A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Chapter 15: Laval II

LAVAL

The next day, Laval woke up from his surprisingly comfortable leaf bed and took his time inside, yawning and stretching. He even groomed his mane, which was slowly growing back to its full, red appearance. Laval walked outside his tree-trunk dwelling to find Glorya waiting for him outside. "Oh, I didn't realize you were waiting for me out here," he said sheepishly. "It's no problem," Glorya replied. She had been practicing some kicks, although she stopped upon seeing Laval exit the tree. "I'm just glad to have someone of a like mind here." She began walking, and Laval followed her, walking briskly to catch up with her longer strides. "So, Glorya," he began, "you're going to train me, right? So I can get justice for my family?"

"Yes, I am," the gorilla replied. "To be honest, I wish that I could go outside and help right the wrongs of Chima as well. But that's not the way things work here in the Sanctuary Forest." Laval frowned, looking up at the verdant scenery above him. He could see numerous gorillas swinging from branch to branch, baskets of fruit in their hands. All of them were nimble, able to not only swing from branches and vines, but also able to run on the sides of trees with their prehensile feet. "I thought you were free to do whatever you wanted in the Sanctuary Forest," Laval inquired. "Aside from, you know, murder. Right?"

"Not exactly," Glorya responded. Seeing that she wouldn't continue, Laval remained silent until they reached their destination.

Several other gorillas were there, talking amongst themselves. They were in front of a huge tree which dwarfed any structure Laval had ever seen, including the palace in the Citadel. He gaped in wonder as he looked up its trunk, which was so wide that it would take dozens of lions spreading their arms to cover its circumference. As Laval and Glorya approached the gorillas, one in particular saw them and waved them over. "Ah, good to see you, Glorya!" she called. "Nice to see you too, Gelsi," Glorya replied. Gelsi was substantially shorter than Glorya, and was covered in dark brown fur. She had a wreath of flowers around her neck and light freckles on her cheeks, and she wore a collection of leaves on her chest and thighs. "Is this the lion Gompsy saved from the Falling Jungle?" Gelsi asked, looking at Laval. Glorya nodded. "Yes. This is Laval." "Welcome to the Sanctuary Forest!" Gelsi exclaimed, shaking Laval's hand. "Thanks," he said, a bit embarrassed. "I'm happy to be here to train as a warrior." An odd expression crossed Gelsi's face, but Glorya coughed lightly before Laval could correct himself. "You know," she began, "he was hit with a sleeping dart."

"Really?" Gelsi asked, beaming with excitement. "How did it feel?" she asked Laval. "Did it hurt? How fast did you fall asleep?"

"Uh, it just stung a little bit," Laval replied, trying to remember the sensation of being tranquilized. "I don't remember too much about it, to be honest." The gorillas behind Gelsi began snickering, and she turned around, looking at them testily. "I'm just curious!" she insisted. "Gelsi here has been trying to gain information about the tranq darts to have something to talk about with Gompsy," Glorya explained, seeing Laval's confused expression. "He's the head of the horticulture guild, so extracting the paralyzing juices of our plants is under his jurisdiction. Gelsi is the head of the tree guild, but for some reason, she lacks the confidence to talk to him normally."

"You lack confidence!" Gelsi shot back indignantly. Laval chuckled as Glorya rolled her eyes. "Laval, I brought you to Gelsi because you need to learn how to climb our trees. I'm not always going to be around to carry you up, and there aren't any other gorillas strong enough to lift you. Today will be dedicated just to tree-climbing so that in case of an emergency, you can get around here yourself." Laval gulped and once again eyed the huge tree that was standing before them. "Alright," he managed. "Do you think you can handle it?" Gelsi asked. The lion nodded, steeling his resolve and pushing his doubts away. "Give me a second to breathe properly," he said, thinking back to Gunter's lesson. "And then I'll do it."