Chapter six.

Manøvie.

I hadn't left my room the whole morning,mainly trying to avoid bumping into Sobêiski since he was still in the Temple with the Lord Priest.

He was to keep on with his lessons here until before the day of his ordination. It was going to be difficult for me to sidestep him, with him roaming the same corridors as I but I'd eventually find a way.

My mind raced back to the events of yesterday at the Solorato state area. I never imaged I'd be able to pull such a colossal tide over all the large acres of cultivated land. I didn't think I had it in me. I stood at my balcony door wondering if at all I was capable of much more,all I needed was a place to practice and i knew just the place.

I raced back into my room and threw on the Solorato farm attire I had been provided with before I left with Tõrontõ yesterday only that I carried a large shawl with me this time. I looked around for anything I wanted to carry along before leaving my room.

I peeked through the corridors prudently,making sure not to bump into Sobêiski or Lord Lucaí. I wrapped my shawl over my shoulders and headed towards the main threshold.

"Manøvie!!" A stern voice snapped from the distance of the hall bringing me to a hiatus. "Manøvie!" The call came once more,shuttering all my hopes of leaving the Temple today.

I squeezed my eyes before swiveling on my heel to face the man I didn't want to see.

"Lord Lucaí,is something the matter?" I asked,trying to repair my discomfort and trepidation filled face.

"No, I just wanted to ask where you were headed off to in such a hurry," he stood with his arms back,giving me a peculiar look.

"I-I was just going out to get some air," I stuttered,twiddling the fringes of my shawl.

"Dressed in Solorato farm clothes?" he pointed at the seam of my shawl where the edged leaves could be spotted. I slowly covered my self,holding the wrapping piece of cloth over the parts the small dress could not hide.

"Well..well..I was going to.. to the farm,my Lord," I shook inwardly,all my senses tingling with qualms. "I hope there's nothing wrong with that?"

"Oh,I was not never going to stop you,my dear. I only wanted clarity of your whereabouts just Incase our next high priest would want to know," he flouted.

Why would he say that, and in that tone?

"Anyway-I don't want to delay you any longer,Manøvie." He turned to leave but stopped "Oh and by the way, I did notice the son of Sovæ coming this way so he must be here to see if you're feeling better," he added

Something was very strange by the way Lord Lucaí had made his statements. I know he was always eerie,bitter and intimidating but calling me 'dear' and that grim smirk on his face screamed that he was not callow with his chaste behavior.

I pushed the large Temple doors and walked out,searching through the people strolling around minding their businesses,for Tõrontõ as the high priest had mentioned his presence. I adjusted my shawl and started to climb down the steps when someone called me.

"Hi," I waved back at Tõrontõ as he came to me

"Lady Manøvie,how are you feeling?" He smiled

"I said you can call me Manøvie," I said with a pout

"Well,Lord Sobêiski wasn't very happy about it,"

"Oh,forget about him,he is into our traditions and besides your like a royal as well,"

"He didn't know that when he forbade me to address you without entitlement,"

"It's okay,anyway. I was just heading to your town." I changed the subject

"Well,lets go then and don't worry you don't have to lift any tides today," he smiled and I laughed following where he led.

***

Tõrontõ was going on a hunt as it neared evening. He said most of the good hunting animals came out while the sun went down to feed on the cool pastures. We ambled through the forest in the distance of the residences,careful not to make any noises with our footsteps.

I meekly followed his lead,stepping where-ever he stepped and stopping when ever he did. Surprisingly I could hear into the deep of the dancing trees,picking up the footsteps of the other men who had spread out to hunt too.

Tõrontõ had explained that during a hunt,twelve men would go out on their own and bring home different yields from their hunts. Six on land and six on water then after each successful hunt,they would divide everything equally among the three tribes.

It was amazing how these people were selfless. They'd make sure the other two tribes got enough for about a month before they took out their own share. Tõrontõ said it was originally in their spirit to do so but not all of them had the hearts to be so generous.

Tõrontõ suddenly stopped,holding his hand out for me to seize movement. I crouched to his level as he slowly and prudently knelt on one knee-bringing his hunting weaponry out. I picked up the sound of four legged movement from beyond,my eyes darting through the thickets in search of what I was hearing.

