Now the chief had caught Blaze’s attention, “What is it?”
“You are a very brave saloli, and a skilled fighter. Slicer did well teaching you. I want you to pass on everything you’ve learned to another trainee now. Would you be willing to become a mentor?”
Blaze stopped in his tracks. “A mentor?” he asked, “Are you sure I’m ready for that?” It would indeed be the most responsibility he’d ever had in his time in Icefire.
“Completely. I told you, Blaze, you have my complete trust now. I believe that you are ready for this. The only question left is, do you, yourself, believe that you are ready?”
Blaze thought about it. The more he did, the more he became convinced that he was, indeed, ready. The only way to find out for sure, though, was to try. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Good! I have your trainee picked out already. You’ll meet him tomorrow. Go easy on him at first, he just left the nursery tree yesterday. Oh, and one more thing. I think that it’s time Smallthorn had his own trainee too.”
“You want me to tell him?”
“No, let me do that. I just wanted to let you know so you weren’t surprised tomorrow.”
<><><><><>
“All right trainees,” Gnaw shouted, “go find your mentors!”
As the trainees scurried off to do as he said, Rust led Blaze and Smallthorn up to two saloli who were just standing where they were, unsure of where to go. It was easy to tell that they were younger then the others, as they were the smallest of the group. They looked up nervously as Rust approached them. It was probably the first time they had been this close to someone as important as Rust, and didn’t know how to react. Getting closer, Blaze could see that one was a boy, the other a girl.
“Blaze,” the chief said, motioning towards the first trainee, “this is Scratch. He will be your trainee. Scratch, this is Blaze. He will be your mentor.”
“Nice to meet you, Scratch,” Blaze said, trying to put the young saloli at ease. His fur was red as well, darker than Blaze’s, but lighter than Rust’s.
“N-nice to meet you too, sir,” Scratch stammered.
Moving on to the next trainee, Rust introduced her as well. “Smallthorn, this is Ink. Ink, this is Smallthorn.” Ink was aptly named, as her front right paw was completely black, in stark contrast to the light gray fur that covered the rest of her.
“Hi!” She chirped happily, her nervousness forgotten, “Are you going to take me to the Acorn Place today? Please?”
“I don’t know about today, but soon,” Smallthorn promised, chuckling at the trainee’s spunkiness.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Rust said, nodding his approval and turning to leave.
“Wait!” Blaze said, “I don’t know what to do. Where do I start?”
“Just do what comes naturally. I know Slicer’s way of beginning training wasn’t normal, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow it. In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t. But don’t underestimate your trainee. If they think they’re ready to move on to harder things, try it. If they fail, you can always go back to the easier stuff. I trust you Blaze, you can do this.”
“All right,” Blaze agreed. Rust nodded once more and left.
“S-sir? You’re not going to make me do anything painful are you?” Scratch asked.
“Okay, Scratch, first things first. My name isn’t sir. It’s Blaze, and that’s what I want you to call me, all right?”
“Okay, s- Blaze.”
“And secondly, I can’t promise that you won’t get hurt a little during this. Accidents happen. I fell out of a tree once when Slicer was teaching me to climb better. But just know that I won’t ever put you in a situation where you could be severely injured. Understand?”
“Yes, Blaze,” Scratch answered.
“Good. Now let me think for a minute. I still don’t know where to start with you,” he thought back to the first thing Slicer did with him. Blaze could understand why Rust didn’t want him to fight Scratch; he might hurt the little saloli. He decided he would go straight to the second thing Slicer had done with him.
“All right, come with me.” Blaze instructed.
“Where are we going?” Scratch inquired.
“We’re going to Acorn Place to see how well you can climb.”
“Aaw!” Ink complained, looking at Smallthorn, “Can’t we go with them? Please?”
“No, not today,” Smallthorn answered, “Today I’m going to take you around the borders. Is that okay?”
“Yes!” Ink shouted, her jealousy instantly gone, “Come on! Let’s go!”
As Blaze left the camp, he glanced back at Scratch. The young saloli was hesitating at the camp’s edge. Blaze was about to tell him not to be a coward when he remembered he had done the same thing the first time Slicer had taken him out. “Don’t worry, nothing will hurt you,” he called back. Scratch looked to his right, then his left, as if he was about to cross a street, then ran out into the woods, stopping only when he was by Blaze’s side. He was trembling like he was freezing. Blaze sighed, “Scratch, if you’re going to be my trainee, you’re going to have to trust me. Trust is the first thing any saloli in Icefire must learn, or else there’s no way they’ll survive. They must trust their comrades to protect them and do what must be done. Any saloli who tries to act alone, without the help from his tribe, will die. I know that’s a scary thought, but it’s true. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Blaze.” The little saloli answered.
“Do you trust me?” He nodded. “Good, now follow me.” Blaze led his trainee through the woods, pointing out the same landmarks that Slicer had shown him the first time he brought him to Acorn Place. “That fallen tree means you’re almost there. You need to remember all of this, Scratch, because I want you to show me the way tomorrow.”
