Rising Shards

I was a bit jittery returning to the others. Only Kalei greeted me when I got back; Aira and Laenie weren’t with her.

“Hey Zates,” Kalei said. “I couldn’t get any of these guys to talk to me and explain what they are, like if they’re like robots or whatever, so I’ve just been chucking rocks into the ocean.” She looked me up and down. “You look…a bit frazzled. What’d Lillia tell you?”

“She uh.” I said. “Helped me and Oka figure stuff out a bit.”

“That’s…vague,” Kalei said. “You good? You wanna chuck some rocks into the water with me?”

I grabbed a rock from the pile she had gathered and tried to skip one. It just plunked into the water, but it was satisfying. Kalei managed to skip her the rock after mine at least six times before it finally dropped below the waves.

“I’m good,” I said. “It’s all good.”

“She didn’t say like break up with each other, did she?” Kalei asked.

“No, more like telling us how to fix some stuff…out a bit. Why do I keep saying ‘stuff out a bit’?”

“Because you’re a dork,” Kalei said as she threw another rock into the water. “Ohhh, wait, I get it. That weird awkward pause thing you had going on, gotcha.”

“Yeah.” I said.

"Didja make out?" Kalei asked.

I snort-laughed, which was gross but it was in a moment of smug pride so I didn't beat myself up over it. "Hehe...yeah."

"Nice, dude!" Kalei high-fived me. "Wait, with Lillia there...?"

"She was standing off to the side with her eyes closed!" I said. "I hope." I tried not to think any more about Lillia standing so close as I made out with Oka and how quickly she reacted when we were done.

“I’d drill you about it now, but I really want to get home already. We’ve been here so long, I hope we haven’t missed Fang Moon Web.”

“Yeah, I think I’m ready to be done, too…” I said.

We chucked rocks for a while, and once I got bored of that I actually started to work on my assignment a bit, but then Kalei made fun of my drawings so I put my notebook away, making a mental note to make fun of her drawings when she started her own work.

“Hey, look at this!” Aira said. She and Laenie were carrying the rest of the missing backpacks.

“The Exumi found them!” Laenie said.

“No bloodsabers, though?” Kalei said as she took her backpack from Aira, cradling it like a baby as soon as it was back in her possession. “I’m surprised everything in here’s in good shape, though. Glad I didn’t bring my eGame.”

“I brought snacks!” Aira said. “We should have a quick picnic to recharge!”

“I have water bottles as well,” Laenie said. “It’s important to stay hydrated, especially during a void mission.”

“Atrians!” Kiki called. “It’s been three and a half turns, I’m tired of waiting!”

“Geez,” Kalei said. “Guess it’s time to go.”

“We’re gonna have the picnic soon,” Aira said. “That’s my new mission priority at least.”

Kiki called us over to a platform like spot at the end of the village. Metal box shaped structures that were only a bit taller than us were being loaded up with various supplies by Exumi. I winced looking at them, as even small boxes being set down inside them made the frames rattle. It looked like they would fall apart with a light breeze. Past them was a trail of rocks that rose over the water that had a single rail in the center of it. It made a quiet clanking sound and looked kind of like something that would pull a roller coaster up to its first hill. As soon as Oka and Lillia returned to the group I rushed to Oka and held her hand.

“I was told a train,” Kalei said. “These are boxes.”

“I must warn you now, this could be incredibly dangerous.” Kiki said.

“Like everything else here, huh?” Aira said.

“Boxes. Dangerous boxes.” Kalei said.

“So…what would we have to do?” I asked. “To ride these dangerous boxes?”

“Hold on tight, mainly.” Kiki said. “The Terina attackers have generally left the train cars that pass over the hot ocean alone.”

“Is that a hot ocean as in like, warm temperature?” Oka asked.

“Like hot springs or hot tubs,” I said. “We use those for leisure and relaxing where we come from, Kiki.”

“Or hot as in like, sexy?” Kalei asked. “Like a sexy ocean?”

“How can an ocean be sexy?” I asked.

“I don’t know, anything’s possible.” Aira said.

