Once inside the Aquatika building, a hot bath tube is waiting for me, then comes a shave, a clean uniform, and a nutritious dinner. I’ve only been twice here before, accompanying Anh in some of his teaching trips. I sparred with many students from the city, winning most fights and losing a few. The change from my life in the Wilderness is so brisk that everything feels like a dream. Or perhaps like an abrupt waking from a deep slumber. The colors look more vivid. The sounds ring louder. Everything around me tends to send my senses into overdrive. The reception desk hall is full of people who came to witness my arrival, but they keep some distance, giving me enough space to breathe freely and feel comfortable.
A doctor shows up and gives me a quick check on the spot. The wounds I’ve got in the first half of the test have mostly healed. The newer light cuts and bruises don’t seem to need immediate attention. The doctor decides I’m in a reasonably good shape given the circumstances but tells me to come to the medical wing after dinner, for a more detailed checkup.
“How are Lila and Solis doing?” I ask Anh. “They didn’t come to see me tonight.”
“They’re still in the Wilderness. However, we lost contact with them eight days ago. Lila was ahead of you, but a bit more to the east. We expected to see her emerge from the mountains the day before yesterday. However, she didn’t show up. The surveillance team can’t find her anywhere.”
Anh is worried, but he tries to hide it. His suppressed emotions expand and pour into me, stirring my heart beats with cold fear.
“Perhaps I should go with one of the rescue teams,” I say.
“You need to rest. Even if they allowed it, you’d only be a burden in your current state. Don’t waste time with useless thoughts. Go, take a bath, put on the new uniform, and join me for dinner in forty-five minutes.”
Anh is right. I should rest. The masters will do everything in their power to ensure the casualties on the test are as low as possible. And so, I drag myself to the baths. Before I leave, Anh adds:
“You know, Kolin, you are the first one to pass the test this year.”
***
Forty minutes later, clean, freshly shaved, wearing new clothes and new shoes, I come to the cafeteria. I’m glad the press isn’t allowed in here. I can spend a quiet evening and rest until tomorrow when I’ll have to let myself interviewed whether I like it or not.
The cafeteria is a large hall with a ceiling painted in the color of the serene sky. It has a row of tall windows on the back wall, flanked by red velvet curtains. Paintings and bass reliefs depicting fighting scenes cover the side walls. They make the place look almost like an art gallery. Dozens of chairs and black oval tables, neatly aligned, fill most of the space. Several loudspeakers mounted on the ceiling broadcast famous pieces of classical music in the background. The room is about three-quarters full with students, instructors, and masters, all having dinner.
When I step in, I hear my name said out loud on the speakers:
“Let’s give a warm welcome to Kolin Inigo, the newest Aquatika master!”
Everybody stands up and executes three powerful claps in unison. The message is short, but the impression it leaves is tremendous. Their appreciation and respect for my achievement move me to tears. I stop, bow briefly, then proceed towards the counter to get my meal. The line is short and advances quickly. One minute later, with six plates full of delicious food are squeezed on my tray, I’m moving towards the tables. I still haven’t spotted Anh, so my eyes are combing the hall, looking for his presence.
I finally see him at a table near a window. I know less than a quarter of the people here, for I had been living and training in Diana all these years. Anh is having dinner with a group of local students I haven’t seen before and with Sabienne, a beautiful red-haired master who has passed the test two years ago. The last time when I saw her was last year when Anh came here to teach for a week and took me, Lila, and Solis with him. I did a few sparring rounds with Sabienne and lost badly every single one of them. She is one year younger than me. However, unlike in my case, she began treading the path of Aquatika at an early age. Her head start made Sabienne one of the youngest masters in our organization.
Anh and Sabienne see me coming and wave a friendly salute. A seat next to Sabienne is free, and I take it.
“Welcome, master Kolin,” Anh says. “Welcome, my son!”
Sabienne and the three students clap again their hands three times. However, now they do it lightly and without standing up.
Still embarrassed by so much attention, I take my seat without saying anything. The six bowls of food on my tray look so enticing that I could gobble all of them down in less than a minute. And then, obviously, I’d get sick. I certainly need to restrain my impulses for both my health and the sake of good manners.
