Datu
Toloko, inhabitant of a secluded village on a distant tropical island originally only wanted to save his grandmother, but ends up trying to save the island from its many threats. Terrifying monsters deemed long to have been nothing but legends, gangs abducting pets, overly loud hip-hop beats and strange rhymes. – Written by Jute
Map of the island – Map of the village of Saavahai, Toloka's home
Chapter 4: Sitti
Arrival
Even here, at the outskirts of Sitti, the houses were already as if stacked upon each other, with the top ones accessible by exterior stairways, and separated only by very narrow alleyways. The thought of living in one of those box-like apartments was giving Toloka some anxiety, if this part was already as densely built, what would the inner city look like?
There were few trees or anything at the road here, too, but a lot of clothing lines and weird black lines seemed to connect all the houses. Almost all of them seemed to have a small birdhouse attached to them, probably for carrier pigeons, as he saw a number of them flying in the sky.
All that made him think back to how much cozier Joonen seemed to be, especially near Duke’s apartment. And he had found that town already intimidating in its size.
After ten minutes of walking, they found a bicycle bus stop. A sign said buses in the direction of the Saan, or the the beach, depart here, passing the central station.
„Hmm, we could take the bus to the railway station, but while we are here, we should also visit the beach.” Hosoma said, looking at the timetable. He took out his city map from his messenger bag again and unfolded it in his hands, letting Toloka view it, too.
„There’s a large market there, too, since it’s right next to the main harbor where all the transport ships from all over the world are berthing.” he continued, his hair briefly ruffled by the breeze of quickly passing bicycles.
„There have got to be herb stalls on it, too. Even if they have been robbed, too, we can at least ask them where they usually get their stuff!” After that, he folded the map away, and a couple minutes later a bicycle bus arrived.
They cycled and cycled, and cycled some more, stopping periodically. It turned out to be much further away than either of them had expected, and after half an hour they were still not anywhere near it, having just passed the railway station. Panting, Hosoma said, still pedaling:
„Whatcha gonna say, I think I forgot how large this town really is.”
– „Faven, yeah. It feels like I would have already made it through Joonen twice by now if I had cycled that much there.”
„We’ll just have to continue until we are there. Next time we’ll definitely get off at the station, though...”
– „Yeah, the train was almost relaxing in comparison.”
After another half an hour, or maybe 40 minutes, and completely soaked in sweat, they had finally arrived, and were almost ready to collapse on the bike, but the driver motioned them to get off so he could start his tour back.
They dragged themselves from the bus stop towards the beach, following a sign that pointed them down a large, board-surfaced path, and then once there dropped their bags and collapsed next to each other in the sand, taking in some of the midday sun.
When they had stopped huffing and puffing and gathered enough strength again, they sat up straight and took out their provisions. In front of them, they saw a lot of people similarly having lunch at the beach, playing in the water or taking their pets for a walk.
After they had eaten their filled pancakes, they set on their way to the market. It was loud enough that you could hear it all the way from the entrance already. As Toloka and Hosoma entered the market, they were seeing dozens of stalls, loudly praising fresh fish, jute leaves, coconut water, describing newly imported books or offering services like haircuts or washing clothes.
There seemed little system or organization to the way they were set up, and the sheer amount of sights and smells was overwhelming to Toloka. At home, he would see maybe five or six stalls at most, and those would be offering specialities, unusual or rarer things. Most of the locally grown food and other necessities would be put by the gardeners, fishers and everyone else into storage rooms where everyone took as needed. It worked on the small scale of the village, where any kind of wasting or squandering wouldn’t go undetected for long.
„Do you see anyone offering treatment for animals?” Toloka asked, as they were walking past a stall giving off the sweet scent of fresh pancakes made from bananas, eggs and coconut milk, sizzling in hot oil on two pans.
– „Not right now, but I wouldn’t trust any here anyway. They could be easily frauds. We should be getting your small friend to a proper hospital.” Hosoma replied, eyes still fixated searching for stalls of note.
„Fraud? Like what? Why would anyone try to lie about that kind of thing?” Toloka stopped, eyebrows furrowed.
– „I don’t know, I have heard of people doing all kinds of terrible things for fame and such.”
Toloka seemed to think about it for a moment, before starting to walk again. They reached a herb stand.
„Sorry, do you have some whiteberry leaves?” Hosoma asked the lady offering dozens of different kinds of herbs, orderly laying out on a table.
–„Apologies, but they are all out. Have been for weeks already. No one has them anymore.” she replied.
„That’s really strange. Who keeps taking them?” Toloka asked.
–„Something always seems to happen to the deliveries before I get them. So if you really want to know, I guess you would have to join one. Or pick another herb.” She pointed to a few other ones laying on the table.
„Sorry, we really need that one. Where would we be able to join that kind of delivery?” Hosoma pressed.
–„If you really insist... but most herbs can be substituted. If you were looking for something to reduce headaches, I think I have some willow bark... it’s not much and usually reserved for locals, but you look really desperate...”
Hosoma gave her a stern look. „Please, it’s whiteberry leaves we need.”
– „Alright, fine, fine, go to the storehouse district, and look for the house with incoming transports from the Dova a fejota region, that’s where the Samwati live. The house should have a sign, otherwise ask someone.”
She made a motion as if trying to shoo the two of them away.
„Please leave now if you are not going to take anything.”
Not saying another word, they left and started looking for an exit. The market was full of people and stalls everywhere, which made navigating it a bit difficult, and no one had thought to put up any signs.
At one point, they almost collided with a bicycle carring a large barrel of coconut oil, then later at another stand Toloka tripped over a basket woven from reed, which made him fall into a display of more baskets and bags, causing them to spill everywhere.
Several apologies and help at setting everything properly up again they asked for advice on how to leave the market, and following it they had, after some ten more minutes of walking finally found a way out, and started looking for a transit stop to the nearest railway station. Thankfully, one was nearby. They sat down on a nearby bench, Toloka stretching his legs and Hosoma taking out mangos and a knife from his messenger bag, handing some to his travel companion and cutting one up for himself.
„Weird how insistent that herbalist was in trying to get us to take another herb, huh?” he asked.
–„Hm, I guess. Maybe” Toloka wasn’t really listening, his eyes first looking towards the sky, and then to the cardinal still in the side pocket of his backpack.
„We are still going to the center first, right?” he continued, sitting up straight and now looking to Hosoma. „I don’t know how long my friend here can keep on being like this. Besides, we wanted to visit the libraries and temples there, too, right?”
„Yes” replied Hosoma, „and from there we can take the railway to get to the storehouse district, too. Then we won’t have to cycle all the way.”
„Oh yeah, that would be great. I have no idea how people here cope with all those huge distances, it seems so difficult to live in...” Toloka looked around the street they were sitting at. This one seemed to have a guesthouse next to regular, relatively fancy-looking apartments and bars, but was still rather quiet, apparently just being a side street. Only a few people and bicycles were moving past them.
The center
A rickshaw pulled up to them, colored red with two wooden backseats and driven by an elderly man.
„You don’t seem to be from here. Looking for a ride to somewhere?” he asked the two.
– „Uhh, yeah, sure. To the center, please, if possible.” Toloka stammered.
„Main plaza, right? Well, get on the vehicle and we’ll be there quickly!”
Both didn’t let themselves be asked twice and climbed on the backseats. The rickshaw drive proved to be very welcome to them, being able to sit back and let their legs rest meant a bit of relaxation, even if the hard wood of the seats didn’t make it easy.
As they rode past changing neighborhoods, they noticed how the fancier apartments first gave way to simpler ones with cheaper-looking bars and the odd diner, and then again to what seemed like offices and increasingly imposing buildings, clearly containing some public institution. The island didn’t really have a true capital, but most organizations and committees were still headquartered in Sitti, with its central location and where networking due to the huge number of different groups of people living was much easier.
