Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 5: The Cult of the Crimson Isles

Chapter 6

So much for laying low~

...aaaand also so much for keeping this episode short. Oh well!

-Llox

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The boys tried to make it as far as they could without using the trails. But as the climb gradually got steeper and more fraught with sharp rock outcroppings, hidden cracks in the ground, gnarled roots to trip on, and various other hazards, they eventually gave in and started using them. Even then, the hike was strenuous at times due to the constant climb. Still, any time they caught a glimpse of a village ahead or another individual coming their way, they ducked away into the brush to go around. By the time the sun was approaching its zenith, they were already exhausted, so they took a break in a semi-clear patch a dozen or so yards away from the nearest marked trail.

“Damn. This mountain is a lot rougher than that… ‘enlightenment’ one.”

“Mhmm. Taller too, I think,” Lykou agreed, then took a big sip from his waterskin. When he pulled it away again, he shook it a bit and frowned. “We better keep an eye out for a stream. I’m getting low on water. What about you?”

Kuna finished taking a sip from his own jug and frowned as he swirled it around. “Yeah, same here. Shit. I haven’t seen one in a while, either.”

After taking a few minutes to catch their breath, they continued onward, watching with increasing urgency for any streams, falls, creeks, or even ponds. Eventually, their water containers were emptied and they had a difficult decision to make.

“We were specifically trying to avoid the villages, Lykou…”

“Well at this point we have no choice. Where there’s a village, there must be a source of water nearby. And we can’t just keep hoping we come across a stream much longer, especially as warm as it’s getting.”

Kuna groaned slightly and looked up the trail with trepidation. He knew the konuul was right, and cursed the fact that the breeze had subsided a bit as they got into more densely-forested areas, further up and away from the coast. At least they had plenty of shade. But it was still warm- and muggy. “...I know, I know,” he finally conceded with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, we’ll just be friendly and assure them we’re just passing through. Tell them we’re on that trip to see Tuimana or whatever. No need to stick around once we get some water. I’m sure once we tell them we’re going there, they won’t want to keep us, however curious they are about us.”

“Fine, just… don’t let them keep us around too long. I know a village might normally be safer at night, but I’d still rather find a decent camping spot out in the wilderness while we’re up here.”

“Sure. We’ll make it as quick as possible.”

They began making their way towards the next village with a moderate amount of unease. When a passing raptuva near the village entrance caught sight of them approaching from a distance, she paused to gawk at them for a moment, before rushing off with the basket of fruit she was carrying. Lykou and Kuna exchanged a nervous look and continued onward, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. A pair of spear-wielding individuals appeared and met them a few yards from the gap in the wooden wall that surrounded the village. Luckily, although armed, they didn’t seem especially keen on using them, lowering them when the outsiders stopped a couple yards away.

Lykou tried to put on a friendly smile and gave a little wave. “Hi there. I uh… know you must be wondering about us-”

“That’s an understatement,” the one on the left said, eyeing him with a mixture of curiosity and wariness. “You’re… not raptuvan.”

Kuna bit his tongue as a snarky response almost automatically tried to escape his mouth. “N...nope.”

“My name’s Lykou and this is Kuna. I’m a konuul and he’s a sereva. We’re… from a very long way away.”

“I’d assume so. We’ve never seen either of your kind before,” the other guard said. “The question is, why are you here?”

“Well, at the moment we’re just passing through on our way to pay our respects to Tuimana, actually. We ended up on the island and met some nice people on the coast that told us all about him and thought it was the respectful thing to do.”

That seemed to ease the tension a bit. One of the guards even smiled faintly to the other. “Go let the chief know we have guests.”

The other nodded and left without another word.

“Well, come on in then. Our village may be small, but we’re always happy to welcome some pilgrims on the way up.”

“Thank you,” Lykou said, gently pulling Kuna along as they followed the guard in. They were immediately met with a plethora of stares from other raptuva, making the sereva more uncomfortable by the moment. The village was smaller and looked fairly different from the one on the coast. A quick look around suggested that many of its residents were artisans of some kind or another- there were pieces of basic furniture laying about in various degrees of completion, tables full of tools, and a couple stacks of freshly-made baskets sitting nearby. A wall with several hooks on it held some lengths of rope and string. “We don’t need to stay long, we were just hoping maybe you could point us to some water? Our containers ran out, so…”

His words trailed off as the other guard approached with another raptuva wearing a series of beaded necklaces approached them. “Welcome to our humble village, strangers,” the newcomer said with a smile and a sweeping gesture of his arms. “My name is Ariki, chief representative of the village and the one that people come to for direction when the Enlightened aren’t available. I’m told you’re on a sacred trek up the mountain, yes?”

