Closed Starting Fresh (Mahkah)

[Kohana]

16th day of Fall, 517 AV Kohana walked along the sand leading Dakota by a leash, he was in search of fresh drinking water for his uncle, aunt and brother. It had been over a week and nothing had been found, and now, Kohana worried that he would become dehydrated soon. He softly pressed his hand against the hot sand. He immediately sensed movement. His sense skills weren't as great as his brother's, but they were good enough to find what he wanted. Realising that the water he needed was underneath his hands. He let go of Dakota's leash, confident that she would stay put until he was done. Kohana quickly began digging using only his hands in search of the water he knew was near. It had been thirty chimes since he had begun looking and had no luck until now. His hands hurriedly scraped the sand which felt like small rocks wedging themselves inside every crevice in his hands. Soon enough, he found the flowing cool, fresh, water hit his fingertips. He found the round of it rushing freely, to be very soothing and paused for only a moment to enjoy it before he jumped up and rushed to Dakota to fetch his waterskin. Dipping it into the water reservoir he had found he allowed the water to lap inside. Once it was full, he put it back onto Dakota's saddle before drinking freely and thirstily. Spending three chimes to fill up his organ.He then led Dakota towards the water, allowing her to lap it up with her tongue until she was sated and. Kohana sat down next to Dakota, who was now resting, content with his find. After fifteen chimes, he considered it a good time to get up and he mounted Dakota and led her towards the campsite which was pitched up. There was empty holes ahead of him from the dugouts of previous searchers of water. He knew that this would be a difficult task to maneuver around them, but it was the only way to get back quick enough to be there when Mahkah woke up. Luckily his father and uncle had trained him well in the skill of riding and he knew what to do. Kohana pulled on the reins, the horse slowing it's steady pace to a slow trot before it began to move backwards. When it was a safe distance from the holes Kohana trained his eyes on them, one by one. He cracked the reins setting Dakota into a run which soon became a gallop which gained momentum to leap from one side to the next, where the holes weren't. "We're going to make it Dakota!" Kohana reassured the mare, sensing it's apprehension to the task at hand. They galloped gaining more and more speed every chime, Kohana could feel the cool breeze through his hair relieving him of the harsh Eyktolian sunlight. With one quick prayer, Kohana pulled the reins upward slightly, leaning closely to the horse, his hands grasping the reins tightly, his legs squeezing against the torso of the large creature. This sent the signal and Dakota jumped, her legs stretching to touch the other side. With a jolt, Kohana realised he was safely on the other side and let out a sigh of relief. "Come on," he said pulling the reins and leading the mare towards the camp. Once he arrived he got off his mare who seemed to desperately need a rest and tied her leash to a wooden peg which kept the horse in place. He then e entered his brother's tent. Seeing the still sleeping boy, he sat on the ground and occupied his time by cutting dried Hik fruit that was lying on the ground into strips. He was very nervous about telling his uncle about him and his brother travelling to live somewhere else but it was a decision he was ready to defend.

[Mahkah]

Mahkah wasn't asleep. He should have been, he very well knew that the next day would be a tiresome one, but he just couldn't fall asleep. Maybe it was because the next day would be one filled with adventure that he lay awake in bed well past the 12th bell.

His heart was beating furiously with anticipation. His uncle was always known for never liking change and his two nephews leaving not only his home, but his life would be a large change that Mahkah was afraid he wouldn't be able to handle.

So he lay on his bedroll feeling incredibly hot even though the nights in Eyktol were quite cool and sometimes bordered on chilly. His nerves didn't allow him to feel the real temperature and instead he felt warmth and a thin layer of sweat covered his face.

He needed fresh air.

Pushing the damp threads of hair that stuck to his face, he carefully and quietly exited his tent that he shared with his uncle and aunt, and brother, the tent belonged to his uncle and was large enough to hold all of them, but Mahkah always felt the need to have his own tent, which he had safely folded at tied onto his horse, Alo, for the next day.

He approached the horse who was pacing about the wooden peg that kept him in place. He was just as restless as Mahkah. His ears perked up upon hearing the crunching footsteps of Mahkah's barefeet on the sand.

"Shh, Alo, it's just me," he said softly in a comforting manner before petting it's soft black pelt.

The animal visibly calmed and let out a whiny. Mahkah winced. "Shh, keep quiet!" he hissed nervous that his family, or worse the whole tribe, would awaken.

Alo ducked his head down and Mahkah sighed taking a brush and brushing the mane which was a tangled mess at the moment.

"We're going, Alo," he said to the horse. It was a habit of his in times of distress to speak to his horse for comfort. "We're leaving the only place we've ever known." Mahkah rubbed the bridge of his nose to relieve the stress.

He would be okay, he knew that, Kohana would be okay as well. The person he worried for was his uncle. His aunt could handle such news, she would be sad for a few moments, but she could handle the change. His uncle couldn't, Ataup had grown weary and distressed when Kohana left for isolation at 15 and even more so when his sister had died. He could handle moving camp every week or so, but he couldn't handle such a huge amount of change such as the one that Mahkah and Kohana planned to present him in the morning.


Mahkah had been awake for 40 chimes, but he refused to open his eyes or exit the bedroll. It would make the news inevitable then and as long as he was wrapped in his blankets he knew that the news could be postponed.

Kohana had entered the tent 5 chimes ago, his uncle and aunt left 15 chime ago.

The noise of dried Hik fruit being cut was clear in Mahkah's ear, no doubt they were for the trip, but Mahkah couldn't stand opening his eyes just yet. However, he knew that staying in bed would make him seem lazy to the rest of the group and it wasn't a title he wished to adorn just as he was leaving.

"I've been awake you know?" Mahkah said softly opening his eyes to see the sun's rays just peered out of the horizon but the whole tribe seemed to already be outside and alive.

He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes to clear them of the sleep. "I think we should tell him now," he suggested are a moment of silence.