Chapter Sixteen
The Dock
Mai stared into Fudo’s blue eyes, the moonlight reflecting off them. He grabbed her by the arm and held her close to him, so she couldn’t break free, one hand still over her mouth. He smelled strongly of charcoal. She was trying as hard as she could to get away, to yell for help, but he was stronger than her and was able to restrain her and muffle her shouts to nothing. After trying for a long time, she finally gave up and became limp, letting him control her actions, though she was tense and could feel her heart beating in her throat. She looked up at his face and her terrified eyes met his harsh ones that were glaring at her intently. He wasn’t much taller than she was. As she looked at him, she saw something in his eyes that she hadn’t noticed there before: remorse.
Fudo looked over his shoulder and signaled something. Aldrich, who Mai remembered as the plump man who had been eating a bowl of noodles the last time she had seen him, came out of the bushes and walked over to them, followed by five soldiers dressed in red robes.
“Take the girl, I have a Chosen Ones to find,” Fudo said, pushing Mai over to a soldier, who grabbed her upper arm. Fudo stalked off towards the cave, leaving Mai alone with his grandfather and the soldiers.
“I’m sorry he’s so rude to you,” Aldrich said to Mai. Mai, still dazed by Fudo’s surprise attack, did not answer. But a few seconds later, she came back to her senses, pulled a water snake out of her water bottle, and launched it at the soldier holding her. It hit him in the face. He let out a cry of pain and let go of Mai. She ran as hard as she could towards the cave, and yelled as loud as she could, “Dakota, RUN!”
Dakota had just gotten back to the cave and settled himself down to go to sleep, when he heard Mai scream. The others heard it too. Panic coursed through his veins as he heard it. It put a chill through his heart as the girl he liked more than just a friend let out a cry of fear or pain.
“Mai!” said Wyatt loudly, evidently scared and worried for his sister. “She’s in trouble!”
Celie shook her head. “Hold on, be quiet, there could be someone out there watching us.”
Suddenly they heard Mai’s voice call, “Dakota, RUN!” It sent a chill through all of them. Whatever was out there sounded like it had Mai in its clutches. Mai was in trouble!
They did not hesitate. “Amo, can you carry all our things?” Dakota asked. Amo nodded. “You can fly to safety and we’ll catch up with you later.” They loaded their suitcases on Amo’s back and he held the picnic basket in his mouth. “Go! Get out of here! We’ll catch up to you!” Dakota shouted. His heart was pounding so fast that he thought it might burst out of his chest.
“Wait!” Wyatt shouted. He opened his suitcase on Amo’s back and pulled out his swords. Tito jumped onto Amo’s back as he gave one last look at them, then ran through the cave’s opening and flew away into the starry sky.
“I don’t know what’s out there, but whatever it is, we have to get out of here before it traps us,” Wyatt said, gesturing for them to leave the cave. They ran out as fast as their legs could carry them. But as they came to the edge of trees and onto the open sand, they heard movement from behind them.
“Mai, there you are!” Wyatt said turning around. “I was starting to get—” He stopped cold when he saw who had made the noise.
Fudo stood ten feet from them, wearing a very smug expression, feeling that maybe this time he might succeed. He had spent so long trying to regain his father’s love and trust. It would mean the world to him. Even if his father had done many bad things, there still was a chance for him to be saved, to be put right. But first Fudo had to regain his trust. If he could do that, then maybe he could talk him into doing the right thing—or at least stop killing innocent children.
“What did you do to my sister?” Wyatt shouted at him.
“I’ve done nothing to her. She is safe…” He thought for a second, then came up with one of his brilliant plans. “For now,” he added. He saw the blood drain from their faces as the threat sunk in.
“Let her go!” Dakota demanded.
“I’ll let your friend go, if you come with me.” He pointed at Dakota. He, of course, would never hurt Mai, or anyone else if it could be avoided. He tried to avoid violence. He found it unnecessary most of the time. If only people would cooperate, then maybe bad things wouldn’t happen to them.
“I don’t know why you are against me. I don’t even know what I’ve done to make you so mad, but you can’t hurt her. I know you’re not that kind of person and I will never let you take me to the Fire Chief!” Dakota said firmly.
