Sky of Paper: An Asian Steam-Driven Fantasy Tale

by Matthew Seaver

  "Kidou, step away." Han grabbed Kidou by the arm and after some effort, managed to pull him away.

  "Are you blind?" Kidou said, darting an accusing glare at his friend. "Can't you see what he's trying to do?"

  "What? What’s he trying to do? Tell me Kidou."

  Kidou seemed too frustrated to say anything more. He turned away, a sign that he had given up trying to explain his feelings. With a loud snort, he walked away. As I watched Masa hop to his feet with a triumphant look on his face, I realized what Kidou was trying to say. Masa was not here to learn. Instead, he was giving insult to the very thing that Kidou held dear. He had little respect for the traditions and customs of the temple. Although Kidou had longed to come to this place, to learn, to grow and eventually serve the emperor, Masa made it clear he had no need for any of these things.

  That night in the dorms, as we prepared for bed, I would find myself affirming how true my thoughts were of him.

  I had hoped that Masa would be placed in a separate room, but the Boar insisted that the room assignments would stay as they were. He was still to be my roommate and I was to be like a rabbit trapped in a cage with a tiger. While the sounds of chatting and excited students could be heard from the hallway and through the thin walls of the rooms next door, Masa and I remained silent, our backs to each other as we laid out our bedding. I felt his rough arm, shove me out of the way as he reached into the closet for his things.

  Eventually, he said ",What's the matter? Aren't you going to push me back?"

  I took a deep breath before I replied. "No."

  "Why not? Your fat friend hardly hesitated before he decided to push me to the ground. Why don’t you?"

  I turned around and threatened him with a glare.

  "Oh that's right," he said. "My father told you to watch over me and make sure that I act like a good boy and graduate from this dump of a temple. He probably threatened you with expulsion or something like that didn‘t he? Well, as you've seen today, I have more than enough skill to carry on to the next temple, but the only thing keeping me here, is the fact that my eyes haven't changed color yet."

  "I don't care about how skilled you are," I said taking out my frustrations on the closet door by slamming it shut. "I don't care about what your father wants me to do. He can threaten me all he wants, but that won't change anything. I‘m going to prove my worth as a student and you‘re going to watch as I surpass even you."

  "So the poor village boy thinks he can outperform me. Since birth, my father has trained me day and night in preparation for this place, while you were probably living in some gutter, begging for money."

  My eyes flared and I gave a high pitched yell as I tackled him to the ground. The crashing sound silenced everyone in the neighboring rooms. The door slid open and several worried students peered in to investigate the ruckus. Masa seemed to revel in the attention as he looked at me in the same manner he did Kidou earlier that day. He wanted me to hit him. He didn’t even bother to resist or push me away.

  Han shoved his way through the crowded doorway just as I was on the verge of granting exactly what Masa wanted. I peered over my shoulder at Han, who shook his head disapprovingly. My opponent took me by the collar, baiting me to take the next move. Finally, I grunted, slapping my palm on the floor next to his ear and pushed myself to my feet.

  "Everyone leave. Go back to your rooms. Turn off your lights and go to bed," Han said, waving everyone away. He glanced back at me from the hallway, concerned, before he shut the door behind him.

  The room was silent again. Masa watched my movements as I finished setting up my bedding.

  "I don't like you Terr," He said in a tone that sounded strangely compassionate. "And I know that you don't like me. But whether you're willing to accept it or not, our destinies are tied together."

  "You said you wanted to leave this place, so why don't you?" I said, lying down on the bed, turning my back to him.

  He didn’t reply. He put out the light and all I could hear, were the sounds of rustling as he too laid himself down to sleep.

  The rest of the night, I gazed up at the ceiling, my anger keeping me awake. I imagined myself lying next to a lion wondering, if at any moment he would get up and pounce me. Masa's choices were not the same as mine. His father forced him to attend the temple, and though he tried once to leave, it was his father who had forced him back.

  There’s a hopelessness that comes with not having a choice, knowing that your life is bound to a single path. I suppose it was enough to make Masa upset, to make him spiteful of the world. Still, I didn’t care about his feelings, I didn’t want to be near him. Most of all, I wanted him to go away.

  Morning tea. It was the very thing I loathed the most during my time at the temple. I woke up every morning before everyone else, made the trip to the River Temple, where I made strange brews from ingredients I found in numbered shelves, then served it to him, only to listen to Master Lu's sour remarks. Often, he told me it was too bitter, or too sweet, or even too dirty. Sometimes he threw the contents of the cup at my feet, staining the cloth of my pants and shoes. No one, not even the temple servants would tell me what he preferred in his tea. Because of this, every morning was filled with disappointment, not only because of Master Lu, but also because Ai was nowhere to be found. Ever since that day I was graced with her comforting face and gentle smile, I found myself hoping that I would see her again. Each morning, I silently told myself that she would be there and that her very presence would make the loathsome ritual of tea and spiteful rejection, worth it. But she was gone, like the fleeting touch of the last summer breeze before the chill of fall. Perhaps it was for the better. After all, why would the daughter of a temple master take the time to see a lowly student like myself? Even if her wary brother shared my room.

