Chapter 15: Home, and Yet Again, Another One

Despite their awkward introduction, Ty finally learned the chieftain of the Lo-res village was Toifl. Anna and Tanya informed him his wife’s name was Lollt, technically Lollt-Toifl, since wives add their husband’s name to their own to connoting ... ownership? Ty couldn’t envision the custom continuing for long, as the name was certainly a handful. Clearly an honored name, though still unwieldly.

Eventually getting down to brass tacks, still granting Tims room to negotiate, Ty got Toifl to accept another eight-spear shipment, along with another eight babfoo canteens. One each for the team he’d send to conduct the next trade. This time, already having the longer one, Toifl wanted the shorter throwing spears for hunting. Though he especially admired the showmanship of trained synchronized spearmen too. So it was essentially a two-for-one deal, doubly worthwhile for the same cost.

Ty’s biggest concern was transferring the weapons, since Tims could only carry two. Sending a bigger team, consisting of both men and women—actually boys and girls in Ty’s mind—was the obvious solution. Allowing them to visit all three villages in one extended trip.

However, rather than taking their new trainees with them, like they’d done for Larr, they instead stayed over, preparing another feast as he introduced not only the spears and water canteens, but also soap and shampoo—proving popular with everyone they encountered. Smelling nice, being attractive to the opposite sex and improving the entire village’s continued survival, what’s not to like about such trades?

So in preparation for the feast, Till and Lor took on Tih, Anna and Tanya took on Til, while Ty and Till accompanied Ti on their initial kills to ensure they’d survive whatever they encountered venturing into the forbidding hostile forests. Each did quite well, returning with sufficient food for a massive feast, though to ensure its success they had the teams return for more, while Ty and the other returnees taught the village how to safely roast their kills.

It was again a phenomenal success and Toifl remained as oblivious to how many of his villages volunteered to join Ty’s now-forested village since the benefits were apparently so plentiful. Lollt selected to remain with her husband as these continued losses were likely to cost Ty’s village in future trade. Though with more spears and trained hunters, they too could feed ever growing populations, so their somewhat diminished population was more a temporary than a lasting complication.

Finally Ty and the girls taught the village how to construct travois, though theirs would be hand-pushed, rather than horse drawn as theirs was. Beks for one was pleased with that outcome, already planning to train other monster-horse caretakers rather than retaining the sole responsibility for Biscuit.

In exchange, they returned with not just the unrefined copper to smelt themselves, they also brought someone to learn the smelting process, therefore guarding the technology to ensure other nearby villages wouldn’t simply duplicate their efforts, instead being forced to trade for the copper tools and trinkets instead.

Ty also promoted the idea of fashioning copper rings as an easy-to-carry currency, introducing a stable and solid monetary system. Making significant progress this trip with guaranteed successes for any return trips, even without Ty’s presence. Tims was especially enamored with the concept of a hard currency for easy trading beyond bartering of goods and services at arbitrary and wildly fluctuating rates.

Which triggered interest in the establishment of exchanging people for mastering those specific new skills. Once trained, each village could easily train additional hunters, though training one person at a time would take longer transferring the other skills as quickly. Especially as it depended on knowing how to properly build fires with sufficient heat to properly smelt copper.

An ongoing exchange of skilled craftsman would do more for long-term trade than training a few hunters and guards ever could. Especially when the tradesmen hired their own guards and hunters.

Not only were Ty and Tims happy, so were his wives, future wives and the other returnees too. With everyone satisfied, Ty wasn’t eager to stir up any new conflicts, especially potential enemies. Even better, exchange of goods and services could also stop at each village on each separate trip, making such future trades even more lucrative. Ty was happy Anna finally forced his hand, pressuring him to concede to maintain his happy home and lifestyle.

Noone was interested learning to domesticate and train wild and clearly dangerous animals. They acknowledged it worked well for Ty, yet no one else dared attempt it themselves, establishing a future trade in domesticated animals as a longer-term trade item. Now they just had to figure out what the Ro variant of lambs, goats or sheep were, as it would likely take multiple generations of continued selective breeding to achieve. No added pressures there!

Still they were problems for others besides Ty to resolve and develop over years for their continued long-term trades. Like Beks, he was happy offloading those specific tasks to others willing to personally tackle them, while he focused on other more productive avenues to investigate.

First though were copper-tipped spearheads, ensuring no one could easily duplicate their spears simply by stumbling upon a swamp and recognizing the same trees.

