Just want to take a moment to thank everyone for the reviews! Also, to Larissa Lahn Ann, I really wish you were a member so I could reply to your review directly. I'm happy you're enjoying the story despite your dislike toward chapter 11 and supposedly this chapter. I intentionally steered away from Roxanne at Deciemesh to create a cliff hanger and too show Bernard's side, I wasn't going to write Bernard's chapters shorter or with less detail than Roxanne's because he is an important character and I enjoy writing him. Details presented in his chapters are crucial. But I know not everyone finds Bernard interesting and I'm glad you still find the story captivating. Don't worry, we're back to Roxanne in Chapter 13 which is already written. Still I hope you give this Chapter a chance :)

Chapter 12: The Story of the Brown-Eyed Baby Part Two – To Survive As You Are

Bernard was raised by Orey as though he was her own, and he was loved very much, however, since he wasn't the same species, sometimes things were difficult, like feeding, and bathing, and playing…and most everything else. He was easy to teach and was a fast learner, but as Bernard grew up, they found there were some things other povoiran children did that he simply couldn't do. Flying was one example.

Orey carried Bernard, a young child, to where other parents were gathering their own children to play. There was a wide clearing surrounded by tall thorny vines that made an excellent safe zone. When they arrived, the other children were already meeting each other and flying around in the center. Bernard frowned at the sight; I'm probably the only kid that was carried here. Orey set him down and nudged him to go introduce himself. "Go on," She encouraged, "I'm sure one of them is bound to want to play with you."

Bernard slouched and crossed his arms, "No, Mam." He said with a harrumph. "There all up in the air and I'm not."

"It doesn't matter if you can fly or not," She insisted, hoping it was the right thing to do. It was hard to judge what was best for your child when they were so…unique. Yeah, unique was a good word. "Now get out there and say hello! Show'm your biggest smile. You have such a handsome smile."

"But, Mam!"

"Don't 'but, Mam' me, Bernard! Go on! Run around or something – you're a good runner." Orey gave him another push and Bernard was sent running down into the middle whether he wanted too or not. She went away to chat with the other parents who were still around and hadn't gone home.

Bernard skidded to a halt and looked up at the other kids floating above him. They didn't seem to have noticed him yet. His jaw jutted out in a pout. I can fly too, he told himself for the millionth time. Many times in the past Bernard had told himself, if he only concentrated on floating really hard, he would float too. So he would try that again now, and I'll be floating before the other's see me! He spread his legs and bent his knees, clenching his fists and scrunching up his face in deep concentration. Float, float, float, float, float like a cloud. Float, float, float-

"Are you trying too poop?" Someone asked him from behind and made him fall over in surprise. Bernard turned around and faced the kid, his face hot with embarrassment. "Wha-what? No! I wasn't trying to poop!"

The kid laughed, "That's what it looked like you were doing." He had wide shoulders and golden brown hair that twirled to a sparkly point. He looked at Bernard with grey blue eyes. "What were you doing then?"

Bernard stood up and dusted himself off. "I was trying to fly."

"You can't fly?"

"I can so fly!" Bernard growled, "It-it, it just takes me a while."

The kid brought his hand too his chin thoughtfully and a mischievous grin appeared on his face. He held out his hand, "My name is Yanew, what's yours?"

Bernard held out his own hand and tried not to wince when Yanew slapped it in greeting, the Geoluperian equivalent to a handshake. Ouch ouch ouch ouch that really hurt! He screamed in his head. "My name is Bernard," He said aloofly.

"Bernard, huh? That's a weird name," Yanew said, then wrapped an arm around Bernard's shoulders. "Well, you know what I've been told, Bernard? It's easier to float if you're higher off the ground. So what you should do is go stand on that boulder over there and try again…doing that thing you were just doing."

Bernard's eyes grew wide with hope. "You think that will work?" He looked around, squinting, "What boulder where?"

"What are you blind?" Yanew asked in disbelief, "That boulder there!" He gave him a push in the right direction and Bernard had to stop himself from falling over. Eventually he saw the boulder and ran over too it. Yanew started snickering behind his back, Oh man, this'll be good! "Hey guys!" He called up to the other children, a laugh in his voice. "Come down here and check this out!"

The others joined him and watched Bernard where he stood on top of the rock. A girl blushed and giggled, "Is he pooping?" The group laughed at the question.

"He said he's trying to fly."

