by Jeff Hook
“We’re not evil,” he objected in his most captainy voice. “We’re aspiring citizens of the Mezazi Empire who sometimes do a bit of murdering and pillaging to make ends meet.”
“It’s okay,” said Hishano. “Everyone out there is bad. That’s why we’re going with you.”
“Speak for yourself about citizenship; I’d never fit in there. All I want is enough cash to get my farm back… and maybe,” Freddy said with a grin, “have a lifetime of luxury.”
“Is luxury your outsider word for peace and harmony?” asked Hishano.
“Uh…. Sure.”
“Then let’s do this,” said Hishano, showing his first hint of excitement. “I want to bring luxury to the whole world. Starting with you.”
“Uh…”
“You look like you need a lot more luxury than you have.”
“I like this one,” said Freddy. “He knows what’s important.”
“Either of you know how to sail?” asked Jack. As captain, he needed to know the strengths of his crew.
Karugo and Hishano both shook their heads.
“What about fishing? Fighting? Rowing? Navigation?” Jack’s hopes for success sunk a little lower each time they shook their heads. “You don’t know anything, do you?”
“We’ve been to school,” said Hishano.
Great. That meant they’d sit around all day thinking that they were useful.
”Piss on the sea for luck,” Jack said dejectedly. “We’re gonna need it. Especially if you don’t let me get back to work.”
He put on his soggy hat, slumped though it was, and gritted his teeth. Forget being captain… right now the most important thing was getting this boat seaworthy. A couple more hours of preparation and they might survive.
13
Sail Away
The next day they set off early.
The send-off was small, subdued. It would not do to have the whole island know of the outside world. Some might panic. Others might want to sail away with them. Saving the harmony of the world by disrupting it would be counter-productive.
Their classmates would be told they’d gone to another part of the island to study for a specialized role. Their families were told enough truth that they could cope.
It would all work out.
Still, it made Hishano sad to see his family standing at the docks, waving solemnly. Father, mother, sister, brother… all accepting with sadness and grace that they would be one less for a time.
“I’ll be back after I save the world,” he’d said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
——
Karugo’s mother was crying.
Don’t focus on that.
She’d only ever wanted what was most normal for her boy, an impossible wish that nonetheless came from a good place. Despite all the scoldings she’d put him through, he wanted their last memories of each other to be happy.
His father stood beside her, comforting her.
Karugo waved, and she managed to look up for long enough to wave back and force a smile.
Behind them stood Grandpa Toraburu. He wore a strange expression: one of determination. Gritting his teeth, flexing his muscles. Wasn’t this his victory? Wasn’t Karugo going off to be the hero his grandpa had always wanted him to be?
Then he saw it happening, slowly at first, then all at once. Toraburu’s parting gift to his grandson, one that was already scandalizing the Elders who saw it.
His hair, standing on end in sharp, straight spikes.
Turning golden.
Glowing.
——
Freddy whistled. “He can do that, even with the suppression barrier?” It only lasted a moment, but it was impressive to behold. That sort of display would normally place someone in the top one percent, but to do it while your power was being suppressed… he couldn’t imagine the amount of pain the old guy was in.
“Watch the bouncy kid,” said Jack. “He’s that man’s grandson.”
They might just have another bounty for the Mezazi.
——
Ishū ignored the commotion some old glowing guy was causing on shore. The doings of humans didn’t concern him. His parents had died off years ago, he had no siblings, and he was too weird to have children. He had eyes for only one creature: the thunderbeast.
It somehow knew he was going, and the point from which he’d depart. Maybe it had followed his scent.
It sat on shore, many paces away from the humans, looking forlorn and lost. It thumped its broad tail against the rocks, sending sparks flying and creating a sound that could be heard long past when they lost sight of the island.
Eventually even that turned to a phantom of a sound, heard as a memory for minutes as it faded into the lapping of the water on their hull.
“Goodbye, my only friend,” whispered Ishū. He thought to himself that the beast would be happier without him, happier roaming free, but he knew in his heart that it was untrue.
——
Karugo felt his excitement building the closer they got to the barrier. It was difficult to see, but if he squinted he could at times detect a faint shimmer, a ripple in what should have been clear sky.
Hishano and Ishū were on the lower deck, rowing as hard as they could. Jack said it was to “get them experience while we’re in the easy waters”. Freddy and Jack were up top, standing in the prow of the ship, seemingly even more excited than Karugo about where they were going. Karugo was with them, but a little farther back.
The shimmer grew closer and more frequent.
Those at the front of the boat exited the barrier first.
“Lot easier going out than going in,” remarked Jack. His clothes popped up into a bizarre shape and he seemed to stand up straighter.
Freddy let out a gasp. “The stars are back… I didn’t think I’d miss them.”
Next came Karugo. A thrill swept through him, more intense than he’d ever experienced before. They were going on an adventure! The smell of salt and fish got sharper, the wind prickled his skin, and he felt the sense of power and terror that he’d only felt once before. But now he knew it was coming, could prepare for it. Could hold it back and release it at will.
