02

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“Mother, I’m going out!”

“Where are you going?”

“Just out, Mother! I’m seventeen. Do I really need to explain myself?”

“Because you’re seventeen is the reason why you do.”

This was the conversation from within Leah’s household the next morning. Leah barely slept the night before. Her mind was so caught up in what she had witnessed yesterday—the rural village and the bandit, Raal, who helped people there. She walked out of the hut and grabbed her double-sided glaive. “I just feel like going outside. It’s no big deal,” she told her mother. Truthfully, she wanted to go to the rural village and meet up with her new bandit acquaintance, but, of course, she couldn’t tell her mother that.

“Do you not want breakfast first?”

“I’ll grab an island roll at Kya’s,” Leah answered as she moved away from the house. “I’m going now, Mom!”

“Love you! Be safe!”

Leah sighed and bleakly shook her head. What imaginary danger lurked on Oaka that she needed to be safe from? It wasn’t like they were living in the northern continent. This was Oaka, the island of peace. She smiled at the thought of her mother’s worry for her. “I will,” she said back to her. “Love you too.”

As she walked the paths of her seaside village, the morning sun gleamed off of the shore. The sound of the tropics engulfed the air. The cool morning breeze brought in from the neighboring sea was a refreshing stimulant that added to the ambiance. Out on the sea, Leah identified an elderly man sitting on a pier and fishing. “Good morning, Elder Nyago,” she yelled to the man from her location on the beach. Every morning was the same routine for him: wake up, put on clothes, fish along the pier, and slowly turn around to Leah with a slight smile and nod. 

He was mute, so there was no chance of him audibly responding. Nevertheless, his wave and smile behind his long, white beard was a welcoming sight. As Leah continued to walk on, another person walked by her. He was a scrawny little man. However, regardless of his size, he tugged a heavy wagon full of logs down the sandy path. In the midst of his struggle, he smiled when he noticed Leah. Leah smiled back. “Good morning, Teoren,” she told him. 

“So it may seem,” he replied. “It would be a much better morning if it wasn’t for this batch. Old Palma wanted it moved last night, but I definitely wasn’t about to risk my life with a bandit on the loose.”  

Leah gave a slight chuckle. “Old Palma has no sense of fear,” she joked. “He’d probably send you through a pack of casphix if he had to. I don’t blame you for waiting. I wouldn’t have gone either.” That’s a lie, she thought. Yesterday, I chased that very bandit and then went on to interrogate him. I guess I have no sense of fear either. “Try not to overdo yourself,” she told him as she passed by.

“Too late for that,” he concluded. Then he continued on, tugging the hefty logs. 

Leah laughed as she continued on. She passed by more people and said, “Good morning.” She said it to everyone, and they all responded back with a smile. Oaka Village was a small community, but because of its size, the people were very close. Everyone knew each other, and all of them were polite and mannerly.

Leah neared a hut that was made somewhat like hers, though it differed in some respects. Small pebbles lined a path to the house entrance and surrounded the house itself. It wasn’t that decorative, but that was more than what a lot of the canopy houses had, which gave this one a more prominent look. Upon reaching the entrance, Leah pulled on a string that hung from the top. A chime sounded inside. “Kya?” Leah asked in time with the chime.

A woman came from the kitchen area of the hut. She looked to be around the same age as Leah’s mother. She smiled as she came into Leah’s company. “Good morning, Leah,” she said. “How are you?”

Leah bowed to her. “Hi, Aunt Kyara,” she said with a smile. “I’m fine.”

Kyara grinned. “I heard from my sister that, yesterday, you paid a little visit to somewhere in particular.”

Leah peevishly scratched her head, knowing she was talking about the rural village. “Yeah,” she said shamefully as she averted her eyes from her aunt. “I didn’t mean to . . . I didn’t know . . .”

Kyara let out a sigh. “Well,” she began. “It’s pretty much as expected. You’re the offspring of Leoran and Kyala. A wild combination like that cannot help but produce an adventurous child like yourself.” She leaned in close to Leah and whispered, “Your mother’s actually secretly happy that you did that. It’s something she would have done when she was younger, too, if she knew about it, but you didn’t hear that from me.” She gave a little wink and smirk.

