Warp: Deserted in the Desert
2473 words
2473 words
A sheen of sweat made Eden’s face shine in the hot, Aridus sun. It beaded at her hairline and collected in a thick, sticky layer on the back of her neck. Sand stuck to her calves, hands and arms, feeling uncomfortably grainy between her fingers. Panting lightly, she got back into a ready stance, arms up and feet about shoulder width apart. She ignored the burn in her hamstrings and biceps, moving as quickly as she could to counter the onslaught of fists, shins, and elbows.
Each block throbbed, hinting at bruises to come, and every step she took fast enough to dodge Taris made something twinge. The magenta-skinned girl tried to bat away an elbow aimed for her chest only to get kicked in the stomach instead. The blow knocked her back and forcibly expelled air from her lungs, pushing a pained ‘oof’ from her lips.
“Come on, Tadpole!” Tanaya cheered from the sidelines, watching the spar. “Two more minutes to go!”
Eden gasped for air and shuffled backwards quickly to evade Taris’ fists. The red-scaled velen dropped to one knee and shot forward, arms fastening around his charge’s leg like a bear hug. He tugged the girl off balance and had her in a headlock before the stunned girl could react.
Sand stung Eden’s eyes, drawing forth tears no matter how hard she tried to hide them. Her back ached and she was fairly certain she’d strained quite a few muscles in her leg. Desperately, she dug her fingers into Taris’ arm to try and pry it away. Squirming in the sand, she panicked as her lungs began to burn. Forcing her feet under her she started moving her body towards the red-scaled velen’s head.
Taris moved with her, but Eden sped up and twisted her body. The girl’s limbs protested the motion and she began to shake, muscles relaxing against her will. Still, she was determined, no, desperate to breath. She slipped out of Taris’ hold,tried to put him in a headlock and then pin him.
Unfortunately for the child, a blow to the throat knocked the air out of her before a Taris flipped them once more and pinned her with an arm pressed to her neck.
The pressure on her neck vanished shortly after and Eden collapsed, gasping loudly to catch her breath. She rolled away from the velen man and lay on her stomach in the sand, cheek pressed against the hot grains.
“Very good,” the red-scaled man congratulated her. He sat up and leaned back, one hand in the sand to support his weight. “Next time remember to sprawl, or, failing that, move faster so you can reverse the hold before you run out of air. You’re too slow when you’re trying to catch your breath and fight at the same time.”
The girl didn’t reply, the hot, dry desert air stabbing into her nose each time she greedily sucked in another breath. A strange wet feeling in her nostrils alerted her to a possible nosebleed. Her throat was tight and dry, her tongue felt swollen and fuzzy in her mouth; her lips were cemented together with thick, half-dried saliva. No, Eden did not have the energy to tell Taris she had been too hot, tired, and sore to move faster. That sprawling in the sand would reduce her own invisibility. How was she supposed to pull off that move half conscious?
“Your form is getting better though, don't look so down.” Taris stood and stretched. He was sweaty, as well, dark skin and red scales gleaming in the sun. He didn't look nearly as worn out as his charge.
Eden let her eyes close and rolled into her back, still panting through her nose. She ignored the hand she knew her instructor and caregiver was offering her. The sand had suddenly become comfortable, like a firm but somewhat soft mattress.
“Come on, you, get up.” She heard Tanaya’s voice next to her. “You'll get heatstroke.”
A whispery groan emanated from the child, who was bright red from the sun and exertion. Eden sat up and stood with help from Tanaya, who wiped at the sand stuck to her cheeks and forehead with a wet cloth. The girl sighed and leaned on her female caregiver.
“You’ll need a bath, too,” the woman added, clicking her tongue.
Eden nodded vaguely.
Baths felt a thousand times better after a workout, the girl decided. She slid under the cool water and let her muscles relax.
“Mmm,” she hummed in relief. She sucked in water and pushed it past her gills, wincing at the feel of sand dislodging from the sensitive organs.
