Biding Time
'The fresh air woke Sieg up as his family exited the shuttle. Vena held him up so he could get a good look at their new home. It consisted of a two-story main building and two single-level wings. The entire structure looked like a U shape.
The outside walls were see-through, but Sieg could tell they did not consist of glass. 'It looks like a type of blue energy.' He mused as he stared at the grey metallic walls that made the floors, ceiling, and interior walls. There were also high metallic walls surrounding the grounds.
The grass around their new home was purple, with many strange, twisted trees dotted around. Sieg could smell a heavenly scent on the breeze as he committed the three suns to memory. The following weeks were hectic as his parents unpacked and new furniture arrived.
Sieg soon noticed his father would leave the house early in the morning for six days straight before seemingly having three days off. 'I guess their equivalent of a week is nine days.' As the family settled into their new routine, Arik started smuggling him out of the house again.
There was a much larger ring of flowers where the older members of the family would perform their meditations. Of course, Sieg chalked that up to them having more space now. Before he knew it, the weeks became months as he grasped much of their language.
As far as he could tell, Syrah's relationship with the family grew strained. She would complain after lessons with Nina, and Sieg soon understood it was because she was learning at home.
Vena placed him on a mat in the living area as she scowled at her daughter. Syrah had just finished another lesson and was complaining there was no combat training. Of course, Sieg hearing that piqued his curiosity. From what he could understand, his two oldest siblings had received combat training in their school back in the city.
"Mom! You have to train me!" Syrah whined as she stamped her foot. "I'm going to get rusty! How do you expect me to pass the academy exams without training!"
"Things are different out here, Syrah," Vena sighed as she looked at her daughter with a concerned expression. "The exams aren't as hard, and you still have over three years before you sit them."
"What are you saying, mom? I'm going to Purple Petal Academy! My teacher always said it's the hardest to get into!"
"Syrah, you won't be going to the Purple Petal Academy. We don't live in Kvarra anymore." Vena frowned. "You'll go to the academy here."
Silence descended in the house as Sieg sensed a storm was about to arrive. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Syrah became a monster as she screamed. Sieg flinched at the shrill sound and the argument that followed. 'My sister really is a piece of work.' He sighed. Sieg had grown fond of his new family and hated Syrah whenever she upset them.
He listened as Vena scolded Syrah and sent her to her room. When the coast was clear, Vena collapsed in a nearby chair. Sieg could only listen as he heard her gentle sobbing. 'I need to cheer her up.' He thought as he rolled over and crawled across the floor.
Sieg performed his best bay impression as he giggled and tugged on the edge of Vena's black dress. It hugged her body tightly, and two long slits ran up its sides. Vena's sobbing stopped as she glanced down at him in surprise.
Suddenly, a bright smile lit her face as she picked him up. Sieg endured the babble talk as she proclaimed what a clever boy he was. He watched how happy she was as he started to piece some things together in his mind.
'From what my sister has been saying, it sounds like my new family are in a bad situation.' Sieg frowned. 'All I see is a much larger home in the country. So how is that bad?' He silently wished his parents would talk more about their situation and how this world worked.
He felt like he was missing some piece of the puzzle. 'This all happened after I was born. Syrah keeps referring to me and the others with black hair as failures. So, what's wrong with me? Is there a problem with my lotus?'
Sieg hated to be in that position where he could not ask the questions he needed to. 'I have to start advancing. I need to pay attention to my parents and when they expect me to show progress.'
'I need to understand what's going on.' Sieg sighed as he steeled his resolve to perform his best impression of a doting son.
The next few years passed by in a blur. Sieg was careful only to start using words when his parents seemed desperate for him to use them. Syrah's attitude became worse as time went on. That was until Arik turned twelve and entered the academy. At that point, Jira started training his eldest son on his days off.
Eventually, Sieg's parents relented and allowed Syrah to join in. Sieg turned three before Vena brought him outside to watch his father and elder siblings train. He became excited at the thought of getting to understand what his future held. After all, his parents seemed cautious when speaking about their jobs around him.
Sieg pretended to play with the toy spaceship in his hands while sitting on the grass next to his mother. But his focus was on the three figures standing at some distance from them. Arik and Syrah stood facing each other when Jira started talking.
"Arik, you've already had a few months at the academy, so I have to ask you to take it easy on your sister," Jira said with a stern expression. "Now, begin."
Sieg watched as both of his siblings took a side stance and raised their left hands until the back of them touched each other. They stared at each other for several moments. The tight black bodysuits they wore betrayed even the slightest movement they made. Then it happened.
Syrah jabbed with her left fist as Arik pushed her arm away with the back of his left hand. He stepped forward with his right foot and punched out toward his sister's gut. However, Syrah stepped in and away from the punch until their bodies were extremely close. She lashed out with her left elbow as she recovered from her previous attack.
Arik moved his left arm in a circular motion to catch her elbow from above. He pushed it down and away from his body. Then his right arm shot straight across his sister's chest as Sieg watched Arik's right leg move across the back of his sister's. 'Round one goes to Arik.' Sieg sighed as his brother pushed his sister backward with his arm while sweeping her legs.
Syrah yelped as she hit the ground. She cursed as her face turned red while slapping away Arik's hand that offered to help her up. Jira shook his head at that sight as he waited for her to get back to her feet.
"Syrah, what was your mistake?" Jira asked.
"Nothing! It's because he's had more training than me! If you'd kept training me, this wouldn't have happened!" Syrah whined while glaring at her brother.
"Wrong!" Jira replied with a hint of anger. "You were overconfident and attempted to use brute force to defeat a more experienced fighter. Arik is older, faster, and stronger than you. How can you hope to win without using your brain?"
Syrah frowned as Jira glared at her. Sieg giggled happily at her distress while Vena shook her head.
Sieg did his best to memorize the rest of their sparring session. The way his older siblings moved seemed like a clumsy dance most of the time. But to Sieg, it was something magical.
He had no idea why his family needed to know how to fight hand-to-hand. After all, technology was extremely advanced in his new life, so rifles and other long-range weaponry had to have advanced with it. Of course, he could only speculate for now and do his best to live up to his parent's expectations.
As time slipped by again, Sieg would practice the moves he saw during the sparring sessions whenever he thought he was alone. In this new world, children were expected to develop faster than they had on earth. So Sieg graduated himself to speaking full sentences and asking questions.
His parents had been thrilled at that point, much to Syrah's disgust. Vena and Nina started to teach him simple things. However, Sieg soon grew disinterested in those lessons. They covered the area they lived in but not the name of the planet or anything he considered important before moving on to basic knowledge like writing and counting.
At one point, Sieg decided to take a risk. He wanted to know more about the lotus and what it meant. However, Sieg could only reasonably ask what a Knight was since Syrah kept bringing it up. Jira was at work when he decided to ask his mom.
"Mom, will I be a Knight too?" Sieg asked as he looked at Vena with an innocent expression.
Vena's jaw dropped from the shock of the question as she looked at her youngest son. Her lip trembled as she thought about how to reply. However, Syrah had been listening while out of sight and burst out laughing.
"You'll never be a Knight, shrimp. You're a failure!" Syrah gloated before shutting up when Vena shot a cold glare in her direction.
"Oh, honey," Vena said as she picked him up and held him close. "I'm afraid it might be impossible for you."