by Paul Kidd
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Shadarii quietly came to sit at Kotaru’s feet, looking up at him with great green eyes.
<
Kotaru dared to touch her hair, allowing himself to stroke her for one brief, precious instant before timidly withdrawing. Kotaru had no wish to spoil the fragile magic by letting his heart fly free.
Kotaru softly drew a clay flute from his pouch and nervously turned it over in his hands.
“I really did make a song for you, Shadarii. May I play it for thee? Only if you’d really like to hear…”
She sat expectantly at his feet, her whole being waiting for him to begin. Kotaru lifted up his flute and gently cupped it in his hands.
The man transformed as soon as he raised the flute up to his lips. Kotaru played with gentle grace, his love colouring the ïsha all around him. The girl’s eyes closed as she drifted on a dreamy cloud of joy. Finally the song drew to a close; Kotaru softly laid aside his flute, his music still shining in the ïsha like a forest dawn.
The girl softly stood and kissed Kotaru on the cheek. Kotaru ran a hand across his tousled hair, suddenly bright and filled with life.
“Well! Shall we eat? I can find us lunch. Do you mind? I suppose I could find something.”
Shadarii’s eyes filled with eager light.
<
“Can we eat here? I mean, it’s thy place and all. You care for all the plants.”
Shadarii ruefully patted her nice round belly.
<>
“I’ll see what I can find, then. Just you rest and watch a master at his work!”
Kotaru hastily began to strip away his moccasins. Shadarii pretended not to watch as he peeled off down to his loincloth. Her heart almost skipped a beat as Kotaru bent down to pile his gear; his grey tail wafted high above a firm, pinched rump - warm and round and smooth…
She hastily looked away as Kotaru peered questioningly in her direction. The girl’s ears blushed hot as she wriggled in her seat.
<
Kotaru shrugged his nice broad shoulders.
“Ha! Back home we’re living on nothing but boiled bracken starch. Next years crops are gone as well! The food’s run out, and Rain only knows what we’ll eat next season!” The hunter snapped his fingers. “I still eat well enough. No one else knows where to look, that’s the trouble. You have to use your brains!”
Small holes dotted the mud beside the water hole. Kotaru knelt and cocked his head, bringing his antennae close towards the ground.
“Yep! Crayfish livin’ in the mudbank. They’ve all gone out into the water for a midday stroll. How d’ you like shellfish, eh?” Kotaru edged slyly into the shallows and began to peer beneath logs and stones. “There they are! All squabblin’ over territory beneath the rocks. What say we just make the argument a wee bit simpler, eh?”
Kotaru edged back out of the water and stood dripping on the bank. He dug beneath the mud and found a fine fat worm which he threaded on a fishing line; a few deft turns and he had a tiny baited noose held in his hands. The great hunter wriggled out along a mossy log, his snare dangling across the drink.
“We used to get big emus up the valleys - long time ago now. You can chase ‘em down, but I tried another way. Ever notice how nosey those critters are? Well I just laid back and waved me legs in the air. Sure enough, one of the beggars came my way to see what was up. Bam! I had him in the pot before you could blink and whistle!”
Kotaru bent over the cool brown water, and Shadarii moved to give herself a better view of his behind. The girl lounged back to enjoy the show, her ïsha field touched by tendrils of warmth.
A girl can always dream…
“Ha!”
Kotaru jerked the line, and he hauled out a fine fat crayfish bigger than his hand. Shadarii clapped politely as he brought her his first catch of the day. He made a great show of laying his bounty at her feet, and Shadarii simpered properly, holding out her hand above her vassal’s head in blessing.
Kotaru tottered back across the log, and Shadarii regretfully ceased spying on Kotaru’s charms. It seemed high time she made herself seem useful, and so the girl gathered kindling for a fire, clearing out a likely spot beside the waterfall. A flock of tiny finches whirred and flitted through the trees. She reached out her hands and gave a little kiss, bringing in the birds to land all about her hair. She checked their eyes for sickness, smiling as she felt the eggs ripening within the little hens.
“That’s another! Ha, I thought y’ said there was no food?”
