Kawa no Shojo (Girl of the River): Chapter 2

Chapter 21

“They’re coming! Hurry, escape down the secret passageway!”2

“No, I won’t leave you out here by yourself! They’ll kill you!”3

“Don’t worry about me, just go! We must protect our daughter!"4

I woke up from my dream suddenly, snapping my eyes open, as I sensed someone else in the room. The sight I now looked up at was Tyler leaning over me, a hand outstretched, as if he were planning to shake me awake. “Oh, you’re awake, River Girl. Good. We’re going on a field trip today,” he said eagerly.5

A field trip? What did he mean? Lara was still making me stay in bed, even though my injuries had healed abnormally fast in the past three days. I lifted an eyebrow in a question.6

“I’m giving you a tour of the town,” Tyler announced, smiling. “I thought you would be getting bored of being stuck in here by now, so I thought that I’d sneak you out for awhile. So, hurry up and get dressed already.” 7

Well, I WAS getting quite bored of being stuck in the hospital 24/7, so I swung my legs over the side of my bed. Staring at Tyler, I pointed at the door. 8

“What?” he said, confused, looking at the door, then me, then the door again. “Aren’t you coming with me?” I hardened my expression, slightly frustrated, and nodded, still pointing at the door. “Well, then get changed!” I clenched my fist, sighed deeply, and emphasized my point. Finally, understanding spread across Tyler’s face. “Oh, right. You want me to leave so you can get changed. Right, right. I was just playing with you before, I knew what you meant,” he said arrogantly as he walked out the door, closing it behind him. I snorted loudly. Yeah, right! Why some boys find the need to retaliate themselves like that, I will never know. Personally, I think it just makes them look stupider.9

I climbed out of bed and walked over to the dresser in between the windows. After just three days, my injuries merely ached slightly when they were moved a certain way or when I had used that part of my body a lot. The only exception was my left shoulder, the deepest of my wounds. It throbbed most of the time. My right foot felt a little weird to walk on when it was all wrapped up, but it didn’t hinder me in any way. I opened the middle drawer of the dresser and pulled out an outfit that Mairi had helped me pick out yesterday. She had decided that I needed more than my white hospital gown to wear, and since the clothes I had shown up in were stained with blood, she gave me some of her old clothes. 10

“Seeing as it’s nearing autumn,” she had said, tossing shirts out of a large chest in her bedroom, “We should find you some clothes that you won’t get cold in, but aren’t too heavy, either.” Mairi had three chests full of clothes in her room, and they had spent the better part of the afternoon searching through it all. 11

“You’re so short, Sute,” Mairi had commented sometime during the outfit search, holding up a green shirt to see if it would be too big for me. “We might have to have some of my old stuff hemmed for you. How old are you, anyway, Sute? You must be…hmmm…ten?”12

As soon as she had mentioned my age, I remembered how old I was. I shook my head. “Nine?” she guessed again. I frowned and waved my hand in an upward motion. “Older? Um…eleven?” I waved upwardly again. “Twelve?” Still waving. “Thirteen?” She was almost there. “Fourteen?” she asked, her voice tinted with disbelief. I nodded and her eyes opened wide. “Really? But you’re so short!” I shrugged and tried on a pair of light gray trousers. In the end, we had come up with several pairs of pants, a bunch of shirts, a couple jackets, three or four pairs of shoes, and some other miscellaneous articles of clothing. Most of it was a little oversized for me, but I found that I actually preferred my clothes a bit on the baggy side.13

The outfit I picked out was a large yellowish-orange hoodie that was more like a very short dress on me and a pair of black shorts that poked out a couple of inches below the hoodie. I was about to close the drawer when something caught my eye. It was a large, orangish hat with a rolled up rim and a yellow band circling around the top part. Red, oval shaped jewels were placed at set intervals in the band. I couldn’t tell if they were real jewels or just decorations, but I liked them. I placed it on my head and immediately loved the baggy feeling of it drooping on my head. I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of fur lined light brown boots. After slipping my feet into them, I headed over to the door and opened it to find Tyler leaning against the opposite wall.14

“All right! Let’s go.” He started quickly down the left of the hallway, expecting me to follow. I kept up with him easily, my body in great shape from whatever I had been doing in my past life. The pale, unimpressive walls of the halls didn’t attract my eyes as we hurried on our way. We took a right turn, climbed down some stairs (which was slightly difficult for me, but I managed), turned a left corner, and came to a window. Outside, just below the window, was the roof of the hospital kitchen. Tyler unlocked the window and slowly scooted the window open. It screeched a teensy bit and resisted due to little use, but Tyler finally got it up and hopped out.15

