It's been about ten years since Nizhoni's elder brother, Nocona, went missing through the black hole. Everyone keeps telling her that he's dead, but somehow, she can feel in her heart that he's still alive, somewhere out there in that endless black void the Americans called Space. Though the Shirai tribe and their enemy tribe, the Tonshyu, are slowly learning about the technologies the Americans create, they are still set in their customs. A Thousand years ago, the Americans came to the land from the east.
Their leaders spoke with the tribes' chiefs to seek out land to build their village. They brought gifts such as guns that we have never seen before. They offered to give Education for the tribes' young and thus built a school just outside their now, ever growing village. That is how Nizhoni's elder brother learned about the stars and space. That is how she learned about the different kinds of animals around the world such as parrots in the amazon rainforest, tigers in the jungle, and polar bears in the arctic.
When she isn't in her village doing her chores, She is in the city working as a Veterinarian for all the city's and both tribe villages' sick and wounded animals. Though neither of the tribes like the Americans, not all of them are bad. Over the years there have been people from all over the world that come to live in the big city. It's interesting for the natives to see all the different nationalities coming together in a way that is still fairly new to both tribes.
Some of Nizhoni's friends and Co-workers arrived to the city from all over the world. Angel and her family came from Mexico, Mitsu and her family are from England, Miku and her family are from Japan, The Twins, Sarime and her brother from France, and finally Cerena, Sireen, and their other three sisters are from Egypt. Two of the sisters each had a daughter at a very young age.
Hopi has been the Tonshyu's acting chief for about thirteen years now. His father died due to an illness the Americans called Lung Cancer when he was only fourteen. As he, Kitchi, and Nashoba were teaching the young boys of the tribe how to make spears, bows, and arrows for hunting, a memory popped into his head of a conversation between him and Nizhoni's brother. It was just a couple of days before Nocona was to board the space shuttle.
As Nocona was getting ready to leave his home village. He looks back and smiles at Hopi. "Hey Hopi, it's up to you to watch over Nizhoni while I'm gone. She doesn't have any friends in our village that are her age and you three are the only ones she feels even remotely comfortable with at school. So can I count on you to keep an eye on my little sister while I'm gone?" He asks.
He looks at him and nods his head yes. "I promise, I will protect her with my life." He replied.
He chuckles. "Good, I'm counting on you. And Hopi? Try not to be so shy around her. Among the three of you, she's the most comfortable around you and I know that you're shy around her because you have feelings for her." He said before he turned and left.
He comes back to reality when he feels Nashoba shaking him by the shoulders. "Hey, Chief! You alright?" He asked.
"He was probably thinking about Nizhoni again." Kitchi said. His brothers laughed. "I keep telling him that if he doesn't make a move on her soon, I just may sweep her off her feet before he does."
"Kitchi don't do that! You know how the chief feels for her." Nashoba said.
"It was dad's idea to unite the tribes by a marriage between one of us and Nizhoni, the other Shirai STILL doesn't know a thing about it because SOMEONE here doesn't have the balls to say anything to her or the chief about it." Kitchi explained.
"I'm going to the Shirai village today to talk to their chief about it while she is at work in the city. I have to tell him sooner or later." He said as he looked at his younger brothers.
"It's taken you this long to finally man up and talk to her dad about uniting the tribes! If you had just acted a lot sooner on this, the tribes would have already been united, the two of you would be married, and with kids of your own by now! What's taken you so damn long, Hopi?!" Kitchi explained.
"Because I'm waiting for the right time to tell her how I feel!" There was a long pause. "Ever since her brother disappeared, she hasn't been her normal self. She hardly ever smiles, let alone sing anymore. The Palila I know would sing her heart out every single day. When times were tough she would try to stay as positive as she could, so that she didn't worry her tribe. Her beautiful dark eyes would have so much life in them that they would sparkle in the light. But you wouldn't have known that, would you, Kitchi." He said as he glared at his younger brother by two years.
"What's the deal with calling her Palila anyway?" Nashoma asked.
"Because, the day I first met her, she was singing as she was learning to weave a basket. Ever since then I've been calling her Palila....She's always been my little songbird." He replied.
"I thought you first met her the night we tried to steal the fish?" Kitchi asked.
Hopi nodded his head no. "I first met her when we were five. I had gotten caught in one of the adult's traps when I tried to steal a fish from them. She was walking around as she was trying to weave a basket when she looked up and saw me in the trap. I thought that she would call for one of the adults, but she was the one that helped me down. When she helped me down, she told me to be quiet and gave me a couple of big fish, then helped me sneak out of the village unseen." He explained.
