Oh'Dar's Quest

by Leigh Roberts

  Lost in the happy mood, someone blurted out to Khon’Tor as he walked by, “What about you, Khon’Tor? Is it not time you took another mate?”

  Everyone stopped to hear his answer. All the available females waited in suspense.

  “You are right, Kachina,” he replied, addressing the female who was brave enough to ask what all the others were wondering.

  “It is past due that I take another mate. I am considering it,” he said.

  Everyone was happy to hear that, and it added to the celebratory mood. Nearly everyone remained in the Great Chamber for quite some time, enjoying the exciting announcement and discussing who would be entered for pairing.

  Adia was glad to hear this. Life needed to move on, even for Khon’Tor. However, after Hakani’s allegations regarding his mating appetites, she would be keeping a close eye on him.

  Chapter 4

  The community was abuzz for days over Khon’Tor’s announcement. Though the High Council decided most pairings, occasionally a couple would fall in love and ask to be paired. Those requests also had to be submitted to the High Council, members of which carefully reviewed each one with an eye to the genetic diversity of the population. The dark period between the Brothers and the People was never to be repeated.

  Acaraho and Adia later discussed Nootau’s readiness to be paired and decided they would put the question to him. Adia could not yet see her son as a fully grown male, and he did not seem old enough to either of them, but Acaraho reminded her that the pairing was still a fair while in the future.

  As for Oh’Dar, Adia felt there was no question of it at all. Even though there was still time before the event, she could not see Oh’Dar being mature enough to take on the responsibilities of a life partner. Besides, Oh’Dar had his current problems to worry about. Adia hoped that his good mood would return as he continued working with his skins and hides.

  In some ways, Adia got her wish as Oh’Dar engrossed himself in his sewing. He also worked on the gift he had in mind for Honovi and decided to make one for Is’Taqa and each of their daughters as well. He planned on making little fur booties for Noshoba, their little son.

  Adia’s relief at seeing Oh’Dar so busy in his workshop every day was ill-founded. She had recently become very cautious about using her seventh sense with her sons. She knew she had to be careful to keep concealed the fact that Nootau’s father was Khon’Tor, not Acaraho. Had she known what Oh’Dar was planning, she would have been beside herself with fear.

  Oh’Dar did not want to think about being paired. He knew there was not a mate for him among the People. And he had too much to accomplish to think of entering the grown-up world of responsibilities and offspring.

  The only thing on his mind right now was Khon’Tor’s statement. That he was a threat to everyone he loved.

  Kweeuu’s vocabulary had grown considerably. Though Oh’Dar had focused more on teaching him Handspeak words, Kweeuu also responded to voice commands. Much to the delight of the offspring, Oh’Dar had also taught him speak, no-speak, bring back, find, and to spin while standing up on his back legs. Oh’Dar had also taught the cub not to beg from anyone in the eating room. Oh’Dar knew that if he did not nip that in the bud, his mother would ban Kweeuu from the community areas.

  Though Oh’Dar still thought of him as a cub, Kweeuu was growing alongside his master. The wolf was halfway to his full size, and his beautiful, thick, grey coat was starting to come in. He was going to be large, and Oh’Dar knew it was vital that he be taught good manners. Soon it would be impossible to pick up his pet and carry him away from trouble.

  To their disappointment, no more midnight visits materialized for Adia and Acaraho. They tried to be patient and savored their memory of that one time they’d had together.

  Adia’s work with Urilla Wuti continued. Entering the Dream World at will was a different skill than connecting with another person. She had to reach into the abyss, trying to access another reality with no destination consciousness to find. It was like walking in the dark blindfolded with her hands stretched out before her.

  Adia often returned to the secluded little cave with the clear shallow waters that she had been coming to for years now. It was her place of solace, and it provided the peace and privacy she needed to practice. Alone in the cozy chamber, she was free of distractions. So, one morning, when all her tasks were caught up, and there were no more pressing issues, she took time to slip away and try again.

  She sat in the little alcove, safe and secluded, and shifted her weight until she was comfortable and safely propped up in place. She quieted her mind to enter a state of meditation. This time, as her mind became clearer and clearer, she felt an opening. It was similar to the window that appeared when making a Connection, only it was not as well-defined. It was softer and larger. As she continued to quiet her consciousness, allowing instead of forcing, she felt as if she were physically stepping through a portal.

  She opened her eyes to see a world more beautiful than could be imagined. It was very much like Etera, only everything was richer. The colors were more vibrant. The sky was a deeper blue. She could hear birdsong, except it was more than birdsong. She seemed to have senses she had never experienced before. There were no words adequate to describe it.

  Adia was standing in a clearing under a canopy of trees. Sunlight broke through, creating a dappled pattern on the carpet of grass beneath her feet. Wildflowers encircled the perimeter of the glade. In the distance, she could see what looked very much like the high rocks surrounding Kthama. It was familiar and yet not familiar. She looked down at her hands. She still had her physical body. She could feel the ground supporting her weight. She ran her fingers over her arms—everything felt the same but sweeter, gentler, clearer.

