A/N: Hello, all! Welcome to the next installment of Firelight! The schools have been experiencing a lot of snow days here in my little corner of Michigan. I can't do custodial if the kids aren't in school, so I've had a few days off work. This week has also been pretty slow regarding homework. Little homework + frequent work cancellations = a new chapter! Midterms are coming up in a couple of weeks, and I have a few large projects coming up, so I figured I would take advantage of the downtime while I have it. Hopefully you enjoy the chapter, because I had a blast writing it!
My twenty-third birthday is coming up soon, too... It feels weird. I was nineteen when I created Damiana. Realizing that I've been at this story for the past four years is a bit daunting! I haven't given up in four years, so know that the chapters will keep coming. Thank you so much for reading! Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. Teen Titans is the property of DC Comics.
Part IV: Unraveled: Chapter Thirty-Seven
Roy can't sleep tonight. It's surprising enough that he was able to sleep last night. Not to mention, the night before. If he didn't awaken, it was either because of sheer exhaustion or the promise of getting somewhere. Perhaps a combination of both. He certainly never imagined three days of walking bringing them nowhere! The archer sighs internally while gazing at his surroundings.
The stream lies off in the distance, more of a river at this point than a stream. He and Damiana used to be able to cross it easily. Now crossing the body of rushing water is nearly impossible. It is deep and swift and could easily sweep a person who is unprepared away. Luckily they stayed on the side of the river containing yakko nuts, making crossing for food unnecessary. The lilac moon, now waning, reflects off of the water's surface. It sparkles in a way that is oddly soothing despite the stressful thoughts plaguing Roy's mind. One of these thoughts is focused on the sound of loud crashing coming from upstream; the crashing of a waterfall. If the river they have been following ends after the waterfall, then so does their path to civilization.
More than anything, the archer would like to journey ahead to see if this is the reality they're facing. The only thing that stops him is the sight of his travel companion sleeping soundly beside the fire. Damiana's rose red tresses are askew and her face is smudged with dirt, but she stopped caring days ago. Her gray sweatshirt is wadded up in the form of a pillow, serving as her only form of comfort while sleeping on a bed of grass. Roy's quiver lays a foot away from her, his weapon's arsenal previously acting as his own pillow. As they slept, the broken machine sat between them. The archer reaches down from where he stands, grasping the machine in one arm and hosting up his quiver with the other.
Although he wants to, Roy doesn't go far. He carefully tiptoes past Damiana to the other side of their campfire. Normally he would be impressed that she manages to control the fire even while sleeping, keeping it from spreading and from going out. Of course, the novelty of her powers has worn off. Instead of staring at the dancing flames in awe, Roy sits across from Damiana. Aided by the fire's bright light, he digs through his quiver. He pushes past exploding arrows, punching glove arrows, heat-seeking arrows, and various others until eventually pulling out a small, metal, case. The archer opens the container, revealing an assortment of miniaturized tools such as three sizes of screwdrivers, pliers, a wrench, and wires of numerous colors.
While he is happy that all of his tools are here, he can't help feeling frustrated as well. Nothing he has with him will be enough to repair the machine. The miniaturized tools are meant as an emergency repair kit for his trick arrows while out on missions. Nonetheless, the sparse toolkit is better than nothing.
Grabbing the largest of the three screwdrivers, Roy begins poking and prodding at Black Shadow's ruined device. He turns it so that the blue stripe bearing the keypad is facing him. After unbolting one screw in each corner, the keypad comes off with relative ease. It hangs by a single, red, wire. Astonishingly, as Roy searches the machine's innards, none of the wiring appears to be out of place. Neither do any chips or other miscellaneous components. Furrowing baffled, ginger, brows, he bolts the keypad back into place, red wire and all.
Next, the machine's black top comes into focus. There are two black flaps that are supposed to separate when a rift is forming, and once the rift closes, the flaps come back together. One of the black flaps is missing. Roy is well aware of this. Upon finding civilization, his initial plan was finding a similar component to replace it. Upon observing it more closely, however, it is immediately discovered that the solution will not be so easy. There is a large crack on the inside of the machine, as if the flap was forcefully torn off. The realization that welding will be necessary causes the archer to groan. Causing an additional groan, one ten times more pained than the first, is the sight of the damaged piece that he has been avidly searching for.
Toward the device's center is a sturdy, steel, fuel chamber. Rather than being silver in color, it is dusted black by charcoal. A sinking feeling in his gut, the archer uses his handy screwdriver to pry the chamber apart. Upon doing so, an immediate discovery is made. The fuel chamber is charred beyond recognition. Zenotrum, while it was very effective in maintaining Black Shadow's rifts, destroyed the chamber as well as the fuel processor after a single use. Not only will the machine need to be welded where the crack is, but now they also need to find a material that can replicate the original fuel chamber closely enough to convert that fuel into energy. Not to mention, they need to find some sort of Dabnodian equivalent to zenotrum.
If Roy knew that acting out in anger wouldn't destroy the device further, he would throw it as hard as possible against the closest tree! Hopefully Damiana knows as much about Dabnodian minerals as she does about flora and fauna. They could be doomed otherwise.
