Chapter 15: Village

Everyone stopped, frozen at the sight of the beast. It lumbered forward on all fours, its thick body towering over us with a spiked tail that could easily reach the kids even with the distance between them. Its ashy gray skin was rough, and it had a smashed face but long sharp fangs to make up for it. What made this creature truly eerie were its sightless white eyes.

It came closer to the water, sniffing the air, following our scent. The kid with the stick waded to the other side of the pool and waved his arms in the air.

"Hey! Ugly! Over here; look!" he called to the beast, and its attention shifted to him. "Guys, run back to the village!"

One of the girls shouted back, "No! Stellan! We can't leave you!"

Stellan backed away. "Just go!"

The beast cornered Stellan against the mountain near the waterfall as Kiko hastily made her way toward them. A glint of light reflected off her knife as she planted it between her teeth to use both arms to wade through the water faster. We all watched in terror as the beast opened its mouth, ready to gobble the kid in one bite.

"Stellan!" the girl screamed.

The beast lunged at him, but Kiko swooped in, catching the beast by two of its fangs. They were stuck in a stalemate, Kiko holding its teeth as it attempted to snap its jaws shut. The beast was slowly forcing Kiko down, underneath the water, as she struggled to keep it at bay.

Rei ran to me, and I immediately knew what she wanted. I threw her blaster to her and took out Kiko's for myself.

She shot the beast a few times in the leg. The blasts didn't seem to penetrate its skin; instead, patches of black burn marks were left behind where each blast struck it. What kind of creature was this? Despite the shots not doing much, Kiko took the opportunity to offset its balance and throw the giant beast against the rocks. She took her knife from between her teeth and readied herself.

"Get out of here, kid," she told Stellan.

He slowly backed away, watching events unfold with marveling eyes.

The beast got back up and swung its tail with a mad swing, growling in their direction.

"Sarth, in my belt there's a pouch that's filled with tiny red balls." Kiko rolled out of the way of its attacking mouth again. "Throw me one."

I tossed Kiko's blaster to Rei, and she ran around shooting the creature from all directions. I started opening pouches, looking for tiny balls. I found spikes, chains, extra blaster cartridges, and finally, the red balls.

"I found them!" I exclaimed as I ran closer to throw it.

The ball was tiny, easily lost in my fist. I tried to throw it at her but couldn't see where it went. She had to take a step and stretch her arm, but somehow she caught it. Then she started climbing up the rock wall, avoiding attacks as she went.

When she was high enough on a ledge, the beast was left jumping and snapping, trying to reach her. She glanced down at it, rubbing her hands together quickly. When she stopped, she looked back over the edge at the snapping beast, a look of calculation crossing her face. Then she spun around and did a backflip off the ledge and over the beast.

I couldn't see the tiny ball, but her arm lunged out in a throwing position. On the way down she rolled and kicked off its back, landing pretty far from it but still running towards us. It took a moment for the beast to realize she was no longer on the ledge before it sniffed the air and changed direction, going after her again.

The kid was still in awe, watching Kiko not too far away from the action. As she ran, she grabbed his hand and dragged him behind some rocks.

"Get down!" Rei shouted as she shoved the kids behind some other large rocks.

And that was when I realized where the ball had gone—she'd thrown it in the creature's mouth. I was barely able to get behind a tree when the beast abruptly exploded from the inside-out. It was a strong blast; the shockwave alone bent over nearby trees, which wasn't something I was expecting from such a tiny bead.

Beast guts flew in every direction, leaving nothing but a mess and a bad odor. The chunks rained down to the ground, plopping against the earth before all went still and quiet. I peeked from my shelter to look at the aftermath.

"You guys all right?" Rei asked in a sweet tone as they came out from the rocks.

They nodded in unison, staring at what was left of the creature. One of the younger girls was clutching Rei's leg.

"How'd you do that?" Stellan asked Kiko, his eyes beaming as he examined the remains.

"Uhh." Kiko didn't know how to answer. "I was trained for it."

"Have you come from Crux to exterminate all the vladicles?" he asked with excitement.

"No," she said bluntly.

The kids frowned and moaned with disappointment. I jogged my way over to them, happy to see Kiko in one piece after that stunt.

