Phoenix Rising

[Poe]

“The West is one of my favorite places to explore,” Riva nodded in agreement, “When I was a kid, I spend a lot of time out by those ruins hoping that I would find something but I never really did. It would be an interesting mystery to solve, though. A lot of these broken down structures are interesting and rich with history. Sometimes you just have to know where to look to figure ‘em out and I was never much for schooling. Street smarts I’ve got, but that’s about it.”


“There’s gotta be some secrets though, deep down,” she smiled and followed beside him walking with Mio who was content with just trotting alongside her. She had worked him hard yesterday, running to and from for Gabriel and her parents on top of scavenging for the morning. She stretched her arms up, letting them crackle and pop for a second under the hot desert heat.


But Riva and her skin were more than used to it.


“We’re just gonna keep heading out this way,” she nodded in the direction they were traveling, “There should be some ruins we come across and I bet just beyond that we’ll find some good stuff to look through.”


Sure enough as they walked, the broken down ruins came into view and just over one os the dunes, they could make out the outline of broken down machinery and vehicles across the sandy surface. It looked almost like a sparse junkyard, but it brought a smile to Riva’s face. “Well, there it is – ” she slid down the side of the dune entirely upright before jogging off a couple steps and taking a good look at what there is. This was where Ark could really shine because he could probably identify most of the structures in front of them. Vehicles, machinery, old broken down things that Riva would have just previously torn apart in hopes of finding anything worth finding.


“So what do you think?” Riva glanced back at him, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, “Anything tickle your fancy for a starting point?”

 

[Mordecai]

Arkadi walked happily, keeping pace with her, but remaining mostly quiet. Instead, he listened to the sounds of the desert all around them. The wind just sounded hot as it dragged through the sand. It didn’t cause a rustle like a breeze through trees would have, but more of a whistle as it picked up the sand and carried it in long, silk-like ribbons before dropping it off in dunes. It was loud enough to nearly drown out the sweeping sounds of Mio’s feet brushing across the grainy surface, and the soft sigh that periodically fell from his lips that he felt compelled to incessantly drag his tongue across due to the dryness in the air.


After a good amount of time walking at a steady pace, the crown of the distant ruins threaded against the sky. Their pace seemed to pick up, although entirely subconsciously, as the trio skidded down the sandy dunes and quickly closed the distance between themselves and the shambling ruins. They were gorgeous structures, if not a bit destroyed. Tan and rich burnt Sienna towers crawled up and anchored the skyline to the sand, but the continual abuse of sand grains had worn the towers down, leaving them looking corroded. Most of the buildings and structures had collapsed, at least partially, leaving huge carved rocks jutting only partially from the dunes. The desert was slowly swallowing them whole, and he wondered how long it would be before not a trace of them existed anymore.


“It’s hard to say,” he admitted, trotting forward and reaching up an old digger vehicle. Once, it had probably been used to excavate the ruins, but it was at least twenty to thirty years old in style. The giant mast of the vehicle was made up of a metal dish, a bulldozer of sorts, that Arkadi used to stand up on, cracking the hood and diving into the mechanics. Sand, sand, sand—the damn stuff got into everything. There wasn’t an inch of the vehicle that wasn’t touched by the stuff, but he quickly began to pull apart the engine housing, tossing most of the battered pieces of equipment into the sand.


They were useless and mostly rusted out, too damaged by the elements to be of any use except for… “Ooooh! Riva! Come here, lemme show you something!” he wiggled his fingers deeper into the vehicle’s engine housing until he was practically up to his armpits, “See this?” he was clearly trying to work something free, biting down on his lower lip as his fingers fumbled blindly below. It took a few tries, but he finally managed to unscrew a small piece free and bring it up to the light for her to see.


“Kinda weird lookin’ right? They’re Crowerods… mostly useless on their own, but made outta Titanium. Melt it down n’ they’re worth a lot. Titanium is expensive these days, but I haven’t seen any of these bad boys come through my shop n’ months. No one thinks they’re worth much,” he shrugged, grinning as he held the pair out to her, “I’ll buy ‘em off ya later.”

