J'rel: Two
The little boy sat in the niche of branches high above the ground floor, watching his fellow people bustle about with a sense of purpose. There was always something to be done in the village. His village. He pressed his ear against the warm surface of the tree and listened to them. Breathing in with each rustle of the leaves. How they spoke of their worries, hope and possibly dreaming. It was like they could only speak the truth and from their heart; a sense of a heartbeat seemed to vibrate through him.
And so, he listened. It hurt him to listen for so long and so hard, but now that he could he didn’t want to stop. He wanted to catch up for all the times that he didn’t- couldn’t listen to them. This new power allowed him to do so.
“Gia, why do they speak so much?” He whispered, afraid that his voice would shatter the conversation, but nothing as little as that would stop them from continuing. He let his eyes drift from the village to the one other that appeared and shared the branch with him.
There were no eyes to gaze back on him, but instead holes in a skull with the appearance of a beast and the beak of a bird. Eyes might have dwelled once in them. Four sockets seemed to gaze up at him and a small smile appeared as his lips parted slowly to show the razor sharp green teeth. “Not so much. Always. There is no other way.” He nodded his head as if it was that simple and not complex. The small brown spirit shifted and crouched down on the brunch as if ready to pounce from it. “They like to talk. They like to tell tales of their time and praise mother.”
“Mother,” J’rel said as he removed his ear from the tree. His head felt like it was floating. He had listened for too long and he couldn’t tell the difference between the whispering and actual rustling of leaves. But it had to be the latter as his friend was visible- the powers weren’t activated. He held his head as he looked curiously at Gia, “Mother? Whose mother?”
“Mother!” Gia laughed as he finally did what he had tensed up to do and jumped off the branch. The first time it had happened J’rel had cried out in fear of the little spirit getting hurt, but just like that time, it disappeared just before it landed and he heard the sounds of laughter mix in with the whispers.
J’rel knew he wasn’t going to get an answer to the mother question and he decided he could ask his father about it instead. Though at the moment he couldn’t draw out the will to seek his lessons that will follow the question. He knew his lessons were important and many times he found himself looking forward to them, rather then the forlorn impression he felt.
One day you shall venture forth from these trees and these lessons will help you on your quest.
Many of times has he heard those words and many of times he had rebutted the claim. He much rather spend his life within these trees, with his family and continuing on the legacy his father has become. But his father had many plans for him and none of them included in him spending the remaining days of his life in a forest.
He shook his head from his thoughts and stretched his arms up, having spent too much time in such a position. As much as he would rather have spent the last bit of daylight in the tree, he had responsibilities that he would never ignore. Glancing around, he briefly wondered where Gia had gone and was about to call out to him when he felt the rush of air behind him and before he could respond the ground was rushing up to him. He shot out an arm to grab at anything and was meant with nothing. His heart leapt to his throat, but despite his entire body tensing up he knew he was in no immediate danger.
With a violent halt that left him winded and slightly disoriented, he was staring down at the ground that was barely an inch away from the tip of his finger, bent in half at the waist he breathed in heavily as his heart hammered. It was not his first time in this situation, but it still left him exhilarated and grinning happily as he twisted his body so that he was looking up at the spirit that had its large arms wrapped around his waist and from there it was clinging to a branch by its feet- the monkey looking feet. He always found it amusing at the spirit that had the upper body of a human and the bottom half of a monkey, its tail swinging happily as it let him go and he landed on all four.
“Gia,” J’rel laughed as he got up and reached up with his arms, the little spirit let go of the branch and landed in the boy’s arms happily. “One of these days you’re going to miss,” he scolded, but he couldn’t get rid of the smile, as he knew with all his heart that that day would never come.
“I never miss, always catch,” Gia huffed as he wrapped his arms around J’rel neck and pressed his face against his cheek, the surface of the skull was smooth and cool and the boy happily pressed his warm and flushed face against it. He wrapped his own arms around the small body, enjoying the feel of the wood textured skin before finally leaning down and placing the spirit on the ground. “You back to play tomorrow?”
The boy laughed and ruffled the green hair that felt like moss, scattering a few flowers that dangled from it, instantly new and different ones grew in their place. “Always,” he smiled and Gia laughed and disappeared, the trees rustled with an unfelt breeze.