“Zeta, come on,” Oka started, an earnest seriousness in her voice as she shook her head slightly. “Out of anyone here, you should know about being se—UH, I…I mean—” Her eyes instantly went wide and her face went red, as if she had started to say something she thought she was only thinking, then realized she was actually speaking out loud.

“OKA!” Kalei yelled, bursting out laughing so hard she fell over. It took me until then to realize what Oka was about to say, and I think I went redder than she was. Kalei began mixing joyous screams and deep, gut level laughing only reserved for when a friend had done something deeply embarrassing.

“Er. No, Kalei…waitwaitwait. Wh-what I meant…meant to say was.” Oka stammered, waving her hands as I became statuesque, frozen thinking about what my girlfriend had just almost said out loud to me. “You see, there are different...kinds of...Lillia, help.” I assumed she asked Lillia for help because for a few minutes she was too embarrassed to look at me.

“Well, there’s good evidence that your impulsivity mental block is waning, at least,” Lillia said as Kalei rolled near her feet, still doubled over in laughter. “Kiki, ignore these three for a moment. Or we’ll be here all day.”

“Yeah, ignore the lovebirds,” Aira said. “I desire more info about the train. What sort of metal is it made from? It looks…intriguing. I may need to document it before we head out for my taste journal. Your armor as well, but I don’t want to cross any boundaries without consent.”

Lillia deeply sighed.

“It’s not for leisure and relaxing, that’s for certain,” Kiki said. “The temperatures are so high that it’s dangerous for Exumi to be near them. The train had to be carefully built from the rock formation to the specially charmed metals of the cars themselves for it to protect the contents inside.”

“Charmed? Like magically charmed?” Laenie asked, speaking up for the first time in a bit and surprisingly not as terrified about the prospect of the train over boiling waters as I expected. “Can you guys do magic?”

“Let’s just go, and I’ll answer your questions along the way,” Kiki said. “Maybe. You Cani ask too many questions.”

“OK, but someone is seriously going to have to explain what you guys are at some point.” Kalei said. “Are you robots? Like little robot people?”

“They’re Exumi,” I said. “Like half robot, half organic.”

“That just raises further questions!” Kalei said.

When the Exumi finished preparing, seven boxes were connected, and the spot they waited at before the rock rail path also reminded me of a roller coaster. I was very scared of roller coasters, and the only times I’d actually made it close enough to get in, I chickened out and ran away. But there wasn’t really a choice to run away at Vita Coa.

“So how do we…what are we doing here?” I asked.

Kiki sighed. “Just sit inside them and hold onto the crate in the center, it’s the most bolted down. The heat will be intense outside, but you’ll be safe as long as you don’t let go or jump out.”

“R-right.” I said. “One to a train car, then?”

Kiki nodded. She guided me to a car and had me sit in the back of it. I had to kind of straddle my legs around the metal crate in front of me and hug it as well. It did feel like it was bolted down, like a cold, box shaped pillar. Making things tougher, my car didn’t have side doors, which made me very concerned about the prospect of falling out into the hot ocean. It was too late to change cars though, as Kiki had already directed the others to theirs and was getting ready for her own train car. I wanted to shut my eyes and wait until we were safely past the hot ocean.

“It’ll start any second,” Kiki said. “Just remember what I said, don’t let go. Don’t jump out.”

I gripped the crate as Kiki told the Exumi nearby to send us off. The connected train cars shook and rattled, and we were off.

It was actually kind of nice at first. The cool breeze sailed through, the ocean air smelled nice, and the view was unbelievably gorgeous. The calm start didn’t stop me from having an iron grip with my arms and legs on the crate in front of me, especially when there was any kind of jolt.

I felt a surge of heat outside, which gave me an equally powerful surge of panic. I worried the metal inside would get heated, searing our skin in ways Kiki wouldn’t have understood or planned for being a metal armored Exumi. I wondered if the heat would affect my train car being so open, but even as we passed water that actually bubbled from the heat like a hot tub on our sides, the breeze stayed relatively stable.

Even with the relative stability, I wanted the ride to be over. I kept picturing myself losing my grip and tumbling into the water, melting instantly or melting slowly and awfully. Just as my worrying began to really intensify, I heard someone behind me.

“Hey Zeta,” Oka said from the car behind me. “So, I have a story.”