My submission
More: show
The clocks weren’t working.
The thought run through your head. And without them there would be no water and of course no way to beat the midday heat. Oricima was a cruel mistress your mother thought to tell your father and now you were about to encounter it.
So you hurried around taking all your things of value: gold, herbs, iron, hides and mini-clocks and took them to your riding-bird plopping them upon her back sack and in less than 30 minutes you were headed out of the desert you called home.
You had lived here ever since your parents had taken you out of the city fearing persecution for being a psychic and now you had to return. Sometimes it had been hard long nights with no sleep and visions of daemons and shadows hunting you but it had mostly cooled down now. It was less than 2 hours not far for the small satellite when you arrived at the Cool Zones extending off the city where the foreigners dwelt. You suddenly remember you had forgotten your clock so there would be nothing to repair only to sell. A casual mistake and your bird could hold more.
“Chicken you did good” you said to your bird
You did not know what the word meant only that it was a word from long ago. You found yourself staring into the face of a native who seemed to be enjoying the coolness. Even their people didn’t like the heat of this satellite. You thought you would be heading to the moon this world orbited soon, maybe in a few days or a week since you probably couldn’t return to the desert. You hopped off chicken and asked them if they had anything to sell but they declined. Back to the city it was even deeper in the cool zones where it would be cooler and the faint blue glow of the light would be stronger. Your parents had regularly come to the city to barter items for gold and now you found yourself a prostitute to its whims desperate for the cash to get off this world where your blood could not survive. The moon Alendria was fertile and would not be a far trip. A land perfect for you now that your system-clock was slowly frying in the heat.
After around 30 minutes walk you spotted a market where you could sell your excess goods . You now remembered you had forgot to take food so you would be lighter on what you could keep. Hours passed and gradually you selled of each of your items until you were only left with your worn but your’s rifle, a communicator, a hidden psygem and your friendly riding bird. You headed into the city with some rations into the entertainment district your parents avoided and when you spotted a lounge which you thought would provide good entertainment before you booked your tickets. It was nearly dusk, the perfect hour for it even.
The atmosphere in-room was lively, they were announcing they had entertainment in a minute and you noticed the entertainers hop on stage. Outside you could make out “Tonight: The Prince performing” so you assumed this was the act and you immediately noticed a shirtless entertainer of your people beginning to dance. When music entered the stage he began to sing his melody sweet and entertaining. You hopped off to order a drink, you would get what your father and mother got: The Buzz wafting in heavy smoke from another patron.
After that taste you thought you would like to get some too.
You ordered your buzz and heard his song.
“Oh the desert world belongs to the brave, the vast ocean”
“The moons of Aria the Lamp are all barren except for the peoples”
“You like the cities, the cool zones and the natives like them too”
“Come and enjoy the moons of Aria, the lamp is to close for good”
“Confined to a small sunspin, you can’t beat the heat”
“Oh the deserts of dear Aria she is my Devi my Devi”
“My Devi she is bright with light and the clocks are the only thing that keeps us safe”
“My Devi, Oh my Devi”
“She shines with glare and the glow of the clocks”
For hours this continued you gradually getting intoxicated on more drinks, drifting into the haze that your favour oh so favoured. Drink and smoke dulled your mind when you awoke in the middle of the night finding yourself next to a foreign girl not of your kin.
“Can we be a bit more discreet? Is this much to ask?”
So she huddled you off to a corner and zapped you with a zap-clock injecting sparks into your system.
“This is a Dehazer it cures all soughts of substance induced effects”
“Now you are a Psychic right?”
You didn’t speak, afraid to answer.
“I am too, now did your parents leave you to the desert and you have now returned due to a broken clock which you cannot repair?”
You had just noticed how soft and quiet her voice was as she stared into you with her blue eyes set in her foxlike face.
“Yes” you answered
But your parents had died you thought
“Good enough”
She lured you into your room where you noticed the still shirtless figure of the singer now relaxing on the bed.
