Tribe - The Legend and Proposal
A story set in a tribe of people with no contact of the world we know. A story of adventure, romance, and legend. (If you've read my earlier story and are wondering why I haven't continued it, I'm a bit stuck for ideas so I'm leaving it for the moment and starting this one.)
Tribe
Chapter One: The Legend and Proposal
The legend of how our tribe was formed has been passed down for generations. It's unlikely that it's exactly the same story as when it was first told, but I still like to sit cross-legged with my siblings at my father's feet as he tells it again.
In the beginning, our tribe was nothing more than an empty plot of land. There were only two tribes that existed back then, one in the Far East, and one in the Far West.
If you walk for many months east, you will eventually come to mountains topped with snow, and this is where you will find the Eastern Tribe. They have lived in these conditions for as long as there has been a tribe, and their skin is as pale as the snow they live on. In this tribe there was a very handsome man named Akin.
Akin had been betrothed to a woman that he did not love; it was an arranged marriage set by the elders. He decided that he would rather leave as an outcast than be forced to do something that he did not want to do, so he confronted the elders of the tribe and spoke his wish; he wanted permission to leave the tribe.
The elders were so angry that Akin would not agree to marry whom they had chosen for him, that they cast him out and pushed him off the mountain, leaving him for the dead.
Akin's mother, who loved him more than anyone else, cried as she watched her son fall, but she could not help him or else she would suffer the same fate.
While this took place in the Eastern Tribe, in the west, a similar situation was happening.
The Western Tribe was an opposite tribe to the Eastern, in climate, people, and traditions; but in this case they were parallels. The Western Tribe lived in a tropical climate, surrounded by forest. The people of the tribe had dark skin, tanned from the sun.
In this tribe, there was a young woman by the name of Freja. She was an important woman in the tribe, the daughter of the elder who ruled over all of the Western Tribe. As with Akin, she was soon to be married.
In Freja's case, there was no arranged marriage. A strong man of the tribe had asked for her hand, and as a Western Tribal woman, she had no choice but to accept, as it was what the women did in that tribe.
But she wanted to marry for love, not because she had to. Knowing that she would not get permission from her father, Freja decided she must get away.
The next morning, she was gone. Search parties were sent out, but she could not be found, and they eventually gave up, presuming her dead.
Freja was not dead, she was already near the Eastern Tribe, but at that time the tribes did not know of each other, so she did not know where she was heading. She got to the foot of one of the mountains, and found Akin, cocooned in snow.
She had never seen someone as pale as he was, and not knowing that up the mountain everyone looked like that; she mistook him for an angel that had fallen from the sky.
When Akin awoke, he was lying on ground not covered by snow. Before then he had been unaware that such a thing existed. Freja was sitting beside him, washing the cuts he had gotten from his fall. She had carried him from the Western Tribe to where our tribe stands now.
The two fell in love, and Freja was soon carrying Akin's child. They had many, many children, so many that a whole tribe was started. That tribe is our tribe.
"And that is the story of how our tribe was formed." Papa finished. My little sister Abiah, who had been sitting on my lap for the story, bounced up and down excitedly.
"Did you hear that Zeira? Akin fell off a cliff and then Freja found him and they fell in love and-"
"Yes, I know little Abiah, I heard the story too." I replied, grinning at the small 4-year-old.
There were eight of us in our family. We were dark-skinned, descendents of Freja. There was Papa and Mama, and six children.
Ganya was the eldest, but she was married and had children of her own now. Then came Zion and Zur, they were twins, both 17. Zion was engaged already, but Zur loved hunting more than women. I didn't see them very much because they were living in the boy's dorm until they were 18.
I was the next oldest, but only 15. Kadia was my younger sister, whom I was closest to; she was 14. Then finally there was little Abiah; who was the baby of the family.
In our tribe there are 4 social classes. The Elders are the most important of everyone and are to be deeply respected. They run the tribe, making the big decisions. They hide away in their tent, and they get other tribe members to run messages for them.
The Adults are next important. When you turn 18, you have a choice whether you want to join the adults, or if you want to wait until you are 20. Men get two choices; in a year's time Zion and Zur have to make their choice.
They can either choose a wife and have a family, or they can pledge to look after the tribe by building more huts and hunting for food. Women, however, must marry and have a family who will continue the tradition.
I'm a Ya, a young adult. On your 13th birthday you go through a ceremony that means you are not a child anymore. It also means we can finally leave the teaching dorms and go back home. As a Ya, it is our job to do jobs where we can. Some of us teach the young children how to sew, cook, and hunt.
Abiah has been a Chi from birth. Until she is 5 she is looked after by her parents, but on her 5th birthday she goes into a teaching dorm with all the other children. It's meant to help them focus more on working, but the only thing I remember is getting really homesick.
That's our tribe. It may seem strange to some people, but it's been tradition since Akin and Freja had their first child.
That evening, Ganya rushed into our tent. Everyone was surprised to see her, so there were hugs and greetings from everyone present. But she had a message for me.
"Zeira! Do you remember Jermayn?" She asked me hurriedly. I nodded, of course I did. Jermayn was 20 years old, and had been an adult since he was 18. He had been one of Zion's closest friends when he was a child.
When I had first turned 13, Jermayn was going to turn 18 in a few months, but for those few months we had naive plans to get married, not realizing that he would be married by the time I became an adult. So far he wasn't married, he was still making the decision whether or not to get married at all.
