Evaluations of the Tribe Read online

  Requai tugged one of her tentacles when Teacher turned around to dig into a bag leaning against a nearby green oak wood tree. Aly was about to turn and yell, but she bit her lip and kept facing the front.

  “I beg, leave my tents be,” she whispered.

  “Or what?”

  “Quit it!” Catty shouted. “Why do you be so mean?!”

  Teacher slammed the bag. “That be it. Catty, Requai, remove yourselves from the rest and face the scolding tree.”

  “Yet Teacher––”

  “And I did not give you permission to speak, Cattalice. Now, do as told.”

  Catty bit her lower lip. Aly looked away when her friend glanced at her, probably hoping she would intervene the way she had done for her. The shy mastra thought she could sense Catty’s surprise and note of betrayal. She watched her friend follow Requai over to an old oak tree; Catty didn’t make a peep and faced its trunk.

  Just then, Glani tugged another one of Aly’s tents, more than likely noting she wouldn’t make a fuss over anyone harassing her. And Aly did just what she was expected to do – absolutely nothing. Glani yanked and swatted to her heart’s content until Joquin gave her a look. Aly wiped her eyes and kept facing the front.

  Teacher came back with his hands behind his back. The Little Ones were getting excited now. A surprise! And what a surprise it was. The sparring priest pulled a smooth, ocean-blue sphere about the size of a Little One’s head from behind his back. Its translucent interior sparkled with tiny organisms swimming around inside, and it made a flopping sound when he bounced it once.

  “A dankerball!” The Little Ones hopped up and down with excitement.

  Teacher chuckled. “Truly. Now settle down, you wild ones. You lot are ready to test this out, yes?”

  “Truly, Teacher.”

  “My ears fail me, I fear. What did you lot say?”

  “TRULY, TEACHER!”

  Teacher laughed and walked over to another patch of dirt where an excess of walking had killed the grass. The Little Ones were entranced by the ball as they followed him. Before they started, Teacher made sure everyone remembered the rules about the dankerball: no stunts or tricks, no fighting over it, and most of all, no trying to eat it.

  The dankerball was made of a natural gel that the sparkling creatures inside – called dankos – secreted when they were trying to interest hopeful mates. If the gel was taken out of its natural habitat – which was usually the dense and darker parts of the forest – and into the suns, it would harden. The chemical reaction would result in the gel becoming bouncier than a Little One that just ate a bowl of sugar. A single dankerball could last a good while, since dankos had a lifespan close to a Goolian’s, that being two-hundred Universal years. The dankerball Teacher had was probably the same one that he grew up with, and Shanvi might have even tested it out when he was a child.

  When it looked like the class was calming down, Teacher tossed the blue sphere into a nearby tree and let its natural function take its course. The ball bounced off the trunk instantly and into another, only for it to bounce into another, all the while gaining velocity with every rebound. The Little Ones were ecstatic. They squealed and hollered the faster and louder the flops got until they couldn’t follow the movements anymore. Some whispered how they were going to beat so-and-so at the test while the ball kept bouncing.

  “Catty, you are free to return to the rest of the class,” Teacher said.

  Catty stuck her tongue out at Requai before strolling back to her spot. Aly moved closer to Joquin, as if the mastra was going to get even with her. The mastra didn’t seem to give her a second thought, however, and that was probably worse.

  The Little One went back to staring at the ball, trying to catch its movements. Its speed was phenomenal! She looked around to see if anyone else could follow it; they could, as far as she could tell.

  Aly shrugged and stared again, a little harder, and surprised herself when she did. She could follow it too! Finally, something she could also do. It wasn’t all that hard, actually, once she caught the pace of the ball. The mastra was quite proud of herself, but froze when someone poked her on the shoulder.

  “What?” Aly asked Catty as she tensed up.

  “This one seems distracted. Enough of the weird glazed look.”

  “I was not to be distracted, Mastra. I was – Teacher!”

