Ludi

The Revelation.

Not being sure which repercussions, the departure would have on the young master, they left on foot. The village was nearby so they shouldn't stray too far. Quatre felt his head spin and his stomach churn, yet it was bearable. WuFei was attentive to the young master's movements, and held him by the shoulders, hoping that his touch would help him endure the environment outside the temple a little more. 

Quatre took a deep breath and saw that the barren ground seemed to darken at his feet, and small sprouts of grass began to emerge, almost instantly. The guards along with WuFei were amazed at what was happening. They had never seen that happen, not even the first time Quatre was brought into the temple from the depths of the illusory forest. Perhaps it happened because the only thing that separated him from the ground was his shoes. What if he walked completely barefoot? 

As they advanced, a green trail formed where Quatre stepped. From time to time they stopped to check the state of the young master, who was still having discomfort, but everything bearable. WuFei was holding him by the hand as they approached the first village. In the distance, the archers were still attentive to each movement of the entourage. 

The first house nearby was very quiet. It was small, with a single room and no door. Outside, at one side, there was a jar covered with tarps and a table with awning and four seats, some makeshift toys covered with sand, and window boxes attached to the wall of the house with plants that had never grown, and never matured. 

A humming made them keep going to the back, where a small orchard stretched out, cared for by two little ones and a man who was sitting on the ground, with both legs to one side, and protected himself from the sun with a makeshift umbrella. The girl turned to speak to the man, and when she saw the guards, she took a deep breath, causing an unintentional shriek and when the other boy realized what was happening, both little boys ran to protect the man, armed with a stick and a hoe. 

“Children! Calm down, they are people of the temple” said the man without getting up from where he was “they won’t hurt you.” 

The children relaxed and with amazement they saw that a part of the ground had vegetation. 

“What is that?!” 

The guards noticed that the green area was much larger, due to the time they were standing there. Quatre took off his hood and WuFei continued to hold his hand tight, seeing that he was a little paler than normal. 

"Salute Sandrock," said WuFei, and as he said that name, the man dropped completely to the ground, palms up, as if handing him all of him “Master Sandrock has come to help us, please help us with our mission.” 

“I'm sorry I can't help you master...” the man was clearly distressed and trying to accommodate himself “I'm not helpful... children bow down!” he remarked when he saw that the children were just standing there without understanding what it was about. 

“It’s not necessary” said Quatre when seeing the puzzled faces of the children “I have come to see what I can do for you.” 

The man didn’t understand much of what he was talking about, but it was true. Quatre didn't quite know what to do, beyond what WuFei had told him or what he remembered. 

“Well, master... there is not much to do here... the earth is dead. Still we try to get on with our lives… we don't know how you can help us, but we do know that you can.” 

“Sir” WuFei spoke to the man, indicating the jar covered with the tarp “is that her water supply?” 

“Don’t touch it!” Shouted the boy, placing himself between the guard and the jar “It’s ours, they all want to steal the water from us!” 

WuFei pushed the boy away with a slight push of his sheathed sword and removed the tarps. The jar had half cloudy water. 

“Master Quatre, I think you could try this... do you remember what you did with the fountain the first time?” Quatre looked a little tired and took his hand tightly “Master Quatre... will you be able...?” 

“I'll be fine WuFei... just hold my hand...” 

As the guard held his hand, Quatre reached into the jar with his free hand and saw the cloudiness rapidly concentrate on his arm and hand, and the water began to seep through the wood grain at the bottom. As he withdrew his hand from the water, he fell to his knees on the ground, holding his stomach. One of the guards handed WuFei a canteen to give Quatre a drink. 

“Drink this master Quatre... it's black fruit and milk” Quatre drank reluctantly, but after the second drink, he felt his stomach settle “up to this point everything seems to be going well.” 

"I think I can go on…" WuFei had a worried expression, and before he let him continue trying, he sat him down and framed his face and then touched his forehead with his. He omitted the young master's blush as he concentrated and then Quatre felt his head heat up and his body feel a little lighter “This should help a little. If you feel tired, master Quatre, I can help you. We will finish here and return to the temple.” 

"Okay," Quatre took one of his hands and smiled at him. As long as he was with WuFei everything would be fine. 

“Kohgi !! The Water!! THE WATER!!” Shouted the boy, while looking for a container, put it in the jar and took it to the man who was still on the ground. The three of them were so amazed that they didn’t know what to do. 

