I woke up slowly, groaning slightly and thinking about what a weird dream I had had. I stretched out slightly and suddenly felt fur brush against my bare nipples and my eyes snapped open. I looked around and realized that it hadn't been a dream. I sat up, finding myself alone and with a fur blanket over me. I heard voices in the other room and was slightly panicked again. I wasn't sure why they had brought me here and was slightly fearful of my fate. I wondered if my brother and friends were okay and if they were still looking for me or if they thought I was dead. I curled up in a ball under the blankets, trying to figure this all out and not freak out. A few tears slipped down my cheeks again but after a minute I was able to control myself and wiped them away.
Right about then Natu came back in and smiled when he saw me awake. He came over and stroked my cheek before nuzzling my neck gently and running one of his hands down my back, making me shiver slightly. I don't know why I did it but I nuzzled his neck back, cuddling close to him. He sighed and then chuckled, muttering something before picking me up and carrying me out into the front room where his parents were sitting, eating what looked like jerky and mangos. He sat me down next to his mother and sat down next to me before offering me food. I accepted it, wishing I could speak their language so that I could thank them.
I tasted the fruit first, confirming that it was mango before taking a bite of jerky. It wasn't any meat I recognized the taste of and I wondered what kind of animal it came from.
As I ate Natu and his parents talked again, saying my name several times. I wished I could understand them and then decided to try something. I grabbed a basket that was nearby and tapped Natu's shoulder to get his attention before pointing at the basket and saying what I called it. He looked at me puzzled for a minute before saying something which I repeated and pointed at the basket. He blinked a bit before smiling, understanding that I was trying to learn their language. Mana smiled and said something to Natu before smiling at me with a nod of approval. Natu nodded before pulling out a stone tool and saying a word, which again I repeated.
This continued for the rest of the day as I learned the name of the different objects in the house. I repeated each name several times, trying to get it into my head. We had to stop my teachings a few times as some of the villagers came in to talk to Natu and his parents. It seems I had been right when I presumed them to be the leaders as they seemed to deal with most of the problems that came up in the village. I would listen, wishing I could better understand and listening to every sound they made, enjoying the sounds of their language. All the villagers that came in would stare at me and ask questions, pointing their tails at me.
When I pointed at someone with my fingers the woman I had pointed to gasped and Natu quickly grabbed my hand, shaking his head no and pointing with his tail. I pointed out the fact that I had no tail and he looked thoughtful before pointing to the person with his head. I nodded, understanding that for some reason pointing at someone else with my fingers was an insult or something. I heard Mana telling the woman I had pointed to something and figured that she was explaining that I didn't know about that. It also seemed that they all held their tails to be very important things, always grooming them and not letting anyone but their lovers touch them.
At one point two little boys and a girl came running into the hut and ran over to Natu, the boys tackling him from where he was beside me and the girl stopping in front of me and looking at me with wide eyes. Natu wrestled around with the boys, who looked about six and ten while the girl looked about eight, although it was a little hard to tell. After a minute he pinned both boys and then turned to me with a smile before letting them go. He brought them over to me and pointed to the youngest with his tail.
"Sa-roon." He said, before pointing to the other. "Yeh-nee." He then pointed at them both and said another word. I looked at confused and then he pointed at himself as well as the other two boys and said the word again. My eyes widened, recognizing that he meant they were brothers. He then pointed that the girl.
"U-nah-ree." He said before saying his name and then another word, which I believed to be sister. I nodded to her and she nodded back before looking at Natu and started to ask questions. The brothers joined in, looking me over and asking questions while Natu did his best to answer. After awhile their father came in and rounded them up, sending them off to do something while Natu and I continued my teaching.
The rest of the day passed quickly and soon I was starting to fall asleep where I sat. Natu smiled slightly and picked me up again, saying goodnight to his family before taking me into his room. He lay down with me and nuzzled my neck, making me shiver and sigh happily. I relaxed in his arms, wishing I could ask him why he was so protective of me, why he cared so much. I also wondered why I trusted him and felt safe in his arms. It scared me a little how close I had gotten to him when I had only been there for two days. He held me close and stroked my back for a minute before pulling the fur blanket over us as I started to shiver. I sighed happily and relaxed in his arms, falling asleep very quickly.
Things continued like this for the next few weeks. I sat with Natu in his home and learned everything I could of the language, repeating and practicing everything I learned. Soon I could ask simple questions and say things like please and thank you. I also was taught how to weave baskets and grind certain seeds and berries to make food and paint. After about two weeks of this my ankle was finally healed and I started to try to walk on it again. I had to be very careful with it though and Natu was right by me every time I tried it. After another week I was able to walk on it again and went around the village with him, looking at everything and learning what else I could. There was a river that ran near the village, which is where the water they needed came from and where they caught a few species of edible fish. I was starting to learn more words that had to deal with emotions and thoughts. I asked Natu that day why I was there, why he had brought me to his village. I couldn't completely understand him but it sounded like he was saying that I needed to learn more.
I had found out that even though the men were the hunters of the village the women were considered more important and were the leaders. Natu's mother was the current queen and his sister Unari was next in line. Everyone came to Mana for advice and she was teaching Unari to become the next leader although she was too young at the moment. I once tried to ask Natu why the women were the leaders.
"They think with their minds and hearts, not with their fist." Is what I understood. I smiled at that, thinking of what a contrast it was to most human culture.
Once I was able to run again Mana had some of the women take me with them out into the forest to gather fruits and berries. My feet where tougher since I had been walking around without shoes and I was also a little stronger so I could help the village out more so Mana took advantage of that. The women taught me the names of some of the plants and animals that were around and which of the plants were suitable to eat. I was much more fluent in the language and was understanding more and more of their customs now so it was easier for me to communicate effectively with them.
