Evaluations of the Tribe Read online

  “Aly...” Requai covered her eyes and shook her head. “I... Oh what be the use? No worries, you crazed thing. You simply be––”

  She covered her mouth. Aly scratched her head as the other Little One started to stutter.

  “My blow to your head must have caused you to black out for a quick instant,” Catty said to the unknowing Sungstra. “Truly, you best mind your defense, Alytchai.”

  “Truly, I suppose so.” Aly eyed the ground, ashamed. “Apologies.”

  “As am I,” Catty said, frowning.

  Aly was about to ask her friend what she meant, but Catty helped her up before she could say anything else. The two hobbled behind Requai and Glani as they sauntered back toward Kutenbrya. This, by all means, was going to be the worst part. With adrenaline settling down, the trip home was going to be one of aches and pains all over. Home. They could already see the salt bath they’d be soaking in for the next couple of days...or maybe weeks.

  “What shall you tell Teacher then, Mastra?” Glani asked Catty. “Surely you bested us all, in the end.”

  “Nay, Aly and I shall share the credit together. Surely, that be the best way to handle it, yes?”

  Aly bit her lip so she wouldn’t cry. Besides, crying would probably make her sides and head hurt even more. In all her years, she imagined going home the triumphant loner championing over all. And it was only now that she knew the truth. There really was no individual. Why be the best in the tribe if one couldn’t share the pride of being so with others? No, this was how it should have been from the very beginning.

  “Alytchai and Cattalice of the Kutenbriun Tribe. Selfless Combatants: Servants of the Whole.” That was what people would say about the two of them, just as it should’ve been. Aly smiled at Catty, and Catty smiled back. At least they figured out their worth before it was too late.

  And then Aly and Catty both got shot in the chests.

  * * *

  They were both too entranced with their shared victory to acknowledge the tingle in their spines, and now neither of them could move. Aly’s ribs were too shocked, and Catty just wanted her bad arm to come off when she fell on its elbow.

  Glani and Requai were too dumbfounded to move. At first they tried pointing out the direction of the shot, but then they spun around as the two downed mastras groaned.

  “Truly, are you two well?” Glani asked as she crouched down.

  Aly rolled from side to side. “I cannot budge.”

  Requai held her still. “Be at ease, yes? I am sure you shall be mobile in a few moments.”

  “By Truth’s Grace. I won.”

  The four mastras looked up and saw Joquin perched on a tree. He fell onto his rear, covered his face, and laughed.

  “What blessings this be, I did it! I won! Truth’s Grace, I am thus the lone victor!”

  Catty’s jaw dropped. “What? Nay. You ran back to the tribe and forfeited.”

  Joquin cocked his head to the side. “Pardon? I would do no such thing! I have kept a safe distance from you lot, ever since you dismantled my team. I have merely awaited for an opportune moment.”

  Aly covered her eyes and moaned out loud, cursing and swearing at how unfair her life and everything around her was. Catty just lay still, too numb to do anything else.

  Joquin dangled his legs over the branch. “Still, I must say you lot did quite well. Truly, I would have suffered dire trouble if I tried bouting the four of you at once, as you did each other. And no worries. I shall be sure to tell Teacher how grand of an effort the lot of you made. Surely you deserve extra credit for your efforts, at the very least, yes?”

  Requai closed her eyes and breathed through her nostrils. “Extra credit. Spare the extra credit, Master. Truly, you shall not get the chance to tell him such.”

  “Pardon?”

  “I-am-going-to-kill-you.”

  “What?”

  Glani stepped forward and popped her knuckles. “Not unless I catch him first, Mastra.”

  Joquin shrieked like a five-year-old as Glani and Requai chased him through the trees. And so Aly and Catty remained, stretched out across the old forest, too sore and worn to move, side by side. They both stared at the treetops, still having the same shocked grimace on their faces.

  “So,” Catty eventually said, not moving. “At the very least, we can get some treats at your pappai’s store again, yes? Ooh! And I still owe you two––”

  “Just shut up, Catty.”

