An Age of Mysterious Memories

Chapter 34: A Moon Apart

My current dilemma is finding a way to even let these beavers know I can’t understand them. I doubt charades will provide any success. I’ve never played it in my life, so I’ve only got vague memories of how it’s supposed to work. I do however want to make sure these individuals know I’m not hostile, so I take the most non aggressive stance I can possibly think of. I prostrate myself before them, kneeling down, head touching the floor, hands behind my back.

My pose seems to have the desired effect. I think they’re at least not afraid of me, or can guess that I don’t mean them any harm. After remaining prostrate for a short while, I finally sit up and gaze around the room. The sounds of murmuring and chatter have been reaching my ears, but it sounds like bruxing rather than speaking.

“So, I bet you’re wondering why I’ve gathered you all here, today.” I joke aloud, knowing no one can appreciate the humor. I try to extend my senses as far as possible, hoping that I can pick up on something, anything that will help me out here. Nothing doing as far as that is concerned. I do however hear the sound of mallets smacking wedges, like chisels. Seems like the wall I’ve put up isn’t going to last forever.

One of the larger beaverfolk hovers around me, constantly gazing at me. They appear to be trying to suss out my intent, or gauging me somehow. I don’t know what insight they’re gaining, but hopefully it’s positive. I try not to shrink under their scrutiny. They need to know that I’m not frightened of them, or the other faction.

Maybe these beavers can read and write? I’m not sure what I have that might work to write with, or on though. Hm, some twigs, slightly smoldered at the end would work. All I need to do is summon some twigs from my inventory, and spin them quickly against a larger chunk of wood. If I roll them between my palms, I should be able to cause enough friction to at least char the tips.

I worry that it looks like I’m either ignoring them, or insane, but after a while, the beavers begin to ignore me, talking amongst themselves, save for the large one. After several minutes, I’ve managed to ignite the tips of the twigs just enough that my breath can fan a spark on each one. When the ember dies out, I set them down. Now for a writing medium. I suppose that tome we received from Octorochi was pretty thick, maybe it has some blank pages. I probably have a few hours before they knock down the wall since I made it fairly thick, but I’d still better make the time count.

Calling the tome forth from my inventory, I set about scanning its contents. Everything appears in some sort of alien script. It’s like whatever alphabet is used is a series of fragments of a square. Symbols like the upper right corner of a square, or both sides with a dot in the middle, simply the bottom fragment like an underscore. On and on, though there don’t appear to be twenty six combinations, so I can’t even make an educated guess as if it were a simple substitution cipher. I manage to get a bit lost in thought, scanning its contents, and I feel a bit drowsy, as if I’ve been reading for hours. Wait, my energy has fully recovered from placing that wall near the great hall.

The largest beaver shakes me, gaining my attention. They point back into the hallway towards the entrance, and I hear the sound of rushing footsteps. But how? How could they have gotten through already? Why am I already so hungry? My vision is a bit blurry, and my eyes are dry, as if I’d been reading for hours on end without blinking, that coupled with my energy having returned perplexes the heck out of me. I try to flex my jaw, rattle my brainpan, and rub my eyes, blinking them furiously. Wait, the gashes on my chest are healed too. How long was I sitting here?

The beavers around me make as if to run into the hall towards another side tunnel. I don’t think fleeing with them will get me anywhere however. I haven’t made any progress in communicating with them. Since I won’t be joining them, I flick my head towards the hall they indicate, and nod. I wave them towards it.

As I claim the book, and look around for the twigs I’d left out, I see charcoal drawings on the floor. It looks like one figure leaves the dam. The next drawing looks like the figure comes back, and is set to one side while there’s a scribbled mass that looks like it could be many people drawn hastily together. Below that, the figure is drawn taking away one of the mass. Below that, the two figures stand apart. Below that, there are more and more figures drawn on, well, that side of the equation I guess.

If I’m interpreting this right, my guess from earlier isn’t far off. One of the beaverfolk found something, or was cursed by something, or replaced by something. When they returned, they slowly built up a following, maybe by abducting others, maybe by impressing them somehow. I guess learning this is a step in the right direction at least. If I can figure out who the less friendly faction reports to, I might be able to end this. I think I’ll have to kill their leader though, that’s less than ideal.

