Little Island Tales - Part 6

    The remainder of the ceremony was spent as many moonless nights were: eating, drinking, dancing, and just celebrating life.
    Diego dedicated a large chunk of the initial evening feasting upon a massive suckling pig that the hunters had captured two days prior. Ka'lani, in turn, wiled away a great deal of time with Koula once the elder had been freed from her duties. They spoke at length regarding the spells that had been performed that night and Ka'lani even showed off the flute she was working on. And, at the end of the night, when the sun was cracking over the horizon, they both danced with Tamah and Fetu in a massive group with the rest of the village in final reverence of another month of safety.
    Only as the sun rose high past the edge of the sea did anyone finally stop for the night and retire.
    Retreating to their respective homes, the villagers would spend the remainder of the day resting. Some would be nursing headaches from the ceremonial wines and spirits. Many would simply be exhausted from the terror and festivities to do anything more than recoup themselves through the hottest part of the day.
    No one worked. Most didn't even leave their house until night, and, even then, they didn't venture further than the village circle for food and to help clean up from the prior evening.
    It was for that reason that it wasn't until a day and a half later than anyone stepped out past the fireline.
    Diego had just woken up an hour earlier and had already eaten a light breakfast of a few pieces of fruit and a husk of bread when he ventured out into the bright morning's sun. People were milling about, beginning to do their jobs but still in a slight stupor as everyone continued to regain their composure. Being younger, he had no specific tasks he had to complete, so he set off to find Ka'lani.
    He started by checking her family's hut but no one was there. He came across Tamah in the village center a few minutes later who told him that Ka'lani had gone to Koula's the night prior.
    "I think she said something about going there to work on her flute?" Tamah offered.
    "Her flute? Why would Grammy Koula know anything about flutes? She's not a wood worker."
    "I dunno." she admitted before shouting with exuberance. "Let's go find out!"
    Despite his best efforts, Diego couldn't dissuade the younger girl from joining him and, soon enough, they were both standing on Koula's meager porch knocking on the driftwood door.
    "Grammy Koula?" he called to no avail when she didn't answer. "Are you home?"
    "Maybe they went somewhere?" Tamah suggested.
    "Maybe. But why?" Diego asked, glancing towards the beach and the bubbling waves.
    The pair knocked a few times more but soon abandoned the little hut in favor of looking around. It didn't take long though, as a matter of minutes later Tamah noticed Ka'lani and Koula standing at the fireline with two of the village warriors. They were all staring at something in the sand.
    "Grammy Koula! Grammy Koula!" Tamah yelled happily as she ran up to the group.
    Koula offered her a friendly smile and a gentle hug, but seemed extremely distracted by whatever it was they had found. Ka'lani was as well.
    "Hey Ka'lani!" Diego said with a wave as he approached.
    "Hey." she replied dismissively, her attention on the ground and the two warriors.
    Both men, clad in heavy set leathers and brandishing sharpened blades, were muttering to each other.
    "So you're sure no one was out here?"
    "Who would leave the village on the morrow of the ceremony? Especially without us knowing?"
    "One of the hunters?"
    "And the boot prints? They're odd..."
    "What's going on?" Diego interjected.
    "Shh. Shh. Quiet, honey." Koula said to Diego with a soft pat on his shoulder.
    He frowned, but said nothing more.
    "We're not sure." one of the hunters commented. He was a big man by the name of Joun. He was bald with a scar that ran the length of his right arm; effectively dividing his Mālama tattoo in half.
    "Did you see anyone leave the village yesterday?" the second man asked. William was smaller and peppered with pockmarks and mangy brown hair.
    Diego shook his head.
    "No. But I was in my hut all day." he replied.
    "Same." Tamah said quickly, her normally joyous expression darkening slightly.
    "I don't remember anyone passing by." Koula admitted. "But I certainly wasn't looking for anyone either."
    Examining the sandy beach, Diego was able to vaguely make out what they were talking about. He could see a footprint of some kind. It looked a bit large and strangely shaped but definitely the sole some kind of shoe. The bottom of it had ridges in a weird design that had somehow still remained despite the softness of the sand.
