Renegade Rising (The Renegade Series) (27 page)

“No, that’s not what I mean either. Lokin has been Purah’s closest friend and is one of the members of Purah’s own personal synergy. They always got along great and grew all the more close when their other member passed in a skirmish. Not once did I ever see them bicker. They are normally the friendliest of companions,” Gamba stated, deep in thought.

“Really? That Lokin guy seemed like a real jerk. How could such an awesome guy like Purah be friends with such a low-life like Lokin and who would go low enough to want to hurt a guy like that anyhow? He’s a pre-school teacher! I wish he were my teacher!” Gisbo said.

“Don’t worry, Purah’s your instructor for your third band, and I also wouldn’t worry about him, Gisbo. In my opinion, it is safe to say that Purah is easily one of the most powerful Renegades we have here, second probably only to Chief Narroway. He is more than capable of taking care of himself, I’m sure of it. Lokin, however, well, I’m sure you noticed the similarity to Rake. How ironic we show up right after you punched out his son,” Gamba said with a grin. Gisbo was shocked at this.

“Like father, like son, for sure! Man, no wonder I didn’t like that guy,” Gisbo asserted.

“Well, we better head back to Roarie and you best come up with a rather good story. We can waste some time by getting an early lunch before we go back, my treat, I work at the sushi hut in the commons. I’m sure I could convince my boss to give us some free eats. Wadaya say?” Gamba asked nicely.

“Raw fish? Seriously?” Gisbo asked.

“It’s free. Count your blessings,” Gamba replied.

“I think you got yourself a deal!” Gisbo said as both boys rode down the moving room and out of the tower, destined for a tasty lunch. Gisbo tried sushi for the first time dipped in an odd black sauce. Needless to say, it took only one bite to become Gisbo’s new favorite meal. At least he could have some variety now between steaks and burgers.

After finishing their lunches, they returned to Roarie and Gisbo quickly made up a story of how Purah made him clean out the main waste shoots of the tower and how the smell alone nearly killed him. Roarie was satisfied with his answer and by the time class ended, Grandfield was already complaining about his ring hurting. They made their way back to the commons as Gisbo joined Rolce, Shaved, Grandfield and Knob for a second lunch, attempting to share with them his new love for sushi.

“This stuff is terrible, tastes like burnt rubber…” Grandfield said through groans.

“Knowing you, you’ve probably been hungry enough to know what that tastes like,” Knob joked.

“Shut it! I’m going to back to Renegade Joe’s to get some steak. Excuse me,” Grandfield said as he left his seat in a hurry.

“Wow, I’ve never seen the kid move so fast,” Knob said, watching Grandfield practically sprint away.

“KNOB BRAWLDA!” The shrill voice of Kinny boomed across the grounds. Knob's face went white with fear. She arrived at their table with two other girls by her side.

“If I get one more stinkin’ rose in my mailbox from you and any more of your stupid poems, I swear to IAM I’ll use your rear as a place to store them all! I’ll make ‘em fit, just try me!” Kinny yelled. The boys, finding the whole situation hilarious, laughed hysterically at Knob's speechless red face. It was then Kinny noticed Gisbo sitting at the table. She smiled and put out her hand.

“I think we should be properly introduced, mister. The name's Kinny Kalloway. Awesome work back there. Kids like that are such a waste of life!” Kinny explained as Gisbo shook her small, yet strong hand with a nod of agreement.

“Hah,” Gisbo said.

“Oh, how rude of me, this right here is my friend Niffin,” Kinny said, motioning to a girl dressed in Shininja attire with dark hair tied into two cute pigtails on each side of her head. She had soft brown eyes and an air of shyness to her. She only nodded to Gisbo in greeting.

“I’m not usually such a loose cannon, but that little bastard had it coming and anybody who treats my synergy badly gets the same in return and this is my friend Kennis,” Kinny said, as Kennis extended her hand with a pretty smile. She was taller then her other synergy members with flowing blonde hair, a curvy figure and bright blue eyes, dressed in Nazarite attire.

