Til We See You Again

[Dilah]

The sand very nearly choked her with each step. Her legs were tired and her back ached from the long journey, yet the girl pushed onward. The unforgiving wilderness offered no mercy on her, but the teen could only see possibility ahead. So much of her life was spent locked away from the unknown, but now it was hers for the taking. So even as she struggled to take each movement, Dilah’s heart raced with excitement.


“How long ‘til we see civilization?” She glanced sideways, breaking the silence that had long settled between her and her companion. “I feel like we’ve gone farther today than days past.”


“We have,” His brow furrowed. “I think we can make it today if all goes well. I expect we will see something very soon.”


A wide smile covered her dingy face as she attempted to run her fingers through the matted mess off fiery curls atop her head. “Do you think they’ll be kind?” Her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence.


“Who?” Ridge stopped and turned, his bright eyes tired from the long journey and yet still full of concern for her childish fears.


“The outsiders.”


“Dilah, haven’t you realized yet? We are the outsiders now.” Ridge didn’t for the words to hurt, yet they stung worse than the sand thrown by the wind. Even as he saw the hurt in her eyes, Ridge remained stern. This was not a time for games and she may as well learn now that this wasn’t going to be easy. “This is not our home, and I do not know what lies ahead. I can only hope that there may be a place for us in this new world.”


Dilah looked to the sand beneath her feet and watched as the tiny grains moved from one place to the next at the whim of the wind. “Don’t you think this is what we were meant to do? Don’t you think we were meant to move freely and see more than just our little village?”


Ridge reached out and grabbed her arm as if to hold her to the ground less she fly away on the gusts of her own dreams. “I think we have to do what we must to survive. For years that has meant staying safe and keeping to ourselves. Now, I am not sure what that means. We must persevere. Our home is in danger, and it seems we have either lost the favor of Mother God or she needs aid. Our goal has not changed. We will travel to the lands she told us about and we will seek answers. Do not forget those we left behind.”


With that he continued moving, his pace increased so no communication seemed reasonable. Dilah watched his worn shoulders move as she struggled to keep up and process his thoughts. Had God Mother truly given up on them? Or was she in danger and unable to care for them any longer? Her thoughts traveled all the miles they had come, back to home and those they had left behind. The village still stood, but somehow it’s magic had fallen. For as long as Dilah could remember only the cast out children who were somehow called to them had been able to enter the shield. In fact, even upon hitting the age of maturity, if you were to leave you would find yourself unable to return. There were a half dozen adults inside, who had learned better than to risk taking too many steps past the meager walls, but mostly the group was made up of kids between eight years and eighteen. They were the lost children, but they were safe.


Then he came. The strange man who broke the barrier. Or perhaps just the first to stumble upon them once it fell. No one really knew. God Mother had not visited in some time, and now here was a man with a weapon of fire. Three were injured by his hands before he fell. If not for Ridge and a couple others, all might have been lost. It was then the group decided, some one must go and seek out God Mother. Hopefully she would be able to restore the barrier and grant them peace once more.

Now, farther from home than she’d ever dreamed and in a world so much bigger than she’d ever imagined, Dilah wondered if the task was even possible.

[Ridge]

"I don't see how this is even up for debate," Dilah spoke with a voice that could convince a mountain to move, "three of our people are being treated because of that man, and you think it's better if we just sit around and wait for something like this to happen again? That's lunacy!"

The young girl was surrounded by a group of her peers, our tribesmen, while they stood and bickered like old men. One of the eldest among them was a man that many of us considered the village elder. His light blue eyes looked the little one up and down as if he were gauging the value of a work animal. "You know the law of the village Dilah. If you leave us, you may not be welcomed upon your return."

The words of Tirek had more impact upon the girl than even the scraggily deep voice that spoke them. Her skin changed from a light peach color to the white features of a spirit in mere moments. The weight of Dilah's decision finally seemed to dawn upon her. Her dark blue eyes scanned around the area, only to find her kinsmen with their own eyes shifted towards the earth. As I watched my friend panic, I knew within seconds where her gaze would avert to next.

Within an instant I was starring down two round oceans.

"God Mother give me strength," I sighed and peeled myself off the house I was leaning upon. Needles of straw stuck to my bare back as I approached the group, something I had hoped to stay away from for as long as possible. All eyes bean to look up towards my form as I raised my scarred hand into the air. "I'll go with her, Tirek, and make sure she stays out of trouble."

Now the elder's face turned a fearful shade of pearl. "Ridge, do you know what you are saying? We could not afford to lose you to the outsi---"

I lowered my hand from the air to stop my tribesman as he spoke. "I am aware, Tirek. The village needs a decent apothecary. The reason our men are even some semblance of okay after the attack is because of herbs I helped find. The tribe can not lose me. I know this, but..." I diverted my attention to the brave girl who was willing to give up her life to save it. "That's why I know that you can't banish Dilah. If she leaves, I leave."

I could see my friend mouth words of appreciation silently towards me as Tirek thought long and hard about his next decision. The old man finally wiped some sweat away from his wrinkled brow and nodded. "Fine, you win. Just make sure the two of you come back in one piece. I don't want anything to happen to either of you."

That's not the way you made it seem a couple of minutes ago...


~~~~

Have you ever given up everything you've known for the sake of somebody else's safety? Mothers and fathers willingly do such for their children and even pets will happily join their masters in journeys without question. As the heat from the sun sizzled overhead, I could not help but feel a tinge of regret in my decision. "Do you think the God Mother makes this trek every time she leaves the village?"

"Well, yeah," Dilah said as if I asked a question better suited for an idiot, "I mean, she would kind of have to, wouldn't she? I never saw her fly or do anything else like that, so she would have to walk like we are."

We paused for a moment as the thought sank in. Sweat dripped down my cheeks and my feet bean to sink into the grainy sea below as I met with my companions eyes. We were perhaps the first two people to walk the same exact path our God Mother walked. To know that my deity shared the same route that I was on now was overwhelming. My heart began to beat harder, and there was a large lump in my throat. Grains of sand scrapped against the scar on my chest and I wondered exactly how Dilah was not extremely itchy in her choice of wardrobe.

"Lets... lets move on..." I said while trying to suppress the crack in my voice.