spice & the seaside

[ladyofthesands]

Arha had woken suddenly in the sort of way one does when they have overslept and forgotten something terribly important.  A date, a person, something massive, something life-changing--something that was no longer there.  She had fallen asleep, not in her own bed, but at a terminal in the media library researching...something.

Energy, it looked like

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[in_venting]

Since some of her favorite reading spots had been damaged in the big mess in the city, and her father had asked that she not go playing anywhere dangerous, Sherry found herself in the sensoriums. It had been a relatively easy choice; instead of being in her room, she could make up wherever she wanted to be.

Still, it felt like she was forgetting something, and it made her wonder what it was. She couldn't think of anywhere she needed to be. All of her homework had been completed. Sherry took a long look around the area, confused, and put her reader in her bag for the moment. As far as she knew, there wasn't any such thing as a red ocean. The little girl hesitated before the tent, her curiosity plain on her face as there was no one around to watch her. Did someone just leave their fantasy running for a bit? Her small fingers brushed against the tent flap.

"...Hello?"

[ladyofthesands]

The voice itself was unfamiliar, but Arha didn't mind. Company in all of its varied forms was welcome and being alone had helped little enough. She tilted her head gently and smiled.

"You may come in, if you wish," Arha said. "I do not mind."

[in_venting]

Her voice didn't sound very bad, and the little girl still felt bolstered by curiosity enough that she slid the cloth back to peer at the woman inside. Her hair was redder than Sherry's mother, but it still looked nice. Her eyes were curious, and if Sherry thought about it - really thought - she'd seen the lady around before, and hadn't spoken to her.

"Thank you." Sherry answered politely. And then, two seconds later, "Why is your ocean red?"

[ladyofthesands]

"You are very welcome," Arha said, then laughed as she tilted her head to blow across the surface of her steaming cup. "I do not know. Perhaps it is a sea I have come across in the library. It seemed to suit this place."

Her eyes on the girl's face were steady.

"Do you enjoy tea? If you wish, you may have some with me. It is a special tea from the place I am from."

[in_venting]

Her eyes were strange, too. Not the way Vivio's were strange (heterochromia could be explained, after all), but because they were blue, and then blue again. Like some kind of weird God's Eye. "No, but thank you," she replied. She didn't really like it, but even Sherry knew that saying no outright would be rude. You could decline anything, but you didn't always have to answer.

"I wonder which one..." She looked back behind her, "It makes me think there's something wrong with the water, because I'm used to it being blue. You know, in movies and things." Mostly because she'd never been herself.

[ladyofthesands]

Arha nodded and took a sip of her tea, thinking over the issue of the red sea. Where had she seen it? The world name was not popping up in her mind, but an image of it was.

"Many planets have different colored water based upon the organisms living in the water. Sometimes a red sea will have algae that is a rust color, sometimes it is a certain color because of the way its molecules hold together, or the way it interacts with light," Arha explained in a quiet voice. "I had never seen a body of water so large in my life. Not even Seitch Tabr, with it's massive cache of water was so big as that sea out there."

She laughed softly.

"My home-world is a desert planet," she said, then paused. "Was. It was. It is gone, now." But not for her, for someone else. Arha closed her eyes for a moment, but the face would not clear.

[in_venting]

A desert planet sounded absolutely terrible (and then, naturally, Sherry wondered if there were really planets that were inhabited that had that sort of topography), but Arha seemed fairly healthy, if her skin was anything to go by. It wasn't sallow like her father's had been, but was still darker than her mother's, even though it was hard to picture the Birkins lately.

She was almost as pale as Sherry, now that the little girl thought about it. "Isn't that the way everyone's planet is now? Don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to fix it." She paused and tapped her chin. "Well, probably." No point in being sure about something that had no definite answer, after all. "Earth, that's where I'm from, had a lot of water. But it was all bluish, or brownish. Well, there's the Red Sea, too, but... it isn't actually red." She shrugged and put her chin on the knee she'd drawn up to her chest. "Oh, and my name is Sherry," she added, remembering that she still didn't know who it was she was talking to.

[ladyofthesands]

"I am Arha and pleased to meet you, Sherry," she said with a smile. "I suppose the water caches we have on Arrakis are probably blue like that of your planet. I know of that place. Many, many, many generations ago, my ancestors came from the world known as Earth. And yes, I suppose everyone's planet is gone."

Her lips curved in a soft smile.

"And yes, I believe that we shall fix that. I hope such a thing is possible."

[in_venting]

"Well, it's at least something to look forward to, even if we might not be able to really do anything." She'd thought about that while lying in bed sometimes. "But, I like being on Stacy, too. It means I get to see things I probably wouldn't have been able to otherwise."

[ladyofthesands]

"I have enjoyed my stay here as well," Arha said with a nod. "And many who I would have never met have become wonderful friends. It is a wondrous thing that such joys can come from such sorrow."