Bloom Ch. 09

Chapter 9: Jasiri

The cloudy first days of winter were now upon them. It was constantly snowing, and Jasiri would have liked to have Shaped together some sturdier winter clothing to protect them against the cold. He'd seen some excellent designs in Lawrence's memories that gave him a million ideas; but Lawrence's firm instructions not to use Shaping were still in effect. So he settled down for the traditional travel garb of his people: a woollen shirt, some time-worn leather trousers, and a traditional coat of fur.

Lawrence was still wearing his odd but efficient motley of clothing. It was torn and stained of mud and dry blood from his ordeal with the slavers. Although he could use Shaping, he remained steadfast and refused to clean and repair it with but a thought.

Jasiri's father offered him a change of clothes, but he declined the offer. He said he couldn't intrude on their kindness any further. He would trade something for the new clothes, a tent, and a mount instead.

Digging into his pile of belongings that they'd transported from the cave. He retrieved a strange looking device. It was shaped like a small stick, and Jasiri instantly knew it for what it was.

It was a plasma cutter. A common tool in the old-world, and a priceless relic by today's standards.

When Lawrence turned it on, his mother and his father gasped as the blade shimmered into existence. It was red, violet, and blue; all intermixing and mingling in a wild variety of configurations. Jasiri was cursing himself for not discovering it earlier.

The device consumed air and produced the scorching blade by means of a laser-induced plasma channel. Jasiri thought the device was extraordinary, but the power cell must have been something else entirely to produce so much power. He was quite pleased with himself for knowing about such matters. Although he wondered how Lawrence had kept it working all this time.

When he asked him, Lawrence told him that to pass the time, he maintained, fixed, and restored an assortment of gear every day back in his hideout.

This sparked Jasiri's interest. When he asked him where that hideout was, Lawrence told him that it was very far away from here, and that every few years, he would set out in a random direction, and just walk. He told him that this time, his long walk had brought him this way.

He would take them there one day if they had the chance.

~*~

It was the tenth day since the start of his adventure, and it was Jasiri's proving. It was his Bloom.

He was finally eighteen, a man grown.

Although he'd proven himself many times over already, he was looking forward to this. The Bloom was important to him, and an equally important yearly ritual for his tribe. Proving years were especially celebrated, what with the extra festivities and all.

He would make his father - and Lawrence - proud. He was brimming with excitement and anticipation.

The entire tribe was gathered to wish him good luck and bid him farewell on his month-long journey. They whispered kind words and encouragements to him. They, too, would pack and gather their tents and travel to their winter homes in the distant Sky Fang mountain after the Bloom. The Great Water Serpent, Sauti Ya Baridi, would protect their passage on their journey.

Lawrence had accepted the duty - and great honour - of being his Spirit Guide, despite his recent ordeal.

To be chosen as a Spirit Guide for a proving despite his ignorance of their tribe's customs showed that the tribe held him in very high regard, and valued his wisdom immensely. With this simple act, he was essentially acknowledged as a full member of the Kilio Bundi tribe. With the blessings and approval of the tribe's elder.

He wasn't sure if Lawrence had realised the implications of his acceptance just yet. He planned to talk to him about it when they had the chance.

For now, Jasiri had a slight problem.

The girl he had saved from the slaver's camp had been following him around like a second shadow. She wouldn't speak a word, he didn't know her name, and he had no idea why she was following him. He tried to dissuade her from following him around with words and hand gestures, but no matter what, she wouldn't relent. With grunts and nods she confirmed that she wasn't going to go away any time soon.

When his friend Mkuki had made fun of this matter, he'd told him how he found her bound to a post inside a tent and looking abused. His friend shut up entirely, and looked at her with more respect.

He suspected that she could understand them. He just wasn't sure why she wasn't talking back to them. Was she planning on accompanying them on his proving, too?

There was nothing in the rules to forbid it. He just wasn't sure if she would be fine with the arduous journey.

He was too busy to research this further at the moment.

The shaman was saying the final words, and after this, his proving would begin.

Before they left, his father approached him and presented him with a present for good luck. It was the plasma cutter.

~*~

Lawrence was riding his new mount, and Jasiri was walking right next to him when he decided to voice his nagging thoughts.

"This is unfair! Why do you get to ride and I get to walk, Lawrence Godwin?" Jasiri grumbled.

"How preposterous! I've never seen a mule travelling on horseback before!" Lawrence said with mischief in his eyes.

"Very funny, Lawrence Godwin. I will get you for that!"

"Just call me Lawrence, and the answer to your original question, it would be because you had nothing to trade for your own mount. You're still a young pup with no wealth or fortune to trade with." Lawrence said.

"I would have made amazing things to trade, had you not forbidden me from using Shaping." Jasiri complained.

"Why don't you use your hands and put that mind to work instead?" Lawrence asked with a smirk.

