Evaluations of the Tribe Read online

  “You can see well, yes?”

  Aly tried readjusting the headgear. “I think I shall manage... I think.”

  “Truth’s Grace, I beg I do not regret this,” Teacher grumbled underneath his breath.

  “Pardon?”

  “Nothing. Hold, Aly.” Teacher put up a safety net around the surrounding trees and the mastra. “Mere precautions.”

  Everyone gasped when Teacher pulled two more balls out of a nearby bag. The Little Ones placed bets on how long the little mastra would last, giggling and pointing out the future embarrassment she would have. Aly tried to look up at the Adult again, but her helmet slumped over her eyes the second she lifted her head. Teacher squatted down and tipped the headgear up with one finger so Aly could have a better look at him.

  “Shall this one try two or three?”

  “Uh, if I may, can I try three?”

  “Of course, dearest. Whatever you wish.” Teacher patted her on the head as he got behind her. “I shall not stand too far off, just in case, very good?”

  “Very good, Teacher.”

  The Little One got into her readying stance and waited. The class got quiet again as Teacher lowered one arm and tossed the first ball underhand. The dankerball was slow at first, but the more it bounced, the faster it got. Aly didn’t even blink once as her pupils followed the movements. And then, the switch. She ducked with milliseconds to spare. The rest of the Little Ones shrieked and laughed as the net caught the dankerball and sent it back out into the trees.

  Teacher threw the remaining balls out. Aly didn’t know he prayed he wouldn’t have to explain why the former sparring priest’s daughter got beat up by three balls meant for older children. She eased his worrying, however, with every dip, swoop, and flip she performed.

  Aly’s movements were phenomenal. She hopped and caught one ball between her shins. Still midair, she tossed it up, making it hit one of the other two. She heard Teacher yelp as he ducked his head, the first ball zipping right over him.

  His outburst was what made Aly lose her concentration. The second she turned around to see if she did something wrong, the third dankerball struck her in the temple. She squealed as the blow knocked her flat on her back. The Little Ones went hysterical, but Catty and Joquin didn’t laugh.

  Teacher hurried over to help the Little One up. She was okay. Embarrassed, but okay. He caught the final two balls seconds later and set them back over by the bag. Aly kicked a stick as she waited to hear her evaluation.

  “A round of applause for Aly,” Teacher said. “Well performed, indeed.”

  To her surprise, the Little Ones were more than willing to cheer and clap for the mastra. She looked at the ground, trying to hide her smile again. Catty tried to blow a whistle, but she didn’t know how to do that yet.

  When the class settled down, Teacher turned Aly to him.

  “How was this one able to avoid the balls for so long?”

  “Well, I merely tried to keep my eyes on whichever seemed a threat at the time.”

  Teacher tilted his head and Aly wasn’t sure if she had said something odd. She fiddled with one of her side tents as she awaited his response.

  “Truly, you were able to follow the balls’ movements with your eyes?” he eventually asked.

  “That is thus. Why? Can you not?”

  Teacher bit his lip again as he straightened up. “Break time, class. Off with you, Little Ones. And, I beg, be sure to use the restroom.”

  The class ran off. Aly was about to follow them, but Teacher called her over.

  “You have done beyond well this day, Little One. Even so, it be a grand deal that you practice your being some more, yes? You can only receive a blue star on your report card like everyone else if you manage to control it, very good?”

  The Little One nodded as she strolled away with the others.

  Teacher went over to the bags so he could place the balls back in them, but paused. He looked at the net, then the trees, and shrugged as he grabbed the blue spheres and stood where Aly had placed herself. He tossed one and dodged it without effort. Too easy for someone his age. He figured he’d be able to take all three on with no problem, just like Aly did, and flung them out.

  It didn’t seem so bad at first, but the more the balls bounced, the more Teacher struggled. He avoided getting hit for a while, but his movements weren’t anywhere near as graceful as the Little One’s. Nine seconds in, all three stuck him in the chest or belly. He grunted as he bent over, watching the spheres roll away into the forest.

