Voyages of the Flying Dragon (32 page)

‘I am here because he needs me to be here.'

Missy suppressed a sigh and studied her sleeping brother's face. He always managed to appear so peaceful when he was asleep. The creases that so often marred his forehead when he was troubled smoothed themselves out. The tightness around his eyes lessened. His mouth went slack, and a spot of drool dribbled down his chin. Absently, she used the corner of his blanket to wipe it away. Lenis. Her little brother. When he woke up she would have to say goodbye to him. Tears formed
at the corners of her eyes and then began to fall. Kanu left them in peace.

Lenis woke from what he thought might have been a bad dream, but he couldn't remember what it had been about. The Bestia were all over him, and Suiteki was looped over his neck, but he resisted the urge to pull himself free of them. Instead, he settled deeper into his bunk and tried to fall back asleep. There would be time enough to deal with reality when he was properly awake. He placed his hand over his pocket to make sure the stone was still there. For now he was content to let his body rest and his mind drift back into his dreams.

A moment later his eyes flew open. Karasu. He didn't have the time to lie around in his bunk. He tried to disentangle himself from his Bestia without waking them, but of course they stirred as soon as he moved. Lenis placed a hand over Suiteki and transferred her into the space inside his robe she loved so much. Aeris mewed at him before curling up on his pillow. Lenis scratched her between the ears, gave Ignis a quick pat, and then headed up to the bridge. It was empty. Lenis went back down to their makeshift infirmary. Shujinko was the only one there. The cabin boy was lying on one of the tables, wrapped up in blankets. He didn't seem too happy about it, either.

‘Where is everyone?' Lenis asked.

Shujinko glared at him. His left eye was still discoloured
from the beating Lenis had given him. ‘They have gone into Haven.'

Lenis nodded, moving around Hiroshi's bench to place Suiteki back in her nest. She didn't want to, but Lenis tapped the baby dragon gently on the nose. She snipped at him, her hunger pushing against his senses until he rummaged around in the cupboard and found the jar of tidbits Hiroshi kept for her. Suiteki snapped up the kernels of dried meat and sent a blast of recrimination at Lenis for tapping her on the nose. He grimaced and nudged her with remorse.

Lenis was surprised when he sensed her satisfaction. ‘Well, my lady, aren't we growing up into quite the little princess?'

‘What did you say?' Shujinko snapped.

Lenis stood up to see the cabin boy straining up from his makeshift pallet to look over Hiroshi's bench. ‘I was speaking to Suiteki. Shouldn't you be lying down?'

‘I am fine.'

‘You don't
look
fine.'

The two glared at each for a moment, and then Shujinko looked away. ‘You did nothing.'

Lenis felt coldness spread through his chest. ‘What?'

‘During the battle, you did nothing,' Shujinko repeated. ‘Ever since you beat me, I have wanted to challenge you again, to test myself against you. Two warriors using their full power without holding back. But I no longer wish for that. There is no honour to be won or lost in challenging a weakling.'

Lenis's heart beat faster. His surging blood warmed his whole body. ‘Just a min –'

‘You have power, Lenis, but you do not use it. Shinzōn swordsmen spend all of their time training. Every moment of every day. It is their purpose, their focus. Everything they do and everything they are is their sword. You do not even possess a weapon. Your sister is more of a warrior than you are. No matter how much you may wish it, you will never be one. You are not a fighter.'

Lenis stood there dumbfounded, resentment boiling inside him, but he couldn't refute Shujinko's words. The cabin boy had been badly wounded fighting the Demons, protecting their crewmates, while Lenis had cowered behind Kanu.

‘I doubt the dragon can even understand you,' Shujinko said, and lay down again to gaze at the ceiling.

‘She understands enough,' Lenis mumbled, his voice made hollow by the cabin boy's casual dismissal of his prowess. With a few small statements Shujinko had shattered Lenis's illusions of himself as any sort of warrior. He made mockery of all of Lenis's training. How pathetic his few practice bouts must have seemed to the fully trained Shinzōn boy. No, not boy. Swordsman. Shujinko was a swordsman, just like Yami and the captain. He would be the one fighting Demons alongside them. Not Lenis. In light of the cabin boy's words such private dreams were made vainglorious and childish, and his words weren't even the worst of it. Shujinko no longer hated Lenis. He no longer resented him. If Shujinko
felt anything for Lenis it was pity, the same pity he reserved for any helpless creature.

