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The pathway. The crack. The soaring pain in Waiti's body. It had worked. The tears of the land possessed powers greater than the elders had thought, and now she could shove this in their faces. If he survived to experience it. Fraud. Delusional. Blasphemous. They'd all halt their hastily hurled insults once they witnessed what her so-called "pseudoscience" had achieved.
It was as if he had been broken into countless shards by the rip in the fabric of reality, and now this new world was taking all its precious time piecing him back together. With every breath, Waiti's lungs became filled with a new blend of gases which tore through his lungs violently. It explored the insides of her lungs and tested the organs' boundaries, new to a creature not of its own world. Everything was painful, both on the inside and the outside. It felt as if her intestines had been rearranged, which she would, in fact, confirm in later studies. The rearrangement necessary for the new world was very minuscule, but could despite that cause a lot of agony.
Adjusting to the new lighting of the unknown place, Waiti groaned out in pain once more. His whole existence as of now consisted of pain and surviving said pain. Through labored breaths, he noticed he was right beside a body of water. The abyss she had witnessed moments earlier was like a hungry, picky beast. It had contemplated, assessing his being. Was this a worthy meal consuming? It had gotten a taste, but had seemingly not liked the taste coating its all-consuming and gaping mouth, and had spit him out on the other side in disappointment.
The short-grown vegetation all around her was alike a soft bed. He lay there for a while, keeping her eyes shut to protect her from the assaulting presence of what he would later come to know as the sun. Home was always cozily dim, with warm-lighted small lamps hanging everywhere to provide better eyesight to the creatures not born into the dark embrace of the midnight zone. Even opening his eyes hurt, but after a while, she could not stand the intrusive light any longer. With forced effort, she spotted a tree not too far away, its shadow calling to him. Waiti started crawling forward, every move an effort carved out of the sheer will to live. Out of spite towards them who didn't believe in him, who belittled and ridiculed him.
After an agonizingly large amount of time, Waiti's somewhat pathetic crawling paid off. Now in the welcoming shadow of the tree, she dared open her eyes properly. Her breaths were still labored, especially after his substantial efforts, but she hoped it would become easier after some rest. Hauling himself up a little, he rested against the steady trunk of the tree. The bark was something Waiti had never felt before, and through her consistent pain, he felt the wrinkles of the wood with care. Such intricacies that nature could create, she thought with wonder.
Now finally being able to take in the surroundings, he looked around properly. The body of water was a small pond in the middle of a clearing. Around it: trees, vegetation of all kinds. High, low, somewhere in-between - the place was filled with shades of green and other colors Waiti had never been able to witness in the endless night she called home. A song without a source carried into her ears, and she looked around, unable to locate who or what could create such a vivid melody. Suddenly, the branches above rustled harshly, and out flew a thing. Waiti didn't get a good look at it due to its impeccable speed, but was almost certain it was the source of the song. It certainly had different features than the animals back home, which made Waiti giddy. A new creature that she had never seen only increased his curiosity for this new world.
This world smelled different too. There was something much more sweet about the air here, and a breeze here and there brought a sense of rawness not as equally present back home. Looking over his shoulder, she spotted something very promising. A path or a small road, not too far away, created by the ones who walked it. It had been used so frequently that the land was bare, whereas it was surrounded by low green vegetation with a tinge of other colors here and there.
To her surprise, Waiti started hearing something coming closer along the small dirt road. It wasn't the flying creature, but something moving on land. A little afraid of what he might encounter, Waiti made sure he was completely hidden behind the tree trunk. She peaked every now and then, and soon saw something walking on two legs approaching calmly. This made him feel a pang of recognition; this… person was at least partially like him.
The person had sun-kissed skin and curly hair that reached a little over their shoulders. They were obviously taller than Waiti and had a rational look to them. From Waiti's estimate, he could have been about the same age as she was, but there was no knowing how aging actually worked for this person. Encouraged by the likeness of the stranger, he called out: "Hello".
The person, who clearly had heard Waiti's call, turned to look at him. Surprise painted their face as he took in the somewhat human, but also nonhuman look of the person in front of them. Then they answered: "Hello, fellow traveler. Are you enjoying the late afternoon?"
The language used by them shook Waiti. How could this person speak the exact same language and dialect as he did? On the other hand, how did they even understand her, and how could she understand and speak to them? All of these questions ran around inside her head, but were interrupted by the stranger. He would figure it out later. "You seem to be in pain. I have some food and drink to offer. Would you like to share?", the stranger asked, since he had gotten no answer. They figured it was because this odd person was seemingly in pain.
