Chapter 1 of "Sucri"

The sands wisped away from the tops of the dunes, melding into the searing wind above. As the footprints and handprints melted away, a figure could be seen crawling its way up and down the mounds. Finally, settling atop a large rock, he lifted his hood, dark hair blown around by the hot air. The vastness of the desert had finally been broken by the oasis below. Another hour or two and he would be there. But it was noon. The suns were hot and forcing beads of sweat to run along his skin, seeping into the cloth wrapped around his body. He would rest first. As he sat on the hard surface, he heard the distant thump, thump, thump. Desert trackers, he thought. They were too far away to worry about. He cut his rest short anyway, and began the trek downward. As he closed in on the mound of dirt decorated with tall, branched…whatever they were, he smelled something sweet and pleasant in the air. It must have been the odd little rocks poking out of the ground. He grew closer and realized they weren’t rocks. Far from it. These “rocks” were swaying in the wind. They were made of colors he had never dreamed existed. And so many, all different shapes and sizes. From as small as his toes to clear over his head, maybe even quadruple his size. The tiniest and thinnest of rocks were soft yet solid beneath him, nothing like the shifty golden dunes he had been accustomed to.

“I’ve found it…” he breathed out. “I’ve finally found it,” he exclaimed, jumping and spinning, trying to take it all in.

“Found what?” He jumped as he yelped. The startling noise came from somewhere close to the middle of the oasis. He immediately unsheathed the moevian blade and held it tight before him, crouching in a fighting stance. The sound came from over there, he thought. Desert trackers? But how could they have found him when this area of the desert was forbidden, untouched by Poeban hands for centuries?

“Show yourself,” he yelled, failing to hide the shaking in his voice. Something, no, someone came out from behind a tall rock. It could hardly be called a person. This human had skin that glowed lighter than the sand itself. How was such color possible? It looked unnatural. Perhaps it was. He tightened his stance before he realized something. “You…you are foreign. How could you speak the same as I?” The human chuckled. It was a beautiful sound.

“I know few languages verbally, but what ones I do know are those that have been most useful,” she said.

“I do not understand,” he said. “Who are you? How do you know my language? How did you find this place? It is forbidden to come here; it is a death sentence.”

“Are you not here yourself,” she asked, making that beautiful noise once more. Who was this human? He yearned to find out, but couldn’t let his guard down. He had been taught better than that. She sensed the fear beyond his curiosity. “Very well. I am Eeiap, I have studied many languages, including the language of your people, and I found this place the same way you did: With nothing but a legend and determination.” He stared in awe at this stranger– at Eeiap, a name he would never even guess how to spell. Completely enamored with her presence, he stumbled over his words.

“I…I am Sucri. I only know my own language a-and a little of Hume. I did not…how could you…what legend?”

“The legend of a sacred text,” she said, confused. “Doesn’t everyone know? You explore into the Mectoh- in your language, that would mean ‘the forbidden’- you seek out the oasis, and you find the text of Sucriashi.” He continued to stare at her. “Do you not have legends?”

“We…Nothing like that, I…what is Sucriashi?” She smiled at him.

“Come. Let me show you.” She held her hand out to him in a foreign gesture. He resumed a fighting stance, expecting more. She stood there, a little shocked. “I see you probably need a moment to let it sink in that other people exist that don’t look or act like you do.”

She sat gently on the non-sand and simply waited. He was quite taken aback by that comment. People other than his kind existed, of that much he was sure. But was he so simple to think that some looked and acted so different? The very meaning of the word hung in the balance- at least, in his mind it did. That there were things beyond the forbidden- beyond Moevi, perhaps beyond the suns, that he could not fathom. Was this what the elders were keeping from them? They had warned that the forbidden area was cordoned off, kept under strict watch, sealed away from prying and curious eyes for a reason. It is dangerous, they say, and yet here she was. This living, breathing human simply sitting before him.

“Okay, I’m getting a little bored over here, and frankly a little freaked out over your stare and that knife in your hand, so could we speed this process up a little?” She once more stood before him. He shook the thoughts from his head.

