Dedicated to Lexi Da Free

THE MEETING

When Gai calls me, I'm usually in the cellar repairing old chipped puppets that have seen better days. I buffed the wood, making the figure shine like new. Father showed me how to chizz wood and make patterns within his works. I like playing with the mini figurines. They are so well manufactured. I think of them as miniature human beings subjected to a life controlled by strings. Too bad they have to live with an eternal expression of lifelessness…

Wiping away the excess paint from a puppets shoulder, I hopped up prepared for father to show me to the Grand Puppets Keep. Gai's boots knocked on every wooden step. The floor boards groaned in protest.

"Come on Lee!"

With the flick of his wrist, I followed his retreating steps. As we marched, Father paused in his movements. I was so anxious, my feet were moving faster than my heart and I slammed into wide shoulders. Gai faced me and slowly motioned his hand to the nape of my neck. He held me steady with one hand and sighed wryly.

"Lee, the room I'm showing you is now your responsibility. You know all my tricks and secrets. Repairing, buffing and even painting. You know all of it."

"Yes sir." I slowly tilted my head so that my sight was angled at my waist. Smiling at the tool pouch loosely groping me, I swayed my hips, jingling the knife, paintbrush and buffer. The sound was music to my ears. Clinging instruments played 'the harmonies of work' I was familiar with.

I slowly raised my head to my father's. Serious orbs of coal stared back at mine.

"Father?" I motioned my hand to his forehead but he inched away, out of my reach.

Slowly he said, "I'm growing old Lee." His features loosened, revealing the heavy bags of sleep held captive under his drooping eyes. The wrinkles around his cheeks and nose were more prominent when he did this. My eyebrows came together in concentrated frustration. I frowned.

"I know…"

His porcelain white smile erased my mood immediately.

"You are still in your youth Lee. Soon you'll take my stand once I retire. So don't be sad son, hmm?" I let a smile slip when he nudged me teasingly. "There's nothing to fear okay!"

I laughed, satisfied with the subject change. Every time Gai mentioned the years of progression I grimaced. His words fell on deaf ears, but even so, I could still tell what he was saying. I know Gai was trying to reach the subject of his passing away, but I always shoved the statement to the back of my head. I'm not afraid of death, but I didn't flatter my interest. I didn't like hearing things like that coming from a loved one. Even though I gathered all his failed attempts to talk to me about it, and then threw them to the wind, Gai's features would not let my doubts wonder far. His body was proof of his towering age. It was piling and piling. One day the weight will crush him. His back will be the first to give out, and then his legs. This will continue until his day arrives. Everything about Gai's image was penetrating my hope. The fact is: Father was getting old and one day, I was going to be pulling the strings of his puppets.

Gai smiled briefly before tightening his lips in a serious frown. He removed his hand from my neck and snagged the jingling metal keys from one of his belt loops. His gruff hands took hold of mine. Slowly lifting the keys, they invaded the small crack of space between us. He let them linger at our nose. As the keys danced, the moon's rays bounced off of them in a brilliant white glare. Gai slowly lowered the silver ornaments into the palm of my hands. A chill shot up my spine once the coolness rested upon my scarred skin. Every breath I took seemed visible, as if winter had settled outside. I wouldn't be surprised if a puff of white smoke escaped my lips.

I craned my neck to stare into Gai's face. I took in his expression. Unfortunately, he was unreadable. I dived into his depthless black eyes, hopping to reach the root of his thoughts. As if a door slammed shut and laced itself in bulky chains, the pressure rose into a light current, washing me back to the shore of reality. Gai was thinking about something… Something dark and cold. I didn't realize the question protruding my mind, but after assembling itself in my head, the answer quickly came together.

Father was going to die.

Death was something everyone has in common. It is everyone's fear and destiny. Once father reaches his limits in life, being buried below the earth's dying soil would be his destiny. A picture of a gray tablet standing up from the grass with the words 'lifeless' engraved on it popped into my head. Living life was one thing, but having it end someday wasn't a flattering fact to know. That cold truth is constantly going to haunt my father.

I hesitantly clasped the keys in my hands. The keys chimed noisily. The loud clap of metal alarmed my father. He awoke from his trance like state and blinked an eye at me.

He scratched his forehead nervously with a finger. I pursed my lips tightly, awaiting instruction.

