Chapter XIX: Chasing the Wind
Pheia’s continued trip towards Leibos had gone surprisingly well. After dying and then meeting the human girl Stefi in the fog of Chalja, nothing else even remotely interesting had happened. No, the journey had carried on at a disappointing and lonely pace. Not even her stone’s glow was there to keep her company. The elemental from within, Shizai, was spending time with the Fieretka now; not that she’d ever shown herself to Pheia. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.
After leaving Chalja, the rolling hills had begun to flatten out and give way to vast grassy plains. There was little cover and even less shade available, save for scraps of shadow caught beneath stunted trees, but the abundant wildlife was enough to keep her going. That, and the thought of soon meeting the Fieretka in person.
One afternoon she was surprised to hear an odd popping sound overhead, closely followed by a shower of water. She looked skywards. Only a few skinny and starved looking clouds lazed high in the sky. They were certainly not large enough to wring any water from their bones.
Why, hello there, sunshine!
Pheia turned to find herself face to face with perhaps the most beautiful Furosan she had ever seen. She could tell right away that such beauty, although pleasing, was somehow not quite natural. What really gave it away was the way the Furosan’s transparent form shimmered with sunlight.
“Shizai?”
Of course, who else? the elemental said as she quivered with excitement.
“If you’re here then that means… the Fieretka have made it to land?” she asked and felt herself growing almost as excited as Shizai.
Yup. Right now they should be entering Sol-Acrima. And that is where we too are headed.
“What about Leibos?”
Change of plan, princess. The Fieretka have come to you. Now we just need to bear a little west and we should be there by tomorrow if we hurry. How’s that sound?
Pheia didn’t answer for a moment. She wanted to say that it sounded dangerous, but she’d already faced death itself. What could be more dangerous? She soon found herself walking again with Shizai at her side.
The elemental stared at her with her moist eyes. We’ll be fine, Shizai said, jolting Pheia from her daze. There are worse things than death, but not many
“But… but…” Pheia stammered, “how did you know what I was thinking?”
Shizai grinned and a laugh bubbled from her throat. I have been around for a very long time. The expressions of you mortals always give away what you’re thinking, if you care to look for the signs.
“Mortals?” Pheia protested, although she too was smiling. “All right, if you’re so good, what am I thinking now?”
Shizai furrowed her brow. Physically impossible. You’re more than welcome to try, though.
“I guess this is it,” Stefi said. Her voice shook as Sansonis steered the Valtela alongside a vacant dock amidst dozens of other vessels. As they approached, several men rushed over and began to moor their vessel with thick ropes.
“Yes. It,” Sansonis said through clenched teeth. “Everyone ready?”
“Yes,” Cédes said from beneath a large, dirty cloth that had been tied to resemble heavy robes that obscured her features. “I am sorry I am unable to hide us this time. I am most agitated.”
“That’s all right. Ifaut, hurry up and put that hat on,” Sansonis said. Then, “So that it covers your ears. And dad, no talking, no matter what.”
“Understood,” Rhaka answered from the end of a rope leash. His glow and scar were obscured by dirt and grease.
“He just talked!” Ifaut said as she repositioned her battered straw hat.
“Same goes for you,” Sansonis shot back. “Not one dook out of you, got it?”
She nodded somberly
“Good. And Stefi, why are we here?”
“Real reason,” she said, making sure the ferrets were comfortable on her shoulders, “to save Fairun. Real reason, we’re making a pilgrimage to the main temple of Kardin, Dai-Rada.”
“Two real reasons?” Ifaut asked. “Now I’m confused…”
“What did I say about talking?” Sansonis said.
“Oops. Sorry.”
“Perhaps we should have brought a muzzle,” Rhaka said slyly, but he too was quickly silenced by Sansonis.
“Why are you so serious?” Stefi asked. “We’re all nervous about what Cédes saw, you know. But it doesn’t mean she’s right.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as Sansonis. Cédes had predicted her death once before. That meant, she thought, she was likely one of the two.
“You don’t understand. This place is where every law and habit regarding the maltreatment of Kalkic, Furosan, and Otsukuné ever originated. And then Cédes goes and has a vision of two of us dying. It’ll be no picnic.” He flashed a glance at Ifaut.
