Anarchy 1
“You almost told him,” KiNa chided quietly after the door shut.
Master SoYa just sighed and sat down with a glum look.
“What would have happened? He would have ratted us out.” The boy waved one hand around to accent the words.
“No, he wouldn’t,” the man answered. “I know what it seemed like. But Fu would have…”
“He’s one of them now.” KiNa crossed his arms.
As excited as he was to finally meet Master SoYa’s son, now he didn’t like the guy one bit. Not only was he rude, insulting, and blunt, but he was totally stuck on himself. He acted like the robes he wore made him better than everyone else, especially his father.
Master SoYa’s quiet voice brought him back to reality, “Unless you’re forgetting, while we are here, we are also one of them.”
KiNa bit his bottom lip. Sometimes it was hard to remember to stay in character when he was in the Manor. He was used to free words and free thoughts, both of which would give everything they were doing away.
Not like Master SoYa needs much help doing that.
The man leaned back in his chair. “I want to tell him. I won’t lie. Maybe if he understood why I do what I do, then he would forgive me.”
“Or get you locked up,” KiNa scowled.
“I know Fu. He wouldn’t do something like that.” Master SoYa glanced over at the boy with a stronger look.
“What about mind searching? Thought-lifting?” the boy retorted.
“What?” He seemed surprised.
“Yeah. ‘What’ is right!” KiNa wagged a finger. “He tried to mind search me. Don’t tell me that you didn’t teach him better than that?”
Master SoYa looked beside himself. He just shook his head and rubbed one hand through his curly hair.
Feeling sorry for the man, KiNa sighed, too, “It’s not your fault.”
“How did things go so astray?” he asked, peering down at his desktop.
Now you’ve done it.
“No no no no no,” KiNa told him, taking his arm. “Just remember what we’re trying to do… remember why we have to keep it secret. Things are just starting to move in our favor.”
“I know. You’re right,” the man said.
Then, Master SoYa straightened himself, covering the previous sadness. It was still there, though, no matter how much the man tried to hide it with other business. He was very good at not letting people see. Only, KiNa was around him too often for Master SoYa to hide everything all the time.
Moments like that reminded the boy of how strong, yet delicate, his teacher really was.
“We should probably leave this discussion for a better time and place,” Master SoYa finally spoke.
“Yeah, I have things to check anyhow.” KiNa stood up and frowned over at his teacher. “Will you be okay after…”
“I’ll be fine,” he nodded. “I think I’m going to go home early tonight. AsaHi’s been worried. I’ve been away too much.”
“Don’t worry about us,” the boy reassured him. “We’re on schedule and everything will be fine.”
“I know,” Master SoYa gave a pursed-lipped smile. “I’ll see you later then?”
“Of course!” KiNa gave his best cheerful act before heading out the door.
Once the door closed behind him, he turned to face the wide yawning halls of the Manor with a little shiver. He didn’t like to walk the place alone, but sometimes, there was no getting around it. He had too many things to look after to allow something like that to bother him.
It was only when he finally reached the gates of the school and strode out into the city that he really felt safe. KiNa could sense them from every rooftop, every dark corner, every quiet glade. His companions, the other children now free from the Darkman, who worked with him and Master SoYa in their underground movement.
Small, unnoticed and unthreatening, the children could observe all of the happenings in the city without anyone knowing the difference. After all, the children were seen out on the streets every day, back when the Darkman ran the paths of the city. Now, they returned and watched for a different reason, seeking to illuminate the truth for those who could not see it themselves.
Day after day, the children watched and returned to the base with stories and information. They chose the most important things and put the stories into writing, just as Master SoYa taught them. Come to find out, Puddle was an excellent writer.
KiNa, in turn, worked for many months on the largest machine he ever built. This one could replicate word and print on paper, allowing them to make many, many copies of their writing. Between all of these things, and the amazing leadership of Master SoYa, the Newsletter came into being.