While the architecture kept changing, and the streets seemed to get wider the closer they got to the plaza, streetfood and especially coconut water stands were a constant. Pedestrians holding a fresh, green coconut with a straw in it were a common sight, much more than it had been the case in Joonen.
After two more minutes or so, the rickshaw stopped.
„Here we are. Enjoy your stay, don’t drink too much, and don’t forget: a friend in need is a friend indeed!” the driver said as Toloka and Hosoma were getting off.
As he drove off, Toloka asked:
„What was that last sentence about?”
Hosoma shrugged, but a tall man who was just passing them by, holding a newspaper in one hand and another green coconut with straw in the other could give an answer:
– „It’s the city’s motto, to remind you to help out other people while you are here, as we all try to do in this place.”
„Oh, thanks for explaining” Toloka said, and the man nodded and moved on.
Toloka and Hosoma took a look around and noticed how huge and open the plaza was. It seemed to be at least two or three times the size of the main plaza of Joonen to Toloka. Hundreds of people were walking across it or sitting on one of the many benches on the sides, where several smaller stands were also apparently offering food, trinkets or demonstrations of weird acts that were drawing small crowds. Some of those seemed to be actually religious rites that were being performed in a group, they were just mostly strange ones Toloka had never seen or heard of before.
The plaza itself was paved with cobblestone, the edges packed with buildings, some of which made even the grandest and fanciest buildings of Joonen look a bit plain and simple.
Adorned with towers, columns and a lot of different ornaments in gold and yellow, they were truly a sight to behold, although the most eyestriking thing was the statue of a weird creature that was half human, although with horns, and half ... antelope? Toloka wasn’t sure, he only knew them from some of the picture books he read when he was younger.
Toloka and Hosoma decided to walk towards a fountain in the middle of the plaza and sat down on its edge. The fountain, too, had an interesting statue pouring water down. A large, but thin figure, with the shape and face of a human, but the scales, fins and gills of a blue and silver colored fish.
„Faven, this place is unbelievably large. And so busy. It makes that other town I saw before look almost as peaceful as my home village.” Toloka sighed.
– „True, I hope we don’t get lost, but at least the locals here are usually friendly. I haven’t ever heard of bad experiences here...” Hosoma said.
„Who is this creature here, by the way? I haven’t seen anyone or anything like him before?”
–„Don’tcha know? That’s Taesi, patron of the Sehukumo, the carers and nurturers of every community. Do you not have any temples honoring him where you are from?” Hosoma asked with widely open eyes, stuck between incredulity and slight shock
„I... I don’t think so? We don’t revere any ... any people but our ancestors, ... and the wilderness around us.” Toloka stammered, looking awkwardly to the side.
–„Huh, that’s weird. We have temples to all three patrons. Taesi, Kevalen, Asful. Didn’t think it would be different in other regions” Hosoma said.
For some reason, Toloka found himself unintentionally tensing up, as if resisting an urge to cringe. Different, conflicting feelings were running through him it that he wasn’t familiar with. He was looking deliberately away, but his eyes kept coming across some other weird religiously themed statue or ornament.
And it all just made it worse and he almost flinched, it all seeming so alien to him. That it did was starting to feel like a failure to him, in a strange sense. Not knowing the names or anything about these patrons or what else he felt like it betrayed his origin as from a tiny, unimpressive village and embarrassed him and by extension the village he was in a way representing on his journey.
He sighed and tried to look at the ground, noticing pigeons feasting on some thrown away pancakes, wondering whether the message he sent in Joonen reached his home safely. He couldn’t really know, he didn’t give a return address, so he would need to find another dovecote to send a new message.
But with how remote Saavahai was, it could take easily a week or more, as doves from here would only fly to the next towns, and then another dove would fly to the next settlement and so on. Or it would wait for the next supply ship from Joonen, but with a ship just having left in that direction that wouldn’t be any time soon either.
In other words, he was on his own. Well, not entirely, he had Hosoma. But with his feeling of cluelessness regarding everything in this huge city he definitely was, Hosoma at least had a map and seemed to know the place a bit from relatives.
Trying to not sulk too much, he got up and was about to ask Hosoma where to go first, when he noticed three people at a stand a couple steps away from him performing a ritual that actually was familiar to him: sand being poured on another person’s head to bless them and wish them to get closer to saandi or a state of superb contentment that makes you at peace with yourself and the world.
His eyes lit up and his frown disappeared almost entirely, and with only a short “I’ll come back, promised!” he left his friend to join the group at the stand that was near a house with the words “Prime Temple” written on a sign hanging from it.
Hosoma was left to stare blankly at Toloka approaching the ritual stand and having sand rain down on his head.
“Faven, what is he now planning? These aren’t the priests I was thinking of...” he muttered under his breath, before getting up from the edge of the fountain and following him slowly. He was eyeing the priests or religious brothers standing next to the stand suspiciously. Something seemed off with them, and it wasn’t just the large purple hoods they were wearing which seemed so out of place in this climate. Their necklaces had huge palm leaves hanging from them, with leaflets missing at seemingly irregular intervals.
Hosoma stopped about three steps away, listening to their conversation and trying not to attract attention.
“We are so thankful to finally meet someone else familiar with sand blessings. Most people in this town seem to have forgotten about them.” one of the hooded figures said, eyes hidden.
–“And it’s such an important and powerful ritual! Sand has many powers.” another one chimed in, their expression likewise not visible.
“Oh yeah! I was feeling really lost here but seeing something as familiar is so reassuring. All those statues and such here are kinda creepy to me. Who or what are they even depicting?” Toloka asked, with glowing eyes.
The first one put a hand on Toloka’s shoulder, causing him to flinch, but he maintained composure, even if his body clearly still seemed tensed up.
“Well, come in, and we will explain it to you.” the hooded figure said.
–“But the statues are here, outside? … ” Toloka began, but his voice trailed off as he realized no one was listening to him anymore, having disappeared into the house already. He hesitated for a moment before following them.
Hosoma really disliked interacting with any such ‘mysterious’ people, after all, who knows what they might be up to. But he was starting to worry about Toloka and so decided to stay by the building as well, and maybe enter at a later point should his friend not come back soon.
In the temple
As Toloka walked alongside the hooded figures into what appeared to be the temple, he tried to have a look around, but it was all very poorly lightened. He could barely make out the shapes of any objects around him, only that he seemed to be in some sort of smaller hall with nothing but a larger, portal made of wickerwork in front of him, with small bowls burning oil on both sides, and a smaller door on the left side.
They stopped in the middle of the hall, a gust of wind from the still open entrance letting the oil flames flicker for a moment.
“First, you’ll need proper clothing.” one of the figures said.
They unlocked the smaller door with a key and entered what seemed like a storage room. It seemed even darker, with only one candle burning in a holder on the wall. The figure opened a metal cabinet and took out a robe, handing it to Toloka.
“Put it on. We will wait” he said to Toloka.
Toloka hesitated for a moment and then put it on top of his normal clothes. Then, he was handed a palm leaf necklace to wear, too. He was now almost indistinguishable from the other three hooded figures, his black hair barely sticking out at the top.
They walked out of the room and back to the hall.
“Next, you need to become familiar with our rules. After that, we might share our secrets with you.”
Toloka didn’t dare say a word in return.
Now the portal was opened by what seemed like a hidden lever that triggered a loud, slowly working mechanism that creaked and rumbled before shoving the two wings of the door open and revealed a much larger room with a larger bowl of fire burning in the distance. Daylight was coming in through what seemed to be a roof window, and palm leaves were hanging from the ceiling, all with a different pattern of missing leaflets. One had every third leaflet missing, the next every fourth, then every sixth, and it continued like that in an apparently random way.
