As soon as her hands clasped the book, the world seemed to come into sharp focus. Her mind starting racing, the little details around her catching her attention, the small bugs crawling across the blades of grass, the birds chirping in the trees. It was as if she were in a half-wake state all these years, and with the touch of the book, her mind became fully awake. Flipping through the pages she knew the book was still blank after all these years, but that didn't stop the book from vibrating in her fingers with a low thrum of energy. As her mind started to calm down and mellow out, she heard a shout from up the hill, someone was calling for the Bastard Nunh.
This registered quickly in her mind. If they were looking for him, that means they still didn't know what cruel fate had befallen him. That meant she had time. Time? Time to do what exactly? She sat on the grass before the hollowed out tree clenching her book as her mind raced with ideas. Where could she go? What were her options? How can she escape this next trial that was laid upon her? All these questions spun endlessly in her head with dozens of possible answers and routes surfacing in her mind, only to be dismissed as implausible. There must be something she thought, some little piece of information that she had forgotten or overlooked. She felt it, it just had to be there, tucked behind the current events of today.
Her eyes darting over her surroundings, she hoped to gain a glance of something, anything, that would jolt her memory and remember what this nagging piece of information was. It was important, it was her way out, if she could only remember! As she knelt there, the shouts looking for the Nunh grew louder, it seems that they still did not stumble upon his remains, but from the sounds of things, more members of the clan were searching for him. Once again A'kuri started to panic, clenching the book tight to her chest, hoping it would calm her once again.
"Splash"
Something behind her fell into the river, a branch it looked like. Her gaze focused on the branch as it bobbed on the water, then started to float downstream. A branch? Floating on the water? That's it! Her heart leaped for joy as she finally remembered what that small little detail was. A boat! A boat had finally landed upon the rocky cropping by the sea! In the years following the Cataclysm, no ship had dared risk sailing into the small port near the clan's home. She remembered hearing some of the females say that the ship must have been driven to the shore by the most recent storm. This was her way out!
A'kuri stood shakily, and started forward. The stream goes to the sea, she was sure of it! She just had to follow the stream! Her feet were unsteady, her mind still swam from the shock of gaining, and the loosing the large amount of power that coursed through her, but her determination was set. Step by step, she would make it to the shore. Once there she would do whatever she could to gain passage onto the ship. How? She'd think of that later she thought to herself. Her main goal was to simply outrun the clan once they found out about the Nunh.
As she started moving along the stream, the shouts searching for the Nunh were growing louder. They must be getting closer to where A'kuri's bed was. Once they reached that, they would see what had become of the Bastard Nunh, and then they would know why she was nowhere to be seen. They would make the connection she knew without a doubt, that she had killed the Nunh. She had killed the Nunh with what they all feared the most: Magik. Even if the Nunh was alive, the simple fact that she was able to use magik would turn the clan against her, and they would torture and then kill her. Why they feared magik A'kuri did not know, but it didn't matter at this point. If they caught her, they would kill her slowly and painfully. That is all that mattered now, to not be caught.
Onward and onward she pushed her frail body, moving as fast as she possibly could and the shouts grew ever closer to where the Nunh lay, when a scream sounded out across the plain. A'kuri froze, realizing what the scream meant. They found him. And because they found him, they would begin their search for her. She must move faster she thought to herself as she continued to push her body to the limits. Her head still continued to swim, her legs ached with a fire and her breaths came in quick, short and painful gasps. This much physical activity was too much for her frail body to handle, and yet she was nowhere near the shore. Hell, if she turned around now, she'd realized that she barely went anywhere at all! The hollowed out tree was still visible behind her, slowly shrinking into the distance.
A'kuri pushed her body onward despite the pain and fatigue eating away at her. She must make it to the shore she thought, she absolutely must!
This registered quickly in her mind. If they were looking for him, that means they still didn't know what cruel fate had befallen him. That meant she had time. Time? Time to do what exactly? She sat on the grass before the hollowed out tree clenching her book as her mind raced with ideas. Where could she go? What were her options? How can she escape this next trial that was laid upon her? All these questions spun endlessly in her head with dozens of possible answers and routes surfacing in her mind, only to be dismissed as implausible. There must be something she thought, some little piece of information that she had forgotten or overlooked. She felt it, it just had to be there, tucked behind the current events of today.
Her eyes darting over her surroundings, she hoped to gain a glance of something, anything, that would jolt her memory and remember what this nagging piece of information was. It was important, it was her way out, if she could only remember! As she knelt there, the shouts looking for the Nunh grew louder, it seems that they still did not stumble upon his remains, but from the sounds of things, more members of the clan were searching for him. Once again A'kuri started to panic, clenching the book tight to her chest, hoping it would calm her once again.
"Splash"
Something behind her fell into the river, a branch it looked like. Her gaze focused on the branch as it bobbed on the water, then started to float downstream. A branch? Floating on the water? That's it! Her heart leaped for joy as she finally remembered what that small little detail was. A boat! A boat had finally landed upon the rocky cropping by the sea! In the years following the Cataclysm, no ship had dared risk sailing into the small port near the clan's home. She remembered hearing some of the females say that the ship must have been driven to the shore by the most recent storm. This was her way out!
A'kuri stood shakily, and started forward. The stream goes to the sea, she was sure of it! She just had to follow the stream! Her feet were unsteady, her mind still swam from the shock of gaining, and the loosing the large amount of power that coursed through her, but her determination was set. Step by step, she would make it to the shore. Once there she would do whatever she could to gain passage onto the ship. How? She'd think of that later she thought to herself. Her main goal was to simply outrun the clan once they found out about the Nunh.
As she started moving along the stream, the shouts searching for the Nunh were growing louder. They must be getting closer to where A'kuri's bed was. Once they reached that, they would see what had become of the Bastard Nunh, and then they would know why she was nowhere to be seen. They would make the connection she knew without a doubt, that she had killed the Nunh. She had killed the Nunh with what they all feared the most: Magik. Even if the Nunh was alive, the simple fact that she was able to use magik would turn the clan against her, and they would torture and then kill her. Why they feared magik A'kuri did not know, but it didn't matter at this point. If they caught her, they would kill her slowly and painfully. That is all that mattered now, to not be caught.
Onward and onward she pushed her frail body, moving as fast as she possibly could and the shouts grew ever closer to where the Nunh lay, when a scream sounded out across the plain. A'kuri froze, realizing what the scream meant. They found him. And because they found him, they would begin their search for her. She must move faster she thought to herself as she continued to push her body to the limits. Her head still continued to swim, her legs ached with a fire and her breaths came in quick, short and painful gasps. This much physical activity was too much for her frail body to handle, and yet she was nowhere near the shore. Hell, if she turned around now, she'd realized that she barely went anywhere at all! The hollowed out tree was still visible behind her, slowly shrinking into the distance.
A'kuri pushed her body onward despite the pain and fatigue eating away at her. She must make it to the shore she thought, she absolutely must!