Ashes

Chapter 6

Rishi woke up, the dark brown planks on the floor illuminated by some stray light. He'd look up to see the source: His sister's flashlight, shining onto what he could only make out as a book in the darkness. He'd push himself up, groaning a bit at the stinging that'd appear in his side. "L-Lil?" He'd ask out, his voice seemingly no longer muted, as she'd instantly look over, shining her flashlight at him. "Oh, hey Rishi!" She'd say in her quiet voice. "How are you feeling?" She'd close the book, placing it on the ground and walking towards Rishi, sitting down besides him. "... Like shit, to be honest." He'd chuckle slightly, before letting out a groan as his sides began to sting. "Let's not... Make me laugh, alright?" He'd say. "... Does it hurt? You were lying on your side for a pretty long time, probably uncomfortable..." "Yeah, it kinda hurts. Stinging, mostly. But I'll live." Lil would nod, and lean against him. "Check out what I found... It's an encyclopedia." "... An encoclypodia?" "No, encyclopedia. It's this gigantic book full of facts and knowledge about the old world. Check it out!" She'd open it to a random page. "Oh! Look, it's the different craters in the moon!" She'd smile, getting excited from simply looking at the picture with symbols, unfamiliar to Rishi, on different places on the moon. "Look! This is where the first human to ever go to the moon stepped down!" She'd point to a spot on the moon, her finger pressing down hard in her excitement. "Best part is, there's plenty of stuff you can try to read! Come on, let's teach you a bit more." 

"Take it a bit slower, you're trying to read too fast, you're making errors here and there." "Errors like what?" He'd ask her, my eyes not leaving the letters on the book. "It's pronounced Neil, not Ne-il." She'd respond with a chuckle. "... Man, can you believe that at one point, we were so advanced, so smart that we were able to leave our planet? Explore the moon? Do you think that one day we would've been able to go even further, to the stars?" Her head would turn as she asked the question. "No. It goes to show, whatever we invent, we use it for destruction. Rockets? Why go to space if you can use them to bomb that guy you hate into the ground." Rishi would respond in a cold tone, causing Lil's smile to quickly droop into a frown. "... Maybe. Maybe one day we'll recover. If the ash keeps falling to the ground, eventually it'll clear out of the sky, right? There'll be light again. And plants will come back, a-" "Plants won't come back, Lil. They're all dead, and they're not coming back." She'd sigh, and would look back at the book, pausing before turning back to Rishi. "Why are you always such a downer when I talk about what might happen after? Who knows, maybe there's still plants alive. We haven't even explored a full city in a world with billions of miles to explore. Just look at this book alone, Rishi. This book alone has more knowledge than everyone back home combined." "It doesn't tell us anything about how to survive. It tells us stuff we don't need to know. Stuff about the old world, the dead world." Rishi would turn himself to Lil, his voice having grown louder. "It tells us how it used to be, and how it will never be again. We live in the ruins of the world it describes, Lil. We are scavengers fighting over bits, and one day we'll all die, and our planet will rot along with us." ... Lil would remain quiet. Almost stunned by his outburst, her breathing speeding up slightly as a tear would appear in her eye, and she'd close the book, setting it aside, Rishi sighing and covering his face. "... I'm sorry, Lil. I am, I didn't mean t-" "You're wrong." Lil would be slouched over, her knees against her face, muffling her voice. "We aren't scavengers." She'd take the book back, and would look for a specific page for a little, before placing the book back in front of her brother, and pointing to a specific text, accompanied by a picture of a fiery orange bird, it's feathers ending in flames that'd follow behind it as it flew. "These are c-called Phoenixes. They're m-mythological animals. They w-were birds that when they died, would turn into ash and then come back as a younger, healthy version..." Rishi would silently try to read, stumbling over most of the words. "We're not scavengers fighting over bits. We're phoenixes. We live in the ash of the old world, and we'll rise from it, and start a new, better world. One without weapons that can destroy the planet. One where we can live in peace with each other, to stop us from living in the darkness ever again." Lil would turn as she gave her speech, placing her legs under her yet again. "We won't die in the darkness, Rishi. We'll see the light, and begin the new world." She'd say with a smile, a tear still trapped under her eyelid. Rishi couldn't help but smile himself. "I don't believe the world will ever be as it was before, but... You're right about one thing. We won't die in the darkness. I won't let us. Either of us." He'd smile, looking back at his sister. They'd sit there, looking at each other with content and happiness, before Lil would turn to the book. "Uh... Wanna read more? You've got room to improve, if I'm honest..." "Sure. Let's..."