“R-right, just. Going to see the sh-shrine,” Kuna anxiously chimed in, looking around at the other raptuva gathered nearby. There were definitely fewer than the last village they’d been in, at least. But it was still more sets of eyes than he cared to have on him.

“Unfortunately, we ran out of water, so we were hoping we might be able t-”

“Not to worry, we’ll see to it you’re well equipped for the rest of your holy trek. But take a moment to join us for a meal- we were just about to sit down to enjoy lunch.”

“W-we’re really not-” Kuna started to reply, only to be interrupted by his friend’s stomach rumbling audibly.

“Err…” The konuul glanced at the sereva with a sheepish expression before replying to the invitation, “That… actually sounds pretty good. Thank you so much.”

The sereva shot him a quick look in return, then sighed. “Yeah… th-thanks.”

“Excellent, come along.” The chief turned and waved his hands in the air to the gathered crowd. “Right, lunch time everyone! Stop standing around gawking. Prepare two extra places at the table for our guests.”

“Kuna here only needs some fruit, just so you know!”

“Oh? We have a fresh batch of fish from the last trade group, are you sure?”

“V-very sure,” the sereva replied.

“Ah, I see. It isn’t unheard of for some individuals to forgo certain pleasures when on a spiritual journey. I’m sure the Enlightened will approve of such dedication,” the chief said, then turned to speak with one of the other raptuva and walked off before either of the boys could respond.

“...yeah, sure, spiritual journey…” Kuna muttered to himself quietly as they were led to a table with a large cone-shaped covering erected above it. He and Lykou sat down, and he leaned over to prod the canid. “What happened to not lingering longer the necessary?” he harshly whispered to his friend.

“Sorry, but my bag’s getting low on meat again and I haven’t had a chance to hunt. I should have asked if I could bring some salted fish or something with us when we left this morning, but I got distracted and didn’t think about it,” the canid explained, then frowned. “Sorry Ku, I messed up. But hey, so far so good right? No sign of-”

As if on cue, there was some commotion around the corner of one of the other buildings. The chief stepped back into sight, speaking animatedly at the head of a cluster of raptuva. And that’s when both Lykou and Kuna caught sight of something they’d hoped to avoid- next to the chief was a pair of individuals sporting nearly identical red garments that might loosely be described as very lightweight cloaks with a strange emblem stitched onto them. There were a few others wearing the same thing walking behind them. Lykou and Kuna had no chance to slip away, as the cloaked individuals immediately saw them and hurried over to join them at the table. Two sat on either side of them while a the others walked around and sat across from them, all donning overly friendly smiles that did little to calm the sereva’s looming panic attack. All but one, that is, who eyed them from further down the table with a suspicious look.

“Ah, strangers, good to finally meet you,” the apparent leader said across from them. “Lykou and Kuna, was it?”

“We understand you’re on a pilgrimage to the great shrine. That’s splendid! You know, these islands haven’t had guests from far away in a very… very long time,” the one next to Lykou said, clapping the canid jovially on the shoulder and giving it a gentle shake. “It is good to know that His splendor can be shared with even those from unknown shores.”

“Uh… yeah, we’re um. Looking forward to seeing the shrine and uh… paying our respects,” Lykou said with a somewhat uneasy smile. “I take it you’re this, er… ‘Order of the Enlightened’ we’ve heard about?”

“Indeed we are, and I’m sure it’s no accident we came across each other here this fine day, just in time for lunch. Tuimana’s blessings are upon us, I can feel it,” one of the cloaked individuals said, then gestured to one of the villagers. “Food and drink, for us and our guests. And be quick.”

“I’m Matai,” the apparent leader of their group said, then gestured to the others in turn, “And this is Koa, Hina, Tane, and Anaru.”

Lykou glanced down at the one that had been omitted. “Er, an-”

“Oh, that’s Kalei. Don’t mind him, he’s just a new recruit.”

“Anyway, please, do tell us about yourselves!”

“Yeah, like where you come from,” Kalei finally chimed in, eyeing them warily. “And how you got here. I haven’t heard of any new boats down-”

Tane, the one sitting closest to him, rolled his eyes and grabbed his companion by the collar, glaring at him. “Who said you could speak, Kalei? Recruits should be silent unless spoken to. Go see if the cooks need help with anything,” he quickly spat out, then shoved the younger raptuvan away and turned back to Lykou and Kuna. “Sorry about that, the newbies can get a bit overexcited sometimes.”

“But all that aside, do tell us your story,” Koa said from next to Kuna, gently patting his back. “We’ve not had the pleasure of hosting a… sereva and konuul, was it?”

“Um. Sure, heh,” Lykou said a bit uncertainly. “Well… we’ve been traveling for a long time now. It’s, uh… kind of a long and complicated story, but basically we’re trying to make our way home now, after being gone for around a month and a half or so, an-”

“A month and a half! My goodness what a journey,” Hina interrupted. “You must be mighty homesick, I imagine.”

