Well, that took a long time to get written down! Apologies for the lengthy time between posting; things have been pretty hectic these last few weeks.
Thanks to VODKKA18 for your review and toby7400. OMG, I knew I wasn't the only one! Dah's final scene had me choked up. I got so into the story, and it was so tragic!
Anyway, less of my ramble….Enjoy :-)
"Kala!"
Carla could hear a voice calling for her in exasperation through her dreamlike state. She had spent most of the night re-playing the vision she'd had in Tensays hut, still trying to work out what was going on.
"5 more minutes." Carla moaned, forgetting where she was.
"Kala!" The voice was closer, and Carla felt someone gently shaking her body.
"Fine, I'm up, I'm up." She huffed, sitting up and opening her eyes, finding herself met by Takkar's brilliant sky blue orbs.
"Come." He smiled, holding his hand out to her. His brow furrowed in confusion when he saw that she was wearing different clothing now than she had when he had left her in the cave.
"Oh, Dah gave it to me to keep me warm; my clothes got wet, remember?" Carla blushed, pulling at the bottom of the dress. Takkar looked shocked before a mixture of anger and embarrassment flushed his face.
"I'll be at the fire." He huffed, then turned and left the cave. Carla stood confused for a moment then moved to grab her clothes from the rack by the fire. She looked around the cave, wondering where Dah could have gone. She thought about getting changed where she was but thought better of it and quickly moved behind the but, changing into her now dry clothing.
As Carla exited the cave, she saw Takkar sitting by the fire with a bowl containing some small chunks of cooked meat along with a handful of wild berries. She slowly moved to sit beside him, gaining a side-eye as he pushed the bowl in her direction.
"Nothing happened, you know." She sighed. "He just wanted to help me keep warm."
Takkar huffed a little before letting out a large sigh and turning to face Carla.
"You come hunting." He affirmed, handing Carla the bowl and urging her to eat. She took it and picked up a small piece of, something.
"I've never hunted before; I would really like to speak to Tensay about my vision," Carla confessed. She looked down, pulling a face at the meat and tentatively placed it in her mouth, finding that it tasted similar to beef but gamier.
"Tensay is busy; you have never hunted?" Takkar continued in surprise.
"No", She replied, "I wouldn't even know where to start with anything like that; it is frowned upon where I am from."
Takkar seemed to sit pondering for a few minutes, stroking at his deep brown and slightly greying beard. Carla wondered how old he could be. He didn't look old enough to have the flecks of grey running through his hair, but Carla supposed it was a very stressful way of life.
"We stay behind will teach you," Takkar said after what seemed a lifetime.
"To hunt?" Carla asked, feeling her stomach lurch at the thought.
"Yes. We start with a bow." Takkar nodded, standing and searching the camp for a piece of wood that would serve as a tensioner for the bow. Carla followed as he picked up various bits of wood, explaining to her why they were not good enough before putting them back. Eventually, they found a piece that had a small knot on either end.
"Better for holding the reed." He said seriously, handing the piece to Carla while showing her where the reed would rest. He pulled a piece of reed from his nearby pack and sat down by the fire once more, waiting for her to follow suit.
Carla plopped herself down beside him and held up the wood to Takkar, who shook his head.
"Your bow; you make it." He soothed, pushing it back towards her and handing her the reed. Carla watched as Takkar showed her how to tie the reed to one end of the bow, leaving her to bind the other. No matter what she did, she could not get the reed to stretch the length of the wood. She sat for a moment thinking about what she was doing while Takkar watched patiently. Carla stood pushing down on the wood to bend it and attempted to tie the other end of the reed. She lost her grip, and the wood flew up, hitting her in the chin. She growled in frustration holding her face and stamping her foot as she waited for the pain to pass. Takkar let out a small laugh before standing behind Carla and showing her how to hold the stick with her foot while tying the reed to stop it from slipping loose.
"Thank you." Carla smiled.
"Now we make arrows." He beamed back. Carla sat listening as Takkar explained how to decide the size of the arrows to make. He left Carla to work on the wood using his knife, carving it into a small straight dowel looking stick. He had reappeared again with a rock that had a narrow crack through it and showed Carla how to make the arrow taper to a point using it. Carla wondered how long it would take for her to create enough arrows to practice shooting when Takkar handed her a handful of perfectly crafted ones.
"You use mine, for now." He smiled, handing them to her.
"Come." He said, offering his hand to her. He led her back through the cave she had slept in, taking a right. Carla could hear Dah screaming and shouting in pain.
"What is wrong with him?" She asked.
"He is Udam." Takkar shrugged.
"Udam?" Carla inquired curiously.