Leah laughed. She’s always been told that her mother was a bit of a thrill-seeker when she was young.

Suddenly, a girl around Leah’s age came from behind Aunt Kyara and joined Leah. “Hi, LeLe,” the girl told her. “Where were you yesterday? We didn’t even get a chance to fish.”

Leah shrugged. “Sorry,” she said. “I was . . .” Leah was about to tell her, but she noticed Aunt Kyara shaking her head, warning her not to. Even though Leah found out about the village, Kyara still wanted her daughter to go by tradition. “I . . .”Leah continued, trying to think of a lie, “I got lost in the forest.”

The girl let out a laugh and slapped Leah on the back. “That sounds like something you’d do,” she said and then turned to her mother. “I’m going out with Leah.”

Kyara nodded and smiled. “Be safe. Don’t get into too much trouble, okay you two? Especially you, Kya . . . we all know how you can be.”

Kya and Leah glanced at each other and smiled. “I think you got us mixed up,” Kya told her mom sarcastically. “But we’ll be careful.” Then she and Leah started walking off. “Bye, Mother!”

Leah waved, “See ya later, Aunt Kyara.”

Kyara waved back to them. “Be safe,” she said again.

Leah and Kya strolled side by side through Oaka Village. All around them, the tranquility and hospitality of the people were contagious. They journeyed through the domicile areas, and then, as they continued to walk, they ended up in the market area. The market area differed from the small housing complex simply due to the congestion. More canopy buildings were side by side, and they varied in sizes in relation to whatever kind of stores they represented. Many of the villagers were in this area, enjoying each other’s company with bongos and tabs. Kids played in the sand as others surfed on the waves. Life in Oaka Village was nothing short of wonderful, a far cry from that penurious village hidden in the jungle.

“You’re lucky you missed out on mom’s libretti lessons yesterday,” Kya said as they walked. “She had me healing a fish while my hands had to stay above the water. Cousin, when I say it was difficult, I mean nearly impossible. It took over an hour for me to get the fish to even move.” Then she chuckled. “After all the lessons you’ve skipped, I’m sure it would have taken you over a week.”

“Oh, you’re funny,” Leah said with sarcasm. Then she sighed. “I just can’t sit there and learn ridiculous chants. It’s so boring. Besides, we’re Oakans. We already have the best medicine growing all around us.”

Kya nodded. “Right. And it’s not like we’re some Felini scholars trying to preserve ancient dialects. But like mom always says—“

“Auroa isn’t just Oaka,” Leah finished for her. “Obviously.” Then she made a fist and jabbed the air. “Now if we were learning some other libretto like libretti of flames or force, I would be front row seat every day. Libretti of healing is just not exciting at all.”

Kya laughed. “Yeah, but you still wouldn’t be able to do any of it. Libretti of flames takes way more concentration than healing. And you can’t even sit still long enough to learn a simple chant.”

Leah shrugged. “I guess that’s just me. I’d much rather climb a tree than to use some mystic force to—“ She paused in mid-sentence. “Oh, no,” she said as she ducked behind a hut.

Kya stopped walking and turned to her. “Um . . .” she said to Leah. “What are you doing?”

Leah shooed her away. “Don’t draw attention,” she vigorously whispered to Kya. “Stop looking at me. He’ll notice.”

“He’ll notice? What are you talking about?” Kya turned her head in every direction to see who it was Leah was hiding from. She then noticed a village Auroite valiantly walking through the village. He seemed to be looking for someone . . . most likely Leah. “An Auroite?” Kya whispered to her. “You’re hiding from an Auroite? What did you do?”

Leah shook her head and continued to shoo her away. “Stop talking to me. You’re drawing attention.” 

The Auroite came near them, and Leah quickly moved around the hut to be on the opposite side. Kya stood there, frantic.

