Tribe 3

The siblings looked at One Antler. He motioned for them to follow and they did so. Nobody said anything. They moved quietly through the forest until coming out at a meadow which was surrounded by all sides with forest. One Antler said, “This is where you shall practice. You need to learn what you are capable of doing, and what you are not: likely this information will play a key part in whether you kids survive the next few years. You should set up a course that you all go through on a regular basis. One where you are given targets to shoot at, and whatever other things that might come in handy to be good at doing. Right off the top of my head I would ask how many of you can fly? Transportation is going to be right near the top of your list of concerns.” “Myself and Daniel both fly.” Tracker said. “We do not.” Seta said. “At least not so far.” “We were able to transport all of us using flight however.” Daniel added. “It is taxing but we can do it. As to how far or how long, we do not know the answer to that yet.” “Seems like a good place to start.” One Antler said. “I would suggest that while you are finding out how far you can travel, that you do so far up in the sky. You don’t want to be recognized by someone on the ground. I suppose you could also wear some sort of disguise or mask. Or do your flying at night.” “We should also practice picking up and dropping off. In case we ever have to take off fast. We don’t want to get caught or killed because we were not fluent in the practice of taking off.” Daniel said. He was the one blessed with the ability to be extremely agile while flying, so he was probably thinking more of Tracker than himself when it comes to taking off or landing. One Antler seemed to understand that, so he encouraged they get started practicing right away. Tracker would turn on his flames and Daniel would have wings out. They figured out that Tonka was better to ride with Daniel and Seta with Tracker. Actually Seta rode on the back of Tracker where as Daniel held onto Tonka with his legs, while Tonka also held on, grabbing Daniel’s legs and holding tight. By the end of the day there were numerous scorch marks along the ground where Tracker had either taken off or flown down low enough to scorch. Daniel was exhausted toting Tonka around all afternoon. Seta practiced her ability to hit what she was striking at. Tonka practiced moving around quickly while learning to carry that exoskeleton. It was shaped to fit his body perfectly but it still required a little bit of learning to cope with the extra bulk. Tonka was also extra strong. If he had gained the strength of a beetle then it meant he could lift over one hundred times his own weight. Tonka discovered another thing about himself he previously did not know. He could fly. He had wings which allowed him to fly short distances. Daniel and he learned that what worked really well was to take Tonka up high and then allow him to drop. Tonka would use his wings to help guide him down to where he wanted to land. They also slowed his dropping speed enough that when he hit; it was hard but not so hard it hurt him. His outer shell protected him. When the day was over they all gathered together and One Antler had this to say, “You have done well today. Much more practice is needed. We still have not come to the limits of many of your abilities. We do know that you can fly as a team for about two hours before rest is needed. Next we need to figure out what sort of distance you can get out of a two-hour flight. I already have an idea but I won’t voice it because I want to see how far off I am before I start making educated guesses. Go home. Sleep. Tomorrow we will meet here thirty minutes after sunup.” That got a groan from three of the four. “Why so early?” Tracker asked. “Because you’re on summer vacation. That’s why I’m giving you the extra thirty minutes.” One Antler replied. All four groaned but nobody said anything further. Too tired to even say goodbye, they began the walk home. “I’d fly, but I’m too tired.” Daniel said. “I’m too tired to reply to what you said.” Tonka groaned. “I’m thinking of sleeping on the slide when we get to the school.” “You’d be sorry.” Seta said. “Tomorrow you’d only wake up closer to the practice field.” “Good point.” Daniel replied. They walked the rest of the way in silence. —————— Chapter ———————— “This the only store in Waterfell?” The military commander asked. The clerk behind the register eyed the uniformed man with disdain. He said nothing. “I asked you a question.” The commander said again. “Do I have to take you into my command post and interrogate you? “Yes.” “Yes this is the only store? Or yes I have to take you in for interrogation? “The first one.” The clerk replied. He had long black hair, was obviously of native American heritage, and more obviously had no love for the US government. “Anything else?” “I’m looking for a group of four. They could be of any age or any race or perhaps just four people from the same town or area. They would be close-knit. Often seen together.” The clerk thought about it a second. He knew of several groups of people that usually ran in the number of four. He gave a reply which he assumed would not make much difference to anybody in Waterfell. “The only group of four which I can think of is the tribal elders. Funny you should mention them. They’ve all four been missing for at least a day, maybe two. What do you know that might involve them?” “That is actually one group of four which we are not interested in locating.” The commander answered. “Would that be because you already know where they are?” The long-haired clerk accused. “Because I’m thinking that since they have been officially reported as missing that the only reason a government agency would not be interested in their location would be because they were already