Shrieks filled my ears and packages fell unto my horns as I raced to the cockpit. The grating of dented metal by unseen assailants thundered above me. I slapped the button, hands, and head stinging as I entered the room. The sight outside wasn’t pretty. A meteor shower and we were the target of the fallen’s stars path.
“Pandoori, what’s happening? Did some pirates find us?”
“Activate the shields and keep your heads on!” I shouted down the hatch as the monitors and buttons flashed, screaming in neon rage at me. Shoving the Famu pilot out of the seat, ignoring her quivering chitters as I began to adjust the ship’s main controls. Auto-pilot had been shot, probably due to the control modules and its connectors being damaged by the falling stars. The CS Striker shook under the continuous impact of the shower. I gripped the levers, trying to spot a path out from my shaking position.
“Pandoori, things aren’t looking too hot back here!”
The Famu chittered in similar annoyance.
“Aren’t you supposed to be an ace pilot, especially of your race, from the Zulin?”
“Can it!” I had no patience for this rag-tag gang’s meager insults to even bother me. Where’s Sersi when she’s needed to shut them up? This is only for the credits, so let’s avoid death for now. I nose-dived to avoid a huge star, weaving Striker’s path through the debris and chunks of white-hot energy. I could only see a few feet in front of me, but for split second, I saw an opening to free space and a hyper-jump.
“Hang on to your boots everyone,” I shouted, flexing my fingers to release sweat from my grip. I pushed the accelerometer lever forward, the ship fueling all power to the main thrusters. This granted Striker more mobility over speed. Threading this star cruiser was no easy task, I felt myself slipping out of my seat and silently thanking the stars for artificial gravity to keep us grounded.
Only a few moments away from safety, we were so close. I stopped the Striker in a bubble of loose space and waited until I saw a clear line out of this mess. A sharp trill sounded off to my left and a monitor flashed awake. I ignored it. My hands settled on the levers, my vision tunneling black until the rocks made an open path. I pushed down the throttle.
The ship lurched forward, my body getting thrown back against the chair by the force. It hurt to breathe as invisible weight of cutting space settled on my frame. Forcing my eyes open, I saw outside and forced myself up again. Bi’crę!! We were approaching something that wasn’t there before. Once a clear path, it was now blocked by…I wasn’t sure. An opening? No, a void shimmering with pale purple tendrils and framed by gold…or blue.
I pulled back on the throttle, but it moved slowly as the ship’s mainframe had failsafes against ‘reckless flying’ or ‘jerky controls’. We were not going to avoid, and I couldn’t see a path out of its way that would leave us unscathed.
“GRAB SOMETHING AND HANG ON!!!!” I screamed down into the ship, praying that whatever it was wouldn’t kill us. I looked back at it right as we impacted with it and my eyes went dark…
“Pandoori,”
That voice, I know it. But…from when exactly? I also felt so comfortable here and I could spare a moment or two more.
“Hey Bimy, we’re going to be late for training with Master Askat.”
I sat up, the world duplicating then centering again, shifting from hazy to clarity with the changes. Rubbing my eyes, I glanced at who spoke to me. It was a male youth, his face framed by blue organs similar to wrinkling skin. Deep set eyes of light green, a mask covering the lower part of his face. His breathing hissed loudly through the grates, the pitch of it startled me. I stared at him for a moment, trying to place who he was.
The boy sighed, pulling me up by the arm and dragging me towards a building. Looking back, I saw I had been sitting on a bench surrounding by shrubs in a garden. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a Shade?”
My mind cleared and I giggled. “Sorry, Jirs Bi. I must’ve had a really strange dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare!” Shaking my arm free of him, I lunged at him—mustering the scariest expression I could. He recoiled, his hand reaching for his sword. I laughed and Jirs shot a glare at me. “Firstly, your mind shouldn’t go wandering so easily. It’s unbefitting of us future knights! Did that nightmare mess with your brain?”
I shrugged it off, not wanting to let the matter sit with us any longer. Other issues were settling in my mind. What was that dream? It seemed so….surreal. But Jirs Bi is right, we should go. I’ll try to figure it out later.
My free hand found its rest on the hilt of my triple staff. I unclasped it and flipped it around my hand. It felt cool, but there was a warmth my hand felt from its center. Noticing Jirs Bi looking over his shoulder at me, I put it back with a playful sound. He rolled his eyes and walked faster. Darn you…I ran up behind him, his back as rigid as his personality.
