The first thing Nowaki realized when he slowly left dreamland was how he wasn't laying in the sand. His hands and his feet were bound together with some sort of rope. There were whispers of the people he got to know from the plane right behind him if he was correct on that assumption. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see a whole group of people staring right back at him. Turning to his right, he saw a large throne carved out of stone and a highly decorated older man with silver lines in his black hair sitting on the throne. His light brown eyes and his posture presented an unrelenting leader who ruled over this tribe without any problems. To his side, Nowaki saw a beautiful woman with green eyes and long cascading curly hair, she was also decorated with many trinkets, her smile presented her kindness. On the other side of the leader, he saw a man with long brown hair who only wore a loincloth, whispering into the leader's ear.
Nowaki managed to sit up on his butt and he caught the gaze of the woman who smiled at him without any malicious intent. This brought Nowaki some relief to this whole scenario, it seemed there were some courteous people in this tribe who found them. It didn't last long when he turned to stare at the leader and noticed how the man didn't stray his eyes from him. His stern face didn't waver as the man right beside him kept whispering into his ear, the leader nodded his head throughout the whole conversation while drumming his fingers on the stone throne. His eyes were hard and cold, which brought a shiver to his spine.
The woman and the man whispered into the leader's ear, after they were done, the leader snapped his fingers. Two muscular men appeared through the crowd and grabbed each one of Nowaki's arms, pulling him on his feet. Nowaki didn't struggle when they touched him, he noticed the knives tied around their thighs and he knew they would hurt him if given the chance. He couldn't tell if they were eager to hurt him since he didn't look at either side to look at their faces, he didn't want to know what they were thinking by their expressions.
"Release the bonds that hold him!" The leader commanded, the men took out the knives from their thighs as they cut up the ropes around Nowaki's wrists and legs."Go on and make your assessment, my son." He told his son, who nodded his head and walked away from his father.
Nowaki rubbed his wrists when the brown haired man jumped down from the throne as he walked toward him. He remained still as the two bigger men retreated back into the crowd without a word. Nowaki assumed this was the leader's son due to the strong resemblance and there was some nice jewelry on his body. He didn't understand what this guy would want with him or what was his reason to attempt to talk to him, he was sure the man couldn't possibly know Japanese.
The wild man stopped right in front of Nowaki as he stared into his eyes. Those light brown eyes pierced through Nowaki's soul, it was as if the man was looking through him and seeing every little thing he had done in his life. Nowaki went rigid when he felt the man touch his face and kept this stare down in front of everyone else. The man broke the gaze when he turned back to the leaders and nodded his head.
Nowaki noticed the woman looked visibly relieved when the male beside her nodded his head as well. He didn't understand what was going on but maybe he was saved after all with these people. They didn't injure him or kick him around like the movies he saw back home lead to believe that anyone who wasn't considered civilized would behave.
Nowaki's attention went back to the man in front of him when he said. "Hiroki Kamijou."
The taller man snapped his head to Hiroki who simply smirked up at him. "W-What?" He felt Hiroki poking him on the chest while he heard the other passengers whispering among themselves.
"I am Hiroki Kamijou, your name?"
Nowaki managed to utter out through his shock. "N-Nowaki Kusama."
Hiroki patted his cheek in amusement. "Didn't expect me to know a lick of your language, did you?" Nowaki nodded his head as a very old man with colorful beads on his neck walked toward them and waved a stick with feathers all over the place in his wrinkled hand. "He is Nowaki Kusama, humble elder."
The shaman said, "He seems perfect for the tribe, you have done well, Herokee." Hiroki stopped himself from correcting the elder in the pronunciation of his name, his judgement was accepted without question and that was good enough for him.
Hiroki nodded his head as the shaman held Nowaki's face in place as he stared right into his eyes. Nowaki hunched slightly, the man was half his size and it felt odd to have someone on their toes just to look at him. Nerves filled his body, his eyes connected with Hiroki who motioned him to keep his eyes on the old man in front of him.
The shaman moved Nowaki's face at different angles while checking out the extremities beyond the odd clothing. He had never seen such colorful clothes, other than the second-in-command when she washed up onto their island decades ago. Pulling onto the shirt, he felt the stiffness and knew Nowaki had not washed himself since landing on the island. This needed to be remedied when the rest of the people were changed into proper clothing at the end of the evaluation.
