Chapter Five - Kootan

In the Xadran Book of Legend it was written,

"Three islands form a tiny circle in the ocean between the Great Forest and the shores of Neos. They are not found on any map, for they only appear to those in need of their secret. It is in the waters these islands enclose where magic is found that can either remove life or reverse death."

Magic with the power to kill or resurrect! Lazer had those words in mind the dreadful day he left the smoldering remains of Xadra behind. As the Book said, the islands revealed themselves. He had talked with someone, nameless, who hid himself among the trees. Reaching out to the stranger, his psychic sense came up against a force of ancient power, unreadable. It was the second conversation he had had since his father's death…

But that was six years in the past. Perhaps the faceless person had moved onward?

While the sun went to sleep, and the moon awoke in the eastern sky, Lazer sped over the darkening waters. If he saw the blackened shores of Neos before the three islands, he would turn back. Seeing his homeland again would cause him to linger, and Rebecca was waiting.

            By the light of the moon he saw bright blue water reflected far below, out of place in the midst of the dark sea. He swooped downward, his quills streaming out like wings.

***

            Walking on a beach at night is a strange experience. It was to Lazer. Moonlight cast the sand in stark white contrast with the endless darkness of the ocean and sky. To his right slept the still, silent island, its secrets untouched and its flora wild. Breeze was constant, threshing the sharp salty air through his quills. Waves foamed onto the beach, carrying the timeless sound of the sea to his ears. The soft crunch of his boots on a shore dusted with seashells was his only companion.

            Solitude. But not quite… there was magic here, and it was not just a force of nature, it was alive.

You can think some strange thoughts while walking a beach at night. Who am I? What is the purpose of meaning? Lazer entertained no such nonsense, his mind was busy seeking the being, certain it was the stranger he encountered before. Mister Stranger's mind flitted about with weird randomness, sometimes completely disappearing from one spot and reappearing instantly in another. Lazer stood very still, closed his eyes and sent a thought.

"Hello."

A thought was returned from a mind as strong as it was ancient. Mister Stranger kept still.

"Hello. What is your purpose here?"

"I wish for death."

Lazer sensed Mister Stranger smile.

"You carry a sword. It can drink your blood."

This time Lazer smiled.

"Let me specify. I wish to be mortal."

"Ah, you wish, do you? Your wish is in vain. Chaos Emeralds have made your life a deathless life. Is this not the ultimate dream of all who live?"

Lazer's smile faded.

"Not mine."

Mister Stranger paused.

"What do you ask of me?"

"Let me use the waters of this island to remove what the Emeralds have cursed me with."

"A curse, you say? None understand your plight better than I. But what is your reason for this, Lazer?"

Mister Stranger knew his name. Unsurprising.

"I shall not say."

Again, Mister Stranger paused. Lazer picked up emotions of curiosity, not something you would expect from a mind that old.

"Lazer, I am Kootan, guardian of these waters. There is but one way to access their magic."

"So be it."

Reaching behind, Lazer drew out the blue-white metal of his katana.

And Kootan came.

Pale Luna's light revealed a bronze salamander, his limbs wrinkled with age, yet his stride was swift and confident. No frailty was in the lithe muscles of his wiry frame. A short, fluttering black cape, tied at the neck, and a simple loincloth were his garb. Blue eyes that had witnessed the passing of ages directed their gaze at the younger, unwavering eyes of Lazer.

"You are no ordinary hedgehog," nodded Kootan, his hands folded out of sight behind his back.

"You are no ordinary salamander," rejoined Lazer, holding his sword at the ready.

            They went at it. Lazer quickly recovered from his initial shock - the old salamander easily matched his speed and strength with the first clash of katana against kodachi, the short sword of a ninja. Questions would come later; the time of action was now.

            Circling each other under pallid moonlight, they sized each other up. Body language, the quickness of breath – nothing could be missed, for they betrayed a readiness to attack or defend. Knowledge of an opponent's weapon was of paramount importance – remembering his sensei's teaching Lazer knew the kodachi to be capable of less damage, but faster than the longer katana.