“What?” Scratch panicked, “But I’ve only seen the way once!”
“A good saloli only needs to see something once to remember it. Don’t worry, once you find the first landmark, the rest will just come to you.” Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at the Acorn Place.
“All right,” said Blaze, “See that tree right there?” he motioned with his tail.
“Yeah,” Scratch affirmed.
“Climb it to the first branch.”
Eager, or anxious, Blaze couldn’t tell, to do his mentor’s bidding, Scratch raced over to the tree and, sinking his sharp claws into the bark, quickly scurried up the trunk. Reaching the first branch, he perched himself upon it and looked down.
“That was good!” Blaze called up approvingly, “But you still need work.” With that he went to the tree and climbed up to where Scratch was waiting in a fraction of the time it had taken the trainee.
“Wow!” Scratch exclaimed, “How did you move so fast?”
“You’ll be just as fast after you’re done training, maybe even faster. It’s something all saloli must learn if they want to survive in the woods. A slow saloli is a dead saloli.”
Fear filled Scratch’s eyes. “I don’t want to die.” He said, timidly.
A thought crossed Blaze’s mind then. Scratch wouldn’t be a very good Icefire saloli if he wasn’t willing to give up his life for his tribe. Then again, maybe bravery would come with time. Blaze remembered the way he had been when he had first become a trainee, weak, slow, and only caring about becoming human again. But the longer he had stayed in Icefire, the more loyal he had become. And braver. He decided not to mention it, hoping the same thing would happen to Scratch.
“Don’t worry,” he said instead, “You won’t be dying any time soon.”
Chapter Fifteen
Blaze and Scratch came back into the camp at the same time Smallthorn and Ink did, “How did it go?” Blaze asked.
“Great!” Smallthorn answered, “We didn’t see any other tribes, so everything went smoothly. You?”
“I’m teaching Scratch how to climb properly. He’s good, better than I was when I started, but he still needs work.”
; “Climbing? Wish I’d thought of that.”
“We can trade tomorrow.” Blaze suggested, “I’ll take Scratch around the borders and you can take Ink to Acorn Place.”
“That sounds good.” He turned to his trainee, “Hear that, Ink? We’ll be going to Acorn Place tomorrow.”
“Really?” Ink squealed with excitement, “Can’t we go now?”
“No, I think you’re tired. Go and get some rest.” Ink nodded vigorously, then turned tail and ran to the trainee’s tree.
“You can go too, Scratch.” Blaze instructed, “You worked hard today.” Scratch nodded, wearily, and slowly made his way back to his tree.
“Hi guys!” someone said behind them. Blaze and Smallthorn both spun around, caught off guard, to find Sunbeam standing there, her normal smile spread across her face.
“H-hi Sunbeam.” Blaze stammered, his face turning red underneath his fur.
“How are you, Sunbeam?” Smallthorn asked.
“I’m great! I saw you guys get your first trainees. I’m so happy for you two!”
“Yeah,” said Smallthorn, “Ink’s a bit of a handful, but I think I can manage her. She’s so eager to learn anything I want to teach her.”
Sunbeam turned to Blaze, “What about yours?”
“Well, um, Scratch is a bit timid, but I think he’s got potential.” He admitted.
“I hope so,” said Sunbeam, “He’s got a lot to live up to, being your trainee.”
“What do you mean?” Blaze asked, caught off guard. Surely more wasn’t expected of his trainee than any other young saloli.
You mean you don’t know? Blaze, you’re Icefire’s hero! You killed Flame. You revealed Razor for what he was. You saved Rust. Everyone looks up to you!”
“R-really?” Blaze stammered, “T-they shouldn’t. I’m just. . .”
“The bravest saloli in Icefire,” Sunbeam finished for him.
“She’s right,” Smallthorn agreed, “You saved the tribe twice, single handedly.”
“Single handedly?” Blaze asked, surprised, “What about Slicer? He helped me fight Razor!”
“But you killed Flame.” Sunbeam pointed out.
“With Smallthorn’s help.” Blaze reminded her.
“Oh right,” Sunbeam said, embarrassed, “I’d forgotten about that.”
“Hmm,” Smallthorn muttered, not liking what he had just heard.
“But this isn’t what I came over for,” Sunbeam said, getting back on topic, “I just heard a story from Quick, and I wanted to try and tell it to you two.”
“Sure!” Smallthorn said.
“Yeah, we’ll listen,” Blaze agreed. Anything to make Sunbeam happy.