Lykou looked down a bit sadly and nodded. “Yeah, actually. I try not to think about it too much, but-”

“Don’t worry, friend. With Tuimana’s blessing, I’m sure you’ll see your loved ones again very soon.”

“Thanks,” Lykou said with a hint of a smile returning. “Um, we really don’t mean to take up everyone’s time, so-”

“Nonsense! The day is young and there are plenty of hours left for travel. But doing so on an empty stomach is unwise!” Koa insisted. “Our master is a patient and understanding god. He would not want you growing weak from lack of food and water before you can visit his shrine!”

A pair of villagers quickly brought a couple trays of coconut shells filled with some kind of juice, while another brought some plates laden with fruit and fish- as well as one bowl only filled with fruit, for Kuna. Lykou’s belly rumbled again as he looked at the fish.

“Ah, good, lunch at last,” Matai said, then chuckled at the canid’s expression. “Dig in, boys. I can see you’re hungry. There will plenty of time for story-telling afterward. I look forward to hearing not only about your journey, but the place you call home.”

Unable to help himself, Lykou quickly thanked them and dove into his food. The members of the order soon followed suit. Kuna anxiously picked at his, but was practically shaking on the spot. Suddenly, he froze and shrank back towards his friend when Koa laid his hand on the sereva’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Is everything alright, Kuna? Is the food not to your liking? I’m sure we can find something else if-”

“I-it’s f-f-fine, thank you.”

Lykou paused from devouring some fish to reach over and give him a gentle side-armed hug. “Don’t mind him, he’s just… shy,” he explained after taking a quick sip of his drink.

“Perfectly understandable,” Tane assured them, then chuckled. “Not everyone is blessed with social expertise. But I’m sure you have other skills that more than make up for it.”

Kuna just stared down at his bowl and picked at the fruit nervously, so Lykou spoke up in his place, “He sure does. In fact, he was just showing off his artistic skills down at one of the coastal villages this morning!”

“Marvelous! We’ll definitely need to stop down and have a look for ourselves sometime.”

Koa eyed the sereva for a moment, sizing him up. “Ah, but there’s more to it than shyness, isn’t there? You have another skill, too. A very special one, that you’re afraid of showing.”

The comment sent a chill down both there spines. Lykou’s smile faltered as his hand froze halfway to his mouth with a piece of fruit.

The group shared a chuckle and Koa gently rubbed the sereva’s head. “You can relax, friend Kuna. Yes, we know about your very special blessing. And we happily celebrate it!”

“Indeed. A magic user, like our great leader!”

“And a genuine one as well, no doubt. No, there’s no hint of corruption about you, my boy,” Tane said with a broad smile, raising a cup to the trembling sereva.

Hina gently laid a hand on the sereva’s with the first hint of genuine warmth they’d seen from the group. “Be calm, now. We know we have a… certain reputation, thanks to unfortunate circumstances on our island lately. But you are quite safe here, we assure you.”

“That’s… good,” Lykou hazarded when Kuna couldn’t muster any words, giving him another gentle squeeze. “We’re… sorry to hear about the demon trouble.”

“Indeed. They’re a terrible problem. Fortunately, nothing we can’t handle with Tuimana’s blessings and Speaker Kairangi’s guidance. And I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to finally meet another magic user that isn’t tainted.”

“So be at ease, friend, and enjoy your food,” Koa told the sereva, giving him a light pat on the arm. “Consider yourself a truly honored guest on these islands. We will personally see to it no harm comes to you here. Our god would have it no other way.”

Kuna glanced around at the smiling raptuva and took a shaky sip of his drink. “...th-thanks,” he finally said with a faint hint of a smile- though it was somewhat forced. He was still incredibly wary and uncertain, but at the very least, their words eased his nerves enough that his hunger took over and he began devouring the fruit.

*****

Over the course of lunch, the group made small talk with the boys- though Kuna barely participated other than listening. The red cloaks didn’t seem to mind his shyness, though. And although they were both tight-lipped about the details of their journey, the friendly raptuva gradually managed to get Lykou to talk at least a little bit more about it. He was careful to keep it to broad strokes and not go too far into the more magical details, other than the portals and the reason they were on it in the first place, but otherwise he gradually painted a general picture of their trip thus far, and that seemed to keep their hosts entertained.

After lunch, the group spread out a bit, with a few lounging on some of the nicer recently-finished furniture that was otherwise waiting to be traded to the coastal villages, and Hina took a nap in a simple hammock that she’d had a villager help her set up between some trees. The atmosphere finally felt a bit laid back, as everyone let their stomachs settle. Kuna tried to prod Lykou into leaving, but he’d finally gotten wrapped up in talking about Lakefire while most of the red cloaks listened intently.

