The PureLights of Ohm Totem (26 page)

The sky was dark, but the moon was bright, casting a shadow of the Large Boulder over Coda. His black fur hid him well. At a swift glance, no spirit animal would ever see him.

Coda didn't care. His day had been a long one. His mind was in a daze.

The stars blanketed the night sky, something he had never noticed back at home. A shooting star streaked high above him. It lit up the night for a split second.

The wind was still and the air was silent, which made the night warmer. He brought his eyes forward and his ears back, as he listened to the sound of the river behind him.

He lay down, chin on his forelegs. He'd been sitting here for what seemed to be an hour. The constant practicing tired his muscles and ached his spine. After training, he couldn't find Zoey anywhere in the meadow. He wanted to know how she was, and boast to her about how well he did in training. Nonetheless, he drifted into deep thought.

Orion? It's weird. I'm not Orion.

He shook his head. He couldn't be Orion. If he was Orion, he wouldn't have created the Art of Defense in a way that made you practice so much. It was exhausting. Although, throughout the day, they did take breaks, and drink water. He was grateful for that. Though, they never stopped to eat. He thought that was strange. He shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't hungry anyway.

Wait a minute. Hungry? I haven't been hungry ever since I got here.
He thought about that for a moment, then dismissed it. He was too tired too care.

From the east came the familiar sound of heavy hoofs hitting the earth. Coda lifted his head, “Hey Chev.” His voice was weary.

“That tough today?” Chev appeared concerned. “I can carry you back if you want. Or,” he smiled, “I can easily toss you all the way back to the Marble Burrow. It's not far.” Chev stopped a few feet from Coda. He started to pose for him, flexing his muscles. He grunted, “You see that?”

Coda managed a half-smile. Chev was funny, but he was too tired to laugh.

Chev relaxed, whisking his trunk in front of Coda. “Yeah, I've been practicing sitting at the beach all day. It's hard work.” He flexed again. “You see those rippling muscles? See the tone in them?”

For a moment, Coda thought he was serious, then Chev laughed. “I'm just kidding with you. I admire your hard work. You deserve some rest, and…” Chev bent down a little closer to Coda, “...seriously, do you need me to carry you? I'm going in that direction.”

Coda shook his head. He didn't want to be babied, though it would be nice to be off of his paws for a while.

“I'm okay. Thanks.”

“Can I walk with you?” asked Chev.

“Sure.”

Coda stood and padded toward the Marble Burrow, which he could easily see just to the south of them. The light blueish, white light glowed from the entrance, inviting him to come and rest.

“Have you seen Zoey?” asked Coda. After his question, he realized that the first few steps he took did the opposite of what he thought would happen. Instead of making his paws ache even more, the grass seemed to soothe and massage them.

Chev looked down at him. “Doesn't that feel better?”

Coda nodded, “Yeah.”

“Walking on the grass always calms the nerves and eases the muscles.” Chev placed his trunk on Coda's back. “And, yes, I've seen Zoey.” He patted Coda's back, “She's back in her room. She had a tough day too, although different from yours.” The elephant sounded somewhat gloomy.

Coda's eyes showed his alarm. “What happened?”

“Numee said that she was attacked by a Dim, and...”

“What?!” Every muscle in Coda tensed. He wanted to get to the Dim, any Dim for that matter, and defend his sister. He glanced toward the Spruce Hollow, but saw only the blackness of the night, deepened by the heavy shadows of trees.

He narrowed his eyes. His vision then became clearer, showing him the Spruce Hollow beyond the shadows.

Coda was about to run, but was held back by Chev's large trunk across his chest. “Hold on, Dim Killer.”

Coda’s eyes flashed anger. “I want to see if she's okay!”

“She is. She's asleep,” Chev assured him, releasing Coda from his grip.

“I want to see my sister!” Coda growled.

Chev let out a breath. “I know. I'm sorry Coda. She's sleeping right now. She wasn't hurt. No one was hurt.” He smiled. “Right now your emotions and energy are violent. You'd disturb her sleep. Plus, Taregan's a stinker on these things. He'd sense your energy and turn you away. And you don't want to mess with Taregan.” He chuckled. “Come on. Let's get the hero to sleep.”

