Chapter 3: Rude Awakenings
A red glow seemed to diffuse though her field of vision, nothing coming clearly into view. It took a few moments for Saede to realize that her eyes were closed, and that the red glow was probably just whatever light was shining. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Everything ached, as though she’d been trampled by a rampaging bantha. A cool hand rested on her forehead for a moment, then retreated into the red haze. The glow didn’t dissipate right away when she opened her eyes, and for a moment she felt panic overwhelm her. She started to sit up, but the cool hand came back, pushing her back down onto a pallet.
A voice spoke a few feet from her and she turned her head towards the sound. The voice was strong, obviously female, probably about her own age. Saede shook her head, still unable to see. She didn’t understand what the woman was saying, but her throat was too raw and dry to speak.
The voice fell silent, and Saede knew that whoever was there was studying her. She felt a presence for a moment, something gently probing within her thoughts. She shied away from it, and the feeling withdrew gently, as though it didn’t want to offend her.
“Is this how you make your words?”
Saede started in surprise, then nodded, still unable to see whomever she was speaking with. It took a moment, but she realized that the other woman hadn’t actually spoken that last statement aloud. It almost seemed like one of her own thoughts, but in the other’s voice. Before she could try to say anything though, the voice continued.
“Don’t worry, the blindness will pass. The poison of the warthirik is potent and enduring, but I’d say within the next hour or so, your sight will return to you. You’ve been unconscious for four days.” As the woman spoke, she reached over, wringing a damp rag into Saede’s mouth. She swallowed greedily, the luke warm water more precious than anything she had ever tasted.
“Rest now, regain your strength.”
Saede felt herself becoming drowsy again against her will, soft blackness chewing at the edges of the red glow.
*****
She spent the next several days inside, regaining her strength, relearning how to use her arms and legs. Everything seemed leaden, hard to manipulate. Niara, the woman who’s hut she was staying in, explained that it was a residual paralysis of the nerves from the toxin of the warthirik, but that it would pass. And the more she moved, the quicker it would pass. Every time she moved though, she felt as though she were on fire, thousands of tiny pokers slipping under her skin and into her muscles.
Saede didn’t see anyone else in this time. In fact, Niara wasn’t even around all that much, but would stop by several times a day, bringing food and admonishing her for sitting around when movement would help her recover faster.
Niara was a few years younger than Saede had expected. But the girl’s obvious strength, both in personality and in body was enough to keep anyone from seeing her as just a teenager. Saede often found herself just watching the other woman, amazed at the confidence she put off in even the smallest of day to day movements. Even around the tiny hut, the woman moved like she was constantly in a dance, with a strength and constitution that Saede found herself envying. Deep brown eyes took in everything, shrewdly calculating every move she would make. But a friendly smile always seemed to grace her lips, probably able to put even the most cynical minds at ease.
She continued to speak to Saede in her head, using basic as often as was necessary. But as Saede’s strength came back to her, Niara used her own, surprisingly elegant language more and more. Saede had never really had too much of an ear for languages, but she struggled to catch as many of the words as she could.
In the evenings, the two would sit, Niara pointing out objects and giving Saede the words for them. It would often take several tries for her to get the pronunciation correct, but she worked with her patiently, repeating the words as often as necessary. Niara would laugh with her when she’d pronounce something so horrendously wrong that she would say something completely different than what she meant, often resulting in some terribly silly sentences.
Unless Niara was speaking in her head though, she had a lot of trouble with Saede’s name. In fact, according to Niara, most of the tribe, whenever she had the chance to meet them, would have a problem saying her name. This was solved momentarily when, with a smile and a nod, Niara gave her a new name.
“Your name is now Karinadath. It means, ‘fire-hair.’”
Saede spoke the name softly, turning the word over in her mouth. “Karinadath.”
“Karina means, ‘fires within.’ I think that is a suitable nickname as well.”
They smiled at each other and Saede nodded slowly, forgetting for a moment that she was in a strange place with strange people. Niara was an easy person to be friends with, and for that, Saede was heartily thankful.
