by Avi Silver
Ahn offered his hand. Even though Sohmeng rolled her eyes, he didn’t miss the small, grateful squeeze when she took it.
Outside the hmun, the sãoni colony was lounging in the afternoon night. There were more of them gathered today, which Ahn supposed was on account of mating season winding down. At the center was Mama, enjoying a sunspot as Hei scratched between her head spines.
“Hey doofus,” Sohmeng called, and Hei looked up with a friendly chirp. “Hope you didn’t eat with the sãoni already. We brought stuff that’s way better.”
At the sound of squeaking hatchlings, Ahn quickly returned the pack to Sohmeng and braced himself for impact. The creatures leapt onto him in an instant, wiggling excitedly as they chewed on his clothing.
“Calm now,” he cooed, pulling one of them off his head before its claws took out an eye by mistake.
Hei came over, rubbing cheeks with Sohmeng. “What food?”
“Stuff from my dad’s place,” she said, pulling the pack away before Hei could get into it. “Pim packed up enough for all three of us, even made extra sweet buns.”
“Sweet buns.” Hei waved them over to the small fire smouldering in the clearing. “Come, we eat here. Sweet buns now.”
Ahn laughed, trying to keep one of the hatchlings from crawling down his pants. He doubted he would get much eating done with the little creatures attached to him. He walked over to Mama, nearly juggling the hatchlings, and deposited them carefully at her feet. Her friendly rumble and nose-nudge felt like a warm welcome.
The three of them sat together, unsupervised and untroubled. They ate skewers of blackened vegetables, squeezing citrus juice over them and laughing as the hatchlings hissed at the sour rinds. The meatballs were a source of chaos; Hei nearly choked laughing when Ahn frantically stuffed three into his mouth before they could be snatched up by any tiny jaws. For a while, they simply enjoyed a meal together, savouring the budding comfort that had grown between them after the night of the storm.
Ahn wished it could stay like this, easy and playful. But with several of the past weeks’ problems now resolved, it was time to face what troubles were still to come.
Midway through the sweet buns, Sohmeng took the plunge. She’d pulled out her dice to fidget with; Ahn watched the faded blue stones pass between her fingers. “Hei, I want to talk to you about fixing the Sky Bridge.”
“Grand Ones said yes, yes?” Hei asked, looking between them. The other day, they had seemed genuinely happy for Sohmeng and Ahn when the two of them had breathlessly recounted the events of the trial.
“They did,” Sohmeng said. “But it’s going to take some work. And...I’m sorry, Hei, but I need to ask you for help one more time. You might not like it, but it would mean a lot if you would hear me out, okay?”
They clicked slowly, fixing her with a wary expression as they leaned back against Mama’s strong mid-leg. Ahn swallowed. If anyone could sell this idea to Hei, it was Sohmeng. But it didn’t make the task any less intimidating.
“Ahn and I have been working with my father for the past two days to finalize the details of our plan for the Sky Bridge. We think we’ve covered everything, but there are a few problems we need to work around.” With a deep breath, Sohmeng explained everything to Hei in a mixture of Dulpongpa and Atengpa. Kind as the gesture was, Ahn wasn’t sure it was necessary—they had gone through this plan so many times that Ahn thought he might start practicing it in his sleep:
Gather a small party, journey to the mountains, string up the portion of the Sky Bridge between the Third Finger and Sodão Dangde, make the crossing to the First Finger, and—with the help of the residents of Ateng—repair the Sky Bridge. A simple plan, in theory. But reality was a different matter, one which required both ingenuity and a generous portion of luck.
The first problem they faced sat at the foot of Fochão Dangde—the territorial sãoni colony that had originally destroyed the Bridge, and later attacked Sohmeng’s father. Though they were kept from climbing too high by the sãoni warriors in Fochão Dangde, nothing was there to stop them from staking their claim on the jungle below. Careful mapping revealed an alternate route, one which could bring them to Sodão Dangde without ever setting foot within enemy lines. However, the terrain was not easy on humans, and would take nearly twice as long to navigate.
