Okay! Now that chapter 2 is up, I can answer some of the questions. Remember, read it and then don't forget to review! Now scroll down and read Chapter 2 of "The Quest: Amushi's Tale"!





The Quest Chapter Two: Amushi's Tale

Saukye thought back to when the Gods had spoken to him. It was not in Himnish, but in a language that Saukye still understood. Only two weeks ago. But what had Mai-Poh said? "You are the chosen one, Saukye," It had said. "You are to find Amushi-Sazuky. She will aid you, as you will aid her. You, together, will complete the Quest." This had confused Saukye.

"What Quest do you speak of, O Great Mai-Poh?" He had asked.

"The Quest." Mai-Poh had said. "Alas, I can not tell you. Do not be impatient, Saukye, for all will be clear. First, you must find Amushi- Sazuky before you may move on. You will leave in s'ken weeks." (" s'ken " was an untranslatable word for 'few', in the preface 'weeks') Then, Saukye had woken up. The Gods had spoken to him, and he will answer. Saukye had decided to leave in two weeks. Then he had slept for the rest of the night. Why, he thought, had the Gods chosen him? Why had-

"Are you ready for me to tell you my story?" Amushi-Sazuky interrupted Saukeye's thoughts, semi-annoyed.

"What? Oh, yes, I am sorry I had let my thoughts wander as such." Saukye said, politely as his mother had taught him, before she had died.

"Yes, then." As Amushi-Sazuky gathered her thoughts, Saukye's thoughts wandered, again.

Why had the Gods killed his parents? Saukye thought. Was it a punishment to him for his thoughts of disbelief? Or was it just to prepare him for this Quest? How long had the Gods planned for him to one day embark on the Quest he was on? Why had the Gods chosen him, Saukye wondered again. Why had-

Saukye snapped out of his questions when Amushi-Sazuky cleared her throat loudly. Saukye looked up to see Amushi glaring at him through her wooden mask. "Are you ready YET?" Saukye was silent, so she began.

"A long time ago, a man and a woman came to these jungles, with a baby girl."

"That baby girl was you, right?" Saukye asked, forgetting about his mother's lessons.

Amushi was silent, then: "Do you want me to finish, or answer your simple questions?" She asked.

"Sorry," Saukye muttered.

"Yes, that girl was me. The man and woman decided to live in these woods. As they lived, the baby grew into a toddler. And the toddler grew into a four-year-old girl. One day, when the little girl was playing with the God, Mai-Poh, she heard screaming. She ran to the sound, and saw the God, Spog- Roi, in front of her parents. Or what was left of her parents.they were statues, turned to stone, and there they were, both mouth and eyes open wide with fear. As the Spog-Roi turned towards her, she ran. She ran as far away as she could. She ran until she couldn't run anymore." Amushi stopped. She took a breath and continued. "The little girl could hear Spog-Roi coming towards her, gaining up on her, but she couldn't run anymore. Then, the Guardian God, Mai-Poh, came and picked her up. It carried her to a cave. That is where it taught her the languages of the Gods."

Saukye looked at Amushi. "Could you say 'hello' in Med-joi's language?"

Amushi-Sazuky stared at him. "Of course." She took a breath. "Gropthentei!" She roared into the distance. A whiles away, a much more frightening voice roared, "Gropthentei!" Amushi-Sazuky looked surprised. "Med-joi says 'hello'!"

Saukye looked at her calmly. "I believe you should finish your tale."

Amushi-Sazuky glanced up. "Yes," She said. "After five years of training, she was ready to be left out for the ritual: two weeks out in the wilderness, by herself. Mai-Poh had taught the now nine-year-old girl many skills, including her agility, sense of smell, better sight, advanced taste, and hearing better than anyone is born with. She had speed, and she could heal and help a God with forest materials.and-" She looked, jumped up a Fallumf tree, grabbed a rock fruit, and jumped down.

"You can't eat that, it's got a rocky shell that no one can break!" Saukye said. Amushi must have smiled, because Saukye could have sworn to the Gods that he heard some muffled laughing sounds. She raised the fruit up, and smashed it to her mask. Saukye watched in amazement as Amushi-Sazuky smashed it again and again, until it cracked. She looked at him, broke it in half, and gave one half to Saukye. She leaned back against the Fallumf tree, and started her story, again.

"Had been showed how to eat rock fruit." She finished her sentence. "So she was alone in the forest. Only not really alone. She helped the Gods, and the Gods helped her." Amushi took a break for a moment to take a few bites of the rock fruit, lifting up her mask and putting the shell just right to still hide her face. "But then a terrible thing happened. She saw-" Just then, Mai-Poh woke up, and got to its feet. Amushi-Sazuky listened and also got up. "Med-joi is coming. You will see a battle." Amushi-Sazuky said softly.

"Will it be bad?" Saukye nervously asked.

"Yes, it will." Amushi said solemnly.

"GOBGLUTALAS!" Med-joi roared from the distance, only this time it was much closer.

"Med-joi says that it is coming." Amushi said.

"Tell him that we know." Saukye muttered, under his breath.

