Ember of a New World

by Watson, Tom

  What is my favorite food, huh... well I'll have to give that a moment’s thought... before answering you with the words of a child of four harvests, she mused.

  “Berries,” she said simply, lacking the vocabulary to add anything more, to which Kis’tra frowned.

  “No-understand,” Kis’tra said. Seeing the confusion, Ember pointed to a plate of berries sitting beside the fire. Nor'Gar quickly understood and stepped in with a translation and a smile.

  “Oh! Me, yes,” Kis’tra said to Ember, after Nor'Gar had spoken. At first Ember didn’t understand her but Kis’tra made the hand motions of eating berries and Ember thought she understood. This was going to be troublesome, Ember supposed, as some key words were unknown to either group. She supposed that she would start to understand more as time progressed. Until then, these odd and illogical sentences would continue to come up. The red headed man shook his head and said something with a half-smile which made the gathered women angry. Ember cocked an eyebrow and looked at Kis’tra, who had folded her arms across her chest with a smirk.

  “Sv'en-speak, women like only sweet. Sv'en-say, men like salt.” The red headed man, apparently named Sv'en, nodded in accord with her words, even though he probably didn't know if she was translating truthfully. Sv'en was the man she had seen by the river, whom she had incorrectly thought was named Sev'een. Though most of their jokes were lost on Ember, she had to laugh with these odd but humorous people. Their attempts at humor were nearly as funny as the jokes they told.

  “How-many know trade-words?” Ember asked Kis’tra and Nor'Gar.

  “More, you!” said a honey-blonde-haired sly faced woman with an angry tone on the other side of the fire.

  Did she mean to say “more than you?” Ember thought. The woman, her name was Aya, had a generally unpleasant way about her. She had a pretty face that was given to occasional grimace and a general display of arrogance about her. The girl seemed almost angry at Ember and she simply couldn't understand why.

  It can't be anything I said since I can barely say anything, she mused to herself with a chuckle.

  Aya had heard enough of this new intruder's laughter and had felt the need to remind everyone of her feelings. Ember was still at a total loss for what was wrong. The camp was quiet for a moment with a few rolled eyes and a confused Ember. After a short moment Nor'Gar told a joke and the talking resumed. Towards the latter part of the meal, as the night took hold of the camp, Nor'Gar passed around a water skin full of some sort of fermented horror which tasted like death, but left Ember with a rosy feel and a burning belly. Ember almost swooned as the liquid fire rolled down her throat and set her innards aflame. Nor'Gar nearly fell over laughing with the rest of the group at the sight of Ember trying to hold down the drink. Ember decided that she would spend some time with these happy, hearty people from somewhere up north. She also thought the drink suddenly tasted less bad than she remembered...

  Over the next few days Ember and Kis’tra spent a long while working on their limited vocabularies and adding a few of Kis’tra's words into the mix. As each day passed, Ember proved to the people of the group her worth as she demonstrated her skills with fishing, quickly landing a cat fish a third of her weight, and in water deeper than the other women would go. Ember couldn't help but smile as she hauled the large creature from the water.

  After all, I am from the People of the Great River, she mused. Ember spent several long and fun days fishing and cleaning her catches while she talked with others of the group. She learned the names of each member and a little about them. The only exception was Aya, who shunned Ember entirely. Kis’tra had been unwilling to fully explain the situation. These people considered some discussion of others private, or so it seemed. Ember was quite confused where Aya was concerned. Perhaps she would eventually figure her out.

  Each night, the group would dine together on a feast of fresh meats, fish, long tubers and their leaves, lentils, and those tasty beans Ember loved. Some nights, berries and mussels were eaten, along with large bowls of fresh cool water. Rarely did Nor-gar pass around the nasty fermented beverage. Ember supposed this was due to the limited supply of the beverage, which had to be carefully made by hand from decaying berries and grains.

