The Protectors: Book 1: Reunion

Chapter 1: The End?

He stood there blankly staring at the waves, surrounded by the endless sea of stars glistening throughout the night sky. The canoe bobbed up and down as the water slowly pushed the small wooden vessel further and further out onto the emptiness of the horizon. The endless darkness and silence of the night crept into his ears as panic shifted to complete surrender.

"What do I do now?" He asked himself.

"I have nothing left," he said brokenly. His bruised arms and legs, torn clothes, and messy hair shivered in the cold night breeze as his blood-dried fingers covered his face to stop the tears from slipping out. His back writhed in pain as warm blood slowly trickled down becoming unbearable as the red sash soaked up every drop.

Surrounded by the sound of the unforgiving sea and his own debilitating thoughts. Sentenced to wander the sea until death's relentless hand reached up to pull him down.

Clinging to his shoulder, sorrowfully rubbing its head against his face a blue-eyed fox-looking creature with orange fur consoled him. Its red feathered tail hung low as his companion sunk deeper into the emptiness of his banishment.

"It's all my fault...we never should've gone..." he said to himself.

"I told her I didn't wanna go and now..." he continued. "I'm sorry I got us into this Kuzo, I'm sorry for all of it."

"Now we're gonna die," he said, his voice shattering under the weight of his realization.

His eyes widened as he removed his hands from his face, staring at his naked feet which clung to the canoe's prickly unrefined wood floor.

"I told her I didn't wanna go, I told her to stay out of the water," he rambled on. His short erratic breaths slowly turned to full-blown gasps of air as he struggled to breathe, grasping his chest as his heart raced, ringing violently through his ears.

A familiar sensation, one met with uncertainty, misfortune, and pain. His limbs began to tense as he fanned himself with his shirt, gently gripping his throat cradling any kind of airflow, as his eyes bulged out of their sockets. His arms shook violently as the ringing in his ears sent shockwaves throughout his body. Tears poured down his face frozen in fear, distorted by his gaping mouth fighting to inflate his lungs. Heat gathered in his arms just like before. His veins constricted down his forearm up to his palms. Sweat dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyes as he held his hands out before him, petrified of them as more and more heat gathered in his hands.

"Please no," he managed to gasp out. Kuzo leaped off his shoulder curling up behind his leg as the boy wept.

As he stood there, arms suspended in the air, the sea stood still for just a moment, the sky with bated breath waited for the impending travesty about to unfold. Suddenly small sparks of light flashed suddenly erupting into flames.

Fire shot out of his hands pouring out over the boat into the still ocean as hot steam drifted into the air at their union. The water around the boat began to boil as the immense heat emanating out of his body struck the air. Tears seeped out of his eyes sizzling into steam as they made their way down his face.

Small embers flaked off the flames and fell onto the boat sparking a small fire.

"No no no no!" He screamed, pulling in his hands as the fire from them had stopped. He stomped on the embers with his bare feet trying to put them out, but the more he panicked the more they grew. The smoke from the burning wood struck his nose as it continued to spread, burning faster and brighter. Kuzo winced in the corner as the boy kept trying to stomp the fire out, but it was futile.

"Not again!" He yelped, breaking down again as the situation grew worse by the second.

The more he stomped the more it grew, engulfing the front of the canoe without hesitation.

He stared, as the flames danced, reflected in his multicolored eyes. Suddenly a hole appeared in the hull as water shot out, drenching the seared floor of the boat.

"So we either burn or drown," he said, as his hands covered his face, Kuzo slowly dragged his water-logged fur up onto the boy's shoulder.

Trapped between a fiery death and a watery grave, hope sunk into the depths as soft waves pushed the water into the boat faster, passing his knees.

Suddenly in the distance, a faint light appeared over the horizon accompanied by a raspy booming voice.

"Cap, I knew I saw something on fire over there!!" Someone shouted off in the distance, startling the two of them cradled at the end of the boat escaping the flames that refused to go out despite the water quickly claiming them.

"Port side, faster!!" the man's voice yelped.

"Cap, there's someone out there, permission to throw the line?!" A man on the incoming ship yelled.

"Why are you asking, throw it already!!" The captain responded, yelling back at the crewmate. The incoming ship towered over the boy's sinking canoe, the mast kissed the clouds while the pleated sail flapped in the night breeze as the crewmates turned it to the side, blowing the ship closer toward him.

As the line plopped into the water in front of him, he hesitated. Grabbing this line meant he could live, leave the life that shunned him behind, and forge a new path. 

It wouldn't be the same, he said to himself...but at least I'll live.

 But what if this was the end?

"Hey kid, grab the line quick!!!!"

What if he just let the water claim his soul and follow her to the grave?

"Yeah, kid grab it come on!!"

What if this is where his story should end?

"DO YOU WANNA LIVE OR NOT?!" A commanding voice shouted out, snapping him out of his trance.

Suddenly he grabbed the rope fastening it around his chest as he frantically kicked his legs trying to gasp for air as the salty water stung his back, throat, and lungs. The open wounds burned as they mixed with the now unrelenting salty current. Kuzo clung to his wet hair as the men quickly pulled both of them in.

"PULL!"

"Come on men pull, we almost got him!!" The captain yelled looking over the hull as the boy hung there, swinging as the crew struggled to pull him up.

"There you go, gimme your hand kid," he said, reaching out as they pulled him onto the ship.

 "That was a close one," he continued. "You okay?"

He stood silent.

"If Ishi hadn't seen that fire off in the distance we would've sailed right past you kid," the captain said, helping the boy to his feet, as another crewman wrapped a towel around him. His commanding voice now shifted to a soft and endearing voice that complimented his kind eyes. His patchy gray beard and eyebrows matched the rattail hanging over his shoulder. He seemed genuine and caring, something that was rare for the boy.

Kuzo clung tightly to his hair as he violently shook his body, coating the others in a salty spray.

"Where are your parents, kid? Why were you out there by yourself? And what is that creature on your head?" Ishi asked, his nagging voice speaking quickly. He was a little shorter than the boy but his scraggly beard revealed his old age.

"Ishi," the captain snapped, slapping him in the back. "Don't bombard the kid with questions, he's probably still in shock."

"But Caius..." Ishi started to say, rubbing his back, wincing from the pain.

"Warah, Sensi get some more towels for our guest here and his pet along with some fresh clothes before he catches a cold," he ordered, looking over at him, still dripping wet.

"Yes sir!" the two of them said, scurrying off to find some towels below deck.

"Hey, kid wanna tell me your name at least?" Caius asked him awkwardly as he stared at the wooden deck not saying a word.

"Okay, you don't have to say anything yet," he said, staring at him mysteriously. "We'll make sure you and this little guy are alright."