SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 5: All of the Souls

Somewhere, someone is still waiting for the winter wind to howl, to wipe away the leaves that have fallen, expose the earth and silence the owls.

Who is missing? And who is listening to the quiet breeze? When you can read it then you will know it, the wonders of the ocean and the quiet breeze.

Options that amount to wishing on a shooting star are only dreams that delay reality. So place your wishes in a cauldron that is fuelled with love and the lost hopes for an answer that you were dreaming of.

What happened to you, my love?

Who is missing? And who is listening to the quiet breeze? When you can read it then you will know it, the spirit of the world and its quiet breeze.

Excerpts from the personal journal of Gadi Reyes, leader of the Survivor tribe, @ 2051, one year after the Earth had its orbit altered.

Chapter 5: All of the Souls

Claris could not silence her stomach's protests for food. She heard the grumblings despite her mind's loud queries: How many more lessons would she have to endure before she would be allowed to pursue her dreams of discovering a botanical cure for the tribe? Her last meal had been too long ago, but she refused to complain to Eldris for fear that he would view her as just another weak female UnderStrata who could not endure more than a few tests of her mettle.

She started to daydream: Maybe if I gave him a kiss on the cheek, he would let me go on my way. Or perhaps he would feed me some cavefish or stuber stew.

Eldris' praise arrived just in time to prevent her from following through on her hunger-conceived notion: "Very good Claris. You have tasted defeat, swallowed the experience, and digested a key lesson─keep your heart and mind open to new experiences. This will be your pathway to a life of glory."

Claris eyed the pillars that supported the massive Hall passageways. Engraved into the pillars were the names of the Ancient heroes: Covis, Eris, Frackis, Gadis, Reis, Talis, and Weldris. These were the seven ancestors that had sacrificed and toiled so that the Survivor tribe could be born and more recently, survive in the underground cave systems. Gadis had set the tone for collaboration and tribal harmony. The others worked together and supported each other throughout the 'time of the tempests.' That time occurred many generations ago as Mother Earth tried to balance the SkyGod's raging fury by releasing steam from vents and fire from the caves.

Some of the UnderStrata tribal folklore relates how Ancient tribal members lived in SkyGod's domain long ago in the before time. Tribes roamed the land, tracked and hunted hordes of beasts such as the bearded beast, and lived in shelters constructed from large trees like the Yate, along with heated and compressed earth. When a knowledgeable tribe called Scientists determined that SkyGod was too powerful, they tried to move SkyGod farther away from Mother Earth. This attempt was frowned upon by SkyGod and He punished the inhabitants of His domain for their arrogance─Who were they to adjust the fine balance that SkyGod and Mother Earth had worked out for themselves? SkyGod then unleashed powerful energy bolts that scorched Mother Earth, cooled the oceans, and forced all of the inhabitants to move underground or perish.

I wonder how the families of the Ancient Heroes lived during those tempestuous times? Claris muttered to herself as she dusted herself off and thought of her parents.

The pictograms that lined the Hall provided some evidence of their toils and way of life. Reading the Heroes' names aloud temporarily distracted Claris from the gnawing emptiness in her stomach. These Heroes and their families had long ago passed into the stone but were not forgotten.

"Eldris, what deeds must one do in order for one's name to be engraved into the Hall of the Ancients?"

"Claris, it is not only deeds that speak to a person's worthiness, but also the trust that she engenders."

Claris looked at the engraved names and wondered if her Father had ever gazed upon these names as she was doing now. He had disappeared a long time ago but she still thought of him almost every day. What had happened to him so that he had to leave her so soon? Her Mother had refused to answer any questions about Father's fate.

She now looked at Eldris with the eye of a young child, in search of answers that were out of her reach, just beyond her current level of comprehension. Did he know what had happened to her Father? Had Father left the caves to search for a cure for the warrior affliction?

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When Claris was around the age of ten, while helping her Mother to wash pots, Mother had innocently said to Claris:

"Your Father had a sister who lived to the age of eight rituals-of-fire but then she passed into the stone from an unknown affliction. Her name was Carlis. So when you were born, we named you Claris in honour of her. Father also wanted a boy child. I became with child soon after you were born but then that unborn child returned to Mother Earth. For seven steam cycles after the passing of our unborn child, Father and I both wore tribal moss colours on our foreheads. Then we decided to not talk about our loss anymore."

"But Mamya, how come you and Daddya did not have another child to replace the lost one?" Claris had innocently asked.

"Your Father spent a lot of his time out of our home cave searching for something that the Elders had tasked of him. He would not discuss this with me or anyone else. The rest of his time was spent training you."

Her Mother's cheeks were moist with tears and her eyes reddened by the rubbing.

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She wanted to ask Eldris how surviving tribe members can live in peace after the premature passing into the stone of their loved one, but she sensed that Eldris was more focused on teaching her some other important lessons.

Claris looked at the engraved names again. Her reddened eyes were now floating in a pond of tears. She wondered if her Father, with his graceful and almost effortless talent for tracking and killing, had been recruited and trained by the Elders to explore outside of the caves. Since he had never returned, she also wondered what happens to a tribe member's soul when their lifeless body cannot be added to the Sea of Fertility? Does the soul become trapped in the stone or does Mother Earth reincarnate it as moss or a gemstone?

She then quietly pleaded with Mother Earth:

"Do I have to die in order to have my name engraved into the Hall of the Ancients? Is this the only way for me to see my Father again?"

Claris hoped that by performing the task that was about to be handed down to her, she would forge a better connection with Mother Earth and those around her. If she had picked that time to scrutinize her face in a gemstone mirror, she would have seen a young woman with a roughened face, smeared with the grit of losing her Father and washed with the tears of longing to be loved by a man. She longed for Mother Earth to absorb and take away all of her overactive and intrusive thoughts about tribal expectations as well as the suffering that she and her Mother had felt since Father had disappeared. This way, perhaps her Father's soul could be engulfed by Mother Earth in the Sea of Fertility and finally, rest in peace.