“It’s not sportsmanlike to attack a person when their back’s turned!” yelled Max.
Paul herded Max away from the group, directing him towards the dojo.
“Go play with your wooden swords,” replied Deon, creating laughter within the retreating group.
“I could have settled that in a nicer manner,” said Paul.
“Is that your way of saying thank you? I wasn’t going to sit around and let him hit you from behind.”
He gave Paul a small nudge, which broke the tension instantly.
“Thank you,” Paul replied with a chuckle.
It was coming up to midday and they still had ten minutes to walk before reaching the dojo. The city streets bustled, with hundreds of workers on their lunch breaks. The mingled scents from the various food stalls made the boys’ mouths water.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot,” replied Paul.
“What do you want to do when you grow up?”
Paul slowed down his pace, focusing on his reply. This was a question he found easy to answer. He knew exactly what he wanted.
“Probably take over the dojo.” It was what the generations before him had done; it was almost set in stone. Paul could tell that Max was waiting for him to ask the same question.
“What about you?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I want something bigger than this,” Max answered.
“The best advice I can give you is to wait. Whatever you are searching for will come. You have a good life at the dojo and, wherever you end up, just don’t forget where you came from.”
“Thanks,” said Max with a half-smile.
“What should be on your mind is beating me for once.”
Max patted him on the back. “You know the time will come.”
A few moments later, they were home and stood at the gates of the dojo. The doors stood as tall as the doors on a castle, with intricate patterns carved into the wood. The patterns followed along from the door to the wall surrounding the dojo. The wall was ten feet high, with tiles forming into a roof on both sides of the wall. It was ancient but well preserved.
The doors to the grounds swung open and framed in the doorway was a powerful man with black hair and brown skin. His track pants were loose and a white singlet covered his upper body. The singlet was almost a size too small and emphasised his well-defined muscles. The man standing in the doorway was Paul’s father, but to Max he was Uncle Jade.
Chapter 3
The Dojo
The two boys walked towards the doorway and Uncle Jade welcomed them in with open arms.
The dojo was big, with two main buildings; the left building was bigger than the right and consisted of their living quarters. The other building was the training room where Jade took most of his dojo classes.
The two buildings lay ahead of him as he led the way through the corridors. The stone of the floor was cool and smooth beneath his bare feet.
As Max walked, he looked to the right at the beautifully-planted gardens and, as always, he was captivated by the serenity of the surroundings. He could hear the birds feeding their young under the crystalline blue sky.
At the lower level of the dojo was an area of grass as big as a football field. Uncle Jade used it for outside classes, providing fresh air for all the students. The field was big enough to fit three classes at the same time, with a fence that cut off the rest of the city from this big and peaceful place.
“I see you boys made it home in one piece. How was it?” he asked, while walking with them on the floorboards, which lined the whole dojo. Both boys stepped up onto the floorboards and sat down.
“It was very insightful,” replied Paul, as he admired the spectacular view of the green field. Jade looked from Paul to Max before he spoke. A smile appeared on his face.
“I see. So, do you think you passed?” he asked.
The boys looked at each other, confident in their ability. Paul nodded to Max, hinting for him to do the talking.
“In my view we passed. All instructions were executed perfectly and we feel as if we have accomplished something,” Max answered with all honesty. Reassurance came in the form of a smile from Uncle Jade, obviously happy with the reply he was given.
“I have a class to teach soon but the point I wanted to make is that you may have to use this mission experience later on in your life, so I do hope you have learned something from it. You both have chores to do before lunch and then you have free time while I teach.”
With that, Jade stepped onto the platform and disappeared behind one of the doors that led into the house.
Max stood up and headed to the kitchen, where a list of chores was posted. Under his name there were a number of things that needed his attention, including scrubbing the wooden floors, sweeping, cleaning windows, tidying his side of the bedroom and hand-washing the dishes. Max took a minute to scan the piece of paper and look down Paul’s list, which included cleaning out the hot pools, sweep leaves, gardening, cleaning his side of the room and taking out the trash.
Max eagerly began doing his chores, knowing that the sooner he started, the sooner he would be finished.
An hour passed, by which time both Max and Paul had finished their chores and were waiting at the table while Uncle Jade reheated last night’s dinner. Usually, their lunch was food from the previous night, because his uncle always had to teach right afterwards and cooking more than enough for dinner would mean leftovers for lunch. Pasta was on the menu for lunch and Jade set three plates of it on the table, sitting opposite Max and Paul.
“Eat your grub while it’s still hot,” he said. He was only there for five minutes before hurrying off to the next part of the building and getting ready to teach.
The boys ate in silence, not a word passing between them. Paul was the second to be done and was in no hurry as he cleaned his plate and left.
Max was left alone at the table eating his lunch while his mind entered another world. It was the tree that tore through his thoughts. How was what he had witnessed possible?
After a couple of minutes of pondering, he had licked his plate clean, leaving no remains. Now he had most of the afternoon to do as he wished, with no classes to attend until the next day.
