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The tribesman began to teach her the language of his people. He started with the alphabet, then the different word formations, general expressions and then finished with body language. The tribesman continued until Alexandra could read, write and speak the language like a native. The tribesman took a month to teach her the language of his people.
As to the body language and different signals, that took two months for her to learn. He also trained her in eating habits, and the basics of how to live with the cannibalistic customs. It bothered her that she now understood more of what the tribesman had said at their first meeting, and this tribe did practice many cannibalistic customs, and strange rituals.
All of this was very puzzling to Alexandra because to her cannibals were cannibals, and that meant that they ate people. Why was it really important to have a way to eat people? According to the tribesman’s dictum to Alexandra their tribal name was L’art’o. It is the L’art’o’s custom to only eat those who were healthy, and to hunt them from other civilizations on Sevle.
The fact that they come in contact with so many foreigners made it easy for them to learn new languages. Alexandra also learned about the age protocol, and order that one eats, and smokes the tribal pipe. The elders were served first, then the shaman, then those over fifty years old, then those over thirty years old, then those over fifteen, then those over eight, and then those over three. Those younger than three did not eat with the whole tribe, but ate outside of the tribe in a hut.
When eating amongst the tribe the elders ate their fill, and then the next in line began to eat. It continued throughout the tribe’s people until everyone had eaten. Unfortunately because of customs Alexandra is last, and will always be last in the meals. This has been set because she is not of their blood. Her children that she has if she weds a tribesman will eat before she does.
After everyone is done eating, the pipe is passed in the same hierarchy as the meal. Alexandra did not like the fact that it was mandatory for her to smoke the pipe, or the tribes peoples' bluntness of thinking that she would have a child within the tribe. The tribesman that considered himself to be her new father let her try it out. It tasted bad and made her see things that she preferred not to see. Her first time smoking the pipe made her see this big one hundred foot long, and about fifty foot high beast following her.
She was not sure what it was, but in the back of her mind she knew that she should know what it was. All that she understood about it was that it was as big as a ship, had three horns on its head, as much teeth as the shark in the water that bit her but bigger, and talons as big as she was that looked very sharp. Alexandra hated the pipe because she now had bad dreams about the creature, and she wanted it to stop. She was finished her basic protocol training, and would soon start her other training.
It would soon mark the fifth anniversary of her captivity, and that is when she will first be introduced to the rest of the tribe and would need to follow their rules from then on. She did not want to do this because she wanted to be with her friends. Unfortunately her real, and true friends were not with her. Alexandra needed them now, and believed that it all happened because they had to move to Shizamid. She was coming along in her physical exercises that the tribe was putting her through to regain the full use of her legs again.
Soon she would be introduced to others in the tribe other than the tribesman and the tribeswomen that helped her with her getting physically well again. Once she was physically ready her duties to the tribe would be laid out for her to do, and rules for her to follow. It was hard being powerless and unable to be free from these cannibals. Tomorrow was going to be very boring considering that she would be forced to join a society that she did not want to join.
Alexandra had other duties more important than being with a tribe that could go through many generations of lives while she was still young, and vibrant. She would stay young and vibrant for some time. Alexandra could not do much here besides what she was told to do, and had the resolve that it was better to obey than to be eaten. The tribesman seemed to be excited about tomorrow, and to him it was her big day of being a part of the tribe. So, as to not being eaten, she practiced all day. She knew that the food would be different if not abhorrent.
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The L’art’o people’s main diet consisted of Sevlin flesh and even though she was not Sevlin it would still feel weird to eat people. Alexandra’s tribesman father told her that she would only be able to eat during the one mealtime. So now she would be last in eating at mealtime, and only be able to eat at that time. If she refused any part of the meal she would have to sit out of two meals and there would be no other way to get any other food, at least that was the L’art’o’s theory.
After not wearing much clothes for about five years Alexandra was starting to forget how it felt to wear them. She understood now that she preferred not to wear any clothes and it was better for her in the long run. At least that is how she felt now, but anyone about to become a cannibal might have delusions of nakedness or some such things. Alexandra liked how the wind and air felt as it passed over her skin, but then again she was frightened of these people eating her or doing something worse than that to her.
The last couple of years being exposed to the hot sun from frequently being outside without much clothes on, her skin was a dark purplish colour. Alexandra lay on her back thinking about tomorrow morning’s events. She would be officially sworn into the L’art’o tribe, how boring, and obtuse that would be for her. It was hard to believe that she was already three hundred, and fifty something years old. How the time flew by when you did not age, and boredom did not get to you at all. Her thoughts slowly drifted away as she journeyed towards sleep.