Disclaimer: once again names, places, and faces belong to Mediaworld and I am playing with them purely for fun with no intent to cause copyright infringement or make any $$
Stormy says: and enter Jobah! I like how he turned out. The gliders are the second dream material; they're also borrowed from Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind.
Legend of the Promised One
Wings
"Jobah... brother..."
The prince of Bandor looked up from his books. There was no one there. Just the wind coming through the rocks.
"Brother... help me..."
Jobah dropped bookmarks into the atlases and weighted his maps. The work was unimportant and he didn't want to just listen to the wind.
Afternoon sunlight baked the towers of red rock. The thermals would be great. Jobah found his glider among the others, got on, and pushed off the edge of the cliff. He fell for a moment, then hit the engine. A jet of flame hurtled the glider forward and Jobah leaned on the bars, steering with his weight alone.
People working in the fields saw the glider and waved. Jobah waved back and let the wind carry him farther out, away from civilization. A solitary hawk rose from a canyon, then shied away. Jobah imagined a nest, and chicks. A pair of lizards scurried away; they didn't know hunting had been banned. Too many kinds of animals had been reduced to a few captives, or a few genetic samples, or nothing at all.
His sister was probably extinct as well and he shouldn't be hearing her voice in the wind. Angry, Jobah hit the engine and dived into the canyon. Controlling the glider with one hand he flew the stone forest.
He returned home at sunset, on waves of heat rising as the sun left for the night. Someone was waiting on the cliff by the other gliders. "Prince!"
"Adeen, what's up?"
"Land and I'll tell you." Adeen stepped well back from the edge.
Jobah let a last wind carry him over the cliff and jumped, landing perfectly and catching the glider so its own momentum swung it back into its cradle. "What's happened?"
"I found Galiel."
"What! Where?"
"Oceanna. No way to tell if he's got anybody with him."
Back to Oceanna, to the first planet he'd ruined. "I have to go there."
Adeen smiled, "I know. While you were wind-riding I was talking with your father. You're invited officially to meet the princess of Oceanna, with everyone hoping the two of you will fall madly in love."
That was unlikely. "I'd almost forgotten Oceanna had a princess. How old is she?"
"Seventeen. Her name is Neri."
Now that was irony.
"Really, Prince, you should research a bit before you go. Things are shaking up on Oceanna. The legendary Promised One has appeared."
Jobah didn't know or care about Oceannaic legends.
"Take my glider, for the princess. It would make a fine gift and I never use it."
Jobah laughed, "Very well, after five years I believe you'll never voluntarily learn to fly. I will take it in case this princess has more love for the winds than you."
Neri finished putting up her hair and got a bag. The only thing she could thing to do was look for the sacred whale. There was so much she needed to learn.
"Woof!" Micro jumped up from below the balcony.
"Micro, good morning! Has anything happened?"
Micro shook his head, then nodded, then grabbed Neri's skirt in his teeth.
"Is everything all right?"
"Grrf!" Everything was fine, but there was definitely something Micro wanted her to see.
"All right, I'm coming."
The king was waiting on a terrace outside the palace. Someone else was there, leaving out over the railing to look at the water.
"Morning, uncle."
"Neri, good morning! We have a guest I'd like you to meet. This is Jobah of Bandor."
The prince, Neri thought. Their eyes met and her heart fluttered momentarily.
"Glad to meet you, princess."
Neri scrambled for her royal dignity, "Likewise. If there's anything I can do to help your stay on our world, just ask. And please, call me Neri."
"Thank you. I'll take you up on both those offers. If you aren't busy, Neri, I'd like to talk to you a little. Your majesty also, if you're free." Jobah bowed slightly to King Nemon.
"I'm afraid I'm not." The king replied, "Shema brought another territory problem and I have to see to it. Neri, I'm sure you can show Prince Jobah to wherever he wants to go."
"Of course." Neri said, and watched her uncle leave. He looked older now, and worried.
Jobah was watching her. "Are you sure you weren't going somewhere?"
"I was going exploring, but it can wait."
The prince smiled at the mention of exploring, but his smile faded. "Neri, I'm sorry to hand you my problems minutes after we met, but I need your help."
"I'll help if I can. What happened?"
"Seven years ago the space wizard Galiel came to my planet. He left Bandor a ruin with most of its native species decimated or extinct."
Neri was looking at him wide-eyed. How could anyone say this in such a calm voice? "I'm sorry."
"And at that time, my sister Mera disappeared. We think Galiel kidnapped her. That's why I came."
"But what can.."
"You didn't know? Galiel is on Oceanna!"