With the sun shining, outside was the favourite option. With a full stomach, Max felt no ambition to do anything other than sit on the wall that faced the dojo fields and let time take over. It wasn’t long before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Time passed. Hours withered away as the warmth of the sun evaporated. Max awoke to a voice and a dark figure standing over him. He tried to move his lips to talk but was cut off.
“I put dinner aside for you and I do hope you get some sleep somewhere more comfortable. We have a long day tomorrow so I want you to get some of that energy back, okay?” said Jade as he stood over him.
Max looked up at his uncle. “What were my parents like?” he asked.
There was a long pause during which neither Max nor Jade spoke. Jade came down into a crouch before Max, so he could better engage with his nephew.
“Your parents were lovely people, Max. Your mother was something different; she was truly the most beautiful person I have ever met. I can see parts of her in you and it warms my heart,” he continued, as he smiled softly at Max.
“What about my father?”
“He was a great man. Someone who gave back to the people, protecting those who could not defend themselves. He was more of a Robin Hood than anything.”
Max easily recalled the memories of Uncle Jade reading the Robin Hood story before they went to sleep. But how did his father fit into the picture? He had never heard much about the man.
“You say he was a hero, but what type of hero leaves his son at birth? What type of a hero leaves his sick wife to die four years later? Tell me, Uncle Jade,” said Max, sharply.
“It was your father’s duty to leave. Don’t ask me why. That is something that only time can give you,” replied Jade.
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br /> “Time has not been kind to me, Uncle.”
Uncle Jade took Max in a firm grip, bringing him to within inches of his face.
“I will not let you bad-mouth your parents, the sacrifice they made to get you where you are now. They did not leave you with me to lose hope. Glorify their memories by striving for greatness,” he commanded, shaking Max.
Silence gripped both men. Max could sense emotion within Uncle Jade, emotion that he rarely saw. He knew he had hit a spot in his uncle that had been untouched in years. Uncle Jade had to take a second, letting go of Max and retreating a couple of paces away.
Max was almost in tears. He had never felt such pain or emotion as he now felt. He ducked his head down, seeing nothing but grass and trying to avoid his uncle’s gaze.
Max had always wanted to know more about his parents, hoping that, with more information, he would finally be able to understand them.
“The last thing they told me before they left was to keep you as close to my heart as Paul. To raise you as they would have, not only for the name you bear, but for the family you represent.”
There was a pause and his uncle turned around to the city and gazed out as if searching for a lost soul.
The conversation had overwhelmed Max and now he was in desperate need of his own space. There was a puzzle to be put together and he only had the outer layer.
“I have taken in everything that you have told me, but I am not that quick to forgive them,” he replied. With the last words rolling off his tongue he departed. It had grown dark, but he was so wrapped up in thoughts of his parents that he took no notice of his surroundings.
He heated his dinner in a flash, sitting at the table and thinking about what had just happened. His mind drifted in and out of reality. He sat like a zombie as he ate his food, staring straight at the fridge in front of him. If it weren’t for the sudden sound of the dojo students passing outside, he would have sat there all night.
Max cleaned himself up, brushed his teeth and climbed into bed. Paul had already fallen asleep, his heavy breathing testament to that. He was surrounded by darkness and was in a bed that was only just starting to warm up. The day had been long and Max was grateful to be in his own bed and not on the ground next to the fire. He finally closed his eyes, resting his head on a soft pillow that made him feel right at home.
He awoke in the middle of the night to a voice. One that did not come from within the room or anywhere else in the house, but a voice that came from within his very soul. The voice sounded identical to his own: “The time has come,” it said. He closed his eyes and a picture was projected into his mind. It was the carving on the tree, but this time there was no voice; only the carving. Sweat poured down his face and chest. A spark erupted from the carving. Max could feel the same rush now as he had when it had happened in reality. He awoke again to see Paul kneeling at his bedside.
“Are you all right?” Paul asked worriedly.
“I’m fine,” he muttered, confused. He sat semi-upright, wiping the sweat from his face.
“Did you have a bad dream or something? You were tossing and turning and screaming at the top of your lungs.” Paul crouched on the hard wooden floorboards.
“Bad dream, I guess,” said Max, trying to deflect Paul’s attention.
“Do you want a glass of water?”
“I’m fine, just a bit more sleep and that should do me,” he replied as he lay back down and pushed off the covers in an effort to cool himself.
“Okay, suit yourself.”
Paul hopped back into his own bed and promptly fell sleep.
Max was now too afraid to close his eyes, not knowing what would pop up from his subconscious. He could tell he was probably too tense to sleep any more, anyway, even though his eyes were burning with tiredness.
Sleep he did, though, and the morning arrived too quickly when he felt something poking him. Was he still dreaming?
He opened his eyes to find Paul standing over him with a practice sword in his hand.
“I’m trying to sleep,” complained Max.
“Get up, you lazy swine. Uncle said we have an hour to eat breakfast, bathe and get ready for home school,” he said.
