Cultural Divergencies
(this sure isn't how they do things back home...)
They walked for another hour or so, with only brief snippets of conversation
passed back and forth among the weary travellers. Without much warning at all,
Indalecio swayed a bit and crumpled to the ground. He had been trailing a bit
behind, so neither girl had any time to break his fall, but both of them
quickly stopped, backpedaled, and knelt down next to him to see if he was all
right.
"He's fine," Shasa declared confidently while Pela bit her lip and nervously
looked him over. "Just tired. I suppose the nobility is not accustomed to long
walks wherever he's from." She arched her eyebrows and spoke in a tone that
indicated that this was only confirming something she already suspected. Just
then, the 'royalty' in question started to come around again with a soft noise
of discomfort.
"Indalecio, sir, are you all right?" Pela leaned over him anxiously. "You
blacked out for a moment."
Indalecio opened his eyes with extreme reluctance, the light from the glaring
sun and the dull ache in his head loudly protesting that he regain
consciousness. "So it would seem," he muttered softly. "Miss Shasa, I don't
suppose that water source you mentioned is in the near proximity, I think a bit
of rest might be in order..."
Pela got back to her feet as he sat up. "I admit, I'm feeling pretty exhausted,
too... I've lost track of how long we've been awake." She looked over at Shasa
hopefully.
The water-seeker planted one hand on her hip, the other set the point of her
staff into the ground. "All right, all right, we'll rest a while. Although I
could keep going, I won't press you to keep up." She added the last bit
hastily. She wasn't about to admit that *she* was tired. "It's not far now,
probably over the next hill."
The three of them shuffled on with heavy feet for a bit further. Indalecio
inwardly wondered how Shasa could possibly detect water without any instruments
or spells, and so he was rather surprised when a thin stream of fresh water
appeared on the landscape some distance away, the vegitation clustering eagerly
around it in contrast to the scattered scrub brush that dotted most of the
land. Had she just memorized the geography on previous visits? Even then, how
could she orient herself on the featureless plains. He was so exhausted,
though, he had to dismiss the strange phenomenon before his headache worsened.
It wasn't long before they were settled in, with a small campfire and a place
to sleep that was as close to sheltered as they were likely to find for a while
- nestled against a growth of tall grasses. Indalecio felt a twinge of pity for
his two travelling companions as he watched them struggle for several
frustrating minutes to set the pile of dry sticks and grasses on fire -
something he could have accomplished with one or two seconds' concentration.
Shasa assured them that the water was good, and all three gratefully gulped
some down to slake the thirst that had built up over the past day and a half.
She questioned him loudly (and with a certain degree of hostility) when she saw
Indalecio kneel to wash his hands and face in it, however. Even after he
attempted to explain, she still looked quite displeased.
Pelagia, meanwhile, discovered that her powers of stealth were not quite so
keen out of the water than in it, and so it took her a few botched attempts to
hunt down something edible so they wouldn't all be depleting the food carried
with them. That, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could stomach dried
fish, she thought to herself with a faint smile, as she returned to the camp
with her catch - a young, brown rabbit that she had finally been able to run
down. She wasn't sure how it would taste, but it was no doubt edible, and she
silently thanked it for providing them nourishment.
Split three ways one rabbit wasn't much (and Indalecio seemed very hesitant to
be in the vicinity while it was being prepared, let alone eat it), but with the
food they'd packed it was enough to fill complaining stomachs. The sun was
hanging low in the west by the time they all settled down around the fire.
Shasa was dropping the last few handfuls of earth onto the dying flames of the
campfire, and Pelagia was settling in with a blissfully full stomach at last,
when she finally took a moment to study their strange, royal companion - she
just couldn't help being curious. He was gazing up at the sky, eyes half-lidded
from weariness. Still, it seemed to her that he was searching for something up
there, rather than merely admiring the glitter of the appearing stars as dusk
gave way to nightfall.
Aside from being tall, he was exceptionally thin, which puzzled Pela a great
deal. Traditionally, a king or a cheiftan was one of the most robust of his
clan or city, as the greater shares of food would be available to him. Still,
the look of a well-pampered individual was thick around him - his vest was made
of some soft, shiny material Shasa had identified as silk, and had also assured
her was very expensive in terms of trade. Were she not afraid of offending
Indalecio's high-bred manners, she would have asked to see the vest for a
moment. As things were, she was not about to reach over and touch his clothes
without permission.
Indalecio looked away from the heavens with a faint sigh, and noticed that he
was being stared at out of the corner of his eye. He turned to her, trying not
to look unnerved by her. "Something wrong, Miss Pelagia?" he asked, arching
pale eyebrows and trying to look as though he were mildly interested rather
than sweating blood under the gaze of a barbarian predator.
