Onio

by Jeppsen, Linell

  Finally Mel awoke to voices. She felt a little better and her head no longer felt like it might explode. She looked over to the far side of the cave and saw Onio being tended to by the old sasquatch female. He looked pale and shaken. The old one, whose name was Rain, rubbed some sort of ointment on Onio’s back. Although their lips didn’t move, they were talking. Mel closed her eyes and listened.

  “Onio, what he did was just,” she murmured.

  “Just!” Onio snarled. “The test is designed to punish the worst criminals…murderers, and rapines! What I did was not even a crime! Why did he bring his grandson, who would be king, to his knees?”

  Mel peeked at the two sasquatches through her eyelashes. She saw that Onio’s head was bowed and that his shoulders heaved with sobs. Rain stood some distance away and wiped her hands clean with a rag. She regarded her grandson with an eyebrow raised in equal parts exasperation and love.

  She brought Onio a mug of something to drink and Mel’s throat ached with thirst. She watched as he set the mug down, staring at the floor in anger. Rain sat next to him on the shelf of rock that served as a bed.

  “Onio, what you did was akin to murder. I know you know this, because I have taught you these things myself!” She placed a hand on the male’s thigh. “I will teach it again, Grandson,” she continued. “Maybe this time you will listen and truly understand.”

  Rain slapped the young sasquatch sharply and stood up. Onio hunched his shoulders at the reprimand, glaring at his own toes.

  “The small humans have small brains, Grandson. Also, their brains work differently than ours. We are intuitive, telepathic and sensitive to the ways of nature and the planet around us. They are none of these things, but they are creatures of intellect. Look at the marvelous machines they construct, the technology they have invented! In many ways their workings are like magic to us. Just as, I think, our ways are magical to them.” Rain sighed.

  “That is why we hide from them, Onio. They are a covetous race, and would take from us, by any means necessary, that which they desire. For many generations the humans have tried to unlock the mysteries of our brains. They want to know how to use the soul song, and would steal it from us if they could. Many times they have tried…this you know, firsthand!”

  Tears were dripping out of Onio’s eyes and falling to the floor. He murmured, “I am sorry, Grandmother. I wasn’t thinking properly.”

  Mel saw the old female smile as she fussed with some things in a bag, then walked over to cook something on a fire set in the middle of the floor.

  “Now, finally, First Son admits to not thinking before acting.” Although the sasquatches lips didn’t move, Mel could hear the sarcasm dripping from Rain’s voice, as the smell of meat cooking filled the air.

  “Onio, listen and hear my words.” Rain’s voice was urgent. “There are as many reasons as birds in the sky why we do not co-mingle with the little humans. Most importantly, they will hunt us down and kill us for the gifts we possess. They would experiment on us and dissect our brains, and all for nothing! Even if they knew how to extract our abilities, their brains do not have the means, or the capacity, for soul song. It is called neural pathways…or some such. I have forgotten the exact words.” Now she glared at her grandson again. “We think that this little human will survive what you did to her, Onio.”

  Mel slammed her eyes shut as she saw the big male glance her way. Guilt was written all over his face.

  “You were lucky, I think, that this creature survived at all. Your gift opened pathways in her brain…neural connections most humans are not equipped to deal with, or understand. We believe that the only reason the girl hasn’t died is because her ear canals are damaged. Our gifts are sense, rather than thought, oriented. Hearing is a sense, so her brain was able to withstand the new impulses. She is very ill, though, and will be frail for a long while to come. She may not survive the change…someday her brain might break from the strain you yourself put on it!”

  Mel saw Onio put his hands over his face and shudder. “Oh Grandmother,” he moaned. “Truly, I did not think to kill this little human…I did not think at all!”

  Rain nodded, filled a wooden bowl with meat, and handed it to him. She glanced over at Mel and sat down next to Onio again.

