6 - Village of the Plains

Apizhi woke up in a tent, made of Bison hides. Sitting up, grasping at his chest. His clothes were gone. Instead he wore bruises and bandages over his body.  His breathing was slow, and raspy, as every breath was followed by pain. Apizhi stood up, and walked to the edge of the tent, grabbing flap, moving it out of his way, and walking out. He saw a small camp of people. The hunters from earlier were having fun, talking and celebrating. The Bison was being cut. Its hide being laid out in the sun. Several villagers cut off strips of meat, and then put the strips over a fire. Watching the busy village, Apizhi took a deep breath before walking.

 He walked to the hunters from earlier. “The boy is awake!” Sottphi yelled out. He stood up, grabbed Apizhi from behind, and pushed him onto a log near a fire. “Everyone give him a cheer!” Sottphi yelled out. The villagers yelled out, cheering for Apizhi in several languages. “Ow.” Apizhi said, as he looked into the fire. 

“Thank you for taking down the beast. It kept slipping away for several days. But we got it, thanks to you.” Icas said. “Great.” Apizhi said. He took a second, before looking at Icas and Sottphi. “You both speak my language?” he asked. Icas laughed. “We speak your tongue. We traded with your people before. So we learned to speak your tongue.” Sottphi answered.

“My knife-?” Apizhi rubbed his belt, not feeling it. He stood up, and ran to the tent, spotting it next to the rest of his stuff. He put on his vest, and grabbed his knife, returning to the fire. “My knife, have any of you seen anything like it?” Apizhi asked. He pulled the knife out, and showed it off to the people. It was cleaned. The villagers had cleaned the blood from it. 

Sottphi grabbed the knife and examined it. Passing it along. “Not stone. No clue. It looks like a metal. I would head east. A reddish type of metal is used widely east. There is a large village, ask them.” Sottphi answered. Icas grabbed the knife, and examined it. “Sun and Moon. The parent of the first man. Although I doubt that is what it means in this case. You are not of my people, nor theirs. So the sun and moon could have a different meaning for you.” Icas stated. 

The knife was passed around, until it returned to Apizhi. “Great. So I went the wrong way.” Apizhi said. “What are you looking for?” Icas asked. “A man. My father.” Apizhi answered. “Describe him for us.” Sottphi asked. “Middle aged. Brown hair, blue eyes. Rough face. His hair is shortened. A lot of people in my village didn’t like that.” Apizhi answered. “Short hair, and blue eyes. That’s odd. I have never seen someone with blue eyes besides you.” Sottphi said. “Ok.” Apizhi said, sounding defeated.

“Come Koudl. Let’s go cook the meat.” Ta’no said. Patting Apizhi’s head. “Koudl?” Apizhi asked. “Your name. At least our name to you. Come, come.” O’mgi said, pulling Apizhi onto his feet. "Isn't the meat already cooking?" Apizhi asked. "Not ours, the meat on the fire is for the camp." Ta'no answered. "We need to strip off the biggest pieces." O'mgi said. 

  O’mgi and Ta’no walked with Apizhi towards the Bison. Walking past Takittsu and Takeeka’u. O’mgi stopped as Ta’no and Apizhi continued ahead. He looked back at Takittsu and Takeeka’u. “You two going to sit and do nothing?” O’mgi asked. “Yep.” Takkitsu answered. “Wanna help cut it?!” Ta’no asked, yelling back. "Nope!" Takeeka'u answered. "Lazy bums." O'mgi said, waving them bye. O'mgi caught up with Ta'no and Apizhi.

Apizhi sat in front of the Bison. Pulling his knife out, unsure of the next step, Apizhi hesitates. Ta’no and O’mgi taught him to cut the meat. And he followed, cutting strips, and placing them on the fire. Readying some food. Afterwards Apizhi washed his knife, while the others tore its bones and stored them. He turned to the fire. 

