Chapter 7

The lesson ended well past noon. Miss Petunia dismissed them and went somewhere else. Some kids left as well, others formed groups and started playing all sorts of games. The older ones actually had some small duties within the tribe to attend to.

Robin, for his part, spent a bit of time getting the sand out of his pants. It was an activity he was sadly getting very much used to.

The lesson, even if it was contained at a level children would understand, was extremely interesting for Robin. Apparently, yesterday's lecture was only an introduction to the topic so he didn't miss out on much.

Still, it was kind of messed up that most of the insects in this desert were either venomous, poisonous, or toxic.

Granted, most of them were not instantly deadly, but some of them were and Petunia assured them that will be the topic for the next few days.

It was interesting to see how much kids behaved themselves when you spoke about things that could kill them.

With a sigh at that morbid thought, Robin began heading through the tribe, looking for Vance. He was supposed to meet his father at sunset and there were a good couple of hours until then. He was not in a rush to find him since he, unfortunately, had nothing better to do now.

A few minutes later and he found Vance running around Hilda who was carrying a few hides somewhere. Vance looked to be talking nonstop with a sparkle in his eyes, while Hilda made a comment from time to time with a small smile on her face.

It felt like watching a big sister putting up with her little brother's antics. Not that he would tell the kid that.

Robin watched with some amusement as Hilda said her goodbyes and entered one of the bigger tents in the camp, most likely the chieftain's. Vance deflated like a beachball and turned to walk away in disappointment

"Vance."

"Geh!" Vance jumped up and almost tripped himself from surprise. Robin felt some satisfaction from that. He was still sore about that scare he took last night.

"What the hell? Why did you sneak up on me!?"

"Sneak up? I just walked normally. You were just out of it lover boy."

Vance looked at him, mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but not having any words to say. Finally, he composed himself and chose to just glare at Robin. If it were a few days ago, Robin would be already eating sand, but even Vance knew by now what would happen if he tried anything.

"You forgot to tell me where I was supposed to meet your dad."

Vance raised his eyebrows. "I said at sunset. Are you deaf mutt?"

Robin was once again feeling a familiar annoyance rising up inside him. "I asked where, you imbecile, not when."

Vance blinked "Oh… I-I didn't actually ask him that."

Robin stared at him like he was some kind of exotic animal. For his part, Vance at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Fine. Let's just go ask him now."

"Err, dad and the other hunters are gone most of the day, they only come back an hour or two before sunset."

'Of course, they do' Robin thought. Thankfully the camp was not that big and he could find a person quickly if he searched for them.

"We're going to your tent Vance." Robin declared.

"What? Why? And I'm busy right now."

Robin scoffed, no doubt the brat just wanted to mess around with something. Either that or he was waiting for Hilda to come out again. Robin didn't actually care. He wanted to at least know where he could try finding Vance's dad if he had bad luck and didn't meet him upon his return to the tribe.

"Move or I'll go crying to Hilda."

That made him clamp up and go red in the face. Finally, after a bit more convincing from Robin, Vance begrudgingly agreed to show him the way. His and his father's tent was surprisingly close to where he met Hilda yesterday, meaning right at the edge of the camp.

Having done his part, Vance wasted no time and left, leaving Robin once again alone and with nothing to do. He had a few hours to burn and no idea how. He already saw what the camp looked like and, honestly, there was not much to look at.

With a shrug he began walking randomly, hoping for something interesting to cross his path.

Sometime later and Robin actually found something. It was one of the insects Petunia talked about in his earlier lecture, more specifically a black scorpion.

Robin watched it move around in the sand. Surprisingly, even if his sting carried poison, it was not deadly. 'Well, not the amount a single black scorpion could inject by itself.' He remembered. It was still a dangerous toxin that would mess you up good though so Robin kept his distance.

Unfortunately, Robin was bored out of his skull at the moment. So, having nothing better to do, and not really thinking much about it, he picked up a tiny rock and threw it at the scorpion. The rock missed, but it was enough to make the creature freeze in its tracks.

'Oh? So it just clamps up like that?' Wanting to see what the scorpion would do, he took another rock and threw it. This time it landed a little closer, but still did not hit it.

Robin scowled as his newly found entertainment just stood there motionless. He picked up another rock and just when he was about to throw it the scorpion moved.

It skittered its tiny legs and made itself turn in Robin's direction. "Eh?" Robin was quite surprised. The little critter actually managed to find out from which direction the rocks came from?

Curious to see what it would do, Robin threw his third stone in the scorpion's direction. This one missed as well, kicking up sand upon landing.

The scorpion did nothing, staying completely still. 'Did I scare it to death?' He felt he needed to ask if it was ok, but there's no way the little critter would understand him. Besides, he already felt like a moron for messing around with the poor thing. Robin felt like this is something Vance would be doing for fun.

With that thought, he shrugged and decided he lowered his own opinion of himself enough for today. He took another look at the scorpion and was surprised to see it moving.

Its tail was bobbing back and forth. A few moments later it shrieked and started sprinting in Robin's direction.

Robin's eyes bulged out of his skull. "Oh shit! Ah, fuck!" He manically swore. He twisted on his heels and started running away, the scorpion following angrily after him.

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