Context: A part of a chapter I edited to include a new scene that I thought was important. It's spicy. Also: in Tiaki, marriage happens when two people move in together. Additionally, their society is matrilineal.
The sky was calm and moonless when they left. The darkness of the night seemed to cover them like a harsh shroud. Everything seemed to be going right: none of their neighbors wandered the streets flipping drunk, no children were out past their bedtimes to practice magic in secret, the lack of moonlight was a silent gift, and all of Vox seemed constricted in hushed silence. The hustle and bustle of the marketplace had long died out, the roar of the waves was nothing more than a rhythmic lull, and the people’s vibrant energy was gone. The sound of the ocean only grew stronger as Kakane and Serena neared the port. Great bulky cargo ships casted deep shadows only the cobbled road while smaller boats nestled in their wake. Opposite to the water, tall stone buildings reached over the rested vessels. In between was a narrow pathway that raced into the night.
“Stop right there!”
“Oh, salted fish heads!”
Kakane skidded to a halt. The path was blocked by a line of soldiers. In one hand, they held a fiercely burning lantern and in the other, sharply curved katanas. Kakane whipped around to see that the only escape route was blocked by more soldiers, all in Doryokan garb. The light of their lamps illuminated a single figure on horseback, wielding a familiar intricate katana. The horse strode up to Kakane and Serena at a casual pace. They stumbled away from the beast, but they could not escape the stormy gaze of the rider. Kakane chewed the inside of his cheek as Christophe Sakamoto’s steel gray eyes and heavy frown bore straight into his soul.
“I know your name,” Christophe said, “and it is not of Vox. It is the name of the crown prince of Draconia, the very same I failed to capture ten years ago. Why is it you bear the same name as the Draconid prince? Show me your face if you know what is good for you, lad!”
“Never!” Kakane snapped. Christophe then noticed Serena.
“My, how intriguing! So it was not one Draconid that survived the hunt but two. The crown prince of Draconia and his loyal servant… How fitting! Both of you shall make excellent additions to my legacy as Doryoku’s Shining Tiger!”
“Get away from us,” Serena spat. But that only made the soldiers advance closer to them.
“Oh, for Strongjaw’s sake, why did I have to be so stupid as a child!?” Kakane cursed. “I just had to go and give my real flippin’ name to Earnest, didn’t I!?”
Kakane drew back his fist, where an angry red circle materialized over his fingers. From the ring, he launched a pitch-black fireball at the nearest soldier. The flames shot right past the lanterns’ glow and produced no light in the moonless darkness. The magic engulfed the nearest Doryokan in a terrifying invisible blaze. The other soldiers were quickly blown back by the sheer heat of the fire, which fanned out to target them. They frantically tried to put out the putrid black flames, which ate greedily at their clothes and flesh. Only Christophe remained unscathed and unmoving, ignoring the inferno and looking absolutely unamused.
Kakane ran forward and drew his sword. Christophe eyed him with a raised brow. When Kakane tried to slide past the horse and escape into the smoke, the Shining Tiger deftly blocked him with a flick of his wrist. Kakane found the blade of Christophe’s katana against his neck. The blade was wretched away by tendrils of vines that exploded from the ground and snaked around the legs of the horse. Kakane felt a tug on his cloak pull him back. The horse neighed in panic and bucked Christophe off its back, who landed on his feet with a thud. The beast quickly fell over as it tripped in the entangling ivy.
“Thanks,” Kakane said to Serena.
“Don’t mention it,” she replied, never lowering her hands, where two bright green circles pulsed in front of her palms.
“Hmph.”
Christophe grunted and trudged to his fallen steed. From the side of its saddle, he grabbed a long pole and then hoisted it in front of him. This was another Doryokan weapon, one Kakane had seldom heard of but never seen: a kama-yari, a kind of long spear with two blades. One spike thrusted forward, like a traditional lance, but was joined at the base by another spike perpendicular to the staff, forming a hook.
“You handle the soldiers in the back,” Kakane ordered. “Flood the road or something. The Shining Tiger is mine.”
“Roger that.”
Kakane rushed forward. Behind him, he heard a roar of water surge from the port onto the cobble and the shocked screams of the flipping Doryokans, who were swept all the way to the Voxian backalleys. Serena wasn’t patient when it came to getting things done. All that awaited him was the Shining Tiger. Christophe awaited him with a crafted fighting stance and his kama-yari held slack at his side. Kakane swung his sword, whereupon the blade was caught in the intersection of the kama-yari’s point. He gritted his teeth, locking eyes with Christophe, whose glare was unflinching. The smoke and heat from his lingering fireball fanned Kakane’s eyes and nostrils, drawing beads of sweat from his skin that glistened down his face.