With her gills finally free of sand, Eden emerged. Chestnut brown hair streaked with red cartilage strands plastered itself against her face and neck. She reached for a sponge perched on the side of the porcelain tub and a bar of soap; she lathered the sponge idly while her mind drifted.
As soon as she had recovered from the attack, Eden had been sent to a property of her mother's just far enough from the coast to escape the humidity. She hadn't wanted to go, but was reluctant to protest when she saw how worried her mother was. It was only supposed to be long enough for Almeda to find out who was behind the attack and for Eden to learn to defend herself.
Eden’s training was intense. Tanaya taught her about business and magic. She also made the child swim and run as far as she could. Taris worked with her on combat. Once she understood the basic fighting styles more, Eden would start training underwater.
Between training, studying, practicing, and hard dreamless sleep, time slipped past almost without distinction between one day and the next. Occasional letters from her mother helped Eden keep track of time. It had been three months since she had seen the woman in person.
Sighing, partly out of longing and partly from frustration, Eden rinsed the soapy bubbles from her body and began to scrub a generous amount of shampoo into her hair. After this, she would spend the next hour or two stretching and practicing forms. Then, she would eat and rest for a while. After that, another lesson in magic.
Although the content and order of her lessons varied, it still felt repetitive. Eden wrung the water from her hair, twisting it to the right and then the left, like always.
Reluctantly, the girl climbed out of the bath and dried herself gingerly before slipping into a pair of shorts and a beige vest with no sleeves. It was as plain as the never ending sand that surrounded her new home.
Eden tried to smile at Tanaya when she walked into the sunporch, the familiar drag on the corners of her mouth not quite forming a believable expression.
The pink-scaled velen smiled calmly at her and beckoned for the girl to join her in the center of the room.
Although the sunporch wasn’t terribly large, the pale wooden floors, walls coated in light grey paint, and windows stretching across the upper half of three walls made it feel spacious. A bench with navy blue cushions was just under the window to the right and to the left a couple wicker chairs were placed around a small, round table. The hazy warmth and slightly stuffy atmosphere in the room never failed to relax Eden and make her a little sleepy.
Feeling her shoulders loosen, the child followed Tanaya through a series of basic stretches at a languid pace. Her muscles ached and burned a little, protesting the exercise, but Eden persevered. Then, the two began more difficult poses, some of which required a bit of balance.
Holding one ankle behind herself, Eden leaned forward to touch her toes with her free hand. Her leg wobbled a little, but the girl stilled herself and kept reaching. Keeping her breathing steady, she righted herself. Eden glanced at Tanaya, a small smile resting on her face when the woman nodded at her in approval. With a little more enthusiasm, the girl moved into the next stretch, folding her arms and leaning forward until her elbows nearly reached her feet.
She and Tanaya straightened again, crossed one leg over the other, and then folded forward once more.
By the time they had completed their stretches, Eden felt a lot better. Her muscles still ached, but she wasn’t nearly as stiff as she had been before. Moving through the now familiar motions of various forms for the fighting styles she was learning now felt cathartic as opposed to repetitive and frustrating. Each time she practiced, she would refine the motions a little more and get a little closer to being at her mother’s side.
Afterwards, Eden was far too tired to spend much time thinking about the implications of the attack. The one good thing about being sent away to train and stay out of reach of those who would target her was that for the first month, the girl had been too busy trying to keep up with the rigorous schedule to fret or worry. At night, she would collapse into bed and fall into a dreamless sleep. The nightmares hadn’t started until a couple of weeks ago, but Taris and Tanaya had upped her training in response. The extra half mile on her runs and ten minutes on her swims took care of any dreams. Even now, Eden couldn’t dredge up more than a vague sort of displeasure. It all felt surreal and too far away.
Yawning, the girl entered her bedroom and shuffled straight to her bed for a nap. Most days, she napped in the late afternoon, her young body requiring extra rest to keep up with the exercise. Occasionally, she would have enough energy to read a few pages from one of the books on the shelf in the corner of her bedroom.