Feeling a combination of hopelessness and indignation, he replaces the screwdriver and puts the toolkit back inside of his quiver. Afterward, he continues gaping at the machine's fuel chamber. A part this important will be incredibly difficult to fix as it is. If they continue on their endless journey through the wilderness, they might never make the needed repairs in time! Shouldn't three days of traveling have brought them to a town, a cabin, or a campsite? They haven't seen the slightest trace of other people! At this point, the archer is almost certain that they're the only intelligent life on Dabnod!
"Roy, what's wrong? It's the middle of the night. You should be sleeping."
Startled from his forlorn thoughts, the redhead gazes across the fire to see Damiana's pink, inquisitive, eyes locked onto him. Roy returns her stare, emerald eyes overflowing with every frustrated emotion he is feeling.
"I have no idea how you can sleep with the situation we're in. I've been trying all night, and it's impossible."
The girl frowns, but she doesn't look upset. Rather, her frown is one of concern. "I sleep because I'll turn hysterical if I don't. If we skip sleeping only to turn into hallucinating insomniacs, how far will that get us?" Damiana sits up and reaches for a pile of yakko nuts; a pile that had been between them earlier. She takes two, tossing one in Roy's direction. "I eat for the same reason. It's hard to travel if I'm starving to death. I've traveled while sleep deprived and starving, so I should know."
The redhead catches the fruit effortlessly, staring at her in confusion the entire time. "What are you talking about? I've been eating plenty!"
"Then tell me the last time you ate."
Roy is about to give her an answer until making the sudden realization that he can't remember. It was more than twelve hours ago. He knows that much... As if reading his mind, Damiana grabs an additional yakko nut from the pile and tosses that to him as well.
"Your lack of response is the only answer I need. Eat up!"
Unable to argue, he sets Black Shadow's machine aside and works on peeling the lumpy, oval-shaped, blue-skinned, fruit. The skin feels odd, rubbery, and after tearing a gap into the soft flesh, it peels off in once piece. The fruit has the crunch and the texture of an apple, and tastes like a combination of bananas, almonds, and hazelnuts. This is the nourishment that they have the easiest access to, and truth be told, Roy likes the flavor. Yet, he has hardly eaten a bite. As the redhead engulfs both yakko nuts in under a minute, the girl begins asking additional questions. She is so entirely baffled that her hair and eyes shift to lime green.
"Do you mind me asking what you were doing to Black Shadow's machine? The scraping of a screwdriver against metal isn't an easy thing to sleep through."
A pang of sympathy strikes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I just wanted to figure out what's wrong with it. In case you're curious, it doesn't look good. The zenotrum Black Shadow used to power his machine completely fried the fuel chamber and the fuel processor. There's also a crack on the inside that needs to be welded. Fixing that thing won't be fun, and even if we manage it, I don't know where to begin on finding a compatible fuel source."
Damiana's features practically blind him. "It's that bad? You have to be kidding! A repair like that will take an eternity, and we haven't even found a town yet!"
"What do you think has been going through my head? It has been three days, Damiana! If we don't make it to civilization soon, we're done!"
Neon green immediately shifts to midnight blue. "I'm sorry, Roy, but I'm doing everything I can. This might be my home planet, but we're still in the middle of nowhere. I am not a master navigator."
Roy, however agitated, replies apologetically. "I didn't mean it like that. I know you're doing your best. Spending three days hiking without getting somewhere is just starting to get to me! Not to mention the waterfall upstream. If the waterfall dead-ends into a lake, we won't have anything left to follow."
Midnight blue features transform into their primary colors of rose red and soft pink. Much to his surprise, the first thing Damiana does is extend her hands toward their campfire. An instant later the flames are absorbed into the center of her palms, nothing left behind but stone, ashes, and blackened wood. Once this task is finished, she grabs her wadded-up sweatshirt and begins tucking the remaining yakko nuts into its deep pockets. The entire time he stares at his companion in bafflement.
"Uh…Damiana… What are you doing?"
She responds while walking to his side of their extinguished campfire, crafting her sweatshirt into a sling, and securing the faulty machine to her waist.
"I'm not going back to sleep, and by the way you're acting, you aren't either. We may as well get an early start. Especially since we're so concerned about finding a town."
Roy scoffs. "A town? At this point, I just want to find other people! I don't care if we meet a cannibal woodsman! As long as he directs us toward a town, I'll be happy."
For the first time since awakening, Damiana smirks. "If we run into a cannibal woodsman, why would he direct us toward town if we're his dinner? And if he eats you, I don't think that's actually cannibalism."
"Maybe he'll direct us toward a town because we're too skinny. He only eats the fat wanderers."
The girl giggles. "That's a lame excuse. We're exotic. Why would he pass up alien meat and a Noble Lady from the Fire Phoenix clan?"
"Because you're a feisty fire-user and I'm a guy with explosive arrows. He should know not to eat us." Roy grabs his quiver and leaps to his feet. "Alright, let's go. The sooner we find civilization, the easier it will be to avoid the cannibals."
The duo walks side-by-side, Damiana nudging him lightly in the ribs. "I already told you that eating you wouldn't be considered cannibalism. You're a human, not a Dabnodian."
Despite feeling a gargantuan amount of stress, Roy gives an honest laugh. "Hearing you say that makes me concerned. Should I watch my back?"
The girl rolls her eyes playfully. "Roy, with your arrogance and how much you tease me, I could never eat you. You'd give me the worst indigestion of my life."
