Oakaigus #1: Red Bloom Page 4

  “Mmhmm,” the man in blue said with a nod.

  “What rank is it?” Jogen said.

  “…Hmm. It’s a hyperfauna.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Eh,” the man in blue said, “who knows what the writer was thinking? But I’m just an expressman, what do I know? Anyway, we’re ‘bout to be jumping off soon.”

  “Are we the only ones going?” Jogen said.

  “TUH,” the man in blue said, “you’re the first fare I’ve had to this place in two weeks! See, me and Bobo usually do a lot of jumps to Felorra since it’s a big vacation spot. Kengongbo is the only place that never has a set schedule since jumps there are really low in demand, but we still at least have to have a terminal for them since their government’s apart of our continent. We never really hear too much from them, though. They’re strange.”

  “I see,” Mr. Singu said, “well, is it okay to board now?”

  “Sure! I’m just waiting on you two anyway, so whenever you’re ready!”

  “We’re ready.”

  “Bobo,” the man yelled, “sit!”

  Bobo bent over, aligning the balcony of the carrier on his back with the edge of the platform, letting Jogen and Mr. Singu step on.

  Inside the carrier, five rows of seats were embedded into the hard floor, with a window on each side of each row.

  “It’s bigger than it looks from the outside,” Jogen said.

  Jogen dropped his bags on the floor and plopped into the soft, firm seat cushion that tickled his neck. “Ahhh,” he said, “this feels amazing.”

  Mr. Singu put his bags down and sat next to Jogen. “Oh wow,” he said, “this does feel good!”

  The man in blue stepped into the carrier, peaking his head inside. “Alright,” he said, “we’re jumping off in two minutes. Don’t forget your safety belts!”

  Jogen and Mr. Singu nodded and fastened their belts.

  Mr. Singu puffed air through his cheeks and then looked over to Jogen. “Ready?” he said.

  Jogen felt the beating in his chest grow hotter. “…Not really,” he said with his fist clenched in his lap, “but I gotta’ do this.”

  Mr. Singu smirked. “I’m with ya.’”

  The man in blue walked around the outer balcony and entered a smaller compartment box at the front of the carrier. In the box was a window behind the man that connected to the carrier’s main seating room. The man knocked on the window, causing Jogen and Mr. Singu to look up at him. The man raised his index finger and mouthed the words “one more minute” through the glass.

  The man poked his head out of the compartment and yelled “ready, Bobo?!”

  Bobo stretched his long legs and slapped his foot on the ground, stirring up a small tremor that rocked the walls of the station. Two workers that were still on the platform stumbled in place as they felt the tremor vibrate up their bones.

  In a matter of moments, the shaking faded into the walls.

  The man stuck his head out through the other side of the compartment window and turned his attention to the two workers as they were just catching their balance.

  “Hey,” the man yelled to the workers, “reel it up!”

  The workers snapped their arms up to salute the man. They jogged to the corner of the platform and pulled down on a heavy knob with six pegs. Their veins poked through their skin as their muscles strained to pull down the knob.

  The gears connected to the knob started churning and clanking, causing the terminal’s runway gate to rise up from the chasm floor.

  The man settled back into the wide, leather seat of his compartment box and strapped himself in as he stared down the long, stone runway paved in front of them.

  The man dug his fingers deep into his knee. “I never get tired of this,” he said with a grin.

  Back in the seating area, Jogen and Mr. Singu double-checked their safety belts and took deep breaths in.

  Jogen clenched his eyes shut and nibbled on his top lip.

  “You got this,” Mr. Singu said.

  Once the terminal’s takeoff gate rose to the roof with a booming clang, Bobo straightened his posture.

  Bobo took his first step forward through the gate. Once his feet touched the outside runway, he leaped forward.

  His steps turned into stomps. With each stomp, the ground shook.

  With each stomp, the wind pushed harder against him.

  With each stomp, Jogen and Mr. Singu felt their stomachs bounce in their bodies.

  Then, Bobo’s cadence sped up. His feet morphed into rushing, blue blurs. His lungs pumped faster and faster as reached near the end of the runway. Near the last inch, Bobo flexed the muscles in his thighs, causing his legs to bulge three times their size.

  Finally, Bobo launched himself with a ‘BOOM.’

  A shockwave of wind exploded against the stone ground, blowing dirt to the wayside miles away.

  As Bobo ascended against the heavy gusts, Jogen and Mr. Singu’s bodies pressed into the cushion of their seats, feeling the force slightly push their organs towards their backs.

  Jogen’s lungs forced hyperventilated breaths out of his mouth. Mr. Singu grabbed onto Jogen’s knuckles. “YOU GOT THIS,” Mr. Singu said.

