The Journey

What is this? I don't understand..this feels empty. This feels..strange. What is this sense of vacancy? I see pink lips, blue eyes. A beautiful feminine smile. A smile that brings me warmth and comfort. She takes my hand, and I can feel our fingers intertwine. Where is she taking me? Who is this? She's young and beautiful. Her hand is so soft in mine. I don't recognize my own hand. It doesn't look how I remember. It looks younger, and hard. My rough hand, littered with calluses. It doesn't feel how I remember. This isn't my hand. Where are we? I can see a forest. I feel the shadow of the trees cool my skin, covering me from the warmth of the sun. The forest is both dark and light. The sunlight breaks through the forest in spotlights all around us. As she is leading me through this dense forest, I can't help but gaze upon her light blonde hair. It is thin, but strong. The warm summer breeze easily manipulates which direction her hair flows. Yet it is strong. Her hair is like silk, a spiders web. Thin, but strong. Shiny and beautiful.
I don't know her, yet I feel safe with her. I feel completely comfortable around this woman. She keeps looking over her shoulder and smiling at me. Her skin is fair, but her cheeks are pink, a softer shade of pink than her lips. I want to smile with her, but I don't know who she is. I try to open my mouth to speak, but nothing seems to come out. I then feel a cold tight grip on my opposite hand. I turn to look as well as the girl, and to my left is a pale naked woman. The young beautiful girl pulls my other hand harder, urging me to come with her. The naked woman however, is stronger and without much effort she takes me away. She pulls me towards her, leans in and kisses me with her cold lips. After the kiss she softly says, "Cloud, it is time."
           The naked woman takes me away from the warm girl, and as I look back I can see the girls tears streaming down her pink cheeks. I want to go back to her, I want to go with her. I know though, that the naked woman is right. It is time for me to go. I seek the warmth of the girl, but I know that time is short. I want to be loved, I want to live forever in this forest with her. The naked woman has control over me, but how? Why do I have this awareness of time? Why do I know that is time for to go? To go where? I look back again at the girl, I find her slowly following us, she mouths something but the words are inaudible at this distance. For her words are muffled by the sound of waves. I look ahead of me and feel the warm gritty sand between my toes. The sunlight glistening waves of the ever vast ocean. The naked woman continues leading me into the water, and we walk further and further into we can walk no more..
         I do not float in the ocean, I fall. I descend further and further into the darkness below. I feel myself changing, my heart pumping, air pouring into my lungs. I can hear the sound of the waves at the beach, the sound of birds. I can smell the bitterness of the salty sea. A bright light shines through the darkness. I am now falling head first out of a sea of clouds. I can see the beach below, but not the same as before. As I fall closer and closer towards the earth below, I can see a man lying face first in the sand on the beach. He looks tired, his clothes tattered and ruined. Is he unconscious or could he be dead? As I fall into this man time and space folds around me and everything is dark once again. I am no longer falling, and no one is here to guide me. I am now motionless and still. I am exhausted, and dehydrated. The extreme dehydration and starvation has left my body weak, for I can barely even manage to open my eyes.
     So what happens now?

Hally had made her way from the Observatory down to the beach, wandering through the ship wreck and further on, lost in her thoughts. She was thinking of the new colors she'd seen while she was here, when at last her eyes saw an aura floating up from a body on the shore a bit away. Picking up her pace a bit, Hally hurried over to find a man face down in the sand. His aura was very strange, and the life-light within it was weak and flickering.

Hally struggled a bit to push the man onto his back, since she wasn't that strong and he was quite a bit larger than she was. She wasn't sure how she could help this stranger, and began to shout. "Hey! Help!" Hally wasn't sure if anyone was out side, and she didn't want to leave the man alone in case someone else came along to help. She began moving back and forth along the beach, keeping the man in her sights while shouting for help. "Anyone!?"

She left no footprints as she transparently paced towards the ruins of her ship. Once there, she gathered the basics. A bucket of crickets for the lizards, some frozen mice, and a pendant she clicked around her neck. More than one trip would evidently be necessary. As she carried the baggage back to the entrance, she heard a scream. The bucket of crickets dropped, escaping their prison they flew into oblivion. "Fuck", she muttered under her breath. A months worth of food. She carefully placed the rest down and ran towards the commotion.

