Planetfurry BBS

[Oji]

.. maybe you'll like it.. its part of something me and a friend are working on, his part is alot better than mine... tell me what you think... its about a post apocoliptic world... and the history of the world is more or less lost... until we get a little further... um.. enjoy i guess...(note.. no where near finished)
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"KYO, wake up. Its almost time for the ceremony to begin."
My cousin Mikel said forcing himself into my tent. I barely stirred at his yelling, he expected me to wake up so soon, and just what ceremony was he talking about? I rolled over onto my side away from Mikel, "Whats with all the yelling? Why should i get up this early?" Maybe i shouldn't have said that, since at that moment Mikel ran up to me and lifted up the corner of my cot, dumping me onto the soft sands of the ground. i jumped to my feet and glared down at Mikel, he was a few years younger and quiet a bit shorter than me, "Whats your deal?!"
"its time for the ceremony of the sands, now get your ass out of bed and lets GO, the elder will be angry if you don't show up."
"th-the ceremony of the sands? today?"
"YES! Now get moving."
Without so much as a second thought i jolted straight out of my tent and passed the tribal warriors that my granfather had sent to gaurd me the night before. Their jobs were to make sure i make it to the ceremony on time, but apperntly they were sleeping in this morning as well. The ceremony of the sands, is used to test the strength of children, to see if they have the potential to be warriors in this tribe. But, for me, the test has a different meaning. My grandfather is the current leader of this tribe, if i fail this test, not only would i lose my life, but my grandfather would be disgraced and looked down upon for having such a weak son. I can see the black smoke of the ceremonial torches rising above a few huts, I ran between them only to be faced with a crowd of impatient warriors,"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" The biggest of the bunch heard me and stepped forward,
"Ah, baby Kyo. Late for the ceremony, eh?"
It took me a second to recognize the behemoths face, Kron. "Kron, get out of my way or else"
"Or else what, baby Kyo, you'll tell your granfather on us?"
"Damn you, Kron, i don't have the patients to deal with you right now, i'll take care of you after i finish the ceremony."
"IF, you finish the ceremony. Me and the rest of my warriors will so mourn the loss of our great leader, Baby Kyo, HA-HA." He stepped aside and bowed, mocking me with his false curtosy. That bellowing laugh would alone give me pleasure in cutting his throat. I couldn't stand hearing him laugh at me and i would normally fight him right there, but there wasn't enough time. The ceremonial torches were so close, i could hear the elder curseing me for being late, so i ran past the buffoon and straight to the center of th crowd, where the elder, my grandfather and my uncle all waited for me. I could feel there cold stares and new it was time for me to begin the ceremony. I slowly straighten my posture and walked to my grandfather and he spoke his part loud and clear.
"Will you lead the people of the wastelands, protect and honor all the tribes?"
i bowed my head to respond, "As long as i breath, i will." he handed me a sheathed knife, a beautifully engraved ebony handle with a jade inlay that resembled the dragon from the old stories. I took the weapon and drew the 10 inch blade from its sheath, it fir comfortably in my hand. This weapon was made by my granfather, the current cheif and warleader of the tribe, it signifies that i can become a leader. of what, can only be answered by time. i sheathed the blade and attached it to my belt then walked over to my uncle, the strongest man in the tribe. He spoke is part well, with a very deep and bellowing voice.
"Will you be strong, while those around you show weakness?"
I stood tall looking up at my uncle, "If they show weakness, i will be their strength." my uncles rock hard expresion melted with a smile and he gave me a necklace, the necklace was lined with claws of various sand lizards and other deadly creatures to be found in the wastelands. I placed it around my neck, some of the claws were still extremely sharp and cut into my skin letting some blood run down my chest, my uncle laughed thinking that his part in the ceremony wasn't supposed to make me bleed, i just ignored it and walks up to the elder, the oldest in the village the keeper of our history which makes him the wisest in the village, he stood strong and quiet. looking down on me with cold peircing eyes. This was a part of the ceremony that couldn't be rehersed, unlike everything else which i was forced to study over and over again till every part of it was printed into my memory, finaly he spook, in a deep raspy voice,
"What will you do when you return from your travels?"
My answer could make the tribe respect me, or hate me to no end. i wanted to say something that would bring me honor, but as i looked down at the three ceremonial torches, i didn't know what i would do when i came back, so i answered him, "i'll do what i can to uphold my duties, to protect and lead." I'm not sure what he thought of the answer so i lowered my head, he reached out a wrinkled hand and took my knife from my side.
"The swear upon your blood that you will...," he sighed and looked down at me, whispering very lightly, "but don't get lost in ceremony"
This drew my attention up to the elder and noticed that a smile had crossed his wrinkled face, i nodded and put my arm over the torches and yelled as loud as i could, looking at the crowd, "I SWEAR!" with this the elder rand the blade of the knife over the back of my hand, makeing a tiny cut, big enough to let a few drops of blood run into the torches, the crowd cheered and yelled, everyone was happy, smiling and laughing. But for me, this isn't the end, tomorow i have to set out across the sea of sands and come back alive, the elder gave me back my knife and walked away from the noise and went inside his hut. i followed him up to his hut, i was about to go in when i felt astrong impact in my back, "ACK, what the...!" Kron was standing behind me.
"Baby Kyo made it to the ceremony, and now your going to talk to an old man?"
"What i do is none of your business!"
"ah, but it is. this may be your last night in the safety of the tribe, come, lets drink."
