Chapter 9
I lay on a bed of soft moss, the stars swirling above me as I tried to rest and recover from my long climb. I was vaguely aware of Jalya lying next to me, but I didn't have the energy to roll over and check on her. My mind swam with ideas and endless possibilities of what these creatures were and what was causing their obsessive interest in me.
The sun seekers fussed over me, bringing me water, covering me with blankets, offering me berries that they scrounged from the bushes that were scattered about the area. Sometimes just one would sit by my side, brushing my hair back and stroking my face, then another would come over to chat with the first, then a few more, and eventually there would be a crowd of them bustling around me. They squeezed together, babbling excitedly, their perfect little faces pointed toward me in rapt fascination.
Eventually one of them would shoo the others away, but, after a while, the crowd would gather again, and I stared back at them with curiosity, wondering if they were ever going to tell me anything. Any questions that I tried to ask were met with only soothing sounds and rhythmic shushing, much like a mother doting on her infant. I drifted in and out of sleep, oddly at ease in my new surroundings, feeling as though I was safe and cared for. Jalya must have felt the same way, because, when I finally did look over at her, she was sound asleep on the moss.
I looked in the other direction and noticed that a few feet away lay the sun seeker that we had carried up. Five others sat around him, with their hands pressed to his body; one touched his head, two on either side of his chest and one on each leg. They sat like this for a while, then another five came and took over. None of them took their eyes off of me for very long though, and kept turning to gaze at me in wonderment whenever there was a break in their duties. It reminded me of my matching day, when everyone turned to look at me so as not to miss any reaction. Only that had been embarrassing and uncomfortable, but now, I felt amazingly serene under the scrutiny of these creatures.
The green glow enveloped me in warmth and its light pressure against my skin made me feel as though nothing could harm me in its presence, just like the fairy tales said. I closed my eyes and dreamt that I was floating on a green cloud, looking down over Carper's Village at my family and friends, and they, in turn, gazed up at me in awe. They couldn't touch me, couldn't hurt me; no one could hurt me on my warm, green cloud...
"Emerin!" Jalya's whisper was loud and I could feel her breath on my ear. "Emerin, you have to wake up!"
I opened my eyes, expecting that I would find myself at Ashel's house or in my own bedroom with Jalya having crawled through the window to sneak me off before my wedding. But my vision was once again encompassed by the comforting glow, only now the sun seekers weren't clustered around me. They sat on the other side of their settlement in a tight circle, eyes closed, arms outstretched, slender fingers grasping at the air.
I noticed now that some had smooth bald heads like the one that we rescued and some had strange strands hanging from their heads, something like hair yet thicker. The strands dangled in curls against their shoulders and glowed with the same intensity as the rest of their bodies. Their bodies, in fact, seemed to glow more brightly during this ceremony and the entire area radiated in a sphere of light. A low humming sound emanated from their circle and the surrounding atmosphere seemed to vibrate along with it. I felt slightly uneasy for the first time since our arrival on the mountain.
They seemed to be finished whatever they were doing with the sun seeker we had brought up with us. He lay on his bed of moss, having rolled onto his side, facing away from me. I wondered if they had left him because he was doing better, or because he was dead. I widened my eyes to see if I could notice any movement, and when that didn't help, I tried to lift my head.
"No, no, don't get up," Jalya commanded again in a whisper. "I don't want them to think I woke you up. They told me not to; you needed your rest, they said. But they really want to talk to you about something. And I'm pretty sure it’s almost morning. We really should get going when the sun comes up."
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked. My head was still groggy and my eyes unfocused; it could still be a dream.
"I don't know really, but I've been awake for a while, probably an hour at least and you've been sleeping the whole time. I just want you to be up when they're done....whatever it is they're doing."
I looked over at the circle of sun seekers. There were at least forty of them. The hum, though barely audible, rang through my body and seemed to shake my bones.
"Do you feel that?" I asked.
"Feel what?"
"I don't know, it's kind of like a....vibration I guess."
"I don't know what you mean. I don't feel anything. This green glow is nice though; feels all warm and fuzzy."
"Yeah, it does," I said, feeling more anxious with the knowledge that Jalya wasn't perceiving the discomfort. "But there's another feeling....don't you feel anything vibrating, rattling, ugh...I don't know how to describe it."
Jalya shook her head and gave me a concerned look. "Is it your headache? Is that why you feel weird, do you think?"
"Oh no, no, it's nothing like that at all. And my headache's gone, completely; it has been since we first picked up the sun seeker." My glance flitted back to the little body. "Oh Jalya, is he.....okay?"
