62. Home (Patreon)

At first, Fikali started going slowly, she needed to fully wake up to pick up the pace. Such slowness had allowed Aloe to deactivate her internal ‘strength’ infusion without any issues, but even then, she didn’t expect Fikali would go that fast. This was a marathon, after all. Speed didn’t make much difference, endurance did.

But apparently, Aloe had miscalculated.

And severely.

“Hoooooow?” Aloe shouted as she held for her dear life on the saddle’s reins. Fikali’s speed was vertiginous, especially considering that Aloe weighed more than normal with all her luggage and clothes. “How are you going this faaaast?”

“Wrooooo!” Fikali grunted amusedly, ignoring Aloe’s questions and pleads.

The dweller swam graciously across the sands, with a speed and agility unfit for someone of her age.

“Ouch! My butt!” Aloe shouted as Fikali jumped out of the foot of a dune into an esplanade, making the rider bounce uncontrollably. “Fikali watch out with those jumps!” She would have tried to rub her posterior, but at the pace the dweller was going, Aloe didn’t trust herself to leave a single hand away from the reins, lest she wanted to fall.

“Hrooo!” There was a bit of understanding on Fikali’s grunt, but the dweller continued with her breakneck peace uninterrupted.

No matter how violently the sun thrashed around, Fikali was even harsher. The constant movement alongside the bolstering winds meant that Aloe was considerably cool. For an almost noon desert temperature that was.

But at this pace we may even reach Sadina before twilight. Aloe pondered, her thoughts to herself as Fikali raised too many dust clouds with her speed. If she can keep at this pace, that is. Which I highly doubt.

After a few hours of journey, Aloe’s thighs began to hurt hard, enough to make her dizzy. Though that was maybe dehydration talking.

“Fikali.” Aloe tapped the top of the dweller’s head, that hand still grabbing to dear life to the reins. “Stop at that rock, we are gonna take a rest.”

“Hro!” Fikali responded in understanding.

Said rocky formation was still a bit far away, but that was the thing about the desert, if conditions were right, you could see kilometers in the distance. Though at her speed, Fikali didn’t take long to arrive. Most of the way was spent decelerating, which said a lot of momentum the dweller had gained.

“Ugh, I’m beat!” Aloe groaned as she stretched her arms once she dismounted Fikali. “My whole body feels numb. Even my arms!”

“Huo.” The dweller rolled her eyes, a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

“I’m being serious. Do you know how much it hurts to ride you? A lot, because you are damned savage.”

“Wroo.” Fikali’s response felt uncannily like a “Sure,” with even extra scoops of sarcasm.

“Whatever.” Aloe ignored the bratty monster and took a small stroll. Even if she was thirsty, her legs screamed to be used.

Moving in her desert garb wasn’t exactly comfortable, or agile for that case, but if she had done the day-long trip twice on foot, she could survive a little walk. Not even after two minutes, Aloe got tired and sat on the rock, taking out one of the two waterskins she had brought and giving it a gluttonous sip.

“Ah~” Aloe let out a gormandizing groan. “Life anew~”

Her exaggerated noises got the attention of the dweller as Fikali approached Aloe, looking at her curiously.

“What?” Aloe asked Fikali, not before bopping her on the nose. “Do you want some water?”

“Wrooo!” Fikali grunted enthusiastically.

“Woah, lower the enthusiasm, you are going to make me think you were dying of dehydration,” Aloe exclaimed, even if she knew that dwellers could survive days without water. “Here, open your mouth.”

Fikali did as commanded, and Aloe poured the rest of her waterskin on the dweller’s mouth. She wasn’t worried about running out of water, judging by the landscape, they were around halfway done, and she still had another waterskin remaining.

“There, there.” The human caressed the dweller’s head. “Now you’ll be refreshed for the coming trek.”

Aloe considered taking a lunch rest now as they were already resting, but she wasn’t hungry right now, so she postponed it.

“Alright, rest’s over.” Aloe stood up from the rock with a jump. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

{*}

Aloe had totally underestimated Fikali’s endurance. The dweller had managed to stay at constant top speed during the whole journey despite her advanced age. Even if she had had a month filled with mostly rest, during the journey itself Aloe had only called for two stops. Fikali’s resistance was way, way higher than Aloe had ever expected.

“That’s it. Sadina.” Aloe sang with a trace of melancholy in her voice. “We are finally back home.”

The city walls cast a great shadow over the desert, and Aloe wished to be under that shadow right at this moment. As they closed on the city, Aloe prompted Fikali to decelerate, and by the time the dweller stopped, they were shy of a few steps before the sand faded into sandstone.

Aloe dismounted the dweller with great difficulty as her legs faltered and she let Fikali follow her, who had her share bit of problems as she had to bellyflop her way through.

“Halt!” A guard shouted menacingly, making no shy motion of scouring to his scimitar. “Who goes there?”

Instead of cowering in fear, Aloe frowned at the sudden display of violence. “A citizen coming back from a trip? What’s with this greeting?” Aloe rested her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, ma’am. Routinary inspection.” The guard signaled his partner to check on Fikali.