All four of them stepped in slowly, with one of the temple members picking up a bag at the doorstep filled with sand and spreading some on the way they were going. Toloka kept almost stumbling, feeling hot in his new clothes, and not just because he wasn’t used to be wearing more than a shirt and shorts.
Part of him wanted to bolt, to escape from what increasingly seemed like an unsettling situation he always had tried to avoid. But that also felt like cowardice to him again, and not something worthy of someone who just had stood his ground against an otherworldly beast the day before. He also didn’t want to leave now that it looked like he might receive answers for his questions.
The room was entirely silent, and only the flickering of the fire could be heard. After a couple careful steps, almost in lockstep, they had reached the burning bowl. The floor around it was covered in more palm leaves, but those were fully intact. One of the three hooded figures took a a shallow pot from a shelve behind the fire and hung it onto a hook above the fire onto a hook, and poured water into it.
Then another one took a box from the shelf, opened it and took out dried seaweed and a small bottle of oil. It smelled of fish. They waited in silence for the water to start boiling and then added both to it.
Immediately, the air was covered in a smell that was distinctly reminiscent of the beach and the sea. It made Toloka almost nostalgic. He took a deep breath and let the smell enter his nose, almost closing his eyes. For a moment, worries fell off from him and he felt as if at home again. That was interrupted when a voice next to him started murmuring words he didn’t recognize. They seemed to be repeated every few moments for a minute or so upon which they suddenly stopped, took out pieces of paper out of pockets and threw the pieces into the fire.
“We will now begin with the initiation rite for our newest member” the third hooded figure said, slowly moving both arms away from the fire and then to Toloka.
“Listen to the rules that govern our temple, repeat them, and promise to follow them faithfully. And you shall become a member and see the truth clearly.” they continued in a booming voice.
This did little to reassure Toloka’s anxieties, and he found himself increasingly conflicted between wishing he had never stepped inside here and finding a community to join so soon that would help him make sense of everything in this unfamiliar and strange place.
“First. Ejotojoto vaniti, ejotojoto hemevati. Protect the fire, protect the ingredients, always. Nuhe noito eeo amefa a mohomi. For they make holy activities possible.” the figure started.
A moment later Toloka realized he was now supposed to repeat it.
“Protect the fire, protect the ingredients, always. For– For they make our activities possible. I … promise to do that.” he said with some hesitation.
“Second. Ejotojoto mooniti. Protect the temple. Hoho saiti ude me aha ma, u tonitoniamo na seide. Keep it in your thoughts, and act accordingly.” the hooded figure continued.
–“Protect the temple. Keep it in your thoughts, and act accordingly. I will” Toloka said, to his own surprise with more confidence than he had expected. It seemed like the side of him that wanted to stay was winning the battle.
He was no longer a stranger in any case. Instead, he had become a part of a new community. Far away from his old one, and very different despite the couple superficial similarities. He didn’t think of it at the time, but there was no doubt this would cause some tension with his old one sooner or later.
But he also still believed to be doing this in the service of it, that he would learn what there is to learn and that that would bring him closer to the herb he needed to find so badly. It was just a question of whether he was right.
He was prepared to repeat the next rule, too, but a loud noise interrupted the ceremony. The doors were being opened again.
“What is this? Who is there?” one of the figures next to Toloka was shouting. “Show yourself!”
But no one came. Strangely, the door leading to the plaza was open, too. People could be seen walking by, although no one was paying attention to them. Wind was blowing into the hall now.
Toloka saw everyone else ran towards the door, palm leaves rustling, and grumbling something incomprehensible. He then followed them more slowly, not entirely certain what he was supposed to be doing.
The side door turned out to have been opened, and all four of them went inside, only to find another person cloaked with a hood in there.
The other three eyed them suspiciously, not expecting anyone else to come in they had no idea who it was.
“Who are you?” one of them demanded.
No answer.
“Whoever you are, you can’t just walk in whenever you want. This temple is to be entered as a community.” the second one of the group continued.
Still no sound. The person seemed to be a bit unsteady on their feet, despite not moving from their spot. Eyes on the ground, no one was sure if they had even understood anything. For a short moment, everyone was silent, but finally the third temple member of the group Toloka met spoke up and said.
“In the end all things are animated by waves. You can still join us now.”
Together, they went back to the large hall, towards the bowl of fire where the smell of fish and seaweed was still in the air. The interrupter was lagging behind somewhat, and kept looking to the left and right, as if entirely unfamiliar with the temple. Toloka wondered if they were just as new as he was to all these procedures.
“Be welcomed as well, friend. You arrive just in time for the big ritual to begin, come towards the fire and we shall ...” one of the original group of hooded figures began to talk, but they were cut off by an audible thud.
Toloka couldn’t locate the sound at first, but then much to his terror realized the bowl had been knocked over, the new visitor was in a fist fight with all three other hood wearers and the floor, being covered in palm leaves as it was, was now catching on fire.
His eyes were wide open, but he found himself oddly mesmerized by the fire now, and it took him a moment to recollect him. The cackling of the fire gave the room a disturbing, unsteady light as it was slowly eating its way through the room.
And they were already cutting off the way out, making Toloka’s heart start beating furiously. He had no clue what to do, and started looking for a second exit. Feeling the walls for another door, he came across nothing for a long time until he had reached the other side of the large hall. A small door seemed to have been worked into the wall here. He was standing right behind the fire now, so it was getting very hot for him quickly, but with a bit of fumbling he managed to get the door open and into a new room.
It was lightened by a torch, had a desk with a chair, shelves and yet another door. Even though he knew he needed to get out as fast as possible, his curiosity still made him want to check out the bookshelf first.
He crossed the few steps of another stone floor covered in palm leaves and walked over to it, and saw a lot of extensively decorated spines made from expensive materials, much fancier than any book he had ever hold in his hands before. The colors were, excluding the golden ornaments, duller than the ones he would know from his library, though, with most only being black or a dark crimson.
One of them caught his eye in particular, as it had “D A T U” spelled in large letters on the spine. He took it out and flipped through it, looking for a register or table of contents, finally finding on one on the last page.
Demons, spirits, abstract objects… ahah! Dragons!
He quickly flipped back to the referenced page and among illustrations of various huge beasts he had never seen or heard of he also saw a picture of a black dragon that vaguely reminded Toloka of what he had seen in the sky, a creature moving through the sky elegantly like a black wave through air.
His eyes went large, but remembering where he was he decided to shut the book and “borrow” it to read more in it later, when it would no doubt come in useful. It would be safe in his backpack, he just needed to find a way out of here now. And then apologize to Hosoma for taking so long. If he was still standing at the fountain outside and hadn’t started searching for his travel companion yet.
It’ll be all fine, he thought.
But things were not fine, the other door leading out of the room turned out to be locked and there was no key visible anywhere, not even a keyhole.
This door has to open somehow!
He pushed and pulled with all his power, but it proved useless. The door was not moving an inch. He leaned against it panting and dispirited, eyes darting across the room in search for something that could help him when he noticed something odd about the bookshelf. One of the books had significantly more wear than the other ones and seemed to be protruding from the other ones in the row ever so slightly.
He got up and as he was trying to pick it up, he noticed how heavy it seemed to be. Or rather, it seemed to have been tied to the shelf very tightly, and put up a lot of resistance. Toloka kept pulling and to his surprise he heard a noise coming from the door he had just tried to open. As he looked towards it, he realized it was slowly moving to the side as he was pulling out the book, revealing another hall. A dark one, with no light source in sight, so he took out the burning torch out of its metal holder on the wall before continuing.
Oh no, this is going to be the end of me, Toloka thought before continuing.
A sense of increasing dread was washing over him now, as he was not feeling well stumbling in the darkness, not knowing what to expect next. The only sounds he could hear now were his steps on the stone floor, occasionally the fire on the torch crackling and drops of water dripping at the side.
