Book One: Zodiac Tribes

♦Chapter One♦

A DARK ORANGE hue was present in the sky. Even the trees and distant mountains matched its glow. Darker still was the sun, setting below the earth. As it disappeared, the cool summer breeze stilled and it was quiet. The pines stopped their dance, crickets ceased their chirping. Not a single firefly said farewell to the star.

Quickly it grew dark and all that was frozen suddenly came back to life. A harmonious song erupted from the woods as the wind relieved the creatures from the heat. Stars appeared in the inky sky, but it was not enough to see.

Before long, a bright moon rose into the sky. The stars stationed near it vanished once again. The light from the near-full moon set an eerie light on the land.

With enough light to see, I rose. Knowing my parents would be angry about my late appearance, I set my feet north. Under them little rocks littered the pine woods. As I moved onward, they gradually disappeared, just leaving the needles. With my bare feet they pricked me every few steps, causing me to cringe.

Once the moon was well into the height of the sky, my feet found a trail pounded hard by generations of footsteps. I increased my pace, now confident I wouldn’t stumble.

The trees soon thinned, revealing to me my village. Small huts blistered the packed earth, arranged in a neat circle. In the center of the homes a smoldering fire was left unattended until morning. The fire reminded me of my father’s temper and I dashed to my dark structure.

With careful movements I opened the door and helped it fall silently closed into its jamb. Quietly and purposely I spun my figure around. Only darkness met my stare. My breathing turned fast and my heart raced as my eyes slowly focused on the room.

Dark outlines of the room’s features gradually turned into focus. My parents’ dark doorway was to my right. In the center of the room stood our table. On my left side was the entrance to the room I shared with my brother.

Confident I could make it to my bed without waking anyone from my family, I crept across the room. My bare feet made only a whisper against the cool stone of our hut’s floor. With only a few strides, I successfully made it to my room.

Shinka, my brother, slept soundly under the open window. The silver beam from the moon shone on his pale skin. The soft breeze caressed his unkept hair. As he was a light sleeper, I moved my back against the wooded wall and inched to my own bed-mat.

Once in the comfort of the soft mat, I quickly fell into a dreamless sleep. I had entered my home without waking anyone from my family again.


Shinka shook me to consciousness. “Kifu!” he said urgently, “Wake up! Pa wants you in the Big Room.”

I batted my hand out, trying to push him away from me. Sleep pulled at me and I wanted to follow it. “Don’t touch me,” I mumbled and rolled over.

“Kifu!” Shinka begged. He pulled his hands from my body. “Pa needs you in the Big Room. He sounds mad.” A whine crept into his already high pitched voice. “Come on!”

“I wanna sleep,” I complained. Nevertheless, I pulled myself into a sitting position.

“Pa wants--no, needs you, though,” Shinka insisted.

“I don’t care.”

“Kifu!” Pa thundered. His voice was belligerent and it instantly woke me up. “Get over here right now!”

Gulping, I quickly pulled myself from bed and changed my clothes from the day before. That night I didn’t bother to change into bed clothes. Once fully dressed for the new day, I skittered into the Big Room and stood in front of Pa. His angry eyes caused me to drop my gaze to my feet.

“Yes, Pa?” I asked quietly. I was sure I already knew what he wanted.

“Where were you last night?”

Without looking up I answered, “Just outside of the village.” As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. A nine year-old was expected to stay in sight. I should have said, “In my usual place.”

“Exactly why were you out of the camp, Kifu? Look at me!”

I obeyed his order, but refused to look into his fiery eyes. I didn’t answer; I didn’t know how to.

“The Zodiac Tribes could have take you!” Pa warned.

Unable to hold my tongue, I retorted, “I know you made them up, Pa, just to scare us from leaving! The Zodiac Tribes aren’t real.”

Pa’s mouth opened, but closed again. His jaw muscles popped out.

Ma stepped up beside Pa. She had been leaning against the doorway to their bedroom. “Kifu Kaze! Answer your father: Why were you out of the village? You know you’re not supposed to be.”

I stares stubbornly at her face. “I don’t believe in the Zodiac Tribes.”

“There are bears and wolves that roam in these woods, Kifu.” My Ma’s stern tone made me shrink.

“But I didn’t get hurt.”

“You could have,” Pa interjected.

“But I didn’t!”

“Kifu, go to your room. This will be the last time you leave the village without an adult escort. You aren’t to leave your room until supper, do you hear me?” Ma demanded. Her matter-of-fact tone couldn’t be swayed.

“Yes, Ma,” I grumbled. I turned to head for my room, but my Pa grabbed my shoulder.

“Kifu, don’t tell anybody that the Zodiac Tribes don’t exist.” Before I could ask why, he left through the only door. Ma and I were the only ones left in the house.

Defeated, I left to my room.

I sat on my bed and looked out the window. A calm wind brushed the pines’ branches, causing them to gently tremble. The golden yellow sun shown down on the village almost from directly above. I slept through half of the day.

Sighing, I stood up and tried to peek over the tall ledge. The hut next to my family’s shunned me. Its dark shadow pooled between the gap between the two structures.

From the clearing I heard the laughter of the little children. I could easily pick out Shinka’s high cry. They sounded happy, free. I, on the other hand, was stuck in my hut.

Gradually the sun lifted itself into an arch and the shadows moved to its manipulation. The shadow grew black around my window as the sun began its descent to the other side of the earth.

My stomach growled. Because of my banishment to my room, I had missed the midday meal and games. The only thing I could eat was the sun-down meal, also called supper. I moaned as my stomach made another protest.

The sky began to darken outside my window. I refused to watch Ma cook supper in the Big Room, afraid I’d loose my control over myself and dash across to the food.

Finally, after an eternity, Ma called Shinka and Pa for supper. “Kifu, you may come, too.” I walked to the table, waiting politely. “Did you learn anything?”

I thought before answering. I knew this punishment wouldn’t stop me from going to my rock that overlooked the woods and far away mountains.

“Kifu?” Pa prodded, waiting for the meal to begin.

“I learned that…” I began, racking my brains for an acceptable answer without flat-out lying. “That woods are dangerous.”

“And?” Ma asked. Apparently ‘the woods are dangerous’ wasn’t enough.

“And that leaving the village was a bad idea.”

My Ma nodded, appeased now that I half-liked my way from more punishment tonight. “Normal rations,” she informed me.

First Pa took a bite and then Ma. Once they began eating, Shinka and I were allowed to begin ourselves.

Due to my day of punishment, I stayed silent. Ma and Pa took my lead, but Shinka chatted about the midday games. Today the adults sparred with hands and sticks.

I was always fascinated by fights, even if they were just play. I loved how the people moved so expertly and quickly. They hit with strength and ferocity. Even though I am female, I wanted to be one of the people who sparred when I grew up.

After supper I left to my room with Shinka. We lay in our beds and I starred at the roof.

“Shinka?” I asked into the dark.

“What?” he squeaked.

“Do you believe in the Zodiac Tribes?”

“Yeah,” Shinka said gravely. “If you be bad, they take you away.” He turned in his bed. “Kifu?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t be bad. Zodiac Tribes take you away.”

“Shinka, the Zodiac Tribes aren’t real. They can’t take me away. They’re just a story to make us behave.”

“Zodiac Tribes take you away,” Shinka repeated. “Be good.” Without further argument, he turned away and feigned sleep.

I didn’t fall immediately to sleep. I worried about whether or not I could get to my rock without detection. Ma said I needed an adult escort out of the village. I was almost sure she and Pa would keep a good eye on me for moons.

With a deep breath, I sat up. I let the moonlight wash over my body and the wind pull at my clothes. Taking another deep breath, I closed my eyes. I imagined myself at my rock only inches away from the wild, untamed land. I pulled more images of my place and took a deep breath. With surprise I smelt the pine trees surrounding me vis-à-vis the slightly meat-roasted atmosphere my house held. Startled, I opened my eyes and transported back into my room. I looked around just to make sure.

The soft support of my bed-mat provided me was still there, rather than the hard rock. Shinka slept soundly, his breathing coming lightly and regularly. With a little fear I settled down into my bed. How had I done that?

Before I knew it the sun stabbed at my closed lids. A translucent red registered in my brain. I rolled over before opening my eyes; I didn’t want to stare into the sun.

I pulled off my bed-clothes and put on some day-clothes on in their place. My focus rested briefly on Shinka’s thin form. He may be a brat when awake, but he looked precious when sleeping.

With a little hesitation I walked into the Big Room. Pa’s anger probably still smoldered like a nighttime fire, and I didn’t want to be caught in its center. To my relief only Ma sat smiling.

“Ohaiyo, Kifu,” she greeted warmly, handing me a bowl full of berries.

I took the fruit. “Ohaiyo,” I answered and added, “Thanks.”

“Eat well, honey,” she said and kissed me on top of my head.

“Yes, Ma.” I pulled a blackberry and stuck it into my mouth. It was a little too young and tasted tart.

Shinka then walked through our doorway and into the Big Room. “Ohaiyo,” he yawned to Ma.

“Ohaiyo,” she replied and gave him his own bowl of berries and kiss.

“Thanks, Mama,” Shinka said and sat next to me. His first pick was a blackberry, too. He made a face. “Ew…sour!”

“The blueberries and raspberries are good, though,” I informed him, popping one of each in my mouth.

He followed cue. “They’re okay.”

“No, they’re good.”

“Uh-uh. Strawberries best.”

“Ra--” I was cut off.

“Stop it you two!” Ma scowled. “They’re all good. Just eat.”

“Yes, Ma,” Shinka and I said in unison.

We soon finished our sun-up meal and were allowed to go outside. The sun began to dorwn on the clouds, whom threatened to rain. Shinka stared distastefully at them. I smiled at his reaction and followed him to the small group of kids his age. Every child in the village was around five, except me.

“Kifu?” Seiko asked. He was three years-old and lived in the village. “You play, too?”

I studied his anxious expression. The rest of the children, including Shinka, wore the same expression. “Sure,” I agreed. I was five years older than them all, but I was the only my age. “I’ll play.”

The group burst into cheers. Their exaggerated cry almost made me fall down with laughter.

Ringo, another five year-old, came up and touched my shoulder. “You’re it!” he cried and touched another three kids, each time saying, “You’re it!” I followed the group’s cue and didn’t yet move.

Once everyone was tagged, he stood in front of the fire in the center of the camp. “War,” he stated simply. “Not ‘it’, hide and stay away. ‘It’, find and chase. Not ‘it’ caught, go to jail.” I smiled at the simplicity of the rules. “ ‘It’ counts!” he cheered and ran off.

“How high do we count?” I asked Haruki, a six year-old who was also “it”.

“Ichi, ni, san!” he answered, calling loudly into the thickening sky.

“Up to three?” I cried incredulously.

“Yup,” Haruki said, confident. “Now we go find them.” He sprinted in the direction of the growling clouds in the sky. I had to admit the young people knew when to have a good game of hide-and-go-seek-tag.

I turned my head around and tried to find where the children disappeared to. After not seeing any after a few heartbeats, I took off in a random direction. I immediately saw Aimi. “Aimi!” I called. My call only made her run faster. With my longer strides I caught up to her and tapped her shoulder. “Gotcha,” I said triumphantly.

“Why’d Ringo make you it?” she pouted. As if she were in control of the weather, it began raining to her mood.

“Ringo was smart. He knew a storm was coming. He also knew I would make quick work of this game,” I bragged.

“Not fair.”

I pointed to the jail, where a four year-old already sat. “Is too fair. Jail’s over there, Aimi.”

She crossed her arms, and I thought she was going to protest, but she stomped over to the jail.

Satisfied, I ran off to find more people to jail. Puddles began to form and the rain fell down harder, but I ignored it, intent to finish the game because were done, not because our parents made us.

Before long I found Ringo, hiding in a bush. “Ringo!” I cried and rushed forward to tag him. He was faster than Aimi, but I was still more speedy than him. “You’re caught!” I trumpeted.

“I know,” Ringo said. His voice still sounded cheerful, despite the fact he lost.

I waved him good-bye and started to slowly jog around. I splashed through the puddles, making a lot of noise. Suddenly, the clouds began pouring the rain down ever harder and the drops pelted my skin. Rivers of water fell from the huts’ roofs.

Shinka came up from behind me. “Kifu, Ma says we have to come inside.”

I turned to face him. “Why?”

“Rain too hard,” Shinka explained. “We go!”

I nodded, downtrodden. “Okay,” I sighed. With heavy steps, I followed Shinka to our hut. We both avoided puddles, since neither of us wanted to meet Ma’s wrath.

“Thank-you, Shinka,” Ma said upon our entering. “Now both of you, go get changed into some dry clothes and hang your wet ones by the table.”

“Yes, Ma,” Sinka and I said in robot-like tones. We headed straight for our room and stripped ourselves. I grabbed a brownish shirt and a tan pair of loose-fitting pants. Shinka wore the same. The costume was a uniform that all of the villagers wore. Sometimes women wore a light skirt, but that was basically all the choice we had. I didn’t mind.

I quickly changed into the new clothes and gathered up the old. They were heavy with water. In a stumbling walk, I carried them to Ma. She took them from me and said, “Play quietly in here, okay?”

“Yes, Ma,” I agreed. I waited for Shinka to give Ma his clothes before saying, “What do you want to do?”

“Don’t know,” he answered, shrugging.

I put my hand to my chin, thinking. “How about we look at our rock collections?”

Shinka looked at me with sad eyes. “Chiaki took all mine.”

“What?” I cried, “Why’d you let him do that?”

“He made me,” Shinka sobbed.

I sighed. “Shinka, don’t let him bully you around.”

“He’s scary,” Shinka whimpered.

“He’s only six!”

“So?”

“You’re four, not two.”

“I don’t get it.”

Frustration rose inside me. “Shink, you have to stand up for yourself.”

“How?”

“Just…tell him ‘no’.”

“Kifu, can’t you tell him no? I’m scared.” A whine crept into his voice again; tears formed in his eyes.

“He’s not my problem.” I crossed my arms and looked away. I knew if I looked into his eyes, I would have to do as he asked. Chiaki was stubborn and I didn’t want to deal with him.

“Meanie!” Shinka pouted.

“I can’t always deal with your problems.”

“Why not?” Shinka shot back.

I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn’t voice my reason. Instead, I took a different approach and side-stepped his inquiry. “This’ll make you stronger.”

“How?”

Four year-olds and their petty problems, but millions of questions. I waved him away. “You’ll figure something out.” Quickly, before he could ask how again, I said, “So what do you want to do?”

(2,894 words)

♦Chapter Two♦

I STARED AT THE CEILING from my bed, unable to sleep. I could hear Shinka’s soft breathing next to me, he obviously asleep. Suddenly, a devious plan formed in my head. If Shinka was sleeping, then my parents were most likely, too, since Shinka had a hard time succumbing to slumber. And if Ma and Pa weren’t awake, I wouldn’t be caught if I leave to my special place.

My mind had a new purpose. Therefore, I tenderly sat up on my bed-mat. When Shinka didn’t stir, I slowly erected myself onto my feet and guided them carefully to the doorway. The Big Room just a breaths away from my nose was as black as an octopus’s ink. I had to use my other senses to find my way to the house’s main door. Carefully I eased it open, slipped through, and had it silently close behind me. The woods were just within my arms reach.

No longer I took any caution. I was sure no one would hear my feet patter across the packed earth as I made my way to the rock. The full moon was high in the sky, marking midnight and the path I chose. All the better, I thought happily, because now I don’t have to worry about otherwise unexplainable scratches. With light, I won’t have any!

It didn’t take long for me to reach the smaller, less used path that led to the rocky cliff I called the rock. The trees and undergrowth thickened because of it. And therefore I had to slow to a light jog, rather than the near sprint I used to get here.

I pushed past the almost indistinguishable entrance and then muscled my way through the narrow path. The moon that had illuminated my route now hid unhelpfully above the needled canopy. Thick vegetation nearly ate the orb whole.

Before long, I stumbled out of the trees and onto the rocky outcrop. The moon, who had been hiding previously, finally showed her face to me. The pine forest that surrounded the ledge on which I stood glowed silver in the light. Fireflies blinked their messages throughout the sheltered floor, spreading their own brilliant light for all. Crickets chirped softly into the air as if singing a lullaby.

The sight was majestic. I breathed in deeply the fresh air to my lungs. My legs needed a rest from the run so I sat down. The rock held me there, in the midst of the fantasy, yet real, world.

Suddenly my head grew heavy and my eyelids threatened to close. At first I felt compelled to oblige, but then I realized what would happen if I went to sleep at this cliff. My Pa’s anger would rise again and I would be treading in deep water. I had to get home before I feel into a slumber to morning.

A yawn pushed at my jaws, and then I took off. Beads of rock tore at the soles of my feet. Slender needles pierced my skin, but the numbness of sleep took the pain away. The limbs I pumped with lost their power as my body fought for rest. Tired, I slipped to my knees. Darkness overtook my vision as finally my body’s please were met.


I woke with a start and scrambled to my feet. I studied my surroundings with squinted eyes, discombobulated after the rest.

“Oh, no,” I moaned, sinking low. Morning had arrived and I was not yet home. Should I run to my home and try crawling through the window? Or would the better choice be to stay away from my family for the day?

Decided, I sprinted down the well worn path and into the village that I live. The fire in the heart remained unstoked, which I took as a good sign. If no one had yet tended it, then my family should not yet be woken.

With renewed energy I dashed to the Kato homestead and placed my hands on the sill to my room. I tried lifting my body through it, but my nine year-old body didn’t have the strength to do so. Panicking, I looked around for some type of stool so that I could step up over the puddle into my room.

Not far away I spotted a nice sized rock. The only thing in questioning was whether or not I could lift it to the window. I had to be swift so Ma and Pa wouldn’t know I had left.

Mustering as much strength as I could, I began rolling the small boulder over to my window. I climbed on top of it and reached for the sill again. I came up a little taller, yet I still couldn’t climb through.

I began to hear rustling from the neighboring hut. I knew that time had almost run out. I stepped back down on the damp soil and took a couple steps back. I tensed my muscles and gauged the distance from where I stood to my destination. Taking a deep breath, I shot forward, leaped up from the rock and propelled myself upward into my window. From my perch I saw that the noise from the daring stunt landing had woken Shinka from a deep sleep into a much lighter one; therefore, I couldn’t make another sound.

A small plan began to form. Shinka’s bed was just under the wide open window, so I had to jump over him to the floor, silently. Then all I had to do was get on my bed-mat and pretend I had just woken up.

Before I attempted the stunt, I had to calm my racing heart. I felt as if it were going to jump up my throat and leave me for dead. Once I was sure it wasn’t beating loud enough for Ma and Pa to hear, I climbed into a springing position. Panic rose in my throat. What if I made a large thud, or even worse, what if I broke a bone?

Blocking the vile thoughts from my mind, I instead focused back on the important task ahead of me. I took a deep breath and launched myself through the still air. With only a muffled and relatively painless thud, I was safe over Shinka’s bed-mat and in the middle of the room. I let the stale air out through my parted lips and stayed motionless. Suddenly a tingling pain from the shock crawled up my legs. I almost moaned and got up to dance the pain away, but knew it would blow my whole plan thus far. Instead, I clamped my jaws shut and squeezed my eyes closed. Soon, the shock subsided.

With my attention fully on the bed-mat in front of me, I rose. My muscles didn’t contract, but let me stand to my full height. I stumbled out of the room, right after staging my bed, pretending I had just awoken.

“Ohaiyo,” Ma greeted cheerfully.

“Ohaiyo,” mumbled I, even though I wanted to glow.

She walked up to me, gave me a quick hug and kiss, and then game me my bowl of fruit. “You feel warm, Kifu,” she told me softly.

I immediately seized up. “I… I feel fine,” I assured her.

Her gaze penetrated my skin. “Are you sure, honey?”

Quickly, I nodded and tossed a strawberry into my mouth.

“Alright,” she said. Her expression told me she didn’t believe me. Before her eyes made me confess, I turned away. To myself, I sighed with relief.

My bowl of fruit was almost gone when Shinka rolled out of bed. He exchanged good mornings with Ma, and then received his own bowl. We all ate in silence. I felt uncomfortable, like they knew about my midnight trip.

Finally, both Shinka and I finished our sun-up meal and we were allowed outside. The sky was clear and the air was still. It was warm, but not hot. Judging by the silence, with an exception of the birds, Shinka and I were the only children outside.

“Let’s find some sticks,” I suggested.

“You always win,” he complained. In other words, no.

“Then what do you want to do?”

He put his little hand up to his chin, as if he were making a life or death decision. “Not that,” he said finally.

I rolled my eyes and tried another activity. “Why don’t we go down to the stream?”

“Uh-uh,” Shinka said, shaking his head, “Trouble.”

“Ack!” I cried. My fingers itched to tear at my hair.

“Then why don’t we go get the other kids and play, run, walk, stop.”

“Yeah!” Shinka whooped. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared to gather the waking children. I stayed behind, not too enthusiastic about the game, even though I suggested it. Instantly, I found my brain thinking of ways around the game, and out of the village, either alone or not. My mind wanted me to go back to the rock, where I wasn’t able to spend much time tonight, before I collapsed, exhausted, on the ground.

I started forward with my eyes fixated on the exit of our village. I didn’t care that I’d be stopped, all I cared was that I was leaving this boring world behind.

My walk quickly changed into a trotting gait, and speeding up with the more ground I covered. I just reached the exiting path when I stopped, my feet kicking up dust, despite the fact that it just rained the day prior. Even though I desperately wanted out, my logical voice came to reason with my spontaneous side, stopping me just before I committed wrong. Breathing hard, I turned back around to face my village where I grew up. It was so peaceful, with no one in my line of sight. I wanted peace, but the village offered a different kind of peace, the kind that I hadn’t any interest in whatsoever.

