The trio left their final rest spot shortly after the sun rose, and they drove on for a couple of hours until they reached the town Jay had given them orders to travel to. The signs that they had reached the end of the Yeupisian continent were becoming clear. The air itself seemed to stick onto their skin, a result of the humidity due to being so close to the ocean, as well as being almost as latitudinally south as one could possibly get in Yeupis. The birds that dotted the skies above them were much different from the sparrows, robins, barn owls and swallows that they were so used to seeing in the north throughout their lives. In addition to the vibrant, spirited birds they had seen in the south such as parakeets, cockatoos, and hornbills, they now bore witness to gulls and terns soaring far above their heads.
A sign right on the town limits confirmed their new location as they whizzed past it, so faded and bleached by the passage of time the letters on it were nearly impossible to read. Of course, small towns never got the same attention bigger settlements in the south got.
“Welcome to Chitran,” Stefan barely registered the words printed. “So this is where it all really starts?”
Anwen remained silent despite the tension of both excitement and anxiety building up within her, while Ivan shrugged. The town was smaller than Purkulu, but it was not desolate. The deeper they ventured into Chitran, the more life they saw. It was much like Purkulu in many ways, with the added scenes of fishmongers selling their catch and small shipyards making vessels seaworthy among other new sights.
“So, what again do we do now? I mean, we’re here, so now what?” Ivan asked. He had neglected to think so far ahead.
“To the sea?” Anwen answered as she drove carefully on the once again trafficked roads.
“You gotta be more specific, missy,” Ivan sighed. “Do we find a boat? I think we should find a boat, to be honest.”
“I want to see the sea.” Anwen’s vagueness remained.
They followed signs, looking for somewhere to satisfy the girl’s wish. They passed by the town harbour, which was not very impressive as it was actually only about as big as Marius’ own little port, capable of handling up to 15 to 20 small or medium boats at a time. Driving on the road that ran close to the coast of Chitran, it was a very short matter of time before Anwen found exactly what she wanted.
It was a stretch of white sand. Glints of seashells and perhaps some jewellery discarded over the years speckled the stretch of beach. It was void of people compared to many of the other sections of sand they had passed. Aside from a few scatterings of lofty palm trees, seabirds gliding above, and two or three uninterested feral dogs running along the water, it was perfect. Anwen parked the car up at the edge of the road, and without needing to say another word, Stefan and Ivan followed her as she slowly traversed the beach towards the water. Her shawl whipped around the wind as her eyes were locked on the ginormous blue expanse before her.
Cresting waves lapped at the shore gently, as if they were numerous hands reaching out from under the great rippling azure carpet that was the great ocean that covered the majority of the world. Indeed, most of the world was not the sprawling land of the north that the three youths were so familiar with, nor was it its sultry smaller sibling to its south. It was the Global Ocean, which took up about 85% of Terra.
Anwen took off her slippers, allowing her feet to sink slightly in the ground. The sand enveloped her toes, and she could feel its warmth on both feet. Her artificial leg still allowed her to feel as if it were a limb of flesh and blood, a consequence of her Concentrated Initiation. Stefan and Ivan followed her. Ivan yelped from the hot sand touching his feet, Stefan silencing him with a shush. This was a moment to remember, and it could not be ruined. Despite how lowkey their presence in the town was, it was in fact the first time any one of them had seen the ocean, and the first time in decades that a northerner had witnessed the Global Ocean from south Yeupis. It was historic.
“I can’t believe we’ve never gotten to see this,” Stefan said as he stared at his sand-covered shins. “All of this was out here the entire time. It was always here, and we never thought about it.”
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“Well, there is an ocean around the north too, you know,” Ivan said as if Stefan was unaware. “The same one we’re seeing right now.”
“I never got to travel that far out. Mum wouldn’t let me go on trading trips that went out so far,” Stefan said, recounting his experience. “And I’m pretty sure a mason’s son had no reason to venture that long either.”
“That is true. I’m not just a mason’s son anymore," Ivan smirked. "I’m a Black Shield Officer. I… never could’ve gotten here without the Black Shield.”
Stefan smiled as he nodded in agreement. He knew that the Free Army had never even touched south Yeupis, let alone reached its southern end. None of them got to behold such a spectacle of nature.
