Evaluations of the Tribe : Prossia Book 0 - Act 3

Chapter 11.2

Aly woke up thirty minutes earlier than usual the next morning so she could meditate at the temple. When she sat up, however, she thought she was going to vomit. The first thing that came to mind was the Evaluations. After taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes, crossed her legs, and scooted her feet in, taking a minute to cleanse her thoughts.

Aly gave Shanvi his daily kiss when she walked out of her room fifteen minutes later. She stroked his graying tents before sitting at the table where she usually studied, tapping the floor with her left foot.

"If I may, what did you ask Truth's Grace for?" Shanvi said. "Apologies. I came upon your room when I noticed you had not emerged, and saw you in the midst of meditation."

"I asked for everyone's well-being during the Evaluations, and that I do my best. That be all. Nothing selfish."

"Good." Shanvi set a bowl of water in front of Aly and sat across from her. "Yet you still be nervous, yes?"

"Truly, a little." Aly took a sip. "I have awaited this moment for years and now it is to finally arrive, perhaps too soon."

"Merely do as I suggested and all shall be well. Do not stay on ground for long, lest you set yourself up for many ambushes. Take the defensive initially, since there shall be plenty of time to eliminate others. Yet beyond all things, be mindful of your mates.

"Be cautious of your mind, Mastra, and the Evaluations shall take care of itself. And even so, this merely be the first, yet not the last, one of its kind. You shall have plenty of other assessments beyond this one, most of them less demanding on the physical note."

"Yet perhaps this one shall determine the others. Perhaps this alone shall judge my future as a reliable Goolian."

Shanvi took Aly's drink when she was finished and set it on the counter. When he turned back around, the Little One had her elbows on the table and her hands on her head.

"Aly," Shanvi said, rubbing her back. "Truly, there be more important matters in qualifying one's worth. Do you not aid the tribe in the fields? Do you not make people smile when you sing?"

"If I may, you sound as Catty does."

"Thus she be a good friend."

"Yet what if I cannot defend the tribe as well as others?"

"Alytchai, you give yourself needless excuses to worry. Truly, it has thus been centuries since any tribe has tried to compete against our own. We are a unified planetary nation, silly. And I highly doubt the rest of the galaxy shall have a need in pulling us into their affairs as they did with the Cyogen three and a thousand years prior. Such days of galactic conflict ended with their demise."

Shanvi sat back down and held the Little One's hands. "I know you have valued this moment greatly, yet you best realize there are greater ways to serve the tribe, even if you are not considered the best at it."

"Permission to speak freely?"

"You may."

Aly took a deep breath, nervously twisting a tent around as she thought her words out in her head. Shanvi sat down across from her and she looked him face to face with bright and sad eyes.

"I feel that there is to be more to the Evaluations beyond simply proving my worth, perhaps."

"Oh? How so?"

"Pappai, surely this one recalls how I was treated when I was little, yes?"

"Truth's Grace. I would rephrase it as mistreated. Thus I smile everyday in seeing how far you and your classmates have come along since."