Chp.6: A new strangeness

Misune left the sac-nuts under the sun for a few minutes, until one after the other they cracked, releasing the sand contained inside them and revealing the red and juicy pulp. The half-elf scooped the juice into a bowl and then tried to take a sip. "Mh. It's really very sweet... I'd say too much" she said emitting a cry of disgust. Haku had expected this: having previously tried the fruit and having found that for his superior dragon taste buds it had a very sweet fragrance, he had figured that for a newcomer's limited sense of taste it would be too much. "Maybe I could dilute it with water or maybe honey... or I could use it only in small quantities for a dessert... I have to think about it"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to use it" Haku said.

"I hope so. Otherwise I would have sweated waiting under the sun for nothing" Misune said. Even if Haku had shaded her with his body, the hot wind and the heat of the desert were decidedly less bearable than the fresh air that was present in the oasis. "Do you have any culinary advice for me?"

"We dragons aren't really experts in cooking. Everything we find we eat as we found it, as long as it's meat" Haku replied. In fact, dragons had practically no traditional recipe, since their diet was based exclusively on raw meat.

"Yeah, I forgot about that" Misune said. "I don't know how you eat that stuff. I tried to taste raw meat once and it was the most disgusting thing I could put in my mouth"

"We dragons have different taste buds than newcomers. Besides, we don't risk catching diseases" Haku replied. "And if you have to constantly survive, it's much better to eat raw meat. It means not signaling your presence with a fire and also you can finish your meal sooner without having it stolen or interrupted before you can finish it"

"Well, now you don't have to survive anymore" Misune pointed out as she poured the juice from the sac-nuts into a jar. "You could try new foods right now. Maybe you could enjoy learning to cook"

Haku snorted. "I too would like to believe that we don't just have to survive anymore, but that's not the case. This place for us dragons is just a stop on the journey, a safe place where we can grow peacefully. But sooner or later we will run out of food and we will have to leave" he said. "Besides, even now this place is not safe. The situation is constantly in the balance and could escalate at any moment. My family and I prefer to remember what it means to keep our guard up, rather than wasting time on frivolous pastimes"

Misune wanted to contradict him, tell him something like 'the trip is over, now you can rest', but she knew it would be a lie and that Haku could recognize lies very well. Even she knew that their long-term survival was by no means guaranteed. "Is the situation with the Council really that serious?"

"Did you know?" Haku asked her.

"Everyone in the oasis knows that. We have eyes to see and brains to understand. We built this place, but there has been no further progress since then. And we're not making any effort to grow more food" Misune answered. "Everyone is wondering if the Council knows something that we don't know and so you prefer to wait, or if you simply don't know what to do"

Haku let out a deep growl. Apparently the rumors they knew were only a small part of the whole: the entire population had begun to doubt. "And you? What do you think?"

Misune capped the jar full of sac-nuts juice and put it back in her backpack, then she signaled Haku to go back, and she started walking towards the forest always being very careful to stay in the shadow of the dragon. "I've known you long enough to know that such a standoff wouldn't be like you. If there were any problems, you would have already found all the possible solutions to solve them. Which leads me to think that you simply can't do as you want because the rest of the Council isn't on your side"

"Well, apparently you know me well, because that's exactly what's going on" Haku grumbled. "The Council wastes time with discussions and quibbles and in the meantime the population is getting more and more frightened. We should have started work on food production many days ago... but this system for making decisions is bankrupt. Voting can work in times of plenty, but times like this we can't wait for everyone to agree"

"Can't you get to do… well, whatever you want to do?" Misune asked, preferring not to go into detail. She really had no idea what project the dragon had in mind.

Haku shook his head in disappointment. "For them, my idea is too risky, or too improbable. They prefer to be sure everything works out, but they don't realize that any other solution will lead to the destruction of this place and further complications. And as much as I talk and try to convince them, they don't listen to me. They only see how different I am... and I only see how stupid they are"

Misune giggled. "Yeah. We... newcomers, as you call us, can often be imbeciles" he admitted. "But there will also be a way to reach a compromise..."

"No, there isn't" Haku answered, and sadly it was true. Either they tried to cultivate outside the oasis without the certainty of succeeding on the first attempt, or they cultivated inside the oasis with the certainty of succeeding and at the same time destroying that single piece of paradise in the middle of a hellish desert. "And even if there is, we're running out of time. We have to make a decision, and quickly. If it goes badly, we'll have time to regret it later, but now people have to see that we're taking action. Otherwise, we won't be able to complain when the problems start. You I'll tell you how it will go: first they will start with small transgressions, then with protests, finally with acts of violence. This is how communities collapse. Unfortunately, the people are not willing to reason when you make them miss one of their main needs, they just want the blood"

Misune shivered; not so much because they had just returned to the forest and the fresh air had hit them, but because the scenery was chilling. "What are you going to do then?"

