From the corner of my vision, I watched Nathaniel lean forward to reach for something. With deft fingers, he tapped and adjusted his shifty fingertips across the dash for a minute. His head tilted back and forth, almost as if he was paying attention to hear a quiet noise.

I strained my own hearing just to sense if I had missed something in our cabin --

-- and winced at the incredibly loud guitar and drums blaring and thundering. Nathaniel barked laughter loud enough to be heard over the album playing.

The volume died down to a whisper as did the snickering Nathaniel. “Hehe, sorry.”

I shook my head and kept my mouth shut, or I would perhaps have said something rather rude to match his prank.

“Yo. You good?” He leaned close, giving me a concerned look up at my face. I nodded in response when he just kept giving me that look. “You gotta talk to me.” My attention followed him straightening back up and stretching out his arms and legs as he stated: “We’ve got a long ways to go before we reach the Big Blue Mama. It’ll be a real drag if I’m the only one talkin’.”

My attention broke away from him to see the static interference caused by our cosmic journey. It would take a very long time until we reached our destination and Nathaniel was right about how our perception of time would slow without distractions. What he wanted to know… the matter was too personal, so I kept silent about it. But if he wanted me to talk: “What’s Earth like?”

When Nathaniel didn’t reply right away, I turned to look back at him --

-- and snorted a restrained laugh. He had his eyes crossed while giving me a very serious look.

“What? Am I focusing on you too much? I can see how that’d come ‘cross as funny. That’s cool.” He blinked his eyes straight. “I’ll spill the beans. You, ah, just sit there and catch whatever flies out of my mouth.” He smiled and reached over to a bag. Once he swiped his finger across the perfectly sealed top, the bag sliced open -- it worked kinda like a zipper. Then he began to rummage inside. “Okay. While I look for this, you wanna tell me how Mommy Dearest has been doing?”

I tensed up, took a deep breath, and decided to give him the fact. “She’s dead.”

“...sorry to hear that. How did her nine-billionth kid take that?” He pulled out a holoprojector and sat it in his lap. “I’m going out on a limb and say you’re still shaken-up about it?”

“If I was, I’d take some suppressants and be cool about it.” Nathaniel just shrugged at my logic. “What? You don’t think I would?”

“Yeah. I actually do, but that is besides the point. You haven’t been taking any damn suppressants for the past two years since we got the news.” He activated the holovid and I saw the static burp up an image for a nanosecond. At least, I thought I did? Maybe I had imagined it. “Oh what the Hell!? Don’t be leaving me hanging like that… piece of junk.”

I wanted to change the subject. “Well, you wanted to talk. Tell me, if you can’t show me.”

“Nah. This is definitely a show-n-tell. Give me another minute.” He smacked the holoprojector a few times as if violence was going to fix it. “Why don’t you take them?”

“No clue.” Nathaniel stopped tinkering for a moment.

He looked at me and asked: “You want to explain that one?”

I shook my head and said, “Forget about it.”

He faced me and pointed at me, but also had a look on his face like he’d just now remembered something. “You took my advice, didn’t you?”

“Your advice?” I thought back to what kind of advice I’d been crazy enough to heed from him. I shook my head when nothing came up.

“Yeah! Holy shit! You actually listened to me!? Fucking unreal… okay, dude, you shouldn’t do things like that, but I’m real damn happy what I said sunk in.” My confusion had gone up another defcon level and I began to feel a little irritated. And Nathaniel laughed. I might have been wrong, but I thought he saw my annoyance. When he sobered, he asked: “Any luck with the women?”

Once he asked that, it all came to me. I slapped and sank my face down into my palm. “That’s -- no. No such luck.” I shook my head and added: “Not even the shrink helped. All he did was point out my problems, but not what I’m looking for in women.”

“Yeah? What’s your problem? Oh, wait, correction: problems.” My wrist was grabbed and my hand was pulled away from my face by him. He leaned in and asked: “That was plural, right?”

“Yeah. It was.” Nathaniel spun his hand in the air to indicate I should tell all. “He thinks I’m compensating.”

It was his turn to snort back and refrain from laughing, but I didn’t know why until he explained. “Dude. You are not a dud. I’m sorry, but I’ve seen it and you’re gonna make a lady very happy.”

