Between The Crystals

Ch 69 Little Helpers

The hunters and gatherers lingered around the crystal as we watched the Saursunes. Eventually, the group dispersed while giving the Saursunes a wide berth. I gazed at the youngsters while trying to remember if I'd ever heard of someone being close to one this small.

There were various stories of people encountering adolescents, but none where their stomach was still yellow, a color which disappeared around the time they were half grown. A few had spotted younger ones around farm buildings or in a town, like I had from the Apple Orchard hill, but definitely not close like this.

Letting youngsters this small near a bunch of humans—some of whom had bows and knives—struck me as rather trusting, especially when a different village had recently tried to kill an adult.

Curiosity ate at me. I wasn't about to approach the youngsters, but I wondered how close they'd come if I gave them an opening. Judging by their hopeful looks, they'd probably sneak over as fast as the brown female would let them. Was she their mother? It seemed likely enough; none of the hunters had reported seeing any farms or towns in the area that they might have come from, so they couldn't have come from there.

Picking up a basket, I walked to the creek. I took off my shoes before stepping into the chilly, slow-moving water. I went ankle deep as I flipped rocks over to check for hidden clams.

It didn't take long before both youngsters were on the bank, a mere ten paces away, bobbing their heads as they watched me. The female sprawled out on the grass to keep an eye on them.

Her thrumming had them glancing at her, then bounding upstream before jumping into the water. They energetically began clawing at the rocks and rooting around. With a squeaky hiss, one held up a round object. A clam.

The youngster's head came up, eyes wide in excitement, as it looked between me and its mother. She gave some hums and hisses, and it hobbled over to me on three feet while holding the clam. Ignoring the basket sitting in the shallows beside me, it held out the clam.

With one eye on the female, who seemed quite relaxed, I held my hand palm up. It gently set the clam on my palm.

"Thank you," I told it, inclining my head.

I slowly placed the gift in my basket. Seeming bolder, the youngster sniffed at my arms and the basket. It dug around in the rocks near me, apparently reluctant to move away now that I'd let it come close.

Its companion—sibling?—soon found a clam and brought the offering over. I also thanked it and put the clam in the basket. Despite our best efforts, we only found ten small clams over the next twenty minutes. The creek had been thoroughly searched by past groups.

My feet were getting cold, so I left the water and began searching for edible plants. The youngsters bounded around me like over-excited puppies, sniffing anything I picked and going in search of more.

It was impossible to remain wary of the youngsters for long. Their knee-height size made them far less imposing than an adult, and like most young animals, their appearance and antics were cute. My carry net didn't have much in it, but it certainly wasn't for their lack of trying.

Eventually, the brown female disappeared into the forest, perhaps reassured that we wouldn't harm the youngsters or perhaps convinced they would behave in her absence. I wandered farther from the crystal in my quest to fill the carry net, and the youngsters accompanied me.

I picked some buds off a small shrub, and the green youngster yanked the entire plant out and tried sticking it in my carry net. Gently, I took the shrub, and it immediately let go. I replanted it, and with a pointed glance at the confused-looking Saursune, I picked off just the outermost buds and put them in a leather bag.