Chapter CHAPTER III
Vaiqon chuckles to himself watching Hawk and Pork stumble before him, the after-effects of flashing not having affected him for decades now. Hawk and Pork slam into each other and fall to the ground.
Hawk and Pork shake their head to rid themselves of the temporary blindness. They stare at one another as their vision slowly starts to regain clarity. They curse to themselves and then glare at Vaiqon.
“What was that?” Pork demands.
Vaiqon chuckles to himself, “Ah, Pork, that was a flash, a most effective method of traveling. Apologies for not warning you about the after-effects of it.”
Pork stares at the man, his anger slowly creeping into his expression.
Hawk merely states, “But you are not affected by the brief blindness. I won’t be either.”
Vaiqon stares at Hawk. Vaiqon reads Hawk’s aura and nearly balks at the fact that Hawk’s aura has solidified at the boy’s statement. Vaiqon then hears Pork utter, “Well, I won’t be touched by the temporary blindness again either.”
Vaiqon reads Pork’s aura and nearly balks again as he feels Pork’s aura solidifying around the statement. Vaiqon wonders, ‘Could these two boys really understand aura at such a young age?’
Vaiqon then shakes his head of his thoughts and says, “Come now, Hawk, Pork, we have much to do tomorrow, we need a good night’s rest. Follow me.”
Vaiqon leads Hawk and Pork to a quaint inn just on the outside of the trading circuit. Vaiqon pays the innkeeper a few pieces of penoc and then leads the boys upstairs to their rooms. Vaiqon ushers Hawk and Pork to a separate room and then disappears behind the opposite door.
Hawk and Pork quickly shed their clothing, alternate washing themselves, and then fall quickly into deep sleep in the silky fabrics of their beds, their exhaustion overcoming their meager minds.
Vaiqon feels his newest pupils succumbing to the effects of sleep. Just as he closes his eyes to fall into a deep slumber, he feels a request to connect to his aura. He feels a familiar presence just on the other side and allows the connection.
‘Ah, hello, Raptor,’ Vaiqon begins. ‘And how are you this fine evening?’
Raptor’s feelings of angst and heart-break rampage through the aura connection. Vaiqon immediately rises and stands from the bed. ‘What has occurred?’
Raptor’s voice echoes through the connection with slurred tendencies, his inebriated mind not coherent enough to form concrete words. ‘I was, was, jjjust, gonnna go ppprro, pro, propose. To herrrrrr. And shhee was just, d-d-d-d-dead! Just dead, V-v-v-vaiqon!!’
Vaiqon concentrates to clear through Raptor’s fogged aura and sees Raptor’s memory of seeing his love’s dead body, her throat slit in an ugly crimson smile. Vaiqon realizes then that Raptor’s love, a scholar who specialized in studying ancient relics and tomes, has been murdered.
Vaiqon attempts to console Raptor, ’Raptor, my friend. I feel your pain, you know I do, especially through our connection. However, you are a Rniti, my friend, you must control your feelings. Return to the Injhihato, I will have Teqqc investigate this terrible matter.”
Raptor’s inebriated mind somehow comprehends Vaiqon’s words and severs the connection while flashing simultaneously. Vaiqon then immediately opens a connection with Teqqc.
When the Oqoponh permits the connection, Vaiqon sends images of the dead scholarly woman and explains to Teqqc what has just occurred.
Teqqc responds, ‘I will go to Veqxon at once,’ just as she severs the connection with a flash.
Vaiqon then stifles his emotions to fall into a restless sleep.
The sun creeps into existence to cast its golden rays down upon Munda Luna. Shadows of the night disappear as they are shredded by the sunlight. The moon slides over the horizon allowing for its counterpart to resume its daylight.
Hawk and Pork awaken from their deep slumbers to the sound of knocking on their door. They rise from their beds to quickly don their clothing and boots. The knocking on the door comes again, three quick raps.
Hawk walks to the door and opens it. Vaiqon awaits on the other side of the threshold patiently. Vaiqon smiles warmly at the bright eyes of his two new pupils. He gestures for the boys to follow him.
Vaiqon, Hawk, and Pork exit the inn after a brief breakfast in the inn’s galley. Vaiqon leads Hawk and Pork through the city. Hawk and Pork constantly swivel their heads back and forth gazing at the sights before them.
To their right, in the south, they see massive sails dotting the horizon, the Harbor of Coas just in walking distance. To their left, in the north, they see towering buildings scraping the sky, a multitude of people streaming on the outside stair cases.
In front of them, towards the east, they see more and more merchants, vendors, and artisans as they near the Coas Citis Trading Circuit. Hawk and Pork marvel at the amount of wares for sale.
Hawk and Pork see jewelry, armor, weapons, foodstuffs, even gadgets that are supposedly designed to make life easier. Hawk and Pork gape in awe at the gadgets, nearly bumping directly into Vaiqon when the legendary Rniti stops unexpectedly.
Hawk and Pork see the center of the Trading Circuit and surmise that this is where Vaiqon will set about recreating the obstacle course. Vaiqon turns to face the boys and sees them still craning their necks to marvel at the unique gadgets just to their right.
Vaiqon smiles as he states, “Hawk, Pork,” he pauses as the boys look at him as if having been caught performing a malicious deed, “go ahead and explore the Circuit, but do not leave the outer rim. Be back before the sun is down and we will leave on the instant.”
