Chapter 3
"Noshi, how much farther is it?" asked Crystal, carefully walking with bare feet around a patch of rocks.
"You should know the answer to that question," was Noshi's reply.
"Well, I'm sure glad you made this shawls of ours into shields to protect our dresses," said Hannah, moving the rocks out of Crystal's way with her power.
"No problem," said Noshi.
"Hey, you guys, I'd like to know how far it is," said Simon exasperatedly. "Oh, only another two miles," said Noshi.
"Can't we just teleport into it?" asked Ingry.
"No, I put a special shield on it that doesn't allow you to teleport within a two mile radius of the ship," Noshi replied.
"You have got to be kidding me, we've already walked four miles," said Ingry.
"Hey, it's good exercise," said Noshi, "Race ya there."
"Only if you fly the ship to us when you get there," said Jea.
"Okay," said Noshi as he took of at a slow jog, everyone else collapsed where they stood.
"Hey, Simon, Ingry, shouldn't you two be able to withstand what he is?" asked Jea.
"We don't feel like concentrating that hard," Ingry said.
"Quite true," said Simon.
"So, does anyone know where we're going?" asked Crystal, she was sitting on a large boulder and leaning against a tree.
"Not a clue," replied everyone else at the same time.
Simon was sprawled out on the dirt with his eyes closed. Hannah was still standing, even though her legs were about ready to give out on her. Jea was sitting cross-legged next to Crystal's boulder. Ingry had her knees drawn up to her on top of a log.
"Do you think we can ask?" said Jea to Crystal.
"I don't know," Crystal replied.
"Well, I'm going to get some rest while he brings that ship to us," said Simon.
"Me too, and that's if he brings it," said Ingry.
Noshi started out a slow jog and heard everyone else simply collapse. Knowing that he didn't have any backup Noshi made his clothes into a slight shield. The ship was really only half a mile away, but he shouldn't think about that because he might still be too close to Crystal and Jea. They did not yet know that they could only converse telepathically while within a half-mile radius of each other.
Just as Noshi was getting the ramp down someone attacked him from behind. Well, it wasn't really an attack, but the man jumped on Noshi's back and immediately bounced off and skidded nearly 50 feet. Noshi decided to get into the ship and not continue to fight. But the man wasn't ready to give up. He came again, this time with a sharp-pointed stick in hand. The stick cracked in two as soon as it struck Noshi, by this time the attacker was clearly bewildered.
While the man was staring dumbstruck at Noshi, Noshi made some rope out of a log and bound the attacker's hands and feet. Once the rope was securely around the man Noshi tied him to a tree and left him. Only then could Noshi get into the ship.
Upon entering the ship Noshi told Crystal and Jea telepathically that they could now teleport and that they should come to the ship immediately. "Ingoria, Ingoria," yelled Crystal, shaking her sister.
"Wake up, burn you, wake up," Jea yelled at Simon. Both Crystal and Jea had just received a message from Noshi to teleport immediately, but how could they do that without Simon and Ingoria.
"Grace," whispered Crystal in Ingoria's ear. At that simple word Ingoria woke up. So, thought Crystal, I was right: she was in The Dream.
"Why did you wake me, I don't see the ship," said Ingry.
"Noshi has released the teleporting shield. We must go to him, he has been attacked," was all Crystal said.
"You can take all five of us right?" asked Jea worriedly, her power was only specialized to control minds, not read them.
"Of course I can," Ingry replied. She walked over to Simon and laid a hand on his back then told Crystal, Hannah (who was still asleep but lightly) and Jea to hold her other hand. In the blink of an eye, they were in Noshi's ship.
"What happened?" Simon asked. Teleporting seemed to wake people up even in their deepest sleep.
"We teleported," Ingry told him.
"Well why didn't you wake me up?" he asked.
"We tried," the three girls responded together.
"Oh, I see. Well, besides that, why are we here? How did we get into the ship? It's got a teleportation shield on it," Simon said worriedly.
