Red Samurai

by Tiffiny Hall

  ‘My new magic is proving harder to control than I thought. Like when I get excited, my feet lift off the ground. Not to mention this new cross-eyed thing that is sooo not attractive. But when I do it, I can make stuff move. It actually feels good to say these things out loud.’ She runs her hands through her hair, making her bangles rattle. ‘I thought having powers was uncool. But I’ve changed my mind. Powers rock! Why not be the most powerful chick you can be?’

  The sun casts streaks across the bench and the steam from the sandwich maker turns to smoke. Lecky releases the lid and slides out the sandwiches with a spatula. The cheese pillows out of the pita bread like lava.

  ‘Damn, we pulled them out too soon,’ she says. ‘They’re not crusty enough. They taste better burnt.’

  I help Lecky to place the sandwiches on a plate, then we slice them into little triangles. I take a long deep breath.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asks.

  I hold my breath and shove her out of the way, then I exhale fire out of my nostrils to toast the sandwiches a little bit more. Elecktra says nothing. She stares at the sandwiches that are now darker around the crusts, just the way she likes it. She approaches the bench cautiously and picks up a triangle. Without taking her eyes off me, she bites into a corner, then chews athletically.

  ‘You have magic too?’ she asks, her mouth dripping with cheese.

  ‘Yes,’ I say.

  Lecky swallows. ‘Are we ninjas like Mum?’

  ‘I think you’re turning ninja,’ I say.

  ‘How would you know?’

  ‘Jackson told me about the legend of the White Warrior who has the power to control the elements. But the warrior’s powers were taken from them when they were a baby and stored in a set of scrolls.’ Elecktra picks up another toasted sandwich and slathers it in organic ketchup. ‘Stay with me,’ I tell her. She refocuses on me.

  ‘Warrior needs scrolls,’ she says. ‘What’s this got to do with moi?’

  ‘Well, Jackson trained me up to be a ninja so I could transport to another realm, the Cemetery of Warriors.’

  ‘Another realm?’ She laughs. ‘And you make fun of my magic cape?’

  ‘Yes, another realm. Where it’s an endless night and the moon is green and there is death everywhere,’ I say. ‘But if you fight your way through the dead masters, the White Warrior shows themself to you.’

  Elecktra puts down the sandwich. I can tell she’s thinking because she is twisting her hair and pivoting on her heels. ‘And you know all this because?’

  ‘I fought the dead masters,’ I say.

  ‘And did you meet the White Wizard?’ she asks. I’ve never seen Elecktra this interested in me. I don’t know why I feel so nervous about telling her my true identity. She’s my sister. I should be able to tell her anything. But what if she splashes it across Facebook or tells everyone at school, what if they think I’m even more of a weirdo? What if being different makes me Gate Two forever? Elecktra is impatient and stamps her foot. ‘Did you meet him or not?’

  ‘We met,’ I say. ‘I am the White Warrior.’

  Elecktra’s eyes narrow. She walks slowly around the kitchen island, one complete lap, then stops a mere whisker from my face. She stares into my eyes, deep into the tunnels of my thoughts, and for a moment it feels as though she can hear what I’m thinking.

  ‘You’re telling me that you are the White Warrior. From the legend. The dude who can control the elements?’ She looks at the charcoal crusts of the sandwiches, burnt from my fire breathing. She takes up her sandwich and bites into it again, chewing on a thought, then jumps onto the bench and swings her legs like a kid. ‘Details,’ she says. ‘I need to know everything.’

  I tell her about the warriors, the fights, Hero. I tell her everything in hopes it will help her transition to ninja. If she can know what to expect, maybe it won’t be as difficult or scary for her.

  ‘That monk sounds feral,’ she says.

  ‘I know. By the time the Apache showed up, I was ready to give up, but seeing Mum’s face —’

  Elecktra cuts me off. ‘Mum was there?’

  I duck as a thunderous crash erupts in the kitchen. Every cupboard and drawer explodes open. Elecktra laughs, still swinging her legs. How did she do that? I’m wedged between two sets of drawers that have slammed out like sets of stairs. The cupboard doors creak on their hinges. Elecktra seems to have more power when she feels strong emotion. I could never do that. Why can’t I do that?

  ‘Elecktra! Don’t do that!’ I say, still crouched. Lucky I’m short and fast. I was nearly squished between the drawers like toast.

