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Amblin-Elu took her husband's body with her on her Rancor, because it would be the fastest way to carry him back to the main village. Butashe did the same. Sisters who were near kin to the other dead militia members, took their bodies. The hardest bodies to bring back were the Rancor. The Clan Mother said that they deserve as much respect as the militia did, because they also died fighting. It ended up taking two Rancor with their Sisters strengthening them, to bring back each of the Rancor bodies. Because they have no way to preserve dead bodies, funeral pyres were built for all the dead, as soon as they arrived back at the main village.

The Herd Mother was happy that the dead Rancor were being shown the same respect as the humans. Normally they just leave the dead Rancor out in the woodlands for the scavengers to fight over.

Every militia member left at least one child behind, some left more. When you include the Rancor bodies, all the pyres would be lit by their children.

When they were getting ready. The Clan Mother noticed a crow, fly over and land on top of the palisade surrounding the village. As if it wanted to watch. The Clan Mother killed it with force lightning. Everyone swore they heard a woman scream. The Clan Mother picked the dead crow up with the force, and carried it a ways down the trail, then burnt it with force lightning until it turned completely to dust. She did not want its dead body contaminating any of the funeral pyres. When she returned she gave the children the signal to light the pyres. As they were burning, she met with the elders. She asked them, if they knew if all of the children had homes where adults will look after them, since there were two couples in the caravan whose children were now orphans? The elders said that all the children were taken in by family. The Clan Mother told them that they need to keep an eye on them, so that they are not abused in the future. Then she asked about the children of the people she cursed, do they have anyone to look after them. They told her that they are still looking into that, people are not very quick to admit that they are related to them.

The ashes from the funeral pyres were collected and stored in the temple until the next planting. The book of Knowledge and Wisdom was also placed in the temple, and opened to the page that the curse was written on. Anyone who could read the Kwa symbols, also knew that they could have uttered the curse. While the book of Knowledge and Wisdom, was in the temple, along with the ashes. Two Sisters were assigned to guard the temple, each day.

Mother had told the elders what she was planning to do in retaliation for this attack. To do nothing would be to declare yourself weak, and would result in more unprovoked attacks. The elders knew this and gave her their blessing.

It was not hard to find volunteers, to want to punish the Nightsisters. She turned down two thirds of the Militia, and only took a handful of Sisters. All the clan Sisters wore Rancor armour, and had Dathomirite swords. (The Singing Mountain Clan had more Dathomirite swords than any other clan. Because they found more Dathomirite in their mountains, than any other clan.) The Sisters also wore their three silk flags on the end of three poles that were attached to the back of their armour. Each flag had three emblems on it. The emblem of their clan, the emblem of their family, and their own personal emblem. The flags could be of any colour or colours of their choosing, except yellow. Yellow was the colour of the flag they wore when going to visit settlements, so that they would not be challenged by the Sisters of the clan, whose territory they entered. With the Sisters' flags, and the ribbons the militia had on the top tips of their bows, so that they could judge the wind's direction, before releasing their arrows, it looked like a parade when the small army left the main village. They were accompanied by two Rancor pulling carts with their food supplies. (Mainly porridge cakes for the Rancor's breakfast.) Because the Militia was accompanying them, they had to move much slower than Mother would have liked. She did not need the Militia, but felt that they earned the right to come along.

The plan was simple, the Nightsisters had two villages. They were both in Singing Mountain Clan territory. They were going to take one out permanently. If another clan was willing to let the Nightsisters build a village in their territory, they can go right ahead. The one they were going to take out was the newer one, the one closest to the gate. The Nightsisters had claimed that it was the natural outgrowth of the camp that used to be in that vicinity, for the slaves that used to work the sandstone quarry. The one the Singing Mountain Clan had given permission for. Unfortunately, the Council of Mothers sided with them, in the interest of peace. This is the village that they have been using, to make up the archers they used on their failed attacks over the years. It seems that harvesting the grain from its fields is not a high priority. The hard part in taking out the village, was in not killing the slaves that lived there. The only ones they wanted to kill, are any Nightsisters they find in the area.

They encountered no Nightsisters along the way. The extra patrols that had been sent out after the attack would come by for breakfast, and reported no Nightsister activity. As they approached the village, the Clan Mother organised the Militia into small groups, and each group had a designated flag bearer. Each Sister was asked to surrender two of her identity flags to the Militia. On the outside it would look like each Sister commanded at least two groups of Militia. In reality it was to make the villagers believe that the army was bigger than it was. With the Militia spread out, and all the silk flags waving in the wind. Maybe they can get them to surrender, without anyone having to be killed.

Amblin-Elu had three Sisters get off their Rancor, and sneak around behind the village. Kiranna Raek, was in charge of the three. With her daughter Kreen, and family friend Tannath-Elu. When they arrived at the top of the escarpment behind the village. They saw two Nightsisters fleeing through the swamp below. When the Nightsisters sensed they had been spotted. They stopped and turned, and started taunting the clan Sisters.

Kreen asked the two Sisters, what would happen if they shot their arrows at that tree. The other two saw the tree she pointed at, and its relative position to the Nightsisters. They knew what it was that she was suggesting they do. The two Nightsisters where standing, one slightly ahead of the other. By firing at the tree, than changing the target for the arrows at the last minute. Targeting the Nightsister that was farthest away. The Nightsister that was closest to them, would actually be in the way of the flight of the arrows, and might not know it, until it was too late. The two Nightsisters laughed when they saw that the clan Sisters had fired arrows at them. They kept asking each other if they were the target. When neither one sensed they were the target. They wondered what the clan Sisters were shooting at. Then the one Nightsister screamed that she was the target, but she could not see the arrows because her Sister was in the way. She pushed her Sister out of the way because she could not see the arrows, which may have saved her Sister's life. But earned her an arrow in her own side.

The Nightsister that was knocked aside took one arrow in the arm, and one in the hip, instead of one in the chest, and two in the abdomen. The two Nightsisters kept swearing at each other, as they made their way through the swamp to their Glass Mountain. Neither Nightsister trusted the other to help them, and not make the wounds worse.

The clan Sisters were pleased with their archery skills. Now that they were in place, it was time to signal the Clan Mother. Kiranna threw a ball of force fire up in the air. Kreen formed a water lance out of the water she was carrying. Something she had recently learnt, and threw it at the fire ball, to extinguish it, as soon as it reached its highest point.

When the Clan Mother saw the fire ball, then saw it disappear. She knew her Sisters were in position. She approached within bow shot range for militia, of the village's palisade. She asked for them to surrender. One of the villagers shot an arrow at the Clan Mother, the guy beside him slapped him on the head and called him an idiot. She was only talking. The guy who shot the arrow told his companion that the Nightsisters said that they cannot surrender. The guy who slapped him pointed out that the Nightsisters were not there, and he did not want to die. One of the other men on the wall. Interrupted the two arguing men, "Guys she just caught the arrow."

The Clan Mother asked them, if they wanted their arrow back? They said it wasn't necessary. She told them she insisted, and threw it back. It thudded into the palisade, just below where they were, with a thud that made them think she had shot it with a strong bow, and all she did was throw it. The men on the wall started arguing. The one group quoting the Nightsisters, "If they surrender they die." The other group stating what they thought was obvious, "If they don't surrender they die." The guy who shot the first arrow, told them he did not care what they said, he wasn't surrendering. He got up and started shooting arrows at the Clan Mother. The Clan Mother caught the next arrow and threw it back at the shooter, at the same time catching the rest of his arrows. The arrow she threw caught him between the eyes, just above the brow ridge on the skull. He fell back off the wall, dead.

The guy who slapped him, asked her, why she did that? She told him that the guy had no respect for her. He yelled back, that he was just scared. She asked him what he was afraid of. He yelled back, the Nightsisters. She responded, "He was more afraid of the cowards who ran away, because I am here, than he was of me. Then he was a fool who deserved to die."

"But the Nightsisters boasted that they killed eight of your people."

"Were any of the Nightsisters hurt?"

"Yes, three were injured, one was beaten pretty badly."

"What they did not tell you, was that they ambushed eight of my Militia members. Those are the men and women standing on the ground behind me. They are not force users. And they attacked the four Rancor pulling their carts. Plus they had the assistance of ten of your archers. My eight militia members were able to kill all ten archers, and injure three of the Nightsisters almost killing one. While the caravan's Rancor wrestled with the Rancor the Nightsisters were riding, holding them at bay. Does that sound like they should be boasting?"

The men on the wall were talking. They did not say they killed any clan Sisters, they just said they killed clan members.

"Did they tell you that four of their Nightsisters, attacked just one of my clan Sisters, on the escarpment above the quarry, and it was them that ran away. Maybe you smelt the smell of burnt flesh, when they snuck past your village. You have to decide, who deserves your respect. The cowards who run away. Or the people they run from."

After considerable talk, one of them yelled back, "We are sorry. We are afraid if you, and how powerful you are. But we are also afraid of the Nightsisters, who have been hurting us all our lives. We can't surrender."

The Clan Mother expected this, programmed fear is hard to overcome. She signalled three of her Sisters to begin the bombardment. The three Sisters started throwing balls of force fire at the main gate. What the villagers did not know was that the Sisters were throwing the smallest fire balls they could. The villagers heard the continuous, thump, thump, thump, as the fire balls hit the gate, and flames shot through the cracks in the doors that made up the gate. Many of the men on the wall, closed their eyes. Waiting for the sound of the gate bursting open, and the screaming horde from the Singing Mountain Clan pouring through. None of them saw the three clan Sisters that jumped up onto the back of the palisade. One jumped down into the village, and headed to where the Rancor where kept. The other two ran along the wall, giving a force tap to the side of the head of every man they encountered, knocking them out.

Kreen chose to go to the Rancor, because she was not good with the force tap. The elders kept telling her she was tapping too hard. She would turn their brains to mush. At the den she found two beastmasters. One male, and one female. They fought her like they were mad men. She tried her best, to try and subdue them. It wasn't until she saw them foaming at the mouth, that she knew they had been poisoned. She took the daggers she had in each of her boots, and stabbed them both in the heart. That was the fastest way she knew of, to put them out of their misery.

She told the Clan Mother later, that she though she heard one of them say "thank you", when they passed away.

