Kat PoV
That first night with the Nomadic Arese Tribe was rather interesting, as I helped Valaka and so other of the Arese cook dinner for the rest of the entire tribe, earning so surprised looks from the rest of the won.
The cooking was rather primitive, what with large clay cauldrons being filled with water and laced with various herbs and bones, before we roasted so ats over the fire and slid them inside the cauldron as well.
Besides the large vat of stew that we had boiled, we kept so of the giant slabs of ats off to the side to be eaten on their own, while so of the other won began to grill so vegetables that looked like potatoes and yams over the fire as well.
When it all ca together, we had a vast array of dishes prepared to serve to the rest Arese Tribe, all of which was plated on so wooden platters and ready to be touted out to the won.
Valaka stopped as I planned to continue to help out, saying "I didn't know that you knew how to cook like that... If you wish, that could be your 'job' during our journey, just to keep the rest of the Tribe subdued and accepting of your place here."
Nodding, I smiled slightly as I said "I'll think about it... I have many talents though, Valaka, so I think I'll try all sorts of things around here. Besides, your Tribe seems rather accepting so far!"
The short huntress pursed her lips at that, her eyes trailing over my body as she said "I wouldn't go so far as to say that we're accepting as much as we are... open to being 'friendly'."
Chuckling softly, I understood the aning of her words well enough, but I just shrugged as I said "As long as no one tries to force into sothing, you can look as much as you like; not like I can stop you. Though, the second soone tries to touch ..."
Flashing her a cold smile, I lifted the platter of mammoth steaks and moved past Valaka, who nodded to as she followed with her own platter.
"That you shouldn't need to worry about; most of us are honorable enough to take no as an answer. Just... do avoid being around large groups of us if we get drunk; I can't promise anything then."
Giving her a hum of acknowledgent, I made my way over towards the largest bonfire in the encampnt, where the entire Arese Tribe had gathered.
The Priestess stood with her daughter, both laughing and sipping on wooden mugs, while the rest of the Tribe graciously accepted the offered foods and bowls of stew, everyone holding their als and waiting.
Looking on curiously, I watched as the Priestess coughed into her fist before taking a step forwards, raising her hands and quieting the assembled won.
"Everyone, please clasp your hands and join in prayer."
Closing their eyes, the Arese rested their platters on their knees or the ground before clasping their hands together, leaning their brows against their hands.
Everyone began to mutter quietly to themselves, and I could make out so of the various prayers around .
All of them ntioned Areseta, their Goddess, whilst so ntioned the nas Sayik, Liaka, Maraca, and Fiarhe, the founders of the Arese Tribe.
However, the contents of their prayers were all different.
Valaka prayed for better success on her hunts, better yields on her prey, and offered thanks for the food gracing her platter.
So prayed for trivial things, like to do better at their assigned job, to bolster their confidence of will, and so on.
Others prayed for more... interesting things, like to catch the attention of their crush, for better performance tonight, and to aid their fertility tonight.
It was... an interesting set of prayers, but each of them were sincere in their words and desires.
When they had all finished, everyone opened their eyes and stared at the Priestess, who raised her mug and shouted "Dig in!", earning a loud cacophony of shouts before everyone began to devour their als.
Sitting beside Valaka, I looked over the food we had prepared and began to eat as well, starting with a roasted potato.
Using my knife, I sliced the potato in half and scooped out the center, before placing so of the mammoth steaks juices and butter inside.
My mouth watered at the steam rising off of the potato, and I blew on it for a few monts before taking a bite.
The soft flesh of the potato was seeped with juices, and each bite was flush with flavor from the mammoth steaks.
After taking a bite of the potato, I sipped on the mammoth stew, relishing its rich, gay flavor as well as the sharp tang from the herbs.
Everyone was quiet as they ate, each of the Arese nodding to themselves as they finished their als.
Savoring the rich flavors of everything, I remained seated beside Valaka as so of the Arese got up, moving towards the fire.
Sensing my curiosity, Valaka turned and said "After most als, we'll start a dance around the fire if we wish to find a partner to spend the night with or to dance with our existing partners. For instance, Eyoli is one of the Priestess' personal dancers and partners, so tonight..."
Gesturing out towards the fire, I watched as the two tall won clung to each other, the muscular Eyoli wearing a ek, shy expression as she listened to the whispering of the Priestess.
"Eyoli will be warming the Priestess' bed in hopes of conceiving a child. She takes turns with a few other won as well, and currently the Priestess' daughter is searching for her own group of partners."
One of the Arese we were working with earlier approached us, her slightly wrinkled face displaying her age.
"Valaka dear, let take care of the washing tonight; enjoy your night! You're only young for so long..."
Giving the woman a small smile, Valaka handed her platter and bowl over to the older woman, who also smiled at and grabbed mine as well.
Nodding to her, I watched as Valaka stood up and stretched, her lithe muscles straining against her charcoal skin.
Glancing back at , Valaka said "If you're not interested in finding a partner, go back to our tent and get so sleep. We leave early tomorrow. Don't leave the tent alone, alright?"
"Yeah, I got it. Have fun, and goodnight."
Getting up, I left the ambiguous campfire behind as I made my way towards the tent, slipping into the bedroll Valaka had said was mine and finding solace on my own.
Making sure to clean everything and air out the tent afterwards, I sighed as I fell asleep on the bedroll, a few runes lingering around just in case.
Waking up on my own, I noticed it was still dark outside, but Valaka was rolling her bedroll up and beginning to take everything down inside the tent.
Joining her after washing my face, I packed everything into the bags she told to, tying everything to primitive backpacks that we would need to lug over the snow.
Eyoli eventually joined us as well, her tired expression and unkempt hair displaying her rough night at the rcy of the Priestess, but she seed happy enough as we took the tent down and rolled up all the pelts.
We worked in silence, eventually managing to get everything packed up and ready to move out, the sa as the rest of the encampnt.
Arese stood around and loaded up their packs and placed so of their gear on large sleds, groups of them tying on harnesses to be able to pull those gear laden sleds across the frozen tundra.
So Arese walked around and handed out strips of dried ats and small bundles of berries, which everyone ate quickly, washing it down with water.
Glancing at our packed tent and items, I opened the ice chests and laid everything inside them, freeing up my back and Valaka's back.
"Is everyone prepared? We're making our way over to Scythiara to deposit our spoils before heading towards Polaris City to sell whatever wares we have left. If you need to eat, wash, or anything else, do it now; once we set off, we aren't stopping till we reach Scythiara."
The assembled tribe nodded, with so making there way towards the fringes todo whatever they needed to do, before we began to make our way Northwards, towards the Arese Tribe' ho of Scythiara and eventually Polaris City inside of the Nevrokopi State, where I would hopefully find myself a map to lead back to the Empire.
However, for now, I was back to walking across a snow covered plain, the crisp, chilly air battering my face as we traversed besides the Cimrian Mountains, which protected us from the Labyrinthian.
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