A Whisper of Wings

by Paul Kidd

  What-What if a word was divided into segments like the notes of Kotaru’s song? Word segments! Instead of using one picture to depict a word, she could use many! One for each sound. Make each picture an object who’s first word segment was the same as the segment being pronounced!

  Of course!

  Her hands trembled with excitement; Shadarii’s whole world suddenly centred on a tiny sheet of bark.

  Sha - da - rii. Three word segments. Three separate pictures.

  Sha - say “Shattra”, the full moon. That was an easy thing to draw. The girl swiftly sketched a great round circle on the page.

  Da - The girl frowned unhappily. The choices were endless. Dapokuko were monsteria plants. Dadakanii were tasty river clams. Daka was an adze…

  Dathra! A river rush. Why not? Sha-Da…

  Rii? Riitra! Waterfall; a wavy line. And there she had it! Three word segments; three pictures. Place each one beside the others, like building a tune upon a music stick. Picture words! It was actually working! In a state of wild excitement Shadarii reached for another sheet of bark.

  Kotaru. Ko-ta-ru. The mind simply had to sing the word - divide it into sections as if making notes to craft a song. She would have to get a flute to play the words out one by one. It would be a work of months, perhaps even years to unravel all the word segments used within the language, but it could be done. One day she would finally be able to write down words for everyone to see.

  A dozen Vakïdurii gathered all around her. Tingtraka combed her long black pony tail across her shoulders, completely fascinated by Shadarii’s work.

  “Shadarii, what are you doin’? Is it a picture?”

  “A game? Maybe it’s a game board for playin’ Katakanii dak-dak¹?”

  Little Kïtashii came wandering across from paddling her feet in the river. The girl came to stare intently at Shadarii’s page, seeming suitably impressed.

  “Goodness, how elegantly simple! Did you really think of all that just then?”

  Shadarii nodded eagerly. She began to point out symbols in the page, pointing at the dirt or river water all around them. Kïtashii and Kotaru watched her closely, while Jiteng players scratched their heads, utterly at a loss.

  “What’s she doing? Is it a dance or something?”

  Kotaru’s worshipful eyes never left Shadarii’s face.

  “No. It’s beautiful! She-she says she’s making something new. Pictures that record words and sentences. Record them down forever!”

  A huge Goal Guard slowly shook his head.

  “I don’t see the sense of it! If you couldn’t talk (beggin’ yer pardon, my lady), then maybe there’d be a need. But if y’ can speak, why waste your time with pictures?”

  Kotaru caressed Shadarii’s hair.

  “Oh it’s useful. I know that now. She’d never create a thing that wasn’t needed.”

  Shadarii glowed with pleasure; there was no one’s praise that she would rather have. She felt him twitch, his ears glowing as he saw her staring up at him in hope.

  The moment was broken by a riotous whoop of laughter from the others. Shadarii irritably looked up to see Mrrimïmei staggering over to the river, her clothes dishevelled and bracken in her hair. Her legs were weak and shaky - a fact that was noted with hoots of approval by all her friends.

  Kotaru thoughtfully stroked his chin, peering over at Mrrimïmei.

  “Hey love, are you feelin’ any better this afternoon?”

  The girl combed fingers through her hair, smiling down at all her friends.

  “Who me? Aaaah there’s nothin’ wrong with me that my Totoru can’t cure! T’was just an upset tummy at breakfast time, is all.”

  “Sick again this morning? Have you been eating ought that we’ve all missed?”

  “Nothin’ I can think of. Don’t matter! The game’s not until tomorrow afternoon. I’ll be over it by then.” She grabbed Kotaru’s nose and gave it a friendly waggle. “You worry too much about us all. Just get us on that field tomorrow! We’ll win for thee, never fear!”

  An indefinable air of something blazed in Mrrimïmei’s aura. Suddenly Shadarii knew a secret; she sat up to clap her hands for joy, and all eyes turned to look at her. Mrrimïmei laughed as she saw Shadarii’s smile.

