Sacred Balance

I don’t know why it upset me so much to see D’Keda get so angry at the outcast Azu-nah. I’ve heard about criminals all my life. Human history is full of people who have done horrible things.

Maybe that’s why it bothered me; I already knew humans could be terrifying and cruel and hateful. But the Azu-nah are something different. They greeted me with nothing but curiosity. The bigotry or suspicion I’d have taken for granted with a mixed bag of humans just didn’t exist in D’Keda. No one has treated me with anything but generosity. I guess I took it for granted that I was in some kind of shining utopia.

I feel pretty stupid. I should have known better, really. I suppose that makes me naïve?

It still freaked me out to see them so aggressive, though. I mean, how would you react if a friend you thought you knew suddenly whipped out a gun and kneecapped someone?

So, being the naïve twit that I am, I stayed huddled in the cave for a good hour or so. I couldn’t bring myself to go out and ask questions. I was pretty sure I’d get bombarded with some about humans too, and I absolutely didn’t want to get into the assorted atrocities my species has committed over the years.

Nandi actually had to come in and find me. I could feel the skin of my face and neck heating up; it’s embarrassing to be caught gibbering in a corner.

“You hide well!” he said in a voice even I could tell was forcedly cheerful. “Only Slaasek saw you go.”

I tried to think of a way to explain why I’d been upset, but my vocabulary was failing me again. I eventually gave up on being eloquent. “I was afraid.”

Nandi’s ears dropped and he stopped gape-grinning. I could see all the cheer and bluster drain from his posture. He stood quietly for a moment, studying me, and then reached to tug at my wrist.

“Come,” he said. “Come out. We will sit in the sun and it will warm you and burn away the fear.” I smiled and followed him outside.

The cliff face our caves are carved into faces west, and gets the full force of the setting sun (mind, I use the term “west” loosely. The World Research Counsel arbitrarily set up cardinal directions based on those of Earth. Minerva’s magnetic north is technically at the south pole). Nandi chose a ledge of rock a half meter or so off the ground, and spread out on it like a basking lion. I was still feeling a little unstable, and chose a spot on the ground below. The warm rocks were soothing, and were surprisingly smooth. Perhaps they’d been service this same purpose for generations of sun-worshiping Azu-nah.

“Now,” he said, still studying me intently. “Why do you fear?”

Because behind the tough girl scientist exterior, I’m a writhing knot of naked nerve endings? “The khee’troch, “I said. “Why,” I used Kohric’s words from earlier, “why was he put out of the clans? What did he do?”



Nandi let out his breath in a big sigh-snort. “He broke the balance.” His tail began flicking in anger, and his muzzle wrinkled a little; just enough to show the very tips of his two longer, canine-like teeth. “That one was once D’Keda. He will not leave the clan land, even after becoming khee’troch. He did not follow the Creator’s balance.”

I was on somewhat familiar territory with this. “From the Creator’s story Kohric told?” Kohric had stressed how much their deity valued the biosphere remaining connected, and that the Azu-nah were not excluded from that job.

Nandi’s muzzle smoothed, and he parted his lips in a small gape-grin. “Yes. The balance says we only take as much as we need from the other star children. If you take all the koh fruit, the trees will have no seed. If you kill too many chestha, the herds will die. The khee’troch,” he snarled the name, “liked to taste blood. He made many kills. Too many. The clan could not eat so much and the meat would turn. He tasted the blood of sacred spirit-beasts that are not for eating; ba’oh, sekiti, own’wan. The Sa-kudayu and Kan became very angry. The Aket-oizo took his name away and made him khee’troch. The Kan marked him with the khee’troch tattoos. Now he may not live with any clans of the Azu-nah. The balance is sacred; never to be broken. ”

I wonder what humans would have turned out like if we’d had a rule like that?

Outsider

Sometimes I wonder if the world doesn’t like people to get too comfortable. Is there some sort of karmic law that says that things have to get shaken up every few weeks or it will be the end times?

I’m getting ahead of myself.

Today was unsettling. It started off normal enough. Today was a lesson day, so after the morning chores were done and the adults had settled into their routines, the youngsters and I gathered under Kohric’s favorite tree to hear today’s teachings. We were only about fifteen minutes into the lesson, though, when a huge commotion erupted near the caves. There was a great deal of shouting; high pitched, angry words full of the chirping “kheet” syllables.

Kohric and several of the children all rocked back on their hind legs and stretched their necks to see what was going on. Eyani tugged at my sleeve, and I hiked him up on my shoulders for a better look.

Those clan members that had not gone out for the day were boiling out of their caves or dropping whatever chore they had in hand, and were moving to surround an Azu-nah I didn’t recognize. Their movements were harsh and jerky; tails were lashing, heads were waving side to side with aggression, and some individuals even had sticks or other objects in hand, and were brandishing them angrily.

My friends, the peaceful, curious, and accepting D’Keda people, had become an angry mob.

I’ve always thought that thing about the hair on the back of your neck rising was just some literary figure of speech. I’ve even seen people write what I just said in books, and figured it was just to get you into the mood of the story. No, it really does. It’s unnerving, like your body knows you’re in deep shit and your brain hasn’t quite figured it out yet.

Up on my shoulders, Eyani’s hands clenched, and I felt his claw tips digging into my skin. Kohric made a “tchaah” sound of disgust, and said the word “Khee’troch” (the “khee” part is chirped and almost impossible to say with a human larynx).

