Morning dew, clinging to the skylight.
Little droplets coalescence over the surface, merging slowly before sliding off to the side one by one.
The morning light spilled through the glass, casting a warm ambiance across the thick blanket. A pair of woman slept under it, their brows twitching every so often.
frrshhh…fwumph…
Their snores, filled the backdrop.
b…beep…
BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!
"Mhmm...turnit...off.."
BEEEEEP!
"Sie..."
whap!
The alarm flew off the nightstand and smacked against the floor. Its back pops open on impact, the batteries skittering across the wood. Sienna's hand drifts back toward her as she rolls closer to the edge of the bed.
Seconds slipped by, then sunlight bursts through the skylight without mercy, flooding the room in white.
"...ugh…its so bright, lets just sleep in..."
Ikade's voice remained muffled as it tapered out, her words slurring from beneath the sheets.
"snff…rrr…"
.
.
.
shff—fwump—THUD!
"Sshhh."
"—!"
Sienna rubbed the back of her head haphazardly, her eyes watering from the impact while her legs remained tangled in the sheets. She didn't even register the feline's sudden exclamation, nor the golden-brown eyes staring down at her slumped form from atop the bed.
Ikade pushed herself up on one elbow, her ears tilting forward while the blanket slid off her shoulders.
"Hello? Terra to Cici? You okay?"
"Uhh....i meant to do...that?"
She stood up after a second, brushing herself off. Her face taking a look of mild annoyance while she continuously rubbed the throbbing spot at the back of her head.
Her gaze moved from the nightstand still holding up her pistol, still within reach to the half broken alarm scattered over the floor.
"Tch, I just bought it too."
Sienna picked up the pieces and tucked them inside the nightstands cabinet, sliding into her slippers the next second.
Behind her, Ikade began to stretch out her limbs, arching her arms overhead with a quiet yawn before sliding off the bed and padding toward the bathroom, mumbling something unintelligible along the way with words she couldn't understand.
Sienna for her part, started by untangling the sheets and fluffing up the beaten pillows—turning on the generator in between after hearing a felines complaint.
By the time the bed looked presentable again, Ikade had stepped out, drying her hair with a towel.
"Did you not sleep well?" Both of them glance at the freshly made bed, a few stuffed beasts loitering near the pillows. "Its not that small is it?"
"It feels smaller when someone hogs ninety percent of it."
The feline huffed, crossing her arms and walking to the closet.
"When ever we sleep together, I always end up under you."
skrrr!
"Then move me. bleehh~"
skrrr—tk!
Sienna yanked the sliding door closed before Ikade could retaliate.
In the bathroom, the temperature remained constant. Her eyes danced the smaller opaque skylight overhead, light poured through and warmed the tufts atop her head, drawing her silhouette long across the floor and door.
In a few short minutes, she was already brushing her teeth—tugging faintly at the lines beneath her half-lidded eyes while foam gathered at the corner of her mouth.
nnnnneeee—the small extraction fan hummed, slowly pulling the last her sleep away.
Minutes passed and she was soon finished with her brushing. Rinsing, wiping her mouth and staring into her reflection.
"GHK! Cough cough cough..."
The fit hits without warning, itching until it became uncomfortable. The coughing fit kept on going for a bit longer until it became manageable, until her throat felt parched.
Hands, shivering from something that pierced through the exhausted muscles.
Two pills and a single Aci-Pen rose from the counter into her grasp, their containers snap themselves open with soft clicks. She tosses the pills into her mouth and drove the pen into her thigh in the same moment.
clck.
All three flow through her body, just like the tides of a sea.
Sienna then stripped herself and jumped into the shower.
"Uhh...ohhh...its a bit cold but..."
Water rushed from the showerhead and soaked her hair and face. Sienna tilted her chin slightly, letting it cascade down her neck and shoulders. Her gaze drifted to the braided cable running from the showerhead, up along the wall, then down into the small unit beside the sink.
And when she closed her eyes.
Light spilled from top to bottom. A waft of warm air followed through her hair and brushed against her clothes.
The generators dying hum became white noise.
In the kitchen so to speak, Ikade stood dressed by the counter, opening a small cabinet. she snatches a small bag of chips and tosses it across the room without warning.
Sienna catches it mid air before turning around and walking up to her pistol, holstering it under her shirt. With both in tow, Ikade slid the grated metal gate open then pushed the door behind it.
More sunlight shone through, as soon as the two crossed the doorframe, the makeshifts streets music filled their ears.
"My eyes! Ahh—betrayal!"
