Fiction: Yellow Flowers and a Bag of Bones

Chapter six: The guiding star

“Request granted. You are no longer marked,” the clerk said sourly, glancing up at me from behind her square, silver-rimmed glasses. Normally her attitude towards me would make me testy, but this time I just smiled, taking the permit she offered me. “But I can’t give one to the boy,” she continued, shooting Rei an equally sour look. As if he had done something wrong.

“Very well,” I said, thanking her again before hurrying back out. I couldn’t explain it, but I never liked going to the Town Hall. It was always too quiet, too empty, and there was never anyone there apart from the same disapproving clerk. I had never even seen the red rabbit in there; even if I knew that she always came from the Town Hall when she was giving out warnings and marks.

I handed the permit card to Rei, letting him take a look at it. It had taken me a while, but finally I was allowed to venture outside the city. About damn time – I promised myself to never get marked again; it was far too much of a limitation. However, as long as I kept my job and didn’t catch the attention of either the Town Elders or The Four Sisters, I should be fine. I hoped.

“Are you going out of the city?” Rei asked as he handed the permit back to me. I shrugged, not completely sure of the answer myself. On one hand, I’d love to get out of the city, it was needed for further research, but on the other hand, it wasn’t as if I was in any particular hurry. Ixero was pretty nice; I could see why people settled here.

“Not yet, I think. I’ll wait for a while. I have my shift at the Bookstore Inn today too, you know,” I told the boy, who actually looked relieved. Apparently he was getting used to having me around, just like I was getting used to having him around as well.

Damn my interest in all things out of the ordinary. They were messing up my plans far too much.

I said goodbye to Rei and headed to work, though what I hadn’t told Rei was that I wasn’t working the full night shift, just a few hours until Miss Karen took over – she had decided to have a slumber party with books in the store, and I wasn’t exactly the right person to run something like that.

It was already getting dark when I went outside the gates for the first time since I entered Ixero. It felt strange to be outside the city again. The wall that went around the entire city did a remarkable job of shutting the view out – even from the highest buildings it was pretty much impossible to look outside, and the most you saw was a few treetops and some grass-covered hills, along with tall buildings in the distance.

I smiled as I looked around the area; it looked exactly like when I had been led in by the blue rabbit, except that it was far darker, with small lamps lit all along the various pathways. There weren’t that many people out walking now, but I could see a few. The first thing I did was to go off the pathway, heading over to the spot where I had met Dakota on my first day. As I had expected, there was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen, apart from the fact that the spot was now covered with a blanket of new marigolds. I bent down and picked one, holding it up to the faint light and examining it, but it didn’t give me any answers. Predictably enough.

“Marigolds, the Day of the Dead and disappearing people,” I muttered to myself, not quite finding the connection. I could add yellow roses, The Four Sisters and the mysterious star I had seen to the mix as well, but I still wouldn’t get any answers.

As I started walking back towards the pathway, a star on the horizon caught my eye – it was a different one from the one I had seen a few nights ago, that much was clear. This one was smaller, in a completely different place, and it wasn’t blinking like the other one. The color was also different; the other one had been yellow, this one was bright and white.

I thought it might be a stupid idea, but seeing as I didn’t have anything else to do for tonight, I started walking towards it. There was no point in investigating any of the other cities, not in the middle of the night, and going home wasn’t all that interesting either.

So I fastened the marigold in my hair, drew my coat closer around me, and walked.

It took me a long time to get to the point where I had the star directly above me. Several times I thought about giving up and just going home instead – Rei would be worried if I wasn’t there in the morning. However, there was something about the small star that intrigued me too much to give up.

Eventually, all the other pathways dropped away, leaving only one narrow path, a faint line in the grass that signified that other people had walked this way, even if it couldn’t have been all that many. I walked up a small hill and glanced up, the star directly above me, and then walked almost face first into a small hut.

“Welcome, Kaiemi,” a voice said, and even if I looked around, it took me a while to spot the rabbit sitting in the grass, next to a small fire. The rabbit was green.

“You’re the green rabbit,” I said, astounded. Of all the things I had expected, this definitely wasn’t it. The red rabbit was the only one who had mentioned the green rabbit, and I had started to think that she had just been joking with me. But this proved that there was indeed a green rabbit.

He gestured for me to sit down, and I chose a flat rock next to the fire, glad for the tiny amount of light, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to see him at all. “I didn’t think you existed,” I said, unable to think of anything smarter to say. If I had known what the green rabbit’s function was, maybe I would have been able to ask something intelligent, but as it was, I could only stare at him in amazement.

“That’s because I’m a secret,” he replied, sounding amused. Already I could tell that he was generally more cheerful than both the blue and the red rabbit. Maybe that meant his function was a more fun one, though there was already a rabbit for handing out rewards – the purple rabbit. She did her job well, and she did always laugh, but she didn’t seem to be thoroughly happy.

He cocked his head, giving me a more serious glance. “You have to swear that you will never reveal my existence to anyone, understand? Not even The Four Sisters know about me, that’s how secret I am. Got it?”

I nodded, even more fascinated now. I hadn’t thought there was anything that The Four Sisters didn’t know about, so this was a big surprise. “I promise. I know how to keep a secret, I won’t betray yours.”

“Good. Then I won’t betray yours either.”

I did a slight double-take, looking back at the rabbit with wide eyes. “What do you mean, my secret? My only secret is that I have Rei living with me, and that’s hardly a secret,” I said, keeping my voice steady. I couldn’t afford blowing my cover, no matter if the green rabbit was known to The Four Sisters or not.

The green rabbit laughed, shaking his head. “I know more than you think, Kai. I know what your plan is for coming here. I know what your objective is. I have known since the first day you came here. Don’t worry; I have no interest in causing you trouble. In fact, I want to help you.”

