The past five days had been nothing but an endless string of torturous little events on the both of them as Sefu and Jelani put them through their paces. Verik had convinced them to train Altayih as well and while it was not that big of an issue, it did require some justification.

Altayih had provided his own by pointing out how little Verik was actually going to get in the long run when the irrigation system worked.

However, Verik still had a handful of minor doubts as to making it work as intended but if nothing else they would at least be able to flood the fields. For some reason though his new recruit was quite taken by the idea and was convinced it would work.

Thus became the new routine of life, gone were the days of walking and pulling wagons or fetching water, battling bandits and other such pleasantries. Now every day started with Sefu making everyone run like hell a set distance then walk back, once that wonderful session was over they went straight into training and either practiced or sparred for hours on end.

Sefu taught them how to use their spears in a "crash course" to get them both caught up with the rest that turned out to be rather painful but effective. Altayih and Verik had both become quite used to being thrown around, tripped or just having the wind blown out of their lungs when Sefu's staff nailed them in the chest or across their backs.

Five days and they had gotten caught up on theory if nothing else they had to admit, beyond that it would take months or years to properly learn how to fight. Altayih was lucky however, he only had to learn to use a spear, sling, bow and javelin along with hand to hand but Sefu added swordplay to Verik's list.

He was not sure which hurt more, the staff or the fighting stick.

One fact remained above the rest about Sefu and Jelani: they took training very seriously. Both were excellent instructors but also incredibly strict and harsh, there were a million ways to get yourself killed and it only took one, tiny, slip. It also did not help that they had little time to get caught up with their training so things were being hammered into their heads and bodies post haste.

Tendaji did not help things a great deal either, only two days in and he had wanted a rough idea of what the irrigation system would look like but Sefu had thankfully intervened. With his help the chief had been talked away from the idea that there would be a perfect outline any time in the immediate future but Verik was able to explain a rough outline which sated him. Something was being planned at least but time would tell, Altayih however had caused a stir during the meeting.

Altayih had taken to going wherever Verik went as if missing a moment would result in the permanent loss of some kind of grand event. He either took the "captain" bit too seriously or was being somewhat fasicious but that meeting had proven otherwise. He had slowly wormed his way into the conversation by pointing out problems with timing since they had to train but also that training stopped at sundown which meant there was no time to examine things properly.

It was towards the end that he drew a scowl from both Sefu and Tendaji when he remarked that Verik was getting a bit of a raw deal considering the number of lives he would be sparing from famine. This Arabian stallion was something else as he explained things away in detail with the utmost sincerity and without ever cracking a smile.

After the meeting Sefu had warned him against pushing their luck because neither had sworn any loyalty oath and for it were walking on water. Sefu could only do so much but with his brother already so troubled with recent events it might not take much of a push to send him the other way.

Now it was was behind them and Tendaji left them to plot and plan on their own so long as they provided something useful for when the next harvest was at an end. This unknown, imaginary date in the foggy future was their line in the sand: either cough up a plan so they can begin work when the harvest is over or get out. Verik already had things well in the works so that would not be an issue, the problem would be going from theory to actually digging it from the earth itself.

Not that the whole week had been a rush to the finish line, Jelani was responsible for their training with anything ranged and when she found both were well versed in the use of bows she was elated.

As to why she was so happy was discovered on the sixth day when she set the two of them loose in the grassy area north of Wete. A bow was more useful if one was never seen while making the shot.

Six days of getting years worth of training crammed in my head so I can crawl around trying to ambush a zebra. In broad daylight.

Verik slithered across the ground trying to stay silent as he wormed his way towards his "target" who had been put on sentry duty. Apparently Jelani and Sefu had taken an interest in his "ability" to stalk others and decided to see for themselves how "competent" he was at it. Somewhere else Altayih was doing the same while the sentry kept a lookout, whether he had been told or not Verik had no idea.

The two trainers on the other hand were somewhere else and remained invisible but were mostly likely watching the both of them.

