A long, sweeping branch dotted with tiny red berries parted with the touch of a hand. A single cluster dropped to the ground as Kirk stepped into a place where the dirt trail he'd been following widened slightly. The bush to his right rustled, and he turned. A bird similar to the one he'd seen earlier exited, crossing his path, its head bobbing back and forth. He waited for it to enter the opposite bush and continued slowly.
He jerked his head up, jumping to the side as something sailed by him with a loud whistle, missing his face by mere inches. Kirk caught his breath and looked for the object. A crude arrow fletched with blue feathers had embedded itself in the trunk of nearby tree. He pulled it out with a tug, dropping it as the trees rustled.
Before he could reach for his phaser, he felt a sharp point digging into his lower back. "Halt, stranger."The voice was gruff, but unusually high pitched.
Kirk chanced a look over his shoulder. A slight figure stood behind him, bow and arrow took a step forward and the arrowhead jabbed him again. "I said halt."
"Yeban?" The figure jumped and turned his head in the direction of the trees, the bow and arrow clasped in his tanned hand. Kirk used his distraction to take another look. His "attacker" was in reality a small boy. Short coarse white hair tipped with silvery blue covered his head. He wore a pale green tunic with short sleeves and a brown belt. A leather sack slung over his left shoulder held about half a dozen arrows similar to the one he had almost shot Kirk with.
"Yeban, where are you?" Kirk heard a note of concern in the other person's voice.
"Essa! Come. I found something,"Yeban's boyish voice answered, all pretense gone. He turned back to Kirk, frowning. "Don't go anywhere."
"I won't," Kirk promised, hands in the air. "Don't shoot me."
The boy pursed his lips, as though he were still considering he could raise the bow again, a taller figure appeared out of the long hair matched the boy's in color, but she wore it twisted into a long braid that forked halfway down her back, tied at the end by two leather M-shaped eyebrows sat above deep green eyes, a small strong nose and a generous mouth. She was dressed similarly to the boy, except her tunic was fringed. A bright yellow crystal hung around her neck on a woven cord. Her bow, larger and more ornate, hung over her shoulder; she carried a sack of arrows by her side.
She looked down at the boy, watching Kirk out of the corner of her eye. "Yeban, are you well?"
"Yes, Essa. I found a stranger in the forest." He pointed to Kirk, who swallowed. "Almost got him, too."The boy smiled, proud of himself.
Essa met Kirk's eyes, tilting her head to one side. Kirk nodded slowly. She glanced back at the boy disapprovingly. "Yeban, we don't use people for target practice," she scolded. "Apologize."
Yeban's grin disappeared. "Sorry," he muttered, dropping his bow on the forest floor. He shuffled his feet in the dirt.
Kirk bit back a smile. "It's alright, son." He lowered his hands. "That was a pretty good shot." He bent down and picked up the arrow. "Did you make this yourself?"
A tentative smile crossed Yeban's face, revealing two missing teeth. " showed me how. She's going to make me a real hunter's bow for my next three time."
Essa put her hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing it affectionately."Until then, you must practice, little brother." She smiled up at Kirk. "He is only seven and a half circuits yet."
"'Three time'?" Kirk asked.
"Every three circuits is an important marker in the life of a Rave'el child." Essasmiled. "You are not from here."
Kirk shook his head. "Captain James T. Kirk, of the Federation starship Enterprise. I come from another planet, Earth, in peace."
Essa frowned. "Earth…ship?"
"Yes."
She thought for a moment, confusion playing across her strong features. "It…sounds familiar. I think. But I do not know where I heard it."
"Do you know Chazar?" Yeban piped up. Kirk and Essa both turned to see the boy standing next to them, his bow in his hand.
"Who's Chazar?" Kirk asked Essa.
"He brings the storms and makes the julti fly." Yeban continued. "He saved me when I fell out of a tree, too. And he had a big arrow on his chest, just like yours." He pointed to the Starfleet insignia on Kirk's sweater.
Kirk looked down, then back up at Essa, before squatting eye-level with Yeban. "What does thisChazar look like?"
