29. Under the Colony Tree, During the Time of Indigo Cloud's Return to the Reaches

(This POV is Hiak, the Kek friend that Merit made during The Dark Earth Below, in the second volume of Stories of the Raksura.)

Hksktst was in the healer's house, planting the new crop of twistvines in the ceiling, when Cthstk ducked into the door and said, "Your Raksura friend is here, the short one with no wings."

Hksktst jumped up. "Good! I was hoping it would come back today." She gathered the rest of the vine sprouts and dropped them in the carrier to keep them moist, then picked up her carrier. She had some new medicinal samples to show Mrt and hoped it had some for her.

As she stepped outside, Cthstk said, "I still can't believe you went inside the protector."

"All I had to do was ask," Hksktst said, and started along the winding path through the town and gardens. All the Kk wanted to talk about now was her adventure inside the protector, but her mind was more on the new plants she was hoping to see. Mrt had been bringing her plants from the mid-light zones, something few if any Kk had ever seen before. Most of them wouldn't grow down here in the safe-dark, but Hksktst and the other healer-growers were experimenting with their medicinal value, and trying to adjust their growth to the new conditions. Having new varietals to work with was always a treat.

"But what if they left you up there and you couldn't walk back," Cthstk protested. She was a builder, a house-weaver, and they always tended to be conservative.

"They wouldn't do that," Hksktst said, patiently. "And besides, I could walk back, down inside the protector and out the door." Raksura just preferred the air route because it was faster, and Raksura wanted everything to be fast. She had explained this before, but Cthstk wanted it explained again. Hksktst expected it was jealousy.

Cthstk shook her fringes in pretend-dismay. "But it must be dangerous to walk so long in the mid-light." Kk were accustomed to long walks in the safe-dark, but walking up was thought to be dangerous. Mostly because it was dangerous, Hksktst had to admit. The predators up in the mid-light regions were all but unknown to the Kk, and it was hard to imagine how safe the inside of the protector actually was until you saw it for yourself. Safe and endlessly strange, and endlessly fascinating. Hksktst had described the entire experience for the Kk historians, to add to their accumulated protector lore.

Hksktst had been born under this protector, one of the first of the new Kk generation, when it had still been empty. She had heard all the stories of how the Kk had split with their parent lineages because the city was becoming too crowded and extending out beyond the safe zone of the old protector's roots.  The historians had sought advice from the Raksura living in the old protector, and had been given directions to find this one. A large, venerable protector, but empty of Raksura and Kek.  Hksktst had heard all the stories of the long, difficult journey, the difficulty of the navigation into unknown territory, and finally the relief and joy of sighting the first massive curve of root looming out of the dark. She still liked to hear all the stories about the gradual exploration of the extent of the new protector's root system, and the founding of the new city. 

They entered the community plaza and Hksktst spotted Mrt. It was already in its soft-skinned form, and made greeting noises and motions. Three of the bigger winged ones were with it, including the dark one. The historians had told the young Kk all about the Raksura living in and tending the old protector, but Hksktst had never expected to see any. When the new Raksura had first arrived, the young ones hadn't realized what they were looking at. Hksktst had heard all the descriptions, but somehow the picture in her head hadn't matched the reality. Though now that she had seen the mid-light and the inside of the protector, the Raksura's odd shapes and angles made more sense.

The winged ones had no interest in plants, and would wander around the city while she and Mrt talked. Hksktst plopped down in front of Mrt and dumped out her carrier. "What bring?" she said in pidgin, as Mrt opened its bag.