Ch#4 The Task At Hand

Chapter 4 The Task At Hand


I wake up to a stripe of pinkish light creeping over the span of my face. I turn my head and pull the furs over me, praying to the Spirits to give me a few moments peace. Without prevail.
My ears twitch as Paa steps in through the door flap. He puts a hand on my shoulder and shakes me a little.
“Taido, Wake up.” He says, continuing to shake me like a seed pod. I groan and cocoon myself up into the warm furs. He yanks the covers off of me, causing me to crumple into a ball to make up for the cold.
“Come on, get up!”
“No…need…sleep…” I moan and roll my wrist around, shooing him off. Suddenly my eyes dart open to a sensation of pins and needles. I look up to see Paa flicking water on my face with his fingertips. I let out a yelp and fall out of my bed with a loud thud. I drag my face against the packed dirt floor, desperately trying to rid myself of the discomfort.
“Good, you’re up!” Paa chuckles from the other side of the room. “Come on, I’ve got something that you’ll like.” He heads out of the lodge and pads off. I blow fur from my eye in irritancy and wipe the dirt from my cheek. I pull some light weathered clothes from the shelf under my bed, a long sleeve vest and some lace up buckskin pants before heading outside. The air is warm and clean smelling from last night’s heavy rainfall and the patted earth beneath me is dappled in shallow puddles of mud. From across the clearing, I see Paa standing close to the Communal Fire and awaiting my follow. I scamper over to his side, avoiding putting my feet in any of the puddles.
“So what is it, what do you want to show me?” I perk my ears at him quizzically.
“Not showing, doing.” He replies, being purposefully ominous about the surprise.
“Okay, what are we doing then?”
“Come with me.” He leaves the center of the Village to the towering gate surrounding it. He stops by a small shed with a rack on it. I follow him yet again to the shed. He pulls a long thin stick from the rack and hands it to me. I thumb the armature carvings and designs engraved around the length. He grabs one himself and smiles.
“What are these for?” Excited joy bubbles up inside me, for I already had a hunch.
“They’re practice spears. I’m going to be giving you some fighting lessons today.”
“Yes!” I pump my fist with excitement and grin ear to ear. My tail starts wagging behind me so violently that it starts taking my lower half with me.  
“When do we start?! When do we start?!” I can almost feel my body flying apart with sheer anticipation. Paa chuckles.
“In a minute, in a minute! Spirits, calm down before you hurt yourself!” I can feel my smile growing wider by the second.
“All right my boy. Let’s get a move on before you keel over.” He pads through the gates of the Village with me hot on his tail. We continue to walk down an old trail through the woods, dust and sand turned to mud clings to my toes and refuses to let go. I wince as I gingerly take each step only to feel my feet sink into the squishy grit. Ugh.
The trail opens up to a small clearing only a little larger around than a lodge, all partially shaded by the budding green branches above.  
“Come Taido.”
I groan in realizing that the clearing is also muddy.
“Paa-paa we’re not-AUGH!?!”
Paa picks me up like a rabbitskin doll and tosses me into the mud. I land in face first and sink in halfway. I leap up and scrape the mud off my tongue gaging and making sounds of disgust. I look up at Paa, who is leaning against a tree trunk and chuckling to himself.
“Hey! What was that for!?”
“Let this be your first lesson Taido: the battlefield isn’t clean. It can take place in any terrain and any season, so you can’t let a little mud hesitate your actions.” He throws the stick, it lands flat and sinks into the blackish brown gunk almost mockingly.
“Don’t worry though, the mud’ll dry up when the sun comes out.”
I pull the stick out of the mud, causing a small suction sound before the mud releases it from its grasp. Paa chuckles again.
“You look like something washed up from a bog.”
“Yeah no thanks to you Old man!” I stick my tongue out at him.
“You ready to eat those words Boy?” He replies as an amused smile crosses over his face large enough for his canines to poke out from his lips a little.
