Witi Ihimaera - Sky Dancer

Arnie’s heart began to beat fast. This can’t be Skylark speaking, he thought to himself. This is the girl who always wants to be the boss, in control, the one who brooks no argument. What she says, goes.

“Think about it,” Skylark said. “You know more about Kawanatanga and his cohorts than anybody here. You’re the warrior from the future with the knowledge of advanced technology! And you have army experience too. Can’t you see? You’ve already become their leader. They trust you and they need all the help they can get. You can’t leave now and miss all the fun and —”

Arnie gave a cry of joy. Skylark was acknowledging him as a partner, not just the sidekick. She was telling him that she wasn’t the only one who mattered; he did too.

“Thank you, Skylark,” he said. “Nothing would make me happier than to stay around and help the manu whenua.” He grabbed her in his wings and waltzed around the branch with her.

“Puh- lease, Arnie, get off me, “Skylark laughed. “Don’t make a federal case out of it.” Arnie took off after Chieftain Kahu to tell him the news. Watching his excitement, Skylark congratulated herself for having reached right to the centre of his action-movie heart and making his day.

“Yes, Arnie,” she said, “this is your chance to become the hero you’ve always wanted to be. Go forward, follow in the footsteps of your namesake. Fight for truth and justice and save the world. You are indeed the knight who appears at the eleventh hour.”

And after all that, it was only logical that Chieftain Kahu would nominate Arnie to the Council of War as chief strategist.

“Chieftain Arnie is the only one among us who knows about these new seabirds from the future,” Kahu argued. “He knows how their minds work, their strengths and weaknesses. We can provide the troops, but he can devise the best strategy by which we can win the day.”

“I’m not so sure,” Chieftain Kawau answered. “We’ve always fought our own battles. We’ve never needed strangers to help us.”

“Pull your head in,” Chieftain Tui interrupted, irritated at Kawau’s continuing suspicions. “What Kahu proposes makes sense. Chieftain Arnie’s prior knowledge and experience of the new seabird reinforcements will give us the edge. And you, Kawau, should be be the first in line to thank Chieftain Arnie for his offer to stay because tomorrow, if we fail, your inlet will be the first to be pillaged.”

The vote was taken and Arnie was in.

“Let’s get operational,” he said, spitting on his wings and rubbing them together. “I want a squad to go out with me on a surveillance mission tonight. He titi rea ao ki kitea, he titi rere po e kore i kitea. The muttonbird which flies by day is seen, but the muttonbird that flies at night cannot be detected.”

“Tonight?” Tui asked. “But we never fly at night —”

Luckily, no muttonbirds were there to hear Tui, but, “Excuse us,” said an offended Chieftain Ruru of owls and Chieftain Pekapeka of bats.

“I will need your eyes and your sonar,” Arnie said. “Chieftain Kahu, will you also join us with your best warriors?”

“What is the purpose of the mission?” Kawau asked, as argumentative as ever.

“We must ascertain the size of the enemy force,” Arnie answered. “Once we know how big the threat is, the better we will be able to mount our defensive networks against it. We will leave under cover of dark, immediately after sunset birdsong.”

He left the council meeting and went to see Skylark, who was with Te Arikinui Kotuku. As soon as Skylark saw him approaching, she knew that Arnie was growing into his role.

“I’m taking the boys out on a reconnaissance mission tonight,” Arnie said. “Do you mind? I’ll be back soon.”

Skylark couldn’t resist kidding him. “Yeah yeah,” she answered, rolling her eyes. “I know this script. This is the scene where the hero says goodbye to the little lady before he gets on his starship and thunders off into space. A boy’s gotta do what a boy’s gotta do.”

Arnie gave her a wide grin. “I should have known you were on to me,” he said. “But I wouldn’t get too far ahead if I were you.” He flew back to talk to Chieftain Kahu, who was speaking to his daughter, Kahurangi.

“You’d better watch out, Skylark,” Kotuku said. Kahu was pushing his beautiful daughter, Kahurangi, forward. “You have competition.”

“Arnie and I are not together,” Skylark said.

“You’re not?” Kotuku teased. She watched Skylark’s face as Kahurangi placed a small lizard in front of Arnie.

“A small token of my esteem,” Kahurangi simpered, batting her eyelids for all they were worth. “Please accept it, strange heroic warrior from the iwi of the future.”

“Gee, thanks,” Arnie said as he swallowed it.

“Gross,” Skylark said.

Now, Kotuku wondered, was Skylark’s disgust to do with the lizard or with Kahurangi’s obvious advances?

“Time to rock and roll,” Arnie said.

All the long afternoon, formations of seabirds had been practising military manoeuvres over the offshore islands. The landbirds’ evening birdsong was muted. Now, darkness was falling and, under its cover, Chieftain Pekapeka and his best bat warriors left their underground caverns to rendezvous with Arnie at the neck of Manu Valley. One minute the branches around Arnie, Chieftain Tui, Chieftain Kahu and Chieftain Ruru were empty. Next minute, bat warriors were settling softly like sinister dreams.

“I hate it when they do that,” Ruru said, shivering. “Couldn’t they knock?”

“What is your command, Chieftain Arnie?” Pekapeka asked, his face twitching with anticipation.

“Your mission, should you decide to accept it,” Arnie said, “is to scout the area between here and the offshore islands. If the seabirds see you they won’t worry because, after all, are not bats creatures who fly in the night? On your report that the air is clear, I will begin our operation.”

With whistles and clicks, Pekapeka ordered his bat scouts to take wing. Soon, they were flapping silently into the air away from Manu Valley. Pekapeka began to scan the sky with his sonar. He had flown the area many times before and recognised the familiar contours of the valley which bounced back to his receptors: the forest below, the waterfall, the river, the lowland leading to the coast. Ahead should be the sea and the three offshore islands. Two were nesting places for the seabirds where they had established their rookeries and nurseries. The third was topped by Karuhiruhi’s fortress. Even as Pekapeka approached he could hear the seabirds at haka, feasting and carousing before the battle to come. “Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora ka ora …”

Pekapeka could also smell the smoke of many cooking fires. But where was the sea? It had disappeared, and instead a solid mass presented itself to his sonar. Something was wrong there too: the mass seemed to be moving.

Puzzled, Pekapeka issued an order to his scouts. “We must grid the area. How far out to the horizon does this new mass extend? Find where the sea begins again.”

Ten minutes later, whistling through the night, Pekapeka reported back to Arnie. “Chieftain Arnie, the seabirds are celebrating on their offshore islands.”

“Karuhiruhi must be overjoyed to see his descendant, Kawanatanga.” Arnie said.

“The seabirds are so confident of victory tomorrow,” Pekapeka continued, “that they have not posted sentries. The sky is clear. However, I must report that the sea seems to have receded from the land. Where the coastline once existed, there is no coastline, nor could we find the new coastline.”

“How can there be land where there was once sea? How can this happen within the space of a day?” Chieftain Ruru asked.