Many, many thanks for the thoughtful reviews I received on the last chapter, I really appreciated it. Much love to Cream of Ice, Maeve Howard, Super Guest (yes, the chapter titles are definitely getting more challenging), and Karts of Sugar Rush. I'm super grateful.
Man, these chapters just keep getting longer. This one fought me, too, I had a whole day where NOTHING I did was working, and then all of a sudden I fixed all of the things that were bugging me in an hour. Go figure. I hope it's as long as it needed to be and no longer.
For once, Guy wasn't in a hurry to get out of bed when he woke. The happiness he'd felt the evening before lingered, a warm glow that he was reluctant to dispel with the concerns of the day. He smiled sleepily to himself, feeling the ghost of Eep's kiss on his lips. Belt felt him shift and made a sleepy, inquisitive noise.
"You win today," Guy murmured back to him. "Let's sleep in." He rolled over, squirming farther under the covering hanging over his bed to shield his face from the morning light, and curled back up with a contented sigh. The day could wait a little longer. He was in no mood to face reality just yet.
Inda woke fuzzily. Her limbs were all heavy and sluggish. That probably meant she'd actually slept through the night. She opened one eye a crack, and saw daylight filtering through the leaves.
"Morning," Pal murmured, brushing his lips to her cheek.
"Mmm," Inda stretched, and then rolled over onto her back to look up at him. "Morning. Have you been awake long?"
He was stretched on his side, his head propped up in one hand. "A while. Didn't want to wake you up. You seemed like you were sleeping better than usual."
"I think so," she said, and then yawned. "Still tired though."
"You don't have to get up."
"I feel so useless sitting around all day," she fretted.
"Don't worry about that." Pal stroked her cheek, and she leaned into his hand. "Rest if you need to rest."
"You worry too much," she muttered.
"That's my line," Pal grinned.
"What are you going to do?"
"Guy said something about teaching Eep to fish," Pal said, looking out towards the valley. "I guess we'll be going back down to the shore." He hesitated. "He's in love with her, Inda."
Inda rolled her eyes. "Obviously."
Pal raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not blind," Inda sniffed.
"He's pretty serious about it," Pal said cautiously. Inda just sighed. "We talked about it some, yesterday," Pal continued, playing with her hair. "He had some questions about love and how it feels and when you know you're really in love and all that...I told him he should talk to you too when he gets the chance."
"Okay."
"Is it okay?" Pal asked, his tone skeptical. "You didn't seem all that thrilled about the idea a few days ago."
Inda pursed her lips. "Guy's special. Not just 'he's my son and I love him' special. Really special. You know he is. He's incredible."
"I know," Pal agreed quietly.
Inda sighed. "I like Eep. I spent some time with her yesterday. She's energetic, bright, quick to pick up on things. A little rough around the edges, but sweet. It's just...it's Guy." Inda shrugged.
Pal grinned. "Would anybody be good enough to satisfy you?"
"No," Inda admitted shamelessly.
"So..."
Inda shrugged, idly tracing the lines of his markings across his chest. "You were right. It's his choice. She makes him happy and I think she cares about him."
"I told him he didn't have to rush into anything," Pal said, studying her face. "I told him there are other girls out there."
"And what did he say?"
"He said he could meet a thousand girls and none of them would be like Eep."
Inda chuckled quietly. "That's adorable."
"I wouldn't tell him that," Pal grinned.
"No, of course not. Wouldn't want to offend anyone's manly pride." She lifted a hand and shoved his shoulder playfully. He barely moved.
"So if he comes to talk to you..." Pal raised his eyebrows.
"I'll be supportive." She smiled. "Might be my only chance of seeing grandchildren before I die anyway."
A shadow crossed Pal's face, and she knew it was the wrong thing to say. She leaned up and kissed him.
"Don't worry so much," she told him.
"That's my line," he growled, his deep voice making her shiver as his arms closed tight around her.
When Guy finally crawled out of bed and looked around, he was a little concerned. The sky overcast, but, he thought as he looked at it, not too much. He concluded that they would be fine for today.
Guy picked up his fishing spear, let Belt settle into place around his waist, and went to find Eep.
He found her playing tag with Chunky near the mouth of the valley, and grinned for a moment as he watched her tumble and roll with the big cat. Eventually she saw him and, giving the macawnivore one last scratch behind the ears, came over to him. "Hey."
"Hey," he greeted. "Busy?"
"Nah," she shook her head. "Just messing around. Chunky seemed kind of restless this morning."
He tossed the spear at her and grinned as she caught it. "Feel like going fishing?"
She looked at it. "Fishing?"
"If you're not too tired," he teased.
Eep snorted, shoving his shoulder as she walked past him. "That was barely even a workout. When do we leave?"
"In a bit. I need to check in with Dad first," he turned to walk back with her. "We talked about it yesterday, but I should probably still ask him."
Eep made a face. "You asked me to go before you even know we're going?"
Guy shrugged. "If he doesn't want to go, we'll go without him."
She glanced at him sharply, but smiled when he met her gaze. "You talk to him," she said. "I'll go change and meet you back here."