Max got to his feet and found he was a bit wobbly, his body struggling to wake. He looked out of the window at the dark, pre-dawn sky. It was six forty-five, three quarters of an hour until sunrise.
Max grabbed a towel and his clothes and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Paul sat alone at the table with two pieces of toast and a glass of orange juice. Max got out some cereal and set it onto the table with a bowl, spoon and milk.
“Are you ready for today?” asked Paul, his mouth half-full.
Max finished pouring milk into his bowl of cereal and took a spoonful before answering him.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
After breakfast, they both made their way to the bathing house, located along a bamboo-lined path in the direction of the fields.
The reason behind bathing every morning was to cleanse their bodies and minds ready for home school and was something Uncle Jade demanded of them.
Max jumped into the bath, feeling his body adjust to the warmth of the pool after the cool air of the early morning. It reminded him of the hot spring in the forest. Time passed as quickly as it had in the forest and the sun began to rise from behind the city buildings.
Max rose out of the water and vigorously towelled himself off, feeling the warmth of the sun beginning to radiate through the air.
Now that Max was properly awake and ready to go, he made his way with Paul to the room where Jade passed on his knowledge. In the time they were there, they learnt English, Roman history, science, geography and maths.
Max didn’t enjoy school as much as his cousin. He often nodded at the points his uncle made, but it was only a pretence that he understood what was being taught. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Paul was better in every subject but one: Roman history. Max was truly fascinated by the subject, if not for the war tactics, then for the heroes and the battles that killed thousands.
The culture and dominance intrigued him and that enthusiasm carried on through his training.
Finally, it was time for a break, giving Paul and his uncle time to unwind.
Max made his way from the education room to the kitchen, grabbing fruit as he went, and seated himself on the wooden boards, looking out into the open field. Max could feel the tension leave his body as he ate and took in the perfect day. No wind, no distraction and only the birds singing to entertain him.
After ten short minutes it was time to begin their training. Paul could feel butterflies turn inside his stomach. He watched Max enter the room with an equally nervous expression on his face as he bowed to Paul and Jade.
Both boys wore matching blue robes with a blue belt and the dojo symbol was stitched into the back. This was the uniform worn at all trainings. White robes and belt were given to every student who spent more than a year at the dojo. To indicate progression through the dojo, a belt system was awarded. Uncle Jade had a black belt, thanks to his many years of knowledge.
“You’re just on time,” said Uncle Jade. He got up from the floor, finished with his stretching. Max said nothing, walking in and standing by Paul. His cousin stood motionless, waiting for his father to give them instructions.
“We’re going to start off with two laps around the bottom field, then come back up to stretch and begin the other exercises.” Both Paul and Max exited the building and jogged twice around the field. Making their way back up to where his uncle was, Max could feel his body start to loosen. All the tension which seemed to tighten his muscle fibres was suddenly released.
With Paul leading, they made their way into the dojo. Uncle Jade demonstrated a range of exercises for both boys. He was satisfied with the warm up and it was now time to progress.
“We shall begin with forty push-ups each,” said Jade, dropping down to the floor. He led the class with perfect press up form, lowering
down until his upper arm was parallel to the ground. Uncle Jade believed in the mentality of doing the exercises with his students.
“If I can do it, you can,” he repeated.
Max had found the press-ups quite easy. He could tell by the way Paul bolted up that he did, too.
“What’s next?” questioned Uncle Jade.
“Sit-ups, because core strength is important,” said both boys simultaneously.
They carried out the sit-ups with a smile. Paul could feel his core strain under the press of the crunch and his abdominal muscles screamed out in agony. The pain brought back both memories and feelings.
One challenge that he could remember vividly was standing on a stump, three feet in height, holding a bamboo stick across his back with bricks tied to either end. Of this torture, he had endured twenty minutes.
A couple of feet away from Max to his left, Uncle Jade had taken up position, facing his class. Behind him were five handpicked white belt beginners. They had been in the dojo for almost two years, and they all had enough tips on their belts to get promoted to blue. This challenge was one of Jade’s favourites, as it pushed a person both physically and mentally.
Five minutes into the exercise, Paul had felt his legs go numb and his shoulders cry out in agony. He knew if he kept his mind clear and did not doubt himself that he would find the exercise a lot easier.
Halfway in, however, his body had begun to tell him that he couldn’t do it. His legs had begun to shake and the sweat erupted from his face, dripping to the ground like rain. He told himself that he was strong and that dropping the bamboo would heap consequences upon them all. He could not look weak in front of the other dojo students, especially Max. If any of the boys failed the test, the penalty would be to start again.
“I can’t do it,” cried one of the students at the back.
“Stay strong,” muttered Max, grinding his teeth in pain.
“Don’t falter, men. Another ten minutes is better than starting all over again,” said Paul in a reassuring tone.
The boy had repositioned the bamboo on his back, looking over to a student on the far side of the room. He could not let her see him in a weak state for she might not like him. The boy had grimly focused on the back of another student’s head, beginning to believe that self-doubt was pointless.
Maximus Thatcher Page 3