A new day had started, and Fulch and Lunae were groggy, trying to get up. They had to sleep in the open, which was dangerous, but they couldn’t find a cave. They were cold, and they didn’t want to risk a fire because they didn’t want to be noticed.
“I’m so cold,” Lunae said. Fulch came up to her and rubbed her shoulders.
“The Maser knew how to warm up the water in people. I know this cause I’ve seen him torturing someone that way before, but it seems I don’t have that ability, maybe you do?” Fulch said cunningly. Lunae had a confused look on her face, which Fulch smiled at. Lunae then looked through the water, trying to look inside herself to see if she could warm it up. She was having no luck, and Fulch was intensely watching. Lunae was getting aggravated and let out a frustrating scream. Fulch then started to pull some food out, knowing that getting warm was a lost cause.
“Feel,” the water said to Lunae. Lunae was always shocked when the water spoke, but this time it felt muffled.
“The water told me to feel, I don’t know what that means,” Lunae said. Fulch stood up, pondering what the water said.
“Do as the water said, feel the water, feel the temperature,” Fulch said. Lunae looked inside herself and tried to feel, but she was having a hard time, and she started to get emotional.
“I can’t do this, I need the Master! Why did the fusht have to die!” Lunae screamed. Fulch came up to her, but she put her hand out to stop him from coming any closer. Fulch respected that and let her be. Lunae was on the verge of tears, and at that moment, all she wanted to do was go home. She hugged herself and bit her lip, trying not to cry.
“Be calm…feel,” the water said. This time, she felt something, a pulse of warmth, a gift from the water, she thought. She then focused, trying to remember what that pulse felt like. Then she had it, she could feel the temperature of the water. She took a deep breath and thought of warm things, and soon she could feel herself warming up. She was excited and tried it on Fulch. First, he looked at her in pure shock, and then a simple smile came across his face.
“Thanks Lunae!” Fulch said, feeling rejuvenated, Lunae smiled at him and started to pack their bags. Fulch gave Lunae a piece of jerky, and she gladly accepted it. With their bellies somewhat appeased, they walked on. The tension between them was growing with each step. Lunae couldn’t help but ponder over the words of the water. ' A union has presented itself.’ What did that mean? She had many questions, and she knew by the look on Fulch’s face that he had some too.
“How much further to the Porpura village?” Lunae asked. Fulch stopped walking and looked over to Lunae.
“Just over that hill…We need to talk about everything before we go on,” Fulch said. Lunae agreed, and they looked around for a cave. They were having some difficulty finding somewhere and were about to give up, just then, the water chimed in.
“Between the trees,” the water said. They both stopped and looked more intently. Fulch was the one to spot it; it was masked behind two trees, a small cave barely noticeable. When Lunae asked how he found it, he said he saw drips of water falling out of nowhere. They went inside, and both agreed to eat some real food before venturing any closer. Fulch started the fire and left to go get some food. He wasn’t gone long, but long enough for Lunae to start worrying. As he was preparing what looked like a bunny, if you could call it that. It had three long ears and tentacles coming from its head. All four limbs were long and muscular, which Lunae found to be very tasty. She watched him for some time, and she desperately wanted to say something, but she was too timid. Luckily, Fulch started the conversation.
“So I have never been to the Porpura village or this planet, I’m not sure what to expect. We should be cautious; we need to figure out an escape plan before we kill Narutay. We have to get back to the temple,” he said. Lunae thought about it and agreed.
“There’s something else I want to discuss…the water talked about a union. Do you think it means marry?” Lunae said. This made Fulch stop in his tracks. He, too, had been thinking it, but was not sure what Lunae felt. It took a while, but Fulch stopped what he was doing and grabbed her hands.
“It would be an honor to marry you,” Fulch said, returning to the food. This surprised Lunae, and she then realized that she was blushing. She quickly looked away, hoping he didn’t see, but the smile on his face said he saw it. They sat in silence for some time, and Lunae was getting more uncomfortable by the second.
“I don’t know how I feel about killing the Porpura leader. How do we know we can trust the water?” Lunae said. Fulch thought about it, and he, too, was worried.
“We have to do it. We won’t know the truth until we get to the temple, but we still must believe the water has our best interests at heart,” Fulch said. Lunae was a bit annoyed by his faith in the water; she wished she could make him see it the way she did.
“We shouldn’t let them know you are a Master,” Lunae said. Fulch agreed. They ate their food in silence, and when they were done, the fear of doing what needed to be done fell upon them. They got their packs together, and right before they left, they decided that if anything should go wrong, they would come back to this spot. As they walked out of the cave, a warm breeze blew by. Fulch grabbed Lunae’s hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her, and they headed off.
***
As they were coming over the hill, they heard vibrating noises, and they both looked at each other. Then they saw it, towers of glass that waved in the suns’ light. Ships flying in the sky going to and fro. Trees as tall as the towers lined the walkways where people could barely be seen. Fulch and Lunae stood there in amazement.
“This isn’t a village, this is a city!” Lunae said. She was fascinated by the look of everything; she almost overlooked Fulch’s face.
“What’s wrong Fulch?” Lunae asked. Fulch took a deep breath.
“How are we going to escape?” he said. Lunae then realized how screwed they were.
“We’re fushted if we don’t find a pitcher,” Lunae said. They were thinking about what to do, but were interrupted by a patrolman.
“You two! What is your business here?” He said. Lunae then got a surge of courage.
“I am the new Master of water. I need to see your leader,” Lunae said. She was expecting some fight back, but was greeted with a smile.
