Koete ↠ Sokka

Chapter 1: The Swamp - Part 2

When Charlie woke up next, she was in a small, hut-like room. She laid on a soft pile of furs, covered in a light-weight fabric, and with closed eyes, she could almost imagine it was her own bed. Soft light streamed through the wooden arch of the hut. She took inventory on her injuries and how her lungs felt. Her chest felt lighter, she realised she'd been gifted new clothes, they were a tad too big, but soft and warm nonetheless. A green tunic wrapped around her top, with brown trousers covering her legs. Charlie was glad she was finally dry and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, you're awake. Would you like some food?" a small woman asked tentatively walking towards her.

Charlie nodded and tried to sit up. "Here, have some water." Charlie squawked with an almost feral look in her eyes. "Okay, okay, no water. Will you eat some stew?" Charlie hesitantly nodded again. She received a look of pity from the other woman, as she walked out of the tent. Charlie wrapped herself in the green blanket they'd given her and curled in on herself. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out for, but it was bright outside the hut. In fact, the sky was now a dark orange, indicating sunset. In other words, she had slept through the entire day.

Eventually, she stood up to the sound of hearty laughter and ventured outside in search of food. As she hesitantly walked through the arch of the hut, she found herself standing above a group of men who huddled around a fire with sticks of fish in hand. They noticed her presence and gestured to her to join them. Charlie tentatively approached the group, then sat on the ground with them, still at a distance. She wrapped her arms around herself out of comfort, still feeling wary among the tribe. One of the men—Due she remembered—approached her with cooked fish on a stick. The corner of her lip twitched upwards as a sign of appreciation as he silently offered her the food, sitting beside her.

She watched the other members of the tribe sheltering in the open space beneath their huts, manipulating the water out of the soil. Due noticed her interest, stating "They makin' sure the huts don't get no wood rot." He looked up at the night sky, encased by tree tops. "'Cause it was stormin' earlier."

"How are they doing that with the water?" Charlie asked, tilting her head in their direction. The water seemed to bunch together and form a floating puddle at their will.

"You mean bendin'?" Due stopped picking at his fish for a moment as Charlie nodded. "You're a strange'un aren't you?"

Charlie's eyes narrowed slightly, her expression unamused. "Where I'm from, people can't do that stuff," she explained to him.

"Where'd you say you was from again?" he questioned, waving his stick in her direction. Charlie didn't answer, and instead took a bite of her fish. She knew better than to tell a stranger where she was from, even if he did seem trustworthy. "Okay then, what's your name?"

"It's Charlie," she muttered, letting her eyes droop. She basked in the warmth of the fire, trying to block out the memory of having water forced from her lungs, and the reason the water was there in the first place.

Due hummed as the fire crackled. "You should get some rest, Ja Li."

Charlie opened her eyes again. "Huh? No, it's Charlie," she corrected. "And I'm not tired, I've been sleeping all day."

"Jar Li." Her eye twitched for a second, but she dropped it, not feeling up to an argument. "Your brain might not be tired but your body sure is." Charlie sighed in response. He was right of course, her arms still ached, barely able to continue holding up her food. He stood up, taking her food for her. She strangely didn't have much of an appetite anyway.

The older woman approached her as Charlie was headed back to the hut she'd been sleeping in. "You know, you can stay with us as long as you need, we need more women around."