Gaiagon

Chapter 6: Day in the town

Seth’s family slept soundly that night. About an hour before sunrise, Seth, normally a heavy sleeper, woke when he heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. He slowly got out of bed, and went to the door to try to hear the sound better, but by the time he had reached the door, the person that woke him had left. He wanted to go downstairs to check things out just in case, but he just told himself it was his mom or dad. As he walked back to his bed, he looked out the window and saw something or someone moving. He walked over to the window to try to see who it was, but the darkness was hiding the truth. The only thing he could see was that it was in fact a person.

Seth got dressed in casual clothes, but he didn’t rush himself because the person outside didn’t seem to by trying to run away. Not knowing what to expect, Seth decided not to bring a candle so that he could sneak up on them just in case they shouldn’t be there. Seth took one last look out of the door before leaving, in hopes of possibly recognizing the person. To his surprise, it was Sylva. She was outside behind his house doing what looked like martial arts, but she seemed to do a good deal of jumping and flipping every five to ten seconds. Sylva wasn’t facing the house, so Seth decided to go outside, watch her, and wait for a good moment to get her attention. A few minutes in, Sylva did a big flip that, Seth guessed, she was practicing because she had not mastered. When she fell on her back, Seth ran to help her up.

Sylva, surprised to see him out at that hour, was glad for the help. While she brushed herself off, Seth commented. “You are very good. I can’t do any of that.” Sylva smiled and whipped her face. “I was doing a combination of a Videun fighting dance and my own blend of fighting that uses flips and melee. I call the style Syleun style, mind the inclusion of my own name. My father taught me the dance half, and I added my own techniques.” Seth followed up with another question. “What are you doing out here at this our? If I had to guess, we got, say, another hour before the sun can be seen over the horizon.” “I could ask you the same.” “I was out here because I heard you in the hallways and saw you outside. I didn’t know it was you at first.” Sylva, with an understanding glance, began to answer Seth’s question. “Back in my village, my group that goes to the mine agreed to go to the mines early in the morning, right at sunrise, so that we can have more of the day free. Two years ago, when I became accustomed to waking up so early, I started waking up about this time to do some exercise before we left. That was about the same time my father showed me the dance. This is the first time in a week that I was able to wake up and do this without fear of the demons catching up with me. I feel a little sloppy. I normally make the landing on those big flips.”

Seth was picturing a man with purple hair standing next to Sylva showing her the dance. When she finished talking, Seth got an idea. “Do you think that you could teach me the dance?” Sylva was surprised, but quickly nodded and began to show him the first position. The rest of that morning, Seth and Sylva stood outside and practiced the dance. The dance itself was long, but if Seth practiced the style, the only issue would be remembering the moves. Once the sun was halfway in the sky, Seth’s mother woke up as she normally did to prepare breakfast. She had a habit of looking out the window at the sun when she woke up. She found that this helped her wake up. She looked down to see Seth and Sylva trying to flip and spin in sync, but saw Seth fall on his face. She laughed, smiled, and began to walk downstairs.

Thirty minutes later, when the sun was high enough in the sky to see all of the sun above the tree tops, Seth’s mother called the two of them in for breakfast. Both of them were sweating hard, especially Seth. The breakfast conversation was a light, casual one. Seth’s mother finally asked the question, “So, what were you two doing outside?” Seth quickly answered. “Sylva told me about a cultural fighting dance her father taught her. She was teaching it to me.” Sylva nodded in agreement. Seth’s mother laughed as she remembered some of the moments she saw him fall down. Normally, she would have been more concerned, but she remembered Sylva’s healing ability and instead laughed.