Shadarii smiled and kissed a tiny bird upon the beak; the creatures flitted back into the trees, their gentle cries filling up the air with song.
“Come back here you bugger! Damn!” One of Kotaru’s victims refused to snare itself inside his noose, and fell back into the water with a splash. Kotaru cursed and dove his hand in after it, then yelped as the crayfish locked its pincers in his finger. With an awful splash Kotaru fell into the pond.
Shadarii laughed, clutching at her middle. Kotaru erupted from the water, slapping at the vicious crayfish clinging to his hand.
“Ouch! Stop laughin’ woman and come and help me. Aaawwwk!”
The man gave a yelp and catapulted from the stream. A second crayfish had latched onto his tail. Kotaru ran across the bank, his little enemies grimly sinking in their claws.
“Aaah - Fire! Arson! Murder!”
Shadarii fell onto her knees and laughed so hard she gave herself a stitch. Kotaru ripped a crayfish from his hand, cursing with words Shadarii had never even heard. He turned to deal with the creature dangling from his tail, only to have the first beast latch onto his toe.
“Fire and damn! You beastly little vampire!” He ripped the creature free, falling down and landing on his backside in the grass. The crayfish grimly made a bee-line for Kotaru’s groin. The hunter gave a squawk and frantically backpedalled on his rear.
“Shadarii! Help!”
Claws clashed shut just short of Kotaru’s loin cloth. Now the little beast was threatening valuable territory; Shadarii deftly flicked it away with a stab of ïsha. The hunter sullenly jerked the last crayfish off his tail and coldly stalked down all the others, his pride stung by Shadarii’s laughter.
Shadarii had the hiccoughs; Kotaru glared at her, his ears flattened in annoyance.
“A fine thing! The damned beast could have circumcised me! Aaaah skreg it! Nothin’ ever goes right!”
Shadarii simply closed her eyes and slowly spread her hands; Kotaru felt a warm glow spread up from his toes as she dried his fur with a tight spiral of ïsha. She grinned slyly as she let the whirlwind almost lift him from his feet.
The last wisps of moisture evaporated from Kotaru’s fur. He ignored the miracle and irritably dusted dried mud from his hide.
“Why hasn’t anyone else noticed all this tomfoolery o’ yours? I’m sure they’d love you in the healers or summat! In the Vakïdurii they’d tattoo² your hands blue in a trice!”
Shadarii grinned maliciously and crossed her eyes.
<>
“Ha! Well someone should take you. We could make you the world’s first silent priest!”
Priests! Oh Rain, she’d forgotten! She was promised to the priests! The girl swiftly turned away and began to see to dinner. Her eloquent body was her own undoing; Kotaru saw the fear flickering through her aura.
“Lady! What is it? What’s wrong?”
The girl sighed and put her hand across her eyes, then finally looked up at Kotaru and shook her head.
<
It would all solve itself somehow. She shook her wings and threw away the mood. The girl’s ïsha flashed as she sparked the fire ablaze, and the crayfish were set to toasting while Shadarii skinned a
brace of cool, crisp lily bulbs.
Lunch tasted magnificent, and fresh, sharp air had made for a pair of hungry appetites. Finally replete, Kotaru rolled belly up towards the sun and stretched luxuriously in the warmth. Shadarii obligingly began to scratch Kotaru’s ribs, and Kotaru’s face went slack with pleasure as his left leg began to twitch. Shadarii scratched him harder as she felt him groan in bliss.
Shadarii’s hands finally grew tired. The girl tapped Kotaru’s snout and pantomimed a question.
<
“Oh yes lady! Mmmmmm dinner was very good indeed.”
<
She looked sidewise at Kotaru, pleased to see him give a guilty jump, then curled a finger idly through his fur.
<
Kotaru’s face was troubled. Shadarii patiently waited for an answer, her antennae drinking in every nuance of his ïsha posture. There was no hiding from her; there never would be. Shadarii read a man’s soul with unnerving ease.