The girls slid in beside the boys and they all ate their lunches together. Gisbo noticed that Rolce in particular was acting a little strangely. He seemed a bit, well, goofy as he joked around and did his best to come across as charming every time Kinny looked his way. Gisbo had never seen his friend act this way and he silently laughed to himself at the notion of a guy like Rolce with a girl like Kinny. Thera wasn’t meant to spin backwards, ya know.

After finishing lunch, the boys said their goodbyes to their new female friends and made their way to Ern an’ Dave’s Mach shop for their afternoon work. When they arrived, Ernie seemed to be in a particularly impatient mood. He ordered everyone present to help him needlessly relocate a giant sand pile two feet to the left of its original position.

“Sand, it's good stuff, ya know, good for many, many things, but ya see, all these falling leaves keep landing in the pile! I don’t blame them, the leaves just got nowhere else to go, but we can't have that! Come on now, keep those shovels moving…” Ernie said sternly.

“I don’t see how two feet is going to make a diff... ” Rolce tried to argue until Ernie quickly interrupted him.

“What? Of course it will! You see those leaves just got nowhere to go; I’m giving them a place now. I know such things. I am not called Ernie Knowall for nothing, ya know!” Ernie said, as he moved about observing the process.

“Problem is, that just happened to be the name of his class master, it's not a nickname as he'd like you to assume. He also hasn’t touched this stupid pile in years according to my dad,” Shaved whispered.

The work continued that day by restoring the chimney on the side of the hut and Rolce accidentally broke a portion of the scaffolding. Gisbo quickly suggested hiding the broken piece in the sand pile, where it was never found again.

After raking up the leaves into a large pile, Ernie allowed them to take their leave early for the day. Gisbo and Rolce returned to their tree house for the night and boy did Gisbo have a few things to share with his synergy mate.

Chapter Twelve:
A History of Lies

The boys arrived back at their tree house, happy to be greeted by their Boons. While they relaxed over some cold drinks, they watched as Harpie took her first attempts at flight. Fao seemed to offer encouragement to her feathered friend and provided her own furry head as a perch for Harpie to spring off of. While the Boons played, Gisbo told Rolce all that he had heard that day and his speculation that Falcon could be his father.

“I could see it, but Falcon said himself he wouldn’t hold anything back from you unless it was Renegade classified. Something tells me that kind of info wouldn’t be. Besides, I can’t imagine Moordin being my father; he looks nothing like me!” Rolce said.

“Hmph . . .” Gisbo muttered.

“I haven’t really thought of my lineage either up until now, so don’t beat yourself up over it. I mean, we’ve spent our whole lives on our own for the most part. It's only natural I suppose,” Rolce explained, trying to cheer up his friend. “As for the other thing, my reading on Renegade history as of late has been pretty extensive. I know of and admire Renegade Purah fully now, probably above all other Renegades. You wouldn’t believe how smart the man is! He set up the entire Renegade curriculum and would have been named the next Renegade Chieftain in Narroway's place, but in the end, he chose against it because he wanted the title to stay within the bloodline, can you believe it? Boy, would I like to be just like him someday!”

“Yeah, that’s great and all, but you should meet the guy in person! He’s prolly the coolest guy ever!” Gisbo said.

“I would sure love to meet him. Perhaps I’ll have to hit Rake tomorrow, the third band is just too far away!” Rolce said.

“Do it, I dare you,” Gisbo said.

“I just might!” Rolce replied.

Both boys continued to sit anxiously, waiting for Falcon to arrive for dinner. According to the Breeze Harmonic, that wouldn’t be for another two hours, so they resorted to popping in some Phoenix Force while Gisbo read and Rolce made conversation with Fao and Harpie.

However, about fifteen minutes into the boy’s downtime, a surprise arrived at the door in the form of none other than Falcon with a special guest . . . Renegade Purah. Rolce immediately went white as a ghost when both men stepped inside, brandishing four fishing rods.

“So, Purah tells me you're startin' fights with Lokin’s boy?” Falcon exclaimed, trying not to beam at his subordinate’s utter lack of discipline. Purah noticed and he nudged Falcon in the ribs.

“Oof, I . . . well, I mean that was VERY wrong of you, Gisbo, very wrong! I don’t want to see that kind of behavior in Roarie’s class again, ya hear!” Falcon said as he made a wink that only Gisbo and Rolce could see. Next to him, Purah changed the subject.

