Kale walked softly over the soft earth, shadowed by the height of the huge trees. Only his abilities of seeing sharply in the dark allowed him to see at all, amplifying the barely-ambient light into something he could see. The forest all around him was dark, forbidding. It seemed to reflect the Lunar's attitude that outsiders were not welcome here. The very trees themselves seemed to view him with deep suspicion as he walked with the Lunars, the wind howling through their branches with low, ominous noises.
The Lunars escorting Kale made no noise as they walked through the forestlands, but that didn't surprise him in the least. Even the Lunar with the shape of a huge hybrid bear didn't make a single sound as his huge paws stalked across the ground. The strange, bestial Lunars were walking all around Kale not to protect him, but to make sure he didn't try anything silly – like running.
He had to admit to himself, he was slightly scared. He'd be a fool not to be, what with invading the territory of those who despised civilization and the ills it brought, and wanted to be left alone. He was invading the places they called home; they had every right to treat him as an enemy.
They kept a brisk pace, moving like swift, large menacing shadows through the forest. Kale got the uncomfortable impression that these people had a strong connection with the forest. The low and ominous howling of wind through the trees seemed to keep pace with them as they moved, and fading away as they passed.
Hours passed at their brisk pace, Kale finding it slightly difficult to keep up, though many long years of long walks helped him keep up with the blistering pace the Lunars set. He stumbled once on a tree root that seemed to grow out of the ground to entangle his feet as they swiftly walked. He managed to regain his footing and keep walking, but he felt a spearpoint pressed to his back afterwards. "Move, Solar!" a snarling voice behind him ordered.
Them calling him "Solar" all the time and not even asking for his name was beginning to get on his nerves. However, he wisely kept a lid on his temper for now. This was not the time or place.
The horizon began to brighten slightly, heralding the coming dawn. Kale smirked to himself at the conversation he'd had with Aya about this, and their times of getting up about now to race the sunrise. The Lunars didn't seem to notice, simply pushing ahead with alacrity.
Around the next twisting path, Kale saw two trees that would normally be seen in towns as the posts between which a gate was put, though there was no gate here. He saw others here, some in the form of humans, some in the form of animals. They began to smile when they saw the coming Lunars, but their smiles swiftly changed into scowls of suspicion at seeing him. All of them pointedly turned to put their backs to him, talking amongst themselves with low voices, shooting glances of dislike at him.
Kale shook his head. He knew the Solars hadn't made such a good name for themselves at the end of their time, but he hadn't known it was this bad. Then again, over a thousand years had passed, and the stories told of the Solars were probably worse now than when they actually happened.
Without warning, his escort halted in their tracks. The huge Lunar in the form of a bear stamped his spear against the ground, and called out in a low, slightly growling voice that nonetheless carried quite a distance, echoing in this place like thunder through the mountains. "Elders, we found a Solar intruding on our territory. He is arrogant enough to travel alone, and speaks with words of war against the undead, and of speaking with you, our honored elders. He remembers the name of the Shahan-ya, Winterstripe."
A few men walked out of tents and from off the ground, walking into a half-circle formation, facing the great bear Lunar. All were silent for a few moments, one of them toward the left breaking the silence.
As the elder opened his mouth to speak, his teeth were revealed to be wide, long, and serrated. Kale got the uncomfortable impression this elder's totem was that of the shark. He was a wide, stocky man, with his face and head shaved bald. He looked at the great bear who had spoken, but his words were addressed to Kale. "The Solar wishes our help against the undead, hmm? How arrogant."
The great bear bowed his head slightly before lifting his head once more to speak. "Yes, Ikth-ya Marin. He said that his woman is preparing for war against them, but desires our help."
One of the elders, a tall, savage-looking man clad in the pelts of wolves stepped forward gracefully, looking suspicious and curious at the same time, speaking with a growling voice that reminded Kale strongly of a wolf. "What is his mate's name?"
One of the Lunars shoved Kale from behind roughly. "Ssspeak, Ssssolar!"
Kale lifted his head, and looked at the elder clad in wolf pelts. He was shoved again, the hissing voice behind him sounding angry. "Do not insssult an elder by addresssing him directly, fool!"
He began to grow angry, but he swallowed it down. For now. He addressed the bear in front of him. "My fiancee's name is Aya."
