Neophyte

Possibilities

Training ended.

Guillermo, Esteban, and the Soldados ached in pain since the women threw them like ragged dolls. 

Esteban and Metztli were the last ones to train. Esteban got close to her and asked, "Would you like to join me for dinner? Just the two of us?"

Metztli was surprised, but she imagined eating under the night sky with a small bonfire. "That would be nice."

"Great, I will be outside the village close to the river. I will have the fire ready by then. I will see you tonight."

Guillermo, Valentina, and Metztli got together to return to the village as they said their goodbyes to Esteban. 

Esteban and Metztli looked at one another and nodded.

 Esteban led his men in another direction. 

"What did you think of today's training, Valentina?" Metztli asked.

Valentina smiled and felt excited. "It was exciting! Though I had hoped you would have taught me more."

"I understand that you feel that way, but you need to learn the basics first. I want to teach you the basics first and then the more advanced ones. You need to be patient."

"I have been patient all my life, and I feel that I am running out of time."

"What do you mean?" 

Valentina silently walked and gave a glance at her brother, who caught on. "I will leave you ladies, alone. I need to go help out the other men in the village."

The two young women stopped as they watched Guillermo walk into the village. Metztli gave Valentina her attention. "Okay, something is bothering you. Is something happening that you haven't told us?"

Valentina stood silently, looking ahead at the village, and then looked at the ground. "I haven't told anyone this, not even Nonantzin. What I am going to tell you will be kept between us, understand?"

Metztli wanted to squeal; Valentina trusted her with something vital that even Mariana didn't know. "You have my word. Now, tell me, what's going on?"

"I-I feel something terrible is going to happen."

"Why do you feel that? Did someone tell you something?"

"No, I-I have been having dreams."

Metztli flinched. "Dreams? You too? Why didn't you say anything beforehand? I mean, when I was having those dreams, those nightmares, why didn't you say anything regarding yours?"

Valentina sighed as she walked toward a couple of boulders and sat on top of one of them. "I thought nothing of them. While you were having nightmares, did you feel as if you were part of them? As if you felt everything?"

"Yes."

"Could you tell me some of the dreams you had?"

Metztli was hesitant, but since Valentina was opening up to her, she didn't want to lose her trust and shared some of her dreams with her. Valentina sat and listened, looking thoughtful. "You look thoughtful and worried. Are you thinking that our dreams may be connected?"

"I didn't want to think of the possibility, but there can be. The dreams you had had similarities to mine."

"Care to tell me one of yours?"

Valentina looked hesitant as her fingers twirled together, and she then wrapped her arms around herself. "I had this one three days ago. I was outside the Mission during the night, but I felt an intense sadness that I had never felt before. I ran and ran until I couldn't see the Mission anymore, but then I was surrounded by sudden darkness. Hands then came out of the darkness and grabbed me by my arms and legs. I tried to fight back, but I was overpowered. I screamed for Nonantzin, Guillermo, and even the Bishop. Then, I heard a faint infant's cry. Everything disappeared. Then, a light arrived through the darkness, and within the light, you were seen, reaching out to me. You also wore Nonantzin's rosary."

"Huh?" That was when Metztli remembered the rosary that she had lost. She couldn't believe she almost forgot about her family's rosary. "Oh, but how do you know it was Mariana's rosary? I mean, many do look alike."

"That's what I thought, too, but I recognized it since it had the exact details. Not all of them look alike. In my dream, you took it off and motioned it toward me. I was trying to reach out to grab it, but you wept and dropped the rosary. The rosary got lost in the darkness, and when I looked at you, you whispered something. I couldn't understand, but my dream ended."

Metztli wanted to say something, but struggled to find the right words. The dream sounded frightening, and it troubled Valentina. "How many times did you have that dream?"

"About four times, but it started when you arrived at the Mission."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, I never had these dreams before. Ever since you arrived, I began to have specific dreams like the one I had told you about. I have a feeling that you are going to begin a chain of events."

"M-Me? Are you saying that I am going to create trouble?"

Valentina stood up from the boulders. "I know I sound judgmental, and I don't mean it in a terrible sense. It's as if you have arrived out of nowhere."

Metztli gulped. "Oh, you're right about that."

 "I have a feeling that you have a purpose, and I don't know what it is. That is why I wanted you to teach me everything you know, because I feel that our dreams are premonitions of what is to come."

"Don't worry, I will teach you, and we can do so earlier in the morning. However, you still have to teach me the language."

"I will. Now, I will return to the village. I shall see you in the kizh to continue with your lesson."

Metztli nodded as she watched Valentina walk ahead, but couldn't stop thinking about Valentina's dream. What she thought was interesting was the mention of the rosary. Metztli still hadn't found hers, but Mariana's rosary was the same one she had lost. Also, when she arrived, Valentina's dreams began, and there was some connection. "The rosary. The fact that I was wearing it in Valentina's dream and..." Metztli stilled as possibilities went through her mind. Her eyes and lips widened while she looked back at the village. 

"Could it be that they could be...?" Metztli felt her heart racing as she walked back to the village. "Can it!? Is there a possibility!?"