This flippin’ reach disadvantage! I can’t get close!
“You will not escape Vox,” Christophe rumbled. “This nobody’s land shall be your grave. How does it feel, knowing you will die in disgrace?”
“Don’t talk down to me!” Kakane growled. “The only one falling is you, you bastard! Today’s the day I avenge everyone! As king, I will answer the laments of the dead!”
“King? Pah! You fashion yourself a king?” Christophe guffawed. “King of nothing; that’s what you are, little prince. How pitiful. You die not only in obscurity but also in delusion.”
“Shut up!”
“Kakane!”
A stream of water cut between Kakane and Christophe, breaking their parry. A bright blue ring of mana encircled itself around the Shining Tiger’s feet. When Serena raised her hands, a curtain of fast-flowing water sprouted from the ring like a reverse waterfall.
“Let’s go!”
Kakane grabbed Serena’s hand and ran. They fled right past Christophe and the disoriented soldiers recovering from Kakane’s sputtering black flames. They turned around a corner and out of sight from the Doryokans.
“After them!” Christophe’s voice echoed out of the water column and reverberated throughout what seemed like all of Vox. “Kill them on sight! Under the orders of the great emperor of the Doryokan Empire, those beasts cannot be permitted to live!”
“What now!?” Serena asked. “I can’t keep up that water prison forever!” As if on cue, the azure light in her palm started to flicker.
“Just— Follow my lead!” Kakane instructed.
In truth, he had no idea where he was going. The Voxian port area was completely unfamiliar to him. He’d wandered them occasionally as a child and maybe walked down one or two roads by the sea running errands, but that was it. In the darkness and amidst the confusing alleyways of coastal Vox, not only were they lost, but prone to ambush at any moment. But if they kept running and continued going north-northeast, perhaps they’d reach the fabled checkpoint: the road split going to either Echo or Zetreum. Christophe had a fifty-fifty chance of correctly guessing where they were going. Kakane prayed to the gods that the Shining Tiger made the wrong decision. But that was only if he and Serena even got that far.
Serena’s blue water magic circle faded completely, fizzling out of her hand. Kakane heard a loud splash from far beyond, as if a huge bucket of water had been thrown out onto the street. But then his ears perked up with another sound, one that filled his heart with dread.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be flippin’ kidding me…”
“What is it!? Kakane, what is it!?”
Serena gasped. Baying and howling consumed the night, interrupted by cruel barking and yapping. Dogs. And, most likely, not just any dogs. Specialized tracking hounds. Christophe must have had men in hiding; that, or he worked hard to rendezvous with his soldiers and release the fearsome canines. People were one thing, but Kakane and Serena could never outrun the sensitive nose of a dog. He felt his heart start to beat erratically from the panic consuming his emotions. No, he had to find a solution. It didn’t matter that his heart was about to jump out of his chest, Kakane had to fulfill his duty as a king. He owed it to the souls lost ten years ago and his partner running beside him whose own heart still bravely lived.
“This way!”
They dove into an alleyway. Kakane wracked his brain for any muscle memory that still remained of his childhood. He’d lived in these twisting corridors once upon a time. He knew these streets better than any flipping Doryokan. He hoped the roads he once memorized as a trash-eating urchin would help him lose his pursuers. After all, Christophe couldn’t possibly have enough men to search the entire back-alleys of Vox! He’d sooner find a needle in a haystack. But the baying of the hounds has Kakane flinching and stumbling over his own two feet. The dogs sounded like they were right on his heels.
A sudden left turn brought Kakane and Serena back to the port. The ships here were larger than any of the ones Kakane saw before. These had to be the private vessels of the rich folk from Echo or Tiaki. Their shadows towered over him, making him feel pathetically small. The hounds’ barking only grew louder with every step Kakane took. But even as miniscule as he might be, Kakane could not allow his confidence to waver.
“In here.”
Kakane shoved himself and Serena behind a nearby pile of crates. He held her close, their frantic hearts beating as one. She took his hand and squeezed it to offer what little comfort she could. Kakane released a tentative breath. But then he gagged and had to slap a hand over his mouth to keep from retching. He hoped whatever was in these boxes was enough to deter the dogs; the Doryokans certainly wouldn’t sort through an assortment of random cargo. Especially if it smelled as bad as, well, salted fish heads. The locals would be shaking their fists. But all of Kakane’s hopes snuffed into the void when light shone through the thin cracks of the crates. This was a terrible idea.
“Ay, Mira! You are rather late.”