  Teacher counted the seconds in his head. Aly beat him by twenty, and the only reason she stopped was because he distracted her. Impressive. No, more than impressive. It was close to miraculous. Still, the Mature Aged Goolian chuckled as he thought the facts over. Sure, Aly could dodge three dankerballs, but Goolian worth was proven by how well she could utilize one’s inner being. Since that was the case, she had a lot of work to do.

  Aly must’ve known that was the case as well, since she came back to the sparring grounds after school. Shanvi used to let the students train over whatever suited them best when he was in charge of the sparring grounds, so Teacher did the same. He still groaned when Aly grabbed a dankerball while everyone else went to practicing their being, though.

  The mastra bounced the one ball twice and let it loose. Her movements were just too smooth, even by Goolian standards. Teacher could tell she was bored when she sighed after ducking the tenth time.

  “Not challenging enough, nay?” he said as he approached the Little One.

  Aly caught the ball in her hand before turning around and shaking her head. Teacher went over to his bag again and pulled out a navy-blue dankerball. Aly lost her look of boredom when he approached her with it and handed it to her.

  The ball was denser and heavier. However, it shot up like a rocket the second she bounced it. She fell back on her rear as Teacher waited for the ball to come back down. It did, seven seconds later.

  “Careful,” he said as he handed the ball back to Aly. “This is the sort that the Young Ones around the age of twenty and thirty practice with.”

  The mastra nodded happily as she ran back to her spot. She was about to fling it but Teacher leapt and landed in front of her.

  “Careful, I say,” he said more sternly. “Truly, these do not need such a grand amount of strength on your end.”

  The Little One didn’t say anything again, only studying the inside of the ball before turning around. Teacher was going to tell her that she didn’t have to be so reclusive around him as well, but he figured pressuring her into opening up would only make her quieter. Social development had a processing speed that varied to each child, anyways.

  Teacher went back to check on the others, and that notion alone struck the little Goolian hard. Her ears flopped down because he didn’t want to watch her anymore. Maybe he would’ve stayed if she had said something to keep his attention. But then, what was she supposed to say? She wasn’t good with talking to people, especially grown-ups. Not fair.

  Frustrated with her own incompetence, Aly threw the dankerball as hard as she could. The sphere slammed against a tree and shot back faster than the blink of an eye. That didn’t bother the Goolian, though. She tilted her head to the left and felt the breeze from the ball blow her tents back. The ball went out again and came back with a vengeance. Still, no effort needed on her end.

  Teacher was helping Joquin and some others readjust their stance when he heard the limb from a tree snap. Without even looking, he spun around, ready to intervene for Aly’s sake. However, when he did look, the little mastra was bouting against the dankerball for all its worth. A hand stand, a tumble, a duck, a dodge – the child was just too good to be true.

  He trotted back to the net and watched quietly. Aly was in a world of her own and it only included a few trees and that single ball. The sphere got faster with every bounce, but Aly found its rhythm. Tumble, duck, and dodge. Tumble, duck, dodge. And when tumbling became too risky, she narr
owed her movements down to duck and dodge.

  The mastra didn’t blink, and as far as Teacher could tell, she didn’t even breathe. And as he watched the tiny Goolian, he studied the fierceness in her eyes. Those brilliant, bright, gray eyes. How marvelous they were. How alert. How in-tuned... No. How troubling.

  The more Teacher studied Aly’s concentration, the more he came to the realization; Aly’s eyes weren’t that bright anymore. No. Something was wrong. Something was horribly wrong. The more he watched, the wider her pupils became. And her eyes got darker, and darker, and darker, and––

  “Enough, Aly,” he said.

  The mastra came out of her trance and caught the ball without missing a beat. When she turned around, she looked at Teacher with the most innocent-looking, bright gray eyes. The elder scratched the back of his right ear as he looked away.

  “Perhaps this one should practice her being for the remainder of the day, yes?”

  “Very good, Teacher.” Aly’s groan was surprisingly loud and Teacher could’ve sworn she even rolled her eyes as she took the ball back to its bag.

