Gaia got closer and noticed it wasn’t an animal but a man. He was laying down on his stomach, legs stretched on the grass and massive arms hanging from the cliff. The smoke of a familiar cigar floated around the man’s head.
Gaia smiled and walked until she reached Veter, but even standing behind him he was too concentrated on his mysterious task to notice her. “Ahem…” she coughed to get his attention.
Veter jolted and dropped his cigar down the cliff. “Shoot!” He moved his hands and the wind returned his cigar. He caught it and faced Gaia. His light brown eyes opened wide and his mouth clenched as the intake of his breath revealed his fear of being caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.
“Moja Princeza!” He lay frozen with a ridiculous downwards grin like a child who’d been busted.
Gaia bent down and tilted her head. “What are you doing?”
Veter smiled innocently. “Relaxing?”
“Mmm…” Wanting to know the truth, Gaia walked closer to the ledge so she could see what Veter was looking at.
“Stop!” he said before she could reach the cliff. “Get down and crawl here.”
“Crawl?”
“Yes,” he said and nodded his head to the edge hinting to Gaia there was something down there that could spot them back.
Gaia kneeled down and crawled next to him. “What’s going on?” she whispered as she peeked down.
Veter pointed to the left. “You see those blue flowers?”
Gaia took a better look and there they were. A few yards away next to the lake inside a wooden fence was a small field of gorgeous and exotic pastel blue flowers of the size of her fist. “The ones over the fence?” she asked trying to remember why they seemed so familiar to her.
“Those,” Veter smiled with excitement. “Pay attention.” Veter held the cigar between his teeth. He then softly flickered his fingers and a flower shook. The flower detached from the stem and levitated. Veter pushed his finger forward and the flower slowly floated to the right over the field.
A few feet away, in the middle of the field, Shui was sitting on a rock in lotus position. Her elbows bent and pressed against her ribs, her hands facing each other creating a delicate circle. Her fingers were moving as if she was doing pottery mid-air, and in the middle of the circle there was a spiral of water circling its own axis. What Shui was unaware of was that she was now surrounded and covered in dozens of pastel blue flowers.
“Awesome!” Gaia chuckled. “Veter, I’ve always wanted to ask you… Are you two dating?”
“One day. Hopefully.”
Gaia smiled as she saw Veter wield the floating flower and gently place it on Shui’s shoulder. “She’s going to kill you.”
“Nah!” Veter stared at Shui with the same gentle and loving way Gaia always saw him look at Shui. “She just pretends she doesn’t like it,” he said. “On the other hand… Willow is going to kill me.”
“Why would sh-” Gaia finally recognized the origin of the flowers and gasped. “Wait!... Are those Willow’s camellias?”
“Great job on your botany lessons!” Proudly, Veter clapped and smacked Gaia on her shoulder. “And yes, they are.”
“Veter! Of all the flowers in the world, you had to take those?”
“It’s like the humans say… two birds, one stone. I get to shower my baby with gifts and piss off Blondie.” He smiled mischievously. “What do you think?”
“I think…” Gaia took another look at Shui and returned his smile, “…her left side could use some more flowers.”
Veter moved the last flower and stared at his creation. How beautiful and peaceful Shui looked even from this far away. He scratched his bushy beard deep in thought. “You’re right. It doesn’t look balanced.” He wielded the wind to carry another flower. “May I ask you a question, Princeza?” Gaia nodded. “How do you stay so calm? I know it’s been more than a month since we told you about who you are and everything, but you didn’t seem to be scared by it, even in the beginning, and you immediately believed in us.”
“Did I?” She wondered herself why she was this relaxed and at peace with all that information.
“Yes, you were all like… ‘coolio chill people! I totally believe in all these crazy shenanigans.’”
“Coolio chill?” Gaia laughed. “Who talks like that?”
“Humans?”
“No, they don’t. Seriously, where did you guys stay all those twelve years? A cave?”