It wasn’t a word I’d learned yet, but now that I’d heard it I could pick it out in the shouts from the crowd as well. I moved to stand next to Kohric and set Eyani down on the ground. The youngsters were becoming agitated and began heading toward the rest of the mob. Kohric looped his tail around my bicep and pulled me along with him.

“What’s going on?” I asked. I was starting to get scared. The hair-standing-on-end feeling had expanded to that stomach-clenching kind of fear.

“Khee’troch,” he said, and added in English, “One who is—put out of the clans.”

“Outcast?” I said, “You threw him out of all the Azu-nah clans? Why?”

“A khee’troch is dangerous to the clans. He has done great wrong. He is poison.” Kohric’s neck was arched, and his stride was becoming stilted and angry like some of the others.

We joined the semi-circle of angry Azu-nah. They had formed a kind of living wall between the caves and the intruder, and were now shouting and brandishing things at him. The sick feeling in my stomach wouldn’t go away. How could a tribe of people welcome an alien into their midst with open arms, and then do this to one of their own? Even Kohric, so learned and rational, was bristling at this outsider. It was like seeing a university professor suddenly start beating his chest and howling like a gorilla.

The outsider looked pretty awful. He was rangy thin; much thinner than I’d ever seen any of the D’Keda folk. The bones of his tail stood out clearly, and his limbs were all wiry tendon and skin. His face was gaunt, and his mane looked dirty and unkempt. There was a livid yellow tattoo across each of his eyes; a violent, hook-like shape that crossed even his eyelids. His eyes terrified me. They practically burned. They glared around at everyone with such hate that I involuntarily took a step backward.

He boldly faced the crowd and barked once, simply, “I ask for food.”

D’Keda shouted back at him en mass, and a few individuals surged forward in short mock charges. They had their teeth bared. I took another step backward.



For just a moment his eyes turned toward me, burning with malice. I froze mid-step and gaped at him. His mouth parted and he made a breathy “haaaah” sort of half-hiss. For a horrible half second I thought he may attack me. But he turned his baleful gaze away, gave one last snarl toward the crowd, and then turned and fled.

I followed his example, and quickly ducked away in to my cave. I huddled in the corner so no one would see me inside, and shuddered.

The Azu-nah have always been kind and honest to me. Their worst fault is they’re overly curious and a little annoying. I’ve never, ever felt even the least threatened by them. They look so benign. But that one, the outcast… And the way they treated him. I’m not sure which scares me more.

I suddenly feel very, very alone.

Yes, again

Okay, okay, please don't hit me, but there's another delay this week. Yes, in fact, I'm going to have to cancel this week's entry. I'm sorry.

This week it isn't that I'm exhausted or that I'm working overtime. A really good job opportunity opened up today and I don't dare waste this chance. So, I'm sorry, but getting my application polished and my resume perfect for this just has to take priority.

Double entry next week, 'cause you guys are awesome for putting up with all this.

Wish me luck!

Harpoon Face

I ended up sleeping a bit too late today, after staying up late last night to watch the hunt. I always feel muzzy-headed from sleeping too late. My bio clock hates it when I deviate from its strict schedule. So I was only just stumbling out of the cave at the point when everyone else was already off and busy.

It did end up paying off, though.

Because I wasn’t immediately available first thing in the morning, like usual, Eyani and Oshtik had gone off exploring on their own along the beach. Sometimes you can find interesting things on a beach in the early parts of the day, before scavengers and other creatures have begun poking around for leavings.

Oshtik made an interesting discovery, and was practically vibrating to show it to me when I woke up. She immediately twined her tail around my wrist and hauled me off toward the wrack line, chattering excitedly about what she’d found. Eyani was waiting for us, standing guard over the object.

It turned out to be the corpse of one of the bird-creatures I’d seen flitting across the water. They’ve tended to shy away from any other creatures on the beach, so my experience with them has been little more than a flash of movement, a suggestion of wings, or a splash on the water’s surface.

This one was freshly dead, and in beautiful condition. I prodded it into a better position with a piece of drift wood (I wasn’t stupid enough to go handling it; it could have died from a disease). The wing design is fascinating, and explains a bit why I’ve had such a hard time getting a mental image of their body type.

I always thought the creatures (Oshtik says they’re called “oai”) looked bottom-heavy, but what I took for bulk was actually a second set of wings on the hind legs. They hold them tucked under the body, with the outside toe forming a second wing surface below and a partially underneath the primary arm-wings. Essentially they’re like little biplanes.

But the other, even weirder thing about them is the mouth. The upper jaw has a V-shaped notch at the tip, and an odd, bony, flexible, hook-like protrusion at the end tongue fits into the notch when the mouth is closed. The hook is part of a short, harpoon-like shaft, sheathed in fleshy tissue and backed by a thick slab of muscle.

Its tongue was like a chameleon’s. Except that instead of launching a fleshy, glue-covered punching-bag at an insect, this creature fires a tiny harpoon from above at its prey. I wonder if the biplane wings give them the stability to be able to pull off this crazy predator behavior.

This one had a tiny crest on its head, but I’m certain I’ve seen ones with larger crests, and some different, more distinct skull structures. I don’t know if they all can harpoon things, or if that’s an adaptation particular to this species, but I’m definitely going to be watching these things a lot more carefully in the future.

Nature is freakin’ fascinating!

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Today is the 1 year anniversary of Project Azu-nah. Thank you all so much for taking the time to read the blog. I really, really appreciate all your comments and feedback. I hope I've managed to entertain you at least a little. Thank you, and here's to another year!