|Location: wasteland, camping site|

-ZERO-

As we walked inside the camp, I realized something that is really unpleasant to my skin. The people we crossed paths along the way didn't really seem to enjoy our company at all, they all looked at us with contempt and not even bothering to hide it. They're silent and kept their distance from us but it was clear we're unwanted, especially towards me and Nuk.

Especially that Fred guy, he pisses me off. And if Nuk didn't interfere and just a second more he would really lose an arm. Just the thought of his name ticks me.

My mouth tasted foul the longer I tried to wrap my mind around what happened the moment we set foot inside their camp.

Maybe this was all just in my head but it really annoyed me and my mind is begging for an explanation. Yet it seems appropriate to set it aside at this time. I'll wait for now who knows I might know why the 'hostile'.

After a long and intense but 'solemn' walk we finally reached the place where the tents are located. Dia immediately went on her own way, she said she would rest for a bit and meet us during supper. Hansel also said that he would need to prepare some things and meet us before the same time as Dia.

And me. I of course followed Nuk to his tent. I immediately noticed the fact that his tent is built far away unlike the rest. This time I really pondered hard on what I should ask, I have been silent far too long and my mouth is itching to talk. I was about to ask why but Nuk seemed to anticipate it and right off the bat before I could even ask he answered 'one' of the questions.

"If you're wondering, I personally built it far from them." He said as if reading my mind. But it was clear from his deep voice that he did it for a reason, probably to avoid other people in the camp.

"That way, there would be less conflict in the camp due to me."

He entered the tent and I followed right after. The interior looked more spacious than the outside and there's a comfy looking bed made out of fine straw on the corner, a lamp just enough to light the inside, and a chest case.

"Whoa! What is this?" The glowing lamp somehow picked my interest because it wasn't lit up using fire but a glowing stone. "I never noticed this but were all the lamps we passed through have this?"

"You mean Sertium?"

"Sertium?" I looked at it much closer. "Fascinating. SAI!"

[SCANNING . . .]

[DATA RECORDING 10%]

[SAI, will inform you when the task is done.]

"What are you doing?" Nuk suddenly called me from behind. I immediately came up with something to say. Well, I could always mention the things about SAI but for whatever reason I find the thought 'rebellious'.

Like it was engraved in me or something.

"Hey Nuk, what's wrong with those people." He instantly knew what I meant. He frowned his eyes as he turned around.

"They looked like-."

"Just let them be."

I somehow managed to get what I wanted but it made the air between us a little stiff.

The way he said it felt heavy to my ears and his intentions, I understood them. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it and it seems right not to dig deeper. Even though I'm itching to ask now that he acted that way.

So, to avoid making the situation more awkward I thought of a different topic again to talk about and coincidentally I remembered about the promise they made to me. "Oh! What about the map you talk about?"

Nuk turned around and examined my body from head to toe. I noticed the movement from his nose, it was twitching for a moment which made me feel really insecure somehow. He then immediately started to search through the case of clothing besides the bed.

"You'll get it soon so set it aside for now." Nuk stood up right after handing me a pair of clothing. It looked like a perfect fit for me.  "Good thing I still have my clothes when I was still a teenager and use this to dry yourself."

"What's this for?" I asked.

"You need to take a bath. You smell like a wild worshiper." He said after showing me the back of the tent where there's a barrel of water.

Water?

The sight made me excited; I never remembered the first time I took a bath much less if I even touched water before, but images of water resurfaced at the back of my mind. That alone made my eyes sparkle. "A bath!"

"Don't shout." Nuk told me. He finds it troublesome if we catch some unnecessary attention to our direction. Especially after what happened at the entrance, somehow, I weirdly understood his perspective.

But nonetheless I'm still excited.

"Hehehe" I can't help myself; I even spoke out straight from my mind. "I can finally have my first bath."

"What did you say?" Right after he said that I suddenly felt secretive. I don't know why but it felt right at the moment.

"Nothing." I replied.

I hastened my way into the back of the tent where a barrel of water was waiting for me, dipping my hand into it. I felt the coldness sipping immediately in my bones, shivering from my abdomen up in my head. That was a thing I didn't expect I experienced in my whole life, it was new but nonetheless weird like why though. The water started to get murkier on the surface the longer I placed my hands in it.

