CHRONICLES
OF
VIKENTI
By Luke Johnson
1
It was a frigid morning when the sun arose from its slumber. The sun's beams laid themselves upon a small hut in a green forest. The hut itself lay four miles south of the city of Verkhoyansk, Russia. Spring had just begun, and was far from over; although the forest was beauteous, misfortune was on its way to the small hut. The name of this misfortune was Anatoli Solovyov.
Yuri and Arina Vorobyov were performing their usual morning duties. Their two sons, both of them five and nine years of age, were amusing themselves by playing with wooden horses. The entire scene was the epitome of a mundane yet serene existence. Yuri was sipping an exceptionally warm cup of coffee as part of his breakfast, and Arina was just initiating the process of airing out the family's laundry. None of them had a single care at all; that was until a pitch-black GAZ-21 Volga pulled into their domain.
As the vehicle slowed its pace, all four family members darted to the front of the house. They all stared at the vehicle, anticipating the unknown. The doors soon began to become increasingly ajar, and soon two rugged-looking men exited the vehicle's innards; they appeared to be bodyguards. A portly man exited the front of the vehicle and stood between the two other men. The man said, "Good day to you all. I am the famous politician Anatoli Solovyov, as you all may know." Anatoli continued by proclaiming, "You all may be pondering the purpose for my arrival. Well, you see, my sources lead me to believe that a large deposit of gems lies underneath your vicinity. I am here to ask for permission to excavate this area so
as to uncover said gems. You'll even get your fair of share gems. What do you say?" Yuri could hardly believe it! Gems may be underneath their home? You would expect to him to agree, but instead he said, "I'm sorry, but this land is very sacred to us. Many of our ancestors are buried beneath this ground, and my family is quite content as things are. I'm afraid I must decline your offer, Mr. Solovyov."
There was a minute pause, and then Anatoli replied, "Mr. Vorobyov, what is the price of desecrated land compared to the price of one-thousand gems? Kindly use your head, dear boy! Just imagine the possibilities!" Yuri was silent for a moment, then he replied, "I am sorry, but we do not have a deal, Mr. Solovyov." Arina told the children to go inside and wait for her and their father. The children decided to play in the backyard and wait for the conversation to end. "I'm growing impatient with your ranting, Mr. Vorobyov, and I execute peculiar actions when I'm impatient", said Anatoli. "We're not giving up our home. The decision has been made", said Yuri. "Very well, then," said Anatoli; moments later, two sounds, which sounded like explosions, reverberated through the air.
2
Anatoli and his henchmen walked to the backyard. The children stared at the trio questioningly. "Children, your parents have decided to let you stay at my mansion until the job is done, while they remain here and help me with the excavation." The two young ones didn't believe it; their parents would never do anything without their children near them. "Mister, we want to stay here with our mom and dad, 'cause they always want to be near us anyway", said the oldest of the two. But they said for you to come with us, just this once", said Anatoli. The children still would not heed his plea. Finally, Anatoli lost his temper and grabbed both of them forcefully. The oldest child kicked the man in the crotch, forcing him to release his grip. As Anatoli lay on the ground clutching his groin, the children began to run. The henchmen began to charge after them, but Anatoli ordered them to freeze. "Let them go. They're no threat, anyways. Let the woods dispose of them," said Anatoli. Anatoli and his henchmen then walked to the vehicle, entered it, and drove off into the vastness of yonder space, leaving an incinerating edifice behind them. As the vehicle traveled on, Anatoli chuckled at how clever he felt he was, thinking of the evidence he had stowed away in the trunk of the vehicle. The yong boy and his brother watched as their house burned to the ground.
The two children traveled further and further into the flora of the forest. They did not know that they were being watched ever since they left the house. The younger child was soon complaining about being tired, and they had to rest. The duo sat down upon the floor of the forest, regaining their strength. Frightened and without any other company, they feasted on some berries that were nearby. They were so worn out that they soon fell into slumber. To the two children, time seemed to cease its flow as they slumbered. Time slithered on…and on… and on…and on. Just then, the older boy heard noises emanating from some nearby bushes; the noises induced nervousness in the older boy.
Seconds had passed by when, to the boy's bewilderment, a fox appeared with fur of a flaming hue. The boy had rarely ever witnessed the sight of a fox, so he was quite intrigued by the sight. The fox swung its head to its left, like a human signaling to come forth. It was difficult for the boy to determine whether or not he was in a state of lucid dreaming. He decided to follow the fox. "Hey, wake up!" the older boy said. "What is it?" the younger boy replied. "I think we should follow that fox. I don't know why, but I have a gut feeling that we should." said the older boy. "The only time your gut feeling is right is when it's time to eat." said the younger boy. "Just come on." said the older boy. They followed the fox for what appeared to be dozens of yards.
Finally, just when they were close to losing consciousness because of exhaustion, they spotted what appeared to be a small burrow beneath a decaying pine tree. The older boy was suddenly racked with feelings of lightheadedness. Reality seemed as though it was rippling. The young boy soon plummeted onto firm soil, sprawled out in a prostrate fashion. The lightheadedness he had experienced was utterly trivial compared to the shock that awaited him.
