EDIT: Holy Force, Batman, I've posted out of order! I'm not sure if anyone is reading this or noticed at all, but if you did read up to this point and were confused about what's going on, I understand! I posted part eight before part seven! What was I thinking! I feel like a nerf herder!
Part VII – The Trio
Jon’s return to consciousness was slow in coming. At first he was afraid to wake up, because the closer he came to awareness the more pain he felt. He ran from the pain, back into darkness, venturing towards wakefulness only enough to test the waters of pain.
As time went on the pain subsided, and Jon was able to return further and further into the waking world. He could tell there was movement around him, and that people were talking over him. Someone seemed angry, spiteful. Another voice was more calm, controlled. He was grateful to this calming voice, as he recognized it from the kill site. It was the voice of Maddi’s master, and the person who had saved Jon’s life.
Jon didn’t know how long it took, but it came to a point where the pain was all but gone, and he was finally able to fully wake. He opened his eyes and looked around him. He was in a small cavern lying next to a fire. There were supplies scattered about, wooden tools and clothing hanging from the walls of the cave. Given the fact that he was in a cave, everything seemed organized, clean. If a cave could be clean. He tried to sit up, but felt his head swim, so decided it best to stay put for the moment. Just as he shut his eyes to resume resting he heard voices approaching from outside the cave.
“But Master, our laws say –”
“Do not quote our laws to me, Maddi. I know them well.”
“Yes, but Master, we know nothing about this boy.”
“And he knows nothing of us. Would you have had I turn you away when you came to me?”
“No, but this is different.”
“I do not see how.”
“Well, it is though.”
“Maddi, simply saying something is so does not make it so. If you have an opinion about something, I am willing to listen. But do not make unreasonable statements without supporting facts. Understand?”
“Yes, master.”
“Good, now, our guest is awake. Let us greet him properly.” Jon had intended to feign sleep. How Maddi’s master knew he was awake, he did not know, and he opened his eyes in spite of his plan and watched as his attacker and his savior entered the small entrance to the equally small cavern.
As he remembered, Maddi was young, and was in fact prettier without a look of hatred on her face. She appeared shamed, as if having just been scolded by a teacher. In a way, it had sounded like she had. Jon would put her age at a few years older than he, perhaps fourteen, fifteen. He did not know how her race aged, however, and she could be years older or younger than that. Her master, Jon was surprised to see, was human. He looked to be perhaps forty five or fifty. As Jon looked closer he realized that the man was perhaps younger than Jon had originally guessed, but looked weathered and aged beyond his years. How old the man really was Jon did not know. He was dressed in a simple brown tunic and trousers and carried nothing with him other than a beard and a long ponytail.
“It is good to see you… still alive, space boy.” Maddi’s words seemed forced. Jon tried to reply, but found that pain occurred every time he attempted to open his mouth to speak. Maddi and her Master sat down next to the fire at opposing angles from Jon, forming a circle around the warmth.
“Easy, young man. I have done what I can to heal the injuries you and Maddi caused to one another, but your jaw has not yet fully healed. It will take several days, I believe, before you are able to speak again.” Jon nodded gently, afraid his head would swim once more.
“What you did, out in the jungle, was very brave, though very foolish. From your clothes and blaster I can tell you must have just recently crashed on this planet. Did anyone else on your ship survive the crash?” Jon shook his head. The man lowered his head and gazed into the fire.
“My condolences for you loss, young one.” Maddi was silent, watching Jon carefully. The man motioned towards Maddi.
“This is Maddi, she is my apprentice. We reign from a village about a month’s journey south of here. It is a small village, of mixed heritage and origins, but we are happy. It is custom that, once a master takes an apprentice, the two are exiled from the village for an undetermined period of time. For some, it takes years, others, decades. Maddi has been studying under me for five years now.”
Jon nodded, looking from Maddi back to her master. Maddi remained silent, unmoved by what her master was saying.
“Among my people I have no name, some such as Maddi call me Master. Others only speak to me directly without labeling me. For the moment it is a non issue, for you are mute for the time being. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.” Jon nodded again, unsure of where this was going. As the man spoke a sense of calm was washing over Jon, easing his fears and settling his anxieties.
