6. Hanako And The Sisters of Sacrifice.

As a fading light splashed the hills, Hanako waited at the midpoint of a stone bridge. At the far end, stood Isaac with his arms crossed, ready to begin.

“Good.” He said. “You got here in time,”

Hanako flapped her arms.

~ Now what? ~  She signed.

“Now? The first lesson will always be: Never let your guard down.”

The flagstones, twisted away, sending Hanako into the rushing waters below. Swept up by the current, she found herself bobbing helplessly around, half-above and half-drowning, barely keeping afloat.

Luckily, any further progress was halted by a fallen tree.

Hanako grabbed the branch before being hauled up onto the trunk. Not bothering to check if she was alright, Puffles left her to recover and made his way back to the riverbank. Soaking wet, Hanako pushed out a heavy sigh and quickly followed.

***

The pair tracked through a tunnel, which led to a spiral pathway above an underground forest. They followed a path around the body of a gigantic tree, wide as a skyscraper and hundreds of feet tall. 

It was one of many, making up a small clump of closely bunched trees, lit in small measure by sparse moonlight creeping in through the top of the Volcano.

Throughout the journey, Hanako felt a tremendous unease, and yet Puffles and Isaac remained silent.

At the base of the Oak was a cream-coloured Dragon, barely keeping itself awake.

Hanako kept back, while Puffles showed no fear or hostility toward the beast.

“There he is,” Isaac said. “Sleeping on the job as always.”

The Dragon raised an eyelid halfway and snorted indignantly.

“Firstly, it’s not a job; therefore, I have nothing to feel guilty about. Also, you are the one who let himself in, with not so much as an invitation.”

“Ehhhh?” Puffles said. “Is that a complaint I hear? Pretty cheeky for a young pup. May I remind you, I’m the reason you’re not chopped up and stored in some Druid’s stash cupboard?”

“You may not, since I already know.”

Glancing back, Isaac saw Hanako shiver with fear.

“Come now,” He said. “There’s no need to be afraid. I’d like you to meet Prince Ryu; he’s completely harmless. If anything, he’s the world’s most bone-idle Dragon in existence.”

“It’s not a three-moon Solstice yet, what am I supposed to do in that time?”

“You can look after your kids, ya deadbeat!” Puffles said, shaking his sheathed sword.

Ryu gave a little shrug. “I taught them how to survive, how to forage and how to fend for themselves. Everything else would be interference. All I do is remind them to keep training every day and manage in moderation.”

“Well, you’re in luck because we have a new recruit.”

Intrigued, the Dragon made an effort to open both eyes.

“Huh?” Ryu said. “Was she sacrificed also?”

Panic-stricken, Hanako turned to Puffles for an explanation.

“Don’t use the word ‘sacrifice’ when speaking as a Dragon! You’ll scare her off!”

“Then I suggest you explain it to her quickly, before she decides to make a run for it.”

Puffles sighed and turned to Hanako, while Isaac translated.

“Alright, listen up, because you’re going to be here for some time, so it’s best to explain.” He sat and made himself comfortable. “Long ago, I rescued a tiny Dragon and kept him safe inside this dried-out Volcano. As the years passed, he grew into five storeys of armoured annoyance, whose rumoured existence attracted the attention of nearby royals. As you’d expect, they sent  the Renardine Knights to vanquish this supposed demon beast.”

“Pfft!” Ryu snorted. “Demon. I ask you.”

“Don’t interrupt!” Puffles said. “Needless to say, every effort was in vein, resulting in a mass loss of life. The Royals quickly realised they were running low on champions, so to appease the beast, they sacrificed their eldest daughters, all of whom were none too thrilled at the prospect of being shoved into an abyss.”

Hanako shot the Dragon a nervous look.

“I don’t know what gave them that idea,” Ryu said. "Humans are not filling at all. It would be like you lot eating Wishbones for dinner. Disgusting.”

“Anyway,” Puffles continued. “This Dragon rescued each princess who fell. Of course, he couldn’t just have all these girls hanging around with no purpose, so he used his expertise to teach them the art of theft, stealth, and assassination, as well as living off the land. Obviously, they can never return home, being a Princess means they will always be recognised. Also, there’s the risk of being burnt as a Witch for surviving the Dragon’s so-called ‘wrath’.”

“Yes, I’m all about the wrath,” Ryu said, with a yawn. “Sleep mad, I guess.”

Slightly less apprehensive, Hanako looked confused.

~ So what happened to all the Princesses? ~

Isaac smiled and gestured to the trees. “See for yourself.”

Hanako turned around and was shocked to see at least thirty women dressed in green, woollen capes and hoods, silk shirts and mini skirts down to the knees. Their faces were all covered by individually painted kitsune masks.

Ninjas. She thought.

“The ‘Sisters of Sacrifice.’” Isaac said. “Each one a discarded Princess, reborn among the trees.”

“This is where you come in,” Puffles said, turning back to the Dragon. “Our little friend here is in need of training.. It will have to be intense, maybe for something tougher than a thief?”

Ryu tilted his head upward in consideration. 

“Then let me introduce her to the Assassination class.”

***

Puffles led Hanako to a small forest, brightly lit by the beam of three moons.

Handing the girl an axe, he gestured a cutting motion with the flat of his hand; alternating between up and down, before walking off.

Still fatigued from near-drowning and a trek into a dead Volcano, Hanako hefted the axe up and struck the tree. It did nothing. Any strength she had was lost in the river

She gripped the handle tightly, blinked her eyes and tried again. 

A week later, she was taken to another area, deep within a coal mine and handed a metal bar with a sharp point at both ends. Through Isaac, Puffles instructed her to dig and fill three mine carts to the top with coal.

These two alternated week to week, while she trained and lived with the Sisters of Sacrifice.

