#wildwaters

I did a sprint today with @elleleuthold (4 hours!) and finished the fifth part of the story around Cem, the elements and the nameless girl. In case you missed the prequel, make sure to read part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4. 

Word count: 1702

Apparently, there is more to this world than we thought. There are organisms, some of them human, and elements and, as it turns out, something in between. The elements always seemed to be a trinity, with rocks, water and plants linked to cause everything that happened around us, and to sometimes be in the favour of humans wise or dump enough to change them to their liking.

That isn´t entirely correct of course. There seem to be so many distinctions as there are varieties in the senses humans possess, other than smell or taste or sight. The notion of time or the feeling of bad occurrences approaching. The way the roots of your hair tense up when you got the feeling somebody or something is watching you.

After all, the Big Quake disrupted not only our known ways, but got rid of a lot of knowledge. We lost more than a few senses, we lost ourselves.

With humans no longer able to comprehend what came naturally to previous generations, some sayings and riddles remain, but are altered, if not manipulated. Some are forgotten. Some are up front wrong. Few are unknown, or mostly unknown. These, and this particular one, turned out to be of upmost importance. Such a shame no one was able to spot or learn them. Until now.

 “I know your name. Cem told me”, Ida said while I glared at her in disbelief.

“You told her?” I asked him without expecting an answer from the vine coated bundle on the ground that was his body. Even though the sun was high no light seemed to reach beneath the thick layer of leaves. “You know what happens to those who know my name. I can die. So can others! And you told her?!”

A numbness spread in my flesh that I never experienced before, as if all water was drained from my body, leaving only dust. Afraid of fading I couldn´t breathe, standing stiff before them; hollow.

Once again I had to face the fate of my name, the misery it brought to the people I loved. I remembered my father and the talk we had. I remembered how deep into the woods we went, how I was scared not knowing that it was nothing compared to what was there to come. The breathless whisper in my father’s voice, no longer strong and calm but hushed and shaking.

I knew about the prophecy. Learning it related to me came as a surprise. He told me my real name. Not the name that my mother gave me, but the name he bequeathed me. The name that people tattled about on the quite, both in hope and fear.

He told me not to tell anyone who I really was. He told me not to worry for he would protect me. He told me that not all prophecies were to come true.  

And then he vanished.

Cem tried to talk but shook with sobbing. Ida wanted to reach for him, only to have her hand whipped by a root. She looked troubled. And I still couldn´t breathe.

“I can help you”, Ida now said, looking at the ground. “I don´t want anyone to die. I know you feel the same. And I know what to do about it.”

“You know me? And you know how I feel?” I sneered. “And why do you care?”

“I am wildwaters. I am wind.” Ida confessed. “And I want to help.”

 It was an answer I didn´t expect, but it was Cems reaction that caught me off guard.

He was awfully quite now, squinting at the rocks beneath him. As his lips parted, they shifted his face into an expression I only saw once before that when I told him about the prophecy and my name. His half smile was set in stone, faint and deep. He even used the same words.

“Don’t worry. We will make it through this together.”

She beamed back at him, exhausted. “Look at you, all brave and selfless. Like you never stopped loving me.”

“I never did.” He tensed against the vines, once more without success.  “I couldn´t because I knew you were coming back to me. You had to. ”

Ida’s finger skimmed the rock bounding her chest. “Please let me go. I know it´s a lot to take in, but I will explain everything. Ask me and I´ll tell you. But let me heal him first.”

“You can do that?” I asked to save time. Her love for Cem might be genuine, but how was I supposed to know whether there was something else she desired more? Like ending this war by sacrificing me to the elements, as I was bidden to in the prophecy. By leaving him to die and draining me off all resistance. Ori did it before her, so chances were she could do it too.

But then again, Cem was dying and yet again, I had to save him.

“If you are wildwaters, why did you let the rocks take you? You can change form. It should have been impossible for me to catch you!”