"I forgot to show you the key for the door." He tapped my clenched fist, signaling me to pry my fingers apart. I hadn't realized I was suffocating the silver. Blood stained my palm. I smiled sheepishly, acting embarrassed. Ruby liquid winded down my arm and onto the wooden floor beneath my plated black boots.

"Lee!" Gai hurriedly unraveled the bandage around his waist (he kept extra strings on him just in case a puppets wires snapped free) constructing the cloth around my wound, he bused me off in the direction of the bathroom. I bolted my legs into the floor. I refused to budge one muscle.

"I want to see the Grand Puppets Keep! I'm fine, really!" I was too old to be whining but it was the only way to get my father to give into my pestering will. The pain was beginning to sink into my palm. Sharp aches raced up my fingers every time I rolled my wrist. Father stared into my onyx eyes and then sighed, defeated.

"Give me the keys."

"No…" He snapped his head up and was about to object when I interrupted, "I want to do it."

Gai blinked. By the way he opened his mouth and then shut it; I knew he had already decided to let me be stubborn. My mind was made up and my dad knew it was useless trying to convince me otherwise.

He complied with my statement. From the selection of the keys, he snagged a thick black one off the ring of various metals. A ruby gem the size of my pinky nail was embedded in the head of the key. Upon further inspection, no dingy patches of rust resided on it (unlike the many other keys). I stared, intentionally searching for imperfection on its skin. Not one sign of age. The moon's glare created an ominous glow, revealing the beauty of a blood red diamond and ebony black silver. It was gorgeous beyond words…

Gai's colossal finger pointed at the door knob that was currently wound up in chains. A rather large hourglass shaped lock held the chains together. Purely confused, I tilted my head. Father scratched the back of his head again and said, "Had to lock them up."

Really? You had to wind up all those chains around the knob just to lock puppets up? Dad was taking extreme precautions, acting as if he thought someone would steal them.

As if sensing my sarcastic air he said, "Lee these puppets came all the way from Suna. I can't afford for anything to happen to them."

'Suna' was all I heard. It was the desert land of legendary craftsmanship. Beautiful works of art crafted into the most profound puppets. Sunas creations were so detailed, that their puppets seemed almost human. Top-notch high quality puppets made from the finest puppeteers Suna had to offer.

My mouth dropped, "Suna!? Really? From that far away?"

Gai smiled his toothy grin, "Yep!" His attention was shifted back to my injured hand. He nodded at me. He held the black key, slowly motioning his hand to mine. As if on cue, I grabbed hold of the jeweled key as Gai took the ring of keys. After trading, Gai quickly attached the ring of keys back to a belt loop. Drinking in the sight of the metal laced in between my fingers, the image of blood red and midnight made my fingers flare red with the heat of excitement.

My heart began to race when Gai gave me the nod of approval. I was so nervous, my hands began to sweat. I tried to conceal my excitement but was betrayed by my trembling lip. Gai coughed nervously when my attempt of sticking the key into the lock failed. Annoyed, I jabbed the key into the lock and violently cranked the key around. With every rotation of the key the hourglass shaped lock released a set amount of chains, freeing the door little by little. The lock hung from a loose chain like a fish on a hook. The knob was still tangled in the links but Gai took care of that with the swing of his hand. The chains piled onto the floor in a noisy heap. Gai swung open the doors effortlessly despite how heavy they were. The room was a huge black hole sucking me in. The light from the hallway outlined 3 figures in a dull gray shadow. I could tell right away that these dolls were huge.

"Go on, Lee!" Gai whispered. I slowly stepped into the looming darkness, watching as my body disappeared from under me. The room blanketed me in its captivating mouth of black. My eyes were useless to me. I began slapping my hands along the concrete wall in desperate search for a light switch.

Click

The room flickered momentarily. Switching from yellow to black in a second's time, the chandelier finally stabilized. There, positioned in the center of the room under the laminating lights, sat three intimidating puppets. They hung from the ceiling by wire. At the ends of the gleaming strings was a hook that was pierced and bolted into their mahogany rocking chairs. I vaguely wondered why the ceiling was so resistant to the weight. The crooked light streaming out from the chandelier poured a strange spotlight on their heads. These puppets…they were life sized. The puppets were crowded around each other. A blond haired one with pigtails spouting out from her head was planted on the left of the small group. She wore a pinched face with coal colored eyes glaring back at mine. I did not like the mischievous grin on her face. She was a gorgeous doll, but her eyes were laced with trouble. "That one is Temari; she is the eldest of the three." Gai informed. I nodded at his statement, absorbing his words. The name suited her. Maybe 'T' was for trouble.

