Sharpened [ On Hold Indefinitely ]

Chapter Fourteen

I sigh.

So we have to go the Dub again, I think. I hate that place, though I'm not really sure why. I suppose I don't like reporting what Thunder and the others are finding out about the Countless.

"When are we leaving?" I hear Darky ask, sounding excited.

"Tommorow afternoon," Thunder responds simply. "We will begin to pack bags next morning. But now we should get some sleep."

Agreeing, we all disperse back to our bunks, high in the trees. I still am not completely used to sleeping so high up, as opposed to sleeping the ground in my hut, but I guess I have safer up there. If we slept on the ground, we would probably be awakened by ravaging animals in the night.

I close my eyes, and try to think of the Float.

+ + + + +

The sunlight sprinkles through the green canopy, speckling my face. I sit up in the soft leafy bunk, and notice Maple next to me, eyes still closed.

I creep down the tree, slipping the device into my pocket, and sit by the fire. Though it is only ash now, it gives me comfort. I am going to have to report to the Countless again.

I pull out the small mechanical device, and press down in the black button.

"What do you have to report," says the voice.

"We are coming to the Dub, with the people from the Float. To discuss the rebellion," I whisper into the speaker.

The device pauses, as if there is a real person behind it. "When do you leave," it finally questions.

What?! I think. How can this device have a mind of its own? Isn't it just recorded?

"Ummm, this afternoon," I reply, startled.

"Thanks you for your troubles."

I sigh, and tuck the device back into my pocket. I am going to need it for the trip ahead.

"Good morning," a voice says from behind me.

I whip around to see Darky giggling behind me.

I snarl at her playfully, and she laughs again.

"Why are you up so early?" I ask her, smiling. I though I was the only one who woke up at dawn.

"I heard you talking down here," Darky replies, shrugging.

I freeze. Have I been discovered?

"Why are you up so early?" Darky continues. She stares at me, smiling.

She must not have taken much notice, I think, relived. "Oh, I just was woken up by the.....er.....morning sounds?" I reply to her question. I hope I don't sound too suspicious.

Darky laughs. She sits down on the log beside me, and gazes into the coals. There is a moment of silence.

"I miss Wolf," she says suddenly, still focused on the ashes of the burnt-out fire.

"Me too," I reply.

She leans on me, and buries her face in my shoulder. I rest my head on hers, comfortably.

"I wish we could go back," she says, sounding muffled. "I wish I had never gotten Extra Sharpened. Or that I had never messed up in the first place."

She raises her head to look at me. "This is all my fault."

I shake my head. "No, it's not, Darky."

"Yes, it is!" She says persistently. "If I hadn't failed so many times in all those tests, we wouldn't have had to leave!"

She looks like she's about to cry. I wrap my arm around her neck and pull her face up to look at me. "Listen, Darky. It's not your fault that you are from another tribe. We don't know who's fault it is. But the important thing is that it's not yours."

She nods, eyes wet with tears.

Suddenly, I remember what had happened a few days earlier. Thunder  had said that Darky had "chosen the Maze" and that they had never seen her again after that.

"Darky," I say. "Do you remember the Maze at all?"

Somehow, she knows what I'm talking about. "Not really," she responds.

"Do you remember if you completed it or not?"

She pauses, smoothing her dark hair. I can tell she is thinking deeply, for her hazel eyes cloud up as they blandly stare out into space. Finally, she answers.

"Yes, I did."