Rocky Road 25
Author: Ailada
Rating: G
Challenge: Rocky Road 25: A Hilltop;
Word Count: 937
A/N: This actually falls right in line as the next "chapter" of my WIP. Woot! *laughs* A few things to help you understand if you haven't read any of my WIP yet: The Antek people can read thoughts, but only through speech. So, if you're not talking, they can't read your thoughts. Also, Antek children are allowed to be children until they "come of age" at 18. They don't mature physically until they have the coming of age ceremony. The coming of age ceremony also determines who/what a child will be (ex: healer, weaver, hunter, etc). As they are a peaceful people, an Antek child only becomes a warrior if there is threat to the Antek people or, in this case, to Idmyr herself.
The stranger - No, the warrior, she reminded herself - took a step towards her. He was close enough she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. He leaned in, his lips a mere breath away from her ear and whispered, “We need to leave quickly. Follow me.”
The Raitek cocked his head as though trying to listen. The warrior’s voice was low and quiet and travelled only where he meant it to. Neither the Raitek nor any of the other Antek people were able to glean anything from the first sentence he’d spoken since stepping out of the ritual fire.
“Now?” Kaylee asked, and all those gathered heard the confusion in her voice. She wondered if it were really Cedar standing in front of her. They heard her trying to fit the boy she had known and the man he had become together. They heard her trying to convince herself that they were the same person. And they heard her failing to do so. They were sad for her because they heard her hurt and her loss, but glad because, had he become anything save the warrior, she would have known in an instant that he was still Cedar.
The warrior nodded and Kaylee, not knowing of anything else to do, followed him as he led her North out of the settlement. One woman handed the warrior a small pack. He accepted it without a word or even a gracious smile. No one else spoke to them and no one tried to stop them.
They walked in silence, her following him, until the settlement was well behind them, its people almost too small to see. The warrior stopped so suddenly that Kaylee almost ran into him. They were on a hilltop, the Plains stretching out in front of them as far as they could see.
“Sit with me a moment. There is something I would discuss with you.”
Kaylee tried so hard to hear even the slightest of familiar tones in the deep, almost gravelly voice. She was frustrated to find that she couldn’t. He patted the grass next to him and she sat, her head barely coming even with his shoulder.
“I left you in your hut last night a boy.”
“You left as Cedar.”
“And I came back the same.”
“You are nothing like him.” She wouldn’t look at him. Her voice was full of confusion and disappointment with a small hint of anger that she was trying desperately hard to keep in check.
“I promise you, Kaylee, I am still who I was when I left you.” And she finally heard it. In the low, otherwise unfamiliar timbre of his voice, she heard just a small hint of the boy who left her. She heard it in the way he said her name.
“Yeah?” she asked, looking up at him. He smiled down at her, hearing the ebb of anger and spark of hope and she began to see it in his face. The way his smile was a little crooked and the way the skin crinkled around his eyes.
“I couldn’t speak to you aloud among my people. They would be heartbroken.” He looked over his shoulder at the settlement, suspecting that it would be a long time before he saw any of them again.
“Why?”
“I am not the warrior. I am still the boy who stepped into the ritual fire. I haven’t changed.”
Kaylee laughed. “Haven’t changed? Look at yourself! You’ve grown about a foot and a half. You’ve got more muscles than I’d ever know what to do with. If you aren’t the warrior, I’d hate to see the Antek that is. You could never disappoint your people, Cedar.”
“They would have heard my thoughts if I’d spoken louder. They would have heard my own self doubt. They would have known that I don’t feel like a warrior. I don’t have any new knowledge. No new special skills. I’m still just me.”
“Maybe that’s what the warrior is. Maybe the legend is wrong. Maybe you don’t get any knowledge or skills. Maybe you get to just be you. Just a taller, stronger version of you.”
“Yeah?”
“Why not?” Kaylee stood, brushing dirt and stray grass off her jeans. “Let’s get going. Daylight’s wasting, kid.”
“Kid? I’m older than you. And way bigger, now. You’d better watch yourself.”
“Need a hand up, junior?” Kaylee laughed and Cedar laughed along with her. She offered him her hand and he grabbed it, pulling her back down onto the grassy hill. She pushed him and scrambled away, squealing laughter as he snatched at her leg. She almost got away from him but, in an uncharacteristically Addison-like way, she tripped and fell. She rolled down the hill and he rolled after, their combined laughter echoing in the morning air.
They reached the bottom covered in grass and dirt and gasping for air. Kaylee lay on her back with her arms stretched wide, staring at the sky that, during the day, was so like the one she’d left behind in Glendale. Cedar lay beside her, his chest heaving. Kaylee folded her hands behind her head as her breathing slowed.
“So, now that I know you haven’t really changed and I don’t have to make this journey with a complete stranger, I’ve got a question for you.”
He wasn’t paying attention to her thoughts. He was reveling in being near her. In knowing that none of who he was had been left behing in the ritual fire. Had he been paying attention, he wouldn’t have asked what the question was.