Over the following weeks Hanako lost all sense of time and was gifted strikes in the form of penalties. The worse she performed the more penalties she would receive.

Weeks passed into months with the routine unchanged:

To test her stamina, Hanako was woken up at three in the morning. and made to jog a four-mile circuit through treacherous mountain trails. 

Penalty for failure: The left arm was turned into Jelly.

To test her coordination, she was taken to a log course, where logs swung back and forth on a frame. The object was to run between the logs, while holding up a dustbin lid used to deflect the rocks thrown at her.

Penalty for failure: Constant dizzy spells for day.

Losing balance resulted in a failure, which meant standing under a waterfall for an hour, only shielded by a dustbin lid.

“Again!” Ryu would cry.

To test her balance, she was asked to stand on two of ten wooden blocks. One wood would be kicked out, forcing her to step on another at speed.

 Penalty for failure: The sensation of wriggling, writhing maggots crawling on her body for two hours.

“Again!”

On the first day of every month, she was tasked with chasing a chicken through a sewer, where jets of fire would shoot out at random intervals. Failure was an inevitable burning; a suitable punishment that required no extra.

“Again!”

Many times Hanako felt like she would break. The days she spent exhausted, questioning what she was doing there and why? Would she ever improve? Is it easier just to quit and accept her limitations? Is that something she could live with in her quieter moments?

“Again!”

           “Again!”

                          “Again!”

The word became a splinter in her brain, a curse of all ages, and an instrument of misery. She began to doubt herself intensely, wondering if she would ever succeed.

These doubts arose when she least expected them; either halfway through a course or in mid-meal, and every time she would find a reason to keep going.

Her body was sore because it craved comfort and idleness. Her mind was full of doubt because it had not been challenged.

“Self-doubt is the barrier to providence,” Ryu said, after another bad workout. “Every day, the shadows will come for you. They will tell you that you are not good enough, that you should give up and stay down. They will call you a failure and weak. But you know something they don’t. They are shadows for a reason. They are shadows…because they are nothing. They have already given themselves to weakness; they are already consumed by envy and sloth. All they see in you is the person they could have become, if they hadn’t given UP.”

By the eighteenth month, Hanako was improving with every passing day.

Despite the communication gap, she managed to find some friends among the Sisters of Sacrifice who knew  Sign Language.

When not training, they would hang out, share chores and tell stories about the places they came from.

Hanako learnt the last thing one Princess told her family, before being thrown off the edge, was: “You’re gonna miss this smile.”

Hanako asked the Princess if she needed help. The only response was a disconsolate: “Maybe, Maybe, Maybe...I’ll be okay.”

***

It was Hanako’s world that the Sisters were most fascinated with. The concept of computers and aeroplanes confused the former Princesses; to a degree, they were convinced it was advanced sorcery. The idea that an actual ‘Sky Train’ could fly passengers to other countries and cross oceans seemed unfathomable.

Luckily, Hanako found the training courses easier to discern than explaining the science behind air travel. Any obstacle was tackled with ease as she began to dodge, weave, duck and roll out of instinct.

She was cutting more trees, bringing more coal and flying through the lake course. At one point, she made a mockery of the event by running across the top of the logs themselves, much to the amusement of Isaac.

Intrigued, Puffles decided to ramp up the difficulty to make sure it was not a fluke. This propelled Hanako even further, to the point where speed and accuracy were second nature, and she was practically dancing through every obstacle that was thrown at her.

Isaac watched the girl perform acrobatics in front of a duelling tree armed with three spinning Katana’s, before the dummy was dismantled with a flourish.

“She’s certainly enjoying herself.” He said, between bites of a sandwich. Puffles could only grunt and march off.

Later that night, the old trainer handed Hanako a bowl of rice topped with a salmon steak. Relieved to be free from penalties, Hanako nodded in thanks.

“We still have more to teach you.” He said. “But that’ll do for now.”

Isaac shook her hand. “You worked hard for your dream and achieved it, good job, Squire.”

What is that?

“It’s more of an honorary title, but the title still stands. You’re one of us now. Don’t let it go to your head or you’ll end up like Rufus.”

He laughed and went out to patrol the forest.

After finishing the meal, Hanako placed her bowl down and glanced at Puffles. He was kneeling in the corner, flat against the wall, with the unsheathed sword lying in front.

Hanako couldn’t tell if he was meditating or asleep

Either way, she was done with the awkward silence.

~I know you can understand me ~  She signed.

Puffles was caught unawares. His first reaction was to deny it, but he decided she earned the right to know the truth.

~How long have you known? ~  He signed back.

~That day, you gave me something for my headache. I didn’t ask for anything, because I didn’t want you to think I was weak.~

~Maybe I’m just observant? ~

~Or maybe you can read minds. ~

The old man gave a little chuckle and slowly removed the wicker dome covering his head.

He looked older than Hanako had imagined; clean-shaven with shock-white hair cut short to the base of his skull. The edges of his face were soft like melted cheese, and his jowls gave him a slight Bulldog appearance.

In place of the eyes were polished jewels staring blankly into nothing. He proceeded to remove the sword and balance the snow-coloured blade on outstretched palms.

“If you’re wondering why I really keep Isaac around, it’s because it’s safer for everyone. He thinks he can hide the truth from me, so I let him.”

~Is he dangerous? ~

“No,” Puffles said. “For now, it’s merely a distraction. One day, I will not need his services.” The old man then turned to her. “Time is fleeting, and sacrificing it for trivial distractions will only damage your future. Truth be told, you yourself have yet to face the final test.”

~But I have done everything you have asked of me.~

“Oh, the final test is not for me to decide. It will come for you eventually. Only then will you know the true challenge it presents, and only then will you have to fight…to the death!”