Roy uses this opportunity to nudge her in the ribs as well. "Thank you. It warms my heart that you wouldn't eat me. That's a sign of true friendship. If it means anything, I'd never eat you either. With your powers, you'd probably give me heartburn."
"That's a good one. Add that to your list of dad jokes. I'm sure it'll get a few laughs."
"Jokes? That wasn't a joke. I'm adding that to my list of things to tell the cannibals!"
This conversation continues for the rest of the night and until long after sunrise. If Roy had to get stranded on another planet with anyone, he is truly happy that it turned out to be Damiana. Somehow, their banter is able to make a terrifying situation slightly less frightening.
Damiana never realized how much she was missing. As a little girl, she understood that different areas of Dabnod had their own, unique, beauty. Every book that Daddy and Saeran brought home from their Knight expeditions told her this, as did the almanacs from the Palace archives. She never felt the need nor the desire to go see these places. Looking at pictures and reading in-depth narratives from the confines of her hilltop cabin was all Damiana required to feel as though she'd been out adventuring. It is only now that she wishes that her zest for adventure had been more like Saeran's. She should have begged Mama and Queen Guayusa to let her leave the Palace City. Beyond the grassy hills of her cabin and the rose stone walls of the Palace is a marvelous landscape!
Roy gapes from the top of the tree-laden hill in awe. Damiana stands only a few feet in front of him, her hand fondling a whitewashed branch as she stares at the Dabnodian countryside's splendor. Never did she expect four days of walking to lead them to a place like this. When she and Roy first stumbled across the water source, it was a meager stream. Now they stare at a magnificent waterfall.
At the bottom of the waterfall, exactly as Roy suspected, is a large pond. Fortunately, the pond extends into a continuation of the rapids that they have been following. The river below flows faster and harsher than the river behind them. It's more similar to a raging torrent than a mere river. Even so, the white-peaked rapids look truly breathtaking from this high vantage point. The midday sun glints off the surface, making it shine like broken glass.
Spray from the waterfall dampens Damiana's lime green tank top and her faded blue jeans. Yet, the chill doesn't affect her. She shifts her attention to the crashing water, watching foam rise to the surface of the pond as it beats on the rocks below. Beyond the foam, pale pink pebbles can be seen lining the pond's bottom. Large fishes with teal scales swim around as well, causing the girl's stomach to rumble. After days of eating nothing but yakko nuts, fish sounds particularly tasty.
True, with their earlier conversation about the major repairs the rift machine needs, and how they can only manage them by reaching civilization, they should keep moving. Even so, the girl can't imagine Roy being opposed to taking a break. He sleeps less and eats less than she does. The fate-damned fool must be exhausted! Especially considering how they put in five hours of hiking on four hours of sleep. Three hours of the aforementioned hiking, Damiana recalls vividly, were uphill.
Upon giving her teammate a backwards glance, the first thing she notices are dark circles rimming fatigued eyes. The girl would also note that his body is coated in grime, and that she can smell him from a mile away. The only reason she doesn't is because Damiana knows that she probably looks and smells just as bad, if not worse. Eventually the redhead notices her staring, because he shoots the girl a playful smile.
"If you're going to rub it in that I was wrong and that the river does continue, feel free to unleash your mockery."
"As much as I would love to make fun of you, that's actually not what I'm thinking. I was thinking that we could eat some fish, wash our clothes, and bathe. Maybe sleep a few extra hours while we're at it."
His smile morphs into a smirk. "You want to do brunch, bathe together, and then sleep together? Alright, I'm game!" Sidling closer, he adds seductively, "I never thought that you'd be so honest about your feelings. Frankly, I'm flattered."
She doesn't need a mirror to know that her tresses and irises are shifting to a florescent shade of magenta. As for her cheeks, she can feel them growing warmer. "Will you knock it off? You know I didn't mean it like that! The only reason I made that suggestion is because you look starved and tired and you smell like a mule!"
"And the only reason I made my suggestion is because you react so strongly! I've never seen fuchsia before. I wonder what it means."
So bright is Damiana's hair that the average person would need to shield their eyes. Roy, on the other hand, manages to hold her gaze while smirking broadly.
"Wh-what does it matter what this color means? It's my hair and my eyes! I don't have to tell you what this color means if I don't want to!"
"No. You really don't have to. It's written all over your face." Before Damiana has a chance to respond irately, he continues. "I'm only kidding, by the way. Don't take it so seriously."
The redhead gently yanks one of her tangled tresses and gives her a playful wink. A moment later he forages ahead, pushing aside white branches and trekking downhill. Damiana doesn't follow immediately. More than anything, her focus is on returning her magenta features to normal. The girl is perfectly aware that Roy is only joking when he says things like that. Why does she allow those sorts of jokes to make her so flustered?!
Eventually he calls up the hillside, his tone retaining its humor. "Are you coming? If you're keeping your distance because I smell like a mule, then you're a hypocrite! You smell like a mule, too! Put us together, and the cannibals will smell us coming!"
That final comment is all it takes for her features to resume their usual colors. Snickering, she leaps down the hill after him. "Enough with the cannibals! I can't believe you're still on that!"
