Path book 1 Jane. chapter 6-1

Chapter 6. It's not like that at all.

Eugene (Mendoir, June 2360)

The Hectic Year (part two)

June 10, 2360, 6:45 a.m.

The workout is over, I'm going down to the kitchen. There is peace and quiet at home, the whole family, except for Deniska and me, is still asleep. My father is not here, he is on duty at the plant. I go into the kitchen, take a one-and-a-half-liter plastic canister of juice in the refrigerator, pour half of it into a glass carafe and dilute it with water. Pure juice is too sweet, and after a workout it's not exactly what you need. But it's worth diluting — that's it! I take plastic cups from the locker and go to the brothers. They're just lying on the grass, a quick glance in my direction, joy and malice in their feelings.

"I told you she'd come and bring you some juice!" This is Ham speaking.

"That surprised me... Yes, the Fox Cub has a chuika — you and I, the poor ones, never dreamed of it! I wish I had that... uhhh!"

"Don't be jealous, it's not good!"

"That's who's talking! By yourself!"

"I can!"

"That's why?!"

"I have white envy!"

"And I have a black one, then?!"

"And you're just jealous."

"I do not understand... What does simple mean?"

"Where are you going! It's not for average minds...."

"Does that mean I have an average mind?! That's it, then! Sir Haymon! I am offended in the best of feelings and demand immediate satisfaction!"

"Ha ha! Sir Denis! I accept your challenge! Where are the trainees?!"

"Over there, in the shoe box."

The guys pulled out training knives, they are made of soft and flexible plastic, but they leave bright luminescent marks after blows. It is extremely difficult to injure them, but the result is clearly visible. They kicked off their shoes and socks, and pulled off their T-shirts, leaving only light sweatpants. They stood opposite each other and bowed slightly. The beauties! Deniska is slightly shorter, but much stronger and slightly heavier than Ham, with already well-defined muscles. Ham, on the other hand, is faster and more flexible, with an amazing predatory grace, the collar has already formed, has not yet hardened, and is soft, as are the protective plates on his head and body. Tight rolls of muscles curl around the body and arms. In a couple of years, he will become a thunderstorm of women's hearts. Beware, young Turians!

They moved slowly in a circle, not taking their eyes off each other. Slightly crouched, deceptively relaxed, the right hand with the knife slightly in front, the left slightly closer to the body and lower, the palm turned down. I feel excitement and anticipation of a fight.

I'm missing the moment when the movement starts. A moment, a flicker of hands, a bunch of deceptive movements, the brothers tangled into a ball and fell apart, panting heavily. Deniska has a bright blue stripe running diagonally across her peritoneum, Ham has a bright green stripe running from her right shoulder through her collarbone and down her throat, disappearing at the ear opening.

"Ha! I got you! In real life, I wouldn't blow your head off," Denis said, panting.

"Look at yourself!" Ham is panting.

"Oh!" says Denis, staring at his stomach. "My giblets went for a walk! My poor guts! I'm blown away", the brother falls on the grass, spreading his arms. "It's a draw again! I don't like sparring with you, Ham! It doesn't do any good!"

"I agree! I know you like crazy! All your feints and tricks."

"Tell me, when was the last time our sparring ended with a victory?"

"Uh... well, it was like last week.... You kind of won."

"Sort of?.. You were in the clouds then! Master Tanris scolded you back then. And by the way, who is she?"

"What are you talking about?!" Ham flashed with embarrassment.

"Yeas well, come on!" Denis broke into a smile.

"Who were you thinking about? Come on, come on!"

"It seemed to you," Ham replied, even more embarrassed.

"Oh, brother! You seem to have fallen in love!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm telling you, you imagined it!"

"Ha ha ha! Oh, I can't! Hey, uh! You don't know how to lie at all!" Deniska reaches into the box and takes out bags of wet wipes, throws one to Ham. "Catch it, lover! Otherwise you'll be shining a green stripe on your neck!"

Ham opens the bag, takes out a napkin and begins to wipe off the paint, his gaze blurs and he, looking into the distance, just smears it on his skin in vain. Deniska lies down on her stomach, supports her head with her hands and, smiling, begins to follow the manipulations of her brother-in-law. I set the decanter on the grass, drop the glasses, take the napkin from Ham, and carefully begin to clean up the stains. Ham looks at me, at the smiling Deniska, blinking in surprise.

