It was about the time for the sun to set when Calico found himself sitting on the steps of the Library in the Main Square. He was thinking of the events that had just happened only an hour before. Roey and Dayno had been searching for Calico ever since they split up in the crowd earlier.
“Yo Calico!! Where the hell have ya been?” Roey was panting as if he had been running all over town searching for him. “We heard what happened with that group of stuck up jerks.”
Calico blinked twice as if he was stuck in a daze, “Oh, Roey, Dayno…. Whats up?”
“Did you hear what he said Calico?” Dayno said frantically. “Are you okay? What the heck happened to you?”
Calico was deep in thought of the events that had just transpired. The last thing he remembered was looking into the eyes of Rayn and then noticing a green haze that seemed to be seeping from his own eyes. He then felt weak all of a sudden and the next thing he noticed was that he had woken up in the city clinic.
“Uh.. yeah. Those guys with the matching outfits all came to register for the Trial de Sangre, and I saw one of them use some weird power.”
“Weird power? What do you mean?” Roey raised an eyebrow.
“It's hard to explain, but it was as if a blue aura started to come out of his body, and then it hardened on his arms, forming some sort of weapons..” Calico said holding his head and noticed a small bump.
“Ouch!...Apparently I passed out and hit my head on the ground too. The nurse said that the Warden took me to the clinic. I just woke up not too long ago.”
“Damn, that's weird, thats the first time I’ve ever heard of you randomly passing out like that.” Dayno said as he began to stretch his back. “Well, anyway, now that we’re here we should also register for the Trial.”
“Yeah, of course.” Calico shot up from where he was sitting. “Lets go.”
The three boys walked over to the Warden's Office on the other side of the square. The first floor was the actual Warden’s Office, where civil matters were handled and also where the registration for the Trials was. The second floor was the living quarters for the Warden himself. Calico scanned the building from top to bottom, observing its old features and rustic presence.
“Um, excuse me, we’re here to register for the Trial de Sangre.” Calico said after he knocked on the window on the booth extending from the building.
It was beginning to get dark as Calico kept knocking again. The knocks echoed through the whole building and it began to seem pretty clear that no one was home.
“God damn it, we missed the Warden,” Roey said. “Well, at least we can just come back tomorrow right?”
“Guys…..does this sign say what I think it says?” Calico said with a shaky voice as he gulped.
“Hm? Here let me see.” Dayno brushed Calico aside and squinted at the paper posted on the window.
“‘CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO HAVE REGISTERED FOR THE 100TH ANNUAL TRIAL DE SANGRE. GOOD LUCK TO ALL AND I’LL SEE YOU IN A MONTHS TIME. DUE TO THE ABUNDANCE OF APPLICANTS, REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.’”
“Wait….WHAT?!” Calico ran his hands through both sides of his head. “We missed the deadline?!!!”
“God damn it, see I KNEW we should’ve came last week.” Roey snapped back. “This is all your fault! You procrastinator.”
“What’d you call me?!” Calico leaped onto Roey and they began to wrestle on the ground as Dayno was scratching his head.
“Well I guess it can’t be helped, destiny doesn't want us to enter into the Trials this year...haha.” Dayno said with an uneasy smile on his face.
As the three boys were making a ruckus in the front of the Warden’s Office, a merchant pushing a cart of various dried beans and foods was passing by.
“Hey mister!” Dayno called out as he ran towards the man. “How much for a 10 pounds of red beans? I just remembered, Mom asked me to pick some up for my her today.”
“2 gold coins, kid.” the old man said with a smile. He looked behind Dayno towards the other two. “Hm? What are those two over there doing?” He made a motion with his head towards Calico and Roey who were still wrestling on the ground, both trying to get the last word.
“Oh, they’re mad about the Warden’s Office being closed. You see, we missed the registration for the Trial...haha.” Dayno’s laugh was short, as if he was also disappointed in missing the registration.
