Chapter 9.
The
Clashing
Of
Waves;
Act II,
Part III
ME: This chapter is mostly a father's day gift, though it actually focuses a bit more on Mother Logai because I know she just got here but I absolutely adore her already!
But thankfully I'll be starting the chapter with a feature of Dr. Marlin to so there could a Father for Father's day after all!
Anyways, all you dads out there; YOU ARE AMAZING! To my faithful readers, please and read and review!
"There's a light
In the darkness
Though the night
Is black as my skin . . .
There's a light,
Burning bright . . .
Showing me the way . . .
But I know where I've been . . .
There's a cry
In the distance
It's a voice
That comes from deep within . . .
There's a cry,
Asking why . . .
I pray the answer's up ahead . . .
(Yeah)
'Cause I know where I've been . . ."
"I know Where I've Been" – Miss Maybelle
~X~
"It's a Were-beast tooth?" Dr. Marlin sipped at his vanilla cream tea, looking at his colleague.
The now stone-cold sober Dr. Oigi nodded. As he sat across from Dr. Marlin, wearing a pair of sterilized rubber gloves, he carefully held the now properly cleaned and equally as sterilized tooth in between the pads of his index finger and thumb. "Yep. One canine right mesial fang. It's supposed to be a permanent, but considering all the holes in the base and the roots of it, its owner was not very set on keeping that way."
"Canine?" Dr. Marlin raised an eyebrow. "You mean like a Were-dog?"
Dr. Oigi shook his head. "Way too big for just a dog. I probably estimate something of a larger variety; like a fox or a coyote. Hell, even a wolf would make a good match to this."
"I was worried that you would say that." Dr. Marlin groaned, twirling his cup softly and watching the contents spin into a whirlpool inside. "Still any clue, big or small is another piece added to the puzzle."
Dr. Oigi raised his own eyebrow at him. "Yeah, but this tooth's owner somehow being connected to all those horrible deaths over at your town? Found on the person of the one girl that managed to get away in one piece? I'm tellin' ya, Haddie, this is one weird puzzle."
"You're telling me . . ." Dr. Marlin muttered, sipping at his tea once again, savoring the smooth, creamy texture of the blend.
Dr. Oigi shook his hair at the unsettled look on his colleague's face. He really hated to be the bearer of bad news to one of his good friends; especially to one who was probably the closest thing that he had to father in his life.
Back when he was fresh out of medical school, Dr. Marlin had showed him the ropes of the business, to expected appointments where everything was planned out down to the last detail to sudden emergencies that required a great deal of thought made on your feet. He had been nothing but completely understanding and supportive when Dr. Oigi had decided to go into the work of Veterinarian dentistry; going as far as to helping him get an office set up in the Little Oak Town, as financially demanding as it was, and lending a hand – Er, paw – in adopting Stella, voluntarily dealing with the grueling paperwork and the jerky Seranith handlers and such, when the time came for him to get an assistant.
He had also gone out of his way to drag his sorry carcass out of an alley and silence him whenever he started to shoot off babble and random musings like the drunken reprobate he was whenever he had one bottle of ale too many. Which was, of course, most frequently. Daily basis, in fact. Usually every Tuesday and Saturday . . .
Such as what he did today. Which also included him filling a bathtub to the brim with ice that he somehow pulled out of the fridge on his own, stripping him down, much to both of their own embarrassment, and pushing him into the said tub with the butt of his cane. How an old man could be so strong was beyond him.
When he came to, Dr. Marlin instantly forced the mother of all tonics down his throat, going on with a detailed story about the strange going-ons that had been happening over at his town's part of the island. Once coherent enough, Dr. Oigi admitted to having the Were-Mouse catching his attention; brutal murders that no human alive had the stomach to commit, clues and facts all in a mess like the locals and city watch, two half-sharks coming out of nowhere presenting a witness who might hold the key to it all . . . Pretty interesting stuff.
That also included the cavity-ridden fang clutched in his fingers.
"You know, I can barely remember the last time I've seen a fang of this size." Dr. Oigi mused with a thoughtful frown. He spun the tooth around and around, examining its horrid surface again and again and again. "The only other time I've seen a tooth like this was back when I used to take care of that Late Noblewoman's dog . . . . At least I think it was a dog."
Dr. Marlin's ear twitched before he looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
Dr. Oigi shrugged haplessly. "I wasn't really sure what to make of it, honestly; it was built like a dog, barked like a dog, smelled like a dog, really reeked too . . ." His nose scrunched up, as if he was recalling the stench. ". . . Kinda like rotten garlic that had a baby with a skunk wearing fisherman's boots before it was blended with oyster juice."
Dr. Marlin made a face as well. He then took one look at the remaining contents of his cup . . . Before slowly setting it down.
"Sure was a brute too," Dr. Oigi took his cup and stood up, leaving the tooth on the table and setting the used cup in the counter. "Always took me five or six minutes to calm him down just to go near him. It took even longer to keep him from biting my hand off each time I stuck it in his mouth to look over his bicuspids." He then sighed with a hint of a smile. "But it was totally worth it in the end. Just to see the smile on that girl's face."
