Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (34 page)

“
Good work,” the chief said, “go get something to eat. You too, Quarry.”

As the two young saloli raced off, the white saloli turned to face Blaze, “My name is Specter. I am chief to these saloli. Do you have a name?”

“
My name is Blaze.”

“
Blaze? You are a tribe saloli, then?”

“
Yes. What is all this?” Blaze asked, referring to all the saloli in the camp.

“
This is NoTribe,” Specter explained, “a tribe for saloli that do not have one.”

“
It’s huge.”

“
You would be surprised to find out just how many outsiders are in this forest. We have made it our goal to give them a safe haven and friends to rely upon so that they won’t have to face life alone. Now tell me, which tribe are you from?”

“
I’m from Icefire,” Blaze answered.

“
Icefire?” Specter repeated, confused.

“
Yeah, Icefire. You know, the tribe in the north?”

“
In the north? Oh, you mean NorthTribe!”

“
NorthTribe?” now it was Blaze’s turn to echo Specter.

“
You live in the north, therefore you are NorthTribe. At least, that’s what we’ve always called you. But that’s not important. How did you come to be here? The river Crag and Quarry found in you goes a long way out of your territory before coming here.”

“
I, uh, wasn’t in my own territory,” Blaze answered, immediately regretting giving away that information.

“
I see. It doesn’t matter to me what you were doing there, though. That is your business.” Blaze breathed a sigh of relief that Specter didn’t press him for details. It could be dangerous if he, somehow, got mixed up with Cyclone, “Now,” said Specter, “go ahead and ask what you really want to know.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Ask me why I look this way.”

It was true, Blaze had been wanting to ask that, but was afraid of offending Specter, “Okay,” he said, “why do you look like that?”

“
It’s because I’m an albino,” Specter answered, a hint of pride in his voice.

“
I didn’t know saloli could be albino,” Blaze mused.

“
Any creature can be albino,” Specter informed him, “but it’s very, very rare, no matter what the species.”

“
Does it. . .” Blaze stopped, not wanting to embarrass Specter.

“
Do anything to me? Not really. I can get burnt by the sun easier, but that’s it.”

“
Who is this?” a female voice asked from behind Blaze. He turned around to see another saloli standing before him. She was dark gray, but had one distinct attribute that would make her easy to remember. On her face, right around her eyes, the fur suddenly turned black, almost giving her the appearance of a raccoon.

“
This is Blaze,” Specter introduced, “Blaze, this is Mask. She is my most trusted ally.”

Mask. A fitting name.

“
Is he a tribe saloli?” Mask asked, her interest sparked.

“
Yes, he says he’s from NorthTribe.”

“
Icefire,” Blaze corrected.

“
What brings you here?” the female saloli asked. Taking his first close look at her, Blaze realized that Mask was very beautiful, and that her spot gave her an aura of mystery.

“
The river.” he answered.

“
Crag and Quarry found him on the riverbank and rescued him.” Specter explained.

“
Ah, it seems you owe us, then.” Mask said.

“
What?” Blaze asked.

“
She’s right,” Specter agreed, “we saved your life, now you owe us.”

“
Owe you what?”

“
Whatever we want,” the two saloli said together, smiling.

Blaze didn’t like the sound of that, but he hid his unease.

“
What is it you want?” he asked.

Specter stopped to think, “I don’t know, yet.” he decided, “But, in the mean time, you will have to stay here with us until we choose.”

“
I can’t stay here!” Blaze protested, “I’ve got to get back to my tribe!”

“
You never know,” Mask told him, “you may decide you want to remain here, and forget your old tribe!”

“
I’m not staying,” Blaze repeated, “my tribe needs me!”

“
They won’t miss a single saloli,” Specter disagreed, “In fact, they might even be better off without you. One less mouth to feed.”

“
We could definitely use you.” Mask chimed in, “With your knowledge of the tribe territories, you could show us the best places to get food!”

“
I. . . what?” Blaze sputtered, offended, “I am not going to help you steal from Icefire!”

“
I don’t think we’re giving you a choice!” Mask growled, unsheathing her claws.

“
No, Mask,” Specter ordered, “If he wishes to return to his tribe, then we will let him. But,” he turned to face Blaze, “we will not forget that he owes us. When we have decided on what we want, we will find him, and we will get it. One way or the other.”

Mask didn’t seem pleased by this, but honored her chief’s will, “Very well, Specter.” she relented.

“
Blaze,” Specter said, “I believe you have worn out your welcome here. You will leave and return to your tribe. Now.”

“
But I don’t know the way.” Blaze told him, “I don’t even know where I am.”

