Chapter 5

The eight Humans and one Kikker half knelt in a half hidden corner of the park. Shanna knew they had to look silly to the locals, a bunch of primitive foreigners doing whatever it was non-frog people did. The way Adanya was looking around, the Kikker woman obviously was a bit embarrassed. She offered no complaint, though, as they discussed their options.

"There's no reason Elves shouldn't be here," Piotr said, expression as serious as Shanna had ever seen it. It was his war face, she realized. The expression was echoed by the others, only Anelie showing a different emotion: fear.

"I think it's safe to say," Shanna replied, eyes sweeping the group, "that we're still at war with the Elves. We've negotiated no ceasefire, let alone a peace treaty. I'm sure both sides have standing 'attack on sight' orders, at least for border guards."

"If they're just traders, the war has nothing to do with them." Piotr shifted his leg a bit. "I could probably blame them for this rock poking me in my knee, though."

"I'm sure," Shanna said, grinning, "they placed that there as a trap."

"Wouldn't put it past them."

"What do we do, Lady Shanna?" Anelie's eyes were wide. There was trust in her voice, though. A conviction that Shanna would, in fact, know what to do. Would keep her, and them, safe. Not really knowing why it seemed right, Shanna reached over and placed her hand on the girl's knee.

"We do what we came here to do. We're soldiers. Polish soldiers. It will take more than a few pointy-eared freaks to send us running. Right?"

"Right!" Anelie's whole attitude shifted. She was confident again, body tense as she leaned towards Shanna. Shanna chuckled as she glanced at the hulk of a brother beside the girl. Bogdi had his own beefy hand on Anelie's shoulder.

"You'll be OK, Anelie. Just stay close to us, let us do the fighting for now. We need your eyes more than your sword."

Shanna took quick stock of their supplies. No bows, or other ranged weapons. Anelie did have a pair of throwing daggers along with her sword, as did Jacek. Bogdi had his ever present battle axe. No armor, apart from breast plate each human wore. The rest had been left behind.

"We passed a stall," Anelie said, "selling bows. They weren't Polish, but didn't look too bad."

Shanna regarded her, impressed.

"How far away?"

"I remember it," Helmut said, standing. "Maybe a quick ten minute walk back."

Adanya stood as well, crossing her brown and green arms over her breasts as she moved in front of him.

"Walk with a bow, and every guard in the city will mark you as potential trouble. Swords, we can say are for defense. Bows are for attacking, and guards don't want anyone starting trouble."

"So we don't use them when the guards are around."

She snorted, which came out as a half croak. From his expression, Helmut obviously wasn't sure how to interpret that. Adanya shook her head.

"Polish. Always a pain."

"And Frogs are better?" Bogdi asked. His snort of disgust mirrored Adanya's, and it was her turn to be unsure how she should react. He stood, his sister rising with him. "Really, this changes nothing. We just have to be on our guard, which we should have been from the start."

"Agreed," Shanna said, rising, as did the rest of them. "Adanya, see if that inn has rooms for all of us, as we won't be splitting up tonight." She paused a moment, taking Piotr's hand. "The best room with the biggest bed will be ours, though."

Lodging secured, the rest of the afternoon's exploration took on a more serious tone. The humans were wary, eyes darting into every passed doorway or side street. On coming to a narrow flight of stairs leading down to the lower city, Shanna made sure all noted its location. It would be the fastest way to retreat back to the docks.

A block further on, they came to what appeared to be a restaurant. The front wall of the two story stone structure was gone, replaced by squared wooden columns extending upward to the domed roof. Inside were round tables with chairs, half of which were already filled with Kikker diners. A few of the short furry Watu also occupied two tables, booster seats allowing them to use the larger chairs. The second floor, from what Shanna could see, had even more tables. There was no railing where its missing wall would have been. No safety codes here, evidently.

"What do you think," Piotr asked. "Good place for dinner?"

"Do they have human food?" Anelie asked. "I'm not too fond of flies."

"Grilled dragonfly isn't bad," Bogdi said, hand stroking his chin. "If it's fresh."

"Fresh caught is the best," Adanya agreed. She walked to the nearest column. Paper menus were posted on each of its four sides. Moving to the back, she stopped, eyes widening. "They have a Polish menu."