I nimbly followed him through the hallways with the sunlight reflecting off the marbled floors and glided emblems on the walls. This was the fortress of the Zulin on Lunci, my home. I stole glances out the windows to see the mountains. They were so grand…a sigh escaped my lips, my heart swelling by their painted tips and rolling hills spilling into the valley. Speckled with pinks and reds from the flora as brushstrokes on canvas. It felt so rewarding to witness them.
“Pandoori?” Jumping at Jirs Bi’s voice, I whirled around to kick his shin. “Geez, can’t a girl appreciate the view for once? I get that we need to go to Master Askat, but it’s not like he’ll punish us for enjoying the view for a moment. Stickler,” I stomped off, cheeks puffing, to leave him to deal with his injured leg.
“Wait up! Master is expecting us both,” he retorted and I heard him catching up to me and fall in line. I was peeved, but when I released the air in my mouth was I felt something wet on my face. Wiping my cheek, my fingers glistened wet in the light. Tears? From the view? I blinked and felt more spill from my eyes with a knot in my chest slowly releasing.
“That’s what I was going to ask you about, why are you crying?” Jirs Bi offered a kerchief to me, his voice softer than earlier. I took it quietly, hiding my cheeks and face. “Sorry about kicking you,” I apologized. “But I’m not sure why I started crying, I didn’t even notice.” I shook out the kerchief and folded it into a square before handing it back.
Jirs Bi pushed my hand back. “Keep it for the day just in case something like this happens again. I know you never carry one,” he chuckled. My eyebrows twitched at his comment, but I put it in my skirt pocket. He wasn’t wrong, I always forgot to carry one but it never bothered me before. We walked in silence the rest of the way to the training room. My hand had found itself on my staff’s hilt again and my horns began to ache, but I wasn’t nervous. Confusion clouded my mind with a sense of unease pricking my heart.
The sound of sliding metal knocked me out of contemplation. I’ll worry about it later. I griped my hilt as we entered the training room. It was a wide circular room, lined on one side with bookcase and weapon caches with the other side open with windows overlooking the outer arena. A few other apprentices were in the center ring, dueling with staffs and swords and others practicing their control over the True Power. Some were by the bookcases going over books of politics, laws, mechanics, mathematics, and other subjects we had to be knowledgeable of to succeed.
Jirs Bi and I walked around the center to the back where Master Askat stood overlooking his students. His all-white eyes stared—unmoving—yet piercingly from each student to the next. He was a pillar of strength and wisdom to us. Some of my friends said he was truly over twenty feet tall and could transform into a furious alien beast. While he certain had the aura of such a being, his seven-foot stature held a gentle light that remained firm during all his lessons.
He turned his attention to us, nodding to our salutes. “Are you ready?” I nodded fervently, my horns whipping my back and chest. Jirs Bi just nodded, his body stiffening harder than the Hitloc trees that lined the mountains. “Very well, gather your weapons then.” He turned and spread his four arms, an action that rippled over the room. “Clear and observe.”
The rest of my fellow apprentices scurried to the edges of the room as Jirs Bi and I went over the weapons caches. I picked some of the practice knifes, they danced along my fingers, and I placed a few on my belt. I need a defensive strategy, so I placed a shield-bracer on my left arm. It wasn’t much and I didn’t use them much, but it felt right to attach it. I slipped a pair of cuffs into a pouch on my hip and finally added a practice chained scythe. This would be enough for me so I knelt in the center ring to wait for Jirs Bi.
He came shortly after me, staring back at me with little expression. Besides his sword, I saw double shield-bracers on his arms. There was a good chance that he’d have a short sword somewhere on him as well. His boots could hide poisoned daggers, his mask could spew gas, his short clock could conceal all kinds of dangers…
I jolted out those thoughts that had flooded my mind with a chill freezing my blood, my eyes falling to the floor. What…why did I even think that? I took notice of the shield-bracer on my arm again and noticed how unnaturally it suddenly felt. Whispers of my fellows reached my ears and I looked up at Jirs Bi. He frowned, turning to Master Askat. I looked to the floor, dreading each moment as it passed. Pull yourself together! I need to do well for this duel. My fingers tightened on the coarse fabric of my skirt, noting how it creased and trembled slightly under my hands.
“Are you able, Apprentice Pandoori?” Master Askat’s rumbling question rolled over and I felt both a trill of terror run over me before melting into a soothing bask of comfort. My teeth dug into my lower lip as I nodded in my place. “I am able, Master Askat” I answered, my voice echoing off the walls louder than I intended. I need to focus; this is a fight…a duel…I could almost feel my mind fall into a rhythm that felt so familiar yet foreign.
