From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my p4tr0ns: Morpheaus, and RTB <3 <3 <3
Become a p4tr0n too and read up to FOUR chapters ahead!:
h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / t r a s h w i t h g l a s s e s
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We had already walked three-fourths of the way to our destination, and as the night was falling and we were looking for a place to camp, when we found a big cavity in a rock wall from which light was coming from, and we decided to investigate.
Coming closer, the cavity grew to an immense size, and crossing the huge hole in the wall in a horizontal line right in its middle, petroglyphs, hundreds of them beautifully and carefully painted.
A tribe was camping beneath such a piece of art.
"…Hoy", shouted a tall man with a bow and arrow in his hands. "I salute you, friends."
"H- Hi", Ike spoke, putting on a weird smile on his face.
Spruce just clicked his tongue, annoyed.
It seemed that communication with strangers would be my job in that group…
"We salute you back, friend. May we share your campfire?", I said whatever sounded more appropriate.
The man nodded with a smile, and guided us through dozens of cozy-looking brush shelters, right to the center of his camp, where women, children, and the elderly were preparing food, repairing clothes and equipment, and talking and playing.
"Strangers ask to share our light", the bowman told one of the elderly, who nodded and sent him back.
"Take a seat", the elder pointed to the fur-padded ground around the flames of a warm campfire. "My name is Red Ochre. You are?"
"S- Strike, Of The Bloodstain Clan."
"…I'm Skyblue, Of The Coyote Clan, and this is, Spruce, Of The Giant Stag Beetle Clan", the little person has been refusing to talk anything since our last encounter with danger, so I had to introduce him.
"You're from the Bear Mountain, aren't you?", the elder smiled, accepting a bowl of soup from one of the women around. More bowls were offered to us, and Ike and I accepted them.
"Yes. How did you know?", I asked, accepting the food gift from the gentle nation.
"Three very different clans, not even the same species. There are few places diverse enough that you could have come from, and I know that your school has a portal not many days away from here. So? May you tell me why are you traveling these red deserts?"
"We're looking for the Rock with Wings. We believe I… may be healed there."
"Hmm… Definitely, it is a very sacred place. Perhaps you will find your miracle there. However, as someone who has lived around this region for all my life, I must advise you to not test the divine. Their forces, and purposes, are beyond our comprehension."
"We will keep that in mind", I bowed to the elder. "…May I have some more soup?", I asked, having already finished my bowl, for what Red Ochre smiled and gestured for one of the women to fill my bowl up again. "You said you lived here your entire life? Would you mind sharing some stories?"
He didn't mind sharing. And he told me tales about massive herds of huge furry animals with long tentacles on their faces that they used to hunt back when the gods produced miracles on a daily basis, of plenty of prey: the food of the gods. Tales from before.
And such stories seemed to have finally brought Ike out of his shell a little: "My people also have stories like that… From before the gods became so absent from our lives. Back when we had so much resources, we built great busts on stone in homage of our divines."
"Well, I don't have any stories like that. My past was just as shit as always", Spruce finally spoke something that day. "My mother worked as farmer, died a no one, and forced me to deal with her corpse with my own hands when I could barely stand up yet. Then I had to work for more than twelve years for her employers, for they started to take care of me, until I could finally get my hands on the will she left for me. If there's a glorious past I learned about, it would be that it was when I was working for my employers that I learned the most important rule in this world: only the powerful can change anything", he raised his eyes from the ground, and looked straight at the fire, almost maniacally: "And if you work hard enough, you can become powerful. So, grind, get, and guard", he turned to me and said, getting up, leaving his soup untouched behind: "Next time, don't patronize me. I'll deal with whatever comes at me with my own two hands. I'll become powerful. More powerful than anyone, no matter what... And then I will finally be able to rest."
With that, Spruce walked away, and the two of us were left with Red Ochre.
"...I hope you find your cure in there. But for a while, why don't you stay here?", Red Ochre nodded towards my wounded leg. "The desert is already dangerous enough without a hurt leg", he smiled, before adding: "Plus, a couple of working hands are always welcomed to help around."
"Thank you for your hospitality!", I said, honestly relieved for not having to walk so much until my leg healed.