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Here are the posts for the topic 'tribal disputes' from my mailing list, Fantasybits.
by JacLyn Jones (jasujo@hotmail.com)
The velvety flower petals slowly opened. The small sprite stretched her arms and let out a graceful yawn. Her ragged mop of hair shown coppery from the glow of her flower. She stood up, hands on her hips and looked around. A light breeze gently shifted through her short sky blue jerkin. She bent down and retrieved her bow and quiver from the underside of a petal and hopped down. She crouched between the grass stalks, listening.
Asreal crept behind a mushroom and searched around, her large amber eyes taking in everything. The snap of a twig was heard to her left. She froze, every nerve in her body at attention. Another snap was heard and her head whipped in the direction. The small sprite's eyes strained to catch the movement. She crept to a small rock, every movement as swift as a cat's. Her target was in sight.
The young boy had wandered away from his home, curiously following a cricket. His small iridescent wings fluttered excitedly as he got close, but everytime, the insect would hop away at the last second. He tried to walk quietly, like his parents had taught him, but he constantly forgot and playfully tramped through the grass stalks.
Asreal reached a hand up and silently pulled herself on top of the rock. She fit an arrow to her bow and leveled it, waiting for the right moment. Her body froze in a state of intense concentration.
The small child walked around a giant flower and stopped. In front of him was the cricket, lazily chewing on a heavy leaf. The boy crept closer, careful not to frighten it. He took each step with such determination. A couple times, the insect stopped its chewing, so the child stopped, too. Eventually, he ended up a few steps away. He sung the quieting song his mother had taught him, to relax the insect. Those last few steps seemed to take forever. Finally, he was right behind the insect. He slowly reached his hand out to touch it.
The female sprite let her arrow fly. It hit its mark perfectly. A cold smile crossed her lips as she thought of the reward the elders would give her.
As the boy's hand brushed the back of the cricket, he heard a twang. His eyes opened wide as the arrow pierced his chest. The cricket immediately hopped away. The small child fell to the ground in a state of shock. His wings fluttered for a quick instant, then he lay there silently. Blood seeped through his wound.
Asreal stood up from her crouched position and lept from the rock, softly landing on the ground below. She walked over to the body and pushed it with her foot, making sure it was dead. She sighed and heaved it onto her shoulders, shifted it a couple times to carry it comfortably and walked off. Her mind wandered as she walked down the path to her tribe's counsel. She would bring in a good reward from this small sprite. It's too bad she had to get rid of it, she thought, but tribal disputes were tribal disputes. It's usually the innocents that get hurt the most.
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