Anthony and the Hokioi

Chapter 1

Anthony stood in the middle of the large bridge, the wind and rain splashing against his face. It was isolated and cold as the churning water gurgled far below him. The day was unusually dark and the forest covered hills towered above him, the tops submerged in a heavy layer of cloud and mist. In front lay the open ocean and freedom. Anthony raised his arms and took a long deep breath before leaping up into the air. He executed a perfect dive, somersaulting his body around through the cold air towards the dark water below. A slight smile spread across his face which showed off his perfect smile. His body transformed effortlessly into his favorite creature, the Taniwha, before he disappeared beneath the dark water with an enormous splash.

It had been months since Anthony had first become the Kaitiaki (the guardian) of his people. He had come so far from his first meeting with the Taniwha that saved his life from the Patupiarehe, transforming him into a boy with a heart of a Taniwha. Since nearly drowning Anthony had discovered he had the ability to change not only into a Taniwha, but any sea-creature that he wanted. He was grateful he had his grandfather to talk to. His Grandfather along with a select group of Chiefs were the only ones who knew about Anthony's secret. Anthony's secret had nearly been discovered a few times in the past. Especially by his friends in the summer as he had struggled to cover the traditional taniwha tattoo that had emerged on his chest, after he became the Kaitiaki.

Anthony splashed out of the water with a final leap. His magnificent tail spraying water as he walked towards the shore transforming back into a boy. Every chance he got lately he would bike to the nearest waterway and practice transforming into sea-creatures. Sometimes he lost track of the time and would get into trouble for getting home late. Especially if it was a school night. Mostly he would go out on the weekend, early in the morning - like today. He had to be a bit more careful on the weekends not to be seen, there were more people around but he had found a couple of good spots which were quite isolated. Anthony had biked to the bridge today and quickly made his way back to where he hid his clothes and his bmx. Not much had happened the last few months since he last had his encounter with the Taniwha. This was good because it gave him the opportunity to practice his transforming skills. He was so much stronger now. Now he could transform whenever he wanted to and into a variety of sea creatures. Anthony had transformed into a shark, a giant eel and even an octopus! That was pretty weird. However his favorite creature and the strongest was still the Taniwha.

