Grass Stars

Last night was very cool.

The hunters have been rotating in nighttime hunts lately. It’s actually not because the days are getting shorter, as I originally thought (which was stupid, really, because we’ve only lost perhaps an hour, tops); it’s actually that the slow winding into a new season has triggered some species to migrate. The uku that were mentioned in some of the stories have been making their way across D’Keda territory, and the hunters are taking advantage.

The problem is the uku are nocturnal. So the hunters have begun striking out a short while before sunset so they can locate the herd and get into place before it’s fully dark.

The hunters seem somewhat nervous during the day before they go out. Many spend a great deal of time honing their arrow heads, practicing shooting targets, or simply poking their noses into everyone else’s work and making pests of themselves. But when it’s time to head out, there’s a great deal of singing and boasting. I wonder if perhaps they’re trying to psych themselves up. The plains at night can be creepy. Redeka and other predators could be hiding anywhere, and the uku themselves are known for becoming very aggressive. So everyone inflates themselves with bluster and tough talk, and head out to do their best.

I find it oddly touching, somehow. They almost feel like they’re going out to battle, and there’s an aching undertone that some of them may not come back.

Anyway, last night was particularly dark; the larger moon Arachne was a thin waxing crescent, and Tiresias (the smaller moon) was in its new phase, and was only a faint circle hovering above the ecliptic.

The clan would never let me go anywhere away from camp at night. They all seem certain I’d be eaten by something. I don’t disagree, mind. But I was dying with curiosity, and I harassed Kohric all day to find a way to let me watch somehow.

Sometimes it pays off to live in a tribe of insatiably curious creatures.

Kohric took me up to the top of the cliff and walked me along it to a high point where I could see across several kilometers. My binoculars don’t have the best night vision, and the whole thing looked like a few greenish lumps moving around bigger greenish lumps, but I did get to see their eye patchs in action.

I’d begun to take the patch under the Azu-nah’s eyes for granted. I’d read they have bioluminescent properties, but I’d never seen them. Out of sight, out of mind, and all that. But last night I got to watch the tiny flashes out across the plains as the pieces of the hunting party kept track of each other.

They looked like little stars in the grass. It was very cool.

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This week's cameos are (in order of appearance) Akum, by HerbalDrink; Avak, by Syrus-chan; and Trixa, by Dani. Thank you all for submitting!

Triumphant Return

The last few days have been good. I find it very restful to know, at least vaguely, what’s coming from day to day. I hadn’t realized how nerve-wracking it was to have that additional bit of chaos on top of my flailing attempts at integrating myself into Azu society.

The evening stories have been restful too. It usually starts with Eyani and Oshtik having silent nudging wars over who will be the owner of my lap for the evening. Nandi has usually shown up by the time the two little buggers have finished their turf wars; he makes a particularly good backrest. So we have a cozy evening together, listening to the stories by the fire. Kohric will often join us, and will explain things that don’t make sense to me, often without me even asking. They almost feel like a little family, and it’s very, very comforting.

The best thing about the last few days, though, is that Oreeaht has turned up, and with her, Nanahan. It feels like forever since I’ve seen either of them. Nanahan was whisked off to recover in a secluded cavern the moment we arrived; Oreeaht has been a shadow that flits from the community food stores back to the cavern with little more than a greeting gesture.

Nanahan looks like nine kinds of hell. She’s lost a lot of weight, and her bones and tendons stand out against her skin. Her face has more lines than it used to, and her eye color isn’t the same intense, burning yellow they were before (Kohric tells me the eyes fading is a sign of aging, similar to whitening hair in humans). The most striking change, though, is her leg. The injury has healed, but the scar it left will never, ever go away. Unlike a human scar, it isn’t a livid red; it’s a gray-green color, which almost makes it more disturbing to me. It reminds me of a huge, puckered vein.

The rest of her leg hasn’t faired much better. Her leg muscles have clearly atrophied, leaving the left one distinctly smaller than the right. It’s clearly very stiff, and she holds it tucked up against her body. She’ll try to flex it, occasionally, but it’s very apparent that her range motion is badly limited. I don’t understand their anatomy enough to know exactly what went wrong, but I’m pretty sure she’s suffering from the equivalent of severed tendon and muscle wounds. She walks with kind of hopping limp, but won’t let anyone help her. She seems to be determined to get around on her own.

