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Tribal Affairs By: Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work involves underaged characters. You have been warned.

"We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children."

-First Nations Proverb

The woods, a place of mystery and mischief. Tall evergreen trees dominate the landscape with lush foliage buried underneath their vast foliage. To some, it is a place of beauty and reverence while to others it is a place to be avoided. However, too many who remained unnoticed, it remains home. The population of the woods is often as varied as it is large. It is in these biodomes that sometimes entire civilizations go unnoticed.

Chopper was a young boy who lived among the Atimek tribe of central Quebec. His people were a proud anthro community who prided themselves in maintaining the balance between the wild and their own lives. Most of them were of various rodent breeds but in recent history, the tribunal of chieftains had allowed relationships with foreign tribes. As such a small group of hybrids was beginning to flourish among the people.

Chopper was among this small but distinguished sect of society. Among his people, his kind was affectionately known as the mouse-cat. They had predominately mouse-like features but had some distinct felines as well. Their tail had thicker fur and some of the ears were more pointed than their rounded brethren. Perhaps the most telling signs of their evolution were the differences in the patterns of their fur.

Chopper and his parents were of predominately blue fur. At 10-years of age, the boy had yet to have his ascension ceremony. However, his parents were allowing him to have more freedom since it was getting closer to that time of his life. Besides, it was expected that the older kids more or less could handle themselves. It was a respected tradition held for generations, by tribes that had very little contact with the outside world.

Tales of the outside world were nothing short of fantasies for the tribe. They had very little frame of reference with the civilized world. However, what they did know was the language of the nearby communities. As such many of the youth were being educated in the tongue in hopes of normalizing relations in the future. Many of the elders did not share in this knowledge and still considered the subject taboo. Still, the Atimek was mostly an isolated tribe.

A short time after the cub's birthday, he was afforded some of the first markings on his body. These yellow and red garnishments were painted on each day as a sign of some grand achievement. For Chopper, his accomplishment was related to his own dedication to the hunt. Except that he did not hunt animals instead, he tasked himself with finding all sorts of vegetation for his people. Perhaps the most venerable of these was a berry that had become popular in the group.

Gathering had become the sort of a hobby to the young mouse-cat. He prided himself on not only knowing the layout of the land but also on the ability to not disturb the balance between the wildlife and the ecosystem in which they shared his home. Often times he went as far as leaving small offerings to some of the local animals. More often than not the parcels he left out went missing the next time he checked on them. He assumed they had been gathered by a critter.

One day the chief of the tribe approached his parents with a request. The woman was tall, muscular, and sometimes seen as brutish. She was one of the old guards and highly respected by the community at large. She approached his family's tent as part of the tribe's tradition of public outreach. The large mouse waited outside of the tent-making several grunting noises that announced her own arrival.

``Greetings, Shra. How may we be of service?'' The mouse-cat father was the first to emerge from the beige tent.

Each tent had the family symbol on the side of it. Chopper's family was designated by a house crest, which was an inner circle surrounded by an outer one encased in spikes. The house crest was yet another marking the young boy would earn after his ascension ceremony in becoming a man. Traditionally it was painted on men's chest and on women's back.

The brown mouse held out her paw and then gave the tribal salute. ``Good tidings. I come bearing a request.''

``Of course, milady. What can we do to help?'' The man bowed to her and then beckoned to his family who was further back inside the tent.

A few moments later his wife and son appeared to his sides. Their ears perked in order to listen to their leader.

``We have received news of strange beings in our borders. We do not think it is another tribe for these folk wears much cloth on their person.'' She pulled out a small piece of bark with a carving on its surface.

Choppers face brimmed with brightness as he thought he saw something familiar. ``Cloth-folk? I think I have seen these fellows.''

``You have? Why didn't you say anything?'' The woman placed her hand on the young boy's shoulder.

The cub shrugged as she handed him the bark and he took a closer look at it. ``I don't know. They didn't seem bad.''

``Do you remember where you found them? If you do you can use the art to distinguish them.'' She kneeled down in front of him with a warm smile on her face.

The young cub chirped happily as he spoke. ``Mhm, yeah! Their tribe is near the river. They live among a moving tent.''

``A moving tent? I mean tent's moving isn't that strange. What do you mean?'' The woman's head cocked awkwardly to the side.

The small cub smirked and laugh. ``Oh, yes. But it moves on top of four circular objects!''

``Do you think you can learn more about these people? Perhaps you can scout them and discover their intention?'' The woman bowed her head to him showing him a bit of deference.

