Chapter 8
POV Unknown
Midway through the journey towards the temple, I had the unforeseen luck of the pup wake from his unconsciousness. It began to me being alerted to his consciousness by a low groan coming from the wagon bed, I wasn't too concerned as it appeared he wasn't in much pain. This was until he started screaming, the pup possessed a set of lungs as he let forth a blood-curdling scream, causing the colt to perk its ears at attention while whinnying back in an effort to help. My own sacred flicked his ears nervously at the piercing noise being emitted from behind him.
I leapt into the wagon as I saw the pup trying to sit up, agitating his fresh wounds and only making the blisters burst. Keeping a firm but gentle hand on his uninjured shoulder to keep him from further hurting himself while slapping at the wagon's side, urging the gelding into a gallop.
The temple couldn't have come soon enough but when it did I sighed with grateful relief. The pup still wailed in pain, his constant fidgeting had busted open the blisters, coating the wound in a puss which if not taken care of soon would become infected. The gelding came to jerky halt just beside the massive stone temple where I lifted the pup into my arms, calling out for no one in particular, just someone to help.
One of the many nameless monks slunk out of the side that if taken lead into the residential rooms, the male looked exhausted as if having just awoken from sleep. But seeing the messed up pup writhing in pain within my arms he flinched awake, hands twisting and moving in the complex language of the deaf and mute that I had no knowledge in which added to my frustration of the situation.
"Go get Lady Er'itha!" I snapped suddenly to the male who bowed briefly before vanishing back into the temple in which we followed behind him.
We enter the side door that lead into the residential area of the temple, places where the monks and priestess slept, but at the furthest end of the hall was the medical bay which was my intended destination, the pup in my grasp still rang out loud with his cries of pain, injured mandible flaring out alongside the other one as he took in heavy gasps to prepare for the scream. Monks awoken by the boy's screams had come to investigate but at seeing it was an injured pup followed directly into the medical bay to help.
Placing down the pup onto the bed I rumbled at those becoming too close, I was relieved to see the familiar shape the High Priestess as she pushed past the monks while moved around the table. "What is with the commotion?" Demanded the usually soft spoken female, a light gasp as her golden eyes turned down to the pup that grunted and cried in pain. "By the Gods...they weren't suppose to be here until morning…" The female whispered out before shaking her head to focus her mind, the jewels that rested against her cranium in a decorative fashion jangled from the motioned as she flicked her hands. "Everyone out, go, give the pup room." She demanded.
Everyone obeyed, filing out of the room and I had started to do the same when the high priestess stopped me. "No, Bagheera not you." Motioning me over to the table where the pup still grunted and cried, I saw the trail of tears streaming down his right cheek.
Er'itha motioned me over and set to work getting to the pup comfortable. Reaching a wall off to the side with tiny drawers that held the medical supplies, she pulled several items then strode across the room back to her patient, materials in hand. "Hold him please."
Doing as instructed she came around to my side before inserting an IV into the boy's arm. I've seen rather gruesome wounds in my life and I'd been able to stomach the sight of them but seeing Er'itha insert that needle made my knees weak. But she didn't dwell on that for too long, taping the IV into place she retrieved a medical pouch with a mysterious clear substance inside, handing it to me I held the bag as she connected it with a tube, the liquid running down and into the pup's IV. Instantly the boy's muscles relaxed and his pained grunts were silenced.
"What happen?"
"I gave him a drug that will keep him sleep induced while we get him treated, I'll keep him on the medicine till his wounds have had time to heal." She answered back, making her way to a tub that was positioned off to the side as lifted the pup up and motioned with a jerk of her head to follow seeing as I still had the medical pouch.
"What happened, Bagheera?" Starting the bath she lowered her patient down into the cool water, the faucet on a slow stream as she tried to run his open wounds beneath the water to best clean it up.
"Haccet bomb went off."
"Reapers…" a low snarl sounded as her mandibles flexed in thought. "Harming the innocent, there is no honor in harming a pup...How bad is his father wounded?"
"His father didn't make it, Lady Er'itha."
The female halted. "What?"
"His father was deceased upon arrival. The mounts were killed as well, the boy and his colt were the sole survivors."
The high priestess was silent allowing a low sorrowful sigh to escape her. "When he wakes he'll be an orphan."
