Author's note:
Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals have been a draw for me for a little while. So I give you this as an offering for today's weirdness. This may evolve into random snapshots of history if enough people are intrigued. Do not be surprised that I keep their names the same even as the place and time changes. It's for clarity's sake.
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Her people traveled in small family groups. At one time she had a family group, but her people got sick when these other people showed up. They looked like her people except- well they also looked so different. They hunted differently too. She once saw them use small flying sticks to take down their food. She's even seen them grow things. It seemed… unnatural to grow things when The Mother provides people with all they need.
Her family died from diseases these people brought with them. Those in similar situations would sometimes join these new people's groups which seemed to be much larger groups than family. Silently, she skulks through the wooded area. She has been traveling for many days reach this southern area. The north is good for large animals, but those beasts are so huge that you need a family group to be able to successfully hunt them.
Kaoru is sure that she can survive with the smaller animals in the south. She has been practicing building snares and simple traps with great success. As she walks, she picks up rocks that look good for her tools and herbs good for healing. It cannot hurt to be prepared. Kaoru turns a gray rock with purple streaks running through it in her hands. This one looks like it would make a good scraper, so she adds it to her pile in the bag. The bag is made from soft tanned fur with the ends tied together. Simple yet effective.
Her stomach surprises her when it rumbles. She hadn't realized she was hungry already, and she digs through her bag looking for the leftover meat from the rabbit she caught earlier. After seating herself against a tree, she begins to happily finish the rabbit. The sun is thirteen fingers high which means there's not much time for her to find a cave to rest in. The forest is always dangerous after dark. She sighs as she packs up everything for travelling and smiles because her travels are almost over. All she lacks is a cave.
About five fingers later, she's found a few caves that look good. There is only one other cave to look at before she makes her final decision on where to make her home. Carefully, she edges her way inside of the cave. It can be dangerous to enter if it's inhabited by some of the more vicious animals in the area. The smell of sickness is strong to her nose, and she can see why when her eyes adjust. A small unconscious male is curled into furs next to the remains of what would have been a fire several days ago.
He's one of the other people. Carefully she observes the cave for signs of other people and, oddly, she finds none. His people, like hers, do not live alone. Although his people gather in groups that can be far larger than the small family groups of her people. She fingers the strands of dark feathers twisted into her hair as she thinks. It's forbidden for her to care for sick outside of her family group, but this male is alone. And sick. An idea comes to mind, and she stares at the feathers lost in thought. The feathers are from birds that take the dead. For her people, wearing them means that they will all be together when they die. The feathers are arranged in a specific way that will show what family group the wearer belongs to.
If she were to give a strand of feathers to this male, it would be effectively adopting him into her family group. She observes him for a moment. He appears too thin, however his people all looked this way next to her people. The red flush and loud breathing indicate a wound turned yellow. He will not live without her. He is alone. She is alone. Slowly, she removes a strand and ties it into his hair. Now, he is family and she can treat family.
The male is whimpers in pain when she jostles him while moving the furs. Is he waking up? She observes him for a moment and then looks closer at his wound. A long but shallow cut on the leg. It has a strange yellow color to it and smells funny. This is something easily cured with the right mixture of herbs. She knows exactly which herbs she wants to use and grinds them into a paste. Gently, she cakes it onto his wound and mixes water with the leftover paste. The watered down version makes it easier to to pass it to him by mouth.
She can't help the laugh that escapes at his grimace. He's right, it does taste awful. The male doesn't wake for many days, so she ends up passing food like she's seen mother birds do. He's small enough to be a child, but after a few minutes of study, she's determined him to be around her age. She's grown fond of him even though he does nothing but sleep while she cleans the wound, reapplies the paste, hunts, and repeats every day. Kaoru notes with satisfaction that the wound is clear of yellow and appears to be closing up rather well.
He wakes when Kaoru is cooking and she stares in surprise. She had grown used to thinking of him as sleeping male, and it's strange to see him awake and staring at her in… Kaoru squints. Is that terror? The male scrabbles further back in the cave and babbles in his language. That is an overreaction if she's ever seen one. What would even cause that? Well she supposes quite a few of her people blame his for spreading disease.
She's at a loss for what to do until she notices that his flailing has reopened the wound that she just managed to coax into healing. Behave like a child and be treated like one. Kaoru gently smacks him upside the head, like she would a child, and checks the wound. His eyes are even wider than before, something she hadn't known was possible, and he falls silent. She smears more paste across it before giving him a strip of meat from her latest catch.
