[h1]The Galactic Scouts[/h1]
[h2]The Monk's Way[/h2]

  Vina’s lunch had been very delicious. The taste of the spicy buns was still lingering in Idris’ mouth. But now that the meals was finished and they had done the dishes, Vina called to group together, tapping her crutch to draw attention.
  “OK, scouts, time for our first excursion together,” she said. “We’ll be leaving the camp ground and go down the hill, but first, get yourself a bottle of water, and put your bathing clothes in a bag. We’ll need them later.”
  Bathing clothes? Idris was puzzled for what they’d need them, but still he went back to the tents with the others, and got his stuff together. It wasn’t much, and he had already put it in a separate bag already, which he put in his backpack. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had the idea to put their stuff in their backpack, as all the other scouts had done the same. They gathered near Vina again, who was standing at the start of the path down the hill.
  “Alright, let’s go,” she said, but Quilina was concerned.
  “Madam, your leg -”
  “I’ll be fine, Quilina. I’ve done this hundreds of time,” as she confidently stated hopping down the path, aided by her crutch. The rest of the group followed her (though Shaxaëla was kinda running back and fourth around them), down the same path they came, but instead of turning left at the bottom of the hill towards the landing site, Vina took a right turn. After another left turn, they arrived at another clearing in the forest. In front of them laid an obstacle course, varying from stepping stones over a pond to a climbing wall. But they weren’t alone...
  “Wait...” Idris said, “are those ...?”
  “... Monks?” Mi’oki interjected.
  A group of Vidari, dressed in traditional robes, were already traversing the whole course, chanting something they couldn’t hear well. It seemed like they were taking the hardest obstacles with hardly any effort. One of the monks approached the group, and when he stood next to Vina, only now did the children notice just how short she was for a Vidari; the monk was towering over her, as the tip of her ears was at the same height as the monk’s chin. Although the monk had some patches of grey hair here and there, his impressive muscles were clear to see for the children. Idris was confused about the whole ordeal; he was used to the Buddhist monks from Singapore, who lived a much calmer life than what was on display here...
  “Miss Vina, what a pleasant surprise,” he said to her.
  “It’s good to see you too, Father Gajib.” she bowed to her.
  “I see you’ve got some... unusual company.”
  “These kids are part of the Galactic Scouts, and I’m their host for their stay.”
  “Ah, good day, children,” he slightly bowed to them, “and may the Patrons guide you during your stay on this planet.”
  “Sir, may I ask something,” Idris raised his hand.
  “Of course.”
  “Do all Vidari monks work out like this?”
  “Why yes, of course! One cannot reach clarity of the mind if their body is not healthy. Only by training both body and mind, one can reach true enlightenment.” He stretched himself out a few times. “And this obstacle course is part of that training. So, miss Vina, did you bring them here for some exercise?”
  “Yes, I was thinking this would be a nice opportunity for a team building activity,” Vina replied. 
  “Team building, you say? Well, I may have something in mind for the occasion. Allow me to explain it to the children?”
  Vina nodded.
  “Very well,” and he squatted to be at the kids’ eye level. “Children, you’ll all go traverse the obstacle course up ahead. Not the full course, because that is for well-trained adults. You will take the Novice Path. First, you will traverse the Stepping Stones over the pond without getting wet. Then, you walk across the Balancing Beam, and get to the other side without falling off into the water. Next, we have the Long Jump over that ditch over there, before we get to the Dangle Rack, which you have to traverse while hanging from under the bars, not touching the ground. And finally, we have the Climbing Wall, which you have to get up using the rope. The leftmost one is the lowest, and you’ll be using that one. When you all are on top of the Climbing Wall, the exercise is done. Are there any questions?”
  Doryk raised his right hands.
  “Sir Gajib, I don’t think I can finish this course,” he said.
  “Is that so? I wouldn’t be so sure about that... Anyone else?”
  No one spoke up.
  “Good, then get ready, and remember: it only ends after everyone has finished.”
  The scouts laid down their bags and went to the start of the course. Shaxaëla was trying to hold herself back from not starting too early, whilst Doryk was approaching the course with hesitation. Nonetheless, Father Gajib started their course: “Go!”
  Shaxaëla immediately started to sprint away, hopping over the Stepping stones as if she was as light as a feather. The rest weren’t that fast; Mi’oki, although traversing the Stones with ease, was still taking a calmer approach. Idris and Hayne had about the same pace, both opting for accuracy between their steps rather than speed. Jinfasu was more cautious, avoiding to get wet or get one of his floating limbs lost in the water, nevermind his head. Doryk found it hard to coordinate all his eight hooves to find a path over the stones. Sitarka looked a bit stiff when walking over the stones with her three legs, not even slightly lifting off the ground, and Quilina had great trouble keeping her long tail from touching the water. But the front of the group had already reached the Balancing Beam, and here too, Shaxaëla went over it quickly in a playful gait, with Mi’oki, Idris and Hayne not far behind. But the gap behind was growing larger, and the frontrunners didn’t notice it, continuing to the next part of the course. Shaxaëla made the Long Jump look easy. Mi’oki barely passed the jump, but Idris didn’t made it far enough, and fell in the ditch. When he got out and walked back to make the jump again, he saw the other scouts behind struggling to keep up them. He suddenly realised what Father Gajib meant... 
  “Micks!” he shouted to his friend, who turned around.
  “What?” Mi’oki said back, who had just started hanging below the Dangle Rack.
  “Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
  “Why?”
  “You heard what Gajib said: it’s not over until we’re all at the finish. He didn’t say it’s  a race.”
  Mi’oki looked behind and saw his struggling peers. He began to realise as well what the actual task was: “We aren’t a team now...” he said to himself.
  He dropped himself down to the ground and walked back.
  “Come on! We need to go back to help them,” he shouted to Idris and Hayne. They saw him running past the Long Jump.
  “And the obstacles?”
  “Gajib said we need to clear the course. He didn’t say we need to clear them more than once.”
  The three of them ran back, where they saw Doryk struggling to keep his big body stay on top of the balancing beam. Mi’oki got onto the beam, and carefully approached him, which left Doryk confused.
  “Mi’oki?” he said. “What are you -?”
  “It’s OK, Doryk,” Mi’oki comforts him. “Need a hand?”
  He held all four arms out in front of him. Doryk grabbed them all, and seemed to stand more stable, as the both of them walked slowly across the balancing beam.
  “That’s OK, slow and steady...” Mi’oki encouraged the young Cetian. “We’re gonna make it.”
  He felt his feet touch the soil on the other side, and a few steps later, Doryk was on the other side as well.
  “Thanks, Mi’oki,” he said, “But why are you helping me? You were winning.”
  “I wasn’t about winning,” Mi’oki replied. He looked back at the other side, where Quilina, Jinfasu and Sitarka were still waiting to cross.
  “Everybody OK there?” Mi’oki shouted.
  “Jinfasu is scared to cross,” Quilina shouted back.
  “Then help him across if you can!”
  