With nothing to do for the time being, and feeling a bit restless from his nerves, Kuna idly walked around the core of the village, though he was careful to never completely loose sight of his friend. The rest of the tribe had started eating their lunch shortly after the members of the Order had arrived, then almost immediately went back about their normal daily activities afterwards. While they were initially fascinated by the outsiders, their interest had gradually faded after a while as the red cloaks talked with them. He got the distinct impression that the villagers were avoiding bothering them under some kind of unspoken duress, but he couldn’t prove it. Even Ariki only occasionally smiled and waved or nodded to them in passing as he went about his day with business as usual.

The sereva’s attention eventually honed in on a scene unfolding around the corner from the village square, behind some of the buildings, where one of the smaller youths was surrounded by a few others that were slightly bigger than him. A pang of sympathy shot through him as it became apparent what was going on. One of them was wearing a very crude makeshift version of the Order’s cloaks, obviously trying to dress up as one of them, even if only in pretend. The others were attempting to forcibly tug it off of him, causing it to tear in the process.

“Quit it! Let go!”

“You’re way too pathetic to be a member of the order!” one of the bullies said after finally jerking the garment off and tossing it aside. One of the others shoved their victim back down as soon as he got up to try and fetch it.

“You should just stick to making baskets and picking flowers, wimp. The Order doesn’t take weaklings like you.”

“Leave the demon hunting to those of us Tuimana actually likes.”

“He’d probably piss himself at the first whiff of a demon,” one of the others chimed in, leading to a shared snickering fit. The victim tried to put on a brave face and fight his way to the discarded, torn cloak that he’d likely made himself, but kept getting pushed back as tears sprang up at the corner of his eyes.

The sight made Kuna’s blood boil. An urge to intervene started growing within him, but he wasn’t sure what to do. The thought of using his magic to scare them off occurred to him, but he could easily see that massively backfiring in a number of ways. He looked around- several adults had passed by already or otherwise clearly seen what was going on, but done nothing about it. Talking to them about it wouldn’t change anything, apparently. If they were going to intervene, surely they would have already done so. Clearly, everyone was too busy to deal with it. Or just didn’t care- a concept Kuna himself was all too familiar with.

Eventually, he’d had enough, though, and decided he couldn’t just sit there watching the poor kid get picked on. He couldn’t use his magic, at least not in any big, overt, dramatic way, but something Moyra had once told him bubbled up in his mind- there was a lot more to being a druna than just magic. And he may have only been a ‘druna’ in theory while he was in Clovaria, but damned if he couldn’t at least try and do some justice to the honorary title. He wasn’t exactly in a position to intimidate anyone, though, so he had to take another route.

He wasn’t the only one to have taken notice, however. Kalei was standing a modest distance behind Kuna and was about to intervene himself when he saw the sereva get up and start walking towards the youths. For a moment, he debated whether he should demand to know what he thought he was doing, but ultimately decided to hang back, wait, and observe. He was already tired of being chewed out for taking initiative, and he figured this way, he could perhaps gather some evidence about the stranger’s possible corruption.

Kalei wasn’t the only observer, however. A certain bird with bright yellow markings was perched on a rooftop nearby, watching the scene with silent interest.

Kuna’s mind raced as he tried to take in every detail he could about the bullies’ appearances. He also listened to everything they said, eventually picking up on any names that were dropped amidst their taunting and the victim’s responses. He hadn’t gotten the name of the one on the right, but managed to catch that the one on the left was named Meli, and the head bully in the middle, who’d ripped off the cloak, was Rongo. And their victim’s name was Tama.

He was nervous about whether he could pull off what he wanted to, but he steeled himself and took note of any potential visual cues he could work off of. When he was standing a few feet behind them, he crossed his arms and cleared his throat loudly. The bullies turned to look at him, initially confused, then surprised at the appearance of the strange outsider they’d mostly only heard about from the adults. “Hey, it’s one of those weird strangers!” Rongo said, then nudged the as-yet unnamed third bully with a grin. “Told you they were real.”

“Yes I am. And I couldn’t help but notice you all were talking about joining the Order. They’re demon hunters, right?”

“Yeah, and we’re totally gonna join them when we’re old enough!” Meli chimed in.

“Interesting! You should be real careful around demons though. You know, I once survived a demon attack myself. When I was around your age, in fact.”

“No way!”

“You’re messing with us!”

“Nope. It’s true,” Kuna said, then gestured to his head. “See these bumps? That’s where the thing tried to bite me and suck out my soul. Didn’t think I was born looking this way, did you?”

“Woah! So… so did you used to be like us??”

