Author's Note: Update! Yay!
"What?"
"I'm telling you, these people worship me."
"Come on, dog, that just can't be true."
"Well if it wasn't, you and me wouldn't be here right now, would we?" Beast Boy leaned back on his heap of cushions and gazed around the low-ceilinged hut. "Yep, I'm the Bestial and you better believe it."
The lingering headache from being knocked out earlier made it even more difficult for Cyborg to understand what was going on. "So you're their god?" he asked, massaging his forehead with one large hand.
"Nah." Beast Boy traced circles in the dirt floor with his toe. "I'm more like their god's second cousin or nephew-once-removed or something. Haven't really figured it all out myself. The point is, they're all jumping up and down for the honor of waiting on me hand and foot, and that ain't all bad."
"That may mean they won't hurt you, but what's to stop 'em from sacrificing me or something?"
Beast Boy wiped away the drawn circles with the flat of his foot. "Oh, I already explained to them that you're my valued servant. They untied you, bandaged you, cleaned you up–can't say you didn't need that last one. Really."
Cyborg's headache still wouldn't go away. He always hated headaches; they were usually a result of something wrong with body, rather than his cybernetic implants, and so were harder to fix. "Your servant? Couldn't I have been a god-relative-thing?"
"Dude! No! They'd already brought you down, remember? Not exactly god-relative material if you ask me."
Just then, a gruff voice called from outside the hut, "Great Bestial! It is I, Tree Skin! May I enter?"
Beast Boy seemed to consider for a moment. He wiggled his ears, scratched his chin, moved his eyes from side to side. "Hmm...may you enter...let me see...."
"Just let the man in already," Cyborg snapped.
Beast Boy looked quite miffed at having his dignity disturbed. "If you insist." Then more loudly, "Enter, Tree Skin."
The flap of hide covering the hut door was drawn aside and in stepped the barbarian with the peaked hat. "Oh Bestial," he said, bowing in Beast Boy's direction," I hope you find my home comfortable?"
"It'll do. Now, why are you disturbing my well-earned rest?"
Cyborg rolled his eyes at Tree Skin's back.
"Great Bestial, I have just come from discussing your coming with the Tribe Mother. She humbly requests to meet you at the Tribe House. Will you please allow me to present your beastly person to her?"
Beast Boy yawned leisurely. "Sure, I might as well humor the old maid. May I take my servant with me?"
"I am not your servant you little..." Cyborg muttered.
"Shhh. He doesn't know that, remember?"
Tree Skin bowed again and back respectfully out of the hut. "Please follow me to the Tribe House, my Bestial."
Beast Boy leapt nimbly to his feet. "Come on Cyborg old buddy. Let's go meet this tribe mom person."
Cyborg grudgingly climbed to his feet. His headache was started to get a little better, but it still felt swimmy as he steadied himself. He hunched down in order to follow Beast Boy through the low doorway. Once outside, Beast Boy strode up to Tree Skin and clapped him soundly on his vast, black back. "Lead on, Tree, lead on."
"Of course, of course." The barbarian started forward, pausing every now and then to look back and bow his head in a quick gesture of respect. All around them barbarians stopped what they were doing to ogle at Beast Boy. Tall, muscular women with massive bows slung over their backs giggled behind their hands like schoolgirls. He, enjoying the attention immensely, threw back his shoulders and puffed out his chest. "Stand aside, keep your distance, the mighty Bestial's comin' through."
Cyborg dragged his feet in protest, raising great clouds of dirt that clung to his legs and turned the shining metal to dull, reddish-brown. It was quite obvious when they reached the Tribe House that it was what it was. It was round like the other huts, but huge, almost twice as large as the other buildings. It's roof was made of hides, and rose to a sharp peak, like a huge, floppy teepee set on top of the Tribe House's walls. Tree Skin walked to the door of the building, pulled back the hide flap, and stepped aside to let them through.