"Give him to the mother," I replied, it was logical to give the pup to its next of kin and the mothers' were the ones to care for the young anyway right? That's how the jungle clans operated, the females bred and cared for the young while the males hunted, it made me wonder why this clan didn't do the same.
"From what Twei'kah told me the boy's mother left at birth. His coloring insulted her, she took her leave and abandoned the pup with his sire."
Rumbled vibrated from my chest as I shook my head in disbelief. "A mother that abandons a pup is unheard of."
"Perhaps in your culture, Bagheera. But here it is more common than you think."
That was unthinkable, a mother willing to give up her pup for the coloration of their hide? Back in my clan, any pup not born of the usual greens weren't shunned, they worked harder to become better hunters since their nature camouflage wasn't there. To see a pup given up because of its coloring showed to me that the mothers here weren't as honorable as one may believe.
Er'itha lifted the pup back from the tub after rising his wounds with the cool water, allowing it to air dry a moment before taking a bottle of green goo and swearing the wound with it. There was a lot of areas to cover with the goo and at one point it didn't look like she'd have enough to cover the entirety of the wounds, but she made it work before covering it up with clean bandages. Covering the wound as best she could Er'itha took a delicate cloth and wet it before going over his left eyelid, removing the blood that had sealed it shut.
The left eye was of no use, even I could see that as I peered over the female's shoulders. Burns covered his face, a dangerous place to have then and it seemed that his sight hadn't been spared by the explosion. Opening the lid she waved a light to check for any eye movement or pupil dilation. There was none and she allowed the whitened eye to close, cover it with a bandage to allow it to heal as best it could. Er'itha did the same with his right eye, wetting the cloth and gently wiping away any dirt that lingered. When she opened the lid to check for movement she gasped and backed away.
"By the gods…"
My eyes glanced between the two. "What's wrong?"
"The legend...he has returned." She said in a breathy gasp, her tusks chattering excitedly as a grin appeared before she stilled, sadness overtaking her features."But that means his brother has as well..."
I stared at the female, completely lost to her words. "Um..what?"
"The Legend of the Moon, it explains everything now. The Reapers, the uprising of that tyrant, The Great Mother foresaw this and has sent the one to stop it." She spoke casually. I wasn't familiar with the gods which made whatever legend she was speaking of foreign to me. But she didn't wait for me to speak as she set back to work finishing up with the pup before lifting him again though this time she seemed much more delicate as if he could shatter in her arms as she headed out of the medical bay. Following in behind her she took the hall on the left that lead to the elevator and rooms. At the elevator that traveled up to the fifth floor, the worship platform, Lady Er'itha took a right before taking another left at the first hall that appeared. We walked until she stopped at the room just beside hers as the door slid open to allow us in.
The rooms near the priestess's' were massive, these rooms were reserved for monks and priestesses that had served a total of forty seasons within the temple which naturally most of the rooms on this side were empty. Each living space came with its own private bathroom and the larger rooms like these were equipped to prepare meals if one didn't wish to eat in the mess hall.
Each room was nicely decorated with glyphs, swirls and elegant patterns that just seemed to flow and tie the room together beautifully. Lights were spread evenly amongst the ceiling to allow for an easy light flow, thus allowing the room to be neither entirely dark or bright but at a perfect setting in between. The living spaces were just calming when one stepped into its presence which would help in the pup's healing. A raised bed was pushed against the far left wall with a uniquely crafted nightstand that was modeled after a serpent with its tail being used as the legs to keep the furniture steady.
Er'itha laid the boy onto the bed and using a clamp she found on the wall hung the medication pouch while allowing it to stay raised, medication draining into the pup like it should. The High Priestess, like the loving female she was, pulled the fur pelts up around the boy to nestle him in as she gently folded her hands together across her lap.
"What now?" I asked curiously as her gaze lingered on the pup.
"We wait, the medication will drain into his bloodstream, keeping him asleep until his body has had a head start on healing. After that, it just depends if the pup wants to wake up."
"Wants... to wake up?" My spiked brows raised in question.
She nodded solemnly. "His injuries are serious, he's lost his vision completely in his left eye, scar tissue will cover most of his left side and therapy to get him use to using to it will be a must. Not to mention he'll need a skin graft to cover the side of his mandibles where the skin burned off. But I can fix that tomorrow I want him to rest."
