ArmoredSoul: Yes, Khazuma is the martial arts teacher (like Kazuma from FB).
Thanks for the reviews, everyone! If you get confused about characters or places, feel free to ask :)
Disclaimer: FB doth not belong to me, nor doth anything else you recognize.
Chapter 36
The weather, apparently, was unaware that once school ended, it meant summer had arrived. The last day of school, the sun shone while everybody celebrated, students and staff alike. In an ornery turnabout, the next morning portentous dark grey clouds hung over Lhasa, and a steady, unrelenting rain poured all day.
"Lhoru, it's so dreary!" groaned Khagura. The pig had come to spend the night with Lhoru, and of course, to see her beloved Lhadoman. Once he freed herself from Khagura's suffocating hug, Lhadoman had taken the first opportunity to escape to his room and lock the door. Naturally, Khagura promptly kicked the door down and punched Lhadoman. Lhoru somehow pulled Khagura away. The two girls were now in the living room, watching a movie and eating Lhoru's best sweet cakes.
"I'm happy it rains here," Lhoru said through a mouthful of pastry. "I hear they often get droughts in Tsavo."
"Pooh, it'supposed to be summer!" huffed Khagura. Alarmed, Lhoru could see her friend's hot temper start to boil.
"I know! Why don't you cook Lhado some cookies?" Lhoru leapt to her feet too quickly and knocked over her drink. "I'll help!" Lhoru hastily added, when she remembered how dangerous Khagura was in a kitchen.
"Great idea! It might cheer up Lhado!" agreed Khagura enthusiastically. Then her face dropped suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Momentarily Lhoru's hand stilled in the process of wiping off the spill with several napkins.
"Nothing, just remembered something I need to buy later next week," lied Khagura. She'd forgotten Lhadoman only had a year left before Asheno locked him up in the small shack reserved for the cat. And most likely there would be nothing she could do about it.
As Khagura followed Lhoru to the kitchen, it occurred to her how strange it was that she had become good friends with her rival for Lhadoman's affections. Normally she'd have beaten any other girl down, but Lhoru accepted the family curse so easily. Khagura couldn't alienate a special outsider like her. She knew Lhoru probably loved Lhadoman, and for the first time, Khagura had the distinct feeling she was fighting a losing war. Her oldest sister, Falana, told her many times Lhadoman didn't return her feelings, and she'd never wanted to listen. Many a door had perished in Khagura's wake of destruction after a fight with Falana.
"Khagura? Khagura?"
The pig hugged her furry cat backpack closer to her chest. Falana was only trying to help her, but she'd been pursuing Lhadoman for so long that it was now an impulse as natural as drinking water.
"Khagura?" Finally she snapped out of her reverie, Lhoru's worried look coming back into focus. "Do you feel well? Can I get you anything?"
How could she hate someone as kind as Lhoru? "Uh, I feel pretty tired, actually," said Khagura. It wasn't far from the truth, either. "I think I'll lie down for a while, if you don't mind."
"Are you sick?" pressed Lhoru, her anxiety building.
"No, Lhoru," smiled Khagura weakly, in an attempt to ease her friend's fears. "I just need rest."
"Let me know if you need anything, all right?" Lhoru called after Khagura's back.
Khagura grunted in reply. She needed to leash her roiling emotions. Her temper had a shorter fuse these days.
"Khagura, you're a terrible liar," said Shehure.
"Eep!" squeaked Khagura, surprised by the sudden presence of Shehure next to her in the hallway. He looked down at her knowingly.
"You bastard," muttered Khagura. His antics were the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.
"You've finally figured it out, haven't you?" Shehure asked gently, pityingly.
"That he doesn't l…" Khagura ran to Lhoru's room, as the sobs welled.
Once it arrived, night was almost indistinguishable from day, due to the rain. Everything outdoors merely assumed a darker shade. Khagura still took refuge in Lhoru's room, insisting on being left alone whenever Lhoru came to check on her. Finally, Lhoru had joined Huki and Lhadoman, who were watching television. The sight of the two boys sitting on the same sofa, albeit on the extreme opposite ends, without fighting, pleased Lhoru greatly. They were making progress—they'd started to exchange greetings voluntarily, although somewhat desultorily. Lhoru seated herself between the two.
