Hodari's Story

Hodari (16) City Arc 5

It took a bit for everyone to compose themselves. Once Hodari was sitting up Najuma had buried herself in his muddy chest and cried herself hoarse. Hodari was still stoically silent. He was far away in his head but this time Dae could see it was actually him thinking. Tau also covered in mud paced the muddy clearing whining and watching the tree line. After they could all get to their feet and gather things up they made a quick egress back to the camp. There was no rest to be had however. Hodari kicked dirt over the fire with his muddy boots and without a word everyone packed up and moved out fast. No words spoken. With the lights from Najuma's goggles they made progress along the dark trails. The only thought on their minds was to exit this dragon forsaken forest. Tau continued along with him running back and forth along the trials disappearing into the darkness only to pop up behind him. With the plume hound along the orbs seemed to stay away but everyone still stayed on the alert. The mud caking their clothes dried and flaked off leaving some kind of macabre bread crumb trail behind them. No one admitted to the exhaustion they felt. When the clearing in the trees finally came and Tau gave a yip and sprinted towards it Dae felt sick with Relief. She could see the sun was rising outside of this dense awful forest, proving they had walked through the night.

    Just on the outside of the forest was another small traveler's cabin. The small crew dropped their bags and stood tiredly trying to make up their mind on the next plan.
    "We need sleep." Hodari finally broke his silence as he watched his daughter sway on her feet. Dae leaned over pulling Najuma into her side to keep her upright.
    "I agree but we can't sleep like this.." She nodded towards the mud caked clothing they all wore and frowned at the rotting vegetation smell in Najuma's hair. Hodari nodded. He lifted his head and took a deep breath. Pausing for a moment before responding softly.
    "That river isn't far from here...It must follow the path or I guess the path follows the river. Let's get down there and wash up. We can rest today and get back on the road tomorrow." He grabbed his bag and Najuma's slinging them over his shoulder as Dae grabbed hers and navigated Najuma after him. Tau barked and shot into the trees in front of them seemingly knowing exactly where the trio was headed.
Not too far into the trees it opened up and the river was shallow and crystal clear burbling happily over the river stones. Najuma without a word began tiredly undressing, laying her muddy clothes on the river bank she waded into the cold water without a word, scrubbing at herself with river sand and trying to work the mud out of her prosthetic. Hodari followed suit, beginning to undress. Dae stood awkwardly on the bank watching him strip down. Hodari looked back and saw her faltering. The smallest hint of a smile showed and he asked. "Are you still bashful to bathe around me?"
    "No." Dae smirked. She nodded towards the young girl washing just out of ear shot. "I don't want her to be uncomfortable."
    "Ah!" Hodari nodded, understanding what she was getting at. "Here." he walked around a large boulder in the middle of the river out of sight and stripped his muddy pants off, slinging them up onto the bank. Dae felt better and began stripping down too. Wading in on the other side of the boulder she finally decided to break the awkwardness that had settled over them all.
    "Hodari, I am not going to ask what you were seeing. I get the idea. Hassian warned us this could be a difficult trip if we went at night. You are going to need to talk to Najuma. That was really scary and I can't help but think we almost lost you." The silence that followed almost made her wonder if he had heard her. She started to open her mouth to say something further when he finally spoke up.
    "I know. That thing got into my head." He paused leaning against the boulder. "Najuma was right. I know she is gone. I was the one that found them in the debris. I saw with my own eyes she was gone...but I dunno hearing her voice..seeing her....my brain just quit working. I warned you. I didn't know where you and I were at because I wasn't sure where I was at with Leta. This just makes me think I'm not in the right place." Dae felt something in her chest break. She swallowed it down. She understood what he was saying. Dae glanced over at the young girl who sat on the bank with her prosthesis in her lap working the mud out of the crevices with tools from her bag. If she could hear the convo she didn't seem to respond. Tau danced around in the shallows not far away half heartedly snapping at minnows and letting out lil yips as he rensinsed the mud from his coat. "I know I need to talk to her but I don't know what to say yet. I put you both in so much danger. I almost made Najuma an orphan. How do you fix that?"
