Oakaigus #1: Red Bloom Page 3
“Sounds like a great guy.”
“Yup! Honestly, I never would’ve even gotten this far up the ladder if it wasn’t for him. Everything secret he’s taught me about cures, the potential of our bodies, and all the mysteries in the world, is just mind-blowing. That’s why I want you to look for babaseing under him.
“M-ME?”
“Look, I’m really sorry to just drop this on you all of a sudden, but you’re the only free person who I haven’t asked before about this. It would help Lilah, and, an extra person would be a big help for him.”
“Why? He’s the genius, it seems.”
“It’s not that simple. In Salei’s research, he documented how short the lifespan of a babaseing patch was: no longer than half-a-day. It fruits fast, but dies fast, so once a patch dies, you’d have to wait for the perfect environmental conditions again for them to fruit. That is, if you know where its spore were blown off to. That’s why he’s been there for two extra years.”
“And we’ve only got six months…”
“Unfortunately.”
“Okay, I know that region’s huge, so where exactly is he? What’s his name?”
“He goes by Prai, and he’s at Kaiser Mount. It’s the only place known to have the conditions babaseing can grow in. If you decide to take the Lekobo Express, I’ll pay the fare.”
“Really? Well…if I’m really the only person, I’ve got no choice.”
“But what about the diner?” Jogen said.
“Oh yeah. Ummm…I guess I’ll just get my sister to take over for me. She’s done it before.”
“Perfect,” Dr. Yanja said, “Just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll set everything up!”
“That’s fine,” Mr. Singu said, “but what about you? Are you coming?”
“Tch, I wish. I’m tied up with work. I really wish I knew someone to join you, but everybody’s so scared of the beasts there.”
Jogen gulped and tightened his grip on his thigh.
“Um,” Jogen said, “a-are the beasts there really THAT strong?”
“I take it you haven’t heard much about Kengongbo either. Let me ask you this: you ever heard of the Fauna Scale?”
“No.”
“Okay, so there’s a book called the ‘Oakaigan Continental Explorer’s Guide.’ It’s on its 3rd edition right now, but the weird thing is, the author’s unknown.”
“No clues at all?”
“None. Weird if you ask me, but all the info in it is spot-on, so researchers approve of it. Oh, by the way, thanks for reminding me. I’ll get a copy for Mr. Singu.”
“Thanks for that,” Mr. Singu replied.
“Anyway,” Dr. Yanja resumed, “in the guide, there are sections dedicated to all the known wildlife. It covers the twenty-eight continents known so far. Now, at the start of the chapter, there’s a chart showing the six ranks of life: in order, first is ‘fauna,’ then ‘superfauna,’ then ‘hyperfauna,’ ‘gigafauna,’ ‘terrafauna,’ and finally, ‘Deivafauna.’ Life at the fauna rank are the weakest, while the Deivafauna are the deadliest of all. This chart measures a species’ rank on the food chain based on its average size, strength, speed, intelligence, special abilities, and social coordination.”
“Are we on there too?”
“Yup! Now us humalds, we’re superfauna. Our intelligence is considered our best weapon with our social coordination being a major help, but we’re SERIOUSLY lacking in all other departments compared to the beasts out there…on ‘average,’ that is. See, there’s one, big thing the chart can never predict, and that’s latent potential. It can only measure average abilities commonly known, which brings me to me next point: Kengongbo.”
Jogen straightened up his posture.
“That region,” she resumed, “is swarming with hyperfauna, meaning overall, they’re a step above us. One example: ever heard of bhragons?”
“What are they?”
“They’re only about a couple feet taller than us. They’re not very smart, with barely any special abilities. But, a couple years ago, twelve scientists were studying bhragon clans. One day, they saw a baby bhragon throwing a tantrum, and next thing they knew, it made a mountain crumble with just a swipe from its claw.”
Jogen and Mr. Singu felt sudden jolts in their heartbeats.
“A mountain?!” Jogen said.
“A whole mountain. And sad thing is, only two of those twelve scientists came back alive.”
“Damn…” Mr. Singu whispered.
“I promise I’m not trying to scare you. It’d be a crime if I didn’t tell you the truth about the things you’ll face. Now, I’m not forcing you to go, I just wanted to throw out what the best bet is. It’s entirely up to you, Singu. Still in?”
Mr. Singu put his thumb to his mouth and bit down on his thumbnail. After moments of silence, he finally said, “I’ll do it.”
“That settles it. Now I’m off to—“
“WAIT,” Jogen shouted.
Dr. Yanja turned her head with her brow raised.
“I…I…” Jogen felt queasy in the bowels of his stomach. But soon, Jogen took slow, steady breaths, balling up his fist, followed by a furrowing of his brow.
“I,” he resumed with bass in his voice, “I’ll go too!”
“Now, Jo’,” Mr. Singu said, “this is way too dangerous. You’re only 15. I don’t think I can let you do this.”