You noticed how pretty he was just now and stared into his eyes bright like the stars just like yours.
“He is really a prince of course, not that it matters much more besides for the prophecy”
“A fallen price, a young refugee and a genius that is the team of legends”
“You believe in prophecy?” he spoke
“You believe in prophecy?” you rhetoricalised
“Well regardless it’s our best chance at stopping the empire with a psychic like you” she said
“Your parents were rebels against the empire right?” she further queried
“I don’t know and they died a few years ago leaving me on my own to hunt for hides and gather herbs”
“Good enough” he replied
“Good enough” she chimed
“We will be heading for Alendria tomorrow and given your situation you will be following us” she said
“After staying their and training your psychic powers for an amount of time we will be heading to the headmoon of this system, Rhenia to get out of the system”
“Then we will head of to a life of adventure in fulfillment of the prophecy of my people”
“And what if I don’t agree to this?”
“You will”
”You will” she responded
“Or otherwise you aren’t the person the prophecy described and i hope you are” he answered
“Now to sleep” the strange girl ushered
ᐧ
You awoke to the pre-dawn of the desert, the girl rubbing on your shoulders. She was brisk in her step despite her lack of sleep unlike how you felt. She urged you into wakedness and gave you what you thought was a waking tablet given your condition. You rised to notice the prince now clothed in a shirt waiting for you next to a rifle of his own.
“My name is Aia by the way” he spoke
“And my name is Nami” she chorused
“Senia”
You headed out to grab your things and head to the spaceport feeling the substance invigorate your veins with alertness you felt to be supernatural: it was clearly more than a waking tablet. The light of the city was mixing with the glow of its night-lamps and you could see Alendria in the distance rising above your satellite with its fertile glow.
“How does a moon so close to such a fertile world get so barren anyways?”
“Poor soil for growth, and lack of water”
“You have a riding bird a biological creature engineered to be perfect for all environments by our forerunners, you will do good with it”
Nami was knowledgeable you thought as she and her companion hopped onto their own riding birds.
The thought run through your head. And without them there would be no water and of course no way to beat the midday heat. Oricima was a cruel mistress your mother thought to tell your father and now you were about to encounter it.
So you hurried around taking all your things of value: gold, herbs, iron, hides and mini-clocks and took them to your riding-bird plopping them upon her back sack and in less than 30 minutes you were headed out of the desert you called home.
You had lived here ever since your parents had taken you out of the city fearing persecution for being a psychic and now you had to return. Sometimes it had been hard long nights with no sleep and visions of daemons and shadows hunting you but it had mostly cooled down now. It was less than 2 hours not far for the small satellite when you arrived at the Cool Zones extending off the city where the foreigners dwelt. You suddenly remember you had forgotten your clock so there would be nothing to repair only to sell. A casual mistake and your bird could hold more.
“Chicken you did good” you said to your bird
You did not know what the word meant only that it was a word from long ago. You found yourself staring into the face of a native who seemed to be enjoying the coolness. Even their people didn’t like the heat of this satellite. You thought you would be heading to the moon this world orbited soon, maybe in a few days or a week since you probably couldn’t return to the desert. You hopped off chicken and asked them if they had anything to sell but they declined. Back to the city it was even deeper in the cool zones where it would be cooler and the faint blue glow of the light would be stronger. Your parents had regularly come to the city to barter items for gold and now you found yourself a prostitute to its whims desperate for the cash to get off this world where your blood could not survive. The moon Alendria was fertile and would not be a far trip. A land perfect for you now that your system-clock was slowly frying in the heat.
After around 30 minutes walk you spotted a market where you could sell your excess goods . You now remembered you had forgot to take food so you would be lighter on what you could keep. Hours passed and gradually you selled of each of your items until you were only left with your worn but your’s rifle, a communicator, a hidden psygem and your friendly riding bird. You headed into the city with some rations into the entertainment district your parents avoided and when you spotted a lounge which you thought would provide good entertainment before you booked your tickets. It was nearly dusk, the perfect hour for it even.