Sabienne must know what’s going through my mind. She gives me an intent look, then she says:
“Congratulations, Kolin! I’m happy you’ve made it this time!”
“I was so close to failing this morning… If that dry log didn’t happen to be around, I would have failed miserably. Only luck saved me.”
“What makes you think it was luck?” Anh retorts. “Let’s say there was no log there. What would you have done?”
“I would have run a little longer. Then I would have jumped in the water, trying to reach the other bank. However, I think the patrol would have caught me without any problem. In my state of fatigue, I was no match for them.”
“How many masters could graduate each year if the patrols guarded with utmost care the whole Wilderness?” Sabienne asks.
Taken by surprise, I look at her, then at Anh. Why have I never thought about it?
“Probably one at most. None in some years. Perhaps one every two-three years or so,” Anh responds. “You see, the patrol’s job is to make the test difficult enough, but not to make it impossible. When they set up traps, they also offer ways out of them. The only real issues are the wild beasts, the terrain, and the weather. Those cannot be controlled. Our standards are high, but we don’t want them to be impossible to achieve. If we did, there would be too few masters of Aquatika in the world, and the art would wither and die within a few generations. ”
So, it seems the log had been set there by the patrol, to give me a chance in case I saw it in time… Anh is right. If the patrol masters had really tried their best, I would have failed. I, and everybody else taking this test.
“You’re right,” I say after a few long moments. “The standards have to be high, but not impossible to achieve.”
“You’re right,” I say after a few long moments. “The standards have to be high, but not impossible to achieve.”
“Your journey is just beginning,” Anh continues. “You’ve got the basics well and can teach them to anyone, but still have to learn the more advanced techniques. In a week or so, I will begin teaching you the higher levels of Aquatika.”
“It’s going to be way more interesting,” Sabienne confirms. “And much tougher,” she adds after a short pause, with a wink.
I was so focused on the conversation that I forgot about the food. The sudden loud grumbling of my stomach reminds me of it. I pick up the chopsticks from the tray and plunge them into the delicious stew of quinoa and fish from the first bowl. I chew slowly, giving myself time to savor the contents. It will take a few days until I get used again to eating normally. And some weeks until I regain the lost weight. Once in a while, I feel the need to glance at the left side of my chest. No, it's not a dream. The badge is still there, warming my heart.
(to be continued...)
A doctor shows up and gives me a quick check on the spot. The wounds I’ve got in the first half of the test have mostly healed. The newer light cuts and bruises don’t seem to need immediate attention. The doctor decides I’m in a reasonably good shape given the circumstances but tells me to come to the medical wing after dinner, for a more detailed checkup.
“How are Lila and Solis doing?” I ask Anh. “They didn’t come to see me tonight.”
“They’re still in the Wilderness. However, we lost contact with them eight days ago. Lila was ahead of you, but a bit more to the east. We expected to see her emerge from the mountains the day before yesterday. However, she didn’t show up. The surveillance team can’t find her anywhere.”
Anh is worried, but he tries to hide it. His suppressed emotions expand and pour into me, stirring my heart beats with cold fear.
“Perhaps I should go with one of the rescue teams,” I say.
“You need to rest. Even if they allowed it, you’d only be a burden in your current state. Don’t waste time with useless thoughts. Go, take a bath, put on the new uniform, and join me for dinner in forty-five minutes.”
Anh is right. I should rest. The masters will do everything in their power to ensure the casualties on the test are as low as possible. And so, I drag myself to the baths. Before I leave, Anh adds:
“You know, Kolin, you are the first one to pass the test this year.”
***
Forty minutes later, clean, freshly shaved, wearing new clothes and new shoes, I come to the cafeteria. I’m glad the press isn’t allowed in here. I can spend a quiet evening and rest until tomorrow when I’ll have to let myself interviewed whether I like it or not.
The cafeteria is a large hall with a ceiling painted in the color of the serene sky. It has a row of tall windows on the back wall, flanked by red velvet curtains. Paintings and bass reliefs depicting fighting scenes cover the side walls. They make the place look almost like an art gallery. Dozens of chairs and black oval tables, neatly aligned, fill most of the space. Several loudspeakers mounted on the ceiling broadcast famous pieces of classical music in the background. The room is about three-quarters full with students, instructors, and masters, all having dinner.
