The small blowdarts were working nicely. It didn't take any real energy on anyone's part to make up a small needle like them, and there was always fur or feathers or something drifting around in the Village to use as fletching. While the Master was away, Eteh kept his head, kept his promise - that he would not run away.

But he practiced shaping, constantly. He was allowed to hunt, under supervision. There were three Lionesses who could track him easily, with their psionics. So he never left their dominion, even when he couldn't see the Village.

He could tell that Eqahkali was angry that he wasn't the one going hunting for himself, but they all knew that the fire-projector would just as easily run away. Eteh wasn't sure that 'Kali would keep a promise the way he had - he wasn't sure that the younger Kin cared enough about Cuhsoyi not to just up and leave.

The blowgun that Eteh had chosen was from one of the big reeds along the small river. He only wanted to take down small prey, but his designs kept private for using these darts against the Lions would have been laughed at anyway. One of those little pinpricks? Take down a Lion? Hardly.

It would just take timing, that's all. And poison. He knew that Laka had a little extra space in her heart for him - she had had a crush on him for years. But while he didn't want to hurt her feelings, he also couldn't help but exploit the abilities the girl had once in a while.

That once, it had been asking her gently to coax the poison out of a handfull of toadstools - the kind that killed by slowly disabling the lungs and heart. At the time, he claimed it was so that they could have these to eat. He was lying of course. He had a small glass container with the poison distilled into it. He dipped a number of the needles into it, and waited.

***

It took Jahk's sullen indignance to break their Slavery. The young angry Kin, metal shaper, told Eteh earlier what he planned on doing, and they kept it to themselves. While the Pride was snoozing in their lazy afternoon sun, after a good hunt (there were a couple Lionesses arguing about whether they got the first blood or not) with at least one injury and a lot of full bellies... The Kin took action.

In the hut where the pair of Cheetahs and the twin shorebirds were meant to be shaping their wares, life took a deadly turn for the Master Maker. The nullifying powers that the Lion used on the Slaves suddenly dropped - they had been on for so long that Etehmaro hardly knew what it was like to be himself again.

He saw the pair of Cheetahs exit the Maker's hut, and Jahkonu moved toward where Eqahkali was growing flames around a Lioness. But Eteh saw that young Laka could only stand in fear. She was overwhelmed, clearly, by the sudden absence of the Master's power.

A moment later, and Eteh had located Laka and put her onto a Loper. He instructed her to head west, and then spurred on the hooved creature to run. He didn't look back, instead he spun and saw Cuh delivering a death-blow internally to one Lion.

That was the only thing she could do - Etehmaro pulled her aside shortly and sent her to the edge of the village. She'd be needed, surely. So for now, the males did their jobs.

Etehmaro slipped the poisoned darts out of his pouch, and blew one after another into a trio of young Lions. They might not all die, one was pretty big. But still, he saw the other two go down instantly. Eteh busied himself with breaking the chains on the burden animal's harnesses, doing damage the best way he could - long term.

With half the village in flames, a dozen Lions racing around trying to put it out, Eteh called the other two down from their high of rage.

In all, it looked like he himself might have killed two Lions. Cuh, the one she'd hurt. Jahkonu could claim the best kill - the Master Maker, an elder. Eqahkali had killed another elder, the female he'd been assigned to for her cart duties. Between 'Kali and Jahk they'd done in another two more. And on their way out...

"You can't get by me, little spotty ones," said a big dark-furred young male. He couldn't have been much older than Etehmaro but he was nearly three times his size. So angry was he, though, that Etehmaro didn't pause. He dug into his shifting powers and did something that he hadn't done before, and has never managed since.

He almost doubled his own size. He put on a body that had never been seen before. More cheetah-shaped, but huge, and on two legs still. Almost like a half-cheetah half-hyena. Howling and snarling, Etehmaro swung his left hand - still holding a pair of darts, with the points at the ready - impacting the Lion's face. But he didn't wait for the poison to take effect. Instead he lunged with his now-large head right at the Lion's sparsely maned throat.

