Xinti (Caveman Chronicles)

The Index -|-

Xit hummed silently to himself as he loped through the trees with his practiced gait. It was an easy speed, nothing that he could not maintain for a half a sun-cycle or more. Ahead of him a pace or three, Xer and Xuf moved through the underbrush in the same manner. Though they were not of the same mother, they often ran side by side.

Ahead of the group, Xsp ran like a maddened Jilrop. Xit could not see him, but he knew that he was ahead somewhere. An occasional snapping of branch identified his location and revealed a carelessness that was uncharacteristic of the Xinti warrior. Xsp had refused the call of the Pale One, a fact that surprised Xit as much as any. Xit’s pondering led him to believe that Xsp’s mistake was that of youth. Perhaps it was also the after-effects of the battle. He had not yet been granted his middle-sound nor had he given many battles to the cause. Xer had seen rash behavior before in similar circumstances.

His mind strayed to the Pale One. She had been different than he had expected. Taller and yet more gentle. But her hair was spot on… and she was with child. It must be her, the Pale One. He could not comprehend why he was left alive.

“From the mouth she comes, with child and with vengeance. Pale and terrible, she will disembowel the Xinti.”

Xit did not finish speaking the legend that all Xinti memorized from their early childhood. Instead, he dwelt on the future potential as he parkoured through the brush and branches.

He would bring Teeri and the small ones with him when he returned to the Pale One in the morning. Teeri would know what to do in terms of making a home. It would be a home they would need to serve the Pale One. Xit would do the fighting that he had trained for his whole life.

Maybe she would bring the Xinti to her and then kill us all. Or maybe she will let us live. It is hard to know.

Macabre thoughts were not at all taboo for the Xinti. Truth is truth. There was no benefit in a lie, even if it served to pacify the feelings of one. The only acceptable deception in Xinti culture was its use in warfare.

He dodged a thick shrub. The trees flew past, and the slope began to increase. They would be home soon at the high place. More accurately, they would be to where they had begun to dominate the land as commanded by the Uuiit. Home from now on would now be with the Pale One, wherever she desired.

###

Thoka rose and stretched slowly. The baby kicked gently as if to welcome her to the waking world. The vivid dreams she had experienced at the beginning of her pregnancy had tapered off and became less common, and she was grateful that she had slept well. She rolled over and found that the reed mat she had shared with Kpleeb was empty and cold.

It is past time to wake up. The strange warriors may have arrived already. I suppose I should find a new name for them. They will be my tribe after all. She sighed. This could be a lot of work.

Thoka stood and walked to the door. With her left hand she parted the hanging reeds and looked out into the village center. The bright sun told her that she had slept too late.

“Ugh, Kpleeb,” she muttered with a sigh. This was not the day to be lying about.

The view from the doorway was not as Thoka expected. A few tiny cavechildren chased each other at the far side of the circle. There was nobody in the center. There were no cavemen or cavewomen in sight from her view through the hut door. That was odd. Usually, the cavewomen would be working. Considering that a momentous battle yesterday had made a ruinous mess of their village, they should have been working even harder. There were no bodies in sight, and aside from dark spots on the ground where blood had spilled, there was no real indication of the battle.

Thoka stepped out and walked across the village circle toward the river. A light breeze pushed through the huts on one side and picked up a dust in front of her feet where the dirt was hard packed by years of barefoot traffic. A dark carrion bird soared silently in the general direction of the canyon, and Thoka raised her hand to block the sun from her eyes.

She rounded the corner past a hut on the far side of the circle. There must be some dead still available for the birds. She came to a halt in surprise. Wha?!

Lined up between the village and the river was a large host of cavepeople. They were clumped into groups ranging from two to twelve or so, and there were many cavechildren interspersed throughout. At a quick glance she estimated at least a hundred in total. To the side Kpleeb and Kilow stood and appeared to be talking, but stopped and turned when they saw her. Kpleeb raised his hand to wave. The strange warriors that were interlaced throughout the group noticed and turned to face her in unison. Together, they repeated the strange ritual they had performed the day before. They held their hands at shoulder level with palms upward and fingers facing forward. They followed that gesture with hands folded to cover their pectoral muscles, and a small nod of the head. 

“Thoka, good morning,” said Kpleeb as he approached. He gave her a gentle and quick hug. “The Xinti came to be in your tribe.”

“Why are there so many?”

“These are just a part of their previous tribe. You said to bring their families, and they have done so.” Kpleeb put his hand on her back. “You need to talk to them. You are their leader now.”

