Chapter 6

Sytik the Swordsman?

Sytik

--

I woke up the next morning tired. I'd been up most of the night thinking about mine and Kai's.... erm, special moment. I didn't really think she liked me like I liked her; I thought she considered me a brother or something. Anyhoo, I got dressed in my typical wear (green shorts and grey sandals), and walked out my door. Today I didn't want to go to my medical hut. The most action I've had lately had been Lila, and she's been recovering well... Instead, I wanted to go to Kai's house to take the camera back to Fajor, and while I was there, maybe start training... Oh! And I also wanted to see how his egg was doing. I walked to Kai's house and knocked on her door. She answered almost immediately; I guess she was heading out to do something, anyway.

"Good morning, Sytik," she said, and I embraced her.

"Good morning, Kai. I just wanted to drop in and see if you'd like me to take the camera back to Fajor yet?"

Kai smiled, and nodded. "If you could, I'd appreciate it!"
"I'm heading there, anyway. I want to start my training and see how the egg is. Is Lila feeling alright?" I asked.

Kai shrugged. "She says so, but I noticed her rubbing her leg that wasn't broken and her neck, too. I think she slept crooked."
I froze. One part of my mind wanted to believe what she thought, but my medical knowledge told me to look into it starting at the most common cause of aches and pains: the cold. If she doesn't look sick, I'll look into her diet, and if that's not it, then it's probably what Kai said. Kai returned a few moments later and handed me the camera. "Be careful, Sytik. When I went to get it, I saw a few Shy Guys."
I nodded, and started running, shoving all the Shy Guys out of my way. I really didn't want to deal with them, and I really, really didn't want to drop the camera. I even passed a few Koopas, and finally saw Fajor's hut. I started catching my breath, and I knocked on Fajor's door. He answered a few moments later, and grinned when he saw me.

"Welcome, you've brought back my camera. Thank you."

He moved to the side and allowed me inside.
"Fajor, I also wanted to see if I could start training today, unless you are busy."

Fajor smiled. "I'm always available for a student! Set my camera down, friend, and follow me."

I set the camera on a table, and he led me into another room, this one full of weapons Fajor created himself: Swords, halberds, battleaxes, and maces. He even had strong looking shields. The shields look like eggs, with the spots, too! I think that's cool. He smiled. "Yes, these weapons were created by my hand. You will not wield these weapons until I teach you the wonders of disarming your opponent!" he said, grabbing a pair of heavy looking gloves and a spear from his wall. Then, he lead me down a staircase, and we were in an arena. It was a big arena. Fajor threw the heavy looking gloves to me, and told me to put them on.

"What am I supposed to-" I began, and felt a blunt force hit me in the stomach. Hard. I grunted, and looked at Fajor, holding a stick to my stomach.

"Come now! Look alive!" he said, prodding me once more. I got a look at the weapon he held, and it wasn't really a weapon. It was a wooden pole, a wooden pole with some cloth on the end he jabbed me with. He prodded at me once more, and I winced.

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"When you see my weapon coming toward you, pivot and grab with both hands. Once you have your grip, waste no time! Pull, and if your opponent still does not let go, as you're pulling you may kick! As soon as you have the weapon, step back and be ready to use it. Now, let's go!"

He jabbed at me, and this time I tried to stop it. I grabbed for it, but grasped nothing but air. Again, I got hit.

"No, no. You cannot hesitate. Just pivot and grab, and do it before your body knows you are! Don't focus on me jabbing at you, focus on the weapon!" he said. He jabbed at me again, and I tried again, but still I got hit.

"Come now! Try again!"

He did it once more, and I pivoted my body and slammed my hands onto the weapon, pulling it free of Fajor. I smiled, unable to believe I just did it. At that point, a wooden knife went to my throat. Fajor held it to my neck, smiling.

"Good, but you forgot the last step: take a step back! Now, hand me the weapon and let's try again."
I handed Fajor the stick, and he jabbed at me again, but again I caught it. At that time, I remembered to step back like he said, and it's a good thing I did because Fajor had pulled the wooden sword from it's scabbard and tried to slash it at me. The tip was covered with cloth and cotton. I also remembered to turn the pole around and I prodded Fajor with it this time. He grunted, but smiled. "Outstanding!" he said. Even I grinned.

"Now, let's do it a few more times."

My smile dropped, and we continued... he had me do the unarmed move several more times.

