Chapter 5: Doubt

Chapter 5

Doubt

She was bound. Not by a rope, but rather by some sort of Magical chain, that gave off a familiar glow, albeit in a faint, yellow color this time.

She wasn’t moved yet, still at the place she was caught. The group’s arguing filled her ears.

“What if she’s Geth?”

“What do you mean, ‘What if she’s Geth?’, do you have any idea where we are?”

“It could be some sort of ploy, Cyra, I don’t know, maybe they…” The man, James, struggled to find his words.

“Look, it’s just a girl, James, look at her! She probably got lost on her own, somehow.”

“And what, you think a, normal girl, could evade our senses? You think that we wouldn’t notice a normal girl so close to us?”

Suna felt sad. A deep sorrow. She had already resigned herself to her fate. Whatever happened to her would be up to this group, she had no way out. But, she felt bitter. Bitter that she was responsible for introducing conflict to what should have been a peaceful group.

“I think James has a point, Cyra. Without my wire, we would have never even known she was in our midst. This isn’t just a normal girl.”

Wire? What wire? I never saw a wire… Of course. Magic. I really should have guessed. Suna felt even stupider.

“Oh, okay. So we lug her aaaaaall the way back to town, throw her to the jailers, so that they can execute her, does that sound good to you? Actually, why don’t we save them the hassle? Why don’t we just kill her right now?”

Her exaggeration was highlighted by wide, overdone gestures that accompanied her tone of disbelief. The man named James responded with a look on his face, as if silently saying ‘You’re making this more difficult than this has to be’. The woman, Cyra, obviously made no attempt to hide her annoyance and disdain with the ‘too quick to judge’ James, delivering a poignant eye roll and crossing of the arms.

“Look, look, I get it, Cyra, but you shouldn’t let your guard down against her. Do you remember how fast she was? She’s obviously not a normal person.”

“And her eyes.” The swordsman paused. “She didn’t hesitate to cut off her own hand.”

At the mention of her hand, the group turned their eyes to her. Well, her hand, more specifically. Blood ran down and covered the hand, now freed from the Magical roots. Suspicion lined their eyes.

“Okay… She’s not normal, but what if she’s just had it rough? Did she ever even try to hurt you? Would a Geth just run away like this? It’s not like you know what kind of life she’s lived, James.”

“Yeah, yeah, do you seriously think…”

The two’s bickering continued, a third trying to get between them, as if without him, the two might start throwing punches. A fourth… the fourth kept looking at her. At her hand. They approached her.

Suna’s body tensed, readying itself for some sort of strike, or blow, or worse.

But all that came was a soothing sensation.

“Shaanek.”

The fourth, a girl not much taller than her, crouched down in front of her, and outstretched her hand, as if bestowing something to her. It continued for a bit, her hand glowing a faint green, but when the girl removed her hand, she realized.

It’s not… bleeding anymore…

“I’m Angie. What’s your name?”

The girl, Angie, looked at her straight on. There didn’t seem to be any of the expected deception or interrogation, she just looked at her. As if the two were engaging in a normal conversation.

“S-S-... S-Suna…”

“Sue? Did I hear that right?”

The girl spoke calmly and slowly. It reminded her of another patient person.

“No, s-sorry, um… S-Suna… That’s my name…”

She did her best, but she stammered out the words. She couldn’t stop her mouth and throat from trembling, and she felt her breathing get more shallow and rushed. She felt all sorts of emotions, but mainly, a strong sense of panic. I’m not supposed to talk to these people, I’m not supposed to be here! Suna resisted the urge to try and dart from the group. She didn’t want to arouse their ire any further.

“Look, Suna, can you tell me why you approached our camp?”

Suna didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know how to convey the maelstrom of emotions that had plagued her that entire night, her intense longing, her deep sorrow, she felt shame in the idea of marring this perfect group of people with such negative emotions, with a presence like hers. She wished she had never approached them, that she had simply left in the dead of night.

“Sigh, I mean, it’s just weird, right? To do that in the dead of night? What do you want? Were you looking to steal something?”

“...”

“...Sigh…”

The girl, with a shake of the head, was about to get up.

“I… I, uh…”

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Angie stopped, remaining crouched, listening to the soft words of the small girl before her.

“Um, I, uh… I… I wanted to join you!”

That definitely came out weird, I’m such an idiot!

Out of Suna’s near constricted throat, came an answer that left the robed girl before her somewhat stunned.

“Huh?”

Suna’s sentence came out louder than she tried to speak, and so, the attention of the other three were on her too.

“Wha-, what do you mean?”

Suna struggled just to piece words together, she felt like a toddler trying to construct a complicated piece of machinery, totally unequipped, left with just panic at the seemingly herculean task before her. But she tried her best, to stammer out words, to somehow be able to convince the people before her that she wasn’t a threat to them, that she wasn’t an enemy.

“Um, I, um, uh, uh, hah, um, uh I-”

The other lady stooped down, crouching beside Angie.

“It’s okay. You can tell us.”

She gently, slowly reached her hand out, and delicately, she placed it Suna’s head.

“-Uh, wha, um, haha, wha-”

“It’s okay. Breathe.”

It was all too much for Suna. She was starting to believe a lie, a lie she told herself, that these people were trustworthy. That she wouldn’t be hurt by them. Some deep part of her ignored all of her reasoning, and just committed itself to this lie. Hope.

Tears began to stream down her face. Suna, who at this point was unable to form even a single coherent word, just began sobbing, emitting a sort of groan, a whimper. She had no control over it, the tears wouldn’t stop, she lost all control over her emotions. And she started crying.

