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She opened up her eyes, and for several seconds Kendra had trouble remembering where she was. She had been in the forest for two weeks all on her own, and had gotten very used to the silence, used to her solitude.
Down by the river, outside the shelter of the trees.
There are groups of people up and down the river, many washing themselves, others collecting water for the morning meal. Those who are washing are segregated by sex. Kendra goes down to an area by herself, but between two groups of the women.
The impressions she had when she first arrived at the camp the night before are confirmed. These people, so human like, but they are so much taller than those from her native world, The KshDonar. The average height of the women seemed to be around six foot five, those of the men nearly seven feet. Kendra, at barely over five feet, was tiny in comparison, smaller than many of their children she had seen about.
Kendra knelt down by the river, dipping her hands into the swiftly flowing water. It was cool, chilly, in this autumn air. Cupping her hands, she brought it up to her mouth, drinking, feeling the cold liquid go down her throat, into her. It was delicious-tasting water. She splashed some of the water onto her face, helping to wake herself up.
After several drinks, Kendra rubbed some water onto her arms, getting rid of the dirt and grime that had built up from her journey. She grimaced as the water ran over the claw marks of the beast, but she brought more and more water over it, trying to clean the wound.
“Alda.”
Kendra jumped at the sound of the voice. Turning, she saw a woman standing before her. A foot taller than Kendra, this woman was still much shorter than many of this people. She had dark brown skin, and long reddish-brown hair. Her eyes were a bright blue, the color of the morning sky. They almost seemed to glow.
In what seemed to be the typical fashion of these people, the woman wore little clothes, even in this chill weather, just a strip of some animal fur wrapped around her waist. Her body was well-muscled, that of a warrior or a hunter. Or perhaps a runner, Kendra thought to herself, a small smile gracing her face.
The woman held a large cloth sack in one of her hands
She pointed to herself, stating "Flansen." She then motioned with her hand to the young lady.
Assuming that Flansen was the woman’s name, Kendra pointed to herself and said, "Kendra."
The tall woman smiled. "Ken, dra," she repeated, rolling the sound of the name over her tongue. She then reached up with her right hand and brushed the hair from Kendra's face. She touched Kendra's cheek with her fingers and said again, a little more certain this time, "Ken-dra."
Flansen makes several motions with her hands that Kendra has trouble interpreting, all the while she smiled down at the girl. After she failed to respond, the woman slowly reached for Kendra. Kendra started at first, but then let then held still. Flansen took hold of the bottom of Kendra grubby shirt and pulled it over her head. The younger woman felt uncomfortable as more of her flesh was exposed to the autumn air. When the shirt was off, Flansen tossed the grubby garment off to the side.
Turning to Kendra again, she looked in curiosity at the young woman's bra, as though she hadn’t seen one before.
The woman turns to her bag, taking out what looks like a dark grey stone filled with holes, looking like a sponge. She also took out of the bag some sort of wrapping made out of animal fur, and a short root. Placing the wrapping to the side, she kneels by the water, getting the root wet. She then stands in front of Kendra, and starts to wash her arms.
She is treating me like a child, Kendra thought to herself, but she offered no resistance to the older woman wiping her down. It occurred to Kendra she might appear as a child to them.
Kendra walked into the water. It was freezing against her flesh, but was very invigorating at the same time. She walked until the water was flowing over her hips. Flansen came behind her and, after lathering her back with the room, began rubbing her shoulders with the sponge-like stone, scraping the dirt and grime from Kendra's skin. The sensation felt odd, as the lather and stone left a tingling sensation on the skin. Flansen continued on down her back, all the way down to where the water was running over the young girl's hips.
The wounds on Kendra's arm and torso numbed as the cloth and ... MORE