What The Fireleaves Danced

"The Barangay is the basic unit of government and civilization in the Lakungdulan Isles. Led by a Datu and protected by his self-appointed Regalia, taught to and nurtured by the katalonan, and perpetuated by fishers and farmers. Sometimes they might have an albularyo who brews medicines for them, or a mangkukulam living away from the main body that sometimes protects them.

One thing is for sure – the barangay is not only a unit of government. It is a family."

- Datu Kagani, 564th Year of the Masked Moon

Mayumi gathered up her clothes once again, although she chose not to wear the baro anymore. It was soiled and dirtied beyond repair. Instead she cut them up – using the kampilan – and refashioned the long trips of cloth into sashes. She covered up most parts of her body, baring only her abdomen and shoulders and legs. She realized then the beautiful okir designs of the sashes -- geometric designs that signified the handiwork of a Lakungdulan -- and she admired her own clothing for a short while.

Until she heard the stoking of fire.

Mayumi inhaled, and then moved out of the shelter of the rock, meeting up with her two other companions. The smell of cooked pork was astonishingly enticing.

Angas had also bathed, it seemed. He had laid close to the flame, drying himself as water dripped from his furry coat, drenching him completely. The tamawo only watched Mayumi as she took up her previous seat behind her. There were small, crude logs that served as seats now; Mayumi wondered if the diwata had allowed Dakila to cut up some of the trees. In a fit of fear, she prayed to Apung Okot, Lord of the Forests, and every diwata that lived within each tree.

Mayumi sat, and Dakila reached for her one of the skewers. The fat still dripped from the very large skewer that she had to use two hands to properly maneuver. She tore into the first piece of meat and ate. She swallowed that quickly, and she tore into that same piece of meat once again.

Mind, this was a large piece of meat, as the boar that it came from was gigantic as well. But in only a few moments, Mayumi had finished the entire piece of meat, and licked her lips, savoring it as well.

Dakila watched her with a strange sort of interest. Mayumi saw him staring at her with those entrancing, indigo eyes, and she suddenly remembered her manners. She put her head down and ate smaller pieces of the skewer.

She threw some pieces of meat to the drying Angas as well. He savaged part of that meat, but left the other part untouched, obviously the civet's belly was filled to the brim with all the flash eating of strips.

Mayumi was hungry, though. And the tender red of the cooked meat still made her mouth water. It got to the point that, when she was halfway finished with the skewer, she already felt her belly bursting, despite still being hungry.

Dakila spoke once more, "We will have to move farther north."

"Yes," said Mayumi after swallowing a piece of the meat.

"The Barangay of Datu Kagani is known as Pinagsama," said the tamawo. "It is a rather large barangay, and it does not hold any fealty to any of the Lakandoms of Liway, and it is protected by Sacred Oaths to the diwata. You will be safe there, I know."

"That is what Datu Sariman would've wanted," said Mayumi, finding herself speaking without thinking.

Dakila stared at her, and blinked. "Yes. Thus why I am beholden to bring you there." He looked down at his skewer and moved his head to bite it.

"Dakila," she said, and at the mention of his name, he paused. Should I ask this question? After that stint I performed? Would he think me crazy, or brave? Intelligent, or stupid? "Teach me how to fight."

Fireleaves rustled, twirling, dancing, and then falling to the ground. The tamawo waited for a moment, before going ahead and biting a piece of the wood off. "Why would you need to fight?" He said, chewing on a piece of meat. "I am here to protect you. Also, you've been trained in your barangay, have you not?"

"Yes, but, it hasn't been completed." She paused. Because of the attack. But she decided not to add that in. "I would rather that I know how to protect myself and not to depend on you."

"You will not have to fight in Pinagsama," he said, looking up at her. "I know that place. It is a safe place."

"Still!" said Mayumi. "I… I want to be strong enough."

Dakila raised an eyebrow at that – a surprisingly human gesture for him, seeing that he didn't have any eyebrows. "Strong enough for what?'

"Strong enough for our barangay." Or at least, believe that I am. Her thoughts coalesced into an unyielding chaos, unknowing exactly what she wanted, or why she wanted Dakila to train her in the martial arts. It was indeed to protect herself. She thought that if she wanted to be strong, she needed to be able to protect for herself, stand up for herself, and physical might is something they prize in their barangay. "No, not strong enough," she said. "Just… strong."

Dakila stared at her with that seemingly lifeless gaze. His eyes didn't move, he didn't blink, and when he stared at something he had the same amount of movement as a tree did during a windless night.

