Dearest subjects, as we gather in unity, let us acknowledge the unique tapestry of our diverse existence. Each among us possesses distinct personalities, backgrounds, beliefs, and affiliations to various tribes. Within this rich mosaic, some are bestowed with extraordinary talents—gifts that, across millennia, have woven the fabric of our illustrious nation.
These exceptional abilities, honed through the ages, have empowered us to triumph over innumerable wars and conflicts. We've faced adversaries of double our might, emerging victorious, crafting a kingdom of unparalleled beauty and tranquillity. Yet, let us not disregard the inherent peril that these gifts pose, both to the wielder and those in their proximity.
Untrained, these powers may spiral beyond control, threatening the sanity of the bearer and endangering the very lives we hold dear. Graciously, our wise forebears devised a remedy—a bastion of enlightenment known as the Academy. Here, mastery over these formidable gifts is instilled, transforming potential chaos into disciplined prowess.
The Academy stands not merely as a crucible for harnessing innate abilities but as a revered institution nurturing future soldiers, scholars, architects, and leaders. Admission, a privilege granted solely to those having witnessed fourteen summers, ensures that our youth, upon reaching the threshold of maturity, embark upon a journey of refinement.
I beseech you, my cherished people, to entrust your progeny to the care of the Academy. Let them undergo the crucible of education and discipline, ensuring they evolve into men and women poised to serve our kingdom with distinction, perpetuating its greatness.
Your beloved Queen
Elizabeth
Omache
I love tree jumping. I especially love the adrenaline coursing through my veins due to the complete terror that I feel for using my stone to make me faster, more agile and keener sighted. So that I can tree jump faster than some monkeys. I do a quick scan of my surroundings and look for the smallest sign of movement or evidence of a baboon being present. Its clear, for now, I relax a bit and start admire my surroundings. All I see are trees. Where ever I look I see an endless amount of these ancient majestic creatures. With their thick wide trunks that can never be properly hugged because of the magnitude of their width. With some being so thick that they are the same size as a small hut. The dirty dark brown colour and tough texture of their bark fuse and create intricate patterns which give the trees a mesmerizing beauty. Branches that are strong enough to carry the weight of a child that is eight summers old only start just above the height of a house. Which means that a person must climb quite the distance before getting a secure hold on a branch that is strong enough to hold their weight and not break. Which is one of the reasons that makes us respect them so much not only for their delicious and wholesome fruits, their strong branches that we use as support beams to build our houses, how they help clean the air that we breath and many other things that they provide for us. But also for the ironic fact that if you are stupid and reckless the very same tree that you respect and admire for it providing so much life will be the very same ferocious beast that will end yours.
A slight movement in the leaves to the right of me catches my attention and snaps me out of my thoughts. I tense my muscles and get ready to jump. I take a closer look and see that its just a squirrel. I try to calm down and clear my head of fear as I use my stone. Each person from the tribal kingdom is born with one or two crystal clear gems inside their heads. These orbs give the person that is born with them certain abilities depending on which tribe they come from. Each of these orbs are linked to a certain emotion depending on the tribe a person comes from. There are three different tribes. There is the Mind tribe, the Power tribe and the Agility tribe which is where we are from.
People from the Power tribe are born with a power orb. This power orb allows the person who possesses it to have an abnormal amount of strength. It allows the person to lift up to five times their own weight depending own how powerful their orb is. The agility stone allows the person to have lighting fast reflexes and makes then super agile. The mind stone allows the person to have an extremely good memory and allows them to communicate telepathically but that depends on whether a person has a surfaced or an unsurfaced orb. Each stone is connected to a certain emotion. Each person is born with an unsurfaced orb and as the person grows the persons abilities grow in power until they are fourteen summers old. In that time period their orbs have the chance to surface. An unsurfaced orb requires the person to be well rested and well fed in order for the person to fully use their abilities. The longer you stay tired your abilities grow weaker until they reach a point where you can’t use them at all.
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If you have a surfaced stone then it is not necessary for you to be well rested and fed in order to use your orbs full potential. You can last to up to two weeks before your abilities grow weaker while a person with an unsurfaced orb can only last for about four days. Unfortunately when a person’s stone is strong and if they are not trained how to control them they go crazy and become a danger to themselves and the people around them. I’ve been on edge lately, tomorrow will be the most important day of my life. Although the law states that once we turn fourteen we must be sent to the Academy. Most people are born with very weak stones which means that they will not be dangerous if they don’t receive proper training.