  Quilina approached the Raelon boy.
  “OK, Jin, we all need to get to the other side,” she said to him. “What are you scared about?”
  “I... I don't want to lose my limbs into the water,” the boy shivered.
  “Then we’ll carry you across,” Sitarka proposed, but the two others shuffled back. “Oh come on! You need to trust me sooner or later! At least I have a plan.”
  “A plan?” Quilina asked. “What kind of plan?”
  “You will carry his torso and his head, while you slither across the beam. I’ll carry his hand and feet.”
  “But you only have three hands.”
  “I only need two of them if he grabs my horns.”
  “That could work... Jin, are you OK with that?”
  Jinfasu was very nervous, having to lay so much trust in camp mates he barely knew. He could barely speak:
  “I... I... I dunno...”
  “Look, I’ll go first and you’ll see what I’m doing all the time, OK?” Sitarka suggested.
  Jinfasu nodded.
  “Then let’s do this.”
  Jinfasu grabbed onto the horns on Sitarka’s hand, while Quilina grabbed the boy’s torso with her lower paws. Sitarka took his feet, while Quilina grabbed his head in her hands. Sitarka stepped on the balancing beam, and with her three legs, she managed to find plenty of balance to go across. Quilina followed her, using her long tail to wind around the beam to get to the other side that way. When they finally arrived to the other side, they put Jinfasu back together, who seemed to be very relieved after he stood back on his feet again.
  “You made it!” Mi’oki said. “I’m proud of you all!”
  
  Meanwhile Shaxaëla made it to the top of the climbing wall, and triumphantly threw her hands in the air.
  “[i]FIRST![/i] I win!” she cheered. She looked back to see if anyone had noticed her victory, but she saw the rest of the group hugging together at the end of the balancing beam. It made her victory feel hollow. They were all there together, seemingly having more fun than she had, all alone. Why were they not racing? Why were they not even trying to beat her? It puzzled her for a minute, before she realised what has been going on.
  [i]“Knot my tail, it wasn’t a race!”[/i] she said to herself. [i]“It’s not over until everyone is here...”[/i]
  She hurried down the climbing wall, and ran back to the group as fast as she could. She had let the group down by only thinking about herself. She had to make it up to them. She hoped she wasn’t too late.
  
  The rest of the group stood in front of the next hurdle. Sitarka looked especially nervous at the obstacle, but she wasn’t the only one who had their doubts.
  “OK, the Long Jump, who thinks they can make it across?” Mi’oki asked.
  Only Sitarka and Quilina didn’t raise their hand.
  “I... I can’t jump,” Sitarka uttered.
  “Yeah, and I don’t think I can jump that far,” Quilina said.
  “Hmm...” Mi’oki had to ponder for a moment how he would get all of them across the Long Jump. It wasn’t like the balancing beam where everyone would be able to cross it. If only there was a way to get everyone across easier...
  “Mi’oki, do we actually have to [i]jump[/i] across the gap?” Idris asked.
  “Of course, it’s called the Long Jump!” he said.
  “It’s called that, but Gajib never told us we must jump across,” Hayne noted.
  “Holy Everflower, you’re right! He never said that! We just need to get everyone to the other side across the gap. But how do we get you two across?” he looked at Sitarka and Quilina, and upon looking again at the Idonine’s serpentine tail, he got an idea.
  “Doryk, you can easily jump across the gap, right?” Mi’oki asked.
  “Sure. Doesn’t look that big,” the Cetian boy answered.
  “What if you carry someone on your back, let’s say, Quilina?”
  “A bit harder, but I can do that.”
  “What if you carry just her front half across? And the end of her tail stays here?”
  “So... my tail spans the entire gap?” Quilina asked. “Like a bridge?”
  “Precisely! So everyone can climb across. So... are you gonna do it?”
  Quilina nodded, and Doryk invited her to climb on his back. Her long tail was dangling behind as Doryk prepared to make the jump.
  “Hold on tight, Quil!” he said to her. He took a sprint with his eight legs, and jumped off the ledge, over the gap, and landed on the other side. He stopped, and let Quilina dismount. She saw that the tip of her tail was still on the other side, just barely. She walked a bit backwards, until she stood close to the ledge.
  “OK, we need to pull the tail a bit further back,” Mi’oki said, and received assistance from Idris and Hayne. “Ready? PULL!”
  Pulling back Quilina’s tail was heavier than they thought, but they managed to span it tight across the gap. Mi’oki said at the end of her tail to pin it down.
  “We’ll cross one by one. I'll go last, as I can just jump across.”
  “Who goes first?” Idris asked.
  “Sitarka, I think you should go first. Then Hayne and you, and Jinfasu after that, as he’s the lightest.”
  “OK, let’s do this!”
  The Khyrian girl stepped on the tail first, climbing across it as if it was a rope, though it was a bit twitchy.
  “Careful, you’re hurting me with your claws,” Quilina said.
  “I’m trying to be gentle!”
  Nonetheless, she made it to the other side, apologising to Quilina for the discomfort. Hayne and Idris followed one by one.  Hayne made it across without a hitch, but when Idris was close to the end, Quilina had a strong spasm in her tail, knocking Mi’oki off its end, and the bridge was broken. Idris could climb to the other side, but sees that Jinfasu was still on the other side, trembling. Mi’oki tried to motivate the young Raelon.
  “Come on, boy, I know you can do it!” he said to him. “What’s holding you back?”
  “I fear when I land on the other side, I ... I fall apart,” he said.
  “Because you’re a Raelon?”
  Jinfasu nodded.
  “Hey, come on, I’ll catch you!” they heard a voice shout, they looked to the other side and saw that Shaxaëla had come back, with arms wide open.
  “Promise?” Jinfasu said to her.
  “Knot my tail if I break it!”
  “Alright... here it goes...” he mumbled to himself.
  Jinfasu took a short sprint, and made the jump, straight towards Shaxaëla. But when he landed, he felt his limbs disconnecting from the impact, and his head and hands flew forwards. But the Hedseon girl managed to catch his head before they both hit the ground.
  “Gotcha!” she said, and put the head back on his torso. It took a moment for Jinfasu to realise his hands were on the ground. He walked towards them got down on the ground until the hands were in range again to connect to his body again.
  “Thanks for catching me there,” he said to Shaxaëla.
  “No problem, Whitey!”
  “Good work, team!” Mi’oki said, as he landed on the other side. “Two more obstacles to go!”
  
