“Nor me, I can’t hold a pen.” Fato joked.
“Look, I’m not supposed to be here. The paperwork is complicated when I got into Arria because I helped out on another case prior to this. Actually, this was the last part of that other case, but it’s complicated.”
“So we’ve established.” Oaka said.
“Can I just sit here? Talk about a few things? I usually don’t have company when I travel.”
Basha hesitated as Oaka shook his head, but Fato nodded, so it was up to him. “I suppose for a little while.”
“Thanks. Can I leave my horse with yours?”
Basha nodded, and Monika went off to loosen her horse’s saddle. Oaka leaned over and hissed, “Are you sure about this? We don’t know much about her.”
“I think she’s friendly.” Basha said.
“I agree.” Fato put in.
“She was helping out the Border Guards.”
“Yes, but she accused us of being monsters. And she was in that barroom fight.”
“That’s different. She was just there. As for accusing us, we were acting strange,” He referred to himself. “She hardly knew anything about us.”
“Neither do we about her.”
Monika came back, carrying her saddle and packs. “Why were you in Coe Anji?”
“You get the first question?” Basha asked.
“It’s reasonable.” Monika sat across from them. “You know what I was doing. I know nothing about you two. For all I know, you followed me from Coe Baba. You never traveled far, that’s what you said.”
“Good memory.”
“You made an impression, but it’s a fact, isn’t it? You two never traveled before. So what’s brought you here, and why’re you still going?”
“I’m on a quest for Tau’s Cup.”
“What? You never said!” Fato cried.
“Didn’t we?”
“No! No one tells me anything. I just thought you two were going on some business somewhere. Although maybe I wasn’t paying attention.” He frowned, tilting his head as he tried to recall. “Maybe I did hear you two mention Tau’s Cup the other day, but I didn’t know that was what you were searching for.”
“We’re going to Coe Pidaria. Remember when I told you about Lovers’ Rock, the girl I was planning to ask for?” Basha asked Monika. “Well, I climbed that Rock, realized I needed a dower, and Tau’s Cup just sprang to mind. I made my promise with an oath to Tau himself. Even got approval from the Oracle of Mila to go.”
“It was spur of the moment, literally.” Oaka said. “I went along to keep him safe. So did Sir Nickleby.”
“Sir Nickleby? I actually mentioned that knight to the major, Basha, just today. I told him you’d been trained by him, and, of course, he knew…but where is he? Why isn’t he here with you all?”
Basha and Oaka told the story, with Fato supplying anecdotal evidence of his own. “I was flying from Coe Dobila, rehearsing my message again, when suddenly a pack of Black Wolves chased me. They knew I was a royal messenger bird, carrying vital information for King Sonnagh. I tried to lose them, but instead I led them straight by accident to these poor fellows. Sir Nickleby died standing up against those Wolves, who broke off pursuit because I’d foiled them, disappearing into the trees. They’d no clue where I was going. So there’s been no sign of them since.”
“You never said anything about the Wolves breaking off pursuit.” Basha remarked.
But it was a bit of a double standard, if he hadn’t told Fato about their quest. He’d held back information, and Fato had repaid him in kind.
“What an amazing story.” Monika said as she kept eating. “I’m sorry for what happened. The major did remark the knight was a good fighter, and I suppose he was if he taught you.”
“I don’t know half of what I did the other day. That was something else.”
“Definitely something else,” Oaka muttered, glancing at Basha’s pack.
Monika paused. “Can it be…never mind, I shouldn’t. The point is, I haven’t got any place else to go, not really. I want to join you all.”
“Are you serious?” Oaka and the others stared at her.
“Yes, strange as it may be. I can help. I know how to fight, you all saw me back there. I don’t need any…whatever,” She waved her hand at Basha’s new sword. “And if we meet Black Wolves, or whatever else, then you could use all the help you can get.”
“This sounds a lot like when…”
“Wait a minute, Oaka.”
