Chapter Six: Ceremonies and Circumstances

"It is time," the man abruptly said.

She was not caught by surprise, as she had noticed that they were being watched a short time previous. He nodded approvingly at her.

They approached the path, but did not step on the worn and broken stones. A figure slowly, solemnly walked forward. A male tribal native by appearance and outfit, but oddly pale in skin tone instead of the usual dark skin. He spoke, the language was one she actually didn't know or recognize.

Her master replied in the same language, and the short conversation carried distinct overtones of a ceremony of some sort. At one point, she was pulled forward, accompanied by a long spate of words from their side. The native's response seemed negative at first, but eventually after some more back and forth concluded with the native making a follow-me gesture.

At that point, master and student stepped onto the path for the first time. A strange sensation came over her, and for a moment she felt as if she was surrounded by a crowd of people. The feeling passed swiftly though, leaving her wondering if it had been real. She trusted her instincts, however; something had definitely happened. They followed the native man at a slow but steady pace. He paused every so often to make some formal pronouncement, to which they only needed to make a silent accompanying gesture.

They wound deeper into the valley, and sunk beneath the canopy. At the far end of the valley, a series of ruins were covered completely by the jungle, but underneath were spaces hollowed out and small clearings. These clearings were filled with people of all ages, all natives by appearance, though many of them shared the same oddly pale skin as the first native she had seen. Many of the people were wounded, and the noise of human suffering was loud.

The trio approached a section of stones on the path which had barely discernible markings, they were so worn and faded. The native stepped across with a pronouncement, turned and uttered a statement.

"When it is your turn, repeat what I say exactly," her master instructed her. He then uttered a liquid sounding statement that was similar, but not exactly the same as what the native had said when he stepped over. The native repeated his utterance, and with her excellent memorization and mimicry skills, she repeated sound for sound what her master had said and stepped over. The native made a final pronouncement, after which her master promptly dropped his pack to the ground and dug into it.

"Find the medical supplies, hurry," her master commanded.

She let down her pack and retrieved the medical supplies. The next few hours were a whirlwind of washing and wrapping wounds, makeshift surgeries removing fragments, setting of bones, and treating of burns. Her master was everywhere. As she didn't speak the language, she couldn't use her hypnosis skills for pain control, so she was forced to leave that portion to her master.