by Troy Dukart
Captain Flint escorted us back to his private quarters and told us to take a seat on the many furred chairs, couches and bean-bag seats available. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Rousseau and Captain Flint holding hands, but I couldn’t tell for sure. Rousseau sat closest to Captain Flint’s large beat-up wooden pirate desk, on the couch to the left. The Captain’s room was quite luxurious, with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, beautiful pictures of a sky-ship hanging on the walls and antiques from what looked like all over Eternia scattered across his room. It was dimly lit with candles and made me feel at ease.
Before we started talking, the Captain started up a machine next to his desk. It looked like some sort of hookah. He pulled up a long hose with a nozzle on the end and began to puff on it. Zon didn’t seem pleased with the tobacco smell.
“So, Rousseau, introduce me to ye friends here. I be very grateful they kept ye safe,” Flint said between coughs from the hookah.
“This is Zon, he is from Shinjo, Roya, from…,” Rousseau began.
“Zindaqe,” Roya helped.
“And Strafe, from New Santa Barbara. They saved my life while I was away on that mission in Dhenfen’Ce,” Rousseau finished.
“New Santa Barbara? Ye ain’t from Arrouegadin or any place I ever heard. Ye some kinda alien?” Flint said to me.
“I’m not from this world Captain. It was hard to believe people could be so savage. Where I’m from we don’t have war,” I replied.
Captain Flint looked me up and down and nodded his head, “Hat’s off to ye boy. I would usually call bullshit on meeting somebody from another planet, but look at where we are! This place might as well be from outer space too! And ye, Shinjin? Quite a far ways away from home. Beautiful place I must say.”
“There are many things I must clear-up over here. Things I had to leave my country to find,” Zon said with his arms crossed on the opposite couch.
“What ye got? Cabin fever?” Flint joked. He turned his eyes to Roya and looked her up and down, “Zindaqe, I’ve only been there once but I’ll never forget the floating islands, or the lovely people me darlin’.”
“You know of the Dream Islands? I’m happy to hear this Captain Flint-Sah,” she gleamed.
“That’s right, lovely. Now, tis’ me pleasure to introduce me ‘self. Like Rousseau said, me name is Calico Tom Flint, but me crew calls me Cap’n Cali. We here are the Rodin Pirates, which as ye guess are based in Rodin, Yuwheria. A town south of Arrouegadin about 40 kilometers, tis’ a port town of the trades. We ship contracted work all ‘cross the world, legitimately nowadays ahaha!” Captain Flint laughed.
“I hope your actions are good to your words Captain,” Zon said.
“A Whisper-Warrior like ye should’ave nothing to fear here me friend, as long as he keeps his hands to himself! Besides, we owe ye friend Rousseau a great bit’o gratitude for saving our less-than-honorable arses,” Captain Flint replied.
“Whisper-Warrior?” I repeated.
“The name of my clan, translated into this language,” Zon said to me.
“Don’t worry Zon, Tom is here to help us. He made a plan to for us to sneak into the tournament!” Rousseau said with excitement.
“Arr, that’s right me friend. I wouldn’t have trusted people I’aven’t met before, but, ye’re lucky, I made an exception ‘cause of Rousseau. We registered for the tournament after winning the qualifier back in Rodin. Only problem is a few of me crew got in trouble for hornswaggling some soldiers here in the city out of some of their ‘hard earned’ money, so now we be missing a few players. The police didn’t quite understand what “parley” meant either. The beauty of this is we used fake names and with the face-paint, they won’t know ye from a donkey!”
“You calling us donkeys mate?” Rousseau joked, Captain Cali pinched his cheek playfully.
“So much for a legitimate life,” Zon questioned.
“What me crew does in their free time, I tend to forgive as long as it don’t hurt me wallet or ship there me boy. Plus, I’m under the impression you ain’t got much else going for ye, so ye’ll just have to take a chance with me,” Captain Flint replied in a slightly serious tone.