The male glances at the meat before looking back at her almost in a way that asked permission. Kaoru is tempted to shove it in his face but manages to refrain from doing so. Instead, she ignores him, and eats another piece. He watches her for a few moments longer before offering her a small careful smile with her teeth hidden. After a moment of study, she returns it, and he pats his chest. "Kenshin." There he went making those strange noises again, she thought with a roll of her eyes. He reaches toward her in an effort to steal her attention away from dinner and it surprises her enough to look at him.
The male pats his chest again. "Ken. Shin." This time he adds an expectant look which is enough to make her pause. Oh! Is this supposed to be his name? Dubiously, she repeats it, unexpecting of the rush of enthusiasm she receives. He reaches towards her, probably to pat her in an attempt for her name, and she instinctively snarls and jerks away from his reach. He looks crestfallen, and she can't stop herself from patting her chest. "Kaoru." He enthusiastically grins at her with teeth bared. Kenshin, after realizing what he had done, stared at the ground. Not even the sound of her coming closer tempted him to look at her.
Baring your teeth at someone outside of your group could be taken as a threat or a challenge depending on the group. At least, that's what it meant for her people. It was likely he knows a few things about her people just as she knows a few things about his. In which case, even if he doesn't speak the language, he should understand this. As non threatening as possible, she pulled the strands of his hair tied to the feathers forward so he could see the feathers.
He freezes when he sees. Kenshin stares at it and makes an odd choking noise before lunging to wrap his arms around her while speaking excited gibberish. Kaoru doesn't treat him as an overexcited child this time. She may not understand the words, but she's pretty sure he's excited about not being alone anymore and that is definitely something to be excited about.
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A few weeks later finds them not necessarily understanding each other so much as having vague ideas about what the other is wanting. They have settled into a routine. In the early mornings she hunts animals while he forages for edible plants. Later, when both are in the cave, he'll cook the meals while she chisels more rocks into tools. They scrape and tan the hides together. The warm soft furs make good beds in the cave and good clothes for them as well. Kaoru is pleased with this life. Her new family group is small but thriving.
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Months later, and they had learned enough of each other's languages to at least hold a conversation. Kenshin has been showing more curiosity about her culture. He seems especially awestruck by Kaoru's painting the cave walls with pictures of different animals. When Kenshin asks her about why they bury the dead like they're sleeping or do special things for the dead, Kaoru only smiles secretively at him. She only answers the question when the stars are out.
"Not all family groups believe the same thing. Some believe in nothing. My family group is stretched so far back my grandmother couldn't tell me when the original beliefs showed up. We only know that it started somewhere in our people and spread through the family groups. My people, my family group, we believe in The Mother, The Father, The Grandmother, and The Grandfather. The Mother is the earth. She provides for us as a mother would provide milk. The Father is the sky. He is always there over us and The Mother. He reminds us of what's important, brings water, and punishes us if we do bad things. He and The Mother bring the seasons. The Grandmother and The Grandfather are the sun and the moon. They provide guidance and usher in the new days."
Kaoru is silent for a moment as she gathers her thoughts. "Those stars are our families. We take feathers from the birds that only touch the dead. It's our belief that if the feathers are arranged in a certain way, it shows what clan we're a part of. When we die, the birds will show us the way to our families. At that point, we become stars too." Kenshin is silent as he thinks these things over. Kaoru can see him stroking the feathers she had tied into his hair so long ago. "So… According to your people's beliefs, we'll be together forever?" He stares at the stars as he asks this question.
"Yes of course." Kenshin glances at her with a timid smile before looking back at the stars. "I would like that." Kaoru stares at him for a while before working up the courage to ask her question. "I found you alone. What happened to your family group?" Whatever she was expecting, it was not the look of grief, anger, abandonment, and hurt wrapped into one expression. She watched him swallow hard as he stared back up at the stars.
"It wasn't just your people that got sick when we met. My people did too. Less people died though… I was always small for my age, so they gave me the job of watching the children. When I got sick, it was for a long time. They talked about stopping the suffering with a well placed rock for a little while. When I got better.. I just… I didn't grow anymore. So they abandoned me." Kaoru didn't know what she could say to this. He startled a bit and glanced at her when her hand settled over his. They leaned against each other and spent the rest of the night staring at the stars.