When the Sisters signalled, that they controlled the village. The Clan Mother stopped the bombardment. When she approached the main gate of the village. Kreen opened it for her. The village women stared at her. It took six off the village's strongest men, to lift the heavy wooden crossbeam that they used for barring the gate. She lifted it all by herself.

When the Clan Mother entered she pointed to the gates, and told the Sisters behind her. "See, it is only charred. That's because they were made from trees from our forest."

Kreen told Mother about the two beastmasters, and how they were poisoned. Mother got off her Rancor and followed Kreen to the den. The three Rancor inside were sitting just like she told them. When Mother put her nose to the mouths of the two beastmasters, she was able to identify the combination of poisons, they were forced to swallow. The Clan Mother told Kreen that what was given to the beastmasters, worked too fast for an antidote to be given. The side-affect was, that the body released extremely high levels of adrenaline, to try to counteract the effects of the poison. Making them almost invincible for a short period of time.

As they approached where the women and children were huddled together. One of them asked the Clan Mother if the men were all dead. She told her, "only the one with the arrow in his forehead". She said that the Nightsisters told them that they were evil, and that the Singing Mountain Clan would burn them alive. The Clan Mother looked at her. "They have been lying to you all your life, and you still believe them?"

"We don't know what to believe."

"Believe that all the men but one, are still alive, that were on the wall. The two beastmasters are both dead because they were forced to drink a strong mixture of poisons. My Sister was forced to kill them, to stop their suffering. They were well beyond the point that an antidote would work. You can also believe that I'm going to burn this village to the ground. You can stay inside if you want to."

The Clan Mother had all the men brought down off of the wall and secured, so they don't try and kill themselves. She asked the women and children if there were any other beastmasters in the village. A young boy of just over five years of age came forward. (Around eight standard years.) He said that he has always wanted to be a beastmaster. "The couple looking after the Rancor had no children of their own, so they let me work with them, when no Nightsisters were around." The Clan Mother asked him to go in the Rancor's den and keep them company. They will be less upset when he is with them. Right now they think that they may be lunch for our Rancor.

They found their carts, and noticed one keg of new ale missing. They asked the women of the village where it was. They said the Nightsister Mother broke open one keg for her victory celebration. She took a swallow, then spit it out in disgust. She asked us what it was. We told her it was a slaves' drink. She left it all here, and left the village disappointed. She muttered, "All that planning, and nothing to show for it". So they repaired the keg and lowered it into the well to cool. The Clan Mother asked them how much was left in the keg? They said that there was still more than half. The Clan Mother ordered that a second keg be lowered into the well to cool since they were going to be there a few days. The villagers were happy that they had a few days reprieve, before the village would be destroyed, and asked the Clan Mother for permission to return to their homes. She told them they could, but they should also start packing whatever is important to them, because when they leave, there will be only ashes to come back to. She then arranged for four Sisters to connect their Rancor to the carts, and take them to town. They should come back with the empty carts. Because they will be needed.

The Militia members who were farmers, told the Clan Mother that a number of fields were ready to be harvested. Amblin-Elu was taught as a little girl, that it was wrong to waste food that has been given you, because it shows disrespect for the Creator, and disrespect for his creation, including the force. So she asked the militia members to start harvesting it. They will load the grain onto the carts when they return. Unfortunately the fields that are not ready will have to be destroyed. So the Nightsisters will not be able to benefit from them.

The men of the village promised the Clan Mother, that they would not try to harm themselves. They asked permission to help with the harvest. She released them.

After the first day of harvesting, the Clan Mother noticed something was wrong with all of the village men. They craved the new ale more than anyone else. They also seemed much weaker. She refused to allow them out in the fields to work anymore, and ordered them to stay in the shade of the trees in the forest. She asked them, what was wrong with them? No answer. She asked them, what did the Nightsisters do to them? She saw some of the men looking at each other when she asked that. So she knew that the Nightsisters did do something. But there was still no answer. She went to the women of the village, and begged them to tell her what the Nightsisters did, so she can help their men. When they did not answer, she became angry with them. She told them that if they know what the Nightsisters did to the men, and don't tell her, so that she can start working on a cure. Then they are the ones who are responsible for their deaths, not the Nightsisters, because their silence is killing them.

The next day, one of the men started to deteriorate faster than the others. She had the women of the village bring the straw from the harvest into the forest, to make mattresses for the men to sleep on. She noticed that they needed to keep cool. So she also had the women bring pails and pails of water from the well, for the men to drink as much as they could, and to start bathing them. Everything that was in the village that could hold water, was brought into the forest and filled. When the women still said nothing. She ordered everyone out of the village, they were going to burn it. She had the Militia haul pails of tar, from the tar pit in the southern swamp. And spread it over the village. After that, they spread tar over every field, even the ones that were harvested. While everything was burning, the first man from the village died. She ordered his body be thrown into the village, so it would burn along with everything else.

When they saw the body burning, the women finally realised, that their men were dying. They forced one of the women forward, and told her to show the Clan Mother. She handed her a packet of herbs. She told the Mother that the Nightsisters made tea from these herbs, and forced the men to drink it.

The Clan Mother opened the packet and looked at the herbs. She had tears in her eyes, when she told the women, that if they had given this packet to her when she first asked, she could have saved all the men. But now that she sees what they have drunk, she does not know if she could save any of them. If she does manage to save one, their brain might be so damaged, that they might be no better than an adult infant. That does not know how to take care of themselves.

"Then the cure is too difficult to make?"

"The cure is easy. We are surrounded by the plants that will cure them. It's just not soon enough to counteract the damage that has already been done."

Mother sent the Sisters, to gather the plants that were needed. Kreen approached Mother, and asked if she should go and get Krillgan? Kreen hated asking, because if he does help, it would make him that much more acceptable in the eyes of the other Sisters. But she saw how much this was hurting Mother, and she did not like seeing the foolish men suffer. So she asked. Mother told her to go, and have the girls stay with Mother Andriel.

After mixing the antidote, Mother had to shake it with cold water. To heat it up as a tea would destroy some of the essential oils that are needed. As one of the Sisters was going around to each man, to give them a sip. She started working on the next batch. She also arranged for some Sisters to make an enclosure around the feeble men, because she does not want anyone to see Krillgan. They are too close to the Nightsisters here, and she does not want them getting wind of his abilities. She was seeing some improvement, in that the men were not deteriorating as quickly as before, but a couple more men died.

The women asked if they could go collect plants. Mother knew it would give them something to do. She showed them each a couple of different plants to look for, they did not have the knowledge to look for all of them. She also told them not to pick more than half the leaves from any plant, because they also have other benefits, and she does not want them killed off. One of the women asked her, if it was true that a special healer was coming? She told her not to place her faith in rumours.

Kreen returned the next night with Krillgan. She was told how many more men died, and that the Militia was kept busy gathering wood for the funeral pyres. Mother walked with Krillgan, showing him which men he might be able to save, and which ones will not make it till the morning. When Krillgan touched the men, he could feel the poison in them. He could also tell that the kolto by itself was not enough. The Clan Mother saw how tired he was. She told him that he needs to rest, or he will not be able to help anyone. He took her advice, but tossed and turned most of the night, thinking about what would help the Kolto heal. He did manage to get a few good hours of sleep in before the morning. Which was more than Mother got, because she kept an eye on him.

When Krillgan woke up, he asked Mother, if it would help the Kolto heal the men, if he could mix it with the poison antidote? She asked him, how could he do that? He told her, that the only thing he could think of, was for him to eat the leaves that make up the antidote. She told him, that she heard he did not like to eat salads. He told her that he doesn't. But if it will help heal the men, he will do it.

Now the village women overheard a child's voice talking with the Clan Mother. They wondered if he was like those men, that the Nightsisters had removed the sack from under the horn of their manhood, when they were still boys. Their bodies did not mature as men do, and their voices never changed. Physically their bodies grew from being little boys, into being big boys. Their minds were just as good as any man. That was not affected. But they had no desire for sex, and the Nightsisters could not seduce them. So they stopped that experiment, and the grown boys were sent to the village, where they were a big help. A couple of them even became healers.

The Clan Mother added roasted meat and nuts to Krillgan's, salad, and had him wash it down with new ale. The salad was a little on the bitter side, but the meat and nuts did help. Mother also sent a couple members of the militia out to see if they could find some fresh berries for Krillgan. Nothing happened right away, but later Krillgan felt a change in the way the Kolto was being received by the poisoned men, it was becoming more effective. Krillgan told Mother that he should eat salad for lunch and dinner, because it was starting to help the men. He also asked Mother if he could tell his mother, when they went home, that he does not need to eat any salads for a month. She laughed, and told him she would. She also could see the change in most of the men.

Krillgan had managed to stop the deterioration, caused by the poison. She continued to administer the antidote orally to the men. While Krillgan helped their bodies to heal from the poison's effects. Krillgan did not like that he had to eat a few days more worth of salads, but was happy to find berries added, along with the meat and nuts.

When Mother was confident that they would lose no more men, and that all the survivors were on the road to recovery. Krillgan himself said the he did not need to eat anymore salads. Mother woke Kreen up in the middle of the night, and asked her to take Krillgan back to the main village. They then went and woke Krillgan. Mother gave them each a container, to have for breakfast.

Kreen had Krillgan sit in front of him on her Rancor, and told him that he could sleep if he could. She would hold onto him. In a way she was proud that he could help, and proud that he was willing to sacrifice his personal likes, just so he could help heal the men. She was definitely having mixed emotions when it came to Krillgan.

It was even harder, now that the majority of her own family believed that he was the child of Kindell's prophecy. After they heard that her grandfather had brought him to Dathomir. But right now she was his guardian, and he earned his sleep.

When they stopped for breakfast. It was a pleasant surprise that they both had containers of berries. She told Krillgan how much she loves berries.

The Clan Mother had the barrier around the men taken down, so the women could come and visit with them. They lost two thirds of the village's men. They probably would have lost the rest of them, if Kreen had not brought Krillgan. She was taking this as a sign that Kreen will come around, and accept him as her Sister.

Mother took the women of the village aside to talk with them. The women asked her, when the men would return to normal? They were all talking like children. Mother told them that this is the new normal for the men now. The poison had damaged their minds, but they have the body of a man. When they are fully recovered, they will also have the physical desires of a man. They need to be taught what is right and what is wrong, including in the bedroom. They need firm but simple rules to live by. If they don't have these rules, and the opportunity to satisfy their desires within them. Than they will start forcing themselves on them. That can lead to them to start forcing themselves on others. Including children. Which will mean that the Sisters where they will be living, will feel compelled to kill them.