Thoka drew in a deep breath. The reality of needing a tribe and asking a few warriors to join her was insignificant compared to the view in front of her. It had become real. Overnight, the was the leader of a real tribe that rivaled the tribe of her cavechildhood back home on the Wet Mountain. She stepped forward a dozen paces until she was close to the line of Xinti.

The smaller children stood and fidgeted. Some hid behind the legs of their parents. The young to adolescent caveboys were very still and showed no emotion, but the cavegirls grinned at her and each other with toothy excitement. Cavewomen stood in the center of each group and watched her with curious eyes and occasionally whispered to others in their group. They were dressed in a thin cloth that reached from navel to neck and a short reed skirt. As far as she could tell, the groups appeared to be families, and usually contained a few adults of medium and advanced age as well as cavechildren of various sizes. She could not say which one, but in front of her was one of the warriors that she had released the previous night.

“Hello,” Thoka said with a nod. She turned head to include the large group. “Thank you for coming. I am told that your people are called the Xinti. Is this true? Who is your tribal leader?”

A warrior nearby spoke up. “You, Pale One.”

Thoka turned her head to look at his impassive face. “Who was your tribal leader before me, and do you have anyone here now that was a leader before?”

“Uuiit was leader. Xinti have no other. Uuiit not come here.”

“Uuiit is a cavewoman or caveman?”

“Uuiit…” the warrior paused as if considering his answer. He finally said, “I not know.

Thoka nodded. She would have to discuss this Uuiit person with Kpleeb.

“It is time to get to work.” She looked at the warrior who had spoken. “What is your name?”

“Xer, Pale One.”

“Xer. Okay. We need to find a place to live. A camp for your family. Please gather the warriors and we will talk.”

Xer shifted his feet and looked behind him before turning to face Thoka again. “Warrior fight, hunt. Cavewoman make home.”

Thoka looked behind the warriors that were lined up and took stock of the cavewomen that peppered the crowd. They appeared to be bright eyed and interested in every word being said, and she thought that perhaps she should ask more questions before setting up the tribal structure. With a shrug, she spoke a little more loudly.

“This tribe must build a camp and create shelters. Who will do this task?”

Every cavewoman raised her hand with index finger extended. There were no other hands.

Okay. Now we are getting somewhere.

“Before we select a location, we must talk about the surrounding area and where to live. Who will help with this task?”

Again, all of the cavewomen’s hands went up, and again no other hands were willing to contribute to the cause.

Thoka looked at Kpleeb. “Alright, let us figure this out with Kilow, Bre, the cavewomen, you and me. First, I need to get a drink and relieve myself.”

Kpleeb nodded. “I’ll get you something to eat as well. We’ll meet here in a few minutes.”

Soon, Thoka, Kpleeb, Kilow, Bre, and a large number of cavewomen sat in a circle near the river. Thoka counted eighteen women from the Xinti group.

“Kilow is chief of this tribe, and Bre is her assistant.” Thoka gestured at each woman as she named them. “Where we settle must not interfere with Kilow’s tribe for we are bound together as allies.”

Kilow nodded and remained silent.

“This is Kpleeb, my man. He speaks with my voice and is the father of my child.” She patted her stomach gently and smiled at Kpleeb. “Now, what are your names?” Thoka pointed at the nearest Xinti cavewoman.

After a few moments, Thoka repeated the names. “Juri, Prolly, Henti, Wooli, Teeri, Butri, Kuiti, Nori, Celi, Mewi, Yoerti, Tori, Dari, Opli, Kari, Lepti, Ipti, and Faeri. Whew. What a list. I will not remember all of these, but please remind me if I forget.”

Thoka squatted and began to draw a line with a stick. She sketched the river, the canyon, and then drew a circle. “This is Kilow’s village. Kilow, can you tell us how far your land extends?”

Kilow took the stick from Thoka and drew a line that encompassed a large area around the village. It extended into the canyon, past the far side of the river and further into the jungle on the other side of the village. “Open Sky tribe live here. Jungle, canyon, river, village.” Kilow accentuated her words by pointing to each place, and finally pointed to a mark she drew on the river’s downstream side. She then pointed with her hand toward the same direction. “Open Sky tribe come from there many, many sun-cycles past. We no return to big water.” She drew a long, curved line perpendicular to the river. She then handed the stick to Thoka and sat down.

“Good. I am sure that these borders are not marked. They are fuzzy, but we will respect the Open Sky tribe’s territory.” Thoka looked at the group of Xinti women and held out the stick. “Where is Uuiit? Are there more tribes or anything else we must know?”

The group of women looked at each other for a moment before one of them stood. “I not speak for all Xinti.”

“Ipti, right?” said Thoka holding out the drawing stick.