  The group moved on towards the Dangle Bars. Mi’oki looked at his group again, and foresaw a problem that Doryk may need some help here; he would never be able to hold his own weight with his arms, even though he had four of them. He remembered that Doryk had spoken up being worried that he couldn’t complete the challenge. But if it was impossible, then why would the monk send them on the challenge anyway? There must be another way...
  “So, anyone got an idea how we can get Doryk to the other side?” he asked the group.
  “Can we grab him and hold his weight up while we cross it together?” Sitarka suggested.
  “With what claws?” Idris said, gesturing at his and Hayne’s feet. “He’s quite heavy. I’m not sure you, Mi’oki and Quilina alone can keep him up together.”
  “What if we didn’t have to?” Hayne asked. “What if he could still cross himself, just... not the conventional way.”
  “Huh? What do you mean?”
  “Doryk, do you think you can lift your own weight with your legs?”
  “You mean... I hang upside-down?” Doryk said.
  “Yes. We need to lift you up, but once you hang in there, you can do it on your own.”
  “Until we have to get you off on the other side,” Idris added.
  “I’m not sure... but we could try...” Doryk said.
  “I’ll use my tail to lift you up from above,” Quilina said, hoisting herself on top of the rack, and letting her long tail dangle, and wrap around Doryk’s lower body.
   “OK, everybody. Let’s lift this Cetian up!” Mi’oki said. The rest of the group surrounded Doryk, while Doryk himself had reared up and grabbed the handles with his hands. They pushed him off the ground, while Quilina was pulling him up with her tail. Although he was heavy, he wasn’t as heavy as Mi’oki had feared. Doryk hooked his forelegs around the bars first, and then his rear legs. The group let go of him and he kept on hanging there, upside-down. He tried to move a pair of legs to get to the next bar, and managed to slowly creep forward.
  “It’s working!” he said, and the rest of the group cheered.
  “We’ll pick you up on the other side!” Mi’oki said. He raised himself into the rack, and so did the rest of the group. They traversed the obstacle together, until halfway, they heard a scream: Jinfasu had fallen down, but his hands were still on the rack. Shaxaëla went back to the boy. She let herself hang down from her arms, and lowered her tail head to the ground close to where Jinfasu was laying.
  “What happened?” she asked him.
  “My hands... they just... snapped loose,” he said.
  “And then you fell?”
  “Yeah... I... I’m not used to falling apart like this... I’m not good at anything, am I?” he started to cry.
  “Shhh, you’re not worthless in my eyes, Whitey,” she softly rubbed her head against his. “You’ll find what you’re good at someday. But now I’m here to help you.”
  “Thanks, but... how?”
  Shaxaëla lowered her tail, and wrapped it around Jinfasu’s torso, and lifted it back up to the rack where his hands were still hanging. Jinfasu’s sleeves, which hung limp, suddenly snapped tight again, as his ghostly arms were formed again. Shaxaëla didn’t let him go yet.
  “I’ll hold you so you won’t fall apart again,” she said. “We’ll do this together. You take the lead, I’ll be right behind you.”
  “Thanks... but...” the boy was a bit confused. Why had Shaxaëla turned so friendly towards him, after what happened earlier when she stole his head?  “Why are you doing this for me?”
  “Because it’s more fun together,” she replied.
  Jinfasu gave a cautious smile. This girl might become his friend after all, as they went along climbing the rack, beam by beam.
  
