The days that followed went pretty much the same. Without realizing it, Sagiri had fallen into a pattern of eating with N'varu at every meal. He could still not make it in time to the serving wing for breakfast, but he had improved greatly with one week left till the friendly contest would take place. They walked together to and from the classes they shared, and he came to watch him train before it was time to sleep. They did not exchange in vain words among themselves, but they had finally come to a mutual understanding. It could not be called a friendship or a partnership yet, but they had somehow started becoming a duo. Just like kiuga and kaka, who were unmatched. Sagiri and N'varu were the same, but with a much deeper, unexplained, and unspoken bond between them.
Principal Senraki had withheld the information about which school would be sharpening their skills against, causing the tension among the boys to rise to an unimaginable level. Everyone was training harder than usual, and Sagiri was not left behind. He had asked instructor Lotaga to teach him the combat dance personally, who had agreed almost too quickly. After the friendly with the anonymous school, the boys will compete per class and individually, and many more competitions could follow. There was no time to waste, and Sagiri knew he had to work twice as hard. The only chance he heard was in the written exam, and he pushed himself more every time he was at the library. He had almost completed the first to third year compressed studies, and if things went according to his schedule, he could finish in the next three days. The information in the Galka War Academy books did not quite touch on anything that could give him a hint of who he was. The only lead he had was N'varu, who had refused to tell him anything, saying he was not ready yet if he could not remember. Eight months remaining till the great trial began, and he was slowly but surely starting to grow impatient.
"Do me, and you share a clan?" he had asked N'varu once as they ate dinner, and N'varu had denied it immediately.
"Sharing a clan with you is not an honour I can bear. Eat," he commanded. He had also been instructing him a lot, even advising him to always get time to meditate and calm his mind every day. But with the tedious schedule at Galka Academy, he could only squeeze in ten minutes after lunch, and after supper, before the gong went off. He also helped him train when he was off studying in the three lower pentagons.
It was after supper and after studying at the first year pentagon on the languages of Tagayia. The curriculum did not require anyone to know all over a hundred languages of Tagayia, but learning the four dialects of the north, east, west, and central planes, together with the Tagayia language, was necessary. knowing to speak more than plus a persons tribes language was a plus. Sagiri was not, however, studying the languages to have a plus. He was curious to know the languages he could not yet speak, hoping one of them was his tribe's language, and maybe it could help him remember. He had covered a majority of languages, and only a dozen remained, and some that were not included in the language textbooks because some tribes had gone extinct along the way. Am I from the lost tribes? he had wondered a couple of times. After all, he did not have a clan name or a tribe name, and he was more bent towards that theory. The zorimba language of the west he absorbed into his archive does not help him remember anything about his origin, and he almost thought about going through N'varu's thoughts, but he decided against it. Their relationship had just grown out of the rocks, and doing that could just break their trust. Besides, they were the same age, and whatever he knew could not be accurate.
He walked back and into the fourth year's combat arena, and Lotaga was already waiting. He could finally memorize all the moves and do them, but they looked like a badly cooked mixture, like a bad dance. They lacked power and accurate technique.
"Your stances make me want to weep!" Lotaga right off the bat after Sagiri started the hand combat dance. "Did you not even play childhood games?" he mocked, correcting his stance.
"I did hunt for small animals," Sagiri answered seriously, and Lotaga died laughing, clutching his stomach.
"Did you ever even catch one with this form?" he seized Sagiri up and down before dying of laughter again. The guy did not act like an instructor at all. He always surprised Sagiri with how he acted.
"Yes," sagiri answered honestly and lotaga almost toppled with another wave of laughter stronger than the last.
"Were they dead or just babies?" he cackled tears flowing from his eyes as if that was the funniest thing he had ever heard.
"If you are going to teach the boy behind my back, at least act your age," a voice broke through the arena right behind Sagiri, and Lotaga both went rigid. Sometimes, Captain Salka moved so stealthily that Sagiri could not perceive his presence till he was beside him. He doubted he would be able to defend himself anyway if the guy wanted to kill him. He was on a level of his own.
"Captain, what possibly gave you that idea. I am just having a chat with the boy." Lotaga laughed awkwardly, giving the worst excuse known to man. "Where did you come from?" he continued shamelessly.
"I have been watching you for this whole week." Captain Salka added, and Lotaga started to move away as if he was looking for an exit to run. "Do you two have no sixth sense to know another person shared an arena with you?" he looked at Lotaga with disappointment. like a father scolding a son. Their relationship reminded him of that of two people he already knew, as if he were seeing Kaka and Kiuga's future.
"If you run, I will kill you myself." Captain Salka did not miss Lotaga's movements, and he spoke as if he couldn't believe he even had to scold him in front of a student.
"Sagiri, I have heard you say you used to hunt?" Captain Salka turned his attention to Sagiri, ignoring Lotaga, who was now standing obediently.