If they arrived at Sodão Dangde unharmed, the next step would be splitting the party into two groups: one to climb the Third Finger and shoot the arrow that would reconnect the Bridge, another to play the role of the batengmun in Sodão Dangde and catch it. This was where the second problem came in: the Third Finger was treacherous to scale, even more so with the amount of rope they were planning on bringing to assist with the Sky Bridge.
Then there came the final problem they faced. There was only half a cycle before Ahn was supposed to meet his sister miles and miles away. Between preparing for the journey, reaching and scaling the mountains, and repairing the Bridge itself, Minhal was likely to arrive far faster than anyone was prepared for.
All three of these problems came down to timing. The good news was, there was a possible solution. The bad news was—
“Bringing the sãoni with us would make everything run a lot more smoothly,” Sohmeng said. “They move fast, Hei. With the colony on our side, we would actually have a chance of fixing the Sky Bridge without Ahn missing his deadline. We might even have time to warn a few other hmun about Qiao Sidh on the way up.”
Ahn nodded along, feeding small pieces of his sweet bun to the hatchlings. Hei was quiet, fidgeting with their sãoni claws as they leaned against Mama. Their expression was unreadable as ever.
“I know you don’t like the idea,” Sohmeng said, inching closer to them. “You’ve already said that you don’t want humans using sãoni, that you’d rather everyone just leave them alone, but that’s not, it’s...” She trailed off, looking to Ahn for help.
“Qiao Sidh has put down their first colony at the top of the migration route,” he said. Sohmeng was translating rapidly into Atengpa, making sure Hei didn’t misunderstand him. It was a sensitive topic, after all. “If the sãoni continue on that route, they will walk right into the Empire. Hei, I...I killed one of them myself. You saw it.” Hei’s eyes flashed to him, a look that told him how clearly they remembered what he had done. He bit back the urge to try and justify himself, or overapologize. “I am only one man—there are thousands more coming. The sãoni are fearsome, but they would not stand a chance.”
“It’s why so many fled south in the first place, right?” asked Sohmeng. “It’s what caused this whole problem, all of the new territory conflicts. I know you don’t want the sãoni to get wrapped up in human problems, but it’s already happening.” Ahn watched the corner of Hei’s mouth quirk, but Sohmeng did not give them a chance to argue. “It isn’t fair that their way of life has to change, but if we want them to survive, we have to intervene. We all want the same thing, Hei. We want everyone to be safe. Humans and sãoni and everything in between.”
“If the sãoni help Ateng, it could go a long way to building some trust between species,”Ahn added, smiling hopefully to Sohmeng. She nodded enthusiastically in agreement, but when she looked at Hei, her expression was sincere.
“But we won’t do it without you,” she said. Even though it wasn’t directed at him, Ahn couldn’t help but warm at the fierce kindness in her voice. “We haven’t even brought it up with the Grand Ones yet, or the scouts. We wanted to talk to you first and tell you that even though having the sãoni would make this so much easier, even though I really don’t want us to be separated... we won’t do it without your go-ahead. If you want to say no, the answer is no. We’ll find another way.”
With everything out in the open, Ahn and Sohmeng were quiet. She had told him that this would happen, reminded him that Hei often needed to take their time before replying verbally to a difficult conversation.
Hei thumped their head back against Mama’s belly, sighing loudly. They did not seem overly upse
t, or angry—if anything, they sounded exasperated.
“You two,” Hei muttered, wrinkling their nose. “Big ideas, so smart. Not thinking that I already thinking these... these...” With an irritable growl, they sat up, speaking to Sohmeng in Atengpa. It sounded like a question.
“Oh,” Sohmeng said, glancing to Ahn. She put her dice away. “They um, do you mind if I just translate for them? Just to make it easier to understand?”
“Of course,” Ahn replied quickly. This was an unexpected start. “Whatever is easier.”
Just like that, Hei took off in rapid Atengpa, speaking with an eloquence that Ahn had never seen before. Their body language had the same feral grace as ever, and their expression maintained its typical shift between intense eye-contact and avoiding looking at people altogether. But without the Sãonipa peppered through the conversation, they were different, and Ahn realized with a low sense of shame that he had been misjudging them based on how they preferred to communicate.