  He heard rustling from above, so Aly stopped walking just in time for Catty to plummet out of the trees in front of her. Teacher didn’t think her landing was that great, but Catty still laughed at how Aly jolted back.

  “Aly,” Catty said with a huge smile, “I was aiding others with their being for a moment, yet they have all retired for home. Still, here you be! Why not come with me and I can display how it works?”

  “If you insist, I suppose. Yet I fear this one shall waste her time with me.”

  “What silly talk!” Catty tugged Aly along. “Why, at least you and I shall have a moment to play, yes?”

  Teacher couldn’t believe it. Aly was actually smiling as she walked with Catty. Now, that was a miracle, if he’d ever seen one. And what a beautiful smile the Little One had. He hoped she’d find more reasons to let it out more often. He climbed a tree, leaned back on one of the limbs, and evaluated the two’s interaction.

  Aly hurried back to the bag so she could drop the dankerball off. She paused for a quick moment before pulling out another ball instead. It was one of the younger children’s versions. She frowned as she dribbled it a little.

  “A moment, yes?” She tossed the ball at a tree. It bounced and zipped by Catty, who ducked. Aly laughed and Teacher smirked as the ball lost its momentum and bounced away.

  “Truly, why not catch the ball as Teacher would have us do?” Catty asked.

  “Easy. We cannot catch a ball of inner being, yes? It be too hot. Would we not be better off avoiding getting hit altogether then?”

  “Hmm. A good point.”

  Teacher shook his head as he smiled. A bright warrior’s mind already.

  “Still, why can you not control your being, Aly? You be a weird one.”

  “Am not.”

  “Truly, you are.”

  Aly spun around and threw the dankerball at Catty. Teacher was about to hop out of the tree, but the sphere struck the Little One in the side of the head and knocked her over before he could jump.

  “Ow!”

  Aly laughed as Catty sat up and rubbed her cheek. To Teacher’s surprise, Catty started laughing as well. His heart sank back into his chest as he scooted back on the branch he was resting on.

  Aly was about to pick up the ball, but Catty grabbed her wrist and dragged her over to the being-control grounds. Once there, the other mastra mimicked Teacher by folding her hands behind her back.

  “I shall help you with your being,” Catty said. She spaced Aly’s legs out a little farther than she already had them. “Now, like this.”

  Teacher nodded. The lively one was pretty observant. Then he watched Catty direct Aly with her breathing exercises, and the “pupil” followed the directions perfectly. Teacher rubbed his head, now seeing how perfect Aly’s form was from a distance.

  Aly then stretched out her palms and waited for the order. Catty stood behind the mastra, just as Teacher would, and placed her tiny hands on her own hips.

  “You feel something now, yes?”

  Aly turned around, baffled.

  “Um, is this when I am supposed to?”

  Teacher slapped his forehead. He already knew what was going to happen next. Disappointment.

  “Well, I usually do by this point,” Catty said, scratching her head. “No worries. Perhaps you should still try, yes? Just push.”

  “Push?”

  “Truly,” Catty said, now standing beside Aly and showing her the final needed motion. “Just push. Like this.” She stretched her fingers out and a wave of heat left her palms.

  Aly shrugged and mimicked the movement like she was Catty’s mirror, as far as Teacher could tell. She frowned when she was denied the hint of energy emitting from her hands. She got out of her form and shrugged again.

  “See? I am no good at such things. I best stay with the dankerball. If anything, I am at least fair with that and the bow.”

  “Oh, no you do not!” Catty shoved Aly back into the basic stance again.

  Teacher crossed his arms and leaned forward. Truly, what a good friend she be. I pray such a friendship lasts beyond these early years.

  “Now, out with it, Aly!” Catty said. “Try again, very good?”

  And Aly did try. She tried once. She tried another time, and when she got to attempt number ten, the Little One hopped up and down in frustration. Catty laughed as she made her friend settle down.

  “Very well, enough then! Perhaps in the morrow, yes? Now, why not try something different?”