"That's a good sign." Shanna said. "They must get trader business."

"Places locals go have better food," Adanya groused, "but for tonight this will do. The prices are not horrible."

A young Kikker woman came towards them. She wore a red cloth vest, holes cut so her breasts were not just exposed, but held the vest in place as they jutted outward. Her skirt was of similar design to Adanya's, but woven of multi-colored fabric strips instead of rope. She smiled, head bowing slightly

"Welkom. Sou jy graag 'n tafel?"

Adanya looked at Shanna questioningly. Shanna shrugged.

"Sure, why not. Second floor, so we're not visible from the road."

"I am so sick of fish," Helmut said, eyes going over the menu, "even the bugs are looking like a good option."

"I'm telling you," Bogdi said, his own menu already discarded, "try the grilled dragonfly. If the cook knows what they're doing and doesn't drown it in sauce, it's quite tasty."

"Unless it's a Lilly herb sauce," Adanya said from three chairs down. Bogdi leaned forward as he turned to her, Anelie leaning back to get out of his way.

"Oh, I agree, but at these prices the odds we're getting that is low, unless it's cheap ass Lilly not fit for the better quality of Frog."

"Of which I am one," she said, smiling. Bogdi laughed. Grabbing his mug, he raised it up.

"To the better quality of Frogs!"

"You're not even drunk yet," Anelie said, frowning at her brother. He shrugged, taking a swig of his drink.

"And?"

"Nothing."

"And where," Shanna asked, "did you acquire a taste for Kikker food?"

Adanya leaned forward, interest clear on her face as he answered.

"I was down on the southern border for a bit, about five years ago. There was a Frog village just beyond our fort. They were friendly, so we'd often go there. There was this one Frog girl, who..." Bogdi stopped himself. He sat back in his chair. Shanna put a hand to her forehead as Anelie looked at her brother questioningly.

"Who what?"

He coughed, not meeting her gaze.

"Liked to cook."

The waitress came, delaying further revelations Shanna really didn't want to know about. Still, it was interesting to hear Bogdi obviously had no problem with dealing with the Kikker, although just because you liked to (eeew) fuck them didn't mean you respected them. That was information that could come in handy.

The food was good, the conversation better. Maybe it was the freedom of being away from everyone, even fellow soldiers. Maybe it was that they were alone together in the middle of an alien city. Alone, as humanity was alone, bonding to survive. Whatever the case, stories came flowing, tales Shanna had not heard in the months she had led them. So, too, she told stories. Stories of home, of her Earth. And, Piotr ... Piotr, her love, for the first time seemed at ease with her men, and they with him.

Even if all else came to naught, for her the trip will have been worth it.

"So, there I am, standing in the middle of this crappy wooden rowboat at the cabin dock, ready to start the adventure of a lifetime. I manage to untie the back rope somehow, and as the stern starts swinging out into the lake, my six year old brain suddenly realizes, Fuck! I'm going to float off and be trapped in this boat forever! Mrs. Miller sees me from the cabin window, and BURSTS out the door, yelling 'SHANNA!' She runs down the hill, and Mrs. Miller running was a sight to see, let me tell you, big breasts a bouncing. She runs out onto the dock, and ... JUMPS into the boat! I jump back, to get the fuck out of her way, hit the side of the boat with the back of my legs, and go flying over into the water! Splash! Mrs. Miller, without missing a beat, jumps in after me! BAM! Belly flop! Everyone comes running out of the cabin, what with her screaming about me drowning, and there I was standing in three feet of water laughing my silly ass off!"

Shanna took a swig of her drink as the table broke into laughter around her. She had left the part about the frog the family had named 'Prince' out of the tale, although Adanya probably would have taken it well. She was laughing along with the others, after all, now officially one of their number. At some point, the seating arrangement had changed, the Kikker woman now settled next to the magnificently mustached Bogdi. A bowl of some sort of large marinated insects sat between them. Shanna did not want to remember exactly what it was, and was just thankful the bowl was empty enough that she no longer could see its contents.

"Lady Shanna."

Shanna looked at Anelie beside her. Exactly when the green eyed redhead had ended up beside her was also a mystery. She let out a burp before answering.

"What?"