Updated May 18, 2005
Just a few minor grammatical changes, nothing major.
chapter seven: parallel
Upon entering Old Home, Roku was greeted by several Young Feathers running about in the courtyard. They all ran up to him, surrounding him and staring at his left side. A sound of awe came form each child's open mouth, jaws on the floor.
"Hi there." Roku said, smiling and waving to each of the children.
The children immediately screamed joyfully and ran away, leaving a dumbfounded Roku behind.
"What was that about?" He turned to see Kana approach him.
"I dunno." Roku said, scratching his head. "I just said 'Hi', and then they all screamed and ran away..."
"It's because SOMEBODY has been spreading a rumor about you." Nemu approached Roku, dragging a struggling boy behind her. "Apologize to Roku this instant!"
"Eh?" Roku observed the young feather. His face was muddy and wet, giving the appearance of a sad puppy, with the exception of the feathers and halo. Roku bent down and smiled at the boy.
"What nasty little rumor has this little monster been spreading about me?" Roku said, patting the boy on his head. The boy grew angrier as Roku stroked his hair.
"My name's 'Dai' and don't you forget it!" He slapped Roku's hand away.
"Dai, huh?" Roku stood up. "So what's this rumor about?" Dai looked up at Nemu. Immediately she glared at him, as if trying to say "tell him".
"Uh..." Dai looked to the ground. "I said that at night your left arm comes back and strangles people to death..." Roku immediately became silent.
"So apologize!" Nemu shouted, forcing a laugh out of Kana.
"... sorry..." Dai whispered.
"Sorry for what?" Nemu shouted.
"I'm sorry for spreading that rumor about you..." He immediately ran away to join the other Young Feathers.
"Well..." Nemu said, wiping her hands. "That's that... eh, Roku?" She saw him standing there with a shocked look on his face. She waved her hand in front of his face, getting his attention.
"What's wrong?" Kana asked.
"Nothing..." Roku said. He immediately changed the subject. "So. What does master want me to do today?" He went down to one knee before Kana.
"Well..." Kana thought for a moment. "Help me salvage some of the gears in the clock tower. I saw the note from the Renmei, so your lucky butt gets a short day today." She snapped her fingers. "Now let's go and eat breakfast! Rakka and Hikari picked up some doughnuts, so let's fill up."
"Yes ma'am!" Roku said jokingly. He bowed several times, walking backwards toward the dining room.
Inside the dining room, Hikari and Rakka were both chatting away while nibbling on their doughnuts and sipping on their tea. Roku sat down and helped himself to several doughnuts and a cup of tea.
"So what were you doing earlier?" Nemu asked, sitter at her chair. "I went to your room to wake you, but you weren't there."
"Yeah, where'd you go?" Kana asked.
"I wanted to see the south end of town. The walls are huge." He finished his first doughnut.
"You went to see the walls?" Rakka asked, suddenly worried. "Did you touch it?"
"No. But I did see the Communicator there."
"What did he say?" Kana asked.
"Nothing." He lied.
"Well, since you have to stay at the Temple for the night, I'll go and pack you some blankets." Rakka said, getting up from her chair.
"No, I'll do it myself." Roku said, motioning for Rakka to sit back down. "Thanks, anyways."
"Why do you have to stay at the temple tonight, anyways?" Hikari finally spoke.
"Actually..." Roku started, finishing his second doughnut. "I don't really know. When I ran into the Communicator earlier, I asked if he wanted to talk right then and there... but he said the time was inappropriate... Have any of you stayed there overnight?"
"No" Nemu said, vouching for the others as well. "This is the first time that the Renmei wanted somebody to spend the night there... At least, that's as far as I know of it..."
"Hmmm..." Roku leaned back in his chair. Not knowing how to respond to what Nemu said, he continued eating his share of doughnuts.
later
After breakfast, Roku and Kana quickly set out to salvage any usable gears from the clock tower. Though handicapped, Roku volunteered to climb several wooden beams in order to reach gears near the bells on the very top. Checking each and every one of the rusted gears, he found that almost none were useable, and that they would need a crane to be able to access the bells, as well as remove the face of the clock to do any further repairs.
"Damn..." Kana said checking her pocket watch. "You think anyone in town would lend a crane to us?"