"What!" Neri had been leaning on the rail, but a shiver of fear sent her to her feet. "How do you know?"
"My friend Adeen is a bit of a wizard himself and found a way to track Galiel's ship. He stayed in space for seven years and then came here."
Neri felt blank terror. Galiel, the evil; from legends, here. "Are you sure?"
"Adeen is sure. I'm just investigating every possibility. If there's any chance she's alive, I have to keep trying."
"Of course I'll help you look for your sister. But please, don't tell anyone else about Galiel! There have been other omens of the time of darkness, it would cause a panic!"
"I understand. Are you all right?"
Neri was pacing, trembling with the need to go somewhere, and do something. To ask Neanda for help. To beg the sacred whale for reassurance. To put the problem in her uncle's hands because she was in out of her depth, and Himemiya... "Your sister's name... is Mera?"
"Yes. My parents admired the first Mera so much. You can leave if you need to, this talk will keep a few days."
"Thank you. I know someone who might really know about your sister. Micro, would you introduce Prince Jobah around?"
"Woof!"
"A dog?"
"He's not exactly a dog." Neri climbed over the rail, "Oceanna doesn't have dogs."
"Ok." Jobah said in the voice of someone happy to believe anything.
Neri grinned at him and dived. Looking up through the water see Jobah looking out, waiting for her to come up for air. She didn't have to, so she didn't. Welcome to Oceanna, prince.
Then her smile faded, the burst of flirtatious delight going out like a blown candle. Was it true, was Galiel here? Why, after all this time, after two thousand years... She swam harder, pulling water past her like she could outrun the possibilities. The sacred whale wouldn't come into the cove where people lived so she had to go outside, where the trenches and caves spread across the ocean floor.
Neri came off the ledge and let the currents carry her on over the maze of canyons. It was like flying, really.
Music swirled past her, part of the current. At last you've come.
"I need your help." It was all a tangle. Galiel, Laziah's lorelei, the beast in the tunnel, the crystal, Jobah, Miya...
Notes chimed, something falling from the sky like an exhausted bird, a pillar of salt steam rising from where it hit. He really has come back.
But the Galiel in the sacred whale's memory was... a person, not a monster. A person who could smile, and whose eyes could show unhappiness like anyone's eyes.
"Impossible!" Neri shouted as this almost pitiable image slammed against the truth she'd always known.
The sacred whale didn't argue. Whoever's truth was the real one, it would remain.
"Then..." Neri felt suddenly that any question she could ask would be the wrong one. The sacred whale couldn't tell the future, couldn't read all hearts. "What was that monster I saw?"
The oldest secret of Oceanna. Soon, you will learn it for yourself. Neri heard sorrow. The oldest secret was too painful to speak.
Neri whispered, "The Promised One..?"
Now is the time.
"I'm scared and I don't know what to do."
The response was approving. Fear is right, for this time.
"Is Miya the Promised one? Or-am-I!"
Her shout was jarring, not the noise but the desperation behind it. The sacred whale was not going to simply tell her. No instructions, no explanations, no simple answers. But Miya... is precious. Protect her.
"Who is she?" Neri asked the sky, not expecting an answer.
Who could she be?
A school of fish flew over, heading for the coral reefs in the shallows. "Who could she be?" Neri wondered herself. Why had her uncle believed this girl was the Promised One? Where had she come from? And what sort of name was 'Himemiya?' Questions to shred away the mystery.
"All right. I'll find out myself." Neri pushed off the rock she'd been sitting on and swam for the surface. Birds, going to the island, echoed the movement of the fish.
Something followed the birds, something big and bright. Neri kicked hard, pushing herself out of the water. The bright thing tipped and she realized it was a flying machine. Jobah was standing between the silver wings, his hair streaming back in the wind.
"Hello!" Neri shouted, "What is that?"
"My glider. When you get back I'll show you how it works."
"Ok!" Neri yelled, happy. The silver bird turned and Neri dived, hurrying to stay in its shadow.
Miya was sitting on the lowest air-level of the palace, swinging her feet in the water while she and Zardor looked at maps.
"I see well why you can't live with the fliers if their nests block out the sun your people need." Miya said.
"They need clear sky; we need sun on the ground. Once our people shared the land with human people and the rivers with no one, before the tide."
"I cannot make more land but I will plead your case."
Neri saw that Zardor had expected the Promised One to make more dry land. But that was crazy; even the Promised One couldn't do such a great miracle. Neri climbed out of the water and greeted them both.
Miya stood and shaded her eyes to watch the glider come in to land somewhere above them. "Neri could I come with you? I would much like to see that machine the prince of Bandor brought with him."
