Mythshaper

Interlude II: Runi

Runi awoke to the sound of his own scream, relieved that it was only a nightmare.

That's right, we escaped Father, he thought. He can't find us anymore.

"Another nightmare," his sister said, holding a waterskin out to him. In the dim light of the stars and the lamp, her face appeared dark and scrawny. It was still the Kala he recognised, except overwhelmingly exhausted and sunburnt.

Runi took it and swigged a mouthful without thinking, only to remember they did not have much water for the journey. He looked guiltily towards Kala, who patted his shoulder.

"There were still a couple of hours until sunrise," she said. "Let's make some headway now, so that we can rest when it's scorching hot."

Runi agreed. He stood up and strode after his sister at a brisk pace. Death Valley was as merciless as he had read about. The first couple of weeks had been the toughest, with the desolate plain riddled with cracks large enough to swallow their feet. Runi had twisted both of his ankles half a dozen times, while the searing sun had singed his skin to perhaps something edible. The worst was arguably the feeling at his throat when their water ran out, and there were no pedlars for days.

Kala had carried as many waterskins as were realistically possible without making their journey difficult. Unfortunately, crossing Death Valley was not something anyone could do alone. At the beginning, they had been part of a group. Although it was still difficult then, there was strength in numbers. Then one night, Runi woke up to find there had been a falling out, where his sister had beaten the crap out of the leader of the cohort before taking off with Runi.

At that point, they had not even covered half of the desolate plain. It had been nine days since then, and they had only met a pedlar twice in that time. Unfortunately, even the pedlar with the largest cart did not have an unlimited source of water.

They were trudging through a deep ravine, and hopefully they would remain there when the sun rose, as there was enough shade in a ravine, unlike most of the desolate plain, which was mostly cracked, tough surface littered with dead trees. However, sometimes there were vicious stone monsters lurking in ravines, waiting beneath their feet. They had only come across a couple, and both times Kala had pulled him onto her back and shot off at the speed of the wind.

Thankfully, it was not the season of storms, or else there might not have even been skeletons left of them when others found the place.

Most of the time they spent traversing the deadly plain, they did not talk. Kala said talking cost energy, and they needed as much as they could to reach the other side as soon as possible. Even still, Runi was often unable to go on after only a few hours.

Whenever he faltered, Kala carried him. Whenever he felt parched, Kala fed him water. Whenever they faced danger, Kala helped him escape. Considering all that, his life did not seem to have changed much since fleeing, only that they were no longer being beaten by Father every day.

Today, Runi only got tired when the sun's rays began to sting his skin, but he carried on. Time and time again, the trail between the siblings would stretch to ten metres, and once the distance seemed only to increase, Kala would carry Runi to move at a brisk pace.

"I thought I can walk a bit more," Runi whispered, feeling parched, with a burning indignation running through his lungs. "After investing all the points into Fortitude."

"Hmm." Kala walked wordlessly.

In truth, Runi had only gained the attribute a couple of days ago, and with most of his unallocated points already spent, he could only spare five points into it. Even so, those five points had made things easier for his sister, since she did not have to carry him every couple of hours.

"Do you need water?" she asked after a while.

"Umhuh," Runi managed, despite being thirsty beyond reason. Yet a small part of him still hoped Kala would forcefully feed him some water anyway, as she had done multiple times before. Sadly, that was not the case today.

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Runi pulled his hood further down to hide his guilt, though his sister's attention was focused on the path. The hooded cloak protected him from the blazing sun, but it was utterly hot to wear. He made sure not to complain about everything that pained him. His sister never lashed out at him like Father had, or even Mother used to, despite all his complaints.

"Hey, Kala…"

"Hmm."

"Do you think we can drink…"

"You want water?"

"No, I read in a book that you can drink pee to survive Death Valley."

"You want to drink pee?" Kala faltered on the path, looking at him over her shoulder.

