Evaluations of the Tribe Read online

  Nala turned her large head and snorted through her snout. Her pair of tiny blue eyes fluttered their eyelashes before turning back around and moving on.

  “Aw, I beg. Truly, we made goal already along with the second quota. I assure you, the tribe shall be well off, indeed. Thus, be a good choulloo and hold, if for a moment.” Aly leaned over to the creature’s left ear. “I shall sing this one a melody if you do.”

  She hummed and rubbed between one of the eight fans made out of hardened skin protruding from Nala’s back. The creature howled slightly and Aly scratched Nala’s rough and bumpy gray skin even harder. The choulloo sat back on her hind legs, which were larger than her front.

  “There, that be a good mastra.” Aly undid the yoke around Nala’s neck. “I shall hate having to give you up when I become of Young Age. Truly, this one makes the task easier.”

  Aly rolled her neck around twice when she felt a kink. Even though the Little One had an extra load of expectations to meet, she still had to go to school and the sparring grounds. She didn’t complain, though. Any Goolian of a good age was expected to tend the tribe’s fields, no matter what. Still, the work was easier when she didn’t have a migraine after getting kicked in the head.

  Aly popped her neck again and swore quietly after patting her assigned choulloo on the hump. The wallop Catty got on her during sparring that afternoon was more irritating than anything else. Teacher said she might have gotten a slight concussion, but she was still good enough for work after school. So, like any proper young Goolian, Aly didn’t fuss, whine, or talk back to an elder. She just did as told.

  A good Goolian did three things, after all. They were to fight, to learn, and to work. There be nothing beyond the tribe. Besides, she knew she’d have to get used to moving when her body begged her not to. The Evaluations started tomorrow.

  Stranded in the middle of the wilderness for only Truth’s Grace knew how long, she and the rest of the Goolians between thirteen and nineteen would be pushed to the limit. Food and water would have to be found while other teams were hunting her. Fatalities were very rare, but still possible, and even if the deaths didn’t happen, she was witness to the potential injuries years ago. This was far from any game or sparring match she ever had at the grounds.

  Shanvi told her the assessment was more of a spiritual enlightenment than a physical analysis, but Aly didn’t care about that. She just wanted to prove her worth to her people. Without their approval of her value, she might as well have been a castaway. Let the alien nations go about their own business; the next few weeks belonged to Planet Gooliun, as far as she was concerned.

  After rubbing her left shoulder, the Little One sat down and leaned against Nala. The chouloo snorted loudly and nudged her off. Aly rubbed the back of her head when it bumped against the creature’s back. As far as she could tell, there was nothing but muscle on the gentle giant.

  Aly cleared her throat. “Apologies. I did not forget.”

  She hummed as she rested against Nala again, and the creature rewarded the Goolian by letting her use her body as the temporary pillow needed. Aly just knew bending over for so long in the fields couldn’t possibly be good for someone her age, especially since she was still growing. And growing was an understatement in her case.

  She had always been taller than Catty, but she never thought she’d be a full head higher. And Aly recalled having to look down at Joquin when they chatted the day before. It was weird.

  And she had to do a lot of talking to lads recently, now that she thought about it. She didn’t know why, but the masters started conversing with her about a year ago. Everyone, oddly enough, seemed much nicer when she and Shanvi took that lovely trip away from the village when she was eight. She never forgot how odd the sudden turnaround was when she came back. However, the new social status from the other gender was even more peculiar to the mastra. And why did she catch the other mastras glaring at her every time a master wanted to talk to her?

  “And why does this one waste time while she is to be on the clock?” Aly heard a voice behind her say.

  She shielded her eyes from the setting suns so she could see a mastra’s silhouette upon turning around. Her Goolian vision quickly adjusted, so Catty’s smirk was visible. The other mastra had a pink umbrella shading her from the sun as she looked down on her.

  “Truly, and did you only arrive to flaunt your new accessory?” Aly asked. “Why did you not bring it to the learning boards today?”