Dr. Marlin propped a hand against his face in casual annoyance. "Don't tell me you only took the job just to flirt with a pretty girl."
Dr. Oigi rolled his eyes as he started to rummage through his cupboards so he could pour his own cup of tea. "Oh, relax, I never even got that far anyways; her parents shipped her off to some fancy college or another one day and I never got called to that house again."
"Why was that?" Dr. Marlin inquired.
"Apparently as soon as the girl left, her mother had the dog killed and tossed into the woods." Dr. Oigi said passively. His tone did nothing to hide the small sad frown that then adored his lips.
Dr. Marlin's ears both went up at that. "Goodness gracious, why would she do that?"
Dr. Oigi shook his head, this time in disgust. "Apparently, the family was one of those rich, noble types, you know? Where everything has to be "perfectly perfect" otherwise it's gotta go. According to what I heard from the maids that used to work for the girl's mother, she always hated that dog." He finally found a good-sized cup and set it down on the counter. "Despite being a good guard dog, – That's why it was always trying to make mince meat out of my arm each time I came over – Like I said, it reeked and had way too much of a scruffy appearance to actually be, as the maids said she put it, "Good for their image"."
Dr. Marlin's interest was starting to grow at the sound of this story. True, he was disgusted with what he heard so far, having heard too many terrible tales like this many, many times before in his life, but still . . . "But if she hated that dog, why keep it around?"
"For her daughter's sake." Dr. Oigi replied. He had taken his seat by now and was now pouring the tea into the cup, watching as the tannish white liquid flowed into the porcelain. "She always pleaded with her parents that she loved the big guy and insisted on letting it stay, despite their friends' protests. They agreed for her peace of mind, but as soon as she set sail for sea . . ."
". . . The mother offed the dog." Dr. Marlin shook his head in disappointment. Unbelievable. It was absolutely horrifying what rich people would do for the sake of their pride and dignity. He had sure seen that more times then he could count on both hands. "I really should be surprised but I'm not. God knows how cruel we humans can be." He rubbed at his temple, a nervous habit of his. "Killing an innocent dog like that simply for vanity."
"Yep." Dr. Oigi nodded, taking some sugar and milk and mixing it together with his finger, never minding the rubber gloves he was still wearing. Or the fact that it was practically poison now to whoever drunk it. "Happens every day, I ashamed to say. Really, you think some people would learn . . ." Once done, he raised the cup to his lips . . . Only to stop short when another thought crossed his mind. ". . . It's still a shame though, what happened to her afterwards."
Dr. Marlin looked at him. "What happened?"
"She was killed." Dr. Oigi said calmly, as if he was talking about the weather or such. "In some sort of freak attack by a wild animal. Came out of nowhere and left just as quickly, the mother long dead by the time the City watch got there. Locals still have no clue as to what did it. Some people say "Manticore", some people say "Hamster", one even said it was "Jabberwocky" but there's no way anything that big and that crazy would actually live here. No squids, no service, know what I mean?"
No clue? Freak attack? Dr. Marlin gave a small noise at those words. Where had he heard that before? That was dumb question, of course, that was practically the headline of the front page story going on in his town for two months and five weeks straight!
"It really was a shame," Dr. Oigi went on, not noticing his growing frustration. "Despite her attitude, she was a beauty. A real looker . . ." He started to grin dreamily as he begun counting off the details outloud, ". . . Big blue doe eyes, supple curvy figure, long fit legs . . . Maker, I could run miles up those things and back . . . Oh! And her golden blonde hair was to die for!"
"I imagine it was . . ." Dr. Marlin muttered, not really paying attention to his colleague's ramblings.
Rubbing at his chin, he continued to grow steadily more and more frustrated. Why couldn't he figure this out? Innocent lives were at stake, people so scared they terrified at coming out of their houses at night. Not only that but they were his responsibility. As a doctor, he was meant to keep people from losing their lives as a rule. It was his job to heal the sick and wounded, not to let life that just started out be blown out like a flame on a candle. He needed to solve this, he –
Blonde hair.
Any negative thoughts that would've come to his head were suddenly frozen in place. Wait . . . Why would that be important –?
Blonde hair.
Girl.
. . . Those were connected.
But how did they . . . ?
Dr. Marlin's eyes widened slowly at the unspoken answer started to ring in his mind. Could it be . . . . ?
"– Her voice wasn't all that bad either!" Dr. Oigi ranted on, absolutely dim-sighted to the epiphany Dr. Marlin was having. "She used to be a singer for some of the most elite before she married. Every time I heard her singing at the piano, it was like I was hearing church bells! True, my ears were always ringing but still, it was nice to listen to –" He was bringing to the cup to his lips as he continued . . . Only to stop short when Dr. Marlin reached over and slapped a hand over it.
Before Dr. Oigi could even ask what was wrong, Dr. Marlin exclaimed, "Roshi, is that delivery service you told me still open?"
Dr. Oigi blinked. "Uh, yeah, it's open from nine to three and only closes on Sunday. Church-going day, you know?"
With that answer in mind, Dr. Marlin wasted no more words; he took his hand off the cup, snatched the tooth, grabbed his satchel and cane where he had set them on the table, scooted his chair back harshly causing a sharp screeching sound to be heard, and bolted out of the room and out the door, his cane tapping erratically as he went. Never once pausing to bid good-bye to Dr. Oigi or even shut the door on his way out.
