Love As The Darker Binding Ch. 12

The statement surprised Oyan and Mokonyi, and Kiriel immediately tried unsuccessfully to retract the remark, but Mokonyi only nodded and said the obvious. "Oyan and I try to love between us. It only began last night, but I feel so much for her so quickly and I am very happy today."

Oyan nodded, "We need each other. Well, I already know that I need Mokonyi. She makes me feel so good only to be near her. But how did you come to see this?"

"We can sense many things," Noli said, "As we watched when you walked here and even before, we knew this, all of the Ushandi. It is easy to see for us. You could not hide it from our eyes if you wanted to." He looked at Kiriel for a second, "We like it, since we are, ... "

He faded out in embarrassment then, but Kiriel nodded to them, "My brother is shy to say it, but I am not, not to you. Noli and I are the same between us. We love each other. Where we come from, only the largest and strongest males can mate with a female.

The males grow large and strong in our line, but we are all slow to finish it as we come into our own. My brother and I were the slowest of our brother and sisters to grow, though we near the end of it soon. We were the smallest when we were born and our brother got much more milk that we could ever get. Though we are princes there, it buys us nothing but hurt and pain if we try to find Ushandi females."

"I do not understand that," Oyan said, "I can see that my friend sees you as I do. Such handsome males as we have never seen. I find myself thinking and wondering what it would be like to try to kiss you, you are that good to look at and talk with, neh, Mokonyi?"

Mokonyi laughed a little and nodded, "It is another thing I cannot understand. I am with Oyan," she said to the others. "I love to kiss her, and yet,-"

Mokonyi's eyes widened as Noli stole a lightning-fast kiss. As she was about to react and complain, she saw a shy and hopeful look returned to her and she wondered then over how it seemed to melt her a little more to him.

In an instant, her indignation had vanished, just over the way that he looked at her.

He reminded her of the young boys in her village, only older and very much larger, and yet, he carried the same slightly wistful look about him which made it very hard for her to maintain her gently-scolding demeanor.

"You should not do that," she chided quietly, "Women - that is, females from anywhere here, seldom wish to be kissed like that. Most won't like it."

"So it was not a good kiss for you?" Noli asked in a surprisingly sincere and slightly disappointed tone.

"Oh, it was," Mokonyi nodded, seeming oblivious that she'd just been kissed by the large beast, "There was nothing wrong with it, though it was too fast to even really know much about, it is just that, ... "

She looked down for a moment as she walked and then she looked up with that mischievous air about her.

She looked at Noli, who was listening very closely, trying to learn what he might do better, "Just that what? I know that my mouth is too large for yours and that I have so many teeth. I wanted to kiss you, not fright - Mmmmph!"

He felt his limbs weaken as he stood in blissful surprise while Mokonyi held his thick neck with her arms wrapped around it and her hands holding his great head as she pressed her lips against his and planted one of her best there.

She pulled away after a moment with a soft laugh at his slightly dazed expression and she nodded, "THAT, Noli, ... That is the way to kiss a girl, when she is in the mood."

He blinked as Kiriel grinned and Oyan chuckled.

"What is a girl?" he asked.

"A name for a female who is not old," Mokonyi smiled, "Mostly it is used when we are small, but we still use it after that. Oyan and I are women, but we still think of ourselves as girls even so, don't we, Oyan?"

Oyan didn't reply right away, since she had chosen that moment to kiss Kiriel, who was even more surprised and dazed-looking afterwards.

"Oh yes," she grinned a second later as she wiped her wet lips with the back of her hand, "it is so."

"Are we even supposed to do that?" Mokonyi asked, "I mean, I loved kissing Noli. It took me to the same place as your kisses do, Oyan, but by a very different road somehow."

She looked at Noli, "You will not grow sick from my kiss, will you? I would hate myself for it."

Noli thought for a moment and he shook his head, "Lord Abidon gave us something to protect us from things here. If you feel anything at all, you might feel a little dizzy for a moment and then it will pass. That is what he told us."

Kiriel nodded, "He said that any kind of life here which touched our ... well, our juices, I guess, would be unharmed, but that some might feel strange for a moment."

