Chapter 19
Restricted Maritime Zone BZE:4200.04
Cycle 6002.664.11.5W
The next morning Mean had been directed to a spring with a block of soap and towel. He changed into the other clothes Sihric had given him and felt a little better. While he was there he opened up his large bag and fitted the light armour. It was nowhere near the robust as the gear that he usually wore. For the moment it would be manageable and probably save his life if things went bad. That was already much better survival odds than yesterday’s.
He finished changing into his light armour and prepared a few other things, then chucked his cloak back over the top again. Then he headed back to the workers camp at the farm. It was a nice sprinkling of tents in some lush pastures near the lizard village. The exotic plants around the tidy camp still seemed a little unreal.
But as he got closer reality confronted him again. Caged of from the rest of the jungle, the cages were messier and quickly becoming overgrown. Still an honest job was better than being a helpless spectacle and sitting duck. The supervisors jaw dropped as Mean appeared back at camp. The supervisor just managed to greet him, still almost stunned.
Mean replied that he had been right, the humans had been very generous in efforts to prove their gear. He left hoping that was enough to let things continue as normal, by merely acknowledging the unusual change.
The workers reacted far more quickly and soon there was jokes about the outcast being so cowardly that he had gone to the soft ones for help. There was much clocking and discussion about the outcasts strange behaviour. The team he had worked with the previous day clocked and slammed an available spot on one of their benches. They said that they would be quite happy to protect the outcast. He calmly took the indicated seat hoping it would let things flow normally again.
Though he knew the clocking was laughter he still found it slightly unnerving. He was relieved when things finally started to quieten down and the supervisor had finally began to process the unusual morning. The supervisor told everyone to focus. Their new outcast was going to be doing some rodent hunting. He would stick with the fighter bird team till others needed his help.
This caught the half-lizards off guard and another round of clocking ensued. The outcast really was an odd one. He was not worried about the worst of the chicken-beasts, but suited up soft-person style, to face of against little marsupials. It was clear that the lower stationed of the lizard blessed society, were now enjoying their newcomers antics. He was no longer a lurking drunkard, that they were figuring out if he should be politely ushered away.
The lighter happier attitude was not just at camp either. The most unusual difference was that once a couple of the younger chicken-beasts had checked over their shoulder they came to watch Mean and the team as they geared up. The team had gone in first and were glad that the beasts waited further down the fence, watching Mean make his tool selection.
Discarded at the back of their cage’s tool cupboard was a little buzz-saw. He clipped that to his waist and headed to the cage as well. His team mates looked at each other and a gentler round of clocking followed, until they remembered that they’d locked themselves in with the meanest beasts of the farm.
The start of their duties progressed in a much calmer manner than the previous day. Once again Means new team kept a tight formation and stuck to the food and water duties. Mean on the other hand extended on his previous days foolishness. He strayed further and focused on some serious pruning initially.
The biggest change was that two of the young beasts were curiously following along and seeing what was edible in the carnage he left behind. Initially the beasts though they were spoiled just to have a salad half prepared for them and some huge surprised bugs flushed out for catching. But then their day got better.
As they came to one of the messier feeding areas deeper into the large caged paddock there was a sudden crack, splitting the calm burble of the forest. Mean had handled the rifle well, allowing it a stable frame to launch a projectile from.
He took the now dead scavenger rodent and hefted the carcass as far as he could. Embarrassingly it only landed a couple of steps away. Once he walked away, the confused beasts eventually approached the carcass. With this strange human not staking claim on it’s kill, they cautiously tore some flesh off. When they noticed that the human had moved on to it’s next project, they delightedly finished off the little snack.
His team stuck to formation watching his antics. They were not sure if they should be more worried for Mean or relieved that he kept the beasts attention away from them. As they got to the next stop they definitely settled for worrying. The old scarred beast returned and did a reasonable job at giving an intimidating cry.
The team was definitely worried. Luckily Mean was still wired for survival, where his fear centre shut down. He calmly thought for a split second. When the beast lunged he only had one real option which turned into him stumbling backwards and raising the small buzz saw as an attempt at defence.
It caught one of the creatures arms after leaving a nasty gash on it’s ugly face. It was definitely going to be the biggest scar of it’s collection. But it seemed to have come to settle the score from yesterday. Mean was already a bit winded and had at least faced the beast again in the micro reprieve.
The beast lunged again and Mean was at least satisfied that he got the buzz-saw in the beasts skull. But then he passed out again as he was sent flying from the impact of the collision.
Luckily he had killed the beast. So the rest of the team could safely drag his unconscious form out of the cage. They dumped him in the supervisors office and went to finish the rest of the cage.
Mean groggily woke up an hour later. The supervisor was relieved to see the outcast awake. He was beginning to wonder if he needed to pull the armour off and figure out who to notify. But luckily the outcast was alive.
When Mean looked composed, the supervisor asked him how he was. When Mean reassured him he was just a bit sore, he was made to walk around the office a few times. The supervisor was impressed that Mean was even alive, but he didn’t let it show.
