Parents

It was a warm spring night, cloudless sky, with two full moons that hind most all the points of light but the brightest. The whole tribe was there, as they always were when both moons were full. There was a light breeze, that carried the scent of the little pink flowers that filled the valleys.

It was Mada’s duty to watch the Parents, that was what they called the moons. He was not really sure why, but the old elders were not to be asked questions of. He was smart, but he was no hunter, he found it hard to kill anything that had life. He ate little animal meat, but in the winter it was all there was some times.

He sat on the top of the bluff, looking down at where the people where. He thought that it would be a feast that would be talked about all year. The six drummers were in rhythm, and the dancers were casting shadows all around the rocks from the light of the large fire they were moving around. It was impressive to see, and he could feel it in his soul, it was hypnotic. The last time the two full moons were in the sky he had been a child, too young to understand.

They were in the sky together a lot, but never often full at the same time. He was trying to figure out why, but was not having much luck at it. No one understood just how they could float in the sky. The bigger one was called Father, and the other Mother. Father was always in front. There were just so many full moons a year and it was up to him to know when this would happen.

He found himself tapping his foot to the beat of the drums. He never felt the need to be with the others, he was a loner. He was up at night most the time as the rest were asleep, not many studied the night sky. He missed his teacher, Moss who had died two winters ago. He had shown him how to read the marks on the cave walls.

The marks were old, so old no one knew who had first made them. Some believed that Mother had come down and made them, but he didn’t think so. He looked up at her, He noticed that she looked a little closer than normal. She was bright, but he could still see the clouds that moved around her. Many thought it was her vale, but he knew that they were clouds just like the world had, but many times thicker.

He was not one to believe in superstitions or in old methods, but he did keep an open mind about them. He really thought most things could be explained by nature, like the Parents. How could they stay in the sky, and how far were they, or what were the points of lights in the night sky? He knew that the answers were out there somewhere.

The Elders would choose tonight who would become his apprentice. He was not sure if he liked that idea, but the Elders had chosen him ten seasons back. They had not asked him what he had thought about any of the youth, nor for that matter had let him know who any of them were. The drums stopped, he looked back down the valley at the group.

The Chief and the Shaman were standing in front of the rest of the tribe. The ceremony had begun, but he was too far away to hear what was being said. They would be asking the Parents to bless the land for full crops. He didn’t believe that the Parents had any control over the crops, but they did have some control over the tides. The Tribe believed that all things had a spirit, and their spirits had come from the Parents when the world was first formed.

Two young men led a small cow in front of the Shaman. They made sure never to sacrifice one that would not be able to be consumed the night of the ceremony. The blood would be made into wine, blessed by the Shaman to be used in the weekly ceremony’s. He never went to them, nor did he drink any wine. He did, however, smoke some of the plants that grow around the forest.

The Shaman raised the crystal ax over his head with both hands. It came down with the force needed to crack the cow's skull. The cow staggered then fell to the ground, as the people yelled so loud he was able to hear them. Within minutes it was gutted and skinned, a pole run through it and it was across the fire cooking. He wondered how many of them really believed in the power of the ceremony?

There had to be some who thought like he did, but were afraid to say anything for fear of what others would say or do. The Shaman could have had them beaten or banished from the tribe. He thought that the Elders were scared of how much power he held. It was a power that came from fear the people had of their souls not being able to join the Parents in the sky when they died.

There was a long flash of light across the sky near the horizon. This happened all the time at night, but no one knew what they were. He thought he knew, but would never tell anyone. He thought there were pieces of what the world was made of. He had no proof of this, it was just a feeling. He thought that the Parents were worlds like the one they all lived on.

He was able to talk with his mentor about this kind of thing without fear, but Moss had passed two seasons ago. He missed the old man a lot. He was a father to him for over ten years, never knowing his real father. His mother had taken up with another man named Nod that don’t like him and he had talked the Elders into having him place with Moss.

He was ten then, and don’t like the man either, and he could see his mother anytime he wanted so it was not that big of a deal. He had gotten to see her about once a week to make sure she was doing good and happy. She was and that was all that mattered to him. He had to move into the cave with Moss, and really it was a lot nicer than living in a tepee. Warmer in the winter, and cooler in the summer. The night breeze brought with it the smell of the sacrificial bull.

His new apprentice would bring him dinner, and he would have to eat the meat if he wanted to or not. He must agree to teach them before the meal was done. It gave the apprentice a little time to talk about why they want to be the next Star Guide. Not many wanted the job, he was never given a choice, but didn’t regret anything.

