(no subject)
In fairness, the Diran kept us fed in the wilderness - after a fashion. (I read somewhere that Eve tempted Adam with an apple. he must have had iron intestines, that's all I can say.)
It worked better when she went hunting. She used her bolt-gun thing to harpoon a couple of fish. (She was carrying on as though she was the first who ever thought of it, too. I wonder if that would work for rabbits? She didn't want to lose her bolts.)
She got a normal-looking fish and then a thing like a fresh-water shark. I could almost hear the Jaws theme. Guess who got to eat the toothy one? Right, but I felt better after that meal.
This place is crazy. We set snares before we went down to the river but - it was almost as if things moved around. I mean the trees. I'm used to travelling to strange places when we're on tour and one trick to finding your way is noting the landmarks. There was a dead tree in a line with the path, about 300 vreck behind us when we reached the water. Later I couldn't see it. Neither of us could find the snares...
We changed direction a few times before we found a the path at all, and we found something else first. There were black birds on the ground. They flew up together, cawing and at first I thought there was an old coat ... or a filled sack... Even when I saw the metal I didn't understand for a moment... This isn't my kind of Gig.
The Diran was on the body like one of the birds that we'd frightened off. It was a dead male, young enough to be thinner that most of the Nixi-sized people that we'd seen in the town.
He was crumpled onto the ground, into a little hollow. I thought the armour was like stage stuff, at first. It was bright and pretty, and dented on the shoulder where he'd landed, as if he'd tripped and it'd bent like tinfoil. There were holes in the metal, almost as if the birds had made them with their beaks, but there were rusty stains on the shine.
Then, when the Diran moved him, I saw the rest. At least he was dead. He... The armour was damaged. She wanted it and I thought it was too fragile to be worth it. I know better now. The deep punctures in the breastplate were echoed at the back and the metal spiked back into the wounds. She pulled it free and told me what she wanted. I balked at first. I'm the Master's Minion, not hers.
In the end I caved in and tried to beat it back into shape with a rock. That metal's tough, all right. My hands ache . But I think the dead guy was dropped from a height - and from a mouth. If I hadn't just eaten the pike-thing I might not have thought that way, but I think those puncture wounds were from teeth. If the creature that did it comes back I want the Diran to be in shape to fight. Our chance of going home may depend on how good a job I make of repairing this armour.
Every sound I made had me wondering what was listening.
I remember that even now - even the trees seemed to grow still and wait.
It worked better when she went hunting. She used her bolt-gun thing to harpoon a couple of fish. (She was carrying on as though she was the first who ever thought of it, too. I wonder if that would work for rabbits? She didn't want to lose her bolts.)
She got a normal-looking fish and then a thing like a fresh-water shark. I could almost hear the Jaws theme. Guess who got to eat the toothy one? Right, but I felt better after that meal.
This place is crazy. We set snares before we went down to the river but - it was almost as if things moved around. I mean the trees. I'm used to travelling to strange places when we're on tour and one trick to finding your way is noting the landmarks. There was a dead tree in a line with the path, about 300 vreck behind us when we reached the water. Later I couldn't see it. Neither of us could find the snares...
We changed direction a few times before we found a the path at all, and we found something else first. There were black birds on the ground. They flew up together, cawing and at first I thought there was an old coat ... or a filled sack... Even when I saw the metal I didn't understand for a moment... This isn't my kind of Gig.
The Diran was on the body like one of the birds that we'd frightened off. It was a dead male, young enough to be thinner that most of the Nixi-sized people that we'd seen in the town.
He was crumpled onto the ground, into a little hollow. I thought the armour was like stage stuff, at first. It was bright and pretty, and dented on the shoulder where he'd landed, as if he'd tripped and it'd bent like tinfoil. There were holes in the metal, almost as if the birds had made them with their beaks, but there were rusty stains on the shine.
Then, when the Diran moved him, I saw the rest. At least he was dead. He... The armour was damaged. She wanted it and I thought it was too fragile to be worth it. I know better now. The deep punctures in the breastplate were echoed at the back and the metal spiked back into the wounds. She pulled it free and told me what she wanted. I balked at first. I'm the Master's Minion, not hers.
In the end I caved in and tried to beat it back into shape with a rock. That metal's tough, all right. My hands ache . But I think the dead guy was dropped from a height - and from a mouth. If I hadn't just eaten the pike-thing I might not have thought that way, but I think those puncture wounds were from teeth. If the creature that did it comes back I want the Diran to be in shape to fight. Our chance of going home may depend on how good a job I make of repairing this armour.
Every sound I made had me wondering what was listening.
I remember that even now - even the trees seemed to grow still and wait.