Phoenix Rising

[Mordecai]

Phoenix Rising Gallery
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The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. Albert Camus

@Poe
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[Poe]

“Oye! Jay, off!” Riva called out over the heat of the afternoon. The small curly haired boy’s head immediately shot up from the back of the Jydlox and looked up wide eyed as if he did not understand the cause for yelling. Mio was a well-behaved and loyal companion, but Riva was a bit territorial and Jay had a terrible habit of yanking at ears that were not his. Even at ten years old, her brother stood as a menace against the backdrop of their existence.


“Riva, come on!” he whined as he slipped off Mio’s back, “I wasn’t even up there for long! Papa always says we should share.”


Riva came over, near fourteen years his senior and towering in height by almost an entire foot. Her arms were crossed firmly against her chest, the wind having picked up just a bit to send tendrils of her dark brown hair from their place tied up atop her head. She had kind features, like her mother, but she was strong and steadfast like her father. “Yeah, we should share,” Riva raised an eyebrow and looked down at her brother, “and there’s enough food in apartment to last you the week, so I’m not sure exactly what you’re sharing, kid. If mama is looking for it, I put the water in the back compartment of the fridge. Do not let her forget, again.”


“Where are you going?” Jay asked as Riva crossed passed him and ruffled his hair. Riva just offered a smile as she climbed on Mio’s back and adjusted the bag she had brought with her. “I got work to do,” Riva called back, “Give papa my love when he wakes. I will see you later in the week, okay?”


“When do I get to come with you?”


Riva smirked, “When you realize the gravity of that question.”


With a single cue, Mio was off in the opposite direction out of the slums of Theta. It was a hot day just like any other, the sun high and harsh in the sky, as Riva rode into the city. That morning had been a bit of a bust, nothing really too impressive for pickings, but if there was one thing Riva was – it was a good scavenger. Her mother would attribute it to a childhood full of pulling something out of nothing, but Riva figured it was because she had a keen eye and a taste for danger. While her mother was a seamstress, Riva scaled ruins looking for whatever she could get her hands on. There was value still in Theta, but mostly where no one would care to look.


The markets were bustling at that time in the afternoon, men and women alike flocking through the congested streets in the heart of the city. She knew her father would be saddened by her quick entrance and exit, but in quite a few ways, Riva worked to provide and protect the family. She knew her father to be grateful and kindhearted, never letting his pride get the better of him, but it did not change the fact that she tried to pull as much attention as possible away from his inability to work. Instead, she spent the dawn scavenging, the later morning distributing resources, the afternoon selling scrap and the evenings scrubbing the sand that always seemed to settle under her nails. With how much time she spent under the sun, her already tanned skin grew darker and never burned.


“Good boy,” Riva smiled as she swung of Mio’s back and tied him with some of the other Jydlox before swinging her bag over her back and twisting her way through the crowd to Ark’s shop. In a city full of under dwellers and con artists, Ark was a sight for sore eyes. She’d been selling to him for quite some time, always honest, always quick and they were both on their way.


“Knock, knock,” she called out as she stepped into the shop, “Pretty dull today, but got a couple things that might tickle your fancy, if it’s in need of tickling.”

 

[Mordecai]

The cruel sun beat down, its one malevolent eye unblinking and the sky was its co-conspirator with not even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh beams. The lizards took shelter in the shadows of the rocks where the sand was not hot enough to roast them, but there was no shade large enough to fit a person. Each step sunk into the searing sand, heat he could feel well through his leather boots, the air was thick and hazy, and each breath like drowning in lava. Even the sand appeared to be smoldering, sent up in a disorienting haze that coiled off its surface. The muggy heat pressed into the young man with burnt Sienna skin, though even sweating was doing him no good. It trickled down his neck and back like warm soup. His hair clung to his forehead like a thermal blanket, locking in heat and frying his brain. Even the small tufts of savannah grass the rose through the drifts of sand were motionless, as if it was too hot for even them to move.


Truthfully, it was.


Slinging his satchel into a more comfortable position over his shoulders, Arkadi continued on at a weather pace. He was driven forward by thoughts of the fan and shade his little garage brought, but dragged back by the weight of the heat pulling on him him like anvils tied to his feet. He could see the grimy building rearing only several dozen yards in front of him, sand caking to all of its sides and the clear glass door reading 'Costellanos Mechanics' in big, black letterhead. It wasn't an attractive building; that was for sure. The windows were muddied with sand caked on at least a centimetre thick and the roofing had fallen into a bit of disrepair (he needed to fix that one of these days), but oh, the treasures it held. There were wonders from all across Ormaia, bits and bobs of broken machinery assembled in new, and exciting ways. He was an inventor by trade, but a junk dealer by demand.


Money was an unfortunate symptom of life in Ormaia, and people weren't exactly grappling to buy any of his inventions. Not yet, anyways.


Making it to his front door, he sighed with relief when he was out of the gripping hand of the sun. It wasn't much cooler inside the building than out, as it didn't have central air, but the whirling of the heavy-duty fan brought air circulation and the shade helped ease the discomfort of the hot sweat on his neck. Sliding his bag off and letting it hit the floor next to his desk, Arkadi flopped into the chair and sunk back against the backrest, practically pooling into a puddle. He was perfection in coffee hues; his hair and eyes were the colour of dark roasted beans, but his skin was all latte. He was skinny, but the way his clothes hung gave away the muscle beneath and always in his wake were heads turning to watch him go.


His eyes darted down to his little bag, trying to will himself to find the energy to retrieve it. He had gone out early that morning to head to the hardware shop on the other side of town as the morning weather report had brought news of a bad sand storm that should have already started to kick up. Naturally, the only time he rolled out of bed to beat out the weather, the weather seemed as hot and still as ever. Just when he was teetering on the verge of getting up to fetch that brand spankin’ new gear he spent way too much money on, a shift in the door caused the bell to jingle and his eyes rose.


Regulars were kind of the name of Arkadi’s business so seeing the familiar face pop in wasn’t all that startling and the young man was possessed with a smile. His hands rested on his knees and he used them to push himself up. “Hey,” he greeted the woman, waving her inside, “You can tickle my fancy any damn time ya like, Riva. Come in, whatdya got? I just pray to baby Jesus you’re not bringing me any more Idler jets—I have a bajillion of those. Pretty sure I’m going to wake up one morning n’ have idler jets coming out my ears.”

 

[Poe]

It was stifling, even in the little garage that Ark called his own, and the fan did not offer much except to dry the sweat on her neck for new sweat to drip down only moments later. No one really ever got used to it – you learned to ignore it, to stop complaining because it did nothing in the grand scheme of things, but if it wasn’t the light cloth clothing her mother was known for making, Riva would have been toast out in the hot sun. She beat a lot of other scavengers that way – others were confined to the hour or two before dusk in order to stomach the hot but beat out the cold. Riva was quick, out the moment the sun was high enough to warm the sands and stayed out until the sun nearly reached its apex. While most people fell on scavenging out of desperation, Riva had put all of her effort into it and it paid off.