I glanced back over my shoulder with my lips pulling into a frown. If I left and never came back, I was sure to die. But if I stayed put in this small community, I knew that I could expand outside of it, but be smothered within. My eyes darted back to the heart of the village, the fire. Still no one stirs from their huts, which create a circle around the fire and then continue on and out of sight, twisting through the saplings and behind other huts. If I made a break for it now, no one would know that I had left for a while, giving me a head start. If I was smart about it, I could keep it that way until they quit looking for me. Then I’d be alone for the rest of my life, unless I came upon another village, which I thought highly unlikely. Would sacrificing my safety be worth gaining my intellectual and physical freedom?

I stepped forward, away from the forest that surrounded our village. I twisted my feet just enough to face me neither forward nor backward, but my shoulders in line with both. My mind suddenly came to decision and my right foot moved over my left, taking me away from home, when Shinka walked up to me, Chiaki by his side.

“Where you go, Kifu?” Chiaki asked, stopping me in my tracks. He looked up at me with big, brown eyes.

“Nowhere,” I instantly lied, jumping around to face them.

“You close to leaving, Kifu,” Shinka pointed out.

“No, I’m just asking Akira if she’d like to join our game,” I lied again, feeling more confident. Now that my mind wasn’t solely equivocating over whether to stay or go, I was able to take in my surroundings more closely. The three of us were standing right on Akira’s doorstep.

“Oh,” Shinka said, appeased. “Then I’ll get Ringo!”

“Good idea,” I told him, forcing a smile. “Chiaki, see if you can grab Haruki, okay?” Chiaki nodded and scattered away. For the second time, I was left alone, but I didn’t set my eyes on anything but Akira’s door. I raised my hand and knocked on the wood, sending an echo through the house. No one answered immediately, leaving me dancing uncomfortably on their doorstep. Even though I was their neighbor, I still found it awkward to go over to other peoples’ houses and ask them to come out and play.

After only a few moments, though they felt like a few eternities, Akira’s father opened the door. “Yes, Kifu? Do you want Akira?” I noded. “I’ll go fetch her.”

“Thanks,” I said, dipping my head respectfully.

He left me, disappearing into a shadowy corner in his hut, presumably where Akira slept. Before long, she emerged from the dark and stood before me.

“What we doing?” she asked in her squeaky voice.

“Shinka wants to play run, walk, stop,” I explained, turning away to the center of the camp, where Chiaki and Haruki already waited.

“Run, walk, stop?” Akira inquired, jogging to catch up with me.

“Yeah, where the person who’s ‘it’ turns around, calls out either ‘run’ or ‘walk,’ and the rest of the people do exactly what ‘it’ says. If they say ‘run,’ they have to say ‘walk’ before they can say ‘stop.’ When ‘it’ says ‘stop,’ they quickly turn around and catch people who didn’t stop right away. The person who makes it to ‘it’ first, becomes the next ‘it’ and we keep playing.”

Akira’s eyes stretched wide. “That sounds hard,” she squeaked.

“It isn’t,” I assured her. I waved a hand, as if to brush her worries away.

“Where’s Shinka and Ringo?” I asked once I met up with the two boys.

“I don’t know,” Chiaki answered, “but I think he’s still waiting for Ringo.”

“Did anyone get Aimi? Or Seiko?”

Chiaki put his hand on his chin, as if the question was a trick question. “Are they here?”

“No. Chiaki, go get Aimi. Haruki, you can get Seiko, okay?”

They both nodded and scurried away.

I turned to Akira after they left. “I’ll be the first ‘it’, okay?” She nodded. “Just do exactly what I say, exactly when I say it, okay?” She nodded again. “Good. If you do that, you’ll do just fine!”

“Thanks, Kifu,” she said, dipping her head. The gesture surprised me, since I wasn’t even considered close to a grown-up.

Before I could say anything about it, Shinka arrived with Ringo. “Where everyone go?” Shinka asked, walking up to my side.

“Chiaki went to go get Aimi. Haruki went to get Seiko. We’re only waiting for them four.”

“Oh,” Shinka said simply.

Chiaki came running back, Aimi on his heels. With a displeased look on her face, it looked as if Chiaki wouldn’t wait up for her once she left her hut.

“Slow down, Chiaki,” I ordered. “We aren’t in any rush right now.” Grumbling, Chiaki slowed down into a walk, stopping when he reached the circle we had formed.

“Haruki and Seiko aren’t back?” he wondered.

“Actually, yeah,” I said. “They’re just coming around the bend.”

“Tell them to hurry up!” Chiaki growled. I thought back to when Shinka told me Chiaki was a bully. No wonder, I marveled. The kid doesn’t use any pleasantries!

“No,” I denied, hoping to get my deeper meaning through. “They’ll take their own time.”

When Haruki saw us waiting, he tapped Seiko on the shoulder and quickened his pace, without any encouragement from me or Chiaki. Within a few heartbeats, they joined our ranks.

“Great!” I called out, standing tall. “Now that we’re all here, I think we can start the game. I’ll be the first ‘it’,” I began, “just in case all of you don’t know exactly how to play. Just follow my instructions as quickly as you can, okay?” I received a chorus of affirmations. “Alright, I’ll move over onto the head of the path, and you guys can move to the village entrance --” My mind flashed to my decision to leave just prior “-- and when I call out my orders, just run around the fire and by the buildings, okay?” Every child nodded their head. “Let’s go, then!”

Shinka turned around and led the group to the egress, and I sprinted to the path leading to the greater part of the housings. I turned around and faced them, until I was sure they were reading, and then turned my back to them. “Run!” I called. The sound of their bare feet stamping against the packed earth reached my ears. I let them run for a few breaths before calling, “Walk!” The sounds became louder just before they turned almost invisible. “Stop!” I cried, whirling around. No one moved a hair, except for Aimi, who quivered with excitement. They still stayed tightly in a group, and still had to cover about half of the distance. I flashed them a smile and slowly turned back around. “Run!” The pounding of their feet started up again. “Walk,” I called, more softly because they were closer, almost immediately afterward. Using the same breath I shouted, “Stop!” and spun my body around. Chiaki had pulled ahead of the group, but he was struggling to keep his balance after a quick stop. I stared at him for a while, hoping he’d fall, but he didn’t move. Disappointed, I turned back around and quickly went through the sequence again. This time, Haruki swiveled his arm around, keeping himself upright, but I didn’t cut him any slack. “Haruki, you moved,” I pointed out.

“Sorry,” he called, disappointment obvious in his voice. Without saying anything else, he turned around and jogged back to the beginning. I studied the rest of the children in the time it took for him to go back to the start, and Aimi still couldn’t completely keep herself still, but I decided to let that pass.

I turned back around and shouted the pattern in one breath, turning around sharply. This time I caught Chiaki falling forward, keeping one arm outstretched to catch himself. “Chiaki,” I prompted.

“I’m moving!” he snapped. He pulled himself back onto his feet and slowly walked back to the beginning, where Haruki already got a good start.

Ringo sneezed. “Do I have to go back?” he asked, twitching his nose.

“No,” I said, smiling. “Actually, yeah,” I apologized, after he moved to itch his nose.

“Aw man!” he cried, turning around to get back home. Once he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Chaiki, I turned back around and called, “Run!” I let them move for a little bit, until I could hear their feet almost upon me, and called out, “Walk!” and then “Stop!” I spun around and saw that Shinka was ahead of everyone, almost touching me. Haruki reached the half-point hut and Chiaki was just behind him. Ringo was still near the beginning. No one moved this time. I turned back around and just said “run” when Shinka’s hand tapped my shoulder.

“Yay!” he cried. “I win!”

“Good job, Shink,” I said. I patted his back and jogged to the beginning with the rest of the kids.
“You’re right,” Akira said, falling in step beside me. “This is easy!”

“See, I told you,” I praised.

We reached the beginning and I couldn’t help but look back over my shoulder at the woods beyond our village. My heart tugged that way, and I would have disappeared into the green haze, but I knew that would be impossible with everyone surrounding me. I moved my gaze back to Shinka, my mouth pulled into a frown.

Faintly, I heard my brother cry out “Run!” and I ran along side of Aimi, not wishing to pull ahead of the group and win. I had an unfair advantage over them, and I didn’t want to brag about it. I slowed down into a walk when everyone else did, unaware that Shinka actually cried to word. When he turned around, I assumed he said stop, but it was too late.

“Kifu, go back!”

“I think I’ll just go in the hut,” I told him, pushing past Ringo to get out of the circle. Aimi was good at keeping up with the older children.

“Why?”

“I don’t feel like playing anymore.” I saw Akira start to move, following my lead, so I quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean the rest of you can’t keep playing.”

Shinka didn’t notice Akira’s movement, because he was entirely focused on me. “Fine,” he said, turning back around. “Run!”

I moved out of everyone’s way, ignoring Shinka’s commands. I pushed past him to get on the path that lead to our hut, and entered. Ma winked at me as I opened the door, and I answered with a quick wave. Quickly, I entered my room. For once, I was able to let my thoughts wander to what exactly would happen if I left my family and lived with the wild creatures of the woods.

(3,484 words)

•Chapter Three•

I PRETENDED I WAS ASLEEP when Shinka entered our room that night. I lay still on my side, facing the wall. Even though I was terrible at faking, I think he bought it. Without opening my eyes, I visioned him getting dressed and then slowly dragging his feet over to his own bed-mat. I heard him finally puff out air from his lungs when he threw himself to the floor, finished. After hardly a wait, Ma leaned onto the frame of our doorway and softly blew Shinka a kiss. “Oyasumi, honey,” she whispered.

“Oyasumi,” Shinka replied, shifting in his bed-mat.

“Oyasumi, Kifu,” Ma said, even though she believed I was asleep, as well.

Oyasumi Nasai, I told her in my head. I didn’t want to suddenly give away my act and dismiss her properly—I wanted her and Pa to go to sleep, so I could leave the village, this time for good. I felt like I needed to jump up and hug her, to give her the proper good-bye, but I couldn’t even let them know what the surface of my plans were. I needed to leave without any intereferance from either of my parents.

Without me saying anything, she left the room. Almost instantly, I heard Shinka’s breathing deepen and regulate, and Ma and Pa’s voices disappear. The village was silent once again. I stayed in my position for what seemeed like an eternity. Before I couldn’t stand it any longer, I slowly got up into a sitting position and made sure that Shinka wasn’t just faking his breathing pattern. He wasn’t. I slowly rose to my feet and walked into the Big Room, leaving my brother behind for the last time. I snuck over to the table, grabbed a slice of bread and eased our front door open. I stepped into the warm night air and slowly dropped the door into it’s frame. No one stopped me. So far, I was safe.

I glanced to my right and left, making sure no one from the village was around to witness my escape. I was more on edge than usual, because, for once, I knew I wasn’t coming back. I was running away. I placed my bare foot carefully on the ground and quickly looked over my shoulder. Still, the night air was empty, from all but me. With exaggerated carefullness, I slowly walked along the path and into the village’s center, where the embers from the fire still smoldered. The redness of them seemed to glare at me with an intensity I couldn’t bear. I turned my eyes away from them.

With less caution, I tip-toed to the egress of the village and finally left. With my whole life behind me, and in front of me, I picked up my speed and dashed blindly through the forest. The shinning moon hid behind clouds, giving me nothing to guide my path. Should I have taken that as I sign?

I followed the hard path without any thought. Before I could bring my head back to what I was doing, I noticed, too late, that my feet were already unconsciously bringing me to my rock. I stopped abruptly and looked back over my shoulder, but I decided that because I was never coming back, I might as well say good-bye to my rock as well.

My feet crunched softly on the foliage that dropped to the ground. I ignored the pine needles that nestled on the near-invisible path and the little sharp rocks that rested beside them. After brushing aside a few pockey branches, I reached the cliff that I claimed as mine. As it always has before, it took my breath away and claimed my heart.

“Good-bye, Rock,” I whispered into the soft breeze. “I’ll miss you for as long as I live.” I studied the soft outline of the misty trees against the inky sky. I watched as the bats flew around the moon, scooping up bugs invisible to my eyes. Lastly, I memorized my feelings as I stood up tall over the land that belonged to my village and any other animals that shared it with us. No, not us, because I was no longer part of that village.

I let a single tear slide down my cheek as I turned my back on the rock for the last time. I controlled the lump that formed inside my throat and forced my inner cries to stay back. I forced my emotions in check.

Quickly, I left the familiar land of the village I once belonged to. I didn’t give myself time to think, knowing that if I did so I would turn back and accept any punishment I might receive.

Before long, the path I was following began to thin, and then disappear completely. The plants and other vines that bordered the path near the village slowly began to creep closer and closer to the heart of the trail, and finally choked it up. At first, I struggled to push the greenery to the side, gradually worming my way through, but it eventually became too thick for even that. Heartbroken, I studied the trees around me and noticed that somewhere along the way they became oaks and maples, rather than evergreens.

Deciding that pushing through the floor of the forest was too daunting of a task, I moved my focus to the treetops. The limbs seemed thick enough for me to move through, and close enough to the ground for me to get in. I reached up and grabbed the closest branch to me, and pulled on it until I lifted my weight off of the ground. Instantly, it snapped under the stress and sent me tumbling to the hard ground. The echo reverberated throughout the space of the forest. Suddenly terrified, I held still.

After the snap of the tree, I heard nothing. My body throbbed where it impacted against the ground, but I was otherwise unhurt. I didn’t move from my sideways position on the ground, afraid that if I moved, something from the woods would jump out and eat me, or I’d find that I was in more pain that I initially thought.

Just when I thought I was safe, I heard a snap that didn’t come from me or the tree that I just broke. My thoughts of shifting position evaporated in a quick second. My eyes quickly shot to the general area in which I heard the snap. I couldn’t see anything.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared underneath the dark shadows of the tree. I wished it were daylight so I could get a better glimpse of whatever the figure was, but I only had the light of the moon to help me. I couldn’t make out of it was human or maybe a bear. . . .

“Hello?” it called. I assumed that the figure, which I could identify as human, was male by the gruff tone to his voice. I didn’t answer. “I know you’re here,” he said, “and I want to help you if you’re hurt.”

“Do you think that when they fell . . . they knocked themselves unconscious?” a woman’s voice asked the man.

“Possibly,” replied the man. “But I doubt it. Did you hear where the sound came from, Taylor?”

“I think from over there,” the woman, named Tay-lor, said. I still couldn’t see her, but I imagined her point-ing in my direction.

“You go look over there. I’ll check . . .” he trailed off. “Taylor, hurry up. We need to get back.”

“Yes, sir,” Taylor said, her voice closer to me. I didn’t even hear her move through the thick underbrush.

I suddenly couldn’t stand sitting still anymore. “Help,” I squeaked, my voice coming out in a whisper. “Help, I’m stuck.”

“Hello?” Taylor asked, even closer now.

“I’m here!” I cried, shifting.

“Hold on and stay still,” ordered Taylor. “Grev-chee, I’ve found her. She’s right here.”

“Alright,” Grevchee answered. “I’ll wait where it’s thin.”

I shifted again, hoping that the sounds of my movements would lure Taylor closer, so she could free me from my wooded trap. “Hurry,” I begged her. “It hurts.”

“Hush, honey,” she said, soothingly and ever clos-er. “I’m here to help you out. Just calm down.”

“Okay,” I said.

Within a few more moments, Taylor was by my side. She wore the weirdest clothes I had ever seen, but she was strong. She pulled me up, grabbing my arms, and lifted me over her shoulder. “Hold still and I’ll get you out, okay?”

“Okay,” I repeated.

“That’s a good girl,” she congratulated, picking her way through the branches. I couldn’t believe how many holes she saw in the maze of green and how quick-ly she moved through them. Before long, she set me down right next to Grevchee.

“Hallo,” he greeted, bowing his head slightly. “My name’s James Grevchee. This is Annalisa Taylor.” He waited, most likely expecting my name.

“I’m Kifu,” I told them. “Kifu Slick.”

“Hello, Kifu,” Annalisa said cheerfully.

“So, tell me,” James began, “what brings you out so far away from any civilization in the middle of this forest, all alone?”

I stared at my feet. “I ran away from home.”

“Why?” Annalisa gasped.

“Hush, you don’t have to answer her,” James murmured. “Slick, why don’t you come with us? We’ll give you a home.”

“You sly fox!” Annalisa cried to James.

I stared at them, confused. “Where?”

James took a breath. “Taylor and I—“

“Why do you keep using your last names?” I butted in.

Annalisa chuckled. “It’s proper etiquette,” she ex-plained simply.

“As I was saying,” James, or Grevchee, continued, “Taylor and I come from a village not made up of fami-lies.”

“How’s that possible?” I marveled, cutting off his explanation again.

“Listen, honey,” Annalisa, or Taylor, told me, no longer joking around.

“We come from what we called the Zodiac Tri-bes,” Grevchee finished.

“The Zodiac Tribes!” I exclaimed. “But they’re just bedtime stories!”

“Oh, so she’s heard of us,” Taylor commented to Grevchee.

“What village do you come from, child?” Grev-chee inquired me softly.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “It doesn’t have a name.”

“Uh-huh,” Grevchee mumbled. “Will you come with us?”

“But Ma and Pa told me the Zodiac Tribes were evil,” I informed them.

Grevchee and Taylor both laughed, but Grevchee cut off his first. “We’re not evil! We actually treat our people better than most villages treat even their elders!”

“But anyone that takes children away from their families are evil,” I protested.

“Oh, I see,” Grevchee sighed. “Slick, we wouldn’t exactly be kidnapping you, now would we? You already ran away from home.”

“So? You’re still taking me against my wish!”

“I don’t think so, honey,” Taylor soothed. “I think you think that any home is better than no home, yes?”

“The Zodiac Tribes will give me a home?” I asked softly.

“Of course!” Taylor chortled. “We don’t hold slaves, we all work
together. Our community is very even and fair, unlike most villages that children come from.”

“What if I want to go back home?” I demanded.

“You can’t, Slick,” Grevchee sighed. “Now that you know about us, you either have to join us . . . or die.”

“What?” I snorted. “That doesn’t sound very fair!”

“Oh, Slick,” Taylor begged, “Just join us.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Then we have to kill you and leave your body here,” Grevchee explained. “We’re sorry; it’s not much of a choice.”

“Fine!” I cried. “I’ll follow you!” I thought I had just freed myself of bindings, bindings from my village, but these strangers from what they claimed were the Zo-diac Tribes were just going to retie those ropes to a dif-ferent place. What if I wanted to be free? What if I didn’t want to live with other people, and I wanted to live alone? Grown ups just didn’t give you any choice.

Although when I studied these people, they didn’t even look that old. They looked experienced, but they weren’t old.

“Oh, thank-you, Kifu Slick!” Annalisa cried, throwing her arms around me. “I couldn’t let you be killed!”

“Whatever,” I mumbled darkly into her arms.

(2,030 words)

•Chapter Four•


ANNALISA PULLED OUT of the hug and grabbed my hand. “Just follow us and you’ll be fine,” she told me. From the corner of my eye I saw James roll his eyes and begin walking away.

“Come on, Taylor. We need to get moving, or we won’t make it to the Gathering in time.”

Annalisa’s face only brightened up. “I haven’t been to a Gathering like this in . . . in seasons!” she exclaimed.

I looked at her with a confused expression. “What’s a gathering?” I asked her.

Before answering, she started to follow Grevchee through the woods, pulling me along with her. “A Gathering is the most important part of a Zodiac Tribesperson’s life.”

“No it’s not,” Grevchee disagreed from ahead. He didn’t look back to see Taylor’s tongue flash out.

“Well, I think it’s the most important part of our lives.”

“Goes to show how smart you and your Tribe are, Taylor,” Grevchee yawned. He picked up the pace, forcing Taylor and I to move faster through the forest. I didn’t recognize where we were going, because he started to leave the path to my village and head in a totally different direction. I couldn’t tell for sure, but I think he was heading toward my rock, only a different part of it.

“Hey—that’s mean!” Taylor exclaimed. “Just because you don’t live in my Tribe doesn’t mean you can trash talk it!”

“What,” I cried out, “are you talking about?” They didn’t answer me.

“Everyone knows that anyone from the Earth Tribe doesn’t use their brains,” Grevchee continued, as if I never had interrupted.

“You just say that because you don’t know how our Tribe works. Do you think we think that the Water Tribe is all that great? No!”

James abruptly stopped and whirled around. “Shut up! Without us, all of the other Tribes would be dead! None of you can tell the difference between poison ivy and cranberry! One’s good, one’s bad.” His voice turned from belligerent to taunting as he went on.

“And what would your Tribe do if we didn’t supply your wood? You wouldn’t be able to slink away and hide in your mountain, now would you?” Taylor shot back.

“Stop!” I cried, covering my ears. During the fight, Taylor let go of my arm and took on a classical, comical pose. “I don’t care how much you hate each other! Stop!”

Taylor glanced over her should to me. “Go on, Grevchee. We need to get back.” Her voice was soft again, not at all angry, as it was just earlier.

Grevchee grumbled incoherently and turned back around. His stride was still choppy and angry, but he at least didn’t retaliate.

“Thanks,” I mumbled to Annalisa. She continued on, and I followed her again. “Anyway, you didn’t tell me; what is a Gathering?”

“Never mind that,” Annalisa said cheerfully, but she didn’t look me in the eyes. “You’ll be told once we get to the island.”

