World of Taroo

by Jimmy Eriksson

  He arrived to the land and found it was in good condition. He tried the well and the water tasted nice and fresh. He walked the length of the walls of the building he had in mind and also climbed the mountain. He looked over the small land and imagined the plan in front of him. Before the sun went too far down, he rode home again. The next day while his children were in school, he walked around the kingdom to recruit some help. He found it easy to get workers, and Jay said he would help as well since he was off duty for the coming two weeks. Gon found the supplies he would need from the mines and had spoken to several engineers about constructing a machine that could move heavy rocks away.

  On the way to some of the mines, he was stopped by soldiers that said he could not enter further. When asked why, he was only told the mines had been shut down due to a cave-in for then. Strange that several of the mines had a cave in, he thought then as they were the kingdom’s own mines that had some gold and other valuable stones in them. Mines of such importance should have a better system of security to keep them from caving in. It didn’t matter as he would have others to get material from. He rode to the different quarries for different rocks, metal and wood and spent a lot of money the next coming days. Money had never been a problem, and ever since he won the tournament, he had had much saved and had a constant flow from the restaurant and also from selling it.

  Not even Jay knew what Gon had set his mind to, but he knew it must be something big. The workers started to excavate the area around the land and flattened parts and raised others. The work was hard, and since the land was full of mountain, it took a while to move. Some of the trees got taken down to add material for the buildings, and when the land was finally prepared for construction, Gon showed his then better drawing for the workers in charge of each site. Jay looked at the wall surrounding the complex and at the house in the mountain. He said it was a big complex and asked what Gon intended to use it for. Gon told Jay after everyone had left that he would start a martial arts school and planned to do that for the rest of his life. Jay understood and agreed it would be a great idea. They talked for a while, and then Gon asked what would happen to the Darcolian army that was taken prisoners and Jay said he was not sure yet what Kemi wanted but whatever it was, she was quiet about it.

  He said, at the moment, she had brought them to the kingdom’s gold mines where she would keep them for a while before they could return home. He did know that many of the captured had been sent home that were deemed to hold no risk to the kingdom. People with injuries and others who held no serious threat. Some were still held there but he didn’t know how many as Kemi had created a specific group of soldiers to keep an eye on them. He also didn’t know for how long because he was not needed there, and was not allowed there which he felt strange but none of his business. He said for then the mines would be off limits, and Gon then knew why he was not able to buy any material from those mines. He also thought that the information about the cave-ins must have been a lie to keep people from coming close. Jay said the Darcolian people were not happy to have the Grasoll army in their kingdom and many fights had erupted.

  Jay also let Gon know he was still a little worried over what the Redonian kingdom planned to do but so far, they had kept their distance. ‘Perhaps they were holding up as the alliance would result in too many casualties,’ Jay mentioned and Gon believed he might be right. ‘In another opinion that had been circling the reason had been that the Redonian kingdom only waited for the right moment to come,’ Jay also added. Gon heard about Kemi being highly confident about herself and merely laughed at the worries from her advisors. He said they had taken over several villages that were melting gold for Darcolia but they had then been closed down. They also planned for an expansion of several forts that were to be put where the border was to keep control of it.

  Gon didn’t really care but he hoped the war would never come back again. The days and weeks flew past and the wall that was made from part of the mountain and parts of delivered rock was being finished and since they reused the mountain rock, they were able to save some money and the house sitting partly in the mountain was looking great. The children had been coming once in a while and they loved the building site especially Isabel who played a lot in it. The trees were chopped and formed to stand as pillars for the small houses in the complex that would house about 100 people.

  The well got a face lift and in the cutting of the mountain, they struck upon water in the mountain that was creating a water fall that went down the mountain and passed the house and down past the complex. The workers made a small pond where the water flowed and it then looked very pleasant in the complex. Gon helped finish a shrine built for his wife and had her coffin dugout and transported there. A small shrine was built and a marble statue of her was placed on top of it. When the builders were finished, the king’s personal gardener came to help with planting flowers and set up the garden.

  Forty-six days after they started, the complex stood ready. The door to the school was massive and even stronger than the castle’s own door. Gon sold his house in the Heiwan village and moved the last couple of things from the house to the new one. He looked at the empty house and remembered the joys of the house then closed and locked the door for the next owner which was another young family. The new house was big and very nice. The floors were marble and so were some pillars. The furniture was newly built and filled the rooms. The girls got each their own room and were next to their father’s. The pond outside now had fish swimming in it.

  For the next days, the family looked around and placed things around the complex. Gon had not yet set out any posters about the school but a knock was heard on the door, and as he opened it, five young men stood outside and bowed down to him. They asked to join the school, and they said they came from one of the faraway lands behind the land of Domoro where a small town lay. Gon had, during the time he had been watching the others build, been writing his own style of fighting and had a clear teaching way for the school. He welcomed those that had come and enlisted them into the school.

