Breakfast that morning was rather a sick affair. Notaku was not sure if he could get anything down his throat, but he did manage. His parents, trying not to act worried, made small talk. They talked of the Tests of Bearhood that had been completed the night before. All but Artan had passed their Tests. "And that wasn't for lack of trying," said Bryon. "That little guy's got some determination. But he got lost in the arroyo, and didn't find his way until well after nightfall. He's okay with it though. He just grinned and shrugged, and said he would try again in a year or two. For now he's going to enjoy being a cub while he can."
"Wise," commented Notaku with a sigh. He scowled at his egg, which seemed to be staring at him. He stabbed it in the yolk, which made it look a little less like an eye.
"Notaku, eat your egg, rather than killing it, will you?" Kuma said, the ghost of a smile twitching on her lips.
A laugh was surprised out of Notaku, and he gave his mother a wry grin. "That's what it gets for staring at me," he said. But he did eat his egg, and finished his toast. Then he took in a big breath. The window was dark, as the sun had not yet risen, but the gray that tinted the horizon told the world that the sun would not be long in coming. And that meant he would have to leave soon.
"You'll want to get going soon, son," said Bryon. "Before the air really gets hot. The cave you need to get to is only a few days' journey, but you'll still want to make the best time you can."
"Drink a lot of water before starting out," said his mother. "As much as you can. You'll need it."
"Okay. I can go down to the stream and fill up my waterskin, and get a good long drink. I think I'll take a dip, for that matter, keep cool for a while." He was silent for a moment, and then he stood up. "I...I kinda want to get going before everyone wakes up. It'll be harder to leave with everyone watching me. I'll...I'll come back up here to say goodbye after I get my water, okay?"
Kuma's eyes were bright, and Notaku realized in wonder that she was trying not to cry. He had never seen her cry in his life. She simply nodded at his statement, and Notaku slipped out of the door. His parents were being strangely quiet, he noticed. But then they were probably as worried as he was.
The Valley was silent as he crept silently towards the stream where they got their water from, and the pools they bathed in. They had a pump system built from wood and leaves, but Notaku had wanted to get out a bit and think, and so he opted to come down and fetch the water himself. And the calming quiet of the desert morning always was able to soothe his mind.
He filled his waterskin as much as he could, and capped it, before slipping into the bathing pool. The water was chilly, this early in the morning, but that was good. Later it would be quite hot enough.
And so, dripping wet, he went back inside his home.
Kuma had surrendered to her tears, as there was no stopping them, when Notaku got back inside. She drew her son into her arms and told him if he was not careful, she'd come after him herself and then he'd be sorry. Notaku rather thought this was redundant; if he got hurt, she'd hurt him more. But then he thought he'd rather face a rampaging boar than an angry mother.
Bryon grasped his son's shoulder and smiled at him. "I'm very proud. You did very well yesterday. And you will do well now." He glanced out the window at the pinkening sky, and embraced his son. Notaku hugged him back. "Go on, now. You'd best get going before your mother decided she's gonna latch onto you and not let go." He smiled gently at Kuma, trying to get a bit of a smile out of her, but it only happened that she cried harder.
Grabbing his duffel and pushing his glasses back onto his face, Notaku nodded. "Okay...well...I'll see you guys midsummer. Don't let everyone hog all the best Gummiberries."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Bryon with a chuckle.
At first, Notaku was not sure how to go, but finally he just turned around and opened the door. "Don't look back," he whispered to himself. Because if he did, he wasn't going to want to go. He didn't want to go now, for that matter, but he did. He slid down the vine that trailed from his home to the ground, and landed lightly upon the packed earth. Following the trail that led from the Valley, he began his journey.
Had he looked back, he would have seen Bryon and Kuma Barbic standing on the giant limb on which their house was built, watching him until he was out of sight.
---
As Notaku walked, his fear faded, and a bit of boredom set in. He was boy used to being active, and doing many things, whether it was reading, or swimming, or climbing, or playing games with his friends. He had never been one who enjoyed hiking.
A couple of hours into his trek, he removed his cloak, leaving him bare-chested in the morning sun. It did feel nice, though, to be enjoying the warmth and the smells of a summer morning. And as he walked, he began to feel the growing sense of excitement about his coming journey. Yes, it would be dangerous, and the stakes were high, but he couldn't deny the exhilaration of the adventure.