Roku hopped off of a beam and onto the floor. Wiping his hand on his pants, he looked up and shook his head.
"Maybe Pops could persuade some of his friends to lend us a crane." He thought for a moment. "But then again, I think they're using it at the moment."
Kana sat on a wood box in the corner of the room and sighed loudly to herself. "Dammit... this'll take forever..." She scratched her forehead. "And it was working perfectly before you came..."
"You blaming me?" Roku placed a cigarette in his mouth.
"No smoking." Kana said, prompting Roku to return the cigarette in the box. "And no, I'm not blaming you... it's just that I worked so hard to rig it up so it could run off of electricity, instead of inertia..."
"How long did it take you?" Roku leaned against the wall next to Kana.
"About a month and a half... and that was just the wiring." She put her head in her hands.
"I'm sure with the both of us working on it; it'll be fixed by the end of winter." He counted the months in his head. "It's the end of summer, so we'll have what?Six months? No problem."
"You think so?" She looked up at Roku.
"Yeah, as long as we get a crane as soon as possible..." He smiled as he scratched his nose.
"Uh, problem?" She returned her head to her hands. "The summer harvest festival is tomorrow. Nearly everything's closed until this Sunday."
"'Till Sunday? Why?"
"It's tradition. This Wednesday marks the end of summer. After tomorrow, there's supposedly no season until three days pass, and then fall starts on Sunday."
"Weird..."
"I know." Kana sighed loudly again.
"Is there some sort of ceremony that goes on during the next four days?"
"Hmmm..." Kana looked up and thought for a few seconds. "Well, the Tooga are coming tomorrow to trade. Even though the entire town isn't supposed to talk in the Tooga's presence, there's always a big crowd just to see them."
"You think that's why the Communicator wants me to stay at the temple?" Roku saton the floor,shifting himselfoverto Kana.
"I dunno. The Tooga seem to have a liking toward you, after giving you that gun and all."
"You think so?"
They both sat there, talking to each other for the entire day. Conversations went back and fourth between several topics, but both Roku and Kana never really cared about the subject itself. An obvious tension grew between them, thickening with every passing moment. Kana was never comfortable around guys her age for several reasons, with no experience talking to any being theprimary reason. Roku, on the other hand had a darker secret lurking in the back of his head. He unconsciously reminded himself of that girl in his dream. How horrific he had treated her; how he had killed her in a brutal manner. He wanted to avoid any and all of it.
By the time the sun was setting, both Roku and Kana's voices were hoarse and scratchy. They had both jolted up, not realizing that they were leaning each other, shoulder-to-shoulder. Before one could say something, a voice was heard from below.
"HEY! DINNER TIME!" It was Nemu.
Roku and Kana smiled at each other, not knowing what else to say. Heading downstairs, they both found that it was no easy task. Kana felt a strange sensation growing from within. It wasn't sickness, nor was it the massive amounts of dust that she inhaled earlier. She didn't bother talking to Roku about it, though she found it strange that when she tried to say something, the feeling grew stronger. Passing it off as hunger, she punched Roku in the arm as she ran out the door and into the West Wing.
(PC)...
Before dinner, I went to my room to prepare for tonight's meeting the Communicator. I found a small duffel bag in the closet and filled it with things that I though I might need. Clothes, undergarments, and my hair brush were thrown in along with a bottle of aspirin for good measure. Satisfied, I brought it downstairs and set it against the front door.
As we sat at the dining table about to enjoy our meal of Spaghetti and garlic bread, a soft knocking was heard coming from the front door. Rakka was the first to stand and answer the door.
"Rakka?" I called out after a few seconds of silence. "Who's there?"
As if on cue, she emerged from the hall way and back into the dining room. Behind her followed the Communicator. The girls instantly became quiet, not wanting to offend the Communicator.
"Are you ready?" He asked. Immediately I stood and shook my right wing, answering that I was ready, though I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to even taste the spaghetti.
"Good. We shall take our leave." He motioned for me to follow him outside. Before doing so, I opened my duffel bag, making sure to double check my gear as well as the gun strapped to my chest. Confirming that everything was where it was needed to be, I hoisted the bag off the ground and over my shoulder. I waved good-bye to the girls, and followed the Communicator out the door.
