Running Amok

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“Mai’zi!” Xander yelled through the trees. “Get back here right now!” The only reply he got was an almost insane giggling and the rustling of leaves. His daughter was in for a serious talking-to. Scowling fiercely, he took off through the canopy, following the sounds of feet scampering around.

Mai’zi looked back and grinned, seeing her father chasing not far behind. This was working out just like Hainien said it would; Adyeta couldn’t keep from trying to track her down after the little stunt they’d pulled. If only she could keep far enough ahead of him…

Xander swore as he hurtled through the trees. He couldn’t believe a child of his could be so mischievous. She had somehow managed to ferment a huge quantity of ghain fruit, keeping the odorous stuff hidden so well that none of them had smelled it. When Xander jumped into the bath this morning, he sank neck-deep in the foulest concoction he’d ever encountered. Somehow she’d managed to mask the smell so that he didn’t even notice it beforehand. Even running as fast as he was, the rank odor made his eyes water. Had he not been so furious with her for doing it, he would have paused to clean up. As it was, she was just itching for a long lecture. Maybe he could get Pairdra to give her another one later that evening.

He was so caught up in thinking up long-winded epistles that he didn’t immediately notice the change in direction—a serious mistake. Xander stopped, listening. It wasn’t what he could hear that worried him, but rather what he couldn’t—there was no sign of Mai’zi. She hadn’t yet learned how to be quiet whilst running, so that meant she must have stopped. He scanned the branches around him, looking for a sign of where she’d gone.

A creased leaf on the next tree clued him in. He clambered over to it, noting that it was new damage—not more than a minute old. A flash of dark fur at the edge of his field of vision had him spinning around. He took off, following the giggling laughter.

Mai’zi checked on Adyeta’s progress one last time before slowing down. Just when Xander got to her, she jumped off the branch she was on, clasping an oddly bent vertical branch below it. Xander kept running, trying to slow down so he could go after her. The branch was slippery, though…very slippery. He tried to reach for another but found that he couldn’t and was sailing right through the air. His stomach lurched into his throat as the branch disappeared out from under his feet and he went airborne.

His daughter and son watched in glee as Adyeta flailed about, arms pinwheeling as he fell. A few seconds later they saw a huge plume of water shoot up into the sky as he hit the river. A howl of outrage and surprise drifted up into the canopy.

“Y’were right, Hainien, he fell for it!” Mai’zi exclaimed, watching Adyeta swim for shore.

Hainien grinned slightly. “He’s predictable.”

Xander looked up, seeing a spot of light in the midst of dark green leaves. Hainien? He shook his head. It figured that his quiet but quick son was involved in this little prank. He was still furious, though. It was a dangerous stunt, one that could have killed him—or anyone, for that matter. Mai’zi had been on the oil-slicked branch just before him. What if he had run into her? What if she hadn’t been able to stop, or had missed that branch? What if Hainien had gotten tangled up in the entire fiasco?

Mai’zi saw her father start to climb up a nearby tree. “We’d better get out of here. He looks a bit mad.” Hainien nodded and followed her back toward home, carefully avoiding the trick branch they’d set up.

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Saelen got home just in time to watch Mai’zi, followed closely by Hainien, race into an open window on the top floor. His daughter must have left her bedroom window unlatched so that they could get in without going through the front room. He laughed to himself, remembering when he’d done the same thing, usually when he knew he was going to get into trouble.

He noted when he got inside that they hadn’t come downstairs at all—yet another sign that they were doing something they shouldn’t. Saelen figured that either Pairdra or Xander knew what was going on, or someone else did. Regardless, he’d find out about it sooner or later. When he went into the bath house to wash the day’s sweat away, he was assaulted by one of the most offensive stenches he’d ever experienced. Who had let ghain fruit go sour?