“I think it’s a brilliant way to get closer to the King’s Court and figure out what is going on! Maybe they will have some news on the Senti and what’s happening with the war!” I said.
“We have to play this safe Strafe-Sah, we know not where Yuwheria’s allegiance lies,” Roya said.
“Which is why I’m not going to be playing,” Rousseau interjected.
“You’re not gonna play!? I thought you were great at this game?” I addressed.
“Aye, his is me boy, but Rousseau knows too much about what happened with the Prince and the old King, what really happened that is. They wouldn’t hesitate to cut his head off quicker than a fish caught out on the sea if they found him. Ye three have one day to practice, and then it’s game time me friends! There’s one catch for me taking all this risk though,” Captain Flint said.
Zon stepped toward Rousseau and looked him square in the face, “I will not put my life in this much danger if you cannot tell us what really happened to the Prince. In my clan, we say, Only someone with something to hide runs away.”
Rousseau looked taken by surprise. Captain Cali leaned over on his desk and asked, “The rest o’ the world don’t necessarily play by those rules boy. Do ye really think the murders of the old King want the truth to surface? Coups work on deception.”
“You never told us what happened to Prince Aeileo. Where was he in all this? And how were you so close to the King to witness this?” Zon questioned.
Rousseau looked very uncomfortable, but stood up and said, “Mate, you’re going to have to trust me. What I told you, happened. For real. As for the Prince, he, escaped with us. Captain Cali helped him escape once he heard about what happened. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Zon’s face got beat red, “So you are harboring a Royal member? If we did that in Shinjo, we would all be executed, regardless of the truth.” He turned around and walked out the room.
Roya tried to stop him, but he gently brushed her hand down.
“It’s okay Roya, give him some time to think,” Rousseau assuaged.
There was an awkward silence, but Captain Cali cleared his throat before he said, “The catch for workin’ with me is ye all need to bring back that trophy in a handsomely fashion. We be dead last in the ranks me friends, but first in take-away's from winnings if you get me draft, ahaha. You do that, and I’ll fly ye wherever ye needs to go!”
“This is a fair exchange I would think,” Roya agreed.
“Hell yeah! I don’t lose, so you better have those jets ready!” I proclaimed.
“I’ve played many times, so I can’t wait to get back on the field Captain Cali-Sah!” Roya said with excitement.
Rousseau rubbed his hand over his face and gave us a big smile, “I’ll be keeping an eye out for anything fishy going on, but there for you if you need me.”
“Well, me feet are aching and me eyes are finding themselves hard to keep open. Ye all can sleep in any bed we have ‘ere. In the mornin’, we get to practicing!” Captain Flint said to us.
Roya and I got up and walked toward the door and noticed Rousseau stayed behind. He walked us out and told us he had some things to talk with Captain Flint about. I heard a lock as the door closed.
I ended up finding a bed next to a very big and smelly man. He was nice and offered me some food and drink; I was starving. Brutus was sleeping with the dogs, so I didn’t bug him. Soon enough I was on my way to sleep.
Faster than I could count to ten, I awoke in a dream. There was a vast dessert spread out in front of me, as far as the eye could see. The sky was black as midnight but somehow the sand was shinning like gold dust, reflecting moon-kissed light. The wind was brushing across my face, and combing through my hair. There was a small sandstorm blowing, but I could see a weird looking field i
n the distance, so I walked over to it.
On a rusted out sign read, Brave-Ball stadium 9. As I got closer I got to see how special the field was. This really reminded me of football. As a kid I never played sports, but every once and a while I dreamt of stepping into the limelight. I loved the idea of the teamwork, the toughness and pushing yourself to the limit that sports brought out of people.
Walking barefooted through the sand, I could see at the middle field there was someone sitting with their back to me. As I walked closer, I could hear a sniffling. Who is that?
From what I could tell, it was a teenage boy. He was wearing a yellow tank-top and blue pants and sandals. He was wearing an eerie yet familiar tattered black hood on the back of the shirt; it felt out of place to me.
