Chapter 8: No Goodbye

No Goodbye

Now that we saw the surface, we had to find a way to the top. I did not find the answer surely enough; however, Viola had something up his sleeve again. I did not want to show my superior wit when in a crunch so I let Viola do the thinking. I sat back pretended to be witless so that Viola would not suspect that I was intelligent. I knew that if I had suppressed the Idea of climbing the rocks located on the eastern corridor that it would lead us to the roof of the cavern. The reason I did not share this piece of information was so that if Viola did not find a way to the top then I would have some control over the group. I was arrogant at the time. I had been pretty much telling Lacky what to do the whole time underground and I did not like to give my authority away. Me and Lacky were friends as far back as I can remember; however, everyone disliked Lacky when we were very little. I had saved Lacky from bullies countless times. I was always the stronger and smarter of the two of us; however, he knew a great deal about the technical things. He always was always a better farmer, villager, and family man than I ever will be. Because of this, I tended to watch over Lacky. I was his sole protector. I felt responsible for his safety. Letting my authority be released to this stranger was a huge blow to my pride; however, I also felt attached to this carefree stranger.

“Great, now the hard part. Let’s see.” Viola said. Viola walked around and climbed on top of a rock to get a better vision of the roof of the cavern. He raised his arm to the sky and lifted his sleeve. He pulled out his watch and pressed inward on the watch’s center. After he did this, a mechanical piece or metal plate came out of his watch. It was like it transformed.

“Hey, cool! What is that?” Lacky questioned.

“don’t worry about it kid, don’t tell anyone about what you have seen today ok. Its for your own good—ok?”

“Well—Ok.” Lacky said fanatically.

“Alright, guys come and hold on to me, I am going to get us out of here.” Viola said. We both grabbed on to Viola and held on as Viola raised his arm. When he pressed a button a rope shot out of his sleeve. It was completely encompassing. The rope traveled beyond the surface and stuck its self somewhere; securing itself, the rope was able to provide the tension we needed. Viola gave the rope a good tug before he pressed another button on his watch with his right arm. Before we knew it we were traveling up the rope. The micro gadget that Viola had used had some sort of micro technology which made it capable of outputting several horsepower. The little watch had more power than a mule. The watch was an electronic watch that could channel energy through the sun and store energy deep inside its core. The most impressive quality of the watch however was its ability to duplicate and magnify energy. It could take a few watts that the sun provided and multiply it, making the watch a multi telecommunication/transmitting/pulley/weapon that no average person had. These watches are like commodities for those who are in the KOTL. The watch reeled in the three wary travelers and the surface was visible from that point on.

“Aw, thank the gods.” Lacky said.

“Yea don’t mention it kid.” Viola said with a cocky smile that was easily tucked away in his hat. The tone of voice and sarcasm that Viola carried around was of a somewhat dispositional frequency. Any time that Lacky would resort to thanking the Gods, Viola would find a way to express his own pessimistic opinion of the Gods.

From the looks of the landscape, I thought we were probably 2 days walk away from Rabboth Top. It was a plane, the earth was very black, as there was an old active volcano that had been located a little bit east of here. Fleace has only one active volcano, Mt. Zenthia, which is located on the northern most area of the archipelago. This other inactive volcano had already made the area rich with nutrients. The grass had a bright color of green which radiated from the earth.

“I think we should set up camp and leave tomorrow.” Viola said. Being underground threw off our sleep cycle. We were already tired and thought it would be best to go to sleep. We set up camp and waited for whatever hardships awaited us while our new mysterious friend went off to collect food or whatever was edible.

Viola went well beyond the perimeter of the camp. He was far ahead of where we set up camp. Lurking around the area, there was little or nothing edible that caught Viola’s eyes. Before he actually went hunting there was something that he had to do alone. He went far into the brush and lifted his sleeve. He was contacting HQ to let them know of the possible Casrillian threat and to have them run the blood test to see if he was the last of the air nomads. He also wanted to tell them that he was not the prophesized one. He did not bear the mark of the sun and earth. “This is K4 reporting, I have come in contact with a boy who might be one of the last nomads. He is not the One; also there are some serious disturbances in this town. I might have come into contact with a Casrillian. I noticed the Casrillian seal or symbol within their cavern. I wish to run DNA test, I am sending the blood work over.” Viola reported. After a few minutes, a voice came forth out of Viola’s watch.

