I always forgot how convenient living in a city (even though Coloksha was small) was, until I had to walk somewhere.
Nadrire had come with me. With her valuable diplomatic skills and also ability to walk around without causing a panic, she had been the best option for a companion (apparently, no one trusted me to resolve my problems on my own). Since Abi was a ghost (and thus prone to causing mass hysteria), they had stayed behind to languish melodramatically near the front of the boat, like the heroine in a poorly written tragedy. Shei had begun attempting to repair the ship and Ella had agreed to stand guard, because unfortunately people aren’t normally too keen on helping automatons.
So Nadrire and I walked.
The road was full of red dust that quickly snuck its way into my boots. It became slimy when mixed with sweat (as I soon discovered). It was summer here in Yiannjine, but since we really hadn’t planned on stopping… I hadn’t packed accordingly. About fifteen minutes in, I had gotten hot enough that I had to remove my coat.
Around us, there was nothing more than miles and miles of what looked to be rice fields, and as much as I strained my eyes, I couldn’t see anything more than the narrow dusty road.
“Are you sure there’s a city in this direction?”
“Positive,” Nadrire, being the smart lady that she is, had brought the map and was now studying it.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“How long is it going to be?”
“I do not know.”
“Are we there yet?”
“Velia, that’s the fourth time you’ve asked that in fifteen minutes. Take a look around and take a guess.”
“...No?”
Nadrire sighed. “Very good.”
I paused suddenly and squinted at the horizon line. “Nadi?”
“What?”
“What’s that?”
There was, as a matter of fact, a large cloud of dust that had formed near the horizon line. It… appeared to be getting closer. As it approaches, I found my ears twitching: something was screaming.
Nadrire had paused as well. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s going rather fast…”
Before either of us could do much more than take a few tentative steps forward, the dust cloud was upon us. I shielded my face with my arm and squeezed my eyes and mouth tightly shut as I waited for the dust to pass…
My ears picked up on a sharp squealing noise as the dust settled, and as I cautiously blinked my eyes open, I heard a rough, female voice call out to me.
“Oi! Hello there!”
It turned out that the cause of the dust was a large cart. Said cart was a little startling in appearance, given that attached to the front was a grotesque face taller than than I was. The driver of the cart was also the owner of the voice. She was an older woman, in the middle of her sixth decade, with deeply tanned skin and a fair number of wrinkles that bespoke of a life enjoyed in the sun. She had a number of odd spots on her face and neck, but that may had been a trick of the light, for she was also wearing a rather large hat. Despite her grey hair and wrinkles, she had a strangely youthful countenance to her; perhaps it came from the permanent mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Right now, though, she looked concerned.
“Are you both from the wreck down the road?” the stranger asked as she climbed down from the cart. A light pistol was tucked into the sash of her yukata, the robe like silk garment that had adopted from Whaigorre immigrants to the area, although I didn’t notice in anything in the large, square sleeves. I made eye contact with Nadrire. I don’t expect her to attack us…. but…
Nadrire stepped forward. “We are.”
“Oh! I see!” She brightened a little. “My name is Mae. My husband and I run the inn down the road, and when I saw you crash, I simply had to come help. Are you both all right?”
“I believe so, yes,” I spoke up. “We had few bumps and bruises, but the worst damage is to the ship.”
“Well, I’m glad none of you were hurt. I sent my husband down there with our golem…” Mae chewed her lip. “I don’t know what model your airship is- hell, I don’t know anything about airships; we don’t have many around here- but what I do know is that I couldn’t drag your ship down the road without ruining the road, your ship, or both. If none of you need urgent medical attention, the wisest thing to do is probably… for me to take you two back to the inn and wait for the golem to carry your ship back. Unless, of course, you think it’s vital to retrieve your other companions.”
“I mean… we left them with plenty of water, so, that sounds reasonable to me,” I said, then looked to Nadrire for her approval.
She considered it for a moment, then shrugged. “That sounds fine.”
“All right then. Climb in!”
———
The cart was different than any other vehicle than I’d ever been in: there was a single padded bench along the rear wall, as the other was covered by a paneled wall that went from floor to ceiling. The paneled wall was likely there because in the center of the cabin was a set of stairs leading up to a small platform with a chair on it. I saw no sort of engine system, or creature pulling it. How does it work? Mae climbed up into what was presumably the driver’s seat and cheerfully advised us to use the seat belts.
