "No, it's good! I promise!" Salazar continued, partly in denial. "Ok, Scipio, tell me what you think." He pointed to Tavi's browned s'more. "Try it the wrong way, then try it my way, and tell me which way is better."
    "It's not the 'wrong' way, it's the 'I don't like to eat burned food' way!" Teges corrected.
    "And besides, it's already three to one." Armada added. "You've lost either way your buddy votes."
    "I just don't want to lose so badly." Salazar said, pretending to be sad. Armada helped Tavi prepare his treat, scraping the perfectly browned marshmallow with the crackers and adding the chocolate. Tavi gave it a try, and found it quite tasty.
    "Not bad, not bad." Tavi reported.
    "See?" Teges said.
    "It isn't over yet!" Salazar reminded, and handed over a dessert he had prepared to Tavi. "Here try this one!"
    "Isn't it like, you know, setting food on fire?" Teges observed.
    "Yeah, it's because he's a pyromaniac." Armada commented.
    "Am not!" Salazar replied.
    "Alright, alright!" Tavi said, taking it and giving it a try, with the whole group anxiously awaiting his opinion. "You know, it is a unique texture. Crunchy and soft at the same time. The cracker and chocolate is also better held together with the stickiness of the burnt marshmallow." Tavi explained. "I've got to side with Salazar on this one."
    "Damn!" Teges cured.
    "Victory!" Salazar shouted excitedly. "I told you this was the proper human way!"
    "Now I thought these folks weren't human?" Armada asked.
    "I mean, they're close enough, right?" Salazar replied.
    "You wouldn't call a Canim a wolf, would you?" Auror asked.
    "Well... actually I'd-"
    "Lights out!" Landager cut off the conversation as he ordered the caravan. "Time for sleep. No need to post a watch. I'll be up all night anyway."