"He can't fly?" A boy asked, astonished, "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to help him out," Yanew flew over to Bernard and stood on the boulder next to him. "How's the flying thing coming a long?"

"I don't think your idea is working," Bernard said sighing.

"No, no, I think it is working," Yanew insisted with a nod, putting his hands on Bernard's back, "All you need is a little…Push!" Yanew pushed Bernard off of the boulder and Bernard fell hard on his shoulder with an audible crack.

Yanew and the others bursted into laughter, until they heard an ear splitting scream escape from Bernard's mouth and had to cover their ears. Yanew looked down at him in confusion and saw Bernard crying hysterically and holding himself in pain. Orey was there in an instant.

She picked him and held him close, "Bernard, Baby, what happened? Are you hurt? Sshhh, Baby, it's okay, Mams here, Mammy's got you." With a little investigation she found Bernard's right collarbone had been perfectly snapped. "Oh, my poor baby! Who did this him, huh? Which one of you?"

Suddenly everyone was pointing fingers at Yanew who stammered guiltily, "I-I didn't mean for him to get hurt," He said, scratching the back of his head, "It was just supposed to be funny."

"No one ever means for someone to get hurt, young man, that's why you don't do things like that in the first place in the chance someone does." She spat, "Who is your mother?"

"My parents are the Lord and Lady." Yanew said, looking down at his feet.

Lord and lady! I can't complain to the higher-ups about their son! So Orey just fixed him with a stern glare and said, "Well, little royal, I hope you learn something from this." She began to fly away with Bernard still crying against her chest, muttering to herself, "Now how in the world are you supposed to heal a broken collarbone?"

When they made it back to their underground home, Orey fixed Bernard up the best she could. She would take him to an actual doctor, but the last time she did that the doctors simply made things worse because they weren't used to working on such a fragile patient. Eventually Bernard stopped wailing and settled down to a sniffle. "I'm a freak," he said with a slight sob, "What kind of povoiran can't fly?"

Orey tried to rub his back soothingly, "You're not a freak," she said softly, "You're just different."

"Different in a bad way," He grumbled in reply.

"And honey, you know, we're not even sure if you're povoiran at all. Remember when I told you that you came to me as a gift from the sky?"

"But I look povoiran. If that's not what I am, Mam, then what am I?"

She looked down at him sadly and brought him into a delicate hug, "I don't know, Sweetie."

Things never stopped Bernard from trying his hardest to fit in, in his own different way. Some things he simply accepted, however, like the fact he'd never develop laser vision or no matter how much he exercised by lifting weights or doing pushups, he'd never be as strong and muscular as the others. Flying was something he would not give up on, though.

"Come on you stupid contraption, start already!" Bernard, now 17 years old by Earth standards, yelled at the bulky thing on his back. He gripped the handles again and squeezed, but his made-from-scratch jetpack still only puttered at him. He growled and cursed at it some more.

Up high in the sky, a group of povoirans watched and snickered as they flew together watching him struggle. "Looks like Softy is at it again." One of them said, a girl with jet black hair said. A boy with reddish brown hair joined in. "Haha, this ought to be good. Hey, Tiny!" He shouted down, cupping his hands to his mouth. "Leave flying to the naturals and stay on the ground where you belong!"

Bernard glared up at them through home-made glasses with hatred filled brown eyes, "Shut up, muscle-heads! I'm trying to focus on something here other than lifting boulders, you should try it sometime!" He squeezed the controls again, but the engines only wheezed smoke at him.

The group laughed even harder, except for one. He had the broadest chest of them all, and the biggest chin at that. His dark brown, almost black hair rested on his head in a nearly perfect swirl, and his steel blue eyes watched Bernard with sympathy. "Hey, give'm a break you guys. He's just trying to fit in a bit."

"Creatures who are grounded should stay grounded, that's all I'm say'n. If Four-Eyes doesn't want to take good advice, then that's his problem. Besides, no one wants to share the sky with that accident waiting to happen." He jerked his thumb towards where Bernard was still willing his jetpack to turn on by punching it. "You remember what happened the last time he flew with that thing, don't you Yanew?" The boy smirked at the memory and chuckled, "You know, on second thought, I wouldn't mind seeing that again."

"Shut your mouth, Arue." Yanew replied without any real heat behind his words. Yanew had refrained from teasing Bernard ever since his first prank went too far, and stuck to defending him instead. If he did tease him, it was only ever in good humor. The girl at Arue's side was about to say something again when suddenly they all heard a ka-thunk and Bernard say, "Uh-oh." They all turned their heads back towards the guy on the ground in time to see the jetpack on his back erupt in full power, then watch him fly by out of control.

