BXBX NOVEL Chapter 123 123 A Cave
Chapter 123 Chapter 123 A Cave
"B-rank fire dude? Damn" he whistled a sharp note again, to cover his embarassment; "You sure know how to pick em!"
They stepped into a stretch of woodland. The pretty flowering trees spread out above them in shades of green, red, and brown- shielding them momentarily from the sun's rays. Large, well fed birds sat at the top branches, chirping happily.
"Well, I'm glad you let me know straight up. . .you know, instead of leading me on. . ."
He touched his heart- faking emotion;
"You probably don't know it yet, but I'm a pretty sensitive dude. I'm a lover, not a fighter."
The sarcasm was implied. And it provoked a chuckle of laughter from her;
"Oh please, don't even try to play that card. I saw you when we were leaving the city Tayshaun, all those women were fawning over you like lost lambs. And I'm pretty sure a decent portion of them were married!"
The canopy of trees above shadowed his face briefly- but the sarcasm in his voice was still present;
"Hey! I feel objectified right now! I can't help being popular alright? You're making me feel real vulnerable, those were just some of my many many friends!"
"Yeah right," she scoffed; "Friends don't look at each other the way those women were looking at you. I could almost hear the drip in their panties. . ."
"Oh come on!" he cried as he pretended to stuff his ears; "Now that's just lewd!"
Riding on the wings of sarcasm, they were both able to emerge from the dense fog of awkwardness.
The sky peeled overhead into a stretch of blue as they left the woodland, and entered the low grasslands. In silence, they trotted on their horses, slicing through the tall blades of grass. Tayshaun, realizing now that he had made a fool of himself, now turned his entire mental focus on the mission.
Holding out the map in his hands, and swaying in tune with his horse's movements, he announced out loud;
"By my calculations, we should be close. . ."
He rolled up the parchment, and lowered his gaze- roving across the rocky landscape through squinted eyes;
"Actually, I think you should begin to keep an eye out for any signs at all."
"Signs like distortions on the ground the size of a large fuckin' crocodile?"
"Exactly," he frowned; "Wait, how did yo–"
She pointed to her left- towards a trail in the grass that led to a ridge of rocks ahead;
"You mean like this?"
The B-rank hunter stopped his horse dead in its tracks. Eyes flashing, and heart beating nervously, he leaned his whole body weight to his right, and slid off the saddle in one move. Tayshaun landed on the grass with a heavy thud. Automatically, his knees bent slightly, as he lowered himself into a slight crouch. Slowly, with the evening sun behind him, and the southern wind still, he crept towards the trail.
Monica's senses tingled. On cue, she also slid off her horse, and followed suit- quietly tipping on her toes as she snuck up to his sides.
"What's the play here?" she whispered.
Tayshaun had gone into full hunting mode. His sharp knowing eyes looked at the trail in the grass. He ran his hands over it, feeling for warmth and residual heat;
"It was here. . ." he murmured; "It looks like it killed something, . ."
He jerked his head up;
"I don't see a corpse, or any sign of blood whatsoever. So, I'm guessing it probably dragged it back to its web for future beef based cuisines."
His serious eyes trained up ahead, beyond the still grass, and locked on to the huge rocks on the horizon. They were dull gray- the color of ancient, and weatherbeaten rocks.
"There," he said, pointing only with his eyes; "It's there. Brace yourself Mon-Mon, the mission has just began."
Beside him in the tall grass, eyes focused, and edges of her mouth pursed in a slight pout, her words came rustling under her breath;
"How do we know for sure it's the one we're looking for? You did say not all black widows could produ–"
"Trust me, this is it . . ."
Through his peripheral vison, the side of his eyes caught the questioning look on her face;
"Look," he pointed to the depression in the grasses; "Look closer at the trail, do you see how the front part looks a little bit more depressed than the lower half?"
She peered closer- a confirmatory look crept across her face.
"It's weight does no appear to be balanced at all," she observed;
"Exactly," he lifted his gaze back up, eyeing the hilly rocks up ahead; "I bet there's a cave somewhere in there. . .in fact, I know there's a cave in there somewhere. . ."
Simultaneously, they both turned to each other and shared one look.
The grass ruffled as they parted their way through, silently placing their dominant foot forward, and pulling up the rest of their bodies along with them. The air was still with zero movements, and zero breeze.
Tayshaun's face was a mask of determination. He had a long spear in his right hand, and in his other hand was a pile of rope folded in neat piles, hanging from his shoulders to his elbow.? Covering the distance in noiseless thuds, and with the sun behind them, the soles of their feet bounced along the soft soil beneath them as they crouched through the the tall grasses.
Five yards away from the huge boulders- Tayshaun rasped;
"There," he stopped, pointing ahead with his forefinger; "I see the mouth of a cave, we can–"
But the redhead breezed right by him, not stopping at all;
"I've warned you already, don't tell me what to do."
Still in a crouching position, she pressed forward, snaking through the grass. With her hood? up, from the back, she looked like a cobra slithering forward. Tayshaun felt a tinge of excitement at the rebuke. He pressed forward, muttering;
"Yes ma'am. . ."
The entrance was about ten foot high, and three times as wide. A fog of thick darkness loomed intimidatingly from the inside. Tayshaun and Monica quickly took sides on opposite ends of the entrance- placing their ears, listening hard for any sounds at all.
His eyes flashed wide in excitement;
"Do you hear that?!" he screamed silently; "It's in there!"
Monica's eyes still had that absentminded look, but she had enough presence of mind to be fully in the moment;
"You know what do. . ." she announced; "Don't fuck this up. . ."
-------------------------------
Hiding in the grass, sprawled on all fours, Monica waited patiently for the signal. It had only been a short while since he had gone in;
"Shit, that dude could be dead already. . ." she pondered; "I could be wastin' my damn tim–"
Suddenly, Tayshaun came blasting out of the cave, mouth open, and eyes wide- as he roared at the top of his voice.
Arms swinging in wide fluid arcs, and legs running in long strides, he shot out with a crazed look in his eyes.