HOME | DD

Description
I stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded and unable to really parse what just happened. Everything around us stood still; not even the crickets knew what to say.

"Xhias," Xhianei said quietly, gently tugging on my arm she still clung to.

After a few long seconds I resumed from my daze and just looked down to my feet.

She tugged on my arm again.

"Xhias, let's go."

We both turned away and walked back down the cobblestone path. I looked to the left, then to the right. Nearby was a small rain shelter, so we made our way there to collect our thoughts and wait until full nightfall.

Upon arrival I swung around my bag and unfastened it, digging around the food Xhianei stowed. The money we had left over resurfaced, allowing me a small bit of relief. I wasn't sure what I would put it toward, but even just having it helped a little. I pushed it back under the rest of our belongings and grabbed the sack of food the nice storekeeper gave us.

"You're still hungry, right?" I whispered to Xhianei.

Though it was dark I could still make out her affirmative nod.

I opened the bag to find various fruits and baked goods, the likes of which I had never seen before arriving to this region. Everything certainly looked and smelled good, though, so I dug my hand in and pulled out the first thing it touched-- some kind of fruit, both soft and firm, skin both red and yellow. I tipped the bag in Xhianei's direction and let her pick out something.

The moment I bit into the strange new fruit my body reminded the rest of me just how hungry I was. After the first bite I ate it faster than I've probably ever eaten anything, unable to really savor the taste at the time. Fortunately there was another in the bag which I ate much more slowly and carefully, taking the time to think through what to do next and trying my hardest to hold back my emotions.

I licked my fingers and looked back over to Xhianei, who was sitting up on the bench and hugging her knees, looking down to the ground with a vacant stare. Seems we were mutual with our activities. I reached to grab the sack of food sat between us and stuffed it back into our bag. Thankfully we had been given enough food to last us a couple days, and we still had money left over if we needed.

I fastened the bag a final time and scooted up next to my sister. She responded by leaning back on me, keeping close. I think if anything, I felt worse that she had to come with me and go through all of this than I felt about going through this at all. I wished she would have stayed at the temporary home, but...something felt off about the place. I could feel it, but I think Xhianei felt it stronger than I did.

"Xhianei, why didn't you stay at the house here?" I finally asked.

"I didn't want to," was all she said.

Frustration was starting to get to me at this point.

"...But why? It's what we came here for. We were supposed to come here, mom and Parana said so! We crossed an entire ocean just to get to that house, and...and--"

"We're supposed to be together, Xhias."

I paused, but she looked up at me.

"We're both supposed to go there. I'm not going anywhere you can't go."

"But--"

"You're my brother and I love you a whole bunch," she affirmed with a tight hug. "I dunno know why people here are so mean, but I don't want to be around people who're mean to you."

I couldn't say anything.

"I don't want you to be alone."

We both sat there on the bench for a while, her little arms around me. After a moment to digest her words I returned the gesture. We were all we had now.

"Do you think we should go back to that shop?" she asked after a while.

I thought back to the scene from which we fled.

"...No, probably not a good idea," I answered. "At least not today."

"Hm."

I was very glad she accepted my answer without bugging me for an explanation.

Xhianei pulled away so I let her go. She hopped off the bench and stood under the opening of the shelter, leaning on the support beam. I sat back and watched as she looked out from one side to the next, then back at me. I looked around, too, noticing that we seemed to be the only people outside at this time.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, already able to tell what she was going to say. I figured I'd save her the effort, grabbing the bag and walking back whence we came.

The back of the store came in view and we noticed a small orange light held by a dimly-lit figure. We slowly, carefully made our way over to see it was the shopkeeper from before, smoking some kind of pipe. Though dark and distant, he looked tired and roughed up and still carried his baton on his belt.

Our next couple steps gave away our position and he turned his head to face us.

"You two."

His voice was stern, but not angry or dismissive.

I pointed to myself. He nodded and beckoned us to come closer.

Xhianei and I quietly hustled over to the back of the shop to meet the man from earlier.

"No luck, I assume?" he asked, though as more of a statement.

My ears fell and I slowly shook my head.

"Of course," he exhaled, looking up to the sky.

"I don't know what to do," I confessed.

"Well, whatever it is, you can't stay here," he said. "I don't mean with me, exactly, but this entire town. You kids picked a hell of a place to come to."

"We were supposed to come here and go to the temporary home," I added. "We don't know anything about this place, or these people. We're just going where we're told to go."

"So I guess those people whose words you're following don't really know about this place, either," he said, dumping out the ashes in his pipe. "Can't really blame them if they're that far away."