Together, they watched and wrote and spread information of what they saw in the Manor. While they were always careful not to say too much, they inferred enough to let people get their own ideas and draw conclusions about the truth behind the organization. As the children kept watch, Master SoYa actively went into the community and taught reading and writing skills. It was ironic how he obtained funding for the Literacy Outreach project from the Manor, when the idea was to teach common people how to read so that they could understand what the Newsletter said.
The Manor ignored it at first, passing it off as an act of randomness. Until they created another Newsletter and passed it out like the first. And another. And another. There came a time when the Manor could no longer sit in silence as the people began to question. That was when the Manor named the movement “Anarchy,” a name that KiNa absolutely adored.
The paths to the forest base were something that he knew by heart, now. They designed many different routes to get back home and created a number of hiding places along the way just in case anyone got suspicious and attempted to follow them. So far, the children all managed to get in and out of the Manor city without being discovered.
KiNa wasn’t sure how long their luck would hold out, but they did their best to be careful and to rarely use the same paths too often. The Ingway provided an extra layer of protection, keeping watch along the forest borders and guiding the children across the river if anyone returned too late in the afternoon.
The sound of excitement buzzed through the glade as KiNa returned. The smell of ink and paper and many working hands mingled with leaves and grass. It was the day of the Printing. That night, the newest issue of the Newsletter would arrive on silent feet for the people of the Manor to read.
“How’s she working for you?” KiNa asked, peering in the printing room.
Puddle gave a thumbs up while crunching on a fruit that bore smears of his own inky fingerprints. “Whatever you did the last time seems to work. We haven’t had nearly as many jams as before.”
“Yeah, just a few adjustments. I have a couple more ideas for…” he broke off, walking in and leaning back on his heels. He fell silent, lost in admiration for the beauty of his machine in motion.
Puddle waved his hand in front of KiNa’s face, snapping the boy out of his daze. “Geeze, KiNa. You act like you’re scoping a hot girl or something.”
“What? Of course I am!” the boy walked over, stroking the side of the machine. It wasn’t the most beautiful contraption, but she certainly did work the magic. “She needs a name…”
“You’re so weird,” Puddle gave him a hopeless look.
“Oh? And you tell me how else we’d be printing off so many of these without her,” KiNa pointed out.
“Yeah, yeah. Heard it a million times,” the other boy waved a smudged hand. Then he teased, “What do you want me to do? Bow down and kiss your feet?”
Some of the other boys giggled and rolled down in front of KiNa, pretending just that. “Master KiNaTu! You’re so great!”
“We’re not worthy!” cried the other.
KiNa playfully footed one in the head, pushing him gently away. “Give me a break! Don’t you have something to be doing?”
The kids giggled and rushed away, grabbing a few stacks of papers and taking them to be bound.
“So, you think we’ll have a good run tonight before the guard catches wind of us?” Puddle asked, tossing the fruit core in the trash.
“I think so. We’re on our own tonight, though,” KiNa nodded. “Master SoYa had an incident today. He wants to go home for the night. I told him we could handle it.”
“Sure. No sweat,” the other boy realized the extent of the ink on his hands and misplaced it by smearing his fingers over his apron instead. Then he picked up a copy and waved it in front of KiNa’s face. “I was thinking that we could get a lot more on here if we could print to the back as well.”
“I know. But that’ll take longer and require more resources. Ink. Parchment that is thick enough,” KiNa rubbed his chin.
“It’s possible, though, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. I’ll see what I can do.”
“It’s just hard to figure out what to print and what to cut,” Puddle lamented. “There’s so much dirt on the Manor and it’s not getting any cleaner.”
KiNa sighed and nodded quietly, “I know. Trust me, I know.”
They both stood silently for a moment before Puddle finally spoke again, “Well, you better get something to eat if you’re making the run tonight.”
“Yeah,” KiNa said. “Thanks. I’ll do that.”
The boy turned and made his way to the kitchen, mulling things through his mind as he walked. It would be a good run. He was sure of it.