The People of the Sands

Waves of heat corrupted the desert air, with the twin suns high overhead there was nowhere to hide from the burning light. Few animals could be seen, most were tucked away in burrows or dens-or lucky enough to have found some other small patch of shade. Anything, or anyone really, unlucky enough to be caught out in weather like this, was doomed to a slow and painful death caused by dehydration and overheating... unless you were prepared for it, of course. Something was moving fast through the dunes, its speed kicking up sand clouds that blew away in the light wind. From the distance, with the distorted air, it could have been mistaken for a strange animal, or some figment of a mirage. But as it drew closer, its outline became clear. A large triangle sail, attached rather cleverly to a small wooden vessel via ropes and rigging, was soon as clear as a shadow at sunset. This type of transportation was known as a Skiff, a small vessel that was able to be operated by a single person while hauling a decent amount of goods-or a small family. This vessel was powered not by gas, or electricity, or even by the sun, it's large sail should be enough of a clue as to what powered this fast-moving boat. It was the wind... and the runes sewn into it that amplified the power of the weak breeze a thousand-fold. In this world, many people are born with something special inside of them. Here it's called Spiri, but you might know it better as Magic. I don't know much about Spiri to be honest, but what i do know is that even if you have it you might not be able to use it, it takes years of training and more money than you could imagine. Even then, it doesn't always work... but when it does, you might be lucky enough for your Spiri to grow into a gift from the goddesses themselves. I've heard rumors that some people just randomly get these gifts once they hit 17, but I've never seen it happen and I don't put much stock in random rumors when there is literally no proof behind them. This story isn't about one of those people, by the way, it's about me. My name is Aarin, and I am... I suppose you could call me a trader. I travel the sands and collect medicinal plants that i sell to different villages and towns. I normally don't stay in places for very long, but for the past 6 years or so i've been wandering around Kuma. It's one of the few large built settlements we have left above ground. As to why I'm sticking so close to it? It's simple really, it's where my family is. My mom died just after I turned 10, leaving me to raise my younger sister Raine alone. She had only been born the year before and, as you can imagine, as a 10-year-old, I didn't have any idea how to really take care of a baby. Sure, I had helped mom with her before, but not enough to actually know what I was doing. Luckily, the moon goddess smiled upon us and a newly-wed waterbride who hadn't been able to get pregnant fell in love the moment she found my sister tucked away in the shade of a leafy bush near one of the small oasis that dotted the city. No, I had not left my sister alone... Well I guess I had, but I was climbing a nearby palm tree to try to get some coconuts- I could still SEE her... well, the bush she was under anyway. By the time i noticed the waterbride she was already holding my baby sister and talking excitedly to a man who - at the time, looked rather intimidating- I now know is actually her husband. Long story short, they argued about the baby, the waterbride won, and they took my little sister to their home. I followed, of course, at a safe distance. I watched them for a while, at first waiting for a chance to sneak in and steal back my baby sister... but watching the waterbride as she so easily got food for Raine, changed her, dressed her in clothes meant for an actual baby... I knew no matter how hard i tried, Raine would have a better life with these people. It took all of my courage to go up to the door of their house and knock. The man opened the door and, probably fearing that his wife would want to take in a second child from the street, tried to scare me off. I ducked past him and scrambled into the house. He chased me, yelling and drawing the attention of his wife, who was still holding my baby sister in her arms. I think I scared her, running at her like that-her husband caught me and I started yelling, pleading with them to wait, telling them that I just wanted to say goodbye to my sister and tell them her name. Raine started crying, reaching out for me. There was more yelling between the two grownups and eventually i was sat down and told to explain. i told them everything, how our mom had died, how i had been taking care of Raine all by myself for the last month or so, where i had been when they found her-my hands and knees were still scrapped from when I slid down the tree trunk trying to get to Raine faster after i saw them taking her away. "you can take care of her better than i ever could!" i told the waterbride at the end of my story. "i watched you all day, i saw you doing it, you'd be a better parent to her then i could ever be!" She wanted to keep me too. She begged her husband, but he put his foot down. It was just the baby or no child at all. It hurt...but i was happy that at least Raine would be looked after. "You can come visit her anytime you want." The waterbride had promised. Her husband looked pretty unhappy about that, but he didn't say anything to dissuade his wife. Pretty much since then I've been on my own. I've made a few good friends here and there. I figured out how to steer my mom's skiff in a way that worked for me. I even managed to fix a rip in the sail. I visit Raine as often as i can. She just turned 8 on my last visit. I took her out on the skiff. She had so much fun, she was even interested when I stopped to collect a few plants to sell back in town. She knows I'm her brother and that i love her, even though she doesn't really understand why i don't live with her and her parents, the waterbride-Eseril, is still very kind to me and loves my baby sister like she's her own flesh and blood. Eseril's husband, Zike, on the other hand, still hates it when I come around and tries to chase me off as soon as he thinks I've worn out my welcome. The longest I have been allowed to stay in their house was when Raine was 5 and a bad sandstorm blew in while i was there. It lasted about 6 hours. Now that Raine and i are both a fair bit older, I try to meet up with her outside the house whenever I visit. Eseril's a bit nervous about letting us go off by ourselves, but I know she's grown to trust me over the years. I ease my tight hold on the ropes connected to the sail and the power in the runes slowly ebbs until my boat comes to a full stop next to one of the few large rock formations out here. Tying down the sail and stomping in the sand anchor is an old habit now. i make sure to double-check that everything is secure and there's no danger of a rouge gust sending the skiff off without you on it. You only forget to do it once. I still can't believe I managed to find the damn thing afterward. I open the storage on the skiff and pull out my waterskin. I know it still has some water in it, but it's almost empty, and I'm almost a week from the next closest water source that I know of and don't want to risk dehydrating. Thanks to the Twin Goddesses' gift, I knew I could survive over a week without water, but the experience wouldn't be pleasant and if the watercourse i knew of had dried or gone foul, my story would have ended right then and there all because i was overconfident and too lazy to collect water now. Overconfidence and laziness are a surprisingly common cause of death in the desert. As is selfishness and general stupidity. Water held a great worth in the desert. Not only was it life giving, it was also a valuable thing to trade, which could buy your freedom in certain situations - waterspots like the one i was at now were an invaluable resource. Some whose locations were better known were guarded jealously, the sands surrounding them stained red with the blood of the foolish who didn't want to pay for the privilege of living. Small communities built themselves around such spots, often disappearing completely when the water source dries up-or growing into even larger towns and cities when the water proved to be able to sustain itself. Countless ruins littered the desert, appearing and disappearing at the mercy of the ever-shifting sand. Sometimes entire villages would be uncovered, and an old oasis sprung back to life. Occasionally, these old forgotten villages would still have people living within them. Other times, there was nothing to find but long forgotten story cloth that held the history of an entirely unknown people. I attach the bag to my belt and pat myself down to make sure i have everything i might need. "Water, knife, bag, rope..." If i didn't talk to myself I'd probably go nuts in the mostly barren wastelands that makes up the majority of the desert. Walking forward, I started to climb. I was about 10ft up before I found the entrance I was looking for. Hidden in the shadows between two boulders, a c***k worn smooth by the constant winds and sandstorms. "Here I go mom... wish me luck" without even hesitating, I lowered myself down into the darkness. Completely disappearing from the bright light of the twin suns and the sweltering heat of the endless desert.