Though Teerog agreed to the trip, she made Tif promise on her blood that she would do everything that she could to help the cyclops get her grandfather’s ris back. To seal the deal, they both cut their thumbs and let their blood mingle. When Tif asked the cyclops how she was stopping herself from healing, Teerog gave another one of her disappointed headshakes, but otherwise, seemed happy that Tif was taking the matter seriously. To Tif, it was an exceptionally easy promise to make. Not only would it help her clear the debt she felt she had to Torgath, but after her talk with Teerog, she could already imagine them both being Chons at the same time and what fun it would be. Tif wasn’t entirely sure how she was going to convince Vak-Lav of the matter, but if the underground leader’s first priority was to protect the Blood crest, surely Teerog could do a better job of it than Awt could. Maybe Teerog would have to agree to enter Vak-Lav’s employ, be an underground ambassador for the Blood Plains or somesuch, but Tif also knew that you could only guess at the other half of a conversation for so long, so didn’t let it bother her.
By foot, it took them nearly a week of travel to reach the coast that overlooked the islands of Sah’Sah. Both Plumya and Teerog knew the way having traveled it without porting before, and while Tif thought she was going to have to rely on the cyclops for directions, Plumya surprised them all by leading the way, often saying loudly enough to be heard, “The sooner we get there, the sooner I get paid,” or sometimes, “Pick up your toes, or we’ll see if a few stabs get you moving faster.”
They tied Jer up at night, and set a rotating watch on him and the surroundings for Death troops or large animals that might happen by. Tif shared food from her pack, and the others gathered fruit when they could, but they didn’t hunt much, focusing instead on reaching their destination as quickly as possible. Most nights those not on watch fell asleep right away on the grass or dirt, exhausted from the miles and miles they were covering each day. Some nights though they talked, and the same while traveling, and Tif learned a handful of things but not nearly as much as she would have liked. For all of Teerog’s harrumphing every time Tif revealed something she didn’t know about Blood ris, the cyclops wouldn’t tell her more about the uses of the seals, saying, “It no longer mattered,” since Tif didn’t carry such ris anymore and wasn’t a member of the Blood tribe--the second point seeming the more important of the two. Plumya was always ready with a quip or snide remark, but when Tif asked her about her homeland or why the bounty hunter had left, Plumya would grow much more rude than normal, insulting Tif with such vehemence, Tif usually just slowed her pace until she was at the back of the group, well away from the incensed fairy.
And Jer…Jer wouldn’t speak to her, even with Teerog taking his pain a few times each day. It seemed that the resentment he held toward her wasn’t balled up in that one emotion, and Tif didn’t feel right asking the cyclops to take more than that. She hoped that once Jer had spoken with Udaru things would change between them. After all, if she couldn’t convince someone like Jer of her innocence--someone who knew her, who had spent time with her--how could she possibly hope to convince the other knights?
The trees stopped well before the coast line, so they did the last mile or so of their journey in the open. There was no Death about or anyone else, the same as it had been during the rest of their travels, which made Tif think that Atriat was consolidating power at the new hold to invade Lercel. It was far from a pleasant thought, but she hoped that it would take him a while to get as many troops as he needed since there certainly hadn’t been enough when Tif had left--too many non-warriors, either because of their age or profession.
Even if that wasn’t entirely true, the lack of Death troops on their path was certainly a benefit, and Tif was sure to thank the Aspects for the good fortune. She agreed with Plumya: the faster they did this, the faster they could get back and help Lercel.
Of course, they first needed to figure out which of the islands the people of Sah’Sah were currently on. Tif had been chewing on that problem for the last two days but hadn’t voiced it because she didn’t want to give the group a reason to abandon the trip. She could see the flag Udaru had pointed out well enough, sticking out from a small, rocky island in the middle of the water. This one had a wavy line separating a blue upper half and white lower, but she had no idea which ‘mirror’ it corresponded to. Tif was, however, enjoying the sand they were walking through on their way, which she had never seen so much of in one place. The sun had baked it warm and it was so fine that it slipped in between her toes, making her giggle. She even got a bit behind the group when she stopped to stick her hand in the stuff because it wasn’t fair having such fun if Pep didn’t get to, as well.
The sand ended at a long line where water was attacking it, the frothy blue throwing itself up onto land before sliding back, leaving the ground wet and stuck together. Tif noticed that the water further out was preparing for this even, humping up, sometimes quite high, before flinging itself forward with a great crash. It was such a different sight seeing it like this, head on, instead of up above in the sky, and Tif was glad she had come back to Sah’Sah so she could.