No one in Ormaia pulled the hauls she did. Even a slow day like that morning was leaps and bounds more than the average run-of-the-mill scavenger would pull in. A dozen rusty Idler jets maybe, some plating and nothing of use.


“It’s not much, but definitely no Idler jets,” Riva smirked as she tossed her bag onto one of the flat surfaces in the garage and thumbed through it to lie the pieces out, “All of ‘em out there were rusted half to hell anyway. Might have a few interesting things though – found a decent old car compressor, great find, never seen one this nice. Maybe that brain of yours can manage to cheat yourself some air conditioning. Found a few good power splitters, needle jet, throttle valve, and it’s not much but I got a few clean pieces of sturdy metal, hardly any rust, just in case you just need base materials.”


Riva stretched her arms up in the air, feeling the familiar pop of vertebrae in her back. It was a long morning but Riva was always just better when she was moving. Sure, she passed out when her head hit the pillow but she certainly did not take her life slow or for granted. She glanced around the shop, noting the new parts he picked up and a few of her old pickings maneuvered and twisted into new creations. Ark had a quick mind on him, astute in ways that couldn’t be taught in school, and Riva appreciated it. She didn’t spend much time in her day doing anything but floating in and out of other people’s lives, but Ark made it a real pleasure to hang about for a minute or two.


“Whatdya think? Anything you can use?” Riva smiled back at him.

 

[Mordecai]

“Anything I can use?” he echoed, though his eyes hadn’t risen to meet hers. Instead, his hands were busy, working diligently with some of the smaller parts. His hands were callused and raw, like he’d had a difficult life and worked twice as hard for everything he had. There were scars that littered the tanned skin all across them, and his nails were cute short, but black grease still managed to wiggle its way below the bed. Despite the fierceness and power his hands possessed, they were as gentle as a day old kitten rolling around in a blanket. “Pffa, what do ya take me for, Riva? Just some run a’ the mill kinda guy? I will have you know I am qualified to do anything with nothing.”


With a hazy smile, his gaze, with eyes the color of sunlight shining through whiskey, found her face as she stretched. Her attention was elsewhere, wandering behind him and taking in all the little knicks and knacks that could be found piled around the shop. It was an organized chaos—a breeding ground of Tetanus and rust, but a place he couldn’t have been more pleased to call his own. Maybe he’d never be a rich man, but he had a job where he could spend a good majority of his free time doing what he was most passionate about in life, and not many people in that day and age could say the same. He knew better than to believe he’d ever make a damn invention anyone would care enough to buy, but that was perfectly fine by him. He didn’t need someone’s money to validate the talking hoverboard, who had considerably more personality than Siri ever had, wasn’t the coolest thing ever. Well, despite the fact that she was an absolute bitch; he really should get around to reprogramming her.


Dragging a hand through his hair, peeling it away from his forehead, he gave a small nod. Through the rest of the objects, he just sort of flipped through with ease, his knowing eyes quickly scanning and tabulating her wares. She was a good hunter and had never given him anything short of first pick of anything she had found. Likewise, Arkadi was good to her in return, and often gave her more for what she could drag in than the few other dealers around the area would have. It was what Mother Nature liked to call a ‘mutualistic symbiotic relationship,’ though Arkadi didn’t very much like thinking about himself like a type of fungi growing with a vascular plant.


“Well, I could give ya one-hundred and seventy-two Credits? You know, just to get it off your hands,” a mischievous smirk playfully curling at the points of his lips. Their conversation was cut short by the crinkle of sand blasting against his shutters and he looked up, watching as the grimy view from the front door was battered by sand. Heavy gusts of winds, seemingly coming from thin air, forced the door open and coated the shop front in a layer of the golden granules, causing him to snort in annoyance.


“Shit,” he mumbled, sliding out from behind his desk and trotting to push the door shut again, sliding the deadbolt into place. “Weather said a sand storm was blowing our way, but I didn’t expect it to come so outta no where.” The desert was a fickle and unpredictable mistress and she never went too long without reminding Theta of her power. “Holy hell, look at it out there.” He squinted through the glass, but all he saw were spirals of tan and gold sand whirling through the air, like streaks of cinnamon in his mum’s cinnamon banana bread.


“You can stay here if you don’t wanna venture the storm,” he remarked, turning away from the door that was clattering and shaking against the bolt, but holding strong all the same. “I was just about to make some lunch if you want.”

 

[Poe]

“Never run of the mill,” Riva laughed as she turned her attention back to Ark’s hands working through the parts, “Wouldn’t sell my parts to anyone else in the damn area, that’s for sure.”


It was a good partnership, quick and easy, but it was steadfast all the same. No matter what Riva brought in, Ark had an eye for parts. He could really make something out of nothing and there had been times where he took the lot where other scrap dealers would have just taken the compressor and thrown the rest in her face. There was a bit of desperation among the people of Theta and while Riva was acquainted with (and born from) really well-rounded and kind people, there were a great many who did not have time between the sandstorms, oppressive heat and distinct lack of water to find compassion. Riva never looked much for the best price, just whatever could get her what she needed.


Whatever work would get her family what they needed.


“One seventy two,” Riva smirked back at him, leaning against the table with her hip, “It’s always a pleasure doing business with you, Ark.”


She went to push herself from the edge of the table when they were interrupted by the deafening crack of sand against the shop front and Riva watched as they were submerged in a tempest of sand and vicious wind. Sandstorms were common, but they came without warning sometimes and Riva had been caught in too many to ever entertain the prospect of willingly going out in one. “They said it could settle in for a bit too,” Riva mentioned stepping up alongside him to look out at the sea of sand before them. What once used to be a view of the city, was consumed by the golden sands, “I had hoped it would just whip through, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.”


She had to meet Gabriel too, shit.


It would be useless anyway. They weren’t capable of searching for much in way of resources when the sand was kicked up this strong. Riva didn’t really work for anyone but herself, but she certainly had her preference in connections. Gabriel needed her for her scavenging skills and agility; she needed him to get extra water rations for her family. Ark needed her for her hauls and she needed him to keep her head above the water financially. It was a delicate balance, keeping yourself steady enough to focus on others, but she managed it when she could.


Riva’s head perked up for a moment as Ark spoke and she nodded graciously, “Yeah, that’d be great if you don’t mind. Usually I can manage through them, but this one seems to have a bit of a mind of its own.”


