Chapter 8

Feathers were everywhere; all different colors scattered about. They didn’t seem to be of any particular bird, just a big collection of them. “What do you think happened over here?” Henry said.

“Maybe it’s an instinctual burial ritual of some birds that are native to the area.” Chip replied.

“Ehh, I don’t know.”

“Why else would there be so damn many?”

They continued walking past the blanketed patch and into the woods beyond.

“I don’t know, what are they doing here like that? It’s crazy. We’re in the middle of nowhere. That kind of thing seems more than just a little odd.” There were a lot of feathers, no denying that. Up close it looked like they were clean, but old. They covered a large patch at least fifteen feet wide and stretched a solid thirty feet from end to end. While examining them, Henry noticed there was a hint of tunnel through the brush beyond the feathers in either direction; it looked almost like the trees and brush had been pushed by a large object floating through, plowing a pocket as it went.

“Weirdest thing I’ve seen today, add it to your list.” Chip said.

And with that Henry pulled out his small leather pocket journal and wrote:

‘(2:5.3) Second light: fifth hour, three subdivisions – weird ass patch of feathers. More than I’ve ever seen in one place not on the bird they belonged to. Patch in clearing about fifteen feet by thirty feet.’

The two continued, figuring it was a random fluke they would never experience again, but if they stayed there for a while, it could become a landmark for anyone else who chose to make this trip…if it were a worthwhile journey.

Henry and Chip were explorers and loved to hunt for new sites and sights. This had been the fifth week of their expedition since getting dropped off far to the North of their homelands, over and beyond the great desert.

“Better get moving, I don’t know what this is about, but I’d prefer to shelter far from it if possible. We only have seven subdivisions before dark.” Days on Vossten came in four blocks. Two blocks lit by the sun, and two dark blocks. Their start and end were marked by the leaving of the streaked moon in orbit. It hung around for the first light and first darkness and was gone for the second of each.

This trip was another in a series of extended journeys to push and map distant lands. As far as they had thought, once they passed the boundary of what everyone knew, whatever they found could be theirs. They could draw new maps and pass them along. They themselves might find a new home and build a land all their own. Chip and Henry explored for months on end, having someone bring them over the deserts to the start of the green lands and wooded areas in the far North – well beyond what any from Ancara would ever consider a necessary place to go.

***

They awoke the morning after finding the feather patch and packed their gear to move on. They trudged through forest, marking their path and stopping frequently to evaluate their position. At the start of every darkness, they would note the star patterns and reorient to draw their map as they went. Careful watch was kept on passing time and they had perfected their march to hold at a very constant pace. The trouble was doubling back. They rarely made it a full day without meeting a dead end and having to loop back before finding a new route to carry on. No one ever ventured to this extreme, so being the first, Chip and Henry hoped to make something of themselves. They knew the only way to make it worth anyone else’s while was to be as precise as possible in everything they did.

Marking another tree, Chip looked to Henry “You think we can get fifty of these done today?”

Henry raised one eyebrow as he turned back to look at Chip “good night’s sleep I see? Little eager, though. I thought we decided thirty markers a day was our number.”

“Yeah, but we’ve already doubled back more than normal this trip, I don’t want to waste time or come up short again. Let’s make this map happen, come on! If we just step up our pace, we can shoot for fifty… might not make it, but we can shoot.”

“Fair enough” Henry responded, grabbed his gear and sped off double pace.

“Well, shit man, hold up! I didn’t mean this instant!” Chip said.

“Wasting time Chipster, we have fifty markers to lay, stop your lolly-gagging.” Henry said, already twenty feet ahead.

Chip fumbled to get his stuff in his pack and started off after Henry at a quickened pace.

***

“That’s three good sized ones now, we’re set for dinner.” Chip and Henry were both quite proficient hunters, and the excess of birds in these lands made their work fairly easy. They were able to forage plenty of berries, seeds, nuts and even got lucky with root vegetables from time to time. Either by bow, net, or hook, they caught their dinner and collected their gatherings in hardened leather buckets each one wore attached to their belts at the back of the hip. The stiffness of the leather and its fitted shape kept even fragile berries they gathered safe and meant a snack was always handy.

