| abstract
| - A bright sun shone over a warm beach as a gentle breeze blew through the palm trees' leaves. Except for lush, tropical greenery, clear turquoise waters, and pale white sands, the strip of land was barren, all except for one boy. This boy was none of ordinary blessings. Despite being noticeably young, thin, and short, the boy held quite a bit of power, equal to that of ten ordinary men at just his young age. As attest to his marvels, the boy is now returning to his lone home on his lonely island with a feast fit for himself, an entire giant oyster, both larger and heavier than himself, which he lifts above his head with ease. Even with his great strength, the boy was not average for another reason. He would never be able to hide amongst a crowd, for he possessed a fifth appendage, a long, black tail, quite like that of the howler monkeys seen quite often on the islands in the archipelago. It was this boy that would someday become a savior of the entire world, and perhaps even more. For this boy, of no ordinary blessings, has gone down in myths and legends. For he is known by all who have heard of him as Ra Makimaki, the Monkey King. As Ra continued, carrying his prize back to his small hale(1), he noticed a shift in the air. There was a presence, the feeling that something was about to happen. "Ho! Is anybody there?" Ra called out, looking behind him. He wasn't met with an answer, so cautiously, he continued back to his home. The hale was little more than a thatch hut made from pili grass and supported by a low wood-frame structure. Inside was only a mud floor and a small grass rug bearing most of Ra's possessions. On it were a few wood awls armed with serrated shark teeth, grass rope, a basalt pestle, a small wood 'Olo(2), and his greatest possession of all, a clear yellow stone with four red stars in it given to him by his late grandfather. Young Ra, after putting down his oyster, sat down cross-legged on the bare ground before the stone. "Hey, Grandpa, I found a whole oyster today!" Ra said towards the stone, his head bent down and his eyes closed. Ever since the day he died, Ra spoke to the stone of his grandfather, believing there to be some connection in it. It was in these moments that the young boy, all alone, felt that his grandfather was still there, that he wasn't alone. This peace was soon cut abrupt, however. In the distance, towards the beach, a deafening sound broke the still silence that always blanketed the tiny island of Ra Makimaki. The water could be heard being chopped around as a chugging sound similar to thousands of mini explosions neared the beach. "I-It was nice talking to you, Grandpa!" Ra exclaimed, grabbing the 'Olo and dashing out of the hut. Through the trees, the cause of the sound could not be seen, yet it all the same could be heard. Ra dashed through the trees, reaching incredible speeds as he dodge one palm trunk after another. He then broke the treeline and was running on soft white sands. The source of the cacophony was soon revealed, as a small, thin, sail-less boat zoomed towards the beach at impossible speeds. "Wh-What kind of boat is that?!" exclaimed Ra, not believing his eyes. The sea-craft was faster than any canoe or outrigger that his grandfather had shown him, and this one didn't even have a sail. As the craft was rapidly speeding towards the beach, Ra received a better look at it. The boat was shiny and white, clearly not made of wood. It was manned by just one figure, a thin, weak-looking person, who wasn't even rowing the craft, much less being able to row at all. In seconds, the boat was at the shore. The figure that came out was incredibly thin for someone of their height, and a little weird looking. He was more curved, almost slender, with long hair. The figure wore weird clothing: a red cloth that came around their entire torso and arms, blue tough-looking leggings that were separated down the middle, and wood pads under their feet. He took off the wooden pads and rolled up the sleeves of the blue leggings to below his knees before hopping out of the strange boat. He then began wading towards the shore. "Who are you?!" Ra called out, alarmed. He had not seen another person since his grandfather died. There was no answer. The figure merely took something out of a fold in their robe and looked at it as they continued through the surf. Ra hesitated. In his entire life, the only person he had ever seen on the island was his grandpa. Other than that, save for the monthly trips they would take to a nearby village on another island via outrigger, Ra was completely deprived of interaction with other people. He had no idea what this stranger wanted, whether he came with good or bad intentions. His grandpa had taught Ra many things, though, and of those things was how to be a warrior. Even without a weapon, the child could fight. And fight he would, for if this person came to take his island, young Ra would do whatever it would take to defend his only home. "Fine, if you won't talk, then I'll let fists do the talking!" Ra shouted, puffing out his chest. He summoned the courage and pride of the