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Druvak, chieftain of the Kharuni tribe, was nodding off in his wagon as he and the other tribes were lazily trodding along, secure in the knowledge that they were not going to run into any stiff opposition.
When they encountered the forces under the protection of the Frozen Fang and Rising Horn, he and the chieftains with him parleyed with them. During their negotiation with the Frozen Fang and Rising Horn chieftains and commanders, they painted the forces of the Rock Claw tribe as opportunists who entered the conflict to claim the spoils of war for themselves, and claimed that the Rock Claw tribe held too much power in the Alliance to be opposed.
From the demeanor of the Frozen Fang and Rising Horn chieftains, they did not seem bothered by their small gathering of tribes, which told Druvak and the other chieftains with him that their opponents had powerful backing. But the moment the Rock Claw tribe was mentioned, their whole demeanor changed.
Through their negotiations, they managed to convince the Frozen Fang and Rising Horn chieftains that they were not worth the time, energy, or casualties with the Rock Claw tribe around, and in exchange for a cease-fire until the Rock Claw tribe was either defeated or chased away, they would not in any way assist the Rock Claw tribe.
This deal fit their situation perfectly, and they readily agreed. Hopefully, the Rock Claw tribe would clash with the Frozen Fang and Rising Horn chieftains, weakening them enough so they wouldn't have the strength to claim the land and resources they desired.
Just as Druvak was about to really nod off to sleep, there was a shout from the side of the marching column. He did not pick up what the shout was about, thinking it was one of the men stepping on a snake or something, but as the seconds passed, that single shout seemed to have stirred up some commotion.
He pulled aside the wagon's tarp that was blocking the sun, just in time to see one of the scouts who was moving alongside the column to give the main body of warriors an early warning. And it seems like his day was not going to be a quiet one.
"Chieften Druvak! The Rock Claw tribe is coming toward us from the left," the scout reported.
This report woke Druvak from his drowsiness as he quickly threw on the bulkier parts of his armor. "How long before they reach us?" Druvak asked.
"Shortly. Their scouts already found us and were behind me when I came to report." the scout said.
Druvak cussed softly to himself as he thought, 'What are they doing here? They should be far away chasing another known group of enemies,' he then looked back at his column of men. 'We are too large to run away without suspicion. I will just have to face the Rock Claw tribe and find out what they are doing here.'
When the Rock Claw tribe forces finally reached the main bulk of Druvak's forces, Druvak noticed Orin riding at the head of a third of what he remembered their number was. Depending on the situation, this was a chance to kill and bury Orin and his men if the opportunity presented itself, but he had to be sure.
"Commander Orin, what are you doing here?" Druvak said politely as Orin rode closer to him. "I thought you would be quite far away chasing a different group of enemies. And where are the rest of your men?"
Orin nodded his head to return the greeting. "I could ask the same of you. I thought you would be a lot further ahead by now. I am surprised to see you here. As for the rest of my men, they should be here shortly, but it seems like we have the good fortune of running into you and your men. You see, the rest of my men are chasing the routed enemy. They should be here shortly, so you and your men can join me in crushing the enemy in a pincer attack. Naturally, you will be entitled to half the loot."
Druvak forced himself to smile, "Of course, we will be glad to crush the enemy alongside you." he forced out of his mouth as naturally as he could. He was not planning to fight at all and leave all the fighting to the Rock Claw tribe, but now that their commander was right in front of him, he had no excuse not to fight, and neither did he have time to fight and kill Orin and his men before backup arrived if Orin was to be believed.
Reluctantly, Druvak commanded his men to form up to be the anvil that the enemy would be smashed upon. As for Orin and his men, they were all mounted and had no business being in a formation. It was agreed that Orin and his men would be acting as cavalry that would whittle away the enemy when the enemy clashed against Druvak's line.
***
As Orin led his men into a dense wooded area to hide themselves for the upcoming ambush, he was smiling the entire time. Especially when he noticed the barely concealed scowl on Druvak's face when he was forced into the approaching fight.
Not even an hour after meeting with Druvak, Orin saw Druvak's scouts running in from the direction the enemy was expected to come from. Things were about to kick off soon.
Orin turned to his men and said, "Remember, just act like you are fighting hard. Our allies need to work for their victory." That was followed by his men chuckling at what was to come.
Soon, as planned, the enemy made their way out of the thick foliage, only to run into another army cutting off their orderly retreat. But between the well-armed and armored men of the Rock Claw tribe, who were rumored to be, and recently confirmed by themselves, to be among the best and fiercest warriors around, or the force blocking their retreat, who, besides a few well-armed men, were covered in leather, wood, and bone armor for the most part. It was an easy decision of what they were going to do next.
The enemy commander started shouting orders, and besides leaving a third of their force to hold off the Rock Claw tribe, led by Orin's second in command, Voro. The enemy commander led the rest of his men on a full-on charge against Druvak's forces
As Orin watched things play out, he had to raise his hand to stop some of the men from riding out to attack the enemy. "Hold, give them some time to engage properly. Only when they firmly get each other's attention do we strike."
***
When the battle was over, it was as Orin predicted. The enemy was crushed, but mostly at the expense of Druvak's forces. And from the look on Druvak's face, Orin could tell that he was greatly angered by the loss of his men, but could not find a justification to blame it on the Rock Claw tribe because they were the ones who had done most of the fighting.
The only excuse that Druvak could make to escape the battlefield was that his forces were greatly diminished and had to retreat to join forces with one of the other chieftains.
As promised, Orin allowed Druvak's forces to take half of the loot from the battle before going their own way.
Now, all Orin had to worry about was the enemy and the other Alliance chieftains pulling off any schemes.
***
Back at the Rock Claw Chiefdom, while most of his children who were shamans were trying to increase the hair-brained methods of discovering more symbols of the World Language, Grud and two of his other children involved in the project were experimenting with the practical application for everyday life. Especially with the recently discovered Water symbol.
For their experiments, Grud bought one of the small old fishing boats that was damaged and about to be scrapped. He had it patched up enough that there would be no leaks and wheeled it to the hidden beach where they discovered the Water symbol.
These two children of his were two of the few who managed to conjure the Water symbol, allowing them to manipulate water.
They had been at it for two days, testing the limits of their control over the water at the shore. Much to their failure, they tried to catch fish with it, tried to use it as an attack, and even tried to manipulate the water so that they could walk on it. But besides getting wet, they did not accomplish much.
By the end of the first day, they all realized they lacked understanding of how the symbol worked, as well as how water functioned beyond making things wet and flowing downhill.
On the second day of testing, Grud decided to test what he could do with the Water symbol out on the water, so he pushed off in the small fishing boat and tried to see if he could maneuver the boat around.
Within minutes, he succeeded in moving the boat around by affecting the localised currents around the boat, but that was about it. And the term 'maneuver' could only be used in the loosest of terms. In reality, his boat was spinning in circles while he constantly tried and failed to counter the flow to stabilize the boat.
It was only when Grud decided to focus on moving the boat in a straight line that he saw any success. Out of the several methods he tried, he settled on creating a small localized wave just behind the boat. What inspired him to use this method was seeing driftwood and debris get carried to shore.
Using the wave method, acceleration started off slowly, but as the seconds passed, it started picking up speed until they were moving through the water at around three times the speed of the fastest swimmer in the tribe.
To Grud and his children, this was a huge success. With this, they were no longer at the mercy of the wind when traveling out to sea.
Throughout the rest of the second day, Grud and his two children practiced and refined the wave propulsion technique and excitedly brought home the news of their progress. This got the rest of the family excited, and the next day brought along a few more tag-alongs.