his new confinements shared the same humidity as the outside. the place was large enough to house the lives of two men without trouble, he found it comfortable.
lo'ak wonders around the nyümbaní, taking in its structure. the space below him was woven and dense. it was tied taught to the three branches surrounding the home. for privacy, strings of patterned beads swung aimlessly around the exterior, tied to a spiraled roof above his head. he runs his hand through the color, admiring how they painted the room when the sun escapes to hit them.
the busy sounds of people begin to slowly fill the outside meaning the people finally left there hiding places. he peaks through the beads to see the people of Tawakamí cautiously proceeding their daily lives. he could hear the blend of different songs and voice consume the village. it was even more alive than before. to fight off his growing boredom, lo'ak decides to explore is new surroundings. he climbs from his confinement towards a branch leading to ikarí's alleged placement. his head stays down to mark his path only to look up and see curious eyes follow his steps. he didn't know weather they were shocked or scared of him, but their glares made him speed up his pace. he felt like an outsider again, like his presence was becoming a burden
to his suprise, ikarí was not where she claimed she would be. her absence made lo'ak anxious not knowing what to do. he settled with standing awkwardly at her door debating weather he should leave or wait.
"karí's at the docs right now." he turns to see the same small child that had jumped into ikarí's arms not to long ago. "i can take you to her if you want."
her voice was small, but not shy. before he could process his own response, the young girl had taken his hand in hers and was now dragging him down the trees. "oh, um, thank you!" that was all he could manage to say before the girl began to ramble.
"we don't usually let outsiders in. you must be special for my dad to let you stay here." she ducks under some plants with lo'ak following. it does not interrupt her speech as she continues, "karí must like you too on some level. she wasn't bringing you in at knife point which is a good sign." lo'ak stayed quiet as the girl descended the trees, "but i don't know. maybe you are differnet. my brother says that if you were to threaten us, he would just cut you at the throat but i think he's lying. he can barley cut open an utumauti so i think you will be ok." her last sentence caused lo'ak to chuckle
this was the most anyone has spoken to him during his short time here. he did not know what to respond. it didn't matter much as they landed at the base of the root and headed towards ikarí's direction.
"she is just up there," the child points to the hunters in the distance, "i'm not aloud over there, but i am sure you will be fine!" with that she prances away leaving lo'ak standing by himself. he had no chance to thank the girl, so he just treaded to the distant group ahead.
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"what the hell did he want ikarí?" asked a hunter. they were in the process of skinning their slaughtered prey for the clan.
"i can't tell you right now, uísloa. you will all learn at sundown when tur'itan calls for us." ikarí responds. "ko'akír, can i borrow another knife, mine has gone dull." she turns to the hunter to her right who was already holding one out for her.
"i don't understand why you didn't just kill him when he arrived. you had every chance to." ko'akír spoke resuming his previous task.
"exactly. honestly, if i were in your place karí, he would have been dead before his beast was able to touch the ground." another hunter adds while mimicking his hypothetical attack.
"oh really louke, and how do you figure you would do that?" ikarí scoffed
"easy. i would have shot him with my bow mid air." his remark caused an eruption of laughter.
"with what aim louke." a voice said behind him.
"oh shut up nguä" he responded.
ikarí attempts to add to the banter before she sees the guest approaching the group. her smile drops as he grows closer. the laughter began to fade as the turned to see lo'ak, only to swiftly turn back to exchange knowing glances. setting down her knife, ikarí stands to greet him.
"lo'ak, why are you here?" her question sounded harsh, but she genuinely wanted to the answer.
"oh, i got a bit bored and decided to go find you. i was told you'd be here." he replied. the hunters remained wordless while the attempted to suppress loud snickers.
"how did you even get down here?" she continues
"some girl guided me here. she's the one who told me where you were" he made his way to stand besides ikarí, stepping over the partially skinned animals.
"what girl? what is her name?" she felt like she already knew the answer but needed confirmation. there was only one kid she knew who was fearless enough to go near a complete stranger in hopes of making a new friend.
"i don't know, but she was small." the answer confirmed her suspicion.
"zí'ikí. she led you down here? alone?" she questioned.
"yes but only to the base of the tree over there" lo'ak points to the place the small girl once stood.
ikarí just sighs and motions for him to sit with her. she had repeatedly told her niece she was not aloud in the area, but they young girl would always find an excuse to come despite ikarí's wishes. the group keep their eyes down as the tore their knives into their carcasses. she hands lo'ak her discarded knife and shifts her animal so that it laid in front of the both of them.
"do you know how to skin?" she does not look at him when she asks but instead positions her knife to resume her previous task.
"what? oh, yes. i know how to skin." he goes to make an incision to the animals flesh to start the work only to be met with a sharp hit on his wrist.
"no, you must start here." she pull his hand next to her knife. "when you reach the horns, cut around them." lo'ak nods at her instruction, gliding his knife into the animal.
"what is this for anyway?" he asks.
"we are not completely sure. probably clothing or bedding, maybe jewelry with the horns." her response was vague but honest. they did not know what it was going to be used for, all they are told is what to kill and how many. the only concrete detail that they know is that no part of the animal will go to waste. it is all used by the people.
"oh. alright then." the rest of the time was spent in silence with only the sound of their knives against flesh filling their ears. it was a comfortable quiet besides the lingering tension of distrust still apparent in the group. they worked until evening where an alarm began to ring across the community. it was time.
YOU ARE READING
unity| lo'ak fic
General Fiction"let me help you" ikarí felt tears well in her eyes as she looked at him. he was the one person she did not want to see, not like this. she was a mess. her skin was littered with bruises and cuts and her eyes were red from crying. she felt horrible...
