章 4: Different People have Different Talents
Teacher Claire led Dir and Mai into a portion of the forest Dir had not been to- to Mai, however, all portions of the forest were unfamiliar.
Teacher Claire stopped before a clearing and turned around, gesturing towards the two for them to take position in the center of the clearing. "We will be testing your combat abilities now!" Teacher Claire deviously smiled.
Excited, Dir had a twinkle in his eye as he readied his stance. This was the subject that he was good at. Unfortunately, Mai deflated. She was taught by the voice almost all subjects, except for ones that required a physical body to be present to teach her the moves. She did not know how to defend herself. Furthermore, she did not know how she could defend herself without touching the individual involved.
"Begin!" Teacher Claire called out, carefully watching the actions of the children before her. She grew pleasantly surprised at Dir's smooth actions, but a frown graced her face when she realized that Mai had failed to move from her stance.
"Why are you not moving?" The teacher asked Mai, "You cannot defend yourself without moving!"
Mai slowly shook her head in denial. It wasn't that she didn't want to move, it was that she didn't know how to.
"And why don't you speak? You spoke previously." Teacher Claire's frown deepened.
Fortunately, it was Dir that came to Mai's rescue. "She's only allowed to speak fifty words a day."
"What?" Teacher Claire said, "How can this be?"
Dir stopped his martial arts. "It's one of the rules of the village for the sacrifice. The sacrifice should 'treasure her words like gold for her voice was graced by the hands of God and should only be for God'."
"What a load of b*ll," the young woman said, fury crossing her face. "When you're with me, you can speak however you want," she continued, "Don't listen to those old fogeys in the village. You are human, too, and deserve to be treated as such."
Dir nodded his head towards Mai, showing her that he agreed with what the teacher said. Mai looked at the two caring individuals before her, an unfamiliar warmth in her chest. "Thank you," she replied, softly.
Dir and Teacher Claire both beamed, happy that they had received the thanks of the beautiful young girl before them. Her next words, however, deflated their happy mood. "But no thank you," Mai continued.
"Why!" Teacher Claire burst, "I'm giving you the chance to escape your shackles for a little while! Why aren't you taking advantage of this?"
Mai shook her head, wondering how she could convey a story the voice had told her before. A bird with clipped wings would rather stay within its cage than to have the impossible hope of flying once more. But she was better than the bird- she had taken her fate within her hands and chose to be a sacrifice, unlike the bird.
"I've tried, Teacher," Dir said, resignation in his features. "We'll have to change her mind slowly."
Teacher Claire nodded her head and sighed. The two children before her had different lives, fates, and thoughts. It was interesting.
"Whatever," she sighed, looking at Mai and Dir. "Let's continue on with the test. Village Chief's son, show me what you've got."
"My name is Aldrich," Dir said, nodded at the Teacher to show he understood. He turned and continued with his martial arts.
Teacher Claire turned her head and gestured towards Mai. Mai shook her head. Her name was for the voice and Dir only.
"You don't have a name?!" the young teacher shrieked in shock. "This cannot be possible!"
Mai nodded her head.
"Really?" Claire looked on in wonder, "That's terrible."
Dir looked in surprise at Mai, feeling touched that she had chosen to keep her name a secret. He vowed to take care of her in the future.
"I know," Teacher Claire clapped her hands, "I can give you a name!"
Dir and Mai shared a look between each other, hesitant.
"Hmm," she paused, "How about Winnie? Oohh, or Belle? Oh! Oh! I know, Cynthia!" She nodded as she looked up and down at Mai. "You do look like a Moon Goddess, so Cynthia it is."
"Cynthia," Dir tasted the word. "How about the name Maybelle?" Dir suggested, though he liked the name Mai better.
"What do you think?" Claire asked. She beamed, her face the picture of innocent kindness, as she looked back at Mai.
"Good," Mai said, unwilling to burst the woman's bubble. She could adopt the name Maybelle, though her name would always be Mai.
"We could call her May-" Dir said, but he would be the only one to know that it's really Mai.
Claire's smile grew larger, and she quickly turned back to Dir. "Continue!" She strictly said, gesturing towards Dir. Dir nodded his head and continued as Claire and Mai looked on.
"You're not allowed to have contact with others, right, May?" Claire asked. Mai nodded. "Perfect! Well, not really, but we can make this work." Claire rummaged around the bag that she had brought with her. "I have just the thing." She brought out a metal fan and handed it to Mai. "You can both defend and attack with a fan. Plus, you look cool!"
"Why?" Mai tilted her head.
