“Kavo. Get up.”
Kavo grunted, swiping idly at the hand that nudged his face. He wasn’t ready to get up yet. Sleep had come swiftly and heavily like an unwanted house guest, and not dissimilarly, it didn’t want to leave. However, Kavo didn’t want it to leave, either; he was content to sleep away all his troubles for a while, and the basket continued to rock soothingly to lull him into the arms of an enchanting slumber.
“Kavo, do not make me throw you over the edge.”
Kavo managed to convince himself to wake at that urging; he had no wish to relive what could have been a horrible fall. He lifted his heavy eyelids and lifted his heavy hands to push himself off the floor. He swayed slightly, set off-balance by the sudden change in position and by the ever-present movement of the ship. He’d never known that lookout posts moved so much relative to the enormous airship, but now he had greater respect for the lookouts he’d met.
Even Hawk had his uses, it seemed.
“Alright,” Kavo said uneasily, “How do we get down?”
Hawk cast him a look that said he was an idiot for even thinking to ask. “We will be using the rope,” he said, motioning to a rope that hung over the side. It didn’t look nearly secured enough, but Hawk had been using it, and he definitely weighed more than Kavo with his extra three inches’ worth of height and his quite superior muscle mass. Kavo had exercised himself to the bone in times before, but he’d never been able to gain much muscle; he had only gained definition. Some people, like Hawk, were simply built to be enormous walls of brick.
And if an enormous brick wall could glide down the rope effortlessly, as he was doing then, Kavo could.
He grabbed the coarsely wound fibres and took a deep, steadying breath. No fear and no regrets. He swung one leg over the edge and then the other, standing on the lip. He closed his eyes, prayed to the heavens, and all but leapt.
Fire erupted in his hands, the rope quickly burning against his calloused skin. He hissed and held tighter, but that only seemed to encourage it to make him pay for whatever he’d done. Air whooshed through his hair and whizzed past his ears, billowed his loose shirt about his torso and fluttered his pants almost violently about his ankles.
His feet hit the ground suddenly. The impact made his knees buckle, and he began to fall to the ground until Hawk grabbed him. Kavo knew the hold wasn’t mean to be rough, but it jerked him after nearly free-falling for so long. Luckily, it didn’t seem to dislocate something, although for a moment he worried that it had.
“That was not entirely horrible, was it?”
Kavo struggled to stand upright, but he could only grasp weakly at Hawk’s large arm. “I… hate you,” he wheezed. He hadn’t even noticed how much his heart rate and breathing had accelerated.
“You are not much for heights, are you?”
“I’m fine with heights,” Kavo managed. “It’s falling that bothers me.”
“That is normal. Evolution would dictate that humans afraid of heights were the ones who would survive natural selection, does it not?”
Kavo looked at Hawk. He hadn’t expected anything scientific coming from a man who looked so… wildly exotic. Then again, it was obvious that Hawk wasn’t stupid; every word he spoke was eloquent and had perfect diction, so he couldn’t have been a complete imbecile. Even so, Kavo hadn’t expected him to be educated. He hadn’t known that the Islands had education at all, let alone a good one.
“Regardless of that, we have landed on Lucia. We would very much appreciate your help in carting supplies, although I understand you may not wish to assist us.”
Kavo followed Hawk as he began walking, not knowing what else to do. “What are the supplies for?”
“The villages of Lucia are having a drought. None of their crops are growing. We have been using the overabundant supplies from Sol to help support them.”
Kavo raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking, right? You’re… pirates.” Pirates weren’t supposed to perform random acts of kindness. They were supposed to rape and pillage and incinerate.
“I never admitted that I was a pirate, did I?”
Kavo shook his head. This was weird. Were the pirates trying to trick him again? They had to have been. It wouldn’t work, though; he had seen through this plan. In the meantime, though, he could play along. After all, if they were going to be helping a village, their plan wasn’t entirely horrible.
Hawk lifted a large crate effortlessly and brushed past Kavo on his way out. Kavo didn’t think he could lift one of those crates on his own even on a good day. Luckily, he wasn’t expected to help out, so he didn’t; he simply continued trailing after Hawk.
Aizel and Torian were slightly ahead of them, carrying one box between the two of them. The old man Jal was talking to Gwendolyn amiably. It seemed everyone was in a good mood after their success that day. Even Hawk had a companionable air about him. If only they hadn’t taken satisfaction from something bad, Kavo might have enjoyed the changes in their demeanours.
Hawk moved down the ramp out of the airship with brisk, practiced steps. How many times had they taken supplies from the skyports? More importantly, if they had taken them back off the airship, where else had they carried them? Kavo highly doubted that they were always gracious.
