Short Stories

Flight of the Broken

I stepped out into the bustling streets, clutching the strap of my satchel with one hand. Gazing at the scene before me, I tried to take in as much as possible; people picking fruit off trees, collecting them in wicker baskets to take home; someone playing a set of bongos as another danced wildly; a group of teenagers practicing trying to balance on a piece of bark on water; an old man with a shaved head feeding a large group of fish in a pond with strange pellets that sparkled as the light hit them. I shuffled a little where I stood, staring at the dirt path before me, trying to will myself to move. How was I supposed to find Koi here? I glanced at the old man feeding the fish. That's a good start.

I strode over to the man purposefully and stopped about two feet away from him. I was close enough that he should definitely have noticed me, but he did not look up from his work. He sprinkled another handful of pellets into the water, watching peacefully as the fish chased after them. I had been told that the Maebian people did not like to rush things, so I ducked under the strap of my satchel and placed it on the grass. I sat down next to him and gazed into the water. I kept the man in the corner of my eye, waiting to see if he would do anything. When he did not, I turned my attention to the fish; I watched with increasing wonder as they swam laps around the pond. It was only about 4 feet in diameter, and yet the fish swam casually around, barely moving their tails to propel them forwards, before looping back around to make another lap. Sometimes, one or two would break off from the continuous stream of fish from around the edge, and instead orbit around each other, ducking and dipping around each other's fins before re-joining the general flow. The fish themselves were very beautiful; each had an intricate pattern of patches that were unlike any of the other fish, each's scale patter was unique. Their fins and tail were see through, and their dark eyes were slanted slightly, giving them an exotic, almost wise look.
Then the man spoke, in a language I didn't understand. His voice was deep and slow, each syllable said with meaning.
I turned to him quizzically, "I'm sorry, I only know how to speak Prorian."
The man smiled, still looking down at the water, and repeated what he said, this time in Prorian, "I asked if you knew much about this kind of fish." He had a heavy accent, each vowel slightly more pronounced.
I smiled as well, turning my gaze back to the fish, "No, I've never seen them before. They're beautiful."
"They're called koi fish." As he spoke, he reached down to the water and touched the surface with one finger softly, sending ripples that lapped at the dirt, "The great guardian Koi decided not to name his state after himself, as the other four guardians did, and instead gave us the koi fish. They are the most elegant, beautiful animal on this earth."
I nodded in solemn silence, pausing for a moment.
"Koi sounds like a very benevolent guardian." I said after a while, "Does he visit his town a lot?"
The old man chuckled, "Koi only visits if there's something interesting to see. But believe me, if there's something interesting to see, he will visit."
"Something interesting..." I muttered, half to myself. I needed to get Koi's attention, then. But what can I do that a guardian hasn't already seen?
I smiled, the answer already appearing to me.
"Thank you." I said, standing up swiftly.
"My pleasure." The man dipped his head in a small bow, before resuming his observance of the koi fish.
I picked up my satchel, shooting one last look at the old man, before going to find a place to start.

I planted my feel firmly in the ground, tossing my satchel off to the side. This was a suitable place, I though, gazing around. It was a small patch of grass in the middle of a bustling town square. People sat chatting, eating, performing tricks, along with other such social activities. Groups mainly kept to themselves, but I knew that a big distraction could easily catch their attention. I unbuttoned my cloak collar, letting it fall to my feet before kicking it to the side near my bag. I shook my arms and legs, stretching a little and preparing myself. I closed my eyes and reached for my memory - one of my only memories from before the shipwreck, other than waves, thundering skies, creaking wood and gaping faces...
I shivered. Don't think about that. Find the memory.
I saw myself, dancing alone in a room. I heard the music, the music I had practiced to so many times before. I heard the drum beat in my mind, and all the sounds from around me disappeared.
Bang.
A pause, as my arms came down to my sides.
Bang.
I brought my left arm up to my chest.
Bang.
I lifted my leg up and crossed it over the other, whilst at the same time bringing both arms to my left side.
All other noise was gone as I continued. I had no awareness of what was going on around me, only the drum beats in my head, and the increasingly quick and complex manoeuvres. I began to dance, my feet moving beneath me in a way I could not describe. I could not identify individual movements or poses, I could not list their order down on paper. As the next drum beat came, so did my memory of the movement. The routine was less of a series of movements and more of a living, breathing vessel, that my brain received with increasing speed. Faster, faster did the drum beats hit, until it was as fast as a heartbeat, and then doubly that fast. I kept moving, faster and faster, until my feet were a blur beneath me, and sweat poured from my forehead. Each movement was so precise, so calculated, and yet so free and unchained. I remember practicing this, over and over and over again. I don't know why, or what power it gave me, all I remember is the dance. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, sending shivers down my back and giving me goose bumps. My breath came out in rasps and my body tried to keep up with my mind, and my special awareness disappeared along with my sense of self entirely. I was no longer Wendei; Wendei who washed up on the shore, genderless with horrific scars, both mental and physical. Wendei who had no memory of their name, their identity, and so was given the name wenn dae - broken one. I was no longer broken. I was a dancer, my feet moving as faster than ever before, the blood pumping through my veins so fast I thought I might have a heart attack.
And then, with a leap into the air, the drum beats thudded loudly and stopped. I landed, my feel planted apart and my hands together before my chest, as if to pray.
The drums sounded again, and I jumped, my hands pulling apart about two inches.
And again the drums sounded, and again I jumped, my hands pulling another couple inches apart. A shiver went down my spine, cold energy surging through my veins and into my fingertips. I felt it exit my body, into the space between my hands. I opened my eyes to see a ball of aqua light between my hands, floating and gyrating seemingly of it's own accord.

