FANTASTIC PLANET v2.0 Read Online Free Page A

caught...'
    Voices and
the rustle of foliage came from the foot of the tree. Soon a few silhouettes could
be seen climbing up the lower branches and Brave's face appeared.
    'Well,
well', he said, 'the luxury Om is awake.'
    He pointed
to the headset astride his shoulder and added:
    'Look what
I've brought for you, luxury Om.'
    'Oh! Said Terr, happiness onto you, Brave!'
    Other Oms
appeared; one of them, black with frizzy hair, laughed a lot and displayed
extremely white teeth; his name was Charcoal. Some females were part of the
group, as well as a few children almost as young as Terr. Their tough life had
made them muscular and they were effortlessly carrying heavy tins, giant fruit,
rolls of metal wire and assorted objects taken from the Traags.
    They
gathered around Terr with a benevolent curiosity.
    'How old are you?' called out a young boy.
    'A hundred
days,' replied Terr feeling a little intimidated.
    'A hundred? What does that mean? I'm two
times ten hands of ten day hands, plus two', retorted the young boy proudly
throwing back his long hair. 'Let's see how strong you are.'
    As he said
this he shoved Terr who almost fell off the nest. Brave intervened and slapped
the attacker's face.
    'Stop it,
Valiant, Terr's not used to the life we lead.'
    'Did you
look after the baby, Faithful?' enquired a statuesque female Om.
    'Yes, young
lady, your baby has all it needs.'
    'I'll go and
have a look,' said the female Om as she hopped from branch to branch towards
the top of the tree.
    She came
across Brave who had gone up to put the headset in the nest set aside for Terr.
Brave dropped down onto a nearby branch. He raised his arm and said:
    'Listen, all
of you. I want everyone to be nice to Terr. For a while he'll make do with
staying in the tree and helping Faithful sort what we bring back. This luxury
Om has got to get used to effort and grow some muscles. Then I'll take care of his
education.'
    He turned
towards Terr:
    'As for you,
as I've already told you, you'll obey me at all times. I brought back the
headset to make you happy but you'll only be allowed to play with it once your
work is done, understood?'
    'Yes,' said
Terr timidly. He felt sad and missed Tiwa and the nature room. He felt quite
cold and bloated by the unfamiliar sap. In short, he was as unhappy as can be
and wished he was locked up in a comfortable omhouse, faraway from these caring
louts.
    'Come with
me,' said Brave.
    Terr
followed him obediently, climbed branches, crossed difficult spots by pulling
on flexible offshoots until he reached an enormous branch. He watched as Brave
disappeared into a hole in the branch and he followed him inside a kind of
cavern roughly carved into the wood.
    'I can't see
a thing, it's pitch-black,' said Terr.
    'Just wait
here', Brave's voice said.
    Terr heard a
loud grunt and the cavern suddenly lit up. Brave was proudly pointing at a huge
stone resting on a metal pole.
    'But
it's...' hazarded Terr.
    'Yes', said
Brave, 'it's a Traag light; the others aren't strong enough. You see, I place
the stone on the switch. To turn it off I remove the stone.
    Terr looked
around him. He was in a vast storeroom filled with odds and ends. Tins of all
sizes were piled up on the floor in a jumble.
    'There',
said Brave, 'you're going to sort all this out. You'll stick the boxes with
other boxes, rolls of wire with other rolls of wire, and you'll do the same
with the rest.'
    'But', said
Terr pointing at a pile of boxes, 'must I sort the ones already piled up?'
    Brave looked
at him as if he was dealing with a complete idiot.
    'Can't you
see they're already sorted?'
    'No, you've
put boxes of food with boxes of medicine. There's even a box of powder for
treating Traags' membranes.'
    Brave looked
at him silently.
    'AH these
boxes have the same shape', he said at last. 'How can you guess what's inside
them?'
    'It's
written on them... there, these small signs, they're meant to be read.'
    Brave ran
his fingers through his beard, a gesture familiar to him.