Nanowrimo Day 4
My counter seems to be on the fritz, but I'm up to 7517 words total so far.
* * *
"So now we have a party?" Tamara asked.
Brittany grinned. "Now we have a party."
The village must have started preparing for it after Tamara first met them, because they were quickly transforming the village. People disappeared and reappeared in obviously nicer clothes, women were bringing out food, and people were laying wood for what would obviously be a huge fire in the middle of the village.
"The first feast of the Warriors," Issa said, walking up. She had obviously overheard them. "People bring whatever foods they'd cooked for their own dinner to share with the village, and we will eat together with you."
"And there's a dance," Brittany said.
Tamara scowled. "A dance?"
"Don't worry, we don't have to do anything. It's for them to welcome us."
"O-ok, then," Tamara said. She still wasn't sure about the whole thing, but Brittany seemed to know what they were doing. But wait--"One thing, Brittany," she said. "Won't this make us really late at home?"
Brittany smiled. "Didn't you notice last time? Time passes more quickly here than it does at home. We could stay here for a day and we'd only be gone for a few minutes over there."
"Oh," Tamara said. And then: "Does that mean I've been gone for longer than two days?"
"We last saw you two weeks ago," Arsul said, slinging an arm around Tamara's shoulder. "Is it different in your country?"
"It was only two days for me," Tamara said.
"Really?" Arsul said. "Weird."
Tamara took a closer look at him then. Arsul was off-duty, obviously; he wasn't carrying his spear, and his clothes were a lot nicer and newer-looking. He grinned nervously when he noticed her watching him, taking a step back.
"Sheesh, do I look that bad?" he asked, looking away.
"No, it's not that," Tamara said. "I was just... Where's Yin, anyway?"
"Yin? He's on duty tonight," Arsul said. "Sucks to be him, right?"
Tamara thought of the moon-faced boy sitting out in the forest alone and shivered. "Yeah. Oh hey, did you meet Brittany?"
Brittany had disappeared into the crowd, though. "Is she the other Warrior?" Arsul asked.
"Yeah... She Who Remembers, or something like that. Before she talked to me, I wasn't even sure if all this was real."
"It's as real as you and me," Arsul said.
"Yeah," Tamara said, smiling.
Just then, she heard Brittany's drum. Actually, not heard so much as felt. The sound thrummed through her, reverberating in her very soul.
She met Arsul's eyes; he looked as shocked and shaken as she was. Tamara laughed weakly. "I... I guess this means it's time to eat," she said.
"Yeah," Arsul said.
The villagers didn't try to set up any kind of table for the warriors (or anyone else) to eat at. Instead, every family brought out their food, and people went from place to place taking what they wanted, buffet style, and then stood or sat wherever they wished. With this kind of gradual mingling, it wasn't long before Tamara had met most of the people in the village. She didn't even try to remember names or faces, but even so, some people stuck in her mind. The twin girls, barely even five years old, who stared up at her from identical eyes while holding on to their mother's legs. The elderly couple, helping each other from place to place, obviously in love even after all of these years. Arsul stayed with her much of the time, though even he occasionally peeled off to talk to someone else or try a particular food.
She even saw Yin, eventually. "Is your shift over?" she asked him.
"My what?"
"I mean... you don't have to guard anymore?"
"Ohh, yeah, I just got relieved," he said. "Everyone gets to enjoy the feast, after all.
Tamara smiled. "That's good," she said. "Now, let me introduce you to Brittany, the other Warrior."
Some undefinable time later, while the sun hadn't moved, Tamara started to feel that it was very late at night. People had started yawning and staggering off to their houses. Brittany found Tamara again.
"I think it's time to go back," she said. "Can you take us?"
"Yeah, I think so," Tamara said. She stifled a yawn. "I wonder if there's any way I can make a permanent doorway."
"You can, but it's probably not worth it," Brittany said. "We'll be moving along from here before too long."
Tamara blinked. "Moving on?"
