The Sketch: The Voyage of Soal

Catching Up

Slowly awakening, Soal blinked in the brightness of noon, the sun glaring at him. He felt like he was being carried. And he was. Beneath him were ten armored kiwis, all heaving him across the rocky basin, as though they found him. Kiwi, also armored, walked abreast with the rescue group. They seemed to be taking them back to the army. The army! Soal remembered. He was lost in the Outlands, but these fellows picked him up just in time. It was as though they could sense his presence. Turning his head, he saw Kiwi, who looked at him as well. Then Soal was unconscious again.

Waking up again, Soal was lying in a sickly green tent, with a few familiar faces above him, including Kiwi, Porter, Retna, and Anter, with some more behind them. Anter was holding a few towels that were soaked with blood, indicating the pain he'd taken since he had first encountered the Dark Soldiers. And Soal smiled. Not the scary smile like a clown. Not the suspicious smile of a nurse. Just a smile, a fun-loving, mischievous smile, and everyone else smiled back. Except Porter. He knew of the troubles that lie ahead, now that things were real. "Kiwi can be so unfocused on the future at times. I knew you shouldn't have trusted him that time. You were nearly killed by the black soldiers. But that's only a scratch on the knee compared to our next battles. If we don't fare well then, we'll all die. But for now we focus on preparations. Preparations, preparations, preparations. There will come a time, General Soal, when we cannot prepare at all. But it is all we can do now."

"Where are we going and where are we now?" Soal croaked, which made him realize how much damage he'd taken. But by now, he'd managed to sit up in the mattress, and was feeling a little better. But it would take days to heal completely, or at least enough so that he could leave the tent independently. "And where are my weapons and armor?"

"We'll give you those when you're ready for battle," Kiwi stated, "And we're in the base camp. We could stay here for a few days, but not much longer. We'd have to keep moving to stay ahead of Articulus's troops, and deal with them before they reach the mountain, where their first goal is. Something they want is there."

"Well, for now I guess I'll just stay here. You go on," Soal was reluctant to stay here, for he was restless and wanted to explore, but he just had to be kept in here. It was for his own good. As Porter left the tent to discuss with troops, the kiwis stayed inside to talk with Soal.

"So, idiot," Retna complemented. "You actually did a pretty good job there. But you also made our mission a whole lot longer, so perhaps I'll have to blame you for cutting that bridge. But we were far ahead of you. We had this camp established perhaps just this morning. And we're expecting an attack. But as Porter always says, 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.'" With that she and Anter left the tent. Kiwi stayed behind.

"I don't know how such a person would become like Retna. After all, she was the Queen of Lubreigha. But she didn't really do much. Maybe she just wanted all that dignity. But she was born with it, there was no way she could live up to her mother, who lived in the time of Moth. And her great-grandmother, who founded Lubreigha, was born in the time of a much lesser-known Un-Character. Have you ever heard of Gage?" Kiwi was a talkative character. "Gage was the first Un-Character, but he didn't come in the face of danger. He didn't really do anything. And he was a lot older than you or Moth, in his forties or so. He made a sanctuary for Kiwis, the same one I was born within in the Outlands, and lives there to this day." Soal and Kiwi's conversation continued even after everyone else in the camp had fallen asleep.