Chapter Text
It was bright and sunny a week ago in Brimhaven. Despite the season, the air was drier than sand on its beaches due to a lack of rain, and the cool winds from the sea were seemingly devoured by the dense jungle bordering the port.
As the heat rose, so too did the musk of the packed seaside town. Still, no such heat would stop the bustling of locals and sailors going about their business. Within the havened walls of the Shrimp and Parrot, the toils of the outside were replaced by the spicy sizzle of local seafood and clattering of plates among friends.
Among the patrons sat the Paramaya family, who had come to visit from the bustling city of Ardougne. Before them, a feast of fish, chutneys, and sides was spread across the large table, with a centerpiece of spicy, grilled karambwan. The bright colors of the meal accented the vibrant clothing of the diners.
Not two days ago did Riza, his mother Mieke, and his father Lwazi attend his cousin T'fruti's wedding. The four of them were joined at the table by newlywed Sami, his younger brother Kangai and their two dads Fanyana and Sipho.
To an observer, the Mau’s would appear a quiet bunch, but that was only because of the excited chatter of the newlywed couple. T’fruti’s jewelry jangled and her braids waved about as she laughed and retold the events of her wedding to her aunt and uncle. Her expressive movements and stories were peppered with bouts of teasing between her and her husband.
The joy and laughter helped distract the Paramaya’s from the oppressive heat; the Mau’s were accustomed to it, but Riza's family was not so lucky. Mieke, at least, had thought ahead and had brought a fan to keep herself cool. Her son, on the other hand, regretted not trimming some of his bushy red hair.
Listening intently to his cousin’s stories, Riza reached over to cut a tentacle off the karambwan to put over his lentils. It was nice to hear what was happening between the adults during the wedding. Her storytime was also an excellent chance to grab more shares of the seafood scattered across the table, as everyone was distracted. Karambwanji fillets, marlon fillets, lobster, and all of the sides were within his grasp.
Unfortunately, the heist was discovered by Kangai across the table, who quickly muscled in for his own share of the loot. Riza was amazed at how much Kangai was grabbing, as he was quite the twig of a teenager.
Content with his earnings, Riza gave his lentils a light spread of some of the mediumly-spiced sauces and began nibbling on his food. The combination of the chutney and the spiced karambwan erupted in his mouth; a comforting inferno of flavor that almost numbed him to the surrounding heat.
Out of the corner of his eye, Riza saw Kangai’s mighty jaw open and began accepting the shovels of food within. He noticed how Kangai was eating from the milder sauces - the only one on his side of the family that wasn’t eating the spiciest options.
With his focus drifting forward, Riza started to consider the spice levels of everyone at the table. His eyes glossed over as he started ranking and grouping family members in spice categories. Eventually he starts wondering if he was on the cusp of discovering a spicy zodiac, and what catchy names would come with it. It wasn’t long before every corner of Riza’s mind was filled with observations about the sauces at the table.
In fact, he ended up so lost in thought, that he didn’t realize T’fruti was meeting his expressively blank stare. It than took a few moments for him to notice her silence, the look on her face, or even the giggles from the others at the table.
“Are you okay, cousin?” T'fruti asked, snapping him back to reality.
Mieke leaned into her niece. “That boy, always lost in his head.”
“S-sorry, I didn’t, uh, was I staring?” Riza stuttered, getting his bearings back.
“Yeah, you were," T’fruti laughed while tapping her temple. "Got things on the brain?”
Lwazi patted him on the back. “He’s always got things on the brain, never a moment when that boy’s mind isn’t off to Asgarnia," he lauded. "But he’s a sharp one. He’ll make a good appraiser someday, I think.”
Mieke proudly bobbed her head in agreement, while Riza squirmed at the high praise.
“What were you thinking about then, rafiki?” Sami asked cheerily.
Riza’s eyes grew wide as he silently choked, realizing he had to admit his ‘sharp appraisals’ were nonsense about chutney. He took a moment to re-trace his line of thought to the seemingly most coherent point.
“Um... I was thinking about… how everyone in your family likes really spicy food," he said, finally.
There was a half-second long pause that lasted for hours before Sami, as mildly impressed as one could be, nodded to his wife.
T’fruti threw her hands up and rolled her eyes at her husband. “Oh gods, don’t get me started on this man’s spicy food.”
With that, she began another round of stories and teasing. Riza sighed with relief that the conversation had moved along.
Amid the storytelling, the waiter stopped by to clear up some empty plates. As he reached a pasty arm towards a pile of fish bones, Mieke placed her hand upon it.
“Oh, no, can you leave those there? I want to use them later," she said.
The waiter paused, eyes unfocused as he tried to come up with a response, before simply shrugging and taking the other dishes.
T’fruti leaned in to her aunt. “You think you have enough here for an offering, auntie?” she asked.
Mieke flapped her hand to indicate ‘it’s fine’ before gathering them in a pouch.
Fanyana cleared his throat. “Mieke, Lwazi, there was something we wanted to ask you two about, actually," he announced.
Riza felt his heart drop. He lowered his head and rested it on his knuckles, stirring the food on his plate with his other hand.