"Hey, calm down will you. I dropped the shield as soon as I got here. You see that man outside?" asked Noshi, Simon nodded. "He tried to attack me. I made my clothes into a shield though, so no harm done, but we need to find out why he attacked me. That's why I need Crystal and Jea. You see, I can't do all three at once. That's why I need Jea to control his mind while Crystal reads it and I communicate with him. By doing all three, we'll reach a conclusion much sooner."
"Oh," said Simon and Ingry together.
"So, what do you want us for?" Ingry asked.
"To stand guard," Noshi replied, "Come on."
"Well, this is the real thing, huh?" asked Crystal.
"Hey, what about me?" asked a now wide-awake Hannah.
"You're going to freak him out by making him float on air," Noshi replied.
"Let me guess," said Hannah in a disappointed tone," You forgot all about me, didn't you? Oh, you've done it now boy, I don't want to help you anymore. You're useless. No matter what that stupid prophecy says, you'll never triumph over anyone."
"I do hate to break it to you, but according to the prophecy people can only threaten us, not beat us," Noshi replied.
"Well, the original prophecy doesn't say that," Hannah sniffed.
"Only those who oppose are the real threats, But do not make your bets yet. There are those who ride in splendor, And those whose life is that of gloom. But tarry not my faithful friends, Our journey has yet to reach its end.
The days of triumph will come with five, Whose youth is a big surprise. My mistake, They are not five but six. Six to triumph over all who threaten, The dead, the living and those yet to come. But tarry not my faithful friends, This journey has yet to reach its end.
These six not all stand true, For there is one who opposes not foes. Even with this fateful trait, Five have still come of late. Now, remember this I have told, For they shall always win against every foe. Yet tarry not my faithful friends, For this journey still has no end."
"Oh, I see. So, where was that from, who said it?" asked Hannah.
"It is from our ancestors, said by my grandmother. Apparently she had a horrible habit of singing prophecies, too bad she couldn't sing on tune," said Noshi with a small smile.
"Well, are we going to get to it or what?" asked an eager Jea.
"Let's go," said Noshi.
"What's the plan again?" asked Hannah.
"It's no wonder your name means 'forget' in El Callity; you're constantly forgetting things. Just make the dude float in the air, okay?" asked Noshi.
"Okay, got it. I promise I won't forget," she replied.
When they came out of the ship the man tied to the tree started jerking wildly, trying to get free. It was a great pity that if he managed to wriggle out of his bonds he would most likely die from the fall. Once he realized this fact he calmed down a little, but began breathing harder, certain that death was on its way.
"We have some questions for you," Noshi told him.
"Why should I tell you anything," the man asked.
"Because you can hide nothing," Noshi replied, "Why don't you tell me about your journey here. Where did you start from?"
"I can't remember where I started, I was just here," the man replied.
"You're lying. It appears that you came from the planet Jearnia. I do believe that is the capital planet of the galaxy, is it not?"
"It is," the man told him, completely bewildered.
"You started a mile or so south of this ship and slowly made your way here by foot. You had a horse with you, which carried your belongings. Where is he? Where is Tracker?" asked Crystal suddenly, but quietly.
"He's about 300 feet to the south, tied to a tree. Has been for a few days now. Don't worry, I left food with him," the man replied, Jea was now controlling his mind and thus telling him what to say.
"Go find Tracker Hannah," Noshi said, "I need some quiet time to talk with this man. Go through his belongings, there might be something useful there. Dispose of anything you know we won't need."
"Where's the horse again?" Hannah asked.
"He's 300 feet to the south, tied to a tree. Just follow the trail," Noshi told her exasperatedly.
"Okay," said Hannah as she turned to the west and took 3 steps before changing her direction to the south, where a trail had suddenly appeared.
"Now, I'm going to talk with you, but not physically," Noshi told the man.
Listen closely, the man heard Noshi say inside of his head, I need to know why you are here and the easiest way to do that is to read your mind. Now, either you tell us every detail of your voyage or we read your mind and leave you unless we see fit to do otherwise.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk," the man nearly screamed as he dropped to the ground with a large thud. Noshi hadn't told Hannah to put him down before she left; she'd feel what had just happened though.
"Now, tell us everything," said Noshi while staring into the man's eyes, "Crystal, go switch with Ingry and tell her to come out her, we'll need her as a truth serum."
"Okay, sir," said Crystal mockingly.
