Javel was on top of Kabun with a sharp shell pressed against his face. Despite his appearance, Javel was stronger than all of the Ni village children. He pressed his knee into Kabun's stomach and gave him a disgusted look.
"Admit your wrongs!" Javel spat. Kabun shook his head and let out a squeak of words, "What wrongs have we done?! It's you Ni people that are wrong!" Javel's eyes widened from the given rebuttal and began to press the shell down harder, threatening to slowly slash it across the younger boy's face.
"You disgusting Bagua!!" Javel yelled out and continued to pin him down. Kabun realized his mistake and tried to struggle free from Javel's grip. The struggle only irritated Javel more, he quickly dug his nails into Kabun's arm. Kabun slipped his arm out from the grip of the older boy, leaving fresh pink scars that gradually turned red from his blood, and dug his nails into the skin on his face.
"Ow!" Javel yelled out. Kabun was terrified, he feared closing his eyes in case the enemy tried to attack him another way, but the sting of tears burned his eyes. The sound of people's whispers in the distance made Kabun realize his suffering was being watched. He was going to cry for help until he remembered those bystanders had definitely hated his Bagua blood too.
Kabun went limp and began to cry.
Javel saw this as a victory and was about to revel until he got pushed by Cajaya. Javel was still pressing the shell down on Kabun's face when Cajaya pushed him, so the shell finally broke skin and left a deep scar on Kabun's small face. His previous identical look to Biti was now ruined and covered in blood.
Cajaya gasped at the sight of her son's face and began wiping off the bloody mess. She only ended up smearing it, leaving her hands and him covered in red. Cajaya saw that she was doing no good and stopped to hug him instead, giving him comforting words to calm him down.
The push Cajaya gave Javel caused him to tumble onto the grainy sand. Javel's eyes widened once he smelled the blood and the loving scene of mother and son.
He quickly got up and ran off to the crowd.
He was amazed! Those Baguas bleed the same color as him and can even experience love… If we are so similar, then why did they choose to be so evil? Is what Javel had thought. This quickly dispersed once he saw his mother in the crowd.
"Mama!! It attacked me!!" Said Javel running towards a tiny woman with blue beads in her hair. He hugged her and lifted his face to show the fading nail marks on his face. She frowned and nodded, rubbing the marks on his face.
"You lost." She mumbled.
Javel looked up and saw a distant stare. He thought that she would coddle him similar to Kabun and Cajaya, but he was only met with disappointment. Desiring her love and praise, he added on to the 'assault' he faced. "Mama, the big one attacked me too! Didn't you see?!" The woman's eyes widened as she looked around and saw the stares of other villagers.
"What a bad mother…" said a woman whispering. Most of them shook their heads and clicked their tongues at the sight. Another woman whispered to her husband, "If it were me, I would've stopped the fight before any of this happened." The husband only replied, sighing "This is just Carey's way of teaching..." The woman shook her head, "Such a nasty way to raise a child…"
staring back down at Javel's chubby cheeks, Carey unwrapped his arms from her waist.
Carey quickly walked over to Cajaya and Kabun, holding her breath to control her anger and embarrassment after hearing those comments.
___
Cajaya turned her head and was instantly met with a slap to her face. She ignored the slap and quickly shielded Kabun in case of him also being attacked.
This only pissed Carey off even more. The thought of a Bagua woman being a 'kind' mother was making her sick!
"How dare you!! Two boys fighting is one thing but how could you possibly lay your hands on my child?!" The crowd nodded in agreement, encouraging her to seethe more. Hearing the agreements, her ego boosted. "You disgusting bitch!!" She said spitting, "This is why you Bagua's need to stay on that dingy island where you belong!!"
The villagers continued to roar and some even added on, "We should've drowned them all when we had a chance!!"
Cajaya ignored the verbal abuse and hugged the trembling boy in her arms.
Carey pulled Cajaya's hair and forced her to stare up at her. "Don't you know that you should speak when spoken to? Or do Bagua's lack proper education?" Cajaya continued to stay silent, attempting to shake her head in the uncomfortable position. Carey brought her face closer to Cajaya and whispered with a sly smile, "or are you mute?"