“Who did you kill?” she asked.
Rating: G
Challenge: Rocky Road 25: A Hilltop;
Word Count: 937
A/N: This actually falls right in line as the next "chapter" of my WIP. Woot! *laughs* A few things to help you understand if you haven't read any of my WIP yet: The Antek people can read thoughts, but only through speech. So, if you're not talking, they can't read your thoughts. Also, Antek children are allowed to be children until they "come of age" at 18. They don't mature physically until they have the coming of age ceremony. The coming of age ceremony also determines who/what a child will be (ex: healer, weaver, hunter, etc). As they are a peaceful people, an Antek child only becomes a warrior if there is threat to the Antek people or, in this case, to Idmyr herself.
The stranger - No, the warrior, she reminded herself - took a step towards her. He was close enough she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. He leaned in, his lips a mere breath away from her ear and whispered, “We need to leave quickly. Follow me.”
The Raitek cocked his head as though trying to listen. The warrior’s voice was low and quiet and travelled only where he meant it to. Neither the Raitek nor any of the other Antek people were able to glean anything from the first sentence he’d spoken since stepping out of the ritual fire.
“Now?” Kaylee asked, and all those gathered heard the confusion in her voice. She wondered if it were really Cedar standing in front of her. They heard her trying to fit the boy she had known and the man he had become together. They heard her trying to convince herself that they were the same person. And they heard her failing to do so. They were sad for her because they heard her hurt and her loss, but glad because, had he become anything save the warrior, she would have known in an instant that he was still Cedar.
The warrior nodded and Kaylee, not knowing of anything else to do, followed him as he led her North out of the settlement. One woman handed the warrior a small pack. He accepted it without a word or even a gracious smile. No one else spoke to them and no one tried to stop them.
They walked in silence, her following him, until the settlement was well behind them, its people almost too small to see. The warrior stopped so suddenly that Kaylee almost ran into him. They were on a hilltop, the Plains stretching out in front of them as far as they could see.
“Sit with me a moment. There is something I would discuss with you.”
Kaylee tried so hard to hear even the slightest of familiar tones in the deep, almost gravelly voice. She was frustrated to find that she couldn’t. He patted the grass next to him and she sat, her head barely coming even with his shoulder.
“I left you in your hut last night a boy.”
“You left as Cedar.”
“And I came back the same.”
“You are nothing like him.” She wouldn’t look at him. Her voice was full of confusion and disappointment with a small hint of anger that she was trying desperately hard to keep in check.
“I promise you, Kaylee, I am still who I was when I left you.” And she finally heard it. In the low, otherwise unfamiliar timbre of his voice, she heard just a small hint of the boy who left her. She heard it in the way he said her name.
“Yeah?” she asked, looking up at him. He smiled down at her, hearing the ebb of anger and spark of hope and she began to see it in his face. The way his smile was a little crooked and the way the skin crinkled around his eyes.
“I couldn’t speak to you aloud among my people. They would be heartbroken.” He looked over his shoulder at the settlement, suspecting that it would be a long time before he saw any of them again.
“Why?”
“I am not the warrior. I am still the boy who stepped into the ritual fire. I haven’t changed.”
Kaylee laughed. “Haven’t changed? Look at yourself! You’ve grown about a foot and a half. You’ve got more muscles than I’d ever know what to do with. If you aren’t the warrior, I’d hate to see the Antek that is. You could never disappoint your people, Cedar.”
“They would have heard my thoughts if I’d spoken louder. They would have heard my own self doubt. They would have known that I don’t feel like a warrior. I don’t have any new knowledge. No new special skills. I’m still just me.”
“Maybe that’s what the warrior is. Maybe the legend is wrong. Maybe you don’t get any knowledge or skills. Maybe you get to just be you. Just a taller, stronger version of you.”
“Yeah?”
“Why not?” Kaylee stood, brushing dirt and stray grass off her jeans. “Let’s get going. Daylight’s wasting, kid.”
“Kid? I’m older than you. And way bigger, now. You’d better watch yourself.”
“Need a hand up, junior?” Kaylee laughed and Cedar laughed along with her. She offered him her hand and he grabbed it, pulling her back down onto the grassy hill. She pushed him and scrambled away, squealing laughter as he snatched at her leg. She almost got away from him but, in an uncharacteristically Addison-like way, she tripped and fell. She rolled down the hill and he rolled after, their combined laughter echoing in the morning air.
They reached the bottom covered in grass and dirt and gasping for air. Kaylee lay on her back with her arms stretched wide, staring at the sky that, during the day, was so like the one she’d left behind in Glendale. Cedar lay beside her, his chest heaving. Kaylee folded her hands behind her head as her breathing slowed.
“So, now that I know you haven’t really changed and I don’t have to make this journey with a complete stranger, I’ve got a question for you.”
He wasn’t paying attention to her thoughts. He was reveling in being near her. In knowing that none of who he was had been left behing in the ritual fire. Had he been paying attention, he wouldn’t have asked what the question was.
“Who did you kill?” she asked.