VERITE AU VIE YOUNGER YEARS
STORY ONE: FISH OUT OF WATER
As the sun surely settled dead center in the glassy blue Sky, Wyli quickly became acutely aware of how bored she was. It was a sweltering Firesday, a day which no lessons were to be held and all the kids were to be let loose at the mercy of the island of Kazham. Most adults had their daughters working diligently at whatever their trade was: Wyli knew that her two closest friends were both busy-busy threading together tears in torn community fabrics, watched by family to make sure no slacking was involved. At least, Wyli thought, she didn't have to be worked as such. Her family ran a simple business and her Mother always said that, "she had all the help she needed from your sisters." Thanks to that, there was another opportunity ruined. Both Islia and Mhical were surely sweating over big bubbling pots of…whatever, stirring and waiting for the day to end. In their case, however, it was a normal job and not a day-off busywork. Besides, Wyli thought, even if they were free to play, she doubted they would. Mhical would beeline to the forests to hunt the mindless Mandregoras in an effort to sharpen her sword skills and Islia would find a tree to nap under, in-between pages from her newest literary conquest. Wyli loved her sisters dearly, that much was true, but having such an age difference was sometimes a big pain. Her mother once told her, when Wyli innocently brought the matter up at dinner, that in twenty years, a ten year difference would be nothing. Wyli scoffed and retorted with, "That's twenty years! It's not now!"
With a heaving sigh, Wyli kicked some dirt into a cloud and clenched her teeth tight. The fact-of-the-matter situation was that it was noon on a sunny, free-of-responsibilities day and she was bored mindless. All of her normal solo activities rang as boring as well: the beach was already explored, the chocobo stables were closed and even the cool connecting caves were so heavy with foot traffic that they ceased to be fun. All that was left were the piers and Wyli, as much as she loved the ocean, had a feeling that that would be just as worn-out. She stopped walking for a beat to look up and around her, finding that her blind wandering had led her to just that: the piers. They seemed strangely empty for the time of day; there were only two boats moored. Wyli tilted her head as she looked at it, spying a girl her age standing on the end of the empty pier. With a curious look, Wyli took some steps forward, walking until she recognized who it was.
"Niha." She said. The girl turned and broke a sharp grin. Wyli saw that she was holding a long stick of driftwood over her shoulder and a red bandanna tied around her forehead. Niha wasn't a really good friend of Wyli's, they rarely ever talked outside of school, but when they did Wyli found it to always be a pleasant time, despite Niha's sharpened tongue and rough attitude. Today she was wearing a bright blue shirt and knee long shorts, an outfit that was a harsh contrast to her school uniform.
"Hey, Wy." Niha said, "What'cha doin'?"
Wyli shrugged, "Nothing much. What are you doing?"
"Watchin' the fish for my Mom."
"The fish?"
Niha pointed over the edge of the pier with her driftwood stick and Wyli leaned far over to see that a tall wooden square had been set into the soft sand beneath the water. About a foot of it stuck up over the blue and inside were six, seven, eight big fish, all swimming mindlessly in circles. Wyli tilted her head as she observed them, wrinkling her brow tightly.
"They're just fish, Wy." Niha said, "You don't have to look at 'em like they're gold or anything."
"I was just wondering if they know that they're trapped." Wyli said as she stood straight.
Niha frowned, "Of course they don't, they're fish!"
"That doesn't mean that they don't think."
"They're fish. And also, why are you asking that? It seems like a stupid thing for a kid like you to ask."
"Like me? You're the same age as me!"
"Exactly! Precious children like us shouldn't be either thinking things or watching 'em either!"
Wyli was, for a moment, caught with hesitation over Niha's sudden burst of passion and change of subject.
"You're just upset." Wyli shot back, "'cause you have to watch fish!"
Niha glared and then spun around, putting her back towards Wyli. Wyli shook her head and sat off the edge of the pier, dangling her feet so her toes glanced the water. She sat with her legs bobbing back and forth for some while, until Niha spoke again, talking as she fell to sit next to Wyli.