  ‘But it’s so much fun,’ Elecktra says.

  I slam the drawers closed. ‘I think Mum knew I was going to reclaim my powers and was trying to stop me,’ I say, closing more cupboards around us. I side kick the fridge doors closed, then spin back kick the microwave shut. Elecktra raises one eyebrow. She may be able to make things move with thoughts, but I know she can’t kick like that. To do so, she’d need to train and she’s always been lazy when it comes to training.

  ‘Of course Mum would be there for you,’ Lecky says. ‘Two ninjas in a ninja pod. Then there’s me. I look different, all uncoordinated, not like you two with your ninja zip. She’s always there for you.’

  I jump front kick the china cupboard closed above me. ‘What are you talking about?’

  Lecky stings me with a look. ‘You’re her favourite. Always have been,’ she says.

  ‘Have you ever thought that maybe Mum dyes her hair blonde to look more like you?’ I snap.

  Elecktra kicks her heels into the bench and jumps off. ‘You’ve always thought you were special because of that stupid cat mark on your foot,’ she says.

  ‘It’s a tiger. And it’s the mark that proves I’m the White Warrior. It’s in the legend,’ I say. She wants to fight, but I’m not falling for that. ‘Look, I know it’s tough. I freaked out when my ninja powers came in. I didn’t have anyone to talk to and was so confused.’

  ‘Confused?’ Lecky scoffs. ‘I’m not freaking out — well, not any more — because I deserve these powers. It’s elecktrafying! I always knew one day my magic would take off.’

  ‘But it’s not magic, it’s ninja. And aren’t you worried that your powers are different to mine?’

  Elecktra stares at me blankly. ‘So what if you can control the weather. Whoopee.’

  ‘I can control wind, earth, fire, water and invisibility,’ I say. ‘But you can only move stuff with your mind.’

  ‘And when I get really excited my feet lift off the ground,’ she adds. ‘See?’ She pushes her arms down and rises into the air so that the tips of her toes balance on the kitchen counter and her head bobs against the mattress secured to the ceiling. Mum and Art must already know about Elecktra’s powers. They never interfere too much with us kids; Mum believes in taking responsibility for your destiny. This is okay if you know what your destiny is meant to be, like Summer at school who tells everyone she meets that she wants to invent a range of floral breath fresheners when she grows up, but harder if, like me, you’re not sure what your future holds. Or have to wait for your ninja stars to align.

  Elecktra levitates for a moment, twirls, then floats back to the ground. ‘You’re the White Warrior so of course your powers are going to be different to mine,’ she muses. ‘Maybe the ninja god doesn’t create all ninjas equal.’

  She has a point. Perhaps all ninjas do have different powers and already I’ve seen varying degrees of skill in Mum, Jackson and Sabo’s students. Sabo, my instructor, does Taekwondo, which is totally different again. But something about Lecky’s powers is unnerving. They tug at me deep in the gut, in the same place the burning fire starts. A place of no control and no turning back. The lair of instinct. Why would Lecky’s powers flair up my instincts? Shouldn’t I recognise her powers on a deep biological level that binds us not only as sisters, but also as part of the ninja clan?

  Elecktra waltzes around the kitchen, having abandone
d her toasted cheese sandwiches in a hunt for something else to eat. I take a bite of one of her triangles, but it is so soaked in sauce it tastes foul.

  ‘So are you going to talk to Mum or not?’ I ask.

  Elecktra begins to make herself a cup of coffee. She is the last person in the world who needs caffeine. She takes some rice milk out of the fridge for what she and her friends have coined a ‘Long Brown’ — a long black coffee with a dash of milk. Apparently flat whites have too many kilojoules.

  ‘Nope. Don’t want her trying to control me.’ She looks up at the ceiling covered with mattresses. ‘She’ll want to give me lessons and training. And I’m already the best.’ She shrugs.

  The only thing Elecktra is the best at is thinking she’s the best — and inventing new trends at school. Last week she painted her nails and dipped them, while still wet, into coloured hundreds and thousands. Her nails looked super cool and by Wednesday all the girls at Gate One had dipped their nails in edible sprinkles.

  I feel like I haven’t got anywhere with Lecky. She doesn’t want to talk to Mum about her powers, she is too lazy to train and still thinks she’s the best. She won’t stop using her powers in public. I know she won’t stop.

