|
Chapter 11: Exploring Barren Planet
The burning wind grew cold as nighttime slowly took over the bright orange sky. Temperature dropped rapidly, not waiting for the two figures that were wobbling underneath the vast firmament. Their footprints were implanted in the dead, sable colored sand, marking their long and painful journey across the desert land with a line of shallow trench that extended far beyond anyone else's reach.
As wind began to pick up speed threatening to freeze whatever creatures were lurking out there after sunset, one of the two people collapsed with no more energy left to spare. His companion quickly came to his aid. Dragging the heavy body on one of the shoulders, the one with spikes poking out of the white cloak slowly moved on. He hoped to find a shelter of some kind to stay out of the icy wind. Yet, all around him, only bare land was present.
With knee joints trembling, with the thirst and starvation rumbling inside his new body, he couldn't stand it anymore. Sinking down onto the sand, he placed his friend beside him. With one last blurry look around the scene, he collapsed unconscious.
*******************************
The next time I woke up, I found myself inside a sooty cave. I couldn't see my fingers, nor could I see what was around me. Somewhere in the darkness, I could hear water dripping onto the cavern floor. My sensitive ears picked up a presence, perhaps two. The slinks refused to come near me. I was lying on the floor. I tried to move, but for some odd reasons, I couldn't summon forth my strength.
So black. I wondered if this is what it was going to be like when you die. Nothing but pureness, where time did not matter. But I was still alive.
Suddenly, I felt someone touching my arm. Slowly turning my head to the right, I looked into Wriik's eyes. They were crystal green, filled with strange aura that I had always wondered about.
"Where are we?" he whispered.
"Don't know. But I can feel someone watching us right now," I answered with a sigh. Placing my hand onto my chest, I closed my eyes.
"Can you move? I feel as if I am paralyzed."
Shaking my head side to side, I said: "Same as me. It must be those wimps lurking around in the shadows a few feet away from us. They must have done something to our body."
I heard feet shuffling in the distance coming closer. Two pairs of eyes hovered above my head. Soft voices mumbled around us, almost as if death was reaching out to us, beckoning us to follow its tantalizing sound. I felt something sharp sank into my right arm. Before I could cry out, my head felt as if it was going to explode. Thousands of hammers rained down upon me, and I lost consciousness once again.
*******************************
The moment that I woke up, I yelled out in shock. Expecting to be roasted slowly over a raging fire, I instantly shielded my face. I felt chuckling, laughter, filling the air. I cautiously lowered my arms. I could see ductile flames flickering in the cups along the cave walls that were made out of stones of various kinds. I looked down and found out that I was covered in my white cloak, which was spread out evenly. Shifting my still dazed eyes to my sides, small figures with dark brown garments stood silently, waiting patiently. Their hoods nearly covered their entire face, leaving only a small gap that was also covered by a line of shadow. I couldn't see what they looked like, but to shield their faces like so had to be ugly looking.
"Who are you people?" I asked daringly. I suddenly remembered Wriik. Frantically, I searched for him along the floor. To my relief, he was further away from me, sleeping soundlessly.
One of the miniature creatures took a step forward. Instead of wearing dark, bronze colored cloak, he wore a gray colored one. He spoke in his language in a rapid pace. I could only stare at him, dumbfounded.
He turned around and chatted with his people for a while. Finally, he grabbed a rock from the ground and drew a picture in the dirt. I sat up and watched with great curiosity. A picture of a cave with people living in it appeared. But above that cave, a dark mass hovered in the sky. As he continued digging into the sand with the rock, the dark mass slowly moved downward, enveloping everything.
He stopped, and looked up at me. I could only see his eyes, blue with red pupils. I noticed that his hands were trembling with slight fear and astonishment. Suddenly, it became clear to me. They thought that we were invaders trying to destroy them. Obviously, something had happened before that had killed the life on the surface of this planet and that something must be aliens from the other galaxies in their shuttles.
I quickly shook my head. Reaching out, I grabbed for the stone. He shunned at my movements, but after a moment of reassurance, he placed it gently on my large, dark blue palm. I drew a ship that spiraled out of the wormhole and crashed onto this unknown star. I could only pray he understood it. He looked at it, and then he faced his companions. More discussions were made. I felt, as if I was on trial, which, the feeling was not comfortable.