“You there,” the Auroite called to Kya. “You look like a well-informed villager girl. Have you seen someone who looks around your age? She may be carrying a dangerous weapon that could’ve very well killed me.”

Kya began to sweat. “Weapon?” she stuttered. “My age? No, sir. I haven’t.”

The Auroite studied her. His eyes seemed to pierce into her soul. He then noticed the sweat on her face and how her eyes never made contact with his. “You’re very suspicious,” he told her. “I think you’re hiding something.”

“What?!” Kya bellowed in a voice high-pitched from nervousness. She began to inadvertently speak faster. “No way. You’re reading too much into things.”

The Auroite continued to stare at her suspiciously. “Nope,” he defiantly said. “You’re very suspicious.”  Then he cocked his head. “And you look a little like her as well.”

Kya masked her fib with an exaggerated grin. He was definitely on to her.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the air. “STOP, THIEF!” The voice came from across the market. 

The Auroite quickly turned in that direction. “She’s here!” he gasped. He turned back to Kya. “Be on your way, citizen.”  Then he rushed off to the scene.

Kya let out a deep sigh of relief. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and then walked around the hut. “Wow,” she said. “Leah, what in the world did you do to piss off that Auroite. He was basically ready to tackle me to the ground. What happened when you . . .” She stopped talking when she realized that no one was there to talk to. Leah was gone. “Leah?” Kya said as she looked around. “Leah? Where are you?” She stopped and looked around at the market.

“Hey,” Leah whispered as she came up behind her.

Kya flinched, startled. “Don’t do that!” she said as she held her heart. “Where were you?”

“I had to get that Auroite out of here. He was on to you.”

“Oh, so you were that voice.”

Leah nodded.

“Nicely done.” Kya smirked. “Though, he wasn’t on to me. He was on to you. What exactly did you do yesterday?”

Leah shrugged. She could not tell her the truth—that she met a bandit in the forest who she chased to a secret rural village, where he helps all of those in need . . . No, she couldn’t say that. “Nothing,” she lied. “I was in the forest while the Auroites were hunting the bandit yesterday. Supposedly, they think I’m that bandit.”

Kya shook her head in disdain. “These village Auroites are getting dumber every day. Being guards on a secluded island, they don’t get enough action as the Legion, and I believe it’s getting to their heads.”

Leah coyly agreed, edging the conversation away from the truth of what she did yesterday. She looked over Kya’s shoulder to see if the Auroite was out of sight. Seeing that he was, they began to walk on. 

As they walked, Kya kept a conversation going about some village boy that apparently liked her. She talked and laughed, believing that Leah was hanging on every word. That wasn’t the case. Leah’s mind was on a completely different matter—Raal. She kept playing back in her mind the moment she met him and the village that he was tending to. There had to be an alternative motive for him to be there. Besides Oakans, people were never that nice . . . especially not bandits.

“Leah,” Kya said looking at her. Startled, Leah jumped. She had been pondering on Raal longer than she thought. Kya shook her head. “You didn’t hear a word that I said, huh?”

“Sorry,” Leah told her. “I guess I’m just out of it.”

Kya stared at her for a moment. She could tell that Leah wasn’t her usual free-spirited self. “Don’t worry,” Kya told her. “Being chased by Auroites can drain anyone.”

Leah smirked, coyly agreeing with her again.

“Look, why don’t we get together tomorrow. You should lie low anyway . . . at least until the Auroites quit searching for you.”

Leah was completely healthy, and she definitely didn’t fear the so-called Auroites in her village, but this was an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. This was her chance to get back to the other village and resolve her eager, pondering mind. “You’re right. I should get back. You’re always thinking of me, Kya.”

“Someone has to.” Kya laughed. “Though it’s not just for you. I’m thinking about getting together with Nabo today.”

Leah quickly realized that Nabo was the boy that Kya had been talking about, the boy who liked her. Leah already knew this due to being asked by Nabo a few days before if her cousin was seeing anyone. He seemed like a nice boy, handsomely built like the average Oakan hunter, but that’s about it. She didn’t really see anything intriguing about him. Then again, the males who were left on Oaka were few and far between since most her age had already left to join the Auroite forces on the continent and the older generation had left on an expedition years prior. Nabo was probably the pick of the litter. “Go for it,” Leah told Kya. “Don’t let me rain on your parade.”

