Sky of Paper: An Asian Steam-Driven Fantasy Tale

by Matthew Seaver

  She stood there for a long while, perhaps wondering if I was going to reply. But after a few more silent moments she wished me good night, then scuffled away.

  Morning in the capital was nothing like the temple. The ringing of the sunrise bell, the hustle and shuffling sounds of students waking up, the morning caller, making his rounds as he rang his chimes and called out the hour of the rabbit; none of that happened. Instead, I woke up to an eerie silence, one that seemed so still, I could almost hear the dust settle.

  For a moment, I thought that I was still dreaming.

  Then, as if someone knew that I was awake, the sound of footsteps rustled to my door. I gave a start at the snapping sound the door made as it swiftly slid open. It was the servant woman. She immediately pulled away my bedding and told me to get up.

  I did exactly as she told, but she continued to regard me with a very impatient look on her face.

  "Well?" she said. "Do you expect me to clean up after you? Put away your bedding."

  I was startled again by the snap of her voice and, feeling embarrassed, did as she commanded. She put down a new set of clothes and proceeded back towards the hallway.

  "Open the window. Get some air in here. Brush yourself off. You look like you slept in a dirt pile. After you get dressed, come down stairs, and don't forget your tamma."

  My new clothes were hardly new. They looked worn and heavily used. The loose-fitting, dark blue trousers and shirt were both made of cotton and had lighter patches where the color had faded from long exposures to the sun. The only decoration was a bright blue tiger lily sewn onto the left breast. Though the clothes were hardly pristine and looked extremely old, they were clean and seemed well taken-care of for their age.

  Kassashimei met me down stairs on the second floor where she too was dressed in the same clothes. She had her familiar annoyed look on her face, one which I had come to know quite well. An elderly girl, dressed as a waitress stood behind her, hastily tying her hair into buns.

  Someone took me by the arm and yanked me to the side. Again it was the servant woman. She forced me still and studied my appearance.

  "You will call me Madame Quoli, or Madame," she said. "Do you understand me?"

  I nodded, but she tilted her head, unconvinced.

  “Yes Madame, I understand,” I said.

  She maintained her doubtful look, then turned her attention to the elderly girl.

  "Meng, hurry with her hair. They leave in a few minutes."

  "Yes Madame," the elderly girl said.

  Madame Quoli glanced disapprovingly at me before leaving the room.

  "You need to show her a lot more respect than that," Meng whispered.

  "Why should I?" I replied.

  "Haven't you been listening? She's a Madame. That means she's a tea house mistress, the mistress to this tea house, second only to Miss Nishio."

  "I thought she was just a servant woman."

  "I thought so too," Kassashimei said. "She dresses so plain. She certainly doesn't look like a business owner."

  "She dresses however she pleases. Miss Nishio trusts her with handling the money and organizing the nightly events. She doesn’t appear in public much, except to discuss business deals with other clients. Miss Nishio is the true face of this tea house. So, unlike Madame Quoli, she has to dress up nice and appear presentable to all the guests."

  "And here I thought she was a fortune teller," I added.

  "And she's a tea house owner, and a minor government official and a seeker who finds children like you. She has many identities, some secret, some known to the public. Some say she’s the most powerful woman in the city. But if that were true, I imagine she would be able to afford a much more luxurious tea house than this broken down old building."

  Meng motioned at the stains on some of the walls and at some of the mendings and patches on the paper doors where the fabric had torn and the wood frames had snapped.

  Kassashime grunted, sounding hardly impressed. "So the mistress disguises herself as a servant and the owner pretends to have other identities. I guess that means you're not a tea house waitress. For all we know, you might be the Emperor's daughter."

  Meng laughed. "No, I'm not anyone special I'm afraid. I'm just a live-in servant. The other waitresses, the cook, even the musicians, they all make enough money to live in their own apartments, but I won't be able to afford a place of my own until I pay back my dues to Madame Quoli. My parents couldn’t afford to raise me, so they sold me to her when I was five. I’ve been paying off my debt to her ever since."

  "Oh how tragic," Kassashimei said teasingly.

  "And I suspect your life has been so privileged," Meng said, offended by the girl’s tone.

  "Why yes it has. As a matter of fact, Terr and I come from the Imperial Temple, where we’ve been living the life of royalty for the past couple months. I come from a family who are among some of the most honored priests and priestesses in the country."

  "Kass," I said interrupting her. "I don‘t think we‘re in any position to brag."

  "And why not? I'm important, you're important. We’re both children of the sky. We make ships move through the air, we can see and change things that other people can't. We’re worth so much more than this waitress. Why we're even worth more than that hag you all call a madame."

  Meng pulled at one of her hair buns, shutting her up just as Madame Quoli and Miss Nishio came into the room.

  "Are you done with her hair?" Madame Quoli asked.

  "Yes Madame," Meng replied glancing spitefully in Kassashimei's direction before gazing submissively at the ground. "She’s ready."