“C’mon, let’s go!” he said, motioning for me to join him. “It’s actually pretty easy to walk on here, once you get the feel of it.” Unafraid, I climbed out, being careful not to bump my shoulder, and rested my feet on the roof, still holding onto the windowsill. Slowly, I let go, ready to catch myself, but there was no need. The roof slanted just enough for the rain to roll down it and was quite easy to romp about on.16

“Now, we just go over here - ” Tyler headed to the right side of the roof “- and jump down!” He leapt off. I heard a soft thud as he landed on something soft below. Looking over the edge, I saw him lying on top of a pile of bags of flour that were waiting to be brought inside. He stood up and I hopped down, landing lightly on my feet. “Excellent, Sute! You’re just like a cat. Now!” he slapped his hands together. “It is time for your grand tour of…Ryo Port!” He swept his arm out grandly towards the buildings and cobblestone streets that we could see from the wide alley we were in.17

I followed him out of the alley and onto a main street. Pedestrians walked by and a horse carriage rumbled down the cobblestones. People were walking around us, but it wasn’t crowded. Tyler and I walked over to a store made of bricks on our left. A sign hung above, displaying a picture of a loaf of bread and the words, “Trillon Bakery.” The mouth-watering smell of bread and pastries and other delicious doughy foods filled my nostrils as we headed in, reminding me that I had not yet eaten breakfast. The bakery was of medium size, a little bit bigger than the room I occupied at the hospital. The door was located right in the middle of the wall, so one could walk right up to the counter. Several small tables were scattered on either side of this little path up to the counter, comfy-looking woven chairs placed around them. A couple of people sat at the little tables, enjoying their breakfasts of steamy muffins and cold, fresh milk. 18

“’Morning, Patrick!” Tyler called as he walked up to the counter. A small rustling came from behind the counter, then a thickset man with a mustache and an apron rose up from behind it.19

He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. “Ah, Tyler! Good mornin’! Nice t’ see ya. Come lookin’ for some breakfast?”20

“Oh, yeah, I’d love some!” Tyler exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.21

Patrick laughed a deep, throaty laugh.“Aw right, how ‘bout some raspberry muffins? I know how much ya love ‘em.”22

“That’d be great!” Tyler had obviously forgotten all about me. I looked at him, annoyed. I was still standing back at the entrance of the bakery. I glanced at the doorframe, following its dark, woody self up the ceiling that was made of the same kind of wood. The room was of average height, maybe slightly taller. I gazed at the swirling shapes in the grains of the wood. How did they become like that? I pondered the thought, unconsciously nibbling my lip as I did so.23

“Oh, excuse me, I didn’t see you there.” Patrick’s voice brought me back to reality. “How may I help you, miss?”24

“Oh, right! This is my friend, Sute,” Tyler introduced me as I walked up to the counter, evidently remembering his original purpose of coming here. 25

“Oh, yes, I heard of you,” Patrick said, smiling, as he leaned on the counter. “I heard about ya from Lara. She says ya lost your voice, but you’re more trouble than ol’ Tyler here!” He laughed again and I blushed slightly, embarrassed. It was true, I hadn’t exactly been the most co-operable patient ever; besides refusing to having to take my daily servings of the disgusting substance known as lilygrain juice, I had been chased back to my room several times by Lara when I had went for a stroll inside the hospital to cure my boredom and Lara had looked at me suspiciously when the cooks had reported that food had been disappearing from the pantries (part of this thievery WAS my doing, but Tyler and a couple of the other hospital residents had also been responsible. Plus, I needed more food than Lara was willing to give me! I have an abnormally large appetite, okay?). There were several other things I had done that weren’t exactly helping me get on Lara’s good side, too.26

“Both of you skipped breakfast, right?” Our stomachs answered for us. Patrick let out another great laugh, then went off into the back and returned with a dozen steaming muffins in a wicker basket. “Here, for the two of you,” he said, handing the basket to Tyler. 27

“All of this for us?” Tyler asked, surprised.28

Patrick nodded, smiling. “Yup. You can always eat enough for two people, Tyler, and from what I heard, this little girlie eats even more than you.” His laugh rung out yet again as color flushed both my face and Tyler’s.29