His bushy eyebrows scrunched when he saw those bright white cloths surrounding Nowaki's head. There was a deep red spot on the left side of the taller man's head which bothered him a bit. He reached and placed his hands around Nowaki's bandages to take them off when Nowaki grabbed onto his hands to prevent him from doing anything else.
"Kamijou-san, please tell him not to touch my bandages." Nowaki kept his grip firm but the shaman took his hands back without a second thought, he looked down at the older man when he said. "I'm sorry, I don't know the extent of my wound from yesterday. Please accept my deepest apologies for my disrespect." He knew the man didn't understand him but he was sure his tone and his facial expressions would express his intent.
Hiroki said to the elder who kept his eyes on Nowaki and didn't look anywhere else. "Elder, those strange cloths are hiding an injury. He expresses his deepest apologies for interrupting your evaluation."
The shaman smirked as he tapped Nowaki's cheek with the end of his stick, Nowaki stared at him in confusion. "He passes. Have him bathe after everyone else is done being evaluated, the wound on his head needs to be properly cleaned before our medicine is placed on it."
Hiroki sighed in relief as the shaman walked away from them and went toward the rest of the passengers. He turned to Nowaki who stood there deeply in though, he knew Nowaki was confused but it was better he didn't know the result if he was labeled unfit for their tribe. Placing his hand on Nowaki's lower back, he led him toward a log and lightly pushed him onto it.
"Stay there until everyone else is done being evaluated, it won't take too long." Hiroki informed Nowaki as he walked away from him.
Nowaki got an eyeful of Hiroki's backside as he averted his gaze with a slight pink tint to his cheeks.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Nowaki scouted the area and saw a variety of well constructed huts in different sizes from his spot on the log. From his distance, he didn't see what was inside of the huts, but he knew they were not empty. The villagers watching them were slowly leaving the scene to go inside of their huts to gather things or when a child wailed, they left to console them so they wouldn't interrupt their leader's judgement. The children were in awe as they watched them and giggled when they pointed at a young lady's multicolored dress or one of the men's leather shoes.
They didn't seem as afraid as Nowaki expected, maybe there were many people who washed ashore pretty often for them to not fear outsiders. Although, he didn't see many people who were vastly different from the main tribe, except the second leader who sat on a throne with flowers all over the seat. She was clearly of Asian descent and the only other person who looked like her was Hiroki. The only other conclusion was that he was her son.
Nowaki covered his face with his hands as he closed his eyes tightly. Maybe if he fell asleep, he would wake up back in the plane and eat the lackluster food which was going to be served for breakfast.
"There's no need to be afraid." A gentle female voice assured Nowaki and the young man turned around, locking eyes with the female leader. "Since my son told my husband you were proper for the tribe, you won't be bothered by anyone else." She smiled as she moved her dress aside and sat down right next to him. "And the shaman likes you, so you are all set to be included with us when you change out of those clothes."
Nowaki nodded his head when he introduced himself. "I'm Nowaki Kusama."
The second leader smiled. "I'm Fuyumi Kamijou, it is a pleasure to meet you. It has been decades since I have talked to someone in Japanese other than my husband and my son." She saw Hiroki looking at their direction as she waved at him, Hiroki waved back before putting his attention back to the assessment process. "I hope you will enjoy your new life here."
Nowaki tried not to react to her statement, he was stuck there until he died and there was no way he was ever leaving. "I have to admit, Kamijou-san, I don't understand any of this...and why did your son evaluate me, himself?"
Fuyumi told him. "I understand, I didn't know the language when I made it into this island when I was a young lady..and call me Fuyumi, it is no big deal at all." She pushed back her long brown hair when she told him. "Hiroki evaluated you as a test to see if he will be a suitable leader when he is older. My husband and the shaman see his improvement and know he is on his way to take his father's place."
She pointed out when her husband shook his head when Takei was evaluated. "It seems he doesn't seem fit for the tribe." Nowaki stared at her in confusion. "You see, the tribe only accepts individuals who will not bring in danger to everyone else. This is a safe environment; everyone has to work side by side to make sure that our tribe flourishes. You cannot have someone who will argue every step of the way or a lazy person who doesn't do anything."
"Oh.." Nowaki watched the shaman shake his head as well while he chatted with the leader in their language. "Is there any way to get a second chance in this evaluation process?"