“The raid?” Kotaru sighed, unhappy with the stupid decisions of his past. “I - I don’t know why I really came. Everyone else was goin’ along, I guess. Only that’s not really why… I regretted it the moment we all left home. The Prince, he seemed to be takin’ it all as somethin’ a bit more sinister…”
Shadarii’s eyes were pools of strange, deep thoughts. Kotaru tried to face her trust with utter honesty.
“I don’t know, Shadarii. I used to listen to stories once. Stories about folks who rescued people - folks who made a difference. I always dreamed about bein’ a hero.
“There’s no food left back home, Shadarii. The game’s all gone, far worse than it is here. Children get ill without meat. Rickets - malnutrition. I think they might die soon. And-and the Katakanii are rich! Everyone knows that. I just thought… Well, you know, maybe it would all be for the better good.”
The hunter hurtled a piece of grass into the bushes. “Aaaah - It’s all gone and done now. I did what I could to make amends. What do you want to know all this for anyway?”
The girl motioned gravely in response.
<
Kotaru gave a smile.
“There’s really not so much to tell.” The man idly ticked points off on his fingers. “I’m the sad result of an unmarried dalliance. Someone decided to make me captain of a jiteng team. I don’t like grapes but I do like onions. I can’t play the pipe half as well as I’d like to. Most of all I just like thinking.”
Kotaru looked around at Shadarii, his eyes shy and anxious.
“Is that what you want to know? Is it a start? I really can’t think of much else more to say…”
It was worth another scratch on the belly at least. Shadarii roughly plied her claws all up and down his fur. The hunter sighed and let ennui take hold of him, his lashes drooping as he felt the sweet warmth of the sun. Finally Kotaru stretched and gave a sigh.
“Hey, should we be getting back? I’ve a team who’ll be wonderin’ where I am. Don’t you have dancin’ to do?”
Shadarii’s eyes went wide; Hatïkaa would have been waiting all day for their practice session! The girl held her face in dismay. Kotaru saw expression and rose to his feet.
“Oh you do, eh? Well, I suppose I can bear to go back now.” He smiled at her. “It’s been a precious day. Thank you for bein’ my friend.”
Shadarii licked her lips and edged in closer; suddenly she lunged in, kissed Kotaru’s mouth, and swiftly fled.
“Hey!”
With a silent blaze of laughter the girl shot into the ferns, and Kotaru whooped as he raced off in pursuit. They whirled into the endless green, the whole forest shining with their merriment.
Notes:
1) Riders: Allied spirits tied to the body of a sorcerer. The process is dangerous, and has rewards usually of interest only to a priest.
2) Healers tattoo their plams with symbols of the Wind and Rain. They kill no meat, nor handle unclean objects, thus p reserving them from the attentions of malicious Ka.
Chapter Nine
Shadarii danced and whirled, hacking her knife blades at an old dead tree. Chips flew as the weapons blurred. She swept back into guard, ducking and twisting as she pushed her speed up ever faster.
The ‘Wrens’ gathered by their campfire, finishing up the last few crumbs of breakfast. Totoru, the Wren’s massive goal guard, leaned against a tree, watching as the buxom noblewoman drove herself through her paces.
“She’s good.”
“She’s very good!” Mrrimïmei stuffed her mouth full of bread. “Mmmph, ‘ve never sheen anything like it.”
Kotaru’s breakfast lay untouched. The team captain watched the strange noblewoman practice, his fluffy tail waving merrily behind him. The poor man heaved a heartfelt sigh and murmured something to the breeze.
Mrrimïmei glanced slyly at Kotaru, then clasped her hands to her heart and fluttered her long lashes.
“Oh Kotaaaaaruuuu…”
Kotaru dreamily cocked an ear. “Hmm?”
“Would you like to be alone, darlin’? Your rear end’s on fire.”
“Mmmm? That’s nice…”
Mrrimïmei sighed.
“Bloody hopeless! D’ you reckon he’ll snap out of it by practice time?”
“Aaaah he’ll be alright. We’ll just move that girl’s tail down to the practice field. Kotaru’ll follow her sure enough.”