“What island?”

“Oops. You’ll find out in due time, I just know it. You just need patience, is all.” She finally turned to me and gave me a warming smile.

“What was that fight about? Earth and Water?” I burned with questions, but Taylor wasn’t giving me very good answers.

She sighed and slowed her pace infinitesimally so she could speak to me. “Slick,” Taylor said, but stopped.

“My name’s Kifu,” I told her.

“No, in the Tribes, we call each other by their last names, unless they’re close friends. Close friends are only allowed to call each other by first names.”

I nodded my head slowly. “Okay. I guess that’s why you two are calling each other by your last names.”

“Exactly,” Taylor said.

“Would you two pick up the pace? We need to be at the Gathering Island by the full moon!” Grevchee shouted from ahead. He had his arms impatiently crossed in front of his chest.

“We’re coming!” Taylor called, picking up her pace again.

“But I still don’t get why you were fighting,” I prodded her. Was she purposely avoiding my questions about the Zodiac Tribes?

“Oh, yeah, that,” she said, slowing down again.

“Get your woody legs moving!” Grevchee hollered.
“Hey, shut up!” Taylor shot back. “Slick has the right to know where she’s going.”
“Slick will find out about where she’s going at the Island,” Grevchee disagreed. “She can wait ‘till then.”

“I’m right here,” I muttered under my breath. I didn’t like how they were talking about me when I was right there.

“They won’t tell her what went on while we were taking her there,” Taylor said softly.

“Would you two just stop blabbering to each other?” I shouted, exasperated. “Not to mean any disrespect or anything, but you two just won’t stop! We can easily keep up with your pace, Grevchee,” I explained, making sure I didn’t become a hypocrite. “While we do that, you can explain to me about the Zodiac Tribes, Taylor.” I stared at them both, one after the other. “Okay?”

Grevchee gave me a menacing glare, but he didn’t say anything and moved on, faster.

“Great going, Slick,” Taylor cried playfully. “Now we’re going to have to run to keep up!” She started into a jog, just to prove her point.

“What exactly is Grevchee’s problem?” I asked Taylor, jogging beside her.

“Oh, Grevchee? He’s just a watery ol’ grump.”

“I heard that,” Grevchee called over his shoulder.

“Good,” Taylor shot back. “Maybe you should change it.”

“I wouldn’t bet your life on it,” Grevchee growled, and then ignored us again.

“Gee,” I whistled. “Nice fellow.” I shook my head. “You still didn’t answer my question, Taylor. Are you avoiding it?” I voiced what I thought aloud, but thought it might have been a better idea not to. It looked as if I offended her.

“Why would I avoid it purposely? I don’t believe in telling people lies. Besides, you’re not supposed to lie in the Zodiac Tribes.”

“Then tell me your answer,” I sighed. Taylor sure did have a lot to talk about.

“Oh, yeah, right!” she exclaimed. “What was it?”

I snorted in place of a laugh. “Uh,” I said, recalling it. “Oh, yeah! Um, what was the fight about?”

What fight? Taylor stared at me blankly.

“You know, about Earth and Water,” I said, hoping I could jog her memory.

“Oh, nothing to it!” Taylor exclaimed, a new light in her eye. “Grevchee’s part of the Water Tribe, and I’m part of the Earth Tribe. There’s not a big rivalry between our Tribes, but not every Tribe gets along with everybody.”

It was my turn to stare at her with a blank look.

She exchanged my glance, and then fired up again. “Right, you hardly know anything about the Zodiac Tribes. I can’t expect you to know anything.”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. I didn’t like being out of the know, let alone have it pointed out openly.

“There’re four Tribes,” Taylor began.

“I already know that.”

“Okay. Air, Earth—”

“—Fire and Water. Uh-huh. But what about tribe rivalry?” I asked.

“Different Tribes don’t get along very well together,” Taylor explained. “As a whole,” she added quickly. “Some members could be friends, but all in all, they just have some problems. Every Tribe thinks they’re better than the other, when in truth, every Tribe is equal. Without the Earth Tribe, no one would have enough wood to satisfy their hungry fires. Without the Water Tribe, everyone would fall ill and die. Without the Fire Tribe, fighting would be made impossible.” She took in my confused expression. “Fighting is a major part of Tribe life,” she told me. “And lastly, without the Air Tribe, everyone else wouldn’t have deerskin blankets, and most importantly, real meat. Not fish. Ew.”

“Fish is good,” Grevchee called from ahead. “Admit it!”

“Never, you fish!” Taylor cackled. “See? I don’t like fish at all. Grevchee’s a fish, a fish’s a fish. Fish are icky.”

“Uh-huh . . .” I said. I didn’t understand what she was getting at.

“So, yeah. That’s that. Tribes just don’t like each other. Individuals can be friends, but not the whole Tribe.” She thought for a second. “It’s most the Air and Earth Tribes that clash, and Water and Fire Tribes. Otherwise, the other Tribes sort of get along better.”

“I think I’m ready to start war with the dopy Earth Tribe, though,” Grevchee said.

“Whimp,” Taylor muttered to me. “He’s bad talking my Tribe, but from a distance. He’s afraid that my superior strength will pummel him before we even start.”

I giggled, not because it was funny, but because of Taylor’s naiveté.

We traveled on in silence—which I thought was impossible with Taylor by my side—until we reached a place I thought was vaguely familiar. I studied it closely, and then realized that I was looking at my rock. I wasn’t on the rock, but nearly underneath it. The cliff stood tall above my head, where I normally sat.

“My rock,” I whispered under my breath.

“What, honey?” Taylor asked, sidetracked.

“My rock,” I said more loudly, not expecting her to understand what I meant.

“Where’s your rock?” Taylor hummed.

“Never mind,” I said, shaking my head.

“No ‘never mind,’” Taylor scolded. “I told you the answer to your question; I expect an answer to mine!”

I bowed my head. “My rock is a place I come when I feel bored or lonely. I left my hut at night and hiked up to my rock and just stared at the mountains, trees, moon and stars.”

“Mountains?” inquired Taylor. “Where?”

I pointed. “That way.”

She stared at the direction I was pointing and laughed. Her gleeful cries stopped both Grevchee and I.

“Why’s she laughing?” Grevchee asked blatantly.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I said something about my rock, and she thought mountains were funny.”

“Mountains? Where?” Grevchee asked, almost exactly imitating Taylor, though not on purpose, I could tell. It was my turn to laugh. “What’d I say?”

“Only the exact same thing as Taylor,” I laughed.

“Oh,” Grevchee said, not flattered. “Anyway, where’re the mountains?”
I pointed again, trying to stop my giggles.

“I know why she’s laughing,” Grevchee said gravely. “What was so great about those mountains?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, trying to figure out in my head why they were so interested in the mountains. I came up empty. “My eyes were always just drawn toward them. I always wondered when I saw them what would happen if I were free to . . . to make decisions for myself and if I could explore the world outside of my village.”

“Slick,” Grevchee said softly. I was surprised he possessed such a quality. “Do you know what’s so important about those mountains?”

“No,” I told him. “That they’re big and far away?”

“Actually, they’re not,” Taylor butted in. I didn’t notice she had stopped laughing. “They’re about a day’s journey away, and kinda small.”

“Yup,” Grevchee agreed. I couldn’t believe my ears. These two were getting along! “But those mountains do have a wild quality to them. Those mountains border all edges of the Zodiac Tribe’s territory. I don’t know why, but they always seem as if they’re farther away than they really are.”

“Maybe it’s a protection to our identity,” Taylor guessed.

“We only have guesses.”

“So what’re you saying?” I asked quietly.

“I think you were meant to be a Zodiac Tribesperson,” Taylor said. I couldn’t detect anything that would point to her lying. She actually meant it.

“Everyone that truly belongs to the Zodiac Tribes, as a child, they stared at the mountains and wished they could go there,” Grevchee said. “Everyone that feels most comfortable with the Tribes. Everyone that feels more at home there than they ever did at their first home.”

I stared at the pair with disbelief. “I’m confused.”

Taylor smiled weakly and shook her head. “You understand it, you just don’t want to.”

“Please, explain to us why you ran away,” Grevchee prodded.

I tore my eyes away from them, this time embar-rassed. “Well, I felt that I didn’t really belong there.”

“See?” Taylor said softly. “You didn’t belong there, because you belong with the Zodiac Tribes, us, in the mountains.”

“Kifu Slick, what you did wasn’t wrong. You most likely won’t be able to see your family again, but you’ll make new friends and have people so close-knit that they’ll be family in the Tribes.” Grevchee sighed, determined to make me understand why I belonged to the Tribes, but couldn’t find a way to explain it. “Slick, why did you feel you didn’t belong?”

“I was nine, and everyone else was five,” I answered promptly.
“Other than that. That’s a petty surface problem. What deep challenges did you have deep within yourself?”

I refused to make eye contact, even though Taylor rested her hand on my shoulder. “I . . .” I forced back a sob and some tears. “I felt that I wouldn’t have a full life, and that I’d die unhappy if I stayed. I needed to get out, like an animal caught in a trap needs to get out.”

Grevchee smiled reassuringly. “You do not fret, young one. We all felt like we betrayed our family when we left with the Zodiac Tribespeople, but we did not. They live on in the deepest part of our hearts, and we’ll always love them. They must understand that that life wasn’t the life we were to live, and that we would be unfulfilled in our lives. As a Zodiac Tribesperson, Slick, you’ll be able to do everything you could in your Tribeless village. Please understand.”

My gaze switched to my feet. “Just leave me alone or take me back,” I grumbled. I didn’t want to go back, but if everyone in the Tribes made me feel so guilty about leaving my first home, I wanted no part of it.

“And that,” Taylor whispered, “we will understand.”

(2,336 words)

•Chapter Five•


GREVCHEE AND TAYLOR stopped after a long period of silence. They quickly cleared a soft patch of grass, leaving me to watch and wait. The sky had turned thick with clouds, so I couldn’t even estimate if it were day or night. It was dark enough to be the latter.

“Hey Slick,” Taylor called.

“Huh?” I asked, turning around to face her.

“You don’t mind sleeping on the earth, do you?”

I shook my head. “No, I’ve done it before.”

“I mind,” Grevchee complained.

Taylor turned to him, smirking. “Well, then you’ll have to do something about it yourself, won’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Can’t you two just get along?” I yawned. Without waiting for an answer I stretched and asked Taylor, “Is there a spot I sleep, or would anywhere
do?”

“Anywhere,” Taylor answered, fluffing up a patch of dirt. “Good night, Slick.”

“Oyasumi Nasai,” I repeated, translating her phrase into Japanese, as I was taught to say my farewell.

“What’s that?” Grevchee asked. He had curled up against a small oak tree.

“What?” I asked innocently, closing my eyes and getting comfortable myself.

“‘Oyasumi Nasai’.”

“The way we say ‘Good-night’ at home.” I rolled over, ignoring whatever he had to say after that.



A light hand on my shoulder woke me up. I raised my head a fraction and asked in a very slurred voice, “Whoozat?”

“Slick,” a female voice whispered, “we have to move on.”

“Ma?” I inquired.

The voice laughed. “No, it’s me, Annalisa Taylor.”

The pieces of the puzzle finally clicked. “Oh,” I said, “I thought that was just a dream.”

Taylor shook her head. “No. Ready to continue?”

I stood up and shook the dirt from my clothes. Putting on a scowl, I replied, “I don’t want to, but I don’t think that’s a choice you’re going to give me.”

“Wise,” she said. Taylor turned around to face Grevchee. “You ready, wimpy man?”

“Would you just shut up and get a move on?” he grumped, pushing past us. He began through the trees, leaving Taylor and I to catch up.

The pines that surrounded my rock didn’t last long. After about a few short fights between the Zodiac Tribespeople, they soon thinned out. We walked through what I could have mistaken as a meadow, except small saplings threatened to take over the land in a few years.

“Taylor?” I asked.

She jumped at my voice. I guess I didn’t talk enough for her to expect me to suddenly say something. “Yes, Slick?”

“I’m hungry.”

She frowned. “Oh yeah. Hey Grevchee!” she called, turning to our traveling companion.

“What?” he snapped. He still managed to lead us.

“Slick here’s not trained to live without food if there isn’t enough. She’s hungry.”

He stopped, letting us get even with him. “How are we supposed to feed her, Taylor?” he asked snidely.

She sniffed. “There’s no rivers for you to fish, is there Water Boy?”

“I could say the same for your sacred fields,” Grevchee shot back.

Instead of fighting back, she actually smiled. “Ah, but I have one piece of information that you lack.” He crossed his arms in response, frowning. “Well, many pieces I guess,” she faltered. Straightening up again, she continued: “I know which plants are okay to eat, even if they aren’t planted in our fields.” She held up her chin.

“Taylor,” he said, calmly for him. “I know plants probably almost as well as you do. I need to know their healing powers, even if I’m not a Healer.”

I held in a sigh; these two were going to drive me crazy. They were acting like the kids in my village. Again.

“You know how they heal,” Taylor pointed out, “but I know how they supply nutrients.”

Turning his back to us, Grevchee finished the argument: “You act all touch and knowledgeable, but then it comes to the deadline. Feed her and let’s get a move on.”

Sniffing like a spoiled child, Taylor pushed through the waist-high grass, searching each leaf with mild interest. I watched her as she strayed further and further from where Grevchee and I stood. She took a long time. Feeling my attention span waning, I sat down and drew pictures in a small patch of dirt that I cleared. Grevchee continued to stare at the mountains, lost in his own thoughts.

A while later I heard the grass around me moving around. Curious, I stood up to see Taylor wading back to us, empty handed.

“There’s nothing here to eat,” she announced. Her voice expressed her displeasure.

“I bet there is, but you’re too dumb to recognize it,” Grevchee stabbed. He didn’t let Taylor react before he started off again. Taylor and I had no choice but to follow him.

The silence was killing me, more than their bickering. “Taylor?” I asked.

This time she didn’t jump. “Yes, Slick?” she repeated.

“How far away are the Tribes?”

She shrugged, and then nearly tripped over a branch. The trees had grown larger as we moved on, but instead of pines they were the ones with leaves. I didn’t know any of their names, because I’ve never really seen any trees like them. “I guess we’re about half a day away still,” she finally said.

I looked up through the canopy to the sky. It was overcast, but the clouds weren’t really thick. “Will it be night when we get there?”

Her bottom lip grew as she shook her head. “I’m not exactly an Air Tribesman, but I think it’s still early in the morning. No, we should be there a little past sunhigh.”

More silence as we continued to walk through the trees. The more we walked, the thicker around they became, and the closer together. Soon we had to squeeze our way through a couple trunks every now and again.

“Taylor?” I began my inquiries all the same.

“Yes, Slick?”

“Are we almost there?” My legs were growing tired after walking almost non-stop since they found me. I think we paused once for sleep and another because I was hungry. I was still hungry; more hungry than before because I didn’t have anything to eat.

Grevchee answered before Taylor could. “Only a little longer, kid.”

“I’m still hungry.”

“You’ll eat when we get to the Gathering Island. No, wait. Once you’re in your Tribe you’ll be able to eat,” Taylor promised. “At least, that’s how the Earth Tribe does it.”

Somehow Grevchee found that funny. “So that’s how you numbbrains do it,” he taunted. “In the Water Tribe we feed the apprentices as much as they can before we take them to camp.”

“And then what? Blindfold them so they can’t blab your secret hole ‘till they graduate?” Taylor spat. I think they enjoyed this.

“It’s not that secret if you cared to look for it,” Grevchee sighed. “But you Earths are just too afraid of the water to even try.”

“Don’t single us out!” Taylor cried.

“Are those the mountains we saw earlier?” I asked, pointing. I would do anything to interrupt the growing agitation between the two.

Taylor took one quick glance at the rock before us. “Yup.”

“They’re small,” I commented, looking up. The summit of each one was in plain sight.

“I told you,” Taylor smirked.

“Good for you. You got something right for a change,” Grevchee sighed. “We have to walk along the waterfall to get in, though. Remember?” He spoke to her as if she were Ringo’s age.

Ignoring the Water Tribesman for once, she pushed past him to walk along the cliff. I followed close behind her, Grevchee bringing up the rear.

The rock was a cool gray, almost matching the dreary sky. It shot almost straight up from the ground, approximately twice the height of Taylor. Small cracks and caves made the surface rough and sharp. Past the cliff, it grew rocky, like I imagined the mountains to look like from my own rock. It didn’t seem like there was any way to travel over the stones, for they seemed so unstable I was afraid they’d fall over our heads. Under the loose rubble, though, I was sure there was solid material, such as granite, that held the mountain in its shape. When I took a closer look, the rocks didn’t last long, but rested on a ledge before the mountain climbed rather shallowly.

The sound of a roaring river reached my ears. Unfazed, Taylor continued over the mossy trail, clearly etched out as a rut. It gradually grew louder as we continued.

Pushing past a last veil of vines, Taylor moved aside so I could see the waterfall Grevchee mentioned. It wasn’t that tall. It cut through the cliff wall, and was half the height of it. On either side of the water were two paths, looking alike the rocks that rested just above the cliff.

“Now where do we go?” I shouted. I couldn’t have spoken any softer, because the waterfall’s roar was so loud.

“Up,” Taylor shouted back. As if to answer my silent how, she grabbed onto the rocks and crawled up the mountain.

Giving me a slight shove, Grevchee growled in my ear, “Go on.”

Taking a nervous breath, I watched which stones Taylor held onto to heave herself upwards. I tried to use the same path as she had taken, but with my shorter limbs it was impossible.

“Choose your own path,” Grevchee shouted from behind. It was like he read my mind. “Don’t hesitate, or you’ll never get up.” Oh, that’s how he knew.

I didn’t want to shut my eyes, but I felt that just randomly picking stones would cause me to fare worse. Reminding myself that Grevchee was behind me if I slipped, I studied each rock before I used it as a hand or foothold.

I reached the top of the waterfall in no time. Taking a few unsteady stops on the gravel, I inched along the wall of the mountain to open land. It almost immediately grew grassy.

The sight was beautiful. On this side of the river, almost as far as I could see was amber. The weeds grew at first as high as my shoulders, and then after a short running distance it was way over my Zodiac Tribesmen’s heads. So I couldn’t see very far.

“The land we’re standing on is Fire Tribe territory,” Taylor explained. “Even though we’re escorting you to an initiation Gathering, stay within a few feet of the river. It’s a rule,” she added.

I didn’t really want to be so close to the river. It roared like a tiger, and moved just as fast as one if it ran. If I fell in, it would take me under without hesitation and throw me over the waterfall. At least the thin sheet of dirt we walked on was firm, so there must have been rock supporting it.

“What’s over there?” I asked, pointing to the other side of the river. On that side it was completely green. Lush grass rolled over small hills, glimmering in the dim light. Small tufts of white broke up the emerald.

“On the other side of this river is the Air Tribe territory. Those white dots are sheep.”

It was amazing. The small hills steadily grew taller until they reached the mountain again. I was too far away to make out anything beyond that. But in front of us, still on the opposite side of the river, a patch of trees shot out from the green, green grass. “Are those woods Earth Tribe?” I asked.

“No, that’s still Air Tribe. You can’t see the Earth Tribe because of the Fire Tribe’s weeds,” Taylor said. “Anyway, I’m sure your mentor will explain everything to you in due time.”

“How long is due time?” I inquired.

A sly smile spread across Taylor’s face. “Oh, just a few seasons.” Something told me she wasn’t telling the complete truth, or at least the truth in a sense that I would understand.

As we were the past couple days, we continued. Instead of an argument here and there, all three of us stayed silent. The Fire Tribe was unchanging on this side of the river, and the trees only grew closer to us on the Air Tribe. The only thing that really changed was the river. As we moved on the rock gradually disappeared. At one point there was a pool of water, where the dirt was nearly non-existent, but after that the grass was more free, even on the Fire Tribe side.

The clouds began to thing, revealing a sun and blue sky. The air grew a little warmer, and I suspected this was the height of the sun.

We passed the barrier where the trees started on the Air Tribe side. They weren’t that thick next to the bank, but they were dense enough so I couldn’t see through. Even the Fire Tribe had a few willows dotting the grass. At least I took Taylor’s word for it that they were willows.

I was so busy examining the territories on my right and left, that I didn’t take time to watch the land in front of me. When I finally did glance that way, I stopped. “Taylor?” I began.

“Yes, Slick?”

“Why are those trees growing in the middle of the river?”

She laughed, and Grevchee joined in. “They’re not in the river,” she said. “That’s the Island, the Gathering Island.”

“It has a lot of trees.”

“Not really. The trees are only on the exterior of it. Take a few steps into the island and it’s completely clear. Even the dirt is stamped down hard enough to almost be called rock.”

“Exaggeration,” Grevchee yawned.

“Oh well. Slick’ll see when we take her there.”

Taylor began walking again, and I followed. Grevchee kept his position behind me. It was kind of boring, really.

Taylor must have thought the same. “You know, I bet if you walk from my camp to the Gathering, it’d take a quarter of a day.”

“That must suck,” Grevchee laughed. “It only takes about half that time for the Water Tribe to get to the Island, and we have to walk through swamp.”

“Well, your camp is really close to the Island,” Taylor complained.

“That’s because we don’t really have to fear much attack, since all the other Tribes can’t swim very long.”

“Excuse me, but I take bathes,” Taylor screeched.

“What? Once every four seasons?” Now that he mentioned it, Taylor did stink, and she was covered in dirt. At first I thought that the brown was the color of her skin, but the palms of her hands were too white for the rest of her to be dark. I didn’t want to say anything, for fear it would be rude.

