Bab 4: Gana's past (Flashback)

A four-year-old child was seen holding his mother's hand. The woman has a straight, short, black hair that resembles a bob cut. They both had their clothes torn that barely covered their bodies. The mother was carrying a sling bag around her body. Gana was sucking his thumb in hunger.

"Moooooom, I'm hun-ga-ray," Gana pleaded.

"Be patient, we still have our sweet potatoes," they walked a few more steps hurriedly since she saw the weather becoming more cloudy. She saw a huge hole of a gigantic tree, she pulled Gana inside. She gave him a cold, roasted sweet potato after sitting on the damp ground. Gana gobbled his portion hungrily.

"Moooooom, can we have some shi-gen(chicken)?" Gana asked while licking his fingers.

She had a melancholic look at her blind son, her hand moved to pat his short, dark-purplish hair.

"Maybe when we find somewhere to settle down. Now we just need to keep moving I'm afraid. No one is going to accept us." Gana could sense her voice was a mix of hatred, love, and sadness. He really could not understand why his mother seemed to always speak to him in mixed emotions. For how many long nights and days, the pair of mother and son kept journeying further and further down soft. Their feet began to bleed from stepping on twigs and thorns. Then, Gana's complaints were getting more and more frequent.

Gana's legs gave out. His mother didn't complain. She just carried him on her back as she braved through the rain and Sun of the rainforest while only stopping at night.

After three difficult weeks, they finally saw a trace of a human settlement, the isolated Sandak Village. From there they were greeted, by a friendly old man, welcoming the pair. He even offered them to stay at his hut while waiting for their hut to be built other villagers. Gana called the old man, Grandpa Manhad.

Sandak Village still had a decent economic standing. Manhad was the unspoken leader of this village which housed the elderly, stragglers, refugees, and single mothers. Since their village was placed deep inside the forest, the able-bodied men hunted for the exotic animal skins like mouse deer and tigers. Larger neighbouring villages such as Brinui and Nurnna bulk trade the rice and chicken in exchange for these skins.

The young Gana would go on to help the women plant sweet potatoes and vegetables. Other than planting, he would run around the outskirts of the village. As a kid, Gana knew no fear nor he let his lack of sight to be an obstacle to hold him back. Instead, it steeled his determination to be stronger so that he can help his mother. He would climb trees, jumped from branch to branch just to familiarize himself with the surroundings and the direction.

At such a young age, he let his other senses to be sensitive towards nature itself. Developing his own hyper sense until it's almost like nature fused with a sense of touch, smell, and hearing. The darkness he saw every day, for him was like an old friend accompanying him always. Manhad was important towards this alongside his mother. Gana would always ask Manhad about the environment, the description. From all these enquiries, Gana would visualize everything in his mind before moving.

Manhad would be secretly watching him just to keep his safety, instead, he was impressed with Gana's resolve to not be disabled forever. Almost every night, Gana would stop by Manhad's hut.

"Grandpa, grandpa. Tell me about the three great tribes," Gana sought.

"Well, 1000 years ago there were three brothers called Daya, Nangguk and Xianshu. Each of them was proficient with a specialized weapon like an axe, sword or a spear..." Manhad would tell all these stories patiently. This is sort of routine ensues until Gana grew into eight-years-old. This is when he started wearing a long piece of headband over his eyes. A representation, a symbol that his blindness will never stop him from being strong.

By that time, Gana was already joining the Sandak's hunters. His sharp nose and ears were a valuable asset making him the best tracker of the village where they could hunt tapirs, tigers and deers. This is where he first learned how to handle a sword, thus discovering his talent. The short sword that he wielded was also used as his guide to gauge distance. When his hand gripped on that sword, he fell in love with it instantly.

It was when he was eight that he first encountered a great tribe in this very deep rainforest of South Gerta. Both he and his mother were enjoying an afternoon tea after doing some fielding work when they heard a bell signalling a big envoy had come to visit.

A woman in her early twenties was leading the envoy. There were two children that were ahead of her. Two maids stood side-by-side with her in between. One was fanning while the other provide shade by holding an umbrella. Guards were lining up behind, each of them was armed with a sword and shield.

It was the concubine of the Great Tribe of Daya, Leha, the mother of twins, Durman and Darman. Manhad was seen conversing with Lady Leha as she seemed to look over at Gana. Feeling a stare, Gana grabbed his mother's clothes to hide behind her.

Leha walked up to his mother, "What's your name, miss?"

She answered nervously," Uh, i-its Ziri, your ladyship."

"Do you mind if I bring your son back to my tribe? I am impressed with his talent."

"Sorry?" Ziri seems confused. At the back of Leha, both Durman and Darman ran up to her.

"Momma, who did you want to bring back with us?" Durman's eyes scanned over the whole Sandak crowd while Darman nodded in question.

"Fufufu, I want you both to be nice to Gana, he's there behind his mother," Leha pointed out.

Durman straight away pumped his chest," Hey there, I am Durman, son of the Great Chief Apparu."

Darman just raised his right hand while introducing himself," I'm Darman."

Gana popped slowly out of the crowd before bowing," Lady Leha, honourable sons of Daya, this one is known as Gana."

"Why you cover your eyes?" Durman circulated around Gana. Darman as well looked with interest.

"I'm blind."

The twins just stared at him with shock. Durman quickly asked, "Where's your walking cane?"

"Don't need it. I'm fully capable."

"Whoaaaa, that's so cool! Let's be friends, Gana!" Durman shouted in excitement as Darman just nodded in agreement.

Before departing, Ziri and Leha were having a serious conversation about Gana. Gana in the meantime was just packing his clothes as Manhad approached him.

"Gana. Lady Leha is a highly-skilled swordswoman. You can learn a lot from her. Your talent will just be wasted here if you continue to stay. Also, you might learn the Southern Tradition that I always told you about."

Gana's ears irked at the words 'swordswoman' and 'Southern Tradition', "Don't worry grandpa, I will be diligent in whatever I do."