When it did cook he sat down, and ate the meat. “How is it?” Sottphi asked. “It tastes sweet. Sweeter than any meat I had. Why is it sweet?” Apizhi asked. “It just is.” Sottphi answered. “That tells me nothing.” Apizhi responded. “Has anyone ever told you the truth about anything?” Sottphi asked. Apizhi went to answer, but didn’t respond. He sighed. He looked at the people, who were all laughing, eating and enjoying the evening. “These are the moments I enjoy the most Koudl. My people are happy and fed. Thanks to you this day has been a good one. You are welcome to stay the night. ” Sottphi said. “Thank you.” Apizhi said, cautiously. 

He took a few seconds. “Wait, you and the other guy aren’t the same group?” Apizhi asked. “No, however we have spent the last few years contesting food. So whenever we go hunting, we turn it into fun. We share the food, and enjoy each other’s company. But no, we aren’t the same group.” Sottphi said. Apizhi watched the people, noticing the difference in their clothes, and jewelry. "I didn't notice." Apizhi admitted, embarrassed. 

The people slowly but surely wound down, each going to tents, to rest. “Don’t stay up all night.” Sottphi said. He stood up and left. Apizhi stayed. He yawned once, closing his eyes for a second. He stood up, and yawned. Looking at the moon. Staring blankly. He wanted to talk, to say something to the moon. But he couldn't find the words. "Watch over me as I sleep. Please Wakada, Spirits." Apizhi said, with a soft smile. 

Apizhi walked into a tent. Where several of the hunters were lying in beds. They where getting ready for the evening. Apizhi noticed something hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a web. “Is this yours?” Apizhi asked. “Yeah, I traded for it. A whole bag of corn. The people up north say it catches good ideas, and the bad ideas slip through the hole in the middle.” Sottphi answered. “So you traded a whole bag of corn for it? Was it worth it?” Apizhi asked. “Ehh. I’m a lot smarter than I was.” Sottphi said.

 Apizhi stared at the dreamcatcher. “How does it work?” Apizhi asked. “No clue. The people said it would just work. But I find sleeping makes it work better.” Sottphi said. Apizhi walked to a Bison hide bed, and laid onto it. “Thanks for letting me sleep.” Apizhi said. “Don’t mention it.” Sottphi said. Apizhi closed his eyes. Resting his body, and mind.

He felt his body drift. As if floating in a river. Apizhi felt something step on him. He opened his eyes, seeing darkness. He looked around, feeling his body stuck to the ground. He pulled on his arm, noticing it was stuck in a web. He pulled his arm free, and slowly pulled his body from the web. He stumbled forward, walking onto a rocky floor. Looking back, seeing several people lying in the web. They were all asleep. Apizhi saw light flow from the roof through the people. It didn’t wake them. It comforted them, they seemed happy. Apizhi heard footsteps, as someone walked away.

He turned, seeing a being of black sneaking away. Apizhi followed after, realizing the figure was humanoid, and wearing clothes. Its skin looked as if it was made of shadows. It walked into another area, where another large web held people. It stepped onto the web, moving with ease, finding a girl. Her hair was as dark as the abyss below. It grabbed the girl's face, and slammed a fist into the girl's stomach. The  girl woke up from the impact. "Ahh!" she exclaimed from pain. It started to pull something from the girl. A type of power, glowing with blues and purples.

Apizhi quickly walked onto the web, trying not to stumble. He pulled out his knife, and stabbed it into the being. Pulling it off the girl. It looked to Apizhi, revealing its red eyes. Apizhi regocnized them. “You are an Evil One.” Apizhi whispered. “And you are?” It asked, before quickly grabbing Apizhi and slammed him into the girl, knocking them both through the web. Letting them fall into the abyss below. Apizhi grabbed the girl. She whimpered as he did. As if scared of his touch. But Apizhi held her anyway. Holding her close. Using his body to shield hers. Like his mother did weeks ago. Slamming into the ground.