"You should probably check with your dad too," Guy said reluctantly. "I said something about it to Ugga yesterday, but you know how he is."
Eep rolled her eyes, but nodded.
"I'm going fishing with Guy," Eep announced, popping up beside Grug by the campfire.
"Huh?" he grunted.
"I'm going with Guy," she repeated. "We'll be back later."
"Why are you dressed like that?" Grug wanted to know. She had traded her grey and black dress for her old tiger skin.
"Becaaaaauuuuuse," she rolled her eyes at him. "Fish live in the water."
"So?"
"Sooooo we'll get wet. And I don't want to be wearing a wet dress all day. Can I go now?" Eep tapped her foot impatiently.
Grug growled. "I guess."
"Thanks, Dad," she said brightly, throwing a quick one-armed hug around him before she bounded off.
Grug watched her go, and then frowned as he saw not only Guy, but Pal and Inda waiting for her.
"All of them?" Grug muttered, moving towards the group before he even thought about it.
"Let it go, Grug," Ugga told him, catching his arm. She pushed in front of him, blocking his path.
Grug scowled at her. "He's been spending all his time with them for days. And now they're taking Eep, too?"
"They are his family," Ugga said firmly. "They have a right to spend time with him. If he wants Eep to go—well, I think we can probably both guess why."
"Oh, give me a break," Grug scowled, towering over her. "They're not his family. And they're definitely not HER family. We are."
"It's not one or the other, Grug," Ugga said, pushing him in the chest so that he fell back on his rump. "He's part of our family. He's part of their family too, and if the kids have their way, it'll be the same for Eep not too far from now. Stop being so selfish! Can't you see how happy it makes him?"
Grug could see it, and that only made him angrier. He stood up but Ugga just got right up in his face again, fire in her eyes. "You leave them alone, Grug. I mean it. This isn't about you. "
Grug backed up a pace or two. Ugga didn't put her foot down often, but when she did, she was terrifying. "Fine," he growled, slumping.
"Good," she said, and turned to leave. Grug caught her wrist and pulled her back with a sharp tug. She fell against him.
"Where do you think you're going?" he growled, a predatory smile on his face. He secretly loved it when she told him off.
Judging by the smirk she gave him, it wasn't much of a secret.
"I hope you don't mind if I join you," Inda said as Eep came jogging up.
"Sure," Eep shrugged. "I'm ready when you all are."
Guy was looking over her shoulder back at Grug, his expression concerned. "He doesn't look happy."
Eep rolled her eyes. "He's fine. He's just being Dad. Let's go!" She grabbed his hand, ignoring his startled "Woah!" as she nearly pulled him off his feet.
Inda was slow. Guy kept stopping to wait, but finally Pal just waved them on. "We'll catch up." He paused, glancing around. "If you think it's safe."
"It should be," Guy said, walking back towards him. "Chunky keeps most of the big predators away. Here – blow this if you get into trouble." He handed Pal his shell. "Two short means 'all fine, check in.' You'll get an answer from us and one from the valley. One short, one long, means 'no immediate danger, but come here.'" He grinned. "Pretty much anything else means something's trying to kill you and we need to come find you right away."
Pal grinned back, and took the shell. "Clever."
Eep was relieved. It was hard enough to hold back to Guy's pace; waiting for Inda was maddening. Guy and Eep outdistanced his parents without even really trying. Guy held her hand as he always did, but he was walking closer to her than usual, his arm constantly brushing hers. His thumb brushed the back of her hand occasionally. She wasn't sure what had inspired his touchy-feely mood, but she wasn't complaining.
When they got to the cove, he grinned and started to pull her toward the water. Eep had paused to admire the view, blue-green water lapping quietly at the white sand, and she didn't move fast enough. Guy jerked backwards.
"Ow," he complained, letting go of her hand to roll his shoulder.
"Sorry," Eep covered a smile. "You really ought to know better by now."
"I know," he grumbled. "I might as well try to pull a tree." He looked back at her. "Anyway, come on, I want to show you something." He looked down at Belt. "Are you coming, or would you rather stay dry?" Belt considered for a moment, looking between Guy and Eep, and hopped down to the ground.
Guy and Eep waded out into the water a short distance, past the small waves and into the calmer shallows. The water lapped softly against Eep's thighs, the hem of her dress floating and falling with the motion. They had explored this cove some time ago, but she had forgotten it in favor of more exciting places. It was much more peaceful here, she thought, than on the main beach, where the waves tumbled and rolled her. She could play in the rougher water for hours, but this was nice, too.
Guy put the spear in the water and showed her what Pal had showed him, where the water made it look bent.
"How does it do that?" she wondered, as she leaned down to look.
"I don't know," Guy said. "Weird, huh?"
"You not knowing something?" she teased, straightening. "Yeah, that's definitely weird."
"Very funny," he told her, but the way he looked at her made her think he was only half listening. He lifted a hand and ran his thumb across her nose. "You've got more freckles than you did before we came here."
"I do?" She reached up to touch her nose. She craned her neck to look at her shoulder and thought he might be right, there were more spots there too. "Huh."
"Your hair's lighter than it used to be." He twined a strand around his fingers and grinned. "I'm pretty sure that dress is tighter too."