Lenis turned from the cabin boy and crouched down next to Suiteki again. The little dragon was still gorging herself on treats. Blinking through tears, Lenis pulled the marred stone from his pocket and offered it up to her.

Suiteki gulped down her mouthful and looked at the stone with her head tilted to the side. Lenis pushed it a little closer, and Suiteki scrabbled out of her nest to sniff it. She cawed and then licked the orb's surface. Lenis felt nothing from the stone, but the sadness that welled up inside the baby Totem was so intense he hastily put the thing back in his pocket. So, he had been right. There was something wrong with it.

‘… are you even listening to me?'

Lenis rubbed at his face before standing. ‘Sorry, what?'

‘I said,' Shujinko repeated slowly, ‘you should probably get to the temple in Haven. The captain wanted you at the meeting.'

‘What meeting?'

Shujinko sniffed and looked away. ‘The one they're having to decide the
Hiryū
's fate. Without me.'

Missy sat on a chair next to Fox's divan and tried to avoid the questioning looks her crewmates were directing at her.
Former
crewmates, she reminded herself. They were soon going to find out that she had decided to leave them. She hoped they would understand. She knew that they would, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty for abandoning them without a communications officer.

The Bestia had been cleared from the temple, which was now ringed in divans occupied by the crews of the
Geschichte
and the
Hiryū
. The doctor had forbidden Shujinko from leaving his pallet in the galley, so the cabin boy wasn't there. He had given the same order to Arthur and Andrea, since their injuries were just as severe. Both had ignored him. Arthur needed to be carried in, but he now sat stoically next to the captain, his chest rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm. Andrea was sitting rigidly next to Shin. The lookout
had refused all offers for aid. The thick bandages wrapped around her head were bloodied, but she made no complaint. Her brother, Angelus, sat on the divan directly next to hers, his eyes never leaving her face, his body tense as if he was waiting to spring up and lend her his hand. Andrea had barely acknowledged the boy's presence.

Ursula stood between two men. One was skinny. His name was Charles Mild. The other was short and muscular and went by the name Gustav von Something-Or-Other. On either side of them was a woman Ursula introduced as Helena Vortrag and a rather average-looking Heiliglander named Joseph Hexenmeister. It was a small crew for an airship, even for one the size of the
Geschichte
.

There were a few representatives from the Brotherhood scattered around, too, though these seemed to be a token force, as the Cunning Lady would be speaking for all of them. Two of them flanked Kenji, who was sitting on a chair in the middle of the ring of divans. Yami stood directly behind him, his arms hidden in the depths of his sleeves, his eyes boring into the back of Kenji's skull.

Her brother wasn't present. A part of Missy hoped he would sleep through the whole thing so that she would get a chance to tell him about her decision in private. Another part of her, one she didn't like very much, wished he would arrive before they started so that she wouldn't have to look directly into his eyes and tell him she was leaving.

Her stomach felt as though it was tied in knots. Fox raised
a hand, and those gathered fell silent. Missy was almost relieved until her brother came sprinting into the hall. He saw her, sitting on the raised dais with Fox. She could tell he was puzzled, but she shook her head, refusing to meet his eyes. He took a seat between Arthur and the captain.

‘Very well, ladies and gentlemen,' Fox said. ‘Let us begin.'

Lenis gazed at Missy, who was most definitely trying
not
to look back at him. Why was she sitting with the Fox Lady? Unease ate at him, refusing to be stilled.

The captain cleared his throat, capturing everyone's attention except for Missy, who glanced at him and then turned her head to the side when Lenis tried to catch her eye. ‘I would request that we keep this meeting short. Our adversary is getting ever further away from us.'

‘Which one?' Fox asked, any trace of her flippancy gone. She sat with her back erect, her eyes alert. ‘You seem to have many, Captain Shishi. If you wish to hurry this meeting along, I suggest you explain yourself as quickly as you can.'

