Storm and Silence (FANFIC)

18. Friends with Bandits and Natives.

I wandered around the desert aimlessly until it ended up growing dark and the sun no longer beating me with its heat. Instead, the world grew colder and colder. Wind was picking up from out of nowhere and creating little dust storms. I could not find the ship, Mr. Ambrose, Karim or any of those labourers. No one was in sight, and there were no animals nearby either.

All was silent with the exception of the wind howling. I sighed and wondered what to do now. I wondered if Mr. Ambrose was looking for me... Probably not. "If I were Karim then he probably would... I'm just not that important." I said to myself and found a rock. I took a seat on it. "He didn't look for me when I was missing now did he..? No, that was I. I was the one who looked for him." I sighed again and rested my chin on the palm of my hand. "Why did I even bother looking for him? He's not that important to me... Is he?" Yes he is. Remember your paycheck? You still don't have it. A little voice said in my head. "Oh yeah... He's my ticket to freedom... I should have gotten my paycheck by now!" I stood up and started walking when I stopped. I didn't know where he was.

Suddenly I heard something. I looked to my right and saw nothing. But I still heard something... I turned and walked towards the sound. As I neared it, I was able to recognise something. It was voice, singing. Who sings in the middle of the desert?! I thought, bewildered. I kept walking in the direction of the singer and soon saw a strange light from far away. A fire! I'm not alone! Yes! I thought and began to run towards it.

Within minutes, I reached the fire and saw a girl with dark hair, almost equally dark skin, sitting on a rock strumming a strange stringed instrument and singing. There were others near her, all sitting in a circle and they were swaying with her voice. They all had similar dark skins as the girl singing, yet their clothes were much different than the ones I was used to.

Bright colours, strange patterns and weird looking were all the things to describe them. But even so, they were very interesting to look at.

When I came closer, the girl singing had her eyes closed. But then she opened them, they found me and she stopped singing. I notice the other people stop swaying and they cocked their heads to the side. One of them started to speak, but I couldn't understand them. The girl answered and then pointed at me. My eyes widened as the people turned and saw me. Already was I stepping back, slightly frightened.

"Um h-hello." I gave them a short wave. "Uh, I'm Lilly Linton. Wh-who are you?" I asked slightly timid. The people didn't respond but they started to stand up. I backed away a little more. The girl who'd been singing slowly stood up as well and a man much taller than her stood by her side, almost as if he was protecting her. From me. And then I remembered that I was dressed up as a man. So I tore off my hat and took out the bun. The people gasped, all of them, except the girl. I clutched the hat tightly in my hands in front of me.

One of the people in front of me turned around and spoke to the girl. She never took her eyes off of me as she answered the person. The person freaked out, pointed at me then her and then out into nothingness. The girl finally tore her eyes away from me and I realised that she was yelling at the other person. I lowered the hat and stared at the girl. Surely she couldn't be any older seventeen years old! But here and now, she seemed to be the matriarch of these people. That was definitely impressive.

Finally, the girl turned back toward me and started walking my way. The man who'd been next to her, silent and unmoving reached out and yanked her towards him. She yelped and then glared at him. They seemingly argued for a moment before she wrenched her arm out of his grasp, smacked him upside the head and then turned back to me again. I watched the whole thing with my mouth wide open.

The girl beckoned me to her. I didn't know whether or not I should do as she said. But maybe she'll lead me to the canal? Guess I was just going to have to find out.