Begrudgingly, Coda followed Chev to the Marble Burrow.

I better not see a Dim
, thought Coda.
No one touches my sister!
His fur bristled, standing on end in frustration. He clawed the grass as he walked, then wondered why he was so angry about someone harming his sister. He sniffed the air, realizing he was just in a bad mood. It had been a long day.

“We're here,” said Chev.

“And you are,” replied a calm, wise voice.

Coda dipped his head in greeting. He hadn't seen Honani since last night and his mood lightened a bit when he saw the peaceful badger. Honani stood at the entrance with his head bowed. “It's good to see you Chev, and you, Coda.”

Chev patted Coda affectionately. “I'll see you later, okay?”

Coda faked a smile. His heart felt heavy, but he couldn't understand why. Was he mad at what happened to his sister?

As Chev walked away, the badger turned and slowly walked down the tunnel. Coda took a step inside, placing his paw on cold, dry soil. A much different feeling than the grass. He noticed that instead of soothing his feet, each step felt like pinpoints of pain. Every step was accompanied by a small pebble pain here, and a tiny dirt clod stab there.

Honani counseled, “Fully allow each step to take its course. If you step on a rock, the rock is there to mend a wound in your body, whether that be in an organ, muscle, or vein. There are thousands of nerve endings in paws. Each nerve that receives pressure will send a signal to a corresponding point in your body and relax that area.”

Coda's mind wasn't on Honani's instructions. He just wanted to get to his bed and rest. He wanted to fume over the unjustified actions that the Dims inflicted on his sister. The last thing he wanted to worry about were these pebbles under his paws or any nerve endings in his feet. He simply nodded and did his best to maneuver around any hard objects.

Then something occurred to him. Why was he so mad at the Dims? He loved his sister, but he'd never reacted this way before. She was annoying for sure, but he wanted to protect her more than anything. He now felt that he needed to be by her side at all times.
Why was that?

For a while, there was silence between them as they padded down the tunnel. This didn't help matters any. Coda was imagining throwing Dims across the forest, or sending them hard against the grassy meadow.
That'll teach them to put their filthy claws on my sister!

“Coda?” Honani's voice was soft, easing Coda back to reality.

Coda looked at Honani. The badger's eyes mirrored his soft voice. “When you look at things from a higher perspective, you can see the whole picture. Right now you're seeing just a sliver of the picture.”

Coda's whiskers twitched.
Sliver?
“What picture?”

“The pictures and images you hold in your mind right now are just a sliver. This sliver, or piece of the picture, is what angers you. The sliver in your mind takes you away from what's real.”

Coda looked up at the ceiling highlighted by the zytes that lined the walls. He looked at Honani, almost forgetting about his anger. “Oh? Well, what's real then?”

The badger stopped and slapped the ground with his right forepaw. He twisted his foot left and right, making a small impression in the ground. He pointed to the ground, then looked around, pointing to everything around them, then pointed back at the impression. “This point in the ground is what you're focusing on. But look around. There's more to this dirt than just this point.” They continued walking in silence. “Do you understand, Coda?”

The only thing Coda understood is how different they talked here compared to where he came from. They talked of moments and of the heart, and other things like that. Coda shook his head, “I don't know.”

“I'll make it a little easier,” said Honani. “If you were swimming in the River Ohm and you saw the rapids in front of you, then what do you see?”

Coda thought for a moment, “I guess I see the rapids.”

“Correct,” replied Honani. “If Nova lifted you out of the rapids, carrying you high above the land, looking down, what would you see?”

Coda pictured himself high above the rapids. He saw the River Ohm below. He saw the Large Boulder. He saw Deer Meadow. He saw as much as he could remember in his short stint here in Ohm Totem. He glanced down at the impression in the dirt. “I’d see a lot more.”

“Right. You see, Coda?” Honani pressed his paw against Coda's chest. “You saw more than just the rapids. There was an entire life going on around you. If there was a waterfall just beyond those rapids, you'd see the waterfall. If there was a widening in the river, you'd see that as well. You'd see that there's more to the river than just the rapids.”

Coda nodded. He understood the point of Honani's example. This didn't soften his anger any, but it made sense.

