Truancy Origins (21 page)

“Are you ready?” Zen asked.

“Yes.”

“Actually, I don't think that you are.” Zen smiled. “But we'll soon find out, won't we?”

And with that Zen brought his pole swinging towards Umasi without any warning. Instinctively, Umasi raised his own pole and blinked surprisedly as it blocked the blow with a loud
clang.
Unfazed, Zen lashed out again, this time at Umasi's legs. Umasi quickly brought his pole downwards to parry the attack, feeling pleased with himself as Zen's pole noisily bounced back.

Zen, however, seized the opportunity to leap diagonally over to another column with almost catlike agility, now facing Umasi's exposed flank. Seeing the danger, Umasi quickly hopped sideways and landed safely on another column as Zen's pole cleaved the air where he had just been standing. Looking as though he was enjoying himself, Zen leapt diagonally again onto a short column, and then forward onto a taller one, bringing him adjacent to his brother. As he made his last leap, he also brought his weapon swinging upwards towards Umasi, who easily batted it away with his own pole.

Umasi and Zen eyed each other for a few tense seconds, and then Umasi decided to try to imitate Zen's tactic. He made his first diagonal hop successfully, dodging Zen's wild swing in midair. But as he made the second jump, a powerful gust of wind battered him, nearly tipping him over as he landed haphazardly on a pillar diagonal to Zen's.

Seizing the momentary advantage, Zen jumped to a column next to Umasi and lashed out with his pole, catching Umasi in the ribs and further unbalancing the hapless brother. Teetering dangerously, Umasi managed to hop to another column to regain his balance. Just then, a large wave rose up, threatening to engulf Zen's pillar. Recognizing the threat, Zen leapt into a magnificent cartwheel over open water, his hand touching down on the column that Umasi had just abandoned, propelling Zen feet-first towards the column upon which a stunned Umasi currently stood.

With reflexes he didn't know that he had, Umasi hopped backwards clumsily as Zen slammed down upon the pillar. Umasi was almost surprised
to find himself safe as Zen took a moment to recover from the complicated maneuver. However, with a quick glance behind him, Umasi realized that he was now at the very edge of the shattered pier, and nothing now stood between him and the angry waters of the river. He had no ground behind him to retreat to.

With a shout of defiance, Umasi suddenly lunged towards Zen with his pole outstretched, determined that one or both of them would end up taking the plunge. Zen, however, was already in motion even before Umasi jumped, and swiftly landed upon another column with a smirk of satisfaction. It was only then that Umasi realized that Zen hadn't been dodging Umasi's attack.

A powerful wave washed over the pillar as Umasi landed, soaking his pants and sneakers. Umasi let out an involuntary gasp; it was as though his legs had suddenly been encased in ice. Roaring in frustration, Umasi stamped his numb feet upon his pillar, bothered more by his careless blunder than by the freezing sensation.

“I bet you wish you applied yourself more in gymnastics class now, don't you, Brother?” Zen asked, still spotless despite all that had happened. “You never did get the hang of cartwheels.”

“You're just messing around,” Umasi realized bitterly, grip tightening on his pole as he turned to face Zen.

It was at that moment that Umasi realized that they had an audience. Standing far behind Zen, all the way back on dry land, was a thin, pale girl with a black scarf thoroughly wrapped around the lower half of her face. Umasi didn't recognize her, but knew that she could only be one of Zen's new Truants.

“Her name is Noni. You might call her my assistant,” Zen said, not needing to turn around to understand what Umasi was looking at. “I believe that I told her to remain behind. Apparently, she has found that order difficult to follow.”

“I never thought you the type to show off for a girl,” Umasi said scathingly. “Will I be invited to the wedding?”

Zen raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, now you're trying to make fun of me,” Zen said. “That just won't do.”

Umasi and Zen faced off once more, glaring at each other as the river frothed around them in approval. Umasi made the first move, lashing out at Zen's head with his pole. Zen deftly blocked the blow with his own weapon, then thrust it forward at Umasi's belly. Umasi quickly parried the attack, then swung again, this time towards Zen's legs. Zen noisily blocked again. They continued to exchange blows as they stood, unmoving, upon their respective columns, their metal weapons glinting in the pale gray
sunlight. With an especially loud
clang,
both of them suddenly found themselves in a deadlock, each of them attempting to push the other into the water with brute strength.