Jogen felt his queasiness deepen, but he gritted his teeth and puffed up his chest. “No,” he said, “you don’t understand. I have to go. If I had actually helped Lilah, none of this would’ve happened. It’s my fault…”
After Dr. Yanja stared into Jogen’s eyes for a moment, she shrugged her shoulders. “Well,” she said, “if that’s how you feel, I have no problem with it. But I’ll only pay your fare if it’s alright with Mr. Singu.”
Mr. Singu scrunched up his lips as he breathed in. He gazed at Jogen’s posture: head held high, shoulders squared, and fists balled. Mr. Singu soon felt a warm rush of adrenaline flutter in his chest.
Breathing out, Mr. Singu opened his mouth: “…You’re really sure about this?”
“I’ve got no choice.”
“…Alright then. You can come.”
“That’s that,” Dr. Yanja said, “I’ll give you the Guide along with the map to Prai’s whereabouts. See you soon!”
CHAPTER 8
After a week, Jogen and Mr. Singu were home, packing sacks of cloth with wrapped food, clothes, and tools.
Mr. Singu dug through a wooden box filled with metal tools. He reached deep down and pulled out a saw-tooth blade. “Jo,” he said, “here.”
Jogen turned his head and took the blade. He glared at his reflection in the blade for a moment before wrapping it up and stuffing it in one of his bags.
Coming down the stairs came a short, lean woman whose curly, black hair bounced as she treaded across each step.
“How’s she doing, sis,” Mr. Singu said to the woman.
“She’s okay,” she said, “she’s not having spasms anymore, but she’s just really tired.”
“Ms. Fae,” Jogen said, “have you seen my blue shirt?”
“I think I saw it between your bed and the wall.”
“Thank you.” Jogen went up to his room and checked in the space by his bed. He saw a ruffled, blue tunic on the floor. “Got it,” he mumbled to himself.
After he stuffed the shirt in his bag, he turned his head when he heard the slow sound of Lilah’s hollow breaths as she rested in her bed. Her leg was wrapped tightly with a clean, white cloth.
Jogen walked slowly up to her and kneeled to her side. “I’m sorry,” he said with his voice shaking, “I’ll make things right.”
When Jogen rose to his feet, he took a look at Lilah’s face, biting his bottom lip as his right eye teared up.
Just as he turned around, he felt a hand slap onto his arm. He looked back and saw Lilah reaching out to him with her eyes half-open.
“Be back,” Lilah said softly.
Jogen froze in place. He carefully lifted his arm and gripped Lilah’s hand, embracing the warmth of her palm.
“Gotcha’,” he said, wiping the tear from his eye.
Jogen struggled to take a step, but when he did, his grip on Lilah’s hand wouldn’t let up, until he took another step and let her fingers slide from his grasp, walking away while still biting on his lip.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Fae and Mr. Singu were finishing packing up.
“Got everything?” Fae said.
“Yeah, all good. Any more questions ‘bout the shop?”
“You pretty much covered everything. Don’t worry, you’ll have two diners when you get back.”
“Haha! I’ll hold you to that.”
“You know,” Fae said, “father’s really gonna’ want to see you after this. You gonna’ go see him when you get back?”
“Eh…not yet. Just give me a little more time.”
“It’s fine.”
Fae and Mr. Singu heard slow footsteps coming down the stairwell. Jogen came down sniffling and rubbing his eyes.
“Said your goodbyes?” Mr. Singu asked.
Jogen nodded a “yes” in response.
“It’s okay to let it all out, you know,” Mr. Singu said.
“I know…”
Mr. Singu then grabbed all three of his bags and hurled them over his broad shoulders.
“Got everything, Jo?” Mr. Singu said.
Jogen tightened the strings on his bags. “Yeah,” he replied, clearing his throat.
“Good. Our carrier’s outside.”
Jogen hunched his back to swing the bags over his shoulder. As they approached the door, Mr. Singu lifted his free arm when he turned to Fae.
“Alright, sis,” Mr. Singu said, “be safe. Don’t forget Lilah’s checkups.”
“I’m not THAT old.” Fae and Mr. Singu shared a small chuckle as they reached out to hug each other. “Please,” she said, “be safe.”
“You too…Let’s go, Jo.”
Mr. Singu backed away to let Jogen hug Fae. “Bye, Ms. Fae,” he said.
“Stay safe, Jo! I wanna’ see you again!”
Jogen then stepped away and followed behind Mr. Singu, stepping out into the bright rays of the sun.
Outside, a large, metal cart manned by a short, elderly man riding on the back of a tall, yellow animal with a shaggy, white mane. “Singu?” the elderly man asked.
“Yes sir!”
“Alright, let’s be off!”
Jogen and Mr. Singu stepped to the back of the cart and lifted the metal cage. They threw their bags inside and hopped in, closing the gate behind them.