  “You are young yet, Onio, and perhaps foolish, but you will be a fine leader someday. To lead well, though, you must learn to listen to the world around you. Drak, your uncle, is also a fine man, but he suffers from jealousy. He never thought that you would be declared king after Bouldar is gone…not with the small human blood that flows in your veins. That he himself told you this only serves to prove that he hasn’t the wisdom to lead the tribe.”

  She chuckled. “There is a thing the small humans call irony. It took me many, many years of study to understand this concept, but I find it ironic that the very thing Drak used to wound you with actually ensures your ascension to the seat of leadership.”

  She stood again and moved around behind Onio to apply more salve to his wounded back. “My husband believes that the human soldiers are renewing their efforts to find us, and hunt us down. He believes that these soldiers want to use the soul song as some sort of weapon. They are a warrior species who will use even the most benign gift as a tool for destruction!” The old female apparently forgot to be gentle in her application of the medicine on his wounds. Onio winced with pain.

  “He thinks that the tribe needs a leader who can both sympathize with and out-maneuver the humans who want to conquer us. The blood in your veins has made you smarter than the rest of us…especially Drak. You still possess the tribe’s gifts, like telepathy and camouflage, but your intellect will be the thing that can save the tribe from the small humans’ greed.” She gave her grandson’s shoulders a shake, not caring that he cried out in pain.

  “That leader will be you, Grandson!” she shouted. “But only if this little human woman survives and you learn to think before you act!”

  Rain’s voice was pensive when she spoke again. “Before Bouldar became my husband he was much like you; curious and compelled to seek out the small humans’ company, despite the risks.” She threw her arms up with a growl of rage.

  “Well, you know how that turned out!” She glared down at her grandson, fists clenched in fury.

  “The woman he took to wife ran home to her own people and talked about what had befallen her. When it became clear that she was with child, whole villages of our tribe were forced to go to battle. Many, many people were killed. Both human beings like us and small humans perished in that terrible time. We were forced to come out of our caves to find Bouldar and save your grandfather from the small humans’ wrath. It is a lucky thing that he wasn’t killed!”

  Rain sat back down. She looked worn and very old. “This was many years ago, so long ago perhaps you have forgotten the connection,” she sighed. “It was a close thing, you know. Soldiers captured your grandfather and tortured him. He was a shadow of himself when we finally tracked him down and brought him back home. He has never regained his former health and vitality.” She wiped a tear from her eye.

  “Even after everything happened, he claimed to love the human woman who had betrayed him and his people. He was determined to find the child she carried and bring it back home to the tribe. I had loved him from the moment I first saw him. It was very hard, though, for me to love him again after he turned away from his own kind and into the arms of that small human…even harder to raise the half breed child he placed in my arms after her mother died in childbirth.”

  Rain caressed her grandson’s cheek and smiled. “As you know, Onio, that baby was your mother, and a finer daughter than I could have hoped for. You must also know, though, that life for her has not been an easy one. She has been shunned and ridiculed. Her own husband, your father, left the tribe in humiliation after you were born. I think he loved you both, but the tribe’s will was strong. The only thing that has kept the two of you safe is the will of the king. Although he loves you, he gro
ws more fragile day by day. He punished you the way he did in order to keep you safe!”

  Rain stared into Onio’s eyes. “You will be king one day, despite what Drak and his followers think. But too many mistakes like the reckless one you committed with this small human woman will result in banishment, if not death! You must grow up now and learn to lead the tribe in the hard times to come. Your grandfather is seldom wrong when it comes to small humans, and I believe him when he says the soldiers are moving against us in the days to come.” She pinched Onio’s arm.

  “Now, Grandson, you must stand tall. Take your injuries and wear the scars with honor and pride. Lead your people in the days ahead with dignity and wisdom. Also, keep your distance from the small human woman, at least for a while. The others don’t like to see you worry for her well-being. If you are to be a king, you must act like one! Now go!”