"Lhoru, where's Khagura?" inquired Huki, fingering the collar of his red ikhan, a traditional thick Hothan cotton shirt.
"She's not feeling well," replied Lhoru.
"Fine, as long as she's not killing me," mumbled Lhadoman. Huki frowned pointedly at him, then the two went back to ignoring each other.
Outside the living room window, a dark figure huddled under an umbrella, watching the teenagers. The figure scurried over to the paved pathway as it felt its feet sinking into the drenched ground. Mud covered his shoes and the hem of his robe. However, he'd been too focused on how well Lhadoman was getting along with Huki—comparatively, anyway—to pay much attention to the rain and mud. For the first time he had a glimmer of hope that the drastic move he would make tonight would work. He knocked firmly on the front door.
"Hello, Khazuma, good to see you," said Shehure, opening the door. "Get in, it's a wet inferno tonight." His smile was strained, as was Khazuma's.
"How are you, Shehure?" asked Khazuma, sticking strictly to niceties to avoid the kids overhearing anything about his real reason for being here.
"Fine, fine," replied Shehure, reading Khazuma's signal perfectly. "We'll wash off your shoes later. First you must say hello to the kids and have some tea."
"Hey, Isho, is that you?" called Lhadoman from the living room.
"Hello, Lhadoman," said Khazuma with forced cheer.
"Shoma-mharu?" Khagura stood on the stairs in a loose robe, completely surprised. She didn't recall Khazuma ever coming to other Shoma houses; for his entire life he'd been interested only in Lhadoman and martial arts. "What are you doing here?"
"Khagura, it's been a while hasn't it?" It took great effort not to sweat visibly, especially since Khazuma could tell Khagura sensed something was wrong.
"Forgive me, I'm a little ill, and I must get back to bed." My gods, Khagura thought as she stumbled back upstairs in a panic, he's going to take off Lhado's bracelet! Asheno must have ordered Khazuma to do it to chase Lhoru away…Khagura flung open Lhoru's door, and collapsed onto her bed, crying hopelessly. Her barriers were breaking under the onslaught of too many emotional upheavals in one night.
Huki broke the atmosphere of puzzlement over Khagura's actions by saying, "Shoma-mharu, let me introduce you to Mileshi Lhoru." Lhadoman fidgeted, not wanting to seem overly happy to see his adoptive father around Huki.
For the first time, Lhoru had a good look at the legendary Shoma-mharu Khazuma. "Mharu" meant a master of martial arts, and had been affixed to his last name when he achieved the elite top level in training. Lhoru saw a solidly-built man, his muscles hidden by his plain forest green robe. He was just a little shorter than Shehure, though still fairly tall by Hothan standards. His ginger hair sported a few gray strands, but his sharply cut face bore no signs of wrinkles.
"It's a pleasure to meet you finally, Lhoru," said Khazuma, genuinely smiling and bowing slightly. "I've heard so much about you from Lhadoman." Shehure was amused to see a faint blush cross Lhadoman's cheeks.
"Oh, no, no, I'm honored to be in your presence," babbled Lhoru, bending over almost double.
"Sheesh, Lhoru, he's not the Emperor or anything!" yelled Lhadoman, pulling her back up by the shoulder. "He's just my martial arts master!"
"We've all known Shoma-mharu since we were little," added Huki. The rat's mind raced, trying to deduce why Shoma-mharu would be here now.
"W-well, it's wonderful to have you here," stammered Lhoru. "I'm so sorry, I should have gotten tea for you long ago. You must be freezing, after being out in the rain!" Without waiting for an answer, she rushed to the kitchen.
"Now, while Lhoru is making tea," Khazuma said, "I'd like to talk to Shehure. Just some business." The last part he inserted hastily, noticing the two boys' questioning looks. "Then we'll catch up, Lhadoman, ok?" Huki and Lhadoman nodded, and went their separate ways—Huki upstairs, Lhadoman back towards the television.
In Shehure's study, Khazuma seated himself on one side of the dog's beat-up sofa. Shehure joined him on the sofa after making sure the door was properly closed.
"I want to apologize in advance for anything nasty that happens tonight," said Khazuma in a half-whisper, as insurance against eavesdroppers. "The house may get a little messed up."
For a moment, Shehure found himself taken aback by Khazuma's words. "No, Khazuma, you don't need to apologize," said Shehure. "I'm the one who should apologize, I persuaded you to do this tonight."
