Once I have cleared the forest edge, which is nearly at the edge of the village, I see a crowd of villagers waiting and a loud, long applause goes up as they see me. Then, it dies off as they see me naked. The whole crowd goes hush.
Tupac is standing in front of the village with Herve and Dreng. He is looking at me, smiling even, then his face changes and he comments to the other two, “Look at the insides of her thighs.”
“Is that … is it? She’s been by herself. Except …”
“I do believe it is. She has cum leaking from her pussy … and she has only had the animal for company.”
Herve chuckles, “Well, I for one thinks she is going to fit into the team very nicely, if that is her wish. And, ours. But, I think I know where my vote is now.”
Tupac laughs. He then steps away from the others and is taking off his shirt. I stop and by the time he reaches me, his shirt is off. He has a powerful chest and flat stomach. His arms seem nearly the size of my legs. His body seems hard and chiseled. Even Rayner didn’t look like that. He puts his shirt on me and I button it up; it hangs down below my ass and does a good job of covering my body. He is smiling at me, “I certainly wouldn’t want the village men getting any ideas.”
I look up at him, “That makes it sound like you have some ideas of your own.” Damn, did I just bat my eyes at him?!?
“Dear, girl, it most certainly does. In fact, all three of us do.” I smiled at the thought. And his smile got bigger. There was no apparent conflict with these Warriors. Their inability to capture me did not appear to have hurt their egos enough to damage my chances to join their group on good terms.
The council members had discussed this most unusual of outcomes in The Hunt and had concluded that the conditions that can be set by the warriors were limited, very limited. My success in The Hunt had given me the ability to have my own options and decisions.
I want to be a full member of the Warriors, they agree on a trial basis, of course. But, at this point, based on the outcome of The Hunt, their expectations are that I am the right person for their group, even if I am small and a woman. Their inclination was to make the conditions severe enough to discourage others from having similar thoughts, but my performance has taken that away from them. But, Tupac has recalled having met my father and me on the other side and that additional point gives them extra reason to believe I will succeed with them. They only admit all this to me after leaving the village, however.
They still want to test me, however, and I have been expecting this all along. I hoped only that my performance in The Hunt would give the chance to be with them, not that it would be a guarantee to be with them. I want to now earn the right to be a part of their group. They have a dangerous job for the village, but they have their freedom and they are nearly revered and looked to in awe, if not also some element of fear, by the villagers. The Warriors are made up of three men, all strong, fierce fighters, and experts in cunning, stealth, and weapons. Except for some draft horses for plowing and hauling logs for cabins and making wood for various uses, they have the only other three horses. As part of their group are two dogs, also large, strong, and fierce. The men I met with my father several years ago were this group, I now realize. It is a hard and dangerous life. Some die, some retire to the ‘Hunters’. This group has been together for five years. It is the leader who, having known my father, is particularly interested in seeing me succeed. I do not remember him, though, those were fleeting meetings and so much was happening with my father’s anxiousness about discovery and my mother’s failing health.
They exist for the most part away from the village. They, by their natures, do not fit well into village life or mix well with other people. They prefer to spend most of their time alone, protecting the only access to the valley, which would appear to most on the other side as an impassable mountain range. Yet, they originally found it and have led others though the secret and nearly invisible passageway through the mountain. It is also the route used to bring my mother and me to the village. They also are watchful of runaways that can be rescued and brought to the safety of the valley. Both situations sometimes are best accomplished by leading the slave owner’s trackers on wild goose chases rather than actual combat. But, if combat is the only option, that is acceptable, too. But, since largely closing off the opening, they have also begun to focus their attention further south, now concerned that others might find their way from the coastal lands as people spread in search of new opportunities.
They come to the village periodically to replenish supplies when they cannot raid it from the plantations. They also come to get drunk and have some women. It is just their way of supporting the village’s need for children. Like other single men of the village, the communal women are available to them, as well. Their long intervals away from the village means that their arrive is nearly always a source of turmoil and chaos for the few days they visit. As revered as they are for the danger they face for them, the villagers are also tentative of their wild natures. And, it is not just the communal women who are tentative about their arrival; it is joked that even the female dogs of the village disappear when the warrior’s male dogs arrive.