Mum, Uncle Ruben, can you see what I see?
Anwen let herself wander right up to the edge of the water. She had her pant legs rolled up to her knees, allowing the cool waves crash against her ankles. It was difficult for her to describe what she was seeing and what it made her feel. Happiness could not be used. Or perhaps there was so much overwhelming happiness brewing inside of her that she couldn’t feel anything. She reckoned that this sight, to Ivan and Stefan, was something truly special and could not be forgotten. But it was different for her. It was more like seeing a loved one for the first time in a very, very long time.
“Is something the matter?” a voice asked. She turned immediately to her right where she saw a broad masculine chest clad in a t-shirt. Shifting her gaze upwards slightly, she found Stefan’s gaze peering down at her, a concerned look on his face.
“W-What?”
“You’re crying.” Stefan observed. Anwen touched her face to confirm his remark, her fingers coming off wet. She had been crying silently after her feet touched the water, as if they had felt the touch of someone she hadn’t seen in ages.
“I’m… I’m not sad or anything,” Anwen was quick to defend herself. “It’s just a lot to take in.”
“I know. They’re happy tears, right?”
Anwen smiled as she wiped her remaining tears away, nodding.
“Yeah.”
The two teenagers stood side by side under the sun, simply watching the vastness of the ocean. They wondered how far they could go—how far the water could go. There was nowhere water couldn’t go. If it didn’t find itself in ocean, it would find itself inside the crevices of a deep cave. Or floating among billions of droplets in the highest cloud, far out of sight. It had no limit. It only mattered where it was taken, but it would end up somewhere regardless. It would always have a place.
They were too entranced by the magnificent sight to notice that their hands were touching. Their museful eyeing would not last forever, though.
“Hey, you two!” Ivan cried as he jogged up to the teenagers. They turned around, startled as they had been pulled out of their trancelike state. “I think we might want to do something about that.”
He turned around and pointed at the northern edge of the beach where it met the road. Stefan made out a tangle of limbs following one shape around incessantly.
“Those look like… kids. Just some kids messing around.” Stefan observed, squinting his eyes from the sun’s strong beams.
“I didn’t want them to disturb your moment, so unless you want that to happen, I say we do something. At least run them off?” Ivan suggested.
“Hold on a moment,” Anwen stepped forward, putting a hand on Ivan’s shoulder as she got a better look at the kids. There were five of them, all boys about 10 years old. At first glance it looked as though they were just having a good time together as friends, but the girl realized that was far from the case. One of the boys was clearly trying to keep his distance from the others, while the four remaining boys were pressing onto him. “They're not just messing around.”
“Every single morning, you fools do this to me!” the boy who was trying to keep himself away said as he walked backwards. “I know I ain’t like you so why don't y’all just mind your business?”
“No way!” a boy who was definitely the leader of the group said as he lunged forward, shoving the boy to the ground. “You think we’d let a paleskin half-breed walk about just like us? You think we’re being rough on ya now, but we’ll run ya outta town when yer old enough.”
The boy struggled to get onto his knees, but the group leader kicked him back down, pushing him into the sand with a sandal clad foot.
“My ma don’t want me fighting no one, otherwise I’d beat all of your punk asses right now. You’ll regret messin’ around with me by the time you get to run me outta town.”
“I’d like to see you try.” the leader smirked as the three other boys pressed down on the victim.
“You know the drill,” one of the lackeys said. “Beg for mercy and we’ll let up. Then we do it again tomorrow.”
“My ma never taught me to me to beg,” the downed boy spoke through clenched teeth defiantly. “That’s why I always run away. I’d rather run then fall down.”
“You hear that, fellas?” the group leader asked mockingly. “The half breed’s a tough one. Let’s see how long he lasts.”
As the four boys pushed on him harder, the victim realized that he was no match for all of them. But he wouldn’t beg, nor would he try to fight back. He would just wait until they got tired. Surely they would get tired until some point.
But he didn’t have to wait. He turned his head to avoid the hot sand from suffocating him, and at the moment he shifted, he watched a slipper collided with the group leader’s face, knocking him to the ground almost instantly and with no warning at all.