He looked back up at the Parents, Father would be full for 2 more night, but Mother would be back behind Father again tomorrow night or not in the sky at all. Many of them wondered what she was doing when not in the sky, but he knew that she was on the other side of the world. The tribe would never believe that they lived on the outside of a grant rock ball.

It was near the mid-point of the night when he noticed three figures walking towards him. They stopped about 50 yards away for a moment, then two continued to him. They were the Chief and the Shaman. He stood up and got down from the rock he was sitting on. “What would bring the two most impotent men from the feast?”

The Chief spook, “Well, none other than a vision quest.” Vision quest he thought, what could he have to do with a quest?

“Yes, one that I had,” The Shaman said, “and I believe it came from the Parents.” He said it so matter a factually that Mada thought he believe what he said.

“I was shown a future that if not kept in check by what I believe to be you and your apprentice the tribe is doomed if not the whole human race.” He could feel the weight of the words, the Shaman was worried about the people.

Mada shook his head at them, “I don’t think you have thought you vision throw, I’m nobody, sure not a hero for any kind of quest.”

“I don’t think you have any choice, the quest will find you two.” the Chief said.

“When I had the vision I had not met the apprentice yet, and when I did I knew it was a true vision.” He waved at them to come towards them.

They had a hood pulled over there head, and carried a plate they held out to him. He took it, and looked down at it. It was empty, he looked up at the Shaman with wonder. “What does this mean?”

“We have given you an empty plate to show that the future is open to you, and what you choose to do with it.”

Open to him, he thought, just what could he do to shape the future, and really why should he want too? “I’m to set the future?” He asked.

The Shaman smiled, “You and your new apprentice.” He reached over and pulled their hood away. Standing there was a young woman. This shocked him, there had never been a woman that was a Star Guide, let alone an apprentice as old as she was.

“This is Eve, shes from a tribe in the far South, and has spent near haft of her life in journey to get here.” That would mean she had been traveling for 10 or 12 years, he thought. “She was in my vision before she had arrived here.”

He didn’t understand any of this, they were saying that the fate of the tribe, and maybe the whole human race was up to him and his new apprentice, who was too be a woman his age, named Eve. He was not sure if he should be mad that they thought he would believe this or be honored they thought he was up to saving the human race. “You both should understand that this is so unusual that I need a little time to process it all.” Without saying anything else he turned and walked away, holding the plate.

After two weeks he had grown to like Eve and was impressed by the knowledge that she held of science. She was a couple of inches short than he was, with shoulder-length blonde hair, her skin was a light tan, unlike his darker skin. She had told him that all the people of her tribe were the same as she was.

She took her duty’s as apprentice seriously and would have dinner ready before dark each night, and he had to admit she was good at it. She had a way with the meat, that he found good tasting. The woman of the tribe would bring them food every few days, as they did with the Chief, Shaman, and Healer.

Mada know how to hunt if needed, and even had a small garden not far from the cave, where he had just planted a few rows of potatoes, and beans before Eve had joined him. When she found it, she added some herbs, for cooking. He had no clue what kind, but he could smell them as she handed him his plate. “I hope you enjoy this, I have never tried this way before with goat.” She was smiling.

It smelled good to him, goat was white meat, but this had a pink hue to it. “What did you use on it?”

“Wrapped in red clay and baked in the coals.” She answered.

He would never have thought to do anything like that, he would have just hung it on a stick over the flames. “Is that why its pink?” He asked.

She shook her head no, “I soaked it in blood wine all day first.”

She had amazed him in some way every day. He didn’t think at first it was going to work out, but now he was glad that she was with him. She pointed up at the painted mark on the cave wall and asked, “How far into the cave do they go?”

“I have never gone that far down, once I saw that they repeated a few times I stopped. Nature is a big circle, as I’m sure you realize, so I saw no need to go deeper.”

“From what I see, Father rises about hours after sunset and will be haft full, Mother an hour later but will only be a waning crescent.”

He smiled, “You have learned well, and you say that where you are from the Parents would show differently at the same time.”

’Yes, it has to do with the angle that we would be seeing them. I believe it is because we live on a huge ball.”

He almost laughed, ’Don’t let the Chief or the Shaman hear you say that.”

They sat on the rock overlooking the valley at sunset. He had her name the lights as they appeared in the sky. She had told him that only some of the lights where the same but many here were not seen where she came from. “What do you think the lights are?” he asked her.

“The same as you think I believe, they are Suns like ours.” He knew that she was smiling.

