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Andriel told Krillgan some of the Captain's story, so he knew why it was called Kindell's World. It was also the reason the crew was told that they would be staying with Kindell's family, until the Captain felt it was time to move them somewhere else. Everything was packed and crated. The twin loom to the one Mrs. Radcliff has, was never removed from its crate, when the Captain purchased it for Andriel. Andriel packed up her old clothes, and Krillgan's old clothes with her sewing supplies. Chitrah packed his up with the shoemaker's supplies. When they landed next to the Town, the family went with the Captain to the trading post. He told the man in charge that they were going to the Singing Mountain Clan, and that they were already familiar with the journal. That's how the man knew they were staying. He asked the man what he had available as far as food supplies. They were planning on walking.
The man thought they were foolish. There are things out there that wanted to eat you. He told them that all he had was porridge cakes and cheese. He also had some empty wine skins that they could fill with water. Krillgan was very eager to try what the Rancor had for breakfast. The Captain arranged for them to have four different types of porridge cakes, even though he thought three would be enough. They were also given a good sized piece of cheese, and asked if they had anything to cut it. Andriel and Chitrah still had the stone knives the Togruta gave them. Most of the time they forgot they still had them. They told the Captain they were alright. Which made him raise his eyebrows and looked at them, because he never saw either one pack a knife. But they just smiled at him, so he left it at that. He asked the man if anyone has used his room since he had last been here. The man said no. So the Captain disappeared for a while, and came back with two sticks. He handed one to Andriel, and one to Chitrah, and called them walking sticks. Everyone in the room knew what they really were. He also told the man that his crew would be unloading some crates that belong to this family. The next time a caravan from the Singing Mountain Clan arrives, they should take the crates back with them. The crew was not happy that there were no porter druids to help them. Most of the crates were quite heavy. The family had decided to wear their kaki green outfits for the trip. Since green was the dominant colour everywhere they looked. Chitrah had made himself a medium brown leather hat. Andriel had made herself a similar hat out of dark khaki brown fabric, so it went with at least three of her outfits. When his parent's asked him which he preferred, he chose the leather hat, but asked that it be a little darker, so his father would not put it on by mistake. Andriel and Chitrah had collaborated together, to make backpacks for all of them. Chitrah had all of his clothes, and half of Krillgan's clothes, plus his electronics equipment bag in his backpack. The Captain had tried to dissuade him from taking it. Telling him that he had no place to plug it in, to charge it. Chitrah told him that it will charge off of the sun. Andriel told him that she can charge her computer off of Chitrah's. The Captain stopped trying to tell them what they should or should not take. They were the ones that had to live with their decisions. It was always easier to look back and decide what they should have done different. Andriel had her clothes, and the rest of Krillgan's clothes in her backpack, along with her computer, and her teas. They put the porridge cakes, and cheese in Krillgan's backpack. Andriel and Chitrah both carried a wine skin full of water. When they left, the man just shook his head. The Captain told him that they are more capable then they look. He pities the poor predator that stumbles across their path. The man still shook his head. Then they got down to business.
It was a lovely day for a walk, the sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot. They probably traveled too far, before they stopped to take their first break. Krillgan was eager to try a porridge cake. Andriel told him that he would probably be sick of them by the time they get to the main village of the Singing Mountain Clan. He suspected that he might, but he still wanted to try one. So Andriel broke a chunk off of one of the cakes, then broke that chunk into three, so they could all try it. Krillgan thought it tasted blander then he imagined. Chitrah told him to have some water, than try it. Krillgan had not realised he was so thirsty. Now when he tried the cake it tasted much better. Chitrah made sure everyone felt rested before moving on. The next time they rested they made a meal of it. They had been walking all morning, and now the sun was overhead. Krillgan would have preferred to have some juice with the cheese and porridge cake that his mother gave him. He wondered if they drank juice on this planet. Andriel made sure that her Togruta knife was properly cleaned and dried, after cutting the cheese, before she put it back in its hiding place. They had a lovely picnic. Chitrah reminded Krillgan that soon he would know the names of all the plants and trees they see around them, and if they had any healing properties, or if parts of them were edible. He surprised Krillgan, by picking a wildflower and eating it. He told Krillgan that he had smelt the flower before eating it. It had a nice sweet smell, not a sickly sweet scent. So he felt that it was safe to eat. Krillgan loved that his father would surprise him like that.
A short time after they started moving again, Krillgan stopped them. He told that there was a large creature grazing up ahead just beyond the top of the hill. He did not think that it would be friendly to them. The little creatures that were grazing near it would not bother them. Chitrah went ahead until he could see over the top of the hill. Sure enough there was a large creature up ahead on the trail grazing. It was about the size of a large transport truck. They found out later that it was called a Malkloc, and did not like any creature that walked on two legs. The Sisters believe that it thinks all two legged creatures are Rancor, because it has a simple brain. Rancor are the only creature large enough to kill, and it usually takes four of them to take one Malkloc down. Only good hunters can do that without being injured.
Chitrah had on idea, and counted all of the smaller creatures grazing near it. He went back to Andriel and Krillgan, and asked him how many small creatures were grazing near the big creature. Krillgan thought for a moment, and told his father six. Chitrah had only counted five. His son told him that he missed the one that was behind the big creature. Both parents were impressed that not only could he use the force to detect life, but he also had depth perception while doing it.
Both parents relied heavily on Krillgan's ability, especially when they had to go relieve themselves behind bushes. That would be a very awkward moment to encounter wildlife. What they did not know, was that when Krillgan sensed predators, he would use the force to warn them away. The predators would see the female human in the group, with a fighting stick, and automatically assume that she was the one to warn them away. The predators knew that if they did not heed the warnings of a Sister, they would die. So they left the family alone.
The family knew from the Captain's description that if they stayed to the right of the chain of mountains up ahead, but went left every time they came to a fork in the trail, they would end up at the main village of the Singing Mountain Clan. So they felt it was safe to leave the trail to go around the large creature undetected. At night, they slept on the ground under the trees, right next to each other for warmth. Krillgan still monitored the area around them while they slept. It became second nature to him. They always slept with Krillgan in the middle between both parents. They were always able to find a fresh source of drinking water, before their wine skins were both empty. They would always take that opportunity to wash and refresh themselves. They also found berry bushes along the way. The first time they found a bush, Chitrah made sure that Andriel tried it first. When she said it was okay, they all dug in. Some bushes held a lot, but never enough berries to fill a person. Some held very little and were a disappointment. There were different types, so Chitrah had to wait for Andriel or Krillgan to try it first. He knew the rule, "If it's sweet, it's alright to eat," but he did not know if the rule applied to Dathomir. If Krillgan was the first one to try a new type of berry, Chitrah had to watch him very carefully. If he tried to sneak more berries into his mouth, then Chitrah knew they were okay to eat. He would usually give his young son a bump, and call him a sneak, which always made Krillgan giggle. Usually when someone spotted a berry bush, they would take off running, to try and get their before anyone else. Andriel was almost as fast as Chitrah, because of their regular workouts. But they were both surprised that Krillgan could keep up with them. What none of them knew was that Krillgan was starting to use the force to help him stay close to his parents.
One time Chitrah yelled berries, then took off running, when the others caught up to him, they found him laughing. They were not happy with him. When he did it the next time, they realised why he was laughing. If he saw berries he would certainly not yell it out before he took off running. So they had to laugh at themselves, for allowing themselves to be tricked.
Usually after they cleaned up a bush they tried to find a source of water. So they could all wash their hands, and Krillgan's face usually needed a scrubbing. Usually they had to use their precious drinking water. Near the end of the trip, Krillgan realised, that his parents only ate the berries near the top off the bush, and left the rest for him. He knew they were doing it because they loved him. But why make him run? He knew his parents were naturally competitive, but that would not explain it. Then he realised that his parents wanted him to feel like he earned those berries. If something is important to you, then you have to work for it. Krillgan loved his parents!
On the third morning when they woke up, the sky was overcast. Krillgan mentioned to his parents that the air smelt different. Chitrah knew what his son was talking about, he could smell the extra moisture in the air too. Chitrah right away started looking for long sticks. Andriel started collecting large broad leaves. Krillgan was impressed that his parents looked like they knew what they were doing. Chitrah had quickly made a frame for a large lean-to, and asked Andriel if there were enough cross pieces of sticks for her to work with. She said there were enough, and started weaving the leaves onto the shelter, starting at the bottom. Chitrah had gone looking for firewood, because it was always colder when it rained. The shelter was finished, and Chitrah had a fire going when the rain started. Andriel and Krillgan quickly ran back to the shelter, with the firewood they had each collected. Chitrah had positioned some small rocks in the fire so that a pot could be placed on them to boil water. Andriel was very disappointed with herself, she had brought her teas, but forgot to bring a pot to make it in. Chitrah had found some small gourds while collecting firewood. He cut the top off of one, and handed it to Andriel, so that she could determine whether or not it was poisonous. She said it was okay, so he scrapped the inside of the gourd out, putting the insides on the fire, which produced a nice aroma. Andriel asked him to pass her one of the gourds. She wasn't sure she knew what Chitrah was doing, but she felt she had to do something, and copied what he did. After Chitrah had cleaned out the gourd he placed it near the fire, so the fire would harden the shell, and dry out the gourd. While he did that he started working on the last gourd, Krillgan just watched what his parents were doing. He had watched them build a rainproof shelter in no time, and the rain was coming down pretty hard, and it still did not leak. His mother had even sealed up the sides of the shelter with leaves, because there was usually a strong wind with the rain. His father had built a fire just inside the shelter where it was out of the rain. But left them enough room that they could lay down if they wanted to. Now he was doing something with gourds, and mother was copying him. After Chitrah was satisfied that all the gourds were nice and hard and dry. He reached out into the rain and came back with a pot full of rainwater. Andriel almost started laughing, where did he get that? He had to pour off some of the water because it was too full and would boil over putting out the fire, if he hadn't. When the water started to boil, he took it off of the fire, and put it on the dry ground. Andriel took that as her clue, and sprinkled some tea leaves into the pot. Now she knew what the gourds were for. When she thought the tea would be ready, she poured the contents of the pot into the gourds. Now they each had a hot cup of tea. Chitrah started sharing what his life was like growing up on Deysum III. He thought it was important for his son and wife to know about his childhood and his family. When the pot was empty. Chitrah would rinse it out, then put it back out into the rain to fill up again. Andriel shared her childhood, after Chitrah had finished. Krillgan felt really close to his parents, and was glad it was raining. The only bad thing about it, was that they were drinking so much tea. That meant that they had to go out into the rain to pee. Fortunately, because off the fire, and the close bodies, they would dry off quickly and stay warm.
They stayed all day in that shelter, and all night, and the first half of the next day. Before the rain finally stopped. It was nice to get up and stretch. They did some stretching exercises to make sure the blood in their bodies was flowing properly. They ate lunch with the last bit of tea, before Chitrah poured out what remained in the pot, to put the fire out. They left the shelter standing, in case someone else would need it, and because no one would look after it, it would soon fall apart on its own.
That evening, Krillgan did not like the number of predators in the area. There was a large tree with thick branches. Krillgan suggested that they spend the night in the tree, to be safe. The predators knew the family was in the tree, but they also knew one was a force user. So none of them tried climbing the tree to go after them. They would lose their pack advantage. They went off looking for easier prey.
Even though they were able to make themselves comfortable. They were all afraid of going into a deep sleep, and falling out of the tree. They all woke up frequently throughout the night, making sure they were still in the tree. So when morning came they were all quite tired. They were glad they spent the night in the tree, because they found lots of animal tracks under the tree in the rain softened ground, from many different creatures, and they all had claws.
That was the hardest day for them to walk, but they wanted to get well out of that area. After lunch Chitrah suggested they nap while he kept watch. When he had trouble keeping his eyes open. He woke Andriel, so he could have a short nap while she kept watch. There was a nice stream where they napped, so they were able to wash the sleep out of their eyes before they continued. They made much better progress after the nap.
That evening when they stopped for the night. They had trouble finding a dry piece of ground to sleep on. They finally all curled up under an evergreen tree, whose branches rested on the ground. They were dry. They slept well if they did not move. In the morning, they had to spend a lot of time getting the needles from the tree, out of their clothing.
The next few days went well, they were always happy to supplement their regular meals of porridge cakes and cheese with the berries they found. Andriel was concerned that they had not come across the trail since they left it, to get around the large creature. So they started to go further right, of where they were going before.
On the day the cheese ran out they found a nice patch of berries. After finishing of the berries, they reconnected with the trail, which led them to a small stream. It was really a trickle of a water fall, landing in a small pool. Krillgan wanted to drink the water out of the pool, but Chitrah told him not to, because it might have been contaminated by small creatures. There were enough marks for them to know that many animals used this as a watering source. So Chitrah went around the small pool, to catch the trickle of water in his hands. He came to Krillgan, and told him to just take a sip. Then he offered some to his wife, then finished off what was left. That sip was very refreshing after a dry breakfast followed by sticky berries. Chitrah filled up his hands again, and this time let Krillgan drink as much as he wanted. He went back for more and let his son drink again, when he was satisfied. Chitrah used the water still in his hands to wash the berry juice off of Krillgan's face. Chitrah went and refilled his hands and quickly came around to Andriel. She thought that he was going to let her drink out of his hands, like he did for Krillgan. Instead he splashed her in the face with it. Which made her gasp because it was so cold. When she drank the water earlier she thought it was warm. So this was a big shook. The water war was on!
