Pompods

4

Oku and Zaree waved to Kaia after leaving the podlings in her care.

He was nearing his twenty-second cycle and had never taken on any sort of apprenticeship as other younglings had. He simply followed Zaree around, or more precisely, she dragged him along as she took care of her duties.

She was sure if given a choice, he would have preferred to stay home and kick the occasional Memee that wandered too close than round up the newest podlings with Zaree.

But Zaree was tenacious; she wanted to make sure the podlings made it safely to Kaia's. Who better to help safeguard them than the one youngling in the village no creature wanted to be near. Podlings were resilient to many things, but had a tendency to become distracted and wander. With Oku present, keeping them in line had become a much easier task.

Oku was never happy to have anything follow him, even after twenty-one cycles, his tolerance of the Memees was only limited to the fact that he could hit them without causing them harm. The fact Memees still followed him made him a perfect candidate to lead the podlings as they enjoyed following and playing with Memees.

As a young elder, it was Kaia's position in the village to help instruct the podlings through the first phases of development. Today's cast was no different than the usual grouping of rambunctious podlings that she instructed.

Most of the Memees had remained except one who'd decided to continue following Oku. Every time it would get in front of him, he would send it flying with a swift kick. It always made Zaree giggle when he did such things and made Kaia wonder if he did it on purpose because of that fact.

She returned her gaze onto the fourteen podlings and watched for a moment as they rolled around or chased a Memee. Two were bouncing towards each other, squishing the Memee standing between them as others simply bounced or rolled over them to hear them squeak.

"Very well everyone, it is time to settle down," she said as she shooed a Memee that was deliberately trying to get underfoot.

"Aww..." resounded from the entire cast.

"I know you're all excited, but there will be plenty of time to play later." she said as she found a comfortable place to sit in the grass as the podlings rolled up close to her.

"Now then, I will try to teach you as much as I know, but it is also up to you as to what we learn today. Since you are all just finishing you third cycles, you will be spending less time with your parents and more time with me or other members in our village."

"How come?" asked a little green podling.

"It will be up to you as to what you wish to become when you get older. Every one of us goes through the same process. We discover what it is we like to do and then we learn the best way to do that task."

"But what if we cannot decide?" asked a curious pink one.

"That is alright as well. We are all here to help one another and so if it takes you a little longer, it is ok."

"Is that why Oku walks with us? He has not decided yet," inquired a light blue podling as it rolled closer to her.

"In a way, yes."

"Is it true he was born looking like that?"

"Why does Zaree look a little like him?"

"Why can no one touch him?"

"Is it true he never speaks?"

As the flood of questions burst forth from the cast, she smiled. This was always the first line of questions she expected from every new cast.