As I’m caught up in my reverie, I’m nearly caught on the chin by a slingstone. My wraps guided my reflexes enough to have me simply shift just far enough to dodge it. The stone clacking against the wall is what actually draws my attention back to reality. Ugh, I’m done trying to hide my magic, screw these buffoons. I fashion several bolas from vines and clay in my inventory as I equip myself.

This isn’t even a fight, I block attacks with the shield I’ve got equipped from the copies of gear we’ve acquired from Teuila’s evolution. It’s almost like the beavers are moving in slow motion compared to me. It’s easy to tie their wrists or ankles in passing, between their attacks. Is this what Lil meant when they thought I was so much higher level than others? This can’t be real, right? Maybe their reactions are slower because they’re being controlled. I’d better not make assumptions that could let hubris get the better of me. I’ll try to avoid getting cocky. Mataalii’s mere existence reminds me how fallible I am, and right now I’m doing this to try to rescue Mata. I’m just going to refer to this lot as the mind-controlled faction, or the MCF. It’s easier than thinking broadly, these beavers, or those beavers.

As the number of MCF that aren’t tied up dwindles, I find myself near the back of their ranks. I spot a beaver wielding a copy of Gae Buidhe and my fury rises. The one with the deadly spear flees around a corner and I lose sight of them however. Blast it all. What if it’s not the only one? My stomach lurches as I begin to panic, imagining that one or more other copies of Gae Buidhe are out there in the hands of beavers who are attacking Lil or Teuila right now.

Focus, focus, calm down, I’m still in the middle of a fight. Suddenly I sense a figure leaping at me from behind, and I turn to strike them with my shield, barely stopping in time. I’m flabbergasted as I see a gorgeous, curvy otter in a familiar green dress with bronze diamond accents. As Luni leaps to embrace me I wrap my arms around her and twirl her in a tight hug, laughing. My tendrils continue to work to slap the last few beavers senseless that try to interrupt our reunion.

“Lu, Lu you’re okay! Thank heavens you’re okay! I was so worried, we were so worried! Lil has to be worried sick! Where have you been? How did you get here?” I smooch Luni’s cheeks and hug her tighter once more. I feel her body twist as she throws her legs out to knock down an MCF beaver coming our way, booting them in the head. I can’t lie, that was pretty impressive. It seems like that was the final one, for now.

“Talk later, we need to catch up to the others!” She calls, as she drags me back towards the end of the hall where the non MCF beavers’ room was. “Which way did they go?”

“Uh, down that side tunnel, but why? The family is holed up in the dungeon, well I guess it’s a dungeon. I’ve got Lil guarding them in Lilagnewt form, we could go get them now that you’re safe. Wait, where are Sugar and Spice? Were they in on this? Are they okay?” Luni nods at my last question.

Luni continues to explain as we chase the friendly faction, trying to catch up, “They’re safe, I got them out of the dam. I could tell something was up, so I got out right away, and they filled me in on as much as they knew.”

“But how? How did you get away? How much do you know about what’s going on? Do you know about the pyramid?” I dig for answers while tailing Lu through the tunnels.

“The what?” She sounds fairly perplexed. I know she knows what a pyramid is, since I used one in the swamps, and talked about my plans with her. So that’s not why she’s confused. Luni gives up trying to hold a conversation while we jog down the halls, and instead just thinks straight into my head. “I was hiding outside with Sugar and Spice when you three got back from flying around. I didn’t notice you return until you were diving into the water. I tried to reach out but by the time you were in the river it was too late. I left them out there, and I’ve been tailing you ever since. It really sucked being stuck on the other side of that wall you know.”

“Oh, uh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were there, obviously.”

“Obvee.” She smiles back at me while thinking slang into my head. I’m glad she isn’t mad at me. “So anyway, I didn’t want to risk following you all straight back to the jail or dungeon or whatever, since I knew you could just get out of it with your magic. I was worried that if I got caught on the way there, they might use me to keep you from fighting back. I’m sorry that I’m not as brave as you three.”

“Luni, you’re insanely brave, you saved our two new buddies, and snuck back in here to rescue us. I don’t know what qualifies as brave in your book, but you’re a hero to me.” She beams another smile back at me in return for my response. Our path starts to take us to more water-filled hallways, we end up having to regularly dive and swim through areas with no air. How far did the other beavers retreat already? I really just want to take a break and hold Luni for a long time to really soak in the fact that she’s okay, and I want to bring her to Lil so Lil can do the same. Realizing she’s in my head right now, I start to flush with embarrassment. She sends an image of herself blowing a raspberry, sticking her tongue out at me into my mind.

