Ch.2

 

        Omniscient moon

With calm beams of silk and lace,

Show me the whispers.

 

 

 

            The damp ground rushed upon them, a wave of swirling darkness drenched in dew. They fell. Closer, closer, the ground came and she screamed. “ Close your eyes!” she heard him, far, and faint with disbelief. She could not believe how real it all was. Her eyes closed tightly and she lost herself in thought. She recalled the night, so many things happening in such little time. What time was it? She didn’t know. How long has it been since she was wakened from her troubled slumber. “ Open them.”

            Her eyes saw the world. But what world was it? She let her gaze meander across the dark roads and she smelt the cold air. It was her world, yet some how changed. Then her eyes met with an all too familiar landmark, her Dojang. “ How…” she stammered,

“ how did we…get here?”

“ Never mind that now, I need to speak to your master.” With soft strides, he ran across the eerily empty street. Usually it was so busy, so loud. Now it was silent and barren. A sudden and incapacitating loneliness came over her. This is my world, she thought, and they want to take it away. Tears welled in her eyes, and they would have over flowed in a great burst of emotion had the man not called to her.

“ Get out of the street! There you are perfectly exposed!”

                            So she ran.

 

            A faint light gleamed from inside the Dojang, secret and hidden, away from the war, away from the world. Why is he here at this hour? She asked her self as she knocked upon the locked door. A shuffle of noise leaked through the old and time worn wooden walls. It stopped. The light went out. A soft whisper came from behind the door. It had to have been in Korean, for she didn’t understand what he said.

“ Master Lee?” she asked, and the door flung open and snatched her in. The man followed into the sanctuary.

            “ What are you doing here?” Lee asked as he motioned for them to sit, and lit a small candle on his desk.

“ I was wondering what you were doing here, sir. Did they come to your house too?” A soft rustle of leaves.

“ No.” A mountain of foreboding thunder clouds loomed in the west. “ Not yet.”

“ They will come though, and you know this.” Said the man.

“ And who are you?” asked Lee

“ I am Hideo, I come from Japan. I am the leader of a secret rebellious organization called Whispers. An army of warriors.”

“ He wants our school to join the cause.”

“ Lycoris,” Lee sighed and leaned back in his chair, a pensive glaze in his eye.

            “ It was created long before the nations’ militaries were assembled. We will be the end of this regime before it ever takes flight.” Hideo leaned in close to Lee,

“ You are good, very good. Your students are good. Your Grand Master is good. All of you can help immensely!”

 “ This war is for governments. Not Dojangs. For Presidents, not masters. And for soldiers, not students.”

“ Master Lee!” Lycoris jumped up. “ We can help them! I know we can! We can fight!”

“ That is your problem!” he shouted back, “ You think you are ready! You think you are ready for war? For death? I don’t think so.” He sat back down and softened his voice.

“ Leave, Lycoris, go out and wait. Drink some tea to warm your bones. You must be cold.” She stood with out a word, with out a bow, and walked stiffly out of the room.

            “ You…” Lee said and turned to Hideo, “ I do not know you, or why you are here. But you are trying to cause more trouble.”

“ No. I am trying to rekindle the flame that once burned in the souls of all warriors! Lycoris has this flame! Why do you constantly kick sand on it until it eventually dwindles away? This you do to all your students! You preach that you want them to do their best, then when they do you push them away!”

“ You know nothing of my teaching!” Lee was unusually choleric today, under the stress of all that was happening. He was rubbing his eyes as he stood there, flushing with rage.

            “ Lycoris is ready. She has already faced death tonight. In her home when a dozen N.K. soldiers swept through the house. She killed three, I the rest. She is not the little fourteen-year-old girl who joined your school over five years ago. She is grown now, living alone, fending for herself. She can fight, and so can you.”

“ Three. That was all. What if you had not been there? She would have died. She is not ready.” His voiced was calm and harbored some degree of concern.

“ You did not see her. You do not give her enough credit!”

“ And you give her too much!”

           

 

Out side Lycoris sat on the cold Dojang floor, sipping tea that was losing its warmth, and its taste. She could not hear the colloquy in the office, which gathered heat as quickly as her tea cooled. She wanted to shout, to scream, to let out all her fear and anger. God! She erupted inside with so many emotions, so many worries. God.