Just remember that the men want and need the rules. Inside they want to be happy. They know that to be happy, they must make the person in charge happy. Which is you! There is also the chance that the poisons they drank, may have also made them sterile. The Nightsister like to design their poisons to attack many areas of the body at once. Because they wanted the poisons to act over a period of time, they could not attack every area of the body at once, or the men would have died as quickly as the beastmasters did.

The Clan Mother let this all sink in. She sat with them, in case they had any questions.

"Would their minds have been the way they were before, if we had told you about the herbs right away?"

"Yes! And all the men would still be alive."

"Did the healer help?"

"Which healer? A couple of the Sisters with me are better healers than I am."

"What about the man who sounded like a boy did he help?"

The description both surprised and pleased the Clan Mother. It meant that they never saw Krillgan.

"Yes he helped. He came at a critical time."

"Can we meet him, to thank him?" The women were curious to see what he looks like.

"No, he left. He has other things that he needs to attend to."

Like playing Moog and Rancor, with her daughter and niece, all over the countryside. But she did not tell the women that.

"When you said the Sisters where we live could be forced to deal with or men, if we did not set the proper ground rules. Does that mean that we will not be living with the Singing Mountain Clan?"

"That is correct. Because of all the years the Nightsisters have been conditioning you to fear and obey them. You would be too close to them, and it would be too easy for them to manipulate you into hurt us. The further away from the Nightsisters you are, the better your chances are of living a peaceful happy life."

"Where will we live?"

"I don't know yet. It depends on who will buy you."

The women were shocked. They were starting to feel like they were no longer slaves. The Clan Mother was willing to talk to them and explain things to them. Now they find out that they were to be sold. Some started crying, the rest were angry.

"Is that all we are to you? Slaves that can be bought and sold."

"No. But for the safety of my clan, that is the only way I can afford to think of you right now."

The women just sat there in stunned silence. Their hopes crushed. Their future uncertain.

"The carts have returned. You should start packing them with your stuff. We will be leaving in the morning."

"Where will we be going?"

"We are going to the town. I will be selling you there."

"Will you be selling us to offworlders?"

"Only if you want me to."

"I thought we were slaves? Don't you just sell us to whoever will give you the most for us? How is it that you say we have a choice?"

"I am not a Nightsister. I do have a conscience. My conscience says to find you a place where you will fit the best. The value depends on what the buyer can afford. If you think that going offworld is the best option for you, than I will see that it is done."

The women realised, that this was a strange way to deal with slaves. The hope they lost earlier, had found its way back into their hearts. They told the Clan Mother that they wanted to stay on Dathomir.

When they passed through the gate, all the Militia, and most of the Sisters left them as they continued on to the town. None of the Sisters bossed them around, but rather pitched in where they were needed. After dinner, the Clan Mother would spend time with the boy beastmaster, and the Rancor. Helping them to get used to working together. It was hard for the people of the village to understand, why they were being treated as equals, not as slaves. They began to see that the Sisters were not guarding them, but protecting them. After they chased away a young bull Malkloc. The Clan Mother told them, that in a Malkloc's simple mind, all two legged creatures are Rancor. Humans are just a smaller version, making them easier to trample. A Nightsister never would have told them that. In fact she probably would have chased the Malkloc at them, instead of away from them, just to see how many it would trample in one pass. She was still patient with them when they had questions. Some women just made up questions, so they had an excuse to be near her. She made them feel like they were real people. They were sad when they first saw the town, because it meant that she would be leaving them. They camped on the south side of town. The Clan Mother had the man in charge of the trading post, come out and look at them.

Most of the town was on the palisade, watching what was going on. They had never seen the sale of humans before. The Clan Mother had the little beastmaster parade the Rancor around, to show that he had control over them. He had them plow up a small piece of land, to show that they knew how to work with a farming village.

There was a Sister from the Frenzied River Clan, on the wall, watching the whole thing. She knew that the Clan Mother was somehow helping the boy, but could not figure out how she was doing it. She jumped down off the wall, and asked the Clan Mother why she was selling these people. The Clan Mother told her about the Nightsisters attack of her caravan. How in retaliation she captured then burnt one of the Nightsisters' villages. Because she captured the villagers, she has the right to do with them as she pleases.

"It pleases you to sell them?"

"No. It pleases me to find them a new home."

"Then it pleases me to offer them a new home."

She introduced herself to the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan. When the Clan Mother heard her name, she knew that she had the authority to make deals on behalf of her Clan Mother. She told the Clan Mother that they had been planning on establishing a new farming village, and that these people were just what they needed to help them get established. They then started negotiating a fair trade.

The Sister had started by offering spider silk fabric. The Mother countered by saying she would rather have the spools of silk. They have a skilled weaver who knows how to weave silk. The Sister said that she had never heard of a silk weaver, from any of the three clans that harvest silk, moving to her clan. The Clan Mother told her that the weaver comes from an off world clan, and she has already met her husband.

"Are you talking about the builder's wife? He often boasted about what a skilled woman she is."

"That she is. Our clan has benefited from her presence, as much as it has benefited from his."

"That is high praise."

"Then we have a deal?"

They shook hands, like the builder taught them, when two people come to an agreement. Just like that, the people had a new home. The village women came up to the Clan Mother to thank her, but they did not know the right way to do it. She told them that it was okay for them to touch her. They all took turns hugging her. Some even took the liberty of kissing her on her cheek.

One of the ladies asked her indulgence, "Is it true that the Singing Mountain actually sings?"

"It is not just one mountain, but a group of mountains. Yes, it does sound like they are singing."

"Is it possible? Please can we come hear it?"

The Sister spoke up, "I'd like to hear it too."

"A year from now, after you have finished the planting, and if your Sisters let you, you can come to us, and we will take you to where the mountains sing. It is an even greater experience, if you can bring some musicians along."

When Amblin-Elu arrived back at the main village, she suddenly had a pain in her heart, Riktob would not be home to greet her. She told the Sisters that were with her to keep going on. She wanted to be alone for a minute. She did not want them to see her cry. Her Rancor made some comforting noises, he sensed her sorrow. After she had a good cry, she composed herself and entered the gate. She did find Andriel and Krillgan, waiting for her just outside her home. She smiled, because she could guess what this was about.

"I take it that Krillgan told you about our agreement."

"Yes, and I don't agreed that he doesn't need to eat vegetables, and salad, for a whole month."

"I don't agree either. Krillgan, not eating vegetables was not part of our agreement."

"But I don't like eating vegetables, raw or cooked!"

"But you do like eating berries. Don't you!"

Krillgan nodded his head.

"You know there are a lot of people in this village that also like to eat berries. How do you think they would feel if I made a law, the no one can eat berries, until Krillgan has finished eating his vegetables?"

"You could do that?"

"Of course. I'm the Clan Mother."

Krillgan knew that if she made that law, there would be a lot of people upset with him, especially Kreen. He does not want her to be upset with him. He really likes her, and Ludia, and Diennu love her. She was especially nice to him this last trip. Krillgan promised to eat his vegetables. The Clan Mother told him, that he wasn't allowed to pass them off to Ludia, and Diennu, because they like their vegetables. He nodded his head. The Clan Mother also reminded him that he was being trained to be a Sister of this clan.

"It is very important for people to trust you. If you start telling lies, even small ones. Than people will stop trusting you, and you will be a poor Sister. You can even be kicked out of the clan for lying."

Krillgan was looking at the ground, but he nodded his head like he understood.

"Another thing you have to remember. You ate those leaves, because you were hoping that it would help you help those men, and it did. Now you have creatures living inside of you. They entered your body because they found there all the nourishment they needed. The Selkath told your parents that they have never entered anyone else's body, because they could not find the right nourishment. Do you think the little creatures could live in you, if the nourishment they need comes from vegetables, and you stopped eating vegetables?"

Krillgan looked up at her. "Do you think so?"

"I don't know where there nourishment comes from. But the more different, the kinds of foods you eat, the more types of nourishment you will have in your body."

Krillgan had not thought about, what type of nourishment the little creatures needed. He knew that he had to think about feeding the creatures, if he wanted to be able to continue healing people. He apologised to the Clan Mother, and to his own mother, for being selfish. He said that he was going to try harder to be a good Sister to the clan.

Andriel was satisfied with the way this turned out. She had turned to leave, but then turned back. She told Amblin-Elu that Krillgan had told her that she was pregnant. Amblin-Elu was overjoyed to hear that news. It meant that her clan was no longer under judgement. She asked her, when Krillgan noticed? She said that he noticed as soon as he arrived back home.

Andriel leaned forward, and whispered to Amblin-Elu. "I think it's because of all the alone time Chitrah and I had while Krillgan was gone."

Amblin-Elu could not help herself. With Andriel so close to her, she put her arms around her, and gave her a hug.

"Congratulations!"

"I told Krillgan, that we should hold off telling anyone for a while. In case something happens. But he insisted that it was important that I tell you."

The Clan Mother assured her, that she would not mention it, until Andriel has made the announcement.

Amblin-Elu was feeling good about the news, and she was feeling good about the way things turned out for the people of the slave village. There was one more thing that she wanted to feel good about. She told every Sister she met, to spread the word, that there was a voluntary meeting of the Sisters tonight. Voluntary meant that they did not need an excuse, if they did not come to the meeting tonight. But Mother knew that all of the Sisters would come if they could make it. Just to find out what the meeting was about.

That night all the Sisters that were not on patrol or village guard duty were there. She opened the meeting by reminding everyone, why they were called the Singing Mountain Clan. She asked the Sisters to give a show of hands, if they heard the mountains sing. All the older Sisters held up a hand. Then she asked for a show of hands, by everyone who had not heard the mountains sing. All the younger Sisters held their hands up. She than asked the Sisters that had their hand up, to keep them up, if they wanted to hear the mountains sing. She was pleased to see that Krillgan, Ludia, and Diennu, were among the ones who kept their hands up. She was surprised to see that Kreen and the other Sisters her age had their hands up. She was Ludia's age when her mother took her. She told everyone who wanted to come, to be ready to leave in two days' time. She also encouraged every mother to be there, when their daughters hear it for the first time. It is a moment worth sharing.