    Several of the boot-prints could be seen moving from the beach in the direction of the mountains.
    "It has to be one of the hunters, right?" Ka'lani asked.
    "Maybe."
    "Could it have been one of the aka-akua?" Diego asked thoughtfully.
    William laughed but Joun simply shook his head.
    "No." he said shortly.
    "Well, why not?"
    "For one, they don't wear boots." William shot back.
    "For two, why don't you back up and take a second look."
    Diego glanced at Tamah, who simply shrugged her shoulders. Ka'lani had a mischievous look but said nothing.
    They backed up.
    "Ok?" he asked impatiently.
    "Do you see it?" William asked.
    Diego didn't. All he saw was sand and a vague boot-print.
    Ka'lani, same mischievous look plastered across her face, started to point something out. She highlighted a space that he'd actually been standing on when he walked up. It consisted of three, massive clawlike impressions and some sort of fourth dent near the 'back'. The bootprint was actually firmly inside of it and the clawmark was a good three or four times larger in comparison.
    He hadn't seen it because it was just too big initially to recognize as anything more than just a natural groove in the sand.
    "Yep." Ka'lani said with a growing smile at Diego and Tamah's gaping mouths.
    "We'll gather a few volunteers from the hunters." Joun said to Koula, ignoring the children's reaction. "See if we can find anything in the mountains. Maybe track them."
    "Of course." Koula agreed. "And I'll ask around the village. See if I can figure out if anyone was out and about."
    "Thank you." William said with a deep bow. "Let us know what you find."
    The adults exchanged their prayers and formalities and soon went their separate ways. Koula offered to allow Ka'lani and the others to accompany her, but they elected to stay on the beach. They were too fascinated with what had been left behind; both by the monster and by the man.

Little Island Tales - Part 3

    "Diego!" Tamah yelled, waving at him from the far end of the village center.
    While a few of the older men and boys were stacking large, carefully-cut logs on the Pyre, the ever-burning fire, a number of the younger boys and girls including Ka'lani, her sister Tamah, and her brother Fetu were all sitting in a small group with a few of the older women; namely Samaria, Ka'lani's mother, was there along with La'ei and Natia.
    Diego, carefully slipping by one of the older men as he hefted an armful of logs towards the Pyre, joined the crafting circle.
    "Hi Diego!" Tamah said with a smile and another wave.
    "Hi Tamah!" he said back, trying but failing to match her girlish enthusiasm.
    Tamah was two years Ka'lani's junior, only eleven, but she'd always been very sweet, especially to Diego. She constantly said hi and wanted to do things with him. The regular gestures had even been enough for Fetu and Ka'lani to tease her about it once or twice, but that hadn't stopped her so far and Diego always felt obliged to at least humor her a little bit.
    "Sit next to me!" she predictably encouraged him and patted an open patch of sand with her free hand; her other hand deftly clutching a piece of charcoal.
    Diego looked at the spot and then considered.
    Each adult was helping to lead the children in making different things. La'ei and Natia were both instructing the children in charcoal idols. La'ei was helping them make the avatars while Natia was directing them in the creation of name markers. Samaria, like Diego's mother, was making smudge sticks by carefully tying together a number of dried herbs. Diego knew a few of the herbs, including the white sage, garlic, carob, rue, rosemary, and asafoetida, but there were a few there he'd yet to learn the names of despite his best efforts.
    That last one was the worst though, and he gagged just looking at the asafoetida.
    It just stunk so badly when they burnt it.
    All the herbs and coal would be burned, of course. The smudge sticks, stinky asafoetida and all, would be offered up to the Pyre at the height of the ceremony, as would the charcoal. According to the elders, the smudge sticks and their incense would help to ward off the shadows. The charcoal avatars cut into the shape of the aka-akua, on the other hand, would burn away the power of those things in the dark so that they had no strength until the next moonless night. Finally, the name markers, carved to remember those that were lost, would send the dead on their way and keep them from becoming one of the demons.
