The First Jumper (first draft version)

The First Jumper 40: Allies

“Halllooooo!”  The voice called from the darkness.  The tribe leapt to their feet, grasping their spears, waiting.  The voice was downwind, so they could not know anything about how many there were.

“We come in peace!” the voice called.  “We want to talk.”

“Who are you?” said the tall man who had been in the middle.

“If we are friends, I will tell you my name,” Raccoon said.  “We can easily kill you all, and we do not fear the night.”

“Where are our women?” the man demanded.

“We did not take your women,” Raccoon said.  “In truth, we thought of raiding your camp, but when we got here tonight, we saw that you had already been raided, by someone else.”

“What do you want, then?”

“Friendship.”

“Why would we want friendship with you?”

“If you join our tribe, we will go together with you, and raid the tribe that took your women.”  Raccoon waited a few seconds for this to sink in, then said, “We have a fire maker, but we do not have a spear maker.  You would be welcome, as full members of our tribe.”

“Spear points up,” the man said to his fellows.  To the darkness, he said, “Come.”

Raccoon, Little Bear, and Tiger walked forward.  Tiger walked first.  They held their spears vertically, as did the others.

Tiger walked up to the tall man, who spoke first.

“You would give us our women back, if we win them?”

He asked this of Tiger, but Tiger was still having trouble sorting out the accent.

“No,” said Raccoon.  "If you join us, you become one with our tribe.  We would fight as full brothers, for the good of the tribe.  All who participate in a raid will share equally in the results of that raid, with Chief picking first.  If they were your women before, they are not your women now.  What women we take, whether they were yours before or this other tribe’s before, will be shared.”

“And you will not just keep them for yourselves?” the man said.

At this, Tiger growled, and began lowering his spear.  “I could have killed you all from the night, and you never would have known I was there.  I could have struck down all six of you, and then taken your women.  I will share.  First pick to me, but always, I share.”

“Do you respect choice rights?” said the woman with the long hair.  It hung clear to her knees, and was in a thick braid.  Little Bear had never seen such long hair, although the Long Spear women occasionally braided their hair.

“Briar!  Mind your place.” snapped the tall man.

“We do respect choice rights, Briar,” said Raccoon to the woman.  “Unless you already belong to a husband, the women here would join us freely, as unchosen, with full choice rights.  Those we capture, of course, will be divided equally among the men.”

“Then let us be off,” said the other woman.  Little Bear was surprised to see her holding a spear.  She was very muscular, and her skin was dark.  Her hair was bushy enough that he did not think it could be braided.  “Can you keep us safe in the night?”

“We can,” said Little Bear.  “We will take you to our tribe, where you will be safe, while we go after the others.”

“Oh, no!” said the woman with the dark skin.  “I will fight.”

“Torlunkel,” said the tall man, gesturing to the dark-skinned woman, “hunts and fights with the men.  And Briar is our witch.  I am Gopher, and this is Full Moon, Shooting Star, Long Viper, Bison, and Monkey.  Ferret, over there, is our spear maker.”