Sometimes it was like being in a lake, as it was tonight. Other times it
was more like a river, or even as turbulent as a sea. It didn’t really matter
what the current felt like, calm or raging- one fundamental principle held true.
If you do not know how to hold the water properly, it will run through your
fingers. It was the same with the stuff that made up magic.
There was a ball of blue fire resting in Takaeyama’s hand. He closed
his fingers, extinguishing the flame. He flicked his fingers open again, and the
little ball sputtered back to life, casting a soft blue glow on the surrounding
foliage. He repeated this action again and again, as though he had no other
purpose in the world.
I am a human cigarette lighter, he thought bitterly.
The tree beneath which he sat was a gnarled, towering, ancient old
fellow. He’d been there since the afternoon, resting in a crook in the twisted
roots. Why he was there, he didn’t know. Night had fallen without event, stars
twinkling their meager light down from the sky each time a breeze ruffled the
leaves above. Blackness surrounded him; he was engulfed and swallowed into the
stomach of the forest.
Takaeyama knew that he didn’t belong there, shouldn’t be sitting
under the giant tree. He couldn’t bring himself to care, however. In his
heart, he didn’t belong anywhere. No one had come looking for him, and he
doubted anyone would. Perhaps they expected him to return on his own… or maybe
they didn’t want him to. The latter seemed more likely.
His mind
drifted to tales of the HeadHunters. Did those dreaded Angemal track down
Cordurans? He supposed they would. They’d hunt and kill anyone who defected
from his Clan… though Takaeyama had the odd sensation that Cordurans simply
didn't turn their backs on their Clan. Maybe he was the first. It seemed
fitting- another thing that set him apart. Should the HeadHunters find him there
beneath the tree, should they slaughter him where he sat, it was simply another
way to die. Whether he remained there, waiting quietly, or was driven off, or
caught, or struck by lightning, it didn’t really matter- as the end result
would be the same. His comfort lay in the fact that he would not wait forever.
Harata found Chi crouched in some undergrowth not far from the northern
set of railway tracks. In the falling darkness, he could see her teeth glinting
as she grinned at him. She was proud of herself- she’d been brave, waiting
silently save for the occasional birdcall he’d taught her to use as an alert
of her location.
He signaled her to remain silent, and followed her out of the brush into the forest. The Clanless spotted the deer path the others had used almost immediately. He signaled to Chi to go on ahead. She hesitated a moment, then went on.
The
small group of Champions had met no resistance as they set off through the
woods. Harata hoped this was a sign that the HeadHunters were concentrating on
the stream. He wondered how much time they had before the Angemal realized that
the trail was a definite fake. He could only hope it was enough to get them
across the tracks and headed north the next day.
He continued his work of covering their trail, trying his best to
eliminate any sign of their passing. This was far more difficult now that
darkness had fallen. His imagination haunted him, full of thoughts that they
were being hunted down at this very moment. The HeadHunters could have them
surrounded. The Clanless recalled Blue’s words as they were about to leave the
cabin.
“We’ll have to watch out for Man-Traps.”
“What’s a Man-Trap?”
“Ever seen a bear trap?”
Harata nodded.
“They’re similar… The HeadHunters will have placed them all over
the surrounding area. They do it to prevent their quarry from escaping. All the
Wandering Clans know about them… and fear getting caught in one.”
“Wandering Clans?”
“Clans that move around a lot. The Night’s Herald, Decameron, of
course the Pantagruel, and some of the Sabians, the ones who do environmental
research… people often get caught in old traps that have been left behind and
forgotten.”
Harata shuddered a bit, thinking about it, as he slowly made his way
toward the others. Finally, he allowed himself to sink completely into his work,
concentrating solely on the task at hand. He was so immersed in his labor that
he barely registered the owl’s call at first. It was the signal that would let
him know he’d reached the rest of the Champions.
They made camp in a small clearing surrounded by shrubs and other
undergrowth. It was a makeshift affair, considering their lack of tents and few
mats or blankets. Luckily, it was a warm, fair night, perfect for sleeping under
the stars.
Harata gathered them all around, motioning for silence.
“We’ll need to set a watch,” he said in a soft voice. “Blue, you
can go first-“
Chieko had one hand in the air. She was pointing to herself and waving.
“Ok,” Harata amended. “Chieko, you sit watch first. I’ll go
second. Blue, you’ll relieve me. Then, we’ll repeat.”