"…..!"

Yanew sighed, "I'll get'm" he told no one in particular, knowing no one else was going to go after Bernard. Arue elbowed the girl next to him and teased, "Hey look, Ryna, Yanew's going to go after his pet."

He ignored them and sped up his flying until he was beside Bernard, who was soaring perfectly horizontal to the ground. "Need some help, little buddy?"

Bernard's hair, which was usually rising off of his head like a dark flame, was flatted by the velocity. He was twisting knobs and pressing buttons franticly, "I've got everything under control," He lied.

Yanew gave him an unconvinced look, "It looks like you need help."

"I said I'm fine," Bernard insisted, ignoring him. The flames coming out of the jetpack's engines flared wildly, and a clicking nose started from deep within.

"It sounds like it's going to blow up," Yanew said over the pack's roaring.

"It's not going to blow up!" The clicks turned into bangs.

"That's what it sounded like the last time,"

"Well, this isn't last time is it, Yanew?" Bernard punched at one of the engines again and the flames started stuttering, causing him to do barrel-rolls for a few seconds before going straight again.

"I think you need help," Yanew insisted coolly.

"I don't need your help!"

Then the body of the jetpack caught on fire and the entire thing started to glow in the growing heat. Bernard groaned.

Yanew looked at the pack and at Bernard's face. "It's going to blow up, isn't it?"

"Yep."

Bernard detached himself from the jetpack and Yanew caught him by the wrists. The thing spun out of control and Bernard watched it race farther away until it was over one of the many water pits that were scattered throughout the area. His face was fallen and grumpy. "That'll be quite a few repairs once it crashes," he commented to himself. Then a giant serpent jumped out of the water and caught it in his mouth, diving back into the next nearby pit of water like a worm tunneling in and out of a rotten fruit.

"Looks to me it's back to the drawing board for you," Yanew said with a laugh. Bernard grumbled in reply. "What version was that, version seven?"

"Ten." Bernard said, dangling limply from Yanew's hands. Even from this far away and with his weak hearing, Bernard could hear the group of others laughing hysterically behind them. "Hey, Hard-Head, get flying or we'll be late to survival academy." He ordered.

"You got it, lil'buddy." Yanew said with a chuckle and started moving again. After a moment he started talking again. "It's a good thing it didn't blow up while still on your back like last time."

"Sometimes I wish you'd just let me fall to my death." Bernard droned.

"It's not so bad, Bernard. Now you can try again. And hey, at least I didn't crush your wrists when I caught you this time."

"Yeah, at least there's that." He agreed with fake optimism.

Needless to say, Bernard and Yanew were the last to arrive at the academy, which was a large structure set atop a tall mountain, away from any aggressive surface dwellers. The only way to get there was to fly, or travel by jetpack if you had a jetpack that worked. While everyone else flew up there at high speeds, Yanew had to slow down while carrying Bernard, or risk his friend's skin peeling in the wind. It was a good thing Yanew seemed to have been born with endless patience.

Survival academy wasn't your conventional learning environment, at least not by other planet's standards. On Geoluperia, the atmosphere was thick, creating hot temperatures and boiling oceans. Storms were frequent, and the planet rotated slowly, making the days on Geoluperia as long as two years on Earth. Long days meant long hot hours of exposure to the sun, or endless periods of cold moonless darkness. The dense, orbiting belt of ice and rock hurled meteorites down to the planet's surface on a regular basis – rain in the form of stones or acid was more frequent than rain in the form of water. Drinkable H2O was a rarity when your planet was only 55% water. With such harsh living conditions came equally harsh animals. Life forms on Geoluperia were usually found in the form of giants, or small creatures that lived in groups and relied on population for protection. Eat or be eaten was a rule shared by both animals and plants. Vegetation here was always either carnivorous or covered in spikes, scales, poison, stench, or camouflage. On a world of heavy gravity filled with impressive beasts and impossible terrains, learning how to live in your habitat came before learning such things as math and science – that was secondary learning. Povoirans were the dominate species on the planet, but even they had to struggle to survive in their world. Thus, Survival academy was developed.

Practically from birth, povoirans had to be trained in the ways of survival, beginning with being taught by their parents, and later attending the academy. Today, Bernard's division was being taught how not to be sucked into the vortex caused by sudden canyons created by violent groundquakes. It was groundquake season after all, and the ever-changing surface of the planet was even more ever-changing.