Cajaya didn't say anything and continued to tightly hold Kabun. She only stayed silent because she feared what she might say. If she said something to upset Carey more, then what would she possibly do?
Face still drenched in red and tears, Kabun sniffled to keep his snot from running down.
His sniffling caught Carey's attention.
She cocked her head in his direction, letting go of Cajaya's hair. She instantly kicked the side of Kabun, causing Cajaya to cry out. "Don't! You can hurt me but please don't hurt him!" She said, finally breaking her silence. Carey tilted her head and smiled, "oh so you can speak?" Cajaya shut her eyes and nodded. "And so tell me, who said you can order me around?"
"No one did ma'am! I-I'm sorry..." She said in a low voice.
Both Alvita and Biti were in the crowd watching the scene. Biti had no control over her childlike emotions and started to cry once she saw her mother getting tormented.
"Vi!!! Mama is getting bullied!! Do something!!" She yelled.
Some of the villagers turned and stared at the two girls. Alvita furrowed her brows and covered Biti's mouth. "Shut up!!" She whispered. "They'll hurt us too if you keep making all this noise!!" The little girl nodded and sat still in defeat, letting her tears wet the palm of Alvita's hand.
What could I do anyways?
Alvita continued to stare at the mothers in the daze until she heard Tiburon's voice.
___
"What's out there?" Tiburon said while frowning. The villagers turned pale from hearing that familiar voice.
No one answered so Tiburon decided to see for himself.
As Tiburon made his way through the crowd, the village people stared with worry. As an attempt to keep him from seeing the abuse, two men stepped in front of Tiburon, blocking his path. He glared at the men and pushed them off to the side.
"Carey's definitely in for it now…" Said the men whispering. "It's whatever, let's just go. Maybe this'll teach Tiburon to keep those things inside." The other villagers nodded and also nervously walked back to the center of the village, leaving only Javel and the two girls there.
Tiburon walked towards Alvita and Biti and crouched down, removing Alvita's hand from Biti's mouth. He was smiling until he noticed the drying tears on Biti's face. "Child, why are you crying?" He said rubbing her wet cheek.
Biti quickly answered, "Mama protected Kabun from a bully and got hurt!!" Her voice became dry and raspy from all the crying. Tiburon paused and slowly looked over at the two women on the shore.
___
Carey was about to pull Cajaya's hair again until she felt someone grab her shoulder. She quickly whipped her head around to see who touched her. Carey gasped when she saw it was Tiburon and stammered, "N-Niola?!" Tiburon didn't reply and let go of her, gently pushing her to the side. He kneeled down and fixed Cajaya's hair. She looked at him and finally let out a loud sob. He ignored Carey's presence and kissed Cajaya's salty cheek. "It's alright…" he said while rubbing Kabun's head.
Once his service of love was done, he pried Kabun off of Cajaya, revealing the bloody scar on his face. Tiburon's eye widened, he looked up at Carey who was now completely pale from fear. He stood up and glared at Carey. "You've gone too far! You can spread all the rumors you want, but attacking my family is a crime and you know this!"
Carey mumbled something under her breath, causing Tiburon to be more irritated.
"Speak up!!" He yelled.
Carey shook her head. As if she'd tell him what she said! Tiburon was known for losing his temper, most believed its best to stay silent when it comes to him! Tiburon quickly walked towards her, "do you admit to attacking a mother and her child?!"
Javel realized his mother was going to get blamed, so he spoke up. "My mama didn't do it!!! It was me!!!" Tiburon ignored the boy yelling in the distance and continued to yell at Carey.
"So you even taught your nonsense to your son?! Look at my child! He is covered in bruises and blood and you dare say Bagua's are evil?!" Carey quickly fell to her knees and apologized profusely.
Alvita stared at the scene in amazement and revealed a small smirk. The sudden switch in roles truly amazed her. In the corner of his eye, Javel noticed the smile Alvita had.
He furrowed his brows and looked back at his mother being scolded.
"The damage is done! Stop your fake apologies and get out of my sight!" Carey quickly got up and ran to Javel, dragging him back to the village center.