  * * *

  Chapter 16

  “I beg, just give it back,” seven-year-old Kalai begged as she reached for the dankerball.

  One of the lads in her class threw the ball to one of his other four friends. “You best be quick then, Mastra.”

  Kalai hopped up so she could grab the ball, but another Little One shoved her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Her eyes watered as the crowd laughed.

  “Here, Master,” the lad that caught the ball said, tossing it to another friend.

  The five Little Ones sung and danced around Kalai as she sat and watched. Day after day, it was the same thing, just because she was the tiniest and the last one in class who learned how to control her being. She hated school because of it. There was never an end, much to her surprise. She thought that once she got control of her being, things would change, but from the looks of it, children’s garden was going to be the worst place in the world for her, regardless.

  “What nonsense do you brats think you are doing?” a voice behind them said.

  The five Little Ones froze and turned around. Behind them stood a tall and lanky Young One, seventeen years old. Her form was solid, athletic, with powerful thighs that told of their ability to jump two stories high, and defined arms that epitomized all the work she did at the sparring grounds and in the fields. Her tentacles were a deep cobalt blue from the base down. She crossed her arms, their color as vibrant as fresh grass, having gotten a perfect tan in the suns. Her full lips were jungle green, known for producing a sound that even made the silas stop and succumb to it in awe. And her eyes, piercing as ever, were still brighter than a full moon.

  While Aly’s beauty put other mastras to shame, however, she didn’t even know it did. Years of being harassed and belittled blinded her to whatever physical qualities others saw as clear as day. She thought the young lads her age were still being nice to her out of pity’s sake, and the mastras didn’t bother looking her in the face because she was definitely too tall for their liking. Regardless, it didn’t matter anymore. At least she was of some use to others. At least she could tell little ingrates to “piss off.”

  “Can you lot not speak up?” Aly asked as she glared at every Little One. “Perhaps it is because someone has found you in the wrong, yes? Have you no shame?”

  The five Little Ones backed up, one by one.

  “W-we have no reason to be scared of you, Aly the Weird,” one of the lads said, still backing away.

  “Truly? Then perhaps I should tell your mammais and pappais of the insult you bear on their names when I am to see them in the fields this evening, yes? I wonder, how long would they keep you from my pappai’s bakery, then? Truly, that be a travesty indeed.”

  Aly took one step forward and grinned when the five took two steps back.

  “Boo.”

  The Little Ones scattered, leaving Kalai and the dankerball. Aly picked the light blue sphere up, and knelt beside the mastra. When she offered the ball to Kalai, the Little One grabbed it, and kept her head down.

  “My thanks, Aly,” the Little One whispered.

  “Hey.” Aly lifted the Little One’s chin up. “There be nothing of interest on the gravel. Truly, you cannot see the stars if you are to always look down, yes? Do not let them see you despair.”

  As Aly helped the Little One up, she saw Teacher about to come over. He paused, smiled at her, and spun around to check on the rest of the class.

  The Young One rubbed Kalai on the head. “Fret not. Truly, it shall get better.”

  “Do
you mean they shall stop picking on me?”

  Aly twirled a finger around one of her tents and cleared her throat. “I fear I cannot grant such promises. Be that as it may, the confidence in yourself shall improve one day to the point that such people as that no longer trouble you, if you be strong enough in your own mind.”

  “Oh.” Kalai tossed the ball up a little and caught it. “Truly, I would rather them stop altogether. Perhaps if I sang or were as pretty as you, they would leave me be.”

  “Well, I am not sure if I am as fair as you say I be,” Aly said, giggling. “Be that as it may, take each day as a blessing, yes? And even when ones are not as favorable as others, perhaps you cannot appreciate the great days without having the bad ones.”

  “Hmm. I never thought of it in that way. Perhaps this one be right, Mastra.”

  “Perhaps. Now, off you go, Kalai. It seems Teacher is about to begin your sessions.”

