Training Grounds (2)

The guards continued with their training. Training normally lasted throughout the morning hours, in the afternoon a couple groups of men would go out to hunt. The others would stand guard. The day that the strangers had come had been an anomaly. The warriors had been sent out to look for the people coming, and when Adom had come back from scouting, those who had been left guarding the tribe followed him to meet the strangers. Adom and the small group had come back, but the other men quickly left again to hide their traces and the traces of the strangers who had come. They were too close to the border and couldn't risk exposure to soldiers who monitored the border land.

The girls observing came and went. They had their own chores to handle, but once they finished or took a break between chores, they would find an excuse to come back to watch. The crowd never dwindled. A-Narah and Uri just waited and watched. They had nothing else to do, and A-Narah didn't mind watching the training. She had never watched them train before. Not even at home. The guards had their own special training area where females were not allowed to enter. Watching them train was a bit frightening at first. Lael and Launch were not holding back and she was scared that one of them would get injured.

But as she watched no serious injuries came, and she was able to relax. She turned her attention back to Uzzi and Adom who were throwing spears at targets. Adom hit the target again, but this time Uzzi hit it as well. Forgetting her image, A-Narah let out a loud shout of excitement, "Yes, Uzzi!" All the girls who had been mocking Uzzi had gone silent at his strike. Making A-Narah's cheer seem even louder. All of the girls turned their attention to A-Narah, seeming to notice her for the first time. Some of the men on the training grounds had heard her as well and turned to look. The girls watching A-Narah frowned and narrowed their eyes at her. This outsider, they didn't like her. A-Narh didn't bother with any of them she only had eyes for Uzzi.

Uzzi had heard her shout, and had been one of the ones to face her when he had heard his name called out. "Little lady!" Uzzi waved and ran over to her and Uri. Lael and Launch had also noticed her and came over as well. The five of them smiled and laughed, happy to be reunited, and much to the surprise and aggravation to the girls, Adom had followed them over also.

"Girl are you feeling better?" Adom asked.

"Yes, much better thank you." A-Narah distantly thanked Adom. This was her first time seeing him up close and talking to him. She felt uncomfortable in his presence, but she tried to hide it. She had to be polite. "And why are you calling me girl? You can just call me by my name, A-N…Ara."

"Alright A-Nara."

"No! No, just Ara." It was best that she didn't go by her given name anymore. It was too recognizable. Ara was a much safer name. "Also, Adom, right? I want to thank you and your mother for taking care of me. And," A-Narah looked at the girls who were leaning in to try to hear their private conversation better, "do you think there is a place that we could talk more privately? I have some questions."

"Alright. We can go your friends' tent. No one will follow us there," Adom said.

"Thank you." A-Narah and her guards followed after Adom to the tent in the warrior's area. The girls wouldn't follow them there. They had no excuse to go, and weren't brazen enough to outright go and eavesdrop. They could only watch with cold stares as the foreign girl walked off with the most eligible bachelor in the tribe. From their point of view the girl and Adom looked to be very close, and they had never seen Adom interact with another girl for so long before.

Both Anis and Rae were watching jealously, but for different reasons, and both decided then and there that they should befriend this foreign girl. By becoming friends with her they might get the chance to interact with the men they liked.

Once they got to the tent and were out of earshot of everyone Adom asked, "So what did you want to know?"

"Can you tell me how my other friend, Elon, is doing? I heard from your mother that you are able to enter the tent he is getting treatment in." A-Narah fidgeted with her fingers as she waited impatiently for the answer.

Adom looked to the sky and sighed he had been asked this question at least twenty times a day by the others. He looked at A-Narah and began repeating himself again, "He is still alive. I don't know much about medicine or healing, but he isn't a dead man. If the shaman promised that you would be able to speak with your friend then you will be able to. The shaman never lies."

A-Narah did not feel reassured by this answer. She wanted to know the progress. If Elon's wounds were healing alright. If the poison had been successfully removed. If he would get to be like he had been before, but Adom wouldn't say any more about Elon's condition. He just kept saying that they would all have to wait until the seven days were up. They could talk to the shaman then and get their answers.

"Fine if you won't tell us more about Elon, then perhaps you could tell us more about this mysterious shaman of yours. Feme told me that he had seen us coming days ago and that all had been waiting for us to arrive. Can you tell us anything about this?" A-Narah looked intently at Adom, and he calmly met her stare, unfazed.

"If you want to learn more about the shaman. You should wait and ask him yourself. The shaman is a sacred being to the tribe and we can't just diverge knowledge of him to outsiders," Adom answered in monotone.

"Excuse me? Apparently, this shaman of yours is one of the reasons that we are here, and the life of my friend is in his hands. I think that we deserve some answers."

"Little girl, I don't think you understand. Our tribe is helping you and getting nothing in return. We are feeding you and protecting you. We saved you, and the shaman is saving your friend. You have no rights to ask for anything here. So, you should just be patient and wait nicely like a good girl." Adom turned and left.

"I doubt that you all want nothing from us and are this charitable to strangers. You want something, and we want answers!" A-Narah called after him, but Adom just ignored her and continued on his way.

"Argh!" A-Narah stomped in frustration. Her guards stood behind her and watched as A-Narah let out her pent-up frustration. What she felt they had as well. They couldn't get any answers, but at least they had training to vent. A-Narah had nothing but waiting to do.