“Yup. And it didn’t even start with that. You see, demons like to creep around and mess with people before they attack directly. It started pretty simple,” Kuna explained nonchalantly, thinking over the details he’d taken note of before approaching. As he recalled, Rongo’s tail lacked the dense tuft of feathers on the end that most other raptuva had- probably just a slow developer, but it was still something to work with. He felt a faint sense of irony doing so, of course, given his own issues. But in the moment, he didn’t care. “I noticed my feathers stopped growing. Especially on my tail. Before long, the ones I had started falling out. The next thing I knew, I woke up one morning and even my tail itself was gone, and I was left with this weird stubby thing.”

“W-what??”

“Mhmm.” The sereva quickly looked over Meli and noted that it looked like she’d suffered a number of little cuts and bruises recently. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but somewhere at the back of his mind he got a strange, distinct impression she was a bit clumsy at times- he had no idea where the impression came from, but he decided to take a gamble on it. “Then the tiny attacks started. Various… ‘accidents’. Of course, they were really just disguised attacks. Sometimes I’d ‘trip’ on a root that hadn’t been there a moment before, or I’d bump into a wall or a tree that got subtly moved when I wasn’t looking, or get bitten by what I thought was a bug at the time, but was actually the demon in disguise, making it itch worse than ever. And so on, and so on. They’re real big on disguises and trickery, you know. They slowly eat away at you with little things like that for a while and make you think you’re clumsier than you really are, or just have unusually bad luck.”

Bullseye. Meli notably started getting uncomfortable and subconsciously trying to hide one of the more recent cuts with her hand. “W-wait a minute! If you were attacked by a demon, how are you still here?? You’d be dead, or worse!”

“Oh, you are so right- if it wasn’t for some brave demon hunters! Every island has a brave bunch like the Order, you know. Villages would never survive the constant attacks from demons all the time without them. And, praise Tuimana, when the demon finally came out of hiding to finish me off, a group of them just happened to appear right in the nick of time!”

“Woah! So you got to see them in action?!” the third cried out.

“I did! It was awesome! You should have seen them! Unfortunately, the demon still managed to bite me, and turned me into the weird thing you see in front of you,” Kuna said, gesturing to himself. “And let me tell you, the fur really itches sometimes.” He then reached under his poncho as if to scratch his chest, then sighed dramatically. He took the opportunity to quickly and subtly conjure up his magic just long enough to use it to manipulate some weeds into doodling some strange made-up symbols in the ground under the bullies’ feet while they were distracted- especially the third individual, whose symbols he made look especially sharp and ominous-looking. “Unfortunately that shattered my own dreams of joining the Order. I realized by then I was far too oblivious to find myself among their ranks. I should have seen the signs.”

“What signs, what signs?!” Meli demanded.

“Well, every now and then when they think you’re not paying attention, they leave weird little symbols around their victims, to let their demon buddies know who’s vulnerable to pick on. Sometimes its on the backs of your clothing, or carved into the wall of your hut when you’re asleep, or sometimes right beneath your feet, in the very earth itself.”

The trio noticeably relaxed. For a moment. “What do the symbols look like, anyway?”

“Well, they’re kind of squiggly and weird looking, like…” he trailed off as he looked down at them, then put his everything into the best acting he could muster, when he stumbled over backwards with a horrified expression and pointed a shaky finger at the ground beneath them. “L-like those!! Tuimana help us, get away!”

The three bullies looked down, then screamed and scrambled to get away from the symbols. Kuna subtly used his magic to make the weeds wiggle around and grow thorns while their attention was on them. Meli was the first to flee the scene, screaming, with the other two quickly following suit after first colliding with and tripping over one another. From his semi-secretive observation point, Kalei arched a brow, unsure what to make of the stranger’s tactics. It was deception, alright, but it wasn’t the kind he’d expect from a demon-ally. It was too self-debasing.

Kuna chuckled and brushed away the symbols with his foot after the bullies were gone, before checking on Tama. The poor kid was staring at the ground with significant fear of his own as he pushed himself back up against the tree trunk he was backed up to. “Woah, hey, relax kid. You’re safe.”

“B-but the demons-!”

The sereva chuckled. “Relax, there’s no demons here. Between you and me, that was just some trickery I learned from a friend.”

“H-huh? W… what trickery?”

Kuna smirked and tapped the side of his forehead with a wink as he sat down next to Tama. “She calls it ‘kenning’. I call it cleverness. Paying attention to details and stuff. You’d be surprised what people tell you about themselves without ever realizing it.”

“But… but the symbols…”

“Like I said, just a little bit of trickery. Keep people looking at your face and they won’t even notice what you’re doing with your feet.”

Tama looked back down at the ground. He’d have thought the symbols he saw were too detailed to be drawn with one’s foot, let alone without claws and without people noticing- but now they were wiped away, so he wondered if maybe he imagined they’d been more detailed than they actually were. “But… I saw the plants moving, too!”

