The Felines of Pern Chapter 13
The meeting at Benden Weyr ended without any agreement being reached. F'lessan said he would try to start negotiations with my Ted, but he could promise nothing, of course. I felt that the meeting was a good use of my time, because now the humans who made the big decisions were aware of my kind and our needs, and they weren't making arbitrary decisions about land usage anymore. But the scheme to reduce our birthrate was still in place until some kind of agreement could be reached.
Now it was time for another trial: my return flight home. I had to choose between two evils – the cold of between or the imprisonment of wearing the human-made coat. I had experienced the cold and hated it, so this time, I decided to try the coat. It was still insufferable.
"Please make this trip as fast as you can," I urged Tai. "Everything in me wants to tear this coat off and shred it!"
"We'll do our best," she said as she and F'lessan strapped me to Zaranth's back. They leaped into their riding positions, strapped themselves in, and up we went.
Flying is an impressive feeling. The view from high above the world... there's nothing like it. If there was a way for me to go for a ride on a dragon without going between, I would probably try it. But today, we had to go back home, and that meant another short, agonizing trip through that colder-than-cold, darker-than-dark place.
The coat helped, a little. It was still unnaturally cold there, but I wasn't shivering when we came out the other side. F'lessan had said that the humans never got used to between, but they endured it because it was such a quick way to get from one place to another. I could see the truth of that. I wasn't surprised by the feelings of between this time, but it was still terrible and I couldn't wait for it to end. I didn't scream this time.
When we returned home, it was mid-afternoon, and my coat was now far too warm. I couldn't wait to get out of that garment. It was galling that I needed the humans' help to do it, but unless I was willing to accept that awful cold again without any protection against it, the coat was a necessary evil.
As soon as we landed, Ballora ran up to us. "F'lessan, something terrible has happened! Toresk, the stone worker, got badly hurt. He's under the Healers' care."
"What happened?" F'lessan asked as he peeled off his own flying clothing.
Ballora took a deep breath. "He was attacked by a feline. No one saw it happen but him, but his wounds are definitely from a large cat's claws and teeth."
Tai spun to look at me. "Would your Ted do something like that?"
"No," I said firmly. "Oclo is trying to avoid a confrontation unless he's sure he can win. Hunter Woo would try it on her own, and Hunter Dess might try it if Woo urged her strongly enough. Those two are the leaders of the 'kill the humans' faction."
"This couldn't have happened at a worse time," F'lessan said. "We're on the verge of starting peace talks, and an attack like this will make those talks impossible. No one in this Weyrhold will support negotiating with proven killers. Half my population might leave in protest, and that would make Honshu uninhabitable."
"No one here is going to trust Rit now, either," Tai added.
F'lessan turned to me,."Rit, can you go into the forest and find out what's happening with your band? We need to know who made this attack, and why. If it's one renegade hunter, we can't let her sabotage what we're trying to do here."
"I'll go," I said. "Tomorrow morning after I've eaten. It's been a very long day for me." That was no exaggeration. I slept very soundly that night, in spite of the stress I was feeling. I didn't even try to stay awake long enough to hunt the tunnel snakes.
The next day, I ate my meal of chopped meat and set off into the forest. My primary goal was to find Oclo and find out what he knew about the attack on F'lessan's human. I also had a secondary, secret goal that I didn't tell F'lessan about. I was going to warn my band about the consequences of eating the carcasses that the dragons were dropping. F'lessan and his friends would certainly object to this if they knew about it. But how could they expect me to say nothing to my own hunting band? I felt no conflict of interest; I was trying to do something good for all of my friends.
As I approached the place where we meet for discussions, I could hear the sounds of a heated argument. I got closer, and recognized the voices of Oclo and Woo, with others snarling or chuffing agreement to things that those two said.
"I'll say it again, Ted – we are losing patience with you!" Woo snapped. "Your insistence on learning everything that can be learned about the humans is going to be the death of this band!"
"And I'll say it again – I will not lead this band into a battle it can't win!" Oclo shot back.
"But we can win!" Woo argued. "I've proven that! I struck down one of the humans and I got away with it! If each of us strikes down one human every few days, then in no time, we'll reduce their numbers to the point where they have to leave!"
"Do you think the humans are idiots?" I exclaimed as I entered the clearing and took a place in the circle. They all looked very startled to see me, especially Oclo, but most of them said nothing.
"Oh, look who's here!" Woo exclaimed mockingly. "It's the hunter who thinks she's a human! I'm surprised that you aren't walking on two legs."