It was an especially productive trip, since the other villages would share their discoveries and newly acquired skills with each other, rather than relying on Ty’s people alone. Plus with volume of newcomers they were attracting, each eager to earn a living through hard, honest work, no other village could possibly outperform them in any given task.

His people were now more motivated, possessed more resources—except copper and flint of course, and they’d likely discover a local flint source—knowing what precisely to search for.

If anything, their return promised to be disappointing, as they’d accomplished more than they’d hoped on this one. Though it was still a several-day trip, at least with Ty’s menagerie of mildly domesticated wild animals. Though they now had enough new people to take over his animal handling and training tasks too. Especially as they only required care and reinforcing their training, rather than full domestication. This well of fortune would remain productive for a long, long time.

Later Beks approached, highlighting the two women weren’t quite handling everything, though he didn’t mind, assuming this task deserved his attention.

“Ty, I’ve been talking with the others my age and they’re all eager to take over dealing with Biscuit, as you trained him long ago so as long as he’s fed and walked he’s fine. The main issue is keeping him calm and moving at a steady face, not running off or beserking. They now have it well in hand.

“However, no one wants to deal with Tigger. So I’m willing to take him on, but ... I don’t want it to be a full time thing either. I, I miss hunting with your other wives. When I first took on Biscuit, I thought it meant I’d be in charge of the...” she paused. “Is it forrowing or plowing?”

He chuckled. “I see the older women confused you. A furrow is a single line of dug up earth. So furrows are left after you’ve plowed the ground. So the word you want is ‘plowing’.”

“Good, I was getting confused. Anyway, I hoped by assuming responsibility for Biscuit, I’d be responsible for helping with the plowing. Only it’s been weeks and we’re not ready to begin.”

“Don’t worry. You go have fun with Tiss and Lor and I’ll help fill in. I haven’t spent much time with Biscuit recently and that’s on me, not you. Though how well he or any of the other animal deals with Tigger is an open question. Though again, now that they’re fully trained it’s easier maintaining that training.

They know causing trouble will likely leave them hungry and they’re so accustomed to regular meals, they don’t want to consider going without for any longer.”

“Even Perlina is more than most can cope with. They realize a single mistake will likely cost them their lives or a limb. That’s a lot to ask of anyone.”

“It is,” he conceded. “We have two options, either take Perlina hunting with you, as she’s used to working with us, or we’ll see whether we have volunteers once we return home. Heck, it’s even possible Anna, Tanya or even Till may be willing to take her on. Even if things go awry, I’m ready to step in and prevent them from out of control.”

“All of your animals are terrified of Biscuit accidentally stepping on them or Tigger losing his patience. Still if you or they can manage them, it would be wonderful. Having seen Perlina hunt, I wouldn’t mind letting her tag along, as he’s saved us more times than I have.”

“Never question your accomplishments. You’ve done well, even if taking care of Biscuit was an unfortunate sideways move. Soon, we’ll be home and you can begin working with Biscuit in plowing our fields. It’ll be a lot of work for the first years with lessor amounts each following year. Then we’ll have more food than we can possibly cope with and we’ll actively trade it with other villages who can’t possibly find as much as we can supply on a regular basis.

“Agriculture is the future, wild domesticated animals are more of a pastime and entertaining hobby, of no immediate value in itself. The planted fields will feed everyone long after I and the others are gone. I’ll need to determine how to deal with my personal pets in the future. Still, they definitely make an impact as they’re impossible to ignore during negotiations.”

“He is, especially since they’re so friendly and passive with you. Without your calming influence though, there’s no telling what may happen.”

“Once they recognize who’s feeding them every day, they’ll be respectful. Still, in my time, wild animals, especially wilds cats like Tigger or Perlina, often turn on their caretakers and need to be put down.”

“Thanks, that gives me confidence going forward.”

“If nothing else, making it a team effort allows you to distract and keep them off guard, even if something does go wrong. Besides, you all know how to defend against even bigger animals than Tigger.”

“Maybe,” she cautioned. “Let me try hunting with Perlina and we’ll see who’s willing to try helping once we return. But you may need to decide what’ll happen to them, once something happens to you.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that. Let me talk it over with the girls and returnees. If nothing else, whoever inherits my crossbow will likely be tasked with taking them out too. Though I’m not planning on dying anytime soon either!”

