7.3 PURPLE PUP

  All through out their journey, Ukok stayed as meek as a mouse. She didn't like Sri Kihod's company. She didn't like how he smiled at her– there were too many teeth and not an ounce of warmth in those smiles. Although he was kind and polite, something about the stranger did not sit well for Ukok. He would say one good word, but it would feel like he meant the opposite and every time he did it a sense of fear would grow inside Ukok's heart. Her bapa always warned her about people she did not know. He always told her to trust her instincts more than other people. And at that moment, Ukok knew what her father meant.

  Even though Sri Kihod said, that he and Tikum were good friends, Ukok still felt unsettled. As though it was a lie. And there was something about Sri Kihod's eyes too. They always grew cold with the mention of her father's name. Mister Kihod even knew her mother as well. This made Ukok curious a bit since her bapa never told Ukok about her. Ukok tried to search her memory, looking for any fragment of thought about her mother. But only blankness and a nagging headache came to her every time she tried. As though all Ukok's memories faded the moment she thought of her.

  The stranger knew far too many things about Ukok. Things she had no idea of. What she did not like the most was he would go on and on about it, speaking in riddles. Unable to flee, she tried silence, but every time Sri Kihod asked her a question about his father she always felt compelled to answer him. When silence did not work, she tried to do other things to occupy her mind. First, she sang... remembering Mistress Jurah's lessons. Her ati teacher said, songs and chants had in them the power to calm nerves and lift spirits. So, Ukok sang the tales of Alunsina as she fled from suitors she did not love. And when no songs were left, she chanted about heroic tales, grand and romantic. Most were inspiring while others were somewhat tragic. At times, she would forget a part of the story but the man alongside her would aid her. Sri Kihod knew of the stories too, expressing fondness at how she told it all. Her favorite was about a heroine slaying a Bako na Sawa to save mankind.

  Time passed and their long journey only became more grueling with the unwelcoming terrain. Eventually, Ukok grew tired, throat dry and in need of rest. But when silence did arrive, she started to fell unease again. She hugged herself as a deeper cold cloaked her. When she felt she could no longer bare it, she began to speak just to break the silence, urging herself to dispel it. For Ukok, the sudden quiet with the stranger was so disturbing. She felt as though she was a spotted deer in the middle of a forest, eyed by some unknown predator hidden in the shadows. And all she could hear was her heart. It was an awful feeling, like loneliness, but emptier and much more vast.

  The stranger must've noticed Ukok because he started to address her, telling the child how she looked increasingly like her parents. But the more Sri Kihod talked, the more she felt alone. Ukok bit her lip. At that very moment, she missed her father. She missed Mistress Jurah and her best friend, Mendang, too. Even the grumpy Milong...

  She turned to the side of the road instead and watched as the great mountain vistas and green carpeted meadows came seamlessly one after the other. Where were they? Was their destination close to Ananipay? Ukok asked the stranger and Sri Kihod would always choose to steer their conversation. Instead, he would talk about her mother and father. When Ukok pestered him with more questions about himself, he would look at her more curiously. It was not some menacing look she would have from Tikum if she disobeyed him. It was different. Ukok did not know how to put it, only that the stranger's lips would form into a smile and he would then look back to the road ahead as though contemplating about something.

  When Sri Kihod spoke again, he told her about some gate Ukok needed to open for him. He said it was important. He said it would do good things to all buruhisans. She did not fully know what he meant. Only that the word buruhisans sounded interesting. Her bapa and Jurah would often used it in their conversation. And every time Sri Kihod used it there was always pride and vigor in his tone. And she noticed that the uneasiness the oppressed her felt a little lighter. It didn't go away, but it was not as dreadful as earlier.

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  Sri Kihod continued on, telling her they were the inheritors of the devatas. He claimed that all buruhisans carried in them the blood of the gods. Divine Devatas. Sri Kihod also declared that when the time for the gods of Vijayas to fade away finally came, the buruhisan people would rise. They would rule over all and shape the world according to their likeness. He said, Ukok was a buruhisan too, but a different kind. The kind that only comes after a hundred harvest seasons. Rare, he would say, as though speaking to someone about his dream.