I glazed her face with bandaged fingers. I let it drop casually as I moved onto the other sibling. To her right was an odd looking character. His face was loose and impassive. His hair was ruffled in a brown mess of strands. His eyes drooped and his mouth was quirked up into a smirk screaming naive and belligerent. "That's the middle child, Kankuro." I put the name and face together and nodded at that. I wondered who named them, but then again, I dismissed it and continued on with my inspection.

Although they were smashed up against each other, the child in the center seemed to have a spot light of his own. Unruly hair the color of crimson rust…the same color of the midnight keys gem. The color of blood. His blue green eyes trapped me into a long drawn out stare. Despite the fact of him being a puppet, my eyes couldn't leave his…They seemed so drunk with smoldering hate and something else I can't quite describe. Something was stemming from them. Something…demonic. Jade pierced through me, ripping into my chest and staring straight at my pulsing heart with pure curiosity and hunger. He looked thirsty for answers.

For some odd reason, I couldn't bring myself to step away. The unconscious need to inquire about these siblings was eating away my senses. Sweat began to build around my waist and forehead. My knees buckled and my stomach caved in, twisting into a tight wad of foreign pain. My legs bucked and knocked into each other relentlessly, no shame in showing how weak they'd become in only a few seconds of staring at the intimidating turquoise eyes.

"Lee!" Gai wailed. Huge hands held me in place. He rubbed the small of my back.

"Are you alright? Are you sick son?" I didn't hear the onslaught of questions. Instead, I busied myself with the image of the red head ahead of me. His aura was undoubtedly dangerous. Flames of purple and gray radiated from him in waves. Never have I been so scared before. "Nothing", I heard myself say, "Nothing…" I mumbled again, more to myself this time. He's a puppet, not a human being, I told myself.

"That's Gaara." Gai didn't bother with the details. He eyed the three figures wryly and shook his head. "They are quite the family." Gai sounded a tad bit disappointed, but nonetheless, he bellowed the words loudly. A pat on my shouldered made me jump. "Remember how I said that every puppet has a story?" I swallowed hard, still trying to regain my composure, but was failing miserably under the penetrating glare of Gaara. "Yes father." I stuttered weakly. My voice trembled like I was saying my last words. I yanked my attention from the re head and gave it to my dad. Every act I've ever seen Gai perform had a story. They usually posed as fairy tale beings. The tale of the Unheard Wolf from the Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, Red Robin Hood and even the magical Peter Pan. There are others that are still unknown to the world, like the Nine Tailed Fox Demon, or, The Legendary Sanin. They were certainly more interesting than the classic plays a child craved. I might as well have seen every play known to man, but even so… I've never heard of an act composed of only three puppets before. Especially from Suna.

"What is their story?" I wondered aloud. Gai's small grin faltered slightly, but was immediately replaced with a proud twitch of the lips. "Lee, go prepare our bowls for dinner." He glanced over his shoulder, sending a hard look to the siblings. "Their story can wait. All can be explained after dinner anyway." He gave a rough slap to my back and smiled. "You got to see the Keep, now get going!" I nodded hesitantly, secretly disappointed at my dismissal demanded by my father. I slowly turned on my heels and quickly zipped past him and out the door.

Something about those siblings didn't sit right with me. The disturbed look on Gai's face scared me… Maybe after dinner everything will make more sense. I roamed down two winding hallways where the kitchen entrance rested, wedged between a one-half bathroom and a small corner with a rubber floor plant. I waltzed into the kitchen silently, not wanting to disturb the cake rising in the oven. Sliding on the tile floor I glided to the silverware cabinet where we keep the eating utensils. I tugged gently at the knob and peeked inside. The forks and spoons were neat and secure, just as I left them. I blinked. The knives were absent from their spots. All seven of them. I decided that Gai did away with them, he always complained about how dull they were. I skipped over to the lidded pot of curry. Beside that was a steamed pan of fried rice. I licked my lips. I couldn't wait to eat.

This is in Honor of Lexy Da Free's deviantart of Gaalee titled 'Out of My Minds Eye' It's absolutely STUNNING! I'm serious; I mean…it's hanging from my bedroom wall 0 o. Praise her! *bows*