"You have to detect the quake before it happens," The instructor, a huge, scarred man with cropped white hair and grey stubble, instructed, "and make sure that you're flying high enough to avoid the suction of the vortex, or can distance yourself from the crevice in time. If you do get caught in the vortex, the currents are often so powerful the only way to escape being sucked in is to use super speed. And what have you been told about using super speed?"

"Super speed is only to be used in ultimate emergencies." Everyone said in unison.

"That is correct. For as we have seen from other's foolishness, abusing by overusing this ability will unavoidably add up to a quicker demise. It not only makes you move faster, but momentarily, you age faster as well. By casually using super speed, you are clearly asking for death to come to you sooner! This must never be forgotten."

"Sir, yes, Sir," replied the group of povoirans. Everyone was lined up facing the instructor, floating a few inches above the floor, everyone, that was except for Bernard and Yanew who were standing.

Bernard glared at Yanew in annoyance, "Would you cut that out?" He whispered.

"Cut what out?" Yanew asked, mocking innocence.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Bernard hissed, "Quit standing like that!"

"I just felt like standing for a change to see what just standing felt like."

"No one just stands, Yanew. You're standing because I can't float, and I wish you'd cut it out."

"Hey, Anchor-Feet, have you been listening to a thing I've just said!" The instructor snarled suddenly. Bernard straightened up and looked forward again, "Sir, no, Sir" He replied back.

"You may be hard of hearing, Small-Fry, but my ears work just fine. Tell me, Short-Stuff, how does whispering during a lecture help prepare you for the dangers of our environment?"

"It doesn't, Sir."

"Then tell me this, Glass-for-bones, are you a survivor or a fatality?"

"I'm a survivor, Sir!"

"Hah! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard come out of your wimpy mouth, Paper-skin! You're not a survivor, see, you're a snack!" The instructor jabbed Bernard in between the eyes and he held back a sigh when he heard his glasses crack. The instructor continued, "So what I'm suggesting to you right now, Squinty, is that you learn as much as possible and live as long as you can, get yourself some talent, or go find the nearest giant mouth and crawl in it. Am I making myself clear, Skinny?"

"Sir, yes, Sir!"

"Good to know." The instructor then looked at Yanew and arched an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong with your feet, survivor?"

"I just felt like standing, Sir."

The instructor made a face. "Well, cut it out. No one just feels like standing…it's weird."

"Sir, yes, Sir," Yanew said, and started floating.

The instructor went back to the front of the room to address everyone. "Now, let's get this session back in order. A few of you may already be aware that one of our longest standing traditions is coming around again. Deciemesh will begin when Igneefe is three degrees closer to the horizon in our sky. I have just been sent a list of those of you who have been chosen to take part in this glorious event. Only the ones decided to be the most mature, none-impulsive, respectable and responsible will have been picked from this academy to participate. So listen up and see if your name is called – that means you too, Half-Deaf!" He ordered, looking pointedly at Bernard, who tried not to roll his eyes.

A few names into the list, the instructor was shocked to see Bernard was one of them. "What! Scrawny, unless my eyes fail me, it looks like you've been chosen to go to Caelumar!" He started to chuckle, "I can't imagine why you would have been picked besides the fact that you're no more dangerous than a pebble. Good for you, Twiggy!" He finished off the names, also calling Yanew as one of the chosen, and dismissed the rest of the group. Now only the chosen remained in front of the instructor.

He put his feet to the floor and paced in front of them. "Tell me, survivors, why is it we float instead of stand?"

"It is to improve our ability to stay off of the ground for periods of time." Someone from the line answered.

"That is correct. Most of you can still remember a time when it was a challenge to stay afloat for more than ten seconds. Some of us still have that problem," Bernard grinded his teeth, and the instructor continued. "Even now I sometimes catch myself feeling heavy when I'm in the sky. When you are on Caelumar, however, you will feel completely different! You'll feel lighter than air on that planet; it'll be hard to resist flying around like a lunatic. It'll be hard to resist doing a lot of things." He gave all of them a meaningful stare, "All of you have been chosen because of your excellent discipline and obedience. Our superiors have dubbed you all as the best our planet has to offer, and we trust you will act as such."

"Sir, yes, Sir."