Fuyumi pondered for a moment before she answered. "The person would have to stay with the shaman so he can be evaluated even further, or he will be sent to the other side of the island."
"The other side of the island?"
"There is a small tribe in the West side of the island, they have some people who are ruthless in training a person to work in a tribe. The only other big tribe send their people to them without a second evaluation like we do which I am against but there is nothing I can say or do to stop them. We are given updates every few days in their progress or lack thereof. In the end, they might be sent back to us, or they will stay in that tribe for the rest of their lives under strict command." Fuyumi explained.
Nowaki was relieved he passed without a problem, it seemed anyone who was considered a danger to the tribe would be sent to be reformed. He watched the shaman pull Takei aside, the ropes were still on his legs and hands while some guards stood behind him. The same result happened to three other people, two men and one woman.
Fuyumi watched as the young woman was moved aside as she shook her head. "It seems my husband really doesn't see the use in them, this is not a good sign...and four in a row too."
Nowaki felt nervous for Misaki, he watched the young man shivering on his spot as he was lead up the stone steps to the throne. He didn't know what the leader and the shaman saw inside everyone to know what was acceptable or not. He only hoped Misaki passed without a problem and everyone else who followed after him.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx
The leader looked Kana directly in the eyes when he saw her unwavering stare. He noted how she didn't struggle in her binds and simply watched her surroundings when she waited for her evaluation. She was relaxed in front of him and didn't show any indication of bringing any danger to his tribe. Her eyes presented knowledge, for what subject, he had no idea, but it would be revealed once time passed on. She needed to get rid of the clothing she had on, the material would overheat her when it grew hotter in the day.
Kana gulped at his cold stare, this man overlooked all of these people who were staring at them from a distance and was serious in protecting them. When the leader and the shaman spoke, she didn't understand any of the words the men exchanged with each other, all of this just felt like a dream. Moments later, the leader nodded his head as the guards tore apart the binds on her wrists and her legs. She smiled gratefully as she rubbed the sore spots on her wrists.
She locked eyes with the others who were pushed aside, some of them glared at her for having her binds released. All she could do was look away; it wasn't her fault that she was let free without the ropes tying her together. She didn't know the qualifications of having someone pass but she was just thrilled her hands and feet weren't restricted anymore.
She jumped when the leader asked her in a thick accent. "Your name?"
Kana looked up in surprise when she answered. "Kana Narita." She didn't know there were people on this island that spoke Japanese, at least she wouldn't misunderstand what they wanted of her when they were all settled.
"Go sit with the other one on the log." He told her as Kana nodded her head, instantly walking over to Nowaki and the second leader, she sat down with her hands on her lap.
Misaki was gently pushed forward after Kana walked away, he interlaced his fingers together as he froze when his eyes connected with the leader. He was so terrified, he never imagined that there were other people on this island and how they would capture them in their sleep. Misaki tried not to cry, he wanted nothing more than to go back home to Japan. At least everything there was normal, there was the normal stress involved but it was better than being looked over by such scary people.
The shaman looked over Misaki, moving his tied up limbs, poking at his face as Misaki quickly shut his eyes. Some tears ran down his cheeks as the men stared at each other in confusion at this reaction. Everyone else either glaring at them or stood their ground, they had never gotten someone who cried in front of them before.
Hiroki reached out his hand and patted Misaki's shoulder. "Calm down. My father is not going to hurt you."
Misaki stared at him in shock. "Y-You know Japanese?" Hiroki nodded his head as he motioned Misaki to turn his attention to the leader who was still examining him. "H-How?"
"Pay attention to the leader, brat." Hiroki told him. "Unless you want to remain tied down like the other ones over there." Misaki turned and saw the number of people who were placed aside, his eyes widened as he shook his head. "Good. Now wipe those tears and pay attention."
Misaki hastily wiped the tears from his face with his shoulders since he couldn't use his hands.
"Thank you for calming him down. I don't understand why he reacted in such a way."
"He might be homesick, he is young, he probably hasn't been far away from home before." Hiroki suggested to his father who nodded his head in agreement.
"I agree."
The shaman looked Misaki over as he walked around him when he commented. "He seems...good, healthy, not weak at all by the sign of these callouses on his hands. He might be really compliant to our rules and won't go against us like the first one we pulled aside."