Yeban bit his lip. "I don't know; I never saw his face. He wears this big white hooded cape; it covers everything." He spread his arms out wide. "He doesn't come out all the time, just when there's trouble."
Essatook Kirk by the hand. "Come back to our village and dine with us, Captain. I promise we won't bite. Or shoot," she grinned, exchanging a glance with Yeban, who returned the smile. "Are you alone here?"
"No, which reminds me…" Kirk reached for his comm. "Chekov, come in."
"Spock here, Captain." The first officer stood underneath the tent, his bruise not as visible. His arm was now free of its sling. He stretched and flexed the sore limb slowly.
Kirk held his comm closer to his ear. "Spock? What happened to Mr. Chekov?"
"I contacted him a few minutes ago and he did not respond. When I beamed to the surface, I found him to be in a…most uncomfortable position."
"Is he alright now?"
"You may ask him yourself." Spock nodded to a blushing Chekov.
"Da, Keptin, I just got a leetle tangled in the sheeteeng." Chekov glanced at Spock briefly. "All timsreporting zafe and zound."
"That's good. Call them in and rendezvous with me at the coordinates I'll be sending you. Spock?"
Chekov walked away, switching the channel on his comm. "Alpha and beta tim, come een…"
Spock returned his attention to the comm. "Yes, Captain?"
"Rather insubordinate of you to come down here yourself, wasn't it?"
Spock nodded. "Perhaps. Dr. McCoy told me as much, sir. Yet your orders were not to lead the science party. You said nothing about coming to the aid of a crewmember in distress."
Kirk pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. "That I didn't. Anyone ever suggest you pursue the study of law, Mr. Spock? You seem to have an uncanny knack for finding loopholes."
"One only rivaled by yours, sir. Spock out."
Kirk squeezed the comm in his hand. He turned to Essa and Yeban, who watched him with a mixture of confusion and amusement. "Coming," he called, closing the comm and replacing it.
He fell into step alongside the woman, who he now saw came about up to his chin. Up ahead, Yebanscanned the trees around them, bow drawn in protection of his older sister. "Do you have any other family, Essa?"
Her expression darkened. "Our parents died 6 circuits ago, when I had seen four three times. Yeban is all I have left. I raised him with the help of my friend Awel's mother. She was like a mother to me, too."She stopped, plucking a white flower from the branch above their heads. "Before the muddy rains came. We never found her."
Kirk touched her shoulder. "I'm sorry. What were they like, your parents?"
Essa frowned. "I don't remember. Only that I had them. Once. Forever ago. Chazar didn't come then." She plucked the petals off the flower one by one, scattering them on the ground. "But he must have sent the fire that burned them up. He makes all happen." She walked up the incline and rested her arms on a large branch, peering into the woods. "Why this?"
Kirk still appeared puzzled. "You were twelve and you have no memory of them at all?"
She sighed deeply. "No. I wish I did. For Yeban, so I could tell him stories. But then I think it might hurt him. I am the only mother he has."Essa pushed off from the branch and faced Kirk, her eyes filled with sadness and affection. "I love him more than anything."
"Essa!"Yeban appeared in front of them, holding a dead bird by the feet in one hand and a bloody arrow in the other. "I got one! A big fat julti, right in the side." He ran up to them and proudly handed his sister the plump carcass.
She raised it to eye level, nodding with approval before showing it to Kirk, all traces of sorrow gone. He whistled. "Well done, Yeban.A fine catch for any hunter."
Yeban grinned back at Kirk. The arrowhead fell off his arrow with a soft plop. "I guess I should've stuck it on better," he muttered, squatting down to retrieve it. He wiped the metal object off on a leaf before popping up again. "Here," he said, extending his open hand to Kirk. "You can have this one."
"Don't you need it?"
Yeban shook his head. "I can make more." He dropped it into Kirk's hand and darted through the trees, brandishing the empty shaft like a staff. Kirk smiled, then put the arrowhead into his pocket and followed Essa through the forest.