"Yeah, to the west," Brittany said. "People out here, they might see an obia once a month. Further on, it'll be much worse. We have to save those people too."
"Oh," Tamara said. She'd been getting used to the idea of getting to know the people here, protecting them from danger. But if they were going to be leaving... "Half a second, Brittany," she said. "I need to talk to someone."
Arsul was still there, fortunately, though he seemed to be heading home. Tamara tapped him on the shoulder.
"Arsul, Brittany said we're going to be heading west soon,"
"Yeah, no duh," Arsul said.
"I was wondering, I guess, will you come with us? And Yin too, of course." Tamara kept going, even though she felt herself starting to blather. "I mean, you two swore service to us, and I don't want to leave you behind, and I know the village needs you, but they don't need you, then--"
"Tamara, Tamara." Arsul looked into her eyes. "We swore service to you. Of course we'll go."
Tamara felt her face split into a grin. "Really? Okay, that's great! I don't know when we're coming back--or when we're going west, for that matter--but be ready to come with us."
"Yeah, I will," Arsul said. He gave a wave, and Tamara noticed suddenly how tired he was. "See you later, Warrior."
"See you too," Tamara breathed.
"Done with your boyfriend yet?" Brittany said. Tamara looked at her sharply, but she didn't seem to mean it in a mean way.
"He's not my boyfriend," she said. "But I wanted him to come with us. And Yin too, remember him? They swore service to me, when I was first here, so I thought it would be good. And I think it would help to have someone from this world with us. I know you know about it too, but it wouldn't hurt, right?"
Brittany tapped her chin. "Well, there are stories about Warriors having Dawn People who were companions, even though my aunt didn't. I guess it's okay."
"Cool," Tamara said. "So, ready to go home?"
"Yeah," Brittany said, looking relieved. Tamara felt guilty; she must be tired too. She looked around for the nearest door so they could go home.
* * *
When they stepped back into Brittany's bedroom, it was as if they'd never left. It was still mid-afternoon; after so many hours in permanent twilight, full sunlight looked fairly strange.
*"Well, what now?" Tamara asked.
Brittany pulled off her backpack. "Homework?"
Back at home, Tamara grabbed the phone and called up Lachante. They hadn't talked, except a little bit at lunch, and she was missing her friend. Though she wasn't sure what she *could* talk to her about; after all, it's not like Lachante would believe all this stuff about another world and monsters.
"Hi, this is the Brooks residence..." She only got the answering machine, and put the phone down in annoyance. Why couldn't Lachante get a cell phone? Why couldn't she get a cell phone?
There wasn't anyone else in the house. She'd done her homework at Brittany's house, and she was still full from the feast thing in the other world. Apparently things they ate there still "counted" in the normal world. There didn't seem to be much else to do. "Hmm, I wonder what's on TV," Tamara asked herself.
Several Simpsons reruns later, and her mother finally came home.
"What are you doing here in the dark?" she asked, amusedly.
"Just watching TV, Mom," Tamara said. She was lying on the couch, half watching the television, half watching the sun set through the window. Already, dusk felt more natural.
"Did you do your homework?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want any dinner?"
"No, I ate at Brittany's house."
"Brittany?" Her mother poked her head in. "Who's Brittany?"
"A friend from school, I went to her house today. And then her cousin gave me a ride home."
"Oh, okay," her mom said.
"How was your day, Mom?" Tamara remembered to ask.
"Well..." And she was off, talking about her coworkers and her boss and the odd client she'd had. Tamara half listened. She was thinking about going back to Sibi, if only for a little while. She felt restless. She wanted another obia to kill.
Wait, where had that thought come from? Tamara sat upright.
"Is something wrong?" her mother asked.
"No, nothing," Tamara said. "I just... I just remembered something, that's all."
It was okay. They'd be going west soon enough, and according to Brittany there would be many more obia to fight there. And besides, she was just getting excited about killing a bunch of monsters. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't like she wanted to hurt a person, after all...