  As the days passed, we learned how to interpret and understand the motions of the ether. We made repeated visits to the nearby streams and rivers, where the Boar would point out the twisting, writhing currents. He would tell us how similar it was to some of the violent blue swirls that appeared every now and then before the skyward gaze of our maturing eyes.

  “If you ever have the privilege of flying the emperor’s airships,” he lectured. “Be sure to steer away from such obstacles, for some can be violent enough to tear your vessel apart and send it reeling back to the earth.”

  Because our eyes had not yet fully developed, we lacked the ability to see the entire ether. Sometimes, one of our classmates would gasp and point at some blue light that only some us could see, while the rest of us his our inadequacies by laughing and pretending that he was crazy. On most days, the Boar drew pictures of whirlpools, giant waves and odd, snake-like currents on the stone wall, which we memorized and named. We were taught how to recognize them and what to do when they appeared. Do we take the ship over them, around them, or risk going through? How should the bow face? How fast should the ship be moving?

  Masa had answers to all of these questions and as expected, each time, he was right. Kidou was still envious of him, and he made it show with an ugly scowl every time Masa stood up to answer.

  In tamma reading class, I came to learn how painful a rubber ball could be when thrown at an unsuspecting student. I could tell Master Wa had much practice, because every time he sensed that I was dozing off, he threw the ball squarely against my forehead. It was the easiest of all the classes and aside from the random pelting by the teacher, I found it to be the most relaxing.

  Kaikua was the class I discovered that I had the most potential. It was a dance and a martial art, but most importantly, it was a language. With it, we told the shyo mah how to manipulate the ether. If my right arm moved a certain way, my shyo mah would turn the waves on the right side of the ship. If I bent my knees and swept both my arms downward, she would understand that a giant wave was in front of us and she would sweep it aside, and using the motions of my palms as a guide, she knew where to focus her energy. If my motions were slow and smooth, then she would k
now that the currents were calm, but if I moved swiftly, and struck the air around me, she would know that we were in the midst of great turbulence.

  With each passing week, I grew to understand the complexities of every form. Each of the three was named after the three temples for the level of skill required to master them. Stream form was for launching and landing ships, as well as traveling when the ether was calm. River form was for soaring high up above the clouds and for coasting steadily in rough weather. Ocean form was used for conserving energy and making sure the body did not tire during long voyages. It was also used for navigating through ferocious storms.

  Kaikua quickly became as natural to me as walking or sleeping. When we learned a new move, I was quick to pick it up long before everyone else. Master Doan, our only woman teacher, would place me at the front of the class so I could help the weaker students. Everyday, I looked forward to her class, not only because it was my chance to prove my skill, but also because Masa was never there. Master Doan had already tested him in all three forms and he had proven to her that he had mastered every one. It was because of this, that she permanently dismissed him from her class. While we were training, he was off doing something else, though I was never what it exactly was.

  As for music, Master Thien stubbornly refused to let Masa skip his class. I suppose he regretted letting him go that first day. His assistant, a small, skinny man named Mr. Soo was assigned to teach us while Master Thien gave Masa his personal attention. Everyday, he challenged him play a different instrument and presented the most complicated musical pieces he could find. Master Thien, emboldened by his pride, refused to believe that such a smug child knew everything there was to know about the art. There moments when, as I played my drums, I found my attention wandering to a certain part of the room where Masa was carrying out yet another perfect performance amidst Master Thien‘s frustrated observance. I often thought how strange it was, how a teacher could feel threatened by the skills of one of his students. It must have been unnerving for Masa to be singled out, to be isolated from the rest of us. I never asked how he felt to be treated with such scorn, but every day, despite the fact that the teacher's tests were steadily getting harder, he somehow managed to complete each one. And every time, I caught a hint of tiered desperation on his face, as if he had just climbed a mountain and was looking for someone to praise his achievement. Master Thien never clapped or congratulated him and neither did anyone else. Instead, he made a disapproving grunt and pointed out mistakes, which I knew had been completely made up. He would say that he was playing too fast, too slow, too forceful or too soft, when in fact, everything he had done was as close to perfection as was possible for any student. On some occasions, I even caught Mr. Soo privately admitting to Master Thien, Masa’s mastery of music.

  One day, I placed my drums down and dared to approach Master Thien. I bowed then said ", Excuse me Master, but shouldn't you be proud of Masa's accomplishments? You haven't praised him even once."

  “Mr. Soo,” Thien said angrily. “Why is this student here? Are you not supposed to be watching your class?"

  Mr. Soo took me by the arm and as he pulled me away he said ", My apologies. I allowed most of the class to practice outside, on their own today. I wasn’t aware one of them would approach you so disrespectfully."

  "I'm not being disrespectful," I said. "I just don't think students should be treated badly for doing their best."

  Mr. Soo painfully tightened his grip, putting an end to anything else I had to say. Masa, who was still under Thien’s instruction, pretended a disinterested glance in my direction.

  "Mr. Soo, gather up the students and teach them properly," Master Thien said, ignoring my protest. "Do not let this boy or anyone else bother me again."

