Shee-Dak sagai 

Ta’jin

Ta’jin, a fifteen-year-old albino, is ignorant of his world –Shee-Dak. Living in a virtual monastery on a non-existent mountain he trained to be a weather magus, a common bodyguard of the rich or a travelling aid to the mapping teams on new planets. As he grows up in the monastery he notices the stark contrast between his meagre powers and those of the other apprentices. What will happen when he is expelled from the monastery and pushed into a world he never knew existed? A world of Physic engineers, robotic languages and awkward romance.

A/n: I hope this makes sense, it might seem a little strange at first but it’s pretty easy to get into. I have another idea for the second part of the saga (already I know) but it probably won’t be related to this one. I hope you like this chappie…please read and review, I don’t mind flames but I’d much rather get suggestions and comments. I own pretty much all the non-original aspects of this fic; please ask permission before using any of my characters or my world etc. (or rather just tell me so I can go read It. .) Enjoy!

Staring despairingly at the mirror, haphazardly balanced on his desk against a pile of untouched theory volumes liable to fall any minute soon, Ta’jin brushed the albino white bangs from the eyes for the fifteenth time, then watched them fall right back into place again. Lately he’d been doing this every morning. For twenty minutes before breakfast he snuck the small hand mirror out from it’s hiding place in the protective cover of one of his theory books and tried desperately, yet in vain, to adjust his appearance from the feminine looking albino boy he was so used to seeing.

  The low moan of a sleepers whistle floated up the corridor outside Ta’jin’s unit causing him to startle and laugh at himself under his breath for acting like such a girl. If only the masters could see him act like that, he’d probably be whipped.

  ‘Serves me right for daydreaming then doesn’t it.’ He scolded himself. It was well known that the Shee masters did whip boys for disobedience, but Ta’jin doubted very much if jumping at the sound of the sleepers whistle was enough to get punished so drastically. Not that whipping was the most drastic of punishments at the monastery; the Shee masters here definitely had a warped imagination.

A shudder ran through Ta’jin’s delicate frame at the memory of one apprentice last spring…

  …Ta’jin didn’t know anybody at the monastery, he still didn’t, and so he never paid much attention to the other boys surrounding him so the sudden talk of the disappearance of another apprentice didn’t stir him. Not until the afore mentioned boy delivered a message to Ta’jin’s Shee master during one evening lesson. Not ever having seen the boy before Ta’jin would never have known that had been the boy all the fuss had been about. The only give away had been the numerous puncture marks running in almost parallel strips up and down the boy’s arms. His face and neck were a discoloured blue and parts were even black. His eye, one was swollen shut completely, was utterly bloodshot. As though he hadn’t slept in days. When the boy finally left Ta’jin was left with the haunting image of the abused boy shuffling painfully forward, halting every few steps to calm the pain in his inflamed thighs…

  Shocked at the sight Ta’jin felt physically unwell for the rest of the evening and for weeks afterwards had vivid nightmares of what the boy had probably been through to sustain his injuries. It had upset and revolted him at first, but he had come across more spectacles such as this as he progressed in the monastery, and it was simply another part of life to him now.

  Exhaling slowly Ta’jin turned in a leisurely circle, taking in his cramped surroundings. It wasn’t really cramped; to the untrained eye it looked rather spacious and roomy. But that was just because it had such sparse furniture, and Ta’jin wasn’t allowed any personal items of his own.

A low, thin framed, cot with a white plaid sheet wasp laced in the middle of the room, it took up most of the floor space and had light-tinted drapes drawn back to let he sunlit fill both sides of the cell. Not that much light ever actually got through the beige papery partition of the walls.

 A basic wooden desk was pushed against the wall to the right of the bed as far into the corner as it would go. On the opposite side of the bed a tiny two-drawer unit occupied the space.