"Very good. Every day, we will work on this until you have it at a perfect style. Now, however, let us work on your heavy strikes."
He handed me the wooden sword and asked me for the pole again. "Very good. Come at me!" he said. I froze. For a moment I thought he told me to "Come at him". He saw my confusion, and he smiled. "Don't worry about hurting me. I am perfectly capable of holding my own, thank you very much. Now then, listen carefully. Do. Not. Stab. Only slash at me in your attacks, and put a lot of power into your strikes. Don't be afriad to use both hands to hold your sword, okay? Ready..."

I readied myself, and he got ready, too. "Go!"

I put a lot of my strength into my first strike, but Fajor blocked it like it was nothing.

"Try again. Come now!"

I slashed again,and he blocked again. "Keep trying! Don't just put your arm strength into it. Use your body, too!"

I took a step back and whirled into him, putting my weight and my strength into it, too. I struck, and he stumbled back.

"Excellent! Now let's see you do it one more time."

I did it again, and again, and again, and again... and by the last time I did it, I was panting, my muscles burning as the sword hung at my side; limp. Fajor smiled.

"Good. Give me back the weapon, and let us try unarmed combat one more time."

I mentally groaned, but handed back the weapon and prepared myself. He prodded at me, and struck.

"Come on now. Just one time, and you'll be dismissed. Let's go!"

He jabbed at me again, and I pivoted, grabbing ahold of the weapon and pulling it, but Fajor did not let go. He pulled back with such force that I stumbled forward. He jabbed at me again, and I stumbled backwards now.

"You had a chance to kick me from your weapon, but you didn't take it. Try again."
He jabbed, and I pivoted. This time, I pulled, and he did not let go. Before he could pull back again, I kicked at him. He let go of the pole, and I whirled around, jabbing at Fajor with the weapon. He grinned. "Very good, Sytik! Now then, you are dismissed. I advise you to come back tomorrow or the day after, while the ways of combat I have taught you thus far are still fresh in your mind."

I nodded again, and as he showed me to the door, I remembered.
"Fajor, wait!"
He froze, and turned around ever so patiently. "Yes?"

"How is the egg? You're going to question the Hashashin when he hatches, right?" I asked. Fajor nodded.

"Sure am. I have the egg in my bedroom. I don't want him near my weapons. I plan to ask him what his plan is, because I feel the victory was too easy. In any case, when something arises, I'll alert the village of any information immediately. In the meantime, ask Chief Salminar to increase defense around the village."

I nodded. "Thank you, I'll do that. And I'll come back tomorrow if you'll have me."
Fajor nodded. "Sure thing."

I left the house and walked through the forest again, avoiding the Shy Guys. Some of them saw me, but they didn't really care that I was walking by. I made it back to the village, and found the Chief yelling at Gregor. I walked as close as I could, trying not to disturb them.

"...what do you think I wrote that note for? For fun?!" yelled the Chief, and I winced. The Chief never gets this mad.

"Listen to you, Salminar! You expect me to give away my work? I doubt that!" Gregor roared back. Huh. No snide remark?

"Okay, you listen to me, Gregor! I don't care what you think about this human girl. We're in the midst of a conflict with the Hashashins; this is NO time for you to force our villagers to do your bidding!"

Gregor took a step forward. "But forced villager labor makes an apple taste so much better than when I have to get them!"

There's the snide remark. Chief Salminar whirled around and smacked his hand across Gregor's face, and with a lot of force, too. Gregor stumbled backwards and fell to the floor. He looked up at the Chief, wide eyed with a hand to his no doubt stinging face. The Chief sighed, and took a step toward him.

"I never enjoy getting this angry, Gregor. But sometimes you cross the line. You need to learn to behave. What would your father think if he saw you-"
"I have no father. Is that all?" asked Gregor, and the Chief nodded. Gregor shut the door, and the Chief turned to see me. He smiled. "Oh, hello Sytik!" He frowned. "How much did you hear?"

I gulped. "The end of it, Salminar. That's all. And I saw Fajor today, he told me to ask you to increase defense around the village."

Chief Salminar nodded. "I was planning just that. The Hashashins don't seem so tough, though. I heard Fajor defeated one with ease."
I nodded. "He thinks it was too easy. He wants to question the Hashashin once he is born."
Chief Salminar smiled. "Very good."

"...Um....Excuse me? Sytik? Mr. Chief...Salminar...sir?"

Both of us turned our heads to the new voice, and I was a little suprised to see Lila sitting in her wheelchair before us. She looked timid, as if she were nervous. I looked at the green yoshi that was our Chief. He was smiling at Lila, and he knelt down to make eye contact with her.

"Finally we meet! It's nice to finally meet you," said Chief Salminar, and he held out a hand for her to shake.