Andriel went around the other side of the pool, and tried to collect some water in her hands, so that she could splash Chitrah. When Chitrah went around to reach above her. She splashed him with what she had. Then she reached up and pulled his hands down to quickly drink the water out of them so he could not splash her with it. They were both laughing, trying to drink and trying to splash at the same time.
Krillgan did not like that he was being left out of the fun. So he jumped into the pool with both feet, to splash them both. That cooled them down. Chitrak quickly picked Krillgan up out of the pool. He did not scold Krillgan, he just told him, that this is one way to ruin a good pair of leather boots. He asked him if he got any water inside of his boots. Krillgan said he did. So Chitrah carried him to a nice sunny spot and told him to take his boots off, and empty the water out of them. Chitrah went back to the trickle of water and filled his wine skin, after that Andriel finished filling hers. They both went and sat beside Krillgan. They had him take his socks off, and wrung the water out of them. Then they made him take his pants off and wrung the water out of the bottom of his trousers. Then they helped him get dressed in his damp clothes. Chitrah did up his boots so that they were just snug, not tight. He told him that because his boots were soaked, they might feel too big for a while, but as they dry they will shrink back down and retake the form of his feet. Krillgan asked him about their boots. Chitrah assured him that they both did get wet, but only on the outside. They did not soak the insides of their boots like he did. He figured that with the day's hot sun, their clothes and boots will be dry in a couple of hours, Krillgan's boots will take longer. In the meantime, their wet clothes will keep them cool. Despite this small setback, Krillgan was having a lot of fun with his parents. He wished their trip would never end.
About a half hours walk further up the trail. Enough time that the wet marks disappeared on their clothes. They saw some women standing on the trail, looking at something. When they came closer and there wasn't as much brush in the way. They saw that the women were looking at a Rancor. This was the first Rancor they had ever seen, but they knew from the Captain's description, that it was probably a midland Rancor. When they were close enough for Krillgan to realise it was in pain. He slipped out of his backpack and hat, and approached the Rancor.
Chitrah picked up Krillgan's backpack and hat, and followed his wife, who was approaching the ladies. The ladies ignored Andriel. They watched Krillgan approach the Rancor, than climbed up on his front. The Rancor opened its mouth, and Krillgan's head and upper body went inside. Andriel asked the women, if they normally let their children play with their Rancor. The one lady without looking at her, told her that they do not let their children play with their Rancor. Then she told Andriel that this was not one of their Rancor. This is a wild Rancor, and it is in considerable pain, but will not let them approach it to find out what is wrong with him.
Andriel asked them, if it will hurt her son? The lady standing next to the first one turned to her, and after a moment of shock, she said, "If he was going to hurt your son, he would have bitten his head off already."
The first lady looked at the second and scolded her, "That is an insensitive thing to say to a mother, when half of the body of her child is in the mouth of a Rancor."
The second lady tried to get the first lady to look at Andriel. Instead she looked back at what was happening with the Rancor. Everyone watched Krillgan. What Andriel did not know, is the reason this lady did not turn to talk with her, was because she was trying to use the force to see what was wrong with the Rancor, and to understand what the child was doing.
After a while Krillgan pulled his head out of the Rancor's mouth, and started looking around on the ground. When he spotted what he thought he needed, he climbed down off of the Rancor, and went and picked up a forked branch. Andriel asked the women, why the Rancor would let her son approach him, when he would not let them approach? The first lady, without turning, told her that the Rancor can smell that they are part of a herd. He is probably afraid that we would think him too badly injured, and kill him to feed the herd. "Your son on the other hand, has no herd smell. The Rancor probably believes he is also too small to hurt him. But what I can't understand, is why the Rancor thinks it can help him?" "My son is an intelligent and capable boy. He takes after his father in that regard. The Rancor probably believes that my son really can help him. I know my son believes that. That is why he approached the Rancor."
The ladies had never heard that expression used on Dathomir before, that a son takes after their father. Usually children are compared to their mother. Krillgan approached the Rancor with his stick, and had the Rancor raise its hand. He then used the Rancor's claw to trim the stick the way he wanted. By the time he finished, it looked like a stick, with a hook on the one end. Krillgan climbed back up on the Rancor, and stuck his upper body back in the Rancor's mouth. He hooked the stick on something, then he could be seen pulling on the stick with all his might. Suddenly Krillgan goes flying backward off of the Rancor. The stick goes flying through the air, and something else came flying out of the Rancor's mouth. Because of his martial arts training. Krillgan does not hurt himself in his tumble. To the ladies amazement, he scrambles back up the front of the Rancor, and shoves his arm in the Rancor's mouth.
The second lady asked, what was he doing? Andriel told them that he is healing the wound in the Rancor's mouth, left behind by whatever he was able to remove from it. The first lady asked how he was able to do that. Andriel replied, "By touch. My son has a healing oil inside of him. He can heal a wound or broken bone simply by touching someone. The closer he touches to the wound, the faster the healing." Krillgan climbed down off of the Rancor. He looked around on the ground for something, then he picked it up. He ran over to the first lady and told her that this was what was hurting the Rancor, and he handed her a large decayed Rancor tooth.
The first lady asked Krillgan if it was true that he can heal a cut just by touching it. He nodded his head, and said yes. She took the Rancor's tooth, and cut her right arm. Then said, "Heal this." Krillgan reached out and put his hand over her wound. When he took his hand away, her arm was healed, and there was no scar.
When the Clan Mother first saw the strange child approach the Rancor, she thought he was covered in berry juice, to make him that purple. She wondered what parents would do that to a child. Then she wondered where they found all the berries to do that? When he came back out of the Rancor's mouth, and was still purple, she knew it was not berry juice that made him that colour. The Rancor would have licked it off, no matter how much pain he was in. When he went back in with the shaped stick in his hand, she was amazed at how clever he was for one so young. She would definitely needed to meet his father. The one he takes after. When she saw him struggling to pull something out of the Rancor's mouth, she gently reached out with the force, so that the others could not detect it, and gave him a boost of strength. When he went flying off of the Rancor, she thought that she may have given him too much. He has excellent reflexes. He landed, rolled, and got to his feet all in one motion. Why is he climbing back up on the Rancor? It was nice of her sister to ask that question out loud. Now she would have to test this young man. Is he the healer her mother told her about in the dream? She has never met a healer like this before. At his young age, he is already more powerful than anyone she has ever know, including the healers in the Misty Falls Clan.
The Clan Mother turned towards his parents, expecting them to be berry purple. It was a good thing her mother taught her from a young age, not to show shock or surprise. In a critical situation, people might think you have lost control. She looked like a town's person, with an extremely bad sunburn, and no hair, he looked like the Creator took a piece of the blue sky, and made his skin out of it. Is this the family her mother warned her about?
When the first lady turned to Andriel. She could tell that she was used to being in control. She also knew from the way she cut herself that she is left handed. That is good, it means she is used to looking at things differently from most everyone else. She studied them for a moment before she spoke. She said that her name is Amblin-Elu Djo. She is the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, most people just call her Mother. The woman next to her, is her younger sister, Butashe Djo. "She feels that she must protect me from the world, and sometimes I feel the world needs to protect me from her. But I do love her dearly."
When she paused, Andriel took that as her opportunity to introduce her family to the Clan Mother. The Clan Mother said that she was looking forward to talking with them, when they arrive in the main village. Their caravan should be coming through shortly. She had to head back to the main village to organise a meeting of all the clan's Sisters. As an afterthought she mentioned that the Rancor is now willing to come back with them. He feels safe now, because he has a good story to tell the Herd Mother. The Herd Mother loves good stories. She then signalled a couple of Sisters that were sitting on Rancor a short distance away, that they can approach the Rancor. She then sent another Sister on a Rancor to go intercept the caravan, and let them know they will be picking up passengers.
"Let the Sisters know, that are escorting the caravan that they are required to be at the meeting, and head back to the village right away."
The one Sister ran, then jumped on her Rancor, and rode off quickly. Andriel just stood there, this wasn't the way she thought they would be meeting the Clan Mother. Chitrah was helping Krillgan get his backpack back on. They were all alone. Krillgan told his mother that she is a nice lady. He could feel her gently touching the Rancor to help calm it, and to try and find out what was wrong with it. Andriel asked him if that is why she did not turn to talk with her. Krillgan replied that sometimes touching gently, can be harder than just touching. Well now Andriel knew that she wasn't trying to be rude.
They decided to sit and wait by the trail, and let the sun continue to dry their clothes, while they waited for the caravan. It wasn't long before three Sisters on their Rancor went racing past. The one that Mother had sent, waved at them as they rode by. Chitrah said that the caravan should be coming by soon.
A short time later they could see the caravan approaching. When it came closer, they stood up and made sure they were off the trail. When the first Rancor came along side of them, a man jumped out of the cart the Rancor was pulling, and ran in front of the Rancor with both hands raised. Apparently that was the signal to stop.
The man walked up to them and introduced himself. His name is Riktob Drashi, he is in charge of the caravan. What he did not tell them, was that he is the husband of the Clan Mother. They gave him their names. He asked Chitrah, if they could be related, because their last names were so similar? Chitrah asked him if he had ever been to Deysum III. He asked, if that was what they were calling the town nowadays? Chitrah told him never mind, he did not think they were related. Rictob told them that they would have been there earlier, but someone splashed all the water out of the Rancor's drinking pool. So they had to wait for it to fill up before their Rancor could get a drink.
When they did not respond, he asked them if these were all their crates. Chitrah counted them, there was almost one per cart. It was only the one cart that had different supplies. Chitrah said all their crates were there, they did not leave any behind. He asked them what was in the crates. Chitrah told him, that they contained equipment for their trades. He told Riktob that he is a cobbler, his wife is a seamstress and dress designer, his son is a little boy that is growing up too fast. He invited them to climb onto his cart, everyone was anxious to get home as soon as possible.
When they were underway, Krillgan asked him, if anyone in the caravan was a Ranger? He asked Krillgan where he heard about Rangers. Krillgan told him that the Captain told them about Rangers, how they were the best woodsmen, and best archers on Dathomir. The Captain told them the story about the Sister that was going to fight a Nightsister, but before they started, the Sister's Rancor slipped of the edge of the cliff, and the Sister had to rescue it. So a Ranger killed the Nightsister instead.
Riktob said that that is a good story. Then he told Krillgan that he used to be a Ranger, but not anymore. Krillgan asked him why? He told him that he got married, than his wife gave birth to a baby girl, so he did not have the time to commit to being a Ranger anymore. Krillgan asked him how old his daughter is. Riktob looked at Krillgan, than told him that his daughter was just a little younger than he is. He asked Riktob if he thought his daughter would want to play with him. Riktob asked him if he bites. Krillgan said that he can bite really hard if he has to, and showed him his teeth. Riktob asked him if he bites little girls. Krillgan looked at him.
"Why would I want to do that?"
Andriel smiled at his comment. Riktob also smiled, and said that he believed his daughter would want to play with him. Krillgan asked, if there were other children who would want to play with him? Riktob was sure that other children would want to play with him too. Krillgan could hardly wait to get to the village to meet all the children.
That evening when they stopped for the night. The others in the caravan shared their dinner with them. Riktob opened a container with tea leaves. He said that they just got in a supply at the trading post, and made tea for everyone. He told the family that he did not have any cups for them, so they would have to wait for someone to finish their tea before they could have a cup. Krillgan went to the cart, and retrieved the three gourds out of his backpack. He showed Riktob, that they have their own cups.
Everyone slept on the open ground right next to the carts. Some slept near the fire. No one was worried about predators, because of all the Rancor, that were in the caravan.
In the meeting, Amblin-Elu asked all the Sisters that had shared their visions and dreams with her, about a healer being sent to their clan. To share them with all the Sisters. She decided that she would only share her dreams with the elders. The Sisters might feel that she was trying to pressure them too much. After they had shared, and everyone had a chance to question them about their dreams and visions, the Clan Mother shared her encounter with a healer that day. Only he was a purple little boy. She then had every Sister that was there. Share what they saw. After they all shared, the Clan Mother told them they have a decision to make. There is no doubt that this little boy is a healer. Clan law says, that if a boy, that is a force user, shows that he has the empathy of a healer, than the Sisters of the clan can take him in and train him, just as they would train any female force user. One of the Sisters asked, how do they know he is a force user? The Clan Mother held up the Rancor's tooth. "He approached a hurting Rancor, and pulled this tooth out of his mouth. Can any of you imagine a non-force using child doing that?"
Butashe Djo also confirmed that her sister did cut herself deep enough with the Rancor's tooth to draw blood, and the boy healed her, and there is no scar. She let the Sisters talk about that amongst themselves for a few minutes. After she thought they had enough time. She asked them if they were willing to accept this boy into their Sisterhood. One of the Sisters asked if that means that he would be taking part in the Bonding Ceremony? The Clan Mother confirmed that he would be like any other Sister, so he must take part in the Bonding Ceremony, so that he could bond with them, and they could bond with him. One of the Sisters commented that it might be okay for now, but he is going to grow up into a man, and he will see them all naked. "How do you think he will feel about all these old naked ladies, looking at his young naked body?" No one commented, but some of the older women laughed. When no one had anything more to say or ask, the Clan Mother asked by a show of hands, if they were willing to accept this boy as a Sister. The majority of the Sisters raised their hands, especially everyone who had a dream or vision. She was not happy that it was not unanimous. She asked if anyone was opposed to them accepting the boy as a Sister, if so they need to raise their hand. No one opposed it. So she declared that because no one opposed this boy becoming a Sister, they will accept him, and start training him. The Clan Mother had made a mental note of everyone one who had not raised their hand. She noticed that most of them were from the Raek family. She wondered how this was going to affect the bonding of the Sisters over the next couple of years, since they do not bring children they are training to the bonding ceremonies, until they reach puberty.