"Oh, sorry," said Noshi absent-mindedly.
As soon as Ingry arrived the questioning or rather the telling of a story began. Ingry was listening very intently telling the man to start over every time he said a lie. His end story wasn't exactly realistic, but it made sense. According to this man his boss had told him to find five young adults that had been born on the same day. Once he had found them he was to capture them and take them back to his boss on the planet Jearnia. The boss had not told the man as to why he wanted this done, so Noshi agreed to drop the man off at the planet Jearnia on their way to wherever it was they were going.
"Well, I guess that's all we'll get out of him," said Ingry.
"Yep, that's it," Noshi replied.
"Then we'll be on our way?" asked Jea.
"As soon as Hannah get back with the horse," Noshi replied, and as if cued, Hannah came back. The horse looked horrible, he was matted with sweat and was just unbearable to look at. The large brown eyes looked so sad, so miserable that Hannah had decided not to hold the reins, but had used her power instead.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Crystal, as she rushed out of the ship, she had apparently felt the horse or something strange like that.
"He's been over used," Hannah, replied sorrowfully, "I'm afraid he doesn't have much time left."
At this, Crystal softly began to cry. Tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. She laid her head on the horse's mane and began to cry harder. Then, in the blink of the eye, the horse was fine, he looked just like a newborn colt, only, older.
"What did you do?" asked Noshi, stunned.
"I- I think I he-healed him," Crystal muttered in disbelieving shock.
"How?" asked Jea and Hannah together.
"Th-that's a g-good question," Crystal stuttered.
"I don't believe it! Crystal, you've discovered a new power. It's love, tears of love heal any and all pain," Noshi said excitedly.
"That's a power?" asked Crystal; now curious as to what was in store for her.
"Yes, and an excellent one to have at that. I believe it is simply called Healing, but in El Callity it would be known as, The Rose," said Noshi, now smiling brilliantly.
"I already knew that," Crystal replied, at this Noshi's smile faded.
"So where are we off to now?" asked Simon, who had overheard the commotion and decided to see what was going on.
"We go to the Chronicle," said Noshi and everyone's breath caught.
"She's like a fortune teller, isn't she?" asked Hannah dreamily.
"More like a prophesier," said Crystal and Jea together.
"Oh," said Hannah, disappointed as they all got into the ship; which happened to be invisible, thanks to Noshi.
"What is this Chronicle going to do?" asked Simon, his curiosity beginning to get the better of him.
"She is going to tell us each the prophecy of our lives," Noshi replied.
"How?" the rest of the people in the ship asked at the same time.
"Same way we got the first, 'spirits bold thro' night.' That's how she finds out about all of her ancestors, those both before and after her time," Noshi replied.
"Oh yes, I remember now," said Crystal as Jea said, "Yes, yes, of course, I remember all about that."
"Don't you two dare start," Noshi began to threaten, but right at that moment Ingry and Simon got into an argument on who could teleport the farthest. Then in the midst of all the shouting Hannah also began to yell.
"Noshi," she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Noshi! Noshi! The grounds getting closer."
At this everyone stopped dead. Noshi stopped yelling at everyone to be quiet. Crystal and Jea finally ended their contest of wisdom in a tie and Ingry and Simon simply sat down on opposite ends of the ship, staring at each other dangerously. Noshi ran to the controls and started fixing everything with Hannah's help. Hannah simply sat there, but controls that she looked at would suddenly lurch and the ship would follow their movement. After about three minutes the ship was righted and everyone was pretty well calmed down. Heeding Hannah's advice after another large argument between him and her, Noshi put the ship on autopilot.
"Well, this has been an interesting trip," said Noshi as he sat down next to Simon, who was still glaring at Ingry.
"That it has," said Hannah, "Now, tell me why exactly everyone was yelling at someone else."
"Okay, this'll take a while," began Noshi,"It goes like this. Simon and Ingry share similar powers, right? They can both teleport. Well, because of this, they tend to argue over small things, such as, who can teleport the farthest. It's the same thing with Crystal and Jea; they share the power of wisdom and constantly want to know who knows more. That's why they keep having contests in the middle of the night.