I immediately shook my head. “No-o. That wasn’t what he meant.” A sigh escaped and I thought about what I could tell Nathaniel that wasn’t too personal. “He pointed out I go looking for trouble on a regular basis. That everyone I’ve included in my life has had some problem they couldn’t have managed on their own.”

He paused a moment to reflect on what I said before he blurted out in confusion: “Yeah, you do, but how is that compensating?”

The answer to that was on the too-personal-to-talk-about subject. “Let’s just say I wasn’t always there for someone when I should have.”

Nathaniel smacked my shoulder and roughly shook me. He had a smile on his face as he stated: “Don’t worry about it… well now, here’s someone for you, man. ‘Till the end of time.”

I smiled back and nodded, but I wasn’t entirely sure if he was my best choice in a lifetime companion. I mean, technically he was going to be with me until we got hit. “Yeah. Thanks. Just don’t go doing any favors for Betelgeuse and blow us up with one of your pranks.”

He smacked my shoulder hard before he leaned back in his seat to tinker with the holoprojector again. “Pfft! How the fuck am I going to blow us --”

We both flinched away from his holoprojector when it exploded in an intense flash. I took a look at Nathaniel and saw his lap and abdomen had begun to reknit where they were burned -- skin by thought and clothes by nanites.

I would have said something witty, but dropped my thought because Nathaniel was a harsher critic. “Don’t ever listen to what I tell you or it’s just gonna go kablooie.”

I had to ask: “Am I going to regret taking that advice?”

He held his hands up to the sides of his head and imitated his head exploding as he said, “Don’t ask me that. That’s mind blowing.”

We laughed for a good while until I pointed out that his show-n-tell was gonna have to be fully narrated. Despite how sullen he became with that news, I enjoyed his attempt. He was funny.

I felt better knowing I had him with me. He knew how to make the last of our days a blast...

 

* * *
* * *

The sunlight had woken me.

There was a regular beat, not rhythmic, but constant. The noise was mixed with a familiar clop of horses’ hooves. The other noise was different… a squeaky grind and a chorus of stomps.

I had blinked the sleep out and caught the column of the Nangjang’s soldiers behind us in the extreme corner of my vision. With a backward glance, I saw many were equipped with a bow or had a long spear in hand. They kept vigilant when we passed hills that had obscured what lay beyond our vision.

Almost all the regional soldiers of Kirin were on the march. Within their ranks, they escorted horse-drawn carts. The transports squeaked with the weight of camp supplies, provisions, and those who were too injured to walk.

And the casualties of the battle were secluded in bundles somewhere further to the back of the column.

I looked up and over my shoulder at the sky. “Mutengge?”

He glanced behind himself. “Sleep well?”

My legs stretched down and along the horse we rode before I answered: “Yes.” Sleeping while sitting up on a horse and against a rider’s back wasn’t the most comfortable. But the sleep I’d gotten today was far better than the last time I’d slept on a horse by miles.

I would have slept better with my tigerskin blanket, but Mutengge insisted I not wear anything to associate myself with the current events.

When I shifted to see what was up ahead, I was startled to see the familiar slope to my village. I wanted to see more, so I leaned further to the side until I had the burnt husk of my village in sight.

I had expected to see the villagers begin reconstruction, but I should have known that would be too soon after the danger had passed through.

My thoughts of the nobi returning shifted to the tired soldiers on the march. The soldiers who weren’t kept alert to the possible dangers appeared eagerly ready to rest and doze off at a moment’s notice. I caught that tell-tale sign from a few who were dragging their feet.

Mutengge had ordered the census right before nightfall, but I had been the one who refused reason and defiantly searched for Songgotu. For what I’d caused, I felt sorry for the soldiers and the harm to Mutengge’s reputation.

To hug him, my arms wrapped around his waist and squeezed tightly. With my face pressed against his back, I muffed out: “Sorry.”

He used my name in query. “Tasha?”

I took a moment to concentrate on my vocabulary. When I had in my mind the sentence structure, I spoke: “Songgotu was kind. I only meant to give my respects to him.” The memory of the young soldier filled my mind. The very last time I’d seen him was the most heartbreaking moment. “Songgotu said ‘stay.’” My face pressed harder into Mutengge’s back as I stated: “I didn’t. Now Songgotu’s dead.”