He told Mean that he should be more cautious, even though his enthusiasm was appreciated. He said that he’d been thinking and he had a neighbour that could use someone else around the house. Also it would be useful for Mean to have a cave to recover in if this was how he operated.
Mean guessed that it was mainly concern behind the half-lizards words. So he agreed to meet this neighbour of his. Once the supervisor finished what he was doing he told Mean to get up and find his stuff. Mean stumbled a bit but got the big bag.
They slowly walked toward the village. This was the first time Mean had entered the huge stone walls. There were some fancier houses and buildings closer to the gates. Then they kept walking at a slow pace through to the back of the village where there was almost a slum area in the caves at the back.
He loudly tacked in greeting once they reached a small cave entrance. A hooded form poked her head out. Seeing the supervisor she greeted him. As they got closer Mean almost fell over when he realised it was Nyoma.
Luckily he was too exhausted to react and let the two talk. At the moment the supervisor had moved on from talking about taking pity on the outcast with seemingly suicidal tenancies, to saying she could use some back up given how worried some of the elite females were given their previous treatment of her.
Nyoma looked at the strange outcast who was hidden under a bizarre mix of clothing. She thought for a bit and then asked if he could be depended on.
The supervisor could only report on what he had seen. He pointed out that they were pretty sure Sihric had dropped him off, that he calmly worked with half-lizards, was almost favoured by the humans and fearless in battle. The main problems were that he was too reckless and would drink when things were rough.
Nyoma though more and asked when he drunk, if he bothered those at the farm or if he kept to himself.
The supervisor said it was the later.
So after she made a big point to let the outcast know she was only doing this to return the supervisors kindness over the years, she agreed. She invited the two into the dimly little cave. Little glow worm tubes gave gentle light so you could at least let you see around the main room. Then she used a lantern to show him the bathroom kitchen and his room. The room was a small section carved out of the rock with a slat stretcher like bed, seat and box, all crammed into the tiny space.
Mean collapsed into the seat and the supervisor clocked. They both agreed at this stage he was not going to be much of a threat and they would look at the situation again in a couple of suns time. With that they left Mean to himself. The chair was barely supportive enough, but he was so exhausted that he drifted off to sleep.
He wasn’t sure when he woke up but it was now dark outside as well. He found a lantern waiting by his door and grabbed the towel and soap. With a quick wash in a bowl in the bathroom, he felt much better.
It looked like the supervisor had dropped of a fresh straw and a blanked while he was sleeping. Lying down he found it made the narrow bunk bearable and reasonably comfortable. Then pulling the cloak back on and over his head he went back to sleep.
The sun was already high in the sky when he awoke. He guessed that they weren’t going to be worried if he showed up at the farm or not. He got up and tested each of his limbs initially to see the extent of the damage. Bizarrely despite soreness and stiffness he seemed okay.
He slowly geared up, fitting armour to his aching body. Then he again checked how he moved, with mild success at limbering up a little. Relieved he decided to gear up and head to work. However he didn’t even make it out of the room before he heard nasty clicks coming in the caves direction.
The insults and harassment continued to get closer as he made it into the small caves main room. As he got towards the entrance he saw Nyoma being hounded by three well dressed lizard ladies. He was confused at the sight. Nyoma rushed back into her cave.
The lizard-ladies slowed, uncomfortable about chasing their prey in such an unpleasant place. Then their hesitation brought them to a complete stop as they saw the strange outcast in the entrance. One of them whispered that she definitely heard he’d taken a near fatal hit for a half-lizard. The other cautioned them that he was wearing strange soft one armour.
They recovered from their surprise and started mocking her from being so desperate that she’d taken a half lizard into her hovel. They carefully got a bit closer and asked was there anyone she wouldn’t go after now that she didn’t look completely hideous.
Mean had seen enough and stepped out a little. He asked if they often made a habit of harrasing the villages warriors.
That threw them a little. Eventually one of them asked the foolish outcast if he knew who her father was.
He suggested that she ask her mother, she should know these kind of things by this stage of life.
She fumed and though about what she would say next, but was too wound up to do anything to point out he was a stupid outcast.
With the lizard ladies now unsure of themselves he said he just about needed to get to work. Did they have any business with one of the villages warriors or did they need to get back to their own duties.
Surprised about the blunt treatment they mumbled a bit and then headed back to the village. They made parting comment that they needed to leave now anyway before the grossness and the uselessness of the area rubbed off on them.
Relieved Mean watched them head back to the main village. He was about to head to the farm, but Nyoma came to thank him. She apologised that the outcast had been caught up in the trouble. As far as she could tell if she’d been better looking, warriors would have already made moves on her and she would have become someones second wife long ago.
Now that they were considering taking her into elite society purely on her fighting achievements others were worried. Jealous wives were worried about their husbands gazes at a tomboy turned beauty. Lizard elders were troubled about making a female elite in her own right, even though it had happened in the past.
