06-25-2016, 02:21 PM
He was shorter than the average convoy guard, dark skin with brown eyes, a bald head and a loose necklace. A red cloth wrapped around his torso, from shoulder to waist as if a line went from corner to corner, the cloth itself forming numerous layers due to it's incredible length, the ends of it tucked behind or between the wrapping. From waist down the tribal man was covered in animal skins, a waist cloth, trousers, with his ankles wrapped in strapping which connected to his shoes. The necklace he wore would thud against his chest as the car went along the road, going over a bump every now and then. At first he was merely rubbing his eyes, but once his eyes adjusted to the car's ceiling light, the tribal man was surprised, blinking and cocking his head slowly at the sight of Kalli. "Are you that prime who summoned a shack?"
Kalli hesitated, looking at Whittorn as if he was supposed to answer, but he only shrugged silently as a response. She then looked back at the tribal man, nodding "Yes, my names Kalli, yours?" the man's surprised look disappeared completely, instead it was replaced with a smile.
"A prime! I'm Aoki, sorry for being so rude." Aoki then stuck out a hand, to which Kalli hesitantly shook. He then continued talking "My tribe was founded by a prime, its a honor to meet someone with the same power."
"Well, nice to meet you Aoki, my names Kalli." She was eager to change the subject from her status of being a prime "Do you happen to know where your tribe is?"
"Well, now that I think about it...I'm unsure where we are. I did say it was East, you're driving East, right Whitthorn?"
Whitthorn had already taken out another cigar, placing it in his mouth (but not lighting it) with a irritated expression. He then took a map off of his lap- which Kalli herself never noticed, to her own surprise -placing it on the steering wheel. It was a crude map, with a huge canyon, Carrefore, Town Of No Name and two oasis locations. Then there was a red X, placed far to the left, far from Carrefore and the Town of No Name. "I'm driving to this X." He said, pointing out the numerous paths dotted along the map, leading to each location. Its obvious someone else had made this map before, but if Whitthorn bought it or looted it was up for debate. He then put the map down onto his lap again, driving forward. "If it isn't there, well...We'll find a way, someone else has probably met this tribe before, especially if its under attack by bandits."
Aoki was instantly offended "They aren't bandits, they're th-"
"'Malicious Sons'? Yeah, well, they're no different than what every other crazy raider is like." Whittorn replied, continuing to focus on the road. "I thought you weren't going to bother us until we got there, Aoki."
"Well, you brought a prime along! That changes a lot."
Whittorn didn't reply- he just shook his head at Aoki's voice. Kalli looked curiously at him, asking "You don't like him?"
To which Whittorn replied "No, Aoki irritates me, but if we're being offered water then I can't deny his usefulness. Do me a favor and keep him off my back, will you? I don't expect this ride to last much longer seeing how we passed civilization long ago." this time Aoki heard nothing, fortunately. He was still sitting there, arms crossed, staring at Whittorn with some disgust, clearly he took the matter of the bandits' name seriously. Kalli nodded to the lizard's request, it offered her a chance to understand the tribe they were going to anyway.
Turning around in her seat, she asked "So, what do you do in this tribe of yours, Aoki?"
"Oh! Well, I serve as a initiate among the warriors." Aoki began "The necklace I wear actually belongs to them! They said my final task to become a warrior was to find help for us. Not many survive their final tasks, but I was fortunate to get something easy. Most initiates are assigned to scouting out salvage deep within the desert, or spotting and collecting information on the Malicious Sons. Those are infinitely more deadly, especially if they're told to go out alone."
She found all of these 'tasks' horrifying, but still tried to look happy "Alright, well...who are these Malicious Sons?"
Aoki was swift to answer, prepared but not certainty not excited to explain "Well, remember when I said my tribe was created by a prime? It was much larger than it is now, but once the prime who summoned us disappeared, there was anarchy. And a year ago half of the tribe left, branding themselves as the 'Malicious Sons', we hoped that being diplomatic with them would work, but..." he paused, trying to explain what they were without having the proper word. Eventually, Kalli hesitantly guessed it, and the answer was rather unpleasant. "-yeah, they're cannibals, feed off the flesh of other humans more specifically. Anyway, once we were stabilized our situation and found a new leader, we tried to talk to our relatives. They're something else now, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, we just can't bring ourselves to fight them. Its what I'm hoping you guys will be able to pull off, make the Malicious Sons run away or change their mind."
"How naive," Whittorn shook his head, muttering to Kalli "I'd hate to break it to him that stuff like this can only be resolved in violence."