Before he could elaborate, two men suddenly came on board. The shorter of the two, a wide-eyed young man nervously clutching a clipboard and pencil, hung back as a large, weather-beaten man with gray wisps of facial hair clinging to his chin came forward.
“Welcome to Sol-Acrima,” the latter said in a tired, rehearsed voice. “Before disembarking into the city you must first complete the appropriate paperwork. First, name of vessel’s owner?”
“Maya, Maya Valtela,” Sansonis answered in a voice nearly as well rehearsed. “Same as the boat’s.” The smaller man hurriedly scribbled the answer.
“Reason for visit?”
“To visit the temples, specifically Dai-Rada.”
“Even though you’re a Kalkic?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. Some of us still seek mercy, even if we will never be near to Kardin.”
The answer seemed to please the man, because he continued, “And finally, duration of visit?”
“One week.”
“Very well.” The man sighed as his attendant’s pencil finished scratching. “We’ll take care of the vessel from here, fee to be arranged and paid on departure.” He moved to allow the Fieretka past, adding, “There’s been tell of Furosan terrorists in Valraines. Be on the lookout for any suspicious characters.”
“So,” Stefi said, barely suppressing a giggle as they made their through the harbor and towards the large steps that led to the next level of the lower city, “how long do you think we’ve got until they realize that boat’s not owned by a ferret?”
“Well,” Sansonis said, “if Elian’s been here before, they’ll probably check their records and find out pretty quickly. By then we should be in the upper city where we can lose ourselves amongst the crowds.”
“You haven’t been here before, have you?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s just that you seem to know a bit about this place.”
“It always pays to know your enemy,” he said with a smile. “I’ve been thinking about what’ll happen here for the past few days.”
“When you should’ve been thinking about something else,” she hinted, a twinkle in her eye.
“Like what? Great, I forgot something, didn’t I?”
“Just that weird little thing beside you!”
“I didn’t forget her,” he said and grabbed the Ifaut’s hand. She barely noticed; she was too busy staring open-mouthed at everything about her. “She’s the one I’ve been worrying about the most.”
For several hours the Fieretka made their way through Sol-Acrima’s lower levels, ignoring the constant aural bombardments issuing from merchants urging them to buy something. Several times Stefi and Sansonis found themselves having to restrain Cédes and Ifaut as they were reeled in by the alluring smells that had hooked their sensitive noses. Since leaving the harbor they had escaped the salt tang of the sea and pungent aroma of fish. Everyone, ferrets included, found the new atmosphere of spices, foods, and thousands of unusual goods to be much more agreeable.
“Can’t we just buy some food?” Cédes asked. She sniffed from beneath her makeshift hooded robes.
“It will be, as you would say, my treat.”
“I think we can take you up on your offer,” Stefi said with a smile as she took some coins from her hand, her share of Elian’s reward for turning them in. “You just tell me what you want.”
Cédes followed her nose to a small shop that opened directly onto the street with a sheet of old sailcloth providing shade. Several pots sat bubbling on a stove; their sounds reminded Cédes of the warmth and love of home-cooked food.
“The second one from the right, please,” she asked the woman owner, who soon returned with a bowl and two slender wooden sticks. Stefi paid for it.
“So,” Cédes said hesitantly as she prodded the chicken and rice dish with the sticks, “how does one use these utensils?”
“Ah, chopsticks!” Stefi said with a laugh. “I heard they’re pretty common over here. Come on, let’s sit down and I’ll show you.” She led Cédes to a gnarled old oak girdled with an uneven wooden bench while Sansonis and Ifaut went off for their food.
They sat down beneath the shifting, whispering leaves as patches of sunlight flickered about them.
“Here,” Stefi said, “take the first one and rest it across your hand like this.” She carefully slid one stick into Cédes’s hand. “And just put the other one between your thumb and main finger,” she added as she guided Cédes’s grasp.
Cédes jerked as a small shock shot up her arm and down her back, tingling under Stefi’s cool hand. She gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing,” Cédes stammered. “I’m just surprised I managed to work it out! You know how clumsy I am.” She tried to shake the strange, unfamiliar feeling. But a small part of her didn’t want it to leave. And a small part of her wanted Stefi’s hand to stay there. And another part, bigger than the rest, wanted to seize her human friend’s hand and not let go.
“We’re back!” Ifaut’s voice yanked Cédes from her thoughts.
