20

A Friendship Formed

That night, Saber was put up in the attic of the old Nai's residence. It was near enough to the water that Saber could look out the little attic window and watch the waves. The attic was cluttered, but it was the kind of cluttered that Saber liked. He had wanted to get some rest, rest in a place where he felt safe, but the boy could not resist going through the old ship's logs, although he made little sense of them. He looked through old chests and crates, having before gotten Leyati's permission to do so. He watched, amused, from the pull-down stairs, as the human boy looked eagerly through these old artifacts, before leaving quietly.

Saber did not even notice the trapdoor stairs close with a soft thump as Leyati went to bed.

When Saber was through looking, he latched the trapdoor as Leyati had suggested, so he did not step on it during the night and fall. He had been able to find an old hammock, and tied it on the roof's beams where they came down the slanted walls to meet the floor. After writing his journal entry, he fell asleep.

The next morning, he was awakened by a knock on the floor. "Y' up, young human? It's time for breakfast!"

Breakfast! Now that he would wake up for! Leaving his journal safely in the attic, and donning his leaf cloak in the chilly morning, he ran downstairs.

Over a breakfast of toast, eggs, and some strange strips of meat, Saber asked his host again about the Lunattacks.

"Yep, I know who they are, youngster."

"Do you know where they came from?"

Leyati thought a moment, stroking his abnormally smooth chin with his hand. "Well not exactly...we Nai have been on Fourth Earth for a mighty long time, but there's none that actually remembers them coming to this planet."

"You mean they're from a different planet?" the boy asked in amazement. "How do they do that?!"

Leyati chuckled. "They've got ships that can fly so high they leave the planet behind. Never seen it myself though. I'd like to now that I think about it."

"Me too..." Saber bit his lip. "They-they're the ones that caught me. They didn't feed me for a long time then left me in the desert...I don't think they were trying to kill me though." He saw the old man looking at him interestedly, and so continued. Had he seen disbelief in Leyati's face, he would not have gone on. "They could've done that really easily if they wanted to...I think they wanted to see if I would die or not...maybe they thought it was funny or something..." Saber scowled, then shuddered, thinking about his ordeal at their hands.

Leyati nodded. "I can see them doing it for sport. They're a cruel bunch, they are. They demand payment each second spring tide for leavin' us alone. Otherwise, they'd come in with their flyin' ships and their weapons, and tear this village apart."

"Yeah!" Saber said. "We have to do that too, but my people think they're demons. But I found out they aren't, because they can bleed! And I found a big animal fortress with moving pictures in it...there's some kind of animal warriors that used to live there, and they fought the...Lunattacks?"

"Yep, that's what they're called." The man seemed a bit awed. "You've seen the Cats' Lair? There're so many legends here about them. The animal warriors y' speak of are called ThunderCats. We don't even know if their kind still exists."

"ThunderCats? What are cats? I know what thunder is."

Leyati smiled at the boy. "Cats are a kind of animal, mostly lookin' like that fortress you saw. That was the shape of a cat. Legend has it they used to live here, but the Cataclysm made the planet inhospitable by their kind."

"You mean they can't live here anymore?" The man nodded. "That's too bad...I wish I could've met them. I want to be a warrior someday, but my parents say I'm to be a scholar."

Leyati chuckled. "You gotta do what your heart tells you to, son. You seem to be a long way from home. That Cat's Lair is miles away, you'd have had to travel months to get here."

Saber scowled. "The Lunattacks? They used a flying cart...ship?"

Leyati nodded once more. "That would explain it. Well, youngster... Saber, right?" This time is was Saber's turn to nod. "Let's get out to the dock, and let me show y' what I do for a living." He looked the boy over. "Y're gonna need more clothing than that though. It's gettin' cold out. Winter'll be here in a couple of months or so." The old Nai went back into the attic Saber was using as his room, and looked through a couple of old trunks, Saber looking over his shoulder. Finally he found what he was looking for, and found a set of heavy coveralls that he had worn as a boy. They were water-resistant and had a warm, soft lining. "This oughta fit y', youngster," Leyati said.

Saber grinned and put the unfamiliar clothing on. It was strange to him, and slowed him down at first – he was unaccustomed to the heaviness - but after a moment, he had gotten used to it. "Thanks!" he said.

"You're welcome. Now let's get on down to the dock."

Interestedly, Saber followed, wondering what a dock was.

As the pair made their way through the streets, gray with the coming dawn, Saber discovered that the wooden floor he had seen before out on the water was a dock. He was lead to a far bigger one on the other side of town, where there were a few big boats, and a few of the wooden docks. "Wow!" the boy exclaimed.

Leyati laughed. "Never seen a port before?" The boy shook his head. "Ever seen a boat before?"

"Only really little ones the kids use to play in the streams. We only have streams, little ones."

"Well then I hope you don't get seasick, little one, because we're going on one."

More excited than he had been those long months of travelling, Saber ran after the man as he went out onto the dock.

"This is my boat here, Saber. She's called 'Rage and Glory'." The man smiled down at him. "That's what the sea is, y' know."