She blushed hotly, shook her hair loose from his hand, and shoved him. He staggered, dropping the spear and nearly losing his footing on the loose, sandy bottom. "Now you're just flattering me," she said, trying not to show how much she liked it. Then she frowned, touching her nose again. "Do they look bad?"
"No," he chuckled, grabbing for the spear before it floated away. "You're beautiful." Then he flushed, like he hadn't meant to say it. "Thanks for last night," he said abruptly, not quite looking at her. "That was—um...nice." He put a hand over his face, a gesture she had learned to interpret as, 'I didn't think this conversation through all the way, help me out here.'
"I thought you might be mad," she confessed, and then she couldn't help a little smirk. "But you seemed okay with it."
"Mad?" he blinked.
She shrugged. "You never kiss me at home."
"Oh, that," he said, looking away again. "I'm not ashamed of it," he said after a moment. "Kissing you, I mean. I'm not embarrassed or anything." He grinned. "I just figure as long as your dad doesn't see us doing it, he can't ask what it is or tell us we're not allowed."
Eep raised an eyebrow. "If he did say it wasn't allowed, would you stop?"
"I'd try," he said seriously. Then he gave a lopsided smile, his gaze slipping from her eyes to her mouth. "I'm not sure it would work."
Eep tilted her head invitingly, a slow smile spreading over her face. Guy bent towards her, but she barely felt his lips before a shriek from the jungle made them both look up. Pal emerged from the trees, grinning, Inda tossed over his shoulder, struggling. "You put me down!" she insisted, laughing. "I told you I could make it here on my own!" He hiked her up and she squealed again.
"I believe you," Pal's deep voice was edged with laughter too. "I just wanted to get here sometime today." He raised a hand and waved.
Guy chuckled, waving back. "Looks like the master fisherman's arrived. I'll leave you in his hands." He turned and handed her the fishing spear.
Eep looked at him. "Huh? What are you going to do?"
"I'll go sit with Mom," Guy nodded to where Pal was depositing Inda on the sand. Eep frowned.
"Why can't you teach me?"
"I think you'll learn better from him. And..." His face was slowly turning red again and he couldn't quite meet her eyes. "I'd like you to get to know each other. That's all."
Eep's eyebrows went up again. "Okay."
"Yeah?" he finally looked at her. "Okay. Well...good. Okay." He started backing towards the shore. "I'm, uh, I'm going to go over there then and you..." He fluttered his hands at her. "You have fun."
"He's losing his mind," Eep muttered to herself as Guy sloshed out of the water, stopping to speak with Pal for a moment on his way.
I'm losing my mind, Guy thought to himself, seated cross-legged next to his mother. Yesterday I wasn't even sure how I felt about her and now I'm falling all over myself in the most obvious way possible. It didn't help that his blood still ran hot at the memory of her ambush last night. He watched her moving through the water, slower and smoother than he had ever been able to move, as graceful a hunter in the water as she was on land. He saw her pause, and then lunge, water splashing up around her and then sliding back down her skin—
"If you stare any harder she may burst into flame." Inda's amused voice at his elbow made him jump. He had practically forgotten she was there. He flushed, and Inda looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Put your eyes back in your head before you lose them," she said.
"Um..." Guy rubbed the back of his neck, but all he could think of to say was, "Sorry."
"She's very unusual," Inda commented, looking towards Eep. "I've never seen anyone with hair that color before."
"I like it," Guy shrugged, still blushing.
"I can see that," Inda smiled. "Tell me about her."
He took a piece of bone out of his pouch and drew his knife, if only to give himself something to look at. "Eep kind of defies explanation. What do you want to know?"
"Tell me how you fell in love."
Guy winced. "Dad told you."
"He did," Inda touched his shoulder. "But I pretty much knew already."
"Am I that obvious?" Guy made a face.
"You both are," Inda laughed. Belt chortled from her lap, and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like "told ya."
"Hey, hey, you hush," Guy told him. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"We're both on your side," Inda said, clearly trying not to laugh at him again. Belt flopped belly-up in her lap and let out a contented sigh as Inda scratched him. "You don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, though."
Guy shook his head. "It's all right. Just...don't laugh if you can help it, okay? I'm still pretty new at talking about this kind of thing."
"I'll do my best," Inda promised, and waited while he gathered his thoughts.
"Falling for her, it—didn't exactly happen all at once. Not on my side, anyway." He could feel his face heating again. "She—well. Eep's, um...direct. And, well, you've seen she doesn't really have much of a concept of personal space. And, uh...she loves new and different and I was new and different and..." He cleared his throat.
Belt put his hands together by his face, opened his eyes wide, and sighed deeply, draping bonelessly over Inda's leg in a feigned swoon.
"She threw herself at you," Inda grinned.
"Something like that," he admitted. "I didn't think that much about it at first, I mean, it was nice and I thought she was cute, but I was...um...focused. You know, places to go, certain death to escape." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Anyway, circumstances being what they were, we got to know each other pretty quickly, and I found out she was actually—" he smiled. "I don't know. Funny, even though she's led a pretty gloomy life. Smart, even though she's never had a chance to learn. Brave, even though she'd been taught to be scared of everything. Just...full of life." He glanced at Inda, feeling rather stupid, but she just nodded at him to go on.
