Beauty & The Beast

[Brian]

"It's work I'm proficient in," N'dovu replies after a moment.  "I've no objection to it, if that's what's required."

[Carthrat]

"I'm glad to hear that. I think many of the younger Caihuilla will feel much safer, with you around," replies Rick.

"You see, not far from our reservation, a dig site has opened up. The details are strange. They claim that they've found ancient ruins of some kind or another, but they're more similar to.. ancient greco-roman architecture, supposedly.

I don't know everything, but because we were nearby, and because they knew, apparently, that many Caihuilla have difficulty getting jobs, a large number of our youths has gone to work with them.

But I'm worried that these aren't the sort of people I want us working for.."

[Brian]

N'dovu grimaces at this.  "An unfortunate coincidence," he says dryly.  "It may bear investigation."

[Carthrat]

"Quite," replies Rick. "They're being paid under-the-table, so to speak. Cash only. No documentation or records. Apparently, the pay is very good.. but the work is very dangerous. I've heard reports of several injuries, and it's very concerning."

[Brian]

"Perhaps I am overreacting," N'dovu says, watching the landscape speed by in the windows, "but I think being paid under the table bears an interesting resemblance to my ... encounters.  Surely it is a small thing, but I do not think that such oddities would happen to me except perhaps as an extension of the Cahuilla tribe.  Friend Rick, I feel I must help you in the endeavour of finding out what these people want.  I will warn you that I do not trust them, however."  N'dovu rests one hand on his walking stick, and stares out at the desert.

[Carthrat]

"We're almost there," says Rick, nodding. "How long has it been for you, anyway?"

[Brian]

N'dovu squints, trying to recall.  "Some months," he finally admits.  "Perhaps a year and a half?"

[Carthrat]

"Mmm. Things have changed. Most of the youths you knew are either working for this company, or left the reservation to see the world," says Rick. "I don't think many will be coming back. At the rate this is going, we may all scatter soon.

It is inevitable, I suppose, but I did not expect to see us begin to scatter so in my lifetime."

[Brian]

"This is not good," N'dovu says, frowning.  "None seek to remember their roots?"

[Carthrat]

"Most don't see the point," replies Rick, flatly. "What good does it do for them? Remembering their roots won't make them richer. It won't get them into a prestigious university. It won't help them advance their lives.

They don't have the same values we do, N'Dovu. They seek to go blindly into a world they know little about."

[Brian]

"And when it is time for them to go beyond, they will take their toys and their money with them?" N'dovu asks, a slight edge of bitterness in his voice.  "They are lured and seduced by a distraction.  It is distressing that youth is so easily misled ... but all may not be lost.  The spirits may know what to do."

[Carthrat]

"Most don't care about the life beyond," says Rick, softly. "They don't know if there's anything there for them. They call themselves realists, and I know they speak scorn of their elders at times."

[Brian]

"Ah," N'dovu says.  "I know of the realists.  They always claim to understand what I really mean and feel."  N'dovu grins, and shakes his head.  "But I never speak to them, so I wonder how they know these things.  They and their ... 'Emo' friends amuse me.  In time, I think they will learn.  They only hide for the moment.

"But ... consulting with the spirits will do no harm.  It's certain the wisdom of the ancestors will help guide us to what comes next."

[Carthrat]

"We can only hope," replies Rick.

A while later, Rick pulls up outside the Caihulla reservation. It's a dry and dusty place; a small town stands there, made mostly of apparently ramshackle buildings that nonetheless have standed through the test of time and been shown to be comfortable and sturdy buildings (though their architecture leaves much to be desired in apperance).

"Here we are," says Rick, pulling the car up outside his rather small house. You know that the reservation is very sparse over the land they have; there's a schoolhouse that serves as a hall for the tribal council, and a few ranches here and there. This little town is the biggest inhabitated area on the land.

[Brian]

Stretching to work out some tension as he exits the relatively spacious car, N'dovu looks around appreciatively.  "Good memories," he says after a moment.  Turning to look at Rick, he then bluntly asks, "What would the Cahuilla have me do?"