“Basha! This is just what happened when Fato joined us.”
“Hey!” The falcon exclaimed.
“Trying to get us to believe that he would be useful.”
“He has been useful.”
“Thank you,” Fato bowed his head and grumbled.
“I won’t have another person join this group without my say-so.”
“Excuse me, but I’m involved in this,” Monika remarked. “I won’t have you three discuss me like…I’m coming, whether you like it or not. I just came over to ask your permission, and ask what is going on.”
“Basha, I don’t understand what is going on here, but she’s trying to get in for whatever reason she has.”
“For your information, I’ve the best of intentions.” She stood, facing Oaka. “I don’t intend to get you all killed. I’m here to protect you all, do you understand me?”
“Wow,” Fato said, staring up at Monika.
“I don’t believe you.” Oaka said.
“Believe me, it’s the truth. You won’t get protection like mine anywhere else. You won’t be able to depend on anyone else like me. I’ve been around a few times and I know there are some very dangerous people out there. People who’ll take advantage of you if you let them. But I’m not asking anything of you all except that you let me come. I’ll prove myself valuable to you all. I’ll show you all that I have what it takes…” She stopped, and shook her head. “Forget it, just forget it!” She stormed off, taking her saddle and packs with her.
“Monika, wait!” Basha cried, getting up.
“Of course, run after her and not…” Oaka stopped. “Basha, you decide. I’m not going any further without some assurance that it’s worthwhile.”
“Oaka, please.”
“I miss home and Sisila. I’m not doing this without—even if we do come back home safe and sound, I’ll have nothing to show for it. I’m risking everything, just because of you, without anything in return! These last few days have been horrible, but none of you’ve changed my mind about—going back! Basha, you’re as good as my brother. I hate saying all of this, but I want you to know if I’m getting anything out of this. For what end did I leave Sisila?”
“This isn’t…Oaka!” Basha cried as Oaka left him as well, grabbing his packs and blanket.
Basha was left alone with Fato, who said, “I don’t think this is a very good start.”
“I should’ve known, malakel it,” Basha said. “To be chased by Black Wolves, seen Sir Nickleby torn apart, taunted by you, and then beaten up by Monika, before that big fight…Oaka should’ve asked that question a long time ago.” He lowered his head.
“He’s just scared. But he’ll buck up by morning. Once he does, he’ll ask himself why he ever thought he should go home. He may be a monkey, but he’s still loyal. I’ll credit him that. He’s a good brother, your Oaka is.”
“And I’m not.”
“Hey, you’re a good brother, too, and the best friend he could ever wish for, monkey like him. I think you should ask yourself what your brother wants. Then figure out a way to give him that, so he doesn’t go home.”
The falcon then flew off after Monika, hoping Basha could come up with something on his own. He felt like he had to settle these matters between the humans before it was too late. She was sitting alone, her blanket folded out near the edge of the firelight, finishing the last of her meal before bed.
Fato landed beside her. “Hey, Monika. I’m sorry about this welcome. I know you
’re worried about being able to join up, but don’t be. I know that, once things settle down, we’ll be glad to have you.”
“Thank you.” Monika stared down at him. “It’s strange, I never thought I would be this adamant. It isn’t like me.” She looked across at the fire. “I thought I would be going home by now, but I keep moving farther away from it. Like I don’t want to return.”
“How long have you been away from home?”
“Many years. I should return, but I keep putting it off, and then getting sucked into something or another.”
“You’ve had a hard life, huh?”
“You’ve no idea.”
“Why do you want—”
“I don’t want—” Monika sighed, looking at the bird. “Sometimes it’s easier for me to put the past behind. To keep moving on, and go wherever the path might lead. Sometimes I don’t want to look behind at what has gone on before. Maybe that’s why I can’t return home. I can’t look back at the bad things that have happened, and home is just one of those reminders.” She stared up at the sky. “Sometimes I see or hear things that I can’t quite believe, and I decide to pursue them, to find out more, the truth, and understand what’s going on.”
