Onays woke the next morning being slapped by Pak Utam. Fatigued from cleansing the whole house, Onays throat was dried and his eyes were lazy. He glanced around ending up blinded by the casting warmth of the sun. He scuttled off the mattress to the living room where he found Pak Utam and Mak Hasnita eating ambuyat again with durian. The alluring smell of durian grumbled his empty stomache. The sighting of ambuyat almost made him gather vomit in his mouth.

“Naiz, come here and finish the last bowl of ambuyat.” Mak Hasnita had saved an extra plate. Her voice was calming to heart.

“It’s fine Mak Hasnita. I’ll eat the durian.” Onays cleared, he was happy to have her calling him by Naiz.

“In our tradition, it is rude to refuse a meal.” Pak Utam revealed.

Onays began to stutter. “You can’t force a guest to eat!”

“Nonsense, when you are invited to eat by the host, you must eat!” Pak Utam grumbled back as he prepared his hand to slap Onays.

Onays deliberately sat down as he was not going to risk getting slapped again. Pak Utam’s slapping are annoying, but they are not painful. Instead the slaps were light and it left no dreadful mark on your skin. Sadly, as Onays swallowed a whole spoon of ambuyat, his face turned red and Pak Utam had slapped him. Onays had to do more chores that morning and by noon, Anissa had come to train Onays together with Pak Utam the silat.

On a sand field, fenced by coconut and jungle trees Onays had changed his Baju Melayu into a tousled clothing of only a pair loose pants and a long sleeve shirt with rips, holes and black markings. The shirt was big, that it revealed Onays’ flat chest with one single chest hair curling outwards. Anissa giggled gleefully and stared at him seductively which in a way made Onays awkward. Over his head, he wore an ugly tengkolok made from fabric that Mak Hasnita would use to wipe stains on the floor.

“To begin with, punch me in the face!” commanded Anissa.

Onays was stunned. “Punch you? I’m just afraid that you might knock out!”

“Give it a try.” Anissa challenged.

As Onays jabbed a fist, Anissa pulled his arm and swung him in the air and strike his whole skinny body onto the floor.

“Well done Anissa. Now make him suffer!” cheered Pak Utam.

“Hey, we’re here to train me. Not to torture.” Onays complained.

“Of course.” Anissa intervened as she repeated her moves, flipping Onays onto the floor.

“That is enough Anissa. You boy, if you were to fight the white men, you’ll surely be dead.” Pak Utam hissed.

“Why do you refer them as the white men?” mentioned Onays, his body outstretched on the floor.

“You have never seen the white men?” Pak Utam continued.

“I have never seen such people.” Onays lied.

“Don’t bother to ask. There is no point to know your enemy if you do not know how to fight!” scolded Pak Utam as he pulled Onays back on his feet. “We will start from the beginning. You must change your focus. You should not be thinking of returning home early.”

Onays obeyed Pak Utam, his only ticket home and have a normal life is to train the silat and cope with these weird people who wants to get the golden crocodile and fight off their enemy. In his brain, Onays keeps on telling himself that all of this was a dream. On the contrary, the situation around him felt so close to reality and he was baffled to discover that he had not woken up for so long. Yet, Onays kept on training the silat for days. He swiped his arm, swung his feet into the air, somersaulted, dodged the rapid punches from both Anissa and Pak Utam, but at a step by step process.

It was Onays routine throughout the two weeks of his stay at Kota Batu. After every practice, albeit in the morning, noon and night, Onays would have bruises everywhere and Mak Hasnita who made potions and medicine that Anissa would regularly buy from her were used on him. Onays felt more shy when Mak Hasnita applied the medicine on him than Anissa herself. On one of the practice, Pak Utam had accidentally kicked his tiny balls and he refused to have Mak Hasnita to carry out the medication. He whelped like a baby in his room for two days before returning back to track.

Also, Onays was burdened by house chores. Pak Utam said that it would make him equally balanced. Not just house chores, but Onays must attend religious classes at night before proceeding with the next silat practice. It was such a shame, because children who attended Pak Utam’s Quran classes had already mastered all the 30 Juzu’ and recited it wholly for at least five times. Most of them were aged between nine to twelve and Onays was sixteen and the only teenager. When Pak Utam pointed his cane at Onays to answer the Tajwid Hukum or law, he only stood still like a rock. The children laughed at him and teased his inability. The learning process he endured through the two weeks had thought him a valuable lesson.

It was time for him to change, adapt and evolve into a better person. In the silat practices, he cleared his mind and stayed focus from now on. He depleted all the negative feelings that could potentially drag him down. He persevered, fought his inner fears with adroitness and let patience drive his path. During his free time, he would recite the Quran and perfected his Tajwid. Although, the children still mocked him even though he tried.

So life for Onays went on, ambuyat was the normal treat and he got used to it. The more he practiced, the more he improved. In such a short period of time, both Anissa and Pak Utam were incredibly impressed at how fast Onays had learnt. On one of the practices, Pak Utam who favored a special move that no one had ever successfully dodged it was broken by Onays. A new record!

Pak Utam had never been that ecstatic in his life, proud to have a student who could learn quickly and could immensely suffer tribulations. Anissa eyed Onays every move, she praised herself for picking the right person to avenge the Sultanate.

On the last of the second week, Onays swirled his now slightly muscular arms at a bag of rice, stomping and curled his sturdy legs. With a single blow by his feet, the bag of rice exploded with grains raining over the sand field. Pak Utam and Anissa were astonished.