Dr. Oigi watched as all this happened; totally confused as the door slowly went back and forth from the inertia that propelled it.
"Hmm . . ." He mumbled, once again sticking his rubbery finger in the tea and ruining it even further. "Wonder what got into him. Can't imagine what he would want delivered all of a sudden . . . Ah, well," Taking his finger out, he peeked into the tea's surface. "Maybe I can figure it out over a good, stiff drink."
His mouth finally touched the cup's rim and he sipped at it delicately . . . . Just as suddenly spitting the liquid back out, with wide eyes as a cold, heavy feeling settled in his stomach.
He didn't forget to ask Dr. Marlin something . . . Did he?
To absolutely no one in particular he asked, "Wait . . . Is today Tuesday or Saturday?"
~X~
"Oh . . . Oooh, my." That was all Mother Logai could think to say as she examined what the young blue-skinned girl in front of her was claiming to once be her shirt.
Mother Logai wasn't too sure about that, however. She had seen some tattered clothing in her day; from mending shirts whenever some of the local boys got into a street brawl after having a few drinks, most of which one who she just sent packing like a baby who was just spanked, from constructing entirely new outfits for those idiots of people who clearly did not understand the matter of being practical and careful.
Right now, she was starting to think that this girl was the latter as she saw her tail-fin change into a fuzzy, cottony design as a mixture of embarrassment and guilt begun to appear across her face. More annoyed then she was amazed at the very existence of this girl's tail, she held up the mangled garment and frowned deeply. "This is just awful! Honestly, you must've hated this shirt or something because I barely seen clothes like this that didn't include a vendetta!"
The Shark-man with the loud colors, she was sure his name was "Riley", from where he leaned on his elbow at the counter of her desk grimaced at her admonishment. "Wow, it's that bad, huh?"
"Are you serious?" Mother Logai gave him a look. "The fabric's all stretched out from where it was ripped, there's so much of this dark blue coloring around the tear that it would take forever just to wash it out even with the most powerful laundry products that you could find, and the zipper's obviously gotta be removed because without anything to pull it, it might as well just be decoration!"
"So, you can't fix it?" The girl, "Cassie" Mother Logai heard the other Shark-man "Tuff" call her, looked at her sadly.
Mother Logai surprised her by humming lowly as though she was uncertain for a moment or two before suddenly letting loose another sparking grin that made her eyes flicker as she looked back at her. "You joking, sweetie? This is gonna be a cakewalk for me!"
"You sure seem pretty confident." Tuff pointed out as he looked back at her from where he was running his finger absently over some of the colorful fabrics on the rack near them. "It looks like its in pretty bad shape, are you sure it's going to be easy to fix?"
"I never said it was gonna be easy, darling." Mother Logai smiled, draping the fabric onto the counter. "That's what's gonna make it fun for me. I'm never one to pass up a challenge."
"Yeah, you seem like the type." Riley added with a toothy grin. "Especially since you just took down that chum-for-brains yahoo outside like he was a little kid."
Mother Logai rolled her eyes with a groan. "He practically is half the time! I swear ever since that child hit eight feet he's been a royal pain in my tail. Always stirring up trouble and hoping to get out of it with those muscles of his; I promise you those things aren't natural. He must be taking some kind of enhancement potion or something to get them that big, not that it would surprise me."
Cassie raised an ear at her aggravated words. "You don't really sound like you approve." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"I don't." Mother Logai hopped off the stool she had been standing on, vanishing behind the counter and trotting around it, coming to head level with Cassie's knees. "I've helped raise a good portion of the children on this island back when I was about your age, my dear. In fact I still do for their children to this day; at least for those who actually do have kids. Not like that shrimp-brained Les."
"Les?" Cassie repeated.
"The one that your Shark-Boy here stopped from making a grab at you." Mother Logai clarified.
Cassie and Tuff both tensed, blushing at the coy smile on her muzzle. "He's/I'm not my/her Shark Boy!" They both exclaimed at the same time, earning an even bigger grin from the small furry woman. Like she hadn't heard that line before . . .
"Wait, hold on," Riley held up a hand as a laugh started to grow in his voice. "Les? That guy's name is Les?"
"I'm not proud of it either." Mother Logai ran a hand through her hair, her own voice growing a laugh. "And I'm the one who named him." Riley snickered at her and Tuff couldn't help but smile a little bit as well. Cassie said nothing but was happy that the subject was changed, even if for a little bit.
"Anyways, back to the subject; it's not gonna be easy to fix Cassie's top but it's doable." Mother Logai put a hand to her chin, her black claws scratching at the fur. "It will take me a while to get the proper material needed for the shirt though. Not many kinds of stretchy, firm fabrics around these parts. I wouldn't even know where I could get the money for it let alone where I could look for fabric stores that have material like that in such short notice . . ."
"I could give you some money if you need it." Cassie offered.
Tuff, Riley and Mother Logai all looked at her, surprised. Huh? Where had that come from? Mother Logai gave her a kind smile. "I appreciate the offer, Honey, but I really don't like charging people who don't really look like they can afford it."