Once again he stretched, placing one hand over his chest to see that his heart that calmed down. Adjusting the vines and straps around his waist so that the leather hoister for his dagger was by his side again and the cloth was placed over his front. He stayed behind a tree for a moment as he breathed in to calm himself down and straighten his back. He made his way into the village and was immediately greeted by any that laid their eyes on him, he acknowledge their greetings with a nod of his head as he made his way between the huts and thin trees. Soon he stopped in front of a lone hut that was bigger then most of the villagers, but at times it held an injured villager or those seeking teaching and wisdom from his father or the Great Healer of his village and the neighboring ones.
“Father,” J’rel called as he brushed aside the leaves that covered the entrance into the hut, his eyes glanced around and spotted one of the women of the village and saw that she was round with child. He smiled happily and gave even a deeper bow. He touched his forehead as he lifted his head. “I give blessings Gen’rel.”
Gen’rel smiled and attempted to stand but J’rel rushed to her said and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her seated as he shook his head. She gave a relieved smile and sat back down. “I receive your blessing Young Healer,” she replied and placed a hand on her forehead and bowed her head. Children were a joyous occasion and he beamed in pride at how the village continued to grow each year.
“When shall the child join us?” He asked as he lifted his hand and moved to place on the stomach, though he glanced at her for permission and when he got the nod placed it on the warm skin. He had seen plenty of women that carried children and knew she was to give birth soon. Though that wasn’t usually the case as many times they joined them early or even later.
“Soon, his or her song is almost finished,” she breathed as he placed her hand over his. He felt his heart squeeze, but he ignored it as he smiled up at her with understanding. There was the sound of footsteps and he stood up in attention as his father came through another doorway that led to the room that held many medicines. Blue eyes blinked in surprise as he paused at the entrance for a moment before he made his way to the two of them.
“Here you are little one.” His father spoke gently as he placed a small pouch in the women’s hand. He closed her fingers over the pouch and Gen’rel smiled in gratitude as she bowed her head with her fingers placed on her forehead.
“Thank you Healer Al’rel.”
It took a couple of tries, but with his father help did they get her into a standing position and she wobbled away, holding the pouch to her chest with one hand and the other on her stomach. J’rel watch her till she existed the hut before turning to his father that had his hands on his hips and smiling too as he watched her leave. Another moment passed before he remembered that his son was there and he turned to him with a grin. “Decided to make an appearance did we now?”
“It is still daylight, my studies shall-“
“English, J’rel,” his father said as he walked into yet another doorway and the boy quickly followed after him. He never understood his fathers taste for such things, the huts had many openings for the light to stream through, but in this room in particular there was no such thing. Made mostly of thick wood cut with permission from the trees, the only light was that of a square opening that his father explained to him was a ‘window’. He had seen the pictures and heard the descriptions, but found such rooms and homes to be so… trapped. He disliked the room, but never let his father know of this; it would just push him to try and drive in the idea that he would leave one day.
“My studies,” J’rel continued, “Do not… take long.”
“I know they do not, but I’ll appreciate if you had more enthusiasm for it.”
J’rel frowned and shook his head as he went over to his study desk, many books were scattered on it and many more were neatly stacked up against the wall. His curiosity was the only thing driving him to his studies and his obligation to his father, but he much rather be outside learning of new ways to hunt or practice his spear. The other boys were already on their way to learning to use the bow and arrow. Yet he was stuck learning a language that only his father spoke.
“I study of what you ask of me Father, but…” he reached up to brush the markings on his forehead, glancing away so that his father could not see. He combed the bangs down over his forehead and turned to him with a look of longing. “But I do not think I can do what you ask of me, I do not wish to leave, this is my home.”
“All children must leave home at one point of their lives J’rel,” the man sighed and he too brushed his hair away from his face much like his son, showing the dotted markings that began at his temple and spanned down the side of his face on each side. And from J’rel studies he knew it to be the markings from his pact with Tito, the winged light spirit.
