I don't need to repeat the Disclaimers and stuff because by now, those who have been reading it 
know them all. ^_^ In case you forgot, though, there WILL be lemon WAAAAY later on! And as for 
violence, I've done most of the really bad stuff for awhile... It'll get juicer later on. ^_^


Kanani woke up huddled near her failed attempt at fire making, with the morning sun shining 
boldly down on her. She blinked her eyes a few times and stood up slowly, her young muscles 
aching and groaning with every pull that was made on them.

The ache in her head had degraded itself to the point that it was just barely tolerable. The 
cuts and bruises were still swollen, but didn't seem all that bad. She was covered in dirt and 
dried blood, but even that wasn't in comparison with the pain in her stomach.

It had been four days since she had eaten anything and her hunger was more than making itself 
known. It ate away at her, making her dizzy with pain and the onset of starvation. She had to 
eat or she would die. Simple law of the world. Everything was secondary to food, and so she 
set about solving her problem.

Kanani wandered along the edge of the river, in search for some source of nourishment to 
sustain her. After nearly an hour of nervously walking, she found a bush that was covered with 
berries that looked a lot like those that grew near the village on Orlov. They were slightly 
different, but Kanani was hungry enough not to care.


She tentatively ate a berry and was rewarded with sweet-tasting juice that filled her mouth 
and tingled sweetly down her throat. Happily, she ate a handful of them, trying to force 
herself to not eat too many. Her hunger won. She ate handful after handful of the rich purple 
berries until she was coated with sticky juice and bloated with fullness from them. She 
unsteadily walked along the bank of the river, her stomach full at least. Her head was feeling 
much better, but it still ached slightly.

She walked for much of the morning, hesitantly testing out fruits and berries that looked 
edible.

Finally, in the heat of midafternoon, she found a small cave-barely a concave depression in a 
stone wall, but a place for her to live, nonetheless.

Kanani was almost overjoyed at seeing the small cave. It was perfect! It would shelter her from 
the wind and rain, and was very close to both berries and water. If she could figure out how to 
hunt, then it was perfect for all of the good game around it.

Silently, she thanked the Ancient Spirits and the Great Lion and proceeded to clean up her new 
little home so she could comfortably sleep in it.


That night she sat, comfort on her face, in her small cave, her belly full of sweet fruits and 
berries, and only a tiny trace of her previous fear. It had become almost a pleasant game to 
the child; a game that she was going to become almost too good at playing. 

********

In another few months she had arranged her first kill ever. She tried at first to create a 
spear, but her small hands were too underdeveloped to properly use it for anything but target 
practice.


She then tried a set of traps, but her small arms weren't strong enough to pull them together. 
When all hope was thought to be lost, she found the memory of a sling. She could make it small 
enough to fit her hands and could use it a varying distances once she gained some skill. Within 
months she could hit any target within an amazing and deadly range. The girl had grown taller 
in the year since her mother attacked, and she was ready to actually take the life of another 
creature--a squirrel-like creature-for the sake of her own preservation.

She sat in the forest, ready to attack when one of her chosen prey happened by. With deadly 
aim, she hurled the stone at it and saw it fall.

When she got to it, she saw that it was still breathing, its life-blood seeping sadly out of 
the wound on its side. In that little animal, Kanani saw Erfen's dying form, bleeding near her. 
Crying, she gently lifted the poor animal from the earth and cradled it as she watched it die. 
She found her small hands making the eloquent and ancient gestures of a burial ceremony for the 
dead animal, as if she hoped to aid it to the other world.

Sighing, and scrubbing away her tears she lifted the animal up so she could skin it and cook 
it.

Turned out, skinning and cooking were two difficult maneuvers. The animal kept falling apart 
and pieces dripped onto the floor of her cave, filling it with a greasy odor. It cooked slowly, 
scorching crisp on the outside, yet still bleeding within. Weeping in frustration, she tried to 
keep from lashing out at the dead thing.

Finally, it was cooked through, partially burnt. Ravenously, she dug into it, tearing at bits 
of the steming flesh with her fingers, burning them, her lips and tongue with the hot meat. 
Having eaten half of it, she was stuffed full and very happy. Her head didn't ache and the 
hunger was gone. Pleased, she tried to dig up a memory for storing meat, and wound up having 
to find a way to dry it. She ripped off large pieces and dried them by the smoke of the fire, 
smelling the heady aroma of meaty smoke as she peacefully slept, ignoring for once the demons 
in her head.


Over the seventh year of her young life she became quite a successful hunter; terrorizing the 
poor squirrel-like animals quite effectively. She was comfortable and full. Happy for once, 
even though she was plagued by nightmares and loneliness. She not only grew physically older, 
and older by time's measurement, she grew mentally and emotionally older. Gone were the happy 
and carefree days of her past on Orlov. She was a self-sustaining person who could hunt, gather,
make fire, and do everything that an Orlovian adult had to do everyday. She knew how to survive 
on her own, with no aid from any person. Kanani was her own people, her own family. Few ever
were forced to be that way, and she knew that.