Kuna shook his head a bit. “I think you imagined that part. Which is understandable, it was a stressful situation,” he said, then leaned over and grabbed the discarded garment. “This is yours, right?”

Tama frowned and rubbed his eye, then shrugged. “Yeah. It’s dumb, I know.”

“Nah, looks pretty good to me. You make it yourself?”

The young raptuva nodded glumly and sniffed. “With some help from my sister.”

“It’s nice. I, uh… take it you want to be one of the red-, err, members of the Order some day?”

Tama nodded his head slightly, then sighed. “I’m probably too weak though, if I can’t even stand up to those jerks.”

“Nonsense. You’re stronger than you think. Sometimes it just takes time for that strength to shine, and it can come in different forms. Strength of mind and heart are just as important as raw physical strength.” Kuna smiled thoughtfully as he glanced back briefly, hearing Lykou’s voice talking to the red cloaks a little way away. “If you don’t believe me, ask my friend Lykou. He helped me to realize that, and he’s… kind of a demon hunter in his own right.”

“Wow, really??” the young raptuva asked, then leaned over sharply for a moment to peer around the corner. “...where’s his cloak?”

“Oh, he doesn’t have one. Though he’d look good in one, now that you mention it,” the sereva commented, rubbing his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then shook his head to re-focus. “We’re not from around here, obviously, so we don’t have the same kind of Order where we come from. But trust me, he fights demons all the same. Really, really well.”

“Too bad he couldn’t save you from the one that turned you into, um…” Tama trailed off and gestured to the sereva in general. “...this fuzzy thing…”

Kuna snorted and stifled a snicker. “Tama, I made that story up. I was born this way. I’m not raptuvan.”

“Woah, really??’

“Yup. Like I said, my friend and I are from a very long way away. There’s lots of other kinds of people out there. A lot are, well, fuzzy like us. Coming to this island is the first time I’ve seen raptuva, in fact.”

Listening in on the conversation from around the corner, Kalei clenched his fist, then reached for the long knife on his belt. But after a short hesitation, he pulled his hand away. He almost wanted to intervene at that comment. He knew outsiders were suspect at best- the Order taught that the world outside its reach was overrun with demons, after all. The last thing he wanted was for this stranger to go filling young raptuvans with fantasies of far-away lands. But something about the rest of the sereva’s words struck a chord with him, so he decided to wait and hear the rest of their conversation- at the very least so that he wouldn’t have to involve an innocent child in any fallout that might occur from a confrontation.

“That’s so weird… are there a lot of non-raptuva people out there?”

“Seems that way. I’m a sereva, my friend’s a konuul, and we’ve met a few others, too. Like the shakonu and lepne. I think it’s pretty neat seeing new kinds of people. The world is a pretty incredible place, really.”

“Aren’t… there lots of demons out there though? Without the Order to protect people?”

Kuna frowned. “I don’t know about literal demons, but there are plenty of monsters and problems, for sure.” His smile returned after a moment and he held up the damaged red makeshift cloak. “But there are plenty of people out there willing to fight them and protect each other.”

“Must be hard without Tuimana’s blessings…”

“Er, yeah… hehe,” Kuna agreed with a somewhat awkward grin, wary of crossing any lines. “It’s definitely hard. Lykou and I have certainly had some difficulty with things. But maybe, um…” He paused for a brief moment as he tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t figuratively rock the boat too much, then handed the cloak back to the young raptuva. “...maybe Tuimana’s blessings extend farther than anyone knows. And some day the order will spread beyond the islands, and help other people fight demons. Who knows? You could be part of that!”

Again, Kalei reached for his knife, but then stopped himself as conflicted feelings bubbled within him.

Tama gasped and slowly grinned. “I… I could?”

“I mean, it’s up to the, um… ‘Speaker’ I guess, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to fight demons beyond these islands, too.”

Tama hopped up and put his cloak back on, beaming. “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna lead the Order to other islands! For the Speaker, for Tuimana!”

“I bet you will! Here, let me help you fix that thing up, I’m sure we can find a needle some-”

“Nah, I’ll get my sister to help me later. I’ve gotta practice for when I join!” the young raptuva searched around for a moment, then spotted a suitable stick nearby and picked it up, wielding it proudly as he got to his feet and swung it around experimentally. He then smiled at the sereva. “Thanks for being nice to me, mister… uh… what was your name, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s Kuna. I’m glad I could help, Tama,” Kuna replied as he got back to his feet. “Remember, don’t let those as-, er, jerks get you down. They might seem tough now, but by the time you’re old enough to join the Order, they’ll be jealous of how much stronger you are than them!” He tussled the feathers on the little guy’s head lightly.

“Thanks, Kuna! I’ll make sure to include you in my prayers tonight!”

