Crusade Gone Awry Ch. 11

"You're not going to pass out again, are you?" Renard asked.

"Just shut-up," Talia croaked.

"You thirsty?" the fox-man asked. Talia pulled herself away, her eyes wide.

"YES!" she shrieked. Renard chuckled and picked up a large, round fruit. He easily sliced it in half with one of his claws and pulled it apart. The inside was orange and it looked juicy.

"Here, eat this," Renard instructed. "The turantas don't have access to freshwater outside of rain, so they eat these fruits. It'll get you some liquid." Talia wasted no time snatching one of the halves away from him. She buried her teeth into the meat of the fruit and sucked. The sweet juices tasted heavenly, and they soothed her raw throat.

Talia wasn't sure how long she ate and drank. Renard just kept putting more in front of her, and she just kept taking it. By the time she finally felt satisfied, all she could see around her were the empty rinds. She wiped her mouth and panted, suddenly finding that she was out of breath.

"Feel better?" Renard asked.

"Much," Talia replied. She turned to see he was sitting beside her, still smiling. "Where am I? What were those things?"

"You're on the coast," Renard explained. "Those things are what live in this area, turantas."

"They're ugly little things," Talia muttered.

"Yeah, they're attitude isn't much better," Renard muttered. "My people do have an alliance with them, which they apparently still remember. So, I set myself up this little hut in their village and I've just been...waiting, for you I guess."

"You guess?" Talia gave him a side-eye. Renard scoffed, but his tail did wag back and forth a little.

"Anyway," the fox-man began, changing the subject. "I take I was right? About the assassin weevils?"

Talia sighed and closed her eyes. "You were. I saw those lines in the sand and I bolted. Three of them chased me anyway. I got stranded on a rock for three days before some pigment came by. I lured them to the rock by taking off my shirt. When those weevils attack them, I ran. I then came across these dog things with big teeth that kept laughing at me. I climbed on yet another rock and then they ran away. Then I'm pretty sure I was attacked by one of those snapping trees. I managed to cut one of the tantacles off and it ran away. Then, I drink the blood of one of those dog things. I'm pretty sure I walked for several days after that and then I was attacked by those ugly turtle things and now I'm here."

Renard stared at her for a few moments. "You showed your boobs to some pigmen?"

"That's what you got from that?" Talia asked flatly.

Renard laughed for a moment and shook his head. "Those laughing dogs sound like hyenas. They're not really dogs, but they're close enough. Also, a snapping tree? They're supposed to be extinct."

"Well, it looked like a giant flower with tentacles and a beak for a mouth."

"That's what I'm told they look like, so I guess they're not extinct."

"There's at least one, anyway."

"You certainly are tough Talia. I'm glad you made it."

"I'm glad I made it, too."

They were silent for a few moments as they stared at each other, her sapphire eyes gazing into his dark ones.

"Well," Renard began, tearing his eyes away. "I need to get back to fishing."

"Fishing?" Talia asked.

"I have to make myself useful or the turantas wouldn't tolerate me. Besides, fishing was my job back in Tarbat."

There was a pause.

"You had a job?" Talia inquired flatly.

"I mean when I was hungry, I fished," Renard replied. "That counts as a job, right?"

"I guess. What should I do? I can be useful."

"For now, you should rest. My people can walk through the desert without drinking for a long time, humans can't. Your body needs to catch up for a while. Then we can worry about that. I'll bring you some fruits and fish later."

Talia didn't look thrilled, but ultimately didn't argue.

"Oh...yeah, one more thing." Renard suddenly sounded incredibly apprehensive. "The turantas don't really have a concept of like...platonic opposite-sex friendship."

"What do you mean?" Talia asked.

"Males and females turantas aren't friends. They live separately until they reach maturity and then they pick a mate, usually by fighting. Once a female finds one, they aren't allowed to be alone with any other male. They wanted to kill and eat you, but I managed to convince them that you um...were my mate. It's also the only way they would let you stay in my hut, and I didn't really trust them to take care of you by themselves. I would have told them we're just friends if they could've understood that, but they can't. So, uh...just be aware of that."

"Really?" Talia asked flatly.

"Yes, really! I didn't make that up, I swear!"

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

"Get some rest, Talia. I'll be back with dinner later."