“Well… Shui was sent to Sanya, China; Donovan had Los Angeles; Hunter got the Amazon; Blondie was sent to Quebec; our Kapetan got London; and I got Novi Sad, Serbia.”
“And you learned nothing about humans in there?”
“Can’t speak for the others, but I did.” Veter lifted his thick eyebrow. “Probably nothing you would find useful, but I did.”
“I bet. But I guess you had a point, about me being all coolio chill.” Gaia closed her eyes and thought about that day, when The Six of them dropped all their unbelievable information on her and how she felt intrigued but comfortable with it. “Honestly, I always felt like I didn’t belong anywhere. When you guys came along, even though what you said was super crazy, I somehow felt like I’d finally found my way.”
“I’m glad you feel that way.”
“So am I.”
Veter pointed his fingers at another flower. “Too bad you can’t wield wind yet, you would be a great help here,” he said as the new flower levitated.
Gaia turned around and laid down on her back. She crossed her arms under her head using them as a pillow as she stared at the gorgeous blue sky. “That would be fun,” she said.
“Then… nothing yet? Any chill spots? Random impulses to push the air? Tingling sensations in the back of your neck?” he asked.
“Back of the neck?”
“Yes.” Veter sat down and took a puff from the cigar. “Wind’s in the back of the neck, fire in the chest, water on your hands, and earth on your feet,” he explained as he gestured the body parts he was talking about.
“No, not yet,” she sighed. “I’m still stuck with fire.”
“Don’t worry, Kapetan will get you ready in no time.” He smiled but Gaia rolled her eyes. “I sense disagreement.”
“You sense right.” Gaia sat up. “No offense but why do you follow his orders?”
“He’s our leader,” he said and took another long hit and let go of the smoke. “I’d follow him anywhere.”
“But you’re older than he is and you’re clearly stronger. Why aren’t you the Kapetan?”
Veter chuckled, “You honor me with your words, Moja Princeza, though my years and my strength are physical. Anyone can grow old and get in shape if they try to, but not anyone can achieve the kind of strength the Kapetan has. While my strength comes from here,” he touched his massive biceps, “his come from here…” he placed two fingers on Gaia’s forehead, “and here…” he moved them to her heart.
Gaia lay down on the soft grass again. She closed her eyes and thought of how everyone seemed to show ultimate respect for Edan and his decisions. How even though he was annoying and incredibly arrogant, he always rose to the occasion and helped her. “Is that why the elders named him the leader of The Six?
“What? No.” His eyes looked down as if he was sad for something. “The Kapetan isn’t-”
“Veter!!” Willow’s screams interrupted their talk. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” she screamed all the way from the flower fields.
Shui opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by all those beautiful flowers.
Veter smiled and took the cigar from his lips. “It appears the mission has been compromised.”
“It appears so.” Gaia rolled onto her stomach. She saw Willow running furiously towards them. “Run in opposite directions?” she suggested.
Veter helped lift Gaia up and gave a small bow in front of her. “Moja Princeza,” he said and they both ran in opposite directions.
“Don’t you dare run away fr
om me!” Willow choose to follow Veter. “Could you please tell your puppet to stop messing with my flowers?” she screamed at Shui who was walking up the hill on the other side.
“He’s not my puppet, but I will talk to him about his childish actions.”
“Don’t talk to him,” Willow snapped, “slap him!”
Without responding, Shui left for her bungalow. She walked in and closed the door. Once alone, she took one of the camellias from her clothes. She placed it on her dresser next to her flute, softly caressed one of the petals, and smiled.
* * *
Gaia was still running from Willow when she turned around the corner next to the weapon’s storage building and crashed against Donovan. “Good morning, your Majesty! Glad to see you all pumped up,” he said and pushed her back. “Time for you to learn how to communicate with the fauna.”
“What? Why?” Gaia scanned her surroundings to see if Willow was in sight. “I haven’t felt any tingling sensation.”
“I’m… pretty sure that’s a good thing,” laughed Donovan not quite understanding what she meant.
