Chapter 04: "Gift"

"Are you a goddess, Alada?" Kiay asked, looking directly into Alada's calm and serene eyes. Alada simply shook her head in denial.

Rimei: "She's not a goddess? But..." Rimei woke up startled by Kiay's sudden question.

Kiay: "If she denied it, then she isn't... So, can you tell me more about this place? Everything you know." [Give me as much detail as possible.]

Rimei: "You're not from around here? Where are you from?" [Stopping to think, I've never seen anything like her. What race does she belong to? She has no claws, fur, or beast-like ears like mine...]

Kiay: "I don't know. I've never left the frozen mountains of Arein. I lived with my family there, with my brother, my mother, and my father." [Until I ended up here, almost dying.]

Rimei: "Now that I've calmed down, I've never seen anything like you... You have no fur, wings, or feathers... What are you?" [Could she be a new race created by the guardian of the mountains?"]

Kiay: "I am Kiay... just that... I've never seen anything like you either... You look like an intelligent animal, quite humanoid..." [You resemble a human with animal features... It's curious.]

Rimei: "I'm not an intelligent animal. I'm Rimei, a Rampar warrior, or I was supposed to be, now I'm just an exile."

Kiay: "Can you tell me about this place, or don't you trust me?"

Rimei: "It's not that, sorry... Okay, this place is called Ancos... Twenty tribes live in this forest. The only ones I know of are the Tuvas in the north, Fennir wolves in the south, Guimtes cats in the east, and my tribe to the west of here. Those are all the tribes I know, and they're the closest to mine. The Elder is the only one who knows all twenty tribes..."

She started drawing a map with her knife. It had various mountains where they were, and near that place, there were three tribes: one with a drawn pond, one with Rimei's tribe, and another tribe of cats.

Kiay was excited by the newfound discovery. [It means the nearest tribe is hers, but I'm worried... why was she so scared even after being saved...?]

"I could never leave my village. I'm so happy now that I'm with you friends... In the name of my mother, brother, and father, I declare the beginning of the new Dwiam tribe here!" She stood up and looked out at the Ancos forest. [Maybe I've died, or maybe this is a new world, the afterlife or paradise my mother used to talk about. Thinking about it now, it's very different from this place.]

"You'll teach me everything about this place, and I'll help you save your mother and your family, so you'll join my tribe. Is that okay?" Kiay extended her hand to Rimei.

Rimei: "If it's to protect my family, anything!" She shook Kiay's hand, and they made a new agreement to help each other in everything.

After that, they began to talk about the place, and Rimei started detailing the area they were in and what was nearby.

Kiay: "I have a question..." [About Alada, I'll ask later.]

Rimei: "Yes, what's the question?"

Kiay: "How can I understand what you're saying?" [Since it doesn't make sense.]

Rimei: "Oh, about that? That's an easy question. Look behind you." and she looked at Alada.

Kiay looked and saw Alada. "What about her?"

Rimei: "According to the legends of my people, those who receive the blessings and protection of a divine bird like her not only have all their wounds healed and diseases cured but also receive a gift. But these legends are very ancient... But in your case, it makes sense."

Kiay looked at her leg and arms. "Did I receive the gift of understanding you?"

Rimei: "Yes, but I think it's more than one gift. The legends never mentioned it was just a single gift."

Kiay: "And what would the other gift be?"

Rimei: "I don't know, and there's no way to know. But the way she takes care of you and protected you from that bestial dog, she surely would have given you more than four gifts because I don't know if there's a limit of gifts per person. Your case is rare; it's something that happens every few hundred years."

Kiay, thoughtfully: "Until yesterday, I felt like a child, but now I understand things only the elder of my tribe understood, and it's as if I've become an adult here..." pointing to her head.

Rimei: "Wisdom? and language... these gifts are incredible; I've never seen anything like it, but it sounds amazing."

Kiay: "Alada, can you talk to me?"

Alada: "Yes, I can, my dear child. I'm glad you can finally hear my voice."

Rimei: "What did she say?"

Kiay: "You didn't hear her voice?"

Rimei: "She just made bird calls, that's all, I swear."

[So, I can understand animals and all the languages of this place? What an incredible gift, and I've matured in my mind. Mother, your daughter has grown up too fast.

But it makes sense; Alada gave me this gift so I could survive...

Thank you, my friend... Alada.

Mother, I'll try to go back home, I promise. Don't worry; I'm okay. Stay well, you and my beloved father... I swear I'll come back to you.]

"Rimei, let's build a shelter inside this cave, then traps and weapons to survive and hunt... and Alada, I'll protect you in the future..."

The next day, they collected small rocks, branches, and skinned the bestial dog, making a place to dry the skin and building clothes. They also collected rocks, sharpened them, and placed them on the ground as protection for the second entrance, through which the bestial dogs had fled.

The cave they were in was in a steep mountain with difficult access, but there was still a danger of the bestial dogs getting in easily.

After several hunts with Alada's assistance, they had supplies for two days, including fruits and animals. They returned to the cave to build clothes and a house, which was still in its early stages, with only a stone drawing on the ground.

It showed each corner of the house: five bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a place to raise animals.

Kiay's dream house, but...

End of Chapter.

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