Chopper stomach fluttered a bit with butterflies before nodding. ``Yes, yes!

``Very well. We entrust this task to you. Accomplish this and your chieftess will reward you.'' She stood back up and gave the tribal salute again.

The boy's parents returned the gesture. They knew they couldn't defy the woman as it was expected that each family was to contribute some level of civil service to the tribe. The father brimmed with pride as his son was being tasked with such an important task. The mother turned her head down seeming a little torn between worry and happiness. Her husband noticed and immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

``It'll be alright. Chopper can handle himself. I can give him the family spear to protect himself if you like.'' The man muttered a bit since the boy hadn't been yet trained in combat.

She shook her head. ``No. I don't want him to fight. He should avoid conflict, if possible.''

I suppose. Well, he's very resourceful. Let's give him a chance.'' He leaned in towards her and whispered into her ear.I can send the tribal guard to keep an eye on him.''

The wife's smile perked back up and she lifted her head once again. ``Alright, well we shall support your mission Chopper. Make haste and return.''

``Yes, mother. I won't let our people down.'' The boy retreated inside and returned with his trusty slingshot in hand.

The boy felt like he was ready for the task. Chopper waved to his parents and they returned the motion to him. With that small gesture, he turned around and made his way out of the small village. It was still bright outside as it was pretty early in the day, so there were no fires lit. However, the central fire was still smoldering from last night and one of the residents was fanning it to create smoke signals.

Chopper had no idea the meaning of these messages, all he understood is that they were used for long-distance communication. The other furs in the village paid him very little attention as he made his way out of the town. He could smell the faint smell of freshly cooked meat from one of the nearby tents and it made him about food for a second. The boy shook his head and snapped out of his dazed moment before continuing to the exit.

The guard waved to him as he passed by. It wasn't strange for kids of his age to be allowed out alone, so there was no inquiry into the issue. Once he was outside the village itself, he was back in the heart of the forest. It was densely surrounded by trees. Only a little bit of light filtered through the canopy of thick leaves above. The keen senses of the boy could pick up the faint smell of dew on the wind.

He began walking in the direction of where he remembered to have encountered the ``walking tent.'' Little did he realize that the thing was a camper from a distant place. The makeshift camp had been set up with the mind of a short-lived getaway. It hadn't been there long but Chopper had noticed it when there was some loud music playing from inside the trailer. However, the cub hadn't been quite as brave as to approach it as he'd been taught to avoid strangers.

As he ventured towards the area, he began to feel nervous. His belief of stranger danger was firmly engrained with him and now he was being asked to break taboo. His steps slowed down as he walked underneath a large pine frond. Some water dripped from above and right onto his head. Soon the drips became more repetitive and he could even hear the faint sound of rain coming down from above.

Chopper didn't much mind the weather since he didn't have that much clothing on. In fact, all he had on was a tan loincloth that covered his bits that was tied around his waist. The rest of his body was exposed to the elements. The cub huffed and stepped forward, fingering his slingshot as if he was expecting some sort of an assault. He began hopping around in order to detract his own attention from the task at hand.

Concern continued to dominate his mind as he walked through the forest. Suddenly he heard the sound of a twig snapping nearby. He kneeled down to pick up an acorn before readying his slingshot to be fired. Slowly he turned around, looking down the middle of the small bone pronged weapon. Chopper made a full 360-degree rotation in his spot but saw no indication of anything following him.

The cub let his aim rest once again and started to resume his journey. Before long he heard an unfamiliar noise. It sounded like someone was talking however, he didn't understand the words. As he got closer it became louder. He was still worried about what would happen but now he was curious as to the source of the noise. There were four voices in total, with two seeming to dominate the conversation.

The sounds were muffled among static. Before long he could smell the faint smell of lantern oil. Chopper struggled to kneel down in some bushes. The callouses on his feet only did so much good against the shrubbery as he peered through a small spot in the leaves. As he looked he saw the familiar sight of the metallic camper. This time it's single door was open and an awning was extended out from its roof.

Underneath the covering were some chairs, all of which seemed to be empty. At the center of the chairs was a small circular table with a radio. The electronic device churning out some talk show that seemed to be serving no purpose other than white noise. Chopper felt the nerves in his stomach causing him to hesitate a moment. He knew he couldn't let fear drive control his actions, so slowly he made careful steps forward.