Zen knew that he could win easily now, if he brought all of his considerable strength and energy to bear against his half-starved brother. But he didn't just want to win this fight—he wanted to break Umasi's spirit so completely that the boy would give up and return home, never to challenge him again. And so, to Umasi's surprise, Zen abruptly ended the deadlock by actually retreating back a column.

Breathing heavily, Umasi eyed Zen. He took his brother's withdrawal to be a sign of weariness, something that he didn't feel thanks to all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. And so, foolishly, Umasi jumped forward in his eagerness without bothering to consider the circumstances under which his brother had chosen to retreat.

As he sailed through the air, a particularly strong gust of wind swept over Umasi's body, upsetting his balance. The wind also kicked up another sizeable wave, which crashed against the column that Umasi was jumping to, making it slick with water as Umasi came tumbling down. Knocked off-balance by the wind, Umasi teetered there on the brink for one suspended moment, a look of horror on his face. Then Zen lightly tossed his pole, striking Umasi in the chest, who plunged into the water with a great silvery splash.

For a moment there was silence, save for the whistling of the wind and sloshing of the river. Then Umasi's head surfaced, and after a great gasp for air, let out an earsplitting shriek. Zen's lips curled into a smile. The water must've been even colder than he had thought. Still, maybe now his brother would learn his lesson at last.

Then, at that inopportune moment, what remained of Zen's conscience chose to wonder if what he had done was necessary, if he had to have picked such an unfair environment. Refusing to address his own doubts, Zen watched impassively as Umasi desperately grasped hold of a nearby column and hung on for dear life. As Umasi's teeth began chattering, Zen suddenly wondered if his brother's life might actually be in danger. Then he shook his head. Umasi would surely return home now, where he would be safe. Zen couldn't afford to second-guess himself. He had no time for guilt or doubt.

His mind made up, Zen spun around and made broad steps from column to column, all the way back to solid asphalt, where Noni stood staring admiringly at him. Zen turned around and addressed Umasi, who was still clinging desperately to the pillar.

“Pathetic! I wasn't even trying!” Zen called as Umasi gasped and shivered.
“I thought that you might at least be entertaining! You're just a waste of time after all!”

Umasi shuddered as another wave washed over him, refreezing the parts of his body that had just been warming up again. But he didn't so much as look at his brother as he spoke.

“You're so pathetic that you can have your money back,” Zen continued as he drew a plastic account card from his pocket. “I think you'll find that I've not spent too much of it. Run back home, or try to buy yourself a house if you feel like it. I really don't care.”

Zen tossed the card lightly onto the ground where Umasi could easily retrieve it, and then spun around and began walking away.

“Are we leaving, sir?” Noni asked, tugging on Zen's sleeve.

“Indeed. It's a shame that we have to cut our operation short, but at least this has not been a completely fruitless venture,” Zen answered, casting a glance back at Umasi's struggling form.

“Will . . . we come back?”

“I might send someone along later to examine the docks more thoroughly,” Zen said speculatively. “But for now, I've grown rather tired of them.”

And with that, Zen began walking faster. Noni stopped to watch him go for a moment, and then quickly ran after him, trailing closely behind with a worshipful light shining in her eyes.

 

S
puttering and shivering, Umasi climbed up upon a slanted pillar, using it as a ramp to a fully upright column. From there he carefully crawled across the other pillars, all the way back to solid ground, the wind laughing in his ears every inch of the way. His soggy clothes now clung tightly to his body, which was now thoroughly numb from the cold. After experiencing that freezing water, Umasi almost felt warm now. Almost.

Determinedly focusing on his chilled limbs, Umasi tried and failed to avoid thinking about what had just happened. He had been so sure that he could beat Zen, so confident that he could make Zen see the error of his ways. Now that he had resolved to fight, he had thought himself formidable, as though some hidden power had been unleashed. What a joke.

Zen had just been toying with him from the start.

And all Umasi had accomplished was getting humiliated at his hands.