  After they put Doryk back on the ground on the other side of the Dangle Bars, only one obstacle remained: the Climbing Wall. Although it wasn’t tall, nor was it completely vertical, it was not possible to just jump to the top. A few ropes to the top hang down from the wall. Just one more obstacle, and they would be at the end. But Mi’oki foresaw some trouble...
  “Doryk, do you think you can get up this wall?” he asked.
  “I can try...” Doryk answered. He grabbed one of the robes, and tried to climb up. But the Cetian boy’s hooves were slipping on the wall, leaving him unable to climb any further. “The wall’s not rough enough.”
  “So how do we get him up?” Hayne asked. “The wall is too tall to lift him over from the ground.”
  “And Quilina alone is not strong enough to lift him up,” Mi’oki said. The two started to pace around to think. Idris looked up at the wall, seeing just how tall it really was, but while he was looking, he got an epiphany.
  “The ropes!” he shouted to the rest. “We use the ropes to lift him!”
  “You mean we tie him up in the ropes?” Mi’oki asked.
  “Yes, and then we pull him up from the top.”
  “So, we’ll first have to get the rest up there. But who’s the best with laying knots?”
  “Oh, I’ve studied that in great detail,” Hayne said. “I know exactly what we need.”
   “And I have my insignia for mastering it,” Idris showed the insignia on his sleeve.
  “Me too, but I think I’m stronger than both of them,” Quilina claimed.
  “So you come up with me and help me pull. Hayne, Idris, you two stay with Doryk and tie him up, and take the outermost rope to go up. The rest of us will meet you at the top.”
  The other scouts took to the climbing wall, grabbed one of the ropes, and started to climb. Jinfasu agreed with Shaxaëla that she would hold him again with her tail as they both climbed up together. Quilina used her long tail and lower limbs to grab the rope even tighter, and Mi’oki and Sitarka could use their extra hands with great effect. When the others were at the top, and the ropes hung limp again, Idris and Hayne tied the ropes around Doryk’s lower half. Hayne saw the confidence in Idris how quickly he managed to lay the knots, all by the book, as she co-ordinated how they could best distribute Doryk’s weight over the ropes. When they were done, Idris walked up to Doryk’s face.
  “Hey,  how you’re doing, big guy?” he asked him. “You’re ready?”
  “Not looking forward to being lifted,” Doryk answered. “But we have no better idea.”
  “OK, grip the ropes tight, and just try to walk up the wall. The others will pull. Good luck.”
  “I hope for you it works, Terran boy...”
  Doryk put himself against the wall again, his four hands holding tight on the rope in front of him.
  “READY!” Doryk shouted up.
  [i]“PULL!”[/i] they heard Mi’oki yell. The rope spanned under tension, as Doryk pulled himself up with his hands, his hooves still having trouble to maintain grip. Next to him, Hayne and Idris were climbing on the only rope they hadn’t tied to Doryk. They saw how the Cetian got up higher and higher on the wall, only a bit slower than they went. They arrived at the top first, with Doryk not far behind, and they saw their camp mates giving it all to hoist him in, though it looked like Jinfasu barely had any strength in his floating limbs. But nevertheless, they saw Doryk’s upper torso pull himself over the top, followed by his hooves, until all eight hooves had found solid ground beneath them.
  “We did it!” Shaxaëla shouted, setting the Scouts up for a group hug. But while they were celebrating their victory, Vina and Father Gajib were approaching them. The monk had a big smile on his face seeing the joy the Scouts had.
  “Well done, Scouts!” he said to them while applauding. “You’ve managed to get your team through the course, thanks to some creative thinking and by being observant.”
  “It wasn’t easy, though,” Mi’oki said.
  “Did I ever say it was? No, this challenge was there to teach you something. Now can anyone tell me what you’ve learned here?”
  Shaxaëla raised her hand: “It’s more fun together. Finishing alone feels empty...”
  “That’s not what I was looking for, but nonetheless a valuable lesson to learn,” he smiled.
  Idris raised his hand: “You’re only as fast as your slowest group member.”
  “And what do you do with that knowledge?”
  “You try to help them, so everyone will be faster.”
  “And to help them, we need to find ideas together,” Hayne added.
  “Very good,” Father Gajib said. “As the patron Ke’nes once said: [i]‘True wisdom is never found alone; it’s found together.’[/i] Only together can you cross the limitations of the Self, and new ideas will flourish. Only because you worked together, you were all able to reach the end of the course. If you keep on working together, you can achieve great things.”
  “And I’m happy to see you work as a team so quickly,” Vina said. “I’ve come here with other groups of Vidari scouts here, and many of them don’t see the lesson.”
  “So they just race and wait for the last one to finish?” Idris asked.
  “Yes, and getting annoyed by the others being slow. I was afraid that would happen to your group too, but you were the first to see what the real task was, Idris,” Vina smiled, and she turned to Shaxaëla and Jinfasu. “And you two, putting so much trust in each other after getting off on the wrong foot earlier today. It warms me to see that. That’s also for you,” she turned to Sitarka. “I see your fellow camp mates are starting to trust you more. I feel like they stop seeing you as a scary Khyrian. And Doryk,” she turned to the Cetian, “don’t feel bad that you needed so much help in this challenge. There’s no shame in that. I’m sure there will be times your fellow scouts will put trust in your abilities as you did with them today. And Mi’oki,” she turned to the Chtyruce boy, “am I seeing a new troop leader here?”
  “Well, to be fair, I am by far the oldest.”
  “I saw you taking charge of the situation, and it seemed you fit the role quite well. You discussed with your fellow scouts about the plans, and took the lead without pushing the others. They respected your leadership. If that’s your leadership style, I think this group of scouts will have a good leader in you.”
  “Thanks, ma’am.”
  “Now, if you’d be so kind to untie Doryk, Father Gajib will lead us to the next activity. You’ve all gotten pretty dirty of all of this.”
  “I hope it’s not another obstacle course,” Doryk said.
  “No no no, I can assure you you’ll find this next activity much more relaxing,” Father Gajib said.
  
