Chapter 5
A Little Bit More About The Natives
Unem had once again got himself lost. He was walking when he saw a gray masked man running. He followed the man until he came unto a lake. The masked man was nowhere to be seen. Unem shrugged and looked out on the lake. There were faint ripples on its crystal blue waters, but otherwise it was still. It reflected everything. If it wasn't for the reflection, Unem wouldn't have seen the masked man coming from behind. Unem turned around and was about to grab him when he was stopped by an unseen force. "Relax," said the masked man, "I mean you no harm." A force sensitive? Unem was released while the masked man walked to the water. "It's beautiful, yet it can be depressing, so why do you come to these waters? You could have ignored me and went to your camp where your friends are." The man was drinking water while Unem was asking a million questions and shrugging them all off. "Not too sure," replied Unem after some time, "I just stumbled upon it." The man chuckled, "you mean, after you were following me, right?" Unem chuckled and nodded. The man got up, "well, if you need some help, we are on those mountains. There's a path that will help you up that starts on the last hill. We will offer as much help as we can." The man turned away but stopped, "also, beware the caves." Then he ran into the trees. Unem went to the camp, ready to tell the others what he learned.
Lembert was still nowhere to be found. Now it wasn't just Aden who was worried. Vels keeps the fires up and watches the woods. Jeph and Kert occasionally talk about the possibilities of him being eaten or captured. Mern would casually joke about it, but it was just his way of hiding. When there was rustling, everyone looked and was greeted by not the Colonel, but Unem. While they were all glad to see him, they also hid the fact that they completely forgot about him. Unem then shared his tale of why he was late.
About an hour before everyone woke up, Lembert was making a map. Unlike everyone else, Lembert had no armor and had some papers and pens in his pockets. He was looking for a cave. He was going as fast as he could. In his journals, he had a record of when his ancestor had stumbled on this place. In it, there was a mention of powerful, unknown crystals that, in the journal, was said to give the wielder the ability to use the force or, in the hands of force-wielders, amplify it. However, there also was mention of the native life, and this is what he feared. The only safe spots were in the caves in the mountain. The reason why was because that is where those rejected by the horror of the mountain goes. It is where the monsters live, and they are all sympathetic to those hiding from the Masked One, who is a strong force-wielder that lives on the mountain. Lembert had discovered this place with these journals and he did not want to go against what was in it. He also did not want to meet this man that the journal warns about, and he does not want the others to meet him either.
They all looked at Unem. They didn't know what to say or to think about it. "Well," Mern said, "I believe you, but I'd rather wait on the verdict before I do anything." Vels thought about this, he didn't want to go up the mountain and leave Lembert behind. On the other hand, Lembert is already up there or on his way. But, thought Vels, Lembert wouldn't do that. He would either be smart or cowardly in this kind of situation, and unless he knew better, he would go with the smarter option of trying to find us. "We will wait for Lembert. But, if he doesn't come back within a day, we will leave."