"Well I feel strange now, Noli," Mokonyi laughed, "I feel like asking my large friend for a ride. And that is strange for me. My uncle had an ox who was so gentle and he gave all of the children in our village rides on him. But whenever it was my turn, I screamed and cried in terror. No one could make me get on."

She giggled a little, "But now I want to ask you if I might learn to ride on you. I think that really, what I need to learn is that I will not fall. Can I try?"

Noli nodded smiling, and Mokonyi was on his back in a flash, jumping up to squirm and wriggle up onto him because of the unfamiliarity of climbing onto a beast that large and laughing out loud as he began to walk with her so that she could get the feel of it.

"Do I sit in the right place?" she asked him, and he looked back and nodded, "Yes, that is the perfect place if I go slowly. Hold me with your knees, and do not forget."

Mokonyi was quiet for a little while and then she chuckled, "Oh, Noli. This is the perfect place. You are truly a prince for making me feel this good with your shoulders as you walk."

"You should move back a little when I run so that you are not pounded too badly," he said.

"Ha!" she laughed, "Maybe I like to be pounded. Try for me Noli, and we will see."

Oyan stared as she stood with Kiriel while they watched.

Noli tried a gentle run and the others laughed at Mokonyi's wide eyes. When he slowed and turned around, Mokonyi was a little breathless as she said, "Maybe a little too much pounding. I will need to get used to this. And I think that I see why you said to move back then."

Oyan jumped and swung up onto Kiriel's back as though she'd been doing it forever. "I think my uncle had the same ox, but I was the one who had to be pulled off at the end."

It was Mokonyi's turn with Noli to laugh as Kiriel slowed down from his run. Oyan nodded her agreement, but she was smiling as she rode up to them, "Too much pounding, but, ... "

"But what?" Noli asked, "We will need to learn the best ways to carry you as we go. Say what you think Oyan, so that we might know a little better."

Oyan grinned for a moment and failed as she tried to hide it. "Alright, if you carry me like that very often, ... well, I think I love you, Kiriel."

-------

The four of them settled down after that and actually tried to work things out so that they could learn to work together. Oyan and Mokonyi found the way to ride slowly in only a few minutes. It wasn't like riding an ox or a donkey. There was a motion required of them. They figured that out in only minutes. To ride an Ushandi without the motion would leave them feeling worn-out and hurting in only a little time.

Riding an Ushandi was not a passive thing. To do it best, they discovered that they had to work their bodies slightly with each stride or step that the creatures took. Neither of them knew it, but it was still somewhat like riding a horse in a way, though the motion required was much more pronounced and to an observer, it looked almost erotic if they were going slowly. They had to push forward with their hips. It took the harshness out of it and it allowed them to keep their upper bodies more still.

The benefits became clear when they rode slowly over a ridge and saw a large herd of Thompson gazelles before them grazing in a little bowl-shaped valley.

Kiriel stopped and looked for a moment. "Move back on me a little, so that I can carry you as I run and hold me tightly with your knees so that I know that I still have you. The tighter that you hold, the better I can turn and not fear to lose you."

Oyan and Mokonyi took the advice in moments.

"There are some of those large cats hunting them," Noli said quietly, lifting his left foreleg to point to a stand of tall grass where, after only a moment, they could see the pride of lions move to disperse and take up their positions for the sprint.

"Should we only stand and watch?" Kiriel asked, "We do not know the way that things go here."

"The game which we all see are called gazelles. They are very good to eat if they are skinned and cooked," Mokonyi whispered.

"Then we eat well tonight and the cats can go hungry," Kiriel smiled, "Hang on."

They rode down the slope a little slowly to get nearer, but at one point, it was all that the gazelles could stand, since they already knew about the lions. They bolted and the Ushandi shot forward.

The ground and the scenery to the sides took on an almost-blurred look to the women, but they didn't fall off, and even better, they lost their fear of it completely. They passed the herd between them and the shocked lions and swung to come around. The gazelles tried to peel around as well, almost in panic at being overtaken so quickly and easily.

Oyan's rifle barked first, followed by Mokonyi's. They hadn't really expected to actually hit anything, though they tried their best and aimed at gazelles who'd stopped short, almost in shock. Three of the animals fell and the Ushandi gave up the magical hold which they seemed to exert on the herd, which ran off as though their tails were on fire, over the rise and out of sight.