Then he spoke. During this short moment of waiting, Mayumi had brought her hopes up…

"It would be a waste of time."

…but they all crashed down.

"Time is much too precious to spend some of it training you instead of moving as fast as we can to Pinagsama. We would need time to hunt and to bathe and to camp, and to move amongst the trees. There will be evil creatures that will block our path, and I cannot waste my time in making sure you are safe because you waded into battle. Reaction and quickness is integral to winning a battle.

"No," he didn't seem to breath. "I will not train you, Sariman's Last Child. It is unneeded." And he returned to eating the last few pieces of meat on his skewer.

Mayumi felt a lump in her throat, and she could feel that burning one felt right before a tearful sob. Her heart became filled with regret as she found that she couldn't breathe, her nose becoming clogged.

She shook her head and looked down, and did everything in her power to stop from crying. Mayumi realized it was too late. Tears streamed down her face, dappling parts of the meat she ate. She inhaled, and mucus filled her nostrils. She shuddered as she wept. Angas jumped up and tried to stop her, maybe even comfort her, by butting his head against her neck.

Dakila continued eating. He stopped to watch the tears stream once, and then went back to eating the food once again. Crying over this? I am too weak…

Mayumi shook her head, angered at how she was. Angered at herself. Angry that she couldn't stand up against the godsdamned tamawo that just decided her worth for her. Angered that she couldn't really find anything to be mad about, since everything he said was logical.

She shook her head slowly. Wanting the tears to stop, but found that the tears not only came because of Dakila's words, but also because of the truth about her barangay. Was she strong enough for the entire legacy of Sariman's barangay to rest upon her?

She shuddered. Did they even need a legacy? Will her people be forgotten?

She cried. She cried a cry that could only be comforted with an unravelling of times, of a bringing back of memories, of a turning of dreams into reality. She cried of things impossible, and things that will never be, and things that were possible, and things that have been, but never will be again.

Dakila only watched, while Angas headbutted her again, and again, and again.

* * *

It took Mayumi a few more tries before she could get a hold of herself. She tried to wipe away the tears, but found her hands to be inefficient at the task. She opened her eyes to see if there was any cloth lying around, and saw Dakila handing her a part of the cut-up cloth that she had left behind on the boulder.

He still towered over her, this seven-foot tall creature. She took the piece of cloth and dabbed it on her eyes; blew her nose. She felt inclined to thank him, but decided against it. "Are you sad that I spoke the truth?"

Mayumi blinked. There was a sudden churning in her stomach, a sudden disbelief at what she was hearing. He had the gall to say that? "What truth?" She said, and though she wanted it to sound spiteful, it only came out as a weak cry.

"That I only want you safe, and in Pinagsama as quickly as possible."

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, some sort of biting remark to pierce his heart. Some sort of snide retort that would make him leave her for all time.

Instead, all she did was shout out in anger. A frustrated scream as she reached for the kampilan to her left and swung at him, at the bonfire they had made. Pieces of firewood flew towards Dakila, who moved quickly to the side to avoid the flaming missiles.

Mayumi still wanted to say something, but found that she could not. She only heard herself scream again in anger, in agony. If only she had her buktot with her, she could sing away all the emotions, encapsulating them into some kind of song and then sending them to the heavens, where the Apo of Maka would hear them and weep. Weep with the message she's sent them. A song of grief and agony and rage at the unfairness of fate.

She struck the ground with her kampilan, burying the blade deep into the soil. She gasped for air, her throat scratched raw once again from all the shouting. Her eyes burned from the crying.

She turned to look at Dakila, who only watched her with that same, nondescript gaze. It angered her, yet at the same time, somehow calmed her down. This lifeless tree, this non-human being, just gazing at her as if she's the only thing that could warrant his attention.

Mayumi wanted to die. Angas clawed lightly at her feet.

She let go of the kampilan; it stayed stuck, impaled fast into the ground. Mayumi sat down on the log once again, her head in her hands. Angas jumped up to her l.a.p, and she cuddled him as she fell sidewards, into a tired resting position.

Through it all, Dakila watched.

The flames still burned bright, but Dakila sat in a position that still allowed both Mayumi and him to share eye contact. And there, after her screaming rage of a tantrum, they stared at each other. Human staring at tamawo.

There was no connection. "You know that I fight better alone."

Mayumi looked away from the tamawo, back to the flames. The tamawo continued, "You will only hinder our efficiency. And besides, tamawo swordplay is not something humans can learn."

Mayumi didn't respond. She curled up into a ball, cuddling Angas closer to her c.h.e.s.t, squishing her cheek against the top of his head. He felt very cozy.