Rei interjected, "We just came to visit. Do you know where we can find Vero?"

"Yeah! He's my dad!"

"Oh yeah that's right," Kiko said, "He had a son who was supposed to arrive after he established the new colony."

"It's nice to finally meet you!" Rei said.

"You know my dad?"

"Yeah, we showed him how to get to Dezner a few years ago, to start a colony here."

"No way!" His face lit up. "You're the Jago crew?"

Rei and Kiko nodded. I guessed Vero had told his son about the Jago, but of course I wasn't there at the time.

Cashel and Tammy emerged from the bushes. The kids were still apprehensive and ran behind us, all but Stellan.

"It's all right; they're with us," Rei said, coaxing them from hiding.

The five kids, including Stellan, all looked about ten or younger. I couldn't believe how brave Stellan was, attracting the beast so the others could get away. Even though the other kids wouldn't abandon him. To have a strong bond like that with each other … the colony must be a close-knit group. Maybe we'd be safe here after all.

"Everything all right?" Cashel asked, a large blaster in his arms.

"I detected the activation of a teeny bomb," Tammy said.

"We're okay now," Kiko said. Cashel lifted a foot and examined the guts hanging in strings from the bottom of his boots. "It used to be a vladicle," she continued.

"Still territorial as ever I see," Cashel said. "And who are these kids?"

Rei answered. "This one is Vero's son."

"Oh, it's nice to finally meet you," Cashel said with a big smile.

Stellan's eyes widened. "You're Cashel! The captain of the Jago!"

Cashel laughed. "Yes, I am. Can you take us to your father?"

"Yeah, sure! It's this way!"

Stellan led the way with his friends as we trekked back through the forest. We walked for about a mile until the trees abruptly stopped, revealing a large village full of brown homes.

The kids ran off in different directions once we hit the border. The only one who stayed was Stellan, who led us to Vero. We were almost to the center of the village when we stopped in front of a strange house. As we came closer I could see the finer details of what all the houses were made from. It looked like the trunks of trees.

Stellan opened the door and let us in.

"Dad! Guess who's here!" he yelled out.

A man stepped out from one of the side rooms. He must've been in his early thirties with a short, unkempt beard and matching wavy brown hair. His loose garb was splattered with small bits of something I didn't recognize; it was also everywhere on the floor.

I picked up a larger piece from under my foot to examine it.

"Sawdust," Tammy said, noticing my curiosity. "From chopping trees."

It was strange to think people just chopped down trees on other planets. On Sola, trees were revered because they were so rare. Chopping one down would easily get not only yourself killed, but your entire family as well. I didn't give the trees here much thought because my master used to have a tree in his mansion, but holding the piece in my hand suddenly made me very nervous.

I dropped it and changed my mindset. There were new things I would discover every day. Some things I would have to accept in the blink of an eye to keep up with the others.

Cashel smiled when the man realized who it was.

"Well, if it isn't the Jago crew!" Vero smiled back. "What're you doin' back on Dezner?"

"It's good to see you, Vero! It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but let me tell you I thought it would be longer!" Vero joked.

Cashel chuckled and then sighed. "Me too. We need a place to stay. I hope you don't mind."

"No problem! In fact, you can stay here with Stellan and me. We have two extra rooms."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure how long we're going to stay."

"Stay as long as you'd like! I insist," he said, ushering us up the stairs and to the two vacant rooms.

"There's one other thing, Vero."

Vero's face dropped as he read the seriousness emanating from Cashel and the rest of us.

"Have you had any visitors lately? Or any planned visits from Crux coming up?"

"No." Vero put a hand to his chin. "Our mining progress has been halted recently, due to a newly discovered mineral that's nested in our original mining section. Because of that, we haven't had enough ore to transport back to Crux." He sighed and scratched his head. "It took months to stabilize that mining section, and I expect it'd take months to stabilize the new area."

Cashel didn't show it, but I knew we were all thinking the same thing.

"That's unfortunate for you, but good new to us. We're trying to stay low-key for a while, until the Millennium Galaxy Race excitement has died down some."

"Well then, that is good news to you," Vero said. "It'll be some time before we contact Crux for the next transport."