The condition of the bath house told Saelen quite a bit about what the kids might be in trouble for. How had they gotten a tub full of fermented fruit paste in there in the first place? It was spattered all over the walls and floor as well—and there were footprints leading out of the bathroom. He got a sudden image of Xander, furious and covered in black goo. This could be very bad indeed.

He retreated from the disgusting bath house and returned to the kitchen. There was no way he was tackling that tonight; in fact he considered making the kids clean it up, since they had caused the mess. Frustrated and amused at their antics, he pulled out a bowl of fruit and began peeling. If the kids just got home, Xander wouldn’t be far behind.

Saelen wasn’t wrong. He smelled Xander’s return well before he heard or saw him. Figuring the best thing to do was to jump right in he set aside the bowl and went outside. “Xander?”

Xander looked up at Saelen. Jumping onto the platform in front of the house, he started to move toward Saelen, but stopped when he saw the grimace on his mate’s face. Ah, the smell. “Sorry I don’t smell better, but this is what the kids gave to me for father’s day.”

Saelen grimaced even more. The kids were really going to get it this time. “Dare I ask?”

Xander rolled his eyes. “It’s pretty obvious, Sae. Tub full of goo, inobservant me, slippery branch…”

“Slippery branch?” Saelen asked, confused.

“Hainien was in on it. They oiled a branch and slid me into the river,” Xander replied angrily. The stunt was definitely something his devious son would have thought up.

Saelen’s face hardened. That wasn’t just mean, it was dangerous. He loved the kids more than anything, but that was going way too far. “They’re upstairs now.”

Xander looked down at himself. “I need to clean up soon, or I’m going to smell like this forever.” Saelen nodded and went inside. He emerged a couple of minutes later with a large pot of soap, several towels and some clean clothes.

“Want help?” He asked as Xander took the supplies. Xander shook his head.

“Nope, I’m going to go down to the sea. I don’t hate anyone enough to leave this stench in their bath house,” Xander replied. Saelen flopped down on the platform as Xander clambered off to the beach. He wanted to run upstairs and thrash Mai’zi and Hainien, but he didn’t. Xander had been the target of this prank, so he needed to be present for whatever punishment was handed down.

Saelen sat outside for nearly three hours before Xander returned, smelling infinitely better. Instead of the foul, rotten odor of fermented fruit, he was covered in the scent herbs and the sea. “Better?”

Xander nodded. “Yeah. They might just live. Have y’eaten?” Saelen shook his head.

“I was peeling some fruit before y’came home the first time,” He replied.

Xander reached into the towels he was holding and pulled out some avrel blossoms. It was early in the season, but he had managed to find some somewhere. Saelen took one eagerly, biting into the long, delicate petals. They were a rare and welcome treat. Xander sat down next to him and munched on one, thinking about how to approach the issue of their misbehaving kids.

When they had been babies, ten years ago now, they had been nothing but a joy. True, Mai’zi had always had a mischievous streak, but that seemed to be normal. Hainien had been such a quiet baby, always watching and listening so intently. It wasn’t until the boy had gotten big enough to tag along with his sister that the power of their combined imaginations began to show up. At first it had been little things like rearranging the furniture or collecting pollen and painting themselves with it. Now, though, their fathers walked in fear of what the kids might think up next.

“Where did we go wrong, Sae? They were such sweet babies, all cuddly and cute. Then one day they grew horns and started torturing us,” Xander moaned.

Saelen nodded in commiseration. “It’s like having two different sets of kids. I hope they grow out of it; otherwise we won’t live to see them full-grown.”

“Y’ready to do this?” Xander asked finally.

“No. Y’?” Saelen replied.

“No, but I don’t think I ever will be, so let’s get it over with,” Xander said, standing up. “Y’be the good guy this time?” Saelen nodded that he would. It was really easy to do when Xander had been so thoroughly tortured. Being mean would be easy for him.

“Mai’zi! Hainien! Get down here RIGHT NOW!!!!” Xander screamed up the stairs. A minute later he heard the patter of feet, followed by two blazing shots of fur flying down the stairwell. “And stop climbing on the ceiling!”