Misaki stared at them and didn't move a muscle. He relaxed his body as he turned his eyes toward the log, where he saw the young woman who went before him and Nowaki talking to the second leader with smiles on their faces. Maybe it wouldn't be bad being there, but Misaki was still not sure, he was still afraid of his new surroundings.
"I see the same thing," Soshi said as he looked into Misaki's eyes, and the young man couldn't look away.
Soshi nodded his head as the guards cut Misaki's binds, and a heavy burden was released from his shoulders. Misaki didn't know where to cry again or laugh that he wasn't going to be tied up.
"Your name." Soshi demanded, Misaki jumped at his voice as he shivered.
"M-Misaki Takahashi."
"Sit with the others."
Misaki didn't have to be told twice as he bolted to Nowaki's side. He sat right next to the young woman from earlier, who introduced herself as Kana. She was laughing and making jokes as if she didn't notice that she was stuck on the island. Misaki assumed that she was making the best of her situation and wasn't showing how scared she really was to be there.
Misaki met the second leader who had the kindest voice and made him feel welcome. She excused her husband's intimidating presence and Misaki wondered how she could have married someone so scary.
Xxxxxxxxxx
After the rest of the people were accepted into the tribe, the ones who were placed aside were escorted by the guard to reside inside of the shaman's hut. Nowaki watched them struggling against their holds, well the men were struggling, the young woman walked without a problem. He still didn't understand how the leader and the shaman knew who needed a deeper evaluation, but it wasn't his place to give an opinion. After living for so long, he still couldn't tell who was trustworthy or not, but then again, he gave everyone the benefit of the doubt.
The ones who remained free, were sent to the river to take a quick bath. The women went to different section of the lake so the men wouldn't see them, they were relieved to know they wouldn't be forced to bathe together just to keep an eye on them. Although, the children were nearby watching what they were doing. When they were done, they were sent to a hut to change into different clothes. Everyone was self conscious in showing their bodies but when they saw everyone in the tribe not paying attention to their exposed skin, the feeling gradually went away.
Nowaki spent most of the day exploring the village, the surrounding areas, he was sent back to the village plenty of times when he ventured too far. He assumed it was because of the other tribes who might take offense of him stepping into their territory so he tried remembering which places he couldn't go too. It was fairly difficult since everything looked exactly the same to him, but he saw the young children running around with no problem whatsoever, so he had to memorize his locations better.
Misaki was pulled into playing some games with the kids who grabbed onto him the moment he walked out of the hut. He forgot for a brief moment where he was and the fact, he wouldn't see his brother again. That was, until he watched an older boy gave a little boy a piggyback ride, he tried to prevent himself from crying in front of them.
Kana joined in the games as she distracted Misaki who went back to smiling after a while. She was glad to have distracted him, she could tell he was immensely upset with what happened and eventually he would accept his reality. In the meantime, he needed subtle pushes and guidance from everyone who remained from the flight to help him out. As a nurse, she felt it was her duty to help so she didn't mind making sure Misaki was comfortable.
After a tiring day, Misaki caught up to the second leader, curiously he asked her. "Fuyumi-san, where are we supposed to stay?"
The ones who remained, stood up and went to the second leader who simply smiled at them. "That's easy, your new accommodations are already finished so you can go in there now if you want. In a few days we will have a celebration to welcome you all, so I hope you all enjoy dancing because we can go almost the whole night when we celebrate. Now if you follow me." She started walking ahead as everyone kept up with her.
They chatted in between each other over how they could possibly celebrate without a radio or colorful lights to bring the mood the dance. The usual manner they imagined parties was with food, small talk and a dance somewhere in the duration of the party. They couldn't understand their language at all so they didn't know if anything they did would have the villagers not like them.
They passed by a giant tree full of plump fruit when they turned to the right. Fuyumi lifted up her dress as she walked over the roots and some wet dirt which happened when they were bringing up jugs of water for their newest additions. She pointed to the hut with plenty of flowers surrounding it, courtesy of the children and extra water jugs were placed outside with a lid on each one.
"That is your new home, I hope you like it since we spent a while making sure it was comfortable." Fuyumi told them as they ran past her, she giggled before she made her way back to her own home.
Nowaki let out a deep sigh as he kept walking in the forest. His challenge of remembering where he was going was turning into a failure, he had not found the tree with the moss and he had to admit, he was lost.
A smile graced his face when he saw Hiroki gathering some fruit, he ran toward him. "Kamijou-san!"