“Kekeke you youngsters wanted to take on the Trials? Well I’ll admit, you have some courage all right. Listen, if you get your friends to each buy 10 pounds of beans too, I’ll share a little secret with you. Who knows, you might still be able to register for the Trials.” The old man said while smiling. His eyes were closed and you could see the many wrinkles around his eyes and cheeks as he smiled at Dayno.
------------------------
“Pssh, why do I gotta buy 10 pounds of beans, I don’t even like red beans.” Calico said with his arms crossed and rolling his eyes over to the side.
“Just do it Calico! This guy said he can give us info that might help us still register!”
“Wait really? And why should we trust you, old man? You might just be scamming us.” Calico’s eyes were squinting as he subtly examined the old man from head to toe.
“Kekeke, well it makes sense that you guys should be skeptical. Truth is, the Warden is my son. And I can tell you where he is right now. If you guys can catch up to him, you can try to persuade him to let you register.”
Calico’s eyes slowly widened as he dug into his pockets.
“Dayno! Roey! Empty out your pockets! We’re gonna be eating beans for a week! Old man, we’ll take 20 pounds each, please tell me where the Warden is!!”
“Kekeke, very well.” The old man collected the money from the kids and began to fill burlap sacks with beans. “Around this time of the day, Draye is usually always training on the beach. Ahh.. now what beach was it again… it was named after some type of metal, I forget.”
“Iron Beach?” Calico quickly asked..
“Ah yes, that's it. Iron Beach.”
Calico turned back towards Roey and Dayno and they exchanged head nods.
“Alright, let's go guys,” Calico stood up straight and dusted himself off. “Let's go see if destiny awaits at Iron Beach.”
Not a second later, Calico turned around and began to sprint towards the beach.
“Wait Calico! Where are you going? We got 60 pounds of beans over here!!” Roey yelled out.
“You can have mine! I told you , I hate red beans! Haha!” Calico yelled back as he turned the corner of the Warden’s Office.
The Square grew silent now that Calico was gone. Only the two boys and the old man remained.
“Damn him, what are we gonna do with all this now?” Roey said as he lugged one bag over his shoulder.
“Well, we might as well take these home first. Then afterwards we can meet up with him at Iron Beach.” Dayno said as he swung the other bag over his own shoulder.
The two of them began to walk back to their houses, the opposite direction in which Calico had ran to. The old man was left alone in the Square as he closed his barrels and began to pull the curtains down on his cart.
“Calico huh?” he said smiling as he looked up to the stars that had just began to emerge. “You’re an interesting one.”
---------------------------
The sun had completely set and the moon was the only thing illuminating the beach as its reflection bounced off the calm sea. The Warden Draye stood in the shoreline so that only his ankles were in the water. He had his hands together in a praying motion as he stood still and meditated. His curly hair was waving with the light breeze that would pass from time to time. He had been standing there for about 30 minutes, undisturbed. Suddenly he opened his eyes as he sensed someone approaching.
Calico had made it to Iron Beach after a 3 mile run and was panting as he squatted down.
“Phew...I made it” he said under his breath as he tried to stabilize his breathing. He looked up from where he was, but he didn't see anyone in sight. After a few minutes, he muscled his way back up to his feet and began to walk down the shoreline.
A shadow of a person began to emerge from the dark as Calico slowly treaded down the shore.
“Hello?” Calico could make out a silhouette of a man who was standing ankle deep in the water. “ I’m looking for the Warden.”
“Hm...I thought I heard someone coming” Draye responded with his eyes closed, facing the dark horizon of the sea. He was still holding his hands together out in front of him, palm to palm.
A look of confusion came over Calico’s face, for all he could hear was the quiet crashing of the waves and the noisy wind in his ears.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Uhm…are you Draye? Someone told me that I’d find you here.”
Draye’s eyebrow twitched upon hearing this, but kept his eyes closed.
“What do you want, boy. I’m busy.”
Calico sensed the annoyance in Draye’s tone. “Mr. Warden...Sir. I came to ask you if I can still register for the Trial de Sangre.”
