This work was submitted to the Children of the Whales discord spring event!
Chakuro was writing intently, unable to stop the torrent of words from flowing out of his fingers and onto the dwindling repository of paper that the Mud Whale owned. Today had been a great day, the kind that he needed to record for himself and for everyone else.
It had rained in the early dawn. When he went out in the morning, there was a scent of flowers and dew in the air. Children were playing and dancing in the puddles. Over the last few days, the sand sea had been drier and deader than usual, so the rain was a welcome respite. He could see smiles on everyone's faces. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, he started searching for his friends.
"Chakuro!"
Sami came running towards him shortly after he left his house. She looked so happy, and he ran up to her to give her a hug.
"You sleepy head!" Sami said, putting on a mock frown. "The bamboo shoot forest is growing again today. Everyone's over there."
Chakuro rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. The rain made it really easy to sleep through the morning."
"Let's get going."
The Oomasa Gochiku bamboo shoot forest was a favourite of many to play in on the Mud Whale. During hot days, the tall trees provided shade, and the milky scent of the bamboo shoots was quite pleasant. Often, the Marked were responsible for cutting down and harvesting the shoots using their Thymia. Chakuro had never been particularly good at that role, given his very descriptive nickname, "The Destroyer".
"Chakuro! Sami!"
Rou and Nezu were out at the forest. This was a rare sight, since the two spent almost all their time building intricate and often unstable inventions in their workshop. Neither liked to play outside very much.
They were standing in the shade of the bamboo trees. Just yesterday, those trees had barely been large enough to loom over their heads. The forest grew so quickly when it rained.
"Hey, Chakuro," Rou said. "We're all hanging out here today. Well, actually, I'm here for another reason."
Nezu was looking intently at one of the bamboo trees. "Suou asked us to help him."
"Help? With what?" Chakuro asked.
"With finding out the mechanism behind the speed of the bamboo trees' growth," Rou explained. "You know how Suou's trying to figure out a cure to extend the lives of the Marked, right? Well, he thinks that the amazing growth rate of these bamboo trees could be the solution."
"Really...?" Sami said. She bent down and looked at the tree beside Nezu. "I guess there is something amazing about these trees."
"They practically double in height after one rainfall," Rou said.
Nezu took out a ruler and started taking measurements of the trees' height and circumference. Chakuro had never been good with numbers, so he decided to leave Nezu to that task. Being a destroyer and working with careful precision was not a good combination.
"Where's Suou?" Chakuro asked.
"He's playing with the others right now," Rou replied. "...And leaving us to do all the tough work."
That didn't sound like Suou. "Who's he playing with?"
"The moles, Kikujin, and Ginshu."
"The moles? Even they're playing in the forest?"
"Over here," Sami explained, pointing down a path through the thick bamboo trees.
"Were you with them earlier?" Chakuro asked as he followed after her.
Sami nodded. "I was going to play hide and seek with them, but I wanted you to be here. I can't believe you overslept this morning!"
"I'm really sorry."
Sami turned towards him and smiled. She had such a gentle, delicate smile. "It's okay. Let's just see how many of them are still hiding."
In the centre of the bamboo forest was a grove where, on harvesting days, everyone deposited their gathering of bamboo shoots that they had cut down. Suou and several of the moles, including Ouni, were currently standing in the grove.
"Sami! Chakuro!" Suou called out upon seeing the two of them. "Are you going to join our game?"
"Hide and seek, right?" Chakuro said. "By the way, Rou and Nezu told me about your new idea."
Suou looked a little embarrassed. "I really owe a debt to them for working while I'm playing. I'm really irresponsible, I know."
Ouni turned towards them with his usual stern, but cool demeanor. "Suou didn't want to make Kikujin sad by refusing to play with him."
"Kikujin?"
"Yeah. He's still hiding right now. We haven't found him yet."
"Wait...Ouni, you're playing hide and seek with everyone?" Chakuro's mouth hung open in awe. "I didn't expect that from you."
"Wasn't my idea." Ouni turned away, arms folded. "Usually, we wouldn't bother. But Kicha really wanted to let loose and have fun this morning. And, it seemed, so did Nibi. I just got dragged along."