The atmosphere in-room was lively, they were announcing they had entertainment in a minute and you noticed the entertainers hop on stage. Outside you could make out “Tonight: The Prince performing” so you assumed this was the act and you immediately noticed a shirtless entertainer of your people beginning to dance. When music entered the stage he began to sing his melody sweet and entertaining. You hopped off to order a drink, you would get what your father and mother got: The Buzz wafting in heavy smoke from another patron.
After that taste you thought you would like to get some too.
You ordered your buzz and heard his song.
“Oh the desert world belongs to the brave, the vast ocean”
“The moons of Aria the Lamp are all barren except for the peoples”
“You like the cities, the cool zones and the natives like them too”
“Come and enjoy the moons of Aria, the lamp is to close for good”
“Confined to a small sunspin, you can’t beat the heat”
“Oh the deserts of dear Aria she is my Devi my Devi”
“My Devi she is bright with light and the clocks are the only thing that keeps us safe”
“My Devi, Oh my Devi”
“She shines with glare and the glow of the clocks”
For hours this continued you gradually getting intoxicated on more drinks, drifting into the haze that your favour oh so favoured. Drink and smoke dulled your mind when you awoke in the middle of the night finding yourself next to a foreign girl not of your kin.
“Can we be a bit more discreet? Is this much to ask?”
So she huddled you off to a corner and zapped you with a zap-clock injecting sparks into your system.
“This is a Dehazer it cures all soughts of substance induced effects”
“Now you are a Psychic right?”
You didn’t speak, afraid to answer.
“I am too, now did your parents leave you to the desert and you have now returned due to a broken clock which you cannot repair?”
You had just noticed how soft and quiet her voice was as she stared into you with her blue eyes set in her foxlike face.
“Yes” you answered
But your parents had died you thought
“Good enough”
She lured you into your room where you noticed the still shirtless figure of the singer now relaxing on the bed.
You noticed how pretty he was just now and stared into his eyes bright like the stars just like yours.
“He is really a prince of course, not that it matters much more besides for the prophecy”
“A fallen price, a young refugee and a genius that is the team of legends”
“You believe in prophecy?” he spoke
“You believe in prophecy?” you rhetoricalised
“Well regardless it’s our best chance at stopping the empire with a psychic like you” she said
“Your parents were rebels against the empire right?” she further queried
“I don’t know and they died a few years ago leaving me on my own to hunt for hides and gather herbs”
“Good enough” he replied
“Good enough” she chimed
“We will be heading for Alendria tomorrow and given your situation you will be following us” she said
“After staying their and training your psychic powers for an amount of time we will be heading to the headmoon of this system, Rhenia to get out of the system”
“Then we will head of to a life of adventure in fulfillment of the prophecy of my people”
“And what if I don’t agree to this?”
“You will”
”You will” she responded
“Or otherwise you aren’t the person the prophecy described and i hope you are” he answered
“Now to sleep” the strange girl ushered
ᐧ
You awoke to the pre-dawn of the desert, the girl rubbing on your shoulders. She was brisk in her step despite her lack of sleep unlike how you felt. She urged you into wakedness and gave you what you thought was a waking tablet given your condition. You rised to notice the prince now clothed in a shirt waiting for you next to a rifle of his own.
“My name is Aia by the way” he spoke
“And my name is Nami” she chorused
“Senia”
You headed out to grab your things and head to the spaceport feeling the substance invigorate your veins with alertness you felt to be supernatural: it was clearly more than a waking tablet. The light of the city was mixing with the glow of its night-lamps and you could see Alendria in the distance rising above your satellite with its fertile glow.
“How does a moon so close to such a fertile world get so barren anyways?”
“Poor soil for growth, and lack of water”
“You have a riding bird a biological creature engineered to be perfect for all environments by our forerunners, you will do good with it”
Nami was knowledgeable you thought as she and her companion hopped onto their own riding birds.