Andriel, Chitrah, and Krillgan, enjoyed the caravan ride. Riktob had told them that they would be spending one more night with the caravan, before they reach the main village. "When you start seeing the herds of Brackaset, you know we do not have that much farther to go." They started doing what everyone else did. They would hop out of the cart, and run along beside it, then jump back in when they started feeling tired. It was the first time they jumped out of the cart that was the most difficult. But the Rancor walked at a steady pace, so after a couple of tries, it was like they had done it all their life. It also made the trip seem to go faster. Krillgan liked, that whenever he saw a creature he did not know the name of. He could ask Riktob, and he would tell him its name, and a little about it, including whether its meat had a nice taste or not. They saw a small pack of the two legged Baz Nitch with their two long horns, and four short ones. Riktob said they were easy to approach, but would attack you if they felt threatened. It was best to hunt them with bow and arrow. Because you would be too far away, for them to attack you. So they would just run away, leaving you with your kill. They also saw a herd of the reptilian Bolma grazing in an open space. Riktob told him that they are a difficult creature to kill because of their thick skin, so you have to be an experienced hunter to bring one down. He wasn't that fond of their meat, but the Rancor's seem to like it. So it is one of the creatures they hunt regularly, but they do not take more than one creature from a herd, at a time. They also use the hide to make a strong durable leather. Something that a good cobbler should know about.
This herd was being stalked by a couple of Kamurith. They are a four legged reptilian carnivore. They are brown skinned, with white bellies, and an impressive long orange sail along the spine of their back. They are not large enough to take down an adult Bolma, they wanted to get one of their young. The strategy they use, is to try to get all the bulls to chase one of them, while the other runs into the herd to kill a young one. Once they kill one, the herd will move off and leave them alone with their kill. Krillgan watched as only one or two of the bull Bolma would chase a Kamurith, apparently they knew the strategy as well. Riktob told Krillgan that the Kamurith really prefer hunting Brackaset, but they keep their herds well-guarded, so they are forced to hunt other prey, here. You will find a lot of them in the Rolling Red Hills, where there are still a lot of wild herds of Brackaset. They saw a small herd of Malkloc. A large reptilian herbivore, whose only predator is the Rancor. Riktob told him that you will only find females and young Makloc in a herd. When the males reach a certain size than the females will drive him away, because they are too clumsy, and it can accidentally kill the young. They hate all two legged creatures. That is why you will never find Baz Nitch grazing amongst them. Chitrah said that this was the type of creature that was on the trail that forced them to leave the trail, and just head off on their own. Following the directions that the Captain gave them. Riktob mentioned that they did find a very large bull Makloc grazing on the trail, not that far out of town. It moved out of their way when they approached, because there are so many Rancor in their caravan. He asked them, how they knew to avoid it? Chitrah told him that Krillgan warned them, he can sense creatures that are nearby. He can also seem to be able to tell whether they are safe to be near, or whether they are aggressive. Riktob made a mental note to tell his wife this, along with all the other mental notes he had made about this family. They saw some Verne grazing near the Makloc. Riktob told them that this is often the case. Most predators avoid the Makloc, so the Verne like to graze near them. Riktob likes their meat, and their hide makes a good leather. Another one that the cobbler should know about.
After the meeting with the Sisters, Amblin-Elu went home to make sure that her daughter was tucked into her bed, before she went to meet with the elders. Her daughter was waiting up for her. So she gave her a kiss good night, and told her that in a few days, daddy would be back home.
When she met with the elders. She first shared all the visions and dreams that the Sisters shared at the meeting. Then she shared her dreams, she told them that she did not share them at the meeting, because the Sisters might feel like she was trying to force them to accept the boy into the Sisterhood. The elders told her that she was right to do so. It is important for the Sisters to accept him on their own.
The elder called Hm-Shassa shared the vision she had of her mother. At first she thought it was her, because they look so much alike, and she was able to talk with her, but then she realised that the information she was given, could only come from the Clan Mothers that had gone on before them. She shared the warning, about the Nightsisters wanting to get their hands on him, once they find out that he can heal just by touching. They could kill his brain, and he would still heal them. Just what they need to try and take over all the clans. They would kidnap his parents to force him to come to them. If they have any more children, they will kidnap them, if they can't kidnap the parents. They talked about what they should do to try and prevent this. They talked until the wee hours of the morning. The Clan Mother did not like that they would have to deceive the Clan Mothers of the other clans. The elders pointed out, that the Clan Mothers that know the prophecies, would see the deception for what it is, and know who has come to visit them. They will not give them away. The Clan Mother agreed, and went home to her daughter. When her daughter awoke in the morning. She found her mother asleep on the top of her covers, right next to her. She still had on the clothes that she wore last night. She knew that her mother preferred coming to her bed, rather than sleeping on her own, when father wasn't home. She did not mind, she liked seeing her mother's face when she first woke up. She dressed herself to go for breakfast. Made sure she covered her mother with a blanket, then kissed her goodbye on her cheek. She always smiled when she did that. Her daughter hoped it meant that she was having good dreams.
Andriel was the first one to spot the Brackaset herds. She noticed that everyone on the caravan had stopped running, and were in their carts. The Rancor had increased their pace, they were no longer walking. They knew they were close to home. Still, it was well after dinner, when they first saw the main village. It was dark before they reached the main gates. So they could not tell what the village looked like. There was an open area, a short distance beyond the main gates. All the carts were left their just as they were, and the Rancor unhooked from their harnesses. The Rancor went left, and the people went right. Except for Riktob, who said he was taking the tea to the kitchen, so that everyone can have tea with their breakfast.
A young lady, who had greeted her father with a hug, approached the family. She told them that she would show them where they could spend the night. They walked over a foot bridge, and could make out some buildings. None of the moons had risen yet, so it was hard to see. The young lady knew where she was going. Andriel suspected that if she had blindfolded her, she could still walk around the village without stumbling, knowing exactly where she was. She led them to what could only be considered a hut. It was dry, it was clean, and it was small. There was no covering over the door, so anyone walking by could look in, provided they knew where the doorway was. After the young lady left. Chitrah took his computer out of his backpack, and turned it on, so that they could see what it looked like, on the inside, from the light of the computer. In one corner, there was a pile of straw, on the other side of the hut was a nook area. There was one window near the door on the nook side. There was one table but no chairs. They placed all their backpacks on the ground, against the wall, between the table and the pile of straw. Andriel laid on the straw, and said it was more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. Krillgan laid down beside her. Chitrah placed his computer on the table and shut it off. He did not need the light to find his sleeping place beside Krillgan.
After his parents had fallen asleep, the Clan Mother showed up with some bedding from her own home. Two of the moons had risen, so there was enough light to see in the hut. Krillgan got up when she entered. When she saw his parents asleep on the straw, she went, "Oh Dear." She told Krillgan that she guessed his parents did not know how to make a straw mattress. Krillgan shook his head no. But he did say that his parents knew how to live without droids. The Clan Mother did not know what droids are. She apologised that their hospitality was lacking. She will make sure that someone will come by tomorrow to show them how to make a straw mattress, then they can use the covering she brought them to cover it. She also brought them some pillows and a comforter. She will make sure that they have an oil lamp for the table, and coverings for the doorway and window.
Then she asked Krillgan to make sure to tell his parents that this is only temporary. Once they know what their needs are, they will custom build a home for them. Krillgan took everything she brought for them, and placed it on top of their backpacks, except the comforter. She wished him pleasant dreams, and told him that they would talk tomorrow. Krillgan took the comforter, and spread it so that it covered both his parents' feet. Then he walked backwards between them on the pile of straw, to spread the comforter over them. Then he crawled back down to his position between them, and fell asleep.
The next morning another young lady showed up at the door with a wash basin, and a pitcher of fresh water in it. She had three towels draped over one arm. She found the blue man sitting on the floor with two boards before him. Light was coming from the one board. She wondered if this was clan Sister magic.
Because she darkened the doorway. Chitrah shut off his computer and placed it on the table. He took the basin and pitcher of water, and placed them on the table. Now he knew what the table was for. He took the towels and thanked the girl. She was surprised that the blue man could speak their language. She gave him a quick curtsy and left.
After she left, Chitrah stripped down to his waist, and gave himself a good morning wash. After drying himself he took some clean clothes from his pack and changed in the nook area. He decided to put on his military gray outfit, because he did not look so blue in it, and this will be the first time most people will see him. After he was dressed, he woke Krillgan. He helped him to wash up, while Krillgan tried telling him about the Clan Mother's visit last night. It was hard to talk while his father was rubbing a handful of cold water in his face. After his father was satisfied that he was clean and dry. His father helped him change in the nook. His father had suggested he wear his light kaki brown outfit, so people will not suspect that they are part of an elite military outfit.
After Krillgan was dressed, he helped his father move the table and washstand into the nook. Then they woke mother. At first she grabbed the comforter and rolled over. Then she sat straight up, they never had a comforter when she went to sleep last night. Chitrah gently took the comforter from her and offered his hand, to help her get up. When she was on her feet, Chitrah told her they had a visitor last night. Then asked Krillgan to tell his mother about last night's visit. While he did that Chitrah took his wife's backpack to the nook, then led her there by the hand, gave her a kiss on her cheek, and told her it was time to wash up and change. He held one end of the comforter up, and had Krillgan hold up the other end. Andriel was awake enough now, to do what her husband asked. While she processed in her mind what her son told her. They want to build her a home.
"Now see that Ludia. There are two proper gentlemen. Making sure the woman of the house is properly looked after, and has her privacy while she dresses. I believe the older one is taken, but the young one is quite handsome, and available."
"Mother, I'm only a little girl, I'm not old enough to get married."
"I'm only looking out for your future."
"I know. He does look nice for a little boy, even though he is quite purple."
"Well you probably look quite pink to him."
Chitrah and Krillgan had turned to see who was talking. It was the Clan Mother and a little girl, they both suspected is her daughter. The Clan Mother introduced her daughter to them. She said, her husband mentioned that Krillgan wanted to play with their daughter. When they looked at her with puzzled expressions, she told them that Riktob Drasi, the man in charge of the caravan is her husband. Now they knew who she was talking about.
Andriel had finished dressing. She had chosen to wear her dark kaki brown outfit. She told the guys that they can put the comforter down now. So the Clan Mother introduced her daughter to her, then she asked her daughter to take Krillgan for breakfast. She needed to stay and talk with the adults. Both Andriel and Chitrah noticed that she did not say parents.
After Ludia and Krillgan left, an elderly lady entered the hut. She told them that they have a very nice looking boy. Amblin-Elu introduced the lady as a clan elder, her name is Hm-Shassa, "She has something to share with you."
Hm-Shassa told them that an old Clan Mother appeared to her in a vision, to warn them about the attempts the Nightsisters would make to try and get their son under their control. Once they find out about his ability to heal with just a touch. She explained the different ways the Nightsisters would try to take control of him. None of which were nice for them or any future children.
Their solution, is to introduce them to the whole clan, as Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah. That way the whole clan will be calling them mother and father, and not just their son. Which is easier than telling Krillgan that he cannot call them mother and father anymore, because he always will. They will also tell the other clans that they were servants to the child's parents.
"When the parents died in some great tragedy, they made you promise to bring up their child for them. Because you were together all the time, to look after the child, you fell in love and were married."
"Won't the other clans get upset with you, when they find out the truth?"
"No. Because they will know that the deception was not for them, but for the Nightsisters."
Andriel and Chitrah looked at each other. It would not be bad to be called Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah, by the whole clan. Especially if it will help protect their son, and future children. They agreed to do it. Then the Clan Mother asked them to tell her about the Captain who brought them here, and knew about Rangers, when no one outside the clan is supposed to know about Rangers.
So they told her about Captain Richard, and about his many acquaintances who were Sisters from all the clans. How he fell in love with one. Kindell from the Singing Mountain Clan. He had gone so far as to ask her to marry him. He was ready to abandon his ship and live with her here. But she turned him down, she said that she can only be with him for a short time, and he has something important to do for Dathomir. She was killed by a Nightsister ambush, when she was on her way to town to be with him, the next time he came to the planet. He was so devastated, that he hasn't returned to Dathomir since then, until now. He said he was fulfilling Kindell's prophecy.
The Clan Mother took Hm-Shassa aside, and asked her about this Sister called Kindell. Hm-Shassa thought for a while. To the Clan Mother it was like she was dusting off some memories she had not looked at for a while. She told the Clan Mother that the reason she does not know about her, is because Kindell was killed before she was born. "She was a very good friend of your mother. You know her mother, Grasma Raek, and her cousin, Allya Raek. You should talk with her mother Grasma, ask her if you can see a complete copy of Kindell's prophecy. If it has been fulfilled completely, than it should be written into our book of Knowledge and Wisdom. The Clan Mother agreed.
