Chapter Two “Caverns and Cavemen” Peter could hear Heather screaming at Jake. He couldn’t make out the words clearly though. His ears were ringing and he could barely keep his eyes open. He tried to get to his feet but there seemed to not be any strength in his legs. As he again attempted to stand his knee buckled and he once again fell to the ground. He lied on the ground for what seemed like a very long time when the ringing sensation finally subsided. He shook his head from side to side trying to re-orient himself to his surroundings. His eyes began to regain focus and he suddenly felt her hands grabbing his arm. “Oh my God, Peter, are you okay?” She asked as tears streamed down her cheeks. He sat upright and looked into her eyes. Those same beautiful eyes he had first sighted four years earlier and immediately fell head over heels for. “Yeah, I think so…what happened?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his head, which he now realized was throbbing. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why he gets like this. He makes me so angry!...If I thought he was going to hurt you, I, I….I can’t believe he did that!” Her voice released the frustration she felt towards her boyfriend. “Oh my God, we need to get you to a Doctor” She said, as she now noticed the blood stains on the back of Peter’s shirt, which had been flowing down from his head injury. “He told me he wanted to talk to you. I’m so sorry Peter. I swear I had no idea what he was planning.” “It’s okay Heather. I will be okay. It’s not as bad as it looks.” He insisted, although the pain in his head and the feel of the blood running down his back indicated otherwise. “I just need to sit here for a little while and then I’ll be okay to get out of here.” He smiled at her as she sat down beside him. He touched the back of his head once more and was relieved to feel the blood flow had started to slow somewhat. He pulled a tissue from his pocket and applied a little pressure to the area in an attempt to help stop the blood flow completely. As they sat there together, they looked at the drawings on the cavern wall. A few of which Peter had been responsible for in his youth. The section of the cavern they were in was seldom visited. It was adjacent to the main path that most people used to travel through the vast series of limestone caves in the area. Over the years, the local adventurers scouted all the adjacent caverns and found most of them to be either too small for the majority of people, or in some cases they were deemed simply too dangerous for people to enter. Eventually the local kids found their way through the caves and a few began using a few of the caverns as a place to hang out and in some cases, to party. Peter had spent quite a bit of time in this particular cave. He knew it well. There was a small stream that ran through it and when it rained heavily, a large area of the cave would flood. About 100 feet from where they sat was another cavern opening that had been covered over by the local officials. This cavern had been deemed simply too dangerous to allow anyone to enter. Peter had been one of the last kids to go into that particular cavern and he agreed it was a good decision to block it off. There was a large amount of loose rock in the roof of the cavern and areas of the walls looked as if they would come crashing down any minute. Even if the entrance hadn’t been blocked, he knew he would certainly never go back into that cave again. “So, where did Jake and his thugs go?” He inquired. “I don’t know. I just told him to get the hell out of here.” Her face showed her growing disdain for the guy her heart refused to give up on. “I don’t know if I can keep seeing him. Not if he is going to do things like this…I mean…You are my best friend, and if he can’t handle that…it’s like he, he, acts like a caveman sometimes…and I guess…he’s not giving me much of a choice” She looked away from him as she searched for the words that could justify, or at least explain, her love for the brute. The words could not be found as she began crying. Peter put his arm around her and she tilted her head over to lie on his shoulder. Peter smiled as he visualized her words and realized the irony that they were said in a cave. It was at that moment Peter realized he didn’t feel any pain in his head anymore. As Zetchka placed the data crystal back into its proper storage unit he heard a familiar voice call his name. He turned to find his elder had returned to the learning room and was holding a small box in his hand. He had seen this type of box before and was quickly excited by the memory of what had been in the last box of this type he had seen. The elder could see his excitement and nodded his approval as he reached his hand out towards the student. “Your learning is progressing nicely Zetchka.” His voice was calm and fluid, not giving away his own excitement towards the coming announcement. “Thank You Elder.” Zetchka replied with a nod of respect to his teacher. “I have just come from a meeting of the Council of Elders. There was much to discuss, and your name was mentioned several times. As you know, nearly four cycles previous of now, Elder Froe made a request of the Council before he entered his time of awareness. It was an unusual request, unprecedented actually.” The elder could see the glimmer in his students eyes grow even brighter after hearing his words. “It has been decided. The request of Elder Froe has been approved. The time of your ascension is upon us.” His smile now revealed his pleasure of having said the words. “I hope you understand how unique this decision was. No student has ever reached ascension with such a small number of cycles before. Normally you would have at least two more cycles of learning before being considered. You have done very well Zetchka, Elder Froe served you well.” Zetchka touched the index fingers and thumbs of his hands together and raised them to his forehead. He then slightly bowed forward towards his teacher. “It was my honor to have learned from Elder Froe; as it is also my honor to have learned from you. I thank you for preparing me to fulfill my duties as we continue our journey.” “It has been my honor to be your Elder. I have something else to tell you. It is yet another decision that is unprecedented.” He said as he placed the box back into his pocket and removed a different one. Zetchka had not seen this type before. Normally once a student had reached the level of ascension, the Elder would present the student with an appointment pin. The appointment pin represented the area of expertise the student would enter into. The expertise was chosen by the Council of Elders after reviewing the student’s evaluations and their perceived abilities. The appointment pin would be placed into a blue box with silver corners. However the box the Elder now held in his hands was blue with gold corners. “You will not be receiving your appointment pin Zetchka. Instead, you will continue to be a student.” Zetchka did not understand what was happening. He was totally confused. His Elder had confirmed he had reached ascension, but now he would remain a student? “The Elder could see the confusion in his mind by the expression on his face. “Apologies My Elder. I misunderstood your statement as to my reaching ascension. The Council is wise, I shall obey their wisdom.” “No apology is needed. You did not misunderstand. You have reached ascension. However you will not be appointed.” He smiled at the student; it was something an Elder seldom did. “Rather, you will continue in learning. It will be very difficult. As you know, upon ascension students become learned workers. They develop skills to enable them to fulfill specific duties aboard ship. You will be asked to learn much more. You will learn every aspect of every skill of every position. As I said, it will be very difficult. So difficult, that only one student is chosen for this study in each generation.” As the Elders words began to take form in Zetchkas mind he suddenly realized what was happening. “Yes. You are the one who has been chosen Zetchka. Elder Froe was certain of it and I am as well. The Council agrees.” The Elder removed the top of the box to reveal a pin that only one other person on board the ship wore. “You have proven yourself to be the most qualified. You shall lead our people. Upon your next ascension, you shall be Lectin.”
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 06:54:34 +0000
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