“I’m stronger than I look!” I feign a snarl.
“Are you now? Tell you what then. Let’s make this more interesting. If you can manage to strike me once, I’ll make the meals for the next month. If you drop your spear even thrice, then you will get the pleasure to practice with Horace next time.”
“Horace!?” Oh, someone’s getting’ walloped today Old man!”
“Oh it’s on! First we bow to one another.” Paa bows low and I copy his gesture, wondering when this might apply in real life.  
“Spears ready.” He grips his spear and smirks. I lick my lips and ready myself.
I will not lose.
“Go!”
I swing the stick with both hands, forceful enough of to make a whistling song as it flies right past Paa. I slam it right into the mud, the force causing it to splat on the surface. I turn around astonished. How did he move so fast? He retaliates with four quick swats to either of my limbs, causing them to sear with pain. I take a swift jab at his center, only for him to block himself with his own stick. The collision vibrates hard enough for my stick to fly out of my hands. I look at the ground wide-eyed. Flexing my aching fingers at my sides.  Paa stops, his shoulders go limp and he takes a sharp inhale before speaking.
“Hold out your hands.”
I turn my head confused for a moment.
“Hold ‘em up. Come on.”
I hold out my hands reluctantly, my palms facing the ground below. Paa takes his stick and swats my knuckles a few times.  A yelp escapes my throat and I jam my hands into my mouth, trying to sooth the excruciating pain. My eyes begin to water.
I wasn’t crying though.
It was involuntary.
Because I’m not a baby.
“Don’t. Drop. Your spear. During a real fight, it’s a death sentence. Never drop your spear.” Paa gives me a grave and almost disappointed expression. I rub my knuckles, my ears lowered and spirits dropped. Paa lifts my chin with a tender hand.
“Hey, don’t get too down. This is your fist time. It’s supposed to be fun.” He smiles, his eyes sparkling with silent pride. I return it, feeling a little better. He throws me my spear and I catch it gracefully in one hand.  I couldn’t help but to reflect on how awesome that catch was for a moment.
“All right. Spears ready, and…Go!!” I thrust my spear again, and a gain, every time deflected by his own with ease. He dodges my blows as if he can read my mind, giving painful blows of his own every time I fumble. He whacks me again right in the duff and a couple of halfass swings at my ankles before I begin to realize that he’s toying with me.  He stops a moment to catch his breath, while I on the other hand am damn near hypervennalating.
“You’re giving it too much.”
“Huh?” I wipe my brow and wet my nose by licking it.
“Effort. You’re putting too much effort into your swings.” He finally catches his breath and continues. ”When you put too much gusto into a swing,” he lands his spear inches from my face, “it takes more time to recover. Making you vulnerable, slow, and eventually tired. “
“So what do I do about it?” I ask. He grabs my shoulder and pushes it down a little and adjusts my stance. He taps on the underside of my elbow, gesturing me to lift it more.
“You’re using too much shoulder, not enough elbow. You also need more wrist movement.” He begins to swing up and down stiffly, using nothing but shoulder, then demonstrates a bit of wrist movement as an example.
“See, a little wrist movement will really widen your range.” I mimic his movements and practice moving my elbows around. We continue to circle around one another each other, both looking for a good opening.
“Sizing up your opponent, very good Son!” He smacks me in the gut and racks the spear out of my hand.  He grabs it swiftly and chases me around while swinging at my feet with both of them.
“All right, hold out your hands.”
I wince and hold my hands out to be rapped and battered by both spears this time. I rub my welting wrists again as he hands my spear back.
“Remember Taido, the spear is not just a weapon. It’s a tool, meaning that it possesses many different uses. There’s the common slashing,” he swings his blunt stick side to side as if attacking an imaginary foe with an imaginary tip. “And the timeless jabbing,” he thrusts it a few times with still precision. “But those are both only offensive maneuvers. There are defensive maneuvers as well. You can use it to deflect your opponent’s blows, to block and smack away. You can even disarm your foe if you’re quick enough. Tripping, pinning, disabling; these are all different actions that you’ll lean to execute with this tool alone.”
