Eclipsed Journeys

S.1, Ep.8: Whispers in the Dessert

Nova tried to dry up as much as possible. "Fucking shit..." She said to herself while looking at her soaked clothes. She remembers the smoke not far from where she was and decided to check it out. "If the locals are crazy people, I will have a hard time surviving in this shit place." She slowly told herself while grabbing her crossbow.

She arrived at the place where she saw the smoke coming from. A quite moderate group of people where setting up a small campsite. It looked like they where nomads and just staying for the night, that was almost there.
Nova quickly noticed someone looking at her as she slowly readied her weapon.
"Hey you!" This person said loud and pointed in her direction. Before Nova could react she was surrounded by people with rifles. She noticed the rifles were different then the ones she saw with Ace and Natalie.
"Friendly?" Nova asked carefully and a bit sarcastic as she raised her hands. She looked at the people aimed at her.
"Depends what you are doing here." A man said. He was tall but not big, short black hair and gray eyes that Nova didn't trust. He also had a scar on his left eye that looked like it was from a claw or something. The whole group was dressed in a blue dresscode but not specifically the same clothes. According to how the group reacted to his arrival it looked like he was in charge of the group.
"I have no clue how I came here but I need a place to stay for a couple of days." Nova responded calm but cautious.
The man raised his hand and the other nomads lowered their weapons. "Matthew is the name. Perhaps you can stay, but what is in it for return?" He asked Nova, raising an eyebrow.
"Return? Hmm." Nova looked around her at the other people holding her crossbow ready for action. "It looks like you are in a fight or something?" She then said. You could hear in her voice that she didn't trusted the situation and that she guessed what they were doing here.
"You're a smart girl." Matthew said while he chuckled. "Yes. That is true." He quickly changed back to a more serious tone. "We are in war with two other tribes not far from here. You know them?"
"Like I said before, I don't know how I got here." She repeated.
"Hmm. Good then, help us in the upcoming fight and you can stay." Matthew said and smirked.
Nova thought about it for a second. "Deal." She hold out her hand. "Nova is the name."

A couple days later the group wandered in a dessert. One of the nomads saw an village not far from where they are.
"Northern Flats." Matthew said cold.
"That's the name of the place?" Nova asked him.
"Correct. One of the other tribes." He said. Matthew turned to his group. "We are planning an surprise attack right now!" He said to everyone.
Nova noticed another group in the far distant but didn't mentioned it.
The group marched their way towards the village.

Nova, Matthew and the rest of the group arrived close to the village.
"The moment we get in it's weapons free. Let them know not to mess around with Solaris." Matthew said to the group. The group agreed and readied their weapons.
"What will happen after the fight?" Nova asked Matthew calmly.
"We will see if we both survive this hellhole. After that we can look how we will continue." He responded cold and serious. Matthew grabbed his rifle and walked up front, Nova followed right behind him with her crossbow.

The moment they walked in the town, people started to look at them, afraid. Matthew aimed right in front of him and shot someone down. A boy just dropped to the ground as a girl screamed. Nova noticed the other group she saw earlier behind the girl and informed Matthew.
"Look out over there!" She yelled as she pointed. The other tribe was a forest like group armed with bows and arrows. Nova saw the girl dragging the boy inside a house as she noticed something strange. The boy, had a rifle. But it wasn't the same Matthew had, and as the soldiers from the village arrived, they had different weapons as well. She slowly backed up and moved towards the house.

Nova arrived at the front door as she looked at the fight that started behind her. "Jeez... I am glad I am no part of that." She saw arrows and bullets flying from left to right. Before she could turn around back to the door a voice stopped her.
"Freeze."
She recognized the voice and slowly turned around. "Luna?" Nova said carefully.
"Nova? It is really you?" Luna said as she sprinted to her for a hug.
"Jezus Luna never scare me like that again." She said as she hugged her back. "Where did you got this bow from anyway?" Nova pointed at the bow.
"The forest group I was in gave it to me so that I could assist them in the fight." Luna responded nervous. "I noticed the poor boy that got shot and thought that maybe I could help in something." Luna pointed at the door they were standing in front of and awkwardly chuckled.
"That boy. The rifle he had wasn't the same as the other tribes had but I think I recognized it from something." Nova looked around to see if anyone noticed them. "Let's go inside to check it out then." She said to Luna.
"I agree." Luna responded as she nodded. Luna opened the door as Nova entered first, followed by Luna.

Inside the house the atmosphere was tense. Nova and Luna noticed the boy. Behind him was a girl with a rifle aimed at them.
"One step further and I shoot." She said cold and slow.
"Easy there. We just want to see if we can help." Luna said careful.
Nova looked at the boy as she froze. "Ace?" She said scared and slowly.
Luna also noticed him and was shocked. "No... It can't be.."