Shadowed by Moonlight (SAMPLE)

Chapter 1.a

Masina really was the perfect child. She was only in her tenth year, but she was always the best at everything. Whenever she went diving with the fisherman, Masina speared the most fish. When she joined the hunting parties, Masina came back with the biggest pig on her shoulders. If one of the elders wanted coconuts, Masina would climb the tree faster than any of the boys and fetch it for them.

Built tall and athletic, Masina had the same kind of presence our father had; she was a natural leader. And while she had the strength and speed of a man twice her size, Masina was by no means masculine in appearance. With her earthy skin, big brown eyes, and long hair the color of cooled lava, Masina's beauty went unchallenged among the village girls. People often gossiped how she would someday have a line of suitors that wrapped around the island. I may be the firstborn and bear the title of future chief, but if the village could have it their way, there's no doubt in my mind they would rather have Masina lead them instead of me.  

I wonder if everyone would still love her if they knew how she had become so strong.

I woke up to the soft smell of flowers and the sound of Masina humming. Yawning, I stretched out on my mat, staring up at the thatched roof of my chambers. Sunlight peeked through the coconut fronds covering the open walls, telling me I had slept in. Grunting, I rolled up to my feet. If I was late to the last protocol meeting before I received my title, it would not look good. I've been sitting through those meetings once a month for as long as I can remember, and I didn't want anyone to think I wasn't ready for my title.

I tied a sulu around my waist as Masina knocked on one of the wooden masts of my hut.

"Morning, brother!" she sang, "Are you up?"

"What do you want, Masina?" I growled, running my fingers through my hair. 

Masina pulled up the coconut frond curtains in front of her, flooding that part of the hut with sunlight. She had on a light brown dress that came under her shoulders and cut just below the knee. Aside from the piece of tapa cloth tied around the middle, the fabric was unadorned. Her hair was in its usual bun and she wore her favorite bone necklace carved to look like boar tusks with a wooden kaulima on each tricep. In her arms she held a tray covered with a burlap cloth.

"Hi, Lā," she said, smiling.

"Didn't Father tell you it's rude to walk in on a man's hut?" I said, folding my blankets and rolling up my sleeping mat, "That sort of thing will get people talking."

Masina winked. "Technically you're not a man yet. And even if you were, you're my brother. That doesn't count."

Masina was five years younger than me, but she was already as tall as I was. Sometimes even I forgot she was my little sister, instead of my twin. Seeing her standing there, hair brushed and bracelets highlighting the contour of her arms, I was reminded of just how small I was in comparison. 

Where Masina was strong and beautiful, I was thin and homely. I was so skinny I often heard how my hollowed face resembled the dead more than the living, or how one gust of wind would be enough to blow me off the island. I barely had enough strength to lift a two-handed war club, let alone swing it around the way Masina did when we trained together. Adding insult to injury my parents had named me Toaolelā, the sun warrior. Masina had been named for the moon. If people weren't reminding me how scrawny I was, they were commenting on how "the moon outshines the sun" in our family.

But all of that ended today. Masina could hunt the deadliest sea creature or kill the wildest boar in the mountains, but she would never be high chief. That was the one thing she could never take from me.     

"Are you ready to start your chief training?" she asked, rocking on her toes. 

I ignored her and reached for the water bowl next to the towel cloths left by the servants. Kneeling beside it, I dipped my hands inside and started to wash my face. I waited for Masina to leave, but she just sat down with her tray, making me uncomfortable with the way she stared. I picked up a towel cloth and dried my face.

"Don't you have another village to plunder?" I said, not looking at her.

Masina laughed. "I don't do that, silly."

"Then what do you want?"

"I have something for you. I thought about giving it to you after protocol, but I'll be practicing my dance for the ceremony by then, and I want you to have it."

I glanced at her skeptically. Masina had never tried to hurt me. Yet. A part of me always worried she might, though. She certainly could if she wanted to. I watched her finger the cloth covering her tray as she bit her lip.

"Is it alright if I show you?" she asked.

I gave a slight nod, and Masina let out a squeal as she pulled off the cloth, revealing one of the best kahoa leis I've ever seen. A neck adornment worn only for special occasions, the lei had braided ti leaves with multi-colored flowers sewn on top in intricate half-moon patterns. I held it up by the ends, amazed at its beauty, and wondered where she had gotten it from. I knew all of the women who sewed leis in the village, and none of them had ever made one this fine.

"I made it myself," Masina said, beaming.

I groaned inwardly. Of course you did.

I've never seen Masina pick up a needle or braid ti leaves before, but since she's Masina of course this is what her first lei would look like. She probably grew the flowers overnight and lured in honeybees for a rush pollination. Everything was easy for Masina.

 "I made one for Dad, too, so that you could be matching," Masina added, "I had to stay up late to finish them so it might look rushed, but do you like it?"

She tied the lei behind my neck and let it drape around my shoulders. The fragrance was intoxicating. Masina had picked flowers that were bright reds and yellows. The petals were sewn on in a way that made them resemble the rising sun. She really had thought of me while she was making this.

"It's...really nice," I said, "Thank you."

She gave me a toothy grin. "I love you, Lā!"

I nodded my thanks. Then, remembering how late I was, I took off running for the orator's house.

Stupid Masina, I thought as I ran down the hill, That's what this dumb lei was for, isn't it?  She's trying to sabotage my last day of protocol.