            Lazer started running. He was indirect, crossing Kootan back and forth, testing reflexes that proved to be perfect as a low kick then a slash to the midsection were blocked. Sword and body were equal in strength.

            "Very fast, but he can't attack very well with that short sword, doesn't have enough reach, so he can only block… unless…"

            So quickly did Kootan throw that Lazer held up his paw and relied on the Chaos Emeralds to save him. They did: no less than fifteen shurikens hit the sand at the same time.

            "One hand! Astonishing."

            Lazer blinked. And as he did, he felt the air move behind him and twisted out of the way in time to avoid a deadly stab to his lungs. Reacting with a forward thrust, Lazer ducked under a second stab and almost hit Kootan square in the chest.

            But Kootan was not there.

            "What are you attacking?"

            Impossible. Kootan was now the same place he had been a second ago! Lazer spun around.

            "How? Not even Chaos Control is that fast!"

            "Patience."

            Kootan's other hand flashed out. Lazer saw a swarm of shurikens take flight but was now fully alert. With one hand gripping his sword, he swatted aside twenty shurikens in blindingly fast motions.

            "Showing off, are we?" murmured Kootan, tucking a hand under his cape. Lazer pointed his sword double-handed toward Kootan in a defense stance.

            Fwish!

            A kunai with chain! It wrapped itself tightly around the blade and held firm. Kootan yanked the chain and Lazer was drawn irresistibly forward. Digging his heels into the soft sand was useless. It was like tug-of-war with a mountain. Kootan snapped the chain to him and Lazer was flicked upward, the kunai releasing its vice grip. Kootan met the hedgehog in midair amidst a shower of shurikens. Mini stars bounced off an invisible barrier and his short sword was bitten by the katana.

They landed and began circling again.

            "Truly extraordinary," noted Kootan. He saw Lazer's blade dart toward him in a dazzling succession of strokes. His faster kodachi staved off the flurry attack in a blur of flashing steel.

            At a stalemate, they did what any other decent warriors would do, and talked, warily circling on the sand where nearly a hundred spent shurikens lay.

            "You fought my sensei, didn't you? He told me of a bronze ninja he wounded three times, on the right shoulder, below the left knee, and across the chest. You bear similar scars."

            A wrinkled eyebrow rose.

            "Was he a red hedgehog like you, slightly taller, and wore green clothing?"

            "Yes, clothing marked with the symbol of Wanrikken,"

            Lazer lifted his sword sheath where three triangles were painted side-by-side, a white triangle flanked by two black ones.

            "Arikam Saotome," said Kootan wistfully, "A foolish lad when I met him, though he was older than you at the time. Thought he could save his honour in a sword fight."

            Lazer stopped circling and lowered his sword. Kootan did the same.

            "Go on."

            "I beat him in a footrace," Kootan said, "When Adrax City still existed. I remember all his friends laughing at him, an energetic young fellow bested by a relic like me."

            "He challenged you?"

            "As I said. A true master he was, you know the scars he gave me."

            "Then he defeated you?"

            Kootan narrowed his eyes.

            "I knocked the sword from his paw and kicked him in the head. He woke up two weeks later."

            Lazer flung back his head and laughed. So that's why Arikam never said who won. Containing his mirth, while Kootan stood by unsmiling, Lazer held his sword up once more.

            "You know our fighting style?"

            "Indeed. Did it go something like this?"

            Kootan became many. Lazer was impressed; the images of Kootan that now stood around him were pure chi energy.

            "Very good, ninja, but there's a slight flaw to your style."

            "Oh?" came the collective response of Kootan's clones, crouching for the kill with kodachi in hand.

            "Yes."

            Lazer became many.

            "There is only one master."

            Whack.