 

[Poe]

Riva watched as Ark lost himself in a piece of machinery and she moved to kick around a bit to see if she could find anything worthwhile in the piles of sand. Scavenging took a lot of patience and while Riva was always on the move, when she was on her own, she had all the patience in the world. Her family always needed so much that she always carried that air of having something to do, but when it was just her out on the dunes? It didn’t matter who she was – she was no more important than the piles of sand or beat up machinery. She brushed off some sand from a cruiser about a hundred feet from Ark. She was about to break into the engine when she heard Ark’s voice and she leapt down from the structure, making her way quickly across the sand.


“Whatdya find?” Riva called out, climbing with ease until she was beside him, perched on the top of the digger. She listened carefully as he pulled out a few pieces from deep inside the beast, holding them up so they gleamed in the light. Not many things here gleamed, as the sand matted everything out. “Crowerods,” she repeated, letting them roll into her palms as the turned them over. They were small, but if what he said was true and they were made of Titanium? Scrap dealers would be begging for them. A smile touched her lips as he spoke and she let out a chuckle, “I’ll keep an eye out for these from now on, I’ve seen a hundred of these diggers and always thought they were picked over.”


“I’ll have to keep a close eye out,” Riva smiled, settling the pieces into her bag and glanced back at the cruiser she had found, not quite as big in size, but it wasn’t buried nearly as deep. “That’s the kind of machinery I usually scavenge,” Riva nodded towards the cruiser, “They break down out here all the time, but often times they’re relatively new and haven’t been worn down by the sand as much. Overheated engines mostly, from what I can tell, but I’d usually just take the metal.”


“Maybe we’d find more of these in there?” Riva mentioned, glancing up at him, “Or is there something else you’re specifically looking for?”

 

[Mordecai]

Arkadi dug his hands through his hair, only to shake out a small dune worth of sand. He had a handsome latte coloured skin tone, but out in the desert everything sort of took on a matte brown hue. The dirt and debris caked his skin, his hair, his eyelashes… everything, until he was practically indistinguishable from the sand in the background. The little granules got in everywhere and everything, burrowing themselves in the most unwanted places like inside his socks and below the beds of his fingernails. Even his eyelashes were so caked in the stuff, he had to occasionally blink away tears from his eyes desperately trying to purge all the grime out as quickly as it was collecting.


There had always been a reason he hated the desert and on more than one occasion he had considered pulling together all his money, selling everything down to the building his shop stood in, and moving to a more hospitable kingdom in the North. Unfortunately, even if he were to sell everything, the allowance would not be nearly enough to afford the travel and citizenship expenses that came with moving to a new country. No wonder they were always so poor, he thought bitterly, all those who could afford to leave… did.


“Yea, do, I can make good money on ‘em too, once I melt ‘em down,” he answered, trying to swipe away some more dirt from his eyes with an annoyed grunt. Even his innards felt caked in the stuff—his breath coming in ragged, scratchy exhalations. He followed after her towards the cruiser, giving it a once over. “Shame, you think people’d learn by now they ought to keep a mechanic with ‘em in the desert. Else ya gunna get stuck out here and get royally screwed, like this poor bloke.” The cruiser had long been abandoned and left unoccupied and even only sitting a week idle in the desert meant it would never run again, not without extensive overhauling done in the safety of the garage.


“Mmm, nah, anything is fine, really. Any parts worth sellin’. I am always lookin’ for stuff in particular, but the chances you’re gunna find exactly what you’re lookin’ for? Pretty slim, honestly,” he shrugged, “But yea, maybe we’ll find more in here. You look this time, see if you can find any, eh? Get some practice in,” he explained with a smart grin, clearly enjoying the feeling of being able to teach someone something, even if it was as simple as Crowerods.


In a life like the one they led, there weren’t many pleasures or luxuries, but Arkadi found joy where he could, like in people like Riva.