Ludia was proud to introduce Krillgan to all the children. He asked them if they could all play together after breakfast. They told him that their parents said that they are not allowed to play with Ludia anymore. He asked them why? They said that their parents are afraid that she might accidentally hurt them. But they really like her, and hope that they can still be friends.
Krillgan looked at Ludia, to see if she can help him understand. She told him that the parents must have been told that she will be starting her training today to be a Sister. They told Krillgan that he could play with them. He told them that he did not think their parents would let them play with him either. All the children's eyes got really big, are you going to be a Sister as well? Krillgan said he thought so. Than he asked them if they could still be friends? They all said sure, so he stuck out his hand to shake on it. Ludia asked him what he was doing. Krillgan said that where he came from people shake hands when they agree on something. So a girl reached over to shake his hand, and started giggling. He asked her why she was doing that.
"Because you are tickling me where I was cut, when I squeezed through the bushes."
Krillgan asked to see it. She pointed to her arm, but it was gone. A boy who had a scraped elbow, asked if he could shake his hand. When he took Krillgan's hand, all the children watched the scab fall off of his elbow. Now just about every child has a scratch, or a scrape, or a cut somewhere on their body. So they all wanted to shake Krillgan's hand. Some felt a tingling, or a tickling, others felt nothing. But when they checked, they were all healed.
Of course all the children ran to tell their parents that the new purple boy healed them, because he's their friend. Ludia was just as excited as the other children that Krillgan could heal. She knew that boys who were healers were allowed to be Sisters. This meant that she could still play with him.
When her best friend, who is also her cousin, came in for breakfast, Ludia ran over and pulled her over to where they were sitting, to meet Krillgan, the healer. She told Krillgan that this is her cousin, and best friend, Diennu. Krillgan stuck out his hand to her, and told her that he was pleased to meet her. She took it because her cousin told her to. She asked what was happening to her. Ludia asked her why? She said she hurt her ankle the other day, but did not tell anyone, but now it was feeling tingly. Ludia told her that Krillgan is healing her. She thought that he would have to put on a poultice, or some bandages to do that. Ludia told her that he doesn't have to do those things, all he has to do was touch her.
When the tingling stopped she looked at both her ankles. The one she hurt, was not swollen any more. The three of them went up together to get their breakfast. By now, word was spreading that the new purple boy is a healer.
When their Clan Mother walked into the dining hall, followed by the red female, the blue male, and a clan elder. Everyone became quiet. Their Clan Mother introduced the red lady as Mother Andriel Miranna, everyone can call her Mother Andriel. Everyone started asking the person sitting next to them, if that meant she was a Clan Mother as well? Their Clan Mother held up her hand for silence. Then introduced the blue man as Father Chitrah Drashing, and everyone could call him Father Chitrah. Then she asked Krillgan to stand up. When he did, she told the clan that he was going to be trained as a Sister. Now this really got everyone talking. They knew that there had been a few male Sisters in the past, but they were all from different clans. He would be the first male Sister in the history of the Singing Mountain Clan.
While they were talking, a young lady walks up to the three children, and said, "Guess who gets to be your instructor." Ludia, and Diennu, yelled her name, "Kreen", then got up and hugged her. They then introduced Kreen Raek, to their new best friend, Krillgan. Krillgan got up and extended his hand saying that he was pleased to meet her. Ludia whispered that she was supposed to shake his hand. So she did.
Kreen told them that she would like to talk with them after breakfast, then she will leave them alone for the day, because she needs to go talk with her own instructor. After breakfast she asked them if they had used the force yet in their life. She started with Krillgan, since he was the oldest. Krillgan told her about being able to sense where the animals were, when they were walking here, so that they could avoid the bad ones, he did not tell her about warning the predators away. That would be too much like bragging. He also mentioned that he used the force to help him run as fast as the adults, when they were riding with the caravan. The girls were amazed that he could do all that without instruction. Kreen asked about when he was helping the Rancor. Did he use the force than? Krillgan said, he must have, without thinking he was, because he was able to make the Rancor calm down, than open its mouth. He was able to get it to raise its right hand, so he could trim the stick he had found. He just felt like he was talking to it. Then he used the force to help pull the bad tooth out.
Now this was all news to the two girls. But they waited until Kreen left, to ask him about it. When she asked Ludia, and Diennu, they both said that they did not think they had used it yet. Kreen told them that they must have been observed using the force at some time, or they would not be here for training. Like Krillgan when he helped the Rancor, he did not realise he was using the force, but the other people there did. So they have probably been using the force, and did not know they were doing it, because it felt natural to do so. So for the next couple of days, whenever they do something, they have to ask themselves whether they were using the force or not. The initial part of the Sisters training, is to become conscience of where in their lives they were using the force. Than start applying it to every part of their life. Basically learning to magnify all of their physical abilities. That is why the other children were not allowed to play with them, because they need to be able to use the abilities before they can take fine control over them, so that they don't accidentally hurt someone.
Now Krillgan had to go with the Clan Mother and his parents and the elder. To go to each of the Singing Mountain Clan's villages, to be introduced to the people. Ludia and Diennu asked to come along, so Diennu's mother, the Clan Mother's sister, Butashe, also came along. They enjoyed meeting the children in each village, and seeing their reaction when their cuts, scrapes, scratches, and bruises were all healed. They had fun playing in the fields around the villages, and started running like Krillgan did. They thought it funny, that they could walk right up to a Brackaset, and it would ignore them. Even when they started jumping over them.
When they returned to the main village, everyone wanted to know when they were going to open the crates, so they could see what was in them. Andriel and Chitrah had them put aside the crates that held their personal items. The first crate they opened up was Andriel's sewing machine. The dressmakers in the village were careful in touching it, like it was a holy relic. They asked Mother Andriel if they would be able to use it. Andriel assured them that they could all use it, once she was satisfied that they were properly trained. The next crate that was opened, contained Andriel's loom. The weavers felt the same way about this loom as the dressmakers did about the sewing machine. They also had Mother Andriel's assurance that they could use it once properly trained. They opened the last large crate, and found Chitrah's sewing machine. At first the villagers thought it was another sewing machine for Mother Andriel, but the cobblers assured them that this machine was for sewing leather. When they opened Chitrah's case of tools for working with leather. They thought heaven had come to Dathomir. With all the jigs, knives, and hammers, they felt that they could now make any type of footwear they could imagine.
That's when people started asking them about the clothes they were wearing. They were impressed that Mother Andriel had sewn all of their outfits on this sewing machine, and that Father Chitrah had made all their boots with the equipment that he brought. The cobblers had them take off their boots so that they could examine them. The Clan Mother was curious, and called over the heads of the different crafts, and asked them what the fuss was about. The crafts' people told their Mother that these two individuals were great Masters of their crafts. No one in all the clans can match the work that they are capable of doing. They do deserve the titles of Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah. Not only that. They are able to train them all up to their level. All Mother could think about were the prophecies.
That afternoon, Andriel and Chitrah talked about having a workout, they had not done it for a long while. If they are not careful, their abilities will deteriorate. They found Krillgan and asked him, if he wanted to do martial arts training? Did he ever!
He told Ludia, and Diennu, that he was going to train this afternoon with his parents, but first they need to all change. The said that they wanted to watch, because they had no idea what they were going to do. When Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah came out of their hut with the suits on that made them look fat, both girls wanted to laugh, but felt that they shouldn't. Krillgan looked real nice in his white outfit. They wondered why he carried that board and the two clan fighting sticks. But they followed along behind. One of the Sisters noticed this strange procession, and followed along behind them. They found a nice clearing in some woods. Than Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah started fighting.
The Sister ran as fast as she could, and found the Clan Mother. She told the Clan Mother that she has to come as quick as possible, Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah are fighting. All the Sisters that were with the Clan Mother started following the Sister. The Clan Mother asked her how bad was it. The Sister replied that they were not bad at all, they were actually quite good. The Clan Mother thought that was an unusual reply.
When they entered the clearing, she saw her daughter and niece kneeling on the ground, near Krillgan, watching what was going on. Andriel let out a yell, and Chitrah went flying. The Sisters were stunned by what they saw these two adults doing to each other. When Andriel and Chitrah realised that it was not just the girls watching, they both stopped, and walked over to the Clan Mother. She asked what they were doing. They told her that they were practising self-defence. She asked about the suits. They told her that the suits were to protect them so that they would not be hurt. She asked if everyone who practised this, had to wear these suits. Chitrah smiled and said, "Only if they practise with Andriel." Then she asked about the outfit Krillgan was wearing, was he also going to do self-defence? Chitrah told her that he was going to do martial arts, it is similar but different. He asked Krillgan, if he was ready to give a small demonstration? Krillgan smiled and said he was ready.
Chitrah signalled Krillgan to rise. He rose up and bowed to his father. His father bowed back. Then Chitrah issued commands that sounded to the Clan Mother like barking. But with every command he did something new, whether it was a punch, kick, or block. The Clan Mother asked Chitrah what good any of this is. Chitrah suggested that she ask one of her Sisters to attack Krillgan, but without using the force. He told them not to worry Krillgan would not be hurt. The Clan Mother looked at all the Sisters that were there, and picked the smallest to attack Krillgan. The Sister yelled and ran at Krillgan, and threw a punch when she was within range. The next thing she knew she was flying through the air. She had to use the force, to land without hurting herself. She came back and apologised to Mother because she had to use the force to land. Mother said it was all right, she was sure Father Chitrah did not want her to hurt herself. Chitrah agreed with Mother. She then asked why they had clan fighting sticks. Chitrah told her that they wanted to practise fighting techniques. He opened his computer and displayed a 3D image of two men fighting with sticks in slow motion, with a narrative describing what each man was doing. Then he played it back in real time. The Sisters were all impressed. The Clan Mother asked him, if he had a way to recharge the power supply for his machine? The Sisters were equally impressed that Mother sounded like she knew what she was talking about. Chitrah told her that his machine was capable of recharging off of sunlight. She asked him, if it would be damaged if left out in the rain? Chitrah said his machine is protected from the rain.
The Clan Mother asked Andriel if she was capable of teaching others what she just saw. She said she was not, only Chitrah was. She lacks the self-control needed to instruct without hurting. The Clan Mother smiled, she is like a child still learning to use the force. The Clan Mother asked Chitrah about training her Sisters and possibly the militia, in what was demonstrated. Chitrah said that he would train them only in the technique, he has taught his son. What he was doing with his wife, he would only teach to non-force using women, who promise to share it, only with other non-force user women. Not with anyone else.
The Clan Mother told Chitrah that they would talk about setting up a schedule, after breakfast tomorrow morning. Word spread like a wildfire through the clan Sisters that their Clan Mother was arranging for them to receive training from a non-force using male. The ones that were there, that saw the demonstration, tried being the buffer between the other Sisters and their Mother. They told them to trust their Mother. Once they start their training, they will understand its benefits.
After dinner the Clan Mother asked Grasma Raek if she could have a private word with her. Grasma arranged for some tea to be brought to her home from the kitchen, so that she could host her Mother. She was surprised to hear that Mother wanted to hear about her daughter, and her prophecy. She did confirm that her daughter was very close to Amblin-Elu's mother. As were all the Sisters. She handed her a copy of the prophecy, and asked Mother why this interest in her daughter. Amblin-Elu glanced quickly at the prophecy, and knew she would need to study it closely. She asked Grasma if she could keep this copy, if not, could she make her a copy so that she could study it with the elders. When Mother mentioned the elders, she knew this was serious, and knew that Mother would take great care of this copy. So she asked that this copy be returned when they have finished studying it.
Mother told her of her interest, because of the story the new couple shared with her, about the person who brought them to Dathomir. Mother shared with Grasma the story that Andriel and Chitrah shared with her. By the time she was done. Grasma had tears in her eyes. Mother asked her why the tears? Grasma told her that she can hear her daughter rebuking her for believing a twisted version of the prophecy. Mother asked, "What twisted version?" Grasma told her that she needs to understand, that everyone in her family wanted Kindell's prophecy to be true. Kindell had an agreement with her cousin Allya, that they would share their lover, since neither one had declared themselves celibate until they marry. When Captain Richard came into her life, Kindell transformed into a better person. When she sensed the Captain was coming, she always sent someone to find Allya, as was their agreement. But usually by the time Allya was found, the Captain had already departed the planet, which frustrated Allya. "I remember talking to Kindell about that. She said that Captain Richard knew about our customs. He had a good heart, and would perform his duty towards Allya. Even if he had married her." The only time Allya was found nearby, was when Kindell was killed, and she was close enough to go bring him to the funeral. She took her time taking him back to town. Captain Richard may have felt that Allya asked to have sex with him, to comfort him. But to Allya, it was more. She was getting what he owed her.
Kiranna was conceived during that trip back to town. Every few months during her pregnancy Allya would travel to town, to see if Captain Richard had returned to Dathomir. After Kiranna was born, she was upset that the Captain had not come back to her. "I think that she expected that Captain Richard would propose to her, as he did to Kindell. Now that she had his child. But he never came back.
Allya went on to convince the family, that the important thing that the Captain had done for Dathomir, was father her child.
Because we wanted to believe the prophecy, and because it looked like the Captain would never return, we started believing her interpretation of it."