"Then one day we fell into a rock formation – a bunch of pillars and caverns, it was all a big maze, and we all got separated. When I got out, there she was, reaching up for the sun. And something inside me — I don't know, broke, or shifted, or something," he shook his head. "It's hard to describe. But that's when it started. Or..." He stopped, rethinking his words. "It wasn't the start, there were a bunch of things before that, but that moment – that was the landslide, for me. I suddenly realized how much I wanted her with me – not just so she wouldn't die, or so I wouldn't be alone. I wanted to be with her."
Inda smiled. "Poetic. Like your father."
Guy shook his head with a quiet chuckle. "No. You're the one with the poetry. If Dad has any, he gets it from you."
It was Inda's turn to blush. Guy outright laughed at the look on her face. "It's true," he said. "I saw it even when I was little, although I wouldn't have been able to put it in words back then."
Inda put a hand over her red cheek, and tried to turn the conversation back on him. "And Eep inspires you?"
Guy grinned, looking back at his carving. "I'm not sure 'inspire' is quite the right word. She challenges me, that's for sure." His smile faded.
"What is it?" Inda asked gently. "You can't think she doesn't care for you."
Guy almost snorted. "Eep's a lot of things, but 'subtle' isn't really one of them." He was silent for a moment, and Inda waited as he tried to put his feelings into words. "I know she cares for me, but...she's been so—sheltered." He shrugged helplessly. "She's still figuring herself out, figuring out life and what she wants from it. I want her to be able to do that. If I start talking about love and the future—" He shook his head, frustrated with his inability to describe the feelings he was still trying to understand himself.
"You don't want to hold her back," Inda said, and Guy's eyes widened slightly. "And even though she cares for you now, you're afraid she might outgrow her feelings for you. So you don't want to bind her—you don't want her to bind herself—with promises she might regret later."
"Yeah," he said earnestly, leaning forward. "That's it exactly."
Inda was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful, and when she finally smiled, was a little sad. "Perhaps I should say you're being very prudent. But—" she hesitated. "Would you like to know what I really think?"
Guy nodded.
"I think you are very much in love, and that life is too uncertain to risk letting that go unsaid." Inda bit her lip, and then continued. "When you—when we were separated, there were so many things I wished I had said, that I wished I had told you, and I always thought there would be time later when you were older and could understand better. But we never got that time." She took Guy's hand and squeezed it hard. "Yes, she may change with time. You may even change yourself. If that happens, it'll hurt. But you and I both know how suddenly everything can change, how quickly you can lose someone you love. You're still young, and by all that's fair in the world, you should have plenty of time. But life isn't fair. You don't have to promise your life to her right now, but if you love her, you shouldn't let fear of the future stop you from telling her so. I know you want her to be free to make her own choices, but you can still let her do that." Inda smiled slightly. "I think letting her know that you are one of her options is perfectly justified. It'll be hard for her to decide what she wants if she's not sure what she can have."
"Rrr rrr," Belt said approvingly.
"I hadn't thought about it like that," Guy admitted.
Inda nodded. "If you tell her how you feel, and then you do grow apart, at least it won't be because she got tired of waiting for you to decide whether or not she's grown up enough for you and moved on."
Guy stared at her. "That's not what I—"
"Isn't it?" She quirked an eyebrow. "You're trying to protect her because you're afraid she's not mature enough to make her own decisions about what she wants."
Guy opened his mouth, and shut it again, thinking.
"What you have now is only the seed of something greater," Inda said. "But it can't become anything else – it can't grow beyond a certain point, until you stop holding back. It may grow, blossom, and fade, or it may become something tall and strong and long-lasting." She smiled. "But you can't know what it would become until you let it grow. Just be honest with her. That's my advice." Inda dropped her eyes, her fingers still making lazy circles on Belt's belly. "Of course, it's your decision. I just want you to be happy."
Guy looked down at his own hands, reeling.
"Is there something else?" Inda prompted.
Guy smiled, starting his carving again. "It's kind of lame."
"I'm your mother," she reminded him. "I'm pretty sure I'm incapable of thinking you are lame."
Guy chuckled at that. "It's just that – part of me wishes that I was a choice. That I'm not just the first male who happened to come into her life." His smile fell a little. "Part of me thinks it's probably a good thing she doesn't have any other options."
"Guy," Inda chided. "Why would you say that?"
"Come on, Mom, I'm not exactly irresistible. As has been proven. Repeatedly," he muttered, reddening again.
"Your situation was difficult, and good girls are usually taught to stay away from rovers," Inda waved a hand dismissively. "I doubt it had much to do with you personally. But if it makes you feel better, I wasn't really a catch at your age either." Guy looked up, eyes widening slightly. "I was convinced no one would ever want me, until your father did." She smiled at her son's incredulity. "I was thin and weak and weird, and whenever I opened my mouth, people stared at me like I was crazy. Your dad was the only one who ever saw poetry, or anything else, in me. I thought my father was going to dance for joy when Pal offered to take me off his hands."