A tense minute later, he came across something that seemed like a wooden door. But he could see no way to open it. There was nothing to pull and pushing the door open didn’t work. It refused to budge. Frustrated and exhausted Toloka leaned against the wall next to it, and a moment later he realized his elbow was pushing in one of the stone bricks.
The door rumbled loudly and then slowly began to slide to the side, similar to the previous one.
Why can’t they have normal doors here? he wondered.
He stepped into what he initially thought was a small room, until he noticed he was just standing between two gigantic statues in a huge hall with a dome-shaped ceiling that had openings through which he could see the blue sky outside.
The door behind him closed automatically, the sound of it startling him. But just a moment later he heard steps on the other side and then the door being opened again, which made him leap behind one of the statues, just in time to avoid being discovered. His heart being furiously, he tried to make out who was walking into the huge hall now, but it was too dark.
The quick steps and loud muttering made the figure sound frustrated, as if searching for something. As a shadow approached Toloka, he heard fragments of sentences.
“the book! Where’s the book that… for … of the datu!”
Toloka held his breath. The shadow stopped and turned into the other direction, still muttering. A moment later he heard more commotion coming from the other side of the door he had come from. It opened again, and the temple brethren that Toloka had met earlier ran into the hall, almost tumbling over each other.
“You!” they all shouted at the secretive figure that had ruined their ceremony.
“Favenamo! Wicked person!” They stood still for a moment before leaping in the direction of the intruder, all sending out a different curse.
“May you always have sand in your eyes, your shoes and in clothes”
“May your calculations be always slightly off!”
“May the waves wash over your face and swallow you in whole!”
The intruder was still undeterred, stepping some well-measured steps back, quickly pulling out a long rope with a harpoon attached and throwing it through one of the holes in the dome-shaped ceiling, where it attached to the edge of another hole.
Hindered by their long robes, the three temple brethren could not get to the figure in time before he was pulling himself up. All that was left was for them to try to follow, but their clothing was ill-suited for climbing, too.
Toloka realized something needed to be done and so he emerged from his hiding place, threw away the robe on him and started climbing the rope himself. With his experience from climbing trees and occasionally buildings at home it was easier for him.
He reached the ceiling and managed to fit himself through the hole and climb onto the roof. Outside dark clouds had appeared in the sky, it looked like it would start raining soon. Toloka looked around. He saw no one. Turning around, trying to make out people in the crowds on the plaza and the streets and alleys below almost made him lose his grip, which at a height of 20 feet would be fatal. After he had squatted down to not lose balance again, he noticed another rope leading down to the ground, next to a stand offering herbal tea. It had been tied to another opening and so provided a safe way down.
At the plaza
He decided to follow it down, but not before taking the harpoon and putting it into his backpack, the rope rolled up around it. It could prove useful. The rope that led him down proved stable, even if swinging back and forth somewhat, but it ended up stopping four feet over the ground. He let go, but misjudged his position and so awkwardly landed on top of the herbal tea cart, taking down the sunblind.
“Oof.”
He got down, unscathed, but now met the fierce gaze of a tall person with long, black hair who had been offering people passing by tea.
“And where did you come from?” he asked with a boom in his voice that made loose leaves flutter to the ground.
– “Uhh. From the top of the dome of the temple, it seems.”
“And how did you get there?”
–“I was pursuing an arsonist… wait, where did they go?” Toloka looked around, but could no longer find the hooded figure he had been trying to chase. Before he could take a step to look around the corner, he was stopped and grabbed by his collar.
“In any case, you will stay here and remedy the damage you caused. Don’t make me bring you the community leader to judge you!”
–“I-It was an accident, really!” Toloka stammered in return, increasingly sweaty.
“An accident! More like inevitable result of some tomfoolery of a ne’er-do-well!”
The statement hit him like a gut-punch and he felt tears well up in his eyes
– “S-sorry… I’ll fix… this…” he managed to get out between sobs. Finally, he was lowered to the ground. He was about to start fixing the mess he had created when a familiar voice called out to him.
“Toloka, is that you? What happened here?” It was the heart-balm he needed so sorely in the moment.
“I heard some shouting here and then your voice. Where were you? I was looking for you all over the place.”
– “N-nothing, just helping out a bit…” Toloka stammered, now trying to build up the sunblind of the cart again.
“Ugh. Allow me to help with that, so we can finally move on. Do you have any idea how much time we wasted here already? And we have found out absolutely nothing.” He started to clean up the bags and boxes containing various tea ingredients, Toloka had luckily fallen on the side with bags which had together with the sunblind softened his fall, but now they had been spilled all over the cart and even the street, thankfully they had at least lost little of their content, if any.
The man in charge of all the tea observed the two working, ready to scold, but the cart was quickly fixed and so his expression softened and he visibly relaxed.
“Thanks for not trying to bolt again, young ones! I’m sorry for being so angry, but there was in fact someone who had also landed on mine just a minute or two before you, and I had just fixed it when you fell from the sky.” he explained.
“Now, maybe you want some tea, too? I have all kinds of herbal tea, even something from the far away land of Gfiewistan.”
He took out a small jute bag which contained various dried flowers, and read out the labeling.
“It’s called, wait a moment… Ka - Mo – Mile.”
After an enjoyable, if short tea break at the edge of the street, the dragon catcher in spe and the Temple Stone Avenger set on their way again.
“So where to now?” Toloka asked.
– “You tell me. I have never been here either.” After a short pause he continued. “We need to find some priest or whatever that can help us and tell me more about the stone that went missing and you about your funny looking scale. And we absolutely still need to find some actual animal clinic, not someone who thinks smearing coconut oil is the solution to all ailments.” Hosoma replied.
Toloka stretched his neck to look at all the buildings and streets that extended in all directions. Everything looked alien and different, and yet it was all so similar he had no idea if he had walked past one of them before.
“Sounds good to me, but I have no clue where to find either. This city is like an entire world on its own, how do people here not keep getting lost in this? Even the jungle near my house is easier to navigate–“
–“You probably have been to it a lot. Maybe it’s the same for the people here. Or they actually keep getting lost, too, and have to ask around. Which we should do too.” said Hosoma, interrupting him.
“I wish I had a map. All I can say right now is that we passed a huge plaza earlier, … wait, we could probably get some help there. Plazas are where people meet and help each other, right? I remember in Joonen they had their community meetings there and a map of the town.”
“Okay, let’s do that then. As the urban expert, I’ll let you take the lead.” Hosoma said.
Fortunately, they weren’t far from the plaza and so didn’t have to walk for much in the urban jungle before they reached the clearing they were looking for. There was still no sign of the temple intruder, however. This was much to both of their discontent, but there was no helping that now. They also had their other concerns anyway.
Instead, the plaza was still filled with other people, and many of them had pets with them. Aside from dogs there were also cats and a surprising amount of birds. Sitting on benches, walking, playing around.
Some people also waited with them in a line to a building that had “ANIMAL AID” written on top of it with slightly faded blue paint.
“Hey, we’re lucky! There’s apparently an animal clinic right here. I guess we could be luckier because we’ll have to wait a bit, but still…” Toloka said.
The two adventurers of them waited. There were about half a dozen people before them, and they all had different issues. Two people stuck out. They had mostly black clothes, and bandanas and colored hair that Toloka was very familiar with by now.
“Vutamatovas...? It can’t be, can it…” He was briefly lost in thought before realizing he was holding up the line. It seemed like most animals only needed some brief treatment and could be released soon after. Something Toloka was relieved to see, both for his sake and the animal’s sake.
After some twenty minutes, maybe half an hour it was finally Toloka’s and Hosoma’s turn. Passing a very small room with what appeared to be a secretary working behind a wooden counter, they went into an even smaller room which just consisted of a small desk, a chair, and two baskets made from jute fiber, one filled with various kinds of animal food separated by cardboard dividers, another one filled with various toys, brushes and similar tools.