"Kikujin was with me when we saw the moles going into the bamboo forest, and he dashed off to play with them," Suou said. "I was just coming here to work on my new idea, but I couldn't just let Kikujin run off like that. It's awful of me to have to split my responsibilities like this, but...I think taking care of Kikujin, as I'd promised Kuchiba, was a bit more important."
"And Kikujin begged Suou to play with him," Ouni added. "Which is why our delightful mayor-to-be and I are now looking for a child hiding in these dense trees."
"Who's still hiding?" Sami asked.
Suou began to tell Sami a list of people who still hadn't been found. But it wasn't long before most of the people on that list showed up, having been discovered by a very vigilant Ginshu. She was as sprightly as ever, clearly very proud of herself for having found most of the moles. Nibi was with her.
"Had enough fun?" Ouni asked Nibi. "I'm ready to leave."
"Not yet. We still haven't found Kikujin," Nibi replied.
Everyone turned to look at each other, before all eyes fell upon Ginshu.
"Ummm...I couldn't find Kikujin," she confessed, a blush coming to her face. "I looked all over the forest for him, but I just couldn't find him."
Concerned whispers arose amongst everyone gathered. Suou grew a very anxious expression. He stumbled towards Ginshu.
"Did you see where Kikujin was going when he ran off to hide?"
"I think he ran off in that direction," Ginshu replied, pointing at a tight path in between two trees.
Suou, Chakuro, Sami, and Ginshu ran down towards that path. While the space between the trees would have been easy for a child to fit through, they found their larger bodies terrible at navigating through the thick wall of bamboo trees. Chakuro thought about using his Thymia to cut through the trees, but outside of harvesting season, this was highly frowned upon. They were never supposed to cut down the trees without reason, as they were considered a sacred source of food for the people of the Mud Whale.
Maybe finding a boy hiding in the dense foliage was a justifiable enough reason? He didn't want to risk it.
Their search for Kikujin continued for several hours without success. Noon went by, and then the sun began to set. By the afternoon, they had combed almost the entire bamboo forest, but they still had not found any sign of Kikujin.
Everyone was so worried that the news of Kikujin's disappearance had spread and now half the Mud Whale was out looking for Kikujin. When Kuchiba heard about it from Suou, he wanted to immediately blame the moles for playing such a reckless game, but Suou decided to shoulder most of the blame. That didn't do much to help calm Kuchiba down. He had approached Ouni and demanded his assistance in searching for Kikujin.
People were now searching all over the Mud Whale for Kikujin, and the air rang with the cries of his name. The early morning rain had transitioned into a bright noon and now an overcast afternoon. It looked like it was going to rain later in the evening. That made it all the more pressing for them to find Kikujin.
"Where could he have gone?" Sami asked Chakuro after they had exhaustively checked one of the Mud Whale's five towers.
"I don't know," Chakuro responded. "He shouldn't have left the bamboo forest if he was just playing hide and seek there, right?"
"But we've checked the whole forest, and Kikujin doesn't seem to be anywhere inside it."
"It's so strange, I agree." Chakuro sighed and lowered his face. Tears were welling up into his eyes.
What if the worse had happened, and Kikujin had gotten himself hurt, or worse? He didn't want to imagine that possibility. He didn't want to imagine such a bright, joyful morning turning so grim. They had to find Kikujin, no matter what.
"Let's go back to the forest," Chakuro said. "Maybe we just didn't search the place enough. What if Kikujin's hiding up amongst the trees?"
Sami's eyes brightened. "Okay."
On their way back to the forest, they noticed Shuan lazily sleeping atop a small cliff, like he was apt to do.
"Danchou!" Chakuro called out. "Have you seen Kikujin around anywhere?"
Shuan pushed himself up off the ground to give them an uninterested look. "Kikujin's right here."
"What?!"
Crouched in a small enclosure right under the base of the cliff and the wall it melded into was Kikujin, looking very glum. Chakuro felt his heart leaping into his throat at finding and ran towards him.
"Kikujin! I'm so glad we found you!" Chakuro shouted, tears falling freely from his eyes.
"We were all so worried about you!" Sami said.
Kikujin turned to look up at them. His eyes were red from crying.
"Kikujin?" Chakuro said, reaching out with his arms. "Are you all right?"
In response, Kikujin turned his head away and buried it into his arms. He retreated further into the small enclave.
"What's wrong?" Sami asked.