"It's too hot out." She said, dipping the end of her stick into the water and stirring it around.
"It's not bad."
"Too hot to be watching stupid fish."
"How long do you have to watch them for?"
"Until my Mom comes back to get them. She's off right now buying stuff to cook 'em with."
"Wow. You're going to have a big dinner tonight." Wyli counted the fish again with her finger.
"We have a big family." Niha shrugged.
Wyli looked down at the fish and frowned at them. They kept swimming around and around in tight little circles, passing by each other and not caring that four walls kept them penned in. For a moment, Wyli empathized with them, feeling suddenly their pain of futility. It was a glancing blow of a feeling, but when it passed, Wyli had a bizarre sense of conviction about her. She made her hands into fists and took them out of her pockets to display her emotion to the now-confused Niha.
"We're not fish!" She said.
"What?"
"These fish! They're just swimming and swimming and swimming, not getting anywhere! They don't even care that they're boxed up!"
"Yeah?"
"We're not like that! Me and you are healthy eight year olds! We shouldn't have to be pinned to a job on a day where we get out of the box!"
The confusion painted on Niha's face bled into her words, "You make no sense! What…what are you talking about?"
Wyli stood up and stomped her foot. She forgot about her boredom and replaced it with a freshly-hatched plan, "Niha, I'm going to help you! I'll get you out of this job!"
"How?" Niha bit her lip.
"You said that you're free when your Momma comes back, right?"
"Right."
"Well, I'll go find her for you! Where did she go?"
"I…I don't know. Listen, Wy, you don't have to—"
"Cooking!" Wyli snapped her fingers, "You stay here, I'll be right back!"
Leaving a bewildered Niha on the edge of the pier, Wyli started running towards her house. She pumped her arms viciously at her sides and took long strides, pushing her body to the max. As she turned around a corner her reflexes kicked in and she ducked under a long pile of planks that were being carried by some surprised builder. Wyli tossed a I'm sorry in her direction and kept running. Sweat caked on her forehead and arms. Her sandals started sticking to the bottoms of her feet. Air was becoming a precious commodity and her lungs started yelling for a break. Her muscles were tense and by the time she reached her house, all she could do was get through the front door and catch her hands in her knees. She took big gulps of air in and out, shutting her eyes and feeling the lines of sweat pour from her forehead.
"Wyli, what's wrong?"
Looking up, Wyli saw that Islia had come out from the back room, carrying a big box. She looked worried as she stepped from behind the counter and came to put a hand on Wyli's shoulder.
"Are you okay? Why are you so out of breath?"
"J-just…ran…docks…" Wyli spoke when her lungs let her.
"You ran from the docks?"
Wyli nodded.
"Why?"
"Looking…for…Niha…Momma…"
"Niha?"
"Girl…docks…headband…" Wearily, Wyli pointed at her forehead. Islia scowled and huffed, taking Wyli by the shoulders and leading her to behind the counter and through the kitchen door. Inside the air was sharp with scent of potions and both Mhical and their Mother were standing near bubbling pots of this and that. They both turned to look and Wyli's mother made the first scowl and words.
"What's wrong? Islia, is she alright?"
"She's fine, I think. She just ran a lot, from the docks, I think."
"Here." Mhical handed Islia a tall glass of red juice. She took it and offered it to Wyli who greedily drank it down. The juice was flavored very sweetly and was bitterly cold, neither of which she minded. To her, it was a liquid and it helped ebb a storm. The family waited until Wyli had her breath in her and was able to stand up straight.
"Now, what happened?" Islia asked again.
"Niha is down at the docks and I want to find her Momma to help her."
"Who's Niha?" Mhical asked.
"She's my age. She wears a headband, goes to my class. This tall?" Wyli raised her head to her forehead.
"What's her last name?" Their Mother asked.
Wyli thought on it for a few seconds and shrugged, "I don't know." Inside she felt silly for having a friend and not knowing her last name.
"Wait, isn't that Jihea's kid?" Mhical offered.
"Is it?" Their Mother looked to Mhical and back to Wyli.