She brushed some of the sand that had gathered on her clothing. It wasn’t much, a pair of cloth capris and a midriff top, just enough to protect her from the sun but she would melt to death out in the desert scavenging with much else. She was a small girl, strong down to her core, and while it wasn’t the most fashionable, her dark locks were tied up atop her head to keep the added heat off her neck. A street rat if there ever was one.


“And I was raised to never say no to food,” she joked with a smile.

 

[Mordecai]

“Mmm,” he smirked at her words, looking almost amused at the engagement. It was a good deal they both had going on, and the more he treated his scavengers like friends, the more they brought him… the better they brought him. Arkadi usually got first pick over most scavenger’s wares because they just genuinely liked him as a human being. He was fair and just, and usually in a good mood, and didn’t try and rip people off by undervaluing their product. Maybe it went against everything those fancy ‘how to business’ books ever said, but he wasn’t look to strike it rich. All he wanted were good parts to get his inventive little hands on and have a good meal every now and again, both of which he had in bounty.


With the door now deadbolted shut and Riva agreeing to his offer, he slipped back behind his desk and shuffled through his register, handing over her Credits before scooping up all the parts she had brought into a bundle in his arms and dumping them on to his sorting table so they could be dealt with later. Once he had finished, he returned her empty pack to her with a smile. “Eh, you’re just saying that ‘cause you like my smile n’ my eyes, right?” he teased, “Grandma says I got nice eyes,” a laugh followed, shaking his head with amusement as he dusted his hands off on the thighs of his work pants, smearing them with another stroke of motor oil. They looked more like an abstract painting that belonged in a museum than trousers that belonged on his body with all the oil and grease stains.


“Yea, news said it was gunna be a bit dangerous, but who knows… storms like this can really kick up some deeply buried parts. I bet you’ll have a good hunt once the storm blows past,” he mentioned, turning away from her and ambling slowly into the little kitchenette pushed off to one side. The shop was homely and cozy, if not a bit dirty, but it was obvious he spent a lot of nights in the place. The fridge was stocked with some necessities, but he reached for the dense bread and some sandwich meats, plopping them on the table. “I don’t have much, but will a sandwich and crisps do ya?” he asked, “I need to get another ration a water this week, but I have some. Thirsty?”


Arkadi was generous to a fault, both with his time and possessions.


Suddenly, a soft rumble of falling mechanical bit and bobs stirred between them and Arkadi glanced over, poised with the bread bag opened as the little black cat tumbled out from its hiding spot at the sound of the refrigerator door being opened. The damn cat had made a damn mess, scrambling down from its sleeping spot and bringing a few gears and inlet parts down to the cement floor with it went it sprung.


“Damnit, Tali,” Arkadi snorted, ripping a small piece of the ham sandwich meat from the slice and tossing it to the floor at her paws. Watching with lamp-like eyes, the kitten sprung on the hunk of meat, snapped it up between her teeth, and turned to run, darting in-between a few stacks of tires and vanishing.


“Oh—yea, I got a cat,” he mentioned off-handedly, “Just help yourself to whatever food-wise.”

 

[Poe]

“Come for the business, stay for the eyes,” Riva teased, her hands brushing the tendrils of brown hair from her face. It was not cool by any means in the little shop, but being out of direct sunlight did wonders. As he moved to grab food, she just let her eyes wander around and take in the little shop in a way she never really had before. There were a lot of contraptions she couldn’t identify if she tried, but she could manage to eye specific parts – most of which were things she had scrounged up for him. It was nice to see them going to some use, instead of being resold to the public for twice the market value due to the demand for good, solid parts. “And they always do. My best hauls are after sandstorms, mostly. Just after they clear.”


It was a dangerous time of day to go out, right after a sandstorm with the threat of another looking and safety never guaranteed. But when she was on her own, Riva was nothing if not resourceful and had killer survival instincts. She had faced too many sandstorms to be frightened of them.


A small crash made her glance up as she noted the black cat slip through his belongings to steal a piece of meat before hiding off in the tires. They could never afford to keep a pet when she was a kid, but hell if she didn’t manage to toss a bit of extra food here and there when she saw strays along the street. This cat, however, seemed like she lived a bit like a queen. She could only imagine how generous an owner Ark was, considering it was just in his nature. He was good and tried to do well by other people or pets, she assumed.


“Sounds great,” Riva nodded as he brought over the food and water towards the table and Riva settled herself into a chair to make herself a sandwich. Nothing much, certainly not taking advantage of his resources, but just enough to get her through the day. If she was going to have to see Gabriel and the others later, she didn’t know when she would ave time to eat. Meals seemed to come last in her mind, often enough, just behind sleep. “This is plenty, thank you. Do you let every woman who walks in here eat you out of house and home?” It was a warm tease, met with a smile as she took a bite of her sandwich, the food falling heavily in her growling stomach.


“So,” Riva cleared her throat and looked up at him, her elbows resting on the table, “Whatcha workin’ on? Anything exciting? You’ve got a captivated audience, so now would be the time to blow my mind.”

 

[Mordecai]

There was a little sofa pressed towards the edge of the room. It was a bit haggard, but clean and didn’t smell of grandma’s basement. Flopping down on it, sandwich in one hand, Arkadi stretched out his limber legs with a soft yawn. His head fell back, listening to the wind do its crush the building, but it stood tall and firm, unwavering in the briskness of the whirling outside. “Huh-“ he chuckled, biting into the sandwich stacked with thinly sliced deli meat, an amused expression pulling through his face. He could do nothing except shake his head at her statement, almost snorting at what had just come out of her mouth.


“At least you look at my eyes, most men are just pigs and stare at my chest. It’s like… hellooooo, my eyes are up here,” he said, doing his best impression of a valley girl before taking another bite from his sandwich. “But anyways, if ya haul anything good after the storm, don’t forget about me, I have some projects I’m working on and I’m always lookin’ for stuff,” a shrug rippled through the line of his shoulders before he popped the last bite in his mouth and dusted his hands of crumbs on his pants, which seemed to serve more as a napkin than they did anything else.


“Do I let…? Riva, you must overestimate my ability to get women to even consider coming into this shop,” he teased, rolling his eyes, “You know that girl I was dating a few months back? Clarvira? She wouldn’t even think of comin’ in here—said it was uncouth n’ lacked charm.” It was hard not to laugh, considering Arkadi knew about how much charm and couth he had, and he would estimate both of those could be close to zero. “So, between you n’ Tali, I guess yea, I really do let every woman who walks in here eat me outta house and home.”


When she asked about his work, his eyebrows raised a little, glancing over her shoulder back into the blood and guts of his workshop. Not many people cared enough to ask, then again, she might have just been bored with nothing else to talk about. “Well, I made a hover board with an all-inclusive AI named Lucy… short for Lucifer,” he explained, springing up to his feet and going to fetch it. It was like a snowboard in shape—long, glossy, and stark white, probably the cleanest thing in the entire place, and at the jostling, the interface loaded into the board right between where a person’s feet would stand illuminated with life.