She drifted off to the sounds of the television and her mother preparing dinner. When she woke up a few hours later, it was dark, and her mother had put a blanket over her.
"Is this really going to be okay?" she said aloud.
But there was no one there to answer her.
* * *
"Are we going to do this every day?" Tamara was back at Brittany's house after school. "I was going to go to the mall with Lachante and Crystal today."
"I mean, we don't have to," Brittany said. "But you have to think about it. The longer we spend out of that world, the longer the people there will be terrorized. You said that you wanted to help them, right?"
"Of course."
"Then we need to go as often as we can."
"Do we have to go together, though?" Tamara asked. "I mean, I can take you in, and then go shopping, and then I can go myself later, right?"
Brittany shook her head. "It's definitely better to go in together. There are stories about what happens when Warrior don't work together, and... well, let's just say it's a bad idea. Besides, it's not like you'll lose any time, right? We'll go for a few hours and come back, and then you can go shopping. We can even go from the school from now on, if you don't want to come home with me. I know I'm not exactly popular."
"No, that's not it," Tamara protested. "Like I said, it's just that I had plans. Still have plans, I guess. Whatever, if we're going to argue about this, we might as well do it over there, where we won't lose any time over it."
"Yeah, good idea," Brittany said. "Let's go."
This time, they entered the village when it was near what seemed to be mid-day. It was like it had been when Tamara first entered: there were women pounding dough and talking to each other, children running back and forth.
"Welcome, Warriors," one of the women called out. "Are you leaving? Shall we call Arsal and Issa?"
*"We'll look around outside the village to see if there are any obia around," Brittany said. "And then we'll be heading out." She turned to Tamara. "Come on," she said.
"What are we looking for?"
"There are certain signs of places where obia might form," Brittany said. "I'll show you how to seal them. We can protect the people here, even if we aren't around anymore."
"Can we seal the ones in our world too?" Tamara asked.
"Yes, but they'll be more difficult to find," Brittany said. "My aunt said they didn't even bother, it was easier to patrol. The ones in our world will only appear near our area, too, which makes them easier to handle. We don't have to worry about them killing people someplace far away."
"But they are killing faraway people in this world," Tamara said. She narrowed her eyes. "Let's get them."
She still didn't know what they were looking for, but she followed Brittany's lead as they walked across the plains and through the forest.
"I came in on the other side here," she told Brittany.
"We won't have to go that far," Brittany replied. "This is the most distant part of the land, and there are no people further east than this."
"Why not?" Tamara asked. But Brittany only shrugged.
She could feel the place as they drew near it. It gave her the same cold, slimy feeling that the obia themselves had. She suddenly felt the urge to hack and slash and maim.
"The rest of us can close these too, with effort, but it's easiest for you," Brittany said. "Here."
She pointed to what seemed like an unremarkable place in the forest. But if one looked at it closely, there was a space that warped and swirled in unnatural ways.
Tamara didn't really want to touch it. She drew Close and inched toward it, warily, the sword held out in front of her.
But there was no need to fear. As soon as Close touched the space, it began to glow. There was a strange relaxing effect, as if something was sighing, and suddenly, all the tension was gone. The forest was normal now.
"Is that the only one?" Tamara asked.
"Feel for yourself," Brittany said.
So Tamara closed her eyes and turned slowly in a circle. She could faintly feel two other pockets of wrongness, both in the same direction. But they were distant. Somehow she could feel that they were more distant than the village.
"That way," she said, opening her eyes. She wasn't very surprised to find that she was pointing right in the direction of the sun.
"Westward, of course," Brittany said. "That's the direction we have to go in."
"West," Tamara said. She thought about it. "So the sun is setting, then?"
Brittany actually winked at that. "It's a secret," she said. "But don't worry, you'll find out. Once we're all gathered."
"You can't just tell me now?"
"Sorry!" Brittany said. "But I'm the guardian of memory," she said. "And I have to be careful with what I give out.