I felt the vibration of footsteps behind me. "Hey! Hey! Why are you wasting a week's worth of water?"

"A week's worth?"

The way Nuk said it like this water was a luxury already, well now that I think of it I have never seen a drop of water on my way here. Just how did the world change so much?

"Don't answer me with a question." He said pulling my hand out of the water, breaking my fun. 

"I can't even leave you alone, come here I'll wash you up."

"What? No!"

Nuk started to wrap his hand around me trying to remove my clothes and I squirmed my way out.

"Don't give me that." Nuk immediately tried his best to catch me.

"Come here!"

"No!"

Before I could even run away, Nuk managed to grab me by the shoulders and forced me to undress my clothes, placing my butt on a chair near the barrel.  Grabbing a loofa, he splashed water on me and started to roughly scrub my body.

Nuk began scrubbing me all over. The water felt good that it calmed me but the moment was intense. Nuk meticulously scrubbed me and with every rinse the accumulated dirt on my body swiftly flowed down with ease.

"I can't believe this; how long was the last time you took a bath?"

I could tell from behind that Nuk was amazed but not in the right place. He felt taken back by how dirty I was and tried his hardest to be restrained. "Never mind. Don't answer that."

After a couple of minutes, I could somehow feel my skin already heating up, it was even turning red when I looked at it just now. But nonetheless it took him a few more rinsing on my body, after that I noticed how satisfied his eyes were when looking at me. He quickly took something from the tent and came back right away.

Dropping some on the loofa, it began to bubble up. Reminding me of that solitary dream but it was in a way calming when I observed how it popped when I tried to touch it. The stagnant air around me seems to carry a floral scent that came from the bubbles I popped.

"Wow, this smells great!" I said as I tried to rub the foam from the loofa all over my body.

"I know, my sister made this."

Just from his voice I could tell he was smiling despite standing behind me.

"She was a talented person; she was even the only one that awakened the famed healing ability our clan is known for."

"Oh. Was that the aurora thingy I saw from your dead sister?" I said to him, Remembering how it looked, even I would understand why it would be a 'famed' ability.  Just thinking about the endless possibility of cell regeneration in the body and how it can influence it, if she knew how to use it properly, she might even make it into a deadly weapon.

Guessing that they didn't know the possibility that it was not only limited to 'healing'. It might be safe to assume that they don't have any deep understanding of this 'ability'.

Just thinking about it I can't help but wonder if other people with a different 'ability' might be somewhere out there.

Nuk suddenly splashed cold water in my face, washing the foam and snapping me back into reality and away from my thoughts.

"You! I guess I'm getting used to how you talk now." I could sense a hint of worry and guilt from his voice.

"But yes. We even had a shelter back then because of it."

There it is, another word I'm familiar with but might have an important significance in this era. Triggering my curiosity once again. "Shelter?"

I even wondered if it was connected to the city Dia mentioned before.

"Why am I even telling you this?" Nuk shook his head.

"That's the first time I heard of a 'shelter'." I knew he finds it troublesome to explain things to me but I must persist to gain this newly found knowledge that I can stock inside my head. 

"Come on, tell me. Ah. Ah. Ah."

Before I could even plead some more, Nuk suddenly increased the way he scrubbed the loofa on my body, catching me off guard. "Just keep your mouth shut for a second."

"You didn't have to scrub so hard."

He might have stopped scrubbing so hard but I could still feel the pain lingering on my back. And can't help but tear up a little.

"It felt like you were about to peel off my skin."

Tear up? There it is again, another word that I find natural to say but also it contradicts in my mind. Why would I even, I don't remember feeling sad. So why?

What happened was another new experience to me and it was due to Nuk. I suddenly turned around and began to stare into his eyes.

"W-Why did you suddenly turn around!" He stuttered for a moment. Nuk suddenly shoved my head away all of a sudden before he sprung up and began to walk away. 

"I'm done, just rinse yourself."

"Can't believe he did that and immediately left afterwards." I mumbled under my breath as I massage my nose.

But before he entered the tent he stopped and gave me one last reminder. "

Don't forget to use only one bucket, no more than that."

It was very cheap of him to remind me I can't use the water as I see fit but during those moments aside from his bickering something else caught my line of sight, I saw how his ears twitch for a second and found an ambrosial feeling from it. Tickling the corner of my head.

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