Honani smiled. “When you drop into your heart and replay what you're angry about, you see more than what you're currently focusing on.” Honani shifted on his paws. “You're angry about what happened with your sister, aren’t you?”

Coda's eyes raged, his fur prickled with anger.

“I see,” said Honani. “Perhaps your sister needed this lesson as part of her training. And, if she learned from the lesson, then it advanced her experience in some way.” He paused, taking in a long breath. “When you can see beyond your anger, then the anger slowly recedes into something a little more tangible and helpful. You see the big picture. You see the lesson in all of this.”

Coda absently kicked a large rock in front of him to the side as his pace quickened. “Tangible?” He'd never heard that word before.

Honani hurried to catch up. “Yes, tangible. It means 'real'.”

Coda walked even faster. He didn't necessarily want what's “real”. He wanted to help his sister, here in Ohm Totem—to be by her side at all times so she'd never be hurt again.
But why do I suddenly feel that way?

Honani tried again. “When you go into your heart, you'll see the bigger picture. You'll understand that everyone has something important to learn. Your anger about your sister tells you that you love your sister so much that you don't want anything to happen to her. Perhaps protecting her is your goal in life, I don't know. However, your anger isn't helping her any. It's creating the opposite effect. That's just how life works. You're whipping up more drama, like a whirlwind, by fuming over her lesson.” Honani suddenly stopped, making Coda skid to a halt. He was surprised and a little impressed that Honani could stop so fast. “Has Nova shown you how to go into your heart?”

“The Snow Tree did,” replied Coda.

“Yes,” nodded Honani. “The Snow Tree is a very reliable source. A master teacher. When you go into your heart, you might see the lesson in your anger and what you're truly angry about. So, it's a good idea to practice as much as you can. Your heart holds all the answers. I'd suggest that you go to a silent place, bring that anger into your heart, and cover it with love. Then rise above the image and look around. You might see something you need to know.”

Coda was too tired to practice, and simply nodded his head. He just wanted to go to sleep. Maybe that would help him let go of being angry. It usually did.

∞

The number nine glowed on the disc door to his room. The door quietly opened with a blow of his breath, revealing the soothing light of the zytes. Skint was there, lying down, seemingly in deep thought. He glanced up as Coda walked in, then resumed his ruminating

“Hi Skint,” greeted Coda, walking over to the right side of the room. He elegantly collapsed on his bed, curling his tail around his forepaws.

“Hi C-coda.” Skint looked disinterested. Or, rather peeved that Coda was there.

Coda was ready for sleep, but then remembered a question he wanted to ask Skint. “Hey Skint?”

Skint turned, placing the left side of his face in his paws, facing away from Coda. He faintly replied, “Y-y-yes?”

“Where did you go last night?”

There was a long pause, then Skint turned his head in Coda's direction. His eyes betrayed a mysterious and firm displeasure. “W-w-hat do you mean?” His ears perked in alertness, waiting for the answer.

“Oh,” Coda replied casually, looking at his paws in front of him and twitching his ears. Should he not have asked that question? “I thought I heard you leave last night.”

The squirrel lifted himself up with both front legs and remained silent for a moment. He looked at the door. “R-r-really? I was here all-all-all night. You m-must have d-dreamed it.”

Coda narrowed his eyes in thought.
Why is Skint lying?
Still, Coda didn't want to make Skint feel any more awkward. Maybe he had to use the restroom, wherever that was, and was embarrassed? Closing his eyes, Coda mumbled, “Yeah, I must have been dreaming.” He took in a deep breath. “Good night, Skint.”

“Y-you too.”

He heard Skint rustle with the bed for a moment, then felt himself drifting off into a welcome, deep sleep.

∞

The sound of small feet slowly pattering across the dirt floor woke Coda. He opened one eye, making it a tiny slit. Skint stood across the room near the disc door. His pale outline was very discernible in the darkness. His bushy tail wiggled back and forth, as if waiting for Coda to wake up. Coda almost opened his eyes in surprise.
The tail! The tail in the grass today looked just like Skint’s!

“C-coda?” whispered Skint.

Coda could clearly see Skint now, but he could tell Skint didn't have the same ability with night vision as he did. Coda remained silent, faking sleep.