  After class, Mr. Soo took me to the Boar and informed him about my disobedience. I was then taken to our class leader who was made to supervise my punishment. For this small incident, I spent the evening standing knee deep in the icy stream, slapping the water with my palms and arms while exaggerating the motions I learned in Kaikua class. My body was soaked and I shivered so much, I thought that I would pass out at any moment. But somehow, I managed to keep conscious and concentrate on my movements.

  "I hope you understand how stupid you were being today," Han said, watching me from the bank. " Because of you, the both of us will be missing dinner tonight."

  "I don't care," I stuttered through chattered teeth. "If it had been you or Kidou, I would have defended any one of you just the same. Teachers should be helping us, not making us feel worthless."

  "Well I'm touched, " Han teased. "I didn't know you cared about us that much, let alone Masa. I thought the both of you hated each other."

  "Let’s not talk about Masa." I stopped for a moment to rub the chill from my chest and arms.

  "Alright, I won't talk about him. But I want you to know that what you did today didn't change a single thing. Master Thien is still going to be the same person tomorrow."

  "I know."

  A long, drawn-out sigh left my lips, then a stone splashed by my leg, jolting me from my trance.

  "And stop standing around." Han held another stone in hand, threatening to toss it. “If Master Ichiro catches you not doing anything, he might extend your punishment. You best keep practicing your forms."

  I grunted, shaking my head and slapping the red back in my cheeks.

  "He isn't here Han, so he can't see me. Why don't I just step out and dry myself off. Just tell him I did my punishment in full."

  Han shook his head. "I'm not going to lie to him. Class leaders have standards to live by."

  Suddenly, our eyes were drawn beyond the tree tops as formations of sky boats coasted across the evening sky, ferrying the senior students to the Stream Temple’s great hall for their evening meal.

  "When do you think it’ll be our turn to fly those things?" I muttered wistfully.

  Han kept silent, and he had good reason to. My body felt all that much colder as I turned to see Master Ichiro, the Boar, standing idly beside him, puffing away at his pipe.

  "Han, go back to the temple and eat with your classmates," he commanded.

  Without a word, Han gave a quick bow and left, leaving me alone to stand beneath his judging gaze. He squinted, as if contemplating what to do with me.

  "Well?" he said finally. "I put you in the water for a reason, did I not?"

  "Yes master, my apologies." I went about continuing my forms for several minutes before he spoke again.

  "There are many people in the temple who believe that the cold water of the stream purifies the spirit. Many students who become lost or unfocused, sometimes come here to find their way again. As for me, I send my students here because it keeps them awake and attentive; especially if I have something important to say to them.” He paused to allow a few more thoughtful puffs from his pipe. “Now tell me, that little conversation you had with Han, would you really have had him lie to me in order to cheat your way out of your punishment?"

  I hesitated. I knew that I was guilty, no matter what I said.

  "Yes," I said meekly.

  "Why? Speak up. You were not so reserved when you blurted out in front of Master Thien."

  "Because I don’t think I deserve to be punished. All I did, was tell the teacher what was on my mind. There's nothing wrong with that."

  "From your perspective there wasn‘t," the Boar said in a calm, but growling tone. "Master Thien treats Masa a certain way for a very good reason, and it isn't because he has a personal vendetta against him. You need to learn that there is a purpose to everything; and nothing happens at the temple without a proper and just reason. For instance, you think I punished you because of your minor incident with Master Thien. In fact, I’m not punishing you at all. I brought you out here, simply because I wanted to speak with you."

  "Then does this mean I can get out of the water now?”

  "I think you‘ve practiced enough. However, I think it‘s best that you stay in the wa
ter and listen to what I have to say."

  I groaned, yearning to stand on the dry bank, but nonetheless held my ground waiting in earnest for whatever it was he seemed so intent on telling me.

  He must have sensed my impatience, because he remained irritatingly silent until he was satisfied that he had my full attention. "Seven days from now will be the first day of spring, the perfect time to test the temple’s best students. You show potential Terr. I want you to be among them."

  “You think I‘m one of your best students? I’m honored. But why me? Why not test everyone?“

  "No," He said sharply. "You‘ve been chosen. From now on you will practice more than anyone else. Do not let my expectations of you go to waste. This test is very important and must be kept a secret. You are not to tell anyone. Do you understand."

  "I understand Master."

  "Good. How far along are you at controlling your second sight?"

  "If you mean turning it on and off at will, I can't. I have to concentrate really hard to see the ether, and even then, I only see small bits. Sometimes it appears when I don't want it to; and sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I can't see anything at all."

  "Sooner or later, your eyes will change color; and when it does, the skill will be as natural to you as breathing. But this change will not happen on its own. You have to make it a part of yourself; your own will." He coughed, spurting out smoke from his nostrils. He growled again, clearing his throat before he continued. "How I hate this cold weather. Get out of the water, go back and change your clothes."

  I rushed towards the bank and dried myself off. "Does this mean I can join my class for dinner?"

  "No. After you‘ve changed, you are to go to the main courtyard and clean the dirt off the bronze statues."

  My spirits fell and a frown came over my face. "I thought you said this wasn’t a punishment."