Chapter Thirteen: Twins
We returned to the blitzball game after eating and promising to meet up with Nathan down by the docks after the game.
The game went on for its last to periods and ended in an excitingly close battle between the Fangs and the Goers, in which the Fangs made their last shot in a period of five seconds. The final score was 5-6, with the Fangs as the victors.
Sanya jumped out of her seat and did a small victory dance. "Yeah! That shows those pansies what a real team is, ya?"
"Let's go down to the locker rooms and wait for Taira and Kiro," Ruka said.
"Righto!" Sanya said, brushing past a very angry looking woman, the same who'd fought with her before. The woman stomped off in the other direction, cursing at the Fangs under her breath.
Ruka bounded off after Sanya, and I followed cheerily. The blitzball game had been wonderful. I'd found myself blocking out everything else but the game while I'd been watching it. Sanya's shouts were unheard by my ears, which had been both focused on listening to the commentary, and I saw nothing but that sphere, with its various players swimming around inside, scoring goals, and waving to the fans every so often.
I'd found myself commenting on the game inside of my own mind. Taira, I'd found, was the best scorer on her team. She and Kiro played as if they were one brain being shared in two bodies. Each one's movements seemed to match the other's precisely, and they seemed to read each other's minds. They'd shoot a small glance and they would both know exactly what to do. They had complicated plays put together to get the ball in the goal, and most of the time they worked. I was amazed, and incredibly eager to talk to them.
We relived the entire game, almost play by play, as we walked down to the locker rooms. Sanya ensured us that when we got there that she'd get us in. She was an Auroch, after all.
Sanya argued with the guards in front of the entrance for a while before they let us go down. "What was that all about?" Oryon asked.
Sanya shook her head. "Stubborn guards. It's in their 'rules and regulations' that I have some proof of who I really am. Really! They act like they haven't seen me playin' for the last two years, ya?" She sighed and beckoned us forward. "Well, let's go!"
Loud, raucous laughter emanated from the Fangs' room and I caught a snatch of some of the things being said inside.
"He squeal like pig when you ram him Kiro!" a deep, feminine voice roared.
"Ya! Squeal like pig!" a masculine voice called out before the owner broke into fits of laughter.
Sanya chuckled. "Didya here those two? That'd be Taira and Kiro." She knocked on the door, lightly at first, then louder when it wasn't heard over the Fangs' loud voices.
"Who is it?" the same female voice called out.
"It's Sanya!"
"Sanya? We be there in a second! Hold!"
The door opened slowly to reveal a tall, skinny Ronso, donned in her uniform and with a big smile upon her feline face. White hair framed hung down below her shoulders and trailed down her back, braided in a strange fashion, but which looked perfect on her. She had beautiful golden eyes that shone with an innocent kind of mischief, almost like a child. "Hi! You come in! We tell you about piggy Goer," Taira said, taking Sanya's hand and leading her inside. "Bring friends, we celebrating!"
The Ronso gave us all a hearty welcome and invited us to celebrate with them as they continued their humorous intake on the game.
Taira looked closely at me. "Who you? Never seen you before. Where you from?" she inquired curiously, moving her face close to mine and looking me in the eyes.
"My name's Destiny," I said awkwardly. I could only answer the first question.
Ruka took over for me. "She has amnesia, Taira. She doesn't really know where she came from."
"Oh, sorry," the female Ronso said, moving her visage away from mine slowly. She turned to Sanya. "You going to play ball? Taira thought you weren't going to play this season."
"Wasn't planning on it," Sanya remarked, "but we got sidetracked, so I might as well, ya?"
"Ya!" a male Ronso remarked, sitting down next to Oryon. He was incredibly small and skinny for a male. He was almost identical to his sister. He had short white hair and the same mischievous golden eyes. He smiled and held out his clawed hand to me and then to Oryon. "I Kiro, nice to meetcha!"
I liked the twins instantly. They seemed very different from their quiet father. They were talkative and jovial. They joked and giggled madly, and soon had us doing the same. Oryon even joined in the laughing, though not as crazily or loudly as most of us were.
"You see when that guy miss goal? He such bad shot! Me think he need go back to school!" Taira said, chuckling and slapping her knee. She found humor in everything. You had to laugh at everything she said, because the way she said it was funny, and Kiro would add in his little comments after everything.
We stayed with the Fangs for about an hour, listening to their small anecdotes, laughing, and chatting with the Ronso before excusing ourselves.
"We promised to meet Nathan at the docks!" Sanya hissed at us.
"Aww. Sanya misses her boyfriend," Oryon snickered. Sanya blushed, and everyone chuckled.
Taira waved as we began to file out of the locker room. "Bye! We see you later! We go visit Father after 'while! See you then!"
"Ya! See you later!" Kiro echoed, waving from his seat on the benches.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Which dock were we supposed to meet him at?" Ruka asked. The worn Draconis sat in the dock before us. Carpenters and sailors crowded around it, shouting orders to each other as they tried to heal the once beautiful ship, with its slender draconic head torn from it, the graceful wings battered and worn, and its painted claws faded. It now seemed ghastly, the very image of a once sunken pirate ship now resurrected to haunt the world. The sail had been taken down and hauled to one corner of the dock, where it sat torn to pieces.
"Not here," Sanya said.
"I could see that," Ruka retorted.
"Why don't we just check them all?" I suggested, trying to be helpful.
Sanya frowned. "We'll probably hafta do that anyways." She grinned. "Oh well! Let's begin the search for Nathan!"
She bounded off cheerfully, anticipating seeing her boyfriend again.
"Well, let's go," Ruka said, shrugging and running to catch up with her eccentric best friend.