  On the fourth day since joining the group, Ember and Kis’tra were walking during their lunch when Ember discovered the source of the beans. Not far from the camp was a small meadow where the beans were grown. Standing in the meadow were two of the women, Ana and Ena, along with Ena's husband Borjk. They stood in a roughly barren area which looked like it had been spot-burned with a small controlled fire. Ena held a wooden tool with an antler attached to the end. She was turning the soil near the planted area, while Ana and Borjk bent low picking the beans and tubers. Ember wasn't sure why they dug up the soil before planting. Her people just plopped the seeds into the dirt. Perhaps they would explain this technique to her later. Ember's people had several large growing areas like this one, but much larger. Each season, several would be used while several would not be. Over time they would cycle their planting preventing over usage. These people planted a much leaner and less diverse crop as well, but that made sense to Ember as they were only here for about three seasons at the most, barely enough time to grow much.

  Ember watched as Borjk, Ana, and Ena worked hard on the crops. The weather was growing cooler, but the work in the sun was tough. All three had removed their upper garments and any jewelry they wore, which would only get in the way as they stooped over the ground. Ember caught her eyes lingering on Borjk a little too long and quickly turned them to the harvested crop before Ena noticed.

  Seeing her interest in their farming, the woman named Ana sat with Kis’tra and Ember for a short break to talk about how each of their tribes grew crops. Ember and Ana had a long discussion, translated by Kis’tra, about farming techniques and secret tips. Ana was quite interested in farming and a likable person. She explained that the group ate the beans and dried plants they brought until these crops grew. The growth took nearly the entire time they group was camped. The beans would be harvested just before leaving to provide a food source for the remainder of the trip. Ena and Borjk listened to the entire discussion, tossing in their own points now and then. The more Ember spoke with these people, the more they seemed to like her and open up.

  After they stopped by the bean and pea field, Ember asked Kis’tra to return to her hut. Ember had been having an odd feeling all day and she was now very sure of what the cause might be. Ember had felt the first indications of her pains. Ember was a woman now and for a few harvests she had undergone the pains of being a woman. Ember was luckier than most women she knew of, experiencing only a few days of very light discomfort. Unfortunately, the best treatment was to remain in the hut until the event was over with. Ember thanked the Gods she was not like her friend Fire Blossom, who would be stuck in her hut for five or six days!

  During the next three days, Ember remained in the hut. She was occasionally visited by some of the other women, such as Ana, but none of the men. It seemed that men and women were not supposed to interact during the time of a woman's pains. Odd though this seemed to Ember, she could see that there might be advantages in the practice. Kis’tra's husband Zhek had taken to sleeping in another hut with some of the men who had no women. He had explained that he would return when Ember felt better.

  During this time, Ember worked on sewing furs into blankets or other simple clothing items. Sewing was a difficult and very time consuming task. A sewing needle was made from the bone of an animal and was very delicate. The needle was created making a tiny hole in the bone by carefully grinding using a pointed rock or using sand. A very thin piece of leather thong, plant fiber, or sinew would be inserted. A hole was first placed in leather using a pointed bone piece as a punch and a rock to tap the whole. Only then was the needle used. Forcing a needle through leather without first creating a hole was a quick way to break a needle. The furs were an important trade item and Kis’tra was keen on Embe
r making several blankets, but furs were not the primary reason the group was so far south. Rather, it was the yellow rocks. Ember still found this to be an odd reason for such a long trip.

  During the long days in the hut enduring her pains, Ember spent much of her time humming or singing. Unknown to her, Sv'en and several of the other men had taken to relaxing outside of Kis’tra and Ember's hut in an effort to listen to her beautiful songs. Kis’tra had noticed the amusing events, but neglected to tell Ember for fear it might lead to an awkward encounter. While some female voices annoyed Kis’tra to hear, Ember's voice was somehow soothing and she caught herself listening, from time to time.

  The entire operation seemed to be composed of gathering the yellow rocks, hunting for furs and bone, which they had mostly stopped due to the time required to tan the leather before they left, and support activities, such as fishing and farming. The yellow rocks were gathered from a small tributary stream which fed into the Great River and seemed to have many of the rocks. Since the start of the warm season, when the group had arrived, they had amassed perhaps six handfuls of the rocks. The rocks were removed from the stream either by hand gathering or panning with a clay plate. Each thawing season, the rocks were washed down the stream anew.