Off the ship, Kavo looked around. He’d never visited any of the Islands of Zion, although he’d read about them and he knew of them. He knew that most of them looked like Hawk looked, although he’d heard that there were some variations between tribes. But nothing he’d supposedly known had prepared him for the wildness of the island.
It was breath-taking. Sunbeams winked from beyond the leafy green canopy overhead. A gentle breeze sighed through the land, stirring the branches and whistling through the trees. Everywhere Kavo looked, there were vivid greens and earthy browns, crystal blues and cotton whites. He had never seen such natural beauty anywhere before in his life; he had never imagined that it could exist.
Kavo looked at Hawk. He seemed at home now in the woods; a peace had settled over him. The enchanting atmosphere had seeped into his person, making him glow with a hidden light. His skin seemed to twinkle under the sunlight that peeked from between the crisp leaves, and his eyes never once lost their golden radiance.
Kavo could only think that the sight was one any person could fall in love with.
Then he caught himself. What sorts of things was he thinking? Him, falling in love? And with Hawk, a man who held him captive… that was ludicrous. He wasn’t even gay. He shook his head free of his mutinous thoughts and continued following Hawk. His lack of care for basic needs lately must have been getting to him; that was the only possible explanation.
They entered a clearing. Small huts the colour of red clay dotted the grassy landscape, and villagers bustled around the community. They did look like Hawk: they were copper-skinned and had straight, flowing black hair; they wore what was most probably animal skins and adorned their necks, wrists, and ankles with brightly coloured beads. Some of the women had patterns traced across their skin in a dark earth shade. When they saw Hawk and his bearing, their faces lit up brightly.
Almost immediately, the children swarmed Hawk. One of the women, a pretty woman who was most likely the chief’s wife, followed them complacently. Hundreds of beads hung from her slender neck, coloured indigo and coral and turquoise and tomato; more hung from the fringe on her skirt, and they clicked against each other as she walked.
“Hawk,” she greeted. Hawk nodded at her but continued to squeeze through the crowd that was quickly gathering around him. At last he set the crate in front of a crackling fire next to an older man. The man stood and raised his hands; one closed into a fist and the other hand gently covered it as he bowed. Hawk copied the motion before offering a hand to him, but he was waved off.
Again, Kavo was surprised by how little he knew. He hadn’t known that the Islanders lived very long. Still, the old man’s white hair and wrinkled skin were signs of a life lived.
Hawk and the man exchanged a few words in a language Kavo didn’t understand. They seemed content to chat and ignore Kavo, so he sat down in front of the kindling flames.
One of the young boys sat down next to him. He was petite and slender, and his short black hair had the slightest wave to it. If Kavo were the family type, he would have wanted to adopt such a son. As it was, however, he settled for finding the child a welcome companion.
The kid motioned toward his chest. “Helaku,” he said slowly.
Kavo blinked. What the hell did ‘Helaku’ mean? The kid repeated patiently, still motioning to himself. Was his name Helaku?
Kavo pointed at the kid. “Helaku,” he tried. The kid beamed and nodded excitedly. His hands motioned toward Kavo as he questioned, “Niye?”
Assuming that he was being asked for his own name, Kavo put a hand against his chest and introduced himself as, “Kavo.”
“Kavo,” Helaku repeated. Kavo nodded, a slight smile crossing his face. Helaku returned the smile while another child ran up to them.
She seemed even younger than Helaku. Strings of beads were clasped tightly in her tiny hands, and she held them out to Helaku.
With a glance toward Kavo, Helaku motioned at her. “Yoki,” he introduced the young girl. Still smiling, Kavo introduced himself to her. She stared at him with wide, innocent amber eyes, her small pink lips parted.
A middle-aged woman draped in a shawl called for her, and she raced back off to her mother’s arms, dropping the beads in Helaku’s lap. He sifted through them for a moment before picking up a string of reddish beads with white crackles throughout the stones. They reminded Kavo of the warm hearth back home.
Helaku held the string out and looked at Kavo expectantly. Hesitantly, Kavo took them. The beads were comfortingly warm against his palm, only further reminding him of his fireplace. He wished he could have been there and not simply remembered it from a thousand miles away.
“Kaha wanapi,” Helaku said. Of course, the words were less than unhelpful to Kavo. He motioned around his neck and then pointed to the beads, repeating, “Kaha wanapi.”
“Oh… you want me to… tie it around my neck?” Kavo picked them up and held them there, and Helaku nodded excitedly, grinning again. Shrugging, Kavo obeyed. He wasn’t going to turn down a gift for fear of being rude. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? They were just beads.
Hawk’s large hand rested lightly on Kavo’s shoulder. “It is time for us to leave now.”
