Ballad of the Brothers: The Lion

Chapter Nine

After Gaol had gotten sufficient rest, they broke camp and began westward, as usual. Eventually, as the sun was somewhere around the 4pm position, they had come to the hill containing the ravine which in turn contained the mineshaft. Reuben had the bright idea of marking it by stabbing a stake with a strip of fabric attached to it into the ground.
As the sun began to set, they set up camp again by a stream that ran frim Northwest to Southeast. Reuben and Shen set out to hunt, having found some antelope tracks nearby.  Gaol was poring over the maps as Caiaphas was scribbling away in his journal, charcoal in hand. Suddenly, Gaol broke the silence.
"Say, I remember you saying that you were a seer. Out of curiosity, what's it like being able to see into the future, or even outside of your field of view? I can't even begin to imagine it myself..."
Caiaphas looked up from his notes about the surrounding flora and fauna. He was actually writing a sort of bestiary as he traveled, filling page after page of ornate handwriting and lifelike drawings.
"Hmm…If I had to describe it in a word, it would be…uncanny. It's an almost dreamlike experience. What happens when I look around myself is that, time slows, and I sort of…push off of my body like a springboard. Movement is not like our clunky physical kind in that plane, which I will refer to as the Astral Plane. In fact, the laws governing cause and effect there are nonexistent as an observer. If I willed it, my foot could become my head, my eyes can be thrown as far as I want to, as long as there aren't any psionic barriers. This is the physical aspect of my clairvoyance, in which I simply leave my body to have a look. It is disorienting when returning to the body, though, which is why I don't do it more often. Oh, and if I am allowed entry into someone's mind, including my own, I can walk through their memories. This has it's own dangers, though, because every mind, every ego, has a defense system that will either assimilate, destroy, or ignore your own. Not to mention that it just leaves a bad taste in the mouths of both parties. Some things aren't meant to be known."    Gaol was nodding as she listened attentively. She was always interested in hearing other people's perspectives.
"As for the spiritual aspect of clairvoyance, Revelation. Basically, my mind shuts down, and enters a sort of stasis in which all I can do is listen and watch. There is no movement, no interactivity. Sometimes I've had moments where in a vision I am in my own body, feeling every movement of my muscles but being helpless, and suddenly being flung into the body of some other being. I sincerely despise that feeling, which is why I try not to use this aspect of my abilities either. Not to mention, it leaves me vulnerable both physically and mentally. I prefer to be in control."
He said this last part with his hands in a fist, and determination in his eyes, as if he was clutching something. Gaol uncomfortably adjusted her sitting posture.
"Hmm, I've never thought about it that way…but it WOULD explain why there is such a defeatist attitude in the Jagd. They gave up their physical independance just for knowledge. We have people like that too, on the Inner Moon. They're miserable."
Caiaphas nodded gravely. He then raised his finger, having remembered something.
"Ah, right, the Inner Moon. I was supposed to ask you about that.  What's it like there?"
At this, Gaol rubbed her hair-feathers with her talons.
"It's…a bit difficult to explain, but I'll try. It's like a very large city, in the sky. It's both a command center and a place of residence. The further you go inside, the deeper into the ghetto you end up. The strange thing about it, though, is that in the very center, there is this weird…machine thingy. It's always spinning and whirring, and so it's hard to find any place inside because the districts are always moving and changing layers. Luckily, a few generations ago, we were able to find a way to mark each location and connect it to a magical globe. I don't know what that core does, but it makes me wonder if someone built an entire MOON, and if so, why?  How did they get something that big to float in the sky…"
Caiaphas was also confused. "Ehhh…? Someone built it?"
Shen shrugged. "That's just my theory. Oh, but the people there are actually pretty cheerful. On the surface, there's a massive market where everyone goes to buy things that the others brought from down here. We get the occasional bad apples, but when we do, our guard force, the Dregs, take care of them. They got that name because they see what they're doing as a tedious act of taking out the trash, but some of them are nice enough if you know em well enough. Our father was actually one. Their uniforms are really just a heavy jacket and some very fluffy pantaloons, sort of similar to the ones the mercs down here wear, but more plain. One of these days, maybe we can find a way to get you up there…but the only way up there as of right now is to fly very far, even when it's directly above."
Caiphas was taking notes as she said this.
"Yeah, looks like that's another reason I should learn to fly. Ah, Reuben, Shen, How'd it go?"
The two unslung their hunting bags. "Well, we didn't find the antelope, but we did find a fox and a hare that had both gotten stuck in some brambles. I was gonna just leave them alone out of pity, but Shen told me, "Stop. Those two there? They made a mistake. Because of their mistake, they will either die of hunger, and then be eaten, or get killed anyways, and be eaten. That's just how it is. Here." He actually handed ME the bow, knowing full well that I can't stand the sight of blood."
Shen was laughing hard at his impression of him. "He missed every single shot out of a quiver of 20. By that time they had already stopped struggling. You could hear them breathing loudly, as if to say, 'Just kill us already!' So, I ended their suffering." He unrolled the parcel containing the already skinned, already cleaned meat.
"The furs are a bit bruised, but I'm sure they'd fetch a decent price. Oh, and I found a bunch of roots. Dunno what they're called, but I ate them before and nothing bad happened, so I'm guessing they're edible." Reuben added, kicking off his boots.
Caiaphas stood, cracking his knuckles and slamming his book shut. "You guys can take it easy. I'll handle cooking duty this time."
Reuben adjusted his collar nervously at this. Shen coughed. Gaol calmly rose to help him.
From the cooking tent,  the sound of meat being beaten into submission filled the air, followed by a wretched squelching and some thumping noises. Gaol was heard yelling, "Watch what you do with that thing! You can poke someone's eye out!" Then there was silence. Reuben was leaning forward, one eye squinting, one eye bulging. It didn't sound like any sort of cooking that he was used to.

About half an hour later, Caiaphas and Gaol emerged from the tent. Caiphas was holding a pot full of mashed roots and meat. One of his hands was bandaged. Gaol readied the wooden bowls tiredly. After she had a seat, she began with a sigh.
"He can cook, and quite well at that. The problem is that he shouldn't cook.  He was swinging that knife around like a drunk instead of cutting properly, Then, he had the bright idea of punching the hare to soften it. It worked until he inevitably hit a bone, and he was hunched over, on the verge of tears. Still, in the end he was able to get the rest done."
Caiaphas chuckled. "I learned to cook from watching this lady at an open air stall. Apparently, though, she was an entertainer instead of the usual sort of chef. Imagine if I had tried to use booze. Anyways, should be cool enough to dig into now."
The food was surprisingly good, and they spent the rest of the night sluggish because of the amount they ate. Everybody was too sleepy to keep watch, so for once, they broke protocol.