"I think so. One of them said he just needed to rest awhile now; same thing they said about you...seems to be their answer for everything."
"What did they do to him?"
"One of them said they were transferring energy to his body or something like that. They were very reluctant to answer my questions. They wanted to wait until you woke up, but they wouldn't let me wake you up! Talk about frustrating. They did, however, tell me that the ones with the curly stuff on their heads are females and the bald ones are males, so I was right when I guessed he was a boy. Oh, and they do mate, though I'm not really sure how. I mean there's just nothing going on down there that I can see, but they insist that...."
"Oh Jalya, you didn't actually ask them about that did you? I hope you didn't offend them or anything."
Jalya shrugged her shoulders. "They didn't seem offended. And I was bored waiting for you to wake up."
No sooner had Jalya uttered these words, than the vibration suddenly stopped. I felt a strange euphoria sweep through my body, like I'd just been released from the grip of some terrible pain, yet there had been no pain. I looked over at the circle in time to see the sun seekers beginning to rise. One of the bald ones turned to look at me. He was the tallest of the bunch with piercing deep purple eyes that felt like they cut through me to my soul. But I wasn't afraid. As soon as the vibration stopped, all feelings of uneasiness went away with it. I only felt comfort now, safe in the haven of these unusual beings.
The tall creature moved toward me with fluid steps that seemed to disturb nothing in their path. Long slender fingers reached for my face as he stretched his arms out in my direction.
"Oh my dear, you're awake. Are you feeling better? I was worried; you seemed so tired. That's quite a climb you just had." He stroked my cheek softly.
While ordinarily a stranger touching my face would make me want to wriggle away, his touch was completely comforting and I felt like a helpless, love starved puppy wanting more. I sat up and stared into his eyes. Jalya climbed quickly over the bed of moss to get closer to him; his effect was hypnotic. He brushed her hair from her eyes and she smiled.
"My name is Lovis," he said and sat down amongst the rocks that were strewn about us. "I am the oldest of our group, therefore, the leader."
The others began to move toward us now as well, seating themselves on the surrounding rocks and grassy knolls. They all had huge grins and stared into me with their large violet eyes. Lovis turned to one of the others that had yet to join us and addressed him with a smile. "Blon, see if you can find some of that heart fruit that grows a little way down the mountain. I'm sure our guests are hungry." Blon nodded, then turned and walked to the edge
of the clearing. I watched him disappear into the shadows of the trees before turning my attention back to Lovis.
"My name is Emerin," I said, but before I could say more I was interrupted by Jalya.
"I told them already," she said, "and I told them how we ended up here too." I turned toward her smiling face and wondered what else she had told them. She really must have been bored. I imagined her gabbing the entire time that I slept, telling them everything about our lives. Not that it really mattered anyway, what these strange mountain top creatures thought of us. I only feared that they would somehow send us home, or hold us here against our will until someone from the village came to get us. Maybe they had already informed them of our whereabouts while we slept. Maybe someone was already on their way.
Of course that was ridiculous. The men would never even go into the hills, much less risk climbing the mountain. I turned my attention back to Lovis. "When I got here, one of you said that I was 'one of them' or something like that. What does that mean?"
Lovis looked at me quizzically. "Well, just that you're a bei clu. Many of my friends up here have only seen one or two in their lives." He stated this matter of factly, as though I would know what he meant.
I looked at Jalya. She looked deeply concerned, but only shrugged in response. "What do you mean?" I asked. "What's a bei clu?"
The sun seekers looked around at each other, murmuring in wonderment. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty fascinating.
"You mean that you don't know?" Lovis seemed shocked at first, then he sighed as his expression turned to one of understanding. "That's right. You are from the village. They like to hide the truth there."
"What is the truth?" Despite the calming effect of the sun seekers, I was becoming more anxious by the minute.
"Hmmm," Lovis thought for a moment as though trying to find the simplest way to explain a complex concept to an ignorant child. "Tell me my dears, what happens to your soul when you die?"
"Oh, you go to hell,'' Jalya piped in. I gave her a withering look. "Or I guess that's just me, or so I'm told anyway. Could be heaven also, if you're good." She smiled at me. "My friend Emerin, she'll go to heaven."
I rolled my eyes. They must have thought we were insane. They would probably be happy to back the elders' decision and we'd both be sent to Lock Up.
"Yes, yes," Lovis said, "that is what they tell you down there, isn't it? That's how they keep you good. Because if you're not, your soul will go to hell, and it's a pretty bad place right? Your people behave themselves because they fear going to hell."