The kids dropped down onto a bench and looked up at him with their best ‘I’m innocent’ faces on. He didn’t buy it for a minute. “Do y’know why y’re down here?” They shook their heads. “Because somebody put a bunch of rotten fruit mash in the bath house. Then those same people tricked one of their fathers into falling into the river. Either of y’have any idea who might have done that?”

Mai’zi, her face solemn, pointed at Saelen. Xander growled at her, and she quickly retracted her hand. “That’s not funny, Mai. I know y’did it, because I chased y’through the forest. Y’were laughing y’re fool head off. Well, right up until y’led me onto that branch.”

Hainien barely suppressed a smirk. Xander just got madder. “I’ve got a question for both of y’. What would y’have done if I’d hit my head on a rock in the river?”

Mai’zi frowned and looked at Hainien. They hadn’t thought of that. “Or if I ran into y’, Mai’zi, when I hit that branch?” The kids’ eyes widened as they realized what Xander was talking about.

He delivered the killing blow. “Y’two could have easily killed any one or all of us today, just for a laugh. That was an incredibly stupid thing to do. What were y’thinking? The river isn’t very deep there, and neither of y’are adept enough to keep y’rselves in the trees if something hits y’.”

Saelen looked over at the kids. Hainien looked about ready to cry. “Y’two need to think through things more, consider the consequences. It’s just like when y’plan stuff for school projects. Think about what might happen if something goes wrong, if something doesn’t work.”

Xander nodded. “Because one day something will go wrong and y’ll be sorry for it.”

Mai’zi nodded rapidly. She hated Adyeta’s lectures, not because he was right but because he was always so serious about it. He didn’t want her to have any fun at all, just sit around and study or play with Hainien near the house.

Hainien also agreed with Adyeta, knowing that the sooner they convinced him that they were sorry, the sooner they’d be allowed to go back upstairs. He knew that they wouldn’t be allowed to do anything that evening besides study, but it was better than sitting here listening to Adyeta rant at them for being careless. After all, nobody had actually gotten hurt, had they?

Saelen and Xander shared a glance. They could tell the kids weren’t even hearing them. Oh well. There was little they could do at this point. Well, almost nothing. “I’m glad y’understand why we’re so mad. Now, before y’go back upstairs, y’ve got a chore to do.” The kids perked up, foreseeing an evening without enduring Adyeta’s glares. Xander smiled evilly. “Before y’can go to bed, y’need to clean the bath house, top to bottom. It smells horrible, and if y’don’t get the stuff out of it, we’ll all smell like that for years.”

The children’s faces fell through the floor. They had to clean it up? That was going to be impossible! The fermented fruit was noxious and slimy-sticky. If they got any on themselves, they’d reek for weeks. “Adyeta—“

Xander glared at Mai’zi. “I found out today that five washings with strong soap gets rid of most of the smell, if y’rinse a lot. That’s going to take a while, so I’d get started.”

They looked to Saelen for a reprieve, but found nothing but a stony face. Mai’zi realized that they had no real options left, since Pairdra wasn’t home yet. Scowling at her cruel, implacable father, she grabbed Hainien’s arm and dragged him into the bath house.

Xander flopped down next to Saelen. “I’m worried, Sae. It’s not just that they’re playing jokes; I love a good laugh now and then. But they don’t care about the consequences.”

Saelen sighed sadly. He agreed with Xander; the kids were getting pretty nasty. “I don’t know what to say, Xan. I’ve asked several older parents. Most think it’s a phase, since we’ve all been troublemakers at one point or another. I can’t tell if it’s that they’re worse than most or if we’re overreacting.”

“I wasn’t overreacting today, Saelen. That was way over the line, and I’m not going to let them get away with stuff like that,” Xander replied hotly.

Saelen just nodded his agreement. They needed to let the topic rest before Xander made himself sick over it. He reached over for the fruit he’d peeled earlier and offered some to Xander, who took several pieces. “How was practice?”

