Young Writers Society

"What does that mean?" Jerica asked tiredly. Is that why she kept just repeating Jerica's questions -- forgetting that she'd just been asked them herself?

She really didn't know?

Fine. She'll just explain everything, then.

"It means I can relive other people's memories," Evaline said tiredly. "If you've forgotten something, I can help you remember it."

She didn't wait for Jerica to ask another question.

"Okay, I told you my power, so now tell me yours."

Jerica blinked at her, horrified. "Wait you can hear my thoughts?"

Evaline's eye twitched. She wanted to ignore that stupid question, but it wasn't worth the inevitable temper tantrum. She opted for sarcasm instead.

"Oh, yeah. All the time. Right now, you don't believe me, which is very rude of you."

Jerica glowered at her, hearing the sarcasm in her tone, but not understanding at all why she seemed to think it was a stupid question. But, the longer Jerica thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed. If Eve could hear thoughts, she'd already know that Jerica didn't have any powers. "Says the girl sitting with her tits out and refusing to answer simple fucking questions."

At this point, Evaline wasn't getting irritated or angry anymore. Jerica was just making her tired.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that my body parts offends you so much," she said, voice thick with sarcasm. "If your power involves thermal energy somehow, why don't you heat up our clothes and steam out the water? That way I'll stop offending you with the body parts that both of us have."

Evaline clutched the clothes in front of her and stared at Jerica. Yes, she was being sarcastic, but this was also a thought that had crossed her mind before Jerica's outburst. Evaline had no idea what this woman's deal was, but if she was able to use her powers and bring in heat, she could help dry their clothes faster.

Gods, she was dumb.

It wasn't like Jerica just sat around staring at her own boobs all day -- and she had no desire, whatsoever, to sit here looking at Eve's. It felt almost as awkward as when she had to deal with men in the washroom of the barracks.

But Jerica blinked at her. Could the R'hyk do that? It hadn't occurred to her. But, also, she didn't know if that was possible. Or, at least, if it was, she didn't know how to do it. And, she still didn't want Eve to know about the R'hyk. "I still don't know what fucking powers you're talking about."

Evaline gritted her teeth and tightly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

This wasn't worth it. Jerica wasn't worth the headache.

"Okay, fine," she said as she started to bundle her clothes and prepared to get up. "You better look away before your eyes burn from the sight."

Without waiting for a response, Evaline got on her knees and set her shoes near the fire. Not too close that it'd burn, but close enough that the heat would help warm it up. She also set her socks nearby, which she was sure would warm up faster. The jumpsuit, however... That would take a bit of time. She didn't think the undergarments would take that much time too, but the sooner it was dry, the better so that she would stop making Jerica uncomfortable.

Her eyes scanned the perimeter around them, noting how evening was already falling. It was odd how fast time was here. It was like the days were much shorter, and Evaline's internal clock was now broken. Fantastic.

She noted that there was a tree nearby that had a low-hanging branch. Holding the clothes in front of her so that her body was covered, Evaline pointed at that tree.

"Think you can make a fire there, under that branch?" she asked her. "We can hang our clothes over the fire so that the radiant energy can dry off the clothes faster."

She could make it herself, but Jerica seemed to do it much faster, and had more experience.

Jerica glanced at where she gestured. Eve had a point, as much as she hated to admit it. But, then, it'd take an obscenely long time to try to make the fire without a flint, and she didn't trust Eve not to try to catch her using the R'hyk.

"Yeah." Jerica stood up and walked back into the stand of trees, bending down to gather more small twigs and sticks to make the new fire, and also bigger pieces to stack on top of her current fire.

She walked to the branch Eve pointed out, then knelt down and made a little teepee of the small twigs. Then, she walked over to the current fire and piled on bigger sticks. She held one end of a stick in the fire for a long minute until it caught fire, then walked back over to the new pile and worked on getting the twigs to catch fire as well.

Evaline was glad Jerica didn't try to argue with her. Finally, logic she could understand.

As Jerica went to gather supplies, Evaline set her clothes on the branch, and then moved her shoes and socks over too. She also took the liberty of moving Jerica's clothes as well, careful to drape the sleeves and pantlegs over the branch too so that it wouldn't droop so low and catch on fire.

By the time Jerica got back with a starter flame she took from the other fire, Evaline decided to put on her bra and underwear so that she'd stop hearing Jerica's annoying projecting insecurities. It was still damp, but she figured that night would fall and they would have to go to sleep. There was no way she would feel safe being asleep at the same time, so she planned to suggest sleeping in shifts. She'd volunteer first so that she could change into her jumpsuit when dry and then dry off her undergarments then.