  Jogen squeezed his stomach and lowered his head. Slowly, his lungs loosened up and his limbs relaxed. He started to feel lighter as the ascent slightly slowed.

  “I’m good,” Jogen said.

  CHAPTER 10

  Cruising through the sky, Bobo ascended at a slow, steady pace above the crashing tides of the ocean.

  In the carrier, Jogen sat quietly, staring blankly out the window at the passing clouds.

  Mr. Singu, with his eyes closed and head leaning back, started blinking. He stretched up his arms and turned to Jogen.

  “…Something on your mind?” Mr. Singu asked.

  “Not much,” Jogen said, “I just…I don’t know…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  Jogen exhaled softly. “…I was thinking, what if I end up alone?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What if we don’t make it back in time? Lilah might die…all ‘cause of me.”

  Mr. Singu felt a knot hit him in the pit of his stomach. “You can’t think like that, Jo. Somethings in life are just out of our control.”

  “I guess…”

  “Look, I wasn’t there when she got attacked, but I’m here to see what you’re doing now. Now I’ve heard about how rhokuji attack, and honestly, I don’t think there was much you could’ve done without getting hurt. It must’ve been traumatizing seeing that for the first time…”

  Jogen turned his head back towards the window, silent.

  “You know what else,” Mr. Singu resumed, “you didn’t even have to come. I told you it would be dangerous, but you came anyway! That’s means something.”

  “I guess, but—“

  “No. It know it mean something. You’re risking your life for somebody. I don’t see many people doing that, especially at your age. People are cold…but you’re different. You’re trying.

  Jogen turned his head back and stared Mr. Singu in the eyes.

  “And you know,” Mr. Singu said, “I don’t know if this means anything to you, but…if, somehow, we really don’t make it, I just want you to know that I’m here for you, Jo.’ I’ve always been.”

  Jogen felt a tear well up in his eye as a lump grew in his throat.

  “But,” Mr. Singu said, “if we do make it, we’ll go find your mother too! I promise.”

  Jogen gulped away the lump in his throat and wiped the tear from his eye.

  “Thanks, Mr. Singu.”

  “Anytime, kid.”

  The two of them sat for a while, staring silently at the moving clouds.

  “…Hey, Mr. Singu?”

  “Hm?”

  “What was my dad like? Every time I asked mom, she always just changed the subject.”

  “Oh, Seo? Well, actually, I never really got to know him myself. I was always close w
ith your mother, but him, he always kind of stayed to himself. Makes me wonder where he went off to…”

  “Oh, okay. Well, what’s your dad like, then?”

  “Oh, him. Hehe…well, he’s interesting. One moment, he’s so overbearing and goes on about how much he expects ‘this and that’ from me, but other times, he turns into this soft storyteller. He always loves reminiscing.”

  “About what?”

  “Mmm…oh! This is probably one of his favorite stories. The funny thing is, if you met him, you’d see he’s not the type to just believe anything, but this story leaves him baffled every time he thinks about it.”

  “What?”

  “You ever heard about the ‘Guest of Felorra?’”

  “No.”

  “Alright. Supposedly, this is a true story. My father said it all happened when he was 10. He’s 94 now. He grew up in a small village on one of the Felorra Islands. The village was pretty peaceful, but there weren’t any doctors around, so people died from sickness alot. It was a really poor place, he said. Bare bones and the rawest conditions. But one day, a traveler came; the first one they had in years.”

  “Who?”

  “A girl. He said she looked somewhere around maybe 12 or 13. When she came, a few of the elders asked her did she need any help. The girl said she was starving, so they fed her some of their only portions. The girl thanked them, but the girl also noticed a son of one of the villagers was terribly sick. The boy seemed to be near death, until the girl touched the mineral on his head. After that, the boy was healed.”

  “How?!”

  “My father said he doesn’t know. He thought if he followed her sometime, he’d see her trick. But no matter what, he couldn’t find anything. The other villagers told him they saw her perform wonders they’ve never seen.”

  “Like what?”

  “Some said she could just touch wood and it would catch on fire. Some said she could command other animals simply by looking at them, and some said she could even summon thunderstorms just by meditating in the river.”

  “Whoa...”

  “Now, besides all that, he said there was one thing that she did, that to this day, he still can’t believe, even after seeing it himself.”

  “What?”

  “Raise the dead.”

  Jogen’s brow wrinkled sharply. “What?!”

  “That’s right. He said he saw her go to the only place where they buried their dead. All of the bodies that didn’t really decompose yet were the ones she chose. She touched the mineral in their heads too, and he saw them open their eyes.”

  “Wow.”

  “After this, the village took her in. The girl soon brought up ideas to help build the land because she said she wanted others to experience the hospitality she received. She helped them build hotels and food markets. In a year, the land started to prosper when more people found them. That’s how, he said, Felorra became the resort it is today.”