"Mom," Guy said, shocked. Inda shrugged.
"It's the truth. But my point is, even though I wasn't the kind of girl everyone swooned over, your father looked at me and saw what made me different, and loved me for it."
"I think you're beautiful," Guy said decisively.
Inda smiled. "Thank you, son. I happen to think you're quite a handsome young man myself. Do you think Eep would have been happier with someone more like her father?"
Guy shook his head slowly.
"It's true that she probably likes you at least in part because you're different. That much would be true no matter how many others she met. I know you haven't been around that many other people, but trust me when I say you are very unique," Inda smiled.
"That much, I believe," Guy muttered.
"If it helps," Inda said gently, touching his arm, "I don't think her feelings would have lasted very long if that's all it was. Maybe it started that way, once you settled into the normal routine of life, and you stopped being new and interesting, those feelings would have faded, not gotten stronger. You're closer now than you were when you first got here?"
Guy nodded slowly.
"That's promising," Inda smiled. "I think it's far more likely that she finds you interesting and exciting for reasons other than just because you're new. But I am your mother, so I have to assume I'm biased."
Growing uncomfortable, Guy changed the subject. "I've never had to plan ahead before," he told her, stretching his long legs out in front of him and leaning back against a driftwood log that lay behind them. "I never could, because I didn't know what I was going to run into. If I tried to think farther than a day or two ahead, I would just be...paralyzed. I had to take everything as it came, one day at a time. I had to make quick decisions." He shook his head slightly. "This idea of actually having a future, it's...new. I guess maybe I'm not handling it that well."
Inda reached over and stroked his forehead. "You're handling it just fine. This is a big deal under normal circumstances, let alone in this...situation."
"Huh. This situation being that we have no idea whether anyone else survived, and where they are if they did?"
"Well, that and normally there are customs around this kind of thing so you at least know how to go about courting." Inda smiled. "And you'd have grown up with a whole village worth of girls to practice on."
Guy made a face. "I think I'm just as happy that I only have to worry about one girl and an overprotective father, and not a village full of gossips and rules." He paused. "What was it like when you and Dad were courting?" he asked, curious.
"Oh," Inda said, smiling, her eyes taking on a distant look. "At first we just talked, whenever we ran into each other around the village. Then he started stopping by my father's home to talk to me, in the afternoons after he got home. He would tell me about where he'd been and what he'd seen that day. Then he started coming by with things for my father, and people really started talking." She smiled. "Your father was actually the youngest in his family, so his parents were getting along in years—"
"Wait." Guy propped himself on his elbow and turned to look at her, amazed. "Dad had brothers and sisters? How come I don't remember them?"
"He had three brothers," Inda said, folding her hands in her lap. "The next youngest fell sick and died when he was still a teenager. Pal was still a young man when the other two were killed in an accident. It was all before your time."
Guy's throat tightened. He'd had three uncles that he'd never even known. He wondered if either of them had a mate, if he had cousins out there – and almost opened his mouth to ask. Then he remembered that even if he did, they were all dead now. He shut his mouth again and sighed.
"When his brothers died," Inda continued, "That left Pal as the main provider for the family, with his father growing old and stiff. He was good at it, in spite of his wandering feet, which meant he had—" She paused. "Options other than me," she finally said delicately, looking down. "So there was quite a bit of talk when he started bringing by food and tools and things that we needed, or helping my father with tasks I wasn't strong enough for. I didn't have any brothers or sisters, you see, and my mother had passed away the year before, so it was just the two of us to keep the household up and do our part for the tribe. Pal took care of his parents and still found time to come do enough of the work around our place that I would be free to walk with him."
It wasn't hard for Guy to imagine his father coming by to help out, doing his work all while watching Inda out of the corner of his eye, finding excuses to talk to her or brush her hand, counting the minutes until the work was over and he could be alone with her for a little while.
"Papa loved him," Inda smiled. "Do you remember your grandfather at all?"
Guy frowned. "Maybe a little. I'm—I'm not sure." He'd forgotten he even had grandparents. He thought, now, that maybe he remembered somebody, warm, bony, and wrinkled, but he couldn't find a face to go with the feeling.
"Well, I didn't fare so well, with his family," Inda sighed. "Pal's mother was a terrifying woman. She didn't much care for me. She thought Pal could do better."
Guy stared at her incredulously.
"She died before you were born," Inda said thoughtfully. "Well, Pal's father didn't really care, he worshipped the ground Pal walked on and anything that Pal wanted was fine with him, and your father can be stubborn when he wants to be. She said I would be a burden, that he would be stuck taking care of his family and mine both." She gave an impish smile. "He finally told her that it was his burden was his business, and he would take care of all of us just fine."
Guy grinned. "Way to go, Dad."
"I felt bad about it, for a while," Inda shrugged. "I hated coming between them, but she forgave him quickly." She grinned wryly. "I'm not sure she ever forgave me, but so it goes. I never warmed up to her either. Pal was as good as his word, though, he took care of both our families until—" She stopped.
"Until you left," Guy finished softly.
