Chapter 6: Arrival

[So far, Dawnfeather is winning the follower contest. But remember, they/you must comment as well!]

Akire looked around in wonder at the huge room. Directly in front of her was a set of stairs, leading up to a window that looked like stained glass. There were two staircases off of this landing, one leading to a balcony overlooking the gate, with a window-encased office farther along it. She tilted her head up, and saw a metal roof that looked like it could open and close. To either side of her were two tunnels that led farther into the city

Akire stepped farther into the city, the gate's watery light behind her casting her shadow onto the floor. Small horizontal lights around the room gleamed dimly. The gate's portal behind her disappeared in a flash, but she did not notice. She turned to her left, and followed the tunnel down.

She walked slowly, taking in the sights around her. The horizontal lights that she had seen on the poles in the original room were here as well. She turned to one of the windows and gasped. The sight before her was of a great city, with spires and towers, but that was not the most shocking thing of all. The whole city, herself included, was underwater.

Akire sat down on the cold floor. This was too much to handle right now. The Wraith culling, the separation from her parents, and now being stuck in an underwater city for who knows how long? She put her head down on her pack and fell into a fitful sleep.

A few hours later, she awoke slowly. Where am I?

The events of the past day came rushing back like floodwaters, and she gave a little moan of defeat. She sat up and opened her pack, rummaging around to see what Xerin had given her. Her fingers touched a leather cover, and she shook her head in disbelief.

No, this can't be it. He couldn't have...

She pulled out a worn, leather book. Emblazoned on the front, in purple cloth, was a strange symbol Akire had seen many times. This was the Book of Tiroulau, or at least a copy of it. Ryda and Xerin had brought it from their home planet, and it contained the broken history of Tiroulau, as well as family trees, legends, and maps. When she was younger, each night Xerin would read something from it.

She couldn't count how many times she had opened it's yellow pages and studied her family tree. Ryda had told her that someday, at her wedding, she would write her partner's name in the space next to hers. Akire couldn't imagine this, and she was still unable to grasp the concept that sometime, in the not so distant future, she would find someone that she would want to spend the rest of her days with.

And now, looking at the pages in the darkness of an alien city, that day seemed farther away than ever.

Seven Weeks Later

She had journeyed farther into the city as time went by, and now she was lost. Her supplies were gone, despite her careful rationing, and each day she grew weaker. Around her, voices whispered and images flashed across her subconscious.

Hunger visions, that's what they were called. She remembered it from hanging around Healer Dawkin's cart at the fairs. He had called her exceptionally smart, and she had looked up to him. It had been her life's dream, to become a Healer. But now, survival was her main goal.

She heard voices again.

Mother? Father?

And footsteps.

Have you come to bring me away? I don't want to die. Please.

The lights got closer and closer, the voices louder, but Akire was no longer listening. Her body was curled into a ball, and her vision faded to black.

☆☆☆☆☆

"Sir?"

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"I think we have something here."

"A way to raise the city? An alternate power supply? Food? Water? What is it?"

[static] "It's a woman, sir. She's unconscious."

"An Ancient?"

"Doesn't look like it. She's unarmed, and barely breathing."

"Bring her to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir."