When they returned to the docks the day was already approaching its end. The sun had long hid behind the houses surrounding them, and the sky was tinged with a beautiful orange color that made the smooth surface of water look as if it was on fire. There were also a lot less people on the streets, the dizzying sounds that had characterized a busy market completely gone.
Following ZaiWin down the street, Snow couldn’t stop smiling. He had seen so many different and amazing things! His mind was full of new sounds, new colors, new smells and flavors. Even though he knew they were practically on the run, it had truly been a wonderful day.
He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost clashed against ZaiWin’s back.
They were on a small square, Snow quickly realized, looking around, trying to understand what had led ZaiWin stop all of the sudden. And then he saw the huge tree ZaiWin kept staring at. It was probably an old tree, Snow thought, tilting his head back so he could look at its wide, leafy canopy. It’s trunk was so wide that it would take at least five grown men to hug it, and it looked extremely sturdy. It had probably been left as a reminiscent of the forest that had once spread all the way there, when they had broken ground to build the city. But, even though it was indeed a beautiful tree, Snow still couldn’t see anything peculiar about it, certainly nothing that would make ZaiWin stare at it so intently.
“Have you ever climbed a tree?” ZaiWin suddenly asked and Snow couldn’t help glance at him in confusion.
“Hmm … I guess not.” Certainly not one as tall as that one. He had mostly climbed small bushes, so he could get to the berries growing in higher places.
“Want to try?” ZaiWin suggested, looking at him with that dangerous smile on his lips. And, before Snow could answer, he was already grabing his hand and dragging him towards the large tree.
“I … I don’t think I can. It’s too big,” Snow tried to argue. Which was useless, as he should have known by now.
“It will be fun, you’ll see,” ZaiWin went on, completely ignoring him.
He would most likely fall to his death!, Snow thought in reply to his obvious excitement.
Placing the packages he carried on the ground, ZaiWin looked up at the huge tree, an almost boyish smile on his face.
“That branch there. I’ll lift you up and you hold on to it,” he decided, already pushing Snow beneath it. And then Snow was being lifted from the ground, and he had no other choice but to do as he was told.
Was he serious?! Did he really intend to make him climb that huge tree? For a moment Snow had thought that he would just make them appear somewhere up there!
“Now try to pull your legs up!” ZaiWin instructed, pushing his foot upwards, and Snow grunted from the effort, until he was finally able to throw a leg over the long branch. Sighing in relief, he pulled himself upward until he was safely lying on his stomach.
“Nice! Scoot back a little.”
Looking down at those blue eyes, Snow couldn’t help thinking that it was strange, seeing him from a higher place for a change. For once, ZaiWin didn’t look all that tall, Snow thought, feeling a bit good at that. Also, even though he had been so obviously worried and heavy-hearted just the day before, somehow now ZaiWin seemed to be having fun. Simply having fun, the same way MenTar always seemed to be having fun. And so Snow didn’t want to ruin that rare moment.
Pushing himself upwards, he straddle the branch, offering ZaiWin the space he needed.
With a single jump, ZaiWin grabbed the branch, making it shake so much that Snow couldn’t help holding on as tightly as he could, afraid he might just fall. And then, with a swift agile movement, he too was sitting there, right next to him.
Looking up again, ZaoWin studied the intricate maze of branches above his head, and Snow’s heart sunk. Did he mean to climb even higher? Wasn’t this already high enough?, he wondered, looking at the ground beneath his hanging feet. When he realized, ZaiWin had stood up, looking as steady and relax atop that narrow branch as he would have been standing on firm ground.
“Next is that one,” he declared, pointing another close by branch, before he offered his hand.
Snow looked at that hand and couldn’t help hold on to his branch even tighter.
“I will fall.”
“Nonsense. As if I would allow you to fall. Up! Get up!” he insisted, signaling him to hurry up, and Snow sighed, placing his hand on his, allowing him to pull him to his feet.
Looking down, he immediately felt dizzy, and he was sure that one of his feet would slip at any moment.
“Don’t look down. Always look to where you’re going. Looking back can never help you move forward.”
