Chapter Exodus
We left the clan and a short time later, there was a bright orange glow and shouting behind us as the tent we had lived in burned.
“I’ll need six skins, at least, to make us a new one,” Roar said when we stopped to watch the glow for a bit. “And three, preferably four large ribs from a mammoth.”
“We’ll make it,” I told him.
Everything we took with us fit easily in the back of the sled and I was busy stitching some of the thicker hides together to cover it all and keep it safe from the snow that had started to fall slowly as we left.
“The snow cycles that are slow to start usually are the harshest to endure,” he said.
“We’ll make it,” I repeated, and he smirked at me from beside the lanka as he led it towards Ivy’s clan.
Since the lanka are taught not to listen to children from an early age, I was pretty much useless on the trip there. Roar was thrilled, since it was a great change from the last time when it was me walking beside the sled while he rode. He didn’t stop for the night, and we made it in the early hours of the morning.
I was yawning and rubbing my eyes as Roar and some of the warriors spoke while we waited for Osh’ri’ca.
“Move out of my way!” I heard Ivy demand before she burst out of the crowd and climb the side of the sled to start looking over me. “We were told you were injured and tha- Oh, Fern. This came from the back?!”
Several pairs of ears went backwards in anger at that before Ivy was touching inside the torn material of my shirt to feel the wound.
“A flesh wound,” she determined in English with a nod before she pulled my fur shut. “You look half dead with exhaustion, though.”
“I nearly feel it,” I yawned again as Osh’ri’ca parted the crowd and greeted Roar. “He didn’t want to stop, just in case someone might have found our trail after we ditched the boughs dragging the tracks.”
“Clever,” she smirked, then shook her head. “I don’t understand. Out of all of the Mapok, Balla are the most honorable. It’s like their whole life.”
“Because I’m different,” I told her, and she and Osh’ri’ca scowled harshly before the male went back to his talk with Roar. “Diesel caught him and Roar’kaol’tok had his ear notched. We left a few hours later and had someone burn the tent.”
“Good,” she said firmly. “The other chiefs won’t gather until after lunch, so there’s time for you to rest before you’ll need to meet with them.”
“What do I have to look forward to?” I asked her as Roar started to lead the lanka into the large camp.
“Honestly, it’s a formality at this point. Since you left, Osh’ri’ca and I have been speaking to the other chiefs. There are many that would welcome the extra hunters and since you now have proof that you trade with the Quasim, you’ll basically have your pick of them,” she said. “But I do warn you, since you are not mated, they’ll not want to hear from you unless you’re addressed. This is a great community, Fern, but they also aren’t very forward thinking about women. They can hunt, yeah. They can fight, too, sure. But speaking to the clan leaders? No.”
“Basically, sit down and shut up,” I nodded.
“Basically, yeah. And Diesel will not be allowed in. Defender or not, he’s clearly an animal and the chief’s treat their tents like shrines. God knows Osh’ri’ca does,” she rolled her eyes and I giggled tiredly. “I’ll be outside the tents with him. Don’t worry.”
“Hear that, Dies? Best behavior,” I told him, and he gave me a sleepy yawn. “So...?”
I looked pointedly at her stomach, and she rolled her lips together before shaking her head slightly that her husband still hadn’t heard the heartbeat.
“I see it twitching sometimes when it’s quiet,” she touched her own ear. “It won’t be long. Did he...?”
“Yes,” I smiled at her, and both of the males looked at us like we were nuts and I used my finger to mime super wide eyes.
“And has it started?” she asked.
“Delayed,” I sighed.
“Understandable. But... other things have happened?”
“Some,” I grinned.
“I’m not following this,” Roar said in English and looked at the other male.
“I understand the words, but I’m not following either,” he shook his head.
Ivy and I laughed as our males came to help us out of the sled and Roar was very careful about my side, frowning the whole time until I was on my feet.
“I’m fine,” I gave him a smile and called Diesel to jump out and stretch before we put up our teeny tent.
“Come. The healer’s tent has beds and I’m rarely there anyhow,” Ivy said, gesturing for us to follow her. “You both are exhausted and need rest before anything else. While we’re there, I’ll make sure both our injuries are healing properly.”
Roar was cleared for lightweight hunting, so long as he had the sled with him, and I was given a cream to help keep my wound from getting infected while aiding the healing process. When Ivy and Osh’ri’ca were gone, I went straight for Roar and hugged him tightly.
“You need to get this off of you,” he growled and pulled at the ties of my shirt roughly, snapping them. “I can’t see your blood anymore, Fern. I need it gone.”