And rest the pup did, the following morning just as Lady Er'itha said she fixed the pup's mandible. It was a quick procedure and took roughly thirty minutes. But even after that, the High Priestess sat with the boy, quietly talking to him as if he was awake. She told me his name was Bhu'ja, meaning ghost, which was a laugh considering his coloration. But I didn't say anything more of it for not long after that I was called away for duties which included finding somewhere to keep his colt penned up, the yearling was a terror when away from his master, he didn't shut up until Er'itha suggested that we bring the being inside to show that his master was okay. Many of the monks were against the living quarters smelling like animal matter but after a stern look from the Priestess, it was allowed.
I lead the colt down the hall to Bhu'ja's room where he laid to rest, the soft clopping of the creature's cloven hooves echoed down the hallway as he seemed to know where he was being taken. Upon arriving to the room the colt perked its ears at the still figure in the bed, nickering gently before jerking the lead rope from my grasp and trotting over to his master. Nudging the albino pup gently with its muzzle he sniffed curiously at the feeding tube that had been inserted down the pups throat as a way to keep him fed and hydrated during his sleep, tossing its head in a sort of nod the sacred seemed to understand what the tube was for and resisted from tugging at it.
When it came time to take the colt back to its pen he absolutely refused. I tugged on the lead rope, receiving an angered snort as his ears flattened against his skull. The long legs of the being locked in place as he refused to leave his master's side. I jerked the rope hard enough the colt flicked off of his legs and landed on his side and for a moment I wondered if I killed him, but no the colt was still fine but now he refused to stand and instead allowed me to drag him along on the floor. Growling in irritation I scooped the sacred up into my arms, fighting tooth and nail to keep him still as he thrashed his body to try and get back.
I soon realized that perhaps allowing the sacred access to his master hadn't been the best idea as he now knew where he was. Every time we turned our backs we found the colt had managed to escape his pen and had trotted his way back into Bhu'ja's room. This whole game was getting rather annoying to me and the monks as the colts temperament was getting steadily worse, his third escape I'd been sent to retrieve him. There stood the sacred youngling by the pup's bed, this time when I went to approach him the young creature bowed up, flexing its growing muscles and pawing the ground agitatedly. The colt wasn't mock threatening me, though with low grunts he dropped his head and leaped at me, striking forcefully against my stomach that it knocked the breath out of me and sent me to the floor. With buttery eyes locked onto mine, a short snort sounded as he backed up until his rear touched the bed. I'd heard that sacreds were protective of their masters but even I hadn't believed that a mere yearling would behave this aggressively.
I alerted Lady Er'itha to the news of the colt's growing aggression, she didn't seem put off by the colt's behavior and actually rewarded it with praise, the colt was allowed to come and go as he pleased. She saw the shock in my reaction to which she answered that the sacred would protect him with its life which would serve him well in his journey to fulfill this bizarre prophecy that these yautja seemed to know of.
The pup's father had to be burned, the body wouldn't last until he woke which at this point was if and not when. The temple held a funeral for the boy's father, but not before I was able to retrieve a few items from the body that I thought Bhu'ja would have liked if he woke. The gauntlet in which the male had worn was removed for information extraction, sadly much of the information was lost because of the damage but I had been able to retrieve fragments of messages sent between Twei'kah and someone, nothing big just a snippet here and there.
Along with the message fragments, I had gotten special permission from Lady Er'itha to have one of Twei'kah's tusk cut off. My permission was granted once she understood what it was for, I had the power mandible tusk in hand as I progressed to the local craftsman in the village to have the tusk made into a pendant to wear on a necklace. It was a tradition that my clan did when a loved one passed on, the loved ones tusk was made into an accessory to be worn. It was a way we had learned to keep our loved ones close. He could wear it or he didn't have to, it was his choice I just wanted to be sure he had a way to remember his father seeing as I wasn't sure of how they worshiped or even if they did that.
The funeral was a simple one, Lady Er'itha conducted the whole ordeal, leading the monks in prayer while adding in something for his son who couldn't be there to partake. Once everything was said and done, the pyre which the body was laid upon was set on fire, sending his spirit to The Hunter's Path, from there depending on the culture he would go onto paradise to live out his existence or go into The World Below to be reincarnated. The monks stayed with the pyre until nothing but ash marked the ground, the ashes that could be gathered were taken to the burial yard and placed into the ground with a marker showing who laid there.