“Can we... drink it?” asked the girl, somewhat anxious. 

"It’s clean... you can drink it or use it on your plants... uh..." WuFei recalled the deplorable state of the plants and everything in the small garden. It was clear that just the water in a jar was not enough. He felt Quatre's hand on his and saw that the young master was determined to do something, of which they didn’t know the results “Master... be cautious...” 

Quatre knew that it could have serious consequences, such as when food was delivered to the temple, or when he purified the temple water. However, having WuFei around gave him the necessary confidence that everything would be fine. He stood up in the middle of the garden, took off his shoes, and stood there. He could see how slowly the ground under his feet was turning dark and little sprouts were starting to come out in a row, and it was beginning to spread beyond the orchard, to the surroundings of the house, causing grass and other plants to sprout around, he could see each sprout, each leaf, each petal of each small flower that grew between the grass and the vegetables. Suddenly something diverted his attention. Out of the corner of his eye he could see one of the guards approaching WuFei and they both looked at the horizon towards the temple. Something had happened. 

Out of nowhere something went from his stomach to his throat and out through his mouth, dirtying all his clothes. WuFei ran to him and quickly wiped his mouth with part of his clothing. His black eyes watched him worriedly, and then he realized that it was darker than when they had arrived in the morning. 

“WuFei... what am I doing...?” 

"Master Quatre, we must go" said the guard as he hugged him tightly and covered him with the hood, "you must rest, and we must analyze what happened." 

Quatre returned the hug, and dropped into his arms. He was exhausted, his legs were numb, and his back and head ached. At some point he found himself inside the carriage next to WuFei, who was holding him next to him without letting go of the hug. And the next he was in his bed, with WuFei resting next to him sitting on a chair by the bed, holding his hand. He looked exhausted, like he'd never seen him before. 

“WuFei” his throat burned and his voice sounded somewhat broken “what happened?” 

“Master Quatre” the young guard raised Quatre's hand to his lips and then rested his forehead on it, with an exhausted and relieved gesture "it’s chaos… some villagers surrounded us… they saw the path you left behind and they were to see what happened. They ransacked the house of those people, one of the guards was wounded... we had to defend ourselves, and protect you... you remained in a trance in the middle of that garden, with your feet buried in the ground... We brought those people, until we knew what to do. Now the villagers are crowding at the temple gates...” 

“I would like to try to calm everything... like that time...” 

"It won't work, Master Quatre..." WuFei was on the verge of collapse. He could see that he had deep dark circles and a bandaged arm “not only are they contaminated, but also desperate. Even if you do something with your ability, they will remain desperate, to the point of doing anything.” 

“WuFei, your arm!” 

“It's okay.” 

“It's not…” 

“It’s all right, Master Quatre.” 

”NO, IT'S NOT!!” Quatre was holding both hands. Fear crossed his face. His mind was scrambled. When did WuFei injure his arm? “What happened?! What happened to your arm? How long has it been?” 

WuFei stood up and sat on the edge of the bed next to him. 

“I was hurt while... you...” Quatre watched him horrified, while the bandage began to turn red above the elbow “it's not your fault, master Quatre... you spent two days in that garden... the other villagers realized everything when they saw the trail, and seeing that much of the village was beginning to have sprouts... you purified almost the entire village, but only the garden of these people grew. Maybe because you were there... now that you're awake, I feel calmer. We didn’t know what would happen to you for all the scope you had...” his voice was low, trying to reassure the young master. He closed his eyes and gave a big sigh “now I'm going to rest a little. Soon we will go to remove the villagers from the gates.” 

The young master raised his arms, and snuggled the guard onto his chest as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. Since he didn’t know what would happen, he put their lives in danger. What weighed most on him was that WuFei had been injured, and even though he told him otherwise, he knew it was his fault. 

At some point WuFei gave up and fell asleep in Quatre's arms. How much power would he have used to help him contrast the effects of his ability? He looked consumed, completely exhausted. He had to use his ability conscientiously and soon, or he would continue to risk the lives of others. He kissed the guard's wounded arm, and slowly rose from the bed. He could not continue to be protected. 

Upon leaving the room, he met one of the monks, ordered that no one disturb WuFei, and asked to be brought before the people who had been brought to the temple. 