However, his innate curiosity overrode any sense of anxiety he was feeling. He looked around one more time, just to be sure no one was around. Sure enough, it didn't seem anyone had arrived, so he got up and started to walk out of the bushes and towards the camper. The voices continued to announce from the radio. Chopper slowly walked towards the little table with the radio.

He grabbed the thing and held it in his paws examining the dials on it. It had a small antenna on it and Chopper took hold of it before wiggling it around. That simple movement caused the thing to snap. The voices coming out from the box turned to a more annoying static sound. The abrupt change in sound caused the mouse-cat to throw the radio. The object flew across the camp before landing abruptly on the floor with a muffled crash.

The sound from the radio was now muted and all he could hear was the sound of the woods and the faint hum of the lantern lighting the area. The boy thought it was strange to have such illumination this early in the day. Upon examining it, he saw the occasional spark from its surface. Flies seemed to be attracted to the object but each time they approached it the thing let out a zapping sound and the fly was killed.

Chopper looked behind him and smirked as he looked at the two lawn chairs sitting there idly without anyone on them. He giggled a bit as he approached them and flipped each of them over, avoiding to make as much noise as he could. The cub looked back at the camper itself and wondered what could be inside. He approached it with caution and ran his hand against the edge of the open door.

Looking inside, all he could see were the stairs leading up to the camper itself. A rush of air conditioning escaped the trailer and caused Chopper to shiver. The boy took this as an omen and backed away, sure that the spirits were telling him to get away. The mouse-cat then decided to watch over the camp for the rest of the day to see if he could discover the residents. The cub made his way up a tree overlooking from above patiently.

It was a good hour before he heard the sounds of some voices in the distance. His ears perked up as he heard the noise. Before long some people showed up at the camp. Chopper could see two of them and they appeared to be furs much like he was. Looking closer it seemed like they were foxes. One of them had white fur and the other a mix of darker and lighter fur.

As the foxes approached the area, they realized that the lawn chairs had been flipped over, they ran over to them.

``What happened?'' The bigger of the two foxes asked to the smaller one.

The smaller one shrugged. ``I dunno. Maybe a bear or something?''

``But to have flipped over both chars and in such a neat fashion with no debris?'' The salt and pepper fox examined and helped to turn over each chair.

The white fox looked around. ``I don't see any bear prints but I do see something smaller. Come look.''

``Hmm, it does look pretty small. Too small to be a wild animal but it seems to be gone now.'' The deeper of the two voices trailed off as he went into the trailer.

Chopper saw this as his opportunity to get what he needed. The mouse-cat hopped off his branch down the floor below. His sudden movement lept right on top of the white fox who was down below.

The kit was caught off guard as his woodby pursuer tackled him. The fox was stunned for a second as Chopper covered his mouth so he wouldn't scream. The mouse-cat covered his mouth with a single finger, signaling for the other boy to be silent. The vulpine boy eventually came around and his vision recovered. When he did, he saw the tribal child straddled over his body.

The two stared each other in the eyes. The green and red eyes of the mouse-cat into the blue eyes of the fox. Slowly Chopper eased himself off the other cub and offered his free paw to help the other boy up. The vulpine boy stood up revealing that he was a bit bigger than the other cub, understanding that the other cub still wanted him to keep silent. The mouse-cat led him away to an area away from the campsite itself.

Before long they were a few meters away from it. The fox looked around as if expecting another ambush. The smaller cub reached out and brushed the other boy off with his paws.

``Thanks, who are you? My name is Pent.'' The white fox examined the other cub who's frame was slightly more lithe than his own.

Chopper cocked his head awkwardly as if not expecting the language. He shrugged and showed a look of confusion on his face.

``Hmm. Do you not speak English? Maybe French?'' Pent repeated himself this time in his mother tongue.

The mouse-cats look was still one of seeming lost. He then began speaking in gibberish.

``I see. I guess you must be one of those missing links or whatever.'' The bigger boy circled around the smaller one in order to get a better look at him.

Unlike the tribal child, Pent was wearing cargo jeans and a long-sleeved plaid t-shirt. It wasn't quite chilly out but the garb was designed to prevent bug bites. The fox began to ponder the origin of this other kid, pulling out a field book from his pocket. The kit had always been a bit of naturalist and he figured that there must have been something about the native's people in it. The two stood there in a shared moment of awkward silence as he skimmed through it.

As the fox did so, the smaller cub broke out laughing. Pent looked up and put the book back in his pocket. Chopper had been toying with him for the last few minutes he had indeed been understanding him.