Luckily for her, she was in a sub-tropical place, were winter wasn't at all harsh to her. She 
had the necessary memories to aid in survival, but executing those memories were, as she 
realized, harder than she thought. She remembered fire-making, but it nearly killed her arms 
trying to actually do it. She remembered making spears and other weapons, but making them was 
nearly impossible for her.   Everything was accessible by her mind, but perhaps not by her body. 
For Kanani to try and survive a winter in a tiny cave would have most certainly killed her, no 
question about it.


But, as it stood, there was no harsh winter to be had. She merely had to cover up well and 
huddle near the fire on the coldest nights. No permanent damage was done. Hunting stayed well, 
there were plenty of fruiting winter plants, and other kinds of plants that she had learned she 
could eat. Life was good to her. She was surviving nicely considering her small frame and 
inexperienced mind.

She was much stronger as well-both physically and mentally. Her body was, though still young 
and undeveloped, strong and wiry, with firm muscles and the ability to take a lot of damage 
from the environment. Her hair had grown almost too long, and hung long and heavy down her 
back. She had healed well from her beating my Murre, and sustained one small scar on her cheek 
that faded slightly with every passing month. She had been lucky to not get an infection from 
her wounds; sanitation wasn't her strong point. She was caked with soil and grit that refused 
to get cleaned off.

Her nightmares, also were less, and she found solace in her religion. Her young heart believed 
thoroughly that since Erfen had been so good and powerful, he had made his way to Spirit World 
without a proper burial. She imagined him happily sitting with the Spirits and the long since 
dead, eating and drinking the foods of the afterlife. The necklace he had given her also added 
great strength to her resolution to survive. It gave substance to her beliefs, and thus became 
her most treasured possession.

The Ancient Spirits also gave her strength. She found that in ancient times, when people were 
kind to the Spirits, the Spirits were kind to them in return. Every morning and night she made 
ancient prayers to Spirits of long ago; the only Orlovian to do so in millennia.

Life, as was said before, was suddenly taking a turn for the better for Kanani... Until she 
reached her ninth year.

She was a successful huntress... Had she believed in Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt would 
have had a true reason to be jealous. This thin, dark, nine year-old girl was a master at her 
skill. She could kill, skin, and cook anything smaller than a jacklin.(1)

About a month after her ninth birthday, in the early spring, she was hunting happily for 
something to eat that evening. Suddenly, as she rounded a bend in the river, she heard 
something she hadn't heard in three lonely years: Voices. Loud and flowing voices, with a 
language that was like smooth water, gliding over her body.

She excitedly ran over to the voices, swimming across the river as she did so.

When she reached them she saw a shabby-looking bunch of men, holding spears and standing next 
to a deer carcass. They had other skins and carcasses in baskets and pouches, resting in a heap 
by some other pack-baskets. There were over twenty men and no women. They were all pale and 
unshaven, with scruffy hair and light, dirty clothes. They ranged from short and stocky to very 
tall and thin. None of them were particularly handsome, but to Kanani it didn't matter. They 
were people.

She carefully walked up to them and blushed as they all stared at her. She was also scruffy, 
and had been going around naked for over two years by then. Her long black hair was knotted 
and caked with clumps of dirt. She was coated in soil, and had only a worn sling as a weapon.

A very tall, thin man with very short, rough whiskers asked her something roughly, but she 
couldn't at all understand what he said. She tried the ancient spoken language of Orlov, but 
it was apparent that he spoke something much different.

The other men walked over and one of them grabbed her arm roughly, saying something loudly to 
his comrades. The other men laughed crudely and a few of them poked her in the stomach gently, 
laughing as they did so.

The thin man came to her rescue and stooped down so that they were eye level. He pointed to 
himself and said a complex word. Confused, she frowned at him and shook her head. He sighed and 
tried again, slower. "Kin... li... ran"

"Kin... Lee... Ran..." she said slowly. He smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Then, he gently 
pointed to her, smiling.

"Kin-li-ran?" Kanani said. She didn't understand what this strange man wanted her to do.

He pointed to himself and said the word again, and then he pointed to another man and said 
"Crulin."

She thought very hard for a few minutes. If he pointed to himself and said "Kinliran" and them 
pointed to the short man and said "Crulin" then he must want to know what word I am. Name! He 
wants my name!

"Kanani" she said, pointing to herself happily.

Kinliran looked at her and smiled, saying her name a few times. He then turned to the other 
men and said some other words, with her name included among them. They all repeated her name 
and smiled roughly at her.

She flushed under her bronze skin and looked away. She didn't like all these men staring at 
her. Doing such things on Orlov was expressively forbidden.

Kinliran stood up and said some things to the men that they didn't seem too happy about and 
took her small hand in his large one.