“I meant for my powers to come out. You know, fire on the chest, wind on the back of your neck, something, something?”
“Oh, those tingling sensations,” he chuckled. “Yeah, we don’t need them. For you, talking to animals is a lot like learning another language. The only difference is that all animals speak the same one just with a different accent and the meaning of the words change depending on their facial expressions or body language,” he said as they both walked into the dining area. The whole section was empty, with the exception of a few crystals hanging from the trees on top of the table.
Donovan pointed to the first rock and signaled Gaia to sit down. “Icarus,” he called while Gaia took her place. “Icarus is going to help us with your first lesson.” Icarus landed on Donovan’s shoulder and walked to the table.
“First lesson, my Lady,” said Donovan overly excited and pacing next to the table. “You know when you talk to an animal and start making that weird voice, like the one you talk to babies with, and animals, they stare at you like you’re crazy and you think that it would be funny if they could understand you?”
Gaia had a small flashback of the various times she talked to different animals like that. The cuter the animal was, the weirder her voice became. “Yes.”
“Well, they do understand. That’s why they look at you like you’re crazy.” Icarus nodded his tiny head and Donovan pointed at his furry sidekick to prove his point. “Now, what you need to learn is to understand them back. We will start slow. I want you to pay attention to Icarus’ way of moving, expressions and body language. Icarus, whenever you’re ready.”
Icarus walked and stood up a few inches away from Gaia and squeaked.
Donovan sat down a few rocks away from Gaia. “What do you think he’s saying?”
“Hello?”
“Not really.”
“How are you?” she asked. Donovan closed his striking blue eyes and shook his head. “My name is Icarus?” she tried again.
“Why don’t we stop guessing and pay attention to his movements.” Donovan signaled Icarus and he repeated his squeaks.
Gaia saw how Icarus moved his tiny hands and how his face lifted up. She tried her best to come up with a phrase that would use those types of gestures but she was completely lost. “He wants nuts?”
“No. Think…”
“I don’t know; he’s a sugar glider.”
“Look at his gestures and listen to the sound of his barks. Are they softer? Are they fast and short? Are they deeper and slower?”
“He barks?” Gaia asked.
Donovan’s composure cracked. He threw his hands up in the air. “Pay attention… What could he be saying?”
Gaia glared at the fluffy sugar glider and it spoke. She tried to look at Icarus’ movements and his body language, but no matter how much she tried, she could only hear tiny squeaks and nothing more. “He needs to sleep?”
“Do you really think he looks tired?”
“No.”
“Then no, he’s not sleepy.” He pointed at Icarus. “Again.”
“He’s angry?”
“What about those soft delicate barks made you think he was angry?”
“They were soft?” Gaia asked confused.
“Yes, they were. Give it another try.”
“Ah! A pink butterfly!” Gaia gasped at the sight of a gorgeous pink butterfly that flew around Donovan’s hair. “Look at its wings”
“Gaia, concentrate on Icarus. What did he say?”
“He likes sugar cubes?” she guessed. Donovan again indicated ‘no.’ “He hates sugar cubes?”
“What does sugar have to do with this? He’s a sugar glider, they don’t eat sugar cubes.”
Gaia scratched her chin. “I guess I’m hungry.” Donovan rubbed his temples.
Averting a major crisis, Icarus jumped in front of Donovan and squeaked. “Icarus is right,” said Donovan and Icarus climbed on his shoulder. “Let’s take a break. We’ll continue after breakfast.” Tired and exasperated, he stood up and left Gaia sitting there.
Near the point of giving up on training her altogether, Donovan walked to the weapons section where he found Veter and Hunter working.
“Morning, lad!” said Veter as he helped Hunter sharpen some knives.
Without answering, Donovan nodded and threw his body on top of a big piece of wood. His limbs hung from the wooden corners as if his body was lifeless.
Veter and Hunter exchanged looks. “Stressful day?” Veter asked.
Donovan let go of a deep sigh. “You think?”
