Nikita picked up Khochu's femur bone and followed him to the tree. Once there, she pointed it at him.
Khochu expected her to climb up and beat him to death, but she didn't.
She just asked, "Is this yours?" and smiled.
Khochu did not understand what was going on. Only a minute ago, the crazy girl wanted to eat him, and now, all of a sudden, she was pulling off a friendly act? He wanted nothing to do with the daughter of Chief Priven. Then again, that partly stemmed from the long rivalry between the tribes. Khochu did not appreciate that his tribe lived so close to the cannibals.
Nikita edged closer to the tree's trunk and met his eyes. "Please come down," she begged. "You can trust me."
Trust her? Ha! Ha! Very funny.
Khochu continued to shake on his branch. "I'll come down only if you get rid of that necklace!"
"Get rid of it?" Nikita asked, reaching for the necklace. "But this was a gift from my father. He told me that as long as I wear it, nothing will hurt me. Unfortunately, he forgot to wear his during yesterday's hunt."
Why did that matter? Chief Priven was insane. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" Khochu asked. "Don't you have enough humans back home for you to eat?"
Nikita chuckled, but it wasn't friendly. "Isn't it obvious?" She turned away from Khochu and began polishing the femur. "Somebody hurt my father yesterday, and I am not going to rest until I find him."
Just as she said that, Khochu cringed. Did Nikita know he was the suspect? It didn't look like it.
She peered up at him again and asked, "You don't happen to know who hurt him, right?"
"Nope!" Khochu quickly answered. "I don't know your father, lady! I'm just sitting in this tree, and a cannibal girl with a finger necklace is standing in front of me."
Nikita sighed. "Fine." She slipped the necklace off her neck. Tossing it aside, she held her arms out to her sides. "Is this better?"
Not really, because Khochu could still see the necklace in the snow; he gestured toward it. "Throw a bunch of snow on top of it."
"As you wish." Nikita picked up handfuls of snow. She tossed them onto the necklace and slapped her hands together. "How about now?"
"Better. Now watch out. I'm coming down." A part of Khochu wanted to remain in the tree, but he wouldn't get anywhere if he did. Nikita looked like she had good patience and likely wouldn't leave a potential meal out of her reach, no matter how long. Khochu was also getting colder by the second and needed to try to stay alive as long as possible.
With those thoughts in mind, he carefully slid down the tree, but held his hands before him when his feet touched the familiar cold of the snow. His eyes widened when Nikita neared him, holding the bone over her.
He was about to dive into the snow mound when she handed him the femur, and her face turned stern. "Go."
Just then, Khochu heard yelling in the distance—Nikita's tribe!
"Go!" she repeated, jabbing her finger. "Before I change my mind!"
Right then, Khochu noticed the warmth in her eyes. Sparing someone was almost unheard of in her tribe. "Will I see you again?" he found himself asking before turning. Gah, what was wrong with him? He was so scared of Nikita, but also not scared. It was as if he were trapped between two tight icebergs: "two paths diverged".
Eva and Kobe stood and hurried to Khochu, sticking close to him as he glanced at Nikita one last time, then took off toward his village and the snowstorm.
Right when he vanished, Nikita's tribe stampeded over a hill and hurried toward her, one hunter asking, "Princess, did you find food?"
"Nothing worth dying for," Nikita answered, a lump forming in her throat, but she swallowed. "Let's look somewhere else."
***
The closer Khochu approached his village, the worse the storm grew. It dropped another twenty degrees, and he and his friends shivered in the wafting snow, which soon turned into a blizzard.
"Go-Go, E-Eva," Khochu said, touching Eva's back. "Kobe and I can do this."
She nudged him, but Khochu added, "I-I promise."
Seeming to gurgle, Eva tapped the bottom of her bill on Khochu's head and tickled Kobe under his chin. She then opened her wings, lifted into the sky, and headed for another icy pillar.
The rest of the way to the village, Khochu thought about his test, but then his mind returned to Nikita: her dry, full lips that he knew carried warmth somewhere, her muscular arms, and that finger necklace—disgusting, but also fascinating simultaneously. He had never met a girl like her—a girl whom he grew fluttery thinking about and slightly warmed him from the bitter cold. He didn't mean to blurt out that question, but he did. The only question now was if Nikita would comply.
Kobe sighed and shook his head, but it wasn't long until his legs wobbled, and Khochu picked him up, wrapping him in his coat.
"We're almost home, boy," he said. "I promise."
But Kobe closed his eyes and lowered his head.
Finally, Khochu's village came into view, and he shivered, dropping to his knees.
Just a little more, he thought, even though his lips were beginning to turn blue.
"Khochu!" Vika. She and Sasha sprinted to him and Kobe. Vika snatched Khochu's arm, and Sasha scooped up Kobe. They entered the empty village and watched smoke from fireplaces escape through chimneys, while a few hunters and protectors remained on duty despite the blowing snow.
Vika, Sasha, and Khochu's feet left footprints in the frozen liquid, but the snow covered them in only twenty seconds.
Eventually, the family's tent entered the frame, and they ducked inside for the warmth and comfort of their isolated home. Sasha set Kobe on his dog bed. Vika put Khochu on his bed, tossed a blanket over him, and began treating his arm.
Khochu flinched, and Vika inquired, "What happened, baby?"
"I fell," Khochu answered, looking past her at Kobe—he was more concerned about him. "Will Kobe make it, Dad?" He knew Kobe was old, but he was not ready to let him go. That was why he couldn't follow through with his earlier act.
Sasha examined Kobe and soon answered, "He will. He just needs a good rest."
Khochu let out a breath and let Vika continue treating his arm. He distracted himself by thinking of Nikita's lips, those hips, and… Was he too young for those thoughts? There was no way he would tell his family he had met a cannibal girl and developed a strange admiration for her. So, he replaced that explanation with, "Mom, Dad…" and held his breath. "Who am I?"
And where was the perfect place for humans and animals to live in peace?
End of Act I: Khochu!
Current Word Count: 10,900