  According to Nor’Gar, the sacks of yellow rocks would trade for many obsidian pieces and several unique sharp tools made from a red and green hard rock which could be carefully hammered, like the gold, into an extremely hard edge. Unfortunately, these special tools only came from the farthest south eastern lands and were very hard to find. The skins would be traded for many specialized wares, such as beads, dyes, and medicines.

  “Some trips, we-bring, salt. Some trips we-bring, ivory, figures. We-return with more,” Nor'Gar said, his trade language skills coming back to him after a few harvests of non-use. Even though the yellow rocks and hides were the main trade wares this time, the group did have more salt in their possession than had Ember expected; two whole bags! That was because of a salt spring which existed near their home, according to Sv'en, who liked stealing a pinch now and then. Salt springs were springs of water which burrowed through natural salt deposits, producing incredibly salty flows of water. Salt was an important commodity and commonly traded.

  After ten days had passed since joining the group, Ember was sitting at the evening meal eating with most of the group when the talk shifted to her. The shift was easily noticeable as all of the eyes turned towards Ember and all side discussion ended. Unlike the languages of sound, body language had a universal vocabulary. Ember shifted upright and crossed her legs beneath herself to be taller. She sat on the sandy ground with the other members of the group, all in a circle around a small fire. Ember was nervous as all of the eyes settled upon her, and she found herself digging her toes into the soft ground, a habit her mother always scolded her for as a child.

  “Dirty toes make dirty beds,” she would say.

  Until now, none of the group had asked Ember much about her past. Ember had learned from Kis’tra that this was a matter of respect and not for lack of interest. Perhaps now was time to quench their curiosity. With her ankle and feet now healed and her spirits returned, she was ready to speak. Sv'en, a younger man who gathered the yellow rocks, had shifted the discussion from expectations of their coming trade, a hot subject, to Ember. Kis’tra, who now spoke to Ember using the trading language vocabularies of both women as well as her own words here and there to fill in the gaps, translated for Ember allowing her to speak with more complexity.

  “Sv'en-wish to-know, why you come. Sv'en-wish to-know, where Ember people.” Ember thought for a while as the entire group fell silent to listen to their discussion. She understood the questions with the help of their newly expanded vocabularies, but putting it into words was still complicated.

  “I-become woman, from-girl. Give task. Sign,” Ember pointed to the sky and used her hands to help explain the sign. “I-go-north, west,” she said. Ember couldn't explain the idea of destiny to these people quickly, but Kis’tra took the cue, for they had already discussed this as friends. Kis’tra explained to her group in her own tongue.

  “Ember is from a village to the south east of our camp. She was sent here on a quest from her Gods to find the end of the world, to the west,” Kis’tra said to her people in their native language. At that, the group nodded in understanding. Nor'Gar frowned, unsatisfied with the answer, and pried on.

  “Ember-young. Young-woman? How-far?” Ember thought for a while and stood. Her long leather skirt, a gift from Kis’tra, fell against her legs as she stood. Ember took a stick and drew a short line in the dirt about as long as a finger.

  “One day, walk.” She thought for a while trying to compare a day on the fast river in terms of walking. She decided that the speed of the little boat was perhaps two times as fast. Ember drew about nine lines in the dirt of the same length, representing the distances of five days of walking and two days on a boat. Ember noted the first four lines length.

  “Two days,” and then continued detailing each of her 30 days since she had left, until now.

  The measurements and even the days drawn were not very accurate, as journey on foot was not very accurate, but they were an incredible distance in a short time, especially for a lone woman. Nor'Gar started to speak when Sv'en came forward interrupting Nor'Gar and giving Ember an incredulous look.

  “Too Fast,” he said in broken trade language. Ember smiled and pointed to the river. She made the motion of a pole pushing through the shallows. The group showed many looks of understanding. Kis’tra, to whom Ember had already explained this, filled in the gaps for the group.