"The most important thing to remember is to be respectful and open minded while visiting the scirian's home. You must remember that you are honored to have the privilege of being chosen for this educational experience and to have such an intelligent and generous species willing to host this symbolic custom. Deciemesh is a symbol of the long standing peace between Caelumar and Geoluperia. Someone recite to me the 5th statement in our code of beliefs."

Yanew cleared his throat and spoke clearly, "Respect and Understanding between species equals peace and peace is ideal. Peace will result in the cooperation and betterment of all involved and is a utopian concept."

"Very good. Now all of you pay attention while I relay to you what you should expect while on our neighbor's world. This should be a good experience for you, Lanky, you'll fit in a lot better in scirian society."

Great skies! Bernard yelled in his mind, does this man ever run out of nicknames?

Bernard stared at the golden sky. The belt orbiting the planet was visible though the clouds and the light reflecting off of its ice particles gave the sky a glittering stripe. It was almost blinding, and Bernard briefly realized he was just damaging his poor eye sight even more, but he really didn't care. He was lying back with his hands behind his head, riding on Yanew's back as if he were a magic carpet and using Yanew's head for a pillow. Yanew was flying him home, again, as usual. He signed.

"What's the matter?" Yanew asked without moving his head "Aren't you excited about being chosen for Deciemesh?"

He shrugged against Yanew's shoulders. "I suppose."

"I'm excited," Yanew went on. "I'm glad my name was called."

"Of course your name was called," Bernard said with a sneer, "You're the son of the Lord and Lady, Yanew, it would have been a shock if your name hadn't been called."

It was Yanew's turn to shrug, making Bernard slide down his back. "Sometimes I like to believe things happen to me because of who I am, not because of who my parents are."

"Whatever." Bernard replied after readjusting himself with some annoyance. "I guess I'm a little excited to meet people who are small and weak like I am. A little. Though, I was probably just chosen because people will be happy to be rid of me for a while." He was actually very excited about it; he just didn't like to show emotion around others. Yanew could tell he was excited because every time Bernard thought about it he could hear his heart beat quicken, not that he would mention it. He just chuckled, which elicited another sign from Bernard.

When Bernard was finally home he told Orey about how he was chosen to go to Caelumar. She was positively ecstatic, and went on and on about how she knew he was special and what a great experience it would be for him and how much she loved him and would miss him and how she wished she had been chosen when she was young. Huya didn't really have a reaction to the news, but Bernard guessed he was happy he was leaving.

The day of departure snuck up on everyone, and all of the chosen suddenly found themselves being ushered into a huge shuttle that seemed to touch the sky. It was perfectly golden with nary a scratch or dent to be seen, made out of a seemingly indestructible material only povoirans knew how to forge, and was build in the shape of an egg. Portholes dotted the shell of the egg like eyeballs, peering out in all directions. The glass was thick but perfectly transparent. Like a blooming flower, the bottom of the egg opened up and out emerged the engines. Ignition happened, and then they were shooting through the thick atmosphere with a tail so hot, the flame was pure white. The ship cleverly maneuvered around the planets belt and the space between the two planets was quickly occupied by a swarm of golden eggs.

Inside of the egg-shaped ship, everything was perfectly white and cushiony. Bernard made a face at it all and said, "Gee, do you think they make the interior of these things comfortable enough? We're only going to be traveling for about 24 hours. You'd think we were going to be gone for half a day,"

"Half a day on Geoluperia is one year on Caelumar," Yanew said walking over to a porthole to view space, something he was not able to do from the surface of his planet. The atmosphere was too thick, even on the dark side of the globe and with super vision the only light to be seen was the glittering ice of the belt. "I'm excited about that. It's going to feel weird with the sky constantly changing from night to day. Hey, have you seen this yet? Space is pretty awesome."

"How could I, when your big fat head is in the way? Move over, lummox."

Bernard made his way over to the porthole and adjusted his pathetic excuse for glasses before peering out into the abyss. He knew what he would see, he had seen it all before in pictures. Of course, it was different seeing space first person, but it didn't arouse within him awe and wonder like it did for Yanew. It just made him depressed. Out all of those galaxies, and all of those start systems, and all of those planets, am I really the only one like me? Is there a group of my people out there, searching for me, or am I really one of a kind? His forehead hit the glass and he just stood there like that.

Yanew rubbed Bernard's back awkwardly and gave him a few pats before backing off. "I'll just leave you to your thoughts, then." He recognized the face Bernard was wearing; it was his 'My mind is somewhere else' face, and he had an idea about what he was thinking. It was best to let him be.

Bernard spent the rest of the trip at the window.