"Noshi, how much farther is it?" asked Crystal, carefully walking with bare feet around a patch of rocks.
"You should know the answer to that question," was Noshi's reply.
"Well, I'm sure glad you made this shawls of ours into shields to protect our dresses," said Hannah, moving the rocks out of Crystal's way with her power.
"No problem," said Noshi.
"Hey, you guys, I'd like to know how far it is," said Simon exasperatedly. "Oh, only another two miles," said Noshi.
"Can't we just teleport into it?" asked Ingry.
"No, I put a special shield on it that doesn't allow you to teleport within a two mile radius of the ship," Noshi replied.
"You have got to be kidding me, we've already walked four miles," said Ingry.
"Hey, it's good exercise," said Noshi, "Race ya there."
"Only if you fly the ship to us when you get there," said Jea.
"Okay," said Noshi as he took of at a slow jog, everyone else collapsed where they stood.
"Hey, Simon, Ingry, shouldn't you two be able to withstand what he is?" asked Jea.
"We don't feel like concentrating that hard," Ingry said.
"Quite true," said Simon.
"So, does anyone know where we're going?" asked Crystal, she was sitting on a large boulder and leaning against a tree.
"Not a clue," replied everyone else at the same time.
Simon was sprawled out on the dirt with his eyes closed. Hannah was still standing, even though her legs were about ready to give out on her. Jea was sitting cross-legged next to Crystal's boulder. Ingry had her knees drawn up to her on top of a log.
"Do you think we can ask?" said Jea to Crystal.
"I don't know," Crystal replied.
"Well, I'm going to get some rest while he brings that ship to us," said Simon.
"Me too, and that's if he brings it," said Ingry.
Noshi started out a slow jog and heard everyone else simply collapse. Knowing that he didn't have any backup Noshi made his clothes into a slight shield. The ship was really only half a mile away, but he shouldn't think about that because he might still be too close to Crystal and Jea. They did not yet know that they could only converse telepathically while within a half-mile radius of each other.
Just as Noshi was getting the ramp down someone attacked him from behind. Well, it wasn't really an attack, but the man jumped on Noshi's back and immediately bounced off and skidded nearly 50 feet. Noshi decided to get into the ship and not continue to fight. But the man wasn't ready to give up. He came again, this time with a sharp-pointed stick in hand. The stick cracked in two as soon as it struck Noshi, by this time the attacker was clearly bewildered.
While the man was staring dumbstruck at Noshi, Noshi made some rope out of a log and bound the attacker's hands and feet. Once the rope was securely around the man Noshi tied him to a tree and left him. Only then could Noshi get into the ship.
Upon entering the ship Noshi told Crystal and Jea telepathically that they could now teleport and that they should come to the ship immediately. "Ingoria, Ingoria," yelled Crystal, shaking her sister.
"Wake up, burn you, wake up," Jea yelled at Simon. Both Crystal and Jea had just received a message from Noshi to teleport immediately, but how could they do that without Simon and Ingoria.
"Grace," whispered Crystal in Ingoria's ear. At that simple word Ingoria woke up. So, thought Crystal, I was right: she was in The Dream.
"Why did you wake me, I don't see the ship," said Ingry.
"Noshi has released the teleporting shield. We must go to him, he has been attacked," was all Crystal said.
"You can take all five of us right?" asked Jea worriedly, her power was only specialized to control minds, not read them.
"Of course I can," Ingry replied. She walked over to Simon and laid a hand on his back then told Crystal, Hannah (who was still asleep but lightly) and Jea to hold her other hand. In the blink of an eye, they were in Noshi's ship.
"What happened?" Simon asked. Teleporting seemed to wake people up even in their deepest sleep.
"We teleported," Ingry told him.
"Well why didn't you wake me up?" he asked.
"We tried," the three girls responded together.
"Oh, I see. Well, besides that, why are we here? How did we get into the ship? It's got a teleportation shield on it," Simon said worriedly.
"Hey, calm down will you. I dropped the shield as soon as I got here. You see that man outside?" asked Noshi, Simon nodded. "He tried to attack me. I made my clothes into a shield though, so no harm done, but we need to find out why he attacked me. That's why I need Crystal and Jea. You see, I can't do all three at once. That's why I need Jea to control his mind while Crystal reads it and I communicate with him. By doing all three, we'll reach a conclusion much sooner."