It was a very simple test, all they had to do was reach the sentry without being noticed and stay there, unseen, till called upon. There was no risk of being shot or stabbed, he hoped. From the first day of real training Sefu had made a point to drag the two of them around so every single warrior and trainee knew who they were and that they were being "trained."

Turned out to be a rather short list considering how few warriors were among the population.

Just about everything he had ever read or heard was now flowing through his mind as he inched closer and closer, every time the sentry moved his head or ears he would freeze and wait. Which was easier? Stalking a deer in the woods with a rifle or a zebra on sentry duty?

Verik was happy with his life choices, all those books gave him something to work with rather than start from scratch like Altayih was, more or less.

Still, he was more concerned with where Sefu and Jelani were than the sentry, he had already picked out a few paths to crawl along and hopefully stay downwind, assuming of course the zebra could even smell him. The Wete believed in bathing which was a boon considering the strong smell that came off them at the end of the day, a truly unique smell to say the least. Apparently he was none to "fresh" either according to the others.

Slipping into the shallow slump Verik began working his way forward again before something popped into his head: he was leaving a trail of crushed grass behind him. Easing himself sideways so slowly it hurt he looked back when the sentry turned away, sure enough he had left a rather large worm trail behind him.

Had this been seen? How far did this test go? Until he was seen physically or were they keeping score of his mistakes?

A solution came to mind and staying on his side he borrowed a hint from an old documentary and began crawling on his side in another direction. If nothing else he was going to leave the worm trail behind and make up a new plan in case this "exercise" lasted until he was noticed.

Where the devil is Altayih?

Both were to accomplish their goal separately but he still had to wonder as he kept moving along one inch at a time. Salvation came when he felt the ground give way again to another shallow dip and slipping into it picked up the pace. The dusty washout was mostly devoid of grass and acted like a mini-highway provided he did not kick up any dust and so far it was working, it wove and bent its way back and forth around the gnoll the sentry stood upon.

How long all this took he could only guess at but after crossing the majority of the distance he left the washout and wormed his was back across before moving forward again. The closer he got the more the sentries ears moved back and forth listening, he could just hear him but not enough to be certain. Slowing down he laid out flat again to watch for a minute while waiting for the sentry to loose interest.

What next? Rest then keep going forward?

Verik mulled it over before his eyes darted sharply to his right as a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Up."

"Dead?"

"Maybe."

Verik stood along with Sefu who rose up then ushered him to the top of the knoll to join the sentry.

"Wont this tip of Altayih?"

"No, he caught hours ago."

"How?"

The sentry gave off a snort and pointed to the side Verik had been unable to see, apparently Altayih had not crawled but tried to move forward in short rushes to close the gap quickly. He had been seen almost immediately and his silent pursuer Jelani had collected him before sending him off to train with the other recruits.

"So how long did it take to find me?"

Sefu and the sentry looked at each other before deferring to the sentry to explain things.

"Saw your trail quickly but lost you for a bit."

"You let me keep going? Why?"

"Altayih not learn, you took time and had patience, moved slowly, used ground to hide, try different things. Then you disappear and not see you again till dust. Disappeared again but Sefu find you."

"Out of curiosity was there ever a point I could have snuck up on you?"

"Few times."

Sefu beckoned Verik away and led him back to the little "training camp" that had been set up which consisted of a dirt circle and a shade tree with water for in between bouts.

"Alright, so what was the purpose of all this if you knew we would fail from the start?"

"Did not know about Altayih, wanted to give you proper test after you ambush that bandit. You need more training, experience, but you understand how unlike Altayih. He need much more training in stealth."

"One more test to see just how far we could make it?"

"No. Wete able to send scouts that move fast, important for warning tribe, sometimes sneak up and destroy things. Make them leave."

"Thought you preferred to fight in your tribalistic way of going to X location at Z time."

"Bandits not care, bandits come we fight any way we must to win. You seen what they do."

"Kind of a double standard... Why not fight everyone the same way?"