This region offered varieties of leafy plants that brought excellent flavors to whatever they were boiled in. Chip took a liking to boiling the reddish-purple leaves of one particular plant in water and drinking it after their colors had tinted the mixture. “I love these plants here. We’re going to have to name them, you know. I can’t think of a name good enough for this one, though. Who would’ve thought water could become so much more refreshing?”

Henry smiled at Chips delight and called back, “Well, I don’t want to name anything after us until it’s really worth it… no simple plant will bear my name. I want to name a mountain, or a canyon, or gigantic river with my name.”

“I don’t know Henry… this drink… ‘have a swig of Chip’… actually I’m not sure I’m keen on that one either… though it might work on the ladies when we get back.”

“The ladies aren’t going to be wanting to drink your tainted fluids, Chip… especially not if they have to take a ‘swig’ of them.”

“Henry...come on man… my fluids are delicious. Look at how good that purple liquid looks. Haven’t you tasted this? It’s amazing, I’ve never had a more refreshing brew. Nothing back home tastes this pleasant and I’ve never finished a plant extract and thought ‘oooh, give me more of that one!’ ”

“Well then, good luck convincing them. ‘Hello ladies, care to swig my tinted fluids?’ ” Henry mocked in a sultry voice. “Besides, how are you planning on getting that home, anyway? Are you sure the plant will taste the same when its dried and crispy after our trip? Even IF you grab some on the way back, it’s going to be near dust by the time we return.”

“Henry, you’re overthinking it. The ladies, they want the glamour, the experience, the brewed water from lands afar. It doesn’t matter what the plant looks like. They’ll be swooning over my fluids, you wait.”

“Speaking of fluids, you hear that?” Chip closed his eyes and sniffed the air with his tube-like ear stalks, standing in place but rotating in all directions to locate the sound Henry was referring to. They both completed two reconnoitering rotations with eyes closed and stopped pointing in the same direction. Their eyes popped open at the same time and they looked to each other giving a silent confirmation, triumphant again in their success. “Well then, drop a marker and off we go.”

The sound of rolling water became more precise and started to tinkle with delicate tones as they approached. “Grand enough to bare your name, Henry?” Chip jabbed as they looked down at the small river. A flow no more than twelve feet wide poured over a variety of rocks, making a song of splashes, bubbles, and churning. Henry ignored Chip as he made note of their finding in his journal and suggested to the page that the tiny river be named after the first lady to consume Chips tinted fluids. He looked up to see Chip skipping stones as he walked along the shore, searching for a clear path, or perhaps somewhere to lie down nets for next meal. “Couple of fish over here Henry, should we grab them? What do you think? The three birds we’ve already got and whatever fish we gather while refilling our water packs?” Chip said.

“A feast! Make it happen, I’ll drop another set of markers here too while you ready the nets.” Henry said.

“I’m going to jog back a few minutes and grab more of my herbs, I want my whole pack to taste like magic! I saw another patch not too far.”

“Is that a good idea, Chip? We don’t even know what that is… what if you turn purple?”

“I guess I’ll turn purple then, it’s worth it. Besides, I’ve been drinking my tinted fluid for days already and had no troubles.” Chip responded while setting his nets for fish.

“Alright, nets are in, I’m going to grab more leaf.”

Henry knew this would be more than a brief trip back for Chip, he always got caught up in what he was doing and took longer than necessary. After setting his water pack full from the river, he pulled his pipe out of a small side pocket and leaned against a comfy tree to enjoy his ‘tinted air’ while waiting for Chip to return. He crumbled some green fuzz from a small pouch into the bowl. With a spark of flint and a few short pulls, a crisp sweetness escorted a warming buzz. The water sounds became more musical and their melody danced with the waving leaves. Bird calls accented the song and Henry drifted off in the bliss of his world, then into the dreams of the world beyond.

***

“WHAT THE HAUGH…!?!” Henry jumped out of sleep to find Chip silently hysterical above him, holding the fish he had just been slapped awake with. “Funniest thing you’ve done this week, eh?” Henry said with disdain as he stood grumbling and walked back to grab his pack. Chip was still doubled over laughing so hard he convulsed with no sounds coming out. “Hysterical, really.” Henry called as he wiped his face off on Chips things for pay back, his buzz cushioning the response.

“Shall we?” Henry gestured onward with an outstretched arm in the direction they needed to travel. He still looked peeved, though was starting to see the humor in the fish slapping and cracked a smile.