"I just wish to know why I'm being forbidden from Shaping, and why you don't seem to use it either."

"Seriously, you want to have that talk now?" Lawrence asked.

"No, but once we make camp, we will find the time to talk."

"Agreed."

They walked in silence for a few paces, then heard an audible cough coming from behind them.

"It seems that your new friend is still following us." Lawrence said.

"Yes, and for the life of me, I do not know why she insists on following me everywhere." Jasiri lifted his arms in frustration.

"Maybe she likes you." Lawrence suggested.

Jasiri blushed a little, and they heard the cough again.

"She's going to be seriously sick in this cold if we don't give her something to warm up with." Lawrence commented, "she's still wearing the tattered clothing from the slaver's camp."

"She refused the clothing the tribeswomen offered her. My mother told me."

"What if you offered it to her?"

"What difference would it make?" Jasiri asked.

"Just try it." Lawrence said.

Jasiri thought on this, and decided that he'd at least give it a try. They paused on their travel, and Jasiri lowered the packs tied to the horse. At least I don't have to carry my own pack, he thought.

He quickly procured a fur coat from his belongings, and turned to look at the girl.

She was shivering from the cold, and the falling snow was sticking to her unusually long brown hair.

He carefully approached her, and presented her with the coat at arm's length. She quickly accepted his offering with an appreciative grunt.

"See? I told you it would work. She really likes you." Lawrence said with a chuckle.

They both blushed this time.

~*~

"Are you sure that the slavers will not pose a problem for my tribe any more, Lawrence Godwin?" Jasiri asked.

They were sat around the fire in their temporary camp. Right next to the erect tent that Lawrence had traded for.

The girl perked up when she heard them talking about the slavers. This was the second confirmation he needed to know that she could indeed understand their words.

"Yes. Let's just say that I have made a deal with the world-mother." Lawrence said in all seriousness.

"I still can not believe you when you so casually speak of such things." Jasiri said in awe.

"I did nothing. She approached me first."

"You are indeed a great sage. To be able to bargain with the world-mother is unheard of!"

"It wasn't that hard. I have something she wants real bad." Lawrence said with a frown.

"What did you offer her in exchange?" Jasiri asked in wonder.

"My soul, or something like that."

This startled Jasiri.

"You would trade your soul to do this for my tribe?" Jasiri was nonplussed.

"Not just for your tribe... I did it for all of humanity, and for all time. Nobody will be able to Shape in evil again. Ever." Lawrence said with conviction.

Jasiri and the girl looked at Lawrence with newfound admiration and respect. If this was true - and Jasiri didn't doubt it - then Lawrence was the herald of a new age.

"Did you speak to my tribe of this?" Jasiri asked.

"Yes. I told your elder, your shaman, and all your warriors. They don't have to fear going against slavers ever again."

"So, why can't we Shape?"

"Because if you use Shaping, the world-mother can control you." Lawrence explained.

"Is that a bad thing? The world-mother controls everything already." Jasiri was not convinced.

"The world-mother doesn't control everything." Lawrence said after thinking for a while, "she can only control you if you use her Shaping."

Jasiri struggled with this concept. His agitation at having his beliefs torn from under his feet was palpable.

The girl just looked confused. She was sitting next to them by the fire, shivering.

The idea that the world-mother didn't control everything was problematic in itself. How did the animals know how to make the game trails in the forest? How did the birds learn to build their nests? How did the passenger pigeons find their way in such huge flocks in the sky?

He was startled when Lawrence's thoughts about the passenger pigeons filtered into his mind. They were extinct? How? How were they restored?

"Cloning, and trust me: it all happened." Lawrence thought to him sadly.

The concept of extinction itself hurt his head. How could men hunt something to that extent? How could they eradicate a species so utterly and completely and without pause for mercy? How could they not see that it was wrong and immoral? How could greed drive man so far? Such behaviour was beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

The girl was dozing off now, unaware of the silent conversation taking place. Jasiri got up and wrapped her in some extra furs.

"Do you care about her?" Lawrence asked him after she was enveloped in warmth and soundly asleep.

Jasiri blushed.

"I guess I got used to her following me around."

"She's very pretty though." Lawrence commented.

"I am sure she is." Jasiri said.

He was not comfortable with the direction this conversation was heading. Not one bit.

"What did you call the world-mother earlier? Sarah?" He tried to change the subject.

"Yes."

"Is that one of her names?" he asked.

"I suppose so, yes." Lawrence said, "it is her original name, after all."

"Did you know the world-mother before The Cataclysm?"

"Sort of. She did not exist before The Cataclysm in her current form."

"What? The world-mother came before man. She created man!"

"Trust me, that's not true."

"I do not believe you."

"You don't have to, but it's all true."

"Did you speak to her before now?"

"Not in recent history. No."

"Then how do you know of the world-mother, Lawrence Godwin?" Jasiri asked.

"Trust me, I know her best... I created her."