The desk had some medical instruments and books, and the walls had a number of anatomical and health advice posters. Some barking and chirping could be heard behind another door in the back.
“Welcome.” a middle-aged woman greeted them, having just entered the room through that door. “Please tell me, what brings you here today?” Being unusually tall, she leaned down to the two friends and smiled like a motivated middle school teacher.
Toloka put his backpack down and took the injured bird out.
“Honored ma’am, please, this bird I … picked up at a street must have… had an accident, could you help heal the injuries?”
She took the bird carefully in her hands and looked at it.
“Oh. Oh no, he doesn’t look good. Don’t worry, he should be fine in the end, but he will need some time here to recover. A few days at least I’m sorry I have to make you wait.”
– “Ah, well… I understand” Toloka replied, looking down. “I will come visit him at the end of the week, then.”
“That should work. Have a nice day, you two!” she said before leaving with a smile for the room she had previously emerged from.
Confrontation
As soon as she was gone and had stepped into the room with the secretary, they heard some commotion going on outside. Loud shouting, animal sounds and a very familiar beat.
Punctuated by the sound of a lot of barking, some meowing and also chirping, Vutamatovas were putting up their act once again. Toloka and Hosoma stopped at the door, for a moment mesmerized watching the infamous gang come up with new rhymes. Four of them were standing on the main plaza, surrounded by pets, with a crowd having gathered some steps away from them.
“Yo, yo, Team Vutamatova here!
Your pets are our pets, now don’t get near!
A much greater purpose awaits them
as good animals are a real gem”
As the leader of the squad had finished these lines, one of the smaller dogs bit him in the thigh, but that didn’t stop him.
“Ow, Ow, let me go you little imp,
Or I’ll just fight you, I’m not a wimp!”
He tried to pull the dog away, but it had its teeth sunk firmly into his clothes, and shaking the leg didn’t work either.
They somehow managed to be even more obnoxious than last time! Toloka thought, facepalming on the inside.
Both he and Hosoma tried to pass the plaza quickly, going between the Vutamatovas and the crowd, trying to ignore the increasingly bad rhyming that was still continuing to the looping sound of the same track playing from their boomboxes.
“Your social rules and meetings are bad
they have driven us younglings all sad
…
Wait just a moment, I know you guys
seeing you two here, what a surprise!”
The surprise was mutual, as the two friends froze in the middle of a step and turned around, their eyes meeting the squad leader’s eyes. He got silent and squinted looking at them.
Toloka reacted quickly, feeling a fire in himself as when he had confronted the beast near the train, and was blurting out words before thinking.
“I could say the same, you– you petty pet thieves! Return them now!”
The squad was just staring at him now, mouth agape.
“Or else, or else… we’ll come and liberate them ourselves” Toloka continued. He didn’t notice Hosoma was starring at him as well now, mouth similarly agape. His eyes darted between his brash friend and the thieves.
Finally, one of the Vutamatovas, with pink hair and white shorts, spoke up.
“Oh yeah, so let’s make it right.
Come here, we will have a fight!
My powerful martial arts
will break you and win me hearts!”
Toloka hesitated now, gritting his teeth. He had absolutely no experience with those things, he barely even knew what martial arts were. This would not end well. But his accumulated determination prevented him from giving in so easily.
You can’t catch a dragon if all you do is run away from them! he thought.
On the other side, Hosoma was slowly backing off towards the crowd, giving Toloka a dirty look in the process. He clenched his fist, but this was seen by some bystanders. They started shouting at the squad and telling them to get lost, as if they had found their courage now.
The band of Vutamatovas was visibly distraught at the disrespect of their definitely very noble ambitions and their insistence on being called “thieves” and “kidnappers”, their bodies and especially hands shaking, eyes wide open. After a few more tense seconds, they decided to abandon the scene. But they took the pets with them, grabbing the dogs at their collars, stuffing the cats in their backpacks and letting the birds sit at their shoulders, before taking their bikes and starting to disappear down one of the many streets leading away from the plaza.
Not hesitating a moment, one of the bystanders, an elderly woman with grey hair and a basket full of fruits in her hand, came forward and said:
“Here, take my bike, and pursue them. They can’t be far yet with all those pets slowing them down. Don’t worry about me, I can ride on my girl-friend’s bike home.”
Carefully, even reluctantly Hosoma takes place on the back of the bike and gestures for Toloka to the saddle:
“Wanna be the hero again? Be my guest.”
Toloka didn’t waste a moment replying and took the handlebar with enough force to almost topple the bike to the other side, but managed to balance it in the last moment.
He sat down, started pedaling, Hosoma holding onto his sides, and after a few uncomfortable seconds of wobbling and some driving past a number of increasingly colorful houses as well as evading streetcarts full of mangoes and coconuts they managed to get to a brisk pace that allowed them to soon spot the pet-stealing troublemakers.
The dogs were still biting, the birds picking, and the cats scratching. In other words, the four squad members were visibly struggling to not let the animals escape, and it was slowing them down a lot, especially as the constant movements were causing the bikes to zig-zag in the streets to avoid falling over.
Nonetheless, the fierce look the squad had in their eyes now was gave enough reason to be cautious. Far away from where there were dozens, if not hundreds people supporting the pet rescue cause, this was now a case of four against two.
There’s no way we can take them on just by ourselves here in the street. Better follow them to see where they come from.
Cruising through the streets at a safe distance, Toloka and Hosoma pursued the thieves who had way less qualms about running over displays of fruits, flower beds or cutting off people as they entered busier streets again. Complaining, shouting and shrieking followed them everywhere now.
A bell tower seemed to ring, too, and pigeons scattered as they drove onto another, smaller plaza.
Noticing that they still hadn’t shaken off their pursuers, their squad leader muttered something under their breath and after a few more moments suddenly stopped and positioned his bicycle sideways, with the other ones following suit, effectively almost barricading the street.
Toloka managed to barely avoid colliding, however Hosoma brushed against one of the Vutamatovas and finally lost his balance, causing the bicycle to wobble again, lose speed and after a few more meters fall, with Hosoma falling on top of Toloka. With how slow he had gotten, the dragon-catcher hopeful only had some scratches and a bruise on his right arm, however he was still wincing when getting up. The bicycle and his friend being unscathed was a welcome sight, however.
With some groans they both got up and tried to decide what to do next, while having to watch the squad escaping around the corner. Just a moment later, though, as both friends had just started moving again, they could hear slightly muffled screams and bicycles crashing down the ground.
Toloka ran ahead, and Hosoma followed slowly with the bicycle. A large group of people had formed around the Vutamatovas, angrily cursing and shouting at them. One of the squad members had apparently gotten their bicycle caught in a maintenance hole in the street and the other three had crashed into him.
They were slow to get up and at first the crowd seemed intent on keeping them there but after more berating and many more unpleasant words the Vutamatovas were allowed to leave, and slowly made their way first through the crowd and then along the street, seemingly in the direction of the harbor again.
But they still outnumbered Toloka and Hosoma, and both of them shuddered at the thought of what the squad could do in a direct battle. The spider battle had already been bad enough, plus there was the risk the animals that the four had kidnapped could be hurt.
So they followed them more or less stealthily, slowly and from a distance, trying to appear as uninvolved as they could. Which wasn’t much, as their eyes kept darting back to the captured pets and the Vutamatovas and the bicycle noisy. As if by a miracle, their boomboxes had not been hit and were still playing a familiar beat.
This made the pursuit easier, of course, and so even several streets later with increasingly more people and stalls on them the squad could be easily made out. They were apparently going in the direction of a harbor, with ships and boats, even expensive-looking foreign motorboats appearing in the distance.
“Where are they going? These people don’t look like they could afford a motorboat, and no normal boat would take them. No one in town would trust them, would they” Hosoma wondered aloud.