I grinned at Oryon. "C'mon, run with me!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
We returned to the blitzball game after eating and promising to meet up with Nathan down by the docks after the game.
The game went on for its last to periods and ended in an excitingly close battle between the Fangs and the Goers, in which the Fangs made their last shot in a period of five seconds. The final score was 5-6, with the Fangs as the victors.
Sanya jumped out of her seat and did a small victory dance. "Yeah! That shows those pansies what a real team is, ya?"
"Let's go down to the locker rooms and wait for Taira and Kiro," Ruka said.
"Righto!" Sanya said, brushing past a very angry looking woman, the same who'd fought with her before. The woman stomped off in the other direction, cursing at the Fangs under her breath.
Ruka bounded off after Sanya, and I followed cheerily. The blitzball game had been wonderful. I'd found myself blocking out everything else but the game while I'd been watching it. Sanya's shouts were unheard by my ears, which had been both focused on listening to the commentary, and I saw nothing but that sphere, with its various players swimming around inside, scoring goals, and waving to the fans every so often.
I'd found myself commenting on the game inside of my own mind. Taira, I'd found, was the best scorer on her team. She and Kiro played as if they were one brain being shared in two bodies. Each one's movements seemed to match the other's precisely, and they seemed to read each other's minds. They'd shoot a small glance and they would both know exactly what to do. They had complicated plays put together to get the ball in the goal, and most of the time they worked. I was amazed, and incredibly eager to talk to them.
We relived the entire game, almost play by play, as we walked down to the locker rooms. Sanya ensured us that when we got there that she'd get us in. She was an Auroch, after all.
Sanya argued with the guards in front of the entrance for a while before they let us go down. "What was that all about?" Oryon asked.
Sanya shook her head. "Stubborn guards. It's in their 'rules and regulations' that I have some proof of who I really am. Really! They act like they haven't seen me playin' for the last two years, ya?" She sighed and beckoned us forward. "Well, let's go!"
Loud, raucous laughter emanated from the Fangs' room and I caught a snatch of some of the things being said inside.
"He squeal like pig when you ram him Kiro!" a deep, feminine voice roared.
"Ya! Squeal like pig!" a masculine voice called out before the owner broke into fits of laughter.
Sanya chuckled. "Didya here those two? That'd be Taira and Kiro." She knocked on the door, lightly at first, then louder when it wasn't heard over the Fangs' loud voices.
"Who is it?" the same female voice called out.
"It's Sanya!"
"Sanya? We be there in a second! Hold!"
The door opened slowly to reveal a tall, skinny Ronso, donned in her uniform and with a big smile upon her feline face. White hair framed hung down below her shoulders and trailed down her back, braided in a strange fashion, but which looked perfect on her. She had beautiful golden eyes that shone with an innocent kind of mischief, almost like a child. "Hi! You come in! We tell you about piggy Goer," Taira said, taking Sanya's hand and leading her inside. "Bring friends, we celebrating!"
The Ronso gave us all a hearty welcome and invited us to celebrate with them as they continued their humorous intake on the game.
Taira looked closely at me. "Who you? Never seen you before. Where you from?" she inquired curiously, moving her face close to mine and looking me in the eyes.
"My name's Destiny," I said awkwardly. I could only answer the first question.
Ruka took over for me. "She has amnesia, Taira. She doesn't really know where she came from."
"Oh, sorry," the female Ronso said, moving her visage away from mine slowly. She turned to Sanya. "You going to play ball? Taira thought you weren't going to play this season."
"Wasn't planning on it," Sanya remarked, "but we got sidetracked, so I might as well, ya?"
"Ya!" a male Ronso remarked, sitting down next to Oryon. He was incredibly small and skinny for a male. He was almost identical to his sister. He had short white hair and the same mischievous golden eyes. He smiled and held out his clawed hand to me and then to Oryon. "I Kiro, nice to meetcha!"
I liked the twins instantly. They seemed very different from their quiet father. They were talkative and jovial. They joked and giggled madly, and soon had us doing the same. Oryon even joined in the laughing, though not as crazily or loudly as most of us were.
"You see when that guy miss goal? He such bad shot! Me think he need go back to school!" Taira said, chuckling and slapping her knee. She found humor in everything. You had to laugh at everything she said, because the way she said it was funny, and Kiro would add in his little comments after everything.
We stayed with the Fangs for about an hour, listening to their small anecdotes, laughing, and chatting with the Ronso before excusing ourselves.
"We promised to meet Nathan at the docks!" Sanya hissed at us.
"Aww. Sanya misses her boyfriend," Oryon snickered. Sanya blushed, and everyone chuckled.
Taira waved as we began to file out of the locker room. "Bye! We see you later! We go visit Father after 'while! See you then!"
"Ya! See you later!" Kiro echoed, waving from his seat on the benches.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Which dock were we supposed to meet him at?" Ruka asked. The worn Draconis sat in the dock before us. Carpenters and sailors crowded around it, shouting orders to each other as they tried to heal the once beautiful ship, with its slender draconic head torn from it, the graceful wings battered and worn, and its painted claws faded. It now seemed ghastly, the very image of a once sunken pirate ship now resurrected to haunt the world. The sail had been taken down and hauled to one corner of the dock, where it sat torn to pieces.
"Not here," Sanya said.
"I could see that," Ruka retorted.
"Why don't we just check them all?" I suggested, trying to be helpful.
Sanya frowned. "We'll probably hafta do that anyways." She grinned. "Oh well! Let's begin the search for Nathan!"
She bounded off cheerfully, anticipating seeing her boyfriend again.
"Well, let's go," Ruka said, shrugging and running to catch up with her eccentric best friend.
I grinned at Oryon. "C'mon, run with me!"
~*~*~*~*~*~