Coming back to life was not the kind of experience one would expect when they had been unavoidably dying for the past year. There hadn't been any sudden gasp of air and there hadn't been any bright light at the end of a tunnel that she had been pulled away from. All that she had been given when she returned was the feeling of immense panic because she could still feel the way she had died humming through her skin.
She could remember every moment before the darkness had claimed her. She could see in her mind's eye the expression on her brothers face when she had took what she had thought was her last breath. She could remember his look of acceptance as she spoke through coughs of how she didn't want to be buried, she just wanted to be free.
They, her brother and his friends, had sent her off into the ocean as per her last request. She didn't want to look down below her because she could hear the sound of waves crashing below her, and she could feel the wood uncomfortably pressing into her back. But she could help but calm down at the thought of how lucky she was. Because they had followed her wishes and sent her out onto the sea, they hadn't buried her. She didn't want to think of what would have happened if she came back to life in a grave.
She shook her head. She really didn't want to know the answer to that.
Mariam had yet to comprehend what was happening around her. She knew she was on a piece of wood drifting in the ocean, but she was only eleven years old and she had yet to understand the implications of what being out on sea without any food meant for her.
All she knew was that she was in the middle of the ocean, and, as she sat up, she couldn't see even a hint of land around her.
It was on the piece of wood that she sat for the next five days, slowly starving and unable to drink large quantities of the water below her because of the amount of salt it contained.
But she seemed to have more luck than she realised, and on the morning of that fifth day when the sun was rising, she saw something that made her think she was hallucinating. Or rather, someone.
When her eyes opened that morning, she was gifted with the sight of a man floating directly above her on a long staff. He had a bright smile on his face, but she could see the underlying guardedness behind it. She had spent her whole life looking into false smiles and hidden agendas and she could see it even in her starved state. This man obviously was unaware of this. Nevertheless, as soon as she had finished examining him, she came to the conclusion that he was very much real and very much floating above her.
She did what any eleven year old girl drifting in the middle of the ocean would do– she screamed.
Instantly the man backed up in shock. She watched him carefully as he gazed at her, or, strangely, around her.
"You're different." The man decided, peering down at her for another second before sitting on his staff properly and bringing himself closer to her, "what's your name?"
Mariam blinked in shock. What did he mean what was her name, did he not understand how weird it was that he was floating and she had been on the ocean so long?
Obviously not, because he just continued to stare at her waiting for an answer. Fine, then.
"Mari... it's Mariam." She coughed out, her throat completely parched.
The man let out a hum of acknowledgement and, without even a hint of warning, leaned forwards. He grabbed her be her legs and swung her over his shoulder. Her head slammed into his long blond hair and she coughed as a few hairs got caught in her mouth. She spat them out and began to try and kick at him to get away, but her struggling was futile. He just held onto his legs properly.
"Hey–!!"
"Calm down," he softly told her, "I'm just getting you back to land, okay?"
Warily, she stopped trying to struggle. She didn't trust this strange man whatsoever, but he seemed to be her only hope at not dying out on sea alone.
He flew over the water like it was second nature. Her hair blew about in the wind at the speed he was going. The sun was beginning to go down by the time she was able to catch a glance of land on the horizon. It was closer than she thought and she inwardly wondered why she hadn't seen it quicker.
The man moving her landed without a sound when they made it to the ground. He picked her off of his shoulder carefully and sat her down on the floor. She stared at him, waiting for him to tell her just what he wanted from her. She was fully prepared to fight back, even in her weakened state, if he were to do anything resembling her father's actions in the past. He did nothing of the sort.
All he did was adjust the large brimmed hat on his head and smiled at her.
"I am sorry for not introducing myself and just throwing you over my shoulder, but I felt that getting you to land was more of a priority." He dipped his head, "I am Yunan. It is very nice to meet you, Mariam."
Mariam looked at him shocked. This man, he was acting just like—
She swayed and Yunan's eyes widened. He swept forwards to catch her before her head slammed into the sand below them. His face became panicked as he watched the ruhk flutter around the girl nervously, reacting to her fall with fear.
Yunan picked her up in his arms, looking around quickly before kicking his leg through the sand. It revealed an intricate magical circle that he automatically stepped inside of. He began to chant words in another tongue causing the circle to glow blue.
It lit up completely with blue and with a short flash they vanished.
Mariam's eyes opened quickly and she pushed herself up. She instantly made sure she was still wearing her clothes. She let out a sigh of relief and began to look around at her surroundings. Almost automatically her eyes caught the man who had rescued her, Yunan, who was quietly following her actions.
She sat stock still but Yunan didn't move from the chair he was sitting in. He only watched her movements curiously and, when she just looked at him without moving, he spoke.
"You scared me quite a bit, collapsing like that. You must have been out on the ocean for a long time, huh?"
Mariam couldn't bring herself to speak, only nodding in reply. Yunan's expression grew sad and she was surprised to realise he still wasn't looking at her pitifully.
This man was strange.
The birds around him were drawn to him more than she had ever seen with anyone else, even compared to Alibaba's blinding light. She almost got distracted enough by their constant movement to ask him, but she remembered Cassim's words when she had asked him why his were becoming so dark.
'They are just your imagination, Mari, don't talk about them like they're real. People will think you're crazy.'
"Do you have anyone you can go back to? I can try my best to help as much as I can, but I'm sorry that's not a lot." Yunan sounded so sincere it was almost wrong. She hadn't heard anyone sound that kind in so long, not since Alibaba's mother had died and he was found to be the King's son. Not even her brother (least of all her brother).
"I..." she thought back to her home in Balbadd, bs j go the way her brother had been angry before she had closed her eyes for what she thought was the last time, not sad. She didn't know if she would be able to handle the man he turned into after he thought she was dead. She wasn't strong enough, especially right now.
She looked at Yunan and shook her head, "no, I don't."
Yunan's already upset expression grew, but he put on a cheery mask over it far too easily.
"I'm sorry to hear that..." he whispered, and then he straightened up, "well, if you don't mind the mess, you can stay here with me until you're better. You're going to need to eat and drink when you can do you don't collapse again." Seeing her staring at him incredulously, he realised what exactly he was offering. "Only if you're okay with that, of course! You can leave whenever you like, just don't go outside the house until I'm with you okay? You'll just end up lost. Okay?"
Mariam tried to process the information she had just been give . Her mind worked quickly as she tried to think of an answer for him as fast as possible. One of the birds rested on her hand in comfort and she relaxed a little, able to think clearer.
Yunan was looking at her weirdly. If she didn't know any better than she would think he could see the birds as well, but she knew that was impossible.
He spoke again before she had a chance to answer.
"You don't need to decide now. I'm not about to let a hungry and dehydrated child go off on her own, no matter what people think of me." The last part was more to himself than anything but she still heard it. Her body, which has unconsciously become still under the pressure of deciding, relaxed as much as it could under the circumstances.
"Thank you." She told him softly, bowing her head.
"Ah, no! Don't bow! It's no problem. Anyway, welcome to my home, Mariam!"