"Of course-Certainly." Neri said, and they went to find the place.
Jobah had claimed a top balcony for his glider and another one.
"Prince, this is Himemiya, the Promised One."
"You may call me Miya like Neri does. I'm glad to meet you. May I try..?" Without really waiting for an answer she caught up the smaller glider and flung it and herself off the balcony. Somehow she leaped to ride between the wings, and flew like she'd been doing it all her life.
Neri blinked. "Is it that easy?"
"No. Not the first time. Are you sure she's really from here?"
"Of course. The Promised One has to be from Oceanna. But I don't really know anything about her."
"She sure can fly. You want to try?"
"Mmhm!" Neri said, trying to sound as excited as she was without sounding as scared as she was. "How do you start?"
Jobah grabbed the other glider and held it over his head. "Hang on to the bottom and wait for a wind."
"You sure the water won't hurt it when I crash?"
"I'm sure-here, take it."
Neri did. The glider was light, she could hardly believe it would hold her weight. Then a breeze caught the wide wings and lifted her off her feet. She yelped in surprise.
"Jump." Jobah said.
"Jump off?"
"Don't worry."
Another, stronger breeze started and Neri cautiously pushed off the balcony. The wind pulled her up, to her surprised, and she found herself looking down at the palace from a new angle. It sparkled; it sparkled more from above.
The other glider flashed by, Miya not a slave to the wind but able to steer herself. Miya was grinning. The expression looked strange on her.
"Isn't this amazing!" Neri shouted to her.
"Oh yes!"
Neri was losing altitude; she couldn't reach the engine to go up like Miya could. Before her feet touched the water she dropped, splashing in at a strange angle. She stayed under until she heard the glider splash down, and then swam to get it. She came up in time to see Miya land perfectly on the balcony and catch her glider with one hand before it could fly away.
As Neri ran up the stairs she heard Jobah say, "Where did you learn to fly like that?"
A clack as Miya set the glider down. "I-I don't know. I've never seen one of these before."
"Are you certain? You've never come to Bandor?"
"I'm sure. I've been here all my life."
Neri reached the top to find them looking at each other: Jobah suspicious, dark eyes narrow, Miya innocent and unknowing. Neri said, "Can I try again? Show me how to ride like you can!"
Jobah smiled, and Neri wished it was within her power to make that smile last. She liked him much more than she should like anybody on the first day.
Neri was balancing shakily on top of the glider when she saw a dark shape in the sky. "Miya? Jobah? Do you see that?"
"Nothing."
"No." Jobah shaded his eyes and looked up, "Wait there's something there!"
It dived. Neri saw a vague crumpled shape. It hit the water and bounced up again, wings slimed with salt water.
Jobah shouted, "What is that?"
Miya swung back to the tower and landed.
Neri didn't know how to land; it was all she could do to stay in the air. She swung to face the creature. "What are you?"
Eight eyes shifted to look at her, not tracking together. The beast opened its fanged beak and grated out a hoarse cry. It sounded like it was in pain.
"Get in the water Neri!" Miya's voice carried urgently.
Neri wasn't listening. She balanced in the air and held out a calming hand. "Calm yourself, creature. I'll help you."
The thing wailed unhappily and attacked. Neri felt its claws catch her hand then rake through her hair. She screamed, lost control of the glider, and crashed down into the water. A minute later the creature fell in too and sank, trailing a cloud of red behind it. She stared at it for a long moment then came up.
Jobah stood on the balcony holding a strange object Neri belatedly recognized as a gun. It looked different from the picture she'd seen.
The flying monster must be dead then. That's what guns do. Neri choked on horror and climbed onto the lowest terrace. The glider floated, but she didn't want to go out and retrieve it.
"Neri! Are you all right?" Jobah ran down the stairs to her.
Neri could only gasp out, "You shot it!" more horrified by that than by her own danger.
"It was that or lose an arm when it attacked us. Are those things common?"
"No. That's not an Oceanna animal. It's nothing real."
"Nothing real?"
"I don't know what it was. Your gun scared me more than that creature did! It is a gun isn't it?"
"Yes." The gun had vanished somewhere. "I knew your planet didn't have much use for violence but you've never seen one..?"
Miya said, "You'd better keep it with you." Before Neri could say the opposite. "There are more of those creatures about, princess."
"How do you know?" Neri jumped up and faced the Promised One. Miya's hair was so long it blew around them both. "How do you know? What do you know about the monster?"
"I just know." Miya answered, her eyes wide and frightened. "I can sense when a monster is in this world but not how many or where!"