"Thanks, my good man," Beast Boy acknowledged Tree Skin as he skipped past. Cyborg followed, thankful that this doorway was tall enough to allow him through with only a slight duck of his head. Once inside, he stopped in his tracks. "Wow."
"Yeah," echoed his friend in amazement. "Totally wow."
The inside of the Tribe House was...bright. The windows and roof were covered in chaotic designs painted in red and blue and green and gold, their brilliance almost painful after the red-brown blur of the village outside. The single large room was lit by flickering, yellow paper lanterns strung on twined leather cords. Unlike the Tree Skin's hut, whose floor had been bare, the Tribe Hut was decorated by a massive rug, woven in intricate, blocky patterns of dyed grasses. It was brilliantly beautiful.
"Really impressive decorating," said Cyborg.
"What? Who cares about the decor," snorted Beast Boy. "I was talking about that." He pointed across the room, and Cyborg, following his friend's finger with his eyes, saw his point.
"Oh," he said, dumbfounded.
Across the room, seated on a woven grass throne, was the Tribe Mother. However, as Cyborg could clearly see, she was unlikely to be anyone's mom. She looked as if she were a year or two younger than himself, and she was...
"She's hot," proclaimed Cyborg.
"No duh."
The girl rose from her thrown and strode toward them. She was dressed in leather flaps and puffs of feathers tied together with string. Her cherry-red hair was bound into thousands of intricate braids which were heaped up high on her head and topped with a magnificent headdress. White and brown striped feathers, shiny black feathers the color of her skin, curling magenta feathers, wispy green feathers, bone beads and glittering pebbles, all bound together into a towering mass that perched on the Tribe Mother's head and made her look like a pineapple. Albeit an incredibly attractive pineapple.
"My Bestial," she said, approaching them. "I humble myself before you."
"Well...uh..." Beast Boy blushed. "Thanks. And junk."
"I am Skies-of-Blue, your dutiful daughter, faithful servant, and Mother of this tribe. And is this your servant? The metal golem of which I was told?" Skies-of-Blue looked Cyborg up and down. "And yet... he seems made of flesh as well as metal!" She reached out and laid a slim, shapely hand across Cyborg's chest, then ran it up to his shoulder. He felt his muscles stiffen. "Such an amazing thing, to be able to craft together the warm and the cold together! I am awed by the power of the Bestial, that he has made a servant such as this!"
That was too much for Cyborg. "Hold up just a minute here, lady! You think Beast Boy made me? He didn't make me! He couldn't make a..."
"Excuse my servant!" Beast Boy hastily interrupted. "He doesn't know he's a golem. Golem's never do, and it's annoying because they go around saying 'I'm not a golem I'm not a golem' except they really are, and.... Well, you get the point."
Skies-of-Blue seemed puzzled. "Why doesn't he know he is a golem? Can he not look at himself and see that he's made of metal?"
"Well... you know, golem's aren't the brightest pickles in the barrel."
"Yes, yes of course." She took a step back and bowed her head. The tip of her headdress brushed Cyborg's nose. "Great Bestial, I must admit that this audience was arranged for more than simple greetings. I have a great favor to ask you in the sake of my tribe."
Beast Boy waited for a moment for her to move on. "Well, go ahead. Shoot away," he said when she did not.
"Thank you, Bestial, for allowing me to be impudent enough to ask a favor of you."
"Yeah, yeah, get on with it."
She bowed her head again. This time the headdress actually hit Cyborg's nose, causing him to sneeze. "I'm sure Bestial, having watched over the doings of the Arek-ai from afar, that you know what I wish to ask of you."
"Uh-huh. 'Course I do. you just go over it, briefly? For my golem's sake? And use small words." Cyborg glared at Beast Boy and had to clench his fists to restrain himself from swapping his friend on the side of the head.
"If you wish, my Bestial. . "Golem, your master wishes me to tell you the tale of the War, and so I shall." The Tribe Mother took several steps back. The golden light from the lanterns played dramatically on her glossy black skin and the feathers and stones in her hair. "For aeons, we have warred with the people of the City-in-the-Desert, and the war has been harsh, and costly..."
