A Day in the Clouds (Chapter 14) - The Hours Between 1800 and 1900 (Part 2 of 2)
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I stepped inside stealthily to look for Ayesa's bow. Since Dadier had been lenient as of late, I figured that this was the best time to ask for permission to keep a weapon. I could argue that the prison compound was a harsh landscape. While many fortress-less prisoners looked up to me, it was wrong to be complacent. There were those who have grown envious of my growing reputation. I could take them on without breaking a sweat, but Dadier didn't have to know that.
"Ledd," Ayesa exclaimed. "You're alright! What are you doing here?"
"I-I ... Yes, I am. How are things? You look the same after all these years."
"I knew it!" she yelled. Ayesa jumped up and down, and bounced against the walls out of joy. The guilt of abandoning me must've burdened her all these years. This wasn't the time to chat about forgiveness, so I didn't bring it up. While I've gotten over her abandonment, I still held a small grudge towards her. We could've accomplished a great many things if she had chosen to escape with me. Had she been there, we could've vanquished Potalaga and avoided recapture. "They told me that you were going to get hurt, but I knew you wouldn't!"
"Listen, I ... This isn't the right time to talk about that. I-I ... I came to ask you, uh," I hesitated. "About your bow."
"Did you want to play with my toy?"
"Play? Yes, play. But, more importantly, I wanted to know how you acquired it. Was it something you built out of the different trinkets the giants let us have?"
She ran to her chest and took out her golden bow. It had seen better days, though its effectiveness seemed to have not dull after all these years. "I got this from mom. She gave this to me as a gift."
Cloud Image Source
"Mom" was what she called Nehney. I'm not quite sure if it was a title or something the giant forced her to say. I found it odd. The giant gave her a weapon as a gift? Why would a giant give her something that could kill them? The revelation was quite intriguing, and brought up more questions than answers.
"I say, what ... How did you manage to get those giants to give you a gift? And, a weapon no less!"
"Here," she said, as she handed me the weapon. "Do it like how I showed you earlier."
"Earlier?" I asked. Her trauma caused her confusion. The last time we talked was before I made my escape all those years ago. She must've been caught in an endless loop of guilt. "Oh, right, yes."
Not wanting to discuss the matter further, I nocked a red-tipped arrow and drew back on the string. I closed my left eye and aimed for a clear part of the wall in front of us. After accumulating a little bit of my viento on the projectile, I then released it to the wild. The arrow hit the wall squarely. It sent out a strong thud that echoed throughout the fortress, if not the entire prison compound.
I tried to hold my ground but the strength of the impact knocked both Ayesa and I back. Amazed by my feat, she hurriedly stood and helped me up.
"That was awesome!" she exclaimed. Her eyes were wide open, like she had seen something that hasn't been achieved before. "How did you ... How did you do that?"
"It, uh, was a lucky shot," I dismissed, not wanting to disclose that I only used a small amount of viento. All that training and all the hardships that I endured were now paying in dividends. I didn't want to be overconfident, but at that moment I felt like I could take on the giants one-on-one. It wasn't the plan anymore, and I had to keep that in mind.
I still can't forget the moment we parted ways. The hesitation between her words, every delay of her steps. I've spent quite a long time debating where Ayesa's allegiance lay. It's hard to trust anybody in this prison, as everyone had their own agenda. I guess that's why it's hard to make friends or keep close relationships here.
Mawmah strode slowly toward where the arrow lodged itself. She had a sardonic look as she stared at us. Ayesa went from celebratory to accusatory in an instant. I took it as a signal to exit quietly with the bow and a few arrows in hand. It was a victimless crime. It's not like she was using it for anything fruitful. I almost made it all the way out before Ayesa noticed that I was making away with her weapon.
"Hey," she screamed out, as she gave chase. "That's my toy!"
I picked up my pace, as I neared the doorway. "I'm going to give it back, I promise! I just need to borrow this for a while."
Dadier blocked my escape, and snatched the bow from my hand. The obstruction helped Ayesa catch up. Panting, she swiped the arrows from my hand. The giant crouched down and handed her the bow.
