The Thousand Mask Warrior

Eggplant

Days away from the trees where Jayaseta was forced to flee with Dara Cempaka from the pursuit of the Baka Poets and Karsa, the Baka Poet, through the wilderness and jungle and the winding river flow, stood a village of people from an inland tribe of Tanjung Pura.

From the outside it is clear that this place is not an ordinary Daya tribe village.

Standing on the riverbank, surrounded by fortresses erected from ulin-wood trunks that were plugged into the ground, tightly arranged to resemble a perimeter fence so high, perhaps five times the height of an adult male. There is also a lookout tower in the corners of the fort.

There are several entrances located slightly above, so it can only be opened with a long wooden ladder.

There are statues of clouded leopards as well as a giant face in a sinister form with a pair of bulging eyes and a long tongue outstretched. These two figures became the entrance guards and warders of bad things. They are enemies of magic.

The wide river that flows fast in front of the fort still shows the activities of the villagers who use boats and canoes for travel and daily activities, like fishing or going hunting somewhere else.

Coconut trees towering in various places, interspersed with banana trees and other leafy lush.

This type of fort also has a variety of names, one of which is called Kuta, a term in the language of the Biaju people in the Central part of the island of Tanjung Pura.

It is in this fort that the villagers live in houses betang, rows of houses built high above the ground and elongated, so as to allow some heads of families who are usually still related to die.

In front of this betang house there is an ancestral grave in the form of a small stilt house, containing the bones of figures who villagers respect.

The culture of owning this fortress already existed hundreds of years ago. One of the oldest Kuta fortresses of the Biaju people, the Kuta Mapot has been established since the 4th century AD.

That's why, these citizens of Power also very much have a patterned defense life. For example, the source of food is available hull inside the fort and there is a small building containing the fighters, soldiers, community group guards inside the fort itself.

There are tens or even hundreds of fortified villages scattered in the interior of the island of Tanjung Pura which has been inhabited since the 12th century until the 15th century AD.

These fortified villages existed due to a period of great inter-tribal warfare. Many people were killed and fled in search of survivors, then found new homes and made their own shelters again.

Seen in addition to residents who go back and forth from hunting, looking for fish with their boats and farming, some young men guard the fort.

Like all the tribes inland Tanjung Pura, their bodies are full of rajah. They were holding a spear in their right hand, Parang Ilang, also known as Do, hanging from their waist. The other hand held Klebit Bok, a six-sided wooden shield at waist level measured from the feet.

Both Do and their shields are adorned with human hairpins taken from the victims of the fight they killed and killed. This is useful for increasing devotion, confidence, degree and creating fear in the enemy.

One of those guards was the son of a chieftain named Punyan.

This young man was tall and slender. His muscles are covered in various figures.

The rajah of the indigenous people of Tanjung Pura island has indeed become a culture since 1500 to 500 BC.

For the Punyan tribe, this figure is referred to as Pantang. He himself has a strong-style abstinence in his knuckles, a sign he had helped paddle or kill enemies by beheading.

There is also the abstinence of the eggplant on both shoulders of the front as a sign of maturity, courage, strength and virility. The elongated round-shaped peg braided from the base of the neck of the front chart to the bottom of the chin becomes the self-image of members of his tribe.

Other figures adorn his entire body with a variety of meanings and purposes.

For days the father or apai in Iban, the chief, called Temenggung Bears, dwelt in his seedbed, in a stone cave in the wilderness.

The apai said that he dreamed of meeting the elders of their tribe's ancestors, namely Iban and Bidayuh, who lived in the village of Tampun Juah, the place where their tribe came from hundreds of years ago. These elders said that there would be important people present on this Tanjung Pura island.

However, the apai also said that there would be considerable chaos that engulfed the diverse tribal hinterland concerning the long history of bloodshed, power and the dignity of life of many people. This also involved the arrival of that important figure.

The problem for Punyan, the apai has been dwelling in the sacred cave for too long, while the last few days there are signs of a re-attack from tribes outside the village.

It is now beginning the season of war and headhunting.

Many tribes have entered the harvest in their fields. The need to pedal is very important as part of a thanksgiving ceremony. In addition, the youths of Daya are also adults. Went away from their village looking for an opponent to kill and his head was brought home. This is for the conditions of their maturity and courage, although not infrequently they themselves are killed by other tribes who defend themselves or also have the same purpose.

Sometimes the villagers who are fighting must run back to the wooden fortress when they see a figure that is not from their village.

If this is the case, inevitably the guards have to go around to all corners of the wind with complete weapons, three-three even five, to find out who are the people who disturb the peace of the village.

Punyan immediately saw the faces of the soldiers suddenly bright. They looked back at Punyan's back.

Needless to say, Punyan turned to look back.

There Temenggung Bear standing there. The body is small, but people will be easily fooled by its appearance.

His body though old, was not stooped and his face was only slightly wrinkled. One can tell that he is old probably only from his long, gray hair sticking out from behind the preserved ivory hornbill head covering. He wore a necklace with the usual claws of a clouded tiger and a bear. On a spear he held, hanging a human skull.

***

Jayaseta still feels silly and cowardly to have to run like this. But he also admitted his body could not be used properly. Because he has studied silat to understand his body well, he understands well that there are parts of his body that are resting and will be difficult to use when fighting.

On the other hand, he also felt ashamed of Datuk Mas Kuning because it turned out that the science of patience had not increased at all.

He was in a state of no restraint. Used ... Once upon a time, he felt proud to have feelings sensitive to crime and arbitrariness. He will lightly help anyone who is in trouble and tries to resist evil.

But after learning this Malay silat, he should have realized and understood that the palagan is not always the way out. Sacrifice became one way to restrain pride. Pride and impatience cover up weakness.

Jayaseta understood that there was a possibility that he could lose this fight. If he does not want to admit this, then there will be many problems back.

What is the use of the sacrifice of Datuk Mas Kuning and Dara Cempaka, if after all, instead of recovering from the wound, he died?

Jayaseta was still busy with her own thoughts as she had to clump on the ground as her shortness sensibility felt an object being thrown at her.

A Do stamps on a tree trunk after Jayaseta manages to dodge.

Dara Cempaka stopped her run.

Now both Dara Cempaka and Jayaseta are standing on their backs to see four figures chasing them emerge from behind the dark. So dark that night, even what was seen from Karsa the Poet Baka was only his two white eyeballs that were slowly flushed red by the spirit of killing.