KUROI’S TALE OF HER CAPTURE
I woke to the sound of clanking metal. The noise of many heavy feet, stomping, and the voices of those who had no manners in their speech. A chill that made my teeth ache came from the ground, or it could have been fear. The smell of dirt, horse manure and human sweat made me gag. A stabbing pain gripped my head with raptor claws, digging at my temples. When I’m in pain, a proper disposition to a bad situation has never been one of my virtues, although I’m the stop-and-think-first type of person. Having my hands tied created apprehension, but because I have never really been in danger, this was my first experience. Caution became my predisposition in this dangerous situation. However, my brain was about to pop out of my skull and the main jingle in my head was “I’m dead, dead, dead,” with rhythms in blues and a melody in the super sad chords. I had to be dead, and if not dead, then I was going to be dead soon! But, if I could reason, then I couldn’t have been entirely dead. Maybe this was the reception hall to Hell.
Apparently, in this section of Hell, prisoners get their heads covered with sackcloth and hands bound behind their backs. The little bits of light I saw were coming from holes in the burlap. Someone picked me off the ground and unceremoniously threw me over his shoulder. The stench of rotting meat and blood overwhelmed my sense of smell, and this overly muscular person almost got the back of his filthy pants adorned with my personal touch of grossness: vomit from the food I had eaten last week.
The stinky person dropped me on the hard floor with no more care than you would give a sack of potatoes. Dangy, that hurt! The generously round person took the sackcloth from my head and, immediately, the light blinded me. All I could do was close my eyes and shake my head. I felt more pain—light piercing my eyes straight into my brain. As I opened my eyes and got used to the light, I saw the dirtiest, largest, most horrid boots ever and I hoped I was not dinner for the stinky person who carried me. I had not fully taken in all the offensive nature of my treatment when I heard a voice behind me that sounded like a roar. This roaring voice demanded something simple of me, yet near impossible in my circumstances to comply with. He told me to stand.
“Stand up, little girl, and face me.”
Girl? But I had no time to be offended by his remark. I tried to stand, but the combination of pain in my head, hands tied behind my back and the fact my legs couldn’t be described as coordinated, made the task a bit undignified. I can assure you, I looked like a fish out of water when trying to stand on that dirty floor. Besides, keeping my eyes down didn’t help me stand either. I didn’t want to see the face of the owner of the dirty boots. That’s when the roaring man ordered whoever was near me to help me stand.
So, there I was, inside a tent so large I figured they must have killed twenty-four large cats to make it. I was surrounded by over forty of the largest, scariest men and women I have ever seen in my life. I looked like a child in the midst of all these people. I was captivated and scared, stunned and shaking. If those were the King’s Legion, I was definitely dinner, but me being so small compared to them, I would be but a snack. I would tickle the stomach of one of them. They were all over seven feet tall. My head would barely reach the giant’s chest if I stood on my long legs. On the other hand, these people, though brutish, were not actual monsters, so I thought they couldn’t have been the King’s Legion. They may have been loud, stinky, very unkempt and maybe rude, but they were just huge people. These overly tall people had different shades of white hair, were very muscular and had different-looking tattoos, which appeared to glow. The shiny tattoos might have been my imagination. It must have been my headache! I still thought I was going to die, but then the roaring man spoke again and asked, “Tell me your trade?”
It sounded more of a demand than a question.
I took a moment, shaking as I was, fidgeting a bit. I tried to look at the man asking the questions, but the person behind me shook me. Then to my surprise, this woman near me unbound my hands. All I could think of was to tell him I was a Healer-Magi. But I couldn’t tell him I was a Gift-Vessel. If he was a friend of the King’s Legion, I might end up dead in minutes. However, I had to tell him something. The only trade I know anything about is interpreting writings from The Book of Life. Also, I know the healing trade I’ve been learning since I was about seven years old. It is my Gift and my trade. I’m a Healer-Magi, but I didn’t have to tell him the Magi part. So, in a whisper, I barely said, “A Healer… I’m a Healer!”
That was all I could think to say and then I believe he smiled—although, for all I know, with the mass of hair covering his face, it could have been a grimace or a smirk more than a smile.
