by Alia Johnson
Odesha didn't think the yeti had seen her grow the weapon. They had been scrambling to reach the children. She hoped that the tribe thought the icicle had been pulled from a branch or the ice cap she had been sitting on. Before the ice had made its way to her heart, she had enjoyed throwing spears at targets with Vashti. Instead of the bow that Saphira wielded, Odesha wielded the ice. She never ran out and always hit her mark because the ice was an extension of herself. But the pain in her heart made her stop using it.
After the commotion quieted, Dek walked up to Odesha. He held a solemn Dede. His large hand landed a firm pat on Odesha's back that made her grunt in discomfort. Dek didn't know his own strength. He whispered, “Lisha vo. Lisha vo.”
Lisha vo. Thank you.
The emotion on his face was plain to read. The small tears that fell from his large dark eyes made her nod speechlessly. Fanni stood to wrap her arms around Odesha. She squeezed Odesha between her giant breasts. Odesha tried to gain her breath in great gulps.
Can't breathe!
She patted Fanni on the back with a free hand to communicate her distress. Fanni began to cry again when she noticed the beast was still on its side in the snow staring sightlessly towards their group. She struggled to contain her emotions and hiccupped her distress. Dek clutched his family close, Odesha crushed in between. He held up one arm and yelled, “Densho! Densho!”
The silence of the people gave Odesha another word to add to her ever-growing list.
Densho. Silence.
Dek made a long, drawn-out speech, full of loud barked words, to the shocked crowd gathered. He thumped his chest hard, causing his plates to vibrate. It created a loud gong-like sound. The yeti all raised one hand in a unanimous cheer. They agreed with Dek, celebrating his decision. Wishing she could understand, Odesha nodded her head in support, hoping she hadn’t just agreed to her death like a fool.
Everyone was jubilant. Except the hunter. He was silent. He stood up from comforting one of the children, his aqua eyes swirling with emotion as they held fast to hers. The hunter's hands clenched hard at his sides. Odesha was unsure how to read his face, his mood foreign to her. Was he angry with her? Happy?
The party resumed and no one took her away to her death. The yeti gave toasts and cheers rang out. The merriment raged through the large group. Extra sentries were posted around the celebration in case other beasts came. The yeti did not want to be caught unaware again. Hunters took the cow beast towards the shed to cut and store the meat. Odesha sat back down on the ice cap. An assortment of yeti brought Odesha things she might need. Meat, a clay cup to drink from, and a cloth to place around her shoulders. She placed the offerings on the ground, clapping along to the people singing and dancing. Occasionally, someone came and filled Odesha's clay chalice that she poured into the snow when no one was looking. The meat was taken away uneaten.
She joined in their fun from her perch, trying to fight her growing discomfort. The ice shards pierced her heart in retribution for using their power. It was excruciating in its anger to punish her. The pain dulled the roar of the crowd while Odesha massaged her chest absently. A feather-light touch on her back made her turn with a greeting, until she realized who it was.
The crowd faded into the background. Her smile froze in shock. The hunter. With his arms crossed, his eyes remained locked on Odesha. Her lungs protested when she resisted to take a deep breath. She feared his scent would be her undoing. She would bite him and never let go. The fire would consume her.
And she would be lost. If they were parted when she left, she would die. Odesha stood slowly. The hunter's nostrils flared, and his eyes narrowed when she curtsied deeply and bowed her head in respect. She felt him catch her chin in hand to pull her gaze upwards. Her face was starting to turn red from lack of oxygen and her head was becoming dizzy.
He grunted, “Vo lo cos suti ba suta.” The unfamiliar words rang in her head on repeat. The hunter's aqua gaze and her silver eyes clashed. She didn't know what he just said, but whatever it was, he truly meant it.
Dek called out loudly, “Kunchok!” It drew the hunter's attention away from her. Dek motioned for the large hunter to come to him with a smile.
His name was Kunchok.