"It's no problem." Cassie brought a hand to her right sleeve and dipped her fingers into the bottom hem. Almost a second later, much to the Luck Brother's puzzlement, she pulled out a small bag that was no bigger than Mother Logai's paw. Handing it to her, she added, "I got plenty more where this came from; this should cover anything you need."
Mother Logai raised a brow at her once again, taking the bag before unceremoniously opening and dumping out its contents. She didn't really expect much. Judging the size of the bag, she probably only had only five copper gavottes in there –
Everyone's eyes, save Cassie's obviously, almost popped out of their heads when small, sparkling jewels of nearly all types and colors fell into the black pads of her paw.
They were clearly well-taken of, judging by the sheen and perfect cuts of the corners and surfaces. They were a small assortment of rubies, sapphires, diamonds and even a few emeralds and garnets. But the very fact they were actually there in the Jakkai's paws was astounding.
"W-well, uh . . ." Mother Logai stuttered, for the first time a little beside herself with shock. ". . . T-this is, uh, quite generous of you, my dear," She used her thumb to spread out some of the jewels thoughtfully. "There's enough in here for me to get me an entire new store if I wanted to."
Tuff and Riley looked at each other in stunned silence. To say they were flabbergasted was an understatement; she had a bag of jewels? Hidden in one of her sleeves? How the heck did they miss that?
"So, will it do?" Cassie smiled. Mother Logai tried not to pull a face at the placid smile on her face. She had no idea whether this girl was being sarcastic or serious.
However, she took another look at the jewels in her paw . . . She decided to put the sudden urge of questions boiling in her head on the back burner for now.
After all, when an honest, hard-working woman like her gets a huge pay-off like this, who was she to question her client?
". . . Yep! This'll do, Honey." Mother Logai chirped. Pocketing the jewels for later inspection, – Never hurts to determine the quality! – She then said, "And you know, since you can't really be running around in clothes like that," She gestured briefly to the pants, making Cassie tug at one leg awkwardly and Riley roll his eyes in quiet annoyance. "I'll lend you a pair of pants while I make you a new outfit after I finish mending your top."
"Oh, no, that's not necessary!" Cassie protested politely. "You don't have to –"
"It's no problem, honey." Mother Logai insisted, coming over and patting her thigh like a grandmother would for her grandchild. "Trust me; I'd be doing us both a favor. Just head over to the back room there," She pointed to the curtain on the other side of the room. "And after I grab a few things, I'll be with you shortly."
"Well, alright . . ." Cassie looked towards Tuff and Riley with an apologetic frown. "I'm sorry guys; I promise I won't take too long."
Tuff shook his head with a smile. "Hey, it's okay, take all the time you need."
"Yeah, its not like we got anything else important to do." Riley added, hopping onto the counter and taking a seat.
Cassie smiled once more at them before following Mother's Logai's directions and disappearing behind the curtain. Mother Logai then dropped to all fours and started hopping over to the racks of clothes and begun scanning through them for the pair of pants she promised.
Once they were alone, Tuff then looked towards his twin and whispered as quietly as he could, "So, what do you think about Cassie?"
"What?" Riley asked him, a little more loudly then Tuff liked causing him to lower his hand down in a way of saying "Quiet down!" Riley saw this and cast a glance at Mother Logai's back when Tuff pointed to her. He then repeated much more softly, "What? What are you talking about?"
"Cassie," Tuff said. "Do you think she's a bounty hunter or something?"
"Why? Because of the jewels?" Riley asked him.
"Riley, c'mon, think about it, she must've gotten those things from somewhere!" Tuff stated.
"Maybe she's a scavenger?" Riley suggested.
"Yeah . . . That would probably explain why she was in the ocean in the first place." Tuff scratched at his cheek. "But that still doesn't explain how she got that horrible injury on her side."
"Didn't you ask her about that last night?" Riley asked him.
"She claims she doesn't remember much of what happened and I do believe her . . . With a tail like hers, I sincerely doubt that she can lie." Tuff frowned. "But it would help if she would tell us a little more about herself and about what happened before she was attacked."
"And what about this "Vince" guy she keeps talking about?" Riley added. "She totally freaked out when she first met us but now she seems totally fine. He must've been a were-beast or something for her to be so at ease with us now."
"Mnh, maybe . . ." Tuff hummed. ". . . But I don't want to just ask her question like that out of the blue." Riley gave him a look. ". . . No pun intended. I mean, she nearly died for Maker's sake; plus, she has no clue what had attacked her and she's all alone, she's got bigger things to worry about then our prodding into her private business." Without even knowing it, he started to ramble on as he thought. "I mean, who are we to talk? We've been there before; people have questioned us about our being here practically all our lives and they've been plenty of suspicion about us being in the wrong when we actually were innocent."
Riley nodded in agreement. "Yep. Especially since most of the time it was kinda sorta my fault . . ."
"Exactly." Tuff said, a little more loudly then he realized but not really caring. "Not to mention we needing to tell her about all those murders that have been going on here lately. So, what the question is, what do we say to her?"