Amblin-Elu asked Grasma Raek, if she would be acting Clan Mother while they were gone. This was a prestige appointment, even if it was only for a few days. It meant that the Clan Mother had the utmost confidence in you and your abilities. It was usually reserved for members of the Clan Mother's own family. The Djo family. Amblin-Elu thought that Grasma deserved it. For willingly sharing her daughter's prophecy, and for bringing most of her family back into bonding with the other Sisters, and accepting Krillgan.

When they gathered to depart, Kreen was disappointed to see that the Clan Mother had also invited Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah along. She thought that as non-force users, they would just slow everyone down. At the very least they should have been made to ride a Rancor, like all the musicians. She was quite surprised to find that they were able to keep up. Sisters regularly increasing their strength, through sharing their force energy. Even her three charges were helping them. She was used to seeing them help each other, but they were force users, so could be boosted by another force user. They were not even touching them to share. When Kreen needs to strengthen her Rancor, she has to touch her to do it. Whenever she had shared strength with another Sister she had always touched them to do it. She was somewhat embarrassed that she was the instructor, yet she did not know how to do what her students were doing.

She started paying more attention to what the other Sisters were doing to help Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah along. When she felt confident she understood what they were doing, she too reached out to Mother Andriel to share strength with her. She was surprised at how receptive of a vessel she was. Later when she went to boost Father Chitrah, she found him to be as receptive. They were able to reach their destination, before nightfall, over very difficult terrain. She had been told that it normally takes non-force users a minimum of four days of hiking to reach this point.

As soon as they arrived, the musicians were taken up to a broad ledge, to start setting up. The Sisters were encouraged to hold hands with family members and friends. The Saurian fliers, a leather winged reptilian creature that were normally quite vicious. Circled overhead as if they were expecting something wonderful to happen. When the musicians started tuning their instruments, the echoes could be heard bouncing off the neighbouring mountains, occasionally the echo seamed louder than the original sound. Almost as if the mountains where trying to wake up.

When the musicians were ready, they notified the Sister that was with them, who signalled the Clan Mother. By this time of day, the valley that the Sisters were in, was dark. They could still see the colours of the setting sun, linger in the sky and the mountain tops. Mother signalled back, and the musicians struck a chord, and the mountains woke up and answered back. The Saurian fliers stopped circling, and started dancing in the sky. The musicians' music seemed to flow, as part of the dance, and the mountains started singing. It was like they reached out and grabbed certain notes and magnified them, tossing them back and forth, and back again. When you heard it for the first time, it would raise goosebumps on your skin. You were happy to be holding someone's hand, because this was a moment to be shared. You wanted to be lost in time, so that this moment would never end. The mountains like the Saurian fliers responded to the ebb and flow of the music. When the sky was finally mountain black, Amblin-Elu, and her sister Butashe, released their daughters' hands and walked to the very center of the valley. Ludia, and Diennu had quickly grabbed each-others hands, when their mothers let go. Amblin-Elu and Butashe, lifted their hands, and seemed to ignite the mountain tops. The tops of the mountains glowed blue from the Dathomirite deposits on them. Like they did with the music, the mountains now did with the force energy given them. They magnified it, making the music part of it, and let it flow down to the Sisters below. Before they could feel the song of the mountains in their body. Now as the force enveloped them, they could feel it in their souls. No one knew when the musicians stopped playing, because the singing continued, and was part of you. Tears of joy would fill most peoples' eyes. When the music finally stopped, everyone felt that they had been washed in the purest mountain stream, from the inside out. You felt as one with your neighbour, and at peace with everyone else. Everyone just laid down where they were, and slept, because that is what you needed to do.

Amblin-Elu, and Butashe, had returned to their daughters, and lay down next to them. In the morning when the rising sun gently woke them up. They all got up feeling refreshed. They devoured the food that they had brought for breakfast, as if they hadn't eaten in days. After breakfast the Clan Mother spoke to them. She told them that this is the heritage that they have received from those that have been here before them. This is the heritage they would be passing down to their children, and their children's children. They are its guardians, it was okay to share the singing with outsiders. But not the song. They will teach them how to block outsiders from touching the sacred deposits, on the top of the mountains. Deposits that others would want to steal and destroy. The musicians were allowed to go back to town. Mother Andriel, and Father Chitrah, sat together, hand in hand, waiting to go back with the Sisters. Grateful for the privilege of experiencing, such a spiritual thing. Grateful that they were considered clan enough, to be there. On the return journey, Kreen found it second nature to reach out to Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah. She also found herself drawn closer to them, because of their shared experience.

When they returned to the village, Amblin-Elu and Ludia, stayed with Butashe and Diennu, so that they could bond and grieve together, leaving Grasma in charge a while longer. The elders were very pleased that their Clan Mother was doing this. They were also invited to Butashe's home, to hear the description of the dream Diennu had, that so upset her, not wanting her father to leave on the caravan. She told of seeing her father wounded by the darkness. He fought bravely, she felt so proud of him, but the darkness prevailed. Before it consumed him, he called out to her. He told her that he was sorry, he wasn't coming back home. When she awoke she knew this had something to do with the caravan trip. Which is why she tried to stop him from going. One of the elders asked her why she finally let him go. She said that he fought so bravely in the dream, and she knew that others were counting on him. This was his destiny, she had to let him go. Her answer brought comfort to her mother, aunt, and cousin.

When a month had passed without any problems. With Krillgan reassuring his mother every morning that the baby was happy. Andriel finally told Chitrah that she was pregnant. Chitrah jokingly asked if he knew the father, which made Andriel very upset. Chitrah would still leave for months at a time, supervising the building projects in the other clans. The second aqueduct for the Great Canyon Clan had not yet been completed. Andriel told him how she found out she was pregnant. Chitrah remember the wonderful time they had together before then, and apologised to his wife. Her love and faithfulness were never in doubt with him. It wasn't until he tried comforting her, that he realised how deeply he had wounded her.

After the fields had been prepared for planting, it was time to take the ashes out of the temple, and spread them on the fields, so the dead can nourish the living. The whole clan gathered. This was a time for family and loved ones to share some of the memories they have of the ones they lost. Amblin-Elu gave a moving speech describing the battle and how bravely everyone fought. She held up the earring her husband had in his hand. She told the Militia that this was their trophy, a testament of their bravery.

"Do you think the Nightsister just took it off, and gave it to him? No! He had to take it from her. He had to get up close to her, and make her bleed. He knew, we would need evidence of who did this to them. They were not timid, they did not run and hide. They fought bravely right to the very end. Why? Because they were members of the Singing Mountain Clan's Militia."

All the Militia members cheered. They were so proud of their fallen heroes, and they knew that their Sisters were proud of them. The herd was proud of the Rancor that were in the caravan, how they fought the Nightsisters' Rancor. Preventing them from attacking their Militia members. The Clan Mother shared with everyone the wounds the people of the Nightsister's village saw in their Rancor. How they saw the bone on one Rancor's arms. The flesh was so shredded, that they did not know how it could even use its arms. All the children that lost a parent were encouraged to share something. Ludia and Diennu told everyone how courageous their fathers were, and how proud they were of them. They missed them terribly, and were glad for their mothers' and friends that were there for them.

The Sisters were moved the most by the youngest children. They could not speak loud enough for the people to hear them. So a Sister had to pick them up and hold them, so that they could tell the Sister what to say, so the Sister could speak for them. The Sister got to hug them, and comfort them when they started to cry. Everyone felt their pain.

After the children spoke, the ashes were sprinkled on the freshly plowed fields. Because of the amount of ashes, they had to use most of the fields from the main village, and the first farming village, since it was the closest. The ashes were raked into the top layer of soil, so their dryness would not prevent the seeds from sprouting. Every day the people would go out to check the fields. They were hopeful when they found dew on the ground in the morning. One night a gentle rain fell. When they went out in the morning, they could see that all the fields had a green tint to them. The Clan Mother declared the day to be a holy day. It was a special day. The ancestors had received their dead, and would continue to nourish them. Special treats were prepared for dinner that day, and kegs of ale were opened. No restrictions were placed on how much anyone would consume.

The Clan Mother had assigned a healer and elder to monitor Mother Andriel's pregnancy. When the healer questioned the elders involvement. The elder asked her if she had ever treated a woman with black blood before. If something went wrong it could take all of their abilities to help her. She reminded her that she also had been trained as a healer, when she was a young Sister.

When the time came, the elder sent Krillgan to get the Clan Mother, though he was a healer. She thought he was still too young to witness his mother give birth. Mother Andriel herself said that it would be better for Krillgan not to see her like that. It could shatter his image of her. Andriel was still in labour, when the Clan Mother arrived. She told Krillgan to keep his father company, while she goes into the bedroom to see how things were going. When she saw where they were in the delivery, she went and sat on the bed behind Andriel to support her body, and so that she could squeeze her hands when she had to push.

Andriel thought that the healer and elder were too quiet when the baby's head started to appear. She wondered if something was wrong with the baby. She followed their instructions, and kept asking if the baby was alright. There was enough hesitation in their answers, to make her think they are just trying to keep her calm. Her heart that was already racing, started beating even faster. In her mind she wondered if maybe Krillgan was a fluke. Maybe she and Chitrah were incompatible, and they had created a monster. She asked them if it looked like her. But they did not respond. She asked if it looked like Chitrah. They just told her to push. This delivery was actually shorter than Krillgan's delivery, but because of Andriel's heightened anxiety, it seemed longer.

When the baby was finally out, and crying, Andriel started relaxing. It had a healthy sounding cry. The healer told her that she had a son. When she held the baby up so that Andriel could see it and take it to start nursing it. Andriel started crying, they 'had' created a monster. She asked them what they have done to her son. The healer was confused with her outburst. It looked like a normal, pink, healthy boy, to her. Andriel asked, why did it not have red fur and blue skin like her Krillgan? The healer learnt two things at that moment. One that Krillgan was really red and blue, he only looked purple. The second was something she wasn't supposed to know. That Krillgan really was her son, and Chitrah really was Krillgan's father.

The Clan Mother asked Andriel to take her crying son, and start nursing him. She was the one who did this. Andriel took her son, and was able to get him to start feeding, even though her fur seemed to bother him. They waited until the after birth was delivered, and Andriel had finished nursing the baby, and was properly covered up, before the elder went out to Chitrah, and told him that he has a healthy son. Chitrah asked if Andriel was okay. The elder told him that she was recovering. Chitrah did not like the sound of that. He went into the bedroom.

