Huia Short Stories 11 (5 page)

Happy someone had finally noticed, he clenched his jaw and flexed his biceps as hard as possible.

‘I haven't shown you my secret moves yet,' he pointed out. ‘Do you want to see them?'

‘Maybe someone will see and then they won't be secret any more?'

No'o looked over at the group, just in case.

‘Do you know Taiki has an invisible weapon?' said Haani.

‘An invisible weapon! What is it?'

Now she had his attention back, she reached over and tapped his forehead.

‘It's in there.'

‘What do you mean?'

‘It's his mind.'

‘Huh?' said No'o, confused.

‘Taiki's a powerful warrior and leader because he has a powerful body and a powerful mind. The body is visible but the mind is his invisible weapon.'

‘Huh? That's not a weapon. That's his head and it's not invisible. What can you do with a head?'

‘You know some things that it does already.'

‘Like what?'

‘It sees. It has eyes, and because you can turn your head, it can see everywhere. You can also use your eyes to talk. That's good, huh?'

She leant her head to the side, turned the corners of her mouth downward, and performed a pūkana, rolling her bulging eyeballs from side to side. No'o cringed, unsure if he liked that or not.

‘That's ugly!'

‘Shut your eyes for a second,' she said. ‘I'll show you something else.'

No'o shut his eyes. She reached out and flicked his ears.

‘Ow!' he yelled, catching the attention of the group nearby. ‘What did you do that for?'

‘Now you know what I mean. You have two eyes in your head, so use them.'

‘That's stupid,' he said.

She continued.

‘Not only can the head see, but it can breathe. Without breathing, you're dead.'

‘Huh?'

‘Go on! Do it!'

No'o took a deep breath and then puffed up his chest and his cheeks and squeezed his lips together. Haani couldn't believe how easy this was.

‘That's a good boy. Now you keep that up, and I'll keep talking.'

On she went, his face slowly getting redder and redder. By now everyone could see something strange was going on. No'o noticed and tried even harder. He let out a breath and quietly sucked in another. Almost immediately several people began to laugh at his puffed up chest and tiny red face. Unamused, he stood up and reached for his stick. Suddenly his head began to spin and he fell forward, his head landing heavily in the sand. The group burst into laughter at the sight of his bare bum in the air. He was so angry he leapt to his feet and pulled his loin cloth back down. He then reached out for his stick again, and his whole world spun out of control. He fell back into Haani's arms. She held him close so he couldn't see her smile. He was already sulking.

‘Your head will stop spinning soon. Just stay still, calm down. You've just learnt your first and most important lesson as a warrior. All life's important lessons you learn from a grandmother.'

‘What lesson?' he asked, still wounded.

‘Where the head goes, the body will follow! Now, don't ever forget what a grandmother told you! So, do you know what else the head can do, No'o?'

‘What?' he asked, still sulking.

‘It can eat and drink. This is how you make the body strong and healthy. Don't put anything in your mouth that makes you cough or throw up. It's bad for you.'

‘You said Taiki has an invisible weapon, but now you're just making things up.'

‘He has. Let me finish. He has ears too. You should try and use them instead of having them there just to get clipped.'

She clipped his ears again to make a point.

‘Ow!' he squealed, covering his ears with his hands for the second time.

‘So use your ears, and I'll tell you the invisible part of his secret weapon. You want to hear it?'

‘Only if it's something real.'

‘It's real and it's invisible. It's his mind.'

‘Huh?'

‘Yeah! It's his mind.You know the head is tapu, don't you?'

‘I thought it was only the chief's head that's tapu.'

‘That's what most people believe, but everyone's head is tapu, not just his. Don't be scared of touching his head. I touch it every day. It won't make you sick any more than anyone else's will, but as a young boy learning the fighting arts of mau rākau, you must know this. Don't ever hit someone in the head. It's tapu for a reason.'

No'o tried to make sense of what she said. Most, he understood.

‘Why shouldn't I hit the head?' he asked.

