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Already I am seeing more signs of advancement than I suspected. I thought they were all nothing more than animals or grunting cave dwellers, but they are making progress.
It is simple construction, and the place itself is no more than a hut, but it has a charm that draws me in. I have the old animal instincts still inside me, the desire to burrow in and lay claim to a little patch of the world. My ship used to be that place, now that life is abandoned thousands of miles above the planet’s surface.
In an instant, my impression of these people being advanced is shattered. Behind us, there is a sudden whooping and screaming. I turn with a cry of fright, only to be grabbed by Zion and pulled hard back against his body, his big arm protecting me.
There are women confronting us. Six of them. Bare breasted and skirt wearing. The women do not dress any differently than the men do here—but they paint differently. They are smeared with black paint across their eyes, running down their breasts and bellies in angular markings. They are the most fearsome creatures I have seen on this planet, much more frightening than they were the first time I saw them. The first time, they seemed like a random gaggle of females. Now they present as a hunting party, complete with bows and spears, weapons against which I have no protection in my naked state.
“She shouldn’t be here, Zion!” The leader of the women confronts us. She is tall and beautiful, powerfully built.
“Tyna. Stop. We talked about this.”
“We did not talk about you bringing her here. Parading her before our noses. Showing her bare skin to all.”
I am confused. This woman speaks with utter hatred for me. I can feel it emanating from her. She doesn’t know me. How can she possibly feel this way? She has come to kill me; that I know.
“She will be dressed soon enough.” He holds up the clothing he took from me. “This would not do. She needs to look as we do.”
“She will never look as we do. She is too small. She has no tits. No ass.”
I begin to grow angry. I have never been insulted for my appearance, and I do not enjoy the experience. These women are beautiful, and I am different, but Zion seems to think I am desirable. I feel their hostility and scorn, and I do not know how to take it. This is not part of my experience. I feel my lower lip quivering as my heart races.
“Oh, and now she’s going to cry?” The lady laughs. “This is what you chose, Zion? A weak little scrap of star flesh? She’s cursed. She will bring misfortune and death.”
“Tyna, go this instant, or that spear will be wrapped around you,” Zion growls.
She smirks and laughs and turns on her heel, taking her group of hunters with her. They respect Zion. They obey him. But they hate me.
“They don’t want me here.”
“What they want doesn’t matter,” he says bluntly. “Come inside.”
He opens the door for me, a heavy wood plank, and ushers me into the house. It is simple. There is a bed with animal furs cast across it, a fire at one side of the single room, and little else. There are a few baskets and pots that presumably contain clothes and food and such, for the most part I am impressed with how little he needs. The Patron has a palace with over a thousand rooms, each one of them filled with the art of centuries, but Zion’s single room seems to hold more goodness in it.
“This is where you live?” The question is a stupid one. Of course this is where he lives. This place is just like Zion. Simple, strong, built for purpose with no extra adornment.
“This is where we live,” he says. “You will sew your skirt today.”
“What?”
“Rite of passage and moment of marriage,” he says. “You will sew a skin from an animal I have slain and you will wear it from now until you perish. The skin you fashion will become part of you. It will take your shape. And you will care for it as you care for yourself.”
“I don’t know how to sew.”
“I will help you.”
He draws me over to the bed, a raised platform of wood made comfortable by the passing of many beasts, their furs embracing me as he makes me lie down.
“This will be our marriage bed. This is where you will bear our babes.”
This is a great deal to take in. I feel some gratitude to Zion for trying to save me, but I have no desire to become a married tribal woman. I want to disappear into the wilds of this world. I want to be free.
As much as I am attracted to him, there is little in this village to interest me, and the females here are so hostile I fear for my life if they are to find me on my own without him. Perhaps he knows that. That is why he tolerates them. They are another link in the chain that binds me to him.
