Pompods

13

In the village, a sense of normality had returned. The barricade had been rebuilt and fortified, and sentries had been posted to monitor the Tarks to ensure they did not breach into the valley again. Tar had noticed activity by the silver lake and upon closer investigation found that it was simply a few dozen Memees wading into the lake and busying themselves. She reported her findings to the Elders but they concluded that they were merely up to their old habits of finding new ways to entertain themselves.

A few more tremors had been felt but had been so minor that most did not even notice them.

Zaree continued to teach the podlings in Kaia's place while Oku patiently sat at the edge of the class and kept a watchful eye on the group.

Elder Ino convened with the elders about their concern with Oku and the form he had taken when he had battled the Tarks. He reassured them that his form had simply been a response to the attacks. Since Oku had never ascended to his second form during the ceremony he suggested the form witnessed had always been present within him but only during an event of high duress had it been brought forth.

"Perhaps we had never seen it before because he has never had to defend himself or he has never felt threatened until now," he said as the elders contemplated his words. "Do consider that Oku's state was directly connected to his losing Kaia. When he changed into this... other form, he only attacked the Tark beasts and no one else."

"Yes, but had Zaree not been there, we do not know if he would have changed back," said Elder Kay'l. "Can you say for certain that he wouldn't have harmed any one of us?"

"No, we cannot guarantee that. But none of us can claim that," said Elder Cavin defensively. "Would we have reacted any differently to losing a loved one in such a way? I do not know if my own actions would have been any different if my dear Mya had perished to the Tarks' actions."

The Elders remained silent as they contemplated what Elder Cavin had brought forth. Looks of silent agreement crossed their faces.

"But I will keep an eye on Oku," said Elder Ino. "His new form is something that we should look into. There may be advantages to it that we are yet to be made aware of."

"Then we shall leave it in your capable hands, Ino," said Elder Cavin.

"I shall," replied Elder Ino. He knew Oku would not be a threat to them, but he still required more information before he could make any claim to fully understand him. To this day, he still had not mentioned Zaree's cryptic muttering about Oku's two forms. He had not broached her on the subject due to her fragile state at the time, but now found that he would need to inquire with her as to the full details of that event.

As he left the Elders' council, he felt another tremor. It was weak, but somehow felt different than the ones preceding it. He paid little attention to it is as he made his way across the village towards Zaree and the teaching grounds.

Baru felt the ground vibrate beneath his feet and the agitation of his tiny companion concerned him.

"You look worried, my little friend. Do you believe we should leave his place?" he asked.

The Memee shook its head quickly in agreement.

"But there are still so many items and manuscripts yet to be investigated. We cannot just leave them here, can we?" he said as the sounds of rumbling could be heard from the cavern's entrance.

An intense shaking occurred and knocked over several items off the tables. The ancient one's skeleton crashed into a tangled mess upon the floor as books that had been nestled in nooks crashed down.

The Memee grabbed the journal Baru had been reading as well as a few others and shoved them into his satchel. It then jumped onto his shoulder, slapped him and pointed towards the entrance.

Baru, a little stunned grabbed his satchel and made for the exit. "You are quite right. We should not linger here anymore than we need to. We can always return once it is safer to do so."

More rumbling occurred as they made their way towards the exit and knocked them down once. Dust and small stone fragments dislodged from the walls and filled the air, obscuring the path. The torch's light barely illuminated the few paces in front of them as specks of silver dust hovered in the air and reflected the light back at them. The darkness twinkled as he steadied himself on the walls.

A wrong turn led them up a passageway briefly until he realized they had begun to ascend. A quick turnaround ended the brief detour and they resumed their slow descent towards the outside world.

Unable to see clearly, their exit of the cavern felt like an eternity. It was not until they had fully cleared the cave's entrance and were exposed to the suns' rays that he realized they'd made it out safely.

Baru looked at his companion who sat covered in beige and grey dust. Had it not been for its eyes blinking profusely, one could have mistaken it for a stone carving.

"That colour seems to suit you," he said with a dusty grin as silver specks glittered around them.

The Memee looked at Baru with a bemused expression as it pointed up and down at Baru with its stubby appendage. It cocked its head while it gestured as if saying 'you know you're just as dirty, right?'

"Hmm... you're right. I am fairly dirty too," said Baru as he looked himself over, eyeing the layer of dust now covering every inch of his body.

His companion smacked itself in the head with its tiny arm and caused a tiny dust cloud to emerge and reveal a clean section between its eyes. It then slapped Baru with the other arm to cause another tiny dust cloud to form and frantically pointed towards the village's center.

"Yes, my delightfully filthy friend. We shall go find ourselves some water and clean ourselves."

They exited the village and returned to the edge of the valley where they had crossed a stream before discovering the large stone outcrop. Upon arrival at the gentle stream, Baru's companion jumped off his shoulder to belly flop face first into the water. It rolled over and drifted in the current as it stared up at the sky. Baru waded into the stream and began to wash himself as his companion slowly circled him, spraying water up every so often.

Now clean and hydrated, Baru took notice of small ripples cascading across the stream's surface. He turned to look over the valley's landscape and the ancients' village.

A strong rumbling could be felt underfoot as the intensity of the ripples across the stream increased. The sound of thunder echoed across the valley and the far side of the mountain behind the village collapsed. Great plumes of smoke rose up from the mountain's horizon.

"We could have been in serious trouble had we stayed any longer. That mountain could have fallen towards the village and buried us both," he said to his companion who seemed more interested in riding the small waves being created.

"I think it might be safer if we returned home and reported what we've found to the Elders," he muttered to himself as he grabbed his satchel and secured it over his shoulder. His companion stood by the water's edge with its tiny arms outstretched as if waiting to be picked up. Without comment and with a slight grin, Baru picked up his capricious little friend and placed him upon his shoulder.

He looked back once when a jolt was felt as he crested the rise of a hill. The village, once hidden amongst the forest now lay partially obscured by a wall of debris that had collapsed on it from the front of the mountainside.

From this vantage point, he could now see a dozen plumes of smoke rising away in the distance. He could not attribute to their cause but knew that this was something that was unprecedented in his time.

His companion patted him gently on the cheek to draw his attention back to the present. He took one last view of the scene as a sense of dread filled him to his core.