by Ko, John
“What?” Rachel asks, unable to quite make out what her teammate said. Riser is sensible, she’ll understand. “Can I ask you to explain it to the Captain? I don’t mind trying, but I don’t want to waste any more of his time. Maybe I could work on something else instead?”
“I don’t think so,” Riser says.
“But he’ll listen to you. He doesn’t listen to me at all when I try to explain.”
Riser laughs and says, “Unnie, I’m going to tell you a little secret of the Daughters of Enyo.”
“Is this like the secret you guys taught Wake?” Rachel says, getting ready to get out the tub.
Riser laughs again. “No, this is just a story. But it is a real secret. I can tell you, because we’re Sisters Sworn, but you can never tell another soul. Promise me.”
“I swear,” Rachel says, trying to relax once again in the warm waters. “But will you talk to the Captain for me? I don’t know how much more I can take of this. I can’t even sit, it hurts so much.”
“If that’s what you want, I’ll try. Though I doubt it’ll do any good,” the Daughter says. Then she asks, “Did you know that Silla was once conquered?”
“The Daughters were conquered?” Rachel asks in surprise.
“It’s sad, but true. It didn’t happen too long ago either; during the time of my mother’s grandmother. We were conquered not by an army but by one man,” Riser admits. “They say it was late autumn, on a day much like today. A mighty warrior approached Silla. First, the Alcendor tried to stop him, but he failed …”
“He? I thought only Daughters lived in Silla,” Rachel says.
“Yeah, only women are allowed to pass our borders. But Gregory’s House sits just at the edge of Silla. It’s been around ever since a man, Gregory, followed a Daughter back to Silla. It happens every once in a while. They usually go away in time. But this fella stuck around and built a house. Anyway, around the time Gregory arrived something unthinkable started to occur. Daughters started bearing sons.
“You have to understand, for many centuries only Daughters were born in Silla. The Daughters of that time didn’t know what to do. Because of the confusion and shame, many mistakes were made. As it happens, the Daughter that Gregory followed back to Silla bore a son. She was a good woman and he a good man. She could not raise such a child, so she gave Gregory the boy. He took his son and promised to raise him and any other unwanted children of Silla. No one knows why it started happening, and it’s still a rarity today, but when a son is born of a Daughter, we leave the boy at Gregory’s House.”
Rachel nods, trying to understand. It’s difficult to accept, but she realizes it’s their way.
“Anyway, the Alcendor at the time—that’s what we call Gregory House’s best fighter—was said to be strong in his own right. But he stood no chance. The Daughters watched and laughed as he fell. That is, until the wanderer crossed over into Silla. Then of course, they attacked. One-by-one and then group-by-group, the Daughters rallied to stop him, but he just kept on coming.
“The mightiest warriors in the land couldn’t even so much as change his course. Finally, he stopped right in the middle of our village and fell asleep. Only then were they able to properly subdue him. Afterward, they left him on a road leading away from our land. The man just got up and walked away. He never even looked back.”
“I don’t understand. Why did he do that?”
“No one really knows, but you should ask Fate. He might know.”
“Why would he know?”
“It was his Old Man. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes. He conquered Silla with his eyes closed,” Riser explains. “It’s how we’re cousins. But more importantly, since that day, the blind are held in high regard in Silla.
“We don’t expect you to be strong right away. You have a lot of learning left to do, but for someone like you there are no excuses, only expectations.”
“So I guess you’re not going to talk to the Captain for me.”
“It's kind of late for that. He already beat you to it. That babo came to me after practice, begging, 'blah, blah, blah, she will listen to you. She does not listen to me when I try to explain it …’”
“I suppose there is no hope, then.” Rachel lowers her self deep into the now lukewarm water. Face half-submerged, she exhales a string of bubbles in defeat. I guess I have to just keep trying. There really is no excuse.
Someone knocks at the door. “Hello, Shine, are you in there?”
Rachel almost leaps out of the tub at the sound of a male voice, bumping her sore bottom once again. She grimaces and replies, “Yes, but I’m in the bath! You can’t come in here.”
“I realize that. I just thought maybe the water might be getting cold,” he says through the door. “I heated up some more and brought some extra wood in case you were running low.”
“Thanks, now go away!” Riser yells back.
Rachel is a little more at a loss for words at their Captain’s consideration. She watches his aura fade away through the wooden wall.
Rachel stands. The water itself has cooled, but the steam remains in the air keeping her warm. She grabs a towel and creeps close to the door. After a final double-check, she cracks it open and feels around until she finds what she is looking for. She comes back with a bucket of near-boiling water for her teammate and a second for herself. She goes back a second time and finds some fragrant logs and tosses them onto the fire.
“Those smell good,” Riser hums more than says.
Rachel opens the door just wide enough for a final search of anything she may have missed. To her surprise, she finds something smooth, soft, and fluffy. She pulls it through the crack and shuts the door tight before any more steam can escape. It’s a cushion.
No longer interested in continuing her bath, Rachel offers her teammate the second bucket of hot water and walks back over to the fire. She lays the cushion gently down on the floor and takes a seat.