Lwazi dabbed his drenched forehead with a napkin and smiled. “Go ahead! We’re family now.”
“We know that your family-” Sipho started.
“No, no, Chief Sipho, OUR family, eh?” Lwazi finished.
Sipho beamed. “Yes, rafiki, we know you deal in buying artifacts from the, uh…” he struggled for the word “The... nobility.”
“That we do." Mieke said, queuing a drink of water. "You were stolen from?”
“Yes, our totem.” Sipho said.
“Ahh, your spirit’s totem, I assume?” Lwazi asked.
The two dads nodded. Sami and Kangai lowered their heads dejectedly.
“It was stolen a few months ago, by an Ardougnese man.” Fanyana explained.
“Do you know which nobleman it was?” T’fruti asked.
Riza pursed his lips in anticipation.
Sipho nodded “His name was, Er… What was it, Kangai?”
Kangai, without looking up, sighed quickly and muttered “Handelmort.”
Riza’s parents gave each other a quick look as a chill was felt among the Paramayas.
Francis Handlemort was a prominent nobleman back in Ardougne. In his expeditions through the jungles of Karamja, he had stolen countless treasures and artifacts from the local towns and villages. Such thefts weren’t uncommon from the Ardougne nobility; the Paramaya’s often used their mercantile wealth and connections to reclaim their tribe's artifacts from nobles.
Handelmort was different, though. He never allowed merchants to view his private gallery of stolen treasures. He also had connections to some of the shadier sides of the city, and was often either away or pointedly not accepting visitors at all.
It was always a worst case scenario if Handelmort got his hands on anything.
After a pause hung in the air, Lwazi leaned back, stroking the bottom of his beard. “Yeah, we know him. We’ve, ehhh, had to deal with him in the past.”
The two dads glanced at each other. “Do you… do you think you can get it from him?” Fanyana asked.
T’fruti started to say something to her uncle, than her fathers-in-law, then her husband, before finally asking “You, uh, you’re sure it’s Handelmort? That was his name?”
Sipho gestured with his hand. “Kangai’s the one who’s sure," he said. "All those Ardougnese names sound the same to me.”
Lwazi hrrmed contemplatively.
Riza glared guiltily at his food as he continued to stir it like a witches cauldron. He knew that this was tricky, since the Rantuki tribe’s totem was used to keep the spirits calm and demons at bay. It would be hard to say no, especially since they were family now.
“Yes, we can get it for you.” Mieke said suddenly.
Riza, T'fruti, and Lwazi, all snapped their heads to face her with wide eyes.
Fanyana sighed with relief as Sipho raised his hands to the sky in praise.
“Thank you, this means the world to us!" Fanyana said. "We can never repay you!”
Lwazi shared a glance with his wife, than they both stood up to shake hands with their in-laws. Riza noticed Kangai smiling and giving him a thumbs up, and Riz gave a dishonest smile back.
This was the worst case scenario.
***
Later that afternoon, the Paramaya’s were to catch the return ship to Ardougne. Everyone exchanged long hugs, congratulations, and farewells, promising to get together again soon while Sami and Lwazi discussed business for a bit - something involving a local fish supplier.
Yet Riza hung back a bit from his family, staring at the ground downtrodden. After saying farewell to her aunt, T'fruti came up to him and crouched down, her eyes dewy from earlier farewells.
“Aww, Riza, you’ll make me cry looking like that," she said with a bittersweet smile.
T’fruti opened up her arms, and Riza came in to give her a hug.
“I owe you guys so much for taking me in. It’s hard for me to say goodbye," she said between a sniffles.
After pulling away, she preemptively wiped away some tears. “You take care of auntie and uncle for me, you hear?”
Riza, pouted and slowly nodded. “Thank you for having us,” he croaked. “The wedding was beautiful.”
T’fruti began to stand up, and Riza wiped his eyes quickly. “Wait," he said, holding his arm out.
She sighed with a warm smile and they both grasped the others’ forearms, than leaned in closely to each other's ears, holding each others shoulders.
“Strength through chaos," they whispered.
They released each other, then T'fruti rustled Riza's hair before returning to her husband.
After a half-dozen more false starts at leaving, everyone finally departed. The Paramaya’s stood along the road to the port, waving as their new family headed south.
With a sigh, Mieke's face dropped as she turned to her husband, raising her arms and breathing in to speak.
“Well, shall we get going?” Lwazi asked as he loaded up his luggage onto their cart. “The boat won’t wait forever for us.”
Mieke tightened the deok around her hair, then lifted up her luggage beside her husband’s. “I don’t know what I was thinking, promising these things," she said. "Always with my big mouth.”
Lwazi dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “They’re family, of course. How can we say no? All we can do is figure it out.”
Riza scrambled up onto the back of the cart, then pulled his own luggage onto it. He found a good spot to curl up, using his skinny frame to make himself as invisible as possible.
Lwazi raised a finger. "We're in my element, my dear wife!" he declared. “Embrace all challenges!”
“Zamorak bring us strength.” echoed in Riza's mind, finishing the quote.