Though as the sun began to rise, and thus did the temperature, the excitement was wearing a little thin. Notaku had walked now for a while without stopping, and the tops of the trees in the Valley were only just visible. He dug his map out of his bag, which showed the route to the cave where he assumed he would find out just where he was supposed to go.
By noon, Notaku was very hot, and tired. He decided that he was going to sit down for a rest. He debated trying to hunt something for lunch, but his only choices at this point were reptiles, and he did not particularly relish the idea of eating a lizard for lunch. Though he thought he was going to have to, come sundown.
Still, he could at least rest, and take a little water. According to the map he held, the cave he sought was two days' journey, maybe two and a half, from the Valley. That meant that he would have no shade or respite from the sun for that long; he wondered if maybe he should not travel by night. But then it would take a while to be able to adjust his sleep schedule to fit that kind of travel. But then he thought, didn't the more dangerous beasts come out at night? Would he rather meet them asleep or awake?
Notaku thought on this for ten minutes or so as he took a couple of small swigs from his waterskin. "Nighttime," he said to himself. "I can travel my moonlight most the nights, and there's not a whole lot in the open desert I need light for." He would have to be sparing with the lantern, as he did not have a huge amount of oil for it. But then it would not be a huge deal to make torches with all the scrub brush and dry tumbleweeds about.
But for now, that was not necessary. Notaku decided that he would take a nap now, if he could, covering up with the cloak so that the sun didn't burn his skin and sap the water from his body. Sleeping would use less energy as well, which was imperative during the scorching days.
Notaku yawned, and thought that maybe sleeping now would not be so difficult. He was tired from having woken so early, after a night of light, fitful sleep. He put his pack on the ground, and after a moment, capped the waterskin tightly and put it in his bag as well. He took out the cloak and draped it over him and lay on the sand, using his pack as a pillow. Surprisingly, sleep came easily to him.
When Notaku woke, the sun was on the wester, and the temperature was less severe. Yes, he thought. This is definitely the way to go. He sat up and cast the cloak from his body, wincing at how hot he had gotten just lying down. His fur was damp with sweat, and taking the cloak off was a great relief. There was a warm wind blowing, and on his damp body, it was quite refreshing.
He risked another sip of his water before continuing.
Notaku walked until daylight, without anything untoward happening during the night. The cries of coyotes far off made him a little nervous, that he kept his sling loaded and ready, but he had no need to use it that night. As the hours dragged by, Notaku began to get weary, but he was determined to see it through until dawn, when he figured he could crash and get himself more or less on a sleep-by-day schedule. He did make it, though when he stopped for the night, he was too weary to write on his parchment, which he had intended to do before sleeping. At least he had been able to find a rock outcropping that would afford a little bit of shelter.
When he woke, it was evening, and he was very hungry. He was going to have to hunt something down here, and soon; it had been a day and a half since he'd eaten breakfast. Notaku knew how to hunt, and he knew how to prepare and preserve his food; most Barbic cubs are taught how to survive in the wilds. But there had to be food to hunt, first, and this was proving itself a great hindrance to getting a meal. For an hour, Notaku crouched behind the rocks, searching ground and sky for something to strike down, but was having little luck. The desert areas were not fantastic hunting grounds. But he remained patient, no matter how frustrated he was getting, and this patience was soon rewarded.
As the sun dipped halfway below the horizon, Notaku caught sight of movement nearby. He checked the wind direction, and was happy that he was downwind of whatever it was, and would be less likely to be spotted. And his tan fur blended well with the desert sands.
As he watched, he saw that it was a jackrabbit! That would make a fine meal...actually it would make several meals for the small bear if he cooked it well and ate it throughout the day. He wished he had some salt to preserve it with! Of course, that was if he caught the blasted thing to begin with. He watched the rabbit carefully for about ten minutes. It was a big male, which made Notaku happy. Most Barbics are taught not to hunt females if at all possible, as they might be pregnant, or caring for young.
As the rabbit investigated some scruffy desert brush, Notaku stood, slowly, and readied his sling. The rabbit paused, sniffed, then went back to its meal. This would be the part, if any, where he lost his prey, for to get enough force to kill a creature, he needed to get a good spin going.
But luck was with the young Barbic. The sling was nearly silent as he spun it, then let go, sending the smooth, round stone hurtling at the grazing creature. The rabbit, sensing danger, raised its head in alarm, but was struck a moment later and fell to the ground.