Anything Riley would've said was halted as Tuff was then pulled back by a small but powerful arm wrapping around his neck and nearly causing him to topple backwards from the weight. "I, personally, do not know." Mother Logai's voice suddenly replied right into his ear from where she perched herself on his back with her tail tightened securely around his ribcage. "I do know this, however; if you boys even think of doing anything to upset that girl while she's got that bad of an injury as you say, I will personally hunt you down and sew all the seats of your pants together with the most intricate and complicated of threads and knots, you'll never be able to cut through them."
The face that Tuff and Riley both gave her was one that clearly showed her how much they took her seriously. With that in mind, she hopped off of Tuff, allowing him to regain his standing and rub at his throat like he relieving it from the soreness of tight rope. She picked up the pair of pants that she had set on the floor earlier and made her way to the back room, but not without saying to Riley without looking back, "Riley, get off the counter it's not a cushion seat."
Riley jumped off it like was on fire. Hearing it with her impressive ears, she gave a small chuckle before ducking under the curtain and entering into the back room.
Riley and Tuff went into silence for a minute or two. As though they were fearful of the sharp-tongued Jakkai re-entering the room. Finally, Riley cast Tuff a side-glance. "Do you think she somehow knew our Nanna?"
"If that's the case, then dear Maker, please help us." Tuff replied with an identical expression.
One old lady was scary enough . . .
~X~
"Comfortable, Honey?" Mother Logai's question had Cassie looking up from where she was seated.
The Jakkai smiled at seeing her fidget a little in place of the small yet comfortable bed covered with a thin quilt and matching sheets. No doubt she was a little surprised at instantly walking into her home, a gross change from the near closeness of her store; her living quarters also consisted of a small bathroom across from her bed with a toilet and small tub with both faucets for water, a small kitchenette with an equally small fridge that actually fitted nicely for someone of her stature and a table that was horizontal from a desk that was covered in papers filled with endless designs and clothes ideas, rolls of thread, pincushions and scraps and pieces of cloth and fabric. A lone mannequin stood beside it along with a measuring rope and a few longer drapes of fabric thrown over its shoulder. It was cramped, rustic and messy; all in all, home sweet home for the simple tailor.
"Oh, yes, I'm fine, thank you." Cassie nodded calmly, though on the inside she was trying hard not to look too surprised at her surroundings. That didn't stop her from looking around and saying, "Although, I was a bit surprised at suddenly seeing a mattress when I came in."
"I know, I know," Mother Logai waved her off. "Not exactly the expected décor and real estate of a rough-edged, sharp-tongued, grandmotherly lone Jakkai. You're not the first one to make note on that."
"Oh, no, Mother Logai, no, no, I didn't mean it like that –" Cassie started to say but Mother Logai cut her off with a head with a shake of her head.
"It's fine, Cassie, I know what you meant, it's okay." She walked over to her and held the pants up towards her. "Here, slip out of those horridly loud pants and put these on, tell me what you think."
Cassie took the said article of clothing and unfolded it, in its full form she saw that it was a set of baggy chestnut brown drawstring pants, the double pockets and the actual strings at the bottom of the legs colored with a dark green matching the vest she was wearing. Turning it around, she was delighted to see a slip cut open above the seat in the back that was just thin enough not to be very noticeable but still wide enough for the large fin on her tail to slide through. She unfortunately had to cut a rather unflattering hold in the back of Riley's red pants so her tail could come out but she really wasn't proud of the idea that she had ruined a man's piece of clothing.
She also couldn't help but turn a little dark blue at the thought of undressing on the spot, though, even if it was just changing pants in front of an old elderly woman like Mother Logai.
Mother Logai saw her face darken and immediately said, "Oh, relax, Honey, I'm not gonna bite, especially when you got that injury on your person." At Cassie's surprised look, she went on, "I overheard your friends out there talking. They mentioned that you were hurt. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but when you have ears like mine it really doesn't help, ya know?" She grinned cheekily, wagging her ears a little.
Cassie flitted her own ears with a small smile. "I understand. You can't help what you can't help, right?"
"Exactly." Mother Logai nodded. She then trotted over to her desk and started rummaging through the papers. "I gotta look for a pencil and some clean paper, if I have any that is, so you change while I look."
"Alright, Mother Logai." Cassie stood up and started to unbuckle her belt. She had just slipped it out of the loops and was about to unbutton the trousers when Mother Logai added, "Oh, and don't worry about those boys trying to take a peek. I'm pretty sure I've just scared all the hormonal urges away for a good while."
Cassie blushed a little at those words but then frowned at her back. "Mother Logai, I promise you, Tuff and Riley have been nothing but gentlemen to me ever since I met them."
"I'll take your word on that, Cassie," Mother Logai nodded at her voice, her eyes still scanning for a pencil and paper. Finally, she found a piece of a paper without any used measurements or designs scratched all over it and a pencil buried underneath a few wads of cloth. "Still, boys will be boys," She went over to the mannequin and pulled down the measuring rope. "I mean, they obviously find you attractive."
Cassie had pulled one leg into the drawstring pants was in the process of pulling the other up as she said, "I don't think so, Mother Logai."
"Oh?" Mother Logai raised a brow at her in mock surprise. "You mean neither or them hasn't tried to flirt with you even once?"