“You really think I should? He is a hunter, after all. What’s more dangerous and outgoing than a hunter?”

A bandit, Leah thought, but that was just a quick answer to Kya’s rhetoric question. She had no intention of trying to woo him, a bandit of all people, whom she had just met. She was still questioning whether or not she could even trust the guy. Leah then assured Kya, “If you really like him, then go for it. I’m sure Nabo would like that.”  

Kya smiled. “If you say so.”

Then they both turned around and started back home. As they came to their crossroads, they said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways—Leah to her house and Kya to hers. However, Leah kept an eye on Kya. Kya continued to walk to her house, and once she was out of sight, Leah suddenly stopped and turned in another direction. She couldn’t let Kya see her true destination. Leah looked around to see if anyone would see her. Realizing there was no one, she ran into the forest.

Leah traced her steps from the day before back to the pillar that sat next to the hidden rural village. Like before, she ducked behind it and looked from afar. She really had no reason to hide, but the fact that she was disobeying her mother caused it to seem so. She scanned the village until she noticed Raal helping a man lift up his fallen roof. She stayed behind the pillar so she wouldn’t be seen.

“Thank you, kind sir,” the man gleefully told Raal as he held the roof in place. The man tweaked different parts of it to keep it up. “You are more help than you realize.”

Raal shook his head. “No thanks necessary.”

Leah continued to gaze on. Was this bandit truly a man of honor?

Raal let go of the roof once the villager stopped tweaking. The roof stayed up, and the man showed his gratitude by shaking Raal’s hand. “You say you want no thanks, but with all you’ve done here, you deserve much more. I wish that I had something to give you.”

“If doing the right thing always has to come with an award, then it’s not doing the right thing. I’m just glad I could help.”

Leah shook her head in disbelief. He legitimately seemed to really care for these people. She moved off the pillar and began to walk toward them.

Raal noticed her and rolled his eyes with a sigh. “So,” he said to her. “You’re back. I thought my bandit charm would have scared you away?”

Leah ignored his witty comment and greeted the man that he was helping. “Could I be of any assistance?”

“Nope.” The man smiled. “Everything’s done that I needed, thanks to this fellow.” He patted Raal on the back. “Thanks again, mate. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll be going now.”

Raal told him goodbye as the man left him and Leah to converse. Leah looked up at Raal with a studious look. “Why are you here?” she asked eruditely.

“I thought I explained that already.”

“Tell me the truth. No bandit is like you.”

Raal shrugged and turned away from her. “It’s your fault that you don’t believe me.” He began to walk away.

Leah sighed and then said, “Well, at least tell me when you’re leaving.”

“Tomorrow. Don’t worry; I’ll be out of your hair.”

Something about the way he said that made Leah feel horrible for questioning him. It seemed that he was honestly helping others, and here she was trying to find fault in him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just strange. When a bandit comes to visit, he’s not normally looking to help someone.”

Raal did not stop walking. He continued to walk away from her as she stood there with an apologetic look. “Did you hear me?” she cried out to him. “I said I’m sorry!”

“I heard you,” Raal told her as he continued on.

Leah glared at his back. How rude was that to just walk away from her in the midst of a conversation. Then again, much less is expected from a bandit. Leah moved toward him. There was a reason she came back to this village to see him, even though she wasn’t quite sure of the reason, and she wasn’t about to let her chance slip away. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked as she reached him.

Raal’s brow furrowed from his confusion. “Plan?”

“Yeah, what’s our next plan of action?”

Raal continued to look at her with a confused expression. “Well, I don’t know about you, but my plan is to get some more supplies for my departure.”

Leah nodded in understanding. “Okay,” she said. “Where?”

Raal stopped walking and turned around to face her. He kept his eyes on her and asked, “What are you doing?”