"Oh," said Simon and Ingry together.
"So, what do you want us for?" Ingry asked.
"To stand guard," Noshi replied, "Come on."
"Well, this is the real thing, huh?" asked Crystal.
"Hey, what about me?" asked a now wide-awake Hannah.
"You're going to freak him out by making him float on air," Noshi replied.
"Let me guess," said Hannah in a disappointed tone," You forgot all about me, didn't you? Oh, you've done it now boy, I don't want to help you anymore. You're useless. No matter what that stupid prophecy says, you'll never triumph over anyone."
"I do hate to break it to you, but according to the prophecy people can only threaten us, not beat us," Noshi replied.
"Well, the original prophecy doesn't say that," Hannah sniffed.
"Only those who oppose are the real threats, But do not make your bets yet. There are those who ride in splendor, And those whose life is that of gloom. But tarry not my faithful friends, Our journey has yet to reach its end.
The days of triumph will come with five, Whose youth is a big surprise. My mistake, They are not five but six. Six to triumph over all who threaten, The dead, the living and those yet to come. But tarry not my faithful friends, This journey has yet to reach its end.
These six not all stand true, For there is one who opposes not foes. Even with this fateful trait, Five have still come of late. Now, remember this I have told, For they shall always win against every foe. Yet tarry not my faithful friends, For this journey still has no end."
"Oh, I see. So, where was that from, who said it?" asked Hannah.
"It is from our ancestors, said by my grandmother. Apparently she had a horrible habit of singing prophecies, too bad she couldn't sing on tune," said Noshi with a small smile.
"Well, are we going to get to it or what?" asked an eager Jea.
"Let's go," said Noshi.
"What's the plan again?" asked Hannah.
"It's no wonder your name means 'forget' in El Callity; you're constantly forgetting things. Just make the dude float in the air, okay?" asked Noshi.
"Okay, got it. I promise I won't forget," she replied.
When they came out of the ship the man tied to the tree started jerking wildly, trying to get free. It was a great pity that if he managed to wriggle out of his bonds he would most likely die from the fall. Once he realized this fact he calmed down a little, but began breathing harder, certain that death was on its way.
"We have some questions for you," Noshi told him.
"Why should I tell you anything," the man asked.
"Because you can hide nothing," Noshi replied, "Why don't you tell me about your journey here. Where did you start from?"
"I can't remember where I started, I was just here," the man replied.
"You're lying. It appears that you came from the planet Jearnia. I do believe that is the capital planet of the galaxy, is it not?"
"It is," the man told him, completely bewildered.
"You started a mile or so south of this ship and slowly made your way here by foot. You had a horse with you, which carried your belongings. Where is he? Where is Tracker?" asked Crystal suddenly, but quietly.
"He's about 300 feet to the south, tied to a tree. Has been for a few days now. Don't worry, I left food with him," the man replied, Jea was now controlling his mind and thus telling him what to say.
"Go find Tracker Hannah," Noshi said, "I need some quiet time to talk with this man. Go through his belongings, there might be something useful there. Dispose of anything you know we won't need."
"Where's the horse again?" Hannah asked.
"He's 300 feet to the south, tied to a tree. Just follow the trail," Noshi told her exasperatedly.
"Okay," said Hannah as she turned to the west and took 3 steps before changing her direction to the south, where a trail had suddenly appeared.
"Now, I'm going to talk with you, but not physically," Noshi told the man.
Listen closely, the man heard Noshi say inside of his head, I need to know why you are here and the easiest way to do that is to read your mind. Now, either you tell us every detail of your voyage or we read your mind and leave you unless we see fit to do otherwise.
"Okay, okay, I'll talk," the man nearly screamed as he dropped to the ground with a large thud. Noshi hadn't told Hannah to put him down before she left; she'd feel what had just happened though.
"Now, tell us everything," said Noshi while staring into the man's eyes, "Crystal, go switch with Ingry and tell her to come out her, we'll need her as a truth serum."
"Okay, sir," said Crystal mockingly.
