Ember of a New World (5 page)

Just like you taught me mother
, she thought.

East had just donned her own garb and was about to step out, pr
e
sumably to help prepare the feast. Ember smiled a warm farewell, seeing that Na Na and the girls had already left, and we
nt back to her work.

“Don't be late tonight Ember. For the first time in your life
,”
East said with a
half-smile
leaving Ember to work.

Making myself beautiful is a time consuming job indeed
, Ember thought.
First she would need to paint her body a uniform color. In the past, she had tried different tones and patterns, but she too often en
d
ed up with odd-looking colorings and stripes. Tonight she would stick with
the
basics and keep everything uniform. Her dress was green and showed a lot of skin, so a blue coat of paint might help her hide some of her skin. The blue paint was colored a deep shade of indigo and made by an imported yellow flowering plant which required an inte
n
sive process to extract the beautiful blue colored dye. Some villages had actually grown some of the plants locally due to the extreme va
l
ue and rarity of blue dy
e, but this was very uncommon.

Making paint and dye was a difficult and time consuming pr
o
cess, which was said to please the Gods. After a sizable amount of the plants were obtained from a south-eastern trader or picked, the plants were chopped and their parts removed and sorted. Traded plants were often dried from the long trip west. First, the plants were steeped in boiling water,
and then
combined with a small amount of urine, used to bring out the color, and many fragrant herbs (which removed the bad smell). The mixture was briskly stirred and then left to sit for a few days until most of the water had evaporated leaving blue-caked pieces on the bottom of the pot. These pieces could be ground and m
ixed with oils to form paints.

Normally
,
Ember sparingly used the precious pigments, but t
o
night was a special night; her special night. The string tunic would cover much but would leave gaps the width of a small twig, exposing her skin running vertically from her neck to her knees. Ember r
e
moved a large glob of paint and mixed it with some of the oil in a small pot to allow the paint to apply over a greater area. She slowly rubbed the blue oil over every inch of her skin.

The reason was not out of modesty; Most people were fast to cover their most private of areas, but some nudity was not uncommon when the days were hot
enough or
when swimming. The heavy clot
h
ing worn by much of the tribe was done so out of necessity due to the long cold season. When inside homes, men and women often r
e
moved their upper garments, but they also generally covered their bodies with stains and pigments. The paints allowed otherwise overly exposed skin to be considered socially ac
ceptable.

Ember used plenty of paint, applying rich coats to her face and down her back, carefully. Painting your own back was difficult. Had Fox remained, Ember would have asked her to help. Instead, she used
a thin strip of soft leather to rub back and forth across her back, smearing and staining it with paint. Ember took a moment to inspect her arms and considered the effect the light blue stain of pigment would have on her skin as it shown through the string tunic. Being lightly stained blue, Ember started to feel a wave of excitement at how exotic she would look.

She spent the next few moments
rubbing her body by the low burning fire, letting the oil work deeply into her skin so she would not leave blue marks wherever she bumped or brushed against a wall. The coloring was oil based, but fast absorbed and would last many days. After she was thoroughly blue, Ember donned and tied a simple nec
k
lace, anklets, and bracelets, all made of leather thong with clay beads. Using the same blackened pot filled with water as a reflecting pool, she applied several small black dots in a horizontal line, her personal design, below her eyes on each side of her face. Three dots under each eye. This design was an adaptation of the pattern
Na Na often painted onto pots.

Before the string dress could be worn, certain “safeguards” would need to be taken. Ember carefully tied a leather thong around her waist and attached a short thin strip of soft doe skin through the front and back of the loop. This breechcloth was much thinner and smaller than normal, but it would not be noticeable and prevented accidental embarrassing situations as well as making sitting on the ground a tad more comfortable. Finally, Ember slid the beautiful, delicate, string tunic over her head and tied it with the beaded thong. It took a m
o
ment to adjust herself and come to terms with parts which just poked out of the vertically slit dress no matter what she did.

Oh well, if I am to be a woman I might as well show everyone what that means
, she thought as she pulled the belt tight. Ember looked at herself in the blackened pot and was overwhelmed by how she looked. Was she already a woman? How could a girl look as she did? Tears watered in her eyes as the rush of excitement welled in her chest and tingled all the way down to her toes, in waves. The anticip
a
tion of the night was overwhelming. Ember quickly got a soft leather rag to wipe the tears and fix her paint.

The night air was cooler than the day but still warmer than no
r
mal. Ember lifted the deer hide door and stepped out into the night. Ember stood and stretched, preparing her body for the nightlong dan
c
ing. If she didn't stretch her body, injury was assured. As far as Ember was concerned, stretching was one of the more pleasurable things a
person could do and a perfectly acceptable way to spend a hot afte
r
noon, as rare as they were.

To her right, not far off, was a large fire burning high into the night air, perhaps the height of a man. Ember watched as many of her people danced around the blaze thoroughly enjoying themselves. At this early point, dancers of all ages were mostly just having a good time to the sound of music. Off to the side, many food items for the taking were laid out on thick reed mats. The fine foods included strips of roasted pork, various pâtés of meats and fish organs, roasted tubers, roasted deer liver, lentils with salt, Ember's favorite, and berries of many types. The grandest of all of the foods were the giant roasting spits with full deer, boar, and small birds crackling and sizzling! Some of the younger men were cutting off pieces for a line of people who couldn't stop licking their lips at the sight.