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Kenshin thinks he's being sneaky by asking how a Neanderthal man would have went about courting Kaoru. Kaoru knows something is up, but hasn't quite put her finger on it. Perhaps he thinks one of her people will come spirit her away? He's taken to sewing furs together with a needle that he's made. Kaoru hadn't noticed how his clothes and shoes seemed to be more elaborate and shaped like they should fit his body while she ties or wraps hers on. She's also intrigued by how he seems to be able to make such small stitches that she can hardly see them.
She doesn't quite realize how much it intrigued her until he gave her clothes like his as a gift. A Neanderthal man would have given gifts that only he could provide to the head of the family group. If the head decides that the gifts are worthy of his group member, then the man would have permission to take her. At first she thinks nothing of it, does not make the connection between Kenshin's questions and this wonderful precious gift, but she notices him waiting for her reaction. It's Kenshin's blushing and fidgeting that make her truly realize what kind of gift it is.
It is that day that they officially become family. Many moons later, she gives birth to their child. The child, she names Kenji, is a replica of his father. Kaoru is thrilled to have made a family group of their own.
It's a few years later when she finds Kenji in eternal slumber, facedown in the mud. Her grieving wails cause Kenshin to come running. There's a sharp pain in the back of her head and she's laying there feeling more and more cold by the second as she's surrounded by red. Numbly she pulls Kenji's body closer to her and tries to see Kenshin. There are people attacking them. Her people. She thinks that the sickness marks on their skin must be the reason why they're being attacked. Not all of her people cared for how her Kenshin's people came with diseases.
Her Kenshin is trying so hard, and she knows he will lose. There are too many of them. She is so tired and it's so hard to think. "I love you." It's her last thought as she clutches Kenji's, too still too cold, body to her chest. Her eyes are closed before the thought is even over. When the people run off, Kenshin knows he'll die. So he curls next to his Kaoru and Kenji. Between small sobs he chokes out words. "I love you. I love you." He had never truly believed Kaoru's beliefs, but… Maybe they'll be stars next to each other. And, with that, he slips away.
And if one of the attackers looked back to see a murdered family, laying together in eternal slumber, and regretted what had been done from prejudice….
How dare they mix the bloods! How dare one of their people lie with those disease carrying things?
Well, such things are lost to history all the time.
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Author's note:
There are things that are made up/filled in because there just isn't enough information from this time period, and I wanted it to feel real. The following information was gathered across many websites. The homo sapien information relied heavily on the smithsonian website. Quite a bit of research appears to be controversial.
Neanderthals:
Suspected cannibalism by both the Neanderthals themselves and other species of human. -Not included in the story
Bodies positioned with hands near their heads when buried
Some are buried under piles of rocks
Occupied caves that usually faced south (increased exposure to sun)
Cared for their old/sickly
Built complicated structures
Captured birds to ornament themselves with feathers (appears to have either been geared towards mostly carrion/birds of prey or dark feathers in general)
Hunted mammoths and other large fauna
Lives were centered around hunting, migration, and survival
Lived in groups of 5-10
Appear to have relied on "expert" cognition, a process that relies on long-term procedural memory
May have had a form of marriage or joint provisioning for their offspring
A Neanderthal child was buried and encircled by goat horns
Analysis from teeth appears to show that they only ate what was available in their area (Some ate primarily meat and some ate primarily herbaceous materials)
They appear to have had some knowledge of medicine- A neanderthal with a dental abscess appears to have been given poplar (buds and bark are a natural source of aspirin)
They had fire
Homo Sapiens:
Also used stone tools however these tools were refined into a variety of smaller, more complex, refined and specialized tools including composite stone tools, fishhooks and harpoons, bows and arrows, spear throwers and sewing needles. Neanderthals are said to have lacked sewing needles to make clothes with as well as the more innovative tools such as bows and arrows.
Also hunter gatherers
Around 12,000 years ago, discovered found they could control the growth and breeding of certain plants and animals. This discovery led to farming and herding animals. As humans invested more time in producing food, they settled down. Villages became towns, and towns became cities. With more food available, the human population began to increase dramatically. Our species had been so successful that it has inadvertently created a turning point in the history of life on Earth.
May have caused extinction of Neanderthals because of greater talent for social innovation and tool creation.