by Al K. Line
When a child and alone, mother lost to The Lethargy, Arcene had come close to starving on many occasions, and it explained why she was so obsessed with food now. It was almost as if her childhood experiences had dictated the kind of person she was — food was life, and Arcene wanted to live forever. She might. Being Awoken meant death was defeated, at least in the normal sense of aging.
All she had to do was ensure she didn't get killed. Not easy when you had a keen sense of adventure and a total lack of concern for personal safety. Arcene felt invincible, believed she was put on the earth to make it a happier and more exciting place, so made it her goal in life to enjoy as much as she could — consequences for actions were not always big on her agenda, and the truth of the matter was that she often didn't care.
"What's that smell? Ugh." Arcene lifted an arm and sniffed, she was stinky. The wind was dying down but sent a farewell breeze skirting across the harbor, rippling the calm water and blowing a lock of hair into her mouth. "Tastes like fire. I really need a wash and a change of clothes." Her hair was filthy, and as she inspected her bare arms she noted for the first time just how covered in soot and dirt they were. Her legs were almost black and she didn't even want to think about what her face would look like.
A fire, I need a fire and something to warm water in.
Arcene had been the scruffiest, dirtiest, most unkempt child imaginable, never thinking of cleaning or personal hygiene, but as she got older her outlook changed, and now she found the memory of that crazed child amusing. Maybe she was becoming an adult whether her body allowed it or not. The smell of her own stink was definitely unwelcome, but worst of all was having dirty hair.
"Come on, Leel, let's see if we can find somewhere nice to spend the night, and get clean."
Woof, woof, woof.
Leel barked into the sky at the birds that taunted her, then skipped after Arcene who pushed open a battered green door with peeling paint and failed to resist rapping a door knocker in the shape of a boat. She ducked and entered the gloomy interior; Leel followed behind.
A Fisherman's Tale
The room was so cramped Arcene and Leel almost filled it. This was how she pictured a fisherman's cottage to be, imagining a weather-worn man sitting in a chair by the fireplace that dominated the room, fixing a net and maybe smoking a pipe. The ceiling was intact and low, beams as black as night and as hard as iron standing testament to the robust construction of the tiny dwelling.
There was a tiny two-seater sofa covered in mold with half the stuffing gone, a table on its side, and a wall covered in books that would probably disintegrate if she touched them. Glass littered the floor, a carpet that released clouds of dust and was crunchy with salt, residue from a flood that must have happened long ago — everything was dry, just powdery and ready to stick in your lungs if you breathed deeply.
"What do you think, Leel, fancy staying the night if the fireplace works?"
Woof.
Leel dodged the detritus and headed through an opening into what Arcene assumed would be the kitchen, and maybe lead upstairs. She pictured the old man that lived so close to where he would go out on his boat every day, thinking how lucky he was to have such a life. Warm in the winter evenings with his lovely fireplace, content to listen to the sounds of gulls, and the chatter of other fisherman. Maybe the odd tourist as they wandered past his front door and admired the view he probably took for granted.
That would be quite a nice life. Simple, fulfilling.
The reality was different. This was no quaint home of a fisherman, this was a holiday home for a banker that lived three hundred miles away and visited only twice a year for long weekends. A fisherman could no more afford to live in the village than the banker knew how to fish. No, the house had stood empty long before The Lethargy, shutters closed against prying eyes, locked up and a continual annoyance to the long term residents of the village, along with over half the other properties that stood empty but were too expensive for their children to afford so they could live in the place of their birth.
Arcene knew nothing of this and wandered into the kitchen to find Leel nudging open cupboard doors in a vain attempt to uncover something edible.
"Leel, there won't be any food. People would have taken it before you were born, and if there is anything left it won't be any good for eating, not now."
Leel cocked an ear, then continued nudging open the doors with her nose.
Woof, woof.
Arcene ducked, nearly hitting her head on an especially low beam, and stepped over to Leel. Don't tell me she's found food, that's impossible.