I ignored her verbal attack. "The humans are not stupid," I went on. "They know it was one of us who made that attack. Do you think they'll leave their guard down for the next attack? When I left, I heard them talking about new safety measures to protect everyone in Honshu. I think that will mean humans on guard, carrying sharp weapons. You'll never get away with another attack like that last one."
"The dragons can't see us or hear us when we creep through the forest, in case you've forgotten," Woo argued. "As for their guards, we'll make them our first targets. We'll show them that carrying weapons invites an attack. If these humans are as clever as you seem to think, then they'll soon stop carrying those weapons."
"You act as though the humans are incapable of fighting," I began.
"One human against one hunter is a fight I'll take any day!" Dess cut in.
"But their weapons and their dragons make it a fair fight," I went on, "and we can't afford a battle on those terms. There are only a tiny number of us left. Both the humans and the dragons greatly outnumber us. Even if each of us killed ten of them, we would still lose."
"We can't afford a battle," Woo scoffed. "We would still lose. All I hear is talk of defeat! What happened to your fighting spirit? Did the humans coax it out of you with soft living?"
"I haven't forgotten how to hunt, if that's what you mean," I retorted. "But I think you've forgotten how that first fight against humans and dragons went. We ambushed two humans and two dragons with a huge advantage in numbers. Don't you remember how that 'guaranteed victory' worked out? San still wears the scar she got that day, and our numbers are still badly reduced. Have you learned nothing?"
"Kur's cubs and my cubs are nearly ready to join the band," Dess said. "That will help with the numbers."
"That will put us closer in numbers to where you used to be," Oclo cut in, "but you still haven't explained how you plan to defeat our enemies. If all you have to offer is another losing battle like the last one, then I can't agree to it."
"Before we go any further, I need to know something," San said suddenly. "It's true that I still have my scar. But I don't see any scar on Rit's flank, and her injury was even worse than mine. What happened to you?"
"Didn't Oclo tell you I was going to the humans for a healing?" I asked. They all nodded with different levels of skepticism. "Well, I got what I wanted. The humans have skill at healing that defies our imagination. You can argue with my motives if you wish, but you can all see the results. This is what they did for me." I stepped into the middle of the circle, turned so they could all see my flank, and returned to my place.
"The humans are the ones who caused Rit's injury," Oclo noted, "and they're the ones who completely healed her. Those are not the actions of a simple prey beast! I'll say it again – we need to learn a lot more about these adversaries of ours before we commit to a war that we must not lose."
"I've heard enough," Woo snapped. "I'm not shocked that Rit would take Oclo's side. But today, we all have to choose sides. I say that the Ted has lost our confidence! I say it's time we remove him, just like we removed his predecessor!" She bared her teeth and assumed an attack posture.
"No!" Dess exclaimed suddenly. "His delaying tactics haven't actually cost us anything. I have no confidence in him as a leader, but I don't support killing him."
Her ally's defection obviously startled Woo. "All right," she said, and relaxed slightly. "We won't kill him. But it's clear that we all have no confidence in him."
"Speak for yourself!" I snapped.
"I will!" she retorted. "I say he's failed as our Ted. I can no longer follow his orders because I don't think he has the band's best interests at heart. I reject this one! What do the rest of you say?" She pointedly turned her back on Oclo and sat down.
Woo had just called for a vote. This was very seldom done, but the band could do it if they saw the need. The majority would decide – should Oclo continue to be our Ted or not? We voted by facing Oclo or turning away from him. I remained facing toward him and sat, indicating that I'd made my decision. Dess turned away; San sat facing him. Kur seemed undecided. Two others turned away, swayed by Woo's words. The remaining two sat where they were. It was four against four, and Kur had the deciding vote.
Slowly, she turned her back on Oclo and sat down.
"It's done!" Woo exclaimed in triumph. "Male who used to be Ted, you have until the setting of this sun to get off of our hunting grounds. I'll contact the band of males and I'll get us a new Ted, a real Ted, a Ted who isn't afraid of a fight."
"You're making a terrible mistake," Oclo said sadly.
"I can't hear you, cowardly male," Woo said contemptuously. "You have no right to be here, and you have no voice here. Now lose yourself before we dispatch you like we dispatched your predecessor!"
Oclo slowly left his place in the circle. He looked back once, then set his face toward the north and paced away. I caught up with him after a moment. I could hear the others murmuring behind us, but I didn't care what they might be saying.
"Where will you go?" I asked him.
