Chapter 9 –– Caninus Catacomb

Noam noticed the fight happening at the playground. He brought me with him to separate Fatima and the child she was fighting with.

I took Fatima away and separated her from the other child, a boy from Ajish clan. They seemed to fight because of an argument.

“Fatima, what’s going on? Why did you attack him?” I asked her.

“He made fun of Noam! He said Noam looks like a felicat[10]!”

Wha....a kid saying that....

I mean, Noam did not look like a Caninus tribesman, but he definitely didn't look like someone from Felixia Tribe either....

Noam looked confused. He didn't understand what was going on.

“What does that word mean....?” he asked in confusion.

Oh, right. I forgot that that term was only used here. It was not really appropriate to let people from other tribes know about it since it was a derogatory term, however, because it was said towards him....I guess he deserved to know.

“It’s a derogatory term for people from Felixia Tribe. It means a feral moggie.”

Noam looked shocked. It seemed like he didn’t expect for such a word to exist. Well, judging from our long history of rivalry against the Felixia Tribe, it somehow made sense that we had a word for it. This made me wonder if they also had an equivalent insult for us too.

In the end, Noam apologised to the kid’s parents on Fatima’s behalf. I backed him up and told Fatima to apologise to the kid as well. The parents were understanding enough to let it slide, given that their kid mocked a foreigner using a derogatory term. Noam and I brought Fatima home and called it a day. We then returned to the mansion and spent the rest of the day indoors.

The next day, I woke up earlier than usual. Before the first daystone lit up, a butler came knocking into my room to wake me up and to relay my parents’ order who told me to get ready for the day. Despite how tired and sleepy I was, today was an important day and my parents had warned me to be on time no matter what it took. I immediately went the bathroom to take a shower and get ready.

After I was done getting ready, I went downstairs to have breakfast with the rest of the family. Everyone was wearing the same coloured outfit for today, a combination of blue and black. My parents, Fatima, and my relatives were all sitting on the table to get ready for today’s occasion.

I noticed an empty seat right beside me. Noam hadn’t come to the dining table yet. I wonder what took him so long.

Speak of the devil. Right when I was just thinking about him, he appeared in front of us, with his version of blue and black attire.

“My sincerest apologies, my lords, miladies. We had to make some adjustments since we could not find the right size...”

Noam walked towards the dining table with his velvet blue tuxedo and a matching pair of shorts. He wore a black shirt underneath complemented with a blue tie with a black rose motif on it. Lastly, he wore the same pair of black dress shoes as I do.

The butler apologised on Noam’s behalf for his tardiness to the table. Turned out, because we didn’t have an outfit small enough to fit Noam’s size, the butlers had to get someone to make adjustments so that it could fit him properly. Our tribe was generally bigger than his, so that was understandable.

Unlike him, I was wearing a pair of blue trousers and a slim-fit black shirt. I rolled up the sleeves up to my elbows since it was somehow tighter this year. Everyone was wearing it differently, but we all wore the same shades and colours.

“Noam looks pretty! I wanna wear that too!” said Fatima who was wearing a dress.

“Sure, you can wear it when you grow up,” Noam chuckled and replied, smiling at Fatima for being so cheerful early in the morning.

Fatima was really quiet before Noam arrived. After yesterday’s incident, I scolded her for acting so violently towards the other kid. She got upset with me and didn’t wanna talk to me after that. However, after seeing Noam, her face immediately brightened and she looked super excited.

As expected, right when Noam took a seat beside me, everyone was looking at him. He truly became the centre of attention the moment he arrived to the mansion–– to the village, in fact. Strangely, he didn't seem to notice this at all, let alone be bothered by it.

While having breakfast, I initiated a conversation with him, making a side talk.

“I’m sorry that you had to apologise for Fatima yesterday. I shouldn’t have let that happen,” I apologised to him.

“Don’t worry about that. She’s just a kid. She’ll learn.”

Noam didn't seem to be bothered by yesterday’s incident at all. He sounded as if he didn’t even remember until I mentioned it.

After we were finished having breakfast, we started getting ready to head outside. Today was an important day for us, Caninus tribesfolk.

“Where are we going?” Noam aksed while walking closely beside me towards the gate of the mansion.

“You’ll see.”

All of us walked in harmony. We brought along some of our maids and butlers to carry the umbrellas for us as well as to escort us. Everyone was holding an umbrella, even though it was not raining today.