Xander grinned. He’d been teaching some of the warriors how to swim, since a great many couldn’t. It was fun watching them flail around in the water. “Fine. Some of them might figure it out eventually.”

“Y’re still not going to get me into the water like that,” Saelen swore. He didn’t mind bathing, but staying immersed in water for fun? Ugh.

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Night had fallen long before Pairdra got home. The kids had gone to bed several hours before, swearing that they’d clean up the rest of it in the morning. They’d done a fairly good job, so the bath house was at least useable for the meantime. Xander and Saelen had waited up for Pairdra, who was running very late.

When he got in, however, their worry only increased. He looked absolutely terrible, both exhausted and furious at once. “What’s wrong?” Xander asked, reaching for the unsettled siv.

Pairdra growled. “What’s not wrong? We finally get official visitors from another region and what do we do? Try to kill them, that’s what!”

Saelen’s eyes widened in shock. “What are y’talking about?”

The dark siv gnashed his teeth. “I was supposed to help greet the two emissaries from La’iv today. They were in Shaen and traveled down here to give their region’s official support for the Ieccra refugees. The elders had even prepared a house for them, since they looked to be staying for a while. But what happens when we all get to the house to present it to them? Somebody sabotaged it, nearly killing one of the delegates!”

“How?” Xander asked, furious. The entire hold had worked so hard to get Caildin established and recognized by other holds and regions. Yes, Shaen had granted them the land and freedom to build, but actually becoming a part of the region, and not just squatters, was an uphill battle. Many regions still saw them as ragtag refugees, hiding out in a sister region while t’kth-vaali made themselves at home in Ieccra. Slowly but surely they were finding their place, however. This trickery, though, could be a serious setback. Who would try to undermine such diplomatic efforts?

“Somebody loosened the vines holding the platform together. It wasn’t enough to make it collapse, but it made the branches separate. We were fine, but the dalhari’s feet slipped in between the branches, breaking one of the diplomats’ legs. The other one injured his wing when he fell,” Pairdra elaborated.

“Do they have any clues as to who did this?” Saelen asked, concerned for the same reasons Xander was. Pairdra shook his head.

“Not yet, but they’re investigating. The dalhari are staying at one of the elders’ houses until we figure out what’s going on. The sentries are talking about tightening their patrols and limiting traffic in and out of the hold until we know for sure who’s to blame for this,” Pairdra replied.

Xander hugged Pairdra tighter, nudging him toward the stairs. It sounded like it had been an all-around frustrating day for everyone, so some sleep would be for the best. “Not to be light about all of that, but it does make me feel better about today,” Xander said as he helped Pairdra up the stairs.

“Why?” Pairdra asked.

“The kids covered him in fermented ghain and dunked him in the river. We’re going to have to do something about them, Pai. Their stunts are getting dangerous. Xander could have been killed today,” Saelen replied.

“Great. We can’t turn around without running into pranksters,” Pairdra said as they bedded down for the night. Xander curled up tight against him, pressing the dark siv into the bed. Saelen crawled half on top of both of them, sprawled out in his usual position. Xander figured they looked like an odd pile of corpses like that, but he didn’t care. It was comfortable—so long as Saelen didn’t kick anyone.

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Xander looked up in surprise when he saw Pairdra approaching him by the riverbank. He was teaching several young siv warriors how to swim; at this point he was mostly focused on showing them how to stay afloat and not drown. He would have simply waved at Pairdra and returned to work, except that the dark siv’s expression was decidedly serious. Xander told the warriors to go up to the canopy and have lunch, giving him and Pairdra some privacy.

Pairdra waited silently until the guards were all gone. “What is it?” Xander asked.

“They’ve got something,” He replied. Xander nodded for him to continue. It had been two days since the diplomats had suffered injuries due to sabotage, and nothing had turned up until now.

“What?” Xander asked when Pairdra didn’t continue right away.