Kuna smiled a bit and waved as the little guy ran off. He turned to join back up with Lykou, but almost bumped straight into Kalei in the process and ended up stumbled backwards in surprise. “Ah- shit! S-sorry, I-”

“Why didn’t you just use your magic to scare off those bullies, outsider?” Kalei asked. His arms were crossed as he scrutinized the sereva.

“I-… uh, wait, you saw all that?”

“I did. As a member of the order, it’s my duty to keep watch on… potential threats,” he said, narrowing his eyes on the last word.

“W- threat?? I-I’m not a threat! I mean seriously, I was just-”

“I asked you a question, stranger,” Kalei insisted, stalking around the sereva. “Why didn’t you just use your magic to scare them off directly? Why go through the trouble of making yourself look…. w__eak instead?”

“I… s-sorry?”

“Don’t play dumb. We all know you can do it, especially me,” Kalei continued, then leaned into to glare at him up close as he circled around to Kuna’s other side. “I saw it with my own eyes.”

“W-what do you-”

Kalei took back up his position in front of the frazzled sereva, then grinned. “I’m the one that reported you two, after all.”

“...what??” Kuna asked, wide-eyed.

“That’s right, I was spying on you two. How did you think we already knew about your magic?”

Kuna stared at him with wide-eyed anxiousness. “I… uh…”

Kalei lowered his arms to his sides and got up in Kuna’s face. “So again, why didn’t you use your magic to just scare those bullies off? Trying to corrupt young raptuvans with honeyed words, perhaps?”

“N-no!” Kuna took a few steps back and bumped into the same tree Tama had been pinned up against. “I-”

“Nobody other than the Speaker can use that kind of magic, and he has to sacrifice his own blood to do it. I didn’t see you sacrificing anything, so it stands to reason you must be getting it from somewhere else. A demon, perhaps?”

Suddenly, something snapped in Kuna and he furrowed his brow as he straightened himself up and shot a glare back. “I am NOT working with a fucking demon.”

“Oh, sure. So y-”

Kuna lurched forward, startling the raptuva. “You wanna know why I didn’t just try and intimidate them away?? I didn’t because it would’ve been the wrong way to handle it. That’s all.”

“Oh really?” Kalei asked with a smirk as he stalked closer the sereva with his hands on his hips. “And what sort of expert in morality are y-”

Suddenly, Kuna got right in his face, further surprising the raptuva. “They’re kids. Shit-head asshole kids, but still kids. What kind of example would I set by just trying to intimidate them?” he said, then lowered his voice and glared into Kalei’s eyes. “They don’t need anyone teaching them that might makes right.”

Though initially thrown off, Kalei quickly met Kuna’s glare with one of his own. “You’re out of line, outsider! I’ll-”

“You won’t do SHIT,” Kuna said, then gritted his teeth, and added one more word with significant venom, “Recruit.”

The raptuva took a step back and fumbled for his knife. “W-watch it-”

“No, YOU watch it. Or do you want even MORE trouble with your superiors?” Kuna demanded, pushing forward towards him and prodding his chest- and also coincidentally slipping around the corner, completely out of eyesight of Lykou and the other red cloaks he was chatting with. “You don’t think I recognize another bully when I see one? I dealt with them far too damn much in my own time as a kid. But those days are over. Hell, I’ve survived monsters that a small-minded shit like you can’t even IMAGINE. You? You’re nothing. I’m not scared of you. Because I know what you are.”

Kalei rallied and shoved his nose back against the sereva’s, gritting his own teeth. “Oh yeah? Well then wh-”

“You’re weak. And normally I wouldn’t hold that against someone, because I’ve been there. But you’re the worst kind of weak,” Kuna practically snarled, then narrowed his eyes to slits. He pressed forward, somehow driving the raptuva to stumble backwards, despite being slightly shorter than him, and half as muscular, through the sheer intensity of his demeanor. He felt a buried, long-burning rage bubbling to the surface- he’d had his fill with genuine monsters, and the fact that run-of-the-mill bullies still thought they could intimidate him was just what he needed to let some of it out. “I can’t help but notice you didn’t exactly step in to help that kid yourself, now did you? You didn’t join the Order to protect anyone, did you? You did it to push people around. To make yourself feel important. I don’t know about the others, but I see right through you, asshole. And let me tell you,” he said, then practically shoved the raptuvan against the wall of a shack he’d been backed into. “I am DONE putting up with mindless bullies. Those kids had an excuse- they’re stupid kids. What’s yours?”

Kalei scrabbled for his knife for a moment, then suddenly bolted away to the side and glared back at the sereva, pointing it at him and panting slightly. “Y-you… w-watch… get out of my face, outsider! W-we’re watching you! You’ll be exposed as the corrupt demon whore you are soon enough!” he snapped, then turned, re-sheathed the blade, and hurried off. An unnoticed colorful bird lurking on the nearby roof watched him go. For a moment, it glanced back and forth between the sereva and the retreating raptuva, before taking flight and discretely following the latter from up high.