  ‘I think training is a great idea,’ I say. ‘You can train with Jackson and me. At least think about it?’

  ‘Okay, I’ll think about it,’ she says unconvincingly.

  ‘In the meantime, keep your powers to yourself.’

  ‘Relax, Rox. I’m not going to tell anyone about your secret identity. They might think there’s something wrong with me,’ she huffs.

  I roll my eyes.

  FIVE

  Ms Wentworth is trying to teach us Romeo and Juliet. But with my mind on Lecky, Shakespeare may as well be another language. I keep imagining Jackson as Romeo and Lecky as Juliet. Star-crossed lovers. Insanely in love. Dangerously in love. I can’t peel my mind away from that moment in the locker room, Jackson’s lips being so close to Elecktra’s. Every thought bud tingles with the memory of their near-kiss.

  Ms Wentworth is ancient with a nest of grey curls. She is always impeccably dressed in a pink or spearmint suit with a matching brooch and beads. However, the only shoes she wears are a pair of runners with white stockings. She told us she once broke both her wrists falling downstairs in a pair of heels and she vowed never to take off her runners again.

  ‘Oi, Cinnamon buns! Move your ’fro. I can’t see the board!’ Hero yells from the back of the room. Ms Wentworth has given up on him and doesn’t even turn around from the whiteboard. Cinnamon slumps in her chair.

  ‘I said, shove it, purple cow!’ he calls. Cinnamon lifts a hand to cover her mouth. She had beetroot for lunch and it has stained her chin. We tried to scrub it off in the toilets, but had left it too late. It was a bad start to eating healthily.

  ‘Poxy Roxy! Roxy Rubbish! Tell your friend to move her fat head!’ he yells.

  I seethe. After everything that’s happened, he still has the cheek to tease my friend and me. Every fibre of my being wants me to stand up and crash my chair over his desk, but I can’t jeopardise myself for a dropkick like Hero. I remind myself of what my instructor, Sabo, said at a recent training session: ‘You can’t control others, but you can control your response to them.’ But it’s no use. Hero knows how to push my pressure points. I can’t take that guy’s bullying any more.

  ‘Hero,’ I say loudly. ‘I don’t like how you speak to Cim and me. Please apologise.’

  The class is silent. Ms Wentworth looks flabbergasted. No one has ever stood up to Hero before and I’ve done it twice, once when I saved Rescue and now. He no longer intimidates me.

  Ms Wentworth recovers and steps in front of her desk. ‘Yes, yes, that’s right. Hero, stop being so rude and apologise to Roxy and Cinnamon,’ she says.

  Hero stands up slowly. ‘Make me.’

  ‘The principal’s office. Immediately!’ Ms Wentworth bellows, pointing to the door.

  Hero doesn’t move.

  ‘Are you serious?’ I say to Hero. Has he forgotten all about the Cemetery of Warriors — the fight on the mountain peak, the ninja darts, how I could have killed him but showed mercy?

  ‘Deadly,’ he says.

  ‘Say you’re sorry,’ I demand. He owes an apology not only to us but the entire school for his verbal terrorism.

  ‘Now!’ Ms Wentworth backs me up. I’ve liked Ms Wentworth ever since I saw her at the doctor’s on a Saturday morning. She knew I thought it was weird seeing her outside of school and that it was beyond awkward to sit next to each other in the swamped waiting room. She offered me a throat lozenge, smiled and that was it. Classy, I thought.

  I summon the wind to remind Hero of my powers. It blows through the window in a knifing blast, whips a dictionary off the shelf and slams it onto Hero’s desk across his fingers. Hero shakes his fingers, but doesn’t wince. He looks at the book, then at me.

  ‘You’ll need to do better than that,’ he says, then draws a long breath. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Ms Wentworth nods approvingly, but Hero continues: ‘… That you have no idea what’s coming for you.’ He glares at me, then leaves for Mr Cheatley’s office.

  Hold it together, I tell myself. He wants to provoke me. He wants me to unleash my full array of powers in class, to reveal that I’m the White Warrior. I turn to the front. I know what’s coming for me. A clan of angry samurai. Nothing I can’t handle.

  Since turning ninja, time has changed. I don’t mean that I now know other realms like the Cemetery of Warriors exist, but everyday time. There has been one person by my side every kick of the way, and that’s Jackson. It’s as if he holds the second hand of the world’s clock in his eyes. With one look, time races, and yet when we are together, time slips. Time is truant. Like now.