Haku pointed to the sand worm they were leaving behind and which was still firmly tied to a tree. "For starters, I brought that. Tomorrow I'll go get some more, so people seeing them will be convinced that they don't have to worry about food for a while. Then I'll start thinking about a way to convince the Council members before the situation is in the balance again" he answered. "And if there's really no avoiding the worst... then I'll take you and my siblings' friends and all my family, and we'll go off for a while and let these people kill each other alone. When they're done, we'll come back and take this place back. And this time, we'll be in charge, or someone we can trust. I won't allow further division"

Misune shook her head. "I can't do this. I mean, I can't leave. There are children here, old people, innocent people. They're not all bloodthirsty, and they've been through too much already. They don't deserve to be abandoned"

"I'm trying to find a solution before things fall apart because I want to avoid you or anyone else having to choose!" Haku growled. "And if I don't succeed... then anyone who wants to come with us will be welcome. You can bring the children with you if you want"

"And those who have parents? Those who have family here and don't want to abandon them?" Misune rightly pointed out.

Haku let out an exasperated snort. "I can't save anyone who doesn't want to be saved!" he exclaimed. "I'm doing my best, Misune! But even I can't control the minds of these people! And if the Council doesn't decide to act, this will be the only solution!"

Misune remained silent for a second, then said in a faint voice: "No, instead. There is another possibility"

"And that would be?"

"Don't wait for things to fall apart and stop trying to find people you trust to run the community. Take the lead, now"

Haku's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you serious?"

"Why not? You are the best person for this!" Misune replied. "Who saved all these people? Who defeated Carrion? Who guided us through the desert? Who knows what to do to avert a crisis? You! If anyone in this oasis is to fit the definition of a leader, it's you. You always consider all options, you make sure that as few people as possible are sacrificed, you have an intelligence that anyone else can only dream of, and you know what is essential to this community. how many would be much better off! I know you don't really care about these people, but I also know that you care about everyone under your command, and that alone qualifies you to be a good leader. What's holding you back? Can you take command when you want! You killed Carrion, if you present yourself to the Council tomorrow demanding their total obedience they will not be able to oppose you, and whoever opposes will die! Eliminating the problem, isn't that what you always do? What's holding you back this time?"

Haku shook his head. Misune was clearly only looking at a small part of the big picture. "It's not that simple, Misune" he said. "See, you must know that..."

Haku suddenly froze; his head snapped up and darted in different directions, and his nostrils and eyes visibly widened. Misune knew that when a dragon reacted like that, it meant that he must have heard something that her limited senses couldn't perceive, so she tensed up and got as close to Haku as possible, knowing that whatever was around for sure would have us think twice before attacking a ten-ton dragon. "What happens?" she whispered.

"Ssssh!" Haku replied, then started walking in one direction, moving so silently that it almost seemed as if he never touched the ground. Misune followed him and after a while she too began to hear strange noises: they looked like deep rumblings combined with the sound of a person vomiting. After a few minutes they reached the source of that sound and observed it hidden behind a tree: it was one of those gigantic anteaters that can often be seen swimming in the lake. "It's just a kori" Misune said.

But Haku wasn't of the same opinion. The scent he was smelling wasn't that of a normal kori; it was something different, something more rotten… sick. Also, he could clearly see that the anteater was staggering, and every breath it took was accompanied by a gasp. Through his extraordinary hearing, Haku could sense that the animal's lungs and heart weren't working properly. "Something is wrong" he murmured.

The kori swayed from side to side all the time, trying to hold on one leg and then the other, then it suddenly stopped. Its body quivered, then its mouth opened wide and a gush of blood emerged from it wetting the grass on the ground. Misune let out a cry of disgust and turned pale at the scene. The kori continued to vomit blood for a while, and as it did it moved to various parts of the forest, as if to make sure it branded it all; then, as quickly as it had begun, that scene stopped and the kori suddenly seemed to feel better. Its posture became more confident and its breathing less labored. As if nothing had happened, it headed back towards the lake.

"What the heck just happened?" Misune exclaimed.

"Probably it was ill. Of a strange disease, I say..." Haku said sniffing the blood on the ground, which had a very strange rotten smell. He didn't like this new strangeness at all; he had a very bad feeling. "Come, let's go away. And don't touch that stuff"