by Jeff Hook
“Let’s get to H’raldri’s,” said Hishano. “I don’t like the idea of everyone scrutinizing us. These people are so strange, and every single one of them is so different…”
That was uncharacteristic of the Hishano that Karugo knew. “Don’t you want to help them?”
“Yes, but… there are so many of them and their emotions are so wild; each person uses them differently. On Tandoku, almost everyone acted properly at all times. There was a correct response to every situation and life was as easy as performing the correct response. This island is so chaotic compared to that… it’s hard to adjust.”
Karugo hadn’t thought of it that way. Last night’s visit from Nata the Knyn had scared him a little, but it had probably been terrifying and completely disorienting to Hishano and Ishū. They were much closer to the typical Tandoku and… now Karugo saw it. Tandoku Island was a fragile place with no variation from the proscribed customs. If outside visitors came it might end up broken like the plates on last night’s table. Even he, who was normal according to the standards of Havlam Island, was a huge destabilizing force. If there were two or three of him, it might change the way of life on Tandoku Island as they knew it.
Then again, was that such a bad thing? He remembered Grandpa Toraburu’s words: you’ll see what happens to a society that kills its heroes.
No, he didn’t want to risk that. He would rather let the rest of the Tandoku be, get them their crystal, as long as he got to sail away and keep exploring at the end of it.
Light-skinned humans turned their heads as they passed in the street; children pointed directly, while adults often pretended interest in an object just behind them. It seemed to be curiosity more than anything that drove these people to stare.
“They’re all acting the same now,” said Karugo. “Is that better?”
“No,” said Hishano. “It’s way worse because they’re all acting weird. Let’s get to H’raldri’s and get our mission.”
——
They knocked three times, then four. Eventually Hishano sighed and said, “I guess I can take the shurikens again.” It was going to hurt, but it was worth getting the money. They needed every bit of money they could get if they wanted to average fifty mezcop a day.
However, just before he was about to leap into the Lapine’s den the door opened on its own. “Come in, quickly!” whispered the rabbit, both of his ears twitching back and forth, with one going flat on his head just as soon as the other returned to normal. “You made quite a racket with that knocking… you never know who might be listening!”
They stepped in and H’raldri closed the door behind them.
“Why would people be listening?” asked Hishano. “We’re just getting ingredients for your potions.”
“Not just ingredients… reagents! And you must be cognizant of spies at all times. Did your human-warren not teach you this? Jump into a battlefield and close your eyes, this is why humans die so much.”
Hishano didn’t know what spies were, but if they were things that could hurt someone just by listening then they must be pretty bad.
“Okay, here’s what I need today: it’s a small root that grows past the bamboo forest. It’s not rare, it just doesn’t grow where humans can reach very easily. The last person I sent out there, he never returned, and now the townspeople won’t let their children go on errands for me… but you! You have no family here, so you’re perfect for this mission.”
Hishano started having second thoughts. He could heal, but it had limits… and Karugo could get hurt almost as easily as a normal human.
“I’ll give you eighty-nine mezcop if you bring me five roots.”
The doubtful second thoughts disappeared, replaced by third thoughts that were overwhelmingly in favor of the mission. That was almost twice as much money as they needed for the day in order to meet their goal! If they succeeded in dangerous life-threatening missions four out of the next seven days, then they’d be able to save Seth’s family and pay for their boat fare.
“Let’s do it!” said Hishano excitedly.
“Yeah!” agreed Karugo. “With eighty-nine mezcop a day we can save everyone!”
H’raldri gave them a sidelong glance but said nothing. Instead he grabbed a potion from on top of his desk, a glass flask with a rubber stopper that was filled with a thick red liquid. “Here’s one of the healing potions that I made yesterday. This is for the fire boy, just in case.”
“You’re so nice!” exclaimed Hishano.
“I just don’t want my helpers dying earlier than necessary,” muttered the Lapine. “I’ll never pay off my debts if you die.”
Hishano was extra sure now that they would do this. They’d be helping their island, Seth, H’raldri, and the villagers who consumed his potions. “We won’t let you down.”
H’raldri put the potion in a bag, one with straps for going over the shoulders, and then handed it to Karugo. “Be careful in the bamboo forests. The bamboo stalks look sturdy, but they won’t protect you.”
14
Bug Out
Ishū felt out the animal mindscape as he walked to town. The animals at the farm had felt orderly and content — a generally happy lot — but out here the animal minds were much sharper, wilder, more active. It wasn’t happiness, per se, but some sort of swirling intensity that seemed to generate its own form of satisfaction. It was mesmerizing.
But exploring that wilderness could come later, once Ishū had helped raise the required funds. For now, he had to figure out how to make people part with their money. Apparently just asking for what they needed would get them laughed out of town, taking it would get them run out of town, and there was no Council of Elders to discuss this with, but if he could do something for them that they liked then they might give him some money… he just had to find what he was better at than other people, and convince others to pay him to do it.
Why couldn’t they have a Council of Elders that told them what to do? It worked well enough on Tandoku Island. Then again, that had also been with a domesticated people; such things might not work for wild and independent people like Seth.