"What are they?"
"I don't know." With a quick Jump Miya went to retrieve the floating glider.
Neri sighed.
"On Bandor we'd call her a medium, someone who can learn things through senses other than her own. That's probably how she learned to fly. I'm sorry I frightened you."
"It's all right. Thank you for protecting Miya-and yourself too. May I see your gun?"
"Sure." Jobah looked surprised by her request, but he got the gun out of a pocket and handed it to her. "It's not armed now; it won't go off."
The gun was surprisingly heavy. It was small and chunky, made of a bronze colored metal. Neri held it out like he had, using both hands to keep it steady. "Tell me how to use it?"
"Um..." Jobah looked as if the sight of her with the gun unnerved him.
"Don't." Miya said. "Neri, never use one of those. Don't even think about it."
Jobah took back his weapon and tucked it away. "Wouldn't do you any good. It takes time to learn to aim."
"I didn't want to shoot things. I just wanted to know."
"Sorry for ganging up on you." Jobah said, smiling. "Want to fly some more?"
Neri noticed Miya didn't look apologetic at all. Neri shook her head, "I'd better check in with my uncle."
"I should go as well." Miya said simply. "I will see you both later." She dived and was gone.
Neri watched the water. Miya didn't come up to breathe.
"What's the 'Promised One'?" Jobah asked, "Adeen told me I should learn about this place, but I didn't."
"Your friend is smart, listen to him." Neri grinned, "Let's go inside. The Promised One is our legend. She's the hero who will appear when the world is in danger...."
"Uncle, what news?"
Neri had hardly spoken when Shema shoved past her. "King Nemon, when are you going to do do something about this? Our nets were shredded last night and the amphibians enjoy the fish that fightfully belong to my people!"
It seemed like a small matter but the winged queen was irate. Neri began, "I'll help you repair them, I'm not busy today..."
Her uncle sighed and shook his head, "Better not, Neri. To hear them tell it Shema's folk and Zardor's have been sabotaging each other all week. Don't let yourself be seen taking sides."
"My court has done nothing wrong! Thank you for your offer princess but we have help already." Shema pranced out.
"All week?" Neri asked, "And 'take sides'? It's that bad?"
"I'm afraid so."
Jobah stepped forward, "Forgive my alien's ignorance but aren't torn fishing nets well... a little petty?"
"Yes. Oh definitely. But pettiness is on in a plague. Don't think too badly of Shema; she's more level headed than she acts."
Neri thought she heard the prince mutter, "I should hope."
Then Jobah said aloud, "King Nemon, we were attacked today by a flying creature that looked, a little I guess, like one of the fliers but had no speech. I have a gun with me, and killed the creature when it came at Miya and myself."
"It's probably the only pure weapon on Oceanna."
"I know, now. With your permission though, I'd like to keep it. Oceanna seems to be getting dangerous lately."
"Granted, if you'll protect Neri."
"Of course."
"Neanda is my knight." Neri said, frowning.
Her uncle looked almost amused, as if she was being childish. "I know Neri. But no one person can be there for you all the time."
That was true. Neri let it pass. "Are there more monsters? Has anyone else seen them?"
"Yes, flying ones and aquatic ones."
"What are they?"
"I don't know. No one does."
"No one?" Neri repeated, astonished.
The king shook his head, "Neri have you spoken with Laziah since the day the Promised One appeared?"
"No."
"Nor has anyone. Neanda says he is well but he has not returned.
"I'll go... talk to both of them, if I can. Miya's gone again. "
"I wish I knew where she goes every day. But that's tomorrow's question. I'd come with you but I'm needed here. There are 'emergencies' every other minute."
Neri nodded, "It's all right. Jobah, come with me?"
"Of course."
Just outside the throne room she stopped, "I'm sorry... you came here to find your sister. You don't have to get tangled in our troubles."
Jobah looked down at her, half-smiling but with thoughtful eyes. "I think this is where I want to be, where I have the best chance of finding Galiel and Mera. Besides, dealing with troubles other than Bandor's in a relief!" He added lightly.
"Thank you. I'm very, very glad to have your help. Come on, I'll show you where the cavedwellers live! Wait, one question. Jobah, can you swim?"
Jobah stared, then began to laugh. "Yes, I can swim."
Elsewhere...
"Tell me, who is that man?"
"Prince Jobah of Bandor."
"Really."
"He brought flying machines and I know how to use them. I don't know how I learned, I must have dreamed it."
"You must have."
"The third one... I haven't found it yet. It is far from here. I will seek tonight."
