A Familiar Hill
#2 of Water & Earth
With their life no longer in danger, Kai takes the opportunity to relax and bond with his now captive partner.
Originally planned to include more things on this chapter, but some characters refused to stick to the outline and I had to revise it. Stay tuned for Part 2.5: The Missing Scene!
It was probably summer.
The sun had been blazing for several hours by now. Cicadas sang with all their heart. It was so hot that laying against the remains of the temple's burned wall was cooler than standing under the sunlight. The heat was so much that the shark had taken his leg guards and chest plate off, leaving his chest bare and, even in the shadow, it glimmered with sweat.
Kai took a puff from his pipe.
This place, it looked so familiar. The big mountain ranges that could be seen from across the sea. The lush, green forest all around. The warm, humid weather. Even the lingering scent of smoke coupled with the sea breeze. Not to mention the string of cat bodies littering the hill.
It reminded him of Namu. Sure, that hill did not have buildings like this, wooden and multicolored with paper doors as entrances, or at least that's what he could tell from the few intact remains that were left. So feeble, people from this town likely did not suffer a lot of invasions. If only his brothers were here. Were they still fighting in Namu?
Kai took another puff and flexed his toes. Were his brothers here, they would've already looted this place to hell and back. It'd only take one day, two tops, and they'd be on their way to the next town. Though settling here wouldn't have been that bad. The cat's fur felt nice, so soft and warm, and it was really good at soaking all the moisture. He was getting drowsy when the rug under him moved, letting out a slight moan.
Kai looked down. At his feet, literally, lay the boy that had helped him not so long ago. The cat was wearing a green robe that went all the way down to his feet. Shiny, bright, and both cold and smooth to the touch; silk, maybe. His shoes were black with gold laces and a small, red dot at the tip of it; nothing valuable or that could be extracted. A noble?
His chest was covered with a matching jacket that had some sort of pattern in each sleeve. Underneath it, he was wearing a black shirt, which was slightly raised by the shark's feet that were resting directly over the cat's fur. Kai had made sure that the shirt was not tucked in, so he could feel the breeze licking his feet as it went through.
Were it up to him, Kai would have stayed like that for a long time. Forever, even. However, the cat was moving each time more often. Kai took a last puff, extinguished his pipe, and reached for his sword.
The cat woke up. He was lying on his side, next to a gray wall. Trying to get up was useless, and so was trying to free his hands. He was completely bound by a rope that Kai had borrowed from the tree inside the temple, which he doubted the tree would be missing anytime soon. The cat continued to struggle from side to side, but a metallic sound and touch caught his attention. His gaze followed the blade's edge over the shark's legs, which he had mistaken for a wall, until he was staring directly at the shark's dark eyes.
-"So, you're finally--"
-"Is everyone...!" The cat shouted.
The shark stood silent.
Seriously? How could the cat not realize the position he was in? He was frail. He was small. The cat should be crying. He should be begging for his life. Was it that a marauder was not enough after facing a raging, horned beast?
Kai continued looking at the boy, but the latter did not flinch or react in any way. He sighed, "Dead, yes."
Of that he could be sure. As soon as the flames started to die down, he had broken out of the temple, no sense in even bothering trying to be sneaky. With the unconscious boy on his shoulder, he put his free hand over his sword. Ready to fight, or at least make the best of his hostage if needed. However, the situation outside was more grim than he imagined. Against his better instincts, he put the boy on the floor.
Trampled. Cut. Burnt.
Kai ran all around, making sure to not step on any of the bodies that were all around. Not out of respect, but to avoid stumbling on them and falling off. Checking the buildings would be useless, for either no one would still there or it was too late and risky to try to enter them.
Nobody moved.
No pulse.
No response, no matter how much he shouted.
The village... it was gone.
Only the temple was spared, if you could call it that. That, and the two of them.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to escape, but it didn't look like any external help would be coming anytime soon. Also, he had a bad feeling about the forest, even if he didn't know why. Thus he stayed the night there. Watching over the boy, who also served as a respectable blanket.
The cat was still sobbing, but a few taps on his cheek brought back his attention.
-"What's your name, boy?"
The cat sniffled a few times, "My name's Ren, and I'm not a boy! I'm twenty-two, you know."
Kai almost dropped his sword. He knew cats were different, not only to him but also to other surface species. More... delicate. And, yet, this was a little too much.
Compared to him, the boy-- ehr, Ren was quite small. Had both of them were standing, the cat's height would reach only to the shark's pecs, maybe a little taller. He was also quite thin, barely weighing anything, and his arms were not even half the size of the shark's. And all those spots covering his fur, Kai thought it was just the cat's kitten coat.
Barely any muscle. No scars. An effeminate figure...
And to think there was only a six year difference.
-"Okay, Ren, where are we?"
The cat looked down, "Well, this might be a little bit complicated..."
No one knows how or when it started, but sea species and surface species never had a good relationship with each other. Millennia passed. Wars raged. Civilizations would raise and fall, yet the enmity remained. Eventually things cooled down, but it was not unusual for battles to erupt here and there every now and then. More especially: here. Two centuries ago.
On one side, sharks. Bandits, mercenaries, and slavers.
On the other side, leopard cats. Scholars, missionaries, and conquerors.
Namu was more than big enough to sustain both of them and both had the same right to claim this as their land, which was none since they had both come from elsewhere, but it was not meant to be. It was a matter of honor
The sharks attacked at night. Raids were not unusual for them, as many villages could attest to that. However, this was not just a run-of-the-mill outpost they were attacking.
While they had arrived last to the island, the cats had settled in first. Thus, they had the advantage when it came to structures, and they weren't just going to let the fish get their newest addition. Many of them fell that night, yes, but they still managed to make their stand. The sharks on the other hand...
They might have been more ruthless, more experienced, and better trained; but the cats outnumbered them ten-to-one. One by one, they fell. All in battle. No one ran away, bargained for his life, or beg for forgiveness since they were killed before they had the opportunity to do so.
It was a massacre, not unlike the events of the previous night.
-"Do you see that tree?" Ren said, "That's where the battle took place. Afterwards, a tree was planted to appease their spirits until the time was right."
Kai, who had been looking at the temple, turned back to the cat, "Right for what?"
-"For the time when they're ready to move on to the next life."
Kai stood silent for a while.
Was this real, or was it just fantasy?
He certainly remembered some of the events that the cat had mentioned. But, if he was saying the truth, would this mean that he... Kai took off his feet from Ren's chest, and stepped on the dirt. With an expressionless face, he grabbed his pair of wooden sandals and dropped them next to the tied cat's head, "Nice meeting you."
-"Wait, please, I--" Ren shouted, but then a pinch of earth flew into his mouth.
Kai put on his sandals and left. He walked all the way to the limits between the town and the forest and stopped. There was also more rope all around, it was tying several trees together. From what he could see, it went all over the village and then some.
-"Please, don't! I can set you free, you just..."
Kai did not wait for the cat to finish his sentence. He unsheathed his sword, took a deep breathe, and slashed at the rope. An electric feeling went through the air.
He did not need the cat to set him free. He could set himself free.