*****
The next morning Niara stated that she thought Saede was finally up to meeting the other members of the clan. She handed her a new set of clothing, just a simple wrap for her waist and a second piece of cloth that wound around her breasts and tied behind her neck. Niara paused for a moment, clothing still in hand and looked Saede up and down as though seeing her for the first time.
“But first, a bath.”
Niara instructed her on how to get down to the river, and said she’d meet her there. She was going to let the elders know that their guest, Karinadath, was feeling fully recovered. When Saede paused, hesitant to go outside alone, Niara put one arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick hug.
“It’ll be alright. I promise. Everyone here is very curious about you, and they all understand that you don’t know the language very well yet. They will be patient.” Niara swept out of the hut, setting out at a relaxed jog towards the larger buildings closer to the mountain.
Saede blinked, shielding her eyes as she stepped out of the small hut. It was early morning, but after over a week in the darkened hut, it took a moment for her to adjust to the light. She looked around, taking in the sight of the small village. Niara’s hut was one of the smaller homes, looking like it was perfect for just one or two people. Some of the huts were much larger, apparently to hold entire extended families. Small children ran about, stopping to stare at her as she went past. She tried to smile at them, but they scampered away, giggling and peering back out at her from inside of a doorway.
Chuckling to herself, she made her way down to the river. She glanced around, seeing a few women a little ways down, just before a bend brought the river out of view. But there was no one anywhere really near by, so she stripped down a bit nervously and stepped into the river.
The water was warmer than she had expected it to be, and she dove in completely submerging herself. Coming up for air, she waded back to shore, retrieving a piece of braided moss that Niara had given her, scrubbing the worst of the weeks worth of filth that had built up. She looked around, turning away from the village and the small cluster of women heading towards the river. It was amazing how different Dathomir looked. Things didn’t seem quite so sinister now. She wondered if it was because it was day light, and there was sunlight visible instead of hidden by the canopy of the forest, or if it was just because she’d survived everything that the planet had thrown at her.
Taking a step, she started to turn around to head back to shore when something came from under the water, tripping her. She dropped under the water for a moment, eyes wide with shock. A deep cough wracked her as she broke the surface, blinking stupidly at the three women who were now only about a meter behind her.
All three women were naked. One was slightly shorter than the others, plump, with long luxurious dark hair streaming down around her. The second woman was about Saede’s height, slender but well muscled, reminding Saede of the dancer’s she’d known back on Corellia. Her hair, fell in a single braid over her shoulder, and her fingers were busy untangling it, though her eyes were still glued to Saede. The third woman stepped forward, speaking something in their language. She spoke too fast, and Saede didn’t catch a single word of it. This woman was several inches taller than Saede, and while she was slender, there wasn’t a single soft thing about her. Every inch of her was lean muscle, darker skin accenting each solid curve of the woman’s body. Short cropped black hair fell across her forehead, but stayed out of her eyes, something Saede could never get her own unruly hair to do. Piercing blue eyes started at her, a certain disdain apparent in them. Saede shook her head, using a few of the phrases that Niara had taught her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
The tall woman laughed, the other two echoing shortly after her. She repeated the phase in a mocking tone, taking another few steps towards her. Circling her, the woman spoke to her friends, gesturing towards Saede, as though she were an object rather than a person. Saede felt a strange mixture of anger and embarrassment welling up inside of her. She’d never liked being naked before, and this just drove the fact home that she wasn’t comfortable enough in her own skin. Not the way these women were.
The blue eyed woman leaned over in front of Saede, peering into her face. She stood stock still, hand balled into fists by her sides. The woman spoke again, and her friends cackled with glee. She caught a couple of the words this time, like, “mud,” “face,” and “dirty.” Then the woman reached out, pinching Saede’s arm in a quick, merciless motion.
Saede jumped, taking a step back from the woman, the surprise evident on her face. “Don’t do that, that hurt!”
The woman smirked at her. Whether she understood or not, Saede wasn’t sure, but it didn’t seem to matter one bit. She decided that she was just going to leave. Obviously not everyone here was curious about her, and willing to help as Niara had said. Saede figured that the best way of dealing with this for the moment was to just walk away from it. I mean, you can’t fight with someone who doesn’t want to quarrel, right? She took a step towards the shore, intending to go around the women.