“Maybe that’s why I make mistakes.” Monika looked back down at Fato. “I want to find out the truth and believe in it. I want to find something worthwhile that will keep me moving forward. Yet I trust too much in what is happening around me. I get lost in the shuffle of things. I don’t want to forget about what has happened, yet I can’t look back.”
“I don’t understand half of what you just said.” Fato shook his head.
“Maybe it’s a human problem,” Monika said as the fire went out where Basha had been sitting, plunging them all into darkness.
Had he been listening? Monika shook her head and pulled up her blanket, deciding that he was too far away to hear as she put away her food, ready to sleep.
Fato flew up to a tree branch, and left Oaka alone, not wanting to visit him tonight. He could settle his own problems.
* * * *
“Basha, what are you doing?” Oaka asked.
“I’m trying to get something out of here,” Basha wrestled with a jar. “It won’t come out. I might have to grease it.” He dropped the jar, which broke into a thousand pieces. “Ooops.”
“Typical, now look what you’ve done! You’re hopeless.”
Oaka bent to pick up the sharp shards and cut himself. “Ow! See, this is what…where are you?” He stared into the darkness that surrounded him.
There was blood pooling on the ground, dripping from his hand. “What have you done? What are you, Basha?” He cried, searching for his brother, covering up the gash as he sought help.
“Oaka, what have you done?” Sisila cried.
He faced her, horrified by his appearance. “It’s nothing, Sisila,” he said, covered in blood. “It’s not mine, Basha did this.” His whole body was drenched in blood from the gash.
“I don’t believe you!” Sisila turned away from him.
“Come back, Sisila, I love you!”
She turned around. “I don’t love you,” Habala said, then turned back into Sisila before she vanished.
He stopped. His mother was his lover? That was crazy. Oaka cried, “Basha, you stole my heart right out from me!” He wept. “You took my heart away.” His heart was beating right out in front of him. “I can’t reach, I can’t…” He tried to grab his heart and stick it back inside of him before he died. “Basha! How can…you can take care of yourself, can’t you? You don’t need me anymore? You don’t want me? You don’t care for me?” Oaka burned up. “Then why should I care?” The forest caught fire all around him.
Oaka rolled around in his blankets, mumbling to himself in his sleep. “Why...should I...”
“Why do I have to take care of you? Do I feel guilty for what I’ve done? For what you’ve lost or never had?”
“Lost, Basha, lost...” Oaka mumbled, groaning. He hadn’t started any fire anywhere except in his own dreams.
* * * *
Monika got up the next morning half inclined to leave. But as she was packing, Basha approached. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry I brought about this rift between you and Oaka.” Monika said. “I never meant for anything like this to happen. I just wanted to know some things, I suppose, and travel along with some company. I’ll keep out of your way, if you want me to. I might show up somewhere again, if you’re ever in any trouble, but I’ll be traveling along on my own.”
“Wait, Monika—” Basha shook his head. “You really didn’t cause that much trouble. Actually, with everything that’s happened, it was only a matter of time before he questioned why he should keep going. I’ve been considering the problem myself, and I hope I can convince him to continue. After that, you can travel with us if you want, and if Oaka agrees. I don’t have any qualms.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that offer. Where are we going, exactly? Coe Pidaria-wise?”
“Coe Pidaria, if it exists, might be in the northwest, southeast, or northeast corner of the Wastelands,” He said, fumbling with his saddle-pack to take out the map. He accidentally brought out his wallet as well.
“What’s that?” She asked, pointing at the paper and cloth sticking out of his wallet.
“That’s—” He paused, then decided to share. “I’ll show you.” He sat down on the ground, with the map spread out in front of him, and Monika sat down beside. “This is my mother’s handkerchief,” He took it out of the wallet first so that she could examine it under his watchful eye. “Kala’s handkerchief. I think I told you I’d nothing of hers, but then sometime after you left, my mother Habala found it and gave it to me. See, it says ‘K&M’ right there, Kala, and whoever my father was. And then it says ‘Blessings, your Sisters’—I’d family, or at least Kala did.” He laughed.