Cassie pulled up the zipper and buttoned the snap, noticing how like Riley's pants, that ended just at the tops of her knees. She considered her words and admitted, "Well . . . Riley certainly did a few times."
"Ah, ya see?" Mother Logai came back over, paper, pencil and measuring rope in paw, just as Cassie had taken her belt and once again re-looped and re-buckled her belt around her hips. "Boys are boys, gentlemen are not; pretty girl walks into the room, common sense goes right out the window." She set her prizes down only a moment to help her with the strings, pulling at them tautly and drawing the baggy sleeves closed. "Learned that lesson very quickly when I was young."
Cassie watched her as she took the rope once again and lengthen it out against the side of her leg. "Well, you sure seem to know how to handle them now."
"Years of experience, honey," Mother Logai stated. She looked up at where the rope's height ended at her waist, hummed in approval at the forty-right mark and quickly grabbed the pencil with her tail, marking down the number and area. "Especially with the life I led before today."
"What do you mean?" Cassie inquired.
"Well, Honey, surely you noticed that people with my kind of appearance aren't exactly common around here." Mother Logai pointed out. Taking the rope and gently wrapping it around her thigh and jotting down the number that same way as before, she said, "Especially since none of my kind are actually born here."
"You mean from the Archipelago?" Cassie asked but she made it sound more like a polite statement.
Mother Logai nodded, measuring her waist and writing down the number. "You got it. You're looking at the first Jakkai to ever be brought and raised here all the way from Fragaria."
"Fragaria?" Cassie blinked.
"It's a large country over in Medius." Mother Logai explained, gesturing for Cassie to sit down on the bed again so she could reach her upper torso. "It's on the far right side of what you call the Western Continent, on the other side of the world, in fact."
Cassie's tail took on a blooming circle design at her words as she looked at her in shock. "You were brought all the way from there? That must've taken you months!"
"Well, it wasn't exactly planned, my dear." Mother Logai interjected. She held up the rope to her arm before taking the pencil from her tail and writing down the length and width in paw. "It was all rather spontaneous actually."
Cassie felt herself growing confused. How was it that Mother Logai ended up on the Archipelago from the far reaches of the Western Continent if she never even set her sights on leaving? The only way she could actually picture that happening was that she was brought here by accident or –
Cassie's ears went up as a thought came to mind. A thought that was followed by a horrid feeling rising up from the deepest part of her soul. "Wait . . ." Looking at the Jakkai next to her rolling up the rope and setting it in her pocket, she started, "What you said earlier, about being "brought" here . . ."
Mother Logai gave her a sad smile. "That's right, Honey, you're looking at the former one and only Archipelian Jakkai slave girl."
Cassie was struck speechless. She had no clue how to respond to that.
After all, what were you supposed to say to former slave? Oh, I'm sorry for bringing up your dark past like a complete idiot but at least you're still alive today and living in a rinky-dink house that also doubles as your store?
Definitely not.
Mother Logai looked at her curling and twisting patterned fin and chuckled despite herself. Cassie blinked at her, befuddled. "Sweetie, relax, I know it's not easy coming up with a reply to that bombshell. But yours is probably the quietest reaction I've ever seen."
Cassie flushed dark blue again, looking down and tugging at one of the fins on her ears sheepishly. It was a nervous tick that she had yet to get rid of and always found herself doing every now and again each time she was at a loss for words. "S-sorry, I . . . I didn't mean to . . ."
Mother Logai waved her off with a comforting smile. "Ach, forget it, it was in the past; you can't change it but you can learn from it. That's something too many people today don't realize." Reaching back behind her and taking Riley's pants into her paws, she stuck a finger the hole in the seat and wiggled it out the other side, frowning. "Can you do me a favor? Head over to my desk, there should be some red fabric matching this color about the size of my paw and in the shape of a square . . . I want to mend these for Riley real quick before you leave."
Cassie nodded. She stood up and only needed to take three long strides to the desk, making a face at the disorganization of the desk. And she thought Vince was messy . . .
She had started to peek under a slanted stack of paper and cloth when Mother Logai stated, "The day I was taken was rather . . . Life-changing for me, to be honest."
Cassie's ears perked and she looked at Mother Logai out the corner of her eye. She now wore a blank, sad smile on her face as she draped Riley's pants across her lap and traced the lining with the tips of her claws. "But then again, whose life wouldn't change when they were suddenly ripped away from home and slapped with a pair of shackles and chains? I was probably about ten years old then, when I had finally chosen my own name . . . Just playing around in the forest without a care in the world. I was supposed to stay near the hut like my elders had said but I was rather impulsive back then, even as a child so naturally I didn't listen. I didn't really believe that anything could happen to me. Dumbest mistake I ever made . . ."
Cassie wasn't sure if Mother Logai knew she was listening or not but didn't comment on it as she continued to shuffle around the desk. "One minute I was drawing little cat faces in the dirt with a stick, next thing I know I had a net thrown over my head and there were tall, looming humans hovering over me. I saw some of the elders coming out and I called to them for help but the humans were quicker . . . That was the first time I had ever seen blood be drawn . . ."
