Midnight

§ 2021-02-28 00:14:34

[00:15] Szambatem, Gazhil, Taranidad and a kavkem who went by the name of Sirenju were the last to leave. Gazhil had chosen to strap a large bag to his back – he was young enough to heft it for a longer trek, but not quite adult enough that it looked anything but ridiculous on him, and there was a bit of an instinct in Sirenju that they might have to pause to rest more often.

The payload was mostly kitchen utensils made of clays. There was a benefit to cooking meat instead of eating it raw and sessile kavkema were happy to do so in principle. This strange luggage had been padded with fresh leaves to prevent it from making a noise as ceramic clinked against ceramic. No doubt most of the volume of the package was padding.

A leather necklace given to Gazhil was studded with blades. It was good that Karodaga wasn't here to witness that, really – while a kavkem's teeth and claws were weapons enough, adding more to the arsenal was perhaps not the best idea when a kavkem's allegiance was not well-known.

It was deep at night by now, with clouds marching in overhead, beginning to block out even starlight, reducing visibility almost to none. Gazhil was mostly working by touch and, to limited degree, by sound, but he could tell even by sight that there were three blotches worth of kavkema nearby as he finished strapping the bag to his back.

"Are we the last ones?" he whispered into the round.

[01:03] To be fair, it was rare, even for those who'd known him for any length of time, for Szambatem to be described as being in any sort of bad mood; his idiosyncratic interpretation of Neimakanaach seemed to cause him to take most things in stride, even if they elicited humorously caustic remarks. Regardless, at this particular point the whole of Szambatem's body language vibrated with enthusiastic excitement, topped off by the enormous grin on his face.

[01:12] "If we're not, any others are being much quieter than we are," he responded, shifting the weight of his own bag. Despite his adult size, he looked almost as loaded down as Gazhil did; partly this was due to the various odds and ends of his own work that had looked too artificial to leave behind, though most of his cargo consisted of tools, packed similarly to Gazhil's utensils (but not his own; these hung in an eclectic collection from his necklace).

§ 2021-03-05 22:22:26

[22:22] Taranidad's mood improved over the evening and into the night. He still felt great tiredness all over his body, but a burden was lifted off his heart when he saw each small group of kavkema safely escape into the dark forest.

Soon everyone will be reunited at the agreed location higher in the mountains.

[22:23] When they were ready to enter the forest he started nervously ruffling his feathers again – "You go first, no, wait… you go after Sirenju. Szambatem goes second and I'm leading. No, Sirenju will be the last one. We might get attacked from behind, he'll definitely notice any suspicious sounds. That means you go right behind Szambatem… Wait, where's Szambatem? He just… He just walked into the forest without waiting for us?" – organizing the line always looked so easy when Amansaa was in charge of it.

[22:36] Gazhil rolled his shoulders in mild amusement at Taranidad's antics, his body language muted in the inky darkness. "I can trail behind," he volunteered. "I'm not very trained as a Watcher, but in this darkness, I can promise you the Nayabaru won't see anything without a flashlight. We should notice – with ample warning – if they turn up."

Not that Nayabaru ought to turn up – this was Sanctuary, the only reason they were leaving it was because of some nebulous threat of the ground buckling and splitting under them, which it was making no efforts at doing, presently. Nonetheless, trailing and leading kavkema were always expected to keep an eye out for enemies; it really went without saying.

With the clouds obscuring the starlight, they were likely to trip a few times, but that was to be expected. Gazhil had heard forest-dwelling kavkema joke that they were well-padded precisely because nature had meant for them to bump into things – silently.

[22:46] Szambatem had indeed ducked into the trees, but reemerged again shortly afterward, and strolled back toward the group. "Will we be getting on," he inquired politely, with just the slightest hint of impatience, "or are we going to make an uninteresting Mirage by lounging around a while longer?"

§ 2021-03-13 21:53:39

[21:53] The forest was silent at this time of the night.