warrior, the way Grandpa had taught him, and lowered his stance, ready to charge. The intruder did not seem to notice and only walked forward, continuing to stare intently at whatever it was they brought out from their robes. Not waiting for a reply, though, Ra charged. The surf splashed around him as he ran faster than anyone could think possible towards this unknown person, foreign to his island. With his head ducked down and his eyes closed, Ra was blind to his surroundings. However, as he neared his target, Ra looked, expecting to see a villain ready to fight back. What he saw instead, however, shocked him. He stopped dead in his tracks, or tried to, and ended up slipping in the waist high warm waters that surrounded the coast of his island. Before young Ra Makimaki was no highway man or foreign soldier, at least not any that matched what Ra could imagine what one looked like. The figure, both taller and slenderer than Ra, and presumably older, did not look like a man. He had no tattoos marking his passage into manhood, that even Ra had at such a young age. He bore none of the bulk that was to be expected of a wayfarer of the ocean; his arms looked to be as thin as Ra's tail. His body was curvier, with two lumps on his chest where defined pecs should be. It was weird to see how he covered his body in such weird garments, as if they were constricting around him. They looked stiff and hard, restricting movement. The figure's face had softer features, thinner eyebrows, kinder eyes, more pronounced lips. This man, or boy, was no warrior or pirate, at least not a successful one. Yet he came from such a weird boat, now that Ra had an even better look at it. It was too wide to be a canoe, and had no oars. Instead, it had a wheel mounted to the inside of the front and a black box at the end. It was made of no material that Ra had ever seen, with a white outside that shone brighter than the dead corals that washed up onto his beach. There was a band of some transparent substance in the front of it, as if a billion sand crystals were melded into one long, thin one. Yet the boat was not what stole Ra's breath, it was the man. This person perplexed the young child, he had never imagined a person could look like this. "Where did you come from?" a voice came from the figure. It was much higher, with a lighter tone, and a different accent, than that of Ra's. Yet even though he could hear the figure's words, it was an entire different thing to understand them, in the state that Ra was left in by the figure's mere voice. "Hello? Can you understand me?" asked the figure again, a little less startled. The boy had appeared out of nowhere, after all. "Wh-Who are you?" asked Ra, snapping out of his trance. His gaze had fixed upon the mounds on this man's chest, as if they were coconuts or smooth breadfruit. "Oh, I-I'm Palema'i. I'm sorry to intrude, I thought this island was deserted," came the answer of this stranger. "It's alright, besides me, no one lives here," replied Ra. Even then, he was still transfixed on just how different this person was. "Really? How come you're all by yourself?" he asked. "My grandpa once lived here with me, but he's dead now. I live here alone," said Ra. He felt that he could trust this person, and besides, this was the first person that Ra had spoken to in years. He savored every second of it. "Oh, I'm sorry.." the figure replied, looking down. "It's alright, but, I have a question," Ra said to this person. "Yeah?" "Why do you look so weird?" "What do you mean?" asked the figure, shocked. "You don't look like any person I've ever seen. You're much thinner, and you look softer, and bumpier," Ra told the figure. His isolation had deprived the young Ra of much refinery, including manners and basic social interaction. "Well, obviously. That's because I'm a girl," replied the figure. "Wait, you're a g-girl?!" exclaimed Ra. Being sheltered as a child had not only deprived the young boy of certain social skills, he also had never seen a member of the opposite gender before. He had, of course, heard of girls, yet he had never seen one. "Well, duh. Wait, have you never seen a girl before?" asked Palema'i. "No, the last time that I left this island was many years ago," started Ra. "Back when my grandpa lived with me, we would sometimes leave the island to go to a city close by. I was really young then, and I don't remember it much though." "So that means you've been pretty much void of social interaction for almost your entire life, huh?" the stranger asked. "Yeah, you could say that. I've been fine, really. The island is great!" Ra exclaimed. Despite being alone for several years, he could still look upon his years of solitude happily. The boy was so light-hearted in nature, he was as equally light in the head. Ignorance is bliss, after all. The two youths' conversation was soon interrupted, however, as a great rumbling sound, much more powerful than Palema'i's boat, loomed in the distance. The outline of a gigantic boat could be seen over the horizon, infinitely larger than the small motorboat as if it stood out as an island of its own. "What is that?!" Ra