* * *
"So now we have a party?" Tamara asked.
Brittany grinned. "Now we have a party."
The village must have started preparing for it after Tamara first met them, because they were quickly transforming the village. People disappeared and reappeared in obviously nicer clothes, women were bringing out food, and people were laying wood for what would obviously be a huge fire in the middle of the village.
"The first feast of the Warriors," Issa said, walking up. She had obviously overheard them. "People bring whatever foods they'd cooked for their own dinner to share with the village, and we will eat together with you."
"And there's a dance," Brittany said.
Tamara scowled. "A dance?"
"Don't worry, we don't have to do anything. It's for them to welcome us."
"O-ok, then," Tamara said. She still wasn't sure about the whole thing, but Brittany seemed to know what they were doing. But wait--"One thing, Brittany," she said. "Won't this make us really late at home?"
Brittany smiled. "Didn't you notice last time? Time passes more quickly here than it does at home. We could stay here for a day and we'd only be gone for a few minutes over there."
"Oh," Tamara said. And then: "Does that mean I've been gone for longer than two days?"
"We last saw you two weeks ago," Arsul said, slinging an arm around Tamara's shoulder. "Is it different in your country?"
"It was only two days for me," Tamara said.
"Really?" Arsul said. "Weird."
Tamara took a closer look at him then. Arsul was off-duty, obviously; he wasn't carrying his spear, and his clothes were a lot nicer and newer-looking. He grinned nervously when he noticed her watching him, taking a step back.
"Sheesh, do I look that bad?" he asked, looking away.
"No, it's not that," Tamara said. "I was just... Where's Yin, anyway?"
"Yin? He's on duty tonight," Arsul said. "Sucks to be him, right?"
Tamara thought of the moon-faced boy sitting out in the forest alone and shivered. "Yeah. Oh hey, did you meet Brittany?"
Brittany had disappeared into the crowd, though. "Is she the other Warrior?" Arsul asked.
"Yeah... She Who Remembers, or something like that. Before she talked to me, I wasn't even sure if all this was real."
"It's as real as you and me," Arsul said.
"Yeah," Tamara said, smiling.
Just then, she heard Brittany's drum. Actually, not heard so much as felt. The sound thrummed through her, reverberating in her very soul.
She met Arsul's eyes; he looked as shocked and shaken as she was. Tamara laughed weakly. "I... I guess this means it's time to eat," she said.
"Yeah," Arsul said.
The villagers didn't try to set up any kind of table for the warriors (or anyone else) to eat at. Instead, every family brought out their food, and people went from place to place taking what they wanted, buffet style, and then stood or sat wherever they wished. With this kind of gradual mingling, it wasn't long before Tamara had met most of the people in the village. She didn't even try to remember names or faces, but even so, some people stuck in her mind. The twin girls, barely even five years old, who stared up at her from identical eyes while holding on to their mother's legs. The elderly couple, helping each other from place to place, obviously in love even after all of these years. Arsul stayed with her much of the time, though even he occasionally peeled off to talk to someone else or try a particular food.
She even saw Yin, eventually. "Is your shift over?" she asked him.
"My what?"
"I mean... you don't have to guard anymore?"
"Ohh, yeah, I just got relieved," he said. "Everyone gets to enjoy the feast, after all.
Tamara smiled. "That's good," she said. "Now, let me introduce you to Brittany, the other Warrior."
Some undefinable time later, while the sun hadn't moved, Tamara started to feel that it was very late at night. People had started yawning and staggering off to their houses. Brittany found Tamara again.
"I think it's time to go back," she said. "Can you take us?"
"Yeah, I think so," Tamara said. She stifled a yawn. "I wonder if there's any way I can make a permanent doorway."
"You can, but it's probably not worth it," Brittany said. "We'll be moving along from here before too long."
Tamara blinked. "Moving on?"
"Yeah, to the west," Brittany said. "People out here, they might see an obia once a month. Further on, it'll be much worse. We have to save those people too."