  She quieted her mind further, allowing herself to open to whatever else there was to perceive. Suddenly, reality shifted again, and she could feel a Presence. If it had been a sound, it would have been an ever-present hum, light and airy and pleasant. If it had been a color, it would have been the most vibrant color imaginable. If it had been tangible, it would have been soft and strong yet yielding and enveloping in the most comforting way possible. As for an emotion—it was clearly love.

  Adia could feel how everything was being thought into existence by the Great Mind, held in its existence through the intention of the Great Will, and protected and guided by the binding force of the love of the Great Heart. She had been taught about the three aspects of the Great Spirit, The One-Who-is-Three and The Three-Who-Are-One, but now she felt she was only beginning to understand for the first time how they worked together. It was as if everything had consciousness; the colors, the sounds, the textures—even the light.

  She did not want to leave this place. She did not want to leave this Presence. She fleetingly wondered what was beyond the glade, and somehow knew there was so much more in this place—so much more to come.

  From a distance, a figure was approaching unhurriedly. Adia could tell it was a female. A female who was familiar and meant her no harm. As the figure came closer, she recognized a much younger Urilla Wuti! Adia clasped her hands in joy while wondering how her mentor’s youthful appearance was possible.

  “Urilla!” Adia exclaimed, then caught herself, realizing she had inadvertently used the familiar form of her mentor’s name.

  “Adia. What do you think?” The female approached and took Adia’s hands in hers, just as she always did.

  “Of this place? Of here? Oh, it’s beyond anything I could ever have imagined. But where are we?” she asked.

  “It is hard to explain. The short answer is that this is where we go after we leave Etera.”

  “Do you mean we are dead? Have we returned to the Mother?” Alarm was in Adia’s voice. She was not ready to leave Nootau, Oh’Dar, or Acaraho!

  “No, Adia. This is where we come when we leave our bodies in death, yes. But you and I have not returned to the Mother. This place—this is more like a connector. It is called the Corridor. You
and I can come and go, and we can use it to meet as now, to further your training,” she explained.

  “How did you know I was here?” Adia asked, trying to select the most important of the hundreds of questions swirling in her head.

  “I felt you enter. You have done well—and in such a short time. I know it may not seem like it considering all the years we have been training, but not many make it to this level.”

  “Where are our real selves while we are here?” asked Adia, assuming she was still in the little cave with only her thoughts projected to this place.

  “My real self is here. With you, right now, just as your real self is here with me right now. Our world, Etera, the world we have left, is only a projection of this world. This is reality; the world we think we live in is only a pale echo of our true home,” she explained.

  Adia looked around and knew that what Urilla Wuti said was true. This was reality. This was far more real than anything she had ever experienced. She had it backward, thinking that she was imagining herself in this place. In fact, from this place, she was imagining herself in Etera. It was very confusing, but at the same time, it had the ring of truth.

  “So, is this the Dream World?” she asked.

  “No. This is the Corridor, not the Dream World, but you did have a Dream World experience with Acaraho that you wish to recreate. Which told me that you were ready for this step,” said Urilla Wuti, her eyes twinkling.

  “Well, yes, that is why I contacted you. I wanted to know how to create it again. Must I somehow bring Acaraho here?”

  “Though the day may come when you are strong enough to bring him here, I would not attempt it, Adia. Remember how I explained that these Connections can become intoxicating and that the longer you stay in a deep Connection, the harder it can be to break it off? Well, here it is tenfold so.”

  Adia blushed, immediately understanding. The experience of life was so intense there, richer, deeper—.

  “If this is not where we meet, then how?” Adia was not even sure how to ask it.

  “Now that you have been here and experienced this place for yourself, your abilities will take another giant step forward. And each time you come to the Corridor, they will be enhanced again. When you return, you will find that if you set your intention before you drift off to sleep, you will be able to find Acaraho again in the Dream World, and it will be just as real as it was the first time.”

  “In all this grand design, it sounds so selfish now to want that.” Adia lowered her eyes, embarrassed.

  “Not at all, Adia. We were made to long for each other. The need to join together physically is no more selfish than the need to breathe or sleep or eat. Love draws us one to another; love joins with itself in the physical expression between the lover and the beloved. Just as when our bodies fail, love draws us home.”

  Urilla Wuti leaned forward and hugged Adia. “We should both be getting back,” she said.

  Adia did not want to leave and knew that she would return at the first opportunity. “Urilla Wuti, part of me does not want to go back. Could I not just stay? Or, if not, when I die, can I stay here? Do I have to return to the Mother?”

  “You do not have to go back now, Adia. It is your choice, as it will be when you die. But if you stay now, back in the shadow world of Etera your body will eventually die. And, though you can choose to stay here now, or when you die, you will still want to return to the Mother at some point. This place is beautiful, but even it pales against our final return Home.”

  “I am not sure how I got here. How do I go back?”

  “Close your eyes and surrender your will. Give up your desire to stay, and empty your consciousness. Then, create an intention to return. An intention is a movement of your soul, the part of the Great Will that lives through you.”

