Primitive Instinct: The Journey Home

Diesel and I left the caravan, following the other females down the slope that was too steep for the lanka to pull the sleds down without them getting ran over in the process. After a short hike, the trees thinned slightly, and I looked down at a small open area with a few tall, widely canopied trees sheltering it dotting here and there. There was a lot of area, and I knew that Hool’gra’nat would need a lot of it for the lanka.

I wouldn’t know where to go until the other females started claiming their places, so I stayed on the slope to wait for them to figure out where they were wanting to be. The fighting was a lot like you’d see in cats who lived together and occasionally got on each other’s nerves. A lot of paws and no claws. They rolled together for a bit when the slapping paws didn’t deter someone and I think there was biting, too, because some of the females were bleeding a little bit when they were done.

“I think I see a good place or two,” I told Diesel and finished my descent, picking my path to the lesser of the two places I figured would be suitably close to the rest of the clan, yet far enough away to keep from being targeted whenever I set foot outside of the tent. I’d be on my own now and without Roar to keep them in line, I’d be targeted by more than just hostile glances. “We’re going to have to do this by ourselves. I won’t be able to see at all soon and when I can, it won’t last long. We’ll have to hunt more than Roar did to make up for what I won’t be able to do when the moon isn’t bright enough.”

He licked at my wrist, reassuring me and I smiled and rubbed between his ears.

I had to be careful not to get too close to the other females who were kicking snow around the space they wanted for themselves so it didn’t seem as if I was encroaching or challenging them for the location, but once I made it to the first spot and started kicking the snow to outline the living space, Diesel growled deep in his chest and bared his teeth at a female who was smirking at me.

“You want it that badly?” I asked and looked pointedly at Diesel’s sharp teeth as he opened his mouth slightly, letting out a deeper, more menacing sound than before.

“No, but I don’t want you here either,” the female answered.

“Fine by me,” I shrugged and whistled, getting Diesel to stand down and follow as I walked away. “I’m only here because Roar’kaol’tok is here.”

I left the slightly confused female behind and walked slowly, seeing the caravan approaching from the path they took to accommodate the lanka and heavy sleds. Hool’gra’nat was in the back, near the end because he had to stop when he began wheezing too badly before moving back up the line. By the time I saw him leading the pair of sleds, most of the others had arrived and I was able to kick a boundary around the better of the places I had spotted and grinned proudly when he waved.

“Go let him see you unharmed before I knock his head with a branch,” the old man grumped when he stopped the lanka in front of the space.

I laughed and walked around the back to untie Diesel’s smaller sled so Hool’gra’nat could get the bigger sled positioned and untie the lanka.

“No fighting?” Roar asked as I worked.

“Not exactly. One female challenged for the first spot, but I waited a while before claiming it, so I could see where to go,” I told him, and he smirked.

“Clever,” he said.

“I saw the others coming and took my time walking here until about half of them were stopped. Can’t challenge me for something I don’t have, right?” I grinned and he laughed as I slipped the harness on Diesel loosely so he could move Roar closer to a tree so he could stand, making sure to keep his weight off his broken leg.

“This is a good choice,” he said looking around the space I had marked, then back towards the rest of the clan. “And not too close so no one will need to be here unless they are trading.”

“Will they? Trade, I mean,” I asked as I started to unload the lanka sled so we could get to the tent and support bones under it all.

“The snow camp is not like the sun camp. What we hunt, we keep, not share with the clan. There is plenty to be found here, since everything from wild lanka to the smaller creatures, like baan’tu and skall come here to seek shelter from the storms. Some do not linger long between storms, but many do,” he explained.

“I don’t understand why that’s a difference here,” I admitted after I thought about it some.

“At the sun camp, we are hunting to store for the trip here. Once we are here, the clans change. Who you come in with isn’t always who leaves with you,” he explained. “Young ones leave to find mates. Some bring their mates to us. Some may choose to leave for other reasons, some join us for those reasons.”

“So... At the sun camp you hunt to collect for the trip here. The whole clan provides meat to be prepared for the journey. But here, you hunt to save your own food, because there’s no telling who or how many will be going back to the sun camp,” I said slowly, and he nodded.

“This is why I said we will not live well this snow cycle. There will be no meat given from the chief to the people. You must hunt it yourself or trade a hunter for it,” he said. “You do not see well for long so I worry that you might not have enough time to hunt enough for us to have stores for the trip back.”

“I have a plan for that,” I smirked and held up a finger. “You showed me your hunting, now I get to show you mine. We’ll be fine, Roar’kaol’tok.”

“And I thought I was done learning things,” he smirked.

Diesel growled at Roar, keeping him from trying to help as Hool’gra’nat and I worked to get the tent up. When it was up, Hool’gra’nat went inside to set up the support poles while I picked stones for the fire pit. He used some dried poop to start a fire, helped me get Roar inside, and when I offered to come help him set up his own tent, he snorted and took the sleds and lanka as he left.

I went inside and saw Roar putting the frame together for his bed.

“I’m not standing and I’m sitting so there’s no weight on my leg,” he said when I narrowed my eyes. “Diesel isn’t growling at me, is he?”

“Valid point,” I nodded, and he laughed as he continued lashing the frame together.

“We need to make you a frame,” he said as I started putting things where they had been before we packed everything up. “It gets too cold on the floor.”

“I can do that once this is unpacked,” I nodded.

“It can wait until tomorrow,” he shook his head. “One more night of sleeping next to one another won’t make a difference. What needs to be discussed, though, is what you’ll be hunting.”

“Everything I can,” I nodded. “So, tell me what I need to know about this place.”