Ikade sang it out dramatically, but her smile betrayed her too, earning her a knock on the head.
Sienna tossed the feline the chips, then dropped to one knee and opened a small wooden box to find her shoes inside.
Sienna swaps them out and tossed her slippers inside, with Ikade doing the same the next second. Afterwards, they locked up their home and headed down the short but step flight of metal grated stairs.
The airy desert greeted them at once, patches of green clinging stubbornly to the golden earth.
Ikade ripped the bag open with a happy flick of her tail, grabbed a handful, and held it out toward Sienna.
"Wansh shum?"
"Too bad! So sad—mm—mine."
Ikade immediately stuffed the chips into her own mouth instead, crunching obnoxiously loud.
They stepped onto a street.
The makeshift streets stretch ahead—paths both narrow and wide.
A pair of children dart past them, thin wooden sticks in hand, chasing a small beast down a dry slope. One of them fell face-first into the ground, only to push back up and rejoin the hunt.
Sienna flicked a finger, and Ikade leaned into the frame without warning, flashing a peace sign.
Ping!
The picture manifested in an opaque film beside the children—the exact moment frozen in place. A smiling woman caught at the edge of the frame, a half-obscured landship behind her through drifting sand, before it faded into her gallery.
Somewhere nearby, someone tests a speaker system that distorted at every other word. A normal scene for every behemoth broken down in Terra.
Step step step.
One stall becomes three, then ten, then a whole stretch of patched tarps and vehicles. The smell of oil and spice rolled over them in heated waves, mixing with the faint dust in the air.
"I thought it'd take way longer for this place to come together… it's tiny compared to the village I'm from."
Ikade drifts toward a small shop prepping food, watching the meat, veggies and spices get pressed together before wandering off again.
"Well, I doubt this is the first time this one's broken down."
"Say...what's it like?" Sienna asked, avoiding bumping into someone.
"Like what?"
"You know. Back in your village."
"Mmm, its not bad...I mean. Were pretty rural, We're pretty rural but not cut off or anything. You can get to a major city in a few hours if you really need to."
"Just think of the movies and it looks almost the same. Rice fields, small shops, etcetera."
A small smile tugged at her lips, faltering slightly.
"Before I left, they had started to modernize a few things like new streetlamps. A recorder, nothing too fancy and the occasional fight over something stupid."
Ikade stops to poke at a display of hand-carved trinkets, lifting one shaped like a miniature beast. Its small eyes are painted a vivid red.
She studied it for a second, then bargained with the woodworker before happily paying the negotiated price.
They kept walking and paused a few steps later near a stall selling tinted goggles. Ikade tried on a pair that framed her face, then pushed them up with dramatic flair.
Plopping a large hat onto her head right after.
"How'd I look?"
"Quite cute."
Ikade's face lit up like a festival.
Eventually, the smell of grilled meat pulled them in.
They stopped at a skewer stand, the fat dripping from the meat and onto the open flame, hissing back at them. The blaze flared a little before settling, leaving its seasoning on the skewer.
Sienna flashes two fingers at the vendor who got to work. A moment later, a skewer gets handed over, paper wrapped around the hot metal base.
Ikade took the first bite.
"Hot—hot—hot—!"
Sienna plucks the second skewer from her flailing hand and watches with amusement while Ikade fans her mouth, chewing stubbornly through the heat.
"My, my…couldn't even wait five seconds, huh?"
Ikade shot her an annoyed glare, the tips of her ears twitching.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the street, cooling both skewers enough to stop them from burning their tongues off.
"Oh, shut up."
Ikade leaned in and tried to steal Sienna's skewer, only for Sienna to press two fingers to her forehead and hold her back.
Ikade kept pushing anyway.
Harder. And harder. Until the very tip of her tongue managed to graze the meat.
Sienna's shoulders trembled once.
Ikade made a face, then lunged.
Sienna shifted her arm away at the last second, turning her shoulder while the faintest smile pulled at her mouth.
Ikade followed after it, one hand grabbing at Sienna's sleeve while the other reached for the skewer with all the might she could spare, even with her own still in hand.
Little by little, the two messed with each other, the scenery changing with every step. Ikade traced shapes across Sienna's palm while they walked hand in hand.
Past every block of life.
The two of them eventually slowed and settled onto their grated porch, watching a cluster of vehicles roll off in a low cloud of dust.
"Hahh...we've been walking for an hour and still, no group wants use."
"I know right?"
A breeze slipped beneath the canopy, brushing against their skin.
"C'mon. Lets go take another look. Who knows? We may just find a willing group."