“I don’t know how often . . .” Taylor admitted, “but I do take bathes!”

“In the mud,” Grevchee finished for her. Taylor would have taken a swing at him, but I was between the two of them, and she didn’t want to hurt me.

“Common, Wimpy,” she snapped, continuing on her way. Being the good little dog I was, I followed her, Grevchee hard on my heels.

Now that a little excitement had built up inside me, the walk to the island didn’t take that long. I know it should be the other way around, but I kept imagining scenarios in my head on how it would go. I was tugged out of one daydream when Taylor pulled to an abrupt stop.

“What is it?” I asked, looking around her hip. “Never mind.” The island was bigger up close than I had thought. It had the complete opposite effect than the mountains. Young trees pressed in on each other, but I didn’t think they went very far into the heart of the island. A large gap, which I assumed was a path, led into the land. But, with it being an island, water kept us from crossing.

“See, on the Earth Tribe side we have a tree bridge so we don’t have to get our feet wet,” Taylor complained.

“And in the Water Tribe we don’t care about that and pretty much swing to the Island,” Grevchee said smartly, smirking.

“But how do the Fire Tribe do it?”

“I think they jump, just as do the Air Tribe,” Grevchee answered.

“Well, the water is at a lull here, and it’s pretty thin compared to our side of the main river.”

“With Slick here, we might as well just wade across. We don’t want to hurt her jumping across,” Grevchee said, coming to a decision.

“Fine,” Taylor snapped. “We’ll do it your way.” Grabbing my arm, and Grevchee the other, they started across the water. It was crystal clear, and the sand on the bed of the stream was soft between my toes. It was cold, even though it was the warm season, but it didn’t bother me. At its deepest point it was at my waist, and I didn’t stand very tall. Not yet, at least.

Letting go of my arm, Taylor shook herself. Her clothes hung heavily on her shoulders. Grevchee, on the other hand, looked like his clothes were meant for the water. Being in the Water Tribe, they probably were. I squeezed the water from my own clothes, fighting off shivers.

Once we were as dry as we could get from wringing water from fabric, Grevchee announced, “Welcome to the Zodiac Tribe Gathering Island, Kifu Slick.” With a small smile, he walked brusquely into the clearing.

(2,929 words)

•Chapter Six•

AFTER A MOMENTS HESITATION, I followed Grevchee through the trees. They were about ten of my paces deep and then suddenly opened up to a clearing. Grass ringed around a pit of dry dirt, trampled from seasons upon seasons of traffic. A large flat boulder perched on the edge of the bowl, overhanging by a few footsteps. The slope to the center of the island wasn’t very steep, but definitely noticeable. I think it was at a lower level than the river that surrounded the island.

Six groups of people milled around. Every one but the four people that sat on the boulder consisted of a child about my age and one to three Tribesmen. The children looked as confused and dazed as I felt.

“What do you think?” Taylor asked, hooking an arm around my shoulders.

“Pretty,” I answered simply. “Shaded, nice, pretty.”

Grevchee headed down the hill, talking over his shoulder to us as he went: “Taylor, I’m going to announce the leaders that we arrived.”

“Slick and I will wait here,” she assured him.

Three paths through the trees, much similar to the one we entered through, traveled off from the main island. My guess was that was where every Tribe entered the island.

Every Tribesperson seemed to be wearing a different color, and different styles of clothes. It was different from my village, where everyone was in conformity. “Taylor?”

“Yes, Slick?”

“Why is everyone wearing different colors?”

“Your village didn’t?” she asked, genuinely surprised.

“No.”

She took a little breath before explaining. “The colors are our way of showing our Zodiac symbol. For example, I’m wearing a dark blue-green dress because I’m a Taurus. The dress is because I’m an Earth.”

“What would I wear?”

“Depends on your sign. Do you know your Zodiac?”

I shook my head. “Uh-uh. How do you know?”

“What’s your birthday, honey?”

“October twentieth,” I answered immediately.

She thought for a little. “You’re a Libra—an Air.” For a moment she looked around, and then pointed discreetly to a member. “See her?” I nodded. “She’s an Air.”

“She’s wearing a skirt,” I pointed out. Did that mean I had to wear one, too?

“Of course. Waters are the only females that don’t wear dresses.” She paused to scan the crowd again. “Unless one of the Tribeless are a Libra, you’re the only one here. Libras have a color of pastel blue. It’s a pretty color.”

I didn’t say anything to that. Before I could, the trees rustled behind us. Turning around to see who it was, I saw a little boy being led through the tunnel. His escort spoke a couple words to him, and then rushed off in the same direction as Grevchee went. The boy walked over to Taylor and I.

“Hi!” I greeted.

“Hi,” he mumbled.

I frowned. He wasn’t very friendly. “What’s your name? I’m Kifu Slick.”

“Leland Pierce.” He continued to study his feet as if they were a plant and ignored me in every other way.

“Want to sit down?” I invited, scooting a little to the side. With his head still down, he took a seat.

“You don’t sound very happy,” I pointed out. “Why?”

“I don’t feel like it.” I wasn’t very social in the first place. He was making this conversation very hard. “I want to go back home.”

“So do I,” I admitted, “but we’re going to be a part of the Tribes. I’m going to be a Libra!” I bragged. I didn’t know if being a Libra was a good thing, but at least I knew my sign.

“How do you know that?” Now he sounded vaguely interested, and he lifted his eyes to look at me. They were a soft blue, round and kind.

“Taylor told me.”

As if seeing Taylor for the first time, he asked her, “Do you know which sign I am?”

“Not unless you tell me your birthday.” Taylor’s voice was distant, as if she was thinking about something else.

“July third.”

It didn’t take as long for Taylor to figure out his sign compared to mine. “You’re a Cancer, a Water.”

“Just like Grevchee!” I exclaimed.

“Water ol’ grump,” Taylor grumbled.

Before any of us could continue the forced conversation, Grevchee returned to our little group. “Who’s this?” he asked absently, standing over us with his arms crossed.

“Leland,” I answered for my new friend. He didn’t pursue anything more, but turned away, ignoring us. Turning back to my new friend, I decided to keep talking would be a good thing over bad. “So . . . where did you come from?”

Leland shrugged. “From a big town. We called it Marian.”

I rubbed my neck. “I came from a village without a name,” I said. “I didn’t really like it. Everyone said I couldn’t do anything to do something. When Grevchee and Taylor found me, I already felt happy.”

He shrugged again. “I liked it there at home.”

Taylor, who had been silent again, spoke up. “I assure you that you weren’t exactly random, unlike Slick here. We chose you because we felt that you would benefit over the other children in your town by joining our Tribes.”

“I liked it there at home,” Leland repeated.

I tried to continue a conversation, but after another minute I dropped it and stayed silent myself. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Leland felt a little more comfortable that way. Maybe he was just a person who needed to warm up to another, or he was just an anti-social.

Our silent moment side-by-side didn’t last long, because Leland’s escort that hustled off as soon as he entered the clearing came back. “Pierce,” he huffed, standing with his hand on his knee. He wasn’t a fat man, but he certainly wasn’t skinny. His face was shaded red with round cheeks. “Who have you found?” He scanned his eyes quickly over Taylor and Grevchee, as if he knew them already, but stopped on my face.

Leland stayed silent for a moment before mumbling, “Kifu Slick.” He concentrated on his hands knotted between his knees, avoiding his mentor’s eyes. In fact, he avoided everyone’s eyes, I noticed.

“Well, welcome to the Tribes, Slick,” the bloated man chimed.

“Thanks,” I said nervously, unsure of what was expected from me.

“Hey Antho,” Grevchee started, “I didn’t ask the leader. How much longer until the Gathering? I haven’t been able to see the moon lately, and with everyone moving around more than usual, I can’t count how many apprentices are here yet.”

The big man, Antho, shrugged. He did a once over the crowd, mumbled, “Seven,” and then looked up to the sky. “Well, we’re waiting on one more group and by the looks of the moon right now, the Gathering will be tonight.”

“I could have told you that,” Taylor bragged, refraining from sticking her tongue out.

Grevchee waved her comment away. “You think you could watch both kids? I have a little to catch up with, with Antho.”

Taylor tipped her head to the side. “Maybe you couldn’t watch them, but I’m more than able to.”

Noticeably clenching his hands, Grevchee turned away with Antho. They took a couple steps and started chattering more than Taylor ever did on the trip here.

“Taylor?”

“Yes, Slick?” Her voice sounded distant again, with her neck craned up to look at the clear, blue sky.

“How much longer ‘till the Gathering?”

“Just until nightfall, at most,” she answered simply, keeping her eyes fixated on the ghostly moon amid the sea of blue.

“How much longer is that?”

“Not much.”

I turned back to Leland, hoping to maybe get some more conversation out of him. “What was Marian like?”

His eyes glazed as he visited his home again, a small smile pulling at his lips. “Organized and clean. Children didn’t play in the streets during the day, because we learned about other things, such as plants and why the moon is the way it is.”

“Why is it?” I asked, looking at the moon myself. I guessed he caught that little detail of Taylor while I was thinking of other people.

“Because it goes round and round, like the earth. One part of it is black, and the other is a silvery-white, like we see it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I chortled.

“Sure it does, if you think about it.”

“The moon changes from phase to phase because of the elements,” Taylor interrupted. “During the full moon all spiritual parties are at ease, allowing us to have a Gathering. Any hocus-pocus about it are false.”

“The elements are spiritual?” I asked. I didn’t see any connection whatsoever. The moon was out there, having no effect on anything on Earth.

She blinked, tearing her eyes away from the orb. “Of course. Some people feel a stronger connection to their own element that other people. You’ll see once you’ve been a part of us longer.”

To my surprise, Leland spoke without any prodding. “I don’t believe it. Why would something as stupid as spirits do something with something so far away?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor said. Her voice was haunting, serious. “All I know is that it’s true. Everything is so . . . calm during a full moon.” She faltered for a word just before calm, and didn’t seem satisfied with her word choice.

Leland waved his hand, peeved. “Believe what you want, but my belief is with what my town taught me. It seems it’ll be my only connection to that place now.”

I took a sideways glance at his face, saw how hurt he looked, and left him alone. The sun dropped a few fingers in the sky by the time three more people entered the clearing on the island. One reported to four people sitting on the rock, left, and waited by the people he entered with. We waited a little longer, and the tallest of the important ones stood up.

(1,664 words)

•Chapter Seven•

"GOOD AFTERNOON," HE bellowed. Everyone who had been milling around stopped what they were doing and looked up in his direction. Once the clearing was silent, he continued: "Welcome to the Zodiac Tribes, if you weren't told already. My name is Grahm Newton, leader of the Air Tribe. I hope you all find a comfortable home in our Tribes, as soon as you're sorted into yours."

Newton stepped back, and was quickly replaced by a tall woman, though shorter than him. She dipped her head and began talking: "My name is Erika Jones, leader of the Fire Tribe. I wish for all of you children to leave the side or sides of the Tribesperson who brought you to this island and stand below the rock where I and the other leaders stand." When none of us moved she laughed. "Come now! We won't hurt you!"

Tentatively, I stepped forward and started walking down the dip. I heard rustling from behind me, and I guessed Leland wasn't far behind me. In my peripheral I saw the other children gravitating toward her. Once we were all bunched beneath the smooth boulder, a little taller than me, she and the other three people hopped down.

The man named Grahm Newton walked toward me. He took my hand, shook it and asked quietly, "Now what is your name?"

"Kifu. Kifu Slick," I told him.

"Slick, may I ask your date of birth?" He stood a little crookedly with a faint smile on his face.

"October twentieth."

His smile brightened. "Ah, so you're a Libra, and therefore in my Tribe."

I couldn't help but grin myself. "Yes, I guess."

"Well, could you follow me please?" He held out his hand this time, and I took it gently. Turning around, touching another child softly on her shoulder, he brushed past with me in tow. He shook the hand of another child, asking her name.

"Natasha Summers," she whispered shyly.

"Summers, may I ask your date of birth?" I waited by his side, watching Leland who was walking behind an older man.

Summers told Newton her birthday, and she was instructed to meet up with a short, squat man. By the time she took small steps in that direction, a short boy was by my side. Newton turned to him, asking his name.

"William Bucket," he said proudly, puffing his chest.

"What is your Zodiac sign, Bucket?" Newton asked kindly.

"Aquarius," he said.

"Okay, you and Slick stay right here while I and the other leaders continue the meeting, yes?" We both nodded, and Newton turned away to climb the rock where two other leaders waited.

With everyone important back on the rock, the short man stepped forward. "Tribeless, I, Camyo Ryans, leader of the Water Tribe, wish to officially greet you into the Zodiac Tribes as first-stage apprentices. The leader of your Tribe will take you home and finish the ceremony, showing each of you the mentors you will be learning from for the next four seasons. Hard work and good luck."
He dipped his head and stepped back, allowing the other three leaders to jump down again. It seemed unnecessary to me for them all to climb up there when only a few words were spoken and then jump back down again, but I guess I would have to learn from these mentors to understand.

Almost without my noticing, Newton was by my side, along with Bucket. "Shall we be moving?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah," I said softly, my voice filled with awe. My attitude towards the tribe changed in just a brief moment. Already, within a day, I felt more at home here than where I had lived for nine years. "Let's go."

Newton nodded and stood up straight from his bent position over our shoulders. He turned around at the torso and motioned to people behind my back. With soft hands on our shoulders he led us through a different tree tunnel from the one I came through earlier. We walked only a few paces when another river came into sight. This one was at least twice as wide as the one I crossed over first and very fast.

"Now don't be afraid," he said softly, "just move aside so the other Tribespeople can get to camp to prepare for you." Still touching our shoulders, he pressed us into the thin veil of trees. With strong leaps, the people he mentioned crossed the river and started jogging through the woods, apparently to the camp. "Do you think you will make that?"

I shook my head, no. "Uh-huh," I voiced.

Bucket sniffed. "If I can't make that, then I'm a girl."

Newton frowned, but he did lift his arm off of Bucket's shoulder, allowing him forward. Taking a few strides back, Bucket started running, suddenly rocketing himself into the air. Just after takeoff I knew that he wasn't going to make it. His jump was too high and not wide enough. I was pretty sure he realized it, too, because when he reached his peak he started flapping his arms. Within a second he belly-flopped into the water, his fingertips just reaching out for the shore, but he grasped only water.

Newton didn't even hesitate. As the current pulled at Bucket, Newton reached into the water, clasping his hand onto Bucket's forearm. Out of pure habit, I was sure, Bucket grabbed onto Newton's own forearm. With the leader's brute strength, he pulled the child from the river.

"Are you alright?" Newton asked quickly. He lifted up Bucket's shirt to check for any injuries.

"I-I think so," Bucket sputtered.

In a way, I felt a little happy for Bucket's dive into the water. He was acting too smug and I thought he got just what he deserved. I kept the feelings to myself, though, because if I were to let them be known, I would surely suffer the same fate as my new, fellow Tribesperson.

"Alright, Slick," Newton called kindly from the other shore. "Do you think you can jump over?"

"I'll try," I assured him shakily, my voice quivering.

Backing up a few paces, I tensed my muscles for the leap. With my eyes I gauged the distance between me and the river, using my footsteps as a measurement. Closing them for a second, I burnt the image in my head for the time being. Opening them again, I took a deep breath and ran.

Right after take-off, I clenched my eyes shut again, just out of pure instinct. When I opened them again, I had landed on the other side of the river without any air in my lungs. All of it had been forced from my lungs, since I landed right on my chest.

"Are you alright?" Newton repeated, but this time for me.

I wanted to say yes, but I didn't have any breath to say it so I tried to take deep breathes. The air remained elusive to my lungs. Quickly, I grew to panic and shook my head fiercely. I couldn't breathe!

"Slick?" Newton asked, rolling my over onto my back.

"Help!" I mouthed, gasping. Newton tried, I think, but he didn't seem to do anything. Gradually, though, I was able to fill my lungs up with much needed air.

Newton seemed to notice this and his movements became less frantic. "You okay now, Slick?" he asked softly.

"Yes," I gasped. It hurt to breathe and it definitely hurt to breathe.

"We'll wait here for a few moments and let you catch your breath," Newton promised, settling down on the bank.

Suddenly Bucket's crossing didn't seem that bad. At least when he was fished from the river he didn't have to struggle to live.

He sat next to me, and I could sense the smile on his face. He was way too smug. "You should have opened your eyes," he finally said. He refused to look at me, but kept his gaze straight ahead.

Our new leader reacted to that quite venomously. "Bucket, if you have something to say to Slick, it will be of respect," he chided. "In the Zodiac Tribes we will not accept rude behavior."

"I'm sorry," Bucket said, though insincerely. "But I wasn't being rude to her; I was giving her friendly advice." Yeah, right, I thought snidely.

Newton ignored him and turned his attention back to me. "Slick, do you think you can continue?"

"Yes, sir," I replied, standing up. My collarbone hurt, as did my forearms, but I didn't think there was any major damage. I was alive, at the very least.

With a wane smile, Newton stood up himself. "Very well. Let us continue."

Most of the rest of the trip was in silence. The river bank quickly turned into saplings, which gradually thickened into full-grown trees. Much to my surprise, there was a nice path that we walked down, even though it was dark under the trees' canopy. It was wide, but at some times we had to duck down to avoid being hit by a low-hanging branch.

By the time that we emerged from the trees, the sun threatened to sink below the mountains. From here I noticed a nice depression in one mountain, where I assumed was where we were heading.

"What are those?" Bucket asked, pointing at something on the slightly rolling hills. They were covered in a green, lush grass, and on that grass where tufts of white.

"Those are sheep," Newton answered, not breaking stride.

Bucket struggled to keep pace, since he was focused entirely on the clouds called sheep. "What do sheep do?"

"Sheep are our source of wool," Bucket explained. "They provide the cloth for our clothes."

"You don't . . . kill them, do you?" I asked. I couldn't help but take quick peaks in their direction. There were a lot of them, eating the dark green grass.

"No, no," chortled Newton. "All we do is take their fur, which grows back. You'll learn more about them later, I assure you."

As we continued through the hills, we watched as the sheep grew smaller and finally left our line of sight. As they grew smaller, the sun sank. By the time the sheep were completely gone so was the sun.

"It's dark," I commented.

Newton walked on, and I almost thought he wasn't going to answer, but he did: "Yes, it is dark. Soon, though, we'll be at the camp. I can see it now."

"How?" Bucket asked with a sneer. "All I can see is the back of your shirt and where the mountain and sky meet."

"Zodiac Tribespeople are accustomed to both night and day. We train our eyes so that we can see equally at both times of the day."

This culture was sounding more and more interesting. They actually sounded like they did things, other than just play-fighting and talking around a fire. Maybe the mountains were calling to me, and I was calling out to the Tribespeople who found me. I would have to remember to thank Grevchee and Taylor for finding me the next time I saw them.

"Halt," a new voice hailed. I nearly jumped at the disembodied sound. "Who requests passage?"

"It is only I," Newton said. "Relax."

"Oh, hello, Newton," the voice said. Relief showed right through his words. "Have you brought apprentices?"

"Yes I have," Newton chuckled. "And your first night as guard? How goes it?"

"Very well, sir," the man assured Newton. "I can't see very well, but I'm glad my ears could pick out the sound of your footsteps."

"I'll leave you to your job. Right now I must show Slick and Bucket to their bunks." I heard shuffling, and then Newton called to us, "Stay close to me, or risk falling of the side of this narrow path to a jagged pit."

My eyes grew wide at the vicious description. I certainly didn't plan to do anything such as that. Without my eyes, though, I couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

With careful footfalls, I walked up a slight slope. Every time I set my foot down the ground seemed stable, but I wouldn't take any chances. Newton's words scared me more than anything at that point.

Thankfully, the treacherous path wasn't that long and we soon made it to the top.

"Where's the fire?" Newton called. Quickly, he explained to us, "A fire is supposed to be burning in the middle of the camp at all times. There should be no exceptions."

"The Head Hunter was sick today, so he went to the Kürbis, saying he'd be right back, but he never did," someone from the shadows said. "When it turned dark, I looked around for his tools, but I couldn't find them."

Newton sighed with tension. "We'll leave it be for today," he said finally, his voice ringing with authority. "It's already late tonight and you should be going to bed."

He set his hand on my shoulder and started to lead me away. "This way is where the apprentices live," he said to us. "There are two huts, one for females and the other for the males. This one-" he lightly pushed me in one direction until I ran into a doorway- "is for the girls. Slick, you'll find another apprentice in that hut. Please don't bother her." Newton's voice faded slightly as he walked away with Bucket, but I assumed he was telling him the same thing he told me, but in a little different context.

Taking a deep breath, I walked into the hut and stood there, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Without the moon, it was impossible and I just had to feel my way around.

(2, 286 words)

•Chapter Eight•

I FELT ALONG THE WALL of the hut, unable to see anything beyond the faint light emanating from the doorway. The walls were uneven and scratchy against my skin. They gave off a weird smell, a very earthy smell. Gradually I made my way further into the small room, stumbling when I came upon a pile of loose clothing. I cried softly out in shock and pitched forward. With my hands I caught myself, but on something warm and supple, rather than the rough surface of the wall.

That thing that I landed on moved in a very jerky fashion and made a choked scream. “Who wakes me?” a girlish voice demanded.

“I-I’m sorry!” I gasped, stepping backwards and out of the way. In my haste and with the blanket of black, I fell right on my rump. “I didn’t want to!”

“Who are you?” she asked. I could hear her shift on whatever she was laying on.