When Chitrah first saw the baby, he stopped dead in his tracks. "So you have been cheating on me." Andriel started crying, because she had no way to defend herself.

The Clan Mother became angry, and yelled at him, which woke the sleeping baby. Causing it to start crying. "Chitrah! You are the father of this baby. I'm the one who caused this, when I gave you both that potion. Now apologise to your faithful wife."

Chitrah hesitated, he loved his wife, and believed that she still loved him. He walked to the side of the bed, where she was. He lifted her head so that he could see full into her tear filled eyes. He asked her quietly if she had been faithful to him. Without hesitation, she said yes, as more tears filled her eyes. In a strong voice he said, "I believe you!" Then he bent over and kissed her on the lips. He sat on the edge of the bed, and put his arm around her, and asked her to forgive him. She told him that she did, and understood his reaction. She told him that when they first showed her their son. She thought they had created a monster, and took their baby away, and gave her another. But he smells like her baby. Chitrah asked the Clan Mother if all the children they have from now on will look like this one. The Clan Mother said that she believed that they would.

Chitrah asked Andriel if she remembered the vision the Iktotchi first officer shared with them, about their future. Andriel remembered part of it. Chitrah asked her if she remembered her telling her, about her being surrounded by many children, but she could not tell which ones were hers, because none of her other children would look like their first. Andriel smiled, she said that now she remembered. Chitrah told her that he remembered what she said, after the Clan Mother yelled at him, and he saw in her eyes that has been faithful to him.

Krillgan had followed his father into the bedroom. He knew his father had said something bad about his mother. But the Clan Mother defended her, and said she was at fault not his mother. He was happy to see that they were feeling better about each other. He went over to have a look at his brother, who his mother was able to coax back to sleep. He looked like a nice brother. He asked his parents, "What is his name?" Andriel looked at Chitrah. Chitrah said that he always liked the name of his mother's father. His name was Erin. Andriel said that she liked that name. So she told Krillgan, that his name is Erin. The Clan Mother had sent the healer to go bring the other elders, when Chitrah mentioned vision. She was hoping that he would share the whole vision, and tell them about the Iktotchi.

After the elders left, the healer was asked to live with the family for a few days, to help Andriel bond with her new baby. The healer asked to speak with Mother. She told Mother that she needs to be excused from the Bonding Ceremonies. She now knows the secret of Krillgan's true parentage, and believes that she would feel compelled to share that secret, because she has never kept a secret from the other Sisters before. Mother looked right at her, which made the Sister very uncomfortable. She told the healer that she has kept many secrets from her fellow Sisters. As healer she has learnt secrets about every family she has ministered to, and as a healer she is required to keep them. The Sister objected, she claimed that those secrets do not affect the clan or the Sisterhood. The Clan Mother told her that every secret affects the clan and Sisterhood, no matter how small they appear. It is up to the Clan Mother and the elders to determine whether secrets should be kept or shared. As a healer, she is responsible to keep secrets until the Clan Mother or an elder says she should share it. The healer looked downcast, she said that this secret is too heavy to carry. She won't be able to bond with her Sisters. The Clan Mother told her that she should let her fellow Sisters decide.

Now the healer was curious as to how her fellow Sisters would decide, without knowing the secret. So she agreed to let Mother do it, her way. At the next Bonding Ceremony, Amblin-Elu, stood before her Sisters, with the healer by her side. She told the Sisters, that this healer is required to keep secrets she has learnt through the course of her ministering to the people of the clan. She has learnt a secret that has become a burden to her, and feels that it will prevent her from bonding with them. One of the Sisters asked, if the elders know this secret? Amblin-Elu told the Sisters that the elders know all the clan's secrets. That is part of the burden they carry for the clan. The Sisters started talking amongst themselves, they always thought that they lived in a boring clan, now they know that the clan has secrets that they are not told about. They also knew that this healer helped in the delivery of Mother Andriel's baby. They assumed that the secret had something to do with the delivery. This meant that the secret could be considered gossip. As Sisters they knew things about the clan that the average clan member did not know. They were forbidden to gossip, because they knew that gossip can hurt the clan. They had studied enough examples in their own clan's history. One of the Sisters spoke up and said that it was better that she keep the secret, they could still bond with her. Amblin-Elu asked the Sisters if they all agree with what their Sister just shared. They all said they agreed. Amblin-Elu looked at the healer. "Do you feel better?" The healer indicated she did.

"Good! By the way it is all right to tell the Sisters about the Iktotchi, and their ability to see into the future."

The healer was all embarrassed, the Clan Mother had just set her up. Everyone heard her mention the Iktotchi. How was she going to share what she knew about them, without revealing Krillgan's secret. Then she laughed, Mother just taught her that it is okay to share part of a secret, without revealing the secret itself. This made the secret easier to carry.

Erin was ten months old when the former slaves, and some Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan came to visit. Mother had everyone doing something in preparation of their visit. She had watched a number of Sisters practising their modified version of martial arts, with different weapons. Mother liked that it was a form of fighting that resembled a dance. She selected one Sister each, to demonstrate her fighting technique with a specific weapon. She also selected one Sister to fight for the honour of the Sisters, and three women and one man to fight for the honour of the Militia. She told them that she did not want them fighting each other before their guests arrived. But they could fight anyone else. They pitched some tents just outside the main village, for their guests to stay in while they were there. They used tents, rather than housing them in the village, because they would be using them, for their trip to hear the mountains sing.

Kreen was disappointed when Mother asked her to take the children to the practise area, while the guests would be visiting. She expressed her disappoint, and told her that the children would be disappointed as well. She explained to Kreen, why she wanted them out of sight. The people from the village knew Krillgan's voice. They had assumed that he was a man with a child's voice. She did not want to shatter their image of him. In case the Nightsisters still communicated with one or more of them. She reminded her of how fond the Nightsisters were of holding hostages, to force others to do whatever they asked of them. Kreen looked at her Mother, and asked if that meant they could watch the festivities, if they kept out of sight of her guests. Mother smiled, she said, out of their sight, and out of her sight. Kreen said that she would accept her challenge.

The children were disappointed when they heard that they were not allowed to be there during the festivities. It seemed lately that they were getting more restrictions placed in their lives. Just the other day. Mother Andriel told them that they were not allowed to jump off the ledge around her rooftop patio, to the ground below. She was worried that Erin might see them do it, and try it himself. They had to use the stairs to go down. At least she did not say that they could not jump from the ground up to the ledge.

When they arrived at the practise area. Kreen asked them if they wanted to go see the festivities, when their guests arrived. They told her that they thought that they were not allowed to be there. Kreen told them that they were not allowed to be seen to be there. Mother had issued them a challenge. If she did not see them, and the guests did not see them, than they could be there. The thing about a challenge, is that they would later have to prove that they actually were there. They also had to think about what they could provide for themselves as far as food and drink was concerned. They knew that they could sleep in the woods. They could all take turns, keeping Protector company. Since he always watched over them when they slept or just took a nap outside of the village. The guest villagers would never go into the woods. Kreen told them that was true, but there would also be Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan there. They would have no problem going for a walk in the woods.

The children liked that this was going to be a hard challenge. They asked Kreen, if they were allowed to go to one of the farming villages, for their meals? Kreen did not think that would be a problem. She doubted that any of the guests would go to a farming village. But still they had to be watchful, in case one of them did have a relative that lived there, that they wanted to visit.

The children outlined a strategy for Kreen. Which she approved. The hard part was getting something that proved time and place. They could only identify possible items, when they were actually watching an event. Kreen did mention, that Krillgan could not go retrieve items, because he stood out too much. No one would pay any attention to a little girl picking up something that somebody dropped.

When the time approached, they climbed up the escarpment from the midlands to the highlands. Diennu knew she could have ridden on Protector's back, and been to the top of the escarpment twice as fast as anyone else, just by sharing force strength with her Rancor. But that seemed like cheating. Even Kreen got off of her Rancor to follow them up. It's not like it was a hard climb. It was only 800 meters straight up. Some of the mountains near the main village were much more difficult to climb.

They stayed in the woods closest to the main village, on its east side. They waited and watched to see when the guests would come. Then they would try to sneak closer to the village. The Rancor were told to stay in the woods, or they might give them away. The big problem, was that planting happened only a short while back. So the grain in the fields were only a few centimeters high. They could not use the fields as cover. They had to follow the natural low spots in the terrain to keep under cover. No walking in a straight line.

As the day wore on, Kreen sent the Rancor to go hunt for their dinner. If they return and they are not there, they should wait for them. Diennu wondered why their Rancor did not just go into the village and eat. They are not part of the challenge. Kreen said that this is true, but the Clan Mother knows them. If she sees them, than she will know that they are nearby. Which means she will be looking for them. Kreen spoke with the force as well, so that the Rancor heard her and understood the situation. When dinner time came, and their tummies started to growl, Kreen said she was sure that the Sister she spoke to, said they would be arriving today. When the sun started to set, they saw the first signs that the guests were on their way. She told the children to stay in the shadows, and they should be fine. When they moved close enough. They saw the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan give their Mother silk cloth and spools of silk, as a sign of friendship and respect, from one clan to another. While this small ceremony was taking place the men and women of the main village were setting up tables. After the tables were in place, they started bringing out trays of food. They were going to share an evening feast with their guests. After their guests put away all their belongings in the tents, Mother signalled the local musicians, who had also set themselves up, to start playing. The feast had begun.

Kreen asked Ludia and Diennu, to go and get enough food for all of them to eat. She told them to use the force to make themselves look so small, they become invisible. She reminded Diennu that her mother is very good at doing that. That is way she is in charge of, and trains Rangers. The girls reached into the force, and tried to make themselves look small. At the tables, they found a tray that had been well picked over. They used that tray to place enough food on it, from the other trays, so that they all would have enough to eat. They grabbed the utensils they needed, and headed back. They brought the tray of food back and placed it in front of Kreen and Krillgan. They made sure that the vegetables were in front of Krillgan, and reminded him to eat his vegetables. He told them he was willing to share what was in front of him, if everyone else was willing to share. They all laughed and dug in. While they were eating, the men and women of the main village started to clear away the trays. Then they brought out new trays with nice tasty treats. Since the four of them had finished off all the food on the tray, the young girls asked if they should go and get some treats. Kreen and Krillgan were all for it. They asked them what they should get. Since berry season was underway, both Kreen and Krillgan wanted berries, which made the two young girls laugh. Krillgan reminded them, that they probably made special treats just for today. If they grabbed some of those, it would prove that they were there this day. Kreen thought that was a very smart idea, and sent the girls back for some treats. While they were checking the tables, Diennu told Ludia that she could see her. Ludia reply "So". Diennu told her to make herself small. Ludia felt embarrassed, she had forgot to make herself look small.