We finally arrived to our destination, Caninus Catacomb. It was a deep underground cemetery where we prayed for our late ancestors. This was part of the rituals we had to do every year for the Bluemoon Festival that was gonna be conducted tomorrow. We brought some offerings in exchange for a blessing and good fortune for the rest of the year.

Caninus tribesfolk take traditions very seriously. Just as our tribe’s motto says, “Blood Runs Deep”; we value bloodline and sense of togetherness a lot, hence our tribe logo: house. We might be perceived as exclusive and not open to outsiders by other tribes, but that is not true. We do accept outsiders, even though I have to admit that we are not as open as other tribes when it comes to mating, except for special cases.

“Blood Runs Deep....”

Noam muttered our tribe’s motto after he saw it written in front of the catacomb’s entrance. He seemed to be fascinated by this whole event.

My father led us every step of the way as the chieftain of the tribe. We followed right behind him, along with our butlers and maids.

“Is it okay for me to enter the catacomb?” Noam asked me.

That was a good question. I actually don’t have an answer to that.

“Hmm....” I took a moment to think of an instance where something like this ever happened.

My father overheard our conversation and answered him on my behalf.

“It’s totally alright, Noam. This catacomb is open to everyone.”

“I see. Thank you, Lord Hamza,” Noam replied politely.

Ah. I see. I never saw anyone from other tribe coming here, so I didn’t know.

Upon entering, the butlers and maids closed the umbrellas and started carrying the meals we prepared beforehand. After we entered the catacomb, we went to our family’s tomb to pay respect to our ancestors and give our offerings.

We then prayed according to our tribe’s custom, led by my father. Noam stood right beside me, following everything we did. The ritual lasts for about 3 hours, starting from the moment we placed our offerings in front of the tombs.

Since I was bored, in the middle of the prayer, I poked Noam’s shoulder from his side. He immediately opened his eyes to see what was going on. I signaled him to get out of the prayer while everybody was closing their eyes and meditating to show him something interesting. Noam seemed hesitant. He shook his head and signaled that he didn’t think it was a good idea. I convinced him that we could come back here and return to our original spot before anyone could notice. After giving it some thought, he nodded his head and go along with my plan. We stealthily stepped out of the area to go somewhere else.

After we distanced ourselves from my ancestors’ tombs, I grabbed Noam’s arm and took him to a place nobody else knows. I discovered this place when I was young and I never saw anything like it before, not even in other villages.

“Where are you taking me, Dawoud?” Noam asked me with concern, afraid of the consequences of us skipping the prayer.

“Come. I’ll show you something you’ll definitely like.”

I never really stuck through the whole prayer anyway, so I know exactly when to come back before they could even notice anything.

We then went to a spot at the corner of the catacomb. There is a huge boulder near the wall. I pushed it to the side to reveal a hole underneath it.

There is a hole underneath the boulder which acts as the entrance to the secret spot I wanted to show him, along with stairs that could help us get there.

“Go. This boulder closes automatically.”

Noam nodded and went downstairs before me while I held the boulder for him. After he safely entered the entrance and went downstairs, I released the boulder and followed him suit.

After we both arrived at the bottom, we walked in a narrow passage. It was so narrow that a person could barely move as the walls are slightly touching us. I led the way and kept Noam close to me in case some wild animal appeared to try to attack us. At the end of the passage, there was a bright light which leads to the spot I was trying to show Noam.

He’ll be surprised.

After walking for a while, we finally reached our destination.

“Wow.....” Noam exclaimed in awe.

It is a large sanctuary with a gigantic tree in the middle. There is a lake around it with some fish in it. What’s more interesting is....

“What....are they?” Noam asked me while pointing at the animals around the tree.

There are these animals with feathers flying all across the sanctuary. They have various colours. They squeak like the sound of a door creaking.

“I don’t know what they’re called....but they’re something like a flying lowstrich[11]. I think they might be related,” I answered him.

There it is. Those glistening eyes whenever he is fascinated or excited about something. Noam immediately ran towards one of the birds perching on one of the tree branches, like a kid who just saw a new toy.

I cannot hold my smile and followed him from behind. I knew it was a good idea to show him this place. I’m glad he likes it.

When we were getting closer to the tree, I saw someone standing in front of it. A Caninus tribeswoman with long red hair and a striped tail. Her silhouette from behind seems oddly familiar....

After she noticed us walking from behind her, she turned around to face us.

She and I made an eye contact and we were both surprised to see each other. Especially here, out of all place.

“Dawoud?” she asked me.

Spoke too soon. It might not be a good idea to bring Noam here, after all.

Meeting my ex while having a date with my intended. What an awkward situation.