She didn't recognize the girls face, or the man's. There was little life in his, and in the little girls she could only see panic. Turning herself visible, she left footprints in the sand behind her. Mitzi froze beside the girl, scared but excited. "I heard your scream."

I feel the nudge and hear the voice of a girl. A child. I barely manage to open my eyes. The level of dehydration that my body has endured has left my vision weak. My eyes are straining far too much to make out the child before me. What's a child doing out here on her own? No, she can't be alone. What's happened to me? I can't remember. My body is aching at every joint, yet my senses are numb. The bright hot sun is simmering on my face, for my body has already exhausted too much moisture to produce any sweat. I can feel myself losing more and more water vapor each time I take a breath. At this point I am becoming a rotting corpse. I try to force myself to sit up and reach for the young girl, but my body collapses over. With my face in the sand, my back arches and I begin to vomit salt water.

Relief. I feel the relief from the suns heat on my back as a shadow casts over me. I cock my head in the sand to see out of my right eye, but can only make out the silhouette of a young woman. I hear her rich french accent. They both sound concerned, but I doubt either of them can carry me. The roughness of the sand against my lips cause them to sting. My lips are dried out from the increasing thirst.

Death. I've been in this position before. I've been here before. Have I died before? Is my condition causing delusions? I desperately grab onto the french woman's ankle. "Water.." I gasp with desperation, my swollen tongue and the dryness of my mouth making it difficult to speak. This voice. This deep raspy voice. Is this my voice? My own voice, is so foreign to me. Like that dream..Was that a dream?
I sluggishly release my hand from her ankle and begin to faint again.

Hally frowned, looking back at the strange man as a lady funakly came to help him. "I found him like this," she stated simply, focusing on the fluttering of his aura. "His colors are going out, he needs help." Hally still wasnt sure what to do, but he waas like her, ans the woman. He had the deep purple in his aura giving away that he was special as well. "He's like us.." she peered at the man as he came too for a moment, though it was difficult to understand his raspy voice. He nust have been strabded for a while.

Mitzi tried not to instinctively kick the man as he grabbed her ankle, though hearing his voice she forgave the break of personal space. Swinging her satchel to the ground she clawed through, items of curiosity flew out. Three springs, a rotten apple, and a shiny bottle of green fluid later- she pulled out a water bottle.

Mitzi knelt down beside the man, tipping his head up she tilted the water into his mouth. Glancing at the small girl, she grew worried. "His colours? I know your kind...You can read auras", Mitzi observed. "We'll get him help, okay?" She assured the small child, trying to convince herself in the process. Turning her attention back to the man, she took the water away. "Can you hear me...?"

I grab onto the woman's hand holding the water bottle close to my lips. I lose a quarter of the water that is in the bottle from spilling it everywhere. The water feels good on my lips, and I can feel it trickle down my throat. I lie my head back down into the sand, nodding on and off. Get me the hell off this beach. My skin is bright red from the sun scorching my skin, and my face and forehead are peeling all over. How long have I been here? I can barely make out what they are saying, their voices sound so far away to me. I open my eyes and stare at the birds circling above us. I glance at the young girl and watch the muscles on her face move. Her eyebrows are furrowed with concern. She looks anxious. I must be in pretty bad shape. I try to sit back up for more water, but my arms shake and lack the strength to support my body. Needless to say I have little success.
So I was right. I must be dying. I stare at her lips and try to read what she is saying. My what are going out? My colors? Out of the corner of my eye I see the older woman repeating the same word. Then I make out the word aura. The woman turns her attention to me and my heart quickens, she asks me if I can hear her. "..Yea. Yea I can hear you," I reply with confirmation. "The sun..Water," my words are slurred and are probably difficult to make out. I raise my arm and rest it over my eyes, shielding my face from the direct sunlight. "Do you have more?" I ask with a croak.
The cool breeze feels good against my skin, and with that cool breeze comes a sweet smell. A good smell..I watch as the wind blows against her hair and her clothes. The wind blows her scent straight into my direction. Suddenly the very urgency of the situation vanishes for a brief moment. All that matters is the light shining behind her, and that smell.