As we both walked past the gates of Old Home, my stomach growled uncontrollably, embarrassing me in front of the Communicator. I tried everything to make the growling stop, but nothing worked. Eventually, my stomach stopped itself, returning the silence that was once there. The Communicator stopped near the bulletin board and turned my name tag around to the red side.
"You are hungry, yes?" The Communicator asked, continuing to walk out of Old Home.
I raised my right wing to answer yes, but realized that there were no bells attached to me. I hesitated a little, not knowing weather to speak or run ahead of him and then answer again.
"You needn't worry; you are always allowed to talk to me." He said.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"You'll see in time. Now answer my question."
"Well, I was in the Clock Tower all day with Kana."
"And?"
"We were just talking all day, so I never had the chance to eat lunch..." I rubbed my stomach, which growled once again.
"Hahaha!" He laughed. "Do not worry. There is a reason why I chose to retrieve you at this time. Before I left, I had the Renmei prepare a meal for us." He then continued laughing to himself.
It was awkward heading the Communicator laugh so heartily. I had always thought that he was a man of little words; at least that's what I had gathered from all of our meetings.
"Why so many riddles? Why don't you just tell me now?" I spoke before I even knew what I had said. I quickly tried to stop myself, but it was too late. The Communicator halted and turned to face me.
"When the time is right, everything will be clear to you." He sounded like a cliché story to me. I sighed to myself, upset that he answered my question with yet another mystery.
During the rest of the walk to the Temple, I kept to myself, hoping that the Communicator would do so as well. Luckily, he did, making the rest of the walk to the temple as silent as possible, with the exception of the sound of our footsteps. After what felt like an eternity, the Temple came into view.I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the long awkward walk with the Communicator was over.
Outside the Templedoorswas a Renmei Member ready to greet us and place the silver bells on my wings and wrist. He bowed toward me, and then opened the large doors. He then led us through the inner forest and into the same room that I had seen Rakka enter. Inside was a dank stone hallway, lit by small torches, giving it a subtle orange hue. We walked through the winding tunnels, turning left and right as if we were inside of a snake, until we reached a wooden door. I thought it strange that a hall way that seemed to be carved from stone would have a single door made of wood, while the rest were sliding blocks of granite.
The Renmei Member then made hand symbols, focusing them toward the Communicator. They exchanged signals several times, prompting me to wonder what they were doing. Finally, the door opened and out emerged another Renmei Member. The Communicator signaled for me to follow him. Inside was whatappeared to be a dining hall, list byliterally millions of candles. The room itself seemed to be carved from the innards of a giant tree. I found no decorations on the walls, only a long table with only two places set for a meal. The Renmei Members ushered me toward the far end, setting me down and taking my duffle bag. They exited the room, leaving me alone with the Communicator at the opposite end of the table. I felt nervous not having him close to me. He seemed to be miles away, though in reality he was only about twenty feet ahead of me.
"That's odd..." I thought to myself. "Just a few moments ago, I wanted him as far from meas possible..."
"What's all this about?" I asked nervously.
"Hmm?" The Communicator sipped on what looked like a large teacup. "Oh, it's dinner time."
"Where's everyone else?" I looked around, but only found one door.
"Everyone else? Oh, they're preparing the meals for us. Only ten members of the Haibane Renmei reside here, including myself, so everyone works."
"Only ten?" I was shocked at the small amount of residents here. Judging from the sheer size of the hallway, and this table, I had assumed that there were at least fifty members of the Renmei.
"Yes, that is the limit." The replaced his teacup onto it's saucer. "I'm sure you have many more questions, but now is not the time."
"But I thought you called me here for our usual meeting?"
"No." He reached under the table and retrieved a large tome. "You are here to learn the Language of the Tooga."
"Language of the Tooga?"
"They are visiting tomorrow during the Summer Harvest Festival. They wish to meet with you personally."
"But I can't learn a new language in one night!"
"It is not a vocal language, but a language of the hands."
"You mean that sign language that you were doing earlier?"
"Yes."
"But I saw you using both hands at the same time... how can I..." I looked to my left side. The pain that I felt from the amputation slowly seeped back into that area. I held the pain inside, trying not to show it.
