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Kito

His fingers itched so! When he closed his eyes he could feel it, an insistent tickle that ran down the back of his hand, and between his long finger and the one next to it. When he closed his eyes, he could see his hand, he could flex it, turn it, and it was there. It could be moved, it could be scratched.

He stepped forward into nothingness. Eyes flew open, hand disappeared, arms flailing as he stumbled into a small pit that sat in the middle of the trail. An arm shot out, grabbing him by the shoulder, saving him from an embarrassing fall.

He sighed, stepping out of the pit. “Thanks.”

Armis smiled and patted his back. “You’re welcome.”

Kito glanced around. The stream was little more than a trickle now, bouncing down a bed of rocks and clay, not large enough to support any but the smallest of fish. Above them, trees shielded them from the sun, and from view.

The trees made him feel uneasy. He was used to seeing the sun, seeing the clouds, knowing whether rain was coming, seeing the signs of the caribou and the buffalo on the plains. Here, he felt trapped, and even worse – watched – like an uncountable horde of creatures were staring at him as he passed.

The itching flared up again, and he winced. On the other hand – the missing hand – anything that hid them from Jiant and his men was most welcome.

“How much farther?” He asked, trying to put the itching, and Jiant, and the forest out of his mind.

Of course, that was probably asking too much – to push all three worries away was not – oh wait, Armis is talking.

“–already sick to death of walking.”

Kito nodded, hoping that was the right thing to do. Pay attention!

There was a long pause. That wasn’t the right answer.

Now what do I do? A wave of guilty embarrassment rattled through his chest.

“Kito?” Armis said gently.

“Sorry, what?”

“I said, how’s your wrist?”

The itching was back, all at once.

“It itches.” Kito said, dully.

“Is it swollen, painful? Smelly?”

“I don’t know.” Kito answered, a hint of frustration entering his voice. “I’ve been trying not to think about it.”

Armis nodded. “Let me see.” Taking Kito’s arm, he pulled gently. Kito focused on the trail ahead as best he could.

“You’re healing well.”

For just a moment, Kito had a vision of his hand growing back, a spike of hope.

But no, that’s not what Armis meant at all.

“Great.” he muttered.

“Armis!” Kito looked up – Lam was ahead, waving and jogging towards them. Kito couldn’t help but notice that Lam carefully avoided looking at him.

“The edge of the woods is not far ahead. There’s a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” Kito asked. Now he’ll have to answer me.

Lam remained silent and refused to look at him.

Armis blew out an exasperated sigh. “You two need to grow up. You’re men of Red Cave Clan. Act like it.”

Lam remained silent.

Shaking his head, Armis closed his eyes. “Fine. Lam. What kind of problem?”

“The valley splits up ahead. To the left, the trail continues. To the right, after a short run, the forest.”

Armis thought about this for a moment as they walked. “What about the stream.”

“To the left.”

Armis nodded. “Okay.. How much farther to the edge?”

“Not far. Just a short walk ahead.”

They kept walking, and the woods began to lighten as the trees grew smaller, and more sparse. A weight lifted off of Kito’s breast. This was the best place to be – under the cover of the trees, but with full view of the world. Up to the left, the trail and the stream continued, meandering towards a wide valley nestled between two great stone hills. To the right, the forest, and beyond it, mountains.

The rest of the Clan gathered behind them, and were apprised of the situation.

“I say right.” said Barak. “More cover.”

“But,” Kito protested, “it looks like a dead end.”

“And you can be sure that the left isn’t?” Barak countered.

“Well, no, but–”

“Then I say, let’s go right. The last thing we need is for Jiant to see us and pick up our trail.”

“Hey!” Tohm protested. “I’ve been cleaning up our trail.”

“That’s not what I meant. He could see us and–”

“Enough.” Armis barked. “Look,” he said, pointing at the left valley. “If we can get up around that curve, I don’t think anyone will be able to see us. Certainly not from back down there.” he gestured downhill.

Grudgingly, everyone nodded.

Armis paused, and grimaced. “We should run.”

“What, all that way?” Tohm again.

“The sooner we get up there, the less likely that Jiant will see us. Just get up there as fast as you can.”

“Shouldn’t we rest for a bit first?” Barak.