"Yes, captain!" Sagiri had finally learned the proper etiquette to address him.
"You two follow me to the obstacle arena," he turned around, facing. "How can you teach the boy the combat dance without first teaching him even the basics of combat?" he said over his head to Lotaga, who was now acting like a good instructor, but the boyish grin on his face never left.
"Well, I did not think that could be a problem," he answered with fake sincerity, and Captain Salka huffed.
"You are a senior instructor who does not know that, how can you teach someone to swallow without teaching them to chew. I should demote you to a junior instructor and put you on office duty," he threatened, and fear flashed in Lotaga's eyes, finally. It seemed that being stuck behind a desk was his worst nightmare.
"It won't happen again, captain. I will die if u have to look at one page of a book. Have mercy," he begged as if he did not care for his dignity. He was ridiculous and unpredictable.
"At least show some dignity in front of the recruit," Captain Salka said as they turned a corner and went down a steep ramp. Lotaga pulled himself together and cleared his throat, acting the mature senior instructor, but the facade crumpled a second later.
"Sagiri will always respect me for the knowledge that has been bestowed on him. He will not look at me as shallowly as you do," he faked a pained tone, and Salka took a sharp breath, clearly fighting not to kill him.
"Shut up before I put you on pet poop duty." That shut Lotaga immediately. He even shivered slightly. So there is something he fears more than sitting behind a desk? Sagiri thought.
"What is pet poop duty?" Sagiri asked in a low tone, and Lotaga yelped before jumping on him, his palm covering his mouth as if he had spoken a taboo.
"Don't ever speak those three words," he spoke as if he were traumatized.
The rest of the walk to the obstacle arena was silent, with only the sound of boots clicking on the floors. Only Sagiri's boots. The other two were walking stealthily. It was a habit adapted during their night missions, which took advantage of the darkness and limited visibility. They use silence to add another advantage, so an enemy could not see or hear them coming until they were surrounded.
The obstacle arena was huge with several separate training areas. A dozen students were still going at it, including the Tamelku twins in one section as if they were competing to see who finished first. When Sagiri entered with Captain Salka and Senior Instructor Lotaga, the two turned to look, and even at the far distance, Sagiri could immediately perceive their dislike for him. it was more than dislike. it was hate or loath. And it had grown a couple of notches.
"I want you to visualize the obstacles and bars in front of you as tree branches and forest undergrowth. Show me how you used to hunt," Salka said when they came to a stop in front of a section with all types of obstacles.
Sagiri stepped forward, taking in all the shapes and the uneven arrangement of the obstacles. from the Iron Trunks: Thick vertical bars fixed into the ground at uneven distances. Some are smooth, others rough with rivets. They stand close enough to force sideways movement, bending and slipping through rather than walking straight. to the Swing Weights: Heavy metal blocks hung from chains at different heights. Some swing wide and slow, others snap back fast. Their paths overlap, forcing timing, ducking, or rolling beneath them. Falling Platforms: Flat steel plates suspended just above the water. They tilt or drop when stepped on, giving only a brief moment before collapsing. low crawl frames: Rectangular frames set close to the ground with crossbars spaced unevenly. Students must crawl or slide under them without lifting their backs. Target Columns: Narrow pillars that rotate slowly. Marked with vital points. They appear briefly between obstacles, requiring throws while moving.
The bars became trunks in his mind. Tall. Close. The gaps between them were paths animals used, narrow and known. The hanging weights turned into low branches, heavy with leaves. The ropes were vines. The platforms were rocks slick with moss.
"I need a beast to hunt," he said, turning to Salka.
"Of course, a hunt will be useless without a prey," he added, an amused smile taking over his face. Sagiri always hunted his prey with closed eyes, after memorizing the woods back in his hometown. He might not have to close his eyes till he got used to the arrangement, but he needed a prey to focus on. Using eyes in the woods could only be distracting. He had never gone wrong using his hearing and sharp senses.
"You there. Come here." Salka beckoned a person, and Sagiri perceived the person's hateful feelings before he turned around to see him. One of the Tamelku?
"Would you mind becoming a prey?" Captain Salka asked, but it was not a question because no cadet says no to a captain's request. Especially when he is seven feet tall and built like a tank. The hate doubled, and Sagiri was sure to find the guy without even using his ears. The hate was so thick he could have perceived him from a mile away.
"Yes, sir!" He agreed in a polite voice that could have fooled anyone, but with Sagiri perceiving his feelings, that was the furthest in fact, the guy oozed the same hate directed at Captain Salka at the moment.
"Good. Pick a position. Sagiri, get ready!" Captain Salka's voice thundered, and the two boys got into position, one walking in between the obstacles and another taking position in an open stance on the outside.
"Begin!" Lotaga announced with too much excitement after a moment, and Captain Salka groaned. The instructor did not have any respect for him at all. In that moment, Sagiri could not decide who got on Captain Salka's nerves more, between Principal Senraki and Lotaga.