The pond is neither shallow nor deep. Cool water immerses Damiana's body up to her shoulders, providing plenty of space for swimming without the possibility of drowning. A convenient stroke of luck befell them during their downhill trek; a small but plentiful patch of saitae sprouts. Saitae sprouts are a natural source of soap that form suds when crushed and combined with water. Roy gave her a very odd look when she darted into the brush and nearly danced with joy at the sight of the red and orange blossoms. Once she explained what they were, however, he collected more than she did. They have been in the water for nearly an hour now, smelling and looking much better thanks to their discovery of the saitae sprouts.
What surprised Damiana the most is that neither she nor Roy hesitated to jump into the pond unclothed. Rather than acting bothered, they remained on opposite shores facing away from each other. Their agreement was unspoken, neither one of them wanting to take their playful banter too far. This probably has more to do with Roy's conscience than Damiana's, especially considering how he pushed the boundary past her comfort zone only a short while before bathing. If there is one thing that the girl appreciates about the archer, it's that he won't go too far past her limit.
At the current moment, however, such a boundary is no longer necessary. Having re-adorned their undergarments, the adolescents enjoy swimming while their clothing dries atop the indigo brush lining the shore. Thankfully, that small patch contained enough saitae sprouts to wash their clothes as well. Damiana is also thankful that she is wearing a sports bra and spandex athletic shorts instead of something pretty. She would not be able to look Roy in the face otherwise.
"I don't know why, but I always expect swimming to feel different on this planet. I keep expecting the water to be denser or colder or something."
Damiana giggles. "Water is water. Swimming on Dabnod isn't any different than swimming on Earth." An odd realization striking, she confesses, "Now that I think about it, I've never actually gone swimming on Earth. I guess I can't make the comparison."
Roy gawks. "You've never gone swimming on Earth? You don't know what you're missing! I'm taking you to the beach once we get back to Steel City." He asks curiously, "Have you ever been to a movie theater, an amusement park, or a concert?"
The girl stares at him peculiarly, her pink irises slowly shifting to green. "Nope. Never."
"In that case, I'll have to show you some serious fun. As soon as we get back to Earth and put Black Shadow behind bars, we're going out on the town."
Damiana smiles hesitantly. "Do you actually mean that?"
This time it is Roy who stares. "Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"
"We won't be able to have fun if we die here."
Her smile morphs into a frown. Roy, who'd been treading water several feet away, swims closer. He smiles softly, managing to bring Damiana some cheer.
"Then we won't die here. We'll do everything we can to get back to Earth like we've been doing. Besides. A couple days on the town gives us some incentive." He smirks mischievously. "I don't want to die until I see you pee yourself on the Devil Drop at Steel City Fun Land."
It is here that Damiana's smile returns. "That's a fair point. Living long enough to torture myself on dangerous rides does add incentive. Will the whole team be going or just us?"
"The team can come with us to the beach, the amusement park, and the concert, but we should probably see the movie alone. Mas and Menos only watch movies in Spanish, Bumblebee likes romantic comedies, and Aqualad always complains about crappy special effects."
With less than a foot of space between them, their gazes connect. From this close, she can see every streak of forest green and every fleck of brown that bedecks his emerald irises. While Roy honestly appears happy at the thought of returning to Earth and showing her some fun, Damiana sees fear there, too. An immense amount of fear. Although he seemed to be kidding about using the promise of their outings as motivation, Damiana is suddenly starting to believe that his remark was wholly serious. Truth be told, it makes the girl happy that he wasn't kidding. The idea of spending time in a carefree environment with Roy, the two of them happy to be alive, adds a new level of determination.
When the Dabnodian girl replies, her tresses shift to a florescent shade of orange and her irises to copper. If the girl had access to a mirror, or if Roy mentioned the colors to her, she would be dumbfounded. Her features have never turned these colors before.
"You're probably right. Going to a movie by ourselves would be better. Besides. I've heard that snacks are expensive. It'll be easier for two people to share than six."
Roy chuckles in a way that causes both of her hearts to melt. "It'll be your first time at the movies. You can have your own snacks."
"No. I'd rather share with you."
Damiana isn't sure why or how, but that comment stunts their exchange of dialogue. Every shade of green and brown that his eyes can conjure glimmers. Roy has shown intense facial expressions before; during combat or if he is distressed. The expression he wears right now, however, is completely different. Roy's gaze locks onto hers, somehow dazed and powerfully focused all at once. The girl should feel startled, yet she doesn't. Instead, her attention is on the anxiety stirring up inside of her stomach. This bizarre sensation is every bit as foreign as the archer's facial expression. The oddest part about this is that Damiana likes it.
There are approximately two inches of space between them. When Roy raises an arm from the water, inches narrows to centimeters. Damiana watches briefly as glistening droplets trail from his forearm all the way down to his rippling bicep before meeting the surface of the lake. Once Roy's large fingers begin tucking damp, orange, tresses tenderly behind her ear, the girl's immediate attention returns to his face. The redhead's eyes are no longer connected with Damiana's. Instead his gaze slides over her features, fingers buried deep in curled locks as his thumb caresses her cheek. Roy soon raises his other hand, cupping the opposite side of her face.
It suddenly feels as if a colony of litkaen lights has built a nest inside her stomach. What exactly comes over her, Damiana doesn't know. Before the girl can process her actions, one of her hands is resting on Roy's bare chest while the other touches the stubble of his jaw. She can feel the rough pads of his fingertips brushing against her skin, and the pungent heat of his moist flesh beneath her palms. When Roy lowers his head, those scant few centimeters of space vanish entirely. Damiana wraps both arms around the archer's neck as his warm breath dances across her face. She is fully prepared for him to capture her lips.