"Ledd," Dadier remarked. "What do you have to say to Ayesa?"
The curly-haired prisoner stuck out her tongue, as an obscene celebratory gesture. She followed it up with a taunting noise that was quite annoying. If I had any doubt where her allegiance lay earlier, I didn't now. In that moment, I realized that maybe it was a good thing that she didn't tag along during my escape. The giants would've caught me much earlier had she accompanied me.
"That's my toy, Ledd," Ayesa declared. "You have to ask permission before borrowing it."
I turned away, only to discover that Dadier was still blocking my path. The grotesque giant looked at me like I wasn't fulfilling an obligation. He kept prodding me to say what I have to say to Ayesa. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what that something was.
"Taking without asking is stealing," Ayesa lectured, in an almost rehearsed fashion. "Stealing is bad."
Back in my village, nobody really owned anything. Every material possession was a gift from Bathala. Since nobody owned anything, we had to share everything. The concept of ownership was something that was foreign to me, and it took a while before I fully understood it.
"You want your 'toy' back?" I asked, as I handed her the one effective weapon I've seen in the prison. "Here, take it."
Ayesa swiped it from my hand, and whisked it further inside the fortress. Mawmah stood there observing the entire exchange. Dadier stood up, bade the elder giant farewell and urged me to follow him.
"Why does Ayesa get to have a weapon and we're only given useless trinkets?" I asked the giant, to which there was no reply.
I slipped his notice, and made my way toward the tank I blasted years ago. Fortress-less prisoners peppered the prison grounds. Their arrangement made it seem like they were in a concentration camp. With only individual sleeping blankets to keep them warm, it was easy to see the reason for their disdain.
I've heard rumors that there were other fortresses in the compound way before my time here. The giants haven't spoken about them all that much. Whispers posit that they were all destroyed because of prison riots. Stray explosions during the Great War could've also contributed to their destruction.
It may have been the direct reason why there were multiple giants in a single fortress. Their fortress' destruction must have displaced them. As to how prisoners were chosen to live in fortresses, I wasn't quite sure, but I didn't want to question it. No doubt, I felt sorry for the fortress-less prisoners. But, I wouldn't want to be in their place especially during the cold night or the scorching part of the day.
The crater was as large as the day I left. I stood at the edge marveling at my work. Peering into the hole was like looking into a hellish abyss, which seemed bottomless. The stench wasn't as bad as before, but the scar it left on the earth changed very little in my time away. This was the result of my viento combined with that spherical device. If only I could get my hands on that once again, I would be unstoppable.
All of a sudden, something crept up behind me. I slid to the side, careful not to slip into the crater. I didn't hear chains rattling or deep grumbling, so that provided some reprieve. As I turned around, I was slow to ascertain its identity. I discovered that it was the prisoner that I had an argument with before I left for the training facility.
"Easy," he consoled. "Easy, it's just me."
"What are you doing up?"
"What are you doing around these parts?"
"Shh. Keep your voice down," I commanded. "Do you want us to get discovered?"
"No, but ... So, uh, this was all you, huh?"
"Yeah," I declared proudly. "Yes, it is."
"That's ... That's great. So, where do we go from here?"
The extremely passionate @ryivhnn has created this magnificent viento-inspired artwork for this story. Close your eyes and picture this masterpiece, as you imagine Ledd soaring to new heights. Please be sure to check out @ryivhnn's wonderful artwork and in-depth logs of her experiences with homeschooling her children. You can also become a patron of hers on Patreon so that you can support her regularly.
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So a thought that's been bubbling in my mind for the last few chapters: apparently a large number of people (including the giants in his own fortress) are unable or not always able to understand Ledd, which makes me wonder how much of what we're hearing (through first person narration) is actually what they're saying and how many of his fellow prisoners are "actual"vs manifested XD
And his incomprehension of his time dilation is still amusing me XD
Great points you brought up. I had wanted to clear this up in a SILVER LINING, but I didn't want to bring these points up without anyone asking. Just to clarify, they're not able to understand Ledd at all haha All of the times when Ledd thinks that someone is able to understand him, it's all purely coincidence. Well... as of this chapter that is :O :O :O
What we're hearing the giants are saying are as is, except for the misheard words, of course. The communication is sadly one-way, and Ledd is the only one who can comprehend what others are saying. As to the manifested ones, I don't want to say too much, but I guess the communication thing already gives a clue as to who are the actual ones. Ledd doesn't know the difference though. That's where the blurring of reality and fiction comes into play.
