Wild Tribe, Crystal Chen [ereader ebook txt] 📗

That caused waves of pain to course through Mica’s body.

“Ow!” she cried, pulling her hand away sharply. “That hurts!” When she saw Pepper’s dismayed expression, she said gently, “Softer, Pepper. And just do it once, like this—” Mica took hold of Pepper’s hand and shook it.

“Ohhh. I see.” Pepper said. She grabbed Mica’s hand again and she flinched. But this time Pepper did it right; a short, firm handshake. “Great job!” Mica exclaimed. Pepper beamed.

She sat back to her seat. Willow patted her on the back. Maple smiled shyly at Mica. They all seem friendly enough. She thought. Perhaps I can trust them, or even better, they’ll let me join their pack! But she pushed that outrageous thought away. After my punishment, I’ll probably just be sent back to Mom and Amber and have to deal with them. Mica sighed. She might as well enjoy herself for now. 

Chapter 7

My eyes stayed open even after everyone had gone asleep. I was thinking about the strangely friendly human that had trespassed our territory yesterday. We let her sleep freely tonight, without any bonds in a temporary teepee we set up. I began wondering if that was a bad choice.

“Willow?” I whispered. Maybe she was still awake.

“Yeah, Maple?” her voice sounded drowsy. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if we made the right choice last night. Would if she tries to kill us?”

“Aw, Maple. Don’t worry. We all outnumber her, anyway. Plus, just one of us, even Pepper, could easily defeat her in a duel.”

“I suppose.”

“Ok now, hush. Go to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day.”

“Wait! Willow, I was thinking—”

“Sleep. Sleep now, Maple. Tomorrow she serves her punishments. We don’t want her to think we are lazy, do we?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then go to sleep.”

I took Willow’s advice and tried to get to sleep. I tried. I really did. But something kept nagging me in the back of my mind that I just couldn’t get to. Finally, past midnight, my eyelids drooped shut. But my sleep was restless, and soon after I was awoken by a scream.

******

She tried. She really did. Mica really tried to kill the youngest, Pepper. She had stolen one of the older ones’ spears, and tried to spear her, thinking that Pepper wouldn’t stand a chance.

But she did.

Pepper fought like a tiger, moving so fast it blinded Mica. Her javelin grazed her countless times, leaving sores, bruises, and cuts. Mica thought Pepper’s intention was not to kill her, but only to weaken her, otherwise she’d be dead on the ground hours ago.

When Mica attacked, Pepper had let out a glass-shattering scream, sure to be heard by her comrades. After getting bruised and battered some more, she fell to the ground and raised bother arms in surrender. Pepper had leapt into a tree and now pounced down, pinning Mica hard to the ground. She gasped for air and groaned, “I give up…”

Pepper’s eyes were wild with fright, but also blazing with rage. “I—I thought I could trust you…” Giving a shake, she banged Mica’s head on the ground three times. Her head exploded with pain, her eyesight turned white…

And she awoke on the ground again, hands and arms tied behind her back. Maple stood over her, her expression grim. Willow held a threatening ax, sharpening it. Pepper and Chive sat aside, whispering to each other.

Uh oh. Mica thought. They are going to kill me now.

Maple squatted and leaned close to her face, causing her to flinch. Maple’s breath was warm, and smelled of fresh picked apples. “Why? Mica, why did you do this?”

Mica shrugged stubbornly. “I wanted to—” Her voice broke.

“Did you want to hurt us?”

She hesitated. “Not really.”

“Then why? Everything has a reason.”

Mica thought. What was the true reason she had tried to kill Pepper? Because she wanted to show them she was capable of defending herself. But instead Mica said, “I wanted to escape.”

“Escape.” Maple echoed, her eyes suddenly glazed, as if she was remembering something faraway in the past. But in a heartbeat it was gone, and Mica wondered if she had imagined it.

Willow stared at Mica, her eyes like deep dark pools. She shivered. Did the wise leader see past her murky lies and into the glow of truth?

“What is the true reason, human?” She squatted beside Maple. Mica couldn’t meet her gaze. The forest was silent, other than the soft chirp of birds. The four were all waiting for her answer.

Mice shifted uncomfortably. “I—” She hesitated. Should I tell them? Quickly she glanced at the expectant faces. “I wanted to show you that I was capable of defending myself.” She confessed, not daring to look up. What would their reactions be? Would they be angry?

“I understand.” Willow’s voice sounded surprisingly gentle. “I used to be like you, human. We all were.” She paused. “But we learn from our mistakes. That is the only way we became who we are today.”

Mica lifted her face up to look at them. “What will you do to me now?” Her voice quavered.