"Hah? We haven't even been looking though."
From there, the middays turned into a blur.
They moved from cluster to cluster, approaching both large and small gatherings. Some were already loading up and ready to depart. Others were just forming, strangers forming little bands beneath canopy's.
Scene after scene.
They move on to the four vehicles parked in a loose semicircle, dirty but well maintained. One that had twelve peoples in total, one that was working on a vehicle noticed them and greeted them with a nod.
They pass others like themselves—stragglers looking over the horizon for an opportunity. A pair of siblings hoping eager for an adventure.
In between, the two conversed with them, sharing bits and have laughs.
Cluster after cluster, engine after engine.
Again. And again. Until they were back where they started.
"This was a lot of nothing."
Sienna said nothing else. Instead, she pressed a bag of ice against the back of her neck while Ikade drank from a bottle beside her.
Then—something flashes in the distance.
Far, far beyond the thinning of the sky, something large cut across the horizon.
One reflection becomes several, bright glares stabbing into her irises.
Poof.
A cloud of dust erupted, swallowing a few of the glints at once. Several more veered sharply to the side before their outlines blurred behind the rising haze.
The two could practically feel something rushing toward them. Sienna could almost see it moving through the earth, bending the sparse vegetation and nudging tumbleweeds aside.
HOOONK!
The horn reaches them in an instant.
After only a few short blinks, the blurred figures resolved into vehicles. Rugged ones, their lower halves caked in tan dust.
"…well. What're the chances they'll let us tag along?"
"Hahh? Didn't you just say we'd go on our own? Weren't you the one all, 'we'll head out ourselves,' like an hour ago?"
Sienna leaned back while Ikade's face inched closer, squinting at her.
"So you're just a liar now? Wow. And I thought I could trust you. All that bonding meant nothing?"
She was left agape, her mouth opening and closing. Ikade bursts into laughter, her tail flicking behind her.
"Pfft—hehahah. Just kidding~ You should've seen your face."
The laughter dies quickly when the two turn toward the incoming convoy.
shff…
The same vehicles from the horizon roll in and begin parking in a staggered line. One swerves too wide and nearly ends up kissing the side the wheel of their vehicle.
The driver inside receives a sharp knock to the head from someone unseen and flashes a wary grin out the window to them.
Through the windshields, the passengers stare out with expressions that flicker in the span of a heartbeat—curiosity, wonder, and much more, their eyes roaming their behemoth of a vehicle.
On them.
vrmmm… mmm…
krreeeak…
One by one, the doors swung open. Complaints flew out before their shoes even touched the ground.
"—just shhh, well tell him to figure it out! We warned him que su mierda was gonna break if he wasn't careful."
A tall man hops down from the lead vehicle and stretches his back with a grunt, muttering to himself.
"Relax, it's fine, isn't it? Gives your old-man knees a break." It came from the passenger side, a canine eared man with a sleazy look, using his hands to enunciate his words. "Don't seniors love sitting around anyway? Tell me I'm wrong."
He turns toward Sienna and Ikade, finishing the question.
" Sure..."I guess?""
"So… where're you all headed? Doesn't look like it's going smoothly." Ikade nudged her in the rib. "Sie…maybe try 'hello' first?"
"Ahem, nice to meet ya. You can call me Sienna."
"I'm Kaede by the way." She flashes a sunny smile.
The tall man who jumped down first grumbles under his breath but steps forward anyway.
"Rafael." He says, thumbing a hand toward his chest. "Driver. Though, I think I'm done driving for the time being."
The sleazy-looking perron from the passenger side grins wider.
"Mateo. Don't listen to him, es solo un peluche. Just an old softie."
From the second vehicle, another perro hops down—slimmer, with grease smudged along pants.
"Bruno."
A feline woman leans against the open door of the third vehicle, her arms crossed, her tail swaying lazily. "Hello~ You can just call me Lina."
Two librei climb down from a truck—one had a feathered tail and the other did not.
"Yara."
"And Layla, we're not from here if you couldn't tell." The other added, giving a brief wave.
Last to hop out were the coelhinho siblings from the rear vehicle, smaller than the rest but rather quick. One waved enthusiastically, both their long ears bouncing around.
"Marle and Lachlan."
"Cool. Now that we're all friendly—what's up?" Sienna stands and shifts to another position so she faces the group properly.
"Well, one of our cars lost a control arm." Rafael says, pointing a thumb toward the skyline. "And, as you can imagine...its toast."
"I'm guessing you've got people who can fix that." Sienna replies. "So I doubt you came here just to say hello."