I really had fun writing the time dilation, and I'm glad that it's still amusing you, my friend! I really hope that it's able to keep your attention throughout the whole story, as it would get pretty wibbly wobbly come the third arc haha!
As always, thanks for sharing your wonderful thoughts! Much appreciated :D
So even Ayesa can't understand him? I thought maybe she could, even though nobody else can.
No, she can't :( I wanted to play with the concept and make the readers question whether or not they understood each other. When I was observing them, Ace (Ayesa) talks to Zepp as if they understood each other, even though they really didn't. It's cool because they were playing and bonding, and she genuinely tried to reach out. Alas, I had to stick with reality for this one :(
Sorry to sweep the rug from under you, my friend. If you would notice though, I did give subtle hints that their conversation doesn't always sync. So, even though Ledd thinks that he's getting his point across, it was all just Ayesa trying to relate to him the best she can.
That's interesting. When my nephew was young, my brother told me about a special needs girl that was in his class. He said nobody else could understand her, but my nephew could, so he was her interpreter and protector. That's what made me think maybe Ayesa was the one person who could understand. But what you just said opens the old story up for re-interpretation. Did my nephew really understand her? Or was he just being open hearted and empathetic? But even if that was what it was, it was still very cool.
Huh, that's very intriguing. Honestly, I haven't heard of a story quite like that before. Although, I do believe in that theory that babies have the ability to understand each other. Since people with special needs have a delayed cognitive function, it lines up a bit. I mean, Zepp himself has the cognitive age of a one year old, so he's technically a baby in the head.
Haha! It's awesome that we both are rethinking our stance regarding it. I'm sure though that Ayesa doesn't understand Ledd because she's past the "baby" stage (5 years old at the time).
My latest thinking re my nephew is that maybe he didn't literally understand, but just had an empathetic feeling of what she needed, which was close enough.
Ohhh so like Ayesa. That's great that it was relatable then. Although, what you said really made me rethink my stance regarding how babies and special needs children communicate. In that, they may really have a connection all along. Definitely an interesting theory, since their operating on the same wavelength (same cognitive age). In another life, I would've been totally science-ing the heck out of this theory by now haha!
So Ledd actually had a wibbly wobbly timey wimey sphere when I thought he just had a simple ball then XD
Thanks for answering my questions both directly and indirectly, looking forward to Silver Lining :D
I'm sure it will continue to amuse me especially as it keeps cropping up (like how he's completely puzzled that Ayesa hasn't changed in all the "years" he's been away XD).
Sorry you're stuck with me for a while XP
Oh, even better, he had the wibbly wobbly timey wimey sphere. He just didn't know it yet.
Spoiler alert: this week's SILVER LINING is going to be weirdly different haha!
I'm super happy to have you on board, my friend. I'd be lucky if you'd be stuck even after this story wraps up. Stuck with reading the next stories, I mean. Not re-reading A Day in the Clouds for years (average person definition) and ignoring the next stories haha!
I will definitely be reading all of the stories!
eta: at least all of the stories that are not primarily romance, I can only do that under very specific circumstances with unreasonable conditions XD
Well then, you (and I) are in luck, because I don't write romance haha! I've inserted some romance, but that's just an aside. The most romance I've written was for 3 chapters of my debut novel. That was just so I could get that out of my system and say that I checked that off the list of genres haha!
LoL romance in the story or even as a subplot is fine XD characters might have romantic relationships after all :)
Are you trying out all the genres are you?
You got me! I'm indeed trying out all the genres. I don't want to get pigeonholed into one genre, so I try to flex my literary muscles whenever I can. It's interesting reading, let's say romance written by a horror writer or comedy by a non-fiction author, the different backgrounds add a lot of flavor to the pieces.