“Hey Plumya,” she half-shouted to be heard over the noise. “How’d you know which island to go to last time?”
The fairy made a face. “Tears and their islands. They think they’re so clever, but if Life ever invaded, it would be a slaughter.”
Tif hadn’t heard of Life tribe ever invading anyone, but maybe that was part of their history before Death had filled in all the spaces between the great cities. “How’s that?”
While asking, Tif noticed that Jer was getting closer to the water than the rest of them. He hadn’t tried to escape during the daytime when he was unbound, and she wouldn’t want him to leave so close to them speaking with Udaru. Tif also didn’t fancy him going into the water: it looked rather dangerous considering how much it was moving, and in his semi-dazed state, she wasn’t sure how long he’d last against it.
“Simple,” Plumya answered. “Just fly high enough up, and it’s easy to spot which rock has people moving on it. What I want to know is how this one got there.”
Tif turned back to the bounty hunter and saw that she was pointing a tiny finger at the cyclops. It had been a surprise to learn that Teerog had been the one chasing after Tif on the island, what felt like so long ago, but it also made a great deal of sense: what other cyclops would have been looking for her? But since it had been so easy for Tif to reach the city of Tears she hadn’t considered how Teerog would have managed the same without the aid of wings or porting.
The cyclops was also watching Jer; she seemed to feel some sort of responsibility for the noble keshe, likely due to the ministrations she gave him daily. They spoke of things, Tif knew, but she could never get close enough to hear specifics without Jer spotting her and immediately growing silent.
Teerog must have noticed the lapse in conversation because she switched to facing them. “Teerog did not hear her name, but you are looking at her as if it was spoken.”
Plumya had started trimming her nails with an invisible blade. “How’d you get to Sah’Sah, hmmm? I didn’t think fat floated.”
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Tif sucked in a breath. Teerog was large, true, but from what Tif could tell it was mostly muscle that filled out the cyclops’s frame. Plumya was always like this though, snappish at any slight or whenever else the mood struck her, which seemed to be happening more of late.
Teerog narrowed her eye at the bounty hunter. “Are you familiar with the words of Rogdosh? He speaks at great length of your affliction.”
“My what now?” Plumya said. She switched the small blade she had been holding to both hands, and Tif imagined the tiny paring knife growing into a full sword, though she couldn’t see the change. So far, they’d been lucky enough to avoid any outright fights, and a few cuts wouldn’t hurt a Blood user like Teerog, but still, Tif didn’t think it was a good idea.
“Um, hey, now--”
“Those who try to cause others pain do so because they themselves are wounded,” Teerog stated in her rumbly voice. “There is much sadness in this act, because the afflicted’s desire is pure, to heal, but poor teachings have shaped their belief incorrectly in how this peace is found. All can see that cutting another does not mend their own cut and neither does ignoring the wound, and yet these are the very actions such afflicted trust in to find their cure. Worse, unlanced, the wound festers, until one day the person they were dies, leaving only the affliction behind, wearing the body and using the voice of the one it killed.”
Plumya threw her hands up in the air and floated away. “Spare me Blooder philosophies. I’d rather wilt and die than listen to more of this nonsense. I’ll find Sah’Sah.” So saying, the fairy shot away, out over the water and toward the collection of islands.
Tif hadn’t expected Plumya’s sudden departure and went to call after her, but ended up stopping herself. Having some time without the fairy would honestly be a welcome reprieve. She looked over at Teerog and saw that the cyclops was staring in the direction Plumya had gone.
“Are you friends with Rogdosh?” Tif asked. “He seems like quite the talker.”
“That would be impossible for Teerog,” the cyclops said, looking down at her. “He lived more than a hundred and fifty years ago.”
“Um, then how do you know what he said?”
“Rogdosh spoke his words to those who would listen, and hearing the truth they contained, others continued to speak them after he was gone, just as Teerog has spoken them to you now.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer to write them down?” Speaking of safety, Tif realized that she hadn’t checked on Jer in a while, which instantly put her head on a swivel. He was indeed in the water but only knee deep, so she was able to breathe out a sigh of relief. It was a bit odd though how he was looking down, watching the water move past his legs, and then rush back out between them. He even stayed in the same spot when a hump of water crashed into his waist, drenching him.
“Teerog has heard that in Lercel you write many words down, so many you have rooms crammed full of them, but the Roving City of Bheroth moves, and we only carry what we must. Teerog does not wish to give offense, but--”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Tif said, walking a bit closer to Jer just in case. “I don’t read.”