Great, Fudo thought. It’s not working. He had to think of a different plan. But what? What else could he do if they thought he was soft? He had to show to them that he was not weak. He had been trying to show that to his family his whole life. But they still never thought of him as the strong one. He had always been the weakling. Sam was the strong one, not him. “If that is your decision, then the girl will—“
“The girl will what?”
Fudo spun around to see Mai, walking out of the trees, carrying her water bottle. Of all my rotten luck…
Mai walked out from the tree, feeling like she had finally ruined Fudo’s day. From the second she had first laid eyes on him, she had hated him. Everything about him seemed horrible to her. His clothes, his room, his temper, and that stupid tattoo on his fat, ugly face.
“Aldrich!” Fudo cried, outraged that his uncle had allowed her escape. Mai thought, though, that Aldrich had let her get away. When no one came, Fudo scowled and got into a fighting stance, and the others did the same.
Fudo should be easy to fight now that I’ve fought ‘the Fire Chief’s most trusted warrior, Mai thought with a smirk as she remembered Karan. There was no way Fudo could be more skilled than Karan. After all, both Sam, and Soren thought he was a weak failure.
Fudo shot a ball of fire at Dakota who sent an air blast at it and blocked it. Fudo ran at him, shooting one fireball after another, making them hard to dodge. Mai shot a water snake at Fudo from behind and hit him in the back. He turned around and shot a large fireball at her. Mai was about to block it with her snake, but it stopped in midair, glowing with an eerie black light around it. Mai smiled. She didn’t know Celie could use her Black Light on fire! Celie swerved the fireball around and threw it out towards the ocean. Suddenly, Mai’s vision went funny and she saw a mental image of her, Dakota and Celie all striking Fudo at the same time. Then the vision faded and Mai could see normally again. She looked over at Celie and nodded.
I forgot, she can send images mentally, Mai thought.
She looked at Dakota too. Celie began counting down with her mental voice. Three… She dodged a fireball. Two…
Dakota smiled.
One!
Mai launched her water snake at Fudo and it hit him in the side, while at the same time, Celie lifted a boulder—about the size of a cat—out of the ground and threw it at him, hitting him in the stomach, and Dakota sent a large blast of air at him, knocking him over. He landed on his back and winced, clutching his stomach. Mai felt suddenly sorry for him, but she forgot all about it as the four friends ran off along the beach, leaving Fudo on the ground.
Aldrich could hear where the fight was coming from so he hurried as fast as his short legs could carry him. When he reached the shore, he spotted Fudo kneeling on the ground. He walked over to him and helped him to stand.
“That girl, the new girl,” Fudo said, still clutching his stomach. “She used Light Powers, and Earth Powers! She’s another Chosen One!”
Aldrich nodded solemnly and helped his grandson to stand. He had thought that that girl was another Chosen One. It seemed that Dakota was now doing what the rest of the Fire Tribe feared he would do. He was gathering up the others. This would only mean more trouble for the poor boy and his friends, and more trouble for him and his grandson. Hopefully Fudo would realize his true destiny before he did something he would regret.
Dakota led them along the beach to the spot where Amo and Tito were waiting. They were both crouched down behind a bush, shaking with fright. Once they found them, they left the sandy beach and walked back towards the forests. Mai was just glad they had all gotten away without a single injury. They had not been this fortunate while fighting Karan.
“How did he find us?” Mai asked, still in shock.
“I don’t know. Maybe they have some sort of tracking device or something?” Wyatt suggested.
“No, I’m sure they don’t. Maybe they’ve been following us for a long time, or maybe they have a bear-coon with them.” Dakota said.
“Fudo has more people working with him now. Five more,” Mai said as they came to the edge of a forest.
“Those must be Aldrich’s friends. Those are the only people who would ever join grouchy old Fudo. Aldrich must have made them come along,” Dakota said thoughtfully. “Aldrich always had his five friends come over once a week. At least that’s what I overheard. Soren seemed very interested in his stepbrother.”