  The monk lead the scouts and the other monks down the path they came, but they headed to an other direction than the camp, up another hill, until they ended up on a wide open promenade paved with large blocks of granite. They stood in the middle of a stairway leading into a valley with a town at the foot of the stairs, and a large city  further up ahead. But on the other side, the stairway was going up even further. They climbed up to the top, but the scouts were not prepared for what they saw at the very top that kept them in awe: they were facing a huge complex of buildings as far as the eye could see, many of them with large, shiny metal domes on top of them. There was even the large wooden structure in the distance that Idris had seen on their approach. The area had several large squares and stone paths, interspersed with carefully maintained hedges and trees, trimmed in simple geometric shapes. Close to them was a large circular pond with a fountain, surrounded by bronze statues of Vidari figures looking outwards. They saw many monks walking around here, but also plenty of other Vidari, and several aliens who clearly looked like tourists.
  “Children, I welcome you to the Great Temple of Vidar,” father Gajib said with a big smile on his face. “This the beating heart of our society. You will not understand what it means to be a Vidari without understanding the Temple.”
  “Sir, those statues,” Hayne pointed at the statues around the pond. “Are they ... how do you call these people you worship again?”
  “The Patrons? Yes, how did you guess, young lady.”
  “I read about it in a Guide.”
  “Studious, aren’t we? You would surely find an audience with Ke’nes the Scholar. She likes her followers to be well educated.”
  “I was more attracted towards T’kani.”
  “T’kani? The Patron of Warriors? I didn’t guess you were the type... As for our group of monks, we follow Julan the Wise,” he pointed at the statue right in front of them.
  “Father Gajib, is it true that you can... [i]summon[/i] the Patrons?”
  “My my, you ask quite a lot for an off-worlder, but it’s a good question, as the answer will reveal why we have such conviction in our faith. Some off-worlders describe our summoning as magic, but I’m not sure if their assessment is correct.”
  “But you can call them, right?”
  “Yes, I can call one of them for you in a moment. Just... who would be the most welcoming to strangers?”
  The monk walked around a few statues, until stopping in front of a statue of a Vidari lady.
  “Ah, Ha’nin, Patron of Travellers,” he said. “Maybe she would be up for an audience.”
  “So how’d you summon them?” Hayne asked.
  “Oh, that’s easy. You walk up to one of these idols and ask for an audience. You can call other spirits as well, even the deceased, but those will rarely be more than just a voice, not as lively as the Patrons. Now, if you have a minute of patience...”
  Father Gajib pressed his hands together, and looked the statue into the eyes: “Oh honoured Ha’nin, may we kindly request your audience, and show these children from beyond our realm what our Patronage means to us Vidari?”
  “You brought me people from the stars again, Gajib?” they heard an echoey voice reply from the statue.
  “Yes, I hope you don’t mind.”
  “Me? Of course not!” a ghostly figure appeared from the statue, looking very excited. The children took a step back, spooked of the sudden appearance of the spirit in front of them. Ha’nin turned towards them, and there was a sign of glee in her ghostly eyes.
  “Oh, look at that! What a diverse group you have here!” she said. “Greetings, star people! My name is Ha’nin, and I applaud you for coming here, having travelled further than I can ever imagine. Although...” she approached Idris and Sitarka, “I’ve never seen beings like these before. Where are you from?”
  “Ummm... Terra?” Idris replied.
  “I... ummm... it’s complicated,” Sitarka said. “My people are drifters...”
  “Drifters? Among the stars? Wow! I thought you never could do that! So what are you?”
  “I’m a human.”
  “Khyrian...”
  Something seemed to have clicked in Ha’nin’s mind. “Khyrian, huh... Those were the pirates the others talked about, Gajib?”
  "Yes.”
  “So now I understand why she said her people were drifters.”
  “But she has found a new home and family on Zharen,” Vina interrupted. “And she is here to learn about getting along with people from other species. Please don’t be too judgemental about her.”
  “No, it’s just curiosity. I have never seen a Khyrian before in all these thousands of gannus. Even now there are still things that surprise me. And the boy?”
  “His world joined the Galactic community only eight gannus ago.”
  “Really? Terra sounded like a familiar name to me...”
  “We have been meddling with their world long ago,” father Gajib nervously grinned. “It’s ummm... complicated.”
  “Oh, yes, now I remember, back in the days you were still reckless conquerors, who got more than they were ready for. The Non-Interference Doctrine was established shortly after that. But I’m glad to hear things turned out fine for their world.”
  “Your Divinity,” Hayne addressed her.
  “Oh, please, just call me Ha’nin,” the Patron spirit answered.
  “What is it that you Patrons do for the Vidari people?”
  “Oh, that depends on the Patron. All of us will give consultation about their art to those in need and summon our help, but there are some of us who can do more for the people. If you’re worthy enough, Fijit can give you strength when you most need it, just to name something. As for me, I’ve helped many who have been lost - in more ways than one. But our power reaches only the confines of this world, most of the time. My particular art has taken idols of mine onto star ships.”
  “That was once we figured our how we could make a spiritual anchor,” father Gajib elaborated.
  “A spiritual anchor?” Idris asked.
  “It’s a magic crystal,” Mi’oki replied to him.
  “How do you know?”
  “Pffft, I recognise it when I see one. They look a lot like our storage crystals on the Pioneer.”
  “Some call it magic, yes,” Ha’nin continued, “but we don’t call it as such. This energy here is something we can’t control well. Even us Patrons, closer to the spiritual realm, only have very limited capabilities that took us centuries to master. But this energy is mostly just... there... But us Patrons wouldn’t exist without it.”
  “But are you ... a god?” Doryk asked.
  “Me? No, the gods created this world, but you know, gods only see the big picture. To their vast beings, we mean little. But we Patrons, we can be a bridge between the gods and the people. All of us were once people. Extraordinary people, who people worshipped. With enough worship, one can become a Patron.”
  “So, there exist [i]new[/i] Patrons?”
  “Oh yes! Right over there,” she pointed at another statue at the other side of the pond. “That’s K’tinga. He was added only sixty years ago. He’s a brilliant science communicator, who ended centuries of scientific stagnation. Thanks to him, we went exploring the galaxy again. I find it always exciting to see a new face joining the Patronage.”
  “Who knows, maybe a future Patron is living among us today,” father Gajib said.
  “I’d love to get to know them, just like I see you all here. You’re explorers in your own regard, aren’t you?”
  “Aye,” Doryk saluted. “We’re all Galactic Scouts.”
  “And when did you all meet?”
  “Ummm... today?”
  “Only today? Well, then you all have a lot of exploring to do amongst yourselves,” she smiled. But don’t worry, if you ever need advice, we Patrons can always offer our listening ears. At least I’m willing to hear you,” she leaned over towards Doryk, “And you know how to summon me,” she winked.
  “We’d like to thank you for your time, Ha’nin,” father Gajib said. “We’ll be heading to the Grand Bathhouse shortly.”
  “Oh! Well, then enjoy your cleaning routine,” she turned back to face the children. “Until we meet again, Scouts!” and the spirit vanished. Idris saw that Jinfasu, Quilina and Shaxaëla were still dumbfounded.
  “What ... was .... [i]that?[/i]” the Hedseon girl asked.
  “What? Never seen a spirit before?” Mi’oki asked.
  “You have?”
  “Yesterday, actually. Crewmate is a ghost.”
  “You have [i]ghosts?![/i]”
  “You guys aren’t used to seeing magic, are you?”
  Shaxaëla shook her head.
  “There’s so much you’re missing,” Mi’oki grinned.
  “Come on, children! We’re almost there!” Father Gajib yelled.
  