"Do not hurt yourself hurrying. The time I have I am using well."
Stormy says: and enter Jobah! I like how he turned out. The gliders are the second dream material; they're also borrowed from Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind.
Legend of the Promised One
Wings
"Jobah... brother..."
The prince of Bandor looked up from his books. There was no one there. Just the wind coming through the rocks.
"Brother... help me..."
Jobah dropped bookmarks into the atlases and weighted his maps. The work was unimportant and he didn't want to just listen to the wind.
Afternoon sunlight baked the towers of red rock. The thermals would be great. Jobah found his glider among the others, got on, and pushed off the edge of the cliff. He fell for a moment, then hit the engine. A jet of flame hurtled the glider forward and Jobah leaned on the bars, steering with his weight alone.
People working in the fields saw the glider and waved. Jobah waved back and let the wind carry him farther out, away from civilization. A solitary hawk rose from a canyon, then shied away. Jobah imagined a nest, and chicks. A pair of lizards scurried away; they didn't know hunting had been banned. Too many kinds of animals had been reduced to a few captives, or a few genetic samples, or nothing at all.
His sister was probably extinct as well and he shouldn't be hearing her voice in the wind. Angry, Jobah hit the engine and dived into the canyon. Controlling the glider with one hand he flew the stone forest.
He returned home at sunset, on waves of heat rising as the sun left for the night. Someone was waiting on the cliff by the other gliders. "Prince!"
"Adeen, what's up?"
"Land and I'll tell you." Adeen stepped well back from the edge.
Jobah let a last wind carry him over the cliff and jumped, landing perfectly and catching the glider so its own momentum swung it back into its cradle. "What's happened?"
"I found Galiel."
"What! Where?"
"Oceanna. No way to tell if he's got anybody with him."
Back to Oceanna, to the first planet he'd ruined. "I have to go there."
Adeen smiled, "I know. While you were wind-riding I was talking with your father. You're invited officially to meet the princess of Oceanna, with everyone hoping the two of you will fall madly in love."
That was unlikely. "I'd almost forgotten Oceanna had a princess. How old is she?"
"Seventeen. Her name is Neri."
Now that was irony.
"Really, Prince, you should research a bit before you go. Things are shaking up on Oceanna. The legendary Promised One has appeared."
Jobah didn't know or care about Oceannaic legends.
"Take my glider, for the princess. It would make a fine gift and I never use it."
Jobah laughed, "Very well, after five years I believe you'll never voluntarily learn to fly. I will take it in case this princess has more love for the winds than you."
Neri finished putting up her hair and got a bag. The only thing she could thing to do was look for the sacred whale. There was so much she needed to learn.
"Woof!" Micro jumped up from below the balcony.
"Micro, good morning! Has anything happened?"
Micro shook his head, then nodded, then grabbed Neri's skirt in his teeth.
"Is everything all right?"
"Grrf!" Everything was fine, but there was definitely something Micro wanted her to see.
"All right, I'm coming."
The king was waiting on a terrace outside the palace. Someone else was there, leaving out over the railing to look at the water.
"Morning, uncle."
"Neri, good morning! We have a guest I'd like you to meet. This is Jobah of Bandor."
The prince, Neri thought. Their eyes met and her heart fluttered momentarily.
"Glad to meet you, princess."
Neri scrambled for her royal dignity, "Likewise. If there's anything I can do to help your stay on our world, just ask. And please, call me Neri."
"Thank you. I'll take you up on both those offers. If you aren't busy, Neri, I'd like to talk to you a little. Your majesty also, if you're free." Jobah bowed slightly to King Nemon.
"I'm afraid I'm not." The king replied, "Shema brought another territory problem and I have to see to it. Neri, I'm sure you can show Prince Jobah to wherever he wants to go."
"Of course." Neri said, and watched her uncle leave. He looked older now, and worried.
Jobah was watching her. "Are you sure you weren't going somewhere?"
"I was going exploring, but it can wait."
The prince smiled at the mention of exploring, but his smile faded. "Neri, I'm sorry to hand you my problems minutes after we met, but I need your help."
"I'll help if I can. What happened?"
"Seven years ago the space wizard Galiel came to my planet. He left Bandor a ruin with most of its native species decimated or extinct."
Neri was looking at him wide-eyed. How could anyone say this in such a calm voice? "I'm sorry."
"And at that time, my sister Mera disappeared. We think Galiel kidnapped her. That's why I came."
"But what can.."
"You didn't know? Galiel is on Oceanna!"
"What!" Neri had been leaning on the rail, but a shiver of fear sent her to her feet. "How do you know?"