  Everyone got quiet, and just as they did, the dankerball ricocheted off the edge of one of the trees and zoned in for Teacher’s belly. The Little Ones ducked and held up their hands, expecting the ball – which was moving at the speed of sound as far as they were concerned – to take out their instructor and finish them all off with him. Instead, Teacher held up a hand and caught the ball like it was nothing.

  “Fret not, class. Truly, this ball only moves at twenty milos per hour, at best.”

  “Wowwww.”

  Teacher giggled.

  Catty and Aly still had their hands over their mouths. When Teacher smiled at them, they had no idea he was noting how impressed he was by Aly’s warning, since a Little One’s reaction time at that age wasn’t anywhere near as fast as his. At least, it wasn’t supposed to be.

  “We shall commence by current rankings in the class,” Teacher said.

  Aly stomped the ground as other Little Ones whined over the proposal. Catty, on the other hand, looked prouder than ever.

  “Since this be our case, Cattalice, if you please.”

  “Catty,” the Little One corrected Teacher as she hopped over to him.

  Aly shook her head. That was probably Catty’s way of punishing the priest for punishing her. Her friend smirked when he didn’t counter the correction, and took the ball out of his hand.

  “Ew! It feels disgusting!”

  “Enough of the faces.” Teacher straightened her in front of the trees. “Now, this shall be simple, yes? Toss the ball into a tree, and embrace it once it is to approach you.”

  Catty nodded and was about to launch the ball with all her might before Teacher placed a hand on it.

  “And this one shall be gentle with the release, I beg. And fret not if you do not achieve. Truly, no one does so on their first attempt.”

  “If I may, can I not be the first, then?” Catty asked with the most innocent face.

  Teacher chuckled and patted the mastra on the head. “And why can this one not be, indeed! Truly, be our first then.”

  Teacher made everyone move back and gave Catty the go-ahead to toss the ball. She didn’t throw it nearly as hard as she was going to upon Teacher’s warning, but the ball still hopped off of the tree the instant its weight formed around the base.

  Catty lost sight of it by the third bounce and was wondering if she threw it too hard by the sixth. That was when the ball smacked her in her pair of sternums and laid her out, flat on her back.

  The class roared with laughter. Fortunately for Catty, Goolians were made to take a beating, as their skeletons were a perfect mixture of some bone and special cartilage. Teacher smothered his chuckle behind a smile and helped the Little One up. Catty quickly slapped his hands away and held out her arms for the ball again.

  “You shall perform well this round,” Teacher said as Catty snatched the ball. “Truly, there be no need for frustration, Little One. Practice makes perfect, yes? Now, relax.”

  Catty tossed the ball, this time a little harder than the last just so Teacher would shut up. She waited and waited for the chance to grab. She got her hands up fast enough for the ball to miss her face, but the strike still knocked her on her rear. She growled and pounded the ground wildly.

  The class was beyond hysterical, even as Teacher tried to calm everyone down. Catty stood up, brushed herself off, and headed to the end of the line with a dignified head held high.

  “Apologies, dearest,” Teacher said. “Truly, you did well.”

  She ignored his words and gave Aly a look, since she was smirking as well.

  “Let us see how well you fair, throwback,” Catty said
with her hands on her hips.

  Aly stopped smiling and turned back around. She wasn’t too insulted. She knew she’d show her, eventually. Of course, her wait was going to be a while, given the rest of the class had to take their turns.

  Fortunately for her, their attempts went just as fast as Catty’s – quick and humiliating. Requai even got called back over to have a try, and she failed like the rest. Before Aly knew it, Joquin was going up to take his turn, and she’d be next.

  “You can do better than these lot, yes?” Teacher said assuredly.

  No one in the class laughed when the Little One approached; the giggling quieted with every turn.

  As with all the others, Aly studied the way Joquin tossed the ball, and waited. He held both of his arms out, obviously figuring he’d try a different approach from the others. It looked like his strategy was based around feeling the wind of the ball hit the tip of his fingers. All he’d have to do after that was grab. That simple. The Little One crossed her arms and shook her head while the lad smiled. If only he knew.

  Aly watched silently, wondering why no one else could make such a simple catch. Truly, it cannot be that hard, nay? Perhaps it looks easier than it actually be.

