INITIATION ULTIMATE, Chapter 17.2: Narrated by Saphara

Talaimai has been gone for six days, and Saphara and Rede are on edge. Has he been devoured by the nighttime creatures, or is he safe?

           

    One morning, I wake up to hear an exasperated sounding voice outside my tent.  "It's been six days!  We're running low on dried meat, because nobody's working for food beside me!  Where the hell are those boys?"

            I peek my head outside of the tent to see Rede standing near the dying embers of the fire, fists clenched.  I immediately feel alarmed, as Rede usually watches her temper very carefully and tries to act as diplomatic as possible.  Is it that Talaimai and Attenti have been gone that is angering her so much?  "Rede?  Are you okay?" I call from my position.

            The Messenger's eyes flashes in my direction.  As soon as she sees me, her glare softens.  "Did I awaken you?"

            "No," I lie, "I was already awake.  But you sound upset... Want to talk about it?"

            Coming over to me, Rede considers my offer before shaking her head.  "I'll be good.  I think you and I will have to gather some berries today though, because Talaimai and Attenti have disappeared into Neverland and left us behind without a single notification on their location.  And for six days!  Sure, I can understand one or two days... takes a while to journey from one part of the Initiations to another... but six?  I mean, the least they could have done was tell me where they were going!  What if they're injured?"  She draws in a sharp breath.  "I hope I'm not alarming you."

            "You're not," I assure her, trying to conceal yet another lie.  I hadn't stressed over the absence of the boys too much before, but Rede's worry is starting to spread to me, as well.  Suddenly, the golden eyes of the Cantiko worm their way out of my memory, leaving me trembling slightly.  "What do you think happened to them?" I ask, voice shaking slightly.

            Rede shrugs, palms out and eyebrows raised.  "I don't know!  Where would the leader of the New Initiation Shores go without even telling even his personal Messenger?  I have to know these things," she exclaims.

            "Did you check by the wall?" I ask.

            "Yeah.  While you've been sleeping, I've been running all over the place trying to get word on Talaimai's location.  All the messengers beside me?  Gone!  The Regulators?  They're clueless!  Talaimai's Vice seems to know something, but he’s not willing to tell me.  'Messengers gossip' is all he says."  She spends a minute broiling from within before shouting out, "How rude!  I'm not even the gossipy type!  How dare he!  I should... I should..."

            The Messenger turns away, visibly shaking.  From behind, I can see her arm coming up to wipe at her face, and the way her shoulders heave.  "Rede?" I ask worriedly, "Are you... Are you crying?"

            Her head snaps in my direction when she hears me.  "No, I am not crying," she tells me in a voice that sounds quite offended.  Clearing her throat, she gestures for me to come.  "I'm just stressed out.  I have to get out of here.  Get some soap, and follow me."

 

***

 

            The hot springs:  a layout of privacy-creating caves in the middle of a shallow, freshwater lake of heated water.  Trees and rocks surround the lake, creating a serene environment that the rest of the Initiations seems to lack.  Rede and I have often come to this place for bathing, but today I think our visit is just to help calm our nerves.

            “Here’s a towel and a washrag,” Rede says, passing me a worn but clean piece of long fabric.  “You have the soap?”

            “Yeah, I’ll get it,” I reply.  I quickly sort through a leather handbag, Talaimai’s gift to me, and pull out a bar.  “This bar of soap is Tal’s.  I found it in his miscellaneous box, unused.”

            Rede takes the bar, lips curling into a small smirk.  “You little thief,” she admonishes in a friendly manner. “Well, who cares what he thinks anyways?  He’s the one who has us all stressed out.  He deserves it.”  She splits the bar in half and hands one of the pieces back to me.  “Alright.  Shout whenever you’re ready to leave.”

I walk down the rows of small caves, looking for a place to bathe.  There are stone paddles attached to the walls of each small cave’s entrance, marking whether or not the cave is occupied or not.  I find one that’s unoccupied and wade into the water, the cuffs of my pants getting wet in the process.  Once out of sight, I put my clothes into a niche on the wall of the cave, and then find the deepest waters in my personal cave to bathe in peace.