“Do you two really think that I have not considered these things?” Hei asked, shaking their head. “I have lived with the colony for years longer than either of you. Sohmeng, I told you about the invaders, the Qiao Sidhur, when we first met. I told you about the danger they put the sãoni in. I know the migration route is a mess, and I am not sure why you think I believe things can go on as they have been.”
Sohmeng sputtered something in defensive Atengpa, but Hei cut her off with a sharp Sãonipa sound before Ahn could catch its translation.
“You and Ahnschen do your thinking out loud. Thinking about Nona Fahang, thinking about Ateng, thinking about sãoni and each other and everything. All of it out loud, with your voices, to anyone who listens. I do my thinking here.” Hei tapped their temple, looking at them seriously. “I do my thinking with myself, and I share when I have something to say. So listen to what I am saying right now: while you have been dealing with Nona Fahang, I have been with the sãoni. I have been waiting for mating season to end, and watching Mama very closely, and trying to figure out how we can keep the family from getting killed. There is not one solution that makes me happy. But just being unhappy is not a solution either.”
Ahn tugged at his earpiece, feeling an old heaviness in his chest. He understood the danger of inaction.
“So...” Sohmeng began, raising her eyebrows hopefully.
“So you are right,” Hei conceded. “I don’t like your idea. I don’t like strangers near the sãoni, and I don’t like strangers near me either. I don’t like that the sãoni will need to change because of human foolishness. I don’t like your solution, but it is the only one that makes sense. Sãoni and humans need to find a way to work together.”
Ahn thought he might collapse in relief. Despite Sohmeng’s reassurances to Hei that they could “find another way” if necessary, he’d honestly had no idea how they ever expected to fix the Bridge in time for next Minhal without the sãoni’s help. Sohmeng leapt onto Hei, kissing their face with such force that Mama let out a confused rumble.
“Thank you!” Sohmeng said, squeezing them. “Hei, thank you, I knew you’d understand, I—”
Hei squawked loudly, wrestling Sohmeng to the ground. “Wait, I wasn’t finished!”
The conversation rapidly devolved into play-fighting, with Hei shouting as Sohmeng goaded them in Atengpa. Ahn averted his eyes with a small smile, petting one of the hatchlings as he felt something complicated churn in his heart.
“Okay, okay sorry,” Sohmeng said, blowing her bangs out of her face and grinning sheepishly. “What were you saying?”
“Only that you have both forgotten something very important.” Hei gestured to the creatures around them. “These are sãoni.”
“Well, yeah?” said Sohmeng. “They certainly aren’t pygmy hogs.”
Hei glared at them with the withering disbelief of an underpaid master. Ahn couldn’t help but feel like a student who had forgotten to bring their book to class. “You think it is that easy? You ask the sãoni to go, and they go? Why would they ever listen to humans?”
“They listen to you,” Ahn offered.
“They understand me,” Hei shot back. “Sometimes. And that is not the same as listening.”
“Okay, so maybe sãoni aren’t always the easiest to work with,” Sohmeng said. “But the colony has come a long way since we arrived at Nona Fahang. They’re more tolerant of humans, especially when they can get a treat out of it. Maybe we could keep using food as encouragement to follow some small instructions!”
As if on cue, one of the hatchlings hopped up on its hind legs, peeping at Ahn for a piece of his sweet bun. He handed it over, feeling hopeful. “The hatchlings are attached to me, and very quick to learn. Even some of the older members of the colony seem open to training. If we take some time to prepare, maybe we could strengthen these skills.”
“And with your cooperation, it could be so much easier!” added Sohmeng, gesturing energetically. “We could mix your understanding of Sãonipa with Ahn’s training experience. We could make something completely new, something that’s perfect for the sãoni. With your help—”
Hei growled, closing their eyes and waving their hands for quiet. Mama nuzzled against them, chirping. Ahn did not know what it meant, but it seemed to calm them down.
“I am not the alpha,” they said eventually, stroking Mama’s nose. “My word is not final, no matter how many tricks we make up. But I will do what I can, okay? Now no more talking, please. More sweet buns, but no more talking.”