"My friend Adeen is a bit of a wizard himself and found a way to track Galiel's ship. He stayed in space for seven years and then came here."
Neri felt blank terror. Galiel, the evil; from legends, here. "Are you sure?"
"Adeen is sure. I'm just investigating every possibility. If there's any chance she's alive, I have to keep trying."
"Of course I'll help you look for your sister. But please, don't tell anyone else about Galiel! There have been other omens of the time of darkness, it would cause a panic!"
"I understand. Are you all right?"
Neri was pacing, trembling with the need to go somewhere, and do something. To ask Neanda for help. To beg the sacred whale for reassurance. To put the problem in her uncle's hands because she was in out of her depth, and Himemiya... "Your sister's name... is Mera?"
"Yes. My parents admired the first Mera so much. You can leave if you need to, this talk will keep a few days."
"Thank you. I know someone who might really know about your sister. Micro, would you introduce Prince Jobah around?"
"Woof!"
"A dog?"
"He's not exactly a dog." Neri climbed over the rail, "Oceanna doesn't have dogs."
"Ok." Jobah said in the voice of someone happy to believe anything.
Neri grinned at him and dived. Looking up through the water see Jobah looking out, waiting for her to come up for air. She didn't have to, so she didn't. Welcome to Oceanna, prince.
Then her smile faded, the burst of flirtatious delight going out like a blown candle. Was it true, was Galiel here? Why, after all this time, after two thousand years... She swam harder, pulling water past her like she could outrun the possibilities. The sacred whale wouldn't come into the cove where people lived so she had to go outside, where the trenches and caves spread across the ocean floor.
Neri came off the ledge and let the currents carry her on over the maze of canyons. It was like flying, really.
Music swirled past her, part of the current. At last you've come.
"I need your help." It was all a tangle. Galiel, Laziah's lorelei, the beast in the tunnel, the crystal, Jobah, Miya...
Notes chimed, something falling from the sky like an exhausted bird, a pillar of salt steam rising from where it hit. He really has come back.
But the Galiel in the sacred whale's memory was... a person, not a monster. A person who could smile, and whose eyes could show unhappiness like anyone's eyes.
"Impossible!" Neri shouted as this almost pitiable image slammed against the truth she'd always known.
The sacred whale didn't argue. Whoever's truth was the real one, it would remain.
"Then..." Neri felt suddenly that any question she could ask would be the wrong one. The sacred whale couldn't tell the future, couldn't read all hearts. "What was that monster I saw?"
The oldest secret of Oceanna. Soon, you will learn it for yourself. Neri heard sorrow. The oldest secret was too painful to speak.
Neri whispered, "The Promised One..?"
Now is the time.
"I'm scared and I don't know what to do."
The response was approving. Fear is right, for this time.
"Is Miya the Promised one? Or-am-I!"
Her shout was jarring, not the noise but the desperation behind it. The sacred whale was not going to simply tell her. No instructions, no explanations, no simple answers. But Miya... is precious. Protect her.
"Who is she?" Neri asked the sky, not expecting an answer.
Who could she be?
A school of fish flew over, heading for the coral reefs in the shallows. "Who could she be?" Neri wondered herself. Why had her uncle believed this girl was the Promised One? Where had she come from? And what sort of name was 'Himemiya?' Questions to shred away the mystery.
"All right. I'll find out myself." Neri pushed off the rock she'd been sitting on and swam for the surface. Birds, going to the island, echoed the movement of the fish.
Something followed the birds, something big and bright. Neri kicked hard, pushing herself out of the water. The bright thing tipped and she realized it was a flying machine. Jobah was standing between the silver wings, his hair streaming back in the wind.
"Hello!" Neri shouted, "What is that?"
"My glider. When you get back I'll show you how it works."
"Ok!" Neri yelled, happy. The silver bird turned and Neri dived, hurrying to stay in its shadow.
Miya was sitting on the lowest air-level of the palace, swinging her feet in the water while she and Zardor looked at maps.
"I see well why you can't live with the fliers if their nests block out the sun your people need." Miya said.
"They need clear sky; we need sun on the ground. Once our people shared the land with human people and the rivers with no one, before the tide."
"I cannot make more land but I will plead your case."
Neri saw that Zardor had expected the Promised One to make more dry land. But that was crazy; even the Promised One couldn't do such a great miracle. Neri climbed out of the water and greeted them both.
Miya stood and shaded her eyes to watch the glider come in to land somewhere above them. "Neri could I come with you? I would much like to see that machine the prince of Bandor brought with him."
