Great Spirits

∆ Eleven ∆

As soon as Wren set foot onto Yalawii, he felt her embrace. The wind kissed his cheeks and the hot sun bathed him in light. Although he could not feel the sand against his skin, Wren knew it would wrap around every crevice of his feet, sinking him more into the land. He always loved the feel of it.

"My brothers and sisters, you have returned," a young Yali man said. He wore no tattoos. Wren did not recognize him, but he smiled anyway and accepted his greeting. There was no such thing as strangers or outsiders here. The man came and pressed his forehead to his before moving onto Seti and the other crew members who followed.

Wren tried to turn and see where Silas was, but a woman came and greeted him in the same way as the young man. By time he was able to turn around everyone began fanning out, accepting the gifts and welcome of his people all the while. Children pulled and tried to drag him along with them.

"This way! This way!" a small girl beckoned.

Some stopped to inspect him. His clothes were strange to them. That was not the only thing, though. He wore his hair up instead of down, his skin was bare which was odd for his age, and he had no piercings. He left before his rite-of-passage.

Already he was near the forest where the trees grew strong and big. It would be easy for someone who did not grow up on this island to get lost. Silas was a god, but he was one with terrible direction. He did not want him to get lost.

Wren looked up and saw many brown faces and long black hair. The one's fresh from the shores carried baskets of fish in one hand and a net in the other. Others had spears carved with designs and decorated with accessories. The shells clanked against one another as the beads rattled from the wind.

As Wren searched through the sea of smiling brown faces, more women continued to come from the shores drenched. Their long hair stuck to their skin. Some of it hid their revealed waists. They were laughing and giggling. One touched her hand to her forehead and extended it to Wren before passing by. The other women turned around and quickly did the same and laughed speaking in whispers now.

The shore was left empty with the fanfare and his crew gone. It did not take long for him to find Silas standing on the beach gazing straight into his eyes. Wren let out a sigh of relief and went to fetch him. If he went to the village and announced himself as Täne, that would bring Wren more than just trouble.

Silas lowered to the ground and grabbed handfuls of sand in his hands. He watched it fall through the spaces in between his fingers. Wren thought he must of missed the land and took it as that. Already he was looking better for it, but Wren knew he was exhausted as ever.

"It is almost sunset," Wren interrupted. "We should head to one of the villages and greet the elders and chief."

Silas continued to look around before nodding. As he tried to stand back up, he stumbled back onto the ground. Wren lifted him back up and looked at him with concern. How could he have been so dumb as to try to feed him human food for all this time? Silas kept saying he was hungry and hungry throughout their journey and no matter what food Wren put in front of him he would not eat. Silas could have told him. Now Wren looked like a stupid fool.

Silas stared at him and smiled which only made Wren drop his arm and back away from him.

"I am not going to be attentive to you because you want me to."

"I cannot say I dislike it."

Wren frowned and mumbled, "get up already. You're doing this on purpose."

Silas rose with the gracefulness of a cat. There was not single movement wasted. In all of its perfection his tiredness was as evident as the sun in the sky. Wren needed to get to the village soon, so that they could help him. However, Wren did not want to admit that aloud. He did not want to show Silas that he cared for him even just a little. That sly god would gobble it up at the first chance he got and take advantage of it.