"Did you do something to make them hesitate?" Oyan asked as they loped to where two of the gazelles had fallen.

"No, not much, though we might have if they were harder to chase. A clear look into our eyes - even over some distance, can often make our prey stand and quail."

There was a shout from where the third gazelle had fallen and they looked over. The lions were moving in to steal a kill. Noli's deep snarl changed their minds without a fight and the pride left almost as quickly as the gazelles.

"What now?" Noli asked as he looked down at the weakly struggling animal.

Mokonyi slid off and she drew her knife. "Now you stand and keep watch so that we are not surprised again. I will do the work here now."

He watched as she quickly killed and began to butcher the gazelle before he looked around to heed her advice. His eye fell on Oyan, who was doing the same thing to one of the other kills. "What could come to try to steal from us now?"

"Those cats are called lions," she said, "They hunt often, though mostly, they drive away others who have killed something to eat, and those animals must then go hungry. But there are other creatures here, hyenas, we call them. They hunt for themselves at night mostly, but they also hunt in the daytime. They are large and strong and very wild. If there are enough in their packs, then they will steal food from lions. It depends on numbers and hunger. Watch for hunched shoulders coming toward us in the grass.

I am almost done here. Then we must go so that I can help Oyan, since she killed two."

She sat for a moment and smiled up, "That is the first time that I have used my rifle. And I was able to get us food, Noli. I feel a little proud of myself for it."

"I feel very proud of you then," he said as he swung his head back toward her, "We can hunt and feed us four, Kiriel and I, but it would not go as neatly as what I see you do here. My girl has killed so that we can eat," he smiled in a joking way and rubbed his chin against the top of her head as she worked.

It made her laugh a little as she struggled for a moment to keep her balance and not fall over from it.

Oyan was still working on the first carcass as Mokonyi rode up, "You are done already?"

The gutted body lying draped across Noli's back in front of Mokonyi was all the answer which was needed. "Can I have a little of your help with it?"

Mokonyi nodded as she slid from the Ushandi's back.

She amazed Oyan by finishing the second one before Oyan was done with the first. "How can you do this so quickly?"

"Well, I am hungry," Mokonyi smiled as she rubbed her bloody hands with some grass, "Also, I learned to hunt from my father. Doing this is the messy part of it, but it is still a part of hunting. Do you need help to finish?"

"No," Oyan said, shaking her head, "I was a little lost to begin and I had a struggle, but I am done now."

"The next time," Mokonyi nodded, "I will help you first so that I can show you the easiest way."

------

Abi was very surprised and pleased at what they brought. "That will go well in the meal which I was planning, but the most meat must go to the riders and their Ushandis for the skill and the work of it. I will prepare it for you and the rest can eat without this fine meat."

"No," Mokonyi said, shaking her head, "Oyan can have my share so that there is more for our boys as they are larger and need more. But I wish for some to go as well to the others, so that they know that we are not greedy.

We are all to work together, Abi. That means that in some ways, I, ... I think that we must be as a pack, no?" She looked at the others to see what they thought.

The other three nodded, though Oyan protested that she would share whatever there was for her with Mokonyi, "I will not eat at all if Mokonyi gets nothing. These gazelles are not large. It is their breed to be this size. We only took three as we could. The meat should go to all as far as it might reach when shared."

Abi nodded, glad to see that these four were thinking in this way. "The girls will be happy for something like this. They wish to be with you all. My problem is with the third male, Shanok. He begins to make me weary of him, for he is selfish and stupid with what he sees as his rightful due for nothing."

He took the gazelles and laid them over his cutting table in the galley. "I will skin and prepare these the rest of the way. You four need to wash off the dust and the blood that you wear."

He smiled in a slightly soft way and said, Take your, ... take your boys to your quarters. It is the last cabin down the hall before you get to the machine rooms. I have given you the largest room so that you can find the best way to sleep there. Also, that room has the largest shower.

These two can do much to carry you and even keep you alive and unhurt. But they do not have things such as cascades and showers where they come from. The best that they can get are pools of cold water to bathe in, so something like a shower will not let them wash themselves very well."

