'Aaaaaahhh—' Ta' Zan yawned involuntarily so hard it hurt.
Ta' Zan disliked feeling tired. Although in his excitement he usually went a few days without sleep. But this time he had to wait patiently under that light-forsaken cloak for the swarm of dragonflies to lose interest in him and his new companion.
Thirty cursed hours under that cloak– just him, the swarm, and the sweat rolling down his back.
Thirty hours of silence from Cuthbert, save for labored breaths, mumbles, and the occasional shudder. He wasn't sure if the man was sleeping or dying. He hoped it was the first.
For his own sake.
He'd held his tongue for thirty hours as a dozen different thoughts crossed his mind about Cuthbert.
Bored.
Bored out of his mind at keeping the bugs at bay as they nudged and prodded the cloak for whatever it was that splintered their tree hive yesterday morning. Ta' Zan didn't do well with sitting still– or boredom for that matter.
He'd been bursting with questions all night. Questions about how he got there, about his father and siblings…Which ones were dead. He even started to remember names he thought he'd forgotten long ago. Yet his questions went unasked all night as Cuthbert rested in labored breaths and pools of sweat. The humidity pressed heavily under the cloak, thick and sour between the two men.
He didn't sleep the night before either with the excitement of the raid in the morning.
His legs burned from climbing to the wyvern's nest the day before and his shoulders ached from the weight slung over them. His eyes continued to refuse to stay open. But even in his exhausted state he couldn't wipe the grin off his face.
'Another human at last,' His head swayed from side to side at the thought, as he hummed a little tune; he always hummed whenever he was happy. It was the only thing keeping him from nodding off. His head tapped Cuthbert's limp body over his right shoulder as he hummed along through knee deep mud. Staring up at the colossal mountain overhead, he tried his best to find the top, a practice in futility that he practiced everyday.
"Soon, I'll be home," he whispered.
'But what would home look like now?' He quickly ignored the after thought. Instead Ta' Zan yelped in excitement, the way the gnolls do whenever they were pleased about something as he continued his stroll through the treacherous landscape. Swatting vines and bugs alike from him as he moved closer to the cliffs he dove off of yesterday.
He barely thought about the loot he'd dropped the day before—or the dragonfly wings he'd expected to collect. Their wings were indispensable to him and his gliding suit for how sturdy and lightweight they were. It was also an easy material to work with, which allowed him to workshop a lot of his ideas with Gunther.
"Dungballs! Gunther!" He was planning to surprise him after the raid by heading back with the Q'eq tribe to the coast.
'Well, it wasn't as if I was expected, so no issues there except for the fact that it's been a month since I last saw that man.' Ta' Zan hated to make his old retainer worry about him.
Yet all the loot and plans of his didn't hold a flame to the hope laying over his shoulder right now. He grabbed a waterskin that was tied around his body and began to chug the contents as if he hadn't had a drink in days.
It was sort of true. Ta' Zan chuckled at the thought. He looked at his current loot hanging off his shoulder and poured a generous amount of water over Cuthbert's head before lifting his head and making sure to get some water into his mouth as well. Cuthbert half choked, half coughed as the water moistened his dry throat and mouth. A few murmurs escaped in-between coughs and what Ta'Zan believed to be the man telling him to stop.
"Stop… obey… alone" Cuthbert sunk back to silence.
Ta' Zan watched him in anticipation, hoping this time he'll wake up but unfortunately the man's coughing fit died along with Ta' Zan's interest. He looked forward and kept an ever vigilant eye ahead, even though to most watching they'd think he was more focused on his humming than anything else.
In truth Ta' Zan was avoiding certain areas– mostly where the canopy glowed pink, covered in fungus. Those attracted way too many creatures with its fruity aroma.
Ta' Zan's stomach growled as his nose picked up the delicious smell of the fungus growing in the trees up ahead.
'Nope' he veered right and circled around as much of the glowing fungus as he could.
'Another day but not today.' He could already hear something rustling in the foliage towards the scent.
The sun would stay out for another four hours and even then he'd have to trek through the swamp for another two before reaching shelter for tonight. But he wasn't too worried as the last couple hours consisted of following the cliffs base instead of the labyrinth that was the swamp.
"Aaaaaa—" Ta' Zan's jaw clenched mid-yawn as he stumbled on a root, nearly spilling him and his loot headfirst into the muck. He caught himself, growled at no one in particular.
'"I'm not tired," he muttered. "I can do this all day." He picked up the pace, his humming joining the low chorus of things better left ignored.