Food and drink from this new world? Through the now slowly easing pain, euphoria was allowed to bloom and rush through Waiti's body. A new world, and it was only he who knew about it from back home. She quickly nodded to accept the offer and watched the stranger sit down, rummaging through his bag. They took out a small container with liquid inside and something soft and light brown and extended them towards Waiti. "Some drink and bread," the stranger said gleefully. Waiti gratefully took both items and drank the liquid first. The taste was bitter but also had a slight kick to it. Then she tasted the "bread". The taste was plain but the thing itself was filling. In-between the bites, he expressed her gratitude: "Thank you, truly."
The stranger gave her a smile and then inquired with curiosity: "Say, in which place do people look like you? I have never seen a hat that is floating above someone's head." Ah, yes, his bell. A few other features also gave her away, like her tentacle hair. Waiti was a bit surprised at the stranger's direct question, but also pensive over how she should answer it. The name of his home wouldn't clarify anything for this stranger, but he supposed it was a start.
Waiti told the stranger the name of her home. In the inexplicable way that the two could understand each other, the name translated to the stranger as "The home of water". Later, they would learn that Waiti and others of his kind called it Merideva. "I have never heard of such a place," the stranger expressed with surprise. "Is it far from here?", they continued. "Yes, very far away," Waiti confirmed and gave them a meek smile. "If it does not sound unbelievable to you, my home is what you would consider "underwater". You see, I descend from creatures who live in water, all of my people do," she continued. The word "my people" stung a little since he wasn't entirely sure if those said people even accepted him as one of their own anymore.
The stranger was stunned. They had no idea if this… creature-person in front of them was telling the truth or simply out of it. He did seem to be in pain. Before they could comment anything, the person added: "If you do not believe me, I could always show you." This did make it seem like the person was speaking the truth, but maybe she was also just truly delusional. However, they were a wanderer with no home, no company. This stranger was offering companionship and a new world to them on a silver platter. It would be foolish of them not to take the chance, they reasoned.
"If you are truly telling the truth, then please show me," they almost pleaded. The tone in their voice surprised even himself. Was he truly that desperate for someone to share time with and a place new to them? "I will, after I have explored this world a little first. I did not come here just to leave right away. In that case, you would have to stick around with me for a while. Do you accept my offer?", the person asked with a chuckle. "And what is your name? I believe I should know the name of the person with whom I will be spending my time with from now on," he added coyly.
They had fabricated enough lies in their lifetime to create an expansive net he would get stuck in if they tried to sort it out. How many more lies could they tell, he thought wistfully. But they also realized that anything they uttered would probably be taken at face value by this person. Sorting through the vast list of names they had made for themselves, they chose a nickname he had been given before it all fell apart at the seams. A one-sided sign of trust that this strange but kind person would take good care of the key to their soul he was giving. "You may call me Eni," he declared while offering a lopsided smile.
Waiti tried the name on his tongue, the third taste of this world she experienced. "Eni. A short and beautiful name. As charming as its bearer," he joked. In this new world, she was more bold, more daring. Here she could shape who he was from an unsculpted slab of marble. And perhaps she could let a part of himself that had suffocated for so long finally breathe, for better and for worse. He could see the joke made the stranger, Eni, bashful, the way they turned away a little and cut eye contact.
It suddenly dawned on Waiti that she had forgotten to say her name. "Waiti," he offered, while also offering his hand to Eni. Unsure of what gesture Waiti expected, Eni resorted to what they had been taught all those years ago. Taking the hand with extra skin in-between the fingers, he laid a gentle kiss at the back of it. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Waiti," they said with a practiced voice. Rather than any reaction they expected, Waiti observed with curiosity. A true scientist, they would later deduce. "Is this how you greet someone in this world?", she asked out of pure interest. "Where I come from, yes. This is how you greet someone of importance," Eni affirmed. "You flatter me," Waiti retorted, flustered. He then questioned: "Is your home far away too?". "Yes," came the curt answer as Eni suddenly stiffened. Touchy subject, Waiti concluded.
Abruptly, a soar of pain went through Waiti as his body was still adjusting. Healing was rarely linear, after all. She moaned out in pain and closed her eyes as her breathing became shallower once more. He held himself as he leaned heavily against the tree, sweat gathering on his skin and her eyebrows pinched together. Eni watched, worried, and did the best thing he could come up with in the moment. They snaked their arm behind Waiti's back and pulled him into a one-armed embrace, petting Waiti's arm in an attempt to comfort. She seemed to accept the physical contact, so they stayed that way. To Waiti, the physical contact grounded him somewhat and reminded him that he wasn't alone in this place. She leaned against them and let the pain subdue once more, slowly. Breathing the air that soon would welcome him wholly. Supported by someone she would learn to call her friend.
Vänskapen blommar, så stark och översvallande. Bland allt växer det gift som blandas ihop med dofterna, berusande. Och det är genom denna dimma vi blir beroende av varandra, dricker nektar från varandras halsar. Tills det rinner ned längs med våra kroppar som (glas)skärvor.
Sirpaleet tietävät onnea, lasinsirpaleet myrskyä.