  Kalai hugged Aly by the leg, handed her the dankerball, and ran off to get in line. As Aly placed the ball in a bag, the Little One turned around, and watched Aly put her blue robe over her workout attire.

  “Can you not stay here for the day?” she asked.

  Aly laughed. “Indeed, I cannot! I have finished my workout, thus I must hurry off to my own learning sessions. Fret not. Perhaps I shall see you at my pappai’s store this evening, yes?”

  Kalai nodded and turned back around. As Teacher counted the roll, he waved at Aly as she headed off to her class. Catty, Requai, and Glani were also waving, quite energetically as a matter of fact, at the Young One when she made it to the old red dirt road moments later.

  “Be quick, you foolish thing!” Catty stomped the ground when the school bell rang, and took off. “You are to make us late!”

  Aly rolled her eyes as she ran with her and the others. “For years, this one has made the same fuss, yet I cannot recall a single time in which I ever made you late, ‘Little Mistress.’ And who is to say you must wait on me anyways?”

  Glani rubbed her eyelids and grumbled. “Truth’s Grace, it be too early in the morning for both of your childish rants.”

  “You only whine because you stayed up too late talking with Joquin the prior night,” Requai said. “It be not their fault that you saw the need to flap your lashes about as a fly.”

  “I most certainly was not!”

  Catty covered her ears. “Enough. You all are to give me a headache.”

  As her three friends kept arguing, Aly slid to the rear a little so she wouldn’t catch any more of the assault than she already had. As she and the others hurried off to class, the Young One breathed in the fresh morning air, chilled and smooth with the dew gliding down the grass. The first sun’s heat was soft and pleasant against her skin as the mountains seemed to hold the yellow ball in the pink and navy-blue sky.

  Aly smiled as she wondered what other people across the galaxy did while prepping for their boring and uneventful days. Maybe there was another Young One looking at her local star and thinking the same thing. The world was such a fascinating place, if one took the time to think about it. She hoped Little Ones like Kalai would come to a point of realizing the good could triumph over the bad at times, if they were willing to look hard enough. It took Aly her entire life to come to that conclusion, and she knew the early years of her childhood suffered dearly because of it.

  But now she had hope for better days, even when she still couldn’t control her inner being. There was more to her than that, after all, and definitely more to life. Her best friend made her realize that three years ago.

  On Gooliun, one fought, learned, and worked. Aly did all three of these, especially fight. However, it wasn’t the fighting that required throwing kicks, punches, or blocks. No, she fought for a peace of mind, a peace she hoped she could reflect to others. And that was the most honorable thing a Goolian could do: to put others beyond self. After all, “there be nothing beyond the tribe.”

  * * *

  Epilogue

  Planet Gooliun’s capital was days away from Kutenbrya. It was a polis, large enough to hold several thousand tribes, its fifty-story-high walls towering higher than any other Goolian construct on the entire planet. It was an astonishing achievement for creatures that didn’t have the technology of the advanced worlds. Gooliun didn’t have recourses deemed valuable enough to share in the galactic market, so the other alien nations didn’t see the need in keeping the “greenies” up to date with the important affairs happening in the “civilized world.”

  However, Overseer Greagen, the Watcher and representative of the entire planetary nation of Gooliun, had performed some very unorthodox deeds over the past twelve years. He had the Galactic Order to thank for that, since they kept using one of the rare items they felt worth giving him discreetly.

  Greagen sat in front of the only holographic monitor on the planet. As he looked into the device, two foreign faces were formed out of the blue light it emitted. One was a female that bore some resemblance to a Goolian. However, her ears were round, her eyes not as large, and instead of tents protruding out of her head, it bore fur instead. If the hologram showed color like the newer ones, it would have shown her as having deep orange skin. And since the image only showed her from the chest up, Greagen couldn’t see her large forearms and the three stubby digits she had on her hands, nor the claws on her fingers.

  The second creature looked far more alien, with his entire body covered in fur. His shoulders weren’t even visible due to the length of his neck, and his jade green eyes had black slits for pupils. His pink nose protruded out of his face, giving it a defining bridge that the Goolian and other creature lacked. The bushy tail wrapped around his waist wasn’t visible, nor were the hind legs he walked on.

