Chapter Text
Candace faltered.
With her legs nearly giving out and tears blocking her vision almost entirely, she finally allowed her body to collapse on the sand. Dehya’s screams grew stronger, emerging from inside the small storm their sprinting had created.
Candace dug her fingers inside, moments before she caught up.
A sea of gold upon her umber-brown skin. Waves that she wanted to be swallowed up by for the first time. Would the gleaming ripples pull her down to the depths if she let her guard down for a mere second, just the way she had feared her entire life?
If you only wish to protect the 'past' of this village, then do it yourself! Whether you wish to just remain in your homes or leave Aaru Village, that is up to you!
Home. Her home despite everything. Despite the scorching sun and the vile creatures that preyed on them day and night.
Home was where Candace used to fall asleep in her grandfather’s arms and scraped her knees racing her childhood friends.
But she wasn’t a kid anymore. Her grandfather was long gone and now, when she ran, it was for her life instead of a childish race.
Dehya had finally caught up to her. The Flame-Mane tumbled down, out of breath and soaked in sweat, holding onto a relic just like the one Candace held inside her palm.
I will not let the people of Aaru Village be bound by the past forever.
Candace had meant it. All of it, even if it would result in all guardians turning their backs on her. As everyone shot her deathly glares and pointed words that stung like a serpent's venom at her, Candace stood her ground.
The past, it was nothing but loose grains of sand floating in the wind. Joining a sandstorm to fuel its rage or blinding a traveler in the eyes like golden daggers.
A past that had done nothing but imprison them for centuries and leave them to rot.
If you can't move forward, then it's up to me to protect our future.
Gods and monsters, Candace was sick of them all. Her blood boiled with fury thinking back on that child who stood before her grandfather’s tomb and knelt before the guardians.
It was the day Candace found out how none of them ever had the blessing of Al-Ahmar. She grew up hearing the elderly thank him for bestowing upon them a long life, the sick for curing their ailments, the merchants for a bountiful season.
A lie. A façade.
Something to thank, a grace to believe in so they could sleep soundly, so that they could live in blissful ignorance of how they were abandoned.
We could’ve had it worse.
Why couldn’t they have it better?
Why did they have to lose their children to the sands and their youth to the merciless vultures that would only accept them as decaying corpses?
As everyone laid in their cozy beds with knowledge at their fingertips and all gifts of a so-called archon just a few hills away, why did they have to succumb to the depths of hell?
Hell on earth as paradise was already founded by the very people who had sworn to protect them.
Only a wall away, but there wasn’t time to live when you had to fight tooth and nail to survive.
As she let go of this deplorable past and made a promise to fight for the future, this worthless piece of glass and metal, a shiny artifact, a token of nothingness appeared in her hand.
Like a joke. Taunting Candace, laughing in her face while it presented itself with mockery.
You might need this.
She didn’t.
With or without a vision, with her spear as sharp as the blowing wind and her shield as sturdy as the boulders surrounding them, Candace would fight until her last breath.
Not for the recognition of a god or her fellow guardians who were so caught up in an unnecessary desire to protect their traditions. They failed to account for all that was changing.
Sumeru was changing, the world around them was being shaken to its core. However, change came in the form of complicated documents and stricter rations.
Change was never the kids getting the education they deserved or the people of the desert finally taking a stroll without needing an army of guardians. Change was only enough to have the sages going to bed with a clear conscience as they would clog their ears at the wails and battlecries.
Yet, against it all stood a woman with an eye blue as the night sky and the other amber like the shining sun.
This time, tears rolled down from them uncontrollably, darkening the sands below her.
“Candace, please. Look at me.” Dehya pleaded. Her voice cracked as fear consumed her. Watching Candace face the rejection of the fellow guardians and break down was a rare sight. Dehya always felt so hopeless trying to comfort her, and a bit guilty since Candace was so capable when it came to soothing her and talking her down.
But now that Candace was crumbling under her hold, she couldn't help but feel useless.
Dehya didn’t see eye to eye with her on the matter. But the things she knew, some that she couldn’t even disclose to Dehya, were apparently enough for her to carry so much disdain in her heart.
The vision in her own hand, Dehya didn’t know what it meant for her either. She was on her way to step into the shoes of a mercenary, albeit hesitantly.
Was this confirmation and support, or was it a sign that she must stay to protect the village?
She finally stabilized Candace by the arms and caught a glimpse of her vision.
Hydro.
Fire and water.
The heat of the desert sun and the cooling breeze of the night illuminated by a giant crescent looking down at the village.
That’s when Dehya knew that she had to leave. Someone had to protect the village, and someone had to make sure that the coast was clear from the outside.
One to deal with the enemies among them, one to fend off the evil sinking down on them like dark clouds.
Even when she was away, missing Candace, all she had to do was look up at the sky.
It would remind her of the nights they spent together as kids, sneaking out the house and climbing the stones by the ridges to lay under the moonlight.
Muffled laughter, silent tears, nibbling on candied ajilenakh nuts, the first time Dehya could muster up the strength to reach out for Candace’s hand in the dark.
The night that concealed it all. Dehya was used to Candace staying up until the first rays of the sun would peek through, fascinated by the night and eager to see through its mysteries.
Now, Dehya had realized that it also kept their secrets all those years.
As long as the sun would rise in the morning and the moon would take over after darkness falls, they would forever be ingrained into each other's hearts.
Words eluded Dehya, so she pulled Candace closer by the shoulders. Her claws carded through her hair gently, washing away her worries and blossoming hope within her soul.