Ayame shot Harata a questioning look, but he shook his head slightly. He
wanted her to get some rest. There would be plenty of other nights for her to
sit watch.
With that, the six of them dispersed throughout the clearing. No one
could speak for fear of being discovered. Each sat with their own thoughts for
company, blanketed by the darkness of the woods. Blue, of course, fell into
meditation, easily forgetting the others as they faded into the night.
Chieko was quite excited by the prospect of sitting watch. She was
determined to do a good job, to prove that she was worth her weight as a
Champion. She grinned widely again. This is so amazing, she thought to
herself. She’d always wondered if she’d do anything “really important”
with her life, and here she was. It was beyond belief. However, a small thought
nagged at the reaches of her mind. Chi did worry quite a bit about her father,
sitting at home, wondering what had become of her. She wished there was some way
to let him know that she was all right.
Kat, on the other side of the clearing, was not at all worried about her
family. She did not miss them or want to see them, and she doubted they really
cared what had become of her. Of course, her father would be throwing his weight
around, worried about the effect of this event on his political career. Her
mother would be coldly predicting that everything would turn out fine, due to
their bad luck, ever the optimistic pessimist. Instead, Kat worried about
herself. What was to become of her? Here she was, a woman of her status, about
to sleep in the dirt. Should she survive this ordeal, would she ever be able to
return to her Clan? She supposed that if Harata was telling the truth, she’d
be some kind of hero. In the meantime, however, she was here, alone in the dark,
alone among strangers, alone with people she’d never be able to befriend. She
thought longingly of her life a few months ago, so full of friendship and love.
Kat’s heart was broken under the burden of loneliness.
People, Mina thought bitterly to herself. All those years, she’d
worked so hard to get away from humanity. She went to school, she did her time
as a research assistant, and went on to work for private labs. The last few
years, she had finally been able to simply be alone. She’d savored her victory
and guarded her solitude as though it were a treasure. Now this. The
anger and frustration burned inside her. She clenched her fists. It all seemed
so unfair to her. She’d never asked anything but to remain in her own silence.
To be pulled from her place and asked to champion a humanity she detested was
the ultimate affront.
Ayame was glad that her head, though still sore, had ceased throbbing. With a shudder, she recalled the men back in Mianuus. She wondered if it would have been better for her to have died then, as Mia had. For now she had no future. She couldn’t return to her Clan when this odd journey had come to an end. She’d be forced to run forever, or to submit to fate and allow herself to be Taken. There would be no happy ending for the Dauern. Some small voice within her rose up, telling her that this was untrue- Harata would never let harm befall her. He would protect her. Ayame shook her head at her own silliness, but some part of her was comforted by her trust.
Two days went by without any sign of the HeadHunters. While Blue and Mina
felt sure that the Angemal would wise up to them eventually, Harata couldn’t
help but be encouraged that they’d escaped them for now. Their days were
consumed by hiking ever northward, nights with sleeping and alternating watch.
Ayame’s bruises were healing, though now an ugly greenish color. Kat, while
withdrawn, seemed determined to take part in their Task. Chieko was
irrepressible in her enthusiasm.
Harata was training her to be a scout. With her speed and energy, it was
easy for her to go on ahead and scamper back and forth to report her findings.
As their journey had been uneventful so far, it had given her a good chance to
cut her teeth in her new duty. Being fairly hyperactive, she was glad to move
around so much.
Mina was placed in charge of rationing food, a fitting task for her
calculating mind. Blue, Ayame, Chieko and Harata took turns sitting watch at
night. It looked as though Mina would soon join them. Kat, exhausted by the days
of hiking, fell asleep immediately each night, and had to be awaked by Harata at
dawn. She lamented the filthy state of her hair and clothing, and regretted her
impractical shoes.
On the third day of their hike, in the hot and humid afternoon, Chieko
made her way to Harata in a state of extreme excitement. He was busy covering
their trail as usual, but looked up as Chi approached him.
“There’s a guy up ahead!” She exclaimed, her voice, though
kept carefully low, full of energy.
“Angemal?” The Clanless felt his heart speed up with a sickening
lurch.
“Uh-uh.” Chi shook her head. “Not a HeadHunter. I don’t know what
he is, and he’s just sitting there- not moving.” She got ready to
expel the Big News. “He gave me the feeling. You know, the Champion
feeling.”