Once the shirt was gone and I was sitting there in just a mammoth hair band to keep my boobs under control, he sat me on the bed and went to get some snow melted and warmed so he could wash it from my body. His touch was so gentle and tender, and his face was a mix of emotions as he concentrated completely on his task. Once he was sure there was no more of my blood left on me, he dropped the mammoth hair cloth into the bowl of water and picked me up, making me straddle him as he sat down. He held me tightly and close, rocking me gently as kept his face pressed against my neck.
“If this is how you felt when I was struck, I’m so sorry,” he finally muttered. “It’s like stones were put in my stomach and my chest felt like my heart was ripped out.”
“Burning and freezing at the same time,” I nodded, and he growled, but it turned into a soft whine at the end.
“And this is over a scratch. You saw me struck, watched me fall, and didn’t see me get up,” he said. “I’m so sorry for making you go through that.”
“Hey,” I made him look at me. “I’m safe, Roar. You made me safe again and now it’s time to rest. We’ll take everything that comes next as it comes, but I want to lay with you and sleep before we do.”
He laid down, keeping me on top of him and his arms around me and we were both asleep quickly.
“Fern!” Roar shouted, jerking awake a few hours later and clutching me tightly against him.
“Roar!” I gasped and blinked before I remembered everything and looked up at my panicking hunter before I grabbed his face and put our foreheads together so he couldn’t look anywhere that wasn’t right at me. “Look at me. I’m right here. Use your beautiful paws. Feel me?”
“Yes,” he sighed, closing his eyes for a second.
“I’m here with you,” I told him, and he opened his eyes and sighed heavily.
“I know,” he said softly and let the tension leave him with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I have no home to give you now.”
“You are my home. Everything else... We’ll get again,” I told him. “You kept me safe, Roar. It doesn’t matter if there’s nothing left. We can get it all again so long as there’s still us.”
I heard a grumble and Roar smirked.
“Yes, Dies,” I turned to look at him lying on the floor not far away from us. “That includes you, of course. It’s not a complete family without you, fearless defender.”
“I don’t think you’d be here if he wasn’t there,” Roar said, rubbing his paws up and down my back. “I saw the arrow. It should have hit you more than it did, but you were already turning.”
“He’s the best,” I smiled at the floof. I turned back to Roar and his ear flicked slightly. “Hey, Roar?”
“You want to touch my ears, don’t you?” he smirked and I nodded and dropped my head to his chest, laughing. “You seem to want to touch everything that’s different between us.”
“Can you blame me? Look at your paws! They’re amazing!” I sat up on top of him and held his paws up before rubbing my face on them. “And don’t even get me started on how much I love your fur!”
“Not these?” he asked, chuckling when he flexed his claws out.
“Are you kidding me? Why do even carry a knife with these? They are literally a part of you,” I grabbed one and shook his whole paw with it. “Your teeth are pretty great, too, but I’ll find it in me to restrain myself from touching that, though.”
“Appreciated,” he laughed then play growled at me, showing off the little fangs in his mouth.
“I’ve only not touched your ears yet because I know they’re sensitive to sound. Diesel hates it when his ears are touched and I’d bet your hearing is better, so...” I shrugged.
“According to Diesel, they are more sensitive than his and he says you hear nearly nothing at all,” he nodded.
“For my kind, I have great hearing, thanks,” I rolled my eyes. “But we don’t have to hear everything. And we don’t have to see everything, either so I don’t have super sight, like you do.”
“Come here,” he pulled me down, so I was on my hands over him, and he put his paws on my hips. “Just be gentle.”
“Is a big male like you scared of little bitty me?” I smirked at him.
“Oh, I’m terrified, but not of you,” he smirked, and my eyes went up to his ears, making him chuckle. “Go ahead.”
I reached up and gently touched one ear and it flicked.
“Does it tickle?” I asked, smiling.
“Yes,” he answered. “Like when your hair touches my face at night.”
“Oh, that has to be annoying,” I said and carefully rubbed the tips of his ears then around the back of them until they reached his scalp.
“Just how good is your hearing?” I asked.
“Strong enough to know that you were right to trust Ivy’s word,” he grinned, then held up two fingers.
“Really?!” I squeaked and sat up again. “I have to tell her!”
“No, no, no,” he laughed and held me tightly as he flipped us over to pin me down. “Let someone else do it, preferably when they hear it for themselves.”
“You can really hear that? It’s so early. Wait... how long are Mapok pregnant for?”
“Four moon cycles or so,” he said, and my eyes went wide. “Is that not the same for you?”
“No, we have nine moon cycles. But... Our children don’t grow nearly as fast,” I said slowly.