The horse abruptly cantered off and out of the column. Then we came to a stop.

My arms unwound from Mutengge as he dismounted. He turned and picked me up and off the horse, settled me down, but he knelt down and still held me.

He suddenly pulled me into a tight hug and said, “Don’t blame yourself. His death is my fault.” His hand soothingly rubbed my entire back and it coaxed comfort into me. “When I saw him, I ordered him to return to you. He was to guard you until I had settled matters with the Xi.”

Now I understood why Songgotu had only returned with a couple of soldiers. He was likely accompanied by backup to ensure no stray horsemen caught him alone. But when he and his escort saw me in distress…

I hugged Mutengge back and buried my face down into his robes to keep my face dry and voice quiet as I began to cry. His hand raised up to the back of my head and gently began to smooth my hair back and down my neck.

“Tasha… we all make mistakes. I’ve made horrifying judgements.” I didn’t hear him speak for a few seconds before his voice cracked as he spoke: “The village here, and other villages elsewhere, are in this state because of me. I was the one who suggested we not engage.”

That caused me to pull my face away and stare up at him. “Why?”

I knew why… I had reasoned it out of the girl’s knowledge before I had been captured.

I wanted Mutengge to confirm I was right. “Their objective wasn’t to raid the villages, but to draw us out. Sagujin would’ve taken the opportunity to ford across and deeper to reach Pyeongwon.”

The name didn’t register at all with me. “Pyeongwon?”

He regained some of his composure and explained: “Our king.” He smiled down at me and assured me: “I’ll ensure you are provided with an education on all courtly matters and more.” His gaze lifted from me and swept across the marching column. “You must be prepared before.”

The rational part of me had fitted together Mutengge’s cryptic last words with all that had happened up until now. He wanted me to be ready before our kingdom’s court took advantage of my abnormality. But with my disposition to having temperamentally vicious outbursts, let alone my struggling attempts at having a decent conversation, preparations would be difficult -- if not impossible in a short amount of time.

...unless he was suggesting something? I asked: “Home?”

After patting me on the head, he announced: “You require much before the world learns of you.” He leaned down, but I shut my eyes for an instant as he flattened my hair with his bushy-faced kiss on my head. “You will find a home with my family.”

I cheered up a little with that knowledge confirmed --

-- then became confused as he quickly pulled me to his side and held perfectly still.

A few seconds passed until I felt the earth shake beneath my feet.

“Tasha. Do nothing. We must keep you a secret as much as we can.” He lifted me up; I grabbed around his neck and shoulders in return as he carried me back to the horse.

We mounted back up and instantly galloped to get ahead of the column. I believed that was where the Nangjang was located. Likely Mutengge wanted to convene and consult with him on what was approaching us all.

Once we reached the Nangjang, the column had already begun to transform into something more formidably solid. Everyone had their shoulders aligned with their neighbors as they faced the open hills.

The Nangjang faced us and barked out a word: “Bogui!”

I felt Mutengge’s back stiffen. He responded: “I feared as much. How many of the Xiang has he brought with him?”

“Enough.” The Nangjang pointed at us and stated: “I told you he was responsible for this. That pup thinks he can rebuild the Xiongnu.”

“No.” Mutengge brought our horse up beside the Nangjang’s mount. “I still believe Bogui would rather keep us on friendly terms. He’s dealing with Puliuru Jian’s expansion into Xianbei.”

The Nangjang pointedly announced: “We will soon see!” Then he turned his horse away to face the direction of horsemen galloping over the hills toward us and the solidified column. “If he so much as hints at being responsible for what happened here -- Juhyunwul!”

The robust man rushed his mount instantly by Mutengge’s side. “Yes, Nangjang!”

“Archers on the slope,” ordered the Nangjang.

“Yes, Nangjang!” Juhyunwul raced to meet the demand before the Xiang acted.

I watched their approach, but I was more focused on their outfits. Unlike the Xi, they were armored from head to toe. Like one giant robe of heavy armor. Even the horses wore the same armor blanketed over their broad and long frame.

The armor appeared to be segmented with... metal?

If the Xi would’ve had a rough time walking, the Xiang would find a real challenge when they dismounted.