"Lock Up too," Jalya smirked. "They also fear going to Lock Up."
The sun seekers looked at each other and burst into uproarious laughter. Their soft voices tinkled through the air, as if they were bouncing back and forth off different sections of our green cloud. It was an uplifting sound and it almost made me forget that it was us they were laughing at.
"Yes, dear, they do fear that also," Lovis chuckled. "However, do you think, if there were no Lock Up to be sent to, that they would still act a certain way even if they didn't necessarily believe it was right? Do you think they would still do what was expected of them due to fear?"
I nodded as I thought of my parents. Is that why they were going along with the elders, because of fear for their souls? I had thought that maybe they feared possible banishment; however, maybe being ostracized from the community meant condemnation to hell. I meditated on this possibility for a moment until Lovis spoke again.
"This is what they do in these small communities, to keep people in line, to make it easier for a group of people to live together harmoniously. They tell you stories, lies really, to make you conform to a set of rules. Those who do not conform..." He turned to face me with a smile. "Well, you probably know how that ends up, don't you my dear?"
His eyes bored into me once again, and for the first time in my life I felt understood. I could not leave his gaze, even when Blon returned with the heart fruit.
"Ah, here we are!" Lovis chirped enthusiastically, taking the large red morsel into his hands. The heart fruit was aptly named, not only for its colour, but also for its heart-like shape, as though it had been pulled from the chest of a giant. They were the only fruit that I knew of that grew wild in these hills. Sometimes Ashel would pick a couple for us during his hunting trips. They were quite a treat, but it was hard work breaking through the tough outer shell. We would spend close to an hour with a hammer and knife, just to get at the sweet fruit inside.
Lovis, however, did not have the same difficulty. He pressed his fingers into the hard casing, and it immediately yielded to his touch. He then ripped it into two equal halves as easily as if he were snapping a small twig.
"Wow," Jalya gushed, as he placed the delicacy in front of us. If we were impressed, the feeling was quickly overtaken by our incredible hunger. Hours of mountain climbing had fired our appetites, and we each grabbed our half and quickly began devouring the gooey innards. In contrast to the hard outer shell, the inside of the heart fruit was soft enough to scoop out using only fingers as a tool. It reminded me of the pudding that the ladies of the village would make on special occasions, like planting season or harvesting time, when the community would all eat together. In no time the fruit was gone, and I was left running my fingers along the inside of the shell for stray globs and slurping the coating from the four large seeds.
"Blon, I think our friends would like another," Lovis said. Blon turned and walked across the settlement and again plunged into the abyss.
"Is it true that you guys don't eat?" Jalya asked between licks of her seed. Amazingly there was something she hadn't asked them while I was asleep.
"We obtain our nourishment from the sun," Lovis answered.
"You mean like plants?"
"Oh, but my dear, we are plants."
Jalya and I stared at him dumbfounded.
"I see you're confused," he laughed. "We are nourished by the sun, rain and the earth where we put our roots." He held up one of his feet and I noticed the long pointy toes, perfect for digging into the soil. "We are plants, only we are mobile. We evolved into a human like form for ease of communication and comfort."
"Comfort?" Jalya wrinkled her nose.
"Yes. Do you not feel more comfortable talking to a human like form?"
"I suppose."
I was growing impatient. The sound of birds chirping was beginning to echo through the air and I knew this meant that the sun would be rising soon. "So....what is the truth?" I asked again.
"The truth is that there is no heaven; there is no hell; there is only the bei." Lovis searched my face for a hint of understanding. I shook my head and he sighed. "No, I don't suppose that you would know what that is either. They really know how to keep you sheltered down there."
"The bei is like a great spirit, right?" Jalya asked. "It's where our souls come from." I stared at her in awe; where had she learned this?
"Yes, that is right, only our souls do not just come from it, but rather, they are part of it. You see, the bei is the spirit which blankets our physical world; it is not only around us, but it is inside of us as well." Lovis opened his arms and swept them through the air dramatically, to more effectively indicate the spirit which apparently enveloped and permeated us. He reminded me of Reverend Grell giving a sermon.
"When a child is born, a piece of the bei floods his body. It stays inside of him throughout his life, connecting him to all other life on this land. His bei gives him love, sadness, empathy, instinct, intuition, everything he needs to keep him in tune with his surroundings. Then at the end of his life, it leaves him and rejoins the great sea of bei, and his body rejoins the earth."
I looked over at Jalya. She was nodding as if somehow this all meant something to her. I was still confused and looked to Lovis for clarification. "What does this have to do with me? What's so different about me?"