Amblin-Elu thought she saw Ludia, but when she looked back, she wasn't there. She could not really say she spotted her, but she was sure she was there somewhere. That means that they are here for the challenge. She would have to start watching more carefully.

The girls brought back small bowls of berries for everyone, and some treats with berries in them, along with some other treats. After Krillgan finished his bowl of berries, he reached for one of the other treats just to taste it. Ludia slapped his hand away, telling him not to eat their evidence. He could only eat the treats with berries in them. When they returned to the woods, the Rancor where waiting for them. Kreen took them to a place where she had spotted long grass earlier. She figured that this would be a nice place to sleep. When everyone was comfortable. Kreen said that she would take the first watch with Protector. Protector told her it wasn't necessary, he was resting while they were waiting. Kreen's Rancor said it was true, she could hear him snoring. So Protector watched over them by himself. Krillgan reached out with his hand and touched Protector. He often did this when they slept together at night. This allowed Protector to access Krillgan's ability to detect life, while he used his sense of smell. Because of this, Protector always felt that someone was watching with him.

The next day the Clan Mother took her guests on a tour of the main village, when they saw no barriers to separate where the people lived from where the Rancor were. They asked the Clan Mother about it. She told them that the stream was enough of a barrier. They saw that the Rancor had a nice large section of the village to live in. They liked how their temple was built on a piece of land above the level of the village, it added a sense of reverence and tranquility to the temple. They asked, why the temple was surrounded by flowing water. The Clan Mother told them that the temple symbolised their belief in, and their use of, the force. Therefore you need to use the force just to enter the temple. They asked her, why someone could not just walk across the stream? She told them that the stream is much deeper than it looks, and is very cold. Most people would collapse into the water before they made it across. The ones that did make it across, would find the temple too cold, and die from hypothermia. They understood that this temple demanded respect. They saw how the Builder incorporated the natural designs of the village, to build his water wheel, to give power to the various trades in the village. They could see the similarities between what he built here, and what he built in their main village. They ate their lunch, with the trades' people in the dining area.

They asked the people, where they could find the healer. The man who speaks with a boy's voice. Every trades' person they asked, told them that they had no healer like that.

The Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, heard that the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, were going to give demonstrations of their fighting prowess that evening. They had asked the Clan Mother if they could give a short demonstration of their own, before her Sisters gave theirs. The Clan Mother assured them that as guests, they had the right to do so. So they spent the afternoon practising their fighting moves, wondering what they would do for a demonstration. Most of the former slaves watched them, while the rest went around to the villagers working in the fields. To see if they knew where the healer was.

At dinner time the dining area was pretty crowded, with everyone from the main village as well as the guests. Families with young children were allowed to be served first. When the people from the Frenzied River Clan saw the Builder and his wife, and their young son go up for their meals. They were surprised to see how red his wife was. They thought that she would be as blue as he was. When they saw the son, they asked the locals if the child was adopted. They told the people, that they heard that the Clan Mother had given them a potion shortly after they arrived, which has affected how their children look. Now their children will look like everyone else's.

After dinner they asked the Clan Mother where they might find the healer. She told them that he would be away for quite a while. Not to worry, she will tell him they asked about him. They started to wonder if he was a hermit. That liked to live on his own. That only helped with difficult healings. Since the people of the village did not know about him.

The Sister that authorised their purchase, had listened to the former slaves' speculations. She believed that the Council of Mothers would have known about a powerful male healer, living as a hermit. She suspected the Clan Mother was hiding something. If there was a male healer, living on their own, in this part of Dathomir. She was sure the Nightsisters would have kidnapped him long ago. Even if he was a eunuch like they thought, and could not be seduced. The Nightsisters had other means to make someone like that, do what they want. She decided to talk to the former slaves, when she had a chance, and ask them to stop inquiring about the healer. Their inquiries might endanger the healer's life.

That evening, to start off the demonstrations. The Clan Mother announced that the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan would go first. What they had decided to do, was just their regular practise routine. But they would have two Sisters doing it at once, so it looked like it was synchronized. When they had finished, everyone clapped politely. The Sisters were disappointed, they were hoping for a healthier response.

When the Singing Mountain Clan took over, two gourds were placed at one end of the open area. When the first Sister came out for her demonstration. The people from the Frenzied River Clan wondered what she was demonstrating, because she did not appear to have any weapons. She bowed to the Clan Mother, then she bowed to the Builder. She started the demonstration by starting to build a force fire ball, then she let it fade, and pretended to throw it. She moved quickly forward, and looked like she had grabbed people, and thrown them around. It was only when she grabbed some daggers out of nowhere, and activated the blades, that the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, realised that she was simulating how to attack a pirate ship with only two Dathomirite daggers. They told their own people, so they would know what the demonstration was about. They were quite impressed by how real she made it look. She ended her demonstration by throwing the two daggers at the gourds. The guest all clapped strongly to show their appreciation of the demonstration, even though the Sisters did not think she threw her daggers very well, because they did not hit the gourds dead in the center. It was only when the gourds were passed to them that they saw there were targets carved on them, and she hit them both, smack in their center. They were told that the Sister did not know where the targets would be until she was close enough to see it. The Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, where now very impressed.

The next Sister demonstrated some techniques using the fighting stick. Again she started by first bowing to the Clan Mother, than bowing to the Builder. This had the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan's attention. She was doing moves that they had never seen before. She would be a formidable opponent. They thought the demonstration ended too soon. The next Sister started her demonstration the same way as the two Sisters before her.

One of the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan asked one of the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, why they were all bowing to the Builder. She told her that the Builder was their chief instructor for fighting techniques. The Sister from the Frenzied River Clan, asked if the Builder was a Sister? She said that he was a non-force user. "But both he and his wife are formidable warriors, in being able to fight without using weapons. He has shared some of his knowledge with our Militia and our Sisters, showing us how to apply his fighting technique to using weapons. Drastically altering our fighting techniques, and the way we train. What you are seeing is how we have applied what he has taught us. Making us all better fighters." The Sister passed this information on to her fellow Sisters. No wonder there fighting style is so much different from their own. These are not Sisters that they can challenge, and expect to win. They were awed by how her demonstration seemed like she was dancing with a sword in her hand.

The last Sister also started her demonstration, by bowing to the Clan Mother, then bowing to the Builder. She was demonstrating the fighting stick with the sword attached. Andriel had convinced her to tie a ribbon around the attachment. Both as a safety measure, so it does not become detached, and also to enhance the visual and audio appreciation of her movements. The sight and sound of the ribbon fluttering, through the flurry of movements, had many people mesmerized. During the demonstration, a piece of the ribbon broke off. Krillgan told everyone, to take note of where that piece landed. It would be their evidence that they were here today. They told him that ribbons were common. "How could it prove that they were here today?" He answered their question with his own. "How did we know to look for a ribbon?" Now they understood how it was their evidence.

The Clan Mother announced that the last event was not a demonstration. She had picked a Sister to represent the honour of their Sisterhood, and four members of the Militia, to represent the honour of the Militia. The Sister and the four members came out. They bowed to their Mother, then bowed to the Builder. Mother told them to begin. The four members of the Militia first tried to completely surround their Sister, but she would not cooperate. She stepped back and engaged the ones trying to manoeuvre to her blind spot first. Because they fought so well, the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan thought it was a staged fight. The one Sister asked a Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan, how long they had practised to perfect this fight. The Singing Mountain Clan Sister looked at the Sister from the Frenzied River Clan. "Didn't you hear our Mother? This is not a staged fight. This is the first time they have been able to meet. They are fighting for honour." The Sister from the Frenzied River Clan, quickly relayed this information to her fellow Sisters. They could not believe that the Militia members could fight so well. Their Militia could only use bows and arrows. They asked the Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan why their Mother permitted this. She smiled and told them it helps them to be better fighters. "Do you know how embarrassing it would be, for just one of our Sisters, to be dis-armed by the Militia members?" They asked her why the Sister never used force push against the Militia members. She told them that to use force push against just one of them, would cause you to drop your guard, and the others would hit you with nasty blows to the body. To use force push, you have to push them all back at once. All that does is give the members of the Militia a chance to rest, and catch their breath before they reengage you. You are better off using the force to enhance your strength and speed. The Sisters were mesmerized by what they saw, when they knew the truth.

Everyone fought bravely. Neither side conceding an advantage to the other. Finally, the Clan Mother signalled for a horn to be blown. Both sides knew that this was the signal to disengage. Everyone watching, jumped to their feet to applaud the fighters. Everyone except the four who were not supposed to be seen. The Clan Mother congratulated all the fighters, telling them that their honour was still intact. Which caused everyone to applaud wildly again.

One of the Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, had noticed that everyone who participated in todays' events, wore special gloves. The Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan pulled out her pair. She showed them her gloves. She told them that it was designed by Father Chitrah, the one they call the Builder. It has strips of metal sewn between two pieces of leather on the top part. It is intended to keep the bones in the fingers and hands from being crushed, when they take a direct hit to any part of the hand. This makes it faster for the healer to heal them.

She was asked, "Which healer."

The Sister knew she messed up. "The healer of your choice. We all have favourites."

She got away with that one. Everyone's healer of choice, when it came to crushed or broken fingers was Krillgan.

She told the guests that every Sister, and every member of the Militia has a pair. The Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan asked if they could also get a pair. The host Sister told them to go to their cobbler's shop tomorrow, and ask if they can make them a pair of practise gloves. They probably would not be ready, until they return from visiting the Singing Mountains.

After everyone had left for the evening. The four felt it was safe to go to where the demonstrations took place. To see if they could find that ribbon. The ground was pretty trampled from that last fight. Making it harder to find. But Krillgan managed to see a little piece sticking up out of the dirt, because of his Chagrian vision, and pulled it out from where it had been trampled under. Holding it up, for the others to see.