After the funeral everything was calm, nothing of interest really happened. I was back to my normal duty of teaching the village pups but still found time to check up on the boy. When I was relieved from my task I'd go to check on the pup, never was he alone for either the Lady Er'itha sat by his side looking over a scroll she'd bring with her or the ebony yearling would be standing guard by his bedside.
Er'itha was becoming distraught, the priestess would never admit to it but I could tell by the look in her hazel eyes each day she'd go into the boy's room and see that he was still asleep her hopes slowly dwindled away. The monks had been excited to see this pup whom Er'itha had said was from there prophecy but as weeks turned into a month the likelihood of him waking turned slim, many believing that this was in fact not the one they'd been waiting for. She prayed nightly to a goddess known as Inaz, commonly known as the goddess of childbirth and fertility but also was the one who had given yautja medicine. This goddess, in particular had something to do with the legend spoken however with my lack of knowledge in this culture I was left out of the loop as to how this goddess pertained. But Er'itha seemed certain that whoever this goddess maybe would help by praying to her.
After two months passed and Bhu'ja had yet to show any signs of life I made it my job to tell Er'itha she couldn't keep the boy like this forever, it just wasn't right. I made it clear to her that the medicine had run its course and he should have woken by now, naturally she disagreed, saying such things like some patients took longer to rest and heal than others. That may have been true but I was positive that their wounds hadn't been as extensive as his. It took time to finally make her understand that there wasn't a need for waiting, the pup was most likely brain dead, his organs may have been functioning but he wasn't actually there.
Er'itha had grown attached to the boy I could see that in the way her eyes fluttered over to his still body, waiting for a sign he was okay. I told her I could do it if she couldn't, she was hesitant a moment, her thoughts lingered over if what she was about to do was in fact right. But after an internal battle with herself, she seemed sure of herself that with a saddened sigh her head dipped in a nod.
"I'll get the euthanasia needle." She whispered before turning from me and leaving to gather the supplies, leaving me alone with the pup.
My violet eyes shot to the unconscious lad, feeding tube still down its throat which wouldn't be necessary anymore. I'd seen how Er'itha had inserted the tube so pulling it loose wasn't so bad, moving slow the entirety of the tube was pulled free from the body as I tossed the disgusting instrument away. I wasn't going to lie and say I expected more from the pup, he was still just a pup, but I had expected him to put up more of a fight than this. Even if he had woken up what kind of life would he had, he was orphaned, unwanted and an outcast. Perhaps it was for the better?
Gaze turning to Er'itha as she entered the room with syringe in hand she gave an unease huff. I crossed over to her, taloned hand stretch out to receive the medication. She hesitated, about to hand the syringe over before pulling back.
"Hko, I want to do it."
"Are you sure-"
"I'll do it Bagheera." She snapped aggressively, so unlike the High Priestess. Not wanting to anger her I crossed an arm over my chest, bowing as I gave her space. At the pup's bedside, she noted how I had removed the tube, thanking me so she hadn't had to do it. Uncapping the syringe she closed her eyes a moment to allow herself the strength to do it when I grunted in surprise.
"Lady Er'itha…" the female snapped her eyes opened and let out a thrilled gasp, the pup's chest rose as he inhaled sharply, stubby mandibles flexing if only a little to work the stiffness out.
"By the gods, The Great Mother watches all of her children, Inaz has answered my prayers and begged The Great One for his life!" She exclaimed excitedly as I hustled over to watch. "Bhu'ja, one young can you hear me?" She asked in a worried tone, eagerly wanting to see a response. The albino pup had yet to speak but instead grunted in pain as he shuffled within the bed, the tension within the room so thick one could cut it with a knife. But a response was given, not an answer to Er'itha's question but a reaction. An exhausted scarlet eye peered out at us, tired but with a question in his gaze.
He was awake.
Yautja Notes and Vocabulary:
Bagheera- Viewpoint of chapter, male who found Ozzy and his father, originates from one of the Jungle Clans
Er'itha- known as Lady Er'itha or High Priestess, lives at the Temple of the Moon, oversees the monks, cared for Bhu'ja as he healed.
The Great Mother- An unnamed goddess, mother of all the gods.
Cetanu- one of the yautja gods
The Hunter's Path- The path spirits take when they pass one, the path a spirit takes can lead to paradise or to The World Below
The World Below - A path taken by a spirit when they are suppose to be reincarnated into a new life.
Inaz- Goddess of fertility, childbirth and medicine. One of the yautja goddesses
Hko- means 'no' in yautjan