“Y’know, Lil’s kinda right.” I’m about to ask Luni how so, before she continues. “You’re going to be twitterpated with anyone on two legs aren’t you?” Oh, she’s teasing me, and succeeding. I feel my face heat up even further.

“N…no, sh’up.” I try to laugh it off. “Maybe just you three. Besides, the last thing I want to do is make Teuila feel bad.”

“Heee.” Luni emotes that drawn-out single laugh similar to Teuila’s when she’s exceedingly happy.

Teuila was so jealous of our bond, or envious, or some other negative emotion. I’d never want to put her through that feeling of alienation or resentment, whatever she was going through, ever again. As I’m about to frustratedly ask how long these tunnels can possibly go on, we meet a dead end. That’s equally frustrating in its own right.

“What now?” We both gaze around, and I flick my eyes upward to make sure nothing is going to literally have the drop on us. As I look up, I realize that the logs that make up the tunnel roof have an interesting seam. Ah, a hidden door.

Luni watches me try to scramble up the walls, giggling to herself. She laughs harder when I hang upside down like a bat, trying to shove open the door on the roof to no avail. I give the door a good kick, loudly knocking on it, which also dislodges me. As I fall on my head, Luni stifles her laughter to help me up and rub the back of my head comfortingly. “You okay Reggie?” She gives me a consoling hug as I get my bearings.

“Yeah, yeah I think so. This is annoying. I’ll stack up some mud into steps, and try pushing one more time, if that doesn’t work, I’m just going to claim the stupid door.” As I explain my plan, Luni steps back and waves forward as if to say, after you. I go about placing enough mud to stand at a height where I can get leverage to shove upward. Once that’s completed, I shove upward with all my might to no avail. Sighing, I knock several times. When there’s no answer, I frustratedly yoink the door into my inventory, which then floods the tunnel from above.

I find myself wondering if the door might have been a pull door, as I see a dislodged rope that could have been used to pull the door closed from above. Even still, I couldn’t find a latch or handle to try to pull on it. Taking Luni by the hand, I swim upwards, and eject the door from my inventory, lodging it relatively back where it came from. At a certain height, it’s obvious there’s yet another door off to the side. Through that one, yet another. After a short series of doors, there’s no more water pouring in from the final door. We exit the tunnel system entirely, coming out above ground. That felt like an unfinished series of airlocks. Maybe it was meant to be opened in a certain order, so as to not flood oneself with water like I mistakenly did to Luni and myself.

Sighing, I look around, and Luni points to some obvious prints in the soil. It’s easy enough to follow the trail, and easier still to realize where they’re staying. There’s a log cabin up ahead. If my estimation is correct, based on where the river is compared to where we exited the tunnels, then we’re also nearing the pyramid. Maybe I had it backwards, maybe something in the pyramid keeps the beavers sane.

Since I don’t want to squelch as I walk, I summon the excess water that’s soaking my gear, claiming it to my inventory. Luni similarly dries herself out, instead by using the soapstone. I find myself wondering where the matter goes when it’s cleaned off of us, and what constitutes anything that needs to be cleaned. If water can be cleaned out, what about smells? Perfumes? What about dyes? Maybe there’s some subconscious amount of will that enacts what we think it should be able to do.

When we reach the cabin, I don’t see any obvious point of entry from the near side, but I also don’t want to go scouting around it, in case there are traps. I try to loudly clear my throat, and cautiously tap on the cabin with a staff I summon from my inventory. The good news is, the staff tap probably caught their attention, the bad news is, it probably caught the attention of everything in a wide radius, as tapping the staff summoned a massive thundercrack. I facepalm, thinking to myself how much of a dork I can be. Luni giggles and smiles my way. I can’t help but to smile back, even though I only flash her half of a smile, it’s still one full of joy.

Beavers filter out from around the other side of the cabin, wielding sharp sticks as spears. I roll my eyes and put my hands up in a gesture of peace. Luni takes over and speaks for us, before things get out of hand. She explains how I can’t communicate, and how I accidentally used the thunder stick when trying to get their attention. After a brief exchange, things seem to be going alright.