“We would like to extend an offer for you to stay with us, until you are fully healed.” Maddi glanced at her master for the briefest of moments before returning her eyes to Jon.
“It is a harsh jungle out there, and your wounds will take time to heal. Once you are able to speak, perhaps you will tell us the story of how you came to be on this planet. Until then we ask only that you respect our home like you would your own.”
And so it went for several days. Jon was on his feet quicker than he had thought, and to his surprise, the cave was bigger than it had seemed at first. The room that he had awoken in was only a small part of a larger structure of caverns and passageways. At first it was a little confusing, finding his way around, but after a while he was easily able to walk in and out of the cave without more than a second thought.
Even though most of the time he was not alone, Maddi and her master tended to give Jon a wide birth. They spoke to him little and mostly just to offer food and water throughout the day. Jon found eating almost as difficult as speaking, but his hosts had the foresight to serve him mostly stew or soup. On the morning of the fourth day of Jon’s recovery, Jon felt strong enough to go for a walk in the jungle. He left his room and the cave without seeing either Maddi or her master, and taking careful note of landmarks and trail markers, set off into the dense greenery.
It felt good to walk amongst the damp trees and plants once more. The cave was damp as well, but it wasn’t the same. The air felt more alive outside. He breathed the wet, musky air in deeply and sighed, releasing some pent up energy that had been gathering during his stay in the cave. As he walked amongst the trees Jon realized he had forgotten any form of weapon. Though this made him anxious, he assumed that most major predators had learned to avoid the territory surrounding the cave.
But still, Jon did not travel far from the cave. After about an hour of casual walking, Jon found a small clearing with a large mound of blue moss in the centered in the middle of the clearing. Laying down on top of the soft, cool fungus, Jon closed his eyes and meditated.
Clearing his mind completely, he focused on his breathing. He imagined with each intake of breath he was drawing energy from the forest around him, and with each exhale he was letting go of negative energies and emotions. For a long time he sat like this, feeling the life around him. The small, hurried animals scurrying around the large unmoving trees. After a while Jon thought he could almost feel the insects as well, buzzing, crawling and slithering all around him. The life around Jon danced, strived, warred against itself but mostly it grew. He could feel the trees stretching upwards, branches reaching outwards and upwards to catch as much sunlight as possible.
He sensed more than heard someone enter the clearing and sit down at the edge of the trees facing him. He could sense some hostility from this person, but felt no immediate threat so he stayed motionless, breathing deeply and continuing to imagine the connection around him. After several hours of sitting like this with the hostile person watching him, waiting, Jon opened his eyes and saw Maddi sitting across from him.
“I see you’re feeling better.” Jon nodded, not quite ready to test his speech as of yet. Maddi continued staring into his eyes, as if searching his soul. She was silent for a long time, and after a while Jon felt the hostility surrounding her fade.
“I’m sorry I attacked you.” Jon shook his head, pointing to himself and then back to her.
“I know you’re sorry for taking what wasn’t yours. But you were doing what you had to survive. For all you know, some animals had killed the yelik.” Jon listened to Maddi, and cocked to his head to one side when she had finished speaking.
“Oh, a yelik is that grazer that we were fighting over. They’re big and slow but really smart and hard to kill. They actually burrow below the roots of trees and eat the fruits that grow at the top. The one that you found I had managed to catch on the forest floor during a rare migration from tree to tree.” She smiled, proud of herself for catching the creature in a moment of weakness. The smile faded quickly though, and she shook her head.
“But I couldn’t have done it without Master teaching me about how to find which trees have yeliks, and how to tell when they are getting ready to move to another tree.” Jon could only nod, fascinated at how quickly Maddi had opened up to him. He found himself a little mesmerized by her words, her singsong voice such a contrast to what it had been when she had attacked him.
“Are you able to speak yet?” She looked at him quizzically, and Jon shook his head.
“Have you tried? You’ll never speak again if you don’t try.” Jon looked at her for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.
“Thank… thank you for letting me stay with you.” Maddi beamed, her sharp teeth pearly white. Jon found that it caused him no pain to speak, and that he liked her smile.
“See that wasn’t so hard. Come, let’s find Master so you may tell him your story.”
I've changed it.