"What are we supposed to do, then, if we can't stay in this town?"

"Not sure, honestly. If I lived outside of town I'd be fine sparing the room, but I don't, and letting you live here anyway puts all three of us in danger."

"...Why?"

"Honestly? I've no idea. Clearly some kind of tension between groups, but that's all I can surmise."

I looked aside and wrinkled my nose.

"My best advice for you is to take your things and head north. You're currently about as south as it gets and other towns I've visited down here have the same attitude. Maybe better things await elsewhere."

"Do you know for sure?" I questioned.

"Not at all, but it's more to go by than what you've got right now," he asserted. "I've heard bits and pieces here and there about things being different up there, so maybe that's what you'll find. You won't know until you try."

He took a small tin from his pocket and opened it, pinching out some dark substance and pushing it in his pipe. He closed and returned the tin to his pocket.

"So," he started, striking a match, "you in for a long walk?"

I hesitated.

"I guess I have to," I returned as he dipped the match in the pipe.

He let out a small chuckle and knelt down to meet my eye level, patting my head with his hard-fingered hand.

"Something tells me, kid, that despite all of this going on, you'll be able to work past it and accomplish great things. Show these assholes who you really are."

He shook my hand and gave Xhianei a gentle hug, pointing us where to go. We waved goodbye and set off with what little direction we had.

---

It wasn't long before we reached the edge of the small town. We looked back once or twice, but after some time we left our to-be home behind, stopping in a valley between some rock walls. The hills lying beyond intimidated our tired feet.

"I'm tired," Xhianei complained.

"Yeah, me too. I think we should rest here for the night."

Upon those words she immediately sat down on the soft grass. I gave a weary smile and did the same after removing the bag and laying it on the ground next to us. Opening it up I dug out a blanket Parana had left us from back home, draping it around myself and my sister. Pretty soon she was leaning on me and wouldn't be one with the waking world for much longer.

I looked up to the lonely waning moon, thinking over what all happened today, trying my hardest to understand our situation.

The sounds of the crickets and frogs made it harder and harder to keep my eyes open, and soon I joined my sister in the realm of sleep.

---

music

Previous: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
First: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
Next: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…

Please consider supporting my work if you enjoy it:

www.patreon.com/ratte
ko-fi.com/ratteart
commiss.io/ratte

Description
I stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded and unable to really parse what just happened. Everything around us stood still; not even the crickets knew what to say.

"Xhias," Xhianei said quietly, gently tugging on my arm she still clung to.

After a few long seconds I resumed from my daze and just looked down to my feet.

She tugged on my arm again.

"Xhias, let's go."

We both turned away and walked back down the cobblestone path. I looked to the left, then to the right. Nearby was a small rain shelter, so we made our way there to collect our thoughts and wait until full nightfall.

Upon arrival I swung around my bag and unfastened it, digging around the food Xhianei stowed. The money we had left over resurfaced, allowing me a small bit of relief. I wasn't sure what I would put it toward, but even just having it helped a little. I pushed it back under the rest of our belongings and grabbed the sack of food the nice storekeeper gave us.

"You're still hungry, right?" I whispered to Xhianei.

Though it was dark I could still make out her affirmative nod.

I opened the bag to find various fruits and baked goods, the likes of which I had never seen before arriving to this region. Everything certainly looked and smelled good, though, so I dug my hand in and pulled out the first thing it touched-- some kind of fruit, both soft and firm, skin both red and yellow. I tipped the bag in Xhianei's direction and let her pick out something.

The moment I bit into the strange new fruit my body reminded the rest of me just how hungry I was. After the first bite I ate it faster than I've probably ever eaten anything, unable to really savor the taste at the time. Fortunately there was another in the bag which I ate much more slowly and carefully, taking the time to think through what to do next and trying my hardest to hold back my emotions.

I licked my fingers and looked back over to Xhianei, who was sitting up on the bench and hugging her knees, looking down to the ground with a vacant stare. Seems we were mutual with our activities. I reached to grab the sack of food sat between us and stuffed it back into our bag. Thankfully we had been given enough food to last us a couple days, and we still had money left over if we needed.

I fastened the bag a final time and scooted up next to my sister. She responded by leaning back on me, keeping close. I think if anything, I felt worse that she had to come with me and go through all of this than I felt about going through this at all. I wished she would have stayed at the temporary home, but...something felt off about the place. I could feel it, but I think Xhianei felt it stronger than I did.

"Xhianei, why didn't you stay at the house here?" I finally asked.

"I didn't want to," was all she said.

Frustration was starting to get to me at this point.

