Gorzan's words had actually helped me, and I opened my beak to tell him so. But before I could utter a single syllable, Laval growled and stalked off, disappearing behind sheets of rain. It reminded all too well of how Cragger had gone. And both had left because of me. I had angered them in some way, and then they took their leave. And what was it Laval meant with his parting remark? What mattered most? I sighed defeatedly. "Dude," said Gorzan, pulling me out of my thoughts. The hollows of his deep-set eyes were pushed together in a frown. "Sky is angry. Tell us how to calm him down." "The sky... angry?" said Razar (and for once, I quite agreed with him). There was a loud crack, but it wasn't the thunder. Turning and peering into the darkness, I could see nothing. But deep inside, I could feel that something was very wrong. "You said there was way to stop it?" Gorzan snatched my arm with surprising force. "Mmm? Oh, yes," I said. Quickly I explained that when Gorzan had said 'wasn't happy', it brought Loradus's story to mind--in which a terrible storm had been caused by the hoarding of Chi. This was met with blank stares. Lightning flashed, and we all closed our eyes to block out the sudden light. "Sorry, but how's that supposed to help?" asked Ewar. I clenched my beak tightly, for I wasn't entirely certain. As we stood bent against the wind and the rain, each with our own thoughts, the ground began to shudder. It seemed there was nothing we could do except push on. After all, if Loradus was somehow hoarding Chi (as Razar helpfully pointed out), we could do nothing to stop it from where we were. At this, a small voice rasped, "No!" I looked around at the others. "What was that?" "None of us said anything," said Razar, looking pale. There was a long pause, during which the ground began to quake again. Then something closed its grip around my ankle.
"Listen...to me," said the voice. I dared not look down for fear of looking upon some ghastly apparition awakened by the storm. Ewar, however, stared down at it. The claws about my ankle loosened as the thing began to make choking sounds. "It's Eris!" said Ewar, kneeling to help her. Gorzan had left her, I recalled, to come to us when the storm began, and she was wheezing and coughing as Ewar dragged her past me. Gorzan applied pressure to her stomach with a foot, and water spouted from her beak. "What happened?" asked Ewar. Eris groaned, the sound grating against the back of her throat. "I'm not sure. I woke up lying face-down in a puddle...barely able to move. I lifted my head enough to see you four, then tried to crawl over." "You were the one to cry out, then?" I asked. Eris nodded. "You know how to stop the not happy sky?" said Gorzan. "I might," said Eris. "Just now, I heard you talking about hoarding Chi...." The ground rumbled again, and again, it was not the thunder. Razar twitched. "Is that...?" "The start of an earthquake, yes." Eris coughed, more water spilling from her beak. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep (if a bit shaky) breath. "What happened to the others?" While her eyes were still closed, Razar drew a claw across his throat and winked. Pretending to ignore him, I said, "That can wait. None of us want this storm to continue, unless I am much mistaken." As if to prove my point, another spike of lightning struck dangerously close, illuminating the area and sending up a shower of pebbles. "OK," said Eris, opening her eyes and turning her gaze on me. "The Chi. Our supply."
My beak dropped open as I finally realized the simple truth. "What about it?" said Razar irritably. "Do we..." He trailed off as I pulled out one of several Chi orbs I had been saving since the lion temple and had forgotten about several days ago. They, of course, were the cause of the storm. Eris smiled as the others widened their eyes or nodded in understanding. Then a bolt of lightning shattered the orb in the center of my palm. My cry of shock was drowned out in the thunder and rumblings of the ground which followed; and when the fluid of the Chi that remained soaked into my skin, my vision went blank. It seemed I had gone blind. I floated in blank whiteness for a time; then, quite suddenly, I could see Laval sitting on a rock with his eyes closed, breathing heavily. After looking upon him for what felt to be an hour, my sight shifted to Cragger, who was looking over a fallen Lennox, attempting to waken him. And lastly I saw Worriz, but only briefly, groaning and looking for help. That was when all air rushed from my lungs, causing me to gasp and choke. I stumbled forward and fell to the ground alongside Eris, of my normal sight and mind once more. Three faces peered down at me with concern. "How long...did I leave you waiting?" I asked with difficulty. Razar blinked. "Leave us waiting? The lightning struck you and you fell over. That's it." I narrowed my eye. Odd. But there would be time to think about it later. "You alright?" asked Gorzan. "Yes, quite," I said, finding that it was true; In no way did I feel injured. "Cummon up then," said Gorzan as he pulled me to my feet. He then moved over to help Eris as well. She held out her wings to steady herself, then asked me, "How many more Chi orbs are in there?" I squinted into the pouch. "Five," I said quietly, then passed it around. One orb for each of us.