  Catty placed a hand on her chest, acting astonished. “Why, I am merely too grand of a noble to visually outdo you common folk. I figured I could ‘flaunt’ it about as I came to examine the well-being of my employees.”

  “Really. And I must say, I be under your pappai’s employ. If I were to be ruled under this one’s spoiled ass, I would have thus resigned ages ago.”

  Catty hit the ground with the end of her umbrella and Aly’s ears shot up. Nala opened her eyes once when she felt the stump, but closed them the instant she realized there wasn’t a predator trying to sneak up on her.

  “You best learn to watch your tongue, peasant,” Catty said.

  Aly glared at Catty, and Catty shot a look right back. They couldn’t hold their faces for long, however, and laughed.

  “Well, do not linger,” Aly said. “Come. Let me have a look.”

  Catty came around Nala and handed Aly the umbrella. “Truly, it is lovely, yes? My pappai had it at my resting board’s portal this morning and... Oh, dearest. You work too grand.”

  Catty pulled out a cloth and patted Aly’s forehead when she saw how hard she was sweating. Aly yanked the cloth away and wiped her own face.

  “Truly, you may use this shield’s shade during your hours of work, if you like.”

  “Nay.” Aly dabbed her forehead. When she swabbed underneath her arms and offered the cloth back, Catty quickly shook her head. “Nala provides enough, when need be. And beyond this, I shall not suffer favoritism over the others.”

  “If it be your wish.” Catty tried to smile as Aly handed her back the umbrella. When she reached out for it, Aly gasped.

  “Truly, your skin is as lovely as your mammai’s now.” Aly pulled Catty’s arm next to hers. “Toiling in the evening suns has thus made the lot of us tan while this one is still a fair light green.”

  Catty tugged her arm back and stood up. She studied how worn Aly’s clothing was, just like the others. The blue in her own silk-like robe was fully saturated with blue, while the cotton-like material in Aly’s was almost gray.

  “It be a strange thing, yes?” Aly asked, knowing what Catty was thinking. “This entire time, we were to take note of the difference in wealth, yet we truly see it now with older eyes. Fret not. Truly, you still be who you be; an absolute annoyance.”

  “And thus the feeling is mutual.” Catty forced a smirk. “Yet I shall not delay you from your break, as I must go over the numbers in Pappai’s office. I was to simply wonder if you had plannings for going to the grounds tonight.”

  “Nay. I best give my body a moment’s rest. Thus it be overwhelmed in the morrow. Why? Surely you see no need to.”

  “I do not. I share your logic. Thus I take it you are well prepared for the following weeks, yes?”

  “I fear I am as ready as I shall be. And I am grateful to be on your team as well.”

  “What nonsense! Glani, Requai, and I all insisted you to be so. Our chances for success shall be greater with our varied skills combined, yes? For even they have improved greatly.”

  Aly stretched across the grass on her back and counted the stars already visible in the orange and purple evening sky. Catty poked the choulloo on the head, waking her up. The creature was about to make a fuss, but Catty pulled out a handful of nuts before she could whine. Nala licked the food off the mastra’s hand with one swoop of her tongue, and laid back down the instant she finished eating.

  “Truly, I get the feeling that this one has something else to say,” Aly said, still gazing at the sky.
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  Catty stopped and fiddled with one of her bracelets. “Well, I was to also wonder this. How grave of an issue is it for you to win the Evaluations?”

  Aly sat up, raised a brow, and then lay back down. She folded her hands over her belly as she crossed her legs.

  “Take a crazed guess,” she said. “Is there any other accomplishment worth having at this age?”

  “Surely there be!” Catty sat down and pressed her knees to her chest. “I long for the recognition just the same, yet we best put aside our selfishness for the greater good. Is that not what these olden folk have hammered into our brains since we were in children’s garden?”

  “Has this one shared her lovely lecture with Glani and Requai?”

  “They have never said how badly they desire to be noted as the best in combat the way you have with me. Thus, as a friend, I only beg for this one to keep her priorities straight while we dwell in the wilds. We shall be on our own, Alytchai. Neither Teacher or your pappai shall be there to heal wounds when we make an error.”