  Onio looked much calmer now. Although Mel could see that he was in a great deal of pain, he straightened his shoulders and stepped out of the cavern with his head held high. Her eyes widened as the light fell onto the bloody wounds on his back…wounds she knew he would wear the rest of his life. Then she heard Rain’s voice in her mind.

  “How long have you been listening?” the old sasquatch asked.

  Chapter 5

  Mel stared up at the angry eyes that glared back at her. Although she understood why the old female was angry towards humans, it was extremely intimidating to be confronted with such open hostility.

  “A while,” she croaked.

  Rain shook her head and snapped, “Use soul song, child! I can’t understand a word you say!”

  Mel blushed to the roots of her hair. As if I don’t know that, she thought angrily. Then, strangely enough, she felt good about the sasquatches brutal honesty. All of her life people had pussyfooted around her and her disability. They looked appalled, or embarrassed, or downright disgusted when she tried to form words. But they were never direct…not like this old female sasquatch was.

  Angry still, Mel spoke to Rain with her mind. “I told you I can’t talk…not with my mouth anyway. But I was afraid I’d offend you if I used soul song! Jeez, you can’t win around here.”

  Rain bent down over the fire and returned with a bowl of soup and some water.

  “Eat. You need nourishment,” she demanded, sitting on the edge of the pallet.

  Mel’s mouth had been watering since she first smelled the food cooking. She grabbed the wooden bowl and started spooning the food into her mouth as fast as she could manage. She had never tasted anything as good in her life.

  The old female sighed, “Not so fast child. You will make yourself sick.”

  Mel paused long enough to take a drink of water. “I’m sorry about what happened to your grandson,” she offered. “I never meant for him to get into any trouble over me.”

  “My grandson gets into enough trouble on his own, child,” Rain answered.

  She stared into the fire for a few moments and asked, “If we were to let you go, would you run and tell others of your kind what you witnessed here?”

  Mel shook her head. “What others? I don’t have any friends, or…or family, now that my mom is gone.” Her throat slammed closed. Suddenly she felt like choking on the food that tasted so good only minutes ago.

  “Gone? Where did your mother go?” Rain asked.

  “She died,” Mel sobbed. “Just a few hours ago. I was coming home from the hospital when I saw Onio on the road. I almost ran him over with my car, you know.”

  Rain rolled her eyes. “Child, you couldn’t have hit First Son with your vehicle if you tried.”

  “Oh.” Mel set the bowl down on the fur. Suddenly her stomach was roiling and her head pounded like a big, bass drum. She moaned, placing her hands over her temples. It felt like she was dying.

  “Am I dying?” she whispered.

  Rain shook her head. “No, I don’t think so, but you are very ill. If you heard what my grandson and I spoke of, you know that parts of your brain have been affected by Onio’s touch. The soul song is not meant for small humans, and yet the damage is done. I think it a good sign that your appetite flourishes, but it will be a long while before you feel well again.”

  Fear and sorrow seemed to fill Mel’s soul. Tears that had been held in check poured from her eyes and she howled in grief. She felt herself being pushed back down amongst the furs and heard Rain’s voice in her mind.

  “Rest now, girl. Your body has been through a shock, and you need time to recover your strength. Shhh…rest.”

  The last thing Mel saw was the silhouette of the huge female sasquatch as she fell back into the dark and murky depths of despair.

  ***

  Sometime later, Mel awoke with a start. She stared around the cavern and saw a huge, dark shape huddled against the wall.

  “Who’s there?” she whispered.

  The shape moved toward her, and she saw that it was the young sasquatch, Onio. Suddenly, Mel was furious. If it wasn’t for him she would be home now sleeping in her own bed. She wouldn’t have panicked and driven her car off the road. She wouldn’t be the target of hostility between Onio and his uncle Drak!

  “Onio, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “I heard your grandmother tell you to keep your distance from me. You’re going to get both of us in even more trouble!”