“And remember, I’m just followin’ you around today, so you do what you need to do.”

 

[Poe]

“You would think,” Riva laughed, “But sometimes people are funny like that. Takes ‘em damn near a hundred times of messing up before they think to try something different.”


Hell, there were still people here. That alone was proof enough of people trying to make something out of nothing. For people like Riva, there just wasn’t enough work in the world to make the money they would need to make such a big move, but the hot shots? The upper class that still lived in luxury and constantly tried to make gold out of rust for their own gain and comfort – they were crazy to Riva. The fact that there were women in beautiful gowns dancing in ballrooms somewhere while she stuffed herself elbow deep in the engine of a car for the chance at enough money for food – that was crazy.


What a twisted world they lived in.


Riva offered him a bright smile as he turned the reins over to her, “Yeah, I’ll take a stab at it, let’s see now. You said they were deep down in the engine right?” Riva got up on top of the cruiser and pulled the hood up, crouching down to stick her slender arm fearlessly into the depths of the engine. A lot of scavengers passed judgment on her because of her size, as she was certainly a smaller woman in a burly man’s job, but she was nimble, quick and had one hell of a way of snaking through the small spaces in a good wreck. She was not weak, either, as anyone in this lifestyle was prone to some serious heavy lifting and stamina. “Hold on, I might have found some.”


“And I remember,” she glanced up at him through the tendrils of hair that fell across her eyes, but the smile was warm and friendly on her face, “but if I can get you something you’re looking for, we both win. Ah—” Yanking back, she came up another pair crowerods, clearly aged a bit more than the other two, but Titanium was incredibly resistant metal if she remembered correctly. She’d never finished school, but she picked up a thing or two from her experiences as a scavenger.


“Look at that,” Riva smirked as she put the findings in her bag, “Now let’s see if I can get anything else out of her.” Riva spent the next few minutes just doing what he’d told her to do, taking usual pieces of scrap and gears, a few joints and anything she figured could be melted down. “I think that’s about all we’re getting. Not too bad though. You wanna go out a bit further? Or do you feel uncomfortably caked in sand?”

 

[Mordecai]

His hand dragged across his forehead and he brought a trail of sweat and grime with it at least an inch thick. What he wouldn’t have given for one day of cool weather. He woke up sweaty, he went to bed sweaty, he got out of the shower sweaty… it was like a horrible, ever-present heat that lasted day in and day out from morning until night, and it certainly didn’t help when his neighbors would say ‘Oh, you’ll get used to it.’ He had been there for all his life, had never gotten used to it, and he didn’t want to get used to it.


He didn’t want to get used to the burning of the sand lining his eyelashes, or the way the air actually burned down his throat with every breath he drew. He hated the desert, but the desert was his whole way of life. How unfortunate. While Riva dug below the hood of the cruiser, Arkadi took a moment to kick up some sand with his boot, unearthing a few broken shards of old sandstone lined with hieroglyphics. Relics of a civilization lost to the sand. No one knew what this ancient civilization what, where they came from or where they went, but most people didn’t care. Relics were a dime a dozen in the desert, and were completely worthless.


Thus, they rose out of the sand like seaweed in an ocean—rising to the surface only to disappear again.


Glancing back at her beckoning, he gave a small nod, “See, not so hard, is it?” Well, it was one more thing she could dig up for use, he supposed. There were other things he could show her, but decided one or two were enough for one day. If he gave her too many pieces to look for, she’d be more likely to forget due to an overwhelming amount of information. Maybe in the future he’d point out a few more, he thought quietly to himself as Riva dismantled the engine.


“Eh, I dunno, I mean, ‘tis your trip. If you’d normally keep goin’, we can keep goin’. I don’t want you to end up short changed ‘cause I have sand in my trousers,” he said in a tone that spoke to him genuinely having sand in his trousers. He did, of course. Sand was kind of like water that way—it got through everything and seeped into every nook and crannie. He’d be finding it for weeks, of that he was sure.


“What I’m tryin’ to say is that we can go without risk losing me to exposure just yet.”