“Copy that, DNA test positive. He is a match of the last Air Nomad that we had on file, we need you send the info on his family location, we need to evacuate the other members. Over,”

“This is K4, we have a no go on the location of Nomad whereabouts. He says that his parents were killed by the lung disease when they came over to Rabboth Top some 13 years ago.” Viola said. He was lying, he knew that he had to evacuate Hulken to HQ because the KOTL were required to educate and protect any Air Nomads that were left. Because the KOTL put too much of a grip on the lives of the freest type of people, they escaped their supervision because it made them too domestic. The air Nomads were originally the first humans to travel to the surface, discover flight, and travel all of Ithium. The intentions of the KOTL were pure; however, the fact that they had put to much of a grip on the lives of the Nomads made the Nomads want to escape and live in secret. They were successfully able to escape their grip and travel Ithium in disguise. Sooner or later Viola was going to have to escort Hulken to HQ were he would live out the rest of his days.

“Roger k4, We want you to escort the Air Nomad to the shore, from there you will be briefed on what to do. As for the Casrillian threat, we will send in another agent to investigate. Your top priority is to safely escort the Nomad.” The voice coming from Viola’s arm said.

“Over, ending transmission” Viola said. Now that the his mission was almost complete, Viola now had to search for food. He was a good instinctive fighter; however, when it comes to hunting, it takes patience. Sometimes the patience of a warrior is not similar to that of a hunter. When the hunter came out of Viola, it was not pretty. There was a wild hog somewhere in the distance according to what Viola’s instincts were telling him. Unluckily for Viola, he was not anywhere close to correctly guessing the sounds coming from the distance. Viola ventured stealthily and covertly across the dark plain. He did not happen to see what was lying in the bushes across his left. When his mind began to ponder what was type of animal that the sound was something came out. It was not a wild hog, or pig, it was a Wolf who looked hungry. The wolf was flinging around his ferocious hiss as if he was a snake. It came closer and closer to Viola creating a shorter gap between death and life for Viola. Luckily for the beast, Viola had a modern weapon. Viola pulled out his Reaver and swung it around senselessly to warn off the beast. The wolf was not the predator in this match, he was more a less a victim. Few men or animal alike have been able to dodge the deadly bullets or blade of a KOTL’s Reaver. When the wolf came in for a deadly strike, Viola swooped down under the wolf and reached out his arm, killing the beast in one motion. The wolf made a short, horrific, and mortal scream as it took it’s last breath. The beast was slain and Viola was smeared with blood. The blood reached Viola’s coat and the dirt that Viola had received from jumping onto the ground was all mixed together. “Dam, I need to take a bath now.” Viola said to himself as he put his hands on his knees. He pulled himself up and looked at the carcass that lay before him. He knew that whatever the other boys had received, his meal would provide enough for all three of them. Viola put the wolf on top of his shoulder and walked back to where they set up camp, he knew he was going to have to tell Hulken the news about everything. Viola did not know how he would handle it, if he would resist, if he would try to attack him again, the thoughts of his old mentor began to run through his mind.

Meanwhile back at camp, I had found some berries and wild onions. I new that there was enough to make a soup for the two of us so I started to make a fire and just sat waiting for the onions to boil with the water. I also found that the berries made for an excellent source of nutrients. I had little to share between the two of us; however, I thought that Viola could easily handle himself. Right when we finished the meal I had cooked I saw Viola walk in from the horizon. The sun was just falling down. The day was coming to a end and our time to go back to town was finally coming to an end. When Viola came closer towards us I realized that he had caught something. It was a wolf. Trying not to postpone the inevitable, Viola said,” Here is our dinner. I think there is something that you must know. Our meeting was no mere coincidence. I, unlike many before me would not offer you a choice; however, I think it just and honorable for me to offer a choice to you. I cannot however offer the same choice for your friend. After I tell you some of the secrets of my order and the past history which involves you, I will let you decide wither or not you would come with me.”

“What are you talking about.” I said.

“Hey, Lacky. I want you to take this wolf here skin it and place it in the fire. Here is a knife get to it. Hulken come take a walk with me if you wish to learn your true heritage.” Viola said. I went along; I took a walk into the realm of true awakening. I learned why Viola was following me, what he planned on doing with me if I wanted to come with him I could study or adventure with the KOTL. He also told me that he had protected all of my relatives from the KOTL because he did not want them to be forced to go. He also told me that Lacky could not come because he was not of the nomad blood. When he had told me that I had a choice, I replied with a yes. I wanted to get out of Rabboth Top and Viola was my ticket out of this place. I knew that I loved knowledge and Viola offered me a world of new knowledge that would only be seen in a million years. I wanted to explore, see the world, and discover the secrets of Ithium. The technology that Viola used was also something that entranced me. I wanted to blow stuff up the way Viola did, I wanted to hold that funny looking sword that Viola held. When I gave him my reply I had totally forgot about my mother, father, and two sisters that I had left behind in Rabboth Top. Viola said it would be best if they thought I had gone missing or dead because that way no one could find out where you are if you tell them were you are going. I agreed; however, I thought it was something I should have done out of respect. I also wanted leave; however, I wanted their approval. I was not going to say goodbye.