This was the reason I came to the Maebian town in the first place. Since I had washed up and wandered to the Prorettan city of Orejin, I had always been different. I didn't identify as any gender, the language I had started off knowing was not the language that the others spoke, and due to some kind of brain damage I suffered during the shipwreck, I cannot remember anything of my past. Everybody saw me as an outcast. Well, everybody except Guenn, my caretaker. She looked after me, taught me Proran, taught me how to read and write and, most importantly, about the world I has washed up on. Auroren was a place ruled by four states; Renna, Ignnissa, Proretta, and Maebi. They all had different strengths, weaknesses, and were almost constantly fighting and choosing sides. And then there was me. Everything had seemed to be going uphill for me; I made friends with some of the locals, got used to their culture, and began fitting in. Until one day, I saw two kids playing with drums, and it triggered a memory to resurface. That memory of me, dancing in the room, to the beat of the drum. So I tried it - and I freaked everyone out in the process. This dance somehow is able to summon an odd kind of energy, one that nobody from any of the other states possesses. Some people can use magic, but not like me. Nothing like this has ever been seen before, according to Guenn. And if its connected to that memory, then somehow its connected to my past. I was compelled to go searching for answers, spurred on by Guenn. She says that the best course of action is to consult the guardians - odd, omnipotent creatures that guard their states. Renn, the red dragon, Igniss, the strange horse-deer, Prora the woolly cat that turns into a sea serpent underwater, and Koi the shape shifter. She recommended that the one most likely to listen to me would be Koi, and so I set off to the nearest Maebian city, in search of the benevolent guardian.

And that brings me to that moment, where I opened my eyes. As I gazed around at the crowd that had gathered around me, I saw some people who looked at me with horror, some with awe, and some with a mixture of both. But as I scanned the crowd, suddenly feeling really self-conscious, some one caught my eye. A little boy, standing behind and between two people, who had a look of interest and amusement on his face. He looked about 6, and most of his face was covered by thick black hair. He tilted his chin up a little bit to reveal a pair of glowing, whited out eyes. The breath caught in my throat as I realized I was most definitely looking at Koi himself. The little boy smiled as he saw my reaction.
"Keep going." The silent whisper somehow seemed to echo in my ears as he mouthed the words. He had somehow known the dance was not over. I smiled softly at him, looking back down at the ball of energy before me. I took a deep breath, trying to slow my thumping heart, and closed my eyes once more.

Faster than ever before, I resumed the dance, this time incorporating the ball of energy into my movements. I tossed the ball from one hand to the other, though it never truly touched my skin. Despite the fact that my eyes were closed, I knew the affect it had on the air around me; it seemed to leave an aqua trail behind, and as the dance got faster and faster and I threw the ball this way and that, it created a sort of forcefield around me. I could not remember the purpose of his forcefield, or even if it had a purpose at all, but it was certainly exciting to watch. This dance continued for several minutes, until a solid sphere has been created around me. The drum beats in my mind suddenly sped up to incredible speeds, too fast for me to dance to. I opened my eyes, as I knew I needed sight for the last part. I bent backwards and, with as much force as I could, threw the ball of energy through the forcefield and into the air a couple feet in front of me.

I heard the crowd gasp as a bright light radiated from the ball as it crashed through the forcefield. The entire square was bleached white with the light, and when it faded a beautiful sight was left. The forcefield had gone, as had the ball, and drifting down from the sky were little specks of aqua light, that glowed like embers and fell like snowflakes. The crowd ood and aad at the sight, and as the specks hit the grass, the blades seemed to get a little more green. I gasped for breath, gazing around at the sight with a big goofy smile if my face. The memory was fading even now, and the power in my veins slowly ebbed away. I turned to where Koi was, and the little boy was still there, staring up at the specks with a look of utter ecstasy. He turned to face me, a huge grin on his face, when all of a sudden his form melted into a white blob, and then grew into a fully grown woman. It's a transformation that's not easy to describe using words, but imagine a reflection in a clear bowl of water, and then add milk to the water, making the image rippling and white, and then it magically turning clear again as a different reflection. But in any case, there before me stood a woman with dark raven hair, and who appeared to be in her mid 20s. She had ivory skin and rose lips, though her eyes were still that piercing white colour, illuminating the rest of her face. She caught the crowd's attention, as everyone turned to face her, though she did not return their gazes. Her eyes were fixed solely on me, an intrigued and even playful look on her face.

"You are Koi." I said. I heard from Guenn that it is seen as impolite and patronizing to bow to Koi, and that you must instead treat them like a friend, so I kept my chin up and met her gaze.
"I am." Her voice was as clear and smooth as any other woman's, though with a touch of ethereality, "That was quite the dance you just did. Tell me, what is your name?"
"I am Wendei." I said. Koi seemed taken aback for a second - usually names are not as blatantly a combination of two words, especially not words such as mine.
"What a heavy burden you must carry, O' Broken One." She took a few steps closer, "Tell me - I am curious - what is your gender? I cannot tell by your looks or name."
"I have no gender. I have forgotten it, Benevolent Guardian." I did not flinch and continued to look strait ahead as Koi began to circle me, sidestepping around my left side, keeping her eyes fixed on me. She continued to circle me as she spoke.
"Oh, then you are... like me." Midway through her sentence, when she was directly behind me, her voice changed. It sounded male, raspy, old. The figure that reappeared to my right was that of an old crone, bent double over a walking cane, with so many wrinkles he almost looked like a skeleton. I suppressed a shudder.
Koi smiled and looked me up and down, his eyes still glowing white.
"Ah yes," he rasped, "You are going to be very interesting indeed."

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This is a story concept I thought of on the way home from a camping trip, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head for some time. No idea where the story could lead, and I'm well aware that it's quite lore-heavy, as most of my original stories are, but I wrote this little extract on the 11th of August, 2021. Hope you liked it!