"Well, why did you interfere, Little Fox? This lover would have smeared a marker all over his neck right now and wouldn't have noticed. And then it would be green!"

Ham looks at me with his clear blue eyes. He's embarrassed, and he takes my hand with the napkin in his:

"Let me finish it myself... little fox!"

"There's not much left," I reply, wiping away the last traces. I lean into Ham's ear and whisper, "What's her name?"

"Noverry Rinaris," my brother says softly.

"That bully?" Deniska's voice is heard in my ear. "Oh-h!"

He gets an elbow in the side from me.

"Liska, don't push!"

"And she's not a pushover at all!" I say. "She's just very shy and hides behind it. And, Hame, she likes you too, and I think she more than likes you."

"Really?" my brother is surprised and delighted.

"Wow! Yes, it's mutual!" there is surprise and a little envy in Deniska's emotions.

We sit on the grass in silence for a while.

"So!" Deniska smelled businesslike. "I have a plan!"

"What's the plan?" Ham asks suspiciously.

"How to arrange your date. Otherwise, you'll be beating around the bush, and you won't decide on anything! And she's even more so! Little fox, I'm going to need your help. Are you in business?!"

"Of course! Don't even doubt it," I reply.

"And my opinion, as it were, is not taken into account?" Ham is surprised.

"As if not! You're too indecisive", Deniska answers. "And your salvation is now in our hands!"

"That's what scares me," Ham mutters. However, he is actually very pleased.

"Anyway, listen up!" Deniska begins. "As far as I know, she goes to the city's preference club every morning to play the piano."

I must say that a real piano is a very scarce thing. It is clear that in the 24th century, for the most part, electronic analogues are used, but to learn how to play correctly, you need to play a real instrument. There was only one of them in our town, and it was in a local club. The club was organized on a shared basis by three reasonable people: a human, an azari and a krogan. On the ground floor, it was quite an ordinary entertainment venue: with a restaurant, a disco, a bar and a cabaret. And on the second floor there was the only preference club in the entire colony, and there was a grand piano. In the evenings, various respectable people gathered at the club, including the colony's management, my fathers and their friends, to paint a bullet or two. During the day, everyone was taught to play the piano there, for a fee, of course, albeit a small one.

"We wait for her on the way home, then you," Deniska points her finger at me, "and you invite her to the Mirror, under some normal pretext, with us. We're taking her to the lake, and then it's a matter of technique." I may not be able to do it very well, but if we take Vaska, then together we will definitely convince her.

My brother scratched his head. He ruffled his hair and answered.

So, we take the blue one, she definitely won't refuse to participate in such a case.

"Is there a place for me in your plans?" Ham asks indignantly.

"And so as not to scare you off, you will prepare a place with Tam! A table, juice, a cauldron and a heater for cooking mud crabs from you. As soon as we leave, I'll beep on your communicator, and you'll run off to the foothills and pick some flowers. Mud crabs, so be it, we'll all catch them together."

"What kind of flowers?"

"Yes, any kind, there are many different ones growing in the glades, you can pick a bouquet to suit your taste. We'll settle down for now, you'll be fine. Come back and give her this bouquet. She's not stupid, and she'll understand."

"Got it! Everything seems to be simple..."

Deniska takes the decanter, we sort the glasses, my brother pours the juice, raises his own.

"I have a toast! To the success of our event!"

"For success!" Ham and I talk in unison, clinking glasses together and drinking juice.

* * *

Two hours later, having mobilized all the young people in our village, including Naina, Gina and Ivan, having clarified and supplemented our plan, the whole company begins to implement it.

I fly behind Deniska's back to the town, and a memory of a year ago wakes up in my memory by itself. On the same day, exactly one year ago, I also flew to Leonov, but only behind Ham's back. Clinging tightly to my sworn brother's hot back, I cursed my gift of empathy. Being in large crowds of people became more and more painful for me. It was especially difficult at school, our kindergarten was actually called a junior school. So, being among classmates was akin to sophisticated torture, because children do not know how to restrain their emotions at all! And when there are eighteen of them! I told Ray and Mom about the problem. Mom burst into tears again, Ray said that going to school would have to wait. And I spent the whole of last May at home, alone. Kaadi looked after me, of course, but with only half an eye, because of her newly born baby.

