FicWad

I was up and working in the kitchen long before daybreak, wrapping rice, salted fish and dried mangos in banana-leaf packages for the travelers. The candlelight sputtered in the faint breeze. It made my hands look as if they were acting independently of me, half their movements shrouded in darkness. The rest of me felt similarly detached, as if the real Amihan had gone into hiding and left only this shell to face the outside world.

My sister was in the room packing her priestess implements in an abaca/-woven pouch, while my brother sat sharpening his /kalis and knives, his cloth sack and bow already waiting beside him. Ever since they came home yesterday, they barely spoke a word to me except to issue orders. That was fine with me. I wasn't in a chatty mood, either.

"'Tang ina!" my brother cursed after knocking over the bowl of water beside him. "Amihan, water!"

I came with a small cup and refilled his bowl. Just then, one of the warriors who were to accompany my siblings burst into the house, with Tia Isabel and the other priestess-apprentices in tow. "Habagat! Pilô and Dado have skipped out!" the man announced.

"What?!"

"They're gone. They must have snuck out of town during the night."

Habagat cursed again and kicked his whetstone across the floor. "Those twice-damned cowards!"

"What do we do now? We're down to three warriors, and no one else is volunteering."

My brother's eyes glittered fiercely. "Then we'll do it with three. The glory will be ours alone."

My sister came out, and I wordlessly handed her the sack of food and a gas lamp. She leveled a steely gaze upon each member of the delegation, as if daring them to come out and prove themselves as craven as Pilô and Dado. When nobody spoke, she nodded once. "It's time. We'll pass through the doorway into the spirit world. It will take some time to adjust to the spell."

"Ate Sinag."

As one, they turned to look at me. I hid my clenched fists in the folds of my skirt and met their gazes. "Take me with you," I said, glad that my voice sounded steady.

The others exchanged glances, then covered their mouths and looked away in a pathetic attempt to conceal their snickers. "Quit dreaming, little girl," one of the women whispered to her companions, who giggled nastily.

I ignored them as I waited for my sister and brother's reactions, neither of which was the slightest bit encouraging. My sister narrowed her eyes at me, while my brother scowled outright. "What the hell did you just say?"

"Take me with you."

"No!" he exploded.

"You've lost two members of your party. It's not like there's no room for me."

"You'd be useless, Amihan. You'll only get in our way."

"I can help!" I heard the desperate pleading in my voice, but there was nothing I could do about that now. "I know the forest paths. I can carry some of the packs. I won't be a burden, I swear, only please take me with you."

My brother grabbed my arm to throw me aside, but rescue came from a most unexpected quarter. "I think you should take her along," Tia Isabel suddenly announced.

When I recovered from my shock, I gave my aunt a grateful smile. She gave me an impassive glance, before turning back to my sister, who looked as though she'd just swallowed a bug. "No," my sister choked out. "Amihan stays."

"Child, listen to me. She could be--"

"I said, she stays!" Her face contorting with anger, Sinag grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face her. I was taken aback by the fevered light in her eyes. "You stay here, do you hear me? Get this notion of going to the spirit world out of your head. You stay right here where you belong. Do you understand me, Amihan?" She shook me hard, and I nodded in helpless bewilderment.

She shook me once more for emphasis, before sweeping out of the house without another word. My brother gave me one last glare, while the others followed behind him. I looked over at my aunt. "Thank you, Tia Isabel."

She shrugged and left. I stood alone in our empty house, feeling the silence thicken with the deepening light. The delegation had left for the spirit world, taking all our hopes with them. "/Ate, Kuya/, be careful," I whispered, before turning around to get on with the business of filling the hours while we waited for judgment.




-------------

Some vocabulary:

abaca - (accent on the third syllable) a type of fiber. very sturdy (don't really know where abaca comes from)

kalis - a sort of short sword

'tang ina - a contraction of "putang ina" (emphasis on both second syllables). a very strong cussword, means "your mother is a slut" or "son of a whore." it's a lot stronger than "son of a bitch" in English. if you're ever in the Philippines, don't use this cussword lightly.