“It’s been a while,” the feminine robotic, yet somehow pleasant voice, chimed up from the board’s monitor.


“This is… Lucy,” Arkadi introduced the AI to Riva, “Lucy---Riva, Riva—Lucifer.”


“I prefer Lucy, short bus.”


Arkadi chuckled, rolled his eyes, and switched off the power, tossing the board back where it had been, “She’s kind of a bitch. Apparently, I know only how to program bitches. Other than that, I’m building a terrain vehicle for the dunes… n’…” he shrugged, “A few other odds n’ ends, I guess. I’m working on building a robotic arm for that guy downtown… Gilly… who lost his arm puttin’ it in a meat grinder? Heh,” he shook his head a little, “It’s all kind of boring. I’m sorry, I don’t have much to do around here, but I have a television, if you don’t wanna listen to me babble.”

 

[Poe]

“Uncouth and lacking charm?” Riva laughed, taking another bite, “Sounds like you had yourself a proper lady.” Riva was far from proper. She knew her manners, always stayed gracious and never overstayed her welcome but not a single bit of her would be deemed proper. She was uncouth as they came, a mouth on her especially when she had a drink or two in her, and what she had wasn’t charm so much as it was an infectious sarcasm and wit. She was a great ally and drinking buddy, but girlfriend? Hell, a lady? That was so far from her skill set it made her physically uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t say uncouth, but your place sure as hell got character,” she smiled, “Takes a certain person to appreciate that, I guess.”


When he stood to show her his inventions, she finished up her sandwich and brushed her hands off and followed after him, watching intently as he pulled out a hover board that booted up at his touch. Immediately following the quick exchange, Riva let out a bright laugh and crossed her arm. “A hover board AI with an attitude problem,” she shook her head in amusement, “Seems like Lucifer is a befitting name after all.”


“Oh damn, Gilly’s finally getting an arm? Well, I’ll be on the lookout for a few extra parts then, see if I can’t haul a little bit more back to help out,” Riva leaned against the table, her eyes on the shop before finding Ark’s, Hm? Oh no, people are way more interesting than televisions. That and I didn’t grow up with them, hard to get used to it as an adult, I suppose. For what it’s worth though, I don’t think it’s boring.”


“I can tinker and fix up a few things, but creating stuff? That’s way above my pay grade and skillset. You may have built a bitchy AI, but you still managed to program an AI into a hover board. You’re innovative,” Riva spoke honestly and evenly. She wasn’t one for unnecessary compliments, but she gave credit where it was due and she had been working with Ark long enough now to realize that he was all kinds of brilliant. “You ever think about going out there? I don’t mean full time or nothing, but maybe just once or twice? I’m sure if you saw half the shit I stumble across, your brain would go wild with possibilities.”


“Something tells me where I see scrap metal, you see inventions,” she added with a smirk, “might be an interesting thing to consider.”

 

[Mordecai]

“Mm, a certain type of person that doesn’t really exist honestly, except maybe me.” All his life, Arkadi had kind of known he was the only one in his little slice of living, as there weren’t many people in the entire planet like him. It wasn’t to say that creativity was discouraged, necessarily, but there were better jobs to have… jobs that came with more merit and pride attached to them. People were quick to dismiss him and no one really cared about his temperamental AI named Lucy or any of the other crazy gadgets that adorned the shop. Being a mechanic wasn’t exactly noble; it was the type of job people believed anyone could do with enough time and effort could do and maybe that was true, but no one had time and effort quite like Arkadi did.


His hands had collected in dust and oil again and he quickly dusted them off, shrugging lamely when he decided there wasn’t anything else worth showing her, less her ears would peel off the side of her head from the sheer boredom. She was nice in trying to inform him that she was, genuinely, interested in what was around his shop, but he didn’t like to step on people’s manners.


“Eh, yea, eventually. I’ve been workin’ on that damn arm for at least a month now. Mm, what I really need ta finish it is a fifty volt DC capacitor electrolytic radial lead, but I haven’t seen one pass through my doors n’ a few months now. Too delicate n’ the sand just rips ‘em up. God knows I can’t afford ta buy one new,” he shrugged lamely. Electronics were pricey objects, which is why scavengers often spent so much time ravishing the landscape for scraps. Used bits, especially those that could be refurbished and be put to use, could drag in some good credit. Some pieces were harder to come by though, and so many of his projects were on hold waiting for the right part to come along.


“Eh, you could do it just fine if you put forth the time n’ energy,” he answered, scratching a hand through his hair and feeling sand shake from between the full, hazelnut locks. “Going out there? In the desert?” he clarified. He had gone out a few times, but he had never really taken to it like a true scavenger had. That, and scavenging took away from time in his shop and that was how he made his living. Scavenging was an interesting career choice, surely, but never one he had genuinely considered for himself.


“I never really considered it before. Problem is I invent too damn much,” he chuckled softly, picking up a screwdriver and letting the head glide along a groove in the wood of his work table, “It isn’t good for much besides passing the time and wasting stuff I should be selling, truthfully.”

 

[Poe]

“Ah hell, it ain’t so bad,” Riva chuckled, “Definitely no paradise, but I started scavenging at twelve. Guess it’s kinda just a way of life to me now.”


After Jayesh had been born and her father’s accident, there wasn’t much else for a young Riva to do. It never felt like a weight on her shoulders, though. She was happy to help in any way she could and maybe she had a talent for it, but certainly a decade of it made her better. It wasn’t glamorous or what all the other young ladies were doing in Theta, but Riva had always marched to the beat of her own drum. More than that, she genuinely believed deep down that she was helping at least some people just a little bit. Though they never needed to, her parents thanked her every time they saw her and that was enough.


Maybe she wasn’t the most beautiful, high society daughter or the brilliant surgeon, but Riva did what she could to keep those she loved alive and happy.


Riva glanced over at the window and watched as the sand decimated everything around them. It looked like it was going to be a long afternoon and while she enjoyed Ark’s company, she always seemed to get antsy when stuck in one place too long. “Hm?” she looked up to him at his work table, “Not a whole lot of people in Theta left doing things they enjoy. Gotta take what you have and run with it. With the way things work around here, lucrative doesn’t mean shit anymore.”


“But I think you’d enjoy it,” Riva rested her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand to look up at him, “Even just once with someone who knows what they’re doing. You got all these projects and I bet you some of those parts are out there. I’m strong, but I can only lug back so much on my own.”


She chuckled, “And not to put ideas in your head or nothing, but I go out just after dawn and am back before the afternoon rush – maybe a half day off wouldn’t kill you.”