``Hah... I speak language.'' The mouse-cat burst out in laughter.

The mouse-cat's English was broken but it was understandable at least.

Pent's discernment turned to one of shock. ``You did....oh. Well, what's your name?''

``I called Chopper. What bring you?'' The smaller boy stood upright again after recovering from his fit of laughter.

The vulpine smiled before responding. ``We're just here camping. Where are you from?''

``I from village. I Atimek.'' Chopper pointed over the fox's shoulder.

The bigger cub scratched his chin. ``Atimek? I've never heard of them.

``What tribe you?'' The mouse-cat looked up and down Pent's form admiring his clothing.

The fox hesitated before answering. ``Tribe? Uh...Tremblant? I guess?''

Chopper reached out and touched Pent with a single finger. This caused the bigger cub to flinch a bit, though he wasn't exactly scared of the other cub. He even went as far as to sniff the fox which caught the vulpine boy a little off guard.

Pent allowed the strange ritual to take place as he stood there idly for a moment.

``You want come? I show Atimek.'' Chopper figured showing the chieftess the boy would dispel any fears she might have.

The fox's eyes grew wider. ``To your village? Sure! I would love to.'' Pent followed by shouting a little white lie informing him that he was going to the nearby lake.

``You come. Close Eye. I take.'' Chopper took hold of Pent's paw and waited for him to comply.

Once he did so, the fox allowed himself to be guided through the woods. Pent had no idea where he was being taken but the idea of getting a chance to see this tribe he had never heard of before intrigued him. It was a little bit longer of a journey for the mouse-cat who arrived at the gates of the village only to be greeted by more aggressive guards who were reacting more to Pent than himself.

The mouse opened his paw to reveal the bark he had been given by the chieftess earlier that day. The moment he did, the two guards pulled back their weapons and let them pass. After they were inside, Chopper stopped. Nearby villagers couldn't help but stare at the two. Pent was much more dressed than anyone around and it was the first time many of them had seen a canine, let alone someone from the fabled ``outside world''.

``Open. We here. Chieftess will want meet.'' The mouse-cat gestured a waving motion in front of him.

Pent stopped a minute to look around. Each of the tents seemed to be made of some sort of animal hide or tarp of foliage. All of its inhabitants had now come to see the visitor as rumor had spread like wildfire in the small town. Before long the tall rodent woman appeared with a different set of guards to her sides. Even Chopper's parents had appeared, both of them beaming at the fact their son had accomplished the deed.

Chopper stood in the middle. ``You speak. I speak.''

What the fox then realized was that the Atimek spoke a different language. So each time he talked, the smaller male repeated the following statement to the tall woman who nodded. The boy did the same thing for Pent when the chieftess interrogated him. The conversation went on for several minutes. The entire time, the two guards remained fully vigilant as they had been informed that Pent was there of ill intention.

Eventually, the conversation was ended and the woman decided that the boy was no threat. The chieftess made her exit and she saved off the crowd who with her simple gesture was put at ease. Chopper's parents remained for a moment to hug the small cub. Pent smiled the small show of affection. They asked him if maybe his new friend would like to stay for lunch.

``Food?'' Chopper asked his friend.

Pent nodded as his stomach was rumbling and he was curious as to the cuisine of the place.

The fox was shown to the family's tent, which was barely big enough to support a fourth person. The inside of the small accommodation had very little in terms of decorations other than some wall paintings and the occasional pot on the ground. The parents had already fixed some various vegetables and berries. Pent couldn't help but dig into the meal, finding himself rather fond of the very berry that Chopper had discovered.

``Thanks!'' The fox's tail wagged as his face showed deep gratitude.

Once the ordeal was over, the two older mouse-cats informed Chopper it was time to return Pent to his people. Chopper nodded and understood. After all, he had promised the boy he would be returned. The fox's eyes were still a bit glazed over from the experience. When the smaller boy spoke to him, he finally snapped out of it. The mouse-cat led out of his tent and into the village that they had recently arrived into.

The boy's parents waved to Pent and the fox returned the kind gesture. He was very glad he got to see the place. Chopper made a motion over Pent's eyes and the bigger cub understood to close them. Once again the mouse-cat guided him through the woods back to where they came from. When they returned the mouse-cat kept a distance from the location as the grey fox could be seen outside. The smaller boy waved with a smile, glad that he had made a friend.

Pent too couldn't help but sense a feeling of longing as Chopper walked into the distance. He couldn't wait to share the story but wondered if his brother would believe the tale.