Ishū cringed as he entered town. The town’s animal mindscape was no longer the contented orderliness of the farm or the lively intensity of the wild animals. These animals lived in a cycle of feasting and terror, always planning out their next move, hoping to score a big chunk of food and escape the broom or the shoe. In this perpetual war between human and animals, all but a small number of types had died out or fled the city.
The greatest numbers were the cockroaches, constantly scurrying to find some dark space where they might find sustenance. Then there were the mice, forming small groups and trying to protect their young from the terrors of the human world. Then there were the crox, a scaled creature with a long sticky tongue, probably related to the frogs with the roll-up tongues that Karugo and Hishano had talked about. He watched one work as it chased a bug, sending out the long tongue to stick onto the side of a kitchen counter, then pulling itself up to that attachment point at high speed and flipping onto the top of the ledge. From there its tongue flicked out again, hitting the scurrying bug.
A human child clapped nearby, delighted at the display. The crox moved away; human adults never struck at them since they hated the bugs far more than the crox, but human children always wanted to ‘play’, and there was no telling what damage that could do. The crox aimed its tongue at the window and flipped itself outside, sticking its tongue on the outer wall to slow its fall.
Finally, there were the cats — actual cats, small and walking on all fours, not the human-like Knyn he’d seen last night. They were the rarest but the most intelligent, hunting down mice and crox.
That confirmed what Seth had told him last night. The humans mostly liked cats, tolerated crox, disliked the mice, and hated the bugs. He could also see that the cats and the crox were the most individually intelligent, the mice had the most powerful social bonds, and the bugs had the greatest numbers.
He had a plan to turn this knowledge into money.
He knocked at a door, and a disheveled older woman answer the door. “Hello,” he began, trying not to be nervous. It had been a long time since he’d struck up a conversation with a stranger. “Have animals been bothering you?”
“Honey,” she yelled, surprisingly loudly, “it’s one of those new green people.”
An old man hobbled to the door. “Well, I’ll be. What’s the thing want?”
“He asked if animals have been bothering us.”
“Well I think that’s a bit harsh. He’s not like us, but he’s no animal.”
A kid ran between them, maybe seven or eight, and pinched his exposed arm. “It’s not coming off. Are they really green?”
This was going worse than expected. Seth’s family was alright, and Hishano and Karugo were his responsibility, but mostly Ishū just wanted to be with the animals again.
He decided to try again, more clearly this time. “If there are animals bothering you, I can make them go somewhere else. Then you pay me money.”
The kid knelt down and scratched at his leg, trying to peel off the green. Ishū shook his leg and growled at the boy.
“Get back,” said the older woman. “He might bite.”
“Grandma, he’s really green.”
“That’s why you shouldn’t provoke him. He’s from a completely different island and culture. We have to respect his customs, whatever they are.”
Ishū sighed. “I just want to use my skills to make money. Here, I’ll demonstrate.”
He’d chosen this house because there were mice in the walls, and they were surely bothering the residents. He reached out to the mice. Please help me. Come out and run in a circle.
Who are you? Why?
Right. These weren’t like Seth’s farm animals, who were used to obeying and happy to speak with a friendly human. These were animals, he sensed from their actions, who were used to being tricked and killed by humans, living an uncomfortable coexistence.
“Where’s the demonstration?” asked the old man, confused.
“Yeah!” the boy joined in enthusiastically. “Show us some green person magic!”
“I’ll leave now. Sorry to bother you.” Ishū shuffled away, dejected.
“What a strange fellow,” said the old woman.
“Maybe we should’ve asked him to dinner,” said the old man.
“We don’t know what he eats! What if he eats support beams… or children?”
“Then we’d tell him…”
The door creaked as it closed, and their voices faded away.
He had to try again, because he had to get money, but he needed a better plan this time. He turned down one of the smaller streets where people didn’t walk as much — “alleyways” — and slumped against a wall.
15
Wild Things
Karugo was nearly dancing as he went past the town guard, his excitement rising just imagining what could be in the bamboo forest.
The thought of danger shouldn’t excite him. Everyone else seemed scared by it. H’raldri was so scared he wouldn’t leave his house. Hishano wasn’t scared for himself since he was nearly invincible, but he was scared for Karugo.
“Keep your head on a swivel at all times,” said Hishano. “And don’t make so much noise. Who knows what kind of attention it will attract.”
“We’re ten feet outside the city.”
“We got lucky last time that the tri-snakes and the rainbow wolves kept each other busy. If only one of them had shown up, who knows what would have happened.”
“You can heal and I have the potion from H’raldri. And I can catch on fire. Anything that comes at us…” Karugo threw a punch, making his fist burst into flame as he connected with an imaginary opponent.
Hishano frowned and put his finger to his lips.
They walked in silence for some time, Hishano’s head swiveling constantly. They crossed the river, and then passed the farm on the west side. Karugo thought the caution was a huge overreaction to what had happened the previous day — and maybe to H’raldri’s ominous warnings — but eventually the paranoia got to him as well. At about the time they passed into wild forests — ones much like those where they’d been chased the previous day — he also started looking in every direction for danger.