Tiburon picked up Kabun and offered his hand for Cajaya. They walked to Alvita and Biti in silence. Alvita offered to carry Kabun, Tiburon only sadly shook his head at Alvita and motioned her to follow him. Usually, they would walk through the village to get home, but today they chose to stay far from it. They took the longest path in silence only with the crickets and Kabun's sniffles breaking it at random times.
___
Once they returned home, the entire household was in shock after seeing the state Kabun was in. Halhira and Weju were rushing into the house with freshwater and bandages. Of course for them, a member coming in after being tormented by the villagers was a common occurrence, but seeing what had happened to Kabun had truly frightened everyone and even caused the silent Abatian to cry.
Biti was questioned about the fight in a separate room while Aba took care of the younger siblings, and Cajaya rested.
Tiburon had ordered Alvita to stay with her mothers while they bandaged Kabun up to 'learn how to be a wife'. Even at times like this, Tiburon still reminded her of that awful marriage.
While Alvita was crushing herbs, the women chatted away about the incident.
"The thought of someone doing this to a child is awful…" Weju said sadly while squeezing out the bloodied rag. Halhira scoffed and began to put the crushed herbs on Kabun's nose. "Didn't you hear Biti? Kabun got into a fight with a boy. It was another child that did this to him!"Halhira quickly covered her mouth once she realized she got too loud. All three women looked down at Kabun as he groaned and turned over, covering his ears.
Alvita sighed and rubbed Kabun's head to ease his discomfort. The women nodded in approval and continued their conversation in low voices.
Weju leaned in close to Halhira and whispered, "What else did Biti say? Does she know the name of the boy who fought Kabun?" Halhira frowned and pushed Weju's forehead with her index finger. "Why are you asking me? I heard it when she was telling Tiburon what happened. If you're so curious then go ask her yourself!" Weju pouted and rubbed her forehead.
Alvita wrapped Kabun's face as her mothers walked out to dump the dirty water. She watched Kabun as he slept. His small chest moving up and down soothed her.
She checked to see if her mothers were returning, and slowly went back to staring at Kabun and frowned.
Just what happened for you to get in a fight?
The question continued to bug her as her mind came up with random reasons.
Alvita huffed, Kabun causing him to peek an eye open.
"…Vi?" Kabun said in a raspy voice. Alvita rubbed his head and lowered her voice into a whisper, "Kabun, do you remember who you were playing with?" Alvita paused and spoke again, "I mean, other than the boy who hurt you." Kabun rubbed his eyes and laid his head on Alvita's lap. "Mhm," his voice was scratchy and was obviously in need of being rehydrated. "I was playing with Biti and another girl…" he twirled one of Alvita's twists with his fingers. "I think…maybe her name was Yari?"
What?!
Alvita did a slight jump, causing Kabun's head to bump up.
"Owww, ViVi that hurt…" he said, forcing back tears. Alvita rubbed his head and sighed, "Sorry Kabun…"
So she's the reason why he got hurt? She continued to pat Kabun's head as she thought. But…I didn't see her there…
Alvita went silent. Kabun noticed and abruptly spoke. "It's not what you think Vi, Yari was the reason why we got to play today!" All she did was look down at Kabun and frown. "And what exactly am I thinking?" She said in a grumpy tone. "I was only shocked because I know that girl, that's all!"
Kabun smiled and crawled up to hug Alvita's waist. "You know her? Is she your friend?" Alvita pouted and shook her head. "She absolutely isn't!" Kabun ignored her and added, "So if she's your friend, then does that mean more village children will play with us if we tell them?" Alvita's face went blank as she started to think again.
Oh… so she only played with them because she knew they were my siblings?? That's nice…
Her positive interpretation of Yari quickly faded once she came up with another, more 'realistic', reason.
She must be friends with that boy then right? Did ...did she leave Biti and Kabun with him as a trap?
Halhira and Weju had finally returned with fresh water, pulling Alvita out of her negative thoughts.
"Oh! Did Kabun wake up?" Weju said, putting the big bucket down. Kabun turned his head and nodded, still hugging Alvita. "Alvita, go carry him to bed." Halhira said while starting a fire.
Both children stood up and sluggishly walked towards their rooms. Kabun was hugging Alvita and hesitantly let her go once they laid to rest.