Almost lost you,” he thought, surprised to find himself blinking back tears. “Been through too much, me and you. We’re going to finish this thing together. ― Brom
Nathan was astonished by the numerous new creatures that captivated his attention as he and Shadow were led into the spacious great cavern. Many of the beasts appeared to be laboring at the task of building the Dark Master’s sanctuary. However expected the unfamiliar was to Nathan at this point he could not suppress his exhilaration when he spotted Kyle, who was the focus of attention, amidst the fervor in the center of the cavern. The Pantar that had captured Nathan and Shadow announced their arrival by roaring a fierce alarum that interrupted the discussion taking place between Kyle and Cato. The most terrifying moment for Nathan was not when he observed Cato’s sinister grin when the Dark Master spotted him, the boy was more disturbed as he looked beyond the Dark Master. He met Kyle’s eyes with a forced smile, a courageous gesture given his circumstance. Kyle’s expression revealed an anguish response. Shadow too appeared untenable when he saw Cato. “Dark Massster mean. Dark Massster bad. Dark Massster hurt little onesss,” Shadow expressed to no one but himself. The pantar, joined by his companion, ushered Shadow and Nathan towards Cato.
“Very good,” he addressed the pantars. “You have brought back the other one. Now, we will watch one destroy the other.”
Kyle was desperate, “We have to finish the contest. That was the agreement.”
“I don’t answer to any creature,” Cato retorted as he stared at the new child.
“No, of course not, but if we don’t finish the game you won’t get to see the flag,” Kyle’s response triggered Cato’s intrigue once more. Nathan looked on ignorant to the exchange. Cato, unable to affix meaning to the object that Kyle promised would appear, was stirred by the mystery that this violent contest could produce. He thought that a celebration conducted by the flag bearer would further augment his control on the wild beasts. He was indeed mad with the thought of such a display.
“We can wait for the game to conclude. There is no hurry, but with the new arrivals I will no longer participate. Your kind will replace me while Gurga will take the place of the annihilated imp.” Cato’s devilry smoldered as he arrogantly assumed that the two newcomers would be an unsatisfactory replacement for himself and the monkey. Nathan looked at Kyle again offering his hands in the air with a shrug of his shoulders as if to state, “What is going on?”
“Ok, it’s halftime. We have ten minutes to prepare for the second half,” Kyle announced placing his hand on his forehead in a gesture of concern. He motioned Nathan to join him and the remaining chimps along with the giant wounded sloth. All the while Kyle’s apprehension roared like a wind-aided conflagration. He had no sense of how the contest would conclude. More troubling though was that he was confident that Cato would enact upon his original announcement to have the boys fight to their death. There was also the awareness of inciting Cato’s rage further when the game concluded without the promised banner.
Perplexed, Nathan proceeded to walk toward his cousin. Even though he was a child of imagination he could not keep up with the staggering circumstance that he was confronted with. The ordeal spiraling in front of him like a pile of papers blown out of a window by a commanding wind had its own enormous challenge, yet Nathan was preoccupied by another impending task that evaded his attention. He was swept up by the force that had captured him. He regarded Cato once more. The Dark Master’s appearance was menacing, yet there was something familiar about him that offered Nathan a sense of security. He hesitated as he stumbled in Kyle’s direction before he claimed the detail that had eluded him. Nathan could feel Shadow’s apprehension. Shadow’s breathing had become agitated ever since he and Nathan had walked into the massive cavern. Nathan had recently gained strength from Shadow’s support. An opportunity had been presented where Nathan could offer Shadow a shoulder to lean on. He spoke loudly and deliberately, “So that’s your dad huh? It’s too bad he doesn’t know what you can do. You’ve saved my life, you defeated two of those wildcats and you returned to this gloomy place all because you wanted to help us. If you were my son I sure would be proud of you.” Overcome with Nathan’s announcement Cato regarded the boy as he looked up and down Shadow in estimation. Nathan turned to Shadow. “Come on buddy, you’re with us.”
An expression conveys a deeper understanding that words cannot, especially for children. Kyle’s expression when he saw Nathan walk into the cavern displayed the horror of someone who had just been beset by something he dreaded. As Nathan and Shadow stepped into the circle of their teammates Kyle had not regained his poise. There was a scar of anguish remaining on his face as he greeted his cousin with a tightening of his lips. At first Nathan could not distinguish whether the expression was a smile or a frown. As he took each step closer to his cousin all that needed to be said was understood.
The boys were separated by only a month in age. They had been raised in the same small community. They were as much brothers as they were friends which often is the case with cousins. Kyle knew that he didn’t have to explain the perilous situation to Nathan that confronted them when the boys were reunited on the makeshift pitch.