He raised his fist in the air and smiled as it became enveloped in beautiful, untamed, liberated fire.
14
Amazing New World
Hishano pulled on his oar, trying to match time with Karugo’s strokes. The boy’s hair had spiked to an even greater degree once they’d left the bubble of their island, and he’d become even more impulsive to match. A rowing session with Karugo usually started with a couple minutes of frantic fast-paced strokes, so fast that the boat cut through wave after wave and jostled everyone both above and below deck, followed by an erratic off and on. Hishano had to watch the other boy to see when to row, or else they’d turn and start going in circles. In a way, the constant vigilance was even more tiring than it would have been if they’d kept a steady rhythm.
“Are we there yet?” whined Karugo. “I’m tired of rowing. And of fish.”
“It’s only been a day since we left,” said Hishano.
A bundle of wet and raggedy brown leaves flew in down the stairs from above deck. “Here’s some kelp,” said Freddy. “You can eat it until fish sounds good again.”
Karugo lay back and groaned, then yelled back at the men upstairs. “Why don’t you guys take a turn rowing? You’re the big strong sailors who’ve done this a hundred times before.”
“I’m the navigator,” said Freddy. “I’m not called Far-eye Freddy for nothing. You don’t want me down there, distracted, where I might miss an island.” Hishano knew that Freddy’s sight could cut through the ship’s sides, and he himself could concentrate on other things while rowing, but he figured Freddy must have a good reason for not taking a turn.
“I make each stroke take us farther,” said Jack. “Put me on the oars instead of running my power and things go slower, not faster, even if I’m twice as strong as you.”
&nbs
p; “I’ll take a turn,” said Ishū. The man walked down the stairs and motioned Karugo out of the rowing seat. Karugo rolled over and pretended to fall asleep immediately upon hitting the floor.
Hishano understood. He’d been rowing all day, with Karugo and Ishū taking turns (apparently his power let him heal from fatigue too), and now even he was starting to tire.
Still, if rowing all day was what he needed to do to save his people, then he’d row all day.
Whatever it took.
——
Ishū let his body get into a rhythm, then went back to his animals.
The break in his routine was uncomfortable at first, and he missed his thunderbeast, and his arms hurt from rowing, but the wonder of this world let him ignore every discomfort. He could even ignore the fact that Jack and Freddy had stolen some of the sacred crystals; the Elders only harvested one every couple years, and it wasn’t like all the rules made sense anyways.
Besides, there were so many animals out there that he could hardly think of anything else!
The fish were kind of stupid, and anything he saw from their eyes was blurred and grainy. They weren’t even that good for watching for predators, since they just stuck with their school and dodged when anything came really close.
The birds were rare — they were in a windless area with no nearby land — but the ones that did come this way were sharp hunters, focused on any disturbances in the water that might signal food. They were very different than the flocking creatures whose quick chatter had flooded his mind during that brief moment when the wall burst.
The next animals he looked at were a colony of jelly-like creatures. Individually, they were quite stupid and difficult to talk to, but if Ishū let himself sink into the mass as if they were one creature he discovered a mind that was cold, calculating, and utterly unconcerned with the well-being of individual members — only the whole.
What are you called?
You’re something new, it thought at him. Most of your kind dismiss us before understanding.
I’m Ishū.
Yes, you are. And the other parts of you? What is your total-name?
Other parts?
The other units on your ship.
You can see them?
Yes, I am not blind…
Ishū could tell that the mess of jellyfish was nearly a mile off, so either they had amazing eyesight or…
Their brains are full of insufferable chatter. Complaints. Dreams they will never realize because they have no plan. They cannot even speak back except through you; they are simply loops of nothingness firing into the void.
So it could see into his thoughts? It could see through his eyes, as he could see through the eyes of other creatures?
I am hungry, but I can tell you are not food. I would be truly desperate if I ate another intelligent being… we are so rare. I will spare your other parts, stupid as they are, since they seem so important to your totality. I hope we meet again.
Wait! I want to understand…
Your kind make such a splashing, and your thoughts are so loud. I will find you.
Suddenly the creature was not reachable. Ishū searched around for a while, hoping to detect a trace, but the mystery creature had simply disappeared from his awareness. Instead, he felt a void. A loneliness.
He tried listening to the thoughts of his fellow humans, but he did not find them loud. In fact, he couldn’t detect them at all. Whatever power the mystery creature had, it was similar to his own but far more versatile.
He kept rowing while he puzzled over the conversation. There were so many things about this world he didn’t yet understand!
For hours he pulled the oars, keeping perfect time with Hishano. They were a good team, although he did wonder where Hishano found the strength to keep going. The boy wasn’t quite yet a man, and had not received the strenuous physical training given to field or construction specialists.
Thoughts drifted, the afternoon passed, and eventually Ishū picked up another creature of interest.
Dolphins!