"Let us begin with dinner first. Students absorb information better with a full stomach."
As if on cue, a Renmei Member came in, pushing a cart with domed silver platters on top. He first served the Communicator and then me. Slowly, I opened the dome cover, and peeked inside.
"Spaghetti?" I was surprised to see such a simple meal of spaghetti and garlic bread in such a lavish temple.
"I do enjoy a nice simple dish, once in a while." The Communicator chuckled.
I was a little at ease after seeing the pasta before me.
"He probably asked the Renmei to make spaghetti before he came to pick me up... This must be the reason why he was laughing so mush earlier..." I thought to myself as I lifted my fork from the table.
"It is." Once again, the Communicator read my thoughts. "You see? Things are beginning to clear up, little by little."
(PC)...
The next morning, the girls of Old Home prepared themselves and the Young Feathers for a day off at the Summer Harvest Festival. It was getting a bit brisk outside, so they each wore something warm, taking Rakka's advice to try and not catch a cold. Before they left, they had a small breakfast of a bowl of fruit and cereal.
Naturally, the children started complaining that they wanted doughnuts, until Dai and Hana reminded the rest of the Young Feathers about Roku's predicament. Immediately, the Young Feathers gobbled the cereal, splashing milk and crumbs every which way.
After catching up with the Young ones, the girls took their time and cleaned the dishes, annoying the children on purpose. After a while when everything was done and counted for; off they went to the now festive town of Glie.
Banners wishing for a good winter season were hung everywhere, and bands played autumn tunes of joy. To Rakka, everyone seemed to be in a great mood. Though when she looked over her shoulder at Kana, that feeling soon evaporated and turned into worry.
"What's wrong?" Rakka asked.
"Nothing." Kana replied, trying to keep up with the child she was holding.
"I know you better than that, Kana." Rakka said. "You can't fool me."
"Well..." Kana started. "I was just wondering what the Renmei is doing to Roku. After the way he was treated, you'd think he'd be in hell talking to them, let alone spend an entire night over there."
"Roku is a good Haibane." Rakka said, holding a finger in Kana's face. "And Good Haibanes do what they are told."
"Hmph." Kana grunted. "You are such a goody two shoes." She rubbed her knuckles on Rakka's head.
"Ow! That hurts!"
"Shhhh!" Nemu grabbed the attention of the both of them. "They're holding market at the square."
Immediately, the group of Haibanes from Old Home ran over to the town gates to catch a glimpse of the incoming Tooga. This was the first time that the Young Feathers had seen the Tooga, so the girls had to put in extra effort to keep them quiet.
After a few moments of silence, the gates of Glie opened, and in came several Tooga, pulling carts filled with goods behind them. A horn sounded, playing a tune of celebration toward the crowd. From a tent to the left of the gates, came the Communicator, as well as an entourage of ten Renmei members.
"Hey..." Hikari whispered to the girls. "Look at that..." She pointed to a Renmei Member dressed in a silver cloak, instead of the uniform dark grey. The Member seemed to be observing the area, instead of facing forward like the rest. His silver mask was in the shape of a diamond, accented with colorful lines of sky blue and black. What stood out the most was the person's wings. Instead of being covered in cloth like the others, it was covered in silver mail and bells.
"Roku?" Kana wondered. She ran to the front of the crowd and got a closer look at the new Renmei Member. She gasped in surprise when she saw that his left sleeve was limp and lifeless, almost as if nothing was there to support it...
"Roku!" She called out to him. Fearing for Kana's life, Nemu ran over to her and covered Kana's mouth before anymore sound escaped. Kana struggled a bit until she finally calmed down, realizing that she was breaking sacred rules.
The girls then gathered in the best possible area to observe what was going on. They were each curious, especially after they all confirmed that the new Renmei Member was indeed Roku.
The Communicator signaled for Roku to stand at his side. They both then walked over to a Tooga that seemed to be the leader of the rest. His brown cloak had a little bit more designs sewn onto the rim of the hood. After a few exchanges of hand symbols between the Communicator and the Leader, Roku stepped forward, showing himself to the Tooga. The Leader then laid his hands of Roku's shoulder, appearing to inspect Roku's body. After a brief moment of awkwardness, the Leader then made more hand symbols, this time toward Roku.
