Second Born

by Lance Wilson

  “You fool, this is the apprentice to Fuma Hojo, he is my charge, if I have to answer for what you have done, it is you who will answer to me, and that one will be death for one of us” he says throwing down a knife at the ground. Listening as the crowd gasps.

  The challenge has been laid on the table. If Ishmael is punished, then they will fight. A fight that is only fought between blood enemies: the crew has sailed this ship for some time and has only seen Ishmael issue this threat once. The challenge is simple. Two men in the middle of the room, there left arms bound by rope to each other, a knife in each others hands, and they fight, they fight tell someone is dead. The last time they saw Ishmael issue this challenge he made short work of the other person, the knife is his specialty, he knows how to work it and to make a man suffer with it. Leaving the knife in the boards of the ship he picks up Attonnan and takes him through the hull to get him to his room. Slowly and carefully he walks into the room and lets out a sigh of relief to find that Fuma is not there. He lays Attonnan in the bed and covers him up. Then quietly he goes to leave, but is stopped as he sees Fuma at the door now. His red eyes burning with fury

  “What has happened here” he says, his voice calm and cold, but his eyes giving him away, Ishmael can tell that the fury is almost boiling over.

  “Attonnan got into a scrap with one of the crew members sir, it is nothing.” Ishmael says looking at the ground

  “Is this common in the crew?” Fuma says growling now.

  “Well no, but that is only cause Attonnan is the first new person in over ten years” he says knowing that he will find his way to the lash now

  “Oh” Fuma says turning his back to the orukai

  “You see, it is a way of establishing pecking order, we are a savage group” he says making sure to include himself, the only person he can think of in this ship that has never issued or accepted the right of challenge is the captain.

  “And did he win” Fuma asks calmly

  “No sir” Ishmael says being honest, but against Kraken, not many can brag that they have won

  “Well if he is to work with the crew he should have their respect” Fuma says and steps to one side so that Ishmael can leave.

  Ishmael only walks off with a small bow as he passes the demon lord. He is not sure what is going on. Fuma has never cared for the crew before and is well known for his temper. Perhaps there is something more to this, something he isn’t seeing. He is sure that it isn’t that he cares for the crew, he has made it all to clear that he is above them. He can only say that he is more then grateful for this change of heart, he will not be punished for Attonnan’s rash thinking and that means he will not have to fight and kill Kraken, a crew member that would be almost impossible to replace. Fuma slowly walks over to the bed and looks over Attonnan, so he issued the challenge, people were talking down to him and he issued a challenge. He has to admit that he is a bit shocked. The young elf that he knew only a week ago was so weak, so mild, and now it seems that his anger and fury is starting to over whelm him, this is perfect. All that time tortured and taunted by his father, and by him, it is all coming to a head and he is beginning to have a warrior’s spirit and mind. He only chuckles thinking of this and walks out of the room, he should go see the captain and ask about this pecking order, he would know having sailed this ship for a vary, vary long time.

  Attonnan wakes late in the night, he can only guess that it is probably just before dawn, he looks over and finds that Fuma is still not there. Shrugging his shoulders he gets out of bed to find that he is still in his clothing and that no one has changed him or stripped him since the fight. He rubs his head a bit; still sore from the beating he took. Sure that he is not going to fall back to sleep he slowly makes his way though the hull of the ship and back onto the deck. Most of the crew is fast asleep but a few are still on deck making sure nothing is going to go wrong. Attonnan then finds Kraken leaning against the side of the ship, his arms crossed and leaning against the edge, he is looking out over the black landscape. He slowly makes his way over and leans right next to him, Attonnan himself now looking over the edge and the black landscape

  “Good fight” Attonnan says, he has to give this man respect, and he beat him and beat him well. He can hope though that it wasn’t personal

  “You were easy, caught you off guard and it was all cake after that” he says with a chuckle,

  Attonnan smiles, so it wasn’t personal, just the way things are done

  “I’d hate to see you angry” Attonnan says calmly, looking up at the moon now.

  “I have to give you some respect kid, most would have gone crying to there master, but you held your own, and when it was done, you held your tongue. You picked your own fight and kept it that way, I can respect that.” He says now turning to Attonnan

  “Fuma is my master, if I’m going to prove myself worthy of him then I’m going to have to show him that I can handle my own battles” Attonnan says, a quiver in his voice as he keeps his eyes on the moon.

  “Is that what all this is about, proving yourself to some master, I thought I understood you, guess I was wrong.” Kraken says now with a bit of a growl

  “What do you mean?” Attonnan says trying to calm himself; he wants to be worthy of his master, what is so wrong with that.

  “I thought you were a real man, a man only onto yourself. But I was wrong, you’re a lapdog coming when his master calls and doing as you’re told, ha, hardly a life. But it’s yours to do with as you want so whatever” he says and flicks something into the distance.