“Right..right” Chip said as he calmed his laughter “…wooooooooo man. Thanks for that. I spotted a thin shallow upstream a bit, not far from this point. Let’s cross there. Put a direction on our marker toward it and note the cut in the journal.” They walked, and Henry rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes as he breathed in the surroundings.

***

In the first dark of the following day, they saw a variety of different colored luminescent plants. They seemed to come alive in the darkness, opening their caps to reveal conical stalks that upon close inspection, reflected the surrounding moonlight, giving off a colored glow. They grew in patches in clearings thinned of the larger trees. They had passed more of them during first light, but then they were closed and didn’t look like anything of note. Henry kept pausing to try and sketch the insects he saw flashing on the cones into his journal. Another set of new organisms they encountered, absent in the sun, but abundant in the moon. Chip didn’t seem to mind the pauses much as he was always ready to look at things more closely and appreciate them. They took this first dark slow since the land was a little less flat, and the wildlife was worth the extra attention.

“Ay, could use my pipe to help me out here, hang on. If we’re going to look closely, we might as well get our minds up to it, and we both know my hands are better on the paper with a little buzzing in me.” Henry went for his side pocket in his pack and Chip came to his side. After a few passes back and forth, Henry cleared the pipe, replacing it in his pack, and they continued their observations. Chip even broke out his journal to sketch some of what he was seeing as the colors sprang to life and the rhythmic calls of the insects blended into a symphony of nature. Chip started to bounce slowly, waving his arms to the sky as he breathed in the peace and marvel around him. “Can you hear what they’re saying, Henry?” he asked.

Henry was in his own world, staring into a flower observing a moth-like creature drinking nectar, completely unaware of Chip.

Chip smiled and focused his long ears back to the sounds. “They’re singing about love. I can hear it. I don’t know the words, but I feel their message.” He hugged his arms to his body, humming a low vibration along with the calls around him. On occasion he would mimic a particular thread from one creature or another. Calling some to dance in the air around him. He giggled and spun as they danced and flashed in response.

Before they realized it, the Sun started to return, and the moon had nearly departed. They left one more marker, updated the map, and marched off into the second light of the day.

“Well, we’ve gotten twenty markers down so far, that puts us almost halfway to the goal. The slope around here is killing me.”

“Agreed.” Henry said. “Let’s listen for water again and set a camp before second dark.”

***

Observations went well, and they collected a good amount of information. The map seemed to be accurate, but they hadn’t faced the challenge of following it back yet. In general, their spirits were happy.

After another uneventful day of marching and planting markers, they settled into a camp for the moonless segment of night. They had reached the edge of the forest they were traveling in and found a freshwater lake along open, short-grass fields. “It’s just hitting me, the stars look different, don’t they?” Chip asked.

Henry looked up and around. “I’d say so. We’ve come a long way. Is that something big enough for you to name it after yourself? A constellation? Chip the Explorer. I bet we could map one out.” They were each doing their own thing while holding the conversation. Chip working to organize the camp space, and Henry cleaning some mud off his pack. After being a little over-eager on some rocks, he slid through mud and brush that left a big patch of his pack caked with dirt. As the more meticulous of the two, he kept his things well and wanted to care for it sooner rather than later.

“I tell you, I’m going to miss the tainted drink when it’s gone. At the rate I’m going, I only have another week or so left… unless I ration it…. and no, to answer your question, I don’t like it. A constellation is too far away to be impressive. I want something here. Maybe if we find any larger mountains, or a sea, or canyon. Maybe we’ll come across a rare animal or a plateau that overlooks immense lands. It has to be the right thing.” Chip said as he inventoried the contents of his pack.

“Well, if you see anything worthy, let me know so I don’t miss it.” Henry said wryly.

“Oh, you’ll SEE IT!!” Chip screamed the second half of his sentence and crackled out warning sounds. It came from deep in his gut, shocked at the huge light he caught in the sky above Henry’s head. It was streaking quickly, and it appeared to be coming toward them.

“CHIP! CHIP! CHIP! WHAT IS THAT!?” Henry sputtered loudly. He grabbed his head and ducked.