Dread began to creep into the corners of my mind, and though I knew what Eris's plan was, I wished it didn't have to be so. "Now--on three, the Chi goes in our harnesses," said Eris. I heard her voice as if from a great distance. "One--" Lightning and thunder came to pass, and not one among us did not flinch. "Two--three!" Four orbs of Chi took their places in as many harnesses. Four glowing Chi forms surged through the darkness. I was not one of them; a fact that (of course) couldn't escape notice for long. "Rizzo!" shouted Eris. "Use that Chi! It'll stop the storm!" But even as the rain turned to hail, I would not. Using Chi had always felt wrong to me. (In truth, I had used it only once in my life, when I had come of age--and that had been quite enough.) Also, something else Lennox had said about the storm came to mind.... I lowered my head, partly to shield against the stinging hail, partly because I felt I had lost a hard-earned trust. "I'll pay you!" I heard Razar cry (a rare offer indeed). "Cummon!" said Gorzan. "USE IT! Bring back the Mellow!" "Using this Chi will not stop the storm," I said sadly. "Why not?" said Eris. I sighed. "There is no way to stop this storm. "I know that now. When Chi is kept for too long, unused, the balance of nature becomes upset." The others nodded me on frantically. "But no amount of use will steady the balance." Rain dripped from the end of my beak. "Besides which, as--as Lennox told me--I don't know these lands. We--we have passed out of nature as we know it. It is possible that--that Chi has no effect on the weather here." The others stood, silent with stupefied shock. Finally, Ewar managed to stutter, "Then-- that means--" "Yes," I said. "The storm will have to run its course."
Ewar's expression darkened. "But what about the earthquake? Won't it destroy the jungle?!" I sighed again. "I am inclined to think it won't be all that bad, if it happens at all. We kept but six Chi orbs." Gorzan sat down and wept, and I felt like joining him. Once again, I was the cause of our troubles. Only this time, there was nothing I could do to help; we simply had to sit tight and wait for the storm to end. Wait. The last thing I wanted to do. I shook myself alert when I realized that Ewar was speaking. "Why couldn't you have told us all this sooner?" said he. I opened my beak, but he kept on talking, not waiting for a response. "It always seems like there's something you're not telling us. Well--well, tell me something now. Did you know this storm would come, and couldn't be stopped?" I shook my head slowly, not trusting my voice to hold steady. Ewar took a deep breath. He looked close to tears himself, a fact that rather surprised me. "Did you really forget you were carrying Chi?" he asked. Lightning flashed, but no longer did it intimidate me. I nodded, whispering, "Yes." The hail turned back to rain, which then lessened in its intensity. Thunder became a dull echo in the distance. "Rizzo," said Ewar. "You--" He struggled as the words seemed to catch in his throat. After several indecipherable throaty sounds, he at last managed, "Go--leave us." From the looks the others were giving me, I gathered that they were of the same mind. I let my shoulders drop and my fists unclench. And before I turned to go, I thought I saw a shadow of regret flicker in Ewar's eyes. Then, I limped off, away.
As I wandered, so too did my mind. No longer did I have a destination or purpose. I passed through a seemingly infinite expanse in both planes, until progress in one was brought to a halt. My mind settled on the day Razar had rudely awakened me for the outing to the Lion Temple. It seemed as if it had happened a lifetime ago. I began to wonder if the raven village had fallen to Loradus. It was highly probable, though I would find out if I so decided to return.... My progress in the physical plane was then halted as well, as I very nearly stumbled over something on the ground. Something covered in fur.... "Windra...Wilhurt...someone help..." "Worriz?" I said, my voice breaking. Worriz raised his waterlogged head to look at me. His eyes were unfocused. "Winzar?" said he. "Is--is that you?" My beak twitched. I had done this to him. Why had I not remembered that I was carrying Chi? Why had I listened to Lennox? I deserved to be sent away. Bending down, I rolled Worriz onto his back, gripped his shoulders, and looked into his eyes. "Rizzo," I said, my broken voice trembling uncontrollably. "My name is Rizzo." He squinted and turned away. "I miss them so much...." "What--what was that?" "My...pack." He closed his eyes as bitter tears leaked from them. "I am...sorry," I whispered, stunned at seeing Worriz so--for want of a better term--weak. Gone were the rough mannerisms and the less-than-polite criticisms I had come to expect from him. Had it all been a front, meant to disguise his true self from the rest of us?