 

[Mordecai]

“Or it could kill me,” he reminded her with a chuckle, “Remember that guy that got snapped up by a packa Craissets a few weeks back? My uncle. Never found the body, reckon they never will… only found two fingers of ‘em. Luckily one of those fingers was his weddin’ hand, so they could identify ‘em by the ring,” he pointed out, his hands falling together and laced together in front of him as he leaned back against the workbench and fiddling with the screwdriver in between his fingers, bouncing the heavy metal half against his fingers with a thoughtful hum.


Despite the comment on the unfortunate fate of his uncle, Arkadi wasn’t really intimidated by the danger of the desert. In fact, he was often put into a state of awe by it, but he also knew better than to accept his lack of fear as bravery or knowledge. He didn’t fear the roaming packs of Craissets, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t really know much about surviving in the desert. There were a great number of tips and tricks the Scavengers relied on to keep their heads attached to their bodies in the wild lands of Ormaia, but they liked to keep them to themselves. After all, having too many scavengers out on the deserts was bad for business.


“Heh, you just wanna spend more time with my pretty eyes, don’t you? Mum told me about predators like you,” he teased, a bright smile burning across the handsome, perfectly symmetrical face of his, dappled with just a tint of a five o’clock shadow, enhancing his already rugged features with a subtly refined masculine feel. “Alright fine, just halfa day. I can help ya lug everything back, but all those parts are still yours,” he assured her.


Scavenging was her way of life, and the last thing Arkadi wanted to do was to step on her toes by taking half of what she managed to pick through in a day just because he was with her… not without paying her, anyways. It could prove to be bad for business for himself in the long run if she felt stiffed by him and decided to take her finds to another scrap yard. Good scavenger or not, perhaps he stood to teach her a few things, too… like what to look for in what other scavengers might deem as ‘waste.’ There was a vast treasure trove of product out in the desert, he knew, but most of it was thought without value.


Oh, if only they knew.


“N, who knows, maybe I can teach ya a few things about finds you might not even know are valuable. I’ve been findin’ a lot of Scavengers don’t know piss from gold when it comes to parts and there are a lot of things out there that probably look like junk to most but are actually quite valuable,” he shrugged lamely. Arkadi didn’t know much, but mechanics? He knew mechanics and he had a Kelly Blue Book engraved in his brain for parts.


“Maybe we can find that damn DC capacitor lead I need to finish Gilly’s arm. God knows he’s only gunna use it to flip me the bird, so I guess I’m not in too mucha rush.”

 

[Poe]

“Well, your uncle didn’t have me as a companion,” Riva smirked, “You got the pretty eyes, but I could outsmart a pack of Craissets any day. That’s rough though, sorry about your uncle. When I started this whole thing, little twelve year old Riva got herself stuck out by the Lingmell Ruins for two days hiding from a pack of Craissets that had sorta planted themselves there. Watched them rip a pride of Crolts apart and was too scared to go back out once I got home. It’s scary at first, but it’s full of secrets and hidden charms. Just gotta look close enough, I guess, once you get over the fact that you’re relatively low on the food chain out there.”


It took a long time for Riva to find her footing in the desert. A lot of cold nights, a lot of scalding days, and more scars than she cared to admit. Nothing pretty about being a scavenger, but there were times when the finds she made were enough to forget all that. Her favorite times were spent after hours, in the hours before dusk, when her scavenging changed form parts to discovery. The parts brought in Credit, but the hours she spent roaming the lands of Ormaia searching for anything – food, water and other resources – were some of the most incredible she had spent.


When she was young, she called herself an adventurer, though it seemed silly now.


“Mine or not, you still always get first at it,” Riva nodded with a smile, “and I’m sure you can teach me a few things. It’d be nice to know what you’re looking for so I don’t bring you seven hundred idle jets.”


A laugh escaped her, brightening up her features. Her father always called her too serious and her mother, not serious enough. Her humor and sarcasm had seemed to settle in as she grew older and she realized that the life other girls dreamed of just wasn’t the one for her. Being a traditional woman, her mother had wished quite a bit for her first daughter – believing that she would be beautiful, smart and charming in every way possible. Riva was beautiful, but never made a move to enhance it. While other girls modeled new fashions, kept their hair curled and painted their eyes in makeup, Riva just was. Her dark features were a staple of someone born in the lower class, but she was still a woman and certainly had noticed that while Ark joked quite a bit, he wasn’t wrong. There wasn’t a more agreeable scrap dealer in Theta, certainly not one as easy on the eyes.


“Who knows, maybe you’ll find that and more,” she added, “There stuff out there you wouldn’t believe that scavengers never claim because they don’t think anyone will find value in it. The name of the game out there is anything shiny, but those are the easy things to find. You can see the gleam of the sun on ‘em. The real things worth looking for take a bit more finesse.”


It was hard to remember in the course of their conversation that the storm was still brewing outside, slapping against the door and reminding them to stay put. “And in return, I’ll teach you how to evade all things that can and want to kill you,” she smirked, “sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”

 

[Mordecai]

“See, you’re startin’ to sound a little cocky there, Riva. Isn’t that how it goes, when you get too cocky, that’s when you get in trouble?” Maybe they weren’t friends by the typical standards, by Arkadi liked Riva well enough to no wish her dead and not just because she brought in good pulls and gave him first choice regardless. “Eh, I’m not really scared of it—the desert, I mean,” he went on to explain.


“It’s not that I’m afraid, not really, anyways. That said, I ain’t stupid either, scared or not, I don’t wanna just throw myself into something I know nothing about.” When it came to Arkadi, the things he could do with his hands were incredible. He could build the most amazing pieces of machinery and technology out of nothing but scraps and he was smart and seemed to inherently understand robotics, electronics, and mechanics, but he wasn’t much of a survivalist.


He had the shape of one, he supposed. His frame, though slender, was suggestive of a muscular and fit figure, but he didn’t have the knowledge. Thankfully, stupidity was not driven by the understanding of one’s naivety so much as ignorance. “Maybe I can, maybe I can’t,” he shrugged it off, dropping the screwdriver back on the table. Arkadi was a wealth of knowledge, but not the kind of knowledge most people wanted or cared about. Most denziens didn’t care how an AI worked, or how their cars started, or where the electricity fueling their electronics came from. As long as they worked, that’s all that mattered, and Arkadi had given up long ago trying to convince people that his knowledge was worthwhile to them. People brushed it off with indifference.


Truth be told, most things out there people wouldn’t find value in, except for those like Arkadi. The weirdest pieces were always his favorites, things no one thought anything could be made of. Sometimes, he saw himself in them… the little pieces of archaic, outdated machinery no one wanted, but he could forge something beautiful with. All it took was a knowing eye and a bit of work, a spot of patience, and sometimes a stroke of luck. “Nah, the real things of value aren’t shiny,” he chuckled, “Real thingsa value are matte n’ dull, but probably too damaged by sand to actually be useful.” He was talking, of course, about computer chips.


