by Mark Wandrey
They were all stiff after the damp night spent on the ground and Minu was glad to be moving again. The steady uphill progress quickly loosened their cramped muscles and even Pip wasn't complaining as much. Until the rain really started coming down. There were a few distant cracks of thunder and suddenly the rain poured forth from the skies with a vengeance.
A few great ferns, remnants of the planet’s original biosphere, provided decent shelter from the brutal pelting rain. They routed their path as much as possible to take advantage of that cover. Minu looked up at the sky and decided it wouldn't stop any time soon so she fished out a tarp and slipped her head through the covered slit in the in center, converting it to a poncho. The others watched her, and then with some reluctance followed suit. Cherise was the slowest to comply. Minu thought how different this must be from her home and offered her silent commiseration.
There was nothing to cover their heads with, so while the tarps kept their bodies mostly dry, water ran over their faces in sheets and down their necks in streams. Minu walked with her head held down against her chest, preferring the water running down her back into her pants over it running down chillingly between her breasts then further down. Yuck. As afternoon approached, so did the pass. Now every step brought thinner air, and colder rain.
"The weather is going to shift," Pip said miserably, punctuating his words with a sneeze.
"Hopefully, the damn rain will stop," Cherise said, just as she noticed the rain wasn’t plopping against her head any more, now it was bouncing.
"It will stop raining," Pip agreed, "but you might wish it hadn't."
Where the rain made them miserable, the hail took them to the pits of despair. And to make it worse, there was no longer anywhere to hide from it with the higher altitudes. No more trees or huge ferns on either side. A few scrub evergreen bushes and such, maybe destined to become towering trees in a few hundred more years. Five hundred years was a long time to mankind, not to a forest. And the higher the altitude, the slower they grew. Through the now howling wind and stinging hail, Minu tried to think. The cold felt like it was freezing her brain.
"You understand this weather," Minu said to Pip as they were taking out extra tarps to hold over their heads, all of them hoping for some relief, "tell me what to expect?"
"I'm no meteorologist," he told them, then seeing the dark look Minu was giving him he decided to try his hand, "but this looks like it's developing into a storm. Once we get above the inversion layer the hail will stop."
"Thank goodness," Cherise laughed, her teeth chattering.
"Then we'll be in the snow line."
"Snow?!" the dark skinned Cherise cried out, "How much?"
Pip just shrugged his shoulders. "If we get through the pass, the mountains could be sapping the storm’s strength."
"What does that mean?" Minu asked.
"It means the mountains push the clouds up and force the storm to dump its moisture. On the other side there is often calm, or at least less of a storm."
"That would be good," Minu said, "so let’s press on."
As they continued, the weather deteriorated farther. The slight hail turned to driving sleet, back to hail, and to sleet once more. No one talked anymore; they were too busy trying not to slip on the icy ground. All the while they climbed higher and higher, even Minu began to feel the effects of the increased altitude slowing her down. Her strong lungs, so used to pumping massive amounts of air, sounded thin and wheezy. Poor Pip was reduced to stumbling along with the aid of one of his friends and occasionally two. There was no thought of leaving him behind, their fates were now intertwined. The weather was further forging them into one being, one heart, one mind. If only they could survive to benefit.
An hour later, the weather finally made up its mind. The snow started. Hard driving snow that froze to any exposed wet surface it landed on. Soon the five friends looked like two-legged ice monsters trudging and stumbling through the woods.
Just when they were at the edge of endurance, the land leveled out and the sparse vegetation fell away to reveal the stark and rocky pass. Great rock monoliths towered to either side of them and created a swirling dynamo of snow and ice. Despite their fatigue, they all cheered as they passed over the summit and quickly dropped below the other side. The wind disappeared as if someone shut a door. And then the bottom fell out of the thermometer.
"Oh, my God," Cherise cried, "It f-feels l-like d-daggers!" The cold was making her teeth chatter so badly they could all hear them.
"We need shelter, right now!" Pip said, the fear in his voice obvious. The five spread out and looked for anything to give a little shelter. Minu tried not to let despair set in. Her clothes started to freeze and she was losing feeling in her hands. It was Aaron who yelled for them all. The other four raced toward him, slipping and sliding carelessly on the frozen rocks. He stood in front of a small cave.
"It's not much," Minu said. Pip was already on his hands and knees and crawling inside. There was no discussion, and the others quickly followed. Minu was last in, glancing over her shoulder at the bitter cold and hoping they would survive the night.
The interior widened out slightly to make a space maybe five meters across and two tall. Minu knew right away that it was too small to light a fire safely, and besides there was only wet bushes and fern leaves for fuel.
"We need body heat," Pip told them as they all stood in the center of the cave shivering.
"Strip," Minu ordered, dropping her pack and taking out a dry tarp. The others didn't hesitate. They were all friends, and the ritual back at Steven’s Pass was still in their minds. Suddenly that humiliation didn't seem like a random act of vindictive torture. When they were all naked and even colder, they hooked together the last four dry tarps to make a huge blanket, laying it on the ground and lying back to back, the last person down pulled it over them to catch their warmth and keep it in.
