Gemstones

Chapter 5 - Camp's Origin

He kept on walking, I kept gaining on him, until he froze and waited for me to catch up. I picked up the pace to close the short distance between us two. Until I was about one pace away, he put his hand in front of me, an action causing me to halt. 

" 'Ey, Moon, before we have a conversation like you're starting with anyone else, wanna take to the skies? Those two yelling is kinda making my ears bleed."

Allegra and Brayden yelling still echoed through the woods. I guess we're lucky that we are so deep into this field of trees. The figures of the duo were still fighting in the short distance.

"I don't see why not. One problem though."

"Do what you did for everything else. Think of birds, feathers, light-weight or just flight."

"This whole gem thing is solely based on thought... I get it." For the third time today, I closed my eyes and thought. I dreamt of several things that make sky their bitch: Birds, bats, planes and helicopters to name a few. I imagined being a cloud, drifting effortlessly across the sky as if it were a smooth moving conveyor of solid air. I felt a feeling in my bones I have only felt once before. My structure was slowly shortening, becoming hollower by the second. My shrinking arms felt like they were being torn, though it was not painful, as large feathers destroyed my skin. It was around 5 seconds before the sensations stopped. A White Tern.

"Ok, looks like your ready." Cole crouched down before being enveloped in a dark cloud, a blackbird left after it cleared. The small avian lept of the ground, soon thrashing its wings through the thin forest air. I follow suit soon after. His black feathers were relatively difficult to spot on the now night sky but I managed to stay close. 

"So.. Mina, how come you were able to change the other day but today you needed to be instructed?" 

"I... Don't actually know..." I lied. I was scared. It was reflex and I know that but I didn't want to SAY that. I mean, anyone would be scared if black smoke quilted the sky for a few weeks... right?

"Eh, thought as much. Sometimes, things do randomly hit, whether that's in times of excitement, adrenaline, fear.."

Shit.

"Anyways, besides that, how are you settling in? You seem to be doing as well as you can around... the betas."

"I guess it's been fine... A handful but bearable at the least," I answer "Which reminds me, why was I taken? Why do others not like people with gem attachments?"

"You want the true story?" He asks as I nod in response. "Let's find a place to land, small lungs like these limit long conversations, let alone stories." 

Though it hadn't felt like it, we'd been flying for about 10 minutes, how do I know? Let's just say I have been trained by my Dad to reading the position of the moon. We fall silent until we find ourselves above the original opening, the one with the campfire, and we slowly descend into it. The other two still haven't returned so we sit down on our designated hammocks that lay side by side.

"So, you want to know the backstory?"

"Yep, I'm ready," I tell him as I get comfortable.

"Ok. It all began back in the year 1587, the start of the black and white war. It broke out over the smallest issues due to mines colliding over 200 feet under the ground. The two sides were cutting through the rock and dirt, searching for their designated stones until a wall collapsed. The two mines were now conjoined at the end. Instead of turning around, both sides didn't want to give up their land. They kept digging, subsequently colliding time after time. They still didn't give up, going straight to the Kings and Queens for the authority of war. After confirmation, they prepared straight away. The black side held their strongest gems at heart, the whites kept them in heart-shaped lockets around their necks. When 1588 hit its third month, the month of March, both troops stood on the grass fields of the north and stood strong. Voices rang throughout the valley, the leaders of the kingdoms readied their armies for the final time. Once the horn was blown, the battle was already looking bloody: Arrows fired from one side, spears from the other, long shields being thrust through enemy defenses, swords swung, summons tearing others into piles of memories... Hours became days, days became weeks, weeks became months. These 4 months were the breaking point for the civilians of Tetri and Shavi, they had begun to realize the stupidity of their situation, smashing their rocks on anvils until all that was left were shards of glass-like materials. Day by day, more people left the kingdom, more people perished on the battleground. It was October of that same year when the lands fell silent for the first time in centuries... Everyone was ever dead... or ran, forgetting the battle that once was... With their stones broken by their own hands, they had self-demoted themselves to human-hood, no longer the gemstones they used to be. They had forced devolution, in a sense. People lost their ability to summon, transform, forge and many other skills that were valuable to the kingdoms at the time. Gems were now simple human beings, once again..."

"Jesus Fuck..." I was lost for words, this whole hiding from the world thing is serious! I thought this whole thing was just a bunch of 18 to 20-year-olds in a phase where they just leave their home, but to think that we carry war weapons around in our pockets or necklaces. "The reason why you guys are here is due to society? Isn't that kind of racist?"

"No! Christ, no! We're like a separate species with these rocks and gems, we are further developed than other Homo Sapiens. It's a lot more like speciesism than anything else. Technically, that's exactly what it is..."

"People thinking they're better, got it," I replied, reassuringly. "One thing I'm a bit stuck on is the royalty thing. So does that mean you three are from royalty and that there are more out there?"

"That is correct, I am from the Iswed bloodline, the lapis is from the Puleun, topaz from the Shar. All of the kingdoms those families used to own had broken apart, everyone but the kings and queens broke their gems to shards. Seeing as you have a Moonstone, you'd be from...?"

"Ah, the Veyse royal line."

"I see..." He said with this hand on his chin.

"By the way, do you know how many others are out there? Like, blue-blood inheritance of the stones that may still be like us?"

"There are 6 overall that are within a couple hundred miles, 4 individuals and 2 twins. Our goal is to take them in so we can start our own kingdom, persuading people worldwide to become what we were over 400 years ago. The twins, Ingram and Marcas Verde, are both carriers of Jade, Vesta Pula is the daughter of Fire Agate, Dunerre Kafetia the son of Black Orlov, Leila Viola is the daughter of Rubellite and the final within our area is Moral Thota. All we know is that their stone is Aventurine, no idea of gender, race, it was hard enough to find a name."

"And let me guess, we're gonna go look for them tomorrow?"

"Not 'them', We'll be searching for a better place to set up camp, settle down, this whole 'in the middle of nowhere' thing will be difficult to relocate."

"But then, when we do settle down somewhere, who are you up to looking for first?"

There was a short moment of silence as he was thinking. The echo of the crickets and owls whistled through the air, adding to the quietness that became a wall between Cole and me.

"The Verde Twins will be difficult to persuade, We know nothing about Moral, leaving Dunerre and Leila. Due to distance reasons, Dunerre will be the easier one to find."

Dunerre... The Black Orlov...

(Next part coming soon!)