“I do not wish to leave home, I wish to stay here and protect my people,” he voiced back as he shook his head. “To hunt with the men, to pick a bride to give me children one day and that child I shall teach much like you have-“
“You are not like the other boys, children, or these people.”
“Why cannot I be like the others? Why cannot I be like my brothers before me?”
He shook his head. “You are different from your brothers, from the little ones that they have blessed us with.”
“Then should I not stay to protect them? Protect my people!”
“They are not your people!” his father slipped back into the mother tongue as he became more agitated. They had fought often before, on little matters, but no it was becoming a more daily occurrence.
The boy froze as his eyes widen at his father words and he shook his head, as he couldn’t comprehend the words that had just been spoken. J’rel disliked to make his father suffer like so and he would have stopped, but his mind was still alight with the whispers from the trees and they made his mind spin even now. He had overused the power too much too soon.
“Then where do I belong?” he hated how he sounded. There was weakness there and it was such a childish question. One too many times he had been told he was still a child, that it was not his job or burden to protect this village or its people. He was still a child.
His father face quickly dissolved of all anger and his shoulders came down as he walked to his own and kneeled down in front of him, gently placing his hands on his shoulder. He wasn’t about to say it, but he loved to look at his fathers’ eyes. No one had eyes that reflected the sky and if that was not proof enough to tell how special he was, then the golden curl of locks on his head completed his appearance. He remember his father telling him once that his skin had been much lighter, but the over time it had darken with him living within these trees- he couldn’t phantom such a thing until he was shown pictures.
There were tears on the verge of spilling over, but he tried to blink them away before they could slip down. They were weakness. Nothing would change with tears. But his father just chuckled and with his thumb brushed it over his eyes to wipe them away. More followed after it of course, he couldn’t stop them and he tried to look away but his father just sighed and cupped his cheeks to direct his face to him.
“You are my child, you belong with me, with others that are like me,” he calmly explained. They were family words of course, he had heard them before, but many times before he just nodded in hopes of being released to practice his hunting skills. Now though, now these words stung him.
“I do not need the others,” he mumbled as he kept his gaze steady on the other. “You is all I need.”
“How I wish that to be my little one,” he sighed and brought up his hand to brush back the bangs from his face, but he quickly remembered the markings and reached up to stop his fathers hand with wide eyes and he shook his head.
“Why cannot it be?” he asked as he took a step away from his father hands, brushing his bangs down so that they’d cover up the markings. He wiped away the tears from his eyes on his own. His father looked confused for a moment, but shook his head and stood up, his impressible height always catching him off guard when he did that. J’rel wished he was as tall as his father and his siblings- even the younger one of his father line. His father walked over to his desk and picked up one of his work books, in it was his writing practice- many times he had been told it was beautifully written, but he did not see what was beautiful about it.
“You are too young to feel the power right now, but you do grow stronger each day…” his father stopped and glanced at him as if he wanted to say something more but shook his head as he shut the book and placed it neatly on top of a pile. “One day you’ll grow too strong for this place and those you wish to protect will need protection because of you. You are a danger my son.”
These words were new to the boy and a look of disbelief was clearly on his face. What danger could he possibly bring? Never did he wish to bring harm to anyone. “What do-“
He shook his head and cut him off. “Not intentionally and not any time soon, but they’d-“
It was his turn to be cut off as suddenly a breeze swept the room and before them appeared a green toucan atop of his father shoulder. “Gailleann Al’rel, teannaich air tìr.”
J’rel knew the language was that of the time his father did not live in the trees, he spoke in it when he communicated with his spirits. He had asked once why he spoke in that language and the only answer he got was that it was all he had left. He immediately understood and never asked again.
His father frowned and sighed, “Tapadh leat, Henalei.” The toucan ruffled her feathers and nudged the side of his father face with her long beak causing him to laugh and pet her. J’rel hurriedly bowed to the spirit in respect as she turned to him and with another gust of wind was gone.
“What is wrong Father?”
“Let’s see…” His father smiled and began to gather his items together to place in the large wooden trunk that was used when storms approached. Realization hit him and before his father could voice his task he was nodding and moving out the door. All previous anger and agitation disappeared or put aside for what was more important. The people.
“I shall tell the Chief and warn the villagers.”
