As the sun dawned upon the camp, people started coming out of the dwellings for their morning activities. Some bathed in the river, some took their weapons and went into the woods. Sounds of music came from one of the dwellings, that stood empty during the night. Only one of the small lodges that were spread around the large camp, seemed quiet.
Inside it, a plump woman was sitting by the fire, mixing several kinds of herbs in a wooden bowl. Suddenly, a bundle of furs in the darkest corner moved. An old thin man with long snowy white hair and beard appeared from under the furs, and approached the woman near the fire.
"Good morning, Salaria." He said in a soft voice. The woman didn't seem surprised, even though she didn't hear him coming.
"Oh, Losaduna, you slept here again? Your granddaughter will be worried about you." She protested.
"Is that a good morning greeting? I meditated till late night didn't want to wake anybody. I'm sure Talenia will stop worrying when she sees me. I am as healthy as ever. Meeting all of you in the summer meeting is the best time of the year for me. May I have some tea please?"
"Oh, of course you can." Salaria said in a softer tone, and handed him a cup.
"Are you making this for old Morogia?" He asked and motioned towards the wooden bowl.
"Yes. How did you know?" Salaria asked with wonder.
"Well, I may not be a good healer as you are, but i know that herb makes people sleepy."
Salaria flushed. "Ummm... Well... I don't usually use this for her morning medicine, because she is sleepy most of the time, but sometimes in the morning she stops hallucinating and asks for Beruni or Asendia..." She paused and tried to control her tears. She didn't know Morogia and her family very well. They weren't from her camp and they weren't relatives. So why was she crying?Losaduna sighed deeply.
"Yes, it does feel terrible, dear. Poor Beruni. Poor Asendia. Poor family. It seems that the Mother has a bright future in store for Beruni, but it is so hard to believe it now, when he is in such misery..." Salaria stopped crying and raised her head.
"Do you feel such compasion for Beruni? Do you think it is right, what he is doing? Leaving a sister and niece in grief, with no man at their hearth, and a dying mother?" Losaduna stared into Salaria's eyes.
"Beruni is going through a very rough time." he said firmly "He lost too many loved ones in such a short time. I don't how right are his deeds, but I know Duna is guiding him."
Their conversation was cut by the sound of running feet. The curtain that blocked the entrance was flapped open and daylight entered the tent. At the entrance stood a young man. He was no more than 13 or 14 but already towered 6 feet. His feet were bare, and so was his upper part. He wore baggy trousers of deer skin, decorated with quills and feathers, and diferent patterns painted in many colors. The rest of his body was highly decorated, just like his trousers. He wore a large necklace around his neck with teeth and claws of various animals. Around his arms were many bracelets, decorated with shells, feathers, amber stones and colorful beads. His shoulders, back, legs, and cheeks were covered with tattoos in different shapes and colors. Chocolate brown stringy hair hung untidily from his head to the middle of his back. His skin was tan and his face smiling. His breathe heavy from the run.
"Good Morning Losaduna!" He shouted cheerfully "Hello, mom" He kissed Salaria's cheek. "Is there another ceremony today?" He turned to Losaduna again. Losaduna looked at him in a surprised face but couldn't help smiling.
"No. Beruni is leaving on his journey today. Don't you want to depart him? And don't worry, there will be plenty of ceremonies, if not this year, then the next. You are too excited because you just became a Losaduna this summer..."
"Oh, I forgot about Beruni..." the young man frowned. "I better go say goodbye to him. He seemed very nice. He spent time with me in the past summers when I was still an acolyte and I wanted to join your ceremonies. He taught me things instead of going to the ceremonies with the other Losaduni..."
"Well, I better go give old Morogia her medicines." Said Salaria, that her son's cheerful spirit saddened her for some reason. "Charogi, come by later..." She turned to the young man.
"Maybe..." Charogi answered before his mother left and finally sat by Losaduna. His face turned serious. "Losaduna, may ask you something?" Charogi now seemed uncomfortable and a bit embarrassed.
"Of course, my boy, ask." Losaduna said kindly, and seemed surprised of the sudden change in Charogi's cheerful behavior.
"Well..." Charogi began "I want to know about Beruni. What are all the rumors going around about him. Why do they say he and his family bring bad luck and call them 'the Tigered Family'?"
"Oh... So that's what you were worried about!" Losaduna smiled with relief, but Charogi was still serious. "Well..." The old shaman began "At the time Beruni was born, two hungry tigers settled in our area. A few people spotted them, but it didn't seem to bother anyone until 6 moons after Beruni's birth, the tigress attacked the mate of Beruni's mother."
"Morogia is his mother, right?" Charogi stopped him. "That old woman my mom is taking care of?"
"Yes, that is true..." Losaduna replied and continued with his story. "Morogia had a terrible loss, but she had two kids and a baby to take care of, and as the year passed and Beruni grew, the death was forgotten, though Morogia never mated again... When Beruni was 6, he went out with his older brother, Radobi. Radobi was 12, almost a man, a good hunter that helped his mother care for his younger siblings. Everybody loved him. But then, the tigers attacked Radobi too, in front of Beruni's eyes. Our whole camp was shocked, and Beruni most of all. That's when people started blaming the family for bad luck. Beruni couldn't get over his brother's death, so I started training him to Serve the Mother, hoping it would help. Two years went by, and Beruni was slowly recovering. He spent a lot of time at my hearth and loved learning new things. He also recieved carving lessons, and became a very good friend of Shaloni, who had come from another camp to learn carving, because, as you know, Sanodi, our carver, is the best among Losadunai.
At his fourteenth summer, Beruni became a Losaduna, and Shaloni mated Beruni's sister, Asendia, who gave birth to Laronia, Beruni's first niece. That was 6 years ago..." Losaduna sighed. "And the rest of the story you know. Two weeks ago Shaloni took a walk with his newest son, who was born just beofre the summer meeting, and the tigress attacked them both, and Morogia is also dying of a sickness. Beruni decided to take a journey, so he could be alone for a while. I don't know when he will come back, and I wonder how much of his family will be left."
Losaduna smiled a sad smile. Charogi wondered if he would have been able to live with so much pain, and thanked the Mother that he is happy and all is family and friends are alive.