located.” “Young man if you have something to accuse the United States government of: feel free to hire a lawyer and file a complaint.” The commander leaned in closer to the clerk, grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him even closer. Then he said, “Until such time, you are my confidential informer. As such I will come by periodically for information. The way to avoid my stopping in is to call me whenever you have something of interest. That way we can talk on the phone instead of your people seeing you being taken off in my vehicle and then brought back thirty minutes later. I imagine it would not go over well with your people to find out you were a snitch. And make no mistake! You WILL satisfy my needs or I will feed you to the sharks.” He pushed the clerk back while letting go of his shirt, allowing the man to fall to the floor. The commander threw a card in the clerks direction. “Call me, or I will be coming to see you.” The clerk struggled to find his feet but finally was able to stand up. Then he saw the card on the floor and picked it up. He put it in his pocket and went about his chores. ————– Chapter ————————— Days passed. Each one was a copy of the day before. Warm temperatures, little wind, no rain. Each of those days the siblings practiced. They learned different ways to drop their loads when flying so that Tonka could change after being dropped, because he weighed so much less before changing. They learned the right height so that he would have time to make the change and also get his wings in operation so to be able to guide his decent. Meantime Tracker and Seta practiced doing similar things. Blessed with the agility a scorpion enjoys, Seta was able to use her appendixes to control her body while dropping so that she always landed with her feet under her, the tail in position to strike. Seta learned another thing about her scorpion tale. It had choices of what sort of venom was loaded into the stinger. She could paralyze her opponent by injection, or shoot across a distance and hit them with a sticky substance that was very hard to escape. Only Tonka was strong enough to free himself from the sticky substance and it took him more than a couple of seconds. One Antler taught them all what he knew about hand-to-hand combat. He also taught them strategy for fighting. Things like attacking the enemy with the sun at your back as opposed to attacking into the bright sunlight. He taught them the advantage of using decoys or baited traps. One favorite ploy was to have one of the four pretend to be hurt. They would draw in the enemy and once the enemy’s numbers and fire power were known, the remaining members of the team would evaluate then attack with appropriate measures. They were becoming a well-oiled machine that acted in unison with each other to achieve the goal. One day after practice the four siblings stopped in at the general store. They were all four sweaty and had obviously been up to some sort of physical activity. Gatorade and other assorted drinks were purchased. The conversation was like you would expect to hear from any team mates that had just finished a scrimmage or game. Faces were flushed, sweaty clothes, one of the four had a shirt on that looked like it had been dipped into a fire up to the elbows. The clerk took notice of all the above. When the kids had left to finish their walk home, the clerk made a phone call. “I might have what you’re looking for. They’re a family as opposed to being a group of four. But there are four of them. They came in a few minutes ago looking like they just finished a football practice. Their demeanor were upbeat, practically cheerful. That alone is reason for question in this town. ” The clerk waited for a response. “What is their family name?” “I don’t know. That’s not the kind of thing you ask about and it has never come up. I know they live around here. Not sure where.” “Keep your ear to the ground. Call me if you find out any further information which will help us identify who these four are. You did well to call. I was just getting ready to make a visit. This called saved my time and who knows? Maybe it saved your life. You tell me. How well will the locals take it if they find out you’re my CI?” “You don’t need to constantly threaten me. It would be wise to remember what happens to the dog that is beaten only half the time as often as it is threatened to be beaten.” The clerk said. The agent paused, and when the clerk kept silent he said, “I guess I was absent the day they taught that in school. So what should I remember?” “That the dog doesn’t know the difference between the times the hand is drawn back to do harm, and the times it is drawn back to just frighten. But that isn’t the important part of the lesson. The important part. The part you would be wise to remember; is the dog will only allow itself to be struck the first time or two. After that, the dog bites back regardless of what it might mean in consequences because the dog isn’t capable of understanding further or worse punishment. The dog only knows he won’t allow himself to be beaten, or to be threatened to be beaten. Once he recognizes the enemy he won’t wait. He’ll come out teeth first and open for business. You got the upper hand on me. I’m willing to play ball in order to avoid a big hassle, probably jail time because that is just the kind of low-life move you government agents are taught to do. But make no mistake government man. Your leash on me is only so long, so strong. Abuse me and see what happens.” “I’ll be waiting for your next call.” The agent hung up. “Yeah well you better remember what I said, cause I meant it.” The clerk said to the sound of a disconnected phone line. He threw his phone down on the counter and opened a beer. It was going to be another poor night in a poor town. ———————— Chapter ————————- Next Page