Leah shrugged. “I’m helping you,” she told him. She thought about what her mother told her, We are a people of help. “If you’re really what you call a ‘good’ bandit, then I’m doing what any good person would do.”

“I don’t need your help.” He shook his head. “Just go home.”

“But I’m just going to—”

“Go home.”

“Why? Do you plan on stealing the supplies?”

Raal didn’t say anything.

Leah studied him and then stepped back. “You do, don’t you? You plan on stealing from my village.”

Again, Raal kept silent.

“Have you ever heard of asking someone?”

“I’m a wanted bandit,” Raal told her. “It’s not like I can go over there with Auroites surrounding the place.”

“I mean like asking me,” Leah corrected him. “I could get you what you need.”

Raal kept silent as he stared at her with a mildly confused look. After a moment, his silence proved too awkward for Leah to let go on.

“Are you going to talk, thief?”

“I don’t get you,” he blatantly said. 

Leah stared at him and then smirked as she backed away from him. “What’s not to get?”

“You’re just . . .  Why are you here? What do you want with me? I’m a bandit who used you as a getaway.”

That’s true, Leah thought. He did do that to her, so why was she so fascinated with this guy, a thief that she had just met by coincidence; a thief that almost had her imprisoned; a thief that was uncharacteristically helpful to others. Leah honestly did not know. The very reason why she came back to him was to figure that out. As she thought about it, no answer came to mind, so she detoured the conversation. “So, do you want my help or not?”

“Do you have the gleddies to buy what I need?” He began to list off items that he planned to take. Leah’s eyes widened as she listened.

“No,” she blurted. “That’s too expensive.”

Raal shoved her out the way and continued to walk on. “Not with my discount.”

Leah grabbed his arm before he got too far from reach. “If you steal . . . I will let the Auroites know,” she warned.

Raal turned around to her. He studied her for a moment and then quickly jerked his arm out of her grip. “They’ll do what they have to do, and I’ll do what I do. In respect to similar circumstances, I still don’t see myself getting caught as an outcome.” He turned away from her and continued to walk on. He kept a calm, unfazed demeanor, but he was anything but. 

This girl was like no one he had ever met before. She had all the traits of a village lubber who, in any normal circumstance, would run away from a guy like him. However, this girl also had the traits of a person who ventured the depths of the world; a person who would stand his or her ground against him at any time. 

Suddenly, he heard from behind him the sharp sounding whistle of a blade swinging through the wind. He stopped walking. She can’t be serious, he thought to himself, and then he turned around to her. “You can’t be serious,” he repeated aloud to her.

Leah stood in a fighting position with her double-ended glaive pointed at him. “If the Auroites won’t stop you,” she said, “then I guess I’ll have to stop you myself. You’re not stealing from my village.”

Raal shook his head in dismay. “Look,” he said. “You’re a nice girl. You seem very . . . audacious, for lack of a better word. But there is a phrase known as ‘getting in over your head.’ So what I need you to do is point that blade away from me and settle down. I don’t fight females, but if she’s pointing a deadly weapon at me, someone is going to come out of it alive and the other isn’t. I’m never the latter.” Then, he turned back around.

Leah appeared to be unfazed by the threat. “Don’t move, bandit,” she demanded. She inched closer and closer to him. She was sure of the fact that her weapon was already in fighting position; she had the upper hand if it came down to combat. She kept a wary eye on Raal as she continued to inch closer to him. 

He may have been a nice person, but if a nice person feels threatened, there’s no telling what he’ll do. “Now,” she told him as her blade neared his back, “I hate to do this, but you leave me no other choice. I’m going to take you to the Auroites myself. My village is not yours to steal from, and I’ll make sure that—”

Raal’s sword flew out of its sheath and deflected Leah’s glaive so fast that she barely realized what had just transpired, but Leah didn’t need to know what was going on to recuperate. Before Raal could get the upper hand, her glaive was back on him. This time, it was right on his neck. He widened his eyes as he tried to figure out why he was on the wrong end of the wrong weapon. “How did you . . .” He stopped as he stared at the tip of her blade ever so gracefully grazing the tiny hairs on his neck.