"SCREECH!"
Neither of them can fathom which is more startling. The ear-piercing shriek, or the massive wave that sends them both reeling. As Damiana's body somersaults beneath the surface of the pond, she frantically contemplates if she should pray to the Fates or curse them. It is only after she stands up, drenched and coughing, that she chooses to curse them. One good thing happens during four days of wandering, and the Fates have to act like an overprotective parent!
Another second passes, and Damiana suddenly finds herself tripping backwards. She abruptly lands on her rear in the sandy shallows. Not because of another wave, or because the spot she stepped in was slippery. Reality finally strikes.
Did Roy almost…kiss…her?! Sweet Fates. Roy did almost kiss her! Roy almost kissed her, and she was going to kiss him back!
Once this thought sets in, another one appears. This one being, had the kiss happened, what would have happened next…
"Damiana, are you okay?"
The girl lifts her eyes to see said redhead approaching. He appears every bit as waterlogged as she feels. Before he can arrive at her side to help her stand up, Damiana jolts to her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just wet." Averting her attention from his figure, as well as from her conflicted inner musings, she gestures to the other side of the lake. "It looks like he wanted to go swimming, too."
Standing under the waterfall pruning its feathers is a snow-white phoenix. The bird is so large that it stands at half the height of the waterfall and fills an entire quarter of the pond. Although Damiana referred to the bird as 'he', it might actually be a female at a second glance. Male phoenixes are slightly larger and squarer in shape. Not to mention that this is an ice phoenix. Male ice phoenixes generally have spots of gray on their stomachs, and as far as Damiana can see, this ice phoenix is pure white. The girl is baffled at the sight of an ice phoenix in the middle of a forest, yet she doesn't question it. Rather, she steps out of the lake and walks behind the shrubberies for fear of being caught in another mini tsunami. Roy follows without much hesitation.
"I thought you said water phoenixes were native to forests. That doesn't look like the same breed of phoenix that we saw a few days ago."
"I did say that, and you're right. That isn't a water phoenix. It's an ice phoenix. Ice phoenixes usually inhabit mountainous regions, so this one is a long way from home."
Roy sighs. "What does that mean for us? That instead of finding a town, we're going to have to trek through mountains too?"
Damiana unleashes a sigh that sounds twice as frustrated. "I hope not. We can't take much more of this!"
It has been less than two minutes, and the kiss they almost shared is long forgotten. The archer appears enraged at the sudden turn in their situation, and Damiana is prepared to share in every ounce of his aggravation. Luckily, Damiana forgot about one crucial commonality that all breeds of phoenixes share; domestication. This factor doesn't even occur to her until it appears out of nowhere.
"Ula, come back here! You are being a naughty girl!"
The shouting does not come from the foliage. It comes from above. Flying through the air over the abundant canopy is a woman. A whirring sphere of air rotates around her, causing a long, midnight blue, braid to flap violently. She descends through the branches until her form is low to the ground, her flight-enabling orb hovering a foot above the lake. Looking the phoenix directly in the eye, the woman continues shouting.
"You made me chase you for two straight hours! You are being naughty today, Ula!"
For the longest minute of her life, Damiana feels like an idiot. Once this inferior emotion passes, the girl grins widely. "Praise the Fates! We're saved!"
Roy gapes at the woman in horror. "We are? That lady could be some crazy poacher! This is almost as bad as my cannibal scenario!"
The Dabnodian girl is briefly puzzled. Fortunately, it doesn't take long for her to remember the obvious. Roy cannot understand a single word coming from that woman's mouth.
"No! We really are saved! That woman isn't crazy, and she isn't a poacher! The phoenix's name is Ula. It belongs to her. This means that there is a town nearby!"
"Phoenixes can be domesticated? You never told me that!"
Damiana scowls. "I never thought to tell you! Spending four days in the wilderness without any signs of intelligent life might make a person forget that animals can be domesticated!"
Fortunately, their argument doesn't continue. Ula's owner has her phoenix attached to a saddle and bridle. The phoenix is chained to a tree as well, ensuring that it most likely will not escape. The woman has spotted the teens, moving toward them as a result. Her hair shifts to a magnificent shade of lime, yet she laughs in amusement.
"A Noble Lady and a mysterious young man alone in the middle of the forest, and both of them mostly nude." The woman releases bone-rattling guffaws. "As of now, I can say I've seen everything."
Damiana almost swears that a beam of sunlight glints off of her armband at the phrase "Noble Lady". Features shifting to the blinding color of magenta, she immediately reaches for her blue jeans and tank top. Noble Lady and nude should never be in the same sentence unless the word never is between them! Roy pulls on his clothes as well, mostly because the woman stares at him in particular. Eventually, Ula's owner resumes speaking.
"Did Ula and I interrupt, or do the two of you need help? Truthfully, I cannot tell."
"No, ma'am. You didn't interrupt anything at all! Nothing besides a bath! An innocent bath!" Damiana adjusts her tank top and zips her jeans, doing her best to continue gracefully. "We have been lost for quite some time and could use assistance."