           

Once the warmth of the water has relaxed me and brought down my guard, hidden thoughts rise to the surface of my mind.  How long has it been since I last saw my family?  Almost three weeks, I’d think.  I have so much that I’d want to tell them already!  If I had the chance to speak to them, what would I say? 

 

Dear Mom and 382,

 

It’s been okay in the Initiations.  I’m doing well.  My journey started out a little chaotic, but all in all, it was an easy start.  Like we had hoped, Talaimai’s here to take care of me.  Without the help of a boy named Attenti, and if Tal wasn’t so well-known, I might not have found him, so I guess I’m lucky. 

I miss you both very much.  Sometimes I feel homesick, but it’s not as bad as I’d expected.  Maybe it’s because my older brother who was gone for four years is now back in my life, even though he doesn’t talk to me that much.  It’s his presence and the care he gives me that counts.  This girl named Rede also helps take care of me.  She’s Tal’s age, and seems to care for him a lot.  Together they’re like parents to me.  Rede’s the one who pays attention to me the most, probably because Talaimai’s hard at work.  Being his personal Messenger, she basically delivers messages from Talaimai to various people as he does his job, but since Tal’s been absent a lot lately, so she hasn’t been very busy.  Her job also includes watching over Talaimai so that he has the energy for his nighttime commanding job, sort of like a guardian angel.  Since Talaimai has disappeared for six days without a trace, Rede and I are worried about him.  I hope he’s okay.  I’m sure he is.

You know that boy named Attenti that I was talking about earlier?  Since I’m comparing Rede and Talaimai to my parents, I guess I can say that Attenti’s sort of like my brother.  When he’s just talking to me, he’s really nice, but he’s also a know-it-all and he can get kind of obnoxious and annoying when he feels like it.  But that’s what brothers are like, right?  Well… brothers not like Talaimai, I guess.  Tal’s much quieter around me than he used to be, and I’m much quieter around him.  I get where he’s coming from, though. Even though he’s my real brother and acts like my dad here, he’s seen much more than many other boys his age.  He’s bonded more with Attenti than me, because Attenti wants to see what he’s doing and is willing to learn.  I’m still a little afraid of Talaimai’s job, so he doesn't bring me with him.  It includes commanding shooters to fight these creatures called Cantiko, have you heard of them? They're like giant sea wolves, have a weird ability to grab on to people’s mind and transfer thoughts.  I don’t know how it’s possible, but there has to be some explanation for it, right?  No such thing as magic, you’d always tell us.  Did you think that it paid off how you were always trying to tell us the truth?

One thing I do like about the Initiations is the beauty of my surroundings.  All around, there are cliffs, plateaus, valleys, forests, beaches, deserts, rivers, lakes, and oceans… Currently I’m sitting in some hot springs, bathing.  You can tell that parts of the Initiations have been designed for human use, though.  For example, there are caves in the hot springs that act like showers.  Beneath my feet is sand, but if I burrow my foot down deep enough, I can feel thick, plastic planks beneath my feet.  I think it’s to prevent quicksand; no use using bathing to eliminate a person, right?  Anyways, I love the mixed, manmade environment here much more than I love the normal environment of home.  I like the safe, loving feeling of home and family much better, though.

Some things I dislike in the Initiations are the sweat and hard work… I can be swimming in a cool river one minute, only to dry off and begin sweating again the next minute.  It doesn’t help that we live on the top of a plateau…  Attenti complained about our location the first time he saw it, and at the time Rede and I were annoyed by his complaint.  But every day, walking up and down the same plateau… after a while it gets a little frustrating.  I now understand what Attenti had understood from the start.  There was this one day when we were setting up our tents that I particularly disliked.  To keep the tents up on the top of the plateau, Attenti and I had to hold the edges down with heavy rocks.  Seeing that there is only dust on the top of the plateau and not rocks, you should have seen Attenti and me taking our trips up and down the plateau to accomplish the task.  Rede and Tal helped us out, but all in all, it was very tiring and stressful.  During that time, I sweat a lot, which I’ve already told you that I dislike.  Sweat and hard work go hand and hand, and I’m glad that the rock carrying part of our lives is over.

