Ramera - Chapter 1 revision

CHAPTER 1



The rapid staccato of raindrops falling on the enormous leaves that formed the canopy of their Devali tree home woke the young Ramera from her strangest dream yet. Her violet eyes open and gazed up at the black underside of the massive leaves that were trembling as the rain battered them. Her small brow furrowed as she struggled to recall the exact details of the disturbing dream. Shyvva had been there and they had been discussing how to reverse the stun block that had been encoded when she had made the little ones. Very little of it had made sense to her, but she knew that the feel of it had meant that it was important to the future so she initiated the Allus meditation for memory. After replaying the dream in her mind several times to commit it to memory. She opened her eyes in time to see the canopy leaves slowly opening up again after the passing rain shower to reveal the butter yellow morning sky and the small red Cami bird shaking its bright plumage to rid itself of the sparkling drops of rain before trilling its own special greeting to the new day.

Ramera adored her room high among the branches of the Devali tree that was attuned to her family. This tree like all others of its species was of a very gentle nature. It was mildly aware, as it seemed to understand Ramera’s family was not Derna, they loved their beautiful Devali home but the human family was sad in its inability to commune with the tree as easily as a Derna family could, and it forgave them their shortcomings and learned that the family was able to show its appreciation and love in other ways and that the tree could communicate and respond to its cherished family in other ways.

The Devali would die if the family was away from it for more than a few months, which was part of the double edged sword of being attuned with a Devali. It was a cherished member of the family and required the continued care and love of its family. It was more than a mere plant or home. It was a great honor to have a Devali bestowed upon you but it was not undertaken lightly. Devali trees were more than just a mere home; these trees were fiercely protective of the health and wellbeing of every member of its attuned family. These magnificent trees were aware of the world around them, the rain would not fall into the bowers of its family, and the sun would not burn their skin. No unwelcome pests or guests were allowed into the families bowers at any time.

Ramera smiled as the sun warmed her face, she quietly hummed a thank you to the tree for keeping her dry as she slumbered, so it would know that she was appreciative of its care. Ramera got out of her bed and laid her hands on the soft velvety bark that comprised the flooring of her bower room, she hummed gently and closed her eyes trying to commune with her home. The tree gently warmed to her touch, it only response to her efforts. She sighed in frustration as she was unable to commune with the tree the way other Derna were able to, the most she had ever received from the tree was an impression of amused tolerance. She consoled herself with the thought that she could commune with animals as well as the Derna could.



Growing up on the planet Mowan among the patient Derna, was often times a real challenge for young Ramera in the four short years since her birth. Ramera was a constant student of their ways. Ramera was unlike her brother Jerod who at six was a very typical six year old boy, rowdy and more than a little mischievous. Ramera had always been a serious child. Her mind and soul was decades ahead of her tiny body. She grasped concepts almost immediately and instinctively knew the natural order of things. She seldom smiled or laughed and was at all times the attentive Derna pupil and courteous to others. The rare moments of spontaneous laughter were usually un-discernable by others but actually the cause was a shared joke or comment from her imaginary friend, a tiny and gloriously pearl hued dragon named Shyvva. Shyvva had been her secret friend all of her life. Ramera even remembered things from the womb and even then Shyvva was with her. Shyvva was also the small voice of reason that helped explain things to her and helped her maintain an even temperament by being the calming voice of reason.

Ramera would be five in a few weeks time and her parents had been working on a special surprise for her to have before she had to start attending the special school created for the few human children on Mowan.

Ramera was really more excited about the chance to attend school than anything else. She hoped that it would allow her to learn all she wanted at the speed she wanted and wouldn’t make her take any naps. Naps were the bane of Ramera’s existence. No one seemed to understand that a few minutes of meditation was more restful for her than pretending to rest and trying to clear her mind of things to do and ask and compose her mind for sleep. Usually she had to resort to feigning sleep while doing other things in her mind. Her parents were usually very busy with their work, even more so lately either at the lab or out in the field. They had been too busy to take the time to teach her everything she wanted to learn about their work, so she was stuck with a Derna nanny.

Yeula, the nanny, had taught Ramera everything she knew about this world and its wondrous inhabitants. No matter how quickly Ramera managed to learn things Yeula still treated Ramera like a baby and insisted on the infantile naps that had been necessary for her brother at this age.