What had he been thinking? Umasi berated himself over and over as he realized how stupid he had been. He was half-starved and slowly freezing to death while Zen was well fed and rested. What's more, Zen was a born fighter with much more experience. It had always been up to him to protect Umasi. How could Umasi ever have imagined beating him in a fight?

Umasi shook his hair free of water, knowing that it was getting cold enough to freeze him solid if he remained still. As he stretched, he suddenly spotted something on the ground—his account card, still resting where Zen had left it. Umasi picked it up, and upon touching it a sudden surge of anger coursed through him. He was so pathetic that Zen had shown him
charity.
Nothing could've infuriated him more at that moment, and nothing could've been better calculated to demolish his pride.

As the last vestiges of his dignity eroded, an unearthly scream ripped forth from Umasi's lungs, the demented howl of a tortured soul. Umasi screamed again and again, until he had shed all of the many emotions that had built up inside him. Only then, at last, did he collapse, exhausted in every way.

Umasi remained there for a long time, contemplating the unfathomable depths of his failure, even as gentle snowflakes began to float down from the sky to the ground upon which he lay.

 

A
little way removed in District 15, Red frowned, idly brushing a few white flakes from his hair. It was snowing again, which to Red meant more soggy clothes and difficult travel. Letting out a sigh that immediately crystallized into mist, Red began trudging along an alleyway that would bring him to the live District 16. The one benefit of heavy snow was that it made moving through living districts safer; people tended to stay indoors if they could help it, and it was hard to tell a vagrant apart from a normal citizen in a blizzard.

In the few days since he fled District 8, Red had traveled at night, and only then with the utmost caution, expecting to be caught with every movement he made. Enforcer patrols had seemingly doubled of late, and he knew that the district he'd left behind must be swarming with them by now. District 15, being as large as it was, had offered him a small peace of mind. Here, on the silent streets, with the river nearby, the memory of an Enforcer being murdered by a child seemed distant and dreamlike.

But it had been real, Red reminded himself, and even now he was still running as far away from District 8 as possible. He had managed to scrounge up a few scraps that he'd saved in a brown paper bag that he clutched at his side; it would be enough to last him through a night or two of travel. Lost in mental calculations of how far he'd be able to get in a day, Red was not looking as he rounded a corner, and he abruptly collided with another individual.

Cursing himself for his inattentiveness, Red instantly went for the rusted knife concealed in his belt. The other person, whoever it was, had let out a yelp of surprise, meaning that at least Red wasn't the only one caught
unawares. Snarling at his adversary, Red prepared to fight, to kill, to do whatever he had to do to survive. Then his enemy spoke, and Red froze with his hand on the hilt of his knife.

“Red? That you?”

Recognizing the voice, Red backed up and blinked, getting a good look at his foe for the first time.

“Chris?”

“Good to see ya again, man,” Chris said, his pose relaxed, though his eyes remained wary. “We thought you was a goner for sure.”

“What're you doing out here alone?” Red said suspiciously. “Were you coming from District 16? Why aren't you with a partner?”

For a moment Chris looked annoyed by the questions, but he quickly recovered and answered smoothly.

“Well, we just ain't got enough people to go out in pairs anymore,” Chris explained. “Lost a bunch since we got scattered. But most of us who're left are back together now, and we've been recruiting. Speaking of which, how'd you like to stick with us again?”

Red narrowed his eyes. It was a tempting offer, but something about it didn't seem right. It wasn't like Chris to just welcome him back without expecting something in return.

“Why are you so eager to have me back all of a sudden?” Red demanded. “It was hard as hell to get in the first time. Things changed that much?”

“Well . . . you and Zack had that little disagreement . . . then 'bout half of us got cut down in the parking garage . . . James got shot by an Enforcer a little while back, or so Raphael said when he caught up with us today . . .” Chris recounted, scratching his neck. “. . . and Niles just got the crap beaten out of him. The kid crawled back yesterday all busted up, expecting us to baby 'im. He's out of the gang, of course. Also those wimps, the ones that got a grudge against us, they've been causing a bit of trouble lately. So we got a few spots we need to fill, yeah.”