  “Are you sure your people are ready, Master?” the hairy alien asked in the Universal tongue.

  “Didn’t I even go through the trouble of having our youth change their curriculum when I received word twelve years ago?” Greagen said. “The first generation that followed the adjusted schedule from the beginning of their education are Young Ones now. They’re old enough for combat. We’re ready to serve by any means necessary.”

  “Then, on behalf of the Galactic Order, you have billions beyond billions in gratitude, Greagen,” the orange mastra said. “We didn’t feel the need to...trouble your people with our affairs, but with the way the enemy is eyeing Argutas, it will only be a matter of time before your nation is caught in the war, as well.”

  Greagen grabbed a bowl of water and sipped it. He hadn’t had to converse this long with people for years, and his throat had gotten raspy over time because of it.

  “We are all followers in the Great Philosophy that is Truth’s Grace, Empress Uufru,” he said. “We all know the value of helping those in need. Rest assured, Planet Gooliun will be ready to have troops on Planet Argutas by the time your ships arrive.”

  The hairy creature sat back in his chair and covered his face. “You don’t know what this will mean to my people. I wish war would stop being the only reason why our neighboring nations converse.”

  “The Goolian people do not dwell on the past, Governor Rashule. We fancy to deal with the present. Now, the closest tribes will be receiving their draft letters in a few days. When can I expect your entire guest forces?”

  “The first vessels just entered your system two hours ago,” Uufru said, “so they’ll be planet-side by the end of the week.”

  Greagen stroked the long gray tents on his chin before rubbing his head. “So soon? I had no idea your vessels were that fast. We’ve never seen spaceships before, so I wonder what my people will think when they look in the sky and see them for the first time. They’ll probably think the world is coming to an end. Or maybe it is, and we just don’t know it yet.”

  “As long as we stand together, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Rashule insisted. “We defeated the Cyogen before, and by the Great Philosophy’s Favor, we can do it again.”

  “I hope you’
re right, Master. Let’s just make sure we’re more thorough than our ancestors this time.”

  “Agreed,” Uufru said. “We’ll keep in touch. The Optin military priest will update you accordingly upon arrival. Until then, give your guest our regards.”

  Greagen’s left eye twitched. He turned around in his seat to see if anyone was behind him; there was no one there beyond the guards posted outside the door.

  “You mean that half-breed thing that’s been lingering over my shoulders on every move? He’s not worth talking to.”

  Uufru’s finger came into view when she held it to her lips. “Play nice, Master. Times have changed and we can’t be too picky now. Feel free to keep an eye on him, but he’s there to help your people with the introduction to the outside world. Oh, and since we’re on the subject of trust, I’ll ask this one more time: are you sure there’s nothing else worth noting about your people?”

  Greagen leaned back in his seat and rested his head in his palm. “If you’re implying about some of my citizens’ rumored specialties, then I’m afraid I should, for the final time as well, insist that such things are remnants of stories passed down by our ancestors. They do not exist, do you understand? Truth’s Grace, I’m speaking Universal.”

  “That’s enough, Mastra,” Rashule said. “He’s earned our trust. If something as valuable – or dangerous – as the Sungstra sub-species was real, then he would’ve told us so. He knows what’s at stake.”

  Uufru’s head shrunk on Greagen’s projector, indicating she was leaning back from her own device. “Fine. Apologies, Overseer. The governor’s right. You’ve proven yourself both friend and comrade to the Allied Forces. In the meantime, watch the skies. We’ll see you soon.”

  Greagen nodded and turned off the projector.

  “Too soon,” he added. Then he checked another advanced piece of technology given to him by the aliens. He raised his palm and an orange orb formed out of it. It floated in front of him and morphed into a list of names when he touched it. He read down the file, reading the names, his eyes glancing over an “Alytchai of the Kutenbriun Tribe” as he counted the number of documented Sungstras.