Tavi and Tovi...the end

"Shhhh"...Tavi whispered into her dead sister's ear. "We shall be home soon...just rest here a while."

Kimana stepped outside her lodge and looked up. The sky was covered in gray clouds and strange birds. Birds which were out of season. Kimana thought of her girls momentarily and then squinted her eyes. "Tia no!" She shook her head trying to fling the spirits away from her mind. Her mind had decided she had no children, her heart was just a little stubborn. It would learn. As she stood staring upward, she swallowed nothing down her dry throat. Elder Maki stopped and watched Kimana for a minute then trudged on toward the plaza. Others watched her in silence from their nearby lodges. No one dared to disrupt her adjusting. They went about their lives as Kimana washed the bad spirits from her heart.

It wasn't till later in the afternoon, when Raven flew in from amongst the other birds and perched upon Kimana's lodge post. He stared down at Kimana as she worked a hide in silence. The old lady looked up at Raven and frowned. "What do you want, spirit?" Kimana knew that Raven was a silly little bird but that he held knowledge behind his antics. Kimana waited patiently for Raven to speak, but Raven cocked his head and stared toward the trail. Wolf came bounding toward the village from the shadows. His eyes burned brightly as he loped into the plaza and glanced from side to side.

Kimana stopped her work and stood. Something was very wrong. When Wolf and Raven ran together, it was time to pay attention. Visions became clouded and they often collided when the light and darkness worked as one. How could this be? Light was the enemy of the dark.

Kimana walked toward the wolf and spoke. "Wa ya. Wolf looked to Kimana and yelped a bit, then he jerked his head toward the opposite end of the village. Wolf walked away then broke into a sprint. Kimana followed. Her tired feet followed the light as the people watched them. Raven squaked from behind her then took flight, moving into the trees toward the trail.

"Wa Ya, where are you going?" Kimana moved behind the light ignoring the people's stares. They watched the pair move through the plaza and between the lodges on the other end of the village. Wolf darted behind the last lodge and Kimana followed. Alone they stared at each other. "Wa Ya,ge sv i Tavi a le Tovi gv hna?" Kimana's heart filled with visions of the twins much faster than her mind had beaten her will to forget them. She waited for wolf to tell her that her girls were safe, that they were coming home but wolf only stared. Then wolf grew. Not two or three hands but many. Wolf grew taller than Kimana until he lost his fur and became a man. Kimana gasped and backed into one of the lodges. Her heart, filled with dread, pounded suddenly at the sight of the light changing into man. Kimana waited for the light to speak.

"If you wish to live, run! Run very fast, into the forest and keep going!" The dark haired man glanced behind him and back to Kimana. "They are coming for you but they will take everything in their wake. Run! A si gi na!!!"

Kimana looked toward the village in confusion then back to wolf. The first scream pierced the air followed by a couple more. Babies started to cry and Raven flew low overhead squaking like a maniac. "I don't understand, Wa ya. Where are my babies?"

Wolf shook his human head and started to changed back into his canine form. He howled and closed his jaw firmly onto Kimana's hand pulling her toward the forest. More screams joined the agonizing screams from before. Shouts rang throughout the village and heads poked from the lodge directly behind Kimama. Words flew back and forth between warriors and their women but one statement repeated itself over and over...'si gi na'.

Wolf pulled Kimana furiously and growled. Kimana shouted at wolf "Tia NO! tia NO, Wa ya." Kimana shook her head and pulled free of the wolf's teeth, tearing red gashes into her little finger. Kimana winced and walked from behind the lodge. Her people were scattered everywhere questioning each other and some were  even crying hysterically. Warriors kept coming from their robes with bows and clubs, some with small hatchets. The village was in chaos. Kimana moved through the angry and frightened people moving back toward the plaza. Her heart beat furiously and her hands shook. Somewhere behind her, Raven squaked like an ordinary bird. Wolf howled painfully.

When Kimana saw it, she couldnt quite understand. Her mind just couldnt accept what she was looking at. Death, death was all around her, happening as she moved closer. Then she stopped.
In the center of the plaza, her twins stood together fighting her people. Tovi was fighting five warriors at once while Tavi held a small bundle to her face. Kimana was confused. Why were her people attacking her children. And they looked so tired, so sick....so pale. Kimana moved forward and noticed the bodies. Surrounding her twins were countless numbers of bodies. Men, women, children, all of which she was slowly beginning to recognize. Na Na lay on her face in a big pool of blood along with her husband Flake. Kimana tripped over something and when she grabbed a nearby lodge pole, she realized it was Elder Tamis. She yelped and put her hand over her mouth.

Kimana drew closer as Tovi took down the last warrior of the five and bent over him. She stared at the scene in unbelief.

"Tovi!" Kimana called to her daughter.

Tovi turned toward Kimana, still bent over the dead warrior. Tavi pulled her face from the bundle. Both girls were hideously pale and colorless except for the red covering the bottom of their faces. For a moment, Kimana didn't understand what she saw. As she realised what was happening her heart sank. Kimana screamed and fell to the earth. The rest of the village scattered and ran into the forest. Warriors dropped their weapons, mothers clutched their children and ran. Kimana lay on the ground...appearing to.sleep at the feet of her children.

Tavi dropped the dead infant to the ground and took her sisters hand. "Mama, we're home."