Taranidad focused on the stars peeking behind the clouds every now and then and on navigating the terrain. The clouds are like the mirage, but the stars are still there at their correct location – he thought to himself. After a while he got tired of celestial navigation and got lost in his own thoughts more and more. He needed to talk with someone to help clarify his thoughts.

He sped up to catch up with Sirenju and strike a whispery conversation – "What do you think about this Gazhil? He's a very smart kavkem, I'm telling you. A very special kavkem indeed. He escaped from Nayabaru captivity all on his own? Can you believe that? I saw it with my own eyes…!"

[22:53] Sirenju was undecided on whether or not this miracle had happened as described, but not to the point of scepticism. It was more of an intellectual exercise that he recognised but chose not to indulge in than a point of contention, or a potential lie. But what it certainly was, was a good story, and so he prompted with curiosity: "Tell me the story."

Gazhil had indeed begun trailing behind as something of a trailing Watcher, still in earshot of a slightly more elevated whisper, if only barely. Advance was slowed by the luggage of both Szambatem and Gazhil, but not nearly so much that it made travel feel like a chore.

[23:48] Szambatem had, by virtue of being closest to the trees when they set off, wound up in front. Despite the air of general negligence he sometimes projected, this duty at least he seemed to be attentive to – with much glancing between the ground and the sky, he seemed very sure of where he should be putting his feet.

[23:53] He did not often think, anymore, about the kavkem of the different name who had once been him, but it occurred to him that he must look very much now as he had then – not quite as much in appearance, as the placement of his feathers had been badly mangled as a guest of the Nayabaru, but at least in his body language. He had been a good navigator and relatively enthusiastic traveler, once...

Of course, it was the latter fact that had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

[23:55] Having sharp hearing, and suddenly wishing to think of something else, he slowed just a bit, so that he could instead listen to Taranidad's account.

§ 2021-04-03 22:10:53

[22:10] Taranidad didn't need to be asked twice. – "Karodaga and I were out in the woods, and we came across this Nayabaru settlement. And there he was, climbing down the wall all on his own. I don't know for how long he was captured, but he managed to escape unscathed, unlike so many other kavkema. Too many decent kavkema always get captured… And he just climbed down the wall, and there he was."

[22:11] "Then he came to us and asked me to take him to the Sanctuary. He explained everything to me along the way. There will be this rapture, he says. The Nayabaru have this plan, this rapture. They want to smash us and destroy our Sanctuary, tear apart the very rocks of the mountain. Can you believe that?"

"If I had more brave kavkema with me I would consider just storming that Nayabaru settlement and destroying all the machines they have to cause that rapture. I would do that, believe me. But it was just Karodaga and me."

"So now, we decided to evacuate the Sanctuary. I want to get to the meeting point first so that we have some time to prepare the camp for the others. What can a kavkem do, right…?"

[22:43] Sirenju had been listening to what Gazhil had told them about the purported motivations of the Nayabaru. Much as it was easy to ascribe malice to them, it made sense to him that if there was truly a cosmic threat to the planet, that they would try everything to stop it.

The motivations couldn't both be true, could they? That they wanted to save the planet and also wanted the Sanctuary destroyed? For that matter, if they knew of the Sanctuary, surely there were simpler ways of destroying it?

But maybe they were both true. If so, it was still best not to interfere with them, proceed with the evacuation, but reap the benefit of a rescued planet.

It did prompt a question, however, if Taranidad thought so – and so Sirenju asked Taranidad with curiosity: "You don't think Valcen and the Nayabaru intend to move the planet out of harm's way?"

[02:48] Szambatem had allowed the two to catch up to him enough that he could murmur over his shoulder at them. "Assuming what our new friend says is true about what is going to happen," he interjected, "I am inclined to think that whatever happens to the Sanctuary would be an unintended consequence. It's too messy for them to do deliberately, too high a risk of death. They don't deal in death, you know."

He smiled grimly, and added, "No matter how much you beg for it."

§ 2021-05-26 21:46:50

[21:47] "As Szambatem says—it's all assumptions. One thing I learned to assume is that Nayabaru are no friends of us.