*

For the next few days, Talia did as Renard asked, although to be honest it wasn't hard. She didn't realize how exhausted she was until she could finally relax. She alternated between sleeping and eating whatever Renard brought her, mostly just fruit and grilled fish. It took a while for the strength to return. Once it finally did, she decided that she had laid down enough. With her legs wobbling a little, she strolled out of the hut.

Talia found that she was indeed on the coast. It was actually quite nice. The area was surrounded by cliffs, making it easy to defend. The village was made up of huts much like Renard's, but they were smaller, likely because the turantas were half a human's size. Palm trees littered the area and swayed with the ocean breeze. She scanned the village, where many of the ugly turtle people were at work with something or another. She gazed down the rows of huts towards the ocean. There was what appeared to a pier sticking out into the water. She spotted someone that was clearly taller than a turanta. She set out towards it slowly, still a little shaky.

Fortunately for the two human-sized people, the pier was built to their size. Maybe the turantas learned how to build them from humans, and never adjusted the size. Regardless, Talia walked out on the pier. Renard was sitting on one of the posts, a self-fashioned spear beside him. He was cleaning fish with his bare hands, much like Adrum would. It was a little easier for the fox-man, as he had claws. The human approached him, just as he ripped a fish apart and gutted it.

"You're surprisingly good at that," Talia said abruptly.

"It's what Adrum had me do when I was a kid," Renard said without looking up. "I was the one with the claws."

"You don't seem surprised by me being here," she replied.

"I could smell you way before you got here," he explained, throwing the fish guts into a separate bucket. "It's how I managed to find you before the turantas got you."

Talia made a face, leaned down, and smelled herself. She hadn't bathed since that one oasis. She obviously reeked.

"Yeah, I guess I smell riper than the fish..." she muttered.

Renard chuckled and finally lifted his head. "You feeling better? Strong enough to walk around?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. If I lay down anymore my legs are going to fall off. Where are we exactly?"

"I was leading you crusaders north, and you and I headed almost directly west. We're as far north of Tarbat as far as I lead you, and as far west as we walked."

Talia made a somewhat displeased face. She was hoping she could get back to the city where the boats were tied up. That way, she might be able to go home. "So, it would take a long time to get back there?"

"You could follow the coast south. It would probably take you a couple of weeks. You could cut across the desert and shrink that time by a few days, if you want to risk the dangers, that is."

"Hell no!"

"You'll want to build up more strength too. You'll have to make that journey alone."

Talia furrowed her brow. "Why?"

Renard shifted a little on the post and cast his eyes to the side. "If you head south from here, you'll start running into human villages. They grow the food that keeps Tarbat going. The thing is, they are sometimes raided by the monsters from the desert. They wouldn't be welcoming to...someone like me."

"In Tarbat there were a lot of races living together," Talia said.

"There's Tarbat and then there's the rest of the desert. They're two different beasts. In Tarbat people are...uh...let's say forced to get along. Outside of its walls, there are no rules."

Talia groaned and grabbed her head. This just kept getting more complicated. She managed to escape certain death, but she appeared to be stuck. She couldn't ask Renard to go back into the desert with it being so dangerous, and she also couldn't ask him to head south where the humans might kill him on sight.

"Come to think of it," Renard began. "can you operate one of those boats alone?"

"Oh no, I guess I couldn't," Talia muttered.

"Looks like we're both stuck," Renard said, sounding a little grave. They were silent for a few moments. Talia could feel a dark atmosphere descend onto the two of them. She then realized she had been talking about leaving Renard. He might have been hurt that she wanted to leave this place right after he saved her.

"I don't think I've thanked you yet," Talia said

"No, I don't believe you did!" Renard said, grinning. Talia narrowed her eyes at him.

"Well, at the risk of inflating your ego, thank you for saving my life, more than once."

"It's what friends do," he replied.

"Yes, it is. We're both alive, so let's worry about the details later. For now, I'm going to take a dip in the ocean and was this smell off."

"There are some rocks up that way. You could do it behind those if you don't want to be seen."

"By you or by the turtle people?"

Renard lifted his eyebrows a little, in surprise. "Oh, so you think so little of me?"

Talia sneered at him, mockingly. "Foxes are sneaky."

"Racist!" Renard said in equal mock disgust.

Talia only scoffed at him. "I'm going to go bathe. You do the same after you finish, I don't want our hut smelling like fish." She began walking away in the direction he had indicated.

"Oh, so now it's OUR hut, huh?" he called after her. She gave him a rude gesture with her finger that only made him laugh.