We continue practicing, and I can’t even land a single hit. I take another swing at him and he extends his arm and catches it with his bare hand. He tries to yank it from my hand and shakes me about furiously.
“Hey!! Leggo!!” I shriek at him giddy with excitement and anxious of getting struck again.
“I’m getting tired and I don’t wanna cook!!”
“No fair!!”
“It’s still fighting! It counts!!”
“Does not!!”
“Does too!!” He shakes the spear with all his might. I clamp each of my limbs to it, determined not to let go. Like an antelope on a spit, I hang limply, my weight yanks the spear into the wet dirt. Paa tries to drag me about by one end of the stick, wheezing and panting with exhaustion.
“You know…*pant* you know this is counterproductive in the battlefield right?”
“So is cheating!” On the ground, I kick him in the shin, causing him to trip.
“Hey!!” He falls onto the ground and goes still. I lift my head off the soggy earth to see Paa laying on the ground unmoving. I stand up and grip my stick tightly. I loom over him and prod him in the ribs a bit. He lets out a ridiculous and overly dramatic death rattle. I roll my eyes and drop to my knees. I sigh a bit.  
“I’m gonna regret this.” I place my hand on his shoulder. He grabs my hand and bursts to life. We roll around and tussle   and laugh childishly. He puts me in a tight headlock.
“Uncle *gasp* Uncle!” I slap his arm and try to claw my way out of his grasp. He lets go and lightly tosses me aside.
“Well, that wasn’t a…*pant* a traditional lesson, but at least we worked some wrestling skills in there. I’m gonna call it a day. How ‘bout you?”
“Yeah, I-I’m done.” I wipe my brow and chuckle.
“I feel like taking a dip, you wanna join.”
“Spirits! Anything to get this mud off!” I shoot up with enthusiasm.  We collect our spears and head out to the river. The birds chirp about, happy that the sun is out to warm their feathers once again. I sigh contently and sniff at the sweet air, little flecks of dust dancing about in the golden mid- morning light.
“You’ve done well today Taido. I’m very proud of you.”
“Really? Because I thought I was…”
“A disaster?”
“Sure,” I roll my eyes.
“Ah, you think that was bad, you should have seen the first time I held a practice spear.”
“Did you drop it?” I continue to walk next to him.
“Oh-ho yeah.  Spirits, I couldn’t feel my hands after I was done. We practiced a lot longer though.”
“Did you practice with your paa?” I tilt my head to the side.
He pauses before he speaks.
“Yes.”
“Was it fun?”
“…My… father… was very…... strict…” He trails off seemingly sad. Then something flickers through his expression, something I can’t quite put my finger on. I don’t like it. It bothers me, so I quickly change the subject.
“Do you think the water’s warm enough to bathe in yet?”
“I dunno. But if it’s cold it’ll help the swelling. It’ll be a bother on my joints, but I’ll be okay.”
“That’s something that old people say!”
“Hey! I’m not that old!”
“Are too!”
“Are not!”
“Are too!”
“Humbug!” he puts a hand on my face, his huge mits engulfing my face and pushes me into the bush on the side of the trail. I leap up and shake leaves out of my fur and giggling. We chuckle as we playfully shove each other about. We finally come up to the river, quietly babbling as it smashes against the rocks and rushes for the ocean. I point a toe in the water, expecting the water to freeze it instantly and sigh. It’s cold but tolerable. I pull my vest and pants off before tiptoeing into the water. I look over to see Paa finish undressing. He follows after me and we stand into the cool water a shoulder’s length in. I hold my breath and plunge under the water, trying my best to get the caked mud out of my pelt. I kick back and lazily float about as Paa leans his head back and wets his dread locks. We splash around a bit and rid ourselves of mud.