  Aly got up and went back to picking.

  “You still be a stubborn one who cannot fancy me being right at times,” Catty said. “Truly, are we more than warriors? I wonder if we should even consider ourselves that, since we shall never face a true enemy. What of harvesting in the fields as you do now? Does ensuring that we all have enough to eat not matter? And what of the priesthoods – merchants, blacksmiths, medics, or the clerics at the temple? Are they not as important?”

  “Indeed they are, yet fighting be the only thing I am denied credit over. I need to fulfill my use according to all aspects of worth. For even a Little One can fill a bag of weeds if need be, Catty.”

  “Then what of your voice? You are blessed to make others smile when they see no reason to. That be a unique gift in its own.”

  “A song cannot take a problem away.”

  “Your lack of insight disappoints me.”

  “It be easy for one who has never lacked in anything, including respect, to say such things.”

  Aly eyed the ground the second she finished talking. She bit her tongue and rubbed her hands when Catty didn’t respond.

  “I spoke out of frustration,” she said. “Truly, I meant not what I alleged.”

  Catty still didn’t say anything, so Aly went back to picking, busying herself with something beyond feeling guilty. Still, when she looked at her, Catty’s cheeks were flushed. The way she pressed her lips together told Aly that she was doing everything in her power not to speak out of anger.

  Aly bowed her head. “Cattalice, truly, I apologize most sincerely. Yet understand this. You are considered a prodigy amongst the tribe. Adored and respected by everyone in class.”

  “You truly feel I am respected by others, don’t you? Your shift ends now.”

  “Pardon?”

  “You are not deaf, thus you heard me well. I shall see you in the morrow.”

  Catty got up and patted the choulloo on the rear three times. “Nik nik, Nala. Off to the stables you go. Bedtime.”

  Nala yawned, got up and turned around. Without the mastras having to say another word, she headed to the stables. As she left, Catty stormed off to her house, making Aly jog up to her.

  “I beg, do not be mad.”

  “Oh, I am quite upset, indeed. And thus I have a legitimate reason to give you another concussion. Yet I shall be the civilized one and take my leave, you barbarian.”

  “Catty, just a moment.” Aly grabbed the mastra by the arm, but Catty jerked away. “Truly, I was harsh in the way I said it, yet you cannot grow entirely ill with me for merely speaking the truth.”

  “The truth!” Catty stopped in her tracks. “And I had the mind to think that you, of all people, would understand. How can you not see I am only regarded for my lineage and not my own person? I work, Aly. Perhaps not by the same means as some, yet by Truth’s Grace, do I work!”

  “Why does this one make such a fuss?” Aly raced after Catty again when the mastra sped off. “Truly, you almost imply that your wealth and your natural skills seem to be a burden than a good fortune. This one has had things easier than most, yet you do not flaunt it about unless you make jokes of it. Thus what be the trouble? There is no shame in you not having to work.”

  Aly stopped the second Catty hissed. It was like “not having to work” and “easier than most” struck a nerve.

  “Is this what all think as they look at me?” Catty said. “Truly, it has appeared that way as far as I can recall. Yet, for once, I simply wish to hear ‘Catty attempts to strive beyond expectations at the sparring grounds.’ Or ‘she was up two hours after the night shift ended to count the numbers, only to do her homework immediately afterward.’

  “Truly, I make no complaints over such tasks. For we are all expected to endure for the betterment of the greater good, yes? I simply wish I could share in the regard as well. That is all.”

  Catty tripped over a bag left in the fields, anger probably diverting her attention from where she was going. Aly was about to give her a hand, but she scrambled to her feet before she could help her up. The mastra then kicked the bag over, knocking out some of the weeds inside. Aly halted and waited for her friend to settle down.

  Catty looked up at the sky. “What else do you need me to do? Why can you not at least say I try to be of worth? At the very least, I try. I do not understand why such a simple request seems so hard to come by.”