I began to walk around to the side to see his face, but he had his hands covering it while he wept. I wanted to find out why.
“Excuse me,” my voice echoed, “Did something happen to you?”
The boy kept crying with his hands over his face. “I’m not going to hurt you, my name is Strafe. I like your shirt! What’s your name?”
The boy began to hold back his tears, and stuttered when he spoke, “I can’t talk to strangers. Can you help me?”
“Yes, I want to help. What happened to you?” I observed while I knelt down.
“I’m all alone here, and it’s dark. I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m scared,” the boy said through the tears.
“Listen, I know the way out. We can go get some ice-cream and be safe.” I cheered.
“I want to go, but the bad man won’t let me. If he comes back and sees I’m not here, I’m gonna be in big trouble. I’m scared of him,” the boy explained.
“I’m not going to let anyone scare you or hurt you. I promise,” I told him.
“There are going to be a lot of people that die here, on this field. Strafe, you have to warn them!” the boy told me.
“What are you talking about? Are you talking about the King’s Tournament?”
I went in to touch his shoulder to comfort him. I noticed blood rushing down through his fingers. His crying got louder and as I went to pull down his hand, both of them flung down and he screamed. What I saw scared the crap out of me and knocked me to my butt. Half of his skin was gone and the rest looked like it was melting off, but the one thing that looked familiar were his eyes, they looked like mine.
“HELP ME STRAFE!!!” he screamed.
Chapter 21/
A Missing Warrior
Strafe
Dripping in sweat and gasping for air, I woke suddenly in the middle of the night.
I couldn’t fall back asleep, with the image of his face scarred into my mind’s eye. This was getting scary.
Everyone was wondering what I’d been doing up so early. I lied and told them I was too excited to sleep. When Captain Cali woke, and Rousseau came out of his room, I went in there and told him about my dream and the message the boy warned me about.
“Blimey me boy, ye’ve been in the rum I see!” Captain Cali said with a mouth-full of cornbread.
“I’ve seen this boy before, and he warned me about Dhenfen’Ce before it happened. Whoever this boy is, he’s trying to save people from dying,” I retorted.
“Listen ‘ere Strafe. I respect ye, for what ye’ve done for me friend, Rousseau, and for volunteering to make me a lot of money, but, the Tourney ain’t to be stopped by the likes of yours truly. The King’s Court ‘ould be laughing in their soft, well-pampered skins to the death before it be changed. I’m sorry me boy, but there’s too much loot for the city involved. Tis best ye just take it for what it be, a reminder to stay far ‘way from the liquor before bedtime,” Captain Cali explained.
“I’m begging you, please. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious,” I asked of him. He nodded, patted me on the back, and sent me out to a pancake breakfast.
Even in the daytime, this tent’s wonders still didn’t seize to amaze. People were flying and jumping through the air performing their chores, while making breakfast. I had to constantly dodge people running through the place with stacks of dishes and ingredients past their eye-balls. Most of them still had on their make-up too, which added to the charm.
I made my way to the line of circus people waiting for breakfast. I chatted with them and even with some of the other players on the Brave-Ball team. I was having such a good time I almost forgot to grab the huge buttermilk pancakes that we were in line for! I saw Rousseau eating with a few other pirates, and Roya was sitting with a few other girls she had made friends with. Zon was nowhere to be found though, so I just sat down next to Brutus and ate with him.
After we had some time to digest our incredible meal, Captain Cali himself corralled the team and brought us out to the field. He told us to put on the team’s uniforms and some face-paint. When Roya asked him about the face-paint, he told her it was to help us get used to the colorful sweat that would be pouring down our faces when we play. It was a new experience for me, so I didn’t mind.
When we were all finally ready, Captain Cali blew a whistle and ordered us to stand on the mid-field line while he gave us instruction.
“Arr ye scurvy dogs! Top o’ the mornin’! Hmmm, where be ye friend with the slick black hair?” he noticed while looking at his player list.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him all bloody morning,” Rousseau told him.