I guess we'll learn any day now about if this cosmic rapture is for real. Any day now whether we like it or not. Since we split into small groups we cannot organize a party of Za'alseki to storm the Nayabaru settlement and stop it from happening. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but that ship has sailed. Whatever happens, happens.

[21:48] Our best choice is to get to the agreed meeting point as quickly and as quietly as possible, and set up camp. We know this forest and we know how not to draw any attention to ourselves. That's what we'll do."

He sped up his pace and looked towards the canopies of the trees. He didn't want to continue this conversation. There'll be more time to talk when they have a place to stay again.

§ 2021-05-30 04:05:10

[04:05] In Taranidad's defence, talking was indeed about the least defensive thing kavkema could do. While those of the Sanctuary were less cagey with words, wild kavkema often measured each syllable carefully, minimising the degree to which they might attract attention by limiting their numbers.

Sirenju had cringed a little at Szambatem's punchline, but not commented. Regardless what motivations anyone ascribed to the Nayabaru, they all agreed Sanctuary was at risk. The closest approximation of consensus seemed to be that the Nayabaru should not be stopped, as there was also the planet at stake, but what if that were indeed a ruse?

It didn't need to be a ruse that Gazhil was concocting. He could have been lied to.

But assuming he had been lied to – assuming the technology of the Nayabaru meant to target the Sanctuary specifically, as sloppy as it would be – was the right response to try and intervene? No. As Taranidad said, the best choice was to get to the agreed meeting point. The Nayabaru were hard to fight, even for Za'alseki.

Still. "It feels wrong to leave it all behind," Sirenju commented softly, already nostalgic for a home he had only just left.

[04:23] "The Sanctuary was a good place," Szambatem agreed quietly. He almost immediately scorned himself. Good place? You must be getting old. Places are what you make of them. His next words were directed as much at himself as to the others: "But, possibly, if we find a new spot to settle down in, we can make it good as well – though if it too already has buildings to keep the rain off, I won't complain."

[04:26] He kept up his watch of their surroundings as they moved. "Best to put regret out of your minds. Past and future are even more a Mirage than the rest of it."

§ 2021-08-14 21:58:55

[21:58] They walked surrounded by silence and the smell of the midnight dew. Sirenju was at the front of the line, and Taranidad was closing it.

[21:59] Taranidad tried thinking about plans for what he'll do to organize the new camp site, but he kept loosing his train of thought. All the walking from the past day was getting to him. Everything in his body was very clearly aware that he was no longer young, no longer as strong as the young Sirenju.

Still, they needed to get to the new camp location as soon as possible, therefore he needed to keep up with Sirenju's pace. The distance between him and Szambatem right in front of him inexplicably kept growing. Taranidad wanted to speed up and catch up—"it'll be easier once we exit this ravine… it'll be easier after the next creek…"

§ 2021-08-21 03:48:51

[03:48] For a while, they travelled in relative silence, Taranidad's stray comments notwithstanding. The path was clear enough for the first stretch of their journey: Away from the Sanctuary, ideally using a route with a bit of wiggle in it to confound anyone trying to track them in increments. It was an easy path to chart.

Eventually, it felt like a safe distance – a unit defined by unspoken intuitions that would apply just the same if they had been trying to put distance between themselves and some Nayabaru prison. Somewhere between the trees, beside a rivulet large enough to provide them with a trickle of consumable water, but small enough not to be conspicuous, they stopped to rest for a few minutes, give their aching muscles some reprieve.

There was a small break in the canopy, revealing a fragment of the night sky. Some of the clouds had evidently cleared up, making way for the firmament.

Gazhil in particular seemed to take to the sky, regarding it with what appeared to be some kind of forlorn mood.

§ 2021-09-04 01:57:43

[01:57] Szambatem drank from the stream. Glancing at Gazhil, he followed the latter's gaze and looked up.

[01:58] "So," he murmured, "this... event... is it supposed to look like anything?"