Chapter 1
Kim-lue sat with her legs dangling over the cliff edge, just outside of the cave her family called home. The wind blew the long golden hair that ran up the backside of her upper arm. She was not very big only a little over a meter tall and covered in light pink downy hair. She would soon be 17 seasons old.
She held the end of her tail in her hands, the end was a puff of hair the same as on her arms. It was changing color, and soon it would be bright red, telling any males that she was of mating age. This did not suit her at all, she had no desire to spend her days hanging on the cliffs like her Mother has done all her life.
She had always watched the men as they would go off into the jungle to hunt and longed to go with them. When she was 10 seasons she had found an old spear and had joined the group of men as they were about to descend one of the trees to the jungle floor. They all laughed at her, and her Father took the spear away and beat her with it.
That day she decided no matter what she would one day go into the jungle just like the males. She would hide and watch how they used their weapons and would listen to any tales of the wildlife. She knew the beasts that they would bring back to eat.
She may have not seen most of them alive, that the hunters said were dangerous, but she would know them when she did get to see them. She would always watch as the males jumped into the trees and made their way down into the jungle so far below. Females never got to leave the cliffs. It was not fair.
The caves were just above the tops of the trees, so most of the view was an unbroken mat of red-green leaves. There was a vast blue area to the south that the Hunters said was a huge body of water, like one of the springs, that was where they got there drinking water.
She would climb to the top of the cliff at times, it was her own little world no one else would ever think of doing that. There were trees up on top, but they were a lot smaller, and the biggest thing she had ever seen up there were Tree Huggers.
Some times it was all the Hunters would return with from a hunt. When fixed right they were tasty, but the ones up top were her friends. She would never tell anyone that they were there. She had made her own weapons, spear, sling, and a small bow. She had spent hours learning to flit nap arrowheads and had even made herself a fine knife.
She looked out over the red-green sea below her, off almost to the edge of her vision she could see another set of cliffs that rose out of the trees. The Hunters said that they were haunted by the souls of Hunters that died on their quests to return with food. She was not sure if she believed this or not, but the Hunters did.
She was grateful to the Hunters, they come back with not only food but skins, and furs to help keep them warm. Her mother had shown her how to sew them into different things, from a shirt, to blankets. She had become good at it, and a couple of the males would bring her furs to make their mates dresses. When hunters returned there was a feast, and they would tell tales of their trip.
The whole tribe was no more than two hundred at any time, so most everyone knew everyone else. There were tales of other tribes to the far south, but no one alive had ever seen others. It is said there had been many wars over the hunting grounds so now the tribe had a set area that was used and none would pass the old marking stones that they said were set up so many seasons ago.
There were some who didn’t believe the old tales of war and that the tribe was all there was as far as people in the world. She didn’t believe this, the world was just too vast and she was sure that there were many others. When she could no longer see the Hunting party, she stood up, thinking, one day they won’t be able to stop me from going.
They would be gone for about three or four Sun ups, so the only males were the ones that were too old, or had been hurt in some way. They never left the cliff anymore, no better than the females as far as the males were concerned. The light wind was still a little cool, but it was Spring and soon the wind would rise up the cliff warm.