“Good to see you again so soon, Gisbo. Your visit to me today encouraged me to take a rest from my busy schedule and visit my old friend. Boy, are we going to show you quite the fishing spot! ‘Tis a secret for your eyes only though, understand? We haven’t even told Foxblade of it because . . . well, he doesn’t throw the fish back as we do,” Purah said reluctantly.

“He tends to makes a real mess of things, throwin’ his daggers at the water. No class whatsoever,” Falcon said as he pounded his chest and unleashed a loud belch. Both boys laughed and Falcon bowed comically. He then looked up and stared at Rolce curiously.

“Rolce? What’s the matter with ya, son? You swallow a ghost?” Falcon asked. Rolce’s white face quickly turned to bright red.

“Oh, don’t mind him, he just has a man crush on Renegade Purah, that’s all,” Gisbo gibed, leaving Rolce enraged and embarrassed.

“I DO NOT!” Rolce yelled as he ducked away.

“Sorry to disappoint, son, but I don’t swing that way,” Purah grinned, obviously wanting to take the joke a little further.

“NO! I, well, I just greatly respect you is all. What great things you’ve done!” Rolce stated, this time with clear admiration. Purah awarded Rolce with a benign grin.

“Well, thank you, but you shouldn’t believe everything you read nowadays, especially if it was from Oak County. I think a few of their books are still laying around on these old bookshelves. Karm’s city is notorious for brainwashing their younger generations with misconceptions and falsehoods. Silly Freeists. It's awful what they are doing to those young people’s minds. The nerve of Warlord Karm, spreading such lies about the Flarian race. His own Father and brother’s race!” Purah ranted. For the first time, Gisbo noticed a hint of anger enter the humble man’s tone.

“But, yeah, let's go fishing. I need to get my mind off the political crumbling of our world. It’s sad, but people believe everything they see in print these days. Well, off we go!” Purah said.

They made their way past the open field the boys had come upon in search of their Boons, then strayed right to follow the rounded edge of the barrier until they came to a small pond. Falcon and Purah smiled as they clearly began remembering what they always referred to as the good old days.

“You see, boys, nobody goes fishing this deep in the woods due to all the local stories around here; tales of the biggest fish being in the sunniest portions near the common grounds. Actually, those stem from a nice little rumor Falcon and I passed around,” Purah chuckled, as he and Falcon exchanged gleeful looks.

“All Purah’s idea. Here you could cast out a piece of cheese and instantly nail yourself a big one! Reason being, half of this pond is in the warmth of Heaven’s Shelter while the other half is nearly frozen outside the barrier. Naturally, all the fish migrated to the warm side and have since had time to grow and multiply, leaving us loyal partakers in the greatest fishing hole Heaven’s Shelter has to offer!” Falcon explained, as they cast their rods happily. Purah and Falcon began telling the boys various fishing stories as they waited for their rods to dip. Gisbo wasn’t about to believe them when suddenly he felt a huge pull on his line. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rolce was almost tugged right into the pond as his rod bent to take on an upside down U shape. He and Rolce were thrust into the fights of their lives as they lowered their rods to give some slack, then hoisted them up and reeled in like mad. A few tiring minutes later, the boys landed two of the biggest fish they had ever seen.

“Well done, boys! Nearly simultaneous I . . . oop, I GOT ONE!” Purah yelled with glee and a short time later he also landed a fish, nearly as big as Gisbo and Rolce’s. They immediately threw them back, only to catch fish after fish until the sun began to set, forcing them to make their way home. On the way back, Gisbo desperately wanted to ask the question that had been haunting him throughout the day. He decided he would wait until they were about to part ways and ask Falcon in private.

“So, Renegade Purah sir, I was just wondering if you could tell us a little more about the false history taught in our books from Oak County. I mean, Gisbo and I practically spent our lives with our noses in the books they offered,” Rolce requested with concern.

“Well, all right; a lengthy tale for a lengthy walk I suppose. Flarians, Naforians, Soarians and Aquarians. The four races of Thera each held their own territory at one of the four corners of the world.