Leaning against the tree, she silently watched as Jerica started the fire with the twigs she foraged. She didn't have the energy to talk to her right now, especially since she was being painfully ignorant about her own power, which she still didn't understand.

Jerica was glad Eve finally stopped pestering her about this mysterious 'power' that she was apparently supposed to have. She built up the fire high enough it'd be hot, but not so much that it'd reach the branch or their clothes. She took her own jumpsuit down and wrung out the arms and legs again since some of the water had migrated down them due to gravity, then returned them to the branch.

Then she wordlessly stood up and went to the other fire, making it much larger. At this point, she wasn't sure which was a better strategy -- making a huge fire, or not having one at all. If there were people to be worried about, she'd have put the fires out. If there were animals that were more of a threat, then she wanted the fire to be as big as possible to dissuade them from coming close to the camp.

She sat on her feet, as close to the fire as she could possibly bear and arms stretched to the side, trying her best to dry her bra as fast as humanly possible without taking it off. Like a normal human. In front of a stranger.

Evaline watched Jerica zip back and forth, but eventually Jerica seemed to sit on the opposite fire as her. That was fine. She appreciated it, actually. It seemed that they both could use a break with each other, even though Evaline had put on her bra and underwear for Jerica's comfort. Whatever.

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the aching headache she had all day. It seemed that no matter what she tried, she always had at least a minor headache going on. It was getting exhausting.

Evaline opened her eyes again and looked up at the sky. It wasn't dark yet, and she had a feeling that the stars and moon on the map was some kind of clue. She'd have to gauge the sky to know for sure, though.

Her stomach started to rumble. They needed food and water. Water, well... Under the pouring rain, she did open her mouth to taste some of it, and did drink it. She was fine with water for now, and she could always go back later. Food, on the other hand... They could last longer without food, but it wouldn't be easy.

She felt the headache get worse.

Just what was this place, and why was she with her?

Evaline just wanted this nightmare to be over.

Jerica closed her eyes as she toasted in the warmth of the fire. It was getting uncomfortable, the dampness on her face and abdomen now replaced by sweat. Still, her underclothes were a bit damp, and she'd rather they at least be dry before nightfall. Her clothes weren't going to be dry before then. She was going to have to decide if it'd be worse to sleep in her underclothes, or have to suffer the discomfort of putting on still-wet clothes.

What were the essentials? Weapons. Water. Food. That's what would keep her alive -- in order. She couldn't do much about the water or the food, but she could make nearly anything into a weapon.

She stood up and walked back into the trees, wandering around until she found a sapling about an inch in diameter at her eye level and about two inches down by its base. She grabbed it about waist height and forced it over, muscles tensing with the force. Finally, she heard the satisfying snap. She worked on it a few minutes ago until she had finally twisted all the fibers off, then she tore the branches off and took it over to one of the small boulders nearby. She found a rock with a sharp edge and beat it against the top of the sapling until she had a decent-sized staff.

Then she took the branch and the rock back to the fire. She turned her back to the fire this time, hoping her panties would dry while she worked, then started scraping the rock against the smaller end of the staff, sharpening it into a point.

Suddenly, something fell from the sky. Jerica was on her feet in an instant, twisting her make-shift spear so that she'd be ready to attack, but it didn't seem threatening. There was a box floating down with some sort of odd sphere on top of it. It landed next to the fire.

Jerica watched it for a long moment, half-expecting it to explode, but nothing happened. She turned her spear again so that she could use it at a low level more easily, then she prodded the box. Nothing happened. She prodded it harder. Still nothing. She hit it harder so that it toppled over, the lid popping off it, then cautiously strode forward with her neck craned to see what was in it.

Everything was planned exactly.

The present was a gift for Jerica, and the location of its landing was strategically picked because it was at this moment of time that she'd be right next to the chosen coordinates. As soon as she hit it and the lid popped out, the present was revealed.

A black synethetic-fibered cloth fell out.

It was a swimming suit.


And in the box was a small stationary card with a note:

Jerica stared at it for a long moment. It didn't seem to be moving. Was it... just a cloth? She picked it up with the tip of her spear and watched it for another suspicious moment, then reached out to grab it.

She didn't have the first idea what it was supposed to be.

It was a weird, vaguely slippery piece of cloth. She shook it. There were two holes at the bottom, and one at the top. She rested her spear in the crook of her arm and held the cloth away from her with both hands. "The fuck is this supposed to be?"

She looked over at Eve, but no answers were forthcoming. Shocker.

Jerica walked over to the box and saw a little note inside. She picked it up and read it, then snorted and tossed the paper next to the fire, deciding it'd make good fodder for the next fire they needed to make.

"Must be a weird towel," she decided, spreading it on the ground next to the fire and sitting on top of it, glad that she no longer had to sit on her own legs.