“Then stand.” I obeyed, my body feeling lighter and my eyes settling on the Jirs Bi. The room looked out of focus and the chattering of apprentices gradually faded out. My body shifted, my right arm in front of me with the shield-bracer hidden behind me.
“Then begin,” the words had barely left Master Askat’s lips when I started running towards Jirs Bi. I got into his range and activated my shield-bracer, shoving it into his mid-section to throw him off balance. I heard him grunt, seeing him reach for his sword. I unclipped one section of my staff and smacked his hand away. We fell onto the floor, and I moved my shield on top of him. However, his leg hooked mine and I was shoved off.
I rolled away, reconnecting my staff to bat away some throwing knives he sent my way. I felt the triple staff began to resist my grip. Jirs Bi was trying to use the True Power to rid me of my weapon. Gripping it tighter, I moved his sword to his head. I missed the mark but hit his shoulder. His grip loosened and I charged him again. Our weapons clashed and we moved across the room. Jirs Bi’s eyes were bright, but there was something in them that…made me furious. No, not furious…I don’t think that’s the right word.
My triple staff wound around his legs and I kicked him square in the stomach, letting his momentum sending him flying. I hurled the chained scythe after him and clicked my tongue when he blocked it. He backflipped further away and activated his double shield-bracers. We moved slowly, circling as predators to each other. The tension built up and hanging over us, but somehow, I felt calm. The whole world or what I could see in front of me was starting to blur together as the duel went on. It felt mechanical, as if my body was moving on its own and fear was gripping my heart but not freezing my body.
Jirs Bi threw knives my way and my body twisted, I didn’t even process how, but my head was near my feet and then I threw out my scythe again. The tension had fallen onto us, and we were clashing again. I was flipping, dodging, and attacking him in ways that I never remember Master Askat teaching us. Am I dreaming now? Surely not. The world around me was a mess and I was tied to strings, unsure of my own movements.
“ENOUGH!” Master Askat’s commend rang through me and knocked me back. A groan leaving my lips, I looked to check on Jirs Bi only to see him gasping for air on the floor with my triple staff binding his legs. Master Askat used the True Power to remove it and hold it in his hands. “This duel is concluded. Take Jirs Bi to be treated. Pandoori, come to me.”
“I am fine, Master Askat,” Jirs Bi waved away the younger apprentices and walked towards me. He offered his hand to me, I could now see his blue blood staining his hands. “I-I drew blood?” My question was a whisper, floating between us—fragile and ready to snap. His stalwart eyes gave me an answer and I rushed to my feet. “I’m sorry, we weren’t supposed to…”
“Look at me, Pandoori.” We both jumped back, staring up at Master Askat. I felt his gaze fall through me and I straightened. My horns were aching again as I studied his face. Was it always this hard to look at him? No, be respectful and keep eye contact. I started to squint and tighten my body as I was under his scrutiny.
“Your eyes are far too old.”
I blinked at him, my mind solely processing his words. It clicked and my memories aligned properly. I looked down at myself to see my younger body and around the room to see my fellow apprentices. That weird rift! Jirs Bi looked the most confused. “Master Askat, what do you mean?” He looked closer at me, “Though it did feel like you had changed at times during the duel,” he murmured to me.
I gave him a smile though I could feel an awkward ease filling it. “Her mind is that of an older Pandoori that somehow found itself attached to her younger self,” Master Askat said as he knelt down to my level. I looked back at my ‘old’ master, remembering these kinds of days. I feel a longing to experience them again but maybe without the time distortion of my brain.
“I can only say that it’s true, but I’d like to go back,” I replied and giggled at the gasps and stammerings of my old friends. Master Askat nodded and placed his hand on my head. “Your younger self shall not know of this then. Farewell, strong Pandoori.”
Ahhh yes, that’s what he used to call me. I smiled and waved to Jirs Bi who slowly waved back, and the world went white.
My eyes shot open, seeing the ship’s ceiling controls and I got up. Wef, an aquatic planet that our commissioner had sent us to, was visible outside the cockpit. I checked myself and ensured I had returned to my proper timeline.
“You good, Pandoori?” Sersi was leaning against the doorway, twirling a knife in her fingers. I laughed a bit, stilling reeling from what I had just experienced. I could even recall the day after when Jirs Bi demanded we duel ‘normally’ which I agreed to despite my confusion and his stubbornness to answer me.
“Yeah, we should land soon.” I said as I set the Striker to auto pilot. “I also know where we can go next.”
“For a job?”
“Maybe there will be, but also for me to find a clue for my journey home.”
By Kavi Alvar, 2023
The SciFi Spire 