Amushi-Sazuky cupped her hands around the holes in her mask and yelled some words to the Med-joi. A few seconds later they heard more roaring. "Med-joi says that you will die." Amsuhi said.

"Oh, great! That is just GREAT! Now he wants to kill me!" Saukye angrily groaned.

"Nonsense! Mai-Poh will battle the Med-joi, and protect you!" Amushi sternly whispered. "Keep your voice down, the Med-joi will not be able to hear you!"

The Med-joi came out of the trees, knocking a few trees down, and sending birds and other animals scampering off. It looked around a moment, then charged at the Mai-Poh. Mai-Poh shot a green ball of light at the Med-joi, and the Med-joi flew back into a dying Sleach beetle (When Sleach beetles begins to die, they grow large thorns all over its, and become very violent). The Sleach beetle began to bite the Med-joi, and it's thorns dug into the Med-joi's thick, leathery skin. Roaring in pain, the Med-joi staggered its feet, and threw the beetle at Mai-Poh. Mai-Poh tried to block it with its tail, but the beetle attacked and burrowed into the tail. Mai- Poh shrieked in pain, and ripped the ferocious beetle out. Amushi-Sazuky ran over to tend to Mai-Poh's wound. When Mai-Poh was healed, it butted the Med-joi into the spikes of a Deapono tree. The Med-joi's body was ripped open from the spikes, and it howled in a mix of pain and anger. The Mai-Poh whipped at the Med-joi with its tail, but the Med-joi blocked it. The Med- joi got up, and charged at Saukye, but the Mai-Poh tackled the Med-joi. The Med-joi bit the Mai-Poh and pushed it into a passing Shavang (Shavangs are viscious creatures that attack first, and ask questions later). The Shavang roared, and dug its fangs into Mai-Poh's already-injured tail. Mai-Poh moaned helplessly, and Saukye was afraid that it was going to die, when.

Shai-Koi (SIGH-koy) burst into the clearing. Shai-Koi is a tall, strong God that lacks pain nerves, and has the power to heal almost anything, except for the Dead. Shai-Koi ran over, and ripped the Shavang out of Mai-Poh's tail. Shai-Koi healed Mai-Poh and upper cutted the Med-joi. The Med-joi flew to the top of the Shallog tree, before letting out a roar of defeat, and disappearing.

Amushi turned to Saukye. "Med-joi says, 'May Spog-roi visit you.'"

"Uh, you know, I really did not need to know that!" Saukye said, a pained look on his face. "You never DID finish the story."

Amushi-Sazuky stared at him through her white mask. "Yes. I will finish." She took a bite of her rock fruit.

"Oh." Saukye said. He had forgotten about his fruit. He took a bite. Amushi- Sazuky sat down and started telling the story again.

"That terrible thing was late one night, she saw a God, Bot-Skoi (bot- SKOY): Keeper of the Dead." (Bot-Skoi was like the Egyptian Anubis. He carried the dead people around, much like the Grim Reaper) "Bot-Skoi was riding in a cart. The terrible thing was that Souls were pulling, pushing, and carrying the wagon. In that group, she saw.her parents! She called to them, called until the tears streamed down her face like twin rivers rushing down a vertical mountain. Alas, the Souls of her beloved parents could not hear her, as they were dead. The only one that could hear her was the Bot-Skoi, and it just glanced at her. The rest of the night, she couldn't sleep. She must of, though, because she woke up the next morning. Mai-Poh woke her up to make a mask with her. It would conceal her identity and decrease the possibility of being noticed, for the mask would be painted to be able to camouflage her. After carving the shape of the mask out of a Poomglah tree trunk, they used the sweet-smelling Smeesha (smee- SHA) bush berries to make it white, and with the poisonous Plemgeh (plem- GUH) fruit, and a Penta stick, they put black stripes on it. The mask would be her new identity. Then it taught her to use a cha-ling (chah-LING) diamond and a Flough (flow) Stick." Amushi-Sazuky took out a stick with a diamond attached on the end, which Saukye guessed was a Flough Stick and a cha-ling diamond.

"What is that for?" Saukye asked.

"Oh, protection. Food. That sort of thing." Amushi-Sazuky said. She aimed it at a rock, and a white lightning bolt shot out, and melted the rock into lava. "Now I must finish the story. The Mai-Poh taught her that the two together make a great protection. Mai-Poh taught her to use it as a shield." She shook the stick, and then another lightning bolt came out, spread into a wide circle, and then molded into a shield, in front of her. "Come, we will sleep here tonight." She shook it again, and the shield tipped over and raised to make a hut. Saukye walked into the electric hut, and saw the stick in the middle, hovering slightly. When Amushi-Sazuky walked into the hut, it closed behind her. She crouched down, and gathered a pile of sand. She put the sand in the electricity, and it melted. When it cooled, she spread it out into a plate. It melted into glass, and she told Saukye to do the same. "We will sleep on the glass," She informed Saukye. Saukye stared at her for a moment, pulled a blanket out of his pack, lay down on the glass, pulled the blanket over him, and went to sleep.