Chapter 5:  Tribal Pride


	Gentle sea breezes lazily slide over the outside of the flying Center. At the
leading edge of the structure, Hope leaned out against the railing, catching the
wind and occasional spray of mist in her face. Smiling, she hummed to herself as
she turned to wave at a group of friends who walked by, some of them dealing
with a spot of seasickness. Giggling, she hopped from her spot to help one of
the sick people into a bathroom as they staggered by. However, as she turned
around, she met some unfriendly faces. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t little
first year Hope?” a harsh, older voice sounded.
	“Uhm, yes, I’m Hope.”
	“Look here, we are the important people here, you are too little to be running
around and doing what you’re doing.”
	“What? All I was doing was helping out.”
	“Look, just stop it ok?”
	“Why? I mean, they are nice to me, so I am nice to them.” The speaker finally
stepped fully into sight, revealing the tall, red haired vixen. She was sounding
increasingly flustered, “look come on…”
	“Huh?”
	“Just stop!”
	“Stop what?” Vixy was struck dumb at the question, and spent nearly a minute
trying to find a way to say it, when she finally just burst out, “oh you know!”
before storming off, flustered and red in the face. Blinking, Hope turned her
head to watch her storm off, “okay…I will see you later then,” she said, waving
kind of awkwardly. Once Vixy was out of sight, Hope started to scratch her head,
“what was that all about?” she wondered aloud.

	“Hey! Nearie! I finished another drawing!” a young voice proudly announced with
a little shriek. “Hmm?” Nearie said, not turning her head to look at Penny.
“Look! Look! It’s the ocean!” the panda chirped, sliding the paper in front of
her. Nearie took the paper, looked it over for a moment, then set it aside to go
back to work. “It’s nice,” she said dully before moving her concentration.
Despite the cold tone of Nearie’s voice, Penny smiled broadly and squealed a
bit, “you think so? Thank you so much!” she shouted, throwing her arms around
Nearie’s neck in a quick hug. “Agh, alright, you’re welcome,” the polar bear
growled quietly, “now don’t you have somewhere else you should be?”
	“Hmm,” Penny said, chewing on the tip of her pencil, “you’re right, I have a
class to get to. Thanks for reminding me!” With a wave, she skipped out of the
room, forgetting the drawing on Nearie’s desk. About an hour later, Nearie
prepared to leave, and was packing her things in a small bag when she came upon
the drawing. “What’s this?” she asked, turning the paper over in her hand, “oh,
it’s hers.” Her eyes moved across the paper, looking the drawing over. Despite
Penny’s young age, she had phenomenal skill in her drawing, and it was quite
evident in the rolling picture of the ocean that looked like someone twice her
age drew it. Slowly, a small smile cracked across Nearie’s lips, and she gently
and carefully folded the picture up and placed it in her desk drawer, inside a
folder marked for her personal things. “It isn’t that bad at all,” she whispered
to no one in particular before strolling out of her room.