The Kan and his apprentice have been watching Nanahan like hawks. He’s told her, oddly enough, to swim as much as she can. So each morning she wades out into the water, practically radiating determination, and paddles slowly around until she’s visibly tired. Oreeaht seems very relieved. I think we all are, really. Even if she never gets the use of her leg back, Nanahan’s definitely going to be okay.

Yusa and Redeka-spirit

This is the story of Yusa and Redeka-spirit, and how the Azu-nah came to have only three toes, as told by Eraan. I've translated it as directly as possible, with Kohric's help, and any grammar failings are my fault. Some of their syntax still gives me trouble.

"It is a strange thing, that all Azu-nah have four fingers on a hand, but only three toes on their feet. It was not always so. Once, in the days when Sukil and Yusa lived on the earth, the Azu-nah had four toes. There is a story of how we lost the fourth.

I will tell you the tale as it was told to me:

One morning, in the time of the First Azu-nah, the sun shone brightly, and the world was alive with many colors and sounds. On this bright morning, clever Yusa was out hunting. East Wind-spirit had not yet shown the Azu-nah how to make m’kek (atlatls), and so Yusa carried only a knife made of chestha bone.

The hunting was poor that day, and while Yusa had been clever and quiet and quick, she had been unable to make a kill. Yusa's belly had become uncomfortably empty, but she and Sukil were wise and had saved dried fruit and meat for times when the hunting was bad. She could return to their lair and eat.

She turned and decided to go home when she caught a pleasant smell on the wind. Yusa followed the scent to a clearing in the grass where an uku* lay killed. She looked around carefully, wondering if it belonged to another, but there was no one near, and no marks staking claim. Yusa became excited and began to cut the kill into pieces so she could take it home.

But she had not cut more than a hand-and-tail before Redeka-spirit came bursting through the leaves, snorting in anger.

"Thief!" he roared, "Scavenger! This kill is mine! I will not let you take any of it!" He slashed the air before Yusa with his claws and bellowed his rage.

But Yusa was bold and did not back away. "Where are the marks to show this kill as yours? Perhaps I killed it myself!"

Redeka-spirit was furious. "I am the greatest hunter in all the world. You dare to question my kill? I will eat you along with it!" And he leapt at Yusa, his jaws wide.

Yusa ran away across the grassland, with Redeka-spirit chasing behind, and planned how to trick him into losing her trail. She stopped at the first stream to cross her path, and went upstream to mask the scent of her passing. "Redeka-spirit will never find me now," she thought to herself. But Redeka-spirit's yan-azuku** was powerful, and he find her scent on the tiniest breeze from across the whole plain. He soon caught up to her and gave chase again.

Yusa ran further, this time stopping in a patch of strongly scented nakaio plants. She quickly chewed the leaves to paste and rubbed them on her skin to hide her scent. Then she hid in a cluster of plants to wait for Redeka-spirit to pass her by. But Redeka-spirit could still catch a hint of her scent in the wind, and headed straight for her hiding place. "You can never hide from me!" Redeka-spirit roared, "I can smell you no matter where you go!"

But Yusa was clever. She ran once again, this time into a stand of trees. She bundled together many branches into the shape of an Azu-nah and placed it in the top branches of one of the trees. Then she took her hunting knife and cut off the fourth toe from both of her feet. It was very painful, but Yusa was strong, and she used her yan-azuku to stretch the flesh of the severed toes to cover the bundle of branches; now it looked like a living Azu-nah. Yusa then quickly bound her bleeding feet and climbed down the tree. She ran away from the stand and hid in a small pond.

Redeka-spirit soon came and sensed the smell of Azu-nah blood and flesh in the tree. “Foolish!” he bellowed, “To think you can hide from me so easily! I will eat you and then eat my kill as well!” He climbed up the tree, and it shook with his great bulk. He laughed in satisfaction when he reached the false Azu-nah and quickly ate it all in a few gulps. But he soon recognized the taste, and knew he had been tricked. Redeka-spirit’s rage was greater than the mountains. He roared his fury, and the sound was so loud it shook the top of what is now Broken Fang Mountain until the top cracked away and fell to the ground. It has been so ever since.