Most elders looked uncomprehending, though a few had amused looks on their faces, looking at the elder clad in wolf pelts. The one clad in wolf pelts looked surprised, and then broke out into loud laughter. "Haha, it's not enough that she takes my horde, now she wants more?"
The elder that reminded Kale of a shark spoke again, looking at the elder in wolf pelts. "Golgol, is his mate the one who cut you asunder?"
The elder named Golgol laughed louder before answering. "Aye! Well, here's my answer, Solar. If she wants more of my horde, then she shall have to come here and duel me again!" He looked toward Kale with a savage grin on his face. "She will not find me so easy an opponent this time, this I swear by my honor!"
The other elders chuckled savagely at this, some clapping him on the back.
A low, slightly reverberating voice seemed to undercut Golgol's bluster. "No."
Golgol bowed his head respectfully. "Shahan-ya."
Kale was surprised to see the tall man with black hair, and a scar over one eye that he had seen a few weeks ago in Mishaka step forward, looking at Kale thoughtfully before turning his head slowly to look at Golgol once again. "You underestimated your opponent, Golgol. A fine war leader you may be, but unthinking arrogance your downfall."
Golgol nodded somberly. "You are right, Shahan-ya Winterstripe. I saw a lone woman come out to stop us, and I let my thirst for battle overcome my judgement."
Winterstripe slowly turned his head to cooly regard Kale once more. "If you would come here asking for our help, Solar, then know this: only those we consider one of us may ask for our help. You are not one of us. You have no name to us save that for which you are, and are unworthy of our assistance."
Kale looked downcast. This wasn't how he had hoped things would go at all.
The man spoke again, with a bit more of a tiger's growl entering his voice this time. "However, if you wish to prove your worthiness to us, we will put you through our Rites of Initiation, the same ones we put our young ones through to test their capability...and worth."
Kale spoke to the bear in front of him, not wanting to upset any unspoken decorum. "What must I do?"
A slow smile grew on Winterstripe's face. "Know this, my people. The Solar you see before you shows the same quiet courage and determination that his predecessor showed, long ago. His predecessor was friend to us, even to being given one of our sacred weapons in thanks for her brave deeds."
He turned his head slowly toward Kale once more, looking at him cooly once more. "Let us find out if he is worthy of being called the Successor of Melia. Know this, Solar: you are already considered an adult, and therefore your tests will be harder than those we would give a newborn Lunar, fresh from their Second Breath. Knowing this, do you wish to accept the Rites of Initiation, in hopes of gaining a voice here?"
Kale lifted his head, even as he addressed the bear in front of him. "I do. When can I start?"
A slow, savage smile appeared on Winterstripe's face. The other elders had mixed reactions, though a savage grin from Golgol made Kale unsure. Winterstripe spoke with the same low, reverberating voice, the growling untertone being more prominent now. "One mile north of here, there is a tall, young spruce tree with a robin's nest at the top. It has four eggs within the nest. Bring to me one egg from that nest without chopping the tree down, or moving the nest or the other eggs in any fashion. You have until sundown. Go!"
Kale sped out, relying on the signs of the forest, such as moss on certain sides of the trees help guide his way north. He heard soft footsteps following him, which didn't surprise him - of course they'd want a witness. He kept running, looking sharply on all sides of him to find the clearing. Through the dense undergrowth and forest, it was difficult to find his way, but he found the clearing after half an hour. His jaw dropped as he beheld the tree.
It was enormously tall. Very thin however, with the bottom branches being barely enough to hold a man's weight, let alone the ones further up. He looked around, and saw that there were trees surrounding this lone spruce tree, but they were all at least thirty yards away. Kale began thinking furiously about how to get the egg down from the nest, barely visible from the great height.
He began pacing quietly as he thought. He might be able to make his feet lighter with the rote he'd learned from Melia, but he seriously doubted it would make his feet light enough to climb such a slender tree trunk. Then he smiled, as he thought of a way.
Kale ran toward the tree closest to the spruce tree, ascending high enough to see the nest on the spruce tree, thirty yards away. He started throwing his weight back and forth, slowly at first. The mighty pine tree began to sway slowly. Kale kept throwing his weight in sequence, making the tree sway back and forth more strongly. Just as the tree was swaying toward the spruce tree once more, Kale channeled his essence into the rote that would allow him to leap mightily, using the momentum of the tree to help propel him. The muscles in his legs bunched like a coiled spring, releasing and straightening as he flew from the massive pine tree, toward the nest atop the spruce.