  “Fuma has given me everything, I only wish to be worthy of him, to be his apprentice” Attonnan says his voice now growing, anger building in him. How dare this man question what it is to be a man, what Fuma has done for him.

  “Ha, that’s a laugh, if it’s one thing I know about the demon lord it’s that he doesn’t give anything. He may have taken you in, and he may have given you those cloths, but everything else, no. That gravel in your gut you had when you challenged me, that wasn’t Fuma that was you, fighting like you did, that was you, he wasn’t there and didn’t do anything to make you do it. As to be worthy of him… fuck him. Who cares what he thinks. But it you want to go around thinking that you have to prove yourself to someone well go right ahead and think that, me, I know what this life is about, and the fact that if you want something, your going to have to take it” Kraken says and begins to walk away.

  “Is that how you got the chains” Attonnan says and listens as Kraken’s stops dead in his tracks.

  “Ya, that’s how I got these chains, but I’m free, more free then you” he says and growls walking off.

  Attonnan stays up on the deck tell done comes and he watches the sun turns the sky a bright purple, then lilac until soon it is a bright blue without a cloud in the sky. He leans and waits for the captain to wake, then before the captain even reaches the helm he walks up and nods to him, it is not a bow, but it does show some respect. The captain smiles, he heard about the fight below deck, heard all about it from Fuma, and was told to keep his crew under control or he himself would pay for the crime. How dare Fuma order him on his own ship, no matter he already took care of the problem and had Ishmael strapped down and lashed twenty times for not taking care of it before hit happened. But it seems that the fight has shown Attonnan to pay respect to him. He shouts out for Ishmael right away. The orukai walks out, his eyes sunken in and he shows of lack of sleep. Attonnan smiles and walks forward to him. Ishmael smiles and nods to the captain, he hates the captain but he must show respect, the whole crew hates him, they want to rebel, mutiny, but none would dare try to catch him off his guard, he is always watching the crew, ready to kill any of them that even look at him wrong. As well he should, if he ever dropped his guard they would kill him. Ishmael goes to walk off with Attonnan but in the middle of the ship they are stopped by Kraken.

  “Ishmael,
I heard about the lashes, where does this put us?” Kraken says calmly.

  Attonnan is a bit shocked, not so much about the lashes, he was sure that someone was going to be punished about what happened, he was thinking himself since it was his doing, but others could have been chosen as well, no what he is shocked about is the respect these two seem to have for each other.

  “This changes nothing about us, the lashes were not by Fuma’s orders, but the captains. Your off the hook” he says and goes to walk past Kraken

  “Take the day off, I’ll take your work and your charge” Kraken says calmly

  “You’ll pay for it” Ishmael continues

  “Not the first time, not the last” Kraken says with a chuckle

  Ishmael then smiles and grips Kraken’s arm at the elbow. Attonnan only nods and walks at Kraken’s side knowing that he is now Kraken’s charge.

  Kraken doesn’t say anything at first; they just continue to go about the day’s mindless work. But over about the first three hours they begin to talk, not about worthiness or what a master is, but about home, and family, what they like, what they hate, things that normal people talk about, things that he would talk about to his fellow crewmen. He finds out that Kraken is from the islands in the east. He tells him about the Unagi clan and his siblings the two actually start to bond, after a bit Attonnan decides to put his plot into action and starts to talk to him about the way the ship works and how the crew sees them, himself and the captain. He is perfectly honest and tells him that the crew sees him as nothing more then a palace brat, but they are starting to get a sliver of respect for him. As for himself he is second only to Ishmael, the crew loves Ishmael and feels that he should be captain. As for the captain himself, well he tells Attonnan all how the crew hates him and how they would love to mutiny, but the captain is too smart and too skilled for any of them to get the drop on, and he’s always clever enough to make sure that he is never out matched by too many men around him.

  The day moves with the conversation and work and the two begin to see each other as more then just crewmen, he wouldn’t go as far as to call Kraken a friend, but he is a good man and he would fight at his side if he had to. It is at the end of the day when Kraken goes down to the chow hall. Along the way Attonnan and Kraken have some fun and joke around, by the time the two reach the chow hall both are laughing. As they enter the whole crew seems shocked by all of it. Kraken and Attonnan then find the table that has Ishmael who has already gotten his plate and has started eating. The two of them sit opposite of Ishmael.

  “You two seem to be getting along nicely” Ishmael says and smiles at the two of them,

  He is honestly not surprised in this, he knows both of them and he has seen a lot of Kraken in Attonnan, give him a few more years.

  “This pampered palace brat isn’t too bad” Kraken says and pats Attonnan on the back. Attonnan only shrugs his shoulders and smiles. He has to admit he has begun to enjoy it here with the crew, the hard work the team support. The two of them go and gather there chow and all three begin to talk and chat about things. Soon all three are laughing and slapping each other on the back. Attonnan is the first to finish his chow and without hesitation gets up to leave.

