Chapter 9

Gilligan stared at where T'Pal was pointing, more confused than ever. Her finger was pointed to a tall palm tree that stretched far above them.

"Palama le," she said.

"Palm tree," Gilligan argued.

"Palm...tree?" T'Pal smiled. "Palama le, palm tree!" she exclaimed.

"Oh!" Gilligan cried. "I get it! Palama le means palm tree!"

Lintao, Ping, and Palake looked at Gilligan with wide eyes.

"T'Pal, wahaka koeki palama le hawe ko ko wike anikine?" Palake asked.

T'Pal put her index finger over her lips to shush him, then pointed at Lintao.

"Lintao," she stated.

Gilligan nodded. "I know that's Lintao!" he exclaimed, but blushed when he saw T'Pal hadn't finished yet.

"Kalimepe," she said, moving her arms to claw at the air.

"Kalimepe?" Gilligan asked. "Uh, cat?" When he saw the expression on T'Pal's face, he shook his head. "Wait!" he cried. "Lemme think a minute..."

"Kalimepe," T'Pal said again, this time walking over to the palm tree and putting her arms around it.

"Kalimepe... Palm tree..." Gilligan trailed off, attempting to put the pieces together.

While waiting for his answer, the natives seemed to grow bored, murmuring idly amongst themselves.

They jumped, startled, when Gilligan cried, "I've got it!"

"Kalimepe," T'Pal said one more time, regaining her composure and walking back to his side.

"Means climb!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist into his hand in realization, afterward gasping and shaking his hand.

Smiling, it was Lintao who replied. "Climb?" he asked. It seemed he was the only one besides T'Pal at least paying some attention to the new words.

"Yeah!" Gilligan exclaimed. "Kalimepe means climb!" He turned to T'Pal. "Right?" he asked.

"Climb... Kalimepe..." she murmured. "Right?"

"You also said Lintao, so Lintao climb palm tree?" Gilligan asked. "Lintao kalimepe palama le?"

"Eh?!" Lintao jerked his head over to look at them. "Wahi me?" he asked.

T'Pal smiled and waved her hand. "Iuko kikine!"

Lintao seemed relieved by what she said. "Koku," he said.

"You've taught me a lot," Gilligan said suddenly. "So, thanks for that. I just don't understand why."

"Why?" T'Pal asked, confused yet again.

"I don't know," Gilligan responded, not realizing what she meant. "I just think that I know you, but if I know you, shouldn't I know your language?"

The castaways trekked onward through the dense foliage, trying their best not to make a sound as well as keep up with the fast paced Skipper; neither worked.

"Skipper, could you slow down a little?" pleaded Ginger, regretting that she still wore her high-heels.

"Shhh!" the Professor warned. "The natives could be close by!"

"Oh," Mary Ann whimpered, "I thought you said they were a tribe of healers!"

"That were supposed to be gentle," added Mr. Howell, almost pleading that he was right.

"Oh, I never said that," the Professor said, wide eyed. "I just said they were a tribe of healers, but they are also trained in combat."

This made the Skipper halt. "Did you say trained in combat?" he asked, turning around, just in time for the other castaways to nearly run right into him.

"Yes," the Professor said, seemingly as calm as ever. "You see, though the entire tribe know how to heal minor injuries and illnesses, only two in the tribe are able to heal major problems, both of which are women."

"That would explain that girl we saw earlier!" Mary Ann exclaimed.

"Oh, she's a healer?" Mrs. Howell asked. "Well, that explains that dress she was wearing. It is so last broadcast of Medical Fashion."

The Professor rolled his eyes and continued. "The women of the tribe are the ones who are trained the most in healing. The two that are ranked as the tribe's healers are picked from their childhood behavior."

"You mean like how they play together?" Skipper asked.

"Well, not exactly," the Professor said. "What I mean is that they are picked by things that they do during adolescence. If they show greater capabilities than others, then that factors in to who is picked. Also if they have patience, kindness, and tolerance."

Skipper folded his arms. "So you know all of this about them yet you don't know what the price of healing is?"

"Yes," the Professor said, completely oblivious to the man's tone. "No one has ever really been that close to them. They may study them for a month or two to collect data but when they hear about that price I mentioned, they are too afraid of that price to stay."

Skipper shivered at the many thoughts that raced through his head. That price could be anything! It could be life threatening for someone, or it could just be a bowl of fruit. It could be never seeing that person again, or it could be a jar of dirt. By the look on the Professor's face, Skipper believed that the college teacher knew more than he was letting on.

T'Pal looked up at the pale pink sky. It would soon be nightfall, and the first stars would peek out from under the blanket of the sky to watch over the earth. That also meant that it would have been a full day that she had spent teaching Gilligan, and learning just as much as he did. She looked into the clearing where her companions sat.

Though T'Pal had only known Gilligan for that day, she considered him a great friend. For reasons she couldn't explain, she felt as though Gilligan knew of his position: that he didn't come from Aquali, that he was with strangers. Yet, he was as happy as someone who had caught the biggest fish in the tribe, and he didn't even attempt to ask why the natives were so nice to him— partly because he didn't know how.

Even with these truths, she still found herself smiling when she saw Palake trying to communicate with Gilligan and become his friend, but she couldn't help but notice Palake's slight glances of suspicion toward Ping every now and then. This worried her, because Ping was doing the exact same thing, though his were far less subtle. Lintao idly talked to Ping, and Ping just nodded as Lintao pretended that he had replied.

Somehow, she felt as though she really shouldn't interrupt them, that she was not needed at that time. If anything happened between Ping and Palake, Lintao was more than capable of stopping it. So, she walked further into the slowly darkening jungle, letting her mind go blank as she slid through the foliage. The island still amazed her, even now, though they had arrived at least one sunrise ago.

T'Pal continued to walk, loosing herself in the sights of the dimly lit jungle. With all the sounds of the insects as the island sung her song, this could truly be considered an island that never sleeps, that always watches over her inhabitants. But Aquali does not inhabit this island, T'Pal thought. Just how much longer will she protect us?

Then she heard a voice. No, not just one voice. They were murmuring voices, mixed together, as though there were many. T'Pal parted the leaves and peered into the tiny clearing that contained a small cave. A dim, flickering light shone in the opening. Out of curiosity, T'Pal crept slowly towards the mouth of the cave and leaned in just enough to see the six castaways, sitting around a small fire and huddled together to keep warm. All of them were trying to express their worries at once, but were doing so quietly. That isn't what worried T'Pal.

What worried her was that they were searching for Gilligan, that they were so close.

And she hadn't even finished her mission yet.

Sorry again for how long this chapter took. I've been trapped with science work lately! Which is a first, 'cause normally it's math...We were given an ocean project to complete this week with about 37 assignments (I think I lost count) on it, and each of them were painstakingly difficult. Then, she doesn't even grade it when the kids turn it in, and gives them all zeros before she realizes that the projects are in the cabinet! She flunked everyone in all of her classes because of that! No one got above a 75(D)!

Anyway, sorry for pushing all of that on anyone who read that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read the story and for all of your wonderful reviews!

Aingeal