"Why do you have to learn how to fight?" Claire guessed Mai's thoughts. "I was originally a general," she laughed, "So obviously I think knowing how to fight is better than knowing books!"
Mai nodded.
"Though it is brain that is stronger than brawn," the voice refuted Claire.
Mai looked up at the sky and smiled. She secretly agreed.
After a few minutes of watching Dir, Claire had concluded her tests. "Mai, you get 50 points, and Dir you also get 50 points. You both fail!"
Dir and Mai looked at each other, sharing the same look of dismay. "What does this mean?" Dir asked.
"It means that you guys have to work extra hard! I'll create a plan starting tomorrow. For today, however, you guys can play in the forest while I familiarize myself with this area. When the sun reaches its zenith, I expect you guys to come back here so that we can go back together."
Dir and Mai nodded.
Leaving the children, Claire walked deeper into the forest.
"What do you want to do?" Dir questioned. He did not know why he felt slightly nervous in being alone with Mai.
Mai shrugged her shoulders. She did not know either.
"How about we look around?" Dir asked. Mai nodded. The two of them then left the clearing. Looking in wonder at everything, Mai liked the occasional deep purple flowers that they passed. She pointed at one and tugged at Dir's sleeve.
"What?" Dir asked, looking at Mai. "Oh, are you asking about the lilacs? You can smell them- they smell really good."
Mai smiled and bent down, smelling the lilacs.
Dir watched her in a daze. She was beautiful. He thought back to his previous attempts at changing Mai's mind. Maybe she would change her mind if she had something to look forward to? However, Dir had no idea what that something could be.
After Mai had finished smelling the lilacs, she and Dir went around the forest as Dir taught her the dangerous and not-so-dangerous plants. She learned how to differentiate between the different types of mushrooms, grasses, and flowers. It was when they stopped before a grassroots that she had spoken.
"What are they?"
Dir looked in shock at Mai, surprised that she had chosen to use words for grass and not for the flowers before. He looked down and was surprised to see that it was grassroots.
"They're grassroots, but in Ymir they call them sweetgrass."
"Sweetgrass?"
"Yeah. They're used as a purifying agent and sometimes as incense. The villagers have a story that go with sweetgrass, however."
Mai looked at Dir with eager eyes, gesturing with her hands for him to continue.
Dir cleared his throat, "Well, it's the story about why we call them grassroots.
Long ago, the village did not live in this forest, but in a desert. A desert is like the ocean, but instead of water, there is sand. The villagers from back then could not prosper, so one of the headstrong boys of the village decided that they needed to move. He tried to convince the village chief but was rejected because of the unknown dangers. Determined, however, the young man continued to persuade the villagers until finally the only one left was the village chief. The village chief still denied him, however, and the boy was devastated. Yet his hope for a better and more prosperous village still remained, so he secretly left the ailing village to look for a better home. The next morning, the villagers found his hut empty and they searched for him day after day, night after night. It was not until several seasons passed that the young man returned with a plant in his hands. He had traveled across the entire continent to find the right place for the village, which he did find. He brought the plant before the villagers as proof.
They had never seen such a thin and flexible plant before, and so they were amazed at it. The village chief looked at the young man and asked him once more to see if the young man was sure that they village would prosper at the other place, and the young man looked at the village chief right in the eyes and told him yes. The next day, the entire village journeyed to their new home, listening to the stories that the boy had to offer them. When they arrived, they immediately settled down and learned from the boy how to use the plant that he showed them to live. They made houses, clothes, armor, everything from the plant. It was a few days later that the village chief asked the young man about the name of the plant. The young man replied that there was a name, yet he believed that he knew a better one: grassroots. The village chief thought about the name and realized that the plant truly was the main body of the village, so the village chief called all of the villagers and loudly proclaimed to them that the name of the plant is grassroots. Looking back at the boy, the village chief smiled and also proclaimed that the name of their village would be 'Bu Hai' for 'not return' as this would be the villager's new home."
Mai stared in wonder at Dir's words. This was the first time that she had heard a story about the village. It was oddly comforting. She then thought back to the voice's words the first time it had spoken to her- the voice had likened her to grassroots.
She glanced at the grassroots below her and remembered the story that Dir told her. She did not see the connection between her and it.
Shaking her head, Mai straightened her spine and looked at Dir's direction. Dir smiled at her and she returned the smile. A comfortable silence ensued.
"We should probably get going," Dir said, pointing towards the sky. "The sun is almost at its zenith. We wouldn't want to keep Teacher Claire waiting."
Mai nodded and followed Dir as he made his way towards the clearing. When they arrived, Teacher Claire was already there and in her hands were multiple tree branches.
