Chapter 5.5: On their way

Empty while pouring

As they climbed upon the saddle of their boroki, he took one last look at their encampment. This would be the last time he looked at this encampment, even if he didn’t know that himself. It was as if only now he departed from his old world—a final goodbye to the old times.

“What, you’re scared of fighting? You wanna go back to that hole?” Chore noticed that Srishta was looking intensely at the encampment they were leaving. They finally got on their boroki, and with one scream of the brothers signaling the boroki they were going home, they went en route.

As last time, he was on the boroki with Chairo, holding her tightly right under her torso. This time it didn’t feel awkward to hold her like that, nor did Chairo feel weird about the situation.

While they were on the road, Srishta noticed the scenery change.

When they first got on their boroki, the scenery was barren lands—no animals, no dead plants. It was as if the God of these lands themself had given up on this place. But as their road continued, it changed slowly but surely. There were small incremental changes: first nothing, and then… a few cacti. They were very small and not well cared for, but they were there. The land was surviving, even if only barely. Then the cacti started to look healthier, then they became massive. Chairo noticed Srishta being amazed by the change in scenery and finally seeing plants.

“You know, we didn’t grow up in this place. Our village is beautiful, it is inside a forest,” Chairo told Srishta while she looked forward to make sure they were going the right way. She probably didn’t have to do that—the boroki definitely knew where home was.

“Really? I kind of assumed you guys grew up in a similar situation. Not exactly the same, but something similar,” Srishta responded.

“Not at all. The only reason we survived is because our dad was very hard on us growing up. He taught us various survival skills to survive in any type of weather condition or place.”

“I thought most villages would be in plains. Wouldn’t that be easier to build, with not too many trees being in the way and more places to cultivate animals? It also doesn’t make sense that the halberd has been passed for generations. That is not a weapon you use in a forest, you know.”

“I guess you are right about the halberd—you are the weapons guy. Personally, I always thought you could retrace our family to different lands. Even within our own village we look quite different. I don’t really know why the village is there, besides the natural defenses we have against attackers. That is also why the government left us alone most of the time. Not because we are big and strong, but because we know the environment perfectly and make it very hard for people to enter. It simply wasn’t worth it for them.”

Srishta started to think: It really doesn’t make any sense for a family that is settled for generations inside a forest to pass down a halberd. They know it isn’t a good weapon in those environments, except for somebody perfectly wielding it.

While they were talking, they both noticed that they didn’t see cacti anymore. But they also didn’t see sand and dry rocks anymore. They finally saw grass—actual green. They arrived in the plains: there were flowers, even a few trees here and there. It was as if the lands welcomed them instead of trying to kill them.

“This is more what I am accustomed to,” Chairo said while hiding a smile from Srishta.

“Even if the sky changes color, the lands don’t want to kill us anymore,” said Srishta happily.

“My father used to say… the lands we inhabit welcome us and protect us. We should do the same for them.”

“You guys are going way too deep with that stuff. Yes, there’s green. The real good part is there is actual meat to hunt here!” Chore said this while rubbing his tummy. Chavi was nodding at what Chore said. Srishta and Chairo found it hilarious.

“We will be arriving in an hour or so, I think. The lands are quite vast. At least we have an easier time breathing instead of suffocating from the heat.”

They finally arrived at the village. It was, as Chairo said, a village surrounded by forests—but very different from how Chairo and her brothers remembered it. It was in ruins. Houses were destroyed, corpses of farm animals lay on the streets. Seeing this horrendous picture, Chairo grew furious, took her weapon, and rushed inside the village to find Bran Tren. Her brothers followed her. Srishta took his weapon and followed them too.