 

[Poe]

Riva wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. It was hard work being out here day in and day out, but there was a part of Riva that really loved it. While she’d never really talk about it, finding things of use in the desert gave her hope for this barren wasteland and it certainly gave her a bit of hope for the future of their society. She had her own opinions on the government and class system, but none of those mattered out here. She knew not a single person in power would ever be caught dead out here. The thought made her feel powerful, even just a little bit.


“The sand’s the worst part,” Riva laughed, “you never really get used to it.”


Packing up her bag, Riva hauled it over her shoulder and leapt down from atop the cruiser. She landed gracefully, like a cat, on the surface of sand and stood to brush herself off best she could. It was the sand that got caught in the fabric that made it worse because it pulled with every step and uncomfortably dragged against the skin – that’s why Riva wore as little of it as possible without being too exposed to the fierce sun. Coming out this early gave them the opportunity to beat some of the more dangerous rays and catch a few breezes from the lingering night.


Any later in the day and they would have already needed to head back, but Riva felt some spark in her bones that begged her to move them forward just a bit farther ahead. No one really went by the old ruins, but maybe with the strength of the sandstorm it was bound to kick something up. “Let’s do it then,” Riva smiled back over her shoulder as she started on towards the ruins, “No harm in checking it out while the sun’s still pretty low. Can’t risk you to exposure, though, who would entertain my antics then?”


She chuckled at the thought. Riva wasn’t cold or unfriendly; she was just a bit of a loner. Always had been. It just came with the territory of being a scavenger and spending all her extra time trying to procure water or goods for her family. It was just easier that way – but Riva certainly liked hanging around Ark and the shop. He never once turned her away, kept her going financially even when her finds wouldn’t catch much elsewhere, and he never looked down on her. Scavenging wasn’t the most noble or lucrative profession, but she was talented at it and it was nice to have someone appreciate that.


That and he was just a funny guy and Riva really liked to laugh.


“Call out if you see something worthwhile,” Riva glanced back at him, “Anything that doesn’t look like sand or like it’s gonna eat us, preferably.”

 

[Mordecai]

“What should I do if everything looks like it's going to eat us?” he responded in a deadpan tone, reaching up to pull the handkerchief he had tied across his neck so it settled across the bridge of his nose, protecting his nose and mouth from the sand as he began to pant for breath. As the sun continued to ascend, hot and cruel, a nasty wind had picked up. The wind was Arkadi's nemesis in the desert, but it hadn't always been that way. As a child, his father would build him kites and together they'd fly them on Sundays after they closed down the shop. Back then, the howl of the wind as it gusted around their stone home was as welcome as a greeting from an old friend.


He used to burst through the door and into the sun, waiting for his dad to come down and help him unwind the string and get the kite into the air. But times had changed and now the howl of the wind made his blood run hot with displeasure. It whipped sand at his face and battered his cheeks and eyelashes until his skin felt raw and abused. It was a bleak, thin wind… like a fine, sour wind, searching the marrow and bringing no bloom to the cheek; proving it to be more of a nuisance than anything else. While it should have brought some relief, he found he would have preferred less airflow in favour of feeling like he wasn't choking down a few pounds of sand.


They were making progress though. Each step was pained, his boots sinking into the sand and getting harder and hard to pull out and take another stride. By then, he wasn't quite sure how much farther he'd be able to go, but squinting his eyes and cupping his hands across his brow to shade out his gaze, he managed to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a cave system, of sorts. Even from the distance, he could see the cave mouth as one of impenetrable blackness. There probably wasn't anything worthwhile inside, but it could provide a few moments of much needed shade.


Behind it was a backdrop of the mountains: cold, grey objects looming into the sky that were crowned with a headdress of rock and stone.


Stepping closer to Riva until he was practically brushing shoulders with her, he leaned over to shout over the wind. “There is a cave up ahead! We should check it out… maybe take a break in the shade for a few moments?” He was hungry, if nothing else, and could use a minute to dig his dry bread from his satchel for a mid-morning snack. God forbid Arkadi had to try and make the hike back to town without a second breakfast in his belly.

