(keep in mind that I'm still working on this...)
There once was a family, a long time ago. They were not the first family and by far they were not the last, but they were still a family, and that is all that matters. This particular family never bothered to stay in one spot for any long period of time, nor did they constantly keep moving. If you were to ask one of the elders how much they roamed, they would say something like ‘we always seem to be in a new place with each changing of the moon’, which is about as accurate a measure anyone could give. This family was larger than most and yet smaller than others. Many people had lived in the family, coming into it and out of it over the years, leaving their marks, and leaving stories to tell to be handed down to the new family members.
If one were to look at an exact size, there would seem to be between 10-15 children, 10 young ones or so, 12-15 adults, and 4 or so elders in the family at a time. Of course, this would only be correct for about the span of time it took for the moon to disappear and reappear in the sky. Everyone took care of everyone else in this family, and everyone did their part to make sure their travels went smooth and problems were solved easily.
The family never bothered to meet with other families they found in their journeys, always findings their tracks and trails and going around them, or seeing their houses from on top a hill, and forming a new path to avoid them.
It wouldn’t be correct to say that they were happy, nor were they ever sad or felt downtrodden. They simply were. The land and the sky were their only home, and they traveled them well. At nights, they would set down their burdens and form their kuloks, looking at the great fires above in the sky, and slowly slipping away into what they called their ‘dark-lives’, their alternate existences where the physical gave way to the ethereal, and many things and roles became reversed. It was told around the fire by the elders that some dark lives were older than others, and some of them were lived ahead or behind of current times, serving as warnings or reminders of events in the material world.
Often, the family found itself with two people that had older dark lives at a time, but for a long time now they had been left without one, the last being lost in a hunt to the jaws of the hiskra. The elders that still remembered the benefits of having such premonitions available to them started to fear for the safety and livelihood of the family. It was hoped that with each passing of the Time of Gold when the rites of passage would be held that one of the young people would have a dark life awaken in them, and so ensure the continued existence of the family. Unfortunately, many Times of Gold had already passed since Atalia had been killed in the hunt, and none of the people who passed the rites seemed to have the special gift. And so it had been for many moon cycles, through many varied environments and troubles. The family had already passed the Rock of Heaven and the Streams of Life twice in their wait for a new dark life to arrive, a journey that usually saw three new births, two deaths, and a few passages into adulthood. And so, the family waited.
It was during this time that a young boy named Yol had been born and raised up in the family, trained in the ways of traveling, of moving like the birds, and of hunting like the beasts. It so happened that as the family had stopped for the moon cycle at the Streams of Life that the Time of Gold would be upon them soon, and the next place the family would stop would be the place of Yol’s rites of passage. A few of the adults held out hope that he might bring the dark life with him, but most of the family had spent too many years being disappointed by their hopes failing already, and thought nothing of it. Either way, Yol was determined to do his best, and already he was the fastest out of the young people, and his skill with the Shirel rivaled that of the adult hunters. Their time at the Streams was short during their passing, but long enough to hold their ceremony announcing Yol’s coming trials.
That day found Yol sitting with his legs in the water of one of the Streams, humming a melody and staring out across the crystalline waters. His head was tilted upwards, enjoying this luxurious moment of rest, his head full of nothing but the sight of blue sky. A thought came to him unbidden, causing him to wonder what ever else he could possibly think of at a time like this; his family was doing well, a newborn had arrived, his rites were soon coming, and all the needs were met. What more could a person want from this world? Was there anything else in this world? He looked down across the Stream and watched a flock of red and orange flecked Lirian birds circle the far-off ponds. Everything he needed was right there, he decided.
All of a sudden, his ears picked up at the sound of footsteps in the short grass behind him. He turned, hand within reach of his Kirchic, his short spear, ready for whatever might come. A figure stepped out from behind the small copse of trees and revealed itself to be Ocha, the second head of the family.
“Ahhh, Yol, there you are. Do you not know that this part of the Streams is outside of our camp protection? Misala and Yumbe were worried about you, like they always are. Don’t forget that just the other day we found one of those spear-toothed beasts next to the water hole,” Ocha sounded stern, but he gave a smile as he finished talking. He walked up next to Yol and stood for a second, staring out across the water, enjoying it as Yol had.
“You know… elder Yumbe’s father, when he was elder, he used to tell me that these Springs came from the heart of the world itself. That they came to fulfill the animals and the families with their waters, and to return to the earth itself to tell it of life on the surface here.” He paused, eyes partially glazed over. “Of course, our travels have taught us that these streams come from the glorious mountains far to the south, but it is still a nice thing to think about every now and then,” Ocha sighed as he sat. “I wonder how many more times I will be able to enjoy this place before I must go on,” he added as an afterthought. A long period of silence stretched between the two as they sat and watched the animals around them, their lives so close to the humans’, and yet so far away.
“Ocha… do you think this might all change some day? Not for us maybe, but for our family many seasons after we’re gone, or for all the other families out there. Will we have the same sky? The same beasts, the same way of doing things?” Yol broke the silence.
“Why would it? We have done what we have always done and we do just fine. Other families have their ways of living and we have ours. It is simple like that. I do not understand why anyone would want anything more or different.”
“I do not, either. I was just… wondering,” Yol gave a quiet laugh, “sitting like this often makes me think of odd things such as that. It’s a good thing that we do not have many times like these to rest from our travels and contemplate the world like this.”