Akna was overwhelmed. She had been wanting contact with people for so long, but now that she was in the village, she was overstimulated by all the noise and sights and smells. The Zamani that had led her here was actually the new head of the village, Tala. They had introduced her to the village and its people, bringing her through the beautiful village center and to what they called the House of Company.
Akna felt like her eyes were ringing and her ears were seeing spots, the village was just so different from what she had expected. The buildings were all varying sizes of a longhouse, some stretching high above, others short but long, and more built as what looked like a stretched out dome that sat squat on the ground. And they were all made out of crystals. Large panels of opaque crystal of many colors were somehow stretched across a frame of lattice wood, all casting colors across the village. In the center, a firepit sat, but no fire was present. Instead it was as if the crystals had been infused with life and danced in a flurry of color, spreading warmth and light across the Zamani.
The Zamani themselves were all of differing heights as well, which explained the size of some of the buildings. They all had different crystal markings lining their body, some Zamani having fewer, and they seemed to symbolize something, though she knew not what. Their hair was also so different, some having rainbow moss, or grass, others only having a few colors.
As Tala led Akna to the House of Company, many of the Zamani waved at them, or nodded at Akna while she passed by. It was clear the village was a small but close knit community. They passed by a mess hall, a wonderful smell drifting out as she walked by, it was by far the biggest building needing to house all the Zamani of different sizes. Arriving at the House of Company, she was also shown the inside of the house, a living tarp of nature covering the walls making up the sleeping mat, a desk, and even a small night stand grown from the ground. The crystal light was dramatically dimmed inside as well, with only a small crystal on the desk providing light, and a small square of moss that she could drape over the crystal at night.
Tala spoke to her as she looked around. "You have seen and done much, you are tired and scared. I can see it. You are safe here though, so please, rest. We will let you sleep, and when you are hungry, come out and meet the village. We will be happy to feed you."
Akna simply nodded, and put her berry bag on the table, before going to the sleeping mat. It was the softest thing she'd ever felt. She looked up to thank Tala, but they were gone. So Akna simply laid down, and finally had a good night's sleep, safe in the knowledge she was finally safe.
—---------------------
Waking up with something covering her, Akna spent a few moments in a panic as she tried to escape whatever had ensnared her overnight, struggling with the soft square menace mightily before abashedly realizing… It was her blanket. Grateful no one had seen her embarrassing plight, Akna got up from bed and took stock of her situation.
She was still in the rags she had worn ever since the ship, now with 50% more holes. Her hair had grown out quite a bit at this stage, but was matted and very frayed. She would have to correct that, sooner rather than later. Once she learned magic more formally, she would be a Maman of the People. She would need new beads and clothes for such a station, normally given by the previous Maman of the village with individual beads gifted from each of the rest of the village. She was alone now though, so she would have to make do.
Above the desk in her room was an extremely reflective crystal that she hadn’t seen the night before. Unsurprising considering how exhausted she had been, but very welcome. The living tarp that covered the walls separated around the mirror crystal, Akna stood to finally see herself for the first time in potentially months. She paused before she could see herself though. Perturbed, Akna looked down at her hands to see them shaking. All of her was shaking. That wasn’t right, she was supposed to be steady, strong. She was raised to be a woman of the People, independent, clear headed, brave. Why was she… crying? Women of the People did not cry. She would do this.
Forcing to look at herself in the mirror, she saw a ghastly sight. She was thin, so so thin. Her skin which had been a beautiful tan before from working under the sun was now an ashy gray. Her lips had dried scabs on them, the cracks from dehydration not having the nutrition to heal properly. Her hair was a mass of black knots, with visible dirt and detritus spread throughout. The whites of her eyes had yellowed for some reason, and were slightly bulging from her skin tight skull. Her brown irises, which had been beautiful works of the earth before, were now swallowed by dilated pupils in the low light of the house, her eyes frantically trailing across her body with streams of tears painting a furrow on her dirtied skin.
Backing away and falling back onto the bed, Akna started to breathe faster. She had to stay strong. Ignore the feelings. Her body was just reacting because of the stress, she was fine, she felt fine. She just looked like death, and felt like death. Was she dying? Her chest hurt, and she was breathing really fast now. She was going to die now, after all that. She was going to die. She was dying. She was dying.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t, I’m dying I need to-” Akna ran out of the house. Right into Tala. Looking up through blurry eyes at Tala, she saw their smile drop, before having her hand grabbed.
“Follow me, we will get you to a quiet place. Listen to the sound of my voice.”
Akna’s eyes were darting everywhere while she followed Tala, seeing nothing through the wash of tears over her eyes beyond smears of color, pressure building in her body. Arriving somewhere, she didn’t know where, Tala grabbed Akna’s hands and led her to lay on the ground in a dark area.
“You are not dying Akna. This will pass. Try to slow your breathing. Slowly, yes, like that. You’re doing great. In and out.” As Tala spoke, they reached into a bag they had been carrying, and pulled out a small statue of a Zamani.
“Hold onto this. Tell me about it.”
“Um- uh- sorry. I… it’s a statue.”
“Good. What’s its texture? Its color? What do you notice about it?”
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“It uh… it’s really smooth. Like a river rock. It… it has many colors. Blue lines are on its arms. There are… reds in its hair. More blue lines on the legs. Oh and some on the back. Its in a meditative position. Um… the- the hair looks like leaves and- um… yeah that’s all I can see.”