Lwazi pulled on the reins of the unicorn leading the cart as they made their way to the port. The heat of the sun and the comfort of his lunch weighed heavy on Riza’s eyelids, and he fought hard to keep from dozing off during the journey. His thoughts wandered towards dreamy nonsense, occasionally jostled by the bumpy road.
They were only a few yards from the port before he started snoozing.
Once they arrived, after telling the sailors where to put the cargo, Lwazi carefully picked up his sleeping son. Riza was light for his age, and his dad was strong for his size, but Lwazi made a show of lifting and cradling his son.
“Oof, my son, you’re killing me, you’re killing your father.” he complained quietly, with a wry smile towards his wife.
Mieke kissed Riza’s forehead gently, then they all boarded the ship together.
***
Not long after sunset, Riza woke up from his nap to the gentle rocking of the boat home.
Sitting up slightly, the blanket draped over him fell aside, and its warmth was replaced with a cool blanket of evening air; a stark contrast from the aridness of the island. Looking over he saw his parents, deep in prayer, a warm orange glow emitted from their offering dish before them as a candle-like flame flickered about.
Laying back down, Riza stared up at the ceiling, figuring he was currently below deck. Taking a deep breath, he realized there was a scent in the air; something both earthen and spicy.
They must be burning herbs with this offering
He tried to go through the list of herbs that he knew, which amounted to a few he thought were used in cooking. Coming up empty, he quietly sighed and continued to stare ahead blankly.
He began reminiscing about the wedding, remembering the beautiful ceremony, the dancing, the music. How it was the first time being at a Rantuki camp, despite his family's village being from the south as well. How he got to see all his cousins, and met all his soon-to-be cousins, and wondered why nobody seemed to be his own age.
He remembered meeting Kangai, who was sent to make sure the kids weren’t getting into trouble, and how relieved he felt having someone closer to his age to talk to. How Kangai confided in him, telling him how angry he was about losing the totem, how Riza accidentally fed him the notion that his parents could get it back, and how Kangai must have went to his dads, telling them to ask Riza’s parents to get the totem back.
He suddenly remembered the name of the herb being burnt by his parents. Sito foil, apparently.
He remembered the joyous lunch he got to enjoy with his cousin, only for it to be ruined by his mistake, and how his parents had to lie to their new family because of him.
He felt his nose twitch and his brow furrowed, as a small anger grew inside him. His nostrils burnt with the spiciness in the air and the guilt in his heart.
In some small way, he thought, no, in a big way it will be my fault that the totem will never return to them.
As Riza spiraled further into his guilt, his recollections of the past became doomsday predictions for the future. He imagined the sadness of the Mau family when his parents return empty handed, the demons of the jungle rampaging through the camp, his parents receiving a letter telling them of T’fruti’s death at the hands of the demons.
And his overactive imagination forced him to watch these scenes unfold within his mind with perfect clarity.
After a while he noticed the warm tears along the sides of his face. He looked over at his parents, worried that his fussing and crying had interrupted their offering, and was relieved when he saw them still deep in prayer.
He sniffled as silently as he could, and his nostril filled with the spiced air which burned the back of his nose. He closed his eyes and took the moment of silence to send a prayer to Zamorak before his mother could end her offering. He knew his god would never give him an answer for this problem, so instead he asked to conspire for a means to solve it together.
Mieke blew out the fire on the pan, leaving the smouldering smell of sito foil lingering in the air. A light breeze whispered through the ship, He shivered slightly, pulling his blanket back over him.
His mother’s voice echoed in his mind, recounting stories of his people overcoming adversity and challenging the status quo, and in this calm something inside him stirred.
This, he thought, This isn’t a problem. It’s a challenge.
He pictured his father raising a finger, unconsciously mimicking the gesture as “Embrace all challenges” rang in his head.
Then a thought occurred to him. What’s stopping me from just stealing it?
He paused. The crew’s footsteps echoed throughout the ship. Below him, gentle waves crashed against the hull. But for Riza, filled with mounting excitement, the world became still. Like logs to a bonfire, his fire within grew exponentially.
He lowered his hand back down. Yeah. Why don’t I just take it from him?
Well, because I’ll get in trouble, obviously. There’s no way I can get away with that.”He thought, soberingly.
Dejected, he rolled to face the wall.
...Although he’s never around, usually. How many times have mom and dad come calling, only to find he’s out of town? All I would have to do is wait for a day when that happens and I could break in.
The fire within him seemed to drop into his stomach, making him feel nauseous.
Am I on to something here?
His heart began to race as his mind flashed with images of how he’d pull off this heist. He envisioned possible entrances, escape routes, and potential pitfalls. A few times he even caught himself whispering lines he was practicing aloud. He imagined he would use those suave lines to bamboozle guards if he was caught.
After he acquired the totem, he planned to escape north to Catherby, where he would ride a ship to Karamja and deliver it to the Rantuki tribe. He would then lay low with his family until he heard from back home that no-one was looking for him. Everything would be flawless.
By the time he's finally satisfied with his plan, it's already past midnight. The herbal scent in the air had wisped away, and the world resumed its activities. His inner fire finally spent, Riza felt his eyelids grow heavy with drowsiness.
I’m going to do it, he sleepily promised himself, I’m going to break into Handelmort’s mansion.