Woof.
"All right! I am right here, you know. No need to shout."
Leel stuck her head into the cupboard; Arcene bent to see what all the fuss was about. "Out, Leel, right now." Arcene grabbed Leel by the ears and had to drag her back with all the force she could muster.
Leel resisted, but her ears were her one weak spot — she couldn't fight too hard as she hated them being pinched more than anything. "Now, you sit, and you leave them alone," Arcene scolded, then glanced back into the cupboard.
A terrified looking blackbird stared back at her, orange-rimmed eyes wide, shocked at the sight of Leel's huge jaws ready to clamp around her. Arcene noted the nest of mud, twigs and sofa stuffing, and the three eggs, as the mother stood and hopped about in front of her hideaway, bright beak open wide, trilling shrilly at the intrusion.
Leel bent her head as low as she could to get a look into the cupboard and see what the bird was doing, but remained sat, so Arcene released her hold on her ears. "It's all right, little bird, we're sorry to disturb you. Sorry for the noise. You go back to sitting on your eggs, we'll leave you to it."
Arcene closed the door gently on the scared blackbird, and whispered to Leel, "Come on, girl, let's find another house to sleep in, this one's taken." Leel stared at her like she was mad. Didn't she know they needed food, and they both loved eating eggs and birds, didn't they?
It was easy to tell what Leel was thinking, but however hungry she was Arcene wasn't about to interrupt the life of a soon-to-be mother and the young chicks that would hatch soon enough.
Parenthood was hard enough without having huge dogs scaring you half to death, and she would never put her hungry belly before the new life still forming inside such delicate blue-green shells. The miracle of life was too precious to cull it in such a manner, and if Arcene was honest it reminded her too much of her own child to let little lives be obliterated so they could eat something that wouldn't even begin to eradicate their hunger.
Arcene and Leel tiptoed out of the house; she pulled the door closed behind her quietly. At least the house was being put to use again, albeit in a rather different way to envisioned when built. The banker would have had a fit but he'd been dead for centuries. His life ebbed away as he sat in his expensive chair in his top floor office that looked out onto a dead city. He died staring at his computer screen — it had been black for days, the power having finally failed, his career along with it.
The house next door was avifauna free — Arcene's word of the year, posh word for birds — and the living room was the opposite of the previous building. It was empty, the floor bare, the kitchen not even installed. Just about perfect for Leel and Arcene.
The back room was jammed full of bathroom fittings still in tattered plastic wrap, the whole building clearly having undergone a total redevelopment and still being refurbished when the builders succumbed to The Lethargy, the owner too.
"It's a bath, Leel, we can have a bath." Leel stared at Arcene, who had clearly lost her mind. Leel didn't do baths, Leel preferred to be dirty. "It's the bath or the sea, make your mind up." Leel studied the bath as Arcene dragged it into the living room and tore the plastic off, then looked at the front door, the harbor only a few paces away.
She sniffed the bath, cocked her head at Arcene to see if there was a way out of her predicament but Arcene shook her head, so ran out the door. With a mighty splash, Leel d
isappeared off the cobbles and into the water.
"Stupid dog. At least the backpack is off this time." Arcene had removed it once she'd decided they would stay, as she wanted to get a fire going as soon as possible. While Leel continued to splash about, she took out the box with a few lighters in, the rest sealed in plastic in case Leel did anything stupid like she just had, but with the backpack on, and then carefully pulled out her sword, mindful of the low ceiling and the cramped space.
"Ugh, nothing to burn." Arcene went next door and quietly took the broken table and anything else wooden she could find and returned to their headquarters for the night. She squatted by the open fireplace and whittled a chair leg into shavings using her sword, the pommel bouncing for joy as the blade did what it did best: cut.