Ramera patted the Devali tree and rose to her feet and walked the few paces to the chest that she kept her clothes in, it had been woven out of a living Eram vine and the delicate pink flowers that were always blooming made her clothes smell wonderful. The Eram vines fragrance was always good at lightening the even the darkest mood. She pulled a fresh pair of leggings and a tunic from the chest and donned them. She then struggled briefly with her sandals. She was humming a light tune as she crossed her small room and pressed both of her palms against the broad leaf that was blocking the entrance to her room from the main living bower of the home. The leaf did not move out of her way, she hummed a gently inquiry for release. The leaf warmed to her touch but still would not allow her out of her room. She blinked a few times and began to hum the request for release again and more firmly when she felt a strange quiver run throughout the tree. She stepped back a few paces in surprise and began to feel the first vestiges of fear in her young life. The tremor began again this time accompanied by a high pitched whine that began to build; it seemed to emanate from the very core of the tree. Ramera’s heart was fluttering in her chest like a small bird against a window, as she crossed over to the small opening in the leaves that was like a window, she wanted to see if everything was okay outside. The leaves of her bower began to close and create a kind of cocoon around her; the small room was suddenly much smaller and very dark. The whine increased in intensity and began to vibrate in her skull as she stumbled to the corner by the head of her bed and crouched down covering her ears. Wide eyed Ramera huddled on the floor as she started to whimper in fear as she waited for the tremors running through the tree. Instead they increased their intensity and the whine felt like it was going to cause her head to split open. Tears were coursing down her cheeks and when she was on the verge of screaming, when it all stopped. The silence was almost as frightening as the noise and tremors. Shyvva was by her side, in her mind, “This is bad Ramera. We need to stay still and silent and the tree won’t hurt us anymore. We just need to stay still and quiet”. Shaking her head Ramera said, “Your wrong Shyvva, the tree would never intentionally hurt me. There must be something very wrong. I have to try to find out what it is.” She shakily removed her hands from her ears and placed them palm down on the floor and focused every ounce of her concentration of reaching the trees awareness. An intense warmth greeted her hands before a barrage of images began to flash in her mind of blood and violence, then she was drowning in wave after wave of emotions began to wash over her, first fear then anger then finally and endless echoing sadness tinged by desperation and frustration. Her dear friend Shyvva was yelling in her mind, “Ramera stop that, get onto your bed and out of its grasp........ Ramera”

Finally as Ramera felt she was about to drown in the vast sea of the trees consciousness she let out a long anguished wail before mercifully fainting.

Waking slowly I cautiously began to reach out with my senses, the first things I felt was a soft bed under my back and a squishy pillow supporting my head. I picked up the scent of warm cocoa and hot cereal close by. There was the muffled sound of hushed voices from the other room and the gentle sound of quiet breathing closer in room. The feeling of weight settling onto the bed and a slight rustle of the bed covers.

A low musical voice said, “I know you're awake youngling. I can tell by your breathing when you are sleeping or when you are visiting other places in your mind and pretending to sleep. Come open those strange eyes of yours and well get some breakfast into you. Younglings like you need nourishment. You are such a scrawny sprout that others will think that I am neglecting you.”

I opened my eyes and smiled up into the tawny face with an eye almost the same shade of lavender as my own.

The kind and familiar face of my dear nanny and friend Yeula was returning my gaze in her usual frank manner. Yeula stood and turned to retrieve the tray as I sat up and scooted back to lean against the headboard of the bed. I watched, blinking sleep from my eyes, as Yeula added milk and honey to my cereal before she returned to the bed and set the tray across my legs. I felt the vines of the tray adjusting and leveling the tray. I finally registered that this was my parent’s bed and I was in their room. This was not where I had been. Where had Shyvva gone to? The sun was at a different place in the sky and I was still dressed in my tunic and tights, my sandals were no longer on my feet though. It must not have been a dream.

This small realization elicited the recurrence of the frightening images and fear settled into my stomach like a block of ice. Taking a deep breath I forced myself to ask the question that I dreaded.

“Yeula, what happened to the tree and me? It acted funny, it never did that before. Did I do something wrong?”