They jumped and played like nothing he’d ever seen before, racing each other and holding contests of all sorts: how many fish they could catch, how high they could spray water with their blowhole, how high they could jump, who could circle the boat the fastest.
They were smart enough to detect him.
Why are you stuck in the floating island? Did the land-sharks catch you?
So they weren’t quite smart enough to see through his eyes. Certainly more intelligent than the fish or the birds, but not at his level… and not anywhere close to the mystery creature from before.
I don’t know what a land-shark is, but I’m a human.
Come to outside of the floating island. We want to see what humans look like.
Just a moment.
He pulled his oar out of the water and laid it across the seat. He didn’t technically have to do that, since there was a locking mechanism to keep it from falling out, but it did help decrease drag. “I’m going up top,” he told Hishano. “Need to take a break real quick.”
“It’s okay,” said the boy. “We’re in wind now.”
“We are? And we kept rowing?”
“I want to save our people as fast as possible. My parents probably miss me by now.”
Ishū didn’t comment, just grunted and climbed the steep, narrow stairs to the top deck and waved. He saw himself from one of the dolphin’s eyes, looking small against the mass of the boat.
Here I am, he said. I’m waving.
The dolphin jumped over the ship, splashing water on everyone up top.
It’s a land-shark! said the dolphin.
Are you a nice land-shark or a mean land-shark? asked another. We love the floating islands, but the land-sharks can be dangerous.
He is like the land-shark who took our minds three darks ago, warned a dolphin. His presence feels similar.
Yes, agreed another. Land-sharks who can speak always say they are nice, but they take our minds when they feel like it.
Take your mind?
He speaks in ignorance, but that does not mean innocence. We must disperse, before—
MOLTFRYN! exclaimed one of the dolphins. Swim furiously away! The moltfryn comes!
What is a moltfryn? Ishū asked.
Please do not take our minds, begged a dolphin. We cannot hurt such a thing. It will only bring death.
It is a baby one, said another. We are powerless, but perhaps you will survive.
The dolphins fled, their minds’ signals getting fainter as they went. The birds and fish stayed, one too high to get hurt and the other too stupid to care. There was one more animal intelligence he could detect… and it was barreling straight toward them!
“The moltfryn is coming!” he yelled.
Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy. “The what?”
“The moltfryn. You know, it’s a…” He’d heard the word, felt the dolphin’s fear, but didn’t know what it meant. “Something really bad.”
Jack raised his eyebrows and coughed in disbelief.
Karugo put on a brave face. “I’m not scared of a moltfryn… whatever that is.”
Only Freddy seemed to heed his words, and that was because he was staring through the ship straight at the approaching presence. The pirate pulled a sword from his belt.
“Tides, wash us up some luck,” Freddy whispered. “We’re gonna need it.”
15
Monster
Ishū could feel the creature approaching at an alarming speed.
Freddy grabbed his sword, held it in front of him, and began to tremble.
“Cursed tides,” said Jack as he drew his own sword. “What are we looking at, Freddy?”
Who are you? Ishū asked it. Why are you attacking us?
There was no answer. It came closer, and panic rose in Ishū’s chest. He’d known that dying was a possibility when he accepted this mission, the Elders had patiently explained how someone could be cut down before
their time of fading was complete, but he hadn’t thought that it would happen this soon! There were so many wonderful things in this world and he was going to die before seeing more of them?
“It’s a c-c-cœurbrute!” stammered Freddy.
Please don’t attack us.
Still no answer from the beast.
He dove into its mind and felt his own body collapse to the floor, heard Karugo yelling at him to get up, but he was fully enveloped by the madness of the moltfryn. He hungered for wood, especially for the dry wood on top of the floating island. Such a treat would make his long journey from the depths worthwhile, and the soggy wood on the bottom would fill his belly. With this meal he would triple in size and sprout the five extra tentacles of early adulthood.
A voice begged for release, wanted to get out of this body, but he ignored it. He was frenzied, so close to his goal. Only a few more strokes. All six of his limbs beat at the same time, coming together behind his body to give himself a burst of speed. So close… his limbs tingled with anticipation while the new voice within him screamed.
——
Karugo flinched when the creature burst from the water. Spray went everywhere, splattering all of them except Jack. It was a huge purple six-limbed beast, each tentacle as long as a man was tall, and connecting them all was a bulbous head ringed with eyes.
When it landed the entire boat shook, knocking Karugo to the deck and ripping the skin off his knees. His first real fight, and he’d gotten injured without even touching the enemy! Still, his heart pounded furiously and his muscles tensed in excitement. He’d gotten hurt, but no one had rushed to reprimand him and fix his pain! It was… wonderful. And terrifying.
Jack and Freddy had been prepared for impact and had kept their feet. Ishū still lay on the ground, twitching. For the first time in his life, Karugo felt scared for someone else… Ishū seemed as if he was caught in a bad dream, tormented by whatever was in his mind and helpless against whatever was around him.