Tenna. This is how the woman introduced herself. Tenna of the Jawirth Clan. She is from a tiny village nestled deep into the Neverdae Mountains. Her village goes by the name Whisper Valley. Damiana has not yet had an opportunity to introduce herself, introduce Roy, or to being explaining their situation. Instead she sits on the riverbank beside her baffled, redhaired, friend as Tenna jabbers away, the woman creating small cyclones to bring fish to the shore. Once there is a healthy pile, Tenna removes a paring knife from the sturdy, leather, pouch attached to her waistband. She amputates fish heads, tosses them behind her into the brush, and then begins the process of scraping teal scales away from the fishes' edible flesh. The woman hardly looks at her hands. Enquiring, lime, eyes remain glued to Damiana and Roy.
"…I left Whisper Valley to visit my brother on the other side of the mountains. I wanted to see him one last time before the frost comes. He's leaving to fight in the war as soon as the cold passes. Fates only know that I'll probably never see him again." Chapped lips quirk into a wry sneer as she looks, yet again, at Damiana's arm band. "I was about to bid my brother farewell when Ula flew off and forced me to leave early. I thought she heard water phoenixes calling. Imagine my surprise when I saw the two of you near the pond instead of a family of water phoenixes!"
Damiana cannot refrain from cringing. "The surprise was mutual. We were not expecting a woman and her pet phoenix to appear out of nowhere." She adds with a strained smile, "It was unexpected, but fortunate."
"Can you make yourself useful and cook some of these? I don't fancy raw fish."
Tenna skewers three fully-prepped fish on a sizable stick that she breaks away from a bush. Flabbergasted at the woman's demanding tone, Damiana gapes. Tenna's response is a mere thrust of the stick in her direction.
"Aren't you a fire user? I thought most everyone in the Fire Phoenix clan was a fire user."
Damiana takes the hastily-crafted skewer with hesitation and gingerly begins roasting what is assumed to be their lunch. Tenna preps several more and skewers them as well. Eventually she continues, this time with rapid-fire questions.
"Now that I've explained what I'm doing way out here in the middle of nowhere, I want an explanation from you. How did one of Guayusa's pets end up in the middle of the dense wilderness with an alien?" A single glance is all it takes to note Roy's clueless stare. "He can't understand a word I'm saying, can he? What kind of creature is he? A lifeform must be pretty dimwitted if language transference from a Noble Lady is ineffective."
For the past fifteen minutes, the only thing Damiana wanted was an opportunity to explain. Now that she has it, the girl can hardly find the right words. Guayusa… The war… Adriel sent them back late into Dabnod's history, this is for certain! Articulating her muddled thoughts into a comprehensible sentence takes numerous seconds. The entire time Damiana can hardly conceal her apprehensive frown. Tenna flips a lime green braid over her shoulder and smooths out the front of her hardy, brown, work dress. Afterward she pushes up a sleeve and continues scaling fish, waiting patiently for an explanation.
"It is a very long story…"
"Why do you think we're making food? I figured that this might take a while."
Damiana is almost certain that there is an amused undertone beneath the woman's sarcasm. If it wasn't for their dire situation, she would take a moment to think about how her humor resembles her mother… She halts the thought before it begins.
"I'll answer your questions starting with Roy," she relents. "He isn't a 'creature'. Roy is a person the same as you and I. He just has one heart instead of two. He's my friend from planet Earth."
"So he's a human! That's incredible! I've never seen a human! The only other species I've seen are the Gordanians." Puzzlement overwhelming her features, she inquires, "Then why can't he understand me? I've heard that humans are very receptive of language transference."
Language transference... She never did mention that particular ability to Roy. They have been so focused on finding other people that language transference never occurred to her! Let alone the fact that she herself might be able to transfer the language to him! Transferring the Dabnodian language would take a lot of trial and error, though… After what happened less than an hour ago, the idea of trying to transfer her native tongue to Roy leaves the girl feeling apprehensive.
"Um… I haven't actually tried transferring the Dabnodian language to him. I don't know how to transfer languages, and we've been so caught up trying to find our way out of this forest that trying never occurred to me."
"Hm. That's odd. I thought all Nobles knew how to transfer languages! It's too bad for your human friend. Nobody out here in the country is going to know how to perform language transference either. It looks like he's stuck with you translating."
Damiana glances at Roy helplessly. He observes each of them attentively, as if trying desperately to understand. Despite such efforts, he appears endlessly confused. A pang of sympathy strikes her in both hearts.
"Yeah. I guess he is."
The fish that she'd been cooking are finally fished. Tenna takes them from her and replaces them with a raw batch. Another query forms during their transaction.
"Who in Fates' names are you? Why are you out here instead of living in luxury in the Capital City? If you want me to help, I need some details."
Another uneasy pause ensues. Is there truly a way to explain everything thoroughly while being as vague as possible? If there is anyone willing to try that route, heaven knows it's Damiana.
"I don't want to go deep into detail. It's an impossible story to explain. Let's just say that due to some…unfortunate circumstances…I ended up living on Earth. While I was on Earth, I met Roy. If you want to know exactly who he is, you can call him my teammate. We work together on a team of crime fighters. We were actually in the middle of a mission when we ended up here. The criminal we were fighting teleported us." Damiana motions to Black Shadow's machine, which sits directly beside said teammate. "That device is what teleported us. All we need are some spare parts to fix it. Once it's fixed, we'll be back on Earth and out of your hair."