Cherise was snuggled in behind Minu, her breasts pressed against Minu's back and she could feel wiry hair at the small of her back. Minu was behind Aaron, his stocky body pressed against her front. She tried not to think about it.
"I t-think I h-had a d-dream about t-this," Gregg chattered from behind Cherise.
"K-keep d-d-d-dreaming," Cherise answered and they all chuckled against the cold. The icy flesh pressed against her front and back began to warm her ever so slightly. Her teeth weren't chattering any more! Her hands were still freezing. She tried sticking them under her arms. "Don't be silly," Cherise' voice whispered in her ear. The other girl reached up, took Minu's hands, and pulled them back into a very warm fold of flesh that Minu realized was under Cherise' ample breasts. The warm supple flesh sent fresh shivers up her spine, only not from the cold this time.
Now that warmth was returning, fatigue was setting in. “Is it safe to sleep now, Pip?” Minu asked. The only reply she got was a snore from the boy. Within a few minutes’ time, sleep overcame them all and the tiny cave was full of sighs and snores.
* * *
Morning was on them when Minu next opened her eyes. She blinked in confusion at the light coming from the cave mouth. After a minute, she decided to go back to sleep. They'd all separated under the tarp during the night, the space sufficient that close contact was no longer necessary.
A grunting sound brought her back to awareness, then she heard a heavy breath. Was one of her friends ill after last night? She turned her head under the tarp and squinted in the half light, almost yelling in surprise. Only a couple feet away Cherise was on her back, legs spread, with Gregg lying on top of her. Cherise's legs were wrapped around Gregg's buttocks and the two were rhythmically grinding against each other. Their arms were wrapped around each other and they were very serious about what they were doing.
Minu thus far had lived a very sheltered life, being the daughter of a First was like wearing a personal forcefield. Few other kids wanted to become your friend (at least those who genuinely wanted a friend) and you were certainly never invited to participate in an
y rule-breaking. Even though she didn't know as much as many kids her age, the deep recesses of her mind woke with a start and whispered into her ear with timeless words. Her friends were having sex!
She didn't know what to do. The scene was deeply disturbing in some unspeakable way while that other part of her, the newly awakened primal part, simply refused to let her do anything except watch and squirm. She kept her eyes mostly closed and watched with dizzying fascination as Gregg made quiet but intense love to Cherise, who obviously loved every second of it.
In only a few moments, it was over. Cherise arched her back, pushing her hips against him as he pumped hard a couple last times. The expression on Gregg's face was something between agony and bliss as his entire body jerked and Cherise cried out silently. He finally relaxed to lay on top of her where they quietly whispered to each other, giggling and kissing. They were both covered in sweat and Minu felt herself starting to sweat too.
Cherise glanced around the room, pausing on Minu who kept her eyes mostly closed and stayed perfectly still. Gregg slowly rolled off of her and Minu caught a quick glimpse of his still rigid and wet penis as they separated. The sight made her shudder and caused a deep tingle to run up her spine.
The couple carefully slid out from under the tarp and outside to reappear a minute later just as the others began to wake. Minu stretched and tried to act nonchalant.
"You up already?" Pip asked Gregg as he crouched past.
"Yeah, couldn't sleep." The tall boy was forced to duck to avoid the ceiling as he quickly grabbed his pants and pulled them on. Minu caught herself trying to see between his legs and chided herself silently. He quickly found his pants and dressed. Cherise on the other hand seemed to have no concern, perhaps because there was no visible evidence of what she'd been up to other than maybe a slightly out of breath look and a very satisfied smile.
The general warmth of the cave generated by their body heat had dried their clothes overnight. Outside it was still bitterly cold. They split up the tarps and used them as cloaks to increase what little warmth they could. Their feet were another matter. Everyone switched to fresh socks and wore two pair each. That only left the shoes which were thin and not waterproof at all. There was nothing to do about it. They all washed and drank from a briskly flowing creek near the cave. As soon as she could, Minu caught Cherise alone.
"What happened last night?"
"I don't know what you mean," the other girl said, though obviously suddenly nervous.
"You know what I mean." Cherise didn't budge. She was going to make Minu spell it out. "You had sex with Gregg!"
"Oh, that." Cherise looked a little embarrassed, then renewed her smile.
"Yeah, that! You just decide to give up your virginity in the middle of the Trials? I could assume he forced you, but from what I know of him, that isn't in his nature. And from the look on your faces, that wasn't the case anyway."
"No, he didn't force me, and what makes you think he took my virginity?" Minu gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "You Plateau girls are so pure as the driven snow?”
"You're no more than a year older than me!"
"I am fourteen years old, probably younger than you; we live a harder life and have to grow up quicker. I lost my virginity to an over-eager boy more than a year ago."
"He raped you?"
"I wouldn't go as far as calling it rape. We were sexually playing, like kids tend to do, and before I knew what happened his penis was inside me. I was horrified that I'd let the situation get out of my control, but at the same time I was there with him, naked, of my own choice. The first time was very fast, a little painful, and though I didn't have as much fun as he did, it was not horrible. After that I haven't had the nerve."
"Until last night."
