#OC-tober2023

Raiya’s dad wasn’t home much, especially since she got old enough to be alone without burning the whole place down, but that was fine with her. She loved him and knew that he had to work pretty hard for both of them - he would never say it out loud, but she was pretty sure that he missed his life before her mom dropped a baby into his life and herself clean out of it twelve years ago. So she didn’t even mention it when he stayed out particularly late at the bar sometimes, listening from her own room for his familiar footsteps to come tromping through the door. Besides, when he was at work, she could use his tools at home. 

Her dad didn’t have any toys for her when she first arrived, but he worked with tools for his job, so he’d made all her blocks and little wooden people out of scraps from his odd jobs around White Lake, and it wasn’t long before Raiya started putting things together too. It made her dad smile to see her working with wood and metal like him, but also nervous. She was very good at building and had started putting together little clockwork creations, and these were things that sometimes drew attention from the Pure. Ever since the use of numenera, those strange, beyond-ancient technologies left scattered throughout the world, poisoned the water supply before she was born, the city came together to regulate it, numenera and the water, led by a council and guard force. The Pure. 

As far as numenera was concerned, “regulated” meant outright banned, with possession being punishable with anything from jail time to lower allowances from the regulated water. 

Obviously, what Raiya was doing wasn’t anything close to the mysterious workings of numenera, though she did think it would be pretty cool to find some - she heard that every piece ever discovered was different. That kind of thinking, even if she didn’t say it out loud, was probably why the Pure paid attention. And why her dad got nervous. But there was just no chance of that ever happening, not here, and the idea of leaving White Lake never even occurred to her. Like most of the residents of this dusty town, she was here to stay. 

~Five Years Later~

Raiya’s legs carried her as fast as she could possibly go through the dark, narrow streets of White Lake’s residential district. Her satchel thumped painfully against her back, keeping arrhythmic time with her heart while sirens shrieked from the water tower at the center of the city. They alleyways twisted and branched around each other and Raiya had to trust her familiarity to get her to Angel’s workshop because she couldn’t bring out a light, because she couldn’t be seen. This was hardly the first time she’d snuck out past curfew, but this was far more important than teenage exploration and with suddenly vastly higher stakes. 

Something went wrong. Angel was supposed to release the water supply to the town, she’d made the devices he was using to get in herself, but the explosion she (everyone) heard was much, much bigger. Now, the night was coming alive with rumors and fear; she could only hope that the volume of guards sweeping the city meant that Angel wasn’t caught. 

Raiya was about to swerve to avoid a house whose lights had just turned on when hands lunged out from an alley, wrapping around Raiya’s waist and mouth, smothering her scream. 

“Come with me.” 

She stilled on instinct under the familiar voice, but before she could even take a breath, Angel was leading her by the hand further to the outskirts of the city with complete silence. They reached a nondescript shed among the many nondescript, dusty, often derelict structures of White Lake and he pushed Raiya inside first. Two walls were entirely lined with shelves with workbenches below - it was still too dark to make out the shapes on them. A small cot. A desk. Similar to the workshop she and Angel often met in. It made sense, she supposed, to have more than one. Only after the door closed did he release her hand and begin to speak. His voice came quickly but calm as ever while he paced the walls, grabbing things one after the other.

“Something went wrong. The Pure somehow found out about our plan and planted their own explosive,” he said, pulling two already half-full bags down from a shelf. 

Raiya shook her head, trying to keep up with the rapidly changing night. 

“Why would they do that?” Angel gave her a pointed look. She was often too loud. 

“They’re going to blame it on me,” he continued, deliberately even quieter. Several smallish foil packets from another shelf. A pouch that jingled. She was too frazzled to piece together what exactly these items meant together. “On us. They’re going to use this as an excuse to make their control even more absolute.” Raiya opened her mouth to protest again - They can’t do that, that wasn’t what happened! - but he didn’t pause. “They’re already talking; no one will listen to us now even if we tried. Raiya,” He held one of the packs out to her. “Do you trust me.” 

“Of course.”

“We have to leave.” 

They were facing each other directly for the first time. She looked from the bag to Angel. With his dark clothing and hair, only his pale face was visible through the darkness, serene and severe. The sirens, though quieter with the distance and walls between them, seemed even more pressing, like they were filling up the room and couldn’t leave. He hadn’t let her go, kept a hold on her shoulders and watched her reaction with a measured patience that made her suddenly feel the decade between them more poignantly than she ever had before, no longer a peer and ally, but just a young and stupid girl for not understanding what he meant. 

“Leave…” she echoed weakly.

“Leave White Lake.”

The words spun. On some level, she knew the Pure and knew it made sense, but…she lived here.

“But- My dad!” She pulled away with new urgency. “He-”

“You can’t involve him any more if you want to keep him safe.” He held her back easily to face him. “Listen to me. This is the best chance we have for him to prove he knew nothing about this.” Every heartbeat felt like it was reverberating through her body; when she reached out to take the bag from Angel, her hands were shaking. Angel saw, of course. He let her go and sighed. 

“Right,” He nodded and closed his eyes. Raiya suddenly felt cold. “If…this is too much, then you can stay. I certainly can’t - won’t - make you leave. Just…tell them that I made you help me and it shouldn’t be too bad for you. You're young enough still that they'll believe it..”

That shocked Raiya back into focus. 

“What-? No! Of course not, I would never do that. It’s not true,” she said stubbornly. Angel smiled. 

“If you’re sure, then take this, go west for about two days and then straight south until you reach Salton - the people tend to keep their own business, so you should be able to hide out there.”

“Oh, but…I thought that we…” Wasn’t that what he’d said, “we?”

“It’s too dangerous, at least right now. They’ll be expecting us to be together, and it would attract more attention.” He sounded as clean as a script. “The safest way to law low is to go alone: no contact. But you can handle this, you’re far too smart not.” He hefted his own heavy bag onto his back and tugged her closer for a briefest press of a hug and an unexpected, even briefer kiss on her forehead, wiping away her anxieties and protests.