Intro - The Karaya Kid
"Where in the world have you been?" Lucia demanded the moment Hugo set foot into the tent. "Do you realize what you've done?"
Hugo shrugged, trying to keep his expression blank, though her words angered him. He wasn't a kid anymore, but he certainly wasn't an old fogey. Why should he have to attend meetings? With his limited knowledge of the world around him, how could he possibly contribute? The boy turned his back on his mother, hanging his hunting knife on the rack against the wall and kicking his sandals off.
The Karaya clan chief scowled at her son as he stalked toward his room. "Don't turn your back on me!" she hissed.
He paused, turning slowly to face her, looking somewhat more afraid than angry now.
Lucia sighed in frustration. "I have told you and told you how important this is--"
"Yeah, a hundred times."
"Then this makes a hundred and one." She looked at him coldly as she stepped closer. "These meetings are held but one time a season. How do you think the people of the Grasslands have survived and maintained their freedom for so long? When the leaders of our clans unite, we do so as friends, as allies."
She stared hard at him, and he could not escape her gaze. "When you look into the eyes of your neighbors, you know what their hearts say. If we were to neglect the Meeting of the Clan Chiefs, then we would forget what their hearts say to us, and in time suspicions would grow. This leads to unnecessary hard feelings and war could erupt. Don't you understand? As my son, the son of a chief, you need to learn these things."
Hugo looked down, ashamed now that he'd spent the afternoon childishly avoiding the meeting, trying to prove to his mother that he was old enough to make his own decisions. Instead, he realized his decision had been wrong, and that, in order to learn the ways of his people and maintain them, he would have to grow up. "But it's hard," he said quietly. "You've been so many places and seen so many things... I know nothing."
"You will learn," Lucia said, her expression softening to one of motherly affection. "You will, Hugo, in time. Great things lie before you. You will be chief some day, and then it will be your turn to protect your people and our beautiful land." Smiling, she draped her arm over his shoulder and walked him to the opening of their tent, holding the cloth door open wide. "Open your eyes, my darling son! This is paradise!"
(==)
Later that night, as Hugo tossed and turned, trying to sleep, he thought about what his mother had told him. It made sense, somehow, but only to a small part of him. Some day, he thought, her words echoing back to him.
He didn't know that "some day" would come so soon.
(==)
My thanks to D'Artagnan (userid=57422) for suggested corrections in dialogue.
"Where in the world have you been?" Lucia demanded the moment Hugo set foot into the tent. "Do you realize what you've done?"
Hugo shrugged, trying to keep his expression blank, though her words angered him. He wasn't a kid anymore, but he certainly wasn't an old fogey. Why should he have to attend meetings? With his limited knowledge of the world around him, how could he possibly contribute? The boy turned his back on his mother, hanging his hunting knife on the rack against the wall and kicking his sandals off.
The Karaya clan chief scowled at her son as he stalked toward his room. "Don't turn your back on me!" she hissed.
He paused, turning slowly to face her, looking somewhat more afraid than angry now.
Lucia sighed in frustration. "I have told you and told you how important this is--"
"Yeah, a hundred times."
"Then this makes a hundred and one." She looked at him coldly as she stepped closer. "These meetings are held but one time a season. How do you think the people of the Grasslands have survived and maintained their freedom for so long? When the leaders of our clans unite, we do so as friends, as allies."
She stared hard at him, and he could not escape her gaze. "When you look into the eyes of your neighbors, you know what their hearts say. If we were to neglect the Meeting of the Clan Chiefs, then we would forget what their hearts say to us, and in time suspicions would grow. This leads to unnecessary hard feelings and war could erupt. Don't you understand? As my son, the son of a chief, you need to learn these things."
Hugo looked down, ashamed now that he'd spent the afternoon childishly avoiding the meeting, trying to prove to his mother that he was old enough to make his own decisions. Instead, he realized his decision had been wrong, and that, in order to learn the ways of his people and maintain them, he would have to grow up. "But it's hard," he said quietly. "You've been so many places and seen so many things... I know nothing."
"You will learn," Lucia said, her expression softening to one of motherly affection. "You will, Hugo, in time. Great things lie before you. You will be chief some day, and then it will be your turn to protect your people and our beautiful land." Smiling, she draped her arm over his shoulder and walked him to the opening of their tent, holding the cloth door open wide. "Open your eyes, my darling son! This is paradise!"
(==)
Later that night, as Hugo tossed and turned, trying to sleep, he thought about what his mother had told him. It made sense, somehow, but only to a small part of him. Some day, he thought, her words echoing back to him.
He didn't know that "some day" would come so soon.
(==)
My thanks to D'Artagnan (userid=57422) for suggested corrections in dialogue.