	“Well, here they come,” Lionhawk muttered to himself as he spotted the floating
structure on the horizon. He didn’t much care for guests, moreover a school
here, but he reminded himself of his mother’s desires to maintain this
small-scale alliance with the rest of the world, and he was obligated to keep
it.  Closing his eyes, he began to sense something else coming from the
approaching building. “Power,” he thought, “there is a great deal of strength
this year, I suppose the other Crests have started putting their children into
the school. I suppose we need to meet them, they will be here soon.” With a
group of his men, Lionhawk mounted a horse and rode out to meet the flying
Center.
	Inside a large and empty prairie, there was a very out-of-place fixture in the
grass. A great metal frame extended through the field, forming a brace for a
massive structure to set down on. The arrangements and construction were made
almost when the school itself was build, thus forging a small alliance between
the two different cultures. Every year, the Prime Center would settle into the
brace for a few days. The students would explore and study the wilderness with
aid of the natives, and in return, the village received shipments of any
supplies they need, although under Feather’s command as chief, the supplies
needed were always very small. Lionhawk was shaping out to me much like his
mother in his command of the people, firm, but still kind. As he stepped over
the ridge to the landing site, watching the structure settle onto the metal
frame. After a few minutes passed, a large door on the side of the building
cracked open, and a large gangplank lowered onto the grass with a small thud.
Lionhawk’s footsteps made small clinking noises as the padded up the metal
staircase and into a large plaza overlooking the Prime Center’s student body. A
bead of sweat trailed down the side of his head as he looked over the large
crowd, now fixated on him. To his sides were the principals and administrators
of the school. “Where is Feather?” one of the people up with him asked.
	“She is away for a time, I will be standing in her place as chief.”
	“Alright, well, just lay down any rules you have for the students and then
there is little else you have to do.” Lionhawk replied with a nod, and slowly
turned to face the crowd while an attendant handed him a microphone. “I am the
standing chief of the area,” he said plainly, “and I have been asked to give you
some guidelines for your visit here. All I have to say is respect the land here,
if you are caught damaging our land or village, you will be sent back here to
face punishment. The only other thing is to stay away from the burial grounds,
they are sacred and not even I am allowed to step there usually. We will tell
anyone if they come close to those grounds.” Lionhawk spoke for a few more
minutes, then ended with a cheer from the students as they set off into the
wilds. “Huh? What? Hey what did I miss?” Meyshisiam asked as he stumbled out of
his room, the kitten still on his shoulder, “did I miss anything?” He found no
answer as the students rushed around him, nearly trampling him as they rushed to
exit the Center. Although the tide and clamor of the students drowned out all
noise, Meyshisiam could hear a very clear voice whispering in his ear. “Hi
there…” it whispered.
	“Huh? Where are you? What’s going on?”
	“I am a friend, but not here…”
	“Are you like, a voice in my head?”
	“No, I am someone else, and I can help you. Just find me.”
	“Uh, okay, where are you?”
	“Just follow my voice…” Slowly, almost in a trance, he began to pad out of the
Center, heading slowly towards the burial grounds, which were isolated.
Cautiously, he passed the border of the field into the forbidden area. “Yes…”
the voice whispered, “you’re very close now…”
	“Really? I don’t see anything…this place creeps me out.” Like tall shrubs,
platforms stood over the land, platforms where the dead bodies were laid out
under the sky. A whispering breeze whipped through the area, sending the stench
of decay under Meyshisiam’s nose. “Here!” the voice cried in his head, “I am
here, you are almost on top of me.”
	“Huh? Where?” Meyshisiam asked, looking around.
	“Down here.”
	“What?” he asks, bending down to look at a large, unusual looking rock. “You
are this?”
	“Exactly…”
	“Ok, wow, I need to start getting some more sleep, or check my diet or
something. I can’t believe I am talking to a rock in the middle of a grave
place…”
	“Haven’t you ever heard of spirits and such?” the voice asked, sounding
irritated.
	“Yeah, but you are rock.”
	“I am much more than a rock!”
	“Ok, I suppose you are a pretty big rock. And weird-shaped too.”
	“Of all the people with the gift…” the voice muttered, “well, let me prove
myself. I can sense you know a lot which is unknown to most, the art of
summoning?”
	“Wow. H-how did you know that?” Meyshisiam asked.
	“I am a summoner as well, I can help you. You want to impress people, show them
you are worth something? Especially a pretty young vixen?” Meyshisiam blinked at
the knowledge of this stone, and instantly, he picked it up and slid it into a
pocket. With a mental chuckle, the voice in his head said, “now hold me out and
I will demonstrate my skill.”

	In the village, Shin and Hope were walking around, accompanied by Lionhawk, who
was giving an impromptu tour to the pair of students. Despite their
near-identical ages, the differences between the two students and Lionhawk were
very evident. Lionhawk’s wind-chipped and worn face had a stern look of a
protector about them, though he was much less so than his mother was.
Occasionally, he cracked the small joke with his peers, but the tone came away
from happiness as a cry of alarm rose from the villagers. “What in the world…”
Lionhawk growled as he spun around, and his jaw dropped open at the sight.
Standing nearly 10 feet tall, a monster composed of various decaying parts of
corpses. Its head was a bull’s skull, chipped and broken, and it shambled
forward at an alarming pace, destruction clearly on its agenda. “Wh-wh-what is
that?!” Hope cried as it stalked towards the village.
	“Is this a normal thing here?” added Shin.
	“No! Get out of here!” Lionhawk demanded, his inner power rising, “I will deal
with this…”
	“Wait!” Hope cried, “we can-“
	“GO!” Lionhawk roared, getting almost immediate cooperation. “Alright, whatever
the hell you are…prepare to be put to rest, again.” Lionhawk’s hand slowly slid
down to his belt, where one of the swords of his father, the Crest of Death, lay
ready. Closing his eyes, he could sense that the strength of the creature was
quite little, and more there just to cause fear than actual damage. As
Lionhawk’s own strength grew, a subtle aura of power grew stronger and stronger.
With a swift motion, the short sword came out of the belt, and his body shot
forward in a charge. The creature had little time to react as the bolt of white
fur crashed into him, spearing the blade across its chest. A great shriek filled
the air as the young chief sent another attack into the creature, ripping a cut
in it. “Now…DIE!” Lionhawk shouted, passion for battle rising in him. Kicking
away, he landed several yards away and leveled his open palm in front of him.
With a finally war cry, he unleashed his power, in the form of a blast of
energy, which ripped through the beast, destroying it.

	A day later, the same group of three stood at the Center’s entrance. After a
great deal of confusion, the battle in the previous day was resolved with no
other trauma. “I don’t know what that was, but I will look into it, there is
something strange going on,” Lionhawk said to Hope and Shin. “I know you two
have the strength to fight as well, so be alert.”
	“You too, Lionhawk,” Hope said, giving him a small hug, “we will keep in touch
in case anything else comes up.” With that, the pair went inside, and the Center
began to take off, to its next destination. “Don’t worry, Meyshisiam, that runt
was just a sample of my true power, and I will teach it all to you…”