Tired, confused, lonely… these three words can be used to explain the situation of one young man at this very moment. As wave, after wave slowly rocking this young man whom can only be said to look of maybe 16 years of age. “Ugh… wha… what happened… where is everyone?” as the young man slowly awakes to see his predicament, only one thing flashes through his mind… “Just my luck”...
Before we go any further into this young man’s situation, lets look at who this young man is. His name is Kama, and his origins start off on a small island in the middle of an ocean referred to by his people as “Punaola”. Kama’s island named “Polu” which was situated within a cluster of 11 other islands known to each island’s residents as “Moku”. This small cluster of islands which formed a kind of ‘U’ shape held 7 islands that spanned roughly 2,000 square kilometers and 5 islands that spanned 1,000-1,500 square kilometers. It’s on these islands that Kama was raised as an apprentice to Toa one of the greatest “Kahuna” or Wiseman of his tribe.
Kama was an only child, and his father “Luna” decided to raise him from birth as his mother died during labour. Sadly, it was but only 4 years after Kama was born that his father would also lose his life. It happened during a raid from a neighboring island, in a war that broke out between the 12 islands of “Moku”... After losing both his parents, Kama was but a lone child without a place to go, and no one to care for him. As if the gods felt pity for poor Kama, he was suddenly adopted by a man revered by the people of Moku as “All seeing”. Toa, as Kama would grow up to learn was “All Seeing” not because he could see everyone, and everything… no because he could “understand” everyone and everything from just the slightest touch.
Toa dealt in the magic of ‘Soul Finding’ it was a special art to see the memories of objects, people, and things. By putting one’s ‘Mana’ or life force into an object whether it be a person of a weapon or even a tree, Toa could tap into the memories of that object. When Toa decided to adopt Kama, it wasn’t because he felt pity for the boy… it was because of his ability… When Toa touched Kama’s shoulder while walking through the many villages on his island, Toa didn’t feel Kama’s past… no in fact it was something entirely different. When Toa touched Kama’s shoulder he saw the image of a fierce warrior, standing on a mountain of shiny objects he’d never seen in all of his life. Kama’s image was further glorified by the multitudes of people who bowed and cheered before him, people of all kinds of looks and races Toa had never seen before either. To Toa, this child had given him his first glimpse of a possible future he’d never imagine even in his wildest dreams.
Toa, as if knowing that this child could change the face of not only these islands, but maybe lands beyond the great ocean of Punaola, decided to adopt Kama and raise him as his own. During the first few years of Toa and Kama’s life together Kama showed signs of unmatched cleverness and wit. If not for the fact that he was only 6 years of age and his only thoughts were to play with his two friends and get into trouble, Kama would be an exemplary apprentice in the arts of ‘Soul Finding’...
“Koa! Anu! Where are you!?!” Kama yelled as he ran to the hills behind his village in search of his two best friends. As Kama went to a part of the hills that held a small grove of trees, he was looking intently for his two best friends. As he got closer to the grove of trees which he and his two friends decided to name as their secret hide-out, Kama couldn’t see his friends anywhere. Kama not noticing anyone one nearby thought of something his grandpa Toa had taught him. “Kama my boy, if searching for something unseen try using your other senses to attune them to the search… If using one sense is good, then using two senses is better. This technique is the first step to Soul Finding.” To Kama, Toa’s words were undoubtedly the wisest, and after thinking for a moment he decided to kneel down and not only focus his sight on his surroundings, but also attune his hearing too. As he focused he could hear snickering
“pft hahaha, look Anu, he can’t find us at all” -Koa
“geez, Koa you have to be a little more quiet or..”-Anu
Just at that moment, Kama picked up a small pebble and threw it into the tall grass to the left of him.“Oww! what was that for?!?” A boy who looked about a foot taller than Kama, stood up from the tall grass gripping his forehead. “You, asked for it when you wanted to try and hide from me. I knew you guys were going to try and trick me Koa” Kama said, while tossing another pebble in his hand up in the air. “Come on Anu, i know you’re in there too… there’s no point in hiding anymore.” As Kama said those words a small girl with a small stature that had very unruly hair came out of the grass, if it weren’t for this girls fiery mischievous eyes she would be a truly cute girl. “Geez Kama, how is it you always catch us before we can manage to scare or prank you?” Anu said with a cute pouty face. “Its a secret, not telling…” Kama exclaimed with a triumphant smile on his face, to which Anu just stuck out her tongue and pouted.