Monika looked solemn as she closely examined the indigo thread. “I suppose she did,” She handed it back to him. “What about that piece of paper?”
Basha hesitated again, but then brought it out. “Before I left Coe Baba, I went to see the Oracle of Mila to ask her if I should go on my quest. But I got more than I bargained for.” He handed over the prophecy for her to read. “A long answer, one that—say, what did the Oracle tell you when you visited?” It was what he’d wanted to ask her at The Walking Duck inn just before he was punched.
She vacillated now. “I think it’s nothing, really. Just a few words on a piece of paper, but this—” She skipped the first few lines and read softly, “‘As you wander, welcome strangers into your group, for friends you will have great need of in this journey.’”
She paused, glancing over at him as if she wondered if this was why he’d allowed her to join them. In a way it was true, but he didn’t tell her, because there were more reasons why he wanted her to come.
“‘Travel southward through the forest, hills, and valley of this—your path may change.’” She’d just skipped over a part she might not believe in, Basha realized, about Arria—‘great country.’ “‘But your goal must remain clear. Someone will try to hinder you, and stop you using his powers over man and beast.’”
She paused again, then tried to continue on without seeming to hesitate, as if it was nothing she believed in. But she spoke a lot slower and more seriously than before. Basha was starting to wonder if it might be a reference to Doomba.
“‘He can’t see all, but he knows much about what is to come, and he will wait for you to come and meet him if you’re not beaten.’” She inhaled deeply, then pressed on, “Seek not only the Cup, but seek also the Tigora’l in this quest—” She paused, blinking. “seek him and know the truth.” She sighed. “No more can I say, for I speak of only the beginning. But you’ll learn more at the river oh-so wide and long—” She stopped there. “It’s amazing, I can’t believe—”
“Well, what do you think?”
“I think you need to be careful,” She handed the prophec
y back. “Don’t show this to anyone you don’t trust.”
“I wouldn’t. Old Man told me to be careful as well,” He stowed the prophecy and handkerchief into his wallet again, which went back in his pack. “He said it could be used against me. I’ve guarded it.”
“Have you shown Oaka the prophecy?”
“I may have, but I didn’t show him everything. He barely got a chance to read it and I told him most of what it said.”
“What did you neglect?”
“Uh—the part of ‘man and beast,’ I think, and the Tigora’l. I don’t know what that means, do you?”
“I’m not an Oracle.”
“Sorry.” She knew something, though, and he suspected Doomba might be part of it, but it didn’t answer the question ‘why.’
She asked him about the map, and he showed her the route that Sir Nickleby had planned, which they intended to follow. Monika nodded and asked him about the Black Wolves.
“They attacked us a few days ago, and we haven’t seen any since. I don’t think it means anything. Maybe they were just out hunting, or chasing Fato the falcon like he said. We got caught up in that mess. Poor Sir Nickleby, he died without a reason.” Basha lowered his head. “I don’t think it means anything. We’ll get Tau’s Cup without disturbing Doomba or his forces.”
“What do you think he’s dreaming about?” Monika asked, glancing towards the sleeping Oaka a few feet away.
“Probably about leaving.” Basha shrugged.
* * * *
“Why do I have to be brave?” Oaka asked, the forest-fire burning inside his dream. “Can’t I be a coward, or am I one already? Is it better to be a coward, or brave? What if I was brave, and lost my life? I don’t know.”
The forest-fire died down inside. “It could be true he’ll die because I wasn’t there to help him. But I could die if I continue. What am I supposed to do, Sisila?” He turned around to face her. “He has to live, doesn’t he?”
“He has to fight to live.” Sisila sounded not like herself, emotionless and lifeless. “We give him life and love, and live—”
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