CHAPTER 1: The traveler's youth

Moment 2: Dalamb's friends, to the rescue! (Part 1)

Dalamb speaks again.

And now, I am on the same horse as my brother with my friends on my back. I wonder why they all look up to the sky. Only my little lion cub Scratchu is on my lap sleeping. Other lion cubs are in front of me in a sort of battlefield in the middle of a desert. I can't make out what's on the ground under them. On the other side, people taking a child in their arms? But they're going to hurt him by taking him like that by the neck! Wow what is that? A fleeing golden dove and people with black badges under their eyes! And then what are my friends doing on my back? On the other hand they are very light and it is strange! Ah, my brother is coming, but the more I approach him the more he moves further and further away. But come back! I manage to catch up with him and he kicks me! "Driiiing! ".

It's 7 am. What was that weird dream? It is with half-open eyes that I move around the house to wash up and then head for breakfast. My brother is still sleeping and Usha too. Dad and mom are up and still looking good at this hour. On the menu, fruits, barley bread, olive oil... After that, I get dressed, kiss Mum and I'm now ready for a school day. Dad trains outside.
"Have a nice day son!" He said, kicking the wind.
"Thanks see you later"
"Ya, hup!" He continues with quick kicks and kissing me to say goodbye. "Don't forget your training tomorrow with Lo! Hup, Hush!"
"Yes Dad, have a good day everyone, awuuuum" I say yawning.

The way to school accompanied by a few yawns is done with much less enthusiasm than the return home yesterday. To reach the school you have to walk fifteen minutes. I have to go through the main street of shopkeepers where the market takes place. A fairly long and wide avenue which brings together all the sellers of vegetables, fruits, spices, wheat, meat, but also craftsmen such as tailor-made clothing shops, carpenters, shoemakers, etc. Agriculture is really flourishing here.

Our country is truly famous for its agricultural fertility and its cultural differences. I also learned at school that we have more than six different communities and many languages ​​are spoken. There is the region and the language of the Desert, that one of the Latin Region, of Zia which itself is made up of several tribes speaking different languages, of Saï, of the Region of Western Countries, neutral zones such as the Villages of the Center and finally the Royal Region in the north. The official language of Opeupl' is Opeupl, everyone speaks it. Dara, my village, is a village located in a neutral zone, they speak Opeupl' there but also the language of the Desert, a region which is not very far from the village.

Queen Sainta Sages Guide encourages people to keep everyone's values, traditions and openness to other communities. Apparently, she often says "Several customs but with similar values". I don't understand what she means by that, but hm, maybe later, as my brother says, I'll understand better. Anyway! Apart from this long avenue, whose first merchants are opening the shops, birds accompany my walk with their songs. I walk this way so much that I know what kind of songs I'm going to hear in certain places. I decide to cross a small bridge in order to take a detour through a few streets to meet more sun rays. I will finally soon arrive at... "Bam!", I get a pat on the shoulder!
"Hey old man" said my friend whom I was just going to look for and whose voice I recognized. "Well then, why are you talking to yourself?" He asked.
"Yo Chanck! Oh, but it's just additional information that I brought to readers so that they can better understand"
"Ah okay, I see! What do we have this morning?" He asks me as we continue our walk together.
"Mmmh, Geography and Agriculture, then this afternoon, languages"
"Oh yes, arf I hope Geo won't be too boring, she has such a monotonous voice!"
"So true! But I have to take a little interest in it if I want to understand where my brother went during his trip"
"Oh yes! My dad told me he was back"
"Yeah and he even brought me a lion! Eh eh !"
"What?! Hm, I know, you want to raise him to win all the battles that are fought against me when we play 7P juniors... I have no desire to face a lion, you will come in my team!" He tells me as a snail crosses the road.
"Uh, it's a little lion by the way, a lion cub, but no, no, you're unbeatable, I have
the impression that you don't even know how you win!"
"Uh, well I don't know haha" he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah... By the way, we'll meet at the water point this afternoon with the others to do some
ricochets?"
"Yes, oh by the way! Yesterday when we went there, we met a savage! He must have
our age and apparently he lives in the forest and... he was naked!"
"Eh ? But what did he tell you?" I say as a cat washes up in front of us.
"Well you know we were looking for the bear there as usual and then he appeared asking us to become his friends"
"That's awesome! It will make us one more member for the 7P juniors!"
"Yes, but it's disgusting to have a member of the team naked and then..."