Leah shook her head. “Don’t do that again,” she told him. “I mean it.”

Raal still couldn’t believe it. “You’re . . . surprisingly good,” he stated as he leaned his head away from the sharp steel that teased his neck.

“Drop your sword,” Leah demanded.

Raal released his grip, and his longsword dropped to the ground. Then he raised his hands in a forfeiting gesture. “I know when I’ve been stooped,” he said. He looked down the length of the glaive to Leah’s hands. Her grip was so tight it appeared that she was going to squeeze right through it. His gaze followed from her hand and down her arm. He smirked and said, “And I know when I’m not.”  

He quickly put his arm down between him and the glaive. He then wrapped around it and used his other hand to palm Leah, right in the center of her chest. The pressure backed Leah up and at the same time, he pulled back on the glaive. It released out of her hand as she fell to the ground, after Raal deliberately tripped her at the last moment. She hit the ground with a thud. Raal picked up his sword. He now held his weapon and Leah’s glaive as he looked down at her with a sense of victory, remorse, and wonder.

Leah looked up at him with vigilant eyes. She was undoubtedly the duff of this confrontation, but her vigilance gave her an ‘out but not down’ appearance.

“You’re too stiff,” Raal said as he handed her the glaive. “There’s no way you would have beaten me to the counter. You locked yourself up. You have to stay loose but precise at the same time. Other than that, you seem to be pretty good with that weapon. I would’ve been dead if you had planned to kill me.”

Leah grabbed the glaive as he pulled her back up with it and gave it to her. “I have my father to thank for that. He taught me everything that I know.” She dusted off her pants and then warily looked back up at Raal. 

He was much more skilled than she previously predicted, and she thought it wise not to provoke another fight. If she did, the next time he might not have been as forgiving. “You’re a good guy,” she told him. “You shouldn’t be a thief. Why didn’t you become an Auroite or something. And I don’t mean a village guard. I mean like those of the Legion, a regional Auroite?”

Raal sheathed his sword. “Don’t want to,” he stated as he turned around and continued onward. “I have my reasons.”

Leah did not understand at all. The Auroites, as they were, were a symbol of helping others, and it appeared that helping was Raal’s passion . . . at least from what she had seen of him the past two days in a row. If not an Auroite, then certainly the profession of a bandit was leading him away from what he truly wanted.

“I’m going to your village and I’m going to steal whatever that I need,” Raal said straightforwardly. “It’s your choice whether to try and stop me or not. Either way, I’m coming out of this with what I want.”

Leah glared at him. Was he honestly that great of a thief that he’d tell his victim what he was going to do, or was he just overly cocky? “It’s not like I’m not going to do anything about it,” she told him.

“Have it your way.”

They continued to walk through the forest. Leah kept her eyes on him as he led the way. Unexpectedly, he stepped behind a tree that he was about to pass, thus escaping Leah’s view. Leah gasped and ran to the tree. She looked all around it, up and down. “Raal!” she yelled. No one answered. He was gone.

Leah banged her glaive against the tree out of frustration. “How did he do that?” She looked around one last time to no avail. Raal was long gone. There was no point in running back to her village. He would have stolen what he needed by the time she got there. With a loud and slow sigh, she began her walk back home.

As she came to the beach, she could see that a lot of people were in a frenzy. “We’ve been robbed!” they were yelling. “Oaka, of all places, has been robbed!”

“It’s not even that bad,” another person said. “Nothing of vital importance was stolen. Don’t moan about it.”

Leah listened in on all the conversations as she made her way to her house. Many people were furious about what Raal had done, and others were simply uncaring. What she determined from the conversations was that Raal did in fact steal, but only what he needed. He didn’t steal strictly for pleasure as so many bandits, if not all, are known to do. She smiled at the thought of Raal being a ‘good’ bandit, however, she couldn’t help but feel guilty about the heist, even though she had nothing to do with it. She contemplated going to the Auroites, but they probably still believed that she was the thief. Leah let that thought go as she entered her home. “I’m back!”