The captain nodded and launched into a hasty account of the
Hiryū
's voyages. Lenis was a little shocked by his candour – he didn't shy away from telling them the truth. He was even more surprised that the Cunning Lady didn't seem at all astonished. In fact, she didn't even blink when the captain mentioned Ishullanu and his Demon army, or the World Tree and the fate of the Totem.

Ursula was another matter. The captain of the
Geschichte
was radiating alarm throughout the captain's story, though her expression remained impassive. The captain finished his recount with a summary of their encounter with Karasu in Kolga's temple.

The Fox Lady nodded once when he was done. ‘Thank you. Given the importance of your quest there seems little point in delaying your departure.'

Lenis looked to Captain Shishi, who remained focused on the Cunning Lady.

‘You are letting us go?' the captain asked.

‘Yes.' The woman waved a dismissive hand at them. ‘You may go.'

‘What of Kenji Jackson's offer?'

The woman smiled, just enough for her eyeteeth to show. ‘I have had a better one.'

‘What will you do with him?' the captain prompted.

Her smile widened as she turned to the
Hiryū
's navigator. ‘I have decided on a suitable punishment for his crimes.'

‘Oh, good,' Kenji muttered. ‘Am I to be tortured? Thrown out into the Wastelands? Perhaps boiled –'

‘No, Kenji,' the woman said. ‘I have decided to hand you over to the crew of the
Hiryū
. Your fate is now in their hands.'

Almost as one, each of the crew turned from the Cunning Lady to the navigator, the man who had attempted to barter everything they had been fighting for to save his own life.

‘Very well, then,' Captain Shishi said, then stood. ‘Let us make haste. Mister Jackson, you are needed at your post.'

‘Captain!' Shin protested. ‘Surely you do not mean for us to take him with us after what he did?'

The captain nodded. ‘He is still our navigator, Miss Shin. Now come, we must –'

‘I'm not going with you,' Missy suddenly shouted. All eyes turned to her, and Lenis saw his sister shrink down in her chair. ‘I'm not going.'

‘Missy?' Lenis couldn't make her words mean anything. ‘What are you talking about?'

Finally, she looked right at him. ‘I'm not going, Lenis. I'm leaving the
Hiryū
.'

He shook his head. It didn't make sense. ‘What? Why?'

Missy glanced at the woman sitting beside her and then turned back to Lenis again. ‘I have to stay here, Lenis. Lady Fox is going to teach me how to use the Quillblade properly.'

Lenis heard the words, but they didn't sink in. What was his sister saying? ‘I don't understand.'

‘I'm sorry, Lenis, but I have to do this. It's the only way. You can see that, right?'

Of course he didn't see that! All those years he had been so worried about being separated from his sister, about them being sold to different masters, or her being taken from him by some Demon or crazed Totem, and now
she
was the one who wanted to leave
him
? Lenis couldn't believe it. He felt
something pierce his chest. His throat tightened. His eyes filled with tears. And suddenly he was running. Someone called out to him, but he didn't care. He just had to get out of there.

He burst out of the temple, pushed passed a trio of black-robed figures, and headed for the
Hiryū
. The buildings flew by him in a blur. And then he was on the gangplank, then the deck, and finally he was on the forecastle, where he collapsed on the blood-stained wood and cried. After everything,
this
couldn't be happening. Not this.
Never
this. What was the point of any of it if he lost his sister?

Lenis knew Missy had come after him long before she knelt down next to him and placed an arm around his shoulders.

‘Why are you doing this?' he asked through his sobs.

Missy sighed, and the sound made her seem much older than she was. ‘What wisdom forbids, right, little brother?' He glared at her. ‘I really don't have a choice, Lenis. I have to learn how to use the Quillblade. Fox can teach me.'

‘Tenjin can teach you!'

Missy shook her head. ‘Not fully. Not like she can. You saw her fight those Demons, Lenis! Ishullanu's strong. We know that. If the Totem have fallen, and the Jinn, then what hope does Suiteki have on her own, even if she achieves her full potential? We need every warrior we can get, and if I can be a warrior, well then that's just what I'll be.'

‘Then I'll stay with you,' he mumbled.

‘And leave the
Hiryū
,
and
your Bestia,
and
Suiteki behind? No, Lenis. That isn't going to happen.'

‘But I don't want to lose you.'

