Chapter 9
Becoming Friends
In the morning, Gabrielle woke to find herself snuggled against the hard naked body of Tala. She breathed in Tala's scent and felt a tingle run through her body. It was still dark out, but there was enough light for Gabrielle to easily see Tala's peaceful features in sleep. Gabrielle felt very warm and comfortable in Tala's embrace, so she sleepily nestled back down to doze a little while longer.
When she woke again, Tala was gently shaking her shoulder. "Good morning," Gabrielle greeted her languidly.
As soon as Tala was sure Gabrielle was awake, she began getting dressed again in her furs. Gabrielle stretched and watched for a moment, as the tall woman put her clothing back to rights. Then she scooted to the edge of the furs and put her boots on. She got up and followed Tala outside.
There were several dozen people already up and about, a few standing around a cook fire where a large haunch of meat was being roasted. Tala walked over to the fire and pulled a chunk of meat off. She tasted it and then spoke a few words to the people standing around. They immediately dug into the food, passing out portions to the children first, then to the older members, then finally to everyone else.
Tala handed the chunk of meat to Gabrielle and pulled off another for herself. Gabrielle was a little surprised at the pecking order where the food was concerned. She would have thought the strongest would have first dibs, but apparently not.
She tasted the meat. It was tangy, like the venison the hunting parties brought back to New Gaia, but in a much stronger way. From what Gabrielle could tell, there were no herbs to mask any of the meat's natural flavors. It was good.
She spent the day following Tala around, picking up bits and pieces of conversations as Tala spoke with her people. By late afternoon, Julia arrived with Margaret and the other Warriors. Gabrielle greeted them and checked to make sure the food and skins were all there as she had requested.
"Excellent. Let's get this show on the road," Gabrielle said under her breath.
Gabrielle turned to face the growing audience that was gathering. Gabrielle gestured behind her back for her people to spread out behind her and they all lined up on either side of her. She motioned to her group, then at the food, then to Tala and the rest of Tala's people. She smiled and clasped her hands in front of her.
"Friends," she declared and then held out her right hand to Tala.
Tala recognized the ritualism and clasped her hands together to mimic Gabrielle's movements. "Friends," she said loudly, and then held out her own right hand to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle's eyes twinkled in humor at the obvious mirroring of her gestures. Then she solemnly grasped Tala's outstretched arm with her own.
"Friends," she said again, and Tala repeated the word.
Gabrielle released Tala's arm. She practically beamed at her own people. She spoke to Julia, "We did it. We'll return home in the morning and let everyone know we have a truce. Hopefully, we can turn it into an alliance as time goes on."
Julia nodded and turned to prepare everyone to set up camp for the night, but Tala called out to them. Julia looked to Gabrielle for an explanation, but Gabrielle just shrugged her shoulders in bewilderment. Gabrielle turned back to Tala to wait for some kind of explanation.
Tala yelled a few words over her shoulder and was greeted with a huge chorus of cheers in return. The people to the left and right of Tala moved forward and began distributing the food to everyone. Gabrielle saw over a dozen people come running back out of their huts with little drums and other musical instruments. In the space of a few minutes, a rip-roaring party was going. Tala pulled her into a circle of dancing people and Gabrielle looked back at her astonished Second Advisor with a helpless grin on her face.
"Uh, join in, if you want," she called out, then disappeared into the melee of dancing figures.
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Tristan strode across the center of the village and down a short trail to the clearing that had been taken over by Gregory and his Warriors Guild. There were several small buildings off to the left side of the field. One housed the weapons, both those that had been brought from the future and those that had been carefully made after they'd arrived. The second was Gregory's office and it contained a simple table that was used as a desk, a chair, and a couple of cabinets that held Gregory's records concerning the ranks, standings, and accomplishments of each of his Warriors.
Tristan stood off to the side and watched a small group of Warriors practice their archery under Gregory's watchful eye. Paul had started that particular training when the Hunters League had been founded, but Gregory had quickly proved to be a fast learner and had surpassed even Paul's incredible skill with the bow and arrow. Now, they shared the task of teaching and refining the skills of the Warriors and Hunters in the art of the bow.
Gregory saw Tristan and walked behind the line of archers. He said something to one of the archers that Tristan couldn't hear and the woman took Gregory's place, calling out commands of 'ready, aim, fire' to the others still in line.
"They're looking really good, Baby," Tristan said quietly, so the others wouldn't hear. Gregory was a big teddy bear with Tristan in private, but in front of 'his Warriors,' Gregory felt he had a reputation to uphold.
"They're doing really good," he confirmed. "With that year of makeshift weapons the first time around, everyone was kind of sluggish to want to go back to that. But then that last year of preparing to come here, everyone started getting into it. And now, with the practice of putting to use what we've been drilling into them all this time, I think everyone is actually enjoying themselves. It makes it easier to learn when you actually want to, so everyone's picking it up really fast," Gregory concluded.
