Next chap, everyone n.n Naar, the new QuickEdit won't let me keep the periods as section markers… damn. Now what? Well, now the random, bolded Japanese lyrics are page markers. Gotta problem with that? I didn't think so.
Light the Flame
Chapter Four
Home at Last
It was a place no Egyptian could even being to imagine. A place so, opposite of the black lands, it wasn't even funny.
A high mountain terrain; no monarchy at all; tents bordered everywhere, and everyone was related. You lived with your extended extended family. Your defense was the beautiful mountains around you. You provided for yourself. You usually had lighter features then most Egyptians did.
The general attitude was much calmer then Egypt ever could be.
Teana could feel the gentle, cool water being washed over her body. Mixed with spices, it tingled as someone gently rubber her cheek with their hand, spreading a type of medicine over it. Her golden eyes fluttered open early that morning, the sun just peeking over the high-altitude ledge.
The person caring for her was looking away when she awoke. Teana lifted her head gently, the vaguely familiar threads of an old blanket from her childhood thrown over her. The caretaker turned back to be shocked by Teana's awakening.
"Oh! You're awake!" the girl said, smiling. Teana rubbed her eyes and blinked, her vision blurry. That voice... it was so damn familiar...
"Could... Savannah? Is it... you?" Teana asked, the face coming together. A bright smile lit the girl's face, her light brown hair pulled back tightly. She leaned back and laughed, grasping Teana's hand.
"Ana," she whispered, close to Teana's face, "you've come home to us." Teana blinked again, smiling as she remembered her friend.
"Savannah!" Teana cried, her face lighting up. She was wrapped into a huge hug by the girl, the two laughing and giggling like little girls. Savannah's emerald eyes opened and settled on Teana. Teana was shocked they recognized her like they did.
"Oh, Teana... You came home..." she whispered, tears in her eyes. Teana was still shocked that she was looking into the face of her old friend.
Carefully, Savannah helped her out of the bed, supporting her weak body with her own.
"Savannah... Last time I saw you, you were a little girl," Teana said softly. Savannah grinned at her womanly body.
"So were you." Carefully, the two went to the flap of the colorful tent to step into the outside world. The familiarity of this place was so strong to Teana, she couldn't speak. Memories and thoughts came rushing back as the rows of tents, men with their colorful cloaks, fires and cooking and weaving and herding...
The fact that everyone here looked like her...
Teana closed her eyes and leaned on Savannah.
"I'm so glad I'm home."
News spread fast around the large village that 'Little Ana', as she was once called, had returned. A group of teenage boys, (who were actually her older brothers), had found the fourteen-year-old and Yami lying in the sand next to each other. They recognized Teana's light hair and skin at first, then recognized her face. They assumed Yami (who was obviously Egyptian) was with her, so they brought him along as well.
By midday, the people of the village all crowded around her as she sat on a blanket next to her mother, who was, gratefully, still alive.
"I don't go by Ana anymore," Teana said endlessly that day. "I haven't for a long time..." She beamed at everyone, the sun streaking through the trees, holding her arm gingerly in a sling. Her brothers, the ones that found her, anyway, sat around her in a circle, all praising their younger sister.
"Ana, I mean, Teana--"
"--What were you doing with that Egyptian boy--"
"--Where've you been--"
"--Did they hurt you--"
"--Are you alright--"
"Sati, Kenneth, be quiet," Teana's mother commanded in a soft but stern voice. Both boys fell silent. Teana gasped suddenly and turned to her mother. Everyone standing around leaned in to hear what she had to say.
"Mama, where's Yami--?"
"Who?" Her mother asked. Teana blinked. Some of the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves.
"Oh, he's that, that boy I was with when--"
"Oh, the Egyptian," her mother said disdainfully. She nodded to a far tent. "He was badly injured, so Kenneth put him over there. I believe you tended to him...?" the old woman asked, her question hanging. Kenneth blinked, then nodded vigorously, his brown ponytail swishing with the motion of his head.
"Yes, Mama, but I don't know if it'll help at all..."
"I don't think he's woken yet..." Sati offered hopefully. Teana gasped and leaped up, her arm twinging as she did. The crowd broke to let her through to Yami's tent, a deep crimson red with white stripes going along the bottom. She lifted the flap and disappeared within.
"Seems to me," Sati whispered to Kenneth, "That she likes him. A lot."
"Yeah, I know," Kenneth whispered back.