"Wait, hold up. So you're telling us that you've known Nizhoni since you were FIVE?!" Nashoba asked in surprisement. Hopi nodded his head yes. "And you never TOLD US?!" Another nod from Hopi.
"No wonder you didn't introduce yourself back then." Kitchi said as he crossed his arms.
"Anyway, I have to get going now, if I want to make it to the Shirai village by nightfall." He said as he started walking towards the edge of the village.
"I was being serious earlier, Hopi. If you don't make a move on your little Palila soon, then I will take her from you at the next chance I get." Kitchi said coldly.
'Over my dead body, brother!' He thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in the city, Nizhoni was working at the front desk of the vet clinic when a young boy no older than ten from the Shirai came in, holding one of the village hunting wolves in his arms. "Princess! Please! You have to help Raja! I think he's sick!" The boy said in a frantic and worried tone.
"Alright. Set him on the table here." She said as she stood up and led him to one of the examination rooms. She took the dog's weight and temperature. She picks the dog up and lays him down on the table. When she laid him down, she noticed that he was a she, and she was producing milk. She was in labor but was having some issues. She walks out of the room shutting the door behind her and goes to her co-worker, Arisa, one of the five sisters that came from Egypt, for help. "Arisa! I need a Sonogram in room three! Stat!"
"On it!" A young woman around the age of twenty-six with long black hair and green eyes came out from the back with a sonogram machine.
When both women entered the room the boy was pacing until he heard them come into the room. "Is he going to be okay Princess?" The boy asked.
"She will be just fine, Swapan. Arisa and I will take care of her." She replied, trying to calm the boy down.
"What do you mean 'she'? Raja is a boy!" He said.
Nizhoni giggled. "Swapan, Raja is actually a female and she will bring her offspring into the world within hours. But for now you'll have to leave her with us. I will bring her back to the village once she is well enough to return. Though I suppose Raja would need a new name since Raja is a male dog's name. Would you like to think of another name for her?" She asked as she looked at the boy.
He looked down in thought then looked back at her. "Chandra! Because she was brought to this world under a shining moon!" he said happily. She smiles.
"Then I will bring Chandra once she is well enough to return to the village with her puppies." She replied.
"Hey Nizhoni, we'll need to do an emergency C-section. There are so many pups that they're getting stuck." Arisa said.
"Alright. I'll prepare the operating room." Nizhoni said.
"After you help me deliver these babies you can go on lunch." She said.
After they did the C-section, they placed Chandra and all six of her puppies in a cage for her to recover and the pups to start nursing. Nizhoni just left for her lunch break when she sees what appeared to be her father, laying down on the sidewalk, across the street from the Vet Clinic. "F-Father! What happened? Why are you here?" She asked as she crossed the road (After looking both ways of course.) to get to her father.
"My Daughter, I was going to cross the road to come see you when a couple of children knocked me over. I was going to come see you to talk about Uniting our tribes." He explained.
"U-Uniting our Tribes? Father, couldn't this have waited till after work?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid It cannot, my daughter." He said as she helped him up.
"Alright well I'm on my lunch break now so, why don't we go somewhere to talk about it. My Treat. Will Hopi be Joining us?" She asked.
"He will join us as soon as he can." He said as they headed down the street. As they were walking towards the restaurant, the Shirai chief looked behind him, as if someone was following him.
"Is something wrong, father?" Nizhoni asked.
"Everything is fine, my daughter." He said as he smiled at her.
Hiding in a dark alleyway, watching Nizhoni and her father, was Hopi. 'Something doesn't seem right about Chief Bidzii. I doubt that the Shirai Chief knows about father's plan of uniting our tribes through marriage.' He thought to himself as he followed them from a safe distance.
"Tell me, daughter. What is your opinion on Chief Hopi and his brothers?" Bidzii asked.
"Well, his brothers are good friends of mine, though they can be immature, Nashoma is a little too young, and Kitchi....He's changed since we were in school, and I don't mean in a good way." She explained.
'Nizhoni, my Palila, you have NO idea' Hopi thought to himself as he smiled. His eyes widened as he saw the Chief's legs turn into a red serpent's tail as it started to coil around her.
"Oh really! How so?" The chief asked as he smiled without her noticing.