"I don't know," he answered without looking at me. "If I return to the band of males after walking away from them, I'll have to fight my way back in. I know those males; I can defeat any of them in a one-on-one fight, but I'll probably get hurt trying. If some new males have joined their band, then I can't guess who I might be up against. If I go toward the sunrise or the sunset, I'll enter another band's land and they'll chase me out. I committed my entire future to leading your band. Now, I have no future left."
"Then come back to the humans with me," I urged him. "They'll accept you. They provide me with food, they give me useful work to do, and they even let me hunt their beasts from time to time! It won't be the same as leading a band in the forest, but you'll be alive, and that's more than you'll get from any of your other options."
It was at that moment that I realized – I had committed myself to living with the humans. Up until now, it had been a choice that I could make. Now, I had no other place to go, but even if I did, I felt safer and more comfortable at Honshu now than I did with my own hunting band. Explaining that to the others would be impossible. I wasn't sure I could explain it to Oclo if he asked. But I was certain. These humans were good people.
He stopped, sat, and looked at me. "The humans accepted you because you were injured and needed help. Why would they accept me?"
"They don't think like we do," I assured him. "They aren't all about attacks and confrontations. They live and work to improve themselves and help others, and they're every bit as curious about us as we are about them. Their goal is to negotiate some kind of peace with us so we'll stop trying to kill each other. A Ted, or even a former Ted, who learns some human ways would be a huge asset to our plans."
"'Our' plans?" he asked, startled. "Are you one of them now?"
"Oclo, I'll never forget who and what I am. But, because I've lived with them, I want to see the fighting end more than anyone! I have friends on both sides now, and I don't want to lose any of them. I've seen the humans' strength and I'm more convinced than ever that, if we fight, the hunters will lose. I think you'll agree once you've seen what they can do."
"You're asking me to give up my freedom in exchange for free food," he said with distaste.
"I'm suggesting that you give up a life without hope in exchange for a life that might make a real difference," I responded. "At least you won't be hopeless, homeless, hungry, and hated."
"Those are a lot of good 'H' words, Rit. Maybe you should have been a storyteller." He got up and continued walking. I walked beside him. After a few seconds, he asked, "Where are you going? The band didn't put you out."
"The band has fallen under Woo's control, no matter who their Ted is," I said. "They're going to choose a new Ted, but if he doesn't do things her way, he'll get the same treatment that you just got. Her feelings toward me are as obvious as her feelings toward you. It's just a matter of time until she puts me out of the band… or worse. I'll save her the trouble."
We walked on. I asked, "Can you tell me something, honestly? Did you send Woo to attack that human?"
He stopped and stared at me. "Don't you know me better than that?"
"I need to hear you say it," I replied. "The humans are going to ask me about it, and I want to tell them the simple truth, without any guesswork."
"No, I didn't send Woo to attack the humans," he said. "I sent her with orders to scout the human building so she'd get a better idea of their strength; I foolishly thought it might dissuade her from pushing for war. She must have seen an opportunity to do some harm, so she took it."
"I thought so," I nodded.
"While we're being honest, I have a question for you," he said. "When this whole fight started, your goal was to find a weakness in the humans and exploit it so we could cast them out of our land. You've lived among them for weeks; you've seen them in ways that the rest of us have not. Has your goal changed?"
I paused, then admitted, "Yes, it has changed. I no longer see them as trespassers and enemies. I now see them as… friends. They are on our land because they didn't know it was ours. I want to see us reach some kind of agreement that leaves us all reasonably happy and none of us dead."
"That's not what I expected to hear," he said, looking away at nothing. "But I knew you'd tell me the truth, even if it was uncomfortable." He took a breath. "If I was still the Ted, and I ordered the band to attack the humans, what would you do?"
"I honestly don't know," I said. "I think I'd run away and hide. An order like that would put me in an impossible position."
"Then it's a good thing I'm not the Ted anymore," he said.
"Were you on the verge of giving that order?"
"I was close," he admitted. "Like you say, Woo has effectively seized power. I was actually thinking about doing things her way, just to save my own skin and avoid fracturing the band. That would have been a disaster for everyone. Maybe it's better this way."
"Have you decided which way 'this way' is?" I asked him.
He thought for a few seconds. "Maybe I'll visit the humans, learn something about them, and get a free meal. After that… I'll make that decision tomorrow. I'm not keen on living with our enemies, but all my other options are even worse."
I nodded; his choice pleased me. "In that case, we want to go in this direction," I said, and set my face toward Honshu. He turned and walked beside me.
"How did things get so backwards?" he asked after a while. "Females are controlling the band, I'm safer with humans than I am with other hunters, and I'm following my monogamous mate's lead."
