On a warm day after making love, Kaida and Firion were washing each other off in a warm stream until a massive reptile came into close proximity to the couple.
"I believe this is a species of saurian Kaida." The elf whispered to his bride. "This is also my first time observing one so closely! I just hope its not a threat to us."
They stood in bewilderment as the animal drank calmly from the stream with its long neck stretched out, without showing any bit aggression to the couple watching it.
Kaida did notice something peculiar about its mouth.
"Actually Firion I am certain that this saurian is a herbivore, look at its teeth! Despite its massive jaw, the teeth of that animal looks similar to a rabbit's front teeth! They're the same shape. Though this saurian has a huge mouth full of them!" She explained to her husband.
While she was accurate in her assessment, the elf was still on edge from the beast, whether its a predator or not, its size alone could easily kill the both of them!
Just then the saurian stopped drinking water and turned its head to where Firion and Kaida were hiding! And it loomed its long neck over them where it was making direct eye contact with the pair!
Firion gulped in intimidation from the massive beast, and his lover held onto him tightly, but the creature did not exhibit any form of malice or concerning behaviors, just innocent curiosity.
Surely Kaida's horns would have sensed any concerning emotions from the creature, but it only displayed physical indifference.
It lowered its head closer to smell them. The wind from its nostrils even stirred the bushes around it as it inhaled the air! But it only blinked gently at them before turning away and focusing its attention on a tree with tantalizing leaves as it began to consume entire branches!
The couple sighed in relief, thankfully Kaida was correct about the animal's diet.
Before leaving they took another moment to observe the saurian, regardless of how intimidating its size is, the animal was without a doubt a symbol of nature's beauty.
As they readied themselves for another day of travel, after they put on fresh clothes and began discussing what was the safer route to take down the plateau to reach Junai.
Firion shared what he knew about the area with Kaida, and what could be the potential better path to take based on her own knowledge of avoiding people in Aldenburg's forest.
"There are several routes we can take, but if we choose to go up the river we might run into army camps, or even more of those saurians, as water sources become more scarce as we move closer to the desert." As he described one route possible dangers he explained the issue with the other. "However, the wasteland itself can be lethal with the absence of water, but it might be the safest route to avoid trouble." He elaborated to Kaida.
She contemplated based on what he just described to her. Both routes had dire issues in both their chance for encountering something or being in the desert and potentially stranded without water.
Though the chances in the desert seemed far lower in one way, Kaida did notice how thick the brush was in the forest surrounding the river.
("Maybe...if we stood out of sight and hid amongst the leaves?") She thought, until she had an idea!
She had a suggestion that would incorporate both routes.
So she carefully explained to Firion. "Lets stay closer to the water source during the day and rest what we can and gather plenty of water, then we can trail the desert at night and we can avoid overheating ourselves!"
He understood her suggestion. They would stay closer in the more dense vegetation during the day and rest, which puts their location closer to the Eurelca boarder, but at night they would travel along the edge of the desert until they reached the coastline of Junai's beaches!
When they reach the coast they could look for a way to board a ship to Eurelca and avoid running directly into any areas that are patrolled by the Aldenburg army. From there Firion could explain to someone what has happened to him and hopefully offer an asylum, as he heard before they reached out to other forest elves that deserted Aldenburg before him due to mistreatment.
Just as soon as they believed they have things all planned out they suddenly another heavy rumbling beneath them!
But this time it felt lighter than before, still very loud it was, and much more rapid!
Suddenly the both saw another saurian running through the dense brush, but this one had an odd shape for a body and it had three horns on its face and beak shaped mouth.
However Firion noticed that there were two people, who were adorned in tribal outfits with masks over their face's, were riding on the back of the creature, with one of them controlling the saurian with a set of reigns designed to steer the animal.
"JAMBO to you two! But your also in a lot of trouble if your poachers!" One of the masked people yelled.
Firion instinctively put himself in front of Kaida and drew a small blade that was once part of his military set.
"Just let us pass through...we don't have any riches, we only seek to cross into Junai's coast." The elf snarled at them.
Though instead of drawing their weapons, they just turned to one another and started laughing! Causing Kaida and Firion to look at each other in confusion.
"HAHAHA! Put away that weapon my brother! Me and my partner patrol this area because its a saurian nature reserve to sustain their populations. We only came to tell you that your trespassing, but if you need help reaching Taraji we can offer you route! But we need to check our other posts first!" Said the tall man as he jumped off the beasts back.
He approached Firion and offered his hand. "Put it there my brother, we mean no harm to you or your wife, but you cannot stay in the wilderness here under law, but we're glad your not hunters."
Firion calmed down and extended his hand cautiously as the man grabbed and shook it rather hard, but then he felt the sincerity from his grip and he responded with the same strength of assurance.
Kaida watched the two and offered her own hand as she understood the greeting, the smaller person approached, and it became clear that this person is a woman as she offered hand to Kaida.
"Jambo to you my sister! We're sorry if we scared you two a bit, but you have to be careful out here." The woman explained in a rather soft voice despite her intimidating appearance.
Kaida carefully shook her hand, moving it up and down, then offering a slight squeeze like how she watched Firion.
The woman chuckled a bit. "You will get the hang of it! I know some folks don't always know what a handshake is, but its good to learn!"
"That girl looks like a blue horn deva! Though I have never seen one with red hair like that, and your a yumbo like me and my wife!" The man reveals as he takes of his mask and reveals himself to be a dark skinned elf with white hair and violet eyes.
Firion's is abashed by the revelation as his mouth drops open in shock. "Wait...you two are elves?!?!"