"Of course-Certainly." Neri said, and they went to find the place.
Jobah had claimed a top balcony for his glider and another one.
"Prince, this is Himemiya, the Promised One."
"You may call me Miya like Neri does. I'm glad to meet you. May I try..?" Without really waiting for an answer she caught up the smaller glider and flung it and herself off the balcony. Somehow she leaped to ride between the wings, and flew like she'd been doing it all her life.
Neri blinked. "Is it that easy?"
"No. Not the first time. Are you sure she's really from here?"
"Of course. The Promised One has to be from Oceanna. But I don't really know anything about her."
"She sure can fly. You want to try?"
"Mmhm!" Neri said, trying to sound as excited as she was without sounding as scared as she was. "How do you start?"
Jobah grabbed the other glider and held it over his head. "Hang on to the bottom and wait for a wind."
"You sure the water won't hurt it when I crash?"
"I'm sure-here, take it."
Neri did. The glider was light, she could hardly believe it would hold her weight. Then a breeze caught the wide wings and lifted her off her feet. She yelped in surprise.
"Jump." Jobah said.
"Jump off?"
"Don't worry."
Another, stronger breeze started and Neri cautiously pushed off the balcony. The wind pulled her up, to her surprised, and she found herself looking down at the palace from a new angle. It sparkled; it sparkled more from above.
The other glider flashed by, Miya not a slave to the wind but able to steer herself. Miya was grinning. The expression looked strange on her.
"Isn't this amazing!" Neri shouted to her.
"Oh yes!"
Neri was losing altitude; she couldn't reach the engine to go up like Miya could. Before her feet touched the water she dropped, splashing in at a strange angle. She stayed under until she heard the glider splash down, and then swam to get it. She came up in time to see Miya land perfectly on the balcony and catch her glider with one hand before it could fly away.
As Neri ran up the stairs she heard Jobah say, "Where did you learn to fly like that?"
A clack as Miya set the glider down. "I-I don't know. I've never seen one of these before."
"Are you certain? You've never come to Bandor?"
"I'm sure. I've been here all my life."
Neri reached the top to find them looking at each other: Jobah suspicious, dark eyes narrow, Miya innocent and unknowing. Neri said, "Can I try again? Show me how to ride like you can!"
Jobah smiled, and Neri wished it was within her power to make that smile last. She liked him much more than she should like anybody on the first day.
Neri was balancing shakily on top of the glider when she saw a dark shape in the sky. "Miya? Jobah? Do you see that?"
"Nothing."
"No." Jobah shaded his eyes and looked up, "Wait there's something there!"
It dived. Neri saw a vague crumpled shape. It hit the water and bounced up again, wings slimed with salt water.
Jobah shouted, "What is that?"
Miya swung back to the tower and landed.
Neri didn't know how to land; it was all she could do to stay in the air. She swung to face the creature. "What are you?"
Eight eyes shifted to look at her, not tracking together. The beast opened its fanged beak and grated out a hoarse cry. It sounded like it was in pain.
"Get in the water Neri!" Miya's voice carried urgently.
Neri wasn't listening. She balanced in the air and held out a calming hand. "Calm yourself, creature. I'll help you."
The thing wailed unhappily and attacked. Neri felt its claws catch her hand then rake through her hair. She screamed, lost control of the glider, and crashed down into the water. A minute later the creature fell in too and sank, trailing a cloud of red behind it. She stared at it for a long moment then came up.
Jobah stood on the balcony holding a strange object Neri belatedly recognized as a gun. It looked different from the picture she'd seen.
The flying monster must be dead then. That's what guns do. Neri choked on horror and climbed onto the lowest terrace. The glider floated, but she didn't want to go out and retrieve it.
"Neri! Are you all right?" Jobah ran down the stairs to her.
Neri could only gasp out, "You shot it!" more horrified by that than by her own danger.
"It was that or lose an arm when it attacked us. Are those things common?"
"No. That's not an Oceanna animal. It's nothing real."
"Nothing real?"
"I don't know what it was. Your gun scared me more than that creature did! It is a gun isn't it?"
"Yes." The gun had vanished somewhere. "I knew your planet didn't have much use for violence but you've never seen one..?"
Miya said, "You'd better keep it with you." Before Neri could say the opposite. "There are more of those creatures about, princess."
"How do you know?" Neri jumped up and faced the Promised One. Miya's hair was so long it blew around them both. "How do you know? What do you know about the monster?"
"I just know." Miya answered, her eyes wide and frightened. "I can sense when a monster is in this world but not how many or where!"
"What are they?"