  One of the new students said they had just heard that the Darcolian kingdom was not in the hands of the Grasoll kingdom anymore. Gon was surprised and wondered what had happened but said he would ask his friend the next time he met him. The next month would be filling up the school with people that came to train with the great master Gon. The school was almost full of students that learnt the way of fighting from Gon, and four months after the school had opened there were already invitations from other schools to come and test the fighting skills. Sophia was participating in the studies of the fighting, and despite being so young, she was advancing quickly, to her father’s joy. He soon got a letter from the kingdom saying the king had become worse and most likely would pass in the next following days.

  Gon let one of the best students named Wame continue the training and brought the girls with him as he travelled to the castle. Once in the king’s chamber, he held the king’s hand and thanked him for everything, and the king smiled and nodded. His speech had nearly disappeared, and it was too hard for him to try to speak. Gon hugged Kemi who was standing next to her father. He left the room and met Jay in the courtyard. They talked, and Jay said the verdict of the king of Darcolia was announced a few days ago and he was to be hanged as soon as the king was dead. They walked around the city, and Gon asked him if it was true that the Darcolian kingdom was not under the supervision of Kemi anymore. Jay said he was not allowed to say anything but told him he had nothing to worry about. Gon trusted his friend then picked up some things for the school and brought them to the carriage where his daughters were waiting after spending time with one of the royal maids.

  Jay told Gon earlier that he would go back to the Domoro Land for a couple of months and trade fighting techniques with the other army. Gon asked if it had anything to do with what they talked about and Jay said yes. Gon and the girls rode back but would return after another week when the news arrived that the king had passed. The funeral was grand
, and many kings and queens were present for the funeral which was held only two days after the death of the king. The people were all sad but also happy as Kemi was now crowned queen of the land. Jay and Gon stood outside the gates after the funeral, and both knew they would not see each other for a very long time. They shook hands, and Gon rode off towards his school with the girls.

  In the school, the training continued, and Gon stepped up the studies to see who had the biggest potential. He selected five of the best to help him with teaching and also he had to start to increase the space inside the complex; they moved the houses further away from the middle of the training ground and increased a level on each house. During the time of the move, more people wished to study the martial arts of Gon. Even with an extra fifty students, it would be hard to accept more, and at the moment, there were one hundred and twenty-two people all together that filled the ground. Gon trained himself in a private room next to the house and built his techniques up.

  Gon was good and five months after the death of the king, he now looked lighter on the feet and stronger than ever before. He developed his hands to splice rocks, and his hands became tough as iron. He had begun to grow a beard and long hair. The girls thought he looked funny but liked it. A man knocked on the door to the school and with him were a few followers. He asked for the master of the school and was taken to Gon. The man had a hat that covered his face, but said they had met before. Gon looked interested and smiled when the man took off his hat.

  ‘It had been a long time,’ Gon said, and Catigernus said it truly had and said he had come to test his strength against Gon again. He said he would pay him money to do so, but Gon sat on a chair and laughed. He told Catigernus he would never charge for a battle, but if he could beat him, he would pay him for lessons and stood up. They stepped outside and out to the battle grounds. Catigernus was eager to start, but Gon took his glass of wine and swept it down. He told Catigernus to attack anytime he wanted and he made himself ready. He moved forward and tried to give a punch and then a kick. Both missed as Gon moved fast. His opponent from Shetana moved fast as well and struck with feet and arms but Gon blocked them easily. They both seemed to test each other, but Gon had the control at all times. Catigernus jumped and spun his legs, but Gon grabbed them and flipped him around. He got up and tried again to get a hit in and when he tried to swipe the leg of Gon, he missed and the fight ended as Gon gave a strike with the back of his hand. Catigernus felt the pain from the strike as well as the muscle power of Gon and felt his strength left him. He remembered how good Gon was and almost passed out from the hit. He was helped up by his followers and the students brought water.

  Gon sat down next to Catigernus and cheered with his mug. He thanked Gon then they talked about the last time they met. Catigernus got to meet Isabel who had come home from a trip to the castle. Sophia was sad she missed the fight but said Catigernus would be able to fight her the next time he came. Catigernus said he would be honoured to fight a daughter of Gon. After a while, he thanked Gon and left to return when he believed he would be a greater match for him which Gon was happy to accept. The weeks and months came and went, and sometimes, there were more people wanting to try their strength but Gon won every time easily. Some of those that had come and left after a while if they felt they wished to continue out in the world. They were quickly replaced by others, and the school was having a good flow of students wanting to train for a competition or get stronger for themselves.