We thanked Patrick and left, him calling after us to visit again soon. Tyler and I continued down the streets as the morning went on, quickly eating up our muffins and stopping to visit the many shops and homes along the way. I met retired sailors and crazy old women and a traveling dragon tamer. I petted horses and llamas and tons of other crazy creatures. I shook hands with the richest man in town and clapped in time with the dancing gypsies and elves in Umi Square. A petite, kind old woman who ran the trinkets shop and went by the name Lilianna gave me a beautiful, sparkling silver locket that she could never get open. “Perhaps it may open for you one day,” she had told me. Tyler and I snuck into a bar and chatted with Greg Schmitt, the owner and also a retired thief; though he only told those he felt he could trust the secret with. Apparently, I was one of those people, even though we had just met. 30

“Well, Sute, where should we go next?” Tyler asked as we sat on the edge of the fountain if the middle of Umi Square, biting into the cheeseburgers that Tracy and Kyle, the proud owner’s of a restaurant named Gooney’s, had kindly given to us for lunch. I took a large bite of my burger, savoring its juicy taste. Tyler’s question was not actually for me; it was more of him thinking to himself while, at the same time, letting me know his line of thought. “Oooh, I know!” Tyler exclaimed suddenly, standing up and turning around to face me, his eyes shining brightly. “We haven’t gone to the docks yet! C’mon, let’s go!” He took off, burger in hand. I quickly swallowed what was in my mouth and chased after him. “You should see the ocean close up,” he said over his shoulder as we ran along. “It’s really pretty!” A few more seconds and the line of buildings stopped at corners, opening up to a road going perpendicular to them with sidewalks on either side and, beyond that, the beautiful, shining ocean.31

Countless docks lined the edge of the walkway on the other side, ships of all shapes and sizes tied up on them. Tyler and I finished our burgers while we walked along and examined the many ships, chatting with sailors and fishermen. Captain Antonio, an old, bearded man, told us of how he had battled a monster from the deep and barely lived. We explored the grand cruiser Petunia and Tyler bartered with several of the sellers in stands around the area, earning himself an old captain’s hat, a nifty, miniature spyglass, a jewelry box from the small but well-known island Cuaro (“Mairi will like this,” was his explanation when I gave him an odd look for choosing it), and a bag of magic pebbles. I had to drag him away from a stand when he was about to buy a monkey, and he decided to buy me a whistle. “Since you can’t shout for help, you can use this whenever you’re in trouble or need someone’s attention,” he said , handing it to me. It was a green whistle on a long, golden chain. I had to loop it around my neck three times before it was short enough to not get in my way.32

After exploring around the docks for awhile, I saw a large, slightly run down warehouse-like building by the water’s edge. Tyler was wearing his captain’s hat and playing with his spyglass, looking up at the seagulls flying around. I tugged on his shirt and he looked down at me, still holding the spyglass up to his eye. “River Girl at 2 o’clock!” he joked. I glared at him and ripped the spyglass out of his grip. “Hey! What was that for?” I pointed to the building. “Oh, right! I meant to introduce you to them. Let’s go say hi.”33

We walked through the large, open entrance into a tall, wide, cement room. Weapons of every kind were hung up on the walls and spread around the room, leaving several paths through the assortment. Tyler led me down a path up to a wooden door on the far end. He knocked loudly on the door, and after a moment it opened. A large, weathered man stood in front of us, wearing a worn-out vest and no shirt, showing off his muscles. He had pale sandy blonde hair and a mustache above his mouth, which held a blue pipe in it. A faint puff of smoke floated out of it as he looked down at us. “Afternoon, Tyler,” he said in a deep, gruff voice. 34

“Hiya, Captain Arsuno.” Tyler replied brightly.35

“Who’s your friend? This little thing couldn’t be that Sute you were talkin’ about?” He looked down at me with icy blue eyes.36

“Sure is! I toldja she was a munchkin. Ow!” he exclaimed as I kicked him in the ankle.37

I might’ve imagined it, but I could have sworn Captain Arsuno smiled just then. “She also seems to have a lot of spunk, as you told me.” 38

Tyler glared at me before he said, “Yeah, well, is Kana here, too? I wanted to introduce her to Sute.” 39

