Dawn (In the Beginning)

Eve

The baby Adam was only about a quarter of a season cycle old when Nala found that she was with child again. She told this to her mate as soon as she was certain. He had been scouting the surrounding areas for places to move the clan when it was time to migrate again. He was determined to find a suitable place to camp that did not require moving far from Eden. While Nala had no choice but to reside there and care for Adam, he wanted to be sure he was able to travel to the garden in less than a day. As it was, it was only about a two hour trek.

Upon her announcement that they would have another child, he became troubled. If she birthed another weak infant, something that was very likely, she would be just as reluctant to part with this one as she had been with Adam. If he couldn't make her part with it, she would need to stay even longer away from the clan. This would make things even more difficult for him and for a longer period of time.

Nala tried to reason with him about the tradition of putting weak babies to death. She believed that the babies being birthed early were not as weak and disposable as clan members believed they were. After all, she herself had been one and she was not only quite capable and strong, although smaller in stature than the others, but she had brought many helpful new ideas and discoveries to the clan. Including the newest and most powerful idea that males and females both brought forth children. This idea had brought her mate respect, wealth, and status far and wide.

As time passed and she grew with child once more, it came time to wean little Adam. He was growing strong and showing signs of great intelligence and learning capability. His constant babbling and toddling about, exploring his surroundings, told her that it had been right to allow him to live.

Nala asked her mate about taking Adam back to the clan with them. She pointed out how strong he was and that he was not at all sickly as he had appeared when he was born. However, Corbin was not ready to introduce their son into the clan. He worried about the reaction of the others when they discovered he had not been truthful. He wanted to be positive the child was healthy and as strong as anyone else.

As expected, Nala birthed the new child early and this time it was a female. Her mate, again, attempted to take the infant away, but she would have none of it. She told him he would have to kill her as well. He left the garden in frustration, fearing he would take her up on it. The situation was getting farther and farther beyond his control and it frightened him.

It was decided that Nala would have to remain in the garden until the new baby was weaned and capable of toddling about without hurting herself. Nala was already teaching the boy how to swim and climb and eat fruit from the trees. The boy learned very quickly and Corbin was amazed the things he had picked up on every time he returned to visit his growing family.

Nala gave the female child the name "Eve", which meant "living, life giving, or to breathe". She loved her daughter very much and was thankful that she had been allowed to live. The thought that she, too, would someday bring forth children pleased her as well.

The clan leader managed to keep his clan within reasonable traveling distance of the garden during this time. Sometimes he was unable to visit for a week or so at a time, but his small family flourished. Both children were strong and his mate was teaching them many things. The boy had already learned to catch fish and scramble up trees, as his mother was able to do. They ate mostly fruits, nuts, and roots, only tasting a bit of meat when he brought it to them.

Because it was not practical to carry fire to them, Nala was unable to cook, but the climate required no heat source for warmth and there were small hot springs here and there throughout the garden. She washed their furs and skins and bathed in the warm water that bubbled up in these places. She even learned to keep cooked meat that her mate brought her warm by placing it in waterproof skins and submerging them in the hot water.

Before long, the young male child was speaking very well and understanding most that Corbin said to him. He was a very curious child and he learned much faster than the children of other clan members. When he was about 3 season cycle old, Nala brought up the idea of bringing both children back to the clan. Her mate, again, refused. He told her that he would not bring them back until he was sure of Adam's strength and his capability to obey his father. He did not want to risk the anger of the clan members until he was sure the anger could be nullified by the child's obvious strength and intelligence.

Furthermore, Nala was to begin preparations for leaving her children alone and returning to the clan camp. He gave her one more season to prepare the children for life on their own. She cried and begged and grew angry, but her mate stood firm, reminding her of her promise to him when Adam had been birthed. She told him that she had promised she would comply with leaving Adam if he had proved to be weak and sickly, but that she had been confident he wouldn't be. She yelled at her mate and begged him to recognize the strength and potential in their son, but he refused to give. He reminded her that he had already given her more than he should have by not killing either of her children. She was asking for too much by wanting to bring them back before he was ready for them.

Finally, one very sorrowful day for both mother and children, she kissed her son and daughter goodbye. She had taught Adam all that she was capable of and told him to keep Eve safe. Corbin would be returning to check on them often, but because of the immense battle over leaving them, he had decided she would not be allowed to visit them again. She would not see her children until he deemed them fit to bring back to the clan.

Her tears covered both of her little ones and she clung to them frantically until her mate had to physically pry her off of them. If she had refused to go with him and stick to the original plan, he told her he would have no choice but to kill all three of them. She was given no choice but to do as he said. If she tried to run, they would all likely die alone, anyways.

Sobbing and screaming, she was dragged from the garden, her tearful children staring after her with fear in their eyes. Corbin saw the flash of anger cross Adam's face as he watched his mother being dragged away from him. The boy would have to be given much instruction in order to gain his loyalty and trust.

Nala returned to the clan a changed female. The light had gone from her eyes and the feelings of respect and pride she had felt for her mate had diminished greatly. She missed her children and worried over them. It had taken nearly an entire passing of the sun to walk from the garden to the place where the clan was currently camped. Sneaking away to visit was out of the question. She could not get there and back without being missed. She crawled into her mate's shelter and covered herself with furs. She felt she would never be ready to come back out again. She continuously thought she heard the chatter of her son or the babbling of her daughter. She would sit up with a start, wondering if her mate had changed his mind and retrieved the children for her. She would listen and then crawl to the doorway and peek her head out to see if they were there.

They never were.

(Please vote and comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts.)