“
Then Mask will escort you.” Mask nodded, reluctantly.

“
Come on, then.” She said, turning and walking away. Blaze followed her.

They left the camp and walked for almost ten minutes in silence. Then Mask spoke up, “So, what’s going on in the tribelands?”

Blaze debated what would be safe to tell her. He decided, in the end, that there was no harm in warning her about Darkcover, “The tribe in the south, Darkcover,” he told her, “is trying to take over the forest. Icefire is about to go to war with them.”

“
Take over the entire forest?” Mask repeated, “that’s a good idea.”

“
What? Why?”

“
Because four tribes are three too many. With only one tribe, things would be much more orderly and easy to control.”

“
Goliath doesn’t care about order,” Blaze argued, “He only wants power.”

“
Who’s Goliath?”

“
Darkcover’s chief. He’s evil.”

Mask turned to look at Blaze, an angry look in her eyes, “And why is he evil? Because he does things differently than you? His priorities don’t match yours? I swear, you idiots and your ideas of good and evil. If anyone is the least bit different, you stamp him as bad.”

“
Goliath kills innocent creatures for his own gain.”

“
Don’t you? You just said you’re in a war. Isn’t killing creatures for your own gain what war is all about?”

“
Goliath even kills the ones that do not pose a threat to him.”

“
Look, Blaze,” Mask snapped, “There is
no such thing
as good or evil. There is only what needs to be done, and the creatures that do it.”

“
The histories say that Valde Abbas is the epitome of good, and the Dragon is evil personified.” Blaze argued.

Mask closed her eyes in frustration, “Don’t tell me you actually believe those stories,” she grumbled.

“
You mean you don’t?”

“
Of course not! They’re nothing but stories to tell young saloli. You’d better be good, or the Dragon will get you! Be a nice little saloli and Valde Abbas will be happy with you. It’s sickening!”

“
If you don’t believe in them, then what do you believe?”

“
I don’t believe, I
know
that the earth was formed over millions of years, and that life didn’t appear for another few million. We started out as tiny creatures, far smaller than you can see, and evolved into what we are today after even more millions of years. It’s a far more realistic theory then ‘an all powerful god created everything.’”

“
That’s not how it happened.” Blaze insisted.

“
Really? Then give me proof of your god. Show me undeniable evidence that they exist.”

“
Prove that they don’t.”

“
Okay, look around you. Can you see them? Can you hear them or feel them? No, you can’t. That’s enough proof for me. I only believe in things I can see, hear, or touch.”

“
That doesn’t mean anything.”

“
Well, you’re an idiot then. I can’t convince you, and you can’t convince me, so I say we get you back to where you belong so that I won’t have to put up with you anymore.”

“
Fine with me.”

The two saloli walked the rest of the way in silence, even trying to avoid eye contact. After almost an hour, Blaze began to notice the scent of Icefire saloli. Finally, Mask stopped.

“
Here’s the entrance to your territory” she said, “get going.”

“
Thank you.” Blaze said, not really feeling grateful at all.

“
Whatever. Just do one thing for me. We’re going to see each other again once Specter decides what it is he wants from you. Until then, I want you to try to come up with a convincing argument for your god. In all the fights I’ve gotten into about them, I have never heard one argument that made me rethink my position. I’d like to hear one, just so I could shut it down with an even better one.”

Ignoring the insult, Blaze turned away and bounded back into his territory. Finally recognizing where he was, he made directly for the camp.

“
Halt!” someone yelled. Blaze froze and looked in the direction the voice had come from. Gnaw came running up to him, a patrol directly behind him. “Blaze!” the old saloli exclaimed when he recognized him, “You’re back! Where have you been?”

“
I need to speak with Rus. . .” he stopped himself. He was about to say Rust, but then remembered what he had seen. “I need to see Faith.” he said instead.

“
Come with me,” Gnaw said, “the rest of you finish the patrol.” Turning tail, he began running back towards camp. Blaze followed. Within minutes they were there. Blaze looked around for the prophet, and spotted her about to climb up into her tree.

“
Faith!” he called, catching her attention. She hurried over.

“
Blaze, where have you been?” she demanded, “Everyone was so worried about you!”

“
I need to speak with you.” Blaze said, “In private.”

Seeing the concern in his eyes, Faith nodded and turned to lead him somewhere they could be alone. When there were no other saloli around to overhear, she asked him again “Where
were
you?”

“
Faith, I don’t think there’s a good way to say this, so I’m just going to do it.” Blaze breathed in, knowing that this was not going to go well, “Rust has betrayed us.”

A confused look crossed Faith’s face, “What are you talking about?” she asked.