Arcana

Chapter 1: Arcana's Arrival

Hiroshi poured the steaming tea carefully into his wife's ceramic mug. Tonight was an ordinary night, but Daichi had insisted on using their elegant tea set from the main island. She mused to her husband that it would bring them good luck.

"We already have more fish hanging out to dry than the two of us can eat." Hiroshi replied, smiling as he pulled the tea set gently from their hand carved china cabinet. He passed the handless mug to her and she laced her delicate fingers around its warm surface.

It was a brisk October evening and although the fire was lit, Daichi had a heavy blanket across her petite knees. She couldn't resist sitting in the chilliest corner of their beach cottage. Daichi loved to sit near their tiny kitchen window and watch as the tide pushed and pulled against the shore.

Hiroshi and Daichi had lived in the cottage next to the lighthouse for 50 years after they wed. In his youth, Hiroshi was a strong and agile swimmer and he was known for being a talented craftsman too. However, he was a quiet young man who spoke rarely in the village. Daichi was not so timid. One day as the other village girls huddled up and whispered their hopes for Hiroshi's attention, Daichi walked over, introduced herself, and asked Hiroshi to go swimming with her. The next summer the two were married and set sail for the remote lighthouse island, known as East Maniki. One couple from each generation were chosen to live on the island and protect voyagers. Hiroshi and Daichi were the first (after many generations) to volunteer for the life of romantic seclusion.

Hands now wrinkled with time, Daichi sipped her tea as she stared out the window. The undisturbed waves rippled one after another as a rare, white egret flapped above the waters surface. "Let's go for a walk after tea."

Hiroshi looked at her with a teasing twinkle in his eye. "But your hands have only now begun to warm. If we go outside, they will get cold again."

"Yes, but the fresh ocean air helps me sleep more soundly...and I can always hold onto your warm hands."

Hiroshi agreed silently. Daichi was, as he dotingly liked to call her, his Gravity. She kept him tethered to this Earth and so he collected her seaweed green shawl from the couch and prepared for their walk. When the last sip of tea was savored, they cleaned up together and then Hiroshi helped Daichi slip on her shoes. She wanted to protest, but she knew he was already worried about her catching a cold, and so she let him help her fasten them.

Although their bodies moved more slowly than when they were first married, Daichi's playful spirit remained in tact. She insisted on zig zagging through the jutting limestone karsts. Their formidable, towering figures were like guardians of the shoreline. Daichi and Hiroshi knew every member of the island and she wanted to greet each one before the sun blinked out of existence behind the horizon and they returned home.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or is there a new guardian by the three towering men?" Hiroshi's eyesight had been declining for years. He could see perfectly up close, but his vision in the distance was questionable. Daichi assumed he was teasing her until she looked up. Hiroshi felt her grip on his hand tighten.

"It's a child!" She exclaimed

"Go- go!" He said hastily, releasing his wife's hand. She was the quicker of the two and he would reach them soon enough.

Daichi's heart raced as she made her way toward the child. She had been watching the ocean all night and there had been no indication of any voyagers on the water. Perhaps there had been a shipwreck at sea? Daichi scanned the shore in search of any goods or cargo, but it was futile. She scanned back toward the child, examining the sand around her. There were no footprints left behind by the receding waves, not even the child's. "Quickly! Quickly, Daichi." She said to herself.

When she was within arms reach she noted the child's appearance. She wore a simple, tan dress, had no shoes, no sweater, and she was completely dry. Daichi began to pull her shawl off of her shoulders.

"Are you lost?" Asked Daichi upon approach. The child looked up at her with big brown eyes. She couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old. "Where are your parents?" Daichi asked looking around once more.

The little girl grabbed the necklace which was much too large for her from around her chest. It was gold with a silver starburst in the center. Daichi saw the goosebumps across the toddlers warm, honey-colored skin and she shivered.

"My name is Daichi. I live there." She pointed back toward the lighthouse with the cottage beside it. "You must be cold, here." She wrapped the silent child in her favorite shawl and the little girl pulled it closely around her, keeping one hand clasped tightly around her necklace.

"What do we have here?" Hiroshi had arrived and was taking in the scene before him. "Where are the others?" He asked his wife. She stood up slowly from her crouched position beside the child.

"I haven't seen anyone," she paused, "not all night" she added for emphasis. Hiroshi understood.

"Then we will take her back to our home. If someone is looking for her, it will be the first place they stop. I will keep the fire going all night." He looked at them both again and then spoke to the little one. "Besides, I need to get you both warmed up before you turn into guardians yourself." He said motioning to the limestone karsts around them.

At this, the little girl reached up and grasped Hiroshi's hand. Hiroshi and Daichi made eye contact. He looked back down at the innocent child and saw her sandy toes.

"I see you have met my wife. My name is Hiroshi. May I carry you to our home?" He asked her. She nodded in approval. Hiroshi began to lift her up and noticed his wife's concerned expression. "I have strength enough for this." He said reassuringly. "Now, what is your name little one?" The little girl looked up at him just as she had at Daichi. He saw her grip onto her necklace and upon seeing the starburst he said, "Ah, well then I guess I will just have to call you, Little Star." The girl smiled and buried her face into his shoulder and the bunched up shawl.

When they arrived at the cabin Hiroshi set the child on the couch next to Daichi. Then he grabbed his wife's blanket from the kitchen chair and wrapped it around her cool shoulders. Daichi grabbed a string of beads that she had recently fastened together to entertain the child. The beads mirrored the color of the ocean and sand outside. She let the child move the beads along the string. Each bead had been carefully selected and crafted from various objects like driftwood, sea stone, and the like from her and Hiroshi's walks.