  Following Miss Nishio, we left the tea house. Kassashimei and I wore horn hats this time, which were similar to the bamboo hats we donned the night before, except it had a much more narrow shape, and formed a long, curve-like cone towards the center. The brim was still exceptionally wide and it had a curious design as it curved downwards like an upside-down bowl. It was evident that the both of us felt awkward wearing them. Often, it felt like we were balancing a small umbrella on our heads. For our convenience, there was a small rectangular hole cut out of the hat just above our eyes, covered with a thin, translucent cloth that allowed us to see ahead. I was grateful for the added accessory, as it allowed me to take in the sights of the city without having my vision completely obscured.

  Miss Nishio strolled beside us in a magnificent red-silk robe, which was adorned with white lilies and flowing wing-like leaves along its length. Her hair pins had strips of gold that dangled from tiny chains, which shimmered wildly in the morning light. Amongst the droll hustle of peasants and the bland, concrete color of some of the buildings, Miss Nishio stood out as quite a sight to behold, like a single flower perched atop a muddy potato field.

  "Where are we going?" Kassashimei asked.

  The smell of grilled fish and steamed rice tingled my senses and I suspected it had the same effect on her as well, because she asked, "are we going to eat breakfast?"

  "No," Miss Nishio replied.

  "And why not?" she asked defiantly.

  "You may think that you’re special, but you are not. Do you know why? Because you do not possess the skills to make money. You are hardly even an apprentice. You should be grateful that I even considered feeding the both of you two meals a day, the same as Meng. Start making money, and I will think about adding a third."

  "Then where are you taking us-"

  "No more questions. Just stay with me and keep quiet."

  Kassashimei seemed put off by Miss Nishio's tone. She lowered her head grudgingly, then vented her frustrations by giving me a quick shove. I gave an annoyed gasp, but did nothing more as I tried my best to stay obedient and submissive.

  We boarded a rickshaw and rode to a carriage station further across the city. We then took the carriage to another district until we arrived at the airship docks.

  It was there that I realized how small and insignificant Kassashimei and I truly were.

 
We stood on the edge of a wooden platform, which peered over a flat, paved piece of land far below that seemed to stretch far into the horizon. Littered in neat rows across this landing strip were almost a hundred airships, standing majestically like a herd of mighty animals puffing out clouds of steam and smoke. Above them were still more airships either circling, cruising or landing.

  Until that moment, I’d always thought that I was part of a small, contained world. My life at the Temple and my home village had left me with only the narrowest insight as to how expansive the outside world was.

  And then, standing out there at that moment, that very day, my eyes and my perception of things seemed to open just a little more. Presented with such enormity, I started to hope, or rather, dream, that I could somehow become a part of it all, however small that part might be.

  We boarded another carriage, which took us to the other side of the docks some distance away from the landing area.

  There, stood a small, humble building which seemed to hide discretely between two much larger neighboring warehouses.

  A sign above the entrance read, "Air Trader's Guild Registry."

  We went inside to find an empty reception room. At the receiving desk sat a very bored man organizing official looking documents into various piles. He gave a single glance at us and pointed to a nearby door with another sign above it that read, "Special Passengers Registry."

  Inside the second room awaited a completely different atmosphere. There were no chairs or even a desk. Instead, lay a series of tatami mats and a very traditional-looking table in the center, upon which sat a decoration that looked like a mini shrine mounted with burning incense sticks. Kneeling patiently on the mats were a few other chienkuu ko, paying hardly any attention to us as we entered. Next to them were other adults. Some of which were stern-looking men in very old fashioned robes with swords sheathed imposingly at their sides. They too wore flower crests on their chests, but each was of a different variety and color. Some flowers I recognized; like the child which had the crest of a red rose and another with a purple lilac.

  A red lantern hung from the ceiling, giving the room a solemn, crimson glow. Along the walls, hung scrolls emblazoned with large characters, proudly expressing words like "Strength", "Focus", and "Spirit."

  We approached the door on the far end of the room which was covered by a loose, green-satin curtain. Miss Nishio knocked on the door frame, and a very old, bald man with large, bushy gray eye brows emerged.

  "What is your business?" he queried in a raspy voice.

  "I've come to register these two children."

  "Wait here. We shall come for you after all the others ahead of you have been served."

  "This cannot wait," she said in a more forceful tone. "This is official business from the Imperial Temple."

  He lowered his head and his eyes disappeared into his bushy eyebrows in what I could only assume as a posture he used for thinking. He then gave an approving groan and nodded slightly, before motioning us inside.

  We entered a room that was at least four times larger than the one next door, but had an atmosphere that was much more drab and dusty. There were piles upon piles of scrolls littering every corner. Towering wooden shelves that stood as tall as two grown men hugged the walls, packed with so much paper work that it seemed that all of it would come spilling out like an avalanche at any moment. Shafts of light gleamed through windows high up near the ceiling making visible the dust lingering in the air.

  Kassashimei mumbled something, which seemed to be some sort of sly remark. Thankfully, Miss Nishio was either ignoring her, or was too occupied to listen, because she did not react.

  The frail-looking man took his place behind a podium in the middle of the room, which stood on a large, wooden platform flanked by tables and even more stacks of paper and scrolls.

  "Now then, " he said preparing some paper and ink. "What can the guild do you for?"