  ‘How’s things?’ he asks, leaning his elbow on my locker and resting his head in the nook.

  ‘You don’t have to follow me to my locker. A samurai isn’t going to attack me in the school corridor,’ I say. They’ll just drag me into a free classroom and slam me against the door, I add silently.

  ‘Aren’t they?’ Jackson looks over his shoulder. ‘We can’t be too careful, Roxy Rox. Hero’s clan is growing in numbers and training hard up at Samurai Falls. They want to steal your powers —’

  ‘And to do that, they have to get me out of Lanternwood and kill me. Not happening any time soon.’

  Elecktra appears. She steps in front of Jackson, ignoring him. He swipes the cobwebs of her blonde hair out of his face.

  ‘I need to talk to you. And it’s more urgent than whatever you’re talking about,’ she says, sniffing.

  ‘Is this urgent like you can’t find the right earrings to match your nails?’ Jackson asks.

  Elecktra blows air up into her eyelashes, then rolls her eyes. ‘Juice box time — I need to retox!’ She pulls a juice box out of her bag and takes a swig.

  ‘Go crazy,’ Jackson says.

  I can’t help but laugh. Lecky’s tough-chick attitude is ridiculous and I’m glad Jackson can get under her crocodile-thick skin. Reminds me she is actually human. I wait patiently.

  ‘I had a call this morning,’ she says. ‘There’s a chance for me to show off some of my magic in a TV commercial for vitamins. They’re looking for the best magicians in town.’

  ‘That’s not a good idea,’ I say. Besides, she’s not a magician. She’s a ninja. I don’t know why she won’t accept it. Being a ninja is way cooler than being a magician. Knowing Lecky, I thought she’d be keen to trade her cape for a sleek black one-piece. She’s always saying that black is flattering and a good contrast to her hair.

  ‘But they need someone to make the flu disappear,’ she says, flicking her hand like a wand. ‘I’m going after school and, as my assistant, you’re coming with me.’

  I remember the kitchen exploding all around me last night and know that she can’t be left alone. She has no idea how to control herself, let alone control her powers. ‘Okay, I’ll come,�
� I say.

  Cinnamon opens her locker next to mine and smiles at us. Her locker is covered with pictures of horses, cats and a famous dog whisperer.

  ‘I hate dog trainers. They think they’re sooo good! I think anyone with photos of their pets in their locker is tragic,’ Elecktra snipes.

  ‘Does that go for magician’s rabbits too?’ Cinnamon asks earnestly.

  Elecktra huffs. ‘Get a boyfriend!’

  ‘Lecky, that’s mean,’ I say.

  Cinnamon is so used to put-downs that she swallows her sadness, then jams it in her locker with a slam. She turns into the conversation and I wink at her. It’s unusual for Elecktra to be at my locker asking me for help. I’m enjoying this.

  ‘Was there anything else, Elecktra?’ I ask.

  ‘Yes. Well.’ She flicks her eyes around and lowers her voice. ‘I’ve come to realise that we’re sisters.’

  ‘Duh.’ I roll my eyes.

  ‘I mean, there are things I can do that you can’t do. Like text while showering and cry about celebrity breakups. And there are things that you can do better than me,’ Elecktra says.

  I sense Jackson rolling his eyes behind Lecky’s hair.

  ‘Like what, exactly?’ I ask with a sneaky smile.

  She shakes her hands in front of her face, the bangles on her wrist chiming. ‘I don’t know, like kick and fight and know what to do when stuff happens.’

  Jackson pokes his head around Elecktra’s shoulder and narrows his eyes. He doesn’t know about the samurai motorbike attack in broad daylight.

  ‘Is English her first language?’ Cinnamon asks me.

  We laugh. Lecky glares.

  ‘Spit it out, Elecktra,’ I say.

  ‘I want to start training, you know, like you?’

  Jackson’s surprised face appears over Elecktra’s shoulder again. ‘You? Train? You wouldn’t last a nanosecond,’ he says.

  ‘I don’t know what a nannasecond is, but it sounds cute and I bet I can dominate it,’ she retorts. ‘And we made a deal, Rox. You would help me with my training and I said I’d be your life coach. My first piece of advice is to take off that pumpkin jumper.’ I look down at my orange knit. ‘It’s very year 2000,’ she says and walks off.