Sighing, Khazuma only said, "I think Khagura guessed."
"I'll deal with her. Don't worry."
They sat in silence, pondering the events that were to unfold. Presently a knock sounded on the door.
"I have the tea," announced Lhoru timidly.
"Come in," called Shehure. Somehow Lhoru crossed the floor without dropping the tray or its contents, although it rattled considerably. She bowed and left quickly after setting the tea down on the scratched coffee table.
"This is quite possibly the worst room in the house," remarked Khazuma, gratefully sipping the scalding liquid. His view took in the mass of papers covering the desk, the computer with taped notes almost obliterating the screen, and books lying everywhere.
"I disagree," said Shehure. "Huki's is absolutely filthy. He never had any talent for housekeeping." The two men laughed briefly, and sank back to their own thoughts. When Shehure called Khazuma last week, it'd been a painful conversation. At least for Khazuma, anyway. He seriously doubted that Shehure's plan for freeing the Dzuni for the curse would work. It came from one tiny sliver of paper, of dubious origin. Besides, if personal demons formed the core of the curse, everybody in the world would be a Dzuni. However, both Khazuma and Shehure desperately wanted to end the curse, and both agreed it would do the family good to break out of its shell of secrecy and learn how to interact with the rest of the world. Lhoru, certainly, had contributed much to their hopes in that aspect.
Over the last few months, Lhadoman had been getting steadily more depressed, as he fell deeper in love with Lhoru and the time for his imprisonment grew closer. The stigma of the cat sucked him deeper into its vortex, and if something didn't happen soon, Lhadoman would become entirely unable to extricate himself from it. From his conversations with Shehure and Lhadoman's prompted descriptions, Lhoru's heart seemed large enough to cope with the cat's true form. Khazuma hadn't permitted himself to think about the possibility of failure until now. Tonight, he would rip off Lhadoman's bracelet in view of Lhoru, and let loose the monster. Lhadoman would be saved or broken forever. But if Lhoru could salvage Lhadoman, it might give him hope to fight against imprisonment when the time came.
A niggling voice in the back of his mind kept dragging Khazuma back to his dearest friends Reza and Hina, who owned an obscure bookshop in the Mhagenu neighborhood. Very nice mountain country folk, Reza and his wife—it was still a mystery to Khazuma how they ended in Lhasa. As a hobby, Reza studied mythology, and had stumbled onto references to the Dzuni curse in ancient tomes. As their friendship deepened, Khazuma took the plunge one day, and told them about the family curse. A little later, Reza said he'd found a cure for the curse, but it was so bizarre that both men had trouble believing its verity. Shehure's method seemed quite realistic by comparison. For now, Khazuma would merely see if at least Lhadoman could be helped.
"Well," Khazuma said decisively, standing, "it's time."
Shehure didn't respond.
"I'll do it on the back porch, if you don't mind."
Finally Shehure moved. "I'll see to Khagura and Huki."
Both men walked out of the study in silence. Shehure went upstairs, as Khazuma called out to Lhadoman and Lhoru.
"Yeah, what is it?" yawned Lhadoman. Lhoru walked in, still drying a plate.
"I'd like to talk to you together, out on the back porch."
"On the back porch? In this weather?" asked Lhoru, alarmed.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Lhadoman.
"Please, humor me," pleaded Khazuma, gathering his resolve. Lhadoman followed his master very cautiously, with Lhoru right behind, plate and towel in hand. The three congregated on the dry half of the porch against the house wall, where the wind hadn't blown the rain in.
Lhoru stood just inside the door, slightly farther apart from Lhadoman and Khazuma. The increasingly frightened look on Lhadoman's face made her anxiety increase exponentially, as Khazuma started talking.
"I'm sorry, Lhadoman," he began.
"What? What are you doing?" sputtered Lhadoman. A grain of the truth began to dawn on him, and he fought against it.
"You've been held captive by the cat for too long."
"No! I like it! I need to…"
"No, you are not happy. For far too long, you've been subjected to ostracism and talk about how horrible the cat is, when it isn't true at all. I don't want you spending the rest of your life in a dark cell, isolated from the rest of humanity!" Lhoru flinched with the force of Khazuma's last words.
