Chapter 22
“Suyo! Matsuyo! Wake up now!” Sheiji demanded, hastily dressing and tucking away his belongings.
“Kitu,” Suyo replied irritated. “Why did you wake me?”
“I’m facing my past. Are you coming or staying?”
Suyo grinned, “Coming, of course. I don’t think you could survive for a day without me.”
“I’ve no time for jokes. Pack up and let’s go.”
It did not take long to pack a blanket and a pouch of food and the two boys were on the road within fifteen minutes. Sheiji wanted to run, but Suyo insisted they walk at a steady pace to conserve strength.
“Why’d you change your mind?” Suyo asked.
“I met the man who questioned you. He told me one of my friends was in trouble. I must go back, if only for his sake,” Sheiji replied.
“Where are we going?”
“Taukama, the capital city of Jiwu. I will get help there. Then we must go to Taiyunyi.”
“That’s where you live?”
“Yes.” A sudden thought struck Sheiji, “What will you do when I’m home?”
“What do you think I did before you came along? I’ll be all right,” Suyo assured him.
“I’ll miss you though. You’re the only friend I have out here,” Sheiji said.
“You’ll be all right too,” Suyo said. “You lived without me.”
“Suyo, how long have you lived on the streets?”
“I never knew my parents. I’ve lived on the streets all my life. Fifteen years.”
Sheiji laughed, “Why, you could be a prince. Maybe your parents were a noble duke and duchess and you were lost while they were on a picnic.”
Suyo grinned, “Bow to me, peasant! I am Prince Matsuyo of the Picnic.”
Sheiji made a mock bow to Suyo, “My prince, it is an honor that such greatness as yourself should stoop to walk with a wretch like me.”
“You’re good,” Suyo commented. “I suppose you don’t have such luck. Since you knew your parents, I mean. It wouldn’t be possible for them to be royal.”
“Right.”
“Who are your parents? Don’t you think I should know a bit about you if I’m going to travel with you and help you face your life?” Suyo grinned.
“I don’t think you’d like to know,” Sheiji said, gnawing nervously on his lower lip. “Besides, if you ask me who my parents are, I can ask you a question. Remember the ‘law?’ “
Suyo sighed, “Sure.”
Sheiji sat near the fire half asleep. It had been a long day of walking and they were now only a day away from Taukama. Suyo had gone out to find some supper after Sheiji had returned empty handed.
Sheiji saw a glint, like light reflecting off a bit of metal, and his hand went instinctively to his dagger. A man sprang from the shadow of a tree. He had a sword in one hand and a dagger in his belt. He moved with liquid movements and was dressed from head to toe in black. He reminded Sheiji of a slim, black panther.
The man raised his sword and brought it down toward Sheiji’s neck, but Sheiji was ready. His dagger clashed against the sword and the man jumped back in surprise. Sheiji used this time to spring to his feet, almost as nimbly as the man.
“They said you were good,” the man growled. Then he attacked again. It was not a wholehearted attack and Sheiji guessed he was testing Sheiji’s reflexes. The man made several false attacks before he swung his sword expertly, trying to catch Sheiji off guard. But Sheiji saw him brace his legs and his dagger met the sword with a defiant clang.
“Who are you?” Sheiji asked, attempting a blow on the man’s unprotected shoulder.
“They call me Mèo,” the man replied, deflecting Sheiji’s blow.
“Amusing,” Sheiji answered, now making a thrust at the man’s knee. “Tekelonnese for cat. It fits.”
“Exactly,” replied Mèo, blocking the thrust and aiming one at Sheiji.
“What’s your real name?” Sheiji questioned.
“Yaben-Oshin,” Mèo smiled.
Sheiji paused at the name. Everyone had heard of Yaben-Oshin; the notorious Obokan assassin whom no one could apprehend; the famous swordsman who had defeated his teacher at the age of ten; the catlike creature who could scale a ten foot wall and leap off the same wall, landing unhurt below.
Mèo too, used his opponent’s hesitation to his advantage. Sheiji saw the blade coming, but was too slow to stop it. He dodged, but felt it graze his arm. Blood welled from the long scratch.
Now the opponents fell to business. There was no more testing, but they watched each other like hawks. Once, Sheiji heard his name called, but was too intent on his onslaught to look up.
“Who put you up to this? Sui-Tsai?” Sheiji asked.
“Who else.”
“I thought he believes me dead.”
“Ha. How could you be dead? His soldiers never found you,” Mèo replied. “And all the better. Now I get to finish you off.”
“Not likely,” Sheiji replied as he swung his dagger towards Mèo’s head. Mèo leapt into the air and did a summersault. He spun and came down hard. There was a crack, like a tree branch breaking and Mèo lay still. Sheiji walked cautiously over to him, unsure if it was a trap. Mèo looked up at him, stunned. “It seems like it’s over for me, huh?”
“That’s right, Yaben-Oshin,” Sheiji replied. “You have finally been vanquished!”
“But things are not always what they seem, Vua!” Mèo rolled over and swung his sword. Sheiji felt nothing as it cut through his stomach as smoothly as silk. He fell to the ground and Mèo jumped up in triumph that ended with a groan of pain as he crawled away from Sheiji.
Sheiji looked up to see Suyo watching nearby. “He got away,” Sheiji mumbled.
“I don’t think so, my lord,” Suyo replied as he knelt beside Sheiji. He removed his turban and began ripping it into shreds to bind Sheiji’s wounds.
Sheiji stared at Suyo. His black hair, now uncontained, fell to his knees in a thick braid.
“Suyo. You’re—.”
“A girl, yes.”
Then darkness closed around Sheiji, sucking him into unconsciousness.