Omens and Mixed Feelings

Miira follows after Pandaya to the center of the crowd, "We should go and see what's going on too."

The setting sun reflects an eerie yellow off the village. Everyone seems to be at a general unease. Even without having seen anything yet, we all know that something bad happened.

"Let me through," Pandaya commands the crowd. Respecting her authority as Panther, they shuffle apart with eyes still glued to the hut, allowing us a path through its entrance.

Izheie is with several other healers, surrounding a small girl sweating and gasping with her eyes shut on a straw-woven cot.

"Bring more water," Izheie orders a healer as she wipes off the sweat from the girl's brow with a cloth. She takes notice of Pandaya, "You're here, Panther. Miira, Lyra, you two come here as well. Look and remember. This is corruption." She holds up the girl's left hand; it's blackened and purple along thin, worm-like etchings. I blink twice. I swear I saw it squirm.

"Unlike normal illnesses, corruption can only be spread by contact with the true source. Luckily for this girl, the corruption is small, and it's only external," Izheie places the damp cloth on the girl's forehead.

The other healers chant something incomprehensible to me, but I guess their intention as I watch the clearness of the water change into something so thin, it's almost invisible. One of them washes her hand in the water, and the girl seems to calm down drastically.

"She's asleep right now, but she'll heal within ten moons," Izheie says. Ten moons. It took me five to heal from the stab wounds. "Tell the villagers that everything will be -"

The girl lets out a pained moan and writhes on the cot. As if an entirely different being were trying to escape from her body, she speaks with her eyes flickering wildly beneath shut lids, "S-she wants Raika… the Darkened One." Then, as if the words themselves were the animating force, the girl resumes her sleep as soon as they leave her.

Following that episode, the longest pause of my life ensues - no one knows what to make of the omen. I don't dare to make even the slightest motion, afraid that it would be enough to resummon whatever demon that possessed her.

Izheie speaks first, "No one say a word about what she said to the Queen. Out, now, the girl will be fine." Everyone quietly obeys, shaken by the girl's inhuman act.

Pandaya, Miira, and I leave the dissipating crowd to sit by the campfire in silence, our moods sullen. None of us know what to say after that. Still, my silence is not synonymous with a vacancy of thoughts.

Finally, curiosity gets the better of me and I speak first, "Um… so, Izheie said she'll be fine, right?"

No reaction.

I press on, "I don't know if it's okay to ask, but um, who's Raika?"

That got their attention. Pandaya looks at me, "Right, you're new here. She was the Panther before me."

"Twenty years ago?" I ask, remembering the Queen's words.

"Yes," Pandaya replies, "I don't know much about her but she was the greatest of the Queen's guards and protected the village from being taken by the Estrus, the human nation that borders our forest. Then, she disappeared twenty years ago."

Miira finally speaks, "We've never met her, but we all know the Queen really cared about her - and never really got over her disappearing. Apparently the Queen used to be a lot more active with us villagers before."

"I guess it's true that I hardly ever see the Queen around," I think aloud.

Unable to keep the conversation going for any longer, the only response I receive is a faraway "Mm…" from Pandaya.

We sit like this for what feels like another eternity until finally, Miira pats her cheeks, "But, don't worry! The Second said the girl will be fine, so let's stop being all mopey if we can't do anything about it!"

"Sitting here isn't going to help anything," Pandaya agrees.

"Anyways, Lyra," Miira rises, "why don't you bathe with us? You reek!"

"Erm, I'm good," I reply, backing away. While I do badly need a shower, there is an important reason that I have been avoiding it in the first place.

"Okay! Let's go everyone!" Miira happily drags the both of us towards the… communal... bathing area.

"W-wait, Miira, that's not what 'good' means. I mean I don't want to!" I resist her, but who knew the girl has an iron grip.

"No take backs!" she shuts me down and pulls me into the women's bathing area. On the bright side, (and although I respect the LGBTQ+ community) there is one silver-lining - apparently they recently segregated the men and women.

The interior of the bathing area reminds me of something out of a island resort. While I can see steam rising to its straw made roof, the flooring and pool is a textured stone design. Healers are regularly purifying the bath water, and slaves stand by outside, ready to bring more buckets of water or to restock fresh towels. Several women are relaxing by the edges of the pool.

"Join in, Lyra!" Miira calls out to me. They've already undressed and stepped in when I was still examining everything. I kick myself. Now it's even more awkward.

"U-um, no thanks, I'm fine right here, haha," I laugh nervously. I wonder if I can go in with my clothes on, but then quickly dismiss the thought.

"Come on, Lyra! You're already here! You're not going to spend the rest of your life here without bathing, are you?" Miira frowns, but it looks more like a pout.