  “Oh ho! So you’ve somethin’ to tell us all, eh? Well out with it! Don’t keep us in suspense!”

  Shadarii pointed at Mrrimïmei and stroked her own soft belly. The other girl blinked in puzzlement, trying hard to understand.

  “What’s this? You’re hungry?”

  Shadarii frowned and shook her head in annoyance; she patted at her belly and then cradled an imaginary something at her breast.

  “You want a cuddle? We’ll I can’t help you there, love. This dopey man’s been missing every hint you try to give him!”

  Shadarii’s ears blushed; she hastily waved her hands and tried again. Mrrimïmei and company shook their heads in confusion.

  “Shadarii love, I just don’t understand you!”

  “She says that you’re pregnant, you dizzy female!” Kïtashii stamped her feet. “For Rain’s sake! Can’t any of you understand the simplest little thing?”

  Mrrimïmei’s smile froze on her face; the other players blinked and looked at her in wonder. From somewhere in the back a voice sang sweetly through the ferns.

  “Ooooh Totoooo-ruuuu! Are you still lying down? We have a little surprise for you…!”

  Mrrimïmei gave a nervous titter. Her hands drifted down to touch her abdomen.

  “You - uh - you can’t really be serious…”

  Shadarii gave an eager nod, beaming happily up at the mother-to-be. Oh to know such joy, such happiness! To feel the wonder that Mrrimïmei must be feeling now!

  Mrrimïmei staggered.

  “Totoru!”

  Someone caught her. Shadarii blinked in confusion and tried to puzzle out just what was wrong. Didn’t Mrrimïmei want a baby? Why ever not?

  Kotaru looked up at Mrrimïmei and numbly shook his head.

  “No, she can’t be!” The team captain looked around himself in horror. “She just can’t be!”

  Kïtashii planted her fists upon her skinny hips and glared.

  “Mrrimïmei is pregnant. If Shadarii says she feels the baby then she feels the baby! Haven’t you learned anything?”

  She was right; of course she was right. Kotaru hung his head while the whole team erupted into an excited babble. Totoru burst from the bushes, bracken still clinging to his fur. Mrrimïmei went to him and whispered urgently in his ear. The two of them clung tight together as they tried to make sense out of their future. Totoru suddenly laughed aloud, then picked his lover off the ground; Mrrimïmei threw back her head and gave a wild whoop of joy.

  Kotaru looked at Mrrimïmei with lost little eyes, desperately running fingers through his fur.

  “But-but what about the game?”

  Everyone jerked to a halt. Mrrimïmei dragged a piece of bracken from her hair.

  “What? Well why is there a problem?”

  “B-because you’re up the duff, you dozy female!”

  “I’ll be fine! T’weren’t a problem yesterday. Didn’t slow me down in this mornin’s practice. I’ll be fine!”

  Kotaru staggered to his feet.

  “You’re joking girl! Did you see the way they played out there today? Did you see those animals rippin’ into one another?”

  “Oh bosh! Kotaru, you sound like you’re my mother!” The girl suddenly slapped her hands against her face. “Mother! My stars, she’s going to kill me!”

  Kotaru began frantically pacing back and forth.

  “Mrrimïmei, I just can’t let you risk yourself. Think of what could happen!”

  “Oh Kotaru, you’re very sweet!” She kissed him on the nose. “There’s no need to worry, love. I can take good care o’ myself. Everything’s going to be just fine.”

  Kotaru kept up his pacing, his tail switching back and forth behind him.

  “I cannot allow you to play
. I’m sorry, but there’s more at stake than a silly game of jiteng. I’ll not risk your life or your wee one with Zhukora.”

  “No!” Mrrimïmei clawed Kotaru’s fur. “I can play! Don’t do this to me!”

  “I’m not doin’ anything to you. I care for you too much to let you risk yourself. Totoru, I expect you to back me up on this!”