Notaku did not particularly like killing, and sighed, not sure whether to feel happy he had succeeded, or upset he had had to take a creature's life. In the end, he felt a little bit of both. He crept over to the downed creature and checked to see if it was dead, because if it wasn't, he would use his knife to finish the job. One thing that he never would do is let a creature suffer. But his shot was true, and the creature was dead.
Notaku spoke a soft prayer of thanks to the rabbit for giving his life, before taking the rabbit's body and heading back to his rock outcropping. He laid the body on a rock while he went about gathering sticks for a fire, keeping an eye on his kill in case anything decided it was going to try and steal his food. But nothing did, and soon, Notaku had a nice, hot fire going. He let the fire get hot while he went a few yards away to skin his meal.
Dark had fallen when Notaku's rabbit was cooked. He cooked the meat quite a lot more than he preferred, but knew that it would not spoil so easily if it was well done. He cut it into portions, and ate only sparingly. He thought that this meal might last him three days if he was lucky enough that it didn't spoil. Though in the heat, he feared it might go faster. But that was all right. Gummi bears dealt a little better with starvation than most did, as their bodies were designed to store fat when need be. Their feral cousins, after all, would sleep for months in the winter, living on what they ate during the months previous.
Notaku wrote down his journey thus far on his parchment, and then used sand to bury his fire, and left the rabbit's skin for the ants and scavengers to have. He had neither the tools nor the time to tan the skin. He wrapped his extra meat in a bit of torn cloth from his cloak, and continued on his way.
By the end of the night, by the light of the full moon, Notaku squinted his eyes at a shape on the edges of his vision. He checked his map and let out a whoop of triumph. The cave! It had to be! And only a half a day out, by the look! He laughed as a coyote in the distance answered his call, and settled down for the night. He built up a small fire beside him, as with the meat in his pack, he could not be certain it wouldn't attract unwanted guests. And the fire would help keep them away. Cautious, at the very least. And it seemed to work, as when he woke near dusk, he was relatively unchewed on...unless one counted the mosquitoes. That was the only thing he hated about the great outdoors was bugs.
At least Gummi bears seemed to be fairly immune to fleas! That would just be embarrassing.
The cave was not very big, in fact from the look of it, it seemed like it wasn't big enough to hide anything in. Notaku felt a thrill of alarm as the thought occurred: what if whatever was there was gone? As he approached the cave and gave its shallow, bare interior a dismayed look, he became afraid that that was exactly the case. That whatever had been here that he needed to look like had been lost.
Should he go back? Precious days had been wasted already, that idea left a bad taste in Notaku's mouth. Perhaps this was the wrong cave? Had he read the map wrong? Or had the mages' vision perhaps been wrong somehow? This possibility he discarded almost as soon as he had it; the scrying stone could not be fooled by anything less than the gods' interference, and the gods did not generally interfere with the affairs of mortals.
"Okay, calm down," he said aloud. "Sit down and think it over." That was good advice! Notaku stepped into the cave, intending to take a few moments, eat some meat, and take a bit of water. But it did not work out that way. No sooner had he stepped into the cave, as the ground beneath gave way, and he was suddenly falling. He let a yell of alarm as he landed on stone, about three feet down, and began sliding down a natural chute.
He tumbled from the bottom of this twisting slide to land in an undignified heap on cool, smooth stone. Dazed and shocked from the sudden thrill ride, Notaku stayed where he was for a moment, getting his wits back about him. Okay. Well, sitting down and thinking had been the right course of action after all.
A quick check determined that he was not injured beyond a few bruises that he could deal with. Nothing was broken, and all of his limbs were attached. He laughed, belatedly, as the ride had been fun. A tiny bit of light trickled from the hole above, and he looked up...he would be able to get out of here, he hoped, but it would be a lot more difficult than the first part of his Test had been. Now he didn't even have a rope. Just a very slippery slide.
But for now, he had a cavern to explore, and hopefully a clue to where to begin.
Notaku brought his lantern out of his bag, thanking the powers that were it had survived the fall, but then it had been wrapped in his cloak, so it was protected. He frowned, as he realized his glasses were not on his face, and spent a few moments finding those, before he could get his lantern lit with one of the few matches he had brought.
The chamber he was in was large, many times Notaku's height, and wide enough for him to lie down in ten times over. It continued only one way, and so he shouldered his pack and began to walk.