It looked very distant in the sky and moved with a smoothness that said it was a meteor, but it was still visible. A meteor would’ve been there and gone in a flash. Something didn’t seem right to either of them as they continued to stare, completely consumed by what they were witnessing, racking their brains to piece together what it could be.

It grew larger by the second and looked like it was covering ground more quickly. It was approaching. They began to move with a sense of urgency, looking everywhere to try and find safety, but there was no natural cover. Henry pointed at the forest and they darted into the tree line in the hope of sheltering as the glow became as bright as moonlight on everything.

It was approaching faster now, growing brighter in the sky. Quickly it became blinding in the darkness of the night, but they stared anyway. A rumble grew, swirling into a huge roaring cacophony over the course of the next few seconds. Overwhelming their senses, the meteor raced above them at a good distance. A boom exploded just after it had passed, then the pitch changed and quickly lost volume, though the air still vibrated. After dipping below distant ridges, its light no longer reached them directly. There was a faint glow that disappeared suddenly. They both remained frozen, staring, ear stalks pointed in its direction, pulling in all the information they could. The animals and insects had stopped making sounds, an absence so significant they could feel it.

“That was not a meteor like I’ve ever seen!!” Chip said, feeling the need to yell over the memory of the rumble. “Sorry” he caught himself, realizing how loud he had just been “I’ve never seen something like that. That was… incredible.”

Henry stared after the trail the streaking object left behind in the sky. He was attempting to align with it by setting sticks on the ground and eyeing his line against the one above. “We have to go there.” He said firmly and seriously. “That was not a meteor. No one else will ever know what it was. I need to, we have to follow it.”

“Okay, Henry. Weirdest thing I’ve seen today… add it to your list.” Chip said.

Henry nodded as he looked with concerned determination after the streak. He grabbed his journal and started sketching the stars’ positions, then redrew a recent section of their map, marking the points they first saw the object and where it ended up. “We can set off at light, it’s not too long. We won’t be able to see anything if we go now. Let’s just lay with our pipes and get some rest. No doubt we’ll be ready to get started first thing.” He took a few steps around, then stared off after it. “I know I’m going to want to move fast.”

Chip smiled with a bright look on his face and his tone changed completely “Hey, Henry! For the first time in a long time, we know where we’re going!”

At this realization and Chip’s look of excitement, Henry’s mood shifted as well “That we do!”

“I say we should celebrate a little tonight, that was awesome. Let’s use one of the purple leaves to roll our pipe stuff up, maybe it’ll taste good that way too?”

“Oooooohhhhh, Chip, sometimes you speak my language.”

They went to work as a team – Henry picked apart their herb while Chip found the perfect leaves and trimmed them for use. Henry was good at rolling, but Chip enjoyed it, so he took this one, savoring the process as an artist.

A thin probiscis of a tongue stretched out of Chips mouth to wet the larger of the two sections of leaf he trimmed, moistening both sides completely. Once dampened, he rested it over his leg and grabbed the smaller rectangular piece. He folded a lengthwise crease a third of the way in, creating a trough, and Henry, at the ready, sprinkled in the ground herbs. Chip’s eyes didn’t leave the object in hand, but a smirk spread as he watched the crumbles fall.

With slow precision, he used his fingers to slide the leaf against itself around the herb, tightening it into a cylindrical filling. When its density suited him, he carefully used his thumbs to tuck the front edge in behind the filling, and rolled it upward creating a cone. Just before the end, his tongue slipped out again and moistened the free edge in one smooth swipe. Without losing pressure, he finished the roll, sliding his fingers along the wetted line to stick it down to the leaf.

“Smooooooothhh.” Henry buzzed as he watched Chip maintain the shape in one hand while reaching for the long sheet of leaf with the other.

“Your journal, Henry.” Chip said. Henry knew what he needed. Chip laid the damp, long leaf along his upper leg, and Henry placed the journal on its end, close to Chips knee, holding it in place. Chip lowered the cone onto the leaf, keeping his seam sealed, and slowly worked his fingers to roll the tube into the outer leaf. With long breaths, he managed the tension, working a balance of pressure as he pulled against the journal and rolled toward it simultaneously. He reached the end and Henry removed the journal. Twisting off the tip, Chip pinched the excess between his fingers and gave the roll a few short shakes to settle the contents. He tore off the remnant, leaving behind only a tiny spike twisted at the end.

