Ch. 8 - Finding Chaty

Magina's cheeks were already bulging because his mouth was all stuffed with meat.

"Smells like Medusa, tastes like Medusa!"

"Been sleeping with that woman, too?" Lust faced his fellow assassin. He looked a bit deranged.

"'Course not! She's all yours for God's sake!"

All of them, except for Mykee, enjoyed the exotic anaconda stew. The six of them circled a small campfire for they could use the extra warmth and the light it emitted helped keep off predators. Not far away was a roughly-established tent that contained everyday-life commodities such as kitchen wares, hygiene kits, make-ups, body lotions, PSPs, jackstraws, titanium stones, condoms, a tube of KY jelly and other valuables.

Mykee was starving. He'd never tasted an anaconda stew before, and he wasn't going to taste one no matter what. His intestines were growling, but that wasn't enough to make him grab a fork and stab a slice of snake flesh... and put it into his mouth. Fuck. No way that's gonna happen, he reinforced himself. To divert his anxiety and hopefully forget about his complaining gut, he initiated a succulent talk with Magina, who had already swallowed 4 slices of Lust's son.

"Magina, dearest of all my friends. Tell me about your adventures."

Magina drank a full glass of water and cleared his throat for some storytelling. "Well, I was hunting for emeralds in Star Town a few hours back when I ran into Paparouch. You know that bastard?"

"That arrogant wiz. I don't like him. So what happened?"

"We had a little showdown. He got me in the end." Magina reached for a cigarette.

"That sucks... I hope you get your revenge someday bro."

"Thanks. I'm gonna pwn him hard for ya. But how bout you? You haven't eaten anything yet. Not hungry?"

"Not hungry."

"Figured." Magina yawned. "I feel kinda sleepy now. It's been a long day for us... Well, good night."

He waved at his other comrades. "Night, guys."

Dinner was over. They all fell asleep one after the other. The fire exhausted itself little by little. Soon it died unnoticed.

. . .

Three hours later, a shadow stalked from behind the bushes. The moonlight revealed an Aborigine Guard's silhouette. More of his kin emerged from the tall grasses and began closing in on the smoking pile of woods and ashes. They were advancing with such stealth which only meant that they had zero intention of alerting the six sleeping humans ahead. Feathers of giant birds were fastened at the tip of their spears. Random piercings and other jewelries decorated their already complicated faces. These creatures had little value for life.

It was already past midnight. Lady Chaty was roused by mosquitoes sucking blood from her legs. She kicked them off and covered herself back in her blanket. At that point she heard sounds of footsteps on gravel. Her keen senses told her that enemies were nearby. She sat up but before she could warn her friends about the incoming danger, a moist palm of an aborigine kept her mouth from opening and in a spur of the moment, Lady Chaty was gone.

. . .

Morpheuz opened his eyes at 3 in the morning and immediately noted the fairy's absence.

"Wake up! Chaty's been taken!" He was in a panic mode when the others regained their wits.

"What?" Ash was still rubbing his eyes.

Magina and Lust rose to their feet and secured their daggers alongside their belts. Basic assassin drill for times of uncertainty and disaster: maintain maximum level of concentration. The mages however, Ash and Mykee put on necklaces with pendants bearing the Tao symbol. It was a mysterious symbol understood only by wizzes through a hardcore training that evolved with each generation. To all others, the Tao symbol was only a sorcerer's craft meant to make bad people faint for 5 seconds.

"I can't find Chaty anywhere. I've checked the tent but she's not there." Morpheuz worried like a hen.

"Maybe she took a leak in the woods, or something like that," said Lust.

"I'm not buying that." Morpheuz shook his head at what Lust suggested.

Lust's theory was plausible, but the whole country knew that Chaty had always been a bedwetter.

"Calm down, idiots." Ash lifted his hands. "I think the aborigines kidnapped our friend."

"But why Chaty? If those aborigines are mad about us breaking into their cave, why didn't they just kill us when we were off guard?" The monk argued.

"That's because..." Ash's tongue seemed to have stiffened all of a sudden.

"Because what? Spill it!"

"Because the Aborigine Chief wants Chaty as a sacrifice to the gods." Magina finished what the wiz didn't have the courage to say.

"Crazy aborigines," Morpheuz whispered. Then with a game face he spoke: "There is only one solution to this. First, we find the aborigines' hideout. Once that happens, we'll just simply grab Chaty off the Aborigine Chief's hands."

"I wish it was that easy," Mykee commented. "But to begin with, we don't even know where they took Chaty. I'm afraid she'd be dead by the time we reach her."

Lust answered back with the sound of a plan. "No mykee. Morph is absolutely right. This is a very simple piece of puzzle. You know, if you can't search for information, you can always extract it."

And as he fingered his daggers patiently waiting inside their sheaths he added, "Trust me, we'll find her. I'd kill them all if I have to."