The tension in Yeula’s face and body was evident, even to me. Her usually sinewy smooth movements became jerky for a moment before Yeula drew in a deep cleansing breath which returned her motions back to the fluid grace common to the Dernai. Yeula gave the Derna equivalent of a shrug and one of her sleek arms waved the question aside as she said,

“Ramera, eat. We will talk of things later.”

I gazed at my dear nanny and decided to allow the scene to play out as the Derna female had planned, for now. The food was filling to a stomach that needed it, I was unable to eat much of it and tasted less, which was a shame since the hot rice cereal with milk and honey was one of my favorite things to eat.

Finally I gave up trying to force more food into my churning stomach and laid my spoon down as I looked over at Yeula. The Derna female was not watching me, but was staring out of the bower lost in thought, she seemed wilted and uncertain.

Clearing my throat to get Yeula’s attention I then asked,

“Yeula, the tree really did act funny then it gave me some strange images. I had been in my room; it wouldn’t let me leave my room. Please tell me.”

Yeula had removed the tray as I spoke and after setting it down on top of the human style dresser of dead wood, she returned back to the bed and gently brushed a strand of the curly and unruly blonde hair back from my face with a gentle paw before saying,

“Youngling you are much too small for such an imbalance to be placed before you. I will call Elder Zehok to come in and speak with you, he has been waiting to speak with your for some time. You know it is a great honor for an Elder to take the time to speak with younglings, especially one as young as you are.”

Before Yeula could rise to go get the Elder I reached out and desperately grasped one of her soft paws and said,

“Yeula, please, do not let me be imbalanced from an unknown, let the balance and imbalance come from the loves in our life”

I had intentionally quoted one of the oldest Derna maxims that were taught from birth. It had come unbidden to my lips as the most expedient way to get the information I needed. My heart was racing and my stomach was quivery and threatening to return my recently eaten meal.

The awful and startling clear images of angry Derna and fearful bloody humans flashed though my mind again causing me to jerk on her arm in my urgency. Yeula’s eye widened as she felt my distress both emotional and physical emanating from me and made a quick decision for a human and an exceedingly rash and unconsidered decision for a Derna.

“Ramera, there have been some very unbalanced Derna lately that have been objecting to your family being honored with a Devali home and have not wanted them to have access to the knowledge of our Minah technique of knowledge transference. They feel that your species has not evolved enough to appreciate the knowledge and techniques to be able to have the wisdom necessary to not abuse the great honor. They believe that your human lives are too short to be able to demonstrate the integrity needed for this honor. The council of Elders had decided that a few among the humans were to be allowed to learn of or Minah techniques, your parents were the first among them. Your parents had just been granted permission to begin experimenting with the technique, not restricted to just learning about it anymore.” She paused for a breath and I nodded to let her know that I was still following what she was saying. “Well,” she continued “Your parents were on their way to meet with Jerod’s teacher, to talk of his educational progress and any special studies that he needs. They were caught up in a gathering of some of the un-balanced Derna. The council had announced its decision this morning and there were many disaffected Derna that were angry that they were not allowed to receive this honor and your parents after only a few years were allowed this honor. Many Derna are not found worthy of this great honor, it takes many many years to earn such an honor for a Derna. When your parents and brother came across this group of Derna....... Well youngling it was bad for your parents. They are well known to be the most advanced in the Minah techniques and were now allowed to practice......the un-balanced Derna acted very rashly, they behaved in a prohibited manner. They proved that they were unworthy of the Minah, the honor they felt that was due to them ....... they caused severe hurt to your family, youngling. The hurt would be repairable and a Derna could recover from such hurt in time, but Humans are not Derna and ......Your family is no more dearest. They will now be joined with the balance and cycle of Mowan.”

The door had opened during Yeula’s disjointed tale and an imposing Derna that must be Elder Zehok had come to stand at the end of the bed in complete stillness as he waited for Yeula to finish her rash words before saying in a deep low voice.

“Yeula I have come here to personally deliver this information to this human youngling”

Yeula rose and turned rising to her complete height which was still considerably shorter than the impressive Elder, of course she was a mere four hundred and eighty years old. She directed her eye into the Elder’s before saying,

“This youngling asked that the imbalance she faced be set before her by one she loved, not one unknown to her.”

The Elders gaze intensified as he held the gaze of Yeula. The tension was almost palpable so I looked at the Elder and asked,

“Elder, is it true? Is my family gone?”