The prime shrugged off Whittorn's comment, speaking to Aoki "Well, we'll get to that bridge when we get there. Good to have met you, by the way."
With the two happily acquainted and Kalli answering any questions that Aoki had, the convoy kept rolling along in the midst of the cold desert night. Eventually, the prime fell asleep in her seat, waiting until the next morning when they got to the tribe. Luckily, Whittorn had guessed right- by next morning they were already there.
Kalli hesitated, looking at Whittorn as if he was supposed to answer, but he only shrugged silently as a response. She then looked back at the tribal man, nodding "Yes, my names Kalli, yours?" the man's surprised look disappeared completely, instead it was replaced with a smile.
"A prime! I'm Aoki, sorry for being so rude." Aoki then stuck out a hand, to which Kalli hesitantly shook. He then continued talking "My tribe was founded by a prime, its a honor to meet someone with the same power."
"Well, nice to meet you Aoki, my names Kalli." She was eager to change the subject from her status of being a prime "Do you happen to know where your tribe is?"
"Well, now that I think about it...I'm unsure where we are. I did say it was East, you're driving East, right Whitthorn?"
Whitthorn had already taken out another cigar, placing it in his mouth (but not lighting it) with a irritated expression. He then took a map off of his lap- which Kalli herself never noticed, to her own surprise -placing it on the steering wheel. It was a crude map, with a huge canyon, Carrefore, Town Of No Name and two oasis locations. Then there was a red X, placed far to the left, far from Carrefore and the Town of No Name. "I'm driving to this X." He said, pointing out the numerous paths dotted along the map, leading to each location. Its obvious someone else had made this map before, but if Whitthorn bought it or looted it was up for debate. He then put the map down onto his lap again, driving forward. "If it isn't there, well...We'll find a way, someone else has probably met this tribe before, especially if its under attack by bandits."
Aoki was instantly offended "They aren't bandits, they're th-"
"'Malicious Sons'? Yeah, well, they're no different than what every other crazy raider is like." Whittorn replied, continuing to focus on the road. "I thought you weren't going to bother us until we got there, Aoki."
"Well, you brought a prime along! That changes a lot."
Whittorn didn't reply- he just shook his head at Aoki's voice. Kalli looked curiously at him, asking "You don't like him?"
To which Whittorn replied "No, Aoki irritates me, but if we're being offered water then I can't deny his usefulness. Do me a favor and keep him off my back, will you? I don't expect this ride to last much longer seeing how we passed civilization long ago." this time Aoki heard nothing, fortunately. He was still sitting there, arms crossed, staring at Whittorn with some disgust, clearly he took the matter of the bandits' name seriously. Kalli nodded to the lizard's request, it offered her a chance to understand the tribe they were going to anyway.
Turning around in her seat, she asked "So, what do you do in this tribe of yours, Aoki?"
"Oh! Well, I serve as a initiate among the warriors." Aoki began "The necklace I wear actually belongs to them! They said my final task to become a warrior was to find help for us. Not many survive their final tasks, but I was fortunate to get something easy. Most initiates are assigned to scouting out salvage deep within the desert, or spotting and collecting information on the Malicious Sons. Those are infinitely more deadly, especially if they're told to go out alone."
She found all of these 'tasks' horrifying, but still tried to look happy "Alright, well...who are these Malicious Sons?"
Aoki was swift to answer, prepared but not certainty not excited to explain "Well, remember when I said my tribe was created by a prime? It was much larger than it is now, but once the prime who summoned us disappeared, there was anarchy. And a year ago half of the tribe left, branding themselves as the 'Malicious Sons', we hoped that being diplomatic with them would work, but..." he paused, trying to explain what they were without having the proper word. Eventually, Kalli hesitantly guessed it, and the answer was rather unpleasant. "-yeah, they're cannibals, feed off the flesh of other humans more specifically. Anyway, once we were stabilized our situation and found a new leader, we tried to talk to our relatives. They're something else now, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, we just can't bring ourselves to fight them. Its what I'm hoping you guys will be able to pull off, make the Malicious Sons run away or change their mind."
"How naive," Whittorn shook his head, muttering to Kalli "I'd hate to break it to him that stuff like this can only be resolved in violence."
The prime shrugged off Whittorn's comment, speaking to Aoki "Well, we'll get to that bridge when we get there. Good to have met you, by the way."
With the two happily acquainted and Kalli answering any questions that Aoki had, the convoy kept rolling along in the midst of the cold desert night. Eventually, the prime fell asleep in her seat, waiting until the next morning when they got to the tribe. Luckily, Whittorn had guessed right- by next morning they were already there.