Chapter 14

She stared at him, her emerald colored eyes watching him for a time. “You must not speak of this. It is imperative you do not speak of the true nature of your PUB gear. You must not, I repeat, must not reveal to any your ability to find water. Our very lives are in your hands. I’m a bone-dry fool for not running straight to Vulk and Valla to tell them all your secrets. Know it true.”

Oskar stood there, looking back and forth at Fox and Touwon seriously. Touwon eyes shifted curiously back and forth between Oskar’s Goggles and Bracer as if he could deduce some technical knowledge if only he focused hard enough. First the prosthetic, and now this. Touwon’s fascination with anything remotely technical was amusing to Oskar, and he couldn’t stop himself from cracking a smile at the pair.

He'd lose his mind at just a glimpse of what was back home. Modern Earth technology would be as shocking to them as the idea of magic is to me.

Oskar couldn’t help but like the Kobolds. They were resourceful and intelligent, but Fox’s green eyes and orange-streaked face was still serious, so he calmed his own, hoping she saw it as the fondness it was and not mockingly.

“You do not know this, Oskar, because you are new here, but trust is the rarest resource in this great desert. Not water. That is a truth. If someone tells you they will keep your secrets, they are almost certainly lying. Even I, who value my word, must survive, and knowing your secrets puts that at risk.”

“Well, I don’t have much of a choice in who I trust, Fox,” Oskar answered. “Without you two, I would have died out here. You have a choice, though. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through- what your life has been, but I was a warrior in my world. A warrior who relied on a small team of warriors that were as close as brothers.” Oskar had to fight the urge to clam up. To stop talking, to ignore the things he’d seen, but he knew it was time to put all his cards on the table.

Well, almost all of them. I don't think they want a full on trauma dump. I know that I don't.

Oskar stared up at the sky for almost a full minute. He wasn’t really thinking of any memory in particular, he was more just sitting in what he’d experienced and in what he was now feeling. To Fox credit, she knew he was working through something, and allowed him the time to do so without speaking. Touwon, for his part, also didn't decide that now was the time to start talking either. Penny nuzzled him, which was sweet.

“Any of us would have died for the other. Some did die.”

He’d dealt with his regrets mostly. Oskar had come to a point in his life where he had learned to trust that he’d given everything he could have in those memories.

Younger Oskar did what he could with what he had. It’s not fair to expect him to have known what I’ve taken years… and all his mistakes… to learn.

With a smile that didn’t quite touch his eyes, he continued, “I need you. That’s a truth. I’m gonna give you all my trust because I hope you're worthy of it. I feel like we can grow here, together. When I got my class, I felt completely in tune with this world for the briefest of moments, and I think I’m supposed to do something about the state of things, because things are going to get a lot worse. I think it has something to do with a great quest, or… uh, a World Gambit?”

Touwon barked out a belly laugh and fell back into the sand, throwing his hands up. Fox blurted out, “What have we gotten ourselves involved in? Take me now, Bastet.”

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“I can’t worry about that right now, though. That’s not the reason I came here, to this planet, but... I’m guessing a World Gambit is not something I can knock out before dinner tonight?” he asked with a smile.

“You would not believe me if I told you… I jest. Yes, Oskar. Most would say they are impossible. But those who would say such would never be trusted with one. Stories say they come in increasingly difficult stages. Does yours mention steps?”

“Yup. The first one tells me to master my magic,” Oskar laughed. “Great. Impossible quest, or Gambit, rather. Why call it a Gambit?”

“I am not sure. Many of the quests come at a cost,” she stopped for a moment, thinking, and then under her breath, "Bastet's mangy tail, a World Gambit," and then she went on to explain.

“Well, there used to be a game children played with painted stones. If you were playing against someone more knowledgeable, but you thought yourself more intelligent, you could sacrifice one of your specialized stones to have a chance to remove that same stone from the enemy board. Doing so successfully invalidated some of the known strategies experienced players could exploit,” she said.

She shrugged and continued.

“I played little, but it apparently made the game less about knowledge of the game and encouraged improvisation. That was called a Gambit. It is the only other way I have heard the term used.”

She lifted her waterskin and said, “Our Gambit was to get water. It took water and energy to retrieve it. There was danger. Maybe no sacrifice, but there are always dangers. In return, the world encourages reasonably fair treatment for doing so. Not being faithful to your promises could have strange consequences... like having bad luck finding a Wayspring. So, most in power keep their promises simple and unfair. Like: get water or die. We are forced to get water; all they have to do in return is not kill us while doing so. At least not directly.”

Bad luck finding Waysprings? Now that was really interesting. That indicates it's not random at all.

Oskar said, “I am offered Insight, whatever that is, on the completion of quests. What does that mean?”

Fox pointed at her Goggles with one hand and at the same time, pointed at her Bracer with the other and she smiled.

“I do not know. I did not design these things.” This made Oskar laugh.

“Why did you come here, if you did not come to fulfil the World Gambit?” she asked.

He was too emotionally drained at this point to talk about Erik. He'd have to explain the nightmares, the portals, and then, likely much more about his world. He'd shared enough for now, so instead of explaining further, he looked down and simply said, “I’m looking for someone.”

It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust them. He’d already played that hand in his desperation, but Oskar wasn’t even sure how to explain it all.

He waited for her to ask questions, but she’d apparently picked up on his reluctance and waited for him to look up before saying, “Your people are rare here, but not unheard of. If this person you seek is like you, word of them will be easy to find, but the finding may not be what you wish. I do not mean to offend you, but without help, your kind do not do well here, and as I mentioned… trust is a treasure, and treasures are rarely shared.”

He remained quiet for a few minutes before speaking, “Why aren’t we heading back? We’ve got water. We completed our Gambit.”

“Yes, sure, dry brain,” Fox said good-naturedly. “Let us walk back into the camp before mid-day with full water-skins and fat splashing bellies. I am sure Vulk will give us the rest of the day off in appreciation.”

She poked his side good naturedly and explained.

“Even he would ask questions, or at least take our water and barely give us enough for the day. We will need to feed ourselves out here as well. We need to keep filling ourselves with water while we can. He, Vulk, I mean… will take everything when we arrive back, and at best we will sit under the suns with no water to quench us until time to do the same thing tomorrow. That is a truth.”

Touwon, who hadn’t been looking like he was paying attention at all, held up his waterskin and nodded in agreement.

Penny was now napping nearby, but he heard her belly grumble, and then she was up and foraging for food again. Touwon tossed her a scrap of something that she caught in the air, but she still dove in the sand after more.

She's a growing girl.

They set up the tent with the thicker fabric of the tent towards the suns and relaxed near the water. Once again, Oskar admired the simple genius of the tent.

“So, it’s way past time you told me about the Great Storm.”