It was creepy down there, in the damp caverns, with only the flickering light of the lantern to guide him. But in Notaku's mind, that only made it more enjoyable. The adventure of exploring new places, and without some adult there helping him, was enough to keep the worry of what might happen to the Valley out of his mind. The air was much cooler down here, and that was a great relief after the heat of the desert. He also would not have to drink so much water down here. And that was also good, because his water supply was getting low. He had been trying to drink sparingly, but it was hot, and the heat made him thirsty.
As he walked, always downward, the cavern began to narrow, until while it remained many times Notaku's height, it was so narrow he had to squeeze his way through. It was just a lucky thing that he was not claustrophobic. Still, he might just have to turn back, if the passage did not widen again, because at this point, he was having to sidle sideways, and suck in his gut.
At just the point where he was going to do just that, Notaku realized that the pressure on his body was less, and that he could move a little more freely. Heartened by this, he continued, and indeed the passage widened once more into a scene that made Notaku's eyes widen with awe.
He did not need his lantern here; the enormous chamber was lit by glowing crystals that grew on the walls, creating prismatic rainbows in the air. He blew out the lamp to conserve oil, and stuffed it back into his pack. He gazed, enrapt, at the crystals, which surely could not be natural. Were they bear-made, then? Human made? A creation of magic?
It was only after he had stared for a good five minutes that he noticed something else about the chamber; it was wet. When he put his hand on the wall, his fur was dampened by trickles moving down the stone, and when he looked down, he saw a pool of glittering clear water. "Talk about lucky!" he exclaimed in delight, kneeling down at the pool. He was not sure if it was drinkable just yet, but at the very least, he could bathe in it! He leaned down and sniffed at the water, which smelled as clear as he had ever encountered. Which was rather strange for standing water... Looking up, Notaku took in the other details of the cave. As he listened, he heard the very gentle sound of moving water, and as he looked down into the pool, he caught the telltale ripples that indicated an underground spring, feeding this pool.
Setting his pack down, Notaku climbed into the water to investigate, and found that he was right. There was a crack in the rock, and fresh water from underneath bubbled up, and the water from the pool flowed downwards, deeper into the cavern.
He spent several minutes bathing in the cool waters, and drinking his fill. He dumped the warm water from his waterskin, and replaced it with cool, clear water. He grinned contentedly at the pool as he stood up to retrieve his bag. "Thanks," he said to the water, as he waded across.
Notaku had no idea of time down here in the caverns, but as he traveled, he did begin to get hungry. The remaining meat he had was beginning to smell a little old, but for now it was still edible, and so Notaku ate his fill. And then some. Because by the time he would be hungry again, the meat would be no good anymore. He felt very full by the time he was done, and still had a little bit of meat left, so he left this in the cave.
The strange, glowing crystals still grew above him, and to the sides, and so he was not wanting for light. As he walked, Notaku would gaze at the beauty of these crystals, wondering again how they had been made. Why had none of the Barbics discovered such a place by now? It wasn't all that far from the Valley! But then he remembered the narrow passage he had gone through, and realized that even a Gummi bear adult would not fit through. And no children would be allowed this far.
The narrow steam that flowed from the pool above followed Notaku into the depths of the cave, and he was glad of this. He decided to empty his waterskin and simply drink from the stream, until he was forced to leave it. And then he would gather it fresh again for the next leg of his journey.
His destination turned out to be another large chamber, again lit with the glowing crystals, and ending in a smaller pool that seemed to trickle off into inaccessible parts of the caverns. But that was not what was so shocking. The shock came when Notaku realized that someone had lived here long enough to have a crudely made bed over in the corner! He blinked, and ran over to it, wondering if perhaps he wasn't seeing things that weren't there. But no, it was there, and it was real. A badly-woven basket sat beside the bed, which was made of what looked like deadwood and dried brush. In this basket were two metal dishes, and a ceramic cup that was broken in half. A tarnished spoon and fork lay in the bottom, and Notaku wondered just how long they had been there. A lantern sat on a natural shelf nearby, next to which sat a metal jug of lamp oil.
How had they gotten in? Perhaps there was another way.
Upon investigating the bed and its bedclothes, Notaku discovered a nest of bugs living in the blankets, and surmised that it probably had not been slept in for quite a while. The dishes and cup smelled of the caves, not of whatever food was on them last. The lamp was dark, and its glass stained by the humid atmosphere of the inner caverns. Notaku was fairly sure that no one had lived here for quite some time.