Cashel slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry; we'll help you out. It's the least we can do."

Cashel and I ended up taking one room while the girls were in the other larger one. Vero helped us carry stuff from the Jago back to his home.

"I heard you saved my boy from a vladicle," he said to Kiko, carrying some of Tammy's boxes.

"We happened to be in the same area."

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, to all of you," he said sincerely.

"Stellan was very brave. His first concern was his friends." She gave a small smirk to Stellan who was helping Rei unpack some weapons. "That's something you don't find very often."

#

Before we knew it, three months passed, and it was probably the best three months of my life. The planet was beautiful, and I loved experiencing the different types of weather and changes as time moved forward. Leaves changed colors and withered away, and the daily temperature dropped a little, day by day.

Everyone was very generous, hard-working, and welcomed us like family. We shared a meal at nearly every home in the village. Vero couldn't have picked better people to take with him to create this colony. It took a little bit of adjustment for Kiko and Tammy, but soon we blended in and lived like all the other villagers.

Since there were no bounties to catch, we pulled our weight by helping with odd jobs. We farmed, fixed houses, or worked in the mines. We helped in the mines the most, since that was the main line of work for the villagers, but other days we explored the beautiful planet and camped out with the kids.

Stellan always followed Kiko around, especially when she was training. He admired her skills and strove to be just like her. Kiko wasn't very enthused about the idea, but she let him tag along since he would basically stalk her otherwise.

All the kids loved Rei as much as she loved them. In fact, she and Tammy were the only ones who didn't work in the mines. Instead, Rei took care of the kids most days. It was fun to watch her run around and chase the littler kids with big smiles on their faces.

Tammy didn't take too well to the lack of technology, but she never complained. She devoted her time to creating newer, better tools for the miners to use. Literally everyone on the planet went to see her about all sorts of technological problems, and she rather enjoyed fixing them.

Cashel worked in the mines with Kiko and me, and he got to know everyone we worked with, their names, where they lived, what they used to do before coming to Dezner—he knew it all. Afterward, he would sometimes go have a drink with them in the drinking hall. Everyone loved him and his humor. He was just a fun guy to hang around with. His stories were always great too; one of the best storytellers I knew. Maybe that came with living for thousands of years.

I did a little bit of everything around the village. Cooking, cleaning, kid-watching; I was willing to do anything to help do my part. What I enjoyed the most though was camping out with the kids, Rei, and Kiko.

One day they convinced us to go camping up in the southern mountain where the workers had stopped mining because a new abundant mineral was covering their mining locations.

It took all day to hike to the top, but amazingly we made it with ten other kids. It was worth the hike. The view from the peak was astonishing. We could see the tops of all the trees, the village, and the northern mountains at the end, all in front of the backdrop of a blend of purple and red as the large sun set. It was a vast planet, and it was a weird thought that we were the only ones on it.

Kiko and I set up our beds on the ledge of the mining cave where we had decided to sleep for the night. We set up here because it had a great view of the stars; we just couldn't get enough of them.

She took out her knife, which now had the firestar embedded in the handle, and held it up to the sky. It was glowing brightly as usual.

Something was on her mind.

"Do you think people change?" she asked me.

I turned on my side to see her, and once I was looking at her it took a while for me to answer. Eventually I managed to say, "You've lived twice as long as me. Do you think you have?"

She contemplated my remark.

"I want to say I have, but I'm not sure if I believe it," she whispered, staring back at me.

Something was bugging her. I'm not sure she wanted to say what, but I knew something had been nagging her since we met.

"Believing you can is the first step to changing." I smiled. "I believe you can, but I also love who you are right now."

She chuckled. "I believe you were always the Sarth I've known. I don't think you've ever been different."

I chuckled back. "You didn't know me back then, so how would you know?"

Suddenly she sighed, and her smile dropped.

"Exactly," she whispered under her breath as she lowered her knife and turned away from me. "Good night."

My mouth opened and closed, trying to find the right words, but I obviously hadn't said the right thing to her comment. What were the chances I'd get it right this time? I groaned at myself and said good night.

#

We were hiking back down through the mountain caves when I noticed something move on the black rock walls.