This man was unlike anyone I have ever met. He had scars on the parts of his face that had no hair, scars on his neck, scars on his arms and hands. He had the most daunting blue eyes I have ever seen. White hair, intimidating eyes, scars everywhere I could see and a crooked nose. That was the man I was speaking with. I could barely see a mouth. His white beard was so thick it hid his mouth almost entirely. And, he said, “A Healer from Springer, huh? You must be who Youh asked for. Take her to Healer Youh and give her some food. She looks like a stick.”
Then the large woman standing behind me, for whom I had no courage to see her face, took my arm and pulled me out of the tent. Off I went, dragged by this brute of a woman as if I was nothing more than some pesky inconvenience.
I’m a twenty-year-old woman. I have lived alone for the last four years of my life and there I was, in the midst of these people, but I could barely keep up with her pace. She was walking and I was running and skipping and trying not to fall. I could hear the rush of steps all around me, but I couldn’t look up at any of the tall people’s faces because if I stopped to look, I would fall and break my neck. The pace this woman set was a serious detriment to my predicament as it made my limp even worse than usual. But at least for now, I was not dead. These odorous individuals couldn’t be the King’s Legion. Those were monsters who killed without mercy. I was alive, even though a captive of these scary giants. I was in the middle of a camp full of white-haired, stinky people. How and why, or what did I do to get there? Who knows? All I could remember was that I had been hiding in the shop’s cellar. The King’s Legion was passing by our town, I’d heard footsteps, saw a light and I passed out. The next thing I knew, I woke up on the ground here with a horrid hat.
Now, after running, skipping, jogging and almost breaking my gimpy leg, this woman finally had to slow down and drag me to the ugliest and largest tent in the camp. Once there she ended up carrying me inside. My feet were too tired to step over the binding of the tent. There I met Healer Youh.
“Youh, this is the Healer from Springer. She looks a lot younger than what we expected from your description,” said the woman who had dragged me.
The man Youh was reading a book while mixing herbs with a mortar and pestle. He just gave a wave with his hand, grumbled what I hoped was a thank you and told the woman to go and close the tent entrance curtain on her way out.
So, there I was in this clinic/shop/stinking-of-herbs area/herbalist zone/treatment facility, with this man who apparently thought I was ‘THE Springer Healer’. My Aunt Clara is the Springer Healer! I’m not ‘THE Springer Healer’; she is my Aunt Clara. Like my brother Marou would have said, I was in deep waters without a paddle. Those were my thoughts.
I thought to myself, Yes, I’m a Healer trained by the Springer Healer, Aunt Clara. I’m also a Healer-Magi, a Gift-Vessel, and I’m really scared. Oh, I have a horrible feeling about this; this has the feeling of one of Chaim’s scary story endings: ugly. If only I would have stayed in bed. But NO, I had to GET UP!
Youh was a white-haired giant just like the others, but he was also a Healer. That much I could tell. The mortar and pestle he held in his big paws of hands were being used very vigorously on what smelled like rosemary and lavender. And just when I was about to tell him I was not the Springer Healer, he turned, looked at me, and yelled, “WHAT IN ALL THE STONE FIRES OF HELL IS WRONG WITH THE EARS OF THESE PEOPLE? HAAAAAAAH, YOU ARE NOT CLARA! I SPECIFICALLY SAID I NEED OLD CLARA, THE SPRINGER HEALER.”
With all his screaming and yelling, the talons that were piercing my head felt like they attached permanently to my skull. And because of it, I was so angry I yelled back, “REALLY, THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW. I’M CLARA’S NIECE, KUROI!”
I must have shocked Youh because he stopped for a second, but after the second Youh proceeded to have the most hilarious adult tantrum. I would have laughed if it weren’t frightening because at any moment, I was going to die either from the pain in my head or from being stomped to death by him. Youh’s stomping made the dust on the ground fly. He continued ranting in his language, flagging his arms, looking like he was swatting bees, and then he just went to the tent entrance and opened the curtains. He was yelling bloody murder at the top of his lungs. And my brain became a mush of pain!
“WHY? AM I CURSED? I’M SURROUNDED BY IMBECILES.”