– “I have met people that are all too trustworthy, and who knows, maybe they have some secret treasure that they used to get all kinds of weird stuff from foreign lands. I mean, what is that weird noise device they have anyway?”
The harbor
Now increasingly running past the streets, it became increasingly clear to them the squad was going to an abandoned pier at the edge of a small alley with a huge shed on it. Birds were gathering on the roof, which was badly in need of repair. Frantic shouting and arguing, and an engine roaring up and getting silent again several times was audible even outside, behind two metal gates large enough to fit an entire ship through.
With all that noise, Toloka decided that being stealthy wasn’t all that necessary anymore and exclaimed “Let’s get in now, before they get away!”
“Are you sure about this?” Hosoma wasn’t convinced but followed anyway. What else was he gonna do?
But then he still grabbed Toloka’s collar to stop him from straight up just opening the gates and waltzing into the shed. He pulled him back, and instead gave him a leg up so he could see through one of the broken windows inside.
They saw a large motorboat being prepared for a trip, and two of the squad arguing with someone who looked like he was living here, sitting on a bench behind a table that seemed to double as a bed, going by all the dried jute fibers on it and the blanket cast to the side.
Something was odd about this man, oddly familiar. But the sun was shining into the shed and only his outline was visible, and the coconut he was drinking from.
“What’s your problem, man
sitting like a fan –
Yo, there’s work to do,
you’re part of the crew
get up, get ready, too!”
The man leaned back against the wall, adjusted his straw hat, also made from jute fibers, and took another sip before answering.
“Pal, take it easy.
You’ll just get wheezy.
Have a sip of juice
just delicious booze,
then go work, my son
tell me when it’s done
‘cause I only agreed
to just a single deed
A captain I’ll be
No working man, see”
This battle of rhymes was silently observed by Toloka, but it was loud and clear enough to be heard by Hosoma as well.
“Great, now we have both sides talking like this. Toloka, want to come up with some rhymes, too, so we don’t seem so out of place when we face them the next time?”
– “I think that’s better left to you. Always quick to respond and a way with words, I’m sure rhyming is something you are good at, too!”
“You think that, and talk like it’s something special. But you’d be the same in my position. After a while you just get tired of everyone and stop wanting to put up with it”
Toloka wondered what “it” was and how you could get tired of absolutely everyone, but didn’t say a thing. This was no time for an argument anyway.
“We still need to go inside, though. They will get away otherwise, and all of these pets will lose their best friend. We just need to be smart about it!” he finally said.
– “And what would that be? Opening this door would create so much noise that…” Hosoma began, when suddenly a very loud noise cut him off. It sounded like an engine. Toloka looked back through the window and saw that the boat was leaving the pier inside with what seemed to be its captain still sitting on the bench, hands tied, coconut on the floor.
Before either of the two could say a thing, Toloka had jumped down and was trying to open the gates leading into the shed.
“It’s now or never!” he almost shouted, but no one could hear him over the noise anyway, and the boat was already out of the shed anyway. He turned around to the captain immediately and untied his hands, who tapped him on the chest with both hands in gratitude.
Hosoma came in a moment later and was almost grinning.
“So, Toloka, ready for some rhyming? Maybe if you do it well, he will help you!”
He pointed to another smaller motorboat next to where the one that had just disappeared had been, still tied to a post on another pier.
“Or would you prefer to ‘borrow’ it and try to figure out how to drive it yourself?”
Toloka sighed, and then began.
“Hey, I’m Toloka, on a trip,
can you help me, this is no quip?”
Hosoma tried to conceal his widening grin behind his hand. The older man didn’t waste any time replying.
– “Boy, what do you want
just some boring rant?
They stole my boat, yes
I don’t care, I confess
The thing was trouble
I have a double
So no cause for rage
more so at my age”
- “Wait, what was that, did you just say
there’s something that can save the day?”
Before Toloka could get another rhyme out, the old man already was answering.
“Yes, the other boat –
as it, too, can float!”
“We need to pursue these thieves fast
who knows how long those pets will last!”
This last one came out very well, he thought. No stuttering or awkward pauses, and the captain seemed to smile as well and got on his feet, walking surprisingly fast to the boat on the other pier.
It was much smaller than the other one, effectively just a glorified rowboat with an engine attached at the stern, and the three of them fitted only somewhat awkwardly, but it would have to work.
The captain, Toloka made a mental note to start asking people their names more often, pulled on a kind of string and suddenly the shed was filled with an almost deafening noise the likes of which Toloka hadn’t heard before, made worse by how he had to sit so close to it.
They left the pier and the shed, which had large open doors on the seaside as well, and with surprisingly high speed made their way through the water in the search for the stolen motorboat.
Toloka would have wanted nothing than to get off, even if it means swimming back. Aside from the extraordinary noise the speed was terrifying and he constantly feared being thrown off and breaking his bones. He was sitting as if frozen, huddled together, holding onto the edge of the bench, saying nothing. But he tried to keep it together, to not fall back into his “coward days” as he called them. It would just take some time to… adjust to this life.
They continued towards the open sea, on the lookout for any trace of the thieves. Hosoma didn’t seem to mind the noise as much and actually seemed to be pondering the situation, his chin resting on one of his hands.
“Hm, it seems our captain is directing us away from the coast. That makes sense, since if the squad had stayed near the coast they would have been more easily spotted and probably caught. But the further they got the harder it will be to find them.”
It was to hear over the noise, but at least it made Toloka’s pay attention to something else, first his friend’s voice and then the water. Eventually he started to notice a weird object on the horizon, seemingly parking below the setting sun. A few moments later it was obvious that it was the stolen motorboat, and shortly after that it became clear that the Vutamatovamo were taking a break in the middle of the sea.
At first they didn’t seem to notice, maybe because their own music was still blaring and drowning out the motorboat sounds. It was still the same tune, too. Toloka briefly wondered how someone could be listening to the same song on repeat so much before pushing that thought away. There were more important things to worry about.
Only when they were mere swim strokes away from the squad did they interrupt their fishing, sunbathing and what seemed like the practice of dance moves and turned around to face the smaller motorboat, blank surprise written onto their faces. It was time to strike… but then Toloka realized he hadn’t thought of a way to liberate the pets and get the motorboat back. Time to improvise again.
Not thinking much, he just jumped up and from the boat to the other, still wearing his backpack. He didn’t manage to land on it, but as he fell, he could grab the railing, and so hung on the side, startling the now mildly panicked squad that tried to start the motor up again. He kept on holding to it, even as the speed started to increase.
As the motorboat left the scene, it was followed by the small boat with the captain and Hosoma right behind. Despite its smaller engine and size it managed to keep up, probably in part due to no one on the larger motorboat actually knowing how to steer it, especially at higher speeds.
The swimming lair
After a minute or so of hanging and struggling Toloka had finally managed to get over the railing, onto the boat. The deck was deserted, with all Vutamatovamo apparently having gone into the cabin. It stretched alongside the entire width of the boat, and had large glass windows on all sides that covered the upper two thirds of the cabin walls. On the roof he could see some kind of antenna and a short flag pole, with a kind of black flag fluttering in the wind that he didn’t recognize.
Slowly, more cautiously now, Toloka moved onwards, ducking to not be noticed. He was well aware that he was unarmed, whereas the squad could be having another ace up their sleeves. On top of that, the boat was making some odd zigzag lines, apparently from no one on this boat knowing what they were doing, which made it hard to not be tossed around like a football.
So he kept his back to the wall of the cabin at first, putting step after step sidewards, rather than trying to storm into it. When he had gotten close to the door, he got up and peaked through the window in it.
It wasn’t what he expected to see, the sight that offered itself to him. Aside from the four troublemakers, the stolen pets were all in there, too, but they weren’t in cages, or chained or anything like that which Toloka had expected. A number of carpets made of jute fibers had been laid out on the floor, and most of the pets were either sitting on them in the corner, looking timid and anxious, standing in the middle, angrily growling, or, in the case of birds, flying around aimlessly.