  As far as Aly was concerned, Catty was asking for something she already had. The tribe spoke highly of her. She was the most popular girl in class, if not the village. And all she had to do was lift her hand and things happened for Catty, at times, quite literally. Aly, on the other hand, had to put in the “real” effort.

  “I fear we shall have to agree to disagree, Mastra,” she said. “Truly, I envy you.”

  Catty looked back at her, studying her thoroughly. At what, Aly didn’t have a clue. She couldn’t understand that the mastra was admiring her skin, lush green, gracefully tanned. She didn’t know that Catty, in comparison, felt as if she looked like she’d never stepped outside her room before, due to the high yellow pigment in her own skin.

  Catty then looked at both of their hands. Their knuckles were darker than the rest of their bodies, having worked them so hard over the years. Unlike the rest of their skin, they weren’t smooth to the touch, but rough and rugged with the toil of trying to be an honorable Goolian. Fight, learn, and work. It looked like she had all of that covered, like Aly, but the visual differences were what made the unknowing Sungstra stand out more, maybe even to the point of overshadowing everything Catty tried to do.

  “Then why do I envy you?” Catty answered back.

  Aly didn’t respond.

  “I suppose this one was correct, then,” Catty added. “We must agree to disagree.”

  “Foolish. I see there be no point in making you realize how blessed you be.”

  “And the grass tries to call the Goolian green. Again, I shall see you in the morrow.”

  The two headed home in separate ways, tired of the other’s ignorance and saddened by it even more. Besides, they had more pressing matters to attend to. The biggest day to the rest of their lives was just around the corner.

  * * *

  Aly woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual the next morning so she could meditate at the temple. When she sat up, however, she thought she was going to vomit. The first thing that came to mind was the Evaluations. After taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes, crossed her legs, and scooted her feet in, taking a minute to cleanse her thoughts.

  Aly gave Shanvi his daily kiss when she walked out of her room fifteen minutes later. She stroked his graying tents before sitting at the table where she usually studied, tapping the floor with her left foot.

  “If I may, what did you ask Truth’s Grace for?” Shanvi said. “Apologies. I came upon your room when I noticed you had not emerged, and saw you in the midst of meditation.”

  “I asked for ev
eryone’s well-being during the Evaluations, and that I do my best. That be all. Nothing selfish.”

  “Good.” Shanvi set a bowl of water in front of Aly and sat across from her. “Yet you still be nervous, yes?”

  “Truly, a little.” Aly took a sip. “I have awaited this moment for years and now it is to finally arrive, perhaps too soon.”

  “Merely do as I suggested and all shall be well. Do not stay on ground for long, lest you set yourself up for many ambushes. Take the defensive initially, since there shall be plenty of time to eliminate others. Yet beyond all things, be mindful of your mates.

  “Be cautious of your mind, Mastra, and the Evaluations shall take care of itself. And even so, this merely be the first, yet not the last, one of its kind. You shall have plenty of other assessments beyond this one, most of them less demanding on the physical note.”

  “Yet perhaps this one shall determine the others. Perhaps this alone shall judge my future as a reliable Goolian.”

  Shanvi took Aly’s drink when she was finished and set it on the counter. When he turned back around, the Little One had her elbows on the table and her hands on her head.

  “Aly,” Shanvi said, rubbing her back. “Truly, there be more important matters in qualifying one’s worth. Do you not aid the tribe in the fields? Do you not make people smile when you sing?”

  “If I may, you sound as Catty does.”

  “Thus she be a good friend.”

  “Yet what if I cannot defend the tribe as well as others?”

  “Alytchai, you give yourself needless excuses to worry. Truly, it has thus been centuries since any tribe has tried to compete against our own. We are a unified planetary nation, silly. And I highly doubt the rest of the galaxy shall have a need in pulling us into their affairs as they did with the Cyogen three and a thousand years prior. Such days of galactic conflict ended with their demise.”

  Shanvi sat back down and held the Little One’s hands. “I know you have valued this moment greatly, yet you best realize there are greater ways to serve the tribe, even if you are not considered the best at it.”