Charlie watched on as the Chiefess and Ourupadia kept their eyes locked on one another. He didn’t speak their language, but thanks to the translation from Nolkonoe, he knew this fight was over who was to keep him. But why him? What did he do to deserve such torment? As Charlie muttered to himself about his life choices and decision to come here, Etasose was the first to speak.

“I accept, I say we fight, hand to hand. The winner is the one who decides whether or not my husband stays here,” The Chiefess strutted over towards the training area.

“I say we do archery. After all, this is not just a competition, but a way to show our little friend here who is best a defending him! And your enemies can’t harm you if they can’t reach you. So, archery shows who can keep the enemies at bay,” Ourupadia said, her counteroffer visibly annoyed the Chiefess as she glared over her shoulder at her. Smirking, Etasose came up with her comeback.

“Well, I doubt you could even hit an attacker coming to get him, so you would need to know melee if you are to keep him safe,” Etasose said, thinking her retort was better than it was. Still, though, it was enough to annoy Ourupadia as she proposed another counteroffer.

“Best out of two. We will do archery and then we will do melee fighting. Whoever wins the two is the one who will be allowed to take the outsider. And if it becomes a draw, then we shall allow him to decide,” Ourupadia proposed to the Chiefess. Etasose nodded and agreed to the terms.

Nolkonoe translated what they were saying to Charlie.

“Can’t I just choose what I do?” He questioned.

Without his permission, Nolkonoe instinctively translated what we said back to the two women. Both gave him a little growl and sneer which quickly quieted him. It was obvious to him now that this feud of those with something that extended far beyond himself. Right now, he was just a tool for them to use to have an excuse to fight against one another.

“Why is this happening to me?” Charlie pleaded with himself as he tucked his legs into his chest. Again, without his permission, Nolkonoe translated what he said back to the two women. They both gave their answers and Nolkonoe translated their answers back to him.

“Ourupadia says it's because she thinks you're cute, and that she doesn't believe you are in safe hands with the Chiefess. The Chiefess on the other hand says she has marked you as her mate, and as such, she has a right to do what she wishes with you.” Nolkonoe said, trying to hide her grin as she enjoyed the drama unfolding in front of her.

Before Charlie could try to plead for his safety again, the women had already stormed off towards the training area. Sitting under the shade he watched as they cleared the women from their training so that they can make room for their competition. Both of the fierce women took up a bow each. Then grab some large arrows with bags tied around the arrowheads. Charlie seems to be dummy arrows meant for skirmishing practice, or something of that nature.

The training area was now deserted as all huntresses and warriors alike sat on the sidelines to watch the two warrior beauties battle. The two women prowled around the area. Like wild animals, they circled each other. Their arrows were loaded in their bows, ready to fire at each other. Each held three arrows each. Charlie didn’t know the ins and outs of this duel, but he guessed that they had three shots each and whoever landed the most hits was the winner.

Assuming this was the rules of the game, the child decided that considering he didn't think the option of running was that good, he might as well wait until they were focused on the combat and then he could slip away in the meantime while they were distracted. Now with his mindset on finding an opportunity to escape, he sat back and watched as the fight began.

Ourupadia was a huntress. Being a huntress, she was highly trained in using bows and arrows to hunt prey, so seeing she had an advantage in this fight she decided to be the first to fire. Her arrow flung through the air towards the Chiefess. Smiling the Chiefess threw herself to one side and somersaults to both dodge the arrow and show off her athletic skills. Landing back on her own two feet she felt a pain sear through her stomach as one of the practice arrows hit her.

Looking to the side, she could see the practice arrow she had dodged lying on the ground. Then what had hit her? Staring downwards, she saw a second arrow had hit her stomach. In a matter of seconds, Ourupadia had already predicted where her target was going to land as well as fired another arrow to meet her when she landed. Ducking, the Chiefess narrowly avoided the third hour from hitting her head.

1:0, Ourupadia was in the lead. That was all she needed though, as long as she could dodge the next three arrows from the Chiefess, then she would win. The Chiefess studied the posture of Ourupadia carefully. Her legs were bent in a way that suggested that she was ready to run towards her right. But from looking at her shoulders and arms, the Chiefess predicted she was getting ready to run left.

The huntresses were good hunters. Amazing at the trade of tracking down animals for miles at a time sometimes even days. They were known for their accuracy, but not for their fighting capability or that athleticism. As such the Chiefess predicted that she wouldn't be as good at dodging her arrows. Loading two of her arrows onto her bowstring, she charged towards Ourupadia. As predicted, she turned and darted left.

The Chiefess fired an arrow just in front of the direction Ourupadia was heading. But at a split second, Ourupadia ducked and grabbed the arrow out of the air. Taking the arrow she had gotten, she loaded it into her bow. Just in time, she fired the arrow towards the Chiefess as she also fired an arrow towards her. The practice arrows met in the air, cancelling each other out.

