Kai is a slave, like any other person on board the ship, RMZ-1588. His simple life demands nothing more than a bucket of sweat and a bowl full of tasteless gruel to stay alive. And then there is his little sister- ChuChip, his angel, his breath, his...
"Yes. I can." Kai stiffened lifting his chin up. "I have been given the gift of tongues."
"A gift of what?" Zaren mocked with his usual wrinkly nose, "and may I ask you, who gave you the...the gift?" He asked waving his hand in an elite gesture.
"The B--" Kai was cut off by a hand wrapping his mouth, which he certainly identified with the feel of calloused roughness.
"You know he is just like me, he thinks he can listen to things. Maybe he should dunk in a mug of grog or two. That would keep him sane." Sal chirped, with an unusual tone. Kai's eyes rounded as he scanned his father's face.
"That explains," Zaren smirked, "the family of lunatics."
"That's not true." Kai rebelled plucking off his father's fingers from his face, "You should stop making us look like fools, Dad."
"Come on, Kai." Sheila stomped her foot, her face a little too much frustrated. "Give it up. We've seen that enough," she sighed and turned around blinking her tears away.
"You don't trust me, do you?" Kai was well aware of the fact that his voice was shrilly.
"Oh Kai, I want to. We all want to, but..." Sheila faded, her nose pink and eyes, now, more watery.
"But, what? What if I take you guys to a safe land? Would you believe me then?"
The talebearer hummed again in a singy-song squawk, "It's wonderful to be young and in love. Mmmm....good old days," for which Kai responded by gulping a lump in his throat. He wasn't aware of the turmoil inside, he didn't know what to call it, love? Friendship? The talebearer had given him a fair answer.
"Will you stop it?" Gabby yelled, diverting everyone's attention. "I suggest we leave this island as soon as possible. We have seen Zaren succeed, so he is the one who's going to take us back to the mainland. Besides, 'you' guys don't know how to sail. Hope I made it clear."
Zaren chuckled with a snobbish smile, rejoicing every word of Gabby's verdict.
"So, shall we begin?" Zaren rubbed his palms into each other anxiously, knotting his eyebrows in a deep thought. Kai's face didn't need to wilt anymore, but Sal's did. Even if Sal didn't support Kai, he felt the pain he was going through, because he had been there, he had been dismissed, mocked as a lunatic, he had ruined his life being a drunkard and fighting them. But, he was still as helpless as he always was.
"Right." Sheila was cold, both in her voice and on her face. She continued piling up the shells to peel the coir for ropes, as Gabby joined in with her.
"Let me hold him!"
"No. Be gentle, don't squeeze him!" Kids distanced themselves playing with the seagull, squishing and poking him.
"Tibby, don't go into the shrubs!" Gabby yelled after them and rather shook her head in disappointment.
"We'll keep a watch on kids, Gabby." Zaren waved as he went after them with Kai by his side. "Sal, you stay back. Be alert."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