Kuna stood there and watched Kalei go, seething for a moment before collecting himself. Suddenly aware of the situation he was in again, he quickly looked around to make sure he hadn’t made too much of a scene. A few raptuvans gawked at him, but then quickly resumed business as usual as soon as Kalei stalked off, pretending not to have seen anything. What the fuck was that, he thought to himself. He quickly collected himself and hurried back to join Lykou, worried about getting himself roped into any other potential entanglements. That was so stupid! You could have gotten yourself killed!

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and reflect as he found his friend and sat down next to him. After a moment, a subtle smirk returned to his face as he mulled it over some more. ...fucking worth it anyway.

*****

“Who the fuck does he think he is?!” Kalei raged in isolation, before repeatedly punching the trunk of a nearby palm tree. “How dare he talk to me that way?!”

He’d stepped outside the village and stalked into the forest to vent some frustration, even knowing he was risking more dressing down from the more established members of the Order. For once he didn’t care about the repercussions, he had to let out some anger. After a few punches and kicks to any tree or bush unfortunate enough to be within tantrum range, he took out his knife and angrily buried it in the palm’s trunk. Unbeknownst to him, a certain bird flew down and settled on the branch of another non-palm tree nearby, watching him curiously.

“He’s… fucking wrong about me! What does he know!” After his hands got too bruised and sore to continue, he sank to his knees and slumped forward so that his head was leaning against the tree. He weakly smacked its side as tears stung at the corner of his eyes. “I’m… I’m a fucking demon hunter! I serve Tuimana! I’m with the Order!”

He growled and let out a few more punches, before wincing and curling up at the foot of the tree. “He’s wrong… Tane’s wrong… I’m… I’m not like that! I’m… not a weakling!” He took a deep breath and shuddered as he tried to fight back tears, clutching his head. “I won’t be talked down to like that!”

“Squaaawk new fuck!”

Kalei froze, then sighed heavily, glaring down at the ground. “...and now even the wildlife is mocking me,” he grumbled, then looked up to see the silhouette of a bird perched on one of the higher branches with the sun shining brightly behind it. He scowled and grabbed the closest stick he could find, then chucked it up at the bird. “Fuck off!”

Sunshine ducked out of the way, then flapped his wings almost mockingly and squawked again.

The raptuva stood up and chucked another stick at the avian interloper. “I said FUCK OFF! I’m in no mood!”

Again, the bird dodged the stick, then hopped down to a lower branch. “Talking to fuck!”

“Yeah, I know you are, that’s th-” Kalei griped, preparing to toss a rock he found. But then he froze and stared at the bird, who he could now see better. His eyes widened slightly and he lowered the rock. “-wait a minute. You’re…”

“Special goofball. Squaaawk!”

The raptuva dropped the rock and just stared for a moment. Even if the speech wasn’t too uncanny to be mindless mimicry, he recognized the unusual color pattern on the bird’s feathers. He might not put as much stock in old stories as some, but when he was younger, he ate them up. Of course, his indoctrination into the Order meant that he was more or less forced to dismiss and ignore much about them, but that didn’t mean he was willing to completely forget. “...I thought your kind were killed off by demons, before the Order was started. Or at least went into hiding. What are you doing here?”

The bird whistled and clicked a few times, seemingly sizing him up. It then glanced back briefly to the village. “Eye on those two.”

“Wh- the outsiders?? You know about them?” Kalei scowled. “Yeah, I’m keeping an eye on them myself. What, is Whironui finally coming to join Tuimana’s fight? I’m sure we can handle two outsiders. No demons can stand against-”

“No demons, no demons, squaaawk!”

“Huh??”

“Kuna. Lykou Kuna Lykounalykounalykouna-!”

“Alright alright shut up!” Kalei grumbled, clutching his head until the bird calmed down. He then frowned and glared at the bird. “Say what you want, I don’t trust those two. Why would you be keeping an eye on two strangers if not because they’re a threat? What’s Whironui’s game??”

Again, the bird briefly glanced at the village, then adjusted its wings, flapping them slightly. “Kuna friend. Lykou friend. No demons.”

“Like hell,” the raptuva snapped, then spat on the ground. “I’ll prove those two are corrupt and bring them to Tuimana’s justice myself.” He lifted his knife and pointed it at the bird. “And you just stay out of my way. I’d hate to think even a lesser god like Whironui has succumbed to corruption, but I won’t hesitate to skewer you like any other bird if you try and interfere.”

Without another word, then raptuva sheathed his knife and stalked away towards the village. Sunshine watched him go, then looked thoughtfully down at the damaged trunk of the nearby tree. “...report,” the bird said to nobody in particular, then launched into a long flight.