Considering all my likes and dislikes, I still can’t decide if I like the Initiations or not.  I know that some people really enjoy their time here, and other people can’t wait for their time to be up so that they can return home.  I’m sort of in between.  Right now, I’m feeling a little bit useless. I feel like I’m just leeching off of Tal and Rede’s profits, and that doesn’t help my self-esteem too much.  They are trying to train me and Attenti a little bit for jobs of our own, but I don’t think I could survive on my own yet.  I will make it through though, I promise you that.  See you later.

Love, 

Saphara

 

            Rede’s voice outside of my cave pulls me from my daydream.  “Saphara?  Ready to go?  We’ll be gathering berries after this,” she calls.

            “Okay.  I’ll be out in a second,” I reply.  “I’ll start getting ready right now.”

 

***

 

            The sky has grown dark and the air is chilled when Rede and I make it back to the plateau.  My handbag is heavy with berries, and if I didn’t eat half of the berries I picked, it would have many more.  Near the top of the plateau, we can see a light flickering near the tents… it’s the fire!  A fire can’t light itself, so that means…

            “Hey, Rede and Saphara, where were you?” a friendly voice greets us as we come nearer.  Curly brown hair flickers orange in the firelight, and attentive eyes survey us as we advance closer.

            “Attenti!” I cry with a confusing mix of delight and anger.  “What do you mean, where were we?  Rede and I waited for you and Talaimai for six days.  You disappeared without a trace!  Is my brother here?”

            A shout in Rede’s direction answers my question.  “Talaimai, you idiot!  Where the hell were you?  You could have been dead!  What did I tell you about leaving without letting me know?  You could have been devoured by one of those monsters you care so much about.  Damn you!”

            “I’m sorry, so sorry, Rede.  I can explain…”  There’s the sound of a long, tearful sniff from Rede, and then Attenti and I simultaneously wince at the sound of a slap.  My brother rubs at a sore spot on his cheek.  “Rede, you really don’t understand…”

            “The hell I don’t understand!  You know how I feel about this!  I missed you, you dimwit!”  The argument silences as Rede collapses into Talaimai’s outstretched arms.  “Ugh, I hate you,” she murmurs into his shoulder.  “I really do!  Why do you do this to me?  Why?”

            “Separation anxiety, is it?” Attenti whispers to me as we observe the scene.

            I can’t help my grin.  “Oh, stop being like that.  By the way, welcome back.”

 

            About a half an hour after our pleasant reunion, Talaimai announces that he has to leave for his job.  “You deserve a break,” Rede objects at this news.  “After what they made you do for the last six days.”

            “I really can’t,” Talaimai insists, “I have people counting on me out there.  I need to command them.”

            Rede studies his face.  “Just look at you.  You may be an excellent Warleader, but how will you lead them effectively if you can barely keep your eyes open?  You look exhausted.  You deserve time off.”

            “That’s not possible, Rede,” Talaimai persists.  “I’ve already made my Vice do enough work recently, especially with…” his voice drops down to a whisper, but with the way he looks toward Attenti and me, my heart falls.  We both must be burdens to him, particularly me.

            “It is possible,” Rede says firmly.  “What you and I are going to do is walk down to the wall and tell your Vice that he’ll be commanding tonight.  We will not take “no” for an answer.  I promise you, everyone will agree.” 

 

Attenti and I watch as our guardians depart on their mission.  “We brought back a lot of food that Talaimai earned,” Attenti lets me know.  “We distributed it equally throughout the tents.  I guess we should just eat dinner and get some rest while they’re gone,” he plans.  Instead, we end up telling stories around the fire, stories about our lives and random tales that we remember from the past.

 

            When the moon is high in the sky, a shout from the bottom of the plateau grabs our attention.  “Saphara!  Attenti!  SAPHARA!  ATTENTI!”  No doubt about it, this is my brother!  “SAPHARA AND ATTENTI, GET DOWN FROM HERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!  YOU HAVE TO HELP ME OUT, COME QUICK!” he hollers.

            Attenti and I race from our places around the fire, down the plateau.  In the dark, we pay special attention to safety, and stay close to the plateau as we run.  Talaimai meets us at the bottom, a flashlight in hand.  “Follow me, quick!” he cries.

            “What is it?” Attenti inquires anxiously.

          “It’s Rede,” Talaimai responds, trying to catch his breath.  “She’s... She's been bitten!  By a Cantiko!”