As he sailed by the nest in midair, he swiftly and carefully grabbed a single egg out of the nest. The parabola of his leap ended with him sailing toward a tree on the other side. Kale ducked into a crouch in midair to absorb the impact of hitting a tree. A branch bent to strike him painfully as he hit the tree trunk, but he grimly kept a tight, though gentle grip on the egg. He descended the tree, and looked at the egg once he had reached the ground.
He looked up to see the the Lunar in the form of a hybrid snake looking impassively at him, and wordlessly walking back toward the village. Kale followed, trying hard not to feel smug.
As he entered the village, the Lunars there looked suspiciously at him before turning their backs to him once more. He ignored the silent, though telling gesture as best he could. He walked back in front of the elders, still standing in a semi-circle. A few looked at him with surprise and raised eyebrows, some with suspicion. Golgol spoke to the Lunar in the form of a hybrid snake next to him. "Did he complete the test with honor?"
The snake nodded once. "Yesss. The Sssolar did not cheat."
Golgol nodded back, a grim smile appearing on his face. "Then here is your next test, Solar who would be one of us. Put the egg back where you found it, with the same restrictions! You have until sundown once again, Solar. Go!"
Some of the elders chuckled at this, some with rueful looks on their faces. Kale guessed that some of them had undergone the same test. He sighed to himself, nodding respectfully to the elders before departing back to the spruce tree.
Kale put the egg back in the same way he had aquired it in the first place, being extra careful this time so as to not damage or crack the precious cargo as he jumped. As he landed in the branches of the opposite tree once more, he saw the mother robin landing amongst the eggs, chirping suspiciously before settling down over them comfortably, preening herself.
Kale watched the robin with a small smile, before descending the tree and walking back to the village behind the snake-like Lunar. He reached the village once more, the Lunars there pointedly ignoring him again. The elders looked at him impassively as he returned, nodding respectfully to them once again.
The snake-like one spoke once more. "He finissshed sssuccesssfully once more."
Golgol grinned savagely at Kale, his canine teeth prominent. "Hah! I failed that one in my youth. We would applaud you for succeeding in your first test, but you are not a Lunar. Accolades shall await you...if you succeed. Are you ready for your next test, aspiring Solar?"
Kale nodded, speaking to the hybrid snake next to him, seeing that the great bear Lunar was absent for now. "I am."
Golgol grinned more widely, more of his wolf-like teeth being visible. "You will count coup against another Lunar now. You will hunt one another through these forests. Again, you have until sundown."
Kale spoke again, addressing the ophidian Lunar. "I apologize for my ignorance, but what is 'counting coup?'"
Golgol chuckled roughly. "You must touch him on the back of the head without him seeing you beforehand to win, and he may win with the same conditions on you."
Kale couldn't help but ask. "May I ask which Lunar I'm having this contest against?"
He heard the great bear's voice from the entrance to the village, snarling at him. "Your opponent in this test is me, Solar! I will knock you unconscious, and drag you back to this village to face the fate of a failure!"
With that, he stalked silently into the forest beyond. Kale swallowed. Golgol's voice rang out once more. "Are you ready, child?"
Kale nodded to them respectfully, and walked out of the village, and into the forbidding forest beyond. He knew he was at a disadvantage here already, as the great ursid Lunar most likely knew every branch and every tree root in this place, and all the best places to strike out in ambush.
He smiled to himself. However, he was capable of becoming as a ghost, unseen, unheard, unsmelled, and undetected. Kale channeled his essence through his anima first, feeling the sense-stifling ability take effect. He also masked his scent and footsteps, and finally his very form began to blend in with his surroundings.
Kale ascended a tree with perfect silence, none of the branches moving to announce his movement as he did. He looked and listened carefully in all directions. Not detecting his quarry yet, he leapt silently into another tree, waiting a few minutes as he extended his senses all around him.
He kept silently moving through the dense canopy above for over an hour before he found a trace of his quarry. The scent of a bear reached his nostrils, and he followed the scent, all the world blind and unaware of his passing.