"Oh," Tamara said. She'd been getting used to the idea of getting to know the people here, protecting them from danger. But if they were going to be leaving... "Half a second, Brittany," she said. "I need to talk to someone."
Arsul was still there, fortunately, though he seemed to be heading home. Tamara tapped him on the shoulder.
"Arsul, Brittany said we're going to be heading west soon,"
"Yeah, no duh," Arsul said.
"I was wondering, I guess, will you come with us? And Yin too, of course." Tamara kept going, even though she felt herself starting to blather. "I mean, you two swore service to us, and I don't want to leave you behind, and I know the village needs you, but they don't need you, then--"
"Tamara, Tamara." Arsul looked into her eyes. "We swore service to you. Of course we'll go."
Tamara felt her face split into a grin. "Really? Okay, that's great! I don't know when we're coming back--or when we're going west, for that matter--but be ready to come with us."
"Yeah, I will," Arsul said. He gave a wave, and Tamara noticed suddenly how tired he was. "See you later, Warrior."
"See you too," Tamara breathed.
"Done with your boyfriend yet?" Brittany said. Tamara looked at her sharply, but she didn't seem to mean it in a mean way.
"He's not my boyfriend," she said. "But I wanted him to come with us. And Yin too, remember him? They swore service to me, when I was first here, so I thought it would be good. And I think it would help to have someone from this world with us. I know you know about it too, but it wouldn't hurt, right?"
Brittany tapped her chin. "Well, there are stories about Warriors having Dawn People who were companions, even though my aunt didn't. I guess it's okay."
"Cool," Tamara said. "So, ready to go home?"
"Yeah," Brittany said, looking relieved. Tamara felt guilty; she must be tired too. She looked around for the nearest door so they could go home.
* * *
When they stepped back into Brittany's bedroom, it was as if they'd never left. It was still mid-afternoon; after so many hours in permanent twilight, full sunlight looked fairly strange.
*"Well, what now?" Tamara asked.
Brittany pulled off her backpack. "Homework?"
Back at home, Tamara grabbed the phone and called up Lachante. They hadn't talked, except a little bit at lunch, and she was missing her friend. Though she wasn't sure what she *could* talk to her about; after all, it's not like Lachante would believe all this stuff about another world and monsters.
"Hi, this is the Brooks residence..." She only got the answering machine, and put the phone down in annoyance. Why couldn't Lachante get a cell phone? Why couldn't she get a cell phone?
There wasn't anyone else in the house. She'd done her homework at Brittany's house, and she was still full from the feast thing in the other world. Apparently things they ate there still "counted" in the normal world. There didn't seem to be much else to do. "Hmm, I wonder what's on TV," Tamara asked herself.
Several Simpsons reruns later, and her mother finally came home.
"What are you doing here in the dark?" she asked, amusedly.
"Just watching TV, Mom," Tamara said. She was lying on the couch, half watching the television, half watching the sun set through the window. Already, dusk felt more natural.
"Did you do your homework?"
"Yeah."
"Do you want any dinner?"
"No, I ate at Brittany's house."
"Brittany?" Her mother poked her head in. "Who's Brittany?"
"A friend from school, I went to her house today. And then her cousin gave me a ride home."
"Oh, okay," her mom said.
"How was your day, Mom?" Tamara remembered to ask.
"Well..." And she was off, talking about her coworkers and her boss and the odd client she'd had. Tamara half listened. She was thinking about going back to Sibi, if only for a little while. She felt restless. She wanted another obia to kill.
Wait, where had that thought come from? Tamara sat upright.
"Is something wrong?" her mother asked.
"No, nothing," Tamara said. "I just... I just remembered something, that's all."
It was okay. They'd be going west soon enough, and according to Brittany there would be many more obia to fight there. And besides, she was just getting excited about killing a bunch of monsters. There was nothing wrong with that. It wasn't like she wanted to hurt a person, after all...