Sefu never slowed his pace as he looked at Verik. "We fight your way with other tribes they fight like bandits, we fight this way because otherwise many suffer."

Are they holding themselves back for fear that everyone will begin to wage war like Fareed and his mercenaries?

"So what if say... A company of mercenaries showed up to wipe out the Wete... Then what? Meet them in the field and take your chances?"

The giant shook his head slowly as a somber look crossed his face before motioning with his head towards the village.

"That happen we run, mercenaries never come unless to burn village. You see how many there are? Many have that happen, soldiers come, maybe warriors fight but never enough to make difference. Better to run away than fight against army."

"Sounds like you have already given up. So... As long as whoever attacks is just another tribe or a group of bandits you stand and fight otherwise you abandon the village and run away?"

"Yes."

"Why not ambush the mercenaries, see how many you can kill before running, maybe they-"

"Some tribes try but more always come, soon army comes and all die."

The conversation was put to an abrupt end when they reached the training circle where others were busy sparing or practicing various skills. Altayih was back to learning how to use a bow which he had been rather taken with. He had remarked it was best to keep ones distance and remove the problem at a distance than risk getting skewered up close. It was a sentiment Verik agreed with.

"You spar with me now."

"Eh?"

In six days he had learned not one name beyond those he already knew including the handful of other recruits. Of course they all knew of Altayih and himself, one an escaped slave the other a "mercenary" with a rather colorful recent history that included being obstinate towards their chief.

Near as he could gather this had resulted in a bit of a divide, curiosity was piqued but also just as much distrust and even hostility. Among his "fellow recruits" it was more curiosity and distrust. Still, the moment he left and walked back to the village with the rest as they left the fields it became more distrust than anything else.

Neither he nor his "follower" had any real idea why that was, Jelani and Sefu were always incredibly busy and something else more important always came up so the question was never raised. That or he just forgot.

There were plenty of exceptions however as different families and "clans" within the tribe had been at least somewhat welcoming. This was almost exclusively amongst those who had family in the caravan he had traveled with and no doubt his actions had curried some favor amongst them.

So here he was, staring at a zebra of the same height as himself who was quite serious about training together and for the life of him he could not remember his name. Had he ever even heard his name before? Yes, he had, days ago... Jelani introduced them all but...

"Oookay..."

A staff was shoved into his hand and Verik found himself in the circle with others who were months or even years ahead of him. It mattered not one bit to Sefu though, everyone trained together though he did keep the playing field somewhat "level." None the less he would sometimes pit them against each other just to see how big the experience gap was or if it had closed.

"Start!"

Shit!

Verik ducked and used the staff to block the sweeping blow as chaos erupted in his tiny, dusty, circular world. One blow after another felt him out as if toying with him to see just how serious he was, this would also mean fighting dirty which might make some enemies.

Fortunately, whoever this zebra was that sparred with him had no intention of just ending the fight, be it for his own benefit or their own ego he had no idea. A shout from the side finally tipped him off as to who he was up against.

"Kick his ass Sabiwa!"

Well soon as I figure out your name its going on the list.

There was no rush however, Sabiwa did not pick up his pace nor press harder but continued to probe while throwing in a few serious attacks. Somewhere in the mix things finally became serious and Sabiwa moved to knock his legs out from under him but Verik planted his staff blocking the blow.

Without missing a beat Sabiwa jabbed at his chest, this to was blocked if only barely and it was then that Verik did something crazy: he grabbed the zebras staff.

Tried too at any rate, failed rather miserably as a leg shot out and thumped him back quickly. He could not decide if his "sparing partner" was either weak, insulting him or holding back, the blow had been enough to send him back but not enough to floor him. Sefu on the other hand would have just decked him or any of the others on the spot.

Sefu had more of a "no pain, no gain" attitude towards hand to hand fighting, he was fair and corrected mistakes but it remained a painful lesson.