It was another half an hour by his reckoning before he finally saw the great ursid Lunar stalking carefully through the forest, gripping his spear tightly. Kale crept up silent behind him, taking things slowly. As Kale reached only ten yards away from the Lunar, he saw the Lunar turning swiftly to look behind him.
Kale froze against the side of the tree, blending in perfectly with the bark of the tree trunk. The ursid Lunar looked behind him suspiciously, his nose sniffing for scent for a few agonizing minutes before turning around once more and begin moving again.
Kale exhaled silently. He ascended the tree with a branch above where the Lunar would pass, and waited for the Lunar to walk by. The Lunar's eyes were wary, his ears turning to listen to even the smallest sounds. Kale lightly tapped the great ursid on the back of the head as he stalked by beneath the branch, cartwheeling out of the tree to land on his feet behind the Lunar with a grin as he released the essence used to strengthen his natural stealth. "Gotcha."
The huge lunar spun around at the feel of Kale's hand of his great brown-furred head, and his gaze turned murderous as he saw who had tapped him. He growled menacingly at Kale. "You may have passed this test through trickery I know not, but know this - if you try that again, I'll be picking my teeth with your bones!"
Kale nodded, not saying anything. The ursid Lunar stomped angrily back to the village, stopping before the elders, jabbing his spear in Kale's direction. "I know not how, but the Solar counted coup on me. Did anyone watch him for trickery?"
A swift landed gracefully on a tree branch near the elders, hopping down to the ground to assume the form of a youthful-looking petite woman. She shook her head. "I watched him ever since he left the village. I watched him closely as he began using essence, though he did not draw any essence from the forest around him. What he did was fair, though I was barely able to follow him."
Winterstripe nodded slowly as he looked at the three, his gaze finally landing on Kale like a cat might pounce on a mouse. "I did not expect you to succeed in this. Uf-ya Harmony of Stones was raised in these woods."
The huge ursid Lunar, Harmony of Stones, growled menacingly at Kale before returning his gaze to Winterstripe once more. "Shahan-ya Winterstripe, honored elders, I concede the Solar victory in this test."
Golgol spoke up after gulping down a drink from his bone cup. "Very well, Solar. Here is your next test: bring me a fat deer. Again, you have until sundown."
Kale nodded, and walked out of the village once more. His sharp hearing heard the lower voices of the elders speaking with one another as he left.
He heard Winterstripe's voice first. His voice sounded reproving. "A deer, Golgol?"
Golgol had a note of protest in his voice. "I'm hungry! Who better to bring me dinner than a person undergoing the Rites of Initiation?"
He heard strange, rough laughter from another elder. "Thinking of your fat belly again, Golgol. I might've known."
Kale smirked to himself as he walked out of earshot, and nocked an arrow in his bow, moving with practiced ease through the forest. This forest might have its own ways and personality, but it was still a forest. He found a deer in an hour; a strong-looking eight-pointed buck looking cautiously around him before bending its neck to take a drink from a stream.
Kale's arrow flew straight and true, passing through the buck's neck to sever its spinal cord. Kale walked over to the deer, and quietly intoned the prayer he had learned from his father to give thanks to the deer for giving him its life, and wishing it a good journey, removing the arrow carefully once he was done. He swiftly gutted the deer before struggling to put the deer over his shoulders, finding that he was forced to channel essence into his muscles just to carry the big deer.
He walked slowly back to the village, the great weight of the deer slowing him down quite a bit. He looked at the sun, seeing that it was nearing eveningtime, and soon, sunset. He shook his head as he walked. What a day this had been.
Soon enough, he had arrived back at the village, and somewhat ungainfully placed the fallen buck on the ground in front of the elders. He did his best to place it gently on the ground, to honor the great animal, but his muscles strained to do so.
A quiet voice, that of the woman whose totem was a swift spoke up after the deer had been placed on the ground. "The Solar gave a respectful prayer to the fallen deer after killing it with one shot."
Golgol non-chalantly wiped the drool away from his mouth as he beheld the huge buck. "Respectful, was he?" A growl sounded in his throat as he looked at the deer hungrily. "A fine catch, as well."
The deer was swiftly skinned and carved, the elders sharing the meat of the deer without roasting it over a fire. They devoured it hungrily, remarking between mouthfuls how sweet the meat was. Kale's stomach growled, as he hadn't eaten since he had been woken up before sunrise.