 

[Poe]

“Just run,” Riva chuckled as they kept walking. There were plenty of things out in the desert that could kill someone and, truthfully, if they wanted you to be dead, you’d be dead before you could even decide whether or not to run. Still, it made Riva feel a bit better to put up a fight, even if it seemed useless. The tendrils of hair hanging out of her bun blew with the wind. A lot of scavengers elected to chop their hair short, but Riva’s hair had always been long ever since she was a girl. Her mother used to say it was the only feminine thing about her, besides her features, and while Riva did not care much, she knew how much her mother loved it.


And Riva was nothing if not committed to making life easier for them.


They were closer to the mountains than Riva usually felt comfortable traveling, but the moment Ark came up alongside her to call for a break, she certainly did not want to object. After all, the wind was a bit harsh and they could do well to let it calm down a bit. It usually came in fits, but she also didn’t want to risk being out here in case it picked up. “Yeah!” Riva called back, “Come on!” The two made their way through the wind and sand to the cave’s entrance but Riva stopped shortly inside though it went incredibly deep from what she could see and hear. Riva let out a deep exhale as she brushed some of the sand from her face and rested her back against the wall for a moment.


It was cool and damp in the cave, something Riva didn’t feel often in the oppressive heat. It was almost chilling in comparison to the weather they had just walked out of, but it eased her hot skin. “So this is scavenging,” Riva laughed, “It’s a lot of being knocked around by wind and sand, hoping that you find something worthwhile. The storm the other night must have kicked up the mouth of this cave because I’ve never seen it before out here, not that I come this far out too often on my own.”


“How you doing?” Riva glanced up at him with a warm smile on her face. They’d accomplished quite a bit today. “You sick of the sand yet or what? It’s bad in the city, too, but it’s definitely something else out here. A person could drown in sand out here.”

 

[Mordecai]

It was a cave mouth of impenetrable blackness and as he stepped in, he watched his shadow dissolve into the surrounding darkness. It was unusual—such darkness. Even at night, it never felt so completely consuming as it did in the cave because the blaring hot sun didn’t often leave anything but a few pockets of shadows here and there. The coolness of it was remarkable, enough that condensation began to form on the rocks. Arkadi placed his hands against the stones, feeling the unusual slickness of moisture gathering between them.


The cavern looked like it could worm several miles into the mountain with its general ovoid shape, the walls below the ridge smoothly curved to the floor as if it had been carved out. The walls above arched another hundred feet up to giant stalactites and bat roosts. His skin prickled with delight as his body temperature began to plummet now that he was out of the sun.


“I wonder what’s back there,” he admitted, staring out into the forest of stalactites, “Ya reckon anything is back there?” His assumption had been that if the cave felt this nice to him, it was bound to have felt this nice to someone else… maybe someone had used it as a refuge and had left behind things worth scavenging. Truthfully, Arkadi didn’t know, but his curiosity sated his hunger and got the best of him and before he could even realize what he was doing, his fumbling steps were leading him deeper into the cave until Riva disappeared in silhouette and the light of the cave’s entrance was nothing but a pinprick of light.


Deeper in the cave, the only sound that met his straining ears was his own footsteps as he stumbled across the unforgiving rocky floor, occasionally bumping his shin or knee against a taller rock formation with a ‘thud.’


His boot splashed and it caused him pause, looking down as he came across what appeared to be a frigid pool of stagnant water. It wasn’t deep, just a little puddle collecting in the crevice of the cave, but it caused him to hastily drop down to his knees and dive his fingers below the surface. The water splashed between his fingers and pulled the dirt away from his skin. Glancing up ahead (though it a moot point, it wouldn’t have been more dark had his eyeballs been removed from his head), he squinted and inhaled sharply before holding his breath. There, the soft sounds of moving water became a mere suggestion over the silence.


“Hey, Riva? You may wanna come look at this.”