Pace

Duk Duk grunted as a shaft of light shone on his face, waking him from his sleep. He sat, adjusting to his surroundings, before realising something. "The entrance is open, how else would light get into the cave!", he thought, before looking around panicked. The others were gone, only Charlie remained sleeping in the cave with him. "Charlie, come on, morning", he said, waking the bird, before drawing his axe and cautiously approaching the doorway. There was no blood, so it didn't look like anything attacked them inside, he would be able to find out more outside, but he would take no risks. He passed through the threshold when suddenly, "SURPRISE!!!""Rhakash!", he swore, falling backwards in shock. He was helped to his feet by an arm he could not quite see, his eyes yet to adjust to the bright outside light. He looked up. It was Kaytelin, and she was holding his hand in hers. All speech left him, he was mesmerized by her beauty, and her hands felt so soft and delicate on his own. "So, waddya think?" She smiled at him. "Think? Duk Duk think about lots of things.", He answered, confused. She giggled girlishly, "I mean about this!", she said, gesturing to her left. He turned, and his eyes grew wide with awe. There was a camp, with several tents put up, protected by a small wooden wall with stakes on the outside. In the center of it all was the biggest tent, so huge it could be a small house. There were small fenced off areas, containing dummies filled with grass and leaves, with skin of wood. "We added to the place a bit, our way of saying thanks", she smiled at him. He still stood shocked, "This is.....wow""I assume you like it then", she giggled, "Come on, lemme show you around!". She grabbed his hand tightly and ran off, dragging her with him. "Woah!", he said, as he stumbled, nearly toppled by her sudden tug. She showed him each tent in turn, before finally reaching the huge one in the center. "This will be our main tent, for the leader to live in, and for everybody to meet and discuss our plans, I think we might use it now. Come on everyone, it's time!". Grom, Jak and Mikael all came out from behind the cave. "Finally!", Jak said, smiling. "Duk Duk confused, what going on?""You'll see", she smiled, and that was all he needed.

Mikael stood first. "Duk Duk, you offered us shelter, and trusted us right from the beggining with no reason to, you fed us and gave us water, and so in thanks we built this. However, we do have one more request of you. We have nowhere to go, and cannot return to where we came from. So I ask you, may we stay with you? I can hunt and fight, and Kaytelin is quite the mage, and we would be honored to be in your service." He bowed his head, and went down on one knee. "Rise, friend, no-one here will serve me, but you may join me if you wish.""I too wish to join you, my tribe is gone, I have been hunting and wandering aimlessly for a long time, but here makes me feel safe, reminds me of my home.""Grom too may stay, how could Duk Duk turn down kin.""Well, now that that's settled, I think we have something important to tell our little green friend", Jak said, grinning widely. "Of course", Mikael said, "On a unanamous vote, we all decide that in our new fellowship, you shall lead us". Duk Duk stood, dumbstruck, at the words he had just heard. "Accept, this is something you will need to do", Mr. Headvoice said. He shook himself out of  his trance. "Duk Duk graciously accepts, thank you all.""Yes!", Kaytelin squeeled, before running over and hugging him tightly. He stood, shocked, before wrapping his arms around her. "Thank you, Duk Duk of Mt.Trident, you have given us more than you may think", Mikael said, smiling sadly, "For you don't realise how much something is until you lose it." "I think this calls for a bit of a celebraion! I'll go get the food, someone start the music and a half decent campfire!", Jak said, running into one of the storage tents. "Duk Duk like the sound of that", Duk Duk said, smiling, as his new tribe cheered and celebrated long into the night............