*

Although it annoyed Talia, after she bathed, she was tired again. It was clear she wasn't back to her full strength. Renard returned with their dinner, again consisting of fruit and fish. Talia began to feel a little guilty about Renard constantly feeding her. Renard said that as long as he made himself useful, the turantas let him stay. So far, however, she hadn't been useful at all. Now that she was on her feet it was time for her to contribute.

When she woke up the next day, Talia proceeded to the pier, but she didn't immediately see Renard. She walked to the edge of the dock. She suddenly saw him, a little way into the water. He was waist-deep, a bow and arrow in his paws. She tilted her head.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Bow fishing," Renard said without turning around.

"That's a thing?"

"It's a thing Adrum did, at least. The fish started to figure out the spear, so I switched to this."

"Right..." Talia muttered. There was no way she could help him with that. She was trained to be a frontline soldier, not an archer. Renard clearly knew what he was doing and didn't need anyone getting in his way. The fox-man then spotted a fish in the ocean. His bow began to follow it, zigzagging around before turning, showing Talia the front of his body.

Talia's eyes raised. Renard was...well...pretty cut. She never would have guessed it from his laid-back attitude, but he actually had muscles that were easily seen through his fur. Talia stared him up and down. Renard abruptly smiled and chuckled, his eyes still on the ocean.

"Talia!" he cried.

"What?" she asked.

"Foxes have excellent peripheral vision."

"Huh?"

"I can see you staring at me."

Talia's face flushed as she turned her head away quickly. She hadn't even been thinking, just assuming that he couldn't see. She coughed and cleared her throat a few times. When her eyes turned back to him, she was thankful to see he had turned back to the ocean.

"Anyway!" Talia suddenly cried. "I uh...need to make myself useful. Do you think there's a job around here I could do?"

"Well," Renard began. "the turanta females usually gather fruit during the day while the men fish and search for clams. You could probably help the women. They should all be getting ready in the village right now."

"Right, gathering fruit," Talia said uneasily. "I could do that!" She turned to leave, but immediately turned back. "How do I tell which are the females?"

"They'll be carrying baskets!"

"Yeah, okay, baskets!" Talia whirled around and left. Renard only shook his head as he spotted another fish and began following it.

Talia went back into the village to find that the turantas were indeed getting together. They were separating into two groups. Talia couldn't tell the difference, physically speaking, but one group had spears and the other baskets. She joined the group with baskets, although many of them were glaring at her with their turtle eyes. She ignored their disapproving looks and followed the women out of the village.

The human found that the village was technically not in the desert. The area was more like dry grassland. Honestly, she grateful to be out of the sand for a while. After a short journey, she found what must have been their orchard and farm. There were rows of trees and vines all around. Melons were growing from the vines, and fruits were hanging from the trees. Ignoring Talia, all the turtle people scattered. Some went for the melons, and others the trees. The ones who went towards the melons delicately studied them, tapping them and lifting them up, checking for ripeness. If one appeared to be ready, they would snip it from the vine with their crab-like hands and then put them in their baskets. That seemed simple enough, provided Talia could tell which ones were ripe. Unfortunately, they weren't a fruit that she recognized.

Talia then turned towards the ones heading for the trees. They weren't carrying ladders, and she was shocked to see them climbing to reach the branches. Fortunately, all of the produce on the tree was the same color, so it seemed they were all ripe. The plants themselves actually weren't that tall. She could probably reach at least halfway up without climbing.

As she approached a few of the turantas gave her an evil eye. Talia cocked her eyebrow at them and began reaching up into the tree. All of the turantas stopped and stared. The human easily picked several of the fruits, filling her arms. Once she couldn't hold anymore, she dumped all she had gathered into a basket, filling it instantly. All of the turantas, including the ones who were in the middle of climbing stared at her. Then they began glancing at each other. All the ones climbing hopped down and all the ones of the ground left their baskets. They all migrated towards the melons, leaving Talia to do it on her own.

"What are you...?" Talia asked. Apparently, because she could pick fruit it easier than them, they were just going to make her do all of it. "Are you people for real?" The turantas didn't respond. They just moved on without her. Talia clenched her fists and ground her teeth. These people were unbelievable!