As much as i hated to admit it, he may be right, i should live it up, tomorow i set out into the sea of sands to test myself. "Fine Kron, lets drink." we drank and drank and then drank some more. through the night me and Kron didn't even try to kill each other, he would be a have decent person if he was drunk all the time. i ended up passing out in front of my hut, i woke up thinking getting drunk on my last night here wasn't such a good idea, my head pounded like i was ran down by a herd of sand lizards.
"um, here."
I looked up and saw Mikel standing over my hung over corpse, handing me lizard hide wrapped bundle, "um.. thanks." i took the bundle and opened it, inside was a full meal, spicy lizard meat.
"My mom made it for you, she knows you like it. Your leaving today, huh?
I had already begun eating, "Yes, in an hour i'll be leaving for the wastelands."
"My father said that their are other people out there, not like the tribes we've come in contact with before."
"My granfather said the same thing, he said they were barbaric and think we're savages. They have no respect for life and would kill each other just for the joy of watching someones last breathe."
"Do you think that were always like that?"
"Theres no way to tell, you remember the stories the elder used to tell us, about how one day an evil and cruel god came fourth from the heavens and struck the earth with many bolts causeing the wastelands?
"yes, i remember"
"Maybe everyone was as cruel and barbaric as the other people so their god decided to punish the world."
"Maybe... i was told to keep it a secret, but since your going out into the wastes..."
"What?"
"Your father wasn't killed by the wastelands, he was found there, his ribs were broken. his legs were shattered. my father said it was because of these other people."
"wh-what?!" hearing this brought rage to my heart, i jumped up and ran past mikel, barely noticing i knocked him tot he ground. I ran to the elders hut and stood before it, afraid of the truth, yet needing to know. i pushed through the animal skins that draped across the entrance and saw the elder sitting on the sands, "I.. need to ask you something."
He looked up at me, "Then speak young one."
"How did my father die?" i said, my head hung low. He looked up at me.
"Your father died in the wastelands." he looked back to what he was doing before i barged in, he was trying to light a fire.
"I didn't ask you WHERE he died, i asked how. Give me an answer old man." the elder had finally started a small fire in the middle of his hut.
"We do not know exactly how he died, but we do know he was murdered. Your father was sent out of the tribe as a messanger to another group."
"Group?"
"Yes, we don't know much about them except that they may have been the reason many of our scouts had been killed. I sent your father out to investigate, when he didn't come back for a week, i sent your uncle out, unfortunatly all he found was a pile of bones and a hunting knife, that knife bore he marks of your father. i'm very sorry, Kyo"
"All this time, thinking my father was killed by the wastelands. why did you lie to me?"
"Because you have your fathers spirit, you would have gotten angry and charged in to fight anyone who got in your way, the fact tht you haven't killed me for lying proves you've become wiser than anyone in the tribe has giving you credit for, now come, its time for your journey to begin." he rose to his feet and walked out of the hut, leaving the fire going, i followed after him, we walked to my hut which was on the very edge of the tribes settlement, "elder, when i return, i want to become a warrior. not a leader." my voice was soft and my eyes were burning, thinking of what had happened to my father had brought me near tears, but i held them. The elder looked down on me and smiled.
"You were already one of the greatest fighters our tribe has seen since your father."
a warrior in my tribe isn't just someone who fought in wars, they would act as diplimats to other tribes or just become travlers to go out and learn more about the world, then come back and share what they've learned witht he elder, I smiled at the elders words, i had always trained to fight ever since i was a child. my grandfather who taught me how to fight with a knife was standing by my hut with a leather pack and an animal hide that is used to hold water, "hello, grandfather. its time i was leaving isn't it?" a kind smile crossed his face as he handed me that pack, which most likely held a weeks worth of lizard meat, and the animal hide.
"Kyo, my grandson. Go out, cross the wastelands and talk to our brothers in the Kiya tribe on the other side of the sea of sands, then return to us a great and powerful lea..." the elder had shook his head at my grandfathers statement.
"The boy wishes to become a warrior, he can uphold his promise to the tribe in that posistion too." I thought at this moment my grandfather would be upset with me, he wanted me to lead our tribe, but he wasn't angry, he hugged me.
"Kyo, the warrior. it sounds better than Kyo the chief. Don't let your anger get you into trouble." my granfather is a wise man, and it is always does well to listen to his words. i pushed away from him, "granfather, i'll control my anger. its time for me to go." with that my granfather smiled and moved aside, i walked past him and past my hut, leaving everything behind. this journey will take me over the wastelands and into the lands that belong to our tribal brothers, the Kiya. My tribes name is Clavak, it was made when three old tribes came together as one. Our tribe has settled on one of the few rivers that still run through the wastelands.
My journey has become, and i traveled for many days. I had set out with a few days worth of food and water, my knife and a claw necklace, nothing more than that. A week had passed, my food was almost gone and my water container was a little more than half way gone, i had only been drinking what i needed to and conserving my strength by sleeping during the day in a make shift tent, using what little materiels could be found in the wastelands.
One night i had stumbled upon an oasis, a small green patch of land in an incredibly dry world. there were great trees reaching towards the sky and at the top of these tree, fruit. i walked forward past the trees, and found small pond of clear, clean water. i dropped all my supplies on the ground and ran to the water, collapsing to my knees just when i reach the waters edge and drank as much as i could, it felt amazing to be able to drink as much as i wish without worry of running out. after making a glutton of myself over the supply of water i decided this was a great place to set up camp, i set out to search for anything i could use to start a fire, and sure enough there was plenty of plant life that i could use, i sat a good distance from the water and started a small fire.
i spent that night under the stars, one thing you cannot complain about in the wastelands is the night sky is always clear. I began to trace out the constilations in the sky with my fingers, my granfather taught me them when i was younger. My granfather used to teach me alot about the world,