17. River-Steeped

 

River-Steeped

The boy is heavier than any of them except.

As he disappears beneath the waters, the current catches him and the entire rope is whipped downstream, yanking everyone of them along with it. Noori sees Maximilian stumble and fall from the sudden pull of it at the same moment there is an ominous cracking sound from behind Noori.

She is smacked with a sudden jolting force that she knows without seeing is the shaft of the arrow that should be buried in the tree behind them. She shouts and tries to tighten her soft hands along the rope, but it’s too late.

The rope slips out of her hand.

She watches it slip out of Nessuna’s hands, whip past Maximillian’s fallen form, and begin to snake out of Tiffani’s grip.

“No!” Noori shouts, the sound already full of anguish, unable to think of what more she can do to stop this from happening.

Luckily Nessuna is not as slow as Noori. The Teifiling woman leaps over Maximillian’s fallen form and darts around Tiffani, grabbing the rope again just as it leaves the young man’s palms.

She is yanked roughly down to the ground as the tension catches her, and she begins to be dragged along the stream’s edge, in the shallows.

Tiffani and Noori run after the dragging woman as Maximillain scrambles from the ground.

Tiffani catches the rope in front of Nessuna and twists his arm in it as Noori catches Nessuna by her waist and does her best to sink their combined weight into the muddy shallows. They are able to stop the hurtling speed of the rope, but they are still jerked forward in intervals until Maximillian is finally able to join the effort.

The group grunts with effort as they reel Zixxes in. It is slow, too slow, like trying to drag a boulder from the swiftly moving water.

Noori puts all of her strength into pulling Nessuna back and then uses her long arms to reach past the other woman and grab a bit of the rope. She yanks and tugs and pulls, trying her best not to count the seconds. The fifty feet of rope feels endless as she tugs on it with her companions.

He has been down too long.

He has not come up for air even once.

Were they pulling a young man back to shore?

Or a body?

She prays to Iallanis, the goddess of Hearth and Home that the gift of guidance she laid on the boy takes hold and serves him well.

Finally, purple dreadlocks crest the dark water, and Noori lets loose a shout of joy.

With a final, powerful yank they drag the boy from the water’s embrace to the shore.

A few more tugs and he is out of the shallows and on the marshy land. As one, they drop the rope and rush to him.

“I have flowers that have healing properties,” Nessuna says as she falls to her knees near the sputtering and gagging boy. “I found them when we were in the meadow earlier. Turn him over and I can squeeze some of the milk into his mouth.”

Nessuna rustles through her pack and pulls out a red flower with gold edging around each petal as the others in the group hurry to follow her direction.

“I’m okay,” Zixxes says, though his words are barely intelligible through the rough coughs that shake his body. He shrugs away the hands on him and flips back onto his belly, crawling slightly away from the group.

“I’m fine,” he assures again with a roughened voice. “I just need a minute.”

Noori catches Nessuna’s gaze, and though she can tell the Tiefling is a little hurt by the brushing off of her offer for aid, there is a concerned understanding buried there as well. Nessuna smiles unsurely before she looks away from Noori, and returns the flower to her satchel.

Noori checks on the rest of the group. Tiffani has fallen to the ground, back pressed into the wet earth as he catches his breath. Maximilian looks much the same, though his eyes are leveled on the young boy with some worry. The bard reaches out a hand, his fingers doing some sort of movement while he mutters under his breath. A soft steam rises from Zixxes’ body as he is made dry once more.

After a few minutes, though his breathing is not completely steady, Zixxes pushes himself from the ground.

“Th-thank you,” he says, voice still more than a little raw. “We should keep moving.”

His expression has fallen back into pleasantly stoic, but Noori can see the shake in the corners of his eyes. It tells her that fear has not quite yet released its hold on him.

She is old enough to know that he is far from alright.

But her aged wisdom also tells her this is not the time or place to address it.

However, that does not mean she will allow him to just push past it.

“I think I need a moment, if that is alright with the group.” Noori looks around and catches Nessuna’s eye again, hoping the younger woman will understand that Nori needs her help in this.

“Yes,” Nessuna says after a moment of quiet that almost stretches too long. “I think a short break would be called for, for all of us.”

“Yeah,” Tiffani says, still on his back with his eyes closed. He raises one arm in the air before letting it flop back down on the ground. “My arms feel like a rubber bush right now. I am all for a short break.”

“Good!” Noori says, pushing cheer into her voice. “I think I am going to make some tea. I have a calming blend that is just what I think that is needed right now.”