“Eeiap,” he attempted, “You said you got here by yourself? Just who are you?”

“Who are you, Sucri?” She smiled, hand outstretched. He mimicked the gesture and she chuckled. “No, no, you’re supposed to put your hand on top of mine, like this,” she said, gently placing his hand in hers. He gasped at the touch of her cold hands. How were they cold? “Come on.”

She slowly led the way, farther into the oasis. The branched rocks only seemed to grow larger as they became more plentiful. The small, colored ones continued to sway with the wind. The soft, non-sand beneath his feet never shifted. And all the while, she- Eeiap, led the way confidently. Eeiap finally stopped and let go of Sucri’s hand.

“Ta-da,” she said, spinning around once with her hands in the air, “here we are.”

A large pool of blue water laid out before them, clear and still. Sucri was in awe. The water was pure, undefiled by sand despite the oasis being surrounded by such. How could this be? Colors never before seen? Rocks different shapes and sizes? Water with such clarity that reflections mirrored what really was? Such beauty! And yet, his hungry gaze continued until he found more. Sitting upon a pedestal, covered delicately in colored rocks, was a slab of stone. The text of…what was it again?

“The text of Sucriashi,” Eeiap whispered in Sucri’s ear. He jumped at the sudden closeness before setting his eyes back on the stone. He inched closer, afraid of what may happen. Eeiap simply shrugged and walked forward as if it were nothing and picked up the slab.

“What are these markings,” Sucri asked. “Can you read them?” Eeiap shrugged again.

“No, I can’t. I do wonder what it says, though. Perhaps a prophecy, or a manuscript of one’s people. Ancient teachings, or an illustration? Maybe even a song?”

“A song?” Sucri gently touched the divots.

“Yeah. I like to think it’s a song.”

“How do you write down a song?” They pondered for an hour over the writings, wondering what they meant, yet never asking who wrote them or why. It did not seem to matter.

“I think it’s a prophecy,” Sucri said gently. Eeiap looked at him.

“I think it’s a song or a story. Maybe both.”

“Aren’t all songs stories?” Eeiap blinked at Sucri.

“...I suppose they are.” They shared a smile. Suddenly, a hole in the ground like a great black pit swallowed a gathering of colorful and tall rocks, spewing hot sand as it went. The two jumped at the deafening sound.

“Gouges,” Sucri whispered, his voice growing louder. “Gouges, we need to leave!” Another opened and they yelped. Eeiap and Sucri began to sprint. “We need to find rock,” he yelled to her.

“This way,” she said, running ahead along the tall rocks. The wispy branches seemed to go on forever, not a single sun in sight. They continued to hear the gouges, seeing a few along the way. Eeiap fumbled with the stone, nearly dropping it several times, but holding on as tight as she could. They ran out of the oasis, never looking back until they could find solid rock.

“There,” Sucri yelled as he pointed to a rock that looked climbable enough. They headed straight for it as the mother gouge grew larger, slowly but surely swallowing up the entire oasis and then some. They were safe from its expansion, but they continued on to the rock and climbed high to its short peak. They sat, breathing heavily, knowing those moments could have been their last. Finally, after several minutes, sand replaced the oasis entirely. It was gone somewhere in the ether. Sucri looked to Eeiap and the stone in her hands. “Why…why did you take that?”

“It could be sacred. What if it is and we lost it to those holes in the ground?”

“Gouges aren’t really holes. They move things. It would still exist, just somewhere different.”

“But then we’d have to find it again,” Eeiap explained.

“‘We,’” Sucri asked.

“Yes, we. We both traveled to the oasis and despite all difficulties, we met there. Despite the forbidden land that is inhabitable, we both made it here. That has to mean something. We’re in this together now. We have to find the oasis again and find out what these writings mean.” It then clicked for Sucri that perhaps the oasis held more clues as to what the stone said, just as Eeiap was trying to tell him. But for now, night was falling. They needed to move before it got too hot in the day. Sucri and Eeiap stood and began the journey to Sucri’s home: Moevi.