The other woman stepped in front of her, barring her way. Saede took another step to the right and the woman mirrored her, her tone taunting her. She moved as though to brush past her, and the woman’s hand snaked out with amazing speed, grabbing Saede’s upper arm in a vice like grip. Furrowing her brow, she looked up at the other woman in confusion. She gestured wildly with her other hand, practically spitting words into Saede’s face. With a quick movement, she let go of Saede’s arm, shoving her backwards as she released her grip.
Saede found herself falling into the water again, head ducking beneath the waves. A hand landed heavily on her chest, keeping a steady pressure. There was no way she could have known that the woman meant her no harm, just wanted to scare her a little. So she lashed out, falling back onto the training she’d received from the Rebellion. Her heel connected solidly with the woman’s knee. She felt the water sway, and the hand let up from her chest. Saede swarmed out of the water, falling back into a defensive posture, fists up in front of her face, feet trying to find as much purchase as possible on the slippery rocks.
The look in the other woman’s eyes could have burned the entire forest of Dathomir to the ground. She started to advance on Saede, a murderous intent in every movement.
“Stop Koranthis. I think you’ve done enough.”
Saede looked towards the bank. The woman’s friends had backed off, and were now standing a few meters away, watching the older woman who had appeared on the banks with a mixture of respect and apprehension. Niara stood next to the old woman, a quiet fury emanating from her as she looked at Koranthis.
She risked a glance back at the blue eyed woman, and was surprised to find her standing down, head bowed slightly. But her eyes flashed in anger, and even while she spoke to the elder, her gaze rested on Saede.
They conversed for a moment in their language, then Koranthis swept off the anger barely contained within her, followed closely behind by her friends.
Niara beckoned to Saede, coming a few steps into the water to meet her with the clothes she’d left on the bank. She spoke in her mind, the worry coming through even as she tried to hide it.
“Are you alright?”
She nodded, looking up at the woman who had stopped the altercation. She stood on the bank, watching Saede and Niara quietly. Completely composed, she didn’t look as though she could possibly be ruffled by anything. She was a bit shorter than Saede, but not by much, and Saede imagined that in the height of her youth, she would probably have been an inch or two taller than she. Long white hair was pulled back in a thick braid, tied in several places with leather thongs. Her face was a mass of wrinkles, but bright blue eyes regarded her, twinkling with wisdom and quick intelligence.
Saede quickly pulled on her clothes, letting Niara help her. She found that her hands were shaking rather badly. Perhaps she wasn’t as completely recovered as she thought she was. Niara headed up the bank, stopping in front of the older woman.
“Alannari, this is Karinadath. Karina? This is Elder Alannari. She wished to speak with you….” Niara trailed off, looking concerned from one to the other.
Alannari motioned Niara away, eyes only for Saede. She felt as though she should be uncomfortable under the intense scrutiny, but managed to stand her ground. After being naked in front of the woman called Koranthis, poked and pushed, this was something she could handle. Niara took a step back, looking at Saede for a moment, then turned and walked back towards the village.
Alannari reached out, taking Saede’s elbow gently. She spoke into her mind, “Come, walk with me Child.” Her voice touched her thoughts softly, a gentle breeze after the happenings of the last few minutes. Saede started walking, falling into step besides the older woman. She worried for a moment that she would be in trouble. Even though Koranthis had started the problems, she was an outsider, and didn’t speak the language well to boot...
“Do not worry. I know that Koranthis came looking for you. Looking to start something that she didn’t think you’d be willing to finish.”
Saede stopped in her tracks as Alannari took a few more steps. She turned, looking over her shoulder. A slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she beckoned Saede to follow her. “Come now child, I can’t very well tell you how I can hear your thoughts as easily as you are hearing mine if you act like a wuffa in a hole.”
Saede took a step forward, and Alannari reached out, taking her arm again. The older woman leaned slightly on her, walking towards the mountain.
“Come Karina. We have much to discuss.”
Continue on to Chapter 4
Note: ^ is unfinished. Thank you for your patience
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