Children Of Gaia

Chapter 32

A tremendous storm crept in from across the vast Southern ocean, the sky was dark and the sea grew turbulent as the heavy winds raged. The waves crashed thunderously upon the cliff face, the nearby beach fared no better as the new high tide mark had shifted far up the sand nearing the tree line. The Drusai were not foolish enough to launch their boats during such inclement weather. The fishing would have to wait, but there were still other items of interest to be had.

The Sarrat came to ground in a clearing just above the beach. The entire crew disembarked hastily, excited to take in their new surroundings.

"I've missed that smell," announced Felix breathing in the salty air deeply. He opened his eyes to find the rest of the crew had joined him taking in the scent of the sea. Like they were statues, dozens of people stood frozen in place with their heads held high and olfactories working overtime.

Before the foraging could begin they would have to visit Ronai first. This time Gaia did not wish to miss out and accompanied Felix, Lloyd and Eva. Argus lead them up a well worn trail toward the ridge line that shielded the tribe. As they descended into the valley it appeared just as they had remembered, save for Eva who had spent most of her time on the Hyperion, it was her first visit and along with Gaia was suitably impressed. As soon as they were spotted, the locals flocked to greet them. Argus was well known in the Southern Tribe and missing an arm he was easily identified from a distance. Ronai quickly caught wind of their visit and headed over swiftly.

"Welcome!" Ronai called as he hobbled from around the corned of a nearby hut. "You come back," he stated eagerly.

"Yes," replied Felix just before Ronai caught him in a hug. "We need your help please," requested Felix as he freed his face from Ronai's chest.

Ronai released his embrace, his face now serious, "to battle?" he barked ready for war.

"No no, no enemy. We need help finding food," corrected Felix to Ronai's relief.

Gaia stepped in grabbing Ronai, "I'll take one of those," she insisted as she hugged Ronai. Eva snorted trying not to laugh. Ronai hadn't the faintest idea who the old woman was that embraced him but seeing Felix's warm face he knew she was special.

"Yes yes. Lots of food. Come come," Ronai encouraged them to follow him his arms open exuding hospitality.

Felix then spoke directly to Ronai with his mind. "Wait! We only need very little." Ronai was puzzled. As best he could Felix showed Ronai how they were able to grow their own food and that they required very little in the way of samples to begin the process. Variety was always going to be their main focus.

Ronai understood well, he nodded as he thought. "No fishing now, big storm," he advised. "Not now, soon. We go digging."

Felix was confident he knew what Ronai had in mind, during their previous stay Felix had helped dig up small hard-shelled critters that permeated the sand of the beaches in the area. Felix told the crew they were free to explore around the village while he and his group went off foraging with Ronai.

They walked along the pristine white sand to the West heading away from the storm. There were tens of thousands of holes in all directions. Ronai bent his knees and began digging, sand was sent flying behind him like a pulsing wave. A few feet down he stopped, reaching into his hole he pulled out one of the targets. The creatures were spiky and heavily armoured on their top. Ronai flipped it over to reveal the six concealed legs scurrying in an attempt to right itself. Ronai bound the creature with cord and slung it over his shoulder to keep his hands free.

While they were walking along the beach they could see the storm had subsided and the sea was now calm. Ronai advised that the boats would paddle out soon and that Felix could take whatever they wished from the catch. Felix noticed a small group of Drusai heading into the treeline and was curious about their objective. Ronai smiled picking up on Felix's thoughts. They decided to join the small group to observe what they were heading off to harvest. They remained silent and watching intently as the Drusai went about harvesting fibres for fishing. Within minutes they could see the system unfolding, the Drusai were scoring tiny marks onto hanging vines with their blades. As the amber coloured sap seeped out the Drusai would take a short stick and press it into the leaking sap. They then gently rolled the sticks pulling them away to reveal dozens of fine threads that flowed away from the vines. Slowly and methodically they would roll then pull again, repeating the process 5 or so times until the damage vines began to close over. The harvested fibres were tough and very elastic. The group paired off and began to splice and twist the fibres together. The entire process was mesmerising to the humans who sat in silence watching the millennia old craft honed by their allies. Ronai explained that the elastic cords were used for underwater spears. A loop of the stretching cord is attached to the base of a spear and the Drusai divers would hook their hand then slide down the spear shaft to put it under tension. Upon lining up a target, the divers simply released their grip and the spears would propel forward in a jolt.