"Yes, until last night. I woke up with his hardness against my backside and almost fainted. It was very large. He wasn't even awake and he was aroused. I jostled him and asked if he could move because his erection was making a dent in my back. He was embarrassed and said it wouldn't go away. Well, he is a sweet and very handsome boy. One thing led to another..."
“And his penis jumped inside you?”
“Minu, please! It just happened.”
"Yeah, I saw what happened."
"You watched us?" Minu looked scandalized and her cheeks blazed. "You did, didn't you? And you've never seen sex before." It wasn't a question. "I guess I never realized how sequestered the life of the Chosen and their children must be. Many don't have children, and I guess that is part of the reason."
"I just don't see how, in the situation we're in, with what we have at stake, you can just open your legs and let him..."
"Give me wonderful pleasure and himself at the same time? Minu, it was sex, not murder. We are still friends."
"Are you going to bed Aaron next? Maybe Pip?"
"Pip would be a hard case; he doesn't seem to operate that way. Maybe he's too young, or maybe he's a homosexual? There are some around regardless of the laws. Aaron, well, I wouldn't fight too hard for him to trip me into his bed.” She shrugged. “He has eyes for another."
Minu didn't really absorb most of what the other girl said other than admitting she would sleep with Aaron. Her head was spinning too hard. "I-I don't know what to say."
"Minu, we're in the Trials. We're over fourteen years old so we're consenting adults! My older sister was married before she turned fifteen. Our peoples think of sex in a much more open manner than your people. Children as young as six often have sexual play in sight of everyone. We live in structures with no walls so we know what sex looks like long before we know what it is for. I'm sorry if this is painful for you; we all have to grow up sometime."
Minu felt like she'd been slapped in the face by Cherise. Of course, deep in the thinking part of her mind she knew the words were true. Other kids in her class were having sex already, some for years. You couldn't open a door at the Keeper's Academy without finding two kids kissing, or maybe worse. No boys ever approached her for dates or to invite her to dances. Well that wasn't entirely true. A couple tried a few years ago and they were sternly and steadfastly refused. "I guess I made myself unapproachable," she admitted to herself.
"I'm sorry," Minu told Cherise, and hung her head, "I have no right to give you a hard time." When she looked up, her friend sported a small, vaguely sad smile on her face. "Maybe I was just jealous. Sex and love are a mystery to me. I just haven't had time for such things. I've spent all my time to get ready for these Trials, and seeing you lying with Gregg just struck me as some kind of a betrayal."
"A betrayal to you?"
"No, to the Trials. It's silly, I know. It's not like it's against the rules or anything. I mean, there are only a few girls each year, so what difference does it make? You didn't hold us up, or endanger our chance of succeeding by doing that, so why do I care? I'm glad for you falling in love with him."
"Oh, I'm not in love with him. Don't look like that, you're being ignorant again. It isn't like the movies. You don't have to have love to have sex. I'm sure it helps, but it is also just plain AWESOME. Much better than the first time. Maybe I'll fall in love with him, someday." She turned and looked at where the boys stood a respectful distance away chatting casually. “I hear boys just get better at sex with age, and he was good from the start.” They obviously knew the girls were talking seriously about something. “I could develop feelings for someone who makes me feel that good.” Were they talking about what Gregg did last night? Minu doubted it, or maybe she just hoped otherwise.
"Maybe you can teach me a few things?"
"I'm hardly qualified. It's not hard really; boys of that age will stick it in anything handy. Even their hands if they have some privacy.."
Minu had a sudden revelation. "That boy back at Steven’s Pass who you traded clothes with, he had sex in his pants!"
Cherise squinted her eyes for a second then laughed. "Yes! He came in his pants. He was young and quite excited at seeing a naked girl."
"G
regg didn't seem that excited to see you naked."
"He told me I was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. I wasn't his first either. He was a complete gentleman." Minu blushed again. "It's a natural thing, Minu."
"So tell me what it felt like?"
Later they were all bundled up and working their way carefully down the hill. Minu walked close to Cherise and chatted quietly. The boys cast nervous looks at them as they walked. Everyone knew that when girls talked quietly and giggled they were talking about boys. Gregg looked nervous until at one point, Cherise caught his eye and gave him a smile and a wink. After that he seemed much more at ease.
The land gradually leveled out and the small stream they were following became a river. The group stopped at midday and cooked their first actual meal. Each of them got a full packet of rations, ice cold beverage mixed from the crystal clear river water, and some much appreciated warmth from a little fire Cherise whipped up while they ate. It wasn't enough food to fill them up. At least the camp stove made hot water to rehydrate the food. Minu had eaten camp food a lot over the years she'd been training and this tasted the best of any she'd ever tried. While they rested for a few minutes, she went to talk to Cherise again.
"Remember the other day when we confronted the boys with our knives?"
"Sure! I wish they'd started something, I wouldn't have minded letting some hot air out of that Rusk punk."
"I would have minded. I don't know how to fight with a knife. Or with my hands and feet like you."
"I'm not surprised." Minu looked embarrassed again. "Don't be that way. You don't have to defend yourself from wild animals in Plateau. You have such a wonderfully safe place to live."
"We understand we're lucky, but we fought a lot to keep it."