  “Where you heading off to” Kraken says looking a bit confused at him, he thought they were getting along

  “I’m gonna crash, you really worked me today and I’m sure tomorrow Ishmael will work me just as hard, so I think it is my best interest to sleep long and well” Attonnan says and with a polite bow to both of them he walks though the bowls of the ship to his room, well his and Fuma’s room although he has not seen or heard from his lord in almost the entire trip. He sits on the side of the bed and things about what was said today by Kraken, mostly about the captain and how the crew hates him. Now he knows the plot and how to get it done. He shall keep it all to himself and wait tell the end of the trip to make it all happen. With a smile he rolls on his side and then falls into a deep sleep.

  The days on the ship pass quickly, everyday he wakes to find himself still alone in the bed, and Attonnan begins to think that the harsh words given to Fuma by his master may have made him hate him. He’s not sure he can make it up to Fuma, but he knows one thing, he will start making amends by showing that fool of a captain that you cannot talk of Fuma as if he is some kind of child in a game. He shall put the captain down and more importantly; he will have the crew behind him when he does it. He knows that with the captain down the crew will most likely select Ishmael to lead them, and rightly so. He has won the respect of those around him and knows the ship better then most, he is even the one that bonded the element to the ship enabling it to fly. The day’s pass like all days pass, with mostly mundane events. He wakes, sees that there is no Fuma, goes to the captain and with a polite smile he finds out to whom he is assigned that day. Each day seems to rotate between working with Ishmael, where he learns the more political and intricate workings of the ship, and Kraken who shows him the heart and soul of the ship which lays in the crews strong back and stronger minds. Sure the crew may be the lower dregs of society, but here, on this ship, they are a well-formed and well-oiled machine, they read each other, know what the other is going to do before he even does it. And in only a few days, Attonnan has become a part of that machine and accepted by those that would think him nothing more then a palace brat who sits on cushioned seats and has everything done for him. Now he is one of them. Now he is a sky dog. It is on the last day before they reach dock at the Hojo clan that Attonnan finally feels it necessary to talk to Ishmael about what is about to happen, and about what must happen after. Like always at chow he sits at a table with Kraken and Ishmael, but now others have joined them, crew that have warmed up to Attonnan. He sits and eats with them all talking and laughing with each of them. He will miss them but knows that the vacation is over; tomorrow he will be in the Hojo fortress where he will be trained in the blade and how to fight. Slowly as the night wears on the chow room thins out, crewmember after crewmember walk out and go off to their bunks in the main sleeping quarters. Ishmael and Kraken stay behind, they seem to sense that Attonnan is not finished here and that he wants to talk to them about something. For a while Attonnan only talks simple things with them, hoping that Kraken will leave, he only wants to speak with Ishmael. But as it finally boils down that they are the only three left in the room, and that no one else will be coming in the mood in the room changes and Kraken leans back against a post and looks hard at Attonnan

  “So what’s going on prince” Ishmael says, the title of prince now an insult more then anything, only out of play this time though

  “Kraken, you have a long day, you should sleep” Attonnan says trying to sound like a friend and that it isn’t an order.

  “What you can say to him, you can say to me,” Kraken says folding his arms in front of him.

  “Go on Attonnan, although I think I know where this is going” Ishmael says and looks over at Kraken who only nods

  “Oh” Attonnan says shocked that they might piece it together, he made sure to make his questions about the captain seem everyday, and never talked too much about him or say anything of his plan

  “Of course, you want us to keep you smuggled on the ship, get you away from Fuma” Kraken says with a smile

  “What, leave master Fuma, no, this has nothing to do with that” Attonnan says now stunned, why would they think that, his life is his master, he owes him so much, he will not just up and abandon him, especially knowing that Fuma has such high hopes for him.

  “You, you don’t” Ishmael says now leaning forward, a bit shocked himself

  “Of course not, I start real apprentice training now. I will be strong so that I may serve him better” Attonnan says confused and shakes his head.

  “Then, what is it you want from us?” Ishmael says calmly but I could tell already he didn’t like the answers he was coming up with.

&n
bsp; “Tomorrow, early in the mourning, I shall kill the captain. When we dock tonight, Fuma will order all of us off the ship. I will tell him I want to stay on the ship the night. I will kill him before I leave this ship. All I want you to do is to just take off, don’t let anyone know who did it. The only one that will need to know is the captain and he will before he takes that last breath” Attonnan says with a sinister smile on his face

  “Why” Kraken says calmly but he knows he won’t like the answer.

  “When I first met the captain, he thought little of me, like all of you. But worse, he thought nothing of my master. No one belittles my master and lives. If my lord will not punish this man for his insolence, then I shall have to do it for him.” Attonnan says his eyes burning with a fire of