"I still skeem this iz a plan concocted by a moegoe, not a wise one, usisi." Tomas stood between Maeve and the doorway leading out of the RhyDin Wildlife Refuge's main compound.

Tomas definitely had height and bulk on her but Maeve flattered herself into thinking she had speed on her side. Hiding most of her cropped black hair underneath a fitted army cap she tugged the hat into place while nonchalantly searching for a way around him. "Do not call it a fool's errand, bru. There iz honor in seeing a thing through one's self." She rushed to his left then only to find an arm as thick as a canopy tree blocking her path.

"But there iz no wrong in seeing the bigger picture. And you, Cougs, are a bit deurmekaar when it comes to such sight today," said Tomas, keeping her at bay.

With a pat to his forearm she paused in her escape attempt. "I have said it and I have set my mind to doing it." Before he could protest she ducked underneath his arm and squeezed her way out into the breaking light of dawn.

Tomas followed close behind, his steps leaving larger prints than Maeve's boots did in the soft dirt. "Has it ever been told to you that your head iz thicker than the bull's?"

"Ja, I heard a thing much like that once." Her flippant tone betrayed her age. Tomas caught hold of one of her shoulders. She stopped, having no other choice but to turn around and face him. "We will be late, Tomas."

"You have never made the run before. What izit about this one that has put a fire under your feet?" His honey brown eyes carried the right combination of concern and fear to earn an honest answer from Maeve. "I cannot be at ease staying while my brus are at risk. Not after the last ukulwa." There was nothing glib in her response this time.

He released her from his grasp at that. The ithunzibasa, or the Burning Shadows as they were known throughout Myobi, had set them back considerably with their latest raid on one of the Tribe's largest cells. With every small victory the Tribe took at the expense of the poachers the itunzibasa strove harder and harder to take twice as much in return. Two members of the Tribe perished in the fight, six more suffered serious injuries and the cell's inventory had been completely depleted. The stolen weapons needed to be replaced quickly if the Tribe wanted to regain any ground that had been lost in their ongoing war to stop the ithunzibasa from destroying the natural Balance of the world with their heinous actions.

Not that the Tribe's methods of protection were the most ethical or kind but that was a debate for another day.

"Fine, we will go but do you truly trust this oke, Cougs?" Tomas picked up the path again, looking at Maeve over his shoulder as they wound their way down to the Refuge's main entrance and the vehicles waiting there.

"Alain" Ja, I do not skeem he iz a skollie out to trick us. He iz making the funds and he has an affinity for the mustached tamarins. You saw with your own eyes how he was with Mister Hichi. He has a small understanding of our cause for it." In fact Maeve didn't know if her new supplier had been happier to see the money or the monkey when they visited his office earlier in the week to make the necessary arrangements.

Tomas gave a nod to the other men preparing the three jeeps and the nondescript cube truck at the end of the path before looking at her again. "Since when sweet usisi have you had faith in other people?" He was half-joking with the question.

Maeve couldn't blame him. She wondered at it herself. Life had taught her to know better yet here she was about to let someone outside her brus into their business beyond a simple sales transaction. "It must be too many days here in RhyDin. The natives" propensity for taking to strangers has rubbed onto me." The answer would have to suffice for them both. "And if I am wrong, there will be ten of us and only one of him. Those odds are not mal for us, ja?" Her blue-green eyes with the yellow-rimmed irises took in her other brus, all clad in the same fatigues Maeve and Tomas wore. This question also fell somewhere between a jest and the truth.

"That sounds more like our Cougar." Tomas blinded her with his easy smile and climbed into the driver's side of one of the outdoor jeeps. She took her place beside him as he revved up the engine and started the procession out of the Refuge. The second jeep followed, then the truck bearing the modest lettering "GARY"S GRANARY' in plain black paint, and finally the last jeep finished out the procession to the warehouse Alain had picked out.

They were well on their way to pick up and deliver a very special shipment of cereal grains, the kind you wouldn't find at your local grocery store.

Tomas, Tremain and Donte parked their respective jeeps on the side of the warehouse, out of sight and with enough room for Kameron to begin backing in the cube truck. Kameron stayed at the wheel while the rest of the group piled out and entered the warehouse.

"Howizit, Alain?" Maeve sounded almost chipper in her greeting. The task at hand had its perils but she felt secretly ecstatic about the chance to return to Myobi, brief as the visit would be. She had not been home since the Tribe split in two with her half making the move to RhyDin last winter. Their new city had been good to them but she hated how the wide mix of races belonging to the population screwed with her eng"iti chimm senses. She relished the idea of being able to feel the world with clear lines drawn between animals and humans.

"Bonga." Taking the receipt, Maeve read it over carefully and handed it to Tomas who had come to stand beside her. "Some coffee would be kif."

"We should start the work." Maeve started for the tin cups when Tomas, his gaze still on the receipt, gave the gruff order. In truth Tomas could be the most amiable of the bunch but he was waiting to see how their business with Alain would play out. That he had the additional pressure of worrying about Maeve's well-being did little to lighten his mood.

Jahi on the other hand fed off of Tomas" sour disposition. "How you gonna rock up on our bokkie's pad here and be so cold, Tee?" All limbs and lankiness, Jahi raised a hand to slap Alain's in greeting. ?"S"up, bra?" Making a show of staring up and down at Alain, Jahi spared Maeve a look and flashed a jovial grin all around. "I hope you brought the sunblock, cherrie. Our bokkie here iz gonna need it.?

For all his jesting, Jahi proved to be a good worker. He was also a mutli-tasker, lifting the crate and taking hold of the introductions at the same time. "When you need something, all it iz for you to know iz that I'm Jahi."

The rest of the team got to work moving the crates into the truck with the exception of Tomas who was prying one open with a crow bar to inspect the goods. With one box in the truck, Jahi jumped out of the way and continued pointing out the rest of his brus.

"That handsome legend behind the wheel iz Kameron, the goofball to ride with him we call Tato "cause his kop iz shaped like one and the oke giving him the help iz Kwame," the second man being pointed out did have a head vaguely shaped like a potato but the nickname was more exaggerated than warranted. Tato had long resigned himself to the name and carried on with hoisting crates into the truck with Kwame, only smiling briefly at Alain.

"Donte, Mac, and Christiaan there will be driving the one jeep. You want for them to go last, bokkie, "cause you don't want to be downwind from Mac when he gets the gas," Jahi grinned over at Alain. In response Mac stopped what he was doing to raise his fist up in Jahi's direction, his thumb sticking out between his index and middle fingers. Jahi snickered at the Myobian version of flipping the bird and continued pointing out the crew. "And that ugly skuzz there, that iz Tremain. He will be driving for me and Kwame. If you have any tips for how he can bag the hotties he iz in desperate need." Tremain being the most objectively good looking of the bunch with his lean build and sea-green eyes set off by his caramel complexion took the teasing with an easy smile.

"You know our usisi so that only leaves the lug there," Jahi passed over Maeve and pointed at Tomas sifting through the crate's grains to make sure all the gun parts were there. "We call him Big Stick "cause you know he must have one shoved up his guava where the sun doesn't shine," Jahi flashed another wicked grin, knowing he was standing far enough away from Tomas to avoid any physical retaliation.

"He means to say that iz Tomas. He was outside when I came to your office," Maeve clarified. "Now you have met a skyfie of the Tribe. These are my brus, Alain."

Looking over the range of men with their varying shades of dark skin one thing could be fairly certain " not one of her brothers held any blood relation to Maeve Malone.