...except I doubted they ever would leave their saddles. A vast number of armored horsemen kept flooding over the hills until the green and yellow was lost.

Among all of the combat-ready Xiang, there stood out only one who wore much less than the vastly numbered tribe. Or were the Xiang a confederation?

At last, the Xiang halted their advance with a moderate distance from the Kirin.

Except for the less armored Xiang. He directed his armored charger toward us.

As my sight of him became more clear, I noted his windswept short and long hair was interesting. His front bangs were long, but kept up with a leather band around his head. On both sides of his head, from above the ears and down, what long hair he had was ornately beaded to dangle and clink together over his shoulders.

And he was the first person I’d seen not with full black hair. There were traces of sunset-red in his hair. Especially lighter in the fringes on his long bangs.

Up close, I noted what he wore was an open vest made of some animal hide. He was lean, but from what I could see of his bare chest, he had a well-defined musculature beneath those tribal clothes.

I caught myself focusing too much on how appealing he looked. That had to have been an influence from the girl! After I resolved my funny emotions, I redirected my attention onto our eventual meeting.

Mutengge brought our horse up to meet him. “Bogui.”

“Mutengge.” I blinked when I realized that was Bogui speaking.

He was young! I mean, he appeared older than me, but in reflection of Mutengge and the Nangjang, Bogui was a freshmen compared to those seniors.

And he had a very unsettling expression. He had yet to blink! He stared at Mutengge, then lazily drifted past him and glanced up. I followed his gaze and saw the bowmen on the slope.

When I turned back to look at Bogui, he faced Mutengge once more as if he could care less about the archers the Nangjang had aimed at him.

Bogui looked beyond us, at my burnt village. “The ones who fought till the end were not soldiers.”

Mutengge shared: “Waegonobi.”

“Whether it be child or woman, Sagujin killed everyone in sight.” He faced us once more, but his emotionless eyes drifted down to me as I peeked up from behind Mutengge. “Who’s that?”

Pushing me out of Bogui’s sight, Mutengge softly backed his elbow into me as he stated: “My daughter.”

Despite being startled at his response, I still peeked under his arm!

Bogui shifted his uninterested attention back to Mutengge. “Do you know where I may find Sagujin?” He sounded bored. And appeared entirely unenthused.

Mutengge gently informed the young Xiang: “I am afraid not. We had troubles finding our own among the dead.”

“Ah, shame. I would have enjoyed being the one to rip out his throat.” With a smile, Bogui finally displayed a spark of life. “I heard a tiger tore it out.”

I had to wonder, if he already knew the man’s fate, why was he questioning Mutengge with an implication of having no previous knowledge of Sagujin? Unless Bogui was confirming the hearsay?

“Then I would suggest searching for a man with no head.” When Mutengge said that, Bogui lost his smile and abruptly turned away from us. He galloped back to his armored horsemen --

-- and the Xiang turned around at a gradual gallop away from the Kirin.

I tugged on Mutengge’s robe to grab his attention and asked: “Bogui leave?”

He reached behind himself and gave me a reassuring pat where he could. “Yes.” With some difficulty, he turned to look down and to face me. “Did you see how he looked?”

“Yes!” I clapped my mouth shut immediately. My response was louder than I’d intended in my interest to talk about Bogui. Excited?

Mutengge laughed a short moment at my embarrassing exclamation. With a smile, he tugged down on his cheek to show the red under his eye. “I meant his appearance.”

I muffled an apology behind my hands: “Sorry.”

He explained: “Bogui is exhausted. For him, and the tribes to have assembled, to have rushed all the way here this quickly -- all to be told he was too late -- has weighed on him in a single instant.” He faced forward once more and righted himself more comfortably on our horse. And talked more to himself than to me. “He has told me what happened.” A moment passed in silence as I felt and heard his lungs be filled enough to straighten his back and square his shoulders. “That was worth the effort for him come here. For that, he has my appreciation.” A great sigh had heaved out of him as he said, “Sagujin defected to the Sui.”

I asked: “Sui?”

And he indirectly clarified as he spoke to himself a little more. “An empire to the southwest of us. The Xiang have been our buffer from them until recently. It will only be a matter of time… Pyeongwon can apologize as much as he wants. Puliuru Jian wants an excuse.”

