"BANG!" A shot is taken. "Ksshhk!" The sound of a glass bottle shattering on the hard muddy dirt ground no more than 2 seconds afterwards. That glass was tied onto a branch of a dying tree just waiting for its days to finally end.
"Kenanga! Can't you listen for once?" A shout of a man heard from afar. A man with an almost-sergeant thick kind of a moustache decorating his upper lip. "I told you, haven't I?" He continued.
"What is it now, dad?" Suri Kenanga felt confronted by the warning made by his master, Master Amir. She felt as if Master Amir never let her do anything, being overprotective towards her as if she does not know how to do everything, even the daily-basis activities.
"Save your bullets, we have a battle to fight and a war to die for..." Explained Master Amir. "I am sure you are well aware of the fact that we are now short of ammunition and thus shall I expect from you to be well-understood regarding this matter, Kenanga."
"I am practicing, for god sake." A breath is inhaled. "You were the one who taught me to practice and sharpen the skills I have and now I am just following your teachings." She does not seem interested in stopping speaking. "What's the point of having great eyesight and coordination without having the chance to execute them, dad?" She finally ends her so-alike defensive argument.
"You're done speaking?" Kenanga briefly nods her head upon being asked. "Aye, just comply with my instruction, will ya?" Master Amir again asked, now rhetorically finally succeeding in making the hard-head Kenanga to follow suit.
It was 20 years ago that a baby girl was found by Master Amir by the bank of the river near his hometown house. The helpless and hopeless baby was left there crying hunger for milk. Master Amir, who could not see her being abandoned there alone worrying as if any predators might harm her sooner or later, brought her home. Not that he had a plan in mind to do anything with her, he ended up raising her into a fine, hard-hearted young lady, the one he named Suri Kenanga.
Master Amir by then was already involved in an anti-coloniser movement, fighting underground against the British Colonial Government in Malaya, specifically the one presiding over the state of Selangor. Nevertheless, Suri Kenanga was never
abandoned and he had raised her, acting both as a father and a mother to the unfortunate orphan. Therefore, Suri Kenanga never felt indifferent from the people of her surroundings.
It was when Kenanga almost reached the age of almost a decade that Master Amir realized the potential Kenanga had in herself. A potential that can be polished into something as shiny as a star surrounding the sky at night. In the woods early morning in the first week of the month, Master Amir brought Kenanga hunting for the first time. With the bow and a set of few arrows given, Kenanga was also brought by Master Amir into the woods hunting for chevrotain or better known as "Sang Kancil" by the locals.
"Ah, I missed it!" Master Amir missed a shot from his bolt-action rifle. "Go, Kenanga, get it quick!" Master Amir instructed.
"SSsffew!~" The sound of the arrow launched by the bow in Kenanga's hands. It went swiftly but quickly directly hitting one of the small creatures that was running for her life. It took Kenanga just a few blinks of eyes to target and launch. What is more surprising is the fact she hit it in her first try. This shocks Master Amir as he never properly taught Kenanga on how to handle and use the archery set for hunting. Only did he teach her briefly on how to hold and release the arrows, which is all of what he had taught and nothing more.
That is the moment he knew that Master Amir had raised a girl with hitman blood running through her veins. Starting from there, Master Amir started training her hard to prepare her and polish her running-in-the-blood talent she has.
"I-I, I can't, dad... Let me take a break for a while... It's so tiring..." Complaint the little girl. She has been doing physical exercises since morning earlier. Now, the sun is already up high on top of everyone's heads. The heat from it could burn one's hair, thus needing the utmost level of fitness. "Why do I need to do this all, dad?" Her, still complaining about her situation.
"This is all for your own good," Master Amir stops for a while. "You will soon understand the purpose of this all," He continues. "By then, you will do nothing but to thank me for making you do this..."
Almost every day is filled with physical activities. Master Amir is very strict with her training. Physical activities are compulsory for her. The earlier parts of her training was hell, the deepest hell to even be precise with. Only until she reached an adult age that she could endure the level of her training's intensity. Since then, not only she can endure it, she could as well topple the training made by her foster dad who is as well her master.
Besides focusing on her physicalities, Master Amir who found her ability of marksmanship had as well started sharpening her skills. Using his only bolt-action rifle, Suri Kenanga is taught by Master Amir how to handle it perfectly. It did not take her long to master it as the blood running through her vein is marksman's blood. Just to be sharpened even more and she is as perfect as she could be to be on the field handling a rifle of which based on social stigma, only a fine gentleman could handle.
***
It was only on her eighteenth birthday that Master Amir introduced her to his operational group. The group led by Master Amir himself is notoriously known by the public, especially in the district of Klang as they had caused multiple incidents involving the British, especially the group of aristocrats from the place they call, the coloniser's land. The group which is known as The White Mask, who manned bolt-action type of rifles have caused chaos to the authority that has been trying to cope with their sudden guerilla ambush on various locations. As can be understood from its name, the men who are a part of the group put onto their face white masks to cover their identity during their attacks.
For Suri Kenanga, her first attack with The White Mask was mediocre. They almost get caught by the police on that attack. It was a few years back when Suri Kenanga had just reached an adult age. They planned an attack on a rich Englishman who has exploited the local manpower to work for him on his estate. The Englishman who arrived at the town of Klang at midnight was fired out of the blue. Fortunately for the foreigner, the shot slightly missed him who was being carried on a carriage.
"Shite! I missed him!" Suri Kenanga muttered. She was the one who fired the shot and unexpectedly she missed. "How in the firing hell?!" She is still unsatisfied with her shot.
"My gosh, we have alerted them, change positions!" Ordered Master Amir simple but stern. "Don't act outrageously! We are outnumbered!" Master Amir continued.
The guards of the Englishman then took position to counter the ambush. Thanks to the mistake made, they could identify the positions of Suri Kenanga who was then too late in repositioning herself from her original position. She was too slow at moving therefore shots were made directing her of which one of them hit her thigh. The young lady sought help and alerted the other members of The White Mask.
"RETREAT!" Ordered Master Amir quick and loud. He could clearly see the pain Suri Kenanga was facing. "Fire back and retreat!" He repeated before moving towards Suri Kenanga who was lying down in pain. She was then dragged by him and they successfully retreated from the failed ambush.
YOU ARE READING
Trust Me, Okay?
Historical Fiction"Trust me, okay?" He asks her, supposedly in a reversed psychological manner. No emotion was expressed on either person's face, just blank expressions of emotion portrayal. Ghaafar Lee, a young man with no purpose in life living a boring day to day...