  Onio approached slowly and Mel could see that he seemed to be in a great deal of pain. Glancing down she saw that he held a burning brand in one hand, and a wooden bowl of something in the other. His lips were turned down in misery. Mel’s heart melted in sympathy.

  “Onio,” she said softly. “Why aren’t you in bed resting?”

  The big male shook his head. “Too much pain to rest. I came for more medicine.”

  “Hey,” Mel looked up into his eyes. “I never had a chance to thank you for saving my life. And I’m really sorry you were whipped for doing it.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, little human. I knew what I did was wrong. I saw your vehicle coming…I could have been gone before you ever saw me, but….” He shook his large, shaggy head. “I was curious.” He smiled and his teeth flashed in the dimness. “I am always curious. I have been in trouble for it many times before now.”

  Mel studied Onio’s profile for a moment. “I know it’s none of my business, but I heard you talking to your grandmother…you’re part human, aren’t you? That’s why you look like me, I mean…more like me than the others.” She trailed off in embarrassment.

  The big male was watching her and his eyebrows were lowered in a frown. Mel gulped. Suddenly the sasquatch seemed much more dangerous…less a goofy teenager and more like a fierce young warrior.

  “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry if I did, I—”

  Onio laid a large hand on her arm. “You are not wrong, but you are not right either,” he murmured. “You say that you alone are human, but that is not right. We are all human beings. My kind…,” he gestured at himself, “and yours. Big humans and small, see?”

  Mel nodded. “Okay. At least now I know why you and your grandmother refer to me as a small human.” She paused and added, “Onio, did you wish to meet with some of the small humans, because of your mom?”

  Onio shook his head. “No, it is impossible. My grandmother is right about that. Whole wars have been fought over our peoples’ inability to mingle together peaceably. I never should have let you see me. I have put my tribe at risk!”

  He stood up and walked toward the fire. Mel said, “Onio, would you bring me some water before you go?”

  Onio glanced quickly her way and walked to the opposite side of the cave. She could hear water being poured. Although her throat was parched with thirst, she laid back down with a sigh of fatigue.

  Onio brought her a bowl of water and helped her sit up to drink. His face was very solemn as he gazed down at her.

  “Now it is for me to apologize,” he whispered. His beautiful hazel eyes brimmed with tears. “I am very sorry I injured y
ou with the touch. I never meant you any harm. My grandmother says, and so it is true…I am foolish! I act first and think about the consequences later! I am like the rabbit that pokes its head into the badger hole…chomp! That is a dead rabbit now.” Onio hung his head.

  “My mamma is very different from the others,” he continued. “She is smarter, yes, but weaker too. She does not do so well with the soul song and my people do not like her for it. She has never fit in.” He shrugged. “It is stupid, but just once, I wanted to see a small human. One that is not half-breed…crippled.” His eyes got big and he slammed a hand against his forehead in disgust.

  “See…not just foolish—STUPID!” he cried.

  Mel couldn’t help but smile. Onio had just remembered that the human he caught was crippled, and now, on top of being in trouble and in pain, he was caught in an awkward social position as well.

  She reached out and touched his arm. “Hey,” she said. “That’s all right, Onio. There’s no way you could have known.”

  He shook her hand off and stalked toward the far wall. Crouching down on his knees he replied, “I must learn to do better. My grandfather the king grows weaker every day. I know I have disappointed him many times. Drak moves against me as well, and gains more and more followers as time goes by. My stupidity only adds grass to the flames.

  “I must leave you, little human, with my sorrow for the pain I caused you. I hope…I hope that you will survive the touch and be happy amongst your own kind in the days to come.”

  He rose to his feet and made to leave, but Mel had one more question. “Wait, Onio. Are you a child?” Asking this question of such a huge beast seemed almost ridiculous to her, but Mel wanted to know and remember as much about Onio as she could.

  The big male smiled and said, “Well, I am young, yes, but not a child. I am thirty turns….” He paused, frowning. “Thirty years,” he concluded.