Raya and the Last Dragon - Adaptation

2

HEART

Raya

I put on my gloves. Opened the weapon rack and took my weapon, Arnis, a double-sticked martial arts weapon. The two reed sticks felt unbalanced in my hands. Sighing, I adjusted my grip on the weapon. Had the situation not called for it, I would have gladly swapped these useless sticks for a pair of well-crafted blades. It was time.

I looked out of the window and jumped to the roof of the next building before landing softly on the ground. Masked by the heavy downpour, I stealthily made my way to where it was hidden.

No one would notice a young girl dashing across the village. I gazed up, trying to squint through the midnight dark, trying to locate where my final challenge awaited. There you are. On the mountain, the structure stood ominously. At the bottom, the cave mouth yawned. Taking a deep breath, I entered.

The tunnel was long, with wooden walls and lit up with torches. All the while on tiptoe, I felt the walls as I rounded the corner. Wood turned into stone as my eyes widened in shock. Intricate carvings filled the icy walls. Looking forward, I smirked. A last stretch of tunnel stood between me and the final treasure.

Kneeling, I searched along the walls. Traps? I couldn't locate any. Maybe the floor? I felt the stone bricks on the ground. I felt one stone brick after another before one sank into the ground. With a bang, a bamboo net trap swung down at me, but not before I dodged away barely in time. Too close.

"Huh! Looks like someone is trying to be clever!" I muttered. Out of my bag, I pulled out Tuk Tuk, a small part-pill bug, a part-pug friend that travels along with me. I tapped his shell, waking him up. He uncurled himself, squeaking at me in response.

"Come on, Tuk Tuk. Let's show them what clever really looks like."

I released Tuk Tuk out of my hand as he curled himself into a ball before rolling down the stretch of the tunnel.

One by one, he activated trap after trap. However, he got distracted just before he set off the last trap.

"Tuk Tuk! Come on, focus!" I chided. Looking at me guiltily, Tuk Tuk nodded his head before curling himself back into a ball and setting off the last trap. "Thank you!"

All the while, I had been crawling behind Tuk Tuk, under the traps. "Hey, bud, that was awesome!" I exclaimed, crawling to the end.

A stone vault door stood between me and the treasure. I stuck both ends of my Arnis into the holes on the vault door. Groaning, I turned the inner circle of the door clockwise.

Gears turned, and the door rolled open. I was greeted with a stone staircase, smoothed by hundreds of years of flowing water. Except, the water wasn't flowing downwards, like normal water. Instead, it was flowing up the staircase, to the middle of the room that lay ahead. Cautiously, I walked up the stairs, step by step. As when I reached the top, I was shocked at what greeted me.

Water dripped down the cold stone walls. Purple fluorescent flowers surrounded the centre of the room. Staring at the centre, my eyes caught sight of it. It's bright blue light illuminated the otherwise dark room. The gem of Sisu.

"Woah," I muttered, taking in the wonderful sight of the room around me. But not a moment later, I frowned.

"Wait a second," I mumbled. My head snapped as I instinctively looked behind me. "This feels... too easy."

I turned back, and I was greeted by a well-known figure, holding his sword in its scabbard with both hands. In a mask, but too recognisable.

"Chief Banja..." I started. "Look I know it's your job to stop me, but... you won't," I grinned.

"Don't mistake spirit for skill, young one," he warned in a robotic voice. "I promise you will not set foot on the dragon gem's inner circle."

"Not even a toe."

"You might want to take out that blade," I mocked, "you're gonna need it."

"Not today," was the response I got.

And we engaged in combat. He closed his eyes as I whipped out my Arnis. True to his word, he never took the blade out of its leather scabbard. Even through closed eyes, he managed to stop every one of my advances. I tried to get around him by jumping from stone to stone on the ground, but no avail. With a shove, I was thrown face-first to the ground but stopped short due to my quick hand save.

With greater wrath than before, I jumped into the air, wielding my Arnis. I fought with much greater ferocity, deflecting every one of his attacks before landing a kick to his stomach. Not giving him any chance to recover, I stormed forward, swinging my Arnis. Closer and closer I got to the inner circle and when I was just a foot away, I lost focus and Chief Banja forcefully hit both Arnis sticks out of my hand, before pointing the tip of his sword right at my face.

A silence followed as I eyed Chief Banja and then the tip of his sword. Breathing heavily, I wondered what was coming next. And then...

"Boop!" Chief Banja poked the tip of his sword on my nose.

"Like I said, not one foot on the inner circle."

"You lost, Raya."

"Did I?" I replied, motioning to my feet.

His grin turned into a frown as Chief Banja looked down. Lo and behold, one of my toes was on the inner circle.

He gasped. "Raya..."

His shocked expression then changed into a proud gaze.

"I probably should have said two feet," he replied, extending his hand out and helping me up.

"Hey... don't beat yourself up too much, Chief Banja. You gave it your best!" I responded sarcastically.

He chuckled. "I won't."

"And it's either 'father' or 'ba' to you," he pointed out. "You did good, dewdrop. You passed the test," he said, putting his arms around me before turning me around to face the Gem of Sisu.

I stood in awe and wonder. Never had I been this close to our greatest treasure. I took a moment to bask in awe as I gazed at the gem. The shining blue orb levitated slightly above the monument where it laid. The power of the dragons was flowing through the gem, casting a blueish halo around it. And water droplets floated around the gem, upwards, like bubbles. I took a moment to stare at the gem. Just the sight of it almost teared me up. The last reminder of the dragons.

"Wow..." I blurted. "The spirit of Sisu."

Father and I kneeled. We put both our hands together to form a circle before placing it in front of our foreheads. A prayer to the dragons. Sisu, wherever you are, thank you.

"For generations, our family has sworn to protect the gem," Father explained, looking at me. "Today, you will join that legacy."

Father cupped his hands together and scooped a handful of water from the ground. "Raya, Princess of Heart..." Father's eyes teared up. "My daughter..."

"You are now a guardian of the Dragon Gem."

I smiled. I looked down, and Father poured the water from his hands onto my hair. Droplets rolled down my hair but then lifted themselves into the air and joined the water droplets floating around the gem.

Father pulled me closer into a tight embrace as we sat there, admiring the beautiful gem.