Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Two- A Birth
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Risha and things to come in later chapters.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Sokka walked calmly, looking at the hoof prints on the ground. The search for meat was going slowly. He was beginning to think that he wouldn't be back in an hour; more like three. He had never seen hoof prints like this before. The front and back set were cloven, but the front hooves had three cloves instead of four, like the back hooves. Of course, he had also lived most of his life in the Water Nation.
Despite that fact, he was a warrior. Warriors knew how to track their enemy, their prey. Even if it took all night, he'd get what ever it was that was leaving those footprints. He continued on his way, still looking at the hoof prints. He judged that by the prints' distance apart, the animal had slowed down. Maybe this would only take an hour.
Half an hour later, Sokka noticed another set of prints. The new set wasn't from the same animal as the one with the cloven prints. The new set looked like paw prints, but Sokka wasn't sure. He proceeded to follow the prints. Fifteen minutes passed and when Sokka looked up from the ground, he saw a clearing. In the clearing, he saw what he believed he had been following.
The animal had it's back turned to Sokka, but he could see one of it's hind feet; it was cloven with four cloves. It looked to be a hybrid of a sheep and a deer. It had wool that was a reddish-brown and curved horns on its head. And looked absolutely delicious. Grabbing his boomerang, he stalked toward the creature. He reached the mouth of the clearing, but heard ferocious growling behind him. Turning around slowly, and looking down, he saw a small dog like creature. It had two whip-like tails and message carrier around it's neck. "Easy boy," Sokka said, reaching toward the message carrier," I just want to see something."
Sokka set down his boomerang and to his surprise, the dog subdued from his growling. With a sigh and a shrug, Sokka grabbed the message carrier, opened it, and pulled out a message. He read it out loud, "'Dear Interloper,' Well, what a nice way to address someone," Sokka interjected his own comment, "'You have receive this message because you are in possession of a weapon that could cause harm to the Koertan.' I'm guessing that's one of those creatures. 'Do not bring harm to the Koertan. If such an act is committed, then punishment shall pursue. Sincerely, Proprietor of Koertan Forest. P.S. Put this message back in it's carrier and put it back on the dog.' Doesn't he sound like a nice person? I don't want punishment to pursue, so I shouldn't kill that thing. Lets just take a look at this thing, if it will let me."
Sokka replaced the massage in the carrier and walked over to the Koertan. Expecting it to get up and flee, he was surprised when it stayed. He moved closer and realized the reason it didn't move. It was giving birth and was obviously having trouble. Sokka almost panicked. He knew of no way he could help this creature, but regained his composure. He ran over to the dog. "Ok, boy. It's odd talking to a dog. Dog, you need to go get someone. Anyone who can help that thing. Probably the Proprietor of Koertan Forest. He probably knows how to help. Go bring him here," Sokka instructed to the dog.
Miraculously, the dog understood him and bounded off. Sokka looked back at the Koertan despondently. He hoped that the animal didn't die and that it's death got blamed on him. Twenty minutes went by. The dog still hadn't returned and the Koertan had progressively gotten worse. Sokka knew that if something wasn't done soon, the mother and her unborn calf would die. Warriors knew how to take care of simple wounds, like cuts and certain sicknesses, but dealing with births was something they didn't know about. Something had to be done though.
He looked at the Koertan's hindquarters and saw two four-cleaved feet; the calf was being born breach. "Ok, not good," Sokka said to himself, "It's coming out backwards. I hope that dog comes back with someone soon."
Right as he said that, someone did come. A Koertan, with someone on it's back, arrived in the clearing. The person rode over to where Sokka was. They jumped off the back of the Koertan and asked, "How long have the hind feet been out?"
Sokka looked up at the rider and saw a girl around his age. She wore long, baggy black pants and a dark green tank top that glinted red in the sun. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a bun. Her eyes, Sokka noted, were an odd greenish-yellow color. "Well. For how long?" she asked seriously.
"Well, uh... Five minutes? Maybe?" Sokka said questioningly.
"Do you know anything about pulling calves?" she demanded.
"No. I was born in a Southern Water Tribe. My name's Sokka," he explained.
"No time for introductions, kid. I'm going to push the calf back in and get it turned around. Then I'm going to need your help pulling it out," the girl instructed.
Sokka blinked in shock as the girl pushed the feet back into the mother, reached in and carefully turned the calf around inside, and pulled the front feet out a little way. "Ok, now, I need you to grab the feet and pull," she commanded.