"What are those for?" Dir asked.
"They're for flower arrangement!" Teacher Claire cheerfully replied, swinging one of her branches around. Both Dir and Mai looked at her other 'materials', noticing that there wasn't a flower in sight.
"What about the flowers?" Dir asked the question Mai wanted to convey.
Teacher Claire's cheeked puffed up as she pouted, "You don't need flowers for flower arrangement!"
Mai and Dir exchanged looked. Dir changed the subject, "What do we do now?"
"We go back, of course. I'll be staying in the village until you guys graduate from my course, so be ready for some backbreaking work!"
Dir groaned, but Mai was looking forward to it. She just realized that she liked experiencing new things.
When the three returned to the village, a feast was being held in honor of a teacher from Ymir Academy arriving at the small Bu Hai Village. Unfortunately, the celebration was bittersweet as, although the villagers were happy that the village chief's son was recognized for his genius, the sacrifice had to be recognized as well- they felt as if she had no right to reap the benefits of an opportunity one of the other village children could have gotten. After all, she was to die either way.
Chief Owansu had noticed the arrival of Teacher Claire and his grandson, and he made his way over to them, a genial smile on his face. Mai took this opportunity to leave, sending her best wishes to Claire and Dir.
As she made her way to God's house, the voice spoke to her.
"Why didn't you stay?" the voice questioned her. "Owansu would be unable to have qualms had you stayed." The voice worried for her.
Smiling, Mai looked up at the sky, the gradual descent of the sun warming her heart. She stayed silent to savor the few golden rays left before she opened her mouth to answer the voice.
"I am a grassroots," she said.
The voice stayed silent for a while before answering her, "Yes. You are."
Satisfied, Mai entered God's hut, intent to take off her ceremonial dress and be left with her comfortable inner ware.
The voice seemed flustered as it asked, "How was today?"
Mai grew thoughtful, trying to imagine a word that would perfectly describe her day. "Awesome."
"It was that awe-inspiring?"
Mai nodded. She braided her long hair, bringing it over her shoulder. "What did you do?"
"I watched over you," the voice began, "And I had also seen an interesting animal in the forest. You should raise it."
"Can't."
"You can. It is the kind of animal that can be tamed and remain in the forest. You need a companion."
"Dir?"
"Che," the voice said, however Mai thought that she had misheard as she had never heard the voice make that sound before.
The voice quickly composed itself, however, as it questioned Mai once more. "What do you think about Teacher Claire?"
"Fishy."
"I agree, but she seems to be a good person?"
Mai nodded her head.
"What do you think about learning martial arts?"
"Exercise. Bad."
The voice chuckled, "You would be able to protect yourself. Or you could escape from the sacrificial ceremony."
Mai remained silent for a beat before she answered the voice. "My choice. Won't change."
Sighing, the voice continued to try to persuade her, "You paused before you denied me. Why won't you just think about it? You could see and learn so much more if you leave the village."
"I want to tell God that sacrifices are wrong."
The voice remained silent for a beat. "You can tell him that after you live a fulfilling life."
"No. There would be more sacrifices after me."
"You need to sleep," the voice decisively said, "good night, Mai."
"Good night, Voice," Mai replied, taking a long look at the grassroots ceiling.
Her night passed smoothly, but a loud 'bang' sound woke her up even before the rays of the sun could.
She bolted out of bed, her heart beating furiously in her chest.
"Rise and shine, beauty!" Teacher Claire said, entering into God's hut. She gazed appreciatively at Mai's body before she stopped at Mai's unprotected feet.
"You have a nice body for someone who hasn't done exercise before, but you're too skinny- more like malnourished. And we need to get you some shoes. It's barbaric how everyone treats you," Claire began, her nostrils flaring up in her anger.
"It's okay," Mai answered her.
"Just listen to her," the voice told Mai and Mai obediently listened to it.
"Come with me!" Claire said.
Mai obediently nodded her head, but did not follow Claire. She stood before the doorway, waiting for Claire to notice that she hasn't followed her yet.
"What's wrong?" Claire asked.
"Clothes." Mai pointed at one of her ceremonial outfits.
"Ugh, fine," Claire said, "You can put on clothes."
Mai nodded and quickly changed. After she had finished, she followed Teacher Claire as Claire led them to a hut that was almost the same size as Chief Owansu's.
"This is my hut," Claire said, sarcastically, "They wouldn't let me build an actual building. But it'll do, I guess."
Claire opened the door and gestured for Mai to enter.
"Welcome to my- truly- humble abode."
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