Inside, Teana looked around for a moment, since the dark color of the tent made everything dark for a few moments. Then... She saw a bed near the center, a pile of blankets drawn over what looked like a lump in the center of the bed.
Her heart pounding, Teana ignored her throbbing arm and ran over to the bed, kneeling beside it.
Please, she begged in her mind, don't be dead, just be asleep, don't be dead, don't be dead-- She pulled the covers back to reveal... Yami.
She pulled it until his head and his torso were revealed. Teana took in breath quickly, thinking that he had indeed died. When she first saw him, it looked as if he weren't breathing. She leaned closer, and let out her breath in great relief to see that he was breathing. She leaned closely to his face, listening to him breathe deeply. Teana sighed. He was just asleep. As she listened...
She noticed that it sounded like it was a little difficult for him to breathe. Almost like, he had to work harder to draw air into his lungs then she... or anyone else had to. 1
She leaned back, and noticed that a long, crimson line was drawn down the length of his face, from his forehead to his chin, and she saw it kept going down the side of his neck until his collar bone. Teana traced it gently, feeling how it was slightly raised from the rest of his body.
It was a gash.
"Ooooh..." Teana murmured. "Ouch." At her voice and her touch, Yami stirred. He moaned a little and moved, turning his head a little towards her. Teana gasped and backed up.
Behind her, unbeknownst to her, Kenneth, Sati, and her youngest sister, Scenna, were peering into the tent by the flap. Scenna, who was born only a year before Teana's capture, still actually remembered Teana, which was amazing.
Yami's eyes fluttered open, focusing on Teana's face. He stared at her absently for a few moments, as if he didn't recognize her. Teana gasped--
He smiled. His eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting of the tent.
"Teana," he said hoarsely. He coughed and took a very deep breath, wincing and grinning at Teana. "How are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Where are we?" Yami wondered, sitting up a bit. Teana noticed his right arm had a blood-stained bandage on it.
"We're... Actually, Yami, we're in my homelands," she explained, smiling. Yami looked surprised.
"The place you told me about?"
Teana nodded. Yami smiled. He laid back in his bed and sighed deeply. He turned to her, drawing her face closer to his.
At this sudden movement, Kenneth, Sati and Scenna all leaned forward. They were acting as spies for everyone else in the village.
"This is the place where... You said..." Yami smiled boldly, and all three of Teana's siblings leaned forward--"The place where we could marry."
That night, a huge bonfire lit up the sky. Dancers and storytellers and singers from all over the community gathered. Yami was able to get the full story of these people in bits and pieces.
When all the little communities were together, they had nearly as much as the people of Egypt. However, they were spread out in communities in the mountains, communicating by people riding between them. Sometimes they all got up and moved their things and lived together in the "Great Valley" if they felt at all threatened by armies. Apparently, it's the only place in the mountains large enough to hold them all together.
It must be huge, Yami though to himself.
He was accepted by everyone in the village right away, including Teana's mother.
Teana's mother, Annuay, had scars still from when men from a neighboring country came and kidnapped many of the young girls from the "Great Valley" many years ago. Teana had been wrenched from her arms, her right arm chopped up in the process. They ambushed and rescued most of the captives from the second day, but Teana was among the few captured that night. She was taken away.
After becoming accustomed to the cooler temperatures and the thin air of this place, Yami left the tent and was amazed at what he saw. Because what he and Teana were wearing was all torn up, he was given the clothing that someone of his age would wear here. Kenneth gave him a cloak make of fine blue hues, almost looking like a river. Underneath he wore a short white tunic with a white belt around his waist. Almost every man had some type of designed cloak to wear.
"It's supposed to look like a normal river, but you can pretend it's the Nile, Egyptian," Kenneth explained. "It's the only one that suites you right now. Yours is being made."
"I have one being made?" Yami asked in disbelief. "Really?" Teana, who was sitting beside him, nodded.
"I guess so..."
"Well, if you're staying for awhile, you have to dress the part, Egyptian," Kenneth said, grinning. Teana frowned.
"You know, Kenneth, he has a name."
"Yeah, I know. But I won't call him that until he's part of this family," he said. Yami blinked. "What, you don't think we didn't hear what you said earlier? About this being the place to marry?"
Yami's face immediately became pinker.
"That's what I thought," Kenneth said, smiling once more. He stood up. "You'll get it when you marry her..." and with that, he ran off into a dancing circle of people.