“What’s going on? I fear I didn’t hear of ‘routinary inspections’ before?” Aloe feared she was getting scammed in some way. Perhaps corrupt guards, or maybe a couple of con artists that acted between guard’s shifts.

“Do you have permits for that dweller?” With a sigh, Aloe took her contract out of her backpack and handed it to the guard. The man didn’t pick it up, Aloe’s undisputed display of ownership proved enough for him. “How long have you exactly been away, ma’am?”

“Nearly a month now,” Aloe responded.

“Makes sense you are unaware then.” The guard responded with a sigh of his own, he tried but utterly failed to hide it. “There’s been a recent outbreak of a plague, the emir has the city on high alert.”

“A... plague?” Aloe was a bit confused and concerned. Sadina had never suffered from plagues. At least during her life. “How long has this started?”

“Around a week or two ago.” The man explained. “Watch out the food and water and try not to meet a lot of people. Districts have already been in quarantine. Hey, Akeem, how’s it going there?”

“Clean!” The other guard, Akeem, replied.

“Alright, ma’am. You can go now.” He pointed at the open city gates. “Stay safe.”

“...Thanks?” Aloe cautiously replied. “Come on, Fikali.”

The dweller followed her wordlessly, though not silently. Her bellyflops were all but silent.

Something else is going on here. Aloe kept on her thoughts as she beelined to the city stables. The other guard said ‘clear’. Clear of what? If there’s an outbreak going on you would inspect a person, not their beast of burden.

Even when the Sadina stables were less than a five-minute walk from the gates, Aloe instantly saw the aura of pessimism over the city. Night had yet to fall, the sun shone dimly as it tainted the skies pink, and even then, the city felt gloomier than at night.

It didn’t take long for Aloe to find the stable master that sold her Fikali.

“Ah, if the lad. How’s Fikali doing?” The man added mostly unaffected by the gloominess in the environment.

“She’s fine, could you take care of her for a few days?” Aloe asked him. If the stable master had given her his name at some point, she didn’t remember.

“Of course. Though it going to cost you a tariff.” He added with a grin, and painfully, Aloe held her groan.

And fist.

“How much are we talking about?” Aloe inquired in defeat.

“Drupnar a day.”

Aloe rolled her eyes. Most commonfolk daily salary shifted around the four and five drupnar mark. This man was asking for a quarter of a worker’s salary.

“Fine.” Even if she was tight on money, she wouldn’t let Fikali in the stables for a long time. It wasn’t worth the discussion or headache. “I’ll pay you when I return.”

“Wouldn’t have it another way.” The man said with a grin as she grabbed Fikali by the reins. “Come’re girl.”

“Bye, Fikali.” Aloe slightly crouched to the dweller’s eye level. She didn’t need to go that much down. “I’ll pick you up in a few days.”

“Hro.” The dweller grunted in casual understanding, dissatisfaction written all over her wrinkled visage.

As Aloe strolled back to her house, she couldn’t help but feel the aura weighing down on the city. People still walked the streets, merchants still sold their products in the bazaar, but there was something in their eyes. That gravitas...

The feeling pressed down on her heart, and Aloe put more spring on her steps.

Aloe's shaky feet, still unstable from the prolonged riding, made her walk slowly, and by the time she managed to get home, darkness had sifted over the heavens.

“Hmm?” Aloe frowned as she found the door from her house locked. “Shouldn’t be Mom, already home?”

She didn’t mind it much, sometimes Shahrazad got late home. Thankfully Aloe carried keys in her satchels – as leaving them behind would have been moronic – and unlocked the door. The house was dark and silent, deprived of life.

The first thing Aloe did was to remove her backpack and desert garb and then change into lighter and more comfortable clothes. She was too tired to go to the bathroom, let alone have a bath of any kind. Whether sand or water based. She would have that tomorrow.

Her next stop was the kitchen, as she had grown somewhat hungry. Her last meal had been hours away, and she hadn’t exactly eaten much. But as she brought a light to the dark kitchen she was met by a weird pot on the top of the kitchen table.

“What?” Aloe almost dropped the light. She recognized the dark colors and artistry of the pot.

Before she could gather her thoughts, the sound of the door’s hinges made her jump. Aloe quickly turned, her light slower than her as she saw a dark tall silhouette. She skipped a heartbeat.

Instants later, as the light basked the corridor, Aloe recognized the figure.

“U-uncle Jafar?” Aloe asked, her voice trembling. Her thoughts elsewhere.

“It’s true. You are back home...” The guard said with a low tone, uncharacteristic of his energic and easygoing self. “I would have wanted to have a few more days before having you here...”

“J-Jafar.” Aloe stuttered. “What’s the meaning of that?” She pointed at the black jar with her light. “Why is there a fune-“

“It’s exactly what you think it is,” Jafar responded sharply, cutting through Aloe’s words.

“You must be jesting,” Aloe replied, her heartbeat shaking harder than her hands or the light hanging from them. “You don’t know what I’m thinking. Is this one of your jokes? This isn’t f-funny y-you know?” Her voice became more erratic as it went on.

“It is no joke,” Jafar said in striking contrast. A calm oasis against a sandstorm. “Your mother, Shahrazad, has perished.”

Aloe fainted.