“So whats the plan today Kama!?! ouch!” Koa asked while still rubbing the small lump that was on his forehead. To that question Kama looked at his friends with a mischievous smile. “Were going treasure hunting!” Both Koa, and Anu’s face lit up with joy at their friends sudden announcement. “Ooooh, that sounds great, where are we headed” Anu exclaimed while staring at Kama with her eyes in anticipation. Kama looked at the two friends and said with confidence “I know of a Cave just next to the shore in a cliff side, i heard that an old warriors bones are placed in there! I bet there’s all kinds of cool stuff he left behind in there” To those words Koa and Anu’s expressions changed from excitement to doubt. “Kama i dont think we should go bothering someone’s grave… i don’t want to be cursed or something” Koa said while looking at the ground not wanting to be dragged into a situation that would be to scary. Koa though being the tallest kid in the area was but a gentle giant and, and would frighten quite easily. “Yah Kama, i dont want to be yelled at by my Mom and Dad again. Remember what happened last month when we wandered too far into the hills and when we got back we were punished for 2 days… my butt still hurts to this day” Anu exclaimed while covering her rear, as if her parents would turn up any second and punish her for even thinking about anything crazy.
“Come on, Please!!! I bet there’s enough stuff in there for all of us to get something” Kama pleaded to his friends. Finally after a few minutes of begging and pleading Kama finally got the approval from both of his friends. “Then it’s settled, we’ll go explore the cave! Follow me!” exclaimed Kama with a face full of excitement, while his two friends followed behind with warry faces.
As Kama, Koa, and Anu neared the cave on the shore they stood outside of the dark cavern with mixed feeling. Kama was was so pumped and ready to go, but when he got to the entrance of the cave his determination quickly faded. “*gulp* well here we are, so um who wants to go in first?” as Kama said those words, and looked behind at his two friends, he was met with an expression from both Koa, and Anu saying without a doubt “you, wanted this adventure so you go first”. With a heavy sigh Kama turned back to the cave and proceeded to enter.
Step by step Kama walked into the cave, and the deeper he got the darker it became. ‘Geez i can’t see anything, this was such a bad idea’ Kama thought to himself. After the trio had gone a fourth of the way into the cave they could only see a few feet in front of them. Kama, not knowing what to do began to think about the things Toa had taught him about the different senses, and how they enhance each other. As Kama began to slow down he focused his mind on his sense of sight and sound… The lighting of the cave began to get a little clearer for Kama. ‘wow, its true that i can see a lot better when focusing on my more than one sense’ Kama thought to himself.
After a moment Kama decided to try adding another sense, smell. As he stood in place he searched his surrounding for traces of anything he could smell. The sea breeze, the moist cave walls, everything… and as he did this the cave got a little brighter in his eyes the darkness seeming to dissipate. But as Kama focused his three senses he began to notice a slightly hazy aura to the back of the cave. It was only for a moment that the aura showed itself, but it only took that moment for Kama to be completely enthralled in his new heightened state. Soon Kama wanted to try to expand even more on his senses and as he did so, he began to inch his way forward. The next sense Kama added was his sense of touch. He went to the side of the cave wall and touched it. Feeling the coarse rock’s surface on his hand, the feeling of sand and small water worn pebbles under his feet, and the temperature in the air. Coupled with his sight, smell, and hearing kama was slowly getting closer to the aura that seemed to radiate ever so brilliantly.
“Um Kama… Kama… HEY KAMA!!!” starting off quiet but slowly getting louder Kama’s friends who have been following blindly behind Kama while in the cave. Started to yell at Kama to get his attention. “Shhhh, I’m trying to concentrate on something. I think I see something a little further up the cave” Kama replied abruptly to his friends cries for an explanation. Kama doesn’t fully grasp what he’s doing at the moment could be considered superhuman, he’s controlling his senses in a way that martial artists and various masters strive to do, and seldom achieve with so little experience. His friends on the other hand were still only 6 and 7 year old kids without an expert Kahuna as their teacher and parent. How could Koa, and Anu know that what Kama was doing was actually scratching the surface to the ‘Soul Finding’ art.