“One of the investigators found a residue on some of the vines, something that had no business being there,” Pairdra explained. “Apparently the attackers were a little sloppy,” He added.

“Do they know who did it?” Xander questioned.

Pairdra shook his head. “No, not yet. I think I do, though.”

“Who?”

The dark siv stared out over the river. He was both relieved and furious over what had been found. The relief was because the evidence didn’t point to a purposeful attack on Caildin’s relations with the dalhari. The fury was because of who was implicated.

“Pairdra?” Xander murmured, wondering what was bothering his mate so.

“They found an oily black substance on one of the cut vines. It's fermented ghain paste,” Pairdra said, not looking at Xander.

The young siv sank to the ground at Pairdra’s feet. He could think of only one reason why that particular substance would be there, and he didn’t like it any more than Pairdra did. “Did y’mention…”

Pairdra shook his head. “Not yet. What am I supposed to say? ‘I think my kids were playing practical jokes, but they didn’t mean to wound the most important visitors Caildin’s had in its ten years of existence?”

Xander nodded slowly. Yeah, it sounded pretty bad when it was put that way. “We need to find Saelen.” The red siv was in charge of patrolling the hold’s northern regions and wasn’t planning to be home for another day or so.

“I sent a runner to get him,” Pairdra replied. “I have to go back now. The elders want to start a full-scale search of the hold.” Xander grasped Pairdra’s hand briefly before he left. There was little for him to do but complete the day’s lessons and go back home. Perhaps by then either he or Pairdra would have thought up what to do.

When Xander got home, he found Saelen and Pairdra sitting in the front room, staring at a table. The kids were obviously upstairs playing, if the noises he heard could be believed. “Well?”

Saelen looked up. “What do we say?”

Xander placed his hands flat on the table and leaned forward. “Ask them straight out. I was tired of their behavior before this, and I’m less inclined to put up with it now. They’re going to have to learn about the consequences of their actions. Actually, I think it would be best to let them decide what should be done. They’ve made the decision to take others’ lives into their hands, so they can do the same with their own.”

Pairdra looked up, surprised. He hadn’t expected Xander to want to just let the kids choose what do to. After all, most kids would decide to hide their involvement and let the matter stay a mystery. “If y’think that’s best, fine.”

Saelen nodded his agreement and Xander went to call for the kids. A few minutes later they came barreling down the stairs, thinking that it was time for the evening meal. What they found was a bunch of sad and angry-looking adults.

“What’s going on?” Mai’zi asked, looking from father to father.

“Sit,” Xander grated, pointing to a nearby bench. Hainien and Mai’zi sat, eyebrows raised. Xander was rarely so harsh, unless he was mad about something. But they hadn’t done anything to him for two days!

“I’m sure y’’ve heard about the dalhari that got hurt?” Xander asked the kids. They nodded. Yeah, it had been a shame, since the dalhari were often very good trading partners with the siv. They looked neat, too.

“Well, Pairdra says that they might have figured out who did it,” Xander continued. “Which is good, because we can’t afford to hurt our allies.”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Hainien asked cautiously. Some of the older kids at school had told stories of how traitors were tortured and maimed for turning against their holds and regions. He wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but it seemed fair. After all, they had hurt important visitors.

“Y’tell me,” Xander replied. “See, somebody went up under a platform and tore down a bunch of vines holding it up. It wasn’t enough to hurt a siv, since we can just jump off or hold on. The dalhari, though, couldn’t do that. But y’already know that. Today, though, one of the investigators found something that should point to the culprit.”

“What?” Mai’zi asked, curious. She thought that whoever had done it should be thrown out of the hold.

“Funny y’should ask, since y’re so familiar with it. They found smears of fermented ghain fruit mash on some of the vines,” Xander stated. He watched as his beloved children’s faces dropped and they turned to stare at each other.

“So, what *should* we do about the siv that tried to kill our honored guests?” Saelen asked coldly.

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