"I hope you have the strength to free yourself, Lhadoman," whispered Khazuma. Lhadoman tried to dodge, but his master was too fast. Lhoru gasped as she saw Lhadoman's precious red and white bracelet suddenly hanging from Khazuma's fingers. The plate fell, splintering into large pieces on the floor, as Lhadoman screamed and contorted his body. In a nightmarish slow motion, Lhoru watched as human skin turned into a hard, smooth, brownish surface, his face turned into a triangular wedge with antennae and huge, perfectly round amber eyes, and his feet and hands morphed into oversized slabs with vicious claws. His legs bent double, almost like a grasshopper. An horrific stench filled the air. All the while, Khazuma watched the transformation grimly, glancing at Lhoru.
Overcome by the smell, Lhoru covered her nose with her hand, leaving her mouth open slightly for breathing. The creature that was Lhadoman turned his monstrous head towards her, and they locked eyes for a few seconds. Then with a screeching wail, Lhadoman clumsily leapt into the forest, out of sight.
Everybody watched the disfigured shadow loping away, including the only Dzuni besides Shehure to have seen the cat's true form. Khagura stood before the window, watching the rain hit the glass. So she had guessed correctly. Tonight would prove either the end of Lhadoman, or the beginning of a new life for him, depending on how Lhoru responded. Khagura was sure that Lhoru was his only hope for salvation now, not her. Once she'd fantasized about being his bride, and she'd told Asheno this, during a Dzuni banquet when she was six years old. Her strongest impression from that particular memory was of Asheno's loud laugh. Laughing at her pathetic dreams, or rather, her pathetic self.
The rain intensified. Khagura secretly prayed Lhoru would save Lhadoman, and if she could, Khagura would be happy to lose Lhadoman to a wonderful person like Lhoru. And Khagura would support them when Asheno threw the inevitable fit. She sighed, and crawled back into bed. She lay awake, waiting for the final outcome.
"What is she thinking?" yelled Huki, a moment after Khagura went to bed. "Lhoru will get hurt if she follows him!" He moved towards the door, but Shehure stopped him.
"No, Huki, we need to let them alone." The rat stared at his guardian in amazement and horror.
"B-b-but," sputtered Huki, "I had no idea the cat's true form was that dangerous." He'd never seen Lhadoman in his monster form before, although he had listened to Asheno's rantings and the servants' countless stories about the dreadful cat his entire life.
"Do you honestly think the cat's dangerous by nature?" asked Shehure, irritated.
"Well," breathed Huki. Lhadoman had always been a hot-tempered, combative idiot, but he'd never been outright dangerous. "No, I guess." Huki fell silent, and observed Shehure's sharp profile standing in stark contrast to the darkness outside. Hope and fear mingled in his countenance. A roll of thunder made the ground vibrate jarringly.
"You planned this, didn't you?" hissed Huki coldly.
"Yes." The affirmation came out unabashedly. The old suaveness seemed to be slowly returning. Shehure turned back from the backyard to Huki. Lightning flashed, momentarily making everything look black.
"Did you ever take Lhoru or Lhadoman into account? This could destroy them!" Anger welled in Huki, thinking of how heartbroken Hanadzima, and he also, would be if Lhoru were to be killed.
"And they could free us," shot back Shehure, trotting leisurely to the door with his old swagger. "You're a prisoner of Asheno, like Lhadoman, aren't you, Huki?" He scoffed. "You just happened to be the rat instead of the cat." The door slammed shut between them, blocking Huki's confounded look from Shehure's view.
Shehure strode down the hallway with hard steps. His sharp nose told him Khagura was still in Lhoru's room. Good, she was staying put; she wouldn't cause any trouble right now. In reality, Shehure's confidence in the curse being broken was shakier than he revealed to Huki. He mentally kicked himself for blurting the part about being freed to Huki. Ah, well, there was time enough now; he could explain it to Huki and make him keep it a secret later. Huki could be trusted.
Lhoru knelt over a protuberant tree root, retching. The cadaverous smell clung to everything Lhadoman passed, like wet clothing to skin. She had to follow the smell; it was the only trail left behind by Lhadoman. The thunder boomed, making Lhoru scream. She gasped, catching her breath. Her entire midsection felt crushed by the vomiting and the effort required to run through a thick forest. She looked all around her, as best as she could in the rain. Luckily, the tree canopy softened the rain somewhat, but not by much. One of her shoes had come off long ago, and the other was covered in mud. Scratches from thorny plants and tree bark covered her legs and arms.