Before he could say anything he noticed there were a few touches headed up the trail. It looked to be a couple of wagons coming there way. “We have compy on the way.” He pointed at the touches.

“I’ll go put some water on for tea if you like.”

He nodded his head, “Sounds good to me.” It was strange that they would be coming up there in the dark. Why not come when it was light out? It was a hard pull in the day for the horses, why risque a broke leg. By the time they reached him Father had risen and he was able to see the driver of the first wagon as it stopped. It was a warrior named Two Arrows, “Mada, bet you have a few questions about our little mid-night train.”

Most of his questions were answered, by the time the men had taken the supplies deep into the cave. For some reason, the Chief, Shaman, and the Elders all thought that a mile deep in the cave was the best place to keep the tribes surplus supplies. He thought this was a good idea and wondered why it had not been done before.

It was almost dawn when the men started back down to the village. They move the supplies at night so not as many people would see what they were doing, he was not sure why that would matter. Eve joined him to watch the sunrise. “Will they not want to set guards on the cave now?” she asked him.

“I’d say we are the guards. A better question for me is what do they know that they are not telling us?” He sighed, “I wonder if this has to do with the vision the Shaman had.”

Two weeks went by without anything unusual happening. It was not yet dark, Eve and him were sitting waiting on Father to rise, he would be full again, and Mother would rise soon after. Eve pointed down into the valley and said, “Look, the wagons are coming again.” She was right, there were five-headed their way.

When they were haft way he said, “I don’t think that’s its supplies.” He was right it was people, the wagons were full of children. What was going on, he wondered. Why would they send children up to them? The sun was down but it was still light out when the wagons reached them.

As before Two Arrow was in the led wagon, “The Elders have set you a task.” He smiled at them.

Set a task he thought, “What on earth would they want us to do with the children?” There was a good 50 from 1 to 10 years old, and a couple of teenage girls.

“They told me to tell you to take them into the cave where we placed the supplies, and keep them there for three days, and nights.”

Eve spook up, “Does this have to do with the Shaman’s vision?”

Two Arrows shook his head, “I have no clue about any vision, just what the Elders told me.” Mada had forgotten about the vision the Shaman had told them about, and how he had said the quest would find him, even if he didn’t want it too. “Mada, the Elders all were in agreement that for some reason the children needed to be kept safe.”

“Well, let's get the children inside,” Eve said as she got down from the rock, and got up on the wagon with Two Arrow. “Well, Two I don’t have any tea ready this time.” She smiled at him. She was taken this all too easy, he thought. 50 pulse children trow into their care was just a lot to take in for him.

It was going to be a lot of working caring for that many especially when they normally sleep in the day when children were awake. “I’ll be in once I observe the rise of the Parents.” He told Eve, who nodded her head.

He still had his duty to do no matter what was happening. By the time Father was up full, they had gotten the children into the cave and the wagons were on there way back down to the village. He thought of the Shaman, wondering what he knew that he had not told him. An hour later Mother began to rise, right where he knew it would.

He got down from the rock he was sitting on, and head to the cave opening. He was sure that Eve had her hands full trying to get the children settled in for the night. When he reached the opening he turned and looked back at the Parents. Suddenly they seemed to jump haft way across the sky as the earth rumbled.

Mother shuttled hard and began to broke up, pieces moved in all directions. He was shocked and was unable to move till the earth shock the second time. He ran into the cave as rocks began to fall from the cliff face. He found it hard to stay up on his feet as he moved deeper, the ground moved in ripples.

He could hear rocks falling, blocking the cave entrance. The rumbling stopped before he reached the craven where Eve and the children were. They were all fine, shock up a lot but none were hurt. It took them some time to settle down the children, and he was able to tell her what he had seen.

The Elders had told them to keep the children in the cave for three days, but it took him six to clear away back out to the surface. It was mid-day when he stepped out of the cave and was shocked by what he saw. The valley where the village was now a huge lake. He wondered if any of the tribe was still alive.

Six months later Eve and him were sitting on their rock watching the sunset. It was now setting a good 20 degrees different than before. The night were starting to get cool, winter was coming, but they were ready.

The supplies would last throw the next year, so as soon as the winter was over they will be able to plant crops. The had build two longhouses, one for the boys and one for the girls, they stayed in the cave. He still found it strange to see just Father in the sky. Most of the children now called it Luna, after a fairy tail who danced across the sky when happy.

This did not bother him much, because now they were calling Eve and him, Mother and Father. The Shaman was right the quest had found them, they were now the Parents of a new world.