Chapter Five: The Adventure Begins

Chapter Six

Around noon Tuesday morning, my mother stunned me. School wasn’t out yet, but it was getting close and she had an announcement to make. Though I was flabbergasted, every other student cheered.

“As we’ve been talking about recently, our planet’s Navy is retiring one of its greatest ships. Because my husband is an important military officer and is personally friends with the admiral who ordered the Kyokujitsu out of service, I will be going too.” My mother explained. “Here’s the part you’ve all been waiting for so get ready.” If she was bad at cooking, she had a knack for intense nontheatrical drama. “Because I won’t be here, I’m giving you the rest of the week off, along with all of next week. I’m sure like the good students you are, you’ll take the extra time to complete your projects. They’re due the Monday I get back, two weeks from now. Keep in mind I’ll grade them stricter since I’m giving you all this extra time. Class dismissed.”

On his way out, a young curly-haired boy gave my mother an excited hog. “You do love me!” He exclaimed before running out the door.

I approached my mother at her desk. “I didn’t think you were leaving until next week.”

“There’s been a change of plans. You might want to go home and pack a few things; your father and I are leaving tonight.” She took a sip of the water she always had on the corner of her desk. “You could ask Victor to help you. Actually, that might be a good idea since Mrs. Borealis said you could stay with them.”

At the sound of his and his mother’s name, Victor peeped inside the door held open by a wooden wedge; he’d been waiting outside for me. I said goodbye to my mother, hugged her one last time before she left, and followed Victor to my house.

Packing didn’t take long; I didn’t grab much, since I could come back for whatever I needed. Basically all I threw into my emptiest duffel bag (I hadn’t unpacked from the scavenging expedition) were a few pairs of pants, a handful of underwear, a few shirts, and a jacket. The bag I was using was the one with the weird tops in it; maybe I’d sort through them at Victor’s house.

Walking to Victor’s house actually took longer than packing had. Victor pushed open the screen door to his house and searched for his mother. He found her in the kitchen arguing with his aunt Jade.

“I’m telling you, she’s not normal. Your genes have corrupted her.” Jade, as she liked to be called, snapped; she pointed a wooden spoon at Mrs. Borealis. She had flung it out of the pasta pot so fast a string of angel hair flew at Mrs. Borealis. Mrs. Borealis, who was washing dishes, couldn’t have seen the noodle, but she ducked at the right moment causing the edible string to stick to the wall.

“Really, is it so bad if your daughter acts like me?” Mrs. Borealis asked in a sing-song voice. “I mean, I’m smart, good looking, and an accomplished pianist, not to mention well liked.” Mrs. Borealis had a funny way of teasing her sister. “By the way, the pasta is done.”

“She never talks! That’s a definite indicator she inherited your genes!” Jade cried, flailing her arms above her head. “And are you sure the pasta’s done? It still seems kind of tough.”

“It stuck to the wall, didn’t it?” Mrs. Borealis flicked suds at the noodle on the wall, although most of them didn’t leave the sink. “What does it matter if she doesn’t talk? I never did, yet I had the same grades as she does.”

“No, I think you’re mistaken—”

“About the pasta?! Look at it, why don’t ya?”

“About her intelligence.” Jade stated. “I think that part came from me.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I really think she got her brains from me.” Jade argued.

“Why? Did she try to establish a mental link with a fishing wader?”

“Hey! I only did that once—er—twice—no—one and a half times!” Jade tallied with her fingers; she held seven up.

“Mom?” Victor asked. “Where did you want Préyhen to stay?”

“Do you wish to torment her by making her stay with your sisters?” Mrs. Borealis inquired. “She can stay in your room.”

Victor was rather surprised, but he accepted it and directed me back outside. I already knew where Victor’s bedroom was, having been his best friend for years, but his efforts were charming to say the least.

Victor lived outside in a detached garage. It was one of the privileges he was fortunate to have, but it was also rightfully his as the oldest. All ten of his siblings shared a room with at least one other child. With that in mind, living without a roommate in a garage wasn’t so bad.

He had furnished his room well, especially so with a scarcity of inexpensive furniture in the village; usually furniture had to be imported from Mars. Victor had paid for everything himself, except the small addition of a full bathroom. He had a twin-sized bed in the corner and a lime green futon on the wall opposite it. There were a few bookshelves and an umbrella holder by the door with his swords and rifle in it. Like me, he hadn’t unpacked from the trip, so by the bathroom door was a mound of clutter.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly eventless. Victor and I were both too lazy to unpack any of the duffel bags. All we did of interest to pass time was read each other excerpts from humorous literature, and even that lost its appeal after the first ten minutes. Sadly, sleeping on the lumpy futon mattress was more entertaining than our mediocre selection of things to do. It was a wonder we were such good friends.

The next morning I woke up early and the creaking of the futon as I shifted my weight alerted Victor to my state of consciousness. He groaned and sat up. For a moment, I felt guilty for stealing his slumber; according to his clock, it was 6:03.

“You’re up early.” He yawned.

“I’m sorry,” I hoped I sounded sincere to his just awakened deaf ears. “Go back to sleep. I’m just going to go for a walk, probably feed my sister’s pet monkey.”

“Give me a second.” He commanded while stretching.

“What?” I was confused; I was sure I’d just told him to go back to sleep.

“Mum would kill me if I let you waltz around the village alone before dawn.” Victor rubbed his eyes.

“I’ll be fine, I mean, I know almost everyone in the village.”

He shook his head. “I’m coming.” He stood up; my guilt tripled. Once he’d pulled a pair of khakis on over his shorts, splashed frigid sink water on his face, applied a thick coat of deodorant and grabbed a dark button-up shirt, he was ready to go.