Hally jumped back, slightly startled as the man grabbed at the woman's ankle. "His colors, yes!" She nodded as the woman recognized her power to read auras, though Hally preferred to call them the colors. It was easier.. Aura was just a silly word to her. Hally watched in interest as the woman gave water to the nearly unconscious man, as he began to gain his strength back, his colors become a bit brighter. She began to detect reds, blues, and a strange green shade nestled in the center of his special midnight purple. After he asked for more, his colors showed a bright pink halo around him, and Hally began to giggle. "He's going to be just fine.." she let out between her laughs, realizing this man was falling for the strange woman. "We should bring him inside, to Reast! She can help more, too!" Hally decided, shifting from foot to foot now, but still monitoring the man's colors. "Oh, I'm Hally!"

Taken aback by the man's hand grabbing hers, Mitzi grimaced. This was the second break of personal space and if it weren't for the situation she would have been steaming with annoyance, though she pitied him. His struggling brought worry to her. Not only does he appear to be dying, but he's stubborn too. "Stop trying to move," Mitzi commanded the man; "stay still. Please" Her authoritative tone diminished into pleading.

Mitzi addressed the man's question by tipping the bottle upside-down, leaving two drips to sizzle on the burning sand. The little girls laughter lifted Mitzi's face to a smirk. She impatiently lifted his head up at the girls given courage. She addressed the girl, "you're right." this time she believed what she was saying. Attempting to lift more of his back up, Mitzi realized she may be doing more harm than good. "I'm not strong enough to lift him," glancing at the girls meek arms she continued. "and neither are you- Hally...Hally," she repeated, "I Like that name. I'm Mitzi."

Returning to the seriousness of the situation Mitzi tried not to stir back into a panic. Sweat dripped down her neck, and her throat was dry with thirst. If this was the way she felt from a few minutes of labor in the sun she didn't want to think of the man's pain. "We need to find a way to move him. Now." She said urgently. "I don't know what to do." She tried to mute the panic in her voice, but couldn't hide her words wobbling at the end.

It isn't the water that rejuvenates me, but the smell of this woman. Like a chemical reaction in my brain, my body..my body.The vessel of mans soul. Within this vessel we bear the tragic flaws of man. Like a blind captain, I have sunk the ship that is my body. Through carelessness I damaged my body to the point of near death. Whatever mistake I had made. Whatever wrong turn I took lead me to this moment. Right now, that doesn't matter. None of that matters. I have to live. I need to move.
The woman pleas me to sit still, I obey without much of a choice. Even with this sudden rush of motivation, it's clear that my body is at its limit. It will take time before I will be able to walk and think properly.

I fucking need more water. I need to get out of the sun

I haven't much of a choice. I'm desperate. I roll over and lean on my right arm supporting my upper torso upright. As soon as I do I watch as the last two drips of water from the bottle sizzle on the sand right in front of me. With disappointment my arm gives in and I allow my body to fall back onto the surface.
I can feel the thumping of my heartbeat in my head. I can't escape the thought of water. I imagine myself diving head first into a fountain of drinking water. I can almost see my own reflection when I cup my hands together in the water. I try to produce saliva in my mouth, but my mouth feels like two dry sponges being rubbed together.
I fall back down with a grunt as the woman drops me.
The girl, Hally..The bubbly one. How can she remain so optimistic under the circumstances?
Then there's the woman, Mitzi, the realist.
   I can still smell her on me from when she attempted to lift me up. I watch the sweat drop down her neck, falling down each elegant curve and point of her soft skin. I stare at her mouth as she talks. Lost in a trance, I keep my eyes on her lips. I imagine her taking a drink, and spilling some juice. She would wipe some off her chin, and lick away the rest. It would leave moisture behind on her lips.
What is wrong with me?

Making anyone uncomfortable right now would not be in my best interest. I should say something, but doing so may only make matters worse for how dehydrated I am. Although..

"I can probably stand up and walk if the two of you help me," I say swallowing a minimal amount of saliva I formed in my mouth. This should work if they wrap their arms under my shoulders and we all stand up at the same time. I lean forward onto my hands and knees, I pace myself as I slowly struggle to stand. My legs shake, and the world spins around me in the  sun's intoxication. I stumble forward but catch myself on both of them. "Let's go.."