"I don't know. All I know is that she's away buying spices for fish."
"Ah, yes!" Their Mother nodded, "I know her! Mhical was right…she was in here buying some Red Raba juice, not even a full half-hour ago. You just missed her."
"Where was she going?" Wyli asked.
"I don't know. Mhical, you checked her out, did she say anything?"
"She mentioned some kind of big feast or something. Some special occasion, or something. Wyli, why do you need to know so bad?"
Special occasion, special occasion…Wyli thought hard on the words, running through her head all the places on Kazham where one would go when such a event was occurring. To buy a present was her first thought and the next was where that would be. The location ran through head and she snapped her fingers again, smiling up at her sisters and Mother, who returned nothing but confused looks.
"Why do you need to know, Wyli?" Their mother asked, mirroring Mhical's words.
"Because we're not fish." Wyli said, moving quickly to hug each of them before skipping out of the store, leaving a cloud of confusion behind.
If one were to buy a serious present on Kazham, there were two choices: one was pander to the very expensive Trade Store near the docks and pay too much gil for something from the mainland, and the other was to check the more affordable odds and ends store, near the entrance to the jungles. Wyli ran to the latter, thinking that Niha said she had a big family. The Trade Store would cost far too much money in such a situation. Wyli ran with much less vigor this time, but still kept a steady pace. The sun beat down still relentless on her and when she reached the connecting caves, she took a break to wipe her brow and catch her breath. From the shade she looked out and spotted the store near the end of the road. With a few more puffs of breath, she started running towards her goal, ducking around walkers and smiling at some playful opo-opos near the side of the running river.
"Excuse me." She said, walking into the store calmly. She could feel the sweat on her forehead and she ignored it, putting on a polite face. The clerk looked down over the counter and Wyli recognized her as one of Islia's friends, a tall thin woman with long hair. She smiled at Wyli.
"You're Islia's sister, right? Wyli?"
"Yup, that's me." Wyli smiled nervously, "Um, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Um, is Niha's Momma here?" Wyli put her finger on her chin as she thought. What did her Momma say her name was?
"Jihea! Is Jihea here?"
The girl at the counter thought for a second and nodded, "You just missed her."
Wyli felt her shoulders sag, "I did? Well, did she say where she was going?"
"Nope, sorry."
"What did she buy?"
"Um…it was a handful of bandannas, I think. Yeah! That and some long shirts."
"Oh."
"Why? Is everything okay?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then. If I see her, I tell her you're looking for her. Why did you need her?"
"Because we're not fish…" Wyli muttered, her usual excitement flattened by her train of thought. She left walking, sticking her hands back in her pockets. Now where should she go? She didn't have a clue on where to go next. She could always run around aimlessly, but Kazham was much too big to her to do that and that would be wasting too much time. Maybe, Wyli thought, maybe she could connect the dots and figure out where she was heading next, rather then just walk aimlessly.
Let's see. She thought, She went to our store to buy Red Raba Juice and then here to buy bandannas and shirts. What was the connection? Wyli thought about the red raba juice. She liked the stuff, in fact, the taste of it still lingered in her mouth. So that wasn't much of a clue. Niha herself said that she had a big family—anyone of her sisters could like the juice, even the Momma herself! And the clothes didn't help either. Bandannas and shirts? That was basic garb for half the isla-
Wait. Wyli knew that she didn't wear a bandanna, she preferred her hair band. And now that she thought about the fashion sense of the island, so did a lot of kids. Wyli's friend's didn't. Her sister's didn't. All the kids she saw outside of school didn't…only the adults and Niha did. Niha did! Niha wore a bandanna. But what did that mean? Were the bandannas a present for Niha? So…
Wyli's thoughts were interrupted as she roughly ran into somebody ahead of her. She snapped to attention in time to see a tall lady stumble and drop a paper bag to the ground. Wyli gasped and fell backwards, hitting her backside hard.
Ouch ouch ouch ouch….
"Oh, are you okay?"
Wyli grimaced and looked up to see the lady offering a hand towards her.