I slipped my boots on; they were the ones I’d found a few days ago and were all I wore since I got them. There’d be no more flimsy moccasins for me.

Jasper, Drib’s pet monkey, was quite clever. Being the patient genius Drib was, she found a way to toilet train him, which, in itself, was a testament to his mental capacity as well as Drib’s talent with animals. Drib had wanted a pet monkey when she got married so she could always be reminded of her adopted father and the sister he gave her. Even though she was only going to live a ten-minute walk away from our dad, she wouldn’t feel at home without a tail in the household.

Jasper was snoring when I walked into the house so I didn’t wake him like I had Victor. I did however make sure he had fresh fruit, water, and easy access to his toys and the restroom.

His hands in his pockets, Victor followed obediently behind me as I crossed the village to see how things were at my house. It was barely a ten-minute walk from Glenwood County High School, but I had to go through most of the village to get there.

“Préyhen!” I turned around in Victor’s direction, but it had been a female who called my name, not him.

Nellya was running towards me. “There you are! Alaric’s had me looking all over for you!”

“What are you doing up?” Victor asked.

I cut Nellya off before she could answer. “You’ve been talking to Alaric? Why does he want me?” Buried about at the depth of bedrock, I knew the answer but I refused to believe it. I’d wanted to forget about it or find assurance in Alaric being unable to pull off what he claimed, but here it was deterring my path once again.

“He wants to know if you’re still going. I told him you were but he didn’t believe I’d do to you what I said I would if you didn’t come. There’s no way I’d go with that prick as my only company.”

“You’re going too?” I was dumbfounded.

Poor Victor was so lost. “What? Going where?”

“Of course I’m going. I always said I was going to meet a Catrion in combat someday.” Nellya stated.

“What? No! Préyhen, you didn’t tell me you were planning this!” Victor cried.

“You didn’t ask.” I shrugged. “Tell Alaric I’m coming, but I need time to get my things together.” I instructed, prompting Nellya to run off.

“Préyhen, you can’t go to Africa! It’s not even legal for crying out loud!” Victor insisted.

“I have to do this. It’s not easy to explain, but you have to let me go.” I answered.

“Fine,” I started towards my house again upon hearing his one word. “I’m going with you.”

I ignored him because I couldn’t think of another response. Marching home, I went straight to my room. My bow, arrows, and sword were the obvious things for me to grab. Other necessities escaped me though Victor saw what I couldn’t and pointed it out.

“Your clothes are already packed, but they’re at my house.” His voice was cold, perhaps angry. “You’ll have to go there to get them.”

“You’re right,” I ceded. “I’ll go there next.” Avoiding Victor’s stare was impossible, but it only made me feel worse than I already did. I walked into my parents bedroom to write them a note. Tears streamed down my face as I did but I managed to write the note anyways.

“Mom, Dad

“I love you very much. I’ve gone somewhere but I will do my best to come back. I don’t know when, but I’ll return, I promise. It’s something I have to do to feel better about myself. I guess you could say I’ve gone to find myself. I love you and miss you already.” A salty tear splotched the last word I wrote. “Alaric, Nellya, and Victor are coming too. I hope you can understand why I’m doing this, and I can’t stop you from rescuing me.” I signed my name and thought of one more thing to say. “P.S. Catrions.”

I laid it on their pillow, and turned; I did my best to hide my tears from Victor. On my way out of the room, I noticed my father’s katanas on a wooden stand. Remembering how skilled I’d been with one in my tail, I removed the smaller one from the stand; I left the long one for my father when he read the letter and came for me.

“I’m done here.” I choked.

“You don’t have to do this you know.” Victor’s attempts to dissuade me failed.

“I’m going to get my bag, and then I’m leaving.” I did a little better stopping the croakiness, but only a little.

Back at Victor’s house, in his bedroom, was a sixteen-year-old girl on his futon with her legs crossed. It was the same girl whom Alaric had stolen work from the other day; she was Victor’s cousin. I never really spoke with her, she never spoke actually, but I was confident she was the oldest daughter of the librarian, Jade Cataye. Unless I was mistaken, her name was Aidyn Cataye, and like Victor, she was a Child of Spilt Blood.

Her lips were pursed when I walked in, but when Victor followed in behind me, the corners of her mouth curled upwards. Victor was as confused at seeing her as she was happy to see him.

“What are you doing here?” Victor was meaner than he intended, but he didn’t apologize.

“I won’t tell what you’re going to do or where you’re going if you take me with you.” She grinned slyly. “I could use an adventure.”

Victor scowled and reached for his weapons.

Taking those isn’t a bad idea, but neither is taking those.” She pointed at the sledgehammer and axe in the corner. “Catrions are more susceptible to blunt force trauma than slashing knives.” She explained. “One of us here actually completed the homework.”

Victor grunted, grabbed the yellow handles, and picked up a grey nylon duffel. I followed suit with my bag too.

“So can I come?” Aidyn pleaded.

“You’re not packed.” Victor said flatly.

“I’m not?” She fingered a massive multi-pocket book bag.

“You know where we’re going and what it will need—you’re not armed.” Victor argued.

She stood up, unscrewed the handle from Victor’s broom, and lightly twirled it. It was a metal rod, either steel or aluminum or maybe even titanium, but whatever it was made of, it wasn’t going to break or bend.

“You don’t have much of an argument.” Aidyn muttered.

“Victor sighed. “You’re right and I won’t stop you.”

She nodded and we left. I prayed Mrs. Borealis or anyone else wouldn’t glance out their windows to see a troupe of armed teenagers wandering about. I had a feeling Victor prayed the contrary.

Victor’s prayers were answered.

“Three kids with many veapons. Zis cannot be just another ball game, can it?” Mr. Dabahov asked from beneath the cover of the nearby woods.