So hundreds of years ago when the Academy was still relatively new the council allowed each tribe to decide if their children’s stone’s where strong enough to be sent to the Academy and since then, few and fewer people are sent to the Academy because they are not a danger. Now only teenagers that are really strong are sent to the Academy. And it’s always been a dream of mine to study at the Academy. Each tribe created their own crazy test. Well I guess each tribe views each other tribes test as crazy since they are all so different. The reason being is that there is no real way to determine how powerful a person’s stone is since the stones are inside our heads. But I know that’s just a lie children are told by adults in order to keep the fact that the Academy has a way to determine exactly how powerful someone is. Unfortunately there are only a handful of people who have been to the Academy and one of the is Eric's father. They all refuse to tell anyone anything about how the Academy determines how powerful someone is.
The test consists of an area that has a clearly marked beginning and end. There are two different sides, the hunters and the prey, each side consists of equal members. The point of the game is for the prey to get to the finish line before getting shot three times by the hunters. If the prey shoots the hunters with a gumberry twice, the hunter can no longer pursue any of the prey. The prey can decide whether they want to take out all the hunters or get to the safe zone without being hit three times and win. Both the hunters and the prey are allowed to band together. The prey is also allowed a five second head start. The path to the finish us an obstacle course, there are randomly placed logs, planks and branch spring traps every where. The time you have to make in order to be considered worthy of attending the Academy is three minutes. A person who was never born from the agility tribe and has never lived in the trees and learned to tree jump like we have would never be able to tree jump fast enough in order to win and they would not be able to be careful enough or know how to prevent themselves from plummeting to the ground and end up getting seriously hurt. Unlike us who have literally tree jumped since the day we discovered that we were strong enough to lift our own body weight and climb.
Tomorrow there will be six hunters and six prey. Today I’m a hunter hunting for food. I had seen a couple of baboons on the south side of the south side of the village and had decided to follow them. There are hundreds of different types of monkey’s the region we live in due to the dense jungle and tropical climate that produces tons of different fruits and berries. Monkeys tend to invade our village and steal our food and other random items but most are driven away from our village by hunters or pissed of people that were looking forward to their meal. And baboons are the most annoying because they live closest to our village. They are also very dangerous because they have long, sharp canines; have a short temper and they live in groups. Today I chased and followed five away from near the village with a torch so I could have an excuse to go beyond village borders. This will give me the opportunity to think in peace and maybe find a banana or gumberry tree near their territory.
The village is usually peaceful and quiet but today it was busy and noisy due to all the people hammering away like mad men preparing for the ceremony tomorrow. I had tree jumped as fast and quietly as I could to minimise the risk of accidentally going into the baboons territory. Jumping, ducking, diving, twisting in mid-air and swinging as I travelled from one branch to the next and then finally using the momentum that I had gained to swiftly swing of a vine and shoot off to the next tree which was on the other side of a small clearing and as the momentum forced my legs upwards and tilted my head towards the ground I allowed my body to do a back-flip. For a few seconds I viewed the world upside down and enjoyed the wind whip through my hair and massage my skin which made me feel at peace. I did a complete revolution and landed on the branch of a tree that was the other side of a clearing. Which was caused by a couple of trees that had died ages ago due to a lighting strike during a storm. It was a risky and dangerous move but it was worth it because it felt amazing.
Now this is where the fun begins. I check my satchel for my slingshot and gumberries that I had packed before the chase had started. The satchel has my slingshot and berries wrapped in a cloth. I take the slingshot, load it with a gumberry. I use the cloak as camouflage so that I can stay hidden and approach the baboons territory without being seen. The cloak was given to me by my aunt when I was ten. It was dirty brown with hints of dark brown so it can camouflage me in the trees as I Tree jumped. It was efficient when in the village where there are many branches and wooden structures but out in the open forest with so many green leaves it wasn’t. So I had sowed on patches of green and dark green cloth so it can blend in amongst them. I carry on tree jumping but slowly and also being careful to not make any sound. It’s slower but it’s safer .
When I see a bunch of clustered banana trees I also spot the baboons I then stop moving and do a quick scan to see if there aren’t any baboons too close. Once I’m sure that there aren’t any I take off my cloak by separating the clasp. I don’t want it to slow me down if I end up needing tree jump away to safety. I put the slingshot in between my belt and my waist so it’s within quick reach then quietly move towards the closest banana tree. When suddenly a baboon viciously howls.