Hiroki paused in his movements, turning to Nowaki, he stared at the newcomer. "You shouldn't be this far in the forest," He looked up at the sun setting in the sky. "And it is almost dark, you might get lost."
Nowaki sheepishly laughed. "Well..I did get lost. I tried memorizing where I was going like those kids from earlier and I simply forgot."
Hiroki shook his head as he grabbed his spear and tossed his fruit on the basket on his back. "Next time, ask or tell someone where you are going. We are really deep in the forest and we won't know you are missing." He walked on ahead. "I'll take you to your hut, I'm sure my mother already told the others where you will be living."
Nowaki followed after him when he asked. "Which part of Japan is your mother from?"
Hiroki stopped when he thought about it and he responded. "Tokyo, she told me she was from Tokyo."
"Really, I was living there before I was going to study in America." Nowaki said as he walked closer to Hiroki and the man resumed walking.
"Study?"
"I was going to study to become a doctor." Nowaki told Hiroki as he rubbed his arms, "This program was supposed to help finish the last bit of my schooling before I got into my residency."
"Ah." Hiroki moved the straps on his basket to make it more comfortable on his shoulders. "You sound..lackluster over the whole thing."
"Well, it was a goal I set for myself and by being here, I missed my chance to finish it." Nowaki sighed. "But oh well, I can't feel upset over it when I could have ended up in a much worse situation."
Hiroki said. "You are lucky you didn't end up on the other side of the island, they are not kind to newcomers."
"Your mother told me the same thing earlier today." Nowaki asked. "How did she end up here?"
Hiroki turned a corner, Nowaki followed, he answered. "She ended up here when the boat she was on sank and she floated on a piece of driftwood onto this island after a whole day at sea. She was seventeen at the time and told me how terrified she was since she didn't understand the language, kind of like Takahashi."
"I'm glad he wasn't put aside; he is a kind young man."
"That's what the shaman discussed with my father. They know he wouldn't bring danger to the tribe, if he did then he would be with the others."
Nowaki asked. "What is the shaman going to do with them?"
Hiroki got onto the trail and walked on ahead as the sun set in the sky. "They will all stay with the shaman until he gives the okay, they won't have the ropes on them loosened for the sake of the tribe. It all depends on him and how the guards oversee their behavior for the next few days." Nowaki nodded his head as Hiroki stopped. "See that hut over there?" He pointed to the hut in front of them. "That's your new home with the others, you will decide how to the divide the place."
Nowaki smiled at Hiroki when he told him. "Good night, Hiroki-san."
Hiroki stared at him with an arched brow at the sudden new nickname. "Good night, Kusama." He walked away from Nowaki and went down the trail which led to his own home.
Nowaki remained on his spot, he frowned when he whispered. "Have a safe trip back home..." He fought the urge to scratch his bandages as he rubbed his cold arms to warm them up.
His whole body shivered from the icy winds, he wondered how everyone in this tribe could handle this without freezing to death. He went back to the big hut which was provided for them, and he saw everyone was huddled close to the fire. Misaki looked up at him and held out his blanket which he was sure was taken away with all of his things. Their bags and belongings were placed in the far corner of the hut, nothing looked disturbed, he was sure they would have looked through their things.
Nowaki sat downright next to Misaki as he wrapped himself with his blanket. The placed his hands close to the fire as they warmed up and the hut quickly grew warm with all of their bodies inside of it. Kana and the other women managed to share one big blanket; they were content in sharing their warmth with each other as they began talking to each other.
Misaki held the picture of his brother close to his chest while he remained on his spot. The second in command was so kind in explaining everything to him, she wasn't so terrifying like her husband and the shaman who were talking in their language. If he was honest, he didn't want to live there, he wanted someone to save them and take them back to Japan.
"Nowaki-san..." Nowaki turned to Misaki as he bundled himself up properly in his blanket. "I want to go home."
Nowaki nodded his head. "I know..but you have to get used to this reality, we are stuck here for the time being. We can't change that."
Kana reached out and patted Misaki's shoulder. "It's going to be okay; we can count on Fuyumi-san to look after us. This is a tough transition, but we have to look on the bright side, we are all alive."
"We can count on Hiroki-san too, they have been immensely kind to us through all of this. We can trust them."
Misaki nodded his head as he pulled his legs to his chest. "I know..."
TBC