They walked for a little while longer before they decided to make camp and go to sleep. Celie made another earth-tent and they fell asleep. The next morning when Mai woke up, she was alone in the tent, so she crawled out to find Dakota playing tag with Celie, and winning by using his super-fast speed. Wyatt was practicing with his swords.
“Good morning, Mai!” Wyatt said when he saw her. He sheathed his swords and sat down.
“So, are we going to go to these Solarian Islands Fujin told you about?” Mai asked Dakota when he ran past her. Dakota doubled back—dodging Celie who was ‘it’—and stopped in front of her.
“I guess we should. We don’t have very long. And who knows how long it will take just to reach the islands.”
Wyatt frowned. “But there’s no way to get there. You said it was south of Hawaii, right?”
Dakota jumped over Celie’s head as she ran at him. “Yeah. I never thought of that. How are we going to get to the islands in the first place?” Celie stopped to listen to the conversation, panting and saying that she would never try to play tag with Dakota again because he was a cheater.
“Amo can’t fly us there,” Dakota continued after Celie was done complaining. “We’re too heavy and there’s nowhere to stop along the way. We’d all drown.” Everyone was quiet for a while.
“Could we buy airplane tickets?” suggested Wyatt, breaking the silence.
“We’d never be able to get enough money! A plane is out of the question,” Mai said, shaking her head. She would have liked to have taken a plane to the Solarian Islands, but it would be way too much trouble for them. And there would be no way for them to sneak Amo and Tito aboard with all the high security systems in the airports. That idea was no good.
“Hey, it was just an idea,” Wyatt said with a shrug. He seemed a bit offended by Mai’s response.
“What if we take a boat?” Dakota offered. Mai considered it. It might work, but then, it might not.
“A boat would take too long,” Wyatt said, speaking Mai’s thoughts. He walked over to the picnic basket.
“Wyatt, what are you doing?” Mai asked as he opened the lid. She didn’t want him helping himself again. If they ran out of food, then they would have to go all the way back to the city, and who knows what would happen then?
“I’m getting a drink,” Wyatt replied, taking out a water bottle. He seemed so irritable lately.
“Okay, but don’t eat anything, remember?” Mai had to constantly remind him of this, or else they would have been out of food a long time ago.
Wyatt rolled his eyes. “I know, I know.”
“I got it!” Celie shouted suddenly.
“What?” everyone else asked at the same time.
“I remember hearing about a dock somewhere around here that sells big, Solarian ships! It’s hidden though, so no earth-people can find it. But it would work perfectly! I overheard my Dad talking about it to one of his friends.” Mai considered it for a second, and decided that they didn’t have any other choice. A plane wouldn’t work, Amo couldn’t fly them there, and there were no other transportation vehicles that traveled over oceans. A boat was their only option.
But before she could say anything, Wyatt said, “No way! I don’t do boats. Remember what happened last time?”
Mai smiled as she recalled the day Wyatt was talking about. “That was a canoe, not a ship.”
Celie raised one eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
Wyatt frowned. “None of your bus—“
“He fell overboard and thought he was going to be eaten by a school of fish that was swimming by,” Mai interrupted with a laugh.
“Hey, they looked like piranhas,” Wyatt said defensively. Mai shook her head and looked over at Dakota, who spoke next.
“I think the boats would be a good idea. I mean, what other choice do we have?” Dakota chimed in.
“Yeah, I like the boat idea too,” Mai said.
“Looks like Pig has been outnumbered!” Celie announced. Wyatt scowled and crawled back into the earth-tent, though he came out quickly when everyone started eating breakfast. After they were done and everyone was packed up and ready to go, Celie collapsed the earth-tent and they discussed where to look for the dock Celie had mentioned.
“Have you ever been there?” Dakota asked her.
Celie shook her head. “No, I just heard about it. But I also remember hearing it was up north a little more.”
Mai frowned. “How far north?” She didn’t want to have to walk a long distance to get there. It would take up way too much time. But she was disappointed when she heard Celie’s answer.
“Too far to walk.”
Dakota grinned. “I’ve got it! I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I think of it before? It will work perfectly, that is, if it even works at all.”