Draye opened his eyes when he recognized the voice of who he was talking to. He turned his head to look at Calico.
“You’re that boy from earlier aren’t you. The boy from the Main Square. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but registration is closed, and I need to get back to my meditating.” He turned back towards the horizon and shut his eyes.
“Yea, that was me, but I guess I passed out so I don’t remember much. I know that registration is closed, but maybe you could make an exception? Please I NEED to take this Trial.”
“Earlier, you said you were 17 years old. Don’t you know that the Trials are no place for a boy.”
“I'm not a boy, I’ve been training my whole life for the year I turn 17. I’ve always told myself that this is what I was going to do. I need to become a pirate…..just like my Dad was.” Calico clenched his fists. “Even now more than ever.”
“Your father was a Pirate?...haha. Tell me, what might his name be.” Draye said, still not facing Calico.
“Dad? His name was Sirjaa. Sirjaa Deimos.”
A serious look spread across Draye’s face as he opened his eyes and turned towards Calico.
“So you’re the son of Sirjaa. Thats a name I haven't heard in a while.”
“You knew my Dad?”
“Of course We took the Trial de Sangre together and I sailed on his ship for a couple of years after that.”
A look of confusion spread across Calico’s face. “Wait, what do you mean you sailed on HIS ship, I thought everyone has to sail under a Captain when they pass the trials.”
“Ah, well the rules for the Trials were different back then I suppose. I do have to say however, I’m glad that the son of Sirjaa has an interest in sailing the seas. You’d make a fine pirate if you’re even just a slice of what your Father was.”
“Yeah...so getting back to that, please let me register. I missed the deadline….but I need to be a Pirate as soon as possible.” Calico’s head slowly nodded down to face the sand on the ground.
Draye raised an eyebrow, “Oh really, and why is that?”
“I …. I can't say. But I really need this, please understand!”
Draye threw up his hands and turned away from Calico and started walking down the beach, “Welp kid, sorry. I told you already, you missed the deadline. If I make an exception for you, I’d have to make an exception for everyone else. Goodbye now.” He raised one hand over his shoulder as he began to walk away.
Calico didn’t expect such an abrupt answer. He fell to his knees and put looked at his open palms.
“No… no .. no no no. I can't let it end like this. I can’t wait another year. I need answers...NOW.” he said under his breath. He balled up his fists and slammed them into the sand.
“WARDEN!!” Calico yelled out. Draye stopped in his tracks and only turned his head sideways.
“What do you want kid, I got things to do.” he sounded annoyed.
“I need …..to take the Trial this year.” He said as he slowly stood up. He kept his head pointed down.
“Didn’t you hear me boy? Registration is closed. Now get lost before you start to irritate me.”
Calico turned his head up and looked directly at Draye. “I challenge you to a fight. If I win, you let me register.”
Draye was standing about 30 feet away from Calico as he turned and faced him with his arms crossed over his chest.
“You want to fight….me? Bahaha.”
“What's the matter, scared to lose to a 17 year old?”
Draye stopped laughing and could see the determination in Calico’s eyes. His stubbornness pissed him off.
“Alright kid, it looks like this is the only way you’ll learn.” Draye spread his legs and started to stretch his limbs. “What are the rules to your little challenge then?”
Calico was stretching his arms and jumping in place to get his adrenaline up. “It's simple, the first one to knock the other one out wins. No weapons, fists only.”
“Oh is that so?” Draye said with a smile on his face. “So if you win, you can register. But if I win….. Lets see. If I win, I won't allow you to take the Trial de Sangre until you’re 21 years old,” he said with a smirk.
Calico was taken back by those words. ‘21?’ he thought to himself. He shook the thoughts out of his head and spread his legs and put out his left arm.
“I won't lose. I’ve got too much riding on this.”
In what seemed in an instant, Draye squatted down and sprung up about 10 feet above Calico and came down with both hands clamped together in a downward swing.
