Primitive Instinct: The Journey Home

I had to take Diesel’s knot from him to break the points off the antlers before I gave it back along with one of the bits of broken antler as payment for taking his toy from him. Roar’kaol’tok tilted his head, curious about what I was doing, then nodded in understanding when I grabbed my metal knife and started twisting it back and forth, making holes for the leather strips to pass through in order to bind the sled frame to the paddles. When I had three holes in each paddle, he brought the frame over and I got to work.

The paddles were huge, and I planned to use the bend near their base as the point where Diesel would pull from. Once the sled was placed on the paddles, there was enough space at the back of them for me to either stand, once Diesel had gained the right muscles to pull and not hurt himself, or to store more items. I had left a couple of points on the back of my new sled skids to tie cord across or a thicker hide to keep things from falling off the back if I needed to, but I was aiming for less weight at the moment. At least until Diesel had pulled it for a few weeks to build his stamina and strength.

When I was done putting the antler skids on the bottom of my sled, it was getting darker and colder, which prompted Roar’kaol’tok to practically drag me inside to sit by the fire while I threaded mammoth hair into cording.

My toes were freezing, and I kept looking at the fur on the hunter's feet and the fur between Diesel’s paw pads as an idea started to form. My boots were great, but they weren’t insulated enough for out here. They also weren’t a loose enough fit for me to line with anything or wear mammoth hair socks and have them still fit my feet without hurting me. I was already going to be making clothes, so... made I could also make some new boots that were lined with mammoth hair. Hell, all of my clothes were going to be lined with mammoth hair, if I was being honest with myself.

Those four fish I had left were looking more and more likely to be used to get more of the insulating hair in the very new future, because I was under no illusions that Diesel’s feet would remain immune to frost bite as the weather got colder. Already the pseudo-nights were getting darker, and the days weren’t as bright as when I came here. Winter would be in full swing soon and I had no doubt it would suck. Limiting the suckage was now the end-goal. Other than finding a way to go home, making it until spring was the priority and I was immensely glad that Roar’kaol’tok was teaching me the things I needed to know in order to make that happen.

After I made cord for a few hours, he handed me some more meat for dinner and we ate silently until we were done. He laid out one of the hides and had me lay on it, using a claw to make marks before letting me up again. He folded it, keeping the crease as close to the marks as he could before using his bone knife to cut into the thick material. When he was done, he had two halves of perfectly cut pants.

He got up and brought over a pair of his pants and showed me the inside.

“Clever,” I muttered, touching the mammoth hair that had been stitched inside. It started at the top and knotted at the halfway point before running down a short way before being stitched outward then back in to run down again, keeping the hair from tangling, bunching, or wrapping around the legs when it was worn, but also trapping the body heat and keeping it from escaping.

Once I was sure of how it was done, he handed me a thick bone needle and little stone hammer type thing and showed me how to stitch through the thick lanka hide by literally hammering the needle through the material. It was a lengthy process, but in the end, I’d have clothes meant to preserve as much body heat as possible which would only do me good in the months to come.

By the time I had the pants done, I was yawning more than not and fell into my bed after picking up my mess to sleep like the dead.

I woke before the hunter for a change and Diesel looked at me boredly before going back to his own slumber while I got to work on copying the design of the simple hair lined leather shirt that Roar’kaol’tok had shown me before we called it a night. There were no buttons or zippers, but the way the shirt was made, there was no need for them. Just a bit of cording to tie the pieces together. It wrapped around the body like a bathrobe, almost. The inner parts that sat next to the body were lined with hair like the pants had been. A flap hugged my body and tied on the inside under my arm and an outer flap went over it to tie under my arm on the other side and again near my hip.

The hunter’s shirt left the lower part of his arms free, since he had fur there and didn’t need much extra protection from the elements there, but I did, so I made my sleeves longer and then made gloves out of some of the extra leather and more mammoth hair. My fingers would now be safe and warm, and I could still use them without having to expose my delicate skin to the harsh cold that I knew was coming when the sun no longer rose in the sky.

I used more leather and hair and some sticks to make some warmer boots so my toes would survive. I was just starting to make Diesel’s shoes when Roar’kaol’tok woke up with a jolt and looked around blearily before he blinked and rubbed at his eyes.

“Good morning, sunshine,” I giggled, and he smirked sleepily before getting up and starting his morning by putting a stone pitcher in the coals by the fire to melt snow to make our morning tea with.

When that was started, he and Diesel left, probably to go answer the call of nature and I just shook my head as I kept making the boots for Diesel. When they came back, I sniffed at myself and waved a hand, making the hunter laugh before pointing at himself. As we ate breakfast, he looked over my work on my clothes and nodded with a small smile.