Her bed was soft and a bit firm, with light cotton sheets and a thin blanket across the end of the mattress for cooler nights. Slipping between the soft and lightly textured sheets, Eden lay in the center of the twin sized bed and closed her eyes. She buried her face into her pillow and pulled the sheets up to her chin. Here, she could forget about everything else and just sleep. Eden left her homesickness, frustration, and fears outside the white bedroom door. In here, there were only smooth floorboards with a plush rug in the center, pale blue walls, a white bookshelf with stories to distract her, and her glorious sheets.
When she awoke, Eden lay still in the tangle of sheets. Savoring the peace and comfort, she kept her eyes shut and pretended she was on a boat somewhere. Perhaps she was sailing to Boreas this time. Of course, her mother was somewhere on the ship, giving directions, overseeing things, managing. Or maybe Almeda was enjoying the sun on the deck and pretending to read a newspaper in a lounge chair while she dozed lightly. Eden could almost feel the gentle, subtle rock of the ship on the ocean and smell the somewhat stuffy cabin air.
But the air here was too dry and too clean smelling. The faint scents of dust, linen, and wood didn’t match the briny ocean breeze and humidity. Everything was too still, and her room, even her sanctuary wasn’t quite right; it was too spacious.
Frowning, Eden sat up and tried to shrug off her disappointment. Everything hurt, as usual. The burning soreness and throbbing in her back, arms and legs, was something the girl was slowly becoming accustomed to. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and stood.
Judging by the reddish tint in the sky and the weaker sunlight streaming through her window, it was nearing the late afternoon, maybe early evening. Eden rolled her head and her shoulders, stretched, and shook herself out a bit. A pang in her stomach informed her that dinner would be soon.
Bright blue eyes wandered the room, slowly drifting back and forth before they settled on a the small clock on the end table pushed against a wall. Dinner wouldn’t be ready for a while yet, but Eden held out hope for a snack. She wandered toward the kitchen, content to leave her angst on the list of things to worry about once she had food in her stomach.
Taris greeted her with a grin. How he managed to stay so cheerful, Eden would never know. He set a knife down next to the cutting board on the island in the middle of the kitchen and turned his attention to his charge.
“Coming in for a preview of tonight’s dinner?” he asked, gesturing to the fish he was filleting.
Eden identified salmon and tuna. “Okay.”
The red-scaled velen’s smile grew, exposing more sharp teeth. “Good!” He wiped his hands on the apron tied around his waist and grabbed a relatively fat slice of tuna. “Here.”
Eden accepted the morsel and followed Taris to the pantry.
He pulled out a few spices and brought them to the island. “I was thinking of a bit of salt, white pepper and... hmmm... a bit of spice.” He placed a bit of each spice into small glass bowls and gestured toward Eden, inviting her to season her food.
A look of concentration and interest crossed his charge’s round features as the girl rubbed a bit of each thing into the meat before looking at him expectantly.
“Aha, clever, clever, Tadpole. You know that’s not all we have.” Taris brought over a bowl of sticky rice and a strip of seaweed.
Eden took a small handful of rice and the seaweed and set about making it into a rather sloppy fish roll. She offered the man a small, but genuine smile --something he hadn’t seen much since coming to Aridus.
Affectionately, he ruffled Eden’s hair, earning him a glare as the strands wandered too close to her treat. Laughing, Taris pulled the upper half of her hair into a ponytail with a ribbon she hadn’t seen him take from his pocket and shooed her out of the kitchen.
The girl shuffled away to sit with Tanaya on the bench in the sunporch and enjoy her snack.
Tanaya’s serene smile widened a bit when Eden leaned on her, but the woman didn’t look up from her book on enchanting. The child cuddled against her side and held the fish roll to her mouth, nibbling idly while her eyes didn’t seem to focus on anything in particular. It wasn’t quite like afternoons they had spent on ships or travelling with various merchant caravans, but Tanaya knew Eden would adjust to this new environment. She just needed time.