“Good evening to you as well, Luina. Ay, I’m afraid Kāne escaped me tonight. I completely lost track of time talking to some locals up north.”
“Those are Tiakian names!” Serena whispered.
She and Kakane listened as someone, presumably Mira, yawned rather loudly. Then someone clicked their tongue, possibly in irritation. Another voice spoke, that of a man’s, but it wasn’t Mira’s or Luina’s.
“Mira, you cannot continue returning to Aupuniotiaki while Kahōʻāliʻi’s face is dark,” said the man sternly. “Think of how it would reflect on your husband, the king of the Poseidon Islands!”
“Oh, Kai isn’t gonna care what flipping time I come home! Well, actually, he might, if I make a habit of returning so late.” The man sighed and Mira laughed awkwardly. “But that can be said about everyone in his family: Takeru, Megrez, Kenshin! Family worries about family. Besides, Kai technically married into my family and you don’t see my folks kicking up a fuss! Ay, ay, I’m sorry, you can put that glare away now.” Mira cleared her throat. “Luina, you can start loading my luggage into the vessel. I’d appreciate it if we could leave immediately. The sea is calm for now but Maui’s temper flares at a moment’s notice.”
“Of course, Mira!”
“I have an idea,” Kakane told Serena. She nodded.
There was a tarp nearby Kakane only noticed thanks to the light of Mira’s servant’s lantern. The tarp covered something appearing thin, rectangular, and boxy. A chest, perhaps. Kakane had a sneaking suspicion it was Mira’s coveted luggage. Without a moment to spare, he led Serena through the darkness. They tip-toed around the glow of the lamp, taking care to ensure their shadows didn’t encroach the illuminated area. The tarp was loaded onto a cart with wheels. Kakane lifted the cloth and Serena dove inside. He followed quickly after her, making sure not to cause any suspicious bulges. The trolley lurched and Kakane leaned against a large trunk as he and Serena bumped up and down. The wheels squeaked against the concrete and strained versus the wooden plank to the ship. Kakane hugged Serena tightly so she didn’t fall off the vertical slope. Finally, they came to a halt. Kakane held his breath. Someone started whistling but the sound grew dim as footsteps carried the music farther and farther away. Soon, Kakane and Serena were met with only silence. Serena sighed deeply. They were safe.
Until they once again heard the hounds’ baying.
Kakane cringed. The Doryokans finally caught up to them. The dogs scratched the side of the ship, their nails kicking up a terrible racket against the waxy wood. They couldn’t see Kakane or Serena but they could certainly smell their prey through the hull.
“I order you to let me onto your ship!” boomed the unmistakable voice of Christophe Sakamoto. Even so far away, Kakane couldn’t help but cower.
“And I’m telling you no,” retorted Mira. “Forget a reason, you haven’t given me any reason!”
“I am a knight of Doryoku and a trusted servant of the great Emperor Enjo Hononen! That is your reason, foolish girl. You will respect me and my demands! Clear the way and let me search your ship. Now.”
“Ay, and I’m the queen of Aupuniotiaki, advisor to the king, priestess of Nash, official diplomat, and noblewoman of the Poseidon Islands! I said no and mean it. If you don’t wanna get chased out of Vox and all the way back to Doryoku, I suggest you turn tail and leave. If you’re a tuna fish then I’m a great big cetus. You have no power over me, ‘Shining Tiger,’ and I’m not letting you trash my flipping ship!”
“You disrespectful hag!” It was an unfamiliar man’s voice; probably one of Christophe’s soldiers. “How dare you speak that way to the Shining Tiger! Sir, can’t we just ignore her!?”
“No.” Christophe’s voice dripped with venom. “Her tone conveys the truth. If we antagonize her, we antagonize Tiaki, Vox, and Echo combined. My new position would be stripped from me. I will not lose the emperor’s trust; `twould be treason. I will stand down for now. But know this, insolent girl, you will come to regret offending me and the Doryokan Empire! Leash the hounds; we return to Mount Strongjaw.”
A minute later, the dogs began pining. What followed was a horde of synchronized footsteps that soon faded into the distance.
“Ugh, that was annoying,” complained Mira. “Honestly, those flipping Doryokans! They’re the spitting image of war-mongering Kanehikili. Throwing lightning everywhere in an attempt to start a fight, it’s madness! Let’s get going. I am so done with dealing with arrogant old men telling me to ‘smile more.’ I’ve been putting up with them since first arriving here!”
“Ay. Right this way, Mira.”
“They’re gone,” Serena realized. “We’re safe.”
The ship lurched forward. Wherever they headed, it would be far, far away from the Shining Tiger and the Doryokans.