One of the squad members was trying to steer the boat, although the sweat and pain visible on or in his face made it clear he wasn’t having a good time.
Another one was attempting to feed a dog but had to pull his hand back several times to avoid getting bitten.
Toloka smirked at this. It was nice to see the thieves being given a hard time by exactly those they had kidnapped. But sadly it wouldn’t be enough to get them away from here and back to the best human friends of those animals. Although it seemed like Vutamatovamo were at least trying, and failing, to be friends as well.
Two of the squad seemed to have adopted a more promising approach, one cuddling with a cat that was evidently more accepting of strangers, letting it climb on their shoulders back down again, and another one had started petting one of the scared dogs. He seemed to enjoy doing so, although it was difficult to tell if he was smiling behind the bandana. And the dog also seemed to relax, putting his head against the leg of the thief, and letting him continue to stroke the red and white fur.
It was a very endearing scene, and one Toloka had never expected to see. Apparently even “rough” people can have a gentler side, too. Treating animals well, the whole kidnapping part aside, that’s at least one point in their favor. Maybe they just didn’t know how else to get a pet… Toloka tried to cut this thought off. As if any of that would justify what they did!
He almost wanted to just keep looking at the scene in front of him, observe the animals through the window, but that wouldn’t do. He had to take some action. But he couldn’t confront four people alone. There had to be a better way to try this.
The smaller motorboat with Hosoma and the captain had managed to keep up well, and due to all the zigzagging even in a position to overtake.
One particular sudden motion made the door to the cabin swing open, hitting Toloka right into his face and making him lose his balance. He fell to the ground with a thud, and was immediately overrun by the escaping animals who had not missed that there was a way to freedom now.
As Toloka got up he noticed that the Vutamatovamo were still inside the cabin, now fighting with each other. He wasn’t even sure if they had noticed that their hostages had gotten away. His head hurt a bit, but he could get up with no trouble and as he turned around saw his friend in the small boat just next to the railing. Not wasting any more moments, he started handing over the various pets one by one, carefully. They just about had space, although now there wasn’t room for any more persons. Toloka would have to stay with the squad for longer.
This can’t be good. I didn’t even get enough sleep last night!
He looked around quickly to see if he could hide anywhere. There were no other rooms, and even if there had been a lifeboat, the high speed would make lowering it to the water extremely dangerous anyway, just like a jump into the water. His eyes darted around some more, heart pounding faster and faster, getting desperate now, until he realized: the roof of the cabin was entirely flat, and extruded to a small degree. It should be possible to lay on there, and as long as no one turns around and looks up… okay, that seemed unlikely, but it seemed to him it was all he could bet on now. The boat was still shaking, so just climbing on that would be difficult, and he would need to hold onto it well.
Another sharp corner and he was almost knocked over a second time, but managed to keep his balance and reach the railing. He got a foot onto it, but struggled to lift himself onto the roof.
“Hey, use this!” called Hosoma from behind, still on the smaller boat. Toloka turned around. His friend was holding a rope with the end knotted into a large loop, that he threw onto the larger boat.
“Listen, we will give them some space now so they calm down and we can see where they are planning to go. We’ll meet up with you later again!” he continued.
“Okay… I guess” was all Toloka could blurt out, his thoughts at what he could do with the rope.
He picked it up, and aiming for the flag pole, tried to use this lasso to “catch” it and so be able to climb up. On the third time he succeeded, but shortly after he had stepped on the railing another time to give himself a bit of a lift, he heard the door open, with the entire squad shouting
“Yo, what are you doing there?
This motorboat is our own lair” in unison.
Did they prepare that rhyme together?
But all four tried to get through the door at once, resulting in them falling over each other and giving Toloka enough time to get to the roof and get the rope onto the roof, too.
After a moment, the squad had gathered itself again, and turned towards Toloka sitting on the roof, eyes narrowing. But to his surprise, they didn’t say a word. After some more moments of silence, where he didn’t dare to say anything either, they left him in his uncomfortable position, as if having decided to ignore him, going back into the cabin.
It quickly became clear why this had been a good idea, the captainless motorboat was about to ram a large rock in the sea when one Vutamatovamo managed to steer it away just in time. This sharp corner on the boat’s path however made Toloka lose his grip on the roof and he was dangerously quickly sliding down towards the side of the motorboat, only saving himself in the last moment by holding onto the rope that was still connected to the flagpole.
He swung back onto the deck with some effort and sighed loudly. That was close. He would make a note to thank Hosoma for the rope later on. But now he was discovered, with no hiding place and on top of that ignored! What kind of dragon catcher gets just ignored by the obvious villains?
Might as well enjoy the ride now that I’m out of danger, I guess, he thought and put down his backpack, sat down next to it and took out a book to read some more. The one on the top was still the one he had “borrowed” from the all-too-friendly cult, with D A T U spelled on the spine.
Haven’t seen any such beasts recently in the sky. Maybe they don’t like the big city much? Faven, never thought I could have something in common with them.
He was only able to crack it open for a moment before he saw a squad member approach him. Toloka looked up, distracted for a moment, before he realized the pet thief was trying to become a book thief, too, trying to grab it from Toloka’s hands. Both of them struggled for a while trying to get the book, but eventually they were interrupted when they noticed the sky above them darkening. Staring above, the book dropped to the bottom and Toloka used the opportunity to put it back into his backpack.
It wasn’t just the sun going into hiding as if in anticipation of the daily rain, a huge blue entity, shiny like a crystal, was slowly emerging from these rapidly darkening clouds. The drops of water that were starting to pour down glittered like on a diamond a in a waterfall, showing bright colors with a blueish tinge.
Toloka braced himself for another attack, although there was nowhere he could run this time. But then he realized that it wasn’t just the color and appearance that were different in comparison to previous encounters.
The descent of the being was graceful, every movement fluid, as if choreographed. They almost resembled an immaterial benevolent spirit more than a ferocious beast. What a contrast to the black and white datu Toloka had previously seen.
On top of that, the beast didn’t seem hostile, not all. In fact it didn’t have any claws at all. It wings seemed to be those of a large, very large bird, gleaming like silk in the rain, and the legs had webbed toes, somewhat reminiscent of a duck, but in a pale, translucent white color.
Slowly, Toloka got up and tried to get a closer look. The creature had an ethereal aura to it, even more than the other ones it looked otherworldly, with glittering colors, an elegant shape moving smoothly like slow waves on a calm day. But like the other beasts he had come across, this one was entirely silent. To Toloka it felt both eerie and relaxing, his attention was now having been entirely captured by the shiny datu. He wasn’t even noticing how the boat was slowing down and then stopping entirely. Or how the entire squad emerged on deck, squatted down, seemingly entirely unfazed by the scene.
Nothing was normal here, not even by the standards of the “new” normal Toloka had gotten used to. The datu was now hovering just right in front of the boat, with what could have been a friendly expression. It was however hard to tell, given how different its face was compared to a human’s. Toloka was also not familiar with reptiles, much less reptile-like ethereal beings.
Fluttering with its large wings over the water, it opened its mouth, as if awaiting food. The sound of the door shutting awoke Toloka of his stupor. He realized one of the squad members had returned to the cabin. But why?
A moment later he saw that same member come back with some banana leave wraps, likely containing some kind of food. Where they going to enjoy some food with the datu as company? In the rain? That would seem extraordinarily callous, not to mention rather strange, but what could you expect from hardened criminals like them? Even if they were good to animals.
But the banana leave packages weren’t eaten by the squad. The bandanas stayed on as they unwrapped the leaves and revealed something that made Toloka's eyes glitter. Whiteberries, just like he had seen in the book! He suppressed a scream as he saw them being thrown into the open mouth of the beast. It didn’t even seem like an attempt to appease the being either, with how it leaned in, closed its eyes and chewed visibly there was an odd sense of familiarity between the two.