"He just needs a moment by himself," Shuan said. "You probably shouldn't bother him right now."
"What happened?" Chakuro asked. "Do you know?"
"He asked me some questions, and I answered them," Shuan said.
Sami folded her arms. "You didn't say anything mean to Kikujin, did you?"
"Mean? I simply answered truthfully."
"What questions did Kikujin ask?"
Shuan sighed. "I think you should ask Kikujin himself that."
Chakuro and Sami turned back towards Kikujin.
"I'm sorry," Chakuro said, trying his best not to hurt Kikujin any further. "I don't know how you must be feeling right now, but everyone's looking for you. Would it be okay for you to come back with us?"
Kikujin turned up to face Chakuro. He rubbed his eyes and opened his mouth, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper. "Do...do the Unmarked...are the Unmarked going to be lonely?"
Chakuro didn't understand the question. "Lonely? We're here with them, aren't we?"
Kikujin sniffed. "But...but we won't be here forever."
Chakuro understood the sentiment and felt a pang of pain in his heart. He turned his eyes down and sat quietly in front of Kikujin.
"I...when I die, m-my father will still be alive," Kikujin said. "W-won't he be lonely? Won't the Unmarked miss all of us?"
"They...the Unmarked have to live with the pain of losing many more people throughout their lives than the Marked," Chakuro said softly. "It's...the burden of having a longer life."
Tears welled up in Kikujin's eyes. "It's not fair. Why can't we all be Marked or Unmarked? Why does the length of our lives have to be so different?"
Sami knelt down beside Kikujin. "It is unfair. Suou is trying his hardest to make our lives longer. But...for now, it's beyond our control. Nobody can choose to be Marked or Unmarked. We just...we just have to accept our circumstances."
Chakuro didn't know if he agreed with that. Sometimes, he found that he believed in Suou. He believed that Suou could really find the cure to extend the lives of the Marked. Then the Unmarked wouldn't have to bear the burden of witnessing so many Marked dying over the course of their long lives anymore. That would be a perfect ending.
But, perhaps that was just wishful thinking.
Kikujin closed his eyes. "It's...it's not right."
"Kikujin..." Chakuro said, "It's not right. That's true. We can't justify the disparity between the length of the lives of the Marked and the Unmarked. And we shouldn't burden the Unmarked with more pain than they already bear from all the people they've lost throughout their lives."
Chakuro extended out his hand. "Kikujin, will you come back with us? Your father really misses you. We all miss you."
Kikujin turned up his head and blinked through tears, staring at Chakuro's hand. Chakuro held his breath.
Slowly, Kikujin reached out and took Chakuro's hand.
"...Thank you," Chakuro said, grasping Kikujin gently.
"Thank you, Kikujin," Sami said as well.
As Kikujin stood up and they prepared to depart back to the town square to meet with the others, Chakuro noticed Shuan sitting with his back up against the wall, a somber expression on his face.
Chakuro didn't know what Shuan had said to Kikujin, but he knew Shuan wouldn't have said anything out of malice. Shuan was not that kind of person. He was sure Shuan had simply told the truth to Kikujin, shedding light on the fact that the Unmarked lived long, lonely lives compared to the Marked. A life full of partings, farewells, and beginnings. A kind of life that everyone accepted but, deep within their hearts, knew was difficult to justify.
He found himself writing all this down on paper in the middle of the night. It was late, and he knew he ought to go to bed. But the more he wrote, the more he found himself wondering what it meant to live a life on the Mud Whale.
Chakuro's pen fell from his hand. He felt himself at a crossroads, unable to decipher his feelings.
Life was full of beginnings and partings. Every meeting led to a farewell. Every birth led to a day of departure into the eternal sand. What did it all mean?
A lonely sadness grew deep within his heart. It came to him with vivid clarity what he was doing. He was recording these beginnings and endings, these greetings and farewells. He was crystallizing into words lives that had blossomed, had lived and smiled and loved, and would one day fade away into dust and rain.
These words, and those lives, meant everything to him.
He picked up his pen and returned it to paper.
Were his friends still smiling? Were they still laughing? Would they still be happy tomorrow, as they were today? Would they keep laughing and smiling and crying, day after day, until their very last?
He didn't know. He couldn't know.
Chakuro continued writing.
All he knew was that he had to go on, to keep recording. He had to keep writing.