Hawk and Pork nod as they quickly scamper off in pursuit of observing the unique gadgets more closely. They pause abruptly at the stall where the merchant behind the stall exhibits to a couple a baffling gadget that allows for light to be emitted, but not heat.
Hawk and Pork watch as the merchant describes and works the gadget with just a flick of his finger, turning the light on and off in rapid pulses. Hawk and Pork hear the merchant saying, “This wonderful gadget was modeled after a Rniti that could control fire. I believe I captured how the man could conjure fire to his hand, but alas, even then, the source of light runs out, but not after a tremendous amount of time. Ten penoc for this ingenious device!” the merchant concludes with enthusiasm.
The couple buys the incredible gadget and then leave from the stall. Hawk and Pork then walk away from the merchant demonstrating the same device to another couple.
The boys chance upon a vendor with a dazzling array of fruit that seem to have been gathered from all over Munda Luna. They recognize fruit from their native Karacrross of strawberries and watermelon, but they also see fruit they have only seen in picture books of peaches, starfruit, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, papaya, and even a strange fruit that resembles a figure eight.
They each buy the figure eight fruit and just as they turn their backs, an explosion rings in their ears. They turn back to see smoke billowing up from three stands down. Out of the smoke jumps a small child with a bag of fruit, bread, and cheese spilling out from the sides of the bag.
They watch as the child then disappears into an alleyway. Hawk follows without a word to Pork, nearly leaving his friend to gape singularly at the scene unfolding before him.
When Pork realizes Hawk is no longer near him, he glances about and barely sees Hawk’s boot disappear into an alleyway. Pork quickly runs to catch up with his friend. He nearly bumps into the hand that Hawk has put up to stop Pork.
Pork slides to a stop and sees Hawk’s utter focus as if he is on a hunt back in Karacrross. Hawk turns to smile at Pork, then walks casually down the alleyway. Pork realizes Hawk is hunting the child that jumped out of the smoke. Pork notices Hawk’s curiosity is palpable after having been friends their entire lives.
Hawk leads Pork down alleyway after alleyway, no sign of the child ever makes itself obvious, yet still, Hawk does not seem discouraged. Hawk leads them to an alleyway that ends with a wall and no other path except the one they just traversed.
“Losing your touch, eh, Hawk?” Pork asks with a chuckle.
Hawk shrugs, “Nope. Look behind that barrel,” he says while pointing behind him.
Pork follows Hawk’s gesture and gapes when he sees a boy dressed in a dirt-coated and torn tunic and trousers rises from behind the exact barrel Hawk is pointing at. Pork steams inwardly but does not voice his anger.
The boy, with recently shorn hair, walks towards Hawk and Pork, his eyes slits, “How’d you know I was there?” the boy demands.
Hawk remains firm but Pork starts at the viciousness of the boy.
“How’d you know I was there?!” the boy demands again, this time drawing a dagger in a blink of the eye.
Pork starts again, nearly bringing his hands up in surrender, but Hawk calmly states, “Because I tracked you.”
The boy blinks in astonishment at Hawk’s display of honesty and skill. The boy lowers the dagger he had pointed at Hawk’s throat, and calmly asks, “Who’re you?”
Hawk smiles, “I”m Hawk, and my friend here is Pork,” he says while gesturing first to himself and then Pork who still appears frightened.
The boy chuckles, “Pork? Your parents must’ve hated you!”
“It’s a nickname!” Pork blubbers.
“Oh yeah? And who gave it to ya?” the boy asks.
“I did,” Hawk answer. “You know, the guy that just tracked you.”
The boy ceases his laughter immediately, “Yeah, how’d you find me anyway?”
Hawk and Pork exchange a glance and a smile before Hawk answers, “I’m the best hunter in Karacrross, I never lose my target.”
The boy glares at Hawk between slits of his eyebrows, “No one can track me! I’ve been stealing for months! I’ve never been caught! How’d you catch me?!”
“I don’t really know,” Hawk begins, “but I get this weird feeling that I just know where to go. This feeling led me to you.”
The boy raises an eyebrow, memories crash through his mind of similar experiences, “Oh, well, I thought I was the only one that could do that.”
“Do what? Have weird feelings?” Pork asks.
The boy shrugs, “I guess.”
Hawk and Pork share a glance again. Hawk turns back to the boy, “Would you want to put your skills to the test?”
The boy raises another eyebrow, his curiosity exuding from him. He stares at Hawk and Pork with smug looks upon their faces.
“That could be fun,” the boy says.
“Excellent!” Hawk exclaims.
Hawk then begins leading Pork and the boy out of the maze of alleyways. They are just about to exit from the dimness of the alleyways when he turns, “Oh! What’s your name?”
The boy chuckles, “Fox,” he says simply.
Pork chuckles, “Fox? You’re named after a filthy excuse for a dog?! Who gave that to you?”
Fox winces slightly before controlling his emotions. He glances at Pork, “My mother. Before she died with the rest of my family,” Fox states blandly before walking away from Hawk and Pork.
Hawk slaps Pork in the back of his head before catching up with Fox. Pork slowly walks back to Hawk and Fox where he slings his head low. Hawk, Pork, and Fox casually walk back through the city towards the center of the Trading Circuit.