19

The Nai

Saber traveled for what seemed an endless amount of time, months. It was months, actually, almost two and a half, before he was able to go in the right direction again. He had gotten used to the great marvel of the sea as he became familiar with it. After a couple of weeks, he was even able to tell that at certain times, the water receded, and could see the line of salt and debris from the waters that marked the high point of it.

The boy's journal entries for many of these days were not hopeful. He was homesick, and quite tired of his journey. He had never thought that he would be away so long, thinking maybe a month or two, but then again he had not expected to be abducted by a group of rowdy Lunattacks, either. He had cried many nights as he lay in sand or grass, and spent more than one night without sleep, thinking of home. Still he moved on, knowing that if he did not, he never would get back home again.

However, his spirits rose when he saw that the shoreline he was following began to twist to the east, the direction he had to go. He had not been wanting of water, or food, although a little tired of the few fruits and greens he could find, and fish, but at least there was wood again, and he did not have to eat it raw.

He had a bundle of bark-papers with him, and his spear, nothing else. His waterskin had been left behind, and he did not know how to make one. And so he kept close to the sealine even when he did not have to, so he could be near the rivers and streams that fed it. He had had to cross one such river, and had been lucky that it was calm. But summer was ending, and the water had been cold; it had not been a pleasant swim.

This leg of Saber's journey had been uneventful, although the nights were cooler, and chilly sometimes. It had rained a few days here and there, and this time it was not nice and warm as the last had been. Those had been miserable traveling days for him, but he discovered that some of the larger leaves could be tied together with tiny plant-vines to make a shelter of sorts. When the rain stopped, he took this shelter down and tore it enough to be used as a cloak for when it was cold. It kept the wind out at any rate.

It was along around the end of the first moon-time of autumn when the shoreline began to twist to the east. Saber had been happy to see that, as he did not have to leave his water supply, and could still go the right way.

He was again leaving the trees and the like behind, but he was not worried about that just yet. He had seen something! As he got closer, he could see that it was man-made, wooden, at the water's edge. It extended from the shore out into the water a good many feet, and when he walked out onto it and looked down, he could see that there were wooden supports underneath. He wondered what it was for. The water was deep here, and could not really be waded in very well. Maybe it had something to do with that?

Wondering about this, Saber moved on. Maybe there were people here! He had been almost three months without seeing anyone, and it was getting into the second autumn moon-time. The weather was warm mostly in the daytime, but getting colder at night. Maybe he could find some shelter here for a bit if nothing else.

As he walked, Saber could see that he was definitely headed for a village, right near the shoreline. There were wooden buildings here and he could see smoke that could have been from a chimney. Saber quickened his pace, his makeshift leaf-cloak flying out behind him in the chilly wind.

As he neared the closest building, a voice stopped him cold. "A human!" it exclaimed, in a voice so accented Saber almost did not realize he spoke the same language he did. "I ain't seen a human in a couple o' decades!"

Saber spun around, and his eyes widened. He let out a startled yell and stumbled back a few feet. "What—what are you?!" He had not meant to sound as shocked, or as rude for that matter, but the...person? he saw before him had purple skin! And his hair was so curly that it kinked up tight against his head; a strange looking being to say the least.

The man chuckled. At least Saber thought he was a man since his voice was deep. "I'm of the Nai, human. The name's Leyati. What about y'? How'd y' come to be out so far here?"

Well, the man seemed all right...Saber stepped forward tentatively. "My-my name's Saber...I-I'm not human, I'm Erthrin." But then he realized that apparently they were the same thing. He wondered when they had begun calling themselves Erthrins. "I...I got caught by some...people and left in the desert that's west of here. I'm trying to get home."

The man chuckled. "'Some people', huh? Well why don't y' come on into town? That's no way to be dressed at this time o' year."

Saber was having difficulty understanding what the man said., but if he concentrated, he was able to grasp his words. "Well, I had other clothes, but they got left behind when I got caught. Left my waterskin too, and a blanket I had and my journal." He showed the man the bark pages. "I had to make another one."

Leyati raised a brow. "That's a lot of bark. The desert, huh?" he said as they made their way towards the village. He chuckled at the way Saber kept staring at him in fascination. "That's a mighty long way from here. You walked all this way?"

Saber nodded. "I've been walking for almost three months since then, and almost two before that..." That was almost half a year! He had not realized how long he had been away from home. No wonder he was homesick!

"That is a long time." The strange Nai's face showed little emotion but a sort of world-wise amusement, and, at least Saber thought so, mild amazement. "So who was it that caught you, boy?"