I smiled slyly. "You've been following my lead ever since I left that flyer for you to find."
"At least you let me go through the motions of being the male in charge," he smiled back.
"I don't want to completely upset the social order," I said.
"The social order has been clawed, bitten, and torn to shreds," he replied. "You might as well finish the job."
"Okay," I said. "Then here's the final blow against the social order: I've become a traitor to my own band. There is a situation that threatens all of us, and I got distracted by all those arguments and forgot to say anything about it." I told him about the humans and the treated carcasses that they were dropping on our hunting grounds.
"So that's what they're up to!" he burst out. "I knew there was something wrong with those carcasses." He suddenly looked alarmed. "Will they have any effect on a male? Will they make me…?"
"No, they just keep a female from coming into season," I answered.
He sighed in relief. "For how long?" he asked.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't think it's for life. The band won't produce any cubs this year, but if the humans change their minds, life will go back to normal."
"Do you think they'll change their minds?"
"I've done my best to talk them into changing," I told him. "At the moment, their plan is to keep dropping carcasses on every band that acts hostile toward them. If we can reach an agreement with them, then they'll leave our band's hunting grounds alone. They don't want to wipe us out; they just want to be safe."
"I can understand that kind of thinking," he said. "But it's not our hunting band anymore. They've decided that they're better off without us."
"I wish them luck," I said. "They're going to need it, if they're going to war against the humans and the dragons. You have no idea how many –"
"Shh!" he suddenly hissed. "I hear something ahead of us."
I nodded. With head gestures, we agreed on our plan: we would separate and close in on the source of the noises from two directions. I crept silently through the forest until I heard the sounds on my left, then turned toward it. Suddenly it got much louder and ran toward me. It was a young horned beast that had gotten separated from its herd. Oclo had leaped at it with a snarl and frightened it into running… straight at me. I sprang, knocked it down, and killed it with a throat bite as Oclo approached.
"Nice work," he nodded. "You always were quick with a kill."
"We make a good team," I nodded. "Will you take the first bite?"
"Let the successful hunter take the first bite," he said, just as politely as the first time he'd said it to me. "After that, I think there's plenty for both of us." I had already eaten, but I took a few bites (fresh food always tastes better than the chopped-up kind), and Oclo ate well that morning. I wondered if any of the hunters had willingly shared their kills with him today. Then we resumed our journey.
That journey nearly ended in disaster. As we stepped into the humans' clearing together, someone shouted an alarm and pointed at us. A moment later, a green dragon roared from above and dove on us… with fire coming out of its mouth!
"I'm Rit! I'm Rit!" I desperately shouted, barely dodging the first flame-strike as it blackened the sand next to me. Oclo turned and leaped for cover in the forest. The dragon circled back, then broke off its flaming attack and flew just above me. I recognized it as Path, with Mirrim on her back. Her huge mate, Monarth, joined her a few seconds later with T'gellan. Both dragons landed about fifty feet away from me. Other humans were running toward me with long, pointed objects, but they slowed and stopped when they saw that the dragons were not attacking. I let out the breath I'd been holding.
F'lessan forced his way through the crowd. He was still limping from his injuries, but he was moving faster now. "What just happened here?" he demanded.
"Somebody saw two felines coming out of the woods," a man told him. "He sounded the alarm, so we all came running. Then the dragon told us that it's our feline, not a wild one, so we shouldn't attack."
"Two felines? I see only one," he retorted.
I called Oclo out of the forest. He came hesitantly, and while I can't swear to this, it looked like he was hiding behind me for a few moments.
"This is Oclo, my mate," I told Path. "He is joining us, at least for a while. He is not violent or hostile." She translated for the humans as I turned to Oclo. "I warned the band that the humans would be more vigilant after Woo's attack, and I was right."
"Even though we're the ones who almost suffered for her audacity," he nodded. "You were right. These humans do know a thing or two about fighting."
"I thought I knew a thing or two about them," I nodded, "but one thing I didn't know was that their dragons can breathe fire at us! I never want to see that again!"
"Maybe, if Woo saw that, she wouldn't be so eager to attack this place," Oclo said thoughtfully.
Now F'lessan walked up to me. "Yes, that's definitely Rit," he announced. "I think they all have a unique pattern to their spots. We can tell one individual from another, once we learn to recognize them." Oclo got his first taste of a dragon's voice in his head as Path translated. His eyes widened, his ears went back, and he lashed his tail back and forth. I realized that I'd grown completely accustomed to communicating like that, and I hoped that Oclo would adjust quickly as well.