  “Well, if I can say freely, you could use a hand with your reflexes,” Aly said as she pondered. “Perhaps I can aid you with the dankerball?”

  Teacher sat straight up.

  “I can teach you how I manage in dodging three, if you like,” Aly finished.

  “Very well, Little Mastras.” Teacher dropped out of his tree. “I fear the suns indicate the lateness. I shall not have your parents fretting over their darlings, yes?”

  Catty and Aly looked at each other, shrugged, and raced each other back to their school bags. Teacher blew out some air as he rubbed his forehead with his forearm. Now, that would have been catastrophic.

  * * *

  Chapter 4

  “Be quick now, Mastras,” Catty shouted as she ran down the dirt road to class. “I shall get to the board beyond any of you!”

  She found herself being the leader of the seven mastras during the past month. At first, every female wanted to befriend her since she was so good at using her being – that and she was the wealthiest child in the entire tribe. However, Requai and Glani took the responsibility of making sure no one intruded into their ranks beyond the original seven.

  Aly wouldn’t have made the “cut” if it wasn’t for Catty, though. The other mastras didn’t like the thought, initially, until they realized Aly could carry their books and scrolls. So, the mastra could never race after the rest of her “friends” to school, given she was too preoccupied with holding everything.

  “Delay me not!” Catty shouted as she kept running. “And that includes you as well, Aly. Come now!”

  “Truly, Aly,” Requai said as she turned around. “What delays you?”

  The other girls heard her yelp. They turned around and shrieked when they saw what all the fuss was about.

  “What has this one done?!” one of the girls cried. “Alytchai, you dolt! Why not be more careful?”

  “Apologies!” Aly ran off the dirt road to catch the papyrus flying away. “I tripped over a rock and stumbled.”

  The mastras rushed back to grab their belongings for themselves.

  “This one cannot even carry others’ items, let alone control her being,” another Little One joked. “Silly Aly.”

  Catty playfully laughed off the insult as she went over to help her friend pick everything up.

  “Hold,” Requai said as she held her back. “Why trouble over this? Truly, are you not the field lord’s of
fspring? This one has no need to toil over this. Was this not Aly’s error?”

  The others around her chimed in and agreed. Aly, who was still trying to grab everything, stopped and looked at her. The helpless stare struck a nerve in Catty, who remembered how Aly never intervened on her behalf whenever Requai made fun of her. On top of that, she wasn’t too sure if she could deal with such a needy person always begging for pity. Still, none of this seemed right.

  Catty stepped forward and the mastras gasped. She paused as she studied everyone’s face and realized they were going to be disappointed if she didn’t meet their expectations. And why would she want to disappoint them? They were her friends.

  “A...good point,” Catty eventually said, avoiding eye contact with Aly. “Surely, you can handle this yourself, yes?”

  “Well, truly,” Aly answered.

  The Little Ones’ ears twitched when they heard a ringing sound in the distance.

  Catty shrieked. “Nay! We are to be late!”

  The rest of the mastras ran off to start a new school day. Aly took her time picking up the rest of the scrolls since there wasn’t a point in rushing anymore. She’d be late, regardless. That wasn’t on her mind, however. Her grades were coming back around. They weren’t great, but manageable. The sparring grounds, however, were still another story.

  While everyone else had the extravagance of talking about being a blacksmith, or a merchant, or even a maid in Catty’s house when they grew up, Aly just wanted to control her being. She still wanted to be a bakery priest, of course, but she had plenty of time to learn how to do that. She was good at everything else, so she needed to keep her priorities down to the basics. In the meantime, she’d better make sure she didn’t leave any of her own books and scrolls behind.

  When she finished picking everything up, the Little One strolled down the road, still struggling to keep a grip on everyone’s belongings. She came across a winged creature called a sila perched on a branch. It had to be a male, due to how red the chest was. The majority of his body was scaled while all four wings were feathered. The antennae protruding from the creature’s head twitched from left to right as Aly headed to the tree. The sila was chirping a happy tune, so Aly set the scrolls down to listen. She might as well use the extra time for all its worth.