“All right. I’m out. It’s too cold!” Paa half swims, half hops over to the shore.
“Baby!” I call out playfully, even though I had already lost all feeling in my limbs. I get over to the shore as well, my fur taking half the river with me. I shake the water off me and wring my tail out before throwing my muddy clothes back on.  It still sucks, but at least my fur’s clean now. I sit on a log and watch as Paa laces his pants back up and pick at some of the dried mud on my vest. I scratch my chin, pushing it out with my tongue. The bumpy skin is uncomfortable. I hate it.
Paa looks over at me as I scratch my underarm, raking at the vest’s cloth with my nails.
“You okay?” He tilts his head concerned.
“Yeah.” I scratch my throat a bit. He pads up to me and grabs my chin roughly.
“I’m fine, really.” He ignores my squirming and lightly touches my irritated skin.
“Did you get into any poison ivy?”
“No…” I look down, feeling my face grow hot. He lets go of my chin and brushes his fingers through my head fur.
“Come on, let’s get you to Shyla.”
“I told you I’m fine!”
“Oh stop your groaning. Come on.”  
“We trudge beck over to the Village, the tribe members are already busy going on about their day. Kenyan is busy sharpening his knife. He wasn’t titled ‘The Oddball’ for nothing, for he has two different colored eyes, one violet, the other magenta, and has a strangely patched tan and white pelt full of curls and kinks. Weird. I look over to my right to see my second cousins Kengi and Kengo crushing seeds on a rock. It looks like they’re making their famous itching powder. Probably for Horace no doubt, the twin boys were always responsible for the gruff bastard’s grief. And to my left, Via is chatting with Akio, her honey brown pink eyed she-friend by the well. I stop to wave at them before Paa playfully yanks me by the vest.
“Come on Boy.” He guides me over to the medicine hut. A small circular lodge to the right of the Chief’s lodge always smells of the spices and herbs attached and hung to dry on the door frame.  
“Wait here.”  Paa pokes his head into the hut, his fur brushing against some dried leaves.  
“Shyla?” He draws back, the wooden frame of the door causing his ears to bounce back into place once released. Something behind me causes my ears to swivel. I turn to see Shyla, a dark fox red woman with brown limbs and amber eyes coming up to the hut with a basket full of freshly picked plants and herbs. Paa reaches out and offers to carry the basket, seeing how she’s grossly pregnant, and bows courteously.  
“Good day Rowan and Taido, what brings you here?”
“Good day to you as well Shyla. Have you the time to aid us?”
She looks up seemingly startled.
“Oh of course! Come in. Come. Come.” She guides us into the hut and closes the skin flap behind her.
“Now what can I help you two with?”
“Well, it’s more of a manor of discomfort than pain.” Paa places the basket on one of the shelves. I poke at a jar filled with greasy old looking livers wondering what use these were.
“How so?” She looks at the both of us with puckered lips, her hand on her belly, trying her best to keep balanced in the already small enough hut. It doesn’t help that we’re in here as well.  Paa puts a hand on my shoulder.
“His facefur’s starting to come in.” He smiles and lightly shoves me towards her. My face grows hot and my ears press flat against my skull as she inspects my face and neck.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Aw poor cub. So uncomfortable. It’s all right Taido. Please, sit.” She gestures me to sit down on the stretched skin cot. I sit with my head limp and embarrassed. Shyla steps up to the jammed shelves behind her and mumbles to herself as she goes through the different plants. She picks out a few herbs and throws them in a clay pot and double takes a bit, making sure she didn’t miss anything. She begins to crush the herbs with a smooth stone and adds water before continuing to mix it.
“H-how did you know?” I look up at Paa, leaning against the doorframe and quietly watching Shyla’s flustered method of making medicine with nostalgic amusement.
