[Content Warning: References to drug use and unsettling behavior.]
"We're quite full and have somewhere to return to, but I'd never refuse the company of a brother. Let's spare a moment together."
They made their way ahead, through the tents, until they found a big, open fire surrounded by several men sprawled out on cushioned mats in the grass, laughing, and drinking while they roasted food.
Each had a xira nearby, but none were sparring. They were too enthralled with what they were talking about, snorting and snickering throughout.
The slender man put down the small, cast-iron pot. Immediately, one of them yanked out the snake and started skinning it. Salīa tilted her head, trying not to wince.
"I just met a fellow brother and sister."
"Oh?" They all glanced over, then chuckled. "Welcome! Sit! Enjoy!"
Salīa hesitated. But Bazil clicked his tongue softly twice, a wordless way of making an x. It was his best way of secretly reassuring her and reminding her of their oath.
The men made a wide berth for them, offering them the highest and most comfortable cushioned mats. She felt their furtive glances, which made her skin itch.
These men are zazi? Wait, these men are zazi.
She looked to the slender man who took the mat opposite them, the only one as elevated.
"Do you have a brother?"
The man's eyes flitted to her.
"You know him?" he asked in common tongue.
So, he does.
The only similarities she saw in the two were that they had bronze skin. But the boy had more vibrant, doe eyes with a rounded nose, while the man's eyes were duller and puffier with a pointed nose.
I guess they must be half-brothers.
"We met him on our path. He seemed eager to get back to you. Did he?"
The other men's voices lowered, but they never granted full silence.
"Not yet. You know little boys. I think he must've wanted to wander around more. But I'm sure I'll see him soon."
"Not yet," she traced the words. "Even so, his friend was also really eager to see her father again after his return from his mission."
The air tensed.
Though no silence was kept, as the man dealing with the snake, poured out the venom it extracted from the head into a separate pot.
"She did get here, didn't she?" said one of them.
"I remember that," said another. "It was around dawn, Phiri."
"Oh, yes," added the slender man called Phiri. "She was here earlier with her father, but they took off."
They traded tribal tongue for common tongue, so she heard them clearly, but still didn't understand what they were saying.
"But Nyau seemed so close with your brother."
The men quieted this time. Bazil made no sudden movements, but he had certainly been watching all of them, even if they didn't know it.
"You're so caring," Phiri said glibly. "No wonder they clung to you two."
Clung to us?
Bazil sipped from his flask and said, "We just happened to pass by each other. Anyway, it's good that she and her father are together. This zaza just worries a lot."
"That's just how our women are," Phiri chuckled, alongside the others.
Another man took out a tin of what appeared to be red clay and started crushing it. And beside the one roasting snakes, there was another who was grinding up vials of something in the pot of snake venom.
Salīa felt her heart ache. Their essence was increasingly withering in something unsettling.
"Good of Nyau to tell you her name, though. Fellow zazi, by any chance, do you know her father?"
Bazil shrugged and laid back as if he couldn't care less.
"And you zaza? Did you catch his name?"
I did…but…what is this menacing aura?
"She just called him her father." Which is true. She only wrote his name down. "Did you catch his name?"
All the men shrugged and laid back, just as Bazil had.
"So many zazi come and go, we always have a mission of some sort. We usually just call each other brother. Right, brother?" he grinned at Bazil, lifting his own flask.
"Right, brother," Bazil lifted his, and they drank together.
Salīa glanced at his flask sleeve, patterned like zebra skin. Her body stiffened.
Smoke unfurled around them. Some of them had pipes, blowing wisps of grey their way. But then she saw little balls of red powder being stuffed into pipes.
"What about his medicine?" Salīa realized, a cough escaping her. "Is that it?"
Phiri's grin deepened, and he laughed amongst his friends. The one with the powder pipe lit it and released it and let a haze of red fill the air.
Her fingers clenched the moment she realized what it was. They passed the pipe along, their eyes reddening with it.
"He told you about his medicine? You all must've had quite a time together. I love that."
It didn't sound like he meant that.
Salīa was used to the smell of hoodjah, but tobacco and puffkyll were heavily frowned upon in Salazā, with the latter being banned there.
She coughed again.
Both Phiri and Bazil offered their flasks, and she tentatively took Bazil's, not sure what might happen. But Phiri just laughed and nodded for one of his men to pass him a bowl.
"Yes, he does take medicine. My brother. And you probably mentioned it because you saw what happens when he doesn't. I worry too, but don't worry at all. I promise that as soon as I see him, I'll make sure he takes as much as he can."