They all walked for a few hours until they reached some tents. From inside the largest one a 
thin woman that looked much like Kinliran came running out. She said many words very quickly 
and loudly, as she shot worried glances at Kanani. He smiled softly at her and said some soft, 
calm words. He then bent over close to Kanani's face and said "Ruina" while pointing to the 
woman.

Kanani smiled shyly at the woman and whispered her name. Ruina smiled, though her eyes weren't 
happy, and gently took Kanani's other hand, pulling her away from Kinliran. Kanani looked over 
her shoulder at the tall man, and saw as he smiled kindly at her.

Ruina took Kanani into the tent and proceeded to fill her arms with things. She had a thick 
piece of cloth, some roughly cubic shapes of something, and some garments of clothing. Ruina 
took Kanani's free hand and a knife and went to the river. Kanani's eyes grew wide at the sight 
of the long blade, glistening in the woman's hand. She could barely keep from getting sick from 
the memories.

They reached the river in a short amount of time, and Ruina gestured to Kanani that the girl 
was to sit down. The woman grabbed a handful of Kanani's hair and sliced off her hair until it 
was only down to her shoulders. Kanani grabbed her short hair with her hands and looked 
tearfully at Ruina. The woman didn't appear to notice Kanani's unhappiness and took the girl's 
arm, motioning for her to get in the river. Kanani obeyed and suddenly found her head being 
rubbed forcefully by the woman's strong fingers. Some kind of sudsy material was being rubbed 
into her now short hair.

When her hair was clean, Ruina attacked it savagely with a comb, pulling months upon months of 
knots out of the girl's hair. It took well over an hour and Kanani's head throbbed painfully.

Ruina then scrubbed Kanani down with the cubic shapes, from which came abundant suds.   Kanani 
was so entranced by these lovely bubbles that she forgot to be in pain from having her bruises 
so painfully rubbed.

Within another hour, Kanani was clean and sweet-smelling. Ruina carefully trimmed Kanani's hair 
until it was even all the way around to her shoulders and gave it one more thorough coming.

Kanani felt a lovely soft cloth being rubbed against her to dry her off and a tunic was put 
over her head. It was smooth and white, and came down nearly to her knees. Ruina then put her 
in some undergarments and gave her a pair of pants that were far too long. Ruina folded the 
hems of the pant legs so that Kanani could walk and led the girl to the tent.

Inside was a piece of reflective glass, a mirror, that Kanani had only seen once in the Holy 
Place that Erfen went to meditate. To the Orlovians, mirrors had special powers that enabled 
certain people to see what lay beyond infinity. Kanani looked into it and saw only her 
reflection. What she saw was a short, very thin girl with rich bronze skin and short shiny 
black hair. Her eyes were large and a rich deep brown that looked like obsidian in the dim 
light of the tent. She had a long thin neck and a slightly round face with rather full lips. 
She was a very pretty child, but looked quite out of place in her new clothes that were far 
too large for her.

Kinliran walked into the tent and smiled down at Kanani before talking to Ruina. They were 
discussing her, she knew, but they seemed pleased-especially Kinliran-so Kanani wasn't really 
that nervous.

Kinliran took her hand and walked with her until they were outside during the setting of the 
sun. He showed her the sling she'd had and pointed to a dead animal with it.

She frowned and gently took the sling away from him. She was close to it, since it had been 
so essential to her survival for a rather large part of her life.

He took his own sling up and threw a stone with it. He then gave her a stone and smiled 
encouragingly at her while pointing to a red-tinged leaf on a nearby tree. Unsure if that was 
what he wanted she threw the stone deftly and hit the leaf exactly, whipping it from the 
branch.

Kinliran smiled broadly and began to laugh, overjoyed it seemed, that she had hit the leaf. 
He handed her another stone and pointed to a rock across the camp. It was a very distinct 
boulder, even in the swiftly fading light.

She took a deep breath and prayed to the Spirits before casting the stone expertly. They heard 
the distinct thwack! of a rock being struck with another one and Kinliran ran to see if it was 
true; that she had, indeed, hit the stone.

He laughed fully and swung her up in the air, laughing happily. Shocked, Kanani could only 
watch as this man acted in a way that could have gotten him ostracized on Orlov. He gripped 
her hand again and ran into the tent where Ruina was serving food to several of the men. They 
all talked excitedly for a few minutes, all of them eyeing Kanani with a hungry gleam.



(1): I really ought to have had more footnotes in this thing about the Orlovian culture, but 
as it stands I think it's important that you all know what a "jacklin" is. A jacklin is a 
rather swift animal that's about the size of a small wolf. It's not that easy to hunt, due to 
its speed, and Kanani was fairly adept at killing them. ^_^

Added note: A more in-depth look into the cultures and religions will be added later on, as an 
added part not essential to the story... I worked for a long time on these various planets and 
thus want to show off what I've created. ^_^