The other two Cheetahs had gone on ahead, and when Etehmaro caught up with them, he was a four-footed cheetah. His powers seemed to allow him to take with him the little bits of clothing and the darts and blowgun, but he was now without the poison - it had been used up. His muzzle was covered in blood, and his bright eyes were dark with anger and madness.

***

The Elephants seemed to be trustworthy. Etehmaro had to keep reminding himself that they needed no Slaves for their lives to be complete. They welcomed the Spotted Hand - they didn't ask about him, they commented even that the power he had was almost unique among Kin. They respected this.

Etehmaro was having a hard time, though, adjusting to free life. And there was one thing he desperately needed to do. When they had been at the 'phant herd village and were about to leave, the night before they'd planned on going, he took Cuhsoyi aside.

"I know it's been a long while, and I know you did heal, but..." He hung his head, ears back and eyes not daring to meet hers, "I cannot be forgiven for allowing you to be burnt by the Master. If I could have taken that pain, from you... I would have."

"It's not your fault, Eteh," Cuhsoyi said softly. "It's forgiven, a long time ago. Forgive yourself now." She kissed him gently on his forehead, and went back to her own sleeping nest.

Eteh watched after her. The dark was not the best time for him, really. His eyes, while certainly sharp and keen in the day, had to be shaped into more sharp night-vision. Normally, he considered, his vision was more human than anything.

Just like his hands. He stared at them, absently.

"Your hands are deft," said a low, rumbling 'phant voice. "They are good hands. They help you serve your tribe."

"My tribe could probably get along without me. I'm the only one who can't contribute something more... tangible."

"So you say." The 'phant said. He was an older male, probably past his prime. He was not a big one, though, but Eteh could tell he was mature by the huge curve to his single-remaining tusk. "I just think that my power - yeah, it's neat. But..."

"It allows you to do things that no other Kin can do. Blend in with Humans, if you need to. Or the four-foots if you need to. That is something that not one other Kin I have ever met could do. Always," he sighed, "we are judged by our fur, our tails, our tusks..." He glanced over the cheetah with small, dark eyes. "But you, my boy, you can reserve judgement. You can walk wherever you will."

Etehmaro sighed again, "I'd like to walk with Cuhsoyi."

"Anyone can tell that, my boy," the 'phant rumbled with a laugh. "Anyone knows that..."

***

The Twelve and One. How odd a name is that? Well, Etehmaro decided that it was hardly worth worrying about - since their tribe was named after his own deformed human-like hands. Cuh would smack him if he said that - they weren't deformed. They were just ... human.

Etehmaro watched the males warily, Omaciyu and Hala. But Hala and he had things in common. Hardly their looks, but in their choice of weaponry. As Oma and Cuhsoyi spoke about their plans to integrate into their territory or not, Hala and Eteh planned that if they wound up on the same side of the Plateau they'd have to arrange a hunting excursion.

Yet it would be more than a year after their meeting this tribe that they would truly become part of the crowd... Etehmaro was the one who kept up communications with nearby other types of Kin, while Laka kept them protected at a distance from the Lions. There were at least two Elephant Kin that she spoke to on occasion. How amazing was that girl?

Of course, the crush she had on him had never abated. And her powers just kept getting stronger. The range required to converse - even at the edge of the other person's range - with a 'phant? Almost one thousand miles. Maybe more.

Yet Etehmaro felt that his powers would not suit hers - not for children. Not the way that she wanted them to. He thought that she fancied having children able to shapeshift - and he knew it was just a burden. He wanted to talk to her about it, but also he wanted to keep letting hints that she wasn't the one for him. It was because of that, that she stormed off when he wanted to collect blue-flowers for Cuhsoyi by the dusty wash.

The morning would bring dragons. The night? Brought Etehmaro and Cuhsoyi together in quiet passion. Like he'd never felt before, a real joy in pairing with her. They were right for one another, Eteh thought. They really were...

See Eteh's new dragon!