In one of the gardens, both children were playing, while the man watched them from a bench. 

“Sir…” 

“Master Sandrock... you’re fine...” 

“Most importantly, what happened at your home...? It was my fault... I just wanted to help to end this.” 

“Master Sandrock... the villagers found unfair that only we received help. So, they took what they wanted...” the man's voice sounded tired and sad “your bodyguard protected you from a small army that tried to kidnap you while you were in a trance... they generally kidnap green-fingered monks and sell them to towns and kingdoms desperate... he prevented that you were taken away... Now they are trying to enter the temple...” 

“WuFei protected me for two days?” Quatre could not believe what he was hearing. In his mind he knew that he had arranged himself in that garden and the next moment he saw the shoots grow, the guard was rushing him out of the place. Time had not passed for him as for the others. 

“He tried to lift you up, but for some reason he couldn’t... nobody could. Up to 3 of the monks tried, and failed. Your bodyguard was wounded in battle and you got off the ground... they took everything...” 

"I’m very sorry for what I caused... to you and your children..." said the young master with great regret. 

"They are not my children, master Sandrock... but I love them as if they were. We help each other in a dark moment of our lives, and we form a family. Some plants are not worth their lives.” 

“And my life is not worth all of you.” 

Quatre stood up and headed toward the inner doors, where monks and soldiers from the temple began to gather. He couldn't allow something like that to happen again, something moved him to protect everyone, especially WuFei. Very reluctantly he knew that this was his job, to protect him from everything, but something much stronger than him and his past self, made him hurt and suffer seeing the guard so hurt and exhausted. Some were anxious to see Quatre without the guard, others didn’t know what to say. The master was going to do something, and nobody knew what. 

The older monk urgently sent a younger and bold monk to search for WuFei, who was apparently the only one who could stop him. 

"Open the doors..." Quatre ordered quietly, but full of determination. 

“Master Sandrock, we can't do that... They're going to take you away.” 

“Open the doors! There is no need to fight or start a war between you... I came here to help, not to make you kill for me.” 

**** 

The desperate knocks on the door woke him up. He had fallen asleep in the master's room, but he was not there. As he got up, he felt his muscles tense with pain and exhaustion, but he had to. His developed instinct forced him to get up, because he knew what was happening. 

Far away he heard someone call out his name looking for him, until the doors of the room were flung open, and a young monk came in agitated, shouting his name. 

“Mr. Chang!!” The monk tried to catch his breath while his face reflected the relief of having found him “Master Sandrock... at the doors!!... Stop him!!” 

WuFei got up as best he could, against what his body demanded, and ran feeling that he would drop from exhaustion at any moment. He tried to reach the front door as soon as possible, but it was too late... the outer doors were opening in front of Quatre, as the temple soldiers covered his rear. 

Many sick-looking people were only a couple of meters away from him. And many others who seemed to be armed, were in the rear, waiting. 

Quatre could make out the small house they had visited, in ruins. They had destroyed the few things that that family owned and the effort he had put into improving their lives had been in vain. But he understood it. Those people were desperate to survive, at any cost, even passing over the weakest. He wasn't sure what to do, or how to do it. He no longer felt as sick as before, and he believed he was sure he would be able to bear the side effects of whatever he was going to do. And as he let his gaze wander between the faces of those sick and distressed people, he began to remember what the previous Sandrock did to clean the wastelands. 

He raised his arms a little, just as the previous Sandrock would, and put both palms down, and trying to imagine green meadows that covered the entire horizon from what his eyes could see, a soft breeze rose, and he let go of himself a strong warm wave causing the soils to darken and sprouts of all kinds began to emerge. 

People seemed to be amazed and at the same time frightened by what they had witnessed, and a great silence took over the wastelands. 

“I am who you know as Sandrock...” 

The crowd rushed towards the young master, and before anyone reached him, WuFei was with his sword in hand protecting him. He was exhausted and felt that he was no longer giving, but he had to protect him at all costs. And then Quatre put a hand on his shoulder, and asked him to step aside. He wanted desperately to reach what a woman offered him. 

In her arms there was a starving and decayed baby. 

Master Quatre already looked exhausted, but he still put his hand on the baby's head and began to focus on how he should do to absorb they ills. 

And then the baby smiled at him and he fell exhausted, as WuFei caught him in his arms. 

“Close the doors!!”