"Oh no..." Rakka whispered to the girls. "He can't do the hand symbols because of his missing arm..." The girls were now worried that Roku would respond the wrong way and be punished for it. But to their surprise, Roku responded to the Leader by showing hand symbols, though he did more symbols than when the Leader did. With their jaws on the floor, the girls continued to watch as an entire conversation occurred between Roku and the Leader of the Tooga.
After a while, the Leader signaled for another Tooga to present to Roku an elaborate wooden box and a smaller, yet equally decorated blue cube. Another Tooga quickly stood before Roku, and bowed. He then placed a silver chain-link necklace around Roku's hood, trying not to see each other's eyes. Roku took the box and cube from the first Tooga and then bowed to the Leader, afterwards returning to the pack of Renmei Members. The Communicator turned to Roku and made a few hand symbols toward him. Roku bowed once more, and then walked over to the girls, whose mouths were still hanging from their heads. He removed his mask and smiled to them as if nothing happened.
"Hey." He said casually.
The girls then grabbed a hold of his cloak and dragged him away from the gates of Glie. They pulled him across town, not allowing him to speak. He struggled to stay on his feet, but the force of all four girls pulling him, and a few playful Young Feathers, made the act extremely difficult. Eventually, the girls sat Roku down onto a table at Café Kartie. Immediately they interrogated him, squeezing from him any information about what had just happened. Nemu was the first to speak.
"Just what was that?" She asked. "What exactly did you do at the temple last night?"
"Well..." Roku removed his hood and brushed his hair with a napkin. He then took the necklace off from around the hood, and repositioned it around his neck. "I learned the Language of the Tooga."
"The Language of the Tooga?" Rakka started. "You mean the hand symbols you were doing?"
"Yeah."
"But how were you able to do that? Don't you need two hands to do it correctly?" Rakka hit the palm of her hand on the table, surprising everyone, including herself.
"It's odd, but they actually have a rule for people with only one hand." He held up his hand and showed them a symbol. "You see, they read from left to right, so the first sign that I do would represent my left hand. Then the next sign I do would represent my right hand."
"I see. So the Tooga are prepared for anything that might happen..." Hikari said.
"I guess." Roku scratched his nose.
"Enough of this!" Kana said, standing up. She pointed at the box in Roku's lap. "What did the Tooga give you this time? And what did they say to you?"
"Hmm..." Roku opened the box, revealing hundreds of bullets, obviously made for his gun. "They just wanted to meet me in person for the first and last time."
"First and last?" Rakka asked.
"Well, they're supposedly getting replaced. Every once in a while a new set of Tooga are chosen, the old ones get replaced. So the next time the Tooga visit, it'll be their first time. I have no idea who or what chooses the Tooga, so don't bother asking."
"So what's with all the bullets?" Kana sat back down.
"They wanted to tell me to practice my marksmanship. I don't know why, but I feel as though they can see the future. They told me that I was supposed to watch over all of the Haibane, even those in Abandoned factory."
"You?" Kana laughed. "The 'Protector' of all of Us?" she laughed a bit more.
"I don't quite understand it myself. I don't like the feeling I get when I'm holding the things that the Tooga have given me.It just doesn't feel right."
Silence fell upon the group of Haibane sitting around the table. Roku looked down as he rolled in his hand the blue cube that the Tooga had given him. Hikari finally broke the silence.
"What is that?" Kana asked, pointing to the cube in Roku's hand.
"Well... I don't know..." He said, inspecting the cube up close. It was the color of the sky, decorated with silver trinkets and chains, though it was only about two inches all around.
"Is it for your gun?" Nemu asked.
"No." Roku tossed the cube in the air and caught it. "It's pissing me off, but they told me to use it when the time is right."
The girls looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Sounds kinda lame, huh?" He scratched the back of his head.
end chapter seven
disclaimer: with the exception of Roku, Gordon, Magdalene, Naota and the names "Horton" for the old clothes dealer, and "Dante" for the assistant baker, I do not own any characters that have made an appearance in the story. I did this for fun, not for money. If you own these characters, please don't sue me. Please don't ruin my fun. Also, if you wish to paste this onto your site, please ask permission first and give credit where credit's due.