  The fee for attending had always been the same, and those not having enough money would have to work for it. The girls were taught in the home, and Isabel was very good in writing, and Gon bought books and paper for her to compose songs and stories of her own. She had developed a big interest in history and knew much more than he ever did, but he was never any good in school, he told her. Sophia had begun to handle other weapons than just her bow and proved herself to be very good. After trying most of the weapons, her choice had been the spear that she handled like it was an extension of her. She was not allowed to spar with the other students because of her age, but her father helped her with control. She had also begun to play a card game called Moq-Kado that was popular amongst the less respected of the people. Of those who regularly played were thieves, bandits and pirates.

  In the many prisons, it was sometimes the only game allowed and Sophia had become very good at it. Gon was not overjoyed by her interest in the game, but since she liked it, he let her continue with it. She was good at the game and when she, at one point, got a chance to play another man in the Grasoll city, she beat him with no problem. She then at times got chances to play against people but with her father supervising. Their lives outside of the kingdom walls continued for some time without any incident occurring until one day, two years and two months after the death of the king, a knock came on the door at the entrance and one of the students let a friend in who had not been seen for some time.

  Jay had come back from the trip around to other lands, and he looked stronger than before. He said he was in the kingdom for a few days but had an announcement to tell them. Gon was very happy to see his old friend and invited him into his house that had been constantly improved as he thought of something. They sat down, and the girls hugged Jay when they saw him. He said that during the stay in the Domoro Land, he and Nami fell in love, and he would then temporarily move to the Domoro Land to work for Queen Lisaro for a while to bring up the training for the troops. He had already got permission from Kemi and it was to improve the relations between the countries. Jay told Gon he might marry Nami in the future and wished Gon to be his best man as he was for him on his wedding, and Gon accepted gladly.

  The two friends spent the day talking, and Jay told about the different lands and the food that he had tried and told Gon he should travel to the lands to try them to. Gon said he would love to but had not cooked for a while and didn’t think he would leave any time soon for travel. Gon who had kept himself a little isolated then asked what had happened to Darcolia lately. Jay shook his head and told him Kemi had agreed to return the Darcolian kingdom to Redonia. When Gon asked why she would do that when she could had ruled over both lands, Jay said it was complicated. He didn’t know the full story but he knew Redonia had put much pressure on the other kingdoms that traded with Grasoll land. With the people inside of Darcolia refusing to accept Kemi as their new queen, she decided to give it back to Redonia. Gon was worried about retaliation from the Arobe’s brother, but Jay said that part of the agreement was that there would be peace between them. Jay said he hoped Kemi knew what she was doing because he didn’t wish to fight Redonia. Gon felt a little stupid for not knowing so much about the different kingdoms, but he had never been much for history or politics.

  Jay told him how Redonia controlled much of the ocean, and for many years was the most advanced kingdom. They had since then lost much because of the royals that rather feasted, and the only man that could pose any threat was Amaya, brother of Arobe. It was him who asked to have the Darcolian kingdom back. He said he was not really supposed to speak more about it so Gon instead offered some more food. When Jay left, he said the next time they meet it would be on the wedding day of Jay and Nami. A joyful day, indeed, Gon thought and sat in his chair looking over the land that he could see from his house. He was very satisfied with what he had accomplished so far, and the girls were growing up more looking like their mother every day. He could see Sophia took more after him not only in her interests but her attitude reminded him of himself.

  Looking over the land, he could see the green fields and the roads that had people riding towards the castle on them. He remembered when he first got there with Jay and Senji. They were so excited for the future, and he never thought they would be apart for even one day. He could see Isabel playing with some of the students and heard her laugh. A tear ran down his cheek, and he said with a silent voice that he wished Senji would have been here to see them then. How should he bring up his daughters and what boundaries would he hav
e to let go of. Sophia came up and stood next to him looking over the landscape too. He told her it was not easy to be a father alone and made sure they grew up safe in this world. Sophia put her hand on his shoulder and said whatever happened, she knew she could always trust him to be there for them. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek and hugged him tight. The tear on his cheek had to make room for a few more coming down from his eye.

  Sophia sat next to her father, and then both of them just sat quietly and looked at the sky that was slowly changing colour from blue to more reddish. From outside the school on the way to the kingdom sat a few men in a carriage. They held no armour nor carried any weapons with them on the way, but they had scars only soldiers had that had been in battle. These men came to trade fur taken from the many animals roaming the plains and mountains. With such good quality, they were highly anticipated, and the men delivered their merchandise to multiple locations inside the kingdom. ‘With such access to the kingdom, it would be possible to get more information, but the soldier didn’t believe them to be of any threat,’ Gon had told Sophia. With the war long gone, many soldiers that had fought in the war for either side had now retired so seeing soldiers trying to make a living was nothing new. Some people wondered still if the war would come again to their city and who they could trust.