Interview with a Dreamer: Kayla

Plucked from her reality, ten-year-old Kayla spins, whirling about a staff with a slightly crescent blade. She twirls with the grace of a ballerina, slashing the air around her to keep potential attackers at bay. Eventually, she realizes there is only one other person in the room. The slashing ends with her holding the bladed staff above her head with both hands in a defensive dance. Her nimble body sways and twists as she steps from side to side. Her bright grey eyes are striking, staring daggers into her captor.

The interviewer sighs, once again facing a difficult interviewee. Their smile is forced, hoping to elicit some a more relaxed response. "Greetings, Kayla of Kaolin. You are Kain's little sister... correct?"

Kayla squints her eyes, trying to measure her opponent. Her flowy black pants are tied tightly with a yellow rope for a belt. Her left hand bears a leather gauntlet of the same buttery color. The armband on her left arm is the same shade with black writing. Same goes for the bandana on her head. Her curly hair rises out from above the bandana like an explosion of blackness.

"Please, have a seat. I would like to ask you a few questions."

The little warrior continues her kata dance, staring needles into her captor. Her expression is dead-serious but so cute that the interviewer's smile is no longer forced.

"Please... I mean you no harm. You're safe here."

"I don't talk to strangers."

With an audible sigh, the interviewer palms their face. "Okay... I'll-"

"Let me out," the child sternly requests. "Let me out, please."

The interviewer shakes their head. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you go until you answer a few questions." With their head drooping and hands over their face, they whisper under their breath, "How did Yuki talk me into this?"

Kayla whirls her staff and spins it before bringing it to a stop. She stands upright with one hand on her hip and the other holding her naginata upright with the blade pointing at the ceiling. "What kind of questions?"

"Nothing too intrusive. Just basic questions about you, your people, and your family... Questions like 'what does that writing say on your armband and head, scarf, thing...?'"

"I'm J'Mari. It says J'Mari. Yellow's three."

After a pause, they ask her to elaborate.

"My people. Our martial arts style is called Akiti Alim'e and there are three stages: J'Mari, T'Tod'a, and T'Wagi. I'm J'Mari till I take my test. I can already do T'Tod'a stuff."

"Oh! Impressive."

She raises her left hand in front of her face with her fingers together, pointing toward the ceiling and it begins to glow. Within a few seconds, her brown skin is as bright of a yellow as the gauntlet her fingers are rising from. "This is called K'badi Ay'ri. It's like the air around my hand is harder than metal. Is this boring to you? Is this what you want to know?"

The interviewer nods. "Please, tell me about your parents."

"This is weird."

The interviewer tilts their head. "But... a moment ago..."

"This is so weird. You're using some magic to make me be here. Are you at least going to answer my questions too?"

"Well...." once again, the interviewer sighs.

"I can go after, right?"

"Yes. Of course."

"We're not on Galtimer, are we?"

After a few seconds of deliberation, they decide to take a different approach. "Technically... no," they honestly answer. "This space exists long enough for me to conduct interviews then ceases to be."

Kayla nods, shocking the interviewer with how well she's taking this information. "So you did this before with other people I know?"

"Sage, LaTao, and Kain... yes."

Kayla smiles. "I bet my brother didn't tell you nothin'"

They return her smile and reply, "It took a lot of convincing... but you're mostly right."

"He didn't say anything to me."

"Oh, well, you won't remember this until the next time." Seeing Kayla's cute little face scrunch up, the interviewer decides to elaborate. "When this interview is over, I'll return you to your world. You won't remember anything. In about a few weeks for you, more than a year will have passed for me. I'll bring each of you here once again and have a follow-up interview. Once you're here again, you'll remember everything again."

"Okay..." Kayla finally takes her seat. "Go on."

"Why do you think your brother takes on so much responsibility and trains so hard?"

"Brudder's the best! That means everyone expects him to be awesome all the time. I've seen people challenge him out of nowhere and every time he kicks their butts! If he doesn't train, then someone else will become T'Bok'akon and that would be so bad!"

"Why?"

"T'Bok'akon means you're the guardian and the best at whatever you specialize in. There are only 7 of them in The Guardian Council. It's crazy cuz Kain is a teenager and everyone else is old... like forty or sixty!"

"Forty is old, huh?" they ask with a chuckle.

"Yeah. My brother is the best! He's funny and sweet... but the moment he leaves the house he's all serious. He has to be."

"Okay. I think I understand. So... Where do you feel like you fit into the family?"

"Well, it's just me and Kain. He's going to take out dad's place in the military, so I don't have to worry about trying to take their place... but I wanna get good so that I can if I ever have to."

"So that's your goal?"

"Aunt Kaya wants me to be a scientist. I love learning and I love science, but I think I wanna go on adventures like Kain and his friends do. As soon as I'm T'Tod'a and this is green," she says, gesturing with her gauntlet. "...I'm going to find some friends like Tao and Sage and go on my own adventures!" she declares with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Last question: What kind of person would you die for?"

With a serious face, Kayla says "I would die for my family. Tao and Sage are 'family.' I would die for Dorma... my people."

"Now you sound like Kain."

Kayla shrugs. "We're warriors," she declares with a prideful smile. Her dimples bring a smile back to the interviewer's face.

"That you are."