When I step in, I hear my name said out loud on the speakers:
“Let’s give a warm welcome to Kolin Inigo, the newest Aquatika master!”
Everybody stands up and executes three powerful claps in unison. The message is short, but the impression it leaves is tremendous. Their appreciation and respect for my achievement move me to tears. I stop, bow briefly, then proceed towards the counter to get my meal. The line is short and advances quickly. One minute later, with six plates full of delicious food are squeezed on my tray, I’m moving towards the tables. I still haven’t spotted Anh, so my eyes are combing the hall, looking for his presence.
I finally see him at a table near a window. I know less than a quarter of the people here, for I had been living and training in Diana all these years. Anh is having dinner with a group of local students I haven’t seen before and with Sabienne, a beautiful red-haired master who has passed the test two years ago. The last time when I saw her was last year when Anh came here to teach for a week and took me, Lila, and Solis with him. I did a few sparring rounds with Sabienne and lost badly every single one of them. She is one year younger than me. However, unlike in my case, she began treading the path of Aquatika at an early age. Her head start made Sabienne one of the youngest masters in our organization.
Anh and Sabienne see me coming and wave a friendly salute. A seat next to Sabienne is free, and I take it.
“Welcome, master Kolin,” Anh says. “Welcome, my son!”
Sabienne and the three students clap again their hands three times. However, now they do it lightly and without standing up.
Still embarrassed by so much attention, I take my seat without saying anything. The six bowls of food on my tray look so enticing that I could gobble all of them down in less than a minute. And then, obviously, I’d get sick. I certainly need to restrain my impulses for both my health and the sake of good manners.
Sabienne must know what’s going through my mind. She gives me an intent look, then she says:
“Congratulations, Kolin! I’m happy you’ve made it this time!”
“I was so close to failing this morning… If that dry log didn’t happen to be around, I would have failed miserably. Only luck saved me.”
“What makes you think it was luck?” Anh retorts. “Let’s say there was no log there. What would you have done?”
“I would have run a little longer. Then I would have jumped in the water, trying to reach the other bank. However, I think the patrol would have caught me without any problem. In my state of fatigue, I was no match for them.”
“How many masters could graduate each year if the patrols guarded with utmost care the whole Wilderness?” Sabienne asks.
Taken by surprise, I look at her, then at Anh. Why have I never thought about it?
“Probably one at most. None in some years. Perhaps one every two-three years or so,” Anh responds. “You see, the patrol’s job is to make the test difficult enough, but not to make it impossible. When they set up traps, they also offer ways out of them. The only real issues are the wild beasts, the terrain, and the weather. Those cannot be controlled. Our standards are high, but we don’t want them to be impossible to achieve. If we did, there would be too few masters of Aquatika in the world, and the art would wither and die within a few generations. ”
So, it seems the log had been set there by the patrol, to give me a chance in case I saw it in time… Anh is right. If the patrol masters had really tried their best, I would have failed. I, and everybody else taking this test.
“You’re right,” I say after a few long moments. “The standards have to be high, but not impossible to achieve.”
“You’re right,” I say after a few long moments. “The standards have to be high, but not impossible to achieve.”
“Your journey is just beginning,” Anh continues. “You’ve got the basics well and can teach them to anyone, but still have to learn the more advanced techniques. In a week or so, I will begin teaching you the higher levels of Aquatika.”
“It’s going to be way more interesting,” Sabienne confirms. “And much tougher,” she adds after a short pause, with a wink.
I was so focused on the conversation that I forgot about the food. The sudden loud grumbling of my stomach reminds me of it. I pick up the chopsticks from the tray and plunge them into the delicious stew of quinoa and fish from the first bowl. I chew slowly, giving myself time to savor the contents. It will take a few days until I get used again to eating normally. And some weeks until I regain the lost weight. Once in a while, I feel the need to glance at the left side of my chest. No, it's not a dream. The badge is still there, warming my heart.
Books by Marian C. Ghilea:
BUTTERFLY'S DREAM: https://bit.ly/2PM63uU
TIDES OF AMBER: https://bit.ly/2HfcHVB
Image source: Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/photos/scotland-1893644/
No comments:
Post a Comment