            “ What is this really about?” Hideo leaned back and brushed a hand through his long, shimmering raven hair. Lee stared him down from his place of authority behind the desk. I am master, he thought, not him.

“ You believe so much that you have every one figured out. Well, every one but yourself. I know you, better than you know yourself, most likely. I can tell you what this really is about.” Lee nodded his head. Fine, go a head…try.

            A sound came from out side, and Lycoris jumped to her feet. The tea spilled and her heart raced. In the office the men turned in their seats. They held their breath. A light and gentle thumping, a slight rapping upon the Dojang door, echoed through the dark building. A beam of searing light shined through the window and almost fell upon Lycoris. A flashlight, they are looking for something, for what? Survivors? She thought as she curled into a ball in the back room. I’m safe. They wont see me here. They wont come in. Her thoughts raced. The men ducked down, crouching beneath the two desks. Lee blew out the candle. They wont see me, they thought.

They wont come.

            The light faded, and soft voices surrounded the Dojang. With a sudden burst of power, the back door’s metal frame shattered from a great and fatal kick. A tall man stepped in wearing the N.K. uniform. Lycoris held her breath, she dared not move. Here I am, she thought, crouching in fear. My life ending in my very own Dojang! He stepped in.

            Lee and Hideo glanced at each other; fear and doubt turned their faces to a ghostly pallor. Hideo stood up.

“ Sit down!” Lee screamed in a whisper, “ They will see you!”

“ We have to help her! They will kill her!” Lee grabbed Hideo’s leg, “ Let me go!”

“ No! Now listen! You say she is ready, for war, for death, to kill and be killed. If so, she will handle it! If she does die then I was right, she wasn’t ready!”   Hideo crouched down, shocked.

“Is being right so important to you, at the cost of your student’s life? You are fine with her death?”

“ If she chooses it. It is her life.” Hideo glared at Lee in detest, and put one hand on the door.

“She did not choose this.” He hung his head and cast a solemn glance at the floor. “She did not choose for these men to come and threaten everything she loves and holds dear. She has not chosen to fight, she has simply accepted it as her fate.” He paused and fell pensive, “I know so much about her, about you.” He continued,“ She loves you more than you know. She would give her life for her master.” He turned the knob. The door creaked on its rusted hinges.

           

The soft feet ran to the office. No! She thought, No! They’ll find them! She stood up, quaking with terror. I have to do this! She closed her eyes tight. I have to do this. She took a slow step forward; her feet were heavy and cumbersome. Her mind then lapsed. She ran out into the shadows and flung herself upon the foe.“ Hideo! Master! Are you alright?” Hideo and Lee jumped up.

“ Lycoris? She didn’t!” Lee scrambled to his feet.

“ I believe she did.” Hideo kicked open the door.

“Get down!” he ordered and pulled a weapon from his coat. In the darkness it shimmered with a florescence that was ominous as it was beautiful. “ Get down!” he yelled again, this time his voice was frantic like she had never heard it before. Lycoris dropped down.

           

 

A gray mist hung in the air as a crimson sun rose above the Harbor. Lycoris, slumped in a corner, twitched in troubled slumber. Lee was against the far wall, collapsed and sedated in dreams. Hideo watched. He watched as the sun rose. He watched as they slept. “ How long,” he sighed, “ how long must I do this?” He asked the emptiness. He leaned back and gingerly touched his wounded arm. The cut was deep, and fatal. He knew what attacked them; he knew what the source of the wound was, and it brought a foul vertigo upon him. It made his head swim and stomach churn. “ How long?” He closed his eyes and fell away into nothingness.

            “Water, so pure, so clean, the essence of life. We are just pebbles tossed randomly into an ocean, hoping to make ripples the sea will feel. This is our way. This is the way of the Nachine. Hieite, what ripples will you make?”

“ The greatest of them all, Master. All the sea shall feel me; all shall know my name! They will know me as the greatest Nachine of all time!”

“ Hieite, you dream so big. Sometimes I believe you will never reach your peace. Remember, being Nachine means maintaining balance in the Universe, and preserving the essence of life. As long as you do your best to uphold this duty, you will be a great Nachine.”

 His eyes opened and Lycoris stood before him. Her clear eyes brimming with concern, “You’re hurt.” She said, and rested a hand upon his shoulder. He recoiled with a cringe.

