Nda & Dodo: The Dearest Charioteers

The first time I saw her, she was standing on the shoreline, staring out at the ocean. The sun had just set and the moon was rising, casting a pale light over the water. The waves crashed against the rocks and the trees swayed in the breeze. It was beautiful. Like something out of a dream.

I was walking home after a long day of hunting with my father, when we heard a noise coming from the forest to our left. My father held up a hand, signaling me to stop. He walked toward the noise and soon disappeared behind a cluster of trees. As I waited for him to return, I turned to look out at the ocean again. My eyes fell on this girl standing on the beach, and that's where I stayed, watching her in silence for an eternity.

She was tall for her age--barely thirteen--with long brown hair that fell loosely down her back. She wore a short wrap around skirt made of animal hide with some kind of pattern painted on it and nothing else. Her skin was dark but not too dark--dark enough to be considered black by those in power; but not so dark that she couldn't have passed as white.

Her posture was poised, like she belonged on higher ground than everyone else, even though she was standing in mud and sand. She seemed delicate and fragile as if she could break at any moment, but there was something about her that made people want to protect her all at once. I wanted to protect her more than anything else in this world or any other world for that matter.

"Dodo," my father said quietly as he stepped out from behind the trees, startling me out of my reverie. He shook his head disapprovingly when he saw what I'd been staring at instead of listening to him, but I didn't care about any of that right now because I had found my soulmate: Dodo, daughter of Nda, chief hunter of our tribe.

** **

My mother called me over later that evening when everyone had gone to bed or off hunting or whatever it is they did all day long while she sat alone in her hut sewing pelts into clothes or skinning animals or cooking dinner or cleaning up after dinner or tending to herbs or whatever it is women do all day long when they live alone in their hut sewing pelts into clothes or skinning animals or cooking dinner or whatever it is women do all day long when they live alone in their hut sewing pelts into clothes or skinning animals or cooking dinner or cleaning up after dinner or tending to herbs--you get my point--and when they're not doing *anything*.

"Dodo," she said when I entered her hut and approached her where she sat on the floor beside a bundle of furs and pelts that looked like it had been rolled up and tied with rope until it looked more like one giant ball than multiple individual skins whose original forms were barely recognizable anymore except by experts who knew their shapes very well like my mother knew every shape of every animal on this island probably better than its own mother knew it would be "I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" I asked excitedly; already imagining what she might say next about being betrothed to some boy from another village far away who would be bringing us an alliance with his tribe which would make us stronger warriors against our enemies who were always trying to take over our village for whatever reason it is cultures always seem to have for wanting more land than they already have; but then again if we weren't always fighting with them then maybe we wouldn't have developed such good fighting skills which are useful when you're attacked by strange flying creatures who attack villages without warning except through prophecies that are never entirely clear but can only be interpreted by *me*.

"Well," my mother continued slowly "this may sound strange because you're still very young but...are you...a virgin?"

I blinked twice before answering: "Yes."

"Are you sure? You haven't done anything sexual with another man...or woman? Not even accidentally?" Now my mother sounded sad which confused me even more because why would she want me to tell her if I'd done anything sexual with someone? Wasn't it better if I hadn't? What did she mean by accidentally anyway? Didn't people have sex on purpose? Wasn't it impossible for sex not to be on purpose? And why did she think knowing whether I'd ever had sex before would help me realize whatever thing she thought I needed to realize?