Armis frowned. “Okay.. everyone rest. We’ll get moving when the sun is one hand span away from the tops of the mountains. Shara, Mika – some food?”

After a quick snack of dried-out carrots and slightly withered apples, everyone was ready. Without warning, Armis set off, setting a brisk pace, but one that Kito could manage for a while. The valley slowly grew as they pushed forward, but all that Kito needed to keep himself moving was the thought of Jiant spying on them from some remote hilltop.

He fought the urge to look back.

The line was stretching out as the race continued, and he was falling towards the back. Keep running. Din and Pak were nearby, and he encouraged them, partially to help encourage himself. “Almost there.” He panted, although it seemed far away. “We can make it.”

Doggedly, the two boys nodded and kept running.

Lam’s shout rent the afternoon air. “Theres a village. Up ahead.”

A village? He found a new burst of speed. “Come on, guys.”

Din shook his head. “Can’t.” He gasped.

“Yes you can.. I’ll help you. Kito reached out to grab him, help pull him forward… But the boy was on his left. Grunting with annoyance, Kito slowed, and circled behind the boy, coming up on the right, and grabbing his elbow. “Come on… We’re almost there.”

The others were ahead, shouting encouragement.

Just a little farther. You can do this.

A few more steps… and he sunk to the grass, gasping for air. His missing hand itched stubbornly.

Armis stood over them, breathing hard. “Rest, catch your breath, and then let’s get to this village.”

=-=

In the center of the valley, a small group of huts sat along the edge of a small lake choked with algae and weeds. To the west, the sun was falling through a pass that opened between the two great hills.

Kito stared at the huts. They were old and tattered, made of skin stretched over bone and wood. The leather was sagging in some places, split in others.

Lam was scouting ahead, and they watched as he approached the cluster of buildings. He stayed low in the grass as he crept forward, until he came towards the edge.

Kito held his breath.

Lam stood up, and started back, shaking his head.

No one?

What happened to them?

Lam picked up speed as he returned. “The huts are empty – not a sound, I don’t think anyone has lived there in years.”

Kito’s heart sank.

“But – over there, look.” Lam gestured towards the southern hillside. There was a dark opening in the earth, and surrounding it, in a semicircle were.. wooden stakes?. How odd.

“Let’s approach as a group.” Armis said. “We’ve done enough scouting and creeping about.”

Kito nodded, and they gathered together, walking towards the cave.

“Hello?” Armis called.

Nothing. No response.

“Hello?” again, after a few more steps.

A man appeared, at the entrance to the cave, dark hair, pale skin with a hint of gold. Kito’s heart skipped a beat in his chest.

“Hello.” the man called, raising his arm in an unfamiliar greeting. “Hello.”

As they approached, Kito could see that yes, they were in fact wooden stakes buried in the ground – quite recently in fact. Beyond that, the sandy hillside was rent with a great, triangular opening, that led into darkness.

The man stood at the entrance to the cave, a wide wooden bowl in his hands, eyes staring out at nothing in particular. As he closed, Kito realized that the pupils were clouded with white.

He’s blind?

“I am Axar.” The man said. “Who are you?”

“I am Armis. We are from– Red Cave Clan.”

Axar raised his hand again. “Welcome, Armis of Red Cave Clan. I believe I have heard of your Clan, many years ago.”

Kito sized him up. Judging from his face, Axar looked younger than his parents, but much older than Armis.

“Is that how you know our language?”

The man shook his head. “Your language is mine as well. Guards! Stand aside and let these people enter. I am sure they are hungry.”

Kito looked around in bewilderment. Guards?

Armis took a step forward, and then another.

Nothing happened.

Shrugging helplessly, Armis motioned for them all to join him. Axar turned, and vanished inside the darkness.

They walked past the wooden stakes. Did that one just move. He stared at it for a moment longer. Reya bumped into him. He waited for the tongue lashing, but it didn’t come. Instead, she tousled his hair. “Careful, Kito.”

It didn’t move again, and he went forward with the others into the cool shadows.