The cyclops followed, looking pleased. “That is good,” she said. “Words are meant to live in our blood and then our breath, not on dead things. To trap them so steals part of their meaning, for it is not just the word that matters but how it was said, along with where and when and by whom.”
“If you don’t want to tell me how you got to Sah’Sah, it’s okay,” Tif told her.
For the first time Tif had seen, the cyclops blushed, the color nearly the same as the red dots and lines of Blood ris on her cheeks. “Teerog is sorry. Her blood-mother was one of the great speakers, and so this matters much to Teerog, but it does not matter now. To answer what you ask, Teerog swum to Sah’Sah.”
There really couldn’t have been another way, but even so, Tif found she wasn’t ready for it. She had paddled around a bathhouse twice before, once when she was really young and her parents took her as a treat, and once with Awt, which she had paid for when he had said she was getting too stinky. Even so, she didn’t trust herself to make it as far as the flag rock in the shifting water, let alone to the cluster of islands she could barely make out in the distance.
“How could you make it so far? And without knowing which island to go to?” Tif was close enough to Jer now that she could feel the spray of the water when it hit the sand. If they didn’t figure out another option, they might all be jumping in soon.
“There is much life in the sea,” Teerog answered, “small fish and some plants and…” the cyclops paused, giving Tif that cagey look she did when Tif asked her how her seals work. As it happened, she had already said enough for Tif to know the answer.
“You used them to charge up.”
Teerog eyed her and then nodded as if Tif had passed some sort of test. “Yes. With their energy bolstering Teerog, she was able to swim for hours and hours, until she found an island with the sound of people on it.”
“Then you used your third seal to climb up!” Tif said, clapping her hands, excited that she knew the answer to that one, too.
The cyclop’s nodded again but didn’t look pleased about it. “Yes, but the sharp rock still cut her many, many times before she was able to reach the top. Teerog sometimes feels the echo of that pain, it was so great.”
“Ah,” Tif said, scratching the side of her nose to hide her embarrassment at bringing up the sensitive subject. “Sorry to hear that.” Teerog didn’t say anything further, and so Tif checked in on Jer. He was actually sitting in the water now, larger waves crashing over his head on their way to land. Tif knew he had a fondness for new experiences, and perhaps this--strange as it seemed--was just that to him. Trying not to worry, she looked back at Teerog. “Think you could carry or pull one of us?”
A bit of doubt entered the cyclops’s already unhappy expression. “Maybe. It is a hard swim.”
“Fair,” Tif said, turning to Pep for advice. “Maybe Plumya will bring someone who can port us?”
“You trust her to do that?” Teerog looked even more doubtful now than before.
Tif laughed. “Not any further than I could throw her. Just running out of options.”
“You had no plan in coming here?” the cyclops said, sounding perplexed and also a touch angry. “When your dream of becoming the Archon depends upon it?”
“Well,” Tif said, putting her hands behind her head, “I figured some people must trade with Sah’Sah who don’t have Tears ris, so the city should have a lookout to spot traders and port them over the water. Maybe they just haven’t gotten round to where we’re at yet, but if we stay here, one should come along soon enough.”
Teerog was silent for a time before saying, “But we didn’t bring anything to trade.”
“Yeah, hoping they think we brought something small but valuable. Like bottles of tears.”
Tif held onto that hope or that Plumya would be useful, but it wasn’t until the sun was setting, lines of amber flaring over the water, just as vibrant as aquaros’s scales, that someone appeared.
“You are a strange group. What brings you to Sah’Sah?” Though the voice was higher than Udaru’s, the way it croaked without inflection told Tif she was talking to an aquaros well before she saw the orange scaled lookout standing off to the left.
“Hi there!” Tif said, waving her hand.
“And why do you not have the Death user bound?” the aqauros hissed, her frill expanding to nearly full size.
“Oh! Sorry about that,” Tif said, tucking her hand with the grey ris behind her back. “I’m not from Death, I’m from Lercel.” Tif knew details like that wouldn’t be enough to get them onto the island though, so she went ahead and made her play. “I’m friends with Udaru, and it’s very, very important that I talk with him. Can you please take us to Sah’Sah?”
The aquaros’s frill deflated but not all the way. “A name is not enough to prove friendship.”
“Right you are,” Tif agreed. She turned to Teerog and gave her a wink, which the cyclops didn’t seem to understand as well as Pep would have, but that was okay, they’d get there. Tif turned back to the aquaros and pulled a yellow cloth with blue stitching from the neck of her shirt. “Good thing I have his sah.”