Anarchy 3
KiNa’s first hunch was right – this ShiKon girl was trouble.
Even with the blindfold securely fastened over her eyes, she sauntered into the base as if she owned the place. She walked with a purposeful hip-swish that distracted the other pre-teen boys and left them staring dumbfounded, struggling with a new sort of feeling unknown to them before. She distracted the girls, too, who stopped working to whisper behind their hands at this strange girl that could turn the boys’ heads without so much as a word.
All of this annoyed KiNa. It was the day after Distribution, he was tired from the night run, and there was still work to be done. There was no place for mindless girl-drooling in the middle of it all.
What will Master SoYa say about her?
The girl’s familiar chiding mind-voice rang in his mind. ~Perhaps he will like what he sees, too.~
Mortified, KiNa slammed the mind-thought window shut and hissed, “You’re not supposed to do that!”
He was beginning to understand why Master SoYa worked so hard to teach him not to eavesdrop. It was really and seriously annoying.
“It’s not my fault if you’re broadcasting as loud as day,” ShiKon crossed her arms, annoyed. “How long are you going to keep me blindfolded, anyway. We’re obviously here.”
“Until I know what to do with you,” KiNa ushered her into the workshop, hoping that productivity would pick up once her distracting swish was removed.
“You talk like I’m a prisoner,” she prompted, her half-face unreadable under the blindfold.
“You wanted to do this, so deal with it,” he retorted, somewhat more snappy than he meant to sound.
ShiKon merely huffed and crossed her arms.
“I need to check on things,” KiNa instructed. “I want you to stay here and keep out of trouble. No snooping. And keep that blindfold on.”
“Whatever you say, Sir Spots-a-lot,” the girl grinned and leaned back against the far wall.
He felt the color in his face change, but schooled his reaction, keeping his frustration in check. In just a little while, Master SoYa would return. Then he could deal with her attitude.
For now, I have better things to do.
When KiNa walked outside, everyone was still peering curiously at the door. He frowned back at them, waving his hands to dismiss them. “What are you all looking at? Don’t you have something to be doing?”
A number of frowns met his in return, but they turned to go back to their jobs. There were a few under-breath mutters about slave driving and bad-hair days, but he ignored them. Instead, he brought his empty pack to the distribution room and lay it down. All this commotion made KiNa forget that he needed to catch some sleep before his next watch.
“So how’d it go?” asked Puddle, approaching slowly from behind.
“We got them out there,” KiNa told him with a nod. “No one got caught. A pretty good night.”
There was a momentary pause before the other boy prodded, “So who is she?”
He suppressed his groan, reminding himself that it wasn’t Puddle’s fault that the girl was so annoying. Instead, he tried to sound dismissive, “ShiKon… just a girl I found out on the streets.”
“ShiKon?” Puddle echoed. “She was with us for a while at the Darkman’s, wasn’t she?”
“I don’t remember,” KiNa fibbed, downplaying her importance. He began stacking the loose reams of parchment on the end of one of the tables. Paper wasn’t easy to get, so they had to conserve as much as they could.
“Yeah. I think she was. I remember her,” the boy mused. “I just didn’t remember her being so hot.”
KiNa winced at that and tried to re-route the conversation, “Puddle, aren’t you supposed to be cleaning the ink chambers?”
“Man, you’re grouchy today,” he evaded quickly, frowning at KiNa. “You need to go get some sleep.”
When the mind mage didn’t respond, Puddle paused thoughtfully. The only sound was the shuffling of parchment.
“Did something happen out there?” he asked. “I mean… between you and… ShiKon?”
“What? No!” KiNa jumped a bit, turning sharply. “Nothing happened other than a bunch of trouble. Which is exactly what I think she’s going to be!”
“Then why did you bring her here?” Puddle asked with a puzzled face.
The boy sighed in return. He couldn’t answer the question for himself. It was going to be hard to offer a justification to his friend.
“I don’t know,” KiNa admitted. “Maybe because she was out there alone. And even if she is a troublemaker, Master SoYa would have done the same. He did for me. I might have been a troublemaker like her otherwise.”
“You think you’ll be in trouble for this?”
“Well, look at it this way, I–”
“In trouble for what?” a new voice added to the conversation.
Both boys turned to see Master SoYa’s shape outlined by the sunlight streaming through the door behind him. He didn’t look any better for the night’s sleep, if he had any sleep at all. KiNa straightened a bit, worried that now wouldn’t be the time to make waves.
