Two Suns

Archer woke up to the smell of meat, cooking on a fire. His eyes darted to his side to see the fire pit, oozing orange and red flames. There was a stick laid out across the top of the fire. He couldn’t believe that he fell asleep at the fire last night, instead of in his house.

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up,” a deep voice said, coming from behind Archer. The voice belonged to his father, Tattoo Alpha. He was a tall man with tan skin and markings along his skin. “The new people arrived yesterday, and I feel that it is time to welcome them to our land.”

Archer groaned, wishing that he could get out of this. It was like a bad joke. He just couldn’t seem to trust the humans, and his father continued welcoming them in the hopes of teaching them his culture. Archer was stubborn and never seemed to back away from his beliefs, no matter how much he tried to. He really did try to like Amberjade, but he still got annoyed at the thought of her name. It was just possible that she always tried to flirt with him, and he wanted her to leave him alone. There wasn’t a day that she didn’t show up in the hopes of talking to him.

“I want you to come with us,” Tattoo said, authority leaking into his voice. His brown eyes searched his son’s face, trying to read his mind. He knew that Archer didn’t want anything to do with the outsiders, but Tattoo wanted to have peace with the people who seemed to have more advanced technology that could help with diseases. Tattoo didn’t want to convert his culture to theirs, but he feared what could happen to his people if they were to go to war.

“You know I don’t want to,” Archer pointed out, looking at his father. He wasn’t even phased by the look he received from his living parent. The only thing that was going through his mind was trying to find a way out of this.

“Oh, come on. They can’t be that bad,” Eva said, stepping into the conversation. She had a basket full of food and jewelry made by the tribe members. “I’m going with you guys. They can’t be as bad as the coyotes, living on the edge of this tribe.”

Everyone in the tribe knew that the coyotes were pests. They were smaller than the wolves, and because of that they weren’t as successful as the larger predator. The coyotes showed no fear to us when they came up to us. They raided our food, and they carried diseases, causing some of the natives to catch them when bitten. There had been a few cases of the natives getting over them, but most of the time they died after two days.

“Fine, I’ll go,” Archer answered, walking towards the new house. He wanted to get this over as soon as he possible could. Annoyance was already setting into Archer’s mind.

Eva looked at Tattoo, shrugging her shoulders. She started following Archer with Tattoo, walking next to her. They both knew that Archer was just a bit too stubborn at times, but they had gotten used to it. They had tried ways to convince him to be a little more open-minded, but it proved to be an useless attempt.

“He gets this from his mom. She just had to name him after the smaller brother.” Tattoo sighed, missing his wife, Mayra. She had died from a disease given to her by the coyotes. It had been a couple of years before the outsiders came here which meant there was no way to save her.

“Everyone knows that Archer is headstrong, but he isn’t over-confident like Rider,” Eva argued, showing off her knowledge of the tribe’s religion. She knew more, of course, but she knew that she couldn’t go on and on about it.

Everyone in the tribe was named after their gods or people in the legends of the gods. The people wanted their children to be successful, and they would name their children after the gods, hoping that they would have the same characteristics of said god. It was a deep rooted part of their culture, and it didn’t seem that it was going anywhere soon.

“Good point,” Tattoo replied, looking at the future spirit leader of the tribe. He was proud that Eva had chosen to do that because she was smart and able to give the right advice at any given moment.

***

Addison stood in the field next to the house. There weren’t anything planted yet, but her father was looking at the land, trying to figure out how he was going to put the garden. The air was dry as it moved across Addison’s face. The sound of feet, crunching on the dehydrated grass, made her turn to see three people, walking from the tribe.

An image of fear flashed across her mind as she realized that they were natives. Then she noticed the girl was carrying a basket, trying not to spill its contents. She couldn’t see what was inside. Addison took a step forward to the back fence. There wasn’t a gate in the back. The only one was in the front with the gravel driveway.

“Don’t be frightened,” the oldest one said in a calm manner. His brown eyes were gentle as he looked at the girl. “I’m Tattoo, the chief of the Alpha Tribe. This is my son, Archer.” He waved his hand towards the guy who appeared to be a few years older than her.

“I’m Eva,” the girl said. Her smile was welcoming and beautiful. A blue line was painted across her face below her eyes, making Addison wonder what she did in the Alpha Tribe. “We came to welcome you in the Alpha Tribe land.”

“Um, well, I’m Addison, and that’s my father, Earl. I think my mother is inside,” Addison said, looking towards the chief. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Archer looks at the brunette. She has soft features, and she isn’t very tall. Archer’s eyes is able to look over her. She seems to be a little more respectful and quiet than Amberjade and her family. Archer happens to be a little surprised by this, but he still doesn’t know what she is truly like. She could just be nervous, and everything ould change once she got comfortable in the new area.

“I’m assuming you are from the Alpha Tribe,” Earl said, stepping next to his daughter. He put his hand, ready to introduce himself to the new people and not thinking about their culture.

Tattoo looked at him, surprised for a second. His people didn’t shake hands, but then he remembered that the Earth people did. He stuck his hand out and politely shook Earl’s hand. “I’m sorry for the hesitation, Earl,” Tattoo said, telling him the reason for it.

Earl apologized quickly because he forgot about that from the meeting the other day. He still had a small book, talking about it, and he had really memorized everything yet. He didn’t want to come off as rude, and he feared that he had ruined the peace. Earl almost invited them inside, but he didn’t know if that was appropriate. It didn’t matter anyways; there was much food inside that he could offer.

Archer stared at Earl, trying to overlook the gesture that he did. He didn’t understand why they shook hands. It seemed so weird and alien to him. The cultural difference made Archer question why he even came to this. He got another look at the girl. She stood silent as she took in this interaction, playing with her fingers. He couldn’t help but see something sad about her which was a part of the reason why he was curious about her.

“It’s fine. We understand it’s hard to adjust to a new place and its behaviors. We have brought you gifts, showing you our peace,” Tattoo assured the guy. Archer’s father turned to look at Eva.

Eva stepped forward, handing the basket to Addison since she was closer. “It’s just some our food and some of the jewelry that we make. We do hope that you like it.”

Addison glanced in the basket to see necklaces made out of beautiful stones that varied in color. They were all elegantly designed, and she felt guilty that she didn’t have anything to give to them. The food smelled amazing. She couldn’t see what it was since the food was wrapped in cloth.

“Thank you,” Addison said with a friendly smile. She didn’t sound as nervous as she did earlier. “It’s all wonderful.”

Archer looked at the girl, shocked by her words. The Flame family didn’t even say thank you when they received their gifts. It was just a ‘how nice’ and a warm smile that seemed fake. Archer didn’t even know how to react to that. He wanted to know more about Addison who caught him staring at her.