Although, for obvious reasons, I didn't cause any problems. They only took me to the mnemograph, so that I would not lag behind the other children.

Then I decided that I wanted to know both Turian and Asari. We flew to our Galamarkt supermarket to buy summer clothes, underwear and other necessary junk. My thoughts were full of the darkest forebodings. If I had known then what kind of meeting awaits me at the store, I would have run there on foot with all my might!..

The Old Shaman

June 10, 2359

Listening to the Stars, Keeper of the memory of the Grey Stone Clan

He woke up at dawn with a clear feeling that something very important was going to happen today, something that would have a huge impact on the future. He sat down on the couch and stretched his aching legs with his hands. Old age had come, and his life was rapidly and inexorably heading towards its end. The realization of this fact did not spoil his mood, the life of his people is not different and has never been different. He is the shaman of the clan. And his purpose is to preserve the memory of the clan, the memory of millions of generations of Keepers like him. The time will come, and he will pass it on to the next shaman, and for a while the clan will have two Guardians. Then he, like his teacher and predecessor, will go into darkness, and his pupil will keep the wisdom of thousands of years. So it was, so it is, and so it will be! Until the TIME comes.

The big house was waking up: Through the curtain came the clink of dishes, women's and children's voices, and the smells of cooking. Sixteen years ago, it was he who convinced the women of the clan council to accept the humans' offer and settle on Mendoire. They did not lose money: during this time, the clan strengthened, became rich, grew in numbers, and, most importantly, for all sixteen years, not a single man was expelled from it. The Guardian had a lot to do with it. He got up from the couch and went into a small nook in the corner of the room, where there was a large bucket of clean water. Standing next to her, he picked up a long-handled ladle and began his much-loved morning ablution procedure. The icy water invigorated him, made the aged blood run faster through his veins, his body warmed up, his mind cleared of the remnants of sleep. After washing his face, he dried himself with a large fluffy towel he bought from people. He put on a shaman's robe, put on a mask that hid his face, leaving only his eyes open. He put on and fastened the hood, pulled on his boots and tightened the embroidered belt last. He took his staff and, throwing back the curtain, went out into the corridor.

He walked along the corridor, and people he met made way for him with a bow: women, children, teenagers — everyone who lives here greeted their Guardian.

Their feelings shone with sincere love and respect, even some kind of reverence. He's been used to it for a long time. The young girl bowed and asked if he wanted to eat, but he didn't have an appetite-the old man didn't need much. Bowing, he replied that he was not hungry, and went to the exit of the house. On the porch, he was greeted by the bright sun, the hot rays of which warmed him so pleasantly. He walked over to his chair, sat down, and looked around the courtyard filled with the morning bustle. Sitting in an armchair, he waited for the young men to gather in the city of people. They were supposed to be on a food truck trip for the entire clan today, and he was going to keep them company. A shadow obscured the sun, the old man looked up and saw a young man in loose clothes, looking lovingly at the shaman.

"Greetings, Wise One, we are going to the city, do you need to buy something from people?" he asked with a bow.

"No, my boy. I'll fly with you today."

"The wisest one?" The old man was overwhelmed by the youth's amazement. "Whatever you say, Wisest One! We have everything ready and we... We're about to fly over here!" and he ran deeper into the yard.

A woman wrapped in ceremonial turquoise-blue robes came out of a large house, approached the old man, and sat down in an identical chair next to him. Her face is hidden by a mask, only her yellow eyes are visible.

"Greetings, Guardian! What do you need from people in the city that our children can't bring? What makes the old Guardian fly by himself?"

"Health and longevity to you, Supreme! And what awaits me is not what, but WHO! My feelings told me that I needed to be there today!"

The woman's feelings flared with alarm.

"Do you feel something, old man? Are these times... are they coming AGAIN? Yes, you're right! That TIME is near, the ENEMY will awaken soon! And, as has happened before, the reasonable ones are not ready to meet him."

"But is there any hope?"

"It's ALWAYS there! Maybe in this cycle we will find the ENEMY's weak spot and in the future we will be able to stop him."

"Women are tired of waiting! Maybe this time, the people should join the fight?"

"I don't know, Supreme... WE don't have a definite answer yet."