Pieces

When I made my way back from the kaiila pens, Duran's mate Petra, met me with some eggs and a proposal. I could share her vulo pen on the condition I help take care of the vulo and gather the eggs. One of them I could keep and all the eggs she laid would be mine. All of the chicks that hatched from that vulo would be mine as well. I felt good about the trade.

Seemed I also was proud new owner of a storage pit already laden with botas of water and jerky too. Almost tripped over it on my way back to the wagon and if it hadn't been for 2nd son of Ebet, I'd be limping. I wasn't sure if this was where the wagon was really supposed to be but if it is moved at least Petra will have another place to keep things cool. There were sacks of dung stacked against a wheel as well. Some little giani had been busy.

It all made for feeling pretty good by the time I made it to the fires. Aiyana gave me a piece of a blanket she had woven, actually she was sharing the bits of the whole with everyone, free and slave alike. I understood that it meant something to her making the piece of pastel with little beads in the middle held in my hand mean something to me. You had to have been there on the trail north as part of the first conversation about patches to know why. We had been making plans to meet on top a wagon and look out over the stars when a kaiila came racing through the rows like a startled vart out of a cave. The rider yanked the reins back so hard the beast had to rise up to keep the bit from doing any damage and then ... the man did a dive off the animal's back, not a dismount ...a dive. Served him right to land flat on his own and twist his ankle. That is no way to treat a beast.

I couldn't believe he could be so callous when Aiayana offered him his bit of her creation. I know men of the plains are tough but down right insultingly rude? Turns out this was the man who was going to give me my first test as a prospect. You have to understand I am sitting here scratching my head over the whole thing. Here are the questions he asked, that seemed to be the hinge of whether I was worthy to be a member of the tribe ...

What is a Leonette?
What does that make me?
Did I want to grow?
Who are my people?

Leonette is the name of my mother's mother and her mother before her. It has been passed down through the generations. The meaning behind it is the lioness. I translated that into terms that could be understood. My name did not make me anything. I didn't share how much pride I had in that name, the history of how and why it had been handed down. After seeing how he treated Aiyana and her gift and the meaning that had it had come from, I was not about to let him insult my mother or hers. Instead I held to the simple facts, I am a new prospect learning of the kaiila clan and learning how to offer back to the Tribe. Of course I wanted to grow, I wanted my people to grow, each as individuals and as a whole and I wanted to be part of that. The last question was what was strangest. I had no idea what other answer there could have been.

He said he asked questions that may seem obvious so he could judge how I answered. Then told me to be prepared to be tested. I just looked at him then, studying his scars, his features, expressions and mannerisms. I thanked him and let him know I would be as prepared as I could be. That was when he mentioned that some tests you can't be prepared for. Go ahead, ask the skies how well I understand that, he and they may as well toss a few more 'cause the last ones I may not have passed or even actually failed but danged if I wasn't still here. I would meet them just as I had all the rest, with a sense of right and truth and maybe fairness. No promises on that ... I was learning fast that life isn't exactly fair, so I added 'or instinct' on the end of that. His advice was to stick to instinct. That was pretty good advice all things considered but then you have to consider too some of my instincts come from being around wild animals. I was already on my way to the pens when he made sure to tell me I was dismissed, offering what his name was only when was about to turn the corner of a wagon. Shi.

I stopped off to get some more salve for the kaiila's mouth. He never did check to see if he had hurt it. What people forget is that no matter how domesticated a wild animal is ... at some point it can revert back to its natural state if provoked.