The name whispered through her mind as if it would seal inside her forever. Kunchok released Odesha with a growl of anger. He gave her one last blazing look and walked towards Dek. He obviously wanted to stay, but the chief had issued an order. She took a deep breath in relief and regretted it. The lingering scent of him was mouthwatering, but she tried to shake the fogginess from her brain.
Odesha whispered, “Dunka ari.” She wanted the impossible. To stay with him too.
Dek and Kunchok embraced as they walked up the raised platform together to sit on the dais. Dek’s central chair proclaimed him as chief. It was littered with bones and feathers fastened together with hide. The hunter’s chair on Dek’s right had black snow trees bent together to proclaim him lead hunter. The way the throne was crafted would take great strength and skill. A small feathered chair sat on the left for Fanni. She was still bouncing from group to group, Dede still firmly at her side. She wasn't going to let her wander off for a long time.
The hunter watched Odesha during the night. He only turned away when his fellow hunters or Dek talked with him. He seemed reluctant to pull his attention away from her, but when he did, it gave Odesha a chance to study him.
He was good with his people, and he had a kind voice for a grunting yeti and his smile lit up the dais. When the tribe smiled back in return, Odesha wished she could understand what he said to them. But she had learned a lot as a voyeur in the halls of Merdi and could tell when a person was uncomfortable just by studying body language.
Kunchok kept Odesha in his sight when he had no one to talk to, afraid she would disappear. She tried to ignore the attention Kunchok showed her, not wanting to encourage him, but it was increasingly difficult. She wanted to get to know him, but the stakes were too high. The pull was so strong to go up to the dais, to be around him. If only they spoke a language that they could both understand, so she could explain. The people at her castle knew to stay away from her, had always given her a wide berth because of the ice. Some whispered it was catching, others whispered why bother making friends when she would join the garden, and others felt pity for her. This hunter tried to break down her walls with a simple look. It was something she was unaccustomed to.
The music died down late at night. The mood of the yeti changed. A soft tension ran through them, different from the moods before.
Fanni motioned for a woman to come take Dede away when the poor child yawned loudly. Dede waved to Odesha on her ice cap. Odesha waved back to the charming child to bid her a silent good night. Dek stepped up to the front of the raised dais, arms outstretched. A horn sounded from the musicians and the crowd quieted to a low murmur. The crowd formed a circle in the middle of the clearing, the fire still flaming high, giving the yeti a glow. Looking around, everyone remaining at the celebration had gathered together. They stood around expectantly, waiting for something.
Dek yelled to the crowd, “Densho! Densho!”
The talking stopped. The yeti were silent, when a slow thump of the drum sounded. Odesha looked up to Kunchok, wondering what he was thinking, but his attention was solely on her. Not on what Dek or the tribe was doing. She blushed in response. His arms stayed braced on his throne, his large muscles flexed in the firelight, making her mouth dry up. The sudden urge to run to him, to throw herself in his arms and never let go gripped her. The golden hair called for her to run her fingers through it. But the need for caution, for self-preservation was forefront in her mind. A noise from the crowd pulled her attention back to the circle.
A female yeti walked to the middle of the circle. She had started to dance. Her beaded hair and short dress moved to the music. Her long arms and legs twisted in her slow dance in perfect symphony. The yeti’s size prevented it from being seductive, but a sensual grace was port
rayed by the story she weaved. The dance moved her to a group of hunters standing silently in the circle. They watched her move towards them and many grinned in response. The dancer reached out into the crowd, not missing a beat, and grabbed a male yeti who turned his head to smile in triumph at his friends that he left behind. He was a short yeti with dark gray skin and hair. The female danced and twirled around the male, who followed her with his eyes. It seemed to be just them in their own world, drawing closer to one another in the world the dancer had created. The air around them became heavy with anticipation. The yeti in the circle whispered to one another. They smiled together with a hidden secret, like they knew what would happen between the two. Another female came out of the crowd and took up the dance. Her dance was fierce, harder compared to the other. She sliced through the air and spun around the male. He looked astonished as he glanced back and forth between the females. The dancer continued to spin and weave, creating a chaotic whirlwind as the drums beat louder and louder.