Anthony was biking on his way home when he happened to come across his best friends Ethan and Andrew. They were on their skateboards and were heading towards the skatepark. The rain looked like it had finally passed for the day as the sun tried to break through the thick layer of cloud but the ground was still wet and had started steaming a little as the sun shone down, heating the ground. "Hey guys wait up" Anthony yelled out as he got a little closer.The two boys got a fright as they turned to see him coming towards them. "Hi Antz where were you? We phoned your mum and she said you were out with us?" Anthony went a little red under his olive complexion. He knew instantly he would be in trouble at home. "She must have been confused, I just went for a swim. . . " His voice trailing off as realized he had said more than he should. "A swim today? What, are you crazy? It's freezing where did you swim?" "Ummm I was down at the river, its okay Koro knew. "Thanks for the invite" Andrew added sarcastically. "You know you shouldn't swim on your own anyway, its really dangerous." Ethan added looking concerned. The look on his face was really funny and Anthony couldn't help but laugh. The last thing he had to worry about was drowning. He had felt increasingly isolated from his friends since he had changed and they were starting to notice. But they were still his best friends and lately Anthony was grateful to be around them. He felt normal. "When did you guys turn into my mother?" He laughed again, his friends looked annoyed. "Race you to the park" he yelled out and took off towards the skatepark. He was much faster than his friends on their skateboards and ended up riding in circles around them. They slowed down as they reached the gate of the park. "Hey do you want to phone your mum? She sounded worried before?" Ethan was like a brother to Anthony, he spent almost as much time at his house as he did his own. Before Anthony could ask how, Ethan pulled a brand new cell phone out of his pocket that his parents had bought him. "Whoa, cool! When did you get that? Its a touch screen and everything!" "Yeah, neat huh! I can take videos, photos and its got heaps of cool games too. Mum and Dad got it for me for emergencies" Ethan looked really proud. He sure is lucky Anthony thought. "Choice phone" Andrew said quietly as if he was reading his mind. "Here, it's ringing." Ethan said as he passed Anthony the phone. "Hi Mum, it's me. Yes I'm okay. I'm at the skatepark with the boys. It was just a mix up. I'm okay, I'll be home later. I'm on Ethan's new phone, you know if I had a cell phone you would be able to get hold me anywhere! At least think about it. Bye" "Nice try, my Mum said no too!" Andrew laughed. "Look is that Simon over by the rails?" Ethan asked. Yeah, ohh man and is that? It is . . .. he's with Robbie. We can leave if you want?" Ethan asked. Anthony looked up, they were right, it definitely was Robbie. He was with some other kids Anthony didn't recognize. He must of met them at his new school. Robbie and his brother had been suspended from Anthony's school because he had tried to pick a fight with with Anthony. When Robbie's mother had found out what had happened she was so embarrassed she pulled them out of the school and put them both into a boys school. He hadn't seen Robbie since the fight and he was the last person in the world he wanted to bump into. He saw his friends Ethan and Andrew looking uncomfortable. "Naah, we came all the way here. We don't have to go any where." They were almost at the skate ramp before the other boys even noticed them. Simon was the first to see the trio and must have warned Robbie the were coming before yelling out "Hi guys" nodding his head towards them. Robbie turned around to come face to face with Anthony. His expression was a strange mixture of hatred and embarrassment. The colour looked like it completely drained from his face. "Hey Robbie" Anthony said putting out his hand. Robbie stood frozen staring at him, not saying a thing. There was an uncomfortable silence." Anthony dropped back his hand and shrugged. Come on lets skate he said to Andrew and Ethan who were relieved to go. " See ya around Simon" He yelled over his shoulder as he walked away. "Who were they?" he heard the red headed boy ask. "No-one" Robbie answered "come on let's go this place stinks" "To soon I guess" Anthony joked. "Yeah he's still a sore loser" Ethan yelled out loud enough that Robbie could hear. Anthony tried to shrug it off, he didn't have time to worry about Robbie. He actually felt sorry for him as he walked away. At first Anthony was really angry when Robbie and his brother had attacked him. He was supposed to be his friend. He felt like he had betrayed him. At least Ethan and Andrew would always be his friends. He really wanted to tell them his secret but a part of him still wasn't ready, he didn't want them to look at him differently. It was enough right now for his Koro to know. Anthony was on his BMX at the skatepark. The three friends had spent about an hour mucking around on the skate ramp. They were all having fun and working on new tricks. Anthony had always been sporty, but since becoming the Kaitiaki his athletic abilities had become almost super human. It felt really natural to do tricks and stunts and he had to remember not to do anything while anyone was watching. Anthony dropped back into the ramp. He didn't realize Ethan had started to film him on his new phone. Anthony hit the ramp harder than he had intended to and got a much bigger air than he had expected. He launched his bike into the air and completed a double back somersault before landing perfectly back on the ramp and sliding sideways to a halt. Ethan was so shocked he nearly dropped his phone on the ground. Anthony managed to come to a complete stop only to be nearly pushed to the ground by his excited friends who had rushed over to congratulate him. "WAHOOO that was amazing!!! When did you learn to do that? Have you been practising? That was mad!!" "What are you talking about it was nothing" Anthony answered but his modesty was killing his friends. "Come on, when did you learn that?" Andrew asked. His friends obviously getting exasperated by Anthony's modesty. Anthony couldn't help but laugh at his friends shocked expressions. "Well it is hard when your this great." Anthony said blowing on his fingers in mock pride. "OH Yeah, I even got it on my phone, lets see." Ethan said getting out his mobile, the three boys all crowded around to watch the video replay. Even Anthony had to admit that it looked pretty cool. Anthony couldn't believe how much air he got. It was effortless. The video ended with Ethan nearly dropping the phone revealing his and Andrew faces with their jaws nearly dropping to the ground. They all laughed at their stunned expressions. The boys kept skating and biking for about an hour, but Anthony remained a little more careful not to do anything too amazing again. "I'm hungry" Ethan finally commented. "Me too" Anthony agreed. "Do you guys want to come over to my house? It's alright with my mum, we are having a movie and pizza night." Andrew asked, "Cool that sounds good, we'll just go home and get our stuff and meet you there in an hour." The boys started to make their way back to their homes. They hadn't noticed Robbie hiding in the distance, watching as they walked away. "I swear, I'll get my revenge. If it's the last thing I do." He muttered to himself, his heart filled with hate.