"...darkened." Sadiki's pressure against Safia weakened as he saw the blood darken.
The Elder checked Safia's condition. She looked at Sadiki's trembling eyes and offered a weak smile.
"Her condition is stabilizing... Thank your son. He drank her milk like a hungry wolf."
Sadiki cried, his body wracking with sobs.
"Thank you... Thank the Gods for giving you back to me..."
He stroked Lidien's head and kissed his forehead.
"Thank you, Lidien... you saved her... your mother is safe now... thank you..."
Lidien stared at Sadiki, then smiled, giving Sadiki the undeniable sense that, though still a newborn, the child could feel his parents' emotions.
***
Lidien grew up as a bright kid. At the age of one, he could talk like a normal person without stuttering, surprising his family for his brilliance. He could also walk straight, without losing his balance. Often he would create or develop something that could help his family in their daily lives.
Most of the time, he would climb a tree and just lazily lie on its branches, staring at the clouds and birds, reminiscing about his past.
'Did I reborn somewhere in Africa? If I ever get back home... would they still believe that it's me, Lidien, their son?'
'Though, I don't know if it's really Africa... most of the tribesmen look like Asian to me.'
Swaying his little legs, Lidien grabbed a fruit and bit into it.
"Urgh! So sour..."
Still, he continued to eat it despite the sourness to ease his hunger, until he heard his name being called out.
"Lidien! Lunch's ready! Go call your grandfather!"
Jumping down the tree, he scratched his head and forced a smile.
"Yes mom..."
Though Lidien had been a cancer patient in his previous life, experiencing his parents' love as they sacrificed everything for him to get cure, he still acknowledges his new family without prejudice.
He went deeper inside the forest and entered a cave, as the light slowly faded, he heard a hoarse voice coming beyond the darkness.
Gulp...
He walked deeper and deeper, touching the cavern wall as a guide, until he saw a dim flickering light, lighted by the torches.
There he saw a man kneeling in front of unrecognizable symbols attached to the cavern walls. The blood of sacrificed animals marked his body, and he was reciting a language, so ancient, that no one, not even the one reciting, understood.
"Gramps... lunch is ready..."
As the old man prostrated, kissing the ground, he then looked at Lidien and smiled.
"Oh... if it's not Lidien... come, pay respect to our ancestors..."
Lidien forced a smile, his eyes twitching.
"...O-okay... b-but we need to leave immediately, Mom will get angry if we're late..."
Lidien removed his upper shirt, knelt beside his grandfather and put his hands in the bowl, feeling the slimy thick animal blood between his fingers.
With his sacred and gentle movements, he drew and marked his body with it.
He then prostrated and after a few seconds lifted his head, looking towards the symbols on the wall. Reciting the memorized ancient language, robotically.
Lidien spread his arms, and joined them together like pleading, before he recited the last words, and waited.
Nothing happened.
"Pfft..."
Lidien uncontrollably laughed, yet he forced it to not be seen by his grandfather, though it was too late.
Bonk!
A heavy fist hit his head.
"Do not disrespect our ancestors, you kid!... Beg for forgiveness!"
"Ye-yes... yes... I'm sorry ancestors..." Lidien said, sticking his tongue out.
Lidien stood, wiped his body with a wet cloth to remove the bloodstains, yet the rusty smell still lingered.
After putting on his shirt, he urged his grandfather to leave immediately.
Though unsure, Lidien felt something weird every time he was inside the cave.
"Lidien... you need to understand, this ritual needs to be passed down, generation to generation... do not be like your father, who only cared about hunting! That idiot could not understand how important this task left to us by our ancestors is."
As they walked the path, Lidien skipped ahead, then turned around and walked backwards, staring at his grandfather, grinning.
"Don't worry, Gramps... I memorized that 'Prayer' a long time ago..."
Arriving at the edge of the village, Lidien and his grandfather entered their home, where Sadiki and Safia sat peacefully at the table.
"Mother... Father..." Lidien grinned, sitting down in the vacant seat.
Safia looked at Lidien and smiled, then offered him a bowl of soup.
"So how was your day? How is Kanaz?"
Upon hearing the name, Lidien's face grew hot while his ears suddenly turned red.
"Sh-she's okay! W-why?" he said, stuttering.
"Nothing, my love... the annual Festival of Dances is coming soon..."
"I'M NOT OF MARRIAGEABLE AGE YET, MOM!" Lidien shouted, covering his face.
Sadiki and his grandfather burst out laughing, making Lidien slump in his chair, hiding his face in shyness.
"What do you mean not of marriageable age? You're already 13!"
"But Mom, that's for girls!"
"And Kanaz is a girl... Are you willing to let someone else take her hand because you're young?"
Struck by her mother's argument, his face paled.
"Yeah... the Festival of Dances... But I cannot marry someone unless I can hunt by myself... I... I don't even know how to fight..."
Safia looked at her husband Sadiki, her eyes urging him on.
"Cough... cough... Lidien, your father here is the best hunter in this tribe... Don't worry, within a week you'll learn how to fight... and maybe before the Festival of Blood, you can hunt a beast by yourself."
Lidien stared at his father, unsure what to say, then laughed.
"Dad... if it weren't for your good looks, I think Mother would've never married you!"
Sadiki brushed his hair back, flashing his shiny white teeth at Safia.
"Say, Lidien — want a sibling?"
All the men laughed except Safia, who was busy pinching Sadiki's sides.
"You... you know I can't have children anymore..." she gritted out, digging her fingers into her husband's waist.
"Do you want me to die? You can go first."
"I'm joking! Stop!" Sadiki pleaded.
The grandfather stared at Lidien, then brushed the boy's hair.
"Tomorrow... I'll make you a man."
Though the tribe called his grandfather a madman, no one could deny he'd been the strongest hunter in his prime.