Wisps of the past

Chapter 7, Venting out trauma

   She woke to dawn. A beautiful, breathtaking dawn. The sky was full of lovely whisps, colored startlingly vivid cotton candy pink, orange cream, and lemon yellow. The air was the perfect frigid-but-getting-warm temperature, the brilliant rays of sun warming up the three small children, sitting on an open beach, right next to the lazy lapping waves of the ocean.

   Sand and ash covered them heavily, and Rio coughed. Move, you've got to go. A thought filled her head from nowhere. Don't stay in one place for long. She sighed, spitting out the gritty pieces of sand from in between her teeth. Her hands brushed the sky in a graceful stretch, and when they lowered, most of the sunrise had passed.

   She nudged Draven with her foot, and he woke up, instantly aware.

   Asurli was still passed out, her hands tense in her sleep. Her once-braided hair had fallen out, and lay in large tangles, weighed down with heavy sand.

   I wake her. Draven signed. We go. Even he knew the golden rule for hiding - you never stay in one place for long. He shook her gently, and she moaned.

   "Aven. Thank goodness. I had a really bad dream." She uttered softly, then opened her eyes. Her face was shadowed, and it seemed like she had aged years in one night. But her eyes were light and expectant. Then she took in her surroundings, drawing in a breath of sand before hacking violently. "Oh." Was all she said, before shaking the sand out of her hair, and starting to pat off her clothes. Her lovely azure blue eyes drew inward, and she seemed to be lost in dark thoughts.

   "Hey. Um, how are you?" Rio asked, trying to get her to focus on something else.

   Asurli appeared not to hear her, drawing a knife, and starting to shear chunks of hair off.

   "Woah, wait a second!" Rio was startled by the ferociousness in her movements. She drew a bit closer, wary of the knife in Asurli's hand even though she knew that it was harmless. "Asurli, please stop."

   "Look, my hair's hopelessly tangled, I have no one to braid it, and it also helps in disguise. Of course, we're probably thought dead." Asurli deadpanned, her face showing absolutely no emotion. Bits of inky black hair floated gently down into the water a few feet away, only to be whisked away by the waves.

   "Hey. Just, please think before you do that." Rio gently put her hand on Asurli's, but she jerked away with a glare. "Don't take your anger out on us." Rio whispered. "Don't ruin our friendship."

   Asurli just stared at her, then started to shear off more hair, closing her eyes as she did so. She drew in a deep breath, before letting it out slowly. "How's your wrist?" She asked. "I lashed out yesterday."

   Honestly, Rio hadn't been paying much attention to the pain, as she had been so enthralled by the sunrise. Now, however, she saw that it was bruised and swollen, and it was throbbing in time with her heart. "It's been better." She wanted to smile, and bring a light into the situation, but thought that it would be inappropriate. So she stayed neutral.

   "Here." Asurli grabbed her arm gently, examining it. "Do you mind if we stay here for a bit longer? Maybe two hours?" She glanced at Draven, and he shrugged as well.

   "Don't see how it would hurt. Have nowhere to go. Don't think anyone's looking for us." That was the largest amount of words he'd uttered in a while. Maybe the most around the two of them.

   Asurli also was eying his wrist as well. It was deep purple, swollen, and definitely looked broken. "Yours, too." She nodded at them both. "Are you both fine with staying?"

   "Sure." Draven said, the moment Rio also chimed, "That's fine."

   Without warning, Asurli nicked both of them with the tip of her knife in one fluid movement, dancing from one arm to the next.