For the first time since their meeting, Tenna is speechless. Her mouth is filled with fish, but the woman doesn't swallow. It's as if Control Freak pointed his remote at Tenna and pushed the pause button. Damiana takes a nervous bite of fish from the freshly-cooked skewer and hands Roy a piece as well. The archer doesn't eat. Rather, he speaks in an aggravated whisper.
"What did you tell this lady? If you told her that we're time travelers from a future where this entire planet gets destroyed, she'll put us in the nut house!"
"Of course I didn't tell her that! How stupid do you think I am? I just told her that we're crime fighters from Earth and that a criminal teleported us here using that machine!"
"That still sounds crazy, Damiana!"
"It isn't crazy if we have the machine to back up the story! If you were a complete stranger, what would you call that device? A neck massager?!"
Roy sighs. "I wish you would have told her something else! Anything else!"
"Okay, fine. Me being a Noble Lady, I could have told her that you're my exotic male concubine and that we're traveling to my vacation home in the middle of nowhere!"
"Actually, that story could've worked. She did catch us swimming together in our underwear."
"Oh, Sweet Fates! Shut up about that!"
Thankfully, an opportunity does not arise for their conversation to continue. Tenna's back-length braid fades from lime green to bruise-colored purple. Plum-colored eyes remain locked onto Black Shadow's device, which must appear more foreign to Tenna than it did to the Titans. Her gaze slowly travels to Roy, rests on him for several curious moments, and finally returns to Damiana. Tenna is not happy. This is for certain.
"I want to leave you here. Whisper Valley isn't fond of strangers. Bringing an alien and a Noble Lady to the village to wait out the frost would cause nothing but trouble! Based on your story, that's what the two of you are is trouble!"
Damiana's face pales, and her tresses are colored soot by fear. When Tenna continues, however, immense relief is felt. So much that her features slowly transform to gold.
A pained groan escapes the woman's lips. As she groans, her braid brightens to sky blue and plum irises turn sapphire. "Yet, the Fates are giving me a feeling that you aren't lying. If it isn't your human or that peculiar device, then it is the look on your face that convinces me. If I left you, then the Fates would certainly punish me."
The girl runs a hand through her curled, golden, tresses. This is partially because it is a nervous habit, and partially because she needs to do something with her hands before hugging Tenna with gratitude. Tenna still does not appear happy, though she does seem to begrudgingly accept this unusual situation. For the moment, this is plenty for Damiana.
"Then you'll help us?"
"Yes. Adjusting to Whisper Valley will be hard, but you'll survive until the frost ends. I can't leave you in the middle of the woods during the cold season."
The frost. Tenna has mentioned it several times throughout their conversation. Truth be told, Damiana had no idea that a cold season existed on her planet. The only time she understood the bitterness of cold weather was after experiencing her first winter on Earth. As a result, Damiana asks the woman one of two very important questions.
"Tenna, where are we at if you don't mind explaining? When our criminal teleported us, Roy and I ended up on Dabnod without any maps or foreknowledge of our location."
"In that case, your criminal is highly intelligent. He probably knew that you never strayed too far from the Capital City. This is a smart province to send nobility to if an enemy is bent on killing them." Damiana's provoked scowl earns a satisfied sneer. "You're in the ninth province, Lady Fire Phoenix. Out here it's nothing but wilderness and villages. If you're looking for a town with fancy things like carriages, inns, and shops, you won't see anything like that until reaching the seventh province."
Damiana's hair shifts back to charcoal so quickly that she is certain that it must give Roy a headache. The ninth province? Sweet Fates! They really are in the middle of nowhere! This is as far out as civilization reaches. Beyond this is the tenth province, and it is filled with nothing but animals, forests, and tribes of wanderers!
Tenna chuckles. "Not what you wanted to hear. Am I right? If you're hoping to make it to the Capital City, don't count on getting there soon. It'll be a six-week trip once you're able to leave Whisper Valley, and that's at the very least."
Based on all of the almanacs the girl has read, she is well aware that Tenna is being generous. Six weeks is a bit of an understatement. Reaching her old home from way out here will take closer to two months! If they truly have a reason to go there, that is…
At last, Damiana asks her second very important question. This question has suddenly become far more important than the first.
"Thank you, Tenna. That information helps us a lot! I just have one more question. Would you happen to know what the date is?"
"I sure do! I might be rustic, but I know that much. It's the eleventh day of the third month, and it is the twenty-seventh year of Guayusa's reign."
That very instant, both of Damiana's hearts sink. Upon learning about the war, her highest hopes had been that it would be early into the war. A year or two would give herself and Roy plenty of time to figure out how to repair the machine without the ticking of the clock adding too much pressure. Unfortunately, a year or two was nothing but a fantasy. Dabnod was destroyed on the eighteenth day of the seventh month on this same year. They have little more than four months to work with.
Four months to work with, and here they are. In the backwoods of the ninth province months away from a large town filled with resources. Not to mention, the frost is coming, trapping them in Tenna's village for who knows how long. Damiana can't wait to explain this to Roy…
Roy has had the most maddening afternoon of his life. One minute he is in the center of a picturesque lake with Damiana. Her curled locks were damp from moisture, clinging to her face, and had turned bright orange, almost begging to be touched. When he had taken the risk, the girl's shimmering, copper, eyes locked on to his and did not let go. Before he could process what was happening, they were in each other's arms and neither of them were protesting. Roy was about to kiss Damiana fervently, surprised that she hadn't shoved him away. Roy wanted to kiss her before either of them could come to their senses, and by the time they did, he was well aware that they would be enjoying the feel romance far too much to care.