He smiled at her, and she forced one out too. Bazil cleared his throat of a cough. Bowls were passed out, and it seemed they were all eating strips of roasted snakes.
"Do you think Mkango might have lost his way?"
"Mkango?!" Phiri exclaimed, then slurped up a long strip of snake. "Ah, my brother!"
"Mkango, our brother," the other men called out, chuckling as well.
"Did I say it wrong?"
Noticing Salīa frozen in place, Phiri wavered his hand.
"No, you said it perfectly. I just get excited by many things. You see, I always found it funny that he has such a big name for such a small child."
The men hollered on, smacking their lips as they chewed on and wiping their greasy hands on their sides.
"Oh, that reminds me. I'm not sure where you're headed, but you might want to spend the night away from these things. If you keep going right, you'll find an inn called Mkango of all things," he clapped. "Just tell them Phiri sent you, and they'll give you a free night."
She turned to Bazil, who appeared to be putting his flask away, but she caught sight of the letter being shielded under it.
As if feeling Phiri's curious eyes wander, Bazil shot a glance at him first, his face bright and brilliant. He even offered a gregarious smile, one that looked just like Auro's.
"We appreciate your counsel. Did you say if we keep going left?"
Phiri paused, then said, "It's all the way right, you won't miss it."
As he shook out his collar, Bazil suddenly kneeled and made an x.
"I apologize for not greeting properly. I didn't know you were a Commander Guardian."
"Oh?"
Phiri looked at the black and gold tiger sigil like he had forgotten it was there. It swung out his neck, hanging on him like a pendant, and he flicked at it playfully, having the men smile at it.
They also shot him an x, which Phiri only seemed to find funny.
"Don't worry, brother, rise. Aren't you a Commander Guardian too?"
Both Salīa and Bazil froze, but instinctively looked to each other and chuckled as if the notion were bizarre. Fortunately, Bazil left his sigil behind.
The only thing that could expose him was his signet ring, yet that too was locked and would only open with the touch of someone of his bloodline.
"You praise me too much, brother. I'm barely a zazi as is. This zaza and I are just taking whatever missions we qualify for until we can rank up enough to be official guardians. It will certainly be a long while before we can even hope to reach the heights that you have."
His words were as flattering, if not an almost complete rendition of Prince Naca's, and no doubt he grudgingly took to refining his tone in the same way.
"But you have the heart of a lion. I'm sure you'll rise the ranks in no time. I'm just a mere hyena, aren't I? We all are. But we're all brothers together in the end, isn't it? Elephants, zebras, snakes. All family."
If the snakes they just ate represent how he sees family, I'd hate to be a part of it.
"My favorite are tigers."
Salīa swallowed.
"Nothing better, don't you think, brother?"
Bazil's eyes stayed stony, yet Salīa could feel something heavy rippling through his aura. They both coughed as spirals of red smoke passed through. The pipe got passed to another over Salīa. Yet the scent of it was so overwhelming, it squeezed her head tight.
She instantly stood up, grabbed her face, and knocked the pipe over. It was a full one, too. The men looked over, their expressions shifting.
"Who's to blame?" asked Phiri coldly.
Instantly, Bazil covered her with his arms and said, "If blame must be given, then I guess I'll take it."
Salīa realized that this directly mirrored the time Letu and Lefu covered for her.
What now?
Moments passed in silence, then suddenly the men burst out laughing.
"Relax, fellow brother and sister," Phiri winked at them. "It's just medicine."
Salīa gritted her teeth.
It's definitely not.
She wasn't sure how much more she could withstand, feeling dizzy. Bazil lifted and helped her, too.
"Ah, I guess you're leaving us then."
He shot a look at Phiri and then the other men as if waiting for them to pounce. But they stayed seated, filling up the pipes anew.
"It was great to cross paths with you both," he said, and his men all added words of agreement.
Salīa and Bazil treaded cautiously, watching each slip of their toes or fingers.
But none followed them to their horses besides Phiri. And even he kept a respectable distance, and in line with their sight.
"Oh, what was it again?" Bazil asked, reverting to his tribal tongue. "Did you say we should go left or right?"
The man clicked his tongue and answered, pointing right. Bazil nodded, offering a hearty smile and x, to match that of the undying grin on Phiri's face.
They glanced over at the men, who all waved politely and said, "Blessed night to you all. Stay safe."
"You too," the men said in unison, staring them down as they sped away.
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