“YAH,” the elderly man shouted as he pumped his heels against the sides of the animal. The animal lunged forward, causing Jogen and Mr. Singu’s bodies to jerk from their seats.
“No safety belts?” Mr. Singu grumbled.
Jogen settled back into his seat and watched through the cage as the distance between him and the diner grew further and further.
CHAPTER 9
After two hours of passing sceneries in the wild, Jogen and Mr. Singu finally arrived at a bay with a huge stone sign that said “Lekobo Regional Express.”
Jogen and Mr. Singu unlocked the cage and slid it up. They grabbed their bags and swung them over their shoulders.
“Thank you,” Mr. Singu shouted to the elderly man.
“You take care now!” the man yelled as he waved and went his own way.
Jogen and Mr. Singu entered the station, stepping onto wooden planks lodged into the dirt.
They stepped toward the entrance gate where a female clerk was stationed, wearing a long, blue robe with a blue and gold cap. She stood behind a white desk accompanied by two men towering above her with their heads held high and their hands latched onto their guns.
“Welcome to Lekobo Station,” the clerk said, smiling, “may I see your passes?”
Jogen and Mr. Singu pulled two yellow tickets from their pockets and handed them to her.
“Thank you,” she said, “give me a moment to verify.”
The clerk reached into her pocket and pulled out a red lens. She put the lens over her left eye and saw the special ink stamp in the fabric of the tickets.
“Perfect,” she said, “here’s your receipt passes. Enjoy your trip!”
The clerk handed them two pink tickets and unlocked the heavy, iron gate behind her.
“Thank you,” Jogen said.
The two of them stepped through the gate and looked up at the four, long walkways that led to each terminal.
They passed by the first three terminals that each said: “Sirioud Region,” “Felorra Region” and “Gojuju Region.” All three terminals were filled with the sound of chatter and laughter by people hugging and children chasing each other, with Felorra having the biggest crowd.
After passing these terminals, they arrived at the end of the walkway to the “Kengongbo Region” terminal. There, no one stood in sight.
“Well,” Mr. Singu said, “at least we’ll have a quiet ride.”
After they entered the Kengongbo terminal, they saw the entrances to three bays inside as they approached the “Kaiser Mount” bay. They saw a man wearing all blue attire standing next to another guard.
“Tickets please,” the man said with his hand in his pocket, chewing on a toothpick.
Jogen and Mr. Singu presented their receipt tickets. The man in blue glanced at the tickets and nodded his head. “Alright,” the man said, “this way.”
The man unlocked the gate, causing its iron to creak as light from the roof’s opening bled through the crack.
Inside, a behemoth was revealed: a creature covered in a thin, wet biofilm with a light blue backside and a pudgy, white stomach. The creature slept soundly in a stone chasm built into the ground. Its breaths from its loud snores moved the large, iron carrier box strapped to its back up and down with the rhythm of its expanding chest.
“WHOAH,” Jogen said with his eyes widened, “what’s that?! It’s huge!”
The man in blue felt a tick in his cheek. Suddenly, a smile grew on his bearded face that caused his toothpick to fall out.
“That,” the man in blue said with his chest puffed out, “is a broagphin!”
“I don’t think I’m too familiar with them,” Mr. Singu said.
“Hehe,” the man said, “in that case, let me tell you a bit. But first-“
The man tucked his thumb and index finger between his lips and whistled twice.
“BOBO!” the man shouted as his voice echoed through the terminal.
Bobo the broagphin felt the man’s whistle ring through his earholes. Bobo’s large, black eyes slowly opened as he blinked twice.
Bobo shook his head and stood up on all four of his long, muscular legs. Bobo looked down at the man and bellowed a hollow, medium-pitch croak.
“Had a good nap?” the man said.
Bobo bent down and nuzzled his wet head gently against the man’s body.
“He really likes you,” Mr. Singu said.
“This is my best buddy here! Broagphins are some of the friendliest things you’ll ever meet! Just don’t take their grub. Ever.”
“So,” Jogen said, “how does this trip go? I’ve never taken the Express.”
The man tipped his hat downward with a grin. “Ah,” he said, “I meant to tell ya.’ See, pound for pound, broagphins have the strongest legs out there! Just give him a minute to warm up, then we jump!”
“How long is the trip?” Jogen asked.
“A little over an hour.”
Jogen bulged his eyes out. “Wait…this is all in one jump?!”
“In one jump.”
“Hold on a sec,’” Mr. Singu said as he reached into his bag. After digging for a little while, Mr. Singu pulled out a heavy, dark-brown book.
“What’s that?” Jogen said.
“It’s the Explorer’s Guide that Yanie gave me. They should have a section about broagphins, I assume.�
�� Mr. Singu read through the index and then turned the pages.
“Let’s see,” he mumbled as he turned, “…Ah, here. It says they have the longest jump span of any known animal. The longest single jump of 2 hours and 38 minutes was recorded in 18309.”