The Hooman Saga - VIII

So far: The wolves find Sue is "sentient" and can read their thoughts. Tig says she must have a "probe". Their journey begins, with guards around her as she struggles to keep their pace...

Dec 14, 2024

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VIII

Soon after, they next stopped to rest. Two of their rear guard quickly cleaned their paws from dust and burrs, relieving those on watch to do the same. Two other wolves stood, sniffed the air, then ran off into the brush.

Sue sent, "Where are those two going? I thought they needed rest."

Tig replied, "They also need to eat. We all need to eat."

Now she saw images of possible raw rabbit or squirrel or pheasant, prompting her to put her hand or mouth to repress being nauseous. Sue shuddered and turned away.

She sent Tig images of what they ate on ship. They contained green vegetables, and high-protein beans, raised in greenhouses.

They both looked up as the clouds parted to show the rising moon.

Tig sent, "That's where they are?

Sue replied, "That's where I came from, where they still live."

"Vegetables, huh? I seem to remember a legend about your kind. Try not to get in trouble while I'm gone." And Tig leapt up and jumped out.

Snarl looked over with narrowed eyes, but didn't move. None of the wolves moved closer, either. They recalled all the stories they learned as cubs. Humans were untrustworthy, dangerous, even vicious. With no respect for other species.

In a few minutes, Tig returned with dirt up to his knees and a root in his mouth. He laid that by her hand, then dropped to clean off his legs.

Sue asked, "And what is this?"

Tig replied, "Try it. Think you might call it a carrot. Maybe a maybe a sweet potato."

Of course, the words she knew were different. Their verbal tradition has changed the words. They had been told and re-told, over two hundred years, teacher after teacher.

She finally just picked the root up, brushed off the dirt from a part that was cleaner. Then bit down on it.

It was succulent. It was sweet. And it tasted good. Even with the grit she had to swallow.

Soon she was only interested in seeing how she could finish off the root. She didn't realize she was so hungry.

The other two hunters returned with a pair of rabbits each and they distributed them. Some finished early and took over for those watching, so they could take their own turn eating.

Soon they were all done, completed even in cracking the bones. They rose. Tig led them into the howl.

Sue was surprised.

It was loud, but she could understand the words they were saying. It was a song of gratitude. To the spirit of the rabbits. For offering themselves. The wolves were indebted now. Then they asked forgiveness for their errors. And with that, the song was complete. They were getting ready to travel.

Dirt was brushed over the bones and fur that remained, Snarl took off in front with two wolves behind him. Sue and Tig followed. Then three wolves came behind them.

Sue sent to Tig, "That's not too unlike songs we have among the religious at the ship." And she recited a part of the prayer that had that section in it, of asking for forgiveness of sins. Implying a deity who acted as king.

The wolves all looked at her, curious.

With Snarl leading, the hunter-pack was moving back on the main trail again. Refreshed, but just enough to keep going.

"Hunters travel light." Tig sent, “They feast when the pack feasts. A full wolf makes for a slow hunter." As he cracked the joke, Sue smiled.

He saw that out of the corner of his eye and grinned back, with tongue lolling out of his mouth. They were on a regular pace now. It wasn't as fast as the wolves liked to travel, but one that Sue could keep.

She wasn't out of shape. She'd spent hours daily on the treadmills. They helped clear her mind on the moon-base.

Even though her shoes were cracked, that action allowed them to flex better.

Every once in a while, while they were going downhill, she would spurt ahead to tease Tig. Then he would often send, "Not too far, Hooman. My brothers might like a hooman sandwich.”

The first time he cracked that joke, she almost stopped. Until she realized the punchline. The one he'd said earlier that “hoomans don't taste good”. And the fact that wolves don't each meat between bread slices. That made her laugh out loud.

This made the other wolves look over. So she broad-sent her happiness. They all relaxed again. Several smiled back.

She thought again about how valuable a smile was. The old phrase came to her that “a smile was seed of laughter that made gardens for a sunny day”. While the wolves didn't understand what a garden was, they understood the relationship. They shared pictures with each others of the fat and happy cubs waiting them at home.

Soon the trotting song started. The music was unfamiliar to Sue. After the chorus came around the third time she found she could run to it. Just as the wolves did. The beat was one they could keep going for days. Sue found that trotting song rhythm helped her go further and longer and pace herself against the uneven ground.

Tig sent, "Our teachers also describe the universe as the soul of the wolf. Singing the trotting song helped send the soul off to the spirit-skies until it could return again. When babies were young, their mothers sung the trotting song, Also when they birthed, and when they were nursing. All rhythms of life.”

With the food in their stomachs the hunting party continued on that night. Into the darkness, where the tune changed into the night-prowl song. That kept a slower pace and allowed them to look to their footing in the dark. Sue avoided many stumbles by seeing through Tig's eyes. His night vision showed their own path in front.

At last they reached the camp. It was in a sheltered cave and was large enough for twice as big a hunting party to use.

They stopped before reaching it. Snarl went ahead to make sure there were no ambushes.

He circled around twice, sniffing for who had been there, what had happened in the area. Like reading the news.

This was familiar to Sue, as reading monitors and gauges while being on watch in Engineering.

At last he barked and the wolves came in. And then Tig entered with Sue behind him. He gestured towards the back wall. All she saw with a high dry space. She sat down on it expecting cool, but found it was actually warm.

Tig sent, "On a sunny day, sun warms this. In the evening, this would be my spot as pack leader. Tonight it will be yours. For I have a long fur coat and your coat is not in good shape.” Tig chuckled, looking at her ship-suit.

Sue looked down and found that while the suit still covered her modesty in the central areas, it would need replacing. That raised other questions. But now she was too tired after today's events to answer them.

Seconds after she curled up on the warm stone, she was sound asleep.

We’re now well into a new serial.

Now our hero and heroine have escaped certain danger, only now having to earn the trust of Tig’s pack - and reveal what she knows to them - as she travels to undergo a mysterious “probe” in the secure wolf valley…

Of course there are some 26 more chapters after this. But you’ll have to stay tuned until next week to see how they get out of this…

For now, set your calendar to keep track of these new adventures. Every Saturday.

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