The dancers stopped. The drums ceased their song.
The dancers stood side by side, facing the male hunter, breathing heavily. The crowd was silence, tense, waiting for something. The male hunter in the circle looked back and forth between the females, his gaze hesitant as he made his decision. He marched forward, reached out to the first female dancer, and swung her into his arms. He nuzzled her neck happily. The crowd erupted in cheers. Odesha looked up to Kunchok, his eyes at half-mast as he watched the spectacle, his body tense. What was he thinking of? She tried to picture what he would’ve done if she would've danced for him. And it scared her to think what she would’ve done.
She would never let him go.
The second dancer's face looked happy for the couple. She stepped back to her place among the crowd with a smile on her face. The drums began their beat for the second time. Kunchok moved his gaze to Odesha. His eyes blazed with heat and instantly she felt trapped, unable to move. Out of the corner of her eye, Odesha vaguely noticed a new woman stepped to the middle of the circle. She nervously danced, but Odesha was unable to tear her gaze from Kunchok to watch. What did he want from her with that look? Dek turned Kunchok's attention with a hand motion toward the circle, breaking the unspoken conversation they seemed to be having more frequently. She was falling for a yeti that she couldn't speak to. It was dangerous for her. Odesha turned away, realizing it just wasn’t meant to be.
The ceremony continued late into the dark night.
With the last boom of the drums and several couples later, Odesha had figured out the point of the ceremony. This was their bonding ceremony. The females chose the male, bringing him in the circle to show him her dance, but the male made the final decision on who his mate would be. The yeti dispersed through the clearing back to their homes. Fanni took Odesha's hand. She pulled her up to stand. Odesha looked back to the throne to take a final look at Kunchok, but his seat was empty. An empty sadness ripped through Odesha. It startled her, this emotion she kept feeling for him that she tried to ignore. The ice strengthened around her heart. For once, she was grateful for it. That was the only thing that helped her walk away from him.
Fanni and Odesha walked towards the frozen structure Odesha had passed with Dek after leaving the meat shed. The empty marketplace they passed was eerie in the moonlight. Odesha peered out in the night, noticing what she missed before. Small wooden huts encrusted with ice circled the larger wooden structure. The tribe dispersed to their homes to rest for another day. The doorway of the large wooden keep loomed ahead. Fanni indicated for Odesha to go through the doorway first. Walking along the aged wood hall, they passed many open vacant rooms. It was oddly familiar, the way the rooms were set up.
Fanni motioned to one of the central rooms and grunted, “Dek and Fanni.” She hesitated before a smaller room and whispered, “Dede.” The far end of the hall held a doorway that Fanni motioned towards she nodded. “Odesha.” The room was in shouting distance, but far enough for privacy. Odesha was thankful she got her own room, instead of chains.
Odesha nodded her head and bowed to Fanni, but Fanni's bouncing steps had already moved on. Smiling, she shook her head and pushed aside the animal hide. A simple bed made of gray feathers and dark wood sat inside. Fanni appeared again with an armload of clothing. This tribe didn't have to be kind to her even if Odesha had saved some. She was grateful they were giving her so much.
“Lisha vo,” Odesha whispered quietly to Fanni, gesturing around her. She gently touched the soft fabric. Fanni turned in astonishment to Odesha. She almost knocked her down in the small room in her rush. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish.
Fanni grunted, “Vo Riwa.” She placed her hands together at her head to mime sleep.
“You sleep,” Fanni had said. After this long day Odesha believed she could sleep. Maybe without the nightmares of the ice garden this time.
Fanni's great strides took up the distance between them to crush Odesha in a giant hug. She grunted emotionally, “Lisha vo. Lisha vo.”