The single device that fueled everything and anything from computers to cars to AIs to firearms. Thrift chips were about as hard to come by as lakes of water, as those that made their way into the desert were usually too ground with sand to be operational—even under Arkadi’s knowing hands, but scavengers had brought him a few over the years. He had built a robot with one once—too bad a Crolt ate it. Or, well, tried to eat it.


“But sure, sounds like a plan to me.”

 

[Poe]

“Maybe I am,” Riva shrugged, “but I’m good at exactly two things in this world – finding things and staying alive. I’m just saying that I trust your knowledge of mechanics, so maybe it’s not too far fetched to trust my knowledge of the desert.”


Riva just didn’t bullshit. She never really spent enough time around people to learn and so every word that left her lips was honest. She could keep them alive in the desert, she knew that to be a fact, and she knew she wouldn’t have asked him to come if there wasn’t something about his knowledge that intrigued her. Riva never made much in the way of schooling, but she was astute enough to know when she was in the presence of someone she could learn from. That’s how it was being a scavenger – you learned what you could from who you could and did your best to come back alive and with a good haul. She shrugged, her warm brown eyes finding his before glancing out at the sandstorm whipping around.


She hoped her mother got home before the storm hit and that she’d taught Jay well enough to secure their little shack of a house. She’d reinforced those doors and windows a hundred times. It wouldn’t even wake her father though, never had in her entire life. He could have slept through the end of the world.


“I dunno that you’ll find much in the way of computer chips, but these storms kick up a lot – like you said,” Riva noted, “Worse comes to worse we pull in the same haul and go back to our regularly scheduled lives. I think it’ll be fun.”


Maybe it wouldn’t change his life, but Riva liked Ark well enough. Not just because he paid her well and never questioned her haul, but because he was just always genuinely pleasant no matter what the situation. She had never once walked into his shop after all this time and seen a frown on his face, maybe a thoughtful furrow of his brow, but never a frown. He was good to her when he didn’t have to be. The kind of good natured guy that didn’t often roam the streets of Theta.


When people become desperate, kindness is the first thing to go.


“I do apologize, though,” she mentioned offhandedly, “for overstaying my welcome a bit. I thought the storm would have died down by now and I’m sure my babbling isn’t all that entertaining.”

 

[Mordecai]

Arkadi’s brows rose at her words, shrugging them off. “’ey now, no need to put words in my mouth—I never said anything about trusting or not trusting,” he pointed out lamely, glancing away. He decided to let the conversation die where it was because being accused of lacking trust dug into him a little. He didn’t like the way it felt, but good Arkadi was always good Arkadi, and would never say anything against someone beating him with a flailing whip. Instead, he just slipped into a resigned silence, reaching over and pulling a suspension ball joint into his hand, spinning the little knobby bit around to give his hands something to do as he watched the weather through the dirty port window.


It didn’t just throw sand at the glass so much as it chucked it violently. The small granules rattled and caused the panes to shake in their wooden frames, threatening to come loose but holding all the same. The sun struggled against the thick blanket that was thrust into the sky, turning the entirety of the outside world a combination of gold and brown. Through the thick matt of sand, even the blue of the sky was impossible to make out. Riva went on to say something about fun, but Arkadi missed it entirely and decided not to ask her to repeat herself, instead remaining with his eyes locked on the window for a beat longer. Ultimately, he shook himself from his reverie and pushed off the table, receding deeper into his garage before stopping at one of several of his work benches and plopping down in the stool, dragging some mangled piece of machinery gore closer to himself.


“Stay as little or as long as ya’d like, really,” he answered, his fingers finding a small latch on whatever it was he was working on and popping it open until tangled veins of wires spilled out from its interior. “I don’t really care about welcomes, really, or what a guest should and shouldn’t do. I don’t have the matters or the couth to know the difference anyhow.” He popped a few of the wires out of the ports, “N’ I can’t rightly send you out in that storm, can I? Sand moving that fast will rip the muscle right off your bone.”


Arkadi glanced at her, but only fleetingly. “And on that note, even if there are chips out there, this kinda weather would destroy any last hope that any of ‘em would be operable. It’s a damn shame, really. Buying chips new is gettin’ too expensive and I need something to power that beast behind me.”


Sitting behind him was a grizzly bear of a terrain vehicle, though it looked more like a predator than something a human could drive. Perched up on four sand tires, it had been built to handle the worst the desert could throw at it, but the damn thing would never start without the proper equipment below the hood. That was the way of Arkadi’s life, it would seem—piles of mostly done products just waiting on the last few items that seemed unobtainable.

 

[Poe]

She could tell that her words didn’t hit right, but Riva just resigned herself to silence and watched the sand whip by outside. There was a distinct different between being cocky and knowing your lot in life. She meant what she said – she had no intentions of letting anything happen to him out there – and whether he trusted her or not was of little importance to her. She knew what she could do. Stretching her arms up, Riva felt her muscles pull as though they were wound a bit too tight. She was not a worrier, but this storm was pushing on far longer and stronger than most. Maybe it would be best for her to swing by her parents’ place again before she headed out towards Gabriel and the others. Just in case.


His invitation to stay sort of just floated in one ear and danced around in her mind before actually settling and pulling a reaction from her. “Well, I appreciate it,” Riva said finally, figuring that there was no point in feeling bad about imposing when he was so obviously open to her remaining there through the storm, “and you’re right, probably not a good idea to be out there right now.”


It wouldn’t just rip the muscle from her bone; it would tear her apart bit by bit. She had seen it before.


She glanced back at the vehicle he motioned to, a monster of a thing, and Riva was genuinely intrigued. She could find her way around under the hood of a vehicle if she had to, but it was not her strength. There was a reason she rode Mio everywhere and kept herself far from the bustle of automotive life. More than anything, she was a terrible driver. At least when she rode Mio, they could communicate and she could feel changes, in a terrain vehicle that size she would be so out of her element.


They had never had anything close to a vehicle growing up, so she looked up at it a bit wide eyes and intrigued.


“That’s one hell of a beast,” she laughed, walking up to take a closer look but not reaching out to touch something that was obviously not hers, “Is that all you need for it? A decent chip? You get this thing running and you’ll never need a scavenger again in your life.” He could brave the desert at anytime in a beast like that, face any predator with ease, and take him out and back faster than most. Not to mention he could lug back anything and everything from engines to carburetors to fuel tanks.