“A quiet kinda girl, if you ignore her hobbies.” Mrrimïmei scratched her chin as Shadarii clove a branch clean in two. “Me sister has a girlfriend like that. All knives and spears and such. Neither of ‘em ever did get married…”
Shadarii had finished her routine. She scrubbed her sweaty palms with a piece of rag, grinning at Kotaru as he gazed adoringly down at her. His tail quivered as he caught the scent of her, all warm and salty on the morning air.
Slim, lanky and guiless, Mrrimïmei leaned on Kotaru’s shoulder and tugged at his antenna.
“Psssst, Kotaru! Heloooo… Hey, who’s the lady?”
Kotaru blinked. He looked blankly around at Mrrimïmei as if seeing her for the very first time.
“What? Shadarii? Oh just a friend of mine. No one special.”
The girl gave a snort.
“Oh come on! T’is the first time we’ve ever woken up to find a noblewoman makin’ breakfast. T’weren’t us she was doing it for, either! The look on thy face when she knocked on the door was priceless.” Mrrimïmei idly studied her nails. “You were out awful late last night; any special reason she was makin’ you breakfast?”
“What? No, no special…” Kotaru’s eyes went wide as her insinuation suddenly sank home. “Most certainly not!”
“Ah, and here’s me thinkin’ you always liked thy meat lean. Bye the bye, isn’t that your necklace that she’s wearing?”
Kotaru absently raised his hand to his own neck.
“Oh, I suppose so. Yes, I guess it must be.”
“Ah well, never mind. Where there’s a will there’s a way, eh!”
Kotaru leapt to his feet as Shadarii walked towards the camp.
“Here she comes! Just all stay here, I want to introduce you! You’ll like her, really you will!”
Kotaru began to dash off towards Shadarii, then screeched to a halt and swiftly ran back to the team.
“Oh! Look, just - ah - just one little thing. She doesn’t speak, alright? So just bear it in mind.”
“She can’t talk?”
“Oh she can talk, she just can’t speak. Come on, she’s dying to meet you all!”
Kotaru eagerly ran down to meet his friend, his tail wagging like a dizzy little pup. He chattered gaily as he led her up towards the waiting ‘Wrens’.
“Ah! My Lady Shadarii-kai-Nochorku-Zha, may I present the Vakïdurii champion jiteng team. This is our Forward Rover Mrrimïmei, the fastest thing with wings!
This is Totoru, our movin’ mountain. Tingtraka, our magic specialist - the other lady on the team. Rotïka, Kefarii…” Kotaru reached out to grip each player’s arm, warming them with his special smile. Shadarii shyly bobbed her head, then swept out her hands and clenched her fingers above her heart. A great warm rush of ïsha swept across the team.
Kotaru grinned. “She says ‘hello’ to you all. Most pleased to meet you.”
Tingtraka looked from Shadarii to Kotaru in amazement.
“You understand her?”
“Of course. I told you she talks. You only have to listen!”
Shadarii prodded Kotaru on the rump, then wagged her fingers and danced a little dance, seeming to scold him over something. Kotaru’s ears wilted guiltily.
“She-uh-she says I have practice to be gettin’ on with. She says she’ll sit and watch, but I’m not to stop until we’ve all put in a good two solid hours.”
“Ha! I like her already!” Mrrimïmei had an arm about Totoru once again. “We’all take him off and make him work, my lady, never fear.”
Shadarii gave the thumbs up and curled herself upon a log to watch them practice. Kotaru reluctantly lead his team across the open meadow.
Kotaru gathered his folk around him, shuffling his feet through the soft green grass.
“Uh, people? I just thought I’d let Shadarii meet you all. I know we’re here to win a game, but still, this is important. The lady is very special to me.”
Kotaru looked from face to face, seeing their enjoyment. Kotaru gave a cough and briskly clapped his hands.
“Alright, alright! ïsha thrusts and parries will be gone through after lunch. Shadarii can show you all how to up your power control. Rotïkaa, Totoru, your ball handling is atrocious! Mrrimïmei, what do y’ call those turns you’ve been tryin’ to pull on us?” Kotaru whirred up into the sky. “Up! Up! Come on, there’s a game to win tomorrow! Tomorrow we beat the best the Katakanii have to offer!”