Mother asked her, what does she now believe?
Grasma said that now she believes that Kindell's prophecy does not require any special interpretation, the facts will reveal whether it is true or not. Right now the facts indicate that three people that the Captain just brought here, are the ones mentioned in the prophecy.
Mother asked her, how she thinks the rest of the family will react to the news that Captain Richard did return and brought some people to Dathomir? Grasma felt that most of the family will be happy to see that the prophecy is beginning to unfold the way it is written. The ones that will resist it, and resist accepting Krillgan, will be Allya, her daughter Kiranna, and her daughter Kreen. When it became evident that Kiranna, could not fulfill the prophecy. All expectations shifted to her daughter Kreen. It will be hard for Kreen to accept that she is not the important one, when she has been told all her life that she is.
"To make things harder for her. You have appointed her as instructor, for the one who looks like they will be fulfilling the prophecy."
Mother thanked Grasma for sharing what she did. It will certainly make the studying of the prophecy, that much more interesting for the elders. As far as Kreen Raek is concerned. It might be harder for her to instruct Krillgan. But once she sees him for who he is. It might be easier for her to surrender to the truth. Grasma hoped that Mother was right. For now, she has family to talk to.
Andriel started craving new ale. She talked to the lady in charge of the kitchen, and she connected her with the ones who brew the ale. When Andriel explained to them how to make new ale, and that it was safe for children to drink, they were all for trying to make it. With the cooperation of the kitchen, they had the first batch ready for sampling in four days. First they let Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah taste it. To see if that was the taste they were looking for. When they both approved. They took a cold glass to Mother, to see if she would approve the regular production, of this beverage, to be consumed with dinner, and acceptable for children.
When Mother tried it, she asked who came up with the recipe. They told her that Mother Andriel said that this is a common drink, on all the worlds that grow their own grain. Mother gave her approval, and asked that they thank Mother Andriel for her, for sharing the recipe.
Krillgan noticed, that Ludia, and Diennu, like putting flowers in their hair. So when he found a whole field of wild flowers, he went and got them. He also helped them pick them, and he patiently held them while they put them in each other's hair. He was even more patient, when they placed them in his own hair.
On their way back to the village, Diennu's mother, Butashe, was the first one to see them, and made them follow her a ways into the woods, before anyone else saw them. She asked them where they found all the flowers. They told her that Krillgan found a whole field of them, and was willing to share the flowers with them. Butashe told them that boys don't have flowers in their hair, except when they are ready to get married. So she asked Krillgan, which of the two beautiful girls he was going to marry. The girls blushed, and Krillgan said both of them. Butashe told him that he cannot marry both of them, he was only allowed to marry one of them. Krillgan looked sad, he said that he likes both of them, and does not want to choose just one, because the other will be hurt. So maybe he should not marry either one. Butashe said that if he was not going to marry either one, than she needs to remove the flowers from his hair. So he let her. While she was doing that, she asked the children if they knew that plants produce flowers, so that they can make seeds for new plants that make flowers to grow. So it is not a good thing to pick all the flowers from all the plants, or more new plants will not grow. Without new plants, the old plants could die, and then there will be no flowers. The world would not be the same without flowers. So next time, they should only pick a few.
She told them not to worry this time, because it will rain tonight, and that will give the plants strength to grow new flowers. After she removed all the flowers from Krillgan's hair, she started removing some of the flowers from the girls' hair, and rearranged them so that they both had a pretty bow of flowers, over the top of their heads, going from ear to ear. She told them that she did not want the village to think they were bad girls, because they are not. They just did not know. Then she asked the girls if that was true. Both girls and Krillgan nodded their heads. They did not want to do anything bad, and they did not mean to hurt the plants. Butashe told them that it was still okay to pick flowers, just not so many. All the children gave her a hug and thanked her for teaching them something new.
They were happy that it did rain that night. The next day when they went to check on the field, they found that there were new flowers, just like Diennu's mother said. Only there was not as many as before they picked the flowers. It would be a couple of years before they were comfortable picking flowers from that field again.
Amblin-Elu loved reading through the book of Knowledge and Wisdom. She was very proficient at reading the old Kwa symbols. She thought that she had come across a recipe for a potion to help aliens, appear more human. She told the elders that she would try it on Andriel and Chitrah, it might help them to fit in better into the community. The elders warned her not to try it, the ingredients were quite strong, and it wasn't clear just how it would change them. They did not want her to diminish who they are. She thought it would be safe to try it on Andriel and Chitrah. But she would not try it on Krillgan, because it might hurt the creatures that give him his healing ability. They elders told her that she was the Clan Mother, so she was responsible to the clan for whatever decision she made. So she mixed the potions, and found the family out for a walk together, as it was family day.
All the clans take one day in each cycle not to work, but to spend that day with their family, to help keep the family bonds strong.
Amblin-Elu asked them to drink the potion. She told them that her book said that it would help them appear more human. Andriel and Chitrah, did not want to drink the potion. They were happy being just who they were, and thought they looked human enough. But because the Clan Mother asked them, they knew they could not say no to her. They both drank it and they both felt pain because of it. Chitrah felt that the sack under his horn of manhood, was on fire, he had to squat hoping that more air would get down there, and help cool it off. If there had been a puddle of water nearby, he would have sat in it. He would not have cared who was around him, it hurt so much. It also hurt him to see his wife in so much pain. It was obvious to him that she was hurting a lot more than he was.
Andriel was also squatting because of the pain. There was a fire in her lower abdomen. Krillgan wanted to reach out and touch both his parents, so that they would stop suffering. But the Clan Mother held him back, and told him that he was not allowed to interfere with what was happening to his parents. Krillgan did not like what she was doing to his parents. She was not a bad person, so why was she hurting them? He believed that what she was doing was wrong, and turned away so he would not have to watch. The Clan Mother did not like that she was hurting Krillgan by doing this. Maybe the elders were right, she did not know enough about the potion.
Then the Clan Mother noticed that Andriel was bleeding. She took off her cloak to shield Andriel's body from view, and had one of her Sisters to do the same. She told the Sister that Andriel was going into her moon cycle and needs some absorbent padding. Sending the Sister away. The Clan Mother asked Andriel, if this was the normal time for her to go into her moon cycle? Andriel told her, that she was a little bit late for her normal time, but thought it was because her body was adjusting to the influence of the four moons. She has never been on a planet with so many moons before. The Clan Mother thought that the amount of blood she saw was excessive for a normal moon cycle. Then it struck her what she had actually done to Andriel, and she turned white.
When the Sister returned, she asked her Mother, if she was okay? She said she wasn't, but told her to instruct Mother Andriel in how to use the padding. They both held their cloaks high enough so that Andriel was completely hidden from view. By now the pain was starting to subside for Chitrah, so he decided to stand up and walk a little to see if it helped. It didn't, so he squatted back down. After Andriel did what she could to keep the blood from dripping to the ground. She asked if they could lower their cloaks, so that it would be easier for her to breathe. They did as she asked, and stood there for an embarrassing long time. It suddenly occurred to the Clan Mother that they may both need to drink water right now. So she sent the Sister to go get them some water. They were both quite thirsty. They both consumed two, large, cold, cups of water. It did help them both to start feeling much better. It wasn't long after that, that Chitrah was up on his feet, and did not feel like he had to squat anymore. It was a few more minutes, before Andriel finally stood up. She kept the Clan Mother's cloak around her to hide the blood stains on her outfit.
Even though it was not yet dinner time, both Andriel and Chitrah felt that they needed to return to their hut to sleep. The Clan Mother asked them how she could help them, but they ignored her and both leaned on Krillgan for strength. The Clan Mother told the Sister to get to their hut before they did. Make sure that they have lots of cold water on hand to drink, and a good supply of padding for Mother Andriel. She also asked her to have a tray of food and new ale sent to their hut. They might not eat, but she doubted Krillgan will leave them.
After that, the Clan Mother went and spoke with the elders. She told them that she believes Andriel was pregnant, and that she just caused her to miscarry the baby. A couple of the elders cried. All of them were upset, because they knew what this meant.
One of the elders chastised Amblin-Elu, "Your mother warned you, you knew what would happen if you hurt one of them."
Amblin-Elu hung her head in shame. Another elder came to her defence, in that she did not mean the woman any harm. Another elder stated it doesn't matter.
"What has been done, cannot be undone."
All the elders agreed and looked despondent. Amblin-Elu asked the elders if there was any way that she could avert the clan from being judged by her actions. Should she go and ask Andriel for her forgiveness. The elders told her, that from what they know about this couple, they have probably already forgiven her. To reveal to her that she has miscarried would injure them both again, making the judgement worse. They did say that the child needs to know, because he is now a Sister.
Amblin-Elu went home with a heavy heart. Her daughter saw she was upset and left her alone. Her husband had never seen her this upset before. She was not this distraught, when she saw her mother killed, and became Clan Mother. He tried to comfort her, and she told him what she did. He could not understand why she was so upset, it was an innocent mistake. Amblin-Elu told him he did not understand. She had hurt a special woman, and now the clan would have to pay for what she did. Her intentions do not matter, it is what she did that counted. Amblin-Elu cried herself to sleep that night. The second time she did that, since her mother died. Tragedy was coming to her people, and she could not stop it. It was worse because she is its cause.
The next day she found the children. She told her daughter and her niece that she needs to speak to Krillgan for a moment, and asked for some privacy. Krillgan did not want to talk to her, but she is Ludia's mother, and Ludia is a good friend. He did not care that she was the Clan Mother. So he stood where he was. She knelt down so that they could talk face to face. She asked Krillgan if he had detected any life in his mother's tummy. Krillgan said he did not know. There is so much life on this planet, that he can hardly detect the little bits of life inside of him. He would have to focus his attention if he wanted to detect life in her tummy. Amblin-Elu, looked at the ground, then she looked at Krillgan.
"I did something bad yesterday."
"I know."
"No. I did something really, really, really bad yesterday."
Krillgan could see the tears in her eyes.
"What I'm telling you is not a secret, so you can tell your parents if you think you should. But I think if you tell them, you will hurt them almost as much as I did yesterday. I am telling you because you are a Sister. I think your mother was pregnant, and I caused her to lose the baby. I'm so very, very sorry. I wish that I did not do what I did. But what has been done cannot be undone."
Krillgan had tears in his eyes, because he really wanted a brother or sister. The Clan Mother was surprised to hear him utter the last phrase with her. She told Krillgan that she was not going to ask his forgiveness, because she does not deserve to be forgiven. Krillgan sensed that she was deeply hurt by what she had done. He looked at her and said,
"But I do forgive you, because it is the right thing to do."
Amblin-Elu hugged Krillgan, and they both cried.
Andriel and Chitrah saw the Clan Mother hugging Krillgan. After the Clan Mother let go of him, he saw them, and went up to them. While she went to the two girls. Andriel and Chitrah asked him, what was that about? He told them that she was really upset with herself, because she had hurt them really bad, and did not deserve to be forgiven. He said he forgave her anyway, so she hugged him to thank him. He did not tell his parents that she believed that Andriel had been pregnant, but wasn't anymore. He knew the Clan Mother was right, he would hurt them a lot if he told them. Andriel and Chitrah both told him that they also forgive her, and he can tell her that the next time he sees her.
The three children loved using the force, especially to help them get around and explore things that they have never explored before. They would cover in one day, what would normally take the average adult three days' worth of hiking to cover. One day they had gone farther than they had ever gone before. They forgot to stop and rest, and really needed to take a nap, when suddenly they stumbled across a big bull Malkloc. As soon as the Malkloc saw them, it started chasing after them. The children could run faster than the Malkloc using the force, but had trouble doing so, because they were tired. Especially Diennu, because she was the youngest, and therefore the weakest, not being able to connect to the force as easily as her two friends. Krillgan noticed her struggling and started sharing his strength with her, something he had never done before.
They both knew that he could not keep this up for very long. There was no way they could make it all the way back to the village, before the Malkloc caught up with them. Krillgan sensed a large life force, and yelled at Ludia to change her direction, while he helped Diennu to follow. He really hoped it was not another Malkloc, or they would be in a real lot, of trouble. As they drew closer, Krillgan sensed that it was a Rancor. He could not sense a human near it, so it must be a wild one. He hoped little children were not on its menu today. They found it on the far side of a clearing. It was bigger than the average midland Rancor. More like a smaller upland Rancor. The Rancor was surprised by the three children running up to it, then speaking to it, asking it for help. Even though it was hungry, they stirred inside of him, the need to help them. He spoke to the smallest of the children. I can hear you the best so only you speak. Diennu told the Rancor that a bull Malkloc is chasing them, and they needed his help to defeat it. The Rancor asked her how he could defeat it. It takes more than one Rancor to take down a Malkloc. They told him they would help him. He just needs to do as they tell him. He agreed.