I quickly figured out why there had been so much dust: Mae drove fast. I didn’t normally have any problems with motion sickness, but I found myself queasy within a few minutes. A glance toward Nadrire told me she was having similar sentiments. I couldn’t quite see how Mae steered the cart, but I could tell by the shrieks that occasionally sounded from the face on the front that this cart was not a machine, but a living thing.
The drive was marked with both road noise and Mae’s very loud incessant chatter. I could only hear about half of what she said, but we learned that the cart was a creature called an Oboroguruma, and that she and Yori had been living here for forty years (since they’d gotten married), and that the nearby city, Sollainyi, was lovely and she wished she could visit more often, but it always seemed that people were protesting there…. As she said this, her voice softened a little. I almost couldn’t hear it over the creak of the wheels.
The cart screeched to a stop, and Mae helped us down. I leaned against the cart and clutched my stomach. Nadrire had begun fishing around in her pockets. We were in a dirt courtyard next to a two story building with sloping roofs. There was another smaller building that looked a bit like a shed, We were still surrounded by rice fields, but now, I could see a city in the distance. Sollainyi.
“Oh! Where did you say you’re from, again?” Mae said brightly. She let out a chuckle, but there was… something in her eye. Something… cautious, and guarded.
Nadrire had noticed it too. “Velia is from Engaerra, in Gaerrana. I’m from Saellia, in Farsari.”
Mae brightened a bit, or at least towards me. Her expression shifted to become more guarded as she looked at Nadrire. She said something, but I couldn’t hear it because the ground began to shake.
A shadow spread across the ground from my left. I watched as a creature nearly twice as the shed next to us slowly approached with thundering footsteps, hauling a tarp covered cart behind it. It looked sort of like a person, with a head and a torso and four limbs, if said person had been created by a child in a primary school art class out of a handful of rocks and a great deal of paste. Each part was a boulder, and while it looked like someone had put some sort of effort into shaping its limbs so they actually looked sort of like limbs (complete with rough hands and feet), its belly was a large, uneven, somewhat spherical stone that gave the impression of a beer belly, and someone had painted a rather crude looking smiley face on its block of a head.
Shei was securely cradled in one palm of the rock monster, wheelchair and all. Ella was seated on one shoulder. Abi, disguised in their somewhat-dented walking suit, was settled on the other. Perched on the crown of its head was a small person wearing a fairly large hat. I squinted at the sun, trying to see the mystery person better… and became somewhat alarmed when the person in question stood up and rather elegantly did a flip off.
It became even more alarming when I realized that this person was a relatively old man with a cane. He was very short (he only came up to around Mae’s chest) with vibrant blue skin, a long trailing beard, and a mustache. He also only a had one large yellow eye, which was currently examining Nadrire and myself with a thoughtful expression.
“Hello,” he said softly. “I assume that is your ship?”
The stone creature had set Shei, Abi and Ella on the ground and had removed the tarp from the cart. Underneath it was, as a matter of fact, the ship.
I blinked, surprised that a simple wooden cart could carry the ship, and of course, at all the other things that had just happened. It was all rather bewildering. “Er… why, yes.”
“That was one hell of a crash. I’m surprised you all were not set on fire.”
“Me too… although, we do have precautions against that.”
Shei walked up to us, leaning heavily on their own cane. They had been close enough to overhear what we had been discussing. “Well… speaking of the crash… most of it is relatively fixable, but there is one part that we’re going to need to replace.”
I chewed my lip. “I imagine it would take ten years to order too, hm?”
“Probably,” Shei replied, their mouth twisting up into a grimace.
I glanced at the newcomer, then at Mar. “Sir, do you know of an airship repair shops nearby?”
“I’m not sure of any out here, no,” Mae spoke up. “Out here in the country, not many people travel very much beyond the nearest city. Thus, most folk just own Oboroguruma, or some sort of beast to travel on.”
“Even in the cities, most folk don’t travel out of Yiannjine,” the newcomer added. “There’s so much here that most of us do not want to leave. So, most of the travel is done by dragon kites, or by train. Only the rich or adventurous venture out-of-world.”
“Still, you’d best check the city,” Mae said, fiddling with the brim of her hat. “There’s likely to be at least one.”
Nadrire, who had been listening in, tipped her head to the side. “Well… even though we’re much closer to the city now, it would take us forever to get there, especially since we need to take our mechanic with us. I don’t suppose we could trouble you for a ride.
There was a flash of gold between her fingers as she fiddled with her sleeve.
Mae’s eyes gleamed. “It would be no trouble at all.”
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