“So soon?” Kavo asked. He found he actually rather enjoyed the children on the island. They were nice and seemed patient enough to put up with the language barrier.
“Yes. Gwendolyn wished to make it back to Gaea before nightfall.”
“Oh… Um, Hawk, can you explain to Helaku that we’re leaving, then? I don’t… I don’t speak the language, obviously, and it looked like you do, so…”
Hawk nodded and turned to Helaku, already spouting off in the Islanders’ language. Helaku looked disappointed but he nodded. Standing, he mimicked the motion that Hawk and the older man had done earlier, bowing his head. Hawk returned it, and Hawk quickly stood to do the same, albeit awkwardly.
“Lila pilamayaye,” the kid said. Hawk nodded again before leading Kavo off.
“Are we really leaving in such a hurry?”
“Yes, I am afraid so. It seems that we were followed from Sol. I do not know how I did not spot them, but we have to leave quickly,” he said quietly.
“Wh-what do you mean? We were followed? How could that happen?”
“It seems that the government was expecting us. As they were leaving the ship, Gwendolyn and Jaleber saw the airship approaching. Torian, Aizel and I were told to board the ship again as soon as possible.”
“But what about the village?”
“The government is after us. We are putting them in danger by remaining. Now, please, hurry.”
Kavo wasn’t sure why, but he obeyed. Even if Hawk was wrong, he didn’t want to put the children at risk by dilly-dallying. Yoki and Helaku were too young to be exposed to the type of violence that would ensue if the pirates and the government clashed on their soil.
Not thirty seconds after Kavo and Hawk had set foot on deck, the ramp was drawn in. Hawk was already making his way over to the lookout post, so Kavo decided to follow.
The climb was even more torturous this time, but Kavo was expecting it. This time, he didn’t allow any time for his hands to slip off the lip of the basket; he swung over the wall to join Hawk.
Hawk looked at him strangely. “When did you get that?”
“Get what?”
“Those beads… did you get them today?”
“Yeah. Helaku gave them to me. Why?”
“I was just wondering. Do you know what they mean?”
Kavo shook his head. He hadn’t known they even had a meaning at all.
“Those are flame agate beads. Agate is a protection stone, but that specific kind is meant to provide clarity during a transition period. I find it interesting that Helaku knew who you were so well. They befit you.”
Kavo fingered the beads. It was actually quite eerie how uncannily fitting they were to his situation. Did Helaku have the same gift of reading people that Hawk did? Was it something that ran through the blood of all Islanders? Kavo wasn’t sure; there was no way for anyone to know with any certainty outside of the Islanders.
A clap of thunder echoed. Kavo and Hawk exchanged a panicked look; it wasn’t storming. A wave of heat blasted against Kavo’s face, forcing his eyes shut with the intensity. He couldn’t recall ever feeling anything like it.
“No,” Hawk gasped beside him.
Kavo forced his eyes back open, squinting against the glare of hot red and orange. That was weird; the sun was on their backs.
Then it hit. Fire. That was fire blazing through the lush greenery. That was fire that had painted the village crimson.
“Helaku,” Kavo breathed. Without a second thought, he leapt off the post and tore down the rope. He didn’t feel the burn ignited in his palms, didn’t feel how the rope scoured his hands raw. The only thing on his mind was the two little children he had only just met.
His hands slapped against the wall of the airship. “Helaku!” he screamed. “Yoki!” He swung a leg over the wall. He had to save them.
A large, strong arm wrapped around his waist, halting him. “Kavo, it is done. There is no one left to save.”
“No! Let me go! Helaku and Yoki, they need help!”
“Calm yourself. You are only going to die if you leave this ship.” Even as Hawk spoke, the ship rocked as it lifted off the ground. Kavo didn’t dare stop trying to wrestle free, though, to no avail; Hawk’s arm was firmly around his middle and it wasn’t relenting. “Please, Kavo. Stop.”
Panting, Kavo went limp. As the ship zoomed into the air, Hawk tugged him off the ledge. Kavo fell against his chest, still breathing heavily; he didn’t move a muscle otherwise.
“Are you sure…?”
“Yes. I apologize, but I speak from experience. There is nothing that can be done.”
“Is this… is this what had happened to you?”
“Somewhat. My village was not brought any supplies, however. We were simply existing, and they did not want us to.”
Kavo shook his head. “This can’t be happening. None of this… it isn’t real…”
“Would you like to return to our room?”
Kavo nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s a good idea,” he whispered. Hawk nodded and supported his weight, leading him away from the fire that blazed on.
Kavo didn’t have the slightest idea what to think about this new development.
No comments:
Post a Comment