How far did the forest extend? Lhoru had no idea, and realized she was lost. She'd never been this far back in Shehure's forest before, even while she was unknowingly camping out on his property. All she'd been thinking about was how scared she was of the thing Lhadoman had turned into, while simultaneously sensing that he might never come back if no one went to get him. For the first time, a foreign emotion made itself known to her: anger. Why was this happening to Lhadoman? Why did the family, with a few exceptions, insist on treating him as an outcast? What could possibly justify such horrible treatment?
Lightning crackled somewhere above the treetops, and Lhoru's ears picked up a slight rustle. She knew there were wolves in the forests on Lhasa's periphery. Plenty of stories existed about people in the woods going missing, then their gnawed bones being found later. Taking a deep breath as carefully as she could, she began running again, following the awful smell.
The length of time between thunderclaps and lightning began to increase, the sounds of both becoming more muted. Finally, Lhoru noticed the smell was getting stronger, instead of remaining at the same intensity as it had been for a long time. She slowed down, fears of wolves fading. She walked slowly forward, panting, thankful the rain was starting to stop. Water dripped steadily from her ripped dress, completely soaked. Her sweater wasn't in much better shape. Two large trees stood in her path, and in between them she could see a very small glade, where a large reddish stone nestled in the center. It was pitted in the middle, and it might once have been a shrine to the forest, long ago. A strange sense of peace enveloped the place—a peace out of context with the situation.
Lhoru's quarry sat hunched, its back against the stone. He didn't notice her; his head was downcast and buried within the folds of his limbs. The smell pervaded the glade, like a conscious, malicious presence. Breathing through her mouth, Lhoru wondered helplessly what to do next. She peered uncertainly through the trees, undecided. Her feet moved forward of their own account, and she squeezed between the trees, stepping into the squishy floor of the glade.
"What are you doing here!" roared Lhadoman. An oversized paw flew out, and Lhoru gasped. Then her right cheek started throbbing, and a warm liquid oozed down her face onto her neck and shoulder.
For a moment the creature examined its paw, distressed, then looked back at a stunned, bleeding, and badly frightened Lhoru. "Get back before I end up hurting you worse, or killing you," he ordered, backing away on all fours.
"No, no!" cried Lhoru, propelling herself forward. "Please don't go!" Grabbing his foreleg, she clung to it desperately, sobbing. "I-if you l-l-leave, I'll be s…sad." The smell bore down on her more heavily than ever, threatening to crush her delicate body.
"Do you really mean that?" Lhadoman was tired of women pretending to love him; nobody in their right minds would want the cat to remain alive. "My mother said stuff like that to me, and then she shot herself!" Lhoru, tears still streaming, raised her head.
"She lied to me and said she loved me, but she was scared shitless of my true form!" continued Lhadoman. "She checked my wrist every five minutes to make sure I still had that fucking bracelet on, and she never let me leave the house—ever! She even got nervous when I went near windows! My old man hated me and hit me whenever he had to see me. At Mom's funeral, everybody said I was better off dead! Even Khazuma took me in because Asheno paid him to!"
"That's not true!" Lhadoman stopped at Lhoru's abrupt interjection. "I saw the look on Khazuma's face," Lhoru said earnestly. "He was so worried about you, Lhadoman. I'm sure he didn't raise you for the money." She looked into the wide, bug-like orange eyes. They seemed so alien, but they had distinctly human emotions, like despair.
Lhoru's mouth worked, and words slowly emerged. "I…I'm scared of you right now," she admitted. "I don't know anything about this true form, or anything about the Dzuni curse, really." Too much was still unexplained about the curse. "But I have seen how painful it is for all the Dzuni I've met so far. I'm, I'm sure I could never completely understand what a terrible burden it is." She started sobbing again, and didn't wince when Lhadoman put a paw around her shoulders. "But you and the Dzuni have been wonderful to me, the only real family I've had, besides Dzima and Zhula. I-I-I," she hiccupped, then regained her voice, "I want to be able to keep talking to you and seeing you, and making dinner for you, and help you with this curse…I'm mad at the curse, too, for making you suffer…" She hugged Lhadoman around the neck, and he returned the hug, crying as well.