The Love Between Art and Water

Chapter 6

After the Sand rescues Sisu from the Shadow Realm, the group heads for the notorious Spine.... Supposedly filled with dangerous warriors. Deep down, only Sisu and Sand were not worried... Although for different reasons.

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Boun's shrimp boat floats downriver, away from the direction of Talon. Noi and the Ongis were shoving as much congee and condiments into their mouths as they could, and Boun chases them off with a broom.

BOUN : "Hey! Stop eating!" He shouts

The Ongis knock over hot sauce into Tuk-Tuk's plate of food. He eats it and immediately knocks Raya over to get to the side of the ship.

RAYA : "Sorry, Buddy... I got this" She pats him caringly

Raya walks over to Boun, Noi, and the Ongis fighting with each other.

BOUN : "Did you just throw a shrimp at me?! Don't look at me like that, you fuzzy garbage can!"

RAYA : "Hey, guys.... Do you want to play hide and seek?" She says with a big smile, getting their attention

Tuk-Tuk, Noi and the Ongis all nod yes.

RAYA : "Alright, ready? One, two..." They all run away and hide... Leaving Boun standing there relieved

Raya stops counting and walks away.

BOUN : "Thanks" He whispers to her

RAYA : "Two and a half... Three..." She turns to Sisu "Remind me to never have kids"

SISU : "Being people is hard" Says, staring at her hands.

She is holding a worn-out cup that was filled with dirt and sand, a small vibrant green sprout planted in the middle.

RAYA : "Yep.... Six... Seven!" She calls over her shoulder

SISU : "You have small heads, no tails... you lie to get what you want... Like the Talon Chief"

RAYA : "Yeah well, the world's broken, you can't trust anyone"

SISU : "Or maybe the world's broken because you don't trust anyone" She says smartly

RAYA : "You sound just like my ba" She says wistfully, thinking about her past

SISU : "Well, he sounds like a smart man"

RAYA : "Yeah.... He was... I wanted to believe him. I really wanted to believe that we could be Kumandra again"

SISU : "And we can" She replies

RAYA : "Literally thousands of people turned to stone would argue otherwise"

SISU : "That doesn't mean you shouldn't try"

RAYA : "And I did... And you know what happened?! I got kicked in the back by someone who gave me a 'gift' .... We're a world of orphans because people couldn't stop fighting over a gem... Wanna know why other dragons didn't come back? Because people don't deserve them...." She says sourly

SISU : "But you can change that!"

RAYA : "I am done trying... Kumandra is a fairy tale.... The only thing important to me now is bringing my ba back" She says and turns away, ending the conversation.

Sisu walks away too and sits next to her friend Sand, who is on the far end of the boat away from everyone. His riveting stare had been scanning her, making her shiver slightly. In his lap is his blue book... This time though, it's open and he is reading it with a smile. Curious to take a look, Sisu tries to take a peak, but he closes it quickly.