“This I do not know either Captain Cali-Sah. He was meditating before bed last I saw,” Roya reported.
What are you up to Zon?
Chapter 22/
Whisper Warrior
Zon
My name is Yoichi Zon, of the Whisper Warrior Clan.
I lived my entire life in a tiny village in my country of Shinjo called Miega, and was there until I proved myself as a true Whisper Warrior. In order to become a Whisper Warrior, you have to kill someone without making a sound. We condone killing for prize or pride. In my opinion, the only just reason to kill was to serve the clan, not for financial gain. My first kill came when I was 21; my victim a traitor to us. A killer himself, but no Whisper Warrior, this person meant a lot to me growing up. He had gone mad because he couldn’t prove himself to our clan, no matter how hard he tried, and went on a killing spree. Before he was to strike down our master, I blew a poison dart into his neck and he died within a few minutes.
After we confirmed he was dead I became a Whisper Warrior. We were devastated, but not as much as my best friend Longwei. The killer was Longwei’s older brother, Yaozu. It was also on that night that I found I had power unlike anyone else in Miega, the Power of Pride. It was the only reason I could reach my master in time to save him. Ever since then, I’ve had trust issues.
Even now that I was 23, I still kept my guard up with everyone I met. As I traveled with Roya, Strafe and Rousseau, I knew there was mistrust in the group. Before this war started, my village was attacked by the Yuwherians, Rousseau’s country. We were completely taken by surprise, and most of my village was slaughtered. They came in search of a Guardian Key.
When I met Rousseau, it was in the ashes of my village. I laid there, in a pile of burnt wooden remains of my grandfather’s house, wishing to die for failing to save my clan. He came over and helped me into his ship and told me he would help me find out who was responsible. Why was he there? Ever since then, my vengeance has guided me along my path. I recognized the same Yuwherian armor since we made it to Arrouegadin.
Rousseau and Captain Flint brought me to Soria to find my clansmen. Little did we know that a full-blown war would erupt. I thought them to be nomads but when Rousseau told me he was from Yuwheria, I watched him closely. The Senti weren’t the only one’s with an agenda.
I remembered that my clan had a safe-house somewhere near Castle Bell. I had to find them, and see if they found out the truth of our village and who started this war.
In Shinjo, we live with an utter devotion to our clan and country. I was raised to be a Protector, one who throws away selfish d
esires and wishes to protect the people and our way of life. From the age of 5, we are trained in the ways of Shinjo-tsu, an ancient martial art passed down through the ages. We are taught that it is better to die in battle than to live in defeat. If it weren’t for Rousseau, I would be dead. It was ultimately the pride of my people that pushed me forward.
Unfortunately, we were betrayed by Longwei; he killed my master and walked with the Yuwherians. He was the only one in our clan who was my superior. He embodied all of our ways, only to toss them to the ground like bitter berries. I am afraid he let his emotions get the best of him with the death of his brother heavy on his heart. I’d been tracking his movements. He might be here in Arrouegadin. I had to find my clansmen before it was too late.
+++
At day-break before the others woke for Brave Ball practice, I departed for the city. Strafe was too weak, emotionally and physically. He wasn’t a warrior yet he was gifted with a Guardian power, why? Rousseau spoke false truths, he couldn’t be trusted. As for Roya, she was unlike anyone I have ever met. She possesses a heart that could change the world, but my fight is not her fight. I had to do this alone. I borrowed a Rodin Pirate’s hood and stuck to the crowd. If my clan was here, they were probably in the safe-house. I wondered if Longwei had got here before me, with hopes to taint me the traitor, but it mattered not. I would slaughter all of those who got in my way of avenging my clan.
The walk to King’s Square, the largest shopping market in town, was met with few patrols of guards. I kept my face hidden until I was three blocks away. I turned on my aura and went into an alley between buildings and jumped back and forth off the walls until I was on the rooftop. Having the higher ground led to a 90% chance of surviving an enemy encounter.