Chapter Text
After Oskta, the former Zo, lies dead, his spilled blood tainting the small pool of water, Chaka asks Da'nel - strange, yet cunning being that he is - to stay.
The odd sounds Da'nel makes are still a mystery to him, but at least, if nothing else, his over-expressive face is easy for Chaka to understand.
With a final glance, to commit pale eyes and the fresh scar to memory, Chaka turns away, heading further into the caverns, allowing Da'nel and his people to leave. A dull ache settles heavy in his stomach at the thought, but Chaka carefully pushes it away. He is the Zo now, showing any kind of vulnerability this soon would be a death wish. Sure, it will be... lonely with Da'nel gone, but Chaka is no stranger to loneliness. He can survive it once more.
Besides, he knows they will meet again someday, as sure as the two wives rise at dusk.
*****
It doesn't take long for him to gather his meager belongings from his old home - the smallest cavern, always damp and cold - and move them into the old Zo's since it now belongs to Chaka. Clearing out Oskta's things is another matter; furs and carvings, trophies from defeating the Zo of other clans, all of it is to be burned with Oskta.
Raspy huffs of amusement paired with the sturdy tap tap of a crook alerts him to a familiar guest.
"Your mother always said you'd wrestle a sun-giant if given half the chance," Riste says by way of greeting. "Though I suppose besting Oskta is close enough."
Chaka snorts at that. "He would have fallen eventually."
Oskta was many things, but he was no sun-giant and this was no story of Rah'nte.
A comfortable quiet joins them as he continues clearing the space out for himself and Riste slowly walks the length of it, her dark eyes resting on Chaka's belongings.
"My, my. I haven't seen this in quite some time." Looking over his shoulder, Chaka sees Riste holding the intricate betrothal necklace - the bones still as pristine as the day they were first carved by his mother - that once belonged to his father, and is now all that remains of him. There's a shift in Riste's tone, one of great sorrow. "The day that onac took him... the fire in Bi'ira went out."
There's not much Chaka can say to that, they both know what happened after; Oskta challenged Chaka's mother, became the new Zo, and Chaka was pushed out to the fringes. All but outright shunned. Capturing Da'nel and offering him up to Oskta was how it was supposed to be, but he can't say he regrets this outcome; Da'nel lives, and Chaka's mother may now rest peacefully in the fields of night beneath the watchful gaze of the wives.
Eventually, he has gathered the last of Oskta's things and helps Riste up from where she had been sitting by the cold fire-pit.
"The night grows cold and gray," he says as they make their way back to the main cavern.
*****
All the clan is silent as Riste and Ail'un paint the marks of passage on Oskta's face and arms with the silt from the river beneath their home caverns.
"Aotl, may you guide Oskta to your fields of night for his eternal rest," Ail'un begins, their voice kept to a low rumble so as not to attract the attention of any lingering tak-keka.
"Mahena, protect his dreams so that he does not return as an onac," Riste continues, equally as low.
The rest of the rites are lost to Chaka, his thoughts wandering aimlessly, his mind unable to focus. If it wouldn't be an affront to Aotl and Mahena, Chaka would've had Oskta tossed into the nearest onac infested waters. And despite how much it would make him feel better to do so, he knows it would only poison the clan more than Oskta already has. So much work lies before him, so many wounds to heal... there's a sharp ache behind his ribs. They did not know each other for long, but already Chaka misses Da'nel. Misses the odd sense of companionship between them.
Sure, he has Riste - the elder has never abandoned him, and for that he is forever grateful to her - but she is like a second mother to him, not a friend like Da'nel.
Putting aside his thoughts of Da'nel and loneliness, Chaka lights Oskta's pyre.