Finally, it looked like they knew we were not intruders with hostile intent. He gave me another quick glance before walking away and disappearing into the darkness beyond the lighted areas. The others still lingered near me. Their eyes never left my face. I sighed as I lay back down onto the rough, stony land. I drifted off to sleep.
*******************************
After what seemed like days of recuperation from the lack of water and food, I felt energy flowing back into my oversized, muscular body. During these few days of resting, fares were brought to us. Most of them were meats of extrinsic kinds. I had no idea what they were, but they had this smoky flavor and somewhat tasty. Water was an unlimited supply. I wondered how did the Cave People (that was what I had decided to call them) get their daily hoards. Surely it must be difficult to obtain enough amounts to feed everyone, while living in rocky areas.
Wriik had also recovered and he quickly learned the Cave People's tongue. He had fun talking to them, I could see that clearly by the way he grinned and laughed. I was stunned at how fast he could learn a language. I could only loosely piece words together to form a picture, an idea of some kind, but not as fluently as Wriik could. For me, I was like an infant, knowing only a few words, which weren't entirely comprehensible to me. But now at least we could understand what they were talking about.
Talus came to me after dinner. I named the guy that wore the gray robe, Talus, since in a geographic term it meant rock debris collected to form a small mountain over time. He lived in a cave, where he came into contact with granites and other rock element everyday, so it was logical to call him by this name. He was an elder for his people.
"You... are comfortable here?" He asked in his language as he sat down beside me, admiring the dance going on in front of us. Wriik sat opposite from us, laughing with other Cave People as he clapped along with the tempo. His alien form was accepted over the past few days, same as mine.
Nodding, I replied in a broken sentence: "Yes. Feel good."
Talus laughed. "You two have learned our language in a breakneck speed."
"I tried. Not good as Wriik."
"At least now you can understand what we are talking about. We don't really expect you to speak our language almost as if it is your own."
I leaned back against the giant boulder behind me. My eyes, adjusted to the dim light, could see everything now. Was I becoming one of them? I didn't know.
"Hey, Talus. Why you guys have mantles over body?" I questioned him. This mystery still tarry inside my mind and I wanted the answer.
Talus seemed to be lost in thought. He didn't reply for a long time, but then he heaved a deep breath. "I don't know. This fashion has been going on for generations, and no one bothered to tell me why. I guess our ancestors thought they looked ugly, so they covered themselves completely. Over a long period of time, this became our ways, our traditions."
"I see..." The block of enigma broke apart finally, revealing the truth. "Can I see what you look like?" I asked on, hoping he would say yes. The temptation was just too great.
"No... I am sorry, but I am not used to let outsiders see what I look like."
I gave him a sidelong glance. "You've never really told much yourself. Your age. Why all the hiding?"
"I am sorry. But we do not trust foreigners that easily. We know that you two mean no harm, but..." He trailed off there, refusing to elaborate his thoughts.
"I understand. By the way, what pin pain you gave on one day?"
Talus snickered as he listened to my abject grammars and sentences, not to mention poor enunciation. "You need to practice more on our vernacular. It is 'sharp' pain on the 'first' day. That's just an injection to get rid of the Rock Parlaze Power inside your body. We have to first make you guys immovable before we can get near you. It is just a precaution."
"Must have bad life," I muttered under my breath. I picked up a rock and began to make impressions on the hard surface with my razor-like claws.
He observed my actions for a while before he said: "I admire your physical appearance. Powerful looking, with thorny-looking bones sticking out of your muscles. I wish I have that kind of body."
"Terrible. Pain no good. Like yours." I replied swiftly when I crushed the rock in my hand. I let the debris sliding out from the bottom of my palm, making a small sand dune between Talus and me.
He kept on looking at me, not saying anything else.
The dance continued on before us, with no signs of stopping. In the middle of the dance circle, a small bon fire was fueled with soft air currents flowing down from the holes in the cave ceiling. Coals were red with infuriated heat. Shadow figures wavered in and out of the light, occasionally overlapping each other creating wonderful illusions and movements. There were no music, no instruments, yet each and every single one of the Cave People somehow knew the rhythm and timed it so well that they pranced like pros.
I felt my eyelids dropping like anvils and my head nodding like hydraulic pumps. Talus noticed it as he began to get up. Even if he stood in his full height, he could only get to my waist level, perhaps even lower.
"You should rest now. I'll stop the festival. Tomorrow, I'll show you around the place with Wriik."