Cassie bit back a gasp but that didn't keep her heart from wrenching at the thought of a young Mother Logai watching helpless as her some of her people were killed.
"I was horrified." Mother Logai said blankly. "I fought against my captors blindly; I bit them, I scratched them, I did everything I could to try and get them to let me go. But they apparently weren't set on having me going kicking and screaming. One of them took a heavy stick and knocked me out hard from behind." She rubbed at the fur covering her wrist nostalgically. "When I finally came to, I was bound with heavy chains, surrounded by other people I didn't know in the same conditions as me, smelling blood, stick and death and swaying on the bottom deck of a sub heading for the Archipelago.
"I struggled to get free of the chains. But each time I pulled, it felt like my arms were going to get ripped out of my sockets. They had even slapped a shackle around our necks so if we tried to escape, we choke to death. It was hopeless. They feed us on rotten scraps of food and dirty water and the only thing that we had that was even close to a bathroom was an old bucket overrun with sewage and piss. It was hell on earth for all of us down there. All you could do was think, pray that the ship would crash, or pray that you meet your early death just so you could be free again.
"I tried not to give up hope. I was named TigerPelt for a reason after all; I screamed as loud as I could, yanked on the chains so hard a few times I swear the wood creaked and inflicted as much damage as I could to any one of the slavers who got near me. All of it was futile, though, because one day, some of the slavers came, held me down and forced some sort of potion down my throat. It tasted terrible and I was grossly attempted to throw it back up, just to show them what for." She stuck out her tongue as if recalling the taste and Cassie was a little hard-pressed not to smile at the expression on her face.
Her comical expression was quickly quelled by a dismayed frown. "By the time they got me to drink the entire potion, everything just got . . . Weird." Mother Logai really couldn't think of another word to describe it. "It was like . . . It was like everything had just gotten topsy turvy; the ground suddenly turned into the sky and the ocean was above me while the grass snowed over my head . . . I swear I even saw a rat or two dancing to the tattooed lady song while wearing little hats and twirling little canes . . ." Mother Logai giggled inexplicitly at that part. "Like I said, everything had just gone weird. That kept that up for I don't even know how long. Each the potion wore off, they would just come down and force some more down my throat, like clock-work I went plum-crazy and went right back to wing-nut land.
"During the short time between the dosages that I had some clarity, I hatched a little plan; each time they gave me the potion, they had unchain me so they could hold me down. So If I behaved well enough when they came for me, I might be able to get away. I prayed to every single entity that I could think up that it would work. It was a long shot, sure, but it was still worth a try. Sure enough, when the time came for another dose of the potion, it did. I put on the puppy eyes and stayed calm and quiet when the slavers came to give me more potion." Mother Logai then illustrated her point by enlarging her eyes and batted them sweetly. "Them being the idiots they were, they fell for it. The second the chains were off, I knocked the potion out of their hands and bolted for the door.
"Once I was up on deck, it was mayhem. Each of the slavers tried to grab me but I was too quick for them; apparently I had balled up some energy while I was chained up and was bouncing and pouncing all over the place. I even managed to get a few good shots in towards a few of them, new strength gained from bulking up with all those sessions of pulling and yanking on the chains, I imagine." Mother Logai couldn't help but flex one of her arms with a smile while she unsheathed her claws. "I even left a scar on the one who knocked me out when I was captured. Got him right across his right eye and the bridge of his nose. I can't even begin to describe how good that felt." Mother Logai's smile fell. "My victory didn't last long, I'm afraid. The next thing I knew, I heard a gun fire out and something made the left side of my chest blossom into fire."
Cassie finally found the cloth, tucked under a paper drawn over with a beautiful floral gown design, and brought it back over to Mother Logai who took it wordlessly. "You mean you . . ." Cassie mumbled. ". . . You were shot."
Mother Logai gave a noise of confirmation. "Yep. Worst pain I had ever felt in my life." She picked out a good sized needle from her pincushion strap on her wrist, turned Riley's pants inside out and begun sewing the fabric onto the area with the hole. "Everything started to go fuzzy from around me. I remember falling to the deck . . . I think a few of the slavers were arguing, saying that no one was supposed to kill any of us . . . Something about how "they get nothing for dead slaves"." Cassie shuddered at those words. She stopped when she felt Mother Logai's tail wrap around her waist. Her tail's little tuft of hair tickled her wrist and Cassie was tempted for one moment to play with it but bit back the urge. "They must've decided to do something about me, 'cause then I felt myself being lifted and tossed over the side of the boat."
Cassie snapped her head back at Mother Logai, completely horrified at what she had just said. "They just threw you overboard? Just like that?"
"Well, I think one of them wanted to skin me first." Mother Logai thought with a claw to her chin. Cassie couldn't help the cringe at how lax she sounded. "But they must've changed their mind in the end."
To say Cassie was horrified at this story was an understatement. She had no idea whether to cry or to just throw up at the pain and torture that this woman next to her had gone through.
She was willing to do both just to make the idea of it go away.
Naturally over the years as they traveled together, she and Vince had heard plenty of horror stories from other Fish-men and people passing through on the ocean about the lives of slaves and the perils they faced as such. Including the well-known facts about how they almost never get away.
