As the boy found himself walking through the ancient sandstone husks, which once made up ancient housing for those who arrived and settled before him, he spotted a good enough place to sit onto, facing away from the giant mud wall, menacingly towering over him as the boy dared to look up at its peak, the same spot he once used to look down to the ruins he now crawled around on. Without any other thought to him, he slowly sat, calming his senses, his lids completely lowering to be shut.
Resting on his knees, he sat down onto the cracked clay floor, the sand which openly blowed through the remains of corroded walls and doorframes that barely survived over time, washing over the boy's face, tiny grains scratching against his skin, as he lowered his breathing. Taming his excited heart as it lowered its pumping, further concentrating on grasping the energy that he held in his body. His fingers were crossed; they rested better this way, and Midas interlocked his hands as they found a solid position instead of loosely laying on his thighs.
With a lowered head, he began to breathe deeper, trying his best to bring in as much air as possible, maximizing his lung capacity, while hoping not to breathe in any sand. The howling of the winds whipped against his eardrum, restless pressing itself against his face, its sounds trying to steal his focus, their whispers calling him. After a good while, as his knees and neck began to feel numb from the near motionless sitting around, Midas' ears became used to the light screeches that hit against him. Only seeing a deep dark red, near black, the boy was fully shut off mentally from the outside, his focus set on the darkness his shut lids provided his mind.
The sun's warmth tickled slightly, feeling it hitting against his arm and his unbandaged lower torso, as with time, a light ringing began to emerge; seemingly from nowhere, it grew larger and more noticeable with every second; it sounded more piercing than the winds, a nauseating ring that nearly made the boy open his eyes again. Accepting it to be part of the process, Midas prevailed, sharpening his eyebrows as he tried to ignore it. Sweating, as the warmth began to amplify rapidly, the ringing made the boy cramp up his neck, losing his footing in the fight against it, until he heard a cracking sound, as if a glass panel just broke right next to his eardrum; it delivered the final blow to him.
Covering up his ears, as he fully crouched together, his back bowing to the preassure that had accumilated in his head, the boy began to groan, his fingers clutching against his skull as he sounded a muffled scream. The sounds finally stopped. Returning to the usual wind, the boy began to catch his breath again, unregularely pressing air in and out of his body as he did his best to calm his nerves again.
Without a doubt to him, the cracking must've been the exact same sound that awoke him the first time he took a look at the same sand, which entrapped him. Balled together, he managed to open his eyes again, his head buzzing as his pupils focused onto the grainy texture of the clay ground he sat on. Wondering if he did something wrong somehow, the boy pondered trying again, scavenging with his fingers, to see if his ears began to bleed from the intense cracking. He could only wonder if his arrival here somehow was connected to Mana, perhaps being called upon the world by a Null-Ability; somehow something like that most likely isn't a minor gimmic anyone would be able to pick up.
All kinds of ideas and theories flooded his mind, clouding up his thinking space to a point in which training wouldn't be possible anymore. Falling back onto the remains of a sandstone wall, he paused for a moment, his eyes focusing again. Hearing a sniff from behind his head, he turned, falling back onto his hands again, slightly perplexed at the sudden approach of who ever sneaked up on him.
A uncovered pair of intrigued eyes stared at him, a dusted white robe covering the unfamiliar person in front of him, as they were busy to get their short bodies over the remainings of the wall, falling onto their hands, before approaching the boy slightly. Curled brown hair reached from their head down to their neck, a set of dull eyes softly glaring at him, hiding behind the meddled hair of what seemed to be a young girl.
Midas took his eyes to sharpen his view, using his fingers to glide softly onto his closed lids, before opening them again, meeting the unfamiliar kid with a critical gaze. Without a word, they both looked at each other for a while before the boy broke eye contact, looking up to the wall, stretching over his new acquaintance. His eyes traveling down to hers again as he began to mutter, "Sarbahrm a'far." awkwardly holding up his hand to her.
Resting on her knees, she copied his movements quietly, her tiny hand raised to meet him back, lightly smiling, as she looked deeper into the boy. Her ease not holding for long, as a grown voice shouted, "Find them! Bring them here—Alive!" the angry command howled against the few pieces of bricks remaining, which made up the ruins. The both of them pressing their bodies against the walls, the boy clutching his teeth, clearly being dragged into something he was sure not to be a part of.
Looking over to her shut-open eyes, his worry grew, shadows forming over his eyes as he looked to his side, scanning the other surrounding ruins, before looking back to her. His finger pressing against his lips, signaling her to keep quiet. Without sound, she followed with her finger, excecuting the same sign Midas gave her. Risking it to form a reason for her ending up beside him, he peeked over the sandstone, his sight met by another chain of prisoners, covered in white, also chained together like the one he saw all these sun cycles ago. Three guards were scanning the ruins surrounding the one they cowered in, all of them clutching onto their unsheathed sabers; this was the first time Midas got to see the blade of one of these.
The boy found it hard to let them get ahold of her again. From the groaning to himself being tucked into one of these cells, he understood the struggles of people like her. The burden on himself grew as he realized the freedom Alma had gifted to him. Enjoying himself, while people like her and those who line themselves up forcibly in the distance go through hardship. Signaling her to keep herself hidden, Midas sprung up from the walls, stepping over it to leave her behind, waving to one of the guards. Hoping they knew of Alma freeing him from prison, he approached the guard, who gave the command to search for the girl. "Sarbahrm a'far.. is there something you are searching for?"
Apruptly turning to him, the guard faced his artificial noblety with a grim expression, his lowered head looking down onto the boy for a moment, as Midas noticed his stern look at him. Grabbing him impulsively by his head, he made him look up to him as he crouched down. "You were taught to speak the language—yet you are squabbling around this outpost? I didn't notice we had a young boy in this group we had to escord. Stopping to take a deep look at the face of the boy, the dark holes turned to meet his eyes.
"Alma.. Alma'if, he taught me." stressed by the man's fingers gripping onto his skull to view him, he replied drily, regretting having stepped up to protect the foreign girl. His knees trembled slightly as he tried to maintain his footing.
"The priest taught you... You must be a smart one, aren't you? You will come with me until that man gives me proof of knowing you. You better not try to lie to me, or I'll make you scan the entire desert to find that girl. Pushing him to the ground, kneeing him secure to the sand under him, the guard didn't face much resistance as he tied up the boys wrists. Without any Mana, Midas would have to simply endure the torment of being bound to be a prisoner for now, gifting his freedom to the girl, before turning to lump to the chain of others.
"There she is—she came out of her hiding spot!" Both of the other guards skipped to strap her down as well, jumping up from the ruins they searched. The third guard, dimly speaking into his ear, said, "What a coincidence you and her were found in the same set of ruins." Tightly packing onto the boy's neck, he forced him to lower his head, binding his piece of rope to the long chain of prisoners, looking back to the two as they joined. The boys brown pants stuck out from the white cloth as the guard took the front to give the command to begin walking.
Midas, exhausted, looked back to face her, glancing at her thin smile, sighing to find out the girl was still able to smile given the circumstances. Looking forward to the leading guard, in worry of where they would head out to.