  The room was minimalist just like the rest of the monastery; to Ta’jin it was just bare. The only thing anyone was likely to find untidy in the whole damn monastery was probably Ta’jin’s little desk. He never cleared it, and never read the books it was littered with. He didn’t see the point. If he could do the practical why bother reading the theory. He knew it was a simple task to shift the books from the desk into the currently empty drawers, but he liked it this way. It was the only way the unit ever felt different to him. Otherwise it could be anyone’s unit for all he would know.

Smiling slightly Ta’jin ran a hand absently through his ashen hair and belatedly remembered to tie it, leaving the tail to fall over one shoulder, the bangs brushed back from his eyes as well as possible.

  Hurrying out of his cell into the eternal silence of the monastery Ta’jin half ran through the sleeping quarters till he got to the corridor outside the masters’ rooms where he slowed his pace to a respectable stride, then cut down out of the al fresco monastery building where he scampered through the courtyard gardens towards his first lesson. 

Arriving mere seconds before the first phase of the day Ta’jin stopped suddenly before stepping out of his light sandals and up the stairs onto the gazebo. Instead of sitting in his usual spot meditating, Master Otori was standing by the railing waiting for Ta’jin. The old man was leaning on the railing almost casually, until you looked closely. Ta’jin could see his frame was taunt, he was obviously anxious about something. Even though his master had his back to him, Ta’jin knew he knew his pupil had arrived.

  “Don’t bother taking off your sandals Ta’jin. We are already late.” The man said without turning around. Ta’jin stood still for a few moments, waiting for him to move, but he showed no signs of moving. With an inaudible sigh Ta’jin made his way up the stairs without taking off his sandals and took his master by the arm.

  “Where are we going sensei?” Ta’jin asked as he escorted his teacher down the stairs and across the gardens. Not really expecting an answer Ta’jin concentrated on not stepping in any of the Zen gardens and shifting the sand, but it was difficult because the path was so small it would barely fit one person on it. Ta’jin started to use random stones along the side of the path as ways to balance on, but at some point his attention got divided between a turn in the path up ahead and the stone he was currently balancing on and he toppled to the side. Catching his balance just in time he twisted around to catch his master muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘chibi baka.’ quelling the urge to laugh Ta’jin miss-judged the distance to the next stone and slipped, falling onto the ground in front of his master. If that wasn’t bad enough he was pushing himself up from the dusty trail to come in contact with a new pair of sandals.

  ‘Great, who else has got to watch me fall on my ass?’ Answering his own question Ta’jin stood up and started brushing himself off until his hands were suddenly yanked to his sides. Shocked by his master’s rough treatment Ta’jin bristled from the old man as he exchanged coarse greetings with the newcomer. From what he had witnessed Ta’jin got the impression that the two men weren’t on very close terms, though he couldn’t really be sure. Neither looked each other directly in the eye, they’re contacted was brief and even the tone they took with each other was curt.

Ta’jin was puzzled by this, but didn’t waste too much thought on it. As a rule he wasn’t interested in people. The only people he came across in the monastery were either the drab, unspoken masters or the other apprentice boys. It was frowned upon for the boys to interact with each other. Life at the monastery was, by and large, minimalist and simple –including social relations.

  “Ta’jin, come. You are to be enrolled within the hour.”  With a flick of his wrist the old man started to walk in silence with his awkward companion leaving Ta’jin to trail behind, in a state of astonishment and apprehension.

  Surely he can’t really be getting enrolled. He wasn’t good enough. He just…he just wasn’t. Across the Zen garden to his left an apprentice a few years younger than him whirled around to face Ta’jin, and even though he knew the other boy couldn’t see him it didn’t lessen the feeling of unease any. Glued to the spot Ta’jin watched as the younger boy pushed his hands out in an almost comical gesture…hen almost instantly felt a blast of icy air in his direction. Breaking from the trance he swept his displaced hair back into place and hurried to catch up with the two older men now much further in front, occupied with the thought that the younger apprentice had displayed power much superior to his own.

A/n: please review and tell me what you thought. Idea’s and suggestions are always welcome, but flames will be ignored.

-Kai.