Pelagia quickly looked down again, hugging her knees to her chest where she
sat. "No! I just.. I'm sorry, I should have explained more... you see, before I
met Shasa's people I had never seen anyone outside my own clan, so I'm a bit
curious... I didn't mean to be gawking."
Shasa dusted her hands off, finally done extingushing the fire. She added, "I
didn't think I'd see another as pale as Pelagia here! What, are *all* you
people living underground like mice?" She plunked herself down opposite them,
legs crossed.
Indalecio blinked. "So, you're both travelling away from your indigenous
regions?" he asked.
"Inda-what? Who is that, your brother?" Shasa asked, stifling a yawn lest
anyone suspect her of being tired after two days' hard travel and a brawl with
some bandits.
Indalecio shook his head a bit. "No, indigenous. As in, your native lands," he
explained slowly, until a look of dawning realization spread over the faces of
the two Earthbound girls.
"Oohhhhhh," Shasa said. "You meant *that* indi... ingenidous. Yeah, that's us."
Pela nodded in assent.
Indalecio was again struck by a sense of amazement. Not only to be magicless,
practically helpless, but to be two young women alone in a harsh, unyielding
world? Were their homes so impoverished, so unbearable, that they had to wander
the wild lands unaided? He pressed gently for more information. "What brings
you out this far from your homes? Surely you would be safer in towns or
villages..."
The two girls looked at each other a moment, considering. After a moment of
hesitation, Pelagia spoke up. "Well, you see... we've each had these dreams,
strange ones that neither of us can fully understand. And then we discovered
that we each had one of these stones just after waking from the dream, though
neither of us had ever met before..."
Pelagia and Shasa both related their dreams, hesitantly, to a quiet and
observant Indalecio. Before they were done describing their experiences, he
began to feel that these dreams were startlingly similar to something in his
own experience. For a time, he was acutely aware of the crystal pendant hanging
around his neck, as though it had somehow gotten heavier on its cord. As they
both reached the end of their parts, however, Pela and Shasa both shied away
from any mention of the fateful night in the desert, the antlion, and the power
that seemed to come from those very stones... after all, Indalecio was still a
stranger, and such talk might condemn either of them to accusations of
insanity, or even of being Sky-Devils.
Pela spread her hands as she finished speaking. "So there it is, as strange as
it sounds... But Shasa thinks it must be fate that we met one another, and we
both had those strange dreams while waking. We're on our way north to a place
called the Crystal Mountains, since Shasa's clan is going to be coming to trade
there, and it's on the way to the city she knows of... I know you probably
wouldn't believe such a story, but it's the truth." She bit her lip gently,
studying Indalecio for a reaction.
The girl’s concern was written plainly across her face, and Indalecio
shook
his head gently in an attempt to dispel her worries. Though his mind was
awhirl with the implications of what they had just told him, he forced
himself to take a deep breath and clear his mind as best he could. "I
believe that you speak the truth. After all, you would have nothing to gain
from creating such a story at random. In At ...that is...where I come from,
it is believed that dreams can carry important messages, perhaps even
predict the future. The fact that you both experienced these visions..."
Indalecio hesitated for a moment. True dreamers were rare, even in
Atlantis. That an Earthbound could possess such a power.... Yet, they did
not seem to have had a history of such occurrences. Neither, for that
matter, did he, and yet the similarity of their dreams to his own was
uncanny.
Pela slowly released the breath she had been holding. Encouraged by
Indalecio’s interest and his apparent acceptance of what they’d told him,
she nodded her agreement with his words. "Yes, I’m sure they must mean
something, but we still have no idea what that could be. The only clue we
have is the city of my dream, which is why we are headed that way."
"The white-walled city..." Indalecio murmured, half to himself, before
raising his voice again, "This city you traveling to...are you certain that
it the city of which you dreamt?"
Before Pela could answer him, Shasa interjected, "Nothing is certain, but
it’s the only city anywhere around here. It may just be a dead end, but we
can’t just sit around and expect the city to come looking for us."
Indalecio nodded and stared into the fire for a moment, absently fingering
something beneath his vest. He made as though to speak, hesitated, then
took a deep breath and tried again. "Actually, I have experienced a vision
much like yours. That is the reason I came out here on my own, though I was
obviously not prepared for the dangers I might encounter. Like Miss
Pelagia, my dream also involved the white city, but it seems to have held a
much darker meaning," Indalecio shuddered at the memory. "I feel that
something bad will happen if I go to that city, and still I am driven to
find it." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "And yet...I think,
perhaps, if I were not to try at all..."