Several blows had landed on him but only one had come close to hitting his opponent meaning things were looking grim. With one to the side happily cheering Sabiwa on every time a blow landed his ire continued to grow, he wanted the other in the ring more than Sabiwa.

Despite it the others remained silent including his opponent who ignored the heckler and continued to focus on the fight.

It was a simple lesson too: stay focused on the fight, maybe if he had remembered that perhaps he would not be falling as his legs were swept from under him. As he landed with a thud his opponent made a final jab, rolling sideways he grabbed a fistful of dirt on his way and tried to stand quickly.

Another blow landed in his side was he spun then hurled the dirt into Sabiwa's face making him cough and stagger, it was not enough to dissuade him however. Another one handed jab was made but this one slow enough for Verik to catch it and yank hard.

The two collapsed on each other in a ball of flesh and fur as they began slugging it out on the ground which was more to Verik's liking, at least here he had a better chance. However long they were at it neither knew but Jelani called them off each other when they were down to seeing who would pass out first from choking the other.

Escorted from the ring they were sat down and ordered to cool off while the others were sent back to continue their own sparing. Jelani ignored them entirely not that she needed to bother with them, both were gasping for air, exhausted and too beat up to move for a while.

"That against rules."

"I thought the rule was to win, bar injuring or killing your opponent."

"Very mean fighter."

"If it means winning..."

"Everything still blurry..."

Verik reached to his side and popped the top off the water jug then used the scoop to dip water from inside then passed it over. Sabiwa held his head back and poured it over his eyes slowly, blinking away the dirt.

"You win at any price then?"

"No, but neither am I going to hold back even if it is just training, I have a large gap to fill in with both knowledge and experience."

"He is right." Both heads looked at Jelani as she stood over them before checking on Sabiwa. "Fight to win, but Verik... No more throw dirt." He nodded as she finished checking one and then moved to the other. "This one have much to learn and little time, also..." Jelani glared at Verik, "that one volunteered to help train you, bridge gap quicker."

Verik glanced at the other a moment before looking back at Jelani. "Well that was a fine how do you do."

They both looked confused before shrugging, Jelani was off again just as quickly but it looked as if the two were stuck with each other.

"You must be very well along if she is having a recruit train."

Sabiwa shrugged it off, "six months, others far, far ahead but still ahead of you."

"So pair us off to get caught up faster... Are Sefu and Jelani too busy? What about Altayih?"

"They very busy because gone so long, also suspect problems coming, only two of them and several of us. Other warriors also very busy in fields, everyone working in field if not training. Too much to do, not enough hands to go around." Sabiwa stared off at Altayih for a minute as he continued to practice with a borrowed bow. "She assign him to you but ask me to help him anyway."

"Alright... But why did you volunteer? I assume everyone knows about that little meeting between myself and Tendaji by now."

"Yes, but you fight to protect convoy, that mean something. Curious, want to see."

"Fair enough."

"Ah good, you are still awake captain."

"Quit calling me that. My little band of mercenaries amounts to the two of us and both would have a hell of a time just staying alive."

Altayih shrugged before sitting beside Verik, training was largely over for the day and as per the usual arrangement Sefu had allotted time for planning the canal system. This meant every day he had an extra hour to stare at the ground and think on it.

"True, but you are still alive. Jelani told me what happened, she was brief but I got her point. If you can survive that there is hope for us both."

"I take it your food supply has run out."

"Yes."

"Well then... It is my responsibility to feed you after all. I will have to ask around about foraging, think I heard one or two saying something about there being nothing on this side of the river though."

"We can always cross and bring something back."

"Eh... Wete have some legal taboo about crossing the river because of some other tribe that claims it. I doubt they will notice the two of us assuming they even watch their side all that often."

"Ah, but captain, we have no boats."

"I think we can manage to scrounge up something..."

Verik walked down the dusty walkway leading back to the village, Altayih was elsewhere looking for materials for the plans of the morrow. In the meantime this left him to wander along and back to the hut so he could collect a small quantity of grain, with it Altayih would be able to feed himself for tonight at least.