"...But why? It's what we came here for. We were supposed to come here, mom and Parana said so! We crossed an entire ocean just to get to that house, and...and--"

"We're supposed to be together, Xhias."

I paused, but she looked up at me.

"We're both supposed to go there. I'm not going anywhere you can't go."

"But--"

"You're my brother and I love you a whole bunch," she affirmed with a tight hug. "I dunno know why people here are so mean, but I don't want to be around people who're mean to you."

I couldn't say anything.

"I don't want you to be alone."

We both sat there on the bench for a while, her little arms around me. After a moment to digest her words I returned the gesture. We were all we had now.

"Do you think we should go back to that shop?" she asked after a while.

I thought back to the scene from which we fled.

"...No, probably not a good idea," I answered. "At least not today."

"Hm."

I was very glad she accepted my answer without bugging me for an explanation.

Xhianei pulled away so I let her go. She hopped off the bench and stood under the opening of the shelter, leaning on the support beam. I sat back and watched as she looked out from one side to the next, then back at me. I looked around, too, noticing that we seemed to be the only people outside at this time.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, already able to tell what she was going to say. I figured I'd save her the effort, grabbing the bag and walking back whence we came.

The back of the store came in view and we noticed a small orange light held by a dimly-lit figure. We slowly, carefully made our way over to see it was the shopkeeper from before, smoking some kind of pipe. Though dark and distant, he looked tired and roughed up and still carried his baton on his belt.

Our next couple steps gave away our position and he turned his head to face us.

"You two."

His voice was stern, but not angry or dismissive.

I pointed to myself. He nodded and beckoned us to come closer.

Xhianei and I quietly hustled over to the back of the shop to meet the man from earlier.

"No luck, I assume?" he asked, though as more of a statement.

My ears fell and I slowly shook my head.

"Of course," he exhaled, looking up to the sky.

"I don't know what to do," I confessed.

"Well, whatever it is, you can't stay here," he said. "I don't mean with me, exactly, but this entire town. You kids picked a hell of a place to come to."

"We were supposed to come here and go to the temporary home," I added. "We don't know anything about this place, or these people. We're just going where we're told to go."

"So I guess those people whose words you're following don't really know about this place, either," he said, dumping out the ashes in his pipe. "Can't really blame them if they're that far away."

"What are we supposed to do, then, if we can't stay in this town?"

"Not sure, honestly. If I lived outside of town I'd be fine sparing the room, but I don't, and letting you live here anyway puts all three of us in danger."

"...Why?"

"Honestly? I've no idea. Clearly some kind of tension between groups, but that's all I can surmise."

I looked aside and wrinkled my nose.

"My best advice for you is to take your things and head north. You're currently about as south as it gets and other towns I've visited down here have the same attitude. Maybe better things await elsewhere."

"Do you know for sure?" I questioned.

"Not at all, but it's more to go by than what you've got right now," he asserted. "I've heard bits and pieces here and there about things being different up there, so maybe that's what you'll find. You won't know until you try."

He took a small tin from his pocket and opened it, pinching out some dark substance and pushing it in his pipe. He closed and returned the tin to his pocket.

"So," he started, striking a match, "you in for a long walk?"

I hesitated.

"I guess I have to," I returned as he dipped the match in the pipe.

He let out a small chuckle and knelt down to meet my eye level, patting my head with his hard-fingered hand.

"Something tells me, kid, that despite all of this going on, you'll be able to work past it and accomplish great things. Show these assholes who you really are."

He shook my hand and gave Xhianei a gentle hug, pointing us where to go. We waved goodbye and set off with what little direction we had.

---

It wasn't long before we reached the edge of the small town. We looked back once or twice, but after some time we left our to-be home behind, stopping in a valley between some rock walls. The hills lying beyond intimidated our tired feet.

"I'm tired," Xhianei complained.

"Yeah, me too. I think we should rest here for the night."

Upon those words she immediately sat down on the soft grass. I gave a weary smile and did the same after removing the bag and laying it on the ground next to us. Opening it up I dug out a blanket Parana had left us from back home, draping it around myself and my sister. Pretty soon she was leaning on me and wouldn't be one with the waking world for much longer.

I looked up to the lonely waning moon, thinking over what all happened today, trying my hardest to understand our situation.

The sounds of the crickets and frogs made it harder and harder to keep my eyes open, and soon I joined my sister in the realm of sleep.

---

music

Previous: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
First: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
Next: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…

Please consider supporting my work if you enjoy it:

www.patreon.com/ratte
ko-fi.com/ratteart
commiss.io/ratte