“Welcome Master! We have been expecting you! Come with me,” the patrolman said. They followed him, and Lunae could tell that Fulch was nervous. Lunae wondered why she wasn’t nervous; she was determined. After the Master died, she wanted to kill. She knew that this wasn’t good, but she didn’t care; she knew she needed the emotion if they were going to get out of this alive. As they got closer to the city, Lunae could tell that they ran things off of water. She looked at it with the sight and saw that the water was running through everything, and the ships that would fly around were grabbing the water from the air.
“This is amazing!” Lunae said, the patrolman smiled.
“You like our city? Good, we are very proud of it!” he said. Then they came upon it, the palace. It was enormous, jewels could be seen shining in the suns. The color of the building was nothing she’d ever seen before.
“What color is that?” Lunae asked, the patrolman said a word the water didn’t translate.
“There is no word in your tongue that describes the color; it’s a blueish gold if you’re wondering. The Master used to tell me about it.” Fulch said. Lunae was captivated by all the things she‘d seen in this world. This was the coolest. As they neared the door, a guard came up to them.
“What do these strangers want?” The guard asked. The patrolman told them who Lunae was, and the guard didn’t move.
“Who is the Piskal?” The guard said. Fulch stood up straight, no longer seeming nervous.
“I am Fulch, heir to the throne of the Piskal people,” Fulch said. The guard lifted his brow but beckoned them both to follow. Lunae was trying to memorize the palace as they walked, but she couldn’t help but notice all the strange things around her. The art on the walls was amazing to her. Ideas and colors no one would ever dream about on Kalindor. This made Lunae think about all of her people's things she didn’t know about. She then remembered to focus; this was no time to get carried away with all the glam. She looked over at Fulch, and he had a very serious look. Lunae knew he was ready. They came to the main chamber and noticed the leader of the Porpura people was sitting on a throne. The guard stopped, and they did too.
“Your excellency, I present the Master of water and Fulch heir to the throne of the Piskal,” the guard said. Lunae noticed a strange looking man beside the throne, and his smile put a shiver down her spine. Then she looked at Narutay and then remembered that it was the man who was nice to her at the dinner, which seemed so long ago.
“My dear friends, welcome, welcome! I am surprised you didn’t travel by water, and oh, how I wish we knew you were coming, I would have prepared something for you!” Narutay said as he walked towards them. Lunae started to feel bad. He was so nice to her, and now she was sent to kill him.
“So you are the new master of water, pray tell, what happened to the old one? I was so fond of him,” Narutay said. Fulch could tell he was fishing for some information; he could tell Lunae lost her nerve, and that was bad because she couldn’t see the danger.
“That’s the business of the temple,” Fulch said. Lunae was taken aback by this, but she realized she had to trust him even if it meant blindly following. Narutay was clearly insulted by this, but he had to play his cards right. He looked back at the Shardoe, which Fulch and Lunae both made a mental note of. Lunae noticed that the Narutay seemed nervous, like he wanted to tell them something. Right then, she decided not to kill him; the hard part was to convince Fulch.
“Please let me show you around,” Narutay said. Fulch thought this was perfect.
“Of course, let's first see where you worship,” Fulch said. Lunae was worried. Narutay seemed super happy about this. Then Shardoe came up to Narutay.
“I see you are leaving, so I just wanted to say…goodbye,” Shardoe said with a suspicious grin on his face. Narutay seemed disturbed by this and looked at Fulch and Lunae with suspicion. He quickly regained himself and started walking, beckoning them to follow. They walked down some hallways, and soon they could hear the humming of the most dedicated. They entered the hall, and Lunae couldn’t believe what she saw. There was an altar at the end of the hall, which she expected, but what she didn’t expect was to see floating water. The most dedicated were putting something in the water, and it would rise, and they would hum, and the water would vibrate and change shapes.
“How do they do that?” Lunae said. Narutay smiled and brought them over to a bowl.
“The sap from the trees gives the water the ability to float. I know all of this is new to the both of you. Maybe one day I can take you guys to the factory,” Narutay said. At this point, even Fulch was interested.
“Why do they move it?” Fulch said. Narutay seemed really enthusiastic.
“It deals with the frequencies. See, with the right frequency, we can cure ailments with the water, and the most dedicated harness this ability and bottle it up and then give it to the people,” Narutay said. Then he left them to go talk to one of the men. Lunae saw this as her opportunity.
“We can’t kill him,” Lunae said in a whisper. Fulch looked at her in disgust.
“We have to!” Fulch said a little too loudly cause one of the dedicated looked at them. They walked a little away.
“I feel it in my gut. This doesn’t seem right, just trust me!” Lunae said. Then the water chimed in.
“Knowledge,” it said. Before they had a chance to talk about it, Narutay returned. He noticed the tension and quickly asked the dedicated to leave. Lunae could tell Fulch was contemplating whether to kill him, but was also planning his escape. Once the dedicated left, they shut the door. Before they knew what was happening, Narutay went to the pitcher.
“We must leave, he wants me dead!” Narutay said. Fulch laughed.
“Funny, so do we!” Fulch said. Ready to strike. Lunae didn’t know what to do.
“So it’s true he can manipulate the water,” Narutay said. This made Fulch stop.
“What do you mean?” Lunae asked. Narutay shook his head.
“We don’t have time for this. Please take us somewhere safe!” Narutay said. Lunae came up and grabbed the pitcher, Fulch still on the fence, but soon was interrupted by guards busting down the door.
“Halt Master! You have gone against the water, and now you will die!” one said, and suddenly, Lunae’s water was being pulled from her.
“Get out of here, we’ll distract them!” Narutay said as Lunae took the water and poured it on the ground and stepped through. It felt like she was on a rabid bruka. Once she made it to the temple, she coughed up water. She looked around after she was done and realized something was off.