“Do you think I was born yesterday? I remember when my facefur started coming in. It itched so bad…” He sits on the cot next to me and pats me on the back.
“All it means is that you’re nearing manhood. All men go through this phase.” Shyla chips in peppy as ever. She offers me the bowl of whitish-green paste with small black flecks in it.
“Here. Apply this to where it itches. It’ll soothe your angry skin. She smiles at me.  I place my fingers in the paste and smear it on my chin. My mane raises as the cool mush instantly takes effects. I rub it on my entire jaw, around my lips, and my neck. I even apply it to my underarms and shoulders a little. I hold it out to her.
“All the places that itch.” She raises her eyebrow critically. My face twists up with embarrassment as I grab more paste and push my hand down my pants, my face growing hot again.  
“All right! We’re done here!” Paa throws his hands up in defeat and juts off the cot.
“I’ll be outside if you need me!” He leaves the room faster than a viper lash. Shyla chuckles a bit.
“Ah, men. Always so uncomfortable with their children growing up.” She pats my head and hands me a bowl of water. After I wash the crème off and she opens the door.
“Now if you need anything else, don’t be afraid to ask okay?”
“Yes Ma’am.” I reply and give her a respectful bow before heading out. I walk over the storage shed and grab some jerky out of the pot, probably more than I should. Meh. I’ll just shoot down some birds to make up for it later. I gnash my teeth on a strip of meat, drool slowly leaks out of the gaps between my teeth. I sit on a log next to the Communal Fir, which is almost never put out and enjoy my lazy meal. The bruises on my shoulders ache, but I don’t mind too much. In fact, I’m proud of the pain. I’m glad that Paa decided to teach me, or at all at that.
I sit there and imagine my seventeenth birthday… That’s the day where I get to go after big game for the first time, I’ll finally be accepted as a man to the tribe. I’ll get to speak up at meetings and make important decisions for my tribe. Unfortunately, I won’t be the only one celebrating my birthday. Many cubs my age were born in the same season as I. As it is tradition for people to plan having cubs in the spring. Something about being well fed, or something to that matter. Already our tribe has been blessed four cubs this spring, with promises of more to come. I guess it’s not so bad, at least I’ll have people my age who’ll be going through the same things as me. We’ll even be able to practice hunting and fighting together in a mass of fresh adults. I chew on another strip, the dried flesh shredding to strands as I grind it down with my molars. It’s funny though, there’s many youths my age right now, yet I’ve ever really had any close ties with any of them, well, besides Via. I don’t seem to have any enemies, I mean, I’m pretty likeable, or at least I think so… Hm… well, there are Kengi and Kengo, but they’re always doing their own thing. Kind of a club for two deal. Then there’s Naheul, which we hang out from time to time, but we rarely talk. We mostly chuck stones at the lake or sit together and laze about… I look around the camp and see Via enjoying some food herself, some fruit by the look of it. I get up and walk over to her, the puddles on the ground long dried by the midday sun.
“Hey Via!” I wave at her.
“Not happening! Get your own!” She growls crankily. I tilt my head to the side, then realize that she was referring to the fruit.
“No, no… I don’t want any… Hey Via! Guess what I did today!?” I point at my puffed up chest with my thumb and grin ear to ear. Via places a dainty claw on her chin.
“Hm… pick fleas from your coat?”
“No.”
“Get into a fight with a mud monster and lose?” She gestures to my dirty vest.
“*Sigh* No.”
“Chew on a rock?”
“No.”
“Try to catch fish with your feet?”
“No!”
“Stick your tongue down an anthill?”
“You said you’d never speak of that again!” I point an accusing finger at her.
“Then what did you do!?”
“I went and had a practice spear fight with my paa!” I boast.
“Psh. More like you got whipped by your paa.” She rolls her eyes.
“No… I’d have to say it was…a….pretty even match. I mean, look at these muscles!”  I tighten the muscles in my arms proudly.