The elders left a little meat on the bones of the breast, wiping their mouths as they assumed a semi-circle once more. "You may have the rest, Solar. You caught it."
Kale nodded, and ate hungrily, not really caring that it wasn't cooked. The meat was still somewhat warm, and tasted delicious to his empty stomach. There wasn't quite enough to make him full, but there was enough for a good meal.
Golgol addressed him once he had finished eating. "You may find a tree outside our village to spend the night in, if you can manage sleeping like a Child of Luna for one night. Sleep well, for you have many more tests ahead of you!"
Kale nodded to them respectfully, walking out of the village to find a suitable tree. He found one without much difficulty, a tall oak with high branches. He swiftly climbed the trunk and settled into one of the branches halfway up, falling wearily into dreams.
Over the next few days, the elders subjected him to many imaginative and difficult tests. Most he managed to triumph through his ingenuity and natural agility, but some he failed. He had had to run a marathon against the huge ursid Lunar, Harmony of Stones, a marathon that lasted a week. He could run faster than the huge Lunar, but the great bear could run for days on end without resting or even slowing down. At least he hadn't lost by much; he was able to see the great bear shuffling swiftly into town as he ran within sight of it.
Tonight, he was returning from a rather difficult test, having to dodge spears thrown at him for more than an hour without pause, and without being able to draw upon his own essence to enhance his ability to dodge. He was following the Lunars back into their village with a slight limp, as one of the spears had scratched his hip, but he had managed to dodge the rest, some by less than a hairs-breadth.
They stopped before the elders once more. Winterstripe's low, reverberating voice spoke as they stopped, bowing their heads respectfully. "Step forward, Solar."
Looking a little confused, Kale did so, trying to hide the limp.
Winterstripe stepped forward, looking at Kale carefully. "Do you swear on your honor and your life to follow the Silver Way? To never flee and never surrender, to always repay your debts, to be just and generous to those beneath you, to slay not a Lunar without just cause, to defend what is yours, and to honor your word to the deserving?"
Kale nodded his head respectfully. "I hold all those values dear already. I swear it upon my honor."
Winterstripe spoke with a loud roar, changing before Kale's eyes to become a huge half man, half tiger at least eleven feet tall with his huge, striped arms stretched toward Luna, high above. He called in a loud voice, his voice echoing with the low, rumbling roar of the riger. "Forevermore, you shall not be known to us as another faceless interloping Solar. We, the council of elders, recognize you as Kale, and give you a title; that of Nain-ya. Not one of us, but one of us."
All Lunars had stopped their whispering and talking, and were standing reverently silent. Winterstripe dropped his arms, and looked down at Kale, speaking in a lower, reverberating voice. "You are not blessed by Luna herself, but you have gained her favor through your trials. Know that you will never ascend in our society above that of Nain-ya, or "Kin," as you are not a Lunar."
He roared out again, the roar of a tiger taking form of the words humans spoke. "Children of Luna, bid welcome to the Nain-ya!"
All of them made loud calling noises of their various totems toward Luna, shining brightly above. The noise continued for several minutes, the energy of the place compelling Kale to yell wildly to Luna above as well.
Winterstripe's form shimmered as he became a man once more, regarding Kale with an inclined head. "Your name among us has been decided by your actions, and how you have performed in your trials. We will know you as The Cloaked Sun. This was Melia's title among us when we called her friend, and we bestow the same title on you now."
With that, the Lunars walked by him, mostly smiling and nodding at him as they passed. Some thumped him on the back companionably as they passed, some even congratulating him.
Harmony of Stones, however, still glared at Kale as he passed by. "Don't think for a moment I trust you, Solar."
Even with that remark, Kale felt triumphant. He felt sore, tired, and in pain, but triumphant. He took a deep breath, relishing the moment with eyes closed. He smelled the scent of the tiger close by, and opened his eyes to see Winterstripe standing before him. He spoke with the same low, reverberating voice. "Rest tonight, eat and be merry. You may bring the business you came here to speak of tomorrow morning."
Winterstripe began walking away, though turned his head and stopped, looking at Kale almost as an afterthought, a semblance of a smile on his face. "Well done, Nain-ya."
