SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 12: Daris and Sabis

Chapter 12: Daris and Sabis

For the Overs, living and surviving independently was rewarded with greater opportunities for tests of courage. For example, when Sabis reached the age of seven, he showed that he could sleep away from his home cave for more than two steam cycles by accompanying an Elder on a track and kill expedition. Consequently, he was offered a trip to explore the outer perimeter.

For that perimeter trip, one of the Elders led Sabis to the passage where a fork in the road existed. One passage led to the perimeter region and the other led to where the UnderStrata lived. Similar to the Overs, the Unders lived in caves that were heated by underground hot springs and geothermal radiant heat. But since the Unders lived deeper underground then the Overs, they rarely ventured outside of the caves, nor did they recognize the SkyGod as an all-powerful ruler of his domain.

The Elder guide retreated several steps while Sabis was left alone to decide independently which passage he would explore. To this day Sabis has never met or seen an Under although his Mother had...

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"Mamya, how was your trip to the Under Shtersen? And what did you trade for?"

"It was fun Sabis to visit the marketplace plateau and see members of the UnderStrata and trade with them. I get a thrill from trading. I traded one animal pelt for a diamond drill bit. Now I can attach this drill bit to my press-forged screwdriver and make holes in the walls of our home cave with ease. We can finally hang our hammocks more securely rather than having them attached loosely to the moss that blankets the cave walls."

"Mamya, what are the UnderStrata members like? Do they look like us, talk like us? I heard that they smell of rotten fish roe. Is that true?"

"Oh Mother Earth, Sabis! The UnderStrata look like us and talk like us but they do hold onto some different beliefs. One thing is for sure, they are not as sly in business as we are. I was able to negotiate down from three pelts to only one pelt and reserve the rest for another trade. I got us some glow in the dark rocks which we can use when the lights are turned off at the end of each steam cycle ..."

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Now that he and his four-legged new animal friend journeyed together, Sabis felt odd about his companion. Should he let this animal tag along or should he send it on its own path?

"For now, I feel like you are part of Mother Earth's plan to help me on this journey. So I will keep you around for a while."

He pointed at the animal's weathered face and stated,

"I name you Daris because I find that you are a daring creature, willing to risk your life to encounter me and now to journey with me."

Sabis decided to give Daris his first tribal test.

"Let's see if you can carry some of my load."

He took the shell and the three long rib bones and tied them to Daris' backside. Daris eyed Sabis nervously and started to whimper but Sabis just kept on walking.

"Daris, if you are to be in my company and join my tribe, then you need to prove yourself."

They continued marching on like this for a while: Sabis in his beast boots and snowshoes and Daris in his toughened paws. But as the ice melted to slush, Daris began to sink into the melting landscape with every trot forward. So Sabis unloaded the shell and three long rib bones from Daris' backside. He then separated two of the long bones still glued together and began to carve out a place for his two feet to fit into. He took the remaining long rib bone and cracked that into two pieces so that they measured about half the length of the longer bones. He withdrew some waxy marrow from the cracked rib, rubbed the cool marrow wax on the bottom of the long bones and on one end of each shorter bone fragment.

Sabis then attached the long bones to his boot-clad feet and fit each shorter bone piece into the palm of his hands. He placed the shell on top of his head and with the leftover marrow wax, he glued the shell to an upright tuft of his hair.

"Okay Daris, we are ready to glide now."

With a buoyed spirit, he rubbed more waxy bone marrow on his newly constructed rib skis, then glided along the ice-snow landscape with his new and loyal tribe member, further away from his home cave. But with each long and slippery stride, his insides again trembled and he wondered if SkyGod was pulling him along His path or if Mother Earth was indeed guiding him. He decided to ask for Mother Earth's intervention:

"Still in my sight, in the twilight, I can see my life and where I come from. Take me on your path, take me to your core, open the door to your kingdom and let me feel the heat of your fire once more. Let it be."

Soon they arrived at a narrow but deep chasm in the ice shelves. Sabis peered over the edge of the man-length gap. He saw shadow and ice.

"Daris, it looks like a long way down so let's focus on reaching the other side."

Daris yipped in agreement.

He spoke softly into Daris' ear:

"Your spine is strong, your muscles supple, we'll bridge this gap without fear or struggle."

Sabis stepped out of his two long gliders and placed them flat so that they bridged the gap. He then asked Daris to sit on the near side of the rib-glider bridge.

"Sit there and don't move!"

Sabis then cautiously crossed the bridge to the other side of the gap.

Once across, Sabis called for Daris to trot across.

"I will hold this end of the rib bridge in place for you."

Daris hesitated, sniffed the ribs and yipped. Sabis answered Daris' hungry yip as if verbally patting him on the head:

"Yes you can have something to eat but only after you come over here."

Daris advanced slowly. When he was only a few feet from his destination, one of his paws slipped on the icy coating that had formed on the ribs. His paw then became wedged in between two of the ribs. Sabis did not want to let go of the end that he held for fear that Daris would fall to his demise.

"You can do this Daris. You are part of my tribe."

As Sabis spoke these words of encouragement, he observed Daris bending forward on his two front paws then stretching his body in a lengthwise fashion. This allowed him to extricate his hind paw from in between the ribs. Daris then stood up, wobbled a bit and hobbled the remaining few feet to his safety.

Sabis felt warm inside that his new companion and now tribal member was safe. Sabis also noted that Daris' right hind paw was lifted off of the ground. So he knelt down and felt the lifted paw. Daris whined and struggled to keep his balance.

"Hmm, it seems that you have your first injury as a tribal member. I will help you."

Sabis took the rib bridge and moved it under Daris' paws. Then he tied Daris' hind paws to the ribs so that he would not fall off during this next leg of their journey together. He harnessed another thread from the rib bridge to himself by looping the thread up and over his shoulders such that his torso would pull the bridge as he moved forward. He popped a chunk of meat in Daris' mouth and offered a prayer,

"Mother Earth, for you we toil, please show us the way to more fertile soil. Let it be."

They continued on.