She drifted off to the sounds of the television and her mother preparing dinner. When she woke up a few hours later, it was dark, and her mother had put a blanket over her.
"Is this really going to be okay?" she said aloud.
But there was no one there to answer her.
* * *
"Are we going to do this every day?" Tamara was back at Brittany's house after school. "I was going to go to the mall with Lachante and Crystal today."
"I mean, we don't have to," Brittany said. "But you have to think about it. The longer we spend out of that world, the longer the people there will be terrorized. You said that you wanted to help them, right?"
"Of course."
"Then we need to go as often as we can."
"Do we have to go together, though?" Tamara asked. "I mean, I can take you in, and then go shopping, and then I can go myself later, right?"
Brittany shook her head. "It's definitely better to go in together. There are stories about what happens when Warrior don't work together, and... well, let's just say it's a bad idea. Besides, it's not like you'll lose any time, right? We'll go for a few hours and come back, and then you can go shopping. We can even go from the school from now on, if you don't want to come home with me. I know I'm not exactly popular."
"No, that's not it," Tamara protested. "Like I said, it's just that I had plans. Still have plans, I guess. Whatever, if we're going to argue about this, we might as well do it over there, where we won't lose any time over it."
"Yeah, good idea," Brittany said. "Let's go."
This time, they entered the village when it was near what seemed to be mid-day. It was like it had been when Tamara first entered: there were women pounding dough and talking to each other, children running back and forth.
"Welcome, Warriors," one of the women called out. "Are you leaving? Shall we call Arsal and Issa?"
*"We'll look around outside the village to see if there are any obia around," Brittany said. "And then we'll be heading out." She turned to Tamara. "Come on," she said.
"What are we looking for?"
"There are certain signs of places where obia might form," Brittany said. "I'll show you how to seal them. We can protect the people here, even if we aren't around anymore."
"Can we seal the ones in our world too?" Tamara asked.
"Yes, but they'll be more difficult to find," Brittany said. "My aunt said they didn't even bother, it was easier to patrol. The ones in our world will only appear near our area, too, which makes them easier to handle. We don't have to worry about them killing people someplace far away."
"But they are killing faraway people in this world," Tamara said. She narrowed her eyes. "Let's get them."
She still didn't know what they were looking for, but she followed Brittany's lead as they walked across the plains and through the forest.
"I came in on the other side here," she told Brittany.
"We won't have to go that far," Brittany replied. "This is the most distant part of the land, and there are no people further east than this."
"Why not?" Tamara asked. But Brittany only shrugged.
She could feel the place as they drew near it. It gave her the same cold, slimy feeling that the obia themselves had. She suddenly felt the urge to hack and slash and maim.
"The rest of us can close these too, with effort, but it's easiest for you," Brittany said. "Here."
She pointed to what seemed like an unremarkable place in the forest. But if one looked at it closely, there was a space that warped and swirled in unnatural ways.
Tamara didn't really want to touch it. She drew Close and inched toward it, warily, the sword held out in front of her.
But there was no need to fear. As soon as Close touched the space, it began to glow. There was a strange relaxing effect, as if something was sighing, and suddenly, all the tension was gone. The forest was normal now.
"Is that the only one?" Tamara asked.
"Feel for yourself," Brittany said.
So Tamara closed her eyes and turned slowly in a circle. She could faintly feel two other pockets of wrongness, both in the same direction. But they were distant. Somehow she could feel that they were more distant than the village.
"That way," she said, opening her eyes. She wasn't very surprised to find that she was pointing right in the direction of the sun.
"Westward, of course," Brittany said. "That's the direction we have to go in."
"West," Tamara said. She thought about it. "So the sun is setting, then?"
Brittany actually winked at that. "It's a secret," she said. "But don't worry, you'll find out. Once we're all gathered."
"You can't just tell me now?"
"Sorry!" Brittany said. "But I'm the guardian of memory," she said. "And I have to be careful with what I give out.