And then, just like that, the datu took off again and disappeared gradually behind the clouds, head first, until its tail was no longer sticking out either. It all happened entirely silently, and fast enough that Toloka struggled to get a last view of it, especially with tears that had formed in his eyes, almost believing he had just imagined it for a moment.
The squad then realized Toloka was still looking up at the sky, raindrops running down his face. They turned towards him and one of them tipped on his shoulder, and raised his empty hands in the direction of Toloka’s face when he turned around.
“Now what will we do with you?
You saw our large friend in blue”
“You will be coming with us.
Your knowledge will be a big plus”
Toloka tried to back up a bit, but it would have meant falling out of the boat, which was now picking up speed again, one of the thieves being in the cabin again behind the steering wheel.
So all he could do now was to just put up his hands and give in to the demands. He just hoped he would be able to get his backpack back. And that he would be able to get something to eat soon. And that Hosoma could come and save him. Where was he anyway?
Oh, faven.
Two squad members took him and led him to the cabin, cut off a large part of the rope that was still dangling from the flag pole and used that to tie his hands behind his back. When his backpack was thrown into the cabin next to him, Toloka let out a small sigh of relief, but no matter how much he struggled and wiggled, his hands could not reach it.
And my bird friend is still at the doctor, too. So I guess I’m all alone now… unless I can somehow become friends with the thieves. Maybe they aren’t so bad and really just didn’t know how to get pets on their own? Maybe ... maybe they would even share some of the berries with me...
He wasn’t sure if he should even believe that, but he was desperately looking for something comforting, something to base some hope on, teetering on the edge of despair as he felt so close to this goal.
Oh man. Okay, how would I even go about that. Hm, I think I have some fruit in my backpack, maybe I could share that.
“Hey, uh, friends, we can be friends, right?” Toloka got out, with some effort.
He now had everyone star at him, silently.
“There’s some fruit in my backpack, if you want… we could share it. Right?
He now had the entire squad laughing at him loudly behind their bandanas.
Well, at least I put them in a good mood? Now don’t get discouraged…
“No, I’m serious. Untie me and I can give it to you. … Come on, I don’t have weapons, and you outnumber me. What am I even tied up for?”
He was starting to feel increasingly bold, and kept pushing. Surely he could find some way to get through to them. Something to bond over, maybe.
One of the Vutamatovamo approached his backpack and started searching through it, while the other three remained silent, although Toloka noticed how even with their bandanas it was obvious they were all grinning right now. He sighed, this wasn’t working out after all, it seemed.
“Hey, stop digging through my stuff. I said –“ he said, half-heartedly trying to stop his stuff from being turned upside down. But he cut himself off, realizing how futile it was.
The rummaging squad member finally seemed to have find something that was to his liking, taking out a number of mangos. Or, as they are known locally, toloka.
“Like big brothers tend to do,
You’ve your siblings here with you!” he said to Toloka, followed by laughter of all four that was side-splitting, loud enough to make the future dragon-catcher’s ears ring. He never had wished more to have another name. But he tried to play along.
“Okay, very funny, all of you. It’s fine, you can have the fruits, just please untie me.”
The pet-thief-turned-fruit-thief looked at him, juggling a mango, mustering him. Then he turned to his partners in crime. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows at first, before nodding.
oming
“So here’s an idea
you’ll become our peer –
joining our nice gang
and speaking our slang”
Turning to crime? But I was going to do the opposite… Besides, they want me to do even more rhyming? Please no…
One of the squad members picked up another black bag that Toloka had earlier seen at the bicycles of Vutamatovamo in Joonen, and produced a black bandana and skullcap with the familiar skull motives, holding it in front of Toloka.
“Come on, join us –
don’t make a fuss!”
Another one said, turning on their stereoblaster again, but this time playing a different tune, as if to highlight how different this situation is.
Toloka closed his eyes out of frustration, still torn. Finally, he got out some words.
“F-fine, at least untie me then!”
All four standing in front of him had now grins like bananas on their faces. Toloka had never seen such mischievous smirks, and already regretted his decision. But it was too late.
Even before he was untied, he got a black bandana put on his face and a skullcap on top of his head. Then a squad member loosened the ropes on Toloka’s back, and gave him a black tank top, similar to those worn by the other Vutamatovamo, and urged him to change into it. Toloka had no choice but to agree and gave him his red shirt. When he was done, the squad member held a mirror in front of him, almost crying from laughter. Toloka only gaped. He could barely recognize himself now. He had become one of them now. The squad now had five members, and one of them was him.
He could only hope to keep them as entertained as time went on. After all, he knew what they were capable of. They might seem like all laughter and banter now, but they still held the key to the most powerful being Toloka, no even the entire island, had ever seen.
What would he do now? What should he do now? He decided it was best just to imitate the gang. At best, he would fit right in. At worst, he would seem silly, which might keep the laughter going.
He carefully observed those around him as they briefly turned their backs to him and began to try to copy their movements. It wasn’t easy at first, their arms, hands and legs moved surprisingly gracefully yet had the air of being laid-back and casual strides, seemingly effortlessly swaying like waves from one side to the other, their arms mimicking the crest of a wave while their legs moved like swiftly yet subtly an ocean undercurrent.
One by one, he tried to copy them, but found it impossible to keep up, twisting himself almost into knots and it was like at least once per minute he came close to just toppling over. Considering his embarrassing flailing had him inadvertently move close to the ship’s rail, that could easily mean a rendezvous with the fish and who knows what other creatures lurked in this unknown part of the sea. For all he knew, another datu might be lurking there.
He needed to get a grip on him, but not in a way that would cast negative attention on him from those performing impromptu dance moves to summon incomprehensible beings from beyond this world. Wait, dance moves?
That’s it! This was all akin to a dance choreography, happening in fact to that particular tune he had heard so often in the cities before. When these skull-kin people were riding on their bikes with the boomboxes on their shoulder.
He remembered he had done some things like that before on some village celebrations. On one a particularly worldly friend of him, the previous librarian who later moved away, had introduced to them a song simply called Ma – Ka – Le – Na which came with its set of moves, which after a few moments quickly felt like fun.
Now trying to recall the words, the melody came back to him easily and everything started to fall into place for him. And not having to do it alone, rather doing it in a group felt empowering. Really, he felt his anxiety downright melting away as he, to his own surprise, felt like he belonged here. And didn’t have to worry about proving himself to anyone anymore.
His movement became increasingly more confident, and after a while he shouted out the words, or what he thought were the words anyway, with delight and just took in the joy of sharing it with other people under a beautiful blue sky. The future seemed both far away and right at hand.
Eventually, all five of them sat down on the ship’s floor, feeling relaxed and at ease like he hadn’t in what felt must be weeks, no longer understanding why he ever had been afraid in the first place. And surely his friend who had been accompanying him on his journey would be happy to see him like this, too. Maybe even join them. Once he understood what they were all about.
(This part was added in 2024 to give this older draft of the story at least some kind of ending, even if a very abrupt and short one.)
Not long after that, once he had told everyone why he had taken up on this journey that had led him to meeting the squad, he was told he could get some more whiteberries - with leaves - at their local base in a northern part of the city. And so it was, that when Hosoma finally arrived there, too, he was left very bewildered as Toloka was already done, hugged him goodbye, gave thanks while promising not to forget him and then left for home.
While he knew this wouldn't be the last of his travels, he had a mission to bring to an end. A triumphant return to Saavahai followed, and he could finally hug his grandmother again and see her grin return. He hadn't become a dragon-catcher himself yet, but he *had* joined their ranks, and so proven everyone at home wrong.
Who knew what the future might bring next.
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