Odesha patted her on her rather soft, naked back, unable to speak in the tight clasp. Fanni released her abruptly and left the room. Odesha took in large gasping breaths. She tried to recover and wondered if she would ever get used to that.
Odesha turned to the bedside table, a cloth and a bowl of fresh snow ready for her to freshen up before bed. Inside her heart, she was worried that she was coming to care for this tribe of yeti that she would soon have to leave behind.
Chapter 8
A feeling of being watched during the night woke her up from a light sleep. She hadn't been asleep long, unable to stop her thoughts that raced through her mind. Her eyes fluttered open to search her room. Kunchok stood poised in her doorway, holding the hide to the side. He must have only recently arrived because he was speaking with Dek, who was still yawning. She watched them talk back and forth, gesturing in a certain direction. Dek finally nodded, moving back towards his room to leave Kunchok alone with her. She sat up, alarmed.
Kunchok reared back, surprised she had woken so easily. He held up his hands to show her he meant no harm. But what was he doing in her room at night? She pulled the cover up and watched him warily.
He sat on the only chair in her room, taking a deep breath to explain what he was doing there, but it wasn’t going to be easy since she didn't understand the language. He started out pointing towards Odesha, then pointed to himself, but hesitated, pointing towards a far wall. His long fingers moved up and down on the open palm of his other hand miming walking. He wanted her to go for a walk with him? She nodded her head, more at ease. All she had was unpleasant thoughts to help her fall asleep. A walk would keep her mind occupied.
Kunchok’s held out his hand to help her up from the larger bed, sending small needles of feeling through her fingertips, making them tingle. When she pulled the cover away to swing her legs to the side, the tunic she wore moved up, showing quite a bit of her exposed leg. He gasped and turned to keep his eyes averted from the sight. Why was he so shy around her? The yeti were more exposed at the gathering she had been to.
Odesha adjusted the tunic and grasped his hand to make him look at her again. He turned back around when she pulled up from the bed, but continued to hold her hand. His scent was masked with the musky scent of an orik. He must have put the secreted smell harvested from the baby oriks back on after the ceremony so they could travel outside. It was considerate, especially for her. They left her room. Soft snores sounded through each room they passed.
The marketplace was empty, the wind whistled through the hides. Kunchok motioned to the side of Dek's structure towards the dark ice. Odesha shivered, rubbing her arm with a free hand. If Dek had said it was safe to go, she would trust him. She had saved his daughter after all. Odesha's feet occasionally tripped over a hidden branch buried deep in the snow. Kunchok moved in front of her, holding both his arms out to her to pick her up in his arms. She hesitated, being this close might be a problem, but she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. Sh
e was going to take the chance to be close to him while she could. Smiling, Odesha held out her arms. Kunchok reached behind her shoulder and knees to pull her close to his chest. They quickened their pace and Kunchok pushed through the snow with his thick legs. Odesha sighed, nuzzling his neck happily. The show of affection caused Kunchok to pause and stare down at her with narrowed eyes. She smiled sheepishly, and he gave a small smile back. They turned a sharp corner around a hillside. The hill blocked her from seeing further, but when she saw where he brought her, she was speechless.
The entire sky was lit up with lights of varying colors. Beautiful hues of pink, green, and purple sparkled along waves of light pulsing through the sky. Kunchok placed her feet back on the ground while she stared in wonder at the magical scene. He pointed a claw towards two rocks overlooking the edge of the cliff dusted free of snow. The rocks had either been sat on frequently or he had prepared them before he came to get her. It was perfect. They sat on the rocks side by side without trying to talk, enjoying the way the colors flowed over their heads. It was like Odesha could reach out and feel their soft touch. She looked up to see Kunchok's reaction, but he just watched her with a soft smile.
Odesha sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder, enjoying this stolen moment with him even if it couldn’t last. They sat there for a long time, until her eyes blinked with sleep that she knew she needed. Kunchok stirred, gently moving her head away, to stand up and stretch. He held his arms out and took her up into them again to take Odesha back to her room.