Everyone looked at him. “What are you talking about?” Wyatt said, clearly as confused as Mai and Celie were.
“Amo! We can ride Amo until we get there!”
The others looked at him in surprise. “Dakota, you just said a while ago that Amo can’t support us all,” said Mai, crossing her arms. She wondered if Dakota had short-term memory loss.
“I just remembered one more thing that Chosen Ones can do! They can transfer some of their power and strength to other people and animals. So if both Celie and I give our strength to Amo, he should be able to fly us all to this place.” Mai looked over at Wyatt whose expression was unreadable. But she guessed that he was feeling uneasy about having to get on a boat again.
“Really? I never knew that!” Celie exclaimed. Dakota nodded and called out to Amo. A few second later, Amo came trotting up to them, looking anxious.
“But it will wear out our power as well and leave us tired, so we have to be careful how much energy we give,” Dakota warned.
“How exactly do we do it?” Celie asked nervously.
“I’m not sure. But we have to figure it out.” So for the next five minutes, they thought of how they might transfer their energy. Tito and Amo gave some suggestion, but none of them worked.
After a while, they became discouraged and were about to give up when Celie asked, “How do you know this is even possible if you’ve never done it?”
Dakota hung his head. “I remember hearing about it in a story my Mom used to tell me about the first Chosen Ones.”
Wyatt threw his arms in the air. “You heard it in a story? It might not even be real!” Dakota crossed his arms. “It is real! We just have to keep trying.”
Dakota was trying as hard as he could to remember how the first Chosen Ones in the story had done it, but he hadn’t heard that story for years, and probably wouldn’t hear it again. He really missed hearing these Solarian stories. It had been so depressing having to live with the Fire Tribe. He was deprived of all his previous privileges. He couldn’t leave the house, he was never allowed to talk to guests (not that he had wanted to) and he had been denied an education.
Come on, I know you can do it, Tito said encouragingly.
I can’t remember! I used to hear that story all the time, but now I can’t remember any of it! Dakota said, feeling disappointed. Amo walked over to him and nudged him in the back.
What if I have to do something too? Dakota shrugged.
It’s worth a try. He placed his hand on Amo’s forehead and closed his eyes, trying to block out the sound of the others talking. He took deep breaths, concentrating on transferring his power to Amo. He could sense Amo concentrating on absorbing energy from him. He suddenly felt as though his blood had dropped ten degrees.
I think it’s finally working! I feel stronger! Amo said with delight.
“Guys, I figured it out!” Dakota shouted happily. Everyone stopped talking and looked over at him in surprise.
“You got it?” Wyatt asked anxiously.
“Yeah, I’m starting to feel a little more tired, and Amo says he’s feeling stronger.” Everyone grinned.
Celie walked up to him and Amo. “So, how’d you do it?”
Dakota pulled his hand away and broke the connection; he felt his lost strength coming back. He explained to them how he had done it and Amo said some things too, which Dakota repeated to the rest.
“Well, now that we know how to do it, I guess we should head off to buy a ship,” Celie said, grabbing her suitcase.
“Wait, did you say buy?” Wyatt asked. He looked at her quizzically, one eyebrow raised.
“Yeah. So what?”
Wyatt shook his head. “How are we going to afford to buy a ship?”
Celie shrugged. “I don’t think we should worry about that right now. Let’s get going and—”
“Wait,” Wyatt interrupted. “Do you even know where this place is?” He seemed very fed up with her.
“I heard it’s near here. Somewhere to the north.”
Wyatt groaned.
“Okay, Celie, let’s give Amo some energy and let’s go find that dock!” Dakota said brightly. Mai and Wyatt climbed onto Amo’s back and held all their things in their lap. Dakota and Celie climbed on and sat in front of them, Dakota first, then Celie. Amo’s legs shook from the weight. Dakota quickly placed his hand on top of Amo’s head and transferred his energy. Celie placed her hand on Amo’s shoulder and did the same.
I feel like I could fly all the way to Florida! Amo said, determination rang clear in his voice.
Good, then you’ll be able to fly us to this dock with no trouble, Dakota said, smiling. He was so relieved that things were finally going their way. They had escaped Fudo with no injuries, and now they had found a way to get to the Solarian Islands, and figured out how to transfer energy.