"Zeira!" Ganya said again, shaking me out of my thoughts, "Jermayn is asking the elders if he can have your hand in marriage!"
Chapter One: The Legend and Proposal
The legend of how our tribe was formed has been passed down for generations. It's unlikely that it's exactly the same story as when it was first told, but I still like to sit cross-legged with my siblings at my father's feet as he tells it again.
In the beginning, our tribe was nothing more than an empty plot of land. There were only two tribes that existed back then, one in the Far East, and one in the Far West.
If you walk for many months east, you will eventually come to mountains topped with snow, and this is where you will find the Eastern Tribe. They have lived in these conditions for as long as there has been a tribe, and their skin is as pale as the snow they live on. In this tribe there was a very handsome man named Akin.
Akin had been betrothed to a woman that he did not love; it was an arranged marriage set by the elders. He decided that he would rather leave as an outcast than be forced to do something that he did not want to do, so he confronted the elders of the tribe and spoke his wish; he wanted permission to leave the tribe.
The elders were so angry that Akin would not agree to marry whom they had chosen for him, that they cast him out and pushed him off the mountain, leaving him for the dead.
Akin's mother, who loved him more than anyone else, cried as she watched her son fall, but she could not help him or else she would suffer the same fate.
While this took place in the Eastern Tribe, in the west, a similar situation was happening.
The Western Tribe was an opposite tribe to the Eastern, in climate, people, and traditions; but in this case they were parallels. The Western Tribe lived in a tropical climate, surrounded by forest. The people of the tribe had dark skin, tanned from the sun.
In this tribe, there was a young woman by the name of Freja. She was an important woman in the tribe, the daughter of the elder who ruled over all of the Western Tribe. As with Akin, she was soon to be married.
In Freja's case, there was no arranged marriage. A strong man of the tribe had asked for her hand, and as a Western Tribal woman, she had no choice but to accept, as it was what the women did in that tribe.
But she wanted to marry for love, not because she had to. Knowing that she would not get permission from her father, Freja decided she must get away.
The next morning, she was gone. Search parties were sent out, but she could not be found, and they eventually gave up, presuming her dead.
Freja was not dead, she was already near the Eastern Tribe, but at that time the tribes did not know of each other, so she did not know where she was heading. She got to the foot of one of the mountains, and found Akin, cocooned in snow.
She had never seen someone as pale as he was, and not knowing that up the mountain everyone looked like that; she mistook him for an angel that had fallen from the sky.
When Akin awoke, he was lying on ground not covered by snow. Before then he had been unaware that such a thing existed. Freja was sitting beside him, washing the cuts he had gotten from his fall. She had carried him from the Western Tribe to where our tribe stands now.
The two fell in love, and Freja was soon carrying Akin's child. They had many, many children, so many that a whole tribe was started. That tribe is our tribe.
"And that is the story of how our tribe was formed." Papa finished. My little sister Abiah, who had been sitting on my lap for the story, bounced up and down excitedly.
"Did you hear that Zeira? Akin fell off a cliff and then Freja found him and they fell in love and-"
"Yes, I know little Abiah, I heard the story too." I replied, grinning at the small 4-year-old.
There were eight of us in our family. We were dark-skinned, descendents of Freja. There was Papa and Mama, and six children.
Ganya was the eldest, but she was married and had children of her own now. Then came Zion and Zur, they were twins, both 17. Zion was engaged already, but Zur loved hunting more than women. I didn't see them very much because they were living in the boy's dorm until they were 18.
I was the next oldest, but only 15. Kadia was my younger sister, whom I was closest to; she was 14. Then finally there was little Abiah; who was the baby of the family.
In our tribe there are 4 social classes. The Elders are the most important of everyone and are to be deeply respected. They run the tribe, making the big decisions. They hide away in their tent, and they get other tribe members to run messages for them.
The Adults are next important. When you turn 18, you have a choice whether you want to join the adults, or if you want to wait until you are 20. Men get two choices; in a year's time Zion and Zur have to make their choice.
They can either choose a wife and have a family, or they can pledge to look after the tribe by building more huts and hunting for food. Women, however, must marry and have a family who will continue the tradition.
I'm a Ya, a young adult. On your 13th birthday you go through a ceremony that means you are not a child anymore. It also means we can finally leave the teaching dorms and go back home. As a Ya, it is our job to do jobs where we can. Some of us teach the young children how to sew, cook, and hunt.
Abiah has been a Chi from birth. Until she is 5 she is looked after by her parents, but on her 5th birthday she goes into a teaching dorm with all the other children. It's meant to help them focus more on working, but the only thing I remember is getting really homesick.
That's our tribe. It may seem strange to some people, but it's been tradition since Akin and Freja had their first child.
That evening, Ganya rushed into our tent. Everyone was surprised to see her, so there were hugs and greetings from everyone present. But she had a message for me.
"Zeira! Do you remember Jermayn?" She asked me hurriedly. I nodded, of course I did. Jermayn was 20 years old, and had been an adult since he was 18. He had been one of Zion's closest friends when he was a child.
When I had first turned 13, Jermayn was going to turn 18 in a few months, but for those few months we had naive plans to get married, not realizing that he would be married by the time I became an adult. So far he wasn't married, he was still making the decision whether or not to get married at all.
"Zeira!" Ganya said again, shaking me out of my thoughts, "Jermayn is asking the elders if he can have your hand in marriage!"
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