Their runners’ enthusiasm for learning to read, write and communicate proved beneficial, as they kept turning up to inform them of progress, before spending a few days traveling with them to learn more before returning. Their enthusiasm was contagious, as the others took note of it, joining in as much as they could during the semi-regular lessons. Which kept the returnees too busy for much else. Still, the more widespread the knowledge, the better for everyone. Writing, like agriculture, would most definitely outlast him, barring any unfortunate natural disasters or invasions.

The runners’ enthusiasm for learning was decreasing their message carrying value. It was now more distraction than advantage, just as his domesticated animals were. He needed to reconsider his priorities and better chose which things to focus on moving forward.

The various late joiners kept asking the others what transpired in Lo-res, specifically how he ever captured, domesticated and trained a ligor. Who now acted like a familiar family friend—since personal pets were unknown in this day and age, when most can’t even feed themselves.

They were again escorting quite a few new members to their new forest home. While several openly acknowledged joining them for the opportunities, not because they were dissatisfied, most simply left throughout the night, meeting them on the trail leaving the open village. Either way, they too wanted to learn more about the new lives awaiting them.

Mostly, they discussed their forest home—the one Ty hadn’t yet seen—their opportunities and what role they might play in his ongoing enterprises. When he suggested they join future trading parties returning to Lo-res they eagerly volunteered. Also wanting to know about their weapons, not just the spears but Ty’s crossbow, survival knife and the other humans leading things.

The older members regaled the newcomers with tales of their hidden stream—where he often avoided others, feeding them. Since the girls were already out on hunting parties, both before and behind the others, he called his animals, heading out on his own.

“Tigger, seek!” he commanded. His pet ligor perked up at that. All the fun of seeking and stalking, without the struggle of downing potentially dangerous prey—his meals were now guaranteed. He set off, loping ahead and stopping often, sniffing the breeze for anything of note. Rather than his normal stalking mode, his tail wagging excitedly.

Ty, his crossbow handy, still using his spear as a walking stick, followed, separating himself from everyone else, crowds frustrating him. With their continuing noise, he lost all control of any potential situations, long before they occurred. And he preferred controlling things, as it’s how you keep them from falling apart.

Tigger kept going, with Ty keeping a watchful eye, while trying to keep up, when he suddenly froze. Ty hadn’t taught him any of the traditional hunting commands, not thinking they were necessary. This was good enough, no need for overkill.

Nearing his ligor, Tigger edged towards the woods on the right, yet didn’t advance. Ty heard some sounds from within the forest a short distance away, then heard the distinct sound of small children.

Looking back for some feminine reinforcement, he saw the now distant Anna and Tanya, waving them forward. Realizing he’d discovered something significant, they began a fairly easy trot, having partially learned how to move silently. They were hardly adept yet, yet progress was progress.

As they approached, he pointed into the woods, holding a finger to his lips. They slowed, not wanting to startle whatever he was interested in, both carrying their spears. He held his two palms to the ground, partially bending his knees, and they got the message, setting their spears down. He held up two finger, and held his hand up, approximating the size of a size child.

Glancing quizzically at him, not interpreting his signal and again approached cautiously, guessing it wasn’t dangerous. Waving them forwards, again indicating their position, he quietly stepped back a pace or two, giving Tigger the signal to lay down. He was more than happy to comply, knowing he’d already earned his treat doing nothing.

Nearing, they heard the children’s voices just before hearing a low-pitched growl. Sensing danger, the girls fell silent, though no one knew where it originated.

Suddenly, the girls ventured out, both holding well-worn flint knives and what could only be the Ro equivalent of a weasel, its head pitched much lower than its ass, its head near the ground, issuing an accompanying menacing growl.

The girls eyes widened, seeing Ty and a nearby terrifying ligor and froze. When neither moved, they faced the two older women.

“We want to ensure you girls are safe,” Anna ventured. “We have food and water if you’d like. The water is fresh, though we’ll need to cook the food so it’s safe to eat.”

The girls stared at her before glancing at each other, waving their knives—looking larger in their tiny hands. Their weasel didn’t move, its whole body tensing.

“We need nonething,” she one hissed, before her friend tapped her shoulder, suggesting otherwise. When she didn’t respond, she spoke for herself.

“You not take us back?” she demanded.

“Not if you don’t want to, though we have a wonderful village near, with hundreds of people and plenty of food, water and safety.”

The girls cocked their heads, as if not quite following her sentences. “We have food, a safe village and you’ll be safe.” Anna continued.