"I don't know." With a quick Jump Miya went to retrieve the floating glider.
Neri sighed.
"On Bandor we'd call her a medium, someone who can learn things through senses other than her own. That's probably how she learned to fly. I'm sorry I frightened you."
"It's all right. Thank you for protecting Miya-and yourself too. May I see your gun?"
"Sure." Jobah looked surprised by her request, but he got the gun out of a pocket and handed it to her. "It's not armed now; it won't go off."
The gun was surprisingly heavy. It was small and chunky, made of a bronze colored metal. Neri held it out like he had, using both hands to keep it steady. "Tell me how to use it?"
"Um..." Jobah looked as if the sight of her with the gun unnerved him.
"Don't." Miya said. "Neri, never use one of those. Don't even think about it."
Jobah took back his weapon and tucked it away. "Wouldn't do you any good. It takes time to learn to aim."
"I didn't want to shoot things. I just wanted to know."
"Sorry for ganging up on you." Jobah said, smiling. "Want to fly some more?"
Neri noticed Miya didn't look apologetic at all. Neri shook her head, "I'd better check in with my uncle."
"I should go as well." Miya said simply. "I will see you both later." She dived and was gone.
Neri watched the water. Miya didn't come up to breathe.
"What's the 'Promised One'?" Jobah asked, "Adeen told me I should learn about this place, but I didn't."
"Your friend is smart, listen to him." Neri grinned, "Let's go inside. The Promised One is our legend. She's the hero who will appear when the world is in danger...."
"Uncle, what news?"
Neri had hardly spoken when Shema shoved past her. "King Nemon, when are you going to do do something about this? Our nets were shredded last night and the amphibians enjoy the fish that fightfully belong to my people!"
It seemed like a small matter but the winged queen was irate. Neri began, "I'll help you repair them, I'm not busy today..."
Her uncle sighed and shook his head, "Better not, Neri. To hear them tell it Shema's folk and Zardor's have been sabotaging each other all week. Don't let yourself be seen taking sides."
"My court has done nothing wrong! Thank you for your offer princess but we have help already." Shema pranced out.
"All week?" Neri asked, "And 'take sides'? It's that bad?"
"I'm afraid so."
Jobah stepped forward, "Forgive my alien's ignorance but aren't torn fishing nets well... a little petty?"
"Yes. Oh definitely. But pettiness is on in a plague. Don't think too badly of Shema; she's more level headed than she acts."
Neri thought she heard the prince mutter, "I should hope."
Then Jobah said aloud, "King Nemon, we were attacked today by a flying creature that looked, a little I guess, like one of the fliers but had no speech. I have a gun with me, and killed the creature when it came at Miya and myself."
"It's probably the only pure weapon on Oceanna."
"I know, now. With your permission though, I'd like to keep it. Oceanna seems to be getting dangerous lately."
"Granted, if you'll protect Neri."
"Of course."
"Neanda is my knight." Neri said, frowning.
Her uncle looked almost amused, as if she was being childish. "I know Neri. But no one person can be there for you all the time."
That was true. Neri let it pass. "Are there more monsters? Has anyone else seen them?"
"Yes, flying ones and aquatic ones."
"What are they?"
"I don't know. No one does."
"No one?" Neri repeated, astonished.
The king shook his head, "Neri have you spoken with Laziah since the day the Promised One appeared?"
"No."
"Nor has anyone. Neanda says he is well but he has not returned.
"I'll go... talk to both of them, if I can. Miya's gone again. "
"I wish I knew where she goes every day. But that's tomorrow's question. I'd come with you but I'm needed here. There are 'emergencies' every other minute."
Neri nodded, "It's all right. Jobah, come with me?"
"Of course."
Just outside the throne room she stopped, "I'm sorry... you came here to find your sister. You don't have to get tangled in our troubles."
Jobah looked down at her, half-smiling but with thoughtful eyes. "I think this is where I want to be, where I have the best chance of finding Galiel and Mera. Besides, dealing with troubles other than Bandor's in a relief!" He added lightly.
"Thank you. I'm very, very glad to have your help. Come on, I'll show you where the cavedwellers live! Wait, one question. Jobah, can you swim?"
Jobah stared, then began to laugh. "Yes, I can swim."
Elsewhere...
"Tell me, who is that man?"
"Prince Jobah of Bandor."
"Really."
"He brought flying machines and I know how to use them. I don't know how I learned, I must have dreamed it."
"You must have."
"The third one... I haven't found it yet. It is far from here. I will seek tonight."
"Do not hurt yourself hurrying. The time I have I am using well."