The next morning, the Sister in charge of the group from the Frenzied River Clan, told them that there would be a meeting in front of their tents after breakfast. When the people were told that their search for the healer, might actually be endangering the healer's life. They reluctantly stopped looking for him. None of them wanted the Nightsisters to get a hold of him.

While they were meeting, one of their Sisters went to meet with the Clan Mother. The Sisters of the Frenzied River Clan were embarrassed by how poor their fighting demonstration was, compared to the demonstrations put on by the Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan. They wanted a way to redeem themselves. They proposed a friendly competition. A foot race, and an archery competition, with the elders serving as impartial judges. Since there were only six of them that came on this trip. They would form two teams of three. The Clan Mother accepted their challenge on behalf of the Singing Mountain Clan. The Sister also asked the Clan Mother if the Sister in charge of their group could test herself against the four Militia members that fought yesterday. She would like to see how well she would do against them. But doesn't want it to be a public spectacle. The Clan Mother said she understood, and would see what she could arrange.

There was one more thing she wanted to ask. She told the Clan Mother, that she heard that the one their clan calls Father Chitrah. The one that all the other clans call the Builder. Is a skilled warrior and has taught them some interesting techniques. Is it possible for him to teach them some stuff, before they leave to go back to their clan? The Clan Mother said that they would need to speak with Father Chitrah about that, and sent one of her Sisters to get him. The Clan Mother told her that if it was up to her, she would not let him, because it would give the Frenzied River Clan's Sisters an unfair advantage over the other clans, when it comes to a territorial challenge. The Sister from the Frenzied River Clan, could not believe that the Clan Mother just said that she has no authority over the Builder. She understood that the Builder was a member of her clan. She must have authority over him. She will need to discuss this with the Sister in charge when she goes back to the tents. No doubt they will need to discuss this with their Clan Mother and their elders when they get back. The Singing Mountain Clan does not seem to be behaving like a normal clan.

When the Builder arrived, he told the Sister that he has no time right now, to take on any more students to train them in martial arts. Right now his focus is in helping his wife get back into her pre-pregnancy shape, by helping her with her self-defence workouts. The Clan Mother explained to the Sister that the self-defence techniques that he works on with his wife, is both similar and different than what he teaches them. He will only teach the self-defence techniques to non-force using females. So that they can defend themselves from others who would try to force themselves on them. The Sister mentioned that some of the women here could use that type of help. The ones whose husbands had their brains damaged by the poisons. Sometimes they have trouble controlling them, because they are physically stronger, when the husbands do not get their way. Because they do not have the ability to understand why they should not do some things, they still try to get their way, by physically forcing the situation. Sometimes the Sisters have to get involved, because they don't understand that they are hurting the people who love them. The Clan Mother was worried that this could happen. She asked the Sister to send her people to come and talk with her and the Builder, after they are finished with their meeting at the tents. Maybe there was something they could do to help. The Sister thanked them both, and went to talk with her people.

When she left, Amblin-Elu told Chitrah, about telling the Sister that she did not want him training them, because they would have an unfair advantage over the other clans when it came to a territorial challenge. Chitrah asked her what weapons were used in the normal challenge. The Clan Mother said that they only use fighting sticks, because the intent is not kill the other Sister, but to show that they are ready and willing to defend their territory. Chitrah mentioned that the techniques using the sword, and the sword/fighting stick combination could be passed along, providing that they are willing to share this with Sisters from the other clans, and not just their own Sisters. Amblin-Elu saw what Chitrah was getting at. All their fighting techniques, involving the sword. Is geared towards fighting pirates. It would be wrong not to share those techniques.

While they were waiting for their guest to return, the Clan Mother sent a Sister to go bring the Sisters she had chosen to represent the Singing Mountain Clan, in today's competition. She also asked that one of the elders be brought to her, so she could explain their role in today's competition. She can then go and inform the other elders. When her guest returned to talk with her and Chitrah. She left them alone to talk with the Builder, while she took the Sisters aside to talk to them about the sword techniques. She told them that she was willing to send the two Sisters that demonstrated how to use the sword, and the sword/fighting stick combination. On their trip to the Singing Mountains. Provided that they are willing to share this with Sisters from other clans not just their own. The Sisters readily agreed. When the Clan Mother noticed that Chitrah had left the ladies. She went and asked them if anything had been decided. They told her that the Builder has gone to speak with his wife. He wants to accompany them to the Singing Mountains, so he can train them on the way to and from the Singing Mountains. The Clan Mother said there was one more thing she wanted to ask them. She was hoping that at some point in the future, when they feel comfortable. She would like them to tell her Sisters, what life was like, living as a slave to the Nightsisters. It will help them to better understand, why they need to stand up to them, and protect the people they can. The women told the Clan Mother that she is asking for something very difficult for them to do. The Clan Mother said she understood, which is why she asked them to do it when they are ready. It is not something she would ever force them to do. Which is why she is not giving them a time limit on when she would like them to talk to her Sisters. They felt better about that, because as her guests, they thought that they might be obligated to do so. But the Clan Mother had just assured them that if they leave and not say anything, she will not be disappointed with them.

Kreen had heard from a Sister about the competition that would be taking place that afternoon, and about the friendly fight that would be taking place that evening. The children of course wanted to see everything. Kreen told them that she was going to sneak into the village, to see if she could find Mother Andriel. They would need hooded cloaks for this evening. Not just the cloaks they have now, that they use for sleeping.

Kreen went to the west side of the village. Jumped up and grabbed the top of the palisade. She could have jumped clear over the palisade, but the latrines were on the other side, and that was something that she did not want to land in. From the top of the wall, she was able to jump over the latrines, and land on solid ground. She went to Mother Andriel's home. Knocked on the door, then walked right in closing the door behind her. She found Mother Andriel sitting on the floor, playing with her son, Erin. As soon as she saw that it was Kreen, she stood up right away and asked if anything was wrong? Kreen told her everything was going well. She told her about Mother's challenge, and how so far, they have managed to keep out of sight. She did not tell her about the items they collected as proof of them being there. She mentioned that if they were going to witness this evening's event, they would need hooded cloaks. Because they will be around clan Sisters, she is sure they will be spotted. If they are wearing hooded cloaks, it is only the cloaks that will be seen, and not them. So they would still be honouring the challenge. Mother Andriel told her that she was sure there were hooded cloaks in the seamstress's shop. If she would watch over Erin she would be right back. Kreen was happy to play with Erin until she came back. Erin was used to his mother suddenly running off when someone came to see her. So he was content to play with someone else until she came back.

When Mother Andriel came back, she told Kreen that the cloaks were all the same size. So they would be on the large size for the children. She also asked her to tell Krillgan that they would be going with the people from the Frenzied River Clan to the Singing Mountains. Tell him that they love him, and think about him often.

Kreen was always very impressed with how well Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah treated Krillgan, even when they had their own son to care for. She was sure that this was why he had an easy going nature, and everyone in the clan felt comfortable with him around. She wondered if her own mother would have been more open, if her grandfather had been around. She knew that grandmother would have been happier. Then she thought about Kindell's prophecy, and how the important person would be forced to leave Dathomir. What if she had her own family, could she really leave them, to wander the stars like her grandfather. Maybe it wasn't a good thing, to be the person of the prophecy.

When Kreen returned with the hooded cloaks. She suggested that they grab a quick lunch at the first farming village. No one will be there to serve them, because they were used to eating their lunch in the fields. After they grabbed what looked like the remnants of breakfast. Kreen told the Rancor to take the hooded cloaks, and wait for them at the fourth farming village. They would meet them there for dinner, after the competition. They nibbled on their lunch, while they made their way around to where the competitions were supposed to take place. They needed to find a hiding place that still gave them a view of what was happening. They opted for a small group of trees. That way they would be in the shade the whole time. There were enough bushes growing around them, that it should discourage others from entering. The competition began with a foot race from where the archery event was setup, to the gate, and back again. Three Sisters representing each clan took off running when one of the elders gave the signal. The children tried to run alongside of them, put where easily left behind. When the runners were out of sight, the elders decided to start the archery competition. There was two parts to the competition. The first part was a straight forward shot at a gourd placed on a stand three hundred meters away. Because you could barely see the gourd no target was marked on it. The goal of this competition, was to see how close your three arrows would be to each other. The second part was to shot an arrow through some hoops, than have it hit a gourd with a target marked on it, only one hundred meters away. There were to be three different paths marked by the hoops. Every participant was allowed only one attempt on each course. A guest Sister was chosen to go first, followed by a local Sister. Until they all had there try.

For the distance shooting, when the gourds were brought for the elders to exam. They found two groupings virtually identical. They declared the two Sisters to be equal winners, and asked them to identify their arrows. It turned out to be one Sister from each clan. A Sister from the Frenzied River Clan won the first course. A Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan won the second course. Two Sisters again tied on the third course. The Sister from the Frenzied River Clan that had tied in the distance competition, was also the Sister that tied on the third course. Because she was considered a winner at two different events, she was declared the overall archery champion. As declared champion, the Clan Mother braided some wildflowers into her hair, so that everyone knew who she is. The elders declared that since no clan had won more events than the other clan. The archery competition was declared a tie for the clans.

Krillgan had mentioned that getting their hands on just one of the gourds used in the archery competition, would be enough to prove that they were here today. Kreen said that after everyone has left, she will pick out a gourd with the least damage. She doubted that anyone would be doing anything with them. Now everyone was waiting around to see who won the footrace competition. The elders drove two long stakes into the ground. One on either side of the trail, with colourful ribbons on each stake. This was going to be the finish line. Now each runner had a different coloured arm band, so the elders would be able to identify them. When the runners were first seen in the distance, it was clear that this was going to be a tight race. There was one elder standing beside each stake, and a Sister behind her to record the colours the elder called, in the order that they were called. When the lists called by each elder was compared. They were found to match. The Sisters from the Frenzied River Clan, placed 1st, 4th, and 6th. The Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, placed 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. The Sister who placed 1st had flowers braided into her hair by the Clan Mother. The elders declared the running competition a tie for both clans. Then everyone went for dinner.