"Actually, we came here looking for people who might want to travel with us." Lina says, idly playing with a strand of her golden hair. "On the way back to our settlement, most of our security peeled off and headed home. We've been running on fumes since."
While Lina explained, Sienna noticed Ikade drifting away from her side, already chatting with the two felines.
"In fact, we've only got seven now." Rafael interjected, lifting a shoulder slightly. "Pretty sparse for a group of around eighty."
"Why so many?"
Rafael shrugs.
"Nah, nothing fancy. Just hauling supplies between our place and a few neighboring settlements. This the farthest one we've done yet."
"I guess that makes sense?" Sienna tilts her head slightly, thinking it over.
"So, you know anyone who might want to travel with us?"
Heh, jackpot.
Sienna coughs once, straightening herself a little before answering with a faint smug look.
"Actually…you have me. Us."
"Really?" Rafael studies her for a moment. "I'm gonna ask anyway—what kind of experience do you have?"
"I spent some time in Sabarah. Not far from Sariqan."
"Eh? For real?" Yara's eyes widen in surprise.
"Im taking that thats a good thing?" Sienna answers, her unflattering smile holding while the feather-tailed librei fired off too many questions at once.
"If you know anyone else who wants to travel, tell them to come by. We'll be around for a couple days…or at least until the car's fixed." Lina walks away and over from her vehicle and gently pulls the very excited Yara back before she can interrogate her any further.
"Oh and, do tell them one of us sent you there."
Soon enough, the small group strolled away to tend to their needs and Ikade returned to Sienna's side, her tail flicking happily.
"Well?" Ikade asked, nudging her shoulder. "I'd say this the one."
"Looks like we found our grand adventure."
Ikade's ears perked up instantly.
"Oh! That's perfect. You know, I was actually starting to think we'd go by ourselves."
Her gaze drifted toward the main group, watching small figures in the distance move like totems in the ground.
Ikade hummed, sitting down next to her and rest her head on her shoulder.
"Well, they seem nice. Yara surprisingly talks a lot though."
"Mhm. Let's head out. After we get our truck running, I'll message a few people. If they're lucky, they can tag along with us."
Sienna, after enjoying the music of a busy town. Pulled Ikade up to her feet and headed down the stairs, they head down the stairs. Sienna lifts the grated steps and locks them in place before circling to the side.
She climbs the small ladder, opens the door, up the steps and climbs into the cabin.
Warm light, the windshield provides most of it, but it's more than enough.
I don't think I hate this...I wouldn't...mind doing this every once in a while.
She shakes the thought away and drops into the driver's seat, flicking a few switched and holding down a button until the large vehicle cranked to life.
The gauges across the panel woke up one by one, their needles slowly climbing. She glances up at the three small monitors above her head and adjusts something until they show the sides and rear of the vehicle.
The five cars planted at one side.
She fastens her seatbelt and gestures toward Ikade.
"This seat's pretty comfy. I could watch a whole movie in here, no problem."
The two talked before switching gears.
Once the truck's brake pressure settles into the proper range and warmed up enough, she presses the pedal, presses the drive button, and eases onto the throttle while turning the wheel slightly.
At the same time, she sends out a quick message.
The truck rolls forward with a low rumble, easing out from the landships shade and onto the dusty path.
Outside, through her side mirror, the makeshift town moves by in slow pieces—tarps fluttering in the wind, half-built stalls, and the people moving between the streets.
Inside the cabin, Ikade flips through the owner's manual she found tucked beside the seat.
"Hmm…apparently this thing can run on anything if it has the right viscosity."
Ikade hums and keeps reading, her tail occasionally swishing against the seat.
The truck cruises for another few minutes, driving through the outer streets before the noise of the market faded behind them.
Some people stop to take pictures or record videos while they pass, stepping aside to make way for the beast on wheels.
Soon enough, the open ground ahead clears up.
Sienna eased off the throttle and guided the vehicle near the main group, some meters away from the wrecked vehicle, parked a handful of minutes from the behemoth looming behind them. A few heads turn their way, their expressions a myriad of colors.
"Let's go say hi."
Sienna lurches forward when Ikade suddenly leaned against her. She barely manages to turn her head before the sound of a phone taking a photo snaps through the cabin.
Ikade's smug hum fills the cabin before she holds her phone up for Sienna to see.
The photo showed a feline leaning against her shoulder, half-lidded eyes caught mid-glance. Behind them, a dusty cloud rolls across the horizon, the shape of the vessel barely visible through the haze.