This is what I was getting into by wanting to join the Warriors. No other group seemed suited to me and, yet, no other group seemed so unsuited for a young woman. But, I didn’t think of myself as ‘like a young woman’. This was a way for me to live in the manner like my father had prepared me for. The only other option seemed to be to leave and explore further West, perhaps over the next range of mountains, far enough away from all the elements of people owning other people and performing unimaginable horrors upon them. Unimaginable, that is, until you have seen it.
Normally, they would stay in the village for more days than The Hunt. But, this time they want to leave right away. I am told that if I want to come with them, to get my things together and be ready by noon when they plan to leave. It isn’t going to take me nearly that long. I go into the woman’s communal cabin, take off Tupac’s shirt and put on my only other dress. I walk back outside, hand him his shirt and go to the communal kitchen building for what may be my last meal in the village for some time. I then go back to my bed, take up my bow and the quiver of arrows. The quiver contains twenty arrows. I also have the makings of another twenty consisting of the blank wooden shaft, arrow points formed from antler, feathers, and cordage used for tying it all together. Then, with the knife Rayner gave me, I have everything to my name.
I am back outside and waiting within only two hours, which is still two hours until noon. I sit on a patch of grass with Wolf and spread out my arrow pieces and begin making more arrows. It isn’t too long before Dreng sees me and wanders over to me. He stands in front of me, but I don’t look up until I have completed the tying of the arrowhead I was working on. Wolf, however, has been watching him closely and when I do look up, I can see him glancing furtively at the animal.
He sits down, “May I take a look?”
I give him not only the one I am currently working on but also one from the quiver. “You can see the in-process and the completed.”
He checks by looking down the length, checking straightness, the point, and the feathers. Then he puts the arrow on his finger and checks the balance. He hands them back to me, “Are you good with them?”
“I think so. My father was afraid of using guns for fear of drawing attention to our cabin and my mother. We hunted almost exclusively by bow and arrow and trapping.”
“The same with us, at least from the perspective of the guns.” He picked up my bow and felt it, then pulled on the string. “This is a tight string and strong pull. You’re able to handle this?”
I was busy with the arrow, again. I didn’t bother to look up to acknowledge the question, except to say, “It’s my bow, isn’t it?”
“May I?” I indicated for him to go ahead. He took an arrow, threaded it onto the string and looked around for a target.
“That oak to the Southeast, the growth about fifteen feet up.” He just looked at me, then again at the tree.
“That’s a ways away.”
I didn’t say anything, just nodded as I finished another arrow. I put it in the quiver and stood. “If you want me to, fine. That’s what this is all about anyway, right? Tupac is watching from somewhere, isn’t he? Give that to me.” I took the bow from him, took my stance, pulled about half way, studied the leaves on the tree I was targeting and the leaves on trees in-between. I adjusted, pulled back the rest of the way, the muscles in my arms and shoulders taunt from the pull. I drew in my breath, slowly exhaled, and held it. Just like Rayner taught me. Only then did I release the arrow. It flew true and stuck in the upper middle of the growth. From my left came a whistle. I turned to find Tupac and Herve.
I was going to be tested a lot. I was expecting that and I would just roll with the challenges and questions. I didn’t care what their questions were or what challenge they threw up, I only hoped my calm response would be sufficient answer.
Tupac was a man who wasn’t used to beating around the bush. I was going to find out that it wasn’t always true, however.
“If you are ready, let’s get going. Is that all you have? Bow, arrows, a knife, and the dress you are wearing?”
“That’s it. I don’t have anything else.”
He walked to the building I had come out of, my former barracks. He came out with a cloth bag and a blanket he was folding and rolling. He tied it to his stuff on the horse. He put my arrow making items into the bag with some food he also had. He pulled up my dress nearly to my waist, took some cordage from his waist and tied the knife to my right thigh, dropped my dress back in place. Herve and Dreng were getting onto their horses, Tupac got into the saddle of his and reached down with his left hand. I grabbed it with my left while holding my bow in my right. He swung me up behind him on the horse. He kicked the horse and I grabbed tightly to his waist as we left the village. I didn’t even look back. This is where I wanted to be, there was nothing back there that held any meaning to me.
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