“Alright, what are you doing-”

The long, pointy-eared lady jerked her face back, shooting a deathly glare at the lightly armored man who was trying to interrupt her. He shortly put his hands up in resignation, as if in surrender.

“Cyra. You shouldn’t let your guard down.”

“Krax, it’s okay. I won’t. Angie, can you fetch me a change of clothes? There’s a stream nearby, I’m going to clean her up a bit.”

With a quick nod, Angie got up on her feet and started moving in the direction they once had all come from. James lingered, wondering if he should say anything, but he ultimately decided to leave it to his companion. Crax stayed by Cyra, vigilant, his staff never leaving his hands.

–

How much time had passed? What was this sensation? Something was rubbing over her body, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

Startled from her emotion-induced slumber, she startled awake. Water splashed, as she flailed, trying to escape. But her arms and legs wouldn’t obey her, as if they were stuck, chained in place. She ended up inhaling a mouthful of water during her initial flail into the warm stream of water. Warm… Warm?

She emerged from its short depths, her head coming above the surface. She saw the familiar lady, who she remembered had pat her head. Despite just emerging from a panicked state, she remembered, clearly, how it felt, to be pat like that. A warm feeling rose within her, one that she didn’t try and undermine with suspicion, one that she let herself indulge in. Inadvertently, she submerged herself back underneath the water, her shame bringing a heat to her cheeks.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

The thin yet strong arms of the lady lifted her back out of the water.

“You have some explaining to do, but I know you’re hurt. James… he doesn’t realize how many people are hurting… Sigh, he’s just trying to protect us. You probably had no choice but to steal-”

“I-, I didn’t try to steal from you!”

“Hm? Well, then what did you try and do?”

Suna fought with her emotions. But she was getting tired. Tired of being some sort of creature incapable of speech. A large part of her screamed at her, that she wasn’t one of them, that she was in danger, that she had to leave, as soon as possible. But another part of her, one that feasted on her hopes and desires, was getting stronger. The idea, the notion, that she could maybe, just possibly, be an equal among these people. These warm people. Magnifying this part of her, she brought herself, with difficulty, to utter words.

“I-, um, I… I was following you. Down the, uh, road. I, um… You were laughing… You were talking about, um, things. You… You guys… you seemed happy…”

Suna could hardly make sense of her words. It seemed like irrational gobbledegook to her, a complete failure to defuse the situation, to explain anything. But, despite how it felt to her, the lady in front of her paused, and smiled, looking at her. As if in understanding.

“Haha, yes, yeah, we were laughing, weren’t we? That stupid guy, everything would be better without him, right? Hahahah!”

Cyra laughed. The edges of Suna’s mouth perked, as if, almost as if she could perhaps share in this moment with her.

“Are you for real? You wanted to join us? Just why would you try and do that while we were sleeping?”

“No, um, I, um. I actually wanted to leave. I was going to leave you guys, and, well, I wanted to catch a glimpse before I did. Um, you know, to remember you guys…”

The lady looked at Suna, before just laughing.

“Hahaha, you know what? You’re weird! Hahahah!”

Suna felt a deep blush emerge on her face, so she instinctively dipped her face into the water in a failed attempt to hide her embarrassment.

“Hah, but, wow, haha, James had you pegged all wrong, speaking to you like this, it’s pretty obvious now that you’re not a Geth… You do know what the Geth are, right?”

“...Um… No?”

Cyra’s expression was stunned. “...You’re lying.”

Her expression instantly turned icy cold, her eyes directing sharp daggers of distrust and doubt at the girl’s words.

“No! No, I’m not, I have no idea what that is, or what you’re talking about!”

The words erupted violently and loudly from her mouth, with as much energy as she could muster. She was tired of being associated with something that wasn’t her, she was tired of being misunderstood. After what seemed like a long time…

“...You’re not lying? How do you not know what they are? That doesn’t make sense… No one’s been spared by those emotionless ravagers, that bring nothing but death and destruction with them…” Her words stirred memories within her, the distaste and disgust evidently visible on her face. Her disdain for the Geth was not shallow. Suna didn’t know how to respond.

“Well… Well, if you’re not lying, and you really don’t know them… Then, I guess, you’re from a far away place, aren’t you?”

Suna remembered. Where she was from.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m not from around here. I’m from…”

She debated. Whether she should state this one simple fact. That she was from a different world. How would this person react? Would letting someone know endanger me? Suna hesitated.

“You don’t have to tell me where you’re from. We all have secrets we’d like to hide, not to deceive others, but to protect ourselves. I don’t know how, or what you’ve been through, but you’re not from around here, and that’s all there is to it. This continent is big, but it’s not endless. I’m sure there are plenty of lands I don’t know about. Somewhere where those sick bastards have yet to lay their dirty claws on. And somehow, somehow you ended up here. Taking a bath with me.”

A smirk and a giggle made its way onto the lady’s face.

“That’s enough for me. I don’t need more than that. I already know that you’re not one of them… It’s okay, Angie.”

The faint rumbling in the bottom of the stream receded. She was safe. Her heart rate settled, along with her breathing. Suna couldn’t help but give an inward sigh of relief.

“Well, I guess I’ll get back to what I was doing. You’re quite a dirty one, you know that, right? Oh, I guess I should ask what your name is.”

“...Suna.”

“Suna? I’m Cyra. Come over here, I’ll wash you up.”

Suna felt like she was being treated like a kid. She was embarrassed, but… but she gave in.