SKIPS-ONE-STEP

The compound looked as she remembered. The buildings actually handled the sand storms well, or were just at too high of an altitude to be affected. She walked to the door of the main compound and knocked. For a long time, nothing happened but loud voices inside of the compound talking, discussing, arguing. Then Cvetka opened the door, looking concerned, but trying to make herself look happy: “Skips-one-Step! What brings you here? Are you finally returning to us?”

She shook her head: “I am not. You know that group around Rush? They are currently bothering a village that I happened to visit. Please pick them up quickly!”

Now, Cvetka’s happiness seemed genuine: “They are still alive! That’s great news! Can we pick them up? I thought that they were… d… dead… when they no longer appeared on the communicators!”

Skips nodded: “They are. But they are injured and in need of healing. Please get folks with healing skills and prepare the fastest Movement skills you have!”

Cvetka looked at her in confusion: “We have a passenger drone. We don’t need to run ourselves.”

Skips nodded: “Okay! Can you fly it?”

Cvetka nodded: “Yeah!”

Skips followed Cvetka into the small building of the hangar where a few passenger drones were waiting for them. Cvetka moved towards a large, red one. “This one is mine! We can use it to get there.”

Skips looked impressed. It had enough space for a dozen people. However, when getting close to this thing, she felt her heart racing. She realised that for the last months, she had always been in places she could escape at a moment’s notice and now getting into a contraption where this was not possible filled her with dread. She turned white. “We… we have to take this?” she asked, trying not to sound as scared as she felt.

Cvetka nodded: “It’s fastest! Get in and get comfortable! I will just get Crystal!”

Skips tried to take deep breaths and get into the vehicle, but it was as if there was a wall in front of it, making it impossible to cross the threshold.

When the two girls appeared, they looked at her: “Hi Skips! Let’s get in and get buckled in! We need to save the others!” Crystal said.

Skips nodded: “It looks new, I didn’t want to stain it. If you want me to go ahead, I have a build that is pretty much based on movement, so I can maybe show you the way like that?”

Cvetka shook her head: “You look as if you had used these a lot already with how much sand is in your clothes. Also, I don’t think you can outrun one of these bad boys! Just get in!”

Skips moved in very hesitantly. Her heart was racing. Her hands were in fists and her knuckles white, but she moved in. Despite her racing heart, despite her fear, she tried to prevail. She indicated to Cvetka with a shaking voice where to go.

For a while, they didn’t talk. Skips tried to control herself and not act on her anxious feelings. Then Crystal asked: “Are you having issues with your vocal cords from being out there in the desert all the time? I might be able to help you.”

“No!” Skips said more brusquely than she intended to.

Crystal moved her body a bit away from Skips without leaving her seat. “Hey, hey, I was just offering assistance. I have a healing class, so I can help, you know?”

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Skips took intentional deep breaths: “Sorry, gals! I just…”

Cvetka reached for Skips’ hand. Having entered the vague course, the autopilot could currently handle the flight. Skips didn’t move her hand away when she did so. “I understand! Not everyone has flown before.”

Skips nodded, not bothering to correct them.

Eventually, Cvetka asked: “You did really make a build based on movement speed? It must come in handy here where there is lots of empty nothing.”

Skips nodded, silently. Once again, she didn’t bother to correct them about the Kha Zha plain. Yes, it was mostly sandy and rocky, but there were many hidden natural treasures, if you knew where to look. And the fact that somewhere under the sand a giant sea urchin-like creature burrowed was not for any human’s ears. She instead tried to focus on her breath. To control it. To breathe in in the time it took to count 4 seconds, then breathe out for the same time.

Crystal and Cvetka eventually started talking about life in the compound and what they wanted to watch in the evening, only sometimes interrupted when Skips corrected their course.

When the vehicle landed, Skips was out first and as soon as her feet hit the sand of the Kha Zha plain, she calmed down. She led the group to the area outside of the village where Rush and his group were waiting. They had some water that villagers provided for them, but apart from that, they just had themselves and their thoughts. So obviously, they moved towards the group even before the vehicle had landed. Skips stopped them: “Hey you know how you disturbed the villagers and imposed on their hospitality? I think you should compensate them. Do you even know where the water they got for you came from? The stream is several kilometres away! Please show your gratitude!”

Someone complained: “But they didn’t even speak our language! They just clicked at us!”

Skips shook her head in disappointment: “No buts! They did what they could while you disregarded their barriers and borders! They don’t speak your language, sure, but do you know theirs?”

“And you were not trying to speak theirs. Why did you even look around everywhere?” she asked.

“We were looking for a general store. And, we were not aware that we were crossing boundaries. It all looked just like steps that slightly change the height of the sand.” Rush said.

“This is not how Tsanh works. Tsanh is not an economy, it is a society.” Skips said.

SHIVERS-IN-SUNLIGHT

As Shivers saw Skips walk to her tent, xe immediately feared something was at odds. She had not only levelled up her own foundational skill, but recently gained the village a new level. Xe approached carefully: “Hello Skips! You made it!”

Skips raised her head for a moment, and smiled: “Shivers! Can I hug?”

Shivers immediately hugged the human-of-Tsanh.

Silent and arm-around-shoulder, they went to the tents they burrowed in. Skips apologised for her state: “Sorry, I need to sleep! I have been pulling an all-nighter and then ran through what felt like half the Kha Zha plain…”

Shivers understood: “Congrats on gaining an advanced foundational skill! You are only the 16th in our settlement to do so. Let’s celebrate tomorrow!”

Skips agreed and both burrowed and fell asleep soon after.

In the morning, Skips regaled the Scorpion with the tale of how the humans didn’t understand Scorpions-of-Tsanh and their society. “I feel quite unhappy about my former group. I had them give the village enough Lira that they could attune to their dungeon items as a slight compensation, but I do not feel that they understood how different folks are. And I don’t think that I can teach it!”

“Why?” Shivers asked seriously.

“Because they never really respected me. And because I was often maliciously teased, I, in all of my soul, don’t want to.”

Shivers looked seriously at Skips: “Maybe you teach me about them and I teach them about us? Would that work?”

Skips smiled: “It is worth a try. But why do you want to?”

Shivers smiled: “I cared for snails in the dark for most of my life and even after gaining my sight, I continued to do so, mostly running on habit. I love spending time with you not just because I like you but also because I like to learn more about how other worlds are and you tell me a lot of miraculous things. So, I feel that if I interacted with these humans, I might learn more. And, yeah, I also hope to gain some skills for the repository for learning the language and culture. Right now, there is very little of it in the repository. What do you think?”

Skips nodded slowly: “I can see that it is needed before a situation erupts that I cannot prevent… I will help you and will ask Teki to do so as well.”