“I don’t know if we have time to start a fire,” Maximilian says cautiously.

“Nonsense! There is always time for tea.” She stares down the younger man meaningfully. Whether he understands her motivations or not, he eventually nods to her.

“Well, if we can get a fire going I can at least help it get hot quicker.”

“That’s a lovely idea.” Noori unhooks her gingham cloth from around her waist once more and marches away from the stream to find a drier place to spread it wide. “I will set up quickly if someone can gather a bit of wood for a fire.”

She does not need wood to start a fire, but she knows that giving tasks can help to refocus one’s mind.

“Yeah, I can do it,” Tiffani says as he begins to flop over and push himself up from the ground.

“I think I am going to look up stream and see if I can find the tracks again.”

Tiffani rushes to his feet. “Nevermind, I wanna do that.” Noori sees Nessuna blow out a short snort of amusement as she travels up the bank, eyes cast to the ground. Tiffani follows close to her side, much as he had before they had gotten to the river.

“Oh! If you can find some honey it would be a great addition to the tea,” Noori calls after the duo.

“I will find some,” Nessuna calls back, gaze still focused forward on her quarry.

“I will find wood,” Zixxes says, drawing the older woman’s attention back to him. He walks over to where Noori is straightening out her cloth and the Firbolg does her best to keep her smile open and welcome, pushing her own worry away so as not to rekindle the boy's fear.

He crouches down next to her, eyes searching her face.

“Are you alright?” the boy asks, catching the old woman off guard. “You said you were afraid, and then you fell in.”

“Oh! Yes, yes I am.”

Her smile softens with a sort of sadness. This boy, trying desperately to hide that he is still reeling from his own dip in the stream, is asking after her wellbeing. He is a kind boy.

But it seems as though he is not very kind to himself.

“Thank you very much for your concern. And your strength. None of us would have made it across without you.”

He shakes his head as if to deny the truth of her words, and then stands. “I am glad you are okay.”

“And I am glad you are okay,” she echoes back to him. “Once we have a fire going, will you join me for some tea? I find it much easier to calm down if I share a brew with somebody.” When he looks like he might decline she adds, “Please, Zixxes?”

He hesitates for a moment but then nods. “Of course, Miss Noori. I would be honored.”

She smiles brightly and begins to remove the kettle and two tea cups she always keeps attached to her belt. They are charmed against shattering, and for that fact alone it is one of the best purchases she has ever made.

A short while later, Maximilian is using some spell to quicken the boil of the water while Noori is explaining tea to the Highland boy.

“And so you put these… weeds… in water. And then you drink it.”

Noori cannot hold in her laugh at the disgust the boy is doing a poor job of hiding. She takes out her canister of teas and opens it, lifting it to her nose for a good sniff.

“It’s not weeds. Or, well, at least it’s not always weeds.” She lifts the canister to Zixxes’ nose but he flinches back slightly.

“It smells good, I promise.”

But she pulls the canister away as he clearly does not yet have the appreciation for tea that he should. From the canister, she pulls out different flower petals and blades of grass, naming them for him as she drops them in the rolling water of the kettle.

“You put them in and let them boil for a bit. After just a few minutes, you have warm, flavored water that is good for your body and soul.” The boy does not look at all convinced and Noori laughs again. “This is a special blend I like to make that promotes clarity of mind and calmness.”

“It does not just taste like dirt?” he asks with skepticism.

“No,” she says, meeting his disbelieving tone with a scholarly one. “It’s quite good. And if Nessuna finds some honey out here, it will be better than anything you’ve had all day.”

“Lucky for you we did find some honeycomb,” Nessuna says as she approaches them where they lounge on Noori’s spread cloth.

“Not lucky for me,” Tiffani grumbles with a shudder as he stands next to Nessuna. “I hate bees.”

Noori laughs that the boy and thanks the Teifling as she accepts the sticky honeycomb. Noori shaves off a small block of the comb and squeezes the honey from it. As the sweetener drops into her cup, she sees Zixxes’ face crunch with dislike.

“I will take the leaf juice without the golden goop,” the boy says quickly, reaching for his cup before she can add any sweetener to it. “Thank you.”

“I think you’ll love the flavor on its own.” Noori says to him before turning to the rest of the crew, pulling out a few of her small, earthenware cups. “Does anyone else want to join? I have enough for us all.”

And the group stays there for just a little while, drinking tea while relaxing on Noori’s cloth. Noori is sure that they stay long enough for the tension in everyone’s shoulders to bleed away, and the fear in their youngest member to subside.

                {Part Eighteen: Further into the Weeds}