Worriz turned back to face me. "Rizzo, y'say?" I nodded. He did not speak again for a while. I helped him to sit up, then moved away to give him time to himself. It was then that I realized I was still holding an orb of Chi. Lifting it, I examined its spherical surface, and memories of strange happenings involving Chi drifted back across the waves of time and thought. First, in the Bottomless Canyon, I had crushed an orb whilst I was falling end over end, and it had seemed to grant me control of my descent. Then, when lightning struck the orb in my claws earlier, I had seen what Laval and Cragger were doing, despite the fact that neither of them were nearby. And as I turned the Chi orb in my palm at the moment, images began to play across its surface. When I looked closer, I saw an eagle's face, almost as if it were my own reflection; though I knew it could not be so. "Hey, what're you doing with that Chi? Eating it?" The image in the orb dissolved, and I lowered it to find Worriz looking at me. "Well?" "I'm not quite sure myself," I said, truthfully. Worriz appeared to have recovered somewhat, though his expression was decidedly worried and his fur was damp with something beside the rain. "You spend a lot of time with yourself, don't you," he said slowly. "Yes," I returned, wondering where this was going. Worriz put a paw through the fur on the top of his head. "Why?" "I have grown used to it, I suppose...."
"Where are the others?" Worriz went on. The question caught me off guard, and my head jerked involuntarily towards the others. "Did they send you to find me?" He attempted to stand, but merely ended up wobbling on one leg before returning to a sitting position. I very nearly lifted my eye covering to rub both eyes. As it was, my claws twitched and I gulped. Worriz was watching me very carefully, however, and seemed to know something was wrong. "What is it?" he asked gruffly. I ignored this, asking a (weak) question of my own: "Are you beginning to recall why it is you passed out?" "No," he retorted stubbornly. "Tell me what's wrong." There was a desperation in his voice that urged me not to hide the truth. Yet still I hesitated, staring off into the drizzle. Worriz made a sound part-way betwixt a sob and a huff of annoyance. "Tell me what's happened!" I took a deep, rattling, breath and said, "The others have--have sent me away." "Really?" Oddly, Worriz appeared confused by this. He mumbled to himself for a moment, then looked up. "Why?" I shook my head, wishing I knew the exact answer myself. After a pause, Worriz managed to get himself up, taking several small steps. "Well--" I said, searching one last time for signs of the jungle ahead, "Fare--farewell. I shall be taking my leave--" "You're gonna leave?!" said Worriz. "Wh--" "You have six representatives--with or without me." I sighed, bowing my head, pushing thoughts of what our journey's end would be (another beginning, perchance...?) to the very back of my mind. "Besides which, when were you ever one to enjoy the company of another?" This came out rather more harsh than I had intended (but had I intended to say it?), and Worriz narrowed his eyes. "Watch it!" he growled. "I'll bet you spend so much time with your own thoughts that you only think of yourself."
Could this, then, be the reason the others sent me away...? Thinking back (ironically), it did seem to fit. The rain lessened, then stopped altogether, and a dense fog took its place. "Let's get back t'the others," said Worriz. Again I looked back the way I had come. Four silhouettes could just barely be seen; they did not appear to be doing much of anything. "I rather think they wouldn't want to have me back...." "Aah, nonsense," said Worriz. "Come on!" And he began to walk shakily over to where they were. This time I did lift my eye-covering, and I blinked both eyes several times before lowering it and deciding to follow after. "What time o' day is it?" asked Worriz when I caught him up. "Er--" I quickly estimated how long the storm had gone on. "About noon, I should think." "Hmmm..." He sniffed the air and said nothing further. As we drew nearer to the others, their numbers seemed to increase. Now there were seven silhouettes, their features becoming clearer with every step I took. And when Worriz and I stepped in among them, it was immediately obvious why: Laval, Cragger, and Lennox had returned. "Worriz!" said Eris brightly. "We were about to come looking..." Her eyes fell on me. I smiled nervously. A dreadful silence settled upon every one of us. Then Worriz spoke up, his voice gruff but pleading. "I understand that you sent Rizzo here away. Now--now, I don't know why you did, but we need to learn to accept each other. It's--it's important that we stay t'gether. What d'you say?" Laval's mouth fell open, one of his eyebrows raised. Eris and Ewar exchanged a glance. "Y-- Um, OK," said the latter (possibly afraid of saying no to him). Everyone seemed shocked to hear such words coming from Worriz, and for a moment, I thought I saw him smile to himself.