 

[Mordecai]

His eyes followed her as she approached the vehicle, though not in any sort of protective manner. She could take a baseball bat to it and it would hardly scrape the paint, as it was built to take a beating. He had designed it himself and he took pride in knowing there wasn’t anything that could stop the damn thing… except the lack of a chip. It was like an electronic heartbeat, or a brain, because it governed everything. It was the central nervous system and without it, the entire vehicle was just a giant pile of useless junk. Scratching a hand through his hair, he sat back, giving a small nod. “Aye, it’s all it needs,” he agreed, pushing the little radio device he was working on away from him to rise again to his feet.


Approaching the vehicle, he slipped his fingers below the hood and popped it open to reveal what was packed below. If the vehicle didn’t look like it was flaring its nostrils before, the expanse of hardware, wires, and mechanics below the hood certainly upped the intimidation. “I built it myself, it’s a completely original design,” he explained, humming a little as he poked his head forward to get a closer look, “It can be underwater, it can be on fire, it can tangle with a HEAT warhead and survive with some scratches… It’s slow, I mean, it’s top speed is only about fifty-five, but it churns out fifteen-hundred horsepower. It’s wrapped in a depleted uranium alloy armor—so there isn’t a damn thing in the desert that could pick a fight with it,” he chuckled, reaching up and dropping the hood down again until it closed and locked with a ‘click.’


“All it's missing is a brain,” he shrugged it off, “I finished designing n’ buildin’ the armour about four weeks ago now. Cured it in strong acid, but… it’s just useless scrap metal right now,” he rasped his knuckles against the hood he had designed and build with his own two hands. It was pretty, he supposed, but useless.


“There are a few for sale ‘nyways. Chips, I mean, but the ones that are powerful enough to be used ‘n this thing are too outside my pay-grade to afford. Honestly, it’ll prolly just sit here forever until I get too frustrated n’ scrap it for parts.” It was a sad reality, but that was the state of his existence. He could only do so much and if Scavengers didn’t manage to pick up usable parts for him, he wasn’t really in a position to buy market pieces.


“Nah, in this thing, storms like this wouldn’t make ya bat an eye. If I can ever get it up n’ runnin’, you can use it.”

 

[Poe]

“Damn,” Riva muttered to herself as he cycled through everything the vehicle could do. Just as she thought, it would have changed the game. She imagined the size of the haul someone could pull with that thing, any weather, any terrain, and it was unreal. Hell, if only Ark could get his hands on the chip, this thing would make him more money than he ever expected. But of course, he shrugged it off and continued to explain why it would never be fully built. It didn’t seem fair – it was a brilliant invention, rivaling anything out there already, and Ark was just forced to watch it collect dust because it was too expensive to do otherwise.


“Me?” Riva glanced up at him with a bright laugh, “I could count the number of times I’ve driven on one hand. You might want something this beautiful to go into hands that know how to work it. Unless you know how to make a vehicle like that Riva-proof.”


With a smile, she ran her hand hesitantly over the door and nodded. She had been genuinely interested when she asked about them before, but the hover board didn’t near catch her attention as much as the terrain vehicle did. It really was one hell of an invention and she didn’t know much about chips, but she could try her damnedest to find one that was preserved just enough to be useable. That, or she could use some of her connections to figure out how to get her hands on one. If there was one thing Riva was – it was resourceful. Being a scavenger gave her a lot of contacts and beyond that, she helped out so many families that she was sure she could call in a favor or two.


Or who knew, maybe they would manage to find one tomorrow on their little adventure.


She glanced up as she heard the sound of sand slapping against the glass ease off and only a soft wind could be heard. Looking out the window, everything was covered in a thick layer of sand, but only little whisps of wind were left picking up some of the leftovers. Just as it had burst in, the sandstorm fell to silence and Riva knew that if she was gonna go, now would be better than later. If another one kicked up, she’d be stuck there all night and Ark had already been so accommodating. “Speaking of sand,” Riva exhaled, pulling her hand away from the vehicle and reaching instead for the sack she had brought her scrap in, “Looks like that’s my cue to head out. Thanks so much for the food and company, though. I really appreciate it. I can be here right at dawn tomorrow to pick you up. Whatdya think?”

 

[Mordecai]

“Eh, even if you max it out at fifty-five and slam it into a rock wall? It'd still be fine,” he shrugged lamely, “It already is Riva proof and if it'd help ya out at all, I'd rather see it be put to use. I wouldn't hava need for it,” he explain idly. He wasn't a scavenger and even with the proper equipment, he really had no interest in it long term. Sure, it would be great to be able to have the freedom to collect his own parts, but it would be a full time job and that wouldn't leave any remaining time for his already full-time job or his hobby. Truthfully, the offer was selfish just as much as it was selfless because he understood just how much more she could pull in with a terrain vehicle like the monster behind him, but that still didn't solve the problem of their chip.


It was disappointing and frustrating to say the least, but there wasn't much he could do otherwise. Thankfully, the shift in the weather allowed him some reprieve from the terrain vehicle, giving a nod. “Probably a good idea. Who knows when it'll kick right up again,” walking with her slowly towards the front door and slid open the latch with a wary smile, “Alright, here we are.” Sand was still blowing around uneasily in the hesitant breeze, as if it couldn't quite decide whether or not it was done blowing. For the minute though, it seemed to have relaxed enough to be comfortable and survivable.


“Sure, sounds like a plan then,” no, Arkadi was never going to be a scavenger, but going out once might be fun. And who knew, maybe he could point out some exciting things he'd be willing to buy from her that she wouldn't have otherwise thought to pick up. It'd be an interesting change of pace anyways, and considering most of his projects were waiting on certain bits or bobs, it'd be good for him to get out of his little hole for once.


“I'll see ya tomorrow then,” he confirmed, waving her off before shutting the door behind her and going back to what he was working on before. The rest of the evening was spent as such-- enjoying his little tinkering projects and pausing only for lunch. It had gotten so late, and he had so badly lost track of time, he had just decided to ultimately sleep in the garage instead of trying to trek home. With four hours of shut eye under his belt, Arkadi rolled out from underneath the sheet the following morning and slid into a clean pair of clothes, something light and white, contrasting briskly against the darkness of his skin.


The weather outside seemed almost inviting, still cool on the tail end of the breeze as the sun shook off the night.

 

[Poe]

“Tomorrow it is,” Riva nodded before slipping past him to go and find where Mio had scampered off to in the storm of sand that had whipped past. The rest of the day was not much – Riva slipped back past her parents’ to make sure everything else and when she could see it did, she kept on moving and made her way to the outskirts of the city where she usually met Gabriel and the others. They were just a rag tag group of people who looked to do well by the people of the city, especially those who needed resources. Gabriel was the head of it all, a large built man, with pitch black hair and a strong expression, and if Riva ever had anything close to a boss, it was him.