“There’s so much going on,” Hishano whispered eventually. “So many plants, scattered chaotically. Bugs zipping to and fro. Small animals bounding through. The screeching of birds. How are we supposed to keep track of everything? It’s all so… unnatural.”
Karugo laughed, far too loudly. The echo was quickly eaten by all the other noises, but it still seemed to set Hishano even more on edge than he had been before. “Unnatural? This is the definition of natural. The orderly rows of Tandoku Island are what’s unnatural.”
Hishano frowned again. Had Karugo gone too far? Would Hishano stop liking him? He knew the boy liked the home island far more than almost anyone he knew, but still… surely they could both admit that nothing that happened there was natural. “You’re right,” Hishano said at last. “Tandoku Island is very unnatural, and this island is very natural.”
Karugo breathed a sigh of relief. There was hope for his friend yet. As gratifying as it was to have Hishano caring about him, all the weird ideas were annoying.
“But on Tandoku Island, none of the animals attacked us. Very few of them attacked each other. Mentors didn’t hit their students. Greedy people didn’t threaten families with slavery and starvation. We were at peace for hundreds of years. It was, as you say, completely unnatural. It was perfect.”
What could Karugo say to that? That it was too restrictive? That it was boring? That he had hated himself for nearly every moment of his life on the island?
“We know it didn’t get that way by accident. It took a lot of work. Work like we’re doing now, finding the Adiamite Crystal.”
Work like separating Karugo from the island. Tandoku Island was already better, more perfect, just for the fact that he wasn’t on it. And he’d been happier as well, even reaching a state that might be called joy. It was only when thinking about the island that those depressing thoughts came back.
“And when we’re done with that,” said Hishano confidently, “I’m going to save the rest of the world. Do you want to help me?”
“How are you going to save the world?” asked Karugo. “There seem to be a lot of things wrong with it. Pirates. Thieves. Snakes and wolves.”
Hishano contemplated that for a while. “Jack and Freddy were never nice, but they sure did act a lot nicer when they were within range of the Adiamite Crystal. Maybe if we find one for every single—”
“No,” said Karugo firmly.
“We can do it!” said Hishano. He was so excited that he was starting to forget the danger, and his voice rose in volume. “You, me, Ishū… we’re a—”
“No,” repeated Karugo. He couldn’t go back to a half existence, living as if in a cage. There might be pirates and wild animals and unpleasant people out here, but to go under the repression of the crystal again would be to lose himself. “There’s so much life and excitement out here. Putting crystals everywhere would destroy this world.”
“Surely you’re not okay with people like J—” Hishano cut himself off, apparently not sure what Karugo currently thought of Jack. “With people like Freddy and that Knyn running around hurting people. If everyone gets a crystal, Seth’s family can live in peace. H’raldri wouldn’t have a reason to be scared.”
“If there was a crystal, they wouldn’t exist. They’re too wild, too dangerous. Audrey dreams of being an adventurer… what place does an adventurer have in your perfect world?”
“Under the crystal, she wouldn’t want to be an adventurer! She would want something more reasonable. Out here, even I sometimes want to do something daring. Do you know how unnerving that feeling is?”
“I’ve always wanted to explore; I just didn’t know what that feeling meant unt
il the crystal broke.”
“Fine. The crystal doesn’t make people perfect. But it does make them better.”
Karugo gritted his teeth. Hishano might have sacrificed for him, but he still didn’t understand. Life under the crystal was a constant unfilled longing, a never-ending sense of wrongness. Out here people did bad things sometimes, but they were free. They could experience life in all its forms. “Do you think I was better under the crystal? Do you think that out here I’m bad?”
“No!” yelled Hishano, completely forgetting his previous caution. “You were just a disturbance the Elders had to control.”
“Is that why you’re here? To control me?”
“And as your friend!”
Karugo tried to calm himself. The easiest way to remove a disturbance was to kill it. It had worked on the pirates. He’d thought of doing the same to the Knyn, imagined how Seth’s family would react if he killed that thing… it had brought a smile to his face. If Hishano hadn’t killed him, had in fact gone to great lengths to save him, then he wasn’t just a disturbance to control… yet Hishano still didn’t understand.
Or maybe it had nothing to do with Karugo. Maybe Hishano was against killing, and was willing to spend his life guarding against the disturbance instead of just taking care of it the easy way.
They marched on, their silence no longer the silence of caution.
The birds continue to chirp, stubbornly cheerful. Didn’t they know there was danger in these woods?
Soon the thick woody tree cover began to thin, replaced slowly by bushes and scrub. After a small section of entangled shrubbery, there arose a wall of bamboo plants. Their leaves were concentrated at the top, so once they entered the shaded areas they were surrounded by bamboo stalks and almost nothing else. The stalks ranged from small enough that Karugo could fit a hand around them to large enough that he could barely wrap both arms around the trunks, although this second type was rare. The most common was one about as thick as Karugo, and three or four times his height. At places they grew thick enough that Karugo and Hishano had to turn sideways to fit through.