  "There are a few matters I would like to take care of," Miss Nishio said. "First I would like to register these two children as apprentices to the Tiger Lilly Tea House. Second, I need permits, qualifying them to serve aboard air ships and trading vessels."

  "The guild knows who you are Miss Nishio as well as the influence you have in this city. It is because of this that we will recognize these two children as property to your house. But allowing them to serve on air ships?"

  He stepped off the podium and steadily approached me, then kneeled down and pulled off my hat while doing the same to Kassashimei so as to get a good look at the both of us. "Not only are they too young. But his eyes are not even green yet. Surely you mean that these two would serve as entertainers, dancers and musicians aboard the ships."

  "No. The Imperial Temple decrees that they learn how to navigate and fly airships as soon as possible."

  "Then let the Imperial Temple train them with their own vessels."

  "It’s much more complicated than that," she reached into her sleeve pocket and pulled out a small scroll with a purse tied to one end. "Perhaps this will help you understand. Here are the official documents signed by Master Hotaka and a small donation to the guild from my house."

  He went back to his podium and rolled open the scroll, mumbling doubtfully as he read.

  Then with a groaning voice he said, "if a single ship falls from the sky because of these two, no amount of money or official-looking documents will save this guild from the damage it may sustain to its reputation."

  "I assure you, it will not come to that. These two will be properly trained before they are ever given such a responsibility. Sadly, to my misfortune there is no time to go through official channels and properly qualify them to receive their licenses. I must humbly ask that I receive them now and that the guild trust me to know when it is time for them to serve aboard your vessels."

  "No," he said rolling up the scroll. "I cannot allow it. Though Master Hotaka is an honorable man, what he asks is too much."

  Emerging from behind the curtained door was another elderly man, one which I recognized almost immediately.

  "Oh my, is Master Hotaka, the great man himself actually asking a favor from us?"

  It was the strange old man whom I had met in the woods, who had taught me the workings of the tamma, so many months before. Everything about him was exactly as I had remembered. From his awkward shambling as he came across the room, to the listless bobbing his head made. Though this time, he seemed much more presentable as his robes were absent of mud and dirt.

  "Leave this room," he said to the man with the bushy eye brows.

  He promptly bowed and shuffled out.

  "So not only does the charming Miss Nishio bless my guild with her presence,” he announced. “But to present me a favor from Master Hotaka himself.

  Tell me Miss Nishio, do you come as a government official, as a business woman, or as a friend? Please tell me that you come as a friend. I find tea tastes that much better when enjoyed among friends."

  He took a steaming tea pot from across the room, which was hidden behind a pile of papers and brought it to one of the tables. He laid out a few cups and motioned for us to sit down.

  "I'm afraid I'm a little bit of everything today old man," Miss Nishio said as she elegantly took her place by the table. Kassashimei and I placed our hats on the table and sat cautiously beside her.

  He chuckled. "This may sound a bit strange, but hearing you utter my nickname makes me feel a hundred years younger."

  "Someday, I hope that you will grace me with your real name, so that I may have the opportunity to make you feel younger still."

  "Still as radiant and alluring as ever. I don’t much care if you have since retired from your craft. To me you are still, and always shall be a geisha."

  She bowed her head respectfully, smiling ever so slightly.

  "And I see you've brought the little trout."

  "You remember me?" I said surprised.

  "Of course. I remember everyone I meet. A keen mind is one of the few r
emaining marketable skills I have. And I see that you've found yourself a shyo mah."

  "That's not at all true," Kassashimei interjected. "I found him."

  "And such a vibrant shyo mah at that," the old man said. "Certainly the same spunk you once had at her age Miss Nishio."

  The woman took a polite sip of her tea before she spoke. " I apologize for bringing matters back to business, but if I may be so bold. As you can see from this document, Master Hotaka needs your help."

  "Oh I don't need to read that," the old man said waving his hand dismissively, then taking a slurp from his cup. "Master Hotaka has never given me any reason to doubt him. I will grant a license to these two on account that you pay me triple the amount offered in that purse." He gestured to the pouch still dangling at the end of the scroll.

  Miss Nishio blinked, trying to restrain her surprise.

  "Old Man, that purse contains four months worth of profits from my tea house. Do you mean to bankrupt my meager business?"

  "But you ask so much of me already. Not to mention my reputation as Guild Caretaker would be in great jeopardy should this little trout mistakenly crash one of my contracted air ships. Surely a year's worth of profits from your tea house would pale in comparison to what I would be risking."

  Miss Nishio took a moment to regain her composure then said, "I have always known you to be a man of great wisdom and intellect, but even so, I do not know if you fully realize the desperate nature of these times. Terr, show him your tamma."

  Obediently, I pulled out my tamma and held it out in front of the old man.

  "Oh my," he said gently taking it from my hand then carefully studying the intricate carvings. "This is certainly not the tamma I last saw you with. So this is it then? He and all the others have been selected?"

  "Yes, they have."

  "So he thinks it’s going to happen?"

  "He believes that it has already begun."

  "Very well." He handed the tamma back to me, his expression looking more weary. "I will recommend a good teacher, one that I trust. Train them in the best fashion possible Miss Nishio. You have my full support."