Every morning we walk about ten minutes together with Chanck. We have some courses in common. He has the character trait of being rather positive and kind. I hardly ever saw him in a bad mood. We have known each other since very young and our parents also know each other. His clan is renowned for their farming and agricultural skills. He has a baby face and smiles often. But his real strength and one of his most obvious abilities is...luck! In some areas it is distressing! When playing 7P or fighting, he always wins! And even if his strategic capacities are not exceptional, he is always first! He even passes in front of Drea who is supposed to be the strongest of the group. The last time he had avoided my blow by sneezing, he had found us during a simulated kidnapping mission while trying to relieve himself behind a bush, he had managed to save us from a chase with a bear in dropping a jar of honey... In the end, he manages to get out of often desperate situations. And as I often tell him, he does not realize this ability. Somewhere, that's much better, otherwise luck might no longer tracks him!

Here we are at the entrance of the school and I see that Chanck has disappeared from my field of vision rushing towards another member of our group of 7P juniors, Leya. She finally decided to join us and play with us often. I feel like she was attracted basically because it had Drea in it. She is in love with him, it is obvious! But he doesn't want to hear anything. Rather pretty, she has a certain success with the other boys and especially with Chanck... who unfortunately is not so lucky in love. Besides, every time he sees her, his big cheeks blush to the point of looking like two very ripe apples! Leya took up martial arts too and has a good basis now. Although she retains faster than average and she is dexterous, her weak point remains physical strength. But we will never take away her abilities of empathy and determination that make her someone super cool! Anyway everyone is welcome in our group. Other kids make fun of us a bit and call us babies but we have fun.
"Hey guys, how are you this morning?" She says.
"Yo!" We say with Chanck. "Look Leya these are dried figs from my garden.
You want some?" Says Chanck.
"Wow! Yum! I love it, it looks so good! I love eating, slurp! Thank you!" She says with her mouth already full and continuing to guzzle.

Rah this guy... he hadn't even offered me his figs before we saw her! Mh, maybe I'll be like him too when I'm in love. He still offers me to take some and I accept. Leya has already eaten two good handfuls of figs. She eats very often but always remains so graceful. Classes are about to start. Drea is in another section right now. For a few weeks it is his clan, the Shork tribe, which gives lessons to members of his family. They look pretty stern, but that justifies Drea's talent, which is far beyond us all in combat and agility. But anyway we meet every day after school at the river or at the lake.

The school day passes and fortunately quite quickly. Leya, Chanck and Drea probably left for the waterhole. I leave with enthusiasm to join them. On my way out, I head for the gate where Drea is supposed to come out of but once again his right ear is paying the price of his contentious behavior. I wonder what hurts the most between the ripping of the ear and the eardrums with the screams of his teacher. What's funny is that the professor tries hard, but Drea doesn't budge. No emotion. It's as if it were normal for him, it's also what must annoy his executioner the most. He sees me and gives me a thumbs up to tell me that everything is fine, as usual. I return the gesture and show him with my finger in which direction I'm going.

I go towards the river while whistling. I have to go through a small forest. Ah! I think I hear Chanck and Leya, they should be right in front of me, a few dozen meters away. I'll try to scare them from behind, hehe! I hear them talking but they have stopped I think. Eh?! It's not them. I stand behind a tree and I see that there are three young boys older than me around a girl who seems to be my age. She is really well dressed, certainly an aristocrat with a beautiful embroidered dress, a white face and neatly lined pigtails.
"Well then she starts crying in front of us now! You got lost in the forest but in any case you won't leave without giving us your very shiny necklace and bracelet there", says the largest of the gang harshly.
"I am... I am sorry if I encroached on your land, I didn't know it was yours..." She says head down and in a fragile voice.
"What? Ah yeah, yeah, yeah, you have just set foot in a private area so you have to give your jewelry as compensation" he continues.
"Unfortunately, I can't... mother would scold me, but if you want I can find someone who compensates you..."
"Well you're going to shut up a bit, here we are not in your aristocratic castle nor in the royal region!" He says to her, taking her arm violently.

The narrator takes over.

The girl is crying again. Dalamb's teeth grit, his fists clench, and at that precise moment, he no longer has complete control and has no choice but to intervene.

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