Really though, I'm just boxing myself into a corner every time I obfuscate the genres. I'm the one who's having a difficult time labeling my work and losing potential readers by just shelving it under "General Fiction" haha!
Ahaa! Excellent stuff! Where do we go from here! I am fascinated by these other prisoners and where it is going. All that training has paid off for him and now it is building slowly to a great crescendo!
Woohoo! I'm so glad that it scores high on the BOOM scale! You're right in noting that the training is paying off for him. That's the plan, Stan ;) Er, Hmm that really would've worked better if your name was Stan instead :/ Anyhoo, all his planning and training is coming to a head. I hope that it really does turn into a crescendo and not a diminuendo haha! Yes, I music too, though I'm not that good >.<
Thanks for your continued support, brother! Your comments are rallying, but I'm opting to hold instead of selling.
Thats the plan Stan, What is this the eighties!!! ;o)
Hehe, I can see it and I have no doubt dude that in your capable hands there will be no crescendo-ing whimper!!!
I wouldn't know, I was only a baby in the eighties haha! OOOHHHHH Seriously though, dincha heard? Old is new again, so the hip thing to be these days is to be a grandparent. Explains the rise of teenage pregnancy nowadays.
Thank you for the vote of confidence, dude! It means a lot :D (As of present it's worth 1,284.70USD to be exact, wow worth more than Bitcoin!)
Oh that's right you were a teeny thing back then. Mewling and shaking your little limbs at the world! I was very small myself unaware of the trials that lay ahead of the teen years!!
More than bitcoin!!! Hurrah!!!
I have been compared to a squirmy maggot, yes. In fact, I was so tiny and energetic, that I've been dropped down a flight of cement stairs once or twice haha! Oh those angsty teen years. How I wish we have the ability to go back many a times and slap ourselves for the choices we made.
An accomplice!! Yes, that's supah awesome! The spheroid and the viento, bam, a crater, and a new fan in awe?
This is making me think about how much energy I had when I was a kid, it seemed boundless...though I know I tired earlier, that is a head knowledge. Because my heart remembers the days being years long, just like he sees it. A day was a day was a day. All that mattered was the present. And a lot could be done in that year of a day, like creating a gaping hole in the earth with the power of my viento and a magic ball, making an escape, learning to shoot a bow which was not a toy, but a weapon, going to a "training facility" and getting prepared, vivid dreams from fevers (mine generally featured flying) teaming up with my cousins to do battle with the big cousin (take something of hers and run like mad) Plan adventures, escape the lava on a rocketship (a broken down and oddly rocket shaped monkey bars)
Really loving the concept of a potential prison break companion, lol!
Is this stranger an unlikely ally or a friendly foe? Hmm.. we shall see!!
Right?? Ha! I'm glad you experienced the same thing growing up. I knew that I wasn't alone in thinking that ordinary objects are more fantastic than they seem. Take that several doctors who suspected I had ADHD! I teamed up with my cousins routinely as well. It helped that there were 4 of us boys in the same age group. I couldn't recall if I ever escaped lava on a rocketship, but I did brush off quite a few lava dungeons in my day. It's great that you got away from your ordeal unscathed, my friend!
Thanks for stopping by! Again, I apologize for confusing Seth with Matthias :(
Lava dungeons, nice! We used to rescue animals (stuffed ones) to take on the ship with us, hop onto rocks and things to get to them before they were 'snuffed out'. We were heroes! LOL
No more apologizing, and take that frown away, I don't want you to have a sad face, it makes me sad...everything is perfectly a-ok.
I say, a real futuristic Noah's Ark, you were! It's funny how kids already know the concept of being "snuffed out" without knowing the implications it brings. I couldn't help but wonder how the children of the future will play, what with all the advancements in VR and such. Even though they'll have a richer experience, nothing could ever beat the manifestations made by our own imagination. Well, unless the VR of the future somehow siphons images from our minds and projects it as holograms. In that case, that would be so cool!!! Way better than our childhood!!