By G.R. Nanda
“That old lady is a priss,” said Farrul. Nickel sighed and shook his head.
“Come on, man,” said Nickel.
“What?” Farrul looked around, scanning the huts and the fog as they rose and disappeared. “You really think we can stay here? I’ve seen some of the people here. Looked like they’d want to gut me or something.”
“I stand out here,” he said, pointing at the ground. “You do too. And whenever I stand out, it’s never been good for me.” He pressed his palms against the back of his head and began walking around and puffing up his cheeks, exhaling.
“You were rude to her,” said Nickel. Farrul turned, looked at Nickel and scoffed.
“Rude?” said Farrul. “I don’t know if you understand.”
“I don’t know if you understand!” said Nickel.
“I was being direct with her!” snarled Farrul. “I don’t care what she thinks of herself or her tribe. All I know is that I can’t stay and listen to her. I want to go to Hedonim! I can’t have nothing to do with her hawk religion. Like I said, I think it’s bullshit.”
“Before I got here, one of the people I was with and some others too were trying to talk me into admitting my passage from the Past World. They wanted to see if I was sent here from Great Father Hawk. Exactly what they said too.”
Nickel felt stuck. Was this what he was running away from all these months? All that time spent in his hovercraft alone? Confrontation? Nickel looked away from Farrul and at the door of Elder Hawk’s hut– the door he wanted to open for more answers.
Confrontation. Confronting reality and confronting people. People were, after all, a part of reality. It all felt like too much. It also felt like it was too late to run away from confrontation.
Nickel sighed. Did he want to run away now?
The wind began to pick up and howl the way it did before a windstorm.
“No,” Nickel found himself thinking. No, he did not.
“Yeah, we’re going to Hedonim,” said Nickel. He looked at Farrul. “But first, we’re going to get help from the Atlantic Tribe. And we’ll be leaving here with more than you, me and Steve.”
“Wha- wait, what?” said Farrul.
“Yeah,” said Nickel. “It’s time I tell you what Elder Hawk wanted me to say.”
“What did she want to say?” asked Farrul. They both winced as strong gust pushed fog against their faces from the left.
“Well, apparently, there’s a small movement in the Desolate Plains to go to Hedonim. Not just in the Atlantic Tribe. There have been people throughout the Plains who’ve wanted to go to Hedonim because they knew it was the only remaining part of civilization here that was connected to you know– civilization. It’s the best way to leave and get back to civilization.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said Farrul. “I already know this.”
“No, wait!” said Nickel. “There’s more. That was a big reason. But not the only one. Not everyone who’s ended up here knew about Hedonim. They were attracted to the place and those people have been trying to get to its location because that’s where the singing sorceress told them to go. It’s too hard for lone stragglers to get there. But people in the Atlantic Tribe have known for a long time that they fare a better chance than most because of their numbers and their skills which have been adapted over generations.”
“Elder Hawk hasn’t ever wanted her people to go off to Hedonim. She thinks that it’s a dangerous place from the Past World and that by going there, her people will be corrupted by the Past World. She thinks that an ordeal in her tribe to get to Hedonim could tear apart her tribe.”
“But a lot of people in this tribe since before Elder Hawk was alive, have known about Hedonim and wanted to go there. Some people who came here like us have known about that place before they ended up here. It’s information that’s been passed down and many people have had visions like we did about Hedonim and the singing sorceress. A lot of people have in the Atlantic Tribe.”
“You see, the Atlantic Tribe really only knows this life they have right now. It all centers around the hunt and worship of the hawk. But some people in this tribe want to know more.”
“Teenagers go on mission quests here to prove their resourcefulness and if they want to learn about the world outside and leave for it if they want. Some have wanted to go to Hedonim. And some teenagers still want to.”
“Elder Hawk believes that the singing sorceress has been around since before the Desolate Plains– as she said were desolate. I think what she means is that the singing sorceress was here before the power plant accident destroyed this land and made it so toxic.”
Farrul quietly gasped and his eyes turned wide.
A smile played at the corners of Nickel’s mouth, but he didn’t smile. He didn’t want to show that he was happy for finally getting through to Farrul. He hoped that Farrul would now start being less cynical and realize the gravity of Elder Hawk’s role in their journey.
Farrul laughed nervously.
“No,” he muttered.
“Yeah,” said Nickel.
“According to Elder Hawk, the singing sorceress was placed in Hedonim as a safety measure by an architect of the Past World who wanted to make sure that-.” Nickel paused and sighed. “I honestly can’t figure out exactly what she told me. It was so complicated. Basically, the singing sorceress is here so that the people stuck here after the power plant accident have somewhere to go to– because the architect knew these people would be here before the accident even happened. Or the singing sorceress is supposed to fulfill that architect’s long awaited purpose for Hedonim and the power plant. Or both of those things.”
Farrul looked dumbstruck. For once, it seemed to Nickel that there was an emotion in Farrul that was something other than anger and resentment.
Nickel scoffed at his own explanation.
“Look, that was a lot,” he said. “I really wish Elder hawk was here to explain it all like she originally wanted to. But I guess she was too offended by you. I don’t know. I was rambling a lot-.”
“-No,” said Farrul. He was looking down at his feet and started to furrow his eyebrows and harden his face in a grim and seemingly resolute expression. “That was a good explanation, I’ll admit. But it is a lot.”
The howling wind turned into a roar.
“It’s a lot. My whole life felt large and confusing. But I’ve never been a part of something this huge. And I don’t know if I want to………….”
“………….I mean…..I might,” he admitted, nodding and looking Nickel in the eye.
The orange fog that had grown brighter as the morning progressed condensed around the two of them.
“At this point,” started Farrul. He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know how much of a choice I have, even if I end up being a pawn in the- architect’s plans.”
The fog billowed with the wind, compressing against their bodies. Nickel cringed and wrapped his arms around himself. He dug his chin into his chest and pressed his legs together, trying so hard to hide from the storm that he forgot about doing the acht-chi.
Remembering, he still didn’t initiate it, feeling his conversation was more important.
Keeping his body tightly close and his head down, Nickel moved to Farrul and slapped a hand on his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and stared at Farrul with scrunched eyes. His eyelashes were so close to each other, making it even harder to see Farrul in the dense fog.
“Hey!” he shouted. The gusts were threatening to push him away from Farrul. He moved closer to Farrul in three huge stomps and removed his arm from his shoulder, only to wrap it around his back. He was practically hugging Farrul. Nickel’s head was tucked right next to Farrul’s head. His chin jutted out onto his back.
He swivelled his neck and screamed into Farrul’s ear:
“HEY!”
“WE-will-get-to-the-bottom of the architect’s plans. TOGETHER! We will get to Hedonim together! And if we work together, I promise we won’t be anyone’s pawns.”
They stood there in their embrace, holding out against the whipping winds. Farrul reached for Nickel’s back, wrapping his arms around him, returning the embrace.
They stood there for quite a bit, savoring their security together.
“Holy shit!” gasped Nickel. He squeezed his eyes shut because they were watering against the blasting wind. He dug his face closer to Farrul’ neck.
“We can’t be out here anymore!” shouted Farrul.
“Yeah,” said Nickel, nodding on Farrul’s back. “Let’s go inside now!”
G.R. Nanda 