One of the band, Lok, is a "point of view" character. He is the one we follow as one by one the adults of the band die or are killed, then the young are stolen by the "new people" The new people are a group of early modern humans. Lok and Fa, the remaining adults, are both fascinated and repelled by the new people. They observe their actions and rituals with amazement, only slowly understanding that harm is meant by the 'sticks' (arrows) of the new people.