It Starts With a Single Step

by BronyBrozly

Chapter 2: Encounter

I trudged among the sand dunes, feeling the heat of the searing sun mercilessly beating down on me. I felt my mouth was getting more and more sticky, my throat went dry and I felt lightheaded as I took more steps towards my destination. The sand below me shifted, causing me to stumble and face planted onto the sandy grounds.

My hooves shook as I tried to stand up, looking at the long journey ahead. I quickly reached into my saddlebag, rummaging through it. I felt the exterior of my water parchment and pulled it out from my saddlebag. I opened the lid and inspected its content. “Not a single drop...” I mumbled as my head hung low in disappointment. I looked over my shoulder, looking at the trail of my hoof prints with a sigh. I was at the point of no return. Either way, I might die from dehydration if I decided to head back or to move on.

I looked at the sandy horizon before me as anxiety started to flood into my mind. I was afraid that I might not complete my mission. The edges of my vision started to darken and weariness started to wash over me. “I must press forward,” I muttered, taking a step forward to my destination. Each step I took made me more and more tired. The edge of my vision was getting darker as I pressed on into my journey.

Hours had passed as I shakily trudged towards my destination and my vision had reduced into a small window in my eyes. I barely see the sea of sand in front of me. I felt the sand shifted under my hooves and I quickly tried to regain my balance. I felt my head was pounding, my heart hammering in my chest as I looked at the vast sea of sand that stood between me and my mother. My hooves gave out, feeling my body dropped unceremoniously onto the ground with a thud. The feeling of weariness was slowly taking over me as I barely able to keep my eyes open.

I closed my eyes, accepting my fate. The heat of the sun above penetrated through my robe, roasting me on the desert ground. I noticed my breathing was getting ragged and my mouth was incredibly sticky. “Mother,” I croaked, felt a single tear travelled down my cheek. Before I was sent into the world of eternal slumber, I heard something swooped in front of me.

“It looks like we got ourselves a lost zebra,” a female voice chuckled. Then, I heard somebody chuckled in response above me. With that, I was consumed by darkness.

---

My eyes shot open, hearing the crackling sound of fire nearby and saw the darkness of night blanketed over the sky above. I noticed that I was imprisoned in a cage as I looked around, my robe and my saddlebag was taken away from me and my spear was missing. My head turned towards the crackling fire, seeing something was sitting next to it with its back turned. Then, in the corner of my eyes, I saw another figure. The figure was organizing something in a wooden carriage, hearing it mumbled something incoherent.

I quickly inspected the lock of the cage, feeling adrenaline started to rush over me. I never seen such lock before, I thought, looking at the unusual lock with confusion plastered across my face. It was a talon shaped lock with a small hole in the middle. Then my eyes widened in realization, clenching my teeth tightly in response. Rogue griffons, I grunted inwardly, my eyes darting for weapons.

My eyes quickly locked onto a bowl of water near my cage, feeling the stickiness of my mouth and the dryness in my throat. I lunged towards it, greedily lapping its content. Thank the gods, I sighed in contentment mentally, feeling grateful for such simple pleasure.

“So, you’re already awake, huh doggy?” the female voice from before snickered, hearing footsteps approaching me. I looked up, seeing one of my captors smirking down on me. It was a young female griffon – probably the same age as me. The feathers around her eyes were light green as much as I can tell through the darkness of night. I looked into her eyes, seeing her desire to cause pain through her red blood orbs. The feathers above her head slightly obscured the vision of her left eye. Then my eyes wandered off onto her sides, noticing two daggers were in their covers.

“What are you looking at?” she spat as she gave my cage a kick. The sound of the cage door rattling echoed into the night sky. I kept my silence, glaring at the young griffon as my teeth clenched tighter in my mouth.

“Don’t harm the merchandise, Ivy,” a gruff voice spoke, hearing the figure from before approached from behind. I looked over my shoulder and saw a big male griffon stepped into the light of the fire. My eyes widened once again, noticing his body was twice the size of my father. Scars ran down his cheek, marking he was an experience fighter. His claws were dark and sharp, and there was a large hammer strapped onto his back.

