Requis The ranks stood at attention as the captains swaggered into the clearing. Captain Sev was a short, stocky built man who wore a dark green hooded cloak. His weapon of choice, the dagger, hung at his hip on a thick leather belt. Green eyes blazed from the inky depths of the hood. Standing tall and graceful above the figure of Captain Sev was Captain Kik. A young Half, her beast was a fox. She looked almost like a human teenager, except for the fact that her ears were positioned at the top of her head within her mass of long amber-red hair and were red furred and black-tipped like a fox�s. There also was the fact that she had a tail. Sprouting from the base of her spine, it was long and red, with a black tip, like a fox�s. She wore a small, simply made dark green skirt and tight shirt as to reduce leaving an easy trail for the enemy to follow. A large longbow was strapped to her sinewy back along with a quiver of eagle-feather arrows. Both Captains threw a quick salute to their toon leader before turning back to the ranks. The toon leader, Lenn, was another Half like Captain Kik, and about the same age. His beast was a cougar. He sported his creature�s tufted ears within his curly black hair and long, whip like, black-tipped tail. He lounged on a patch of ferns, watching the Captains brief his toon on the mission with his icy blue calculating eyes. The mission was simple enough; raid the enemy camp and report back to base. Lenn picked a piece of food from his sharp cougar�s teeth with one of his pearly claws. He sighed, flicking an ant off of his own hooded green cloak. He always kept the hood down. He felt that it obscured his peripheral vision. The Captains finished the briefing, nodding at the members of the toon. The ranks broke; their members off to pack up camp. The Captains made their way to Lenn through the various Halves and humans packing up tents and supplies. Lenn smirked, �Wow. You two sure are good at making something so simple sound complicated.� His voice was sarcastic and held a slight Mexican accent. Kik rolled her amber eyes, �Would you like to brief those thick headed idiots on how to raid an enemy camp? We had to explain practically everything to them! Figures they�d give us raw recruits.� Sev remained silent. �No, I wouldn�t like to explain to those oafs how to raid an enemy camp. But I don�t have to. That�s your job,� Lenn replied, leering at her. �Cease and desist, you two,� Sev broke in. His voice, deep and grating, held a commanding tone. They both stopped talking, turning away to sulk. Sev smiled to himself. They were both so young and proud. Soon they�d learn to become void of dignity, to selflessly give themselves to the cause. Like him. The clearing was in a great forest of redwoods, towering above them like massive cathedral steeples. The forest floor was covered in a soft carpet of pine needles and here and there, a fern patch resided. Soon enough a human girl saluted Lenn, �All packed, sir. Ready to continue on foot.� Lenn nodded, vaulting from his fern resting place with the lightening fast reflexes of a cat. Kik sighed, tired of his constant attempts to impress her. She and Sev followed Lenn in inspecting the toon before they set off toward the enemy. �Everything in order,� Sev commented in his nonchalant way. �Seems to be,� Kik added, frowning. She checked to make sure her bow and quiver were in place. Lenn nodded his approval, �Let�s continue, then.� The toon trudged through the thick foliage, following Lenn, Sev, and Kik. Kik whirled on the ranks, whispering fiercely, �If you continue fumbling about like you have been, the enemy will hear us miles away.� Lenn turned as well, meeting Kik�s gaze with a half-smile and then glaring at the troops as he confirmed what she had reasoned, �I suggest you gather your wits and move as quietly as possible. This should be an easy mission.� Kik sighed. She hated it that Lenn felt that he needed to repeat everything she said, as if it gave it more importance to the troops. Kik knew that the whole of the toon despised him (she wasn�t stupid), so, if anyone, they would rather listen to her than Lenn. The crew grumbled then fell silent as they continued to move through the forest, now nearly silent. Lenn kept glancing over at Kik, as though to decipher what she was thinking. After about the fifth time, her amber eyes snapped to his blue ones. He blinked, startled. �What is it?� she hissed through gritted teeth. A blush crept unbidden to Lenn�s dark cheeks. He struggled to maintain a cool and calm exterior. �Nothing,� he shot back sarcastically. Kik rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh, just in time to catch him shooting her one last furtive glance before returning his eyes to the trail ahead. _______________________________________________________________ The human girl pointed to the plume of smoke blossoming from the treetops. �Probably a campfire,� she whispered to her Half companion. The Half nodded, his rabbit ear twitching nervously. As the troops neared the enemy camp, Lenn ordered them to paint their faces with camouflage. The members of the toon dug into their heavy packs for the green-brown stuff. The human girl urged her Half friend to remain still as she applied the sticky paint to his face, �Stop trembling, Typhra!� Typhra cocked an eyebrow at his friend, �Me? Trembling? It�s you who�s practically shivering the clothes right off your body, Jenai!� Jenai rolled her green eyes, going back to the task at hand. By the time the task was finished, the ranks all were covered in brown-green blobs of the camouflage paint, including Sev, Kik, and Lenn. Kik wiped a huge glob of the stuff from one of her enormous brown eyes, grimacing and hissing at Lenn, �Is this really necessary?� Lenn grinned, smearing another blob out from under his own eye, �Of course, doll.