“ What were you saying?” asked Lee as he sat down next to him with some old tea.

“ What?”

“ You were talking in your sleep. Something about making waves in the sea of life?” Lycoris spoke softly; Hideo sensed something about her. Something strange from the night before, guilt, she felt guilty. His eyes studied her, “ Nothing.” He said, “ Nothing at all, but I do need some medical aid. Preferably no ambulances.”

“ Not a problem.” Lee snorted; his tone was a bit sardonic, “ We are the only ones left.”

“ What?” Hideo struggled to get up, but Lycoris held him down.

“ He’s right,” she lowered her eyes and spoke even more softly, “ they’re all gone.”

“ This can’t be! Damn it, no!” he held his eyes tightly closed as a grimace appeared on his face. The poison, it’s spreading.

            “ What? What is wrong?” Lycoris frantically asked him. Lee sat back; he knew how great the pain was, for he too was scratched.

“ Tell us, what the enemy is.” He said.

“ N.K., North Korea.” Hideo moaned.

“ I know that, now tell us what we don’t know. Tell us everything.” Hideo cringed; he looked closely at Lee and noticed the scratch.

 “ You were… but how? How can you be so calm? Isn’t the pain excruciating?”

“ Yes, and that is why we need to know everything. Lycoris told me about the strange

language you over heard at the house. We need to know what we are fighting, and it seems you may have the answers.” Hideo relaxed his body, his cold, black eyes softened.

“ All right,” he said, “ I’ll tell you everything I know, after we are healed. Lycoris, in that bag over there I have some herbs, bring them to me.”

With out hesitation she ran and grabbed the bag. Her master was dying, Hideo was dying, and it was all her fault.

            Hideo ripped at some wilted leaves of a gray color and mixed them with a clear liquid. Both he and Lee painfully drank it down. “ Now,” he said, “ that is over and done with. This wound will heal. So don’t worry about it.” He glanced at Lycoris’ anxious eyes. “ Don’t blame your self,” his voice was soft and calm, “ if you had not acted as you did, we may not be here at all. You did nothing worth feeling guilty for.” He let his head fall back and let his eyes wander across the ceiling. “ We are all pebbles tossed into the Sea of Life. We will all make ripples, some great…some small. Some will destroy all they touch, while others will create new wonders and inspire all who see. This is what my master, Hyuta, said to me at my coming of age.” He sighed heavily, “ That was no ordinary man; North Korea is being supplied by a superior force. They are giving them powerful men and weapons.” A long withdrawing roar of thunder rolled in the sky. Silence followed.

“ What force?” asked Lee, holding his numbed arm.

“ That I cannot tell you.”

“ Hideo! Tell us everything you know! I know there must be more! Now,”

“ Lycoris stop.” Lee interrupted as he stood.

He limped over to the window and placed a hand on the cool glass. Lycoris studied him; the indifference in his eye had been replaced by subtle concern. She saw him as she had never seen him before, as an ordinary man not just her master.

“ What do we do?” he asked, soft rain began to fall upon the barren world about them. Its pitter-patter sounded like the dinging of bullets against hard stone and metal.

“ We go to Whispers.” Hideo was wrapping a cloth bandage around his wounded arm, and barely seemed to be paying attention to anything. He was lost with in himself.

            Whispers, Lycoris thought, and what happens when we get there?

“ Lycoris, start making phone calls. Call every student in this school! Then call other schools. See if anyone, anyone, has survived!” Lee commanded.

Lycoris nodded and ran into the office. She dialed as fast as she could.

Ok, she thought as she dialed the first number, Callum MacConner. The rings sounded like gunfire in her ears, and they rang and rang into a void of nothingness. Then a lone click, “ Hello. You have reached the MacConner residence. We are unavailable at this time. Please leave your message now. Thank you for calling.” Beep. A thunderous and lonely sound it was. Leave a message? Yes, leave a message for the dead. Pay your respects in a thirty-second eulogy and leave it with the soulless mind of a machine. These thoughts ran through her mind while the machine waited, recording her dwindling hope and playing it to the silence in the dead living room, sopping with blood.

            “ If you are finished with your message, please hang up now. For further options, stay on the line…” The monotone of the electronic woman droned on as she went through the enumeration of “further options”. Lycoris hung up.

On to number two she thought, and picked up the phone.