The perfect gentleman((Finished))

Aira could still not understand why this made Henry so nervous, he put much more into this even than there actually were. Well, to her 'religion' it meant that they were bound, true that, but it didn't have to mean anything to either of them, they could continue like nothing had happened... Maybe.

"See you later", was the only thing she managed to say to his back that rapidly dissapeared. She hoped that he wasn't angry.

Sanyi was leaning against the wall blowing out a lazy cloud of smoke followed by a single ring while looking at Henry out of the corner of his eye.

"Ciao Enrico", he said as if they were in a classic spaghetti western, "where are you heading to in such furious haste?"

Sanyi flashed a tired, pale-yellow grin apparently amused by Henry's stumbling over his own words.
"I will not suggest it, non ti preoccupare, if you give me a better reason for this spopntaneous departure", he didn't even move a muscle or changed his tone to express his dissapointment, only the arm that lifted the joint to his mouth was the only sign of life.

Unlike Henry Sanyi kept calm, even when the other stared him right into his uneven eyes, maybe the smoke had cloaked his senses so much that his reflexes were sealed.

It took a while before he spoke.
"Francamente, it sounds like she disagrees", he inhaled and kept the smoke down, "a girl does not ask anyone such things, and Aira is very direct, not to mention honest. She loves you, and apparently you love her, scusa, I cannot see the problem Enrico", the last thing he said with a lifted eyebrow while smoke crawled out from between his teeth.

"I know", Sanyi said and casually tossed the sorry remnants of the joint on the ground completely ignoring Henry's degradation of himself, "you're not the only person in Gwangi who talks to her, and one does not have to be a mindreader to know what she thinks. Now, you should go save your damsel in distress", it almost sounded like an order.

-

"He left?" for the first time in a lifetime Aira had no expression on her face.
She walked outsite where an old man with a staff wearing a headdress similar to hers - but much more impressive - was waiting for her.
She said something to him in a foreign language, and he responded. Although it wasn't english his tone and entire bodylanguage oozed of warm compassion.
He gave her a one-hand hug and began to lead her south where her tribe was waiting for them.

Sanyi rose a hand as a goodbye gesture as Henry rumbled down the streets. He smiled to himself and lit another joint.

-

"Maybe he is just late", Aira said while the tribe was packing their stuff.
They were not staying for the night and actually only made a stop for Aira's sake, the surrounding area did not contain enough wild dinosaurs to feed the entre tribe, and they didn't want to exterminate whole species. Also just a few hills away they had spotted a large group of wild iguanadons that suited their needs better, so that was where they were headed.
But now that they were just about to begin the journey Aira hestitated.

"Sweet Aira, I would wait ten summers if that is what it takes for your Henry to arrive, but it is not I who is the one to decide. Whether he is late or let you down we have to go now", the old man from before, assumingly Muasa, walked up next to her with a backpack on his shoulders and an Archaeopteryx with worn-out pale feathers clinging to his staff. It was almost impossible to see that it was from this dino that Aira got her head-feathers.

Without a word Aira walked with him to the edge of the gathering of people, her constantly looking over her shoulder.

Aira was devastated.
She actually thought that the tribe would listen to her, but the thought hadn't even occurred to chieftain Ooun. It was like that he saw her separation from the tribe as a short period in which she would come to understand that she deep down wanted to come with them. Of course, that was only natural in his eyes.
Only if she got connected with another person she could release her bond to the tribe and be inappropriate as a shaman.

Muasa had of course found another apprentice, but he doubted that he had enough time on earth to teach him at least the things he had taught Aira, so as much as it broke his heart to see her sad he found it to be best for everyone that she came with them.

Everybody in the tribe turned their heads when the ankylosaur with his mad rider came storming towards them; Dark skinned people in all ages with the same nose-and-forehead and arm tattoos as Aira, differing from each individual.
Apart from the tattoos and leatherbands around their heads they all had each their outstanding features; some had bombastic feather adornments all over, some wore dinosaur-skulls as crowns, some had beads in their hair, some had clothes that looked like eath-colored shreds of skin sewed together, and some were even more plain looking than Aira.
Although there were no hierarchical system in this kind of fascion they all seemed to be part of the same group.
Even their dinosaurs consisted of a broad range of species. Most of them were smaller predators, but there were also a few hadrosaurs and armored ones, even fewer large carnivores. In this company Xon was the tallest, and therefore easy to spot.

The tribe made an opening for Henry that closed around him again so that he was trapped in a circle of humans and dinosaurs. Many of them had ready spears, bows and knifes in hands, and they uttered growling, roaring sounds deep down their throats - in huge contrast to the high-pitched warcries you usually linked with natives - but none of them went for an assault, not even when Bull swung his mighty tail.

There was an awkward moment where nothing happened, but then Aira stepped forward, and the tribe got quiet. It only took her a second to calculate the situation before she dashed as fast as she could towards Henry, agile jumped onto Bull and almost crashed into Henry in a clinging hug - Roc had leaped off her shoulders before she'd started to run.

And then the tribe suddenly burst out in excited cheers. They seemed completely indifferent about Henry's aggresive entrance or that he'd threatned to shoot all of them, they were just as quirky as Aira.

A fully grown man emerged from the crowd of people and placed himself a few meters from the ankylosaur.
He had nothing to cover his body apart from a small piece of clothe around his waist and many many dark tattoos around his arms and legs - his entire face was painted white apart from a thin line in the middle, and his braided hair almost reached his knees.
One wouldn't expect a chief to wear so little compared to his flock, but this man radiated so much power and authority that he didn't even need any intimidating garnish.

He was followed by an old man with a feathered headdress that shushed the others, but none of them spoke. It was like they waited for Henry to say something, maybe apologize for his delay, maybe claim his woman in pure animal-instinct and passion, it was simply impossible to tell.