Yami and Teana sat on a pile of soft blankets, watching flames leap into the air and people dancing. Yami could tell by Teana's face she longed to dance as well, but her sling was holding her back. Yami noticed people running over to different groups and whispering to them, as if telling them some grand secret. Yami wondered what they were talking about.
At one point, the girl with the long brown hair and sweet face, Savannah, came over to them.
"Come on, Teana, dance!" she said, her skirts flailing. Teana shook her head sadly.
"Savannah, I can't, my injury--" she motioned towards it. Savannah sighed.
"Well, you better get well quick, 'cause you'll look damn foolish if you can't dance at your own wedding," she said, and left. Yami and Teana stared at each other.
"Kenneth likes to gossip," Teana said, breaking into a smile. They both laughed and shook their heads. Teana leaned against Yami, sighing intently. She felt his hands place onto her shoulders, keeping her still. His grip grew tighter, firmer, steadier...
He kissed her cheek lightly. Teana opened her eyes and find that Yami's face was right in front of her.
For the moment, everyone up dancing and singing and acting jovially wasn't there. Yami closed his eyes and drew her face to his, kissing her lips softly. It lasted no more than a few seconds, but when they broke apart, Teana leaned against his chest, the rhythm of his breathing lulling her to sleep...
She could feel something warming her... Was that Yami? Was it something else? It was so warm, so soft... She felt a warm heat radiating from somewhere near her... Around her... This heat surrounded her...
A soft beating... She could feel it, this gentle heart beat inside of someone... Who it was, she wasn't sure...
Yami opened his eyes. He was lying on his side, in his bed, a blanket thrown over him. He felt warm and comfortable, full from the night before. Yet...
There was something strange about what he was seeing... A large mass of brown...
Hair?
He blinked and pushed himself up more, to find his arm was trapped beneath Teana's body. She was right next to him, her back against his chest, his arm underneath her side, wrapped around her. Yami's other arm had been around her other side, so she was completely in his lock. Yami blinked groggily and gently pulled his arm out from beneath Teana. Teana moaned, opened her eyes, and rolled onto her back. She seemed surprised to see Yami beside her.
Yami made a quick mental check; it seemed all they did was sleep in the same bed, nothing else.
He sighed in relief.
"Yami...?" she asked, rubbing her eyes and lying on her back. She tilted her head his way. "Wha's going on...?"
"I dunno," Yami explained. "I guess someone must have moved us into my tent... or this tent, or... Whatever... Together... Because we fell asleep." Teana stretched and nodded, not fully understanding. She breathed deeply and fell back asleep, Yami sitting in the bed beside her. He smiled down at her.
Over the next few days, there was talk of a wedding being held. The news of it had spread throughout the village, and even into neighboring ones. Yami was sitting on a large rock, Kenneth teaching him how to control the horses (which would be his job, along with some other men his age), when Teana ran over to him one morning.
"Yamiiii!" she called, tripping over herself as she ran. Both Yami and Kenneth looked up.
"Yeah?" Yami called. Teana ran over, took his hands, and pulled him up.
"My mother set the wedding," she said, swinging her arms, which in turn, swung Yami's. Yami blinked, then he smiled greatly.
"Really?"
"Yes. It's in four nights, during the full moon." Teana seemed filled to the bursting point. She latched her arms around his body and leaned against his chest. Yami just held her, closing his eyes.
"I'm so excited," she whispered, sighing deeply. Yami smiled.
"Me, too."
1 Yami being unable to breathe: this is where physical science comes in :gasp: Well, anyway.
Yami is from Egypt, which is pretty much sea-level, altitude-wise. Teana is from somewhere high in the mountains, waaaaay above sea level. Because Yami lived in Egypt his entire life, and the air is muuuuuch thinner here, his lungs need a lot more of it because he isn't used to it. That's why he's breathing so hard; he'll do this until he becomes used to the air, which might take a few hours.
2 This is the song that I'm using as page dividers. It's "the starry sky", from the Angelic Layer anime. Get used to it xP
Hmm, well, there's a taste of life in that made-up-place... Yesh... I made that allll up... XD Well, anyway, Unfortunetly for you TeanaxYami lovers, the next chap is BACK to Egypt to see how Aklia is doing... since her wedding would have happened already... :D Funness! Weeee! Next chap: What Could Have Been
TTFN
Shibby-One