  Joquin tossed the ball.

  Ah, here he goes. He shall miss. And as the thought crossed Aly’s mind, the dankerball struck Joquin’s forehead. He flipped into the air once and landed face-first in the dirt. Teacher hurried over, knelt down beside him, and rolled him on his back. Joquin’s expression was blank and his eyes were rolled into the back of his head.

  The Little Ones didn’t say a word as Teacher hollered the master’s name and shook him. Aly was getting nervous. She didn’t think the ball was lethal.

  Teacher slapped the lad in the face, and Joquin’s pupils came back. They were larger than normal, however. “Am I dead, Teacher?”

  The priest held up three fingers. “How many do you see, Joquin?”

  The lad squinted for a moment, then looked away. “Truly, I have an answer, Master. Yet I think my saying it shall make you worry even more.”

  Teacher chuckled and helped the Little One up. “At least you know you are of damaged goods. Settle over there on that tree, very good?”

  Teacher helped sit Joquin down against a nearby trunk so he could check up on him later. When he came back, Aly was looking up at him with her bright gray eyes shimmering. He gave her an odd stare, as if he was trying to hide his pity. She wondered if he was going to sit her out of the assignment, given she wasn’t capable of anything.

  Aly quickly picked up the ball herself, rolling the odd substance around her palms. Catty was right. The danko gel felt like bumpy jelly with slime on it. Every time it moved, some of the substance squished between her fingers.

  She examined it a moment longer to see if there was some sort of secret trick she and everyone else had missed. She sniffed it once and thought she was going to puke. It smelt like melted rotten cheese poured over feces left out in the afternoon suns. After her nausea left, she checked for any other faults it had. When she didn’t see any more, she just shrugged and hopped over to the spot where everyone else had stood.

  “Just do your best, yes?” Teacher said.

  Aly looked up at him again. She thought Teacher was going to pick her up and carry her away from all of the embarrassment. She wished he could, but the nod the two gave one another meant that they both knew better.

  “I would suppose that this may end her if it was to knock Joquin out, yes?” Requai whispered, a few spots behind Aly. The class giggled at the joke.

  Aly turned and caught Catty locking eyes with the mastra that just cracked the insult. Requai didn’t seem intimidated, however, and Catty backed off. Her friend faked a cough, acting like she actually found the joke funny. Requai went back to talking to some others. Then Catty gripped her hands together, assuring Aly that she was praying for her well-being, that and more than likely asking that she could do something, anything; at least catch a stupid ball, as ridiculous as it sounded.

  Aly tossed the ball underhand, letting the blue globe slide off the tips of her little fingers. It soared for what felt like a broken essence in time, stretching and breaking the fabrics of the biosphere and engaging in contact with a wall that the creatures on this particular speck in the known galaxy designated to be a “tree.”

  Aly watched. The ball rolled over itself, forming ripples into its form as its mass pushed into the hard, worn, brownish green wood. When the force couldn’t go any farther, the ripples went in reverse and pushed the sphere off into the soft red dirt on the ground. The sound it made was no longer a flop, but a boom. Aly felt the vibrations from the tiny wave send information into her feet, up her spine, and all the way into the proper sensory channels that were housed in the uniquely designed brain that fired sparks of information beyond the speed of light.

  Aly didn’t blink, she didn’t move, she didn’t breathe. Follow, bounce. Follow, bounce. Follow, bounce. The rhythm was constant, slowly increasing in pace, but still constant. Left, down, right, up, down, right, left, down, up. Aly’s eyes moved along with the currents of the ball perfectly. She didn’t wonder why no one else was able to catch it, since they could do the same thing. She didn’t wonder what would happen when it would switch its pattern and bounce back. She didn’t even wonder if her hands would be quick enough to make the catch in time. None of it mattered. If nature was always going to take its course, it didn’t matter.

  The ball just made the spin, and Aly couldn’t see Teacher lifting a hand up to his face so he couldn’t warn her. The ball would come back with another bounce. She’d never know how hard it was for him not to yell “Now!” so she could duck, and avoid more humiliation.

