Chapter: 7
After a few more days, Sarah no longer needed the cream, and the bruise was very faint. Ytol had told her they were no longer on the prophet's ship, and were on the Sangheili home world, Sangheilios. He had learned she did not know much of combat, and had only improvised her defense. A grave mistake, he knew, that many had made in battle before.
He was no medic, and he did not yet know how to determine if she was physically fit to train or not. He took her outside to explore the grounds. She immediately lit up with excitement to be outside again, and ran for the nearest tree with the most shade. Ytol walked after her, but lost her as soon as she stepped under the tree. A sunset fruit fell on his head, and he looked up to see her lying on a high branch. "How did you get up there so fast?"
She shrugged and answered, "A lot of practice?"
Ytol looked around and spotted another tree a few feet away from the one she was in. "Can you make that jump?" Sarah looked over where he pointed and got up. She crouched on her branch, picked her landing point, and then leapt. She did a summersault in the air, caught a branch in the next tree, and swung into a handstand. Her arms couldn't take the sudden weight change, and she fell back onto the branch. "Ouch," she said, slightly annoyed.
Ytol walked over to her. "Can you usually do that?"
"What? Do a handstand? No, I've never tried that before."
"Can you jump like that without pain?"
Sarah smiled and nodded. "I don't feel sore anymore." She climbed down carefully.
"Your training should start soon then," Ytol noted.
"You are going to train me?"
"In combat, yes I will. Zhar will be teaching you our language and beliefs. I will speak with him about when each will be. You may explore the yard, but do not go past the walls around it." He walked back into the house.
Sarah looked around the yard and climbed up a tall tree in one of the corners of the yard. She crawled along one of the leafy branches just enough to see what was outside the front wall. There was a road leading away from the town as far as she could see. There were several Sangheili out taking care of business, combat practice, or shopping for essentials.
She heard a high-pitched scream come from up the street. A group of boys a few years older than her were surrounding a small girl, and looked as if they were about to hit her. The little girl shouted at them, frightened. One boy knocked her down, another readied a fist. An adult came running out, most likely the girl's mother, and yelled at the boys as she scooped up her daughter. The boys ran off, afraid and glared back as she carried the girl back into her home.
The boys headed down the street towards the yard Sarah was hiding in. She held her breath and hoped they wouldn't look up. One of them said something to another and hopped up to hang on her branch. She choked back a gasp and quickly went up another branch. The other boys were looking into the tree now. Several jumped up and started looking for her. She jumped up to the highest branch that would support her.
She was at the perfect height to jump back into her room, but she would be exposed then. She looked below her and saw the leaves shifting. As soon as the snout appeared, she used her forearm to shove him down. The boy fell several feet and grabbed onto another branch. The other three were almost as high as she was, and she knew even if she could force two down, the third would surely see her.
A scolding voice rang out. The boys dropped to the ground and ran out of the yard. When she was sure they were gone, she began to climb down. Suddenly, someone grabbed her ankle and dragged her to the ground, holding her upside down. She twisted herself to look at who it was. Those ominous amber eyes were staring straight into hers. "Well now, what do we have here? A heretic spy on my people's home world I see." She heard a crackle and in his other hand was a glowing double–bladed sword.
He grinned and swung the weapon. She curled upward and it missed by inches. "Trying to delay the inevitable, hmm?" He swung again at her. She twisted his wrist enough to make it too awkward for him to hold onto her. She fell on her back, rolled over, and sprinted for the door before the heavily armored Sangheili could flex his wrist back in place.
Sarah ran into the house, closing the wooden door behind her, but could see no immediate lock. She ran blindly into the next room. When she set foot in the center of it, she heard the door open again. She ran up the stairs, trying to find her room. Lira found her first, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her into her room.
"Stay here, I will take care of this." Lira left and locked the door behind her.
"Where is it," the voice sounded like thunder. Lira replied calmly she didn't know what he was talking about. "You know what it is I want. I smelled its strange stench a few days ago." Lira growled as he grabbed her wrist when she tried to leave.
"Let go or I will make you."
"Make me? Foolish child, you believe you could fight me?"
"R'kor, unhand my daughter at once." Zhar was walking toward them with Ytol following. R'kor released Lira's wrist and threatened Zhar with his sword.