"Not pee pee, but after filtering it. There's a process, umm, you first…" Runi tried to explain to the best of his ability, though his knowledge on the topic was lacking.

"I know how to purify pee," his sister said, to his surprise.

It was only then that he realised he had not seen her drink water in the last few days. Was that how she was surviving? At once, his guilt surged through his whole body, and his eyes nearly teared up.

"If only I could shape water."

"I heard shaped water is bad for our body," Kala replied. "Only the sages know how to make real water with magic."

If only I was a sage…

After a couple more hours, Kala finally called for a rest, before feeding him the leftovers of the water. Runi made sure not to drink it all and left her a mouthful. Then he bit through the dry ration, chewing as though wrestling with the food.

They waited for the worst of the day to pass before carrying on through the twisted ravine once more.

Kala wiped a line of sweat from her face and licked her palm to return the water into her body. Watching her, Runi imitated it exactly.

"Runi," Kala cast a look in his direction. "I'm sorry."

Runi faltered.

"I thought it will be easier once we ran away."

Runi did not know what to say to that. Yes, the last few days had been difficult, even more so than when beaten black and blue by their father, but… but Runi was unsure what came after the but.

"Don't worry, we'll cover the valley soon enough, then I can get a job at…" She broke into a fit of coughing. "Once I get a job, everything will become good. Everything…"

She faltered, looking ahead. Runi gazed up as well, peering with bleary eyes. A small hill lay ahead, and there seemed to be a few tents at the foot of it. And were those pedlar carts? Solus blessed them, there were so many.

The siblings exchanged a look, both grinning ear to ear, and then without exchanging a word, they dashed towards the tents.

Runi yelped, twisting his ankle once again halfway along the path. Kala swiftly turned and pulled him onto her back before bolting forward with the same fervour.

There were already half a dozen people resting under a makeshift shed, created by wringing a large cover over date trees. There were even dates growing there.

Kala slowed once the people in the camp noticed them. She was about to speak when someone beneath the cover called out,

"You two look like you have been running away from Death for a while," chuckled the voice. A middle-aged man in white clothing lay comfortably beneath the shade, with two other people behind him, one young woman and a scary looking bald man. What caught Runi's attention were the plates full of fruit before the man. "Come up, we have more than enough water and shade to spare."

Kala's head bobbed as she inched forward. "We'll only take a little water."

The man chuckled good naturedly. The others showed little response.

"Good lord, they look like they had been through a plague," the man said, steadying the white cloth on his head. "Jiva, get them some water, and then something to eat. I cannot bear to look at them."

The woman behind him smiled as she stood up, taking two half-filled jugs to them.

"Drink," she said, handing them over. "The first fill is always free."

The siblings did not need any more invitation. They practically poured the water down their throats, some of it dripping from the corners of their lips, tracing a soothing path down their necks.

Runi let out a satisfying squelch, half filling his stomach with water. Only then did he feel a tear run from the corner of his eye.

"Look at them," the man laughed. "Always a satisfying sight, isn't it?"

"It is indeed," the woman named Jiva acknowledged, already holding a large plate of juicy fruit. They did not look like the finest delicacies, but even that slice of papaya looked like something Runi would die for.

The angelic woman handed it to him without a smile. More tears streamed down his cheeks. Runi was not embarrassed. He picked up the slice of papaya and stuffed it into his mouth unabashedly, while Kala was far more controlled.

"Not hungry?" Jiva asked. Receiving no reply, she turned to the man in white. "Don't you have some other gift for them, my lord?"

"Ah, Sherdin?"

The bald man rose and entered a tent, returning with a sack. By the time he came back, Runi had already finished his food, his eyes following the man's movements. The man tossed the sack onto Kala's lap. It felt heavy.

"I hope you like my gift."

Kala scanned the surroundings. Though she seemed reluctant, she loosened the binding and drew out what was inside the sack.

At once, she jolted away and dropped the gift. Runi cried out.

The severed head of their father rolled onto the ground.

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