  They entered a large building mostly made out of marble, making it stand out from all the surrounding buildings. The steamy air was filled with pleasant smells from all kinds of soaps and body creams. Father Gajib led them to a large hall filled with cabins.
  “Here you can change clothes in private,” he said. “I’ll have to leave you here and continue on my own routine, but I think we'll meet again. I wish you a pleasant evening and a refreshing bath.”
  “Thank you for your guidance,” Vina bowed, “and may the Patrons guide you. I’ll take it from here.”
  With one more wave to the group, father Gajib went on his way. Vina turned to the group again: “Now you know why you had to pack bathing clothes. Pick a cabin. I’ll see you all again at the showers.”
  “What about our clothes?” Quilina asked.
  “Oh, leave that to me. They have an excellent quick laundry service here.”
  The group scattered. Idris picked the first cabin he could find. He put his clothes in his bag and put on a pair of swimming shorts. He exited the cabin around the same time as Hayne, who wore a two-piece bathing suit, her lower head with a pair of diving goggles on her forehead and a nose clip attached to her snout, sticking out the lower piece of the suit. The Kalasian girl looked at him with a bit of a surprise.
  “Huh, you really don’t have any fur there,”  she said to him. “Aren’t you cold?”
  “Hehe, a bit,” Idris nervously smiled. “And ummm... that nose clip... aren’t you afraid to drown?”
  “No, I can breathe from up here,” she points at her upper head. “It’s just that it gets really uncomfortable to stay under water for long.”
  “Guys,” they heard Sitarka say. “Do I look stupid in these?”
  They turned around and saw the Khyrian girl in nothing but a specially made pink swimming slip, revealing her segmented torso exoskeleton. But under that hard outer layer, they saw the insecurity Sitarka wasn’t even trying to hide.
  “Ummm... that’s quite... minimal,” Idris said.
  [i]“She doesn’t need more, her species lays eggs,”[/i] Hayne whispered.
  [i]“I don’t know what laying eggs has to do with- oh, yeah, I get it...”[/i]
  “I don’t think you need to worry about it,” they heard Mi’oki said, wearing yellow swimming shorts, comforting Sitarka. “We’re all from different worlds here, there’s no ‘normal’ we can compare each other with. Just... be yourself, OK?”
  “I know, but, you’re not as different from the Vidari as I am,” Sitarka said. “You are all fluffy, and so is Hayne. But me... I’m just this scaly monster that everyone fears...”
  “Oh come on, you’re cool the way you are.”
  “To you! Not to everyone else out there! I’m a Khyrian, and they’ll see me as a pirate! I -”
  “Shhhh,” Mi’oki sushed her. “It’s hard to let go what you think people think about you, isn’t it? They won’t see you as a pirate, not as long you’re with us. We’re one troop.”
  “I- I guess you’re right... Those monks earlier... they didn’t see me as a threat either... because I was with you.”
  “See? Nothing to worry about. Come, let’s head for the showers.”
  
  The other group was already waiting next to Vina, who had a cart next to her with the bags and dirty clothes of the others.
  “Ah, there you are,” she said to them. “Put your stuff in here. I’ll take care of it. They’ll be clean in an hour.”
  The four of them put their stuff in the cart. Vina pointed them to a well-lit hallway with a wet floor next to them, but this confused some of them.
  “Ms Vina, where are the showers?” Shaxaëla said. “I don’t see any.”
  “Oh, but it is there. Just step in.”
  Trusting Vina’s word, they all stepped into the hallway. Vina turned a switch, and from the ceiling water was raining upon them. A rain shower! Idris loved these. Every time after swimming class, when he was little, he was always looking forward to getting under the shower. The intense stream of water falling on his body everywhere was a pleasant feeling he could hardly compare to anything. He looked around at his fellow camp mates, who seemed to enjoy it in their own way. Shaxaëla was dancing in the rain, while Sitarka seemed to have become peace itself with how relaxed she was. Only Jinfasu was visibly less fond of the rain shower, covering his head and his hands and feet with the rest of his floating body. With the flick of a switch by Vina, the rain stopped as fast as it came, with all the scouts now soaking wet.
  “The pools are on the other side of the hall. Go have some fun.”
  “Umm... Ms Vina?” Sitarka raised her hand.
  “Yes?”
  “I can’t swim.”
  “Oh, that’s no problem. As long as you stay in the wellness area, you can stand on the pool floors. They’re not that deep.”
  “There are deeper pools in the exercise area,” Mi’oki said. “But I don’t think we’re here for that.”
  “If we didn’t do the obstacle course before, I might have,” Idris said.
  “You swim for fun?” Mi’oki raised his eyebrow.
  “For fitness. It trains all your muscles.”
  “Huh, didn’t know you had a workout routine...”
  
