"Where do you think she could have gone?" Maa’ti asked Ruut as the pair walked down the paths of flattened grass that snaked through their village. Maa'ti and Ruut were too busy arguing to notice that Sarah had left the medicine tent. Maa’ti recalled that she and Ruut had a long history of getting lost in childish arguments. Maa’ti insisted they set out to find Sarah.
"The medicine was helping though!" Ruut complained, annoyance tinging his boyish voice. Ruut didn't see the problem. He was simply trying to help Saa'rok by lifting his curse. Why did Maa'ti insist on being so stubborn?
"But, Ruut! That didn't help. It did the opposite of help!" Maa'ti whined back. Sarah was perhaps her only link to her old world. Maa'ti hoped that Sarah might be able to help her escape before it was too late. It was inevitable that Chatok was here to stay and, Ruut had long accepted his tribal boyhood, and she felt a growing yearning to be Maa'ti.
As they walked, Maa'ti tried to recall details of her old life. She found, however, the list of things she recalled uncertain - In fact her desire to remember was fading. Her old name was lost, she only answered to Maa'ti now. What she remembered of her old tongue sounded guttural and wrong. It was a stark contrast to the melodic tones of her people. As she thought the last of that language faded completely.
My new language is better anyway...The language of The Jungle Goddess, she thought. She knew that this thought was and unlike her. She knew deep-down she shouldn't believe in the idea of a 'Jungle Goddess.'She had been an atheist. All the same, an even bigger part of her knew the goddess to exist and knew her new language was her gift passed down to her people centuries ago. A gift in exchange for tending to the jungle.
She shuddered as an understanding of new religion deepend in her memories.
As the two walked, they found themselves merging into a group of women and girls slowly making their way forward. Not just a few women, Maa'ti realized, but many. Every woman in the village it seemed was pacing down the same path as her and Ruut.
Seeing Maa'ti one of the women turned, a warm smile crossing her face. "Daughter, we were wondering where you were. The men are cleaning their kills. It is time to prepare the evening meal." Maa'ti knew that she and her mother argued about her place in the tribe, but it was undeniable that they loved each other. Her inner turmoil was lightened by the love she felt.
Maa'ti recalled that she'd been making a habit of skipping the evening wash. It was their custom that women cleanse themselves before the evening meal. After a long, tiring hunt the men of the village 'deserved' a clean home to return to. In their culture, that cleanliness extended to the women. She wanted to be with the men, tend to the animals and learn how to properly dress a kill and prepare it for their use, and not preparing meals.
As they approached the Great River, Ruut elbowed her. "Look! Its Chatok, and Saa'rok!" He said, excitement in his voice. Set up by the river's edge, Chatok and Sarah were close to finishing their work.
Maa'ti paused, her thoughts replaced by a sense of urgency. The Sarah she saw was a far cry from the one who had bolted from the tent The jungle clearly had started to mold her form. She was completely focused and crouching low before what was left of the kill - the low working stance one common among their tribe. Her height was slightly shorter given her age, though the loss in height wasn't quite as dramatic as Maa'ti's own or the boys.
Of course he is taller, he is older after all, Maa'ti thought.
By now, Sarah's breasts were gone, and were completely replaced by the flat chest of a teen boy. Where once was fat was lean muscle. In a few years it would develop into a man's broad chest. Maa'ti felt an unexpected flutter of excitement. Her eye's traced Sarah's chest in appreciation before moving to her arms. She noticed they too were different; the mix of fat and muscle had changed. There was a strength that hadn't existed before. The red ring of pigment acted to accentuate this change, causing Maa'ti's heart to flutter even more.
Maa'ti watched the subtle transformations still shaping the girl. Her legs shifting from lithe smoothness to a harder edged teen masculinity. Sarah's well shaven skin started to darken as dark leg hairs began to emerge. The same color already painted the roots of Sarah's head hair, but suddenly that color began to advance quicker pace. The dirty blond melted away, leaving behind her people's reddish brown. Maa'ti couldn't confirm if the changes had spread beneath the loin cloth yet - but what she knew was that Sarah's old self was fading quick, her skin, face, and possibly what was between her legs were all changing fast.
Maa'ti felt like swooning. Seeing Sarah's changing body and emerging desires, filled her with strange, eager emotions. She remembered developing a massive crush on Saa'rok, like many of the other young girls. He had always been kind to her. She admired him despite knowing she was too young, not yet developed. As a man she never understood why pre-teen girls acted like they did, but now she understood.
While Maa'ti knew she too should be ogling the women in the river, not thinking of Sarah's increasingly masculine form, looking the women over she felt nothing. She could tell Saa'rok would be a large man with a broad chest, and large muscles. He would have the admiration, and jealously of the boys. While every girl would want him. Speaking of attraction she noted that Sarah had her eyes on the older girls.
The women of the village had begun to cleanse themselves in the Great River. They were all were shirtless and many were fairly well endowed. The future teen boy was admiring their bare chests as they splashed water over themselves. While bare chests were the norm in their tribe - teen boys were still teen boys, and Sarah's mind had evidently had the desires of one.
Instead an image of Sarah's old self entered her mind. Well endowed, athletic, beautiful. Those mental images still stirred powerful emotions. Maa'ti found herself fantasizing about having a similar body, something she knew teen boys would notice. She became jealous of the older girls. Especially since Saa'rok was interested. More than anything, she realized, she wanted to grow to be a beautiful woman. She wanted to fully appreciate him sexually, to be with him as a lover, and to be free of her betrothal. She wanted to be with a man she could appreciate, and Cha'tok would be free to pursue a partner that shared his inclinations. He would always be a dear friend, but neither would be happy if they were married.
A sudden breeze began to flow over the river. Maa'ti felt her hair catch in the wind. A hand rest on her shoulder, but looking down - nothing was there. Seemingly coming from the wind, itself, came a light, feminine whisper. "If that is what you wish. Then I will make you beautiful, My Daughter."
Maa'ti felt a profound awe in the presence of The Goddess - her Goddess. A deep devotion settled deep into soul. Maa'ti let The Goddess's will wash over her. Her apprehension faded as she accepted her place in the tribe. Her past didn't matter anymore. These people were her people. This tribe was her tribe. They spoke the same language. Had the same culture. The same beautiful dark skin. She shed some tears of joy and she whispered, "Thank you, My Lady." Maa'ti knew she wouldn't regret her decision.
Maa'ti grew taller, matching Saa'rok's age. Her figure grew softer, and more feminine. She grew breasts that would make the girls of the village jealous. Her legs became long, and shapely. Her hips flared outward, and she gasped with pleasure as her loins matured. Her feelings for Saa'rok became more mature, sensual. She wanted to feel his body, to inhale his scent, and eventually mate with him. He was already attractive as a boy. How would he be as a man? Her loins grew damp just thinking about it.
She hummed feeling content. She thought that the boy Ruut was right in helping Saa'rok, not that she would admit it. Ruut was much smarter than he let on - for a boy his age. She decided to join the other girls her age, and flaunt her figure in the hopes that Saa'rok would notice her.