However he did find something else in the bed, once the bugs had cleared out; a journal. The outside of the leather that was folded around it was moldy and rotting, but the pages beneath were intact, and readable. Suppressing the urge to gag, Notaku peeled away the slimy leather and took the journal into the best lit area of the cave to read it. It was in English, the language most humans used. And Notaku felt a rush of dislike. "Why should I even bother reading this, anyway?" he asked himself. And the answer was a simple one: because it's here. He had been sent here for information, and here, in his hands...was information. Whether it would help or not remained to be seen, but it was still pretty foolish to pass up the chance simply because a human's hand had scrawled the words.
Notaku didn't really hate humans, per se. But most Barbic cubs were raised to believe they were untrustworthy and cruel. According to legend, it was because of humans that their clan had been driven to brave the harsh lands of the desert centuries before. It was only luck that they found the Valley, which had water, and plants, and wildlife. Notaku had never even seen a human before, as they were rare in these parts.
Shaking his head, the boy took up the book and began reading. He knew the language, though it was awkward and difficult for him to translate. The Gummi languages were so much smoother. He peered at the date, and it looked like this journal was not even a year old.
The first few pages contained nothing interesting. They only detailed this person's journey west, from a land farther east than Notaku could even imagine. This person had a horse! Notaku had seen unicorns of course, though there were not many in the Valley, but he had never seen a horse. He had heard that they were even bigger than unicorns were. But the horse had died in the desert. Notaku frowned as he read on, finding that the human had not cared much about his steed's death, and that if his journey was successful, it was well worth the horse's death. The adults were right, he thought. Humans were evil.
There were a few scattered entries that sounded a lot like his own had been, about him crossing the desert at night, when it was cool, and eating what he could hunt. But about halfway through, the entries got a lot more interesting.
Notaku's eyes were wide as he read an entry that seemed to have been made at the end of summer. It described the Valley from a distance, and Derelict Peak. The mountain seemed to be this human's destination.
I have finally found it, the mountain of lore. I can see its pointed peaks in the distance, can almost smell the power within it. It is no more than a week's journey from where I stand now. When I get my hands on that gem, there shall be nothing to stop me.Another entry read thus:
Tomorrow, I will get there. The legends speak of a hole in the top, a hole in the very mountain, that will lead down to where the gem lies. Such great power, in a single stone. With it, no mage or wizard shall match my own power.Notaku called the human something he would not normally say in front of his parents, and scowled darkly. This was him. This was the human that was in the mages' vision. The human who was now endangering the entire clan of Barbics in the Valley.
He went on to read, growling as the words described the human's success in obtaining the gem. The volcano, whose top was open like a great mouth, had been easy enough to scale down into. The gem had been exactly where the legends told him, deep in a cavern, on an ornate iron pole. There was even a crude drawing of the pole, which looked rather like a large scepter stuck into the rock. I'll have to keep this, he thought. It describes where I need to put the gem.
The next few entries were filled with gloat, which just disgusted Notaku. He was prone to gloat once in a while, but this was ridiculous! Even the most arrogant of Barbics didn't usually gloat this much.
Notaku sighed, and sat back, glancing up to the rainbows that crossed over each other in the air, from the prism-like crystals that illuminated the chamber. There was every color of the spectrum there; crystals of green, red, blue, indigo... It was soothing to look at. It was weird, Notaku thought, that this human could be among all this beauty, and not care for a bit of it. Only the power that some gem might give him.
Frowning, he looked back to the journal. Seemed the human had indeed found the caverns through a different passage, and made this crude living chamber. He intended only to stay a few nights, while he recovered from the arduous journey, as there was water and cool air.
The last entry was the one describing the cave, and the living area the human had set up...and after that, there was nothing.
That was puzzling to Notaku. There was nothing further written in the journal, only a host of blank pages. He flipped through them all, wondering what had happened to the human, or if he had simply stopped writing. But he had detailed his quest up until then, why stop?
The child yawned, holding a hand to his mouth to cover it. Whatever the mystery was, he was going to have to wait until he slept some, to figure it out. He was not sure what time it was, but he did know that he was very tired.
He considered trying the bed, but remembering the family of bugs that had been living there, he decided the stone was quite good enough for him. He curled up on the floor of the cavern and closed his eyes.