*

As evening set in, Renard had put his clothes back on and was sitting on the dock. He had a bucket full of fish with arrow holes in them. He had already started cleaning a few when he heard someone walking down the pier. He lifted his head and then smiled, amused. Talia was approaching, a single basket of fruits in her arms. What made Renard grin, however, was her sour expression. She marched right up to him, stomping. She then stood with her arms crossed, pouting.

"Had a good day?" Renard asked, still smiling.

"These turtles are unbelievable," Talia growled. "They treat me like a pariah, make me gather all the fruit, and then leave me only one basket!"

"Yeah?" Renard asked, lifting his head. "How many did you get?"

Talia narrowed his eyes at him. "What is with these people? Are they always this pissy?"

"Pretty much," Renard admitted, resuming his work on the fish. "They've always been pushed around. They're really small compared to all the other monsters, so they hate outsiders. They only agreed to a trade alliance with my people because we could give them food if there is a drought from the ocean rains."

"Doesn't entitle them to be rude. I'm here to help!"

"It didn't stop you from gathering fruits for them, did it?"

Talia cut her eyes to the side. "Well, I didn't want them to kick you out because of me."

"Very thoughtful. When I finish cleaning these, and giving the turanta their share, we'll eat our bounty for the day."

*

A short time later the two of them were sitting in the hut, eating the fruits and the cooked fish. They spoke very little, but occasionally glance at each other. The moment their eyes would meet, however, they would both look away. Talia couldn't help but notice their interactions with each other were getting more awkward. Her ogling his bare chest probably didn't help. She just hadn't expected him to be that muscular, that's all.

"You know," Talia began, breaking the silence. "yesterday when I talked about leaving and going back home, I didn't mean to make it sound like I was abandoning you. I wasn't going to leave right away. I meant eventually I want to go home."

"I know, you need to recover," Renard said, although his eyes weren't looking at her. "I'd probably want to go home if I went through what you did."

"You don't plan on staying here permanently, do you?" Talia asked. "Just spending your days fishing for the ungrateful turtle people? What about those other fox people you wanted to find?"

Renard sighed before speaking. "That was a fine idea when I was with an army. Wandering the desert by myself sounds like a good way to get killed, which I promised not to do, remember?"

Talia cleared her throat uncomfortably for a moment. "You had that uh, boat idea. To sail around the coast, right?"

"I guess I could," the fox-man said, sounding uncommitted. "Provided the dark-eyed tribe still exists and they live on the coast, that is."

"Well, you shouldn't give up. We'll find those dark-eye people, you can get a whole new life, and you could even start a family!"

Renard's eyes cut towards her. "Are you trying to marry me off?"

"I...uh...not exactly. I just thought it might be a good idea."

"What, Tarbat's playboy settling down with just one woman forever? That doesn't sound like me."

Now it was Talia's eyes that turned towards him. "You wouldn't settle down for anyone?"

"I wouldn't say anyone. Maybe if I met someone strong, unique, and determined I could see myself settling down."

Talia gulped and felt her stomach knot. She then nervously laughed. "Yeah, like there's a woman like that!"

Renard only scoffed and shook his head. They resumed eating their meal in complete silence.

*

The next day, Talia didn't visit Renard on the beach. She had tried to make their conversations less awkward and instead made them worse. Besides, he might be down there without his clothes on again. Ultimately, she just went fruit picking with the turantas, who treated her like she was a pariah. Oh, that didn't stop them from sticking her with most of the work, of course. Talia spent her day angrily picking fruit out of the trees. With each one she put in the basket, she prayed that those turtle monsters choked on them. It also gave her an uncomfortable amount of time to think about Renard.

He was her only real friend. Talia had tried to make friends before, but they were either transferred away or grew jealous of her looks. Maybe it was why she grew up mistrustful of others. She had always been pretty, and almost everyone who ever took care of her or was in command of her would exploit that, usually for converts or money. Although Renard flirted with her, he stopped when she asked. The longer she talked with him, the more she found out about him, the more she cared about him. He clearly cared about her...but there was still quite a gulf between them. She didn't care that he was a monster. It wasn't specifically forbidden by the holy texts of the goddess, anyway. It was more a matter of their respective futures. Renard wanted to find the other fox men in the desert. She wanted to go home. Eventually they would be pulled apart. Renard couldn't go home with her. She could she stay, but that would mean living in this monster-filled desert ruled by a demon lord. Was it really worth it for her to stay with her only friend? Then again, the term "friend" was starting to look a little less accurate by the day.