“Let’s go sit in the shade,” Sunbeam suggested, leading the way. Blaze and Smallthorn followed her. Once they were seated comfortably out of the sun, she began, “Long, long ago, even before the tribes were formed, when the Black Legion still held dominion over the earth, Valde Abbas decided to bless a single saloli for being the purest of all the creatures. He sought out a saloli with a heart of pure light, and gave her special powers, powers never seen before by any creature. They even surpassed the powers that the prophets have now. This saloli’s name was Melody, and she truly was the purest of the pure. While every other creature on earth was tainted by Dragon the moment it was born, Melody was somehow impervious to its effects. Having not a speck of darkness in her heart, her eyes shone with the brightness of the stars. She had devoted her life to performing kind deeds for any creature that needed it. Upon receiving her powers, her resolve to do good was only strengthened, and the kindnesses she performed more than tripled. Other creatures became envious of her powers, but this proved to be a good thing. The jealous ones were willing to do anything to gain powers like her’s, so Melody found a way to eradicate the evil within their hearts, making them like her. Seeing that this was good, Valde Abbas gave them powers as well. As they were pure of heart, Valde Abbas formed a tribe out of them, and called it HeartTribe. This was the first tribe, and Melody was named its chief.
“But all was not well. A member of the Black Legion, a bat named Phantom, learned of Melody, and vowed to corrupt her. Though he had the powers common to the creatures of the Black Legion, Phantom knew he was no match for HeartTribe’s chief. Instead of using force, he decided that he would use trickery to taint her heart. He summoned his courage, and approached her. Melody could instantly tell that this creature was evil, but being pure of heart, could not bring herself to hate him. Phantom pretended to be injured and in pain, so Melody brought him back to her camp where he stayed until he claimed to have recovered. During that time, he managed to earn the pure one’s trust, and she became fond of him, thinking of him as her friend. Phantom knew this, and took advantage of it. He told her, one day, of a power he knew of, a power that could rival her’s, which was a lie, and that he was more than willing to share it with her, so long as she took it on his terms. Melody told him that she knew what power he spoke of, and wanted none of it. She also said that she was not interested in power unless it could help others. This was when Phantom used his cunning brain to his advantage. He told her that his power could help others, if used in the right way. He told her that his power, if placed in the right hands, could be used to fight and destroy those who used it for evil purposes, which was also a lie, for the Dragon would never allow its powers to be used for good. Melody was still hesitant to believe him, but he had ensnared her curiosity. Her instinct to help those in need demanded that she learn more about this power, at least enough to be able to tell if using it was the right decision. She agreed to go with Phantom to learn more.
“She did so every night, when Phantom’s powers were strongest. He took her to his home, a tall tree which was not a mile away from the Dragon Tree itself. There he would demonstrate his powers to her, and explain how she could use them for good. The more she came, the farther into the darkness she was drawn, though it still did not corrupt her heart. Months later, when he finally thought the time was right, Phantom brought her to the Dragon Tree itself. When he revealed the tree that supplied his powers, Melody found herself fascinated by it. The tree was made of pure evil, something that she had never seen before. Phantom told her that to receive the powers he had, she only needed to climb to the top of the tree and fling herself down inside of it. He promised she would not be hurt. Hesitantly, she put her claws into the bark, preparing to climb it. The sap that came out of the tree, though, touched her fur when she did this. It burned her, and she jerked her paw away. Remembering Phantom’s promise, she lost her trust in him and ran away, back to her camp. Becoming enraged at his failure, Phantom chased and attacked her! Using her powers, though, Melody was able to fatally wound him. Phantom would have died then, but, somehow, he managed to make it back to the Dragon Tree. Finding a puddle of the same sap that had burned Melody, he drank it. The pure evil it was made of caused a transformation in him, changing him into a monster that did not bare any resemblance to who he had been. He was now the size of an eagle, had teeth like a bear’s, and strength like a lion. Phantom took to the air, and sought out Melody. The pure one hardly recognized the one she had thought her friend, and realized then just how vile the Dragon Tree was. His sharp mind now dulled by rage and hate, Phantom unleashed his new powers on Melody. Though she still could have defeated him, she was intimidated by the bat’s appearance, so she ran. Almost the entire forest was destroyed by Phantom’s pursuit. When at last he cornered her, Melody begged him not to kill her. Phantom paid her no mind though, and destroyed her with a single blow. Their chief dead, HeartTribe no longer had anyone to lead them, as their chief had been appointed by none other than Valde Abbas himself. With no guidance, the Black Legion attacked them and drove them from their territory. They never returned.”
“That’s it?” Blaze asked, astounded. “The bad guys win? The good guy dies? How could Valde Abbas let that happen?”
“Because,” Sunbeam explained, “Valde Abbas was concentrating on something else. H
e was already rallying the rest of the saloli to attack the Dragon Tree. He could not help her.”
“But what happened to Phantom?” He persisted.
“Nobody knows for sure. He most likely retreated into the Dragon Tree with the rest of the Black Legion. Either that, or he died in the battle.”
“What happened to HeartTribe?” Smallthorn asked, “They were driven out of their territory, but what happened after that?”
“Again, nobody knows for sure. Some say that they continued living in another territory, unknown to the tribes once they were formed. Others say that they scattered, resumed their old way of living and lost their powers.”
For a minute, Blaze just sat where he was, contemplating what he had just heard, “Is this a true story?” he asked, finally.
Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm Page 17