Passage from Trapped: The Untold Story of the Shearpoint Cave
"Despite the magnitude of the catastrophe, it isn't accepted that the Shearpoint people were completely eradicated during the disaster. There is evidence that individuals survived the disaster- be it the lucky few in uncollapsed caves, or individuals who were outside weathering the storm before the incident. These lonely few likely were spread out across the entire archipelago, horrified by the events which just transpired."
***
Tunqquallk floated in a cavern so deep and dark he didn't know if his eyes still saw. His arms and legs were like buoyant seeds in the sea as he felt himself drift further and further into the abyss. The darkness was soft and cool around him. He no longer felt the cuts on his hands, the bruises on his knees. As he ethereally persisted in the darkness, a mote of light began to dance in the distance. It playfully whirled about, disturbing the gentle calm of the dark.
The mote appeared bigger and bigger as it honed in on him. Buzzing with energy, it was the size of a hand, then a hill, then the whole sky.
Tunqquallk lurched up with a deep gasp for air. Immediately sharp arrows pierced his sides as his body protested in absolute agony. Gently caressing his side he looked at his surroundings. He was in a hide tent, around him were medicinal herbs and ragged strips of furs covered in dried bloodstains. A faint fire flickered outside in the morning light, while the smell of salt on the air and muffled waves indicated that the ocean was only a few strides away. Outside he could hear a muffled conversation. As he began to get up from his bed of pelts to investigate, he felt his right leg give out from under him. Pain shot up his side. He collapsed to the floor in a clamorous thud. His face on the ground and unable to get up, he let out a cry.
Two people rushed in, hearing Tunqquallk's fall. An elderly woman wrapped in thick pelts embroidered with shells and beads and wizened beyond natural years clasped his left hand unsteadily. To his right, a young woman in a plain hide outfit carried a woven basket of herbs on her back as she steadied Tunqquallk up. "Stay still please" the elderly woman said as the younger woman began to help him back onto the bed.
"You're finally awake, thank Nisqqa. We were starting to think your soul had flown from the earth"
"I... I don't know... am I really awake? I had such a dream..." Tunqquallk tried to steady himself on his legs before a spasm of pain caused him to yelp.
"Easy, please rest." the young woman said as she gave Tunqquallk a hide pouch full of water. "You've been asleep since we found you three days ago, right after the great shake. You must be starving."
"Three days ago... the great shake?..." Atrocious memories flooded back into his head like hundreds of flies on a festering carcass. He began to shiver uncontrollably. His stomach lurched upwards as he lost all sensation in his fingers.
"Taquan, you mustn't shock him. Let him rest." The old woman scolded, beads, shells, and skin jingling. "Give him the tanna, that will help his pain." Taquan reached into her basket and pulled out a leather wrapping. Inside were several large fruits, long fermented, browned, and smelly. Taquan gave Tunqquallk the wrapping and let him plop them in his mouth. They tasted acrid going down and stung his nose. After finishing the fruits Tunqquallk felt much better, although he wasn't sure if it was because it was the first meal he likely had in days or the fermentation dulling his pain.
"Child, how do you feel now?" the old woman inquired as she scanned Tunqquallk with cloudy eyes, jowls and cheeks jingling with her beads. Her gaze felt like she could peer inside him and see what injuries he had sustained internally.
"Much better, although... I... what about..."
The old woman sighed, and rested her wrinkled fingers on Tunqquallk's hand. It did not take the wisdom of years to know what Tunqquallk wanted to know. "Your village... we cannot enter it. We cannot hear beyond the stones that cover the old entrances. As far as we know you are the only one from it that is still alive. You are the only one we've found." She looked down on the ground of the tent. "We came here from the northern shores following the day of the great shake, hoping to find others who had survived. After our days of walking and searching, all we found was you." She paused for a moment, and looked back at Tunqquallk "My name is Annsa. I was... still am... the oldest crone in my village. You have already met my great granddaughter Taquan". She leaned over to sit on the floor. "Now then, let me hear the stories of your village, so they may not be forgotten". Thick tears built up in Tunqquallk's eyes and he fought back sobs as he began to name those he had lost, so their memories may be shared.
***
For an entire cycle of the seasons, Taquan, Tunqquallk, and Annsa could not find another band of people. Once Tunqquallk fully healed, they scoured the coasts, and used Annsa's knowledge to search for the old cliff settlements she visited in her youth. Yet it was always the same story whenever they searched them. In front of the collapsed caverns, they would find old axe heads, textiles, and hearths but never another soul. Annsa tried to remember how her father used to make rafts to sail between the islands, but none of the rafts Taquan and Tunqquallk made could ever withstand the weight of all three. Soon they began to lose hope that they would find another village. It felt as if they would need to eek out their remaining existence alone - one crone and two not-yet adults. That is, until the boat came.
On a clear summer morning, they saw the craft approach. Calmly cutting through the waves, the boat ferried two adults and a child. Above, a white bird fluttered about like a bright star, keeping close to the child. Taquan, Tunqquallk, and Annsa stood dumbfounded and stared as the three on the boat stared back. As soon as the boat wedged into the sand, Taquan and Tunqquallk could no longer contain their sheer elation, and bolted across the beach. For a few crazed moments there were no words between the two groups, simply the joy of seeing, touching, and hearing other people again. Annsa slowly walked toward the greeting party with her hands and face toward the sky, praising the ancestors for the event.
"My name is Sanquan, this is my partner Kunqq." The woman introduced herself with a dazed smile between joyful sobs. "Oh! and this is my son Kuna. I... I just can't believe this." she gasped and held a hand to her mouth as a fat tear slid down her face. Kunqq was also crying as he held his partner.
"Don't forget Roqqui!" Kuna interjected as little children do.
The bird on his shoulder squawked out chirp. "Hello! Hello! RAWK!" it screeched out, with a glossy orange eye peering at the new people. Tunqquallk would normally find this creature confusing but in light of seeing other living people for the first time in a year, he didn't notice or care. All that mattered was that they weren't all alone.
When the tears finally dried, Annsa, Taquan, and Tunqquallk introduced themselves with a similar bittersweet tone. Annsa then led the group to her tent. When they arrived, she brought her basket of tanna and dried meats, eager to finally share with others. When they all settled on the pelts she leaned over to the new arrivals, extending her wizened hands and placing them gently on theirs. "Please let me hear the story of your village, so that they may not be forgotten."