Arcene built the paper-thin kindling into an open pyramid shape in the hearth, then circled the wood with her lighter until it caught. As the flames consumed the tinder, she added thicker pieces until the heat built, checked that the draw was good so she knew the chimney functioned properly, then broke up the table by stamping on it and built a healthy fire. She busied herself for a few minutes snapping the other pieces of furniture and stacked the wood neatly beside the fire.
"Right, now I need to get water for my bath. Um, how can I heat it?" Arcene bit down on her lower lip in concentration, wondering how to go about having warm water without anything to hang over the flames to heat it. As the fire warmed the room, she wandered out into dusk that had sprung from nowhere. Late summer evenings had a habit of doing that — one minute it was warm and light, the next the darkness enveloped you like the stars were bored waiting.
Leel had apparently decided she was clean enough and was at the far end of the harbor where a section angled up from the water, presumably for launching boats. While Leel shook like the loon she was, Arcene wandered along the edge. There was no wall as such, the street simply ended, with a drop of a few feet to the water.
There was a lot of detritus bobbing about, knocking against the still-strong sides, it was just a shame there were no whole boats, just bits of wood and seaweed, pieces of plastic acting as reminders of ancient civilization where everything was wrapped then wrapped again. And they put it in bags too!
"Leel, don't run off, it will be properly dark soon and we need to be inside by then." Arcene watched the smoke drift lazily from the chimney. They should be fine, it wouldn't be visible from any distance, and besides, the smoke from the forest fire would hide their presence from unwanted guests.
Arcene was no fan of spending the night in houses, she preferred to be outdoors so she could make her escape easily if need be, and Leel could pretend to be a guard dog whilst snoring loudly, oblivious to anything going on around her. Still, it comforted her; she felt safe under the stars.
Tonight would be different, just for novelty factor, and because she needed a semblance of home comfort, even if all that meant was an indoor fire and hopefully a bath. Leel was sniffing at the base of a shuttered building, still intact. She joined her faithful companion, taking a sniff as she got close. "Ooh, you smell better. Better than me anyway. What you found, girl, something good?"
Woof.
"Okay then, let's take a look." Arcene bent to the steel door and noted that a padlock hung open across the fastening so took it off. She gripped the bottom of the door and it lifted surprisingly easily, rolling up with a loud clatter that sent birds settling for the night flying from their perches, startled. "Let's take a quick look before it's pitch black. Maybe there's a bucket or something."
Leel strode purposefully into the interior; Arcene followed.
A Bucket
The interior was dark, but Arcene made out the shape of a small boat in front of her. Maybe it would float? There was no way she could inspect it now, but in the morning she would definitely return and give it a thorough going over. Would there be a sail? How did you steer boats? Her experience was limited, but how hard could it be? Float, steer, what else was there? Nothing to go wrong really.
Arcene turned her attention away from the promise of transport. There was nothing to be done now, so she had to get her priorities right. The stench of her own body was becoming too much, she needed to get clean and that meant— "A bucket, cool." Arcene kicked it in her haste, then chased after it as it rolled away.
Leel, not wanting to be left out, bounded ahead and pawed the metal, sending it spinning out the door. "Leel! Go fetch, quick." Leel was outside in a flash, focused on her prey and determined. Arcene dashed after her and watched in dismay as the bucket rolled toward the water.
"Quick, Leel, or you'll have to put up with me being all stinky." Leel pounced and caught the handle in her mouth. She sat, and turned her head with pride, the bucket swaying in her jaws looking like a miniature. "Good girl, well caught."
Arcene took the bucket and scooped up water from the harbor. They retreated to their temporary accommodation, heat hitting them fiercely as they entered the small room. The fire roared, orange reflecting off the bare walls making it cozy and inviting. Arcene placed the bucket in the fireplace then squatted and stared at the flames.
Something felt wrong. Ah, the sword. What was wrong with her? How could she have left it while she went outside? That was a grave mistake to make — her sword should go everywhere with her, no exceptions. It was part of her, she should know better than that. She picked it up for comfort, feeling whole as her hand wrapped around the hilt, simple yet immensely elegant.