I yawned loudly. "How long we stay? Any moving things?"
Talus looked at me blankly. "No work is intended for you. We are a kind species that don't like to fight or make slavery out of other innocent souls. I am just going to show you around."
Unmistakably, Talus did not understand what I was talking about. Just before I had lost all hope, Wriik walked toward us. He had heard the last few lines when the tapping and stomping of the feet quieted down. The Cave People idly left the scene.
Turning to Talus, he said: "Honored Elder. Glad to see that you and your wonderful people are willing to help us like so. Unfortunately, we have to leave soon. Perhaps you have transportation devices?"
Nodding, Talus answered: "Ahhh, it's nothing. Helping others is our pleasure. As for conveyances... I'll see what we have. It's good to have you here. Your learning ability is simply dazzling! Unlike some people..." His red pupils shifted in my direction. I felt hurt. "I am merely joking with you, Jake. Please don't take it personally." He then laughed.
"No harm done. My bad talking is confusing, that I agree," I joined him, tittering like a fool who was acting... like a fool.
"Good, good. Now you two sleep. Tomorrow, I'll tell you whether if we can help you leave this cursed planet or not. Good night, and may the boulders not fall upon you."
"Good night, O' Elder." Wriik smiled as he bowed. His long tendrils flapped against his blue arms with his rapid, courteous movements. All I could do was standing there like a statue. After all, I was not used to such formality.
When both of us were finally left alone, I let out a big sigh. Suddenly, the air seemed more elutriated minus the big crowds that were here few moments ago.
"What's the matter?" Wriik questioned as he plopped down onto the ground and crossed his legs. "It's a good thing that the Detarii People have found us outside in that devilish, forsaken land. No one can survive more than a few hours out there. We were just lucky to have lived that long. Our bags and equipment are stored somewhere in this corpulent cavern. Right now, according to them, we are at least sixty feet deep underground. Cool, eh?"
My eyes literally popped out. "That deep? My god..." Then I stopped while thinking about what he had just said. "Wait, the Cave People are called Detarii People?"
"Of course. I asked them while eating dinner. Besides, it just doesn't sound prim by solely calling them 'Cave People'. First, it lacks originality, and second... it... it just sounds bad, all right? And Jake? You should have identified the Elder by calling him Elder instead of 'Talus'."
I waved off his quaint suggestions and counsels. "I can call them whatever I want, and I love to call the 'Elder', Talus, whether if you guys like it or not."
Wriik sighed at my ignorance, but he let it pass by without further arguments. His dull, green eyes then brightened up. "Oh! You know what? Long ago this planet is just like Earth!"
I yawned a third time while I slumped against the wall and slid down with little strength. I had forgotten that I had spikes on my shoulders and back. They ground against the solid slabs of stones and punctured them with several cracks. As I slithered down, deep grooves were made. Small fragments of rocks fell down onto the floor, but I cared not. Today was tiring. Ever since we had arrived on this planet, I felt as if the whole shebang had drained my entire life force.
"Really?" I asked as I slowly closed my eyes. I gently placed my head on top of a big, flat rock which served as a pillow for me.
"Yeah! It's a good thing that I can now communicated with the Detarii People glibly. This story is very interesting, and you should pay attention to it.
Long, long, long ago, this planet, which is called Detarii as you may have guessed, was filled with vegetation of numerous kinds. Not only that, great waterbeds had nearly covered the entire planet leaving only a few larger continents floating above the water surface. Animals that were completely different than the ones on Earth grazed upon the grassy plains and other plants. Hardly any carnivores appeared, but there were some that lived with the herbivores, yet they were not so atrocious as the ones on Earth. They only kill when they need to eat.
Anyway, the whole planetoid was like a heaven. On a sunny day, you could hear feathered creatures singing out in the limpid, light orange sky, with the cool breeze lapping against your cheeks..."
Wriik's voice gradually sauntering off as the sleepiness effortlessly took over my whole body. In my dreams, I dreamt of running freely on carpet-like meadows, with the birds and other animals surrounding me. I dreamt of swimming unhindered with the denizens of the deep, viewing all the colorful corals and topography of the underwater world.
I dreamt that I was a human... a real human with normal chemical compounds, laying on the soil at the peak of a small verdant hill with the brilliance of daylight warming me up, with the sweet smell of a wind coming through the trees further in the distance sweeping across my body...
~End Chapter 11~
|
|