  They entered a large hall with marble on all the surfaces, except for the glass dome filling the hall with sunlight, shining on several yards with tropical plants. The air was warm and very humid, reminding Idris of his home in Singapore. There were several bubble baths all spread throughout the hall, some having a strong but pleasant scent, and in the center there was even a large wave pool. In the back there were some mud pools with showers in between, which didn’t seem all too appealing to Idris. Although most of the visitors were Vidari, here too you could spot some alien tourists chilling in the pools.
  “If I didn’t know any better, this could be a tropical swimming pool from home,” Idris said. “What do these monks need a wave pool for?”
  “Oh, I’ve heard from Zh’kel that monks claim the waves rock them just enough down to fall asleep,” Mi’oki said. “Not sure if it’s true, but -”
  “CANNONBALL!” Shaxaëla shouted, and she jumped into the wavepool, making a big splash, splashing her camp mates wet. She stuck out her tongue from her upside-down turned tailhead.
  “Well, we’re wet anyways,” Hayne said, “let’s dive in!”
  Most of the others followed Shaxaëla in (Idris and Mi’oki with their own cannonball as well), but Jinfasu and Sitarka were a bit more hesitant. Jinfasu touched the water with his toes, but didn’t dare to make a step to go in.
  “What’s wrong? Afraid to fall apart?” Shaxaëla asked him.
  “Yeah. I- ... I’ve never gotten into the water like this,” he replied.
  “Well, ya never know if ya don’t try. Can I help?”
  “Yeah, just... catch any parts of me if they float away.”
  “Sure thing!”
  “Alright...”
  He sat down at the edge of the pool and dipped his feet into the water. Despite feeling the flow of the waves dragging along his feet, he remained in control of his feet.
  “Yeah, maybe it’s not so bad,” he said, and he lowered himself into the pool. He took a dive under water, but when he stood up, his head was not above his torso anymore. He quickly grabbed with his hands his head from under the water, puffing as he was gasping for air.
  “You’re OK?” Shaxaëla asked.
  “That was too wild!” he puffed.
  In the meantime, Quilina was taking Sitarka by the hand to get her into the pool, reassuring her she could just stand upright in it. The two were so busy with each other that they didn’t notice she had made many heads turn. Eventually, even the young Khyrian stood in the pool, but was very quiet after the earlier hesitation.
  “What’s the matter?” Quilina asked her.
  “The water... everywhere around... I’ve never felt anything like it,” Sitarka answered. “It’s like I’m floating in low gravity, but... kinda not... and it’s so heavy! But somehow... it feels good?”
  “It’s even better when you know how to swim.”
  “Yeah, I never learned...”
  “You can always start learning. At least you’re normal that you like the water.”
  “Really? Am I not that different?”
  “You’re not as different from us as you think you are.”
  Sitarka let out sigh of relief, and there was even a sign of a smile on her otherwise hardened face.
  
  On the other end of the pool, Idris and Hayne found a bubble-bath with a lovely flowery scent. They sat down in the bubbles. Idris was a bit nervous. He had some things to tell to her, but he wasn’t sure he’d dare to say it to her. But now that they were alone, this was as good as an opportunity to present itself...
  “Ummm... Hayne,” he started, and looked at her, but he soon realised his mistake. “Oh, ummm... yeah, no mouth up there, hehe.”
  He feared his nervous laughter would have made the whole situation more awkward, but Hayne laid one of her hands on his shoulder and gestured with her other hand the had to calm down. Idris noticed how much she was saying with her eyes and eyebrows alone...
  “... so, I know we just met today and... you know... we’ve never seen each other’s species before, but... there’s something about you... some special feeling, you know what I mean?”
  Hayne tilted her head, raising one eyebrow.
  “Sorry, I find it hard to put into words, but... I have feelings for you, different than for the others, you know... I never felt this before, I don’t know what it is...”
  Hayne laid a hand on his chest, just a little to the left.
  “My heart? What’s with my heart?”
  She laid her other hand on her own heart, and used her tailhand to point between them.
  “You mean it’s love?”
  She nodded.
  “No no no, that would be too quick. It can’t be that quick! ... can it?”
  She shrugged, and retreated her hands again. She puffed out of her nose, looking a bit down.
  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he came closer and laid his arm on her shoulder. “Maybe... maybe we’re not ready for it yet, that’s all.”
  She laid her head on his shoulder, and he gently went through her long hair with his fingers. “You’re the cutest girl I’ve met, alien or not.”
  The Kalasian girl looked him in the eye, her eyes telling him she was touched by Idris’ words. He smiled at her, but Hayne’s look suddenly change to one of concern. Idris didn’t understand the sudden turn in that moment.
  “What’s wrong? Is smiling an insult in your culture?” he asked.
  Hayne shook her head. With her tailhand, she reached for his mouth.
  “Hayne, what are you doing? Is there something wrong with my mouth?”
  Her tailhand pinched it fingers, and then opened them, repeatedly.
  “I have to open my mouth?”
  Hayne nodded, and Idris complied. Her tailhand tapped at his teeth. Idris reached with his own hand and inspected his teeth, and found something was off...
  “Fangs? ... I have [i]fangs?[/i] ... But... how? Humans don’t have fangs!”
  He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t noticed his teeth growing. He had no idea how it could’ve happened. Such transformation magic didn’t exist on this planet... did it? It was just his teeth, right?
  Hayne rose up, raising her lower head out of the water, now looking at him with this head.
  “This never happened before?” she said to him.
  “N-no, do you think I’d know what’s happening to me?”
  “You’re fascinating. I’ve never seen anyone transform in the slightest.”
  “I wish it would stay with this...”
  “You mean you can change more?”
  “I don’t know! And I don't want it, OK? Maybe the rest wouldn’t even notice the change...”
  “Nothing wrong with fangs. I have them too, see?” she opened her mouth, showing her own fangs.
  “But I’m not supposed to have any! They weren’t there during lunch.”
  “Maybe someone at home knows more, but this isn’t too bad, right?”
  “I... I guess you’re right. It’s not really bothering me in any other way...”
  “Don’t worry about it then. Come, I’d like to try out the deep pool. Do you know how to swim?”
  “Yes.”
  “Let’s go then!”
  