"What?"
"I'm telling you, these people worship me."
"Come on, dog, that just can't be true."
"Well if it wasn't, you and me wouldn't be here right now, would we?" Beast Boy leaned back on his heap of cushions and gazed around the low-ceilinged hut. "Yep, I'm the Bestial and you better believe it."
The lingering headache from being knocked out earlier made it even more difficult for Cyborg to understand what was going on. "So you're their god?" he asked, massaging his forehead with one large hand.
"Nah." Beast Boy traced circles in the dirt floor with his toe. "I'm more like their god's second cousin or nephew-once-removed or something. Haven't really figured it all out myself. The point is, they're all jumping up and down for the honor of waiting on me hand and foot, and that ain't all bad."
"That may mean they won't hurt you, but what's to stop 'em from sacrificing me or something?"
Beast Boy wiped away the drawn circles with the flat of his foot. "Oh, I already explained to them that you're my valued servant. They untied you, bandaged you, cleaned you up–can't say you didn't need that last one. Really."
Cyborg's headache still wouldn't go away. He always hated headaches; they were usually a result of something wrong with body, rather than his cybernetic implants, and so were harder to fix. "Your servant? Couldn't I have been a god-relative-thing?"
"Dude! No! They'd already brought you down, remember? Not exactly god-relative material if you ask me."
Just then, a gruff voice called from outside the hut, "Great Bestial! It is I, Tree Skin! May I enter?"
Beast Boy seemed to consider for a moment. He wiggled his ears, scratched his chin, moved his eyes from side to side. "Hmm...may you enter...let me see...."
"Just let the man in already," Cyborg snapped.
Beast Boy looked quite miffed at having his dignity disturbed. "If you insist." Then more loudly, "Enter, Tree Skin."
The flap of hide covering the hut door was drawn aside and in stepped the barbarian with the peaked hat. "Oh Bestial," he said, bowing in Beast Boy's direction," I hope you find my home comfortable?"
"It'll do. Now, why are you disturbing my well-earned rest?"
Cyborg rolled his eyes at Tree Skin's back.
"Great Bestial, I have just come from discussing your coming with the Tribe Mother. She humbly requests to meet you at the Tribe House. Will you please allow me to present your beastly person to her?"
Beast Boy yawned leisurely. "Sure, I might as well humor the old maid. May I take my servant with me?"
"I am not your servant you little..." Cyborg muttered.
"Shhh. He doesn't know that, remember?"
Tree Skin bowed again and back respectfully out of the hut. "Please follow me to the Tribe House, my Bestial."
Beast Boy leapt nimbly to his feet. "Come on Cyborg old buddy. Let's go meet this tribe mom person."
Cyborg grudgingly climbed to his feet. His headache was started to get a little better, but it still felt swimmy as he steadied himself. He hunched down in order to follow Beast Boy through the low doorway. Once outside, Beast Boy strode up to Tree Skin and clapped him soundly on his vast, black back. "Lead on, Tree, lead on."
"Of course, of course." The barbarian started forward, pausing every now and then to look back and bow his head in a quick gesture of respect. All around them barbarians stopped what they were doing to ogle at Beast Boy. Tall, muscular women with massive bows slung over their backs giggled behind their hands like schoolgirls. He, enjoying the attention immensely, threw back his shoulders and puffed out his chest. "Stand aside, keep your distance, the mighty Bestial's comin' through."
Cyborg dragged his feet in protest, raising great clouds of dirt that clung to his legs and turned the shining metal to dull, reddish-brown. It was quite obvious when they reached the Tribe House that it was what it was. It was round like the other huts, but huge, almost twice as large as the other buildings. It's roof was made of hides, and rose to a sharp peak, like a huge, floppy teepee set on top of the Tribe House's walls. Tree Skin walked to the door of the building, pulled back the hide flap, and stepped aside to let them through.
"Thanks, my good man," Beast Boy acknowledged Tree Skin as he skipped past. Cyborg followed, thankful that this doorway was tall enough to allow him through with only a slight duck of his head. Once inside, he stopped in his tracks. "Wow."