“So, how are you doin’?” he asked, smiling as he looked at me with his deep brown eyes. I gulped nervously as I was unable to read his expression, fearing he was a big threat. He is good at hiding his intention, I thought to myself, keeping myself quiet. Then, a frown tugged onto his face. “Not talkin’, eh?” he continued, walking away as Ivy nonchalantly played with her dagger, leaning against my cage.

“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked, exchanging glares at the two of my captors.

“Well...” the male griffon started, sounding amused. “I’m here to make friends, that’s all,” he chuckled, sitting next to the campfire, turning his back on me. I gave a single chuckle in response to his obvious lie.

“Stop talking crap, Brutus,” Ivy retorted, glaring at the bigger griffon. “We’re going to sell you to the rich bastards who are in the market for zebras,” she explained as she looked at me with a grin, sounding amused.

“Also, that,” Brutus added, standing up. Then he turned to look at me, his grin was as wide as the horizon. “Zebras are really high in demand in the black market lately and I’m sure you’ll make a profit,” he chuckled darkly, approaching my cage with his hammer in hands. “That’s why...” he trailed off, smiling. “I need to take the profit alone,” he grunted, swinging his hammer towards Ivy. She quickly ducked and jumped backwards, dodging the lethal blow to the head.

“What the hell, Brutus?” She yelled, unsheathing her daggers. The bigger griffon laughed darkly in return. “You know what? To hell with you,” she screamed, charging head on to the colossal warrior. Brutus’s hammer came down with a mighty swing, but Ivy’s small and fast body gave her more maneuverability in her attack, dodging the thundering hammer. Brutus mighty strength and his giant hammer created a big cloud of sand as it hit the sandy ground. My eyes were watering as they were stung by the cloud of sand, frantically searching a way to escape as the two griffons battled to the death.

My eyes widened as I saw Brutus’s hammer swung towards the cage as Ivy jumped over. I quickly moved far back of the cage, bracing myself for the mighty swing. I felt my body violently hit the metal bars of the cage as it flung towards the fire, stopping by matter of inches away from it. I sighed in relief as I almost ended up cooked alive. My eyes darted towards the cage’s door, noticing the lock was broken by Brutus’s reckless attack. I jumped out the cage, my head scanning for a weapon.

“Thank the gods,” I sighed in relief for the second time as I saw my stone spear was sitting inside the carriage. I quickly bolted towards it, grabbing my trusty stone spear into my hooves. My head darted around, scanning the area for the fighting griffons.

“Shit!” Ivy’s voice squawked behind me as I quickly turned to look. She was pinned down by Brutus with a claw to the neck. At that moment, I saw the true shadow of Brutus; a dark entity of murderous monster. He was grinning maniacally; looking at the young griffon squirmed under him. “Why are you doing this?” she wheezed, gasping for air.

“I want the full profit, that’s all,” he answered as his voice dripped with malice, chuckling.

“Go shove a spear up your ass,” she spat, her arms reaching for her daggers that lay next to her. But they were out of her reach.

“Cute.” Brutus grinned, adding pressure to her neck. I saw Ivy’s face slowly turning blue as she tried to gasp for air. Without a second longer, I quickly ran towards Brutus, jumping onto his back and chocked him with my spear. Ivy let out a deep gasp, coughing, as she tried to regain her breath.

“Why you little...” he grunted as he tried to pull my spear away, dropping his hammer with a thud. He spun around while I was still on his back, attempting to throw me off but I kept the pressure onto his neck, pulling my spear harder. I heard he started to gurgle and saw his face turned purple. He tried to back up but stumbled upon the shifting sand, dropping onto his back with me behind him. I felt pain shot through my head as his full weight came crushing down on me. I saw stars appeared in my vision yet I still kept the pressure onto his neck.

I saw he flailed his arms and wings, struggling to free himself. After another few moments of struggling, his body went limp. His life escaped from his body. I pushed his lifeless body to the side, catching my breath that was knocked out of me. Then, I saw Ivy stood above me, daggers dangerously pointed at my throat. I nervously gulped.

“Why did you save me?” she hissed, adding pressure to the blade. I felt her blade pierced my skin and felt a drop of blood ran down my neck.