Hiroshi brought over some leftover rolls and warmed a fresh pot of tea. It was going to be a long night. The child nibbled lightly on the roll at first and then soon devoured it entirely leaving crumbs in her wake. Hiroshi sat down at the other end of their petite couch and carefully dusted the crumbs into his hand and poured them into a jar on the table. Hours passed and the child soon laid down between them, cocooned in Daichi's shawl, and fell fast asleep.

"I wonder what's taking her family so long." Said Hiroshi as the clock chimed 1am.

With the child now fast asleep, Daichi felt more emboldened to speak freely. "She was all alone when I reached her," she whispered. "There were no footsteps anywhere in the sand, no sign of a shipwreck, it doesn't make sense." She sighed and combed the child's hair with her fingers.

"Maybe they landed on the opposite side of the island and the child wandered off. I'll take a look around the island tomorrow," he paused, "if no one's arrived before then."

The island was small and one of a dozen in the area. It was the first island to the East and the most treacherous to approach from that direction. Historically, tales had been passed down through the generations warning them of voyagers from the East crashing into sea karsts before they could reach the main island. To avoid this fate, a family had been appointed to live on East Maniki to protect voyagers both foreign and local. Typically, families passed down this honor to their kin. However, the previous family lost their only son suddenly to a severe winter illness and volunteers were sparse after that. It was a greatly respected role, but most people did not want to resign themselves to a lifetime of loneliness or possible winter death. Hiroshi and Daichi did not mind a solitary lifestyle, so long as they had one another, and one another is all they had for 50 years. The island apothecary had no remedy for their childlessness and so they accepted that their family would be honored briefly with this role. Nevertheless, their parental disposition arose instinctively when they found Little Star.

When the sun rose the next morning, Daichi and Little Star were sound asleep on the couch, cuddled up next to one another. Hiroshi had nodded off a few times and eventually shuffled around only to fall asleep in the arm chair nearby. No one had knocked on their door.

Hiroshi simultaneously mirrored the sun rising above the water as he rose from his chair. He did not bother showering or changing. Instead, he pocketed a few rolls and took a water canister to go. Before leaving he left a note that read,

My Gravity,

Gone to check the island.

Stay behind incase someone comes looking.

I'll be back by noon.

Love,

Your Moon

And with that Hiroshi was gone for the day. He walked the island, surveying every inch up close. He checked the cavern at the southern most point, investigated the deeper terrestrial habitat at the west end, and saw no sign of anything or anyone by the baron, guardian-heavy north end. When Hiroshi arrived home the warm scent of fresh food filled his nostrils.

"My moon is back." Said Daichi with affection. She quickly poured the soup into a speckled navy bowl and set the table for Hiroshi, Little Star was already eating. Hiroshi chuckled as he saw her sitting upon four of their largest, leather bound books.

"How is the food, Little Star?" Though he knew his wife's cooking well. She smiled up at him as she took another sip, still not talking.

"Her name is Arcana. She told me this morning, if you can believe it." Said Daichi.

"Ah well, it will always be Little Star to me." Arcana smiled again, pushing her black, wavy hair out of her face as she attempted another large spoonful of the delicious seafood soup.

Days passed and no sign of foreign voyagers appeared. They knew Arcana was not a local child from her appearance. Although she bore similarities to the locals like that of her almond shaped eyes, black hair and defined jawline, she had uncharacteristic appearances too. Her skin was more mild in comparison to their weather exposed, bronzed-almond coloring. Her nose which had a flatter ridge was not so wide as the locals and her cheekbones were more smooth where theirs had rounded peaks. She was similar, but she was strange in these ways. Foreigners were rare here in Maniki and so this made her even more unusual.

By the fifth day Hiroshi informed his wife that he would take Little Star on his sailboat and head to Main Maniki on Thursday. It would be one full week then, which meant plenty of time for someone to swim ashore. Daichi agreed.

On Thursday morning, Daichi grabbed some of the dried fish from the wire mesh outside and wrapped it along with some fresh bread in a cloth for the two of them. When she came back inside Hiroshi was helping Arcana put on the beige cape that Daichi had sewn from one of his old sweaters. After all, they had no children's clothing for her to borrow and her thin dress and necklace would leave her cold and shaking in the sea mist.

"What will you do when you get there?" Asked Daichi.

"I will visit the Omi-Datu. He will know who to ask and how to best reach our sister islands. If her family is there I will come back first thing tomorrow afternoon. If they are not, I will return on Sunday. They will know where to find us if they are looking for her." Hiroshi said. Daichi thought speaking to the island leader was a good idea, however, the more she thought about them finding Arcana's family, the more she hesitated. "What is it?" Asked Hiroshi.

"What if no one is looking for her?"

Hiroshi rubbed his brow and thought for a moment. He looked around their cottage which had already begun to show signs of life. A child's drawing sat on the kitchen table, a half finished puzzle on the living room floor, smudged handprints on the windows, and a once beautifully strung line of beads lay undone across the couch. "Well," he began slowly, "What is a moon and the gravity without a little star nearby to shine its light?"

"The moon gives the Earth plenty of light." She replied, grasping his analogy and wanting to logically discuss things without the child catching on.

"True, but a star grants a wish and adds sparkle to ones evenings day after day." He added.

"But we are so old, is it even fair to the star?"

"Because we are older, we have more wisdom and stability. The star will not be without."

"What about other stars?"

"True... it is not fair to withhold companionship for such a young star. I could take her to Main Maniki every other week." He offered. "But is that what you want? We have not been so lucky, are you sure?" He asked earnestly.

"Maybe we were not so lucky for a reason." Hiroshi knew that was the end of their discussion. She had chosen to care for the child as her own if no one claimed her. It is what he wanted too, but he always put his Gravity first.