Instant Celebrity

A couple hours after Luca woke up someone entered the hut with a clay bowel filled with water. Looking up bleary eyed he spots Sarr'ina giving him a pitying look while laying the bowel down next to him. "Do not cry, they are one with nature now." she says gently.

Luca looks up at her confused, "Uh, who?"

She shakes her head and smiles as if he just told a bad joke "Harra'patu and Ezbe'Harra, they would have liked you Luca, they enjoyed jokes even in the worst situations." she says with a reminiscent look.

Luca just nods along, using his previous experience in moddling to look sympathetic, they stop talking momentarily allowing him to hear the crackling of fire outside. "Er, are you cooking something?" he asks.

Sarr'ina's brows raise as she answers, "No... We are preparing the ritual rights for our departed."

...

Luca mentally scolds himself for saying something so insensitive, "Oh, sorry... Is there something I can do?" he says slowly, gauging her reaction at his words.

She nods, "You are now one of us, would you join us in celebrating their legacy." she asks.

Luca doesn't really know what to say, he is after all responsible for their deaths, he hadn't expected the bear to follow him back so hopefully they wouldn't punish him too severely? Regardless he needs to show some sort of remorse so he smiles and says, "Sure, but you'll have to show me what to do."

She smiles a him and starts walking out of the room before saying, "Then come."

Luca follows her out of the hut and gapes at the sky, he hadn't noticed before as he always slept before nightfall but the stars are... Incredible! It isn't the usual black he was familiar with, instead it was covered in a vast amount of white dots and clouds of beautiful colours. He manages to recover his chin from the floor and looks around the village, noticing a large group of people surrounding what looks like some sort of bonfire? In the centre are two human shapes covered by the burned remnants of leaves, flowers and various other plants.

He spot Sarr'ina making her way to the fire and quickly follow her, the large group notices his presence and some glower at him while others smile appreciatively. Luca assumes it's for his handsome looks but perhaps it's something else? They eventually reach Sarr'vuln who is silently looking towards the fire with a saddened look, his expression changes when he sees Luca but stifles it as it looks to his daughter. "Sarr'ina, could you start?" he says quietly, receiving a nod in return.

Sarr'ina steps onto a raise platform and starts chanting in a language that Luca doesn't understand, he didn't know why he could understand these people and assumed this "Power" extended to all languages but, apparently not. As she speaks the surrounding crowd looks on at the fire solemnly, Luca isn't sure why but he felt as if the flame was becoming more lifelike as she continues, eventually she stops and is replaced on the platform by her father.

"Today, we have lost two great hunters, husbands, family and friends. They fought like beasts possessed against the Ruler of the Forest, so much so that we will tell stories of their bravery long into the future. Ezbe'Harra and Harra'patu were some of the finest hunters and men I have ever known, bravery ran through these brothers blood like fire through wood... May their spirits rest with nature and watch over us." he says, taking a bunch of colourful flowers before tossing them into the fire, the flames swallowing them and reducing them to ashes in seconds.

The surrounding people follow his lead and start tossing in various plants into the fire, the women throwing in thorny colourful ones while the men chose small bits of wood that vary in colour and size. Luca wished to question Sarr'ina at this but when he goes to ask he sees her sombre expression and decides it probably isn't the best time.

Suddenly out of nowhere the man start to sing and Luca notices the women all silently leave with the exception of Sarr'ina. The song itself doesn't seem that good or memorable but with everyone singing at the same time it starts to resemble some sort of opera, Luca feels his blood boil and the wish to sing along, he's only stopped by the fact that he doesn't know the lyrics.

The atmosphere slowly starts to change, from the previous sombre contemplative mood to a jolly, festive one. This is only enhanced when the smell of cooked meat hits their noses, looking over Luca sees the women starting to prepare the carcasses of various animals for cooking. Most notable being the huge bear that's been stripped of it's skin entirely. He looks to Sarr'ina and asks, "Where's the skin of the bear?"

Sarr'ina looks over and nods, "It is being prepared for you."

He shakes his head in confusion, "Prepared?"

She nods, "As the slayer of the beast you rightfully will receive its pelt" she says, rolling her R's in an irresistible way.

"Will that be okay though? Everyone was fighting as hard, if not harder than me... Surely there'll be some objections to this?" he asks, remembering all the hostile looks the tribe gave him.

Sarr'ina shakes her head, "It is the rule of nature, comparing your strength with others and taking everything should you win. You will receive the rulers pelt as a trophy of your victory, I only hope you will share its meat with us."

"Well, if you say so... And of course, it's not like I'd be able to eat the whole thing!" he says, scratching his arm nervously. Some of the nearby people who hear this have thankful expressions but continue to sing until their throats go hoarse.

An hour passes and the singing stops, some of the lyrics including the use of your throat means that it's more of a test of endurance than it is entertainment. Luca follows Sarr'ina over to a smaller fire which has various meats cooking over it, he looks at the tools some of them are using and purses his lips... Are those bones? He muses as he spots various knives, indeed on closer inspection some of them are made from bone while other look like flint. He glances at the meat and see's the they're resting on thin rocks and sizzling away... Is that even possible?

Regardless of his thoughts on how the food was being prepared they were quickly cooked and distributed by the women and children, he nods to an eight yearold girl as she hands him a massive steak from the bear. He almost drops it due to how hot it is but his recent memories of almost starving forces his hands closed, he glances at Sarr'ina who smiles brightly at him as he takes a large bite of the steak. Juices dribbler down his mouth as he tries to chew with the stringy sinew preventing him from pulling away, eventually he frees the chunk away from the larger hole and swallows it... "Gamy" he mutters, finally having the question of "What does a bear taste like" answered. If he had to describe it he'd say it's like Elk, Beef and Pork mixed together with way more gaminess. It isn't unpleasant to the palate but simply doesn't match up to modern foods, though Luca wasn't sure when he'd experience them again.

Sarr'ina bites into her own portion and tears it apart, unlike the delicate way Luca had dismantled his own. She swallows it and licks her lips before turning to him, "Good, yes?"

He can only nod in reply to her enthusiasm as Sarr'vuln pats him on the shoulder with a conflicted look. Luca feels his weight being shifted as he's pulled up onto his feet and the man calls for everyone's attention.

"Sua'jiki! I present the man who slew the Ruler almost immediately after joining our family! Lu'ca!" Some don't look happy at this but the meat seems to have soothed them slightly, others shout various things like "Earth guide us!", "The children of nature will live on!" and "The spirits watch over us!", really Luca felt like he was at some sort of World of Warcraft convention.

Sarr'vuln continues, "He looked the beast in its eye as it charged him, he found the moment to strike as he peered into it's huge maw and jammed his spear into it's throat, killing it instantly!" he shouts dramatically, causing the tribe to cheer even louder. "The trophy of his triumph is being prepared now." he says gesturing to his side at a group of women carving small bits of flesh from a huge brown furred pelt. It's so wide that Luca reckons it could wrap him three or four times. He watches as the women finally clear all the bits of flesh from it, lay it on the floor and cover it in a huge amount of salt from various hide sacks. He would ask Sarr'ina but feels as if he'd be seen as stupid for asking as no one else look confused at it...