the Quest of Catmandu (standard:fantasy, 5692 words) [5/6] show all parts
Author: nightshade	Added: Jan 29 2001	Views/Reads: 2919/1915	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
deliverance and celebration

The Quest of Catmandu chapter 5 by nightshade and chris dahl 

Everyone had been preoccupied, even the cubs, and no-one saw the arrival
of the crafts until splashes were heard as anchors were dropped into 
the water. what the Tiger clan saw was unbelieveable...four enormous, 
wooden crafts with Karo and Rhachyl waving from two of them. 

Chevelle, and her mate Chodac, ruddered the other two vessels and had
just disembarked in time to swim alongside their partners to the dock. 
a final check was made on all neccessary details and the crowd was soon 
swimming with the four rudder operators back out to the arks, leaving 
four standing on the dock to see to the landing. 

the arks were loaded in quick succession, the gate at the dock being
closed when one ark would reach its capacity, to wait for the next ark 
to move up. first problem: after the first ark was loaded, the eight 
paddlers on board got the propellers in operation but the weight of the 
cargo was too much to move...the props too slow. it would take everyone 
from all four arks to move one. with the exception of Charval and the 
four individuals on the dock, everyone moved to the one vessel...and 
success was achieved in moving the floating behemoth. the other three 
arks were loaded as quickly as possible, the fourth vessel having to 
accomodate the loads of cut meat which were kept in burlap bags ans 
chilled with ice from the deepest cave in their half of the Catear 
mountains. time was of the essence, because the meat would not last 
long once the ice melted. they had to get the meat to the Cheetahs 
soon, and no-one but the four who came over in the first place knew how 
the distance would be spanned so quickly. 

Chevelle had explained to Shae how the small boats were pulled by
dolphins, and Shae listened in shocked amazement, barely daring to 
believe her ears. Oren was listening as well. "you can get fish to pull 
you?" she asked "they're not fish, child," Chevelle responded gently 
"they're dolphins." Yantar had overheard and couldn't believe what 
she'd heard. "i thought dolphins were extinct." she pondered. "well, 
they're obviously not." Parnak said. "let Chevelle tel you about it 
later, after our work is done." 

once everything was properly secured and locked down, they all waited
for Charval to join them. she was enduring morning sickness now and had 
retreated to an outcrop of beach sand and rocks thet his her from view. 
it took a short while for her to overcome this bout, and she was soon 
to join the rest of the party. morning sickness was the only ailment 
that women of this time had to endure for a positive purpose. many 
seemed to find it humorous and joyful, but Charval didn't find it funny 
at all. 

as the young bodyguard settled into her seat, Shae appeared Chevelle
with a strong concern. "how can your dolphins possibly manage to move 
these arks?" "who said i'd use dolphins to pul these wooden monsters?" 
"you're saying you're not?" Parnak asked. "no, too small," Chevelle 
responded. "well, what then?" the princess wondered. "i'll tell you, 
just do me a favor first." "alright." "just tell everyone not to get 
scared and fall off the arks when they see how i will." everyone was 
soon alerted and ready to see Chevelle's method come to light. 

from under her rudder seat, she produced the oddest sea shell Shae had
ever seen. it was eerily shaped...like a whale. even more unsettling 
was the the fact that when Chevelle blew through it...the sound was a 
perfect imitation of one of the giant underwater rulers. after a couple 
of melodic repititons, the waters of Emerald strait began bubbling and 
seething at a mammoth proportion some fifty yards from the bows of the 
large crafts. everyone in the Tiger clan was frozen by seeing four 
monolithic humpback whales surface and spout through their blowholes 
some fifty feet high. the next move by Chevelle and Chodac made some of 
Shae's clan scream while others stared in paralyzed disbelief. the man 
and woman stepped up onto the bow and dove off, swimming towards the 
gentle giants, by now a mere forty yards away. Shaw was petrified at 
the spectacle while she watched the two Cheetahs submerge, leaving the 
onlookers to wonder what they were doing and hoping they they weren't 
committing suicide. after a couple of minutes of tense waiting, the 
Cheetah ambassador and her mate came up and sucked in air before 
swimming back towards the arks. the Tiger princess was more relaxed 
now, though her feet still shuffled around a little. it wasn't until 
she looked straight down that she answered another question that 


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