"Kesi!"
"Kesiiii!"
Kesi stood in front of Tanaka. His silver royal gown and black dreadlocks were all drenched in blood. He panted heavily as his hand still gripped the spear tightly in his hand. Tanaka looked beyond Kesi's back. In front of Kesi stood a being, sword drawn. A pure pitch-black face with stringy hair and sharp shark-like teeth. The being dashed towards Kesi.
"Put your guard up!" Tanaka begged as he tugged the lower bottom of Kesi's blood-stained gown.
Kesi turned around, "Tanaka," he said. He did not move, not to defend or do anything else.
"Save me, Tanaka"
"KESI!"
Tears flowed endlessly as he stared at the sword pierced through his brother's chest.
"PLEASE. KESI NO"
"Kes..," he mumbled as his eyelids slowly started to part. The earth bounced up and down repeatedly. His eyes finally widened. He saw the feet in guard sandals in motion.
"Huh?" Tanaka.
Rose up slightly. A shoulder?
"Your highness, You're awake" said Gazi.
"Put me down right now. Gazi"
Gazi slowly lowered Tanaka from his shoulder.
"There's meat in the bag. I cooked it last night. Eat up before it goes bad and don't lag behind. We're almost there."
Gazi started walking towards a patch of green visible in a distance. Tanaka looked in the opposite direction.
"Thats not the Yera Shumba village. Wait what are you doing here"
Tanaka's mouth opened ajar as he pointed an accusing finger at Gazi.
"You. You knocked me out" he stomped his feet following Gazi.
Gazi did not look back, he continued on his way , "I merely granted you some well-deserved rest your highness. I figured we'd be faster as well"
" I could just turn around and go back, you know."
Tanaka planted a foot in the sand. Crossing his arms on his chest.
Gazi stopped in his tracks. He looked back to where Tanaka was. Then past him to the sand dunes and scorching sun behind him. Gazi raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Then turned to continue on his way,
"Be my guest."
"Heh?" Tanaka stood still, confused. He then looked behind him. Nothing but sun, sand, and skeletons. Tanaka turned his head and saw Gazi had walked quite the distance. He wasn't returning. He sped up and ran after him.
"Heyy!" The prince finally caught up to Gazi. "You know this is kidnapping right!" He accused
"Is it?"
"Yes and when you hit me, that wasn't training you know."
"I'm aware"
"You can be hanged for harming a royal"
"And I'm sure I will"
"Do you even understand the depth of trouble you are in"
Gazi let out a deep sigh and scratched his head, making a bigger mess of his hair. His shoulders slumped over. He faced Tanaka and cocked his head to the side while rubbing his head. He squinted his eyes intimidatingly ,
"You seem tired, your highness"
Tanaka squealed and quickly moved his hands to cover the sides of his neck.
"I'm going, I'm going" Tanaka muttered
He moved faster to overtake Gazi and maintain a safe distance while doing so. He would glance back every now and then to make sure he was still safe. After a long silence, Tanaka spoke again.
"Did you mean it?"
"What?"
"That the weakest in my family was still stronger than me."
"Unfortunately, yes. Your brothers all had hope to someday rule or to at least help the one ruling"
Gazi paused, removing some grains of sand that had found their way into his sandal,
"Even Prince Harun performed rather well and gained chipo. You, on the other hand, were always interested in combat. So as far as combat skills go, you're superior. But without chipo, that superiority means nothing."
The village entrance came into view. Gazi stopped walking and grabbed Tanaka by his shoulder.
"We don't know what we might encounter in the village, they may be our allies or our foes. It's better we stay prepared for anything"
Tanaka lifted an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Here—put your hands out like this."
Gazi twisted his index fingers with the middle fingers then joined the palms together in a prayer-like pose. Tanaka awkwardly followed suit
"Now repeat after me: Sei to Shi ga Majiwaru."
"Okay… Sei to Shi ga Majiwaru" Tanaka repeated skeptically.
The two stood there for a few seconds, then minutes nothing happened.
Gazi grit his teeth slightly. "You are commanding not suggesting. Be angry. Have conviction. It's not majiwaru—it's MAJIWARU!"
Black tattoo-like marks started forming on Gazi's hand. Glowing with a bright orange hue Tanaka had seen a week ago when they sparred.
"Woah" Tanaka could not help but be in awe as the glowing light danced reflectively in his eyes.
The light slowly died down and Gazi tilted his head to Tanaka and lifted his brows.
"Huh? Oh okay okay"
Tanaka reassumed the position. Deep breaths Tanaka. He thought.
He sprung his eyes open. "Sei to Shi ga MAJIWARU!"
A gust of wind appeared instantly lifting him into the air. Its teal colors glowed seemingly comprised of souls swirling around his person. And for a moment, a split second Tanaka saw a face one that was undoubtedly familiar.
"Harun" he whispered.
His eyes glowed changing from their usual brown to a faint orange as his head tilted to the sky, but he did not see the sky or at least it was not our blue sky. It looked different. Almost alive and dead all at the same time
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!".
"I forgot about that" Gazi extended his hand to Tanaka slowly descending from the sky.
"I can't see. I AM BLIND!!!" Tanaka shouted , panic very much evident in his voice.