  Ukok only nod absently making Sri Kihod laugh, telling her that she was a good girl and that her father would be proud at how obedient she was. But his words felt as though they held no weight. Almost hallow. As though they were all, again, lies. Lost in thought, Ukok observed the white feather-like clouds drifting by, reminding her of the games she and Mendang used to play after their lesson with mistress Jurah ended. She missed those lessons.

  As the sun sank to the horizon and as the moon rose to replace it, they continued on. Even in darkness, they flew with the wind and slowly the hours became days. When their cart started to climb up the side of the mountain, Ukok felt a little sick. But Sri Kihod reassured her that all were going fine as he planned and that time will come and she would feel better. But riding through rough terrain as they traversed the mountain ranges surrounding Mount Loan made things worse for her. Ukok begged for him to halt and rest but Sri Kihod went on, whipping their mounts to haste even more. It felt as though they were in a hurry.

  Perhaps, running away from someone, she thought.

  Ukok observed something odd about Sri Kihod too. He did not tire easily and the only delay they had was when he let their mounts rest. She, on the other hand, was the opposite of the tireless man. Sleep and fatigue came easy to her. Curiously not once did she see Sri Kihod eat any food too, offering all of it to her. And when she ate, he would tell her it would also give her strength when the time came to pry the giant gates open.

  Which, at first, she found fascinating. How could she do it? How could a child as small as her open the Bone Gates.

  When slumber came to Ukok, nightmares also followed suit... Ukok would wake up at odd hours, with a frantic heart. Of course, Sri Kihod would soothe her, telling her that they were nearly there, that her father was waiting at the end of this journey. All the while, wearing the same cold hallow smile. A smile that resembled a carven mask with only emptiness on the other side.

  It surely didn't do her any good. None of his words seemed to dispel the anxiety she felt every time she encountered her vivid dreams. The odd thing was, they were all the same. Time and time again, the same dream would come to her... beginning with a voice so deep that all the goose-flesh behind her neck stood up. Then, the grand visions came.

  A black-robed woman along side her bapa would shout. But Ukok could never hear her in her dreams. Come to think of it, she was the only one with no voice in it. Her stark, pearl-white face would turn paler as the woman's hands crackled with green blinding magic. Next, came the tremor from below and a rumbling so loud Ukok could no longer hear her thumping heart. All that, was followed by the creaking sound of an enormous door slowly opening. Finally, the vision of an empty throne made of alabaster and bone would come. What was most strange about it was the many kneeling people who surrounded it. All of them had twisted and pale faces. All saying one word in a cold monotonous tone.

  Freedom. Freedom. Freedom, they said.

  When morning came the next day, it was a welcome surprise when their cart halted in a wide clearing. Ukok quickly saw the opportunity. Jumping off her seat, her attention was immediately drawn to the bizarre thing a short distance away. She knew it was a balete tree but its enormous misshapen form was a sight to behold, igniting the little girls imagination. But before she could go closer to it, Sri Kihod drew beside her.

  For a moment, he was just silent, standing with his hand on his chin. His keen eyes were fixed on the verdant canopy provided by the tree. And then, with a wave of Sri Kihod's hand the balete's leaves fluttered in a spiral, caressed by the lazy breeze as it wandered by. It made him smile.

  "You should play for a while." He eyed her. "Play... as I prepare for the Bone Gates opening. But do not stray away too far, Ukok. You do not want your father to be mad if you're not here when he calls for you."

  "Bapa will be here?"

  "Yes." Sri Kihod nodded. "Tikum Kadlum said, that he will come here. Perhaps, followed by your mother too. But before all that, you'll have to help me. I've got a simple chore for you when play time's over Suranggaon."

  Ukok nodded back, staring at the path beside the road they went from. Something inside her tugged her to go there and leave Sri Kihod behind- to run from the man who claimed that he was her father's friend. But what of her Bapa? What will happen to him?

  She turned back to Sri Kihod. "Okay..."