Dae huffed dunking her head in the stream and answering as she slicked her hair back from her face.
    "You just did it. You should be saying these things to Juma, not me."
Hodari chuckled on the far side of the boulder, shaking his head. Dae started to walk towards the bank when Hodari's hand snagged her wrist and he pulled her out of sight behind the boulder with him. Dae squeaked but he caught her face in his hands and ran his thumb along her bottom lip. His deep blue eyes bore into her lighter ones. He didn't move to kiss her even though she could feel the heat of his chest pouring over her.
    "I've said it before I will say it again. I don't know what kind of fate keeps putting smart women in my life but I'm thankful." He wiped a smudge of mud from her cheek again. "I'm thankful to have you here." Dae felt the blush in her cheeks. Hodari leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Breaking away he leaned in his lips hovering just above hers. How long had it been since he had kissed her? She missed his way of taking over the kiss. The strength he poured into holding her and loving her. No, It wasn't the time. Dae grabbed his shoulders and threw her body weight back dragging him under. He popped up sputtering and flailing. Looking completely shocked. Dae chuckled at his expression and turned to leave shooting a look at him over her shoulder.
    "You need to wash the mud out of your hair miner." Hodari watched her walk away chuckling under his breath as he dunked himself again.
    Back at the camp now in fresh clothes the consensus was to just burn all of the muddy clothing instead of hauling wet clothes along with them. The only exceptions were Najuma and Hodari's coats that hung over a tree branch not far from the fire. Najuma sat a ways off and leaned back against the cabin. Dae had wandered off with Tau to collect more wood and he would have objected had Tau not saved them all the night before. He owed Hassian and the hound an apology. He sighed, banking the fire. As if on cue the plume hound bounded back into the clearing, Dae shortly behind him a load of wood in her arms. She dropped it next to Hodari acknowledging his thanks with a nod before moving over to sit with Najuma.
The plume hound wandered over and stood within arms reach of Hodari, seemingly watching him work the fire. Hodari looked over his shoulder seeing the women preoccupied he looked back at Tau.
    "Hey pup, I think I owe you an apology and a huge thank you for what you did." Tau tipped his head at him, his tongue popping out of his mouth. "Are we good?" He offered his open palm to the hound. Tau stepped closer sniffing his fingers and then sat alongside him nudging his hand for pets. Hodari ruffled his ears giving his head scritches. If plumehounds could purr...." I owe you so many sernuk steaks and scritches when we get back." Tau huffed and licked at his hand. "Did Hassian send you after us?" Taus' yellow eyes met his and he chuffed, shaking his head as if to say no, I do what I want. Which made Hodari chuckle. "Okay okay"
Dae sat alongside the teen. She had stayed completely silent throughout the last day. After the bath the group had collapsed at the campsite and slept through the day. Now as twilight neared the girl appeared to be finishing up the repairs on her leg. The prosthesis had taken a bit of a pounding during the drag through the forest and the hard hike to safety but it was a testament to the young woman's abilities how well it held up and she had no problems repairing it once they all got settled. Dae was increasingly worried by the girl's silence. She had tried to just be there for her but Najuma had stayed as stubbornly silent as her father locked up in her own mind. She secretly thought Najuma had been "fixing" her leg all day just to keep convo at bay. As the girl affixed her leg again Dae tried to broach the subject.
" Najuma, if there is anything you want to talk about i am happy to listen.."
The young woman sighed. "Thank you Dae, but I think I need to talk to my dad." Dae had never felt so relieved to hear that come from her. As darkness began to fall, Najuma handed her goggles to Dae. "I want to show you something." Dae slipped them over her eyes. "Flip the flow lens down and look back towards the woods." Dae did as she was told and a gasp left her lips. Just within the boundaries of elder woods at least a dozen of the orbs pulsed and swayed. She swallowed. Removing the goggles, Najuma took them from her and stood. "I'm going to go talk to my dad now."
Najuma took her place next to Hodari on the log. The silence stretched out for a bit as Hodari worked the fire. He tried to speak.
