Worlds Apart: Volume I

The Before: Teams

Ney'ite's tail twitched as her eyes scanned the tree line. Tysal stood next to her and did the same. She held the brightly colored blunted arrow in the ready position. Ney'ite could feel Tsanten's eyes on them; she wondered how long it would be until she felt the stare of the others. She could hear the fabric of their flag flapping gently in the breeze. Ney'ite was glad to have the rocks to their backs. It eliminated half of the possible directions that the others could come from.

"Stop looking so anxious," Tysal whispered. "I don't hear them."

"Aytanin is smart," Ney'ite snapped. "She knows how to move through the forest without making a sound. And let's not forget, Neyetam knows my mind better than anyone. He'll know the sorts of precautions I'll take to defend the flag."

"Don't be so short with me," Tysal snapped back.

"Well, if you hadn't argued with me halfway to tomorrow about where to put the flag, we would have been able to pick a place that wasn't in the middle of the forest. We should have put the flag in a clearing where we could draw them out," Ney'ite argued. She made sure to keep her voice down. There was no telling how close Neyetam and the others were.

"And if you had just talked with me about what you were doing, I wouldn't have had to argue with you," Tysal hissed. "You act like I should just know what you're about to do."

"That's because I've never had to talk with someone about what my plans are," Ney'ite said. "Neyetam is the one who joins me in things like this. We don't have to talk to know what the other is planning." Ney'ite turned back to the trees. "It's the reason why Tsanten separated us today in the first place."

"You don't have to talk?" Tysal asked as he lowered his bow. "How?"

"I don't know," Ney'ite said. "Teyam and I just know each other's minds. Now get your bow up and..." Ney'ite's ears twitched towards something coming from her left. The noise was so soft, she wasn't sure if she was imagining it. It sounded like the faintest sound of something walking over leaves.

Tysal saw the look of concentration on her face. His ears twitched towards the direction of the noise as he brought his bow back up to fighting position. Ney'ite and Tysal scanned the tree line. They were trying to see the faintest shadows in the trees. A blur of blue. Anything that would give away the exact position of the people who were stalking them.

Ney'ite heard the arrow rushing towards her before she saw it. She tackled Tysal to the ground as the arrow flew over their heads. The head of the arrow painted the rock red. Ney'ite got up on one knee and fired an arrow back in the direction that the first came from. She heard someone fall as they avoided the arrow.

Marali came rushing out of the tree line. She fired an arrow at Tysal. He stepped to the right as the arrow flew by him. Ney'ite tackled her and stuck one of her painted arrows on her chest. Marali was marked in red. She could no longer act against Ney'ite and Tysal or help Neyetam and Aytanin.

"Ney'ite!" Tysal called out. "Straight ahead."

Ney'ite looked up and saw Neyetam firing an arrow at her. She rolled to the side before popping back up. She brought her bow up and fired an arrow back at her brother. Neyetam was already moving. He ran towards the flag but Ney'ite stepped in front of him. They were too close for their bows to be of any use, so Ney'ite brought her hands up to her face and took the first swing at Neyetam.

"Keep an eye out for Aytanin!" Ney'ite yelled at Tysal. "Defend the flag." She stepped back from her brother's advances.

"But...." Tysal yelled at her.

"Just do it!" Ney'ite ordered.

Neyetam and Ney'ite circled each other. Ney'ite knew that Neyetam wanted to get her back to the forest. She knew that Aytanin was likely waiting in the tree line waiting to put an arrow in her back. Ney'ite knew that Aytanin would wait until she wouldn't be able to easily move out of the way. It was Neyetam's job to distract her. It was a good plan: Neyetam was the only one who could do it. Ney'ite lunged at Neyetam while her back was to the forest. She made she that she kept her ears focused on the sounds of the forest.