Cassie was always left shaking after each tale and would barely let Vince out of her sight for days on end, fearful that he would suddenly be taken away and beaten and broken and destroyed just like all the poor, unfortunate souls in the stories. Despite Vince's reassurances that he would never go and leave her alone like that, she wasn't convinced.
After all, Faust had once said the same thing. And look how he turned out.
She felt a touch at her elbow and she was immediately brought back to earth. She looked down and saw other Logai looking at her with a comforting smile. Cassie blurted out at her, a little confused if not still scared of learning the answer, "I-if you were shot, Mother Logai, and tossed overboard . . . How did you end up here?"
"Obviously I was rescued, Honey." Mother Logai winked at her, filling her with a great deal of reassurance. "By a knuckled-headed, heroic-minded kid who was nearby as I floated up on the Island's beach." She had already finished with Riley's pants and begun folding them, never missing a beat. "When he saw me, he rushed out to save me before I was taken by any stray ocean predator that was nearby and rushed me over to his master, this village's doctor." Satisfied with her folding, she handed them to Cassie, who took them blankly. "After that, long story short, they healed me, I came to and freaked out at the sight of them, calmed down after a very long while of convincing on the knuckle-head's behalf, told them what happened, and they helped me get settled here on Pound Island. A few decades later, here we are now."
Cassie looked down at the pants. She was amazed to see that not only did Mother Logai patch up the hole, but also sewed it up on the outside like it was never even there. But another thought crossed her mind. Why stay here on the Archipelago? Hadn't she worried about her family? Did she believe her family was still waiting for her? She decided to speak her thoughts by asking, "Why did you stay here, though? Didn't you want to go home? Didn't you miss your family?"
Mother Logai scratched her cheek with hum of thought. "Well . . . Like everyone else who would, I did dream about going home. But by the time I fully healed, I realized something," She gave a mighty shudder and grimaced at what she said next. "I absolutely hated the water. I couldn't even go on the makeshift rafts I made by hand without getting seasick. And Maker knows going on a sub wasn't an option! No, thank you!"
She crossed her arms as she looked down in contemplation. "When I finally started thinking about going back, I realized there really wasn't anything for me to go back to; being born a Jakkai, you don't really know who your biological parents are and you're raised together with other boys and girls in the nest. I didn't really have any friends, they all apparently thought I was too butch or scary or something like that so they all stayed away from me. None of the Jakkai boys even found me attractive if you could believe it! The nerve!" This time, Cassie did giggle a little at the puffed up expression on her face.
"We weren't even allowed to bring any humans to the village, even for a while just to play, one of those Podunk villages, ya know?" Mother Logai shrugged. "All in all, living here is way more fun living here; I get to meet species of people I've never dreamed of seeing, I get to make amazing works of clothes for both work and pleasure, plus I ended up getting a kick-ass name like "Mother Logai"! I have no idea where they got that from, but still, how cool is that?" Mother Logai grinned cheekily, nudging Cassie playfully and causing both girls to giggle.
The both of them were acting so much like old friends reminiscing that Cassie couldn't help but enjoy the air of ease that developed around them. After all the craziness and horror that she had just heard about, a little levity was happily welcomed.
Mother Logai's face grew more relaxed and her smile shrunk but still sparked with humor and fire. "I like how my life turned out. True, it had a rocky beginning but no one's story ever starts out easy. Each of us have our own hurdles to face, our own horizons to broaden. What's important is what we learn. And the people who are right there with us to watch us make our tumbles and falls."
Cassie looked at Mother Logai in awe. This was a woman who had climbed her own ladder in life, watched as each step she took forged a place in her soul. She's faced many of life's downsides but still continued to fight back and stand her ground. She couldn't help but remember the last time she felt such admiration for someone.
"Mother Logai . . ." Mother Logai's ears twitched at the question she was ready to ask. ". . . Whatever happened to that boy who saved you?"
Mother Logai smirked with a short laugh. "The knuckle-head still lives and grows as old as I am now . . . And I still have to make sure he doesn't kill himself just for the sake of his duty to the people."
Cassie's ears flitted and she blinked once again. Duty to the people . . . ?
WHUD!
"ACK!"
THUMP! THUD!
Both Cassie's and Mother Logai's ears went up at those sounds. They looked towards the doors and blinked at the sight of a sheepish Tuff and a disgruntled Riley on-top of him flat on the floor with the curtain draped over the back of them. It was clearly obvious that they had been busy with eavesdropping for the last few minutes.
Mother Logai simply shook her head and hopped off the bed. "Speaking of which," She begun, padding over to them and glaring down at the both of them who looked fearfully back up at her. "I think you two knuckle-heads have your own story to tell your lady friend here, don'tcha think?"
With the sheepish grins and messy replies that they gave together to her in response, Cassie, from where she still sat on the bed, had only one sure thought.
That she was in for a heck of a story.
ME: WHEW! This is probably the second-longest chapter I've written for this story! 14 pages!
I'm sorry if all of this chapter seems forced but Mother's Logai's story just sort of . . . wrote itself. And can anybody take a guess as to who she's referring to as the "Knuckle-Head"? A double-chocolate brownie to whoever guesses right!
Anyways, enough of rambling! Until next time!