Finally, it doesn’t hurt at all. Even laying, floating in the water barely helped. Rachel stretches her legs straight, reaches her arms up high and sighs. She can’t help but think that it’s nice that her brother doesn’t have to stand guard anymore as she nods off.
Someone is shaking her awake. Where am I? she wonders for a second before realizing she’s in a towel, in the bathhouse.
“Here, put on your clothes.” Riser places them on her lap. “I want to show you something.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Not long,” the Daughter says. “Come on, I don’t want you to miss this.”
Once dressed, Rachel grabs her new cushion and follows Riser out the door.
The Daughter leads them out back and into the woods. “Shhh … try to be quiet. He probably won’t notice us. He’s concentrating too hard.”
As they sneak closer, Rachel hears the sound of someone grunting and falling. And then she sees his aura. What’s going on here?
Riser laughs quietly and tells her, “Try and guess what he’s doing.”
She watches his aura pulse randomly. It sounds as if he is falling down, over and over again. She feels like she should know what is going on. It seems strangely familiar.
“Let me know when you’ve guessed it,” Riser whispers, but the joy in her voice speaks volumes. “Take your time. I could watch this all day.”
After several long minutes of hearing him fall, she finally figures it out. “He’s trying to Trip the Light?”
“Yeah, he is. And he’s failing miserably,” Riser says. “Remember how you said you had no luck in training? Well, right there, is what luck looks like. Watch closely.”
After a while, the Daughter grabs her arm and leads them back to the inn. As they enter the empty dining room, she announces, “Let’s have a little snack before bed. I should get that wimp, Monster, but I’ll let him pass this time.”
They take a seat and Riser pulls out a Memory Shard and hands it to Rachel. “Go ahead and link with that. I paid a Reminiscer good coin fo
r that Memory.”
Rachel forms the link and concentrates. Flashes of this and that fly through her mind until they slow to form a picture that begins to move. She sees the Fate doing just what they left him doing—tripping over himself and falling onto his rear, again and again. Each time, he gets up, rubs his backside, and tries again.
Riser returns with some leftover pie and two plates. “That’s his cushion, you know?”
“Oh,” is all Rachel can say.
“That Memory’s older than a year. He’s been falling like that every night for … who knows how long,” Riser tells her. “I watch it when I need a pick me up. I like watching him fall like that … but it also makes me want to try harder every time I see him get up.”
Rachel is silent. Her teammate continues, “I used to think the same thing when I met someone strong too; that they were lucky. But he taught me that when I did that, I was dismissing all of their hard work. What makes him strong isn’t what takes place in a match. It’s what he’s doing alone in the woods right now, and there’s no luck involved in that.”
She listens to one teammate and watches the other in her head fall. It’s enough to make her want to cry. “I’ll try harder,” Rachel sobs. Riser reaches over and embraces her warmly.
“I’m the older one. How come you’re always teaching me things?”
Riser laughs that laugh of hers and says, “Actually, I was just lucky enough to have really good people to learn from along the way.” Rachel can’t help but laugh also, wiping her face with a sleeve.
“I’m just repeating things smarter people have taught me. And I’ve learned way more from you and your brother than you know. I know you won’t believe me when I tell you this, but you guys are really something. Don’t tell him I said that. It’s just that no one taught you the basics. And even a babo like me can pass that much along.”
“Don’t say that. You’re the best! Him too,” Rachel says, wiggling around to make herself comfortable on her new cushion. “Should I give this back? It’s like magically soft or something.”
“Nah, you don’t have to worry about that. That boy’s fallen so much, it doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
Chapter 36
HAENUL
[City of Ariz, Current Stop of the International Tournament of Tears, The World Circuit]
“Sya, this is serious. What are we going to do about him?” Haenul asks her life-long friend, who seems far more interested in fixing her ponytail than paying attention to the conversation.
They’re both Bae, but the Sya’s hair is as fair as Haenul’s is black. Her partner’s face is a mirror of her own, however; small and heart-shaped, with eyes like half-moons. Though that’s where the similarities end, especially in their choice of clothing. The feathered robes covering Haenul and the velvety leathers of her companion make them look more like they were born a world apart rather than in the same village.
“It’s too loud in here. Let’s go back to the room,” Sya says, twirling one of her fair locks. The tavern is just like the last one, loud and stinky. But it is the best that they can afford.
The smell of stale smoke hangs in the air. Which is probably a good thing, Haenul thinks, lifting her shoe to find wet hay stuck to the bottom. But she knows that going up to the room won’t be any better. Sya can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, but Haenul will inevitably end up staring at the bunk above her for hours.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Haenul decides. At least we can afford to do that.
“Daebak, that’s a great idea,” her friend says all too cheerfully.
They step out of the tavern and onto the road muddied from heavy travel. The moon is out, but that doesn’t scare the two girls. At least, not anymore than they already are: nighttime is no more frightening than day in these faceless cities. It’s the first thing they learned on the Circuit, to always be at least a little bit wary. The only time they could really relax is when Houk is around. He may be a pretty useless fellow, but at least they could trust him.