    "Diego!" Tamah insisted, garnering a quick look of annoyance from Ka'lani and Fetu.
    Both of them were working on smudge sticks with their mother. It was still weird seeing the twins side by side after having spent so much time with Ka'lani alone growing up. Fetu, unlike his sister, was larger and more powerfully built and spent more time with the village men than at school. Even at his young age, you could tell he would be a warrior by his size alone. The only thing that really stood out between the twins were their eyes; they both were the same golden hue of their heritage. Both housing the same, stark intelligence.
    "Sorry, Tamah." Diego offered, pulling out the smudge stick from his belt. "I gotta work on this. Show me your coal when you're done!"
    A flash of disappointment crossed Tamah's face for just a moment, but it was quickly replaced but her normal childlike joy.
    "Okay!" she said and quickly returned to her work on her coal avatar.
    At the moment, the avatar resembled a crooked star more than anything else.
    Diego slipped through a few of the other children and sat down next to Ka'lani and Fetu. He didn't really like wrapping the smudge sticks as much as carving the charcoal and immediately felt a twang of regret for not joining Tamah, especially since he'd probably join the older boys in a year or two in helping to feed the Pyre, but he couldn't help himself. He'd rather sit next to Ka'lani.
    "I'd say your work is already done, child." Samaria said in her low, soothing tone.
    Her soft baritone, like a gently played long-horn, always betrayed the fire in her belly and Diego stumbled over his words in immediate realization of his mistake.
    "Y-yes. I mean, this one is done and all. But this is my mom's. Not mine. And I'm not sure if it has asafoetida in it so I wanted to make sure we made it right." he half-stammered in defense.
    Samaria raised a single eyebrow; a threatening gesture from someone like her.
    Ka'lani's mother, like all of her children, had the same golden eyes. Diego had always been fascinated with them growing up because, unlike the others in the village, there was something alluring and captivating about those eyes and their family was the only ones who had them. However, Diego had quickly learned that those same eyes denoted a frightening level of intelligence that the entire family shared.
    And Samaria? Samaria was easily the smartest of them all.
    It's what made her ire so scary.
    Ka'lani was quick witted and quick tempered. Fetu, much like his sister and mother, had a temper but tended to be a little more calculating and cunning. Tamah, while still smart, seemed like she was from another family entirely with her cheerful disposition and gentle nature. She was the only one whose eyes seemed more of a deep auburn than stark gold. But Samaria was like a slow burning fire. Those who didn't notice the flames would be consumed by her wrath.
    And, having a moment to think about it, Diego had probably just invited that wrath by disappointing her youngest.
    "I just want to learn more about the herbs." Diego said apologetically, changing his defense. "I already know how to make the avatars."
    Samaria's threatening eyebrow dropped just a hint.
    "And I figure it's better to know all of them...you know, if I need them or something."
    "Or something." Fetu offered not-so-helpfully.
    Diego spared a threatening glance at Fetu but the twin just smirked back, challenging him to try something more.
    Diego didn't.
    "Fine." Samaria said coolly, an underlying threat just under her breath. "Ka'lani."
    The single word was all that was necessary and Ka'lani's mother quickly returned to helping a few of the younger children.
    "You really don't know all your herbs yet?" Ka'lani said mockingly.
    "In his defense," Fetu quickly offered. "He is an idiot."
    "I'm sorry I haven't perfected underwater basket weaving." Diego snapped at Fetu.
    "Or regular basket weaving. Or weaving in general. Or using a basket. Or..." Fetu counted off on his fingers before getting hit with a smudge stick by his sister.
    "Or learning even basic defensive spells." Fetu quickly added.
    He got hit with the smudge stick again for that.
    Ka'lani sighed deeply before spreading out a selection of dried herbs in front of them.
    "I swear I've taught you this before." she said with exasperation.
    "Probably have." Fetu said.
    "Yea." Diego agreed.
    "Then why don't you remember it?"
    Diego shrugged and also got hit with the smudge stick.
    "Fine," Ka'lani said begrudgingly. "It's just important that you pay attention, ok? You need to remember this stuff. It could mean the difference between life and death."