|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:32 pm
One word could be used to best describe Keahi's home: chaotic. With ten siblings running around in a house not made to hold more than five or six people, Keahi took every chance he got to get out of the house and wander about. Not that it was exactly safe and his mother often got mad when she found out about it later. The boy sighed as his thoughts strayed to the woman. Though she'd not said anything yet, he and his older siblings thought she was pregnant again. Keahi kicked a stone in his path.
The pebble skipped along the sidewalk for a bit before coming to rest outside of a shop. The youth turned his gaze towards the windows and several bright colors greeted him, causing him to smile. A flower shop. Perhaps if he brought his mother some flowers back, she wouldn't be too upset with him. She loved brightly colored things.
Keahi pushed the door of the shop open and glanced around, breathing deeply of the scented air.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:57 pm
Despite the heat of the summer, the flowers were in bloom, even more so than usual, and tropical butterflies flitted amongst the bright display of colors, a gift to the shopkeep from a recent visitor. A young woman with long dark hair tied back was outside, moving various planters from one place to another and watering as she saw fit. As the boy approached, she looked up and waved, a silver armlet shaking upon her wrist, and then she went back to her dutiful work, humming along to an old recording in the background.
The woman inside, however, seemed far more unusual, and she looked to Keahi with an expectant glance as he entered the store, a cup of tea in her hands and an oddly decorated turtle shell on the counter, a few hibiscus flowers tucked in among the pearls and shells. Of all the eccentric things in the store, it seemed that it almost didn't belong, and it even smelled faintly of the sea: not the dank, fishy smell of the Harbor, but something crisp and refreshing that the boy had probably never known outside of cheap fragrances. Persy sized him up with a stare, then stepped down from behind the counter to get a closer look.
"So you're Keahi," she said, crossing her arms. "I thought, somehow, you'd be...greener," she said, thinking back to his god. Granted, he still hadn't joined the Game, but Persy had become so used to the oddities of the prophets that to see one so normal was almost unsettling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:13 pm
The boy gave a start as the woman seemed to know his name. "I'm afraid you have the advantage of me," He told the woman, smiling at her. "I am Keahi, yes. Where you expecting me?" His glance fell to the turtle shell upon the counter, an odd decoration for a flower shop. "Er... greener?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:16 pm
"Nevermind," Persy said with an offhand gesture, dismissing the entire bit about color. Green or not, she could sense the god in him, and saw him spying the turtle shell. With a half grin, she took the strange artifact and held it in the two of her hands.
"Have you heard of the Game?" She asked with a mysterious edge to her voice, then looking down to the shell in her hands. "This is yours, if you want it."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:22 pm
"The Game?" The boy thought he might've heard something about that from his older siblings. Perhaps Lanai or Keoni. "I might have..." Keahi glanced at the turtle shell and reached out to take it. The boy turned it over in his hands to examine it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:15 pm
Oh, so the kid actually knew a thing or two? This made Persy's job easier. She relinquished the object to the boy, and watched him examine it, giving him a moment to ponder before speaking again. "You've been chosen to play in the Game, by the owner of that shell. If you accept it, you accept being a part of the Game." She moved back to the counter, side-stepping a suitcase that leaned against it, and put her hands to a book that lay on its surface, a little black thing that couldn't have been there before, could it?
"It's dangerous; you fight for your life and your right to rule, but if you win, the world is yours. You'll have powers to help you on your way, and allies who are older and wiser to teach you, until you yourself are old and wise enough to be their rival." Lifting the book, she opened it to a page, and withholding the view, she lightly scribbled a few words. "What do you think, Keahi? Would you like to play?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:31 pm
"Chosen? Wow..." A child somewhere in the middle of a family with eleven children, Keahi was never selected for anything special. Being selected like this was almost enough to bring the kid to tears. He managed to compose himself to look at Persy again. "The owner of the shell... who's that?"
"Dangerous? How? And... how do you play? Powers? Allies?" The boy was filled with questions and he turned his gaze back upon the item in his hands. Would he like to play? One chubby finger traced the pattern in the shell and he was silent for a moment. "Yeah... I... I think I would..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:48 pm
"His name is Honu'aumakua," Persy said, the exotic name rolling off her tongue as if it was part of everyday language. "He'll be making contact with you soon, likely, and he'll be the one advising you on the Game, its dangers, and how to play." She scribbled something else into her little black book.
"I'd answer the questions myself, but you see, information is the currency of this Game. You have one free question, and from then on out, you barter." She gave him a look. "You wouldn't want to waste that on a basic tutorial, now, would you? Truth is a valuable asset, and you might need it later. That is, if you're sure you want to play." She'd gotten confirmation already, but it only seemed fair that she make sure he was ready. The last thing she needed was some young prophet claiming that she falsely accepted him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:03 pm
"Honu'aumakua..." Keahi muttered the name to himself, stumbling a bit over the strange name. "Contacting me, eh?" The boy had to bite down another stream of questions that he wanted to ask. "Only one question..." The boy stared at the shell for several moments more, questions he wanted to ask running through his head. But how many of those would be answered by this... Honu person?
The boy looked back at Persy and smiled. "Yeah... yeah, I want to play."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:21 pm
"Good." The singly word was coupled with the resounding clap of Persy's book as it slapped shut, to be hidden in the pockets of her dress for a later time. "It's rough, but if you can hold your own, the rewards are endless."
"If I were you, I'd check the surrounding area, Harbor, Downers if you're brave enough. Keep looking, and you'll find other players like you. Your god will tell you when you find one." She knew it was the first time she'd used the g-word, which many of the younger ones had a hard time stomaching, so to save herself some time, she went ahead and motioned towards the door, as if he was expected to follow her advice like some mission. "Just be careful: wouldn't want you to get killed on the first day."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:41 pm
Keahi nodded and turned to walk out the door. It was right after the door closed behind him that what Persy said sank in. "God?" He glanced over his shoulder, almost turning back inside, but gave a sigh and looked down at the shell again. He was going to have a lot of questions for this Honu guy...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