He sighed with a shrug, "This thing which we are in is made to move on land, in water, and in the air. Because of that, it cannot have large pools of water to spill and run everywhere. There are three cabins with wide showers where the Ushandi can go to wash themselves, but yours is the largest and the shower is wider. Help them by washing them and you will make them very happy with you."

He chuckled as he looked at them all, "Though I can see that they are already there. Leave the rest of the meal to me."

"Abi," Oyan said, remembering something, "You have said nothing of the other two. They looked like Ushandi to me also, thought they were different somehow. What of them?"

Abi nodded, seeing that he had forgotten. He shook his head to himself, "I do you and them an unkindness by forgetting. They are ... special cases, you might say.

The Ushandi are a little odd to humans if you were to study their culture, for that is what it is. It is a kingdom, but the people have a brutal tendency in them all - which they recognize in themselves - so as far as they can in many ways, they take it into account. They have a form of currency and many have occupations. All of it is laid over the framework of a powerful predator which is what they still are. They live in walled cities.

The others which you saw are the reasons for those walls.

You were correct. They are Ushandi also, but they are a kind which has only the barest culture other than hunting and killing. They live in the thick forest lands near the edges of the polar ice fields on their world. They are accustomed to surviving in either climate.

Do not speak of them as Ushandis among the others here when the Arundi are present. The Ushandi have long rejected the connection. They are called Arundi and have taken the name to wear proudly. They excel at hunting, surpassing even their townfolk cousins in ability since the life of each one depends on it. Today, they were the vanguard in their search to find you and once you were found, they ranged out at the edges of both you and the others as another ring of protection.

You saw the Ushandi, but I do not think that you had a clue about the Arundi.

Those two have sad stories between them. They can speak but choose to very seldom. They know that they must live here with Ushandi and they feel no hatred for them. Still, it takes time for them to feel welcome. Most of the Ushandi here would welcome them and know that the Arundi must come to this themselves, but there is one Ushandi who always seeks in his foolish way to goad that pair, thinking that all of the Ushandi would join in. But he is wrong, as he is in many things, I see."

"Then let them have a share," Oyan said, "It will be little more than a few scraps to ones like them, but I wish to say hello in my way."

Mokonyi nodded her agreement and the Ushandi said that they wouldn't mind. "There will come a day when we will have to see more of the things that we share than our differences," Kiriel said, "Let today be the start of the beginning, is my hope."

"Spoken like a true prince, "Noli grinned, "Though I fail to see where it came from, since I am your brother and have seen it seldom."

They found their way to their cabin with no trouble, but they stared at the stainless steel shower stall for a moment. Four men could shower in there at once, if they were careful to share the nozzle.

"I know, Oyan smiled, "it is this large so that one of us can be here washing one of them, if they need help at it."

The Ushandis were a little embarrassed over it, but they got past it as each one had their turn. Kiriel stood out of the way, smiling as he watched Oyan shower, using the bar of soap which she saw. When she was done, she looked around and found large half-gallon plastic bottles on the floor against the wall, and with the cap off one of them, it took only a moment for her to see that it was to be used to wash her large friend, who stood the test as stoically as he could.

"Oh, do not be that way," she smiled at him, "I will do my best to make you clean, Kiriel. I learned to trust you as you ran. Trust me now."

He nodded with a shrug as she began. "It is not so bad," he said, "if this is the price which I must pay to be able to watch your body as I did. I really do enjoy it, you know."

"Saucy boy," she smiled as she pulled his face toward her, "Stand still now while I wash your head. Close your eyes and do not open them even once until I tell you or this will sting your eyes."

He groaned in pleasure and the shower room seemed to shake a little from the reverberations.

"What was that?" Mokonyi asked through the door, "It shook the room in here."

"Nothing," Oyan laughed, "it is the sound they make when they are pleased, I guess. I only wash his head, but I see that he likes it so."

She worked her fingertips into the fur on his head and he did it again. As she worked and reached to be sure that she also cleaned his ears, she leaned forward and Kiriel felt her breast against his lips, so he began to nuzzle there very gently.