“Tito!” Wyatt called. Tito jumped onto Amo’s back and sat in Wyatt’s lap.
“Okay, everyone ready?” Dakota said. Everyone nodded and Dakota yelled, “Let’s go, Amo!” Amo spread his wings and pushed off, leaving the ground behind him. Dakota looked over his shoulder at Mai, who was smiling broadly and looking around. Amo flew higher and higher until he broke through the treetops. The bright sun made them wince as Amo leveled out and turned north. Dakota was starting to feel a bit more tired, and could sense Amo’s delight as he soared over the trees. Dakota kept glancing back at Mai, who had her arms wrapped around Wyatt’s waist.
She seems to really be enjoying it, noted Amo, still looking ahead.
Yeah, she does, Dakota sighed. He thought she looked very beautiful when she was this happy. Her braid was flying behind her from the wind, and her clothes were flapping. Dakota pushed his hair out of his eyes with his free hand. He had to be touching Amo the whole time he wanted to transfer energy. As soon as the connection was broken, Amo’s energy level would drop like before.
“Amo, you have to be careful not to let anyone see you,” Celie reminded. Amo nodded, making them hold on tighter as his whole body moved up and down. Celie instructed Amo to fly along the shore, saying they would eventually find the dock. Amo glided along, swerving around some of the taller trees and looking down at the ground, making sure there was no one there to see them. After a long time, Celie finally spotted a large group of trees near a bay, and hidden in them, was a small, green building. Next to it, was a large dock with at least thirty large, metal ships of varying sizes. “This must be the place,” Celie said, speaking louder than normal so she could be heard over the flapping of Amo’s wings.
“Okay Amo, land down there,” Dakota instructed, pointing to the green building. Amo dove down, making Mai and Wyatt grab the suitcases before they fell off. Amo glided in circles, slowly descending down until he landed lightly on top of the green building. “You wait here, guys,” Dakota said to Tito and Amo. They got off Amo’s back and piled the suitcases on the roof.
“How are we going to get down from here?” Wyatt asked, still holding onto Tito. His hair was standing wildly on end from the high wind speeds in the air, and Celie’s bangs looked very tangled. Dakota guessed he probably didn’t look much better, even if his hair was shorter than Wyatt’s.
“I can lift you down,” Celie said casually. Wyatt set Tito on Amo’s back and followed the others to the edge of the building, where Celie carefully lifted each of them down with Black Light. She jumped down, but stopped before she hit the ground and slowly lowered herself down. She explained that it was part of her Black Light Powers. She could use Black Light to control herself. Thus, she could slow her own falls. They walked around the building to the front door, which had a large ship painted on it.
“I can’t believe we made it!” Mai sighed.
“Neither can I,” Dakota agreed. They advanced to the door and pushed it open. The inside of the building was just as green as the outside. There were pictures of boats and ships lining the walls, and a counter stretched along the back wall. As they made their way to the counter, Dakota spotted a man, with a puffy mustache, brown hair, and a white sailor’s uniform, admiring one of the pictures. He turned around and ran behind the counter.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Let me handle this,” Celie whispered, stepping up to the counter. “Yes, we’d like one Solarian ship, the fastest one you’ve got.”
The man smiled. “Alright, that will be three hundred gold pieces.”
Dakota frowned. “Do you have enough?” He didn’t even bother to ask what the man meant by ‘gold pieces.’ He guessed it was the Solarian money system. Sam’s family had never taught him about money, and in Arashia, everyone traded things.
Celie just smiled. “Oh, I forgot to mention something. I, along with my yellow friend here,” she pointed at Dakota, “are both Chosen Ones. And we are on a mission to find the others. But we have to travel all the way to the Solarian Islands and have hardly enough money to buy food.” She summoned up a ball of light, with the other hand lifted a rock outside, brought it though the doors, and set it on the counter. The man’s expression softened.
“Really? Oh, I guess I could just give you a ship then…for free. But only because you’re Chosen Ones.”
Celie’s smile grew wider. “Thank you very much, sir.”