"It is another tribe here in Oros. They fight to have rule over the resources here. They also kidnap and eat Wenja. Dah has helped us learn rot bane and helped make Wenja strong." Takkar explained
"What!?" Carla asked, astonished.
"Don't worry; I defeated their leader; they are not a great problem anymore", He reassured her soothingly.
"Dah ate people!?" Carla asked in surprise. He had looked sort of scary and wild, but a cannibal? Carla felt sick.
"Why?" Carla asked curiously. She knew of the Maja that had eaten their enemies in the hope of absorbing their mana or strength and wondered if this was a similar situation. Takkar shrugged to indicate he had no idea why.
"Their leader spoke of doing what he thought was best for the Udam", Takkar mused. "They seemed to think it would cure their skull fires."
"It is more than likely what was causing the illness", Carla scoffed. She explained the disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that was contracted through the eating of contaminated protein along with Kuru, a known disease that would inflict those that practice cannibalism.
"Your tribe are very smart," Takkar spoke softly.
"We are 10,000 years older, and there are 7 billion of us" Carla shrugged, supposing it was more the evolution that had driven the sciences and other advancements. Takkar looked confused at the statement. Carla supposed numbers didn't exist yet, nor did the concept of time and decided not to try explaining either of them. They exited the cave into a lush opening that seemed a little quieter than other parts of the forest had been. There was a large pond in the centre surrounded by a few tall trees.
"Here," Takkar said, pulling her to stand before one of the trees. He took out his bow showing her how to draw, then urged her to copy. She just about managed to pull the bow to full draw but had bent and twisted her body in the process, making all sorts of grunting noises. Takkar laughed before moving to help Carla pull the bow with the correct posture making it easier for her to draw the bow successfully on her own.
"Thank you," Carla smiled, leaning back into Takkar's chest affectionately. Takkar smiled in return before moving away and urging Carla to pull the bow alone as he corrected her where needed. Things went pretty much the same for about an hour until Carla found herself managing to draw alone as Takkar sat in the grass watching contently.
"You are ready." He exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat. He grabbed a rock and ran over to the tree carving a circle on it.
"Aim." He asserted, tapping on the tree.
"I don't know how!" Carla cried out, exasperated.
"You didn't know how to make a bow earlier either." Takkar laughed, tapping on the tree once again before moving out of the way. Carla took a deep breath and drew the bow in the same way Takkar had been teaching her.
She let go.
Time seemed to stop as she watched the arrow fly through the air.
It felt amazing.
"Oooooooow", Carla howled as she felt the string of the bow hit her in the forearm. Takkar ran over, looking worried. He instinctively pushed the sleeve of her hoody up, looking over the skin that lay beneath. He decided she would be fine and moved to show her how to avoid having the string hit her arm in the future. Pulling back the string and making her let go. He ran toward the tree picking up the arrow from the left-hand side of the tree.
"Again." He said, handing her the arrow. Carla continued to attempt hitting the circle he had drawn on the tree repeatedly for what seemed like forever. Takkar approached, holding the bow with Carla showing her how to properly sight the arrow and judge the arc that it would produce. She took a deep breath and tried again. Takkar jumped as Carla squealed in delight when the arrow hit the centre of the circle.
"Again." He said, gesturing to the tree. This time when the arrow hit within the circle, Takkar joined in with celebrating.
"Come." He said and gestured for Carla to follow him. They once again walked through the same cave, and Carla looked over at the hut that held Dah.
'Had he really eaten the Wenja?' She wondered, walking closely behind Takkar. He was very strange, but he had never seemed evil in any way. They exited the cave and sat by the fire lit in the central opening for the camp. Sayla was there with a few others but no Tensay. He seemed to stay in his own space more often than not. Takkar left her, sat by the fire, and went off into another cave further up away from the centre of the village. Sayla sat by Carla, offering her something that resembled a stew. She felt her stomach growl and tentatively tried the liquid.
"Sayla is a good cook?" Sayla almost commanded
"Yes!" Carla replied between chewing, "It's delicious." To that statement, Sayla gave a shy smile and continued to eat her own. The two sat eating and chatting as Carla told Sayla about the things Takkar had managed to teach her.
"Takkar is an excellent hunter and a very good man" She smiled, almost beaming as Takkar came back into view. He sat quietly, taking a bowl of the stew and began to eat also. Once they were finished, Takkar offered his hand to Carla, and they walked back to his cave, where he showed her the bed he had placed on the right-hand side of the little shelter.
"Now you have your own bed" He smiled.
"Thank you", Carla sighed, glad to have some form of her own space, even if it was, once again, shared with another. She couldn't imagine how much it would hurt for her to be sleeping on the dirt under the stars, not to mention how cold it would be.
Well, there we go, hope you liked it….I'm starting to think this girl needs a spirit animal she fits in so well :-D