Chapter 1 #2
I need a mate that will make my heart stir and my khui sing.
And I know it is not Sessah. Nor is it Taushen, who has courted me in his own quiet way.
I do not know who it will be yet, or if my mate is not yet born and I must wait endless hands of turns for him to grow into adulthood.
Whatever it is, I am content to wait. My own mother is twenty-seven turns older than my father. It can happen, as long as I am patient.
I want everything to be perfect, and it will be.
“Farli,” a voice calls out as I head toward the end of the canyon.
I turn, and it is my father, waving a leather-wrapped bundle in the air as he jogs after me. “Wait!”
“Father? You are not out hunting?” I greet him with a gentle clasp on the arm and press my cheek to his. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is fine, Little Sunshine,” my father says with a grin. He places the packet in my hand. “I am making sah-sah today and will go hunting later. As for this.” He taps a finger on the packet. “Your mother did not want you to go out hunting without something to eat.”
I roll my eyes and cannot resist a small giggle. I am my mother’s youngest and she spoils me as if I am still a kit clinging to her skirts. “Tell her she has my thanks.”
“Will you be out overnight? Rokan said the weather would be fair.”
I shrug. “Possibly.” It depends on how badly I need my space.
I love to wander. Lately I have enjoyed going to the sand-covered beaches near the great salt lake, hoping to catch a glimpse of the green island that Jo-see swears was there so long ago.
I have never seen it, and I think the earth-shake must have swallowed it. But I still like to look.
“Sessah was hunting for you this morning.”
I grimace. “I might be gone a few days, actually.”
He seems to understand, a slow smile spreading across his face. “Then be safe, and look out for metlaks.”
“Always, Father.” I hug him again and then wave goodbye as he heads back to the village and toward his waiting sah-sah pots. If Sessah is looking for me, then I will most certainly spend a bit longer out in the wild.
Chahm-pee bleats at me, as if agreeing…or just mad that I have not given him more seeds. I tuck the packet of food under my arm and offer my pet a few more treats. “Come, fat one. Let us get you on the pulley before Sessah comes this way.”
Because we now live in a gorge instead of in a cave, there was no easy way for Chahm-pee to get in and out, nor the humans, who are not as good at climbing sheer surfaces as we sa-khui.
Har-loh saved the day with one of her creations.
She created a pulley that balances with some heavy weights on the other side.
I do not know how it works, only that I harness Chahm-pee in on his rope-covered raft and get in beside him, and then I pull on the rope, hauling us both into the air without straining my arms. Once we get to the top, Chahm-pee waits until I unfasten him and then trots off onto the ledge.
I jump off as well and then send the pulley back down again for the next person.
Now that we are back ‘up,’ the wind blasts into my face, ruffling my hair.
I miss the wind and the sunlight down in the gorge.
It is safe there, but it feels a bit like living in a hole on cloudy days.
Today the suns are shining brightly, peeking out from behind the clouds, and the snow glistens blindingly bright.
I give a happy sigh and close my eyes, drinking in the feeling.
I could live up here all the time, I think.
Just lie down in the snow and let the sunlight bake my bones.
I do not, of course. The day is wasting and already the suns are high in the sky.
I do, however, strip off my tunic and my leathers until I am down to nothing but my loincloth and my boots.
I stuff them into my pack and sigh happily.
There is nothing quite like fresh air on my skin.
The human females would squeal in distress at the sight of me, but they like to cover their bodies with furs.
I think it is because they are always cold. To me, this weather is perfect.
I hop forward. “Come, Chahm-pee. Let us go see what our traps hold.”
He bleats and moves to my side, keeping pace with me.
Chahm-pee grazes as I walk, nipping at tree bark and pulling at shoots as we move through the valleys and the steep cliffs.
I see no one else out, but their tracks are everywhere.
Not surprising—the hunters do not like to spend as long out on the trails as they used to, not now that so many of them have mates and small kits waiting for them to come home.
It is the unmated hunters—myself included—who take the more distant trails.
I do not mind; I like the exploring. Sometimes it feels like I am the only one out in the big wide world, and it is fascinating to me how empty and yet gorgeous my surroundings are.
I love this place.
I know the humans complain about the snow and the cold.
I know there is more rock than they are used to, and No-rah has mentioned that their old home had many more trees.
But when I look around, I see home. I see snow that hugs the world like a blanket.
I see spikes of color where foliage has pushed its way through the snow, reaching for the sun.
I see ribbons of blue as the streams wind through valleys, and herds of distant dvisti as they churn trails in the snow, seeking food.
It is all fascinating and lovely and I could spend every day exploring and learning new things.
Most of the humans are content to stay in the village.
A few of them hunt, like Leezh and Li-lah and Mah-dee, but most are happy at home.
But I love the adventure of exploration. I crave new experiences. I want more than just sitting around a fire and chatting. I want to see everything I can.
As I walk, I contemplate this. I want to get away for a few days, I think. Let Sessah focus on something else for a change. But where? To the great salt lake, with its long scaly monsters that swim in it? To the human cave with the flashing red light that burns at a touch? Or somewhere else?
I think of Har-loh and what she would like.
She likes plants better than meat, I think.
Maybe…maybe I could visit Tee-fah-ni’s fruit cave and bring her home a few things from there?
It is not far from the Elders’ Cave, and the grounds are familiar, if far away.
It is a long journey, but I think of how Har-loh will smile at such a thing.
And I set off in that direction, Chahm-pee chewing as he moves beside me. He likes the fruit, too. And maybe when we are there, we can see if the Elders’ cave is still tipped over.
All afternoon, I hike in that direction.
The plants thin out atop the ridges, so I descend the cliffs and walk in the valleys with Chahm-pee.
There are snow-cats around, and other dvisti herds, and I see the shadow of the occasional sky-claw, but they do not concern me.
I am much larger than any of the small humans and it will not bother me, and Chahm-pee is far too fat to worry about the scrawny snow-cats.
When the suns begin to move lower in the skies, I eat a few bites of the dried meat my mother sent along and contemplate where I shall sleep.
There are two hunter caves close to me. One is but a short walk from here, but it is tiny and ill-suited for both sa-khui female and dvisti, and I will have to smell Chahm-pee make wind all night.
Better to continue to the farther cave, which is larger… but it means journeying after dark.
I shrug off any concern. It is the bitter season, and I am strong. I have a knife and spear, and nothing should attack an adult sa-khui, especially not one accompanied by a large dvisti. It will be fine. But when I cross the next ridge, I see…something.
Something different.
At first I think it is my eyes playing tricks on me. A flash of light, and then it is gone. I squint up at the skies, my hand to my brow as I gaze at the clouds. Was it my imagination?
But then, there it is again. It flashes in the sky and then grows dark.
It moves quickly, darting high up and between the clouds, moving like no bird or sky-claw I have ever seen before.
I watch in wonder as it hovers over one of the distant cliffs, then zooms across the sky faster than I can follow.
When the lights flash again, I realize what this is.
It is another human cave, just like the one Shorshie and the others came from.
We have visitors from the stars. For a moment, I am terrified.
Maybe someone has come to take Shorshie and the other humans away?
Back where they came from? But no, they have said many times that they did not come here willingly, and Kira made sure their cave did not go back to the skies.
These people are here for different reasons. They must be.
But what?