The Difference Between Nations

Jaumes

The aljeny clearing was even busier this morning then it had been the day before. The hunters and families were all gathering small amounts of tools and food that they would take with them. The ones finished packing gathered at the edge of the clearing, eager to leave to their next campsite after four months of one place. Honasa untangled himself from the mass of impatient lizards and ran to the aljeaberav apprentices’ den.

“Jaumes? Mahela?” he called.

The teen stuck his head into his friends’ burrow. Jaumes lay on his side of it, pretending to be asleep. Mahela, on the other hand, was strangely absent. Honasa climbed down next to Jaumes and nudged him gently with his nose.

“Hey, where’s Mahela?” he asked.

“At some fancy aljeaberav meeting with Reni that I don’t get to go to,” Jaumes answered.

“Oh,” Honasa said.

He pulled back in silence.

“It wasn’t because of you,” Jaumes said, “I let the esosa know I was there. I don’t get to go because I was careless.”

Honasa was quiet for a few more seconds. If he was still feeling responsible for Jaumes staying here, Jaumes would smack him. But what he said was even worse than that.

“Well, the band is leaving camp.”

Jaumes looked up sharply.

“You can’t leave,” he stated.

Honasa took a step back at the glare, but chuckled nervously.

“Aww, Jaumes, you big softy,” he said, “It’s the aljeny way of life, mountain boy. We don’t stay in one place forever. Don’t worry, the Ojamo band will be back.”

“When?” Jaumes asked.

Honasa’s scales seemed to tint green a little, though the dim light reflecting off the dirt of the burrow made it hard to tell.

“A year,” he answered.

“A year!” Jaumes said.

“We’re heading to Rabo Ne’e, about a two-week trip away,” he paused, then bobbed his head half-heartedly, “The Jira band will be here around that time, so you should prepare to hear all the things about the Ojamos.”

Jaumes glared at Honasa for a few more seconds, then laid his head down with a sigh. Honasa came and laid down next to him, rubbing the side of his head against his friend’s side in a comforting gesture. It didn’t work, since Jaumes hated physical contact, but he recognized the thought behind it.

“Thanks,” Jaumes said as genuinely as he could.

Honasa stood and bobbed his head.

“See you in a year, mountain boy,” he said, turning to the burrow entrance.

Jaumes bobbed his head a little off the ground.

“See you in a year,” he murmured.

For several minutes after Honasa left, Jaumes just stared at the wall in front of him. Finally he turned his head and breathed out. Magic formed a small illusion in the center of the room. It was a fry, wriggling on the ground. A moment later, it stilled, cooked, and split into three pieces. Jaumes walked over to the fry’s sack.

When they had gone fishing yesterday morning, that was the part of their catch that Honasa had claimed. As he gazed at it, it began to fade into non-existence. He turned his gaze to the tail, which had been Mahela’s piece. It faded as well.

Now the head, Jaumes’ portion, lay alone. Jaumes held the gaze of those dead, bulging eyes for a long while. Then he turned and left the burrow. The fry head faded behind him.

When he entered the daylight, Jaumes saw the last tail-tips of the Ojamo band disappear into the undergrowth. The quiet the vacated camp brought didn’t last long, though.

“Jaumes!” Mahela’s voice called.

Jaumes looked to see her striding out of the undergrowth. Noting that her scales were entirely green, Jaumes took several steps back. He felt green creeping onto his own scales.

“What did I do now? Specifically?” he asked.

Mahela huffed, and the twigs and leaves in front of her turned blood red. It didn’t look like she noticed.

“You did nothing,” Mahela said, “It’s those-” she paused to avoid using some words they’d overheard Ojamo hunters using, “-Officials that are in charge of the aljeaberavy. They know we’re falery now.”

Startled, Jaumes tilted his head. Mahela continued without acknowledging the movement.

“First they wanted Reni to send you home because of yesterday,” she said.

Shame filled Jaumes, and he tried hard to not press himself into the ground.

“They asked what our town’s name was, so they could notify Dad. So Reni told them we were from Pa Papa. As you can imagine, they flipped. All the praise I got for my ‘quick thinking’ became scolding for my ‘rash action’. Our ‘surprisingly quick’ progress became ‘below average’, and the ones that sympathized with you turned on both of us! They just don’t want to admit that a couple of ‘traitorous’ falery are outperforming good, true riesy!”

At that, Mahela gave an open mouth growl. All the ground within a foot radius of her became a mix of blood red, deep purple, and navy blue. Jaumes jumped back to avoid the color change himself.

“You’re not exactly changing their minds by throwing a tantrum,” Reni pointed out, coming out of the underbrush behind her.

Mahela’s eyes burned with her rage. For a moment, Jaumes thought that she’d turn her magic on their mentor. But after a moment, she closed her eyes and shallowed her breathing. Her scales began to fade into a light brown, and she nodded.

“I know, I just- I get so angry when they treat us like we’re less than them,” she said.

Her head drooped and she looked at the ground.

“I know,” Reni said, walking up to her, “That’s why we’re going to prove them wrong. Tonight.”

Mahela’s head shot up, and so did Jaumes’.

“Tonight?” Jaumes asked.

Reni nodded.

“The forest tribe has been preparing for some big event for a month. That’s what the diplomacy meeting yesterday was for,” he said, “I’ve been keeping an eye on the preparations, since I don’t trust the words of my lazy colleagues. Yesterday, I finally figured out when it will be: tonight. So tonight, why don’t we go do what I’ve been training you to do?”

Mahela’s head started bobbing, slowly at first, but increasing quickly. The thrill of proving the aljeaberavy officials wrong was clear in her eyes.

“I like that plan,” she said.

Jaumes nodded in agreement, then paused.

“What will we do? There will be a lot of esosa, and we won’t remember everything that we see,” he said.

Reni looked at him with a small rebellious flicker in his eyes.

“We won’t be there to remember. We’ll be there to record,” he said.

A sharp thrill shot up in Jaumes.

“Isn’t that a little... advanced?” he asked, the rebellious flicker in his own eyes.

Reni narrowed his eyes like he was trying to tell if Jaumes was joking or not.

“You are my apprentices, not the Riesy’s,” he said, “I will teach you what I deem you able to learn. You both learn quickly, and are close to the magic. You can learn to record in a day.”

Jaumes’ head began to bob. Beside him, Mahela was doing the same.

“We’re ready, Vandonov Reni,” she said, “How do we record?”