“My name’s Kifu Slick,” I told her obediently.

“I’m Tai Mae,” she told me. Her voice wasn’t belligerent anymore, but rather much the opposite. “Are you one of those first-stage apprentices that were supposed to join the Tribe soon?”

I shrugged, but then realized she wouldn’t know if I had. “I guess so,” I answered. “I’m just confused, though. I was taken from my village while I was running away.

“I was confused at first,” the other girl confessed. Before she could go on any further she yawned. “But I guess I should show you were to sleep.”

“That’s a good idea,” I yawned myself. I wished I knew why yawns were so contagious. “’Cept I can’t see a thing.”

“Me neither, but I’m used to this hut. Here,” she said, feeling around for me. When she touched my arm, I started, but she assured me it was her. “Your hammock is right here.” She pulled me over a few steps and guided my hand to my ropey bed. Sure that I had it in my hand, she left me alone and I could hear her climb back into her hammock.

“Good-night,” she said weakly.

“Oyasuminasai,” I replied, climbing onto the unstable surface. It took a while to get comfortable, but once I did I fell right asleep. This was way better than sleeping on the ground.



“Hey! Wake up! Uh . . . Slick! Wake up!” A voice accompanied with a violent shake on my shoulder nearly caused me to roll over and out of the hammock. With my hand, I grumpily pushed that hand away. “I’m sorry I had to wake you,” the same voice that woke me up said, “but the Heads said that they need you in center camp.”

I opened my eyes and straightened myself into a sitting position, being careful not to flip myself onto the ground. Sleeping in a hammock was something I’d have to get used to. “How long?” I asked.

“What?” The girl’s face showed her genuine confusion.

“How long do I have?” I repeated, hoping the three extra words would help clarify my meaning.

“Oh, yes. They want you as soon as you can make it. Really, that means they want you now or risk punishment.” She turned her face away. I had no idea who she was, but I felt I recognized something about her.

Her face was round, her hair dark. When she looked at me I could see her dark chocolate, almond eyes. She didn’t have very prominent cheekbones or much of a chin, but her lips were full. Her hair was long, to her mid-back, and a silky black.

But it wasn’t her appearance that I felt I knew, but her voice. Suddenly, I realized this girl was the girl I talked to last night after awakening her. She was Tai Mae.

“Yes, yes,” I said, slipping to the floor. Standing next to her I was a good half-head taller than her. “I’ll be right out there.” I started for the door, but paused in the frame. “Uh . . . where is center camp?” I asked, turning back to look at Mae.

She hurried forward, touching my arm briefly. “This way,” she said, following a path away from the towering mountain. It winded past two really big huts, and then two smaller ones before opening up to a large, rocky place, which I assumed was the center camp.

From here was a magnificent view. I could see the rolling hills that we passed, along with the fluffy sheep grazing upon their lush grass. In the distance I could make out another line of mountains, and between the hills and line, where I guessed the river was. Just beyond the edge of the camp, which was a sudden drop, I could make out nothing.

“Is this Kifu Slick?” a man asked, stepping up to Mae and I.

“Yes,” she answered, bowing her head slightly and sidling out of his way.

“Ah, good morning, Slick. My name is Holmes, Jeremy Holmes. I am Head Hunter of the Air Tribe.

“Hajimemashte,” I greeted, bowing myself.

“Behind me is Walter Cummings, Head Warrior of the Air Tribe. First, before we begin our day, we must wait for William Bucket, who is not yet present.” The guy had a habit of speaking in a stiff matter, I could tell already. He was stocky, a little taller than me. He had short brown hair, roughly cut. His chin was prominent; he had small, squinty eyes and a hard, planed face.

Suddenly, he stepped away from me. “Is this William Bucket?” he asked, as if I were no longer there. I didn’t like this guy already.

“Yes, sir,” a boy’s voice said just as stiffly as Holmes. “This is he.”

“Ah, good morning, Bucket. My name is Holmes, Jeremy Holmes. I am Head Hunter of the Air Tribe.” This man was giving me déjà vu; he was making my head spin.

“Hey,” I heard Bucket say in his cocky manner.

“For future reference, Bucket, I will not accept that sort of manner. When you speak to your elders you will speak respectfully.” Respect: I was hearing a lot of that word lately, especially to Bucket.

“Sure, sure,” Bucket said, his voice mocking. “I’ll try to remember that. Sir,” he added as an afterthought.

With a huff, Holmes turned away and spoke to the Walter Cummings guy. Cummings was tall and thin with a soft, easy smile. He wore his hair pretty long, but it was hard to tell it was so long because it was a blonde, curly mess. He had soft, blue eyes that squinted every time he smiled and roundish cheeks. Just at a quick glance you could tell he was strong because of his well-developed muscles in his arms and legs. I bet if he took his shirt off for some sort of exercise, his pectorals and abs would be just as developed.

He stepped forward, center to Bucket and I. “Good morning,” he said with a smile. Beside his mouth little crinkles of skin appeared. “To you I will be known as Cummings, but my full name is Walter Cummings. I’m the Head Warrior of this Tribe, and together Holmes and I will teach you the ways of the Tribe. But before we get into any of that, what do you two think so far?” He spread his arms to show he meant everything.

“It’s different from home,” I answered honestly. I wondered why his personality was so different from Holmes. Cummings was open and happy, with Holmes being stiff and grumpy, like a permanently grumpy Grevchee.

His laugh was like a bellow. “I bet it is!” he exclaimed gaily.

Bucket couldn’t be left out, and he butted himself in. “I don’t think it’s all that great.” Of course he had to be the downer, I thought, rolling my eyes.

“Then you have to open your eyes,” Cummings smiled, winking. Little crinkles appeared beside his eye as it closed, but disappeared when they opened again. “The Zodiac Tribes can only be a sanctuary to those who try to make it so. Don’t forget that.”

Bucket turned his head down insincerely. “Yes, sir,” he said. His mocking tone showed through his voice and it not only offended Cummings, but me as well. How could this kid be so rude?

Straightening out in an awkward posture, Cummings began to speak as if to a whole classroom. “Your first couple moons in the Zodiac Tribes will start out slowly. For the first moon Holmes and I were merely show you around our territory and the camp, pointing out the more prominent customs of our Tribe. I will tell you that our Tribe runs a little differently from the other Tribes, so in the third moon we’ll teach you about their major customs.

“For the second moon we’re not going to skim over the major details of the Air Tribe, but we’ll point out even the smallest custom. After that moon you will be expected to follow the Tribes rules. If not you will severely be punished.

“That’ll be one quarter of you first-stage apprenticeship, just learning how the Tribes work. Separately. So in the fourth moon you will learn about Gatherings and how the Tribes get together outside of the full moon’s day. You will also learn what to do when you see an intruder cross our borders, which will be shown to you this moon, hopefully tomorrow.

“The first third of your year here will be under the whole Tribe’s eye. You will get to know everyone in this Tribe and will not be allowed to the Gathering Island. The second third you will become more independent, but you will still find yourself under the watchful gazes of yours truly and Holmes here. For the last third you will take on apprentice duties and become as independent and to yourself as you will ever be.” He paused and put his hand on his chin. “Holmes, if you would continue, please?”

Holmes stepped forward into our center, letting Cummings fall back. “For the fifth and sixth moons of your stay in the Zodiac Tribes you will learn the basics of becoming a Hunter under my watch. The seventh and eighth moons Cummings will take over your training and teach you the basics of fighting and warfare. These are the two paths you can take in this Tribe. Obviously there’s the role of Healer, but I’m suspecting Kürbis will not be wanting another apprentice with him taking Brooks under his wing.

“After learning the art of the warrior, your second third of first-stage apprenticeship will be over.”

Cummings pushed himself beside Holmes, again taking up the peculiar stance. “The last part of your first-stage apprenticeship will be kept secret until it is time. Before you worry about what will happen in near a year’s time, though, why don’t we worry about today? Holmes, would you like to show them around, or shall I do the honor?” Cumming’s words were stiff, but with the smile on his face and with his light, not quite joking voice, he completely countered his formal speech. I hoped Holmes would just grump off and let Cummings show us around.

“No, no,” Holmes said, waving his hand. “You can go off and do whatever it is you warriors do. I’ll show these two young apprentices around the camp.” I had to force myself not to sigh. With a shrug, Cummings stalked off, barking with a somehow soft manner at a member of the Tribe after passing him. He jumped in the air and quickly carried out whatever task it was Cummings gave to him.

“I’m sure you already know where you are standing,” Holmes said, “so could you tell me what we call this place?”

“Why does it even need a name?” Bucket asked, speaking up for the first time since getting yelled at by Cummings. “Can’t you just say ‘by the fire’ or something like that?”

Somehow Holmes’s face grew even harder. “What did we just tell you about respect? I think you’ll learn what a punishment is even before the normal time apprentices get punished, before the rules are given to you.” His tone barely changed as he went back onto subject, not even letting his words sink in. “Slick, do you remember what this place is called?”

I had to think through my earlier drowsiness before I came up with the answer. “It’s the center camp,” I replied, hoping I wouldn’t get yelled at.

“Yes, it is.” Holmes’s praise didn’t sound like praise. In fact, he used the same tone to approve of me, lecture us, and to criticize Bucket. “From here you can see the leader’s hut—” he pointed at a round hut dangerously close to the edge of the mountain, nearly crowding the path to get into the Air Tribe camp— “the Healer’s hut—” he moved his finger a little to his left at a nearly identical hut— “the Head Warrior’s and Head Hunter’s huts . . .” These two huts were a little smaller than the Healer’s and Leader’s huts. One was right next to the Healer’s, but the other was on the opposite side of a path leading further into the mountain, just as close to the edge as the Leader’s hut.

With his right hand, Holmes motioned for Bucket and I to advance on his heels. He moved down the path between the Hunter’s and Warrior’s huts. Because it was too dark to see the first time I walked down this path, and because I was in a sleepy rush the second time, I didn’t notice two very long huts running along each side of the path. “These two structures are for the warriors and hunters. The boys sleep on the field side, the girls on the mountainside.” He motioned first to his left, and then to his right respectively. “And I’m sure you already know that the next two huts are for the apprentices, boys to the left, girls to the left.” He walked a couple steps more until he was between the apprentice huts and warrior/hunter huts. He spun so he was facing us and pointed with his left hand. “Between these two huts is another path which leads to the elders’ huts. If I were you, I wouldn’t go down that way.” He lowered his hand and watched us from a still, stiff position. No more words came through his mouth.

“That’s it?” Bucket finally said, jerking his eyes from right to left.

“You will have to learn patience before you become a second-stage apprentice,” Holmes tutted. He continued on as if he said nothing: “You are allowed to walk around the mountain, but not leave the camp. Socialize with your Tribemates and make new friends. Be sure to go to bed at a decent time.” He said nothing more, but pushed between Bucket and I to leave down the path and into center camp.

“I think he needs to learn respect before he can teach it,” Bucket muttered under his breath, retreating into his hut. For once and probably the only time, I agreed with him.

(2, 530 words)

•Chapter Nine•

SINCE I WASN’T OF THE SOCIAL type, the going off on my own was tough. I knew for sure I wasn’t going to hang out with Bucket, but half of the Tribe was off and out of the camp, doing things they normally do, including Tai Mae.

So for the day I wandered around by myself, falling into conversation whenever a warrior stopped and questioned me. I was happy when the sun began to settle between the peaks of the mountains and Mae ushered me off to bed so I could wake up early the next day.

“Slick, wake up!” Mae said, touching me lightly on the shoulder. I jumped at the touch, but this time I didn’t almost fall out of my hammock. “The Heads need you in center camp for training.” She smiled. “You’re going to have to start waking up by yourself, you know, in the mornings. I’ll be happy when the morning comes and you’re awake by my side.”

I rolled my eyes sleepily. “I can’t believe you all wake up so early.”

Mae shrugged. “You get used to it.” With that being said, she sauntered off to do whatever it was she did. In a much slower pace, I got out of my hammock and woke myself completely. There wasn’t much I could do, though. I only had the one set of clothes that I wore when I ran away: a brown tunic dress and flimsy deerhide shoes, so I didn’t need to change. The Zodiac Tribes didn’t believe in a morning mealtime, so I didn’t eat either.

Having nothing more to do to postpone my training session with Holmes, I slowly walked down the path to center camp. This time Bucket was waiting for me, along with Holmes and Cummings.

“Ah, good morning, Slick!” Cummings called upon seeing me. “How was yesterday?”

Shrugging, I answered, “It was okay, sir.”

“I believe today will be a different story.” Stepping back, he began not speaking only to me, but to Bucket as well. “Today I’m going to take you two on a tour of the Air Tribe’s territory. I hope you both are ready to be walking for nearly the whole day?”

Beside me, Bucket began grumbling darkly to himself, but I straightened up happily. “So we’re not going to be stuck in camp all day?”

“Much the contrary,” Cummings agreed. “Are you ready?”

“Do we not get anything to eat? Sir?” Bucket asked, again sticking the ‘sir’ disrepectfully at the end.

“We will see what we find on the way,” replied Cummings. Summoning us forward with a wave of his hand, he marched forward and down the trecherous path to the Air territory below. Most likely showing he was not afraid, Bucket followed with a slight strut in his step, leaving me to inch my way down the ledge, forcing myself not to look down. I didn’t want to know what lay below, in case I did fall.

Cummings reached the bottom of the ledge and looked up to see how Bucket and I were doing. Bucket was just at the end, jogging when he did reach the grass. I, on the other hand, was still halfway up, pushing my back into the rock with my eyes focused on my goal.

“I doubt it you’ll fall,” Cummings called supportively. “And besides, if you do, the landing will not hurt much.”

That was just the problem, the falling. I wasn’t afraid of heights, but just the falling. I didn’t care that if I did fall, which I planned not to do, that it wouldn’t hurt me, even if just a little. I did not want to fall.

“Yeah, Slick,” Bucket pitched in, “don’t be such a wuss.”

Sudden anger flared in my chest. I could vaguely hear Cummings scolding Bucket as I silently told myself that that was that; I was going to march down that ledge with as much confidence as that weak good-for-nothing boy and kindly ask for permission to hurt him.

Shoving off of the rock, I resituated my body so that it was facing forward. In the back of my mind I saw that there was about one of my foot lengths between my left foot and the ledge, but I didn’t bother to listen to that. Keeping a steady pace, I walked down the ledge and stood up next to Bucket. He was shorter than me, if only by just an inch.

Before I could do anything, there was a calming hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Cummings looking down on me, both literally and metaphorically. The idea of him being disappionted in me suddenly pushed away all my disgust to Bucket, putting me back in my normal state of mind.

“Thanks,” I whispered to him, “sir.”

“I’m just happy you didn’t do anything stupid, that you would regret later,” Cummings told me softly.

I lowered my head sadly, afraid of the mistake I almost made, even though I didn’t execute it.

“Just remember it as a lesson,” Cummings whispered, patting my shoulder lightly. He made me feel a little happier; this man listened and told you want you needed to know.

“Yes, sir,” I said, bowing my head.

He gave me a few seconds before he addressed both Bucket and me: “Let’s continue the tour in peaceful terms, shall we?” I sensed that Bucket wanted to spit some nasty comment at Cummings, but Cummings was off before he had a chance. Ignoring Bucket as well, I followed.

“To me, every tour needs a lecture,” Cummings sighed after a while. “Just walking without words is boring and has no educational value.” He smiled and scanned his eyes across Bucket’s and my face. “These mountains don’t really have a name besides the Zodiac Tribes mountains. Some natural phenomina caused them to form in a neat circle with a relatively flat surface in the middle with four distinct habitats for humans and animals alike, so to speak.” I blinked at his lapse into such large words, words I didn’t understand. “The mountains aren’t that tall, even though up close they do seem that way, but they are trecherous, so don’t climb them.” He looked pointedly at Bucket. “There might be a time—actually, nevermind. We’ll speak of that later. Don’t climb them. You’re probably going to get hurt, and if you don’t die, you’ll wish you did.”

Cummings scratched his neck as he continued along the mountain base. I don’t know how, but the rock suddenly stopped once the mountain flattened out and grass suddenly grew. “As you might have already figured out, these mountains are the Air Tribe’s borders on two sides. You’ll see later that the other two parts of our borders are rivers. So that means that you’ll have no excuse for leaving our borders and getting into trouble, am I right?” I severly doubted it, if he was talking to Bucket.

“What else should you two know?” He sighed. “Any questions?”

“Why would we have any questions about a rock?” Bucket asked, glancing at the mountain nearest us.

Instead of ignoring him, Cummings came back with a clever answer: “You should care about rocks because they have a story to tell and lessons to teach you. Slick, you have any questions?”

“No, sir, not at this time,” I answered politely. It was easier to be on the Head’s side when Bucket was blatently against him and everything else that had to do with the Zodiac Tribes.

We walked in more silence as Cummings searched for words for his lecture. The grass rustled under our feet, whispering only because of our passage, not because of any breaths of wind, because there were none. From far off I heard a bird cry it’s harsh cry into the still air, making a sound much like a “caw.”

“What kind of bird makes that sound?” I asked Cummings. It was better to talk of something rather than nothing, I thought.

He smiled. “That is what we call a crow. They’re a big, black bird that eat off of the carcasses of dead animals. That’s a good enough reason to fetch your kills before they do, or so I’ve heard. As you know, I’m not a hunter.”

I mentally stashed in my mind the sound of the crow, in case I’d need that information later.

“How much longer are we going to be walking?” Bucket complained, staring off down the rolling hills.

Cummings chuckled. “Are you getting tired already? The tour will last all day.” He suddenly stopped. “Come here; I have something to show you.” Immediately I was by his side, trying to find what he was looking at. In a less obvious manner, Bucket found his way by Cumming’s side.

He crouched down near the grass and pointed with his hand at a plant. “Do you know what this is called?” he asked. The leaves of the plant were tear-shaped with two jagged edges on each side. I saw that the leaves were gathered in sets of threes in a patch the size of a human.

I shook my head. “No,” I said.

“This plant everyone should know,” Cummings explained. “This is called poison ivy, and it makes you itch badly for a long time. Avoid this as much as possible.”

Getting up from his crouched position, he continued heading in the direction we were going. “Do you know which direction we’re heading in?” he asked suddenly.

Again, I had to say I didn’t.

“This is West. The sun sets in this direction, to help you remember it’s name.”

We continued walking West, though I noticed we gradually turned in a different direction as we followed the mountain. I also noticed that the ground became sandy instead of grassy.

“This is where the young warriors are trained to fight,” Cummings explained. “The soft ground makes falls feel a little better and makes it harder to get a firm footing. Learning in harder conditions makes it easier later to fight when you have better ones. This place gets really hot during midday, but you can probably already tell that it’s warm right now, and we’ve lived only about a quarter of the day so far.

“This direction,” he continued, “is South. Uh . . . that’s it. It’s just South.” I had no idea what he meant by it being just South, but I noted it nonetheless.

We continued through the sand, next to the mountains, which seemed to have shrunken in height a little. By the time we made it to the river, my feet hurt from the hot sand and my legs hurt from walking through such a loose surface. I was definitely going to be sore the next day.

“This is the river that seperates the Fire Tribe from the Air Tribe. Try to stay away from the edges, about an arm’s length away from the banks, especially when members from the other Tribe are on the other side.” I guessed that the rocky ledge was what the banks of the river were.

“Anyone need a drink?”

“Yes!” Bucket shouted, causing me to jump. That was the first word he even uttered since complaining about the mountains.

“Lean over the edge and take a sip,” Cummings instructed, “but don’t fall in.”

Within a moment, Bucket was doing exactly as Cummings said, bringing the water up to his lips by his hands. The current was a little strong here, so it had to be hard to get much water in a short period of time.

The river was pretty. It reflected the sun in shards of light, blinding one if they looked too closely and directly at the surface. It didn’t show it’s depth very well, either, because of the light above it. I knew I didn’t want to find out just how deep and fast it was the hard way, or how cold.

“Slick, you need a drink?” Cummings asked, pulling me out of my day dream.

“Huh? No, sir,” I replied, jerking my eyes away from the blue, sparkly surface. It was pretty, but somehow it was making me tried.

“Very well. Bucket, we should get moving again. You’ll have chances to get a drink for nearly the whole rest of the day,” Cummings said, pulling softly on his shirt sleeve.

Grumbling to himself, Bucket finally lifted himself off of the ground and listened to what Cummings had asked of him. Without a word, Cummings continued down the river bank. Both Bucket and I followed in silence.

“Do we get to eat?” Bucket finally complained, rubbing his stomach.

“Oh!” Cummings exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. I watched him with squinted eyes. Swirling around on his heels, he faced us. “I showed you poison ivy, I . . . I’m sorry! Tell you what. When we reach the woods—” he pointed behind himself and at the trees, which were looming closer with each step—“I’ll show you all the plants and berries that are edible, and we’ll eat there.” Holding up his hands, he continued, “I don’t expect you to remember the names of the berries, or even if they’re poisonous or not, so I expect you to eat them only when a weathered Zodiac Tribesperson has approved them. Once you grow more comfortable with this life, and you are completely sure you’re correct, only then will we allow you to eat the plants. Got that?” He stared both of use down, constricting only our solemn swears, even from Bucket. “Good. Now let’s continue so you can eat.” With a little added bounce to his step, Cummings began to lead the way again.

“Sir, do you ever eat?” I asked. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sit down, or stand up for that matter, and eat a morsel of food.

“Of course I do!” he boomed, “I’m just used to not having three days a meal. The Tribes get to eat only when it’s practical.”

I shivered at the thought of being hungry for an extended period of time. I didn’t think I could live like that.

