Chapter 4

Being speared isn’t necessarily the worst way to go from what I’ve heard. It could have been worse, death by extream constipation or death by snoo snoo are good examples of a worse fate. That doesn’t mean I would appreciate getting a spear through the torso.

“Alright, hey, how about we just lay down the spear so I don’t end up with a new orifice,” I gestured towards the zebra hoping it would understand “Y-you can talk right?”

The zebra didn’t respond how I was expecting it to, but then again nothing was going how I was expecting it to. It made a simple gesture, it put a hoof to its throat and made an x symbol.

“Ah, you’re blind, got it,” the zebra met my response with a searing glare “U-uh, just joking, it’s a defense mechanism!”

The zebra huffed and sheathed its spear. It began reaching into one of its many pouches tied around its waist. It pulled out a pile of brown powder.

“So are you gonna sleep powder me or something?” my question went unanswered, finally something I expected! I don’t know if sleep powder is a thing but whatever.

The zebra walked past me to the wounded alligator behind me. Once it reached the wound site it removed the binding I applied earlier and started applying the powder directly to the wound.

I shit you not the flesh itself start sowing itself back together, it was both disgusting and amazing to watch. The wound itself was still there but the flesh was slowly mending itself together and I had front row seats to see it happing.

“Magic bullshittery confirmed,” I stared at the wound and then at the zebra “How did you do that?”

The zebra just raised an eyebrow and started walking to the left of the incline. I guess she lives somewhere in the gorge. I gave the alligator a small look then turned my attention towards the exiting zebra.

“Hey, wait up!” I hurriedly followed after the zebra.

“So are you some kind of amazing wizard? Or are you like a god deity? That’d be pretty neat,” My only response was a blank stare.

“Oh yeah, not much of a talker,”

“Are you male?” the zebra shook her head.

“Do you live in this gorge?” I ran up to the side of her. “Not that this place isn’t pleasant, I really love the giant eels,”

She nodded, a small smirk made its way to her muzzle.

“What a lovely place to live.”

“Alright, I’m gonna cut straight to the point, you got some food? I’ve been lost in the wild for the past 2 and a half days,” I questioned the female zebra, exhaustion evident in my voice.

I’d rather be honest with myself as well as the zebra in front of me. I was hungry and very thirsty. I wanted my intentions to be known immediately. She looked uncertain for some time before gesturing for me to follow her.

I don’t know how long we’ve been walking but during this seemingly long walk, I inspected my silent companion. The zebra was decorated with piercings and other bits and bobbles. A gourd and several pouches adorned her waist. It was an interesting getup.

We soon arrived at a house. Mind you, since I’ve gotten here everything's been pretty tame, just a hydra, a few land eels, and a talking zebra. However, seeing a house inside a giant lopsided willow tree blew my mind.

“That's amazing!” I whisper screamed.

“I would scream but last time I did that a hydra appeared out of nowhere.”

The tree itself was nothing to scoff at, it was huge, it seemed like it rested most of its weight against the wall of the gorge. Adorning the tree were several masks that were tribal in nature. Several ornaments were hanging from the thick branches above us.

“You live here?”

The zebra nodded her head before continuing into the tree hut. Once she opened the door I was graced with an array of particular smells and sights. In the middle of the hut sat a large iron cauldron. Next to the cauldron a small crate of cleaning supplies, and a box of ingredients.

Along the interior walls were sets of shelves stuffed full of books and not so neatly placed potions. Albeit I could only assume they were potions they just looked like gourds with small white caps. Several candles were placed throughout the cozy tree home, many of them placed on the edges of previously mentioned shelves.

“This is a pretty neat crib you got here,”

“Since you agreed to help me I'm more than willing to help you with anything you need,”

Putting myself this far into a stranger's han-hoofs made me uncomfortable, but I don’t have that many options. Its either be at the mercy of a spear-wielding zebra or be at the mercy of mother nature. Screw mother nature, I’ll take my chances with magic powder making zebras.

So a couple of hours passed, and thankfully my amazing hostess gave me some bread and water. Truly a godsend that one is. After eating, me and miss zebra sat down at a small table that was tucked in the corner of the hut. The table itself was littered with scrolls, books, and dirty bowls.

“So what’s your name?”

The zebra at the time of my question was smoking from a tobacco pipe. Once I finished the question, a steady stream of smoke was released from her muzzle contorted and started forming words in the air.

Mchawi Bubu

“Huh, well, my name is Peter, nice to meet you...miss...er...can I call Mchawi?” I asked. Mchawi nodded her head.

“Since you helped me I was hoping to compensate you for the food and water with labor.” she nodded her head confirming our agreement. To say I was glad was an understatement.

“This’ll just be until I repay my debt, and then I’ll skedaddle.” I glanced at the surrounding hut, it was a cleaning nightmare. I’d have my work cut out for me.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading.

I hope you have a wonderful day.