"Why me? How come I have to pull the feet? What are you going to do?" Sokka asked in a panic.
"This is her first calf. She's obviously very stressed. She's not pushing the calf out like she should be. I have to help her," the girl said, almost to herself.
"You could help her by helping me pull," Sokka commented.
She acted as if she hadn't heard what Sokka had said. She just walked to the Koertan's head. Sokka wanted to watch what she was going to do, but he had to pull the feet. The girl had never told Sokka how hard to pull and he was beginning to panic. Men aren't supposed to be at births. Even if it was for an animal, unless the man was a farmer; Sokka was not a farmer. He could tell that this girl could have a temper if annoyed. Sokka was certain that temper would show if this creature died. He grabbed the Koertan calf's feet and pulled.
It was a very stressful seven minutes for Sokka. Every so often he would look at the girl to see what she was doing. It almost looked as if she was sleeping. She had her eyes closed and one hand laid on the Koertan's forehead, almost perfectly still the whole time, except for the cringes that happened every so often. The calf's feet were slimy and this disgusted Sokka. He figured that the slime was from the birth sack that was around most of the calf. The head and shoulders came out and were soon followed by the rest of the body. Sokka looked to the girl for some hint as to what to do. She had her eyes open, but was rubbing her head, as if she was in pain. Slowly, she stood up and half-stumbled to the calf. "Okay, we need to get the sack off and get the fluids out of it's stomach and lungs," she said weakly, "I need you to get some dried grass; stuff that's like hay."
The girl removed the sack from the calf while the mother stood up. The mother Koertan walked over to it's calf and started licking it as Sokka returned with the grass. "Ew! What is she doing that for? That's disgusting! That thing is all covered in slime, and she's licking it?" Sokka asked in disgust.
With a slight laugh, the girl answer, "They lick their newborn to help get the blood circulating. It also get them clean and dry. Also, for the same reason the mother will end up eating the after-birth; there's good nutrients in there."
She grinned and took the grass out of Sokka's hands. Taking one piece, she tickled inside the calf's nose. Instantly, the calf coughed and sneezed up some fluids. She repeated the process of tickling the calf's nose several times before she stopped and lifted one of the calf's hind legs. She stood up and said, "Well, it's a girl. You can name it, if you want to."
"Eh, maybe later," Sokka decided to change the subject, "So, who are you?"
This question seemed to catch the girl off guard, but she quickly regained her composure. "How could I forget to introduce myself? My name's Risha," she extended her hand for Sokka to shake it.
Realizing that Sokka had given her an odd look, Risha said, "Hey! it's not like your hands aren't slimy, too."
Sokka shrugged and shook her hand. "So, what are you doing out here?" he asked.
"I'm the Proprietor of Koertan Forest. I live here. I own a small house in the center of the forest. I make sure that people don't try to kill the Koertan during mating and calving season; which is now. That's why there's the dogs with the message containers. They sniff out the weakest Koertan to guard, so people won't kill them. The dogs are trained to protect the Koertan and kill those who seem threatening," Risha explained, "Of course, sometimes there is problems with their training. Like, when they kill those they shouldn't. That hasn't happened in a while, thankfully."
"Ok, I want to know because I feel like I've been used, so that you didn't have to pull the calf. What were you doing to help the mother?" Sokka asked.
"Eh? What?" Risha acted like she hadn't heard him, then changed the subject, "Well, it's getting late. I have to go. I haven't eaten since lunch and I'm hungry. Don't forget; don't try to kill the Koertan. And, don't forget that your boomerang is over at the opening of the clearing."
Risha walked over to the Koertan that she arrived on and mounted it. She waved and left the clearing. Sokka stood there, watched her ride away, and felt something tugging at his pants. He looked down to see the Koertan calf gazing up into his eyes, blinking its huge brown eyes. Sokka felt overwhelmed, thinking that without his help, this beautiful creature would be dead. He smiled, grabbed his boomerang, and headed back to where Aang and Katara were waiting.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
No reviews. But at the end of the next chapter, I'm going to comment on the reviews, if I get some, so open the review flood gates! And if anyone feels like attempting to draw a Koertan, go ahead and figure out a way for me to see it. I already tried, but I can't draw very well. Think of, like a Katadin sheep crossed with a deer. I uploaded the second attempt picture onto DeviantArt. my account there is fritter-4-psi. So if you want to see it search on Deviant Art