The walk to the edge of the woods took forever. It was amazing how close the trees seemed from this side of the river, even though it wasn’t that wide. From here I saw that there was a lot of undergrowth to the woods. Moss grew nearly all around the whole trunk of every tree on the outside, and few leaves clung to the very tops of each, but none to the branches closest to the ground. Ferns and vines with many thorns on them criss-crossed the floor of the woods, spreading into v’s where animals, including humans, frequently traveled. On a closer look, though, one could see that there was a wide diversity to the types of plants, including different species of trees.

“Who wants to eat?” Cummings asked, striding up to a random plant and plucking something black from between its leaves.

(2, 498 words)

•Chapter Ten•

BUCKET PUSHED PAST ME, nearly causing me to fall backwards into the river. “Hey!” I shouted, throwing all of my weight forward so I didn’t get covered in water from head to toe.

He didn’t even reply, but situated himself right next to Cummings so that he could get whatever was gathered first, without being in the Head’s way. Sighing, I finally situated myself so I was stable, but stayed in nearly the same place.

“Respect,” Cummings said over his shoulder, pushing past a low branch. His body suddenly became emersed in a deep shadow from the canopy above. Not surprisingly, Bucket followed right after, leaving me to feel alone, but I still didn’t move.

“Don’t I get any?” I heard Bucket whine from the shadows. I bet his eyes were on the hand Cummings was holding all of the barries in.

“You might,” Cummings replied calmly, shuffling even further away, “but you have to show respect to both Slick and I, not to mention all of the Tribes.”

Bucket didn’t really say anything after that, but he still hung behind Cummings, like a shadow that didn’t need a light. The boys walked around in the trees, just staying in my line of vision. Cummings didn’t call for me to follow, but he didn’t order Bucket to stay near me, either. After a while, he made his way in my direction.

“Are you finished?” I asked. For being gone for so long in the woods, he didn’t have that many berries in his hand.

“This is all I could find in this area,” Cummings replied, kneeling down so he didn’t tower over Bucket and I. “Now, I don’t want either of you,” he began, but Bucket had already grabbed a few berries from his hand. Sighing, Cummings finished his thought: “. . . hogging all of the berries.”

I knew I wouldn’t but I wasn’t sure if Bucket would follow Cummings’s directions; he never had before, so why start?

I grabbed a few berries myself, and stuck a few in my mouth at a time. They were a little seedy, but they tasted better than any berries I had ever had in my village. They were completely different from what we had, and I didn’t know what they were called.

The berries disappeared in hardly any time at all. I was sure Bucket had a much bigger share than me, but I didn’t want to say anything. Besides, I was sure Cummings knew, anyway. And even if he didn’t, I didn’t think he’d really care.

“Are you ready to continue?” Cummings asked, rising to his full height and stretching.

“Yeah,” I said quickly.

“Good.” Cummings glanced up into the sky, covering his eyes from the sun rays with his arm, and then started striding down the sandy bank. He was walking faster than the first part of our trip, so I had to nearly jog to keep up.

“Slow down!” puffed Bucket, but Cummings continued as he had said nothing.

“These woods are the place where our hunters, well, hunt,” Cummings explained, motioning to his left, where the trees were. “It’s rare to have a day where you don’t see any deer in here, especially during the colder seasons. One deer can feed our whole Tribe for a few days, so we don’t have to take down a lot of them. Besides, we eat other things as well. Rabbits, plants from the Earth Tribe, fish from the Water Tribe and so on.

“Any questions?” he asked, without looking backwards. Neither Bucket or I answered him. “Good.”

The walk along the trees seemed longer the seconds time around than when I first walked beside them on the other side. At least on the Fire Tribe side of the river I didn’t have to trip over numverous obstacles, including vines that randomly shot out from the trees, which were growing closer and closer to the bank as we walked. I never actually fell flat on my face, but Bucket did.

“Are you alright?” Cummings asked, backtracking a little and offering his hand.

“I’m fine,” Bucket growled, pushing himself up from what seemed the only muddy place in sight, or have at least seen. He had a scratch on his nose and a scrape on the palm of his hand, where he tried to catch himself, but somehow failed.

“You should have Kürbis look at that when we get back,” Cummings advised, motioning to Bucket’s hand.

“Why?” Bucket asked venemously. “It’s just a little scratch.”

Cummings sighed. “It may seem like a minor scratch to you,” he explained, “but this territory is new to you, and this new territory will bring new diseases that your immune system might not be able to fight off.” I couldn’t understand what Cummings was talking about, and by the look on Bucket’s face, he didn’t either. Cummings sighed again. “Just . . . just have that looked at, because that little scratch might get you sick.”

Finally understanding, Bucket sniffed. He didn’t say anything, but I got the vibe that he was being stuck-up again, even when his health was compromised. Cummings pretended not to notice and continued the walk down the bank.

The sun was nearing the tips of the western mountains when the three of us reached the Gathering Island.

“As you already know, this is the Gathering Island,” Cummings said, stopping again and motioning to his right. He turned around to face us. “Remember, you are not allowed on that island until we say you’re ready, which will be in a season. So come Autumn and you’ll be able to make the jump and join the rest of the Tribes in whatever happens. Don’t try to make the jump yourself,” he sighed, looking at us pointedly.

“The Gathering Island not only ends our border with the Fire Tribe,” he continued, “but begins our border with the Water Tribe. Because there are four, not three Tribes, we have no possible way of bordering the Earth Tribe, but they live in the trees you saw on the other side of the river.” I thought back to the treees I might have seen, but I didn’t remember any. I was so busy investigating our side of the river that I didn’t think to look across the Fire Tribe territory and to the Earth Tribe.

“Our border, still being a river, with the Water Tribe is a much bigger river than the one on the Fire Tribe side. Don’t even swim in this water, because for one it’ll sweep you away, and for two it’s freezing. Besides, even though they’re not supposed to, the Waters feel as if they own this river, probably just because they live inside a mountain, and the entrance to their home is underwater.” He shrugged. “Don’t ask me why, for I don’t have a sane answer.”

Bucket smiled. “Why?” he asked snidely.

In response, Cummings closed his eyes and visibly clenched his jaw shut, most likely refraining from slapping Bucket upside the head. I wouldn’t blame him if he did.

“Beware while we walk down this side of our territory, because the ground is very mucky and unstable. Don’t struggle if you get caught in the mud’s grasp, but call for my help.” He turned a fiery glare onto Bucket’s face. “Don’t act stupid and try to be your own hero; it won’t work.”

“Sure, sure,” Bucket said, holding up his hands.

Without speaking any more, Cummings turned on his heel and started striding down the new bank.

“So Slick,” he started, conversationally, “where did you come from before the Tribes got ya?”

I shrugged, since my village didn’t have a name. “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “We sort of cut ourselves from the rest of the world and didn’t name our home.”

“And you Bucket?” he asked. From his tone of voice I could tell he didn’t really expect an answer, and he didn’t receive anything but a growling snarl. Cummings continued on as if he didn’t even ask Bucket a question. “What was life like, Slick?”

I didn’t understand what Cummings was trying to get at. “I dunno . . .” I began, but never finished.

“Did you come from a more affluent town, or a small village? What was the structure of your home?”

It sounded like Cummings was discussing battle techniques, trying to get the layout of my village. Besides, I didn’t even have a clue as to what ‘affluent’ meant. “My village . . . was in a circle,” I finally settled upon saying.

Cummings laughed. “’In a circle?’” he quoted. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged, stepping over a large, round rock. “Our huts made a big circle.” I didn’t have big, sophisticated words to describe anything, so I had to work with a smaller, universal language.

“Ah, I see,” Cummings hummed. He continued walking in silence for a while before speaking up again: “The Water Tribe border is home to many healing plants. Sometimes it’s the warrior’s and hunter’s job to bring back some plants for the Healer, if the Healer doesn’t have enough time to collect the plants himself.” He paused in step. Squatting down, he fingered a plant that was long, skinny with a feathery flower-like plant. “This is called Ligusticum, which helps for headaches, or at least I think it is. I’m one who’s prone to having headaches, and this looks like the plant Kübis always gives me.” He straightened up and unneccessarily dusted off his hands. “But then again—don’t learn herbs from me. I haven’t had to fetch herbs in seasons.

“Continue on,” he ordered lightly, moving back down the Water Tribe border.

“Are we almost done yet?” Bucket suddenly whined from behind me. Glancing backwards, I noticed that he was stumbling more than he should have been and that he kept itching a red bump on his cheek.

Cummings continued on walking as if he didn’t even notice that Bucket had said something. After a while, though, he suddenly said, “Depends on how much ‘almost’ is.”

“How much longer?”

Again, Cummings continued, ducking under a low hanging branch. I was able to walk straight under it without bending even my head, since I was much shorter than him. “We won’t get to the mountain ‘till the sun is well below the mountains.”

“What?” Bucket shouted angrily. He was concentrating more on talking, so he slammed right into the branch, causing him to fall backwards into the murky ground.

Sharply turning around, Cummings walked up to him and held out his hand, only for it to be pushed away again. “I’m fine,” snapped Bucket, using the branch that knocked him down to get up again.

Cummings walked past me again to take th lead, calling over his shoulder, “I don’t care what you say, Bucket, I’m making you see Kürbis before I let you near your hut. You’ve taken way too much punishment today.”

Faintly, as we made our way down the bank, I heard Bucket mutter under his breath, “I don’t think so.”

The shadows soon engulfed the three of us as we reached the edge of the trees. The mud became much more common, and we all found ourselves putting out a lot of energy just to make it across the territory.

“Nearly the whole Water Tribe’s territory is like this,” Cummings grunted, pulling me out of a suction the mud created. “I don’t know how the people live. They live in the dark, in a mountain, they dive underwater to get into their mountain, and when they’re outside, they have to work through mud! I just don’t understand.”

I listened to his little vent as we all struggled through the mud. By the time we reached the end of the field, only a small sliver of the sun was still in our sight; the other part of it was behind the mountains, hiding from us. We paused to catch our breaths, and then Cummings led us on as quickly as before.

“Slow . . . down,” Bucket puffed, and I found for the second time agreeing with him. My legs hurt especially from moving through such thick mud, and walking at such a fast past didn’t help them.

“You’ll have to learn to be strong and work through the pain,” Cummings retorted. “Besides, the mountain’s just ahead of us. We’ll be there very soon, I promise.”

Soon isn’t soon enough, I thought in my head, drooping from exhaustion. Cummings didn’t seem to notice and powered on a head.

“See that mountain right in front of us?” he asked after a minute or so of walking.

“Yeah,” I answered, happy that I said it in a tired sigh.

“That’s the Air Tribe camp.”

I suddenly jogged up so I was abreast to him. Squinting through the bright rays of light, I saw that there was a chunk taken from the side of the mountain, and that the faint light I saw on the plateau wasn’t the sun reflecting off of something shiny, but a fire.

“Watch the sheep,” Cummings suddenly advised, twisting his body so he just brushed the sheep in front of him. I didn’t catch on fast enough, so I walked right into it. The sheep suddenly bleated and ran away. “I said watch them,” Cummings laughed.

As I kept walking forward with renewed energy, I saw the flock begin bleating as well, following the scared sheep that I ran into. I watched them until they disappeared over a small hill.

“Halt!” a guard called, causing me to jump. I whipped my gaze around and saw a lean, young man standing squarely in the middle of the path that leads up to center camp. “Who trespasses?”

“It is I, Cummings. Stand down, warrior.” Cummings held up his hand to the guard, striding forward with a comfortable ease.

“Ah, good evening, sir,” the warrior said respectively, stepping forward and out of the way. “I could not recognize you in the dying sun.”

“It is quite alright, Tailmann,” Cummings assured him. “You are doing your job perfectly; no one can blame you.” He turned to Bucket and I. “Come along. Do you not want to get to sleep?”

“Yes!” I shouted, and then realized I said it aloud. Even though the sun finally made its nightly grave in the mountains, I saw Cummings smile in the twilight.

More confident than before, I followed Cummings up the narrow path to center camp without breaking stride. I made sure not to look down, just in case my courage did break and cause me to hug the cliff beside me and begin crying like a baby. Behind me Bucket was walking just as confidently, if not more to show off. I wondered how fearful he really was, but didn’t show.

“Slick, you may go to your bunk. Bucket, come with me,” Cummings ordered, grabbing Bucket around the forearm. With quiet strength, he dragged the boy across the camp and pounded on a door. If my memory was correct, I thought that was the Healer’s hut. Almost immediately the door opened and the two were ushered inside.

Alone, except for Holmes who stayed in light shadows on the other side of center camp, I walked down the path to the apprentices’ huts and took a right into my own.

“Slick?” a voice asked quite cheerfully.

“Where’s my bed?” I groaned, swaying from fatigue.

A hand suddenly had me from the side. “Right here,” Mae said, guiding me forward. I stuck out my hand awkwardly, trying to find the ropes of the hammock.

“Got it,” I whispered, and Mae’s hand left me to climb into my bed. It was a struggle to get up and in, but once I did I was completely out of it.

(2,633 words)

•Chapter Eleven•

"SLICK, I HATE TO SAY THIS, but rise and shine!" Mae called regretfully from my side. "Today it's Holmes who asks for you, and he is one Tribesman you do not want to keep waiting."

"I-I'm coming," I groaned, sitting up. Already I felt my legs were in pain, even if just the slightest twitch. Slowly lowering my feet to the ground, I looked around for my clothes before realizing that the clothes I was wearing were the only clothes I had. Walking with jerky motions, I made it down the path to the clearing, where Holmes waited. Bucket was already there.

"Well, it seems Cummings hasn't brought you to your end," he said as a greeting. "I will tell you right now that I'll go easy on you, because all you're doing for today is learning the ways of our Tribe."

"Thank-you!" Bucket shouted, even if he didn't move. With the slightest glance in his direction, I saw that he wasn't faring any better than I.

"Don't get my wrong, Bucket-you'll still be doing things, and the day won't be easy, especially for some new apprentices such as yourself."

Cummings, who was just passing by, stopped suddenly and backtracked. "Ah, Holmes?"

Holmes turned his head around to look at the other Head. "Yes, Cummings?"

"I know you're vacant of all sentimentality, but could you not give our affable youth some leniency today? Yesterday from dawn to dusk they kept me great company and learned many o' new things, not to mention exerting themselves beyond their normal physical limitations."

Holmes was silent from a moment, and from the look on his face, he was trying to figure out what Cummings was trying to say. "Don't speak in riddles, boy," he finally snapped, turning away from him.

"The cold shoulder," Cummings grinned, and turned away. He stopped by his hut, grabbed a long stick, and was gone from the plateau.

"Anyway, let's continue as if that dork hadn't come around. The thing you're going to do today is help anyone who needs it. Pick up any odds and ends job that someone throws at you. My guess is that it's gonna be a hunter who comes around and asks you. But the object of this exercise is to help you learn how our Tribe works. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," I said, nodding my head quickly.

"Bucket?"

"Fine," Bucket snarled.

"Very well. While you two are doing these jobs, I'll just be hanging around. Now go on." He motioned with his hands for us to begin our task.



I retreated to my hut with my hands out in front of me, blind. The sun had only just set below the mountains, and still all the stars weren't bright enough to push past the bright veil the sun had set on Earth's atmosphere, but between the path of huts it was hard to see, especially after staring at a bright fire for my last job. When I made it into Mae's and my hut, it was even darker. After standing in the doorway for a long moment, I finally regained my sight, and I made it into my hammock.



For the rest of the moon, Cummings and Holmes regularly switched with each other to train Bucket and I, but they made sure to keep just out of the brink of exhausting us. Gradually, as the days went by, Bucket became less snappy and did more of the things he was told to do right away and without question. He still was snobby, but he was definitely more bearable.

I began to become acquainted with the rest of the Tribe, and I knew everyone's name by face, but I was still working on matching faces and names with voices. Whenever I had free time, which wasn't that often if Holmes had a choice, a second-stage apprentice named Teal'c Keel hung around with me. Personally, I thought he was more or less annoying than Bucket, but in a different way; Keel tended to be more persistent and wouldn't shut up, whereas Bucket was a annoying in a completely opposite way.

As promised, I began to learn the peoples' customs, and nearly knew the whole territory like the back of my hand. The woods, which were much larger than they appeared, I was still a bit shaky on, since Holmes didn't take us in there that often, because he said the hunters had to pursue the Tribe's food. We were barely even let out of the camp when the moon became nearly full.

I became friends with the Healer's apprentice, Dominik Brooks. He told me that he was an unusual apprentice, because his training took longer. He said that only when Kürbis retired or passed away would he take full responsibilities as Healer. In the meantime, he'd still be his apprentice. I also discovered that Brooks had been a second-stage apprentice for two years already, and that he was twelve years old.

Mae and I had also grown close. In fact, we were such friends that I began calling her by her first name, and she called me by mine. Tai was training to be a hunter, and judging by all the small game she brought up to the center camp, I thought she was a pretty good one.

The sheep were also a big point of my interest. Whenever I Cummings gave Bucket and I free time, and Teal'c was off somewhere else, I asked permission to go and hang out around the fluffy animals. They were curious creatures, and were just about as interested in me as I was in them for the first couple moments every time I visited them. Eventually, though, they turned and started eating the lush, green grass that belonged to the Air Tribe. No one was really appointed to take care of them, but at some point Newton came up to me and told me that I was a great shepard. I never figured out what he meant by that.

The sheep had a duty to the Tribe as well, I found. They didn't just keep the grass trimmed in most places, but were also the main source of wool for the Zodiac Tribes' clothes. I was still stuck wearing the clothes I was wearing when Grevchee and Taylor found me wandering around in the forest around my village, so I guessed the sheep weren't doing a very good job of supplying clothes.

Speaking of my village, I found myself so wrapped up in the Tribes, that I wasn't even thinking about my family most of the time. In other words, I didn't miss them one bit. Grevchee was right when he told me that I was destined to be here. Cummings had taken a great liking to me as his student, and Holmes had warmed up to me just about as much as he could to any human being. The only thing I wondered was if any of the children in that village would join me in this beautiful world.

The Air Tribe was home to me, and the people were my family. I listened to the retired elder's stories as if they were my own grandparents' stories. They told me some of the Tribes' past, which in parts was happy and in others dark. I found that the Tribes unquestionably revolved around fighting, even if what they were warring over was something petty, like an argument between two people in two Tribes. I also found that the Tribes, any Tribes, could become friends, and become a great force against the Tribe or Tribes left out from the friendship. From what I gathered with the rest of my Tribe, though, no two Tribes were linked in that way, but were only at a peaceful time.

The elders weren't the only people to tell stories to me. Sometimes during the night, especially when it was a new moon, the Tribe gathered around the center camp and celebrated around the ever-going fire. Just like at home, tall tales were told, the history of the Zodiac Tribes and sometimes there were even friendly battles. Every time a competition was struck up, Cummings was eventually brought into the fight, and every time he won.

In that moon I had learned how to take care of a deer for the Tribe to eat, and later how to take care of game so that the Tribe could trade it during a Gathering. I saw how someone constantly watched over the fire in center camp to make sure it didn't go completely out, but learned how to start a fire if that ever did happen. I tagged along with some of the people who guarded the entrance to the Air's camp, but retreated to my hut once it got dark.

Even though I was more free because I knew the Air Tribe, I was still continuously watched, though normally from a distance. Never at one time was both Cummings and Holmes doing their jobs, so it was always one of the Heads who had an eye on both me and Bucket. I suspected that it was more Bucket who they had to watch, and that I wasn't much of a problem.

The day before the Gathering, the Air Tribe became as busy as a swarming bees nest. None of the hunters were out at their posts, and the warriors weren't busy fetching herbs for Kürbis or sparring to keep their practice up. Even Newton was joining in with the hustling and bustling to get things done. Only the two Healers were doing their jobs.

Sheep wool was brought up from the sheep by a small group of Tribesmen, and when I visited the animals later they no longer resembled fluffy clouds, but I found that they actually had a figure underneath their natural coat. They were roughly cut, but I saw them as beautiful.

Returning to the center camp a while later, I had to push through bodies of people to make it to the apprentices' hut. Before I was able to make it into my own, Keel emerged from his own and stopped me.

"What?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"Are you allowed to go to the Gathering yet?" he questioned me.

I shook my head. "No, not yet. Cummings said that Bucket and I aren't allowed for two more moons yet." I looked at him, waiting for a reply, be he was silent. "Why?"

He shrugged, looking past me. "Just asking," he replied, and once more disappeared inside his hut.

Strange, I though, staring after him. That is one strange kid I wouldn't mind getting rid of.

Shaking the confrontation off, I walked into the hut I shared with Tai. The hut was empty, with an exception of her meager belongings. Tai had shown me all of her possessions before, and all she had was a spare set of blue-green clothes, night clothes and a bow with a quiver full of arrows. I wondered again when I would be able to acquire a Tribes pair of clothes.

I stayed a while in the hut by myself, just thinking and staying away from Keel at the same time. I thought about how drastically my life had changed in such a short time, and how much I enjoyed that change. I had made more friends-even if those friends were Brooks and Tai-than I would have ever been able to make in my home village, and I enjoyed their company. I enjoyed not being the oldest child in a group of people. In fact, I was the youngest.

Again I left the hut and walked down the ilse, squeezing past a warrior who stood in the middle of the path, probably thinking they'd be safe from outside forces pushing him away from cleaning a small sword he carried. I emerged into a jumble of people, but gradually made my way to the edge of the mountain, where I could study the sky.

