Nallimaru

Hopping across the rooftops of the city of Nallient in the middle of the night after being cooped in her room, hopeless, for so long, felt incredibly liberating to Ui.

Her pink hair bounced as she went from rooftop to rooftop, undisturbed by the prickling winter winds. Nothing got through her heart nor her free-flowing, Udari winter clothes as she made her way back to that one bridge.

Her light steps made little noise on the roofs of houses that, despite being mostly abandoned, guided her way to Nallimaru. Her long leaps pierced through the skies of the city, outlined by the moon with the stars as the background.

She eventually reached the bridge, and looked at the barely visible mountain. The longer the silence went, the more unbearable it became. “Nallimaru,” said Ui to herself as she stood on the Uman side of the bridge. She walked through it with the sounds of the river welcoming her and the moonlight guiding her way.

Ui didn’t take long to find the main entrance to Nallimaru, and walked confidently inside. She quickly noticed how different it was from Aure. She felt the cracks in the clay of the walls, and their colors were fading, too. The leaflights were few and far between, barely allowing someone unfamiliar like her to move through its caves. Her feet could feel the unmaintained, chipped stones on her path, too cold from the lack of people. The air was too humid for the bitingly dry winter, but more importantly, there was almost no one else inside.

Most houses she walked past seemed quiet and unlit. But Ui was determined to go deeper. She followed the warmer caves until she found a better lit, more populated section. They all stared at Ui as she walked by, but Ui didn’t slow her step.

She noticed an older Udari, fueling a chimney that was struggling to warm up the whole cave. The older Udari noticed her, too.

“I was told there was an unidentified Udari roaming our caves,” said the older Udari woman. Ui could tell the woman was very old, not by her looks, but by how much she struggled to move her body. Ui observed the glints of the leaflights shining on the woman’s long hair in that barely lit room. Her haircolor was a faded red that at one point in her life could’ve looked like the red leaves of the autumn. It was hard to tell. With some difficulty, the woman sat down on a chair and invited Ui to sit nearby.

“Elder…”

“There’s no elders in Nallimaru, girl.” The old lady let out a warm laugh. “So, you’re born on the Uman side then. Did you come here to learn about your people?”

“No, I…”

“Would you share a cup of Olla tea with this old lady? It gets quite cold in the winter.”

Ui smiled. “I would love one.”

“Fetch me a cup from the fire…” The older woman pointed at the chimney, which had a large pot of boiling water for anyone in need of it. Ui filled two cups with water and brought them back. Despite her thinner, weaker muscles, the woman expertly steeped the Olla tea and passed it back to Ui without wasting any movement. “It’s bitter for those who have never had it…”

Ui kept to herself the fact that she was familiar with it and just nodded. Ui looked at the woman’s hands. Her skin was slightly stained by the charcoal and ash, no doubt from keeping that chimney fire going.

“It’s days like these an old woman like me is happy to have learned Uman, I get some company…”

Ui couldn’t contain her curiosity, nor her unease. “What happened here?”

“What happened everywhere on this island?” She leaned back on her seat, seemingly ready to spend a long time there. “But first, what is your name, child?”

“Ui…”

“Ui?” The old woman seemed to reflect on Ui’s name. “That’s very Udari sounding for a Uman name. Perhaps your parents thought of something both sides could use.” The old woman let out a laugh. “I’m glad some part of us is left in you.”

Ui was happy that her adoptive parents had kept part of her Udari name. She realized a lot of the younger Udari in the area, like Renne, had fully Uman sounding names instead. “And how should I address you?”

“You’re so polite, girl. Call me Fahbe.” Fahbe looked at Ui’s clothes. “Your clothes are wrinkled and unused, Ui. I guess you’re used to the Uman world at this point, aren’t you?”

Ui nodded timidly.

“Yet you seem to know how to put it on very well. Did someone teach you?”

Ui blushed. “It took me a long time to learn, and some help.”

“Still, very comfortable, aren’t they?” They both shared a smile. “Uman materials just aren’t the same.”

Ui was made conscious of the warm, soft Udari clothes hugging her body. They both sipped their tea, breathing in the steam while the chimney warmed them up. The occasional Udari walked through on their way home, too tired to pay attention to Ui or Fahbe.

“I wish I could show the younger ones like you what this place used to be like… The leaflights lit our path, the pathstones were smooth and warm, we grew mushrooms and plants, and the clay was bright and colorful.”

Aure still retained its beauty and glory, and its life. Ui could imagine those caves being just as lively, even if their current state saddened her. “I wish I could’ve seen it too, elder Fahbe.”

“Elder… We don’t say that kind of thing here anymore, not since the war.”

“Can I ask what happened during the war?”

“I’m glad you’re still curious and straightforward, just like an Udari.” Fahbe laughed. She then took a sip of tea and set her cup aside. “The Umans could never take our city. We fought valiantly to keep them out.” Fahbe’s tone inflicted on Ui a creeping sense of dread. “So they decided to settle the land next to us. The lands where we hunted and gathered became the land for their grain. Their nobles settled on the northern part, and hired Umans and Udari alike to work their houses and fields.”

Ui looked downwards, too familiar with the story.

“Slowly the people’s will to live and struggle inside these caves chipped away at our spirit. I can’t blame them…” Fahbe grabbed her tea, and so did Ui, perhaps reaching for any comfort or warmth it could provide. “So all the young leave us in search of a better life, across the river, or elsewhere on the island.”

Ui tried to hold back her tears, struggling to sip her tea with her trembling hand.

“Don’t be like that, dear.” Fahbe reached her hand to grab Ui’s, who was sitting close by. “As long as we survive, there’s always a future.”

Ui could no longer hold her tears. It wasn’t due to the profound sadness she developed deep in that cave, but because she was moved by the woman’s resilience. She gripped Fahbe’s hand back tightly.

“The winters are harsh here. This mountain is our only protection against the elements. Even the Umans, far away from their people and technology, are learning it’s not worth it to live on these lands.”

At some point Ui had stopped listening to her. “Things don’t have to stay this way.” Her determined face surprised Fahbe, who then looked at her hair.

“Let me see your hair, dear.”

Ui moved close to her, and, grabbing a leaflight she found lying around, showed Fahbe.

“The color of an Aure rose…”

Ui was still too drained from the history of that land to react.

“There’s… stories about Udari with Aure rose hair.” Fahbe grabbed Ui’s hand tighter and smiled. “Perhaps there’s still hope.”

Ui smiled back at Fahbe, yet nothing Ui could do could stop her tears from flowing. “Do you think… it could’ve been different if Aure had helped?” Her words were fragmented by her own tearful cries.

Fahbe remained pensive for a few seconds. “The past is full of possibilities, Ui…” Fahbe paused and felt Ui’s face, full of pain, with her hands. “But none of those possibilities can happen anymore. All you can do is find the best way forward.”

Ui’s tears poured through the sides of her face, she no longer tried to hide them, and lost track of the amounts flowing by. Overcome by helplessness, her sobbing made it impossible for her to talk, especially not the words of encouragement that she desperately wanted to say.

“Go home, child, and let this old lady sleep. Udari are meant to feel, but never linger.” Fahbe hugged Ui tightly for a long time, stopping the chilling midnight winds from taking over both of them.