"It is?"

Leyati nodded. "The sea's the most powerful thing on the face of Fourth Earth. She's as beautiful as the sun and the moon, and home to more life than all the land on the planet. We couldn't survive without the sea. That's her glory. But like anything else with such power, she's also deadly. Y' gotta respect her, and be careful, or she'll kill y' without a backward glance. Y' understand that, son?"

Saber had listened avidly, and had rather liked the descriptions, and the way the Nai seemed to put a gender to everythng And he thought he kind of understood. But not really. "No..." Saber said uncertainly.

To his surprise, the old Nai did not get exasperated as his father would have; in fact, he laughed good-naturedly. "That's okay, I didn't either at first. But you'll understand as you get used to 'er."

Saber grinned and shrugged agreeably.

Leyati brought the boy aboard, and began showing him around. He pointed out the helm, and the living quarters below the galley, showed him where the head was, and anything else he would need to go. "What I do," he said, "Is go around my 'area', checking all my lob traps, and I cast my nets and the like. We'll be out probably overnight and well into the next day on this trip, bringing' it all back for market sale."

"Lob traps?" Saber asked, not able to take his eye off of his surroundings.

"Yeah, lobs are like the crab fish y' had last night, only a little different tasting. I'll show y'."

The old Nai continued his introduction to his ship, explaining how the sails worked, and how his fishing equipment worked, and how he found his traps, and about a dozen other things. He chuckled at the boy's overwhelmed expression. "That's all right, youngster, you'll get the hang of it, This'll be th' only two day trip, as I'm going t' be teachin' y' how things work. But we'll be going out every day for most th' day."

Saber nodded, trusting that the old man's assurance that he would understand as they went along.

It was true. As they went out into the brightening day, and he saw other fishermen leaving for their day's work, and he watched Leyati do all the things he had talked about he began to understand more. Leyati told him that since he had been in the village so long, he had earned his pick of areas. His was close, comparatively, and had the best catches. Saber watched in fascination as Leyati traveled through the water, looking for the brightly colored floating wood markers he called buoys. They were attached by a long, long rope to a funny looking cage thing, which he hauled up over the side of the boat. "What are those?!" Saber asked, referring to the creatures in the trap.

Leyati laughed. "I guess to a land-dweller the creatures of the sea would be kind of strange to y'. These are lobs, my friend. These are what I sell to make my living; these and fish."

"Well...I know what fish are, our streams have those...but I've never seen a lob before. They look mean."

"They can be, if you don't know how to handle 'em. They're fast as lightning, and can lop off a man's hand if he's not careful." He chuckled as Sabers eyes widened. "That's only if y're not careful and handle 'em wrong." He grabbed one of the creatures by the back, just out of range of the powerful, overly large claws. He tossed it in a big bin on his boat. Saber jumped back.

"Can they really hurt you that bad?" he asked, alarmed.

"They can. Hey, it's all right, young fella. I told y' that only so y' respect 'em, and don't go reachin' for one."

"I won't be!!" Saber said. That was for sure!

"That's good. If you know how to handle 'em, most any dangerous thing is workable." He tossed another in the bin; only one was left. "Come on over here." He shook his head as Saber refused to come closer to the bin. "They don't jump, and they don't run well. And they don't turn around fast. The only thing that is quick is their claws. Now come on over here, I'm gonna help you get this one out. Come on, I know you got the guts t' do it. Y' wouldn't'a made it this far if y' didn't."

The slight compliment made Saber approach, but he did not reach in. He would not reach in unless he knew how.

The man smiled in approval. "Good boy. Now t' pick one of these up..." He reached in quickly and grasped it. By a great show of willpower, Saber did not back away. "Y' have to grab him right behind this third joint here in its armor. See? He's tryin to claw me, but he can't reach. Y' can hold him like this all day if y' want, and he can't get y'." He put the thing back. "Now come over here." He took the boy gently by the arm and brought him around. "Now carefully, reach y're hand in, and grab him. Y' see where I told y' it was?" Saber nodded. "All right then...go on..."

Saber bit his lip and watched the creature. Then summoning up his courage, he grabbed the creature, right where Leyati had said. It was surprisingly heavy, but he held on, closing his eyes...but when nothing happened, he opened them and beamed widely. "I did it!" The claws were out of reach!

Leyati laughed. "Good job! Now throw him in that bin over there, and we'll go onto the next."

Saber and his new friend spent a tiring day checking the traps, and Saber learned how the nets were used as they went along. He learned what to throw back, and how to haul the nets in to keep the fish from falling out.

That night, Leyati found the boy a stack of parchment for him to use, and a writing stick like the one the boy had seen in the animal fortress...the Cats' Lair. Saber thanked him, and before he went to sleep, wrote a good deal in his journal of his day, and the pride he felt when he was able to get the lob out without hurting himself, and how it felt to be on the sea with the strange rocking. He liked being on a boat very much, he decided.

Finally, exhausted, Saber put out the kerosene lamp and lay down in the hammock. Minutes later, he was fast asleep.

Part 21: Rebellion?

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