the Forest of Emmitaenu

Sustentation

Lara woke up to the sound of splashing water. She stood and walked to the kitchen half expecting the bent spout to have sprung a leak. Instead she discovered the sound coming from Zeftx room. Lara assumed he was taking a bath and decided the bathroom must not have been that bad after all.

After she found Jades note Lara decided maybe she should take a bath and get cleaned up too. When she went into Jades bathroom she discovered there was no hot water. Curiosity helped her piece it together.

"Well, pump, water...pot." Lara saw the discarded pot and filled it with water. When she carried it to the bath and poured the water in, some of it splashed up and got her wet.

"Yikes!" she shouted. It was freezing! "Well, pump, water, pot...boil." She needed to boil the water. She took the pot to the kitchen to refill it, and outside under the bright sunshine she saw the horna. "Of course," she told herself.

It took her a few tries, but ultimately she triumphed and lit the horna. Ten trips back and forth with boiling water were all she had the patience for. By the time Lara had filled the tub enough to suit her needs Zeftx came out of his room clean and freshly garbed. He helped her pour the last pot into the tub then fished a towel from the linen drawer on the bottom of Jades dresser.

"You can borrow some of Jades clothing, I know she won't mind," Zeftx said before leaving the room to give her some privacy. Peeling off the cloak and her clothes, Lara abandoned them on Jades floor and nearly melted into the eccentric tub. The clean water was a blessing to her bare skin as she scrubbed away the dirt from two days of wandering in the forest.

While her head was submerged under the water, Lara thought she could hear noises coming from the room. Quickly she sat up, covering herself and hugging close to the side of the bath to hide her body from view. She waited in silence to see if she could hear anything else but when nothing happened she figured it was just her imagination.

Lara relaxed, sliding back into the water so that she was submerged up to her shoulders. It was nice to feel clean and relaxed and able to think. Her mind finally slowed down enough to process everything that had happened since four thirty in the afternoon on Friday.

She remembered all the unimaginable things she had seen from Zeftx walking through walls, cupids, and fairies to the stranger in the clearing breathing magic, and gargoyles attacking at night. None of this existed in Darby Dale. At least, she had never seen it, and the woods around her neighborhood weren't big enough to hide all of this.

"Emmitaenu," she recalled. Zeftx told her his parents found Jade by roaming the vast forest of Emmitaenu. It was like another world to her. Now Lara was beginning to wonder how it was possible to get back to the one she came from.

The water had turned cold. As much as she hated to admit it, it was time to get out. She stood and pulled the stopper from the drain. Curious, she stepped out of the tub and peered underneath. There was a small drainage pipe sticking out of the floorboards directly beneath the tub, catching the trickle of water that leaked out from her bath.

"Fascinating," she couldn't believe she said out loud, but it was true. So much about how Jade and Zeftx lived amazed her. They were totally self sufficient.

Lara rung her hair out over the tub to avoid dripping all over the ground and wrapped herself up in the towel before going in the bedroom. She paused; the robe and her clothes were gone off the floor. She had heard someone in the room after all. The door was still shut so Lara quickly got dressed in the first thing she found and then returned to the kitchen to see what the others were doing.

Zeftx was molding mugs out of clay when Lara stepped out of Jades bedroom. He looked up and was stunned speechless. In Jade's silky white blouse and long white skirt Lara looked exactly like the Immortal Princess he originally mistook her for. If he had to guess her divinity he would have chosen beauty. Jades feminine garments showed a whole new level of physical maturity Lara had been hiding underneath her blue trousers and figureless T-shirt.

"Good morning Zeftx," Lara was the first to speak. Although it was noon now, he realized this was the first time he'd seen her fully awake today.

"Good morning," he replied softly. She seemed nervously aware of his staring and he shook his head to rattle his brain back to action. "Oh, Jade took your things." He explained, pointing to the room behind her. "She went with our laundry to the river but she should be back soon."

"Actually, I'm back now," Jade said, startling them both. "Zeftx dear," she prompted and he hustled through the window to give her a hand. Lara watched as they worked together to string the wet garments between two trees. She hadn't noticed the clothes line there before.

Lara blushed when Jade pinned up her underwear and was grateful that Zeftx respectfully avoided them with his eyes. She was relieved when they were done and returned indoors, although she was still conscious enough of her missing articles to cross both arms in front of her chest.

"Don't worry dear;" Jade leaned over her shoulder to say, "everything dries quickly under an Emmitaenu sun." Lara gave a closed lip smile. She believed her in this jungle heat.

In the meantime, Jade made fresh tea, and they ate fish brought back from the river. Lara was just starting to feel optimistic again by the time Jade whispered to her that she could check her clothes. Zeftx helped her through the window then let her go on her own.

Lara rubbed her shirt between her fingertips. It was hardly damp and she could wear it again already, but her jeans...she groaned. Her jeans would take forever to dry, no matter how hot out it was. At least her bra and panties were completely dry. She plucked them off the line and balled them up together in her hands.

Zeftx gave her a lift back into the hut and she blushed when he accidentally noticed the bundle in her hands. "Thank you," she mumbled before excusing herself to Jades room for privacy. Once she redressed in Jades clothes wearing fresh underwear, Lara rejoined them in the kitchen.

"Before nightfall," Zeftx was telling Jade, "I'll have these windows boarded up." He sounded strange, hallowed out and Lara wondered if it was the memory of the attack he was thinking about.

"Good, good." Jade replied, patting him on his forearm. Lara looked at them both, not liking how morbid they seemed. "Ah, Lara dear, you look ready. Shall we?" At first she didn't understand. Then it clicked. They were standing near the door because time was running out and she needed to get home.

"Ready," Lara replied, sounding a lot more certain than she felt.