When the Malkloc entered the clearing and saw the large Rancor, it thought that there must be a herd nearby, and the little Rancor it was chasing had returned to the herd. So it stopped and turned around to leave. The three children grabbed it by the force. They did not want this Malkloc to get away, after hurting them, and wanting to kill them. It must be punished. The Malkloc knew something was holding it back from leaving. If it did not face the adult Rancor, it would catch it from behind and kill it. So it decided to charge the adult Rancor and trample it. Then it would trample the little Rancor. Maybe then it could leave before the rest of the herd arrived. Diennu told the Rancor to bring its hands together and raise them up high. When she tells it to, it must smash the Malkloc's head into the ground, than move quickly out of its way. The Rancor was nervous, this was a very big Malkloc, and it was charging, if he did not react quickly enough, it could trample him to death. Krillgan gave Diennu the signal, and she told the Rancor to strike now. The Rancor hammered down hard on the Malkloc's head, then tried getting out of its way. The Malkloc's jaw hit the ground, causing its head to roll along the ground while the body continued moving forward. This caused the Malkloc to break its own neck. With the head acting as both the anchor and pivot, the dead Malkloc flipped over onto its back, sliding on the ground until it came to a stop. Then it rolled over to one side.
The Rancor was clipped by the Malkloc's hind leg but was too excited to notice. He ran up and punched the Makloc in the gut. When it did not react, the Rancor ripped it open, and started eating its liver, his favourite part of the animal. After it had gulped down a few mouthfuls, Krillgan felt it was safe to approach it, and asked it if it was injured anywhere. The Rancor stopped eating for a moment and looked at the purple child. Suddenly it felt the stinging in its shoulder, and told the child that it could feel some pain in its shoulder. From the ground Krillgan could not tell the difference between Malkloc blood, and Rancor blood. He asked the Rancor to hold out its arm, so that he could climb up and look. The Rancor did as it was told, while it held a piece of liver in its other hand that it was chewing on. When Krillgan climbed up its arm, it found the gashes the Malkloc made, when it clipped the Rancor with its hind foot. Krillgan put his hands over the gashes, and healed the Rancor. The Rancor felt that its shoulder had stopped stinging. It stopped eating to watch what this purple child was doing. When Krillgan finished healing the Rancor's gashes. He asked it if it was hurting anywhere else. The Rancor asked the purple child, if he just healed him? Krillgan said "yes".
Ludia told the Rancor, that they were from the Singing Mountain Clan. Did he want them to introduce him to their Herd Mother? The Rancor quickly shoved the rest of the pieces of liver it had in its hand, into its mouth, and almost swallowed it without chewing. He told the child that he would like that. Being part of a herd was more important than eating right now. He had heard that this herd was the largest, and always had plenty of food for its members. It has never sent any Rancor away from its herd, for lack of food, since it joined with the humans.
The three Sisters and their Rancor, that were outside guarding the main gate of the village. Saw this Rancor approaching the village, at a faster pace than a Rancor could run on its own, but they did not see any Sister helping it. They tensed not knowing what to do. They did not think it was a mad Rancor, because it was not behaving erratically. It was moving with purpose. It wasn't until it went down into a dip in the trail that they could make out three small heads on its back. Kreen Raek started laughing, it could only be her three charges. When the Rancor stopped in front of the guards. The three children sat up higher on the Rancor's back. Ludia said that they want to take their new friend to the Herd Mother. Krillgan said that he killed a really big Malkloc. Diennu said that he saved their lives. Kreen told the other two guards that she will be responsible for them. She could hardly wait to hear their story. They followed her into the village, into the Rancor area, and headed to the Herd Mother. The adult Rancor inside the den area, saw the three children on the new Rancor's back, and followed them. Rancor love to hear a good story, and this promised to be a good one. Kreen got down off of her Rancor, and bowed to the Herd Mother to show respect, and told her that her three children had brought her a new Rancor.
The three children had decided that Krillgan would be their spokesperson because he was the oldest. They got down off of the Rancor, and followed Kreen's lead and bowed to the Herd Mother. Krillgan started telling her their story. The other Rancor were a bit disappointed, because Krillgan had not yet learnt how to speak to all of them at once. Krillgan was being diplomatic, and told the Herd Mother that they were all tired from running all day, when they accidentally encountered a large bull Malkloc. The Malkloc chased them, and they were too tired to run all the way back to the village for help. They sensed the Rancor's presence, and turned to him for help.
The Herd Mother stopped Krillgan right there, and told everyone to sit down. She asked the new Rancor to continue the story, so that everyone could hear. The new Rancor had sat down with everyone else. But when he started sharing the story he had to get up to show everyone everything. They all thought he was exaggerating when he showed how big the Malkloc was, they liked the way he stood while the Malkloc was charging at him. They all thought he was a good story teller. They liked how he showed them how he brought his hands down to smash the Malkloc's head to the ground when the smallest child told him to. He then tried to get out of the Malkloc's way as it flipped over on its back, but somehow the Malkloc hit him. He showed how far the Malkloc slid, tearing up the ground, until it came to a stop. He was expecting the Malkloc to get up at any moment, because the blow he gave it to the head was not strong enough to kill it. When it did not move he went up to it and punched it in the belly. If it was alive, he expected it to move, because that was its soft spot. When it did not move, he ripped it open and started eating the liver, because he was hungry and that was his favourite part.
From the way the other Rancor reacted, he knew he did something wrong. The Herd Mother told him to continue. He told the Herd Mother that after he had a few mouthfuls, the purple child asked him if he was injured. That's when he felt the stinging in his shoulder, he told the child this, and the child wanted to see, so he held out his arm for the child to climb up. To his surprise the child healed him. Then the quiet child (he pointed at Ludia) spoke up and asked if he would like to meet their Herd Mother, he stopped eating and said yes. The Herd Mother asked if there was any of the liver left to eat. He said that there was more than he could eat all at once.
The Herd Mother spoke to two Rancor to go get the Malkloc. They knew where it was from the story. Krillgan spoke up and said that two were not enough. The Herd Mother was surprised, she thought that they were exaggerating in the storytelling. She asked Krillgan if four where enough. Krillgan replied, "Only if two Sisters are strengthening them." The other two children nodded their head in agreement. The Herd Mother thought that the Malkloc looked big, because they were so small. She decided to humour the children and asked Kreen if two Sisters could accompany the four Rancor. Kreen understood that she was doing this for the children, but agreed to arrange for two Sisters to accompany them.
After they left, the Herd Mother asked the new Rancour, if he was still hungry? He said yes! Which made all the female Rancor laugh, to them it seemed that the male Rancor were always hungry, even when they were full. The Herd Mother asked one of the children if they could go to the kitchen and bring back a porridge cake for this Rancor to try. Diennu got up and ran to the kitchen. She came back with two different types for the Rancor to try. After he tried one, the Herd Mother told him that this is what they normally eat in the morning. He replied that it tastes good, but he would need more than one. Which made all the other Rancor laugh. Diennu gave him the other porridge cake to try.
The Herd Mother was starting to get impatient. She thought they should have been back by now. A while later, they heard a commotion at the gate. A Rancor came from the gate area and told the Herd Mother that the Malkloc's body was too big to fit through the gate. The Sisters would have to lift it up and over the gate.
When the Malkloc's body was brought into the den area, all the Rancor were impressed. It really was as big as they all said. They could not believe that he killed it all by himself. The Herd Mother asked the new Rancor to bring her a piece of the liver. That's how he found out that it was her favourite part, as well. As Herd Mother, she gets to select the first piece of any kill. He brought her a big piece, and told her that there was still more if she wanted it. After she finished the piece, the Herd Mother asked the other female Rancor if there was any reason that they should not accept this new Rancor into their herd. None of them commented, so the Herd Mother asked the new Rancor to approach her.
Ludia and Diennu asked, "What are they doing now?"
Krillgan answered, "I think they are having sex."
"What's that?"
"I don't know. My father said he would tell me about it when I'm older. He said that many animal species have sex, including humans. I can tell you that the reason they are doing it, is because they are rubbing their bodies together. The Rancor identify everyone by how they smell, even us. Because this Rancor is new to the herd, and they don't know his smell yet. He could be attacked and killed. But because he will have the Herd Mother's smell on him, and everyone knows the Herd Mother's smell, no one will attack him, and they will get used to his smell."
Kreen was so glad that she did not have to explain what was happening, to the children. Krillgan did a much better job of it then she could have. He has special parents that are willing to talk with him about this stuff at his age, and still keep him innocent.
Ludia told the other children that she may have seen her parents have sex once. She told them that she woke up at night and had to go to the latrine. She had never gone to the latrine by herself before and went to her parents' bedroom to ask her mother to go with her. She saw her father on top of her mother, and heard her mother moan. At first she thought he was hurting her. But mother is way stronger than father. If he was hurting her, she could easily have thrown him off of her. Then she saw them kiss, and knew everything was okay. Mother will never let father kiss her when she is angry at him. So she left the bedroom and went to the latrine by herself.
Kreen told Mother everything she overheard the children say, when she gave her report the next day. When Mother blushed from what her daughter said, Kreen knew that she was human after all.
After the sex, the Herd Mother asked the children, if one of them wanted to be bondmate to this Rancor? Everyone expected that Krillgan would choose to be his bondmate, because he was the oldest. They were surprised when Diennu spoke up and said that she should be bondmate. It was her life that he saved. Krillgan and Ludia, were both still strong enough, that they could have made it to the village. She was the one that was too tired and had to stop running. The other children agreed with her. The Herd Mother asked Diennu, if she had a name for him. She said his name is Protector, because he is her protector. When the Herd Mother told all the Rancor what the name meant, they all thought it was a good name.
Captain Richard was as proud as a man could be on his wedding day. He had made his way back to Manaan after dropping the family off on Dathomir. He told the Selkath elders that the family was safe and happy. They refilled the bottle they gave him, as promised. He also told the elders he was retiring, which did not surprise them. Now it was his wedding day.
He was very happy to see the Commodore and his wife. He was sorry his group leader could not make it. He will have to ask the Commodore about Kenny at the reception. Right now his beautiful wife to be, was walking down the aisle towards him, and Bikto was standing as his best man. Fred had given him a hard time, because as first officer, he thought he should have had that honour. He had to explain to Fred, that Bikto had been on every crew he had, since before he purchased the Fenelar Phoenix. He was in even more of a huff, when he was told he would not be taking over as Captain.
The Captain and Cothia had instructed the government official conducting the ceremony, that they wanted the shortest version possible. They were not young, and neither were their guests. The guy delivered. In two minutes it was over. They basically agree to be husband and wife, and kissed to seal the agreement. The kiss was almost as long as the ceremony, because they wanted a long and happy marriage.
They greeted their guests, as they went from the new chapel, straight to the reception hall. It was interesting to hear how many husbands wished their wedding ceremony had been this short. When the Commodore came through the line, Captain Richard asked him if Group Leader Kenny was alright, because he did not see him here. Commodore Radcliff told him that Kenny had also recently married, and his new bride could not make the trip. So he decided to stay with her on Yitabo. Captain Richard asked him to pass along his congratulations to Kenny. If the Republic and Sith decide to ease things up, then he would like to bring his bride to meet him. The Commodore said that Kenny would really like that.
Captain Richard decided to take a shot in the dark. He asked the Commodore, if he had ever met a Mrs. Grimshaw? The Commodore looked at him, "Know her. I married her. This lovely creature your wife is talking to, used to be Mrs. Grimshaw, until she agreed to be Mrs. Radcliff. How do you know that name?" The Captain had to squeeze Cothia's hand real hard to keep her from launching herself at Mrs. Radcliff, and giving her hugs and kisses.
Richard called over one of the girls helping with the serving, and asked her to seat the Commodore and his wife at their table, as their special guests during their wedding reception.
After they left. The Captain turned to his bride and kissed her. He whispered in her ear that he was sorry that he hurt her, but it is very important that Mrs. Radcliff not know, that we know she is Andriel's mother. Cothia had tears in her eyes, not just from the pain that Richard caused in her hand, but because of the pain in her heart. At least she will be at their table, and she will get a chance to know her.
After they greeted all the guests. Richard called all the girls that were helping with the serving, and had met Andriel, to a meeting in the Chapel. He told them that the Commodore's wife, was Andriel's adoptive mother. They cannot let her know that they know that. But it is okay for them to treat her special, because she was a guest at their table. All the girls were looking forward to meeting her, and were happy that she would be sitting with Madam, and the Captain.
The Commodore thought that he and his wife were being treated special, because of his relationship with the Captain during the last Mandalore War. He was surprised to find that the new bride chose to sit beside his wife, rather than beside the groom, and were separated from each other by the best man, and his fiancé, on one side, and the Commodore and his wife on the other.
The Commodore found out from the Captain that he had met an interesting couple and their young son at a spaceport, and had a chance to share a meal with them, and a cup of tea. While they were waiting for their next flight. They told him about visiting Yitabo while they were just newly married, and had been very well received by a Mrs. Grimshaw, but they never mentioned anything about the Commodore. The Commodore told him that no one on Yitabo knows him by his military rank, and he tries to keep a very low profile. His wife never heard their conversation, because she was too busy talking to the bride about her dress.
Mrs. Radcliff told Cothia that the design looks very familiar, she would not be surprised if she knew the designer. Cothia told her, that her onsite dressmaker had gotten her hands on the designs, by an unknown designer. They wished they could meet the designer, to thank them, and to get more designs from them. Cothia called over the dressmaker, who was helping as a server. She introduced her to Mrs. Radcliff, saying that she too would like to meet the unknown designer of the wedding dress. The dressmaker picked up on what Madam was saying. She told Mrs. Radcliff that the outfit she was wearing, was her own interpretation of one of the designs. Mrs. Radcliff said that she could see the inspiration, and liked what she did with it. She also complimented her on her sewing ability. The dressmaker told her that she had received some instruction, encouragement, and inspiration, from a special lady when she first started. It was a pity she was only passing through. She would have liked to have been further trained by her. Mrs. Radcliff sighed, she told them that this type of seamstress is very rare. Like her daughter Andriel. At least her daughter had a chance to touch a lot of lives.