"His parents were gone by then," Inda said, staring at the ground. "My father was still alive, but he was—" She took a deep breath, her voice trembling. "He was in no shape to travel. Pal would have carried him, but he...refused to go." She put her hand over her eyes. Belt made a sympathetic noise, putting his clawed paws gently on her knee.
Guy pushed himself the rest of the way up and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to make you upset. We don't have to talk about it."
Inda shook her head. "No, it's all right. That was a long time ago." Her breath shuddered in spite of her words.
"Anyway," she said after a moment, letting her hand fall away from her eyes, "To get back to your original question, that's pretty much how it went. He worked, we talked, we walked." She smiled. "It hardly even mattered what we said. I could listen to his voice for hours." She blushed, covering her cheek with her hand again. "Then one day he kissed me and told me he was going to talk to my father, if I was okay with it. Obviously, I was. There was a beautiful full moon the night we had the binding ceremony." She suddenly glanced at Guy curiously. "What do they do? Cavies—cavepeople, I mean. They must have their own ritual. Do you know?"
Guy's felt his face heat. "Yeah, I asked Gran once and, uh...there isn't one. A feast or a ceremony, or anything."
"Nothing?" Inda's eyes widened.
Guy winced. "Yeah, apparently it's pretty much ask and have. Once the trade is agreed and paid...how did she put it? 'She's officially your problem.'" He fidgeted uncomfortably.
"That's barbaric," Inda muttered, her brows drawn. "Well, we'll have to see about that."
Guy smiled. "Little early to be worrying about that, Mom," he reminded her.
"Hmph."
Pal was impressed.
Eep picked up the technique much faster than Guy. She was a born hunter; it was obvious in every line of her. It took her a while to learn to move quietly enough in the water not to startle the fish. Her tendency on land to leap and pounce kicked up far too much splash in the water. Once she could sneak up on the fish, she missed exactly twice before she got the hang of compensating for the water's distortion.
"Well done," Pal congratulated her as she hauled the flapping fish out of the water. She giggled, and then tilted her head as she watched the fish thrash.
"Why isn't it dead?" she wanted to know. "Did I miss?"
"No," Pal shrugged. "They just don't die as easily as other animals, I guess. It'll die in a few minutes."
Eep looked at the gasping, thrashing fish, and then, moving with a speed that startled him, she picked up a rock and bashed the fish in the head with it. It lay still at once. Eep leaned over to look at it, and then drew the knife she wore across her body and stabbed it in the head.
Pal's mouth hung open as Eep calmly cleaned and replaced her knife, leaving the fish still and quiet in the sand. "That worked," she said, looking back up with him. "Now what?"
Pal shut his mouth and scratched his head. "Now we go back in, I guess. Unless you're tired."
Eep snorted and skipped back to the water. She stopped at the edge and looked back towards Guy and Inda, who were clearly absorbed in conversation. Her lips pressed together.
"Eep?" Pal went to her, frowning, and followed her gaze.
"She's sick, isn't she?"
Pal's head whipped around and he stared at the little redhead. Eep looked back at him seriously. There was no doubt in her face. "Guy's mom," she clarified, when he didn't answer. "She's sick."
Pal's lips and brows came together. He did not want to discuss this, but Eep's eyes were relentless. "I can smell it," she continued. "Old blood and—something else. I don't know what. But she's really sick, isn't she? That's why she's so thin and tired."
Pal held his silence for a moment longer, but then his shoulders slumped. "Yes," he finally said. "She's sick. It's nothing you can catch. Something's wrong inside her. When I first noticed, I took her to every healer or shaman I could find. None of them were able to do anything. They're not even sure what's wrong with her."
"Is it bad?" Eep asked quietly.
"I think so," Pal answered, even more quietly. Then he added, almost against his will, "Her appetite's getting worse. She's tired all the time, but she doesn't sleep well. Some days she can't even keep her food down at all."
Eep nodded slowly, and lowered her head, covering her face with her hand for a moment. When she looked up again, her eyes were wet. "You should tell him," she said, her voice full of sympathy. "He should know."
Pal looked away. "How am I supposed to tell him that?"
"He'll figure it out," Eep told him, her tone one of absolute certainty. "He doesn't want to see it, but eventually he will. He's too smart not to. You should tell him now." She paused. "I don't want to keep secrets from him. But it should come from you." She glanced back towards Guy and Inda. "We usually sit up by the fire for a little bit after the family goes to bed. You can come talk to him then."
Pal clenched his jaw, and looked back towards his mate and son. "She's been so much happier, the past few days," he sighed.
"So has he," Eep said, putting her small hand on his arm. "He really loves you both."
Pal put his hand on her head. "Come on. Let's catch a few more. You got the hang of this so quickly, maybe we can try diving next time."
"What's diving?" Eep asked, following him into the water.
Pal smiled. "How well do you swim?"
When they made their way back to where they had left Guy and Inda, they found Guy standing on the shore with Belt hanging around his neck. Both of them were peering out over the water.
"What's the matter?" Eep asked him, going to his side.
"Nothing," Guy said. "Probably," he added after a moment.
Pal followed his gaze. "Weather moving in," he observed.