� In a split second, Kik had grabbed the collar of his green shirt, pulling his face up close to hers, which was contorted in anger and sheer loathing. �Do not call me doll,� she spat in his face before dropping him to the ground. Lenn wore a look of bewilderment as he nodded, wiping her spit off of his nose. Sev chuckled, a rare occurrence. Lenn glared at him, dropping back to walk among the ranks, away from Kik. Jenai watched their toon leader suspiciously as he fell into stride beside her. �What is it?� she asked, glaring at him. He grinned playfully, �Nothing. Can�t I spend a little time with my troops once in a while?� �Sure,� Jenai cocked her eyebrow at him, but questioned no further. �Consequently . . .� he continued, glancing at the back of Kik�s head, �Do you think that Kik absolutely hates me?� He eyed her hopefully. Jenai�s eyebrow rose (if possible) even higher, �Well . . . I don�t think she hates you. But I don�t think she�s too happy with you right now.� She chuckled dryly. �Hmm . . .� Lenn replied, lost in his world of thought. �If you don�t mind my asking . . . why?� Jenai continued. Lenn smiled strangely at her, �No reason. Just curious.� Jenai smirked. Right. Lenn, acting even more strangely by the moment, continued to grin in that strange way, �What did you say your name was? I don�t believe we�ve been properly introduced.� Jenai�s brow furrowed as she tried to fight back another smirk. What was his problem? �I�m Jenai Albraide.� �Lenn Tui,� he spoke. Jenai silently snickered. As if she didn�t know his name. Upon looking at her closer, he found her to be really quite pretty. She had that exotic, strange sort of beauty that doesn�t hit you between the eyes, but reveals itself slowly. Her eyes were a bright green, narrow and curved down slightly at the edges. The eyelashes that framed them were thick and black, the same color as her hair which lay in large banana curls down her back to nearly her waist. She had drawn the mess of it back with a thin green cord, but a few curls had strayed into her face, which she pushed back irritably. Her skin was a dark chocolate hue, though you couldn�t tell under all the thick war paint, and her face was long and oval shaped, with unusually high cheekbones. �So . . . why did you join the Requis Army?� Lenn said, trying to make conversation. Jenai frowned. Really, what was he playing at? �Why should you care?� Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow, �Why shouldn�t I care about those who serve me?� Jenai smiled sweetly at him, �I�m sure you have better things to do than talk to us underlings.� She threw the word at him with such contempt, he literally winced. With that, the girl stalked off to join her friend Typhra the Half, who shot Lenn an icy glare. There was tension in the ranks already, and they hadn�t even neared the ambush site. ________________________________________________________ The small toon of the Requis Army crept silently through the thick brush surrounding the enemy camp. Kik drew her longbow in anticipation, frowning condescendingly at Lenn as he rejoined the rest of the Captains. �Where have you been?� she hissed quietly, her face a mere inch from his in the growing darkness. Lenn brought a finger to his lips, his eyes straying away from hers, looking at something behind her. She turned slowly, taking in the sight. The enemy guard, a large Half whose beast seemed to be a bull, was scanning the very foliage they crouched in with narrowed eyes. Kik rolled her eyes, notching an eagle feather arrow to her longbow and sighting down the shaft. Her arm pulled back until her elbow was nearly poking Lenn�s eye. �Watch it!� he whispered, pulling away from her. She glanced at him, shaking her head in mock pity before turning back to look down the shaft and releasing the arrow gracefully. It struck straight and true, sinking deep into the Half�s chest. He didn�t even have time to call out before he fell backward with a soft thump! Kik smiled satisfyingly at Lenn and Sev, lowering the bow. �Now that he�s out of our way . . .� she gestured for the small toon to follow her as they stepped into the open. Lenn and Sev drew their weapons simultaneously, and the rest of the toon followed suit. Typhra hesitantly eyed Jenai�s curved rapier. �Are you sure you know how to use one of those?� Jenai smirked, licking the blade, �Oh yes. I know how to use a rapier. In fact, it was my first plaything as a child.� Typhra frowned, �That�s . . . disturbing.� Jenai gave him a cocky smile, �I know.� Typhra took out his own saber, passing it from hand to hand nervously. Jenai giggled, which was very out of character, and gave him a playful shove which nearly caused him to cut off his hand with the flying saber. �Stop being so uptight, Typhra, you�ll be fine. Even though this is your first time with a saber,� she said, sending him a devilish grin of perfect white teeth before she took her place in the front of the toon. Typhra smiled to himself. He had known Jenai for four years in the Requis Army, and she never ceased to amaze him. ______________________________________________ The Requis Army crept silently around the edges of the enemy camp. All eyes darted from Lenn to the enemy and then to Lenn once more. Finally, the toon leader gave the signal, a sharp nod, and the toon came pouring from the brush. The enemy was caught totally by surprise as the Requis fell upon them. Jenai could be heard laughing as she ran a tough looking human through with her rapier. Lenn twirled a saber, much like the one Typhra wielded. Typhra himself hung in the back of the toon, making occasional swipes at the enemy only when absolutely necessary. Kik also neared the back, but for another reason: her longbow wasn�t much good at close-range. She loosed arrow after arrow into the enemy ranks from behind, taking care not to hit her fellow Requis. But Sev led the charge, dagger held in each hand as he ran mercilessly into enemy lines.
Copyright © 2005 La Carlotta |