The dressmaker excused herself, and said she had to go, as tears started filling her eyes. She found a place where she could cry, then freshened herself, and went back to serving. She was afraid to go back to Madam's table. She was afraid that she would start crying on Mrs. Grimshaw's shoulder and give everything away.
The Commodore noticed that his wife was getting more attention from the servers than even the bride and groom. It was almost like she was the bride's mother. Then he figured it out. At the end of the reception. The Commodore asked the Captain, if he knows whether the family he met at that spaceport, ever made it to where they were going. The Captain said that as far as he knew, they arrived safe and sound. He was smiling, because he knew the Commodore figured it out.
When they arrived back on Yitabo. Mr. Radcliff called a family meeting. He told everyone that he has good news. Andriel, Chitrah, and little Krillgan, have arrived safely on a planet where the Sith will never find them. Emily stared at her husband. She asked him how he knew this. He told her, that he and the Captain communicated. Kenny smiled, this took him back years. They learnt to talk with the ones they trusted, because they were never sure if the other people listening could be trusted.
Emily asked him, if Captain Richard told him where they are? He said no. It was too dangerous to ask. Emily was really upset, "You didn't ask him where my daughter and grandson are. You know how much they mean to me. How could you not ask?" "Emily you know that Kenny and I will do everything in our power to keep you and Bacgruta safe. What you don't know is what we have already done. Those nice young ladies serving you at the wedding banquet, don't have anyone to protect them, like you do. Was it right for me to obtain information about something you should not know?"
Emily looked confused and asked Rudy to explain himself.
"Why do you think the bride choose to sit beside you, rather than her husband? Why do you think all the young ladies were giving you better service, than either the bride or groom were getting?" Emily turned red, she hadn't noticed. It never occurred to her that the bride was giving her all her attention. She just thought that they were all being very friendly. Rudy told her that when they were in line after the wedding ceremony, the Captain asked him if he knew a Mrs. Grimshaw. "I told him that I knew her quite well, because I married her." When the bride heard that you were Mrs. Grimshaw, the Captain actually hurt his bride to keep her from doing anything stupid. "There were a lot of people at that banquet who would sell their own mothers to slavers, if they could be sure it would put food on their table for a month. All the young women who were doting on you, have all met Andriel. If I would have mentioned Andriel's name. Then all those young women would have been in danger of being kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. By bounty hunters wanting to collect the double bounty on Andriel, Chitrah, and Krillgan. I know that Andriel would have been very upset if she found out that we did that."
Emily felt humbled. She did not want to be the one, to cause harm to all those nice people. She knew Rudy was right. She had the news she needed. Her daughter and family were safe. They did not have to worry about the Sith taking their baby.
Chitrah had arranged with the Clan Mother to only train the people who were responsible for training everyone else in martial arts. The only exception was that he continued to train his son, so he trained the two girls that were learning to be Sisters with him. The other thing he did, after consulting with all of the trades people, including the women responsible for the kitchen, was to talk to the Clan Mother about harnessing the waterfall that was falling from the temple level, to the village level. A height of around five meters. He wanted to build a water wheel to harness this energy. They could use the energy to power a flour mill, the blacksmiths' bellows, and the saws and lathes the carpenters use. He was sure that they would find additional uses for the energy, once it was built. He showed the Clan Mother the detailed drawings he made, along with the breakdown of the different parts each trade would need, to make for this to work.
When they did a walk around, so Chitrah could explain what he physically wanted to do at each site, they found a cavity behind the waterfall. Because the opening was small, and no life energy could be detected. The three children were allowed to be the first to explore it. They were taught how to make cold force light, at a much younger age, than anyone had been taught before. Diennu really struggled making it, but was told by her mother not to worry, because they don't normally teach it until they are usually five years older than her, and some of them even have a hard time. Ludia also struggled, but seemed to do a little better. Krillgan caught on quickly, and was able to hold it for quite a while. The mothers found that if they help their daughters start it, in their daughters' hands, they could usually keep it going for a long time. When the Clan Mother felt they were ready, she let them go in. When the children were inside, Amblin-Elu, and her sister Butashe, stayed by the opening, and got to see that it was a long ways in. The children did not stay too long, because it was very cold inside. They said that they could see their breaths inside. Chitrah was rather excited about this. He told the Clan Mother that it would be an excellent cold storage area. It would be like a root cellar, but colder. The ale brewers though that it would be an excellent place to store their ale, and convenient.
The Clan Mother asked Chitrah if he thought they should just tunnel a larger opening into it. Chitrah told her that they have to be careful how they cut an opening into it. Cold air is similar to water, in that it is heavier than regular air, and flows. If they just cut an opening, and are not careful. They could cause all the cold air to flow out and warm air would flow in to replace it. Eventually it would warm up to the point that it would have no benefits as a place for cold storage. She asked him what he suggested. He said the children need to go back in, but this time they should be wearing furs. They will need to have ropes with them, so that they can make measurements inside. From the rope measurements, they can know how big it is inside, and how best to tunnel access to it. The children who were drinking hot tea to warm up, and had cloaks put on them by older Sisters, said they would go back in if they had furs to keep them warm. The problem was that most of the larger creatures on Dathomir, were reptilian in origin, so they had skin or scale, not fur. The Verne had coarse hair that was usually removed when they made leather from its hide. Chitrah felt that if they did not remove the hair, and he sewed two hides, hair side to hair side. He could make the children some nice warm leather coats. The Clan Mother gave him permission to talk to the tanners about that, and to make the coats. Chitrah also talked to Krillgan, to get an idea of the enormity of the cavity. From his talk with Krillgan, he figured out how to get an accurate measurement of the inside of the cavity. He had the children practise what he wanted them to do with ropes. He started with a rope that would measure the length of the cavity. To this rope they would attach cross pieces to measure the different widths, there would be other pieces to measure vertical distances. Since Krillgan was better at holding the light, the girls would be doing most of the rope work. When the girls said they were comfortable with what they were supposed to do. Chitrah finished their leather coats, and informed the Clan Mother.
It was a tighter squeeze because of the leather coats. Chitrah passed the end of the main rope to Krillgan, and passed all the smaller pieces to the girls. When they said they were finished. Chitrah pulled the main rope out with all of its attached pieces. To many of the people looking on, it looked like he was pulling out a spider's web. When the children came out, they told everyone that they were quite warm in their coats, and could have stayed in there much longer. They also did not have to worry about getting cuts or scrapes from the sharp rock edges. The next evening. Chitrah invited the children, the Clan Mother, some of the Sisters, and some of the elders. To the rooftop patio of their home. He started his computer and showed a 3D holographic image of the cavity, based on the measurements he took from what the children did with the ropes. He asked the children if this is what it looked like inside. The children said it was really close. He then added the ledge that the temple was built on and the temple itself. They could see how the cavity looked inside the rock. Chitrah said he believed that part of the stream used to flow into that cavity and out the hole. But when the first Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan, built the temple, they sealed the upper entrance to the cavity with the temple's foundation. Diverting the stream of water around the temple. One of the Sisters asked Chitrah if it was because of the cold cavity that the temple was always cold. Chitrah told her that the Temple was cold, and the cavity was cold, for the same reason. The water flowing around the temple. He told them that water is always trying to get into the air. So it needs to absorb heat energy from its surroundings to do so. Flowing water seems to be better at doing this than stagnant water. So the water flowing around the Temple absorbs heat energy from it and the rock that it sits on. Since the cavity is inside the rock. It cools down as well. He showed on his 3D image, where he would recommend putting the entrance way into the cavity, so most of the cold air stays inside. The Clan Mother asked him if he would recommend them sealing up the way the children entered the cavity. He said yes, but only with large clear quartz crystals, so that daylight can continue to enter, for people who cannot use the force to generate light.
For most of the people who were there, this was the first time for them to be on this roof top patio, of the home built for Andriel, Chitrah, and Krillgan. Andriel offered them all a cup of tea from her own private stock of tea that she brought with her. This patio was built so that Chitrah could leave the computers there, to charge in the sun, and not have to worry about anyone trying to play with them when they are not around. They see now, that it is also a nice place to entertain friends on a pleasant evening.
To the children it was just another place where they can come to play. It was a nice place for them to practice jumping off the ledge around the patio, to the ground below, and using the force to slow them down so they don't hurt themselves. The first time they did it. Andriel happened to be on the patio, and almost had a heart attack. When she looked over the ledge to the ground below, to see if they were alright, Kreen waved up at her and told her that they all did well for their first jump. When she saw the look of concern on Mother Andriel's face. She asked the children, if they had told Mother Andriel that they would be practise jumping from her home? Krillgan said he forgot. Ludia said she forgot, too. Diennu said she forgot, too, too. Andriel said it was okay, she often forgets that they can do things she can't. So her body is used to the occasional heart attack. Kreen laughed and thanked her for understanding. Then she told her that in a few months' time, she will be teaching them to jump from the ground on to the ledge of her patio. Then she jumped up to demonstrate. Andriel told her to warn her, so that she is not there to watch. Kreen laughed and did a backflip off the ledge to the ground.
When they cut the entrance way into the cavity, they also removed all the sharp edges of rock. They enlarged the opening where the children climbed in and sealed it with quartz crystals like Chitrah recommended. What surprised everyone was that the cavity became cold enough to start freezing things for half of the year, but was not cold enough to freeze the ale. Everyone thought it was nicely chilled. But it was a lovely way to preserve berries. This took a lot of pressure off of the kitchen during berry season. There wasn't the mad scramble to make jams before the fruit spoiled. All the villages sent their excess berries to the main village to have them freeze them. They were also able to make berry combinations for jam that they were never able to do before. It was a nice trade item for the other clans because none of them could make it.
The water wheel was a success. The woman in charge of the kitchen found that they did not need as many people in the kitchen to prepare meals because of it. Their other villages would come once a cycle to grind up enough flour to last them through the cycle. Chitrah even added another belt for the kitchen, to make a pounder, to flatten the grains to make porridge for the porridge cakes. It was so easy to make porridge that it became a regular breakfast item during the colder months, and to top it off with frozen berries. When the other clans found out what Father Chitrah built for them. They asked the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, if she could loan Chitrah to them. So that he could design and supervise the construction on improvement projects for them. In the Red Hills Clan, he built a windmill to provide the power they need.
Because wind was plentiful in the mornings, and evenings. The trades' people got into the habit of starting work earlier, and finishing later, and taking a nap during the calm of the day. In the Frenzied River Clan, he had them build an aqueduct from a portion of the river upstream, right into the heart of the main village, and built a waterwheel there. The villagers loved that they no longer had to walk down to the river to get their water. For the Misty Falls Clan, he also built an aqueduct, but from one of the lesser falls, because they considered the main falls sacred, because of all the healing plants that grow around it. For the Great Canyon Clan, he built two aqueducts, one for the main village, and one for the artisans' village, where the glassworks take place.
Things were going so well for the Singing Mountain Clan that the Clan Mother convinced herself that her clan was not going to experience judgment, because of what she had done. The Militia had arranged a demonstration for their Clan Mother. They showed their prowess in hand-to-hand combat, and they demonstrated their skill in using the clan fighting stick. To test their skills, the Clan Mother selected four of the militia, who demonstrated their skill in using the fighting stick, and she handed a fighting stick to one of her Sisters. She wanted to see who would disarm who first. The Sister knew that if the militia members disarmed her, she would be the laughing stock of the whole clan. She did not know that Clan Mother had selected her, because she was one of the better fighters amongst the Sisters, in using the fighting stick.
The five of them fought well, pride was on the line. Finally the Sister was able to disarm one of the militia. After that it became easier to disarm the other three. When she finished, everyone present clapped. The Sister knew they were not just clapping for her, they were showing their appreciation for all of their fighters. The Clan Mother asked her, if they should incorporate this type of fighting, in training clan Sisters? She definitely thought they should. They gave her quite a work out. It could only improve the fighting skills of both the militia and the clan Sisters. Clan Mother asked the Militia, why they wanted to give this demonstration. Her husband was their spokesman. He told her that the Militia wanted a chance to take the caravan to town unescorted, the way the settlements have to. The clan always has clan Sisters and militia on regular patrol throughout their territory. The caravan should travel with a horn to sound the alarm, and they can get the Rancor out of their harnesses real quick. They have to, in case there is a bull Malkloc that needs to be dealt with. They were hoping, with this demonstration, to show that they can keep a Nightsister occupied until help arrives. The next caravan is only going to be a small one, with only four carts. They will carry double the amount of militia to compensate for not being escorted.
They did not know that they were being spied upon. There was a crow in a tree that was closer than any wild crow would normally be. It was watching them intently. It was being controlled by a Nightsister.
The Clan Mother saw how important this was to the Militia, they had trained very hard, and deserved this as recognition of their efforts. She agreed, and her husband told her who would be in the caravan. All of them had taken part in the demonstration. When the day came, the carts were filled with new ale that had been heated, to kill any yeast, so it could no longer ferment. The new ale was left at the compound for the settlements. They preferred the Singing Mountain Clan's new ale, to the ale that the town has, since the new ale can be enjoyed by everyone. The settlements leave cheese in the compound in exchange. Now the Singing Mountain Clan does not need cheese, but the town does. So they will exchange tea, or anything else the Singing Mountain Clan would like, in exchange for the cheese. It's an honour system, where everyone is happy.