‘Because of the mind inside. Treat it as tapu. Everyone's!'

‘How is the mind a weapon if it's inside? How do you get it out? By spitting?'

‘No'o. Spitting will just get you in big trouble. No, the mind is a tool you can use many ways, even as a weapon. Taiki doesn't just pick up a stick and hit someone with it. First he uses his mind to decide if it's the right thing to do.'

Haani could see he was getting confused. She was going to have to explain more to a budding warrior in training.

‘Do you understand me yet? Can you see why Taiki is a great leader? He uses all his senses to make the right decision.'

‘But I sensed those people over there are going to be mean to you, and because you're too old and Taiki isn't here to protect you, I should fight them for you.'

‘It's good you want to stop people being mean to others, but you don't understand the situation. Those people are hurt about some things and they are angry, but we are family. They won't be violent to me.'

‘How do I know that?' he asked.

‘You aren't old enough to know yet, because you have no experience. You have a strong body now and one day you will have a strong mind too, but not yet.' Haani reached over and gave No'o's biceps another squeeze.

‘Are you feeling better yet? Has your head stopped spinning?'

‘My head stopped spinning but now my mind is spinning. You're a spinner.'

‘You're a spinner. Now get up and go play with your friends, and get some experience.'

‘What shall I do? Where can I get experience?' asked No'o.

‘Ask Tangaroa,' she said, deliberately changing the topic. Now No'o was really confused, but Haani didn't wait for him to ask for an explanation.

‘Last night Taiki told me Tangaroa told you a secret. Is that true?'

No'o didn't know what to say. He dropped his gaze to his feet and shrugged his shoulders.

‘Do you talk to Tangaroa, or does he talk to you?' she asked. Again he shrugged his shoulders, but Haani sensed there was something behind his embarrassment. He may have been ridiculed about it before.

‘Not many people are lucky enough to speak with Tangaroa. We all come from him, one day we will return to him, that is why we all pray to him, but there are very few he talks to directly. Maybe he likes you. Do you like him?'

Meekly he nodded.

‘Do you know his real names? One of them is Tangaroa-whakamautai.'

‘He told me that was one of his names.' said No'o. ‘Who told you?'

‘Taiki told me. He learnt navigation before he became chief. Only those who have learnt navigation know him by all his names.'

No'o was thinking hard, searching her face for answers to things he couldn't explain.

‘But if he's called Tangaroa-whakamautai, how can he move the tides if he lives in the sky?'

‘I think he lives in the sky, but I've heard some navigators say he lives in the ocean. Perhaps he lives where he likes. Maybe he lives within you.'

No'o didn't know about that, but still could hardly believe the rest of what he was hearing. Not only was Taiki a great chief and warrior, he was a trained navigator.

‘How can I be like Taiki?' he asked.

‘You need to develop your invisible weapon. Use your eyes and your ears more than your mouth, and listen to your feelings. That's how you train your mind. A good start will be at the next meeting.'

‘What meeting?' he asked.

‘I think there will be one soon enough. Now go and play with your friends.'

‘If I run faster, will I get experience faster?'

No'o didn't wait for an answer. He jumped up from her lap, picked up his stick and sprinted down the beach towards the group of adults. At the last second he side-stepped past with his tongue thrust out in defiance. He then kept sprinting up the beach to the point where the men began and ended their daily mau rākau training. He threw his stick on the beach and dived head first in to the lagoon.

Taiki was just emerging from the wharenui when he looked back across the lagoon towards Te Kainga, to see a young boy running in to the water. The daily training was finished, and it was unusual to see young boys swim across the lagoon alone – normally they didn't have the power to handle the tides. A waka ama was on its way out to follow the boy, and a group of people were over there watching. Taiki decided to do the same.