“Yeah right! Your paa is the best spearsman in the whole tribe! And I’ve seen bigger muscles on twigs!”
“Nuh-uh! I’m totally ripped! You can’t just recognize my mad skills!”
“Yeah like you crying? Your skills are unmatched when it comes to blubbering when you caught your first kill!”
“Where’s the evidence? You’re making this up to make me look bad aren’t you!?”
“Whatever Taido. Believe what you want.” Her ears swivel about and focus on something to the side. I turn my eyes to where she was listening. Chief Zane surrounded by people, as they usually do before a meeting or announcement of some sort. He walks to the front of his lodge, placed facing the communal fire, which is the centerpiece of the entire Village. He stands in the gap between the log seats that encompass the large orange flames. He waves his Chieftain Staff, the sacred bones attached in large strands rattle against the smoothed wood, instantly gaining the attention of those near to him. Other people begin to turn their heads to him and sit down. Eventually all the people within the Village are seated one by one. After the hushed chatter subsides, Zane clears his throat and speaks.
“Children of the Forest of Whispers, as many of you already know, The People of Sauzan’s Peak. Were allowed were allowed our plains for game until winter ended. And as you know, they have abused their privileges. They have begun to use our lands for crops, and are unwilling to move until things are sorted out with their Chief. In order to sort things out cordially, I must speak with their Chief in person. So on that accord, I shall be leaving to the mountains for a few weeks’ time.” A few of the tribesmen groan a bit, but are otherwise silent.
“I have chosen a select few to accompany me in my travels. Horace,”
Horace stands up and walks over to his chief. I sigh happily that Horace will be out of the picture for a bit, seeing how I figure I lost my practice fight with Paa.
“Riku,” A dark reddish-brown man with orange eyes and black stripes, Zane’s younger brother stands up and joins by his side.
“Delsin,” A dark brown man with crème eyebrows and bright raspberry eyes stands up.
“Abey,” Naheul and Akio’s mother, a tan and crème woman with blue eyes stands.
“And Tensin.” Fenn’s brother, a mocha brown man with violet eyes stands and joins the other six.  Zane turns his eyes to the crowd.
“Rowan.”
My paa looks up at him with puzzlement about his expression.
“Step forth if you will.” Paa gets out of his seat and cautiously pads over to Zane. He gives an extremely low bow, being one of the poorest and of the lowest status of any adult tribesman.
“Rowan, I wish to appoint you as Acting Chief while I step out.” Paa looks up shocked.
“But, Chief, with all due respect, I am not worthy to hold leadership over the tribe.” He bows again, this time hesitating before straightening up.
“I understand that this is an odd predicament Rowan, but you have done good service as Chief in the past. You’re wise, and cautious; I’m entrusting you to make good decisions in for the tribe.” He puts a hand on my paa’s shoulder in understanding.
“But I’m shamed.”Paa speaks softly, his eyes brimmed with tears.  
“I…I’m not sure if I can…”
Zane brings his voice to a heavily sympathetic tone, as if it pains him as well.
“You know as well as I that there’s no shame in what happened to Elwing. It wasn’t your fault and never once have I allowed anyone to treat you like you’re shamed. Sometimes, customs are just that, and I have faith in your ability. Please, I’m asking you as a friend.” He tilts his head and gives an assuring smile. Paa blinks the tears away and nods.
“I am deeply honored Sir.” They take the time to kiss each other on both cheeks before Zane turns his attention back to the crowd.  
“It is settled. Rowan shall be looking out for the tribe as I am away on my travels.” He hands Paa the staff and beacons the five selected adults to follow him into the lodge. A few of the adults surround Paa and congratulate him. Some of them recall him being a good chief and welcome him back.
I give Via a slightly worried glance and pad over to him.  I tap on his shoulder and shuffle my feet a bit. He turns around solemnly.
“Are you okay Paa-paa?” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Yes. But I fear as though the task at hand might be too great for me.”