Silence descended over the camp as Indalecio trailed off. The two girls
stared at him for a moment before Pela spoke up excitedly. "So you’ve had
the dream too? Then Shasa must be right. It must be fate, us all meeting
like this. Right Shasa?"
"Perhaps. But if his dream is similar to ours, then..." Shasa turned back
to Indalecio, "Did you find a stone too? Just as you woke up?"
Indalecio took a deep breath and drew the green crystal cube from its
hiding place beneath his vest. Holding it by its cord as one might handle a
deadly snake, he slipped it off from around his neck and held it out for
them to see. He was careful to keep it just out of their reach however,
lest it repeat its earlier display when the bandit had tried to take it.
Shasa eyed the stone expertly, mentally calculating its worth. She
whistled softly, "You don’t come across crystals that clear every day, and
such a shade of green...the cut could be better, but it’s more than large
enough for that to be fixed without decreasing the value. Abdul would
probably wet his pants if he saw this. It seems to have a flaw or something
though...." As Shasa reached for the necklace to get a closer look,
Indalecio quickly jerked it back out of her reach. The small girl’s face
hardened and she seemed to grow larger as she huffed and stared indignantly
at him. "I may be a nomad, but I am not a thief!" Shasa grabbed her staff
from its resting place next to her and shook it threateningly at Indalecio.
"We just went through a lot of trouble to save your butt today, and if you
still can’t trust us then you can..."
"Shasa!" Aghast at her friend’s outburst, Pela quickly moved to restrain
the indignant girl. "Please Shasa, calm down. I’m sure he didn’t mean
anything by it. Now you should apologize to him."
"No, it’s okay. I’m the one who should apologize," Indalecio looked away
from the crystal and brought his eyes up to meet Shasa’s gaze. "I didn’t
mean to imply that I thought you would steal it. If you had planned on
robbing me, you could have done it at any time. I am deeply sorry if I
offended you."
Mollified, Shasa nodded calmed herself, motioning to Pela that she was okay
now. "At any rate, you say that you found this crystal after your dream?"
Indalecio nodded and held the crystal out once more for them to inspect.
He prayed fervently that the stone would not react badly to nonthreatening
curiosity, and concentrated on keeping his hands from shaking. He didn’t
want to think how they would react to another display of fireworks, but he
also couldn’t afford to insult the people who were his only friends in this
desolate place.
The two girls peered at the stone, though neither attempted to touch it
this time. "I was right, there is something inside of it, but I can’t tell
what it is. It looks like...a feather?"
"Then his stone has a symbol too? Shasa, could it be that he’s..." Pela
looked at Indalecio and hesitated, then glanced meaningfully at Shasa.
"He could be. He did have a similar dream after all. There’s only one way
to find out."
Indalecio looked back and forth between the girls, completely lost. "Could
it be that I’m what? What are you talking about? Is there something that
you didn’t tell me before?"
The girls exchanged glances, and Pela spoke up. "Mister Indalecio,
umm..Sir. Could you..."
Indalecio raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Pela blushed and fidgeted. "I know this will sound a little silly but..."
Shasa rolled her eyes at her friend’s embarrassment. "Oh come on, it’ll
take all night at this rate! Indal, would you hold out the stone and say
'Primal Power Make-up'"?
Indalecio started to agree automatically and nearly choked when he realized
what she’d just said. "Wh-what? I don’t understand. What do you want me
to do?" he stammered.
"Say 'Primal Power Make-up.'"
Pela looked at him pleadingly, "I know it sounds strange, but please try
it. It’s important!"
Still somewhat confused at the turn the conversation had taken, Indalecio
had no choice but to agree. "Alright then, if you wish...umm...Primal Power
Make-up?"
The three stood in silence for nearly a moment. The girls seemed to be
waiting for something, but Indalecio didn’t hear anything save the buzzing
of insects and the call of a distant bird. Finally Pela turned to Shasa,
"Maybe he needs to say it with more feeling?"
Shasa looked back at the crystal lying in Indalecio’s open palms and poked
at its cool surface with a finger. "I don’t know, maybe it’s a dud."
"Was something supposed to happen? Could one of you please tell me what’s
going on?" Indalecio looked back and forth between the two, feeling more
confused than ever.
Pela looked about as though she could find the answer standing right beside
her. "Well...it’s...you see...it’s nothing really. Oh dear, look at the
moon! It’s very late, and we haven’t slept in nearly two days now! Perhaps
we should all get some rest so we can get an early start tomorrow."