‘I don't want to lose you either, dummy.' She poked him in the ribs, and he winced. ‘But we'll see each other again.'

Lenis narrowed his eyes. ‘You don't really believe that.'

She shook her head again. ‘No, Lenis, I don't. Not completely. But we have to hope.'

This time it was Lenis who shook his head. ‘Not good enough.' He fumbled around in his pocket and pulled out the damaged stone. ‘Take this.' He pressed it into Missy's hands.

‘I can't!' She tried to give it back to him, but he wouldn't take it. ‘Suiteki needs it!'

‘It's broken. Work out how to repair it. Then bring it back to me after your training.'

‘But I can't –'

Lenis gripped his sister's hands around the orb. ‘Suiteki will need it when it's fixed. You
have
to bring it back to us.'

Missy looked from their clasped hands to her brother's eyes. ‘All right, little brother. When I work out how to do it, I'll come looking for you and the
Hiryū
.'

‘You'd better.'

For a time the two sat together on the forecastle, holding each other in silence.

They both became aware of Kanu at the same time. The Titan boy stood at the top of the stairs leading up to the forecastle, looking graver than Lenis had ever seen him.
Lenis glanced back to his sister. It was time to put a stop to this, for Kanu's sake. He couldn't spend the rest of his life trailing along after either of the twins. He had to find his own Way.

‘Kanu,' Lenis said, beckoning the boy over. When he was next to them, Lenis went on, ‘Kanu, this can't go on.'

‘I know,' the boy said, surprising them both.

‘You do?' Missy asked.

‘I cannot be in more than one place. If one of you leaves, I cannot serve Mashu.'

‘We don't want you to serve us,' Lenis said, and Missy nodded. ‘You aren't our slave.'

Kanu frowned. ‘I'm not a slave. I am a Titan.'

Lenis and Missy exchanged a long look. How were they going to make him see?

‘Your life is your own,' Missy told him. ‘You can do whatever you want with it.'

‘I can?'

‘Yes!'

The frown vanished from the boy's face, replaced by his now familiar too-wide grin. ‘That's good. Now I can decide.'

Lenis nodded, satisfied that Kanu understood he was free. ‘What do you want to do?'

‘I will serve you, Lenis,' Kanu said, stumbling over Lenis's name a bit. He'd only ever called either of them Mashu before.

Lenis groaned. ‘No, Kanu. That's not what we meant, I –'

‘That is my choice,' Kanu insisted. ‘I will go with Lenis. He is weak. He does not have Adad's power or the protection of the Lady of Cunning. He will need me. I see this now. I can serve Mashu by protecting him. I will do so by his side.'

‘But you don't have to do this,' Lenis pleaded.

‘I am a Titan,' Kanu repeated. ‘It is my duty to serve Mashu. Since I cannot be with you both, I choose to serve Lenis.'

Lenis and Missy shared another look. Lenis began, ‘You don't –'

‘That is my choice,' Kanu said. Then he turned and walked away from them.

Lenis groaned, but Missy laughed. ‘It's not funny, Missy!'

‘We gave him the choice, Lenis,' Missy said, covering her mouth with one hand.

‘He wasn't supposed to choose that!'

‘But he did, and you'll just have to deal with it.' She reached out to ruffle his hair. ‘We chose to serve Captain Shishi when we were given our freedom.'

‘Yeah, I guess,' Lenis mumbled, ‘but I'm not the captain.'

‘No, but I'll rest easier knowing you've got someone as strong as Kanu watching over you once I'm gone.'

They both lapsed into silence, and that was how the captain found them. He cleared his throat politely and waited for them both to notice him. ‘I have discussed your decision with Lady Fox, Miss Clemens. Are you certain this is the course of action you wish to take?'

Missy was looking at Lenis when she answered. ‘Yes, Captain. I will remain here and learn to use the Quillblade. When I am strong enough, I will return to my post on the
Hiryū
.'

‘Very well,' the captain said. ‘We will miss you while you are gone.'

Lenis saw the tears in the captain's own eyes and didn't need his empathic gifts to tell him their captain was being sincere.

‘I will miss you all, too,' Missy said. She gave Lenis a quick squeeze before disentangling herself from his arms.