  The huge guard took his lover in his arms. He unhappily tried to calm Mrrimïmei down.

  “He’s right, love. One good tackle and the baby’s history.”

  The girl wept in anguish.

  “No! You can’t do this to me! After all this work, all this struggle!”

  “We made a wee mistake, my love. T’will all turn out for the best. There’s a baby for us now, eh? We can play jiteng another time.”

  Mrrimïmei wrung her hands.

  “But we’ll lose the game! There’s no reserve players. Who can you possibly find to replace me?” The other players stared around in shock. Kotaru helplessly shook his head. Where could they find a replacement? The game was as good as lost.

  Shadarii dropped a jiteng helmet on her head; it was at least four sizes too big for her, and only the tip of her snout protruded. The girl tugged at Kotaru’s leggings, peering up at him from the helmet’s shadows.

  Kotaru looked down at her and felt his ears stand high in surprise.

  “What? Oh no! Shadarii, you can’t be serious!”

  Shadarii nodded eagerly, the helmet slipping down across her eyes.

  “Oh my love, you can’t even play the game. You haven’t practised!”

  A ball rose up from over in the grass, hovered before Kotaru’s nose and then drifted down into Shadarii’s lap. Kotaru rubbed the back of his neck, loving her for her loyalty.

  “What if your sister sees? T’will mean trouble for you.”

  A mask joined the vball, hovering in the air.

  <>

  “You have two other assets that are a wee bit harder to disguise.

  Shadarii peered down at her huge round breasts and shrugged, folding her arms in tight.

  <>

  “I don’t want you to be hurt!”

  <>

  Kotaru was reluctant; he loved her for it, but all his instincts told him no. Finally he reached down to take her hands.

  “Alright, my love, alright. But we’ll go and practice now. There’s much work to be done before tomorrow morn.” His voice dropped down to a whisper.

  “You rescue me again, my lady. Bless me but I love thee…”

  Shadarii gave a little gasp and clung on tight. Finally held in Kotaru’s arms, she never wanted to leave his grasp again.

  Everything would be alright; after all, jiteng wasn’t really dangerous. Who’d ever gotten hurt over a silly game?

  ***

  Two lovers walked hand in hand along the riverbank, listening to the slow play of the wind. There was no rush - no need to hurry; beneath the drowsy summer sun, love seemed slow and wonderful.

  The breeze moved slowly through Shadarii’s orange fur. Kotaru drank in the sight of her as though she were a vision from beyond the sky. She looked coyly sidewise at him, her long lashes fluttering in embarrassment as she saw him catch her gaze.

  Kotaru coughed and spoke into the nervous silence.

  “I don’t like the idea of you playing with us tomorrow, but I thank you for the rescue. You risk a lot for me. I don’t quite know what the future holds for us, my love. I just can’t seem to see…”

  The future? Shadarii stood posed by the riverbanks and felt the ïsha stroke against her soul, while Kotaru stared down at the ground and gave a troubled sigh.

  “Aaaaah Shadarii, I just don’t know anymore. My heart fights my head. Where are we going together, you and I? I wish I could tell.”

  Shadarii held up a finger, then turned and led Kotaru over to the riverbanks. They sat down together on the rocks above a deep part of the stream. Kotaru watched in confusion as Shadarii settled him in place. With a long, slow sigh Shadarii bowed her head above the waters.

  Kotaru blinked; when Shadarii raised her face, she was lost in utter concentration. The ïsha began to throb as Shadarii’s hands poured light across the riverbanks. Far beneath the surface, something began to swell and grow.

  Movement swirled in the deeps. Light gleamed from two enormous saucers that stared up at Kotaru in cold appraisal. The hunter gave a croak as a vast catfish surfaced from the murk.

  Shadarii smiled and swept down into a reverent bow, her fluffy tail sticking high up in the air. She raised herself again and plunged her hands into the water, reaching down to rub the monstrous catfish on the chin.