  Adia closed her eyes and tried to do as Urilla Wuti had said. She found her awareness of sitting in the little cave starting to return. As consciousness came back to her body, she slowly opened her eyes. She felt small. She felt like a washed-out version of herself. As beautiful as the little cave had been to her, it now seemed like an empty echo of reality.

  She had left reality, not returned to it.

  Adia had no idea how much time had passed. It felt like only a few minutes, but Urilla Wuti had once told her that time did not always behave as one expected in experiences like this.

  Adia padded anxiously back to her quarters. Oh’Dar was not there, and she could see from the light filtering down over the worktable that it was daytime. She wanted to stay there to savor and revisit her experience, but she must know how long she had been gone. She chuckled at her dilemma. How does one ask if today is still today?

  The only way she knew was to find someone else and see if they remarked that she had been missing for a while.

  Luckily for Adia, there were several people in the Great Chamber. It appeared that it was mid-day because the morning meal had been cleared away. She spotted Nadiwani sitting at one of the tables and tried to approach nonchalantly.

  The Helper waved her over, but not frantically, as she would if Adia had been missing for some time.

  So far, so good.

  “How has your morning been?” Nadiwani asked. Adia held back a huge sigh of relief.

  “Well,” she answered, “I think I am going to prepare some Ginseng powder this afternoon. We seem to have a great stockpile of roots.”

  “Do you want help?” asked Nadiwani.

  Adia realized she had not spent much time with her friend for quite a while and nodded her agreement. She hoped she was not going to get another scolding about Acaraho. What she wanted to do was find him and tell him about her experience this morning, but Nadiwani said that he and Nootau were out scouting for white cedar and locust trees for tool making.

  That afternoon, Adia did her best to focus on the task at hand. She had forgotten how well she and Nadiwani worked together, and in no time, they had made a significant dent in the overstock of Ginseng roots. But she had a hard time shaking the feeling that this was all make-believe. She hoped that in time, the feeling would pass; this was the world she had to live in for now.

  “Are you thinking about whether Nootau will be ready to take a mate in the next pairing?” asked Nadiwani.

  Nadiwani is as close to being Nootau’s mother as I am, so she shares my concern. It is time that she, Acaraho, and I sit down and discuss it.

  “I think the three of us need to talk about it, and then afterward see how Nootau feels about it,” Adia answered.

  “Thank you. I realize that this is a decision for you and Acaraho to make.”

  “No, not really. You have raised Nootau and Oh’Dar as much as I have. We are an odd family, but we are a family just the same,” she mused. She wrapped an arm around Nadiwani’s shoulder and squeezed her close. “Speaking of Oh’Dar, it seems like forever since he came out of that workshop.”

  “He is spending a great deal of time in there, but he seems intent on his projects. I will stop by and bring him to the evening meal; how’s that?” said Nadiwani.

  “Great. I think I will clean up and then try to find Acaraho. There is something I want to tell him, and then the three of us can plan to meet about Nootau.” Adia brushed together the leavings on her side of the worktable and dumped them in the discard basket.

  As Adia started down the familiar corridor toward the Great Chamber, she idly watched her feet take one step after the other as she allowed her mind to clear. A small smile crossed her lips; she was anxious to tell Acaraho her good news. She slipped through the crowd and spotted him across the room. Not wanting to interrupt, she took a seat at one of the empty tables and waited for him to notice her.

  It did not take long. Acaraho caught the attention of the male he had been speaking with and tilted his head in Adia’s direction. The other male smiled and left to find his mate.

  Perched on the edge of the seat, Adia found it hard not to fidget. Oh, so hard she tried not to watch him approach, but she failed
miserably. Openly admiring him, her eyes passed over his form from head to toe as he walked toward her.

  “You look like a female who is up to something,” he teased her.

  Her pulse quickened at his closeness as he straddled the bench to face her, his knees inches from hers.

  “I may have good news,” she said, a shy smile crossing her lips. She made him wait.

  “You’re killing me,” he said, his eyes twinkling with devilish charm.

  Adia laughed at his impatience. “I cannot promise anything, but I, for one, will be turning in early tonight.”

  Acaraho leaned forward, rubbed his mouth, and rested his chin on his hand as if thinking long and hard about something. He caught her gaze and then slowly looked her up and down before returning his eyes to hers. He raised an eyebrow, and a slightly sinister smile crossed his lips.

  He’s flirting with me! she thought. And their newfound lovers’ play was delicious fun. Oh, so this is how it’s going to be!

  Before she could return the favor, Nadiwani showed up with the young males in tow. Adia was thrilled to see Oh’Dar after his long absence. They sat together as a family and enjoyed the evening meal.

  “Mama, would you be upset if I set up a sleeping mat in my workshop? Sometimes I may want to work late, and I do not want to disturb you when I come home.”

  Adia was not ready for her first son to move out on his own but realized that was not what he was saying. He had always been a sweet boy, and no doubt, he was simply being considerate.

  “If that is what you want, Oh’Dar. I am sure Mapiya or any of the others will be glad to help you with it.”

  “Thanks. I think I’ll also make a little mat for Kweeuu!”