Just less than a moon ago I had been afraid to walk down and up the path that was the only entrance to the Air Tribe camp. Now I stood almost directly on the edge of the plateau, unafraid. I knew perfectly well that someone could easily bump into me from behind and send my flying over the edge, to leave me sprawled dead on the rocky floor below. I knew perfectly well that standing this close to the verge of quick death was dangerous, but I no longer cared as much. I had learned to dispose of that fear.

As I watched, some mystical force painted an array of color across the sky's border. Small, puffy clouds made their way across the pinkness and gave even more assortment to my element's home. As I watched, the Healer's apprentice joined me.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, following my gaze.

"It is," I agreed, glancing quickly in his direction.

"It's like a wild, untamed beast," he continued. "It does whatever it wants, whenever it wants. There's nothing that can control it, and nothing that can harness its power."

I looked again at his face, set with a slight smile. I didn't turn back to the sky, not yet. "Your words are just as great," I told him.

He tore his gaze away from the great blue himself to look at me. "I don't deserve such flattery," he chided.

I chuckled and turned away to study the sky again. "I will tell you that you need to stop listening so much to Cummings," I mused.

"Kürbis's language is just as rich," Brooks told me. "Maybe you should listen to them more often; learning more intricate action and description words could do you a favor some day."

"I doubt it. This is a land of crudeness, not of flowing beauty."

"Sounds to me like you can use your words in creative ways as well, Slick," he laughed. "I would not be so quick to condemn me and my speech."

We stayed silent, turning our attention back to the primal force. "I heard that you and Kürbis can predict the weather," I finally brought up.

He shrugged. "All we do is study the patterns of the sky and clouds. The predictions aren't always true, because they're just that-predictions," he replied modestly.

"And, along with telling the weather you learn of herbs that can cure sickness. You have a great mind, Brooks."

"You think too highly of me," he mumbled, looking away just enough to hide his face in shadow. The sun had completely set below the mountain range, and the only source of light was from the dying twilight and the flicking radiance from the fire behind us, which was unreliable as a result of all the bodies in the light's way.

"No, I just trust you, as I should, because if my life's ever in danger, it'll be your hands my life will be in."

"Only if it's medical help that can save you," Brooks breathed. "Anyway, I've got to go and help Kürbis with preparations to the Gathering tomorrow. I'll be left behind while he parties at the island, as he's been taking his work over the top as of late. So, I've got to make sure everything's in place in case of emergency." He turned back to me so that one side of his face was light, but the other hidden in shadow. A mop of black hair covered his face even further. "It's been nice talking to you, Slick."

"Call me Kifu," I insisted, surprised at my sudden sentiment. Telling someone that they can call you by your first name isn't take lightly in the Tribes, and it's a great sign of friendship.

The corner of his mouth rose. "I'll think about it," he replied, and then disappeared through the crowd.

I turned back around to watch as the stars showed themselves through the empty sky, but before I could survey it for long, Cummings came up to me. "I know you're not allowed yet to the Gathering Island, Slick, but maybe you would join the Tribe with the pre-Gathering festivities?"

"Thanks for the invite, Cummings, but I think I'm ready for sleep."

"Your choice," Cummings replied, sinking back into the crowd as if it were mist.

I watched as another few stars became visible, and then owned up to my answer and edge over to my hut. I climbed into my hammock, tried to figure out why sudden outburst to Brooks, and then slowly drifted off to sleep.

(2, 761 words)

•Chapter Twelve•

“KIFU?” TAI ASKED, yawning. “You up?”

“Yeah,” I replied, returning the yawn. “Y’know, I didn’t believe you when you said I’d get used to getting up early.”

“I didn’t believe it when it was told to me, either. Anyway, gotta go.” She hurried and pulled on some clothes for the day and left the hut. I stretched, walked in a circle for a few moments and finally decided to leave to center camp.

“’Morning, Slick,” Cummings greeted.

“’Morning.”

Bucket joined me by my side, his eyes still shut. Cummings didn’t even bother saying good morning and launched right into his daily speeches. “This is the first day of your second moon in the Air Tribe. I do believe Holmes and I told you that were to learn everything, even the most minuscule things, of the Tribe this moon, and today we’ll start with learning the rules. Do you think you know one of them yet?” He looked at first me, and then at the nearly asleep Bucket. I shook my head, so Cummings continued: “Today I’ll give you all the rules, which are to be seriously taken into consideration, as they nearly dictate what a Tribesperson does each day. Do you understand?” I nodded. “Alright. I won’t expect you to memorize them all today, but at the end of the moon you will need to know them all.

“The first, and most important rule, even if they all are important, is that Tribesmembers need to be loyal. They need to be loyal not only to their Tribe, but to their leader, their comrades and to the Zodiac Tribes in general. If there is a mole discovered in the Tribes, they will publicly be executed without hesitation.”

“What’s a mole?” I asked. Normally I didn’t question Cummings’ intricate language, but I figured that if he were describing something

The man turned to me with a small smile. “Thank-you for asking, Slick. A mole is a person who is loyal to one group of people, and then dedicates themselves to another group of people as an undercover spy. A mole, unfortunately, is a hard person to reveal.

“Now, another important rule in the Tribes, and held very highly in the Air Tribe, is honesty. All Tribesmen try to keep what they say and do truth, and eliminate falsities from our social lives. Again, someone being a mole would be breaking this rule as well.

“And because I don’t want to go on and create a monologue slash lecture, I want to ask you a question. After spending the last moon studying our people and our ways, do you think you can guess what another one of our rules are? Most of them are simple, so even you could figure them out if you tried, Bucket,” Cummings joked. The smile widened on his face, and small wrinkles appeared around his mouth.

Bucket turned his eyes to Cummings with a blank look on his face. “Wha?” he mumbled.

“Slick? Could you do the honors of taking the should-be words out of Bucket’s mouth?” Still looking at Bucket, he mouthed a sentence, but I was unable to read what he said. Bucket seemed to understand and sneered.

“I’ve noticed the people were friendly, and helped a fellow Tribesperson when they needed help,” I replied, playing the good little angel.

“Yes, our code also calls for a Tribesmember to treat the rest of the Tribe like family and create bonds with each other for relations. This rule does not normally extend outside of each Tribe, though. Anything else?” I had Cummings’ full attention, and somehow it made me a little uncomfortable.

“Uh, the Tribespeople have to do something that helps the Tribe, or they don’t get anything from anyone else?” I guessed, bringing my shoulders up around my ears.

“In fact, you’re right on, Slick,” Cummings praised. “In order to receive food from the kills or water that someone has brought up from the river, one must execute at least one job for the benefit of the Tribe. Whether that job be hunting, guarding, gathering or patrolling, it doesn’t matter. Only those who slack off are punished. It is an exception for the retired ones, of course, because they have already done their service to the Tribes and deserve their time at peace.”

Cummings continued his speech for a long time, releasing us only when we were dry from questions, and him from spontaneous ideas. We had about half of the day, and I decided to spend it bathing, because I hadn’t done so in a while.

Bathing wasn’t a common thing to do in the Tribes, because it wasn’t something that was comfortable to do or modest. I had to tell the current guard, Tailmann, where I was going, and then walk all the way to a wide, calm spot at our border with the Fire Tribe. There was a small waterfall here, but it wasn’t strong enough to push someone beneath the surface and cause them to drown. The water was way over my head, and deep enough to even cause Cummings to tread water, but it was the place that worked best for bathing.

Reaching my destination, I looked around, made sure that no one was in sight, and undressed, setting my tunic and shoes on a rock. Edging up to the bank of the river, I suddenly jumped in, nearly forgetting to breathe when the cold water hit me. Quickly, using some sand that was within reach, I scrubbed myself down, and the washed it all off, in the meantime trying to keep my face above the surface of the water. Once I was finished, I was exhausted, and I still had to get out of the water and make my way home.

Setting both hands on the rocky ledge that was considered the river’s bank, I rested for a moment, and then heaved upwards, bringing my leg up to roll over onto the ground. Shivering, I stood up and struggled to pull the tunic dress over my head, as it clung to me from the moisture still on my body, after succeeding with that, I pulled on my shoes again with much more ease and began walking home.

My clothes were soaked, and I was still shaking despite the warmth from the summer day and the sun on my back. Even when moving my chill didn’t go away.

Suddenly, I began running. Every time my feet touched the ground, and the shock moved up my legs, through my torso and finally through my tunic and hair, where small drops of water fell off. I didn’t care when I could no longer consume enough oxygen to fill my lungs so that I could comfortably breathe. I didn’t care when my legs itched from the continuous, monotonous pounding each time I took a step. All I wanted was to be warm.

My feet carried me far before I had to stop. Gasping in shock, skidding to a hault and forgetting all about the cold, I stared horrified at a bloody pile of . . . something in front of me. Slowly, I advanced forward until I could tell what it was. “A sheep,” I gasped, turning my head away. The poor animal had been torn into pieces with piles of its short, fluffy coat all around the kill zone. Blood covered the whiteness of the fur and the green of the grass. The torso had been torn open at the bottom, and the cavern of its chest nearly empty.

Choking from repulsion, I started to walk away in the same direction as before. Along with the sight, there was a nasty cloud of stench around it, like rotten meat. This somehow must have been here for a while, wasting away. But the blood looked fresh. . . .

I had to leave the animal behind and warn someone in the Air Tribe. The Tribe didn’t have to shepard the sheep because the ground was fertile enough to supply the sheep with nutritious grass, and the water supply wasn’t hard to get to in most places. Predators normally didn’t stalk around the domesticated animals, but if they did, they only took out the weakest of the flock and not very often. What happened to that sheep was unheard of.

“What’s the matter?” the guard, Tailmann asked. “You look like your terrified.”

I didn’t answer, but wormed past him to walk up the path to the plateau. He didn’t seem to mind much, but just watched as I climbed the slope to center camp. From there, I went straight to Newton’s hut and knocked on the door.

“Yes? You may enter,” he called from inside. Slowly, I pushed aside to reveal Newton in the shadowy area of his hut, alone. “What’s wrong, Slick?”

“A-a sheep,” I stuttered, shivering again.

His brow knitted together in confusion. “What happened to the sheep?” he inquired, getting to his feet.

“It—“ I paused, unable to continue. I didn’t know how to. “Come on, I’ll show you,” I insisted.

“Very well, I’ll come,” he said, following me out of the hut, down the mountain path and through the green field. “Where are all of the sheep?” he wondered.

Glancing around, I noticed that the other sheep were missing, nowhere to be seen. Something was very wrong, and Newton was catching on quickly, taking weary steps forward as he followed me.

From a distance, I found the carnage I was looking for. Pointing, I told Newton, “It’s that way. I-I don’t know if I’ll be able t-to come.”

“Sit here while I take a gander,” Newton ordered, pointing at the ground. Gladly, I took the seat, taking deep breaths to control myself. I didn’t want the leader to leave me behind, but I didn’t want to see what was left of that sheep again.

After what seemed forever, Newton returned, albeit much more paler. “I see what you mean,” he whispered. “Come with me back to the camp.” He hooked his arm around my shoulders and guided me to the mountain. By the time we reached Tailmann, it was twilight.

“Is everything okay, sir?” the guard asked.

“No, it’s not,” Newton replied.

“What happened?”

“I don’t quite know yet. I’ll inform the whole Tribe in the morning, when I’ve had the night to think and straight it out. Sleep well, Tailmann.” He left up the path, still silent, still holding my shoulders. When we reached center camp he told me, “Slick, go to Kürbis and tell him to give you something to sleep without dream. Without it, you’re not going to be able to sleep at all tonight.” He finally took his hand off of my shoulder and left to his hut. The warrior that went up to his door was instantly told to leave.

Doing as Newton instructed, I went up to the Healers’ hut and knocked. The doorway opened, and Brooks stood in it. “What’s the matter?” he asked, observing my somber look. “Here, step inside.” Brooks stood aside and let me in, letting the door fall in place behind him.

“Newton said I need something for dreamless sleep,” I explained, sitting on the raised bed—not hammock like all of the other sleeping areas on the mountain.

“Uh . . . Kürbis, what do we use for that?” Brooks faltered, looking up to his mentor.

“You know fairly well, Brooks,” Kürbis tutted, stepping aside from a shelf of herbs. “Remember, at any given day you can take my place as Healer.”

“Yes, sir,” Brooks replied, stepping up to the shelf. He looked at everything on it, with only the shape and color of leaves and other things giving away what the herbs were. “This’ll work!” he finally exclaimed, picking a leaf from the pile. Striding back to me, he handed it to me. “Eat this, and then go to your bed,” he instructed. “I’ll tell Cummings and Holmes that you’re unable to train tomorrow.”

I took the leaf from his hands, left the hut, and put the leaf in my mouth while I was walking down the dark path that lead to the hut Tai and I shared. It tasted like dirt, and it didn’t go down easy, but when I finally swallowed it, I was laying on my bed, wishing for sleep. Once the herb worked its way through my system, I gradually dropped off and didn’t wake until the sun was well over the mountains.

(2, 080 words)

•Chapter Thirteen•


OVER THE NEXT WEEK I spent a lot of time at the Healer’s hut, talking with Brooks. In that time I actually learned what a week was, and that the Leader’s and Healer’s job was to keep track of what they called “Outside Time.” It had every day of the year on a calendar so that it was possible to recognize birthdays and things. But I didn’t stay there to learn about that, I stayed to have Brooks calm me down.

The morning after I discovered the dead sheep, Newton had sent out his best trackers to find what did it. They returned empty handed. When another sheep turned up dead he sent out extra patrols. When a third came, he had two warriors guarding the sheep at all times.

At first it was hard to find the sheep, because they disappeared for a day after one of their flock members were mauled, but they eventually turned up again, especially when the Tribe started searching for them. But once the flock guards were put into place, they stayed comfortably within sight of the mountain, allowing any worried Air Tribesmen to look down upon them, which provided an extra protection.

Every time the Tribe sent out a patrol they were under order to tell our neighboring Tribes what was going on, but the patrols reported seeing no one else from the other Tribes. Eventually, at the end of the week, the Air Tribe was panicked, and I felt it was all my fault.

“Slick,” Brooks said, setting a hand on my back. I was bent over my knees, hugging them. “You’ve got to lighten up. Whatever it is that’s out there, you don’t have to worry. As far as we can tell, they’re not going to bother humans. It’s probably just a rogue wolf or something.”

“Has this ever happened in the time you’ve been in the Tribes?” I asked hollowly.

“No, but if you’d listen to the elder’s stories now, they’ll confirm that it has happened in their lifetime. In the end, it turned out to be a Tribeless crying revenge for taking their children.”

“You’re not worried?” I asked, staring at a pebble with a watery strike through it. I picked it up and clenched it in my fist.

“No,” he sighed, “I believe the Air will take care of us.” When he got no response from me, he lifted my chin up so that I was facing him. “Are you listening?”

“No,” I told him, frowning. I couldn’t help but study his face, since he was so close. He had brown-green eyes and a long face. Low cheek bones exaggerated the size of his eyes, which were already large enough to make his face seem a little disproportionate.

“What is it?” I didn’t answer, but let him hold my face. He sighed. “Is this about calling you Kifu again?” he questioned, putting both hands in his lap again.

“No.”

“Good. You already know that—”

“—That allowing yourself to have close friends would help you lead a better life?” I offered.

He rolled his eyes and dropped his shoulders. “That’s not what I was going to say, and you know it.”

“So? We’re friends, and we know it’s going to stay that way for a while at least,” I argued, feeling a little more human after pushing the sheep out of my mind.

“Yeah, and what if it is just for a while? We might not be friends forever.”

I nearly punched him in the shoulder. “So we take that risk.” Sighing, I shook my head. “You’re just afraid of commitment,” I teased.

“Believe what you want. I just—”

“Don’t want anyone to get close to you?” I interrupted again. “Brooks—no, Dominik—yes, I did just dare to go there.” I sprang to my feet when the Healer’s face went blank, as if he were keeping back some form of emotion.

“Look—I have a job to do, and—”

“And what?” I snapped. “If you haven’t noticed, the whole Tribe besides you does both their job and have friends. Many! You—you don’t even have one person you can call your friend, can you?”

He sighed, letting his shoulders slump. “It sounds as if you’re forcing me into doing something I don’t want to do.”

“Look,” I murmured, lifting his chin as he had done to mine. He jerked his face away, leaving a cut inside me. “Brooks, look at me.”

“Continue on,” he whispered.

“Fine. I’m not forcing you to do anything. I’m just saying that you’re hiding yourself, for whatever reason. Open up and let us lean on each other, the way I keep doing to you.” He lifted his head slightly, and I seized upon the chance. “Brooks, all I’m asking of you is for you to be my friend.”

“There’re different levels of friendship,” Brooks argued, although his stance was becoming weaker.

“And the Tribes recognize all friendship.”

“Not all friendship is recognized through the way people address each other.”

I blinked. “Slow down on the words. For a moment I thought you were Cummings.” Much to my surprise, my friend gave out a chuckle. “Anyway, as long as there is a spark of friendship between two people, they at least call each other by their first names.”

“That’s quite a step in a relationship.”

“Stop using big words, would you?” I jested, happy that the mood was changing.

“If you insist,” Brooks sneered, though it was out of good humor. It didn’t last. “Tell me, have you yet looked at a boy and thought in your head, ‘oh, he’s cute?’”

“What?” I asked, taken aback. I didn’t know where this subject came from, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for it.

“Well, have you?” he insisted.

I thought for a second. “Um . . . no.”

“Okay. Then have you ever talked to a guy and thought, without expressing it to him, ‘I sorta like him, but more than in a friendly way?’”

“Why?” I asked.

“Just answer the question.”

“No. Should I?”

“Maybe not yet, but in time you will think that. It’s a part of growing up.” He started getting to his feet, but I grabbed his elbow and silently asked him my question yet again. “Yes,” he told me. “Consider us friends, Kifu.”

“Thanks,” I purred.



“Good morning, you two,” Cummings boomed. The center camp was vacant except for him, Bucket and I. “I have a question that I want both of you to answer, not just Slick: When something happened out of great luck, what do you hear the Tribemembers mutter?”

Bucket and I exchanged a look. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Have you ever heard of the word religion?”

“No,” we said at the same time.

“Religion, at least in our case, is a common faith in a group of people. The Tribes believe in something called astrology. In fact, the Zodiac is astrology by itself, but we add something more.

“I don’t want to force our beliefs on you, but I’m telling you now that if you believe what the rest of the Tribe believes in, it’ll be much easier for you in the future.

“When you lived with your kin, did you worship anything? A god? A holy figure?”

I shook my head, but Bucket said yes.

“The Tribes don’t believe that something human created the world, nor of spirits—creationism and animism. Our belief is pure astrological, the four elements.

“When we pray, we pray to the Air; the wind that washes over the earth, and the sky. Some in our Tribe even stretches it to cover the stars and the moon. The Earth prays directly to the Earth, but there are still others who expand their faith to the animals that inhabit the Earth. The Fire Tribe prays to the fires, sometimes the sun, and in the extreme to any form of warmth. The Water prays to the rivers and for some reason to the moon as well—some of them, at least.

“We pray for thanks, and we pray for simple askings and good fortunes. We try not to ask the Air for something of greed, and we are always aware of its presence. The Air is what makes us live.”

“But the Air isn’t living,” Bucket objected. “Why would you pray to it?” He scoffed the Tribe’s religion as if it were fiction, and had no care that people actually believed in it. Since I didn’t have a religion growing up, I wondered if actually praying to the Air would work.

“Perhaps the Air isn’t living, but we pray because—” Cummings began, only to be rudely cut off.

“If it isn’t living, then it can’t do anything. You can pray to it all you want, but it isn’t going to do a thing,” Bucket snapped.

Cummings controlled his face, letting out a little breath. “Tell me, Bucket, have you ever heard of something called faith?”

“Of course. But praying to the Air isn’t a faith.”

“At least it’s real. You have faith in a god that might not even exist. I find that preposterous. Now tell me, have you ever heard of luck? Of fortune, perhaps?” Cummings’ face was of pure patience.

“I’ve heard of luck and fortune,” Bucket said stonily.

A smile twitched at Cummings’ lips. “Then you can think of praying to the Air, a way of better luck and fortune. Sure, the Air may not be living, but it is still a part of this world, and since it is our element, we should give it all our respects, even if you don’t believe in the religion. Besides, what would praying to the Air cause you to lose? You only have gain.”

“You lose your time and your mind,” Bucket scoffed, crossing his arms. He spread his feet in a more stable position, as if he were asking for a fight.

“I’m not asking you to convert to our faith, or religion. I’m just telling you what we believe in so you don’t seem like such an outcast, and so you aren’t oblivious to the rest of the Tribe, Bucket. You believe what you want.” He turned his gaze onto me. “We’ve heard what Bucket things, but you’ve been silent, Slick,” he commented.

I shrugged, unsure of what to think besides the idea of this religion sounded like something I would believe in. “I didn’t have a religion with my family. To me, it sounds having faith in something is better than having no faith at all.” I glanced downwards, avoiding his eyes. “To—to be a believer in this religion, what do I have to do?”

“Bucket, stay here,” Cummings said, as the boy began sneaking off with a scowl on his face. “The Tribes don’t strictly dictate how one should pray to their element. You have to be sure to equally give thanks to your wishes, or give more thanks. You try not to ask the Air for greedy, materialistic things.

“There is no real form to how we pray to the Air, as well, but normally, in a more formal manner, we stand and do this.” He held his hands out in front of him, and slowly put his pointer and middle finger together with the middle joints touching each other, but the ring and pinkie fingers touched each other at the tips. His thumbs were a mirror image of each other, resting against the curled fingers.