"You are harboring a heretic on our home world, traitor. What have you to say before your head rolls across this floor?"
"You would kill one who was following the Prophet's direct orders? If you have an issue with the Prophet's decision, you should take it up with him, not me."
R'kor glared at Zhar, his sword hand shaking with anger. "This is not over. I will be back to finish it." He switched off the blade and left the house, slamming the door behind him.
Lira unlocked her room again, and the three Sangheili walked in. Ytol found Sarah under the bed. He pulled her up and sat her on the bed to talk. She hung her head in shame, and refused to meet their eyes. "It was not your fault," Lira said, "He wasn't even supposed to be here today." Still, the little girl would not respond.
Ytol gently made her look up at him. "We've finished your schedule. Zhar will teach you our language and beliefs every other day, starting today. I will be teaching you combat on the other days. I need to know you understand that I cannot and will not treat you like a child when I train you." A sparkle of remembrance and determination sparkled in her eyes and she nodded. "You will have to stay strong and not break from pain or fear of failure. I will not treat you any different than I would any of my other students." Her eyes told Ytol she was ready for the challenge he had just given her. He stood her up on the floor, and she followed Zhar to the library to start her first lesson.
oo00oo
The room was dimmer than the last time he was here. The prophet was reading reports of new human worlds discovered and several of the isolated ones being glassed. The Sangheili approached the prophet and knelt before him. The prophet spent another minute to finish a report. He switched off the hologram generator. "What is the nature of your visit, R'kor? Everything is well, yes?"
R'kor rose to his feet again. "No, holy prophet," he said, shaking his head. "I have discovered a heretic and a traitor on my home world. Zhar is hiding it somewhere." The prophet did not look surprised.
"The heretic is… an experiment of sorts. I am allowing Zhar to train her."
"What," R'kor stared at him in shock, and quickly recomposed himself. "You're allowing this heretic to learn our ways?" The prophet remained neutral.
"You are not to interfere. If this little experiment succeeds, we may have yet another way to thin their numbers. What better way to take down a species than with their own people from within?"
oo00oo
Several weeks passed. Sarah learned quickly in combat, but even quicker in the library. She already knew all of the letters and how to pronounce them, and was working on the numbers. In her combat, she noted Ytol wasn't joking when he said to get tough. He'd land several blows on her before she'd get a basic move right. When she had finally figured out how to block and go for weak spots, he decided to move to the next part of combat.
"I can already tell you're a runner, but you are not nearly as fast as a Sangheili child your age." He pointed down the road to a large forest. "We will go there to train today. There are several paths we can run, and you can also practice your jumping in the trees." She seemed hesitant to leave the yard after being told not to. Ytol knelt to her level. "You have been here a while. You know how to speak, and you can defend yourself well enough. It matters not now if you are known to be here. It would be better they know sooner rather than later anyway."
Ytol opened the front gate measuring around eight feet in height and five across. The moment Sarah stepped outside at least ten people turned their way and growled. Ytol closed the gate and took the lead, heading for the forest. "Stay close," he hissed to her. Sarah picked up her pace a bit, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the same boys from before hanging out in what looked like an alley. They all stared at her as she walked by in the early morning light.
About ten minutes later, they entered the forest and came to a place where the path split off in at least eight directions. Ytol stepped toward the biggest path that headed east, toward the sunrise. "This path runs ten miles before hitting an end. I can finish this run in twenty minutes as my best time." She stared at him wide-eyed. Ytol chuckled. "I take it your kind takes far longer than that, yes?" She nodded and laughed a little.
Ytol continued, "I'll try to slow down a little bit for you this time. Are you ready?" He crouched slightly, ready to run as she nodded and readied herself. "Go!" He took off, slacking his pace a bit and looked back to see she was keeping up about two feet behind him. He picked up his pace a little more and found he was quickly getting further ahead than her. He lessened his pace again, and stayed a constant five feet ahead.
An hour and a half later he came to a stop at the end of the path. A moment later, Sarah stopped next to him, and then collapsed onto the soft grass, trying to catch her breath. Ytol hadn't even broken a sweat. "That wasn't so bad for a first run," he commented. "We can rest a while before we head back. There's plenty of daylight left." He crouched near her, looking around, and slowly slipped into a blank state of mind.