He directed our horse away from the retreating Xiang. When we joined back with the Nangjang, Mutengge explained the conversation and situation.

We resumed our march through the burned remains, making our way to the river. Once there, the column followed the river to the city.

Our eventual arrival to the city was met with a sombering sight. There were a countless number of squatters around the walled city. Inside was much worse as we became crowded by the traffic of what I assumed were refugees.

I kept my mouth shut about asking anything. I didn’t want to know what would truly could happen to these people.

My wish was for them to find hope and live… but I knew they were nobi. How could someone willingly return to a life like that?

We dismounted and I had been greeted with household servants. I wanted to ask if they were nobi as well, but I refrained.

With me in silence, Mutengge had busied himself with the casualties we had brought with us, the results of ending the Xi’s incursions. They would all be buried while in the meantime I would be cleansed and made presentable by the servants.

Bathing...

Again, I had kept myself quiet on how the dead would be treated. I knew he was following the orders of the Nangjang.

But I wondered what would become of the maimed and injured soldiers…

With a focused effort, I drifted onto a less pessimistic train of thought: my introduction to the city!

I overheard much talk while I remained in silence. It was surprising how the chatty servants allowed me to gather information without asking. Maybe they thought I was mute?

I was quietly enlightened.

The city of Gungnae. I learned it had once been the capital of the kingdom, but far too many times had invaders sacked the place -- even with the nearby mountain fortress of Hwando.

A new capital had been relocated much further to the south in a province, formerly a kingdom called Nakrang. Just as the province of Kirin had a major river, so did the province of Nakrang, and their city’s capital resided and heavily relied on their river.

Apparently our kingdom of Goguryeo was expansive to have multiple annexed kingdoms within its borders.

In my first observation of the city, I appraised the impression and Gungnae bore the initial concept I had of the girl’s mental image: a settlement. Now that had been a harsh criticism only because I was accustomed to the achievable potential humanity could bring to the stars.

...I had yet to understand what had happened to me, but I doubted I’d discover an answer. In the meantime, I explored the world from my new perspective.

Broken or crushed rocks were used to pave the road. Several bridges of dark wood spanned over the stretch of water intersecting the city. Many of the citizens and refugees frequented the bank.

Upon closer inspection of the city, I concluded the river was certainly the major provider to the inhabitants. With an intelligent guess, the homes appeared made of a combination of brick, stone, and clay from the river.

The bricks themselves were the size of my entire torso!

Many of those bricks appeared to be utilized to contain elevated earth works. The city rose on up with a serpentine road linked with all the residential areas on one side of the river. The other side of the river was peppered with raised hills and a crazy webwork of dirt roads. Likely those roads were naturally created rather than founded and leveled for the people.

A simple look was all I required to compare which side was for the wealthy and not.

Standing on the four corners of some buildings, cracked clay exposed patches of great logs.

I had a theory, a case that proved the river was a major factor to the city. The trees had probably come from the sporadic woods in the hilly mountains. With the river so close, all the men had to do was dunk the logs in and they’d floated down the river to the city for collections.

None would be floating in the river. Not after the recent incursions. Many villages would be abandoned by their populations massacred or the hard working men called into service. Or the nobi were conscripted.

Could the injured truly return to the lives they had placed on hold? In the eyes of their masters, are the nobi worth being treated? Or did the Kirin have a method to acquire more?

Mutengge promised I would be taught and I looked forward to the tutelage.

Within a society that placed a set value on lives, I eventually would’ve figured out that it was an honor to die a clean death in battle rather than to suffer through a life of ruin. A lesson I would have to carry with me forever if I wanted to live as humanly as possible.

A turning point in my new life happened when Mutengge concluded his business. He retrieved me and led me to his home. And to be introduced to my new family.

My few days living as a wild child had ended...

* * *

* * *

EPILOGUE

The following years would become relatively peaceful.

But I had no idea at the time how I’d be dragged into an ugly war between three kings.

Or be confronted with the passionate ambitions of a tribal chieftain.

And together being the cause of an imperial dynasty’s fall.

Those would be parts attributed to another story of my immortal life.

[End of Wild Child. Tasha will return a few years older.]