“Let me guess… First class? Taking some time getting it?” Veter guessed correctly.
“I wouldn’t say she’s terrible at it...” said Donovan and lifted his hands. “But she is. She is! She gets distracted by everything. I don’t know what to do. How does Edan do it?”
Hunter dropped a knife and moved his hands to his chest and then out. “Hunter’s right,” said Veter. “Edan pushed Gaia to the point that she has no other choice but to make it happen.”
“Yeah?” Donovan lifted his head and glared at Veter. “You got all that from his hand swing?”
“That and so much more,” Veter smirked.
“I guess Hunter’s right.” Donovan lay down again, only this time he was calmer. “How do I do it then? I’m too damn charming for her to feel pressure.”
Veter laughed. “It’s called softy, not charming.”
“Shut up. I’d like to see you train her.”
Veter looked at the sky with pride, like a father waiting for his son to be old enough to show him the family business. “So would I… So would I.”
“Anyway,” said Donovan as he sat on the log. “I’m doomed. Neither I nor my sugar glider are intimidating enough to pressure her.”
“Good spirits!” Veter slammed an ax into the wooden table making Hunter jolt and take out a knife from his boot. “I have a great idea,” said Veter. Hunter relaxed, placing the knife back to its belt.
Donovan offered Veter his arm. “I’m in!” he agreed without even hearing the idea. They shook hands by grabbing each other’s arm at the wrists.
“Mmm, Donovan?” Willow clicked her tongue and leaned against a tree. “Following Veter’s advice? Isn’t it too early for committing to terrible mistakes?”
“Blondie,” Veter smiled. “I knew I smelled something irritating.”
“I’m surprised you still have the ability to smell anything other than that disgusting thing,” she said pointing at his unlit cigar resting on top of the table. “What’s your great idea?” she asked.
“It’s more of an epiphany,” he corrected his petite attacker. “Where’s Shui?”
“Meditating at the lake again,” she said as she took off her hoodie, revealing her usual sporty crop top. “Why? Is she part of your epiphany?”
“Not this one.” Veter smiled at the mere thought of his other epipha
nies that did include her. “I just wanted to know where she was.”
“I believe humans call that stalking,” she mocked him and sat down on top of the table.
“I believe they call it romantic,” he corrected her. “But since you’re in love with the Kapetan, you must know nothing about it.”
Willow’s eyes opened wide. Her mouth fell and her skin blushed as if she was sunburnt. “What?!” she gasped.
“Yes, what?” Donovan said uncomfortably and punched Veter on the arm as a symbol to shut up. “Veter, shall we?” he asked and stood up.
“Absolutely.” Veter took the ax as if it was weightless and stood up. “Hunter, you coming or would you rather stay here and braid flowers?” Hunter looked at Willow and then at Veter. He took a smaller knife from the table and stood up. “Atta boy.” Veter patted his back with excitement.
* * *
Priyam warmed up some water while Gaia waited at the dining table. “It was horrible,” said Gaia placing her head on the cold rock and stretching her arms. “I’m absolutely useless at talking to animals.”
“Keep trying. It’s supposed to be instinctual so I assume it will come eventually.” Priyam poured the hot water into two bamboo cups. “Besides, you can’t be any worse at it than you were in History class.”
Gaia lifted her head and cupped her face with the palm of her hands. “I am,” she cried out.
“You are? I thought that was impossible.” Priyam offered Gaia a cup. “Here, take this.”
Gaia took it and inhaled its rich aroma. “What is it?”
“Honestly, no idea.”
Suddenly, a huge tiger jumped on the table and cornered both girls. He gnashed his sharp teeth and glared at them with hungry eyes. “Shit! A tiger.” Priyam screamed and hid behind Gaia. “Why is a Shere Khan in here? Do they even live in this area? This is not a jungle!”
“I don’t know,” said Gaia as they both crawled on the floor and leaned against the wall without looking away from the tiger.
“What do we do?” whispered Priyam.
Seasons Within Box Set Page 15