“You still must serve your punishment.” Maple spoke, “But you will only serve twenty lashes, since your case wasn’t too bad. We added lashes because of your attempt to murder Pepper.” Mica glanced at the young warrior, but her face was unreadable. The only sign of expression was her eyes, which eyes glittered with a mixture of anger and sadness. A sharp stab of regret hit Mica. She vowed to earn her place back in Pepper’s heart.

“You will serve the lashes now.” Willow interrupted her thoughts. Mica shuddered, a growing feeling of dread trickling down her throat. But she knew she had to stay strong. She didn’t want them to think she was weak.

“Do to me as you wish.” Mica forced the words out with as much courage as she could muster.

Maple raised her eyebrows. Chive and Pepper rose, expressions grim. “We’ll meet you at the post.” Pepper said quietly. Mica searched her gaze desperately for any sign of affection, but there was none.

“Let’s go.” Willow’s voice had hardened to her normal state, and she roughly jerked Mica to her feet. She resisted a cry of pain, but gritted her teeth until her jaws hurt.

Maple disappeared into the teepee, then reappeared brandishing a long, flexible vine with a wooden handle. The whip. Mica thought, fear closing her throat.

Experimentally, Maple snapped it up and down. The impact sent ripples of dread through Mica’s heart. Twenty lashes. She cried silently, will I come out alive, or as a bloody corpse?

Willow nodded curtly to Maple and dragged Mica along. They went to a small clearing, where a fallen log was set down by the edge. Pepper and Chive sat down there, their backs straight and stiff. In the center of the clearing, a tall, straight birch tree rose. The first branch of the tree grew fifteen feet above Mica’s head. It was a perfect whipping post.

Willow shoved Mica down to her knees. Swiftly, she and Maple tied her hands to the tree and untied her feet. Then, out of nowhere, Maple produced a knife, slicing Mica’s shirt down the middle of her back, leaving her back bare but unharmed. Mica let out a cry of protest, twisting around to glare at them. Maple didn’t respond, and ripped her shirt clean off her body, until it was just torn fabric dangling from her fingertips.

Mica gritted her teeth, warmth spreading out all over her body. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. “You didn’t tell me you were going to take my shirt off—” she seethed, feeling the urge to tear that smug look off their faces.

“Well, how else would we be able to do it?” Willow asked, clearly amused.

Mica glared daggers at her, fury clenching her muscles. Pepper let out a giggle at the far end of the clearing which was abruptly cut off. The world spun around Mica, and she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing the ground could open up and swallow her at that moment.

“Ready?” Maple sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

Anger and embarrassment scorched her body, but Mica forced out a feeble, “Get on with it.”

“Number one.” She heard the swish of leaves as Maple transferred the whip to Willow. There was a breezy whoosh, and Mica squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for impact. Whack! Ripples of pain spread out over her body. She couldn’t stifle the scream that followed.

“Number two.” There was a snap, and the pain exploded again. Tears spilled down Mica’s cheeks. How can I survive eighteen more?

“Number three.” Mica’s knees buckled as she screamed. Darkness clouded her vision.

“Number four.” Let me lose consciousness! Mica pleaded. She couldn’t take it any longer.

“Number five.” Desperate, she writhed to the side. The whip grazed her hip, but missed its target. Satisfied, Mica blinked her eyes open and struggled painfully to her knees.

“Number six.” Willow’s voice sounded strained with anger. I can do this. Mica thought, twisting to the side again. But Willow was ready, and the whip met its mark with even more force them before. Mica screamed with agony, and her vision blacked out again.

Chapter 8

I winced each time Mica's scream split the air. I felt something close to relief when she dodged the whip, but the next time Willow snapped the weapon with more force then ever. The human shrieked and then slid down, her stomach barely brushing the grass as she blacked out. I flinched as the whip snapped the air again, then brought down hard onto Mica's crimson back. I blocked out the sounds and stared, frozen, as the punishment went on, until all twenty lashes had been served.

A bitter taste arose in my throat as I helped Willow drag the limp body back to camp. Mica's back was blood red,t hough no flesh was torn from the whipping. We set her gently down in the recover teepee, then secured the door tightly so that she wouldn't be able to escape.

"We must hunt." Willow ordered, grabbing her bow and quiver. My stomach growled its aggreement, and I quickly slung my own weapons over my back to hide my embarrassment.

"Can we come too?" Pepper piped up, bursting out from the teepee. Her friend followed her out more slowly, then straightened and said pleadingly, "Please, Willow? We've been studying day and night now, and really need a little exercise."

"Of course." Willow replied, amusement glimmering in her soft brown eyes. "Just get your spears, and we'll be off."

"Yay!" Pepper exclaimed, dashing for her javeline before I could even blink. I let out a little chuckle, and then turned to Willow. "What about the human? Is it wise to leave her here alone with no one to guard the camp?"

"Oh, right." The eldest sighed. She shot me