“I am a warrior. I save the weak from the bad,” I answered, looking into her red eyes.

“You said I’m weak?” she hissed again, pulling me closer to her face until I could feel her hot breath on my neck, looking eye to eye.

“At that moment, your fate was already sealed by death. If I did not act quickly, you might not stand here at this moment,” I answered through gritted teeth, challenging her by pressing our foreheads together as we glared into each other’s eyes.

“Whatever,” she muttered, dropping me onto the ground with a thud. I looked at her as she slowly walked towards the lifeless body of Brutus. She stood above his body, holding a dagger high with both of her claws with a frown tugged onto her beak. “I trusted you... asshole,” she whispered as she struck the dagger down onto his chest, blood spraying onto her feathers. I looked away, not wanting to see any more unnecessary violence.

My hooves shook as I slowly stood up. I winced, a shot of pain bolted into my right fore hoof. I softly touched it on to the ground and quickly retracted it, realizing I had a sprained hoof. I hobbled next to the campfire, seeking warmth under the cold desert night.

I gingerly rubbed my hooves, trying to soothe the ache until I noticed Ivy sat across from me, her feathers dripped with blood. Her expression darkened, cleaning her dagger by wiping it onto her fur. Once it had no single trace of Brutus’s blood, she sheathed her dagger, glaring at me. I quickly avoid contact by continuing to massage my sore hoof as a sign of respect for her privacy. There was silence between us except for the sound of the crackling fire.

“Why are you out here all alone?” she spoke suddenly, breaking the silence.

“I’m on a journey,” I answered simply, rubbing my aching hoof.

“For what?” she asked, walking towards the carriage behind her and pulled out a cloth. Then she proceeded by wiping the still-dripping blood from her fur and feathers.

“My mother,” I answered, eying the griffon’s movements as I pulled my spear closer.

“Huh...” she replied, looking at me with a questioning eyebrow. She gave me a dismissive shrug and sat back down across from me, eying my movements as well.

“Who was that?” I asked in returned, nodding towards Brutus’s lifeless body. I softly touched the sandy ground with my right hoof and a smile tugged onto my face. I did not feel a sharp pain as I stood up, strapping the spear onto my back.

“He was my employer... and a friend,” she answered glumly, looking away.

“An employer... for what?” I asked as I gave her a questioning eyebrow.

“You see,” she grunted, standing up and unsheathed a dagger. I quickly jumped backwards, ready for an attack. “I am a hired mercenary and bodyguard. That bloke over there was my boss,” she answered as she spat into the fire.

“Aren’t you a slaver?” I asked, slowly reaching for my spear.

“What?” she blurted, sounding amused. “I know I’m a murderous monster but I’m not low enough to sell living creatures as slaves. Even I have my standards.” Ivy chuckled.

“Then, why did you put me into a cage?” I asked again, glaring.

“Well, duh. I’m an employee. I had a contract with him. So, I have to do whatever he asked me to do,” she answered in a matter-of-factly, shrugging nonchalantly. I glared at her as we started to circle the fire. I felt the rush of adrenaline starting to pump in my chest, my teeth clenched tightly in my mouth and my eyes scanned for any sudden movements.

“Look,” she started, putting her dagger back into its cover. “I don’t have any more intention to kill you anymore since that ass hat is already dead. So, in terms of contract, I’m free to do whatever I want,” she explained, standing casually across from me.

“Why should I trust you?” I hissed, slowly letting my guard down.

“Let us call this a ‘favor’. You saved me and in return, I won’t kill you... for now,” she answered with a grin on her face. “How about it?” she asked, swooping in front of me as she extended a claw.

“Very well,” I sighed as I shook her claw. I saw her grin getting wider and her red eyes sparkled. Then, we let go of each other’s hands.

“You probably already know my name. How about you tell me yours?” she asked as she walked towards the carriage, rummaging through it.

“I’m Nadir,” I said, approaching closer from behind.

“Well, Nadir,” she grunted, throwing my saddlebag and my hooded robe onto the ground. “This is going to be a beautiful friendship,” she grinned.

Author's Note:

Helpful feedback is always welcome.