Quite frankly, I didn’t know what to believe. I’m not used to trusting people, and even after all the time I had spent with Rei, I didn’t trust him completely. I had, for instance, not told him about Dakota, or about what the yellow roses supposedly meant, and I spent quite a lot of time lying to him about where I was. Maybe it was a cruel thing to do to a kid, but I had my reasons. And trusting a mysterious green rabbit I had met just mere moments earlier didn’t strike me as the smartest move in the world.

He could apparently sense my apprehension, because he sighed, but then smiled again. “You don’t trust me, do you? That’s okay; I think I would have been more worried if you had. With your goal, you shouldn’t trust anyone. I didn’t bring you here to get you to tell me things I already know, anyway.”

“Then why did you bring me here?” I asked, almost annoyed.

The green rabbit laughed. “To tell you things you don’t know, of course. For instance where The Four Sisters live. And who it is who has been leaving yellow roses at your doorstep. And where your little Rei really belongs.”

I gaped. Literally gaped. It seemed like the green rabbit really knew far more than anyone else I had met so far, and more than The Four Sisters, whom I hadn’t met yet. “Go on,” I said, far more eager now. I still didn’t trust him, but I didn’t have a particular reason to not listen to what he had to say, either.

“First off, The Four Sisters live in Xibiri, in houses located right next to each other. There’s one white, one light blue, one light green, and one yellow. It’s the Sister who lives in the yellow house who has been leaving you the roses,” the rabbit said.

“Why has the Sister been giving me roses?”

He snorted, amused. “Who do you think I am, Yoda? God? I don’t know everything, some things you have to figure out on your own. I don’t do emotions or reasons, I just do facts. Facts that not all that many others know about. I’m sure you could figure it out on your own, though, if you had just worked a little harder.”

I wasn’t quite sure whether I should feel offended or not – I was sure he was right, but still, he made it sound as if I had just been lounging around the entire time I had been here. Which was definitely not true. “What about Rei? Where does he belong?”

“Ah, yes. He’s quite the mystery, isn’t he? Adorable little mystery, though. All I know that originally, he was registered in Hirax, but I sincerely doubt that you’re going to find the answers to that particular mystery in this place, if you get my drift. I suggest you go to Apple Street, in The Plains, and see if you can’t find some answers there,” the rabbit said, and hopped into the little hut, coming back out with two bottles and a small book.

He gave me one of the bottles and drank from the other himself, holding it between his paws, before he put it down and took up the book instead. “This is a book of little facts that I have learned while I’ve been here. Cheats, if you will. There’s nothing illegal in here, I made sure of that, otherwise The Four Sisters would have found out about it. I figured you could use it, I don’t really need it anymore,” he said, and offered me the book.

I took it with a small nod, flipping through it quickly. From what I could see, there was lists of city names, codes to the gates so that you could get in without a permit, lists and maps of secret passageways so that you could get in and out of the cities without even being seen, lists of clerk officials, even lists of Town Elders and some of their functions.

Oh yeah. This would definitely come in handy, that much was certain.

“Thank you,” I said, almost overwhelmed. I still couldn’t understand just why the green rabbit would give me this book, why he seemed to trust me. “I can’t possibly repay you for this, it’s… It’s very kind of you.”

The rabbit smiled, drained the rest of his bottle and got up. “Trust me. It has nothing to do with kindness. Normally, I’d say that I would find some way for you to repay me, usually with information, but I don’t think there will be any need for that this time.”

He paused and looked up at the star above our heads, sinking slowly down towards the hill we were on. I put the book in my coat pocket, determined to find somewhere safer for it later – even if it wasn’t technically illegal, I was fairly sure that if it was discovered, I would get marked for eternity. Wouldn’t be a good thing. “Are you sure? I’d be happy to do something in return; I’m not used to getting things for free. I think I’m more suspicious of being given something for free,” I said, smiling a little over myself.

He laughed and caught the star, which had somehow shrunk as it fell towards us. It was still shining just as brightly and nearly blinded me before the rabbit put it into a small black box, stowing it away into the little hut. “I’m sure. I’m pretty sure I won’t be around for much longer, I’m afraid. The Four Sisters are close to finding out that I exist and who I am, and once they do, I won’t be in this place for another second. Actually, I’d prefer to get out before they find me.”

I nodded. “I’d say that’s a very good reason to get out. So giving me this book is a way of handing over your legacy?” I felt stupid asking that kind of question, it made me feel like I really was talking to Yoda.

“No, far from it. You and me are very different, Kai. I just wanted to find out the secrets and use them for fun. You… Well, you want something completely different, don’t you?”

I nodded again. “I guess you can say that, yeah.”

The green rabbit gave me a little poke, ushering me to get up. “I’d ask you to stay longer, but The Four Sisters have scouts out looking for my little star now. They don’t like it when there’s a star competing with theirs.”

“What?” I asked, a little too loudly, slamming right back onto the rock. “Their star? Do you mean… I saw a yellow star a few nights ago, is that---“

“Yeah. It’s a sign from The Four Sisters. Sometimes it’s up during the day as well, but of course, it’s far more difficult to see it then. Technically, they don’t have to put it up, they could have managed just fine without it. But they like to send messages,” he answered quietly and put out the fire, plunging the whole area into near total darkness.

I got up, squinting into the darkness to make him out, but it was impossible. “But what is it for?” I asked impatiently, because he was being far too evasive for my liking. “I mean, they don’t just put up a star in the sky and make if flash like that just for fun, do they? If they’re sending a message, what kind of message are they sending?”

Silence. “Hello?” I asked, uncertainly this time, and walked around in a small circle to find him.

The green rabbit was gone. Vanished without a trace, along with his hut.


~tbc~