“Wow, not bad Mawang. Not bad at all.” Anissa complimented.

“I kind of like staying here. I feel more brave and confident compared back at home, always getting scolded and bullied at school.” Onays admitted.

“No Onays, you are still weak!” Pak Utam declared. “You will surely die.”

“What else do you expect from me?” Onays demanded.

“That is right, you are still weak!” suddenly, the almighty Ratna bolted in. His pendekar warrior clothing were tight that it shaped his superbly-muscular body that it carved up eight packs on his stomach, his arms and chest bulging. His face more charming that Onays that was pimple-free. Hair nicely combed. Guarding him were another twenty or so pendekar, followed by a fraction of the Kota Batu villagers and foreign merchants who wanted to see a battle between them.

“Stay out of this Ratna.” Pleaded Anissa.

“Darling, this a matter between me and him. We are going to get married in two weeks and you are meddling with him. Are you cheating on me?”

The whole crowd gasped, if Anissa were to cheat then her royal family reputation would tarnish.

“Do you love me Anissa?” Ratna had asked.

Anissa fell silent for awhile as she looked at Onays with glassy eyes.

“Say you love me Anissa.” Ratna waited for a response.

“I…I… love you.” Said Anissa forcefully.

“Really Anissa? If you do, then… kiss me.”

The crowd were still glued to their spot, expecting to see clearly whether that Anissa was loyal to her future husband. Unwillingly, she slowly walked toward Ratna and kissed him. The crowd bowed down as respect, except for Onays who was jealous and embroiled with pure angst. Ratna held Anissa tight, he would not let her go as he ravished the excitement. Anissa who had enough attempted to let go off his hard grip, but that ended as Ratna pushed her roughly to the floor. The crowd gasped, flabbergasted.

“This boy, must be taught his lesson. He has slept with my wife and he must receive the hudud. That is a hundred lashings!” Ratna barked.

The entire crowd went rambunctious, they were skeptic whether what Ratna had uttered was true or false. Onays made his firm stand, although he had been framed by Ratna. He swayed his fist and prepared in his combat position. Ratna circulated around Onays with his fist just at the angle of his eyes. Pak Utam tugged Anissa away to the crowd to watch the fight between Onays and Ratna.

Hitting his knuckles hard, Onays tumbled down to the sands as Ratna’s punch was rapid. Ratna allowed Onays to recover until he smacked one knuckle onto his face. Onays spun and rolled onto the floor again as he began to take in more breaths. Ratna chuckled, his fist desiring more. Onays stepped backwards, thinking of a way to defeat his most feared enemy. Ratna propelled into the sky and he flicked his foot at Onays. The poor teenager went drowsy, his vision clouded and the world soon evaporated around him. Onays who was kneeling on the floor with both palms on the surface was suddenly attacked. Ratna pulled his hair up and punched his stomach. Blood spat out his mouth, Onays was kicked away and he rolled and rolled. The crowd laughed with excitement at how easy the match was.

“Onays, fight back!” said Anissa sobbing.

“Shut up, he’s a nobody!” Ratna barked back. “You were wrong Anissa, this boy cannot help us. Look at how weak he is. Our sultanate will fall because of him.”

Onays laid motionless, gaping at the sky with these screeching voices in his ears. Ratna’s words punctured him deeply, somehow the words made him fiery. Words of insult but a dose of motivation. ‘I am Naiz, I am not a nobody.’ Onays whispered to himself. ‘I am strong, powerful, brave. I must fight.’

Ratna who was distracted scolding Anissa had a painful blow onto his face. When he shook his head and turned to see who it was, Onays was perfectly in shape.

“You imbecile!” Ratna roared, as he chased after Onays.

Onays kept sprinting around the sand field, as the crowds questioned each other at what he was doing. Ratna tried to grab him, but Onays was too fast to take down. They kept running until Ratna eventually stopped and accidentally tripped into the crowd.

“Stop running around like a fool!” said Ratna exasperated.

“What’s the matter big baby, can’t get a grip?” Onays mocked Ratna.

Ratna got back into the fight and it was a game of chase all over again. The crowd became bored and a part of them left. After some time chasing Onays, Ratna became fatigued and he stopped to inhale more air. Whilst doing so, Onays charged at him and clouted his robust knuckled onto his head and Ratna staggered backwards. The punch left a sweet mark under his eye that Onays was proud of.

The now crazed Ratna chased after Onays again and they scurried through the trade market. Onays pushed a cart of fruits and flooded the way as Ratna was tripped by scatters of lime. Ratna brushed dirt off his clothing but he was being shot at with durian by Onays. The razor edges of the durian scrapped his skin, the pain drove him to his insane level. Ratna who was unable to control his emotions went berserk as he stampeded through the stalls, crashing them, pushing aside the merchants and left carpets sold my Gujerati merchants soiled.

Making an end by the docks, it is now or never. Onays had nowhere to run and Ratna was full of tricks. Ratna drew closer, his anger to extinguish Onays has no boundaries. As Ratna charged, Onays dodged him and he picked up a bamboo cane from a nearby sampan and swung it onto Ratna’s head. Ratna wiggled before he disastrously fell into the Barunah Bay, almost drowned. Anissa and Pak Utam hurried to the scene when they were astounded by Onays’ victory. Merchants and villagers alike also congregated to view the incident. All eyes were on Onays.