Initially Taiki didn't know what to expect, but soon it was clear the boy was attempting to swim right across the lagoon. Fortunately the tide was going with him. His technique was terrible and his breathing desperate. He was clearly tiring, but he kept going, ignoring the pleas from the occupant of the waka ama trailing him. He finally made it to the other side, unaware of Taiki watching from further along in the dunes. Panting heavily, he walked up the beach and sat down to get his breath back. He looked back towards Te Kainga, where the small crowd had grown larger. In the water in front of him was the young man in his waka ama, yelling to him.

‘Hey, No'o. Come on, jump in. I'll take you back.'

‘No, I'm going to swim back.'

Without another word, No'o ran down to the shore and dived in. Every adult knew the tide was against him now, and quickly another waka ama was sent out to meet him. On and on No'o went, punching his skinny arms into the water, miraculously edging across. With every stroke, a chant rung out from the shore, and with every chant he responded. Finally he felt his hand hit sand. As he tried to stand up, he was yanked to his feet by his concerned mother.

‘My son! What did you do that for? You had everyone worried!' Aro'a asked as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tight. He was gasping for air so hard he couldn't answer.

‘That was great, boy!' said one of the elders, patting him on the head.

‘Why did you do that, No'o?' repeated another.

‘Yes. Why son? Did your father put you up to it?' asked Aro'a.

Eventually he managed an answer.

‘I want to be like Taiki,' he spluttered.

‘Nice role model,' said an elder. The sarcasm went over No'o's head.

As if on cue, Taiki arrived to join the small crowd. A small gap opened up allowing him to see who it was. His face lit up in surprise.

‘No'o! That was incredible. We were a lot older than you when we could do that. Who put you up to it?'

‘No one.'

‘Then why did you do it? It's very dangerous,' Taiki asked, looking around the circle. Everyone waited with baited breath.

‘I just wanted to get strong,' he said.

‘Well, be proud of yourself! My father used to say a strong body is a strong mind and a strong mind is a strong body!'

Taiki gave No'o a squeeze on the arm.

‘Wow, you are strong too.'

With a smile he patted No'o on the head and went to join Haani, oblivious to how his praise would influence No'o from this day forward.

Haani stopped weaving when Taiki arrived, getting up to greet him with a kiss.

‘Did you see what happened?' he said.

Haani nodded. ‘I think it might be my fault. It won't be the last time we see feats like that! Anyway, how was it over there?' she said, leaning her head towards the wharenui. ‘Still too much chatter?'

‘Let's go somewhere more private. It might take a while.'

Today Taiki didn't take Haani to their usual spot. There was still a crowd gathered around No'o near the lagoon. Instead, he led her to the ocean side of the island, away from prying eyes and big ears. Soon they'd reached another favourite spot, with a wide unhindered view of the outer lagoon, the reef at its edge and the wide open sea beyond. They sat down with their backs against a log, looking out across Moana-roa. Haani could see there was a lot on his mind so told him to just begin where he wanted.

‘I'm certain Arepuni and Ave are calling us to come. They found this land called Avaiki-tautau, exactly where Ave said they would, but it's so incredible, it's almost too good to be true. I've told you about the size of the island, the endless bush, the three huge mountains in a line in the middle, and another near the coast, but you should see the birds. They are huge and deafening. Lots of them don't even fly, they walk around. Some are as big as men, even bigger! The oceans are full of fish and whales. There are lakes and huge waterfalls, and enormous rivers full of fish and crayfish. There are bubbling pools of hot water, and fountains of water bursting from the earth.'

A smile spread across Haani's face as she tried to imagine mountains. She loved hearing the descriptions from people who had been to Aitutaki or Tumu-te-varovaro, but these were nothing compared to what she was now hearing. In reality, though, the geography didn't interest her at all.

‘What about the crew?'

‘They are standing on the shore waving. There is a small child with them holding on to the legs of the woman. I think it is a girl, about five years old.'

‘There were twelve in their crew. In your dream?'

‘Just nine. One is a woman, and one is a child. I can't see any faces.They're blurry.'

‘Is it possible they're still alive now? It was twenty years ago.' asked Haani.

‘They would've returned. Even if the waka taurua was destroyed, they would've rebuilt one by now. Surely?'