"Did you see that?" I asked Kiko. "The wall moved. Is that normal here?"

"I don't know," she said and gestured for me to stay back.

The black rocks on the walls of the cave were the new mineral that'd kept this mountain from being mined. No one had said anything about it moving though.

The rest of the group continued ahead except for Kiko, Stellan, and me. We watched as Kiko took out her knife.

She slowly touched the tip of her knife to the rock, and it unexpectedly moved like a glob of liquid onto it. Her first reaction was to throw the knife behind her.

That took Stellan and me by surprise. Our gut reactions urged us to duck to the ground when she suddenly turned, and it was good that we did.

The knife embedded deep into the other side of the black rock wall, and we looked at her with wide eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized with a guilty smile. "It was instinct."

"Good thing we know you well enough to tell when our life is in danger," I said, rubbing my chest out of relief.

The three of us went closer to examine the half blade sticking out of the rock wall.

The blade was now jet black, just like the rocks. Kiko tapped her knife handle, but nothing moved this time. Then she gripped it, and still nothing happened. Finally, she pulled the knife out of the rock and continued to examine it.

"Huh, that's strange. Have these rocks ever moved like that before?" she asked Stellan.

"No, I don't think so."

"I'll see if Tammy knows anything about it." She put her black-tinted knife back on her hip. "Let's catch up to the others."

#

It was already dark by the time we reached the village and Rei, Kiko, and I were all carrying a tired kid on our backs. Rei made sure everyone got home safely as Stellan and I followed Kiko to see Tammy about her black knife.

"What do you think?" she asked Tammy once inside the house.

Tammy twirled it in her fingers, then wrapped a glowing hair around it.

"I've never heard of a mineral like this before," she finally responded.

Kiko raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it's dangerous?"

"No. In fact, it likes you."

The three of us made a face.

"It … likes me?"

"Yes. It seems this mineral is some type of basic life form. Therefore, it can think for itself, and it likes you, which is why it has chosen to stay with you."

"Oh. So I should keep it?"

"That is up to you, although getting it off might prove to be difficult. Its composition enables it to change its shape, and the fact that it can think on its own makes this an extremely rare mineral. I see no harm in keeping it. It might come to benefit you in the future."

Kiko thought about it. "I see. Thanks, Tammy."

Tammy returned the knife. "May I make a request?" she added.

"Sure, go for it."

"Will you take me to where you found this mineral? I would like to examine it more in its natural habitat."

"You want me to take you on a day-long journey back to where we just came from?"

"Yes."

Kiko stared at her for a moment, trying to determine if it was a joke. But our queen of jokes was completely serious.

"All right." Kiko gave in. "Call me when you're ready."

"I'll come too," I said.

"Me too!" said Stellan.

#

At daybreak, the next morning we found ourselves hiking back up the south mountain. We made great pace since there were only three of us walking. Yep, that's right, I said three.

"I didn't think when you asked me to take you, that it literally meant I would carry you up the mountain," Kiko protested.

Tammy, who was on her back, didn't respond.

It was truly difficult for Stellan and me to keep from bursting out laughing.

We reached the mining cave in the early evening, and Tammy spent the next few hours studying the rocks.

I left Kiko, who was teaching Stellan how to correctly throw a blade into the ground, and went to sit next to Tammy. I was intrigued by her focused state.

She was just sitting on the ground, staring at a small black rock in her hands, so I asked, "How's it goin'?"

"Fascinating. I've never seen composition like this before. It can take on different forms at will, depending on the situation. Plus, it's evolving at an exponential rate as it experiences new surroundings."

"Oh," I said, taking interest. "So why does it like Kiko so much?"

Tammy wrapped a glowing hair around the small piece of the black rock, and it transformed into different shapes in the palm of her hand. "I'm sure it likes her power."

I thought for a moment. "Her power, huh?"

What is her power?

The power to be a super awesome fighter? I wasn't sure because I didn't know what power really was. There was so much I didn't know about her or the galaxy.

Suddenly Tammy turned to me.

"Get Kiko," she said, jumping to her feet. Her alertness made me jump up as well.

"What's wrong?"

"Another ship has landed on this planet. With hostile intentions."