"I can hear it," I told him and he smiled with a nod

"Me too,"

I watched Tõrontõ lift his bow and arrow,his biceps rippling into a stiff stone just as a mother sized impala walked into the shrub clearing with her calf. His eyes dilated into a strip of an alabaster  glint as he aimed at the animal with prowess, his breathe and heart beat slowing down gradually.

Within a second,he let the arrow go and I heard a moan from the front.

"Got it!" Tõrontõ huffed with a smile. I saw the little calf galloping back into the woods,leaving it's mother at the grip of death.

Tõrontõ rose to his feet and walked towards the dying animal. He handed me his bow before kneeling beside the impala- his eyes glistening as before he struck it. He hummed a soft melody until the heaving animal stilled,going numb with death.

"Why d'you do that?" I asked as he yanked the arrow out of the impala's side

"As hunters, we've been taught that even animals have feelings and it's rude of us to take their lives. So we pray to Härshänoäh to grant them peace and take their souls into her mountain where they will no longer be hunted," he explained and I gaped in amazement.

He grabbed a cloth from his side pouch and stuffed into the puncture caused by the arrow. He then lifted the dead animal onto his shoulder in one waft,making sure that it was secure enough before starting to move. No wonder he was muscular.

We returned to the state area,meeting some of the other hunters who had also reverted from the other ends of the forest and ocean. They collected their kills in the same area where the animals or fish would be slaughtered,cleaned and sliced to pieces.

I was intrigued by their order and discipline while they worked but mostly how each of them slit the throat of the animals,harvesting the blood in bowls and keeping them aside.

"What is the blood for?" I asked

"You'll see," he said,taking the bowl and leaving the circle just like all the other hunters.

Tõrontõ and I walked with the other men with their bowls of blood to a different part of their land. It was the ocean shore we were approaching slowly, the rest of the men breaking out into song. The utopia of their voices looming over the water before us.

I silently gaped when I saw the length of the volcano meters away from the land,towering over the ocean like the sun throwing rays over our Village.

Her peak was high above,jabbing into the sky that it was barely seen.  The sides of its majestic and pungent walls adorned by rocks of her molten lava,some of them touching the water. There were large trees of palm and permanganate settled right below the mountain,waving their leaves and branches at the tunes of the passing winds.

The men I was with all knelt to the sand,pouring the bowls of blood into the water. The scarlet blemishes mating with the water and flowing with it towards the mountain. After this,they stood and left but Tõrontõ and I remained behind.

"This is so beautiful," I looked out to the sky and the birds that flew over the volcano and beyond. I had never imagined anything to be so seraphic until I saw this. We both sat down on the sand,staring into the distance of the dancing waters quietly.

"Sobêiski always told me that was where I came from," I said after minutes of silence.

"Did he tell you the whole story?"

"Not exactly," I nodded,grabbing the soft sand in my hands and letting it out between my fingers.

"Well, there was this old man who had come out to fish,it was a sunny day and he hadn't been successful at all. Now just as he had cast his net the third time that morning,a family of dark clouds came over the volcano,waking Härshänoäh up.

She wasn't too happy about the intrusion so to chase the rumbling clouds away,she spat out balls of lava in frenzy but these clouds seemed to be adamant. She was able to get rid of them though  and in the process,her last spills fell into the ocean

All of the sudden,this old man saw the balls of lava coming out of the water and taking the shape of a girl with a green stone in her chest. She was washed up the bank with him but she was still unconscious so he wrapped her in his old coat and brought her to the Temple

He trusted the high priest would know what to do then."

I stared silently at Tõrontõ after he finished this narrative. For two years all I lived knowing was that I was just like the other stones thrown from the volcano to the front of the Temple but today,i had realized the truth about myself. It was a relief knowing,i was different and I would accept it now that I knew how I came to be.

"The old man...the one who brought me to the Temple,who- who is he? Is he still alive?" I asked

"Alive and kicking," Tõrontõ chuckled "And you've met him already and even helped him save his land," he added

I lifted my eyebrows as I understood who he was talking about. His father had helped me then and I had unknowingly  returned the favor yesterday. I chuckled with zeal,unable to wipe the smile of realization from my face.

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