But Puddle didn’t miss a beat, exclaiming, “KiNa brought someone back from the Manor. A giiirrrlll!”
Did he really have to say it like that?
Master SoYa simply quirked an eyebrow upwards, a look that prompted explanation without words.
How can I prove that I’m the victim in this situation?
“I… I followed your instructions… she was blindfolded and didn’t see the way to the base,” KiNa stammered a bit, struggling to relate the situation to his teacher. “I gave her the full speech and ever–”
“KiNa,” the man interrupted with a soft voice, “I know you’re getting to that age, but bringing girls home blindfolded isn’t the best way to score romance points.”
Puddle laughed behind his hand, and took a few steps away before turning around with a mirthful face.
KiNa simply stared in abject horror. When he found his voice, it expressed every ounce of tension he felt in his body, “Master SoYa, it’s nothing like that. She jumped me in the street and tried to mug me while I was–”
Puddle laughter turned into a slight howl of amusement at this. “She mugged you?”
Master SoYa now looked equally amused.
“No! Not successfully! I mean, all I had was the Newsletters with me,” KiNa grit his teeth, grinding so hard that his jaw hurt. “She figured out I had something to do with them, so I couldn’t just leave her behind as a witness.”
“Hmmm?” his teacher pursed his lips, obviously reading his student’s frustrated body language.
She’s a mind mage, Master, KiNa informed the man quickly, out of the thought-range of Puddle. He wasn’t sure if Master SoYa wanted that spread around the base before he decided what to do about the girl.
~Oh?~
She was the bossy girl who got away when we raided the Darkman’s cellar. Remember?
~Yes, I do believe I recall that. We never found the girl.~
KiNa puffed his cheeks waiting for some sort of recognition for his suffering, That’s the only reason I brought her back here. We don’t need the Manor to get their hands on any mind mages.
Even annoying ones.
~You did well to bring her here, KiNa. Where is she right now?~
“Would you like me to take you to her?” KiNa edged a verbal dismissal. Most of the other kids didn’t realize that he and Master SoYa could, and often did, make plots and plans in silent mind speak. He did his best to try to cover the situation and fill in the awkward gaps. It was something the boy learned from his teacher.
“Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll meet with her and decide the best course of action,” Master SoYa nodded placidly. “You should probably get some rest, KiNa. You’ve been up most the night.”
“But…” the boy protested. Something in him loathed the thought of leaving his teacher alone with an unknown mind mage. Even if it was a little girl.
“Thank you for your concern,” the man said, gripping his student’s shoulder for a moment. “I think I can handle this. The girl is on our turf, after all.”
Puddle’s eyebrows lifted, amused at the mind mage’s attempt at using common street slang.
“On our turf… that is correct wordology, isn’t it?” Master SoYa checked with a hopeful glance at the boys.
“Close enough, Master,” Puddle laughed a little.
Their teacher messed up Puddle’s already scruffy hair and teased good-naturedly, “Clean the ink chambers, Puddle.”
“Yes, sir,” the boy grinned, unable to hide his own affection.
“And you get some sleep, KiNa,” the man instructed as he made his way towards the door.
“Alright,” KiNa scowled. He turned to make his way back towards his room, even though he knew it would be hard to sleep well until he knew what Master SoYa’s choice was for ShiKon.
Annoying as she is, I suppose she deserves a chance at a better life here, too.
He mulled it over as he kicked off his boots and dressed down into more comfortable clothes. Clothes that he had with all thanks to Master SoYa’s ability to secure funding and provide for the children of the Manor. There was never a day KiNa regretted his choice to become the man’s student.
But, up until now, I’ve been the only mind mage here. Will that change if Master SoYa allows her to stay?
KiNa stopped himself, recognizing the hint of uncharacteristic near-jealousy in those thoughts. He shook his head with a deep frown. Jealousy was a feeling reserved for people who owned too much, and he vowed that he would never let himself be one of those. Especially if that led to becoming like people at the Manor.
Instead, he lay down in his bed, staring at the ceiling for a while, trying to piece together what it was exactly that made him so annoyed at ShiKon. She did have her moments, but overall, she wasn’t too bad to look at…
Before he could correct himself for wandering down such a dangerous path of thought, his eyes grew heavy and sleep began to creep over his mind. His dreams met him, full of twisting stone streets and ShiKon’s teasing laughter.