As Ember walked through the village, the wind reminded her how free-flowing her new dress was. There was a sort of existential excitement to the feel of the warm night breeze on her skin and the promise of an exciting night. Ember could feel tingles of excitement and thrill moving up and down her body and she slowly approached the fire. Under her breath
,
Ember whispered a prayer to the fire spirits for an eventful and exciting night. Ember finished her prayer and took a moment to consider the night around her.

Women, children, and men alike sat on the grass or on mats near the flame watching the dancing while eating the delicious food. Nea
r
ly the entire village was present, with only a few hunters guarding the village perimeter. Those hunters would eventually trade off with a second group of men allowing all to partake in the rituals and celebr
a
tion. In total
,
Ember's tribe consisted of about eighty men and a slightly larger number of women, not counting children. As far as tribes went, hers was
of
medium size. Ember had heard of huge tribes to the east where such ceremonial events could last days! She was glad for the sh
ortness of her Lunar Festival.

“Ember! Ember!
” called a voice.
Ember had not gone more than a few steps when she heard her name
again
bei
ng called by a familiar voice.
She turned to see her friends Fire Blossom and Kanter rapidly approaching. Fire Blossom was generally called “Blossom” by her friends. She was named for a small red flower which grew in the area. Ironically, Fire Blossom spent much of her time hanging around E
m
ber, and jokes were often made. It was sometimes said, “
Where
there's an Ember, there's often a Fire”. The jokes were actually quite
accurate. Regardless, the two girls had grown up togeth
er and were good friends.

Beside Blossom walked Kanter, a young lad from the opposite corner of the village. Kanter and his mother had joined the tribe many
harvests
before after his father and uncle had been killed while the quartet traveled. Kanter was originally of a different tribe and his name had some meaning in another language. Ember had asked him many times, but he always dodged her questions. Kanter was very shy about his past and even his tribe. In fact, it was generally suspected that only the elder members of the tribe even knew the details. Ember certainly did not. Maybe one day he would tell her the meaning..., or perhaps she had other ways of learning. Ember could be sneaky like a fox when she wanted, and “quick like bunny” if caught. Ember might be able to
convince
Blossom to coax the meaning of Kanter's name through any number of insidious means. Such
cunning
and plotting require lots of time and
planning;
something Ember was less than good at.

Kanter was dressed in a soft leather-wrap around his waist and many long hawk feathers in his hair. His face was colored lightly red with ocher paint with little black dots evenly space throughout. He wore no top given the warm night, but his back had been painted with black horizont
al stripes. Blossom wore
a
wide, apron-like,
soft leather
loincloth
with flowers
in her hair
attached at various lengths, instead of her usual fish leather skirt.
Blossom wore dark red face paint, sim
i
lar to Kanter, but with subtle zigzagging patterns.
Her
outfit
was
not
very covering, but quite acceptable on a ritual night.

Kanter and Blossom were a pair, seeming more closely related to a mated couple than either of their parents knew. The following warm season would see them both become recognized as adults. Only time would tell if they would remain a pair, but for now they were insep
a
rable. If they chose to be coupled, it would be allowed because Kanter actually hailed from another tribe. Ember knew that such a union would bring with it the answers of Kanter's origins, but Ember would be forced to wait quite a long time. Pushing such thoughts aside, E
m
ber watched her friends as they approa
ched. The night was dark, and f
r
o
m a distance the details of costumes couldn't be determined, but as the two approached, the sheer beauty of Ember's costume manifested into stunning view before them. Both came to a
halt and gawked, mouths open.

“Ember? How did you... where did you get... that?!” Blossom asked. Blossom turned giving a confused look at Kanter, which quic
k
ly turned to an angry glare when she noticed that Kanter was carefully looking Ember over from head to foot. Blossom poked Kanter hard in the side with her pointer finger which brought his attention back to her. She looked carefully at Kanter, scolding him all the while, and spoke to Ember, never l
etting her eyes leave her lover.

“How did you get such a garment? I know this is your coming of age night, but
... and it's so... revealing!”

Ember smiled and blushed with embarrassment. She wondered if her blue-dyed skin was turning a purple color in the light.

“My mother traded for it. I guess all of that flint was needed elsewhere. Anyway, tonight only comes once. If I am to be a woman, I might as well attract a man. It should do the trick, don't you think?”
Ember concluded.
Blossom and Kanter both no
dded with wide eyes.

“If yo
u need to attract one, that is,”
Blossom squeezed Kanter closer and added,
indicating Kanter. The three friends laughed and journeyed merrily towards the large fire and celebrations. Kanter was significantly confused by the exchange between the girls but
conti
n
ued
walking
along beside Fire Blossom.

As the trio approached the fire, the shapes which they had seen dancing around the fire took on faces and names. Ember called out to several of the party goers who waved back with enthusiasm. There were men wearing leather wraps and painted from head to toe with designs of brightly colored paint. Most of the dancing men had var
i
ous head dress, often resembling the antlers of deer or the horns of bulls, made of sticks and secured with thongs of leather. Many of the women wore short skirts or smocks or tunics of reed, bark, flax, or leather. They decorated the rest of their bodies with paints, feathers, and their finest jewelry. The entire tribe had come out and was dan
c
ing enthusiastically to the beat of t
he drums and communal singing.