Shueeish's Journey
There are very few truly hostile lands in Arlenoa. Perhaps three, or four. Around these areas, any creature can feel evil's residue, for they were the very last secured areas of evil when it was being crushed into nonexistance.
And so it was, that any being coming near the desert--where this story takes place--immediately takes flight, feeling touched and filthy by evil's grip. Except, of course, the humans.
The humans gave up their ability to sense the nature of the land they walked, trading it away for intelligence. Other creatures in the trade for sentience gave up lesser elements of themselves; claws, tails, scales. But people, in their quest for knowledge, lost one of their most powerful attributes.
The humans reached the desert and saw an area very capable of harboring amazing organisms, but that was completely devoid of life. Not even flies buzzed the air before them. So, naturally, they moved in.
Life in the desert was hard. Plants refused to grow in its soil, so pots and dirt had to be brought in from the outside. Any animals they bred or brought found a way to escape, or withered in on themselves from the sheer weight of the evil around them.
Life is still hard, one hundred years later. The colony remains small, for desert hazards continually hinder it. Generations have come and gone, and a new child has just been born. 'Shueeish,' they called her, after the wind that whipped their tents during the storm. For, like that wind, she was hard; yet she could slip through your fingers in the blink of an eye. Plus, she roamed. Everywhere. They had found her countless times on the brink of death, strewn on the ground outside their camp. Still, she continued to wander off.
And, as she grew, the elders of the community found her filled with strange ideas. One such idea was introduced on a hot day, when her group of friends was gathered around the camp's single pool of water.
"Look, Pffreh," Shueeish whispered in an awed voice as they stared into the water. "It's you. Whatever the water sees, it shows right back to us."
But Pffreh--named for the forgotten sound of rustling leaves--only stared at her. "No, it's not. What water shows us is the spirit world. Don't you ever listen to da's lectures?" Pffreh looked into the pond once more. "Besides, that can't be me. He's too ugly."
Shueeish burst into laughter, and Pffreh left with a disconcerted expression on his face.
Kitch, her other companion, stood staring into the pond. "Is that really me? I'm not saying I believe what Pffreh's da says, but... I think you're wrong this time, Shuee." He shot her an odd glance. When she didn't reply, he continued. "You should listen to him, sometimes. Pffreh's da. He's smart. Actually, last night he said something really interesting." Kitch gave her that odd stare again. "He said that there were other--things--like us. You know. That can walk and be. Alive. Like, other things like us. Like... Do you get what I'm saying?"
Shuee shook her head. "No, I don't. Where would they be? I've gone farther away than most people, and I haven't seen anything." She stopped. "You're lying, aren't you? Kitch! That was stupid."
"No, I really wasn't--"
Shuee stomped off.
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But curiosity ate away at Shuee, until she was so hungry for more knowledge that she went to see Pffreh's father, the 'teacher' of the community. This was something she had never done before, and she glared at every amazed set of eyes that followed her into his tent.
He was an old man, with graying hair and a slightly rumpled look to him. Shuee would never have thought him teacher if she had not seen the mud-made leaf crown upon his head. This crown was extremely hard to make, and marked high rank on those who wore it.
Surprise showed plainly on his face as she stalked in and plopped herself down in a chair. According to custom, she was supposed to ask first, but her glowering look kept the teacher from reprimanding her. He found the situation curious enough to leave that out, for now.
"You've finally come to see me, have you? A bit overdue, I must say," the man said in a slightly amused voice. He set his writing equipment down on the desk.
Ignoring him, she leaned forward. "Are there things like us that walk around?" Eagerness fought the sullen look on her face.
He raised a brow. "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Where?" Shuee pressed, ignoring him again.
The teacher kept his shock from his face; people were seldom openly rude to one who wore the leaf crown. But he wanted to see where she was going with this. "Out of the desert."
"Out of the--what? How can you get out of the desert? The world is desert!"
"Child, child. The world is not desert, as you would know if you ever listened to me. Where do you think the plants we have came from? Where we got them, 'things' like us roam everywhere, freely. But that is a hard life. These 'things' devour one another, and attempt to steal land from those weaker than themselves. You would not want to live there."
"What? No, that's impossible! The world is a desert! I'll show you, somehow. I'll, I'll--"
"Just how do you expect to do that? I forbade you to leave again, remember? It only results in trouble. You must have learned that by now, after your nearly dying in the sandstorm," the teacher interrupted in a wry voice. Then, his expression changed, and he said, "You can't actually mean to... Wait! Shueeish!"
But his only response was the tent door flapping in the wind.
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Ten days later found Shueeish staring at a growing plant. A plant growing in desert soil. Wonder filled her eyes, and she knelt beside it to gently pick the small red fruit it supported.
Luck had favored her throughout the journey, giving her good weather and water. Now, when her food had just run out, she had run into this living... Miracle. She was the only person ever to have made it this far away alive; she was sure of it. She knew not why, however, except that the gods somehow favored this journey of hers, and that was enough to keep her moving.
She stumbled upon more and more of these strange plants as she continued, and plucked juicy fruit delicately from their stems. The food kept her going through morning and night, and let her sleep restfully when the sun was high. This luck had to be a good omen. And so she continued.
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Green cushioned Shueeish's feet as she stared in amazement at a tree. Two trees. Three trees. A multitude of trees. Life. And, even more miraculous, living things like her--though they looked nothing the same--rode the wind like leaves, chirping a foreign language. They flew to stand in the trees, and fed their babies from their own mouths. These must be the other alive things.
But she found she was wrong, as every day brought with it a new, more complex form of life. Then, fifteen days after her journey began, Shueeish found a friend.
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