"H-hi. I-I'm.....uh...I'm...Lila," said Lila. I chuckled. She must've been nervous, especially in front of our Chief. Salminar noticed, and he smiled. "Don't be nervous. You can talk to me."

Lila still seemed tense. Salminar chuckled.

"Come now, why don't we try this?" said Salminar. He suprised me, and he took the feathers off of his head. Our chief wore two feathers on his head, and he took his feathers off, placing them on Lila's head. She was curious.

"Um..." Lila began, and Salminar smiled again.

"Let's pretend you are the matriarch of this village now. Maybe it'll help you say what you want to say?" he asked, and he turned his head to look at me. I knew what that meant. It meant "This conversation doesn't involve you, please step away." I nodded, and walked far enough away to be out of earshot.

--

Lila

I. Was. So. Nervous.

I was talking to the chief of this village, and no matter what game he thought would help, I knew very well that he could easily banish me from his village, and even Kai would have to listen to him. I doubted he'd do that, though. He's built this wheelchair for me, so what do I know?

"Um... I uhh..." I said. Darn.

The Chief stared at me patiently. "Take your time, matriarch," he teased. I finally took a deep breath, and got up the courage to tell him.

"I.. I just wanted to thank you for building this wheelchair for me. And I also wanted to thank you for housing me in your village."

He smiled, and rubbed my hair effectionately. Man, I'm really starting to like that!

"You stay here in our village for as long as you like. I know you've taken quite the shine to Kai. You think of her as your stand in mother, right?" he asked. I immediately stopped. How did he know that? I never told anyone except Kai... it's been less than a day! The Chief chuckled. "Don't ask how I know, young Lila. I just have the ability."

"The ability?" I echoed. He nodded. "Yes, of course. The village chief sees everything that goes on in his village, at least when he feels it's necessary. I felt a strong pang of sadness coming from Kai's hut, so I began to observe. I saw you crying, and I saw that you were homesick. I watched until you felt better, that's all."

I nodded, and smiled. Something about the Chief felt good, like he was a pure heart.

"Thank you, Chief-"
"Call me Salminar."
I nodded. "Yes sir."

He rubbed my head one more time, and took the feathers back. Then, I turned my head to Sytik. Salminar must have seen my head turn, and he started pushing me in my wheelchair toward Sytik.

"You must want to talk to him, right?"

I nodded. "Thank you, Salminar."

He smiled, and stopped pushing me just in front of Sytik, and left. Sytik looked at me, and smiled.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I uhh... I want to ask you something about my cast."

"Of course! What's up?"
I was hesitant, and he nodded understandingly. "Do you want to talk in the hut?" he asked. I nodded, and he started pushing me into the medical hut. I smiled. "I wanted to ask you how often my casts must be changed." He nodded. "I'll be changing them tomorrow or so. Now me, I want to ask you something. Do your bones hurt?"

I nodded. "They do, and not the ones that are broken. Now that I think about it, they've been hurting worse since yesterday."

Sytik frowned, and he began gently squeezing my good arm, starting at my elbow. He frowned again.

"Have you been feeling anything else?" asked Sytik. I nodded. "Now that I think about it, I felt nauseous."

He ran a hand through my hair. "I don't like this... your hair isn't.... it isn't as thick as when we first found you. I don't like this, it definetly isn't a cold... and it's not a flu."

I blinked, uncertain. "What is it, then?" I asked. He shook his head, turning away. "I don't know. I have to look at the books, we don't know much about humans."
He turned away and walked toward a bookshelf behind a desk. He pulled out a book, and I could just barely make out it's title:
'Human Biology and Mental Health'.

I had to ask. I just had to.

"You've got a book about the Human body on an island with no humans on it?" I asked. He smiled. "We found it in a watertight box full of other materials. It washed up on our island. You humans certainly enjoy throwing your trash into the water, and we're all sick of it. It's not your fault or anything because I don't think you're the kind of girl who would do that. We keep most of the things that wash up on our island, some of it has been used to build some of the huts. This book was given to me just in case of this kind of situation."

I nodded, as if I could do anything else. "I need to read through this, but I'll get Kai to take you back to her hut. I'll be back in a second."
Sytik left me be, and I was mentally kicking myself. I wanted to ask him something... but... I'll just tell him later. In the meantime, I have something to worry about.

End of Chapter 6

Oh no! What does Lila have?

Aw, Sytik is learning how to fight. And I thought he'd be so gentle. I feel bad for Kai; she had nothing to do with this chapter!