  The ball bounced, and the delay in time was gone. It wasn’t pressing against the fabrics anymore, but gnashing at the thin strands trying to keep it away from the tiny Goolian standing as stiff as green oak wood. The ball was ferocious! It was going to rip the poor creature in half before she even knew she was struck. Such speed, such anger, such rage.

  She thought she heard Teacher say part of her name, perhaps to help her, unaware of the fact that he was ignoring original precautions and letting civilized compassion take over. Still, he waited too long. The moment for warning had passed, and the sphere that was once a beautiful blue globe of sparkles was now the bringer of the very essences of agony and torture.

  Aly gasped, her eyes widening when she realized the ball’s hidden purpose. To her, it was screaming wildly, with its anger still cutting against the gravity. No, she was too late. The Little One squinted her eyes and held up her hands in the hope that the one desperate attempt would ease some of the inevitable rage. It didn’t.

  Catty shrieked and covered her mouth. Teacher started to rush over, but it was too late. The deed was done. None of the Little Ones laughed that time. The humor in the sick game was gone. Besides, they were too shocked to do anything.

  “Truth’s Grace, Aly.” Teacher’s steps seemed cautious as he approached her and squatted down. “Are you... Nay. I may be required to search the records, yet I think this is to be the first time one has ever... Goodness be. Well done. Truly, well done, indeed.”

  Everyone in the class clapped quietly as Aly rolled the caught dankerball in her hand.

  “Yay, Alytchai!” Catty cheered.

  Aly looked down at the ball resting in her palms and shrugged. It wasn’t that big of a deal, after all.

  “Well, truly, all are to have two tries, thus you must redo.” Teacher pointed at the trees. “And be sure to be thorough with your release, yes?”

  Aly nodded and tossed the ball a little harder. Her eyes stuck to the ball’s movements like glue until she saw it make its move. Too fast. The ball shot straight at her, moving ten milos faster. She dropped onto her back and Teacher leapt behind her since it looked like she wasn’t going to be able to stop it. The Little One, however, kicked the ball up in the air just in the nick of time.

  Aly flipped bac
k onto her feet and let the dankerball drop into one of her hands when it descended. The class’ cheers made her ears ring, but that didn’t stop them from chanting her name. The gray-eyed Goolian covered her face when she felt her blue blood rushing to it, but she couldn’t hide her smile. She looked up at the instructor and offered the ball back to him, but Teacher was still too puzzled to grab it.

  “Apologies, Master,” Aly said as her ears drooped. “Perhaps the ball has worn out its use due to the prior bounces.”

  “Nay, Little One.” Teacher counted the dankos swimming inside. “Truly, this ball has several more healthy decades in its life. You simply aced today’s reflex test.”

  The class cheered again. Requai and Glani crossed their arms and glared at Aly after they clapped twice. Teacher hurried over to his bag and pulled out two shinier dankerballs with deeper pigments. The Little Ones ogled over the twinkling globes as Teacher handed one to Aly.

  “If this one would like, perhaps you would prefer a greater challenge. It be best if I could check your reflexes with some slightly better recordings.”

  Aly examined the ball in her hand and counted the dankos inside. It had eighteen, three times as many as the one from before. She looked up at Teacher and raised a brow. The elder Goolian grabbed her hand and walked her a little ways off so the Little Ones couldn’t hear.

  “Yet, only if you wish to do so, dearest,” Teacher added. “Truly, you have proven yourself beyond expectations already, thus your pappai shall be gravely filled with pride due to such reports. Be that as it may, perhaps knowing your limits may help in other matters, yes?”

  Aly eyed the class; most of them were still chatting about how awesome Aly’s stunt was. Joquin and Catty tried to lean in to see what she and Teacher were talking about, but their ears were still too young to hear that far. Aly shrugged and bounced the ball once.

  “If you would have it, Teacher, then let it be.”

  “Very good then!” Teacher went back to the bag. He pulled out a large steel helmet and placed it over Aly’s head. The Little One almost toppled over, but Teacher straightened her back up. He knelt down to see how she looked in it. He could barely see her eyes.