Cartlidge: Rise of the Imperfect Flame (14 page)

Sweat dripped down my face. Sapphire did not weigh much, but
I didn’t have much energy in the first place.

“The first storm of the season and it had to be a
snowstorm!” I tripped in the slowly rising snow, but caught myself before
almost dropping Sapphire. Her breath was shallow and forced. I could no longer
see through the thick snowfall, but I knew I was going the right way. I tripped
again. My mind fell under attack, sieged by doubt. This was a terrible idea. I
had no clue where I was going. We would have been better off if I tried
starting a fire. I forced myself to get up. There was no turning back now.
Either I found something out here, or we both die.

I began climbing a hill. We were probably in the mountain
range now. A third slip caused me to fall face first into the snow. I became
furious and cursed the snow and my own exhaustion. After all that has happened,
dying was no longer an option for me, Sapphire even less so. I was not going to
die. I refused to die.

“We are not dying here!” I forced myself up and sprinted up
the hill. I collapsed upon reaching the top, not only from exhaustion, but also
joy.

“Hot springs!”

The ground underneath me was warm, the snow melting as it
touched. Three pools of steaming water welcomed us. Sapphire, now awake, freed
herself from her blankets and began crawling towards the pool. I pulled her back.

“You can’t dunk yourself. You’ll go into shock.” I instead
dipped one of the blankets in the pool,
then
wrapped
it around her torso. Taking some of the water in my cupped hands, I held out
the makeshift cup and encouraged her to drink. Her markings did not glow. The
water was safe. I gave her some more water and took a drink myself. I dunked a
few more blankets and wrapped them around her arms and legs. She began to
cough.

“My throat hurts.” I smiled and switched some of her
blankets. This process continued for a few more hours until Sapphire felt
better. By now the storm had stopped but the snow remained. I could see our
camp. It was actually fairly close.

“Do you think I can get in the pool now, Doctor Cartlidge?”

“Depends, how do you feel?”

She flexed her hands and toes. “No frostbite.”

“Alright.
I’m going to go get a
tent to bring up here.” I slid off the side of the hill and began running
towards the camp. I had to take large, awkward steps to overcome the snow. We
had a few spare tents that we kept for camping overnight far from our tree. I
grabbed one from its crate, along with more of our food, and returned to the
hot springs.

I reached the top, panting, and dropped the supplies.
Sapphire was already in one of the pools, hiding
herself
behind one of its walls.

“Don’t sit in there too long, you’ll dehydrate yourself.”

“I can’t get out.”

“What do you mean?” She glared at me. I sighed in reply and
began unpacking the tent. “I’ll leave once this is done.” A few minutes later I
sat on the side of the hill, shivering.

“Okay!” I heard her call and raced up the hill, stopped just
before the far left pool, then slowly submerged myself. We had decided that the
center pool was for drinking only, while the left one was mine and the right,
hers. Sapphire sat comfortably in the tent, wrapped in one of the blankets. She
had already gotten into the bag I brought and was eating one of our last pieces
of bread. My overwhelming hunger made me envious. I soon got out, dried off,
joined
her, claiming one of the dried fruits.

Though that was the only snowstorm of the season, the snow
never melted. We spent most of the time near the hot springs, only leaving to
get supplies. We were still exhausted from famine, but at least we were warm
and hydrated. After several weeks our food was dangerously low. To compensate,
I began digging through the mud to find the half frozen fish buried within. I
usually didn’t find very many, but they made a difference.
A
month passed by, then another month.
We did very little in that time.
Life grew simple.
Peaceful.
We spoke often, and slept
often. Sometimes we would play in the snow. Our tent was upgraded to an igloo.
I taught Sapphire to fire a rifle, and in turn, she promised to teach me her
fishing technique once the weather turned. She also took an interest in
memorizing my favorite song, and would sing it whenever I seemed out of
earshot. When the skies were clear we would wait until nightfall, dip our feet
into the hot springs, and stargaze. Nothing else mattered to us but those
moments. For a time I forgot about the war. I forgot about my past life. I was
happy.