  “Ember was thrown from her boat by that same storm which blew down Tor'kal and Sv'en's hut two ten-days or more ago. I am still amazed she lived, but you wouldn't believe what happened next, let her explain,” Kis’tra said clearly in her native tongue to the group.

  Ember had used a boat for several days, greatly increasing her distance traveled. Ember failed to mention her short captivity with the men, finding the whole experience best forgotten. After a few more exchanges, the group seemed satisfied for the day and the talk changed to more jovial matters. When Ember looked she noticed that Aya had gotten up and left sometime earlier, probably with her never ending scowl. Ember was starting to feel that she might just be okay, finally. Her problem now was the need to complete her journey and how she might do that. These people knew of boats and were very skillful. At that moment she decided on a strategy.

  The next day while the people worked, Ember went alone to address Nor'Gar. Nor'Gar sat by his hut carefully working a piece of flint. He used a deer skin scrap to hold the flint against his knee while he applied firm pressure with a long pointed stone. Flecks burst aside as the stones force won out. He casually looked up at Ember with a smile. She brushed the dust from the front of her soft leather shirt out of habit; it always had some debris about it, and carefully pulled her skirt a little above her knees before kneeling. The skirt was knee length and had slits on each side to ease walking, but one had to be careful while sitting or kneeling in a skirt.

  “Hal'ja,” the word for hello, she said in Nor'Gar's native tongue. He smiled and returned the greeting. Ember carefully thought of how to explain herself while Nor'Gar patiently waited for Ember to continue in the reserved and polite way of his people.

  “Nor'Gar, I-need go-west, north,” she said slowly.

  “You-need, nast,” Nor'Gar said plainly, using his people's word for boat, “nast”, and using his hand to imitate a floating boat. He understood what she was saying even before she could finish.

  “We-make, boat. Tor'kal, Sv'en know, boat-make. Ask. Tell Tor’kal, Sv’en, Nor'Gar-say-make, yes?” he said. The language gap was impressive, but Nor'Gar was as wise as he was goodly and understood her request fully. He had offered to have Tor'kal and Sv'en make a boat for her. Ember had proven herself helpful gathering resources and performing more work than some of the others. She had grown into an asset to the group
in merely a ten-day. Hearing his words and understanding them, Ember was dumbfounded by how easily Nor'Gar had offered to help.

  How can he see my mind more plainly than I do? I wasn't even sure how to ask and he said yes before I could ask? she wondered. Ember felt that she must offer something for this task as the creation of a boat was no small matter, as well as extremely time consuming. Ember thought for a moment considering what might be a good trade, as Nor'Gar stared at her with curiosity in his eyes. Her flint pieces were of quality, but the pieces Nor'Gar was currently working were quality pieces of flint too. Surely her pieces would not do. Blossom's Goddess pendant was for a local God, she wouldn't trade it anyway, and definitely not for the people of another land who surely had their own Gods. She needed her obsidian dagger if she was to make it to the west.

  “Wait! I know!” she thought as she realized that she had overlooked an important item of trade. Ember stood and sprinted towards Kis’tra's hut, where she had been staying, turning around just to give Nor'Gar a “please wait” gesture with her hand. Nor'Gar watched Ember run off and thought to himself, as he so often did in his older seasons.

  Ah the young, and a beautiful one at that. I saw the same sign in the sky that brought you to us. I will aid you and I will do so without a trade. You have renewed my faith, in ways you cannot know, young Ember. You have returned. I knew that you would...

  Ember did return, a moment later, with her original leather bag. She again knelt and produced from the bag a rabbit fur pelt with something large within. She looked at Nor'Gar with a wide smile and spoke.

  “Boat, trade,” she said, and produced the piece of solid water, a blue crystal the size of a fist and clear throughout. Nor'Gar stared at the raw gem for a short time with a lusting expression. It was truly a beautiful thing, if not totally useless. It reminded Nor'Gar of an icy lake he had run into as a youth. Ember thought it a fair trade for a boat, which was far less beautiful but much more useful. Nor'Gar looked touched by the offer but he raised his hand as if warding from the gem and made a gesture of “no”.