Pt. 02: Peaches and Cream
"What are you doing?"
The elf looked quizzically at the dwarf warrior, who was lying on her back with her hands behind her head, which sported a bobbed haircut. Her legs were bent so her knees were up.
"I'm doing crunches. They help keep my stomach strong."
She moved her head towards her knees a bit, and then moved back.
"That seems kind of silly. Doesn't it just make you tired?"
Cethaz smirked. "You have much to learn. Doing exercises gives you more stamina. Here, you should try doing some. You could use some more muscle."
Aatos got down on his back and attempted a few crunches of his own. After just seven, he winced in pain and stopped.
Cethaz said, "You're never gonna get better if you don't keep trying. I'm sure that it was just the same way when you were studying your spells or the Dwarvish language."
"Well, spells and letters aren't so *painful*..."
The dwarf got up. "Well, we've got to go out and get our prey. Could you help me with my armor?"
Cethaz' armor was quite bulky- it consisted of a cuirass with a large mirrored disc in the middle, greaves for her arms and legs, mail that covered her torso and a pointy helmet that reminded Aatos of the tops of some of the dwarven minarets that he had seen around the kingdom of Ardaroun. Aatos couldn't help but take a nice, long look at her body as he helped her into the armor; her arms and legs were very big but her muscles weren't rippling and toned like a circus strongman's body was. She liked to say that she wanted to be strong, not just look impressive. After they had gotten it all on, all that was visible of her face was her eyes; the mail shirt extended all the way up to her helmet.
"I'm still a little nervous. I'm a much better translator than I am a spellcaster..."
"Oh, you'll be fine. Just hide behind a rock and jump in if I'm having trouble. You elves are really good at staying silent so it shouldn't be so hard." Cethaz picked up her axe and started walking away from their camp, and Aatos followed her.
Aatos had his doubts about Cethaz' real reasons for wanting him around- he knew that she enjoyed his "male company", to put it euphemistically- but he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy it, too. Still, she was much more useful than him in a fight. All he could pull off were a few feeble blasts of fire and electricity, while she was a master with her axe.
Cethaz was on her annual furlough from the city guard, and she took the opportunity to visit her parents out in the satrapy of Nishansahr. When they got there, the mayor of the local village had an assignment for them. A giant peccary had been carrying off some sheep from the local pastures, and he wanted them to bring back its snout.
"You don't wear much, do you?"
"Well, it's so warm here..."
Aatos was shirtless, wearing long pants. He was very slender and a bit frail, with little muscle; his skin was pure white, unburnt by the sun due to his application of starleaf extract. His reddish-brown hair was spiky and his face was a bit boyish, but it radiated wisdom.
"Now remember, our target has a big white spot on its left side. It's one of the biggest ones that's been seen in the last century; most giant peccaries wouldn't go after livestock."
"Got it."
The landscape that they were traversing wasn't quite a desert, but Aatos thought that it was pretty close. There were just a few scattered trees around, and occasionally they would see birds in the background. The horizon was littered with mesas.
The day dragged on monotonously, but after a few false alarms, they found what they were looking for. Aatos spotted it first.
"There it is!"
It was even bigger than he had imagined it, almost the size of one of the dwarven caravans that they had been guarding earlier. It hadn't noticed them, as it was resting while looking in the other direction. Cethaz motioned to Aatos to move off to the side.
"Remember, you use your magic while I take the beast head on."
Cethaz raised her battle axe and slowly moved towards the creature. She carefully made her way towards the peccary, making sure to avoid anything on the ground that might alert it to her presence. She had managed to get quite close when the beast surprised her by turning around; it seemed that her heavy armor was no good for stealth. She groaned; she should have known better.
Cethaz gripped her heavy axe and strafed the creature; they looked each other over, trying to feel each other out. Then the peccary lashed out at her, trying to bite her with its sharp tusks; the dwarf then started hacking away, trying to land a killing blow, but her attacks failed to do more than graze her opponent.
Meanwhile, some distance away, Aatos put his thumbs together and spread his fingers. A small ball of electricity formed and flew out from his hands; it struck the peccary and it turned to face him. Aatos' blood turned to ice as the beast began to charge at him; he readied another blast but he was saved as Cethaz smote the beast on its side with a sickening sound of flesh being cut.
The giant peccary fell down, making grotesque squealing noises as it writhed on the ground. Cethaz backed off to make sure that the beast was unable to get up before giving it another thwack for good measure, after which it stopped moving entirely.
"I must've hit something important. Seems like it's a lucky day for us. These beasts tend to put up a bigger fight."
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, I'll be fine. I think I got a bruise or two, but it's nothing. Hold on, I almost forgot."
Cethaz moved over to the peccary's head and raised her axe, bringing it down on its snout and severing it.
"Could you handle this? I'd appreciate it."
Cethaz tossed the snout into Aatos' hands, and he recoiled.
"Oh, fine, I'll get it."
Aatos and Cethaz were walking through her parents' peach orchard on the way to their cottage. It was early evening, and the stars were beginning to come out. The orchard was in one of the more fertile areas in the region but it was hardly lush to Aatos' eyes. He had grown up in a forest and there weren't a whole lot of those in dwarven country.
"Have you ever had peaches before? I love them."
"I've had them a few times since moving here."