“We’re starting now?!!” Calico ducked and dove to the right. Draye landed on the ground and pointed one finger at him. He waved with his finger, curling it back towards his wrist.
“Alright then.” Calico ran towards Draye and threw a flurry of punches at his body. Draye easily out maneuvered the punches as he slowly walked backwards.
“What the hell?!” Calico said as he missed every punch.
“You’re years away from landing a punch on me kid.” Draye lifted his left arm and swung it down like a tree trunk into Calico’s side. It was coming too fast for Calico to dodge, so he raised up both arms to shield his face, but he took the impact straight in his ribs. The blow sent his body skipping on the sand a few times before he came to a stop.
Draye stretched his neck over to the side, “You got cocky kid, we’re on two different levels, you and I.” He started to turn around.
Calico laid on the sand gasping for air since he had gotten the wind knocked out of him. He took a deep breath and muscled his way up with his arms first, then his legs.
“I'm only….getting warmed up.” Calico had picked himself up and was standing with his hand on his ribs. “I’ll show you who the cocky one is.”
“Oh…. you’re not gonna stay down? I dont want to hurt you any more than you already are kid.”
‘Shut up,’ Calico thought to himself. He let out a yell as he charged at him. Draye raised the same left arm and swung it down again. Calico dodged it this time, going under the swing and jumped up off the ground behind him and came down with a left punch. Draye ducked his head and caught his punch with his other hand.
“What the?!” Calico said while his arm was snared by Draye’s enormous hand. He then swung his hand over his head and slammed Calico onto the sand in front of him. Calico let out a yell in agony and coughed out blood as he rolled to his side and grasped his ribs.
“This ends here, don't get up. You probably have at least 2 broken ribs already.” Draye pulled a cigar out of his pocket. He cupped his hands around his mouth to light it since the wind was still picking up gusto. “I’ll leave you your honor, you can rest for an hour right there. When you’re feeling better, take yourself to the clinic.” He turned around and started to walk away. “Don't worry kid, I won't tell anyone about what happened here.”
Calico remained on the ground, slowly trying to grasp control on his breathing. He was on his side so he could see Draye’s back as he was walking away.
‘This can’t be it.’ he thought to himself. ‘I’m not waiting 4 years to take the Trial…...Dad...I need to go see what was on your map. I need to get up. Right now. I need to get up.. RIGHT……. NOW.’ Calico shut his eyes forcefully as if to bite back tears. ‘He only hit me two times. GET UP.’ He reopened his eyes, which had changed in color from brown to a shade of green.
Draye stopped in his tracks as he sensed something was not right. He slowly turned around and saw a green aura begin to emerge from Calico’s body. The aura had begun to slowly rotate around his body as he stood up.
“Ah, so you’re one of those , huh?” Draye now stood facing towards the green aura.
“My ribs, they don't hurt anymore…..what is this strength I’m feeling…?” Calico stood with his fists to his side. The aura started to make its way onto his arms. Calico then remembered the same motion that Rayn Kuro had done earlier in the Main Square. He made an X with his forearms above his head.
“I don't know what this is, but it made my pain go away, so I’ll give this a try.” Calico then ripped his arms down to his sides and let out a yell. “This fight isn’t finished yet!” He then sprinted towards Draye twice as fast as he had done before. The aura had dispersed but both of his fists were glowing green, all the way up to his elbow. Streaks of green were left behind of him as he ran.
“I told you to not get cocky kid.” Draye then rushed towards Calico too winding up his right hook. Calico still ran straight towards him, and waited until the last possible second to duck under the swing. He then planted his foot deep into the sand and used all the torque in his body to land a vicious uppercut that connected right under Draye’s jaw. Sparks of creen flew in all directions.
The punch left Draye standing still with his head turned all the way upwards. Calico then jumped and spun in a circle winding up a kick. Letting out a yell, he crashed his kick into the Draye’s ribs. More green sparks erupted from the impact.
Calico then jumped back to create some distance between them both. The kick had shot Draye to the ground a few feet back. When the the sand settled, he raised one hand to rub his chin.