“Yes, I’m sure they can see that,” Sansonis said. His voice was strained. When the smell of her food reached Cédes’s nose, she thought she could tell why.
“Miss Ifaut, is that an entire leg of roast lamb?” she asked.
“Yup!” Ifaut squeaked. “I hope it wasn’t too expensive.”
“Of course not. As long as it makes you happy. And Sansonis, enjoy your vegetables too, won’t you?”
“Of course, Lady Cédes. Thanks again.”
Ifaut eyed up Sansonis’s plate of stir-fried vegetables as they sat down. “Are you sure you don’t want some meat?” she asked, fussing like a concerned mother. “A growing guy like you needs lots of meat. We can’t have you getting all weak on us.”
“No, I’m fine. I didn’t get many veges growing up, so I suppose I’m making up for lost time,” he said as Ifaut tore off a chunk of meat and swallowed it without chewing. A startled Stefi hurried off to get her own food before her appetite vanished. “And please chew first,” Sansonis said. “What you’re doing’s just… scary.”
“And bad for your digestion,” Cédes added.
“Who cares?” Ifaut said nervously. “Life’s too short to chew!”
Sansonis couldn’t be sure, but a slight tremble in her words made him wonder if she was affected, in her own way, by what Cédes had seen; not that she’d admit it.
Stefi returned a moment later carrying some chicken for the ferrets and a sandwich for herself. “How’re the chopsticks?” she asked as she joined Cédes and her nearly empty bowl.
“Even without sight they are easy enough once you have mastered them,” she said proudly, her thoughts wandering back to Stefi’s touch. The taste of her food was all but unnoticed on her tongue. “And quite a fun way to enjoy food.”
Once everyone had finished they continued their journey to the upper reaches of the city, their spirits lifted by the good food in their stomachs and Cédes's vision forgotten for the present. Instead they concerned themselves with drinking in the sights until they became intoxicated by the bright colors and surges of people.
“Hey, look at that sign!” Ifaut’s voice fought to rise above the murmuring of the crowds. She screwed up her face in concentration, making her soft features distort. “It says… ‘airship reedays’?” she said, putting the utmost effort into reading the human letters, forgotten since childhood, that Sansonis had so patiently helped her relearn aboard the Valtela.
“Rides,” Sansonis said. “It’s one of those words that sound slightly different to the way they’re spelled.”
She sighed. “I still think it’s a silly way to write. Our way’s much better.”
“Really?” he asked. “You Furosans use a syllabary for a language that isn’t even syllabic! That’s silly.”
“I agree,” Cédes said. “Our language has changed over time but our writing has not. Perhaps we do not notice the difficulties since we are so accustomed to it. But at least we in Mafouras do not cling to an awkward system of ideograms. Can you believe that those of Acharn used to use thousands of signs?”
“And,” Rhaka added, “the Otsukuné have always transmitted their ideas without writing. I once thought it was an ideal way, relying on one’s own acumen to keep history alive, but now all that knowledge is lost.”
Before they could discuss further the advantages and disadvantages of types of writing, and before Ifaut could tell Rhaka to be quiet, a quite exasperated Stefi butted in.
“Don’t you remember what we’re here for?”
“The real reason or the real reason?” Ifaut asked, looking quite puzzled as she licked her greasy fingers.
“The Fairun reason.” Stefi felt her patience wearing thin. “Remember what Shizai said? ‘Just follow the flying ships.’ Well, here we are. So, Ifaut, what does the rest of the sign say?”
“Airship rides,” she said hesitantly, “around the harbor… the perfect trip for-” The words stuck in her throat. She cleared it with an awkward cough and continued, “The perfect trip for lovers.” She blushed a bright red. “Only 30 manyas.”
“Very good,” Stefi said. “But why are you blushing, hmm?”
“I… I was nervous about reading.”
Stefi wasn’t convinced. “It’s all right,” she said and winked. “I know reading can be hard.” Stefi had managed to read something more difficult than letters: Ifaut’s true feelings. Sure, she could tease her for her earlier crush on Sansonis, but really, only a crush can be the subject of good-natured teasing. This now seemed something more, something to be admired rather than the subject of childish giggles.