"Well, I think it helps they have such a good teacher," Tristan complimented his lover.
Gregory felt a warmth enter his tanned cheeks. The way this man could get under his skin with just a few words... "I'm not the only one teaching them. Paul and George are here almost every day working with anyone who needs help."
Tristan shook his head. The man couldn't accept a compliment to save his life. "But you're the one who's responsible for it all. If someone fucks up, no one's going to look to George or Paul for answers. So, from my point of view, if you have to accept the blame, you should at least get to accept the credit, too," he reasoned.
Gregory blinked his eyes. Tristan was always looking out for him in some way. "I love you," he said quietly. It was the only way he knew to thank the young blond for caring enough about him to make sure he knew his worth.
"I know. I love you, too," and he leaned in to kiss Gregory soundly on the lips.
Tristan let his arms wrap around the taller man, his fingers going to the back of Gregory's head to play in the short dark strands of hair there. Gregory relaxed into the embrace and snaked his arms around Tristan's waist, the tips of his fingers scraping along the top of a firm ass as they bent into claws to pull Tristan closer.
Gregory broke the kiss and got his ragged breathing under control. He ducked his head slightly to look covertly over his shoulder. No one was watching them.
"Don't worry, I don't think I've blown your cover as a hard-as-nails commander," Tristan whispered.
Gregory grinned. "Never can be too careful. Besides, this is personal. I don't want to share this with anyone else," he said.
"Why don't you finish up here and then we can have dinner at home, just the two of us," Tristan suggested.
"That sounds perfect. I'll be there before you know it," Gregory promised.
Tristan turned around and went back up the trail to find Luis to get some 'take out.'
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Gabrielle collapsed to the ground and held her hands up. She was laughing so hard she could barely get the words out.
"No more. Please, no more," she pleaded.
Tears were starting to stream down her face from all the laughter she had subjected her body to. Tala looked down at her and took pity on the small woman. She grinned and helped the woman back to her feet. They'd been dancing for hours. Tala led Gabrielle away from the dancing crowd and they walked to the small stream they'd found earlier in the day. She sat down several feet back from the water's edge and patted the ground next to her for Gabrielle to join her.
It was cold out, but the dancing had made them both very hot. The breeze coming off the water sent welcome relief over their heated skin. Gabrielle stared at the water reflecting in the moonlight. It was beautiful and very soothing.
"Water," Tala said, and pointed to the liquid rushing by.
Gabrielle nodded, then stretched out her arms to take in the whole length of the river. "River," she expanded.
Tala looked at her companion curiously. Gabrielle frowned and shook her head. There had to be a way to explain this.
Gabrielle held up her left hand and pointed at her index finger. "Finger," she said. Tala repeated dutifully, still looking a little confused. Then Gabrielle flexed her whole hand. "Hand," she stated and waited for Tala to repeat again. Tala complied.
Gabrielle stood up and moved closer to the edge of the water. She scooped up a handful and then said, "Water." She let the cold water run out of her fingers and raised her arms out to her sides to enclose the expanse of flowing water. "River," she said and then turned back to Tala.
Tala maintained her confused expression for several moments. Then her face cleared. "Sitpi," she said. It was Gabrielle's turn to look confused. Tala beckoned her to sit again and went through everything Gabrielle had done, using her own language instead. She cupped a handful of water and said, "M'ni." Then she pointed out at the river. "Sitpi," she finished. Understanding dawned on Gabrielle and she smiled.
They spent a few more minutes just watching the water flow by and then slowly made their way back to the village. It didn't take Gabrielle long to figure out that she was expected to stay with Tala again. The fact that Tala was gently nudging her to her hut was a pretty good hint.
Gabrielle pointed to where her people had apparently set up camp while she was otherwise occupied. "I should stay with my people," she said. She knew that some of what she was saying was getting through to Tala, but Tala shook her head and continued to gently push her towards the hut's entrance.
Gabrielle tried to think of a way to get out of the situation without offending the tribal leader. She couldn't think of anything. It didn't help that she was actively looking for an excuse to remain with Tala.
She let herself be guided into Tala's quarters. Tala stripped again and Gabrielle decided that she'd been uncomfortable the night before with all her clothes on. She removed her boots and leather trousers, leaving her long leather shirt on as a kind of nightgown the way she usually did.
Gabrielle climbed under the furs and Tala settled in right next to her, completely bereft of clothing again. Tala pulled the smaller woman next to her and promptly fell asleep. Gabrielle tossed and turned for a short while, before she finally let herself get comfortable in Tala's embrace and joined the raven-haired woman in dreamland.