When the carts were loaded. The assigned teams said good bye to their family. Diennu's father Cryllon, was to ride in the first cart with Riktob. Diennu begged her father not to go on this trip, but on the next one. She told him that something was wrong, he should not go. He told her that he has to go. People were counting on him. As a member of the clan, he has the responsibility to do what he can when he can. Diennu started crying, "I know. Just don't go on this trip." Now Ludia had been proud that her father was going, because he said that it was such an important trip. But when she saw her cousin behaving this way. She became scared, and started pleading with her father not to go. The mothers did not know what was wrong with their little girls, and had to hug them so that they would let their fathers go. When they were seated in the carts. Diennu managed to break free of her mother and ran up to the cart. She told her father she loved him, and held up her arms to him. He reached down and hugged and kissed his little girl, and told her that he loves her. Then he asked her to tell her mother that he loves her too. Amblin-Elu let Ludia go so that she could do the same. When Diennu, came back to her mother, she hugged what she could reach of her, and told her that father loves her.
Her mother knelt down, and hugged her back. Then she asked her, "why all the tears?"
"Because he is not coming back."
Butashe looked at her older sister with the look that said, "Do something!"
Amblin-Elu wondered what. If she sends out an escort based on the tears of a little girl, the Militia will be demoralised. She called over the Sister that was supposed to take the next patrol out. She instructed her to stay close to the caravan, but not to let them see her. Then she warned her not to get distracted. Butashe thanked her sister. She knew there was not much more she could do, without upsetting their husbands.
The caravan had Riktob and Cryllon, in the first cart. The second cart had two sisters. The oldest, Jewel, had been a Ranger with Riktob, and he always said that she was a better shot. The third and fourth carts had couples riding in each of them. The Rancor that were pulling the carts, were caravan veterans, and had bonded with the militia members, even though they were not Sisters. For the Sister and militia following the caravan, they expected this to be a very boring patrol, because the caravan stops every night. The patrols like to do most of their traveling at night. That is when they have the best success encountering a Nightsister. They figure that it was going to take five full days before they reach the fork in the trail that leads to the gate. On their own they would reach it by the morning of the fourth day.
As they approached the fork, the Sister suddenly felt compelled by the force to duck her head. As she did an arrow sailed by. She did not know if she was more surprised, that a Nightsister had just shot an arrow at her, or that a Nightsister was able to get close enough to her to shot an arrow, undetected by her. Without thinking she gave chase, and her militia ran right after her. This Nightsister was both fast and cunning, she knew where all the dense underbrush was, which would force the clan Sister's Rancor to go around. This was like chasing a Moog.
The clan Sister at the gate saw two Nightsisters heading toward the sandstone quarry. She decided to give them a friendly, neighbourly welcome, when they reached the top of the small trail. She told the militia members with her at the gate, to blow the horn, and light the signal fire, if anyone approaches the gate. Whatever they do, do not open the gate for anyone until she gets back.
When she was out of eyesight of the gate. A crow landed near the militia members, and told them in a female voice to open the gate or she will kill them. Suddenly a feeling of dread overwhelmed them. Three of them ran to open the gate, one weekly objected. The fifth one stood petrified with fear, not even able to raise the horn she was holding, to her lips, to give it a blow. When the clan Sister reached the top of the small trail. There were already two Nightsisters there waiting. They were not the two, that she saw heading to the quarry. She engaged them right away, and was disappointed that they did not try their usual tricks, and try using force lightening. They were using their force energy like she was, to keep strong and agile. After a few minutes of fighting, the other two Nightsisters showed up. They were both young, and inexperienced. It seemed to her that the two older Nightsisters were using her as a training exercise for the two younger Nightsisters. Whenever she started breaking down their guard, the two older ones would step in and force her back, allowing the younger ones to regroup.
The convoy did not know it was under attack, until a shower of arrows hit them. Cryllon was hit in his left arm, but moved to unhook the Rancor. Riktob grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows and jumped over the side of the cart, to start returning fire. Jewel in the second cart did as he did, unfortunately her sister was hit in the leg. She was better with the fighting stick then she was as an archer. Still she quickly managed to unhook the Rancor from her cart, and used the fighting stick as a crutch, until she was close enough to hit someone with it. The two couples also reacted instinctively, unfortunately the husband in the fourth cart was killed by the first barrage of arrows, as he was the closest and easiest target for the ten archers that accompanied the four Nightsisters. Riktob instinctively shot his first arrow at the first enemy archer he saw, before he remembered to blow his horn.
The Patrol had chased the Nightsister to the edge of the escarpment that separates the midlands from the lowlands. When they heard the horn. The Sister was very upset with herself, because she realised that she had disobeyed her Mother, and allowed herself to be distracted. All she could do now, was try and get back to the convoy as fast as she could, leaving her militia behind. She could hear the Nightsister laughing at her as she climbed down the escarpment away from her. The clan Sister fighting the four Nightsisters also heard the horn, but could not disengage from fighting them without exposing herself. She was comforted in knowing the sound of the horn did not come from the gate, and fought on. Jewel anticipated that Riktob would go after the closest target, so she went after the farthest ones. She had killed three enemy archers before Riktob had put down the horn, and started firing his bow again. The enemy archers had panicked at losing four of their members so quickly, and started looking around to see who was targeting them. This allowed Riktob and Jewel to take out the last six before they fired another arrow. Those quick firing Ranger exercises paid off. The four caravan Rancor attacked the Nightsisters and their Rancor. The surviving militia started harassing them as well.
Riktob remembered his niece's reaction, when the caravan departed. He believed in his heart that he was not going to survive this day, so he was determined to make his death count. He ran up the back of the closest caravan Rancor, which was grappling with a Nightsister's Rancor. He launched himself at the Nightsister, smacking her in the side of her head with his cupped hand, stunning her. His body's momentum knocking her to the ground. His real target was her earring. The tangible evidence his wife would need to do whatever she did in retaliation.
The Militia was able to give the fallen Nightsister quite a beating before she recovered herself enough to run an unarmed Riktob through with her sword, attached to the end of her fighting cane. Two of the other Nightsisters had to dismount to rescue their Sister before the Singing Mountain Clan militia members killed her.
Their Nightsister Mother was the only one in the group who had a Dathomirite blade, which could kill Rancor. By the time their Mother had killed the four Rancor. The three Nightsisters had killed all the militia members. They were surprised at how well they fought. All three Nightsisters had bruises on their arms, and at least one broken finger. One of Nightsisters' Rancor had bad lacerations on it arms. But the Nightsisters' Mother forced it to be harnessed to a cart. The one Nightsister that was badly beaten preferred to ride in the cart, rather than on the back of her Rancor. Before they left, they piled all of the dead bodies of their archers on three of the carts. They did not want to leave any tangible evidence that they were the ones who attacked the caravan. Even though everyone knew that no one else would have done it.
As they headed toward the gate, the Mother sent her crow to signal her Nightsisters that they can disengage from fighting the clan Sister. When they saw the crow, the Nightsisters jumped over the thorny hedge that blocked the top of the small trail. The clan Sister was so furious with them that she used all of her force energy to launch a force lightning attack against all four of them. The thing with force lightning, is that you do not actually have to see the target. You just need to know where it is. The clan Sister was rewarded with the sounds of four distinct screams. She fried them real good.
On her way to where she heard the sound of the horn, she ran past the gate. She was surprised to see all five militia members crouched down and shivering. None of them even looked at her as she ran by. The patrol Sister was the first one to reach the ambush site. She could see the evidence on the ground that the militia members put up quite a fight. As she was checking the bodies to see if anyone was still alive. The Sister from the gate showed up. Even though she could see that the Sister from the gate was tired, she told her to go light the signal fire, they need their Mother to get here as quickly as possible.
When the signal fire was lit, every clan Sister that saw it, converged on the gate. The militia lookout, in the tower near the main village, blew his horn to indicate that the signal fire had been lit.
The Clan Mother's heart almost stopped when she heard the horn. She grabbed her daughter and headed for Andriel's home. She met Butashe there, who had brought Diennu. They both asked Mother Andriel if they could leave their daughters with her.
Both women were sprinting for the Rancor area before Andriel had a chance to reply. A confused Andriel looked at the girls and asked them if they knew what was going on. Diennu, with tears in her eyes, told Mother Andriel that her father was not coming back to her. Ludia started crying as well. Andriel got down on both her knees and opened up her arms to the girls. They both ran into her arms and started balling. Chitrah and Krillgan, who were playing on the computers on the patio, heard the crying and came downstairs. Chitrah also got down on his knees and embraced the girls and his wife. Krillgan tried using the force to envelope them all in a sense of peace, because kolto cannot heal a broken heart.
When Amblin-Elu arrived at the ambush site. She was numb inside. She knew that she had caused this. Because she hurt Andriel and Chitrah, and took away their baby. Her husband was taken from her. But why did her sister also have to lose her husband, she was innocent in this. She knelt down and hugged her husband's body to herself. She started crying, and rocking back and forth as she held him.
A Sister touched her shoulder, "Excuse me Mother. But your husband appears to be clutching something in his hand." Amblin-Elu pried open her husband's hand, and held up the earring. She told the Sister, "That she is her witness, for the next Council of Mothers that this was found in my husband's hand." The Sister acknowledged that she is the witness. She then got up and looked at the ground. She had a kindling of pride in her heart. They put up quite a fight. She followed the cart tracks back to the gate. Butashe had seen her sister's purposeful movement, and gently laid her husband's body back on the ground, and looked at what her sister looked at, than followed her sister. When the Clan Mother reached the gate. She asked the Sister in charge of the gate, when the signal fire was lit? The Sister told her that it was after the bodies were discovered. The Clan Mother pointed at the militia woman still clutching the horn. "How many passed up through the gate?" The woman wanted to deny that anyone passed through the gate, but knew there was no point in lying.
"Four Nightsisters on Rancor, and ten archers."
"How many went back down?"
"The Four Rancor were harnessed to four carts. Three of the Rancor also had three Nightsisters riding them. The fourth one was in a cart. The other three carts had bodies piled on top. We did not know how many."
"How did they get through the gate?"
"We opened it."
Butashe asked them, "Why?"
They told them about the Nightsister appearing to them in the form of a crow, and threatened to kill them, if they did not open the gate. Then they were overwhelmed with fear, and did what the Nightsister said.
Their Mother asked them if they knew any of their clan's lore. They said they did. She said that they should have known that the crow was just a crow controlled by a Nightsister. Not the Nightsister herself. If one of them would have had the sense to whack the crow with a fighting stick, they would have killed the crow, and the fear would have left them. Then they could have lit the signal fire, and clan Sisters would have been there before one of the Nightsisters could have climbed the gate.
Amblin-Elu instructed the Sister in charge of the gate, to take the horn away from the woman holding it. She went to where the signal fire had been, and took some of the ashes in her hand. She went back toward the five militia members, and passed sentence on them. "Because you valued your lives, more than the lives of your clan's men, your lives are given you along with all the pain and suffering that comes with them. From this day you are cursed." With that she blew the ashes in her hand at them.
When the ash cloud settled, everyone could see that the three women and two men, were covered in sores, and their clothes looked like they were rotting on their bodies.
The Clan Mother told them that from now, until the day they die, they will be shunned by all people. They will be totally dependent on each other to find food, and warmth. Then she ordered them to go. They hobbled away as fast as they could go.
When the Clan Mother looked back at the Sisters that were with her, she saw them staring at her with open mouths.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Its written in the book, any of you could have done it."
Then she asked the Sister in charge of the gate, what happened, why wasn't she there? The Sister told her what happened. The Clan Mother told her that she does not believe that she did anything wrong. But the militia members are her responsibility. She most follow them to warn other people away from them, so that they do not become infected. She must also burn each body when they die, to eliminate the chance of the disease spreading. The clan will send Sisters to supply her with provisions, and to visit with her, so that she does not feel like she has been abandoned by the clan. When the last body is burnt, all her clothes must be burnt as well, because they will be contaminated, and she must be purified. But first, she must give them warning so that they can do it properly, and no one will be hurt.
She asked her Mother, if she was in danger of becoming infected herself? Mother told her that this disease cannot infect force users, but if she is not properly cleansed, she will carry the disease to other people who can become infected, including their own villages. The Sister thanked her, and left her to keep an eye on her charges. The Clan Mother sent a runner to warn the town about the infected people in the hills southeast of town.
The Sister in charge of the patrol approached the Clan Mother, and asked her what her punishment was? Since she disobeyed her, and allowed herself to be distracted by a Nightsister. The Clan Mother said that she will allow Butashe to decide her fate.
Butashe told her, that she is going to ask her to do the most difficult thing that she will ever do in her life. She must explain to all the children that lost a parent today, why she wasn't there to help them. The Sister started crying.
"I can't do that. Please ask me to do something else."
"But you must. You know they will ask you. You will find them very forgiving if you tell them the truth."
The Sister said that she will accept her punishment. Then she hugged Butashe and told her she was sorry. Then she hugged the Clan Mother and told her the same thing.