The man smiled at her, walked out from behind the counter, and said, “Okay then, follow me.” He led them out of the store and over to the dock. It smelled strongly of fish and there were a few smaller buildings around the shore.
“Okay, the ones with yellow tags are the fastest ones,” the man told them. “I’ll let you choose which one you want. Feel free to have a look on board. Come meet me back at the store once you’ve made your decision.” With that, the man turned on his heel and walked back to the store.
“That was good, Celie. He’s going to give us a ship, for free!” Mai said, impressed. There was more to Celie than met the eye.
Wyatt rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “Yeah, great job! How’d you know he would just give it to us?”
“Easy, everyone will give us what we want. We’re the only ones who stand a chance against Romokka. And we’re as good as royalty to the others.”
Dakota looked over at a fairly large ship to his left. “How about we look at this one first?” he asked.
The others nodded and they walked up the ramp onto the ship. It had a very large deck but very little cabin space. There was a large bathroom, but only four bedrooms. They decided that it wasn’t big enough to hold all ten Chosen Ones, so they moved on to the next ship. This one was very low to the water and had a small deck and its cabin rose at least thirty feet high. It looked like it could tip over very easily and wouldn’t be good for long distance sailing. The next ship they looked at was extremely large, but it didn’t have a yellow tag. They looked at ship, after ship but none seemed like it would work for them. Wyatt also pointed out that it had to have simple controls so they could sail it by themselves. Finally, as the sun was high, they found the perfect ship.
It was very big and had enough bedrooms to hold all ten Chosen Ones. It had three bathrooms, one big kitchen—complete with all necessary appliances, a small room with a television, sofas, and chairs, and a control room with a very basic design. All four agreed on this ship, so they headed back to the store and told the man which ship they wanted. He handed them a manual.
“Be careful. It’s a long way to the Solarian Islands.” He patted Dakota on the shoulder and told them he would help them load their things. Dakota called Amo, who came flying down from the roof, Tito on his back, holding onto all their suitcases.
“Wow, I haven’t seen a leopard-horse since I went to the zoo back on Solaria!” the man said in delight.
“I met Amo a while ago. He was just wandering around,” Dakota said, giving Amo a pat on the head. It had been about three years ago that he had met Amo. And since then, they had been inseparable friends.
“Well, let’s get this stuff on your new ship!” the man said, grabbing two suitcases from Amo’s back. Dakota was so excited to finally be going to the Solarian Islands. He would get to meet more of his people. He wondered if they would ever stop at the new Air Tribe capital: Kazo. His thoughts were swimming around in his head, bumping into one another, giving him a headache. He couldn’t wait!
Aldrich sat beside Fudo, eating a bowl of noodles. He had a vision only a few minutes ago. Dakota and his friends now had a ship and were heading to the Solarian Islands. When he had told this to Fudo, he was in an uproar, but Aldrich had somehow managed to calm him down.
“I need to go to those islands too,” Fudo demanded. “That way, if I can’t get the boy,” Fudo had always called Dakota ‘boy’ instead of his real name, “or the girl, I can at least look for some of the other Chosen Ones. Father didn’t say which tribe the Chosen Ones had to be from. The only problem is...I have no way to get there.”
Aldrich slurped up the last of his noodles, and then said, “You know, Fudo, that I have my own ship that is just as fast as any other.”
Fudo’s face suddenly lit up. “Are you saying I could use it?” His voice was different than it usually was. It was friendly and he sounded much younger, like a child asking to go to an amusement park.
“Yes,” Aldrich answered, inclining his head. “You may use it. But on one condition: you have to let me come with you.”
To Aldrich’s surprise, Fudo smiled. He had not seen him smile in ages. “Yes, I will let you come.”
Fudo’s smile faded as quickly as it had come. Aldrich put a hand on his shoulder. Fudo grimaced. “But do your friends,” Fudo looked over at the five people in red robes that Aldrich had made come with him, “do they have to come as well?”
Aldrich looked over at them too. “No, they do not have to come if do not want them to.” Fudo nodded.
“Then they will remain here.”
Aldrich stood up. “Come, I will take you to my ship.”
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