Week 9 Story: Shinso and Saeki

(shaking hands in friendship, from MaxPixel)

Maybe it was because he was blessed by the gods, or maybe it was because his father was always so soft spoken, but from his youth, Marcus always had exceptional hearing. Events happening miles away, if he concentrated, boomed in his ear.

Now his father, Shinso, though soft spoken, was by no means a pushover. In fact, he was a legendary war hero who had never been defeated in his entire military career. It was said that when Shinso brought out his bo staff, he would become a invincible torrent of destruction. So skillful was he at using the staff that there have been rumors that the face of God Himself appeared on the staff as he swung it. No one can confirm, because no one has lived after facing Shinso with a staff.

Growing up, however, Marcus had no knowledge of this, but was content with the simple life they lived. Even though they barely had enough to survive, Marcus was just happy to spend time with his family. Shinso, touched by the selflessness of his son, would also be content with continuing this life. Yet, because he loved his son to the utmost and wanted him to grow up healthy, rather than living on the fringes of poverty, he sought out his close childhood friend, Saeki, who had become king. In their childhood, Saeki had promised that, because of their friendship, once he became king, Shinso could ask of him whatever he wanted. And so Shinso sought him out to provide a better living for his family.

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"Shinso, come ooooonnnn - I wanna try it too," the boy whined, his normally cheerful face contorted into what he thought was a pitiful face. 

"Haha! What is that face? You look like a wet dumpling, Saeki! Hahahahah!" the other boy laughed, on the verge of tears. 

"Here, just because your face is so funny, you can try it. But don't hurt yourself!" Shinso sighed, wiping away the tears while handing over the bo staff his teacher had given him. "It looks like a simple stick, but my master handcrafted it himself," he said, puffing out his chest a little.

The contorted face instantly reverted to its bright form again. 

"Thanks, Shinny!" the boy said, carefully receiving the staff - before whacking Shinso on the head with it and running away, laughing maniacally. 

"HEY! SAEKI! Come back here!!!"

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The oppressive air in the court was stifling. This wasn't the carefree atmosphere Shinso had grown up with around Saeki - something was different. His dread grew as he saw Saeki, clad in the dazzling royal garments. However, it wasn't the garments, but the dark look of contempt he saw on Saeki's face that made Shinso shudder - the Saeki he knew would never look at someone like that, much less one of his friends.

"Dirty peasant, speak. Why have you come here today?"



Author's Note: Originally, I had an idea about giving more details behind the "death" of Ashwatthama, Drona's son in the Mahabharata. In the war, Drona was considered undefeatable. But he had one weakness - his son. Because of his strong ties to his son, it was said that his spirit could never be quenched. So the Pandavas, in a controversial scheme, killed an elephant named Ashwatthama and proclaimed "Ashwatthama is dead!" Drona, not believing this, goes and asks the eldest brother of the Pandavas, Yudhishthira, who can tell only the truth, if this is true. And he proclaims that Ashwatthama IS dead, but under his breath he adds, "the elephant." So Drona, wrought with grief, loses his will to fight and is beheaded. 

But then the story evolved into more of the backstory between Drona (Shinso) and Drupada (Saeki). I wanted to give his representation in my story a kind of divine feel. In Korean, "divine" is translated as 신성한 (shin-song-han), so I named him "Shinso." On the other hand, I really didn't like Drupada in the Mahabharata. He forsook his childhood friend because of his new rank! Despicable. So I named him Saeki,  which was taken from the Korean 새끼 (saekki), which is a general derogatory term when referring to a person. Very rude, but I think it's fitting for this guy.

Due to the length limit, I decided to end it at the the king's court, but leave the possibility in the reader's mind that there might be something fishy going on here. I think I'll have to do a follow-up story (part 2!) to get to the story of Marcus. 

Original story from the PDE Mahabharata.