"I'm glad you can tell them apart, but that's not much of a help from five hundred feet up," T'gellan objected. "We need a foolproof way to tell our cats apart from wild cats at a distance."
"How about if we mark them, the way we mark our fire lizards?" Mirrim suggested.
"Before we answer that question, I have a bigger one," Tai said as she worked her way through the crowd. "Rit, you've brought your mate to us. Does this mean you're planning to stay here?"
"Yes," I answered at once. "Our band cast him out because he wouldn't wage war against you. I left to avoid the same fate. We have no other home now. If you'll allow us to stay, then we would like to live among you."
Tai glanced at F'lessan, who shrugged. "Why not, Tai?" he said to her. "I've heard that they're already calling you 'the crazy cat lady' in some of the Northern Holds. Rit has shown that she can behave herself and live with us like a civilized being. She doesn't eat much, compared to a dragon, and she earns her keep by chasing the tunnel snakes. I'm willing to add a third intelligent species to Honshu Weyrhold. But the question remains, how can we tell one of our felines from a wild one at a safe distance?"
"Like I said, we need to mark them," Mirrim said. "Paint their necks, like we do with the fire lizards."
"That's a valid concept," F'lessan nodded, "but I can tell you right now that they won't let us paint their necks." Path translated for us, and we both shook our heads 'no,' me in the human style and Oclo the way the hunters do it.
"How about leather collars, then?" Mirrim suggested. When we got that translation, Oclo again shook his head 'no.' I asked, "How big and how tight will these collars be?"
"They'll be thin and they'll be reasonably loose," F'lessan reassured me. "As long as they don't slip over your heads, they don't have to be tight at all."
I wasn't fully convinced. "If I wear your collar, will that mean that I'm your pet?"
"No," he said emphatically. "Do you see those fire lizards?" He pointed to a trio of the small flyers who were dancing in the air above us. "They all look pretty much the same to us, but I can tell that they look to Mirrim. Their necks are painted with the colors of her weyr, not as a mark of ownership, but so we can tell at a glance that they're friends, not wild creatures. The collars will do the same thing for you. Any feline with a collar will have the right to be here, without triggering a security alert like you did a minute ago."
Oclo glanced at me. "These humans are very quick to offer friendship to a total stranger like me."
"They are very trusting, unless we betray that trust," I told him. "Also, the fact that you're with me is a point in your favor."
"Are you going to accept the collar?" he asked.
"I will," I said. "Like I said, I don't ever want to see a fire-breathing dragon diving at me again. A collar isn't nearly as bad as the coat I have to wear when I go between, and they can always take it off if there's a problem with it."
"What if they refuse to take it off?" he wondered.
"Why would they do that?" I replied. "If they change their minds about us living here, then they'd want to remove all signs that we belong here, so they'd be glad to take the collars off. Besides, I know F'lessan and I know Ballora. If we show that we trust them by accepting their collars, they won't betray that trust."
"You trust them," he said noncommittally. "Do you like them?"
"Yes, I do," I said. "They're sensible and kind, and they've never done anything to make me mistrust them or dislike them."
"Except for mauling your flank," he pointed out.
"We started that fight. They were only protecting themselves, just like any of us would do. It was F'lessan's idea to get the Healer for me. If he hadn't done that, I would be dead by now. He has undone what he did to me, and he's trying to arrange things so that we don't have any more misunderstandings."
"He wants peace. Woo wants war," he said, and sat down as he thought out loud. "In contests like those, the war faction usually wins. We saw that happen in our own band. Give me three good reasons why I ought to publicly identify myself with the group who wants peace."
"Three good reasons? Okay." I gestured with my head. "Reason number one: Path wants peace. Reason number two: Monarth wants peace. And reason number three: I want peace."
He considered the big green dragon and the enormous bronze dragon for a moment, then nodded. "That works for me. When will I have to submit to this collar?"
"They will have to measure our necks and then make the collars to fit us," I told him. "We'll probably get them tomorrow after we've eaten."
"So I can look forward to one last meal as a free hunter?"
"You're not giving up your freedom!" I urged him. "We can come and go as we please. You're just identifying yourself as someone who's on the winning side."
"I can guess what Woo would say if she saw me wearing the humans' collar," he muttered.
"Who cares what Woo thinks anymore?" I reminded him. "You've left her behind you. You're starting a new life."
At last, he said, "You're right. I have to adjust my thinking in many ways."
"You'll make the adjustment, and you'll be fine," I told him. "That's what intelligent beings do."