He brought his hand up to the middle of his forehead, closed his eyes, and touched himself there lightly for a heartbeat, and then brought his hand down to his breast, and touched himself where the heart would be located. Then he brought his thumbs straight down, just below the rib cage.

Opening his eyes, he let his hands fall to his sides, and he explained, “The position of the hands is unlike how any other religion prays, but the center of your hand is open, encasing air. Your forehead represents the thoughts you send into the cavern in your hand, your heart your feelings, and your stomach your connection to the materialistic world. When you open your hands, what comes from those three places are released into the more spiritual world, into the Air. But you must channel the things from your brain, your heart and your stomach, or else they will never be heard so clearly by the Air.

“Do I make sense?” he asked.

“Sort of,” I told him, “but once I start practicing it, it’ll make more sense.”

“If you’re a true believer, you’ll feel the invisible string flow through your body, into your hand and into the Air,” Cummings agreed.

“This is just too weird. Can I go now?” Bucket yawned, slumping his shoulders into a more comfortable position.

“Yes, but just remember what I said. Even if you don’t practice our religion, be considerate of the people that do. Slick, let the Air bring good fortune to you.” With a bow of his head, Cummings turned around and dismissed us, going off to do whatever it was he did each day.

Bucket turned to me with a sneer. “You believe in all this hocus pocus?” he asked skeptically.

“Why not?” I retorted angrily. “It’s better to just accept it than being so rude all the time.”

Then the boy I certainly did not want to see showed up from the treacherous path out of the camp: Keel. “Bucket, believe me when I say this, man: It’s nice and all to be an outsider, but when you’re a rebel, you’re just making life too hard on yourself. But if you don’t believe in this, then you’re not going to get anything from it.” He shrugged, and then turned to me with a stupid smile on his face.

Before he could say anything, I spun on my heel and stormed right out of center camp, only slowing once I reached my hut. To my dismay, he was right behind me, catching my wrist just before I could walk through the doorway.

“Aw, common,” he begged. “You shouldn’t be so rude.”

I cringed at his word usage, because I directly related that word with Bucket every time I heard it. “Can’t you take a hint?” I asked none too kindly.

“You were the first person to see one of those sheep, right?” Keel inquired, completely ignoring me.

I turned around; he had caught my attention. “Yeah, why?”

“I know it’s probably a touchy subject, but could you describe the kill scene?”

(2, 430 words)

•Chapter Fourteen•


"WHY?" I SNAPPED, recoiling. My discussion with Brooks the day before came flashing back into my mind. He had calmed me down from just the mental image that Keel was asking me to bring up. Snapping my wrist out of his hand, I crossed my arms and waited for his answer, an unpleasant mood radiating from me.

"I'm just curious is all," Keel replied, taking a step back and dragging his foot in the dirt covering the stone of the plateau.

"Well, ask your curious questions to someone else. I don't want to even think of those sheep," I nearly sobbed, taking a step so that I could lean against the door frame of my hut. I could feel tears threatening to spill over and onto my cheeks, but I forced them back despite the thick feeling in my throat.

"Why is it so bad?" he inquired. I gave him a death glare, but he didn't see because his eyes were downturned as he attempted to avoid my anger. "I mean, they're just animals."

"Just animals?" I repeated, outraged. "You know, we're just animals, too. Don't you know, everything is important, Keel? When we hunt, we're supposed to be nice to the body of the animal that gave us our food. We're supposed to thank the Air for our survival. Keel, we're a part of something much bigger than any of us can image." I clenched my fists as I struggled to control myself. I didn't know anything about fighting yet, since Bucket and I were still learning the ways of the Tribe, so I didn't want to get into a fight with someone who was a second-stage apprentice for a warrior.

"I'm sorry!" he said. "Didn't want you to get all mad at me." With that, his eyes still on his toes, he disappeared into his own hut, leaving me alone. If he would have done that in the first place, I could have continued on in my initial anger, but Keel left my furious.

It was still early enough in the day for me to go off around the camp and near it to blow off some steam. Once I cooled down enough, I bet I could even ask a hunter or warrior to show me something new, if they wanted to take care of a first-stage apprentice.

No longer interested in my hut, I spun on my heel and stormed down the length of the path between all of the huts. Within the minute I emerged from the mouth of the path into center camp, which was empty for once. With a huff, I sat down on a rock next to where the fire would be and stared at it. It wasn't much of a sight, but it gave me something to look at, instead of being empty-handed in my anger.

I don't know how much time passed before I finally cooled off. Getting up again, I looked around the camp again, but my face rested on the exit to the Air Tribe lands. I didn't know if I was allowed to go off on my own yet. I knew I wasn't allowed to the Gathering until my third moon, and I had only been through one moon of training so far. No one was even around to help me.

My mood downcast now, I walked down the path again, passing by the warrior and hunter huts, but before I came upon the apprentice huts, I took a turn to the right. There, only a few steps more, I was in front of the elder's huts, my face upturned to the sky.

"Is there anything you want, child?" A voice asked from within. The hut was too dark opposed to the bright sun in the sky for me to see a face. I didn't know the elders that well, but I knew by her voice that it was Collins.

"If you wouldn't mind, ma'am, I would like your time," I answered her, giving her a slight smile, although it was completely fake.

She must have seen past the grin, because I saw her hand beacon to me from within the dark hut. "Whatever is troubling you, child, I'm sure that I can help."

"Thank-you, ma'am," I said respectfully, bowing my head slightly and following her gesture. Taking the few steps forward necessary for me to get inside the roomy hut, I found I was nearly blind when I stepped inside. It wasn't as bad as when I stepped inside the hut I shared with Mae for the first time, since I was able to adjust quickly enough.

"How is it that I may help you?" Collins asked, her voice soft and kind. She leaned forward from where she sat, actually curious about me instead of finding me a nuisance.

I turned my head down, my fingers woven together between my knees. I was sitting on a surface that kept my weight, though I didn't know what it was. "Truthfully, I don't really even know why I came to you, Collins. Our training is over for the day, and I haven't much to do." I looked up to her again, a lock of hair falling out of place and onto my temple.

The woman searched my face with what I knew were green eyes. "You are troubled, child," she pointed out. She had said that earlier to me, so she had to know something that I wasn't hiding that well. "Would you tell me of that? Otherwise I cannot help you as you want."

I sighed, my face to the floor again. The hair that had been displaced fell even further to between my eyes, and it was soon joined by even more strands of hair, creating a curtain between the outside world and my eyes. "Those sheep, mostly," I allowed, my voice small. "The Tribe seems so panicked, not used to some sort of attack like this. I didn't even know that something could be brutishly torn apart." I bit my bottom lip, closing my lids over my eyes.

"You were there to see it first-hand, weren't you?" Already I liked Collins. Most of the people in the Tribes didn't show this much compassion to another. Granted, most of them were in their teen years, and even in this age teenagers thought they knew everything. Collins must have been in her early thirties, an age that most people didn't reach.

"Yeah," I simply agreed. "It was horrible."

"Child, our Tribe will get to the bottom of this mystery, I assure you. I personally don't know what is behind these massacres, but I am but one person. The whole of the Air Tribe is more than one mind. And once the other Tribes are in on the matter, we will rid the lands of the terror, and we will all be safe again." She reached across the space and put a hand on my shoulder, something so simply, but so comforting. "Not everything will be kind in the process, I fear; we might lose another sheep or so to the monster, but it will end in our favor. The Tribes have prevailed for far longer than one mind can recall, even by stories passed down from one generation of elders to the next of warriors."

"Thank-you," I said to her, setting my hand lightly on hers. She radiated warmth, though the summer atmosphere didn't skimp on that aspect. "Thank-you so much, Collins, for the comforting words that I needed."

"It was my pleasure, child. In a returning favor, I hope you'll come back and visit me," she said with a smile on her face. I didn't really want to leave the darkness of the hut again into the blinding sun, but I did, returning her smile.

Sometimes I wondered where the other elders went off to, since the hut was never full of them all except at night, but it was nice to get one-on-one attention from the ones who were there. I suspected that I would only learn the secrets of the elders when I was one myself, even if I was constantly in their living space, observing them with the attentive of eyes. Elders had wisdom behind their living, where an apprentice was just learning, too young for their kind of wisdom. Most wisdom came from learning things the harder way instead of just being told, because humans never believed unless something bad happened to them, proving that what they previously thought was wrong.

I almost had to feel along the side of the apprentice hut to make it to the main path, but once there I was able to see enough to walk without physical aid. Avoiding my hut again, I went to the center camp and looked longingly down the entrance path.

The sun was on the other side of the mountain range when a panicked warrior came up that path, tripping and falling in his haste. He was grabbed by the guard watching the narrow path and walked up with his steady arm around his shoulder.

"I need to talk to Newton!" the guy shouted with so much hysteria behind his voice, that Kürbis immediately joined the small group. "No!" the crazed man shouted, pushing the Healer to the side. "No! Newton! Newton!"

I watched from my perch by the fire, my eyes stretched wide. Whatever news he had to break to the leader of the Tribe, it couldn't have been good. The guy looked like he had seen a monster, but at least he was able to stand on his own two feet by himself. The guy who had been guarding the entrance, however, had not left his side, and had someone been saved from the excited warrior's uncontrolled arms.

Newton emerged from his own hut soon enough so that the man could explain what he riled him up so successfully. "Dishman," Newton said softly, clamping his hand over the man's cheeks. "Erick Dishman, calm down enough to explain to me what you need."

Dishman didn't shake Newton's hands from around his face, but actually seemed to stop acting so erratically, although I noticed his hands were visibly shaking. "Newton—Newton—the warriors watching the sheep—they—they—they're dead," Dishman said in a hush. He then collapsed in a heap on the camp ground, his tears mixing with the dry dirt.

Newton's face expressed shock, but he motioned to Kürbis and said something quietly to him. The Healer nodded and called Brooks from the hut, grabbing one of the warrior's arms. Brooks immediately took the other, thanking the warrior that had been guarding the path. Then the two Healers took the shocked man to their hut, closing off the entrance from any prying eyes.

"I don't have to tell you how depressing this news is," Newton spoke to the small crowd that had gathered in the center camp. "But we must press on and find the bodies of the fallen warriors to give them a proper good-bye. I want two warriors to accompany me to find the fallen."

He paused, letting what he had said sink in. His voice still grave, he continued issuing out orders: "No one is allowed to leave this camp without at least one other person with them. Hunters must hunt in pairs or groups and always in the trees, in case what is attacking is limited to only the ground. Apprentices are not allowed to train outside of the camp, and patrols will be no smaller than a party of four people. Warriors and hunters alike are required to keep their warring weapons on them when they leave the camp. For those of the Tribespeople who were not around to hear these orders, I want you to pass on the new ways to them. This shall go on until this force has passed, or is dead."

Newton turned his back on most of the crowd and went down the path to out of the camp, two warriors automatically following him. The young man who had been guarding the path went back to his post, but Tailmann, who had been in the camp at the time of the address, went to accompany his side so that he was not alone.

The sheep were not of concern to me right now as much as my fallen Tribesmembers. I would never have guessed that whatever was attacking the sheep would turn to the human protectors of the flock. It had to have been the same predator that had gotten the warriors, because I could not fathom two forces against the one Tribe. Although I wasn't completely in the loop, I didn't think the other three Tribes were having any outside problems.

I finally did retreat to my hut before the sun even touched the peaks of the western mountains. The kind words that Collins had spoken to me were numbed and had no meaning to me any longer. She thought that things were going to get better, but they had just taken a big turn for the worse. I didn't see how the Tribe could pull out of this.

(2, 190 words)

•Chapter Fifteen•

IT WAS EARLY the next morning when I was woken. I don't think even the sun was completely above the mountains because as I emerged from the hut that I shared with Tai, a deep shadow filled the gaps between all of the huts. The roofs were touched with an orange glow, but that was about the only light around, the rest all still in the shadow of the night. Normally when I got up, I was the only one walking down the path that led to the center camp, but this morning I fell in step behind a hunter named Gray who was taking her own, sweet time. It was fine with me, because I was still waking up, and Tai behind me didn't push me to go any faster.

All three of us joined the rest of the tribe in center camp. This was most unusual of all, because as far as I knew, aside from when the Tribe congregated here after the full moon Gathering, the Tribe never gathered in center camp. It was crowded and I couldn't see over the shoulders of those standing in front of me, so I leaned against the hunters' hut and listened. There were a lot of hushed conversations throughout the group, and not one voice was dominant over the other, making it impossible to eavesdrop, even if I wanted to.

The sun had risen completely over the eastern mountains by the time the whispers slowly disappeared, so that the only sound heard from on top of the plateau the Air Tribe called their home was the wind blowing through the grass a few feet below us. No one moved out of my way so that I could see why they all fell silent, but I guessed that it was because Newton was calling their attention.

"I am sure all of you heard of the structural changes to the Tribe I issued last night," I heard his voice say. Even though it was as strong as ever, I thought that there was almost a tearful side of him trying to break through. It couldn't have been that, though, and my mind had to have been failing me to think that. "They are absolutely necessary, and any who dare disobey those orders will most likely pay with their lives. I will not enforce those new guidelines to living, but I will consider you extremely lucky for surviving whatever invisible enemy we are facing."

I jumped when Brooks joined me by my side. He had to have been there for a little while, because the only way I was brought to attention that he was there was when he softly touched my arm. Turning my surprised face to him, he gave me a grave nod and turned his own face through the crowd to the general direction of where Newton was.

"What's going on?" I whispered to him, softly enough so that I knew only he would hear me. Brooks had a great sense of hearing, I knew, which also helped me in this case.

"Listen," he mouthed to me, showing me his face just long enough so that I could read his lips. Letting out a breath of stale air, I crossed my arms and joined his stare, frustrated that I could not see Newton talking. It was human nature to want to see who was speaking, even if they knew them well enough to have memorized their face and expressions. That was not the case between Newton and I, however.

"It is too bad that we have not come up with these new orders sooner, for a few lives might have been saved," Newton continued, his voice floating over the heads of my fellow Tribespeople. "Whatever it was that had been attacking our sheep went after the sheep's guards, and they are no longer with us today. We have with us their bodies, but their lives have been viciously torn from them, eaten by the monster." I cringed at the gory descriptions that Newton had come up with, not liking the visual that came with the words. Brooks must have noticed the change in my posture, because he grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I didn't even think him capable of such a move.

"Although it is too late for their minds to acknowledge you, it would be kind to their memories to say goodbye to our fellow Tribemates. Protecting the animals that give us our clothes, Harry Glith and Shane Dawson have given their lives. May they live on in our memories and the work that they did while breathing."

The people in front of us started shifting, so I guessed that Newton was done speaking, at least for the time being. "Where do dead people go?" I asked Brooks quietly, glad that he was holding me on the Earth with his grasp. If he let go of me, I didn't know where I would go.

"We believe that when someone dies, they die like a fire does—their light goes out permanently, and no one is capable yet of relighting their ashes. The only way that they live is through what they did and how they imprinted on their peers. In other words, they live on in memory, because their life force had left." He gave my hand another squeeze. I didn't respond in any way, but watched the crowd move like the ripples in the water that some of our daily patrols bring from the river.

It was a while before I spoke again, asking another question to my friend. "What happens to their bodies, if that is all that's left from them?" My throat was dry when I spoke, scratchy from unshed tears. I didn't even know the warriors that had died last night, but the thought of someone dying was enough to make me cry.

"We burn them to ashes," Brooks replied lowly, his grasp slowly slipping. "It sounds terrible, but we burn them so that we can let their ashes forever ride on the winds. Every Tribe likes to send their fallen to their element as a final resting place. Because bodies will not float on the tides of air, we have to alter the form slightly so that they will." I let our hands fall to our sides when he let go, as his grip had grown unnoticeable as his voice fell.

"I don't even know what my village did when someone died. I think I was too young to remember the last time when—" My voice broke off, gone with a crack and a little burn down my throat. I wanted to hug him close for comfort, but I knew that that would be rejected by him as soon as I managed to wrap my arms around his shoulders. Instead I stood there, waiting for the next part of the little ceremony that Newton was directing.

"Sli—Kifu," he corrected himself, using my name in a much more friendly context that I thought he would ever use it as. I always thought Brooks as being someone who would always be proper, especially after our little argument a while ago. I hoped that his usage of my first name would last long, and that he wasn't just using it to calm me down. "You have seen more death in our Tribe than any other first-stage apprentice. Yet you stand strong, instead of falling and breaking. Sure, your appearance may not scream the stature of someone who is confident, and may show how scared and terrorized you are, but you still stand. You're a caring person, Kifu." Our eyes met then, my baby blue ones against his pale green. His eyes portrayed how concerned he was for me, even if he wasn't saying it outright. He was saying that I was strong, but underneath he was still afraid for my mental health. I knew I would keep myself from shattering, but Brooks didn't know me as well as I knew myself. "I'm glad it was me that you chose to pick on, for us to be friends."

"You weren't that happy last time," I pointed out, my neck bent upwards so that we could maintain the eye contact. "Last time I had to almost beg."

"And I'm saying I'm glad you did. I admire your inner strength, and I hope to the dear Air that
that strength stays with you."

Since he had opened himself up to me as much as calling me Kifu, I hoped that it would be safe to hug him now, so that I could replenish the inner strength he spoke so fondly of. Unlike what I was thinking he would do, he let me hug him, let my arms stay around his upper arms as I drew strength from him.

He gently pushed me away a little while later. "The ceremony is beginning," he commented softly, keeping a friendly hand on my shoulder. "Do you want to get closer and watch, or is where we stand better for your emotional stability?"

My eyes staring blankly into his face wasn't much of an answer for him. He looked to me for the answer, since the action he did would affect me more than him. In truth, I didn't know how to decode his more complex language, and I wasn't even sure of what was best for me. "Uh . . . I think I want to know what is going on," I finally decided, though there was more of a question behind my voice than finality. This caused Brooks to hesitate before leading me through a few people so that I could clearly see what Newton was doing.

"Fire is not our element," Newton stated simply, his face on the two bodies that he had found with the two warriors the night before, "but fire is generally our friend when it comes to saying goodbye to our passed Tribesmembers. It is fire that helps their bodies return to our element, the air." The two corpses were on a pile of flammable resources so that most of their bodies would burn and their bones would be scorched enough so that they could be ground into powder, again so they would stay afloat in the air, at least until it was out of the Tribe's sight. It was unclear to me how Newton or Kürbis would tell body ash from the ashes from the kindling and wooden fuel, but I suspected that they would have a way, without throwing both to the air.

Newton then took a torch from the Healer and held it by the kindling until it had caught the flames. He shoved the stick into the dirt to put it out and took a step back so that the heat of the flames wouldn't cause him any damage. He then watched in silence, the rest of the Tribe following suit. The only sound that I could hear now was the crackling of the fire burning the wood, no longer the air rushing past any earthly structure. No one was breathing loud enough for their neighbor to hear as we all watched the Tribesmembers I never knew go up in flames. It was a morbid sight, and I was surprised no one was wailing at the loss.

It was a bonfire that caused everyone to step back, pushing Brooks and me back to almost the exact spot we had started at. I could feel the heat on my face from where I stood, and I was a good distance away. I couldn't imagine what the people in front of me were feeling on their face. The light from the flames were dancing off of Newton's face, since it was covered in a sheet of sweat, but he didn't take a step back, his eyes locked on the heart of the flames where his companions had disappeared.

I don't know how much time passed before the flames finally ate all the fuel laid out underneath them. I had sweat dripping down my back and front by that time. A few of the Tribespeople broke away from the group and retreated to their huts, but since Brooks didn't leave, I didn't either. I could have gone over to Tai's side, since she was only a few paces away from me, but I thought it easier to stay by the apprenticed Healer. For some reason, I felt closer to him than Tai, even though I spent more time around her, as she shared her hut with me.

"What do the other Tribes do for their dead?" I asked the boy quietly after the flames had lowered even further. "You said every Tribe gave the bodies back to their element."

Without looking down at my face, his eyes still glued on the site where the fire was, he answered: "The Water Tribe lets their dead into the water, where they eventually will meet a bigger body of water. The Earth Tribe buries their dead, and the Fire Tribe simply burns their dead, and then buries the ashes instead of releasing them to the air." I found it weird that each Tribe had such a different, yet similar way of disposing of the dead bodies. As far as I knew, every aspect of the Tribes was that way, though I couldn't yet prove it.

I didn't comment on what Brooks had said, letting the silence continue. The sobriety of the moment needed to stay that way, in grief for the soldiers that had fallen at the hands of the attacker. It wasn't for me to break, especially since I had been in the Tribes for such a short time.

The flames took an unbelievable amount of time to reduce themselves to smoldering ashes. Half of the Tribe had gone off at that point, only a few of the warriors and hunters down the path to fetch water and food. The rest of them retreated to their huts, doing who knows what. But most of us stood around the fiery grave, waiting for something of which nature I hadn't a clue about.

The sun must have been at the peak of its trajectory when Newton lifted his head to address us. "Although I am sure it is obvious at this point of day, the apprentices have a day off. The center camp is not to be used by the general crowd of the Tribe, and will be left to clean up by me, Kürbis, Cummings and Holmes. I bid you farewell for the rest of the day, and give you the second half of daylight to do whatever it is that you wish."

"That's it?" I asked when Newton had taken his attention off of us again.

"Yes," Brooks replied, giving me one last look before he disappeared into his hut. He didn't give me a goodbye beside the meaningful look which I could decipher. Hanging my head, I retreated into my own hut, soon accompanied by Tai.

(2, 505 words)