"Yeah," echoed his friend in amazement. "Totally wow."
The inside of the Tribe House was...bright. The windows and roof were covered in chaotic designs painted in red and blue and green and gold, their brilliance almost painful after the red-brown blur of the village outside. The single large room was lit by flickering, yellow paper lanterns strung on twined leather cords. Unlike the Tree Skin's hut, whose floor had been bare, the Tribe Hut was decorated by a massive rug, woven in intricate, blocky patterns of dyed grasses. It was brilliantly beautiful.
"Really impressive decorating," said Cyborg.
"What? Who cares about the decor," snorted Beast Boy. "I was talking about that." He pointed across the room, and Cyborg, following his friend's finger with his eyes, saw his point.
"Oh," he said, dumbfounded.
Across the room, seated on a woven grass throne, was the Tribe Mother. However, as Cyborg could clearly see, she was unlikely to be anyone's mom. She looked as if she were a year or two younger than himself, and she was...
"She's hot," proclaimed Cyborg.
"No duh."
The girl rose from her thrown and strode toward them. She was dressed in leather flaps and puffs of feathers tied together with string. Her cherry-red hair was bound into thousands of intricate braids which were heaped up high on her head and topped with a magnificent headdress. White and brown striped feathers, shiny black feathers the color of her skin, curling magenta feathers, wispy green feathers, bone beads and glittering pebbles, all bound together into a towering mass that perched on the Tribe Mother's head and made her look like a pineapple. Albeit an incredibly attractive pineapple.
"My Bestial," she said, approaching them. "I humble myself before you."
"Well...uh..." Beast Boy blushed. "Thanks. And junk."
"I am Skies-of-Blue, your dutiful daughter, faithful servant, and Mother of this tribe. And is this your servant? The metal golem of which I was told?" Skies-of-Blue looked Cyborg up and down. "And yet... he seems made of flesh as well as metal!" She reached out and laid a slim, shapely hand across Cyborg's chest, then ran it up to his shoulder. He felt his muscles stiffen. "Such an amazing thing, to be able to craft together the warm and the cold together! I am awed by the power of the Bestial, that he has made a servant such as this!"
That was too much for Cyborg. "Hold up just a minute here, lady! You think Beast Boy made me? He didn't make me! He couldn't make a..."
"Excuse my servant!" Beast Boy hastily interrupted. "He doesn't know he's a golem. Golem's never do, and it's annoying because they go around saying 'I'm not a golem I'm not a golem' except they really are, and.... Well, you get the point."
Skies-of-Blue seemed puzzled. "Why doesn't he know he is a golem? Can he not look at himself and see that he's made of metal?"
"Well... you know, golem's aren't the brightest pickles in the barrel."
"Yes, yes of course." She took a step back and bowed her head. The tip of her headdress brushed Cyborg's nose. "Great Bestial, I must admit that this audience was arranged for more than simple greetings. I have a great favor to ask you in the sake of my tribe."
Beast Boy waited for a moment for her to move on. "Well, go ahead. Shoot away," he said when she did not.
"Thank you, Bestial, for allowing me to be impudent enough to ask a favor of you."
"Yeah, yeah, get on with it."
She bowed her head again. This time the headdress actually hit Cyborg's nose, causing him to sneeze. "I'm sure Bestial, having watched over the doings of the Arek-ai from afar, that you know what I wish to ask of you."
"Uh-huh. 'Course I do. you just go over it, briefly? For my golem's sake? And use small words." Cyborg glared at Beast Boy and had to clench his fists to restrain himself from swapping his friend on the side of the head.
"If you wish, my Bestial. . "Golem, your master wishes me to tell you the tale of the War, and so I shall." The Tribe Mother took several steps back. The golden light from the lanterns played dramatically on her glossy black skin and the feathers and stones in her hair. "For aeons, we have warred with the people of the City-in-the-Desert, and the war has been harsh, and costly..."