As Kama neared the aura and was only a couple feet in front of it, he found the aura to come from a bundle that was long, about 7 feet long. As Kama bent down to grab the bundle, he found it was quite heavy, so he decided to open it first to see what was inside. As Kama opened it up, to his surprise he found a beautiful fighting staff. It was adorned with carvings and, symbols of all Kinds. As Kama was busy admiring his find, unbenounced to him and his friends the entrance to his secret cave had actually started to disappear due to the rising tide.
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Kama finally snapping out of his awe, he looked at his two friends behind him who were still gazing into nothingness and said, “Hey guys check this awesome staff out!, I think it belonged to that dead warrior”. “What do you mean check this out!?!, me and Koa cant even see in this pitch dark, and you want us to look at some awesome stick? Come on Kama, let’s get out of here, this cave is giving me the creeps” after Anu said these words Kama could see Koa nodding in agreement too scared to leave the side of his friends. “Alright I got what i wanted to get, so lets leave” Kama said as he awkwardly dragged the staff behind him as he led his friends to the entrance of the cave. Getting closer to the entrance of the cave Kama’s face turned a shade of gray, because waiting for them at the entrance of the cave wasn't sand and beach… it was ocean. in the hour or so that the trio was traversing the dark cave the tide had risen 5 feet and was only getting deeper. “What do we do Kama!? I don’t know how to swim!” said Koa with a face filled with fear and doubt. Kama looked at his two best friends, both with faces seeming to think the exact same thing.
Kama stepped back and assessed the situation, ‘the tide is rising faster and faster, the only way out of here is to either swim, or climb the cliff side to shore or shallow waters. Seeing as how we don’t know how to swim… i guess are best bet is to climb our way around the cliff wall’. After thinking for a bit, Kama looked at his friends with an eerie look, and decided to explain the situation and how their only choice is to climb. After hearing Kama explain the plan of climbing the cliff side and hugging the wall till they reached shore, both Koa and Anu’s doubt and fear started to fade.
As the trio waded in the water toward the outside of the cave each of them hugged the cave’s inner wall as not to be dragged out to sea. When they reached the exit of the cave all of them were desperately clinging to the rock face and shimming out and toward the shore. As they proceeded with the plan all was well, Koa was leading the three, while Kama brought up the rear, and Anu who was the weakest of them stayed in the middle. The trek although seemingly easy to most adults was extremely strenuous to the trio. Soon the shimmying of the trio stopped and the look of exhaustion could be seen from all three of them. Anu with pleading eyes looked at Kama and said with tears forming “I can’t hold on anymore, my arms feel like they’re going to fall off!” Kama with a pained expression tried to urge his friend forward “Look Anu, you can see the shore from here the edge of the beach is just a little further” Anu looked forward, and while staring at Koa who breamed with confidence at the fact that they could make it collected some renewed strength and pushed on. But god had another plan for them, and as the kids inched closer to the shore the waves began to kick up. Each wave that hit the cliff shook the children, and soon the waves were too strong for Anu to hold onto the cliff face.
With faces stricken with horror at the sight of their best friend falling from their sight, all traces of confidence left them. Anu bobbing in the water struggling for air as wave after wave pelted her. As she was drowning screams for “help” and “save me” could be heard. Koa seeing his friend struggle endlessly, desperately clung to the cliff face muttering “im sorry, i can’t save you, please forgive me”.
Kama on the other hand had torrents of emotions swirling in his mind, desperation, helplessness, confusion and anger… anger at himself and the gods. Anger that he lead his friends on this stupid adventure. As Kama stared at his friend Anu with her screams and pleas for help his mind went blank. Everything went silent for Kama, his senses seeming to be halted as his mind shattered under the situation.
Than, as if opening a new gateway in his mind and soul, the desperation triggered something within him. Soon Kama’s sight became broader, and more clear as if the glare and reflection of the water’s surface wasn’t there. He stared into the water as if looking through a glass cup filled with water. All of Kama’s senses became heightened, his grip becoming stronger his ears seeming to hear even the sea creatures in the water.
The warrior staff strapped to Kama’s back gave off a slight aura in response to Kama’s sudden transformation. As if calling out to Kama, the staff pulsed even fiercer. Kama as if instinctively knowing what to do, grabbed a hold onto the staff. When Kama gripped the staff memories of a man he’d never seen flowed into his mind. Countless battles, practices of techniques, and the scene of a man with overwhelming confidence holding onto the same staff Kama held at the moment.