3
The boy slowly began to awaken from his nap, and when he had fully awakened, he discovered that he was beside the burrow he had seen earlier. They boy was feeling somewhat famished, but, to his luck, a pile of berries was beside him. As the boy began to devour them, he noticed, just at that moment, that a red fox was staring at him. "Aaaah!" the boy said. "Stay back, I'm serious!" said the boy as he put an exceptional distance between himself and the fox. "Chill out, kid. You're going to have a seizure." said a voice. The young boy wondered where the inexplicable voice had originated from. "Who was that?" said the boy. "That was me. My name's Alyi." said the voice, which, the boy realized, had come from none other than the fox in front of him. "Did…you…just…talk to me?" the boy asked loudly. "Of course I did. All animal can talk, but humans can't understand us, except the younger ones." said Alyi. The boy was speechless, only able to stare at the fox. "Oh, I forgot. You must meet my wife. Kira, the boy's awake now! Come and meet him." From the burrow, a voice replied: "Not now, Alyi, I'm feeding the kits right now, but I'll come up soon." The boy suddenly felt something land on his head, and then he heard a voice above his head. The voice said "Well, now, it's wonderful to see you up and about!" The boy looked up and saw a raven staring down at him, and made a startled gasp. "Don't be frightened, my dear boy. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Savan, and I am pleased to meet you."
The boy finally managed to speak, and said "I'm Vikenti, now would you please explain to me what all this is about? Why am I here?" Alyi replied "Savan and I are good friends, and we were out for a spring stroll together when we saw you and your brother in trouble. You looked at me shortly before you ran away. We've been watching over you ever since you left your home." Suddenly, the boy remembered his little brother! "Where's Ieremija, my little brother?" he cried. "Don't worry. He's safe and sound. He's not far from here, playing with Olen." said Alyi. "And Olen is…?" said Vikenti. "Why, he's a local stag. He's very laid back and calm. You can pay him a visit if you want to." said Alyi. "I would definitely like that." said Vikenti.
Savan led Vikenti to a small clearing in the forest. There, Vikenti saw his little brother riding on the back of the stag Olen, who was running around. Olen saw Vikenti at the clearings entrance, and said "Hey, there. You must be that other boy this little tyke here keeps telling me about." Ieremija saw his brother and rushed forward, delighted to see that he was alright. Vikenti looked at the stag, and he could only utter a simple "Hello." "Hey, there." said Olen. Vikenti was very confused, not to mention very worried. He wondered what was going to happen now, and where he would go. Vikenti asked, "What am I going to do now? The home I once had is gone now." "That's what we'll be talking about tonight at the Ancient Tree. It's where we hold all our meetings with the other animals in the community. We'll see what we can do."
4
The night was brimming with the vocalizations of the forest creatures. They had all gathered tonight at a very special meeting place: the Ancient Tree. Alyi told Vikenti and Ieremija that this was the oldest tree in the forest, and that it had existed for centuries. Vikenti saw an owl fly through the air and land on one of the tree's branches. Alyi knew what Vikenti was thinking. "He's Sova. He presides over all the meetings. He'll decide what happens to you." Soon, all was quiet as the owl began to speak.
"My friends", the owl said, "we have gathered here today for a very special reason. That reason is to assist two young orphaned humans with no home left." The animals were in silent awe of the revelation. "Can any of you think of what could be done?" asked Sova? Within minutes, a grey wolf stepped forth and said: "As fast as I am, I might be able to quickly carry the boys to a human city. Maybe they can find a new family there." Savan the raven then said, "That won't work, I'm afraid. The nearest human city is hundreds of miles away. They would be dead of starvation by the time they reached it, Klyki." The wolf lowered his head in disappointment. A raccoon suddenly said: "You think anyone here would know if some humans can be found closer to this forest?" Sova replied: "I'm afraid not, Yenot. This forest is largely untouched by mankind." "Darn it!" said the raccoon.
It was finally decided that an animal family would adopt them. Most of the animals were afraid because they felt that they were too small for the boys to live with, or that they wouldn't be able to provide enough food for them. The wolf, Klyki, gladly offered to adopt them. Suddenly, Alyi spoke: "No, Klyki. My family found him first, so I should make him a part of my family." Klyki consented to the fox's desires, and so did the wise Sova.
"What do you think, kids? You ready to learn how to live like a real fox?" asked Alyi. Vikenti replied that he felt he couldn't decide, because all of this was, to him, just a dream. "Allow me to help you understand." said Alyi. He asked for the boy's arm, and then he softly bit it so as to cause a painful sensation similar to a pinch. "Ow! That hurt!" cried Vikenti. "Now do you get it? This is all real as can be." Vikenti realized it alright. Ieremija began to cry because of the loss of his parents. "It's okay. I'm sad too." said Vikenti. Alyi walked over and licked the tears from their faces. "It'll be alright. You're a part of my family now. Nothing will happen to you, okay?" Vikenti and Ieremija finally agreed. "So it is decided. From now on, these two humans shall be a part of Alyi's family." All of the animals cheered for the two boys, who had found another loving family. They didn't realize it yet, but their names would one day become legendary.
5