"Juma, I..."
She cut in. "It's okay. I miss mom too. I would be lying if I said I didn't wish I could have heard her voice too. I was honestly a little jealous." Hodari looked at his daughter. " as time goes by I am afraid I am forgetting her. I have to work really hard to see her smile or hear her voice in my memories. I thought maybe if I heard her voice just once it might unlock some that I'm missing." A tear rolled down her cheek. Hodari couldn't stop himself as he wrapped his arms around his small daughter and pulled her into him.
"Your smile and your eyes are almost identical to hers. If you look in the mirror it's like she's looking back at you." His voice was thick and heavy with emotion. "Sometimes it hurts my heart to see her looking out of your eyes but I'm thankful at the same time. Do you remember she use to sing to you at night?" Najuma sniffed into his shirt.
"Yes." She answered softly.
"Remember that and you can hear her voice." He answered quietly.
"It wasn't mom." She whispered.Hodari nodded, kissing the top of her head.
"I Know. I could hear your voice when I was wherever I was but I couldn't shake the feeling of what if. It makes no sense. I know she is gone. I just kept thinking, what if I could give you a family again." Najuma pulled away to look back at Dae sitting against the cabin scratching Tau's head in her lap.
"We have a family dad. We have Dae, Tau, Hassian and the village. I have you." Hodari looked back at the female by the cabin feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for her. "You like her a lot. I do too. Maybe it's time to say goodbye to mom? Don't you think so? We can work together to remember her. I just don't want you living like this anymore." Hodari looked down at his daughter's red rimmed eyes.
" I am so proud of who you are becoming," Hodari whispered, kissing her forehead."
"I want to show you something." she handed her goggles to him. "Put the flow lenses on." Hodari took them from her. Adjusting the band he slipped them over his eyes and looked back to the forest. He could see them. Dancing just within the tree line. Seeing them he could almost hear the faintest whisper of her voice. He stood and strode towards the trees. "Dad?!" Najuma was on her feet and so were Dae and Tau moving quickly to intercept him.
"It's okay Juma." He whispered, setting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm here." He stood staring at the dancing orbs. Hearing the faint whisper of her voice but underneath it he could now hear a static or a hissing he hadn't noticed before. He felt Tau bump his leg and a growl rumbled from its chest. He ruffled the hackles that stood up from the ruff of its neck fur. "It's okay pup." Dae struggled to snap her goggles on coming up to grab Najuma's arm and the back of Hodari's shirt. Fear coursing through her veins. "Hey!" Hodari barked into the trees. The orbs flickered. "I don't know what you are but you are not my Leta." The orbs pulsed angrily. The voice turned into a sibilant hiss in his head. "My Leta would have never put her family in danger. You hold no sway here. I am done with you." Tau seemed to punctuate his comment with a bark and a growl. The orbs seemed to dim. " You wont hurt my family again." He warned reaching back to grab Dae's arm and tucking Najuma into his side. The orbs pulsed once and then began to flicker out one by one with a whine and a hiss like a fire being doused in water.
Hodari removed the goggles and handed them back to Najuma pinching at his eyes he turned back to the fire.
That night the whole group finally got to sleep. Even Hodari was able to drift off knowing the plume hound laying near the fire had eyes on the trees. He dreamed of her that night. The first time in a long time. Her smile lighting up his dream almost as much as the sunshine of Bahari Bay. He saw her with Najuma, in the workshop and sitting by him at the table. He woke to the sound of bird song. The sky was just turning pink. The fire had gone out. Najuma was curled up into his side and Dae was curled up her back pressed against him on the other side. He wiped a few tears from his eyes before standing and starting the fire again. After a quick breakfast and packing the group was back on the trail. It was uneventful and the gloom that had hung over them over the first half of the trip had dissipated. Tau bounded along beside Najuma who kept getting too far ahead and the easy conversation about the city and the goods needed flowed between Dae and Hodari. Before afternoon the walls of Bahari City came into view stopping Najuma in her tracks. The girl looked back at her father with awe on her face. Hodari chuckled.