"Oh, sorry," said Noshi absent-mindedly.
As soon as Ingry arrived the questioning or rather the telling of a story began. Ingry was listening very intently telling the man to start over every time he said a lie. His end story wasn't exactly realistic, but it made sense. According to this man his boss had told him to find five young adults that had been born on the same day. Once he had found them he was to capture them and take them back to his boss on the planet Jearnia. The boss had not told the man as to why he wanted this done, so Noshi agreed to drop the man off at the planet Jearnia on their way to wherever it was they were going.
"Well, I guess that's all we'll get out of him," said Ingry.
"Yep, that's it," Noshi replied.
"Then we'll be on our way?" asked Jea.
"As soon as Hannah get back with the horse," Noshi replied, and as if cued, Hannah came back. The horse looked horrible, he was matted with sweat and was just unbearable to look at. The large brown eyes looked so sad, so miserable that Hannah had decided not to hold the reins, but had used her power instead.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Crystal, as she rushed out of the ship, she had apparently felt the horse or something strange like that.
"He's been over used," Hannah, replied sorrowfully, "I'm afraid he doesn't have much time left."
At this, Crystal softly began to cry. Tears rolling slowly down her cheeks. She laid her head on the horse's mane and began to cry harder. Then, in the blink of the eye, the horse was fine, he looked just like a newborn colt, only, older.
"What did you do?" asked Noshi, stunned.
"I- I think I he-healed him," Crystal muttered in disbelieving shock.
"How?" asked Jea and Hannah together.
"Th-that's a g-good question," Crystal stuttered.
"I don't believe it! Crystal, you've discovered a new power. It's love, tears of love heal any and all pain," Noshi said excitedly.
"That's a power?" asked Crystal; now curious as to what was in store for her.
"Yes, and an excellent one to have at that. I believe it is simply called Healing, but in El Callity it would be known as, The Rose," said Noshi, now smiling brilliantly.
"I already knew that," Crystal replied, at this Noshi's smile faded.
"So where are we off to now?" asked Simon, who had overheard the commotion and decided to see what was going on.
"We go to the Chronicle," said Noshi and everyone's breath caught.
"She's like a fortune teller, isn't she?" asked Hannah dreamily.
"More like a prophesier," said Crystal and Jea together.
"Oh," said Hannah, disappointed as they all got into the ship; which happened to be invisible, thanks to Noshi.
"What is this Chronicle going to do?" asked Simon, his curiosity beginning to get the better of him.
"She is going to tell us each the prophecy of our lives," Noshi replied.
"How?" the rest of the people in the ship asked at the same time.
"Same way we got the first, 'spirits bold thro' night.' That's how she finds out about all of her ancestors, those both before and after her time," Noshi replied.
"Oh yes, I remember now," said Crystal as Jea said, "Yes, yes, of course, I remember all about that."
"Don't you two dare start," Noshi began to threaten, but right at that moment Ingry and Simon got into an argument on who could teleport the farthest. Then in the midst of all the shouting Hannah also began to yell.
"Noshi," she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Noshi! Noshi! The grounds getting closer."
At this everyone stopped dead. Noshi stopped yelling at everyone to be quiet. Crystal and Jea finally ended their contest of wisdom in a tie and Ingry and Simon simply sat down on opposite ends of the ship, staring at each other dangerously. Noshi ran to the controls and started fixing everything with Hannah's help. Hannah simply sat there, but controls that she looked at would suddenly lurch and the ship would follow their movement. After about three minutes the ship was righted and everyone was pretty well calmed down. Heeding Hannah's advice after another large argument between him and her, Noshi put the ship on autopilot.
"Well, this has been an interesting trip," said Noshi as he sat down next to Simon, who was still glaring at Ingry.
"That it has," said Hannah, "Now, tell me why exactly everyone was yelling at someone else."
"Okay, this'll take a while," began Noshi,"It goes like this. Simon and Ingry share similar powers, right? They can both teleport. Well, because of this, they tend to argue over small things, such as, who can teleport the farthest. It's the same thing with Crystal and Jea; they share the power of wisdom and constantly want to know who knows more. That's why they keep having contests in the middle of the night.