Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

using was his tongue and teeth.   I seriously had to figure out how to do that.
    I heard a soft whistling sound and turned in time to catch Bodo trying to imitate it.   He stopped when he saw me watching and smiled self-consciously.
    A few more bodies came out of the trees, Kowi and Coli among them.
    “What’s up?” asked Kowi, striding towards us.
    “Their friend is missing,” said Yokci.   “I’m thinking Creek.”
    Coli’s bottom jaw stuck out in anger.   “You always think that, Yokci.”
    “Shut up, Coli,” he said, not even looking at her.
    “Both of you, shut up,” said Kowi, turning to face me.   “When was the last time you saw him?”
    “Three hours ago, when he went to take a shower.”   The look on all their faces and their body language was screaming out to the world.   There was some messed up shit going on around here.   “What the hell is this all about, Kowi?   Did some Creek indians take him?”
    Kowi sighed heavily.   “It’s possible.”
    Yokci snorted.   “More like probable.”
    Coli leaped forward and shoved him.   He fell back a couple spaces and moved quickly to regain his footing, acting like he was going to go after her.   Coli stood there, her hands in fists at her side, her jaw thrust out.   “Go ahead, Yokci!”
    I almost expected her to say make my day next, but Kowi got in the middle of them and stopped it from going any further.
    “Enough!” he shouted.   “This is not the time or the place.   Coli, go get the others.   Yokci, go start tracking him from the shower area.”
    They both shot each other a death glare and then moved on to obey his orders.
    I crossed my arms over my chest.   “You have some explaining to do, Kowi.   I feel like we’ve been lied to.”
    Kowi’s face was a mask of no expression.   He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them again to stare at me and then Bodo.  
    “We haven’t lied to you.   But we haven’t exactly told you everything, either.   Let’s sit down and I’ll tell you what I can.”
    ***
    I sat on the floor of the hut near enough to Bodo that I could feel his body heat.   It was comforting, since I knew he was the only person in this place who I could trust right now.
    Kowi explained, “We’re having a little bit of trouble with a neighboring tribe, the Creeks.”
    “That’s what Coli is,” I said.
    “Yes.   Our … relationship is supposed to help the tribes get along.   So far it’s only having limited success.”
    “You might have tried to find a happier bride.”
    He tilted his head, his face still giving nothing away.   “One does not always get to choose who he ends up with.”
    I raised an eyebrow at that, not even really sure what he meant, but I’m pretty sure Coli wouldn’t have liked hearing it.   Was he saying she had been chosen only for tribal purposes?   Or that he’d fallen in love with a woman who’d never be happy?   It was impossible to tell with his emotionless delivery.
    “So what’s happening, den?   Seemss like da Creeks must not be very happy if dey’re kidnapping your friends.”
    “They’ve been causing general trouble with us for months … stealing supplies, food, occasionally trying to take our women.   But we’ve never had them take one of our men before.”
    “Probably because they’re more difficult targets.”
    “Except for dat Yokci guy,” added Bodo, totally straight-faced
    I couldn’t help but smile at that, wishing Yokci had heard it.
    “Yes, our men - all of them - are difficult targets.”   He glared at Bodo, now letting some of his anger slip through.
    I brushed off their macho pissing contest.   “Why would they take Peter, though?   I mean, no offense to my friend, but he’s totally useless as a warrior or whatever.”
    “They know he’s valuable to us, or we wouldn’t have let him stay here.   They don’t have to know what his value is, just that he is important.”
    “So what … he’s like a bargaining chip now?”
    “Maybe.   Either that or they’ll just plan on integrating him into their tribe somehow.   Or … ”
    Bodo leaned in towards me and said, “He iss good at organizing and cleaning thingks.”
    I shoved him with my elbow.   Now was no time to joke about Peter’s obsessive compulsive disorder.  
    “Or what?”
    “Or they’ll deliver him out of Kahayatle and send him on his way.   He’s an outsider - a trespasser.   He has no right to be here.”
    I instantly felt