"Well...my people thought they were demons. They have powers like demons! And we have to give them a share of our crops and metals each moon-time...but they're not demons, I found out! They're Lunattacks, they can bleed, and I think they can die, but they aren't demons. They...I-I was in this big animal fortress when they caught me, and I don't even know why, but they kept me in their arrest-house for almost a week then left me in a desert. I've never even seen a desert before!"

"Lunattacks..." The man seemed disturbed by this, but if he was, he shook it quickly away. "Y' survived though."

Saber nodded. "Yeah...I...I was scared though. I thought I was gonna die. I-I think I almost did."

"Y' look like a tough kid." He took one of Saber's arms in his hand, and poked his upper arms. "Pretty good muscle for a kid your age, I'd say."

The boy blinked in surprise and looked down at his arms, now broken into gooseflesh in the chill. Over the sometimes difficult months, fishing, hunting, and living on his own all this time, had strengthened him. Now that he thought about it, another change too gradual for him to see, he was able to walk miles without being winded or tired. "Hey...you're right! They always said I couldn't be strong enough to do things...but they're wrong!"

The Nai laughed hard at this and clapped a companionable hand on the child's shoulder. "One thing y' never do is listen to the so-called experts. They'll steer y' wrong every time."

Saber thought about this and grinned. "Yeah...you're right!" He decided that he liked this man,. He was his kind of person. Why couldn't more people back at the valley be like that? Old Nenda was.

In the town, Saber saw building that almost could have been from his own village, except they were a darker wood, and usually smelled of fish or salt. That was not surprising, as the main food here seemed to be fish.

Leyati showed the boy around, and told him that people survived here mostly by fishing. There were other seaside villages, and some in the woods to the east and north that they traded with, as well as using the fish and shellfish for their own people to eat. When Saber had asked what a shellfish was, the Nai had grinned. "Tell you what. Y' look pretty hungry. I'll buy y' a meal, and we can talk about a few things. You're in need of supplies, too."

"Well, okay." Saber reluctantly took the old man's offer.

Leyati led the human boy inside a building that sold food, but not quite like he knew it in his valley. There were sometimes benches in a food store where you could sit and eat what you bought, but here, there was another Nai that came and asked what he could get them.

"You mean they bring it out?" the boy asked incredulously? "You don't even have to cook it or prepare it?"

Leyati laughed. "Y' really are a far way from home, aren't y'?"

Saber nodded distractedly as he watched the other patrons of the small restaurant. He did not even hear the old man order two servings of something he called crabfish, with berry-water for a drink. "Young fella?" the voice asked.

Saber snapped his head around, realizing the Nai had been trying to get his attention. "Yeah? Sorry...I daydream a lot and stare off into space..." His face turned a little red. "My teacher always said that I had a problem with that...Teacher! It's fall, I'll be missing school!"

"Do you like school all that much?"

"Well no...but I can't miss it. I'm supposed to be a scholar, but I don't want to be., I want to be a warrior, or an explorer." He shivered as he warmed up away from the wind.

"Well I think y' already are that, kid," the man said with a good-natured chuckle. "If it's not what you want, I don't think you're missing much. But down to business here. Winter's a' comin' on, and you aren't dressed for autumn, much less a bitter winter."

Saber could not argue with that one little bit. Anything described to be "bitter" did not sound fun. "It doesn't get very cold in my valley. So I don't have clothes for cold weather. I heard it gets cold in the north though."

Leyati nodded. "Well y're in the north. Somewhat anyway. I have the things you'll be needing to get on your journey. But you can't get something for nothing, at least not in too many places in this godforsaken Fourth Earth. So I'll tell you what. I could use some help here during the busy season. You stay on a week or two, help me out, and of course I'll give y' room and board, and when the busy part's over...like I said two weeks or so...I'll set y' on with the supplies y' need." He chuckled at the boy's improvised journal. "I'll even give y' some real parchment for y're writin'. How's that sound to y'?

Saber considered this offer as the Nai that had taken their order reappeared with a thankfully hot meal. Then he grinned. "Okay!" he said. "It's a deal, Leyati!"

Leyati also grinned, and held his hand out. "It's good to meet y', Saber." After showing the puzzled boy how to shake hands, he began to eat his meal. "What's the matter?" Saber was looking at the plate, perplexed.

"How do you eat it? It looks like a weapon!"

Leyati laughed heartily, and even Saber had to grin. The man's laugh was contagious. The Nai showed him how to crack the shell and eat the meat underneath.

"Oh! Wow, you have to work to eat this one, don't you?"

"Yep, y' could say that."

Saber tried a bite, and a moment later was eating hungrily. Leyati chuckled. "I guess you like it then." The kid looked like he had gone without food for a bit, too. He needed some refuge for a while, and some warm clothing. Maybe a little knowledge of the surrounding areas, too. With an amused smile, he went back to his own meal.

Part 20: A Friendship Formed

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