"Hmhm. Bet?" I continue to stand by the entrance, barefoot and unsure of what to do. My eyes drift around the room, then to Miira, who is still frowning at me, her lighter tan skin glowing slightly from the luminal reflections of the water. Unlike Pandaya's body paintings, hers are more circular, and they wrap more around her waist, rather than arms. My eyes drift to Pandaya, who is calmly washing her face.

Then, to my absolute horror, she climbs out of the pool, the tip of her ponytail spraying an arc of water droplets and muscular arms lifting the rest of her body. She starts walking straight towards me, the blue lines and arcs on her body growing unabashedly larger with each step. I avert my eyes immediately, wanting to burn out the image of her naked, but toned body. Yep, that'll ruin the rest of what's left of my self-esteem for years.

"W-w-what are you doing?" I cover my eyes and back away only to hit the wall. She traps me between herself and the wall, and then easily strips me with the unfair advantage of sight. At least I know how to take the cloak off now.

The dirty deed done, Pandaya re-enters the pool as if nothing had happened. I sink to my knees and crawl along after her, my white skin sharply contrasting the dark tan of the rest of the women's.

"Wow, I don't even know what to say about that, Lyra," Miira pipes. I can only sink into the water, feeling utterly defeated.

Unfortunately, it seems that my act with Pandaya has garnered a lot of attention, though I'm certain my raw presence has no small effect either. One of the women in the pool wades towards us.

"Hey, you!" she makes eye contact with me.

Oh, boy…

"Yeah, you, white kid with the scars. You're from the match, I remember." She grabs my hair, tilting my head back and revealing my scar clearly for all to see. "Yeah, that's where it happened. Scar like that, never a good sign." This rude mother… I can feel the irritation rising within me.

She continues, "Here, only the weak die, and only the weak get injured so badly like that. Don't know what to think of people like you who willingly give themselves such a big disadvantage like that. You must think you're real tough. Or maybe you're just plain dumb." Is she trying to pick a fight with me? 'Cuz I don't know how to deal with the confrontational bullies.

I whack her hand away. Whatever. I'm too weak to fight back anyways. I just wish she'd leave me alone.

She narrows her eyes suspiciously, "So, tell me, which is it?"

Wow, is she for real? All eyes remain on me, but somehow, the pressure and intimidation to respond isn't as terrifying as the one from judgement with the Queen.

"Yeah, I'm dumb. Obviously. Happy now?" I roll my eyes. A look of rage flashes across her face and I close my eyes to brace myself for a fist to the face, but Pandaya pushes me back and steps between us.

"No fights here," she looks as serious as she was the first day I met her. Only looking at her now do I realize how much more relaxed and casual she's been towards me.

"Tsk," the woman glares at me threateningly, "Be one of us? What a joke. Lyra, isn't it? I'll remember your name. And I better not find out that that girl getting corrupted was your fault, you hear? I'll fucking kill you if it is!" She laughs as she gets out of the pool, "And I know, and you know, that it'll be easy as skinning a li'l deer!"

Wow. What did I ever do to you? Welp regardless, I'm scared.

I knew the Izamons didn't accept me, but damn, I didn't know they hated me that badly. Hard as I try to tell myself that others' opinions shouldn't matter, tears start to well up and my mood grows darker. God-damnit. Stop that, Lyra. You're an adult now for god's sake. Gods, I wish I had the internet and some ice cream to take my mind off that bitch.

Seeing the change in my face, Miira pats me on the shoulder, "Hey, there there, don't mind her. She's just a bit uptight about the girl, that's all. I'm sure she didn't mean what she said." I know Miira is trying to be nice, but I'm pretty sure the woman meant a hundred percent of what she said.

I sigh, "It's okay, Miira. She's right. I don't belong here in the first place."

"Hey, don't say that," Miira tries to comfort me.

Pandaya hands us both towels, "Let's go eat." I hadn't noticed her leave and get dressed while I was busy being a crybaby.

After drying off and getting dressed, we head to the campfire. The slaves had done a nice job washing and drying off our clothes. I'd asked Pandaya and Miira about the techniques they used to dry them so quickly but all I understood was that it was the same magic used to keep the bath water warm.

Nearing the campfire, I stop Miira and Pandaya, "Hey, I think I'm actually just going to head back to the temple. Sorry, but, I don't think it's the best idea for me to join you guys. The woman might be there anyways." Besides, I'd already half-swore that I wouldn't attend campfires again after last time.

"Nonsense, you're the one who caught the Bir'ka for tonight."

We quickly turn around. It was a slave from earlier when I brought Ren to the campfire. "Sorry, but I overheard your conversation while I was carrying these to the fire," he shows us the tinder. He smiles, "Please, join us? It's customary."

"B-but, I'm an outsider," I croak out.

He shrugs, "Thought you wanted to be one of us. See ya there." He walks off to the campfire, leaving me to stand in awe at his words.