"Yeah," Guy said, frowning. "It's still pretty far away, though. I think we're all right for a while."
"Maybe," Pal said dubiously, his forehead creasing. He and Guy looked at each other, and Eep looked between them, feeling like she was missing something.
Guy turned to her. "Done for the day? How'd it go?" He looked at the string of fish she had strung on a vine. "How many of those are yours?"
Pal laughed before Eep could answer. "All of them," he said, and Eep thought he sounded a little proud.
Guy's wide grin spread over his face. "I told you she was a fast learner," he said, slipping his hand into Eep's, and there was definitely pride in his voice.
"You also told me she gets distracted easily and never stops asking questions long enough for you to finish explaining anything," Pal teased, his grin turning a little wicked. Eep rounded on Guy and gave him a look.
"Um..." Guy grinned sheepishly back at her.
Pal laughed, and went to collect Inda. He made her climb on his back, threatening to haul her over his shoulder again if she didn't comply. Inda complained, but did as he asked, clinging around his neck like a child as he hooked his arms under her knees.
Eep sighed slightly as she and Guy trailed after them back into the jungle. She watched the two in front of her for a moment, and then glanced up at Guy. Her heart hurt for him.
He caught her look. "What?" he smiled.
"Nothing," she said, leaning over to rub her cheek against his shoulder. "You and your dad have the same smile, you know."
That made him chuckle, as she knew it would, and she tried not to look at him again as they made their way back.
When they were about halfway home, Eep stopped and sniffed at the air.
"What is it?" Guy asked, lowering his voice and looking around them.
Eep shook her head. "The wind shifted, that's all. It just feels…weird." She looked up at him. "Sorry, I know that doesn't make any sense."
"It's okay," Guy said, nudging her forward again. "Let's just get home."
When they got back, Eep left her catch with Guy and ran ahead to find her father.
"Ugh, again with the fish smell," he scowled, when she caught up to him.
"Never mind that," Eep said dismissively, glancing back at Guy. "Dad, we need to talk." Quickly, she recounted her conversation with Pal. Grug watched her while she spoke, glancing up once or twice to look for Guy, who was chatting with Thunk while they prepared the fish again. When she finished, his face was dark.
"You're sure we can't catch it?" he asked, but Eep thought his heart wasn't in the question as he looked for Guy again.
"Yes," she said. "Pal says it's something wrong with her insides." She hesitated and then added, "I think he's right. What I smell on her doesn't seem like a disease."
Grug nodded slowly, and sighed. "All right. Tell me what you need."
The weather was still bothering Guy; he watched the sky all through dinner, and he couldn't quite manage to relax as he had the day before. Everyone else seemed uncomfortable too, and he wondered if they were feeling it. The animals were definitely restless. Chunky paced the valley entrance, growling, and Douglas kept trying to dig under rocks and trees, and occasionally, under Thunk. Even Belt was fidgety from his perch on top of the rock Guy leaned upon.
Grug called them all to bed earlier than usual. Guy took one more look at the darkening sky, and then tried to put it out of his head as Eep came and cuddled up beside him. For a while, neither of them said anything.
"Everything okay?" Guy asked, finally, glancing at her.
"Huh?" She blinked up at him.
"You seem a little tense." He nudged her with his shoulder. Hers was tight where it rested against him.
"Oh," Eep said, and then abruptly asked, "Did you get bored waiting on me?"
He smiled. "No. I had a good talk with Mom."
"Yeah?" Eep said.
"Whenever I thought about my family, I always just thought about Mom and Dad and me, but talking to Mom made me realize that...that's not all there was to our family. I had uncles," he said with a smile, shaking his head a little. "Grandparents. I guess I must have known I had grandparents, I mean, but I never really thought about them as real people before. Even though they're gone now, listening to Mom talk, it made me feel like I'm part of something...bigger." He glanced at her and quickly away again, feeling his face heat at the thoughts that had followed him since then. About how, maybe, someday, he could have that again. Maybe someday he would be an uncle, a...father...and his parents and her parents would be grandparents, and maybe he'd have nieces and nephews and children and grandchildren of his own. It staggered him to think about it.
"Less than a year ago I had nothing," he said thoughtfully. "I couldn't even have dreamed about having what I have now. Eep..." He took a breath and faced her, moving to touch her cheek.
Her eyes slid off his and over his shoulder, and someone coughed behind him. Guy dropped his hand and turned.
"Dad," he said in surprise, seeing Pal standing there. "I thought you went to bed."
Pal looked at the ground. "We need to talk."
Vaguely Guy felt Eep's hand on his shoulder, felt Belt drop down from the rock behind him to cling around his neck, but he couldn't take his eyes from Pal's face.
Pal sat cross-legged next to his son, staring at his hands. Guy's eyes had grown as Pal spoke until they were huge in his pale face, and Pal couldn't look at them anymore.
"How sick?" Guy whispered. His knuckles were white where he clenched Eep's hand, but if she felt any discomfort at all, she didn't show it.
Pal spread his hands helplessly. "I'm not sure. Pretty sick. If you're asking me what's going to happen...when it's going to happen, I don't know. We just don't know enough about what's wrong with her. It might be years but—" his voice dropped, and he looked away. "I don't think so."