exclaimed. The boy had been virtually undisturbed on his peaceful island for many years, yet on this one strange, eventful day, he meets not only another human being, who is also of the opposite sex, but he catches sight of a boat that seemed to tower over any monster that could inhabit the ocean. "That ship, that's a war ship! We need to hide!" Palema'i exclaimed. If even this mysterious city girl who seemed to know everything was afraid, then Ra seemed to have every reason to be afraid as well. "We can go into my hut! It's very deep in the palm forests!" offered Ra. He began to dash off, yet as he looked back to make sure his new acquaintance was following him, he realized she was around a hundred meters behind him. "C'mon, what's taking you so long?" Ra called out. "How did you run that fast? You're a freak!" Palema'i shrieked. Just then, Ra Makimaki's tail, which had been wrapped around his waist as if it were a belt, un-winded and stood out. "Is-Is that a tail?!" she exclaimed. "What? You don't have one?" Ra asked, puzzled. He hadn't noticed this character's lack of a lower appendage; he had simply assumed it as such a basic part of a human's body. It may have crossed him that perhaps she had it hidden somewhere, but apparently that was not the case. The rumbling from the beach soon came to halt as the mighty ship docked off shore. The massive boat was over four times as tall as the tallest palm trees, clad mightily in gray steel. Long pipes jetted out of each side menacingly, as if they were prepared to attack at a moment's notice. "Are you coming or not?!" Ra shouted out one final time. Palema'i stood stuck in her tracks, cowering. Finally, she made up her mind. She started sprinting after Ra, though at a noticeable slower pace. Ra waited until she reached him before continuing to run, at a slower pace so she could keep up with him, though. However, he was still way faster than the girl. As they continued running, a small break in the trees signaled the location of Ra's hut. The ramshackle mud and thatch structure stood their unimpressively. As Ra went towards the hut, though, his new friend was less than impressed with the actuality of Ra's home. "That's it? This is your hut? How are we supposed to hide in this?!" Palema'i exclaimed. The dingy mud hale was nothing to behold, almost unnoticeable if someone wasn't looking for it. "Maybe they won't spot it. It's a little hard to see from afar," Ra replied. "I am not going in there.There's gotta be a better place on this tiny island," she retorted back. "C'mon, if you wanna hide, this is the best place you've got!" Ra said, trying to persuade her. Other than the white beaches, the palm forests that surround the island, and a small rocky hill towards the center, there was nothing else on Ra's island. The only hiding to be done was in plain sight. "No, I'm going towards the center. There could be some caves or rocks to hide behind," she said. "No, there isn't! Come back!" Ra shouted at her. But the girl wouldn't listen to him, she simply kept running to the hills. The massive ship could be seen through the small forest, and more urgently, a small dinghy could be seen making its way towards the shore from the ship. On it were four menacing looking men, clad in green armor. These people wore militant masks and looked nothing like Ra's earlier visitor. Rather than make a break for his hut, though, as he was planning to, he decided to go back after Palema'i. If these people were truly as bad as Palema'i made them seem to be, then Ra didn't want anything bad to happen to her. He rushed up to the hill and in no time found her huddled in a rocky crevice, shielded from sight by just one large boulder. "So you decided to join me after all?" spat Palema'i. "Those people are coming onto the island and they'll find you here. Why don't you just fight them?" asked Ra. "Fight them?" she asked, bewildered. "They have guns, kid. I'm just a girl, I can't fight," she said. "What's a gun?" Ra asked. "You're truly hopeless, kid," Palema'i replied back. "I'll fight them, then. They can't be that strong," said Ra, radiating confidence. "You? You're just a puny kid!" she exclaimed. "You saw what I can do. If that's not normal, then I guess they can't do it either, then. I've been trained in Lua(3), after all," replied Ra. Something about this strange tailed youth seemed both menacing and humorous, and relatively powerful. An air of confidence shrouded him, but not to the extent of arrogance. This balance of powers that was Ra Makimaki was not something to be overlooked. Even to Palema'i, who doubted the boy, had some glimmer of hope that he could beat these people. Whether Ra could defeat these people in battle or not no longer mattered, though, as the sound of oncoming footsteps through the sand signaled the approach of the soldiers. Ra Makimaki braced himself, ready to defend his island from intruders, for real this time. Out of the trees, the footsteps ended as six soldiers, clad head to toe in green camouflage armor and armed with guns, entered the center of the island.
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