Luni explains, “They say since you can’t communicate, you might as well wait out here, and guard the place, in case anything comes to check out that big boom.” I suppose that’s fair, it was my fault after all. I don’t like the idea of being separated from Lu again after finally being reunited though.

“It’ll be fine, I’ve got my tricks now too you know.” Before I can ask what she means by that reassurance, she scampers off with the beavers around to the other side of the cabin. Sighing, I sit in the soil and just lean back. I let myself fall to the ground on my back, cupping the back of my head with my right hand. I use the buckler on my left arm like a visor, to shield my eyes from the light filtering in through the canopy.

My thoughts drift to Teuila, she’s probably only a short ways away right now, figuring something out with the pyramid. I’d love to go check in with her, but I can’t afford to lose this location, or Luni. Plus I’ve pretty much agreed to guard the cabin for the moment. It’s probably a good thing I did, since I now feel the ground rumbling as of something large approaching quickly. Sighing, I summon some fish from my inventory, and I sit up, tossing some in the direction the vibrations are coming from. I eat the rest when I realize how hungry I’ve gotten.

Sure enough, moments later, the feathered bear thing storms into the clearing and raises its forepaw as if to swipe at me. I just roll my eyes and shake my head at it, holding my hand out to remind it of what I can do. It probably didn’t recognize me since I’ve switched out of my leaf leather gear, as that was stolen. The bear balks for a moment. I point to the fish on the ground, and it dejectedly slumps, heaving its butt onto the ground with a thud. When it’s at rest, it begins to consume the fish.

Curious if I’ve made a new friend, I summon some more fish from my inventory, and cautiously approach the feathered bear thing. It immediately bats me away like a ragdoll, though I don’t even feel much pain from the attack. Apparently we’re not friends, yet at least. I shrug, and throw it some more food. While it’s consuming that fish, I inch closer once again, but I maintain a few arm lengths of distance. I wish I was with the rest of my family, I wish we were safe and sitting in a dugout, cuddling up to tell stories for the night. I never want to be apart from them, especially my inner circle, Teuila, Lil, and dear sweet Luni. I was so scared for her when she was out of touch, and wasn’t with the others. It felt like she might as well have been on the moon for all the good our trying to reach her did. I’m not even sure if this planet has a moon, but if it does, we and the moon are far apart. I sigh, frown, and slump, leaning over towards the bear, laying flat on the ground, feeling saddened.

The bear stands up, moves a step closer, and raises a forepaw as if to smash in my face. I frown at it and roll my eyes, shaking my head. The bear then sits down once more, its hind end thudding into the ground. It lays its face on my torso. I cautiously try to pet the bear’s beak. It snaps at my hand, so I set my hand back down. Bored, and somewhat trapped, I try to stroke the bear’s left forepaw, and for once, it doesn’t try to attack me. Good enough for now I suppose. If our Luni and we were a moon apart, then this bear and I are just as far apart, a whole lunar cycle worth of emotions away from connecting. I guess that makes this bird bear Luna, Ursa Luna. I wonder if Luni would mind the bear having a name that sounds so close to hers.

“I’m glad we didn’t kill each other, way back when. I’m also glad my family listened to me, and didn’t try to kill you today. I don’t know what your life is like, but I hope you manage to live happily. Maybe you’re guarding something, maybe you’re just a hungry beast whose territory we’re in. I don’t know, but you are beautiful.” As I ramble at Luna, I’m simply stared at by one of its massive eyes. Luna sets their left forepaw on my face as if to shush me. I shrug and hug its paw.

“Reggie, oh no! Reggie! Are you okay!?” I hear Luni rushing around the cabin accompanied by many more footsteps. Wanting to make sure there’s no misunderstandings, I connect to her mentally to let her know I’m fine before anyone can do anything.

After reassuring her mentally, I also call out, “Everything’s fine Luni, Luna and I are just hanging out.” I wave one hand from beneath Ursa Luna, and everyone seems to freeze in their tracks.

“Eck, Excuse me? Did you name it after me?” There’s incredulity in her query. Makes sense I suppose. How often would you expect one of your best friends to say hi from under a bear, and oh by the way I named it after you.

I try not to laugh as I respond, “Sort of. Is that okay?”

“I guess I’m honored, kinda. A bit weirded out, but honored, I guess.” Luni trails off. The beavers around us chatter incoherently to me. I just flash half of a smile and close my eyes, waiting for someone to tell me the plan. For once, I don’t have to be the one solving things.