“You think he may be one of us?”
“I’m sure… but, um… he kinda seems, well…”
“What?”
“Dead.” Chieko’s face was gravely serious. “I mean, I can’t
really tell, but people don’t usually sit around staring into space. He’s
funny looking, too. He’s got weird clothes and stuff.”
“Okay…” Harata began slowly, wondering what to make of Chi’s
rather cryptic report. “Go up and tell the others to stop where they are.
I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit, then we’ll go check it out.”
“OK.”
“Good job, scout.” At this, the GelbFaust grinned broadly again.
There was, in fact, a “guy” sitting beneath a tree. While the others
waited behind, Harata and Chieko went on to the place where she’d found him.
As she’d reported, he was sitting very still, leaning against the trunk of a
very large tree. He was wearing a long, slitted black tunic trimmed in blue,
black leggings, and knee-high black boots. The sash around his waist was not
tied, but held together by some piece of jewelry- gold with an ice blue stone.
He appeared to be quite tall and gangly, with long arms and legs. His hair, some
of which was gathered in a topknot, the rest of which cascaded down his back,
was a very pale, cold blue, the same frozen color as the stone in his buckle.
His sad, staring eyes were the same tone, set beside an aquiline nose. Chieko
was accurate in describing the stranger as “weird”.
“Wait here,” Harata said softly to Chi, who opened her mouth to
protest, but then thought better of it.
The Clanless approached the stranger slowly. While Harata moved closer,
stepping softly and silently, the other did not turn his eyes toward him. The
seated man might truly have been dead. Harata was not close enough to tell. As
he drew nearer, he began to feel the now familiar tingling sensation. Though it
grew into a warmth, it did not flare into the burning pain it had before. “You
get used to it,” Blue had said…
The young, blue haired man beneath the tree finally
moved. He closed his eyes, as though falling asleep. As Harata moved closer, his
face screwed up in an expression of pain. The rest of him remained motionless.
Eventually, his expression relaxed and his eyes opened once more. They stared
off emptily at exactly the same place as before. He still did not look at Harata,
who by now was quite close.
The Clanless crouched down in front of the stranger.
“Hello,” he said, feeling rather stupid. The man didn’t look at
him. “Can you hear me?” Finally, the eyes moved to meet Harata’s. No reply
came.
“What’s the matter?”
No reply.
“You can’t speak?”
Silence. From the bushes, Chieko called,
“Harata? Can I come out now? I want to see…”
What the hell? Thought Harata. To Chi, he answered,
“Yeah, you can come out, but walk slowly.”
She did so. When
she came near, the stranger’s face contorted again. Once he’d relaxed,
Chieko sat right on the ground facing him.
“Hello!” She said brightly. The eyes moved to look at her smiling
face. “My name is Chieko. I come from Mianuus. This guy is Harata. We’re not
Bad Guys,” she giggled, “obviously. What’s your name? If you can’t
answer, just blink. I know you can do that.”
There was a long, unresponsive pause. Harata opened his mouth to say
something, but Chi held out her hand, silencing him. Finally, the stranger
closed his eyes again and said in a soft voice,
“Takaeyama.”
“Ok, Takaeyama. That’s a nice name. I have something very important
to tell you. Is that ok?”
“I guess.”
“Do you know the Legend of Diasminion?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, Harata here is the Clanless One. I’m a Champion… and so are
you. Sorry I hurt you when I came close, but we do that. It’s some kind of
sign. There are other signs, too, but I can tell you about that later. Ok,
Takaeyama, we’re Champions, he’s the Clanless. You ok with that?”
“I guess.”
“Alright… Now, I need you to tell me what’s up. Are you hurt?”
There was a very long pause. In the end, Takaeyama took a deep breath and
answered,
“No.”
“So, you can get up and come with us?”
Another pause.
“I guess so.”
“Let’s go then. The others are waiting over there,” Chieko
gestured back the way she came. “You can meet them, ok?”
“OK.”
Chieko backed away a bit. For a time, Takaeyama did nothing. Finally, he
took a deep breath, stretched, and then began to hoist himself up. He stumbled a
bit, but eventually ended up standing, his pale blue eyes staring off into the
distance.
“You’re tall, huh?” Chi said brightly as she took him by the arm
and started to lead him away. Harata followed silently behind, wondering what
they were going to do about their newfound Champion.