Jelani had been informed of the problem and that he needed some time to solve the problem, she had agreed and told him Sefu would not bar him either. However, he left out WHERE they were going to get forage... With any luck they could make their dumpy little raft and float across, grab whatever they could and depart quickly.

Catch was, he had no idea how to swim, he hated bodies of water deeper than his waist and this river was much, much deeper and wider than that. Still, he was not going to let the other starve and with any luck they would gather enough to increase all their food storage.

The far side was rich, uncultivated and had been for decades because of the feud. With any luck at all no one was watching which would give them the time to cross, steal whatever they could and depart. This meant crossing farther up river where there was ample wood for raft making. Granted the wood was too poor for any real use but enough of it tied together and bound up properly would work.

Altayih had brought up "borrowing" the one raft in Wete but that was out of the question. As soon as their intentions were breathed aloud it would be over before it began.

Verik stared off into the distance as he walked, completely oblivious to the others around him including Asha who kept poking him till she got his attention.

"You have problem?"

"No... Sort of... Altayih will be by later, I am giving him a portion of my food stores to tide him over till we can forage up some food for him."

"Ah... Where you going?"

"I will tell you when we get back to the hut."

Asha nodded slowly, she looked the same as she did every day at this time: worn out, exhausted, dirty, hungry and a little bit blank faced. There was also one other thing that happened this time every day and that was the mass exodus for the river to bathe. A grand past time for the locals that he did not engage in prefering to instead hide till he could have some privacy.

Privacy... She always egged him on to just go and bathe but he always refused and this day was no different.

"Asha, I see enough naked zebras during the day in the fields below the training camp and IN the training camp. Last thing I want right now is to see any more naked zebras, especially males."

"Then no look."

"If I look away from where the males... Stallions... Bathe then that just leaves one other place and that could cause me a great number of problems."

"You no like what you see?"

"I like what I see far too much and that is the problem."

Asha snickered at him as they continued up the path and into the village. She had almost always wore that half destroyed hobo dress of hers in the past but had put it away lately in favor of going "au-naturale." All the while with the very valid excuse that she only had two sets of clothing and did not want to wear them out. Not that anyone could wear out clothing that revealed more than it hid.

This meant waking up to, eating breakfast and dinner, then going to bed in the same hut as naked Asha every day for five days straight. Waking up that second morning when Sefu came later thus allowing her to get up first had been one hell of a "good morning."

None of this was out of the ordinary however, quite normal in fact. Just about every last zebra on the road was wearing little to nothing and most believed all you really needed was a loin-cloth.

He was never going to get used to this but then again did he want to?

"Asha... What tribe controls the other side of the river?"

"Dont know, why?"

"I remember someone said something about the Wete trying to cross once upon a time to expand your fields and they attacked."

"Before I come, but hear about it. Far side has little farmland so no one use it."

Her eyes shifted up to him quickly and narrowed, she did not say a word but he knew Asha had figured out why he was asking.

"Dont worry about it, only the two of us and we wont be staying."

"Pray no one find out."

"That might be for the best, oh, if anyone asks tell them we went "fishing..." Dont look at me like that, its perfectly true but without the rods... Anyone around here having fishing spears?"

"Zebra eat fish sometimes but never see anyone fish in Wete."

"One more thing that sets you apart from the other world."

"What you mean?"

"Zebras are strict herbivores where I come from, they cant eat meat."

"We not eat meat but can eat fish..."

"Still a remarkable difference... Wait, if you can eat fish why does no one go fishing to help feed the tribe? Put everything in one big jar, water it down and make huge jars of fish soup."

"Never thought of that... Some families do that with rations but-"

"One more thing to look into."

"You serious about solving Wete food problem..."

"Very, after all, if I failed to do so not only would I not have a home but I would risk seeing you starve. I will not allow that."

Verik walked on realizing what he had said but did not say otherwise, he meant every word of it. Asha meanwhile just smiled happily as they walked back to their hut.

Author's Notes:

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