"Well, come on then, Lyra," Miira pushes me forward.

We start to walk again, but the slave had reminded me about something. I bite my bottom lip, embarrassed, "A-actually, I have something to confess to you guys." Curious, Miira and Pandaya wait for me to continue. I whisper to them, "Um, Ren actually did all the work while I just ran away from the Bir'ka."

They don't respond immediately, and I grow unsure of how they would react. Then, Pandaya laughs - it's a low, but confident laugh, just loud enough to be heard audibly. Although Miira is smiling as well, she lands a playful punch Pandaya's shoulder, "Hey, it's still impressive, okay?" Pandaya doesn't stop laughing, but she nods and we resume walking.

To my surprise, my experience at the campfire is a lot better this time. Having heard the news that I caught the Bir'ka, Neili came over and asked how I managed to accomplish such a feat. To her great disappointment, however, Miira decides to tease Neili and tells me to keep quiet before I could reveal the truth.

Several others, including Benja's mother, also heard the news and thanked me after apologetically explaining to me how they "weren't sure" about me before. (Apparently, the news also reached the woman from the bath house, who never showed up.) Although I'm happy that I'm now slightly more accepted by the Izamons, unused to the attention, a part of me wishes that they wouldn't thank me so much.

"But hey, you're full of surprises aren't ya," Neili persists. "You sure you didn't go easy on me last I tested you? I could've sworn you were a beginner but then you show up with a Bir'ka by yourself? You ain't trying to get a head start for the Festival of the Warrior are you?"

"Sorry, what?" I heard festival and warrior. I think both at the same time.

"The Festival of the Warrior. Only occurs once every ten years. Whoever's first place gets a chance at being Panther. No one's challenged Pandaya yet, obviously, but the next one's in three months," Neili explains.

"Um, is this like, some kind of competition?" I ask.

"Yeah, we test our strengths against each other. Strongest warrior wins," Neili enthusiastically punches the air. "You should give it a go."

"Ah, sorry, I don't think I'll-" I begin to decline.

"Are you guys talking about the Festival of the Warrior?" Miira interjects. Beside her, Pandaya has her attention on us as well.

Neili speaks first, "Yeah, I was just sayin', I think Lyra here should join. Girl must got some mad talent or something just waitin' to show with more training. Or, she's already good but just wants us to underestimate her."

"Um yeah, that's not the case. It was just lu-" I start, but am interrupted again.

"I see. Why not?" It was Pandaya this time. She tilts her head in an interesting position, and for a second, I thought I could see a hint of emotion break her normally cool face. "I'm curious to see how you would do as well," she says.

This time, Miira defends me, "W-wait a minute. Are we sure about this? Lyra just got here and the Festival isn't a joke."

"Well, she survived the match against Pandaya, didn't she?" Neili scrunches up her eyebrows.

"Yeah, barely survived," I mutter.

"We'll be training her," Pandaya responds to Miira without looking away from me. "I would like to face you again, Lyra."

Um, hold up. Am I seriously going to compete in a competition held by warrior people? Me, a typical couch-potato 'Murican born of the 21st century?

"...Why?" I ask, skeptically. While I can see why capturing the Bir'ka (ahem, nightmare fuel) is a huge accomplishment, I also think their overestimation of my abilities is just as large. Surely, there's a reason other than strength involved here.

"I think you'd surprise us," Pandaya shrugs.

"Anyways," Neili stretches, "it's getting late. I'll be off now. Thanks for the Bir'ka and think about it, Lyra."

We say our goodbyes to Neili and I continue to chat with Miira and Pandaya, glad the whole conversation about the Festival is over.

"You know," Miira addresses me, "you're almost as quiet as Pandaya a lot of the time. Sometimes more."

Pandaya shrugs in assent, "That's what I said too."

"I guess so, I get that a lot," I reply, looking down at my shoes.

"Are you really from another world?" Miira wonders aloud. Maybe my social skills have deteriorated a lot from isolating myself all these years, but I thought they would never ask.

"I'm not sure how to prove it beyond telling you things you probably don't know about, but yeah… as far as I can tell," I say. "I wonder if I'm in a dream a lot, honestly, especially on that first day."

"Huh, well, what is it like in your world?" Miira props her chin up with both hands, waiting for a story. I knew she was going to ask that.

I ponder for a bit, "Well, it, um..." How do I explain technology? "Well, there's no magic for one so healing takes a lot longer. Also because there's no magic, people resort to building things that simulate what magic can do. And... the animals are smaller. Much smaller."

"And I'm guessing there isn't a dual moon either?" Pandaya asks, a slight smirk on her face.

"Haha, yeah. There's only one moon and one sun," I confirm.

Miira seems to take a moment to process what I've said, "Hm… but what were you like?"

