His Starbound Claim

AHULI

I roll over and hit my alarm clock. Four a.m. sharp. Every day is the same. Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go train with my warriors. But today is different. Today, I am traveling up north to meet with the River tribe to discuss expanding my territory.

Usually, discussions like this would be handled by the First Nations Council, erected after tribal victory in the Colonist Wars. But I don’t trust bloated bureaucracy. The tile is cold against my feet as I go into the bathroom, but soon steam fills the large room when I turn the shower on. I hiss when the scalding water laps at my back, but it’s enough to make me not feel so fucking dead inside.

My mother always told me loneliness was a figment of the imagination, but what else could it be that eats at me every day? I have several women who accompany me when I have needs, but my godsound won’t even let me look at them anymore. I only want her, but the chances of finding our moon-blessed starbound lessen every day the older I get.

My godsound might be upset about our situation. But I’m not. Some people want love and all the mushy shit. Not me. I have much bigger things to worry about. Turning off the shower, I step out and grab some clothes, not bothering to put them on. I’m about to hunt.

My stomach rumbles as I think about breakfast. I could go downstairs and have the chef make it for me, but I’m feeling a morning run. The luscious green forest is calling my name. I step into the thick foliage and feel one with my godsound. After pulling off my shoes, I take off at a full sprint until I’m in the middle of the woods with nothing but large oak trees and soft green moss surrounding me.

I inhale deeply, catching the scent of a deer nearby. My fingers reach for my tomahawk. I keep my nose down, finally finding it in a bramble thicket eating berries. It’s a huge buck, but I know it will be nothing for me to take down.

I lunge for it. The deer takes off, but I’m too quick. I jump on its back, and my tomahawk sinks straight into his throat. The delicious taste of victory fills me, and after a few seconds, the buck finally goes limp. I make a fire by the river and enjoy my large breakfast until there is no more left to eat.

Licking the grease from my hands, I head back to the tribal lodge. Then, I text my alisde, my second in command, and tell him to meet me in my office.

***

Soon, I am behind my mahogany desk stacked with paperwork, and my alisde, Bidziil, knocks on the door before peeking inside. “Nat’ani, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes,” I tell him. “I need you to tell Junaluska to be ready to leave by two this afternoon. Make sure Dustu and Hototo are ready to go as well.”

“Yes, Nat’ani,” he says. “I will make sure they are ready.”

“Oh,” I continue. “Relay to the tribe that we will only be gone for two days. I want to get back as soon as possible.” I hate leaving my tribe, but I know they will be in good hands.

Bidziil nods and exits my office, leaving me to wander in the darkness of my own thoughts. A few short hours later, we are on the road. “Nat’ani,” Junaluska says, “what exactly are your plans for when we arrive?”

“We tell them we want part of their land. I have heard they have had a problem with colonists getting too close to their tribe territory, so we offer them protection in return,” I reply casually.

“And if they reject your proposal?”

“Then we take their land by force,” I say. Junaluska, Dustu, and Hototo all share a look but say nothing in return. I’ll do anything for my tribe to make sure they are taken care of. We need more land, and the River tribe has plenty of it.

The number of people there is only a fraction of ours, yet their territory spans miles. Surely a trade for protection for land they do not even need would be a great benefit to them. Even though the native people defeated the colonists in the war, the invaders were allowed to stay, living on special colonial reservations across Itse.

However, many of them took our kindness as weakness, and they’re trying to break out and take over our lands. Again. Because it worked out so well for them last time. We ride in silence for the next few hours, and the dense greenery gradually turns into snow-covered evergreens.

My godsound grows restless the closer we get to our destination. It must be the growing distance between my godsound and our tribe. Finally, the exit sign comes into view, and Dustu speaks up. “I could really use a drink after being cramped up in this car for so long,” he says, and Hototo readily agrees.

We aren’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow so I thought we would get a hotel in town for the night and go meet with the River tribe first thing in the morning. I stop at a small bar on the edge of town and pull into the parking lot. “Come,” I tell them, “let’s grab a few drinks before we go to the hotel.”

Hototo gets out first and stretches, followed by Dustu and Junaluska. “I hope we find some decent-looking women here,” Dustu says, stretching his arms over his head.

“Like you’d know what to do with them,” Hototo replies under his breath. Dustu smacks him on the back of his head, and they both continue bickering and laughing. The two brothers are always joking and squabbling like children.

I find myself wondering sometimes what it would have been like to have siblings, but I always trash the idea. I had a hard enough time trying to protect my mother growing up. For some reason, my godsound’s restlessness grows into a strange excitement as we walk toward the bar. Then, as soon as we step inside, the scent of orchids and blackberries filters into my senses.

I take one deep breath after the other, the divine scent firmly demanding my attention. My gaze immediately lands on an incredibly beautiful woman behind the bar, and in an instant, I tense as I realize who she is. Starbound. This can’t be happening. Finding my starbound was the ~last~ thing I needed. ~What the hell am I going to do now?~