After everyone left, the four of them crawled out of their hiding place. Kreen ran over to where the gourds had been abandoned, and selected one. As the four of them approached the forth farming village, Kreen found herself dancing around the Brackaset. Apparently, they were all interested in getting a sample of the gourd. The people of the village told her that it was a good thing that she did not let them try it. Because if a female Brackaset tried it, it would sour her milk. She left the gourd with the Rancor, because she knew the Brackaset would not approach them.

After dinner, they put on their hooded cloaks. It fit Kreen quite well, but Ludia, and Diennu had theirs touching the ground. One of the women of the village offered to quickly hem the cloaks, so they would not drag along the ground when they walked. Krillgan was tall enough, that the cloak cleared the ground by a couple of centimeters, so they left his as it was. Kreen had been told that the fight was to take place in a clearing in the wooded area, just beyond where the archery competition took place. Kreen told the children, that it would be very difficult to make themselves small and invisible, when so many Sisters would be there. It would also make the Sisters suspicious of why they were trying to make themselves unseen. Now the dark blue hooded cloaks they are wearing, are normally worn by healers. They just need to keep their faces hid. They just followed Kreen.

They were able to make their way to where the fight would take place, at the same time, other Sisters started showing up. They decided to stay in the shadows of the woods. There was no brush to give them cover here. The Sister in charge of the group from the Frenzied River Clan, was introduced to the four Militia members who would be fighting her. The Militia members objected to the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, that their opponent was not wearing any hand protection. It would be too easy for them to force her to drop her fighting stick. The Sisters compared hand sizes. The one who was a close match, let her borrow her gloves. When everyone was ready, the Sister who was fighting, told the Militia members they could begin. The Sister did not yet know how to prevent the Militia members from encircling her. When she took a couple of hits to her arms, and a whack on her back, she decided to jump out of there. Unfortunately for her, she did not jump high enough, so she got a few good whacks to her legs.

When she felt them encircling her again. This time she somersaulted out of the way, so that she could always face them with her fighting stick to block their attacks. They fought for quite a while, with the Sister always being on the defensive. Always jumping to a new spot when she found herself being encircled. Then she yelled in pain, having taken a solid hit to one of her fingers. She jumped higher and farther than she had before. When she landed she held up a hand to stop the fight. She told the Militia members that they had bested her. She tried not to show it, but she was in a lot of pain. She told them that she thinks her finger is broken. One of her Sisters told her that there are four healers just inside the woods that have been watching. Maybe they can do something about her finger. They can do something about her bruises when they got back to her tent.

Now the sun was setting. One could only see direct sunlight on the tops of the mountains, so colours were hard to see in the woods. Everything looked like it was a shade of grey. The injured Sister walked over to where her Sister said she saw the four healers. As she approached them, three of them backed up. Two of the healers that backed up, and the one still standing there looked awful small for healers. When she was close enough, she asked the healer if she could help her. At first the injured Sister thought the healer was wearing gloves, because the hands were darker than normal. The healer reached for her hand, and she held it out for her. The injured Sister wondered if the healer was under a vow of silence as part of her training, because she did not speak. Because the tips of her fingers were exposed, the healer held both of her hands around the injured Sister's finger tips. That's how she realised the healer was not wearing gloves. Then she decided that the healer's hands must be stained from all the medicinal plants she must have been picking. The Sister wondered when the healer was going to do something besides hold her hand. She did not even offer her a medicinal leaf to chew on to lesson her pain. Finally the healer let go of her finger tips. The Sister was disappointed with this healer, and went to one of the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan to complain. She told her that the healer must be inexperienced, because all she did is touch her.

The Sister asked her if she felt anything, while the healer held her hand. She said no. Then she asked her if she felt anything now. That is when she noticed that she was not feeling any pain in her finger, no stiffness in her muscles, and no soreness in any of the places she was hit. The Sister told her that most people feel a tingling feeling when this healer heals them. She is one of the few that felt nothing. The Sister asked her to remove the practise gloves, and gently feel the finger digit that was broken. When she did she said she felt a hard lump, around her finger. The Sister told her that was normal. The body automatically deposits extra bone mass where a bone has been injured, as part of the healing process. She asked the Sister if the healer was able to do this because the healer's hands were stained with the juice of the medicinal plants she picked. The Sister refrained from saying, that if this healers hands are stained, it would be from a berry bush he found. Instead she told her that she is not a healer, so does not know how this healer heals.

She went back to thank the healer for healing her, but when she did. All four healers were gone. She hoped she did not insult the healer.

When she returned to her tent, the other Sisters checked her out. She did not have any fresh bruises, in any of the places they saw her get hit. They did see discoloration. What they saw was what looked like bruises that were fading away. They had never encountered a healer that could heal like that.

When they were first planning this trip to the Singing Mountains, for non-force users. The Clan Mother had asked Mother Andriel and Father Chitrah, if they could make a backpack for a Rancor, similar to the backpacks they had when they first arrived. Using a strong clothe fabric, reinforced with leather.

Borrowing from a cart harness, they were able to make a backpack that would hold almost a half cart load of provisions. When the Herd Mother tried it on, she gave her approval. With the help of the other seamstresses, the other cobblers, and the blacksmiths. They were able to produce another five Rancor backpacks in very short order. The Rancor would carry all the tents as well as all the food supplies for the people going to the singing mountains. They had to use the backpacks because of the terrain. Since you could only take carts, if you carried them all the way.

While they were packing everything up in the morning. The Sister in charge of the Frenzied River Clan's people, approached the Clan Mother, and asked her to relay her apologies to the healer who healed her last night, she had never been healed by touch alone before, and had thought the healer was negligent in her administrations. The Clan Mother knew that there was only one healer, who could heal by touch, and called over one of the Sisters that was at the fight last night, to explain what happened. She told her that Kreen and her three pupils had shown up at the fight, wearing the blue hooded cloaks of healers. The Sister's finger was broken in the fight, and one of her Sisters suggested that she ask the healers to help her. She approached Krillgan because the other three had backed up. Because of the poor light, she thought that his hands were stained from picking medicinal plants. She is one of the few people that does not feel anything, while Krillgan is healing them. So she thought at first, that our healer wasn't doing her job properly, and came over to her to complain. When she pointed out that she really was healed. She went back to apologise, and thank the healer. But Kreen and the children were already gone. The Clan Mother made sure that Krillgan was actually not seen, even though he had performed the healing. She reminded her Clan Mother that the Sister thought she was dealing with a female healer, whose hands were stained. Mother was very impressed with Kreen, and how she was able to keep her children out of sight, while they could clearly been seen.

Kreen took her charges back to the Sisters' training area. This training area was carved out of the midland forest at the base of the escarpment separating the midlands from the highlands. When the Nightsisters were given the southern coastal swamp with the Sandstone Mountain. The Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan wanted a place where they could train each other to fight, and not be spied upon by the Nightsisters. The Basilly trees in this section of the forest are over three hundred meters tall. Some of the really old trees are so big around, that when Kreen, Krillgan, Ludia, Diennu, and Protector tried to reach around a trunk, they could not make it. The Sisters who originally cut down the trees, had to use their Dathomirite swords to do so.

They did not know, when they started cutting the trees down, that a pack of Purbole had nested in the upper branches. Now the Kwa had nicknamed the Purbole, as the little men of the forest, because they have a basic humanoid shape. They stood on average 1.3 meters, when they stood upright. Fur covered their upper arms and upper legs. Their torso was also covered in fur, except for their bare belly and chest. Their face was free of fur except for their jawline and chin, making them look like they had small beards. Their arms extended below their knees, and their legs resembled the hind legs of a canine. Their ears resembled small canine ears, and their nose looked like in had been squashed into their face.

When the Sisters discovered their abandoned nest, they were surprised to find evidence that a fire had been used in the nest. They did not know if the Purbole had discovered how to make fire, or if they knew how to transport the hot embers of a lightning strike, and learnt how to keep it burning, without burning down their nest. Their favorite prey animals, were the Baz nitch, and the Dathomir Boar. The Baz nitch, they could club with a stick, when it passed underneath the branch they were on. The Dathomir Boar was much more difficult to catch, and required team work. Since the boars traveled in herds in the midland forests. The Pubole had to be precise with their attack. Usually one Purbole would hold the legs of another, while it swung down and grabbed a hind leg of a boar, and tried to pull it up into the tree. If the timing was off, the boars that were following the boar that was targeted, would try to grab a limb of a Purbole, in its jaw, and break it with the strength of its jaw. They would also try to pull both Purbole out of the tree, because their body mass was usually higher than the Purbole. Then they would trample them to death. It was this weight difference that made it so hard to pull the boar up into the tree. They would take turns dragging the boar up the tree. When they were about 25 meters above their target branch. They would drop the boar head first, so that it would land on its head, killing it. They would use the boars own tusks, to carve up the body of the boar, making it easier to transport its body to their nest.

The Sisters lifted the pieces of the trees they cut down, up to the highlands.

Because it was a hardwood, the blacksmiths liked to use the wood in their forge. Before Chitrah and the water wheel. Their used to be three parts to an apprentice's training. First they had to man the bellows of the forge, to start building up their arm muscles. Then they had to chop the wood for the forge, from the pieces the Sisters had transported to the highlands. They estimated that there is enough wood in the pieces, that they will be chopping it for quite a number of generations still. After the blacksmiths were satisfied that their arms were strong enough from chopping the wood, then they would assist the blacksmith in the forge. After the water wheel was built. Chitrah used some of its power to work the blacksmiths bellows, which gave the blacksmith greater control over the heat of the forge. So now apprentices are sent straight to chopping wood, to build up arm strength. The carpenters also love working with this wood. The gates of every Singing Mountain Clan village is made from this wood. So is most of their furniture.

The hardest thing the Sisters found in clearing the area, was in removing the tree stumps. All the Sisters had to get together, using the force, just to pull one stump out of the ground. Once it was all cleared. They rolled one piece of the main trunk of a tree that had no branches coming out, to flatten the ground. The branches coming out of the main trunk of a tree, are just as thick around, as the logs used in building the palisades around each village. With skill, a force user could travel across the entire forest without touching the ground. This was a skill the children needed to learn. Kreen told them they would be playing Moog and Rancor, with the key being that they were not allowed to touch the ground. She would be the first Rancor, and whoever she caught would be the next Rancour. Then she would leave them to go back to her warrior training. She pretended to try and chase each one of them. But the one she wanted to catch was Krillgan, because he was the fastest, and would be best, as the next Rancor.