“Haha, you actually landed a punch on me. You got guts kid.” Draye brought his knees up to his chest and jumped upright. “You made me bite through my cigar too.” He cracked his knuckles on both of his hands. “I guess the only way you’ll learn is if I knock you out cold.”
Calico then sprinted towards him jumping from left to right in attempts to throw off Draye’s aim. He then jumped toward him winding up his arm. Calico quickly noticed that his fist had started gushing out the green aura more than usual, it was leaving a trail from where he had jumped. A huge sonic wave sent a wave of sand up in the air when Draye met Calico’s fist with one of his own.
The two stood there for a while, measuring each others power. Draye was the first to make a move. He kicked his leg under to throw Calico off balance but he had already jumped back up to dodge it. Calico threw out a right kick aimed at Draye’s head but was blocked by a beefy forearm. Draye extended his arm and sent Calico flying a couple of feet back.
He then rushed at Calico and jumped in the air with both of his fists cranked back by his sides. Calico jumped to the right, but as soon as Draye landed one foot on the ground, he used all of his leg power to launch himself at Calico. He shot both hands out and Calico raised his arms up and braced himself for the impact.
Calico opened his eyes when he noticed that he didn't feel anything. The aura in his fists had formed a shield and it had fully blocked both of Draye’s fists.
“What the hell is this?” He said as he jumped backwards a few feet. A sharp shock of pain struck his ribs that made him fall to one knee.
“I see that you don't even understand your own power yet. You still have some broken ribs.” Draye began to take off his shirt. Calico hadn’t really noticed before, but he now could see just how strong Draye was. He was almost as big as his uncle Talio, but was way more muscular.
“I’ll tell you what, you got some strength kid. But I’ve got to put an end to this before you seriously hurt yourself.” He shut his eyes and placed his hands together. A gust of wind began to spiral around his feet as a red aura began to emerge from his eyes. He opened his eyes and jerked his arms apart, one in front of the other. His bright red irises glared back at Calico. A red aura was seeping from Draye’s arms and had hardened on his fists, forming glowing red spheres.
‘He can do it too?’ Calico thought to himself.
“It looks like this will be the finale to our little wager.” Draye shouted.
“I’m not backing down now.” Calico ran towards him
‘This kid has got some balls, I’ll give him that.’ Draye thought as he ran towards him as well.
The two let out a loud yell as they both winded up their right fists behind them. When they reached each other, they both planted their left foot deep in the sand and swung their fist at each others faces. Calico slammed his fist into Draye’s face, but Draye also got a direct hit onto Calico’s cheek. Neither of them was backing down, they held their fists in place, pushing down as hard as they could. Calico’s green aura had gotten bigger; it was no longer just on his arms, it had projected outside of his body like a growing bubble. Draye’s red aura also matched the size of Calico’s. The two grunted with anger as they held their positions.
“DON'T GET COCKY KID!!!!” Draye yelled out as he squeezed his fist and pushed down harder on Calico's cheek. The green aura began to shrink as Calico fell to his knees. The force of Draye’s fist pushing down on his face was growing stronger.
“I….WON'T...LOOOOSE!!!” Calico yelled back with Draye’s fist pushing down on his face.
Draye’s eyes widened for a second. He yelled out and brought his fist down onto Calico, smashing him into the sand below. Calico’s hand went limp and quietly fell beside him.
The beach was quiet, and the only thing that could be heard was the soft panting coming from Draye. The green aura completely vanished into thin air as Calico laid knocked out in the sand.
Draye looked up and let out a groan as he put his hands on his hips and leaned back. The stars were shining bright in the sky and the ocean was still calm, slowly crashing the waves that reached the shore.
“Calico Deimos huh?” he tried to normalize his breathing. “You’re an interesting one.”
He leaned down to scoop Calico up, and tossed him over his shoulder.
“Let's get you to the clinic.” he used the back of his hand to wipe blood off his cheek where Calico had punched him. “Stupid kid.”