  Idris and Hayne took a swim in the deep pool, where they also found Mi’oki doing a chest crawl. He told them he learned how to swim on Earth, and enjoyed swimming so much he had gone out of his way to find a pool on Modrin, which was harder than he had thought. To Idris’ relief, Mi’oki didn’t seem to notice the change he had undergone while he was telling his story. When they returned back to the wave pool, they saw to their surprise that Jinfasu was completely zen, his body parts floating calmly on the water surface. Shaxaëla was swimming under water, her head sticking out above the surface. A bit further away, Quilina and Sitarka were relaxing in the bubble bath, and Doryk stood under an artificial waterfall, washing his mane. Although they wanted to stay for longer, they saw Vina at the entry of the showers gesturing to come back. After one more shower, drying themselves off and getting dressed again in their clean clothes (which had a strong flowery scent). They gathered together in front of a waiting Vina in the entrance hall of the bath house.
  “So, how are you all feeling? Clean?” she asked them.
  “Yes... and kinda hungry,” Sitarka answered, rubbing her stomach.
  “Well, I have managed to arrange one more thing for you. I talked with father Gajib, and he invited us over for the communal dinner.”
  “They make dinner for [i]us?[/i]” Shaxaëla gasped.
  “For us, the monks, and other people the clergy decided to invite. But don’t get used to this luxury. Tomorrow you’ll have to cook for yourselves.”
  “So where’s this dinner?”
  “It’s in the Temple Gardens on this beautiful day. Come, follow me.”
  
  Vina led the group to a large walled garden in the middle of the temple grounds. Upon entry, they were greeted by hundreds of kinds of colourful flowers growing from the bushes, trees and patches all around the garden. In the middle, there was a large open space, with long tables and chairs put around a fountain with the statue of a Vidari patron. It was already getting busy around the tables, filled with all different kinds of foods and drinks; it was a large buffet. They saw father Gajib again, who led them to a smaller table just for them. Idris tried as many different fruits on the table before the main course was being served, just to figure out which of he yet unfamiliar Vidari fruits he would like. He was first asking Vina to tell what they were, but Hayne quickly found one of her travel guides that showed all these different fruits and shared it with Idris. Her curiosity motivated her to try these fruits together with him, sharing between them how they liked these with each one they tasted. He found out that Hayne wasn’t exactly a sweet tooth like him, finding some of these fruits too intense in flavour. On the other hand, she didn’t seem to have less trouble with the more bitter fruits that he could barely stand. Even discovering each other’s taste, how trivial as it may have seemed, was great fun. When the main course was served, Hayne was delighted to see that the monks had taken her vegetarian lifestyle into account, as she was presented with a rich vegetable salad, while Idris got a dish with roots and vegetables on a bed of what looked similar to rice, with in the middle a portion of well seasoned meat chops drenched in a brown sauce. The meal was deliciously rich in flavour, and obviously the monks did a splendid job on the cooking, as if he was eating in a restaurant.
  
  But when the meal had found its way to their stomachs, it was time to return to their camp, down the hill. The sun was already setting, and they hoped to arrive back to their tents before it got dark. They managed to arrive at their campsite when the last rays of sunlight hit their hill.
  “Right, scouts, you can brush your teeth in the sanitary building over there,” Vina said.
  “We’re going to bed already?” Shaxaëla asked. “I thought we’re going to do some fun stuff in the evening! You know, like singing around the campfire.”
  “Another evening, Shaxaëla. Today we’ll rest early; we’ll have to rise at dawn tomorrow.”
  “Aww!”
  They all went to brush their teeth, though Shaxaëla was dragging her feet while doing so. Heading back to their tents, the two groups split up. Idris went into his compartment of the tent, next to Mi’oki’s and right across from Hayne. While he was getting into his sleeping bag, he looked at Hayne, who was still taking a few notes.
  “Hey, Hayne,” he whispered to her.
  “What?” she looked up.
  “Umm ... may I ask what you’re making notes of?”
  “Oh... it’s about... you know... our little secret.”
  “Oh yeah, that...”  he had almost forgotten he had fangs now. With his fingers he was checking if he still had them, and they were still right there. “And one more thing.”
  “Yeah?”
  “Do you think ... ummm... well... we’re friends, are we?”
  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
  “Well... at home... I’m rather lonely... because my father did something terrible. Not my dad... my biological father...”
  “So you have no friends? Poor human...”
  “Yeah, I just... I just want to make some new ones at this camp...”
  “Hey, you all weren’t scared of me seeing me for the first time,” Sitarka chipped in from her compartment next to Hayne. “That makes you friends of me already.”
  “And we became friends on the Pioneer,” Mi’oki said. “I think it’s going to work out just fine, Idris.”
  “I hope so. Goodnight, everyone.”
  “Goodnight.”
  Idris closed the flap of his compartment and turned around in his sleeping bag. Although he seemed to have made new friends today, the sudden change of his teeth was starting to worry him. What if there were more changes to come? Is he starting to turn into some kind of monster?Where would it end? He was far away from home, and the only people he could rely on where his fellow scouts...

  He realised he may need friends now more than ever...