Eris then pulled out the map, looked over it, and muttered as she drew a claw across it, presumably trying to figure where we were, exactly. I turned to Worriz. "Whatever made you say what it is you did?" "Oh..." He put up his front once again. "That's none o' your business! Just...uh..." I nodded, backing away. Then I sat near the edge of the group, unsure of what to do. "That storm was entertaining, was it no?" said a voice. There followed a growl. A sort of warning. It did nothing to stop the speaker, though I wished it had. "A bit of excitement, I'd say," said Lennox. "Shame--" I turned to see Cragger say, "Shut up!" and smack him on the side of the head. Lennox fixed Cragger in a very cold stare indeed (or as cold as a stare can be when one's eyes are red). He then looked back at me and went on, "As I was saying, shame you didn't ask me more about it." Forcing a dozen negative emotional replies to the back of my mind, I said, "Who do you think you are addressing?" Cragger looked as if he would drag Lennox away right then, but I made several gestures with my claws, and he paused, giving me a confused look. "I'm addressing you, of course," Lennox was saying. "Who else? You are, after all, a most sincere help to our cause. You make my job much easier." Without warning, he roared, long and loud, then attempted to bit Cragger's hand. Finally, shaking his head at me, Cragger dragged a protesting Lennox someplace he would not talk to me. "You will regret this!" the captive lion screamed at him. "You should be working to destroy these worthless creatures! You are their superior!" I closed my ear-slits to his cries, but the truth was at hand. Lennox was finished with pretending to help us.
"Alright," said Eris, calling us together. She laid the map on the ground and we all formed a circle about it (all except for Cragger and Lennox). "We should be able to make it to the jungle by sundown," said Eris. "But even after that, there's a long way to go." "Naturally," grumbled Razar. Eris continued as if she had not heard him. "We'll have to pass through the jungle, a pine forest, a--horizon line?" I peered at the map closely to find that there was indeed a location labeled "horizon line". However, before I had time to wonder what it could possibly mean for us, a particularly nasty snarl sounded, and everyone sat up, on alert. Lennox was struggling furiously against Cragger's grip, his blazing eyes fixed on Ewar. But Cragger kept firm his grip and nodded for us to go about our business. And yet, as Eris began to trace our path across the map and the others turned their heads away, I could not help but notice that Ewar was holding Lennox's vicious stare. And slowly, his claws were creeping towards the spot where the captive lion had flung the knife at him those days ago. The skin began to glow a slight blue, as it had before, and he held his claws over it, grimacing. Then I turned my head to Lennox, who was still staring and spitting, clearly attempting to break free and run at Ewar. His expression was one of animosity as he scratched and growled, his mane in a wild in a wild state of disarray. But why did he hold such savage behavior towards Ewar specifically? There had to be a good reason. Having finished explaining the path we were to take, Eris stood and rolled up the map. And as we finally started off again, the only thing that filled my mind was the certainty that Lennox was planning something; something that could not mean well for Ewar.
The fog grew thinner and thinner before disappearing completely. At that point, we could see how close the jungle truly was (and how late in the day it was); Most certainly, we would reach it by nightfall. I walked slightly apart from the rest of the group, for while the others had accepted me back, they still seemed somehow upset with me. Had it something to do with not using the Chi when ordered? Or perhaps because they thought I was holding back on an important piece of information? Sighing, I thought about possible ways to make it up to them. And that was when Razar sidled up to me, taking heavy steps as if carrying a great weight. "Guess what," said he, clearly forcing himself not to smile. I turned my head away and did not respond, hoping he would go away. He did not. "Guess what," he repeated. This time, when I didn't respond, he simply continued on. "While the others were sitting around back there, I borrowed some treasure. Would you--" I turned on him angrily. "Can you not think of anything besides personal gain?!" I was sorry as soon as the words left my beak, and I bowed my head. Razar shrank back. "Sorry," he said. And when I looked up at him, I saw the Razar I had grown up with and joked with (though he rarely understood my sense of humor); the Razar with whom I had lived through bad times and good, yet never saw fit to reveal my true self to. And here I was, putting him down, despite the fact that he was now the only one being friendly towards me. "No, Razar," I said. "I am sorry." Razar waved his hook dismissively. "Yes, yes, yes. That's fine." And he smiled, grabbed one of the pouches from my belt, and skipped back to the main group.