Now, instead of basking in the afterglow of a passionate kiss, he has been sitting here listening to foreign chatter for nearly an hour. Roy should feel happy. They might be getting rescued! Yet, he isn't. Instead, the only thing the archer can focus on is how he was cheated out of a moment of passion with Damiana prior to their potential death. Roy doesn't know why he is so upset or why the kiss almost happened in the first place. He just knows that it didn't happen.
Meanwhile, keeping his perturbed emotions to himself, the archer focuses on Damiana and on the…the…flying…phoenix…lady. Damiana will probably fill him in on the woman's name later. As he observes her, Roy can't help comparing her to a 1700s mountaineer. Her dress is thick, lined by fur, and is a shade of brown the exact color of dirt. Beneath the brown dress are tan leggings that appear to be sewn from animal skins. Over the leggings are knee-high boots crafted from brown leather. Around the woman's waist is a waistband that is, in truth, a meager piece of rope. Hanging from it is a leather pouch which Roy can only assume contains whatever she deems necessary for survival. What makes this woman appear the most like a mountaineer, however, are her rugged features.
The prominent crow's feet beside her eyes and the fine lines surrounding her mouth suggest a lifetime of unpampered survival. Moisturizer isn't nearly as important to her as it is to Black Canary. If Roy had to make a guess, the mountaineer is probably in her middle forties. Despite her hardy appearance, however, she does not seem threatening. Neither does she look like a complete hag. If anything, the woman has a bit of a motherly appearance. This is why he has a hard time feeling overly worried. Even as she speaks to Damiana in what sounds like a harsh tone, and even as Damiana replies sounding nervous, Roy remains curious more than anything.
He chews the piece of fish that Damiana shoved at him without tasting it, watching intently as they speak back and forth. Why this woman sat down at the edge of the lake and decided to make them lunch is something that truly baffles Roy, but he doesn't question it. Half a piece of fish is more filling than five yakko nuts! When Damiana's hair becomes blacker than soot, however, his avid munching is brought to a halt. Black hair on a Dabnodian is not good. What did she tell him at their hotel back in Metropolis? That black hair and eyes are fear colors? A few second later her hair turns much brighter. To gold! Roy is relieved, but when her hair turns black once more, the relief vanishes quicker than dust in the wind.
"Yep. That's really not good…"
The woman and the girl continue talking for several more minutes. The mountain lady does a significantly greater amount of speaking. Damiana's hair turns lighter at some point, but not by much. Rather than soot black, it is slate gray. When he gets a decent look at her eyes, they look like a November sky above the ocean from the dock in Steel City. Directly before a storm, might he add. More than anything, Roy wants to stop their conversation to ask what is going on. Thankfully, it doesn't come to this. The mountain lady swallows a final piece of fish and gets to her feet. She motions behind her to Ula, who observes their trio calmly from her spot chained to the tree. With a brief string of jumbled, Dabnodian, words, she saunters in the phoenix's direction.
Damiana smiles tensely. "Lal mindintin, Tenna! Lal nan mindintin!"
She stands up as well, Roy following suit. They do not go after the woman. Rather, they loiter near the lake as she feeds the creature raw fish and secures its saddle. Roy grows frustrated after an eternity of silence and is about to ask what the plan is. That is when Damiana finally says something in the wonderful, familiar, language of English.
"We're staying with Tenna in her village until the frost is over. After that we can start moving."
Roy takes a moment to process her words, and quite frankly, is unhappy.
"We're living with this woman?! Why can't we start moving right away?! How much time do we have to work with and where are we at? Did she tell you?"
"We're far away from society, Roy. Very far. There's nothing in this province besides tiny mountain villages like Tenna's. The only province more remote than this one is the province to the south of us where the tribes live!" The sigh she gives is wracked with frustration. "It will take weeks just to reach a decent town. If the machine needs repairs that can only be made with technology from the Capital City, then we have a two-month trip ahead of us. That two-month trip is only after waiting out the cold season in Tenna's village. If we don't wait it out, she says we'll freeze to death."
The only thing that prevents Roy from experiencing cardiac arrest is whatever merciful God must be watching over him.
"Damiana, please tell me you're kidding! Between squatting with mountain people and a two-month trip, we could be talking close to three months! Not to mention, we still need to figure out what parts to find for the machine!"
"Don't you think I know that? I wish Adriel would have given us a little more time! The clock is ticking, and it's ticking fast. We only have four months."
A/N: That's it for now, folks. As I stated earlier, I absolutely loved writing this chapter! That steamy scene with Roy and Damiana in the lake was my favorite part. I'll admit it. I also loved introducing you all to Tenna. She is a character that I have had in mind for a while now, so it was nice to finally get the opportunity to write her! There will be more of Tenna in the next chapter, and Damiana and Roy will finally be out of the wilderness. For those of you who have grown bored of them wandering through the forest, you're in luck. Their days of wandering are over :)
Until the next chapter, my friends! Stay tuned, and stay patient! :)
Forever and Always,
~OCQ