She spent that afternoon out and about searching fruitlessly yet again for any resources the desert could spare for the people. When she had first joined them, they were finding bit of land unworked where they could pull some resources like water and food back to those who weren’t receiving enough in the rationing. Lately, though, it had seemed useless and Riva found herself having to bring parts of her own water ration to her parents’ house, which was difficult. For one person, the rations weren’t too small, but families suffered the most and were often shortchanged but they were in no place to complain because it wasn’t just a drought.


There just wasn’t enough water anymore and it was a problem that was going to get worse before it got better.


With very little sleep, Riva slipped out of her little hole in the wall apartment. Clad in similar linens to the day prior with her dark brown locks pulled out of her face, she found Mio and headed back out to Ark’s shop. The sun was barely up and there was still a slight chill in the air, but Riva paid it no mind as they rode through to sands. By the time she reached Ark’s shop, it was just light enough out for the sun to catch the sands and warm it considerably. She slipped from Mio’s back and made her way towards the front door before pushing it open as she often did.


“Knock knock,” she said with a smile, “You ready for an adventure or what?”

 

[Mordecai]

Sand. Just impossibly long stretches of it. Arkadi stood in the frame of his door, leaning against one shoulder with his hands slipped in his pocket as the first wedge of sun, like an orange, peeked over the dunes. The fantastic colouring overpowered the minutiae and while Arkadi would have been quick to say he hated the desert, it had some damn gorgeous sunrises. Above the dune-line, the grey rocks splashed gorse-yellow with close-growing lichen (inedible of course, as it was toxic to humans), and with others of blue-green and salmon pink. Beneath them were the vivid orange-browns and siennas of wrack-weeds, the green of cactus, and the dead-white of sand.


The colours of the desert melted into the soft amber glow of the sunrise that poured across everything he could see… endless miles of sand, sand, and more sand. Dusting off his hands, freeing them of grit, he turned back inside and let the door slam shut behind him. Realizing he had better get moving instead of admiring the ambiance, Arkadi packed a small satchel for himself of anything and everything he might need: a switchblade, a hankie, a flask of water, a few other odds and ends. Maybe he hadn’t made himself as familiar with the borderlands as someone like Riva had, Arkadi was not a dumb man and he had his fingers wrapped securely around an understanding of basic survival.


“Hey, come in,” he heard the door creak as Riva’s voice cut through. His back was to her, but the sound of her voice was a familiar one. “Yea, I think I’m ready. Ready as I’ll ever be, I s’pose,” the handsome like of his muscular shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. His eyes, a shade of acorn married with wet soil, flicked across the idle terrain vehicle once before he turned to Riva, a broad smile painting his face. Truthfully, he knew bringing him along was probably just going to be a burden for her. He would be slower than she was, and inexperienced, but he was glad she had offered all the same.


Arkadi didn’t get out very often as the amount of inventions in his shop gave away. It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable of making friends, as people around the city seemed to genuinely enjoy his presence, but he was quiet and possessed a dash of shyness even that kept him mostly holed up in his little shop. He wasn’t the type to go out often, or hang out at Hookah bars like most young adults his age, but it was nice to slither out into public every now and again.


“I think I got everything,” he explained as he slipped his bag across his shoulders, “So, I guess just lead the way, then. I am not really sure what I’m supposed to be doin.’ I’ll justa follow your lead.”

 

[Poe]

Riva smiled as she watched him gather up the last of his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Scavenging wasn’t terribly difficult – going out into the desert was easy, walking around was easy, but having a good eye and the fearlessness to scale some old wrecks? That was what made it difficult. Luckily, Ark looked strong and was far more of an authority on old vehicles and other technology than she was. She was actually excited because she believed that he would bring a bit of excitement to her day. She worked alone, it was always that way, but having someone to talk to really brought a bit of light out in her. Riva wasn’t really sentimental in any way, but with the rations growing smaller and each day growing more and more difficult work wise, it would be nice to have someone like Ark around.


“Well, luckily it doesn’t take much,” Riva nodded, “Alright then, let’s head out.”


Stepping out of the shop, Riva was bathed in the early morning sunlight. It was warm against her dark skin, the feeling relaxing and welcoming. There weren’t too many places as soothing as the desert in the morning and Riva certainly liked the silence most days. “A lot of scavengers wait until the sun is a bit higher, so we shouldn’t run into anyone else out there,” Riva smiled back at him, “I guess step one is figuring out which direction the sandstorm last night came from and heading out that way. Came from the West, so I bet it kicked up quite a few great things.”


“Also, this is Mio,” Riva introduced Ark to her Jydlox . He was a handsome little fellow, well, not little. Mio was a good size, great for riding, and he had been with Riva for quite a long time. She had bought him off of a neighbor when she first started scavenging to help her out in the desert, as she almost died a few times, and since bringing Mio into her life, it had really just been them against the world. “Mio, this is Ark.”


The animal shook his snout, his paws kicking up a bit of dust as he sniffed the air around Ark. “He can take both of us,” Riva mentioned, “Unless you’d rather walk. I know some people are big riders.”

 

[Mordecai]

“Right, headin’ out,” he agreed, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his trousers as they stepped outside. Sliding the bolt lock shut on his shop, he slid the keys into his satchel and glanced back, following her towards her Jydlox. He had never owned one himself; he had never quite been a fan of them. Nothing wrong with them, really, but they were just another mouth to feet and water, which was a funny way of thinking about it considering he had just divined a cat, though the cat had been more of an accident than an acquisition based on purpose. At least the cat didn’t drink too much, and ate even less.


“I can just walk,” he shrugged lamely. Not that he was particularly opposed to riding, but there was no point in tiring out her animal when he was just an honored guest. He was bound to be mostly useless anyhow, so there wasn’t much incentive to be both useless and burdensome. Glancing down at Mio, he reached down and placed his hand right behind one of those big, long ears, giving it a friendly scratch, a pat, and turning away again. “So, West, huh? Alright, let’s start heading out there, then. Hopefully we can make some good ground before it gets too hot. It’s bound to be hot.”


The sun was crawling up the sky, slowly but surely, and its radiant heat was already beginning to crank the thermostat. By midday, it was bound to be close to one-hundred degrees he imagined, or hotter. The more ground they could cover during the early hours, the better off they’d be. They’d still have to make the trek back under the grueling heat, but one way was better than two. Scratching a hand across the back of his neck, already feeling tears of sweat leaving temporarily cool trails against his skin.


“I went out to the West a few times. There are some pretty cool structures out there. Hell, there are some pretty cool structures anywhere you go in the desert, really. Shame no one knows much about any of those ruins though. I bet there are some cool secrets buried in them, wouldn’t you think?” He shrugged. Archeology wasn’t really an art for most and the ruins were left to be just that… ruins. There just wasn’t the money or resources to study them, but Arkadi had remembered crawling through them a few times when he was younger.


“Alright, well, I guess that is your cue to lead the way. I’m just followin’.”