A third month went by, and the warmth started to return. The
snow began to melt.

Spring.

Our igloo soon disappeared, forcing us to return to our
tent. The hot springs were no longer a necessity, but a means of relaxation. I
got up and looked down the hill. The snow was all but gone. It was time to go
home.

I returned to the tent and looked inside. Sapphire slept
soundly with her face against the side of the tent, her hair in a complete
mess.

“Sapphire?”

She twitched.
“Hmm?”

“We should start packing up so we can go back home.” She
pulled the blanket over her head.

“Give me another hour.” I sighed and left the tent. The
morning sky was a beautiful pink. I wondered if spring would be a rainy season
like fall. I wanted to get back as soon as possible, just in case. I returned
to the tent and quietly started packing things away. Reluctantly, Sapphire
began to help.

“I hate only having this one outfit.”

“My section of the crew’s quarters is missing. It was a
miracle that you found me an outfit. If I had anymore outfits I would be glad
to give them to you. You stink.”

“I do not!”

“You haven’t washed those clothes since we got here.”

“ I
. Do. Not.
Smell!”

“
It’s
worse when it rains because
then you smell like a wet dog-” I felt something crash against my forehead. It
was a magazine from my rifle.

“Don’t throw these. I haven’t a clue what will happen if
they break.” She glared at me, forcing me to surrender on the matter. We
finished a few silent minutes later, then started our walk back home. Our
shelter took minor damage from the snow and ice, but it was nothing that could
not be fixed. We dug up two more fish, and started a new fire.

“I’ve never seen fish that hibernate in the mud like this.”

“There are some on Earth like these. They can
breath
both under and above water.
We call them lungfish.”

“Huh.”

By the end of the day, things were just about back to
normal. The sky was filled with dark clouds when I fell asleep.

The sound of thunder woke me early next morning. I quickly
got up and looked outside.
Another storm.
It seemed
likely that this was the precursor storm to another rainy season. I sighed and
climbed out of the tree. Half an hour later the entire camp was once again
prepared for the weather.

A week later the flood was back, though it was not as
powerful this time. With enough effort I could trudge through the waist high
waters, against the current. The planet was alive again. The fish and
amphibians of the world swam through its waters again, and the plant life
started to bud with beautiful bright flowers. I kept my rifle on me at all
times, in case one of the serpents mistook me for food. We were able to eat
healthy amounts once again, now that the planet itself was awake.

Though the flood was much smaller, and its storm calmer, the
ordeal lasted much longer than the previous flood. A few weeks went by.
Another month.
Still the rain fell. To pass the time,
Sapphire began teaching me her fishing technique.

“You have to get in the water!”

“I know!” The water was especially deep today. I hopped off
the crate, feet first. The cold water rose up above my waist. I shivered for
several minutes. The cold rain only made it worse.

“How’s the water?”

“Great!” I answered sarcastically. “You should jump in!”

“No thanks, I’d rather not.” She laughed. Feeling a little
mischievous, I took a subtle breath of air then faked an attack, diving under
the water. The current took me by surprise, but I caught myself by grabbing
hold of a clump of grass. The murky water blurred my vision. I crawled across
the bottom until I reached the crate, then pulled my feet under me and prepared
to strike. I rocketed myself out of the water. Just as I expected, Sapphire was
hanging just over the edge of the crate. Catching hold of her arms, I shifted
my legs to the side of the crate. Sapphire’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened
in shock. I pushed off the crate, pulling her into the water with me. I stood
up, gasping for air as I began to laugh.

“Cold, cold, cold, cold!”
Sapphire
shivered. I continued to laugh. She tackled me in retaliation. We both went
under but quickly resurfaced. Sapphire splashed me,
then
began to laugh as well. We continued splashing and pushing each other for
another hour. The water was no longer as cold as it once was.

“Ok. So if you want the fish to come to you, you have to sit
still.” We stood side by side. I awkwardly mimicked her stance, and held my
arms out.