His eyes flew wide as they adjusted to the interior. Tall ceilings, plenty of light streaming in from outside, and a dry, smooth-floored main room. Equal to or even slightly better than Red Cave. A number of wooden bowls sat, stacked in the middle of the floor. Skins adorned the walls, which seemed like a waste, but then Axar was the only one here. One of them was much larger than the others, and Kito wondered what animal it came from. It fluttered gently from the wind, although the air felt still.

“Sit down. ” Axar said. “Please, sit down, and I will bring you food.”

Shara gasped as she sat down, pointing at the walls. “Look. He has drawn on the skins.” Kito looked around – sure enough, there were pictures of hunters, and caribou, glyptodonts, mammoths and strange beasts which, judging by their scale, were quite large, covered in hair, with huge, fat hind legs and long, sharp claws.

“Wow.. Look at that one.” Oola pointed. At first, it didn’t make much sense – it was a swirl of paint, with lines coming out of it, each line connected to a different animal – and one connected to a hunter in the act of throwing his spear. Involuntarily, he shivered.

Kito didn’t want to question Axar’s artistry, but that was a strange, strange drawing.

“Come. Food!. Here. ” Axar stepped forward slowly, cautiously. “I’m sorry, I can’t see you.”

“Pak. Help him.” Armis said, but Pak shook his head violently, backing away. Armis sighed. “Din, you help him.”

Din growled uncomfortably as he walked up to the stranger and took the bowl from him, bringing it back to the group. There was an odd look on his face. As the bowl was passed around, each of them pulled a hunk of green… something.. out of it. Reya passed it to him – it was some sort of dark green plant, darker than anything he had seen before, long stems with rows of small leaves at regular intervals. It smelled strange, but vaguely familiar.

“Axar, what is this?” Reya asked, disdainfully.

Axar was sitting down near the large skin. He smiled. “This is lake weed. It is very good. A long time ago, I found golden lake weed. It gave me the sight to see things that others could not. Thank you.” He said, as the bowl was passed to him. “Eat. Please.”

And with that, he stuffed a handful of lake weed into his mouth, chewing heartily.

Wincing, Kito pulled a weed out of his bowl, and stared at it. It was dry, and a little dusty. The others seemed to have similar difficulty with this meal. Closing his eyes, he bit a little off of the end.

Ugh! Bitter foulness attacked his tongue. He gagged, and then wiped his mouth off on his clothes.

“Armis.” He hissed. “This is awful.” Armis nodded, and motioned everyone to put their bowls down.

“Are you done?” Axar said, as the bowls clicked against the ground.

“Yes, Axar. We’re done.” Armis said.

“Excellent. Then now it is time for Shub to eat.” Axar stood up, and shuffled towards the large skin, which fluttered visibly.

Something twisted inside Kito’s chest. He had had the same feeling before, when that Jiant-man had pulled him out of the escape hole. He could feel his heart growing numb. “Armis…”

Armis waved him down. “Who is Shub?”

Axar smiled. “Shub is my friend. He came to me in a dream.” He lifted the edge of the skin.

Green vine like tendrils shot out, lifting the skin as Axar ducked out of the way. Within a heartbeat the air was filled with them, thick and smooth, flailing throughout the cave, lashing at his friends.

And beyond them sat a glistening gray-green circle, a small black orifice pulsating at the center.

“Run!” Armis screamed, scrambling to his feet.

Kito couldn’t move. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from that mouth. The vines shot through the air, grabbing him around the waist, shaking him from his stupor. “Help me!” Kito shrieked, beating weakly at the thick strands. They weren’t vines… too thick, no leaves.

He couldn’t catch with his feet. They were dragging him forward. Strange warbling sounds echoed from the mouth, words that no human voice could create. “Armis. Help!”

“I’ve got you.” Tohm grabbed one arm. Armis seized the other. “Pull.” His feet finally caught and he pushed backwards with all his strength.

Slowly, the tendrils gave way. It’s working. “Keep going.”

The warbling intensified, into an ear-shattering shriek, and the air was suddenly filled with the green vines.

Oh no.

In a heartbeat, all three of them were snared. Kito was lifted into the air, ripped from his friend’s grasps. He twisted around, stretching out to grab at Armis’s hand… but there was no hand there.

The vines pulled him in towards the beckoning blackness.

“Shara.” He screamed. ‘Help me!”

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Saturday, May 27th, 2006 at 5:30 pm.
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