As the sun sent the day's last light over us, we came under the cover of the first few trees. I was comforted by the overgrown bushes, ferns, and vines in the path that lay ahead. Having lived among trees all my life, I had found the stony flatlands behind to be unsettling, but now that was all they were: behind. I paused to look back--and the hopelessness of our journey fell upon me. Quickly I turned back around, but the damage was done. For in the brief glance I had allowed myself, I saw that we had left Mount Cavora far, far behind. Whatever our destination on the map, how would we ever reach the Mountain if we were travelling away from it? I wanted to voice my thoughts; but the others seemed to be in high spirits since entering the jungle, as I had initially, and I did not want to upset them. Soon, all light began to fade, and I, at least, knew I could not go on for very much longer. Eventually, Laval called for us to stop. "I'm exhausted," he said, falling to a sitting position. "Can we make camp?" Eris raised a vote, and everyone save Gorzan said yes. We settled exactly where we stopped, and we were about to gather wood for a fire when Gorzan shuddered noticeably. "Something's wrong," he said. Laval looked at him in apparent disbelief. "I thought you liked sleeping beneath the trees." Gorzan nodded and crouched down, but not to relax. Instead he pressed his ear to the ground and appeared to listen. Then he jumped up, waving his arms. "Move! You can't sleep here! B-bad--" He broke off uncertainly. Worriz raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" But all Gorzan said was, "Get moving! Get moving!" Tired and confused, we stumbled through the darkened jungle to find another place to sleep.
It was Ewar who found the cave, a hollow in a nearby rock face. He had called us away from our own searches to inspect it. Inside, moss covered the stone walls and floor, and water droplets constantly fell from above. The space didn't extend all that far back, ending in a round, mossy wall. It seemed as if a bear had lived here once. But no longer. "What d'you think, Gorzan?" said Laval, as he sat back. "Good enough for you?" But Gorzan appeared more anxious than ever, his eyes flicking back and forth, mouth moving soundlessly. I could not recall seeing him act this way before, and it made me nervous. At that moment, pains shot through my stomach, and I held my claws over it. That was when I remembered: the long days of walking across the flatlands had exhausted our food supply. And I was not the only one to notice.... "Is anyone else hungry?" said Eris. Worriz rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah!" No one disagreed. "Alright then," said Laval. "Ewar, Rizzo--go out there and find us something to eat." Sighing, I stood and followed a stiff-legged Ewar out of the cave. It was quite dark out now, for little to no moonlight filtered down through the treetops. Ewar walked slightly ahead of me, seemingly not wanting to risk the start of a conversation. But the only thing on my mind for the moment was finding food. We searched high and low, everywhere as far as we could without getting lost, before finding an apple tree and several raspberry bushes. Then, gathering as much fruit as we could carry, Ewar and I rushed back to the cave.
"What'd you find?" Worriz asked, as we dumped our bundle onto the moss-carpeted floor. All of us watched hungrily as Worriz rooted through the assortment of berries and apples. As he stepped back with a disgruntled look on his face, but without any fruit (and as we closed in to eat our fill), I heard him mutter, "Where's the meat?" Snatching up a handful of food and retreating to eat it at my own pace, I watched as the others (excepting Worriz and Gorzan) crammed food into their mouths or beaks respectively, regardless of the juice that splattered. Apparently we had gone without a meal for quite some time without realizing it. However, Gorzan still would not eat. He sat leaning against a wall, breathing hard, declining food when I offered it. "Gorzan," I said quietly, "Can you tell me what, exactly, is wrong?" He clenched his teeth and turned his head to the side, but did not respond. I followed his gaze to the back wall of the cave, which could barely be seen through the shadows despite the fact that my eye had adjusted to the darkness. Unsettled by Gorzan's obvious discomfort, yet unsure of the cause or how to help, I left an apple beside him and sat in my own corner near to the others. The pile of fruit had greatly diminished in size, and they were now lying back in a daze with various stains on beaks and mouths (Worriz pulled something from a pouch and began to gnaw on it). Even Lennox seemed calmer than of late. I popped a last berry into my beak and settled back, wishing I felt more welcome among them.