“Look, we don’t have much time,” Kyle exclaimed, “We’re playing a game of soccer against those wild cats. If you have the ball they can rip you apart. They already destroyed one of those monkeys.”
“Why are you play–”
“Don’t ask Nathan, just do what I tell you. That black monster there thinks we’re playing capture the flag, because I didn’t think before, well it doesn’t matter. Just remember that we’re playing soccer, but he thinks it’s capture the flag.”
“Where’s the flag?”
“Nathan, there is no flag!” Kyle looked nervously to see if Cato had heard him. “We’re playing soccer, except it’s the kill-the-guy-with-the-ball version.”
Understanding Kyle’s distress Nathan took a deep breath, “Okay, this is Shadow. He saved my life.” Shadow had the same nervous blank expression on his face that he had assumed the moment he saw Cato. “That monster that you call him, is Shadow’s father. His name is Cato and he is a bad dude.”
“He’s already smacked me a couple of times Nathan, believe me I know.” Nathan looked at his cousin with concern. He saw two visible bruises on Kyle’s forehead and on his left cheek.
“Are you okay?”
“It doesn’t matter, just make sure if the ball comes to you there are none of those mad cats near you. Do you understand?”
“Sure,” Nathan replied attempting to gauge Kyle’s level of distress.
“Shadow, you play wing on the far side over there.”
“Kyle, Shadow is like Justin at school.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s, he’s special,” Nathan explained motioning to Kyle with his eyes.
Kyle responded in disbelief, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“He’ll be fine. Like I said he saved my life. He really is,” Nathan hesitated, “special.” Nathan turned his attention to Shadow. “Shadow, we’re playing a game of life and death. When the ball is kicked to you, you have to try to kick it in that rock rectangle over there,” Nathan pointed to the far end of the cavern where the pantars were gathered. “The pantars are going to try to rip us apart whenever we have the ball. You can only kick it. You can’t touch it with your hands. Do you understand Shadow?” Kyle couldn’t help but be impressed with Nathan’s manner with Shadow even though he was beleaguered by his understanding of Shadow’s limitation. Shadow appeared bewildered to Kyle. “
Oh great, this is not going to go well at all,” Kyle concluded.
Shadow finally spoke, “Can SSShadow hit ball wisss his tail?” Kyle was astonished.
“Yes, Yes Shadow you can hit the ball with your tail,” he looked at Nathan encouraged.
“I’m telling you he’s special,” Nathan boasted as Shadowed appeared less troubled.
“The cats are ahead 2-1. We’re going to start the second half. We have to win if we have any chance to survive and even then I don’t think we have much of a chance. He’s out of his mind,” Kyle said motioning to Cato.
“He bad. He weely weely bad,” Shadow agreed.
“That big old large hairy creature is our goalie, but he’s injured. He has no clue, but he’s the only reason we’re not losing by a bunch more because he gets in the way of the ball,” Kyle explained pointing towards the giant sloth.
“Kyle, that’s a giant sloth. I remember seeing a picture of one of them in a book in the library at school.”
“Whatever he is, he’s slower than you can imagine. You and me have to play really good Nate.”
“I’m not that good at soccer Kyle, that’s what you always tell me.”
“That’s not true. I was a jerk to say that. You’re just as fast as me and you have a strong leg. I just always wanted you to think I was better.”
“Kyle, you are better, much better.”
“You’re still good Nate. Anyway, you have to be good right now,” Kyle paused searching for another explanation, but he could only offer, “this is a game of life and death.”
Cato approached the circle of players, “Play the Dark Master’s game now,” he ordered as his lips tightened rising slightly to form his nefarious smirk.
The boys headed to the mid-field area. “Hey Nate,” Nathan was momentarily lost by the onslaught of a greater sense of danger than he had previously confronted, “Nate.”
“Ya Kyle,”
“I was really upset when I saw you enter the cave with those wild cats,” he looked at Nathan intensely, “but I’m sure glad that I don’t have to stand alone against them.”
Kyle’s comment confirmed the distress that Nathan had recognized when he first saw his cousin, “Me too Kyle.”
The boys exchanged smiles. Their expressions were not lost on Cato who studied their unusual behavior, “Finish the game!” he reiterated.
Kyle recalled a line that he read from a worksheet in history class. He was impressed by the bold elaborately written T that began the motto. “Hey Nate,” Nathan looked once again at Kyle whose blue eyes were smiling back at him, “Together we stand.”
“That’s right Kyle, together we stand.”