“I didn´t want to scare you. It´s a lot to take in after I was gone for so long. And I wanted to take my time while telling you, but then you lost it. And I,” she stressed this part in particular “had to make clear I mean no harm. You needed to know that you had the upper hand. But did you had to be this jumpy?”

“Can you blame me? With you gone Cem wasn´t himself. Of course I´m upset. He lost sleep and hardly talked. He was so tense, so lost.”

“Don´t talk about me as if I´m gone”, he chipped in. “I´m right here.”

“I know you are, but I need to know if I can trust her before I free her. She said she won´t merge from the rocks, not that she couldn´t. We can´t risk both of us just because you´re in love, you know.”

“Now you even sound like her”, Cem sighed.

Ida jeered. „She does. Now please, we´re losing time.”

“You were gone for weeks, you´ll have a few minutes to hear me out.”

Ida wanted to protest, but Cems thin voice cut her short. “I´m good, let her finish.”

I shifted my weight to the other leg, the rocks whispering beneath me. Standing for such a long time was irritating. “What does it mean when you say that you are wind?”

“I don´t know. But I am.” Ida looked into the distance. “We are few but we are many. It´s all I know.”

I said nothing, thinking.

“I am the only one like this, at least the only one I know of. I don´t know what else to tell you.”

“How do I know you won´t influence my like Ori did? There was no fighting it, she wouldn´t allow it. How do I know you won´t just do the same?” Ori´s grip on me was fading as I stood. I hoped it meant she was far away.

“She did that to you?” Ida straightened herself, her face grim. “She did it to me many times, so I know how it feels. I won´t do this to anyone, not even you.”

I couldn´t help but laugh. “Sure.”

“I´m serious. We weren´t off to a great start and it might take a while to get there, but you´re Cem´s best friend and I respect that. You´re always there for him.”

She took a peek at him. His head looked so small in the coat of vines. There was no denying it, he was getting worse. She shrugged. “Let me be there for him, I beg you.”

Wind emerged from the valley, gently playing with our hair, whirling up dust. My first reaction was to take a step towards Ida only to see her getting lost in Cem´s gaze, speaking softly to him without paying attention to anything else. The sun gained strength, lighting up everything but the bundle of tendrils around his body. Whatever this breeze carried, she was not a part of it.

Who was I to judge Ida for what she was rather than for how she behaved? She was snarky, determined and proud, yet gentle and kind towards Cem. She abandoned us just to come back for him. She spat words like poison and soothed wounds with great care, quite literally. I touched the scar on my arm, the one I gained the day we rescued her. The one she treated without hesitation.

´You will heal, there´s no doubt about it. You do good, so good will hold you dear.´

She told me we were strong. How caring she was back then, and how much so she was now.

I smiled to myself as I kneeled down to call back the rocks. Maybe she was so rough with me because I was never easy on her. Maybe we learned that from each other. In the end, all three of us had quite a temper.

The stone protested as I gave the order to free Ida, but it listened very carefully when I noted that the woodlings might still not listen to Cem. They could try to attack Ida if she came near him. I didn´t want that. But then again, if she was to try anything on Cem or me, the rocklings would interfere. No mercy.

The ground shifted and Ida came lose. She stumbled towards Cem and looked back at me, nodding like I did. Her hands rushed into the vine, pulling it slow and steady from his body. Their foreheads touched and sunlight reflected from their cheeks. Time and again I knew not to disturb their embrace but couldn´t leave just now. I had to know he would be all right.

The ground beneath me flooded with warmth as the woodlings peeled of him and caressed their faces. He pulled her into a kiss, hands branched in her hair. He was well.

“I leave you to it”, I said and turned to stroll the woods for water.  

I swear I heard Ida mumble something along the lines of “Finally!” just to be followed by a soft “Thank you.”.

 ~~~

To be continued. There is still a lot more to resolve (and two sequels to come), but for now it turned out okay. What do you think? 

I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for reading!

Klick here to read Part 6 and Part 7.