"You sound like you've given up," Guy said, his voice strained.
"No, of course not," Pal replied. "If you have any ideas, I'm all ears. I just don't know what there is left to try." He paused. "I think being here – finding you – has actually helped. She's making more of an effort than she did before. She's less likely to turn down food when you give it to her. She's sleeping more. And she's happy. Maybe that will be enough. I don't know."
"We have to do something," Guy shot back. "We can't just let her waste away and not do anything about it."
"I'll try any idea you have," Pal repeated. There was a long silence, and then Guy slumped against the rock behind him with a wordless noise of grief. Eep knelt in front of him and touched his face. He reached for her and she settled against his chest, putting her arms around his waist. He curled around her, burying his face in her hair. The boy's shoulders shook. Belt lifted a long arm to stroke Guy's hair.
Pal felt like he should leave, but he felt too heavy to move. He'd never had to put his fears into words before, and it somehow made them so much more real. He sat there, with his head bowed, and tried not to think.
After a moment he felt a touch on his hand. He raised his head to find Eep looking at him, one arm still around Guy, and the other reaching out to touch him. She bent her head close to Guy's ear and whispered something to him. Guy sighed and slowly unfolded, looking up at his dad. Eep moved out of the way, and Guy slid over to put an arm around Pal.
"I'm sorry," Guy whispered hoarsely. "You've had to do this by yourself for a long time."
Pal shifted to put his arm around Guy's shoulders too. "I want her to be happy. That means we can't just mope around her and act like the world is ending, no matter how hard it is for us."
Guy nodded.
A flicker of movement caught Pal's eye, and he looked up to see Eep backing away. "Eep," he said, and held out his other arm to her. She hesitated a moment, and then slowly came back. She sat next to him a little shyly, and Pal settled his other arm loosely over her shoulder. Guy reached across him to take her hand, and for a moment the three of them made a little circle, and Pal's eyes suddenly stung. Three had always been the number his family was meant to be, and here they were, three, and yet one was missing, and he was starting to understand that they might never have a chance to be truly whole. Three, and then Guy was lost and they had been two, incomplete, and now here they were, three again, and it wasn't enough.
He tightened his arms around both children for a moment, and then let them go. "I'd better get back to your mother," he said quickly, getting to his feet. He put a hand on Guy's head, and moved off. He glanced back to see Eep move back to Guy and put her hands gently on his arm. Pal smiled a little. Guy would be all right, given time.
Pal wasn't so sure about himself, though.
Guy was numb, one step removed from the reality that had just crashed down on him. Hadn't his mother said it, just today, how fast things could change? Hadn't he known it yesterday, as he sat in this same spot happy and content, that everything changes? He covered his mouth and choked back a sob. Eep put her arms around him, and he turned his face into her neck.
Someone else touched his arm, and he moved his head enough to see Ugga crouched beside him. Thunk crept up beside Ugga and laid a hand on Guy's arm as well. Sandy wriggled into his lap. Gran shuffled up and put her hand on his knee. Grug's great shadow fell over them all as he put one big hand on Guy's shoulder. Belt purred sadly around his neck.
They stayed silently with him for what felt like a long time. Finally Ugga said, "You should rest."
Obediently Guy stood, and the others shuffled to their feet around him. He found Eep's hand and gripped it tightly as they trailed back after the others. It had grown quite dark while they sat be the fire, and the old fear was gnawing at his belly. He stumbled on something in the grass, and Eep caught him.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"We're almost there," she told him, steering him towards his bed. He let her lead him, but when she stopped in front of his bed, he tightened his grip on her hand.
"Don't leave me." Panic fluttered in his chest. "Please," he said. It was an effort to keep his voice low. "I don't want to be alone." He felt her sigh. "Please," he said again. "Just until I fall asleep."
She nudged him towards the bed. "I'll be there in a minute."
He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from protesting, but he knew how much he was asking, so he let her go and groped his way into the pallet. Belt curled up tight against his stomach, and Guy counted the strokes of his fingers along Belt's fur until Eep's hand touched his arm. She hopped over him and stretched out behind him, sliding one arm around him so that her hand rested over his heart. With her warmth and strength at his back, the panic faded, some of the tension flowing out of him. He covered her hand with his own. He felt her lips brush his cheek. "Rest," she told him. He took a shuddering breath, and shut his eyes.
Fun fact - the discussion between Inda and Guy here was the catalyst for this whole fic. I had been thinking about what Guy's parents would say about where he was and his relationship with Eep, and what he would ask them if he could, and so that scene was the first one I wrote for this fic, although it was WAY different in the original than it is now. I ended up splitting part of it out and turning it into the conversation in the last chapter with Pal, and after that I wondered if I even needed this one. But, I really liked it, and I think Inda has a different point of view than Pal, so I kept it. I hope it wasn't one of those "murder your darlings" moments where I should have left it out, but didn't because I liked it so much. My writing process is very non-linear so the chapter by chapter format is a bit of a challenge for me, because I can't change my mind later and go back and revise.
Well. I could, but I don't think that would be very nice. :)