Mean kept it simple and said he was glad he could help.
Nyoma laughed and said she was surprised that talk was right, he spoke worse than the lizard-younglings.
Mean shrugged and said that, it was what it was. He had to get to work.
She smiled and wished him luck.
As he got back to the camp the supervisor was surprised to see him. He said he was happy to see him alive and well. He hadn’t expected the outcast back at work. He thanked him for helping with the fighter beast cage. The workers their were now enjoying working with their beasts and the tidy up was going well. He asked if the outcast was sure he wanted to work today.
Mean said that it would help keep his mind off other things.
The supervisor though for a bit and said that the other big paddock with attached cages were the most in need of attention.
Mean agreed.
They would have discussed the plan further, but Sihric showed up. He politely greeted them both and asked if he could borrow the outcast for a moment.
The supervisor said that was fine. In some ways he would rather the outcast was still recovering today.
Sihric smiled and said in that case he would take the outcast off his hands. He thanked him for caring for him so far. Once he’d pulled Mean out of earshot he gave him a bit of a good-humoured grilling. He double checked that Mean understood the idea of laying low. Because at the moment it looked like he was trying to get more people interested in killing him.
Mean gave a quiet little human laugh and apologised. He couldn’t see the point in not helping those that needed it though.
Next Sihric said they should probably head back to his place till they figured out what to do next. As they started walking the first thing he asked was if he’d really told the chiefs daughter that she was conceived by a drunken accident.
Mean gave an ah, as he started to understand. He explained that she had asked if he knew who her father was and he had pretended to misunderstand, the same way he had seen a soft elite talking.
Sihric put his hands over his face. Then clocked as he imagined the situation. He said he guessed that he couldn’t fault Mean on his fighting spirit. He said there was one other thing that had complicated things.
The ‘less blessed’ had been becoming more and more unsatisfied with the elite throwing their weight around. Now that he had at least given the half-lizards hope that they could tame the chicken-beasts, they were beginning to imagine being able to make a life without the elite.
So this in combination with his handling of the chiefs daughter, was starting to turn him into a bit of a poster child for revolution or exodus. As far as Sihric could tell more lizards were planning to kill off the outcast, than they were when he was just Mean.
Mean gave another quite laugh and said subtlety had never been his strong point.
Sihric agreed and said he should stay at his place till they figured out what to do next. He said Besenelle would let Nyoma know that the outcast was staying with them. That reminded Sihric. He said he was worried that Nyoma would kill him for letting a soft Mean work in the cages. He had just thought Mean might help prepare the food, but she wouldn’t care.
Now because Mean was pretty much fine and had stayed the night without telling her, she would definitely kill Mean first. Maybe he should head back to the craft, then they could tell her and she could blow off steam.
Mean again gave a quiet laugh and said that similar dynamics happened with soft-humans. They’d just have to figure things out one step at a time. He said it would probably make things more relaxing if he dealt with things more directly when the time came.
This time mean headed into the lizard village centre following Sihric. Lizards clearly weren’t master craftsmen, but this area of town had nice paved roads. They arrived outside a big stone place with a tidy reed roof. Sihric unlocked and headed in. He yelled to see if ‘Bee’ was in.
Bee was indeed in. She ran up to see Sihric but slowed when she saw the stranger. Sihric reminded her it was Mean.
Besenelles relaxed and cuddled into his waist. She asked how Nyoma was.
Sihric replied that she was holding up okay, but all the changes happening for her, were hardly ideal while alone in her nest.
Besenelles agreed and asked if they had made any plans yet.
Sihric said they hadn’t. Relieved she suggested they make tea and talk things through.
They sat at a rough wooden table in the simple house. But the tea mugs and pots were very nice pieces that you might find in a weekend market on the islands. Looking at Besenelles get up again, he asked if she had made the pottery. She smiled happily and said they were indeed her work. It was just a little annoying having to hide it living in an elite neighbour hood.
Sihric watched on happily, enjoying having the right company for his wife to be in her element. He found it a great blessing to care for the half-lizard and let her pursue her hobbies. They were quite profitable and allowed her to have her own plans of helping those in need or doing small projects to improve public areas. The only issue was that as they continued to grow closer, his gigantic incompatible physique became more of an issue.
When she had finished telling the introductory version of her joys of pottery, she quietened and turned her attention to Sihric. She asked how things were looking.
Sihric smiled and said that because Mean was better at making friends with chicken-beasts and half-lizards, he had pissed off the elite even better when he was disguised as an outcast.
Besenelle still had more of a laugh and a lovely smile. Used to balancing out Sihrics loyal soldier focused opinions she gave a silly suggestion. She said why didn’t he get the blessing reversal procedure, then they could all grab Nyoma and Toms to run away and live in the jungle.
This time Sihric could no think of a better life. He surprised everyone and agreed.
Wehl 2025
Chapter list: https://wordpress.com/page/levelzerotraining.wordpress.com/195
Dezhanite Drafts 