“I sure am here!” A woman with long, messy brown hair pushed her way past the Captain, a big rolled up paper under her arm. She wore what appeared to be the clothes of a swordswoman, complete with a sword and shield in her belt, and she had a large smile on her face. “Hiya, what’s up?” she said hyperly, reaching out and shaking my hand vigorously. “Name’s Kana! What’s yours?”40

“Hi, Kana, this is Sute-“41

“Oh, right! You’re the mute girl my sister was talking about! Lara’s my older sister, by the way. She can be such a stick-in-the-mud, can’t she? I bet she didn’t want you to come and meet me. Heck, seeing as you’re here with Tyler, I bet the two of ya snuck out! Am I right, or am I right?”42

“That’s right!” Tyler said, smiling.43

“Haha, I taught you well!” Kana laughed. 44

“Hey, what’s that paper you got there?” Tyler asked, pointing to it.45

“What, this?” She looked down at it. “Oh, yeah!” She smiled eagerly, her eyes shining brightly with excitement. “Arsuno and I decided that you kids need to shape up and learn how to fight properly! So, we’re gonna open a dojo where all of you munchkins can learn hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, and a bunch of other stuff! It’s gonna rule!” She pumped her fist in the air.46

“Really? You’re gonna teach us how to fight?” Tyler looked interested.47

“Yes,” Captain Arsuno replied in his gruff voice. “With all that’s been happening lately, it would be vital for you kids to learn how to protect yourselves.”48

“What…what about Rune Fighting?” Tyler asked. “Will you teach us that?” He had a determined and unusually serious look on his face as he stared up at the Captain.49

Captain Arsuno blew a small wisp of smoke out of his pipe. “Rune Fighting, eh? You want to learn that? You know that you have to have a Rune to do that, and you don’t have one.”50

“But there’s still a chance! Didn’t you say that someone’s Rune could appear as late as eighteen years? I’m still sixteen.” His face was determined.51

“That’s true. But you shouldn’t get your hopes up. Rune Fighters aren’t exactly common. You know that.”52

Tyler glared defiantly up at the Captain’s unchanging, slightly scarred face. “You have a Rune.” 53

Of course, this entire time I was quite confused. I might have known what a Rune was in my earlier life, but I had absolutely no idea now. What did Tyler mean by the Captain having a Rune? Oh, maybe he meant the tattoo on the Captain’s bare shoulder! At least, I thought it was a tattoo. It was a shaped like a fist, made completely out of black lines with no other coloring at all. But what did a Rune do?54

Tyler and Arsuno were pretty much having a staring contest, Tyler’s face defiant, Arsuno’s face indifferent. Kana looked back and forth between them. Her eyebrow twitched with impatience. “Sooo…are ya gonna train with us or not, Ty?” 55

He held Arsuno’s gaze for another silent moment, then replied, “…Yeah.”56

“Excellent! Now, come with me so we can hang this up outside.” She grabbed Tyler’s arm and dragged him after her through the pathway back towards the entrance. I started after them, hopping over a large sword lying haphazardly on the ground. 57

“Nice meetin’ ya, Sute,” Captain Arsuno called after me as I headed outside. When I reached the exit, I looked back at the Captain, but he had already gone back inside. With the smell of the ocean on my nose again, I turned to the right and found Tyler and Kana on the side of the building that faced the other side of the street. They were pinning Kana’s giant poster up onto a bulletin board that was nailed onto the side of the building. I walked up to them as Kana pushed in the last pin. 58

“Ah, Sute, there you are!” Kana said when she spotted me. “Hey, hey, whaddaya think of my poster?” She pointed to it and looked at me eagerly. Intrigued but cautious, I looked up and read it:59

Hey, hey, hey! Are you a wussie little wimp? Do you wanna learn how to defend yourself from the evils of the world? Well, look no further!!!! Your pals Kana and Captain Arsuno are gonna be offering classes to all you weaklings from the ages of 10 to 20 on how to fight!! The first class is Wednesday, September 30, at 2:00 in the afternoon!! So, just come on by!! Last one there’s a rotten egg!!!! 60

Yours truly, Kana 61

When I was done, I looked over at Kana. “Well, was it awesome, or was it awesome?” She asked, a huge grin on her face. My eye twitched. Was this woman SERIOUSLY related to Lara? 62