“Can I help you guys?” A voice startled Stefi from her thoughts and the others from their conversation. She looked up to see a young man perhaps three or four years older than herself. He grinned down at them from his tall frame, his face partially shaded by a cap decorated with various bits of glinting metal. He held out an oily hand in greeting. “You interested in the rides? The name’s Djidou Denovian XIII,” he said.
Stefi hesitantly shook his hand, much to Ifaut’s delight at this strange human custom being repeated again; she pointed and whispered excitedly, “There it is again!”
“I’m Stefi,” she said. She withdrew her hand and wiped it on her skirt. “And yes, you could say we’re interested in an airship ride. Could you just give us a minute?”
“Sure thing,” Djidou said and returned to a bench situated a way back behind the sign, where he busied himself wiping the oil from his hands.
“What do you think?” Stefi whispered. “This looks like our chance but, forgive me for saying so, I don’t see how this will help us out. We need to find where Fairun’s being kept to make these, not exactly the ships themselves.”
“Perhaps he can tell us,” Sansonis said, “though it’ll probably make him suspicious, especially if he’s heard of what happened in Valraines. Still, this is our only lead so far.”
“You know,” Ifaut said as she bared her teeth and cracked her knuckles, “I can be remarkably persuasive sometimes.”
“No!” Cédes’s r
ed eyes flared beneath her hooded robes. “We cannot hurt anyone else to further our ends. I am sure we could get him to help us without resorting to violence.”
“Fine then,” Ifaut said and stared at the ground.
“Hey, Ifaut,” Stefi said, giving in to the urge to tease her at least a little, “how about you persuade yourself to open up a little?”
Ifaut responded by blushing yet again and slipping her hand into Sansonis’s. She said nothing but stroked his hand with her thumb, wishing that she really could persuade herself to tell him how she felt. She knew she would one day. Provided, of course, she wasn’t one of the ones perhaps fated to die here. If only this airship ride was just for her and Sansonis. She zoned out and slipped into the world of her fantasies as easily as falling asleep.
“Persuasion aside,” Stefi continued, “I say we take the ride. I’ll try and slip in a mention of how they work, you know, put on my feminine charm.” She batted her eyelashes and smiled stupidly.
“Does this charm go on a bracelet? Or perhaps a necklace?” Cédes asked.
“My personality. It’s a human expression, silly.”
“Oh.”
“Do what you must,” Rhaka said, “provided I can stay firmly on the ground.”
Sansonis shot him a stern glance, more fatherly than filial. “Do you really want to be stuck alone in this place?”
Rhaka didn’t reply, but everyone understood that he would be going. They counted out some of Elian’s reward money, enough for four people to ride, and threw in a few extra coins for Rhaka and the ferrets.
“So,” Djidou said and climbed languidly to his feet as they approached, “I take it you’ve made up your mind?” He took the fare from Stefi and counted it out. Something must have bothered him because he counted it a second time. Then a third. “You know, I’m pretty stupid when it comes to numbers and stuff, but you’ve overpaid a bit, eh.”
“That’s for the dog and my two ferrets,” Stefi said, her voice so sickly sweet it would put even an emotional Ifaut to shame.
“Animals are free, as long as they don’t leave a mess.” He laughed.
Rhaka growled and Maya grumbled something about there not being any guarantees once they were high above the sea.
“You keep it,” Stefi said and flipped her hair coquettishly, “as a tip for the great flight we’re about to have.”
Djidou, cocking his head, looked at her with a hint of suspicion. “Thanks,” he said. “Meet me up in the airship docks in an hour. You know where they are? Of course not, you’ve gotta be tourists, dressed like that.” He spoke rapidly while packing up his temporary workstation. “Just keep heading upwards, second level down from the upper city, can’t miss it. I’ll see you up there soon.”
He hurried off, leaving the Fieretka standing there feeling like a wind had just blown past them and ruffled their clothes.
“He seems all right,” Sansonis said. “He was pretty concerned about the money, but not in the same way as a certain other person we trusted. And Stefi, please do us a favor”
“What’s that?”
“Maybe learn a little something from Ifaut?”
“What do you mean?”
Ifaut answered. “You were laying it on a bit thick. Be a bit more subtle, silly.” Then thinking of her own way of expressing her true feelings, she let loose a high, clear laugh. “More subtle than this though!” she said as she seized Sansonis in a hug, and with all eyes and ears trained on her she added, “I love you.”