“That’s a very long time to wait,” he frowned. “How do the males of your kind stand to wait that long? That’s an entire sun cycle and then some of the snow cycle.”
“I think many of them are too scared of being fathers to be impatient,” I laughed.
“Then they should not mate,” he frowned.
“A lot of them turn out to be great fathers, Roar. They just get scared of messing up,” I said. “My uncle never had his own children and he told me that when I came to him as a little girl, he was scared to death of messing up. He turned out to be pretty great.”
“He’s the reason you are the way you are, so I will have to agree. He had to be great to raise you to be everything I never knew I needed,” he smiled at me.
“You’re being sweet again,” I smirked and looked up when his ear twitched.
“You can touch them all you want later, but your friend and her mate are coming, and I am not nearly as understanding as he is about other males, especially when you are... not fully dressed,” he looked down at my chest and smirked. “I’ll go get your pack from the sled. Stay under the hides, Fern.”
He kissed me sweetly before getting up and covering me as Ivy and Osh’ri’ca came into the tent.
“Hey, Ivy? I think my side might be turning sour after all. Could you come look at it?” I asked and Osh’ri’ca nodded and left with Roar, who just smirked at me.
“I just looked at it a few hours ago,” Ivy frowned.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I pointed to the broken shirt on the floor. “It would seem my hunter has an issue with seeing my blood.”
“Ah,” she said with a wide smile and picked it up. “Getting the other male out of the tent. Smart woman, Fern.”
“I have my moments,” I grinned and sat up.
“The chiefs are gathering and will want to speak to you and Roar’kaol’tok soon,” she said putting the shirt in a corner with a few other scraps and bit of cloth, probably to be disposed of later. “You have nothing to worry about, though. I think they’ll be fighting to get the three of you to pick them. The goods your hunter said you had traded with the Quasim for alone is enough to interest just about every one of them. The fact that you were the one that hunted all of the creatures, treated the hides, and made the sled Diesel pulls has pretty much everyone else interested.”
“I’m not sure why any of that would be all that eye-catching in this situation,” I told her as she started some tea for us.
“They’ve been around me long enough to know that I have curious habits, but habits that have proven to be effective,” she smirked. “Now, they see you and instead of seeing a teeny human, they see a clever person that was able to secure a partnership with some of the most elusive Mapok for goods they hardly ever part with, make snowshoes and a sled that makes moving around in the snow easier for you, and you hunted enough for not just yourself, but your injured hunter as well and you have a decent stockpile saved up already. It’s kind of noteworthy, Fern.”
“Put like that,” I muttered. “But I wouldn’t be able to do half of that if Roar’kaol’tok hadn’t taken me in and taught me how to survive here. Yeah, I had the basic idea, thanks to my uncle, but come one, Ivy. Nothing we knew could have prepared us for this place.”
“I agree completely,” she nodded. “And Roar’kaol’tok is stirring up enough talk on his own merits.”
“Huh?” I blinked.
“A hunter's spear tells others about what he’s done. The carvings in them? There’s a meaning for it and it has nothing to do with decoration,” she explained. “He’s got a few impressive carvings on his spear. There aren’t many total, since he’s young, but impressive regardless.”
“I didn’t know that,” I admitted. “I just assumed he had a reputation.”
“Well, from what Osh’ri’ca has said, he does,” she said, pouring us tea and coming to sit by me. “He was very young when he earned his name, even for Mapok standards. The clans are mostly peaceful, but not all of them. There was a raid on his clan and Roar defended the stores of food they had for the snow cycle pretty much by himself.”
“He told me about that, but not that he did it alone,” I said.
“The raiders were smart enough to target the chief, so all of the warriors went to defend him,” Roar’s voice said, and I turned to see him standing in the entrance of the tent with my pack in his paws. “I saw others going to the stores. No one could hear me calling out over the noise.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that?” I asked him as he came to hand me the pack.
“It is rare for raids to happen. I didn’t want to worry you,” he said. “Someone has come to get us to see the chiefs. All of them will be present.”
Ivy smiled at me before she left, and I pulled out my second shirt.
“I know it’s not a good time, since we don’t even have a tent to call ours, but I want to start my gifting in the morning,” Roar said after a moment.
“I like that idea,” I smiled as I fastened the ties under my arm.
“It is unusual for me to feel so impatient,” he huffed and crossed his arms. “You don’t chase when you hunt. You wait.”
“Are you hunting me, Roar?” I smirked at him, and his pupils dilated for a moment before a very telling grin spread across his face and I shivered slightly.
“Perhaps I am,” he said and held out a paw for me. “Let’s go.”