"I'm sorry." Wyli said quickly, using the hand to return to her feet, "That was my fault."
"It's quite alright, surely." The lady started leaning down to pick up the contents of her bag and Wyli jumped to help. She leaned down and took a bandanna off of the ground to hand to the lady.
"Wait." She said, "Are you…Niha's Momma?"
"That's right." The lady said, "You can call be Jihea. You must be…Wyli, right? Your Mother tells me all about you and your dress."
Ignoring the kind words, Wyli steamrolled forward with her words, "We're not fish, Ms. Jihea. It's a nice day out and I would like for Niha to enjoy it so I want to ask you to please go back and…let…her…" At the end Wyli felt some redness boil in her cheeks. Jihea smiled.
"Did Niha send you to ask me that?"
"No. I came on my own."
"Oh, what a sweet thing to do."
"Well, can you?"
"Not yet, dear. I'm sorry."
Wyli pouted, "But, we're not fish!"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…we aren't and shouldn't be trapped in a little box swimming around over and over because we have to!"
Jihea took a step back, maybe because of the fervor of Wyli's words or at the content. Wyli wasn't sure which. She pondered for a moment either way and shook her head with a soft smile.
"Wyli, may I tell you something?"
"Yes…"
"Today is Niha's birthday. I put her on fish-duty so she wouldn't see what I'm planning."
"You mean the feast and her presents, right?"
"That's right. Nobody needs to watch those fish, it's just a distraction. We don't even need them, I have all the fish at home already. Those could be let go, even."
"Oh."
"She'll have all the fun in the world tonight, at her party, I'm sure."
"Oh, okay." Wyli smiled, "Well, thank you. I won't tell her, okay?"
"Thank you."
Wyli said goodbye and started her slow walk back to the docks. She stuck her hands in her pockets and looked back at her toes. Today was Niha's birthday? How come she didn't mention it? Maybe she was disappointed that she was put to work on her birthday. Wyli knew that if she had to do such a boring thing on her birthday, she'd be lethargic about it too.
Well, the least I can do…
Wyli perked her head up and smiled, another idea fresh in her head.
"Here."
Niha looked back over her shoulder at Wyli at the tall glass of red juice she offered. Wyli had gone back to her house and, after a good hour of explaining to her family what happened, she had gathered a glass of juice and headed back to the docks, where Niha was still sitting, poking the water with her stick.
"Thank you." Niha said, talking the glass. She put her stick next to her and sipped it softly. Wyli nodded in response and sat down next to her. Together they sat like that, in silence, watching the sun start to dip to the horizon. It turned a fiery orange and the reflection on the smooth water burned in a line beautifully to their toes. It was only then, after so many hours of silence, did Wyli speak up.
"Happy birthday." She said. Niha looked surprised at first, jerking her head to look at Wyli, who kept looking at the sunset. But then her expression softened and she grinned her sharp grin.
"Thanks." She said.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think you cared."
"Don't be silly. Of course I do."
"Oh."
Another long set of silence set it and when the sun had dipped to a half-circle, Niha spoke again.
"Thanks." She muttered.
"For what?"
"Trying to help me and…keeping me company."
"My pleasure."
Then a voice carried out on the winds and both girls turned around to see Niha's mother at the end of the dock, waving her hands and calling for Niha to come. She was wearing a bright party dress and just a few houses down Wyli spotted the big to-do lit up inside their home. It certainly did look like a full afternoon's worth of work. Niha looked at Wyli and stood up, brushing off her backside.
"Happy birthday." Wyli said, grinning. Niha nodded again and ran towards her mother, carrying her stick on her shoulder. Wyli watched them walk off and Niha break a big grin as the news was told to her about her big bash. After they had gone, Wyli scooted back and laid flat on her tummy, so she could reach down and wiggle one of the many planks free of the square fish cage. After some effort she tugged it free and watched the eight fish flutter through the water and out into the sea.
"Right." She said aloud, "We are not fish."
With another nod and a grin, Wyli stood up, stuck her hands in her pockets and started heading home.