Never, in the annals of his personal history, could Kootan remember such sheer amazement, delivered by a single blow to the back of his skull. Disoriented, he clutched sand and broken shells in his claws.

Lazer re-sheathed his sword.

"No, sensei, no need to thank me…"

***

            "Welcome back to the world of the living."

            "Bah! It is too soon."

            Sand slid off Kootan's body as he stood, unharmed.

            "You fought without the intention of killing," he observed, causing Lazer to shrug.

            "The waters might not work their magic without you."

            "Hah! So my life's worth is measured by my worth to you?"

            "I would say the same of my life."

            Kootan held out his hand and the shurikens that were scattered on the sand jumped up and flew into a neat stack. He tucked them away, without any fuss, under his cape.

            "Ah yes, your purpose of being here is to lose your life. Since I now have a sizeable lump on my head your wish shall be granted. Come."

            They went to the heart of the islands. Lazer saw that the islands were not connected, allowing the ocean free reign among them. At the islands' center, however, a pool of brilliant sapphire lay, defying the deep blue ocean waters surrounding it.

            "Go ahead," Kootan said, and sat down on a smooth rock, twiddling his toes in the sea.

            "What?"

            "Submerge yourself, boy," he said, impatiently waving his hand toward the pool.

            Leaving his shoes, gloves and sword in Kootan's care Lazer strode into the ocean, wading his way toward the center. Cold oceanic current gave way to placid warmth in the zone of supernatural water. He held a breath and went under.

            Kootan drew out Lazer's sword and inspected it. A katana is made of strong steel on the outer edges, honed to reflect like a mirror on the cutting edge. At the heart of the sword softer steel is used to absorb shock without warping the blade. The best and strongest of katanas are made of two metals joined together, a painstaking process that requires well over six months to accomplish. While mulling over these details Kootan saw a huge flaw in this katana, which he could not notice in the heat of battle: this katana had been repaired. A katana that is broken is never repaired, for the sword must be of uniform strength or else it becomes unbalanced and, worst of all, easily breakable. Yet his strongest blows were resisted by this repaired katana. Curious.

            Ah, the hedgehog was rising from, literally, his watery grave, for the immortal Lazer had died. The dripping red hedgehog that sloshed landward might live years longer than average, but would surely die, as all creatures do, someday. Kootan replaced the flawed sword and stood.

            "Congratulations," he hailed, "You belong to the world of the dead."

            "Thank you."

            Putting aside the gallows humour Kootan asked the question that had nagged him from the start.

            "Why?"

            Eyeing him, Lazer suffused red heat and was dry.

            "My lover is mortal. I do not wish to outlive her, or my child."

"Child? Your species reproduces in litters."

            "Who am I to question Nature? The same gods that placed five Chaos Emeralds within me placed a single child within Rebecca."

            "How unnatural," murmured Kootan, "That hedgehogs produce a single heir?"

            Lazer blinked.

            "We're planning for more."

            Kootan cackled and looked for all the world like an old geezer. Slapping Lazer on the shoulder he said,

            "Good, good. Plan for the future, then, as I plan my own. I have been here ten years and grow weary of the tropical sunshine and calm breezes. Fighting you has revived me, losing to you made me aware of how fragile even my life is. I shall go back with you!"

            Lazer blinked again.

            "I can't carry you! But…"

            "Hah! I shall show you true magic!"

            Stepping back several paces Kootan turned to the East and lifted his left hand high.

            "Trestrail Hollows! I AM!"

            Lazer's eyes popped wide open. Without any flourish, or lightshow, Kootan was now the size of an ant. Then he vanished and Lazer heard a voice in his head.

            "I'm sitting on one of your needles. Shall we go?"

            "I was going to use Chaos Control, until you did that."

            "Mere teleportation? Boring! You will fly."

            "But my wife…"

            "Fly, boy!"

            Muttering that Kootan was the ghost of sensei Arikam, Lazer forsook the earth and soared through the night, gliding with the westward wind.