  Kotaru kept well and truly clear. The catfish disdainfully ignored him, far preferring to bask in Shadarii’s glow. The fish gulped water with its yellow mouth and stared unwinkingly up into the world of light.

  Shadarii turned towards Kotaru and shaped clear patterns in the air.

  <>

  The girl looked down at the hideous fish and smiled. The creature could have swallowed her with a single bite. She pointed fondly to white scars behind the creature’s neck.

  <>

  Kotaru looked aghast.

  “Y-you mean you went into the water with this thing?”

  <>

  The young hunter swiftly did as he was told. The catfish swirled its huge fins back and forth, unmoved one way or another. Shadarii girl sent her thoughts towards the giant fish.

  Grandfather catfish, here is everything that is precious to me. This is Kotaru, a good, kind man.

  The great fish twitched his whiskers, and only Shadarii could have seen the subtle icons in its aura. She bowed in gratitude as the fish swam slowly back into the dark.

  Shadarii turned her face towards Kotaru and shaped words upon the air.

  <>

  Kotaru slowly shook his head.

  “I’m not quite sure I understand.”

  She reached out to touch Kotaru’s face and smile up at him with her strange, wise eyes.

  <>

  It was time to let the river flow; Shadarii slowly closed her eyes and tilted up her mouth. Her lips parted as she drew Kotaru down into her arms. Kotaru gently laid Shadarii in the grass and lost himself inside her embrace.

  Far above them, sharp eyes glittered in the twilight. Kïtashii perched high up on a rock, watching out for spying priests. The little girl peered down at the lovers cuddling in the grass, then gave a sniff and turned away, going back to her silent sentry duty.

  It was all really very silly. So much pain and worry, and all for that? If they’d simply kissed each other to begin with, all this nonsense could have been avoided. Kïtashii would never understand adults; puberty seemed to put a mildew on the brain.

  Maybe…

  The little girl hugged her skinny knees and stared out into the darkness, feeling strangely young and free.

  Notes:

  1) Dak dak: A chess-like game played on a board which is made anew for every game. Colours on the board indicate ïsha flow, effecting the possible movement of the game pieces.

  Chapter Ten

  It was a dreadful morning for a jiteng game; fog hung sullenly between the trees and turned the whole world ghostly white. Even the brave uniforms of the players seemed strangely sad and dull. The audience shivered and peered fearfully about t
he field. It seemed almost as though Prakucha’s Ka still moaned across the grass.

  The Skull-Wings hovered in the mist like evil spirits as cold light fell into the blank eyes of their masks. They hung like corpses in the trees and waited for their prey.

  A crowd of ten thousand had come to see the game. Even so, the players could almost have been alone upon the field. The audience lay hidden in the gloom, felt only as a restless ebb and flow of sound. The Wrens shivered in the cold, swinging their staves as they tried to ease their nerves.

  Kotaru gathered up his team, trying to keep the tension from his voice.

  “Alright people, we’ve seen the way the locals play. My only priority is to get my team out of here unhurt. If they attempt one of those crash attacks, you will dodge aside. You will not pursue attackers. You will not be provoked into a brawl.” Kotaru’s held his listeners firm and calm beneath his spell. “We’ve all heard about the death upon the field here yesterday. This is what can happen if we don’t all keep our wits. So stay cool, stay fast, stay safe.

  “Another problem is that we’re missing Mrrimïmei, so we no longer have our fast strike ability. Shadarii will try to shore up our ïsha defences. She manoeuvres better than we do, so we can use her for tight flying and sudden double backs.”

  Kotaru removed the mask from his helmet. Today protection took second place to calming his team’s fraying nerves. They needed to see his face.

  “We’ve seen them at work. They don’t use pre-set patterns like the Mantises used to. So stay with your mates and work with one another. Sing out if ye have any bright ideas!”