The cavewoman nodded and took the stick. “Uuiit here with Xinti.” She marked a spot above the canyon. “Two day walk.”

“How many Xinti?”

Ipti paused and looked at the other Xinti cavewomen. “I not know. Many. More Xinti with Uuiit than with Pale One.”

“Will Uuiit be our enemy?”

Ipti shrugged, but one of the other Xinti cavewomen spoke up. “Some Xinti not follow Pale One. Xsp not follow. Xsp enemy.” The cavewoman spread her hands as if it was all very obvious.

Thoka remembered calling one of the strange warriors an enemy, but had not thought that it would automatically extend to potentially hundreds of other warriors. On the other hand, Uuiit had just had a big portion of its (their?) tribe leave on a moment’s notice.

Perhaps Uuiit will be upset and come attack us with a new force. Anyone leading these strange warriors must be strong in their own right, and it would be wise to be wary of her. I will have to find out more about Uuiit soon.

“Hmm, okay. What is past the canyon other than Uuiit’s territory?”

Kilow spoke up. “Big tundra.” She scraped a section of dirt with her foot. To the right side of the canyon, she poked the dirt and then pointed at the distant snow-topped peak. “Mountain.”

Thoka smiled and looked at Kpleeb. “This is all very helpful. We have tundra there for some unknown distance. We have the river that extends through the canyon to the tundra, the mountain, and a large body of water down here. We need a place to setup the new tribe with access to water, but not too close to Uuiit or Kilow. It is possible that Uuiit will try to attack us or the Open Sky tribe, so we must be careful and ready to defend.”

Kpleeb nodded and looked at the crude dirt-drawing. “Maybe we should move here, toward the mountain. This will make our territory closer to Uuiit and allow us to perhaps head off any attack against the village. We cannot know if there are other cavepeople there, not until we scout.” He made a circle halfway between the canyon and the big mountain. “This is a few days’ walk, but if you help me, I will bring a pale warrior and scout quickly.” He looked at Kilow. “If you agree that we may stay here for a few days, of course, Chief Kilow.”

Kilow nodded slowly taking it all in. “Four sun-cycles,” she said holding up four fingers. “We talk trade for this and all else.”

“Ipti, we will stay here for a few days and then move to a new camp.” Thoka looked at the rest of the Xinti cavewomen. “Please gather food and provide shelter for those who are here.”

The Xinti cavewomen nodded and turned to leave.

“Kpleeb, I must speak with you privately. Come.”

Thoka and Kpleeb walked to the edge of the river. “I will show you how to operate the floating platform. This will give you great speed for scouting. I am concerned about this Uuiit person and their Xinti army, but we have to find a place to live first. We are nothing without territory to defend and grow.”

Kpleeb smiled at her. “I’ll take a pale warrior and find the place for us. Do you hear how they call you the Pale One? They sound as if you are a god to them. I am really curious about it.”

“I noticed that too, but there will be time for that later. At least they are following me. I was worried that I would have to find a tribe and kill their leader to become the boss.” Thoka pointed at the group of Xinti warriors. Please take two of them. Also, we need to find a new tribe name. If Uuiit’s people are the Xinti, we cannot also keep using that term.”

“I agree.” Kpleeb ran his hand down his arm. “By the way, I am almost completely healed this morning.” He flexed his fingers.

Thoka had not noticed, but now that he had pointed it out, she saw only a few small scratches and a handful of bruises. “Maybe the gods also made us heal quickly. We really don’t know the extent of what they have done.” She shook her head at the thought. “We are forever changed in unknown ways.”

“Yes, but we are alive, we found each other, and maybe we can find a way to pay them back.” Kpleeb looked somber as he always did when they discussed the gods.

Thoka knew that Kpleeb was bitter about their previous captivity and how they were altered. He did not mention it often, but she knew it to be true, and it pained her to know that he was angry. The truth was that she kept a simmering resentment about it as well. There were good consequences from their captivity and alteration, but it was still entirely unjust. She felt violated.

“We will thrive and, in the end, we will repay them for the wrong they have done to us. It will take time, and we must be patient.” Thoka looked around the flat area between the river and the Open Sky village. We have a good start here, and when we grow in power, the entities will regret it. We must stop calling them gods, as if they are all powerful and there is nothing we can do to resist them.”

Kpleeb nodded. “Maybe we can also find their true name.” He sighed. “But now, it is time to scout.”

Thoka nodded and patted his shoulder. “Come back quickly with good news and plenty of information.”

In a short time, Kpleeb selected two of the pale warriors, sat them awkwardly on the edge of the floating platform, and with a wave to Thoka, he raised the platform to shoulder height and crossed the river. Soon the scouting party was into the trees and out of sight.