Dakila rose to his feet, and walked over to the lake. He came back with a coconut shell. He offered it to Mayumi with both of his hands, as if offering up to a sleeping goddess. "Here, drink."

Mayumi blinked, but didn't move. She didn't feel like doing anything that he ordered her to do.

Dakila placed the coconut shell beside her. "You are probably dehydrated from that."

Mayumi was still silent.

Dakila walked over to the log, and contemplation flashed across his face. Just a flash, though, as his face had all the emotions of a peeling bark. And even that has more emotion. Before long, he turned to her and said, "I will make a leaf-bag to carry all the excess meat for our journey."

And then, the tamawo was gone, plunging deep into the shadows of the Kalilim.

Mayumi was alone with Angas, once again.

She couldn't keep her eyes open for any longer, though. She couldn't speak or shout – her throat was raw from all the screaming. The burning in the back of her eyelids lulled her to a sleep, a flame that slowly dimmed more and more until finally, it was blown out, and she had fallen to the dark, oblivious folds of slumber.

* * *

When she awoke, the chariot of Adlyari that was the Sun hung high above the sky. The tamawo Dakila stood almost unmoving, almost exactly like a tree once again, watching her stir from sleep. Angas was feasting on the second part of the meat that Mayumi had thrown him.

The first thing Mayumi did was look at Dakila. He stood beside the log, with a couple of sticks that had banana leaves wrapped around one end; from within she could see burnt pieces of boar meat. The boar carcass had begun to stink.

Dakila gestured to the coconut shell with water within. Mayumi looked at it, and then picked it up and shoved it into her mouth. The water was refreshing, and it felt like rain upon a dried, sun-scorched part of land. As if that had been what the tamawo was waiting for, Dakila walked over to the lake.

Dakila came back with another coconut shell, handing it over to the thirsty human. She took that as well and drank it down.

Once she finished that, she wiped her mouth and said, "Where did you get all these coconuts?"

The tamawo turned and gestured at the water. There were several coconut husks floating and bobbing about the water. "They floated into the lake," said Dakila. "There must be a coconut tree up the river."

Mayumi nodded, faintly tried to question a coconut tree growing in this forest, but then decided to finish the remaining water within the husk. She saw that there was still some white, fleshy meat within. "Do you think I can eat the meat?"

Dakila turned to her; the tamawo had been watching Angas devour the meat with some semblance of curiosity. He said, "The lake of this Sanctum must've cleansed it. So yes, it should be safe to eat. The diwata must've said so."

Mayumi picked up a stray stick, walked over to the lakeside and washed the stick within the stagnant yet somehow clean waters of the lake. Then she began using the stick to scoop out the white flesh of the coconut, and began feasting on the coconut flesh.

Once she was done, she thanked the Anito for the provisions and threw the husk back into the water. She walked back to Dakila, just as Angas had finished the meat. "Look and see," the tamawo said, not noticing how far Mayumi was standing from him.

Mayumi narrowed her eyes at the dense tamawo, and then turned to where he was pointing. The half-carved body of the large boar had begun to – particle by particle, as if a slowly unravelling tapestry – turn into blinking dots of light that swirled up into the sky like hovering smoke. As it reached past the height of the tall trees, the little burning dots of light dissipated, disappearing into the embrace of the light of the Sun.

"What's happening…?"

"The diwata are bringing their brother back."

Soon enough the boar was half made of meat, and half made of little dots compressed so closely together that they did in fact resemble floating smoke. Mayumi watched as the boar turned from pallid material into a strange gossamer sheen, as if the meat had been turned into starstrings.

A few minutes had passed, and the boar was almost gone from vision, all turning into rising dots of light that resembled tiny starflies.

The tamawo turned to her just as the smell of the boar's carcass had dissipated from Mayumi's very senses. "We should leave, if we are to be safe. We've a long journey ahead of us."

Mayumi didn't move, still watching the boar until it was completely gone. Then she said, "And you're still not going to train me?"

The tamawo picked up the stick with the boar's meat and slung it over his shoulder. He walked back into the forest, up to the wall of firetrees. "Maybe when you arrive in Pinagsama, you will find a human trainer. For now, let us focus on being safe."

Mayumi sighed. With her leather satchel slung across her, the kampilan still strapped to her side, and a narrawood bow on hand – as well as an agimat bangle clinking on her wrist – she ran up to the tamawo. Angas ran after her as well and leapt straight up to her shoulder. With Dakila, they ventured into the trees once again.