The Index -|-
After much discussion, Kpleeb and Thoka agreed that Uuiit was something different, not a caveman. Thoka decided to assign an around the clock watch of Uuiit’s village. It was entirely possible that could be very, very dangerous, and it was imperative that they knew when he was present at the Xinti village. Of course, practically speaking, it was not as simple as it seemed. In the dark there could be no way to watch, and Thoka was concerned about how Uuiit had apparently taken notice of Kpleeb before. She felt certain that somehow Uuiit had used his device to detect the invisible forces that Kpleeb had been using to magnify his view.
When Kpleeb returned from searching the far side of Uuiit’s village, he described something that made no sense to Thoka. A large angular device of unknown color resting on a single, bottom-most point. They had talked through it over and over, and finally, Thoka had decided that she needed to see it for herself. She had taken a couple of days to design and build some new devices that she thought would be useful for experiencing a genuinely new thing. Sensors she called them.
Now they were close to the angle’s area and traveling slowly. Thoka had created a small-ish, floating enclosure for Zara, and had decided to walk on her own two feet. The Ganix warriors had been surprised. They expected her to ride like a queen, but she was tired of being coddled and felt as if she needed the exercise.
Thoka sighed. She would never admit it, but she silently acknowledged that it would be nice to sit and ride for a while.
Xit pointed to their right and grunted softly.
Thoka nodded and moved forward carefully. Zara’s carriage hovered a few paces behind her. With a second thought, she paused and turned back toward Zara with her finger on her lips. “Time to be quiet, okay, Zara? We need to be sneaky.”
Zara put her tiny, chubby finger up to her lips to pantomime what Thoka had done. “Sneaky,” she said in a whisper.
The group moved forward until Xit held up his hand and pointed. Several Ganix warriors slipped into the clearing, and returned after a moment. “Nobody, Pale One.”
“Good,” Thoka said. She stepped into the clearing. The angle was just what Kpleeb had described, down to the dimensions. He had apparently been quite accurate, and she confirmed each specific thing he stated.
Kpleeb put his hand on the angle’s side. “Just like I said, huh?” What do you think about it?”
“I wouldn’t touch it until we know what it does,” Thoka said with a small smile.
“Urh, yeah right.” Kpleeb quickly took his hand away. “It feels fairly normal though. Just like stone, but very smooth.”
Thoka tapped into her plethora of sensors. “Did anything feel strange?” She began to slowly scan the area that he had touched. To her enhanced eye, it appeared that he had left a hand-smudge on it, but the smudge did not exist to her naked eye.
“Nothing.” Kpleeb looked suspiciously at the edge where the top angle met the bottom. “This looks fuzzy here, but it should be sharp, at least logically.” He made an angled point with his hands.
Thoka stood up and slowly moved a bank of hand-sensors near the edge. “it is a sharp angle.” She squinted. “It doesn’t look sharp though. I would not touch that part until we know for sure that it won’t harm you.”
“What do you think it does?” Kpleeb walked to the furthest point and looked down the edge.
“I don’t know. Let me obtain my scans.” Thoka turned and walked to the strange vertically angled side with the bumps. After a few moments, she called out. “Kpleeb, come here.”
“Yes?” He came jogging around the corner of the angle followed closely by Xit.
“This is the flying angle that I dreamed of.”
“How can you be sure?
Thoka pointed at the bumps on the longer portion of the indention. “The forces flow here in a similar way they flow there.” She pointed at Zara’s carriage. “It’s what makes it move and float on the air. The structure appears to be different though. It’s new to me, but the pattern is the same.”
“Wow,” Kpleeb muttered. Then louder. “So it moves into the sky.”
“And higher, I think,” said Thoka.
Xit looked up into the sky. “Higher?”
Thoka nodded. “There is more out there than you may suspect.”
Kpleeb smiled at her. They had discussed the structure of their land and had done some minor sleuthing on the subject weeks ago. “We have to assume that this may be a carriage for Uuiit.”
“He… It go above sky?” Xit looked a bit concerned even for a deadpan Ganix.
“You said you saw the angle before, right Xit? Where was that?”
Xit lifted his chin and pointed at his feet. “Here.”
Kpleeb looked fairly disappointed. “I assumed you had seen it fly.”
“No,” said Xit.
Thoka looked at Kpleeb. “It’s time we gain some more knowledge. I will spend time analyzing this device.”
“What if Uuiit comes?” Kpleeb held up his hands. “He may have some great weapons, right Xit? You must have seen him fight?”
“Never fight,” said Xit.
“Well that would make sense if he has the Xinti to fight for him. Anyone who fought him would have done it before the Xinti came to him.” Kpleeb turned to Thoka. “Is Uuiit’s device more advanced than what you have seen?”
Thoka nodded. “Yes. Certainly, but I will obtain its secrets.”
“If that is the case, we have to assume he is strong in all areas. If he comes here while we are here, he may kill us.”
“Xit,” Thoka said.” I need some time to build a few devices. We need lookouts to ensure that we are undetected while I work.” There was a silent flurry of activity while Thoka brought out a portable workbench, Ganix warriors encircled the clearing at a distance and Zara was fed. In a few hours, Thoka was finally ready to leave. It was only shortly past mid-day.
Thoka put out the sensor devices that she had created and attached them to various trees around the clearing. “These detect motion, which inform these other devices. The other ones will send the impression of its viewing area to one of my devices.”
“Even back at our village?”
“Yes. We cannot be nearby when Uuiit comes. Let’s go back home.”
Kpleeb, Thoka, Zara and the handful of Ganix warriors collected their belongings, covered any signs that they had been there, and began the long trek back to the village.
“I want to capture Uuiit,” said Thoka after a few moments.
Kpleeb looked concerned. “How? We don’t know yet how dangerous he can be.”
“I know. Based on the devices he has, he must be very powerful.” In Thoka’s mind, she pictured a being of almost unlimited power and knowledge. But then she thought that he must be one of many. No entity existed in a vacuum. They were born or created from a parent or some higher being. They had a culture passed to them from another.
[Where are the rest of the Uuiits? Is that a name or, a title? What is his name?]
“Xit, have you seen another person like Uuiit? Or have you heard a tale of another like it?”
Xit remained silent for a long moment. “I no see. Prophesy say Uuiit has brother.”
“A brother,” Thoka looked at Kpleeb. “Maybe it’s time we heard this prophesy.”
Kpleeb nodded and walked onward in silence.
Thoka fell into thought.
[If there is a brother or some family, as there is likely to be… it- they must be distant since no Xinti has seen them. Or maybe they are secretive and hide well. Anything is possible, almost. If we harm Uuiit, the other will know and come to its rescue. We are not yet strong enough to defend ourselves against a strong warrior that uses the invisible forces.]
[I must be able to defend, and attack, to protect our family.]
Thoka resolved to build her knowledge using Uuiit’s devices. She looked at Zara floating along next to her and smiled. Zara was incredibly smart for such a young age, and Thoka knew that she could be a key part of her plans.
In her floating carriage, Zara’s legs kicked randomly. She held her hands up and counted her fingers. “100, 110, 120, 130…”
The Ganix warriors padded along at the edges of the group. They were silent and watchful. [The strange warriors do not appear to know anything about Uuiit except that he rules the Xinti and is mentioned in the prophesy. Why aren’t they more curious?] Thoka sighed. There was so much to do and quite a few gaps in her understanding of the situation.