“I hate the city.” Haenul stabs her staff into the ground. The tips of her black hair begin to brighten red and the twin pins in her hair smoke. A sure sign she is getting angry. But it passes just as quickly as it had begun. “I miss home. I’m tired of the smell, of everything being dirty and grey. But most of all, I’m tired of all the rudeness.”
“Complaining isn’t going to help. For someone who flies so high, you’re such a downer.” Sya makes for the boardwalk on the other side of the road. Haenul has no choice but to follow. Halfway there, a carriage pulled by a giant walking bird passes by. She whistles three short notes and the muddied bird turns its head and snaps a treat out of the air.
“You’re going to get in trouble if you keep doing that,” Sya tells her. “And can’t we talk about something pleasant for once?”
Haenul knows that complaining is just making things worse, but she can’t help it. She understands that worrying is a waste of time, but her friend is too much the opposite. “I can’t just ignore things like you. We have a lot to worry about right now.”
“If you insist.” Sya finally gives in. “It’s not like I haven’t thought about it, too. There’s just nothing we can really do, though. What is there to do but wait for Fate to show up?
Once he’s here, everything will be fine.”
“What about Houk?”
“Not much we can do about that. Once Captain shows up, he’ll decide what to do with Houk.”
“But you know Houk’s too weak.”
“That’s true.” Sya shrugs. Her golden ponytail bounces without care.
“How can you say it like that? Houk may not be strong, but he’s been there for us.” Haenul isn’t sure why it bothers her so much, but it does. “I’m sorry, I know getting upset about it won’t help.”
“You’re just being you,” Sya says with eyes that understand. “Hey, remember that time you found that squirrel and took care of it until it got all better?”
“The one I found by the waterfall?”
“I was thinking of the one that fell out of the big oak,” Sya says. “Either way, it’s like that. Except that Houk’s not some hurt fuzzy little creature, he’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. And the last thing he wants is you worrying about him. Guys hate that, don’t you know?”
Haenul pouts. Houk’s been with them since Wysteria. He’s one of those rare individuals that chose to leave their homeland to join the Three Kingdoms. It used to be quite commonplace just a couple decades ago, but not anymore. There’s not much reason to defect to a banned nation.
“I hate him.” Haenul almost begins to fume again. “He won’t even try to get stronger.” Him and his stupid Firepoint. He uses that tiny lancet of fire like someone would use a weapon, but it does less damage than a plain old dagger. It makes her mad just thinking about it.
“It is what it is. Houk’s just like that. You aren’t going to do anything but annoy him by trying to get him to …” Sya stops short as a hand reaches for her out of nowhere. She steps to the side and reaches her hands deep into her pockets. Her robed partner grabs the stone staff from her back and slams it on the ground before their attacker.
A dainty boy floats backwards, palms forward in a sign of peace. “I’m sorry, no harm intended. I just thought I heard you say the name Houk?”
“Yeah, so what of it?” Haenul says, slamming her staff onto the boardwalk for emphasis a second time. Several more lithe figures pour out of a carriage nearby. The final one to step out is a fiery-haired beauty. Haenul recognizes the statuesque young woman immediately. She is Lady Teori of the Roc Riders of Ramaya.
“You, girl.” Lady Teori points to Sya. “What do you know of Houk Bosh?”
“Hmph,” Sya answers, turning her nose upwards. The easy-going girl changes when she feels directly challenged. She turns away as if to continue walking. Haenul grabs her by the arm. It’s her turn to be reasonable.
“Forgive the rudeness of my friend. She’s not feeling well,” Hae
nul says. “But yes. we do know Houk Bosh. We’re friends of his.”
"Likely story." The tall red head scowls, looking them up and down. “If it is true, where is he?”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t know where he is,” Haenul says.
“Look, girl, if you are lying …” Lady Teori begins, before being stopped by the dainty boy who originally approached.
“Enough, Teori, let me handles this,” the boy says to the scowling leader of the Roc Riders. She looks ready to explode, but the boy gives her a gentle look and says, “That’s an order. You can go back to the carriage and wait there, or be quiet and listen.”
He turns to the two girls and bows deeply. “I’m sorry. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Ighy of Ramaya.” He points to those behind. “All of us here are friends of Houk as well. Perhaps he’s mentioned that he hails from Ramaya?”
The two girls shake their heads.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the little boy says sadly. “It’s not surprising I suppose. He left home two years ago and we haven’t heard from him since. But please believe me when I say that we are his friends and that we hope only for his best. All of us here wish for him to return to Ramaya.”
Haenul looks at Sya. Without words, they decide to not say too much.
The little boy, who just before ordered the leader of the Roc Riders to silence, notices and continues. “The reason that we are here is because one of our party, Aule, claims to have met Houk earlier today,” he says. “But it is hard for us to believe his story.”
The two girls stand there in silence. The young boy throws his hands up and says, “We don’t know what to make of Aule’s story. What he described was a Houk that we do not know. But at the same time they were classmates for many years, so how could he have mistaken him for anyone else?”
Haenul shrugs one way and Sya the other.
“See, someone claiming to be Houk approached Aule and asked for money. This is something the Houk we knew would never have done,” the boy says, pacing back and forth. “For all my life, Houk Bosh was my hero. He wouldn’t beg anyone for anything.”