He held up his creation to showcase it in the light of their fire. The purple leaf tightly wound around the crumbled green puff of contents. He ran it under his nose, sniffing it closely before passing it over to Henry for inspection.

“Let’s get her started, Chip, you seem inspired tonight, you light her up.” Henry said.

And so he did. They passed the roll between each other, admiring the flavor as well as Chips perfect execution. The sounds of the world amplified, the stars brightened and twinkled more. The wind felt warm and smelled sweet of rich grasses. The fire warmed and cast a protective euphoric blanket around them. They laid back, not needing conversation to enjoy and appreciate everything as comfort entered their bodies and minds.

***

“Ooohhh, YES!” Chip was awakened by Henry’s distant voice. There was no wildlife this morning. Groggy from a hard sleep and in an unfamiliar place, he took his time getting up and looking around. The view from the edge of the forest where they suspended their sleeping hammocks that night was soothing. The woods were dense but not dark, and the open areas ahead of them flowed gently. A cool breeze rolled over the lake and wrinkled its surface in patches as it changed directions. The morning sun cast mesmerizing glimmers.

Henry was heading closer from inside the forest, carrying something in his hands. When he got near enough, Chip could see that he held two large, brown orbs. They were almost spheres but had slightly pinched ends, making them oblong. Each one filled a hand.

“Look what I found!” Henry was bright and excited at his accomplishment. “They were just sitting there in a nest. I went to look for berries, but I’ll take this!”

“What are they from?” Chip questioned.

“Don’t know, there are no animals around. Seems to be just us. Even the bugs are quiet today, I wonder if it has something to do with the meteor. But either way, I was walking by, saw them, and looked around but couldn’t find any sign of a parent. I apologized out loud, just in case. We need a good meal to get us going. We have a long journey ahead.” Chip unpacked his cooking gear as Henry explained.

Suddenly a hissing whine caught their ears from the distance and grew in volume. They froze to observe, ears rotating to lock onto its location. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. Henry grabbed all his stuff and ran to the cover of the forest as Chip quickly did the same. The pitch of the whine deepened with a vibration, and a dark, moving object came out of a clearing, flanking the lake they rested at. It was very large, completely black, and made a lot of noise as it halted twenty feet from the water’s edge opposite the side from where Chip and Henry hid.

“What is that thing?” Henry whispered nervously.

A hatch at the rear popped open and Henry darkened, ears folding over his head, flattening as he rolled into a defensive shape. “Shit.” Chip whispered through clenched teeth, Henry couldn’t respond, he had fallen into his instinctive form of protection.

Two figures exited from the hatch as Chip watched wearily from his covered spot. He began to shake “Please don’t find us, please don’t find us, please don’t find us.” He chanted in a whisper repeatedly. He had never seen such beings- tall, even at a distance. Darkly colored and appearing to be made of metal, they moved deliberately, searching every detail for something. He could feel their danger as he looked nervously back at the remnants of the camp area, checking to make sure none of their belongings got left behind. They made it far enough into the woods that they were hidden, but they’d have to move if whatever that was chose to search.

The dark figures started walking toward their side of the lake. “Henry, Henry! We might have to move, man. Can you get out? Come on! There’s no danger yet. We might have to run.” Chip was whispering franticly at his friend, who had a very sensitive defensive mechanism. Once they were locked into it, they couldn’t undo it for minutes.

One figure raised an arm directly toward Chip and the tremor of his legs spread to fill his whole body. He looked down at his darkening hand as it rested on the rock he hid behind. “Oh no,” he whispered almost silently as his ears folded down and his skin faded to a deep brown. He felt his legs collapse, pack clanging against the ground. He was locked into his protective form, unable to do more than listen with his now hyper-sensitive hearing.

The voices on those things were not like his. He couldn’t tell what they were, it was incomprehensible tones. The wind rustled through leaves at the edge of the forest where they searched. He could hear the pat of their steps on the ground as they approached. They found the campsite, or at least what they left of it. Still distant, they rustled through the disturbed soil from the fire the night before. Chip couldn’t see a thing. No smells had changed, and the footsteps didn’t grow any closer. Moments later, he heard their pat fade. The hiss and whine of that vessel whirred up again, with his hearing so sensitive, it was painful as the vehicle traveled toward then past them in the meteor's direction.

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