Hesitantly, I gave her a thumbs up. She threw her hands up in the air. “Yeah! See, I told you she’d like it, Tyler!” She triumphantly stuck her tongue out Tyler, but he was staring off into space. “T…Tyler?” Kana waved her hand in front of his face. “Are you okay? Tyler? Tyler!” She knocked hard on his head. “Earth to Tyler! Anybody home?”63

“Ow, ow, stop! Stop it!” Tyler stepped back away from her, finally breaking out of his trance. 64

“He lives!” Kana exclaimed, smiling. Tyler glared at her.65

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said grumpily, rubbing his head.66

“But you were sooooo totally out of it. You were just staring into space. What were you thinking about, anyway?”67

He looked down. “Nothing.”68

Her face took on an annoyed look. “You were so thinking of something. Tell me.”69

He turned away from her. “No, I wasn’t.”70

“Yes, you were.”71

“No, I wasn’t!”72

“Tell me!”73

“No!”74

“Tell me!”75

“No, leave me alone!”76

“Tell me, tell me, TELL ME!” She tackled him, trying to pin him on the ground.77

“Hey, what the heck!? Get off of me!” He struggled to push her away and keep himself standing.78

“Not until you tell me what you were thinking!” Tyler broke apart from her and ran past me. Kana started chasing him. I watched as the two ran around in circles in front of the building, shouting and yelling. Neither of them noticed a teenage boy about Tyler’s age walk up to the bulletin board and read the postings with a bored look on his face. I stared at him. His silver hair was messy and spilled over his goggles. His goggles were different from Tyler’s. While Tyler’s were two big eyepieces stuck together with a strap, the silver-haired boy’s took a less traditional route and were a wide strap of brown material with two holes cut out and replaced with lenses. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his dark brown leather jacket, and his dark jeans were slightly baggy. His sharp green eyes slowly read over the words on the bulletin board. At one point, his eye twitched and his face said, “What the….” I’m sure that was when he was reading over Kana’s poster. He finished reading and turned around. Kana and Tyler were still running around and yelling loudly.79

The boy sighed, irritated. “Would you two stop acting so childish?” He called out to them, causing them to pause and look over. “You’re so annoying.”80

Kana put her hands on her hips and walked back over. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Zail Channerman. How fantastic.” He glared at her, annoyed, and she returned his look. 81

“What do you want, Zail?” Tyler asked, coming up to stand beside Kana.82

He glared coldly at Tyler. “Nothing. I was just looking to see if something interesting had been posted, but it seems I’m just wasting my time.” At that moment, he noticed me. “Who’s the munchkin?” he asked. 83

Munchkin?! I glared at him angrily. “This is Sute,” Tyler explained.84

“Oh, right. I heard about her. The little girl who got beaten up and lost her voice. What’s up with her clothes? You couldn’t find anything to fit her?” He snorted arrogantly. “And their hand-me-downs, aren’t they? Don’t you wish you could have a new leather jacket like me?” he asked me, smirking. “I doubt they’d have one in your size, though. Pity. And they feel so nice, too.”85

That was the last straw. I was pissed. Seriously pissed. I stomped up to him and slapped my hand onto the sleeve of his jacket. He, Tyler, and Kana froze with shock as I rubbed his leather jacket. After a minute, I let my hand drop to my side. I glared arrogantly up at Zail, who’s face had the funniest look on it I had ever seen. 86

“W…w…what the heck?!” Zail shoved his face in front of mine. “Are you trying to piss me off?! Don’t touch me! I hate it when people touch me!” Now he was annoying me even more. So just to spite him further, I placed my hand on his head. He completely froze. I rubbed his silver hair, I smirk growing on my face. Finally I let my hand fall and he sprung backwards.87

“W-w-w-“ His face was a deep shade of red. “You’re a freak!” By now Tyler and Kana were laughing their butts off. Zail took off running, shouting, “Freak!” one more time over his shoulder.88

“S…Sute!” Kana gasped, struggling to speak around her laughter. “That…was awesome! You rule!”89

“You sure showed him, Sute!” Tyler exclaimed once his laughter had mostly subsided.90

Kana wiped away a tear. “It’s nice to see someone who’s never met him before stand up to him. Most people just grin and bear it when they meet him. Maybe that boy will learn his lesson now.”91

The bell tower rang out three times, signaling that it was three in the afternoon. “Oh, snap! We have to get back to the hospital!” Tyler yelped, dragging me away. “Gotta go! Bye, Kana!”92

“You better be at my class!” She shouted after us.93

“We will! See ya later!” 94