Laughing nervously, Pela fussed with her belongings and made ready to bed
down for the night.
Suppressing another yawn, Shasa nodded and took her place by the glowing
embers that were all that remained of the campfire. "Of course, I’m not
tired at all. I could keep going all night if I wanted, but I understand
that not everyone can keep up that sort of pace, especially those not used
to wandering." This said, Shasa rolled over on her side and immediately
began to snore.
Pela and Indalecio stared at the sleeping girl for a moment before both
breaking into giggles. Suppressing her laughter so as not to wake her
friend, Pela smiled. "I guess we can’t argue with that. Good night Mister
Indalecio. Perhaps we can talk about this more in the morning."
Indalecio could feel the laughter easing the tension of the moment, and
returned her smile. "Of course. Good night Miss Pelagia, sleep well."
Settling down on his own side of the fire, Indalecio fretted for a brief
moment over the condition in which sleeping on the ground would leave his
clothing before allowing himself to be claimed by oblivion.
"Are you mad, Abdul? Fifty? Have you ever seen hair of this color
before? Fah,
my entire tribe would take me for feverish if I allowed you to purchase such a
rare
treasure as this for fifty! It pains me that such words would fall from your
tongue!
Each letter is like a spear in my side! Have you no..."
Shasa very nearly dropped the braided coil of Pelagia's hair as Abdul
suddenly
reached across the counter and poked her sharply in the side. The strangeness
of the
action was still working its way through her mind when he repeated it, his index
finger digging painfully into the bottom of her ribcage.
"Abdul! You sand-sucking rock rat, what are y... ... ..."
She woke abrubtly with a mouthful of dirt, having attempted to talk
while
sleeping with her face too near it, and abruptly spat it out as another jab to
side
cleared the last of the cobwebs of somnolence from her mind.
"All right! All right, Pelagia, I am awake, for the love of the sun,
leave off
th..."
Shock claimed the rest of her sentence as she sat up to discover that
the
individual in question was not Pelagia or Indalecio, but one of the bandits
they had
encountered the previous day, and that the object with which he was prodding
her was
the thick end of her own staff.
"Tsk. You folk never learn." The bandit's face creased with mock
concern as he
shook his head, emitting a deep, gravelly sigh. "We warned you kids this
country was
full of bandits, and here you are, sleeping like a litter of puppies without
even
setting a watch. Looks like you haven't learned your lesson."
Shasa glanced to the side to see Pelagia and Indalecio, who had been
similarily awakened, and were flanked by considerably more bandits than had
been in
play during the last skirmish. She ground her teeth irritably, flushing with
humiliation, and expectorated at the feet of the bandit holding her staff.
"Coward! Dog! Dead dog! Worm in a dead dog!"
"Shaaassaaaaaaa...." Pelagia warned, her mind swarming with possible
ways to
escape the situation unharmed. Indalecio was likewise plotting. He was very much
afraid from the looks in the bandits' eyes that their motivation this time
around
stemmed more from their wounded pride and less from their desire for riches.
This was
especially so, he reasoned fretfully, since he had _utterly_ ruined the clothes
that
had made them think he was royalty in the first place. Not only had he slept in
them,
but they were positively caked with dirt, and who knew what kind of vermin they
were
crawling with now. The very thought made him want to scratch despire the
predicament
with the bandits, but he supposed he was going to be in enough trouble once
they found
out he wasn't royalty. He certainly wasn't going to give them reason to think
he was a
leper on top of it.
Meanwhile, the bandit with Shasa's staff inspected it critically.
"Any of this junk you got tied on here worth anything?" he grunted,
flicking
one of the glass shards with a fingernail. "Broke your theme a little here with
this
plain piece of rock. Brain go sof....!!!!"
Shasa's stone didn't shoot sparks as Indalecio's had, but the bandit
nonetheless released it with an oath moments after his hand closed around it, a
red
weal visible on the palm where he'd touched it. Shasa's reaction was much as
Indalecio's had been; she was frozen with shock.
"Shasa, what did you -do-?"
Indalecio, on the other hand, easily put two and two together, and fell
to
wondering whether the strange phrase the girls had asked him to repeat last
evening
had anything to with it. The bandits, however, were none too amused,
academically or
otherwise, and there were considerably more of them than than there were
individuals
with stones. They were also, he realized, rapidly closing in, and he had not yet
finalized any of the plans he was concocting to get them out of the situation.
Neither, it seemed, had either of the girls, both of whom were beginning to look
rather nervous. He found himself wishing, not for the first time, that the
earthbound
people were given to settle their disputes with diplomacy rather than violence.
It wouldn't be the last.
x