Redeka-spirit climbed down the tree, intent on catching Yusa and eating her! But the Creator made him to eat flesh, only, and the leaves and branches he had eaten made him very sick. He rolled on his side and held his aching belly, still roaring his anger and pain to the sky.

Yusa laughed at Redeka-spirit, and ran all the way back to the uku kill. She quickly cut it all up and took it away home. She and Sukil ate well for many days, and the good food allowed them to have many other adventures. But ever since that day, no Azu-nah has been born with more than three toes on their feet. And now Redeka-spirit’s children still anger that they were tricked by Yusa They have tried many times to kill and eat the Azu-nah, but those tales will have to wait until another night.




*An uku is a four-legged grazing creature with a sharp beak and thick skin. I have never seen one. Kohric had to describe it for me.

**Yan-azuku translates as "spirit power/strength", but I believe is interpreted almost in the same sense as the Native American concept of "medicine." It's a spiritual energy or magic that allows one to do more than is naturally possible.

Routines

Now that we’ve been settled in once place for a little while, and the immediate problems of establishing a semi-permanent home have been dealt with, I’ve noticed the days have developed into a fairly regular routine.

Every third day or so the hunters will hone their atlatl arrows and head out for the day. Those able-bodied adults left will go out to gather the more time-consuming and energy intensive plant foods; those that require a lot of digging or climbing. “Hunting days” are when Kohric gives the youngsters, and me, our lessons. We spend the majority of the day learning together, and then I spend a little extra time with Kohric after, and he goes over whatever vocabulary, social rules, etc with me that I have questions about.

The day after a hunting day is very busy for everyone. The previous day’s kills are cleaned and skinned. All the meat that isn’t set aside for the evening meal is smoked or set out to dry. Any plant food that is able to be preserved is set out to dry too, or is roasted, smoked, or covered in a thick, waxy, salty crust to preserve it. It’s all a lot of work, and there isn’t time for our lessons with Kohric. Every able hand is needed. The kids act as guards, keeping animals away from the drying foodstuffs. I’ve been helping them, mostly spending my time with Eyani and Oshtik, though Nandi has been showing me some of how to preserve the plants too. No one seems to want me handling the meat. I think maybe they think it’ll poison me just to touch it. It’s kind of cute.

The third day of the routine is a kind of “domestic stuff” day. There’s enough food that only a few groups go out to gather fresh crops. Everyone else is busy working at all the other chores that don’t revolve around immediate biological needs; weaving (cloth as well as baskets), stretching, tanning, and sewing animals skins into useful objects. Some make jewelry and other adornments. Wood is harvested and carved into atlatl arrows, tools, bowls, and some is set aside for firewood.

And then the next day the whole cycle starts again. It’s actually somewhat soothing to have a regular routine to count on. Everything’s been so haphazard since I’ve been here. I was beginning to think the Azu-nah were completely random with how they chose to go about their lives. I’m not a fan of working from dawn to dusk, but it certainly keeps me occupied. The Azu-nah sing while they work, and I’ve been able to transcribe a few of their most common songs. And what’s really great is that I’m getting to slowly know the whole clan. They can’t swarm me as much with their insistent questions like they used to. I can have things at my own pace, which is a big help.

The best thing about the new routine is the evenings, though. It’s slowly starting to get dark earlier, which means folks are still up and awake when it’s too dark to do much work. So the evenings are filled with stories around the fire. Some days it’s a retelling of the day’s hunt, or an anecdote of how someone saw an interesting animal behavior, or a funny story of someone being silly or foolish. But my favorite are the nights when they tell their cultural stories.

Eyani and Oshtik will pile up against either side of me, and we’ll listen to the Azu-nah myths and fables. One individual is by far my favorite storyteller; a dark, shadowy-colored male named Eraan. He even outdoes Kohric (nothing against Kohric, but Eraan just breathes such life into his tales).



He’s even telling a story tonight about how Yusa, the first female Azu, played a trick on Redeka-spirit, which somehow explains why Azus only have three hind toes. It’s apparently Oshtik’s favorite.

I can’t wait.

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This week's cameo is Eraan, submitted by Zelandeth! Thank you for giving him such a fun character!