Without any hesitation Kama lept from the cliff, both hands grasping the staff like a Samurai holding a Katana. With a sweep of the staff landing on the surface as Kama plunged off the cliff, an overwhelming aura exploded from the staff hitting the water. The force was so strong that water seemed to split aside, showing a small Anu curled up like a ball at the bottom of the sea floor. Kama using the force of the staff hitting the water slowed his descent down to a soft landing beside Anu. While still holding the staff in his right hand and grabbing anu by the hand with his left. Kama than whacked the sea floor with his staff and using the bending staffs tension he flew off the ground toward the cliff face. Yelling “CATCH HER” Kama threw Anu towards Koa, and if breaking out of deep sleep Koa came to his senses just in time to barely grab onto Anus arm as she fell. After tossing Anu to Koa, Kama landed on the cliff gripping onto its face with all his might. Kama was exhausted, truly exhausted and the power he felt in his body was slowly fading. “I’ve gotta save them” Kama said to himself and then while gripping the wall with his left hand Kama took his staff and pointed at Koa. “HOLD ON TO THE STAFF” Kama yelled to Koa, and as Koa readily obeyed Kama placed all of his remaining power into his right arm and flung his friends towards the top of the cliff face. Koa while still holding onto an unconscious Anu soared 40 feet into the air just making it over the cliff face and onto flat land. Kama while truly exhausted, and in utter pain fell from the cliff face into the ocean that had just begun to recede back into place after Kama’s first move. While being swallowed into the ocean Kama’s face showed a wry smile. Kama was at peace, he knew he had saved his friends and he could now face his death without worry. Ever since losing his parents Kama thought he was cursed to follow the same fate. He always felt he was on borrowed time, and as if being punished for looking for a treasure that was hidden in a dangerous spot. Kama knew that he would be dead soon and it didn’t shock him. Although this situation would frighten and give anxiety to most, to Kama he was as light at peace. But, as Kama waited for the waves to crush him, and for the water to drown him, it never came. Instead he opened his eyes to see Toa running on the surface of the water while carrying him... not to the shore but around the opposite side of the cliff.
Koa, was in shock… in just a few hours he had gone from despair to confidence and back a dozen times. He looked at the unconscious Anu laying beside him and quickly shook her to see if she was ok. As Anu slowly began to gain consciousness she looked around to see where she was and said “ughhh.. wha… where.. ah Koa, where is Kama, and how’d we get here” Koa, as if coming out of his confusion hurriedly scurried to the cliff’s edge peering down to see where Kama was. To his dismay Kama was nowhere to be found, and Koa’s heart had sank. He was too weak and frightened to save Anu when she fell into the ocean the first time. And now that he thought that Kama had fallen to his death his heart slowly sank deeper and deeper into despair. ‘What if Anu blames me for Kama’s death? What if she leaves me and never wants to be my friend after this?” These thoughts slowly turned Koa’s mind from being worried to that of being possessive. “No! I cant lose my only friend left! After Kama left she’s all i’ve got” Koa thought to himself, and as these thoughts circulated in his mind his mouth answered Anu’s question. “Kama and me jumped into the ocean to save you, but because i was stronger that Kama, i grabbed you by the arm and began to climb up the cliff. I thought Kama was right behind us, but when i looked back he was gone” Koa began to sob, half of it was for the effect of the lie, but the other half was because he was truly sad. “I could only save one of you, and i decided to save you Anu” Koa said, while looking at Anu.
Anu began to cry out in shock and out of despair at revelation she was told. Kama was her first friend in her life, she was one of the few girls in the village but because she was seen as a tomboy none of the other girls played with her. But Kama was different then the other kids in the village, he accepted Anu for the person she was, and Anu found her first real friend. Anu after flashing back through her times spent with her best friend Kama who was now gone... “KAMA!” *sob* “You dummy, why’d you have to make us go on this dumb treasure hunt” *sob* “because of this i’ll never be able to see you again, we’ll never be able to play together, run together, get into trouble together” As Anu cried and sobbed her words became quieter and quieter. Soon all of the sounds she made vanished, and all traces of emotion faded from her face leaving only swollen eyes from her tears. Koa looked at Anu while slowly weeping to himself for lying and for being weak… It was at this moment Koa made a resolution to never be afraid again and to train himself to be strong enough to protect what was his. Little did Koa know that that lie he told was the start of the seed of evil that he would sow into his heart. This evil would soon tear away at his being till he was a possesive, angry, deceitful individual.