The Elder’s gaze slid from Yeula and came to rest on me and with one slow nod of his regal head my entire world toppled in around my ears. The panic and fear began to vibrate through my entire body and Yeula drew me into her arms and began to hum a strange and hypnotic tune. Through my tears and sobs I felt myself being dragged down into the sweet oblivion of sleep. Shyvva was still not there to comfort and advise me. Had the Derna come and taken her too?

Strangely disconnected and out of my body I watched from the side of the bed as Yeula placed my sleeping body back on the bed and covered me with the blankets all the way up to my chin. She stayed brushing my unruly curls back from my face for a moment before she turned to face the still motionless Elder and waved her paws shooing him out of the room and they both exited the room quietly.

I had never dreamed like this before. I looked around for Shyvva to ask her what this was,still she was not here. So I followed Yeula and the Elder out of the room and into the main bower of our home where several other Elders and Dr. Othrop of Mommy and Daddy’s team sat around our living room looking tired, sad and a few of them looked more than a little scared.

Elder Zehok stood directly in front of Yeula and asked,

“So why did you defy my honorable request to tell the youngling what happened to her family?”

Yeula maintained her straight posture in the face of an Elder and said, “She is a youngling that I have helped care for from her first breath in this world. She has been my pupil and cherished child not of my own. I could not care for her more if she had been of me. She was very agitated and had already suffered much trauma from the tree’s reaction to what happened. She recited the proverb of Hayal to me, as if she already knew. Maybe she did, she said the tree showed her many images. I felt that it was the best way for her to receive the further imbalance.” She shook her head and lowered her head as she continued, “I could not deny this younglings frightened plea for her unbalance to come from a beloved than an unknown. You may do as you wish to me, but I will not deny this youngling any comfort I can give her.” Yeula then stood quietly waiting for the Elder’s response.

After a few moments of intense thought the Elder finally bowed slightly to Yeula and said,

“Well said young Yeula, but now how am I to create the necessary rapport that will be needed for the next steps that I must take with this young seedling that has managed to twine herself around your heart? Though I imagine you would gladly raise her, it cannot be. She will have grown old and passed on before you can turn around. Ramera’s path is sadly not here on Mowan. Dr Othrop has communicated to me that she is scheduled to go into special schooling on Telfa 4, she will then continue on to a profitable and healthy future. I have read her parents final wishes and will act accordingly. A transport is due here in a lunar cycle for the youngling; I will take her to the healing center for the remaining time she has left here with us. She will receive care for the trauma and preparation for the new aspects in her life. Yeula, please pack up her things to take with her. You will also need to package up her families items and I will store them for her until such time as she requires them.” He then turned to face Dr. Othrop and said, “Dr Othrop, please deliver the Vonieuz personal scientific belongings from their labs to me as well, before your transport arrives in a few days time. Ramera will always be welcome here on Mowan as an honored guest. Any time away from school she may come here and I will cover any transportation expenses for her and I will personally oversee her time here. Yeula will have unrestricted access to her as well. Also I will be officially requesting that should her studies lead her on a path that study here on Mowan would be beneficial she will have complete access to the planet. She was given status of a citizen of Mowan when she was born and she will always have this status.”

The Doctor nodded and left rose slowly leaving the Derna to comply with the Elder’s request.

“Yeula, I believe your induced slumber will last through the night and I would like to have Ramera settled into the healing center long before she wakes again.”

Yeula nodded and bowed before she left the bower room. She greatly resembled a wilted flower that had been denied sun and water for too long. The child leaving the planet had not occurred to her and was a hard reality to absorb for the caring young Derna.

Elder Zehok watched her leave the room and sighed before returning to the chair he had occupied during the six hour vigil while they had waiting for me to wake from the tree shocked. I watched the group for a few more minutes and since they only were discussing the possibilities of when the planet could be opened up again for scientific study and what safeguards that may need to be taken.

Feeling greatly fatigued I left the adults to their discussions as I returned to the bedroom where my body lay wrapped in blankets and slumbering peacefully. I closed my eyes and fervently wished that this whole day had just been a strange dream. Where was Shyvva? Why was she not with me as she always was? I needed her so much right now, the world had gone all topsy turvy and nothing really made sense right now.