  “That’s something.”

  “Yeah. Once the land’s prosperity grew, the girl soon decided it was time for her to continue her journey. The villagers begged her to stay, but she insisted it was time to leave.”

  “Where’d she go?”

  “Nobody knows. The strange thing was, my father said she never told anybody her name, except the village leader. Only thing was, the leader swore to keep it a secret.”

  “That was the last time he saw her?”

  “That’s what he said. He mentioned the very, last thing she ever told them before she left was that she’ll ‘be back someday,’ but she never did.”

  “She sounds amazing.”

  “If she even existed, that is. I know it all sounds crazy, but I know my father. He isn’t the type to just make stuff up. He hates liars. On the other hand, there’s really no proof this ‘girl’ built anything. No founder’s credits, no nothing. Kinda’ fishy how nobody knew her name. But see, some people think her ‘return’ is really just a ploy to attract more tourists anyway since all the original villagers own all the businesses, including my father. So, I don’t know…”

  “I see. Yeah, that does sound kinda’ weird...”

  “You’re telling me. Well, anyway, we should be landing soon. I’m gonna’ nap for a lil’ while. Let me know when we get there.”

  Mr. Singu leaned his head back into the cushion and closed his eyes.

  CHAPTER 11

  A little under an hour later, the man in blue could see pieces of land through the bodies of clouds. He reached to his side and pulled down a rope. The sound of a bell rung through the carrier, waking Mr. Singu up.

  “H-Huh,” Mr. Singu snorted, “oh…we’re here?”

  “Looks like it,” Jogen replied.

  Bobo let gravity’s pull guide him down to the land. As his descent sped up, he could soon see the runway clearly.

  Bobo hardened the muscles in his legs. Now landing, Bobo touched down, slightly shaking the earth beneath him. He proceeded to run to the open, terminal gate in front of him.

  Bobo entered the terminal’s dock as the gate closed behind him. Bobo then bent down by the edge of the platform and aligned the carrier next to it.

  Jogen and Mr. Singu stepped out with their bags in hand and onto the platform. They made their way into the main hall of the station near the front. As they walked, they only passed by a total of eleven people.

  “Not much going on here,” Mr. Singu said.

  “What now?” Jogen asked.

  “Dr. Yanie gave me a map with Prai’s whereabouts. Supposedly, he’s staying with a friend.”

  Mr. Singu dug into his pocket and pulled out a folded map. “See, here: he’s in the Sciennga Township at 376 Tybus Road. She told us to walk the coastlines since the wildlife doesn’t bother people there.”

  “Is it far?”

  “Looks like a fairly short walk, actually. 15 minutes tops.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Jogen and Mr. Singu exited the station through a long hallway. Once they stepped outside onto the black, stone walkway, the thick smell of soil and rain filled their noses.

  “Ugh,” Jogen said as he shook his shirt, “why is it so humid?!”

  “Perfect place for fungus to grow.”

  They adjusted their bags over their shoulders and treaded along the stone path surrounded by moving water.

  As they walked, Jogen squinted his eyes at the sight of the tides crashing up against the shining, pink sand crystals on the coast. “This place looks amazing,” he said.

  As they took their first steps onto the coast, Jogen gazed up at a colossal, black tree that reached beyond the clouds. “Whoah,” he said with his mouth open, “I can’t even see the top!”

  Still gazing upwards, Jogen took a few, slow steps forward, when a sudden crack sounded off under his feet.

  “WHOAH,” he shouted as he jumped. He looked down and saw the gigantic, red leaf that he stepped through. “This is a leaf?! This is crazy!”

  “It must be from this tree,” Mr. Singu said. Mr. Singu inspected the leaf as he traced its stiff, fuzzy spine with his fingers. “I think I know what this is,” he said, “if I’m right, this is a choccoro leaf!”

  “What’s so special about it?”

  “Hold on.” Mr. Singu reached into his bag and pulled out the Explorer’s Guide. He turned to the “Flora” section under the Kengongbo chapter.

  “…I knew it! It’s a leaf that top cooks use to make their dishes unbeatable! It even helps eliminates tumors! I’ve got to get a sample!”

  Mr. Singu started rummaging through his bags.

  “Ohhh,” Jogen said, “so how does it mak—“

  Suddenly, a giant, brown beast with sharp scales leaped from the thornbushes with a screeching roar.

  Mr. Singu felt a pump of adrenaline shoot through his veins as he switched up to grab for the sawblade in his bag. He rushed to unwrap the blade and slashed at the beast.

  As the beast drew near, Mr. Singu’s blade made contact.

  “Got i
t,” he thought in a split second.

  However, the blade broke the instant it collided with the beast’s scales.