“You’re not still.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Slow your breathing.” That had always been a problem of
mine. We were silent. The water splashed occasionally. Something was nearby. I
looked over at Sapphire, who had a small green fish circling around her arms.
It settled in one of her hands. Gently she closed her fingers around it,
then
hoisted it out of the water.

“See?”

“No, I don’t. That looked more like luck than anything.”

Sapphire looked down at the fish. “Thank you, little one,
but I will set you free.” She released the small fish back into the water. “Now
you try.” She walked back to the crates.

“This is insanity.”

“If I can do it, so can you.” She climbed up, rested on her
stomach, and watched. I steadied myself, and focused on relaxing. A single fish
swam by,
then
bolted away. Like a sprung trap I flung
my arms upward,
then
fell backwards. This happened
three more times.

“Maybe... you really can’t do it.”

“Shush!” Another fish swam around, taunting me. I gave up
and climbed onto the dock. Sighing in defeat, Sapphire jumped back into the
water, and caught the defiant fish with ease. She tossed the fish onto the
crate, and wiped the blood from her face.

“Why do you always bite it?”

“If you bite just right, you pop the skull off the spine. It
dies faster that way.”

“Huh.” Satisfied by that explanation, I began to gather
dried branches. They were to be tied together to form a raft so that a fire
could be placed safely over the water.

“How is this supposed to work if the fire burns the raft?”
Sapphire asked.

“It takes time for the fire to burn all the way through.” I
replied, “Ancient humans used techniques like this for funerals.”

The meal was pleasant. We slept soundly that night.

Two weeks later, the flood was gone. Days became warm, but
the nights remained cool. Sapphire kept our last few lanterns to herself so
that she could make night trips to the hot springs. I took the time to study
the stars when the sky was clear. In theory, I could use the stars to determine
where we were, like that of ancient explorers from Earth, but that would
require a working navigational system. It was unlikely I would find one on the
ship. The bridges to both the Strategy and the evac ship were missing. I didn’t
care anyway. The burning desire to be rescued, to escape this planet had left
me long ago.

Rain storms began to decrease, until eventually stopping
altogether. A month after the flood we were in a drought. Most of the smaller
ponds had dried up. Shriveled bodies of the unfortunate littered the dried mud.
Nearly all of our water now came from the hot springs. We were well hydrated,
but miserable in the dry, pasty heat. I remembered swimming pools back on
Earth,
then
recalled the pond where we gathered our
food. I began to examine the pond more closely, to see if any predators made
their home there. Another week went by. The pond remained peaceful. Declaring
the risk minimal, I removed my outer clothes and jumped in. The cool water was
incredibly refreshing. The pond was roughly three meters in depth. I felt fish
and other creatures swimming by me as I relaxed. A few moments later I climbed
out and clothed myself, then ran off to camp.

“Hurry up!” Sapphire ran to keep up. She, like all other
Anths, ran awkwardly on the balls of her feet. Anths were fast, but could only
run for a little over a mile before injuring themselves.

“Stop… running!”
She panted, but I
ignored her, we were a few meters from the pond. “I thought… we had… enough fish…
for the week.”

“We do, but I realized yesterday that it’s also a great
place to cool off.”

“I’m not getting in.”

“Why not?”

She silently pulled on the sleeves of her shirt, indicating
that her outfit prevented her from swimming. “Also, how do you even know it’s
safe?”

“I’ve been watching it all week. It’s fine.” I turned and
removed my shirt, placed it next to our towels, then walked out into the water.
Sapphire made an audible sigh,
then
rolled the legs of
her pants up so that she could dip her feet in. She crouched down, dipped her
hands into the water,
then
washed her face. I turned
over and dove into the water. A school of small fish gathered around me.
Occasionally the fish would take turns eating dead skin off of my legs. Like a
hungry predator I would often turn and chase them around the pond. At one point
a large, fat, salamander-like creature swam just under me. It floated slowly,
oblivious to my presence. I gently tapped its back, causing it to scurry away
in terror. I turned back to Sapphire and began to climb out of the pond.