“Good,” he told me and then held up the small boots I made for my dog, tilting his head.

“For Diesel,” I said and picked up one of my dog's paws, showing him the pads that looked similar to the ones on his own feet before he nodded and pointed to a pair of oddly shaped bag things hanging out of the way on one of the poles above us. “So, you do wear shoes. I was starting to wonder if I was just too soft and squishy.”

Diesel yodeled softly and the hunter threw his head back and laughed. I imagine that was exactly how I looked compared to him. Small, soft, and squishy and kind of clueless, like a child needing to be taught...

“Oh my God,” I gasped as it finally struck me. “Fern’mak’tak. Parn’mak’tak. Mak’tak means something, doesn’t it?”

Diesel tilted his head and huffed at the hunter who nodded before speaking. I think whatever he said broke Diesel’s mind because all he did was stare at me. I was really starting to worry about his mental health before he got up and barked softly, then sat down before coming over and pushing his head under my hand and wagging his tail.

He did that a few times before he huffed and dropped to his belly and started to make suckling sound when his paws worked at an invisible teat and whimpering like a new puppy would.

“Puppy?” I asked and he barked, wagging his tail before doing the barking and sitting thing again. “A child being taught?”

Diesel licked my face and I scratched into his ruff, making him groan in happiness before going back to the last of his breakfast.

“Mak’tak,” he gestured to me and held his paws together to indicate small then drew them apart before smacking his paw to his chest and lifting his head. “Kaol’tok.”

“My name will change as I learn?” I guessed after my mind raced for a while. “You were Roar’mak’tak. Now Roar’kaol’tok because you learned. You grew.”

Diesel barked and woofed shortly before the hunter nodded.

“Beel,” he answered. “Strong-learn. Strong-grow. Kaa mak’tak.”

“Learn well. Grow strong. No longer a child,” I nodded then smiled at him. “You’re picking up my words fast. You’re very smart.”

Diesel coughed and Roar’mak’tak blushed a little before he got up and went outside, making me grin to myself a bit before tossing the last of my breakfast to Diesel. Someone wasn’t used to compliments it seemed.

I went outside and found Roar’kaol’tok putting poles onto the sled frame to start lashing when I shook my head.

“Kaa,” I said and went back inside, coming back with my knife and picking up the green saplings.

I split them down the middle and started to weave the flexible pieces together in a type of mat and the hunter’s ear twitched as he watched, curious about what I was doing. Wood was heavy and making the sled of all wood would give it a lot more weight than it needed to have when the saplings would suffice for the time being. Eventually, I would prefer to have thick hide, similar to what the tents were made of, but Diesel needed to build his strength first and the split, woven saplings would be enough for right now, so long as we didn’t try to haul too much at once.

I cut two poles in half and laid the mat between them, using some leather strips to tie them back together and then tied those poles to the frame. The hunter looked skeptical before I sat down on it and then whistled for Diesel to join me, looking pleased with himself.

“Good,” Roar’kaol’tok nodded after a moment and the woven saplings didn’t break. He looked at Diesel then at the front of the sled before frowning slightly.

I held up a hand and went back inside, bringing out the tougher hides I had traded for and dropped it on the sled.

Using Diesel as a mannequin, I showed the hunter the design for the harness that would allow Diesel to pull the sled comfortably and the distance away from it he needed to be. We got to work making the harness as the sky lightened only slightly and when it was done, Diesel was incredibly excited to do what part of him was meant to do.

The leather leads were wrapped tightly around the curved part of the antlers and Roar’kaol’tok stitched it together so they would hold up when pulled when the sled was heavy and I had used some of the points I had broken off the antlers as toggles to connect the leads to the harness, allowing me to let Diesel wander when he wasn’t needed to pull.

“Fern’mak’tak...” Roar’kaol’tok shook his head at the finished sled and harness as I slipped it on to Diesel’s body, making sure it fit properly. “Strong-good.”

“Only if it works,” I laughed and gave Diesel a scratch in the ruff.

I held up a hand and went inside, changing into my new clothes quickly and stuffing my old ones into my pack before grabbing my new bow. I slung the bow over my shoulder, like Roar’kaol’tok had done with his and carried the pack outside, dropping it on the sled along with the dog shoes, making Diesel jump in excitement as I pulled the gloves on and smiled at him.

Roar’kaol’tok took my hand and looked at it with an odd expression before looking at his paw then smirking.

“Good.”

He went inside and came back with his spear and bow and waited as I got the leads attached to Diesel’s harness.

“Heel, Diesel,” I said and started walking out of the village with the hunter beside me, grinning as the sled moved along easily.