Tala nodded as Akna spoke. “All correct. This is a statue of my predecessor, Tala, the old chief. They were quite old when they passed, but this statue is of them at a younger age, before they were Tala. You can tell based on the markings. They grow more complex and unique as a Zamani and their guide grow together.”
Akna nodded while listening, drawn into the history of this statue. The previous chief was also named Tala? Plus the statue itself was shockingly intricate, none of the People could have made such a thing.
“Are you feeling better now?” Tala asked.
“I- yeah. Yeah I am. Much better. I’m sorry about all of that, I don’t know what came over me.”
“There is no reason to apologize Akna. The body and spirit hold what the mind rejects. We will stay here as long as you need. Your body simply needs time to recover, your spirit needs time to heal, and your mind needs time to process. You have gone through a lot.”
Akna slumped back down onto her back, a mixture of annoyance and relief. She was supposed to be stronger than this. Hardship made you stronger. Maybe she just wasn’t strong enough yet.
“Can you teach me magic?”
—---------------------
Akna spent the next few days settling in and resting with the Zamani, learning their culture, and asking questions. She didn’t speak their language, but was slowly learning. Tala had said they would teach her magic, but only after she had spent some time healing. They got her a bath, and had started feeding her well enough that she was gaining weight again. From the limited amount of Zamanish she had learned to understand, the chef was horrified upon seeing her, saying something about how the body would eat the mind if she didn’t eat more.
As she spent time healing, she had a few more moments like that first morning. Tala called them “panic attacks”, and taught her a few ways of handling them, though they seemed too simple to be useful, so she didn’t use them unless Tala was around. They were not fun to go through, but Akna kept telling herself it would make her stronger to push through them.
Eventually, as her language skills got slightly better, they put her in classes with the Zamani children. She learned their language, the know how to navigate the crystal roots, odd ways of counting, and she talked with the kids. She also met her first friend. She was eating in the mess hall, when a giant Zamani approached her. He was easily twice her height, nearing 12 feet tall, with a mountain of food on his plate. He sat across from her and thumped his food down, before waving extremely enthusiastically.
“Hello, I am Onas. I’m six. Look how cool my markings are. I got this one for talking to my guide for the first time. You don’t have any. Are you a baby?”
He spoke with an incredibly high pitched voice, and upon hearing him speak it was very clear he was truly a child. He kept pointing at a particularly vibrant green spiral on the back of his hand, glowing with pride, a large smile stretched out on his face.
“No, I am not a baby. I am a… um… a… People?”
“What’s a People? You mean Zamani? You talk bad. Are you sure you’re not a baby?”
“I am not a baby! I’m just not Zamani. I am one of the People.”
“A Maak? No wonder you are so small. You don’t even have a guide.”
“I have magic! I just don’t know how to use it well yet… see!”
Akna flared her magic, making a small flame spring from her hand. Immediately, the wooden roots she had been lost in before sprung up around her, long passages of wood in front and behind her, before fluttering away as she quickly snuffed her fire out, bringing her back to the mess hall. With Tala standing behind her.
“Akna, you should have learned by now. The roots of Brother Forest do not like fire and will protect themselves. The crystals are flammable, please be careful.”
“Yes Tala, I’m sorry Tala… It’s just… Onas said I didn’t have magic! I wanted to prove him wrong!”
“Akna. Onas is only six. You look as if you are at least in your twenties. You have no reason to argue with a child. I promise we will teach you to use your… magic… soon. And use it responsibly.”
Akna could only nod in shame, as Tala left the building, before going back to her food with her head down. Not before Onas spoke one last time.
“I’ve never seen a Maak that has a guide. Can we be friends?”
—-------------------
It was a few months later that Akna finally got the news she had been hoping for.
"We will indeed teach you. A guide is a sacred thing, gifted from Father Earth and Mother Sky, and is personal to each user. Yet there are things that we teach our young to help them find their path, that we think will serve you well."
"That's amazing! Thank you! You've done so much for me already, I don't know how I will ever repay you."
"You do not need to repay us young Akna. We teach willingly as a gift, and it is to be just that, a gift. You need not repay us, simply learn our ways and let us teach you."
"I suppose I will have to call you something else if you are to be my teacher."
"I will not be your teacher, young Akna." Tala stared deep into Akna's eyes.
"We will all teach you, each member of the tribe, as we do for children learning of their guide. We all have our different perspectives, and we each treat our guides differently. We as a tribe will teach you, with the knowledge that Mother Sky will watch over you when you leave us, and the hope that you will cherish our ways and your path even when Sister Ocean batters you or when Brother Sun beats down upon you."
"Your first and only lesson from me young Akna is, you are not Zamani. We are of Father Earth, born of him, and to him we will return. Our bodies are shaped by the tribe, grown from Father Earth. The people in kind are born of all, Father Earth, Sister Ocean, Brother Sun, and Mother Sky. You have much potential, but the People have not had a kind life. Your ancestors were taught by many, Deer and Squirrel, Coyote and Bear, but the others have not taught you. The Maak are a young race, and while the Sarmag ignore, the Rakt take advantage. The Elghim run, and I'm ashamed to say even the Zamani have stayed isolated in our tribes. You are children, and tradition says you must be taught by all, yet you have been abused and denied even that. Remember though you are daughter to all, and while you may never have our mastery of the connection, or the freedom on the wind of the Elghim, the world loves you in all its ways."
“The connection? I thought the Zamani were masters of the earth.”
Tala shook her head. “No, we are not masters of anything. Our guides simply provide us with mastery of connection. That is for you to learn from another though.”