She was still for some time. Dirty, clothes ripped, hair black from dirt and ash, sword balanced perfectly across her knees. Leel sat beside her, towering over her in her bent position. Together, they stared at the flames, each lost in their own thoughts of home, food, and that familiar tingle of excitement — tomorrow would be an interesting day. There was adventure across the water and they both intended to get to it no matter what.
Pfsst.
"Ugh, didn't think this through." The fire sizzled as smoke billowed into the room. It was like being back in the burning forest, lungs full of noxious fumes. At least this time there was an easy escape. Arcene ran after Leel, already outside breathing the fresh air, and the smoke emptied through the door behind them.
Arcene stood back from the building, and watched smoke pour out the windows, doors and the chimney — so much for keeping a low profile. Minutes later it was gone, just a gentle wisp blown away from the rooftop by a warm and pleasant evening breeze. She ventured back inside, hoping the fire wasn't completely ruined.
There was the faintest of glows, but she'd made a right mess of things and no mistake. The bucket was on its side, a hole burned through the bottom — what a stupid thing to do. There would be no hot water now, no bath in front of the fire.
Arcene busied herself clearing away the bucket and scooped up the wet ash as best she could with the rim. She added more wood to the fire and blew on it hard until her cheeks were red and she was finally rewarded with her second fire of the evening.
"Well, I guess there's only one thing for it," sighed Arcene, as she rubbed her filthy hands on her vest then began to strip off. She unlaced her boots, pulled them off, followed by her ruined socks, then it was the kilt and panties. Last was the vest. It was all ruined, torn beyond repair, so she threw everything into a corner apart from the boots. She busied herself with the backpack for a moment, getting out new clothes, clones of the outfit she'd taken off.
This was her look, her style, and the black, over-the-knee socks with the pink bunnies stitched intricately up the sides were the only part of her outfit that didn't scream, "Don't mess with Arcene!" There were more identical clothes in the pack. She liked the consistency, the lack of the need to worry about what to wear. This was her, who she was. Deadly, yet whimsical — it suited her perfectly, or so she believed.
"Wish me luck, Leel." Arcene grabbed a bar of what passed for soap and ran shrieking out into the street. Without slowing, she launched herself into the water with a leg tuck, bum hitting the water first. Her heart mis
sed a beat as she submerged in the icy ink, but at the same time she felt instantly alive.
Woof, woof.
Leel shouted from the side, wanting to play but none too keen on getting wet again now she was finally drying off. "You silly dog, I won't be long. It's fr... freezing." Arcene's teeth chattered as she rubbed quickly at her body while a cloud of dirt drifted slowly away. She ducked under to ensure her hair was throughly soaked then lathered up, splashing about one-handed.
Damn, the sword again, what is wrong with me? She panicked a little, aware how defenseless she was, so hurried with her ablutions, washing her hair twice, as it needed it, rinsed quickly, and rubbed at her slender limbs and taut waist, proud of her body even if it was still rather pubescent. She would never be a fully developed woman, but she was who she was and would remain that way forever, and unapologetic.
With an easy stroke, Arcene made it back to the harbor edge, hauled herself out and ran fast back to the warmth of the small room. She stood by the fire and wrung out her hair, scraped the water off her body with the side of her hand, and let the fire work its magic. Soon her bottom was pink from the heat and her toes tingled with that strange feeling you get after they have been cold then warmed up too fast. It was a welcome pain. She felt alive again. Clean, refreshed and whole.
"You know what would be perfect?" Arcene asked, as she pulled on her vest. "A nice boar to roast over this fire." Leel stared at the flames, then at Arcene, then out the door. "I know, you want to go hunting, but there's nothing here, is there girl? Don't worry, we'll make do with what we have." Arcene finished dressing and took some valuable supplies from the backpack.
There wasn't much, and she made sure to save a little for the following day when, hopefully, they would get a proper meal — it was best to be cautious though, just in case.