Unprepared for the question, I take too long to come up with an answer and I look away on instinct, hiding my face.

"Sorry, you don't have answer if you don't want to," Miira apologizes.

Feeling awkward, I force myself to answer her, "No, it's alright. Um… there's not much to say. My mother died when I was young so I was just with my father, who... um, well I guess was absent a lot. I had a hard time making friends so I was by myself often. Otherwise, I was just a student struggling to be good enough for a chance to survive in society…"

Ugh. That went terribly.

Thankfully, Pandaya changes the topic, "Why the spear, Lyra?" She's referring to when I picked up the spear first for judgement.

"I don't know," I answer, "I've trained with a similar weapon before, and I just thought it would've given me the biggest advantage with its range. Why do you ask?"

Pandaya suddenly turns to me, whipping her pony-tail in the process, "I think I'm starting to understand why the Queen assigned me to you now. Listen, Lyra. I challenge you to beat me in the Festival. Maybe if you do, I'll tell you what I know."

I'm taken aback by the sudden announcement, but Pandaya is looking right at me, dead serious.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, I have absolutely zero ambition of becoming Panther whatsoever. Secondly, entering the Festival is one thing, and winning it is another. Thirdly, why are we talking about the Festival again? I was hoping that we could forget about it and move on after Neili left.

Miira looks concerned, "Pandaya, are you sure about making her enter the festival?"

Pandaya's voice is unwavering, "If she misses this one, the next one won't be until another ten years."

"And… um, if I don't?" I ask.

Pandaya seems to think for a moment, "Then you clean up Dir'kin poop for a month." Well, that was remarkably childish. Still, recalling the size of Ren, it's temporarily enough for me to take her challenge seriously.

"Um, so basically I'm going to have to clean up poop for a month. Why would you challenge me? I'm not a war prodigy like you," I groan.

"I'll teach you. And I was weak once too," she smiles at me.

"Sure, everyone starts out weak, but you've been training since you were a child. I've trained for a whopping two years of my life," I bitterly bury my head into my hands. Hoping to divert the topic into something that sounds less like another source of anxiety, I ask, "Well, did you become Panther through the festival?"

"When I was twelve," she confirms. Jesus Christ.

"Actually, Pandaya wasn't kidding about being weak once too," Miira suddenly interjects. "Pandaya's worked really hard to get to where she is today. And, she isn't the gifted one." She's not the gifted one? That's hard to imagine.

"The Queen - the one who taught me how to fight - is the true prodigy. I've only seen her fight with the spear, but I've heard that she's mastered the other weapons as well," Pandaya informs me.

I listen with my head still on my knees, "I see."

Miira dusts off her robe and gets up, "It's getting late. We should head back soon." The crackling and liveliness of the campfire has now died to a dim, orange glow. The night's air has grown noticeably cooler as well.

"Anyways, Neili's right. You should think about it, Lyra. It'll be tough, but I think it's important you try," Pandaya tells me.

"Well, I don't know about the festival, but if you decide that you want to do it, we'll try our best to make sure you're ready. Oh, and festival or not, congratulations on petting Ren! So, make sure you wake up early tomorrow for training, okay?" Miira says.

"Yeah, sure." I don't even bother to hide the lack of enthusiasm from my voice.

With only the talk about the festival on my mind, I greet Pandaya and Miira goodbye, and head back to the temple. I don't see Izheie anywhere, so I head back to my room, overwhelmed by everything that's happened today.

Festival? Training? Somehow, it feels like agreeing to compete in the festival would be admitting that I'm not on Earth anymore - that I'm probably never going to go back. And yet, if I don't try to compete, it would also be giving up on the only clue I have so far to figure out what happened - or at least maybe what the Queen meant by 'special interest'.

I flop onto the bed, feeling a lot better after bathing and eating at least. A different world where fitness is absolutely essential, huh…

I groan out loud. I should just accept 'Dir'kin poop picker' as my fate. What makes me think that someone like me, who can't even pass a Comms class, could suddenly become athletic enough, and… I don't know, magical enough to get out of it in one piece, let alone win? I scoff at myself. Lyra Sightshade, a nobody, in the Festival of the Warrior.

Still, Pandaya and Miira have been so ernest about their offer to help me. Izheie, Neili, the Queen, Benja, even the slave - they've all tried to make me feel welcome as well. It feels strange suddenly having this many people support me, even if I can't be certain that their intentions are genuine.

You can't just do nothing, Lyra.

I sigh. Festival or not, I've obviously still got to get stronger to exist in this world. Besides, I've got the power of 21st century knowledge on physical training by my side. I might as well just start training for now. Plus…

I hit the floor. One pushup. Two. Three... If I'm going to compete in the festival, then I'm going to need all the time I've got... Eighteen, nineteen, twenty.

Now, sit-ups next.