Snow nodded and raised his head to look at the branch ZaiWin had pointed out. It was closer than the one where he was now standing on had been from the ground.
“Ready?”
Snow gritted his teeth, his heart beating anxiously inside his chest, and nodded. And then he was being picked up again and propelled forward.
They climbed from branch to branch, the whole process eventually sinking in, inside Snow’s mind, to the point that he completely forgot that they were actually climbing a very tall tree. His attention was completely focused on what he had to do next, in following ZaiWin’s instructions, in carefully jumping from one branch to the other.
Holding on to the large trunk, that now wasn’t so wide anymore, Snow peered around it to see the elegant hand that was waiting for him on the other side. Releasing the rough trunk, he grabbed that hand and jumped to the branch where ZaiWin was already waiting for him, warm hands immediately grabbing him, making sure he didn’t slip.
“Ah, guess we’re finally here,” ZaiWin sighed.
Making sure that he was steady enough, Snow finally turned back to look at the scenery. And he could hardly breathe.
His arms ached from constantly hoisting himself onto tree branch after tree branch. His legs were a bit shaky. And he was sweating from the effort of climbing all the way up there. But all that was immediately forgotten the instant his eyes landed on that amazing scenery.
He had never seen anything like it. He had never even dreamed anything like it. Seen from up there, everything was so beautiful that tears flooded his eyes. The entire city was no more than small, white little houses surrounded by glowing streams of pure golden light. The boats, with their white sails, looked like soft clouds floating in small rivers of fire. And, beyond the city, the entire world was bathed in that warm orange light, the trees of the surrounding forest swaying gently back and forth at the sound of a gentle wind. Somehow Snow couldn’t help feel that this was truly a blessed land.
“There was a time in my life when I spent more time climbing trees than walking with my feet on the ground,” ZaiWin declared, sounding amused at the thought. “And I felt really uneasy, if there weren’t any trees around, which unfortunately happens a lot in Nox. Up here there’s always this amazing, relaxing silence …”
ZaiWin closed his eyes and simply took a deep breath, as if he could hear the silence he had just described.
“And you can always see your enemies come~ing for you, even from miles away,” he added, looking at the city down below.
His hand still pressed against the tree trunk, Snow looked down, following his gaze. He could more or less understand what ZaiWin meant, he thought. The same height that made standing there a bit scary, also offered an intrinsic sense of safety. And he was sure that, even though they could see the people walking on the streets, the people down bellow would never be able to see them in return, the lush leaves making the tree canopy the perfect hiding place.
But all that only meant that there had been a time in his life when he had constantly felt the need to hide from the rest of the world, Snow concluded, feeling sad. And suddenly he could easily imagine the child he had seen in that dark cave, cowering in fear, lost atop some tall tree, sitting there all alone.
Why did ZaiWin have to be constantly afraid, always alert, always on guard? Why did he have to always be on the run? Why did other people apparently wanted him dead? He could understand what MenTar had told him, about how ZaiWin becoming a Chosen One could displease many important people. But, even before Snow had appeared in his life, even though ZaiWin was clearly of noble blood, he had already been treated poorly by those around him. He had been chased away from the place where he had been born. And other people had wanted him dead more than once. Was all that because of what Snow had glimpsed on his back? Was he like Snow and the other Tien’Elhar, who hadn’t been born with golden hair? Were the people around him discriminating him because he was a bit different from them? Because his daitai were a bit different from other people’s? Was that why they wanted him dead? If that was so, how stupid and unfair could they be? ZaiWin could have a strange, unnatural energy coursing through his body, but, that apart, he was just like everyone else! He only had two arms and two legs! And there was only one head atop of his neck! As for his weird energy … sure, Snow could understand that it would probably scare a few people. But he clearly never used it to harm other people! Quite the contrary! He was constantly using it to help those in need, even if that meant that it would ultimately harm his own body. Snow really hated all those stupid people that couldn’t see beyond one’s outer appearance.
Language:
ZaiWin: Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos).
Daitai: Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or holy Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power.