Sohmeng nodded, clicking what Ahn believed to be an affirmative. After a moment, he cleared his throat, trying to mimic the noise. The look on Hei’s face told him that he was nowhere near close—but they were smiling. If he could earn one or two more of those smiles, they might come out okay.
Following the approval of the Grand Ones, preparations for the excursion to Sodão Dangde started immediately. It was decided that leaving under Ginhãe was the most auspicious choice, and so the date that had originally been set for Ahn’s trial became the day that they would try to fix what he had broken. It felt good, promising, but it was also coming in less than two phases’ time. Half of Heng, all of Li, perhaps a day more for buffer—all godly fortune aside, it amounted to no more than seven days. Seven days to achieve what Ateng had not been able to do in two years.
With Ahn’s meeting with his sister looming, there was no choice but to pull it off. Failing Ateng now meant potentially failing all of Gãepongwei.
Thankfully, all of Nona Fahang was coming together to help. Everywhere Sohmeng looked, people of all phases and specializations were figuring out how their individual skills might serve their distant cousins in Ateng.
Many of them wound up braiding rope. Once the crossing to the First Finger was complete, repairs to the Sky Bridge would take far less time if they had the materials already. Most of Sohmeng’s mornings were spent on this task, working side by side with her father’s neighbours. Tonão’s weaving hobby came in handy; she was amazed by how quickly his fingers moved.
It was hard not to think of the last batengmun. Thirteen children left alone, trying to do the work this entire hmun was now attempting together. Soon she would bear witness to their bodies once more. This time, she would give them the closure they deserved.
This is how I honour them, she told herself. This is how we finish their Tengmunji.
At first, Sohmeng was uncertain about using the fibers from a different plant than what was used in Ateng. But after being reassured of its sturdiness, she began to see beauty in the symbolism: the pain of Ateng being healed with the care of Eiji. It felt like a promise that Gãepongwei really could come together.
“There is a hmun called Sorwei Chapal that spans across the Ãotul,” Tonão said one afternoon, bouncing Kuei on his knee. “They use this plant to build the bridges for their own crossing. Perhaps you will meet them, when all of this is done.”
“Maybe you’ll come with me,” Sohmeng suggested. “Get back on the trade route.”
Her father simply smiled, but the sadness in the look stopped Sohmeng before she pushed the issue. It was obvious how much he wanted to be a part of the journey to Sodão Dangde—he would light up every time they discussed their plans. Until the sãoni were brought up. Then, all she could do was pretend not to notice the way his hands would tremble, the way tangles would form in his previously smooth work.
Tonão Sol was not the only person who had reservations about the colony’s part in their plan. No matter how much Sohmeng saw the sãoni as family, she couldn’t deny the fact that they were predators, and working with them came with its own risk.
So when she wasn’t up to her elbows in rope, Sohmeng was spending hours on end with Ahn and Hei, trying their best to make the creatures a little more human-friendly. Though Hei claimed they couldn’t control the sãoni, it made a world of difference when they participated in the exercises. Ahn knew what strategies encouraged the sãoni to follow instruction, but Hei’s ability to speak with them made the instructions clear. Together, they built a shared language.
After a couple days, they identified which members of the colony would make the best mounts: Mama for the sake of authority, Singing Violet for her calm demeanor, and the two impressionable adolescents that had followed Hei and Ahn into battle. Much to Ahn’s horror, Sohmeng had taken to calling them Qøngem and Sølshend.
“To defeat the Empire, you must think like the Empire,” she declared smugly, ignoring the high-pitched whine from her friend.
The plan also placed Hei firmly atop Green Bites. The end of mating season had mellowed the troublesome lizard out, but he had never really lost his—well, bite. Even as the other sãoni adapted to having more humans in their space, he was inclined to stalk, hiss at, and generally menace anyone he decided was in his way.
While Sohmeng and Ahn worked on socializing the sãoni, it was Hei’s job to keep their brother in check. The snarling in the background did little to calm anyone’s nerves, nor did the afternoon where Green Bites decided to drag Hei around by the leg in a show of dominance. Mama’s tolerance of the new humans, provided they were introduced to her first, was one of the only things that reassured Sohmeng that it was possible to include new riders.
