Kyle’s Den

Sweet sleep; heavy sleep; and even heavier dreams.
…Haylie smiled at me in her sweet and innocent way, “Won’t you find me Kain? Don’t you want to find me?
” I looked at her perplexed, “Why do I need to find you? You’re right here.”
“Oh but I’m not.”
A mist surrounded us and Haylie slowly faded into it.
“Haylie wait; don’t go.”
She smiled her sweet smile once again. “Find me Kain, find me.”…
I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the thatched roof of a hut. I turned on my side and saw Dexter sleeping soundly in a pile of blankets. The chrysanthemum lay in a mud vase. I raised myself and sat up straight. Someone must have rescued us. Judging by the primitive design of the hut, we must be in a tribal village of some kind. Robinson had mentioned that I might come across a few villages in North Island, I must be in one of them right now. I threw off my blankets and gingerly got on my feet. My whole body ached once again and I quickly had to sit down.
“Don’t try to get up yet,” a pretty girl dressed in bright clothes entered the hut with a bowl of fruits in her arms. She must have been around my age. A cloth headband with a feather protruding from it adorned her head, and around her neck hung a necklace of what looked like fangs.
“My name is Rocca, I am the village leader’s daughter. Welcome to Kelan village.” she smiled at me and set the fruit bowl by my side, “Please eat as much as you want, you need to get back your strength.”
“Thank you Rocca. Could you tell me how I got here? I don’t remember anything.”
“A few of the guards had gone near the rocky woods to collect paper grass. They found a leg dangling from a tree and on investigating found you and your little friend almost lying dead. They brought you back and we have been nursing you for three days. You had burns all over your body and our healers had no idea what to do. But then your burns healed on their own as if by a miracle. We had no idea how that happened but we let the matter rest. Your monkey is fine mostly except that he has a broken leg.” Seeing the panic on my face she quickly added, “Nothing to worry about, it will heal in a few days. I even put your flower in the vase. Its as tough as you are, just refuses to wilt.”
“Thank you very much Rocca, I would like to meet your father and than him too.”
“That can wait. You need to fully rest and heal first. Please have the fruits. Your friend can hve them when he wakes up.”
She went out of the hut and shut the flap. I picked out an apple from the bowl and munched into it. It tasted delicious and I had quite a few of them before Dexter woke up. The poor fellow whimpered at his bad leg, but I comforted him as best a s I could.
“You very brave Dexter. I’m really proud of you. Don’t worry, Rocca said that your leg will heal in a few days.”
He cheeped and drew closer to me munching of grapes. After a while I decide to brave standing up again. I held on to the walls of the hut and gently lifted my self up. The food had strengthened me and I felt a lot better.
“You want to go for a walk Dexter? No? Okay, enjoy the fruits.”
I went out of the hut, taking careful steps. The village was a beautiful place. There were not many people, but the ones there were seemed like a lively bunch. Salesmen sat on the ground with their wares displayed infront of them. Children played around laughing and shouting, and a bunch of men stood around a giant pot under which burnt a fire and from which a delicious smell emanated.
“Ah, this must be the young man who got himself beat up by the jellies,” an old woman lumbered upto me and squinted in my face. “Hope there are some brains under that pretty head of yours, boy. Otherwise there is no way you can survive in this place. I heard you got a monkey too. Take good care of it and don’t feed it to any dragons.”
I was abashed at the words of the old hag and backed off a few steps.
“Grandma, don’t scare him with your silly words.” A young girl of about ten or twelve came skipping towards us. “I am sorry about my grandmother’s behavior. She likes to scare people with her ridiculous talk. I am Xaolan, who are you, and how did you get on the island?”
“My name is Kain. I got shipwrecked and was found by Robinson. He sent me here. Said it was a good place for a young lad.”
“Ah, Robinson. He’s a really nice man. I wonder why he dose’nt come and live in the village.”
“That Robinson’s as nutty as jellie poo.” interjected the old hag.
“Grandma, now don’t be rude.”
I walked away from the scene laughing. I went near the outskirts of the village and saw Rocca picking flowers from a bush.
“Decorating your hut?” I said, going upto her.
“No,” she smiled at me, “these are for medicinal purposes. These wonderful flowers can cure any type of wounds, as long as it is not fatal. And see over there? Those red berries are called blood berries. They are great at replenishing blood. And those green tubers is just the right thing for any sort of allergies.”
“Wow, you seem to know a lot about medical plants.”
“Yes, I plan to be a healer when I grow up.”
“But won’t you be the next village chief after your father?”
Her face fell slightly, “That is what my father wants,” she said in a subdued voice, “But I am not made for leading, although he refuses to hear that.”
“I know how that can feel,” I said thinking of my grandfather, who had accepted me as fire, but never gave up on my being earth.
“Forget it, its not important. I still have a long way to go before I am ready to become a healer. And maybe by that time I will have convinced my father of my abilities.”
“Thats the spirit.”
For the next few days I rested. Dexter’s leg took a bit longer to heal than we expected and it was a week before we were fully healed.
But our problems did not stop there.
We had fully healed and although Dexter’s leg wasn’t in condition for combat, he could still walk around easily. I dressed up, pocketed the chrysanthemum, and with Dex on my shoulder, headed for the Chief’s hut. Just as we were about to turn a corner and have the chief’s hut in view, Dex cheeped on my shoulder and pointed at an old hut from which some scuffling noises were coming. I decided to go check out what the matter was. I put Dex on the branch of a tree and told him t stay put. Then I cautiously made my way into the hut.
I removed the flap an inch and saw Xaolan and her old grandmother cowering against the wall. A rough burly voice sounded very close to me, “You will pay for your father’s deeds girl. He was the one who put us in prison, and now we will take revenge on his family, seeing as he is dead and gone now.”
“Please leave us alone,” Xaolan pleaded, “We had nothing to do with it.”
“You had or not is none of our concern. All we know is that you are the brat of the man who had us imprisoned, and you will die.”
I hesitated no longer and shot kick right through the flap. My leg connected with something and I heard a sickening crash as one of the men smashed against the wall. I charged in and saw one of the men helping his comrade up, while the other one swung his fist at me. I caught the fist in my left hand and gave him an uppercut with my right. He hit the roof and then fell to the floor. But the uppercut had started the ache in my body and I faltered. This was all they needed. Immediately they fell upon me and dragged me against the wall. Two of them held my arms back while their boss gut punched me three times in a row.
“Wanna be the hero, huh? Take this you piece of slime.”
But the last punch never came. The pirate choked and gagged, as if unable to breathe. I slowly made out a thin tail wound around his neck. It got thicker and thicker and slowly lifted him up into the air. I looked up and saw deter hanging from a hole in the roof, by his hands, with his til wound around the pirate boss’s neck. He couldn’t use his legs, so the dear fellow had used his brains. I felt the grip of the grunts slackening on my arm, and I took the chance to fireball them out of the doorway. Dexter dropped the boss and a well-aimed kick from me sent him flying after his comrades. The day was saved. That is until a sudden blow on my head made everything go dark.