Awestruck by the graceful moves of the huntress, Etasose realised that she could take advantage of this. In the rules of this kind of duels, a participant wasn’t allowed to touch the arrow of the enemy under any circumstance. Thus, when Ourupadia grabbed the arrow, that was technically a hit. Or at least that was what the Chiefess planned to argue.

Lifting her bow she went her deliver the final shot to Ourupadia before she managed to recover from her daring manoeuvre. But as she loaded the arrow and aimed it towards her target, she saw that Ourupadia was already gone. Like a whisper in the wind, Ourupadia was gone. She had moved behind the Chiefess, recovered one of her arrows, and prepared to fire it at Ourupadia.

The lead huntress sat along the sides of the training field, acting as the judge for the match and the one who was to keep track of whose arrows were whose. Looking to the side, she noticed Charlie slowly slipping away into the village. Deciding it was best to leave him and not cause any chaos, she went back to watching the match.

Ourupadia sat hunched, taking off her corded top, she fiddled with it and her arrow in her hands. The Chiefess lined up her shot and fired. But before she could fire, Ourupadia had charged at the Chiefess, one of her original arrows already loaded in her bow. The Chiefess dodged and ducked as Ourupadia got closer and closer. Both fired their arrows.

The Chiefess dodged the arrow of Ourupadia. To her annoyance though, Ourupadia dodged her counterattack as her arrow flew right past her head. For a few seconds, the Chiefess was confused as she felt something smack onto the back of her head as Ourupadia leapt away from her. That’s when she noticed it. Ourupadia had used her bra as a string on the arrow to pull it back to her whenever she fired It.

The feeling on the back of the Chiefess’s head, it had been Ourupadia pulling back the arrow. Again, technically a hit. Two to Ourupadia and two to the Chiefess. The next hit would be a win. Ourupadia looked out to the tree to see if Charlie was watching her. The Chiefess did the same, also wanting to brag to him about her soon to be a win.

The Chiefess’s eyes scanned the tree line. He was gone. Vanished. It was Ourupadia, right? She had to have been playing tricks on her. Looking to Ourupadia, she could see she was just as confused as her. Throwing down their bows, both women rushed off into the village, much to the enjoyment of the lead huntress as she watched them sprint away. For the first time in years, the Chiefess looked alive without having to be killing an enemy or a captive. She only wondered now what her daughter would do when she found out that Charlie had returned to them.

Charlie wandered through the village. The native women giggled and muttered as he passed. Looking around, he could see this wasn’t the part of the village he had been brought through to get to the training field. The women here wore the white paints but didn’t wear nearly as much. None of them wore red paint or patterns either. The women here didn’t look to be huntresses or warriors, they didn’t even look to be wolf women.

From the looks he was getting from both the same height, regular looking village women, and the taller, stronger looking women, it was like none of them had seen a person with pale skin before. The younger women looked at him with a look of excitement and interest, like looking at an exotic animal. The more mature looking women as well as the tall warrior women looked at him with more intrigue than anything else.

Not having the confidence to ask for help or lack of pride to admit defeat and admit he went in the wrong direction, he carried on forward. Getting deeper and deeper into the village, he started to feel the gazes on his increase in intensity and number. Looking over his shoulder, Charlie could see several women, only a little taller than him, following him. There were four of them in total, but each was smeared in dark red paint as well as bright white paint.

Walking faster, Charlie didn’t want to be caught by these vicious looking women. As they got closer, only then did Charlie realise how tall they were compared to him. He wasn’t short by any means. The Chiefess was about the same height as him, maybe half an inch to an inch taller. Ourupadia was a good inch and a bit taller and the average tribeswoman he had meat who wasn’t a huntress or warrior were all about his height or a little shorter.

The same went for most the women here, but the women in the red feather headdresses that were steadily getting closer to him were a good foot or so taller than him. A strong hand planted onto his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Turning slowly, he looked up to the far taller, seven ft tall woman.

“Afternoon?” He said sheepishly as the women surrounded him. Their strong hands probed him, examining him closely. A small crowd of village women had now gathered. Now he thought about it, the majority of the people in this part of the village were women. He knew the majority here were women, but it was a good thirty women to one man.

Each of the four women grabbed one of his limbs and lifted him into the air. Oh fuck. He couldn’t catch a break, could he? The women started to carry him through the village. Charlie nor the women said anything as they carried him through the village. Soon they reached a large, stone building. Charlie didn’t get much time to take in the surroundings or details of the area though as he was carried into the stone building.

Once inside, he was plopped down in front of a large wooden chair covered with furs and blankets. Looking up and checking his surroundings, he was greeted by a room full of women dressed in a similar style to the lead huntress. The main difference was that their feather headdresses were just a little smaller. Well except for one. A tall woman sat on a chair of furs and blankets. Her sparkling bark brown eyes brightened when they saw him.

“Charlie?” the woman’s voice echoed into his ears. Oh no. Not another one, he thought as he saw the look of hunger spread across the lustful lips of the warrior woman.