A poor, young giant-man was passing by, and Youh yelled, “WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHO POSTED YOU AT MY DOOR? NEVER MIND, MOVE ALONG! MOVE, OUT OF MY WAY! KARA! KARA!”
Youh’s face was turning the most horrendous shade of fuchsia! He tried to calm down.
“Kara, I did say bring me the Springer Healer! You were there. I said it. I’m not going crazy. I said, ‘Bring. Me. The. Springer. Healer’ What was so difficult about that? I made my instructions clear. The old woman is the best Gift Healer-Magi in the land. Call my brother! Never mind, I’ll go to him. Kara. Stay in there with the kid and don’t let her touch anything.”
Youh left. Apparently to talk to his brother. Thank god for little favors.
Youh left and the tension in the room abated. Kuroi thought he needed a calming essence and probably more fiber in his diet. She then took the time to look at the shop. She turned around and around and noticed a well-stocked healer’s store. After she had taken inventory of the tent, she placed her hands in her pockets and drew out some of the cliff herb leaves. The herbs in her hands reminded her of her Mom. It was an instant soothing reminder of home, of someone who loved her.
I must tell you; I was very surprised when a woman whom I assumed was Kara walked in, letting in bright light and a cool breeze. Her odor was offensive. She smelled like clothing that when washed was placed in a trunk and was not allowed to dry properly. However, besides her smell, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. The pretty lady had white hair with soft touches of pink. Her eyes were a very soft green. Her skin was bronze. With her came a breeze like the one I would feel when collecting herbs at the center of the family cliff. I closed my eyes, gave in to the feeling, felt the herbs in my fisted hand and took the herbs up to my nose. A vibration came from the air, the tree branches moved and made a sound of soft, melodic music, and a song came from my heart. I was compelled from within myself to sing. I sang the song of my god, the song the Helathy used to sing. The Song of Renewal from the people who cared for god and life.
As Kuroi sang, her face relaxed and all the stresses of the day vanished, just like the morning dew disappears with the soft morning rays. Kuroi’s black hair became alive with energy coming from the earth itself. She shined, a beautiful, soft red-orange light resembling the soft rays of an autumn sunset. She floated with her song. Her feet rose off the ground and her head pointed in Kara’s direction. The melody made the skin on her arms feel as if a mother was caressing it with the gentlest of touches. It was the breeze. It was a melody so loving that a kiss from a lover and a hug from a child welled up in her memory, as easy as taking a breath. All in the camp could hear the beauty of her voice. The trees augmented the sound like a resonance box. She sang with all her heart. Kuroi sang the song for her spirit, in thanksgiving for her life and for victory. She sang for her life up to that day and for hope of many other days to come.
“We sing by way of all love, giving thanks. The Giver of Life is good. He is mercy, and it endures for eternity. All the people shout with great joy. We praise the maker. The master, the Creator, and lover of life who erases the iniquities of the lost. Forgives the sins of a heart in darkness. The Strong Hand who loves his creation. He speaks to his children to guide and love his little ones. He talks to his little ones; he gives them all a choice. To choose the path of the righteous or follow another path. From the foundations of life, because from before the foundation of life, God has loved us all,” sang Kuroi out loud.
She sang and kept singing, to cast fears away and break curses and hexes by the sheer love and mercy of her god, by the beauty of the words and the softness of her voice.
When Kuroi finished her song, her feet were once again planted on the ground. She was no longer floating and both her headache and her fear had evaporated. She opened her eyes. And to her surprise, Kara was glowing bright red. She was radiating a soft, warm, happy energy, and Kara had turned completely red.
Kara was now full of light and life. She also smelled like roses. From her arms, the glow made it seem like she was holding a shield of hot, bright, fire. Several other giants had entered the tent and were looking at them both. Kuroi felt as though she was floating on water. She walked a step or two toward Kara. The world spun, the room blazed with pure light and Kuroi landed in Kara’s arms. As the world went dark for Kuroi, Kara’s world became light. For the second time on one day, Kuroi passed out.
Sometime later, Kuroi awoke and found she wasn’t alone.
“... and that was all it happened after the King’s Legion passed by Springer,” said Kuroi.
“You must eat. All is coming together. Kara needs to talk to you and we have a surprise,” said Clara.