A few minutes later, she sat up, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "Ytol," she asked. The old warrior did not stir. She prodded his right arm. He flinched, but then realized it was only her.
He cleared his throat, "What was it you said?"
"Are we ready to run back?"
Ytol rose to his full height again, then stopped and listened. He took a moment to look around then looked toward the trees further along the path. "Who is watching us over there?" The boys stepped out from behind the large dark trunks, a solemn look on their faces from being caught. "L'kar, T'rok, S'rir, and J'raa," he said as he frowned. "Do you seek more trouble?" The boys shook their heads.
"Why is she here," L'kar asked, looking a bit hostile.
"That is not your concern. You want to fight?"
L'kar was still glaring at her. "I'll fight, unless she's too scared to." He grinned.
Ytol turned to the girl. "You have been challenged to a fight. Are you going to back down from that?" Sarah shook her head and took a defensive stance. L'kar launched himself at her, looking to grab her arms. As he got a hold of her left wrist, she also grabbed his, and with her other hand she grabbed under his arm. She flipped him over her head and let him fall on his back. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs and made him let go of her.
The other three boys growled and attacked as well. The girl ran for the nearest tree and quickly climbed its smooth trunk. She hopped into another tree, and then another with the boys following closely, L'kar lagging behind a bit. Ytol followed them on the ground. He saw Sarah jumping quickly from branch to branch, being mindful of available space.
She landed in a tree with fruit growing on it. It looked like an apple, but was a deep blue color, and rough-skinned like a pineapple. She picked a few of them and aimed for the boys' leg joints. The first one struck J'raa on his left ankle. He faltered and fell against the trunk of his tree to keep from falling to the ground five feet below. The second and third fruit missed, allowing S'rir enough time to land in her tree.
The fourth hit him square in the face, and she leapt away as he rubbed his snout. T'rok and L'kar raced past him. None of them had noticed they were near the ocean until Sarah nearly jumped out of the tree into it. She stopped short on the branch that hung over the murky water, and turned to see all four boys catching up and grinning, knowing she was cornered now.
T'rok carefully crawled out on a branch above her. S'rir and J'raa took up branches on her left and right, and L'kar started walking along her branch. S'rir jumped at the same time as J'raa, trying to grab her. She moved in between them, allowing them to pass her onto each other's branches. T'rok dropped on top of her and managed to keep her arms down at her sides.
L'kar walked further along the branch. There was a loud crack, and everyone froze. L'kar shifted his weight again and there was another crack. Below them, a splashing sound announced that something big was in the water, waiting for its dinner to fall in. S'rir and J'raa quickly retreated toward the main trunk. T'rok slowly released Sarah, careful not to make sudden moves.
L'kar grinned again. He stomped on a weak spot in the branch and it began to splinter. "What are you doing," T'rok stared at his friend in shock. L'kar answered with another stomp on the branch. The wood broke away as Sarah jumped up to the branch above. T'rok saw the large monster beneath the waves and fell toward it. He shut his eyes and waited to hit the freezing water.
Instead of a cold splash, he felt a tugging on his wrist. He looked up to see the strange alien offering her other hand to him while gripping the branch above with her legs. He grabbed her other hand, then the branch as she pulled him up. They both carefully crawled along the branch back to the trunk, and then dropped to the forest floor where Ytol was waiting.
Ytol walked over to them and asked, "So, who has won here?"
None of them answered until T'rok spoke. "I don't think anyone has really," he said as he glared at L'kar. "Our battle was cut short by a sea creature and L'kar trying to feed us to it."
Ytol looked over each of them. "A fair answer it seems. It's after noon, and your parents will wonder where you are. We should go now." He turned toward the path and took off running again. The group followed, but the boys were clearly faster than Sarah was. She struggled to keep up, but at least she remembered the way. An hour later she slipped into Zhar's yard and closed the gate quietly.
"No trouble on the way back, yes?" She jumped and turned to see Ytol crouched under the shade of one of the trees. She shook her head and went to sit by him. "I got back here about thirty minutes ago. Your training will be running until you can eventually meet that time. Go on inside and Lira will give you some of that fruit to eat. You're done for today." He watched her go over to the house and walk in the door before resettling his crouch. He sat there thinking about everything that came and went in his mind about his past and his future.